Warm Up

A part of me agrees with Keedy's statement, "A worthy cause won't be sunk by an inept poster". I do feel like if a cause is strong enough, then the designs and advertisement should not convince me one way or the other. I feel like in our society today, people are focusing more on the images and the fancy designs instead of the bigger picture. I am somewhat of a stubborn person so once my mind is made up on something, there is no changing it or at least not that easily : )

Politics of Design/Design of a Text

I think this article was full of anger. It seemed as though the author was upset at the fact that advertising seem to be taking away from designing. At least that's what I interpreted the article to mean. I didn't care one way or the other. Perhaps if I was into designing, then this article would be more appealing to me.

I think I am going to like this next paper because I love to analyze things that interest me. I find it kind of easy to talk about something that you do on a regular basis. I think it is also a good way to start looking at some of the daily things we do in our lives. I found the girl's paper to be very interesting because she took a shirt that I thought was empowering to women and broke it down to mean something totally different. I think it also proved to me that this next paper could possible be on anything you like.

Car Culture

As I was reading this article, one particular line stood out to me and grabbed my attention from the whole story, "New money is very Hummer; Old money(dating, say, from the 1980s), very Prius". I found it really interesting that the author would say the Hummer is new money, which in essence, it is new money. A lot of our celebrities are either driving a Hummer or riding around in one. I personally think the Hummer is overrated, but if I had about 100,000 to spend on anything, I guess a Hummer is not a bad idea (just kidding :). Nowadays we spend so much time on our vehicles and it is not a bad thing, but the ultimate common goal we all have is that the vehicle works properly. There's nothing wrong with a good car, but if it doesn't run right, then all it's there for is show.

Women today are ruling the automobile industry. As I was reading this article, I couldn't help but laugh because of the statement, "If the woman of the house does not want a certain vehicle i the family driveway, it is not likely to wind up there". I thought about my parents when I read this. When my mom and dad went to buy a new car, my mom wanted one type of car and my dad wanted another. Just like Caldwell said, my mom got the car she wanted. It's amazing how some people believe certain cars are for certain people. I think it's kind of interesting that in Europe the Volvo is seen as a nanny's car. I don't see the big deal in a car. I think a car is meant for anyone who wishes to drive it. However, I guess we all have our limits. I personally would not drive a truck and I don't see a man driving a pink bug with yellow flowers on it. I think the overall goal is to make sure the car is safe and reliable.

I find it interesting that car designers are willing to create cars that are not appealing to the eye. At the end of the day, I feel that people and car-lot customers are gonna be willing to buy a car that looks good. Whenever you hear someone going car shopping, you don't hear them say, "Hmmm, I think I want the most ugly car you have". This just sounds weird coming from a customer. In fact, I probably wouldn't even take you seriously if I was trying to sell you a car. However, i do feel like this concept is okay if you have the same number of people that are turning down the ugly cars wanting to buy the car. Or else, you would be loosing a lot of money and wasting a lot of time. I think this idea is very tricky because you have to take a chance with the creative idea. It could be both rewarding but devastating at the same time.

Mac vs. PC

Honestly, I do not pay attention to the brand or type of computer that I am using. I really don't. The computers that I use the most are the computers at school. I also use the computer at my house a lot too. Being that I don't really care what type of computer I use, or the brand, it's hard for me to state how I feel about it. What I look for the most, regardless of the type, is that the computer is reliable and works the way I need it to work.

Freewrite

There are so many songs that capture my attention, like Gossip by Lil' Wayne,"Stop analyzing, critizing, you should realize what I am and start epitamizing. Legitamite, I got the heart of the biggest lion. I'm confident like **** em all pull out my **** and ride it".

I really like this quote from the song Gossip because it is blunt and self explanatory and describes my personally 90% of the time and how I feel about almost every situation I go into. Its my favorite and plus you hear it when you call my phone!

Kanye West, "If somebody would have told me a year ago it was gonna get this difficult. Feeling like Katrina with no fema, Like Martin with no Gina., Like a flight with no visa, first class with the seat back I still see ya, In my past, you on the other side of the glass of my memories museum. I'm just saying hey Mona Lisa come home you know you can't roll without Caesar".

I find these particular lines in Kanye's song interesting because at the time I heard the song, I was going through a lot of complicated stuff. I interpreted every line symbolic for something in my life and to this day, it still creates different thoughts and self evaluating concepts in my mind.

Short Writing Assignment-Part 1 and 2

1. I chose the poem, "Swamp Song" by Kwame Dawes.
2. The text's main point is to show the readers that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
3. I feel like the whole poem is strong and it alone is necessary to understand the whole text. However, lines 11-14 and 19-22 are pretty strong. The lines are as follows: We all have dreams, I suppose, Me, I want me some shoes, nice clothes, a little learning, some sweet love and a promise of glory up above...and when they grow weary straing for that pandy mystery, They'll come home to the warm and damp of this sweet soft Carolina swamp.
4. This poem rhymes and is not difficult to understand at all. I feel as though the author put everything out there for the reader to see. I think the part when the author states, "a little learning, some sweet love and a promise of glory up above" is relating to education, a romance or a lover and to live eternal life in heaven.
5. This poem rhymes and I think it does add to the effect of the poem. I think it shows strength in the point the author is trying to make.
6. I think it contributes to the main point in this poem. First, the poem to me, is about a young girl or lady who is working in a field. Maybe back during slavery times. I think it is describing a white man who is fantasizing about the white women. I think it also describes the fact that the black women are working so hard and the white men never look at them that way. I feel the author has dreams and wants to go places in her life, so as long as the men are not looking at them in that way, they can accomplish their dreams and in the end, the white men will come to them. But whose to say they will want them then? I also thought this paper had a hint of rape in it as well, with lines 19-22.

Thesis
This paper will argue that even though african american women were involved in strenuous work, they were not looked upon as white women. This paper will justify that african american women struggled so hard and because of the dedication and strength of our ancestors, we are able to have dreams and accomplish those dreams.

Part 2-Introduction
Picture a young, black, girl, working what seems like an endless and useless amount of work. As she works hard and long, she overlooks a group of excited white boys staring blankly at a set of white women. She continues to do her work, dreaming of what seems impossible to come true.
As the white boys continue to engage in their erotic fantasies, she realizes that their dreams will grow old and she is what they will come home to. In Swamp Song, Dawes argues that even thougth african american women were involved in strenuous work, they were not looked upon as white women.

Sonny's Blues

The key words that were found in this story relate to the story's mood and plot in a straightforward way. The story is about an older brother reading in a newspaper that his younger brother was arrested for doing heroin. This pretty much sets the tone for the story. The mood is going to be sad and depressing. Music plays a big part in this story as well. Jazz and Blues music is used to calm the narrator down of his angry and depressed ways.

Inhabiting and Transforming a Poem Exercise

Character by Taslima Nasrim

You're a girl

and you'd better not forget

that when you step over the threshold of your house

men will look askance at you.

When you keep on walking down the lane

men will follow you and whistle.

When you cross the lane and step onto the main road

men will revile you and call you a loose woman.



If you've got no character

you'll turn back,

and if not

you'll keep going

as you're going now.


2. When I first read this poem, I didn't react to it any differntly from any of the other poems that we've read thus far. Either I liked it or I didn't. However, I thought this poem was really interesting. I found it kind of uplifting for women and gave off a positive message. I think it is preparing a young girl or women in general for the real world. I really found the last part of the poem interesting when the author stated, "If you've got no character you'll turn back, and if not, you'll keep going as you're going now". I thought it was interesting how she referred to turning back as having no character. I thought this poem reminded me a lot of a mother or grandmother telling a young girl how to carry herself in public when she is passing or being approached by men.

3. The plot of this poem is a young lady should be mindful of how she carries herself when out in public, for a man will not hesitate to slander her name if she graces them with her presence.

4. The speaker of the poem can either be a man or a woman. The speaker is addressing a young girl. The speaker is older than the person he/she is talking to. The speaker could possibly be related to the listener by blood, such as a grandmother or mother or father or sibling.

5. I think the poem means that women are beautiful and have strength in everything we do. I think it means that a woman should not settle for anything less and if a man cannot approach her in a respectable fashion, then she has every right to walk away and not turn back.

Sonny's Blues, Lost in the Funhouse, and Videotape

Of all of these stories, the only one that I was interested in was Videotape. I didn't understand what Sonny's Blues was about and Lost in the Funhouse was completely boring to me. I had the hardest time trying to stay focus reading the two. I had no interest in those two stories what-so-ever. However, Videotape was more of a suspense story so it kept my attention much easier. I like the fact that every now and then, the author would relate the little girl taping the man to family functions. It seems so real because most of the time at family reunions or functions, someone is ususually taping and the person t videotaping seems to get everthing on camera. Although I didn't understand how the girl managed to tape all of that happening to the man while driving and nobody heard any of it that was going on or saw the girl taping any of it. Maybe I was just reading it wrong, but It seemed kind of odd to me. I also didn't like the fact that the man got shot in the neck and the little girl wittnessed all of it.