Regional Perspective Differences

Our position in the world often shapes everything we think about life.  Culture and society is widely different among the world, and in many places in the world simply going from one village to another can take you to a place with a completely different structure.

One instance where this is true is with natural disasters.  When hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, most people in places like India had probably never heard of it. Here in the United States however, it was a great deal, as many people across the country had friends and family there who lost their homes or their lives.

On the cross side, when natural disasters strike other areas of the world, the opposite is true.  Many people in the areas surrounding the affected regions are affected, while many people here in the US may not notice or care.  While many do learn about it, they are not necessarily personally affected by it.  Sure, they will probably donate money to a relief fund or something similar, but because they are not personally connected, they probably do not have an emotional connection to the situation.

"Bigger, Stronger, Faster"

Our analyzation today was on a pair of posters made for the movie “Bigger, Stronger, Faster”.  Both posters feature strong, buff athletes, both men and women, who more than likely use steroids.  Both posters also feature the phrase “Is it still cheating if everyone is doing it?”  One of the posters also features the athletes standing on a giant pile of pills, such as vitamin supplements and steroids.

The purpose of this movie seems to be for the use of steroids.  In the reading we did, we learned that a large number of athletes use steroids or other methods that simulate the same effects.  Through the use of the title and the athletes on the cover, it is easy to conclude that the movie is advocating the use of these methods by athletes in professional sports.

The use of the phrase “Is it still cheating if everyone is doing it” is clear.  The use of steroids is illegal in professional sports, and those who do are violating the rules/laws and there by cheating, bringing their accomplishments into question as to whether or not they can be counted valid.  This phrase, in conjunction with the movie, is clearly trying to persuade people that it is okay to use steroids, and that they should no longer be made illegal.

Interviews

Interviews are a necessity of the modern world.  From research for a paper to the news, from job interviews to documentaries.  First hand information and meetings important, and how you phrase a question in them can change everything.

We were asked to read two interviews in our book. The first one was by Terrence Smith about war reporters who travel with the U.S. military.  The second was about George Ritzer and his works on the topic of the "McDonaldised society".

Terrence Smith discusses how having reporters among the soldiers on the frontlines has changed our view on war.  Being able to see and here what really is happening in battle shows who we are fighting, and what we are fighting to achieve.  However, he also mentions how it is not an easy job, sometimes costing the lives of the reporters out there, and that the view we get is not always the full view, merely slices of what is happening.

In the interview with George Ritzer, by asking the questions in the right way, the reporter conducting the interview is more able to gain Ritzer's perspective on the situation.  By asking the question "Do you go as far as to say that McDonald's represents capitalism?" the way he does, the reporter is not wanting a 'do you believe this, yes or no?' answer, but is asking about Ritzer's personal beliefs, and getting an answer based on that.

Finding and Evaluating Sources

When writing a research paper, the actual paper is only a small portion of what needs to be done.  The most important part is the research.  For your paper to even be accepted, you need sources, and for papers outside of middle school, you need several sources that are proven to be credible.

Sources can be divided into two categories: primary and secondary.  In terms of a house, the primary sources are the ground, and the secondary sources are the foundation.  Your primary sources are the basis of your research. These are the original texts that you analyze in your paper. The secondary sources provide commentary that is used as supportive fillers.

Evaluating your sources is also important.  Your paper will not be so acceptable if your sources are not credible.  When checking if a source is credible, a few base questions must be asked, no matter what type of source it is: Who is the author? Who is the audience? and When was it written/ created?  If your paper is about modern economics, a paper or report from the 1950’s will not be an acceptable source.  A report issued by the House Banking Committee (House Committee on Financial Services) would be acceptable.

In the end, an annotated bibliography might prove useful. An annotated bibliography is just a list of your sources in MLA format, along with important notes from the source.

Avatars and Gaming

In today's reading, the big topic was avatars in video games.

An avatar is the virtual representation of ourselves.  With it, we can become anything, anyone, and can look anyway we want.  Some people create them to look somewhat like them, whereas others create them to be the complete opposite.  And yes, even I am guilty of this.

However, the majority of people do not make them either way. Instead, they make them to look like what they WISH they were, not what they actually look like.  They do so to present the perfect image to the world.
As was the case in the Alter Ego Profiles in the book, people do this to try and break the social barriers around them.  Where in reality you might be dissuaded from getting to know certain people because of their looks, with avatars you do not have that issue, instead giving people a different face to the same person. This provides them the chance to get to know the person behind that face right off the bat, without the public social hindrances.

In addition, avatars give us the chance to become someone else.  Where in reality you might be a grocery bagger at Wal-Mart, in the gaming world you could be the ultimate zombie killer or a level 80 Blood Elf Paladin.  You get to live a different life for a few moments, giving many people a chance to forget their real world problems for a time.

The Digital Age

In the assigned reading (page 160 of Envision in Depth), the article in question was speaking of Internet sites, specifically Soompi, a chatroom website typically used by Asians, predominantly South Koreans.  While the article specifically speaks of how Asians across the world use it to help in learning cultural skills they cannot learn from the people around them, lying beneath the surface it speaks of something even more.

As the article mentions, Soompi is used predominantly by Asians, especially those who are not living in Asia.  Many of them wish to learn more of their Asian culture, something especially difficult for some who have no one living around them who can teach them. Others go for the sense of community, other people with similar interests that they can meet and become friends with, making them feel part of a group, some for the first time.
No matter their reasons for joining, the help and camaraderie many have found there will forever impact their lives, mostly in a positive way, helping shape them to be better people in the future.

Lying beneath the surface of this, is how the Internet has changed everyone's lives.  The first page of the article mentions how 15 years ago, communication and cultural identity was limited into certain categories: geographical, language, and others.  With the emergence of the Internet however, our generation, and to some extent older ones, have shattered those boundaries.  Instant communication across the world, the ability to find answers to nearly any question, the chance to make friends with people you might otherwise have never met, all of these and more have made the modern world more connected than ever before.

English Blog 5 - Photography

Today im discussing a few articles from the same chapter that was discussed in my last post, as well as a segment on evaluating sources.

The first article we read was by David Pogue. In it he discussed how different websites were more useful than others for different purposes. I've heard of some of the sites he mentioned, but to be honest I never heard of Flickr.com till now. Others, such as Shutterfly, Photobucket, and Snapfish I have heard of, but never used. At the end he mentions that three of them are technologically fool-proof, even for technology illiterate people, which I think is a reference to the beginning where his mom was spending hours trying to order pictures from Flickr, something he could have done in 10 minutes.

The second article was a piece YouTube, and how we all watch it because we see little pieces of ourselves in each video.

The final piece was on the topic of checking our sources and making sure they are valid (this being for papers and the such, not photographs so much).  It told us to ask questions about sources, such as if it’s on topic, or if the publishing date makes it relevant. An example: a book from 1980 on Biology won’t do much good as a source on modern biology these days, as we have advanced so much that nearly everything in it is probably underrated.