Final Exam

1. On my wikispace page for the most part figuring out how to do everything was pretty self-explanatory.  The only problems that I had was trying to add my first link and put different words over it; it took me a couple of tries but I figured it out pretty quickly. Wikispace was set up well in general I thought, so I didn't have much of a problem navigating around and getting to where I needed to be. The layout made it pretty easy to write the article and insert pictures as well.


2. I agree with most of the qualities in the 17. I think that I do well at being mission-oriented, and having an idea of a long term goal in mind. I always am sure to know how even the little things can effect my goals in the future. I also think that for the most part I'm pretty selfless. I always try to think of other people in the group and how they feel about what's happening, and I always try to include people (if they're tolerable, and if they're not there's nothing I can do about that). I definitely know that my weakest point is being organized; every year I'm motivated at first to be organized and keep everything organized but it always turns into a jumbled mess. Procrastinating./being lazy and being organized don't really go together.


3. In this class I thought that a few topics that we covered were good and a few weren't really necessary. For example, the sections we did on music were kind of interesting, and I'd have liked to go a bit more in depth with that; censorship would have been a good thing to talk about because it's really important. Even advertising would have been interesting, because there are so many different components to good advertising. However, I thought the section on tattoos and piercings and body image was kind of pointless; it didn't seem like there was much of a point, as there was never really any connection made between body art and media literacy.

Lyrics that Talk to You

"Crooked Teeth" - Death Cab For Cutie

It was one hundred degrees, as we sat beneath a willow tree,
Who's tears didn't care, they just hung in the air, and refused to fall, to fall.

And I knew I'd made horrible call,
And now the state line felt like the Berlin wall,
And there was no doubt about which side I was on.

Cause I built you a home in my heart,
With rotten wood, it decayed from the start.

Cause you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.
No you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.

I braved treacherous streets,
And kids strung out on homemade speed.
And we shared a bed in which I could not sleep,
At all, woohoo

'Cause at night the sun in retreat,
Made the skyline look like crooked teeth,
In the mouth of a man who was devouring, us both.

You're so cute when you're slurring your speech,
But they're closing the bar and they want us to leave.

And you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.
No you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.

I'm a war, of head versus heart,
And it's always this way.
My head is weak, my heart always speaks,
Before I know what it will say.

And you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.
There were churches, theme parks and malls,
But there was nothing there all along.


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     I think that the lyrics I highlighted are compelling to me because in a sort of humorous way they describe a life where you're indecisive and always torn between good versus evil or right versus wrong or fun versus monotony, but after you've made the choice you also have to decide what's enough; you can't just be good all the time and you can't just party all the time (apparently unless you're Cameron Elder).
     Listening to this song always makes me want to dance a little, even though it's not really super upbeat. It's really sarcastic and it makes me appreciate talented writing. I like this song because it also reminds me of actual experiences (maybe not exactly). I always think about the summertime and being with friends I love, but also having to make those choices mentioned above.
     I think music appeals to almost everyone because there are so many different genres and subgenres, and you're bound to eventually find something that really clicks for you. Sometimes it's the lyrics or the beat or the guitar, because maybe you like to sing or dance or you can appreciate a fine solo. It's also relatively easy to make music, so even if you can relate to other songs, you can always express yourself directly.
    

Exploring the News

DETROIT FREE PRESS

Mitch Albom: Is Wings' Game 7 more about hockey history or hysteria?

Robert Bobb tells of cancer fight, regrets about DPS

Teens charged in bullying of 8-year-old; boy could lose sight in 1 eye

JERUSELEM POST

German court convicts then frees Nazi guard Demjanjuk

2 nabbed on suspicion of plotting NY synagogue attack

Saudi literary clubs told to do business by the book

THE TIMES OF INDIA

RCA files complaint against Warne for abusing its secretary

CSK vs DD: Aaron dismisses Raina to dent Chennai run charge

RCA files complaint against Warne for abusing its secretary

GRANMA INTERNACIOL

Alarcón calls on the revolutionary press to unite efforts

Bin Laden family’s relations with the United States greater than supposed

Puerto Rico recalls death of Cuban Carlos Muñiz Varela

PRAGUE POST

Slavia's troubles rooted in financial wrangle

10-year military strategy formed

Prague Spring

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

Legality of Demolition of Historic Barracks Contested

Trial of the ‘Pearl Cop’ Boiko Reopens

Pulkovo Airport To Get Round-the-Clock Bus Service

DORDOGNE TODAY

Man Jailed after Night Spent Drinking in Bar

Police Angry at Racist Accusation

Dogs Spared Death by Judge

1.      No, none of the headlines are the same.

2.      In Detroit all we care about it kids getting bullied.
In Jerusalem they’re covering a story about New York.
In India they really like acronyms.
In Cuba they care about the US dealing with Bin Laden.
It’s spring in Prague.
In Russia nothing really violent happens, but some barracks got destroyed.
In France there’s absolutely nothing happens and they covered a story about a drunk man.

3.      The man in France was 44 years old and drunk driving and got put in jail.
In India you seriously have to know what all of the acronyms mean because they will never ever ever explain them to you so unless you know them, you can’t tell what they’re talking about.
In Detroit the emergency financial manager for DPS has cancer and will probably die.

4.      I didn’t see any repeat stories.

The Big Six

     My predictions for the Big Six except one, which was a guess. Most of the companies didn't surprise me at all, probably because I already knew that there were only a few, and I knew the biggest 4. The Big Six are the Big Six because they make a lot of money. They buy out everything they can that makes any amount of profit, and collect little corporations. They control what those little corporations do like poor little action figures.
     I can't think of any major advantages to there being only six big companies except it makes it easier to know who to blame - but the disadvantages are endless. Having only six big media corporations makes it that much harder to get solid, unbiased information.
     It stood out to me how much people really knew about where their information is coming from every day. Of course it's not right that it happens, but it does, and as long as they have the money the have the power and no one can really stop them but each other (but then it'll be down to one).

Desensitizing of America

1. I don't think that television itself is as big a deciding violence factor alone as economic poverty,  bad schools and broken homes. I think that having a violent life path requires some combination of all of these things; kids who grow up ONLY watching violent programs on television are probably a lot less likely to be violent themselves than kids who watch violent programs on television, are beaten by their parents, and go to a school where violence and bullying is the norm.


2. The article states that promotions feature violence because they only have a very short time to capture the viewers attention. Violence and sex require the least amount of time to explain a plot, and are also to a lot of people the most interesting.  I think that the largest reason they feature violence in promotions is because shows like sit-coms, soap-operas, and situation dramas like Law & Order can attract some viewers that wouldn't normally be interested in watching the show by prefacing it to sound like there's lots of scandalous sex and violence.

Is Mainstream News Dead?

1. I think that most television new is dead; my best guess as to why is because probably more and more people are getting sick of hearing the same 5 irrelevant and incredibly manipulated stories over and over again. Maybe people are also realizing that some of the biggest news stations aren't exactly the most reputable sources for daily news.

2. To get my daily news, I listen to privately funded radio programs, like NPR; I've found that though maybe they are slightly liberally biased, they have the highest amount of world news, covered in probably the least biased way possible. Also NPR does BBC Hour and BBC World news; both programs are more than likely the least biased source for news I've ever heard.

3. I think that the Daily Show and the Colbert Report are so popular with younger generations because most of the news that's on regular news shows is so depressing. It's good to be able to laugh at something serious. I'm not sure that those shows are the best way to actually learn about news, since most of the time they don't give the full story (a lot of it is just making fun of how other news programs covered it), but if that's all the news you can stand I suppose it's better than being completely uninformed (however if that's all the news you listen to you might be gullible and fall for some of the made up facts about the story John Stewart and Stephen Colbert add for humor purposes, so you might be a little worse off thinking that some things they say are true). Basically it's best to have more than one news source, even if one isn't really exclusively for information purposes.

Visual Literacy

Kelly Clarkson:
1. Self Magazine, Getty Images
2. Airbrushing, photoshop
3. Brighter lights make her look better, the way she's standing
4. Her
5. The picture is including a friendly smile, but is missing any sense of reality at all.
6. Yes, it makes you want to be happy, like her.
7. No, you can tell it's faked.

Andy Roddick
1. Men's fitness magazine
2. Airbrushing, photoshop
3. Lighting to make his muscles look better
4. He is.
5. The picture includes him, but again is missing a single shred of realness.
6. Yes, it makes you want to be as manly as he is.
7. No, his body doesn't look realistic at all.





Britney Spears
1. Japanese magazine
2. Airbrushing, photoshop
3. The image is sort of fuzzy, lighting makes her look softer, the way she's standing makes her appear very feminine.
4. She is.
5. She is in the picture, again, subtracting realness.
6. You're supposed to be attracted to her and think that she's pretty.
7. No, it's obviously manipulated.