Literature and Media Studies Newsworld

1.     Are there any prominent symbols in the story that you read? If so, what are they and how are they used?

In the story Newsworld we are shown what I would consider a coming of age story for a group of young men in the junior year of high school during the 9/11 attack, and how they cope with their emotions toward that event. The “symbol” is that of coming of age, it is used as a discreet way to talk about the terrorist attack without making it all about that. By using the coming of age of these young men, they are able to communicate and relate to the reader on a deeper level.

2.     What connections did you make with the story? Discuss elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

The easiest connect anyone could make with this story would be that of the nostalgic feeling towards one childhood and wanting to return to it when life isn’t going as one would hope. Another connection one could make would be that of feeling lost about your future. When you are younger the future looks bright and you believe that all will turn ok and that you will have an amazing career and social life, but as you grow older and you are about to start that life without the support of your parents, you start to doubt yourself and whether you can achieve that goal of success and happiness.

3.     What changes would you make to adopt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

I personally would not make any changes; I believe the way in which this topic was approached was well thought out. As for what medium I would like to use maybe photography so that the viewer would have more availability to feel whatever they feel, all they would have to base their emotional response to would be the photograph and the title of the photograph, that way making it more personal.

A Regretful Post About Donald Trump. Image Interpretation

This image is obviously not an image of Donald Trump himself, however, it is an image that well represents Trump. He talks this big game with a stolen phrase from Adolf Hitler (Make America Great Again [Make Germany Great Again]) and looks down to his voters as though they are children, sadly they appear to be exactly that. He says whatever is on his tiny racist mind with no concern to whom he might be hurting. He says that we should have things made in America and yet he has his products made outside of America. He is a businessman, not a politician.

Observation Log: Door 03/28/2016

Start of observation.

The position of observation second floor looking down at the main entrance and exit. Male blue striped shirt walked in through doors on the right, made eye contact. Red plaid over shirt, dark sunglasses walks in removes sunglasses continues his day; doors on the right. Two male adults walk out through the doors on the right, showing signs of friendship between the two, laughter. Small female enters, looking right to left as though she is unsure as to where she is headed, perhaps she is meeting with someone. Female wearing tank top enters building, confident eyes. Thin male enters building, package in hands, shifty eyes. Older female enters through doors on the left instead of right like others, she differs, she has a job to do. Two females with colored hair and shorts  exit, they are loud, they exited through the doors on the right-hand side. Quiet female exits. No change in 2 minutes. Petit yet built female walks in with sketch book in hand and stares at the screen playing an animation. Red headed female exits. Female with a bobbed hair cut exits hurriedly through doors on the left, she differs as well. A redheaded girl with hair in a bun enters and head straight to the elevator, she entered through doors on the right. Tall thin girl with short curly hair exits through the left. Older male, balding exited through doors on the left yet turned right. A young male entered through the doors on the right, head and shoulders slouched forward, having a bad day? Tall fit blonde female enters with a shorter blonde female, she was not as happy looking as her shorter friend.  

End of observation.

Dream (Nightmare) 03/28/2016

In a gated community there is a house that sits up on a hill, lights are on and everybody is home. In this house, there lives a father, mother, eldest daughter, middle daughter, and the youngest son. It is a quiet night and everyone is about to go to bed when all of a sudden an unknown person makes their way into the neighborhood and up the hill. They slowly make their way inside the house and to the middle daughters room. They had come to kill her, however, they gave her a choice. "I can either kill you tonight or you can sacrifice someone you know and I shall kill them instead." The young girl sat in bed in silence and thought of someone she knew, the killer turned around and said: "I shall return in two years time, I shall give you the same choice when the time comes, I will continue to do this until either you decide to allow me to kill you or you run out of people to sacrifice." They then disappeared into the darkness before the young girl could even say a word. As promised someone died in her place and after two years again someone else died in her place. This went on for many years to come until the girl only had one person left in her life. She had sacrificed all except her father and when the time came and the killer asked who she would sacrifice, none came to mind... The killer leaned in close and whisper: "A decision has been made." Afraid she had accidently thought of her father the girl began to cry, however, before she could shed her first tear she felt a sharp pain in her throat, and suddenly she felt warm. It was dark once more then she opened her eyes and she could she everyone who was sacrificed before her. The girl had made her choice, she chose herself.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard 02/29/2016

After watching "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" and hearing something that our professor said, I've come to the conclusion that this was literally the process of minor characters within the play "Hamlet" and their existence in the play, every scene jump being the moments in which they are not on stage for "Hamlet", and this explain why they can't remember what has happened to them. In "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" we get to see the play "Hamlet" through their eyes and their eyes only. Every time they are not on stage the world did not exist, and I feel like this plays on the concept of how we can never truly know about the lives of the people around us and the people we know when we are not around them. We go around with the subconscious thought that the world around us only exist because we see it. Another thing that comes to mind is how the characters talked at the end when they're about to be hung, they mention how they will get to do it all over again and how they would know better next time around, as if they knew that they were in a play, as if they knew that after they were hung they would just get back up, clean up their surrounding, and literally start the exact same journey again. It reminded me of the belief in reincarnation, that once you are dead that isn't the end, that once you are dead you will get another shot at life; however, usually when speaking of reincarnation you think of coming back as something or someone else. That was not the case with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, they spoke as though they would come back and they would come back exactly the same person. I feel like that was a very interesting thing to have in there, as well as the addition of the coin toss at the very beginning of the play and how they continually flip the coin and it lands on heads over a hundred times. Something that is virtually impossible in reality and yet it is happening to them, and no matter how many times they toss the coin in the air to try and get tails it still lands on heads, and this creates the illusion that we have no choice in the path we take like everything is planned out for us, the path is laid out for us.

"Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid 02/29/2016

In the short story "Girl" we see the relationship between mother and daughter, and the role in society that has been forced on the young girl as her mother tells her how to cook and clean and sew. As I was not present for class on the day we presented and discussed this I do not know what the views of my fellow peers are toward this story, however, I hope they fall along the lines as I feel about this in terms of this not being the proper way in which a young girl should be raised or anyone for that matter. While growing my parents did not truly teach me right from wrong much less what place in society I have. I am the middle child in my family, I have an older sister and a younger brother, and while yes we were treated differently but it was never because of our gender. We were treated differently because of our age, which within a group of children can become sometimes an even more detrimental thing in the development of their youth. However, this is not the case in some families, there are families who do indeed treat their children differently based on gender, that which is a ridiculous thing of the past that has continuously haunted on our present and I fear will continue in our future unless people come to realize that a person's value does not come from what genitalia they have or the sexuality they are.

The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson (2014) 02/08/2016

The film by Wes Anderson is a beautiful movie, with great usage of color, music, and brilliant actors. The movie itself takes place as a flashback of a flashback. The way in which each character works is what really makes the movie, he makes each character feel so real and they are what make the movie for me. It holds a treasure within its story, the way it communicates the way in which humanity works is unique in its own way. To say whether it is important or not is not something one person can do. It is importance on a personal level; it changes from person to person. For a person who is more in touch with their emotions, it is probably more important than it would be to someone who has this one track mind and isn't in touch with their emotions. When watching a movie by Wes Anderson you have to go in with an open mindset, if not you lose all the beauty that is happening. What makes a good story, whether it be a book, movie, video games, etc., it's the story! The magic is in the story, not the effects. I don't need big fancy effects and loud explosions and fancy cars, this doesn't make an important movie; it makes for a "cool" one. But The Grand Budapest Hotel is all about the story, the characters, and the emotion. They are meant to be an emotional journey filled with nostalgia. They take on this view of humanity that is not usually seen in movies now of days, it holds this sort of innocence while still not ignoring the small evils in the world. They are in their own world and that's a beauty in themselves.