Paper Topic

Who should pay on a date? This is certainly a loaded question, without a simple answer. If a man doesn't pay is he being cheap or respecting a woman's independance? In my paper I'll mediate between the point of veiw that a man should act like a "gentleman" and foot the bill and the veiwpoint that everything should be split 50/50.

For Persuasion, Page 509

Looks may be would draws someone to a potential sexual partner but when choosing someone with whom to spend a life, it is wise to ignore them. The life we imagine from when we are playing house as little girls usually includes a handsome husband. It seems though that Prince Charming may not give you the sort of life that you could get with his ugly stepbrother. Less attractive mates will most likely give you a more promising future with a more comfortable financial situation and a more secure relationship.

It is not a rule that very attractive individuals are less possesing of other important relationship attributes such as potential to achieve status or likliness to commit...but they probably are. This may seem harsh but face facts, good-looking people never have to work as hard to achieve recognition as unattractive people do. Therefore they may not have a chance to cultivate the ingenuity and work ethic that their less handsome counterparts do. Think of two most well known billionaires. Donald Trump and Bill Gates come to my mind first. They are hardly candidates for a modeling contract with Calvin Klein.

In addition to economic instability settling down with a handsome could lead to a rocky marriage. First a very attractive male is much more likely to be seduced by a passing female than an unnatttractive man. As marriages do tend to get dull, the tempatation to cheat mixed with frequent opportunities could spell doom for a relationship. Also it may be much tougher to get a good looking man to commit in the first place since they probably have sucsess in playing the field. In conclusion, when searching for for a one-night stand, feel free to let your eyes (and hormones) guide your decision, but when seeking domestic bliss be sure to look a little deeper!

My Favorite Songs

There are allot of songs that I love. My all time favorite though, at least at this particular moment; is Here Comes The Sun, by The Beatles. It always makes me feel better when I'm cranky and feel like I'm in a rut. Also when it comes up on my shuffle, whether I'm excersizing, or sad or going to sleep I never have to skip it. It's all- purpose! And the icing on the cake is it brings back good memories. Me and my dad used to listen to the beatles allot when I was little so it reminds me of him braiding my hair before ballet class and letting me have orange soda and cheezits for breakfast.

My 6 word Auto-biography

oops! spilled the milk again. sorry.

Persepolis

1. Satrapi certainly achieved her goal of relaying a tale of complex political alliances and takeovers of a tumoltuous country. The complex political events portrayed in the story would be hard for anyone to understand. The simple captions allong with the illustrations make it easier to keep straight. Above this though I believe the personal aspect of the story is portrayed brilliantly. She presents very serious subject matter in a very readable, refreshing way with funny touches of sarcastic humour. She does this without triavializing the material.Normally a story of growing up amidst violence and upheaval, and going from an innocent child with an active imagination, to losing faith in god would be miserable and depressing to read.

2. I love the black and white!! It goes with the simple child-like tone of the book. If the pictures were in color it would detract from the great, insightful language of the story. As they are they add just the right amount of eleboration to the caption.

3. I chose the picture where she is being cradled by god. This has emotional appeal. Even though she is a child with an adventurous spirit and wild imagination, she still craves the security of being held by comforting arms. God is portrayed as a kindly grandfather-like figure. He is almost completely white with long hair and a long white beard. His mouth isn't visable but his eyes are arranged in a comforting way. She is almost completely enveloped in his flowing white robe. I think this is similar to allot of children's vision of god. A kindly old man there with comfort and eternal wisdom when one feels confused or overwhelmed by the world They are against a completely black background. There is a bit of irony in the caption "yes you are celestial light" this seems to be poking fun at the self centered-ness of children. There is also a sweet sincerity though. He is affirming her faith. He tells her she is on the right path. Both figures in the picture are stationary. God is a rounded shape, which suggests that he is a benevolent figure. She is looking up at him with a worried, questioning expression. Also his protrayal as completely white could be representing her innocence despite the frightening things happening around her.

Strawberry Feilds

I love this clip! I liked the Beatle's song "Strawberry Fields" before. The images are so powerful! Strawberrys are such sweet innocent seeming things. It shows them instead as flaming bombs, and bleeding hearts. You can see the boy in the clip is SO distressed about the war. When he's pinning the strawberry's to the wall he almost seems manic. When the strawberrys are bleeding, to me it represents a loss of innocence. Also it represents the idea that sweet simple things will never be the same again.

Editorial Cartoons

This cartoon is referring to how much danger the world is in because of George W Bush. He portrays it as a ticking time bomb. Also the caption "The lunatics take over the asylum" speaks volumes about what the creator thinks of the "people". He refers to the public as asylum. I agree with what he's saying though. It seems like Bush IS doing allot of damage.

My most memorable image

I read the post secret blog every week. Some of them are sad, some are funny, and others are kind of gross. But it's interesting to read, and it gives you the feeling that everyone has secrets. Some are SO BIG, it's almost painful to read. Like this one, if someone found out about it, it could tear that whole family a part. It would also ruin that little girls sense of identity. And that one poor woman has to hold that big powerful peice of knowledge all to herself.

English Lab blog entry

So, being on my own is pretty tough. I mean technically I'm not really on my own. My parents pay for my tuition and housing and groceries. But still, this semester is a huge adjustment. Last semester I was only three hours away from my house. I could still go home whenever I wanted too. Also I had a meal plan so the whole cooking thing wasn't an issue. You never realize how much goes into laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning until you are doing it all yourself.
It's so crazy. In my apartment if I don't grocery shop then I don;t have any doritos to eat and if I don't do my laundry then I have smelly clothes. It's so easy to think all that stuff just GET'S DONE when you're at home. Instead of the fact that people have to exert allot of effort to keep the house running. Grocery shopping is a fine science. I mean they have so many things that you can buy that are ready made, just pop it in the oven. But little things like salt and stuff get forgotten. Either I buy way to much and things get yucky, or I run out of things. I feel like this stuff will eventually become routine and not be such a big deal. Then I can look back at this no salt/clean socks period and laugh. Let's hope that comes sooner rather than later.

Shakespeare post

Brutis speaks first, after he's killed Caesar. He starts off right away with pathos. He says that he was as good or better friends with ceaser than anyone in the audience. Then he goes into more emotional appeal. He uses the idea of freedom to stir the people's emotions. He states that killing Ceasar was neccasarry to freeing Rome. He also uses some logical appeal. He says that if they loved Rome basically, then none of them could be offended by him killing Ceasar. He finishes by saying that he is the new leader of Rome, and he thinks they should stab him, like he did with caesar, if he does them wrong. Before leaving Brutis reminds the crowd that Antony is speaking because he has allowed him too, implying that he will be a fair leader.
Then Antony speaks, he talks about Brutis being an honorable man, sarcastically. He discredits Brutis by saying if Caesar was ambitious then Brutis is as well. He uses emotional appeal when he says that Caesar cries with the poor. He tries to make the people feel guilty. He reminds them that they once loved Ceasar and thought he was good. He also uses a logical example,he says that Caesar denied the crown three times and therefor is not ambitious. Next he uses suspense with the reading of the will. He tells the people they will feel too bad he the will is read and the realize how much Caesar loved them. And finally Antony uses allot of emotional and ethical appeal to turn the crowd that was loyally supporting Brutis a few minutes before, against him.

English Lab 103 Entry 1

In the course of this lab for English 103, I expect you to explain to me why three walls in this classroom are painted mint green and one is painted raspberry. It reminds me of those big plastic buckets with the orange, green, and raspberry sherbet. It makes me hungry. Or maybe I was already hungry because this lab is at lunch time? Possibly, whoever made that executive decision was trying to inject a little bit of whimsy into the, sometimes mundane, world of academia? But I’m inclined to think that this was not the reason. Inquiring minds want to know.
I’m actually not completely serious about that but it would be nice. During a lab I hope to learn things about how to become a better writer. I also hope that the one hour a week is entertaining. And it would be wonderful if I could get a good grade. I don’t really have many specific expectations. The “sound track of your life” sounds like an interesting, creative assignment. I want to learn how to use technology better because it’s not among my stronger skills. I think that’s it.

103 Lab, assighnment 1

Truss, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"

"The consequences of mispunctuation (and re-punctuation) have appealed to both great and little minds"

I think this quote is a good example of Truss's tone throughout the section. She's uses a sort of sarcastic and condescending humour. She also seems sort of cynical about other people's interest in punctuation even though it seems to be a passion of hers.

Lakoff, "Language: The Power We Love to Hate"

"Culture, after all, is the construction of shared meaning."

I like this definition and it gives me allot to think about. not only is our american culture based on shared meaning but so is every little sub-culture. There are meanings that are shared only by people at Clemson University or jokes that only a chemistry major would get, or meanings that only someone who listened to a certain punk band would share. This idea appeals to me I think because I want to go into media. It's exciting to think that if I were to become a succsessful journalist I would be directly involved in constructing our at least informing people about or commenting upon shared meanings and therefore culture