I think a lot of people in our class (including me) assumed this would be an easy A. and wow, it's not. I sort of wish I had written more on the blog and paid attention to when I had to do my blog summary because just that one low grade from doing it a couple weeks late dropped my average by quite a bit. Well here I am writing more on the blog. maybe I should post like 10 posts tonight and catch up to the people with 20-something posts. I don't think that would help, but oh well. I'm sort of glad it's not just a class where everyone gets an A, I never liked commie classes like that when it doesn't matter what you do, all I wish is that I had done more.
and in case you were concerned for me, my neighbor moved his sub to the other side of the room so now it blasts more into the room on the other side of his. One can still hear it from the other end of the hall...but it made a difference to me. :)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
what makes music pleasant?
It is definitely not having 50 speakers that blast the baseline of your r&b music into your neighbors room through the wall because half of the speakers and the 2 subs are placed conveniently right next to her desk, separated only by a thin wall.
Do I sound peeved?? because I am. I don't understand how people think making music much louder and making the base vibrate the entire floor makes music any more enjoyable. My neighbors just brought back with them from home last night more speakers, and now I think they have more speakers than I have post-it notes, and trust me I use a lot of post-it notes.
Isn't music supposed to be pleasant? enjoyable? I understand sometimes having the need to turn up music loudly and rock out or get your emotions out. but not at the expense of studying neighbors. or sleeping neighbors. or neighbors in general. does increasing dB's really help much though when trying to enjoy music? I may be biased, I like original baselines in rock music instead of just incessant booming, and I much prefer folk or punk or rock or oldies to pop, rap or r&b. but even if I did like whatever music is being listened to in my neighbors room at this moment, I can't tell what it is, I just hear what could be mistaken for a very nearby thunderstorm.
*SIghhhhhhhhh....*
Do I sound peeved?? because I am. I don't understand how people think making music much louder and making the base vibrate the entire floor makes music any more enjoyable. My neighbors just brought back with them from home last night more speakers, and now I think they have more speakers than I have post-it notes, and trust me I use a lot of post-it notes.
Isn't music supposed to be pleasant? enjoyable? I understand sometimes having the need to turn up music loudly and rock out or get your emotions out. but not at the expense of studying neighbors. or sleeping neighbors. or neighbors in general. does increasing dB's really help much though when trying to enjoy music? I may be biased, I like original baselines in rock music instead of just incessant booming, and I much prefer folk or punk or rock or oldies to pop, rap or r&b. but even if I did like whatever music is being listened to in my neighbors room at this moment, I can't tell what it is, I just hear what could be mistaken for a very nearby thunderstorm.
*SIghhhhhhhhh....*
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
FYS
I really liked the idea we discussed in class of a current events class. I feel like most freshman don't read or watch the news and being in Morris like Kat said is like being on an island. So if freshman aren't in the habit of reading the news, then they probably continue to be uninformed through the rest of college...but with a current events class I think people would get in the habit and be informed throughout their college career.
Doing the FYS like this would solve the problem of nonuniformity too...people would all have similar discussions and the topics would be something that most professors would feel comfortable teaching.
I say...bring it up at the planning meeting. I think it would be a positive change.
Doing the FYS like this would solve the problem of nonuniformity too...people would all have similar discussions and the topics would be something that most professors would feel comfortable teaching.
I say...bring it up at the planning meeting. I think it would be a positive change.
Monday, November 27, 2006
School of Americas
This deserves a second post.
This past weekend (Thursday-Monday) I went on a trip to Ft. Benning, Georgia to go to protest the School of Americas. It was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. For those of you who don't know, the School of Americas is a military combat training facility to train the latin american military. (www.soaw.org is a helpful website) The school trains Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics, and thousands of civilians, union leaders, religious workers and students in Latin America have been murdered, tortured, raped and assassinated by soldiers trained at the school. I went to the protest with a bus from CSB/SJU.
Music and dancing was a huge part of the protest. On Sunday there was a funeral procession for the people who have been killed. Every one of the 22,000 people at the protest held a white cross with the name of a person killed by the soldiers, and people on stage sang the names of just some of the people killed more recently. After each name (and sometimes age), the thousands of people in the crowd sang, "Presente" It was incredibly moving to hear the names. "Eugina Claros seventeen years old" and "Eduardo Alvarez, 76 years old" and "unnamed child of Domingo Parez, two days old." After the procession a parade of drummers and puppetismos came and everyone danced to celebrate life.
Another moving experience was on Sunday morning when people came and gave facts and testimonies about killings going on, and after each testimony the crowd sang, "No mas! no more! we must stop this dirty war, companeros companeros, we cry out, no mas no more!"
Most of Saturday was simply singing and dancing, but there were also speakers who gave first hand testimonies. Many people had witnessed their families being killed or raped or both. a lot of the songs were very folky, and quite a few were in spanish.
Here are a few pictures from the whole thing, if you'd like to see more go on my facebook (this is Christina Newman by the way) and I have an album called SOA watch.
some of the music going on at the SOA (a lot of old ex-hippies sang at their own booths or in front of trailers)
during the funeral procession everyone walked toward the fence of the SOA and hung their crosses on. This is at the very beginning, but after 22,000 crosses, you can imagine what the fence looked like- the entire thing was so covered in crosses you couldn't see the fence hardly.
dancing! some of the people I went with from CSB/SJU (and my friend Cass from here)
During the funeral procession, everyone raising their crosses and singing "Presente"
The first day during the Puppetismas, people singing "Viva! Life! Viva! Life!"
This past weekend (Thursday-Monday) I went on a trip to Ft. Benning, Georgia to go to protest the School of Americas. It was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. For those of you who don't know, the School of Americas is a military combat training facility to train the latin american military. (www.soaw.org is a helpful website) The school trains Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics, and thousands of civilians, union leaders, religious workers and students in Latin America have been murdered, tortured, raped and assassinated by soldiers trained at the school. I went to the protest with a bus from CSB/SJU.
Music and dancing was a huge part of the protest. On Sunday there was a funeral procession for the people who have been killed. Every one of the 22,000 people at the protest held a white cross with the name of a person killed by the soldiers, and people on stage sang the names of just some of the people killed more recently. After each name (and sometimes age), the thousands of people in the crowd sang, "Presente" It was incredibly moving to hear the names. "Eugina Claros seventeen years old" and "Eduardo Alvarez, 76 years old" and "unnamed child of Domingo Parez, two days old." After the procession a parade of drummers and puppetismos came and everyone danced to celebrate life.
Another moving experience was on Sunday morning when people came and gave facts and testimonies about killings going on, and after each testimony the crowd sang, "No mas! no more! we must stop this dirty war, companeros companeros, we cry out, no mas no more!"
Most of Saturday was simply singing and dancing, but there were also speakers who gave first hand testimonies. Many people had witnessed their families being killed or raped or both. a lot of the songs were very folky, and quite a few were in spanish.
Here are a few pictures from the whole thing, if you'd like to see more go on my facebook (this is Christina Newman by the way) and I have an album called SOA watch.
some of the music going on at the SOA (a lot of old ex-hippies sang at their own booths or in front of trailers)
during the funeral procession everyone walked toward the fence of the SOA and hung their crosses on. This is at the very beginning, but after 22,000 crosses, you can imagine what the fence looked like- the entire thing was so covered in crosses you couldn't see the fence hardly.
dancing! some of the people I went with from CSB/SJU (and my friend Cass from here)
During the funeral procession, everyone raising their crosses and singing "Presente"
The first day during the Puppetismas, people singing "Viva! Life! Viva! Life!"
month late blog summary. ooooops.
Somehow I thought my blog discussion was at the end of November, but it turns out I missed it...oops. I'm really sorry about my lack of blogging in general. :( I'm not at all used to doing blogging like this and it never occurs to me just to go write a post unless it's an assignment...and unfortunately I missed the one big assignment I had. I went back and looked at all the blogs between November 7th and the 13th and there was only one, by Jweb. Apparently more people than just myself are having troubles blogging regularly. I'm not sure what to sum up so since I missed so much, I'll sum up the 14th-present.
Many people blogged on the gospel music list, several saying it was easy listening and others saying it was hard. One person mentioned that they expected the gospel music to be uplifting, but quite contrary it was rather depressing and dismal. People commented mostly on how the songs were sung (many a capella, large choirs, cool rhythms, etc.) Several people mentioned the sermons. Liz said that the preacher was passionate and broke into song at times which sounded like a positive remark, while others seemed to think that his style was annoying and hard to listen to. in another blog, Liz asked the question does he really feel passionate about what he's preaching or is he just doing that to get audience approval? Good question I thought. Overall, people seemed to like the gospel listenings.
Little Red Rabbit observed that most people don't blog much at all (including me). I think a blog is a sort of hard way to do a class...it's natural for some people to blog and not for others.
Stephanie finally got the folkways chapter 4 to work, Go Stephanie!
Kelsey said she went to swing club (she did, I was there!) with Dan and she enjoyed it. I'm glad she went, and I hope more people go...except now it's kind of late to still learn for the Jamboree. Still, I think everyone should check it out.
Kat also mentioned seeing the Decemberists in concert and going to the movie The Fountain, and someone else mentioned going to see the RHCP. cool beans.
Since I haven't blogged much on my own I'll do a little more than just the summary.
I've felt sort of frustrated with the jamboree. I feel like I have responsibility since only mary beth and I know how to swing dance, and yet I don't have any more power than anyone else in the class. I feel expected to teach everyone how to dance, but I'm not really in charge of the class. I didn't thinmk we had really talked about swing dancing for the jamboree except that everyone liked my presentation with mary beth at the last minute so suddenly we were doing swing dancing instead of a movie. I will be glad to have the jamboree over with.
Sorry again that this is so late in coming...have a good day, all
Many people blogged on the gospel music list, several saying it was easy listening and others saying it was hard. One person mentioned that they expected the gospel music to be uplifting, but quite contrary it was rather depressing and dismal. People commented mostly on how the songs were sung (many a capella, large choirs, cool rhythms, etc.) Several people mentioned the sermons. Liz said that the preacher was passionate and broke into song at times which sounded like a positive remark, while others seemed to think that his style was annoying and hard to listen to. in another blog, Liz asked the question does he really feel passionate about what he's preaching or is he just doing that to get audience approval? Good question I thought. Overall, people seemed to like the gospel listenings.
Little Red Rabbit observed that most people don't blog much at all (including me). I think a blog is a sort of hard way to do a class...it's natural for some people to blog and not for others.
Stephanie finally got the folkways chapter 4 to work, Go Stephanie!
Kelsey said she went to swing club (she did, I was there!) with Dan and she enjoyed it. I'm glad she went, and I hope more people go...except now it's kind of late to still learn for the Jamboree. Still, I think everyone should check it out.
Kat also mentioned seeing the Decemberists in concert and going to the movie The Fountain, and someone else mentioned going to see the RHCP. cool beans.
Since I haven't blogged much on my own I'll do a little more than just the summary.
I've felt sort of frustrated with the jamboree. I feel like I have responsibility since only mary beth and I know how to swing dance, and yet I don't have any more power than anyone else in the class. I feel expected to teach everyone how to dance, but I'm not really in charge of the class. I didn't thinmk we had really talked about swing dancing for the jamboree except that everyone liked my presentation with mary beth at the last minute so suddenly we were doing swing dancing instead of a movie. I will be glad to have the jamboree over with.
Sorry again that this is so late in coming...have a good day, all
Thursday, October 26, 2006
swing dancing presentation
I hope everyone enjoyed my presentation with Mary Beth on swing dancing...I had a ton of fun, and am glad Zach was able to come in and help out. thanks so much for participating, everyone, i was really nervous that no one would want to dance and I don't know what I would have done. so...feedback would be nice. if you missed it or are in the afternoon session...sorry I think you really missed out!
episodes 4 and 5
I couldn't get episodes 4 and 5 to play at all. it stopped after the introduction every time...so I listened to that for a long time, over and over again and hoped that would suffice.
I'll try again on my roommates computer if i can later
I'll try again on my roommates computer if i can later
Episode 3
A few thoughts on my favorite parts of the folkway episode 3
I loved listening to all of the different types of music that folkway produced. for example, the difference between Goodnight Irene by Leadbelly and the Motown Rag to Pete Seeger and the childrens songs in spanish.
I loved the poem by Nikki Geovani (sp?)
"The women gather because it is not unusual to seek comfort in our hours of stress
a man must be buried. it is not unusual that old bury the young, though it is an abomination.
it is not strange that the unwise and the ungentle carry the banner of humaneness though it is a castration of the spirit.
it no longer shadows the intellect that those who make war call themselves diplomats
we are no longer surprised that the unfaithful pray loudest every sunday in every church..."
I would put more but its really hard to write what she's saying because I had to pause after every line and its hard to move backwards very precisely. I could probably write a whole blog just on that poem and what I thought of it...I'll just say the line about the unfaithful praying the loudest is often so true.
I loved the song What Side are You On? by the almanac singers. I grew up listening to Pete Seeger as a kid and still do sometimes, so I recognized his voice. the song sort of reminded me of Bob Dylan's "you've gotta serve somebody"
I also liked the Ella Jenkins song lyric "you can travel in a song" which is so true. songs are often a way for me to sort of escape from reality and travel in my mind to somewhere else.
I didn't know Bob Dylan went under the name Blind Boy Grunt. the name fits his voice well!
I loved listening to all of the different types of music that folkway produced. for example, the difference between Goodnight Irene by Leadbelly and the Motown Rag to Pete Seeger and the childrens songs in spanish.
I loved the poem by Nikki Geovani (sp?)
"The women gather because it is not unusual to seek comfort in our hours of stress
a man must be buried. it is not unusual that old bury the young, though it is an abomination.
it is not strange that the unwise and the ungentle carry the banner of humaneness though it is a castration of the spirit.
it no longer shadows the intellect that those who make war call themselves diplomats
we are no longer surprised that the unfaithful pray loudest every sunday in every church..."
I would put more but its really hard to write what she's saying because I had to pause after every line and its hard to move backwards very precisely. I could probably write a whole blog just on that poem and what I thought of it...I'll just say the line about the unfaithful praying the loudest is often so true.
I loved the song What Side are You On? by the almanac singers. I grew up listening to Pete Seeger as a kid and still do sometimes, so I recognized his voice. the song sort of reminded me of Bob Dylan's "you've gotta serve somebody"
I also liked the Ella Jenkins song lyric "you can travel in a song" which is so true. songs are often a way for me to sort of escape from reality and travel in my mind to somewhere else.
I didn't know Bob Dylan went under the name Blind Boy Grunt. the name fits his voice well!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Jamming the jamboree
Sorry about the lack of posts on my part...like most people I've been really busy with midterms and papers the last couple weeks but it looks like things are finally settling down...a little bit.
I liked the idea we had of doing a Mockumentary on a junk band and then performing as the same band. it would be kind of like A Mighty Wind i think...we could play the video in Oyate and then point people to the performance in Edson. Not everyone would ahve to be in the band I don't think, some people could be other characters in the mockumentary or be doing filming/editing and hang out in Oyate during the Jamboree. The basic plot of the mockumentary would probably be about a junk band or hillbilly band and how they're performing in Edson. we could also have a couple smaller junk bands who would take turns performing, which might be a little less chaotic.
Anywho...I'll try to post more soon and much more often than I have before.
I liked the idea we had of doing a Mockumentary on a junk band and then performing as the same band. it would be kind of like A Mighty Wind i think...we could play the video in Oyate and then point people to the performance in Edson. Not everyone would ahve to be in the band I don't think, some people could be other characters in the mockumentary or be doing filming/editing and hang out in Oyate during the Jamboree. The basic plot of the mockumentary would probably be about a junk band or hillbilly band and how they're performing in Edson. we could also have a couple smaller junk bands who would take turns performing, which might be a little less chaotic.
Anywho...I'll try to post more soon and much more often than I have before.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
my song of choice
Well, I must admit, I completely forgot to blog on what song I'm going to research and write about. So, better late than never I suppose. I'm planning on "Man of Constant Sorrow" by many artists, including Bob Dylan, the Stanley Brothers and the fictitious Soggy Bottom Boys in O Brother Where Art Thou.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Performance options
Well I had two ideas for my performance/presentation.
Option 1: we all go to the HFA and I play a song on the piano...the only instrument I have any skills with. I'm not sure if that would be allowed? But it could be fun!
Option 2: I teach everyone some swing dancing skills I've learned at swing club. this could be fun too, although it could be difficult as I am one person, but I think I could work it out. Everyone would need to participate I think. I would bring in some swing dancing music and we would have good times.
Any opinions?
Option 1: we all go to the HFA and I play a song on the piano...the only instrument I have any skills with. I'm not sure if that would be allowed? But it could be fun!
Option 2: I teach everyone some swing dancing skills I've learned at swing club. this could be fun too, although it could be difficult as I am one person, but I think I could work it out. Everyone would need to participate I think. I would bring in some swing dancing music and we would have good times.
Any opinions?
Friday, September 15, 2006
Discussion Summary
The discussion thus far has been to my satisfaction! Most days everyone seemed to contribute to the discussion, and we've gotten on some pretty hot topics. Some people speak more than others, naturally, but I'd say that's always expected. On a few occasions I noticed that peoples arguments seemed a bit competetive, as if the purpose of discussion is to convert everyone to one's own viewpoint. I think that the purpose of a discussion is to think about all possible sides of something without any ulterior motive (e.g. they shall ALL believe ME! bwa haha!) I find it a bit sad when people see discussions as arguments and competitions and would rather put down other people's thoughts than share their own. I've only noticed this a few times, and none this week.
On Tuesday we spent most of the time talking about the pros and cons of Pandora. We discussed how, to best control the songs played, one should put in an artist rather than a song. Pandora has a tendency to avoid playing the entered songs. We also determined that saying 'I like it!" after hearing a song could be a bad thing, as Pandora will avoid other genres to play more like said song.
We also discussed rotating schedules of summaries of blog posts, summaries of discussions, and presentations coming up in October. The first person to summarize blog posts will be Kat, the first to summarize discussions will be myself, Christina, and the first to present will be Machelle. The schedule will rotate so that everyone has a time to do all three. We talked about the nature of presentations, and Nic McPhee himself gave an astounding harmonica preformance! We all applauded him.
On Thursday we were asked to discuss the book, and Kelsey said how it was sad that the slave owners took away the slave's instruments. We discussed why that would be, whether they thought they would escape using the drums/loud instruments or if they were simply afraid of their culture. Nic asked if there were any other instances in history where a similar thing happened, with people taking away meaningful parts of certain cultures. We mentioned the Native American culture, and among other things how we brought them to boarding schools and made them talk and dress like the western culture. We talked about how big groups are comfortable with "sameness" and feel threatened by people who do not fit our mold. Other examples brought up were dress code issues (long hair, colored hair, piercings, tattoos), attempting to give Iraq a democracy and peer pressure to dress and act like the crowd. The discussion was lively and most people seemed to be in agreeance that trying to change others to feel more comfortable is unnecessary.
On Tuesday we spent most of the time talking about the pros and cons of Pandora. We discussed how, to best control the songs played, one should put in an artist rather than a song. Pandora has a tendency to avoid playing the entered songs. We also determined that saying 'I like it!" after hearing a song could be a bad thing, as Pandora will avoid other genres to play more like said song.
We also discussed rotating schedules of summaries of blog posts, summaries of discussions, and presentations coming up in October. The first person to summarize blog posts will be Kat, the first to summarize discussions will be myself, Christina, and the first to present will be Machelle. The schedule will rotate so that everyone has a time to do all three. We talked about the nature of presentations, and Nic McPhee himself gave an astounding harmonica preformance! We all applauded him.
On Thursday we were asked to discuss the book, and Kelsey said how it was sad that the slave owners took away the slave's instruments. We discussed why that would be, whether they thought they would escape using the drums/loud instruments or if they were simply afraid of their culture. Nic asked if there were any other instances in history where a similar thing happened, with people taking away meaningful parts of certain cultures. We mentioned the Native American culture, and among other things how we brought them to boarding schools and made them talk and dress like the western culture. We talked about how big groups are comfortable with "sameness" and feel threatened by people who do not fit our mold. Other examples brought up were dress code issues (long hair, colored hair, piercings, tattoos), attempting to give Iraq a democracy and peer pressure to dress and act like the crowd. The discussion was lively and most people seemed to be in agreeance that trying to change others to feel more comfortable is unnecessary.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
life isn't fair
I agree with Governor Blanco's statement that life isn't fair, at least not fair as we know it, and life on earth
My mom mentors a 6 year old girl, Christiana, through the Mentor Duluth program, and stared last spring, when Christiana was 5. Christiana's dad had died 3 years ago and her mom, Nancybeth, suffered from severe multiple sclerosis, and was unable to use the right half of her body. there were 5 kids in the family and nancybeth raised them from her bedroom as she was unable to get out of bed without the help of her oldest son. soon after we met through the mentor program I began working for Nancybeth after school twice a week doing laundry, housework and cooking, or whatever was needed.
the family lived in a split-level house which was completely wheelchair-unacccessible. nancybeth worked on plans for the building of a new house to move into that was handicap accessible, and earlier this year the hosue was finished and the family moved in. if life is fair, then I don't know what fair means i guess. this summer Nancybeth died unexpectedly from a heart attack. the 5 kids have lost both of their parents now, and had to move to the twin cities with their aunt, thus losing their house and all of their friends.
Life for this family is certainly not fair and to say otherwise seems to be saying that there is something that they did to deserve such misfortune. back to my first statement...I believe that God will bring everything to justice, and that while our life on earth is less than fair, once we die everything will be fair again.
My mom mentors a 6 year old girl, Christiana, through the Mentor Duluth program, and stared last spring, when Christiana was 5. Christiana's dad had died 3 years ago and her mom, Nancybeth, suffered from severe multiple sclerosis, and was unable to use the right half of her body. there were 5 kids in the family and nancybeth raised them from her bedroom as she was unable to get out of bed without the help of her oldest son. soon after we met through the mentor program I began working for Nancybeth after school twice a week doing laundry, housework and cooking, or whatever was needed.
the family lived in a split-level house which was completely wheelchair-unacccessible. nancybeth worked on plans for the building of a new house to move into that was handicap accessible, and earlier this year the hosue was finished and the family moved in. if life is fair, then I don't know what fair means i guess. this summer Nancybeth died unexpectedly from a heart attack. the 5 kids have lost both of their parents now, and had to move to the twin cities with their aunt, thus losing their house and all of their friends.
Life for this family is certainly not fair and to say otherwise seems to be saying that there is something that they did to deserve such misfortune. back to my first statement...I believe that God will bring everything to justice, and that while our life on earth is less than fair, once we die everything will be fair again.
stereotypes galore
Re: Governor Blanco's statements about stereotypes
I have found that in trying to make an issue about stopping stereotypes, only more stereotypes are made or confirmed. I agree with her that in order to stop the stereotypes we personally have to have expectations about people based on their age, gender, race, etc. However, I think some people take that too far...they want to banish anything dealing with stereotypes. For example, in the book Language Police by Diane Ravitch, there is a list of stereotypes that are not allowed in texts, illustrations or reading passages on standardized tests and text books. here are a few examples (by the way, these are just a few of the many stereotypes listed, and mostly ones i find ridiculous) :
gender specific stereotypes to avoid:
•Mothers comforting children, giving sympathy, hugs, kisses, or hot milk at bedtime
•Mothers shopping
•Boys as intelligent, logical, mechanical, strong, rough, competetive, active, brave, problem solvers, adventurous leaders, messy, unoncerned with appearance, quiet and easygoing, confident, career-oriented, or concerned with achievement
race specific stereotypes to avoid:
•American Indians as craftspeople
•Native Americans living in rural settings or reservations
•Native Americans portrayed as "close to nature"
•Asian Americans as intelligent, musically gifted or class valedictorian
•Hispanics as warm and expressive
•Jewish people as jewelers, doctors, dentists, lawyers, classical musicians, tailors, shopkeepers or diamond cutters
age specific stereotypes to avoid:
•Older people as funny or charming
•Older people as retired, at the end of their career, have lived the most fruitful years of their lives or are engaged in a life of leisure activities
•Older persons who suffer from physical deterioration
•Children as healthy and energetic
My question is...how does this help? By avoiding such issues in tests, arent we just pointing them out? I mean, how should mothers be portrayed? As beating their children before bed? as cold and uncaring? How should boys be shown? apparently there's not much left for them but to be stupid and exessively neat as far as I can tell. And why shouldn't Native Americans be shown being close to nature? should we show them littering? surely not all Native Americans are living on reservations, but to make a point of avoiding the subject, what good is that doing?
The truth is, stereotypes are a generalization of all people based on a large number of people who fit a certain profile. by avoiding a certain image, we're really noting it as legitimate. we're focusing on the problem instead of the solution. I'll take the example of older people suffering from physical deterioration. we all know that many older people do, indeed, suffer from physical deterioration. by an organization making a point of avoiding this image, they're treating it as a negative thing to suffer from physical deterioration (which it is in a physical sense, but not otherwise). they're pointing out that older people are suffering by making a concrete rule not to portray any elderly people as anything but healthy.
i think getting rid of stereotypes is nearly impossible, honestly. they've been around forever and will probably always exist. i think that personal decisions are the only things that will affect stereotypes, government interference will only cause problems
I have found that in trying to make an issue about stopping stereotypes, only more stereotypes are made or confirmed. I agree with her that in order to stop the stereotypes we personally have to have expectations about people based on their age, gender, race, etc. However, I think some people take that too far...they want to banish anything dealing with stereotypes. For example, in the book Language Police by Diane Ravitch, there is a list of stereotypes that are not allowed in texts, illustrations or reading passages on standardized tests and text books. here are a few examples (by the way, these are just a few of the many stereotypes listed, and mostly ones i find ridiculous) :
gender specific stereotypes to avoid:
•Mothers comforting children, giving sympathy, hugs, kisses, or hot milk at bedtime
•Mothers shopping
•Boys as intelligent, logical, mechanical, strong, rough, competetive, active, brave, problem solvers, adventurous leaders, messy, unoncerned with appearance, quiet and easygoing, confident, career-oriented, or concerned with achievement
race specific stereotypes to avoid:
•American Indians as craftspeople
•Native Americans living in rural settings or reservations
•Native Americans portrayed as "close to nature"
•Asian Americans as intelligent, musically gifted or class valedictorian
•Hispanics as warm and expressive
•Jewish people as jewelers, doctors, dentists, lawyers, classical musicians, tailors, shopkeepers or diamond cutters
age specific stereotypes to avoid:
•Older people as funny or charming
•Older people as retired, at the end of their career, have lived the most fruitful years of their lives or are engaged in a life of leisure activities
•Older persons who suffer from physical deterioration
•Children as healthy and energetic
My question is...how does this help? By avoiding such issues in tests, arent we just pointing them out? I mean, how should mothers be portrayed? As beating their children before bed? as cold and uncaring? How should boys be shown? apparently there's not much left for them but to be stupid and exessively neat as far as I can tell. And why shouldn't Native Americans be shown being close to nature? should we show them littering? surely not all Native Americans are living on reservations, but to make a point of avoiding the subject, what good is that doing?
The truth is, stereotypes are a generalization of all people based on a large number of people who fit a certain profile. by avoiding a certain image, we're really noting it as legitimate. we're focusing on the problem instead of the solution. I'll take the example of older people suffering from physical deterioration. we all know that many older people do, indeed, suffer from physical deterioration. by an organization making a point of avoiding this image, they're treating it as a negative thing to suffer from physical deterioration (which it is in a physical sense, but not otherwise). they're pointing out that older people are suffering by making a concrete rule not to portray any elderly people as anything but healthy.
i think getting rid of stereotypes is nearly impossible, honestly. they've been around forever and will probably always exist. i think that personal decisions are the only things that will affect stereotypes, government interference will only cause problems
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Roots Music!
**Why did I sign up for FYS? I have always been interested in music, and my family listens to a lot of folk and bluegrass. My parents play harmonica, and my grandpa plays accordian and the saw. I love music and thought this would be a great FYS to take.
**If I could take 5 pieces of music...Hmmmm. My favorite songs always change from week to week. I'm not sure if I could ever pick just five! I would probably pick:
Joni Mitchell's "River" (my thoughtful song)
Ben Folds' "The Luckiest" (my love song)
Johnny Cash and June Carter's " 'Cause I love You" (my happy song)
Chris Tomlin's "How Great is Our God" (my worship song)
The Used's "Taste of Ink" (my angry song)
**Music of the older generations...it's hard to say My grandma always loved listening to Johnny Cash and it always cheered her up, but my mom, my brother and I all also listen to Johnny Cash. He might be the kind of music that all generations can listen to. My dad listens to all of the classics...Beetoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and of course, Bob Dylan. I guess I'll just say, my grandpa listens to Frank Yankovic the polka king, and my parents generation listens to Johnny Cash, Dylan and the Beatles.
**I'm not worthy of such a decision! Honestly, I'm not all that patriotic. I feel I would not be in the position to choose a patriotic song for a country to which I feel little attachment. Since this is a completey hypothetical situation and would never happen anyway, I will pick American Idiot by Green Day. That would at least make people think about our country a little less blindly
**I have played piano since I was 6 and took lessons from 6 to 12. I still play for fun on occasion, although my sight reading skills have dropped considerably. I played in competitions and took a 3rd place metal in a state piano competition. I like to play some classical, some Ben Folds, Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. My favorite song to play is Edelweiss Glide by F.E. Vanderbeck because my grandma played it when she was young
**I would ask Ms. Blanco if anything positive came from Hurricane Katrina and what that was.
**If I could take 5 pieces of music...Hmmmm. My favorite songs always change from week to week. I'm not sure if I could ever pick just five! I would probably pick:
Joni Mitchell's "River" (my thoughtful song)
Ben Folds' "The Luckiest" (my love song)
Johnny Cash and June Carter's " 'Cause I love You" (my happy song)
Chris Tomlin's "How Great is Our God" (my worship song)
The Used's "Taste of Ink" (my angry song)
**Music of the older generations...it's hard to say My grandma always loved listening to Johnny Cash and it always cheered her up, but my mom, my brother and I all also listen to Johnny Cash. He might be the kind of music that all generations can listen to. My dad listens to all of the classics...Beetoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and of course, Bob Dylan. I guess I'll just say, my grandpa listens to Frank Yankovic the polka king, and my parents generation listens to Johnny Cash, Dylan and the Beatles.
**I'm not worthy of such a decision! Honestly, I'm not all that patriotic. I feel I would not be in the position to choose a patriotic song for a country to which I feel little attachment. Since this is a completey hypothetical situation and would never happen anyway, I will pick American Idiot by Green Day. That would at least make people think about our country a little less blindly
**I have played piano since I was 6 and took lessons from 6 to 12. I still play for fun on occasion, although my sight reading skills have dropped considerably. I played in competitions and took a 3rd place metal in a state piano competition. I like to play some classical, some Ben Folds, Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. My favorite song to play is Edelweiss Glide by F.E. Vanderbeck because my grandma played it when she was young
**I would ask Ms. Blanco if anything positive came from Hurricane Katrina and what that was.
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