Class Exercise: "Rom Coms"

          The greatest thing about romantic comedies is their tendency to stay true-to-life no matter how varying movie plots may be. Of all movie genres, romantic comedies have plots that are easiest to imagine to happen in real life. The quest of finding one’s soul mate is displayed and narrated onscreen. The ups and downs of relationships are explored. The build-up of feelings between the hero and the heroine is ever-present, and one will not help but imagine that these dreamy scenarios present in the plot of these romantic comedies happen in his or her life.

Reaction to "What I've Learned From Men"

            I found the essay to be quite interesting. The topic captured my attention right away, and I was immediately drawn to know more about the contents of the essay. I found it to be quite explicatory of the comparison of women and men. It certainly brought to light many issues that are relevant in the present.

            The author used a mix of formal and informal writing in the essay, which gave the text a touch of her personality. It was informal in a way that it seemed conversational. I could imagine the author actually saying the text to a peer. Also, it was formal enough to grasp the attention of the readers and properly underscore the topic’s importance.

            There were certain points in the essay, which I agreed with and opposed with. First, I agree with her point that there are women in society need to exert more power like men do. Society’s conditioning of women to be subservient beings is still intact and evident today. Also, women are treated inferior to men and are forced, in different circumstances, to act according to how men prefer women to act like: submissive, weak and reserved to the point that they hide all other emotions. However, I disagree with her opinion that many women are still like this. Through the times, women have become more independent in all aspects of their lives. I don’t agree with the author that women have to be curt to be heard. I think women should act the way they prefer to act like, without considering the judgment of those around them. We all have a voice, and it is up to us to determine how others hear us. It is not up to men or strong-opinioned feminists to tell a woman how to behave.

Reaction to "Sexism and Language"

The reading opened my eyes to the realities of sexism present in our language. I never realized how words have such charged connotations. There are expressions I have used several times in the past and others that I am very familiar with, however, the underlying context present in these words have not come to mind until reading this text.

I agree with the author’s comparison of connotations of words that relate to either men or women. For those that relate to men, words connote power. For those that relate to women, these words connote weakness and inferiority to the opposite sex. I also think that it is unfair for women to be perceived to be weak or to be described negatively through the use of animal names that degrade women.

I guess this has originated from the male-dominating society that has been present for generations. For years, men have been perceived as the stronger sex. They are the breadwinners of the community while women were mere objects and servants to the needs of men. Presently, however, I think that women are slowly being treated more equally with men as the value of human intellect progresses.

However, I do not think that gender biases will be completely eradicated. When one thinks about the current situation of both genders, both women and men have something to complain about regarding their sex and society’s treatment of them because of it. Women complain about biases in the work force. There are companies that tend to hire men over women. Women are more emotional. This is caused by hormonal changes as one goes along her menstrual cycle. This cannot be avoided but is still an unavoidable part of life. Women promote feminism but at the same time, complain that men are no longer chivalrous. There’s a fine line between chivalry and the double standard, in my opinion.

To conclude, I do think there are biases against women in language. However, there are biases against men as well. Both cannot be fully eliminated for both have lasted for many years. Also, for them to be eradicated from our language, the concepts they have been based upon must be taken out as well, and this is impossible since these bases are ingrained in the social, psychological and biological makeup of the members of society.

Reaction to "Happy Feet"

 I enjoyed the reading the text because it gave me insight into teen dance movies, a topic I personally have not looked into before. The text exhaustively discussed different aspects of teen dance movies. I used to think that these movies were complete fluff and were the kind one watches when no level of thinking wants to be used. I used to think that these movies just entertained their audiences with no intellectual context whatsoever. However, the text made me realize that my thoughts on these movies are all misconceptions.

           I thought it was very effective of the writer to discuss the themes of these movies that make them socially relevant. It was interesting to read an insight on these movies that go passed the froth, and delve into a deeper interpretation of details that most audiences overlook. The discussion of racial and socioeconomic discrimination within the context of these movies give a better understanding of how the movies we watch have underlying messages that can very much provide the audience with moral values. For example, the color of one’s skin does not determine one’s talents.

         I enjoyed the writer’s discussion of the psychological circumstances of the characters in these movies. I enjoyed how these characters’ bravery and perseverance were discussed. It subtly reminds audiences that the things that happen in movies are based on real life. Therefore, if the hero can change his life for the better, then so can the viewers.

 The reading provided excellent comparisons between teen dance movies. It gives readers a deeper insight on these movies that have been around for years, yet not a lot of people have focused on in terms of depth. Yes, other movies have much deeper social implications than teenage dilemmas, but these teen dance movies provide their audiences with moral lessons without skipping out on the entertainment and the varying displays of talent.

Reaction to "Out of Africa"

            I found the reading to be very descriptive. The story was so detailed that the reader can imagine the persona’s surroundings and truly feel what the persona felt. I also appreciated the amount of cultural reference the story had. The text had so many details that it was easy to understand how each tribe was different from another. I also appreciated the local color used in the text. The elements of the story were very vivid because of it.

             I also noted the persona’s sentiments towards the changes happening in Africa. From when he was first there, a more modern civilization started to develop over time. I guess this applies to all nations in the world. Foreigners come to a native land and influence it in many ways. The cultures blend together, people find ways to adapt to the changes occurring around them, and eventually, even the most backward community will be influenced by the ongoing modifications.

Homework: Seaside

             The floor creaked when I took one step forward. I continued to pace myself as the creaking continued with every step I took. I heard a whoosh of air and felt the chill of the wind, a feeling that strangely complements the stinging sensation from the sun’s rays against my skin. I went farther along, and the feeling of the ground underneath my feet changed. At the same time, the creaking stopped. I started to feel the warm, powdery sand in between my toes. The more I walked forward, the more the sand enveloped my feet. The smell of the air turned a bit salty. I could hear waves crashing on the shore. I walked further, and I felt the wind get stronger. The sound of the waves got louder as well. The sand underneath my feet started to feel moist. It became a lot colder, and it became tougher for my feet to sink in.

            I stopped walking and just stood still. The cool water rushed up to my feet and got pulled down where it came from. The water rushed up and down once again. As I felt the waves crash on my feet, the heat I felt from the sun would dissipate. The wetness the water left on my feet made the blows of wind feel colder against my skin. The temperature of the water on my feet made stimulated my entire body. The loud sound of the waves crashing on the shore blocked all other sounds from my hearing and brought me peace. The smell of the air was refreshing as if it was cleaning out my lungs. The feeling was relaxing. 

Homework: Penguin Persistence

            Somewhere in the cold Antarctic Ocean, over pure white ice caps that extend far and wide, a young penguin waddles side to side, walking away from its rookery. It walks closer to the ocean, becoming more and more susceptible to the orcas that can easily take it away and devour it. The penguin continues to waddle with its two short legs and small webbed feet into the open unknown with nothing but two flippers to defend itself. Slowly it walks, closer and closer to the ocean.

            The penguin continues to walk. Farther from the rookery it goes. An observer may start to question why. Penguins are social animals that live in large colonies, and these colonies take care of each other. Yet, this penguin chooses to leave the group it has come to know and risk his life questing on its own.

            The penguin’s journey continues. What seems like an eternity has passed and the penguin has yet to show its purpose for traversing such great distances. The rookery is no longer in sight. Finally, it stops waddling. In front of him is the edge of the ice cap and the infinitely extending ocean. The penguin looks around, searching for any of its predators. However, instead of diving into the ocean as an observer would expect, the penguin bends down, picks up a small, shiny and perfectly round pebble. The pebble seemed as if it had no flaws just like a perfectly cut diamond. It had ice crystals around it, which made it seem to be embraced in the glow of the sunlight. The penguin bends down and holds the pebble with its slim beak. It wobbles around to face its back and waddles forward.

The penguin makes his way back to the rookery with the pebble in its beak. It travels the exact icy path back to its home. Finally, penguins of its kind become visible from its viewpoint. The rookery was close by. The penguin stops waddling and puts the pebble down on the icy ground. It starts running through its feathers with its beak like a comb through hair. It picks up the pebble from the ground once again and starts waddling back to the rookery.

          The penguin finally reaches his colony. He waddles passed penguins of different sizes. He stops in front of one of them and puts down the pebble it so difficultly obtained on the ground in front of the other penguin. It was as if it was offering its diamond of a pebble to the other of its kind. As the pebble lies on the ground, the other penguin simply waddles away as if rejecting the offering.

            The penguin picked up the pebble it travelled so far to acquire and waddles away from the rookery once again just how a rejected suitor walks away from the object of his affection. The penguin travels again and repeats the same efforts in obtaining a pebble equally as beautiful as the first. Again, it travels back to the rookery, looking for another mate to offer its pebble to.

            Whether the penguin be rejected again or not, it still exerts the same effort in offering to a potential mate every time. The number of times it gets turned down does not affect its determination to try again, because a penguin’s reason for living is to mate for life.