Final Blog

I can't believe this is our final blog.  I am ready for the semester to be over and for summer to start, however it is sort of weird coming to the realization that this is the last time I will be typing for my blog.  I did not even know that our final blog was going to be this Friday's until one of my group members mentioned it in class on Thursday.  It just makes it, the end, seem even closer.

This has been one of my favorite classes that I have taken here at Shippensburg so far.  I really didn't think I was going to like or even enjoy enrolling in any literature class here.  I imagined myself being forced to read both books and articles that I probably would not understand nor be able to analyze.  I imagined a literature class where I would have to try my hardest to remember the specific little details in a book in order to do well on a quiz.  I am so grateful that this class turned out to be something totally different and way better than I had ever expected.

There were many times where I enjoyed coming to class because I was eager to find out what was going to be discussed in class and how our topic was going to be connected to modern day issues or to related media examples.  I always liked watching the video clip examples (from YouTube).  It made it easier to analyze and discuss both the books and topics that were raised in class.  I always like having examples of any subject matter that I am trying to learn about, especially the visual ones like videos as I recently said.  And overall they are just fun to watch!

I have learned a great deal of information in this class about issues that are affecting me and basically everyone else in ways that I have never thought about prior.  For instance, I really liked the nonfiction book that we read, Culture Jam, because it was quite intriguing reading about the specific ways, or shall I say techniques, that advertisers choose to use in order to "manipulate" us into purchasing and supporting their products.  It is kind of scary because I know that I was certainly unconscious of them.  It makes me uncomfortable to realize how far many advertisers will go just to sell.  Reading Culture Jam was an interesting reality check.  Now I think I'll be more skeptical when it comes to accepting any ad for what it is.  For some reason I always thought of a nonfiction book as being boring... but this book has for sure altered my opinion on that.

I know that I value this class and will hold on to the many discussions that were held in class.  It was nice to consistently be able to relate all of the texts to present issues.  Also, I liked the variety of examples from the media that were used and how all of the books were closely related to one another.  It was a learning experience to have the chance to see the different ways each of the authors have taken to share one common message.  This was a really neat class and I am glad I ended up in it!

blog #9 - No More Books?

A world without books would be absolutely boring.  Banning books would basically be like violating a person's freedom.  It is almost as if you would be telling a person to "stop thinking" if you told them that no more books were allowed to exist.

Although I'm not much of a reader, it still makes me pretty angry to think about the thought of not being able to have the freedom to pick up a book and read it.  Therefore, I would have to say that I would miss books very much if we were no longer allowed to read them.

I haven't started reading Fahrenheit 451 yet so I won't be making any connections to it, but while I was reading the prompt for our blog that's due it kind of reminded me of one of the books we read for class, 1984.  Taking books away from a society is basically like having a form of control over people's minds just as in 1984 with how the Thought Police controlled people's thoughts using fear and deadly consequences.  A world without books would be a world without expression. 

I think there are many ways in which we "burn books" today.  One of the ways we burn books has to do with how so many of them are made into movies just as discussed in class.  I think it is great how books can be translated into movies but I also think movies overshadow the original books.  I remember when I used to not know that most of the movies that came out were based off of books.  I used to think they were just "original" movies.  I think this is definitely proof of the fact of how we really are burning books.  I know that when I see a trailer for a movie I never stop to think about whether it was based off of a book or not, nor do even think about the author who may have come up with the story.  It's like all the hard work and creative ideas of an author are just thrown out the window when the movie of the book comes out.  I can only think of some movies where the author was indeed recognized for their work.

I think another way in which books are burned today is with the way they are not being advertised.  Maybe there are a lot of advertisements out there for books that I just don't know about, but I feel like you don't hear much about all of the new and different books that come out (unless you are a fan of a particular author or are subscribed to a newsletter that contains them).  I feel that if books were advertised more and to a larger audience in multiple ways, more people would read a lot more and have the urge to go buy the book and read it right away just like they may do with a car, clothes, or shoe advertisement.  I know it would definitely make me want to read more often if I saw many interesting advertisements of books on a daily or weekly basis.

blog 8 - The Hunger Games!

I actually really enjoyed reading the book The Hunger Games.  I have never read a book like it before and I probably would have never have read it on my own.  I am really glad we were assigned this book because it always made me want to keep going further into this unique story to find out what unanticipated events were going to occur.  I found it to be a really creative way to try to get a point across to readers.  Also, I liked how the ending was both an unusual and unexpected one that would practically impossible to guess.

The Hunger Games reminded me of one of the other books we read, Feed.  It sad how manipulative the leaders or "controllers" of a society can be and how effective they can be at it.  Like for example, in Feed "the feed" along with all of its advertisements managed to control the minds, thoughts, and in turn actions of most of the characters in the novel.  And in The Hunger Games the Capitol managed to as well take hold of the lives of the people in the remaining twelve districts.  It is hard to understand how the people in these societies eventually lose themselves and their individuality while in the process of adhering to their society's norms/rules.  But at the same time if those in charge have the power to control a basic need of the people, like food for those in need of it in The Hunger Games, how can one not do everything they are told if it means life or death? 

One of my favorite moments in the book was when Cato, Katniss, and Peeta were all on top of the cornucopia giving their all to try and avoid the wolf-like creatures that the Gamemakers created and released into the arena.  I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen.  I think my favorite character in the book would have to be Peeta because of how genuine he was all throughout the book.  He never let the Hunger Games get to him and continued to not be affected by the fact that just about everyone was watching him.



I couldn't think of anything that went along with The Hunger Games at first but then I thought of MTV's The Inferno.  I think this show relates to the book in a lot of ways.  Just like in the book, The Inferno is basically like an assortment of many physical challenges in which the contestants have to fight their way until the end.  There are also an equal amount of girls and guys in the show just in the book.  And as it was discussed in class the producers of the show represent the Gamemakers who just wait for bad things to happen.  I really like this intro of The Inferno II because towards the end of it it shows the intensity of the games with the fire and the lining up of the contestants.