Journal #10: Coming Full Circle

At the beginning of the semester, for your first journal post, I asked you to describe your relationship with writing. Please take a look at what you wrote at the beginning of the semester, and evaluate your relationship with writing now. Have any of your thoughts about writing changed, stayed the same? Please explain. Do you consider yourself a writer now? Why or why not?

Journal #9: The Future of Composing

What do you think the future of academic composing will look like? Will academic composing remain restricted to print, or will it move to online, digital spaces? Do you think digital composing via blogs, websites, videos, podcasts, etc. is as valued in academia as printed, MLA or APA formatted essays? Why or why not?

Journal #8: Exploring Difference

After reading "Glee and Social Change" by Alyssa Davis, try to recall an experience like Davis's when a TV show, movie, or real life interaction changed the way you think about some other individual, group, or social issue? What do you think was responsible for the change? Please explain.

Journal #7: Borderlands

After reading "Our Wall" by Charles Bowden, describe what the wall signifies for the people on the Mexican side of Naco versus what it signifies for people on the US side. How effective do you think it is to separate people by walls (for example, the Berlin Wall, the Israeli/Palestine Wall, the US/Mexico Wall)? Please explain your answer.

Journal #6: Some Thoughts on Technology

In her article, "Digital Demands: The Challenges of Constant Connectivity," Sherry Turkle argues that continual connectivity to technological devices has ruined peoples' abilities to "think complicated things," be still, and experience solitude. After reading Turkle's article, do you agree or disagree with her claims? Please explain your answer.

Journal #5: Evaluating Advertisements

The two advertisements featured above both feature the same product (body wash); however, each one employs a different strategy to appeal to audiences and sell the product. What are the differences between the two approaches? Which advertisement do you think is more effective? Why?

Journal #4: Examining Beauty Through Media

Can advertising campaigns, like the Dove "Real Beauty" campaign featured above, alter the image of physical beauty in America? Do you think the Dove ad debunks the stereotypes of what physical beauty should look like for Americans? Is the definition of beauty changing in America? Please explain.

Journal #3: The Social (Media) Revolution

In "Engaging Youth in Social Media: Is Facebook the New Media Frontier?" Greenhow and Reifman conduct a study to see if young people would use a space like Facebook to critically engage in news reading and translate this involvement into real-world actions. Do you find using online sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, to be an effective way for organizing social or political movements? What do these sites afford that non-digital communications don't?  Have you ever or would you likely join an online social or political action group in the future?

Journal #2: The Hollywood Blockbuster

In her essay, "Defending Goliath: Hollywood and the Art of the Blockbuster," Manohla Dargis discusses a cultural divide with serious intellectual highbrows on one side, who dismiss blockbuster movies such as The Lord of the Rings or Spider Man, and "ordinary viewers" on the other side, who like these kinds of movies. Do you think this divide is accurate or do people bridge this divide? Which group would you identify with? Discuss some of the movies you enjoy to support your answer.

Journal #1: Introduction to Class Blog

Please confirm that you have set up a blogger account by responding to the prompt below. All blog responses need to be at least 100 words.

What is your relationship with writing?

Some possible questions to answer: How often do you write? Why do you write? What kind of writing do you enjoy doing? Do you like writing? Do you consider yourself a writer?