Monday, December 1, 2008
This year
I've gone through a lot of change. Not only have I only lived in the south for only 5 months, but I am just about done with my first semester of college. From moving from Ohio to South Carolina, I have learned that there are many people who just don't like northerners, or Yankee's and some people who just have an open heart to accept anyone, even if the do call soda, pop and don't say ya'll. The only thing I can't complain about down here is the weather. The summer's are amazing and with my house being 10 minutes from the ocean, I see myself spending a lot of my summer days to come on the beach with my family. I'm not too sure how I feel about trying boiled peanuts or grits.. they just aren't too appealing. Sweet tea on the other hand is amazing. Being in college three hours from home has been a really big change. I have lived at home with my family all my life so to be away from them is definately different, but I think it is a good change. I hope to become less dependant on them but still remain as close with them. I surprisingly met a lot of people pretty fast coming to school. I get along with my roommate, and suitemates. It's weird how being thrown into a room to live with seven strangers would end up with such a good outcome. Also, this semester I joined a sorority. I love being in AOII, I love all the girls who are in it with me, and it really is about sisterhood. I met my best friend, Calli in English and had her rush with me, and with us being in the same sorority I know that we are going to have many more fun memories to come. I am excited to see what next semester brings me in life. :)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Blog Post #7
My topic has changed a lot. Originally with my prospectus I did not have a clear thesis and a really broad prospectus. Before I wanted my thesis to go in the direction of people viewing their imperfections as something they need to fix, why others embrace that they are different in the fashion aspect. Now my thesis is that the body shape of the women portrayed on fashion magazine covers effects the way women want to be.
My research questions before were leaning more in regular fashion stereotype groups, now I am focusing on runway fashion models, because I was able to find more sources of fashion models then the current stereotypes in society.
I changed a lot since the begining because of the sources. It was easier to find sources about fashion models because the stereotype is always changing since the 50's until now, on how society wants the woman to look within fashion.
My research questions before were leaning more in regular fashion stereotype groups, now I am focusing on runway fashion models, because I was able to find more sources of fashion models then the current stereotypes in society.
I changed a lot since the begining because of the sources. It was easier to find sources about fashion models because the stereotype is always changing since the 50's until now, on how society wants the woman to look within fashion.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Blog Post #6
Prospectus
For my research paper I want to write how people view their imperfections as something they need to fix, while others embrace that they are different. I am going to further go into the aspects with fashion and how people find it necessary to buy certain brand of clothes to fit into a stereotype such as prep, emo, scene, Gothic, jock, or skater, such as others wear whatever fits into their budget, what looks good and feel comfortable. Most people would say that they are a combination of these two, and don't care what people care about what they look like, but only a few actually do. My thesis statement is that people view their imperfections as something they need to fix, while other embrace that they are different. With this thesis I could go into different directions such as people having plastic surgery because they are not happy with a larger stomach, a crooked nose, or small breasts while people with the same problems, accept them and move on. Other directions could also be how people feel the need to listen to a certain band because it is on the radio and because everyone listens to it they will be accepts, such as others prefer listening to underground bands, so that they are unique. Instead of going into that direction I want to focus on fashion.
The sources I want to use are Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self by Alice Walker, which is pages 109-117 in MOA. This source goes into a story on how when she was a child she was seen as "the pretty one" up until her brother accidentally shot her in the eye with a BB gun when she was younger, and that cause her one eye to have scar tissue and a cataract. During the period that she had this, she wouldn't talk to many people, she saw herself as ugly, and no one would talk to her unless they were calling her names. She ended up getting this removed, which boosted her confidence. She was then able to get the boyfriend of her dreams, and leave high-school as valedictorian, most popular student, and queen.
A second source I want to use is I want to be Miss America by Julia Alvarez, on pages 52-58 in MOA. This source is a story about how Julia and her sisters moved to America from the Dominican Republic when she was ten and instantly felt the need to fit in. Her and her sisters looked at magazines, admired their classmates, and watched TV which is where they found out about the Miss America Contest. They saw how all the contestants lined up by state and most were white expect for a few light-skinned black girls. They also noticed that if there actually was a Hispanic girl, she looked American, and her last name was always mispronounced. Her and her sisters would always dress up and try hard to pretend that they were in a Miss America pageant, but in the long run never actually did. The last line in this, "There she is, Miss American, but even in my up-to-date, enlightened dreams, she never wears my face." is the perfect example on how even living in a different country and being obviously not like the others, she still sees herself as beautiful and accepts her differences.
The only problem I can already see is that both of these sources do not show the fashion aspect that I want to show. I didn't really see any sources in MOA that showed people accepting their imperfections and differences in fashion, but still these sources go well with my thesis.
I want to go into detail about each fashion stereotype, how they look, how they are compared and contrasted, and how people within those stereotypes are said to be by others. I want to show how certain stereotypes such as prep or jock and their stereotypes buy certain brands to fit in, while the others care less about others and mainly only associate with people like them.
For my research paper I want to write how people view their imperfections as something they need to fix, while others embrace that they are different. I am going to further go into the aspects with fashion and how people find it necessary to buy certain brand of clothes to fit into a stereotype such as prep, emo, scene, Gothic, jock, or skater, such as others wear whatever fits into their budget, what looks good and feel comfortable. Most people would say that they are a combination of these two, and don't care what people care about what they look like, but only a few actually do. My thesis statement is that people view their imperfections as something they need to fix, while other embrace that they are different. With this thesis I could go into different directions such as people having plastic surgery because they are not happy with a larger stomach, a crooked nose, or small breasts while people with the same problems, accept them and move on. Other directions could also be how people feel the need to listen to a certain band because it is on the radio and because everyone listens to it they will be accepts, such as others prefer listening to underground bands, so that they are unique. Instead of going into that direction I want to focus on fashion.
The sources I want to use are Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self by Alice Walker, which is pages 109-117 in MOA. This source goes into a story on how when she was a child she was seen as "the pretty one" up until her brother accidentally shot her in the eye with a BB gun when she was younger, and that cause her one eye to have scar tissue and a cataract. During the period that she had this, she wouldn't talk to many people, she saw herself as ugly, and no one would talk to her unless they were calling her names. She ended up getting this removed, which boosted her confidence. She was then able to get the boyfriend of her dreams, and leave high-school as valedictorian, most popular student, and queen.
A second source I want to use is I want to be Miss America by Julia Alvarez, on pages 52-58 in MOA. This source is a story about how Julia and her sisters moved to America from the Dominican Republic when she was ten and instantly felt the need to fit in. Her and her sisters looked at magazines, admired their classmates, and watched TV which is where they found out about the Miss America Contest. They saw how all the contestants lined up by state and most were white expect for a few light-skinned black girls. They also noticed that if there actually was a Hispanic girl, she looked American, and her last name was always mispronounced. Her and her sisters would always dress up and try hard to pretend that they were in a Miss America pageant, but in the long run never actually did. The last line in this, "There she is, Miss American, but even in my up-to-date, enlightened dreams, she never wears my face." is the perfect example on how even living in a different country and being obviously not like the others, she still sees herself as beautiful and accepts her differences.
The only problem I can already see is that both of these sources do not show the fashion aspect that I want to show. I didn't really see any sources in MOA that showed people accepting their imperfections and differences in fashion, but still these sources go well with my thesis.
I want to go into detail about each fashion stereotype, how they look, how they are compared and contrasted, and how people within those stereotypes are said to be by others. I want to show how certain stereotypes such as prep or jock and their stereotypes buy certain brands to fit in, while the others care less about others and mainly only associate with people like them.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- How is each stereotype judged based on their clothing?
- Why are they judged this way?
- Can a person fit under two stereotypes?
- Why do people like imperfections?
- Why do people dislike imperfections?
- What causes a person to care about how they look?
SEARCH TERMS
- Gothic stereotype
- prep stereotype
- jock stereotype
- skater stereotype
- emo stereotype
- scene stereotype
- imperfection
- acceptance
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Blog Post #5
Weather you are a male or female, everyone can agree that once in their life so far, that they have once worried about what people thought of them. Everyone has to have some form of individuality, but recently it has been easier to describe yourself to "fit in" with a certain stereotype, or just come off as someone you aren't. With social networking websites such as Facebook, and Myspace, anyone with an account can upload pictures, list movies and music, and write a description about themselves. Being able to do this people can look at what your interests are, and how you look and instantly judge you.
I chose to write my paper with the topic of Facebook, Myspace and identity. With Myspace having private profiles, someone can only be your friend if you request them and they accept. When asking to be someones friend you are only judging this on their picture. Mostly everyone wants to be friends with their friends and no one else, however, other people might be looking for people around where they live to maybe get to know them better. Basically, your profile picture tells a lot about you, and how you even see yourself. Many girls have low self-esteems today, but if they have a main picture of them from summer in their bathing suits, then you can tell that they feel more comfortable about themselves, or they want to show off. Also you can do this with guys. You can simply compare a picture of a guy in a t-shirt smiling, to a guy with his shirt of flexing his muscles. You can tell somewhat about person on how they want people to see them. Also with friend requests, if you get a request from someone who you don't know, and they seem attractive, chances are they will get accepted rather than a random person who is less attractive.
With Facebook, as well as Myspace you can write about your interests to find people with the same interests as you. What you write is up to you. In a section "About me" you can choose to write something descriptive, vague, or nothing at all. However this is written tells a lot about yourself and how you want others to see you.
Just as easy as it is to write truthfully about yourself, it is that easy to write falsely about yourself. Even to the extent where you can upload a picture of someone else, as long as it fits the format, and make this person seem like you.
Somehow I want my paper to reflect these aspects in some way.
I chose to write my paper with the topic of Facebook, Myspace and identity. With Myspace having private profiles, someone can only be your friend if you request them and they accept. When asking to be someones friend you are only judging this on their picture. Mostly everyone wants to be friends with their friends and no one else, however, other people might be looking for people around where they live to maybe get to know them better. Basically, your profile picture tells a lot about you, and how you even see yourself. Many girls have low self-esteems today, but if they have a main picture of them from summer in their bathing suits, then you can tell that they feel more comfortable about themselves, or they want to show off. Also you can do this with guys. You can simply compare a picture of a guy in a t-shirt smiling, to a guy with his shirt of flexing his muscles. You can tell somewhat about person on how they want people to see them. Also with friend requests, if you get a request from someone who you don't know, and they seem attractive, chances are they will get accepted rather than a random person who is less attractive.
With Facebook, as well as Myspace you can write about your interests to find people with the same interests as you. What you write is up to you. In a section "About me" you can choose to write something descriptive, vague, or nothing at all. However this is written tells a lot about yourself and how you want others to see you.
Just as easy as it is to write truthfully about yourself, it is that easy to write falsely about yourself. Even to the extent where you can upload a picture of someone else, as long as it fits the format, and make this person seem like you.
Somehow I want my paper to reflect these aspects in some way.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Blog Post #4
I think that paper #1 should receive an A or at least a high B. This paper had a clearly stated thesis, used sources, was able to keep my attention, and used well educated words that I was able to easily read. This writer also used the sources to prove their point, rather then use the source to come up with an opinion. Since the paper has a clear thesis, the paper was layed out well, and was clearly organized to get the point across of Limiting Foreign Athletics in the US. The only negatives about this paper, was the topic itself wasn't too interesting, and ended up being repetitive, but overall I still continued to read it to get the writers opinion.
I think that paper #2 should be given a D at the highest. This paper had many grammar and spelling errors, improper use of punctuation, and an unclear thesis. The writer should have asked for more help when revising and editing. It definitely looks like a last minute thing. The paragraph with the questions is very poor and the writer should have looked into sentence variation with a question better. The paper does however use three sources and cites them correctly, but overall there is a lot to be done with this paper.
I think that paper #3 should receive an A. This paper was well written, had a clear thesis, good sources, and no visible spelling or grammar errors. The only thing I would possibly fix was the paragraph about twins, I wasn't sure if that was really necessary to go with the thesis of divorce. The writer had a good topic to start off, and it was a paper that I was able to read without forcing myself too. Also, the sources were well used to help with the thesis statement.
I think that paper #4 should be given the grade of a C or low B. To me the paper didn't use all the cited sources on the works cited page, and seemed more of an opinion paper. Maybe because I am a girl the paper wasn't all that exciting, but still I was able to read it because I agree with some of the opinions stated by the writer. I didn't notice and spelling or grammar errors, and the paper was nicely layed out. The writer had a good clarity of thought and stated their opinion throughout the whole paper.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Magazine Ad
The Magazine Title I have chosen my ad in is called Cosmopolitan. The targeted audience for this magazine is the middle class especially young teenagers to women, ages 15-23. This magazine is sometimes known as "the bible" because there are many tips about how to improve your looks and get into the popular fashion scence, or just read about sex. Also, the woman on the cover always has an interesting story inside which is always fun to read.
The product of the advertisement is Benadryl. In this ad it is shown from what seems to be a teenage boy and teenage girl about to kiss in black and right, and the space inbetween their lips there is a pink pause button. The reason for this pause button is clearly stated underneath. It says "You can't pause butterflies.""Benadryl is more effective than the leading allergy medicine at relieving your worst symptons. And works when you need it most. You can't pause life." The ad is implying that if you buy Benadryl and use it regualry as your allergy medicine then you will not have such bad symptoms and will not to put important things such as getting butterflies from a kiss aside due to bad allergies. The words "You can't pause butterflies." is larger then all the other text because it is trying to reinforce the small print below about taking the product so you can enjoy life.
Having the pause button be pink in the center of a black and white photograph is used to show that the pill itself is pink. Using contrasting colors and making it in the center, I believe that that is the part that catches your eye the most due to the color and position. From the pink pause button my eye was drawn to the picture it is pausing. This being the teenage couple getting ready to kiss.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Blog Post #1
Hi,
My name is Alexis Harley, but you can call me Lexie if you'd like. I am majoring in psychology, and minoring in special education. I was born in Ohio and have lived in the very small town of Mantua all my life up until now. Mantua is only 1.4 square miles, and has only 1,500 people in the town. After moving six previous times locally in Ohio, my family and I have moved to Mt. Pleasant, SC, which I have lived in since early July. I'm not sure if I honestly like it down here yet, it is a big change which I am slowly getting use to. I have only one older sister, Meghan; who is one year older then I am. Due to us being close in age, we are best friends and very close. Unfortunately, she decided to commute and attend Charleston Southern University, so we try the best we can to stay in touch. I also have a mom named Aretha, a dad named Michael, a dog named Jasper, and a cat names Peanut. Both my cat and my dog are extremely spoiled and also obese. My family means the most to me; they are always helping me out and doing what they can to make me a better, successful person.
I love to watch/play sports, listen to music, and hang out with my family. My favorite sport is football, for many reasons; Brady Quinn and the pants just being two. I did youth cheer leading for four years, and also cheered for football and basketball in high school for another four years. I also like baseball, and fast pitch. When I was four, I started playing coach-pitch baseball, and up until I was in high-school my dad has always been my coach, and I appreciate all he has taught me with sports. I enjoy listening to pretty much any kind of music, with the exception of classical. My favorite bands include The Starting Line, Brand New, Ace Enders, The Early November, Owen, Bright Eyes, Taking Back Sunday, Minus The Bear, and Lil Wayne. I am almost always listening to music whenever it is an option.
I am not really sure what subject I am an "expert" of, but if I had to choose something I know a lot of random things about many different subjects. I've seen both the movies Lion King and Mean Girls too many times to count, and I can quote pretty much every line in both of them. Also, I have watched Laguna Beach since it started and followed Lauren throughout the two seasons of that, and now in The Hills, which I love and watch every Monday night. Those are the real basic basics about me. Hopefully they were enough information to get you to know a little bit about me.
My name is Alexis Harley, but you can call me Lexie if you'd like. I am majoring in psychology, and minoring in special education. I was born in Ohio and have lived in the very small town of Mantua all my life up until now. Mantua is only 1.4 square miles, and has only 1,500 people in the town. After moving six previous times locally in Ohio, my family and I have moved to Mt. Pleasant, SC, which I have lived in since early July. I'm not sure if I honestly like it down here yet, it is a big change which I am slowly getting use to. I have only one older sister, Meghan; who is one year older then I am. Due to us being close in age, we are best friends and very close. Unfortunately, she decided to commute and attend Charleston Southern University, so we try the best we can to stay in touch. I also have a mom named Aretha, a dad named Michael, a dog named Jasper, and a cat names Peanut. Both my cat and my dog are extremely spoiled and also obese. My family means the most to me; they are always helping me out and doing what they can to make me a better, successful person.
I love to watch/play sports, listen to music, and hang out with my family. My favorite sport is football, for many reasons; Brady Quinn and the pants just being two. I did youth cheer leading for four years, and also cheered for football and basketball in high school for another four years. I also like baseball, and fast pitch. When I was four, I started playing coach-pitch baseball, and up until I was in high-school my dad has always been my coach, and I appreciate all he has taught me with sports. I enjoy listening to pretty much any kind of music, with the exception of classical. My favorite bands include The Starting Line, Brand New, Ace Enders, The Early November, Owen, Bright Eyes, Taking Back Sunday, Minus The Bear, and Lil Wayne. I am almost always listening to music whenever it is an option.
I am not really sure what subject I am an "expert" of, but if I had to choose something I know a lot of random things about many different subjects. I've seen both the movies Lion King and Mean Girls too many times to count, and I can quote pretty much every line in both of them. Also, I have watched Laguna Beach since it started and followed Lauren throughout the two seasons of that, and now in The Hills, which I love and watch every Monday night. Those are the real basic basics about me. Hopefully they were enough information to get you to know a little bit about me.
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