blog 2

I cannot believe how much I have experienced during these five days in Costa Rica. I have seen a volcano and a beautiful waterfall, and now I am living with a woman that speaks no English at all. It’s a little crazy to think that all of this has happened in less than five days. Over the weekend, I felt like I was on vacation. Now I feel like I am back on schedule and back in school. My Mama Tica is very nice, and I try to talk to her. When I can understand what she is saying, she just gets closer and closer to me to talk. It really puts the pressure on me to come up with something to say! Her son in-laws have talked to me much more than she and her daughters do. They also speak slower for me. Her daughters have their own homes, but they are talking distance from my Mama Tica’s house. It seems like one big very close family. I’m glad I am getting to experience the togetherness of the family because I have heard a lot about it. It is like they all live together because their doors are always open, and they are constantly going from one house to the other.
I can honestly say that I have enjoyed all of my time here in Costa Rica. It has not all been easy, but it has been very enjoyable. The one thing that I would say has been the most difficult for me has been communication. I did not realize it was be this hard on me before I left home. I spend time away from my family all the time when I am at school, and I thought this would be no different. I now know that it is extremely different. The first few days have been very hard because I haven’t been able to directly communicate with anyone. I am so used to picking up my phone and calling whoever I want to talk to, but I can’t do that here. I am grateful for email, but it’s just not the same as a phone call. I got to chat with my sister online this morning, and I felt so much relief. It was the first time I had gotten to really talk with ayone in my family, other than emails. It just felt so good to be able to ask her a question or tell her something and get a response right back. I really miss talking to my family and my friends as well. I was so excited when I got to use the phone at CPI to call my mom. It was just so nice to hear a familiar voice. It was definitely the best fifteen minutes of my day, and I feel so much better after talking to her. Emails are good, but that phone call was awesome!

The add mentions three easily recognizable symbols in the first line. The second line assures us that everyone knows what these universal symbols mean. We only have to glimpse at them for a second, and we know what the symbols mean. When I think of these three symbols, they are all related in my head. They are related in their looks and in their meaning.
All three symbols have similar looks. The peace sign and the happy face both consist of circles. The four-leaf clover is not a circle, but it has certain roundness to it. When I think about the three symbols in my mind, they are all about the same size and could possibly even be the same color.
The peace sign, the happy face, and the four-leaf clover have different denotations, but they have similar connotations. When thinking about each one, it puts a smile on my face. The peace sign is one that has “come back in style” so to say in the past couple of years. It is a symbol seen on clothing, on cars, in decorations etc. It is a symbol that is universally seen on a positive note. They happy face is another easily recognizable symbol that is obviously seen on a positive note. We use happy faces on everything that makes us smile. It is a symbol of Wal-Mart, and it is used a lot in online chatting and communication. In other words, the symbol comes up a lot every day. The last symbol mentioned is the four leaf clover. This is a symbol of fortune and luck. We associate this symbol with St. Patrick’s Day. It is recognizable to most people as a sign of luck. When we think of four leaf clovers, we also think that they can be difficult to find. They are not something we see every day.
The article is for the car company Mercedes-Benz. They discuss these particular symbols because they are similar to the Mercedes-Benz symbol. Mercedes has a symbol that is universally recognized just like the peace sign, the happy face, and the four leaf clover. I think Mercedes probably made their symbol similar to these others on purpose. When we see the Mercedes symbol, there is a positive connotation that goes along with it because of these other symbols. The Mercedes symbol is a symbol of wealth. They want to be seen as peaceful and happy. Because they are a sign of wealth, they are something we do not see every day, like the four leaf clover. We associate all of these symbols together, and this is good for the Mercedes-Benz company.


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This is one of the most recognizable symbols around the world, and it is simply for a fast food restaurant.

The first thing I notice when I look at this image is the pink bow tied around the girl’s mouth. This is not a normal spot for a bow to be, and this causes me to look closer at the image. The image portrays a pretty girl who is trying to defy the odds and avoid stereotypes. She is going against the odds by putting the bow around her mouth. A pretty girl like herself should stereotypically wear the bow in her hair. She is trying to show how you do not have to be like everyone else. This is an appeal to logos because it goes against what we consider logical. It is significant that she has the bow around her mouth. This means that she is not free to say what she wants to say. Her freedom of speech has been taken away. People look at her because she is beautiful, but people do not listen. Beauty is more than skin deep. What comes out of her mouth matters also.
It looks to me like she may have taken this picture herself. The angle and the way her shoulders are make me think this. She is trying to show the world that there is more to her than just a pretty face. Her thoughts, words, and actions matter too.
The only colors in the image are the pink of the bow and the blue of her eyes. Everything else is in black and white, and this causes the colors to really stand out. Both colors draw my attention to her natural beauty. A pretty girl like herself should stereotypically wear that pastel pink color. She is trying to show that you do not have to be just like everyone else. The color of the bow is pretty, and she is pretty. These two ideas coincide. The bow represents her pretty face, and it is keeping her voice from being heard.

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I used to think this was like the best song ever, and so I just had to use it!!

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Amy Tan’s description of Christmas Eve dinner shows that any ethnic group can celebrate Christmas. When I think of celebrating Christmas, I usually do not think of Chinese food; but this is normal for Amy Tan’s family. We may not eat the same foods, but we are still celebrating and sharing a meal with family and friends. Amy was partly embarrassed of her family’s customs. She just wanted the boy to like her, and she thought she had to be like everyone else to be liked. She wanted to be assimilated into white American culture on the inside and on the outside.
“Goose-loose Blues for the Melting Pot” discusses more than just the assimilation of race and ethnicity. Stanley Crouch focuses mostly on the issue of race, but not completely. He also mentions the assimilation of women into American culture. He was born in a time when women only aspired to be teachers, nurses, and mothers. His daughter was born in a time when women can do anything men can do. His eyes are truly opened to this concept when his daughter talks about what she wants to be when she grows up. He talks about how races and ethnicities are already assimilated into American culture. He refers to them as an Oreo: colored on the outside and white on the inside. Although, different racial groups are sometimes segregated, they are still assimilated into American culture. When turning on the TV or looking at an advertisement, we see people of all cultures. This shows us how far America has come just during Stanley Crouch’s lifetime.
Amy Tan wants to be assimilated, and Stanley Crouch says that the different races already are assimilated. We know that Amy’s family is somewhat assimilated because they go to a church with a white preacher. We can also tell that they have not completely lost their heritage because of the mother’s accent and the foods they cook. Our nation is not completely free of prejudices, but we are close.

Dr. Jimmie Killingsworth is a professor and is the head of the Englsih Department at Texas A&M University. He has written at least eight books as well as a textbook. He won the JR Gould Award in 2007 given by technical communication. He was invited to UNC Wilmington to talk about animalism in Walt Whitman’s poetry for the 2010 Katherine K. Buckner Lecture series.
Dr. Killingsworth began his lecture by saying that he invites us all “to make movies in our heads” of what is going to speak about. Animality refers to the animal nature of human beings. There is clear animal existence in human nature, and animality refers to this instead of the spiritual side of man. Dr. Killingsworth explained animality in Walt Whitman’s poetry as people putting other people or animals into a category they want to master. Walt Whitman puts humans in nature and not above it.
Dr. Killingsworth mentioned Freud’s three pictures of the universe during his lecture. He sees the animism picture as basic living of beliefs. The religious picture is a disenfranchisement from nature, and the scientific picture denies the spirit altogether.
I had a very hard time understanding all of Dr. Jimmie Killingsworth’s thoughts and ideas. I tried to understand what he meant by animalism and animality, but it was all very complex to me. He seemed to speak about animals in Walt Whitman’s poetry as though they are eloquent, placid, and always satisfied. They are very different from humans in this way because humans are definitely not always satisfied. I think he meant that animalism flattens the hierarchy of animals and humans, but again, this was a very difficult concept for me to grasp. I understood him to say that animalism and animality gave a voice to the oppressed. The oppressed in this situation would be the animals. It was quite interesting to hear his point of view.

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Nikki S. Lee conveys her messages through the positioning of the people in her photographs. The look on the people’s faces, their posture, and their positions shape the attitude of the pictures. For example, In The Ohio Project, the two people are slouched down in their seats, and they both have “I don’t care” looks on their faces. The combination of their posture and expressions makes the viewer look down on the people. It causes the viewer to put a “redneck” label on them at first sight. The positioning of the people in The Hispanic Project really jumps out at the viewer. The woman is in a provocative position, and one of the men is helping her to hold that position. It makes the viewer look at them as being trashy, and again we place a label on them.
Inferences can be drawn from each of Lee’s photographs. Each photo portrays a type of people that are commonly labeled in a certain way. We look at The Ohio Project, and we see them as rednecks. We first make this inference form the large rebel flag on the wall. The girl is wearing clothes that are too small for her, and her belly is hanging out over her short shorts. Her hair is a bleach blonde color that is obviously fake. The man has a scruffy beard, boots over his pants, and a gun in his hands. These observations make us infer that they are trashy, dirty, and even poor. The woman in The Yuppie Project has a superior look on her face. She is sitting with her legs crossed, her hair is fixed nicely, and she is wearing a nice business suit. These qualities, along with the superior look on her face, make her look like she thinks she is something.
It looks as though all the women in Lee’s work are Asian. Maybe because Lee herself is Asian, she wants to show Asian women in all aspects of the world. I did not notice that the first three women were Asian at first sight because their looks were camouflaged. They do not have the “typical Asian” look. Race does not define how you are supposed to act or who you are supposed to hang out with. You do not have to be a certain color to fit in.


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I see the speaker of the poem as a young girl. In my eyes, she is a young girl who has possibly just gotten married. She has been rushed into being a mother and a wife, and she has had no time for herself. She feels like she is responsible for everything, and she gets no help from others. Everything she does is a chore. She has a list of things to do every day, and they never change. Each day is the same for her. She does the household chores, cooks, and cleans. There is never anything new and exciting in her life.
Because she is a woman, she feels forced into these chores. The idea that women should do all the cooking and cleaning is clearly portrayed in this story. The girl does wishes that this was not the case, but she does not know how to change things for herself. She is stuck in a rut, and she cannot get out.
The story is addressing young girls everywhere. It is telling young girls that they should not get stuck in this type of routine. They can do more for themselves. The story is making everyone aware of the situation so that not everyone will be caught up in this situation. The girl that would be portrayed in this painting is unhappy. She wants more out of life but does not know how to get it. She lives in a small world, perhaps out in the country somewhere. This place in the country is probably near a river. The reader can tell this because the story discusses catching fish. She is somewhere that is underdeveloped and somewhere that she does not see women who hold jobs in places other than the home.
By the end of the essay, I can tell that the girl is confused. She wants more but is confused about how to find it. The comments about the baker reveal that she is truly confused about what she wants and needs. She says, “what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?” I see this as a metaphor for, “what would I do if I didn’t have chores?” She wants more but is terribly confused about how to find it. She is also scared that if she does find more in life, will she know how to handle it?

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