"We Will All Laugh at Gilded Butterflies" --Shakespeare

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Globalization: Existential?



Just as in the articles, these two pictures show opposing views of globalization. Is there really such a great clash that all the world will turn to two hands controlled by the same entity? Or is it a "Ah, Globalization?" issue where we really do not know what it is, yet we are bombarded by the word every single day (just as the windows are being bombarded by the earth). In both articles by Gikandi and Coronil, they argue that globalization is a term that is used not only to bring people together, but to unite them under a common culture. It is not a neccesarily Western Culture but a Universal one where each country is a clash of many other coutries combined. Honestly, I disagree and in my final essay, I will attempt to show why I disagree and how globalization has turned into a word that is so misrepresented in other countries, that it has become almost taboo and unknown. So, does globalization even exist?



Coronil, Fernando. "Toward a Critique of Globalcentrism: Speculations on Capitalism's Nature" Public Culture 12.2 (2000): 351- 374. Print.

Gikandi, Simon. "Globalization and the Claims of Postcoloniality" The South Atlantic Quarterly 100.3 (2001): 627- 658. Print.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Media Literacy Project

Note: This is an entire collaborative group work.
Group: Diana, Laura, Andra, Mark, and Karine

English Senior Assignment

Properly Documenting Sources with Various Means of Media using MLA Format

This assignment will help to prepare you for future assignments in college. In college, you are expected to write various papers and essays that require outside sources in addition to the primary text that will further support your thesis. It is imperative to make sure your secondary sources are credible. We will be conducting our research via internet on our assigned reading Of Mice and Men. Additionally, please refer to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers to properly cite your sources.

1). Find a website on Salinas California. In 250 words answer the following questions:
• Write a summary about what you found, and how this furthers your understanding of the primary text, Of Mice and Men.
• Is the website you chose to conduct your research credible? Why do you think it is a reliable source?
• Make a works cited page following the MLA guidelines documenting your secondary source.

2). Find an interview with John Steinbeck and/or with a leading scholar or critic relative to Steinbeck’s writing.
• Write a summary on what you found in the interview that helps you come to better understanding of Steinbeck. Why is this relevant, and how can this be applied to Of Mice and Men?
• Is the website you chose to conduct your research credible? Why do you think it is a reliable source?
• Make a works cited page following the MLA guidelines documenting your secondary source.

3). Find a YouTube clip or scene in the movie adaptation that applies to Of Mice and Men. If you decide to use a scene from the movie version, please conduct your research by means of the internet.
• Compare and contrast your initial impression Of Mice and Men to your findings on YouTube or movie version.
• Summarize the scene you chose in the YouTube clip or scene from the movie adaptation. Be sure you are able to locate it in the book.
• Make a works cited page following the MLA guidelines documenting your secondary source.

4). Find a scholarly journal with an article that applies to Of Mice and Men. Please use the following website: JSTOR. This is an excellent source that has credible journal articles.
• In 250 words, summarize the article. How can it be applied to a research paper you are conducting?
• Make a works cited page following the MLA guidelines documenting your secondary source.

5). Write a short reflection on conducting research on the internet. Please include the following:
• In conducting your research, did you come across any unreliable sources? If so, how do you know they are not credible?
• What did you find interesting about this assignment?
• Do you feel comfortable using technology to conduct research?


Note: The purpose of this assignment is to let students understand different forms of media and also prepare them for college paper writing. It is a great way to get students to find credible sources and also put them together and find the most important points behind them. The project keeps students aware, focused, and also having a little bit of "fun" while they explore different media in order to find the infotmation they need.


Reflection of Media Literacy Projects
Edgar Allen Poes, "The Tell Tale Heart"



This short film gives a visual appeal to the story's mysteries and emotions. The "eye" becomes something much more than just an eye to gaze and look out. It turns into an ambiguous sign, a symbol that signifies a haunting and gothic setting. Yet, the films job is not to limit the possibilities rather engage the audience, the high school students, and interest them to pull the symbols in the story apart. That way, the students WANT to know more about the text rather than just be obligated by a certain curriculum.

Myth: Sacred Places


Sacred Places:

• Have the power to heal the human body, raise enlightenment and creativity
• Places such as Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg, Egyptian pyramids, and Stonehenge in England are sacred because they provide a location that represents nationhood, individual identity, culture, and historical unity.
• Around the world sacred places can be actual places. It is a literal location where you can go visit, stand on, look at, and know that you are in the place.
• They are also mythical because they become symblic of and embody meaning of their cultural values.
• Thay are also imaginary places, where the place is imagined to be far more than any place can possibly be. The sacred site, which is somewhat abstract, becomes real because of its connection with its real place, the real place that we can see, and remember.

Andrew Guilliford’s 9 Categories of Sacred Places

• Specific to describe historical events and spiritual pratices of American Indian sacred places.

Vine Deloria’s 4 Categories of Sacred Places

• Although Deloria’s categories of sacred places also focus on Native American culture, Deloria’s categories differ from Guilliford’s 9 categories of sacred places because they are open-ended enough to be applied to sacred places around the world.
• These 4 categories are arranged on a scale of “agency” which is a hierarchy from “entirely human agency” to “Higher Powers”
• The first category is “entirely human agency” which is when the site is sacred because of the human events that occurred there, for example Pearl Harbor and Ground Zero, the location of the descruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
• The second category, is “deeper, more profound,” a place that becomes sacred because “the sacred, or higher powers have appeared in the lives of human beings.” An example of this is Prometheus, a greek god, who stole fire from the gods to give to humans for survival.In the second category, there is an interaction between the human and the divine .
• The third category is when “Higher Powers” are no longer unseen, and “have revealed themselves to human beings.” An example that Deloria provides an example from the Old testament which is when Moses speaks with the Burning Bush.
• Deloria’s fourth category is allowing the presence of new sacred places which are sacred due to the changes or circumstances of the present day.

Sites of Fear and Longing

• Sites of Fear are sacred because they dramatize our fears of the inevitable, including death, aging, disease, and weakness. These places are reminders of human mortality.
• Sites of Longing are sacred because they dramatize the longing for comfort and security, and rejuvenation, and make immortality seem possible. A peaceful place such as a garden, forest, lake or fountain.

How to Read Sacred Place Myths

• Consider the type of myth being presented
• Myths of Sacred Waters
• Myths of Sacred landforms (mountains, canyons)
• Myths of Sacred trees, forests
• Myths of Magic Realms