Dear Class,
Those of you who went to the walkout today, how did it go?
Here are some things to be thinking about (those of you who stayed for the class discussion, we already started delving into some of these):
1) Reread LOP Ch. 22. What is that chapter about? Why would it be its own chapter?? Something to consider: Yann Martel has said that Ch. 21-22 are the core of this book.
2) How do you come to terms with the fact that Pi simultaneously embraces Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism even though those basic tenets of those belief systems do *not* reconcile with each other? Tip: avoid simplistic answers with this one.
3) If you haven't read the responses to Post #9 yet, I highly recommend it. They were very entertaining. (sorry, I'm not laughing at your misery, those of you who hate your jobs; I've got some horror stories to share as well)
4) Take the job description that you wrote about for Post #9 (or the one someone else wrote about) and imagine working at that job for the rest of your life and depending on that job to pay your bills *and* support people who depended on you. Barbara Ehrenreich's experiment opened her eyes to a lot of people whose lives are precisely like that. To what extent do you think the people in her excerpt had the ability to get out of their situations? Think about George, Carlie, Ellen, etc.
Okay, now for tonight's blog response:
Read "Framing Class" and write a well-developed response to it here.
Due: before our next class
Length: at least one well-developed paragraph
Now a quick note from your sponsor:
"Dear Class,
Help me help you. We seem to be reaching that point in the semester when people get tired and aren't quite keeping up with all the reading. I don't think that the homework--reading, blog responses, essays--is taking up to 4 hours a night, but I could be wrong. Please give me some feedback about why not everyone is finishing the work on time and share any (realistic) suggestions you have. Extra credit to anyone who includes comments on this in their blog response.
Your instructor,
Ms. Liu"
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I believe Diana Kendall's "Framing Class" made some good points about how things work with all those big TV networks and people wanting to own things that they think gives them social status. I kind of disagree when she says TV encourages us to run up credit card debt; sure they want viewers to spend money on their products but not with the intention of going into debt. This article made me think about how I would raise my children in terms of what shows to watch and for how long.
ReplyDelete** I think one reason why students are starting to get behind is because they are a having a difficult time balancing work and/or hw from other classes. As of right now I can't think of any solutions to it except for students to manage their time more carefully.
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ReplyDelete"Framing Class" by Diana Kendall is surrounded by the theme of media representing the real world and how it frames society. A great example of this is how TV "encourages people to rise to fame and fortune" (Rereading America 335) Alot of shows today such as American Idol, Britain's Got Talent, and America's Best Dance all give a chance for an ordinary person(s) to become successful and get popular. This shows the easy and quick way to fame that so many people in America are doing these days. It seems as if Americans are looking for the quick and easy way to make a buck other than working hard and being patient to gain success.
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The reasons the students aren't focusing like before is because the readings are honestly too long and not that enticing. A solution would be finding more interesting readings or having less homework. We already have papers back to back, a novel, plus extra reading to do for each class which demotivates us to do the homework thats not as important as the others.
I think that Diana Kendall's "Framing Class" was somewhat of an interesting reading. Dianna made some good points, mainly when she spoke of the big named television net works or the shows themselves. Theses shows are mainly geared for people who are looking to get rich, and in a hurry. It’s almost as if these shows can turn them into a celebrity over night, and if the show doesn’t… some sponsorship might be heading their way after the show is all said and done with by some company that liked what they saw while the person was on the TV show. Either way, here comes fame and fortune.
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Maybe people are having a hard time balancing all their work that’s for school and their job(s). It seems as the semester goes on, the schoolwork becomes a little more longer / intense. Because of that things might become more time consuming. As time starts to become an issue, you might just start focusing on the thing(s) that you would see as most important work to get done.
i thought it was was refreshing to read somebody else' thoughts on this subject. on shows like the simple like we see Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie acting like spoiled brats behaving like they can't get away with anything. at the time that this show aired i had no idea who these girls were nor did i care to find out. after reading this article and thinking about it i do see a lot of glorification of the wealthy in the media. i feel like this may be done only get the rich and famous more admiration from fans, and not for the fans to make themselves want to achieve anything for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe walk out was alright. Many students don't seem to understand that it is a rally, not so much an obnoxious protest, all it really was were some students leaving class just to yell and scream at the top of their lungs, I bet if I asked 5 of them what it was about, only 2 would be able to answer me in depth. I saw some rallies at UCR, those seemed to be carried out better than they were at FJC, just sayin'.
ReplyDelete"Framing Class" was just about the way society is molded into thinking and classifying through the media. We give people and groups certain boundaries to categorize them into certain groups and social classes. It also seems to me that we are indefinitely a part of the "frame" that Kendall tells us about. We are so influenced by the media to believe the fame and spending money is all we should do. This makes us feel lazy and less productive. I don't really watch much tv anymore to see all that she mentions but I do believe she's got some points.
Ms. Liu: I'm guessing we are just burnt out from reading repetitive stories about education, social class, and race. I love reading and everything but these excerpts and articles we read are extremely tedious to read and give our undivided attention. It might actually amount to 4 hours, since I take so many breaks just because the reading is so boring. I enjoy the blog responses and being able to voice out our opinions and answer such questions as blog response #9. I just wish there were more interesting stories we could read because most of these readings convey the same messages. It could also be time management because we work or have other commitments. It's hard to do your readings when you have group projects and a novel to worry about as well. I mean I guess it could be done, just less efficiently because there's so much on our plate. We're just busy teens!
"Framing Class" was about the way society is framed by the media. Kendall states that the media may lesson the reality of class difference or it creates and supports untrue stereotypes about the different classes. Kendall also mentions that more and more children are defining their social status according to the brand of clothes they wear. Children are being influenced by the media to wear what the wealthy are wearing. I disagree with her point that the media encourages to go into debt, all they want is for us to buy there products.
ReplyDeleteI think students are falling behind on the reading because some of them are too long or they might be boring. Maybe having more interesting readings would make it easier for us to stay on track in the class. There is also the issue of time management. We might work or have other homework to do in other classes that may seem more important.
I thought "Framing Class" was an okay reading, although i believe the Diana Kendall was a bit repetitive in her article. I agree with her about how media doesn't promote, but creates social class. I think she chise good examples of shows (The Simple Life)to prove her points.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read the part where she points out how middle-class people are buying things they can;t afford because the media influences them to have the best. It's frightening to know how the media can have such an impact over society.
"Framing Glass" showed how the media stereotypes classes. It explains how television shows make is seem as being rich and having expensive belongings are how is should be in America. It portrays the working class and middle class as deserving of sympathy and as being blamed for their own problems. Kendall shows plenty of examples of television shows how class is played for laughs and not taken seriously. She also explains how here in American we are influenced by all the luxuries advertised on the television. I agree with Kendall when she says that people are in debt because they are influenced by the media to buy things that they realistically can’t afford.
ReplyDeleteDiana Kendall’s excerpt about how media affects society was an interesting topic to read. Kendall’s opinion and facts about how the people that watch television show “have an exaggerated view of how wealthy Americans are and what material possessions they own.” Also when she talks about how that studies show that “extensive television viewing leads to high rates of spending and to lower savings, presumably because television stimulates consumer desires” (335) was interesting to read about. I agree with most of the topics that she goes over, such as how television affects the viewers and how television makes fun of lower income families.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a reason why most people are not finishing up their work on time is because of time management. Going to work and going to class full time is difficult for most students or maybe students are lazy or just forgetful.
Media is a powerful tool. It has the capacity to inform its audience on the true reflection of the world or can be used as a means to distort reality for the purpose of preserving the status quo of the elite class. Current media is in no position to objectively address social issues, they are governed by profit and are owned by the elite hence they only produce programs that promote these aspects. Therefore media has managed to draw attention away from real social issues affecting people, like poverty, health, poor working conditions etc. by focusing on trivial matters, not asking hard questions from those held responsible and simple doing poor journalistic work. This only pacifies the masses to accept conditions, create conflict and competition among those who are in similar position as opposed to focusing attention on the real causes of their situation. E.g. health care debate most people agree that there is a problem but they focus on trivial matters that are untrue and the real issues are never addressed .The media being the center of it promotes (subjectively) sides that are influenced by their owners and who are in the elite class not negatively affected by outcome of such matters. The only way forward is for people to move away from this conspiracy by the media. Being aware of its distorted reality and influence on real life can help us to handle issues on our own.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the excerpts help us to see things in a different light and are beneficial in critical thinking but some of these readings can be long and boring. This makes it hard to just go through the readings.In addition, they are at times repetitive and depressing as they tend to dwell on a common idea (especialy how it's almost impossible for people in a certain class to become successful) without offering solutions. Solution is just to struggle with it or trying to find ways to make the reading more enjoyable .
"Framing Class"
ReplyDeleteis pretty much explaining what america has become, unfortunately
a sad shallow bubble that everyone whats to live in. Kendall explains that america wants to be like what they see on TV even though what we see on TV is distorted along with anything else having to do with the media, I'm a photoshop FREAK I KNOW WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PEOPLE In PICTURES, its rather sad how everyone wants to come to america yet america is so screwed up.
she also mentions that people are classified by the clothing they wear. which unfortunately is true but only to a certain extent. i say this because your avg. person WILL save up to get that one Dolce & Gabbana purse they'v been eyeing for months and they eventually get it but it does not necessarily mean they can afford it...
America is a Wreck
everyone is just getting lazy..=( and even though we are old and can muti-task when i see that i have more than one thing to do for any class i freak out=( and i think that goes for most people=(
also most of us are involved in other activities that at the moment* seem more important (but in the long run there actually not =/ )
i feel like i just contradicted myself??? in many ways but i hope i helped..i know im tragic..=(
*meaning at this point in our lives when we are still young and stupid and we're old enough to know its important but still young enough to not care=/ tragic..
I just found the article very interesting in the fact that it is society itself, which creates media and in turn, it is this media which molds future generations. The media is a powerful tool which has continued to influence and shape our ideals and beliefs. However, media will always contain a sort of bias and one should note the ways media subtly, if not blatantly distorts information and twists reality to comfort viewers. More often that not, we forget how powerful the television and radio are, often dismissing them as merely forms of entertainment, when in fact the media streaming continues to point out harsh truths, joke about the state of affairs, and even mock figures/ideas, whether it be for humor or to be cruel.
ReplyDeleteI believe that one key reason why people are falling behind is because they are simply not used to the workload. I've asked around and noticed that especially from Eng 60 to 100, the workload and level of difficulty in the class itself seems to have increased drastically. Although the work may not seem like a lot if you only have this class, but most students including myself, have several other classes we juggle and having this work load may seem like a lot of pressure being added to our existing load.
The article describes in Kendall eyes how media depics social classes in an entirely differnet way than in reality. it seemed a little repetative and honestly a little boring.but it does a good job trying to explain it's keypoints.
ReplyDeletein response to someones blog comment I found it quite offending that someone would say that the reason we aren't completing the workload is because we are lazy. Some students are very fornute to not have to work fulltime none the less work at all. I have been a full time student and work fulltime for quite a while and it's tough to balance both responsibilities.
Diana Kendall's article "Framing Class, Vicarious Living, and Conspicuous Consumption" really got my attention. Its really sad to me, how people can be influenced by the most rediculous "celebutantes" (Paris Hitlton). I really likes how the author of this article used examples that I was very familiar with so i can fully understand what she was talking about. It seems to me that the biggest reason people have besomed almost braine-washed by the media is excessive television! Like the article stated televison is where it all starts, people get these "exaggerated views" of the weathy, and "stimulates consumer disires". The solution is simple... We need to LAY OFF THE TV!!! We need to find other productive ways to use our time.
ReplyDeleteReading are WAYYY to long and uninteresting. We have papers back to back, and on top of everything we have to read LOP. To be honest its really hard to keep up with everything... I hav a job, and 4 other classes. I feel like its more then 4 hour of work.
oh.. and i totally agree what Jsckie said!! It's a little offensive that people would say, its because we're "lazy". Some people are just not very aware of other people's circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe facts and interpretation of the article is really interesting. How the author, a sociologist analyze our current mindset towards the wealthy lifestyle is mostly truly whether we realize it or not. Although at times the articles felt it blames the media too much as the media actually only deliver want the viewer what they want to see. Therefore it is somehow our faults to, the viewer.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading "Framing Class" by Diana Kendall. It kept my attention the whole way though by using examples I was familiar with. She made a lot of good points like people judge others on what brand clothes, bag, etc. that people have. I agree that the things they show on television encourage the people that watch it to think that they do in these shows. I believe the media has way to much power over how we all act and think. I am glad I grew up without a television, because to this day i rarely watch television. It just seems to do more harm than good to society.
ReplyDeleteAs for the homework, I like the things we have to read. The readings are all very interesting, but I feel like we have a lot on our plates all of the time. Its hard to do my best at everything, because I have to spread myself so thin though all my homework.
I thought that "Framing Class" was really about how life is framed on social media. Kendall says that media creates non realistic about different classes. Many people are being influenced to medias and what they would see on television. Media also has a force on people to go in debt, but also, media is just a convince to people. So I disagree with her on how she thinks media puts people in debt. Kendall shows many examples but I think she repeats a lot of things that are already known.
ReplyDelete**I think students aren't finishing up their work on time, because they get stressed out with other classes and other class assignments. The readings for this class, honestly, isn't that interesting, and plus, it's so long. So it's hard to maintain the information while your brain is focusing on something else rather than a boring subject. Also, upon the readings, we have different assignments that are going on such as essays and group projects. A lot of assignments pile up, and we just run out of time. It gets tiring after a long while, and sleep takes over.
i think that students are getting more and more work. And we have a lot of things to do that we dont know how to manage all the assigments given to us.
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