Rules for Writers: Chapter 42

Italics are slant font style used to distinguish certain words from others. Underlining usually is intended for the same purpose therefore it should not be used in the same text; in simple words anything that is already underlined should not be italicized, vice versa.

Words that should be italicized are titles of books, magazines, foreign words in an English sentence, films, and other media works. It is not necessary to italicize titles from short stories and songs, instead quotation marks can be used.

I don’t normally use italics forms to distinguish titles and such, instead I always used parenthesis. I intend to learn the proper use of italicizing and underline. Possibly make it a habitual thing when it comes to titles of movies and books.

Extra Credit: Writing about Film

     When writing about film, it is to analyze and not summarize. As you analyze, break the movie parts down and discuss each parts individually to capture the main points of those scenes. Focus on the topic and write good thesis statement, it is also important to familiarize yourself with the key terms involved in filming. Also when analyzing and writing your paper, show that you understand the history of the film. Every film has originated from a historical event; it’s reason for why, how, and when it was made.

Furthermore, when you view the movie, it is smart to make some annotations. Do not write you paper as a review. You do not want to retell the story to someone who has already seen it. They want to know your evaluation of the movie. You don’t have to limit the film discussion. You are basically a movie critic because you are either criticizing or providing your critical thinking. Post what the director is trying to do, not just about the camera angles and lights and directions of the shadow.

Don’t forget to cite your sources that are used. Originally most film critics will cite their sources using the citation method of the MLA (Modern Language Association). Maintain the rightful credit to its sources.

Essay 3

Susie Keobounleuang

Lauren Servais

English 100

04/21/2011

The Power of Media

Media plays a big role in all of our lives. We are influenced by the many entertainments that surround us. In some ways, it pieces us together and makes us become who we are and why we are as we appear to be; it invents our personality and lifestyle. We sometimes become bored with ourselves or have low self-esteem, so therefore we view the media for inspiration. We gain desire to be just like an idol or to have hopes for what we don’t have in our own lives, and to believe that one day maybe we can have the same.

In the chapter “Happy Endings” from the book Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers, media had played an important role for Lovey, especially when she watched Shirley Temple movies. Lovey envied Shirley Temple for her happy endings and tears of joy. Shirley was like her idol, her hero, her reason for tears every Sunday. “We weren’t good enough for the kind of love that Shirley had every Sunday, the kind of love that makes the bottom lip quiver and mothers rush through crowds to hug you at the end of the movie” (Yamanaka 4).  Lovey wanted those same happy feelings for herself in her reality.  She felt that being the person she had grown to become wasn’t good enough to be worthy of the same love Shirley received. At this point in reading, it appeared that she was a young girl with low self-esteem, and watching someone else being happy was something she looked forward to for well-being.  

Another occasion concerning Lovey and comparing herself to the media was when she was getting her hair permed by her mother. In hopes of having her hair to look like an angel, it turned out the opposite; horrific. It was not like Farrah Fawcett nor Angie Dickinson, or Shirley Temple’s for that matter. The end result turned out to look like an Oompah Lompah’s hair from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

“Everyone laughs now, including my mother, who made me into a home permanent wave monster. My father shakes his head but I see him laughing too” (Yamanaka 62). Being teased about looking like something or someone she didn’t hope for made herself feel even worst. Who wouldn’t feel that way right? No one wants to look like a hideous orange little person with green hair. She would have hoped to look like Shirley Temple, with perfect curly hair, pink cheeks, big bright eyes, and pouty lips.

It seems as though Lovey’s life was shaped by the media in seeing what she wanted to be like or look like, and what she did not want or wanted to have. She was influenced by what she had seen in watching movies and other Entertainment such as The Checkers and Pogo Show where she wished she was the Merry UnBirthday girl so she can be in the spotlight. The media had soared her imagination beyond her reality.

When I was a young girl, I can describe myself very much like Lovey. Although I wasn’t someone with low self-esteem, I always wanted to look like my favorite celebrity or Idol that I had seen from watching television. I would shop for the coolest and most updated styles around and wear makeup so that I can look older; everyone always told me I looked like I was only twelve when really I was fifteen. I felt that if I could look like a celebrity and dress like one I can hang with the cool kids and be popular just like them.

One of my favorite old time movies that influenced me to try to act and talk like I was cool was the movie Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone. I bet most girls can agree that they probably didn’t start using the word “Whatever”, “As if”, or “Loser” as often as they did before they got to see the movie. Dancing was also one of my favorite things to do. I use to watch all the popular music videos and the dance moves. I would dance in front of the mirror the same time as the video plays just so I know I got it down right. I would practice until we had a school dance so all the kids would think that my dancing was the best.

The Media is a powerful influence to the human mind. Television is like an entertainment and educational tool because the mind is still learning, especially if it’s something newly introduced. It can originate the personality or change a lifestyle. Either it’s a positive or a negative effect; it all depends on the choices made. It can be the reasoning of how our lives are shaped. Imaging a world without television and other media entertainment, how will we live like today? 

"This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"

     “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” is a written story version of “Smoke Signals”. Both screenplay and book was by the author Sherman Alexie. In the book, the author was still able to portray the characters of both Thomas and Victor in the same image as it was in the movie; two young men very different personalities, perspectives, and lives. Through their long journey and tension they learned from one another.

     The book provided some details we didn’t see in the movie. In the written story version, there were several details and scene slightly different from the movie, for instance, the fate of Thomas’s parents was not like the movie. Before Victor went to the trading post he met up with the tribal council, which was not shown in the movie. The cash out amount was one hundred dollars instead of forty, Thomas was at the door step before Victor accepted his deal, they rode on an airplane instead of a bus, victor didn’t insult the gymnast, and there was no Suzy Song; which probably made the story much shorter as these scenes with Suzy from the movie was cut out from the written version.

     As mentioned, though the narration was slightly different, I am glad to have seen the movie first because I was able to picture the scenes, the faces of the characters, and the drama and humor in the stories. Also, the transitioning of the past and future would have been difficult to guess if the book was read first. It is important as both a viewer and reader to envision those types of details equally in the movie and book. It’s amazing how a whole movie can be written in nine pages. I felt like I was watching it over again only in minutes of reading.

Rules for Writers: Chapter 57 - Citing sources; avoid plagiarism

     Together a research paper is a combination of your thoughts and ideas along with your other sources. In order to be fairly decent in writing an honest paper, sources should be credited to the writers that you borrowed information from. If borrowed information is not cited, then the role of plagiarism is committed, which means it is copied and stolen without crediting the original writer.

     There are three different ways to commit plagiarism that is failing to cite borrowed ideas and quotations, failing to summarize and paraphrase information in your own words, and lastly failing to enclose barrowed sources in quotations marks. (Hacker 480). I also consider that even if summaries in your own words are too close to the original written language it should still be cited.

     All summaries, paraphrases, quotations, statistics, and other certain facts must be cited. Usually it is acceptable to not cite information that is repeated several times. If it appears to be specific information shown only a few times, then such information should be cited. It is recommended to cite using the author-date system.

     The system are as followed: last names of the authors along with the date of publication in parentheses, cited materials is followed by page numbers in parentheses, and at the end of the paper, alphabetize your list of references. This gives complete information about where sources are found. (Hacker 480)

     I agree that it is important to cite information or quotations borrowed from other writers. It fairly gives rightful credit to those sources. Since I have been writing and typing in this class, I have tried to keep it a habit, a good habit that is, to maintain fairness for any future writings and prevent any plagiarism in my part. 

Movie Dialogue: Smoke Signals

What do you think about the relationship between Thomas and Victor?

     The relationship between Thomas and Victor is funny and interesting because they totally have two different personalities. Victor is a big tough guy who thinks and acts like any other Indians; strong posture and is supposedly brave and fearless. Thomas is no typical Indian you see at a reservation. He is a nerdy looking Indian with big thick glasses and two sides of braided hair who was raised by his grandmother and loved to tell stories. Most of the stories were probably made up, but he calmly told it with details and passion and liked to keep his eyes closed as he does so.

 Although they never became best of friends, Thomas and Victor pretty much grew up and went to school together on the reservation. It seems as though Thomas desired to become friends with Victor, however he was always annoyed with Thomas because he comes up with random subjects. He especially brought up random subjects about Arnold a lot who is Victor’s father that left him 10 years earlier. The way Thomas spoked and expressed his humor to Victor sometimes built up his anger and annoyance, for instance, the scene where Victor was at the store and Thomas came up to him to apologize about the loss of his father, “I heard it on the wind. I heard it from the birds. I felt it in the sunlight. And your mom was just in here cryin’” (Smoke Signals 1998). I thought that was pretty hilarious, but I can see where that can build up fire on someone.

Eventually later in the movie, Victor learned to have patience with Thomas and was able to share some laughter with him. I think by Thomas coming along on the road trip helped Victor surpass the emotional thoughts of the loss of his father. Learning from the death of Arnold brought them closer. It also meant a lot to Thomas that Victor shared some of his father’s ashes with him. Thomas didn’t have any parents to look up to growing up, and in some ways Arnold was a guide to him at times. Maybe he secretly felt like he owed it to him since he was the cause of his parent’s death.

I enjoyed this movie a lot. I thought it was pretty entertaining. I watched it late at night when everyone went to sleep in the house so that I can watch it in peace and no distraction. I didn’t understand the significance of the title “Smoke Signals”, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the movie, I thought that it would have been something similar to the Sherman Alexie’s story “Superman and Me” and how to act like a regular Indian. I’m still a little fuzzy on the title. Maybe someone else can explain the significance to me. But I would recommend this movie to anyone that is interested.