Thursday, September 22, 2011

Analysis of: "The Miseducation of Hip-Hop- Discrimination in Education"



When you read over this passage especially about Jason Hinmon’s experiences in college you can end up feeling pretty conflicted. You remember your days in college and hearing the stories of your parent’s days and you can’t help but notice there has always been a divide between professor and student. It is also known that the purpose of college is to get the training and educations to attain you’re desired field of work. Wouldn’t that mean dressing appropriately? As if you were already in a work place environment. Or is it just the time of your life to find yourself and experience and try new things?

Our parents listened to Chuck Berry’s “My ding-a-ling” and The Rolling Stone’s “Let’s spend the night together”. Not necessarily as explicit as some of today’s rap or hip hop music but we all definitely have received the message from their words. There were songs purely about sex and free love, now this text refers to song writers like Tupac and Snoop Dogg at the end of the day they are entertainers and if what they are doing sells what are they doing wrong? Are they asking to be role models?

The effects of the hip hop are defiantly influencing young people’s lives, their speech and clothing. But it is a harmful or a negative influence and as long as their dress isn’t against dress code standards what is the purpose of looking down at a student. If his grades and his conduct is up to par then what does it matter what clothing he’s wearing or his vernacular in the hallway. There will always be a divide in generations because of music and dress style, is it something to be judged upon especially in a college environment where students are asked to be themselves, experience life and grow into themselves.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Bais of Language, The Bias of Pictures

In this text Postman and Powers discuss the influences and bias in the news media and then they continue on and touch on the differences of stationary pictures moving pictures and language. The main differential between them will be the amount you're able to assume and build your own opinion of the news story.
Whether you're dealing with a stationary or moving picture it’s a type of language. It isn’t as clear as verbal language but still has its own way of telling a story. Postman and Powers say that still photographs ''speak only in particularities" (Pop Perspectives p. 485). Meaning that their ability to describe the story is limited because it can only show so much. It is up to us as the viewers to pull from that photograph our opinion of what is happening. This opens the door for our own bias’ to influence and alter the news story.
With moving picture Postman and Powers discuss how you have a little less ability to formulate an opinion but it’s definitely something that still happens. Something like a news casters undertone or demeanor can influence the new story. It effects your emotions and the infliction they may use on certain words can completely change your view on the event.

It gives you a better idea of what their text is trying to get across which is basically there is no "true news" everything is either paraphrased or re-phrased, even if done completely unintentionally. Something as little as a news caster having an argument with their spouse when leaving for work in the morning can change how they read a story. There’s nothing we can avoid even if two people standing next to each other witness an event they can have two different opinions of how the event went down.

The main bullet points of the story will be the same, but the reasons they happened or the feelings they evoked in the witness can be altered. Even the description and perception of this text is quite possibly not be the intended views of this article.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Force: Volkswagen

The Volkswagen Company is using the Dearth Vader character because the generation that grew up with star wars is well over the age of being able to by a car and at the years of their life where that generation is set into their careers and could probably afford this car now. The company is also showing it is a family car for the upcoming year where this generation is a little more hip so the car has a sportier look to it for a family car. The father takes his time to let his child’s imagination go wild as well, like making it look like the kid made the car do that with his hands, so though the child’s eye have a car like that they can do anything.