#blog 7

For my SSI assignments ,I meet some difficulties in thesis statement and building connection between my primary sources and secondary sources.Although I do not quite agree with Mr Bollig's view that my second secondary source is less apparently relevant than my first secondary source,I do think I fail to make central arguments of second secondary source clear.Since my primary source brings about two thesis which seems not relevant to each other,I need to do more work in explaining how those two thesis relate to the class theme.Also,I did not make enough introduction about my secondary source especially the second one ,which may make people feel hard to understand what I was talking about.I should introduce the source by identifying the author and her pitch .Another parts I should improve is that I write two unnecessary anecdotes,which do not meaningfully advance my argument.So in my ARP assignment, I would more focus on the analysis of the source rather than the anecdotes . I also think I should work on the structure of the essay ,since although I do write my thesis statement ,I do not put them in the right place,which makes people feel my overall arguments not clear.I think the reason why I have trouble in writing a good SSI is that I fail to completely understand the requirement. So I would read the requirement of ARP a lot more carefully and figure out how I could meet all the Objectives. Generally speaking, this course is pretty hard for me because the requirement for writing analytically is very challenging.It is easy to make mistakes in your writing.So I need to spend more time to improve my paper and learn more effective ways to write analytically.I believe I will make great progress in writing by the end of this course.

Post #7

Because a little misunderstanding about the purpose of primary source, it is hard for me to link the primary source and secondary. I didn’t realize how important the primary source is for this course and our final paper. If I can re choose my primary source I will use secondary source as primary one—black and white films, and shifts primary to secondary clips and singular black and white imagines in the films. Then my theme will focus on why black and white can do the colors cannot do in modern visual arts, film or photo. However, I start to establish my theme on a black and white photo in a magazine; I analyze it from the photo’s content, the structure, the contrast color to how all of them combined to express the visual shock to present the theme. It is amazing to use black and white instead of color in such a realistic content to touch viewers. Then I pick up my second sources, two or three black and white films, also two review articles about these films that who the extreme contrast, unrealistic color show our realistic life, war, history and horrible scenes. The challenge I met is to set “conversation” of primary source and secondary source. My secondary sources are more perusable and plentiful to insist what I conclude on my primary source. So the “conversation” loses balance somehow. My paper’s center of gravity inclines to what is the effect of black and white films. Thanks to rewriting my SSI, I restructure my paper. In each viewpoint, I talk about both my primary source and secondary source, and pay more attention on how the secondary source insists the point that I get from the primary source. This structure is more reasonable and persuadable. What I need to do next to make my paper better is adding more argument from my own point of view. In the draft, I rely on too much what the critics consider about the effects of black and white films. Instead, I should state my agreement or disagreement insistently, showing my attitude. I think if I add more my argument, it is easy to fill an 8 pages paper.


Shiyun Hu

Everyone barks

In the show Roseanne, it is hard to believe what American lower-middle class looks like; at least they have an independent house to live. In Chinese’s situation, the house as big as their will cost a middle class family 20 years saving, even more. When I was in high school, my desk-mate was from a lower class that her father is a taxi driver, her mother is a worker. They live in the boundary of city and countryside, in a poor and old one room home. A blanket hanging in a rope separate her home two part, one for her studying, one for her parents’ bed. This structure of house is very popular in lower class family, for children’s education, parents always sacrifice everything for next generation, because child is the only hope for the whole family to get rid of poverty. And accepting higher education seems the only way to be successful for younger generation. Even the situation of lower and middle class in United State is much better than in developing countries, they are also suffering living problems brought by poverty. However, I am so happy to watch the TV show like Roseanne, because their optimistic attitude towards life encourage people a lot, their humor and ridicule makes life easier. As Roseanne says to her daughter’s history teacher, everyone in her home barks. Barking is an attitude to against unsatisfied life, in China, more times, people prefer to choose endurance and silence than fight for their rights. I think barking is a good thing, just not hurt others.

Shiyun Hu

#Blog post 6

After watching this interesting video at class ,I searched more information about this clip episode.I found that Roseanne' was the story of middle class family struggling with life's essential problems: Marriage, Children, Money and Parent's in Law. Roseanne and his husband raised three cute sons and daughters of different age.I think the most interesting part about Roseanne is her attitude towards her life and family. Her family is not rich at all but she manages to make it a happy union.When she was told that her little girl barking at class ,she was not surprised and unhappy like other mother did. Instead ,she told her daughter's teacher "What's the problem?Our whole family barks!"It is very valuable for a mother to face her daughter's problem so positively and calmly. Most mother would be very upset to be asked to see her daughter's teacher .They tend to blame their kid for whatever they did without even listening to their explanation,which would really hurt a child's feeling and ruin the relationship between mother and kid.So I have to say it is pretty cool for Roseanne to understand her daughter and joke about her daughter's problem.She knows her daughter need more love than just blam.In addition ,it is also very funny to see she visualize her ideal life.She wants to have a clean house ,smart kids and husband cooking for her. It shows although she was a mother of three kids she has her dreams for the future,which indicates that middle class people's desire to make their life better and happier. She and her husband do argue about some family and money issue. But those arguments only show they really care about each other .When their daughter cuts her finger ,they stop quarreling immediately,and try to help her deal with her wound.Her story told us middle class people can also lead happy life,if they have positive attitude.

Roseanne and Class Warfare

Upon watching the pilot episode of “Roseanne”, it is easy to identify many themes of class warfare and related topics. It is unique among sitcoms of its time in that it depicts a more “working class” family (in comparison to shows like “The Cosby Show”). This seems to be evident in the fact that Roseanne, the main character, works full time at a factory while her husband is having difficulty finding work. Furthermore, “Roseanne” addresses many cultural issues related to class struggle.

For example, Roseanne’s work life seems to deeply affect her home and family life. This is particularly evident when Roseanne has to take off work early to talk to her daughter’s teacher, who addressed the fact that her daughter was having behavioral issues that she thought might have been caused by a lack of interaction with Roseanne and other home issues. However, Roseanne responds by saying that she works eight hours a day, has three children, and, therefore, is unable to spend “quality time” with her kids.
Additionally, in the pilot episode of “Roseanne”, she and her husband get into an argument over the balance of work and household responsibilities; Roseanne argues that she works full time and does all the housework while her husband does nothing, and he tries to defend himself.

I feel that Roseanne was ultimately a successful show because, like many sources of comedic entertainment, it portrays situations and characters that are relatable to a large number of people. However, it is significant to note that such a large number of people are able to identify with a family such as Roseanne’s, one which struggles with time management, finances, and their relationships with one another, and are able to take their difficult situations and find them humorous. Nevertheless, it is easy to see many examples of the struggles and stereotypes associated with class warfare in “Roseanne”.

Blog5

The New Year's Sacrifice is a very famous novel written by Lu Xun who was one of the greatest writers in contemporary China.It told us a story about the miserable life of a woman named Xiang Lin ,which reflects the social class struggle in China after the revolution of 1911.
Xiang Lin was born in a very poor family in he countryside.After the death of her husband, her mother in law wanted to marry her to a farmer for money.So she had to flee and then worked as a maid in a landlord's family where she suffered discrimination and abusion from almost everyone .Later,her mother in law found her and forced her to marry that farmer.She lived a short happy life with his second simple-minded but hard-working husband and gave birth to a child for him. But it did not last long. His father was tortured to death by the local landlord ,which made her had to work in the landlord's family again to raise her son. Unfortunately, her son was eaten by a wolf when she went out to do the laundry .In the end, she find herself can not suffer more and then committed suicide in the New Year's Eve while everyone was celebrating the New Year.
From my perspective ,this novel reveals the fact that in China people from lower class ,especially women, suffered a lot from the mean treatment and prejudice by society.Just like Xiang Lin ,women in rural areas are always forced to marry someone they know little about just because they have a lot of money and high social status. Some extremely poor families even had to sell their daughters for money as they can not afford their life .It is hard to blame those parents How can you talk about morality if you can not even survive ?We can not change the fact that they were born to be poor but we can donate something we do not really need to them instead of doing nothing. People should never be so indifferent like the landlord did since it is human nature to help someone when we have the ability.In addition ,people sometimes still judge a person by where he or she was from not what he or she can do .Although this situation was much better than it used to be,we have to admitted that we tend to be more respectful for someone who has strong backgrounds than someone who does not. For example,when we want to marry someone from a poor family, we always consider whether she only marries you for your money.There are 13 billions people in China .No matter how hard the government worked ,poverty still existed so the least thing we can do is to be nice with the poor people and show respect to them.We can simply achieve our goal by valuing their work and encourage them when they are in desperation.

Black Friday

Most American's are familiar with the term "Black Friday" as the name for the Friday following Thanksgiving Day, and a day that is associated with both positive and negative connotations. On a positive end, many people look forward to Black Friday as an opportunity to get good deals to save on holiday gifts and other various items. However, Black Friday is also sort of an example of consumerism-gone-crazy; people wake up early in the morning (or do not sleep at all), camp out on sidewalks outside of store, and run in large mobs into stores to grab the things they want to buy before others do. People risk injury, health, and ignore the wants and needs of others in order to get the things they desire to purchase.

The question is: why do people go so crazy for Black Friday? I believe that a large part of the reason people are motivated to participate in Black Friday events are media and advertisements for Black Friday sales. More broadly, the media in general promotes materialistisc ideals. It seems that people who shop on Black Friday come from a variety of social and economic backgrounds and that all people are motivated by the fact that they will save money by buying things on that specific day of the year. I believe that if media in our culture (tabloids, television shows, movies, and even books) did not glamourize things such as having expensive and luxurious things, including homes, electronics, and clothing, than Black Friday would not be considered such a noteworthy event. Furthermore, if it were not for the media, I do not feel that shopping and materialistic ideas would be such a prominent part of our culture.

Rebel Spirit in Dream of the Red Chamber (Bolg 5)

One of China’s four great classics, Dream of the Red Chamber, is a novel written by Cao Xueqin, the novel provides a detailed, episodic record of the two branches of the wealthy and aristocratic Jia clan — the Rongguo House and the Ningguo House — who reside in two large, adjacent family compounds in the capital Beijing in feudal Qing Dynasty. According to describe dozens characters fate in the two Houses with a big clan’s history from prosperity to decline, Dream of the Red Chamber implicitly criticize the feudal privileges, social estate system and class inequality. To the feudal dynasty, it has a lot of impact.
The theme reflects on several outstanding characters. One example is Jia Tanchun, who is the main protagonist Jia Baoyu’s younger half-sister by Concubine Zhao. She is lamented was “born in the wrong womb”, because as a concubine child she is not respected as much as those by first wives. But she is brash and extremely outspoken, almost as capable as the host of the whole clan. Tanchun’s nickname is “Rose “for her beauty and her prickly personality. She is a good example of fighting the feudal rural and unequal status. Even unfortunately she cannot avoid tragic fate under cruel and indifferent society, but her spirit of anti- privilege and anti-feudalism is so impressive. Another character has rebel spirit is Qingwen, who is Baoyu’s handmaid; also the only maid dares to argue with Baoyu when reprimanded.
The whole novel is a pioneer in that extreme unequal society, most of characters are female, and their spirit of seeking free, equal is so notable and commendable in a male-dominated world.


Shiyun Hu

Deep thinking about primary source

My primary source is one of a series three pictures which were posted on a magazine Large. The picture is about a poor homeless man is donating coins to another homeless. The first time I saw it, I didn't get the deep meaning behind this picture itself. Because it is so hard to get only one theme here. The theme can be: People are equal; even poorest people are warm-hearted to help people; or only people in the same class cares each other. However, the small text in the picture reveals its value:"For people who think bigger than they are. It seems clear that to appeal public to treat people equally, do not look down people based on class and social status. But, I am so confused. If the poor donates to the poor means equal. Does it mean unfair status if the rich give money to homeless and the rich are arrogant? If the picture shows a poor man is helping a rich man, for instance, when a man is injured by a car accident and a passing by homeless donates blood immediately so that the rich can be alive. Then we can say:"For people who think bigger then they are." which means for love, for human nature, we all are equal. Nevertheless, come back to the original picture, I get another meaning: for the rich, donation is "Charity", but for the poor, it is "Love". A lot of impressive stories about poor people help others occur when catastrophic Wenchuan Earthquake happened in Sichuan Province, China in 2008. The selfless love warms victims and encourage them to rebuild home.

Shiyun Hu

Analysis about my primary source

I loved this video advertisement for Nokia 7650 once I saw it on one of my friend's blog . It is the most fantastic and creative advertisement I have ever seen .And after I replayed and watched this video for about seven or eight times,I became interested in digging the factors that made this video that special and popular. I tend to believe this is not just a advertisement that the Nokia company made to encourage people to buy their cell phones.It is also a reminder that let us reconsider some facts in our life which should by no means be neglected .
Firstly,this advertisement reveals the fact that people need to find a unique way to show how much we care and love our friends and relatives.We have to admitted the fact that our jobs and study certainly take up our leisure time that can be otherwise spent hanging out or chatting with our friends and family,while emotional communication is perhaps the most admirable in today's highly technical,highly rushed and highly stressed modern lives.So it is pretty important to come up with a method or a plan to share our feelings with people we care such as sending a greeting card or making some gifts for them.It may seems trivial at first but it really works in a long-term,benefiting all life long.
In addition, it also made us realize that cell phone and latest technologies have already become a part of our life. It changed our lifestyles in the way we work ,communicate with each other and even the way we have fun. It is good that our life become much easier with the help of high technologies but at the meantime I also tend to concede that sometimes we should go back to our previous life just like playings soccer with our friends or barbecuing with our family. That is a great way to relax and get close to people around you.

Bon Qui Qui at King Burger

For my primary source, I have chosen a MadTV sketch called “Bon Qui Qui at King Burger” about a girl who works at a fast food restaurant as part of the “Out of the Hood Program”. Many questions can stem from observations made from the sketch. “Bon Qui Qui at King Burger” has the goal of creating a humorous representation of something relatable to most people—going to a fast food restaurant.

However, this source simultaneously makes a statement about the culture of people from inner cities and how they act, placing particular emphasis on their behavior in a work environment. Additionally, it makes an argument on the types of jobs people from inner cities have and also how they interact with people from different communities and social classes.

The sketch seems to present stereotypes on the types of people who come from inner cities, their culture, their socioeconomic backgrounds, their relationships, their jobs, and their behavior. A main question that comes to mind is, why do such stereotypes exist? Do the majority of people recognize the stereotypes “Bon Qui Qui at King Burger” represents as true? Furthermore, does one’s race, social class, political views, or other background affect their view on the sketch? For example, would a person who works in a fast food restaurant full time find the sketch humorous or degrading? Is the sketch actually stereotyping people like Bon Qui Qui? What does the sketch say about the relationship between consumers and workers? Does the sketch make a statement about the relationship between managers and lower-level workers? Does the sketch display how said lower-level workers view both customers and work as a whole? All of the above and many other questions can be asked about the sketch, and are things I hope to address in my Primary Source Analysis.

Primary Source Summary

One of my primary sources is a documentary titled “Children in America’s Schools with Bill Moyers”. The documentary is based on the book Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools by Jonathan Kozol. Both the book and the movie document the social and economic differences of schools in rural, suburban, and inner-city schools with the object of informing the public of the injustices of educational inequality. It seems that the movie particularly aims to initiate people’s interest in advocating for change in the nation’s schools. The documentary specifically focuses on both elementary and secondary public schools in Ohio. It reveals to viewers many examples of schools in poor areas, such as rural slums and inner-cities, that have unsafe buildings, lack the necessary supplies, and typically have larger class sizes than schools in wealthy communities. On the other hand, wealthier schools, most of which are located in suburban areas, have new buildings, smaller class sizes, and an abundance of academic, extracurricular, and athletic opportunities. The documentary was created in 1996 and written by Jeffrey Hayden. The explicit messages given by the documentary are that educational inequality exists because of lack of funding, or overabundance of funding, from local government and taxes. An implicit message of “Children in America’s Schools” is that both the government and the general public need to work harder to change the “Savage Inequalities” that exist in America’s schools. I hope to further investigate this source and figure out more specifics as to how educational inequality and work and class relate and to use those ideas to apply them to into my own life and future career.