From my Inquiry I paper I want to take away the close reading skills I came to better understand and develop while writing this paper. I liked being able to watch a film and look deeper into the meaning of certain scenes and actions by the characters because it really does give you a new way to watch movies. This particular inquiry required me to choose one scene from a movie and do a close reading to find something more than what the scene seems to show at face value. I chose the final dance scene from the film Silver Linings Playbook, which at first may appear just to be a competition. After close analysis and re-watching it countless times, I found that the dance could stand for how the main character's lives have really changed since they came together. The main take away from Inquiry II for me was connecting my ideas back together and making sure my sources were relevant to my main idea. Specifically, I had a hard time keeping one focus throughout my essay from my thesis to all of my quotes from outside sources. Finally, from Inquiry III I took the importance of reflection about my own writing. when writing the writer's reflection for this inquiry it required me to take a close life at things in my life that have shaped me and my personal canon over the course of my life. For example, I talked about how my private Catholic education helped shaped me and my values as a person which has an effect on what I chose for my canon.
Today I really liked the Humans of New York blog and the Post Secret video. I knew two of the texts from today, I have read My Sister's Keeper and seen The Avengers. After going through everyone's selections from their personal canons, I could get a sense for what certain people find valuable and meaningful in their lives.
I have really liked the presentations so far. This is a great way to learn more about everyone in our class, and it has given me some great ideas for books to read this summer. One book I was interested in was Heaven is for Real, I had heard about this movie coming out and I did not know there was a book which I now want to read. I really liked listening to everyone present their texts , a few I had heard of before but not even read or listened to. For the most part I had not heard of most of the texts people chose which I really liked because it was really interesting to learn about them. This little project gave everyone a chance to show their individuality and their likes and dislikes which may or may not be similar to someone else's interests. The different areas, experiences, people we have come in contact with have all shaped us and helped us form our personal canons.
After reading the assigned readings by Ashley Lauren Samsa and Megan Ward, I think they bring up a similar and very important fact that the older texts are still important to have as part of the canon, but also that new and diverse works should be included to expand students' horizons. I really like the idea that Ward brings up, where she says that the older works will help us understand works written later on, she gives the example of reading Greek mythology and understanding the many references brought up in literature today. In high school, I feel like I got a good mix of canonical works and other works outside of this list. We were required to read at least one work of Shakespeare each year and we read works like The Great Gatsby and Things Fall Apart, but we also included works such as The House of the Spirits. I think this novel breaks the typical canon stereotype because it was written by Isabel Allende, a Chilean writer with her work published in the 1980's, she is not only a female writer from South America, but her book is also relatively current compared to many works in the Western Canon. As I mentioned before, I think some of the works are key to the canon and even understanding later works. In addition to some of these key works, I think that some more recent and diverse authors and their creations should be included in the canon to give new perspectives and present different ideas than what can be learned from works already found in the Western Canon.
Possible works for my personal canon: 1. The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende 2. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald 3. The Bible 4. Shakespeare 5. Silver Linings Playbook 6. The Sound of Music 7. 19 Minutes 8. A Tale of Two Cities 9. Kite Runner 10. 127 Hours
Thesis: Loneliness and rejection seem to be the leading factors that drove Mark Zukerberg to create Facebook, a social network for college students to connect with one another. Similar reasons could explain why Facebook has remained so popular today, and why people are able to relate to this or understand why others enjoy the site, which is the reason so many people liked this film.
The rest of my paper and my research are supposed to work together to prove that people liked this film because they can understand why others, and maybe themselves, keep using Facebook. In addition, I tie in research and my own reasoning for why Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in the first place. His story of success is ironic and can be relatable in some people's cases, and also is a little crazy of how Zuckerberg makes it big with his social media site. I want this paper to show that the reasoning of people who keep using Facebook makes sense, and maybe the movie helps show that. This idea can register with all of the people who use Facebook today because they might be able to identify with any of the reasons that people keep logging back into their accounts.
1.Do any paragraphs get off topic at any point, or does it feel like they sticks to the argument presented in the thesis? 2.Does the concept/thesis of this paper make sense to you and can you get a sense of what I want to talk about after reading it?
Bolduc, Brian. "The Face Of Ambition: A Harvard Grad Reviews The Social Network." Academic Questions 24.1 (2011): 112-115. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. This article gives a thorough review with an interesting perspective twist. The writer is a former Harvard student, and he decides to give his input on Zuckerberg's experience at Harvard as portrayed in the film. I think this review will be particularly helpful because it gives readers a better understanding of what Zuckerberg could've felt and experienced while he was a student at Harvard. This insight would be useful to maybe understand the social strains that Mark Zuckerberg felt as a student and how that may have been a contributing factor to why he created Facebook, which would be relevant for my idea.
Edelstein, David. "Best Served Cold." Rev. of The Social Network. The New Yorker 1 Oct. 2010: n. pag. New York Magazine. 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. This review presents a lot of good points that I could focus on: First, it discusses the irony of Facebook in general because Zuckerberg creates the sight after being rejected from toe social clubs at Harvard, but also being dumped by his girlfriend who compares him to a Stairmaster, another machine. Another good point is the idea that he loses the friends that really mean something to him as he gains fame, fortune, and numerous friends on his site Facebook. This review would serve as good support because it talks a lot about what drove Mark to create Facebook in the first place which is important to my argument.
Mezrich, Ben. The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal. New York: Doubleday, 2009. Print. This book goes into detail about the creation of Facebook and the aftermath including the lawsuits Mark Zuckerberg faced. Some of the events were dramatized, but there is also a lot of information from sources, interviews, and Eduardo Saverin (Zuckerberg's former best friend) who met with the author. The book gives a more in depth look at some of the details the movie couldn't get to in it's time frame. I think this is a helpful source because it can give backup to my analysis and close reading of the film. If there is a scene from the movie i want to look more deeply into to get a better sense for the meaning, I have direct access to the book with a more detailed account of the events. One hard thing about this source is that some events are said to be dramatized, but there are also valid points to be found. I want t use this book to look more into the question "Why was Facebook created?" then relate it back to data I found about the site.
Turner, Fred. "The Social Network." Journal Of American History 98.1 (2011): 294-296. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014 . The article starts by comparing Mark Zuckerberg to the novel, The Financier. In this story, the main character rises to power quickly by not the most ethical manners, then falls hard at the end. This almost parallels the story of Facebook creator as portrayed in the film. I really liked how it said the invention of Facebook was Zuckerberg's way of "rewriting the rules of sociability and with them, the perameters of power" (1). This article really focuses on the ambition and drive that we see as with someone who craves at least a little power and recognition. This helps look at Mark Zuckerberg more in depth and come to understand what exactly drove him to betray the people who trusted him with their ideas, hard work, money, and support. It helps me start to get ideas of why Mark chose Facebook over all his real that were there for him in person.
Travers, Peter. "The Social Network." Rev. of The Social Network. Rolling Stone n.d.: n. pag. Rolling Stone. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. This review balances summary and insight well, while giving the film and its actors plenty of praise all the way through. It touches on many f the characters' importance to Zuckerberg's success with Facebook, and how most of those who were of the greatest help were then snubbed and betrayed by someone they thought they could trust. Also, it goes into depth about Zuckerberg's personality and his behavior as played in the movie. This review with good character analysis will be helpful to back p my close reading. I like that it focuses on the characters, and how the actors who play them, really bring out something the audience can latch onto and get hooked on from the beginning. Even though Zuckerberg is portrayed as the bad guy, you can't help but root for him during the film as well.
Wang, N., et al. “Can Well-Being Be Measured Using Facebook Status Updates? Validation Of Facebook’s Gross National Happiness Index.” Social Indicators Research 115.1 (2014):483-491. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. This a credible source from a research journal that explores people's moods in correlation their positive of negative posts on Facebook. The study was done over a year's time and interestingly enough found that when people had negative statuses most of the time they were in a good mood. I think this is relevant and may be useful for my paper because it looks deeply into how people express themselves using social media, and in this specific case, Facebook. I could possibly use it to support other research of why people use Facebook.
Nadkarni, Ashwini, and Stefan G. Hofmann. "Why Do People Use Facebook?"Personality and Individual Differences 52.3 (2012): 243-49. 26 Nov. 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.This article written by a group of scientists that studied why people use Facebook. They came up with three interesting ideas and go more into detail explaining why so many people are online using social media. The three reasons were to create public profile, to find other people who hey have a connection with, and last is to look at and follow their own connections or someone else's connections on Facebook. This article is extremely helpful and perfect for my paper because I am actually asking the question of why so many people choose to use Facebook, and this article goes in depth to explore this question. I plan to use this article and connect it to why Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook and why the public today continues to use it so often.
Ryan, Tracii, and Sophia Xenos. "Who Uses Facebook? An Investigation into the Relationship between the Big Five, Shyness, Narcissism, Loneliness, and Facebook Usage." Computers in Human Behavior 27.5 (2011): 1658-664. Sept. 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. As this article mentions most research done concerning who uses Facebook has been focused on students, but this article focuses on people from the ages of 18-44 which gives much more range and variety to their research. Also, they made it a comparative study because they studied Facebook and non-Facebook users. The study looked at the types of people, personality wise, who were and were not on Facebook. This research is extremely helpful, and will give great support to my writing about why people use Facebook. I can use it to talk about what makes people want to use Facebook, then how it affects them and their behaviors.
Craig, Elizabeth, and Kevin B. Wright. "Computer-Mediated Relational Development And Maintenance On Facebook®." Communication Research Reports 29.2 (2012): 119-129. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. This article discusses examines the relationships people form via social media and specifically Facebook in this case. The study focused on college students and how they build and maintain relationships online. This will be helpful to maybe look into why people keep logging into Facebook, they like these connections that they make and what to keep them going. The relevance of looking at college students is perfect because I can relate it back to Mark Zuckerberg's life and his reasons for creating Facebook because he was a college student when it al started.
Ellison, Nicole B., Charles Steinfield, and Cliff Lampe. "The Benefits Of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital And College Students’ Use Of Online Social Network Sites." Journal Of Computer-Mediated Communication 12.4 (2007): 1143-1168. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. The focus of this article is on the relationship between social capital, the networks and connections between people, and people's use of Facebook. The study also viewed undergraduate college students, like the previous article. It looks into the strength of their relationships and the psychological benefits of using Facebook and making these connections. The study found that Facebook could benefit people experiencing low self esteem more so than others. I think this article speaks a lot to why people use Facebook and even helps make sense of some of the reasons Mark might have created Facebook. I think this article ties my two ideas together well.
I have seen this movie a few times now, and every time I watch it I discover something new or I can look at things differently than I did before. For Inquiry I, I actually did a close reading of this film and particularly the scene of the dance at the end of the movie. This scene gave a new perspective to the film by showing how he has progressed and gotten himself and his bipolar disease under more control. Another scene I think is very important to the film is when Tiffany explains to Pat Sr. how his son is the Eagle's good luck charm when he is with her. It brings together all of Pat Sr.'s superstitions and confronts them with evidence of why he might be on to something having Pat as his good luck charm. I think there are two themes in this movie that stood out to me and I would say they are: 1.) You can always find a silver lining in a situation, which manages to do in his life, when al seems hopeless for him he meets Tiffany and together they both work hard get to happier and healthier states 2.) I also think there is a theme about overcoming challenges and obstacles hat we face everyday, and this is that it is possible to overcome these with a positive attitude and support from people who care for you. After watching the movie several times and reading the articles, I think the close reading plays an important part to finding out what is driving the movie and maybe what I can focus on in my own film. Also, the articles show that there are so many different ways to view a film and it's really great to have both sides of the spectrum to fully understand a certain issue, like mental illness in this case. Some potential research questions for me to consider would be: 1)What is a prevalent theme from this film that I can focus my research on? 2)What are some cultural issues that relate to this theme/the film? 3)What from the theme/cultural issues would make audiences relate and enjoy this film?
After reading the article "Who Made the Film and Why?" I started to think of a new way to view the purpose of some movies. Little things such as companies and organizations that fund certain films can require their products to be featured in a film or some can be used to promote a certain message. It was surprising to me that the meaning of a film can have a completely new meaning if the audience interprets it another way than intended. Taking this into consideration, I don't feel like my film has been redefined since it came out in 2010, but in the future I think the film could be redefined due to changes in the beliefs of the audience or because Facebook could become outdated at some point in the future and the whole system will seem irrelevant to people at that time.
For Inquiry 2, I am planning on working with the film The Social Network. I chose this film because I have seen it before, and I think there are several elements and themes in this movie that resonate with modern audiences which is why it was received well. The idea of doing anything to get ahead and make money is very relevant not only in this film, but also in our society. Another prevalent idea in the film is the importance of connecting to others through the web. These two ideas will be the main points of my essay, and I plan to give evidence to back them up.
After reading through my peer's responses on my essay, I want to add deeper analysis in a few places in my essay in which I feel like the analysis is a little weak. Also, I might move one paragraph around and respond to two questions that my peers brought up. I would do this by adding more detail about the scene in one paragraph of my paper.
Essay Outline 1st Paragraph: Introduction and thesis 2nd Paragraph: Analysis of first half of dance and first 2 songs 3rd Paragraph: Camera focus on family & friends 4th Paragraph: Final song of dance analysis 5th Paragraph: Conclusion