Product Placement

They’re are multiple movies and television shows that display product placement and you’ll be amazed on how most people in our society doesn’t catch it. For those who do catch the advertising of the certain product doesn’t understand why they placed the product in it. The reason being to place a product within a movie or show is to sell it.

 The movie Back To the Future displays NIKE shoes and the shoes are one of a kind because the lace themselves without the hassle of tying them yourself.

Talladega Nights displays several products placement within it’s movie from Wonder Bread, Old Spice to Perrier. As you can see this movie used to famous actors and comedians Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly. The second pictured displays KFC, Powerade, Budweiser, Dominoes and Coca Cola.

Little Nicky advertised Popeye’s chicken in there movie as Adam Sandler, who is a famous actor, eats it on the bench in a park.

 In Cast Away Tom Hanks (famous actor) is stranded on a beach and makes an imaginary friend named Wilson and ironically Wilson is a volleyball created by the Wilson brand company.

These are only four movies that display product placement within them and probably a lot of people didn’t realize how in just one movie you’ll see several advertising for different products.

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Tracking My Radio

How much radio do you listen to?

For the past couple of days I’ve been tracking how much music I listen too and it never occurred to me that I listen too a lot of music. As I work on this blog post I’m listening too music without even realizing it. Everyday I have my headphones in playing music from hip hop to pop music to r&b. I listen to music to help me get in a focus state of mind whether its to get me ready for class or a sport activity. The genre of music just depends on what I’m doing at that point of time and the mood I’m in.

When do you listen?

I listen to music in between classes on Monday through Friday, before and after practice and the games on the weekends. When I’m studying I listen to slow music to help me focus and concentrate on my work. I also listen to music in the shower I don’t know why but it’s just relaxing hearing the genre of music that your in the mood for as you unwind.

What attracts you to a particular station?

For me to pick a certain station of music really depends on the mood I’m in and if I want to listen to a certain artist or not. I’m a fan of old school hip hop and r&b plus the new school and I listen to certain pop artist of our time such as Calvin Harris, Sam Smith, The Weekend, and/or Rihanna.

How has your music taste changed over the years?

Over the years I’ve listened to music it grew on me and I expanded into different genres. Growing up I only listened to old school r&b and hip hop. My brothers and I were a big fan of Wyclef Jean, we had a two sided cassette tape with one of his albums on it and that was our favorite thing to listen to while we were in the car. In this age and time I use my cell phone in the car whether its bluetooth or an aux cord.  As I grew up I went through a stage my freshman year of high school were I started listening to certain rock songs before some football games and practice. From listening to rock I started to listen to pop music. At the age I’m at now my genre of music is pretty much narrow I really haven’t expanded out to other types of music such as country or blue grass, but from time to time I listen to jazz and in time I’ll probably will but for now I’ll just stick to what I feel comfortable with.

Watch Dog Hacks Our Surveillance Society

How do collective intelligence, gaming Web sites, and game conventions enhance the social experience of gaming and make games different from other mass media?

Watch Dogs brought some light to the modern world about tech and the path that it was taking. This case study allows you to see the pro’s and con’s about technology. Watch Dogs it described the prevalence of hacking and how it connects with modern day technology. Watch Dogs is a game that shows where we as a humane society is heading in the future and the path we’re taking with tech and how it controls most of our daily activities. The game itself is different from other mass media because the game itself is based off one single devise that allows him to connect to everything with the touch of a button. Even though some attributes of the game where futuristic it was still quite amazing on the possibilities and questions that it left behind once it was created.

What is it that is being communicated – if we are crafting our own individual narrative as we play through a game?

Videos games are starting to take part in the social media world with the new online play on the gaming systems where you can interact with other players across the world. Watch Dogs interacts with online game play and modern day technology with a few futuristic perks. Watch Dogs has the choice between being a good Samaritan or a bad vigilante. Which effects the real word because the game allows you too receive info about random civilians and let you determine to harm them or let them live. Basically the game left the audience with a choice of their own and let the game be based off their actions.

How Sports Have Changed Over Time
Sports are a major part of entertainment in today’s society it helped open a lot of doors for all the athletes. Minority groups didn’t receive the same recognition as white male athletes or some of the same opportunities either. Minorities are often seen as the underdogs and had to work really hard for recognition, and now everyone male, female, black or white have the same opportunity. Now the world is looking at sports differently because there are a lot of great athletes no matter the race or gender. Now we’re in the day and age of technology and with the new gadgets that we make consistently we are always able to stay connected to sports. Sports today are now prospering with all the attention that they receives from all the fans, technology and the new athletes that love the sport they play. With the underdogs on the rise and new technology the world of sports are going to make a major impact on the world.
The African American community has been the underdogs for a long time and with sports we can finally get some sort of equality. Maya Angelou wrote an article called the Champion of the World, in which she describes how an African American boxer, Joe Louis, beat a white boxer in a boxing match. Nobody thought that he was going to do it but he did and that day began a new era for the black community. Without days like this in history African Americans wouldn’t be recognized for the great changes that they have brought into the world of sports. Being that sports are publicized everyone will hear that there is change inside the world of sports. Each sport has big news today there is a specific channel for each sport around the world, so no one is ever out the loop on what’s going on. When sports first started to hear about an African American doing the impossible you’ll either listen to it on the radio or it would be all in the newspapers. But has racism really changed throughout sports? Recently Donald Sterling former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers was caught on recording saying racist things. The NBA Commissioner Adam Silver bans Donald Sterling from the NBA for life and fines him two and a half million dollars also he is forced to sell his team. People’s reactions to this incident were more than pleased a lot of critics and reporters felt as though that the NBA made a huge statement and a big push forward.
Women within the sports world today are looked at extremely different than they were in the early stages of sports. Women athletes not only had to work harder to compete, but just because the simple fact that there were ladies and it was unusual to see them participate in sports. Author Michael Kimmelman states, “Venus and Serena Williams, the game’s longtime dominant sisters, tend to look more abstracted, in a world closed onto themselves” (513). These two sisters changed the sport of tennis for females by themselves and now they gave all the women in that sport the opportunity to be recognized. With the expansion of worldwide sports we have women Olympic teams across the world.
Each day that goes by women are becoming more and more athletic and some women are even more athletic than most men. Even though women are getting a little recognition they still make big plays as men do sometimes even bigger. “Although things have gotten better and gradually more women are acknowledged as serious contenders, the glass ceiling has yet to be broken; it has only cracked a bit” (Maratta 540). Women athletes are making a push to earn their equal treatment and the recognition that they deserve. Cheerleading is changing with time, now in today’s society it’s different from how it was in the past. “Cheerleaders are more like extreme athletes: daredevil adrenaline junkies who often perform exhausted or hurt” (Yabroff qtd. Maratta 540). Cheerleaders use to be seen as the girly girl type, and only chanting instead of actually doing amazing acrobatics.
Sports are being more and more broadcasted each year from breaking news to NFL Draft to the NBA Finals. With the new technology that we are creating you can now watch Sport Center on the go and even ESPN just to stay caught up with your favorite teams. There are new apps that every sports fan have whether it’s on their phone or tablet. College students are extremely big on sports, especially if their team is doing well and make it to the playoffs, so these technology items are essential to them. Sports are also still reported in newspapers, whether it’s a local team, high school, or the big story within the world of sports.
These types of changes really give the young children in our society something to look forward to. Children start playing sports at a young age because they admire the professional athletes that play their own sport. Teenagers admire sports such as basketball and football, and they’ll go outside and play with friends just to try to be like their favorite player. With the evolution on the rise there are a lot of more things to change the world and its views on sports.

Works Cited

 

Angelou, Maya. “Champion of the World.” “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 484-488. Print.

Kimmelman, Michael. “Women Who Hit Very Hard.” “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 512-522. Print.

Maratta, Sara. “Move Over Boys, Make Room in the Crease.” “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 537-544. Print.

Michele Obama Addresses Obesity: A One-act Play

Michael Hanlon, Laura Parker, DQ Pauling, and Tori Squailia ENG 131.01 Professor Lucas 2 April 2014 Michele Obama Addresses Obesity: A One-act Play Character Guide: Michele Obama: America’s current First-Lady, married to President Barack Obama. Michelle is very big on personal health and exercise. She has started her own fitness campaign called “Let’s Move!” Her campaign is mainly targeted toward adolescents. Michael Pollan: A professor at the University of California at Berkeley and author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (2010), and In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto (2008). Mary Maxfield: Mary Maxfield graduated from Fontbonne University in December 2010. Has a degree in creative social change and minors in sociology, American culture studies, and women’s and gender studies. Academic interest includes bodies, gender, sexuality, politics, and rhetoric. She also has a blog; you can read it at missmarymax.wordpress.com. Reporter: An employee at the New York Times newspaper. He is writing an expose on Michelle Obama’s approaches to tackling obesity in America. He will also be attendant this afternoons’ discussion. It is calm and quiet in the White house. Michael, Mary, and the reporter are gathered in a small meeting room to talk about Obesity. Members are shocked when the Honorable Michelle Obama enters the room to greet them. This was certainly a surprise, to everyone except for the reporter who has been following her career since she started her latest campaign “Let’s Move.” Michelle Obama: Good afternoon, everyone. First I’d like to thank you all for coming. I have gathered you all here today to talk to a matter dear to my heart, obesity. Is there anyone who would like to start off with something? Mary Maxfield: Actually, I would. You see “The problem is that our understanding of health is as based in culture as it is in fact. Despite some doubt in academic circles over connections between diet, health, and weight, common-sense reportage continues to presume that they are directly connected” (444). Michael Pollan: I have to agree with that. “People eating a western diet are prone to a complex of chronic diseases that seldom strike people eating more traditional diet” (435). Reporter: So, Michael, What would you say is a good solution to this? MP: The solution to the problem would appear to remain the same, stop eating a western diet” (435). MM: “Culturally, however, we resist these scientific findings in favor of a perspective that considers fatness fatal and thinness immortal. Our skewed views of fatness then facilitate our skewed views of food” (445). Reporter: So, basically, our eating habits are driven by our culture? MO: I would have to say so. Excellent points, by the way. Reporter: So what exactly is a western diet? MP: “A hallmark of the western diet is food that is fast, cheap, and easy. Americans spend less than 10 percent of their income on food; they also spend less than a half hour a day preparing meals and little more than an hour enjoying them” (439). MO: Well, “According to one study, on average, a trip to the corner store, a child will walk out of that store with more than 350 calories worth of food and beverage—this is on average. So if they’re going two and three times a day, that can really add up” (423). “The way we live life today is very different from when I was growing up . . . in school, we had recess twice a day and gym class twice a week. And then when we got home in the afternoon our parents made us get up and play outside” (421). I feel that one of our main concerns lie with today’s parents. MP: I can see that. David Zinczenko once said “Most of the teenagers who live on a fast-food diet won’t turn their lives around: They’ve crossed under the golden arches to a likely fate of lifetime obesity. And the problem isn’t theirs- it’s ours” (qtd by Zinczenko, 392) MM: Yeah, I’d agree with that. Fast-food can be addicting if you get it too much, and a lot of people are doing just that. They can’t afford groceries, so they go get something off of a dollar menu instead. MP: Well, I think we spend too much money advertising foods like McDonald’s or Hostess. We need to be adverting healthy foods just as much as we are the junk food. MO: Families just aren’t eating as healthy as they use to back when we were young. As a child, “we never ate anything fancy, but the portion sizes were reasonable and there were rarely seconds. And we always had a vegetable on our plate” (423). MO: You see we are setting the children up for failure. “So we need to take this issue seriously, as seriously as improving under-achieving schools or any of the other issues that we know are devastating our communities” (420-21). MM: Yes. I think schooling is a major problem. We need to take out all of the fatty and greasy foods we are serving students and replace that with plenty of fruits and vegetables. We could even go as far as replacing the snacks in the vending machines – for instance swapping the pop-tarts our for granola bars. Reporter: That sounds like a great idea! But isn’t exercising a major role on health, too? MO: Yes, it is. That’s why my campaign “Let’s move!” is working on getting students more involved in school activities. MP: Well, if you added a wider variety in the schools’ extra-curricular activities students might be more interested in getting involved more. MO: Excellent suggestion, thank you. Reporter: So basically there are many factors to obesity, such as our school system, our economy, and the amount of exercise we take part in. But what it all seems to boil down to is our culture and how we view dieting in our nation. MM: (laughs) Yes, that could pretty much sum it all up. MO: Well, thank you all so much for coming, I really appreciate it. Your opinions and suggestions will hopefully start a big change in America. If you ever come up with anything please feel free to contact me. Good afternoon. (Exits.) Work Cited: Maxfield, Mary. “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 442-447. Print. Obama, Michelle. “Remarks of the NAACP National Convention.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 417-433. Print. Pollan, Michael. “Escape from the Western Diet.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 434-440. Print. Zinczenko, David. “Don’t Blame the Eater.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That matter in Academic Writing. 2nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 391-393. Print.

Dahquan Pauling

English 131.01

Professor Lucas

February 18, 2014

Higher Education

            I selected chapter fourteen to discuss how education is affecting our society. This chapter discusses the misperception of higher education learning, and how students should pursue higher education learning. There are three ideas that are described in this passage.

            This bibliography will include how the authors feels about higher education and if its beneficial to the students or not. The information will be compared with one another such as, new liberal arts learning and traditional learning.

            I will include quotes from the book “They Say/I Say” and the author’s opinion. There will also be me explaining how I feel and some of my experiences and what I know about the situation.

Ungar, Sanford J. “The New Liberal Arts.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2^nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 190-197. Print.

Sanford discusses “Liberal Arts” and how misperception of this new type of learning isn’t true. Jobs are extremely hard to come which is why people are going to college to have a better opportunity, but Sanford Ungar want people to think about going to a college that has liberal-arts education type learning rather than traditional. College graduates say that it’s harder to get good jobs with liberal-arts degrees. Ungar say that this is true “but the recession has not differentiated among major fields of study in its impact.” (192). “The Association of American Colleges and Universities actually found that more than three-quarters of our nation’s employers recommend that college bound students pursue a liberal education.” (192). “A liberal education, as properly defined above, has nothing whatsoever to do with politics-except insofar as politics is one of the fields that students often pursue under its rubric. On the contrary, because of its inclusiveness and its respect for classical traditions, the liberal arts could properly be described as a conservative approach to preparation for life.” (194).

Sanford J. Ungar is the President of Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. He is also the author of Fresh Blood: The New American Immigrants (1998) and Africa: The People and Politics of an Emerging Continent (1986). 

Murray, Charles. “Are Too Many People Going to College?” “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2^nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 222-242. Print.

            Charles Murray is in debate on whether or not too many people are attending college or not.  Murray states “Surely a mass democracy should encourage as many people as possible to become “capable and cultivated human beings” in Mill’s sense.” (222).  He agrees that more people should go and that there is no such thing as too many people attending college, and education should be available to everyone and not just to the rarefied intellectual elite. (223). According to Charles Murray “Liberal education in college means taking on the tough stuff.” (225). Charles Murray feel as though three things are needed to have success in a four year university and they are; a good library for higher learning, scholarships and interaction between teachers and students. According to Charles “All three rationales for the brick-and-mortar campus are fading fast.” (230).

Charles Murray is the coauthor, with Richard Herrnstein, of The Bell Curve (1994). He also wrote articles for the New Criterion, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. Charles Murray wrote a book, Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America’s Schools Back to Reality (2008).

Hacker, Andrew and Claudia Dreifus. “Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admissions?” “They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 2^nd ed. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York: Norton, 2012. 179-189. Print.

Author Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus discuss how college would be too much depending on the student’s background. Page 179 states: “ if parents can’t or won’t pay, young people often find themselves burdened with staggering loans.” Both authors agree that each student in America can go to college and be able to do the work. (180). In order for this to happen the teachers need to get involved as well. “College should demand good teaching.” (180). Hacker and Dreifus feel as though students should become more interesting people while in college, but their wasting their time enrolling in vocational majors instead of philosophy, literature, or physical sciences. (180). 

First Blog

This is my first time blogging and I feel as though that this will be an interesting experience for me. Something new to do is always a good thing and I guess that blogging is a new thing that’s going to be good for me.