Connecting with ourselves through film

Questions from "self" unit:
1) Is there a self that I can control?
There can be two ways to answer this question. The way that one may think about themselves can be based both on his or her surroundings and how they put their mind towards answering certain questions. One's mind can control some of the actions that a person can make on a daily basis that can turn either into a good result or a bad result.

2) What forces shape our sense of self?
The type of friends that a person may choose to hang out with can influence the decisions and actions that they may choose to take. For example, the person who is hanging out with their group of friends "follows" everyone's actions may just "go with the flow" and not put in any input with the decisions.

Film Critique Questions:
1) Describe the most critical scene. What made this scene so important? What overarching message/principle does the scene convey? What were the cinematic techniques that made it work well? If you don't think it was successful, what made it ineffective? What would have improved it?
The most critical scene of the movie would have to be Jim Carrey's character: "Joel Barish" when he receives the accidental note about Clementine's decision to erase all of his existence from her mind. I think this because it describes the entire conflict of the film by flash backing to all of the times that Joel had with Clementine. I think that the techniques that the film director represented the flashback sequences greatly.

2)How does the film end (what is the last thing the viewer sees?) Why?
The story ended with the final scene of Joel and Clementine in the hallway, in which they appeared to have agreed to give their relationship one more try.There is debate as to what the repeated scene of Joel and Clem playing in the snow right before the credits means. In an interview also included with the published shooting script, Gondry said he wanted the scene of them playing in the snow to loop throughout the credits. This desire apparently sprang from the initial intent (expressed in an early script) that Joel and Clementine spent the rest of their lives meeting, falling in and out of love, getting their memories erased, and then repeating the cycle. However, Gondry said that this was not done, because it would ultimately distract from the credits.In addition, several photo-stills that were from footage that wound up on the cutting room floor show Joel and Clementine sitting together on the steps to Joel's building with their arms around each other (and dressed in the same clothes that they wore in the hallway scene). It is unclear whether these were pictures taken for promotional purposes or from footage cut from the final scene at Joel's apartment.

Photo taken from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn/87345479/

The Fight for Survival

The song The Warrior by Scandal featuring Patty Smyth talks about her battle to find love and that she doesn't let anything stand in her way because she is a strong woman. If someone wants something. They must survive so that they can obtain it.


You run, run, runaway
It's your heart that you betray
Feeding on your hungry eyes
I bet you're not so civilized

Well isn't love primitive?
A wild gift that you wanna give
Break out of captivity
And follow me stereo jungle child
Love is the kill
Your heart's still wild

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
Well I am the warrior
And heart to heart you'll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior

You talk, talk, talk to me
Your eyes touch me physically
Stay with me we'll take the night
As passion takes another bite, oh
Who's the hunter, who's the game?
I feel the beat call your name
I hold you close in victory
I don't wanna tame your animal style
You won't be caged in the call of the wild

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
Well I am the warrior
And heart to heart you'll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior
I am the warrior

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
And heart to heart you'll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior

How language makes up my world

1) Describe a small speech community to which you belong: What language(s) and/or dialect(s) do you regularly use (=the code), and what are the social norms for their use? Note the kinds of interactions you all engage in over one "typical" day: What are the topics discussed, the settings, the purposes, the "key," the types or genres of speech, etc?

The main language that is spoken in my family is English. As I have grown up however, I have learned bits and pieces of different languages that are a part of either the society in which I live in or my heritage. I have learned both Hebrew and Spanish in school. At numerous family gatherings, I have learned some Polish and Yiddish words because some of my family members had come over from Europe and they wanted me to learn some key words in order to make my vocabulary much stronger. Although the main language that I use daily in my life is English, I sometimes throw in a few words from the other languages that I happen to know.

Setting and Scene
The conversation that I observed was in my friends dorm room. Me and my friends were having a friendly conversation about how our day went. We discussed if whether or not we had had either a good or a productive day and if we had some good news that we had to share with the group.
Ends
As our conversations continue with each other, we sometimes have personal experiences or advice that we add to the topics. These results can sometimes make a friend feel special and welcomed to such a nice community filled with people who cared about them.
Key
The main purpose of our discussion was to reach out to our friends and help out with any problems that they may had been experiencing.Whether it is a good day or bad day I can always count on my friends to be there and support me in times when I would need them to be there.
Genre
The stories that would be shared among my group of friends can differ on a daily basis depending on the kind of day that one of my friends had and whether or not they wanted to share their stories with everyone.

Picture Taken From:http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredarmitage/48405833/

Me, Myself, and I

According to Franklin's article about "The Self" one must search through all types of descriptions that come from the mind. He tells his audiences that one must take time to examine their body and to chart down the certain things that happen to be bothering them at the present time. They can also make a list of virtues that they wish to improve on for a certain week. For example, one may vouch to go to the gym at least twice a week and to not eat any junk food so that they are not defeating the purpose of the task.

The Meaning Behind "Night"

Q: The literary genre to which this book belongs to is memoir. One might make a case that it is also history. How do these two genres each contribute to the reader's understanding of Eliezer's story? Is memoir a good source of historical "fact"? Why/ why not?

a: The two genres, memoir and history both fit perfectly as a description of Eli Wisel's "Night" because the context of the book is filled with both history and experiences the Eli had experienced during the time in which he was in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. As a reader, being able to understand the story that I am reading is very important to me. I happen to enjoy reading both historical and memoirs because I am able to see what it was like to live during that specific time period. Yes, I believe that a memoir is a good source of a historical fact because you are able to see what author is experiencing at the time that the event had occurred in history.

Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/godutchbaby/3302016976/

The Science of our Brain

On Friday, January 29, some of the freshman order and chaos classes attended a lecture about how our brain functions that was given by the head of Elmira College's Psychology Department, Dr. Ben Lovett. He explained to us that our brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left and the right and that each side is in charge of controlling certain movements or reactions that are made throughout our body. For example, the left hemisphere controls all of the actions that are made on the right side of the body and the right hemisphere controls all the actions made on the left side. I found the lecture very interesting because I had recently taken an Introduction to Psychology class here at Elmira and enjoyed it greatly.

Photo Taken From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grapefruitmoon/507280665/