Journal #7

The theme that really stood out to me was in the category of gender/family roles.
There was such a stark difference in the overall image of the family between the families in Leave it to Beaver and Modern Family.

To begin, in Leave it to Beaver, the main family was that of the "ideal" family. The attributes that defined this were, a husband and wife of approximately the same age with two sons who appear to be well mannered. The familial hierarchy was apparent- the man of the house brought in the income while the wife tended to the home and children. As far as I could see in the one episode I saw, the two children seemed to get along and were respectful to their parents and other adults. 

The middle family in the picture above is the one I will be analyzing from Modern Family. This family carries the image of the more dysfunctional family we are more used to seeing. The roles of the mother and father are basically the same as the ones in Leave it to Beaver although there are some differences I will go into later. The children however are very different than Beaver and Wally. 

A comparison and contrast:

(Leave it to Beaver/ Modern Family)

• In the opening scene, the mother was cleaning the refrigerator
• In the opening scene, the mother had made breakfast and was serving it to the family

• Married couple + kids
• Married couple + kids

In these examples the families appear to be parallel but these next examples will describe the differences in families today and in the past with the families from Modern Family and Leave it to Beaver as examples of each, respectively.

• Wally, Eddie, and Carolyn seem very innocent when it comes to sexuality
• They hardly flirt and when they do, it is very understated
• The whole meeting was very awkward 
• The older daughter is not so innocent when it comes to sexuality
• She incessantly dresses inappropriately

• Carolyn seems to have a good relationship with her mother
• She talks to her mother about the boy she likes and asks advice
• There is hardly a close familial relationship between anyone in the family 
• At the breakfast table, everyone is completely engulfed in their electronic devices and there is no communication

• The husband and wife are on the same page when it comes to parenting 
• They both had the same reaction to Carolyn calling Wally
• We can infer that they will communicate what should be done about this situation together
• The husband and wife have a slight discrepancy when it comes to parenting
• When the son was eating his cereal without hands, the mother disapproved and the father said "thats awesome"
• During a family meeting, the father turned a disciplinary action into a game and made  promises about the prizes without communicating with the mother about it

• The children are very polite to adults
• Wally introduces himself by his full name to Carolyn's mother and says thank you to the invitation of coming inside
•  The children are disrespectful to their parents
• They did not listen to their mother's repeated order to put down their electronics at the breakfast table
• The older daughter asks the mom, "Oh my God, is that what you always sound like?"
• The younger daughter says, "No it would be good for you. It's terrible for me!" (about a grade of B on a paper)
• The older daughter calls her father "daddy-o"

In summary, the differences in these two families can show us how family roles have changed. It seems the standard for families today isn't even the same as the standard back in the 50's (assuming that the families are average for the respective time era).

Journal #6

I chose to further analyze the text I used in class-- the Facebook login page. Immediately after presenting to the class I had realized that I only really scratched the surface in terms of rhetorical analysis. Not only did all my ideas not come out in the embarrassment of presenting, but as I reread my notes, my initial ideas seemed mixed up.


The Facebook login page harnesses society's need to feel connected as well as it's consciousness of money to attract users in their late-teens and adults.

As I type in facebook.com, the first thing I notice is the picture to the left. It depicts a web of people over the entire world being connected by dotted lines. We automatically assume that the dotted lines represent the ability being offered by Facebook to connect with people, without the restriction of distance. 
Another thing I notice about the picture is that the individuals on the map are silhouettes, prompting us to believe that 'it could be us'. Even further, I notice that the silhouettes that appear to be male have "sensible hair"-- very unlike spiked or mohawk hair for example. And the ones that appear to be female have plain, short hair, not pigtails or 'flippy' hair. This leads us to believe that these people are of an older age group (probably not 'tweens'). 


Above the picture, it says "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life."
In class, I had brought up the the point that the quote's contents yanks a heart-string in that "the people in your life" are usually personally important to individuals. But, another thing I noticed about this statement  is that it says "helps you"-- present tense! Although you may not have a Facebook yet, this statement assumes you do, which is in a way pressure. It is not necessarily the usual negative pressure, its more of a personal pressure for example (this is for the girls) in middle school when you saw the popular girls with big bows in their hair, you may have thought, "maybe I should get a big bow for my hair since they do...".
Another example of this personal pressure theory is on the mobile login page (below). It asks "Need a Facebook account?" Rather than asking in a more subtle way like "Want a Facebook account?" Again the vocabulary assumes the importance of having a Facebook and prompts you to ask yourself this question.

Going back to the computer version of the login page, another standout statement is "It's free, and always will be." In this economy, money is definitely a touchy subject-- especially to broke college students and people with families (who are Facebook's targets again??). Money is close to many people's hearts, whether they have it to spare or are trying to scrape it up. 


Facebook uses emotional appeal in many areas including personal, social, and economic situations to attract users in their target audience. 

Journal #5

I enjoyed reading the hypertext version of Sloan's text so much! It held my attention with a death-grip. I definitely found the hypertext version more effective than the book version. I really liked the presence of pictures. With the context of the text, I believe that no matter what the quality of description of the buildings, nothing can compare to actually seeing examples. The pictures themselves were so interesting. They set a certain 'feel' that I didn't experience when reading the text in the W.R. I think it had to do with the fact that they depicted not only the architecture, but the L.A. city life at the time as well. Also, with the pictures in black and white, I feel that they symbolized the content of the text as well as presented a dramatic element to the entire text.

The links were incredibly helpful- not only in keeping my interest , but also furthering my understanding of the topic of the text. I did not find them distracting in the least. The way that I read the hypertext version, I didn't open every link. I only opened ones I wanted to know more about or ones about topics I wasn't familiar with (for example: "myth of Sisyphus"). Another thing I like about the links was that some had audio which kept me even more attentive-- for example the "Charlton Heston" link which had an audio clip of his 'Winning the Cultural War' speech. My favorite link was the "Rodney King Riots" link. This was a topic I knew little about but was very interested in. I also liked the fact that wherever the text mentioned an article or interview, there was a link directly to the actual text. 

I honestly feel that the links, pictures, and audio were far more effective than the kind of side-story in the W.R. version with the father's friend. The inserts with her dialogue confused me more than anything while the extras in the hypertext version did nothing but contribute to my understanding.

I appreciate books and all... but sometimes I wish all texts were like the hypertext version of Sloan's 'How to Draw a Glass Mountain'/'You Know What They Say About Glass Houses'.

Journal #4

At the CESL building I was given the opportunity to meet two international students. Before Wednesday, I was completely unaware of the program at the U of A for these students. It was such an eye-opening experience to hear about what they think of the United States and also to learn a little bit about their cultures. I was so amazed to hear about one student's story-- he was from China but had gone to an American high school in Africa for four years. He then came to Arizona as a freshman here at the U of A before he joined the CESL program this year. Another thing that happened that day is really going to stick with me. I had asked one student why he decided to come to Arizona all the way from Saudi Arabia and he looked at me, confused and said "to study!". It was then that I realized how unimportant education really has become in American culture-- even to adults! It was so inspiring to meet these young people so invested in their education-- something I feel is lost here.

When I read, "In the United States, it is very easy for me to forget that the people around me are my people. It is easy, with all our divisions, to think of myself as an outsider in my own country." in the text, I immediately saw a relation to the thoughts I had during class in the CESL. However, I wasn't thinking in terms of America, I was thinking in terms of my Mexican background. Where I grew up, the schools have a 98% Mexican/ Mexican-American population. I was never taught spanish in my household (a long story) and I had never really embraced my family's history. So, on Fridays when most guys would wear cowboy boots with the matching belt and hats and the folklorico and mariachi groups would be practicing for the annual 'Noche De Las Estrellas', I felt no connection to those people or the events that were so special to them. Or on "special occasions" when the student council would hire a 'Banda' band to play during lunch and students would crowd the mall area of the school so severely that you needed to go through buildings to get to the other side of campus, I never felt the enjoyment so many others felt and simply walked by. 

I had always thought of myself as different than the students I spent 13 years of my life with. However, when I was talking to Bader from Saudi Arabia, asking him questions about his culture at home, he would ask the same questions about me and I found myself answering in the same way I would imagine a girl in the crown at the Banda 'concerts' in the mall would have answered.

Journal #2

I have chosen to use my university admissions essay as my persona text. I decided to use this because at the time I wrote it, my intensions were to display my identity (or at least my identity as I thought it was at that particular time in my life). However, as I have entered this new part of my life- college- I am re-evaluating myself. So, I believe I will be able to analyze this text with an objective eye. Though I am essentially the same person, I feel that there are views I had about myself that may not apply anymore and things like that. So, I can evaluate this text without interference of the obvious answers to 'why?' because those reason probably don't even apply anymore, anyway. I think I will be able to analyze my text on a non-personal basis. (Although the writing is still about me personally)

One similarity between my text and the Tapahonso text, "What I Am" , is the evaluation of the self. Tapahonso describes who she believes she is as a person and how she came to be that way. Likewise my persona text describes [one aspect] of myself and how I came to think of myself that way. 

I would say in one way my text differs from Tapahonso's is in the way she writes about herself through other people as well, as if the group of people is one unit and she identifies within that unit. I myself am a very independent person and have mostly always known and lived by that fact.

Journal #1

I think back to the day I began packing to head off to college. As my uncle walked into the house, I couldn't help but think of his past- prison. I thought of his son and his past- first to graduate high school but still no job, no college. As my cousin followed my uncle into my house, I thought of his past- gangs. I then thought of his mom and her past- pregnant at 15. Her earlier words then came flooding back into my head, "You are going to end up just like me." The way the words came out of her mouth when I was just 14 years old did't seem like a compassionate warning- they seemed like a verdict that she has just ruled. Her words resonated with me but instead of letting them define me, I fought to prove those words wrong. My identity as not only a student, but an individual were rocked that day.
All the way up until I walked across the stage to accept my high school diploma in the top 6% of my class and even-still today as I ride my bike to my English lecture, the scornful and jealous stares I feel from my family- who thought I could never break the chain we were linked to- only fuel my fire.

“In reality I’m gon’ be who I be and I don’t feel no faults
For all the lies that you bought
You can try as you may, break me down when I say
That it ain’t up to you, gonna do what you do

Hate on me, hater, now or later
‘Cause I’m gonna do me, you’ll be made, baby
Go ‘head and hate on me, hater, I’m not afraid of
What I got I paid for, you can hate on me”

                            -Jill Scott (but I heard it on Glee:])

This song was in my head as I wrote out this entry. It seems to embody the theme of my journey from the day I had that conversation with my aunt, on.




This journal was so simple to come up with. It is something so prevalent in my mind especially now, being the first in my family to simply complete this- a college assignment. I did not feel the need to add in any frillies to my entry because the truth was so vivid and harsh in my mind. I simply let the picture in my head flow onto the keyboard. 
The language I used was the language I normally write in. I have a personal blog and for some reason, even my most unimportant posts come out in this same semi-formal language. I don't think in this language (unless I am writing what I am thinking- if that makes any sense) and I definitely don't talk in this language. Yet, most of my writings turn out this way.