So all Disney movies are kind of the same…

Week 12- Tool 38: Prefer archetypes stereotypes. 

When I was reading this chapter it made sense why so many different movies and shows seem to have such similar plot lines, and it got me thinking about of the buzzfeed articles that compare different movie plots. The stories are using archetypes in order to create a story that will hook the readers, because it makes it easier to evoke emotion. The image below captures the archetype ideas although the movies within them all seem so different.

The image above was on pinterest, from a tumblr, but this is the link to the image and this goes to the pinterest.

Work, work, work

I chose to edit an expert using Writing tool #33: Repeat, repeat, repeat for week 11. I made my paragraph focus on the works “work” and “foundation” more in order to draw attention to those two ideas which are explained throughout the paper, if I were to edit the entire paper I could have  included those changes throughout it.

Original:

America is founded off of the persistence to keep bettering our lives. Influences like Christopher Columbus, John Locke, John Smith, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson have formed a foundation for our nation to not settle into a mediocre life. The class readings make it clear why Americans have worked for a wholesome government, separation of church and state, and successful jobs. Today Americans have a constant drive to change the way of life, simply because of the influences from previous historical figures. The basis of America in the late 1400’s has created an extraordinary mold for the persistent way of life for Americans today.

Revised:

America is founded off of the persistence to constantly work at bettering our lives. Influences like Christopher Columbus, John Locke, John Smith, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson have formed a foundation for our nation to not settle into a mediocre life. The class readings make it clear why Americans work for a wholesome government, separation of church and state, and successful jobs. Today Americans have a constant drive to change the way of life, simply because of the foundations laid down years ago. The basis of America in the late 1400’s has created an extraordinary mold for the persistent way of life for Americans work for today.

Organization is the key

Chapter 4:

I thought the most useful part was the last section when it focused on effective organization. One character said, “When I was in high school they taught us to write five paragraph essays…” That stood out to me because that is exactly what I learned. Garbacik could have wrote a book filled with unrelated examples to prove her point of how LGBT people are discriminated, but instead she used a lot of chapters to simple explain LGBT concepts more. Her use of organization allowed the readers to learn concepts while hearing the history and current example. She uses an order that lets the reader get more emotional examples as the reader learns more about the standpoints she holds.

Chapter 5:

I was drawn to the organization aspect of the chapter again because in any writing context, organization can really change the way a paper sounds. For scientific writing, which is involved in my major and my future profession, there will be a lot of factual information to organize and make readable. The facts need to follow some sort of subcategories beyond the overall topic or the paper will seem a lot like throwing out random facts. I liked the comparison between record collection and an MP3 collection, because often times I have struggled to truly identify which section of the paper I want to include a fact in, in the same way I want to put songs in multiple playlists.

Anakin Skywalker shows off writing tools

TOOL 29: Foreshadow dramatic events and powerful conclusions.

week 10

I found this image on google and thought it was really cool; however, writing often uses different tools than creating the images that go into a movie. In writing it seems more possible to drag out the foreshadowing a little longer, but this image goes to show that foreshadowing can occur long before the event it is hinting towards. The example I found also shows that foreshadowing makes more sense once the event has happened. While reading, the first time, you often don’t think, “hey this is good foreshadowing” until you have reached the point that was foreshadowed. Foreshadowing works as a sense of suspense because it builds hints as to what is going to happen and keeps the reader engaged wanting to know more about what is coming. 

Halloween Gender Norms

I included a text with a picture from a halloween party. All of the girls were dressed up in there “Sexy” costumes and I wore a clown suit I had from 7th grade. It defied the gender norms in such a way that my friend screen shotted the picture and sent it to me. Clearly our comments were sarcastic but it works to show what people expect girls to dress like and how it is abnormal to see a girl fully covered on halloween. The other costumes include: “Sexy” cop, flapper, “sexy” indian, “sexy” cat.

Traits of Chris

I attempted option number 3 with tool 27 and tried to explain a character without use of common adjectives.

Original:

Chris was a neat freak and never let his apartment show a speck of dust.

Revised:

Chris, who owned cabinets of cleaning supplies, bought a new mop each month, and didn’t allow shoes on in his house, thrived of the numerous amounts of compliments he would receive from visitors.

Chapter 8: Transphobia dominates the US

Summary:

This chapter begins with an overview in coping with being a transgender. In early history they would go through therapy in order to bring harmony to their body, then it progressed into SRS operations to change the physical aspect of their body instead of their mind. Later on, it became a combination of both, but it used psychology in order to adjust to the changes rather than force a change. The chapter goes on to discuss the social aspects of being a transgender and how it has changed over time.

Response:

The obvious thing that struck me was the discrimination in health care and education. The fact highlight the fact that while the technology to perform surgery is easily at hand in this day and age, there is much more of a psychological, emotional, and physical toll on a transgender. I wonder if as more people align themselves with being transgender if the percent of each category will decrease. I also wish that Garbacik would have included any changes over time in the percentages. The fact that stood out strongest was that if the family is accepting of the transgender the negative side affects, like drug use and suicide, will drop dramatically. I thought this was interesting because in other cultures the idea of being transgender is so easily accepted. It shows that it is possible to align with other genders than just male and female and that people in US culture have been brought up to think other wise.

Chapter 7: Neutrality

Summary:

Queer is one of the few identities that categorizes both gender and sexuality, as Garbaick argues. She explains that it is rejecting gender identities and sexual orientation in order to show a persons identify, or lack there of.

Response:

This chapter seemed to teach me the most so far from this book. I had never put much thought into the concept of a “queer” and they had always just been a miscellaneous LGBT category in my mind. The idea of queer seems to symbolize the entire theory of not having sexuality and gender so closely tied to each other. I like that the idea of queer is to show the concept of gender identities being unnecessary and useless. Clearly queers are still able to function in society and social settings without identifying themselves in a specific category so it shows that all of the ideas behind “masculine” and “feminine” traits are flawed. It also discussed that while some transponders may identify as a clear gender others may identify as queer. I think that’s powerful in the sense that although transponders often go through extensive surgery they are still able to step back from society and not identify strongly with any one gender/sexual orientation.

Chapter 6: Working for a difference

Summary:

This chapter related Darwisim, Freud, and general shifts in science to a the shifts in views on sexuality. Garbacik explains that it went from being a sin to be homosexual, to genetic defects, to an abstraction in the developmental process. With the evolution of change in perspectives, it made it easy for more activists to arise as well as for people to come out about being gay. As time has progressed so has the ability to be more open about sexual orientation as well as fight for more equality. However, the need for change is still very prominent as the hate crimes continue to occur.

Response:

A strong representation in the change that has occurred in the past is the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” law. It shows that in 1993 enough people were comfortable with coming out that it made a lot of people feel uncomfortable–representing both LGBT standpoints and the public stand points on the issue. The more powerful part of the law is that it was repealed in 2010. While it should never have been a law, in my opinion, it was probably one of the shortest laws to have been around because of the activism that has formed change. What also really caught my eye was Garbacik’s note about coming out as a young person. I never really thought of the financial aspect of coming out-like having your  parents cut you off- and how being true to your own identity puts so much on the line aside from possible social issues. It brought new thoughts into my head about how much the sexual binary standard really does take a toll on so many aspects of peoples lives and why all of the activist fight so strongly for equality.

Chapter 5: Rat Brains

Summary:

One sentence stood out as a very good summary: “Sexuality is about desire, human relationships and in some cases, reproduction; in our society, most people are being assigned as male or females who are assumed to be attracted to one another.” She explains different groups of thinkers, like constructionists and essetialists, and people who work towards explaining gender, sex, and sexual orientation and how they relate to each other.

Reflection:

Roger N. Lancaster really grabbed my attention in this chapter, Garbacik uses the quote from Lancaster saying, “He find is disturbing and misleading that ‘gay and straight, male and female, are portrayed as deeply, radically different from each other–but humans and rats are not.'” I stopped for a minute just to reflect on this. It makes sense to use rats for medical experiments due to ethical reasons, but it really is absurd that people will spend the time trying to explain sexual orientation using a brain so minimal compared to a humans. The more interesting research was the different responses to odors in which gay and heterosexual men respond to. I’ve learned about pheromones and how they are the reason we are attracted to some people and not attracted to family, so it’s interesting that it relates to sexual orientation as well. While I find that Garbacik is correct in saying that “homosexual” and “heterosexual” don’t full categorize everyone, I wonder if there is a way to completely eliminate categorization or to make enough to include everyone in one–especially because I always thought of it as LGBT but she even expands it to LGBTQIA in the introduction.