My Final Post on the WR121 Blog

Since Micaeli called me the "blog master" or something like that I decided it was only appropriate to make one last post... about trademark law. Sounds boring, right? Wrong! Think about it... When I started writing this, I began with a list of trademarked terms that I noticed we use everyday:

Cheez Doodle/Cheetos – cheese curls

Sharpie – permanent marker

Styrofoam – polyurethane foam

Tylenol – acetaminophen (this works with lots of medicines, but I think this is the most widespread example)

Scotch Tape – translucent tape

Vaseline – petroleum jelly

Band-Aid - bandage

Chap-Stic – lip balm

Windex – glass cleaner

Crock-Pot – slow cooker

Jell-O - gelatin

Xerox - “to copy”

Lego – Plastic building block

Post-It – sticky note

Saran-Wrap – plastic wrap

Coke – soda (in some areas)

I then decided to look up a list… and some of the things on it were surprising: Dumpster, Rollerblade, Bubble Wrap, Formica, Frisbee, Hacky Sack, Jacuzzi, Q-Tips, Super Hero (yes, the two-word form is trademarked Jake, Matt and Sarah.)

This got me thinking about things that we don’t use as generic terms, but at the same time, we heavily associate them with a particular brand:

Crayon - Crayola

Tampon - Tampax

Orange Juice - Tropicana

Tissues – Kleenex

Cough Drop – Halls

Sandwich Cookie – Oreo

Acne Cream – Clearasil (more prominent in the 80’s, though)

Mouth Wash – Listerine

Multivitamin - Centrum

So seriously, guys... get on it. Start calling your crayons "Crayolas"... I mean that one is so begging to be a generic term.

Thoughts?

Great Observation

Ethan's acknowledgment page turned into more of a reflection, which was great. He made a great observation that "trying to fit my original thesis with the one that was forming as I was doing the research did not work. I decided from the point on to let the paper determine the thesis and I think my paper is better for it."

I think the idea of allowing your paper (ideas) to determine the thesis is brilliant. I think that too many students try to push the paper to fit the thesis, rather than allowing the thesis to be flexible.

Kat

Good Luck Brandon!

I think Brandon said he'd be running in the marathon tomorrow. Have fun!

kat

King of Twitter

I found this the other day on Optimum Online.  Thought it would be interesting for everyone to read/ watch.  And if you aren't following Ashton on twitter, everyone else is.  

http://www.optimum.net/News/AP/Article?articleId=551140

Reading: The Anti-Awkward

Hey everyone!  This is our literacy campaign! (Omri, Micaeli and Jeff)  Check it out on Facebook because Youtube won't let me upload it.  I do not know why.  Still working on it.

To Whom It May Concern...

If you have a twitter, we should be friends.
Find me, I'm sarahlynnw.
=)

Not To Alarm Anyone....

....but I found pretty much the perfect site for inspiration on our memoir project.

The site is all about memoirs, but at this link is a section devoted to mini-comics with the theme of stories about neighbors (anyone who is having a hard time thinking of a memoir topic should take notice). Enjoy!

The Demise of Jemima....

After Anne's presentation I decided to do a little casual research c/o everyone's dear friend, Google. It seems we aren't the only ones cognizant of the racial controversy surrounding Aunt Jemima's past. In fact, some people felt so vehemently about the issue that there's actually a petition that has been drafted for 'The Demise and Removal of the Aunt Jemima Icon", addressed to the President/CEO of Quaker Oats. 

Here's the link.

But, since we're on the topic of icons........Isn't the Quaker on the Quaker Oats logo a little bit offensive too? I mean, granted, it's not suggesting degrading societal roles, quite as blatantly as the old Aunt Jemima advertisements did. Yet, could it be considered offensive to modern-day Quakers that their religion and spiritual belief system is automatically linked to a jolly looking Puritan man? Or is that just how the 'prototypical Quaker' is considered to look? Admittedly, there are a lot of Quaker meeting houses and Quaker schools in the area that I grew up in, and I've never seen any practicing Quakers look quite like this guy. 

Am I reading too much into this? Or could both of these logos be considered a little bit controversial? 

Shades of Fairness and the Marketing of Prejudice

Today, I ran across this article from The Situationist: http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/the-shades-and-marketing-of-prejudice/. This article is about how skin-lightening creams are being marketed in Asian countries. I thought this kind of went along with our discussion Friday about race and images. The commercials they show are all about how people who use these creams to lighten their skin are more likely to get a job than those who don't.

Demi Moore Responds to Twitter suicide threat

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/03/moore.twitter.threat/index.html

FYWP Showcase Updates!

so, we're going to put in a proposal fro the fywp showcase. we need to get that in by april 15th. I agree with Jeff that we should do pre-existing work. We'll all be busy and stress-out. I like making a big letter (we can do that in class), but what should the letter be of? Someone's letter? If so, we'll have to figure out whose letter.

I think the proposal writing committee is Gina, Sarah, and Rob (let me know if I got that wrong). I don't think it will take you very long to write it. If want, we could work on it before or after class one day this week.

Jeff's the president and Ben is the VP. This means that they are in charge of making sure this thing happens. We'll all be on the First Year Writing Program Showcase Committee.

Questions, Comments, Concerns????

Genre? Social Action? Boy Bands? Yes.

Okay, so my usual taste in music is pretty odd. I like weird, artsy crap or musical contradictions like "dance-punk." It wasn't always like that, however... I used to like...not-so-good music. Admit it. When we were kids we ALL listened to the Spice Girls, we would fight with our friends about which was better: N'Sync or the Backstreet Boys, and you loved Britney Spears... the virginal "I'm oh so innocent" one... before she got "not that innocent." Back when she was indeed a girl and in no way a woman.
Well, while I was looking up crappy boy bands on YouTube to try and get my fix of nostalgia I thought of something: GENRE! The boy band is such a concrete genre... pliable, yet consistent. There was always the pretty blonde boy (the most likely to get a solo career later on), the one that turns out to be gay a few years down the road (not always, but more frequently than you think), the one that seemed just a bit too old and awkward to be there (but secetly this one was the best singer). Regardless, there were dozens of personality classifications, but they were there.
This all started after the death of disco. The genre had been highly producer-driven, but now people were blowing up Gloria Gaynor records and producers needed a new way to satisfy their inner control freak. Then one day an ingenious producer realized that you could sell records with a few pretty faces and dance moves... New Kids on the Block was born. After only a brief hiatus since the death of disco, the producer had one again seized control of the music charts and throughout the nineties, groups reigned supreme. You didn't have to be able to play an instrument, you just had to dance and sing in unison... easy.
Here's what's so interesting about this... even though the members of boy bands were cardboard cutouts, people were tricked into believing they had personalities. "The Bad Boy," "The Innocent One," "The Older Brother-Type." They were so generic but thousands of preeteen girls and... err... sexually-confused boys were smitten.

I should end this. It is getting rather long, but I'm going to open this for debate. Thoughts?

2gether was a pretty good spoof of the boy band and sort of continues what i've discussed here

A little taste of social action..

Seeing as this course is based on the concept of social action, and getting our classwork into the public sphere, I wanted to share a new opportunity with everyone. 

A few friends and I recently started an online news journal, which is basically a fusion of a newspaper and a literary journal. It's called The Common Voice, and it's a wonderful forum for students to submit their work--be it classwork, creative writing pieces, prose, and any type of artwork.

 Maybe you've seen advertising for this new creative outlet around campus, or on Facebook, and I encourage you to take a look at the website, which was launched this morning at midnight. Let me know what you think (we'd love some feedback), or post it here under this discussion topic. Also, if you'd like more info, seriously ask me, I'd be happy to talk to you about it, and let you know how you can get involved. 

Thanks guys! Enjoy!

www.thecommonvoice.net

ps. We have stickers. If you want one, just ask. I have a whole bunch.

Critics of Pope retaliate with genre!

The following genre illustrates a VERY unique and interesting advocacy campaign. How do you feel about it (not, the issue, the campaign)? Do you think it will be effective?



Kat

Buttons

Hey guys!
Just a reminder, I have a button making business.
We have a facebook group that you guys should all join and recommend us to your friends!
Cheap prices, nice looking buttons, it's a win/win for everyone!
Our e-mail address is pinupgirls1404@gmail.com and it's pretty spiffy =)

Coke

Just wondering if we could get a thread on here about the Coke ads. Who liked the pink one? Who liked the car one? Why? Also, another old commonly used ad for Coke is/was the polar bear, as seen above. Who likes that one better?  

FYWP Student Showcase, May 5th

Comments, concerns, and ideas...post under this thread! I'm sooo excited!

Not To Get Too Far Ahead Of Ourselves...

....I found an interesting interview that discusses non-fiction comics (which I thought could relate to our memoirs project coming up). Click here to check it out!

Conferences!

Thursday:
Rachel at Emerson Cafe 12

Friday:
on the 12th floor of Ansin. Turn left and follow my voice to the table overlooking the Common

10:10 Katie
10:20 Jessica
10:30 Brandon
10:40 Gina
10:50 Ben
11: Ben

Kat's Break

11:30 Cara
11:40 Rob
11:50: Omri
12:00 Jake
12:10 Garrett
12:20 Joel
12:30 Micalei
12:40 Jeff
12:50 Matt
1:00 Ethan

1:50 Sarah

A Genre I Found: The Guestbook.

I was at the apartment my girlfriend, er..."lady friend" got and came across a genre I hadn't thought of. The guestbook. Conventions include having to be handwritten (it's a notebook left on a table, nobody is going to type something into it), and apparently all the information in it has to be positive (someone left a note indicating that a page had been ripped out because someone said harsh things about the owners).

Looking through the guestbook, I saw many people had indicated the same restaurants and tourist attractions, often directly responding to previous entries (which is funny, because you really only write in a guest book once and never see it again, so why respond to some things?) Another convention is that it obviously has to be collaborative.

I dug it.

Palindrome poem

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/02/demetri-martins-palindrome-poem.html

a new genre?

Random Factoid

Bringing us back to King Corn (even though I didn't see the second half) I just wanted to announce something I discovered this morning: Snapple has officially removed the (disturbingly unhealthy) high fructose corn syrup from their formula and replaced it with sugar. Good times.

DFW again!!

So it's ironic that Rob posted just before me because I just found this article today. Also, random fact, I recently learned that David Foster Wallace, Lobster advocate himself, was an Emerson professor for a short period of time. Shortly before this time he was living in a half-way house in Brighton. An interesting chain of events....

Here's the article about him published in thise week's issue of The New Yorker: 

Life and Letters: The Unfinished Reporting & Essays

More DFW Fun

Since for some reason, David Foster Wallace keeps randomly coming up, I decided to share an announcement I read in the New York Times this morning. According to the Times, DFW's last book, The Pale King, is going to be published by Little, Brown & Co. While, according to the article, the book is only 1/3 finished, it's still "several hundred thousand words long." Insane.

Rules Of Kosher - in case you guys are as interested as I am!

This is cool!
At least, I think it is.
I never even though many of these rules would exist.

Rules of Kosher - Straight from my Hebrew-English Tanakh (The Torah with the Hebrew alongside the English translation)


“These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals: any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs and chews the cud—such you may eat. The following, however, of those that either chew the cud or have true hoofs, you shall not eat—the camel—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; the daman—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; the hare—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; and the swine—although it has true hoofs with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is unclean for you. You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
Those you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales—those you may eat. But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins and scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water—they are an abomination for you and an abomination for you they shall remain: you shall not eat of their flesh and you shall abominate their carcasses. Everything in water that has no fins and scales shall be an abomination for you.
The following you shall abominate among the birds—they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture; the kite, falcons of every variety; all varieties of raven; the ostrich, the night-hawk, the sea gull; hawks of every variety; the little owl, the cormorant, and the great owl; the white owl, the pelican, and the bustard; the stork; herons of every variety; the hoopoe, and the bat.
All winged swarming things that walk on fours shall be an abomination for you. But these you may eat among all the winged swarming things that walk on all fours: all that have, above their feet, jointed legs to leap with on the group—of these you may eat the following: locusts of every variety; all varieties of bald locust; crickets of every variety; and all varieties of grasshopper. But all other winged swarming things that have four legs shall be an abomination for you (Leviticus 11.1-11.23)[…]
“The following shall be unclean for you from among the things that swarm on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and great lizards of every variety; the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon” (Leviticus 11.29-11.31).

Vegetables in Outer Space!

So I was surfing and read this thing about potatoes being successfully grown in space so I looked it up and came across this article. It's kind of mind blowing and it deals with food! =D

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1987-07-01/Outer-Space-Vegetables.aspx

LTM movies

Three things 

1. I found this picture thanks to my new stumbleupon bar and I wanted to share it 
2. I also found a genre that we should explore in our class and that is "the lifetime movie genre." They're so good. My roommates and I always watch them on Sundays as a wind-down weekend tradition. As of now we are watching Odd Girl Out, a tale of a middle school girl who tries time and time again to fit in and each time her bitchy friends sabotage her. The cheesy lines, the extreme situations and D-list actors makes this daytime movie an awesome lifetime movie. After watching this and other lifetime movies I now believe I could write, produce and direct one for a social action project.

If anyone wants to see how predictable and outrageous these movies are go to this site to see all the lifetime movies http://www/lmn.tv/movies/browser.php

3. The Blackstreet-No Diggity video is kinda scary because it has clips of random puppets similar to the ones in Goosebumps.

Interesting

According to new reports, the Vatican is not only pissed about Richard Williamson (the subject of my letter to the Pope) but he has also been suspended from duty. Perhaps a reinstatement of his excommunication is in order.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/27/holocaust.bishop/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Muscle Roll

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgKtmxrsKL8

check out one of my fellow teachers, kara mae brown, in this video created by an emerson student

I don't remember if anyone mentioned this in class or not, but I was reading a Rolling Stone that was hanging around our suite and found this article about DFW.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23638511/the_lost_years_last_days_of_david_foster_wallce

Enjoy.

This has absolutely no intellectual purpose. But our professor's name is Kat. and she loves cats. 

so where else would this be so fitting?

(i dare you to watch it without laughing.)

King Corn

Post comments, questions, and ideas about the documentary King Corn here...

'Who Gets the Grade?'

So I saw this article and it reminded me of what we were talking about yesterday in class. 

I'm not a big fan of what they talk about in the article, it sounds a little unnecessary to me, but see for yourself.

NY Times Article on Education

mmmk. enjoy.

MLA resources...POST QUESTIONS HERE

MLA

Summarizing, Quoting, and Paraphrasing

Research Questions!

1. Is American becoming hyper-nutritious?

  Good question! What do you mean by hyper-nutritious? Does is that a negative or a positive affect on our culture and health? I suggest reading "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan (see right). I have a copy of it, if you would like to borrow it. A fascinating read!

2. What affect does a healthy of unhealthy diet have on your physical and mental health? 

    Good, I would pick one: physical or mental. And what do you mean by healthy and unhealthy? For someone with diabetes it is more important to avoid sugar than for someone without. Did you know that people with mental illness can go on special diets? I like the question. Work on narrowing it down and defining terms in your research paper. I'm not sure fieldwork is the best idea for this one. You want to remain healthy and you also would need a larger sampling of people.

3. In what ways (and to what extent) have global economic institutions impacted the trade of food between nations and what are the implications of this trading to the people who produce it?

  What do you mean by global economic institutions? Get more specific in your proposal.

4. How does American reform kosher differ from more conservative sects definition of kosher?

    Good. Specific. You can make an argument out of this research.

5. Do different majors effect the way people eat?

   I like this topic. Perhaps you could narrow it down to people at Emerson or a specific major.I see some fieldwork in your future. The only concern I have is that there might not be a lot of "scholarly" research done on this topic. Do some googling before you write the proposal.

6. What are the effects of factory farming on the smaller mom and pop farms in America?

     Great. You'll have to more academically define "mom and pop," but I know what you mean...

7. What dangers lie in food we eat everyday?

   Which foods? Narrow. This is a GREAT research question, but you'll have to make sure you get much more specific. Are you going to be looking into pesticides, plastics, hormones? Remember it is a five to seven page paper.

8. What is the raw food diet? Does it really give you all the nutrients you need?

    Good. 

9. What is the raw food diet?

   Be more specific. Not only what is the raw food diet, but what about it are you interested in? Remember, you will have to eventually make an argument.

10. Why is America obsessed with cooking shows?

    Great. Pick one to focus on. Top Chef?

11. What stereotypes exist that have to do with race and why?

       This is a good question; however, you need to narrow it down. Which race are you looking at? Certainly, it can't be EVER race. Pick one or maybe two.

12. When do diets become dangerous?

      Good. Narrow in the proposal. Which diets? I would also look at the question as: CAN diets become dangerous? When and why?

13. The TV show, "Man vs. Food" on the Travel Channel has only had a few episodes thus far but has still enjoyed relative success. What is it that draws people to shows like this and what does this say about food's place in our (American?) culture?

   Done.

14. Is kombucha actually healthy?

       Good way to enter an existing controversy. 

15. What is the affect of factory farming on meat?

     Maybe pick a specific meat. Like chicken or beef. Read Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma." I have this too if you would like to borrow it.

16. How do athletes alter their eating habits in season compared to the off-season? Do the eating habits affect their game play and endurance?

  Good question. I think this one will be great fun to research. I suggest picking one or two specific types of athletes. Probably one. 

17. Why are some people so picky?

     While this is a very interesting question, I'm not sure you'll be able to find a lot of research on it. Narrow your topic down, first, and then do some googling and see if you can find an already existing debate. Can you find scholarly sources on databases like JSTOR? If not, I would consider changing your topic...

18. What foods have become staples in the American culture? Why?

   An interesting question, but I think you need to get more specific. Do you mean in New England or within the African American community or the Jewish community? Race, religion, region, and socio-economic class will affect your answer. I don't think there are staples that cross all these boards. What do you think?

This Is Highly Inappropriate and I'll Probably Get In Trouble For It

I just posted a new blog entry about sex that I feel some people might have a sick interest in. Why? I do not know. Frankly, Kat might bitchslap me... but this highly inappropriate blog struck me as perfect for a post. It's called "People That Would Make For An Interesting Lay."

Yeah... I swear that I'm not crazy... sort of

http://unhealthyaddictiontobacon.blogspot.com/2009/02/people-who-would-make-for-interesting.html

RIP Juicy Campus

While Juicy Campus presents an interesting rhetorical situation, its death presents an even more interesting scenerio. Now, more anonymous campus-wide "bathroom stalls" are popping up on the Internet. What are the dangers of these sites? What, if any, are the advantages? Should there be a way to monitor these sites, or is that an infringement on freedom of speech? I'm really interested in how everyone feels about this issue!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/17/sunny.juicy/index.html

Broadway Crisis Essay

Group Proposal Example

Proposal from our Blog

This proposal is a great example of how to illustrate your purpose, methodologies, research strategy, and workload. I highly suggest taking the time to read it. Also, there are a lot of great examples and interesting sites that last semester's classes added to this blog. Check 'em out.

Assignment for Wed. Wallace's "Consider the Lobster"

Consider the Lobster

Please print and read this article for class on Wed. 

Be ready to discuss. YOU will be teaching the class!

Zombies and Public Forums

Caution Zombie Ahead

Nazi Zombies

What do you think was the rhetorical situation that brought on this display of public writing? 

Letters!!

A reminder that the final draft of the letter is due Friday, Feb. 13th. I will NOT accept late work. Remember, the final letter needs to be at least 2 pages in length. You should bring 2 copies, one in an addressed envelope with postage. 

SINGLE BOUND -- A Film by Jake Topkis

Hey fellas,

Wanted to try out the posting feature. Check out my short film, SINGLE BOUND. I'd love to know what you think as I'm aiming to submit it to some film festivals. Let's see, to apply to the class: What genre do you think it is?

site changed.

Hey guys, for anyone who wanted to check out the site, the address has changed. It is now www.baustin1208.weebly.com    

Check it out

Hey guys, Ben Austin and I got bored and started a website with some pretty cool stuff. Everyone should check it out. baustin213.weebly.com

Some questions to think about/respond to...

What is public writing? Do you do any public writing? And how can we do more public writing in the writing classroom? Is it important to do so? Why or why not?

More Letter Examples

If you look at the 2008 archives, you can find example letters, including the Open Letter to a Bong that we reviewed in class. 

Well... someone had to be the first to post...

Kat, since you were hoping I had posted this on THIS blog, I have provided a link to my very offensive (thanks to the picture) blog post on the "pope."
http://unhealthyaddictiontobacon.blogspot.com/2009/01/man-i-refuse-to-call-pope.html

Open Letters from McSweeneys

href="http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/openletters/1dickcheney.html">

About this blog...

As I told you in class, my two research writing classes blogged a lot last semester. All of those entries are still available. Feel free to roam. Also, veteran Genre as Social Actioners, keep writing (wherever you can!) and on this blog.

Top 10 LISTS

Post your Top 10 lists here...