Blog Post Assignment for Mon, April 5

The artifact that i will analyze using the Fantasy-Them criticism is the song "Identity" by Christian Rap artist Lecrae.

One of the central codes that stand out in this artifact is the word "identity" which the whole song is based off of . Identity could have many different meanings to people. This song relates identity to other words in the song such as "shoes, car, clothes". A person's worth is usually defined by the idea of what people have or the image they portray. Lecrae's central message is that true Identity is found in Jesus Christ. He no longer lives to please man or for the cars, money fortune, and fame, but instead he lives for a Greater purpose. His identity was once defines in these things, but now id found in imitating Jesus Christ, who saved him and gave him new life.

Hair check, shoes check,
brand new fit looking cool check,
looking in mirror like "ooooh yes!"
cover for an insecure dude check, She wont' feel me and they wont like me if I ain't in them J's or them brand new Nikes,but lets dig deeper inside my pysche
when it's all said and done even I don't like me
He live in the gym and his hair stay faded
late model car so they think he made it
but he's Christian he gave his life
but he still ain't satisfied in the savior Christ
still finds his identity in looks and cars
if he only knew that he ain't have to look so hard
If looked in God though it may seem odd he be so satisfied he could leave it all.

[ Chorus ]
I'm not the shoes I wear, I'm not the clothes I buy
I'm am not the house I live in, I'm not the car I drive
I'm not the job I work, You can't define my worth
By nothing on God's green earth, my identity is found in Christ.

[ D.A. T.R.U.T.H. ]
How do I gauge success,Why do I say I'm blessed,
Huh,Is it the car that I drive or the place that I rest or the way that I dress,
now Is the cause of my pride,
the stage and the set or my face in the press,
now Cause the applause it dies
When the praise is less if my face is depressed,
then/It's cause my value and worth is in the volume of the work I produce in the booth
It's a prize and a curse if defined by the perks when the truth is through
Man I'm goin' feel like I don't want to live no more, no more, no more
Cause they don't like me like they did in 04,04,04
So, I swallow my pride empowered by God,
I'm complete in Him
He's got peace God's priest I'm in In
His presence weak-His strength
Meet His kin We His brethren Read this list
Me forgiven
He's dismissed guilt and my sin and
I find my worth cause I'm Jesus' friend

[ Chorus ]
I'm not the shoes I wear, I'm not the clothes I buy
I'm am not the house I live in, I'm not the car I drive
I'm not the job I work, You can't define my worth
By nothing on God's green earth, my identity is found in Christ.

[ LeCrae ]
Got her hair done, toes and nails
is that Her? well it's hard to tell
cause she's caked up in so much make up
It's like she's tryna make up for what she ain't
but she's a saint but so confused
cause she's been rejected by all these dudes
that tell her on a scale of 10 she's a two
but that ain't true if she only knew
In Christ she is loved she secure and accepted
She'll never be rejected by God who's elected her
Her beauty is her Godliness
And she ain't gotta try to flaunt it cause it's obvious
[ Identity is found in the God we trust
Any other identity will self destruct.x2 ]

[ Chorus ]
I'm not the shoes I wear, I'm not the clothes I buy
I'm am not the house I live in, I'm not the car I drive
I'm not the job I work, You can't define my worth
By nothing on God's green earth, my identity is found in Christ.

Reflective Post.

This class taught me how to better analyze and artifact and bring out many different themes and ideas that i may have not previously noticed. I understood the ideological method the most. Now when i watch movies, read magazines, or surf the Internet, i feel i can have a better appreciation and understanding about the artifact. I will also become a better critique when it comes to dealing with my own writings and presentations.

My favorite thing in the class was dealing with the first essay and presentation. The class discussion of our first essay helped me get a better feel for how i wanted to analyze my essay. It was fun discussing popular movies, TV shows, and other artifacts with other class mates. Its always good to hear other peoples opinions and perspectives.

The most challenging part of the class was putting together my final essay. The first essay served as a guideline to what corrections I needed to be make for the second essay. I used the same method because i felt most comfortable with the ideological method. I now had to determine how to better structure my paper. I had to learn the importance of paragraph structure and having a topic sentence which the whole paragraph is based off of.

A recent popular issue in society is athletes and their personal lives and moral failures. Recently Tiger Woods was scrutinized by the media for his adultery. He finally had interview where he sat down and addressed the media. Now that i have a better knowledge of how to analyze an artifact such as n interview i was able to notice key themes and ideas that may have been hidden to other people. Once thing that i began to analyze was his facial expressions. I person can tell a lot about how they feel or what they believe by their non-verbal forms of communication. His speech was also a key thing to analyze. Every specific sentence seemed to have an underlying meaning. His beliefs and moral standards now were contrasted with other dominant ideologies in society. I gained a deeper perspective on this interview by noticing things i wouldn't have before i took Rhetorical criticism.

Blog Post Assignment for Friday, April 16

The artifact that i will be analyzing for the final essay will be the movie "16 Blocks". I previously did a bock post on the is assignment and i felt it would be a good choose for the final Essay. I will use the ideological method to analyze this artifact. I will discuss in the essay the ideas of the movie that talk about the ability for a person to change. The movie shows the lives of two Characters who have made many mistakes in their lives, but now seek to redeem themselves by doing the right thing.

Film Festival Assignment

The film that i chose to view was the movie "16 Blocks". This movie was centered around the lives of crooked cops who were trying to kill a ex-criminal eyewittness by the name of Eddie Bunker, who was going to testify against them . One cop named Jack Mosley, growing tired of their corrupt actions decided to now do the right thing and do whatever it took to help the witness make it to court to testify. The movie shows how the lives of a criminal and a crooked cop can change when they join foreces and decide they are going to do the right thing.

The method of criticism that I would use for this movie would be Ideological Criticism. The whole movie as stated by Eddie Bunker throughout the movie was that, "People can change'. Eddie was convinced that even though people make bad decisions it does not make them necissarily bad people. The crooked cop Jack Mosley believed, "Days change, seasons change, people don't change". The movie proved that people can change. It took the lives of two "bad people" how by choosing to do the right thing it ultimately changed who they were.

The two characters Eddie Bunker and Jack Mosley had different yet very similar stories. They both were seemingly sucked into bad situations but were not bad people. By crossing paths, they eventually realized that they were alot alike. One was just getting out of prison being caught for his actions, while the other was almost on his way to prison.

Pentadic Criticism

The artifact that i will analyze through Pentadic Criticism is the movie "7 pounds".

The Agent in this Movie is Will Smith. Will Smith played the main character Ben Thomas whom the whole movie centered around

The act in "7 pounds" is that Ben Thomas is giving up his life and vital organs to the peoples lives he ruined to a fatal car accident he was in.

The Scene last most important scene takes place in the motel he rented out where he will take his life

The agency is the people who Ben Thomas affected through the car accident.

The purpose is Ben Thomas seeks to right the wrongs of the peoples lives he has affected

Ideological analysis of "Crash"

The artifact that i will be analyzing will be the movie "Crash". Crash is a movie that displays the different attitudes towards ideas of racism, stereotypes and prejudice. The movies takes several stories of different people dealing with racism and how the interact with each other. Throughout the movie there are individual plots that all end up colliding at the end.

The first ideology that i noticed was a common idea and belief that people are not born racism but learn certain prejudice by the environment they grow up in. An example of this was shown when a certain police officer who previously sexually assaulted a African American women he pulled over risked his life by saving the same women from her burning car. It showed that when it came down to seeing her struggle as a human being instead of just seeing an outward appearance he was more that willing to help her out. It showed that maybe the police officer had learned he could act a certain way to a certain race of people by abusing his authority, but all his stereotypes went out the window when he saw the women in dying need.

Another ideology in the movie "Crash" was the belief that not all stereotypes are true. In the movie two young African American males stole a car that happened to belong to another African American. The owner of the car was the exact opposite of the car thieves. He was a successful Hollywood director who frowned upon the actions of the two young men. The Hollywood director acknowledged how they were portraying the negative stereotype that was placed upon most young black males.

Blog Posting Assignment for Mon, Feb 1

This first artifact i would analyze using the ideological method of criticism would be the movie "Crash'. This movie looks at different aspects of racism, stereotypes, and discrimination and how they affect our society.

The second artifact i would analyze using the ideological method of criticism would be the interview the Mark McGwire had recently admitting that he used steroids. I would analyze how the overall success of an athlete's career depends on illegal enhancements. This is an issue that can relate to other aspects in life with regards to cheating to get to a certain level of achievement.

The last artifact i would analyze using the ideological methos of criticism would be Guilbert Arenas' resent criminal charges surrounding his gun posession in a NBA locker room. I would analyze this artifact to show how your social status can depict the severity for the consequences of a crime.