hallct2’s blog

Charlie Hall

March 24, 2008

English 102

Panopticism

            In the book Discipline and Punishment Michel Foucault talks about an structure called the Panopticon. This structure is a building which holds prisoners in an area with a circular outer building while observers located in an inner building can view all the people in the outer building, while the people outside can not see the observers in the inner building. 

The Panopticon structure reminds me of a prison in the movie Shawshank Redemption.  In this movie the prisoners are locked in different cells while all the guards have a clear view of them while they are located in their jail cells.  I don’t know why but this movie reminds me of the prisons that are depicted in essay panopticism. 

In the book Panopticon the prisoners are being watched constantly.  No matter why they go or what they do they are being watched.  They are being watched without being able to tell who is watching them.  They brings up the concept of privacy and the lack of privacy which are important concepts discussed in Foucault's book which comes from the the situation in Panopticon.   This leads to a total lack of privacy because every single move they make can be seen by others. 

Charlie Hall

March 17, 2008

English 102

This essay explains how webcams are taking over the nation.  It deals with the invention and issues that come along with the web camera.   This essay shows how much the world has changed from how it use to be before technology became so advanced.  The author of Webcameras and the Telepresent Campanella uses a lot of quotes throughout his essay.  One quote that I found interesting was the one by Grateful Dead which says “Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.” This quote fits in well with the essay because it shows the reader pretty much what the entire essay is explaining.  This quote explains how the world has changed due to the advances of technology in this world such as webcameras.  Throughout this essay Campanella explains how in today’s society we don’t experience anything for ourselves.  Webcameras act as our own eyes we can basically get a view of all of the countries in the world because of the invention of the webcamera.  A good example he gives is when he says how we can watch the sun rise over Chicago just by logging into the internet.  Webcameras have really changed the way we live our life’s today. 

         In this essay Campanella explains the first time a webcamera was ever used.  He explains the history of the webcamera and the invention of the world wide wide and how these with these two things combined you can pretty much get a glimpse of the world just by sitting at your computer and logging onto the internet.  He talks about this in his essay because it explains how the webcamera was invented in a very unique way. This instance in which the webcamera was invented is known as the Trojan Room Coffee Cam.  Webcameras do have a lot of beneficial uses such as researching different areas of the world or getting lectures from a teacher in a different area then you are.  However there are also many uses for the webcamera that are just ridiculous such as websites that use them to broadcast sexual acts or pornography.   In many ways the webcamera can invade the privacy of others.  I don’t think it is right that webcameras are set up all over so the government can watch our every move.  I believe it is an invasion of our own privacy.

Charlie Hall

English 102

March 6, 2008

Who I Am

            The Playlist I have compiled may seem simple and perhaps a bit diverse and random.  But as I evaluate each individual element in my list some very strong common themes became apparent.  Three major categories emerge from my Playlist and they are family, friends, and faith in God.  But these three categories really breakdown into a more core identity of who I am.  A strong faith in God gives me a core set of values and peace of mind that leads to strong and meaningful relationships with my family and friends.  The honest, sincere relationship I have with my family and close friends has greatly helped me as a person and these relationships have supported me through good times and bad times and my faith in God has helped me to have these close and genuine relationships.

            The most central and core item in my Playlist is the symbol of the holy cross.  This is a sign of my faith in God and significantly impacts all of my relationships.  My faith in God was initiated by family influences and now plays an important role in my relationship with my family.  I have been raised as a Catholic and attended Catholic school through middle school.  I have three great uncles who are Catholic priests and a great aunt who is a missionary nun in Tanzania, Africa.  The influence of my immediate and extended family on my faith in God has been extremely instrumental to my personal development and the core values I have and thus the holy cross anchors my Playlist.

            “These Are My People”, a song written by Rodney Atkins, is another item in my Playlist.  This is a song about a group of great friends growing up and doing everything together.  It explains the good and bad times they went through together and that true friends will always be there.  This belongs on my Playlist because I can relate to what he is saying when he says, “…these are my people this is where I come from…”; he then goes on to say, “…it’s the way it was made wouldn’t have it any other way.”  This explains how the friends I grew up with really helped shape my values, and why I will never forget them.  It helps demonstrate that we will all have good and bad things happen to us and we will all be faced with choices that have positive or negative impacts.  The core values we have and the friends we choose will help us get through the difficult times we have growing up and will also help us make the right choices.  

            The next item in my Playlist is “Sandlot”, a movie written by David M. Evans.  This movie ties into the theme of friends and connects with many of the aspects of my Playlist song above.  “Sandlot” is about a diverse group of boys who play pick up baseball games together.  It is a somewhat informal “baseball team” whose members become best friends.  Though baseball is the common theme of the movie, it is really about the young boys helping each other through the typical issues facing young boys growing up.  This fits into my Playlist because I played a lot of formal and informal sports growing up and made many close friends through that process.  As in “Sandlot”, though we all came together because of our love for a certain sport, our relationships grew to where we supported each other in the various life issues we were all facing.    

            The next item on my Playlist also deals with the theme of friendship.  “Separate Peace”, written by John Knowles, is a story about two best friends who are inseparable.  These two friends attend boarding school together and form a bond that almost becomes broken when the two young men get into an argument and begin loosing trust in each other.  Toward the end of the story these friends realize they need each other more than ever to help each other overcome adversity.  The friends reform their bond of friendship just before one of the friends passes away during surgery.  This is part of my Playlist because I had a best friend in high school and we shared experiences almost exactly like those the friends in “Separate Peace” shared.  We remain best of friends today. 

            The next item in my Playlist, “Invincible”, is a film based on the true story of Vince Papale.  Vince Papale, played by Mark Wahlberg, gets fed up with his life after his wife abruptly leaves him.  She leaves him a note saying, “…you will never be anything in the world”.  That note along with the support of his friends motivated Vince to try to make more of his life.  He was an unemployed school teacher and worked nights at a neighborhood bar.  The Philadelphia Eagles professional football team held open tryouts and his friends convinced him to tryout.  He made the team and went on to prove his wife wrong and he made something of himself.  This movie really shows how important it is to have family and friends supporting you.   

            Family is another category that standouts from the individual elements of my Playlist.  This is shown in my next Playlist item which is a picture of my dad’s side of the family.  The picture was taken during a family reunion in Florida in 2004.  This photograph is very important to me because it includes all members of my dad’s side of the family including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  My family has always helped guide, support and direct me to develop my core values.  I know if there is no one else to support me that my family will always be there.

            Our three family dogs (Sailor, Reece, and Oakley) are a significant part of the family and earn a spot in my Playlist.  We rescued each of them from the dog shelter and they are really part of the family.  We take them everywhere we can.  I am very excited to see them every time I come home from college.  They are the ultimate true friend in that they are always there to greet me and spend time with me.  That may not seem like much for some people, but my relationship with my dogs means a lot to me.

            The final element in my Playlist is the seal of Kappa Alpha Order (the fraternity in which I am a brother).  When I think of this symbol I think of the everlasting bond that my pledge brothers and I formed during pledging last semester.  Pledging really brought me close to some great guys and I believe we formed a bond which will remain well after we graduate from college.  This symbol really displays the theme of friendship which is a vital part of my life. 

            The core theme that connects all the elements in my Playlist is my true and sincere relationship with family and close friends that is supplemented through my faith in God.  My trust in God allows me to have a sincere trust and like for my family and close friends.  These are not the artificial or superficial relationships many of us have with many people we have as acquaintances.  This is the true mutual like, trust and respect I have with my closest friends and all of my family who I know will continue to help support and guide me and I will do the same with them in return.

 Family Prayer

Fraternity Brothers

Beauty (Re)disovers The Male Body

 I notice that throughout this passage the author appreciates the idea of males showing off their bodies as models.  These men put themselves into positions that show off their masculine qualities, many in a provocative way.  Susan Bordo the author of this essay starts her essay by explaining and giving a description of the first time she came across a male body used as a means of advertisement.  She marveled over this image and explained how this representation of the male body really gave her a sense of pleasure.  She begins to notice how the times have changed, it use to be that only women were used in a provocative fashion, but now in the present time more and more men and their bodies are being used as a source of advertisement to arouse the young female population.  It’s seems as if in these present times we live men want to have more of a seductive look, rather then a bulky muscular look like they use to have in the past.  I am not saying that these men are not fit and defined.  I am just saying that they do not have an unrealistic look of many of the bodybuilders you see these days.  Not only have these men changed in their body stature, but they have changed the way they pose during their photo shoots. Instead of giving focus to the camera lens, these men seem to give a seductive hard to get look.  These men can usually be seen in advertisements with their eyes looking off into random places such as down at the floor, or off to the side toward the wall.  Another thing that has changed in advertisements is the amount of skin that is exposed.  It use to be unacceptable for women to even show their bellybuttons.  Now they are bearing it all to for the world to see an example of this is the magazine “playboy”.  This is not only true for women but for men as well.  They are also beginning to expose themselves in a way that many people that would appall many people and may be socially acceptable.   

          I wonder what made males want to follow in the steps of females when it comes to advertisements.  I also wonder if women get turned on by men exposing themselves in these provocative advertisements.  Men who take part in these provocative advertisements are beginning to be seen in society as “sex objects” just as the women who do these advertisements are commonly known as.  I wonder what gives men the motivation to show off there masculine figures to the world in a form of advertisement.  Maybe the women advertisements motivated them to display themselves in a sexual manner.  I feel that these advertisements are normal today in our society; they are just not something that I would be very fond of participating in. 

Charlie Hall

English 102    

February 6, 2008

Image Analysis

            In this photograph there are four young African American college students sitting at which seems to be a local diner.  They are waiting for their food to be served, you can tell this because they have no silverware or beverages in front of them.  The cook seems as if he is paying no attention to these students because he is standing at the grille with his head down.  This photograph is taken in black and white maybe because it was taken before color film was invented.   The photographer took the picture at a diagonal angle the customers are partially looking in the direction of the camera.  They seem to know that the picture was being taken at this time.  These young men seem to have no expressions on their faces such as they are not supposed to be at this restaurant.

            The theme of this photograph is that this group of young students are standing up for something they believe in, and that is that there should be equality in the world we live in.  They want segregation to be eliminated totally.  This photograph was taken in a restaurant named Woolworth’s which is located in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina.  These young men were at this restaurant to stand up for what they believed in.  That wanted the same rights that the white folks had, therefore they protested and had a sit in at the Woolworth’s restaurant.  This resulted in the four men getting thrown in jail.  However, this was a very significant event because it served a huge purpose in starting the civil rights movement.

Charlie Hall

English 102

January 28, 2008

Ways of Seeing Resource

            When I read “Ways of Seeing” I was very fascinated by the way Berger thought of things in his mind. He has a very unique way of thought which made this reading very interesting and made me think about things in the artistic world.  The more knowledge you have the more successful you will have in interpreting and making meaning of the images that surround you in your environment.  This excerpt really made me realize that everyone thinks differently about things they see in the surroundings they are in.  The way people see things depends on their bringing up, their education, and who they are associated with.      

            When I read “Ways of Seeing” one thing came to my mind, and that was this past summer when I visited Florence, Italy.  There were all sorts of wonderful artwork there that really amazed me.  Since reading “Ways of Seeing” it really made me realize that people have different ways of seeing things.  This is definitely true in the world of art.  One piece of art that came to my mind is the statue of David.  This is a magnificent piece which is located in the Piazza Della Signoria.  Michelangelo was the artist who created this piece.  When I think of the sculpture I just think of it as representing King David the man who killed Goliath.  But after reading this essay I realized that everyone one looks and this piece differently and gives their own meaning to it.  It depends on their education, culture, origin, and age how they will interpret and make meaning of this famous piece of artwork. 

David

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo's_David

Hey my name is Charlie Hall I am a freshman at the University of South Carolina.  I am writting this blog for my English 102 class.  The purpose of this blog is to discuss and bring up topics and interests that would appeal to the students in our 102 class.

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