Finally my internet isnt being a sklut!! (skank and a slut) :)

- How is Persepolis organized and structured? How is her childhood emphasized and describe the drawings…
Well to start off the book Persepolis is organized into a graphic novel. She, Marji being the main character of the book, narrates the novel. You see the very key parts of her childhood that made her how she is today. Every picture shows you something that Marji learned from someone in her family, a major or minor event, or a story told by someone. She centers almost this entire book on the war and how it has impacted her as a child. She really emphasizes her curiosity I think. The drawings add to the narrative of the story by showing you what’s actually happening. The saying a picture is worth a thousands words pops into my mind. The pictures are a vital part of this story, they help make it a little more real.

- What kinds of captivity and freedom does the author explore in Persopolis? What prevents from being free and how do they defy the rules?
I think that all of the rules and restrictions they have to live by show the type of captivity in this novel. People are not free to say what they want because if they have the “wrong” opinion then they will get punished. The freedom you see in this book is self-created. By the people rebelling and living their normal lives is the only freedom we see. Having all of the rules and restrictions is what I think prevents them from being free. When they do rebel they do so in small secretive acts. Examples of small secretive acts would be going to parties, listening to banned music, and drinking alcohol. Some of the other things they do that are a little more public are their protests they go to and the women wearing the veils showing a little bit of hair. They try very hard to keep doing these small acts of rebellion because if they didn’t then they would all be the same and life would be boring and there would be no point.

- “In spite of everything, kids were trying to look hip, even under risk of arrest”. How did they do this? What would I have done?
Well Marji for example wore punk clothes and loved punk music. She even went down to the black market and bought tapes of Camel and Kim Wilde. Her parents even encouraged it. They smuggled illegal things in for her from Turkey. She went to her parent’s parties and even went to one rally. If I had been in her position I think I would have rebelled too. I couldn’t see giving things up that meant so much to me just cause some idiot didn’t like it. I mean seriously. I would have rebelled and I think my parents would have supported it to some degree as well. Just as long as I didn’t get caught id be fine just fine. LMAO. Some acts of rebellion as a teen?? Lets see, well I don’t do a whole lot of rebelling. There are small things I disagree with and I think are stupid. Like for one not being able to bring in a bag for gym… you have to carry your clothes. Geez I didn’t stop carrying my bag. Ummm .. not having cell phones in school, really in a time like today do they really expect kids to listen to that. Idk there are small things all the time that I guess I rebel against but nothing to huge or nothing that will get me in huge trouble. And plus if I did get in some type of trouble it would be for me sticking my ground and I could care less if that happened. Satrapi is just like a normal kid because all she’s doing is telling her story from her point of view so that others will know what happened.

Persepolis Blog

Yes we have moved on to a new book. So no more talk on consumerism and all that other "good"stuff.
Before i get started id like to say my trip to the U of M totally blew and was a major let down ..ughh.. whatever now on to more important matters. DUN DUN DUNNNN!! oh and yeah its kind of last minute but i just woke up.. oops. it was still posted before 12 so i win :)

--Written as a memoir... more powerful then fiction?
I think that any type of non-fictional books are more powerful then fictional writing. We know that what we are reading has actually happened and good or bad i think we can all connect to the text in some way even if we don't want to. With fictional writing i also think that yes you can connect but we know that whatever it was didn't happen with a real person in real life. We can always make ourselves feel better when reading fiction because we make up what we wanted to happen and everything works out perfectly but with non-fiction you really cant. The only other memoirs i have read was the series of A Child Called "It". That series of books is so freaking powerful because you read about this boy and how his mother nearly killed him and you cant help but feel bad for him and while i was reading it there was nothing to say that could make me feel better. Comparing this to other books i have read that have been fiction, if something is going horribly wrong then i can always make something up for myself. I think its really good to write memoirs because it tells a true story that can only be told by one person. Its a part of history.

--Describe the writers voice... how did it affect my reading experience?
I really liked how this book was set up. The writing style was young enough for me not to be bored with reading, yet it was mature enough at the same time so it wasn't like reading a book written by a four year old trying to tell this big important story (which we all hate listening to a four year old retell his day when he stumbles over every word and half of the damn story doesn't make sense.. or is that just me and the kids i listen to??). I really did have some connections with Marji's character. Her character asked lots of question concerning things she wanted to know more about or didn't understand fully, she was very naive at some points in the story but she was super observant. She noticed every little detail and analyzed everything, never really just taking somebodies word for it always having to make sure for herself. Which is something i do all the time and i never really understand why I'm so untrustworthy of people its a bad quality... But having all of these connections with the character made my reading easier but harder at the same time. Because it was easy o connect with i could put myself in her shoes but with the context of the story that kind of sucked...

--What ways does Persepolis tell stories and comment on importance of stories in our lives?
I believe that stories are a HUGE part of our lives. Your entire past is one big story and its important to know about it. Not only does your past help shape who you are but your other relatives have a past who helped shape them. Since they were shaped by their past and they are apart of your past/life its important to know about all of their pasts and what they went through. Its like a never ending circle. When Marji heard all of the stories of her uncle Anoosh, and her grandfathers story, and her mothers story of growing up it gave her insight to how those around her A)survived through any obstacle they had and B)shaped them and made them who they are today. Its important to know these types of things because you can learn from these past experiences and it can make you a better person.

Visual Essay

My topic for this visual essay is consumerism.

before i start i want to say sorry for this being meg late lol :) well enjoy :) ...

Alrighty so where to start.. I chose this picture because it immediately reminded me of the book. This is how i imagined them looking; sick like on the verge dying, not to mention pretty damn stupid looking, and the feed screaming so many different things at them at the same time. This picture was perfect.

This picture represents the kinds of advertisements thrown at us everyday. Companies provide these "deals" which of course just make us buy more because we think its better.

First off, squint to see the picture more clearly if you can't see it now. You can see a whole bunch of brand and company names in the body. Okay. I really liked this picture because it explains what consumerism is; it is and illusion that we are drawn in by time after time. We see something and want it so we buy it but what we get isn't really what we saw. The product is shown as perfection and companies don't show any of the flaws because if they did we wouldn't want it. But yet we keep buying and buying. We just never learn. Yes, it is free choice of what we want or "need" but not necessarily. Companies will sell a version of one item and then sell a new version not months later and you must have the new version or youre just not good enough, its not your choice. There is a ton of pressure involved.

http://thebreakfastclubclan.org/graphics/cartoons/cartoons_bloom_county_runaway_consumerism_01_mall_walkers(1000x332x256).gif

http://thebreakfastclubclan.org/graphics/cartoons/cartoons_bloom_county_runaway_consumerism_02_velveeta(1000x331x256).gif

http://thebreakfastclubclan.org/graphics/cartoons/cartoons_bloom_county_runaway_consumerism_03_salad_scooper(1000x330x256).gif

While surfing for pictures to help get my message across I found these three comic strips. If you take the time to visit these links this further proves my last thought from the previous picture.

The reason i didn't put these in my blog directly is because they were not clear at all. But go have a look. :) They're funny in that oh-my-god-that-was-so-stupid kind of way. :)

I'm glad I found these two pictures I think they tell the perfect story of consumerism. We buy and buy more then we actually need and think we need more but in the end we never needed it at all and we end up "throwing it up". We get rid of what we never actually needed. What a waste...

Okay so I will admit this is kind of a depressing way to end the visual part of this essay but this picture is so true. In the end everyone dies and it doesn't mater who had the most you're still dead. A dead millionaire is just as dead as the dead guy who lived in a van down by the river. There is no difference between the two except that the millionaire might get buried with some of his crap but then again who wants to buy all that stuff just to have it thrown in the ground in the end. See i just don't get it but that's just me. Its really pointless to buy buy buy because in the end it doesn't mater.

Reflection part:

I guess the message of this blog is to show that the idea of consumerism is horrible. My blog focused more on the anti-consumerism topic because to me there is no good aspect of consumerism. You spend all this money to buy things you don't really actually need just to be trendy or simply because you want it. But there really isn't away around buying things. You need to buy things to A) live and B) not be bored off your ass all the time. I chose all you those picture because they all prove a strong point about consumerism and why in my opinion its horrible especially if you cant control yourself. Throughout my life my family has helped me the most develop the values that i have today about some of the topics in FEED some of them include consumerism, individuality or conformity, and media. My family has always told me to be a "smart shopper"-only buy what i absolutely need and every once and a while its okay to go on a little spree just as long as i don't let it get out of hand. I mean money is there for you to use it but not to waste it. I try to stick to being a "smart shopper" but sometimes its nice to know that because i have been a "smart shopper" i can buy more what i want than what i may actually just need. With individuality vs. conformity my family has always told me to be myself and to never change for others. I think its such a vital lesson that some people just don't know, which is really sad. I think its stupid to change yourself for others and if your not going to just be yourself in life then really whats the point.

second feed blog ;)

So this is the second blog for the book FEED. This book keeps getting better and better. I love the new points that the book keeps bringing up and how the characters are developing its pretty fantastical (yes it's a word, don't question me) right now. :) anywhoo now to the prompts...

----The feed is described as knowing what you need before you do-is this really what the feed is doing?

--I believe that the feed is advertising to them what it believes they will want before they know they want it but I also believe that because the feed is doing this it had shaped them into a personality that's easier for it to advertise to. The only way the feed really "knows" what they want before they know it is because the feed has shaped them into liking what it chooses for them. So i guess the feed does know what you want or need before the actual person does but only because the feed has created your personality like that, so technically it's not your personality and you might not actually want that. If the feed was used to try to guess what a new person wanted or needed it would probably be wrong because it hasn't had a chance to shape their personality yet.

----The author dedicates the book "to those who resist the feed." What does he mean by this? What is "the feed," in a real-life context, and how can it be resisted? What are the benefits and drawbacks of doing so? In what ways do you "resist the feed"?

--I think he means those who are always themselves and who don't get sucked into all of these influences that are around today. In my opinion i believe that the feed is referring to all of the advertisements in society today. We see advertisements for EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING there is EVERYWHERE and we see all of these different ways to advertise now-and-days. We see it on the Internet, in the paper, on TV, in movies, billboards, music, etc. I think it's important to resist it. By resisting in and making your own decisions your more of a real person not just somebody who agrees with what somebody else says or does what everyone else does. It's crucial to be yourself otherwise you fit in with the crowd and nobody will every notice you or care because your just like a billion other people and then whats the point to even try. I think it's quite sad to see but it happens. I think by doing my own thing, THINKING FOR MYSELF, making my OWN decisions can help me and anyone else not be sucked into all of the advertisements we see on a daily basis.

I liked this picture because its a good picture to represent standing out from the crowd. The one standing out is smiling and all happy and bright and the other ones who all look the same are sad and dull. idk i like this example :)

----“This is my project.” Explain Violet’s “project” (p.81+). What does her willingness to do this say about her personality? Do you know anyone like her? How are they like her? What does Titus’ response to her “project” say about him?

--Violets project is to create a personality by going into different stores and places and asking for the most random things she can think of and then the most random use for the object and then resist the urge to buy it. This "project" will confuse the feed so much that it will not be able to decide what is right to advertise to her, she will become "invisible"(page 98). I think this says a lot about her personality and how strongly she feels about resisting the feed. This proves that she doesn't want the feed to control her anymore and i think it also shows her natural curiosity about life. Violet's personality reminds me of a few of my friends personalities. They are very original and are very very very individualized individuals. They are so different from "normal" because they don't want to be like everyone else and they try to live by what they feel is right, they certainly lead themselves and don't follow others. They think for themselves and always take responsibility for their own actions. When I read the book i can almost picture them in her shoes. I believe how Titus responds to Violets project just proves that he follows along with things even though he doesn't know much about the entire situation.