SimplyLit

During the class I learned a lot more than I ever thought would be possible for me. I've said many times that I'm not a very big reader and it isn't my most favorite thing to do. Although this class is nothing but reading literature and reflection on it, I had a lot more fun than I initially thought.

Some of the topics that really made get inspired or angry were The Dumbest Generation and the section we did about books. First, we could be called the Dumbest Generation but with that I feel we deserve respect in being called one of the smartest too. We as a whole have come up with some amazing ideas and inventions that some of the past generations and even future generations might not ever thing about. When they called us "the Dumbest Generation," it just made me more motivated to prove them wrong. Maybe that was their point and it would have worked but it most likely wasn't.

Second, would be the book discussion we did during class. Yes, everybody argued about how books are so amazing and we would get very far without them. I agree a very tiny bit with the fact that we wouldn't get very far because books carry our past and history. Without them the generations coming wouldn't know much about our past and it would be total anarchy.

But, books aren't for everybody. We argued that books are so amazing and one of the most exciting things to do when you're trying to relax. To me that is complete garbage. There are so many other things out there to do that are way more fun and exciting and relating that sitting in a chair or wherever and reading a book of text. That to me is not fun at all but that is just my opinion. That is another thing I learned to do in this class was voice my opinion. I'm usually a very quiet kid in class and Intro to Lit really turned that around. Thank you!

Books

Literature is the story of ourselves, the record of who we are, where we came from, and where we’re going. Without them I feel like we'll be missing a part of ourselves but it wouldn't be such a disaster that we couldn't continue to live. We might end up having more technology and ways to do other things. Books give us a freedom that is so powerful that it's very close to becoming too much. To me reading books is nothing more than a thing to do and something to get your mind off of past evens. 

I feel if books weren't in our lives that I wouldn't miss them at all. I know everything (history) was stored through books and it was the link to the past. Overall, we would end up finding a new one to write down history and it wouldn't be such a big deal. I guess I would miss them a little even though I don't care for them too much. We still do use Encyclopedia's, Dictionaries, and so forth. It might get a little boring but we have some of the smartest people in the world and we could easily find another thing to do.

Metaphorically we burn books today by either spark noting them or making movies out of them. They turn the books into movies but they don't put all the details or full story into it. Spark notes is ruining the books too because therefore it skips reading the book and gives you the "summary" of the book. It's the lazy way to find out about a book without having to read it which to me is very lazy. 

I think there are a couple things that are dangerous about books. First, would be the bible. The bible has changed so many people's lives but we still don't know if that is exactly what really went on. The bible has caused several holy wars and it continues to be a spark to fights. Another would be the freedom book writers have. They can say whatever they want in books and most of the time wouldn't think twice about what they wrote. 

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games to me was a pretty crazy and different book. I don't usually read books like this because it's out of my norm and i am just not too fond of books in general. Overall, I wasn't expecting Katniss to fall in love with Peeta. In the beginning I didn't like how the book started out slow. I started falling asleep while reading it but when we started getting in depth in the book it started to get better. The Hunger Games were very exciting to read because you didn't know when something was going to change or get more interesting.

I don't feel the games should have ended in a tie. I didn't think that was a very good way to do it and it was different from the norm. They were both from the same district and I just didn't think it was fair the way it ended. It isn't something you should just change when for the longest time you were doing one thing. How is that fair?

I related this book to the Call of Duty game, "One in the Chamber" because you get one bullet to survive and if you kill another person you get that bullet back. If you don't you can only life because you only get three lives. It's hard wrenching and really makes you nervous.

One In The Chamber

Again, I really liked this book towards the end but not necessarily in the beginning. It really brought a new type of reading to me and I would love to read more books like this.

The Ron and Sammy Show

For my blog about reality TV I chose to watch the season finale of Jersey Shore. Personally, I've been watching it all season and I actually like the show. I don't exactly think it's real people in real situations all the time. For example, people like to see Mike "The Situation" Sammy and Ronnie get into fights and start drama. During the final episode this happens and everybody loved it. Here is a little video clip of it happening. I couldn't find the video of Mike fighting with Sammy but i found another great example of Ronnie and Sam fighting. That had to hurt. This is what people want to see. After this fight when you looked on Facebook is was what everybody was talking about. It's interesting and it makes the show. But in other episodes I feel it could be scripted or even badly played out. It always seems that there is a fight or something that shouldn't happen.
As for competition I didn't really notice any besides in the begging when Mike and Ronnie were fighting over Sammy. Sometimes Vinny and Snooki get into it and end up trying to mess with the other person but I don't see too much competition within the show. As for intelligence I don't see any at all. They do what they want, they say what they want, and they don't care. They don't need to use any smarts besides using their brains to make a good decision or not but usually that doesn't happen.
This show is all abuot sex appeal. They go out every night in the tight little outfits and try to show off all their attributed. People watch it just to see Jwoww or Sammy look good or Snooki make a fool out of herself and accidentally flash people. The three guys always do their GTL and the girls just flaunt over their bodies.
During the season finale the big issue was that while Sammy went home to get away she contacted another guy to meet up with. While one night at the club Mike found his friend and it ended up being the guy Sammy was suppose to meet. When Mike told Ronnie about this guy things started to get ugly again. Then Mike calls up this guy and he tells Ronnie that him and Sammy made out. Of course it started to get ugly but in the end everybody sat down for their last sunday meal and everything went well after.
In this reality TV show I really liked Vinny and Pauly D. They were the only people in the house that I felt weren't fake and said what was on their minds. They made the show more fun and gave everybody some good laughs. I enjoy watching this show most of the time. The only time I don't is when Ron and Sammy fight but i don't think anybody likes that. What makes the show alluring is the fact that it's funny and most of the time real. People have been through those situations before and they like to relate to the show. The role of me as the viewer would be to watch them get drunk and fall on their faces and try to find out what is going to happen next season.

Big Brother is Watching

I agree that Orwell probably meant that BB is the controlling force. After all, it's very impractical to have a dictator, at least one who have absolute power. However, my personal belief is that it is YOU who are BB. That it's everyone in the society who by themselves eventually will make the society become what he predicted. That we "want" to be controlled.

I feel as if we have most definitely lost our privacy in today's world. I feel we have lost our privacy because our government snoops into every little thing we do. In class the other day we discussed a question that involved should our county have cameras in public areas so we can keep our country safe. The only thing that concerns me about this is that we basically already have cameras in most public places and it's starting to become overwhelming. This is an example of how we are losing our privacy. Google maps is another example of how we can lose our privacy. Any person in the world can find another by just typing in an address or name to find where they live, their phone number, etc. I just think that's ridiculous to a point where it's unsafe and terrifying.

Yes, privacy does still exist in some parts of our lives. As long as we are careful and don't do anything STUPID than we shouldn't have to worry about some of those things. Privacy is a virtue and we can't take advantage of that.

We are never really going to be truly safe no matter what freedoms we lose. Their is always ways to get passed those things. The war in Iraq is a great example. There are all those soldiers over there fighting for our freedom that are mostly willing to go over when the Taliban is full of kids under the age of 15 who have full independence with a weapon on their choice to KILL us. To me that is completely ridiculous and utterly terrifying because kids don't have the thought process fully developed yet.

Extra Credit Blog #3

Its finally day seven and I can get back to my normal way of life with technology. It taught me some lessons and in the beginning I enjoyed the peace and quiet. But after awhile it was harder to get through the day without, what we consider, the necessities. I think after this challenge I'll be more appreciative of the things I have and not take them for granted.

Extra Credit Blog #2

It's day six and I have one more day to go. Usually, you find things out over Facebook or someone texts to tell you. Now I don’t have that. Everyone is talking about things that are posted on this person’s page and how this couple broke up and whatnot. I feel out of the loop. Not texting, watching TV, or using the computer is so much more difficult. I went into this challenge expecting to get through it with no problems. I was wrong. I can’t wait to get back to my technology.