2/20/2012 (my birthday is tomorrow!)- Icons:
While looking through these lists of icons, I found a plethora of interesting people, but in the end, I had to go with Harry Potter. Harry is, and probably always be an icon of magic and fantasy. He is also a sort of icon of getting kids to at least read something.
Since the books started gaining popularity, when you think of magic, one of the first things that comes to mind is Harry Potter. The popularity has inspired many things, such as getting kids to read, but possibly the most inspirational result of this series popularity was the creation of the Harry Potter Alliance, which seeks to fight things such as discrimination, genocide, and poverty.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Iconic Films- Harry Potter
When talking about Harry Potter, one might wonder how this series represents our lives and times. As much as some, if not most of us, might wish otherwise, magic isn't real, however there are many elements of Hogwarts and the Harry Potter world are very much relatable to our lives.
One way that Harry Potter is relatable to students is the bullying that occurs in both worlds. In the series, Hermione is made fun of both for being a know-it-all and because both of her parents are muggles, which makes her what characters such as Draco Malfoy call her "mud-blood." Another reason that the Harry Potter world is relatable to our own is that there our teachers in the series, as well as in real life, that we can't stand or that seem to be out to get us. Examples in Harry Potter are Severus Snape and Delores Umbridge who went as far as saying in the fifth film in the series The Order of the Pheonix "I really hate children."
A Nov. 11, 2001 New York Times article by Marcelle Clements titled "Film- Wizardry Practiced on a Wizard" stated that 60% of American children between the ages of 6 and 17 had read at least one of the then four books in the series.
Link to article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/11/movies/film-wizardry-practiced-on-a-wizard.html
Citation:
Clements, Marcelle. "Film; Wizardry Practiced on a Wizard." The New York Times Nov 11 2001.
One way that Harry Potter is relatable to students is the bullying that occurs in both worlds. In the series, Hermione is made fun of both for being a know-it-all and because both of her parents are muggles, which makes her what characters such as Draco Malfoy call her "mud-blood." Another reason that the Harry Potter world is relatable to our own is that there our teachers in the series, as well as in real life, that we can't stand or that seem to be out to get us. Examples in Harry Potter are Severus Snape and Delores Umbridge who went as far as saying in the fifth film in the series The Order of the Pheonix "I really hate children."
A Nov. 11, 2001 New York Times article by Marcelle Clements titled "Film- Wizardry Practiced on a Wizard" stated that 60% of American children between the ages of 6 and 17 had read at least one of the then four books in the series.
Link to article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/11/movies/film-wizardry-practiced-on-a-wizard.html
Citation:
Clements, Marcelle. "Film; Wizardry Practiced on a Wizard." The New York Times Nov 11 2001.
Weekly Research #3
Link to article: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/e/eurovision_song_contest/index.html?scp=2&sq=eurovision%20song%20contest&st=cse
Citation:
"Eurovision Song Contest." The New York Times 16 May 2011.
Response: I'm probably one of only a handful of Americans that even know what this event is, but I love the Eurovision Song Contest, even if I don't always agree with the winning country. Take last year for example, I have no idea how Azerbaijan actually managed to win when there were so many better entries. Oh well, maybe this year a country will win that actually has a really good performance. However, I don't really think that'll be too difficult since there are a plethora of great songs this year. There are only two songs so far that I really don't like, which are Albania's song "Suus" by Rona Nishliu, and Russia's song "Party of Everybody" by Buranovskiye Babushki. Right now my favorite two counrties are Iceland with "Mundu Eftir Mir" and Sweden with "Euphoria."
Citation:
"Eurovision Song Contest." The New York Times 16 May 2011.
Response: I'm probably one of only a handful of Americans that even know what this event is, but I love the Eurovision Song Contest, even if I don't always agree with the winning country. Take last year for example, I have no idea how Azerbaijan actually managed to win when there were so many better entries. Oh well, maybe this year a country will win that actually has a really good performance. However, I don't really think that'll be too difficult since there are a plethora of great songs this year. There are only two songs so far that I really don't like, which are Albania's song "Suus" by Rona Nishliu, and Russia's song "Party of Everybody" by Buranovskiye Babushki. Right now my favorite two counrties are Iceland with "Mundu Eftir Mir" and Sweden with "Euphoria."
Friday, January 27, 2012
Weekly Research #2 January 27, 2010
Article Title: "Souther Baptist Convention Calls for Boycott of Disney"
Source: The New York Times
Writer: Allen R. Myerson
Date: June 19, 1997
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/19/us/southern-baptist-convention-calls-for-boycott-of-disney.html?scp=1&sq=disney%20southern%20baptists&st=cse
Summary: In 1997 the Souther Baptist Convention, America's largest prodestant denomination, made the decision to boycott the Walt Disney company on the grounds that it had "gone astray."
Now some might be wondering how exactly Disney went "astray" when they're so kid friendly? Well, the Souther Baptists believed that Disney had strayed mostly because of their support for gay rights. The article quoted Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist morals and ethics panel, saying ''You can't walk the family side of the street and the gay side of the street in the Magic Kingdom at the same time.''
Though the Southern Baptist denomination had 15.7 members at the time the article was written, an analyst for Sanford C Bernstein & Company said that the boycott would be unlikely to succeed. And considering that Disney is still doing well over 14 years after the publication of this article, it's clear that the analyst was correct.
Source: The New York Times
Writer: Allen R. Myerson
Date: June 19, 1997
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/19/us/southern-baptist-convention-calls-for-boycott-of-disney.html?scp=1&sq=disney%20southern%20baptists&st=cse
Summary: In 1997 the Souther Baptist Convention, America's largest prodestant denomination, made the decision to boycott the Walt Disney company on the grounds that it had "gone astray."
Now some might be wondering how exactly Disney went "astray" when they're so kid friendly? Well, the Souther Baptists believed that Disney had strayed mostly because of their support for gay rights. The article quoted Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist morals and ethics panel, saying ''You can't walk the family side of the street and the gay side of the street in the Magic Kingdom at the same time.''
Though the Southern Baptist denomination had 15.7 members at the time the article was written, an analyst for Sanford C Bernstein & Company said that the boycott would be unlikely to succeed. And considering that Disney is still doing well over 14 years after the publication of this article, it's clear that the analyst was correct.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Weekly Research #1:
Article title: "Tattooed Heroine Metes Out Slick, Punitive Violence"
Source: The New York Times
Writer: O. Scott
Link: http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/movies/the-girl-with-dragon-tattoo-movie-review.html?scp=1&sq=The%20Girl%20with%20the%20dragon%20tattoo&st=cse
Summary: This article is a reviw of David Fincher's adaptation of the film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This articles highest praise is for actress Rooney Mara, who plays Lisbeth Salander in the film. The writer of the article also has a great amount of praise for the film's soundtrack music which Fincher uses for an "unnerving and powerful effect" and creates "a persuasive ambience of political menace and moral despair."
The review's largest complaint seems to be that the film becomes rather dull at some points.
I have yet to see this movie, but I greatly enjoyed the book and hope I will like the film as well.
Source: The New York Times
Writer: O. Scott
Link: http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/movies/the-girl-with-dragon-tattoo-movie-review.html?scp=1&sq=The%20Girl%20with%20the%20dragon%20tattoo&st=cse
Summary: This article is a reviw of David Fincher's adaptation of the film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This articles highest praise is for actress Rooney Mara, who plays Lisbeth Salander in the film. The writer of the article also has a great amount of praise for the film's soundtrack music which Fincher uses for an "unnerving and powerful effect" and creates "a persuasive ambience of political menace and moral despair."
The review's largest complaint seems to be that the film becomes rather dull at some points.
I have yet to see this movie, but I greatly enjoyed the book and hope I will like the film as well.
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