For your new blog response, write a response to one of the presentations you heard in class today. You're doing the same thing as your last blog response: You can pose one or more follow-up questions, offer potential counterarguments , make connections to other things you've seen or read, or pose further lines of inquiry for any of these projects.
Please write at least one well-developed paragraph. Also, check out the responses that your peers wrote for the last blog response. Some of the points raised were quite insightful and thought-provoking.
Due: Before our next class meeting
p.s. Potluck next Tuesday--what do you want to bring? Write the item you're bringing at the bottom of your blog response. (note: you are not required to bring something, but it'll be fun if you do)
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In response to all of the presentations today...I think that everyones paper was well written and put together, with great background information, however, i found that the things brought in to back up the essays was weak. A couple presentations had a comic strip or two, but for the most part, everybody showed a picture of a superhero/character in comics, and that was the extent of the examples, which I found to be much weaker than the 1st weaks presentations.
ReplyDeleteTo ALEXs presentation-
I personally found Alex's paper the strongest of the group today, as it had great insight and examples of African American's. I found your analysis of Storm quite thought provoking, as i had never even thought about her passive personality, and how Xavier makes decisions for her, like the slaves listened to their owners. Great job with your paper, i was impressed, and plan on writing my Paper #4 on your research.
Sidenote: Adam, you said that the visuals were weak in the presentations, but I would have to disagree. Looking at some of the phyiscal characterisitcs of the superheros helped me visualize what the presenters meant when they described those heros. When Alex presented, the first image he put up of the African American dude with the stereotypical phyisical representations really helped me see what he meant in his essay. The Shakespeare comic was a very good visual as well.
ReplyDeleteNow I want to talk about Alex's presentation as well. The Storm example you brought up was very interesting. I was wondering if you came up with that analysis of her being obidient to her "master" or did you find that from some other source. Also couldn't it also be that Storm is just that way like Annie said? What if Storm is just very respectful of leaders, since Professor X is the leader of the entire X-men squad. Last comment is that I believe that racism in comics especially towards African Americans is slowly dwindling. Here is a video I stumbled upon when doing my research, its pretty interesting...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2iliW5TFYQ&feature=related
Now after hearing two essays regarding the stance of the apparant racism in comics I think both Alex and Adam presented some really good points. Alex had good examples and provided good analysis such as the character Steel who had a poor upbringing and was limited with his powers unlike he white counterpart Superman. It just shows that our society didn't feel that Steel could be up to par with a white man. Also the statment 'blacks are only ideal heros when put in submissive roles' I thought was good. However I do agree with the professor that characters such as Storm act certain ways becuase of their personality. I mean more often than not blacks are protrayed steroetypically to be loud and outgoing becuase they are supposedly in a gang/cause mischeif and are tough stuff.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Alex's presentation:
ReplyDeleteThe points that Alex raised in his paper that I found were very strong were when he said that African American superheroes are limited in both the power that they have and also they have a limitation on a good storyline. They don't receive the same "attention" that white superheroes do. For example, he compared Spiderman to Luke Cage(or whatever his name was) in that Superman's story is told from the beginning and how he grew up from a regular teenager to be a superhero. Cage's story is only known that he is an ex-con and there is no real development in his character. I also like when he used Storm as an example as an African American superhero that has encountered the least racism of all the black superheroes. He mentioned, however, that she still faces racial problems in that she is constantly listening to Xavier(Like an African American obeying his owner during times of slavery) and this shows that her power is limited because she cannot rebel like the white superheroes. The counterargument that I have for this point would be: could it be that Storm was depicted like this on purpose to show that she, being an African American, is a peaceful person who like to show kindness and sympathy. I know that Storm is one of the wiser X-men, so maybe she was created to be the more wise, kind X-men. Maybe she is supposed to be a non-angry, rebellious person?
I felt that everyone today had good arguments and valid points, but some of that was lost in the presentation. While you all were reading your papers, at times your voices became monotonous or you read too fast, so what you were saying didn't really come across.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Alex's presetation:
For the most part, I felt like you avoided the problems I mentioned above, and your presentation was very riveting. Another good thing about your presentation was that for every point you raised, you had a good example like the patriot and his drug use and Luke Cage and his criminal background. I thought your counterargument with Storm was especially helpful to your paper, and it was also something I had never thought of before, and, like Justin, I was wondering if that was something you discovered on your own, or found from another source.
Oh and I am bringing Hello Dolly's : )
ReplyDeleteFor the potluck, I'll bring brownies! =)
ReplyDeleteI'll bring something good. As a sidenote, I'm not hating on anybody imparticular, i just mean that though the few examples that were shown helped, there just couldve been alot more. I hope that clarifies things for u, KUNAL
ReplyDeleteOn Alex's presentation: I thought his overall presentation was outstanding, particularly the word choice and flow of the paper. Obviously his and adam's were on the same topic, but I thought his paper was more thorough and evidence presented was stronger. I understand some people thought the presentations were not as strong or talking too fast but it gets kind of hard talking for 20 minutes for those not used to talking in front of poeple. But im sure as a result all of us will be better speakers, of course some are better than others. I hope the rest of the presenters have different topics than the ones that have already been talked about.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah and ill bring chips and some kind of salsa or nacho cheese or something like that
ill bring some keystones and a keg of coors light
ReplyDeletelol jk ill bring chips :) limon chips that is...
ReplyDeleteim gonna bring sumthing, i just dont kno yet=)
ReplyDeleteThe points that Jordan was talking about in his presentation were very interesting in a way that some were true and others were debatable. For instance, I agree with his claim that the pictures in graphic novels are universal in that they possess a visual appeal that everybody could relate to. I also agreed with his when he said that the combination of text and pictures helps remedial students not only become more interested in the subject that they are learning about, but it also helps them to understand the idea better because graphic novels use much simpler words than textbooks do. A point that I found debatable, however, was when he brought up Dr. Worthham's Seduction of the Innocent. The points that are raised in this text are supposed to only apply to the extreme comic books that have things like gore and profanity, but I think that they could be applied to nearly every comic book out there.
ReplyDeleteDEar Kunal, thankyou for the love,
ReplyDeletesincerely,
Adam
I think Alex's presentation was well done. The examples of the black superheroes portrayed as using drugs for superpowers, and being high school dropouts really helped to support your point. I also like how you proved that Storm was also shown in a negative light due to her passive attitude. Yet, i believe that itjust might be a personality trait. I also wanted to know if you knew of any white superheroes shown with histories of drug abuse or being members of gangs?
ReplyDeleteGreat job to everyone else who did their presentations!
Alex by far had the best speech today. The word choice helped the essay to move along very easily. It was very easy to follow along and comprehend. The topic was very similar to Adams and even brought up some of the same superheros. However, Alex's was very different in that it used different counterarguments to strengthen it's points made. He used Storm as a counterargument whereas Adam used her as an example of another stereotyped superhero. By using Storm in the counterargument Alex was able to answer more obvious questions and arguments that arise in the reader's head.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Alex's presentation, I don't think the presentation provided strong points to point out racism. Same with Adam's presentation. I think the lack of black super heroes is because there's a lack of blacks in the industry. Not necessarily because the industry might be racist but because they're just not into it like white people. And I don't think it's fair to bring up this racist issue against an industry that itself lacks a lot of recognition and respect, and expect them to create characters just to create some balance so people don't think they're being racist. And the stereotypes that the presentations brought up, I believe is a little unfair too. From what I noticed they were just representing a way of life for some people. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. For instance, Steel. He got rescued by an alien, got stocked and wanted to do the same for others. But, since he's human just like the rest of us he has to do some crazy stuff to be able to have abilities similar to superman. I don't think there's anything to crazy about the characters that were brought up. I think the color of their skin is what alarms people. Check out batman. His parents got killed by a thug and according to the movie he went to prison where he seemed to cause a lot of trouble and then when he backs super the cops are after him and at times the people are against him. I think it would be pretty easy to imagine the kind of criticism that story would gain if he was black.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kunal,1st and foremost I want to mention great focus in your presentation,as you were starting your essay reading, you were heckled by some of your classmates, you recovered well and gave a very nice presentation. Kudos to Kunal.
ReplyDelete2nd,In response to your essay,Marvel from the 1950's puts out as a whole the vast majority of believable 'Superheroes' and 'Anti-heroes'. Like The Incredible Hulk, Batman, Spiderman, and Superman. Allowing its readers an easier association with their heroes/anti-heroes(Even though these characters have extra ordinary abilities, how they still have faults). Outside of comics I believe you can make some sort of parallel to the extra ordinary super-humans of today: Professional Sports; Movies; TV;Writers; Teachers/Professors; Circus Performers"Cirque De Sole"; Musicians; Singers; Dancers;Actors...etc. Real people that stand well above the abilities of others even in the same field. To me, these are our Super/Anti-Heroes, we look up to them, (Kids and adults) expect more out of them and even blame them for not meeting our overwhelming expectations.A lot like the comic characters you mentioned in class. Do you believe this is why the Marvel Super/Anti-heroes are so successful?
I know Prof.Annie Liu said I don't have to bring anything: I actually enjoy creating edible eats:
How about some 'Chicken'-w/opt. of brown/white rice/noodles--sauce n Parmesan on side. Yum :).
I feel jacob had a very strong presentation when he described the relevance of comics in the college classroom. By bringing up examples of Maus and the math textbook that utilized comics, he made some valid points about how they can help. I especially thought the argument about how many students feel a sense of anxiety when tey see a large textbook strengthened his argument. He provided a strong counterargument and in total he did a great job explaining his topic. Jordan also did a good job explaining a great topic on how comics encourage readers. He touched on a lot of topics that seem like they would really encourage readers to pick up a book.
ReplyDeleteFor the potluck i will bring refreshments, stay thirsty my friends.
I felt that I could relate to many of the points made in Jacob's essay. The visual aspects of comics do in fact make them memorable and easy to work with when analyzing literature. His body paragraphs stuck to his thesis very nicely. The counterarguments he talked about were very strong and strengthened the overall presentation. Alex and Katie also pointed out clear and obvious counterarguments that related to their topics. Everyone who gave a speech today did a very good job and im just glad it is over with.
ReplyDeleteFor the potluck I'm really bringing limon lays, they're my fav
i liked how kunal mentioned the how we can relate to superhero / antiheroes. he had a good point on how we can connect to them and therefore want to keep reading. he had a pretty inspiring speech too
ReplyDeleteEvery one's presentation had a very valid question and good support to back it up. I do have to agree with Brittany in saying that when the readers speak to fast, to low, or stumble upon words, you kind of lose focus of the question.
ReplyDeleteWith that said i think that Alex came very prepared in visuals, although he could of had more since he did mention quite alot of African American superheroes in his paper. I support his question that there is a large amount of racism within comics and something should change. He had great examples saying how the authors portray the African Americans and how this could come off extremely racist. Just by the fact of how the African American supperheros are drawn you can tell that there is racism without actually saying racist things. I did not know that there was such a large amount of African Americans being stereotyped against until his paper. Oh and Adams ofcourse. But overall i felt Alex's paper had everything it and was organized clearly to where we the audience were able to understand.
oh and im bringing some desert i dont know
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kunals presentation; i thought you did a good job and your visuals really helped your main points. My question is are superheros only popular because we relate to them? or it could be other reasons, like we need someone to look up to?
ReplyDeleteand for the potluck, ill bring some brownies or cookies.
In response to alex's paper, I felt his paper provided the most insight and back up to support his points. His essay was well written and brought up many interesting points, some that I had not thought of until after hearing his paper. Like how white superheroes have some kind of background or story behind how they came to be the way they are, spiderman being his example, how spiderman was bullied as a kid let the audience feel sorry for him. Where as black superheroes don't get the background and are just introduced with bad stereotypes. Alex could have added that even villians get some kin of background to make his point stronger.
ReplyDelete