Final Project Pop culture "08"

BLOG PROJECT Final project URL (web address) http://amylinfinalproject.blogspot.com/

Pop Culture
Pop culture has been really influential since the beginning of the class since everyday I am exposed to it. Why the movies, television, music, technology, people, places exist is because people want enlightenment and inspiration to share their creativity. This class has taught me why people think in a certain way and how our feelings can be easily influenced. We can know why we hang around with some friends and share the same hobbies or taste in music. The society is motivated by the pop culture because people can spread communication and their ideas all over the world.

Also, Pop Culture let’s students understand why the global communication is important. If people had nothing to talk about, this world might be in chaos or people might have no purpose in their life. American culture plays a big important role in the whole world and especially the music, movies, people, and especially restaurants. In China, I knew about the McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or other fast food restaurants from America because I and my friends enjoyed eating food there. We also enjoyed the American music from Michael Jackson or Brittney Spears and watch the popular movies like Titanic, Finding Nemo, and Batman.





Reading

“They’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught”

This article made me realize one of the many reasons why American people are so divided. The cultural day in schools begin to teach the children their skin color and race at an early age. The author says the children all think they are same when they are young, but start to separate once they become aware they are different from each other. I think it’s important to teach the children correctly about different cultures or else they may separate into groups and stay away from other children because they are different.

The reading is about a mother who does not agree with a teacher’s way of teaching students about cultural day. The mother of Sara becomes upset when the teacher tries to explain to the children they’re different because of their skin color, race, and parent’s birth country. I agree with the author because she thinks the children are too young to know the differences in their face and skin color. The young children don’t care about skin color until other people influence their ideas and make them separate from each other.

Music

“Cai Hong” / Rainbow
For my music project, I had a chance to share my favorite song to my classmates and inform them about the famous Chinese popular singer. I also had to research a lot of information Jay Zhou including many of his albums, the history of his childhood, and find translated lyrics of Cai Hong. I learned a lot about making the PowerPoint presentation and helped me give a good speech in front of my classmates. This song is very meaningful because the special message people can understand even if they can’t understand the language.

A classmate at school really loves Chinese music so I let him watch the music video of this song. He really enjoyed the song because of the soft rhythm, the nice singing voice of Jay, and the romantic story about a couple in love. When I let him listen to some more songs of Jay, he really became so interested in Jay’s music style. He also wanted me to help him translate the meaning of Cai Hong. I told him the man in the music video wanted to find a rainbow to make a wish to return with his true love.


Movies

For my movie review project, I chose Ratatouille because this film won an academy award for best animated film and the movie had a great storyline. The character Remy the rat plays the role of a rat who wishes he can become a great chef like Andre Gusteau. Remy gets his dream when he meets Linguini who becomes a good friend of him and helps him to become a famous chef. Both learn valuable lessons, like Remy learns that his family is important and linguini who learns to value friendship.
Ratatouille is a movie for people of all ages and is inspiring. Remy never gives up his dream despite his small size and his father who doesn’t support to him. When his father disapproves of Remy’s dream, he does everything possible to try to show his father his talent. Remy’s father still does not support him even after he warns another rat not to eat some food because it is poisoned. It is only until the last scene of the movie after Remy reunites with his father does he realize that Remy has a great gift and decides to support him.


Technology

Technology is really important because it has made people’s lives not only convenient but more efficient. Every day I listen to my mp3 player, watch television, and go online to surf the internet. That’s important because it helps me relax after a long day. Sometimes if I’m bored I want to hear some of my favorite singers or watch a television show on TV to be inspired. Most of my friends and family live in China so I can use my computer to communicate with them and it lets me feel closer to them. The technology is important because it lets people all over the world communicate even if they’re several miles away.

Another important point of technology is it lets you do things more efficiently, such as pay bills online and writing e-mails. Now or days some people want to pay their phone bills, mortgage payment, or gas or electric bill online. It’s simple to do, just entering your credit card information and paying for it in instant seconds. People can also write e-mails to their friends or family in a matter of minutes without having to go to the post office and send a letter in the mail. It’s cheaper and faster.

Glog

http://kettyjan.glogster.com/Ketty-Jiaj

For the glogger project, I and my classmates made a Blog about our experience going around Chicago. We got the real life experience of Pop culture. It was a very interesting trip because we explored many places and took pictures of artistic drawings and sculptures. The great bean of Chicago is one of the most interesting sculptures in Millennium Park and the scenery and design is magnificent. We learned in our trip about people’s opinions of pop culture and visited the famous Millenium Park.

At the park, we interviewed a couple from Boston and we were surprised by their comments. They told us the media uses Pop culture to influence politics and people’s daily lives. They came all the way from Boston to support Barrack Obama. They mentioned how important advertising is and their favorite music bands. Also, we saw two men in the park with a baby and taking care of it. I think more men are playing the role of the mother and the traditional role of a woman has changed.

Your Three Words Video

The three word project gave us the chance to express ourselves and show how important Pop culture is. We wanted to make an advertisement video with a special message that will connect our idea with the rest of the world. The pictures and notes we were holding in our hands let people feel closer to us.. For instance, the “I” note and “love” note may keep people thinking about what I was trying to say. But, when I pointed my finger to the word of “Chicago” in a book, it was clearer. Why I chose these three words is because Chicago is a really beautiful city. I enjoy seeing the snow and the interesting sight seeing places.


Bonus section:

One of the most popular TV programs that I sometimes watch when my niece is ready to go to school is Curious George. My good friend recommended me to watch or read about Curious George because it has educational stories and valuable lessons for children to learn. This television show is very popular in USA and many libraries have the books to borrow. The show is about the curious monkey and it is a good example of how pop culture influences people’s ideas. The show encourages curiosity and let’s people's minds be more free or creative. I can learn some new words from watching the tv show. The monkey is always getting into trouble. From his experiences, the people can learn to avoid these situations by learning not to do what the naughty monkey does.