Response Assignment #5

Readings/Viewings for next week:

• Engle, Gary. “What Makes Superman So Darned American?” (744-752) Signs of Life
• Watch: “Superman Tribute,” “Wonder Woman Spin Transformation,” and “Catwoman Attacks”
• Brennan, Jake. “Celebrities Who Aren’t Really Celebrities,” (729-733) SOL
• Watch: “I Got a Crush . . . on Obama”

1. After watching the Obama video and thinking about how this political figure has become a bit of an American icon himself, explain how Barak Obama might embody our society’s most basic desires. What does our popular interest in Obama potentially say about our society? Is his popularity strictly based on political motivations? Explain. Also, after reading “Celebrities who aren’t really celebrities,” how do you think the media has contributed to Obama’s celebrity status (explain HOW)?

2. Consider one of your favorite icons. Search for a couple of websites that highlight that icon (whether an official or unofficial fan site). Consider the way the images are presented, the website is constructed, the key words and phrases present on the site, the colors, etc. and explain how those websites (and many of those elements) help contribute to the “image” or “myth” of that icon. Also, after reading “Celebrities who aren’t really celebrities,” explain how do you think the media has contributed to your celebrity’s status (explain HOW)? When responding to this set of questions, please be sure to include the URL (or website address) of at least two websites that you visited, so we can go visit them, as well, and visually see what you are talking about.

3. Do you agree or disagree with Engle’s suggestion that Superman raises the American immigrant experience to the level of religious myth? Why or why not?

Response Assignment #4

Readings/Viewings for next week: Please note that I’m giving you a choice between reading from TT or the document that I’m sending to you (scanned from another book). I wanted to give you all a choice, considering that not everyone disliked the Theory Toolbox. Please do read the guide, though — it’s a nice and short summarization of the concept.

• Lye, John. (1997) Ideology: A Brief Guide
• “Ideology,” p. 83-94, TT AND/OR Handout on Ideology from Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice – I’m emailing this document to all of you, so please check your email.
• View: Hitler Speech (English Subtitles) and Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech

Below are sets of questions. You must choose one of the sets to respond to, but be sure to answer all questions within that set. Please make explicit connections between your thoughts and the readings/discussions. In what ways are your thoughts either informed by or reflect what you are reading?

1. Consider both the Hitler and King speeches you viewed on YouTube. Discuss some of the ideologies (or “natural” presuppositions) that you were able to identify as existing within both speeches. In other words, what larger doctrines, myths, beliefs, or ideas are presented (either implicitly or explicitly) within each of these two speeches?
2. How is interpellation (p. 44-48 in TT) at work in both Hitler and King’s speeches? How does the interpellation of those within the audience affect their subjectivity?
3. Describe, as best you can, the “American” ideology. Be sure to utilize quotes from the text. Does America have one overriding ideology or many dominant ideologies? How do the ideologies fit with the realities? Are (American) ideologies, as the chapter seems to suggest, more myth than reality/truth? Explain.

FYI – Diversity AWARD!

Blog assignment for next class is below this post — but just FYI:

The Office of Multicultural Affairs is in the midst of accepting applications for their Diversity Award, worth $5,000 and is renewable for continuing students. They are trying to encourage as many students to apply for this award as possible. Applications are online or can be found at the Office of Multicultural Affairs, which is located in the 623 S. Wabash Building, on the third floor.

Response Assignment #3

Readings/Viewings for next class:

• “Subjectivity,” p. 35-50, TT
• View: Race: The Floating Signifier and International Signs and Misinterpretations
• “Child of the Americas” by Aurora Levins Morales (handout) and “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora.

This time, I want you to do a cultural reading of one of the two poems, thinking about subjectivity/subject concepts presented in the reading. In what ways might either character be a “subject”? In what ways do either “subject” (character) convey or carry the sense of being “subject to”? How do we begin to understand these main characters (the “I” in the poem) in reference to “preexisting social conditions and categories”? In what ways do either character (in either poem) reject or succumb to social stereotypes? how so?

You don’t have to answer all those questions; you can approach either poem in whichever way you want, as long as you make explicit connections to the ideas and concepts within the reading on “Subjectivity.”

Response Assignment #2

For next Wednesday, February 13th, please read/view the following:

• “Reading,” p. 21-34, TT
• “Culture,” p. 51-69, TT
• David W. Boles (blog entry) “Is the Confederate Flag a Racist Semiotic

Consider the following questions, though feel free to also write about anything else that takes your attention. Please provide examples of whatever you discuss, from readings/viewings, class discussions, and/or your own examples from contemporary culture. Be sure to also enter into a discussion with your classmates.

1. When considering a particular cultural artifact, how do you determine who/what produces meaning? Provide your own example, or utilize the image below (at the very bottom) to discuss.
2. Provide an example of your own from contemporary culture that illustrates how the relationship between signifier/referent and its signified is arbitrary, as suggested in TT. Explain and discuss.
3. According to Jacques Derrida, there is no meaning outside of context, nor is there any “final context.” What does this mean? What example can you provide that helps to further illustrate this idea?
4. How is identity (individual and/or community) formed? Is there such a thing as an “American”? If you had to explain to an alien that you were an American, how would you explain this identification? What is problematic about the term “American”?
5. Argue for or against the Confederate Flag as a racist semiotic. Be careful not to sink into opinion only; back up your thoughts with quotes from the texts, logic, and/or other examples.

   

6. Consider the image to the lower right. What do you think the artist is trying to convey (what meaning)? Explain. Does this painting appear to be sexual and/or political? How so? What do you see here in this image that is reflected within the readings?