Evaluation: Miss Congeniality

I see what you [I] did there!

Even though “Miss Congeniality” is an old movie, it is still a favorite for many.  The other night, I had a movie night with some friends, and we decided to sit down to watch that movie.  Remembering that I have an assignment in which I would evaluate and review a movie, book, or show, I payed closer attention to the different aspects of the movie.  A new perspective opened up to me as the movie played.

Gracie Hart, played by Sandra Bullock, is one of the most unfeminine women in the world; even the guys respond to her as if she herself is one of them, and not of the opposite sex.  She epitomizes everything that isn’t related to the Miss America beauty pageant;  Gracie relies on brute force and her high intelligence when it comes to just about anything. Despite her lack of womanliness, and good manners in general, she is chosen by her colleagues to go under cover as a contestant in order to catch a terrorist.  Gracie’s transformation, aided by a staff of ‘professionals’, is astonishing, but it is only surface deep.  Swapping her messy ponytail and baggy clothes for a more groomed look and short skirts.  She herself is still the quick tempered agent, commenting as soon as the painful transformation process was over that, “I am in a dress, I have gel in my hair, I haven't slept all night, I'm starved, and I'm armed! Don't *mess* with me!” to all of her male coworkers.  You would think her credibility with them would remain the same, regardless of the significant change in appearance, but alas, you are mistaken.

Isn't she beautiful? :)

At the beginning of the movie, Gracie got herself in some trouble during a mission.  Losing some credibility amongst her fellow coworkers, they still treated her as they always did before; like one of the guys.  When she transformed into the beauty, they suddenly stopped with the jokes, and started treating her like a lady.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it when a guy holds the door open for me, but if he suddenly stops treating me how he used to before an appearance change on my behalf, I’d be annoyed.  Does suddenly having more femininity in appearance justify such a change in behavior on the behalf of her male friends?  I don’t think so.  They should have been treating her as such long before the transformation, or at least continue treating her as one of the guys.

Where is she hiding the gun? :o

Though Gracie is treated more like a lady, she also begins to lose more credibility still.  She is intelligent, perceptive, and actually knows what is going on behind the scenes of the pageant.  Do her superiors believe in her enough to actually make sure that her hypothesis of someone plotting to do off with the crowned winner of Miss America? No, they brush her away as if she herself had become one of the ditzy contestants.  I bet that if she had been in her baggy clothes and tangled hair, they probably would have stuck around for a little longer, and made sure that the mission truly was finished.

I believe she is thinking, "Really now?" with a dose of sarcasm

The interactions that happen within the movie are humorous, and I still find it enjoyable to watch.  However, I do not appreciate how degrading it should be to all powerful women that the heroine in this movie went from high to low, just because she learned how to put in some effort into her appearance.  It is a slap to the face that this movie showed such immaturity within the male characters perspectives’, and if such a thing were to happen in real life, I would have less respect for those men.

I apologize for going over the length, but I believe that every word I wrote was necessary to get my point across.  Analyzing this movie opened my eyes to a completely new perspective of it, and I hope it did for you as well.

Reviewing a Project

I am not a huge fan of analysis papers; I tend to find them rather dry and boring.  Add on how I don’t want to analyze a place, and you have an angry Katie.  I mean, what else can I say about Palo Verde Main without running around in circles like Hamlet’s “To Be or Not to Be” speech?  Yes, it’s a great place, and through Vanclay’s lens; it has all the elements to be deemed a place, and it can be an argued point, because someone else may not view it the same way as I do.  Regardless of how I didn’t enjoy attempting to write an analysis paper, it is finished.

Though there is always room for more, I feel as if I did a decent job.  Considering how I had to go to outside sources to review my paper, and those outside sources wound up being some friends of mine, they helped me as much as they could.  Upon asking them how I could make it into more of an analysis paper, they told me that it was fine, and that I should just look into editing my paper for more clarity.  I wanted to add and subtract matter from my paper; isn’t that how you are supposed to improve it?  I wanted to reach a better level of analysis, but to attain it, I would need more in depth reviews, and a less stubborn attitude.

Next time, my writing process will be a little different.  I’ll reach out to more people that know how to peer review similarly to me.  With their help, I’m sure I could reach a better level of analyzing the subject at hand.  I could also stand to be a little less stubborn; I tend to like certain things in my papers that shouldn’t really be there.  I liked using the first person point of view for a reason, on this paper; because I went to a place that I liked.  I know that it is usually frowned upon for such a young writer as myself, but I feel like I used it correctly.  Along with using first person point of view pretty well in ONLY my first paragraph (I edited out the other times I used it), I really like how I made connections between how Palo Verde’s aspects relate with Frank Vanclay’s description of what a place is.  I did that very well, and I am quite proud of myself.

I don’t see myself writing any analysis papers later on in life, after university.  However, if I do, I am sure I will go about it in a different way from this time.  I can see myself writing out more analytical notes, rather than observational notes.  Seeing as how they distract me from writing an analytical paper versus a reflection paper.  I will have colleagues that know how to peer review really well give me tips and ideas on how to improve my paper, and I will see how it goes by using a majority of their tips.  Now for me to just remember this all for when I do have to write an analysis paper outside of university!

Worksheet Notes of Place

Project #1 Worksheet                   


Your Place: Palo Verde Main


What are the intended functions of the place?       
Living environment for students, along with a place to eat, and a place to purchase toiletries.  There is also a lobby area that people gather in or study at.

What overt messages does the place send (i.e., openly communicated through signs)?
Obviously the engineering dorms, becasue of the “Engineer Exploration Night” posters.  RHA helps run it, up to date thanks to the posters that talk about events that will happen soon.

What covert messages does the place send (i.e., hidden messages)?
Somewhat studious during the middle of the day, but more fun and light hearted at night and on the weekends.  As you get into the dorms, the environment is even more fun thanks to how many people play video games, play music, practice their instruments, or anything that adds to the noise that is PV Main.

Have previous users left traces behind in the place?
There is a water ring from a glass that was once on a nearby table, but that doesn’t tell us much other than that people live here.

Has the place been re-appropriated (i.e., beyond its original functions)?
No, not really.

What social or cultural customs did you observe (i.e., rules governing appropriate behavior)?
Being friendly, leaving doors open for everyone to come in whenever they would like.

Who has access to the place?  Are there insiders and outsiders?
Everyone has access to the lobby and the eating areas, but only the inhabitants of the dorms are allowed to enter, and only they can bring friends in.

Who owns the place?
Legally, the school does.  However, it seems as if nobody owns it.  Everyone is part of the community, and the community is the one that owns it, by contributing to the overall atmosphere.

What is the place’s value (i.e., monetary or otherwise)?
I would imagine that it is somewhere between 6-7 digit figures, but it is priceless to me.

Are there official representations of the place (i.e., online, in promotional materials)?  Do they accurately capture the place as you experienced it?
There are probably pictures of it online, but they are just external photos.  Nothing compared to the people, memories, and life that is inside of these buildings.


Is the place in transition, a changing place?
There is always an influx of people.  During different times of the day, you may seem one group of people at one point, and the next a different group will take their place, and more people will be inside the building.

What conflicts or tensions are there in the place?
None.

What is the place’s history?  Do you see evidence of the past there in the present?
It has always been dorms.  The closet doors inside of them show years of being open and closed multiple times.

How does this place differentiate itself from other places?  What other places is it similar to, but how is it different from those places?
The people are incredibly friendly and energetic.  Everyone is so open to one another, and they don’t try to drown each other out with loud music.  Rather, they create their own music.

What questions do you have about your place?
Why are you so much cooler than mine?


Key Features / Profiles (taken from the Norton Field Guide (Goggin and Bullock) Chapter 16, pages 165-166)

An interesting subject.  What is unusual about your place?  Alternatively, is there something ordinary about it that you can show in an intriguing way?
Though the dorms are co ed, it is mostly inhabited by males.  The Devil’s Diner is reminescent of a fifties malt shop, but the music inside is all from this time, and a few from the seventies and eighties.

Any necessary background.  What background information will you need to include about the place in order to situate readers?
It’s situated on the north campus, and they are dorms.


An interesting angle.  Rather than trying to tell readers everything about the place, what angle(s) might you use?
First person pov, my groups perspective.

A firsthand account.  Did you interact with people in the place or participate in some way?  What experiences did you have there that you can write about using “I”?  (Yes, first person point of view is encouraged, especially for this paper.)
I interact with the people by playing video games with them, conversing with everyone, and participating in the pull up contest.  I have too many stories about this place.  Nights watching How I Met Your Mother, falling asleep on Reece’s rug (twice now) while watching a movie, playing Halo and Prototype 2.  Messing with Sloane by saying the word “Moist.”


Engaging details.  What specific information must you include in your description of the place?  What potential does your place have for the use of sensory images, figurative language, dialogue, anecdotes, and showing rather than telling?  What do you want the dominant impression to be?
I could talk about how the guys tried to change their theme to “Slenderman” (an urban legend about a guy that kidnaps children and kills them, leaving no trace).  Dialogue and anecdotes can be about how we all exclaim when we are playing certain games, and how I will laugh uncontrollably while playing a particularly fun game.

Generating Ideas and Text (taken from the Norton Field Guide (Goggin and Bullock) Chapter 16, pages 168-169)

Explore what you already know about your subject.  Why do you find this place interesting?  What did you already know about it?
I find this place interesting because I feel like I can relate to the people here really well.  I already know that it houses some of my best friends.

If you’re planning to interview someone, prepare questions.  What would you like to ask someone in the place in order to better understand it?
What makes it a home for you?
Do you enjoy the people that live around you?  Why?

Do additional research.  Does your place have an online component?  How else might you gather additional research?
asu.edu

Analyze your findings.  What patterns, images, or recurring ideas or phrases did you use to describe your place?  What contrasts or discrepancies do you see?
Geeky, fun, full of guys.  The original theme is a little odd for this group of people, seeing as how it is obscure rather than being related to pop culture.

Come up with an angle.  What is most memorable about your subject?  What most interests you?  What will interest your audience?
Memories are the most memorable about my subject.  The future experiences I will have here are also of interest for me.  I believe my stories will entertain my audience pretty well.

Observational Notes on a Place

PV Main, or Palo Verde Main, is known for housing many students that have majors related to engineering.  Now, I have nothing against my own hall (McClintock), but I just like the atmosphere at PV just a little more than I do in my own community.  Here are some reasons why.

There is always something going on, be it everyone playing teir respected instrument or having a LAN party and playing Halo: Reach.

When you are on the third floor of building C (most of my friends are there), there is an odd, yet beautiful clash of every type of music, from classical to dubstep and everything in between.

Video games... Video games everywhere in these halls!  You can most likely find everyone with either a PS3 or an XBox 360.  Who knows, maybe someone is hiding a Wii somewhere up there as well.

If you get them started on Marvel vs. DC, it gets kinda crazy!

Jokes relating to Slender Man

The Slender Man Wiki

They even went as far as to slightly change their hall's theme from Carnival to Slender Man.  Having the 8 notes to find, and then finally Slender Man appearing behind you (you have to see it to believe it.)

One such inhabitant of the dorm is hosting a pull up contest.  I entered as Leroy Jenkins as a joke.  Now I am actually in the contest >.<

Most of my new friends are from that hall, such as Ethan, Zach, Spaceman (though his real name is John), not to mention my boyfriend Reece.

The community they have is unlike any other.

Taken from asu.edu

McClintock is nice, but they (my fellow McClintock residents), don't have the same energy as these nerds do.

These are my people, how I am around them is my natural state.

When Zach is gone for the weekend, we take his food sometimes.

Just like the theme from "Cheers" everyone seems to know your name.

Just about everyone you run into is friendly, and they are more than willing to help you with problems, be it homework or personal.

Spaceman is just about everywhere.

Leave your door open and you will have company in no time.

Though the dorms seem to be made up of mostly guys, I don't mind that much.  I'll just bring my girls with me to the LAN parties!

Inside jokes (like the song "Sweaty")

When you play video games, you will have an audience cheering you on, and sharing your different levels of excitement and annoyance (depending on how well you are doing).

If you get hungry, there are three meal plan exchange places to go to, along with a convenience store that takes M&G.

To go off of that, I should also mention how we like having the juke box around, from the Devil's Diner.  It just adds to the atmosphere, and everyone enjoys listening to some of their favorite songs through such ways.

When watching movies, Zach's rug is pretty comfortable to lay on, rather than sitting in the blue chair.

There is probably more that I am forgetting to mention, but I feel like I got a pretty good amount of reasons why I enjoy PV Main, and what goes on up there.


As you can see, these are merely my observational notes, rather than my notes relating to the Frank Vanclay's lens upon my "Experience of Place."  Those will be part of another blog post, possibly shorter or longer (it really all depends on how I take those notes).  Regardless, I got a little over two pages of notes (written) with these observations.  They were done in more of a cluster, or organic organization, rather than outlining it (saving that for Vanclay).

I hope you enjoyed, and you will hear from me another time.

Analysis of an Image

SELF magazine (2010)

Wait, let me get this straight.  You’re telling me, a sweet, innocent, food loving girl, can eat while on a diet, with “31 Tiny Tricks” (Self Magazine)?! And not only that, but I can “Get Slimmer Every Day” without going to the gym?  I can save so much time by doing that!  Oh, and no magazine cover, geared towards women ages 18 to 45 would be complete without some tips on how to *ahem* spice up their bedroom.  Sure, some of these articles might actually be helpful, but for the most part, I’m just picking up this magazine because I know that they have delicious recipes inside.

Those scrumptious recipes wont help much with “Peel[ing] Off Major Pounds.”  Not to mention, where in the world would I have time to cook?  I’m a college student.  I’m lucky as it is to have at the very least 30 minutes of exercise on most days.  If I don’t have that kind of time, then I’m certain a working mom wouldn’t.  The magazines are merely bought out of the desire to gloat.  These woman want to say, “Oh, that article?  It helped me to be able to fit into my old jeans from high school. 

The reality of it is not many of the readers will actually utilize those health tips.  Only a percentage of the readers of SELF magazine will apply these occasionally helpful tips to their life.  After all, each issue will repeat itself again next month.  All you have to do is change the way it is written out.  I’m sure the audience wont notice that one of those thirty one tricks was already mentioned two or three months ago.  (This right here, personal opinion).

Why would anyone subject themselves to the torture of reading such things?  Is it for the false sense of possibly doing something that might help them stay or become healthy?  Or maybe it is just more entertainment that occasionally gives the reader ideas of things to do, only to be forgotten the next day.  Regardless, a cover can’t promise you anything.  Those tricks and tips are empty words, mentioned before.  Maybe they were said in a different magazine you half heartedly read at the hair salon.  The magazines themselves aren’t meant to promise anything more than entertainment for when you can’t find anything better to read.

Analysis of a Writing Situation

When the idea of a random act of kindness is brought up, one would connect it to giving a stranger your one day metro pass when you were done with it for the day.  However, there are more abstract ways of showing kindness to a person.  In David Levithan’s book The Realm of Possibility, his poem “The Patron Saint of Stoner’s” explores a similar compassion to a random act of kindness in a more obscure fashion.  Elements of this text that help the reader see something beyond a drug transaction include an appeal to emotion and the school’s multiple social circles.

Clara is studying endlessly with occasional breaks to listen to her bed ridden mother’s crazy stories of her youth.  Already, the reader learns how sickly Clara’s mother is.  This appeal to emotion draws the reader into a state of compassion for the two, and bringing upon memories of someone they themselves may have of a loved one, or a friend’s loved one that may have had cancer or another concerning illness.  With this approach, Levithan is able to bring about the reader’s empathy and understanding as to why Clara is in search for marijuana.

Clara seems to have a very academic schedule for school, leading to hanging out with more academic students like herself, and at home she is always working on homework.  In comparison to Toby, she is “Socially Inept But Intelligent” (Levithan, 128) while he’s the kid “the principal knows by fist name/ But can never nail him for anything more than his attitude” (Levithan, 130).  The readers observe that there is a type of social separation between the two characters, because of their school setting.  The only real connection the two share is a mutual dislike of their P.E. class.  Clara’s mother has more in common with the boy than her daughter does.  This fact not only shows the readers that both Clara and Toby are nearly strangers, but it adds to the awe of Toby’s way of showing compassion towards Clara’s situation.

A sick family member is already a tough thing to deal with.  Adding the even more difficult task of pretending everything is alright when it’s not just adds to the emotional beating.  Clara is capable of taking so much of that, and if giving her mother an escape to memories of a time before she was sick through an unconventional way meant a bittersweet happiness, Clara would take it.  Reader’s are able to see how Clara’s front she wears at school may fool people, and the reader can also see her act faltering as she is given the pot.  These little slip ups in her act let Toby see into her life, and the pain that is going on behind her studious ways.  When the readers see this, they are able to understand how the taboo object, the pot, that Toby gives to Clara for free, is an incredibly beautiful act of kindness for a near stranger.

About my Rel 100 class and its work load

In my Religions of the World class, the teacher has assigned quite a large quantity of homework already.  Nearly one hundred pages worth of reading, two online quizzes, and just about everything is online, aside from her lectures.  Now, I don't mind the lectures, and the reading I can do right before I go to bed (If I don't wind up falling asleep that is), but the online portion is awful.

I get it, it's a big class; not everyone can sit in the front row, do the minimum, and pass with a good grade.  However, it is a 100 level class, and I don't know about you, but me and many of my fellow students in the class agree that what she expects of us, might be a little too much for us to handle.  It's not like theology is my major, you know?

Can you say, "easy way to cheat on quizzes"? (Don't worry, I'm one of those people that doesn't want to cheat myself out of learning interesting things).

From my trip to Spain (I swear to God I'm not plagiarizing!)

And it's not like the subject matter is boring, I actually really enjoy learning about different religions.  I'm not religious myself, but it is fun to learn the philosophy behind different religions and what their origins may be.  I just flat out do not agree with the course load she has given us all.

Regardless, I'm staying in the class.  I might have to drop a different class (Spanish 313, which I don't want to really.  If I can't handle it though, I would rather be less stressed by copious amounts of homework.)