Growing Up With Bees

         The book that I chose to review is called The Secret Life of Bees. It was written by Sue Monk Kidd in 2002. This book's publisher is the Penguin Group. I picked this book because it was an interesting read, and it brought up a lot of important issues. What interested me about this book was the fact that it took place in a different time and place, which is South Carolina in the 1960’s. This book is a work of fiction. The most significant theme of this book is racism. It is important because it shows what it was like to be black and live in the south back in the 60’s. Some parts of this book were not exactly pleasant to read about, so it is not for those that are light at heart. Otherwise this book has a lot of well written details that make it sound realistic. This book’s voice comes from the first person, who is a teenage girl named Lily. This probably suggests that this is a coming of age story, which it is. The main character changes a lot as the book progresses, and all of this happens during the summer break between middle school and high school. This book focuses a lot on the social interactions between Lily and the people that take her in, so there is a lot of dialogue to be found here.

         Some of what I really liked about this book was the ways that the main character's surroundings and  especially nature were described. A good example of the way that the main character describes her setting is shown in the following quote, “The inside of the honey house was one big room filled with strange honey-making machines – big tanks, gas burners, troughs, levers, white boxes, and racks piled with waxy honeycombs” (Kidd 75). This book talks a lot about bees and honey, as the title might suggest. When the story does mention beekeeping it does get technical, sort of like a science textbook can be.  I do recommend this book because overall I liked reading it. It was refreshing, interesting, and engaging. There is a movie out there that is based on this book, but to tell the truth I found the book more worthwhile because it was less condensed and more realistic.

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Cartoons, Essays, and More Cartoons

            The adjacent cartoon that I found in the Contemporary Reader shows the concept of one bookstore having two different areas in it. In part of the bookstore people swarm around celebrity bios instead of going into the more complicated matters of literature. This cartoon is suggesting that people are becoming less interested in knowledge, and more obsessed with celebrity news. Chapter 5 is just about that, only it focuses more on how anyone can be a celebrity with the help of social media. Chapter 5 critically analyzes what it means to be famous, especially if that famous person is someone like Kim Kardashian or Nicole Richie. 

          In Roger Ebert's essay "Death to Film Critics! Hail to the CelebCults!" the theme is pretty much the same as in the cartoon. Both of these works antagonize people's desire to be influenced by their celebrity heroes to the point of no return. The message of this cartoon is that the general public should become more cultured. Ebert's message is similar because he wants people to be honest and not be influenced by celebrity gossip. I find the cartoon to be more effective because it gets the point across in a clearer, more understandable manner. I agree with what both of these works are saying. Although I find celebrity news entertaining, I think that they are not as necessary or useful as literature and science can be to the human mind. For example, I think that the knowledge of classical literature is more important than knowing who Justin Bieber is dating at the moment because this type of information only leads onto more gossip.

           The following cartoon, which is also from the Contemporary Reader, is hilarious but also brings up a good point. American families nowadays are getting divorced more frequently than Henry VIII would recommend. It is no wonder that the mother in this cartoon is not sure of who that kid at "the end is." Chapter 9 is also all about modern families. It talks about divorce, single parents, and how families are different now than they used to be.     

        The message of the cartoon seems to be that it can be negative for people to divorce, especially if it leads to parents being confused about their family structure. In an essay from Chapter 9 titled "For Better, For Worse," Stephanie Coontz also talks about divorce, but here her message is that divorce is pretty much unavoidable in some cases. Once again I prefer the format of the cartoon vs. the essay because it gets to the heart of the issue while still remaining humorous. This probably sounds archaic, but I would say that for the most part I dislike the idea of divorce because it breaks up families and it can make life more complicated.

       

         For my miscellaneous cartoon I chose the following one because I was truly impressed by the lawyer's accountability. It sounds like John McWit gave up on marriage after seeing firsthand how frequently it ends up in divorce. This cartoon expresses some people's desire to get divorced, as shown by the couple looking up at the lawyer's building sign. Perhaps the message of this cartoon is that it is easier to stay unmarried like the lawyer is. I think this cartoon really highlights this contemporary issue, and connects well into the subject discussed in Chapter 9. I found this cartoon on McHumor.com. 

Works Cited

Coontz, Stephanie. "For Better, For Worse." The Contemporary Reader. 10th Ed. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 496-99. Print.

Ebert, Roger. "Death to Film Critics! Hail to the CelebCult!" The Contemporary Reader.
10th Ed. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 252- 55. Print.

Goddard. "Public Library." Cartoon. The Contemporary Reader 10th Ed. 2011: 256. Print.

McCracken, T. "John McWit: Divorce Lawey and Celibate." Cartoon. Divorce Lawyer Cartoons. McHumor. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.

Robertson, Royston. "Perspectives: The New American Family." Cartoon. The Contemporary Reader. 10th Ed. 2011: 480. Print.

2 Speeches about the Reservation Blues

         At the presentation given by Richard Speakes it was interesting to listen to the music that Robert Johnson was famous for way back when. It is obvious that Richard Speakes is a huge fan of the blues and of course of Robert Johnson himself. Speakes even admitted that his music was “sacred” to him, and he compared this musician to the likes of Shakespeare. From Speakes' perspective the music that the original bluesmen performed was way better than anything that a modern rock band could ever do. I do not agree with this opinion because I like modern music, even if it can sometimes be obnoxious or “loud.” I liked how Speakes used his sense of humor, which set the tone of the presentation to be more mellow and relaxed. Listening to this music called the blues was refreshing because it was new to me and it made me understand the character of Robert Johnson in a more detailed way. This music was very nostalgic, obviously sad, and very American. Like most other people in the audience I did not really like that all the songs had to be cut short, even if I was not the biggest blues fan that has ever lived. Overall I think that Speakes did a good job at presenting in his own unique, unexpected style.

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          The presentation that Brenda Flyswithhawks gave was definitely unusual to hear because I am not used to hear from people with Native American heritage. For a brief second there when she asked for Sherman Alexie to come out on stage I was fooled into believing that he was actually there. I like that she used her sense of humor. Listening about her large Indian family was also a great window into the real life of Indians. She referred to Sherman Alexie as her brother, which made it sound as if the Indian nation is very closely knit. This was not an easy speech to listen to because she talked about genocide and land rights. She was not afraid to speak her mind, and I admire her for it because I know that doing this takes a lot of guts. Flyswithhawks also talked about land, and how we were all living on Indian land. I can understand why she would say that this land belongs to Native Americans, but a lot of people would not agree with her.  If I ever end up taking a class with Dr. Flyswithhawks I know that I will have a different experience and learn some more about Indian culture.

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        The presentation given by Richard Speakes dealt with a completely different topic than what Dr. Flyswithhawks talked about. Richard Speakes had his own opinions about music and Dr. Flyswithhawks told her side of the story. Their presentation styles where very different. I think that what Speakes said was less controversial and therefore easier to listen to. Flyswithhawks made me wonder about land disputes and the colonial times that are still having an impact on people to this day. Both of the presenters gave me a more in depth look at the novel. Even if I did not completely agree with everything they expressed in their speeches I am glad that I got to listen to what they had to say.

Chocolate for Everyone

     Like everyone else around the world I grew up eating M&M's. They were there before I came to the States and they were still there afterwards. Looking at this advertisement selling M&M's brings back memories of being a kid and not taking life too seriously. As a viewer I am already hooked by the bright colors, the funny M&M people, and whatever joke they are intending to tell. But the real hook of this advertisement is the competition that offers $1,000,000 to anyone that is lucky enough to buy the winning bag of M&M's. This advertisement acknowledges our society's perceptions of wanting to be forever young, because it uses comedy and gives funny faces to these all familiar M&M characters. Without thinking too much about it I would say that this advertisement is targeted towards children, because it looks like a cartoon and includes a competition that is reminiscent of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." What these M&M people seem to symbolize is an odd couple that definitely work great side by side. But the color change brings to mind that this classic brand is trying to reinvent itself, with a promise that everything will go back to normal after someone wins $1,000,000. The final message of this ad is that eating M&M's will make people happy, kind of like being with our old friends Red and Yellow. To make this product sell better I think that more color could have been added, although compared to other advertisements for chocolate this ad is really effective because it brings in both the new and old factors smoothly and effectively.

      If not for the chocolate connecting these two very different ads together I would think that they were trying to sell totally different products to totally different people. For my second choice I decided to use this beautiful Godiva advertisement for its world class Belgian chocolate. To tell the truth I have not been familiar with Godiva until recently, but that is probably because this brand targets middle or upper class grown-ups. I definitely never got any Godiva when I went out trick-or-treating. I can now appreciate the great lengths that Godiva went to make this ad work. The classical black and white picture of a smolderingly beautiful model is all the more better with Godiva chocolate. Note how this ad looks so much like a Tiffany's advertisement for jewelry. The beauty and sexiness hooks the viewer to buy this product like any good perfume ad would do. The elegant black dress, the model, the fancy chocolate, everything here is targeted towards our social perceptions of what beauty and success is. In the lower left corner of this advertisement Lady Godiva is riding on top of a horse, symbolizing quality. The message of this advertisement is that eating this chocolate will make people indulge in a "Golden Moment," full of beauty and allure. To better sell this product it might help to include more people in it, because then it would seem more accessible to the general public. Compared to other advertisements for similar products, like Ghirardelli, this ad is more effective because it seems more exotic in an elegant sort of way.

      The Godiva chocolate advertisement is more appealing because sex sells, and this brand is capitalizing on this concept. I prefer the Godiva ad over the M&M's, because I am older now and fit more into Godiva's target audience. I love European chocolate, even if Godiva's ad makes me want to roll my eyes because it is so over the top.

Works Cited

Lozito, William. Godiva Sweetens Their Naming and Branding.

    

      Name Wire, 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 16 Oct. 2011.

M&M’s. Advertisement. The Contemporary Reader. 10^th ed. Ed.
     
      Gary Goshgarian. Pearson: Boston, 2011.

     

Children Living on the Reservation

             The program of “The Children of the Plains” is about Native American children living on a Lakota Sue tribal reservation. At first the program begins with a positive tone because it mentions how these young children are trying to overcome their obstacles and achieve what their parents were not able to do before them. All of the children mentioned are struggling and have families that are poor and suffer from alcoholism.  Obstacles such as teen pregnancy, unemployment, and hunger are more common on reservations than in more developed areas of America. However, all the young people mentioned on the show have goals of what they want to become in the future and a lot are earning school and dance trophies. These children want to do well in school and move on to college not only for themselves, but also to benefit their families and the reservation.

I was surprised at first at how positive the show started out and I was happy to know that there was still hope to be found on the reservation. I have read books about Native American life written by Sherman Alexie and beforehand knew that the reservation was a sort of dead end for Indians. It was inspiring, however, to hear that many young Indian children where dreaming of making the reservation a better place where more employment could be found. Some parts of the show where heartbreaking because I saw these young people going through a lot of negative events, some of which I was lucky enough not to have experienced when I was growing up. Seeing this show proved to me the importance of higher education in a powerful way, and made me feel grateful for being in college.

Pretty by Elizabeth Arden

http://www.fragrantica.com/news/Elizabeth-Arden-Pretty-600.html
Here is the advertisement that I used in my essay. I like how everything is so light and feminine here. It's interesting how in this case the fragrance itself takes center stage instead of the model.

The Appeal of Luxury

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          I think that the reason why materialism is criticized in America is because people realize that not everyone can afford luxury, or even basic necessities. Although there is poverty in this country, it is far more pronounced in places like Africa. I think that people realize that it is not really fair to spend a lot of money on luxury, when it could be spent on less expensive products and the rest could end up being donated to charity. However, American society still loves luxurious goods because it is natural for people to want the best of everything. Why settle for just non-cable channels when it is possible to have a gazillion networks entertaining the viewer from subjects such as cars to the latest celebrity news? People need to fit in with society, and our society likes expensive products. If we love luxury, the reason why we are so quick to condemn advertising and consumerism is because it inspires even more spending which makes it seem like marketers are just trying to make an extra buck. Plus advertisements can be pretty annoying, especially those that are clearly made for a different target audience.

The American consumer is used to having luxury, even if it does not seem like it. We are used to computers, warm running water, cars, and produce imported from abroad. These things might seem like everyday products, but many people around the world do not enjoy the same amount of luxury.

Twitchell’s arguments in “The Allure of Luxury” are not as relevant or accurate as they were in 2007 because of the economy problems that started in 2008. The bad economy prevented a lot of people from having the same lifestyle as before. It has become more of a question of what people need, not want.