Week 3

      Upon reading the Cultural Theories, one really stood out to me. This one was called “The Hyperreal and the Imaginary”, written by Jean Baudrillard. I, being a huge fan of Disneyland, found this to be interesting. I agree with what the author says that Disneyland is an “imaginary world”. I agree because that’s exactly what Disneyland is. It’s an imaginary world that has nothing to do with reality, which is why it is dubbed “happiest place on Earth”. Baudrillard states that people are drawn to Disneyland because of the “miniaturized pleasure of real America”. The author also explains the ideal of “hyperreal”, where Disneyland is there so it hides the “real” country, where as the rest of America “belong to the hyperreal order”. This makes sense to me, because Disneyland can serve as an “escape” from the reality of life and to a magical entity. It is such a childlike place, as the author also points out, that adults come here to act like children and have the experience they had or wish they had as a child. Upon all this being said and considered, I personally do not mind if Disneyland is or isn’t the product of a hypperreal theory, because I love Disneyland and I have a childlike heart so I will go there no matter what.

      In the article by Michel de Certeau, called “Making Do: Uses and Tactics,” it speaks on different strategies and tactics used in different areas of life. One part I understood was when talking about use, or consumption. Certeau states about the reasons behind consumption and how people choose product placement based on “system of their production, geography of their distribution, and the situation of consumers in that geography”. One could relate this to a marketing strategy, for instance. The uses and tactics one does to market a product or place are very important because it comes down to whether or not they will have a consumer at all. We can take Disneyland, for example. Disneyland, as we have heard in the previous article, is an “imaginary world.” How do you market that? First off, the location is in a great area for travel. Secondly, like stated in the article, people are drawn to it because of the attraction, the entertainment, the shiny lights and bright objects, etc. What do the consumers make of these objects and images? They see it as escaping from reality, by watching the commercials on TV and seeing pictures on the internet, so they are drawn to it because of the legend and reputation that Disneyland holds and the entertainment factor that it contains. Disneyland has been well-known for quite some time, and that is because they know what the consumers will like and what tactics they can protray, and they use that to their advantage to be a successful business and theme park to escape from the reality of life. 

Week 2: Social Influence

            I enjoyed reading this article, but the point that stood out to me the most was on conformity. Cialdini and Goldstein state the definition of conformity as, “the act of changing one’s behavior to match the responses of others.” They say that accuracy, affiliation, and maintaining a positive self-concept. I agree with these. In our generation, conformity is a highly popular thing. This can be applied to Christianity. In Romans 12:2, it says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” We are so wrapped up in this world sometimes that we start mimicking the behaviors around us and conforming to the actions of others. We have to remember where our eyes are set, on Him and Him alone.

            On the article called, “Evil”, written by Terry Eagleton, he opens with discussing children murders and the object of evil. He states that evil has come to be without a cause. “If our actions are causes, we are not responsible for them.” He explains a case that had to do with an officer and a child and later states that “evil can be translated as answerable for one’s action”. I am not sure what my view is on his concept of evil. I feel like I would be interested in reading the rest of this book to figure out what his view on evil actually is and learn more about that subject. He said it is mostly based on Freud, in which makes me very interesting because he was a strong philosopher. Eagleton speaks on the ideas of evil of others as well. It would be an interesting thing to research.

           

            Wendy Wood, the author of “Attitude Change: Persuasion and Social Influence,” speaks on the subject of attitude change and how that comes about. One part that stood out to me was the process of public versus private influence on attitude change. It explains that in public settings, people are aware of your judgment making and have a say, and in private settings people are unaware of your own judgments. This makes sense because the own judgments you make are solely based on your decisions, which is why its better to be surrounded by people who can help you in tough decisions or keep you accountable on the choices you make. With this, it can affect your attitude and the way you display yourself. Another section of the article speaks on fear and how this can be influence as well. I completely agree with Wood as well, saying that the subject of fear can make or break an action or your attitude. Overall, I could understand relate to Wood on her subject of the influences that can go into changing one's attiude. 

            

Week 1

      The article called, "Not necessarily Not the News: Gatekeeping, Remediation and the Daily Show" written by Aaron McKain was quite interesting. I love the Daily Show and watch it often, so I enjoyed reading this article. It states that one out of five adults prefer to recieve news from "fake news" than opposed to "real news". Our generation is very much into humor and they like to watch what appeases them. I can totally see how The Daily Show is something that is watched more than a news channel. I never knew about how they choose what news actually "makes" the news, so it was interesing to read the definition of gatekeeping. Being a fan of this show, I can understand how it is a parody. One has to be careful when writing a parody because the viewers have to know what the parody is about and that the object is worth a parody of it in order to succeed. This was so interesting to see the producing side of things. A perfect example of this is the quote used in the beginning, "He says in public what alot of us say privately in the news room." Peter Jennings said this, and this just proves that The Daily Show says what we all are thinking, whether its "real news" or "fake news".

      In the article "On Rhetoric" written by Aristotle, it states that the "rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion". I have learned much about rhetoric but I liked how Aristotle referred to it as means of persuasion. Anything can be persuaded no matter what the subject actually is. He then goes on to explain three modes of persuasion, which depend on the character of the speaker, putting the audience in a certain frame of mind, and on the proof provided by the words of the speech. These three kinds are so true because persuasion really does depend on the speaker. If one is more confident in his persuasion, I am more likely to agree with what he or she is persuading me to do. By putting the audience in a "certain frame of mind", this helps with the speaker's point to really impact them on what his subject matter is. The words of the speech are obviously a strong point because it's going to matter what you are speaking on and if its actually validated and true. Overall, Aristotle taught me alot on just the means of persuasion.