Week 13 Questions

1) Journalists should utilize objectivity in their reporting. They need to show the news as it is and not slant it in any way or have a bias against certain information.

2) Filmmakers need to utilize originality as it is very rare that something fresh and brilliant is released in today’s rehashed and cliched film environment.

3) Designers need to be creative; their designs, products, and styles have to be new and up to the moment, not dull and repetitive.

4) Writers have to show cohesiveness in their writings so that they may be clear and succinct and not be following in the footsteps of authors like Nathaniel. Hawthorne.

5) If I had to gather information, I would have to figure out my main idea so that I would then be able to branch out in order to cover all aspects of the topic. Then I could go online or to the library in order to actually peruse information.

6) In order to brainstorm, I would draw a Venn Diagram or a flow chart in order to consolidate my information and make it easier to visualize my ideas.

7) I am able to identify visual elements in a film or television show if I watch a film more than once; the first time, I take in the plot and the characters, but any time after that I watch for camera work, editing, special effects, and other elements.

8) I am able to identify the point of view in a story when I see that the story focuses primarily on certain characters and their experiences throughout.

9) I recognize a well developed idea by trying to discover where it originated; if it has grown from its original state then it is most likely developed as it has undergone many revisions and much scrutiny and criticism from other, outside sources.

10) If an idea is not strong, I would ask someone else’s opinions so that I may be able to nurture and cultivate it and make it better. I would consider this outside feedback and try and fit it into my idea by either changing it completely or adapting it in order to make it much stronger.

11) I research an idea by figuring out the types of information and how much information will be needed. I then start using the knowledge and experiences that I already have before looking on the Internet or going to the library in order to gather information that I do not know offhand.

12) I produce ideas by writing them down and then refer back to what is written in order to make numerous changes and amendments. Then I ask other people for their opinions so that I may get some additional insight into what I have started to create.

13) I implement ideas by setting goals and following through by making decisions. If it is a group project, then I will pitch my formulated ideas to other people, but even if it is just my own idea, I will still ask others for their opinions so that I may get input from different angles.

14) Salvador Dali’s most famous work of art, The Persistence of Memory shows a surrealistic image of melting clocks in the sweltering heat of a desert. The painting is symbolic of the distortion of time in dreams, and there is an amorphous creature on the ground that vaguely resembles a human face; this is representative of a person in a dream-like state. There is also symbolism for life and death as well, as there is a pomegranate fruit, symbolizing life, that is being consumed by ants, symbolizing death.

15) The process of creating a metaphor is not too extensive, but it has to be done correctly. The point of a metaphor is to compare two unrelated objects or ideas based on a shared theme, quality, or aspect of both. One would first come up with various qualities of the main object in question, and then figure out examples of other objects that share these characteristics. Then, these new objects would be compared to the main object based upon the linking quality. An example of the main object could be a cat and its qualities then limberness, cleanliness, and independence. Choosing the quality of limberness, the cat could then be compared to a trapeze artist walking on a tightrope due to its own quality of limberness.

16) My learning process is pretty linear; I process information in a straightforward matter. I learn things sequentially, meaning that I build upon what I have previously learned in order to truly absorb something new. I am also a visual learner; I like to look at maps, charts, and pictures aside from just listening and absorbing information audibly.

17) Question number 9 in Part I of the midterm was difficult. It read, “All images are _______, meaning that they imply a ‘floating chain’ of signifieds, making the reader able to choose some and ignore others.” The correct answer that fills in the blank is “polysemous“. I did not know the definition of the word before I took the test, but I now know that polysemous means having the ability to have multiple meanings based on context.

Metaphors!

         The 3-N-1 Alarm Clock has three main functioning alarms, all of which are meant to wake up a college-aged student. These three alarms are the recording and broadcasting of a personal alarm sound or phrase, a squirt of water from a water gun, and a pinch from a robotic claw. Three specific functions from one device represent multi-tasking and determination, and, as expressed in the first advertisement for the product (which stated, “When was the last time that Mom woke you up?”) a mother has already proven to be an adequate metaphor for the product. A mother watches over her young and ensures for their safety and success, all the while working hard and sacrificing herself for all of this to be so.

            To take this one representation a step further, a she-wolf is an even better metaphor for the 3-N-1 Alarm Clock in its determination and motherly love. A she-wolf is a mother wolf who cares for her pups by nursing them when they are very young, and she defends them from all sorts of predators before they grow old enough to fend for themselves. Wolves in general are sleek and strong, and they hunt in packs. They are symbols of determination because they are persistent in their hunts and in their caring for their young. She-wolves especially have a mystical quality to them as well; the founding of the city of Rome 800 years before the birth of Christ is said to have been by the brothers Romulus and Remus who, when abandoned as infants, were suckled and cared for by a she-wolf. What would be a better example of an Alarm Clock that is built upon determination in that it has three separate and subsequent ways in waking someone up than to compare it to the doting, but fierce, perseverance of a mother wolf?

            Another great example of a metaphor that would represent the 3-N-1 Alarm Clock would be an octopus. As mothers, octopuses are not as doting as wolves, but this is because they sacrifice themselves for their young by defending their eggs to the point where they are either killed by predators or die from hunger, both of which are due to the mothers’ weakened state from lack of hunting. The mother analogy aside, however, the octopus is still a great representation of the product. The 3-N-1 and an octopus share many similar qualities; octopuses are able to perform multiple actions because of their broad range of abilities, just like the Alarm Clock. An octopus has multiple appendages, or tentacles, and the clock has three specific functioning “arms” which serve the single purpose of waking up a college student. An octopus is very intelligent and is able to adapt to its environment and solve problems as shown in countless scientific experiments using mazes. The 3-N-1 could be considered a “smart” product as it is programmable by the user of the clock, specifically in recording one’s own alarm sound. The clock has a pinching claw, which can be compared to both an octopus’s tentacle and its beaked mouth. Last but not least, the octopus shoots out ink when threatened, as a diversion, or to confuse prey and this action can be compared to the 3-N-1’s water gun which squirts water at the sleeping subject. Thus, an octopus can justly serve as a metaphor for the 3-N-1 Alarm Clock.

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