Assignment 4-1 Weekly Written Analysis 4

        Vivian Martin                      
                  
                           The Effects Of  Violent Video Games On Adolescents

     Video gaming is a multibillion-dollar industry.  They have become very  sophisticated and realistic and are popular with people of all ages.   Some games connect to the internet making it easy for children and adolescents to play with unknown adults as well as their peers.     

     Even though some educators acknowledge that some video games have educational content, it is also felt that many popular video games emphasize negative themes and promote violence. 

     In  a Time Magazine Article, November, 2008. titled  “The Top 10 Everything”, the author Lev Grosman, stated that the video game “Grand Theft Auto IV”  rated number one on the top ten video games list.  The author stated that GTA belongs in a debate whether video games count as art.  The game is a story of an Eastern European soldier-for-hire fighting his way up the organized crime ladder.   It has all the life like elements of a motion picture, the people, the scenario, suspense and a violent display of crime.  The author summed up the game as: “It’s a grade-A-shoot’-em-up that doubles as an interactive novel and triples as a sly critique of  American culture.”  Some violent video games include violence towards women, gender sterotyping and profanity.

     Another article by Amanda Schaffer, April, 2007 states that there were three types of research linked to violent video games and aggression.  The first were studies that look for correlation between exposure to the games and real world aggression, and suggests that children who play violent video games may be more likely to get into physical fights, argue with teachers, and/or display anger and hostility.  Second was research measuring behavior over time that found that children in the 4^th and 5^th grades who played violent video games over time, changed during the school year to become more verbally and physically aggressive and less helpful to others.  The final study randomly assigned subjects to play a violent or nonviolent game to compare levels of aggression.   The study showed that the children who chose the violent video games behaved more aggressively toward the children who chose nonviolent video games.

    Other problems that may arise from children and adolescents being exposed to such games, may include poor social skills, lower grades, reading and exercising less, and a tendency to become overweight.

   Some suggestions given parents were to select appropriate video games for their children and adolescents,  have parental controls with their internet service provider,  tell other parents  the rules for their children and video games, talking to their children about the harmful effects of violence in video games and to seek professional counseling with a qualified health specialists if they feel a need for concern of their child’s behavior or the effects of such games.

   

                                                       References

Grosman, L (2008), The Top Ten Everything, Time Magazine, November 3, 2008

      Retrieved  January 27, 2011 from   www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1855948_1863763,00.html

Schaffer, A. (2007), Don’t Shoot, Why Video Games Really Are Linked To Violence,

     April 27, 2007, Retrieved January 27, 2011 from

     www.slate.com/id/2164065

  

Assignment 3-1 Weekly Written Analysis 3

HUM 341-E1WW

Vivian Martin

                Sarah Palin A Pop Culture Phenomenon

     Sarah Palin is a pop culture American politician, author, speaker, political news commentator, and first woman governor of Alaska.  She has been a subject of interest since 2009, when she was Senator John McCain’s presidential running mate.

     Sarah Palin is somewhat of a phenomenon some might say, in the fact that she remains the center of the GOP Political Party, sparks people’s interest, creates controversy, from some of her comments, and has a huge following of the people who believe in her, and criticize the media of being unfair in their judgment and comments about her, making her somewhat of a celebrity.  Others say “Not So Much”, when it comes to her meeting their standards and viewpoints.

     Sarah Palin, for some represents our culture’s need to believe and  identify with something or someone who shares the same ideas and viewpoints as they do, and for those individuals, she represents them.  She is also popular with her own Republican Party even though some of them do not necessarily agree with everything she comments on, nevertheless they uphold her and she is favored by some Democrats as well.

     The remarks of the media of her, at times depicts, the negative side of our culture and how we concentrate and blow other’s lives out of proportion and the need to have a “Truman Show” ritual display of everyone and anyone’s life at any given time  and no one, it seems,  is immune.

     In a recent Politics Daily article by Matt Lewis, titled “In Blaming Sarah Palin, We Give Our Violent Culture A Pass”, (January 10, 2011).  The columnist stated that we are a culture that fetishizes on violence and that it can be seen everywhere, in our language, our sports, entertainment and political  rhetoric.  He stated that the underlying violence is more important than the political rhetoric.  

                                                                                          

     This statement was made in reference to the media buzz that Sarah Palin and the Tea Party was indirectly responsible for the Arizona shooting of Congress Woman Gifford and 19 others.

     The columnist went on to say that, “Political speech is and ought to remain, the most protected speech and that the shooting was an attack on democracy itself and Sarah Palin had no connection to or responsibility for it.

     The point that I agree with most regarding this article is that  the columnist states  that a person has to decide if they want their life’s work to be a force for good or evil in this world, and that “Culture is in fact more important than politics when we are searching for a reason to explain such madness” and I myself would add that searching for a reason for violent actions in our society should not involve unwarranted blame of others.  

 

                                                                References

  

Lewis, M. (2010)    “In Blaming Sarah Palin, We Give Our Violent Culture A Pass”,   

     Retrieved January 20, 2011, from Politics Daily,

     www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/10in-blaming-sarah-palin-our-violent-culture-gets-a-pass

     

                                

ASSIGNMENT 2-1 WEEKLY WRITTEN ANALYSIS 2

    The Big Surge In Social Networking

     A recent article titled "The Big Surge in Social Networking: Facebook Is A Primary Source  Of  Comprising Information"  speaks to the fact that 81% of the leading top divorce Lawyers state that they have seen a rise in the cases using social networking evidence as grounds for divorce.(AAML 2010).  The article also stated that “Going through a divorce always result in a heightened level of scrutiny”.  Most people don’t realize what they say, even if it has good intentions could be misinterpreted or used against them if found liable for comments that they have made on social networks.  Others have mentioned promises that were made by their spouse or legal partners to persons of interest on Facebook that they have felt were legal grounds for separation or even divorce.  Those who are single have had break-ups and  hurt feelings from mixed messages from a friend they thought  they were in a committed relationship with only to find that the person had made a comment(s) on facebook that displayed otherwise and had to express to the person their reason for the comment(s).

     Another article from CNN Tech (November, 2010) titled “Facebook Knows When You’ll Break Up” speaks to the fact that  a graphic making the rounds online that use

Facebook status updates to chart what time of the year people break up.

     It seems the peak times according to Facebook status updates are: Springbreak, Valentines Day, April Fool’s Day, Summer Holiday, 2 weeks before Winter holiday,and around, before , or after Christmas Holiday.  The day of the week for most break-ups was Monday.

                                                      References

AAML, (2010), American Academy Of Matrimonial Lawyers “Big Surge in Social

     Networking Evidence Says Survey of Nation’s Top Divorce Lawyers”

      http://www.aaml.org/about-the-academy/press/press-releases/e-discovery/bi...

CNN Tech (2010), Facebook Knows You’ll Breakup

     http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-02/tech/facebook.breakkups_1facebook-des...

     

 

HUM 341-E1WW-ICON ANALYSIS

Humanity 341-E1WW

Assignment 2-2

Icon Analysis

     Robert Pattison is an English actor, born and raised in London.  He plays the leading role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptions of the Twilight Novels which are four-vampire themed romance novels by author Stephanie Meyer.  In Twilight,  Robert Pattison (Edward), is a modern day vampire and has a special ability to read minds, with the exception of “Bella”, whom he falls in love with.  He tries to leave the entire town, in order to avoid the fact that he could possibly kill Bella, but comes back because he could not stand to be away from her.  I chose Robert Pattison, because Twilight is one of my favorite series, and it brings to light through the modern version a more acceptable possibility that there were those who believe in vampires.  Robert’s “It factor” off screen and how he portrayed the character on screen adds to that mystique.

President Obama, the 44^th President of the United States is an American story.  He

came from a middle class upbringing.  His father was from Kenya and his mother

 from Kansas.  Both of his parents were educated. He lost his father at an early age, from a car accident and also his mother who died of cancer when she was in her 50’s .  I chose President Obama, because he proves that with education and hard work, there is nothing that you cannot achieve. He also represents why so many people come to the United States, in order to have a fair chance to be able to fulfill their dreams. President Obama, will also be remembered in history as being the first African American President.  

Hello Kitty is a fictional Japanese cartoon character, produced by the Japanese Company Sanrio.  She is portrayed as a white Japanese Bob Cat with a large head and red bow.  The character emerged in the United States in the late 1990’s.  Since then the Hello Kitty trademark has spread globally and has generated sales of 1 to 5 billion annually.  Her sales include music, video games fashion and high end items.  I chose Hello Kitty, because I have always liked the simplicity of her pleasant design that appeals to all ages.

HUM-341-E1WW
Vivian Martin
Assignment 1-2
Popular Culture

BEATLEMANIA

     When one think of popular culture you may think of the Hip Hop culture which is only one of the many groups, fads, trends, marketing commodities, attitudes, images and subjects of topics of which to learn from in our ever so changing technical world today. 

     In the 60’s one such group that generated national and global appeal was the Beatles, they were one of the most popular rock star bands around the world that created a culure “Beatlemania”.  The cultural aspects that the Beatles were credited with according to “The Beatles: A Cultural Revolution” were the influence of films, hair styles, pop art, fashion, setting the precedent for large scale concerts and conceiving popular music as an art form.  Their song “All You Need Is Love”, reached across all racial lines as so many songs do today, and became a national pop icon anthem for those who chose to follow them.

     Popular Culture can have that effect upon large groups of people, for it stems
from beliefs, attitudes, values, images, that are preferred and shared by individuals that is transported through various mediums and becomes a part of that particular group’s lifestyle. Popular culture can be transitory and often the initiator of change. 

     In business it is important to understand the current culture, language, lifestyle, attitudes,and preferences of others whose lives are different from your own in order to get a broader perspective of what role diversity plays in our country and the global community.  It also helps one to adapt to the  way others do business according to their beliefs, religion, education, resources habits and rituals.   

   

      The key for me for me for future success in business is to always be open to change and willing to learn from others.               

I would consider an example of a popular culture artifact or icon as one that has wide spread popularity and appeal conveyed through different mediums such as music, television books, the media, the internet, and one that is very often marketable and used as a source of knowledge as well.  

                                                         

                                                     References

      

     The Beatles: A Cultural “Revolution,*nd Retrieved January 6, 2011 from:

http://www.cyber-beatles.com/revolution.htm

                                                                                                  

                              

Weekly Written Analysis Assignment 1-4

Pop Culture Language: Internet Slang

The Word “Twitter” was declared by the Global Language Monitor, which tracks language trends, the most published English word of 2009 as reported by the Huffington Post. Everyone can remember when Ashton Kutcher won his bet against CNN to be the first to get 1 million followers on Twitter.

Along with Twitter emerged the language of internet slang, casual speech in writing and texting that uses acronyms and abbreviations to convey certain messages. Acronyms such as OMG, LOL, B4 CUL, (Oh My God, Laugh Out Loud, Before and See You Later), are some popular internet slang words that are used to tweet, blog, text and communicate.

According to MSNBC the most popular word on Face Book was HMU (Hit Me UP) a popular phrase used by teens and some adults meaning to “Call Me”. There are also tools to go along with the use of the language of internet slang such as dictionaries that several web sites have created that give you a complete A-Z listing and definitions of the words and their usage.

Some may argue that internet slang is unsuitable for formal communication, and they can be be annoying and unprofessional. Some educators feel that the use of internet slang has caused a complete misusage of the English language and proved to be a source of cop out for some high
school students to communicate properly, which makes their job none the less easier to teach these students.

What does this all mean? In every era of culture, there have been words, slogans, customs, and rituals that defined that particular group of people and their lifestyle and internet slang is no different.

Even in the work place in just about every industry that you can think of, from the smallest to fortune 500 companies, there are protocols and language that you must become familiar with in order to do your job or just communicate and every company has their own particular jargon. How long internet slang will be around is anyone’s guess.

I would like to be around another century to see how the language is interpreted by those who find it aninteresting topic. Will it be considered odd? or will it continue to evolve and be as popular as the words of Shakespear, who created words that have been coined, and is still being used
and studied some 400 years later.

Like it or hate it, the language of internet slang that is used to tweet, text, blog, email, use in poetry, and write about, is here for right now for all of us to examine, in some cases be a part of and most importantly to learn from.