Sunday, April 22, 2007

Feedback from Mark, Author of ""These pretzels are making me thirsty"... "

In response to the first two questions, I think your strongest analytical work came in both your posts about Disney movies. Both these posts seemed to have more convincing arguements than some of your other posts, and both raised some interesting questions regarding their messages. I really began to think about the messages they might send to the intended audience; children. It shows how people are exposed to certain ideas at a young age, and grow up thinking nothing of it. I think that for your final blog or presentation you should focus on another Disney movie, because they seem to be filled with the most interesting topics of analysis.

In response to the third portion...
- It seems to me that the weakest part of your blog is that you do not have one clear, concise topic. Since you do a nice job analyzing Disney, it seems to me that it would have been more advantageous had you made this your topic from the beginning. I think you may have gotten more feedback and/or traffic this way.
- Despite the lack of one topic, each topic you chose to write about was definitely of interest, and part of the large realm of popular culture that would interest many other people as well.
- I think you did a nice job of sticking to topics that dealt with gender throughout each post, and most of the posts were very analytical and made some strong points.
- As mentioned above, I feel that most of your posts were very analytical and did not attempt to make a stand or take one side. The only post where I thought you let your opinion show was the one on "24" where your arguement was that it is just a show.
- Nice job using a wide range of appropriate sources, but be careful that these sources and/or quotes used are conveying the same message you are trying to make. I ran into some problems in my blog with this as well.
- Also, I thought you did a good job of being sure to cite each quote and made it very clear what source you were using and when you were using the author's words as opposed to your words.

And last but not least...
- I thought it was great how you brought up some interesting topics to analyze in Disney movies (as I've mentioned a few times already).
- I found it confusing in a few of the posts when you tried to tie in the readings with your personal analysis. Just be sure to choose quotes that clearly support what you are trying to say.
- You're really great at picking topics that are relevant to today's popular culture, making your posts interesting topics to most people who visit your blog.
- Again I apologize for sounding repetitive, but I think you brought up some nice topics of analysis when dealing with Disney movies, and I wish that you would have chosen this as your particular topic sooner. You still have time though, and I would suggest focusing on this topic for your final blog and/or presentation. All in all, I think you did a nice job with your posts and the overall appearance of your blog....Nice work.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Blog Buddy Work With Mark, Author Of "These pretzels are making me thirsty"...

1. Where has your Blog buddy shown strong analytical work (be specific—is it a particular post, a type of analysis, a site for analysis that seemed to click more so than others, etc)?

2. How could your Blog buddy use this strength for the final Blog post and presentation?

3. Think about the following statements in relation to your Blog buddy’s Blog and then provide feedback on each area (constructive praise/criticism):
  • The Blog is on a topic that has been clearly evident in the Blog posts throughout the semester
  • The Blog is on a topic that seems to interest my Blog buddy
  • My Blog buddy’s topic is one that has produced a good set of posts that were analytical used gender as a primary category of analysis
  • The posts make analytical arguments. The posts are understandable and each post logically outlines and supports the argument presented. The posts were clear, provided insight, evidence, and analysis to connect the topic with the assignment for each of the posts
  • The sources cited in each post are relevant to the topic and help to aid the understanding of the argument and/or assisted in proving the argument.
  • The quotes used illustrate a broad range of course readings throughout the semester.
  • The quotes were clear and succinct; additionally, the material was presented so that I could differentiate the Blog buddy’s ideas from that of the author cited.

4. Finally, complete the following:

  • I thought it was great when you...
  • I found it confusing when you…
  • You’re really great at…
  • I wish you could focus (more) on/alter/edit/explain/expand on/etc these three things…

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Mother Figures & Disney Movies

For this blog post, I chose to analyze Disney movies in relation to motherhood. Many of the Disney movies do not have what is considered a traditional mother, but they do contain mother roles in other forms of characters.

In the Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast, there is no traditional mother, but Mrs. Teapot acts as a mother towards the Beast. She gives him advice on how to interact with Belle and how to change to become a more compassionate caring person. Keeping the members of the household in order is another one of the ways that she acts like the mother of the household.

The Little Mermaid, another Disney movie, also has a nontraditional mother figure. Sebastian, the crab, is put in charge of taking care of Ariel by her father, Triton. He is responsible for making sure that she attends the events she is supposed to and that she doesn’t get into any trouble, which is generally what mothers are thought to be accountable for. Triton also makes Sebastian liable for Ariel’s safety, much like a mother would.

This concept is also shown in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, in the Kim Wilde section. The girl is walking down the street and the Women’s Branch of the Guardians of the Revolution stop her and wants to arrest her for being improperly veiled and because she wasn’t dressed the way the thought Muslim women were supposed to dress. They can be seen as a kind of mother figure in a very nontraditional way. They are trying to protect the girl and makes sure that she behaves properly, which is what mothers do.

These different forms of popular culture show us that mother figures don’t have to be the traditional view of a mother. Mother figures can come in many forms. It doesn’t matter whether a person is male or female, they can still take care of people the way a mother is usually thought of doing.


Marjane Satrapi, “Kim Wilde,” Persepolis (2003).