Music vs. Shiny Toys

In English class last week, we went over two songs that both had the topic of enterntainment, but each with different takes.

First, in the song "Music" by Madonna, she expresses music as being fun and reflecting social values. The song sets us up for the theme of having fun within the first two stanzas. "Hey, Mr DJ put a record on...Do you like to boogie woogie?" With these lines, we already could tell that Madonna wants to enjoy herself--it is even reflected in the music video. Where social values is reflected are in the lines, "Music makes the people come together. Music mix the bourgeosie and the rebel." The term bourgeosie is a french term meaning socio-economic classes. Using this terms denotes a social class oriented to materialism and upholds the interests of the capital class. She is basically saying that music and having fun brings everyone together, no matter who you are.

In contrast, Joni Mitchell's "Shiny Toys" not only speaks about having fun, but entertainment is a personal choice. We know that she feels as if entertainmen is pesonal choice with the lyrics, "Whatever makes you 'yahoo', whatever makes your time feel satisfyin', whatever makes you..." The anaphora of "whatever makes you" distinguishes the fact that it's up to you. However you decide what fun is, is personal preference. The fact that her song is also about entertainment and having fun is seen with the entire stanza that can basically sum up a party (at least during this time, because this song was definitely not in the 21st century!!!) "Party night...Megalights and supersonic sounds...Flashy boys and girls that really want to play..." This is where she exemplifies wanting to have fun!

Both songs speak about entertainment, but not just pure entertainment. One speaks about more serious issues such as class whilst another speaks about personal preference.

Thank you all for your time :)

Isolation and Manipulation

So, what better thing to do at 3:14 on a Saturday morning then write a blog? Correct. Anything else, really. But since I'm a night owl, I've decided to share some late night (or should I say early morning?) thoughts with you. 

This past week in English, our class reviewed two songs with the same theme of alienation--the feeling of being alone; not belonging. Rather than just simply listening to these songs, we dissected them. Here are the clickable song links: 

1. Clash - Lost In The Supermarket

2. Lily Allen - The Fear

Listen, as or while, I explain the logistics--or some of them--on how we broke apart the songs. Of course there are multiple themes, but alienation is one we decided to focus on. Now I left all of my notes elsewhere as I am not home, so I'll do my best!

First, I'll start off with the song "Lost In The Supermarket". The very first line explicitly evokes the theme of alienation with the choice of diction. As a matter of fact, the whole entire chorus does. "I'm all lost in the supermarket, I can no longer shop happily. I came in here for that special offer, a guaranteed personality." 

The word "lost" sets us up for the theme of feeling isolated. He doesn't even know how to be his own individual, hence him wanting a "guaranteed personality".  

A couple of stanzas later, he sings, "I'm all tuned in...I've got my giant discoteque album, I empty a bottle and feel a bit free". Basically, he gets away from life and is in his own world by being a drunk. There, is where he doesn't necessarily not feel alienated, but the feeling will disappear temporarily.  

The song ends by stating, "And it's not here. It disappear. I'm all lost." Very effective. He still is disgruntled. He falls prey to being an outkast.

Next, the song "The Fear". I bet you are all thinking, Why is that picture there? (At least, I hope you guys are questioning that). Well, the meaning behind this picture, you ask? The individual represents all of us as a part of society, whereas the television represents the media. Replacing our own thoughts and what we believe, is the media's perception on everything. Compared to "Lost In The Supermarket", these lyrics are a bit more vulgar.

This song has a different take on the theme of alienation. "And I am a weapon of massive consumption. And it's not my fault it's how I'm programmed to function." It's take is that the media is starting/trying to dictate our lives, forcing us become a certain way, but our fear of the media alienates us. 

"I look at the Sun, and I look at the mirror", is a clever line. Both are actually the title of national newspapers. This truly represents her point of the media's influence. There is also inner dialogue on what to believe (as the media depicts), and why she is scared and lost, "'Cause I'm taken over by fear" (everyone's desires).

Now that is my short little rant that took me until 4:08am to finish. I'm exhausted. I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks again. :)

Power of Empathy and Connectivity

The profound ways that have shaped our society. 

A video that the invisiblechildren.tumblr.com posted recently. Check that tumblr out to see all of what they have been saying on the Kony 2012 issue and what not. One way that I believe in this whole ordeal. But when it comes to other articles, I'm still dumbfounded.

So I wanted to follow up on the Kony 2012 video. There has been a lot of controversy on this video on whether it is true to it's word or if it's just a scam. People are unsure and supporters are turning into skeptics. Even I still don't know where I stand anymore. 

One conflict I've heard was the timing. "If this has been going on for a long time, why is it just becoming viral now?" The side that is for this video are saying that the whole point of his video was the whole timeline issue. How it starts off with the past until now, to lead up to it. (I don't really understand this much.. Unless I didn't read clearly? I'm not sure.) The side that is against this video reply that the video effects just appeal to us, and this is all just a scam.

Another issue I've heard is money. Some people are saying that the Invisible Children Inc. just want to get in our wallets and that a majority of the donations haven't even been going to direct support, but grants, school, etc. Others are denying it and saying that it mostly goes to the whole "Kony foundation". Both sides have "proof" of this.

Basically, I've read multiple articles speaking on both sides of the story. There's even a couple of articles that speak of how this video is outdated, and Kony is already cornered and on the brink of captivation. But how about the talk of Obama sending troops to help the Ugandan army just this past October, etc. and so on? Very confusing. I don't even know how to react.

KONY 2012

Hello, everyone!

This is rather off topic, but I wanted to inform you all of KONY 2012 if you aren't aware already. Please take 30 minutes of your time to watch this video. It explains an issue that must become viral--is becoming viral as you read this. It is worth your time.

"Filmmaker Jason Russell visited Africa in 2003 and returned with a story that made people ask what they could do to help. Jason co-founded the non-profit Invisible Children Inc. which is working to make the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony of Uganda famous by raising support for his arrest. Kony’s arrest will save thousands of women and children allowing them to live a normal life without fear from the LRA rebels. Jason shares with us his friend Jacob, who after losing his brother and not having the opportunity to attend school Jacob would rather die than live. Unfortunately the ‘United States will not get involved if our National Security or Financial Interest aren’t at stake’. The issue to the US government is not important enough to get involved. So, the people have spoken and made it clear that they want to see something done. Invisible Children currently has 475,000 fans on Facebook and looking to increase that number before April 20th. On the night of April 20th, Kony 2012 crews will hit the streets to set up posters, with hopes of grabbing national attention to the issue. This 30 minute video will be the best thing you watch all week and you can help by spreading the word to get our government involved."

From EHS '10-'11 Yearbook with the
four leaders in the front. I'm colored!

When I was in high school, I was secretary of a club titled "Invisible Children." Our mission was--and still is as it is an ongoing club--to raise awareness about children in Uganda who are impoverished and unable to attend school. Eastlake High (where I attended), along with multiple other schools, participate in a program called "Schools for Schools" where money is raised by groups around the world to build a school for children. One way money is raised is through "Change for Change", where club members collect change from other students. Our total amounted up to $1000. "Threaded together by the need of students across the world, EHS will shine the light on the invisible." Cute, I know.

Now I knew how important being a member, as well as a leader, of that club was. But boy, I didn't realize all the importance.

MAKE KONY FAMOUS.

Thank you for your time,

Jennica Sarmiento

Community Service Project

My English 115 class is planning on taking on three different community service projects: High school presentations, Middle/High school tag-a-longs during school hours, and a Symposium.

Here is an outline I made for middle school tag-a-longs. Basically, our main goal is for students to take this Bayan (community) class--to inform them about it and persuade them in being a part of it. So we're planning on having them sit in classes with us, especially the Bayan class itself to experience what an amazing class it is.

Obama.

In the English 115 class I am currently taking, one of the topics we had discussed during class was our president, Obama. One of the fellow professors at SWCCD whose expertise is on African American studies, Professor Stanley James, recently did a presentation on Obama. I wasn't able to make the presentation, but I got the gist of it as we spoke about it during class.

Basically, society doesn't praise Obama's accomplishments, but rather focus on the negatives and what he "fails" to promise. Here are a FEW examples of the amazing things this man has done... 

1. For even centuries, politicians have been talking about health care reform. Since THEODORE ROOSEVELT. When was he president? The begin of the 1900s. Now, that's a pretty damn long time. Out of all the presidents, Obama is the first one to actually do something about it. The Affordable Care Act: restrictions on pre-existing conditions, makes healthcare more affordable for small businesses, removes lifetime caps, and more. Does this sound bad to you? I don't think so.

2. He believes in equality for everybody. He signed the Lilly Led better Pay Act to help women get equal pay as men for work, and the repeal of the men's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Ooh big deal, he's SUCH a humanitarian. Actually, it is a big deal. To women and those who are gay, it is. Knowing you have a leader who is accepting should be comforting.

3. Obama supports education! For those of you who have growing children, consider this a major PLUS for him. He gave more flexibility to the No Child Gets Left Behind Act--concerning the education of children in public schools--and is making college aid more available.

4. Despite inheriting one of the worst economic messes since the Great Depression, he added over 2.6 million private sector jobs to our economy, and indications are that our economy are slowly improving. To slow for you? Then you attempt this.

How about this? Obama inherited the WORST ECONOMY since the Great Depression, with unemployment on pace to reach 20% by the end of his first year. It's no Obama's fault that prior Presidents have piled all of their shit on his plate. Another huge factor, is racism. Evidently, our president is African American. People are ignorant. His skin color affects the way people view him. It's kind of like the "Looking Glass Self." This means, that people's perceptions of an individual, "form" that individual's appearance and actions.

Disagree? Agree? Everyone's opinion matters. Thanks for taking the time to read this. :)

This is dedicated to my wonderful, loving, and caring parents... I love you!



My parents steezin' in the 80's. SWAG.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to walk this earth in the first place.

The Queen has arrived!

Thank you for blessing me with my looks; my chromosomes have combined beautifully.

Perfection!

Thank you for allowing me to live life as I want it to.

Most of the time!

Thank you for constantly gifting me with new things, day by day.

Money, food, whateva!

I hope this has amused you.. :)



War? What "war"?

When I was in Mr. Aronson's English 114 class last semester, I remember fellow guest speakers who also taught at SWCCD visiting my class to speak of Filipino-American events--since our class is Filipino focused. I think I remember Mr. Aronson--who continues to be my English 115 this semester--telling our class how the Philippines-American war was menially mentioned in our History books to the point of it seeming to be nonexistent. Then what he said was backed up as Professor Tuyay, a Filipino-American History advisor also at SWCCD, told us how this war has indeed been overlooked. 



Battle of Manila, February 1899

 

What I thought was interesting (and super exciting!), was when I was in my History class last week, my professor, Cuddy, mentioned the Philippines-American war. I was shocked! He didn't really speak a lot about this topic, nonetheless, he mentioned it! My History class is based on History of Americans from 1812 to the present: focusing on the evolution of American involvement in Canadian, Caribbean, and Latin American affairs. 

When our History class was discussing the Spanish-American war, we spoke of the consequences that the U.S. had in the process of this war. The U.S. was taking over different countries such as the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The war was part of a series of conflicts in the Philippine struggle for independence, preceded by the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish–American War. Instead of trusting Emilio Aguinaldo--an intelligent Filipino general, politician, and independence leader--to help them, the U.S. started this war. It lasted four years: 1899-1902. Even Professor Cuddy thought that the Philippines should've had their independence.

Just thought it was interesting that it was actually acknowledged. Thanks for reading! :)

Strangers from a Different Shore

Hello fellow Bayan members! :) (Bayan, of course, meaning "community"!) As of late, my professor, Mr. Aronson, provided my English class with some reading on history of Asian Americans: Strangers from a Different Shore by Ronald Takiki. Mr. Aronson gave us two passages to read from this book, "Manongs in Movement" and "Pacific Passages". 

Below, I will provide my prezi--somewhat like a Powerpoint presentation, but far more visually engaging, elaborate, and fun--to go into more depth of both sections. To view it, you must first press the "play" button for it to load! Then, click "more" in order to make it fullscreen, then start by pressing play once again.

Here's an overview of the prezi if any of you were too lazy to look at mine, or had trouble viewing it:

Manongs in Movement

• Filipinos, after the annexation of the Philippines, either migrated to Hawaii or the mainlands
• Filipinos had American and Spanish influence due to previous colonization--American in their outlook
• Most migrants were poor and uneducated; worked on plantations or were farm laborers
• More women were imported to Hawaii or the mainlands in order to make men improve their work habits
• Push factors: 

1. Imagined themselves as being rich, successful migrants after working on the plantations
2. Farmers faced hardships from "the rich people" (white males) and even Filipino elite

• Filipinos signed labor contracts; received goods in return

Pacific Passages

• Different population: Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, Asian Indian--diversity with different religions
• Acts and agreements forced them to stay where they settled to
• Each ethnicity's origin influenced each other
• Migrants experienced multiple negative scenarios on a ship to America
• American Dream caused risks
• Women were forced to marry men of much older age--picture brides

Well there you have it, my brief summary over my prezi on Strangers from a Different Shore. I hope you enjoyed! Comment, agree, disagree, questions, anything! Thank you :)

Discoveries on writing

After doing the group peer revision with my English class, I have rediscovered how "good" of a writer I am. I have Professor Aronson to thank for this! Honestly, if I were in another English class, the essay we have been working on wouldn't have been as effective as I made it to be. I'm proud of it. I worked on my essay the prior night, not for too long, and the majority of the feedback I got was positive. It's surprising how much I have improved as a writer. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, I've just grown so much in my writing that I'm beginning to be more confident with my skills. 

I also enjoyed peer revising! It was an opportunity to know how my Bayan members write as well. :) Although I hate writing more "wishes" than "kisses", know that it's sweet criticism! Feel free to allow me to read your papers, everyone! 

By the way, this will probably be my only post that doesn't look to harmful to read. Thanks again! 

No longer strangers

On Friday, my English class had a mini retreat at school. Baby steps in getting to form this newfound "family". It went from 9-12, and it was just the perfect amount of time to get to know people. 

I arrived around 10 because I still had class, and I was surprised to see some familiar faces. It was also exciting--I'm glad that they got the opportunity to partake in this. So although I missed the first hour, I was just in time for the remainder of an activity we were doing. It involved four corners, each with one poster either titled: Faith/ Religion, Ethnicity/ Race, Gender/ Sexuality, or Class/ Socio-economic. Our professor, Mr. Aronson, asked different types of questions in which we had to go to a corner where we felt our answer correlated with. It was interesting; getting to know some people under the surface. But what really helped us understand that there's more than meets the eye, was the fishbowl activity.

"What does she mean when she speaks of fishbowls?", you ask? Well, let me tell you. Our class formed two circles, one within another (as pictured on the left). When Mr. Aronson would ask a question, either the outsider/insider would have to speak whilst the other one had to listen without saying one word. Then after each question, either the outsider/insider would have to rotate to the left/right so we'd get a chance to speak to everyone. I enjoyed this! I got to know people on different levels. Although we may all me different, we still have commonalities. 

Chapter Two

Hello! Kumusta! Hola! Aloha! Bonjour! You get the idea--welcome to my Bayan blog. :) For those of you who don't know me, haven't gotten to know me, forgot my name, or aren't paying attention to my "About Me" on the lefthand side.. My name is Jennica Sarmiento! I'm normally the baby of my classes since I'm 18, as of late, in October. If you couldn't already tell, I am a very enthusiastic person. I would like to inform you ahead of time that I may be extremely energetic, thus leading me to go off on tangents, so don't be alarmed. To further back this up, look at those beautiful pictures of me. Yeah, the funny faces I make reflect my funny personality.. :)

First and foremost, my reason for joining this class (other than the fact that Mr. Aronson basically begged/forced me to be in his class), was that I really enjoyed the atmosphere. I had him last semester for English 114, and as a first year student, being in college started off in a positive way. Not only did Mr. Aronson instill knowledge, inspire, and motivate me; but I felt at ease being able to go to class with people whom I felt comfortable with on a whole new level. (Of course meeting every single day due to a linked Personal Development class was a major factor to this, but regardless, I knew I was surrounded by an amazing group of individuals.) So I wanted to be able to feel this bondage again, to be able to have another "second family". It's a great feeling, and I want all of you to experience this.

Now I will give my reasoning as to why I decided to title my blog, "Chapter Two: Into My Head". Well, my first blog: jennicasarmiento.blogspot.com, (click the link!) was titled "Uncaged Thoughts..." Basically, there was really no limit on what I had to say. I was able to express myself and, of course, my thoughts for all of my peers. As for this blog, it's the same concept--being able to delve into topics, but in an even deeper, and more meaningful way to a new audience.

Thank you all for your time! FEEL FREE TO FEED THE FISHES BY CLICKING ANYWHERE IN THAT AQUATIC AREA. :)