Rhetoric and Composition: ENG 015 007: Blog Response #7

Unfortunately I was sick this entire weekend and could not experience State Patty's Day up close and personal. My evaluation is based on things that I have heard from friends and I guess some assumptions that I am making. First of all, walking back from my last class Friday evening, I remember seeing a line of cars looking for parking at every parking deck on campus. I was definitely surprised by the non student turnout. It was hard to tell if these people were friends of students from different schools or if they were alumni. The sight of so many people walking around East Halls asking for directions to different dorms disturbed me. Get your own school is a thought that ran through my mind a lot on Friday night. As far as Saturday goes I was never downtown and could not see the action or any parties for myself. But from what I have heard and from seeing some pictures posted on facebook I could tell that there a lot of people out bright and early to get their drink on. I have no problem with people drinking and having a good time and I did not hear of and major incident where a fight broke out or someone going to the hospital. But I am not naive, I know that just because I did not hear of these things it does not mean they did not happen. With so many people participating it is hard to avoid the negatives of drinking and partying. I know that my good friends had a great State Patty's Day and therefore it is hard for me to give it a negative critique but my gut tells me that when I see this many people roaming the streets it is best to leave the alcohol out of the equation. Maybe I am just bitter because I did not get to share in the fun but I do not think that the volume of people is a good thing. I originally thought State Patty's Day would be a good thing as I thought it was made by Penn State students for Penn State students but I quickly learned that this is not the case. It is hard feel the school spirit if you yell out WE ARE... and more the half the people cannot respond.

Blog Response 5: Disney Songs

When evaluating the song of a villain from a Disney film, I look at a few key components to determine if the song was a successful part of the movie. Above all else I compare the songs to other villain songs that I think to be good in other Disney movies. I enjoy Scar's song "Prepared" from the Lion King. I enjoy how the evil from his character is shown as he describes diabolical things. The environment also conveys a very malicious message. In the Little Mermaid, Ursula's song, "Poor Unfortunate Soul," there are several things that also make this a classic Disney villain song. Her placement in the cave makes her seem even more evil as she twists and turns in the darker and duller environment. There is also a lot of dialog in the song, it is slow and methodical. The tension continues to build and build as she fiddles around with potions and creatures of the cave. The explicit trickery also makes the audience almost want to stand up and yell at Ariel for making the deal. It is beyond obvious that Ursula is evil and the audience knows what will happen next but drawing out the scene through the slow moving song makes it more of an experience than just a scene where the antagonist gains the upper hand. Similarly in The Princess and the Frog, there is a good amount of dialog in the song, slowly building to the climax towards the end of the scene. In this case the setting is in an alley and instead of playing with a morbid cave; the villain uses cards tricks and other spectacles to fool the good guy. Again it is very obvious that the protagonist will be fooled but the result is not as important as the delivery. I believe that both of these villain songs are successful displays of the evil natures of the characters. When the scene ends it is very easy for a viewer to say, "Wow, that person (or octopus) is definitely a bad guy." I am never looking for a subtle exchange of wits in my Disney movies. I want to be a kid and watch the bad guy be almost impossibly evil. These songs succesfully go over the top in making evil a very cool thing.

Rhetoric and Composition: ENG 015 007: Blog Response #4

Institution:
The action of instituting or establishing; setting on the foot or in operation; foundation; ordainment; the fact of being instituted.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/06/15/against-gay-marriage

In this article, the author with conservative values discusses the reasons he thinks marriage should be reserved only for heterosexual couples. He believes that allowing homosexuals the right to marry would ruin the "institution of marriage." The author goes into the history of heterosexual marriage and how it is a unifying force between men and women who may otherwise oppose each other. The author uses the word institution to cover a huge amount of people. It is not tangible and technicaly it is possible for anyone join. He argues that it is divine insitution as well, as it is a union made before God.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/educational-institutions-succeeding-despite-because-of-weak-economy/
In this article the author analyzes the success of colleges and universities as a business during the recession. She brings up the argument that schools are succeeding because of the bad economy. The author refers to colleges as higher education institutions.

I have to agree with the definition of the institution put forth in the second article. Colleges and universities are more tangible ideas. They have a location and serve a more explicit purpose. Marriage is more of a tradition than an institution. It is a social norm for many societies mainly because of what society or religion says is correct and functional. Since I consider marriage to be an invetion derived from societal values, I consider it to be available to anyone. Since I do not think there should be any exclusion I do not think it should be considered an institution. We would never say that being a human being is an institution. Colleges and universities are much more exclusive and serve direct purposes; to learn more and acquire specific skills. This fits the definition of institution much better.