12th Language Arts
Ivy Shin
Journals
Journal #1: Think about Media Literacy
Everyone knows the meaning of the media. In a journalism way, the “media” defines as the communicating tool. A modern way for people to share their thoughts and to send the messages that they would like to send to the others. However, communication does not need a companion. The communication can be done by personal reason. In 21st century, the usage of media has improved in so many ways with this personal reasoning, such for the education, and we like to call this educational usage of the media a “media literacy.”
In my personal brain-dictionary, I think of the “media literacy” as “a way to turn modern problem into something educationally reasonable.” It’s pretty enigmatic when the others hear this like, “What problem?” Well, I think the problem that is most difficult to repair is the usage of the technologies. I do have a problem of phone addiction myself; it’s like glued onto my hands. Scientists acclaimed that people are too obsessed with technologies that more people getting dumber every year, and I actually agree with them even though I am one of those people.
However, the new way of using the media and technology, so called media literacy, has changed those scientists’ claims because the counties have found a way that the students can learn while using their electronic devices. Now, more students and teachers are using the power of internet and technology to learn and teach; for example, many students are memorizing vocabularies with Quizlet, and teachers are using Microsoft to make powerpoint and Youtube to visualize their teachings.
May be this is why the world is becoming developed every year; people are creating their ways to make their issues, media, into something helpful for better future, media literacy. That’s is my own thoughts of media literacy.
Journal #2: Social Media
Social Media has become part of our daily lives in many ways. We use social media to socialize with the friends, to share our life styles, or to satisfy any other purpose. However, this addiction with technologies and social media has become too severe that usage of electronic devices has become our commonly concerned issue with modern days.
Last day, January 14th, 2016, I was dared to take a little challenge to my Honors Language Arts class. The challenge was not to use my electronic devices for social media; I couldn’t go to websites where I could stain my activities in Internet. Therefore, I was forbidden to go to Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, and any other social media. I thought the challenge was highly leveled, that it was almost impossible, so I planned on faking. However, I knew I had problem spending literally the half of my day using social media, so I was like, “Oh, whatever,” and gladly took the challenge.
First, when I came back from school, it was already 2:30 PM, so I only had one hour and thirty minutes until the start-off, which was four o’clock. One hour and thirty minutes was just too short time to fulfill my satisfaction, so I quickly got on my laptop and sent messages saying that I am trying to take the craziest challenge to my life. My friends of Twitter and ones of Facebook made fun of me such that the failure was already planned out and mockingly asked me that I would I even try. This frustrated me, so I answered them that I could do it; they did not look convinced at all, but I still thought the challenge was worth of trying.
When the clock hit four’o clock, I turned off my laptop and even phone. Off the phone won’t do any problem since I already alarmed all my friends that I was going to take the challenge. Since I couldn’t use my electronics, I got nothing to do, so I started with my homework early. When I was done with all my homeworks, it was 6:00 PM, and my dad was calling me for dinner. After eating dinner, doing my chores, and having quality time with my siblings, the time was already 7:50-ishes, so I brushed my teeth, washed my face and my hair, and dried my hair. After cleansing process, it was a after 8:30, and I took out my old alarm clock, which I put away after I got my phone, set up the alarm and prepare to go to sleep. When I checked the time before closing my eyes, it was around 9:00 PM, a lot earlier than my usual bedtime, 2~3 AM.
I finished my homeworks early. Therefore, I slept early, so I got plenty of sleep. I got to spend more time with my siblings, so I did get my entertainment. The time went faster than I expected, so I did not really had a time to miss my phone. Everything went out fine, and I actually felt satisfied with how much time of sleep that I’ve earned just because I did not use my phone. I was really happy with the challenge because it was fun experience, but I don’t think I will be doing the same challenge often; may be just once a half-year? But I definitely enjoyed it. It’s sad that not everyone couldn’t make it through challenge as I did because I bet everyone would enjoy seeing the result without their social media.
Journal #3: Sex, Stereotypes and Beauty
What is beauty? What is the standard of it? Everyday in our lives, we constantly face the judfements of beauty. These judgements are often done in Internet, social, and mostly, people themselves in the mirror. As the time passes by, the standard of beauty that is down on the media is becoming more impossible than ever.
Girls are crazed about their looks beacuse for me, in personal term, being beautiful means getting closer step to social acceptance. We girls would like to look at the way that our role models in the papers, such as magazine and more, do. However, in the papers, our roles models are too much for us to catch up to; even for the models themselves because their pictures fo through technological touches before they are printed out. Media make girls who are 6’7” tall and weighs 120lbs with perfect slender bodyies seemsaverage, and to include, our role models are often whown as a white girl, mostly blonde, with sparkling blue eyes and white clear teeth. The vision of media for girls is too common, that I feel like, in order to fo with the flow, I would have to cover my entire body with pale-skin-toned foundation, wear color contact lens, not eat for a month, and go through several cosmetic surgeries to make me look like a total different race. Aye, why don’t I just reborn until I get my figure just the way the media expect us girls to be? I mean, that seems a lot easier way.
Girls are busy idolizing the models in magazines, but they are missing how their idols are objected in the papers. I remember this impactful Korean commercial I saw in Youtube. The commerical had a beautiful lady wearing red tight crop top and short hot pants. Whenever I see commercials, I have this habit of trying to figure out what the commercial is advertising for, but I was completely clueless with that commercial. Next to the lady, a slogan that says “Small but worth watching,” that the same lady with red bikini showed, then another slogan came up saying “Small but hot.” There was no other way I could reacted with that commercial beside giving a big fat f-bomb. In the end, I noticed that the commercial was for a site where people can watch webtoons (comics that are presented in the Web) because the same lady with bikini took out a peanut can then started opening the top while holding it lowly; the camera zoomed to lady’s lower part because that was where the lady was holding her can, then I noticed the lady was holding a peanut can with the website’s symbol on it. I went to the website because I expected a webtoon site with those kind advertisement should have a lot of slangy comics, and to be honest, I was all in for those comics, not going to lie about it. However, when I reached to that site, I noticed there were only few zizzy comics and all the other comics were for all ages. What the heck was that advertisement for? I begin to feel infuriated. Gladly, I was not the only one to feel that way because there were bunch of news postings about that advertisement in a really negative way, and in Twitter, all the people, even the authors and cartoonists who are hired in the website sent twits to the website’s official Twitter account, saying that they are objecting a female. In the end, the CEO of the website officially apologize to everyone and took down, but even if the video is all taken down, the pictures that capture the commercial still goes around, and that would the punishment for that CEO.
It’s not just for the advertisement anymore. In K-Pop culture, Korea tends to favor the singers in a group to sing and dance, and while boy groups are all packed in cool uniforms and dancing fiercely, girl groups are showing most of their bodies and dance like a bunch of, hate to say it but, sluts. “Girl groups who can be the sexist win”; that’s what the Koreans are now commenting about K-Pop girl groups, and it’s so frustrating and embarassing.
Females are objected in sexy posture as if they are for guys to masturbate, and the real problem is that girls are fantasing to become like those females on the media. I really got no comment about this but I am sincerely hoping until the day when this will, at least, lessen.
JOURNAL #4: CLAIMS ABOUT DONALD TRUMP
Trump's son really didn't kill a kitten, the article said that it was his big dog attacking the small kitten, but it's still a rumor to begin with. In the end, it was just a horrible rumor to diss Trump and his blood of how horrific it is towards an animal smaller and weaker than them.
I usually think before I search up, and if it was THAT big of a deal, I would remember my classmates talking about it, and if I remember no such thing were discussed, I would search up for the more solid information, and realize whether it was fake or truth.
When I am searching for such big events I don't really believe even if I had a conversation about the event with my friends, my conclusion on thoughts becomes solid after I look up in the Internet and read every word of at least 2 related articles.
JOURNAL #5: Rebellion
JOURNAL #6:
When the certain actions went somehow wrong, people ask themselves and each other: “Who’s responsible of this concidence?”
Really, it’s normal for the outsiders to wonder whom the responsibility goes to, and whether they are the victim of the trouble or not did not matter. Yet, no actual answer is responding to the question because not even those who are involved and participated do not know the solution to it. It’s like a cycle of questiong and blaming, hilarious if you imagine the situation in your head.
Usually, it’s the authority figure who gets the blame, but as people dig deeper into the event, the blame moves to random person, whom the people contrived an unreasonable cause of the disaster and insisted that they are right. For example, the unforgettable disaster from 1933 through 1945, the tragic event I call myself a “Nightmare of World War II”, the Holocaust of course.
I’m saying these clueless informations and facts right now because I want to refer whether O’Brien is a villan or a victim for his actions torturing people for the Big Brother and the Party. Well, even if O’Brien was a victim, did he still torture people making them feel like dying would be better thing than all the unbearable torturing and suffering? Yes. So is he any different from the “actual” villan? Also, yes. Therefore, O’Brien is still considered as a villan, not a victim.
JOURNAL #7: Rethink about Media Literacy
For past few years, not only the technologies that have changed so far, the way people look at this change and the way people use this change have also.. changed. People makes Microsoft, Google Drive, or several websites like Smore in order to use the Internet and technologies in a way that benefits educationally. However, is it worth it at the end?
I am not saying that media literacy is a bad idea; it really is. When people are confused about a certain thing or not sure about whether they wrote correctly or not, they could use the technologies to look up for more solid information or correct their mistakes in their essay by using grammar checking website. For the past 18 weeks, I have learned that media literacy is just too easy way through, and is not working on me. And I have learned this by realizing how much easy way I had went through for all this stuff, such that I am taking too much advantages with using technology for my work. Media literacy takes a reconsideration from me in this class because when I think about something but do not quite remember well, I don't try to rethink, I quickly get accessed to Google for help, or I don't even think about it anymore. Sadly.
This class has been a lot different from other class because this class gave me so much time with technology while studying and working, which even the book reading could be done on technology instead of the paper copy.
I don't quite know about how to make the class better since a generation after generation, the students are going to be effected on technologies a lot more than my generation right now, so even if I think that the media literacy isn't the best choice to be done in a class, there is no way I could think about the better use.
Journal 8: Technology and Us
Technology addiction is pretty much controllable, and this is not because I faced the no-technology-for-a-day challenge I accomplished during the first two weeks of 2nd semester. My friends and I like to go to karaoke and sing and shout until we are worn out and can no longer make a proper sound of our voices. When we sing, I have noticed that we are busy having fun, and actually do not touch our technologies unless we know our rides are coming quite soon. We are not even videotaping, and that proves that technologies aren't the based option to have fun because I experienced that my own.
How am I going to harness the power? I would continue what I am doing, but to lessen than right now, it's quite hard for someone who is involved in a social group that was created throughout the Internet. However, in order to do that, I will be the first one to come up with a plan to meet my friends to have fun though I am an in-door person.