Blog 6

Every relationship is different, whether if it’s with a parent, a boyfriend or even an animal. Each relationship is made different by how both people interact with each other. For this blog we were given the opportunity to choose our topic of discussion, I chose relationships. I chose to write about parent and teenage relationships because I believe those are the most important. Where do I begin…

Growing up I always remember having my parents right beside me with everything I did. I remember my mom driving to me to and from soccer practices, I remember my dad coming to school for career day, impressing all of my friends as we intently listened to him talk about sky scrapers, and the process him and his team had to go through to build them. I remember my mom surprising me, when she came to school to eat lunch with me and my friends. I grew up very close to my parents. Nothing could ever separate me and my love for them.

Years have come and gone and my relationship with my parents continues to stay the same and grow stronger. Yet it seems that when I look back at how things used to be and how they are now, I can’t help but think about what my relationship would be like with my parents if we had not formed that special bond when I was young.

Now my parents and I still have our differences and disagreements. We are not perfect. I look at all of my friends and their relationships with their parents, I think about how they treat their parents and how they’re parents treat them. Sometimes I am not moved at what I see because it’s the similar interaction I am used to with my parents. Other times unfortunately I am completely and utterly shocked at what I see.

What is it that most Teenage and parent relationships don’t have? What is missing? It can be a lot of things, from disagreements to personal reasons that were never resolved. The biggest thing I believe poor relationships between parents and teenagers lack of is communication. Communication is key to every relationship; it is always the most important thing to have and maintain in a relationship.

In recent years teenagers are known to “hate” their parents and want to have nothing to do with them. It is surprising and rare when you find a teenager who takes time out to spend time with their parents. When really us teenagers should be honored to spend time with our parents, they are the ones who have put a roof over our heads, who put cloths on our backs, who are there when we fall, ready to pick us up once again. So why are the majority of people surprised to hear about a healthy relationship between adults and their teenagers?

Communication is the most common. I’m not talking about texting or talking on the phone or using Facebook as a source of communication, I am talking about real interaction with each other.ch Relationships are formed when two people come together, learn about each other and find similar interests that they can use and enjoy to be around each other.  Now day’s teens are so caught up in the newest trends and who’s doing what that they forget to include their parents in a daily conversation. Over time this causes separation between the two and can cause a variety of things to happen.

Without communication relationships just do not work, relationships that are based on communication form solid foundations for example, trust agreements, respect and obedience. This is what teen and parent relationships should look like. Communication starts at a young age, where it can be taught and not forced upon someone.

Blog 4

Steven Spielberg vs. George Lucas

The movie industry is our world’s entertainment source. Without it we would not have nearly as much imagination as we do now. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are two famous movie producers. They share similar qualities and possess the same goals. Spielberg has one of the most influential film personalities and he is one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. George Lucas is famous for his well-known movies, Star Wars. Although both men are involved in the movie making industry they come from different backgrounds, and they have different styles of film making.

George Lucas, a diabetic, was raised in Modesto California. His father was a stationary store owner and he had three siblings. Growing up, especially in high school, Lucas dreamed of being in drag car racing. His plans were to become a famous racecar driver. These dreams were later crushed after a severe car accident that caused Lucas to change his views on life. This led him to enrolling in the University of Southern California film school where he began he interest in film making. Throughout his career, Lucas made many films and his most well-known film was Star wars.

Steven Spielberg is known as one of the wealthiest film makers in the world. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1946. He attended California State University Long Beach but later dropped out to pursue his entertainment career. He was always interested in the film/entertainment industry. Spielberg’s first major directional effort was The Sugarland Express (1974). This film marked him as a rising star, & allowed him to become an international superstar among directors. However if Spielberg feels the work is not meeting his standards he will back out and remove his name as a producer. His dog Elmer starred in several of his films including Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the third kind (1977). Spielberg’s father served in the World War II in South East Asia.

Lucas and Spielberg both used their many talents to create and direct successful movies that have changed America. Lucas created Star Wars that was a huge success and Spielberg has created numerous amounts of movies that have all been successful. Both film makers have made a difference in our world by expressing their love and talent and creating movies that have fascinated our world today.

Lucas states, “I am the father of our Star Wars (1977) movie world - the filmed entertainment, the features and now the animated film and television series. And I'm going to do a live-action television series. Those are all things I am very involved in: I set them up and I train the people and I go through them all. I'm the father; that's my work. Then we have the licensing group, which does the games, toys and books, and all that other stuff. I call that the son - and the son does pretty much what he wants. Then we have the third group, the Holy Ghost, which are the bloggers and fans. They have created their own world. I worry about the father's world. The son and holy ghost can go their own way.”

Lucas creates movies that are fictional and have a unique yet different and strange story line that fascinate viewers. He captures their attention by using his creativity and using it to appeal to the audience.

Spielberg states, “I think that the Internet is going to effect the most profound change on the entertainment industries combined. And we're all gonna be tuning into the most popular Internet show in the world, which will be coming from some place in Des Moines. We're all gonna lose our jobs. We're all gonna be on the Internet trying to find an audience.”

He feels that if movies were taken away what we people would have left for entertainment. It is sad that had to depend on Movies and TV so much to the point where if we don’t have it we are not capable of entertaining ourselves.

Lucas and Spielberg share a lot of similarities and differences, more so similarities since they are in the movie making industry, they’re different styles of movie making and creative work have attracted many people  and fans that love watching their movies/or shows.

Blog # 2

When you think of music your first thoughts are usually poetry, sound and lyrics. Different music artists have different styles of how they write and make their music sound. What is it that attracts and turns us off from music? Some people say it is the way it sounds; others say it is the lyrics and how it just speaks to them. Whatever it may be music has a huge influence on people especially our generation. These days’ teenagers can’t go a day without listening to Lil Wayne or Drake. Certain music has certain influences on people. It depends what the lyrics talk about and how it relates to someone.

You can take a song for example, Friday Night by Katy Perry, and the lyrics talk about what goes on during the weekend; parties, drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. What makes the song so popular is the message that the song portrays, that it is acceptable to live every Friday night like Katy Perry sang about. Then there is another song like, Light up the Sky by The After’s, It talks about how God’s grace and Love is all you need to be happy. It takes your mind off of the wrong things and helps you meditate on things that are good.

Sometimes music producers/music artists use lyrics to get certain points across to their fans and the world. They take their feeling and opinions and turn them into lyrics. Sometimes artist use their lyrics to express how they feel about lyrics. This can be a bad and good thing. It can be bad because if people disagree with the artist, it could hurt his/her career. It could be a good thing because one artist’s opinion that is turned into lyrics has the ability to reach a wide general audience; it has the potential to raise awareness on certain issues which could bring people together to strive towards a collective goal.

Rock against Racism was a mass campaign against the sudden rise of extreme racism in urban Britain in the 1970’s. Although it did not put an end to racism it mobilized hundreds of thousands of people and was a leading factor in the decline of the National Front’s proportion of the vote in the 1979’s general election. This was used in a good way that helped promote the decline of racism.

These days you hear in a lot of hip/hop music about President Obama and even Michelle Obama. This is neither a good or bad thing, but more of an informative way of talking about politics through music. When you hear music that involves any kind of politics it is interesting to listen and hear how an artist takes his/her opinion and turns it into something that has a catchy tune and how it flows together for you to create your own opinion.

I think music helps us realize things from a different perspective.   

Blog 1

Being an AP English language student requires a lot of reading and writing skills. It forces you to go beyond what is required in just reading a book or just writing an essay. Much more is expected from you. I like taking on challenges such as these and in the end feeling good about the finished outcome. In all of my English classes through the years I have learned that to be successful, you need to be smarter than what you read and to be able to put yourself in the authors point of view. By doing so this allowed me to learn all the different facets of life knowledge.
When I read , it usually takes me a while to finish a book. Not because I am a slow reader but because I can not stand finishing a book with unanswered questions. Finishing a book knowing every detail, plot, climax, ect makes me feel accomplished. One of those job well done feelings. Every book has a story, obviously. I like to think of it as every book has a story but every book has a meaning as well. There was reasoning and thinking that the author had to go through while he or she was writing it, that’s the part I like to find out and that is one reason I believe it means to be a reader.
Reading for me isn’t just about leaning new things or adding on to my vocabulary, reading also teaches simple things that can help you in other areas in your life. Now I am not talking about reading the “How to…” section in the Glamour magazine, yes reading makeup tips and weight loss articles is always something that a girl can use to benefit herself, but I am thinking more deeply than that. I read an article once, about a young Amish school girl who along with other Amish school girls were kept hostage in a schoolhouse by a local truck driver. The girls name I cant remember, but the article said that the girl told the truck driver to take her own life in exchange to let the other schoolgirls go free. At the end of the article it said that the truck driver ended up shooting all of the girls. Including the girl who offered to give up her life for the other girls to be set free. After reading this article, it forced me to think about my own life and what it means to have a loving heart. It helped me become that much more of a better person.
Reading takes a lot of impacts on my life, school readings, novel readings, newspaper articles, even magazines. They all seem to find a way to connect what I read to how I live. Whatever it is that I read, understanding, relating and incorporating the text into every day life is what being a reader means to me.
Its Important to understand what is going on in our world today, you can not know everything by watching TV. Reading helps with this, not only because its more personal but its more informational’ which makes reading that much more important.
I love to read and I love knowing endings to stories, figuring out the authors style of writing and most of all being able to say I read that. If I had to choose anything about being a better reader it would be, to become a better analyzer.