Self-Critique

I believe that my best blog posts were about open writing and criticism. I feel that they were my best simply because I felt passionate about my opinion and I guess my emotion or mood was my drive. I was a bit angry as I wrote those blogs because I had a target. They were both about awful and rude critics or people who make unnecessary comments about a subject matter. What I learn from these two blog posts is that having a strong drive on a topic can help in writing a meaningful statement. I mean you would not make a good argument if you argue over a topic that does not interest you or something you are not even passionate about. I also learn that if you have a problem with someone's statement, something that you do not agree with, you should respond to them in a courteous manner. If you show respect as you are telling the writer what you do not agree with then chances are you will be able to defend your reasoning better or learn something from it. Because if you end up angry and start becoming rude then things will escalate to unnecessary comments, like name calling and you may end up looking really stupid. So what I learn was to write with passion but make should all of your words come out of respect and nothing rude.

A blog post of mine that I did not think was so great was my preliminary essay post. If was a bit difficult since that post was basically my outline of my research paper. Well the main difficulty was finding information on my topic. During one of our class sessions, I realized that I had picked a pretty hard topic, which was on science and creationism. But I managed to learn a lot on each side. Plus I had to ask for an extension for this paper. The main reason that I do not like this post is probably because it brings back memories of me being stressed out over the research paper. Ironically, I did pretty well on the paper, so overall, I just do not like the stress! I have learn from my teacher that I should prioritize my work better by doing the most important work first then on to the lesser important work.

I can honestly say that my relationship with writing publicly has changed, I feel that it is relieving to write out your opinion. And I am not a big fan of writing either. But with these blog posts, it is as if everyone has a voice and a chance to share their view points. These blogs have made it more comfortable for me write out in the open for people to see. Mainly because I came to a realization that, in online public writing, everyone has the equality to write whatever and should not be mistreated in anyway. Overall, I did enjoy writing some of these blogs because they were mostly opinionated, and I am glad to be able to write about how I feel about a topic rather than analyzing someone else's opinion. Well even though I enjoyed writing some of them, I am more glad that they are done with! Merry Christmas!

Annotated Bibliography

I have chosen to respond to Amira Said's "Fame through YouTube" for my essay topic.


Slutsky, Irina. "MEET YOUTUBE'S MOST IN-DEMAND BRAND STARS." Advertising Age 81.32 (2010): 8. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Dec. 2010.

I believe that this source will help me in explaining that there is more to YouTube than ordinary people getting famous. Yes Ordinary people may get famous but others who get famous may be trying to make a living out of it. There are some YouTube stars who only make videos and have no other jobs. And so they must work even harder and how they get paid depends on their audience. This article goes in depth of how popular stars on YouTube are endorsed and how major corporations market their product(s) by working with these stars. What corporations may do is have the YouTube star in their advertisements, and how the corporations pick their star depends on how popular the star is with the audience (like the number of views per YouTube video).


Bounchareune, Julie. "Wong Fu Raises Awareness of Asian-American Stereotypes." Collegian (2010): 1-6. Web. 7 Dec 2010. <http://collegian.csufresno.edu/2010/05/10/wong-fu-raises-awareness-of-asian-american-stereotypes/>.

Another point that I would like to make is that YouTube has the power to change the perspective of people. Take diversity and stereotypes for example, this article will help me clarify about how a race can change their stereotypes. This article is about three Asian-Americans who have become popular and role models through making short videos or movies. They are known as Wong Fu Productions. They have broken many barriers in their community and throughout the world by overcoming stereotypes. They have stated that throughout the media, Asians-Americans are often portrayed as martial artists, math geniuses or imported car racers. In their videos, they star Asian-Americans with a different persona or part other than what was was stated above. It's to show that Asian-Americans can be more than what the public stereotypes them to be. This shows that YouTube can be a stepping stone to ending stereotypes.


Wade, Rochard. "The Benefits Of Using YouTube." Ubscure Article Directory 1-4. Web. 7 Dec 2010. <http://www.ubscure.com/Art/147037/10/The-Benefits-Of-Using-YouTube.html>.

Another argument that I would like to make is over how Ms. Said wrote that becoming a celebrity was much more difficult back then. I agree but there is a higher chance of discrimination from talent agencies or other corporations. They would automatically guess that the public would only want a White or African American to represent their products, and no other race should be celebrities. And who are they to say what the public wants and what they don't want, and that's why YouTube is great. It has the ability to give everyone a chance of stardom, it does not discriminate nor see what race is, just people. I mean even animals can become famous (I am talking about the many views that cats get, for some reason, probably because they so cute!) And not only people in America, but YouTube can expand to other countries, it can save agencies in looking for something that the audience wants. That's how it should be, the audience knows what they want, they do not need agencies or corporations for that!

Response Essay Blog

My response essay topic will be on Amira Said's preliminary essay: "Fame through YouTube". Ms. Said's primary argument in her essay is that it is easy for any ordinary person to be come famous, through posting homemade videos on YouTube, and that YouTube devalues fame, by making it accessible to just anyone. I, however, feel that it is difficult to become famous on YouTube. Even though it may be easier to share your videos, you still have to have something in your video that catches the audiences' attention. But before I go further, I would like to add that ordinary people have already become famous even without YouTube. Take William Hung for an example. He was just a contestant on the television program, American Idol. Anyone can have auditioned for American Idol, but it was up to the judges to see who would get to move up. Well Mr. Hung came up and sang, one of the judges was not pleased and did not allow him to move up. His singing was not the best, probably one of the worst. But he managed to catch people's attention, because his bad singing ended up being comical and funny to listen to. William Hung is now successful off of his bad singing, and before all this fame, he was just an ordinary engineer who sings bad. But now he's an engineer that sings bad that entertains people. And that's what fame is mainly about, the ability to entertain or gain people's interest. It is no good to use YouTube if you do not have the power to grasp the people's interest.

You do not necessarily need talent to be famous. What you really need is attention, if you get a lot of attention (say several million views on YouTube) then other corporations might what to market you and so they help you get your name out by selling products about you. So what I'm trying to say is that public attention outsells talent. But then again, who are we to say that people are talentless. Those who entertain people on YouTube may have a talent to entertaining people, by either means of being funny, or someone who can connect well with the public.

Another comment I would like to discuss is that even if you do get a lot of attention, chances are that it could just be a one time thing. Like Ms. Said's example with the little girl, Cody, who cried for her favorite star Justin Bieber. Yes, she may have gotten a bit famous and a chance to meet her favorite celebrity, but what happens if she cries for another celebrity that she is dying to meet. The probability of her succeeding a second time can be very low. Her audiences will just get bored, or even worst, bash on her for trying the same thing. Most YouTube celebrity may even work harder than non-famous YouTube stars. Those who become famous on YouTube usually depend on it for income and so they make videos regularly, and that takes a lot of creativity. So YouTube stars make videos weekly and have to come up with ideas to keep their audiences. What I'm trying to say at the end of all this is that creativity is definitely a talent!

Challenging Media

The video that I have chosen to refute in this blog post is Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power. One of the topics that this video discusses that I did not agree with was how they believe that Disney is shaping the children's imagination. I believe that history shapes how society should behaves not Disney, therefore Disney incorporates society's values into their movies. For example, Disney altered stories like Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, because the originals had culture values that were old-fashioned compared to today's culture. If Disney was truly in control, than they would have kept the original stories from the Grimm Brothers, which is far worst for teaching children values that would not be appropriate for this modern age. And not converting the story would save Disney a lot money. So this proves that Disney actually cares and bothers to make changes to their movies so that the movies would be more family friendly.

As for me, when I watched Disney movies, I did not think of anything about race or hidden messages. I was too into the story and wanted to see how the plot ended. I think that children back then watched Disney movies because the stories were just so captivating and interesting. The adult researchers that criticize Disney movies in this video were not children themselves while watching the movie. To me that is a big factor in questioning the researchers statement that Disney movies have negative messages for children. And to add, the little girls in the video seem like they were asked those types question about race; the little girls in this research video would not strike me as girls that would critically analyze a movie, but rather watch the movie to enjoy the plot, music and the characters.

Luckily, children of today are old enough to argue back and defend their childhood memories. Or course we will be defensive, you can even see it on the comments and the number of "dislikes" on that video. We are offended that people would try to ruin such an innocent thing. These researchers are very nit picky. They only see the cons, but the cons are definitely outweighed by the pros within Disney movies. One researcher interprets "Beauty and the Beast" as women giving in to angry men and that it was the women's job to find the goodness within angry people. She says that this is an unsafe message to teach young girls because it can put them in harms way of getting physically hurt. Well I can see what the researcher is getting at, but you can see it as being patient with others and that you should not fight back. I mean should Disney have Belle fight back? No, because that goes against what we teach our children about two wrongs not making a right. Plus Beast never physically hurt Belle and in the end Beast changed for Belle because he loved her so much. It was not just Belle, but Beast had to find it in himself to become a better person. And finally, one researcher's comment about Disney making women slim and more attractive was another concern. I do agree with this statement and Disney as been improving over this issue. But way back when, before Disney, that was how the stereotypical princess was viewed. I do not think that we should blame Disney for what society's past has promoted.

I can say that Disney movies have definitely changed through the years, and they are even better for children nowadays. My last comment that I will make is that if we ever want the media change, we ourselves must individually change the way we judge others in terms of stereotypes and other differences. The media follows values that are present in today's world.

Dissenting Voices: Pokemon

Something that I have read and did not agree with was a blog post about Pokemon. Pokemon is a children's television program that involves a young boy name Ash, journeying the world to catch creatures known as Pokemon. Pokemon are creatures that possess unique powers such as having the ability to control the elements and evolving to become stronger. Ash is on a journey to become the Pokemon master. The blog was trying to explain how Pokemon is evil or satanic. The author of this blog insists that Pokemon teaches children violence and encourages animal cruelty. He goes on to say that it is the work of Satan, that Satan is influencing children to become "evil". The author speaks about children becoming possessed by these "evil" Pokemon spirits. His example was that children were acting as if they were Pokemon themselves. I can honestly say that every children in their lifetime has played "pretend" before. Children have the tendency to pretend to be their idols or something that they are interested in.

The author goes in depth with how children become violent toward one another over the Pokemon card game, and that the card making companies only care about marketing and money. I do not agree because children will fight over any toy, regardless of what form the toy may be in. I mean toddlers fight all the time over toys like firetrucks. So does that mean that we should ban actual real firetrucks since the toys "promote" violence? I also think that it is unfair to generalizing that all kids will hurt one another over Pokemon. You rarely hear kids wreaking havoc over silly card games or t.v. shows. Companies market products that they think will get popular and that is exactly what they did. When children watch Pokemon it is obvious that they will want toys from that show, like for a keepsake or to own something that relates to the series to show that they are a fan.

I think that Pokemon is being attacked because it is so popular, which is understandable. Anything that becomes popular also becomes a threat. Certain groups of people feel uncomfortable when they see a fad becoming widely popular. They feel as if it will grow to the point where it will take over the world. What I mean by taking over the word is that the fad will have great influential power over it viewers. They get the notion that its viewers have been brainwash. In my eyes, it is nothing of the sort, kids watching the show are just interested, and just think about their favorite Pokemon and what kind of adventures that they would be having with their Pokemon. I also do not agree that it is an obsession that is out of control. Everyone has an obsession, this may be a bad comparison, but it is like having a crush on a girl/boy. You cannot stop thinking about the person, but does that mean that you are obsess and out of control? No, you can obsess a bit, but you would have to distinguish whether it or not it is a healthy obsession. And once again, we should not generalize one child's out of control behavior to every child in the world. It is not an unhealthy obsession if kids are also socializing with their friends about the show and who their favorite characters are. The children interact with each other by playing pretend, and in a way, it is getting the kids off the couch to be physically active.

And finally, it seems to me that the author of this blog does not research Pokemon well enough to see that the show teaches moral values. This show promotes companionship with the Pokemon and their trainers. In the show Ash has at countless times shown that he truly loves his Pokemon by taking care of them, letting them make there own choices and  has never used force or shout at his Pokemon. His Pokemon seem to care for him as much as he cares for them. I truly hope that the author of this blog will have a second opinion about Pokemon in the near future.

Online Interaction

So far, online interactions with my classmates have been going pretty well. It was hard at first because I had to get use to the transition. It was difficult at first since you can read the tone of any blog or comment differently. My problems with online interactions is that it does not have that emotional feel to it. The tone of comments are not definite. Whereas, in class you can get a better understanding of how your classmates feel about a certain issue. Another problem with online interaction is timing. Once you leave a comment on a discussion forum, you are not sure when your peers will comment back or how long you will wait, and vice-versa for your classmates. But if you are in class, you will get an answer quicker and your teacher is also there to help you. It is also easier to procrastinate if you are doing work online. You will feel as if you can do the work anytime, just as long as you do it before the deadline. So comments or interactions may come really late, however, if you are in class, you are given a set amount of time to interact. I guess being told what to do is best in this situation, but it is obvious that teachers would have to tell students what to do because no one likes to do what they do not want to do. My final concern is that it is easier to forget your assignments if you are not reminded, well not paper assignments, but assignments that involve interacting online with your classmates. Overall, I do like online interactions with my classmates.

What I like about online interactions with my classmates is that I do not have to go to class. You can choose to work anywhere you want at almost anytime. You can also proofread your blog and comments, you also get a chance to think of great comment or reply. The perks of being in class is that you can get your questions answered faster, but for the person providing the answer, it may be more difficult since they would have to think of it right away. So the perks of online interactions would be not having to provide an answer right away. Even though you may have to wait for a reply longer than you would in class, the time in between your comments and classmate's replies you can multi-task, like work on other homework assignments. Or you can listen to music as you are typing your blog or waiting for your classmates to reply. You can even watch a movie! I guess my point is that you can do whatever you want just so long as you are participating on the forums or typing your blog.

I love this hybrid class and I have recommended it for most of my peers to take it next semester. Mainly because you only have to go once a week and that teaches you to be more self-reliant. I mean as of now I am a bit behind on my work, but it is the consequences I deserve for procrastinating. I will admit that this is a problem for me but I feel it is a great way for me to learn how to prioritize my life. To me, failure is another chance to succeed.

Learning From Past Experiences

Depending on the situation I am in, I can tell whether or not that i have learned from my experiences. It also depends on my state of mind, my mood or how I'm feeling. Because I feel that it is a challenge for anybody to learn from an experience when they are annoyed, angry or just tired. It's best to be cleared minded and focus when you are trying to take what you gained from an experience to heart. Another factor that can determine how much you can get out of an experience is who or what you learn it from. It's a lot easier to accept that you learned something from people who you can tolerate and enjoy being around with versus people who you don't get along with. I mean you can learn from people who you aren't fond of, but you would conceal the fact that the person you dislike actually taught you something. Or you can learn from other people's mistakes, and it's more accepting when you learn a lesson from the person you don't like. Because you witness the person, who you can't stand, slip-up. This may also include people who you don't know. If you see someone mess up, you say to yourself "I'm glad that's not me" or "I'm not doing that". I believe that you can also learn from an experience unknowingly. A great example of this is anything dealing with trial and error. For instances, you are given three different colored boxes. In one of them contains a coin. You go through and open each box, the ones that don't have the coin, you know that you'll have to avoid those colored box. You based your pick on the right box by eliminating the boxes that you have already looked through. Trial and error can also apply to those who are practicing techniques on certain physical exercises. Similar to gymnasts training on their flips and handstands. They repeat the technique until they get a sense of balance and trust for their body. And in no time they are able to perfect their performance.

As for me and how I learn from experiences, well there's a mix of learning from my own experience and learning from others. I can remember learning from other people better than remembering what I learn on my own. Aside from that, whenever I acquire a new skill or idea, my view of the world changes. I believe that in life change in one's self is inevitable. You are who you are through what you experience. So I don't see that it is a concern if learning is transformative or that beliefs may be altered. You learn what feels write to you and if you don't agree you do research until you are right or until you are totally convince of whatever the answer may be. I also think that everyone has a unique way of learning lessons, or that's what everyone wants to believe. Nobody wants to learn a life-changing lesson the same way as another, they want learn it in an exceptional way. And so I judge others of how they learn differently than myself. However, I view that learning involving logic is different. To me logic is step by step and there is usually only one way to arrive to an answer. So yeah, there are somethings that I can talk to others about and somethings that I can't.