Film critique: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

(Eric."Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." 22 October, 2008. Online image. Yahoo Creative Commons. 21 February, 2010.)

Question #1 from "self" unit: What forces shape our sense of "self"?
Answer: The forces that shape our sense of "self" can be directly related to our social interactions with other people. For instance, many people have several different "selves" which they use in different situations in an attempt to please everyone they meet. In Joel's case, meeting Clementine changed his "self" dramatically, mostly in the case of his personality.

Question #2 from "self" unit: Is there a "self" that I can control? If so, who is doing the controlling?
Answer: Sigmund Freud created the iceburg theory, which stated that the human "self" is made up pf three components. The tip of the iceburg being the Id (the part of the "self" with natural drives and wants). The middle and the bulk of the iceburg is the Ego (the part of the "self" that is the conscience), and the underwater base of the iceburg is the Superego (the part of the "self" that balances the Id and the Ego). The reason that the superego is described as "underwater," is because it is our unconcious, and the part of us that we can not control.
Using this knowledge as a basis I would say that the "self" can both be in our control and out of our control. For some people, the Id is in more control of their body, whereas for others they are able to control themselves through the use of their conscience.

Question #1 from film critique: What is the central conflict of the film?
Answer: The central conflict of the film is that, after having a huge fight, Joel's sweetheart Clementine erases him for her memory. In a very emotional state Joel makes the rash decision to erase her from his mind in return.

This conflict is both internal and external. It is internal, because after the mind erasing operation is underway Joel decides that he no longer wants the treatment. It is also internal in the sense that he is fighting with feelings of sadness and confusion.
The conflict is external, because even after Joel decides that he wants to call off the operation he has no way of communicating with those in his environment as he is asleep.

Question #2 from film critique: Adress the "WHY" (i.e., the filmmakers "deeper meaning"). What is (are) the message(s) to the audience?
Answer: The message that I find in this film is that nobody should ever erase a memory, whether it be sad or not. The reason that this is important is because while bad memories are just that, bad, they are a way of teaching people lessons and preventing bad things from happening in the future. As shown by this movie, Joel immediatley becomes attracted to Clementine when he meets her for the second time after the operation. Because he had his memory erased there was nothing to stop this from happening.

- Tia Lambert '13

Human nature in a song.

Lily Allen - The Fear
The video.

I chose the song "The Fear" by Lily Allen for this blog, because I feel like her satirical lyrics reveal a lot about the truths of human nature and the self (the "material self" especially). The first verse:

I wanna be rich and I want lots of money.

I don't care about clever, I don't care about funny.

I want loads of clothes and ----loads of diamonds.

I've heard people die when they are trying to find them.

And I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless,

'cause everyone knows that's how you get famous.

I believe (and feel free to disagree with me) that the artist is pointing out the faults in our society. There are, in general, two views of human nature. The first would be that men are naturally good, while the second would be that men are naturally bad. Lily Allen would take the latter position. In this verse, she is describing people as making their "material self" their highest priority, even at the sacrifice of their morals and values. The chorus:

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore,

and I don't know what I'm meant to feel anymore.

And when do you think it will all become clear?

'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear.

This verse ties in with the course Order and Chaos. I believe that the artist is saying that while people may seem very orderly on the outside, their lives are actually very chaotic. This is true of many people. Those who want to be thin and model-like. Those who want to have large muscles, or those who want to be successful in life. Everyone faces these challenges, and everyone handles them differently. Of course, in this song, Lily Allen is criticizing those who give up their morals and beliefs for something like fame.

(Lily Allen. "The Fear." It's Not Me It's You. Parlophone, 2009.)

- Tia Lambert '13

A micro-analysis of speaking.

(nicasaurusrex. "Words." 8 February, 2008. Online image. Flickr. 5 February, 2010.)

1) Describe a small speech community to which you belong: What language(s) and/or dialect(s) do you regularly use (=the code), and what are the social norms for their use? Note the kinds of interactions you all engage in over one "typical" day: What are the topics discussed, the settings, the purposes, the "key," the types or genres of speech, etc?

Response: The speech community that I am about to describe belongs to that of my close group of friends. We are very diverse in our speaking, even though some of us live in relatively close areas. I think that some of the different dialects we use are interesting. For instance, one of my friends says "melk" instead of milk, and "harrible" instead of horrible.

We regularly use English when we speak, though some times a word or two of Spanish slips in, and often one friend speaks French. I think it is because she does not want us to understand what she is saying, haha. As for dialects, we are all unique in how we speak, however, out of the four of us I probably have the most distinct dialect as I come from New England. For example, I tend to use the word "wicked" a lot, which is apparently not something that people from New York tend to say. The social norms for the use of our languages and dialects are restricted solely to our social group. I would not dare to speak so casually to someone of high position, and neither would my friends.

Topics discussed: We discuss many different topics on a daily basis. One certain conversation that we had today was about the Mr. EC pageant that had occurred prior.

Settings: The setting of this particular conversation takes place in my dorm room. The people present are my three friends (two female, one male) and me. We are all familiar in this setting, and can sit back and talk about whatever we desire without being judged by those outside of our social group.

Ends: When we have conversations, they are mostly to entertain. This conversation was a reflection of the event. We are all very opinionated, and so it is very important that we all have a say in what we thought about the pageant.

"Key": The tone of our conversation was generally a happy one. There was one occasion, when one of my female friends was talking about a contestant, where the tone changed to that of disappointment. It is funny to see and hear my friends when they try to imitate others. They will often change their voice to something hilarious sounding.

Genres: The genre of our conversation was generally one meant for entertainment, though I am tempted to call it an amassment of opinions. At times it was serious, but not for the majority of the conversation.