Semiotic Analysis: Cultural Trends

For my semiotic analysis I chose to look at and analyse my cell phone. After looking at my cell phone from a varitey of angles and answering the questions, I learned and discovered many things. I think a cell phone and other types of electronics sums up what our culture has turned into. Cell phones are small, easy to carry around, handle, and use. This small device seems to be attached at our hips and ready whenever we need to whip out a quick text, change our facebook status, or call a freind. Cell phones are basically everything we need--they can hold and take our pictures, email friends, look up and search the internet, direct us when we are loss, and now even purchase thing buy swipping your credit card. Don't get me wrong, not all cell phones are this heavily equipped, but in only a matter of time they probably will be. This small, portable, and durable little device says that our world is lazy and we expect so many things to come to us in two seconds. We have taken advantage of electronics and especially cell phones and expect things to be at the tips of our fingers. We don't know what we would do with out them and sometimes I wonder that we value them too much. Yes they are a great thing to have and have advanced the world we live in, but to a certain extent. I think that cell phones really do say a lot about our world and the things we value.

Political Dimensions of Language..the words presidents use!!

After reading and scanning through many of the presidents we have had throughout the numerous amount of years, I came to the conclusion that many of the presidents used and still use many of the same words. President Obama still uses the most popular word  "Nation" in many of his speeches. Following right behind are the words "Government", "World", "People", and "Peace". In my opinion, most of these presidents chose these words because several of them mean or refere to the same thing. For example, Nation and World are very similar, they may not mean the exact same thing, but they both have a big picture in mind. Maybe this is trying to say that America really has not changed that much over time, we happen to be fighting for the same things just in much different ways. One thing I did seem to notice was the word "Government" was almost always the most popular word used all the way from Washington to Hoover. "Nation" was used, but rarely ever the most popular amoungst them all. It was not until Franklin D. Roosevelt when "Nation" started being the most popular word used (including Obama). This is something that caught my attention and I wonder why this was the case. Overall, this was a very interesting activity to do; I had no idea that these were the words that happened to be used the most in presidential speeches.

How Do I Write!!

Writting is something that people either chose to do or find themselves having to do. Some people find writing to be a chore, while others find the joy in sitting back, taking the time to relax, flipping open a notebook, grabbing and pen, and writing! Some people write a lot, and some people barely write at all. Filling out their name on a piece of paper and answering a few questions could even be a stretch. With all of this in consideration, many people like you and me seem to find ourselves stuck exactly in the middle, not knowing which way we lean towards more.

Writing when not asked, not when the grade depends on it at least, is always much more enjoyable. The stress and preasure to write a flawless paper is no longer and we are now able to sit back, take a breather, and relax. Writing on my own time, at my own pace is something that I love to do; however, when it comes to something that is demanded of, I do not always enjoy it. I feel the preasure  to whip out something marvelous..something that may not even sound like me. Don't get me wrong, I really do love writing, but it seems to me when I am trying to write something to maybe "impress" everyone..it ends up worse!

I write much differntly for different types of work. When I am writing to myself, I do not care what I say or how I sound, I simply just write. Whatever comes to mind and whatever I am thinking, I write it down. I wish when it came to writing formally, a paper for example, that I could do the same. I over think everything and find myself running in cricles, round and round. I type something, delete it, type it agian, and stare at the screen. It is an overwhelming process that I wish I did not have to go through. I wish I could sit back, relax and act like I am writing to myself. I constantly hit dead end after dead end, and right when I get going, I stop.

Taking the pressure off of me while writing might be something good for me to do, I need to stop caring soooo much about what I am saying and how I am saying it and just write. I think the more I write the better I will get at this. And until that day comes, I will continue to stare blankly at the screen wondering what word I should type next!!

Secret Girl By Molly Bruce Jacobs

For my non-fiction book I strolled into the public library and stood infront of the non-fiction books, deciding which one I wanted to read. After staring at them for over ten minutes, I chose Secret Girl, a heart clenching story of mistory child, written by Molly Bruce Jacobs.

Anne, part of the Jacobs family, was born a twin. Anne, however, was born with hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and automatically sent to assisted living houses, hospitals, and specail treatment facilities. Her sisters Molly (Brucie) and Laura (her twin) did not even know she exsisted until they were much older. Anne was abandoned by her family and rarely even visited. She recieved occasional gifts for christmas and her birthday, but Anne had no idea what a true family even was. Her parents failed to even accept her as a child, the most they did for her was pay her monthly fees and make sure she had a place to live. After years and year of passing, Brucie is struggling with her life as well. Never getting along with her mother and suffering from depressing and alcohol abuse, she was at a huge loss in her point of life. Overcoing treament facilites, attending AA meetings, and trying to prove to everyone that she could take control of her life agian, Bruice, saught out to meet and truly learn who her long lost sister Anne is.

After months of visiting, taking Anne out to lunch, and eventually letting her come to the house, Brucie and Anne's relationship grew and grew. The Jacobs family did not necessarily aprove of what Bruice was doing, for the biggest excuse they could come up with was.."it is too hard to see Anne and know what we had to do." This did not stop Brucie, she continued to seek out and learn more about Anne. With time Anne was spending nights over at her house and learning what a real family is actually like.

Now this is a very short and brief summary of the book! There is a ton of bits and pieces that are missing that really help throw this book together. I really liked how the author was speaking from her own expeirences and memories for everything she was staring and explainging were things she encounterd. Molly Bruce Jacobs really intigued me throughout the whole book. There really was not a moment where I was bored and found myself wonderig off into another world. She explained everything in great depth and I really could imagine and picture most everything that was happening.

The was she described Anne put a smile across my face. There was never a dull moment in Anne's life, she looked at everything in such a positive manner. Anne thought her family was "on vacation" basically her whole life. Everytime she was visited by Bruice or her family she would ask how the vacation was. This made me sad because her parents did not even have the decency to visit their own daughter. In fact, many parts of this book made me sad. I did not like the way Anne was treated and how she was deglected by her family.

I could go on and on about this book. There is so much that I am leaving out, but it truely was a great story about two girls that really have much more in common then one would think. It was a fast pace read and I really never set it down. I would difintily recommend anyone to read Secret Girl.