April Winslow's blog

The Original Coverpage

Posted April 29th, 2008 by April Winslow

Didn't know how to add this to portfolio besides this way.

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Portfolio Coverpage

Posted April 29th, 2008 by April Winslow

Didn't know how else to put this into my collage... ha

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Final Video: Holocaust

Posted April 29th, 2008 by April Winslow

For the revisions, I got rid of the color images interspersed throughout the black and whites. I tried to create a better fade in/fade out for songs and I added some text boxes into some of the pictures for quotes in the song 'Spies' by Coldplay that I thought were especially strong/relevant. I also changed some of the text boxes throughout the actual video to show some remembrance to the lives lost. I hope you enjoy!

Sources attached.

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Final Portfolio

Posted April 29th, 2008 by April Winslow

Portfolio

Table of Contents:
Original Cover Page
Final Cover page
Original Playlist
Final Playlist
Playlist Reflection
Original Character Collage
Final Character Collage
Character Collage Reflection
Original Poem Collage
Final Poem Collage
Poem Collage Reflection
LitWiki Yellow Wallpaper Annotations
LitWiki Reflection
Comments
Comments Reflection
Final Podcast
Podcast Reflection
Original Video
Final Video
Video Reflection
Blog Contributions
Blog Reflection

Original Cover Page: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/272
Final Cover Page: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/271

Playlist: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/3
Revised Playlist: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/255

Reflection: I actually liked this assignment because first of all, it was a tremendous challenge. You really have to find songs that have deeper meanings to them in order to tie them to the story itself. It was also nice to try to separate the songs into musical compositions rather than just lyrically. Music is a huge part of life and I feel like it was very appropriate to make a sort of soundtrack to the stories we've read. I tried to pull from all different types of music and I feel that the music that I used is somewhat deep-- most of the songs offer a deeper meaning and the music behind the songs tells a story I think. For my revisions, I really tried to go back and listen to every single instrument in each of the songs, and visualize the sheet music. (I used to play an instrument) I think of the low notes as evoking more sadness than the high notes. I switched out the Eisley song for a Lion King instrumental that had randomly come up on my itunes. I feel like this addition to the playlist really strengthens it because it takes a lot of the focus of lyrics and more onto the tempo and instruments. In the end, I found this very challenging. I really wanted to do well on this assignment but I didn’t know how to explain the songs without some plot summary. It was difficult to not use too much plot summary. I really enjoyed this assignment though because it was a challenge. I never realized how difficult it was to put songs to books for movies and have them mesh well.

Collages:
Practice Collage: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/264
Original character: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/64
Revised character: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/125
Final character: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/266

Reflection (character): I had a lot of difficulty with his collage. I have a lot of problems with over-doing things and making them appear busy so for my revision I decided to take a lot of things away (dollar bills) which may have been super distracting. Besides that change, I also blurred the edges of the picture of the village in Sierra Leone. I picked Blood Diamond and Danny Archer because first off, I thought Blood Diamond was the best movie of 2006. It was powerful, intense, emotional and action packed. I felt as though ANYONE could enjoy this movie; because there is a love story behind all of the politics and action. It hosted a lot of powerful images which is one of the main reasons I chose it as the story in which to base my collage on. Leonardo DiCaprio in this movie was spectacular. He was nominated for two Golden Globes for the movie for crying out loud. He just does an amazing job of staying in character- he's hard when he needs to be and then soft and caring. He is also a very dynamic character. At the beginning of the story, he was all about finding the diamond and using Soloman. But after meeting Maddy Bowen and realizing that he should work with her to improve the better good of the people in Sierra Leone, and by stopping the trade and sale of blood diamonds, he changed a lot. At the end of the movie Leonardo (Danny Archer) ends up giving Soloman the diamond back when he dies (of course Leo dies in every movie); and Soloman goes to England to reveal his story to those involved in blood diamond trade and Maddy publicizes everything. The dynamics of Danny Archer made him a perfect candidate to do a collage on especially due to the circumstance and actual story. My final revision for this collage was simply a little more blending of the village into the black background. I got a lot of positive feedback after my first revision, so I didn’t find it terribly necessary to change much. I really enjoyed doing this collage, as it was a challenge.

Practice Poem: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/263
Original Poem: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/67
Final Poem: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/126

Reflection: I think the best part of this assignment was seeing people's comments and being able to go back and revise things that may have not been as effective in collages as we previously had hoped. At first this was very difficult because it took awhile to get used to the GIMP program; but once I learned how to do it, it was really fun to play around with to get the effect I wanted. I chose the song Redemption by Bob Marley because I was asking my friends for advice on songs or poems that they felt could be translated visually and as soon as I heard these lyrics I was like AHA! The words ‘mental slavery’ really spoke to me as something that could be reflected in a collage. I went about this by putting chains around a brain. I wanted to make this collage very striking to the eye.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.

I represented atomic energy with the nuclear bomb behind the brain and put a clock in the corner to represent ever present time. I had a lot of fun with this particular collage because I felt like the lyrics provided much to the imagination. The only real revisions I made on this was to separate the chains by making some more transparent and therefore look farther away in order to add depth.

Reflection: I didn't so much enjoy doing the annotations. I found reading everyone else's to be quite useful, but I find it difficult to put things in laymen’s terms so everyone else besides me can truly understand it. I liked the idea of this assignment, but annotations in themselves were boring. I think another reason this assignment wasn’t one of my favorites was because I got so bored of The Yellow Wallpaper even after only one class. I thought we could have used a more interesting story to annotate: perhaps the Misfit. The Yellow Wallpaper was just so depressing and it made me feel so bad for the narrator. The Misfit on the other hand would have been more fun to annotate, because we each could have offered our own opinions on the actions of the Grandma at the end through the annotations. I would have liked to see everyone else’s opinions/interpretations of that story written out on paper.

Reflection: I liked commenting on everyone's pieces because it made me analyze everything that everybody put out. I enjoyed commenting on the collages especially because I like looking at things from an artsy point of view (checking out complementary/warm/cool colors, etc.). It was just really fun to try to help the classmates out as well. I thought the comments by others were extremely useful when editing collages. Students expanded upon each other’s previous comments and this really helped pinpoint the problems and successes in each collage. Good assignment!

Final Podcast: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/205

Reflection: I had a lot of fun doing this podcast. It was so laid back. It was nice being able to go back and look at the stories we had already read and compare them all to one another. I feel like we also went more in depth with this final podcast as well, in identifying themes, discussing quotes and analyzing the settings. I also thought we did a nice job by discussing the author’s intentions and what may have held them back (historical context). The work for this project was very evenly distributed. It was altogether very enjoyable and not terribly stressful. I definitely recommend doing this one again. I definitely prefer this premeditated podcast to the surprise ones because of the preparation and I simply felt more comfortable discussing these ideas with my group, rather than with some of the students in the class that I didn’t know as well. I liked this assignment a lot!
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/add/blog

Video:
Original Video: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/180
Final Video: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/268

Reflection: I enjoyed this assignment. I have never worked with a movie editor before so I learned a lot in that department. I had a lot of difficulties with the sound and editing it so that one song could fade out well and the other wouldn’t fade in too quickly. I am still not sure if I mastered all of that. For the revision, I took into account the comments that you made and nixed the color images. I do feel that you were correct and that they broke up the flow of things. This shortened the video itself, but I feel like it turned out being more successful. I liked my song choices for this video. It was very difficult though, finding a song to play through the first 2:30 of the video. I wanted a slow song that evoked sadness. I asked around my sorority house and played some songs for people and we did a mini-vote. We ended up choosing Spies by Coldplay. I think there is a lot of pain evident in this song. The second song is sort of an obvious choice for any tribute. I wanted to leave the message that the Holocaust will never be forgotten. Nor will the lives that were lost. I wanted to make the video as if one was traveling through the holocaust. Beginning with the Polish ghettos, to the trains, to the selection of workers, to the barracks, to the crematorium/gas chambers, to the bodies, and finally to the liberation and memorials. I tried to follow the tale of Elie Wiesel through his nonfiction life story Night.

Blog Contributions:
1) Red Convertible: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/194
2) Where are you going? Where have you been? http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/169
3) A Good Man is Hard to Find: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/164
4) Birth of Venus: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/4

Reflection: I really enjoyed being able to post comments on the blog after leaving class and our discussions. It allowed the stories and other students' comments to sink in. I just thought that technology used in this class really lent itself to studying these stories modernly.

Final Playlist

Posted April 29th, 2008 by April Winslow

Playlist

Playlist:

1) Elton John: Candle in the Wind
I picked this song first because at the beginning of the story, we learn that Amir's mother died in childbirth. Therefore the lyrics follow the story perfectly:

"And it seems to me you lived your life/Like a candle in the wind/Never knowing who to cling to/When the rain set in/And I would have liked to have known you/But I was just a kid/Your candle burned out long before/Your legend ever did" and also "Though I never knew you at all/You had the grace to hold yourself"

This obviously pertains to the story and the development of the character of Amir because the fact that he doesn't have a mother really damages him emotionally throughout the story. Elton John performed this song at Princess Diana's funeral and I felt like he really captures the feelings following death. The song evokes a lot of emotion because I feel the piano creates a very serious mood which allows the audience to focus on the lyrics. The song is slow as one would expect from a sad song such as this, but it is also uplifting. The lightly played piano though also provides some hope; which pertains to Amir's ability to continue on in life even after the death of his mother.

2) Randy Newman: You've Got a Friend in Me
I picked this song because a main theme of this story is the undying friendship between Amir and his makeshift slave-friend, Hassan. Amir states throughout the book that he knows that Hassan would do absolutely anything for him.

"You just remember what your old pal said/Boy, you've got a friend in me"

The lyrics represent their friendship and Hassan's complete devotion to Amir and their friendship. The actual music/piano of this song follows the story as well because it sounds happy and it bounces along and reminds me of two young boys playing together on a hot summer day. I picked this certain youtube video because it merely a piano solo and I believe it definitely represents this time of Amir's life. It is such a joyful song, and puts one in a a good mood by only listening to it. When I listen to it, it reminds me of two young boys playing together.

3) NOFX: Mean People Suck
I picked this song because it speaks about Amir’s relationship with the antagonist of the story, Assef. Assef is simply a mean person throughout the entire book, so therefore these lyrics really relate to the story. Assef rapes Hassan early in the book as Amir watches on. Although this song doesn't really capture how awful of an experience that would be, I feel like the song says all it needs to. The song is loud, rowdy and sounds angry and I feel like this really matches this part of the story. We learn later in the book that Assef was sexually abusing Hassan's future son Sohrab. The bass line at the beginning of the song alludes to the darkness of this song. The speed of the song is more cold than a slower song would have been. The focus of this song is the lyrics and the guitar. It's a short song, that says all it needs to.

“Mean people suck./Mean people suck./They Suck!/They Suck!”

4) Queen: We are the Champions
Amir enters into a kite ‘running’ contest to win his father, Baba’s affection. And it works. I picked this song because it represents the triumph and excitement that Amir feels after winning.

“We are the champions/No time for losers/cause we are the champions."

The song starts out very slow; it builds up much like Amir and Hassan build up their talents; then , right at the point that they win I can imagine hearing this song blaring right at the chorus. It is such an uplifting song. The pick-up of this song is great for this part of the story. This song evokes pride in anyone who deservedly has it played for them. This song reminds me of my childhood after winning the Swim Championships in my city. We played this song. It was the song that was playing up as I was waiting to hear the results of my team and that is when I knew. I feel that the emotions that I felt (that I can't really put into words...besides excitement, pride) are exemplified in this song.

5) Lion King Instrumental

If this song were to be visualized, I would see the fleeing of people. You can hear the worry and desperation in the strings. They strings are whining as if saying "I have to get away" while the horns come in and sound like they are chasing the violins. It's truly remarkable. I actually had another song in this place then this came up on my itunes and I was like perfecctt!! What this song is supposed to represent throughout the Kite Runner is the invasion of the Russians (the horns) and the fleeing of Amir and his family (the violins/strings) to America. The final stop of the song represents the freedom of the family.

6) Stevie Wonder: For Once in my Life
Amir meets a young woman named Soraya in California and he shortly marries her after asking her father for permission. The song is very upbeat and fast which represents the excitement Amir feels when he meets Soraya. The guitar sounds happy and excited. Stevie's smooth powerful voice is perfect for any love-based song. It sounds hopeful and excited for the new happenings in Amir's life. The lyrics are definitely a focus of the song, but also the quick tempo and instrumental in the middle just sound so happy. This happiness is definitely how Amir feels when he meets the love of his life.

“For once in my life/I have someone who needs me/Someone I needed so long/For once unafraid/I can go where life leads me/And somehow I know I’ll be strong”.

7) Shirley Horn: Here’s to Life
Amir learns that he and Soraya are unable to have children. Along with this, Baba, Amir’s father dies after a long battle with lung cancer. The song represents the emotions that Amir probably feels following these two tragic events. The jazziness of this song and slowness represents the sad time that the family is going through. The deep voice of Shirley Horn gives the song a blues feeling and the instrumental parts seem to evoke more sadness. The opening violin and vibraphone start the song with a sad feeling, along with the addition of the piano. The song sounds hopeful though with the runs of the flutes during the the chorus; it is a tribute to life, to the life of Amir's father. Shirley evokes sadness due to the slow tempo and the long breaks between lines.

“So here’s to life and all the joy it brings/Here’s to life, the dreamers and their dreams/Funny how time just flies/How love can turn from warm hellos to sad goodbyes/And leave you with the memories you’ve memorized/To keep your winters warm/There’s no yes in yesterday/and who knows what tomorrow brings or takes away.”

8) The Fray: Fall Away
I chose this song because Amir's past is finally catching up to him as he learns about his best friend Hassan's murder. Also he learns about Hassan's son from Rahim Khan, Amir's god-father. Sohrab is in an orphanage, being abused by Assef, Amir's true enemy. Amir finds out that he has to go save Sohrab from this orphanage and bring him back to America. Amir also learns that Hassan was blood related to himself through his father. Hassan was actually Amir's half brother. The Fray's song really shows how much regret can follow someone on later in life. the hard pressing piano and guitars in the song alert the listener at the prelude of the song; then leave as soon as the words begin. Fall Away by the Fray is a very sad song that has repetition that really drives into the soul about how the past can truly haunt somebody. The slow beat of this song with the introduction of the piano and the percussion creates a mood of guilt and sadness.

"You swear you recall nothing at all/That could make you come back down/You made up your mind to leave it all behind/Now you're forced to fight it out/You fall away from your past/But it's following you/You fall away from your past/But it's following you/You left something undone, it's now your rerun/It's the one you can't erase/You should have made it right, so you wouldn't have to fight/ To put a smile back on your face/

9) Third Eye Blind: Jumper
I chose this song because its about a close friend attempting suicide. This happened to Amir in Kite Runner. Sohrab, depressed and hopeless, attempts to kill himself. Amir finds him and realizes that there is a lot more emotional damage in Sohrab's heart than he expected. Sohrab distances himself from Amir until the very end of the story when Amir introduces Sohrab to kite running, his father Hassan's favorite past time and the two finally connect. The low notes of the guitars brings about feelings of sadness and the desperation in the voice of the lead singer is what really ties this song to this part of the story.

"I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend/You could cut ties with all the lies that you've been living in/And if you do not want to see me again I would understand/I would understand/The angry boy a bit too insane/Icing over a secret pain/You know you don't belong"

The Red Convertible

Posted April 15th, 2008 by April Winslow

I thought this piece of work tied into all of the other stories we've read earlier in the semester. Central lying themes included change, war, and relationships between family members. The part I didn't like about this story was the fact that Lyman attempted to use the red convertible to bring his brother back closer to him. I felt as though he should have used his relationship as this instead of an physical object. I thought the end was particularly interesting: he wanted to reunite his brother Henry with the red convertible in the river which is why I think he put it into neutral and rolled it in. I also thought he may have been ridding himself of the car so he doesn't have those memories of his brother, the car and himself. It maybe just allowed him some closure.

Video

Posted April 8th, 2008 by April Winslow

I did my video on the Holocaust; I tried to simulate it as if someone was going through what Elie Wiesel went through. Elie Wiesel wrote the non-fiction novel called Night based on his experience as a boy turned man in Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Germany during World War II. Some of the images are very graphic, so you may want to show some discretion. The images follow a trend; beginning with the humiliation of the Jews in Poland, to the taking them in the trains to the concentration camp to the separation of families, the evidence of the gas chambers and crematorium, and the memorials of the Holocaust. I used the song "Spies" by Coldplay which evokes a lot of sadness and then the final song is by Sarah McLachlan called "I Will Remember You"; added for obvious reasons.

Citations:
Night, Elie Wiesel: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/NightWiesel.jpg
Star of David: http://www.nisbett.com/symbols/images/star-d1.gif
German Soldier Cutting Beard: http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/gifs/Sh09.gif
German Soldier Forcing Jew to Hail Hitler:
http://isurvived.org/Pictures_iSurvived-4/Jews-humiliated2.GIF
Women with Bags: http://www.personal.ceu.hu/students/97/Roman_Zakharii/deportation.jpg
Jews on Knees: http://www.newspiritualbible.com/images/JewsHumiliation-Vienna.gif
Women on Train: http://www.aish.com/holocaust/overview/graphics/he05n21c.jpg
People Sitting on Train: http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/pics/greatwar/armenian-train1.jpg
Entrance to Auschwitz: http://www.veganism.mobi/auschwitz.jpg
Color Entrance: http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/member/keizo/photos/auschwitz.JPG
Auschwitz sign: http://www2.dsu.nodak.edu/users/dmeier/Holocaust/auschwitz1.jpg
Entrance: http://www-pe.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/holocaust/images/auschwitz_l.jpg?Log=0
Train into Camp: http://www.holocaust-history.org/auschwitz/intro-columns/ground.jpg
Selection: http://www.hmd.org.uk/files/1150930662-69.jpg
Arrival at Camp: http://isurvived.org/Pictures_iSurvived-4/Buchenwald-NewArrivals.GIF
New Arrivals at Auschwitz: http://chromatism.net/current/images/trains2.jpg
Children behind Wires: http://www.jewishmag.com/84mag/happenagain/title.jpg
Women in Barracks: http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Poland/Auschwitz/OldPhotos/WomenLiberated....
Drawing of Barracks: http://www.remember.org/then-and-now/images/b2a-barrackskosc-a.jpg
Men in Barracks: http://www.elmhurst.edu/~susanss/childlit2002/Schmidt/barracks.gif
Clothes: http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/T/B/auschwitz29.jpg
Man: http://www.holocaust-education.dk/images/billeder/51736.jpg
Crematorium: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Cremator_inside...
Man in Crematorium: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/fileadmin/historyLearningSite/ausch...
Black and White Crematorium: http://www.photo-exhibits.com/europe/poland/thumbs/t_auschwitz_I_cremato...
Entrance to Crematorium: http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/photos/auschwitz1_cremo_entrance+large...
Gas Chamber: http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Poland/Auschwitz/Auschwitz25.jpg
Gas Chamber 2: http://zioneocon.blogspot.com/auschwitz_I_gas-chamber_bw.jpg
Mass Shooting: http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/10248.jpg
Mass Grave: www.geocities.com/xiquis86/holocaust/bodies.gif
Single Man Shot: http://www.holocaust-history.org/hungarian-photos/jpg/11-1106.jpg
Graves: http://library.thinkquest.org/12663/media/img/hadamar_graves.jpg
Mass Grave: http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/mass_grave1.jpg
Children: http://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/photo/lc/image/70/70262.jpg
Man after liberation: http://holocaust.glasgow.gov.uk/images/holocaust_11.gif
Hospital: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005131&MediaId=...
Corpses on Wagon: http://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/photo/lc/image/74/74994.jpg
Survivors: http://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/photo/lc/image/74/74994.jpg
Excitement: http://bennettkids.homestead.com/files/dachau_liberation.jpg
Memorial: http://photos.viczhang.com/images/20060813131959_20060813-holocaust-memo...
Memorial: http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/images/gelvan_holocaust_memorial.jpg

Where are you going? Where have you been?

Posted April 1st, 2008 by April Winslow

Okay, this was the creepiest story I've ever read. And what put it over the edge were the constant creepy phone calls during our class! .... I think that one girl was right when she said that Connie is sort of getting what she asked for. As a 15 year old girl, Connie was caught up with comparing herself to June, and wanting to be found attractive, etc. And Arnold Friend provided her this attention, albeit negatively. I think Connie does a whole bit of growing up throughout the story; at the beginning she seems like a young naive girl and then by the end of the story, she seems to sacrifice herself for her family by 'going off with Arnold'.

I think this was an interesting story to read because this sort of thing does indeed happen. There are scary people like Arnold Friend in the world. I guess I enjoyed reading this story, although it really freaked me out because I feel like I'm still in the age that is vulnerable to this sort of thing.

What Liz said about removing the 'r's in his name was very interesting too that Arnold Friend (an interesting name in itself) could be changed into An Old Fiend. He just seems like a creeper and not someone I'd ever want to encounter in real life, obviously.

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O' Connor

Posted March 31st, 2008 by April Winslow

What an odd story. I read this last year in my AP English class and I still can't seem to find what is so great about it. I realize that it is sort of a mystery and can be interpreted in many different ways in regards to the Grandmother's "epiphany" toward the end, but aren't all stories supposed to be thought provoking? The Grandma displayed a few good qualities, but I feel as though the bad qualities overshadowed the good. She is selfish first and foremost, and even at the end of the story, I felt that she was selfish. It's debatable as to whether she is indeed a dynamic character or not, but my general opinion is that she is static. She was looking out for her own well being at the beginning after learning of the Misfit's escape and then at the end, trying to wiggle her way out of the Misfit's grasp by proclaiming him as one of her 'babies'. She only does things for her own good; not for the good of God, or mankind, etc. I feel like the brats and the Grandma in the story did get what they deserved though, as morbid as that sounds. I wonder if anyone sympathizes with the Grandma and disagrees with me though... I just think she was full of crap, honestly.

1 comment

Portfolio (Revised 4.15.08)

Posted March 14th, 2008 by April Winslow

Portfolio

Cover Page:
Overall I really enjoyed this class. The laid-back atmosphere did make it difficult for me to get everything done on time, though. I personally like classes with a lot of structure, which doesn’t lead much to the imagination. I realized I was going to complete everything, but I simply prefer a little more structure. I loved that this class was based around technology. Technology really is the door to the future and it was great being able to learn how to work programs like GIMP. They were challenges in their own right.
The goal of this portfolio for me was to put out clean, interesting pieces of work that evoked emotion. I tried to pick strong texts or movies in order to do so. Blood Diamond is a movie in which the audience really has to think in order to follow everything. It also is action packed and delivers a powerful message. I first heard about this movie on Oprah when they did a story on the actual sell and trade of blood diamonds. I didn’t think I would enjoy the actual movie as much as I did. For the collage project, I went through a lot of ideas; however I stupidly did not save them all.
I liked the blogging. My parents blog a lot for politics and they also thought it was so neat that we were basing our class around a blog. It really left the class open to discussion outside of the actual class period. I liked the little blackboard chats that we had in class, although sometimes they got a bit hard to follow because everyone was trying to input their ideas. I thought the podcasts were a good idea, although I think quizzes would be more effective grade-wise (as to actually determining if someone read and understood the story). My favorite assignments of all semester were probably the collages. It offered us a lot of freedom to do what we wanted, and allowed us to be artsy without being messy (because it was on the computer). I love graphic designs but had never actually done anything like it. It proved to be a lot more difficult than I expected (putting my thoughts onto paper/screen). I felt the most difficult aspect of this was creating a full, clean composition. Although I took art in high school, I never really had the freedom to do what I chose without much guidance so it was hard not going too overboard (which is what I tend to do with artsy things).
As I stated earlier, I didn’t enjoy the annotations, but this was probably because I really didn’t like the story “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Through this portfolio I tried to show sort of an evolution of my technological prowess. I think there is definitely a huge improvement seen through my revisions of collage and Playlist.

Playlist: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/3
Reflection: I actually liked this assignment because first of all, it was a tremendous challenge. You really have to find songs that have deeper meanings to them in order to tie them to the story itself. It was also nice to try to separate the songs into musical compositions rather than just lyrically. Music is a huge part of life and I feel like it was very appropriate to make a sort of soundtrack to the stories we've read. I tried to pull from all different types of music and I feel that the music that I used is somewhat deep-- most of the songs offer a deeper meaning and the music behind the songs tells a story I think.

Collages:
Original character: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/64
Revised character: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/125
Reflection (character): I had a lot of difficulty with his collage. I have a lot of problems with over-doing things and making them appear busy so for my revision I decided to take a lot of things away (dollar bills) which may have been super distracting. Besides that change, I also blurred the edges of the picture of the village in Sierra Leone. I picked Blood Diamond and Danny Archer because first off, I thought Blood Diamond was the best movie of 2006. It was powerful, intense, emotional and action packed. I felt as though ANYONE could enjoy this movie; because there is a love story behind all of the politics and action. It hosted a lot of powerful images which is one of the main reasons I chose it as the story in which to base my collage on. Leonardo DiCaprio in this movie was spectacular. He was nominated for two Golden Globes for the movie for crying out loud. He just does an amazing job staying in character- he's hard when he needs to be and then soft and caring. He is also a very dynamic character. At the beginning of the story, he was all about finding the diamond and using Soloman. But after meeting Maddy Bowen and realizing that he should work with her to improve the better good of the people in Sierra Leone, and by stopping the trade and sale of blood diamonds, he changed a lot. At the end of the movie Leonardo (Danny Archer) ends up giving Soloman the diamond back when he dies (of course Leo dies in every movie); and Soloman goes to England to reveal his story to those involved in blood diamond trade and Maddy publicizes everything. The dynamics of Danny Archer made him a perfect candidate to do a collage on especially due to the circumstance and actual story.

Reflection: I didn't so much enjoy doing the annotations. I found reading everyone else's to be quite useful, but I find it difficult to put things in lamen's terms so everyone else besides me can truly understand it. I liked the idea of this assignment, but annotations in themselves were boring.

Reflection: I liked commenting on everyone's pieces because it made me really analyze everything that everybody put out. I really enjoyed commenting on the collages especially because I like looking at things from an artsy point of view (checking out complementary/warm/cool colors, etc.). It was just really fun to try to help the classmates out as well. Good assignment!

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