Schedule of the Week of 1/24/201to 1/28/2011
Great Ideas
Monday: Finish The Bacchae Performances, Begin Protagonist film
Tuesday: Finish Protagonist film, In-class essay on The Bacchae (organizational structure)
Wednesday: In-class essay on The Bacchae (execution and peer editing)
Thursday: Marxism introduction (lecture) and readings, Introduction to “ideology”
Friday: Marxism continued and the application of a Marxian critical perspective
Great Ideas
Monday: Finish The Bacchae Performances, Begin Protagonist film
Tuesday: Finish Protagonist film, In-class essay on The Bacchae (organizational structure)
Wednesday: In-class essay on The Bacchae (execution and peer editing)
Thursday: Marxism introduction (lecture) and readings, Introduction to “ideology”
Friday: Marxism continued and the application of a Marxian critical perspective
Blog Post for the Week
Last week I asked you about masks, in the spirit of asking you to comment on a theme related to the content of the week's class work. This week we continue this trend and, as we are beginning a discussion of Marxism and Marxist criticism with its importance on an economic interpretation of the world, I ask you to tell me how the economic structure, especially the implicit understandings which define one's perspective of the world (one's "ideology"), affects your understanding of a text. This text can be a work of art, a play, a film, a television, really any creative work.
A common complaint about texts is how unrealistic they can be with their cliche happy endings. I usually take the position of "maybe unlikely, but not impossible" and suspend my disbelief. Our ideology determines how "realistic" a text is to us. It also is what helps us relate to characters in the text, or it's over-lying message. When a text matches up with our ideology in that we find it realistic and sharing our view point then we are far more likely to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteCallie Stribling 1/2
Most people who share a similar societal upbringing and background would be able to similarly interpret a text, based on their previous notions and built-in view of the world. Ideological influences in the way we respond to a text is most of the time unnoticed, because we are so used to responding to a text that way. Most texts have very predictable plots--at least, a particular society's texts share that in common. This is because the society has a generated view of how the story should run, even before the story is written. The specific details within the story may surprise, but the way things turn out is always the same. Just because a storyline is predictable, however, doesn't mean that it's unsatisfying to the reader/audience. Because we have a set notion of what we want to see, we still find the plot's turns satisfying because they conform to our society's ideals, as well as our own ideology.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Zhang
Period 1/2
Economic structure can determine the way that a person grows up, and can also have an impact on what they are exposed to and what their intrinsic morals happen to be. This makes up their implicit understanding of the world, or in other words, their ideology. When someone is reading a text, they will relate that text to what they know or understand about the world, and as different people have different understandings of the world, different people can interpret the same text in different ways. "Texts" can include any works of creativity such as literature, film, works of art, etc. Usually when someone finds a piece of art they really like, it is because they understand not only the plot and the dialogue, but also because they understand the why behind the making of the art.
ReplyDeleteAlexa, remember that "texts" doesn't ONLY include works of human creativity INTENDED as texts, but often the most telling works to analyze are those that are not intended. What better way to examine the underlying ideology animating a culture than to look at texts produced more unconsciously?
ReplyDeleteI've always felt that if someone agrees with a particular text or enjoys it, they will be more patient with it which will only deepen their understanding of it. But one's ideology and how they were told to believe/feel what's right is dependent on other things, one of these being their economic structure. If a text talks about or encompasses something that someone is more familiar with, then they will have a deeper ideological understanding on what message it's trying to convey as well as a stronger opinion on the work's message. These types of responses are usually unconsciously made and our opinions are created from them.
ReplyDeleteAiden Kahn, 1/2
In certain films I, and most people, hate a cliché ending or plot. I have been so exposed to so many of these types of films, books and speeches that I begin to second guess looking/hearing/reading it in the first place. Many people can agree with me and tend to push aside the deeper meaning (if it has one) of the text because it usually doesn’t relate to our ideology, that being that life is flawless. Our “ideology” either keeps us from reading farther into it or leaving the text as it is. When a text means something to the person and can relate to it then they will look farther into it, if not then the reader has no point. The deeper the connection between the reader’s ideology and that of the text the more enjoyment one will get from it.
ReplyDeleteSebastian Canizares 1/2
America's economic ideology is one that encourages doing something yourself without getting outside help, a sort of "get 'er dun" attitude. For this reason, many Americans find it easy to identify with a character like Michael Weston from the extremely un-thought-provoking TV show Burn Notice. This character follows his own set of rules, works and makes money without much help from others, and distrusts big government, all fundemental American values. These themes are all part of the greater American ideology of independence and individualism, and that is why American viewers are able to identify with a character like Weston.
ReplyDeleteThe ideologies of our society, that is, our perspective on the world based on our experiences and upbringing, affect how we interpret a text. When I watch a movie, that is, Black Orpheus or The Day of the Locust, I am inclined to be keen of characters whose traits are more intertwined in today's ideology, that is, they have the qualities that society prefers.
ReplyDeleteSofia Dyer 1/2
(this isn't by Anna, I'm just just using her computer)
When people look at different texts the judgments they make, due to their ideology, are generally dependent on their childhood. A large portion of the time an individual will believe the same things his or her parents do, and they will have the same views on critical topics. When children are taught one way, they see that way as correct. So when looking at different texts, works or art people may take away different meanings. Religious people will probably see some part of the text as being an allusion to God or something sacred to them, while atheists will examine the same text and see no allusions at all.
ReplyDeleteEmerson Curtis 1/2
The major effect of economic structure seems to be the placement of a family or individual into a social class (i.e. lower, middle, and upper class.) When one is placed into this class, they start to think and act like the class they are placed in. Because of this their morals and standards may change, as well as the way they look at people from other classes and people from their same class. Not only does this include 'real life,' but in movies, stories, even music different people take away different things or take a different stance on the subject.
ReplyDeleteCaleb Gross 1/2
Our ideology, mainly acquired through our childhood, can affect many things. It affects our whole lives, including how we view texts. It mainly affects how much we value a text. Like some other people said, it affects how much we believe what a text is saying. But in a lot of cases, a text is not necessarily trying to convince us to believe anything. There is also a difference between believing something and valuing it. Emerson talked about an atheist and someone religious. If an atheist, a Christian, and a non-Christian who was raised to respect history were to be examining an old copy of the Bible, the atheist would probably not believe it, and probably not value it, the Christian would probably believe it and most likely value it because they believe it, and the non-Christian whose ideology includes a respect for history might not necessarily believe it, but they would probably respect it. So our ideology affects how much we value a text.
ReplyDelete--Gabi Hadad, 1/2
Similar to what Emerson said, I think that someone's ideology has a lot to do with their parents influence on them. For example if I didn't grow up in a Christian household like I do now, I don't know if I would be religious at this point in my life. Another not so nice example, which doesn't apply to me, would be a child growing up watching their parent(s) doing drugs. This, in turn could lead the child to do drugs. What you learn as a child sets your moral standards and establishes your ideas of right and wrong. So when looking at texts you will apply your own morals, and possibly put yourself in the place of one of the characters and think, would I do that in that situation?
ReplyDeleteRyan Rash 1/2
I think that society economically places us in a certain role. For example, the standard family man. He goes to work, provides for his family, and lives an average life. Most of society craves what they can't have. So the family man places an exciting life on a pedestal, and it affects his preferences in literary works. He would more apt to enjoy something about a secret agent with an extraordinary life, or something equally exciting. Whereas someone very poor would prefer something that includes an ideal, somewhat wealthy life full of happiness. People don't want to see their own lives portrayed in a creative manner, and this affects their understandings and interpretations.
ReplyDeleteKatelyn Alexander 1/2
Our ideology is greatly influenced by our surroundings and who we interact with most from birth to now. The most vital role in this equation being our parents. Before we formulate our own perspective and understanding, we latch onto theirs and the environment they provide for us. This leads our ideas to be somewhat skewed at first. However, as we grow older we begin to digest things we are exposed to, such as creative works, differently. After formulating our own opinions and once we have more control of our ideology, our understanding of text can be more objective or, if we wish, subjective. We have a broader history to draw from when deciphering our understanding of texts and how we value them and the impact they have on us.
ReplyDeleteThe economic structure that a person grows up with effects their ideology because the way that a person views anything is based upon their experiences as a child, whether they had a chance to live in a nice house, or if they had to work hard for anything that they wanted, just as a couple of examples. This will affect the values that a person has to what actions and objects are the most important in life, which could change how a person sees any text.
ReplyDeleteJenna Lang 1/2
ReplyDeleteWhen we read something, or watch something, or really take in any information, it is filtered through our brain. The way our brain processes this data is based off of past experiances: We will try and match what we see with what we have previously seen, and extract that particular information. For example, the other day when I walked into my Math class there was, on one of the blackboards, the words "Lane + April" were scribbled on. This struck me as odd, as my birth month is April and my name happens to be Lane. I immediatly saw this and asked "Why is my name and my birthday on the blackboard?"
ReplyDeleteBut, reasons aside, it is still an example of how my perspective of the world affected what I thought of a particular text scribbled on a blackboard. My perspective of the world being, in this case, that I'm Lane and my birthday is in April. To pull an example out of thin air, Callie who's birthday is in September would not have had the same reaction as me: Callie probably would have assumed some pairing relationship between someone named Lane and someone named April. This serves as a good example of how someone's perspective affects that person's understanding of something: Callie and I have a different perspective on the world, and likewise, we see this event differently.
-- Lane Kolbly, 1/2
If we examine the Bible and look at the various Christian off shoots over the ages we can see an example of how different societies can interpret the same text. Undoubtedly everyone reads the exact same book but some choose to emphasize different points over others based on their own culture's needs. For example, during the Civil war the Christian Confederates justified ownership of slaves through a passage in the bible that allowed for ownership of slaves as long as they were not from your own country. People also tend to prefer books that they find it easier to identify with than works they can't. During the Civil War the two most common books carried by the confederate soldiers were The Bible and Hugo's Les Miserables (a story about another revolution in France). To the soldiers they saw themselves in the student's plight and therefore must have taken it to heart.
ReplyDeleteKira Strzepa 1/2
One's ideology is there collective group of thoughts and opinions on things, which is determined by previous experiences and actions. People develop there own personalities that create their mind set. This becomes their ideas of what is good and what is bad and what they like and dislike. This determines what is normal to them as well as what is weird.
ReplyDeleteSo once someone develops these ideas and opinions on things, they have a mind set that tells them whether something is normal or not, good or bad, funny or dumb. When someone reads a text, or sees a tv show or hears a song, they decide whether or not they like it based on several different things. Is it cool to like this text? Does it interest me? One example of ideology of a student affecting the way they see a text is that often when books are assigned to be read by schools, students appreciate the book much less than they would if they decided to read it on their own. This is because they are told to read it and they are being forced to, which decreases their mental appreciation for the text.
--Jesse Moritz
5/6
One's ideology depends on how, and where they were brought up. The way a person perceives a text is affected by their ideology. For example, a person who has grown up in a family that is not very well off will have a different perspective on a text about poor people than a person that was raised in a family that was wealthy.
ReplyDeleteSam Kaspar
Pd 5/6
Ideologies of our society or our perspective of the world can greatly affect how one can interpret a text or film. I feel that if the person's ideology can connect deeply with the text, then the person can get more meaning about that text and can alter how we feel about that text. For example, when we read or watch a film about two people who fall in love and get in one argument but eventually get the cliché ending, many of us don't walk away from it as some one who was deeply moved by the movie because honestly, we all know that life is much harder than it is depicted in movies. But for example, when I read the book My Sister's Keeper, I felt that I connected deeply with that book, and I think others would too, because it connects with societies ideology that life isn't easy.
ReplyDeleteThe economic structure of a given society affects how its people value work, money, which goods have more importance than others, how human life is considered. 19th century England thought nothing of 5 year old working in the mines. Therefor, economic structure affects our concept of right and wrong. Text can evaluate different stand points and a Marxist interpretation would offer another reading.
ReplyDeleteThere are as many "readings" of a work as they are people. People with the same ideology would just have more similar readings.
Sandra Norwood
Period 1/2
I think that a person's ideology is affected by many factors. Some of these factors are things such as, ethnic background, their parent's ideology and religion and their social status. For example, when I was reading Dante's Inferno in my English class I understood what was going on because of my christian ideology. Being raised in a catholic family I already had an understanding of this kind of ideology. Another example would be a person living below the poverty line. I'm pretty sure that their ideology would not at all be related to religion. Their point of view would probably pertain to finding a way to survive through the day.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Mendez, 1/2
My example isn't really about economic structure affecting one's ideology, it's about education, which could be related. Whenever I read magazines or see shows/movies about middle school or high school experiences with cliques or bullying or other adolescent cliches I find it hard to relate because I have grown up going to magnet schools where typical high school problems aren't our normal problems. A typical teenager might be the most worried about fitting in with the popular kids in their school, whereas I, and probably most of my peers never have that fear cross our mind and are rather more concerned with scrambling to finish our mountains of homework. Because most of my growing up in the past five years has been in the sheltered space of two magnet schools, I don't know if that has skewed my real world perception, and when I get thrown into the real world during college if I'm going to find myself less concerned with my homework and more concerned with being bullied or fitting in.
ReplyDeleteGabby McRoberts 5/6
Someone who grew up in America may look at the fashion of a foreign country as strange. Like the fashion in Germany, many of the citizens both young and old still sport lederhosen on an everyday basis, however if ever worn in America, these clothes would be mocked. In Japan, teenagers' creative fashion is encouraged, and the wackier the better, which may seem a little crazy to most kids here, where magazines and television define "what's in style." Usually our ideology is obtained through the environment that we grow up with, and the economic structure plays a role in that process. It affects our views upon the world, which can influence how we view and interpret any creative work.
ReplyDeleteAmber Mangalindan 5/6
I completely agree with many of the above comments concerning the difference in nationality or class and the way various groups of people see the world. Another factor I find to have an effect on the way we participate in media is age and the era in which we live in. I recently watched the movie "An Education" with my grandmother, who was approximately the same age as the main character in that time period, and our reactions to the movie were totally different. The parts of the movie that I thought made it unique, it turns out, were not the same as what my grandmother thought made it different. I was surprised that our generation gap made so much of a difference in our opinions.
ReplyDeleteKatie Pastor, 5/6
I believe that because of our Ideology, we view texts with our own personal filter that says "this is good, this is bad". But sometimes this filter can easily overlook something that is actually good. This ideology is really based on our upbringing. But this is not always the case. The Existentialist could say that we have to accept our decision to believe in one thing or another, which is true. For example, I grew up in a Republican Household, so I became republican, but I always had the choice to not be republican.
ReplyDeleteI think that your understanding of a text can only go as far as your ideology and knowledge extend. You may come across a text that connects with your personal ideology and you completely understand. This happens because consciously or unconsciously the creator of the text likely had a similar ideology. While the background you have shapes your ideology it is not as significant as the ideology you eventually reach. Your lives may have been completely different, but through a series of choices you both reached an outlook on life that clearly shows through in your text. Ideology is what gives texts enough significance for us to stop pursuing meaning and appreciate something that reaches out and connects with us.
ReplyDelete-Shannon Plunkett 1/2
One's ideology is what shapes that person’s understanding and interpretation of certain pieces of text. For example, if you were to compare two people's opinions on an American show like American Idol, their opinions would vary greatly depending on where they live in the world and their economic standing. Using the same example, an audience living in a capitalist country such as the U.S. would be more appreciative of a show like American Idol in comparison to an audience living in a communist country like North Korea. The communist country, North Koreans in this example, would view the show as a total waste of money because of the fact that they have less money than Americans and can’t afford to spend it on luxuries like entertainment television. Instead they might use this money for more important things such as food and shelter, which is expected of a nation that is used to sharing everything. However, since Americans do have the time and money to invest in such an idea, they’ll gladly watch and enjoy this show. Therefore, different cultures and personal backgrounds greatly affect our ideology and perspectives on pieces of text. We each take on a certain stance on a piece of text based on our background, culture, and society as well, which is why our opinions are very unique.
ReplyDelete-Ivana Correa 5/6
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne's ideology is basically just a collective group of thoughts or opinions. These thoughts are determined by things that have happened in the past. Individuals therefore develop their own opinions and train of thought. This then becomes their ideas of what is and is not rational (what they like).
ReplyDeleteThe opinions that are developed tells whether something is normal or not, good or bad. When someone reads a text, or sees a tv show or hears a song, they decide whether or not they like it based on their first instincts. One example of ideology of a student affecting the way they see a text is when novels are assigned to be read in school. Because they are forced to read it, they may not like what they are reading as much, little along pay attention to it or appreciate it.
~Raeneisha Cole
Periods 5/6
ideology is the concept of ideas shown through text, but everyones ideology towards certain text of art is depicted by how the person was grown up around the certain text. for an example a coke can, can be just a can that contains a cooling refreshment or for those who think in the ideology of art will see the can as an abstract thing that symbolizes something other then a can of soda.
ReplyDelete~danni biddle 5/6
In some ways, the common, shared beliefs of a community may be considered its common sense ideology. For example, a group of people living near the wilderness might share the ideology that it is not wise to venture into the bush alone and at night. Conversely, city people, for the most part, might believe that it make sense to look both ways before crossing a street. So environment can be a causal factor when the basis of one's common sense ideology is being developed. And once developed, these very frames can act as a foundation supporting one's beliefs and certain judgements that can act as a persons overall understanding of a text.
ReplyDelete- Noe Mina 1/2
I think a person's ideology definitely plays a role in how a person can understand a text. For example, if a person is brought up from an extremely Christian background, they most likely find it difficult to understand or approve of the ideas on human evolution. Everyone's personal ideology makes it hard for them to eliminate any bias they have to foreign concepts. The bias serves as the main hindrance in understanding those foreign concepts.
ReplyDeleteDanielle Devers
Great Ideas 1/2
Ideology certainly effects how a person is able to understand a certain text. The understanding of a text may be prohibited or enhanced by a person's beliefs and background. In the case of a person raised in a conservative place with religious parents, it might be hard for them to accept a text supporting gay marriage or something of the sort. When our personal beliefs are challenged, we seem to shut out the opposition and chose not to try and understand it. Even if we do get past this and chose to understand something, we still may not be able to fully interpret it based on our ideology. If our ideology is instead congruent with a certain text, we may have special insight into it or agree with it more. This could prevent us from challenging it and therefor also prohibit our full understanding.
ReplyDelete~Hannah 1/2
Ideology affects our whole outlook on life, and it also affects what we glean from a text. Take foreign films, for instance. Hollywood loves to take Japanese and Korean horror films, for instance, and remake them into American flicks. The reason Hollywood feels the need to remake the films for American audience, is because the original films are aimed for a different audience with different views and different ideologies. If Hollywood could remake everything for us (which thank goodness they don't), we'd have no problem reading foreign texts of any sort. But because we all come from different cultures that most often have different ideologies, we have to remain aware of the context in which something is coming from in order to analyze it. Of course, there is value in analyzing from our own perspective as well, but in most circumstances it is necessary to forsake our own ideology in order to fully understand a text written from a different or foreign perspective.
ReplyDeleteOlivia, 5/6
Ideology can affect a way a person looks at things by making them become bias about a certain subject. If a person is democratic but looks at a republicans speech then they will obviously disagree with the majority of the things that the republican says. Ideology also shows up when we talk about music or movies. We would expect Beyonce to come out with a huge hit every time but sometimes that doesn't happen. But on the other hand we would expect somebody else's song to not even make it to the top of the charts.
ReplyDeleteAs a young person growing up, I have grown to understand that not everybody is raised like I am and that I'm going to have to understand where they come from & how they see things. And that's what we have to do as a country, town, city, nation, etc. We have to realize that everybody is not raised like we are & that they're are different views on things. We need to open up our mind.
-Mikisa Harvey 1/2
Ideology can control a major part of a persons way of life. The way I was brought up is different from some one else but when i look at a painting for example my eyes go towards a symbol that i recognize such as if there was a drawing containing the symbols of the major three religions i would look at the symbol of my religion first because i am comfortable with it. My family would have the same ideology and look at the same thing first.
ReplyDeleteMakala Kuhr 1/2
Ideology reflects in your perception of the world and texts through affecting your subjective interpretation of ideas. This means that your ideology is affecting the ideas that you think about other people's ideas constantly, and making no two people think exactly the same way. This means that everyone takes away different morals from the same stories, different thoughts about intellectually stimulating ideas, or opinions on the same piece of artwork. This variation in thought makes all humans unique from each other, and thus makes ideology a very crucial part of our humanity. If there were no ideology to humanity, people would be robots that only could take in objective input and thus no individuality could be created. If you were to take this into a Nietzche-perspective, this would lead the world into a very sad state where no humans could create any value in the world (which would be represented by individuality, or rather the lack of).
ReplyDeleteC. Testa 5/6