Here are two videos I intended to show during class this week, but we ran out of time ... These are segments from a stand-up comedy show by comedian Margaret Cho, discussing race from a similar point of view to the characters you encountered in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. Cho's parents came to America from South Korea, and in these segments you'll hear many of the same issues Tan illustrated, such as assumption based on race and the power dynamics between mothers and their first-generation American-born daughters.
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Still fishing for an object analysis to study in the COMM 10 project?
Check out this page, part of the UCSD library guides! The two columns feature links to available video and image databases, free for the plundering. Search topics that interest and/or intrigue you, then see if any results meet the criteria for analysis here — or in some other class project. The above song, a one-hit wonder from 1971, is a particularly historically and culturally situated lyrical consideration of signs — in the denotative sense, surely (actual posts and placards containing written messages) but also in various connotative senses.
Semiotics, as outlined in the Danesi reading, can be a lot to get your head around. If you'd like more in-depth background on signs, codes, texts, and more, look to this excellent primer, "Semiotics for Beginners," particularly parts 1, 2, 7, and 9. Participation! Consider this image below, indicating the appropriate gender of restroom facilities. Does it look more like a man than a woman? Why? What is indexed? What is symbolized? Check out this interesting article, which nicely follows up our class discussions last week about the evolution of language. "Folks" — a word that somehow transitioned from "us" to "them"!
Participation! Try looking up the word in the OED, via the library database links here, and see what history they show for the word. Use the comments here to post any results/thoughts. Below you can read/download a model, A-grade paper from a student in the course from a previous term. Those of you who had questions about the formatting, this should make very clear how to set that up: text for the intro, then a two-column table for the denotative vs. connotative descriptions. (Never made a table or used columns in Word before? It's easy.) Pay attention to how this student telescoped the denotative elements into connotative possibilities — and remember that Dr. Goldfarb in class said he thought this paper actually could have used more connotations. Remember: Part 1 of the project is due in the section meeting of week four. ![]()
Here's a supercut of scenes from the popular anime show "Cowboy Bebop" spotlighting the character Edward, or Radical Edward — a childlike young hacker who challenges many self-presentation norms, especially gender ... And for those who enjoy psychedelic rock ... We'll talk next week about some strategies for reading effectively — and taking notes about what you read (very important to do!).
For now, check out these excellent tips for "How to Read in College." Participation! Use the comments here to post helpful examples and tips from your reading process, things you've learned by experience thus far. Feel free to include screenshots of annotated pages, notes, etc. "The Story of Mike Phillips," an episode of "This American Life": Feel free to use the comments section here to answer Dr. Goldfarb's questions about how the issues raised in this video reflect on the challenges and changes in recent developments within communication, particularly from the POV of the UCSD's comm dept. (situated practices, social formations, and interpretive strategies) ...
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