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In the past two weeks, we have been talking about how zombies reflect our nowadays society. In the last blog, I mentioned how Cohen views zombies’ actions of eating brains interpret the idea that people in modern day society focus too much on materialism. In today’s class, we talked about how zombies in the comic book The Walking Dead: Days Gone By reflecting nowadays social phenomenon. I was surprised by the comic book when I was doing the close reading because it gives the same impact as the TV show does. In the first few pages of the book, the author states that “I am not trying to scare anybody… Good zombie movies show us how messed up we are” (Kirkman 3). When I was doing the close reading, I actually skipped these pages. The comic book is fun to read, but the key thing is to take something out of it.

When I was looking at page 17 on the online version, the angle of views changes back and forth from the zombie’s view to Rick’s view, which provides a better stand for the readers to understand the situation. Also from the text, “Can’t you understand?” (Kirkman 17). The author tries to establish that some people in nowadays society are stubborn on their own ideas represent in the way that they would not listen to others. Thus, people like that are really cliché and exclusive just like the zombies.

From the monster movies, a lot of the actions that the monster presents actually can apply to ourselves. While we are looking at these monsters, we should also evaluate ourselves so that we are able to humanize our monstrous behavior to match our civil ethics.

Picture cited

http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/The-Walking-Dead/Issue-1?id=1715

From this week’s reading of The Undead by Cohen, I understand more about the monster culture that related to modern society. Personally, I watch a lot of zombie related movies. Most of them have a  common storyline that zombies terrify people and the world is about to be ended. People who are bitten by the zombies all become undead and zombie-like. When I was watching these movies, it is more about entertainment rather than thinking through the meaning behind it.

However, after reading through the article, I have more idea about why people create zombie as a character to shows the social norms. From my understanding of the part of the article, Cohen uses zombie to symbolize people in modern day society. The idea that zombie “just want to eat our brain”(Cohen 399) reflects people’s belief in materialism nowadays. Zombie’s action shows they are desperate of eating people’s brain, and a lot of times people also have this zombie-like action. For instance, during Black Friday or other big sale days, people line up outside of mall or stores waiting for the opening and push each other to get in aggressively.

They are zombie-like in the sense that they lose their heart of taking care of each other and only shoot for what they desire. People show desperate attitudes and abusive manners under these circumstances. I agree with author’s metaphor that he connects the zombies to human beings. We all have a “zombie” inside of us that sometimes we disregard certain ethical issues and act as zombies with no emotions and careless. We all need to learn how to face the “Zombie” inside of us and learn how to defend the true self-identities.

Pic Cited

https://www.twice.com/retailing/amazon-walmart-first-place-black-friday-weekend-shoppers

https://notrumpnewsmoviereviews.com/2017/12/30/train-to-busan-not-your-typical-zombie-movie/

In today’s class, we keep discussing monster culture based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The book starts by Mr. Enfield talking about his memory. He saw Mr. Hyde running into a little girl, and, without helping her up, he keeps walking. The author uses the word “trampled” here to describe the unconcerned behaviors that Mr. Hyde has. From the action and the words chose by the author, we can see Mr. Hyde plays a “monster role.” Also, from the description of the appearances, Mr. Enfield states that “It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut” (Stevenson 9). The description that Mr. Enfield gives makes me hard to imagine how Mr. Hyde looks like, but one thing that stuck in my head is Mr. Hyde is an inhuman figure. Because of Mr. Hyde’s appearance, it makes him guiltier and evilly in that situation.

Mr. Hyde’ appearance represents thegroup of people who do not look good and people who have disabilities. The author is using the fact to reflect the social norm that people judge others based on their appearance. The stereotypes towards these disabled people are rooted in people’s heart, which prevents others from learning about their internal selves. As the book says, people won’t believe in Mr. Hyde’s check. In their sense, people like Mr. Hyde who has a lousy appearance also has a contrite heart. People at that time judge the book by its presence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud1-rgQqw

https://chesswolf.deviantart.com/art/Dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-437362026

After read through Monster Culture by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, I am able to understand different monsters under several conditions. Even though the monster is not real in our life, people apply the idea of monster to unusual beings that trigger fear from inside. In Cohen’s seven theses, I agree with the first and third description of the monster that she list out. In my group, we discuss the first description of the monster, which is the monster defined by the culture. In Cohen’s essay, she wrote “like a letter on the page, the monster signifies something other than itself”. The example for this statement would be those people who have the disability. Once upon a time, other people may see them as the freak or inhuman, like the actors in the movie The Greatest Showman. The word “monster” people use to describe abnormal people. However, it reflects their internal fear. In nowadays, people have more take care the people who have disabilities. There are a lot of facilities for these people and the society embraces them a lot.

Also, in the class, we talked about her third description of the monster which may apply to the Dragon. In China, Dragon seems to be a Godlike character. In the ancient, people have to worship it in order to accomplish their wishes. Even sometimes, the people have to give up their child to exchange a rain to bless their land. However, in American culture Dragon seems to be an evil figure. In a lot of American movies, you can see that dragons are dark figures that chase people around. Furthermore, you can always see cavaliers kill the dragon to present heroism. Therefore, different cultures influence people’s perspective on monsters and their definitions about monsters.

  vs  

picture cited

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/olwynandreg/dragons/

https://postgradproblems.com/new-episode-of-the-1-podcast-for-people-who-party-like-tyrion-and-slay-like-daenery

In the seminar, Ta-Nehisi Coates talks about why words do not belong to everyone. He expresses the idea that in a different context, words can be valued differently. For instance, he made an example of his wife calls him honey, but if they are walking on the street some strange woman calls him honey that would be a problem. Same as the N-word, under different conditions it delivers different emotions and attitudes. As Ta-Nehisi says in his talk the N-word represents the black culture and the black spirit in the rap songs. Therefore, it then becomes a word to echo the beliefs among the fans. Under other condition, people should not use that word, not only because it does not belong to them but also it is not fit in the context.

This statement also applies to the culture hybridity we been talking in class. As mentioned previously, to understand these words under different circumstances is to understand the spirit the words deliver about different cultures. It is a step further to understanding and embracing the culture values through the language and words.

Languages, the same as culture, are always mixed together to present new ideas and brought in new combinations. Both have pros and cons on both ends. While forming new types of societies, culture hybridity also gradually swallows part of human identities. Language, if being used properly, can be an efficient way to set up the link among different cultures and values.

Picture Cited

i know some of these words

In the second season episode 20 of the show Fresh off the Boat, the protagonist Even struggles to decide if he is going to use his Chinese name or English name as the signature on the bank account paperwork. Even found out that the name that his parents gave him is a random nearby nurse’s name. He is wondering that if he should keep using the random American nurse’s name, which makes everything easy for him but it is not actually his name or should use his given Chinese name that may cause endless struggles to him.

When he goes to the restroom to decide what name he going to use, he sees his grandma. His grandma said “Your name doesn’t make you. You make your name.” The point that Even’s grandma makes here is the name does not give value to him. Rather, she is encouraging Even to give value to his name by doing well and doing big. For instance, Nobel Prize is named after Alfred Nobel. It is not the name “Alfred Nobel” defined him as a successful inventor, but it is himself and his works give remarkable value to his name.

From this episode, I remember when I first came to America, I had a hard time to choose to sign my English name or Chinese name. Since in America, there is hardly anyone call me in my Chinese name. Even my mom only calls me in my Chinese name when she gets mad. Also, even when I am with my Chinese friends, we barely know each other’s Chinese name. We are more comfortable with the English names which is the nickname to call each other.

Image link

http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/news/10639511/Whos_Next_Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry_2017__Voting_Results_22_September.html

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chine_informations.chinesename

In the essay “Stop Doing That” by Aneta Pavlenko, the author discusses the bilingual or multilingual families and the reason why they speak one language instead of the other ones.

Nowadays in the United States, bilingual households start to become more and more common. Imagining a kid growing up in a family that speaks two different languages, they will have a hard time choosing which and when they speak one rather than the other one. For me, my first language is Chinese. However, after five years of living in united states, I felt like I am getting used to speaking English more. Sometimes when I talk to my mom, I use English words in the Chinese sentence. I feel like it is easier and more precise to use English words to express my thoughts. However, when I am in the mood or when I want to express something thing really quick, I will find it to be more comfortable to use my first my language. Like the author states in the essay, people who “are using the second language reluctantly and are unable to establish an emotional connection with it” (180). Using the first language is more clear and easier for people to express emotional content, but even with that when I try to express my thoughts emotionally with people who do not speak my first language, I would have to get my words organized in Chinese and then translate into English.

Overall, people will choose any languages they feel comfortable with to express themselves and their thoughts. In the most case, they will use their first language to communicate emotionally. People’s brain can respond faster in their first language than the second, and also it is easier for them.

picture cited

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/10-bilingual-people-true

https://www.aft.org/ae/fall2015/goldenberg_wagner

In Chapter 3 of The Craft of Research by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, Joseph Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William Fitzgerald, the authors talk about how to pick topics and write about. I learned that how to find interest from any topic.

In this quarter of the critical thinking and writing class, when we were assigned to write an analysis paper about a poem, I felt unconfident about the materials I was going to write about. The method in chapter 3 helped me a lot, the authors show that writers need to list out any interest points for them before they start writing it. Also, authors illustrate “Don’t limit yourself to what you think might interest a teacher or make you look like a serious student”, (Booth 761(Kindle Version)) which mean writers need to think out of the frame. It is necessary to be more creative, innovative, and passionate. It is important for writers to realize they are not writing to fulfill their responsibility. Rather, they are writing for what they passionate about. Like us, we are writing for our grade, we need to write something that we actually learned from it and what is interest for us.

Later in the paragraph, authors show us few ways on how to explore our topic. From that, I can apply those ways to help me write my paper. For instance, I did some background history check on the poem, which triggered my interest to write this paper. At last, authors show how to narrow down to one topic from a broad topic by using action words to demonstrate the meanings of the topic. Looking back into last quarter, some of the paper I wrote was too broad to define the message.  From this, I am able to narrow down my thoughts and to compose writings with more details.

Work Cited

In the second chapter of The Craft of Research by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, Joseph Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William Fitzgerald, I learned about how to relate my context more to the reader. The biggest mistake I have in my papers is the readers cannot quite catch the meaning that I try to establish. “Yet even experienced researchers sometimes forgot to keep their readers in mind as they plan and draft” (Booth). During the first quarter, I sometimes wrote something only make sense to me. After read through Chapter 2, I understand that I need to converse my work with the reader. In order to do that, I need to put myself in the readers’ shoes to view my work.

Later in the chapter, authors illustrate that writers need a better way to address their work in order to establish a better relationship with readers. Authors made an example of constructing sentence in two different ways. One of them uses technical terms, which may cause confusion to the readers. Being a good writer should always consider themselves as a reader in the first place, providing simple information or more relative knowledge to help the readers to understand the context.

In order to develop a solid relationship between writers and readers, they need to come up with an interesting idea for both ends. “You have to create a relationship that encourages them to see why it’s in their interest to read yours” (Booth). Fewer people read researches for fun. In order to make readers keep track on what writers say, writers have to pick a unique angle. The readers will find joy while they read through the paragraph. Meanwhile, they will generate their ideas about the message the writers delivered.

Overall, I hope that I can develop better relationship with my readers through my paper. It should not only have a strong argument point but also keep readers engage in the context.

Work Cited

In the campus of Santa Clara University, there is always a place ablaze with light. Most people feel comfortable calling it “home,” but for me, it is a brand new and unfamiliar place to start. Graham is the RLC that I live in, living in Graham helps me better transfer into SCU. Graham brings people closer as it overcomes the physical border, the cultural barrier, and the spiritual border through communication.

In Graham, the physical border of the brick walls gives us privacy, but it indeed brings everyone closer when I experience coexistence our coexistence with my caring suitemates. Initially I felt scared without knowing anybody prior to college. Graham’s close-knit community helped me to transit easily. Nevertheless, this change brings new problems. Living on campus not only means taking care of yourself, but also learning how to get along with others. There is a partition between each room in Graham, but in a way, this provides chances to experience different relationships and life lessons.

Graham brings people together who come from different cultural background as cultural differences surprisingly do not create any barriers in my interpersonal communication. Living in this small dormitory gives me the chance to reflect on my opinions, and find the fault and bias in my views. It’s not the ancient culture of countries that produces conflicts, but our characters and habits. When the latter two are properly communicated and adjusted, the result can become the way that leads to peace among the living space. After fitting into this little “community”, I find out my suitemates and roommate are shaping my personality. The living that is brought by this border while we are living a group life in the student dormitory has taught me different values from various cultures.

Graham gives me the perfect opportunities to be independent of my parents with the inspiration from my roommate, and suitemates and brings us closer spiritually. I usually do not get homesick; however, Santa Clara is still 7000 miles away from my homeland. The border, which is the Pacific, keeps me away from my country, my family, my friends and my culture. It is isolating. It is also the border which enforces me to be independent and reflect on myself. Influenced by my roommate, I am determined to become independent both financially and spiritually, especially when I heard my roommate had taken many part-time jobs in holidays. Fortunately, Graham sets up a stable foundation for the beginning of freedom as well as a safe shelter to live in. The communication with each other is a driving force for everyone to lead a more independent life.

A border is a sign for differentiating, but also for connecting and communicating. Graham can bring people closer who are from different cultural backgrounds, and every difference is respected and accepted. Graham also gives us the chance to be fully independent of parents when we exchange thoughts and experiences with our roommates. Not only does it contribute to setting up a beautiful campus for us to dwell in, it also builds a harmonious college community for socializing.

Images Cited

https://www.scu.edu/living/residential-living-options/rlc-undergraduate-housing/alpha—graham-hall/

https://university-operations.scu.edu//facilities/space-data/building-information/graham-hall/

https://www.freshu.io/shelley-davis/why-you-shouldn-t-freak-out-about-having-a-roommate

http://icanbecreative.com/article/designing-websites-for-different-cultures/