Big Paper Draft

There are many different ways to life a meaningful life. I think that if you think that your life is meaningful then it is meaningful to you, because people think different things are meaningful. Not everyone thinks the same things are meaningful so if you think the things in your life are meaningful then I think your life is meaningful. For me to have a meaningful life is to have fun and do what you want. Not living to do what other people want or think is meaningful. No one can tell me how to live my life. My parents try to tell me how I have to live but I pay no mind to their thoughts and keep living how I want to. Everyone thinks differently so there is no real way to determine weather one's life is meaningful or not.

I think that in our society today the dominant corporate messages are that materials will make you happy. For example in the commercial that says "Every kiss begins with a Kay". The commercial is for a jewelry store and basically what they are trying to tell the viewers is that the jewelry will make your girlfriend/ boyfriend happy and that their love for each other will become greater.
In the magazines that teenage girls read talk about what the celebrities are wearing and what they think is cool. When the girls read this they think that dressing and being like the celebrities are going to make them popular and feel better about themselves. The girls think they feel better about themselves but really feel better that they are more like the celebrity so really they are not feeling better about themselves. The dominant message that materials will make one happy cause people to rely on the materials they want so that if they don't get what they want they are angry until they get that thing. I think it is sort of similar to a drug addiction. People who are addicted to heroin or cocaine try it and then their bodies rely on the drugs and the junkie must get the drug or they go into a different state where their body gets all messed up. Then to keep on getting the drugs for their system they do things like become prostitutes so they can get what they need. People who think that the materials will make them happy buy and buy then when they don't have enough money or can't get the material they rob banks and steal from people because they think they will be happy with the money.

Another Dominant message is from religion. Everyone must do what their "God" or leader thinks is right. You must follow their beliefs or do what they would have done. Sometimes I think that religion is a way for people to be controlled because they don't want to sin. No one wants to sin so it is a way to scare people and get them to do what they think is right.
"I believe
Man made god, outta ignorance and fear
If God made man, then why the hell would he put us here?
I thought hes supposed to be the all loving
The same God who let hitler put the jews in the oven" -Dead Prez

My winter holidays were alright this year. I saw most of my family on Christmas. The food was good as usual at my grandmother's house. But it just didn't feel like Christmas.
I think that my Christmas was meaningful, because I was able to see family that I don't see much. Everyone was happy and to me the meaning of life is to be happy and have fun. You could say that everyone was happy because they were getting presents and stuff that they want but there wasn't many presents and everyone was happy to see each other. The traditional Christmas is when everyone is happy and opening presents with their families that santa left. Kids would stay up all night trying to see Santa and can't wait to open their presents. However, as time progresses and one grows older, discovering certain truths about your childhood beleifs, Christmas becomes just another day in the year, except you are presented with gifts by people and are expected to give gifts to others. Things reverse polarities, where I would have found myself counting down days until Christmas arrived, this year I found myself shocked to find that Christmas was three days away, and I had nothing done in the way of shopping for my girlfriend. Another slight example of how things switch around between childhood and adolescence is gifts. When I was a kid, and I'm positive that most of us think this way, I hated getting clothes as a gift from my relatives. I don't think gifts are needed in order to celebrate Christmas. The family and love means more than anything.

New Years is a holiday celebrated by most Americans. The end of one year and beginning of a new year is celebrated. The reason people celebrate new years is because it is a time to start over and make up for your previous mistakes in the past year. I think that the messages sent are that it is a new year for new things and another year that you survived. I think new years is meaningful because it is a new year of your life and everyday should be meaningful. Some of the things that are usually done on new years are: the ball dropping in time square, fireworks, people drinking and partying. I guess the ball dropping is sort of meaningful to some people because it only happen once a year and its to show the new year that everyone is celebrating at the same time. I don't think that fireworks are meaningful or at least to my life. I haven't seen fireworks on new years or 4th of july in years. To me it is a waste of time to just watch decorations shot up into the sky. I think that the usual custom of people partying and drinking on new years eve can be meaningful to some people because they may be having fun and celebrating the past year that they have finished and the start of the new year. I don't think that there are really and contradictions on new years except for maybe starting it off the same as every other year.

I think that my Thanksgiving was meaningful, because I spent time with family members. I don't get to see my family much so it is a time for everyone to spend time together and catch up. I think part of the reason everyone is happy is because there is all this food and you can't be mad when there is a lot of good food in front of you and your with your family. Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for what you have and your family. At my thanksgiving dinner I did not bring up genocide as a topic, because everyone was happy and I did not want to ruin everyones day. I think that most people in my family know what really happen on thanksgiving day but no one wants to think about the bad stuff that has happened. This shows that in our culture the truth is not always what people want to hear. I myself prefer to hear the harsh truth rather than live a lie. Many people like to believe that everything is good when its not just so that they feel good. Thanksgiving should remind people to be thankful for all the small things that make their lives meaningful and worst living instead of thinking what they want to buy next like every other day of their lives.

On black Friday I did not shop. I think that the Wal-Mart incident shows how greedy people are and how they think that materials will make them happy. People would break down store doors and and trample a man just to save money. Also the pregnant woman should not have been there because there is always pushing in big crowds and when a woman is that big they don't have great balance or strength so can get knock over easily. This shows how people live and think that materialized products will make them happy. Their number one priority is to be happy and to be happy they must get what ever they want even if it means taking other's lives. Wal-Mart should not open their stores on theses days if the customers can not shop in a proper manner.

I think that Obama winning this election really showed America taking a big step forward, because he is not the same type of president that we have always had. He is not the white christian whose parents had all this money. Obama is a black man who went from rags to riches. I think him going through the struggles in his personal life shows how strong he is and that he is able to run our country. No other presidents have had to deal with the same problems as him. Now children can believe their parents when they tell them that they can be what ever they want because no one expected we would have a black president. I also think that even though he didn't have all this money he is the smartest candidate that we have had so far. I don't think that McCain spent enough time on his own campaign instead just tried to prove Obama wrong and make him look bad. There is a lot of work that has to be done and I think Obama is the right man for the job. Obama's winning has created some whites to hate blacks and I think that there will be many plans that are created to try and assassinate Obama. I think that the people who were yelling kill him when McCain announced Obamas winning are ignorant and not even McCain would agree with them. They are the ones who don't want change in America. I think that its good Obama won because Mccain just wants the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. Obama wouldn't do that because he has been in the lower class when he was younger and knows how hard it is to live that way. Because he has grew up from the low class the people in the lower class are able to count on him to help them out.

When Obama was sworn in everyone was excited. People from all different countries were coming to Washington D.C. to be there. On the news people were talking about how they are proud to be Americans now. People from other countries were saying that they feel like an American now. I think it was probably the largest inauguration celebration. I have never heard or seen as much about the other presidents as I did with Obama. I think that now everyone feels that anything is possible and they can become what ever they want.

I think Martin Luther King was a successful man in getting what he believed in done. People still follow his beliefs even though he is dead. I think he would be proud of what America has accomplished because he believed in living without racism. There is still some racism but I think it is impossible for there to be none at all. I think that Martin Luther King would think that a meaningful life is when someone lives a life where they express their thoughts and beliefs. And then changing what they think is wrong. MLK may have some wrongs in his history but everyone does and then you are able to learn from your mistakes.

When asking strangers on the street and family members about the meaning of wisdom and life I got many different answers. Alot of the answers were worded differently but basically meant the same thing. For example a random man on the street said he thought that wisdom was "Experience repackaged as advice" and my father said "Wisdom is knowledge gained through life experience." Both of these answers are saying that wisdom comes from experience. When someone has experienced something they are able to get a better understanding because they have witnessed it and been through the motions.

Everybody i interviewed thought that family was one of the most meaningful things in their lives. When I asked my father why family was the most meaningful thing to him he said that everything that he does has to do with the family. Family is usually the closest people to you because you have spend a large amount of your life with them and have been through the hard and good times together. Family doesn't always have to be blood related they can be people who you have close relationships with. My younger brother thought that having fun was one of the most meaningful parts of his life. He thought that life doesn't always have to be meaningful but you should be having fun because you only live one time.

A pattern i noticed was that alot of people said that happiness and being happy and having fun was what made life meaningful. Most people say this because no one doesn't like being happy and being happy usually means that you are having fun and enjoying life. Having fun and enjoying life is meaningful because you are not wasting your life with things you do not want to do.
What is meaningful and meaningless can be different for everybody. The same types of things can be the meaningful for example Family, money etc but someone can't tell another that something is not meaningful to that person because there aren't them.

When watching the music video "good life" by Kanye West you are able to see his Point of view on a good life. His thoughts are to have money and be famous and more important than other people.
1. What is the song basically saying about how to live a good life? Paraphrase the main idea.

The song is basically saying that a good life is having cars, money , girls and being on tv.

2. What lyrics particularly speak to that perspective? Use quotes as evidence.

"So I roll through good
Y'all pop the trunk, I pop the hood, Ferrari"
I think that Kanye West is saying that he lives the good life because he has all this money and is able to to buy expensive cars. I think he says "we pop the trunk" because we are all poor compared to him so we don't have the cars that give someone a good life while he is "popping the hood" of his ferrari. (Ferrari's engines are in the back of the car.)

3. How do the video images support, re-orient, or challenge the dominant theme of the lyrics? Analyze.

The video images support what kanye west is saying because everything he says you see. They have all the words he say, when e talks about money they show money when he talks about cars they show cars.

4. What else do you notice that's interesting? Look for internal contradictions, aspects of the message that resonate with other messages from the pop culture, points that connect to your own perspective, etc. Analyze squared.

I think it is interesting how they think it is so important to them to be on tv. "I'ma get on this TV mama, I'ma
I'ma put shit down." I also think it is interest how everything said is shown in the video.

Folk Culture's Messages on the Good and Meaningful Life

The videos on how to be the perfect girlfriend/ boyfriend both tell you what to do to make the other person happy. Even if it means not being yourself and lying. To make them feel good they tell you to pretend that you are interested even if you are not. I think the other person would rather just have you seriously telling them you don't really care about what they are talking about. The videos also try to tell you that buying your partner materials will make them happy. For example buying girls flowers or taking them on a vacation, and giving men beer to distract them and make them happy. I think they should have tried to spread the message that you should be authentic and also be happy yourself instead of only trying to make the other person happy. I think that these videos do show a legitimate expression of dominant folk perspectives. I think the "be smart but not nerdy student" is just telling kids to try and fit in. They should dress and act how they want not do it to fit in.

Inauguration

When Obama was sworn in everyone was excited. People from all different countries were coming to Washington D.C. to be there. On the news people were talking about how they are proud to be Americans now. People from other countries were saying that they feel like an American now. I think it was probably the largest inauguration celebration. I have never heard or seen as much about the other presidents as I did with Obama. I think that now everyone feels that anything is possible and they can become what ever they want.

MLK

I think Martin Luther King was a successful man in getting what he believed in done. People still follow his beliefs even though he is dead. I think he would be proud of what America has accomplished because he believed in living without racism. There is still some racism but I think it is impossible for there to be none at all. I think that Martin Luther King would think that a meaningful life is when someone lives a life where they express their thoughts and beliefs. And then changing what they think is wrong. MLK may have some wrongs in his history but everyone does and then you are able to learn from your mistakes.

Holiday Analysis

New Years is a holiday celebrated by most Americans. The end of one year and beginning of a new year is celebrated. The reason people celebrate new years is because it is a time to start over and make up for your previous mistakes in the past year. I think that the messages sent are that it is a new year for new things and another year that you survived. I think new years is meaningful because it is a new year of your life and everyday should be meaningful. Some of the things that are usually done on new years are: the ball dropping in time square, fireworks, people drinking and partying. I guess the ball dropping is sort of meaningful to some people because it only happen once a year and its to show the new year that everyone is celebrating at the same time. I don't think that fireworks are meaningful or at least to my life. I haven't seen fireworks on new years or 4th of july in years. To me it is a waste of time to just watch decorations shot up into the sky. I think that the usual custom of people partying and drinking on new years eve can be meaningful to some people because they may be having fun and celebrating the past year that they have finished and the start of the new year. I don't think that there are really and contradictions on new years except for maybe starting it off the same as every other year.