Honestly, I feel like this course taught me a lot more than my other classes when it comes to really analyzing literature and finding the true meaning in different books, movies and poems. In the beginning of the course I felt as if the material somewhat nitpicked our generation and for some reason I started out completely disagreeing with everything we read. Culture Jam and Mark Bauerlein seriously pissed me off because everything that was said was incredibly one sided and lacked any relation to what actually happens in my life. Because I could not relate to the statistics and comments made, I had no desire to even engage in conversation about it. As time went on and the material started to change into having an actual story line, I started to relate what Culture Jam and Bauerlein were saying to the books we were reading. I actually found it amazing how everything we read or watched somehow related to everything else we did throughout the course.
I think that the main ideas that I am taking from this class are the ideas from Thoreau. I feel that society influences a lot in my life. I still think that I am an individual and I have will power to not go along with everything someone tells me to do, but I am greatly influenced by the media. The way I sometimes dress or do my hair is the outcome of watching someone famous wear to do the same thing with their hair. Even sayings that famous people speak such as the Kardashians always saying “bible” on something they swear on, has rubbed off on me. I have someone recognized how important it is to stay true to yourself and not lose those things that make us individuals. I think that it is really important to analyze your life rather than criticizing other people and the way they chose to live. Happiness is so important and I think a lot of us don’t even really know what makes us truly happy. If society didn’t tell us that certain things are good, would we really think they are?
Overall I had a really good experience in this class. I loved our group and I really enjoyed how well we discussed every topic. I always left class knowing a lot more about the material then I did when I came in because we worked so well with discussing everything. Speaking of happiness, I am truly happy this is my last blog! (:
