Undecided

“Taming of the shrew” was play were almost all of the relationships involved lying. In the movie “LOL” a lot of the relationships were also started or ended because of lying.  However, although in “LOL” a lot of lies flew through the air like in the book, relationships became stronger through trust, not with lies. Compared to Taming of the shrew, were lying didn’t affect the characters relationships, LOL reflects that today trust is a key thing in relationships.

In the beginning scene of the movie, Lola finds out that her current boyfriend, Chase, has lied to her and cheated.


Screen Shot 2013-12-12 at 7.21.08 AM
Screen Shot 2013-12-12 at 7.21.08 AM

The lack of trust between the two broke them apart, instead or keeping them together. Since Lola knew that Chase could no longer be trusted, and the trust between them was totally gone, so she knew she had nothing to work with in her relationship. However, in Taming of the shrew, lies actually helped Lucentio gain a relationship with Bianca:


Act 1 sc 1 pg 43: “Tell me thine first...you will be schoolmaster”


Lucentio lied about who he really was, being able to get closer to Bianca. When he told her the truth, she was not concerned about the fact he lied to her father, friends, everyone- including herself. She was more impressed by the scheme. Compared to LOL, lack of trust and lies gained the characters a relationship, instead of losing them.


Lies weren’t just told to boyfriends or girlfriends either- the characters also lied to the parents in the play or movie a lot too-


Screen Shot 2013-12-12 at 7.23.42 AM
Screen Shot 2013-12-12 at 7.23.42 AM

Lola lied to her mother about different events in the movie, including the party she had, whether she had sex or not, and whether she was doing drugs. When her mother found out, the trust between them was gone and their relationship began to slowly die. In the scene were Lola’s mom found her diary, their relationship was forever scarred.


In contrast, in Taming of the shrew Lucentio lied to his father and Bianca’s father and their relationship was not affected at all.


Act 5 Scene 1 : “Here’s Lucentio, right son to the right Vincentio,

That have by marriage made thy daughter mine

While counterfeit supposes bleared thine eyne.”


Lucentio was supposed to be in school at the time, and instead lied to his father and Bianca’s. However, by the end of the book when Lucentio revealed himself, Baptista or his father were not mad or angry. His father instead seemed happy to see him, regardless of that fact that he disobeyed him, lied to everyone in town about who he was, and just made his father look crazy in public. This shows the deep contrast between that time and today- during shakespeare's time trust was hard to loose,  but today trust is easily lost and hard to get back.


Lucentio, and other characters, seemed to get off easy in the play when they lied. However, lying it is different today. Lola had a hard time during the whole movie because it was hard to tell who she could trust. Many of her boyfriends seemed to be cheating on her, and the lack of trust she had with the different characters just destroyed some of her relationships. However, she gained friends when she learned to trust them- even her rival, who finally spoke the truth at the end of the movie. This reinforces the belief that an audience wants to see the trusty friend to win in the end, and the unfaithful, lying rival to lose and be taught a lesson.


Source: 
LOL. Dir. Lisa Azuelos. Perf. Miley Cyrus and Douglas Booth. Megashare. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.
Shakespeare, William, and Thomas Goddard Bergin. The Taming of the Shrew;. New Haven: Yale UP, 1954. Print.

Stranger Than Shakespeare

Stranger Than Shakespeare

Comparing “The Taming of the Shrew” to “Stranger Than Fiction”


With today’s ideals in mind, most people would assume that love comes before marriage. The opposite is the case in The Taming of the Shrew.  The protagonist, Petruchio, gets married to Katherine in the beginning of the play without really knowing her. The marriage was for his own financial gains and also so two other suitors could have the ability to marry Katherine’s sister, Bianca. At the end of the play, after a score of mental games played by Petruchio to “tame” Katherine, she gives a long, emotional speech that displays her love for him and he goes on to tell of his love for her.

Stranger Than Fiction revolves around Harold Crick, an IRS agent who lives a monotonous, receptive and droll life. One day, everything changes. He begins to hear an author in his head narrating his life to extraordinary accuracy. He recognizes the voice to be that of a famous author he once saw on television. The author reveals that Harold is going to die and he has to find her and convince her to change the end of the story (and his life) before it’s too late. At the same time, Harold takes on the task of auditing a baker, Ana Pascal. Harold is uncomfortable with the narrations made by the author when he’s around Ms. Pascal. The author makes Harold realize that he’s subconsciously falling in love with her. Romantic love is approached differently by both men in both scenarios. This shows that romantic love is approached differently in today’s society.


In Act Two: Scene 1 of Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio says, “What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come again, Good Kate; I am a gentleman.”


This is a quote from when Petruchio is first meeting Katherine. He is crude and inappropriate at first, intentionally. He is trying to be funny. This was Shakespeare’s version of comedy. Petruchio is aware that Katherine is known as the mean sister and takes a jab at her sense of humor or perhaps just tries to make her feel uncomfortable. Petruchio goes on to confirm that he was just kidding and he tries to show her that he is a respectable man. Harold Crick is in a similar situation. He runs into Ana Pascal on a bus and tries to interact with her in a non-auditing manner.

Harold: How are you?

Ana: I’m lousy, I’m being audited

Harold: Of course

Ana: By a real creep too

Harold: I- I think I owe you an apology. IRS agents, we’re given rigorous aptitude tests before we can work. Unfortunately for you we aren’t tested on tact or good manner so I apologize... I... Ooggled you.
Screen Shot 2013-12-04 at 7.13.44 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-04 at 7.13.44 PM

In this short exchange of dialogue, Harold attempts to show Ana that he’s a respectable man by apologizing for an incident that happened a few days prior in which he began to fantasize about her and blatantly stare at her breasts. Harold’s crude actions weren’t intentional, like Petruchio’s. Because this movie takes place about four hundred years after all of Shakespeare’s plays were written, courtship is approached very differently by the two men.


In Act One: Scene 1 of Taming of the Shrew, Hortensio says, “There's small choice in rotten apples.”


Hortensio and Gremio are the two suitors that are going after Bianca, Katherine’s younger sister. Hortensio and Gremio are friends and they have to work together to get past the only obstacle in their way: Bianca cannot get married until Katherine gets married. They have to narrow down the already small pool of men who would be willing to marry her for them, so they could achieve their goals. In the beginning of Stranger Than Fiction, Harold Crick goes to a therapist about the voice in his head. The therapist listens to him and then tells him she thinks he’s schizophrenic. He tells her that he isn’t schizophrenic and she tells him that if his condition were real, she’d refer him to a literary expert. Harold then goes to Professor Jules Hilbert, a Literature Theory professor. After Professor Hilbert agrees to help Harold, he explains the theory that all works of fiction can be narrowed down to two categories: Comedy and Tragedy. He explains it in simple terms to Harold, “Tragedy you die, Comedy you get hitched.” They go on to try to figure out which story Harold is living in.


Professor Hilbert: Most comic heroes fall in love with people who are introduced after the story has begun, usually people who hate the hero initially. Although I can’t imagine anyone hating you, Harold.

Harold: Professor Hilbert, I’m an IRS agent. Everyone hates me.

Professor Hilbert: Ah ah good, have you met anyone recently who might loathe the very core of you?

Harold: I just started auditing a woman who told me to get bent.

Professor Hilbert: Well that sounds like a comedy.


Screen Shot 2013-12-04 at 9.47.16 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-04 at 9.47.16 PM

Similarly to Hortensio and Gremio, Harold and Professor Hilbert are trying to narrow down a pool of possible people. In The Taming of the Shrew they’re looking for a man to marry Katherine. In Stranger Than Fiction they’re looking for the possible love interest that would determine whether Harold is living a Comedy or a Tragedy. He later goes to Ms. Pascal’s bakery with a small moleskine journal that he uses to record the instances that would make the story a one of the two defining genres. He spends the whole day going through Ana Pascal’s receipts while she spends the whole day making sure his day is awful. He chalks his story up to being a Tragedy. When he’s on his way out, Ana makes him cookies and they spend time talking. Harold upsets her by turning down a box for the rest of the cookies and feels terrible about it. Days later he can’t get the smell of cookies or the thought of Ms. Pascal out of his head. It starts to affect his work and they give him a paid vacation that he spends trying to court her.

By the end of the movie, Harold and Ana are in love. By the end of Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio and Katherine are in love. Both men achieve their end goal while pursuing it in vastly different ways. If Harold Crick had approached Ana Pascal in the same way that Petruchio did with Katherine, the movie would have been very different and they most likely would not have fallen in love. In Petruchio’s time, his tactics were commonplace. That goes to show how much society has changed in the last 400 years.


Comparison of Two Movies

My Big Fat Greek Wedding::Taming of the Shrew


My Big Fat Greek Wedding contains characters that are similar to ones in Taming of the Shrew. Maria Portokalos, the mother in MBFGW, has an issue with the way her husband, Gus, thinks. Gus believes that he is superior, however, he doesn’t know that his wife really has the upper hand in the relationship. MBFGW and Taming of the Shrew relate to each other because Maria and Katherine give their husbands what they want, but sneak in their own rules as well.




Katherine: “Then God be blest, it is the blessed sun.

                 But sun it is not, when you say it is not,

                 And the moon changes even as your mind.

                 What you will have it names, even that it is,

                 And so it shall be so for Katherine.” (IV.vi.21-15)


Petruchio is arguing with Katherine because he says that the moon is the sun and she disagrees. She eventually gives in and makes him feel empowered. Then she replies back with a statement that should’ve insulted Petruchio, but instead makes his ego larger.


Following and relating to the quote above, is a screenshot from My Big Fat Greek Wedding:

Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 8.26.59 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 8.26.59 PM

In this scene, Maria and her sister, Voula, wanted to trick Gus into letting his daughter, Toula, leave work at their restaurant, Dancing Zorba’s, to go work at Voula’s travel agency. In order to do that they had to make him believe that it was his idea. Their plan worked when Gus pointed at Tula (the one with the coffee in her hand) and said, “Send Tula!” Maria praised Gus as he bragged about how a man “knows.”


KATHERINE: “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.” (II.i.223)


Katherine is explaining that she will not be submissive and Petruchio is saying that women should always have submissiveness. Katherine is relentless, so she kept going on about how “waspish” she can be.


Following and relating to the quote above, is a screenshot from My Big Fat Greek Wedding:


Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 8.24.47 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 8.24.47 PM
In this scene, Maria is making her point to Gus that women can be smarter than men, after he mistakenly said that his daughter, Tula, is “smart enough for a woman.” Once she begins to give examples of how powerful she is, Gus silences and Maria gets her superiority in the relationship. Maria’s stance shows her control in this scene and possibly the whole movie. The position of Gus’s head shows that he is not the dominant one in the relationship.



Characters like Katherine and Petruchio, in Taming of the Shrew, and Maria and Gus, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, completely relate to each other because they all play similar roles. Maria and Kate both can be submissive, but always sneak a level of authority into their relationship. Gus and Petruchio think that they “rule” their wives, but also know that their wives have the ability to be powerful and take the lead.





Sources

Taming of the Shrew (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061407/)

- Director: Franco Zeffirelli

- Writers: Suso Cecchi D’Amico (screenplay), Franco Zeffirelli (screenplay), Paul Dehn (screenplay), William Shakespeare

- Characters: Elizabeth Taylor (Katherine), Richard Burton (Petruchio)


My Big Fat Greek Wedding (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9kRSReJLo)

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259446/)

- Director: Joel Swick

- Writer: Nia Vardalos

- Characters: Michael Constantine (Gus), Lainie Kazan (Maria)

35 & Shrewing

35 & Shrewing

Comparing and contrasting the deceptions versus honesty of marriage between the film, “35 & Ticking” and Shakespeare's “Taming of the Shrew”.



After reading Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”, readers’ minds are implanted with the idea that romantic love is a myth. If this is the case, what is the point of marriage? Shakespeare’s “Shrew” argues control, the thrill of the journey, etc. Although couples in both “Shrew” and the 2011 film, “35 and Ticking” come to grips with their tactics differently, they covertly bestow the idea that the importance of marriage is resorting to the drastic measures of deception over honesty in order to obtain what one desires most from the other.



In “Shrew”, Petruchio forces Katherine into marrying him. On the day of their wedding, he carries her off to his home where he starves, manipulates, beats and humiliates her and, on top of that, deprives her of sleep in the sense of actually “taming” her–to her demise, of course. In the end of the book, Katherine recognizes Petruchio’s hostility as a means of love and breaking her bad habits to make her the dutiful wife that women of that era were expected to be. All along, however, Petruchio went after Katherine for her fortune, as he is a man of greed rather than romance. A similar couple: Victoria and Austin, In “35 and Ticking”, have been married for 3 years. Only this time it is the wife Victoria who is deceiving her distant husband to get what she wants from him–children. In the end, Victoria fails at this and unfortunately loses Austin. Both text, aside from the distinct humor of their times, relate as they reflect the idea that for centuries, couples believe that whether romantic love exists or not, deception is the only route to self-success in a marriage because the deceiver is the dominant partner.



“If thou know one rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife,

(As wealth is burden of my wooing dance),

Be she as foul as was Flourentius’s love,

As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd

As Socrates’ Xanthippe, or a worse,

She moves me not, or not moves at least

Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough

as are the swelling Adriatic seas.

I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;

If wealthy, then happily in Padua.”

(Act I, Scene ii, 66-77)


shrew-rogers02w
shrew-rogers02w

At this point in the play, Petruchio and his servant arrive in Padua and is convinced by his friend Hortensio to woo Baptista’s eldest and shrew of a daughter–Katherine. Petruchio, learns that Katherine is very rich and tells Hortensio that no matter how old, ugly or rude a woman is, as long as she is rich, she qualifies as the perfect wife for him. It is here that Petruchio reveals that his only intention in life is to wed wealth rather than a wife. He is straightforward and honest about his selfishness and his unconcern for romance to everyone except the Baptista family, especially Katherine. He instead woos her and tricks her into believing he is truly in love with her. This is Petruchio’s best chance at succeeding in his scheme.


In “35 and Ticking”, Victoria is revealed as the Petruchio of her marriage as her and Austin have continuous heated discussions on whether it is time to start a family together or not.

Screen Shot 2013-12-06 at 1.41.46 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-06 at 1.41.46 PM

In this scene, Victoria complains that at she does want to wait until she is 40 while Austin claims she is putting too much pressure on him and rushing into having a baby. Victoria argues that, “Do you know how degrading, how embarrassing it is to have to beg someone you committed your entire life to to have a baby? The fact is, I’m ready to start a family.” To her surprise, Austin says, “I am tired of you putting so much pressure on me. I can’t even enjoy having sex with you because I feel like you’re trying to set me up. Fact number one, I know your body better than you do. I know what time of the month you’re ovulating and that’s when you really put pressure on me to have sex with you.”

The scene ends with Austin saying one of the reasons he does not want to have a baby is because he isn’t sure how long they’re going to be married. Victoria, denying nothing, stands speechless as Austin walks out. In this scene, Victoria is called out on her scheme whereas her shrew of a husband does not submit to her deception and instead admits he is unsure of their marriage. Victoria, having already felt distant from Austin, thought that enforcing a child into their marriage would make them stronger as a couple. Though instead of being honest with him about it, she thought she could deceive him to accomplish her “power couple” goal.



Katherine, “I know it is the sun that shines so bright.”

Petruchio, “I say it is the moon.”

Katherine, “I know it is the moon.”

Petruchio, “Nay, you lie. It is the blesséd sun.

Katherine, “Then God be blest, it is the blesséd sun.

But sun it is not when you say it is not,

And the moon changes as your mind.”

(Act IV, Scene vi, 5-21)

shrew2
shrew2

By now in the play, Petruchio is pulling the strings on Katherine’s view on reality in the form of celestial events. Only it is now Katherine deceiving her husband, allowing her soul to play possum in order to please Petruchio and put an end to his merciless acts against her. This tactic is Petruchio’s way to tame his shrew of a wife into being obedient. Earlier in the play, the two would debate such as this and Katherine, blind of his schemes, would disagree and argue back. Now, she is the one pulling his strings, making him believe that he has tamed her well. Once Petruchio is convinced, Katherine will have achieved repossession of her own freedom.



Both the roles and the outcomes of and the deceivers of the marriage are reversed in the film, as Austin reacts to Victoria’s deception.

Screen Shot 2013-12-06 at 7.50.57 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-06 at 7.50.57 PM

Austin comes home to see Victoria has packed his bag of clothes which is her way of telling him to leave the house. Austin replays his statement to Victoria from earlier, “The real reason I don’t want to have a baby with you, is because I don’t know how long I’m going to be married to you.” As he says this, he takes off his wedding ring and places it on the bed.

In their next scene, Victoria calls Austin and begs him to come home, upset  that he’s not coming home at all instead of apologizing and submitting to her, as she expected. Now Austin has become Petruchio and Victoria has become Katherine. While she has diminished to begging and submission, Austin, as Petruchio did to Katherine, deprives her of health–a healthy heart. Victoria is now the one in need of taming–at least this is how she believes Austin sees her. If the shoe fits, she must wear it. Victoria has failed indefinitely.



“Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,

Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,

And for thy maintenance commits his body

To painful labour both by sea and land,

To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,

Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,

And craves no other tribute at thy hands

But love, fair looks, and true obedience,

Too little payment for so great a debt.”

(Act V, Scene ii, 140-183)

evan-builung-as-petruchio-irene-poole-as-katherina-adrienne-gould-as-bianca
evan-builung-as-petruchio-irene-poole-as-katherina-adrienne-gould-as-bianca

At the end of the play, Katherine submits indefinitely to Petruchio, with a changed view on what marriage means and the status of women versus men–whom she now recognizes as rulers such as: kings, governors and lords. Katherine honors  Petruchio as a loving, warm and securing husband and to love and obey is the least a woman can do for their husbands who are loving, warm and securing. Both Katherine and Petruchio have achieved their initial goals. Katherine has gained Petruchio’s ultimate trust and thus her freedom while Petruchio, although already has her money, has earned Katherine’s obedience, love and respect. This once “shrewd” couple supports the idea that deception equals success.


However, “35 & Ticking”’s outcome on deception greatly differs.

Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 12.08.29 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 12.08.29 PM

Since Victoria and Austin’s dispute over family, his calling out on her scheme has abated her to the passive character Austin once was. In the end of the movie, Victoria signs the divorce papers. A year later, she sees Austin with a pregnant woman. He exchanges shrugs and pity looks at her while she cries at the sight. Austin, once realizing Victoria had deceived him, reclaims his dominance by dragging her to his feet as he moved on with another woman. Austin has tamed  Victoria, teaching her that the deceitful “baby trap” no longer works on men, and he will not stand to be the punchline of her joke.

It is also crucial to consider Austin the deceiver himself. After all, he had been hiding his doubts about the marriage, purposely becoming distant from Victoria, except when to have sex, and was eventually freed. Petruchio on the other hand, hid his true intentions for wedding Katherine, depriving her of all things critical to human beings, by not looking at her as a human being, but a sack of money. He even “justified” his acts by lying to Katherine that she could not eat because the food had been burnt and contaminated. Austin would justify his distance from Victoria by working late and go to the gym afterwards. In the end, both men got what they wanted through ultimate and disclosed deception.



The fact that both Victoria and Katherine yielded to their husbands is no  surprise the audience. For centuries women have been portrayed as weak and compliant partners, whereas Victoria’s character tried to prove so otherwise. Her failure and Katherine’s submission sets forth the idea that there are still men today who despise and wish to “tame” the spirit of strong women. By doing this, both Petruchio and Austin reclaimed their masculinity and succeeded in their own plans.


WORKS CITED


1. Shakespeare, William, and Thomas Goddard Bergin. The Taming of the Shrew;. New Haven: Yale UP, 1954. Print.

2. 35 and Ticking. Dir. Russ Parr. Perf. Kevin Hart, Megan Good, Tamala Jones, Nicole Ari Parker. Swirl Films, UpToParr Productions LLC, 2011. Film.

Joaquin's Media Fluency Slide

MJ Tech Slide Number #2
I chose this picture of Michael Jordan so that the picture will bleed of the slide. Then I decided to place my quote were it is so that it wouldn't be to close to the picture of Michael Jordan and it wouldn't be to close to the edge of the slide. I also did this to first attract the eye towards the quote then for it be attracted to the picture which is also why I wanted the background to be black. I chose the short quote so that it would be easy to understand in a few seconds also the picture of M. Jordan is there because he is consider very successful in sports and the quote goes with by saying if you try hard enough and you set your mind to you could go anywhere. I also choose M. Jordan as my background because he was the best to ever the game and he is still the main face of basketball today.

Ashlye Fitzmaurice Q2 Media Fluency

Ashlye Fitzmaurice Media Slide
Hello, and welcome to my slide. If you did not know, my name is Ashlye Fitzmaurice and I love fashion. But today, I would not be talking about what I love. Instead, I will be talking about why I decided to arrange my slide a certain way and why I decided to put the things I put on my slide. Based on the vocabulary provided by Presentation Zen, I created this slide. First, my Media Slide is visual. For instance, I included a visual image of fashion itself. Next, my slide has one point; that point is as simply as fashion is my passion.  In addition, the size of my words are big enough to read, they jump in your face! Furthermore, I did not leave to much empty space. I did not want too much going on at once. Therefore, I made the few points I had big. Lastly, my visual theme is simple and clean. My theme is not over the top or crazy; it is as clean as the clothes I am wearing right now!
Creating a slide was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. Learning the techniques of creating a slide really opened my eye and perspective towards other advertisements and slides. I learned that a slide should not have too much or too little words on it. You want to grab the person's attention to tell them a point. I think that's the most important lesson I learned about creating a slide. You want to grab the person's interest to state your point with just a slide or bill board. I learned a lot more, but that was the most important aspect of creating a slide that stood out to me. 
Ashlye Fitzmaurice Media Slide (1)
As you can probably notice, my second slide looks a little different. I changed a few things, but the first thing I changed was the text beneath my picture. I felt as if it had no use and it just brought the attention to too many areas. It may had confuse people so I decided to take it out. Next, after deleting the text, I decided to drag my picture all the way down. Now that I look at it, it looks so much better. It sort of pops in your face and that's exactly what I was achieving. Lastly, I rotated "fashion is my passion" to a certain angle because I wanted it to match up with my shoulder. In the other slide, it was off and it was not lined up correctly. So therefore, I measured it towards my shoulder and already, the background complimented to the color of my scarf.  

Nyla Moore's Q2 Media Fluency

Nyla's Tech Slide
Hi my name is Nyla Moore and this is my slide. I chose to pick 3 pictures to represent me because I didnt want to clutter my slide and I could make the pictures bigger. I chose this background because it was colorful but it didnt take away from the theme or other pictures of the slide. I chose this saying because it was short and straight to the point. I decided to make the word  "Nobody" and "me" bold to make the phrase stand out. I chose to make the words different colors to create contrast. I left some open space so my slide would not look cluttered. My slide has a visual theme, even though there are different pictures. My theme is that there is nobody else like me and the pictures represent the things I like to do. Hope you enjoy my silde!
During my presentation, I was given great advice on how to improve my slide. I was told to match the colors in the picture to the words quote I had. I was also told to delete the pictures and to find a clear picture for the background. I did all of this to my project. These tips made my slide easier to understand and a lot better. 
Nyla's Tech Slide (2)

Fariha's Slide

Hi, my name is Fariha sultana.I made the color of m slide because it is my favorite color.I put the word “muslim” because it defines my identity.And I put picture of Quran because it is the holy book we follow as muslims.Bangladesh is where I was born and it defines my culture.when I was in bangladesh I loved riding in boats with my friends and family.Family means a lot to me because they are always there for me.In my family i have an older brother and sister, two loving parents and two adorable nephews.


Fariha sultana

Griffin Gallagher Q2 Media fluency

Griffins Slide
I made my slide the way it was so it would be easy to remember after only a glance. I left lots of space so your eyes are drawn to the red text that pops from the white background and black text.  I also added the picture for people who don't understand the saying. Fishing is my passion there's nothing in the world I'd rather be doing.

Parents: Dictators of Love


Parents: Dictators of Love

(Chennai Express, “Taming of the Shrew”)

Yeah, I say my title twice. 'Cause I'm awesome.


Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare was a masterpiece of its time, like most of Shakespeare's works, and the plot was heavily driven by a fathers involvement in his daughters’ marital status. This method of thought is closely tied to the modern Indian movie “Chennai Express”. In Taming of the Shrew, the character Baptista sets multiple challenges for potential suitors of his young and beautiful daughter, while in the movie “Chennai Express” the father, Durgeshwara, merely puts up a constant ever changing wall of intimidation so that only the suitor who is willing to keep up and succeed through the changing conditions will be allowed to marry the girl. Though the way that the fathers display their protection is different, both are trying to assure love for their daughters by dissuading suitors.



“That is, not to bestow my younger daughter before I have a husband for the elder.”

Act 1 Scene 1 Lines 50-51


Baptista is a loving father, who merely wants what’s best for his daughters. However his eldest daughter, Katherine, is slightly sadistic, and enjoys the pain of others. In the second scene she’s in, she’s annoyed that she’ll be forced to marry. To release her anger,  Katherine ties her younger sister up, drags her around the house, and then slaps her in the face when she talks back. Naturally, all of the suitors were terrified that someone would have to marry her before anyone could court Bianca. Yet Baptista doesn’t seem to worry at all about his younger daughter losing any suitors because of the task he set before them. Baptista wouldn’t willingly try and harm his daughter’s prospects, he is instead trying to guarantee that only the ones who would actually attempt a risky task for his daughter would be able to get her.



Scary Dad Pahomov
Scary Dad Pahomov

In this scene Rahul meets the extended family of Meenalochni for the first time. In this scene the Rahul is introduced to Durgeshwara, or Durge,  as her fiance. Durge carries with him a passive intimidation, which serves the purpose of keeping anyone beneath him away. For Rahul, this is meant to assure that he is worthy even of being near Durge or his daughter Meena. Baptista had a more active interaction with the suitors while Durge is displaying a passive intimidation. Partly this is due to Baptista having multiple ellegible suitors for his daughter, while Durge had few. However, it’s also heavily dependant on Baptista merely being a merchant, while Durge was in the role of a local king. Baptista was passively intimidating class wise, but Durge had the military power to ensure that if he disliked someone they would be imprisoned for as long as he wished. Both fathers had different ways of intimidating suitors that weren’t good enough.



“Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both that can assure my daughter greatest dower shall have my Bianca’s love.”

Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 135-136


In this scene a conversation is being had with Katherine’s suitor. The conversation is strange, because in a society of arranged marriages love isn’t the a large deciding factor. However because Baptista cares about his daughter, he is willing to set a test for the suitor. While the test may seem simple, Baptista sets a test to judge the suitor, and doesn’t merely observe their interactions. In order to protect his daughter, Baptista takes an active role in protecting her.
That's what you thought! Pahomov
That's what you thought! Pahomov


Tangballi is a local leader who was arranged to marry Meena. Unbeknown to him, Durge had recently changed his mind and allowed her new suitor Rahul her hand in marriage. Tangballi arrived with the intention to marry Meena and was personally delivered information of this change directly by Durge. Durge did this as a test, to see how Tangaballi would react under such pressure. If he didn’t love Meena enough to try for her, he wouldn’t be worthy of her. Both Baptista and Durge are setting tests to see how suitors will act, but again Durge takes a more passive role, while Baptista takes a more active one.


Ay,when the special thing is well obtained, that is, her love, for  that is all in all.

Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 135-136


This is from a conversation with a suitor of his younger daughter, Bianca. He’s trying to find out who’s able to help his daughter most, but also who is willing to give more to his daughter. He is saying that it is deeds that will win her, but in actuality it will go to the one who puts the biggest steak in the matter. Baptista wants his daughter to be supported by someone who is able to muster up the most resources for her.


Fight scene pahomov
Fight scene pahomov


Tangballi decided that the best way to prove his worthiness to Meena was to kill her suitor Rahul. Durge takes an active stance in this by preventing anyone from interfering with the fight. He even prevents his daughter from having a choice in it. He is purely interested in who is willing stake their life on the decision. Both Baptista and Duge have suitors battle, but they make the suitors fight on fields that the father is comfortable on. The merchant Baptista makes them fight over money, while the local lord Durge makes them fight to the death.


In both “Taming of the Shrew” and Chennai Express, though the focus was on the main characters, the plots were mostly shaped by the decisions of the parents. The actions of the characters are made to placate or impress the elders, and every move the elders make causes rippling consequences throughout the story. They both come from different stories, “Taming of the Shrew” being focused on the the trials faced by characters, and Chennai Express being focused on the interaction between the lovers, and the parent is more passive.  Both Baptista and Durge try and protect their children by setting tests for them, tests that range from tests of love and reactions to pure merit, whether it’s in the form of a fight or of the amount of money available.


Works cited:


Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Taming of the Shrew. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print.


Netflix. Perf. Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. Netflix. N.p., 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013


Lukas Aznar Q2 Media Fluency

The reason that i chose this picture for the slide is i believe that is had a good backing to simplicity and also it showed my view point. I belive that if you believe in something, everything that you are doing should be working towards that goal. This is shown in my slide because i have a quote by will smith that says if you have a dream, every penny of yours has to be working towards that goal.
Another reason i chose this picture is because it shows a baseball field, this is something i am passionate about. This is something that i want to work my whole life at, and put in the maximum effort that i can. My baseball dreams and passions tie into the quote because this really shows that i want to put in as much effort and money and time as i can into baseball. This really represents me, baseball and hard work. Effort and dedication is what describes my personality. My slide not only shows simplicity, but also a complex sense.
Untitled presentation

Juliana Concepcion Q2 Media Fluency

Media Fluency

In my slide, I portrayed how music is a representation of myself.  I made the slide look this way because it is a simple and minimalistic, yet effective way of catching someone’s attention.  The elements of design were what influenced my decision making when creating this slide.  There are multiple elements of design I used in this slide.  These include contrast, bleeding, the rule of thirds, and empty space.

I used contrast in my slide by adding a pop of color, as opposed to just seeing black and white in the slide.  The “music” and “me” being red and the “equals sign” having a black font color indicates that music and me are the same.  For bleeding, I made my image slightly go off of the slide, to give the effect that there is still more to see of it.  I used the rule of thirds by making “music” go in the first third, and the equals sign divided it with “me,” which is in the second third.  Finally, I used empty space by using a “minimalistic” style, which I did my own research on.  Empty space looks more professional compared to slides with too many visuals going on.
Media Fluency (1)
I learned a couple of different ways that I could change my media fluency slide after receiving constructive criticism from my classmates. First, I found a new image, because my previous image pixelated when it was projected. Also, I got rid of my attempt of bleeding the image off of the page, because it was more of an eyesore than the proper way of bleeding the image, which would be actually taking the whole image and placing it so that a whole side of it is bleeding off of the slide. The last thing I changed was moving my quote more towards the image. Ms. Hull set us all up for failure. She did this by not exactly telling us how we had to set up our slide. She gave us some resources, but otherwise it was all up to us. I'm very content with the final product of my work, and I feel that I learned a lot about how to properly design a slide.

Cassie's tech slide

Tech- media project (1)

My slide means that I use many different perspectives when I view things in our world. My slide makes up one point in Zens article he says when “feature a single item at a large size — it gets noticed, read, and remembered” and thats what I did with the word “perspective” and the picture. I displayed the type in a big font to get attention and my point across. I contrasted both the picture and the slide; the picture has a dark foreground and the the sky is bright and clear. The slide is bright white and then has the dark words on the side. I use empty space to draw the eyes to the picture and the word on the side. This slide uses many of of the lessons zen talks about, I hope you learned enough about the design in my slide to know about me.

The Lying Game

Comparing “The Taming of the Shrew” to “He’s Mine, Not Yours”



In the play of “The Taming of the Shrew”, characters from centuries ago, portray their idea of love by trying to win their lover with greed. The cocky and confident Petruchio insists of wifing the quick-tempered Katherine by using his power and money. The movie “He’s Mine, Not Yours” filmed in 2011 comes from a similar angle on their idea of love -- only it is a woman, Mandy, who is requested by another woman to use her power of her appearance to win the man.



Petruchio and Mandy share the same goals and mindsets in their predicaments, but the process on accomplishing these goals are different. Petruchio owning loads of money due to his father’s death, uses that to his advantage to go to Padua to wive a woman. Trying to win her over, Katherine’s stubborn personality causes her to resist the marriage, leaving Petruchio in a dispute. On the other hand, Mandy’s career is using the power of her looks as a career path to find out if “Prince Charmings” are cheaters. She is hired by Brooke who is in a perfect relationship with Kent, but was influenced by others that all men cheat. Mandy disguises herself to see if Kent will fall for her traps and cheat. These texts reflect that despite the gender, romance (genuine or not) can be created through lies and power.



“Signior Hortensio, ’twixt such friends as we

Few words suffice. And therefore, if thou know

One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife,

As wealth is burden of my wooing dance...”


(Act 1, Scene 2, Lines 66-77)


In this quote, Petruchio is speaking to his dear friend from Padua, Hortensio. He is telling Hortensio that people like them who are rich and handsome can get away with things by only doing a bare minimum. All Petruchio is looking for is a rich woman and that is enough for him to start a romance. Petruchio is influenced by himself to take upon this risky idea of marrying someone by flaunting his wealth to his greatest measures through lies even if it might have consequences.



A similar conversation is shared between Brooke and her friend about her plan through advice and a warning, but Brooke doesn’t listen.


Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 11.16.46 AM
Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 11.16.46 AM

Sophia is strongly advising to Brooke that she shouldn’t hire the “Man Stealer” (Mandy) to spy on Kent. She strictly says, "Don't go looking for trouble; because people who go looking for trouble, they normally find it." Ignoring her advice, Brooke is convinced that all men cheat so she finds the Man Stealer. This shows that Mandy was specifically sent by Brooke to use her power to manipulate Kent. But since Mandy specializes in lying and using her power to get what she wants, she is confident that she will win Kent with no obstacles. Petruchio and Mandy feel like their plans will both go smoothly, but Petruchio doesn’t know what to expect. Mandy has done this a thousand times so she is already assuming it will be an open and close, easy case.




“Why, Petruchio is coming in a new hat and an old jerkin, a pair of old breeches thrice turned, a pair of boots that have been candle cases, one buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword ta'en out of the town armory, with a broken hilt and chapeless; with two broken points; his horse hipped, with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred...”


(Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 42-62)


Biondello is announcing that Petruchio is arriving to his own wedding to marry Katherine wearing outrageous things like non matching boots, an old vest, a rusty sword, and more. Petruchio has gained even more confidence due to others insisting that just because he comes from good money and he has all the right things to say to lure Katherine, that he can get away with showing up to his wedding dressing completely out of sorts. Petruchio thinks he can get away with anything and that as long as a person’s actions are a strong as their lies and deceitfulness, he can force a marriage on Katherine and call it a romance.



Mandy does the opposite by ending her plan early to tell Brooke that Kent is not a cheater. However, when she hears a shocking response, she resumes her evil plan.
Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 11.17.42 AM
Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 11.17.42 AM

Mandy meets up with Brooke to let her know that Kent passed the test, and he is loyal and commited. Assuming that Brooke would be happy about this, she is more angry because she feels like Mandy didn’t do a full enough investigation. Mandy angrily says, “Listen, I take men away from their women everyday. Its my job." While Petruchio takes it upon himself to be obnoxtious and use his powers to fool Katherine, it is Mandy’s job where she is requested to do such things. She knows her lies and appearances can get her far in her plan just as much as Petruchio’s wealth can do the same. Petruchio and Mandy are a little too confident that they can win their “lovers” through the acts they put on.

Petruchio gets a wife and Mandy walks away empty handed. Mandy let her emotions get the best of her and she personally ended up falling for Kent. Getting caught in the act, Mandy lost. Although one character was more accomplished than the other, both show the same deep meaning about love. Love can be created through power and lies whether it is genuine or not. Fooling someone works just as well as falling for someone to spark a romance.



Shakespeare, William . The Taming of the Shrew. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.


He's Mine Not Yours. Dir. Roger Melvin. Perf. Jason Weaver, Caryn Ward, Gabrielle Dennis. 2011. DVD.

Taming the case of the serial cheater

“Taming the Shrew” and “John Tucker Must Die”


John Tucker Must Die (2) is a movie about a serial cheater named John Tucker who had three girlfriends from the same school, all at the same time. The only way he got away with it, was due to the fact that each of these girls were a part of different cliques. The girls names were Heather, Beth, and Carrie. Once John broke up with all three of them (at the same time) the girls decided to get revenge. They decided to set the new girl up, Kate, with him in order to break his heart.


Similar to John Tucker Must Die, Taming the Shrew is a play about an aggressive woman and her innocent sister who both are suppose to get married. The little sister, Bianca, can not be married until the older sister, Kate, was married. Kate was not appealing to most men because of her vicious attitude. In order to get the Kate out of the way so other people could marry her sister, Bianca's suitors decided to set up a man named Petruchio with her. The deal was that he would get paid for getting rid of the problem for them.  


The two pieces are similar in the ways they use lies to get what they want, but are different in the goals they wished to obtain. The girls in the movie “John Tucker Must Die” molded the new girl Kate into a person who would break John’s heart because he broke theirs. The suitors in “Taming the Shrew” molded Petruchio so they could get him to marry the older sister so the younger sister was free to marry. Obviously the two goals are very different, but share a common theme of deception in order to get what they want. These pieces reflect how people use honesty and deception in order to satisfy personal needs and wants.


“His youngest daughter, beautiful Bianca/ and her withholds from me and other more/ suitors to her and rivals my love/ supposing it a thing impossible/ for those defects I have before rehearsed/ that ever Katherina will be wooed/ Therefore this order hath Baptista ta’en/ that none shall have access unto Bianca/ Til Katherine the curst have got a husband (67).”- Hortensio Act 1 Sc 2 (1)


Hortensio, a suitor to Bianca, was proposing an idea to his friend Tranio. The idea was to get someone to marry the eldest daughter of King Baptista. Once the eldest daughter was married, the younger sister could be married. Because no one wanted to marry Kate, the idea of her getting married was slim to none. It was no longer about finding someone to genuinely love the oldest daughter Kate, it was about getting her out of the way. Doing this allowed Hortensio to get what he wanted, which was Bianca.

Similar to Hortensio proposing an idea to his friend, the three girls built up a plan to get what they wanted from their friend.




Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 8.58.05 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 8.58.05 PM

In this scene, Heather, one of John’s ex’s says “you know...instead of doing all this, we should’ve just broken his heart.” Kate, the new girl, replies “yeah except that he broke up with all of you (2).Another ex of John’s, Carrie, says “not everyone.” Then, the three girls look at Kate, hinting that they want her to be the person out of them to break his heart. Unlike Petruchio, in the end Kate actually did start falling for John and was embarrassed about the lies their relationship was built on. Petruchio, on the other hand, took pride in being in control and involved in a relationship full of deception.



“And place your hands below your husband’s foot; in token of which duty, if he please, my hand is ready, may it do him ease (221).”- Katherine Act 5 Sc 2 (1)


In this scene, Kate was giving a speech on how much she loved and respected her husband Petruchio. She was saying how she’d basically do anything he told her to. This scene was very strategic. Viewers believe that she used this scene to make it seem like she really changed into this kind, caring, loving woman when in reality, she did not feel that way. She was simply lying to make it seem like that was how she felt. In reality, she only said it to set her future. She wanted a husband. She wanted this happy lifestyle. By her saying this, she was only deceiving him into building the life she always wanted with any man.


Similar to Katherine, John Tucker strategically stretched the truth in order to get what he wanted from the three girls.



Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 9.17.16 PM
Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 9.17.16 PM

In this scene, the three girls just found out that John Tucker told them all the exact same thing when they asked about the other girls he was involved with. Heather (middle) started off by saying “I talked to John. He felt bad for you. He said that you were jealous because we share something special. Something that we didn’t have to label because-” and was interrupted by Beth (left) who said “because it’s our unspoken bond and I just love how secure you are-” and was interrupted by Carrie (right) who said “and it it hurts to hear you question it because you’re the only girl for me (2).” John Tucker had told them all the same thing.

Similar to Katherine in Taming the Shrew, John strategically told all of them these cheesy lines. He obviously did not mean it. Like Kate, he saw potential for a better future. Kate’s vision was more family orientated and about genuine love. John’s vision of a better future was being able to have three girlfriends at the same time and have them each believing that they were special.

These portrayals from the book Taming the Shrew and the movie John Tucker Must Die shows that society condones lying in order for people to get what they want in relationships. What these two pieces had in common was that the characters used twisted truths to achieve their goals. In Taming the Shrew, Petruchio necessarily didn’t lie to Kate, but he did not tell the whole truth either. His feelings towards her were forced by the suitors to Bianca. Petruchio was told that he would receive money from the suitors for getting her out of the way so men could try to marry her younger sister. Therefore, their relationship wasn’t genuine. It was a relationship built on lies and forced emotions in order for the suitors to get what they wanted, which was Bianca.

In the movie John Tucker Must Die, the three girls Beth, Heather, and Carrie used the new girl Kate to get what they wanted. John Tucker had broken their hearts by cheating on them and then breaking up with them before they could get full revenge. Their goal was to use Kate as a puppet. They would tell her what to say to him, how to act around him, etc. They wanted her to get him wrapped around her finger and then as soon as he was “whipped,” she would break his heart for their entertainment. Kate was not being herself. She was just a figure built on lies in order to hurt John.
Not only do people lie to get what they want in books and movies, but they do this in real life as well. Whether it’s a teenage boy lying about his feelings to get the to sexual attention of a girl, or a women lying about her love to get money from a wealthy man, people lie. Examples of this are also found in other types of media. In  an article on examiner.com (3), Kim Kardashian’s ex husband Damon Thomas accused her of lying in order to get money from him. The article says that she got back into a relationship with him, in order to finance lavish shopping sprees and extensive plastic surgery. He claims that she never really loved him, she was just in it for the money. Just as Petruchio used Katherine in order to get money from Bianca’s suitor, and how the ex girlfriends of John Tucker used a friend in order to get revenge, this shows that people often lie to get what they want.

Sources cited:

(1) Shakespeare, William, and R. C. Hood. Taming the Shrew. Houndmills: Macmillan, 1975. Print.

(2) John Tucker Must Die. Dir. Betty Thomas. By Jeff Lowell. Perf. Jesse Metcalfe, Brittany Snow, Ashanti, and Sophia Bush. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, 2006.

(3) "Kim Kardashian Has a History of Using Men – Part 1 - First Husband Damon

Thomas."Examiner.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.

The Ugly Conformity

The Ugly Conformity
Comparing Taming of The Shrew to The Ugly Truth

Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, written more than 400 years ago, and the 2009 romantic comedy The Ugly Truth starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler have more in common than one might think upon first viewing. When critically reviewing the two, the similarities between Petruchio’s character’s treatment of Katherine in Taming of The Shrew and Mike’s (Butler) lessons for Abby (Heigl) are very similar in their presentation. Both the play and the movie women conforming to male ideas of who they should be and how they should act, especially towards and in relationships with men, as a positive occurrence.

“If I be waspish, best beware my sting.” - Katherine
(Act II Scene I, line 208)

In the beginning of Taming of The Shrew Katherine is presented as a man-hating, almost evil woman with a vicious tongue, no desire to be married. No one wants to marry Katherine for the sole reason of being with her, she is the equivalent of a devil. Katherine immediately dislikes Petruchio upon first meeting, exchanging a series of insults with him, displaying both her contempt for marriage and Petruchio himself, as shown in the above quote. As Petruchio is marrying Katherine for her money and will be with her for the rest of his life, Petruchio decides then that he will change Kate to his liking, to a Kate more up to his standards.

Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 10.58.13 AM
Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 10.58.13 AM
Similarly, in the beginning of The Ugly Truth Abby’s characters is presented as a work-oriented control freak who does badly with blind dates and has a checklist of qualities she is looking for in a husband, a cat loving red wine drinking romantic. When she meets Mike’s character, she predictably immediately dislikes him and his misogynistic sexist speech and ideas of the one thing men really want: sex. Despite their differences, Abby and Mike are forced to work together to raise the ratings of their unpopular news show, on which Abby is the producer and Mike is on a segment devoted to saying sexist things in order to get more viewers. When Abby meets a man who fits her categories, she asks Mike for advice on how to get Colin, the new man, to date her. Mike agrees, and teaches Abby how to be what he thinks will make Colin want to date her, a woman conformed to male standards.

“For I am he born to tame you, Kate

And bring to from a wile Kate to a Kate

Conformable as other household Kates.” - Petruchio

(Act II Scene I Lines 261-262)

Petruchio to Katherine upon meeting her that he is born to tame her. Seeing clearly that she has no desire to wed him, Petruchio tells Katherine a lie: that her father has already agreed, that the dowry has already been settled, and that he will marry her whether she likes it or not. Petruchio use of language would make one think he was domesticating an animal, by calling her a “wild Kate”, a pun on “wildcat” that he will “tame.” This language serves the purpose of setting the terms for Petruchio and Katherine’s relationship. Petruchio makes is clear that Katherine is not up to his standards for someone who will be his wife, and that he will make sure that he changes her to conform to his standards, so that he can live with a Katherine “conformable as other household Kates.”
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Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 11.01.42 AM

Mike starts to go about turning Abby into a woman that men would want to date. He tells her that “men are very visual” buys her tight dresses, new bras, and tells her to take down her ponytail because it “implies that you are either operating heavy machinery or emptying the litter box, and neither of those things inspires an erection.” Mike say’s that her hair needs to be longer as well, because “men like something to grab on to other than your ass.” Mike tells her “You have to be two people, the librarian and the stripper.” As Mike claims that he knows what every man wants, Abby goes along with the standards that Mike sets for her, in the hopes that it will cause Colin to like and want to date her.

“And place your hands below your husband’s foot

In token of which duty if he please,

My hand is ready, may it do him ease.” - Katherine

(Act V Scene II lines 181-183)

Katherine makes a long speech at the end of the play to show her transformation. The once shrewish Katherine now gets mad at Bianca and Hortensio's widow for looking angrily at their husbands. Husbands whom Katherine describes as their lords, kings, and governors. She says that a woman’s husband protects her and supports her, living a life of danger and responsibility while the woman needs to provide obedience and kindness, a payment for “so great a debt.” Katherine boldly claims a husband is to his wife as a prince is to his subject, and if a woman is “froward, peevish, sullen, sour”, then she is a traitor to a just ruler. Katherine goes on to say that women’s bodies are soft and weak because their inners should match their outsides, and that women should yield to their men. She then tells Bianca and the widow that, she used to be as proud and as headstrong as they are, but now she understands that “our lances are but straws,” implying that their weapons, woman's weapons, are insignificant.

Katherine, from dealing with Petruchio trying to tame her, has drastically changed. She now think a woman should prepare herself to do anything for her husband. This is a sharp contrast from the Katherine in the beginning of the play who was fighting against her social role, and whom no one  wanted to marry. This speech displays the play’s view of relationships, that a woman conforming to a man is a good thing. As this is a comedy, not a tragedy, there are no sad endings, only happy ones where everything is resolved. The end of this play shows Katherine giving in and conforming to Petruchio’s standards of what a woman should be in a positive light. Because the character's are satisfied, Katherine's transformation is presented as a good thing, something that made her, and those around her happy.

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Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 11.04.06 AM

Just as Petruchio accomplished his goal of taming Katherine , Mike's training of Abby to become more of what a man wants works, and Colin falls for Abby. In the end of the play Abby is wearing push-up bras, fake hair, and tight dresses. She’s no longer the “romantically- challenged” Abby she was before she met Mike. In fact, Mike’s transformation of Abby works so well that Mike begins to fall for Abby as well. In the end of the movie, Abby and Mike are together and in love, where once Abby hated him for his sexist words, much like the beauty falling in love with the beast, despite his abuse. The ending of the movie is also happy, and Abby’s transformation into more of a woman men want to date is shown as a good thing.

Taming of the Shrew and The Ugly Truth have much in common. Both the movie and the play are insulting to both to women and men. Each presents a woman conforming to men’s standards of who they should be, and how they should act, and end in the woman being with a man. In both of these mediums, this is presented as a positive occurrence, showing that male dominance of ideas about dating has been a common theme in play's and movies for hundreds of years.

Media Fluency Slide

First Draft
Technology Presentation - Rough Draft
Script:

The reason I chose the background I chose was because, after experimenting a little bit with images, fonts and backgrounds, I liked the changing colors of this one. I also liked the simplicity of it, and the fact that it wasn’t plain white with no change. I chose the kitten because it’s very cute, draws attention, describes and connects to the text, and compliments the white with its orange color. I chose the position of the text boxes because they take up all of the top boxes of the rule of threes. Also, it makes it so that you read the top one first, using size and positioning. I thought it was a little bit dry, so I added some more orange to stay with the color scheme by outlining the first block texting, also adding to its importance and eye drawing power. I specifically liked this color of dark orange because it’s almost exactly the shade of orange of the cat. Also, I chose a different font from Arial or Times New Roman, so that it would look different. I positioned the kitten in the bottom because it is looking up, and also because it is the heaviest object in the slide. I decided to leave an empty space in the bottom left so that I can stand there during the presentation. It also spaces out the objects in the slide. For an additional bonus, and to take advantage of the changing colors of the background, I photoshopped the background of the kitten from light blue to changing shades of white and gray. Finally, I wanted to have a little thing about Doctor Who in the slide, so I included a tiny thing about Doctor Who. This didn’t interrupt interrupt anything in the slid


Bibliography:


http://areyoutryingtodeduceme.tumblr.com/post/41334222495/transparent-tardis-for-your-dashes-this-time

http://nycprowler.com/2013/10/29/download-app-heres-how/

http://www.custommapmakers.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=623

Final Draft
Technology Media Fluency Presentation - Final Draft
Through this project I have learned a lot. I have learned about how to properly construct a slide. I have also learned about the subtle hints that you can use to affect someone’s brain when they look at something, such as tangents and the rule of thirds. I learned from my presentation that I can use transparent images instead of spend hours shaving individual pixels off of an image. I also learned that a text box stroke or outline can give a tangent that distracts from the whole presentation. This is why I removed that. In addition, I found that the more on the slide, the more to get distracted from and the more to distract. That’s why I removed the little doctor who image. Ultimately, I have learned a lot and have benefited from this in so many ways. Enjoy!

Confessions Of A Shopaholic vs. The Taming Of The Shrew

Honesty and deception in relationship

Comparing "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and "The taming of The Shrew"



In Shakespeare's written play, “The Taming of The Shrew”, I examined it a bit more and found that it very relative to one’s life today. The Mighty Petruchio  was so out to get Katherine, which was perfect because everyone else wanted Bianca. Everyone had dressed up, pretending to be someone else, or rather, pretending to love someone just for the fortune in the play. Just like in the 2009 movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic”, the main character seeks after all the clothes & shoes she can get her hands on, and pretends to be someone she is not. In both movies, It is evident that in one’s relationship, it can be more deception than expected, and can affect two people’s view on one another, so honesty is communication is key.


Each movie and situation is different, but can be connected in many ways. Lucentio and Hortensio dress up to be someone they are not, just so they can win the heart of Bianca. They work to be as close to her as possible, Lucentio dressing up as her Latin Teacher, Hortensio as the Music teacher, and Tranio as Lucentio. They are all suitors of Bianca, and each of them are determined to woo Bianca. In the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic”, Rebecca Bloomwood is actually a Shopaholic that is drowning in debt. When her closet is filled with all the Gucci bags, Prada shoes, and Chanel coats you can dream of, her mind is crammed with all the overdue bills she is supposed to be paying off. When she goes shopping for a new dress for an interview to get a job at Elitte (a really high-class fancy shmancy Fashion Magazine she has been wanting to work for ever since she was 14), she ends up being denied, and gets another interview at a finance company. This is extremely ironic for her because she isn’t very good with managing money, however, she ace’s the interview and gets a job as a Journalist for a column in the Finance Magazine. Her friend Suze makes a point of how she needs to take her own advice that she metaphorically compares and contrast to fashion in the column, so that she can become debt-free. Rebecca also tells Suze her plan of winning another job at the Elitte magazine industry, since the Financial company she works for now is somewhat owned by Elitte, and she is willing to do anything to work there.


QUOTE:


One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife—

As wealth is burden of my wooing dance—

Be she as foul as was Florentius’ love,

As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd

As Socrates’ Xanthippe or a worse,

She moves me not—or not removes at least

Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough

As are the swelling Adriatic seas.

I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;

If wealthily, then happily in Padua.

(65-73)



Here Petruchio describes his ideal wife-a rich woman, who is able to provide a large dowry for himself in the near future. He does not care how rude, stubborn, or upright blunt she is, he is just in it for the riches. He also mentions no matter how wild she is, he is more than able to tame her through the “loving kindness he is determined to woo her with”.



Miss Rebecca felt the same way-just a different message, along with a different approach.



In this scene, Rebecca rushed to the hotdog stand to get cash back, in order to pay for a “magical green scarf” for her interview, that she was unable to pay for with her expired cards. She hurries to the front of the line, cutting in front of everyone, and even pushes her future boss (the guy right next to her in the suit) to get what she needed. This green scarf that she is rushing to get is actually another statement piece a manikin figuratively convinced her to get for this interview, so that she would be later known as “The Girl in the Green Scarf”. Getting this scarf would guarantee her spot in the Elitte magazine industry. Like Petruchio, Rebecca is willing to do anything to get this position or this wonderful opportunity, and go through great extent to get it. She will even lie to herself and the hotdog man that this scarf she needs, is for her great aunt who is very ill.  



QUOTE:

My mind hath been as big as one of yours,

My heart as great, my reason haply more,

To bandy word for word and frown for frown;

But now I see our lances are but straws,

Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,

That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.

Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,

And place your hands below your husband’s foot,

In token of which duty, if he please,

My hand is ready, may it do him ease.

  (V.ii.140183)




In this scene, Petruchio tells Lucentio to watch as Katherine comes with obedience to him when he calls for her. When she comes, Petruchio already predicted that she will drag Bianca along with her, degrading her behavior towards her husband by not obeying his orders of coming to him. Her persuasive words that she speaks to all of the wives and everyone else in the audience was touching to Petruchio. She explained as to why obeying your husband not only shows respect towards him, because there is “Too little payment for so great a debt.” that is to be payed to the husband. She shows that she has been somewhat “tamed” by the great Petruchio, and she no longer is the defiant, obstinate, Katherine everyone was very familiar with in the beginning of the play.



   In this part of the movie, Rebecca is walking down the street, past all the beautiful windows of New York with the most beautiful clothing, that she realizes that she doesn’t need. Once again, she was almost tempted by another Manikin that those red sparkly heels were going to go with that green dress she has been dying to wear. But after selling all large amount of her clothes,hats, shoes, bags, and jewelry, to pay for all of her overdue bills, she realizes she doesn’t want to ever feel that way again, and she wants to have control. When Luke stated “What about Honesty? What about credibility?” , she realized something was to happen so she can make everything right again. She persuaded herself at that window that those shiny things aren’t necessary for life, and she go on without them. She broke her old habit of buying, and became a new person. She “tamed” her passion of spending money she doesn’t have. As she walks down the street, the Manikins applaud her for making the right decision, and she later walks into the love of her life, Luke. Comparing both movies, we see that each person had to make a major change to make the relationship work, and have self control. They had to "tame" what was ruining them in the first place. For Katherine, it was hard for people to approach her because of her personality, and defiance, and for Rebecca spending money that wasn't hers recklessly on things she didn't need. Both girls had to "tame" these things so they wouldn't interfere with anything else in their life.



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Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 9.10.49 AM

A Shrewd Proposal

Gender roles in The Taming of the Shrew and The Proposal


The Taming of the Shrew is a play written by William Shakespere. In Shrew, Petruchio, a wealthy man, plans to marry Katherine, a woman notorious for her unpleasant disposition. Katherine does not consent to the marriage, but Petruchio convinces her father that Katherine has agreed to the match and the two are married. When Katherine goes to live with Petruchio, he vows that he will “tame” her. The Proposal, a film released in 2009, is ver similar to The Taming of the Shrew. The Proposal is about a man named Andrew and his boss Margaret. Margaret is disliked by all of her employees, especially Andrew. Margaret, a Canadian citizen, risks deportation if she doesn’t get married. She blackmails Andrew into marrying her. 

The Taming of the Shrew is often criticized for it’s sexist themes. Due to Petruchio’s calculated abuse (he denies her food and sleep in order to extract compliance) Katherine surrenders to his will, declaring to her friends and family “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, Thy head, thy sovereign; (5.1.146)” Literary critic George Bernard Shaw described the play as “altogether disgusting to modern sensibility". However, the gender roles delineated in The Taming of the Shrew are not outdated products of Shakesperian chauvinism. In The Proposal, Margaret and Andrew’s interactions appear to be a role-reversal of the Taming of the Shrew, but the film ends up reiterating a message of male dominance.

“She is intolerable curst,

And shrewd, and froward, so beyond all measure

That, were my state far worser than it is,

I would not wed her for a mine of gold”(1.2.89-93)

In this scene, Hortensio is trying to convince Petruchio to marry Katherine. He tells Petruchio about Katherine’s reputation: she is known to be unpleasant, petulant, and irritable. 

In The Proposal, Margaret is seen in a similar light. 

In part of the movie, Margaret fires an employee who failed to secure a contract with an important client for the publishing company of which Margaret is a high-level manager. Once she informs him of his termination, he flies into a rage, calling Margaret a “poisonous bitch” and a “monster”. Additionally, throughout the entire film Margaret is referred to as “satan’s spawn” by several other characters. Margaret is very similar to Katherine: both women are written off as horrible bitches by the male characters. The way their different situations unfold is when the two characters begin to differ.

“I tell you, ‘tis incredible to believe

how much she loves me. O, the kindest Kate!

She hung about my neck , and kiss on kiss

She vied so fast, protesting oath on oath

That in a twink she won me to her love” (2.1.325-329)

In this scene, Petruchio declares to Baptista (Katherine’s father) that he has successfully woo’d her. Upon hearing the above quote, Baptista agrees to the match and arranges for Katherine to be wed to Petruchio. Katherine remains silent during this part, although she previously made it clear to Petruchio that she had no interest in marrying him.

In The Proposal, Margaret does the same thing to Andrew. 


Margaret is a Canadian citizen living in the United States on a work visa. When she fails to take the steps necesscry to renew he visa, she faces deportation. When she finds out about her impending deportation, she quickly tells ICE that she and her assistant, Andrew are to be married. Andrew goes along with this in the meeting, but afterwards he expresses some concerns about marrying her. Margaret then says that if she is fired, her successor will fire Andrew, ruining his dreams of publishing his book. Andrew also negotiates a promotion for himself. Andrew agrees to marry Margaret. 

In The Taming of the Shrew, it is Petruchio who pursues Katherine. In The Proposal, it is Margaret who pursues Andrew. Both Margaret and Petruchio want to be married not for romantic love, but for their own purposes. Margaret wants to keep her job and Petruchio wants to collect Katherine’s sizable dowry. However, Andrew will receive a promotion while Katherine receives nothing for marrying Petruchio.

This role-reversal reflects the changed reactions to women in power since Shakesperian times. In the 1500’s, a woman had no rights and was considered property. The very idea of a woman being in any sort of power (with the notable exception of Queen Elizabeth, who was often ruthlessly mocked in the English media during her reign), was absolutely ridiculous. Therefore, the Renaissance equivalent to Margaret’s “bitchy boss” character would be a woman who refused to conform to traditional gender roles. Katherine fills this role. She refuses to allow her father to make a whore of her and marry her off to a stranger, and was often belligerent in asserting this. Through Petruchio, Hortensio, and other male characters’ eyes, an independent woman must be deficient in some way because men are dominant, and in not accepting her socially-expected role as a woman threatened their power. Thus, she was a “shrew”

Margaret is shrew for not conforming to gender roles. She is a woman in power in corporate America, which is no easy feat. When her subordinates speak to each other about her, they often use gendered insults to refer to her (like “bitch” and “witch”), even though the film never shows her doing anything particularly horrible to her employees. Modern women in power are often put under a microscope. Take Hillary Clinton. She is constantly berated by the press for her appearance in ways that her male counterparts never have been and never will be. 

“Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,

Thy head, thy sovereign; (5.1.146-147)”

This quote is from the last scene in The Taming of the Shrew. At a dinner party with Katherine’s friends and family, she makes a shocking speech declaring that women must be obedient to their husbands, because women must be protected by men. 

In The Proposal, Margaret and Andrew interact in ways that send the same message.

In this scene, Margaret and Andrew go on a boat ride. When Margaret tries to operate the boat, she falls out of the boat and into a lake. Unable to swim, Andrew must pull Margaret out of the water, saving her from drowning. In the film there are also other scenes like this where Margaret seems unable to do anything for herself and Andrew must sweep in and save the day. For example, Margaret cannot walk down a ladder without Andrews assistance. Nor can she turn on a computer in an internet cafe without him showing her how, which seems strange since it would make sense that a highly-esteemed book publisher would know how to operate a computer. In the films final scene, Andrew confronts Margaret in the office, declaring his affection to her in front of the entire staff of the company. When Margaret tries to interrupt him, he yells at her “I told you to shut up!”. The two kiss, and the scene ends with a co-worker yelling “Yeah! Show her who’s boss Andrew!”

As the film progresses Margaret becomes more reliant on Andrew. By the end of The Taming of the Shrew, Katherine is totally and utterly reliant on Petruchio. Both works send the same message: women must rely on men, otherwise they are shrews. When Andrew “takes control” in the final scene, he has successfully “tamed” Margaret. When Katherine relinquishes her entire identity for Petruchio, he has successfully “tamed” her. On the surface, The Proposal may seem like a role-reversal of The Taming of the Shrew, but the film falls into ancient tropes the still dictate the way men and women relate to each other in television, film, and other forms of media. 

Works Cited

Shakespere, William. The Taming of the Shrew. New York, NY: Washington Square, 1992. Print.

The Proposal. Dir. Anne Fletcher. Perf. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2009. DVD.

Standards vs. Love

 Comparing "The Taming Of The Shrew" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love"

 

Many people in the world believe in romantic love. The feeling that you see a person and you know that they are the one. Taming of the Shrew has Lucentio and Katharine. Lucentio has his encounter with a woman named Bianca and it’s their love at first sight for him. Katharine wants to be in a relationship, but she wants a husband that is up to her standards. The movie Crazy, Stupid, Love has Julianne Moore as Emily Weaver a woman who thought she had what was needed for a healthy marriage until she cheats on her husband. The two got a divorce and Emily goes throught the movie trying to find out what she wants in life.  At the same time Jacob Palmer who is a man who has standards, but isn’t really looking for love until he meets Hannah who he falls in love with at first sight even though he himself never believed in romantic love. Both Shrew and Crazy, Stupid, Loveboth show characers looking for true love, but the difference is the standards that s person has in ‘shrew’ based on if the person fits that one standard while inCrazy, Stupid, Love the person does not have to fit any of them and still be together..





Katharine::I pray you sir,is it your will to make me a stale amongst these mates


(Act 1, Scene 1, 57)





    Baptista suggest that either Grumio or Hortensio marry Katharine so that one of them may marry Bianca. The statement offends Katharine and she says how she would be seen as a laughingstock if married to these men. This shows that she wants a husband who fits her standard which is why she rejects Grumio and Hortensio who do not meet her standards.



Emily also feels that her relationship with her husband is one of ridicule.


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Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 8.19.42 AM

  In this scene Emily has just told her husband that she want a divorce. The car is uncomfortably silent and Emily says “25 years of marriage and you can’t say anything.” Kate wants a husband that meets her standards while Emily obviously has been with a husband who has not.The scene in the car has the audience feel that their marriage was nothing with the 25 years commitment, but still show that Emily believed that she and her husband had something between them regardless of standards.


Petruchio: Happily to wive and thrive, as best I may


(Act 1, Scene 2, 57)

In this scene Petruchio is telling Hortensio that he is looking for a wife. Notice how he says “as best I may” meaning that he is looking for a woman to at least fit one standard, but he will be satisfied if she does not meet all of them


Jacob has a similar experience in Crazy,Stupid,Love


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Screen Shot 2013-12-05 at 9.00.59 AM

One of the first things Jacob says in this scene is “Me sitting across the bar for the last 2 hours not being able to take my eyes off you is a fact.” Unlike Petruchio, Jacob finds a woman that he doesn’t know if she fits his standards and still decides he must have her.  Before this scene, the director has purposely has the audience see Jacob in the background of the bar watching the girl he is interested in from afar. The director did this to show the audience that Jacob is honestly interested in the girl and that she fits the standards.



        Over the years the ability to accept one's faults regardless of standards has changed dramatically. Now a person could be against a persons standard, but still be compatible. I think this is because society now sees dating/courtship as an everyday thing rather than just picking or trying to be a suitor for marriage.



Shakesphere, William. The Taming of the Shrew. New York City: A Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.


Ficarra, Glenn, dir. Crazy,Stupid,Love. Writ. Fogelman Dan. Carousel Productions, 2011. Film. 6 Dec 2013.


Female Dominance In Relationships Can Be Deceiving

Comparing “Taming Of The Shrew” to “Deliver Us From Eva”


As “Taming Of The Shrew” proves, that female dominance in relationships can be deceiving. In “Taming Of The Shrew”,  Petruchio sets out to tame Katherine, a sharp-tongued, quick-tempered woman prone to violence, particularly against anyone who tries to marry her. Deceived by deception, Katherine eventually gives up fighting with Petruchio and instead gives her unconditional love to him. In the 2003 romantic comedy “Deliver Us From Eva”, a similar situation happens. Ray, the neighborhood playboy, is bribed by his friends and is sent to tame Eva, a very uptight young woman who constantly meddles in the affairs of her sisters and their husbands. The plan goes by smoothly, but troubles comes their way when Ray actually falls in love with Eva. Both “The Taming Of The Shrew” and “Deliver Us From Eva” makes it seem that females can often seem as though they have the upper hand in relationships because their controlling qualities, but it is actually the males who are more dominant because they can tame the females into doing what they want."


Though Petruchio and Ray have similar goals, they both use different tactics to prove their dominance and restore their position as alpha males. It shows that the expectation of a male in a relationship is to control any type of female dominance. These two situations are similar being  that they are formed around honesty and deception, though they differ by showing that the expectation of a male in a relationship is to attain authority and for a female is to be controlled.


PETRUCHIO:

“Signior Baptista, my business asketh haste,

And every day I cannot come to woo.

You knew my father well, and in him me,

Left solely heir to all his lands and goods,

Which I have bettered rather than decreased.

Then tell me, if I get your daughter’s love,

What dowry shall I have with her to wife?


BAPTISTA:

After my death, the one half of my lands,

And, in possession, twenty thousand crowns.”

(Act 2, Scene 1)


In this quote, Petruchio and Baptista are conversing on the plan of wooing Katherine. Baptista agrees to pay Petruchio twenty-thousand crowns and half of his land if Petruchio succeeds in attaining Katherine love. On the understanding that Baptista is willing to go any extent on Petruchio wooing Katherine, shows male superiority to getting what they want. This aside makes the setting very intense.


In “Deliver Us From Eva”, Rays finds himself in a similar situation, but the way he approaches the issue is very different but interesting in a humorous way.

- “Eva is a piece of work, but we're prepared to make it worth your while to take her out. You're gonna pay me to go out with her?”

- When you do it, you have to make her fall in love with you, then you tell her you're leaving town and get her to go with you.

- Then you can dump her. It'll take her years to relocate. - Yes!

- Ray, Ray, look, I gotta be honest with you. Eva is a piece of work, but we're prepared to make it worth your while to take her out. You're gonna pay me to go out with her? Are you worried that that makes you look like a gigolo?  No. I mean, I kind of like that aspect. - Okay! All right. I'm in a financial bind.

In this scene, the husbands of Eva’s sisters are asking Ray to woo Eva. They informed him that he is to occupy her time so that she stays out of the affairs of their lives. They emphasize on the reason of him not getting emotionally attached to her. He refuses on the idea of the plan at first but then accepts after he is bribed with $5,000.


PETRUCHIO:

Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed.

And therefore, setting all this chat aside,

Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented

That you shall be my wife, your dowry 'greed on,

And, will you, nill you, I will marry you.

Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn,

For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,

Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well,

Thou must be married to no man but me.

For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,

And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate

Conformable as other household Kates.


This is the scene from the play where Petruchio is attempting to woo Katherine. He lies and tells her things that would makes her feel pleasant inside, though knowing they are all untrue. For example when he says that though everyone denounces her of being called pretty Kate, he believes she is the prettiest Kate in the world. He then went on to saying that he wants to marry her. To his surprise, Kate reacts differently than what he’d expected.


PETRUCHIO:

Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed.

And therefore, setting all this chat aside,

Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented

That you shall be my wife, your dowry 'greed on,

And, will you, nill you, I will marry you.

Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn,

For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,

Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well,

Thou must be married to no man but me.

For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,

And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate

Conformable as other household Kates.


Realizing that by beating around the bush and trying to please Katherine in a way is like begging for her love, which is not being dominant, he decides to cut to the chase and tell her the truth. After telling her the truth, he maintains his superiority by telling her whether she likes it or not, they are getting married. He then went on to state,” I’m the man who was born to tame you and change you from a wildcat Kate into a Kate as gentle and domestic as other household Kates.”


In this scene, Ray is put in a similar situation when consoles to telling Eva the plan. But, as Petruchio expresses his dominance in a controlling, less submissive manner, Ray chooses to express his situation in a more calm, passive, approach.


-”Look. I'm sorry, fellas.

I'm going to see Eva tonight, and the least I can do is tell her in person what I did.”

Eva,you don't understand.
-“ It's because of me.The only reason I went out with you...is because they paid me to. I was supposed to... make you like me, then trick you into moving away.But I didn't know you then. I didn't realize how wonderful you are. How much you changed me, make me wanna change.I know I was wrong, but….what we have is bigger than all the mistakes I've made.
 I'm certain of that.”


Showing that by being soft and gentle to the aggressive, you’re not only gaining dominance to their heart but to the person as a whole. This is what Ray does in this scene. He tells Eva the whole plan and in the end apologizes to her.Weakened by his honesty and sympathy, she eventually forgives him and accepts his apology. In turn, she agrees to marry him. DOMINANCE ESTABLISHED.


In conclusion both the film and play shows that though at times women might seem the more dominant in relationships, it is the males who are the superiority leaders. All women need is to be controlled(tame) in order to behave in the proper manner. The main ideas surrounding both is that men and women play different roles in society and even though how crazy it may seem  for men to always want control of women, men will always have that superiority because that’s what they were made to be.



BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Deliver Us from Eva. By Gary Hardwick. Dir. Gary Hardwick. Perf. Gabrielle Union and LL Cool J. Universal Studios, 2003. DVD.

SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

"Deliver Us From Eva Script - Dialogue Transcript." Deliver Us From Eva Script. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

"Watch Deliver Us from Eva (2003) Online for Free - Viooz." Latest Added Movies RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

Director: Gary Hardwick


Q2 Media Fluency

My slide has a picture of multiple gray eggs in the back with one bright red egg up front with the two words “BE DIFFERENT” in all caps right next to it. I wanted my slide to be simple and easy to understand with just a glance since it is a visual aid. After going on and reading the Presentation Zen website I had obtained enough information to know how to make my slide better with contrast,emptiness,size,alignment and more. The red egg is in the front and with a very vivid warm red it catches anyone's eye which is why I used it. Also the red contrasts with the gray and the darker red that the text is in. I also utilized spacing and emptiness so that the slide wouldn't get crowded and so you would be able to see everything clearly. Also so that everything would take up a balanced amount of space.

Now dealing with the size I wanted to make sure that people really far away could see it with no problem. I only put those two words on the slide because the picture is enough to get my point across that its okay to be different just look at me and inspires other people to be themselves also and not follow the crowd.   


Be Different
Slide reflection:

I changed the color of the  "E" in the word different to red so that it could further get the point across to be different. Also because of the advice I got from my peers during our class discussion. I also got rid of the underlining of the words and the period of the end because everyone wanted It gone so badly. Furthermore I changed the color of the words to match the gray eggs.finally i got rid of the negative space within my slide so now the words are aligned. During the discussion I've learned a lot of vocabulary and how to look at pictures and billboards in a different way.Also I learned not to use negative space between words because it's distracting to the eye. I will never look at anything the same after the class discussion and will forever look at a billboard or advertisment and think "does that follow the rule of thirds ?" 
Be Different

Changing for the Better

Comparing “Taming of the Shrew” to “Hitch”

 

In the play of “Taming of the Shrew” and a modern romantic comedy movie "Hitch," they both portrays control and power from a male and female perspective, causing a physical and mental change in the other person of a relationship. In the play, Kate is a more complex and harsh person than Petruchio. This is when power and demand comes into play from a male perspective. Petruchio “tames” her to become a better person than before, so they can be compatible with each other, relating to Hitch and Sara, only Sara is the controller in this relationship. 

Viewing control and power in a female’s perspective in the movie “Hitch,” Sara, a magazine gossiper, dates a dating professional named Hitch, in which she never knew he was a dating expert in wooing women, until her best friend has been with one of Hitch’s clients and been through a one-night stand. This showing that Hitch and Kate have to make a change for their relationship to work. Petruchio and Sara are the controllers of the relationships. In the play and the movie, it shows that sacrifice has to be done because of the change. Kate and Hitch have to put out their old lifestyles for the better. Never-ending relationships only work well when there is control over another person so that one can change to become compatible with each other regardless of gender, as portrayed by Petruchio and Sara as the controller of the relationship.

“I swear I’ll cuff you if you strike again.”

(Act II, Scene i, 234)


In this quote of Petruchio, he neglects everything towards Kate, his wife, to get the best out of her, when taming her. The usage of threat towards her is his method of choice to get her to become a better person, ignoring all her feelings. He’s trying to break the negative boundary that Kate is having. The reason is that because Petruchio is in control of the relationship.


Similar to Petruchio taming Kate, Sara uses a more harsh tactic of exposing Hitch as the date doctor to the community to tame him.
Hitch 1
Hitch 1
     In this startling scene, Sara is talking angrily to her boss on planning on publishing the recordings of Hitch teaching one of Sara’s co-workers on how to woo women, which was Sara’s plan to find out if Hitch is a date doctor or not. Sara speaks angrily to her boss “Well, he’s going to have to hide behind a lot more than that once this hit the fan.” Her plan is to ask one of her male co-workers, without Hitch’s knowledge, to ask Hitch for dating advice and the co-worker records the evidences of Hitch teaching him on how to woo women. Sara doesn’t want Hitch to be this way because he teaches men to be someone that they are not, in which the women would fall in love with a “fake” man. This is her way of getting back at Hitch because she was tricked by Hitch’s tactics of wooing women by pleasing them. Sara dated Hitch before she found out he’s a date doctor. She still likes him, however. Therefore, she wants to change him to be true to himself. Relating to the way of taming of the “Taming of the Shrew” and “Hitch”,  Petruchio’s way of taming is more direct towards Kate and Sara’s way is more passive and more modern of using a recorder to expose and tame him. However, Petruchio and Sara both took control of their relationships and their ways of taming are both offensive and effective, even through with different genders. In society, the stereotype is that men is always in control of women, but that isn’t true in anyways. Having control over someone in a relationship can be a man or woman, as shown with Sara and Petruchio.

"In token of which duty, if he please,

 My hand is ready, may it do him ease."

(Act V, Scene ii, 194-195)

  In this quote, Kate made a speech about how women shouldn’t behave carelessly at the banquet celebrating the newlyweds. The husbands all demanded the wife to come out of the room and to see their husbands. None of the wives came out, except for Kate. That’s when she made the speech. This is the ending scene of the play, showing that Kate is tamed and is obedient towards Petruchio. This interprets that Petruchio took control over her and having that said, she’s now a new person, that had sacrifice her original lifestyle. She’s now living up to the men’s expectation, which was never portrayed in the play before until the end.


Kate shows a clear change in her personality from the beginning of the play ‘til the end and Hitch is just about in the same position as Kate.
Hitch 2
Hitch 2
  In this scene, Hitch realizes that being someone else to woo women isn’t always the right choice to do. Hitch says to Sara “But here I am Sara, falling. And there is only one person that can make me feel like I can fly, is you.” Hitch realizes that being with Sara requires a change in his personality because they are both completely different people. Sara fell in love with the fake identity of Hitch at first. Change and power from Sara took control of Hitch by attempting to publish the recordings of Hitch giving advice to woo women. That made him the person that he is and for Sara to love him back for who he really is. In the “Taming of the Shrew”, Kate plays as a role similar to Hitch because they showed a change in person because of control from their partner in the relationship.  
       “Taming of the Shrew” and “Hitch” shows a clear understanding of change to become a better person for a relationship to continue. Hitch met someone that he likes for the first time. Sara, however, likes Hitch as well but Hitch doesn’t meet Sara’s expectations to be with someone like him. For the “Taming of the Shrew”, Kate realizes what the expectations is for being a women. Therefore, she changed to be with Petruchio. In today’s society, men and women needs to be compatible with other for the relationship to be successful. If there are two differences in personalities, then one person needs to take control of the other person to change them to be compatible with each other, regardless of gender. Stereotypically, men are the ones who is usually in control. However, the media breaks this boundary of that stereotype, bringing men and women to have equal control in both genders.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. New York City: A Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.

Tennant, Andy, dir. Hitch. Writ. Bisch Kevin. Foreign Theatrical Distributor, 2005. Film. 6 Dec 2013.

Media Fluency

My background was black and the photograph that I used varied between different shades of light blue, making it stand out from the page. (Light-dark combination is a type of contrast style mentioned on presentationzen.com. )

This was strategic because I was going for something simple that would be memorable. 

While creating my slide I tried to  take into account that sometimes, space says just as much as words. And f

ollowing the rule of thirds, the photograph and words are placed to take up a balanced amount of space.

That having been said, I chose to leave my slide for the most part wordless, because

it wasn’t necessary to accompany the photo with a lot of script. 

Each of the letters were individually placed at even spacing because, to my knowledge, Google Docs (drive.google.com) does not offer a kerning option. Also they are size 85pt and about the same colour as the lightest shade of blue in the photo, emphasizing the contrast.


Media Fluency
Media Fluency
Based on the critiques from my peer and Ms. Hull, I made the font slightly larger and centered both the image and the script so that the slide would feel more balanced. Also, I experimented with shadows and different color combinations, but in the end kept true to my original theme.

Quarter 2 Reflection 2

Reflection 2 Quarter 2

Zack Hersh  Señorita Manuel



La Silla Caliente de Ruben Amaro


Los Phillies no ha tenido temporadas buenas las dos temporadas pasadas. Despues del ano donde Los Phillies tuvo un registro de ciento y dos y sesenta, dos mil once, la mayor en su historia, ellos meramente fueron cinco cientos, con un registro de ochenta y uno y ochenta y uno. Los fanáticos de los Phillies estaban aún más infeliz cuando el año después ellos tuvieron un registro de setenta y tres y ochenta y nueve. Lo fue esta temporada.

Los fanaticos culpaban a Charlie Manuel, el gerente viejo de los Phillies, pero desde él fue despedido en agosto, culpan a Ruben Amaro Jr, el gerente general de los Phillies. Es su trabajo como gerente general para encontrar jugadores nuevos para el equipo, y sus decisiones no han estado el mejor, creen la mayoría de los fanáticos. Muchos de los jugadores en el equipo son veteranos, como Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, y Jimmy Rollins, pero el continua firmar más veteranos, como Marlon Byrd este invierno. El equipo carece de jugadores jóvenes, y ellos solo va a envejecer. Ruben Amaro está en la silla caliente de los Phillies. El éxito del equipo es su responsabilidad. El futuro del equipo está en sus manos.

 

Palabras: 202


Gonzalez, Will. "La silla caliente de Rubén Amaro."Ponte Al Día. Al Día, 04 Dec 2013. Web. 8 Dec 2013. <http://www.pontealdia.com/philadelphia/la-silla-caliente-de-ruben-amaro.html>.