We've tried to collect various expressions of how the "regular folks" of our culture define and describe "good and meaningful life". We've looked at holiday messages, early childhood socialization, and our own messages to the minor masses.
We're going to approach now a new set of folk message - the dominant messages that can be found on the internet in Wikis, forums, and bulletin boards - in which a poster speaks the Folk Cultural message on a topic of importance to delineating the good and meaningful life.
For instance these seem to be fairly dominant perspectives of teen girls on love and dating and how to be.
Example 1
Example 2
What image of a "good and meaningful" life do the authors reveal? What particularly relevant quotes or paraphrases tip you off to the larger pattern or crucial details? Extrapolotate - what emphases and focuses dominant this outlook? What key themes repeat - authenticity, conformity, acceptance, success, overcoming, sacredness, humor, etc? What doesn't get mentioned? Does this example strike you as a legitimate expression of dominant folk perspectives?
Other examples of "dominant" folk culture -
Avoid Wasting Time on Facebook
Being the perfect boyfriend or girlfriend (heterocentric, but so is dominant folk culture)
Be a smart but not nerdy student
After you've looked at and responding to several of these examples please find 1-2 examples of your own and post them as comments on this post. Your examples should be interesting and revealing examples of dominant folk perspectives related to the good and meaningful life. Write up your responses to my examples and your own as a 2-3 paragraph half essay. Each paragraph should include a 1 sentence summary of text, a couple key quotes, and a few sentences of interesting and perceptive analysis of how those quotes, and the text in general, reveal an identifiable perspective on the living of life. Due Wednesday by 7pm.
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http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Cool
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Best-Friend
http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-Your-Best-Friend-Her-Boyfriend-Is-Breaking-up-With-Her-to-Go-out-With-You
Hello
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wikihow.com/Know-if-a-Guy-Likes-You
http://www.wikihow.com/Talk-to-a-Shy-Person
http://www.wikihow.com/Have-a-Great-Conversation
Hey Andy I hope this is what you mean. I was looking and thinking what to search for but dominant popular culture kept coming to mind and I didnt know if that would be ok even though regular people are saying it
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wikihow.com/Be-Irresistible-to-Men
My source on how to live a good and meaningful life: http://www.zeromillion.com/personaldev/meaningful-life.html
ReplyDeletePlease note, blogger would not let me post my blog, so i just have it as a word document for now.
hi andy here is the two sites that show people living a good and meaningful life.
ReplyDeletethe first one is http://ipokish.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=14 its the video at the bottom of the kate's blog, its the video about how her life is meaningful to her
this is the second one, about being the perfect student
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iRXYL8HhXM
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-an-Autograph-at-a-Baseball-Game
ReplyDeleteThe first page I looked at was, How to get an autograph at a baseball game. This one struck me very hard because this is something that really relates to me. The author of this shows the obvious dominant message is that getting autographs is good but also showing smaller messages with it. The author did this when he/she said “Don't shove things in their face. Be polite and act how you would want someone to treat you. Avoid getting into a feeding frenzy for an autograph… Some players will prefer to address autographs to you personally. "To John, Thanks for being a fan..." The personalized autographs don't sell for as much but are more sentimental to the diehard fans.” This shows that when trying to get an autograph it’s not all about being aggressive or an asshole to the player or the people around you. It shows the lesson that if you be nice and treat people with respect you will have a higher chance of getting what you want. People who practically throw things in the player’s faces are the ones who get rejected. But this also teaches how to cope with not getting what you want. The way it does is that even if you follow all the steps mentioned, doesn’t mean you are assured an autograph. Lots of players may stay they can’t or due to it being in the middle of a game they don’t want to be disturbed. So by doing this people are able to learn valuable lessons just by trying to get autographs.
http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Good-Yankees-Fan
The other one I read was, How to be a good Yankees fan? This one connected to me stronger than any other one I read due to the fact that I’m a diehard Yankees Fan. The author shows the dominant message which is, how to be a Yankees fan, but I also am able to see through that to see the corporate and folk messages. This is by knowing that what the author is trying to do is give the outline on what to do, but being a Yankee fan myself I also see he is saying you have to have money to go to games(corporate message), but also be passionate to something greater then you(folk). Lines that tell me the corporate message are “When you go to a Yankees game try and sit in Section 39 with the Bleacher Creatures, if you’re not from New York, and have never been to a Yankee's game in New York. You are a bandwagon fan, try getting to a game when they have Old Timer's Day.” These quotes mean that in order to be a part of the Yankees community, you are required to have money and spend it to go to certain games and sit in certain parts of the ballpark. Otherwise you are a fake fan or not even a fan at all. This is how corporate messages play into being a Yankees fan. But there are also folk messages that play a role in this too. Lines that show me this are “Watch the game with a friend or family member who is a baseball fan. That way, you will learn more about the sport itself and the team and the players, Stay strong. Red Sox fans will try to break you down. Don't ever turn against the team though. Just remember the Yankees and their glory!” These lines show folk messages through saying that you don’t want to be a lonely person. That watching the games with friends can be more educational and plus more enjoyable. So you don’t have to be a rich guy who goes to all the games by him/herself but instead watch the games with friends who care about you. Also being a Yankees fan shows you how to cope with people who are assholes (Mets or Red Sox fans). The way it does is because they will try to bad mouth you about your team even when your team is actually winning. So by being a Yankees fan you are able to practice how to let things go in one ear and out the other.