Quote from Paper

This is a section from the beginning of my paper in which I use quotes from an episode to help explain what is going on in the episodes.

"Topher has figured out a way to program different characteristics into each “active.” He inserts attributes into them before they go out on their task. In “Instinct”, episode two of the second season, Topher and Ballard are talking about how programming occurs. Topher says, “One could program the brain to fight cancer, or be telekinetic, or not to have that gag reflex when you eat sea urchin, or whatever. The possibilities are pretty much endless.” In order to receive these characteristics, the “active” sits in this special chair and, after Topher enters some special formulas, has the ability to do whatever is asked of him or her.
Paul Ballard responds to Topher’s comment by saying, “So you can do all that to me by me sitting in this chair?”
Topher replies, “Well not to you, to an active. I can’t fiddle with the mind until it’s wiped clean.”
Erasing the mind to the point where it is “wiped clean” cannot be rationalized. Nobody should have their identity taken from them because that defines a person. The “actives” are treated like they are robots who can be configured in many different ways. "

I used the last paragraph to try and explain why I used this quote.

Paper Problems

In my paper, I am having difficulty describing my focus. I know I want to portray the message that torture occurs in Dollhouse and that it constantly happening in the real world as well. However, the quotes I use and the other points I make don't clearly get my message across. I think that this is due to a lack of a thesis. The one I wrote down yesterday was: "Torture occurs not only in Dollhouse, but in every day life as well. Acknowledging the fact that torture happens everywhere is the first step in stopping its occurence. People overlook torture because they--people young and old--don't understand what torture is. The people who work in the Dollhouse disregard the fact that by creating "actives," they are disrespecting and torturing the humans who were transformed. In the real world, torture does not have to be just physically hurting someone, it can be as simple as just verbally putting someone down. In Joss Whedon's Science Fiction television show, Dollhouse, he brings to light that torture is happening all around us and just because it is not called "torture" does not mean it is not." I know that the common reader isn't going to understand what I am saying when I talk about the "actives" and how they are transformed, but I don't know how to incorporate that without making the paragraph not flow as well as becoming boring and tedious. Any ideas?

WB 3: Playoffs in College Football

I decided to look up an article that supports playoffs in college football and then an article that does not support playoffs. The two writers were very similar in the way they wrote. In the argument supporting the playoffs, the writer utillized a specific example that most college football fan would remember. It was a very specific and useful example and was very effective. The argument against college playoffs was not very effective. Although the writer brought up a really good point, I found myself getting overwhelmed with all the different people he quoted. I started getting bored with everybody else's thoughts and wanted to know his. When he referred to NCAA Basketball, he supported it quickly, which was good. At times he took too long to get his point across. When I compared both articles together, I noticed that there was one thing that stood out to me. Both articles were presented very similarly with a white background and the usual Times New Roman font. They were both about the same length; however, the arguement for college playoffs was broken up into two pages. Not all of his article was on the page, I had to click "next page" to get to it. I found that I really liked this because I dont like looking at a page and seeing a ton of writing. By breaking it up, I found myself being able to read the article better.

Citation:

Article for College Playoffs:
Stroman , J. P. . "Fredericksburg.com". 25 October 2009 .

Article Against College Playoffs:
Tamny, John. "Playoffs and College Football, Imperfect Together". 25 October 2009 .

Follow Me: Uncle Kracker

I chose this song because I used to love it. It was the first song I knew every word to and I thought Uncle Kracker was the man. As I got a little older, I always would tell people my favorite song was Follow Me by Uncle Kracker. Whoever I would tell would always smirk and tell me how much that song sucks. The past few years if there is an ipod playing at a party I go and choose the next song to be Follow Me because I love seeing the reaction it gets. In regards to the lyrics, I had no idea what the lyrics meant until a few years ago because I never paid attention to what the song meant, I just had it memorized. It has a pretty awful message about hooking up with a woman who is married. A stanza goes: "And I worry 'bout the ring you wear Cause as long as no one knows That nobody can care Your fellin guilty And I'm well aware But you don't look ashamed And baby I'm not scared." Although the lyrics aren't the best, it has a catchy beat which is why I have always liked this song. Uncle Kracker was at Osu last week or the week before, but I cannot say I paid to go watch him.

Fear: The Princess Screamed Once

The part of this article by Rhonda Wilcox that jumped out at me was when she was talking about the communication or should I say the lack of communication that went on in the episode. Buffy and Riley had a miscommunication about which box Riley should hit in order for everybody to regain their voices. It seems understandable to have a hard time conversing when you do not have a voice, but Wilcox makes a good point: "The Gentlemen seem to understand each other very well." In Willow's group meeting, she was put down by the head of the group. Although WIllow could have had a good idea, the leader degraded her before even digesting what she said. To me, that is a sign of a bad leader. Somebody that doesn't listen to everybody's opinion has no right to be leading a group. Wilcox makes a good point when she says, "Neither the Wiccans nor the Gentlemen communicate with those of a different perspective. " While "The Gentlemen" didn't communicate with others because they were freaks and wanted to kill people. the Wiccans were just self-interested jerks who thought that they were way better than everyone else.

Moeller - Is it Art

The author, Gary Moeller, definately watched this episode of Buffy many times. I definately did not see the statue of St. Francis and notice the little girl talking at the end of the hallway. The author definately watched and rewatched this episode many times to find all of these minute details. I liked how the author was able to relate so many of the characters and plots to pieces of the past. When I saw the hunched over people, I thought that they were really weird and creepy, but I never compared them to the monkey's in The Wizard of Oz. Moeller says, "Those monkeys were so inredibly creepy; some aspects of the creepiness relate directly to the Gentemen's minions." After Moeller points this observation out, I see the coorelation between the Gentlesmen's minions and the monkey's from Wizard of Oz.

Bridges - Grimm Realities

The author makes a good point in regards to Buffy's vulnerability. Everybody is vulnerable at some point, even a vampire. We see that Buffy, who is only seventeen years old, acts old, but she knows that she is still just a teenager. She tells a boy in the hospital, "I'm not that grown up." She connects with a little boy which would have not have been possible if she did not accept the true Buffy. Also, I would never have thought about linking the "Hush" episode to a bunch of fairy tales. I know that it was hinted at in the episode, but the level of detail the author, Elizabeth Bridges, went into was intense. Joss Whedon, as the author implicityly found, loves coorelating his episodes in Buffy to fairy tales. I enjoyed reading the thought process of the writer through this article