Self-Evaluation

1. Self Evaluation

As the semester is drawing to a close, I still can’t believe how quickly it went. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was at FTCAP picking classes and hoping that my first classes  at Penn State would treat me right. When I first picked to take English 15S, I didn’t know what to “S” stood for and figured that it was just a fancy name for an English course. My advisor told me that English 15S was a great course to pick because not only would I be fulfilling my English credit, but I would also be fulfilling my freshman seminar credit. I was basically killing two birds with one stone. When I walked into the classroom on the first day, I loved that it was a fairly small class because it made the transition from my high school classes to college classes a bit easier. I was fresh out of high school and I was still nervous about being thrown into big classes where the professor will probably never know your name or face.

I have learned a lot during my first semester. I was pretty nervous about coming to this school and getting involved because I’m a pretty quiet person. As of right now, I feel like I’m apart of this student body. I have joined organizations, participated in activities, met great people, and have had a blast going to the football games. English 15S has helped me improve my writing skills and use my words as a way to express my opinions. I also learned how to figure out if a piece of art or writing expresses pathos, ethos, or logos. My favorite thing about this course was going on field trips because it helped me discover the arts here at Penn State. Who knows if I would have ever found the Aboretum or wandered into the Palmer Museum of Art if it wasn’t for Ms. S! English 15S was 100x better than my high school English classes because we got to go to arts around campus  and write about our experience on our blog. In high school, English class consisted of reading books and writing papers on them. I never was a fan of English until I took this course. I loved that we didn’t have to read books and that we got to make and run a blog for class.

Out of all the art field trips we went on, my favorite was going to see the play In The Red and Brown Water at Playhouse Theatre. I really enjoyed watching it and the actors/actresses did a great job. From the second it started, it had my attention and I learned important things from the play such as, you should never give up an opportunity because you never know if you will be given it again. I’m going to miss this class but I will continue to explore the various arts here at Penn State because of what this class has taught me.

2. Blog Response Round-Up

1) http://jspellman94.blogspot.com/2012/10/artscultural-response-ill-abilities.html

2) http://rfatherly.blogspot.com/2012/09/palmer-museum-visit.html

3) http://itsblogtimeeverybody.blogspot.com/2012/10/kickin-it-old-school.html

4) http://articulatingtheartsatpennstate.blogspot.com/2012/10/good-will-hunting-movie-review.html

5) http://15snmpy-y.blogspot.com/2012/09/so-you-think-you-know-art.html

6) http://www.cheddarbread.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html

7) http://jenniferlongdancingart.blogspot.com/2012/10/higher-learning-movie-review.html

8) http://quirkyconfessional.blogspot.com/2012/09/affirmative-action.html

9) http://jrose412.blogspot.com/2012/12/for-love-of-music.html

10) http://knaviello.blogspot.com/2012/11/exit-through-gift-shop.html

3. SRTE Evaluations

Hi, Ms. S -- I completed my SRTE’s!

MMG Concert

On November 4th 2012, I went to Maybach Music Group, a.k.a MMG, concert at the Bryce Jordan Center. MMG consists of rappers Rick Ross, Meek Mill, and Wale. They were the headline acts for the show and up and coming rapper, Machine Gun Kelly, was the opening act. DJ Scream was the host DJ for the night. When my friends and I arrived to the BJC, our tickets got upgraded because there were plenty of seats available near the floor. We were pretty happy about that because we would be sitting in $70 seats that we only paid $20 for. As we made our way to our seats, there was a huge crowd on the floor and on the side seats. DJ Scream was spinning recent songs and everyone was singing along and having a good time. After DJ Scream finished warming up the crowd, Machine Gun Kelly made his way to the stage. He performed songs off of his new album Lace Up including “Wild Boy”, "Invincible", and "Stereo". MGK even jumped into the crowd and went crowd surfing. He looked like he was having a lot of fun performing on stage. After that, Wale came out and performed some of hits. I’m personally not a fan of him so I didn’t pay his performance any mind.

When Rick Ross came on stage, I immediately jumped out my seat with excitement. He had on a custom Penn State navy jersey that had “Ross” on the back and “Penn State” on the front. He said he loved Penn State and that everyone in attendance are future bosses. He then performed “Hold Me Back” and got the crowd jumping. He also performed songs off of his recent albums and mixtapes like “Diced Pineapples”, “So Sophisticated”, “Hustlin”, “Bag of Money” and “Stay Schemin”. Up next was Meek Mill and once again, my friends and I jumped out of our seat with excitement because he is from Philadelphia. Meek Mill came out to “Flexin” which is off of his Dreamchasers 2 mixtape and then he sang “Young & Gettin It” which is off of his debut album Dreams and Nightmares. He also performed “Amen”, “Burn”, “Im a Boss”, and “House Party” which are all off of his mixtapes Dreamchasers and Dreamchasers 2. The crowd was going crazy and singing along to every song. When Meek Mill and Rick Ross performed “Im a Boss”, I had a lot of fun singing along with my friends and at that moment we all thought we were bosses. Throughout Wale, Rick Ross, and Meek Mill’s performance, the well known phrase “M-M-M-M-M-M-MAYBACH MUSIC” said by an Australian woman was played.

This concert was crazy and a lot of fun. I enjoyed every minute of it. Something crazy I saw was a girl being escorted out of the arena by police officers and while they were walking, she got loose of their grip and started punching the officers. They officers fought back and were able to regain control of her. Everyone in the stands ran to the end of the stands to see the fight and some people recorded it. After that, a special guest, the rapper The Game, came out and performed “Hate it or Love it”. No one was expecting him to make an appearance so the crowd was pretty surprised. Wale, Rick Ross, and Meek Mill came out one last time to perform a final song and say thank you and goodbye. Flames and confetti shot out as they walked off stage and everyone clapped and taking pictures. PSU students had a great time at the concert and marked this in their book of memories.

Machine Gun Kelly Instagramed this picture of himself at PSU

Rick Ross tweets about PSU

From left: Rick Ross, Meek Mill, and Wale on stage at BJC

Big Sean: PSU Hoops Madness

On October 25th 2012, rapper Big Sean came to Penn State to perform for Penn State’s Annual Hoops Madness at the Rec Hall. As soon as word spread around that Big Sean was coming to PSU and that the event was free, everyone was beyond excited. I had recently seen Big Sean at the Made in America Festival in Philadelphia on September 1st and he did a great performance so I was excited to see him again. I knew that the line was going to be long because the event was free so my friends and I decided that I would be the one to hold a spot in line since I finished class the earliest. After my Economics class was finished at 3:20, I quickly grabbed a bite to eat at The Mix, dropped my backpack off in my room, then made my way to Rec Hall. When I arrived there around 4:15 the line was actually not to long. By 5:30 my entire group of friends were standing with me in line and we were chatting away with everyone in line. When 6:00 rolled around, the line was so long, it was going down Burrowes Road. At 6:25, everyone was so anxious and excited that people started pushing and the doors weren’t even open yet! Finally at 6:30, the doors opened and my friends and I ran in screaming and sat in seats near the front.

The opening performers for the event were Penn State’s Blue Band followed by the Lionettes and the Cheerleaders. They all did a great job hyping up the crowd and showing school spirit. Dance crew Ram Squad also did a performance which was pretty cool and the crowd loved them. After that, the girl’s and boy’s basketball teams were introduced. When they came running out, they threw t-shirts into the crowd and I had fun trying to catch them. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful at catching one but my friend was lucky and ended up catching 4 t-shirts. The boy’s team then had a slam dunk competition and even did a dance routine. Finally, the lights dimmed and Big Sean graced us with his presence to the song “I Don’t Like“. The crowd was going wild as he came out. He performed many of his hit songs like “Dance (A$$)”, “Marvin Gaye & Chardonnay“, “Clique“, “Mercy“, “High“, and “I Do It” to name a few. When performed “Burn” by himself and rapper Meek Mill, my friends and I went crazy. Meek Mill is a rapper from Philadelphia so we hype as ever rapping along to the song. Overall, I had a blast at the concert. Big Sean did just as great when I saw him at the Made in America Festival in September. This concert will be another memory of my fun times during my freshman year at Penn State.

In the Red and Brown Water

 

On November 10^th, 2012 I went to watch Penn State's School of Theatre perform the play In the Red and Brown Water at the Playhouse Theatre. In the Red and Brown Water is a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Steve Broadnax. It is the first play in the trilogy, The Brothers/Sister Plays, which consist of The Brothers Size, In the Red and Brown Water, and Marcus or the Secret of Sweet. It is about the transformation from youthhood into adulthood of a young trackstar, Oya, and her childhood friend, Little Elegba. Oya is offered a scholarship to run for a university but declines it because she wants to take care of her dying mother, Mama Moja. After her mother passes away, Oya goes back to the university and learns that the oppprtunity offered to her is no longer available. Little Elegba is like a brother to Oya and is always there for her but he is always causing trouble and eventually makes bad choices that he must live with for the rest of his life. Oya, upset with the passing of her mother and not being to get out of the projects of Louisiana, seeks love and comfort in two men, Shango and Ogun, hoping that they will give her what she has always wished for, a baby.

The most important thing about the story that struck me was that you shouldn't take oppprtunities for granted. Basically, you should live in the moment and if you're offered something that you'll probably never be offered again, take it. Take it and don't look back. Oya gave up the opportunity to go to college, get out the projects, and become a successful trackstar because she wanted to be next to her mom when she passed away. Even her mother told her that she should've taken the offer. I understand that she wanted to be there for her mother as she was dying but now she'll never know if her life would've been better if she did accept the offer.

I was most compelled with the combination of modern culture with African culture. As the play was starting, I thought it was going to be a predominately African cultural play because of the set and the way the characters were dressed. I was pretty surprised when I heard the cast speaking in modern language and the use of modern music being played at certain parts of the play. Even though most of the play's music is African, the use of songs by modern singers, for example Rihanna, was really a great twist in the play.

I really enjoyed watching the play In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. I loved every minute of the playing and after it was done I wanted to watch it again. The actors and actresses were very talented and did a great job portraying each character and including the audience in the performance by dancing and running in the crowd. However, I think the ending could've been better. I understand what the writer wanted too see but I feel like it still could've been a little clearer because I heard some people saying that they didn't get it. I have seen many live theater performances and compared to others, In the Red and Brown Water is definitely on the lists of plays I enjoyed. Kudos to the Penn State School of Theatre, they did a great job performing this play.

Scream 2: Movie Review

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Kevin Williamson

Starring: David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Jerry O’Connell, Jada Pinkett

Length: 120 min.

I am a fan of the Scream film series and have seen all four movies countless times. I love that the movies not only scare you and make your skin jump but also keep you focused on the film because you are trying to figure out the identity of the Ghostface killer. When it comes time to watch sequels to movies, I‘m sure that two questions pop up in everyone‘s head. Will this movie be better then the original? Or will it be a complete waste of time to watch?

Scream 2 is a sequel to the 1996 horror movie Scream. The film hit the big screens on December 12, 1997. It takes place two years after the tragic events at Woodsboro. Survivors Sidney Prescott and Randy Meeks are now attending fictional Windsor College and moving on with their lives. Meanwhile, Gale Weathers bestseller book, based on the Woodsboro murders, has been turned into a film called “Stab“. As the film is released, a copycat killer using the same Ghostface disguise has started a murderous spree. Retired deputy sheriff, Dewey Riley, visits Sidney to protect her after hearing that a copycat killer is on the loose. As more people on the campus are killed, it becomes clear that this copycat killer is trying to recreate the Woodsboro murders and the disguised killer‘s main target is Sidney.

Randy: Sequels suck! Oh please, please! By definition alone, sequels are inferior films!
Mickey: It’s a bullsh*t generalization. Many sequels have surpassed their originals.

Randy: There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to create a successful sequel. Number one: the body count is always bigger. Number two: the death scenes are always much more elaborate - more blood, more gore - *carnage candy*. And number three: never, ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead.

One stereotype about sequels are they are never as good as the original movie. It’s funny that the writer, Kevin Williamson, would write this conversation in the movie because Scream 2 this sequel did not suck! It was well written, kept the audience focused, and there was more bloody killings. Throughout the movie you are on the edge of your seat and can’t help but yell “Run!” or “Don’t go in there!” or “He’s right behind you!”. Scream 2 is a good college movie because it represents college life well. It includes the stereotypes of college life and even shows students being in class. The setting is on a college campus and there are scenes with drinking/partying, fraternities, and sororities.  The movie also teaches you to basically be aware of your surroundings especially on a college campus because you never know what danger you might get into.

Like the original movie, Scream 2 mixes violence, blood, and gore with elements of mystery and comedy. Throughout the movie, you will be trying to figure out who the killer is and just when you think you know, a curveball will be thrown and you’re back at square one. The movie is rated R so I would not recommend taking a child or pre-teen to see this movie because there is foul language, violence, and drinking/partying going on throughout the movie. It is a great slasher film and you will be jumping at scenes and yelling at the people on screen to run and not go in a certain rooms. If you enjoy watching scary movies and trying to figure out who the mysterious killer is, then you should definitely watch Scream 2. It is a very good sequel to Scream and I enjoyed watching every minute of it.

"What's your favorite scary movie?"

Peaceful Morning at the Arboretum

This past chilly Monday morning, I visited the H.O. Botanical Gardens at the Penn State Arboretum. Yes, that is quite a mouthful! Anyway, even though I happen to live across the street from the Arboretum, I never noticed it until my English teacher said that we will be taking a field trip there. The garden is open daily from dawn to dusk and there is no admission charge. All that is asked is that you remember to be respectful to the garden because you wouldn't want to ruin the experience for others. I was pretty excited to go to the Arboretum because not only did it mean that I'd get to spend my Monday morning taking a leisure walk around the gardens, I would also get to sleep in! What college kid doesn't love having the opportunity of sleeping in on a Monday!?

This was my first trip to the Arboretum. I really enjoyed the time I spent there. It was a very relaxing and peaceful way to start my Monday morning. As I wandered around the garden, I let my mind run free and take in the beauty of my surroundings. The garden has different paths that lead you all throughout the garden so that you can view the many plants, lily-pads, flowers, gourds, and bamboo. There is also a beautiful Overlook Pavilion that overlooks the circular garden and a pretty fountain that you will first see as you are walking toward the Arboretum. While I was walking through the garden, I went underneath an archway and when I looked up, I saw green gourds hanging from the top which was pretty cool. I also like the different flowers arranged all throughout the garden. They were so many colors such as red, orange, and purple which made the garden feel lively and warm. In the middle of the garden there is a pond filled with many types of lily-pads. I'm glad I didn't spot a frog because I probably would've freaked out. After I finished looking at the lily-pads I continued to walk until I saw a section filled with bamboo stalks. While I was looking at the bamboo plants, my teacher shared with me that bamboo can be used as a means of torture because it grows very quickly. All you have to do is lay a person on a bed of short bamboo stalks and it will grow so quick that it will go right through the person's body! When I heard that I shuddered a little and imagined how painful that must feel. I then headed to the fountain and took in the beauty of it. I walked around it and even stopped to look at the view of some workers working in the field, the Forest Resource Building, the Business Building, and finally my dorm residence East Halls. After that, I made my way back to my dorm but not without taking one final look at the Arboretum.

I am somewhat of a nature-lover because every now and then I like to get away from my busy life and relax in nature's surroundings. I have always enjoyed taking walks or bicycle rides with my dad through the Valley Forge National Historic Park which is located in Valley Forge, PA. I also like to watch water-shows and walk through gardens, meadows, and woodlands with my mom at Longwood Gardens which is located in Kennett Square, PA. My neighborhood also has many trails that lead into the woods that I like to take walks on with my little brother and sister.

I really enjoyed my visit to the Arboretum. It was a great way to start off my Monday morning. I will probably be going back many times to continue exploring the Arboretum because it is pretty big and I only got to look at a small portion. If you happen to know anyone that enjoys nature and its perks, you should tell them to go here. It's a nice escape from the busy campus life and a great place to go and think and reflect on things in life. Check out the fountain as well at night because the water combined with the lights is quite a sight!

Here are some pictures I took of the different things in the Arboretum

Sarah Bernhardt

As I was walking through the Palmer Museum of Art and observing the different styles of paintings, sculptures, etc. many pieces caught my attention. The Peacock Blue and Yellow Seaform Set with Yellow Lip Wraps by American artist Dale Chihuly, which is a seaform made of blown glass, the Thompson and Bleecker Streets by American painter George Luks, which is a nice oil on canvas painting of an open-air market in a working class neighborhood in lower Manhattan in the year 1905, and finally Sarah Bernhardt from Rebus by Brazilian American artist Vik Muniz, which is a colorful picture of French actress Sarah Bernhardt. Out of these three pieces, Sarah Bernhardt from Rebus is my favorite. This is one of the first pieces you will see when you enter the second level of the Palmer Museum of Art. Even after looking around the at the rest of the art on the second level, I was drawn back to it. I just couldn’t stop looking at this amazing piece!

Sarah Bernhardt was a French actress who lived from October 22, 1844 to March 26 1923. She was born in Paris, France as Rosine Bernhardt (Sarah Bernhardt is her stage name). She is known as “the most famous actress the world has ever known”. Sarah was also given the nickname “The Divine Sarah” because she was a serious dramatic actress. She has been in many famous plays and films and even after getting her entire right leg amputated in 1911, it didn’t stop her from ending her career. Bernhardt also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame which is located at 1751 Vine Street.

Sarah Bernhardt is from the Rebus Series which was made in 2010 by Brazilian American artist Vik Muniz. The Rebus Series is a collection of pictures that are made of toys. From far away, Sarah Bernhardt looks like a colorful painting of the beautiful actress who has a nice gown on and is leaning on a chair. When you walk up closer to the piece, you will see that in fact paint is not being used to portray her but instead it is toys! You can’t help but be amazed at how this picture tricked your mind into thinking it is made of paint when it is really made of toys. I felt like I was looking at a page in an I Spy book as I was looking at the picture and finding objects that I recognized. While looking at the picture, I came up with a list of some of the different toys that I saw on this piece of art. Here is what I saw: Letters in the alphabet, dominos, Shrek & Fiona, toy animals, dice, chess pieces, toy airplanes, Lego’s, Spongebob, Eve from the movie Wall-e, toy animals, toy soldiers, toy cars, Pez dispensers, jacks, palm trees, and beads.

Vik Muniz was born on December 20th in 1961 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He moved to New York in the late 1980s after being shot in the leg and using the compensation money from his injury to fund the trip. He currently lives and works in New York City. He originally was a sculptor but grew more of an interest in photography. Muniz has worked with many different materials such as dirt, diamonds, sugar, string, garbage, and even chocolate syrup to create images. His works have been exhibited worldwide and his solo show at MAM in Rio de Janeiro was second in the attendance record (Picasso is first).

I thought it was very cool and creative how Vik Muniz was able to use these different toys to create a beautiful and colorful picture of Sarah Bernhardt. It shows viewers that you can really take anything and make it into a beautiful form of art. By using toys to portray images I think Vik is trying to tell viewers to be young and enjoy your life because “you are only young once”. When you look at his Rebus Series, you kind of feel like a kid again because you are looking at pictures made of toys and it brings you back to the days when you used to look at I Spy books and have competitions with your friends to see who can find the objects the quickest.

I really enjoyed my first trip to the Palmer Museum of Art. My mother and I have been going to the Philadelphia Museum of Art regularly since I was little because its only 45 minutes from my house so I’ve pretty much always been a museum-goer. Out of all the exhibits I have seen at Philadelphia Museum of Art, my favorite exhibit by far is the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit. I was like a kid in a candy store when I went to see it. I really enjoyed looking at all of his paintings and I didn’t want to leave. Anyway, I’ll definitely be taking my mother to see the Palmer Museum of Art. I know she will enjoy it as much as I did.

Here are some pictures I took at the museum of Sarah Bernhardt from Rebus Series:

Works Cited

http://www.answers.com/topic/sarah-bernhardt

http://www.wastelandmovie.com/vik-muniz.html

http://arndtberlin.com/website/media/artists/Muniz/Vik_Muniz.pdf

 http://inspirationgreen.com/muniz-junk-art-series.html

Blog Analysis

Title: I wanted the title to be simple but not completely plain to the point where it doesn’t catch a reader’s eye. I decided to go with “So Sophisticated: The Arts at PSU” because it pretty much sums up what the arts at Penn State are in one word. Sophisticated. Even through all that has happened in the past year, the academics and student/faculty body has remained sophisticated and showed the world that Penn State is and will always be a great institution.

Template: "Simplicity is best" is the motto I kept in my head while I was deciding how I wanted my blog to look. I wanted my blog to be easy to navigate through because I know how quick young adults (including myself) get frustrated when they can't find something on a blog/website. After changing my mind multiple times I finally decided to choose the "Watermark" for my template. I then changed the background to a spotlight because I want the readers to know that the arts at Penn State are in the spotlight.

Color: I decided to go with a sunset color because I feel that it gives the reader a mellow and relaxed feeling. I want the readers to feel like they are at home while reading my blog posts. I didn't want something to bright and flamboyant. For the text colors I just stuck with black, white, and grey. Many times I have come across articles that were in colors such as pink, red, blue, etc. that were pretty hard to read. So to keep it simple, I decided that black, white, and grey would do the trick.

Font: After going through the entire list of fonts and seeing how my title looked with all of them, I finally decided that the "Lobster" font would be the one. I like the cursive look it has to it and I think my title looks great. For the post texts, I went with the font "Georgia" because it's plain, easy to read, and also happens to be the name of my mom =)

Pages: As I stated earlier, I want my blog to be simple and easy to navigate. So to accomplish that, I put pages in my blog so that everything is easy to find. So far I have a "Home" page and an "About Me" page and I'll probably add some more as we get further into the semester. The "About Me" page basically will tell you about myself, my interests, etc. and I like that better then the "About Me" sidebar because get to let the readers know who I am.

I think my blog looks pretty good. It definitely took longer then I expected because I changed my mind a lot and I got distracted every now and then by Twitter, Skype, or the people that live on my floor. After all these hours, I now have a blog that I am satisfied with and that I believe says who I am as a person. I am pretty quiet and relaxed and I wanted my blog to have a relaxed feeling. I hope that through this blogging course I will learn how to not be so quiet and let my voice be heard through words. I am also looking forward to seeing everyone's opinion on things because I might learn a thing or two from them.