Response to “Dearth”

This chapter mainly focuses on the relationship between the potatoes and the woman. The main object that I want to discuss and analyze in this article is the nasturtium seeds.

The first time that the nasturtium seeds appeared in the article is the woman saw seven potatoes growing in the oven. At that moment, she was a little frightened and wanted to ignore them so she went to jab the dirt with a spade. Here the author mentioned that the woman bordered her house with nasturtium seeds. Nasturtium seeds generally stand for hope and love. But when she plants those seeds surrounding her house, she is preventing herself from exotic love and hurt. This suggests that she repulses those potatoes at that very instant.

Then the nasturtium seeds appeared the second time when the woman saw the neighbor kissing with her latest suitor in armful of red roses. She was trembling and upset. Then the author pointed out the woman watered the nasturtium seeds. There is a signal that the woman is desperate for love simultaneously she experiences loneliness and the absence of love. When her neighbor is in love, she holds the hope and desire for love at the moment she is watering the seeds.

The third time the nasturtium seeds appeared was the woman buried two of the human-shaped potatoes beneath the seeds. Since six potatoes could not fit in the pot, she buries two of them beneath the hibernating nasturtium seeds. This stands for her hope and love for the potatoes. On the occasion, she wants the potatoes healed by the seeds just like she once did.

Response to The Forest

This short essay mainly responds to the relationship between an American girl-Bianca and an old scientist-Krzysztof. It also covers the relationship of Bianca to her sister-Rose, her mother and her grandpa-Leon. Another primary topic in this article is the relationship between Krzysztof and his mother.

In this article, Barrett focuses on the conversation and interaction between Bianca and Krzysztof. At first, they both held some negative judgements and criticism about each other. Bianca was irritated with Krzysztof because she felt neglected when Krzysztof mistook her for her sister. Meanwhile, Krzysztof regarded Bianca as a typical solipsistic and rude American. But they began to talk as soon as they were simultaneously left out by Constance and her qualified scientists friends. Throughout the conversation, it turned out that Bianca and Krzysztof shared the same interests about the forest-Bialowieza, the bison and vodka as well as the settled detestation of the pushy science business. The forest, the bison, vodka and the possibility that they might share the same Polish blood turns into the basement of their relationship.

          For those two who seemingly shan’t have any intersections in their life considered their age, nationality and characteristic, those commonalities they own are absolutely amazing. They are just like the parallel lines who will never ever meet with each other but eventually they encounter the punchline of their life, which brings out the best of them. Bianca realizes that she does not have to struggle to chase after Rose and becomes an eminent scientist. She herself also experiences a decent and admiring life. Krzysztof finds himself freed from his memory of his mother and Bialowieza. Because of this talk, the essential tiny secrets that are hid in their life and ignored by those renowned colleagues have been proven to be valuable and precious. 

Response to Designing Gamification in the Right Way

     This article was written for designing gamification in an appropriate educational way. Generally, Kim divides his viewpoints into four parts for expressing his ideas about gamification design. Basically, he believes designing gamification in education field must consider numerous variables. For instance, as he suggests, a clear goal, target groups and user types, gender, age, culture and academic performance as well as learning content are all the factors that can affect gamification design for education.
     In this chapter, Kim concentrates on the variability of designing gamification. At first, he points out that a gamification project requires the visualization about different results and the evaluation about the prior result. Here, he means different goals call for corresponding designs of gamification projects. As for target group and user types, though there are varieties of user types, he emphasizes that target groups, who live in the real world, can combine mutual characteristics owned by different user types. Therefore, Kim indicates that the design of a gamification project is changeable and adjustable. Likewise, he states that game mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics are set because of multifarious learning contents. At last, Kim points out the harm of gamification lies in students’ motivation of playing a game. Here, Kim also stresses the importance of flexibility and appropriateness when designing gamification considered two categories of motivation students are driven by to play a game. Thus, Kim delivers the message that gamification design should adapt itself to changing circumstances when it is used to educate students.

Response to “Marge Simpson, Blue Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons”

    This article begins with the pop culture text that exists in The Simpsons which covers American religious life and the representation of homosexuality in cartoons, etc. Jessamyn basically states her argument about the satirization in The Simpsons. Especially the character Marge Simpson challenges the traditional housewives in 1950s sitcoms.
     In the article, Jessamyn explains plenty of terms that play an important role in understanding both the article and The Simpsons. For example, she refers “a family” in The Simpsons to “the centrality of the female domesticity”, which is significantly similar to the male dominated family-traditional nuclear family in 1950s sitcoms. As for the crucial element in The Simpsons-satire, she gives the explanation that satire is a way of indicating its audience to get rid of the old and the dominant as well as noticing the new and the non-dominant.
     Jessamyn raises a variety of discussions in the article as well. She puts forward that The Simpsons is both innovative and inherited. First of all, it converts a father’s role in a conventional nuclear family from efficient to ineffectual. Second, The Simpsons reveals the unexpected truth of American society. Instead of a harmonious society in 1950s sitcoms, The Simpsons ironically think of the common public places-schools, families and workplaces as fetters. The Simpsons is inherited because it eventually ends with sentiment though it is full of satire.
     Regarding the character-Marge, Jessamyn believes that Marge Simpson is not simply a homemaker borrowed from the televised housewives. She owns rough and scratchy voice which is different from those sweet voices of televised housewives. Except her voice, she is also distinctive in view of her role. Marge expands her functioning area from home to public and even politics. Beyond that, she possesses bad emotions such as frustration and anger, which is different from the unnaturally cheerful televised housewives. For those surprising characteristics Marge owns, they overturns and satirizes the audience’s preconceived ideas about a televised housewife in 1950s sitcoms but provides us with a more actual alive wife and mother. Even though Marge and those televised housewives are both unrealistic, Marge is created based more on housewives or women’s perspective. She has the right to choose what she wants to do but not what her family or the audiences want from her. Thus, The Simpsons shows more respect to housewives or women’s true being.

The Simpsons “She used to be my girl”-Season 16, Episode 4

Summary:

A sex scandal happened to the mayor of Springfield intrigued multiple renowned journalists. Most of the journalists were persuaded by the mayor out of believing in the scandal. But among them, one reporter named Chloe Talbot exposed the mayor’s crime with a video tape. The able woman, Chloe, finally turned out to be the high school classmate of a housewife in Springfield-Marge Simpsons. Then Marge visited Chloe with her daughter-Lisa and invited her to come over for dinner the following day. At that night, Chloe came and got a group of worship and compliment from Marge’s family, which made Marge upset. Lisa particularly adored Chloe and had dinner with her the next day. She even wanted to attend the U.N. Women’s Conference in Capital City where Chloe was going to cover. But Marge did not allow her. Then Lisa left home furtively at night and hid in Chloe’s car. In the morning, Marge found Lisa was missing so she went to Capital City to look for her. Meanwhile, Chloe was called to report an erupting volcano in Springfield on her way. Marge did not find Lisa in Capital City but she saw Lisa on the screen helping Chloe report when trapped by lava. Marge soon went back to Springfield and saved Lisa in magma. Chloe was saved by her high school boyfriend as well.

Symbols:

Media circus: The media that are dispatched to report the events are excessive in view of the events, which might lose their novelty.

The Christian Science Monitor: Religion believes in something that does not truly exist but they call it science. Therefore, it might be irony that querying the authenticity of the media.

Fertile moron: Women are considered as breeding machines and are not respected

Chore wheel, backbone of the family: In the society, the role that women play is usually housewife. They might give up their dreams or jobs for their family because it is their traditional character that the society plans for them.

Court-ordered ankle bracelet: Citizens are controlled by the government

The meaning of the episode as a whole:

     The episode concentrates on two jobs that suit for women and points out the pros and cons of those two jobs. A journalist might get a woman fame and success but not a warm family and long-term relationships. Likewise, a housewife might own her beloved husband and children but never her aspiration. Both Chloe and Marge had been satisfied with themselves before they met with each other but later they became jealous of each other. They compared and competed with others. Then they only saw the bad in their life but never noticed the good of their life. Therefore, seeing through overall situation is better than blindness.