Week2: On the Way

One of the course objectives that I have learned through practicing and doing the activity is “develop(ing) habits for engaged reading.” Over the past 2 weeks, I was not only being diagnosed with the correct percentage of my grammar usage, but also the accuracy and efficiency of my reading capacity and writing capacity. These two dimensions are tested, practiced and progressed (though may be merely a little bit since without doubt, huge progression in these 2 dimensions need later practices through the course/quarter). Two dimensions are progressed through specific guidance from the instructor’s assignments, websites and discussions, such as watching and annotating video lecture at first, then practicing reading skills and skills of integrating sources, then doing close reading, writing tentatively, being engaged in peer reviewing, commenting and learning from fellow classmates’ responses. Among these activities, practicing reading skills and skills of integrating sources through Connect of Mc Graw Hill is the most useful part for me. Before doing this activity, I usually read materials given by instructors without specific goals which made me gain nothing or understanding with time-spending reading, and when I was forced to write, it was so hard for me to start the first sentence or even tell people what I have read. However, after doing this activity through Connects, I generally knew what goals that I should have. Now, for the first time to reading an article, I usually read for main structure and main point at first. Those specific details containing examples and evidence would be categorized to second time of reading. For example, for close reading practice for Looking into the Magic Mirror by Haas & Trapdeo, I learned that reading is not a simple process of looking or staring at words on computer screens or papers. Reading also requires for interacting in forms of asking questions and connecting the content of the article with daily life. When I saw how Snow White was aimed to create at first, I understood that why little girls, who are usually interested at looking at Disney films, always require parents to buy dresses, why amount of young females mimic little girls’ voices and other many (fun) facts that I encounter through my life. So I wrote, "Now, let’s see how films of public pedagogy shapes our perception about gender and beauty through skimming Disney Films.When the famous princess Snow White, who was drawn by Grim Natwick first time, was actually given “the voice of child, the body and movement of a dancer, and just a hint of heteronormative sex-appeal…” in order to build an image of princess who actually is “a combination innocence and sexuality in a teen-aged body (Haas & Trapedo).” When the audience seeing the film, the image of the princess Snow White actually is conveying the information about what a female should be like in accordance with beauty, attractive and valuable. Such attempt or such consequence of successful image of the princess in prevailed Disney films recalls me a phenomena. When a female (biologically sex) is still termed, defined, and called as a girl, she is expected to conduct actions of taking care of, appeasing, catering, satisfying others, even when the subject or the target is merely a toy, like a Barbie doll. Besides this, the girl would also be expected to wear like a doll or princess of the film. And if the girl show obedience to such expectations, the girl would gain countless praise and positive comments (go all the way). I realized this because when people are told that I scratched and cut off my Barbie dolls’ cloths into pieces, people would look at me with “weird” expressions and category me as a person with bad temper. (But let’s think about or image that when you see a female or a girl doing decoupage, what would you say? Would you say that she has bad temper or weird?)."