Sunday, November 25, 2007

Your Questions for Falcon and Bantha



Remember, THERE IS NO INTRO TO CULTURAL STUDIES CLASS THIS TUESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER. Our next class meeting is on THURSDAY, 29 NOVEMBER. And on that day, our final two HoP groups, Falcon and Bantha, will be presenting their articles. Every question you post here for Falcon and Bantha will win your team points towards Theory Olympics. So, post some questions, help your team skip the final exam, and help Falcon and Bantha lead a productive discussion!!

Remember to post your questions by 5 pm on Wednesday, 28 November.

Here is a reminder about what HoP essays to read for the presentations:

Falcon's essays:

1. "Corruption, Criminality, and the Nickelodeon" (starts on p. 376)

2. "How to Become a Camp Icon" (starts on p. 316)

Bantha's essays:

1. "'Anyone Can Do It'" (about karaoke bars) (starts on p. 254)

2. "'Ain't I de One Everybody Come to See?!'" (about Uncle Tom's Cabin) (starts on p. 650)

Post by Wednesday at 5 pm. No class on Tuesday!!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Your Questions for Alderaan and Hoth


Here are some pics of the great battle on the ice planet Hoth, and of the most famous member of Alderaan's royal house, Princess Leia. Please post your questions here for the Hoth and Alderaan groups to consider for their presentations tomorrow!!

Hoth is presenting on:
-"My Beautiful Wickedness" (about the Wizard of Oz), which starts on p. 138
-"The Last Truly British People" (about Skinheads and Britpop music), which starts on p. 539.

Alderaan is presenting on:
-"I'm a Loser Baby" (about Zine Culture), which starts on p. 227
-"On Thrifting" (about...what it says), which starts on p. 459




Sunday, November 11, 2007

Your Questions for Dagobah and Endor


Here's a pic of Luke training with Yoda on Dagobah, and one of a baby Ewok (the Ewoks' home "planet," as we all know, is the forest moon of Endor). I think everyone would agree that Luke's training time with Yoda is total b.s. I mean, the maximum time he spent on Dagobah was two weeks (and I'm pretty sure it's closer to 3-4 days), and then the next time he came back to complete his training, Yoda died. Yoda told him his training was complete, but come on, from Eps I-III we know that Jedi training lasted around 15 years, from the time a "youngling" is maybe 3 years old to the time s/he's 18 or 19. Is Luke so strong with the force that he managed to skip over 14 years, 11 months, and 3 weeks' worth of training? I guess it's similar to the way that Han and Lando somehow get to be Generals after spending most of their time being a smuggler and a mining colony administrator, respectively.

And don't even get me started on the Ewoks.

Anyway, please post your questions for the Dagobah and Endor presentations on Tuesday. Post them by 5 pm on Monday, 12 Nov to give both groups a chance to incorporate them into the discussion part of their presentations.

The readings for Tuesday, as listed on your HoP Reading Assignments handout, which is downloadable from OASIS, are:

For Dagobah:

1. "The Empress's New Clothing?" (starts on p. 122)
2. "Shopping Sense" (starts on p. 472)

For Endor:

1. "No Matter How Small" (starts on p. 187)
2. "Racial Cross-Dressing" (starts on p. 388)

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Your Questions for Corellia and Greedo


Look, I found a pic of someone from Corellia (Han Solo, who wears the Corellian blood stripe on his pants) and Greedo together. Get it? It's a picture of Corellia and Greedo together! And both groups are going to present tomorrow in class!!!

Okay, enough of my excitement. Now for my apology. It's 2:12 pm on Wednesday, and I told you to post by 5 pm today. So, you have an extension, go ahead and post your questions as soon as you can, but it can be after 5. Just make it as early as possible, for the benefit of Corellia and Greedo.

Even though I know you already know this, the articles you need to be asking questions about are:

For Corellia: "Introducing Horror" (starts on p. 700) and "Virgins for Jesus" (starts on p.88).

For Greedo: "Stress Management Ideology" (starts on p. 670) and "Cardboard Patriarchy" (starts on p. 66).

Post your questions here!! (And thanks to all of you who just couldn't wait, and posted your questions in the Introduction thread.)