Citation for quote

Hazelk."Reader I destroyed him." Article Buffyverse entry. 30th October 2009 http://hazelk.dreamwidth.org/56203.html?mode=reply

Quote from Paper

I definalty need help with integrating quotes and how to build up to a quote. If anyone has anytips on how to do it, let me know!

After viewing many horror movies and seeing the same innocent looking, dumb blonde girl getting killed by the monsters, Whedon came up with the idea for Buffy. He states,“It was pretty much the blonde girl in the alley in the horror movie who keeps getting killed...I felt bad for her, but she was always much more interesting to me than other women. She was fun, she had sex, she was vivacious. But then she would get punished for it.” It was this thought that sparked Joss Whedon’s mind and gave him the idea to create something different. He turned the good-looking and blonde cheerleader, who seemed innocent, into a killing machine known as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Paper Problems :(

One of my biggest problems in my paper is the organization of it becasue I sometimes get off my main topic. I really need to think about the main idea for my paper so that when I am writing I can stick to that one point and not go off about other unrelated things. I need to go into more detail with the main scene in my paper and give a better explanation of what it is about. I need to figure out how I am going to arrange all my ideas and make them fit into my main topic. Another problem I am having is getting good resources for the topic of my paper. I am trying to look for some quotations that have to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My main focus of my paper is how vampires are different and what makes it ok to kill them. If anyone has seen anything good can you let me know!!

WB prompt 3- Teeth Whitening

I am looking at a couple articles that persuade people to get teeth whitening products. The first site is very imformative in its persuasion as it uses quite a bit of research to support the fact that teeth whiteners work. It uses a lot of detail in its explanation about each specific teeth whitening product. First it talks about two types of tooth stains, extrinsic and intrinsic that can occur. This was intersting as it gave me same background information about teeth which is important when buying a cosmetic product. I felt it wasn't overlly trying to persuade me that teeth whitening is the best the ever which is good in that it wasn't too overwhemling. Many advertisments overdo it on on why their product is the best and don't give enough background information about their product. I'm sure that if I had any questions about teeth whitening this would be a good site as it is very imformative and easy to understand. This site also has a picture of a blonde, good-looking girl smiling who is advertsing for teeth whitening which is another persauding factor for the audience. This is the form of marketing where the good looking girl appeals to the audience which then helps promote the product.
The next site is different from the first as it uses statistics as a way of persuading people to use teeth whitening. It talks about how important it is for people in today's society to have a nice white smile. It also goes on about how movie stars and famous singers have influenced people to have whiter teeth. "The whiter-than white smiles flashed on magazine pages and movie screens by superstars like Brad, Britney and Beyonce influence our desire to perfect our pearly whites." This is a smart article becasue it uses statistics to back up its statement that having white teeth is good becasue it will make a person more attractive and all the celebrities are doing it too. Although this statement might not be true, most people believe it becasue the article uses poll percentages to back up its statements.

Citations:

Dyett, Linda. Teeth Whitening: . How it works and what it does. 2006-2009 Ceatus Media Group LLC. May 2009. http://www.yourdentistryguide.com/teeth-whitening/

"Street Cents: Teeth Whitening Products." CBS 2009. http://www.cbc.ca/streetcents/guide/2004/02/s03_01.html

"Stuck in a moment" by U2

One of my all time favourite bands is U2 I have yet to hear a bad song by them. Their music is easy to relate to especially the song " Stuck in a moment." Everyone goes through hard times in their life but it is important to not let yourself stay fixed on that moment. There comes a time when we need to move on and stop worrying about something in the past. Everyone faces challeneges in their life and not everything always goes the way we want it to, but it is important to learn from mistakes, accept them and move on with life. The only way people can grow as individuals is by learning from past mistakes and moving on to make them better. As U2 says in their song, " You've got to get yourself together you've got stuck in a moment and you can get out of it." When something gets tough and people can't handle something we tend to let other things go and just worry about that one thing. It is alright to think about it but if you dwell on it and it affects eveything else going on in your life then nothing else can get done. We have to remember that things don't always go as we planned or would like them to and that we need to accept it and move on. As U2 puts it, "It's just a moment, this time will pass."

Is it Art

Gary Moeller’s article, “ Is it Art?”, with his comparisons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Beatles movie of 1968 “Yellow Submarine”, and then to the film “The Wizard of Oz”, are a stretch.His comments, these straight jacketed characters are nowhere close to the hair-raising monkeys on the fright scale and they really are not even as foreboding as the clowns of the Yellow Submarine” are not convincing. His attempts to bring together some common ground between these visual works that are separated by time and years of special effects and societal change are weak. Of course, there is a common thread in each of these – all have villains and the desire of good to conqueor evil. To say that these films are high art, such as a Van Gogh or an Andy Warhol is not a fair comparison. These pop culture works may be a whole other category of art- it is a matter of personal perception and to some extent the education and beliefs of the person viewing it. However, to compare the Meanie Clowns of the Yellow Submarine, or the Flying Monkeys from The Wizard of Oz to the evil grinning Gentlemen of the Buffy episode “Hush” serves no purpose. Each may be a type of horror art—spooky mind provoking art, with the fear factor in each unrelated to the others. All forms of these films are art- some stimulate and drive a culture, and all incorporate both the threatening and the sweet. Too much evaluation of an art form, such as what Moeller had done, whether it is Buffy on its own or against another, takes away from experiencing the art as a whole, whether it is shocking, satisfying or leaves you wanting.

Fear the princess screamed

Wilcox’s article on the T.V. series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, specifically the “Hush” section is a provocative depiction of this television series. He makes detailed analogies of the episode with his comparison of it to a good fairytale, i.e. the princess, the evil doer, the hero, and the resolution.The evil all white gentlemen in this episode are wearing suits, evoking a power, money connection to the viewer, almost a bad boy group of guys to be dealt with by an empowered female."We are shown these dead, white, well to do upper class, old fashioned males spreading out across the town and taking over.” This quote is fascinating because typical fairytales whether creepy or not may have had good looking, white well-off, males in the story. As youngsters, viewers can identify strongly with that type of guy power, and more specifically girls who identify a certain type of white male in a sexual fantasy. This could be in the form of the good person Riley, Buffy’s love interest, to the floating suited gentlemen entering your bedroom, the opposing bad villain. As viewers watching the series know, the show is full of emotional hits. Buffy had a sexual relationship with Angel, a vampire/still with a soul kind of guy. Her departure here from adolescent girl, to adult in college shows another emotional connection a female audience would identify with. Buffy has dreams that prepare the viewer for intrigue to follow. In her dream she kisses Riley, her sexual interest and a good boy. After kissing him, the monster white males come and she has the power to destroy them –this too is seductive and compelling. She realizes later after she and Riley have destroyed the menace, that the substance of the relationship was not just the kissing and fighting. It is interesting that it is not just the white male villains who take on the fairytale role and cut your heart out.

Grimm

I thought it was interesting how this article compared fairytales to the Buffy episodes. Many ideas for fairytales are incorporated into Buffy episodes by making them a little more creepy. After reading the article I was shocked at how many fairytales have quite scary plot lines. One of the creepiest episodes in the series was the silent one "Hush." The whole episode is based on a fairytale plotline which is quite scary. I never would have thought that a fairytale that was meant for children could be quite so scary. "The Gentlemen, who are said to come to a town, steal the voices of the citizen's, then proceed to cut out the hearts of seven unlucky residents. It seems weird that this kind of plot line would be for children.

"Hush"

I found this episode to be quite suspensful and exciting to watch. It had a really creative and spooky plotline which kept me interested throughout the whole show. I had never really thought about the significance of having a whole town not being able to talk but I thought it was a good point becasue it shows how something like that can make people panic instead of dealing with it which can casue chaos. I thought the Gentlemen were pretty creepy and their way of taking peoples voices away was a good strategy on their part. It makes it extremely difficult for people to communicate effectively when they cannot talk. When the people were in trouble they couldn't scream or yell or get any sort of help. One of the scence's I found interesting was when Zander thought that Spike had attacked his girlfriend and so he went after him. Before this scene the girl didn't think that Zander really loved her or cared about her. Sometimes it takes a traumatic event for people to really appreciate and care about the ones that are important to them. If he really did love her he should have told her the truth and not taken her for granted. Similarly, when Buffy is patrolling the streets looking out for the Gentlemen she runs into Riley. They end up kissing becasue they really do care about eachother but are scared and don't know what is going to happen. Before this, Buffy and Riley never told eachother how they felt becasue they were too nervous. Sometimes it takes the fear of losing someone to get people to show how they feel.

"Buffy doesn't want to be the Slayer, but she chooses how to be the Slayer." I thought this was an interesting quote becasue although Buffy can't get rid of her being the vampire slayer, she can choose how well of a job she does of being it. She has control over control over who she kills and who she protects and whether or not she even wants to fulfil her duty as the slayer. Buffy has to have the motivation to be the vampire slayer otherwise there is no point in having one. After watching the first episdoe "Welcome to Hellmouth" I noticed that Buffy accepted the roles as the slayer when she found out that her friends were in trouble. She knew she had no choice but to protect her friends becasue nobody else was capable of stopping the vampires but her. Buffy doesn't want to be the Vampire Slayer but she does want to look out for her friends. This feeling of protection that she had motivated her to go after the vampires and stop them from hurting her friends.

Citaitons:
http://www.slayageonline.com/essays/slayage3/sabbott.htm

Free Writing 1

One of the things I found quite interesting after watching both Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is how Joss Whedon the creator of both these T.V shows uses women. After doing some research, I found that he likes women to have powerful roles and have them be the ones who are threating. In many horror movies these days it seems like there is always a sterotype on blonde, good-looking girls as being dumb. In most of these horror movies it always ends up being the blonde girl who acts stupid and gets killed becasue she is considered powerless. I like how Joss Whedon uses females in a stronger way and makes them be the threatening ones. Joss goes against this cliche of the dumb blonde girl always getting killed, and makes her the powerful one. Instead of the girl acting dumb and weak she is now strong and intelligent. This is why I enjoy Buffy's character and the role she plays as the Vampire Slayer. Although she doesn't look like a threatening person, she isn't the typical blonde sterotype. Instead, she is smart, strong and the perfect example for female empowerment. Even though Buffy is inocent looking, she is really the biggest threat to all the vampires. I think this is why the show was so successful becasue it shows girls in a new way which is differnt from other sterotypical shows which makes it unique and exciting to watch.

Shuswap Lake!!

For my blog, I decided to talk about one of my favourtie places in the world which is Shuswap Lake. It is located in the interior region of British Columbia in Canada about 4 hours out of Vancouver. My family and I have been going there every summer for about 15 years as we own a cabin on the lake. It is probably one of the most beautiful places to visit and I would recommend it if you have never been to B.C before! I have so many childhood memories growing up there and I am so fortunate to be able to spend my summers on a lake with family and friends. It always gets really hot in the summer and there is always so much to do. One of my favourite things is wakesurfing behind a boat which my brother is really good at. If you've never done it before it's a lot like surfing but instead of using the ocean waves, you surf on the wake of the boat. You start in the water and use a rope as the boat pulls you up, then when you feel comfortable on the wake, you let go of the rope and start surfing! It takes a lot of skill to not have to use the rope and some people can even do tricks such as a 360 on the board. There are plenty of other things to do on the lake such as wakeboarding and tubing which are also tons of fun. In my opinion, the best part about going to Shuswap Lake is just being able to relax and enjoy spending time with my family becasue we all have really busy schedules. It is the one time of year where we can all come together with friends, enjoy the lake, and have a good time together!

Location Analysis

For my location analysis I have chosen my tiny, cozy dorm room. I must say that I did an amazing job of redecorationg the place as it was quite ancient and rough-looking to begin with. My room is quite crowded with little space as I have a roomate with about as many clothes as I do. You enter the room and the first thing you see are two, small twin beds with colourful bed covers. Looking to your right you would see a tiny fridge with my cluttered desk consisting of school books, food and my computer. The main focus of the room are the pictures and decorations which cover the walls. This does make the room seem a little smaller but it gives it a nice welcoming and cozy feeling. Some of the decorations on the wall include pictures from home, surfing posters and Ohio State pictures. When friends visit our room they are all quite impressed with how cute the room looks and how comfortable it is. The surfing posters and colourful bed covers give the room a beachy feeling which is really important to me. My hometown is located on the coast of B.C so being around the ocean is something I miss quite a bit which is why it was so important for me to have part of home with me in my room. It gives it a comforting feel and people that come over seem to really enjoy it even if the space is very small. It is important to make your dorm personalizedto fit your interests becasue it is the place where you should feel the most comfortable and at ease. Your dorm is a place to relax and be with friends which is why you should make it feel like a place of your own becasue it really is your home.

Primary Source 2

I have also looked at the second episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it has given me some good ideas on what I might do for my paper. From watching the first two episodes I have come to the conclusion that people will always have some sort of highschool drama or problem to deal with no matter who you are. I noticed that Buffy always seems to be concerned about being a Vampire Slayer becasue she is worried about how it will affect her school life. In the first episode she denies being a Vampire Slayer when the librarian asks her, becasue she doesn't want to take on that responsibility again. In the second episode when the principle catches Buffy trying to leave the school she is given a lecture about how this could ruin her chances of staying there. He explains to her that if she gets into any mischief again at her new school she'll be kicked out, just like what happened to her at her old school. I can sympathize with Buffy in that not only does she have a huge responsibility in being a Vampire Slayer but she must also deal with everyday highschool problems and rules. I also noticed that when Buffy goes down into Hellmouth to try and save the guy, she tells Angel that she has to save him becasue he is a "potential friend." This shows me that Buffy is concerned about making friends and fitting in, which is just another highschool worry like a lot of people have.

Primary Source 1

I was a little unsure about Buffy the Vampire Slayer when I first heard of it, but now that I've watched the first episode I actually found it to be quite entertaining. I really like the idea of having a girl as the vampire slayer becasue it shows that girls don't always have to be the one in trouble. Girls can be the hero or the powerfull one. A girl with an appearance and character like Buffy, wouldn't seem like a threat to most people at all. She's blonde, little and wears cute tredny clothes you definatly wouldn't think she would be capable of killing someone, let alone a vampire. Buffy also has a sweet, bubbly personality so you wouldn't think she would know anything about killing. I like this idea becasue it proves that even good-looking, nice girls can still be tough and powerful. An important scene in the episode was when Buffy was being followed into the alley by a stranger. We see that she knows she is being followed and hides by standing on top of a bar in the alley. Before this scene I had never seen Buffy's abilities as a vampire slayer but this was important becasue it showed the viewers her strengh and capability. The main theme of the show is that not everything is as it seems which I think makes the show suspensful and exciting.

But she was naked

So this week we've mostly been talking about how girls are powerful and that they aren't always as they seem. This article proves that seduction can be quite powerful in getting you what you want. Both Inara and Saffron use seduction in differnet ways for differnet reasons. I found it interesting that Inara was able to recognize the seduction tactics and flattery methods of Saffron becasue Inara herself uses them on her clients. This was significant in that it shows that you cannot try to play a player. Inara was able to recognize the seduction tactic becasue she is trained in it. Unlike Saffron who uses seduction to rob people, Inara uses it as part of her job. She appeals to her clients by sympathizing with them and using flattery to make them feel wanted and special. A good example of this in the article was when she chose to be with "Fess" instead of having his father hire her becasue she knew that it made him embarassed. Another flattery tactic was when she chose a woman, she made sure to re enforce that most of her clients are male to flatter the woman and make her feel unique and special. "If I chose a woman she tends to be extrordinary in some way." Inara is very good at appealing to people's emotions and making them feel better about themselves.

"Our Mrs. Reynolds"

I really enjoyed watching this episode becasue I found it to be quite unpredictable and suspenseful. I noticed that when the slave girl "Safron" who happened to be Mal's wife, came on board that neither Zoey or the companion lady found it to be funny. They both seemed a little shocked and suspicious of the girl and didn't know whether or not to trust her. In my opinion the girl seemed innocent, lost and was just trying to help out. She was very polite and sweet in making the captain dinner and being very friendly to all of the crew members. The scence that I found shocking was when Safron turned on the captain and ended up poisoning him. Safron was very good at persuading people to think she was some poor, innocent slave girl becasue of how kind and gentle her manorisms were. However, this proves that even innocent, sweet people can't always be trusted if you don't know them because they could be hiding something. A girl like Safron would never be thought of as a threat which in turn proved to be worng. Safron made the episode quite entertaining becasue she added the element of suspense when she turned out to be someone completely differnet from what I had viewed her as in the beginning.