POW #4: Restaurant Review

I love going out to eat. My vice is that my wife and I go out to eat all of the time. We are always looking for new places to try, and we use restaurant reviews to find out if we should try the restaurant or stay far away.

For this blog post, you are going to write a restaurant review. Use what we learned about writing a movie review, and the examples we looked at in class, to write a review for any restaurant you wish. I would encourage you to visit the restaurant so you can take notes and write an accurate review.

Here are the examples from Smashburger and Chipotle that we looked at in class. They should give you a model to write your own review. 

2nd Hour's Essential Elements 

6th Hour's Essential Elements

POW #3: Irony in Brave New World

Huxley's Brave New World is filled with irony and satire.

Remember the three types of irony: Verbal, Situational, Dramatic.

For this blog post, locate one example of irony in the book up through Ch. 10.

1. Explain the situation from the book

2. Label the type of irony

3. Explain what Huxley is trying to say with the irony.

Example:

Explanation: In this world, the popular phrase is, "Everyone is happy now." Lenina repeats this over and over. There are no wars, poverty, violence or crime. It appears to be a perfect society or utopia.

However, this world is far from perfect. The people do not know true happiness. They are actually void of any emotion at all. They may say that they are happy, but they are not.

Situational Irony

Huxley's purpose: People can be conditioned to think or say certain things, even if they do not actually believe it. Huxley is also exploring the question: What does it mean to be happy? What is the true nature of happiness? Is it something you say? Something you feel? How do you attain true happiness?

POW #2: Snapshots

Photographs are among our most prized possessions. They capture a sliver of time in our lives that we can instantly be transported back to when we look at it. With the invention of digital photographs, you can now take thousands of photos at almost no cost.

Create a blog post about a snapshot. It could be about:

• A photograph that first comes to mind
• Your most treasured photograph
• The photograph you wish you had never taken (or been in)
• A photograph that taught you something
• A photograph you most associate with loss; Happiness; A change in your life

You do not have to post a photograph to complete this post, although you may. If you post a picture of someone else, do not include their full name, and please get permission from them first.

My example:

POW #2: Snapshots

This photo was taken on January 11th, 2010 moments after my son, Brady, was born.

The thing I remember the most about his birth was how much hair he had (unlike his father!). He has been a great baby and it was truly a life-changing moment for my family.

I documented the entire last year in a Photo 365 project where I took a picture every day for an entire year. This was a really fun project where I could document his growth over the course of a year. You can check it out here.

POW #2: Satire Example

Satire: A type of writing that makes fun of human weaknesses. It is designed to bring about social reform.

We are going to begin reading Brave New World, which is a satirical look at society written by Aldous Huxley. To understand the book, we need to understand the concept of satire. There are many examples of satire in pop culture: political cartoons, TV shows (The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live), and movies (Airplane!, The Naked Gun).

Here is a link to many examples of satire.

Remember, satire is different from PARODY.

Your mission: Find an example of satire and post it to your blog. Along with your example, post an explanation of the satire.

• What is the author making fun of?
• What techniques are he using? (Irony, Hyperbole, Saracasm)
• What social change is he trying to bring about?

Call your post: "POW #2: Satire Example" and label it "POW"

This should be completed by Tuesday, January 18th.

Here is my example:

 

The cartoonist is making fun of Britney Spears and our country's obsession with news about celebrities.

He is using hyperbole to exaggerate the way the characters look. Britney is depicted smoking and drinking Red Bull. Her head is way out of proportion with her body, and she has oversized sunglasses on. The people sitting on the couch are also exaggerated with their looks. There is also situational irony - the woman says that Britney needs to get a life, but she is the one who has been sitting there watching about her for hours.

The cartoonist is saying that we should spend more time concentrating on our own lives, rather than living through the lives of celebrities. If we don't pay attention to shows like TMZ, then maybe celebs won't act out and do outrageous things. As the consumer, we are a huge part of the problem.

POW #1 Mr. and Miss Courtney

Image via Zazzle.com

I remember nervously entering Mrs. Eckrote's 1st grade class at Morgan Elementary on the first day of school. I was equal parts anxious and terrified to start a new chapter in my school career. First grade was a huge change for several reasons. Rather than just going for half day kindergarten, I would be going to school all day long. This meant I would be eating lunch at school. I would also be meeting the AM kindergarten students, the other half of my class who attended kindergarten in the morning before I went in the afternoon.

However, my excitement was tempered when I discovered that one of my classmates had an almost identical name to mine.

A female student.

My parents named me Courtney Allam after Courtney Rogers, a Hutch High and K-State basketball player. They didn't know him personally, they just liked the name.

You can imagine the teasing and taunting I was forced to endure when I met my female classmate named Cortney Allmon.

Courtney Allam. Cortney Allmon.

It wasn't bad enough that we had the same first name, but our last names were almost exactly the same as well.

My 2nd grade teacher identified us as Mr. Courtney and Miss Cortney. That didn't stop the ridicule from my friends any time someone confused my name with the female Cortney.

Image by Jonathunder via

CreativeCommons.org

Finally, I decided to take matters into my own hands. When 3rd grade rolled around, I informed my teacher on the first day of school that I wanted to be called "Court". Court sounds more like a guy's name, and it means "of the court". You know, royalty and kings. Much more masculine, right?

The name stuck, and I have been going by it for over 20 years. The cool thing is that I don't recall ever meeting another person who goes by "Court".

Male or female.

POW #1: Hello, my name is...

Photo via http://ccr.stanford.edu/blog/

For your first blog post, tell your readers about your name (first, middle or last)

• Origins of your name
• History of your name
• The story of how you were named
• Advantages and/or inconveniences about your name
• Why you like/dislike your name
• Teasing about your name
• Nicknames

Name your post: POW #1: (Then give it an original or clever title)

(POW = Post of the Week)

Also, tag it POW at the bottom. This will allow you to organize your posts.