HW 29

Making young people feel like they are being understood is one of the techniques that marketers use to sell their products. Young people want to feel understood and special and if marketers are able to do so then teens will be more receptive and more willing to buy their products. Making it easier to sell to them. These corporations are selling an identity to young people. Thinking how young people think today is a way for these companies to reach them and therefore have their products reach them as well.

Young people are marketed what is cool or hot through the things they watch, read and listen to. Young people are being sold "youth culture" any way the corporate companies can reach them. Having a famous person wear their products or endorse it, speaks to teens. " A marketing ploy that puts specific products into the hands of actors that will be shown using them in movies and TV shows". Young people want to be cool and if their favorite artist or actor has it then that will sell the product.

Companies are becoming "cool" to better relate their merchandise to young people. By knowing what they want and giving it to them. Understanding the youth culture allows them to figure out what to sell to them but making the youth think they are trying to understand them and what they want. But it's just a ploy to sell the youth what they want to sell to them.

HW 28

C., Krystle. "How to Be Cool at School." WikiHow 1. Web. 7 Dec 2009. .

This article was a list of tips on how to be cool at school. How you can achieve coolness in school if you follow the list of 13 tips which suggest you "have your own sense of style" and "be fit, clean, and smell good" because this is what people in school will be looking for in order to define you as cool or not.

I thought that the list of tips was funny like " if you're a girl, always wear a bit of jewelry" because wearing jewelry will be the key factor in determining if I'm cool or not. I also liked that the list included "respecting others" and "keeping an open mind" because it reminded me of what some of the people I interviewed said made a person cool. I thought it was interesting that this article mentioned nothing about being yourself but rather it was a list of how to fit in and put a mask on when your at school.

Rice, Jeff. "What is Cool? Notes on Intellectualism, Popular Culture, and Writing ." CTheory 1. Web. 7 Dec 2009. .

This article was about what is cool? and marketing coolness to people. As stated in a wired magazine article titled "The Phenomenon of Cool" , there definition of cool is the advertisement's audience, purpose, and product for sale. How everyone is so occupied with becoming cool or having the coolest latest stuff.

This article made me realize that advertisers try to market products as cool or as the hottest new trend in order to get us to buy, buy ,buy , which we end up doing. But the coolest item or the latest trend is not long lasting since there are constantly new "cool" products coming out and the coolest trends end up becoming last season's trends. What's cool today might not be cool tomorrow.

Fenichel,Michael. "What is "Cool"? (What's Hot? What's Not?)." Michael Fenichel Teaching Tools 1. (Copyright ©1997-2008): n. pag. Web. 7 Dec 2009. .

This article was about the obstacles that adolescence face, one being achieving ultimate coolness. It talked about teens using other teens to define themselves.

I thought that it was interesting that all teens at some point want to be cool or liked by the group of people they are trying to fit in with and they do so by changing their appearance or altering themselves in order to be accepted by their peers. A lot of this fitting in and being accepted has to do with self esteem. Instead one should start accepting themselves instead of pleasing others which they might find is better than being cool.



Other sites visited:

Who, Alan. "How To Be Cool." Alan Who? 1. 1. Web. 7 Dec 2009. .

Buehler, doyle. "You're not cool - I am. What is cool & finding the cool factor.." Fast Company 1. (2008): 1. Web. 7 Dec 2009. .

HW 27

Interviews with strangers, family and friends....

Who do you think is cooler Beyonce or Rihanna?

Katy: "Beyonce, because she grew up with all these influences around her music wise but still does her own thing. I don't know about Rihanna..."

Missy: "Rihanna, because Beyonce seems more superficial. All that Rihanna's been through makes her stronger and adds to her personality."

Where you cool in high school?

Katy: "I wasn't cool because I didn't care about anyone but sports but if you needed me to do your math homework then I was cool."

Missy: "I don't think I was cool in high school... I mean I wasn't cool or uncool I kind of just stood in the middle."

India: "I was kinda cool because I hung out with the cool kids."

What is cool ?

Katy: "Someone who is down to earth, doesn't care what anyone thinks. Someone who is honest. If you ain't honest then you ain't cool."

Missy: "It sounds cliche but originality. If you can be original and pull it off then cool."

Audrey: "Being yourself and not what others want you to be."

Who is the coolest person you know?

Katy: "My mom because who can raise children and still be calm and have it all together."

Missy: " All of my friends, they are each cool in their own way."

Do you have any tips on how to be cool?

Katy: " Be open minded to anything. Anything your open to and not what other people are."

Any last thoughts on Cool?

Missy: " I think that people are trying to redefine cool based on what the media is putting out there."

Are you cool?

Bro: "My friends seem to think so and the ladies."

Why?

Bro: " What do you mean why? Isn't it obvious ? (laughs). People tell me they like my style, they find me attractive and think I'm hilarious. They call it the "whole package"."

Hw 25

Brandon,

I liked how your story demonstrated how Eric's perception of what "cool" was changed and it showed in his actions . In the end he realized that being "cool" maybe wasn't what he wanted.

Michelle.

I enjoyed reading your story. It sounds like the "cool" kid didn't even know he was cool. It was more of how the others around him viewed him. He was more about doing his own thing than paying attention to others or what they thought.

Sam,

I liked your story, I agree the name of your character is funny. Your story was very straightforward about how this kid wanted to be accepted by his social group but that meant that he had to alter a little bit of himself in order to fit in with them.

Amber,

I like how in the end everyone wanted to be like Harmony because in their minds she was seen as "cool". Her rebellion made her seem like she was cool because no one else had the guts to do what she did. She was seen as different.


Matt,

I thought your story was great! and really well written. The characters in the book clearly have different views of what it means to be cool. It showed that being cool might not mean anything. That all that being cool gets you is lost and confused when it comes to knowing who you and what you want out of life .

After reading the five stories above I noticed that most of the characters wanted to be socially accepted by others. They all wanted to fit in. In Sam's story the main character switched up his style. In Amber and Michelle's story the characters were kind of seen as rebellious and all about doing their own thing.I also noticed in Brandon and Matt's stories their characters views on what is cool or being cool changed in the end because they realized that maybe that's not what they wanted anymore or it wasn't going to benefit them in a good way. In each story the definition of "cool" was different.

I liked how some of the stories expressed how maybe being "cool" isn't so cool after all. How having the hottest clothes, lots of friends, or having and doing other things that would qualify you as being cool isn't so cool after all. Because being cool isn't everything it comes down to the person's character (Brandon's story)and finding out who you really are (Matt's story).

HW 24

Walking down the halls on another typical boring day of school. She was stopped by her assistant principle to help out a new student who just arrived that morning. She was pretty bummed that she had to be a tour guide but when this student stepped out of the office her eyes widened. She was like no other student who went to the school. This new girl was so different and seemed so intriguing. She looked like she just stepped out of a magazine with her appealing looks.

As she walked down the halls to show the "new" girl around, whispers were all they could hear and eyes were all they could see. Everyone stopped what they were doing to get a good look at the "new" girl. The look on the new girls face was as if she were used to this type of reaction from people. She had on the trendiest clothes. Girls began to take mental notes of what she was wearing. The guys were going gaga over her. From head to toe she stunned everyone. As she made her way down the halls, she listened to the whispers- " Look at what she's wearing, it's crazy but I like it!,"Wow,sunglasses and purple hair " "Usually no one would wear something like that but she pulls it off so well!",

As she looked around the classroom the next day she realized that everyone was wearing a replica of the sunglasses she had on the day before. She smiled to her self because that's exactly what she wanted. Until the door of the classroom swung open. In walked a kid named Sebastian, the loud class suddenly became quite as multiple hands reached toward there faces pulling the sunglasses off their faces. The "new" girl didn't seem so new anymore. Mouths widened including hers. As she realized that the attention would no longer be on her.

Sebastian was now the "new" kid. There goes those whispers again but they weren't about her anymore. She was so shocked, it was so unexpected. She was used to having all the attention on her that she forgot how it felt not to have any at all.

HW 23

Cool?......

I think that cool is an image that people want to project. Everyone wants to be/ appear cool to the outside world. "Cool" is an expression that people use to describe something that they like,think is unique, is popular.To consider something cool means it's a good thing.Being "cool" matters to people because people fear what others think about them. The movies we watch, music we listen to, magazines we read, fashion,people we hangout with, etc. all have an effect on our perspective of "cool". But who's to say what is cool and what isn't?

Cool makes me think of conformity because everyone is so stuck on trying to fit in and being socially accepted by others. We care about our image. People follow what is cool or a person that is cool.It's almost like everyone puts on a mask to appear like something they are not. People want to be popular and well liked by the people around them. Even if that means we conform ourselves into becoming someone we might not truly be, just so that we can have the title of "cool".

Is being cool really a good thing ? It doesn't seem that way, it's almost like your selling apart of yourself so that you can be "cool" in the eye's of others and you can be high up on the social hierarchy. But after a while I think people's level of coolness starts to fade because then people have found someone new who's cooler . It might be fun and all good while it lasts but once it's gone people might realize that being cool might not have been that great of a thing after all.

Cool comes and goes just like the latest trends. So should it matter?

HW 21

I think that my piece of art would be considered a mirror because it will allow one to reflect on how digital technology is affecting them. I titled the piece "Milk Our Brains" because I believe that we allow ourselves to become addicted to digital technology which in return is making us less intelligent individuals. We spend so much time watching TV, listening to our ipods or web browsing when we could be doing other things. Like playing a sport, reading or actually having a face-to-face conversation with someone. But instead we let it take over our lives. We let it milk our minds a bit every day. I drew a robot like figure because it seems like every time we use these digital devices like an ipod , the TV or the computer we become disembodied and so engrossed in what we are doing. These devices can be used as escape from reality. Every time we use digital technology our brains get milked. Which some believe is making us more stupid compared to other generations.

I think that my art inspires me to think about how much time I spend using digital technology and how it benefits or doesn't benefit me? " Milk Our Brains" makes me feel like I should seriously think about cutting down on the time I spend each day in front of my computer screen. We all should. Before are brains become completely empty.

I wasn't too excited about doing an art project because I'm not a very great artist... but the process of creating the piece was interesting.Developing my idea for the piece was a bit challenging because I didn't know what I was going to do. But once I got the idea it was just a matter of getting the idea to reflect the message through the piece.