Class Recap - 9/29/2010

So we still want find what is funny and can make all of us laugh. We have some problems with this question because for group wich contain people from different countries it is really difficult. For example if you don't know some american culture and traditions or stereotypes you can't understand why it is happy. I also didn't unerstand some jokes in last movie that we watched( it was about students life in dermatoty and some troublemakers). But I think Greer will find some movie that will be funny for all of us.

Class Recap 9/22/2010 - What makes you laugh?

Today, we’ve discussed about comprehension questions of the movie “The Silence of the Lamb.” There were some difficult questions to require details, and we could have different ideas. Though we had already assigned to study about questions, we needed to think carefully to set the correct answers.
After that we talked about the “Fun”. What makes you laugh? Do you think humor is cultural? We shared varied idea such as embarrassing things, slapstick humor, stupid humor, silly humor, black humor, negative humor, etc. Also most we agreed that humor is cultural due to the different customs, different experiences, and lack of information about other culture.
Finally, we watched some funny clips. First one was a Japanese one playing soccer with ridiculous clothes and motion. Second one was about playing 2 babies, and the last one was about baby landlord. For each clip, we shared our response whether it was funny or not. One interesting point we found was with watching same scene, we could have different feeling each other. For example, even if we thought stupid about something in a same way, it meant funny for someone but didn’t for others. These processes seem to give me opportunities to understand how other people think different as me. Also, I feel that I need to consider more carefully about people to reduce the gap each other.

Class Recap 09/20/2010

Today, we continued to watch movie that is Silence of the Lambs. Finally, we watched whole story about it then class was over. We did not discuss, but we going to discuss about the movie in next class. There are mamy important and serious scenes. When Lecter escape from prison, he bited policeman's face and killed him. After that he went to somewhere and called to Clarice. Clarice also find where is Buffalo Bill. She went and put in danger herself in his house, ultimately, she shot him and can helped confined woman.
We have HW: 1, Define vocabulary 2, Comment on blog 3, Read Greer's post

Would you recommend Silence of the Lambs? Why or why not?

One of the reasons I think Silence of the Lambs is such a fascinating film is that it breaks so many expectations and rules:
First, it sets traditional American images - the U.S. flag, eagles - within a dark and twisted world where many of the characters we meet and events that unfold are the exact opposite of the wholesome, patriotic view of Americans and American culture that many (or most) Hollywood movies present.
Second, it is a thriller/action movie with almost no action sequences. Unless you count Hannibal Lecter's escape from the Memphis prison or the scene near the end of the movie where Clarice feels her way through the darkened basement as Buffalo Bill hunts her, almost everything we see shows the anticipation of or build-up to an event rather than the event itself. It may not be the "scariest" movie ever, but I think it is definitely one of the creepiest.
Third, few of the main characters of the movie are who they appear to be. We (or at least I) want to hate Hannibal Lecter - he is clearly responsible for some horrible and violent deeds. But he is also perhaps the only character in the movie (other than Ardelia, Clarice's roommate) who never lies to Clarice, who treats her with respect, and who takes her seriously as a person and as a professional FBI agent. Along the same lines, Clarice Starling - clearly the hero of the movie, the one character we are supposed to "root for," and a character that I greatly admire - is far from perfect. She is impulsive, stubborn, and proud. She is also dishonest - e.g. when she lies to Lecter about the prison transfer agreement. She has trouble trusting people (although, the film seems to suggest, she has good reason for this), and she put herself and others in harm's way by refusing help and trying to do everything on her own.

Do you agree with me? Do you think Silence of the Lambs is one of the most interesting, thought-provoking, and complicated horror movies in the history of cinema, or did you mostly just think the movie was violent and gross? Using the 'Comment' function on this post, please write a complete paragraph of at least 3-5 sentences (although you might need to write a bit more) explaining to a friend 1) whether he/she should watch Silence of the Lambs, and 2) why. Please be truthful, and do not be afraid if your answer to question #1 is no. Your classmates and I are interested in reading your honest opinion. There is no such thing as a "wrong" answer!

Finally, just in case we don't get a chance to watch it in class on Wednesday, I wanted to post a link to that Smithsonian TV program/documentary that I was talking about in class earlier today. Click here to learn about the real-life criminals and FBI agents that inspired the story Silence of the Lambs.

Class Recap 09/17/2010

Today is Friday! In the American Culture class we have watched a moive called " The silence of the Lamb." we stopped at the scen when Dr. Lecter finally identify who is the "Buflo Bill." There are some scens that seem quite important. the FBI agents found out that Bill didn't kill the girls he had kidnapped right away. He left them alive for couple days, and then skined them and killed. Also, Clarice found a moth pupa inside the body of a girl who was found dead and skined in a river. And that moth pupa is the key evident that could help the FBI find out who's the murderer. Moreover, after the scene that Clarice had clarified the thing found out from the dead girl's body is a moth pupa, and then the next scene showed that the house of the person who kidnapped Catherine has many insects such as butterflies. It showed us a clue that the guy could be the Buflo Bill.

This is the recap of the movie we have watched so far.

class recap 09/15/10

Today in the American culture I have watched movie called 《The Silence of the Lambs》 is talk about some killer kill people in cruelty way. The whole city under the scary air. Young woman who is brave and smart work in the FBI, try into found this killers. Although we just watched beginning of this movie, but this movie interested me very much. I decided to watch all movie in my free time. I hope i can find out what things support the young women have so much brave to found the troth to punish the killers. After we watched beginning of this movie we have watched some pictures about American culture. One of this pictures is talk about policeman helping people, the other is about American scenery. This pictures very interesting. I enjoy this class.

Mohammed

American Culture Class

American culture is different and interesting. Our class emphasis in American culture but since I attended this class, we just watched the great movie a jaw. In addition, the movie Jaw talked about a great white shark attacked people during the summer and show how in the American culture people deal with this kind of problem. Moreover, I learned in this class not every thing that we watched in Hollywood movie might be true about American culture. However, there are some good and bad things in American culture as any culture in the world. All in all, we learned some interesting thing in American culture class.

Who is your hero?

Here are some of what I thought were the most interesting and touching comments you collected when completing your latest homework assignment:

"My hero is my big brother. Sometimes I met some problems but I can't talk it with my parents. But it always can talk to my brother. He can protect me and help me to solve my problem." (Cici)
"Audrey Hepburn, she is beautiful and sophisticated." (Aarin)
"My hero is Rockefeller. Even though there is the argument that he monopolized a market, he gave the proceeds to charitable works. I still believe that he is the person who a lot of people respect him." (Ji Eun)
"As a kid, my mom was my hero. Now that I am a mom, my kids are my heroes." (Julie)
"Chuck Norris, because he can do everything! Nothing can stop him." (Vincent)
"My heroes are the Beatles. The Beatles have used their music to teach people about war and the problems with it. And the Beatles were a source of entertainment for all ages." (unknown)
"My hero would have to be my dad because he works hard to help me and my sister to achieve our goals." (Tautis)
"My hero is Martin Luther King. He is my hero because he gave freedom to black people in the U.S." (Dominic)
"My hero is my soulmate, Stacey. She is the one always on my side, whatever I'm sad or happy. When I was lost, she give me power to start again. She supports me a lot." (Sophia)


Here are the definitions of the word hero that we discussed in class today:

1. A man (or woman) of exceptional courage or ability, admired for his (or her) brave deeds and noble qualities.

2. A sympathetic character who overcomes a series of increasingly difficult, seemingly insurmountable obstacles and achieves a compelling desire.



From these comments and definitions, as well as from what we talked about earlier today, it seems to me that there are a variety of reasons why we could admire people and consider them heroes.

Maybe a hero is someone who has given a lot of support, whether emotional, financial, or otherwise (for example, see Sophia's, Tautis', and Cici's remarks above). Maybe a hero is someone who faced many challenges and made a lot of personal sacrifices for the sake of some greater good (for example, Martin Luther King, Jr. or Abraham Lincoln).

Using the 'Comment' function on this post, please write a complete paragraph of least 5-7 sentences describing a person or people that you admire. Be sure to share your ideas about what makes that person (or people) so special and about why you admire him or her (or them) so much. ... In other words, answer the question: Who is YOUR hero, and why?

** BONUS: Click here to read a short article I wrote several years ago about one of my heroes, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar.