Good Ole Kanye...

I think its safe to say that after Kanye West' intrusion during the 2009 MTV Awards, everyone knows who Kanye West is.  For those who don't know, Kanye West is a well-known rapper, singer, and record producer out of Chicago, Illinois.  One thing that might not be known about Kanye West is that he is a self-proclaimed non-reader who feels "Sometimes people write novels and they be so wordy."  Although Kanye does not like books, he has written his own entitled "Thank You And You're Welcome" lasting only 52 pages, I'm assuming in an attempt to not be too wordy.
I disagree with Kanye.  Although most novels are quite lengthy, and their length comes from their wordiness, every word in a novel is pertinent information to the story.  A general reason why authors are so wordy in their novels is because a lot of authors like to be very descriptive, in hopes that it will allow the reader to feel as though they are actually in the story rather than in their bedroom reading.  Along with being descriptive, authors use diction for symbolism, motifs, and other literary devices cause them to be wordy.  What Kanye may not realize is that the reason most novels are so highly respected is because they are so wordy and the authors diction allows the book to have deeper meanings than the plot may initially show, and readers need to be able to "read in 3D" in order to truly understand these books.  I don't think Kanye can read in 3D.
I think Kanye is like most readers and is intimidated by the length of a book, and would rather not read it and would prefer "to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real."  My advice to Kanye would be to be brave and take a chance with books rather than be scared because they seem too long.  I, at one time, didn't like to read long books because I thought all long books were boring, but after actually reading books that were 200 pages, I found that all books are different and are very inspiring.  So while "sometimes people write novels and they be so wordy," I feel the authors diction was choosen for a reason and his work shouldn't be judged upon its length but its quality.

Red

The pain he feels mounts,
The would from his heart begins to gush,
He screams until his face turns red,
His screams are inaudible.
He is in a sea of blood,
He descends deeper and deeper,
Into the empty abyss,
Left to be alone for all eternity,
She only left him with this pain and a sea of blood.

What is Literature 0001

      This video, posted on Youtube by baileygoodman, goes into detail about literature and some reasons why we should learn it.  The video begins with a clip from Act I Scene III of Shakespeare's "As You Like It", where Celia tries to get Rosalind to runaway with her to find Rosalind's father in the Forest of Arden, and goes on to explain how many kids dread learning literature because of a lack of ability to understand Shakespeare.  Next, it posses two of the biggest questions kids ask in school, "Why do we have to know this stuff?" and "When will we ever use this stuff in real life?"
     To answer these questions, the narrator defines literature.  She says, "Literature is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and non-fiction."  She then focuses on how literature affects literacy or "Why do we have to know this stuff?" and "When will we ever use this stuff in real life?"  A key point the narrator brings up is how life would be different if literature were not taught and how we would be forced to return to the Stone Age, where we communicate through grunts and moans.
     Once she defines literature, she tries to explain why we study literature.  Through the study of literature, the narrator feels, "We learn about books in literature, we enjoy the comedies and tragedies of poems, stories, and plays, and evolve through our literary journey with books."  In essence, what the narrator is trying to say is that literature is all things written and has impacted the life of humans tremendously to the point that humans can not do without literature.
     In my opinion, I found this video to be very informative as it answers the key questions students truly care about, "Why do we have to know this stuff?" and "When will we ever use this stuff in real life?"  Another reason why I think I have found this video so inspiring is because of the tone of the narrator and the use of modern clips used within the video.  The narrator's tone is a high-pitched feminine voice which gives the audience the sense that the narrator is relatively young.  This age similarity allows an instant relationship to be built between  the narrator and the audience because it is naturally easier for a student to talk to another person their age rather than a more mature person.  Along with this age similarity, the use of modern clips within the video, such as the Geico Commercial, keeps the audiences attention and makes the learning experience more fun and relaxing rather than a strict lecture.  Finally, the use of a relatively common diction allows the audience to be able to understand what the narrator is speaking about in the video.  I feel anyone who is having trouble with literature should see this video because "even when its ugly, literature is beautiful."

"To Be Or Not To Be..." Three Ways

    In Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson, Hamlet is found in the same place his father was buried.  The underground graveyard is a very dark place where Hamlet shows  his true sadness towards his fathers death and goes on to debate suicide.  The darkness of the underground graveyard makes the scene seem more deep and depressing than it seems.  Along with the darkness, the fact that he makes this soliliquoy in the presence of his fathers grave gives the audience the effect of how deeply Hamlet's fathers death has on Hamlet.
   In Lawrence Olivier 's Hamlet, the scene is shot with Hamlet sitting on the edge of a cliff with a knife to himself.  The fact that this scene is shot on the edge of a cliff with a knife makes the shot more intense.  It intesifies the seriousness of his attempt at death as he can both stab himself or hop off the cliff and fall to his death.  Also, the fact that the scene is black and white causes you to pay more attention to the actor and his props rather than the costumes and other distractions.
   In Kenneth Branaugh's Hamlet, Hamlet is seen in the middle of a big room with Ophelia and Polonious and King Claudis watching his actions.  King Claudis and Polonious watch from the other side of the mirror that Hamlet is facing.  This mirror allows the audience to truly understand the concept that Hamlet is fighting with himself over this decision.  Also, having King Claudis and Polonious watch Hamlet gives the scene more shock as you can see their reaction to Hamlet's action.

The Paper Market

In an interview (The Interview) on "On The Media" with Bob Garfield, they brought on Nick Mamatus to discuss Nick's decision to write term papers for other people.  Nick's voice showed general signs of happiness or content, as he seemed to be laughing or joking through several parts of the interview, and he also seemed to be very relaxed and laid back on the microphone, showing signs of comfort.  Along with this seemingly happy voice, he had a tone that showed he didn't regret writing other people's papers, although he does agree it is "repulsive, sleazy, and unethical,", and in no way feels at fault or bad about doing it.  Finally, Nick's diction makes it seem as though he thinks he is better than everyone else, as he uses words like: "dumb clients," and "horrible horrible horrible words."  All of these factors, along with the help of Bob Garfield, make Nick seem like an arrogant cheater.

 Nick Mamatus is a bad person for writing other people's term papers.  Before I heard this interview, I had no feelings of loath towards him, but because of his choice of medium, I now dislike Nick for writing others' term papers.  Nick Mamatus made a wrong decision when he decided to do this interview.  The reason I didn't feel any disdain towards Nick before the interview is because before the interview, I read "The Term Paper Artist."  Writing is a good choice of medium for him because it only allows the audience to see one side of the story or whatever the author decides to write about and there is no outside opinion.  The reason doing the interview was a bad decision for Nick is because in an interview, an outside opinion can be brought in and this outside opinion can easily affect the audience.  In the case of Nick Mamatus, the outside opinion was that of Bob Garfield who in a general sense doesn't seem to approve of Nick's decision and showcases it to the audience, causing them to feel the same way towards Nick.  Another choice of medium, which could have been just as bad, if not worse for Nick, could have been a podcast.  The problem with podcasts are they have the same issues as an interview, in the extent that an outside opinion can be brought in, but it also can show the audience the person's dress which can affect the audiences opinion and it shows the involved parties body language which can show signs of doubt, causing the audience to lose hope/faith in that member, or signs of security, causing a positive gesture for that member.  The reason showing a person's dress can cause an issue is it can either become a distraction to the audience or it can be a non-factor.

In conclusion, doing an interview was a bad decision for Nick Mamatus. His tone, voice, and diction made him seem to be very arrogant, sleazy, and unpleasant.  These factors, in combination with the opinion of Bob Garfield, make Nick's decision to write others' papers appear to be wrong.  He should have stayed with just writing his own article, where only his opinion can be heard, and left it at that.

"The Term Paper Artist"

Nick Mamatus's "The Term Paper Artist" is an article discussing how a man turns his love of writting into a profitable business by writing other student's term papers.  Nick Mamatus starts the article by stating his passion for writing, "I always wanted to be writer, but was told from an early age that such a dream was futile. After all, nobody ever puts a classified ad in the paper that reads “Writers Wanted.” Then, in the Village Voice, I saw just such an ad. Writers wanted, to write short pieces on business, economics, and literature. It was from a term paper mill, and they ran the ad at the beginning of each semester."  He then goes on to speak about the "term paper biz" and the different types of people he generally helps.
Nick hits a key part of the article when he goes to describe how he writes the term papers for others.  He says, "[His friends] generally made the same fundamental error — they tried to write term papers. In the paper mill biz, the paper isn't important. The deadline, page count, and number of sources are."  This is a key portion of the article as it also gives insight on what college life is about, getting the right number of pages and sources rather than content.  Nick Mamatus finishes the article explaining his feelings on writing other's papers saying he doesn't feel too bad about what he did.

This article displays the growing trend in America, the trend that people are becoming more lazy and more greedy.  This trend can be seen in nearly all aspects of the American culture from the number of obese people, the "unnecessary" advances in technology, and now paying others to do work that isn't theirs.  This trend is having a "snow-ball" affect as it's starting to become more accepted by the majority of people, and this is what's causing the snow ball affect because it is becoming more accepted by the community that others don't feel as out of place by becoming lazy than they may have felt twenty years ago.  The same applies to the greedy aspect except it can be said that money has truly become the central focus of America and its society.  It's almost sad to see that it's gotten to the point that someone would would be willing to do someone else's work for money.  These two trends show how our society has changed over the years in a negative way.

It can also be said that this article is a testament to the educational level and value of students.  The simple fact that someone would have to pay for someone else to do their work is mind-blowing, it shows the laziness in the student, but you can also debate that the reason the student is paying for the paper to be written for them is because they don't know how to write a paper properly.  Nick Mamatus explains the types of students he deals with saying, "In broad strokes, there are three types of term paper clients. DUMB CLIENTS predominately... the second type of client is the one-timer.... [and] the third group is perhaps the most tragic: They are well-educated professionals who simply lack English-language skills."  He goes on to explain how the "dumb clients" are the ones usually seek his help and describes them as "They must buy model papers simply because they do not understand what a term paper is, much less anything going on in their assignments. I don't believe that most of them even handed the papers in as their own, as it would have been obvious that they didn't write them. Frequently I was asked to underline the thesis statement because locating it otherwise would have been too difficult. But that sort of thing was just average for the bottom of the barrel student-client."  One reason may be, as Mr. Carty and Nick Mamatus say, "It's because students have never read term papers."  So naturally, they don't know how to approach or how to write a term paper.

Whether or not it was intentional or unintentional, this article reflects on major issues in America today: the laziness and greed of people, and the average level of educational at  a standard college.  Whether it's the student's fault, the teacher's fault, or society's fault, it is apparent that America is not as flawless as it tries to portray itself.  Obviously, not everyone in America is lazy as the writer shows, "Finally, she explained to me the family philosophy — 'Since our family places great emphasis on education, [boy] fully accepts that the only guarantee for a good and stable future can be only achieved through outstanding education,'" but a vast majority are, and it only shows how America has changed over the years, in quite possibly a negative way.