Welcome!

Welcome to our Eng 100 Blog “Conversations Beyond the Classroom”! The title of this blog refers to the community of active readers & collaborative learners we are creating by sharing our academic writing for Eng 100 with each other + a larger group of students, instructors, academics, and just about anybody who chooses to follow our blog! When you write and post your reader responses here (and, later, as you write your essays for the course), I encourage you to use this audience to conceptualize who you are writing for and, most important, how to communicate your ideas so that this group of academic readers and writers can easily follow your line of thinking. Think about it this way: What do you need to explain and articulate in order for the other bloggers to understand your response to the essays we’ve read in class? What does your audience need to know about those essays and the authors who wrote them? And how can you show your readers, in writing, which ideas you add to these “conversations” that take place in the texts we study?

As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! We encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).

Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!

--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100



Thursday, September 30, 2010

AT&T "Rethink Possible"



The commercial starts out from the view point of a window, with several toy figurines resting on the sill. As the camera moves out into the real world, little kids drawings are throughout the city(fish bounding down the streets, rocket ships flying out the back of a truck, etc.). The fun ends when the business man sitting on a bench comes into the scene. There he sits, reminiscing his childhood through the AT&T phone, most happy.
Entering the city, the song "Pure Imagination" begins to play, automatically setting the tone. The narrator takes you back, "Remember when you were 5, and anything was possible?" "Happy 5th birthday again." As a culture, many of us recognize "Pure Imagination" as a classic song from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. The movie itself is full of fantasy and unbelievable sights. The song is whimsical and begins to transport us.
With the music setting the tone, the visuals of the actual children drawings bring the fantasy to life. The drawings are not just cartoons, it seems they are actual simple drawings that have been created. Suggesting, our own childhood drawings or imaginations are coming true. Childhood is a state of innocence, a state of imagination. To a child, there are no limitations, their imagination is their escape from reality. As a society, we forget this innocence. Even when we are younger, many of us are focused on wanting the privileges or responsibilities of being an adult. In a way, we are growing up too fast. We become immensely involved in our busy, every day lives. We lose our imaginations, slowly but surely somewhere along the way. As we enter adulthood, many responsibilities and pressures are laid upon us. Many people become constantly fixated on what is going to happen in the future, worrying about where they will be tomorrow. It becomes more difficult to engage our imaginations, and to enjoy the present moment. Children are a great example for our society. To children, the sky is the limit. They are able to feel invincible in a sense. Children can be in the present moment, and enjoy every minute of it. The smallest things bring a smile to a child's face. By being in the present moment, worries float away. One can think clearly, and be content with themselves and the world around them. Allowing ourselves to be in touch with the "kid" in us once again, the possibilities are endless.

2 comments:

  1. The music in this commecial makes the mood. It feels as if everything is possible, and it gives that feeling of beeing a kid again.

    This commerical is hoping that people will surrender to buying an AT&T phone. With the hopes of feeling young again, and "everything is possible."

    Zach VanderHaak
    Alisha Johnson

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  2. The musical component in this commercial helps us to read that if this AT&T phone is possible, anything may be possible, the same way anything was possible when we were 5 years old.

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