I'm an American. Who am I?

When a child is born it is free. According to Sigmund Freud they are in what he referred to as being in an Id state, in which their primal urges rules. They have not been socialized yet. Yet very quickly the child learns their existence depends on the mother, so behavior develops to get needs met. The child starts to develop an Ego, which according to Freud is the social aspect, to communicate in such a way that it surpasses some of they Id urges, again in order to survive. Once the child gets these needs met by the mother, it is time to branch out to others, where it be a father, sibling, friends, employers and the world. The child's identity now develops, according to Freud, a SuperEgo. Who am I? What are my morals and values? What is my status in the world? And of course if any of these needs are not met at any of these critical points in development it effects the child's self-esteem. 

Now, what if I told you America was once a child born July 4th 1776. And the growth of our country has evolved in the same way, trying to get it's need met, but by who? Who was our mother? England? We had not mother. (Perhaps the statue of Liberty has more significance than we realize.) So how do we survive? We become pioneers. We invent. We create. We work hard. And in that we create our own identity. But while the center of our American ideology revolves a maverick, free spirit, a risk taker...some American's are afraid. They feel abandoned by the mother, and frankly emotionally freaked out! They then are ruled by the "Uncertainly Principle", where patriarchy, or the father come in to save the day! (It is no wonder American's love superheroes!) This patriarchal influence brings with it some very interesting American ideology: bravery, competitiveness, capitalism, detachment, existentialism and superficiality. Suddenly, America, the child has someone to look up to, some guidance and someone to trust, e.g., Mr. President or in God we trust. Yet we have to survive, so due to the lack of trust in out mother and the absence nurturing these qualities need to be adapted into out identity to survive. Or do they? What if we were raised by a loving mother, and this patriarchal ideology conflicts with our own, perhaps more humanistic point of view? And then what about the Id, which wants to kill the father, and marry the mother, according to Freud's interpretation in the Oedipus Complex.  How can America have it's own identity, when it's own identity conflicts with reality, survival and itself? It is no wonder that American's question their own identity. 

In the 50's the American dream was to live in the suburbs, own a house, have a wife and 2 kids, and drive a shiny new car. This was the idea of success and both men and women wanted this. But the reality of this dream turned out to be dismal: bank debts, owing money, heavy drinking, smoking addiction  and suicide. Desperation replaced the depression and daily life turned into a rat race. Making more money seemed to be the only answer, so capitalism created a way out of the hole. The problem is a patriarchal cycle, can never replace the need of a mother. American's will always remain discontent, needy and unfulfilled, unless they realize they can become the pioneer mother and nurture themselves.

The American Dream Meets Reality:19th Century to Post Modernism

Being an American centers on the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness. How this would be accomplished is a different story. In the 19th Century, the Industrial Revolution took hold and America's image of life was based on realism. A life  once ruled by European  aristocracy, religion, myth and folklore, now was run by commerce, industry, urban growth and the rising middle class. America's formal realism and the narrative story of how life should exist in America, now clashes with American social realism, which now brings up poverty, class distinction, crime and everyday difficulty of life. This was not the America people had imagined. Entering the end of the 20th century to the early 20th Century, WWI began and capitalism became America's identity. Urbanization joined industry and out of this came fragmentation, formalization, heightened subjectivity and alienation for the American people. That is American's priorities and values changed. Of course, this was all in their eyes to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, over the years it became increasingly difficult to be happy when their were no jobs, no way to move up the ladder and no middle class. The Depression proved to be a huge blow to America's pride as a country and brought social inequality to an all time high. What we needed was a war to bring American's together, and so when WWII started a Post-Modern American identity was created. The war gave people pride in America again, creating jobs, purpose and structure. The rejection of elitism, and comparison between worlds lead to embracing multiculturalism, immigration and the desire to bond with other countries by creating a global economy. Again, how this was going to be done was another question. The main question still remains though: How do we pursue the American dream of financial security without creating social injustice? If we examine America's past, we can learn from our mistakes. If we visualize America in the future, we will create a better world. But if we acknowledging American life today, we will find the solution from the generation who is most affected by it; today's youth.

To Use Google Slides? That is the Question.

So now it's time to review Google Slides. Not much to say in the realm of what they offer creatively. GS is limited in the color options and font styles. 80 colors, 22 fonts. Yes, you can bold, italicize and underline, but it feels like using an electric typewriter, rather than a computer. Their templates are stiff and unimpressive. Their artistic tools pragmatic. Yet Google Slides may be the perfect tool for high schoolers just learning to do presentations! Easy to use, and allows immediate access to classmates, Google Slides' simplicity might be just what they need to gain confidence in this area. Take, for example, a student with limited creative experience. Slides will not overwhelm the student with too many choices. For the more experienced teen, GS will allow immediate input on projects, increasing participation and socialization... It's like a PacMan Game. Sure it's simple... not as complicated as say, Mind Craft, but still fun to play! If students have had experience using presenting projects in the past, you might consider another format, like Prezi or Powerpoint, but if your main goal is to have students learn to work together, Google Slides is ideal. 

Welcome to the Digital World

If I did not have 2 kids who use internet on a daily basis, I would probably be totally intimidated by the digital world. It is amazing to me that even Kindergarteners can navigate around a computer, while I myself struggle to relearn even the basic skills.  But today it is sooooo essential to understand and embrace digital media to be current. When I went middle school and high school in the 70s, typewriters, pagers, CB radios, landline telephones, television with 13 channels and the radio were as high tech as it came. You had to wait for someone to get off the phone to use it, you had to watch a TV show when it aired because you couldn't tape it, and you had to retype your entire 15 page essay over if you made a mistake, like a spelling error. Just by these examples you can see how the world can pass you by today if you do not stay current. So what does the older generation need to do to keep up? Admit we don't know, and ask. It may sound easy, but not so for those with an ego, those who resist change, or those who are easily confused. This is why I am grateful to be in college now as an older student. Learning at an older age requires you to let go of old learning styles and embrace the new. I now understand that how we communicate affects my generation even more than the content we pursue, because if we don't reach out to learn the universal mode of connecting, we run th risk of isolating ourselves from the younger generation. Therefore, I will continue to be on the look out and open to learning the latest apps, software and digital devices, because I know that by the time I finish writing this passage, there will be yet another form of communication created that I will need to be ready to use!

The Magic of Cinema in the Classroom

One of the best things about the digital age is that films may be accessed easily by a classroom. Our last two classes required us to present group projects using film as not only in analysis, and work cited, but also as presentational material to promote class discussion. After years of sharing ideas with other students in the form of verbal book reports, I can tell you that nothing brings a deeper, all inclusive conversation in a class like film. The doors open; visual, auditory, psychological, political, aesthetic, religious and mythological analysis all were revealed instantly, and I believe create a classroom environment rich in connections between all these subjects. When I grew up in the 80s, education like this was not as fluid. Ideas were categorized, separated and more black and white. Today, with technology and film analysis brought into the classroom, we are not only exposed to the content and form, but may also explore how the film became available to us in the first place, and how this affects the world around us. Using films in the classroom gives information, stimulation and teaches us practical presentation skills we can build when we tackle the real world.

Film and Engaging Cinema

Why are so many people fascinated with film? This is what the book Engaging Cinema by Bill Nichols tries to answer. In the chapter "Storytelling and Narrative Fiction Film" we can see how telling a story not just is about beginning, middle and end. Perspective, subliminal messages, manipulating emotions and creating open ending questions for the audience to answer are just some areas this book tackles. In the film Forrest Gump,  the protagonist represents the archetype of the innocent. This is unusual in storytelling because the main character is usually the everyman, but in this film, Forret is an outcast, due to his lower than average I.Q. This film however, does take advantage of the narration aspect, keeping him as a bystander, with life events, history and time passing him. The analysis done on this film during class covered key narrative elements, plot, style and interpretation. But there is so much more to this film on a deeper level. I plan to explore the topics of history, mythology and political influence on this film in our next class. Note: Group work by those presenting this film was enlightening!

POETRY SLAM

Poetry is meant to be read out-loud. At least this is what I discovered during our class last week. As each student read their poem, ideas, opinions and emotions lifted off the page and transcended written word. I never realized how powerful free form poetry can be. Students actually got teary-eyed, angry and heartfelt in their recitations. It was also wonderful to hear so many different style of poetry. Some used elevated vocabulary, some vulgar, some verbose and others trite. Yet, none of it came out of ego. It came out of each writers' soul. It was if we could listen to their heart talking. I believe such openness and vulnerability brought us together as a class. We bonded because all of the experiences that were written about , no matter how personal or unique, were universal to us in emotion. We are all connected as humans. Reading poetry aloud, likes us to our common core: humanity.