Four Blogs Chosen

Blog Number 5.
Blog Number 6.
Blog Number 7.
Blog Number 9.

Blog # 12 - Bromantic Comedy and Grazian's Article

"The Girl Hunt" and The Hangover had many similarities in male bonding, as Grazian calls it: a "homosocial group interaction" (324).  Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug's mission for a night they will never forget was literally a night they couldn't even remember.  They followed the steps of the myth David Grazian mentions, the first step being preparing for the girl hunt. They participated in a "collective ritual known among American college students as 'pregaming'" (Grazian, 326).  Before walking into the clubs, all four men gathered and made a toast on the hotel roof.  This is one of the many ways men get ready before going out.  It's a confidence booster, which means they'll be walking into the club feeling better than ever.  As a freshman said "pregaming consists of drinking...you don't have to purchase as many drinks while you are to feel the desired buzz" (Grazian, 326).  

This is not just males bonding but also a way of proving their masculinity.  In "The Girl Hunt," Grazian says "...masculinity is not innate but an accomplishment of human behavior that appears natural" (320).  Acting manly is just another factor that is included in this girl hunting process. It is also part of the male bonding.  This is something that Phil, Stu, and Alan from The Hangover did after their crazy night, when they were trying to find Doug.  

Grazian, David. "The Girl Hunt: Urban Nightlife and the Performance of Masculinity as a Collective Activity." Men's Lives. 8th ed. Ed. Michael S. Kimmel and Michael A. Messner. New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2010.  320-337. Print.

The Hangover. Dir. Todd Philips. Perf. Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha. Warner Bros Pictures, 2009. DVD.

Course Reflections

One assignment that I enjoyed was recording ourselves reading our first research paper.  At first I wasn't happy when the assignment was given to us, but as I started to do the assignment I ended up liking it just because it was an assignment that has never been given to me. It was a different experience and it was also interesting watching my classmates' videos as well.  Something I learned from this assignment was that it is always important to read your essays or any other paper out loud.  While I was reading out loud, I immediately noticed some errors; some that were not caught while I was just reading them silently.

An assignment that I didn't enjoy was doing an outline for our research paper.  Whenever I begin a paper, I don't take the steps that were done in this course.  Although it is quite helpful for others, when I started typing my paper, I didn't even look at the outline.  Knowing what my sources were about and what my thesis was, I just began my paper by referring to my sources and my annotated bibliography.

Blogger was very useful in this class. It didn't just make a connection with the student and the professor but it also made connections with other classmates, making it easier to communicate with them. All important documents were posted which also made it easier to refer to them, such as the syllabus.  It also made the class eco-friendly, since most documents were shared online.

I believe the assignments that were given were balanced, not too much of one thing. There were assignments that were connected to the movies that were watched and the readings.  There were different things being done and I don't think there could have been any other additional or kinds of assignments that may have been given