mikehogendorn

Hey, I’m back! I’m sure you all missed me after taking a week off from writing a blog.  But don’t you worry this post will be better than ever! (Okay not really).  The break was approximately ten days, but it honestly felt like maybe three.  I thought college was going by quick, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a set of ten days go faster.   I had a decent amount of schoolwork so obviously did it all once I got home.  Actually not really, I definitely do not have the enough will power for that.   In all seriousness, I did all my work due Monday on Sunday after I arrived back to James Madison University. Go Dukes! Anyway, sorry I got sidetracked, the break was actually very relaxing.  After saying high to my parents I immediately went to see my friends who had already gotten home.  It was exciting to see everyone who was home, although a large majority of my friends do not get home until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  The first whole day I had in New Jersey I got deli, then pizza, then went to a diner at night.  So you can say I did New Jersey correctly.  Tuesday was when the break really flew by as all my friends were home.  It was fun to exchange stories with one another as we all go to different colleges around the nation; from JMU, to Syracuse, to UCLA, to Vanderbilt, to Michigan, to Arizona, etc.  I am not going to list all the colleges that my intimate friends go to, but you get the idea that it’s all across the U.S.A.

This year, my family hosted Thanksgiving which I always love because that means there will be tons of leftovers to have.  Even though I was only home a couple days after Thanksgiving I have a feeling there will still be food leftover for when I get home in mid-December.   It’s crazy that although I was just home, I will be home again in just three weeks.  My friends were planning ideas to do and realized we did not have enough time, but then were happily reminded that we will be home again soon.  Living in Northern New Jersey gives us the luxury to go the NYC whenever we want and that will probably be happening soon.

As I was typing this I realized you probably do not care about half the stuff I wrote about, but maybe that’s just me being paranoid.  Thank you all for reading this far and have a happy day!

Hi! As always thanks for reading my blog.  I usually like to talk about class the previous week or something that I did the week before, but this week I will change it up and write about this upcoming week, Thanksgiving break week.  I think what I am most thankful for is this upcoming break.  You might be in shock that I did not say something cliché like family, but having a break means I will be seeing my family, so don’t you worry, I didn’t forget about them.  This break will be the first time I go home back to New Jersey since I came to college three months ago.  Although I love JMU, I am eager to return home.  I need a break from the stress of class.  I am also excited to see my family and friends… and pizza, delis, and diners (I know, typical New Jersey, but I can’t help myself).  My brother lives in Western Hollywood or as I like to call it WeHo (No, I didn’t make that up, it’s what the snapchat geotag says).  Since he lives on the other side of the country I do not see him often, although I was lucky enough to go to California this summer so I saw him.  Still though, it has been three and a half months since the last time I saw him, and although he is seven years older than me, we are pretty close.  Unfortunately, my sister will not be coming home this Thanksgiving as she is teaching English in Israel until June.  My parents are lucky enough to visit it her in January, and when I asked if I could come they told me I have to go to school.  Pssh, as if getting an education is actually important, okay mom and dad.  Along with being able to see my family, I am almost just as jubilant to see my friends as well.  I have not seen them in three months either as most of my friends go to colleges in the Midwest and I’m here in Virginia.  It’s weird from my whole friend group of 25 people, no one stayed in-state (New Jersey) for college.  I guess it’s good to branch out and see other environments though.  Well, I’ll get back to you all how my Thanksgiving week was in a couple weeks.  Thanks for reading, and have a great day, bye!

Hello everyone.  I have been reading a few blog posts and I realized that I do not welcome my readers like others, so I apologize.  Also, I would like to thank you guys for taking your time to read this, it means a lot, shout-out to my fans.

Anyway, this past week in writing class we learned how write a rhetorical analysis.  Rhetorical analysis have us read articles and other papers not just for pleasure and entertainment sake, but to also nitpick the mistakes that the author made.  Even the best writers make mistakes, and it is my job on the rhetorical analysis to explain those.  Just because a paper has mistakes does not mean that it is poorly written.  For example, this blog post probably already has a multitude of mistakes, but it is still pretty strong.  As I am writing this I realized I just made a mistake right there by making an assumption.

There are many errors that a paper could have, a lot of these errors are fallacies.  One that we spoke about in class is called an ad hominem.  This is when a person does not attack an argument made by another, but the person attacks the person who made the attack instead.  This is seen often in presidential debates.  I had already known about this fallacy and have actually pointed it out to my friends if they use it.  Yes, it is obnoxious but I win arguments so I do not mind.  For example, one of my friends likes to talk smack about others sports team.  Which is understandable as it is just competitive nature, however there is one aspect to his trash talk that I do not like.  If I were to say something offensive against the sports team of his liking he would not try to use facts and evidence to back up his claim that they are the best.  Instead, he would reply by simply say that the teams I root for are bad.  This may be true, however, this is irrelevant towards whether his sports teams are good or not.

As you can probably tell, this post is written a lot less professional than usual, but I just wanted to try something new.  Let me hear your feedback, is it better this way, or should I go back to my old ways? Again, thanks for reading and have a happy day!

I know I did not write about writing class last week, but I cannot help but write about Halloween for this week’s blog.   The weekend of Halloween also known as “Halloweekend” was so much fun, and definitely one of my most fun weekends here at James Madison University.  Coming into the weekend I had high expectations for it to be fun because many people were telling me that JMU has the most fun Halloween in Virginia.  Honestly though, I was apprehensive that Halloweekend would be a letdown; I thought it would be like every other weekend except people would be wearing different clothes.  Once I arrived to my destined party on Friday though, I was very wrong.  There was definitely more people this past weekend than any other because apparently college students all across the state of Virginia comes to JMU for Halloween.  On Saturday I went to a party with a different vibe than the previous one yet I still had so much fun.

The amount of fun that I had this weekend got me thinking, do I enjoy Halloween more now with the party scene or when I was elementary school while trick or treating?  I definitely love both, but when was I happier?  As I thought about it I came to the conclusion that I honestly believe I enjoyed trick or treating more as a young child.  There was no better feeling than when I stepped up to a door and when the home owner comes out with the bowl of candy, my favorite candy was not only there, but it was king-sized!  When children are so young they have no worries in the world.  The only thought on my mind was how much candy I would get that night.  Also when I was younger, my favorite part was going to my family friend’s house.  It was not even close to being just an ordinary house on Halloween with just a pumpkin by the front door and “spider-web” on the bush.  My family friend made his own decorations that could have been manually controlled, so when someone approaches something you can move it.  It was always exciting to see what new thing there will be every year, but it was even more excited to be the one to monitor the controls.  I would get great joy to flip a switch and scare someone (although thinking back on it, I feel like most people weren’t frightened).  No matter the age, all people can have a love for Halloween either if your trick or treating, partying, or taking your kids around to trick or treat.

This week in writing class we peer edited each other’s film analysis, but I have already written about peer editing, so this week’s blog will be a bit unorthodox and will be about this weekend at James Madison University.  For the first time in school history, College Gameday came.  On Thursday the College Gameday bus came, and JMU essentially had a parade for the bus.  I read an article made by a fourth year student who attends the University of Alabama.  The article stated that since College Gameday comes every year, whenever they do come, it is not jubilant since everyone is used to it.  When the bus first comes to Alabama apparently none of the students seem to care.  As my friends stated along with the College Gameday crew, it is a nice change of pace to go to not big football schools that they always go to because the crowd are extra excited for something new.  On Friday, College Football Live was hosted here in Harrisonburg and so many students showed up for that.  One of the football announcers said that our attendance and rowdiness on Friday was similar to how most schools are on the actual College Gameday on Saturdays.  We set the bar high for ourselves as a school for College Gameday, and I believe that we actually exceeded expectations.  The crowd was crazy and I was lucky enough to get into the pit although I did not even sleep on the quad.  Although we entered the pit late, my friends and I were determined to make it to the front.  Fortunately, we eventually made our way through and got to the front of the pit and it could not have been more exciting.  I noticed that I was on camera in the background for a good portion of the last hour of the show.  Also, we made a big sign and that was able to be seen from television.  College Gameday was great not only because it was a once in a lifetime experience, but also because it was a nice change up from my friends and I usually weekend of just going out a night.  This weekend we went to bed relatively early on Friday so we could wake up early to be ready for College Gameday.  I enjoy having a routine, but changing it up once in a while is always nice.

The past week, I watched Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance with an analytical eye.  For as long as I can remember, this is the first time I viewed a movie while analyzing, and not just for entertainment purposes.  For my writing class, I have to write a film analysis.  I believe that the hardest part about the film analysis was simply thinking what to write about.  This film has a lot of motifs and symbolism and it was difficult to decide what to talk about.  The uses so many symbols that represent something apart of the bigger picture.  For example, I noticed that the color blue was not just simply the color blue.  It seemed as if the color blue was to show that the seen was just an imagination, and was not real.  Analyzing a film makes the experiencing of watching a film even more intriguing.  Every little quote that was said, I started to overthink of what that quotation means and how does it have an impact on the movie.  I question if it will foreshadow the rest of the movie? There were many quotations that related to one of the main messages that the movie was trying to make.  There were pinnacle moments that did not seem all that important to me the first time I viewed the film, but when I saw it a second time I would think to myself, “Wow! How did that part of the movie go right past me as being so significant?”

Another challenging part about deciding what to right about was not just what symbols I would use, but what I think the central message of the film was.  Quite frankly, in the movie Birdman I believe that there were many messages that were trying to be told throughout the film.   So many themes were brought up during the movie, but after long thinking I was able to come up what the main purpose of the movie was.  I believe Birdman was successful in supporting this theme and the academy did as well as Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance won four Oscars; Best Picture, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Writing, and Best Achievement in Cinematography. Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2562232/awards

The Incredibles uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the movie by great directing.  It is the little things in the movie that can tell a lot about that mood in the movie.  Symbols can even foreshadow what will happen in the movie.  Even in an animated film, the camera turning can mean that a major turning point in the movie may be happening.  For example, the camera panned in the scene in which Mr. Incredible and Frozone were being watched by an agent that works for the antagonist in the movie.  The colors have a large impact on the movie as well.  In the beginning, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl were wearing different colored uniforms.  After they married when they fought, their superhero suits were identical, along with the whole family which was to show that they were united.  Using even more detail, the color of all of their suits were red.  Red is the color that symbolizes love, so the red suits show that they are a united family which love are close with one another.   Setting also made an impact on the movie.  Before showing the family in their home there is an aerial shot followed by an establishing shot of the town that they are living in.  The viewer can easily tell that it appears to be a standard suburb, and all of the houses looked very similar to one another.  This was to show that the family were trying to fit in and be like an average family.   As I stated in my previous blog post, the characters can be characterized by many symbols such as their appearance, name, and powers.  It is very interesting to be able to notice the little symbols in the movie that greatly shape the tone and plot of the movie.  A movie can be watched while being naïve to these symbols, but a viewer would not get the full experience without it.

The first time I saw The Incredibles was actually just last year in psychology class, so I did not only watch it for entertainment purposes, but mainly to analyze.  Now, in my writing class I am watching The Incredibles as well with an analytical eye yet again.  I noticed that this movie uses a lot of symbolism to describe the characters.  Their powers and even their names symbolize who they are.  I will start out with the main protagonist, Mr. Incredible or Bob.   Mr. Incredible’s power is super strength.  This has a metaphorical aspect to it as he has a job and has to be strong to support his family.   He’s named Mr. Incredible, well, because he’s incredible.  But when he stopped being a superhero he was known as Bob.  This is to show that he was just trying to fit in, so he chose a very plain, typical name.  Next is Elastigirl also known as Helen.  Elastigirl super power is that she can make her body stretch.  This is related to how she has to be able to make all three of her children.  She has to be flexible to help the family.  Similar to Mr. Incredible, she is called Helen, a typical name when she is in society.  Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl’s oldest child is Violet.  Violet’s super powers are that she can turn invisible and also she can make force fields.  These both relate to her character as she is an excessive introvert.   She likes to hide from people and block them out.  Violet may relate to ultraviolet light which cannot be seen.  One of Violet’s younger brothers is Dash.  As his name implies, Dash’s super power is super speed.  This relates to him and many other young boys.  They are very spontaneous and hyper.  Dash is exactly that as he likes to run a lot.   The last character I have yet to mention is the baby in the family, Jack-Jack.  Jack-Jack’s main super power is that he can shapeshift.  Jack-Jack is just a baby, so he cannot fully voluntarily make his own decisions.  This relates to his shapeshifting as it seemed that it was uncontrollable and he shifted his shape purely based off emotions just like how all babies act.

This last Tuesday in writing class students peer-reviewed each other’s personal narratives.  The personal narrative was supposed to be about how a fairy tale or fairy tales have impacted your life.  As I spoke to people about what they wrote about I found it very interesting that everyone wrote about something different.  People did not just write about a different tale but also a different personal experience.  For example, one of my classmates wrote about a birthday party he went to when he was a young child while I wrote about a relationship I had junior year of high school.  His story was about Toy Story and I related my narrative to Ratatouille.   I just find it very interesting that everyone has their own past and own story that represents and stands out to them.

I am usually not very fond when I have to write (ironic that I am writing now), but I actually did not despise writing the personal narrative.  I find it easier to write personal narrative rather than informative essays.  I do not write about myself often, but having to do so on the occasion can be interesting.  Having to relate to a fairy tale was also interesting, as it made me think outside the box as I metaphorically related my pursuit for something as in Remy from the Ratatouille.   Most of my friends did not enjoy writing their college essays but I did not mind as I had to intellectually write about a time in my life.  It allowed me to show who I am and where I come from.  So am I huge fan of writing? No.  But as long as I can choose what I write, it can be enjoyable.

I cannot believe week four of classes is underway! Anyway, last week in writing class we watched how previews really set the tone of movies.  We watched fan-made previews for movies with the most innocent plot that can be thought of, and turned the preview into a horror movie.  It is really interesting that the creators of these fake previews just simply took clips of the movie and made it seem completely different than how it actually is.  It made me think of movie previews that I had watched which gave me a different perception how a movie is compared to actuality.  This is shown a lot in comedic movies in which the preview has all of the best jokes, then when I go to see the actual movie I’m very disappointed because there are not many funny jokes, and the ones that are funny are already spoiled.  However, I am sometimes pleasantly surprised by films in which I thought I would not be interested in after seeing the preview.  For example, I saw the preview for Birdman and it seemed like it was unorganized and too “jumpy”.  In actuality, I thought it was an amazing film and is one of the best directed films that I have ever seen.  It is a bit unorthodox compared to most movies, but it is pulled off really well.  Also, there are some comedy movies which do not look funny in previews but that is because all of the funny scenes are too inappropriate to be shown on national television commercials.   Similar to as the old saying goes, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, also to some extent, don’t judge a movie by its preview.