Blog 8 - High School is Hell

Since I had not watched the Buffy; The Vampire Slayer series, I was unsure if I was going to be able to understand the High School is Hell excerpt. However, the thesis statement and the supporting paragraphs were very concise, descriptive, and understandable for anyone, whether they've seen the show or not.

The ongoing theme of metaphor's being portrayed as being reality was very interesting. The idea of a metaphor actually being reality does scare me, because so many metaphors portray a situation to be so much worse than the actual problem. Though this theme was the main subject, the part of the article I found the most interesting was when the writer talked about fairytales and their underlying representations for other situations. The reference to the story of Cinderella and Snow White was particularly intriguing. In my mind, these two stories are favorites among so many children. I can see the story of Snow White to be a social struggle, particularly because of the scarier scenes where she runs through the forest to escape death and her evil mother. However, while she was living in the castle with her mother, Snow White was treated like a servant even by her own mother. Also, Cinderella's struggle with her evil stepsisters and mother, who are taking advantage of her and trying to make her life miserable really does show the struggle of people and the societies they live in. In both of these situations, the two girls are put into situations where their own family members, who represent society, are putting them through unnecessary struggles. To think that these childhood favorites are actually poking at the social struggles is a little frightening. Who would want their children to be taught about the horrors of society?

Blog 7 - Star Trek Episode 1: The Cage

As a big fan of the Star Trek movie released in 2009, I decided to start watching the actual Star Trek Series. "The Cage" is the first pilot episode. The episode takes the crew of the Enterprise ship to a planet where a highly developed and intelligent species exists. This species is capable of creating illusions with their minds and can force these illusions onto others as well. Captain Pike is taken captive for experiments with another human girl that has been been held by the intelligent beings of the planet. Captain Pike is aware of the intelligent beings' illusion powers, and is determined to overcome the illusions and return to his ship and crew.


At the beginning of the episode, the doctor tells Captain Pike that he needs to tell him what he's feeling and gives the captain a drink, stating that a there are some things that people will tell a bartender, but not a doctor. However, both a doctor and bartender deal with the same type of customers: the living and the dying. I found this dialog particularly interesting because the statement is so simple, yet so true. The doctor receives clients that are living and dying physically, while a bartender deals with clients who are emotionally ill. 


Shortly after, Captain Pike admits that he would like to return to his home and go back to an easier lifestyle, and that he is "tired of being responsible for 203 lives, and...tired of deciding which mission is too risky and which isn't, and who's going on the landing party and who doesn't... and who lives... and who dies. "  With great power and position, comes great responsibility. In the end, Captain Pike comes to realize that his responsibility for so many lives is really a great honor, not a great hindrance. 


I really enjoyed watching this episode.  Theres so much more I'd like to say, but I'll leave that for future blogs.

Blog 6 - Firefly Discussion

Today's class consisted of deeper discussion about "The Train Job" episode. While ideas were being tossed around, I decided to focus on the scenes where it seems that karma plays a role in. There are two particular scenes that I concentrated on: The scene where Mal decides to take Niska's job offer and when Mal returns the medicine to the sheriff. In these two instances, Mal's actions result in relative results.


Mal decides to take Niska's job offer to steal the two crates of unknown valuables. Mal's intention to steal is not entirely out of greed, since he needs this money to help out his crew members and ship. Despite his not-so tainted intentions, his actions are still unjustified by law and to some extent, by morale. As a result, the plan steal the cargo backfires, and Mal puts him and his crew in danger of being caught up in legal trouble.


On the other hand, when Mal decides to return the medicine, his good deeds are rewarded; He is not punished for his previous crime and the sheriff indirectly thanks him. Also, Mal's decision to give back Niska's money to the henchmen that had been paid to them prior to the completion of the job, also has a consequence. The decision to rightfully return the money to honor their name and reputation resulted in Niska's henchmen (at least the 2nd one) in leaving the ship and crew alone (with the help of some persuasion by killing Crow). I predict that, as a result if taking Crow's life, Niska will be back in a future episode. Karma has come into play multiple times throughout this episode. Though it may seem silly to admit to a spiritual existence that controls what happens in the future, I think many will agree that every action has its consequence, and that good deeds will lead to good things.

Blog 1 - Greetings!

To get all formalities out of the way, my name is Grace Chen. I'm an electrical engineering student here at OSU and I'm in my second year. I live in Calabasas, CA right now, but was born in Akron, Ohio and then moved to Iowa City, IA when I was 2.  I just joined this class so my first few blogs might be a little jumbled up in order at the moment.


As from my blogger URL, you can probably see that I was trying to be "punny" clever with the name....GRACE's kitCHEN is what I was going for, though I don't think it showed up that way on the actual URL, which is really too bad. My URL name reveals my love for puns and anything food related. Food is my life. Cook it, eat it, watch it on TV, any activity with food and you've instantly sparked my interest.


Being an engineering student, I guess I'd consider myself a nerd. I love almost anything science related, which makes this class subject really exciting for me. My love for math and science put aside, I also love art, music, food, culture, traditions, anything Disney related and most importantly, elephants! Yes, my lifelong dream as of now is to go to Thailand and ride an elephant. I really am an avid Disney fan, especially all of the old VHS movies as well as the new Disney Pixar movies. To get onto the topic of music, I've played violin since I've been 6, and I'm a die-hard Taylor Swift fan, along with the millions of other girls that probably gave me a mental thumbs upon reading that :). I also love Michael Buble, Marianas Trench, QUEEN, The Eagles, Owl City, Jack Johnson...you name it! I really do have an appreciation for the oldies, thanks to the old cassettes and record player my parents had while I was a kid. My love for music probably stems from my love of singing. Not a single day goes by without me singing along to something.


Well I don't want to reveal too much about me. I'll leave the lingering questions you have, if any, for asking me personally. I'd really love to get to know you all!

Blog 2 - The Train Job

After watching this episode, each character’s significance became a little bit clearer. At the same time, I feel that “The Train Job” revealed some hints about what will happen in future episodes, particularly to the doctor’s sister. At the beginning of the episode, when the doctor and his sister are on the ship, you see a few scenes of needles blood and other flashes of memories that come from River’s memory. Her mental instability, causing her to constantly switch back and forth from sanity to insanity is very peculiar. I imagine that her mumbling and nonsensical comments are not just nonsense. Throughout the plot, there are many short scenes of River huddled on the ground mumbling something about something coming after them two by two. I believe her mental instability is not insanity, but rather a warning. These short yet significant scenes will, I think, play a big role in the future episodes for Firefly. These scenes, I believe, will later reveal that her insane nonsense mumbles are actually warnings of events to come. Also, in the very last scene where there are two men looking for someone and then revealing a picture of River, is very telling. This last scene justifies the thoughts I had in the early stages of the episode; that River’s mental instability was not purely insanity. If these important people have such an interest in her, despite the fact that she is not in a mentally healthy state, must imply that there is more to her than what the others on the ship see: that she is only insane.