Blog Assignment #7

For this blog post, I read the Wikipedia article, “Antiqua–Fraktur dispute.”   This article talks about the debate in Germany about what form of writing to teach and use.  “Antiqua” is a simpler Latin script, while “Fraktur” is more ornate and has a more Gothic look to it.  According to the article, Antiqua typefaces displaced Fraktur ones throughout Europe in the 15^th and 16^th centuries; however, the Fraktur typeface remained in use in Germany until the mid-20^th century.  For a while, each typeface was used for different things.  Fraktur was used for texts written in German, including German words in German-English dictionaries, while Antiqua was used for texts in other languages, such as Latin or English.  After the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806, the German people started to try to define German culture by defining cultural values, collecting and recording German literature (such as Grimm’s Fairytales), and, yes, figuring out which script to write with.  Fraktur was seen as more “German,” while Antiqua was seen as “shallow,” “light,” and “not serious.”  Otto von Bismark, the first chancellor of Germany, favored Fraktur and would return gifts of texts printed in Antiqua typefaces.

In the 20^th century, the debate continued, with some of the arguments in favor of Fraktur being that it’s easier to read Germanic languages with, it’s “healthier for the eyes,” the popularity and usage of Latin scripts (like Antiqua) wouldn’t last, and that using Latin scripts would encourage the adoption of foreign words into the German language.  Unfortunately, the article doesn’t really go into the arguments in favor of Antiqua.  In 1911, the Reichstag (German parliament) voted on whether to make Antiqua the official typeface and stop teaching Kurrent (German cursive) in schools.  The motion was rejected with a narrow margin of only 3 votes. 

During the Nazi’s rule, Fraktur typefaces gained popularity, as they were promoted by the Nazis as being more German, while Antiqua typefaces were accused of being part of “Jewish influence.”  However, in 1941, Fraktur was banned and also accused of being Jewish.  One reason for the change might be that Antiqua was easier for the people in the areas that the Germans were conquering to read, as Fraktur hadn’t been used much outside of Germany in a few hundred years.  Another reason might be that Adolf Hitler simply didn’t like Fraktur and preferred Antiqua.  With this change came changes to which forms of writing were taught in schools.

After World War II, Sütterlin script was reintroduced to schools, but it didn’t last very long.  Fraktur scripts soon fell from use in Germany, and today, very few people are familiar with them.  This makes it difficult for all but the oldest Germans to read older documents and diaries.

The Antiqua-Fraktur dispute probably has its own Wikipedia page because it’s a relatively important part of German history.  Wikipedia seems to have pages on most historical events, so there’s no reason that it shouldn’t have a page on this one.

Information about the Antiqua-Fraktur dispute is available outside the Wikipedia article.  A quick Google search brings up 4,060 results, including a Reddit thread.  I would assume that it’s easier to find information about the dispute in German than it is to find it in English because it’s a part of German history.  Therefore, there are probably more German people researching and writing about the topic, and most, if not all, of those people are probably writing about it in German.

I definitely learned a lot from this article.  Prior to reading it, I was completely unfamiliar with German writing systems.  It’s easy to forget that not everyone who uses the Latin alphabet uses the same writing system.  However, I wish that the article had been more thorough and had gone more in-depth about of things, like whether Sütterlin and Kurrent scripts are Fraktur or Antiqua (I think they’re Fraktur, but neither this article nor the articles on either scripts explicitly said so) and why anybody wanted to switch to Antiqua typefaces in the first place.

I think that the information in this article is really useful and relevant to the current debate about whether to continue teaching cursive in American schools.  One of the biggest arguments in favor of teaching cursive is that, like in Germany, if we stop, future generations won’t be able to read past texts.  However, the arguments against teaching cursive don’t have much to do with culture, like the arguments in favor of Fraktur do.  Instead, they have to do with cursive writing losing its relevancy in the digital age and using the time to teach other subjects.  Still, we can learn a lot from Germany’s experiences with different writing systems.

Blog Assignment #6--6/21

I watched an episode of Seinfeld from season nine—“The Dealership.”  The plot of the episode was that Jerry is buying a new car from Elaine’s boyfriend.  George and Kramer come to the dealership with him; Kramer ends up going off to test drive a car with another salesman, while George, grumpy because he hasn’t eaten lunch, tries to hunt down some food.  While Jerry is in the process of buying the car, Elaine breaks up with her boyfriend, so Jerry has to get them back together so he can get a good deal on the car.

The main setting of the episode is the car dealership.  The dealership itself, European International, appears to have been made up for the episode.  However, the cars that they are selling are Saabs, which is a real car brand.  I didn’t really see any emblems on the cars shown in the episode, but one of the dealership’s mechanics had the word “SAAB” written on his uniform, and the name of the car Jerry was buying, the Saab 900, came up often.

Right outside the dealership, before the characters go inside, a York air conditioning system can be seen in the background.  I don’t think it is really product placement—the logo and brand name are not emphasized in any way and are often partially covered up by the characters and cars in front of them.  In addition, the characters don’t talk about or interact with the system at all.

Inside the dealership, there are a number of framed posters depicting high-end cars, such as Kronos and Porsche, with the brand name written in large, stylized text either above or below.  As with the York air conditioning system, these posters are not talked about or interacted with at all, and are often in the background hidden by the characters.  The posters appear to be present in order to enhance the set more than to advertise these cars.  Therefore, I would argue that this is not an example of product placement.

Arby’s is mentioned multiple times throughout the episode, first because Elaine’s boyfriend took her there for lunch (she had the corned beef), and then again at the end of the episode because George is eating a sandwich from there, presumably because they stopped off so he could finally get something to eat.  The logo is never seen; even when George is eating his Arby’s sandwich, no wrapper or bags are visible to the viewer.  I would say that this is an example of product placement.  Even though the logo is never seen and it’s only mentioned about three times, the way it’s talked about serves the same purpose as an advertisement does—it puts the idea of Arby’s in people’s heads.  I could very easily see people who enjoy eating at Arby’s going to Arby’s within the next week or two after seeing this episode.

The most blatant example of product placement in this episode is of Twix.  In George’s quest for food, he finds a vending machine.  When he finally scrounges together enough change (the machine won’t accept the crumpled dollar bill Jerry gave him), he buys a Twix bar.  However, the Twix gets stuck, and then by the time he grabs someone to help him get it out, a mechanic has taken it and the last remaining Twix behind it.  George confronts the mechanic, talks to a manager, and sets up a ridiculous candy bar lineup while trying to get a reimbursement and an apology.  Because Twix plays such a large role in George’s storyline in this episode, it is mentioned by name numerous times, there are close-ups of the wrapper, the viewer sees other characters eating Twix bars (even though without the wrapper they aren’t really recognizable as Twix), and George says twice that “Twix is the only candy bar with the cookie crunch.”  This is definitely product placement because the name Twix is said many, many times, the wrapper is shown, and the candy bar is described.  I would honestly be surprised if Mars didn’t have anything to do with this episode.

During the scenes involving the Twix, a lot of other candy bars are mentioned and shown as well.  When George is getting the Twix from the vending machine, a number of other candies and snacks are visible, including Sunkist pistachios, Snickers, M&Ms, Milk Duds, Snow Caps, and Mike and Ikes.  Later, when George is confronting the mechanic who took his Twix, the mechanic claims he’s eating a Fifth Avenue Bar.  When George talks to the manager about the mechanic stealing his Twix, Hershey, Skittles, Mounds, and Hundred Thousand Dollar/Hundred Grand bars are also mentioned.  I’m not really sure that I would consider these to be product placement.  Each of these candies is only either seen or named, not both.  In addition, the focus of these scenes is still on the Twix.  

Blog Assignment #2--6/7

The article I’m writing about, “Stolen or tossed?  Hospital patient’s rings missing” is found on page News 5 of the June 5, 2016 edition of the Morning Call.  This article is about a patient whose rings disappeared two months ago after she took them off at Lehigh Valley Hospital to get an MRI.  Overall, it was a well-written piece.  However, it is not without bias, as the author of the piece is clearly siding with the patient.  The bias begins with the title itself, which begins with the word “Stolen,” unconsciously priming the reader to assume that a criminal act has been committed.  The word “tossed” right after it gives the sense of negligence.  The article continues in the vein, beginning the article with a narrative version of the events from the patient and her daughter’s points of view, and the fourth sentence reveals that the patient’s daughter blames the hospital.  The article continues this slant throughout. 

Furthermore, the article gives contradicting quotes from the hospital’s spokesperson.  In the first quote, he states that hospital staff should have given the ring to hospital security, and that hospital security was never told anything about the rings.  Later, the article reports that he said that it is the “internal policy” of the hospital to encourage patients to send valuables home, and that “any valuables that remain [at the hospital] are the responsibility of the patient or their designee.”  Further along in the article, the author reports that the hospital’s website has a statement saying they are not responsible for lost personal items.  This leaves the reader unclear as to who was supposed to be responsible for the rings, as well as the hospital’s policy about who is responsible for patients’ valuables.  This confusion also contributes to the bias in the patient’s favor, as it portrays the hospital as unorganized in this area.

At the end of the article, it is stated that the patient’s daughter believes the rings were stolen, while the hospital’s investigating officer believes they were accidentally thrown away.  This is another example of bias because it well known in the journalism industry the majority of people do not read until the end of an article.

The article makes a lot of good points, informs people about what they should do with their valuables when in the hospital, and warns them that there have been incidents where valuables have been lost or stolen.   However, it is heavily biased against the hospital, which is important for readers to be aware of before they form their opinions on the incident.

Blog Assignment #1 Part 2--Reaction to "Shifts and Changes"

I agree with what Professor Massie says about how social media constantly bombards us with shallow, relatively unimportant information, but I disagree with what he says about critical reflection and examination being ghosts that need to be resurrected.  Almost every day, I see posts that deeply examine various pieces of media.  I’ve seen people argue that Dumbledore is far from the hero he is made out to be, and is instead a terrible person who hurt a huge number of people in the name of the greater good.  I’ve seen people argue that the version of Barry Allen on CW’s The Flash has depression and talk about how that explains why he acts the way he does in certain episodes.  Recently, I’ve seen scores of people talking about why the recent revelation that Steve Rogers is a member of HYDRA, an organization very closely associated with the Nazis, is such a slap in the face to the two Jewish men who created him. 

I also see a lot of posts from people critically examining current and past events, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the gay rights movement, the Flint water crisis, and the current state of Detroit’s public schools.  I see posts examining the history leading up to these current issues and criticizing the system that allows these issues to persist. 

I have learned so much more than I would have without social media.  I have learned how other people live.  I have learned how life is different for people in other countries, people living in poverty, people belonging to minority groups, and people with disabilities.  Overall, I have become a much more informed and open-minded person through my experiences on social media.

Sure, there will always be silly videos of cats and stupid quizzes claiming to be able to guess how old you are or where you’re from based on the answers you choose, but if you follow the right people and look in the right places, you can find plenty of the “sublime.”

(This blog post is a reaction to the one that can be found here: ponderingprof.blogspot.com.)

Blog Assignment #1 Part 1--About Me

My name is Allison.  I am 20 years old and will be turning 21 at the beginning of July.  I’m heading into my senior year of college, and I am an elementary education major with a writing minor.  One of my main hobbies is watching television from my parents’ generation, as my dad really likes to relive his childhood by watching the shows he used to watch with my sister and me.  My favorite shows are Hogan’s Heroes and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  I also really enjoy watching superhero shows, like The Flash and Arrow.  Additionally, I really like to crochet (and, to a lesser extent, knit).  Last winter, I made myself a sweater, and I’m currently making my mom a shrug as well as working on a number of smaller projects.