Weekly Written Analysis 5

The use of the word flip-flop for thong sandals is a modern term dating from the 1960’s that describes what is probably the oldest form of footwear still being worn. Flip flops have been around for at least six thousand years. As a point of comparison, primitive shoes are shown in rock paintings dating from the late Paleolithic (Stone Age) period some 15,000 years ago (Wilbert, 2002). According to Wilbert (2002) there are depictions of flip flops in ancient Egyptian murals on tombs and temples from about 4,000 B.C.
In America, the first flip flops started to appear after World War II as soldiers brought Japanese sari back from the war, often as souvenirs (Arming, 2001). The precursor to the modern flip flop really began to catch on; however, when a soldier returned from the Korean War in the 1950’s during the postwar 1950’s boom (Arming, 2001). Soldiers wore these predecessors to what we now think of as flip-flops, which were cheap rubber editions that frequently caused blisters and were so poorly made that they didn’t last long (Arming, 2001). As the footwear entered into American popular culture, it became redesigned and changed into the bright colors of Fifties design. As “pop culture,” flip flops became defining examples of an informal lifestyle and came to represent the California lifestyle in general and surf culture in particular (Bellman, 2007).
It seemed like all kids wore them to the beach or the pool and cheap rubber flip flops appeared in every dime store and beach shop. Over time, designs spread from rubber to wood to leather to bamboo and stylized platforms, yet all of them remaining true to the original base design of the early rubber flip flops.
Now, many kids wear flip flops all the time, replacing their athletic shoe trainers.

Arming, F. (2001). The history of flip-flops. Retrieved June 19, 2009 form www.flipflops.com/history
Bellman, H. (2007). How flip flops become popular. Journal of popular culture. Retrieved June 19, 2009 from www.journalfinder.com
Wilbert, Q. (2002). The twentieth century of flip flops. Retrieved June 19, 2009 from www.findarticle.com/flipflops

Journal Article Analysis, Assignment 1-3

Julia Kuehn in her article “Marie Corelli’s Feminine Sublime and the Aesthetic of the Dream”, in a popular context re-evaluate the work of Marie Corelli (1855-1924), the first English bestselling author of the one-volume novel. This article is concerned with what can be called the aesthetic dimension of Corelli’s work. More precisely, the aim is to formulate a rhetoric that describes the narrative strategies of Corelli’s texts. Until now critics have discussed Corelli in a socio-historical context, but have dismissed her novels as popular fiction not worthy of critical analysis (Kuehn, 2008). Consequently, sustained readings of her works are still rare. In fact, in recent years only two critics, namely Rita Felski and Annette Federico, have favored Corelli’s work with close textual analysis (Kuehn, 2008). They explore the author’s appeal through aspects of narrative and not through, for example, the changes in the publishing and library systems.
In contrast, Kuehn (2008) reassesses a representative selection of Corelli’s fictional works, her theoretical and critical writings and her correspondence. Overall, the study aims at understanding the aesthetic of the popular by reading along the lines of three themes. Analyzing a selection of Corelli’s works in the contexts of poetics, romance and religion, it tests out different theoretical models for understanding popular literature. These include genre theory, theories of the sublime, Frankfurt School theories of the mass market, gender theory, Freudian dream theory and selected contemporary psychoanalytical models (Kuehn, 2008). The author develops out of Rita Felski’s analysis of Corelli as a writer of the popular sublime, and subsequently draws upon a variety of other critical readings of the popular and the sublime. Popular culture is, as Felski argues in her essay “God, Love and the Orient,” characterized by an exploration of borders in a utopian gesturing toward a transcendent, exalted, and ineffable sphere beyond the constraints of a mundane material reality, and the location of meaning elsewhere (Kuehn, 2008). Corelli’s contemporary reviewers addressed her attempt to conquer an ordinary reality through “romances” and “dreams” (Kuehn, 2008). The author states that Felski considers this longing as an instance of the sublime, which she redefine in general terms as the aspiration of the human mind toward the silliness which invoke a sense of rapture, transport, or self-transcendence that is linked to a perception of the ineffable and other-worldly.
The introduction argues that Corelli instinctively develops a feminine sublime as a subset of the popular sublime in her novels. It can be understood as a diverse reading of experience characterized by the wish to merge with the sublime object of rapture rather than dominate it by reason. The feminine sublime creates a non-rational rhetoric, which signals the subject’s failure to communicate experience through reason. It finds expression in the romance genre, which is characterized by a yearning for the metaphysical and a mode of excess. Three individual chapters interpret the three main signifiers of Corelli’s feminine sublime: Aesthetics, Love and Religion, and analyze how Corelli manipulates these transcendental themes for a populist context. A subsidiary theme of this article is the proto-modernist elements of Corelli’s work. Throughout the argument surprising convergences between Corelli’s turn-of-the-century populism and the modernist movement emerge.

Reference
Kuehn, J. (2008). The Strategies of the Popular Novel: Marie Corelli’s Feminine Sublime and the Aesthetic of the Dream. The Journal of Popular Culture Volume 41, issue 6, p. 975- 993. Retrieved June 9, 2009 from www.journal.ohiolink.edu

Weekly Written Analysis 4

Stiletto shoes became popular in 1950s when a thin metal rod was placed within the heel to make it strong enough to support the weight of a person (Merrimac, 2001). Today, stiletto heels have become extremely popular and are found in various types of shoes and boots such as sling-backs, pumps, mules, ankle boots etc. Stiletto shoes have become on and off ageing fashion accessories several times since then. The slender stiletto heels however, staged a major comeback after 2000, when young women adopted the style for dressing up office wear or adding a feminine touch to casual wear like jeans (Joseph, 2005). According to Merrimac (2001), labeled super sexy in the genre of high heel shoes for women, stiletto shoes are most coveted by women who love to be seen a notch higher than others, in fashion and otherwise. The stiletto heel is still particularly associated with the image of the femme fatale and is considered to be a seductive item of clothing, very sexy, glamorous and often featured in popular culture (Merrimac, 2001).
Stiletto shoes are available in chic and intriguing styles. Lace-up, ankle boots, knee-length, thigh high, court shoe, pumps, mules and pointed toe shoe, all genres of shoes are experimenting with spindly stiletto heels and are being lapped up by fashion conscious ladies. A popular trend observed in stiletto shoes these days are pointed toe shoes. These shoes are slender and elongated in shape just as the stiletto heel themselves and make the foot appear smaller and sexier (Joseph, 2005). However, women also have the option of going in for more rounded or squared toe stiletto shoes if the slimmer versions are bit too uncomfortable for them.

Joseph, Z. (2005). The fashion talks about stiletto shoes. Fashion magazine online. Retrieved June 11, 2009 from www.article/dashboard.com
Merrimac, T. (2001). The history of the stiletto heels. Journal of fashion. Retrieved June 11, 2009 from www.italianfashion.com/journal/finder

Weekly Written Analysis 3

The ritual of Baptism
In the modern sense of the word, baptism is a Christian ritual or sacrament symbolizing the cleansing of sins or other spiritual impurities (Damper, 1998). Following baptism, Christian believers are welcomed into the Church body as sanctified members. Most baptism ceremonies involve the use of water, although different Christian denominations have different methods of baptizing congregants. Some clergymen will sprinkle the water over an infant, while others prefer to fully immerse an adult candidate in a body of water. The ritual of Baptism became a prominent ritual in American Popular culture. As Christianity grew in popularity, the sacrament of infant baptism became a vital element in the Catholic Church. During an infant baptism, an ordained priest sprinkles a few drops of holy water over the child's head or places a few drops on his or her forehead (Damper, 1998). The infant baptism ceremony is accompanied by specific readings of Scripture, along with responses between the priest, parents and congregation. Baptism of an infant is believed to establish a bond between the child and God, leading to a blessed life as a new creature. According to Damper (1998), baptism deals with the interactions of elite and popular culture, compares prescription and performance, and explores some of the social and culture aspect of the religion.

Reference
Damper, D. (1998). The importance of Baptism: The ritual of Baptism. Retrieved June 4, 2009 from www.findarticle/baptism.com

Weekly Written Analysis 2

The new touch screen laptop is the latest in a series of touch-oriented devices, including an upcoming line of cell phones that will become a priority of HP’s consumer strategy as it tries to differentiate itself from rivals such as Dell Inc.

HP began promoting touch screens last year with a big-screen desktop computer called the Touch Smart. The Palo Alto, Calif., company introduced a revamped Touch Smart this year, with new software and a new external design and has recently ramped up its effort to market the computer. The touch-sensitive screens allow PC users to move items around, surf the Web or open files with their fingertips, replacing functions normally performed by a mouse and keyboard.

Icon Analysis, Assignment 2-2

The Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel), whose own daughter was called Barbara. Barbie was introduced to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City. The doll was intended to be a teenage fashion doll. There has been some controversy over Barbie's figure when it realized that if Barbie was a real person her measurements would be an impossible 36-18-38. In her 50 years, Barbie has juggled so many jobs that the term "portfolio career" might have been invented for her. She was an astronaut and fashion editor in the 60s, a surgeon and gymnast in the 70s, and has since been a rapper, a UNICEF diplomat, a paleontologist, an African-American presidential candidate (non-partisan) and, perhaps most brilliantly, an art teacher. I chose Barbie as icon because I used to collect Barbie when I was a little girl, and I use to be inspired by Barbie’s fashion. As a girl myself, Barbie has been a big sister. The concept of this doll has changed dramatically through the generations of girls. As our lifestyle and technology changes so does the Barbie doll. Accessories, style and appearance have greatly improved. The Barby doll has been a big sister to us girls for a very long time.

Shrek is the animated story of a green ogre that lives in an enchanted world (called Far Far Away, as in any fairy tale story) but despises it and therefore shuts himself away from it. He doesn’t care about anything and has quite a bad temper, just like any other ogre, with the only difference that deep inside of him Shrek is tender and sweet being. This funny and really humorous story develops in a fantasy world where all clichés of the fairy tales appear highly satirized. One of those clichés is clearly seen in the character of the princess, who instead of being a delicate and feminine woman is a brave and fiery person who stands against many dangers and that hides a secret that has makes her have little to do with any other regular princess. I really like this animate story and Shrek’s character. Shrek has made an unforgettable impression on American pop culture and has become a popular movie, and that’s why I chose it as a popular culture icon. The movie is definitely a good choice for families since it’s innocent yet very intelligent and creative.

Oprah Winfrey came from a humble background to become one of America's most influential women. Winfrey has amassed a great fortune through her media and publishing interests and uses her fame and wealth to positively influence the lives of people in need. Oprah Winfrey's career in the media industry began as a news anchor and reporter for a television station in Nashville (although she also worked in radio during high school as a newscaster). She was the first black African American woman television news anchor to work in Nashville on the WTVF-TV station at the young age of 19. Winfrey's career really began to take off after moving to Chicago in 1984 to host "AM Chicago", an early morning talk show at WLS-TV's. It went on to become the number one ranked talk show shortly after she started and it was renamed "The Oprah Show" after one year. The Oprah Winfrey Show went on to become one of the most successful and highest ranked television talk show programs in history. The program is viewed by more than 20 million Americans every week and broadcast internationally to more than one hundred countries worldwide. I chose Oprah as popular culture icon because she is the most influential women in mediums and her influence can have impact on social, cultural and economic status on individuals.

Weekly Written Analysis Week 1

Facebook, by some measurements the most popular social network with 175 million active users worldwide, is one of the fastest-growing and best-known sites on the Internet today. The company, founded in 2004 by a Harvard sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg, began life catering first to Harvard students and then to all high school and college students. It has since evolved into a broadly popular online destination used by both teenagers and adults of all ages.
Like other social networks, the site allows its users to create a profile page and forge online links with friends and contacts. It has distinguished itself from rivals, partly by imposing a Spartan design ethos and limiting how users can change the appearance of their profile pages (Armstrong, 2006). That has cut down on visual clutter and threats like spam, which plague rival social networks. In May 2007, Facebook unveiled an initiative called Facebook Platform, inviting third-party software makers to create programs for the service and to make money on advertising alongside them (Wilber, 2008). The announcement stimulated the creation of hundreds of new features or "social applications" on Facebook, from games to new music and photo sharing tools, which had the effect of further turbo-charging activity on the site (Wilber, 2008).
As a result, estimates of Facebook's valuation soared during the summer of 2007. In October, Microsoft outbid its archrival Google to invest $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook, which valued the company at a startlingly rich $15 billion (Armstrong, 2006).
Just like every other social network, Facebook has something called ‘groups.’ Users can create new ones or join and participate in existing ones. This is also displayed in their profile and is a good indication of hobbies and interests a person might have. There are two kinds of groups, a normal group and a secret group, which isn’t shown on the profile. A normal group is just like any other, but users can also create and invite others into secret groups. These can be used for collaborating on university projects, and provide a way to have closed discussions. According to Wilber (2008), about 80% of the groups are ‘fun-related’ and companies can even sponsor groups - as is the case with, for example, the Apple users group.

Armstrong, Z. (2006). Why people use Facebook, and how they use Facebook. Retrieved May 22, 2009 form www.findarticle.com
Wilbert, F. (2008). Facebook compared with other social networks. Retrieved May 22, 2009 from www.findarticle.com/facebook23/43