minimum of 500 words essay

Looking into our Pop Culture Mirror 

 

Girl Before Mirror, Pablo Picasso, 1932 

Blog Post #1​ ​(DUE ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12th) 

This assignment will take the form of a ​blog post​. You will ​create a blog post​ on  our shared Wordpress page to 1) help you reflect on your relationship with Popular  Culture and 2) create a brief self-care plan for the term. Here are some guidelines for  creating your post: 

● Your blog post should be a ​minimum of 500 words (part I) + planner (part  II).

● You might want to enliven your post by making it a multimedia experience and  embedding one or more types of media such as images, film clips, photos, and  links to other relevant websites. ​Please strive to follow the accessibility tips  found on the D2L course page (located in the ​Introduction to Course​ folder)​. 

  How to post to the blog:  1. By the beginning of the second week of the course, you will be invited to become  an 'author' at the ​UNST Pop Culture Fall 2019 Wordpress blog​ we will be using this  term. As an author, you will be able to write, upload photos to, edit, and publish your  own posts. The blog will only be visible to your classmates, the course instructor, and 

the peer mentor. It is ​NOT​ ​visible to the public at large outside of our learning  community.  2. Under the ​"Pop Culture Mirror + Self-Care Planner" tab/category​, please create a  post that captures your reaction to the terms we have explored (the materials on  subjectivity, ideology, power, culture and the culture tree, popular culture, and cultural  hegemony) and what you have gleaned from the class conversations around these  topics. For example, explain how your understanding of your subjectivity is shaped by  popular culture and its socio-cultural constructs and ideologies. Can you comment on  the concept of "hegemony" as it relates to your own identities? In what ways are you  “hailed” by certain notions (positive and/or negative) of who you “should” be and  how you “should” act? In other words, how are you interpellated* as a subject by the  social and cultural institutions of popular culture? ​“I” (first person) language is ideal  in this type of self/reflective writing​.  *Interpellation is the constitutive process where individuals acknowledge and respond  to ideologies, thereby recognizing themselves as subjects. More information can be  found in the reading about subjectivity by Searls-Giroux and Nealon.    Remember to include images, links, or other multimedia resources if possible/needed. 

  Part II  Fill out the self-care planner (at the bottom  of this document) or create your own. As the  seminal feminist writer/poet/activist Audre  Lorde once wrote, ​“caring for myself is not  self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an  act of political warfare.”​ This part of the blog  post is designed to get you to think more  intentionally and critically about your  day-to-day life and the patterns and activities  that you engage in on a regular basis. In other  words, the goal of the self-care planner is to 

help you to reflect on the following prompts and to devise a routine that is (more)  supportive of your emotional and mental health: 

What is one activity and/or pattern that hold/s me back that I believe I can let go off?  Perhaps it is a negative thought or a habit?​ This could include the amount of time you  spend in front of a computer or cell phone screen, a social circle or circles, a  substance you may feel like you need to rely on, etc. Name at least one activity or  pattern that you believe would be realistic for you to detach yourself from by the end  of the term (over the course of the next 8 or 9 weeks).  What nourishes me? What sparks joy for me? How can I make more time in my life  for the things that make me come alive? How can I better cultivate joy in my life?  Name one activity or habit that you believe brings you true joy and one ritual/routine  that will help you to incorporate it into your life (at least once a week!). For instance,  you may want to try a new gratitude practice (like writing 3 things you are grateful  for), going on a solo walk around the block, practicing mindfulness and/or meditation  a couple times a week, a creative activity (coloring, writing, knitting, etc.), taking a  whole day off, etc.   Fill out the self-care planner below (or create your own :)  Fill this ​planner​ out and upload it to your blog post as a PDF file (or create a  hyperlink in your post).   Further readings/resources:  The Politics of Conspicuous Displays of Self-Care  PSU Student Health 101 Magazine    Note #1: If you are struggling to successfully submit your blog post, please contact  the instructor and/or peer mentor for further assistance.   Note #2: If you have concerns about sharing your work online, please let the course  instructor and peer mentor know as soon as possible.    At the end of the term you will have several blog posts and one final post pulling  together everything you have learned. This is an important skill to build as you look  to your future and how you will explain your college experience and what you bring to  the table to employers. We will take it step by step and there will always be ample  opportunity to ask questions should you become confused or stuck.