What my portfolio consists of

My portfolio this semester consists of three main essays. The first one I wrote was about sports and the affect the internet had on how sports journalism evolved. The second one was about the space that is the Valencia Town Center mall in the Santa Clarita Valley. The third and final essay that I wrote this semester was about comparing the graphic novel and the movie V for Vendetta. This class was the most fun I have ever had in an English class and has really shaped me as a writer.

Text Essay

Katie Tyo

Professor Klepper

English 114B

April 23, 2012

Text Essay

V for Vendetta: Graphic Novel or Movie?

            In the graphic novel V for Vendetta the order of events seems to be organized periodically unlike in the movie which seems to jump around a lot. As in most movie adaptations from books there are things excluded from the graphic novel in the movie and there are things in the movie that are not in the actual graphic novel. The graphic novel and the movie both have good qualities to them. However, the film uses Shakespeare allusions to indicate V's function as the hero of a revenge play, who achieves tragic status by sacrificing himself for his cause and ridding the nation of a corrupt ruling class (Shakspeare and the Catholic Revenger: “V for Vendetta”). They have similarities and differences. They both, however, are trying to get the same point across which is that the idea of V and what he represents is left to the audience to interpret for themselves.

            The graphic novel and the movie do not really follow the same timeline. In the graphic novel the story goes in chronological order most of the time except for the occasional flashbacks here and there. The movie however jumps around a lot going in between the three books and just making it confusing for the audience especially if the audience has read the graphic novel already.

            I feel like the movie does not give the audience the sense of constraint that the graphic novel gave about the public. When it comes to how the lives of the public have been controlled I feel like the movie did not completely explain it like the graphic novel did. The graphic novel gave in great detail the kind of constraint that the public was under and how it affected their lives.

            The movie was well done I just feel like perhaps they could have tried harder to make it more like the graphic novel. There were many details that were changed which is to be expected but there were also some bigger aspects that were changed or completely excluded from the movie that was in the graphic novel.

            Personally, I enjoyed the movie quite a lot but I found that I liked the graphic novel much more. The graphic novel had such detail and gave useful background information that it made reading the story very interesting to me. The movie skipped around so much that it was hard for me to enjoy it because I was always trying to figure out where in the story the movie was at. I found both very interesting but the graphic novel was much easier to follow for me than the movie was.

            The movie seemed to drift from the main themes with all the complex explosions and action scenes that were in the movie. Although all of the action and explosion scenes were fun to watch they could possibly distract the audience from the themes within the movie. A lot of the political aspects of the movie seemed to be more Americanized than anything. The political aspects seemed to be very different from the graphic novel.

            The graphic novel seemed to leave Evey very in the dark and unable to actually figure out what she is in the middle of for a majority of the novel but in the movie she seems to be able to put everything together much quicker. She is also much younger in the graphic novel. In the movie she is just an office girl which is a lot different from what she was in the graphic novel which was a prostitute. So a lot of the details in the graphic novel about Evey were changed in the movie to make her more acceptable to the audience.

            V pretty much is the same in the graphic novel as he is in the movie. His love for Evey is very much portrayed just a strong in the graphic novel as in the movie. V is a character who can be hard to understand whether he is good or bad because of all the killing he is doing. To me V is just trying to show the public that sometimes the people need to stand up and revolt in order to  have a better future even if that means that some of them must die. So V is good but in order to show everybody how much change is needed he has to do some terrible things to the people in charge of the country.

            At the end of the movie Evey basically explained what V stood for which made it easier for the audience to really understand why V had to do what he did. I liked how she explained V to the audience because it showed just how much they cared for each other.

            In order for change to be possible we must first realize that change is needed and have to courage to stand up and say that. That is what V is trying to express to the public. If the people do not realize there is a problem then there is no way that they can take the steps needed to fix that problem. V helps the public to see the problem so they can stand up for themselves and fix the problem at hand. The public in V for Vendetta got so comfortable being pushed around by the government that they forgot what it felt like to take control of their own lives and decide what to do with it. V was just a reminder that it is never too late to make yourself happy because everyone deserves a chance at that.

            V for Vendetta is a story packed full of different ideas and themes all still relevant today. The difference with this story unlike any other is that even though it was written last century all the ideas and themes within the story are still very much relevant. The movie was able to express these ideas and themes a little better than the graphic novel did. Everyone should read the graphic novel and see the movie V for Vendetta so they can decide for themselves which is better to them.

Works Cited

"A is for Anarchy, V is for Vendetta: Images of Guy Fawkes and the Creation of Postmodern Anarchism." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <web.ebscohost.com.libproxy.csun.edu/ehost/detail?sid=b69246ec-50e4-43a0-9050-8ab3cb8d3b49%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ofm&AN=510749436>.

"Shakspeare and the Catholic Revenger: "V for Vendetta"." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <web.ebscohost.com.libproxy.csun.edu/ehost/detail?sid=70d8ce22-5cc1-40db-932d-912b9daccc67%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=afh&AN=50883038>.

"V for Vendetta." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <library.csun.edu/xerxes/metasearch/results/000212/000962?startRecord=51>.

V for Vendetta . Dir. James McTeigue. Perf. Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2006. DVD.

Scene

The scene with V and Evey when V made Evey believe that she was in prison and was about to be killed was a very intense scene. When Evey discovers that it was V the whole time she becomes hysterical. At first she does not understand why he would do something like this to her but then she starts to realize that he was doing this to her in order for her to be able to see the truth about the world. Eventually Evey is able to come to the realization that V was actually trying to help her the way Valerie helped him when he was in the concentration camps.

Racial Lens Used to Cull Curriculum in Arizona

Apparently in Arizona there has been new school laws that have came into place.These laws have made it illegal to teach any Mexican-American courses that used any books that were perceived as Anti-White. According to the article the district declared that it contained, “critical race theory,” and they stated that it was “promoting racial resentment." This has created a lot of controversy and many books like "Mexican WhiteBoy" have been banned and are not allowed in Arizona's school like Tucson High School. The district argues that the only reason they banned these books because they were protecting themselves from rebellion and people using it in an "inappropriate fashion."

    This is utterly depriving culture for many Mexican Americans because they aren't allowed to read many books teaching them about their own race and culture. We believe that many school districts have always forbidden other cultures to be active in many schools. Many times in Elementary I have personally seen teachers and staff getting mad because people are talking Spanish instead of English. This has changed over the years and has gotten somewhat better but many cultures are still be rejected.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/education/racial-lens-used-to-cull-curriculum-in-arizona.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3701540&page=1#.T4W-gVHpjww

Space Essay

Katie Tyo

Professor Klepper

English 114B

March 23, 2012

Space Essay

            The space I chose is the mall in the Santa Clarita Valley. This mall is called the Valencia Town Center. The Valencia Town Center is roughly six city blocks long. Over the years there have been additions and upgrades to the Valencia Town Center. With all of these changes there are a few parts of the Valencia Town Center that do not match the newer portions of the Valencia Town Center. These differences in the mall could be changed so that the Valencia Town Center blends together better and looks better overall. “Spatial enclosure is a balance between opening and closing, between cosmic infinity and the Platonic prison (A waste of space? Towards a critique of the social production of space 22).  The space within the Valencia Town Center has been put to good use because of the versatility of everything within the complex of the Valencia Town Center mall.

            The Valencia Town Center mall has created a space for everyone in the Santa Clarita Valley. There is going to be something going on at the mall that is of interest to everybody whether it is the summer time concerts, the fairs that occur there sometimes or the carnivals that come there during the summer time. There is going to be something to do for everyone especially during the summer and winter times. The Valencia Town Center mall is also directly connected with one of the Santa Clarita Valley’s movie theaters, it is also one of the most popular and nicest, and it is also connected with the nicest hotel the Santa Clarita Valley has to offer. The Valencia Town Center mall plays a major role in the lives of the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley.

            The Valencia Town Center mall is very important to the Santa Clarita Valley. This is where so many of the restaurants are and where a majority of the shopping is located. This is like the heart of the Santa Clarita Valley so much goes on here. Since it is so important to the city to survive it is key in the layout of the city. All the best shopping seems to be directly related to the mall whether it is inside the mall or around the mall.

            The additions to the Valencia Town Center have all been extremely nice.  From the downtown area that leads from the mall all the way to the movie theater complex to the most recent additions of the patio area filled with shops and restaurants. The Valencia Town Center has a variety of services to provide the community.  Also in the mall complex are some office buildings in use by large corporations such as Princess Cruises. The space within the Valencia Town Center has been put to good use.

            The Valencia Town Center mall is the best place to hang-out with friends and just be a teenager in the Santa Clarita Valley. The mall is crawling with teenagers nearly all the time. With all the options of food from the food court to the patio dining options to the restaurants even down by the movie theater there is always somewhere fun and exciting to eat at which is the perfect atmosphere and excuse for teenagers to always hang-out at the mall.

            Architecturally the Valencia Town Center mall has a very modern look to it especially the more recent additions. This gives the whole mall a feel of importance to the Santa Clarita Valley. The versatility of this mall makes it such a unique place as well. I have never been to another mall that has office buildings in the mall so the mall is both modern and versatile.

           

The space itself is a very functional space. With the stores and restaurants all mixed in together very efficiently the flow of the Valencia Town Center is very good. All around the interior of the mall there are comfortable chairs to relax and hang-out at which is a more modern twist on malls. There have been new additions open as recent as earlier this year and there is still work underway to add more to the outdoor patios. The following building is one of the buildings still underway no one knows yet what is going to be in this building but what is known is that it is a beautiful building.

            

            Parts of the original mall match the new paint scheme more than other parts of the older mall. There are two stores that come to mind when this is said. The first one being Macy’s shown here.

            

The second building and the building that needs to change the most would be the Sears building for some reason Sears decided to paint their building the whitest color they could find. It is so white it almost looks like it is just the primer coat but it has been this way for almost a year now. The whiteness of this building does not come even a little close to the color scheme of the rest of the mall. At least the Macy’s building is a little close to the color scheme of the rest of the mall, the Sears building just sticks out like a sore thumb.

           

          

The variety of stores also gives the Valencia Town Center uniqueness. The stores range from high end to affordable, it has multiple department stores and more. There is just such a variety of stores it is unbelievable. No matter who you are or what you like you can find a store that you like somewhere in the Valencia Town Center mall.     

            Besides these two buildings that are unable to blend with the rest of the Valencia Town Center this mall is extremely nice and well blended. If these two buildings were to be painted closer colors to the rest of the mall then the mall would be architecturally perfect in the eyes of the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley. The residents already adore this complex because it is an escape from the Southern California extreme weather and a place for people to hang-out with friends while still getting what they need to get done. It is the best of both worlds for the residents while looking pretty good at the same time.

            Personally all throughout my junior high school, high school and college years this has been at the epicenter of my activities with friends. Its location makes it the perfect place to start out a weekend with my friends. There is always something to do at the Valencia Town Center mall.

Works Cited

"JSTOR." Architecture is Space. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <www.jstor.org.libproxy.csun.edu/stable/1424783>.

"JSTOR." The Occupation and Fragmentation of space: Consequences of  neighboring roots. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <www.jstor.org.libproxy.csun.edu/stable/2389967>.

"JSTOR." A waste of space? Towards a critique of the social production of space . N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <www.jstor.org.libproxy.csun.edu/stable/623315>.

Ethnography

Katie Tyo

Professor Klepper

English 114B

March 23, 2012

Ethnography

The space I chose for my ethnography was of a shopping center in the Santa Clarita Valley. This center is known to the locals as the Kmart Center. The Kmart Center is a center that could be improved upon. There is a way for this center to work better for the whole community.

This center has one of the largest parking lots in the Santa Clarita Valley. The parking lot never even gets close to filling one fourth of it let alone the whole parking lot, not even during the holiday season. This humongous parking lot could be put to better use. There are many different ways that this parking lot could be altered to make it work more efficiently.

The Kmart Center only has shops around the edges of the center itself. There is one edge of the center that does not have any shops along the side of it. Some of the space in the middle of the center could be used for the addition of another building. There are many different places that there could be more buildings added to make this center benefit the community more. The addition of more buildings to this center could create more jobs for people of the Santa Clarita Valley.

            If I could change this center to benefit the whole community I would add a building or two along the one edge that is completely empty. This would still leave a rather large parking lot for consumers to use but it would use some of the wasted space. All while helping the community with providing more services as well as more jobs for local residents. This would affect the local community in many ways that are necessary for the local residents to be able to live comfortably.

 The Kmart Center is one of the largest centers in the Santa Clarita Valley. It is also one of the centers with the fewest number of stores in it. There are many ways that it could be improved upon but these are the ways that I have chosen to improve it.

Bedroom

This is how my bedroom is now. I have my bed where it is because I have a queen size bed in such a small room it is the only place I can put it to make my room seem bigger. I have my television where it is because that is where my cable is. I have the dog bed at the foot of my bed because that is where my dog likes to lay because it gets the most sun. Everything else is where it is because it is where it will fit.

This is how my perfect room would be. I would like to have a dresser that I am able to hang clothes as well as have drawers for folded clothes because my closet right now does not hold most of my clothes very easily. I would also love to have a small couch in my room for when my friends stay with me they have a more comfortable place to stay. The last thing I would like to change would be to mount my television on my wall so I have more space in my room. Other than those three things I love my room how it is now.

Spaces at CSUN

This photo was taken in the orange groves at CSUN. The orange groves at CSUN is significant because it is shows what California used to be about which was agriculture. The orange groves are located toward the front of campus. The design to this particular space does not have a particular significance because it is designed to benefit the grove its self. It does add significance to the area in which it inhabits because it adds nature to the campus and a sense of serenity as well. The importance of this location gives the students a way to stay connected with the land that the university was built on.

This might seem like a regular building but like every other building on campus this one is unique in its special way. The building is different than the others and its shape is quite unique. The building is located in the middle of campus and is surrounded by grass, bike racks, and benches. These surroundings make this building a little bit more inviting. Not to mention the way the walls, are designed make it a little bit more interesting to go into. Unlike the regular concrete walls much of this building is surrounded by glass windows that make you be able to look inside.

This is a photo of the Sierra Center located in the middle of campus. It is open space with places to sit and eat or do school work. It is a very functional place on campus. The trees, bike racks, tables and dining options make it more appealing to go into.  Although it is made of concrete which makes it less appealing. The Sierra Center is also connected to buildings of classrooms which makes it easy access for the students.

This is the Oviatt library at CSUN. It is located in the middle of campus. It is a very interesting building with all the trees and grass that surround it. It also looks like nothing else on campus. The architecture is very unique which makes it very appealing to students. There are multiple walkways leading to the Oviatt which makes me think that it is the center of the campus.  It is a key aspect of a students life at CSUN. The Oviatt is needed in order to succeed at CSUN which is why it is the center of the campus.

This is a photo of the Valley Performing Arts Center which is one of the most open buildings on campus and it is also one of the newest buildings. With all of the windows in this building it gets so much light making it a very peaceful and calming place to be. It is surrounded by trees and grass which makes it very appealing to students. The fountain that surrounds the building partially makes it even more intriguing and calming. It has a very modern feeling to it which goes with a lot of the architecture on campus today.