The Blue Blog

"Finding Neverland" is the fantastic story of J. M. Barrie(Johnny Depp), the famed playwright of "Peter Pan," a tale of a boy who never grows up, written by a man who wished that he never had to. The story begins when Barrie suffers the flop of his latest play, "Little Marry." It is after the failure when he meets the newly widowed Sylvia Davies(Kate Winslet) and her four sons: Peter, Jack, George, and Michael. A friendly relationship quickly evolves between Barrie and the family. Scandalous rumors also quickly emerge, suggesting more than just a friendship between Sylvia and the married Barrie, highly influenced by Emma, Sylvia's over controlling mother. Despite the rumors, Barrie continues to spend most of his spare time with the family, enacting fantasy stories with the four boys and reliving the childhood that he never truly had and refuses to let go of. All of these adventures eventually lead to the inspiration of the play "Peter Pan," whom the main character, Barrie named for the child he had most bonded with. The play is only just barely permitted to open in the theater, as producers believe the play to be for a lower class of theater goers. "Peter Pan" is a surprising hit, however, when Barrie makes the clever suggestion to have children scattered through the audience, who in turn cause the adults to respond to the production. Sylvia, unfortunately, suffers from failing health and is too ill to attend the play inspired by her children. So to suit her needs, Barrie has the play come to her. He brings the actors and set to her home and has them act out a special performance. Very shortly after, Sylvia dies, and in her will she has left the children to both her mother and Barrie, leaving the viewer with a sad but fuzzy feeling.

The advertisement that I chose is an animated coca-cola commercial. It appealed to me from the moment that I first saw it, not only because of its cute critters and sweet music, but because coca-cola is probably the number one drink consumed in my house. I know it's not healthy, but my family just can't seem to resist the fizzy, syrupy goodness. Past Coca-cola commercials have always intrigued me also. I have distinct memories of my family sitting around the living room at christmas time, sometimes opening presents, sometimes wrapping them, or maybe just watching a Holiday movie on TV. It seems that every time we were together, there was a heartwarming coca-cola commercial featuring a jolly Santa and a pop craving polar bear. The Christmas coca-cola commercial has become a symbol of the christmas spirit for me, full of simple joys and good times of sitting around a living room that was lit by the fireplace. A counter argument is a little trickier for me to come up with. I know there has to be one though, because everything can be argued in some way. I guess you could simply argue the aspect of whether or not coca-cola really is as good as they claim it to be. The commercial seems to be saying that the drink is so good that it deserves a parade every time somebody buys one. It would be easy for a person to disagree with that. Or, if you really want to get out there, you could argue that the things they show are misleading, because that could never really happen in a coke machine. Most people would probably assume that that was understood though.

These commercials are so funny! I think I like them because I can relate with the kid when he says clowns creep him out. They're freaky! Plus, the baby is so cute. But he's kinda creepy too. Talking baby? This should make for a very interesting writing assignment. I'll be curious to see how it's dissected.

I chose this Coca-cola commercial as my ad for the essay. It's really unique. No one ever thinks about what happens inside the vending machine. And it's so cute! I love the little marching band that comes out to send it off in the end. I figure that this advertisement is long enough and detailed enough that I could write a good paper about it. There are so many little aspects that go together to make it complete. All the little people living inside each do their part to put together the bottle of coke. And then you realize that they've just done it all so someone can drink it in five minutes, without ever knowing what a great ordeal it was. I thought it was really creative, and always remembered it from the first time I'd seen it. It really grasps the viewers' attention.

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Group work is kind of a double-edged sword for me. I like doing projects with people. It seems like you come up with better ideas that way. What I don't like is the lack of focus that seems to be contagious in those situations. Things never get done when we meet in class, and then someone always ends up doing most of the work themselves. This group project was a little better than that. It seemed like we were all thinking along the same lines, on the same page, in unison. We were as one.... Anyway. I think the unique (and slightly random) topic encouraged us to think more creatively. It took more than just the usual research and creating a project to get the job done. There is one think I would like to see a teacher do in the future. Instead of giving us an amount of time we need to fill, we should be given a certain topic and told to do the best presentation on it that we can in less than a minute. I would definitely hold the audience's attention.

The future's most in demand jobs haven't even been created yet! That means that some of the careers we're studying to be proficient in now will by then have become obsolete. It's scary! Whoever created that video "Did You Know" really knew how to catch a viewer's attention. Chances are that the techniques I am being taught to use when I become a teacher will be extremely outdated within the next ten years. Everything will rely on computers and the internet. It nearly all does now! We most likely won't even use printers or hardcopies anymore. It's kind of scary that our world will be so engrossed in technology. Computers are great and everything, but they can be unreliable. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy MP3 players and DVDs as much as the next girl, but I never save anything on the computer without a backup. I've learned how temperamental computers can be the hard way. I work at a dry cleaners, and every item of clothing that comes through our doors has to be checked into the computer multiple times along the journey to cleanliness. The process is quick and makes inventory simpler, but when the system goes down (as it periodically does) we're rendered helpless. It's frustrating for both the customers and the employees. The entire production comes to a standstill, and we all start running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Computers are great... until they quit working.

Shannon Nichols's excerpt about the failed test hit home for me more than the other reading portions did. I maintained decent grades in high school, but every once in a while I would get lazy or underestimate a test's difficulty. The result was always having to get my butt in gear and do extra work to make up the difference. Nichols's experience in that area was a little more dramatic than mine, I have to admit. Her test determined whether or not she would graduate. I can't imagine the stress she went under when she got the result of the first and following tests. Unbearable I'm sure. In my opinion, the situation just proves how flawed the standardized tests can be and turns m even more against them.

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I believe that she uses the example of her own experience to convey the impact outside opinions can have on your writing. She mentions that she had always received good grades, and that teachers and classmates had all believed her to be a decent writer. And she considered herself to be a good writer up until the time that the proficiency test told her otherwise. We as writers can't pay attention to what anyone thinks of our writing. As long as you like it, you write it. Don't lose your love for books, poetry, magazines, or any other type of literature just because someone says you're not good at it. If you do, you may, like Shannon Nichols, regret it in the end.