Kenneth Brandt

Journals

#1: In the essay popularSigns.pdf on the cd there is a statement that says: The meaning
of a sign can be found not in itself but in its relationships (both differences and
similarities) with other signs within a system. To interpret an individual sign, then, you
must determine the general system in which it belongs. In your journal discuss the
implications of this assertion. Then explain your plan on how you would reveal the
system of a sign. (1/16/2015)
I am a strong believer that context is the single most important aspect of what someone
says or does. People generally do not say or do things without reason or justification. I
especially believe comedy relies heavily on context. If you have no lead-up to a punchline, the
joke is far less likely to succeed. Further, a joke that made crowds roar in the past may make
people cringe today, because the sensibilities of the masses changed, and the context is now
lost. The meaning of something works the same way; everything was made for a reason, but
this thing may lose its initial meaning if someone doesnt know the context of the creation. For
example, George Orwells Animal Farm was an allegory about the Soviet Union and the
disaster it became. If someone were to read the book without knowing anything about the
Soviet Union, they wouldnt know that that was what its about. They would likely think its
just a story about the corruption of some pigs. Because of this, its important to remember that
the book was published around the beginning of the Cold War era, and to learn what was
happening around that time period. This is why the Death of the Author school of

interpretation is absurd; we need to understand where the author was coming from to
understand what he was saying. With that in mind, I hope to reveal the context surrounding
what I am discussing, so I have a clearer understanding of the signs intent and reason, and
thus its meaning.
#2: The heart of academia is the search for meaning, be it in the hard sciences, social
sciences or humanities. In essence when you develop a scientific experiment of read a
classic bit of literature, the reason why you take on these endeavors is to reveal their
meaning. And it is through the writing process where this meaning is revealed to an
audience. But to find the meaning of an item, topic, process is not often easy. There are
obstacles in finding the meaning. In your journal think and write about what these
obstacles might be and particularly how you might systematically overcome them.
(1/23/2015)
One obstacle that often impedes the interpretation of something is, as mentioned before,
ignoring or being ignorant of the context of the questioned item. If you dont know how or why
it came to be, its much harder to give it proper meaning. As stated previously, I might look
deeper into why it came to be to avoid this. Another major obstacle is the interpreters biases
and preconceptions about the subject. This could manifest in several forms. For one, the person
interpreting could be experiencing a form of culture shock, and are thus unable to remove their
cultures viewpoints when looking at anothers (for example, views on bullfighting can depend
on prior experience, as well as views on animal-related sports and animal cruelty). Another
form could be where the person investigating has too much personal connection with the item
to give a fair assessment (such as a tobacco enthusiast researching tobaccos meaning). The
opposite, of course, remains true (the teetotalers research of alcohol could be just as skewed).

Thus, it remains important to try and pretend you know nothing about the topic at hand.
Pretend you have no culture to be shocked for. Your prior opinions should have little value
unless they, too, are well-researched and well-reasoned. This can be more difficult than it
seems, of course, because we as humans tend to be set in what we believe in. However,
neutrality in research can provide clearer results than going in with a conclusion already in
mind.
#3: Read KidRock essay. Come up with four suggestionsbe specific in your thinking
on how to improve this essay. Elaborate on each point. (1/30/2015)
The Kid Rock essay has some room for improvement. To begin with, I had a hard time
understanding the purpose of the essay. First, it talks about concerts and how they are
important for music artists. Then it says the Kid Rock concert was a lot like other concerts,
then Kid Rock put on a good show. Then the author calls Kid Rock a sellout for not playing
any of his older songs on the concert. He concluded by saying the concert was great and other
artists can learn from the mistakes and triumphs of the show. All of this connects, in a way, but
there doesnt seem to be anything resembling an overall point to the essay. The second issue I
have is with the grammar. Dont misunderstand me, I dont mind the occasional typo or oddly
phrased sentence, but a lot of the grammatical structure here is atrocious. Third, there is little in
the ways of interpretation or alternative opinions. The author merely said the concert was
excellent, and hardly went into detail as to why what Kid Rock did worked. For that matter, the
author didnt explain why only playing songs from the latest album was a huge problem, or
why Kid Rock might have chosen to do that. Finally, there needs to be more in the ways of
evidence to support whatever it is the author is getting at. This would help the aforementioned
interpretation immensely, as it would give the author additional facts to interpret.

#4: How important are race, class, and gender to cultural meaning? Explore your
thoughts about these issues and how they are applied to meaning of the icons, rituals,
stereotypes, formulas within our culture. Select an item within our culture and speculate
on its meaning as it is contextualized by issues of race, class, and gender. (2/6/2015)
Personally, I believe that class (financial and social) is a larger influence in American
society than race and gender. Money and influence tend to overshadow many societal biases.
With that said, it may well be true that different races have less income and power in certain
places, and its worth seeing if that is indeed directly caused by racism. Individual cultures
within America certainly have their own priorities, rituals, and rules. These can differ
depending on ones location (there are subtle differences between New York City and Detroit,
for example). Different genders tend to do different things as well, be it based on their
individual choices aggregating apart, or rules from society.
Looking at the pink aisle products, we can see that they are seen as feminine, even if
they are not labeled as such. A color has been gendered. Some are trying to make the color
pink gender-neutral again, but the majority perceive pink as a hue for girls. Males who wear
pink are often mocked, because pink is for women and men should not wear it. They will have
their gender and sexualities questioned, or simply get judgmental looks. Gender, however, is
not the only perception on the color pink. When you see pink attire, you think middle to upper
class. It takes a little more work to imagine a lower-class woman wearing pink. This could be
because pink is generally a very visible color, so we associate it with people society doesnt
generally ignore. It could also be because we think of the poor having muted colors, while pink
is very bright. This is all speculation, of course, but its interesting to think about.

#5: Think hard about evidence. In argumentation what is the function of evidence? How
do you recognize evidence? What is its purpose? How can you use evidence to aid your
writing? (2/13/2015)
Evidence can be defined as the facts that support a position. In argumentation, it shows
the facts that the arguer has come across (generally, evidence that supports their statement). It
can be recognized in several ways. For one, of course, the arguer will often cite where the
evidence was found. Also, anything that does not seem to be the arguers interpretation is quite
possibly evidence. However, one should scrutinize the evidence itself, since it is incredibly
easy to cherry pick in order to best suit an agenda. Numbers dont lie, but people do, as the
saying goes. Since evidence shows the facts that the arguer found, they can easily show where
one is coming from when they say something. Evidence can support or refute a given position.
If I say that cows fell from the sky in 1907 (for example), that, by itself, would be very hard to
believe. However, if I provided photographs of an event like that, and provided articles from
credible newspapers, the claim would be more believable. If you said that Arnold stole the
trinket, I could refute it by showing you a photo of Robert stealing the trinket. We simply need
evidence to be able to support claims we make. Anyone can just say something, but it lends
credibility if you can back up what youre saying. With that in mind, I will work with evidence
to show why I have the conclusion I have. However, I will try to look at the evidence before I
make my conclusion.

#6: Think about gender roles. Write about gender roles. Why do we often feel one
gender has more social power than the other? Do you know that more women go to
college than men yet on an average women get paid 25% less than men? Why is this?
(2/20/2015)
Before I begin this journal, I should clarify that Im basing this off of American culture.
Both men and women have had separate problems in society. Men are sent to war, sent to
dangerous jobs, and its socially safer to mock a man. Women are often seen as fragile, unable
to do as much as a man, or as caretakers. On the other hand, men are more easily accepted into
tougher jobs, and women have several social protections. Gender roles can be both a benefit
and a hindrance, but they are not absolute. There are definitely tougher women who go to war,
and there are men who can be good caretakers. However, its not generally considered
acceptable to move out of your lane. Tomboys and sissies alike are lampooned.
However, we seem to be slowly making our way to a society where gender does not matter.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal to reduce pay based on gender. However, the
wage gap seems to still exist. Theres a reason women, on average, earn 25% less than men.
Its because its an average of every mans earnings and every womans earnings. The statistic
lumps everybody together regardless of occupation, social standing, raises demanded, hours
worked, vacations taken, job experience, and other factors. In other words, the statistic
oversimplifies. Economists have studied the wage gap several times over, and have found that
there is little to suggest that a woman will earn less than a man, if shes in the same job at the
same company with a similar background and she works similar hours. Women, on average,
work fewer hours and take safer, less taxing jobs. This could well be because women are
expected to take care of children, and a less demanding job still allows time to do that. Men are

expected to be the breadwinners, so theyll often go to greater lengths to earn more. It is quite
possible that the wage gap is rooted in gender roles, but I would hesitate to say its directly
because of sexism.
#7: What does your topic mean in our culture? You dont a lot of research on your topic;
youve discussed it with your classmates; youve done essays on interpreting magazine
covers and have listen extensively about cultural values in class lectures. Now spend some
time playing with the various meanings that your topic might take within our culture.
Dont be satisfied with the first thing that comes to your mind. Think about race, class and
gender (as well as other areas) as it applies to your topic, i.e., how does one race look at
your topic vs another? How does the meaning of your topic change as different classes or
genders look at it? Spend this time playing with your topic. (2/27/2015)
From what I have found, people play video games for psychological reasons. Video
games allow people to forget their problems for a while, and allow them to project themselves
into a fictional world. Games could mean a source of escape to many. To others, it means a
venue to socialize with other people or in-game characters. There is little to suggest that different
races, genders, or social classes play for very different reasons. However, those who are
financially better off will, of course, play more games, because they can afford them. For
someone poorer, the games they have may be their sole escape. Games also provide whatever
experience the player wants. If the player wants to race, theyll play a racing game. If they want
to try to get the best time in a race, they can. They could also try to cause as much destruction as
possible, try to find shortcuts and secrets, or try for fourth place. When it comes to video games,
the customer is always right. Theres also the fact that video games, unlike a lot of reality,
provide very quick feedback based on the users actions. Maybe video games are appealing for

their simplicity. Even in games with complicated controls, complicated management, or taxing
requirements, there is a clear goal, and its clear that you can get there. Video games can also
provide interesting stories, because the audience becomes part of the tale. People play games for
different reasons, but games provide an efficient way to fulfill the player's desires.
#8: Open writing. Because one of the purposes of the journal is to give you an area to
practice writing, now is a time for you to just write, on any topic, area, subject you
wanta rant, a poem, an anecdote on a subject of your choosing. Have fun. (3/21/2015)
I believe that comedy is nothing more than the art of being smart and stupid at the same
time. The intelligence can come in the message, the characters' insights, the situations, or simply
in the timing and presentation of the whole thing. The idiocy can come in the lack of a message,
the characters' mishaps and misunderstandings, the absurdity of the situations, or simply in how
oddly the whole thing is presented. There doesn't have to be a certain amount of either element;
as long as there's some thought and some lack thereof, comedy can arise.
For instance, in a scene from Duck Soup, Groucho Marx's character tells another to take a
card. The other character takes one and asks "What do I do with it?" to which Groucho replies
"Keep it, I've got fifty-one more." The stupidity arises from a few facts. For one, there was no
reason for him to give a playing card. Further, he now has a bad deck of cards. Finally, because
his character was recently instated as an official of a nation, this is unprofessional behavior for
the situation he is in. However, there are some smart elements to this joke. First of all, it helps
establish the character as an eccentric goof who should not be running a nation. Second, the joke
is delivered quickly enough to get a laugh while still moving on to the next joke immediately.
Third, there is a sort of logic to the phrase "Keep it, I've got fifty-one more" (though it's

deliberately applied to the wrong situation); If you have fifty-two similar objects, why does it
matter if you lose just one? As you can see, even throwaway jokes are both smart and stupid.
#9: What are your final thoughts about your topic? You are the expert! What does your
topic tell you about our larger culture in general. Think about it. (4/7/2015)
When reviewing my topic, I realized that while I explained why people play video games,
I havent quite explained what that means or what this tells us about the culture in which gamers
live in. Recently, however, I have realized how I can explain it. Video games are indicative of a
society that craves convenience and control. Video games give the player the ability to write
their own stories, meet many other people, and accomplish incredible feats-- all without leaving
their chair. Work may fulfill psychological needs such as autonomy, control, and the sense that
what one does matters to others, but video games definitely provide satisfaction in easier and
quicker ways. Work is work; there is less control in what one can do, it is quite possible to feel or
be incompetent at ones job, and one can finish a task without any feedback on it whatsoever. In
games, however, one can do as they please (including choosing what game they want to play),
they have the ability to do what they need (if the game requires you to cross a chasm, for
instance, there will be a way for you to do so), and they regularly get feedback from the game.
Computer technology has become increasingly easy to use over the years, to the point where
many wonder how society functioned without them. Society in general is craving convenience
and control, and video games are relatively easy to manipulate and very easy to reap benefits
from. Video games are not to blame for societys wishes of ease, but they are reflective of that.

#10: What are thoughts about this class? What about the text, the approach that I took to
get you to think critically? Rather than use this space as an evaluation of the coursethat
will come latterhow might things be different (not easier) that might lead you to embrace
good old-fashion thinking. (4/14/2015)
The Method and Ten-on-One/One-on-Ten approaches are decent enough prompts to help
you get started on thinking. However, they only help you identify the dots; they dont really help
you connect them. In other words, they only help you identify links and major facts; they dont
give you the links or meanings. This is, indeed, because finding links between facts and the
reasons for the facts is the hardest part, and there is no set way of going about it. Anyone can
look at the facts and recite them when it fits their opinion. The problem, of course, is that people
generally already have opinions before they research, and its very difficult to be dispassionate.
What can help reduce this problem, however, is having another person hold you accountable.
Indeed, having another person or an object you can talk to (like how some programmers keep
rubber ducks so they can talk through the code to find problems) can help you think, simply
because you can hear your own facts and reasoning instead of just thinking and reading about
them. Since another person is there (or at least an object with a face), you become more selfconscious, and more critical of what youre saying. On top of that, of course, is the fact that they
can help you and hold you accountable. Thus, my main tip for critical thinking is to get your
facts, then talk to a neutral party about your topic. The Writing Center is especially good for the
second part, as long as you can explain everything within half an hour, or schedule an
appointment. I should use the Writing Center more often, or at least find someone whos willing
to walk through my thought processes with me.