Trip to the NYPL

The trip to the library was helpful to me because it allowed me to find some sources and databases to help write my research paper. It also helped to get a sense of direction of what topic I am going to write about on my paper. I found the book that "Green Zone" was based on but couldn't access the information inside the book, next time I hope to find the book somewhere in the library if it is available.

Summary of Reviews

Summary of review #1: http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/movies/12green.html (A Search for That Casualty, Truth 'Green Zone' Movie Review by A.O. Scott) - In this article A.O. Scott talks about the deceit and manipulation that is uncovered in the movie. He then elaborates this using the main character Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller by quoting some key lines of dialogue and the characters he meets. Each character Miller meets gets him closer to finding out the truth behind all the problems with the intelligence reports on WMD sites coming up empty. This article is a good source because it also describes the conflict between the characters which can be relevant for my paper.

Summary of review #2: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100310/REVIEWS/100319990 (Green Zone Movie Review by Roger Ebert) - This article is somewhat similar to the first review in terms of giving a summary about the movie's plot and conflict between characters. The way that Roger Ebert wrote this review really stuck out to me because he writes down questions and some of his views to allow the reader to think and debate about it. This is important and helpful for my research paper.

Two reviews of intended research paper topic

Sources -
1) http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/movies/12green.html

2) http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100310/REVIEWS/100319990

"The Kitchen of Meaning" by Roland Barthes journal entry

This excerpt by Roland Barthes dictates that every little thing we do, touch, and see in our everyday life has meaning. He also states that everything has something in common, I think what Barthes is saying here is that everything is somewhat connected to each other. Barthes says they "all are signs." He goes on and argues about how most of the time people tend to take everything as "natural" information when in reality if we take the time to think about it, it is complex. He backs up his argument by giving us an example of how we understand our language. Barthes argues that "We all understand our language so "naturally" that it never occurs to us that it is an extremely complicated system." I would have agree with his argument here because if one day somebody tells me that I have to make my own language I don't think I would get very far. What Barthes is trying to say here is semiology is constantly expanding and that there is so much more to discover since every single thing in this world holds meaning.

Topic for the final research assignment

I will write a review of the movie "Green Zone", I want to pursue this topic because the movie is about American soldiers hunting for WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) during the war in Iraq and therefore I would like to discuss about the ongoing War on Terror.

Response to Michael Wesch's Video "The Machine is Us/ing Us"

This video has shown me how the written word has progressed in time, from writing with a pen or pencil to typewriters and from typewriters to digital text. Digital text can be used to upload, download, and share information which allows the whole world to access these information anywhere at anytime. Like it is stated in the video, "every time we post and then upload a picture we teach the machine and each time we forge a link we teach it an idea." Then the video displays a excerpt that states, "Think of the 100 billion times per day click on a Web page..." This shows what we humans do not realize, that the machine is us, we are using the machine. We are the machine.

Nearest Public library branch/CUNY library

The nearest public library  branch is the Brooklyn Public Library on 5108 4th Avenue, Brooklyn.
The nearest CUNY library is the Brooklyn College Library on 2900 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn.