Decoded By Jay-Z

When Dr. Harkey told us that we were going to read a book by Jay-Z called Decoded, I was really surprised because I did not think that reading this book would help us learn more about the theme of the class of "realness". This book is a unique autobiography and memoir of the life of Jay-Z; this book contains lyrics, anecdotes, and reflections that display the real aspect of rap and Jay-Z's life. After reading the book, I began to understand a little more about Jay-Z's idea on rap and how it was very similar to poetry, but poetry of the modern world.

Illusions or Reality?

The illusion above shows multiple lines that seem to be crooked, but in fact they are completely parallel with each other. What do you think? Is the claim that the lines are parallel real enough for you?

The image above displays what seems to be the inside of house that turns into a wall and then turns into a roof at the top of the image. The way the artist captures this illusion really caught my attention because it's hard to fathom how this illusion works. I think this artwork really depicts and emphasizes the question: Is this an illusion or a reality? It makes you think which part of the painting is real.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is just a famous quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that speaks to me because the deep meaning is so relevant to the past, the present, and the future. The quote refers to the importance of the present and/or to the importance of our inner identity. I think that Ralph Waldo Emerson is trying to say that we sometimes think to much about the past and the future, but don't take enough time to look within our daily lives and what happens in it.

Real Talk Notes/Instructions

Today's lesson was about the Real Talk video assignment; Dr. Harkey wrote the directions and the requirements of our Real Talk video assignment. Although the words written on the white board look very brief and abbreviated, the rhetoric of the underlining, circles, and asterisks convey and emphasize exactly what Dr. Harkey wanted to explain to us about the purpose and objective of the assignment.

Shields Connection With Charles Guignon

Here I just took a picture after class as an example of electronic notes. Dr. Harkey wrote down these side notes down on the white board to tell us what Shields is taking about on certain pages of the book. The pages on artificial and authenticity have a connection with Charles Guignon and his book, On Being Authentic.

Realness Prezi Draft Drawing

An image of our first draft of our Prezi project on "Realness and Perception". It just shows the beginning works of what our final project turned out to be.

Merry Christmas!

Banksy Mischief Project (Ho Ho Ho)

I included this link to our Banksy Mischief Project website, which displays our street artwork and even more images of the process and final outcome with even a few people's reactions. We included a video that emphasizes the money leading up to the present boxes. Check it out! Who knows, maybe another mischievous project will appear on your campus...