Extra cred.

                The internet! A teenager’s dream cure for boredom: screw reading, extracurricular activities, or other ways of having fun. You can now read electronically, “work out” on your WII consol and express artistic talents using the wonderful Photoshop. So, to answer your question: of course I had a blog before this RTF class. The 13 year old’s perfect blog at the time was xanga, and I mainly blogged because I was bored with my life and felt like maybe writing out how bored I was meant I wouldn’t be bored anymore. It sort of worked….and by sort of, I mean didn’t.
                I liked blogging for this class, because though this was a weekly assignment, it didn’t feel like it. Instead of “homework,” it was more like a fun way to discuss lectures. Instead of a group discussion or an analysis of the material, it was more engaging and fun to just write a paragraph or two about the topics in blog format. I also liked this blog because it was a nice way to take terms and ideologies from class and use them with our own examples.  
                I like to consider myself techno savy, so I didn’t really have any problems with the blogs. If I had a problem (conceptually) it was with finding an outside topic to write about. But, once I found my topic, it was easy to take the topic (like Mad Men, or The Lion King, or His Girl Friday) and relate them with terms from class lectures and readings. But, I think I easily overcame these problems by just thinking outside of the box. I thought about things I liked and therefore came up with ways to relate them to our lecture.
                The topics about film production the most fun. Also, it was fun to take examples from movies and really dissect them and make sense of them using film terms. The 3 act structure was my favorite topic, but watching the Lion King as homework was a lot of fun, too. Advertising blog prompts were fun, but only because I liked looking up pictures of Marc Jacobs’ ad for “Bang.” Guilty.
                Blogging should rule the university universe and dominate the “analytical essay.” I absolutely love writing analysis essays, but I think blogging is more fun. It doesn’t feel like a homework assignment, but another form of engaging in media (which is appropriate since this class is Media Studies…good usage of the class title, right?). I think more classes should have blog assignments, simply because it’s simple, doesn’t take up too much time or energy, and can be fun.
                If anything, all that I would change is more extra credit blogs…hell, they’re easy and fun, therefore I think more people would be more willing to do them. Plus, who isn’t a fan of extra credit? That’s right, no body! Also, you are more than welcome to use by blog for future references.