Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone Review Questions

Critical Thinking: The Writer's Ideas
1.Make a list of the evaluative criteria Roger Ebert uses to judge this film.
How fair is the evaluation that he makes? Why?
-different characters portrayed in the movie
-the plot
-the way computers are used and how they affected the film
His evaluation is fair because he really looks into each characteristic of the topics he talks about.

2.Do the same with Mitchell's review:list his evaluative criteria. How fair is Mitchell's evaluation? Why?
-Mitchell looked into other movies for comparison
-cast & characters
-book & plot
-This is the criteria Mitchell used when evaluating the movie. Personally, I am not a fan of this movie so it wasn't difficult for me to agree with most of the ideas he stated. He posed his opinion on the acting, the special affects and the roles they gave each character. He even got a little racial.

3.Of the two reviewers, which one do you see as being more fairer in his review?
-Honestly, I think Ebert was being more fair because he actually had some backup points and compared to other movies in a positive way. He talked about some other classic films Columbus had done and why he thought Harry Potter was so successful. He also mentioned some other great movies such as Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and The Wizard of Oz. Although I agree with Mitchell I don't think he was as fair as Ebert.

Composing Processes and Knowledge of Conventions: The Writer's Strategies
1.What is the strongest part of Eberts review? Why? His best part was at the end when he let his readers know he was sure Harry Potter would be a classic as he was watching it because it is a movie that cares to tella story and not just throw thrills at people. he really stated his opinion there.
-Of Mitchell's' review? Why? The strongest part of Mitchell's review was when he talked about how Mr.Columbus goes out his way to throw a couple of lines to a well-groomed boy with dreadlocks in his head. I thought this was interesting because he is so sincere as to the way he feels and he takes a racial standpoint.
-What do you consider to be the last effective part of each review? I think the last effective part of each review is the way they sum it up. Ebert summed up his review by talking about other classics as I stated beforehand and Mitchell basically rips up this film from beginning to end without a pause.

2.One criterion for an effective evaluation is that the writer explains the criteria on which he or she bases the evaluation. In what ways does Ebert do this? Ebert does this because he sort of introduces the next topic he is going to touch on in the start of his paragraph. he did it for characters, computer usage for special affects and plot.
-In what ways does Mitchell? I don't think Mitchell was real based on a criteria to evaluate which is the reason that might have made him somewhat of a poor evaluator.

3.In addition to its evaluative features, in what ways are Ebert's and Mitchell's essays also persuasive?
-Ebert's critique is persuasive to me because he makes me think about the actual story the plot is telling and how this affects kids and also how important each role is in the movie.
-Mitchell uses the fact that there is no imagination left to the mind because the movie is followed directly from the book in order to persuade me.

4.Which reviewer do you find more convincing? Why?
- find Ebert to be more convincing because of the fact that he doesn't attack the story although he is the one who likes it. Mitchell on the other hand wasn't really using any real support, but I still agree with him.

5.Ebert uses many examples from Rowling's novel in his own text. How helpful are they for purposes of constructing a film review? Why? They are helpful in the sense of persuasion. I think as a critic you want to be ab le to make people see your point of view and if you use first hand info like Rowling herself than whats better than that?

Campaign Ads Evaluation

Brenda(Gays in the Military)- you chose a very strong subject matter but I think you might want to make the letters at the bottom more bright because they do hold alot of meaning.

Ari(Colony Collapse Disorder Bees)- very unique subject matter.

Kiara & Eric(Student Tuition)- Don't really like to talk about financial issues but they backed up their point very well.

Silvia & Melissa(Gay, I'm loving it)- Couldn't really read the words, too packed.

Desiray(War in Iraq)- Love the subject. Great back up. Personal experiences.

Samantha(Legalizing marijuana)- Love the fact that there were alot of statistics.

Brandon & Ziggy(Legalizing marijuana & Fossil Fuels vs. Alternative Fuels)- I was kind of confused that they mixed two topics so they didn't really focus on one topic.

Nick & Darius(Don't let the govt take your money)- I loved the slide itself. Also, there were many facts and they demonstrated knowledge on the subject matter.

Deja(Meth/Drug abuse)- Very graphic but that made it successful.

Shawnakay(Public Smoking)- Loved it cause I could relate.

Tammie(Texting & Driving)- very current issue/realistic/interesting to debate.

Jose(gay marriage)- I would've chose the perspective of kids.

Charnel(Crime)- Alot of facts

Julian(Immigration from Mexico)- very controversial subject matter but that's what makes it great to discuss.

Juliana(Organic vs. generically modified foods)- made me think of generically modified foods in a diff rent way.

Justin(Legalizing marijuana)- seemed to have some very good points.

Teen Pregnancy

Are we finally allowed to call this issue a "trend"? Teenage pregnancy has been a huge issue ever since I entered high school. What is going on with our current generation right now that wasn't happening in the past? Supposedly, the rate of teenage pregnancies were decreasing but ever since 2005 it increased by 3 percent with blacks and Hispanics in the lead and whites last. Now, all three groups are equal. What is causing this issue? Is it the way parents our raising their kids? is it the lack of the use of contraception or perhaps influence? Believe it or not, the influence we have on each other as humans is crucial to the way we lead our lives. Every teenager comes to a point in their life where they stop being a leader as a result of peer pressure and they become a follower to fit in. Teen pregnancy is a result of this. Another major issue we are facing now is the fact that we have kids raising kids. All these 14 and 15 year olds running around pushing babies out has become an epidemic. Yes, that is exactly the word I'd like to use. Think about it, if a teenager is not responsible enough to make the right decision before getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant, how are they supposed to be responsible enough to be a parent to their child? Where have our morals and values gone? Parents no longer instill these principles into the minds of their young ones. That is where we have gone wrong. By taking this route, I certainly don't expect to see a decline anytime soon in the rate of our teenage pregnancies.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/us/27teen.html

Sex Education- Where has it gone wrong?

I chose to talk about sex education because I believe schools have taken this subject into their own hands and twisted it in a way that are now making children do what they think is right. Sex education is not about preaching abstinence, it is about teaching the right methods to avoid pregnancy at an early age and catching diseases that will be harmful to your body. I remember in my middle school as an 8Th grader my sex ed class only lasted a day. They set it up as a workshop. Instead of taking this class as a priority to prevent mistakes in the future, teachers just show the students videos on the process of an abortion. I asked myself: Is this video meant to scare me away from trying sex because this might happen to me? Throughout high school I experienced all kinds of personal drama with myself and of course with my friends. Out of the 10 girls that I called my friends, literally 8 ended up pregnant by senior year. After realizing the predicament they were currently facing, I told myself if sex ed classes actually taught what they needed to or were actually enforced as a part of our daily schedule these are mistakes we can prevent. Instead of saying: "Don't have sex, you will catch aids and get pregnant" why not say:"Here is the correct way of putting on a condom, ladies don't let men fool you" The truth is that sex is a natural part of life that every human being will eventually experience sooner or later. The problem is to do it correctly without developing a product at an unwanted time. I was reading a sex ed article by Jennie Hogan on Topix and she was talking about a former friend of hers who had to watch two dogs mating in her sex ed class as a kid. Is there really something wrong with that? Shouldn't the truth just be thrown out there? The truth about sex and its aspects should not be hidden from anyone. It is better to learn the right way then to not learn at all.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/mar/08/sex-education-religion