Table of Contents And in the end… Pop Culture vs. Traditioin Critical Thinking Piece Remember the Titans Revision Piece Visiting Pop Culture Voice and Audience Piece Who’s In, Who’s Out? Writer’s Choice

Hello and thanks for visiting my E-Portfolio. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Shanna Tate, and Spring 2009 has been my second full-time quarter at Everett Community College. I’m double majoring in History and English, but my faith in the latter has been tested greatly through this quarter. I’ll explain more about that later.

This portfolio is a showcase of the culmination of everything we have learned this quarter. We’ve learned about identity, and what it takes to find it. We’ve learned about community, and what it takes to be a part of one. We also learned about traditions, and how they are formed and tested every day. When going into the quarter, I was excited to read more about each of these ideas. What I didn’t expect was that in studying and writing through these three units, I would learn more about who I am and what I stand for. I would also become more comfortable with where I fit in, and what my place is in society. Learning more about myself in these ways also helped me have a greater respect and understanding of tradition and why it’s important. Yes, it seems as though English 101 has served me well.

With all the lessons learned, I think it’s important to note that this hasn’t been an easy journey for me. Growing up, I knew what I wanted to do: I wanted to be a writer. I’d major in English and History to learn everything I could about the world and to gain perspective, learn about photography to capture priceless moments and great memories, and travel the world with family and friends, documenting my experiences. I'd teach English or History as my main source of income, and having summers off would give me plenty of time to live out this dream. It was never about trying to make money doing this, but about living life and the experiences I would have doing what I love. I lost sight of that as I got older. Very few things will make you worry about money more than buying your first home, and the thought of being in debt forever frightened me. Thinking I should forget my passions and go for a high paying career instead, I started college. A year later and after a few failed, miserable attempts at majors that I knew weren’t right for me, my husband encouraged me to follow my dream and go for it. I talked to my closest friends to gain reassurance, and with my support system in place, "going for it" was exactly what I did.

I registered for this class feeling confident. English had always been my forte, and I never foresaw myself having any problems. All was going well until the end of the second week when the first paper came along. My grade wasn’t terrible, don't get me wrong. By any normal standard, it was a completely admirable grade and looking back, I wish I wouldn’t have felt so let down by my own inability to live up to the standards and visions I had set for myself. As the quarter progressed, I continued to feel more and more like I was kidding myself by thinking this was the right path for me. I had been out of school for nearly seven years and felt like I had lost my niche and my passion for writing. After a death in the family and an extended vacation thanks to bad weather in Chicago, I felt myself giving up and in desperate need of inspiration. With a pep talk from family, friends, and fellow classmates, I was able to realize that even though this quarter didn’t go perfect, it was the first step – merely a stepping stone back into the groove of academic writing. Instead of looking at how much I felt I had failed myself, I instead looked at how much I accomplished, and all the lessons I had learned.

This course allowed me to see things in a different light, and realizing that was just the inspiration I needed to regain my confidence. While the pieces I am highlighting as a part of this portfolio aren’t perfect in content and form, looking at it now, they are everything I could have hoped for. They are the beginning of the next chapter in my life, and the beginning of my progression into becoming a writer again. Enjoy.

The analysis of how pop culture is affecting tradition was one of the main focuses in the third unit of this quarter. For our third paper, we were instructed to write an essay on how a specific element of pop culture is challenging a traditional way of doing things, and how those changes are impacting our society. I chose to write about how social media websites, as a part of pop culture, are impacting the way that companies are marketing their brands. My intention for this piece was to effectively show how advertising through social media works, while giving critical perspective on the positive and negative aspects of this new trend.

I was really excited about the opportunity to do some revisions on one of my pieces for this quarter, but I had a terrible time deciding which one to choose. I felt that so many of the pieces I wrote could have been better. In the end, I decided to rewrite my first timed writing essay, for the movie "Remember the Titans." I was extremely pleased with this essay the first time around, but thought that it deserved the revision because there would no longer be a time limit, and I made some simple mistakes. I felt that if I rewrote one of the other essays, I would have to change things too much in order to be happy with the rewrite, and I didn't feel that completely redoing one of the assignments would be an effective way in showing my ability to resee and revise my work. Instead, I took the observations left by my instructor to heart, and combined them with the changes I would have made had I had more time the first time around, and ran with it.

Who are the outsiders?

Everyone feels like an outsider at one time or another. The Disney film “Remember the Titans” shows us that a person can be considered an outsider for a wide range of reasons. Some are outsiders because of the color of their skin or where they are from, while others are outsiders because of their sexual orientation, or the orientation they are presumed to have. Some may even feel like they are an outsider because they don’t fit in with any group at all and instead choose to follow the beat of their own drum.

Sunshine was an outsider. In the film, Sunshine was the hipster kid from California. He was a typical surfer boy with long blond hair. He was everything a person would assume a teenage boy from California would be. Since California is so vastly different than the small Virginia town where the movie takes place, the kids didn’t understand him from the second he showed up, and they weren’t afraid to voice their opinions. One of the most frequent assumptions was that he was gay. For example, one day in the locker room, Gerry incessantly refers to him as a fruitcake, so Sunshine boldly goes over and kisses him on the lips. Everyone laughs when they realize what happened, but later, Petey wants to know the truth about Sunshine’s preferences. Sunshine kept asking why it mattered, and Petey kept insisting that it didn’t matter, but he still wanted to know. Sunshine put the argument to rest by simply stating, “If it doesn’t matter, then you don’t need to know.” We never did find out if Sunshine was gay, but regardless, his teammates considered him an outsider until they were able to move past the mystery of his sexual orientation and accept him for who he was.

While Sunshine's story is certainly one of facing adversity, my favorite “outsider” from “Remember the Titans” is Louie Lastick. It seems as though there are one of him in every story – the big guy that gets along with everybody. While everyone else in the movie was so concerned with race and boundaries, mostly due to the two separate schools merging into a single school of mixed race and the black and white kids both playing on the same football team, Louie could have cared less. At one point he sits down for lunch at a table with the black kids and they tell him he should go eat with “his people.” Louie tells them that he doesn’t have people. “I’m with everybody,” he says. Louie's character was unique because he was an outsider simply because he had his own beliefs. He didn’t choose any one side, and he didn’t fit into any group. His ability to get along with everyone played a defining role in bringing the group closer, and because of this, he became an irreplaceable part of the "family" the Titans had become.

Although this film was set in a small Virginia town several years ago, the issues addressed are still relevant issues today. The fight against racism and homophobia is still an uphill battle, in small towns, suburbs and big cities. Some people feel the need to belittle these people, or make them outsiders, because of the color of their skin or who they choose to love. Through inappropriate jokes, stares, and sometimes even flat-out viciousness and hate crimes, our country sees the impact these issues have on our society every single day.

The sad truth is, everyone is an outsider in somebody else’s opinion, regardless. People will continue to be oppressed and left out for both their own personal choices and those choices that they can’t control. The important thing to remember is that everyone is different. It isn’t all about the way that we are seen, but the way we handle ourselves and learn to accept others for who they are, regardless of our differences. Our individuality should not be a burden, and our diversity should be celebrated. The ability to think outside the box by realizing this simple idea will provide learning experiences and opportunities that may have otherwise been missed due to our own personal ignorance. After all, we are all a part of the same family – the human race. As Coach Yoast says to Coach Boone near the end of the movie, “You taught this city how to trust the soul of a man rather than the look of him. I guess it’s about time I joined the club.” If everyone had the courage to set aside their differences and follow this notion, the world would be a better place.

In looking through all of the "public" posts I made in the discussion boards, group boards, and my blog, I felt that my short reflection on Adam Sternbergh's "Britney Spears: A Pop Tart in Winter" had a strong sense of voice and audience. The audience in the piece is fairly open to anyone reading in order to gain an understanding of how pop culture works. The voice in this piece comes from my strong opinions on the impact that the media and cultural icons, such as Britney Spears, have on the young girls that admire them.

"Her handlers, for lack of a better word, were trying to make her put across the image of what the typical, all-American girl should be - skinny, sweet and innocent, a virgin until she was married, and very passionate about her beliefs. However, in reality, Britney was putting up a front and not being who she really was in order to make the public happy and fit into this mold, and as the years went on, this started to become more and more prevalent in everything she did...The problem with this was that so many young girls looked up to her, and thus what was acceptable for Britney started to become acceptable for them, no matter how untraditional the low-rise jeans and belly-baring t-shirts were for young girls to wear. Britney did it, so it was okay."

Britney Spears' story had been so widely reported that I felt as though the audience could really gain an understanding of these messages, because most of us are somewhat familiar with the subject matter. I really enjoyed writing about topics that are relevant to pop culture for that reason.

Pop culture challenges traditons...

I read a few of the articles, but Adam Sternbergh's "Britney Spears: The Pop Tart in Winter" immediately stood out to me. When many people think of an all-American girl, they think of girls like Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera, etc. All the girls that were a part of the teen pop craze in the late 90's. The record comapnies and managers that represented these girls did what they could to capitalize on this, some with greater success than others. Stenbergh quotes Britney as saying "My prerogative right now is to just chill & let all of the other overexposed blondes on the cover of Us Weekly be your entertainment. GOOD LUCK GIRLS!! ... It's amazing what advisors will push you to do, even if it means taking a naive, young, blonde girl & putting her on the cover of every magazine. (372)" Her handlers, for lack of a better word, were trying to make her put across the image of what the typical, all-American girl should be - skinny, sweet and innocent, a virgin until she was married, and very passionate about her beliefs. However, in reality, Britney was putting up a front and not being who she really was in order to make the public happy and fit into this mold, and as the years went on, this started to become more and more prevalent in everything she did. She would say how she didn't want to be a sex symbol in an interview for a magazine, and on the next page would be a picture of her, half naked. She was battling with herself against how the media would like her to be, as a traditional nice girl with good values, and the rebellious teenager/young adult that she really was. The problem with this was that so many young girls looked up to her, and thus what was acceptable for Britney started to become acceptable for them, no matter how untraditional the low-rise jeans and belly-baring t-shirts were for young girls to wear. Britney did it, so it was okay. Eventually, as I'm sure we all know, she had a huge meltdown because she couldn't keep up the double life. Pop culture continued to change, and now she is much less relevant, but a lot of the boundaries she pushed have continued to change the way that young girls assume they should be.

"Who’s In, Who’s Out?” was the second discussion board prompt we were given for the quarter. For the Writer’s Choice, I chose my main post from this board, “A lengthy little story about how I almost let the “tribes” get the best of me.” I felt that my portfolio would be incomplete without this piece because it is an extremely personal account of how my own experiences related to those in Emily White's essay, "High School's Secret Life."I feel this piece really helped me open up and develop a voice in my writing. From the darkest of days to overcoming the cliques, the story of my high school years is comprised of many events that lead to an epiphany that become a defining moment in my life. It is the closest I have ever been to truly understanding the old “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” adage, and although living it was nothing short of a nightmare, rising above the adversity to make myself a better, happier person will always keep these triumphs close to my heart.

A lengthy little story about how I almost let the "tribes" get the best of me.

First and foremost, I want to apologize for how long this post is, but I felt it necessary in order to convey my entire high school story. I had two very different high school experiences, for reasons that will come out as this post progresses. Since the first one leads to the second, and for the sake of chronological order, let’s start with that one first.

I grew up in Marysville and went to Cascade Elementary. At the time, depending on which side of town and which elementary school you went to, once you were done with 5th grade you would either go to Cedarcrest Middle School for grades 6-9, or would go to the Marysville Middle School for grades 6 and 7, and the Marysville Junior High School for 8 and 9. At the beginning of 5th grade, my family moved to the other side of town. Unfortunately, that meant that not only would I be leaving all of my friends for that year, but I wouldn’t be going to Cedarcrest with them and wouldn’t be meeting up in school with them again until high school. At the time, I was devastated, but once I got adjusted and made new friends I was okay. I kept in touch with those I was close to, and looked forward to seeing everyone again in high school. Plus, I looked at it as an added bonus that once we reached high school, I would know everyone there.

Knowing everyone wasn’t as great as I thought it would be.
As Emily White describes in her essay, “The popular kids…dress overwhelmingly in the ubiquitous trendy brand Abercrombie & Fitch. They sport the logo on T-shirts, pants, bags, baseball hats.” (18) The popular kids not only wore Abercrombie, but all of the more “expensive” brands. They always had to be up-to-date with the latest fashion trends, as well as the latest gossip. Most of them had money, and the “unpopular” kids feared them like they feared the plague. Unfortunately, most of the people I was close with in middle school fell into this category. The kids I grew up with, on the other hand, ended up turning in to all kinds of different people. Some were “popular” and some, not so much. I didn’t care. I had grown up with these people, and they were my friends. I never labeled myself in any social category, because I didn’t truly fit in with any of them. I wanted to be friends with the people that I liked, and I was, for better or for worse.

Emily described how “some days messengers would travel from tribe to tribe, proving that webs can be formed even if they are fragile and fleeting.” (19) She talks of how the “natural helpers” would go from table to table collecting pennies for their cause, and how the “lonely kids are being addressed” (19) and how the “computer geeks looked up at (them) as if they are angels.” (19) This was me. In class, I would seek out the shy, chubby girl that never talked to anyone and ask her to be my partner when we were doing group work. I would smile and wave at the computer geeks when they didn’t look like they were having a great day. Not because I was trying to make fun or mock them, but because I genuinely didn’t want them to feel like they went unnoticed and that no one cared. I wanted to feel like no matter what was going on that was bringing them down, at least they could have me to think back on and say how maybe I made their bad days a little brighter. My “popular” friends didn’t like this very much, but most of them were a grade ahead of me, so I would always try and hide a lot of it from them since we didn't have many classes together.

I was successful in playing Switzerland to the tribes until my junior year. There was this one girl, and nobody liked her. I mean, nobody would give her the time of day, so she always kept to herself because she knew it. It had been this way for years. Being the way I was, I went out of my way to be nice and always say hello to her. I’d always ask how her weekend was, comment on her new haircut, and be her partner in group assignments. Well, one day, it was her birthday. I knew her homelife wasn't good and that her parents had very little money, so I wanted to try and do something special for her. I came to school with a gift for her, a book that she always talked about. She told me how she loved it so much that she would always borrow it from the library until they'd make her return it, only to check it out again the next week. This set my “friends” over the edge. It made the girl so happy – this random act of simple kindness. But to my friends, I had abandoned them. I had crossed over to the other side, and they made my life a living hell because of it.

I tried to deal as best as I could, and slowly started to distance myself from them. All of this came to a head again when my aunt was planning a surprise Sweet 16 party for my birthday. She had gotten all of the numbers out of my cell phone and called all my friends to invite them. When she called my “best” friend, she told my aunt that she didn’t know me, she’d never talked to me, her friends didn’t know me and that I might as well be dead to them. Ah, the scorn of the popular girl at its best. This was one of the most defining moments of my life. This was when I realized how absolutely ridiculous this whole situation was. I was nice to people, and I was looked down on for it. I was trying to make people's lives better, only for them to make mine worse. This was when I realized how, like real tribes, the tribes of the high school would stick together, no matter what, until the bitter end.

I flat-out refused to go back to school and my parents ended up transferring me to Lakewood High School near Arlington the following week. It was most definitely a culture shock. The school had 1/10 the number of students that Marysville did, and the campus was tiny. All the students seemed to know each other. Most of them were “Lakewood Lifers,” having grown up and gone there together since kindergarten or even preschool. I don’t know how many of you have seen the Twilight movie, but it was almost like that (without all the vampires, of course) on my first day. I was the new girl, and everyone knew me because of it. They all knew my name, as if there was some announcement the day before to let them all know I was coming. They all went out of their way to get to know me, and they all wanted to be my friend. There were no more “tribes.” The “popular” kids were popular because they were outgoing and involved and nice to everyone. They were popular not for their money or looks or the clothes they wore, but for something more important – dare I say, their personalities. Everyone there was popular in their own right. The band kids were friends with the jocks, and they’d all go to Denny’s after watching their drama friends act in the school play on Friday night. Lakewood was an entirely different world. Sure, it had its share of drama, but that is human nature. Lakewood was not full of separate, conflicting tribes, but of one tribe. One tribe of students that supported each other and got along. One tribe where everyone could fit in, and no one was an outsider. Lakewood was the way high school should be for everyone. And I loved every minute of it.