Saw VI: Mixing Political Commentary & Horror

Background

For this assignment - from an American Horror course, I was instructed to pick a horror film and analyze how it approaches a political or social topic. That was the core idea of the assignment, though I was largely limited to analyzing the film according to references in notes and material covered in course discussions.

I lacked a wide array of horror films with an explicit focus in politics. The few films I noted with a subject matter that involved politics or social topics basically consisted of The Omen (original series and remake) and Day of the Dead (original, 1985). However, with healthcare being a major subject in recent months, I decided on Saw VI, which uses healthcare as a plot point

The following is my written analysis, albeit highly edited and, in my mind, improved based on my own feelings and feedback after I submitted it*.

Characterization in Louise Erdrich’s Indian Boarding School – The Runaways

I recently rediscovered a few older assignments from my time at HACC. One of these is an analysis I wrote about characterization for a short story in my Fall 2014 Introduction to Literature course.

I wrote this analysis as the second part of a two-part assignment studying the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The first part involved a slideshow presentation with a partner with information about the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

I have little to add beyond the fact that little, if anything, has been added or edited from this posting.

Genres: Few, Many & More

Background

This is an early assignment I wrote while at HACC for a media studies class in 2015. The instruction was very much, "Pick a topic from a list of topics and write about it; include references to conglomeration, convergence and how advances in technology have affected it."

From this list, I selected a topic about genres. I first asked, "What can I write about this that would make it unique or worth reading?" Eventually I narrowed down on an angle: how genres have evolved over time and how they can divide in to sub-genres, and those sub-genres can be divided, and so on.

I wasn't planning to post this at all, but after one of my classes studied genres and narratives, I decided to revisit this and post it.

The Music of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: An Analysis

Here, I was asked to analyze an aspect of a film and write about it.

I decided to look into one aspect of a Christmas classic that probably few people ever think about.

Mythology & Media Accuracy: An Analysis

Foreword

For this assignment, I had two choices: write about myths in art, and about myths in the modern world. Since my topic was so applicable to both categories, I ended up writing a hybrid paper.

A quick side note: in my write up, I make a few comments that may come off as me disparaging the Indiana Jones and Sleepy Hollow series. I'd like to clarify first that, while I'm not a huge fan, I'm a follower of both franchises. This paper isn't meant to belittle either series, but meant to illustrate an example of errors in mythological research in media.

In a time where people are despised because of how little others understand their religions, I think a greater understanding of those religions will be extremely important.

Painting Critique

Here, I was asked to find and review a painting. For the assignment, rather than search the mass amount of paintings in databases across the internet, I decided to review a print I personally owned. Here is what I wrote.

Phi Theta Kappa at HACC

Note: I've redacted the names of individuals mentioned in this to protect their identities and privacy. I also made a single alteration below as a date mentioned as already passed.

From grade school on, students are encouraged to put forth their absolute best for all sorts of rewards and benefits. Students with grades no lower than C’s are accepted into Honor Societies. Students with no lower than a B receive Distinguished Honors.

A similar opportunity awaits students who perform well academically at HACC and many other colleges.

Phi Theta Kappa (or ΦΘΚ) is a nationally recognized honor society. Formed in 1918 in Missouri, their self-described mission is to recognize college students’ academic achievements and grant opportunities for students to grow as scholars and leaders.