Ok, everyone–thanks for hanging in there. Here’s what I’m looking for you to do for Sunday. As always, e-mail me with any questions:
- Take Quiz 2. Note that it will automatically close Sunday at 5p.
- Re-read K-Hole’s “Youth Mode” and Jerry Salz’ “Art at Arm’s Length.” Pick one of these texts to write a bit about (and post below). When writing about either K-Hole’s or Salz’ work, I want you to do whatever you like in addition to doing two things:
A) Introduce the text and a quote from it using the following format:
In “_Title of Text_,” _Author Name_ observes that “___quote___” (AuthorLastName_p. #).B) Identify and discuss one key term that the author tries to define and explain to me the ideas the author uses to try to define this key term. Also discuss any questions you have about the way the author has tried to define this term.
- Write and post Essay 1 feedback for Joseph Azor and Denis Hasancevic. Both are available in the Essay 1 Drafts folder (linked in the “Course Docs” page).
- Post below any questions about this week or last week’s reading or writing assignments that you want me to address during the Zoom session I will be holding with students on Wed at 2:30p.
Iâm âyouth modeâ k-Hole observes that âNormcore knows your consumer choices arenât irrelevant, theyâre just temporary. People compromise. People are inconsistent.â K-Hole discusses one of they key terms of this part of the text calling the targeted audience complex. K-Hole goes on to describe how inconsistent we may be when making conflicting but not drastic choices. This gives off that k-Holes ideas are revolved around the sole idea that although we may be indecisive or inconsistent about our decisions, whatever they may be, that itâs doesnât make us a hypocrite but it in fact just makes us human. With this said, I question if this topic occurred between the author and someone else once before to make them defend being able to be inconsistent with our temporary decisions.
Thanks for your response, Alia. If and when you revise this, I want you to add to your discussion of the quote from K-Hole’s text a discussion of what you think the key term “normcore” is and what it means.
You’ve done well to identify this as the most important key term in this piece! Now I just want you to take the next step and tell me more about it.
I know that I didn’t give you much to go on prior to having you read this text by K-Hole. So before asking you to revise, I’ll point out that K-Hole is a trend-forecasting group who analyze–you guessed it–trends and other facets of consumer culture. They also make predictions of what trends might become popular in the future, based on their analyses of culture at present.
I think this should be enough to help you think and write more about what “normcore” is and what K-Hole is saying it means/refers to.
2.
A)
In ââYOUTH MODEââ by K-Hole Observes that ââYouth isnât freedom in any political sense. Itâs an emancipation from boredom, from prescription, from tradition, itâs the fullness of potential, the ability to be the person you want to be.ââ
B)
In the text ââYOUTH MODEââ by K-Hole, the author defied the word youth completely different from itâs norm. Whenever I heard or read the word youth, I would instantly think of someone who is young, probably a teenager or a young adult, but in this text the author wrote that Youth is not about how old someone is in fact it has nothing to do with age, it is a Mode. It is when someone has complete freedom over themselves. In the beginning of the text the author wrote what it is like to live in the Youth Mode such as having the freedom and the ability to be the person you want to be. Then the author gave many examples and stories that relate to the term Youth Mode. on page 42 he gave a example of someone who is in their Youth Mode because that person does not give a fuck about what others thinks about his passion. After thoroughly reading the text I just have a question if someone is in their 70âs and has all the freedom but does not want to change their life or improve their life so should that person be considered to be in Youth Mode?
4. For the zoom meeting I will ask what does this text YOUTH MODE: MASS INDIE is about, and how does these examples relate to the Author’s Thesis Youth Mode?
Islam,
Great questions–during the Zoom meeting, remind me to talk about the odd kind of thesis in K-Hole’s “Youth Mode” and the connection between that thesis and the work they are doing to define a key term: “normcore.”
You, on the other hand, have identified another key term in the textâ”youth”âand the way they’ve attempted to define it. Your discussion of this term in part B is very good. The next step is to link what K-Hole is saying about “youth” to what they are saying, later in the article, about the concept of “normcore.” We can discuss this as well on Wed.
In âArt at Armâs Lengthâ, Jerry Salz observes that â selfies have changed aspects of social interaction, body language, self-awareness, privacy, and humor, altering temporality, irony and public behavior. It has become a new visual genre- a type of self- portraiture formally distinct from all others in history. Selfies have their own structural autonomy. This is a very big deal of art.â (Salz_p. #1 and 2). I chose this quote because I found it interesting for him to relate to the act of selfie taking as art. He opens his essay talking to us readers about how much a selfie can mean when it comes to visual art.
One key term the author tries to define Self-portrait. He uses his knowledge on what selfie are to define this term. He mentions âthe typical selfies are boring, silly, guys flexing muscles and girls making pouty lips. He states selfies are nearly always taken from within an armâs length of the subject.â He states âif both your hands are In the picture and itâs not a mirror shot. Technically, it is not a selfie- itâs a portrait.â I found it interesting because he talks about the differences between selfies and self-portraits. In my perspective I usually take a lot of selfies. Iâve never realized the amount of self-portraits I take too (with the self-timer. )
Brittny,
This is great work you’ve done in pulling out the key definitions Salz is arguing for in “Art at Arm’s Length.” Salz is a well-known art critic (sort of an art historian as well) who has been increasingly interested in new forms of media in the past decade. As you rightly point out, his claim in this essay is that “the selfie” is actually a new form of art with its own formal parameters that distinguish it from other genres of artânotably, the self portrait. Now, depending on how you and others are using the timers on your phones to capture your self-image, you could question Salz’ claim that if “both of your hands are in the frame, it’s not a selfie. For instance, is it not a selfie if I use Photo Booth on my computer? Is it not a selfie if I use a selfie stick, extended at such an angle away from my body such that I’m able to capture both the hand holding the stick and my other hand?
But regardless, while this is an interesting and provocative claim Salz makes at the beginning of the text, his essay really gets going with his micro-definitions of different kinds of selfies later on in it. If you revise this, I’d love for you to explore some of these different sub-genres of selfie that he gets into in the latter half of the text.
Thanks.
M
In âYouth Modeâ, K. Hole observes that âYOUTH MODE isnât about perpetually reliving yourself at a younger age, it’s about being youthfully present at any given ageâ (Hole, p35). Hole is shining new light on the definition of what âYouth Mode’ means. When you hear the term âYouth Modeâ you automatically think of someone young, in their mid-late teens and maybe somewhat rebellious. But when you read Holeâs definition, it means something completely different. What Hole is trying to say is, youth is something you carry in the mind. When you carry something in your mind that doesnât necessarily go away with age. The ideas you have from your youth, can travel with you as you grow and you donât have to let them go. This is essential to adulthood because as adults we tend to age ourselves and when doing that we force ourselves to let go ideas from our youth that made us happy. Hole is implying that doesn’t need to be the case. I think Holeâs definition for Youth Mode is what more people need to hear.
A) In âYouth Modeâ, K-Hole observes that âOnce upon a time people were born into communities and had to find their individuality. Today people are born individuals and have to find their communities (Hole_p. #7).â
B) Throughout this excerpt, K-Hole mentions different kinds of topics regarding oneâs individuality, but one idea that she elaborates on has to deal with the concept of youth. The author describes it as the following, âYouth is a mode. Itâs an attitude (Hole_p. #2).â In terms of discussing oneâs individuality, K-Hole refers to this freedom as solely being the breaking away of what society views as norm and tradition and redefining the bar that was previously set, in figuring out who you are and what you can contribute to society as a creative. The author includes examples such as Kevin Spaceyâs breakdown scene in American Beauty to display this idea. Youth is not an age-restriction, but rather it is how one is present with being who they desire to be. With this freedom of youth, one is encouraged to take advantage of many opportunities presented to them without fearing failure. K-Holeâs text illustrates how youth defines one being able to reach their fullest capacity in being creative while understanding how to be relatable to the society youâre in; this role as a creative will only free an individual into truly becoming who they desire to be without hesitation or uncertainty.
One question that I have in particular would be as to why does K-Hole say, âYouth understands freedom with limitsâ? Does this phrase indicate that the youth are really free to be who they are?
2A. In ââYOUTH MODEââ by K-Hole Observes that âBeing in YOUTH MODE isnât about perpetually reliving yourself at a younger age, itâs about being
youthfully present at any given age.â
B One key term K-Hole used in the article was âfreedomâ as a definition for youth. And by these terms, he refers to freedom from boredom, prescription, and tradition. Itâs the ability to reach your full potential, the ability to be the person you want to be. K-Hole says that being in youth mode means being able to radically realign your relationship with the outside world and being adaptable is the only thing that will set you free. Seeing the way he puts it, I have to agree with his opinion because youth is not defined by age but by freedom.
I just have a question if someone with a disability can still feel young even when they take prescriptions? Will that still be considered an inability of freedom?
K-Holeâs âYouth Modeâ is him criticizing generation Z. In âYouth Mode,âK-Hole observes that âIt used to be possible to be special â to sustain unique differences through time, relative to a certain sense of audience. As long as you were different from the people around you, you were safe.â (K-Hole, 34). In my opinion, self validation has nothing to do with being âspecialâ and âdifferentâ in society. I personally feel safer when I am with like-minded people because I know that they get me, and what I go through. I can relate to them. K-Hole claims that there are no demographics anymore, which is false. Not everyoneâs interests are the same, no matter the race, gender, age, etc, we are all different individually.
K-Hole uses the word âYouthâ in an irregular way, he defines it as basically a way of life, not a describing a certain part of it.