Influential Books

1. Children Of The River
Children of the River by Linda Crew is very influential to me due to religious beliefs. This book takes place during the Khmer Rouge War in Cambodia, which my grandfather also faught in. Reading this book and hearing the stories that I have heard from my family has affected me because it has made me realize the easy life I have compared to the life my parents & grandparents have had. I believe that this book has put an impact on my life and my beliefs til this day.

2. The Color Purple
The Color Purple by Alice Walker has influenced me because it has made me realize that everyone should accept others for who they are. People shouldn't be discriminated against just for who they are or what they believe in. This was one of the saddest books I've read and I can say that it is definately one of my favorites.

3. Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was a book that I read in high school and it was one of my favorites compared to all the other books I had to read in high school. This book has taught me the meaning of friendship and to understand that everyone is different.

Media Impact

I've chosen to propose a media research project on the effect of music. I believe that music effects people more than movies, television, books, magazines, etc. A reason for this is because there are certain types of songs that can put you in a different mood relating to how you may feel. If someone was in a sad mood, they would listen to a song that will cheer them up or a song that they can listen to because the lyrics relates to the way they are feeling. I can analyze that many people will agree with me.
Songs that speak about violence, sex, and being under the influence also puts a big effect on audiences. Whether it's about love, violence, etc, I believe music has a huge effect on the way people may react.
From mixed-effect model, no matter what a type of song and what it speak about, audiences and fans who listen may be influenced by the combination of media. If it's about violence, audiences may react as what they hear without even having to watch the music video. Therefore they are experiencing desensitization because they follow the majority of other audiences who are influenced by the music.

Media Autobiography

I consistently have daily relationships with the eight types of mass media; books, newspapers, magazines, movies, recordings, radio, television, and the internet. I've constantly read books as I was younger, but now I usually only read required books for school or sometimes I will read for fun during my spare time. As a child, my favorite books to read were "The Series of Unfortunate Events". I was addicted and I've read all the series. If a movie was made from a book, I would rather read the book because I find it more interesting. I don't always read newspapers but once in a while I read San Jose Mercury News so I am aware of what is going on with the world. If not reading a newspaper, I usually watch the news on television. When I was younger, I was interested in reading magazine articles about animals, but as I've grown up, I became very interested in reading magazines about fashion, celebrities and clothing stores. Watching movies are one of my favorite things to do. I enjoy going to movie theaters. Movies and television are mainly for entertainment. I feel that commercials that are played on television are mainly for advertisement. To get the word out there, mostly to have more consumers and to send out messages to people everywhere. I believe that many television shows has influenced me positively in some ways of how I act around my friends. For example, the funny things people would do together with their friends on a show, me and my friends would reenact it. Then we would call it our little "inside joke". When I was younger, I used to listen to recordings while I read. For example, I used to read books for fun that were in a higher level and I would rent the recordings from the library so I can play it as I follow along while I read. I always listen to the radio. I enjoy listening to the radio for all the good songs playing on the radio stations but I also use to radio to listen to the news in the morning. Like when I am driving to school, I believe that's the perfect time to listen to the news and earliest celebrity gossip. Now my favorite of all is the Internet. I constantly use the internet for almost everything I do. I use the internet as all of the eight types of mass media. I also use the internet for networking and communicating with others, such as Yahoo, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. Internet makes it easier for me and everyone else and it is accessible for doing homework and blogging.