History of Me

The history of me is quite simple. My name is Amanda and I am from South Pasadena, California, a small city in Los Angeles. I have a small immediate family of five: a mother, father, and two older brothers. My closest friends are also from South Pasadena, but attend schools all over the world.

I am a second year transfer student at UC Irvine. Last year I attended UC Davis, but decided that it was not the school for me. I believe I definitely made the right choice; I am having a great time at Irvine. I’m taking four courses and just started a job on campus. My major is Studio Art, but I am looking into changing my major to something else.

I have a long list of hobbies, and I am always looking into new things. I danced with a ballet company for ten years, so dance is definitely one of my hobbies, along with pilates and yoga. Also, photography is another one of my interests. In high school, I took a photography course and I entered the California State Fair, and received an Honorable Mention. Because I have lived in southern California my entire life, I try to spend some time at the beautiful beaches that line the coast. Come spring, I will definitely be soaking up the warm sun rays. I enjoy reading, especially when the words are attention-grabbing. I just finished Valley of the Dolls, a book about three girls in the 60’s in New York who all handle fame in different ways.

In politics, I fall in the liberal category. I think a lot of elements like family and my social environment have contributed to shaping my views, but all in all it is my opinions and experiences that decide my views. I have both liberal and conservative friends and I think we mainly stay away from politics to avoid strenuous debates. I am respectful of other peoples’ views and hope that they will be respectful of mine as well.

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Hi - My name is Katherine Fitzgerald, but I go by Katie most of the time. I'm a 19 year old second year Anthro major. I come from a pretty big family, I have 4 siblings: one older brother and one older sister and one younger brother and one younger sister, so I'm the middle child. There's a pretty big age difference in my family - the oldest is 25 and the youngest is 6, so it was pretty fun growing up with all ages of siblings. My family is pretty fun, but a little crazy sometimes - like when I started dating my current boyfriend, who is Japanese, my mom started sending me things like a rice maker, bamboo apartment decorations, and a "music of Okinawa" CD. I grew up in Lake Elizabeth, CA which is a really small town about two hours north of UCI. Growing up I went to public school, had a brief stint in home school because it was faster, and then went to private, Catholic high school. In high school I was on the varsity cross country team, but honestly I hated every second of it and I only did it to get the jacket, and I still hate running. I do like tennis, though. I think I'll probably be a teacher when I grow up, although I used to want to be a lawyer. I decided if I did I probably wouldn't have enough time for family and all that, so now it looks like teaching is what I'll do. I was raised Catholic, which probably had a lot to do with my political leanings. I've always been pretty conservative, but I think any 19 year old ( i.e. me) who thinks they know the way everything should be in the world is mistaken. I hate when people get so heated about political issues that they attack anyone with different ideas. There's been a lot of that going on for a while now. I also hate when people make light of serious situations(i.e. I think if you have a problem with the president, its much more effective to say why you disagree with his foreign policy than to call him a "retard." ) That being said, I never had a friend in high school who had the same beliefs as me, and my extended family is all very liberal, so I have really learned that you shouldn't choose to like people or not based on their politics.

*me*

Hi everyone! My name is Kathy Rabii and I am a second year political science major. I hope to go to law school one day and enter entertainment law, which has been my dream since I was very young. Growing up I was very outgoing and would never stop talking and now that I am almost twenty years old that hasn’t really changed.
I was born in Denver, CO and lived there until I was nine years old with my mom, dad, and little sister. I grew up in a traditional Persian family with strict rules. The summer of third grade my mother decided she wanted my sister and I to experience living in Iran for a while and moved us there for a year. In the time that the three of us were living there I went to school and became fluent in reading and writing Farsi and my father moved to California in the mean time. When it was time for fifth grade we left Iran and moved to California as well. At first it was very hard for me and all I wanted to do was go back to Colorado, but as time went on I grew used to southern California and now consider myself a California baby. I love the beach and spending time with my friends, who are pretty much my family.
I believe growing up with such traditional parents with old fashion values and being Iranian has contributed greatly to my political beliefs. I feel like these days politics is not the traditional democrat vs. republican, rather everyone is divided even within their own party. I would consider myself to be liberal, but not to a crazy extent. I am very against war and war with Iran, obviously. I am however extremely open minded and willing to hear everyone’s point of view. I look forward to getting to know everyone and finding out what you’re all about!

Intro to me!

I am Lauren Elizabeth Consul and I am 19 years old. I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada and moved to Orange County to attend college. When people hear I am from out of state they usually ask me why I chose Irvine. To this I explain that Ialways wanted to go to college in California near the beach. While there were more factors in my final decision on Irvine, that was what I first looked for. Currently I am a double major in Criminology and Psychology, but will most likely end up just in Psychology. After I graduate I want to attend graduate school for clinical psychology and one day work with criminals in jails.
My family is an extremely important part of my life, and I am the youngest of three children. My parents, my brother, his wife, and their child all live in Las Vegas. I also have a sister who lives in Fort Walton Beach, Florida with her husband, and their two children (with another on the way). One of the greatest joys in my life is being Aunt and it is very hard for me to be away from my family.
In high school I was the captain of the women’s cross country and track team. Running is still a passion of mine and I try to fit it in to my busy school schedule. Currently I live in Newport with two other roommates and I love living at the beach. Traveling is also a huge passion of mine and I am planning on studying abroad for a semester next fall in Siena, Italy. I have been fortunate enough to travel to many states within the US and to Europe three times. Traveling is such a great way to expose yourself to different cultures and types of people, and I love experiencing that. That’s me in a nutshell!

Introduction

Hello, my name is Jena Zarza and I am the most amazing person you will ever meet! As you can see, I have a healthy sense of humor, which may someday lead to my downfall. I have a tendency to not take things very seriously, though I think I’ve grown out of that over the years. I’m a freshman undeclared major. I’ve been leaning toward Sociology as a possible major, but I think I should try to figure out what I want to do with my major before I commit to one. I’m from Anaheim…Go Ducks/Angels/Disneyland! I originally started going to UCI Fall of ’05, but left in Winter Quarter. I finally decided college was for me and went to community college in 2006, and decided to come back to UCI this year, making me only freshman status.
Television is my weakness. I love I Love Lucy, Prison Break, House, M*A*S*H, Court Shows, Talk Shows, Games Shows…basically anything but Soap Operas. I also love movies, my favorite of which is A Christmas Story.
I have the biggest small family I know. Confused? Let me explain. I have an immediate family of four (what I would consider small), but I have step-siblings up the wazoo. I have one full sister who is two years younger than me, and the baby of the whole family. I have two step-sisters and two step-brothers from my step-dad, and a step-brother and step-sister from my step-mom, making me the second youngest of eight. Since none of them have ever lived with me, I’ve only experienced being one of two kids, which is why I’d say I have a small, albeit large, family. I love to spend time with my nieces, nephews, and younger cousins. I’ve found over the years that the perfect age group is between 8 and 11 because they are old enough to have semi-intelligent conversations with, but they are young enough to still want to please you and do as they are told.
If I had a super-power, I would totally want to fly. I’ve been obsessed with it since my days of watching Peter Pan, another favorite movie of mine. I think I’d also want mind-reading abilities, that way I could easily out-wit anyone. Along those lines, one of my favorite hobbies is to argue. Not full-on arguing, but bantering, or debating. I love to convince people I’m right, but I don’t have a problem admitting when I’m wrong.
As far as my political views go, I’d say I’m open. Voting, for me, is more like choosing the lesser of two evils, not picking the best of the bunch. I do have a tendency to lean more towards the Democratic side when it comes to public programs, though.
I’ve always wanted to help people that can’t help themselves, and would love to help children in my future career. This attribute is probably the reason behind my great love for animals.
I guess the most important thing about me is that I find no need to try to please others. Of course I’m polite, and very respectful and caring of my friends and family, but I am satisfied with who I am, and am not wiling to change that in order to win the approval of someone else.

John Chapman: Disney's Version Vs. Pollan's

John Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed, is a famous character in American History. In my opinion, he is a somewhat forgotten character. I do not recall learning about him very much in school, and only hearing occasional references to him, and watching the Disney cartoon as a child. Disney created a cartoon about the infamous Johnny Appleseed, and compared to Pollan's views of him, the Disney version is a lot more family oriented. The fact that it is a cartoon says something about what will be included and excluded. Disney created an artistic character version of Chapman. This is not surprising, considering that Disney is a company in the entertainment industry, and their target market is primarily for families with young children. Disney is a story telling company, which creates fantasies. With this in mind, it makes sense that their cartoon would omit controversial aspects of the legend of Johnny Apple Seed. The Disney version of John Chapman is much like the Bill Jones that Pollan meets in The Botany of Desire. It portrays him as a flawless American hero, who should be used as a role model for the country.

Pollan, on the other hand, is an author who is not concerned about if unsuitable content in his book will prevent young children from reading it, because his target audience is mainly adults. His view on John Chapman is more biographical or historical than Disney's. He is more focused on the facts, rather than just making a catchy story to sell. Pollan seems to want to look at the darker side of John Chapman, and points out the many things that shroud Chapman's story. He includes things such as the child bride and alcohol, which would never make it into a Disney cartoon. Pollan is out to set the story straight, and to show that John Chapman was just a regular person, who was in it for the money, and that he was not some hero of the frontier.

The Pollan version of John Chapman is much more believable, because Disney is more likely to not include incriminating facts about so-called role models, because there's a profit in it for them.

What it be vs. what we see … Johnny Appleseed.

Disney aims to tell a great story of a real American hero and role model, Johnny (Appleseed) Chapman, to young children with the hope to inspire them (to maybe appreciate nature). Although Mr. Chapman was real, and his apple trees were real, Disney doesn’t mention some truths Michael Pollan retrieved through his journey when researching the story of the Apple. People along the frontier (as it moved west) did appreciate and know of Johnny Appleseed, but for different reasons. We learn that most of Johnny’s apples went into a bottle of cider, and not served in those yummy foods Disney describes such as apple pies, fritters, cakes, and etc. So people really appreciated the apples because of the alcohol it provided, and some people even deemed it healthier than water. They took Johnny Appleseed in and we want to see it from Johnny’s eyes to see the difference between Pollan’s and Disney’s perceptions. From Disney’s perception, Johnny did stumble across small communities, but he was modest about it. He told his animal friends that he didn’t have the time to receive gratitude from the people because he has to go off planting more trees. In real life, I would presume that Johnny was welcomed into people’s home to sleep and relax. Basically, it wasn’t all about the apples in real life. It was also about the “privileges” that came along with being a hero such as free meals here and there and a place to stay for the night.

Pollan also mentions a rather interesting fact about the apples and humans co-evolving with each other. It is true that we only see it as a one way thing where we benefit from the apples (and everything else we favor to grow), but we are really helping them out big time too. The apples “know” that they need to be on our good side to survive, so generations pass by and they adapt, according to Darwin, to our needs. This is because mankind basically controls the world and we say what grows or what gets chopped down, so in a sense, apples adapted their genes in the way that we would favor them. And not only do we favor them, but we also help continue to distribute their seeds and keep their species alive.

Pollan uses his story of traveling to Ohio to persuade us into reconsidering the world’s view of Johnny Appleseed as a hero, to Johnny Chapman as another guy who saw a profit in growing apples. He has that advantage because he did actually go and find the real Johnny Chapman. He also tells us truthfully that he’s not saying that he’s right, but we can judge ourselves that what he found out was more right than what Disney tells us. After analyzing and pondering about Pollan’s trip, and reconsidering what Disney has to show about Mr. Chapman, I think that Pollan’s assumption is truer than Disney. This is because Pollan can back his facts up and I now see Disney as another Bill Jones in Pollan’s book. (Bill Jones is just someone who wants to make money off of Appleseed by giving people what they want to hear, just another great story.)

Disney vs. Pollan

Disney presents Johnny Appleseed as a hero of American history- a good-doer with only selfless intentions of sharing the fruit of the apple tree. Disney’s goal is to paint a pretty picture of John Chapman, with a fairytale like ending. Their target audience is children and their parents, whom have their children in mind. The intent of the video is not to retell the true story of John Chapman, but to paint a pretty picture and create a happy ending. Disney provides parents with a positive role model for their children, a simple-minded, animal-loving man of song with good intentions; a man that selflessly protects nature for future generations to come. No where is there any hint as to the true intentions of John Chapman.

John Pollan’s more realistic yet cynical retelling in The Botany of Desire, however, is targeted for an adult audience. These adults do not need nor want the fairytale ending that Disney provides for children, but rather would prefer the true version of historical happenings. They want to know what John Chapman was really about. Pollan provides that Chapman was not the selfless man that he was made out to be in American folklores. The infamous Johnny Appleseed was actually planting these apple trees because of the economic benefits that would be reaped by having trees on one’s land. In this historical take, the production of apple cider is another large benefit of owning an apple tree. This version conflicts greatly with the one that Disney likes to sell, a story of innocence and responsibility to the earth. There is no harm in preferring either version of this story. Both provide positive points of a man of innovation and longevity.

Johnny Appleseed vs. Disney Post 1

The two versions of Johnny Appleseed are different pictured in Pollan's book "The Botany of Desire" and Disney's version. The facutal differences like Johnny Appleseed being the hero of the new colony, the west, is present in Disney's Johnny Appleseed. Disney sugarcoates the story of Johnny Appleseed, a fellow who enjoys growing apples until he sees pioneers moving to the west. His guardian tells him to take some seeds, work, and grow apples in the new land. Disney pictures Johnny Appleseed having a easy time planting apples, making new animal friends, and making the folks in the West happy. Disney has a moral in this story, though. Disney tries to tell the story in this way for the audience, which are mostly kids. The moral of the story is that if you have a dream just like Johnny Appleseed, then go for it. Also, if you believe and work hard, then you can build your faith and your dreams will come true. Disney is known to have magical and happy stories especially in Cinderella, and this is also present in their version of Johnny Appleseed. Pollan's version of Johnny Appleseed is different though. It is more factual and practical. Appleseed had a devotion to these apple seeds and had a "willingness to pack and move his apple tree operation to keep pace with ever-shifting frontier" (15). The apples originally started at the mountains of Kazakhstan, where it had different sizes and colors and were very applelike fruits. The apples were also used by a method of grafting by the Chinese, where they would cut wood from a tree and be notched into the trunk of another tree where it would be more delicious and more of its parent. However, Chapman's apple were a big thing in the west. His apples were used for apple cider. "American's 'inclination toward cider' is the only way to explain John Chapman's success" (23). Pollan's audience is more of adults, or people that are interested in historical facts. Disney uses techniques such as images and cartoons, but Pollan uses techniques such as historical facts, Pollan using maps and going to "Brilliant". He emphasizes the plant, apple, as what people most wanted it for, the sweetness. It was a desire that Americans wanted and without it, then they would just "be more solitary, less friended, less supported, if the land yielded only the useful maize and potato, [and] witheld this ornamental and social fruit" (23).

Johnny Appleseed vs. John Chapman

The term “American Hero” is usually reserved for America’s founding fathers, war veterans, or political activists but obviously John Chapman or his folk tale friendly name Johnny Appleseed is the American hero to be reckoned with according to the actor James earl Jones (Darth Vader). Apparently, Johnny Appleseed is a hardworking, size conscious, and God fearing American who planted apple trees in the Ohio River valley during the 1800s bringing the Native Americans and white Pioneers to dancing and singing. It is only natural for me to have this sarcastic view point because Disney’s ethos is only strong enough make five year olds believe. Whereas, Michael Pollan presents more down to earth and cynical view point of John Chapman, a homeless hippie who wonders around the Ohio River valley promoting use of alcohol, to make older and more educated people believe. Obviously the two parties have different agenda where Disney’s intention of Johnny Appleseed is to teach children about hard work and significance of an individual; Pollan’s intention is to point out the fact that John Chapman and Americans were manipulated by apples. Regardless of their intentions they enforce rhetoric that effectively persuades their target audiences.

With Disney’s target audiences ranging from toddlers to preteen, rhetoric cannot be too intimidating. In order to attract that age group Disney employs unconventional techniques of singing and pretty pictures to satisfy logos, ethos, and pathos. However, Pollan’s target audience is a little smarter than the Disney’s target audience where songs and pretty picture will only have negative effects on the ethos. Adding to the list of Pollan’s problems, Pollan is trying to convince the audience that apples have manipulated humans. Pollan responds to his problems by using excessive amount of hyperbole. He is overtly asserting cynical views of Johnny Appleseed to discredit Chapman as an American legend. As a result, circumstances surrounding Chapman’s myth is demystified and the audience begins to see John Chapman the homeless wonderer not Johnny Appleseed the American hero. With John Chapman in people’s minds, Pollan begins to assert the ideas that apples simply exploited Chapman into doing those deeds in order to secure a place in America.

Although Pollan’s rhetoric is far superior to Disney’s I still find Pollan’s theory hard to believe. Pollan does an excellent job to convince me that the apples are manipulating humans but c’mon. Who the hell really buys this crap? It is an interesting theory, but Pollan gives apples too much credit. I find Pollan’s apples manipulating human theory as ridiculous as Disney’s Indians and white settlers of Ohio River Valley brought to singing and dancing because of apple trees.