Cubing Exercise

1.Generalizing: consider what you have learned from the event or experience that will be the occasion for your reflections. What ideas does it suggest to you? What does it suggest about people in general or about the society in which you live?
People are a lot about status. It doesn’t matter if it’s about clothes, money, fancy cars, or even holidays. I learned there are a lot of Halloween odds and ends out there. I learned that many people are concerned with having a Halloween costume and having Halloween decorations. It makes me want to explore the Halloween holiday more.

2. Giving examples: illustrate your ideas with specific examples. What examples would best help your readers understand your ideas?
All of the fancy and gory Halloween decorations I saw are examples of this. Some are taken to another extreme. Does anyone really need a creepy guy whose head spins completely around and makes a crackling noise? Our lives are not simple anymore; we constantly need more and better entertainment. People need bigger, more modern television sets. People need faster computers. It never ends.

3. Comparing & contrasting: think of a subject that could be compared with yours & explore the similarities & the differences.
Halloween is even simpler than Christmas. Halloween is more about the decorations, costumes, and candy, while Christmas is about those things, but also presents. In a way, they are alike, but they are also different. Christmas is seen as a religious celebration, but Halloween is seen as a festival.

4. Extending: take your subject to its logical limits & speculate about its implications. Where does it lead?
Halloween actually started as a Catholic day. They started it to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve, but now it has turned into a big show of who can be the spookiest. Like I said before, life has gone away from being simple. No one is content with just being a plain black-dressed witch; now, people have to have sparkles and more frills like feathers on the brim of their hats. The simplicity is gone.

5. Analyzing: take apart your subject. What is it made of? How are the parts related to one another? Are they all of equal importance?
My subject is the Halloween store I was in. It is made up of costumes, mannequins dressed in costumes, tarantellas, goofy hats, people talking, lime green paint on the walls, a black light, coffin, skeletons, noises of a thunder storm, and creepy music. They are not all of importance, but I can use certain ones to highlight others. They are all dealing with Halloween. Some are common items you would think of for Halloween shopping, but others are more extravagant.

6. Applying: think about your subject in practical terms. How can you use it or act on it? What difference would it make to you & to others?
I will mainly describe the items in the Halloween store and how I viewed them as I came across them. I will describe how the simplicity of the holiday has gone away, and how it is now about the biggest and fanciest Halloween items. It will make people realize how our world constantly wants everything to be bigger and better.