Blog Response #9 - Online Learning Session 7 (Fear Unit)
COMMENT INSTRUCTIONS - Read and view the pieces:
How to Manufacture Fear
Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?
Then, respond to the following prompts in a clear and concise blog comment.
Please post BOTH Part 1 and Part 2 in ONE POST.
Part 1: In the video “How to Manufacture Fear,” Dr. Margee Kerr studies people as they travel through a “haunted” prison - Eastern State Penitentiary. There are some people who would be afraid to walk through this place during the day… let alone at night when it is meant to be scary. Are you a fan of haunted houses? Why do you think that they are so popular? What specific techniques and tools does Margee Kerr mention that are often used in haunted attractions? Can you relate to any of them (like a baby crying or a chainsaw) and understand why they are frightening?
Part 2: In “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?” author Tim O’Brien uses strong details and techniques to capture Paul Berlin’s fear about being in the war. Using text evidence, explain what techniques Paul Berlin employs to try to overcome his fears.
I myself am a fan of haunted houses and I think they are popular because of the adrenaline rush you get when you go through them. The items mostly used in haunted houses are things like clowns and spiders, things that people are scared of. I myself have a phobia of spiders and everytime I go into a haunted house and see one I flip for a second and then realize it's not real. I can relate to those things used in haunted houses like chainsaws, babies, and clowns because almost every single haunted house I have been in has involved one of those things because people have phobias of those things and that where they get their adrenaline rush from.
ReplyDeleteI think Paul covers his fear with the laughter near the end thinking of how Billy died of a heart attack in the middle of war. He kept making up scenarios on how Billy would be sent home and how the letters to Billy’s family would go. For example, he says “He wanted to laugh. “I can imagine it.” And he imagined it clearly. He giggled--he couldn't help it. He imagined Billy’s father opening the telegram: SORRY TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR SON BILLY BOY WAS YESTERDAY SCARED TO DEATH IN ACTION IN THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM, VALIANTLY SUCCUMBING TO HEART ATTACK SUFFERED WHILE UNDER ENORMOUS STRESS, AND IT IS WITH GREATEST SYMPATHY THAT … He giggled again. He rolled onto his belly and pressed his face into his arms. His body was shaking with giggles.” This shows that he overcame his fear by cracking jokes and laughing about something serious (even if it wasn't respectful) and though he may still be scared he's got something to laugh about when everything is down again.
I agree with you, haunted houses give a good adrenaline rush because it causes you to be aware of your surroundings. In the story, Paul dies and the only way to not think about it is by laughing which billy think is a sign of not getting scared.
DeleteI agree with you, Paul was using humor and the irony of Billy’s passing to help cope with the fact that he was afraid of dying himself, good evidence too.
DeleteI agree with your point that haunted houses implement common phobias that people have such as clowns and spiders that make them a bit more scary since it can really trigger that fear until people remember that it isn't real.
DeleteThere are other ways to get an adrenaline like energy drinks or like riding skateboard or scooter instead of being scared to near death by a haunted house. (In which I rather drink the energy drinks than go to a haunted house.)
DeleteI agree with your perspective, some of the biggest fears are spiders and clowns because they either give off a creepy or menacing vibe and nobody wants either of those thing but when they are not real or for fun they realize it is not all that bad.
DeleteI agree. When I go to haunted houses, I usually go with a group of friends and we just laugh our way out of there in a way. Just like Paul uses humor to help him with his fear when his friend dies, when I go to haunted houses, I do the same.
DeleteI agree Paul was using laughter to cope with his fear of dying in the war.
DeleteI am a fan of haunted houses. I think that haunted houses are really popular because of the adrenaline rush, a great source of entertainment and since they are only a once a year thing, the anticipation of waiting for the event makes it worthwhile.The people at the haunted houses wear costumes that provoke fear and the empty room in the haunted houses “helps build up your anxiety”. I think that the crying baby, chainsaw and other experiential sounds are used to invoke fear to people with traumatic events related to it.
ReplyDeletePaul used counting and singing songs to stop him from thinking about his fears and other things while we were at war. After his friend died, Paul seemed to also use laughing as another technique to overcome his fears or to simply help him forget. “But he could not stop giggling the same way Billy Boy could not stop bawling that afternoon” (8, Tim O’Brien)
I agree with you, haunted houses are a good way to build adrenaline and helps you overcome any fears you have. In Tim O'Brien's story, Paul dies from a heart attack and billy laughs off his fear by laughing which sends a message that fear can cause death.
DeleteI agree with the fact that haunted houses give people adrenaline rushes because of the anticipation and actually getting scared from something. Its good to point out that they only happen once a year so that definitely helps the popularity of them.
DeleteI agree with you haunted houses give people adrenaline rushes and people are even more excited to go to haunted houses because they half to wait a year to go back.
DeleteI am a fan of haunted houses because it builds adrenaline. I think haunted houses are popular because it builds up your adrenaline levels and anxiety levels because you know you're going to get scared. There's specific technology like laser sensors on the floor that when you pass through it, a sound is created with the vents. Some of the actors have more scary costumes than other actors that make the person going through the haunted house more scared.
ReplyDelete“Though he was afraid, he now knew that fear came in many degrees and types and peculiar categories, and he knew that his fear now was not so bad as it had been in the hot afternoon, when poor Billy Boy Watkins got killed by a heart attack.” (4). This quote explains that after seeing Billy die, he was now nervous about dying because he knew that at any moment he could be shot by the enemy. He gets rid of his fears either by laughing the pain away or going to the ocean to calm himself down.
I agree with you, the adrenaline you get from the haunted houses can be a fun experience, even if you were scared of going in, the adrenaline will make it seem fun
DeleteFor sure, the fact is adrenaline make people feel good that is a fact everyone know that and that is why so many people like to be scared. Almost everyone likes to get scared to feel that high and get that rush
DeleteI can somewhat agree with you when i was younger i used to go to haunted houses for the adrenaline feeling of fear but i don't get scared anymore so now i only go to laugh at others reactions to fear.
DeleteI agree with you, I think many people, including myself, go into haunted houses with lots of fear but once you're in there you just go with the flow, plus the adrenaline rush makes it easier to accomplish making it all the way out.
DeleteNo I am not a fan of haunted houses. They are probably so popular because a lot of people like them.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to tell which techniques were used.
I'm somewhat of a fan of haunted houses. When I was little I had no response to scars so I just laughed but now I make jokes and scream and laugh when I'm afraid to cope with my fear. I think haunted houses are popular because some of that fear factor but enjoyment comes out of haunted houses. Compared to a real haunted house, there is no danger that comes with walking into an attraction like that and you know what might happen to you. She mentions noises at different frequencies, baby cries, the way they scare you, chain saws, loud noises, etc. For the baby crying, you think that they're hurt or in danger so you wanna find the baby and protect it while with loud noises outta nowhere can startle you. In Burial Chambers attraction called Adrenaline, there is a part where a loud train come for you honking its horn and can make you think your gonna get run over, even though there is no way you can get hit by the train
ReplyDeletePaul uses humor and ignorance to face his fear of war. “Shut up!” the soldier said loudly, shaking him.
But Private First Class Paul Berlin could not stop. The giggles were caught in his throat,
drowning him in his own laughter: scared to death like Billy Boy.” This is an example of humor that Paul uses to help cope with war. He laughs that a guy died from a heart attack because he was so afraid of dying and he couldn’t stop laughing because he knew he was also afraid of dying, so he laughed off his fear. At the rear of the column, Private First Class Paul Berlin lay quietly with his forehead resting on the black plastic stock of his rifle, his eyes closed. He was pretending he was not in the war, pretending he had not watched Billy Boy Watkins die of a heart attack that afternoon. He was pretending he was a boy again, camping with his father in the midnight summer along the Des Moines River. In the dark, with his eyes pinched shut, he pretended.” In the beginning, he tried to ignore the fact that they saw him die and he was afraid he would meet the same fate that Billy did.
I can agree with your way of thinking. Making fear funny is my way of making things less scary for me as well. Also I don't know how people can handle fear without making it funny.
DeleteI also agree with how fear is funny because when my friends or family get scared most react in a funny way and make me laugh. witch makes fear fun for me.
DeleteI have been through the adrenaline house at Burial Chambers and distinctly remember the train honking, it was probably the scariest part for me. I find laughing a good way to cope with fear as well, I agree with you on that. It is nice to be able to feel fear without having to worry about something bad actually occurring.
DeleteI’m not a fan of haunted houses but I think they are so popular because people get adrenaline rushes when they enter one and the factor that you are waiting for something to happen next. The techniques that were mentioned are a lot of different sounds such as crying or laughing, loud pops and bangs, and sounds at different frequencies that can give a creepy feeling. I can relate to the loud sounds because they are unexpected and would probably make you jump even outside of a haunted house.
ReplyDeletePaul Berlin uses a few different ways to try to get over his fears of dying and war as a whole which are singing a song about Billy’s death, counting steps, and putting humor into the topic of death, specifically Billy’s death. “Giggling and remembering, he covered his mouth. His eyes stung, remembering how it was when Billy Boy died of fright” (13). It was and still is actually common for soldiers to start using humor to cope with fear and death.
I liked your idea about people enjoying haunted houses because of the adrenaline rush that comes with it. I think that is very important, if people don’t feel adrenaline or any positive emotions that could come with haunted houses, then they wouldn’t find a reason to come back. Although, I am a fan of them, I do find stuff like that thrilling.
DeletePart A: I am a big fan of haunted houses. I believe they are so popular and fun because they allow us to feel scared in a safe manner where we can’t get hurt. Some techniques that haunted houses use are sound, which keeps us alert and makes us feel as we have to be on our toes. The atmosphere also does a good job in putting us on edge. Another trick used by haunted houses is to have an actor run at you, or try and get in your face. This helps to enlist nerve responses in our brain.
ReplyDeletePart 2: “His fear now was diffuse and unformed: ghosts in the tree line, nighttime fears of a child, a boogeyman in the closet that his father would open to show empty, saying, “See? Nothing there, champ. Now you can sleep.” In the afternoon it had been worse: The fear had been bundled and tight and he’d been on his hands and knees, crawling like an insect, an ant escaping a giant’s footsteps, and thinking nothing, brain flopping like wet cement in a mixer, not thinking at all, watching while Billy Boy Watkins died.“ Paul told himself what his father had said to him when he was young to help calm himself down.
I agree that people like haunted houses because they can feel scared while not being in danger of getting hurt. That makes people feel that adrenaline from getting scared while not having to worry about anything.
DeletePart A: I’ve never been to a haunted house before and I doubt I'll be a fan of it. Also I think the reason why people find haunted houses are so popular is because the scare factor and the positive chemicals the brain makes when we finally get out of the haunted house. One technique that Dr. Margee Kerr mentions that is used to make haunted houses scary is the ability to make people who come in with the mind set “of this isn’t scary” to become scared. I don’t find many noises to scary but I understand why some noises maybe scary to some because of someone’s past traumas and or experiences.
ReplyDeletePart B: In the story of “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy ?” You can read that Paul Berlin is new in war and he is filled with fear that one way he tries to overcome the fear is the death of one of his fellow soldiers who died from a heart attack because of the fear he had of the war. He makes the death as some sort of comedic relief to something that’s socially unacceptable.
I definitely would not say I am a fan of haunted houses, I do understand the thrill of them but I do not care for them. The reason they are so popular is that almost everyone loves that rush they get when they get that initial fear it all has to deal with that adrenaline spike in your body. Close up encounters to feel that fear of imminent danger like something is going to happen to you. They are frightening in different ways for different people it all depends on who you are as a human being.
ReplyDeleteIn the story PFC Paul Berlin uses laughter to try and stray away from the fear of being in the war. So what he did was mask his fear with laughter and make it seem like Billy Boy was funny for dying by a heart attack instead if an thing else “He giggled—he couldn’t help it. He imagined Billy’s father opening the Telegram … He giggled again. He rolled onto his belly and pressed his face into his arms. His body was shaking with giggles.” He could not stop laughing at the idea of Billy Boy dying of a heart attack in a war because there are so many other things that could kill you and he died by a measly little heart attack.
PART: A Yes, I like haunted houses. I think they are popular because it makes people have an adrenaline rush and like some of my other classmates said its a once a year kind of thing and many people look forward to it. She mentions quite a few things, Things that are coming at our face, laser sensors and different sound frequencies like the chain saw and crying baby. Dr. Margee Kerr states that when we are in situations like that we forget that we are safe even if we keep repeating it to our self.
ReplyDeletePart: B Paul uses humor to get over his fear of death in the war. ‘’he knew that his fear now was not so bad as it had been in the hot afternoon, when poor Billy Boy Watkins got killed by a heart attack.” Paul used humor to get over his friends death
I agree that people look forward to it and that's part of the reason why people like going to haunted houses so much. It's also part of the Halloween spirit that make people like haunted houses.
DeleteI am a fan of haunted houses, although a penitentiary at night might be a bit much for me personally. I think when we see people around us afraid but also having fun it creates a feeling in us that makes us want to experience it too. So when you see people posting about an amazing, scary experience it makes you want to experience that as well. They use things that everyday people recognize and make many people afraid. People are afraid of chainsaws because of chainsaw movies or because they’re loud and sharp. Some people are afraid of a baby crying because it pulls at your emotions. They use common fears so that it reaches out to many types of people.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though Paul was afraid of most of it. He was afraid of walking on a landmine. He was afraid of dying, this one the most. Throughout the story he tells multiple techniques of what he is afraid of. One I thought was particularly interesting was when he talked about using counting to distract himself. He would count his steps and he would focus on this, rather than the war at hand, and this helped him to not think about what was really going on around him, and distract him from his fears.
I am a fan of haunted houses. I think haunted houses are popular because they like the rush that they get from being scared and they can enjoy that feeling because they aren’t in any real danger. Some techniques that haunted houses use are the sounds and the atmosphere right before there’s a run scare or something else like a person running at you with a chainsaw. Those are pretty reliable ways to get your blood pumping and to have your body give you the adrenaline that comes from being scared.
ReplyDelete“His fear now was diffuse and unformed: ghosts in the tree line, nighttime
fears of a child, a boogeyman in the closet that his father would open to show empty, saying,
“See? Nothing there, champ. Now you can sleep.” In the afternoon it had been worse: The fear
had been bundled and tight and he’d been on his hands and knees, crawling like an insect, an ant
escaping a giant’s footsteps, and thinking nothing, brain flopping like wet cement in a mixer, not thinking at all, watching while Billy Boy Watkins died.” Paul thought back to when he was a child and how his father helped calm him down and he used that same technique to calm himself down over Billy’s death.
I am a fan of haunted houses because they give you an adrenaline rush when you get scared. I think they are popular because even though you're scared you're in a controlled environment and you know you aren't in real danger. I think the best haunted houses are the ones that surprise you and are not predictable. Some scientific techniques they use to scare you are noises like car wreck, baby crying, or chainsaws. They also make it dark so it's hard to know where the noises or actors are coming from to scare you. Another thing they do is have sensors that set things off so you might think someone is around but really there's nothing there and they will come and scare you when you the most least expect it.
ReplyDeletePaul Berlin used many techniques to help himself cope with his fear. He uses distractions like counting his steps and laughing to get him through the pain. He also sang a song about Billy's death. An example of this is when he couldn't stop laughing not because it was funny but because it was the only way he knew how to cope with his fear. “He giggled—he couldn’t help it. He imagined Billy’s father opening the Telegram … He giggled again. He rolled onto his belly and pressed his face into his arms. His body was shaking with giggles.”
I am a fan of haunted houses. I think haunted houses are popular because they like the rush that they get from being scared and they can enjoy that feeling because they aren’t in any real danger. Haunted houses are so popular because they are what make fear seem fun instead of menacing and a survival push.
ReplyDeleteI don't find myself to be a fan of haunted houses and to be honest i would rather watch it burn to the ground however i feel other people like them for the same reason they wouldn't like roller coasters. its a fear point and they get money to bring you into the unknown unlike a roller coaster where you know what your getting into. This actually links into Tim o'brines "where have you gone charming billy"?
ReplyDeleteI feel that he gets rid of a chunk of fear because of sarcasm,. I to also like to go to a funny place when things get bad because its an area i feel i can think things are not as bad as they are and in his case he did it to get over billys death.
I am a fan of hunted, personally I feel like hunted houses are very popular because people enjoy feeling the adrenaline pumping through there body. I like hunted houses when you don't know whats going to happen next, and your wondering whats going to happen or whats going to pop up. There are all types of hunted houses, there are ones that it dark and you don't know exactly hats going on and there are ones they do have lights and loud noises and I personally like the ones that is pitch black inside because I just feel my adrenaline pumping and i love it because anything can happen at anytime. They also have many props like chainsaws, and when some people hear them they start running because of how loud they are and some people are scared of them because they get reminded of certain movies that have chainsaws in them and they get scared.
ReplyDeletePaul used many methods to stop himself from thinking of his fear for example he uses distractions like counting his steps and laughing to get him through it and he would also sang songs. That would be the way he could get through his fears because he didn't know any other ways to get ride of his fear.