Final Project

I feel like my biggest obstacle of my final project is going to be the flow of my paper, and not to give in my own opinion. I seem to always want to throw in my thoughts and opinions and what I think, and not focus on just the interviewees. Im sensing it may be kind of difficult to make a paper flow with so many questions that I have chosen to ask. Im almost positive that I understand every aspect of the project. Something I may need guided on is the flow of my paper, i always seem to have difficultly with transitioning and with a thesis and having the paper itself string together. I feel like my subject of the final is going to be interesting and is going to help me stay focused on the topic. A question I do have is how do we do in text citation for interviwees and how to do the works cited page. But other than those things I think I should do fine! :)

In-Class "Something Instead of Nothing"

1. We recently discussed the irony that we can't really point out what is "cool." This relates to identity, in that we can't always recognize others' or our own identity. We can be interpreted in different ways. Klosterman spoke on this in this essay because we can express ourselves and our identity in interviews, but not always honestly. People can lie to make themselves more interesting, or their answers could be unintentionaly skewed by the question or circumstance.


2. Klosterman's overarching research question is why people respond in interviews.


3. He shows in this essay that there are many reasons why people answer questions and there are different circumstances. This is adequate because there probably isn't one definite answer.


4. We believe that people's responses will always be a little skewed by bias in an attempt to make themselves sound better. Therefore, it is hard to trust an interviewee to tell the whole truth.


5. We disagree because a totally reasonable person could still have a great idea worth sharing or a product to sell and an interivew is a good way, if not in some cases the only way, to accomplish that.

Something Instead of Nothing!

I thought that this was a very interesting article as I was reading it. I found it interesting that she thought that interviewing other people rather than answering questions was interesting. Although I cannot relate, I have not done either one of those things. So while doing this final project I feel like ill then be able to take a stance in which I prefer over the other. I mean I feel like conversations are kind of like interviewing one another but your not really thinking that way so therefore you do not comprehend the information as you would when you are really interviewing someone.

Cool Hunters and The Simpsons

In Gladwell's article, he pointed out the paradox of cool - as cool becomes known or mainstream, it becomes uncool. For this reason, what is "cool" at any given time can be hard to name. This irony is portrayed in The Simpson's episode when the parents ask the kids if they're cool. The kids insist their parents aren't cool, and even though their mother says she doesn't care about being cool - her indifference still isn't cool. So what is? They don't really know, either.

Powerpoint Is Evil

I like how the author compared drugs and their side effects to the main purpose of how powerpoints effect us. I feel like powerpoints are a very welll constructed way to get the direct message across, but along with powerpoints should be more verbal information. although, sometimes with too much wording and too many colors and way to much detail can trigger the eye to not look at the main context of the slide. I feel like powerpoints have their pros and cons, when i took my communications class here at Kent State University, I had to construct a powerpoint, but on that powepoint were like broad topics or important pieces of information that would be elaborated on verbally.

In-Class Google Questions

1. When Carr says that his mind is changing, one thing that is changing is his ability to focus on books or long articles. The internet allows us to browse and get the gist of information with out sitting and reading entire essays or books.

2. Carr cites research and hyperlinks as benefits of the internet. As a journalist, search engines put research and information at his finger tips and, unlike footnotes in books that just point in the direction of related sources, links do the job for him, shooting him across the web.

3. Carr illustrates his statement that media can shape the process of thought as well as supply the stuff of thought in his expectation of information in other media to be presented in a quick and clear stream, as it is on the web. This explains why he has become impatient with reading whole books.

4. It would seem that Carr is concerned that Google's omnipresence is making us stupid. He shows much interest in the way in which it changes our thought process and the way we skim and get the gist of information.

Google.

While reading this article, I was noticing a few things that he was mentioning that I was doing that very minute. Nicholas Carr talks about the intention span and not being able to pay attention while reading a book or an article. I have that problem all the time, whether the articles online or if its in a book or magazine. I feel like a lot of people have a hard time focusing in general, and I don’t feel like google is the issue. I think google is a very important website that all students use including elementary students through graduates. I feel like people depend on google, which I don’t think is always a good thing because it does lack the intelligence of ones brain. About 10 years ago we would have to go to the library and read through 10+ books just to find the information your looking for, and while you do that you come across more information that could be helpful or couldn’t be helpful but you still are learning and taking in more information opposed to looking up a specific answer and getting hundreds of websites for that one specific title or phrase that you were looking for. So through reading this article, I feel like googles a good source of information but it does lack the importance of education and further learning.

"Billy Sim" In-Class Questions

1. One thing that our group agreed was interesting with respect to identity was the idea that everyone is wrong about their own identity. It's an interesting thought that we could interpret ourselves so wrongly as to think that as we sit alone at a party, we are oxtroverts, or as we greet and speak to everyone that we could see ourselves as introverts.

2. This piece's discussion of creating virtual identities relates to Evan Ratcliff's vanishing and creating a new identity in the digital age.

3. Our group agrees that the use of technology is not making children think like computers, but rather making them lazy and to rely on computers.

Slumming

In the article about Slumming Inky says something but means something else, like “insanity” is the “new sanity” and like “looking bad” is the “new looking good.” Inky kind of says that the ways of doing things that are basically “dirty” are like okay. She’s living a poverty life and saying that it’s the best part of her life but knows it wont last forever. She really isn’t a poverty line person; she’s basically just living the lifestyle as someone living in poverty. She doesn’t want to go to back to being rich and famous because she is happy doing what she is doing. I think this article on slumming shows you how “things” don’t make you happy. Anyone who is rich and famous may not be happy people, but there are people who are less fortunate who are happy, but higher-class people may not think so and feel bad for the less fortunate. This shows a lot of characteristics of a person who is going to throw away a “perfect” life to be happy, and truly happy. She’s making a difference and that’s what she wants to prove is that things and royalty and high class is not what makes a person happy.

Vanish

I find this reading so interesting, like who honestly vanishes and asks people to try and find him. It's like a game; hide-and-seek, but more adventurous and more clues. I think Evan found it fun for himself to vanish like that and make it a huge adventurous and national thing for anyone to try and locate him. I like how he did things out of the ordinary to disguise himself, like the pre-paid phones and like the special program to give a false IP address on his computer. He definitely put a lot of thought into this process to make it more appealing to others. The way that he let his hair grow out and then cut it as if he was an older balding man was very creative in my min, I would have never thought to do something like that. I also find it to be crazy that he had $3000 come out of his pocket; but I guess to him he thought that someone who found him would need some kind of reward. I never thought that he would have been caught, but I guess it puts on something fun for people to do including himself. I wouldn’t ever be able to do it, but it is very appealing for other people to read about.

Do I call myself a Writer?

Do I call myself a writer? I do not call myself a "writer". I am the kind of person who only writes when I have too, I do not enjoy it and no one would ever see me causually writing out my thoughts. The kind of person who I consider to be a "writer" is someone who enjoys writing in blogs, writing columns and such. I know people who enjoy doing these types of things and I feel like they have the right mindset to consider them a writer, if I told a person who has a passion for writing they would probably look at me like as if I was making a joke out of it. The only thing that I use to write is twitter but not becuase I like to write, but becuase I like to express my random thought of the moment.

In Class- Why Write?

Writing to me is a form of speaking. Sometimes if you write down all the thoughts and ideas that are going through your head and you write them down and go back to them it will help you logically understand how you were feeling or thinking. If you write down thoughts and ideas, you are more likely to organize them better. We learn through all different kinds of writings. Anything we read in our everyday lives makes us more intelligent. If no one ever wrote things down we would not know anything. But becuase people write books, articles, journals, blogs ect. We all gain knowledge from that. Overall, it makes us wiser and brighter as an individual human being.

Why I Write- Joan Didion

I like how she talks about how “She” writes in her papers, and I like the way she talks about grammar being “shimmer” it gives you a perspective that the grammar and the way your pronounce things makes a difference in a paper and changes the way you read a paper as well. The way she speaks about a picture giving her all the answers, and she isn’t the one looking for the answer. She sees a picture and narrates about it. It almost like she has an idea and a place and a picture all in her mind, and then she makes up a story and people to go along with it. Like the lady at the airport she made up, but she really did go to an airport. I think the fact that she didn’t know who any of these people were explain to her why she made the title of this “Why I Write” because she is the one making up all these different people. Not so much how she writes.

Obama's Speech

We think that he made the changes to make the audience feel included, to engage them, both Republicans and Democrats. One line, Obama adds "I know that many in this country..." This addition shows that he wants to make his speech personal. He is not delivering it as a fact, but letting the audience know that he knows this, just as they do.

No one in our group really follows politics, so we don't have much of an opinion about the bloggers interpretation of this speech. We do, however, agree with the second paragraph's points about his drawing individuals as "active agents," because we feel that is important in relating to and engaging the audience.

A&P

I really enjoyed how John Updike explained what he seen, it was as if I was in his position seeing everything that he did. The way he desscribes the girls and the view of outside the door. I always enjoy reading stories that are very visual becuase then it gives you a feel of what it looked like in their point of view as they wrote the story. I also like how he stood up for himself and quit becuase of how the manager was reacting to the way the girls were dressed in his store, but kinda sad too that he would take such a big step just because of some girl he thought was pretty and didn't even know..

I am glad that we were able to read something that was fun and not really contributed to academics, sometimes it's nice to read something that you may be interesteed in. It keeps me focused on the story when i read soemthing like that opposed to something that wasn't entertaining at all.

The Phenomenology of Error

The social error is so common and I agree with everything he is saying about it how we spill coffee in someone’s lap, and step on a toe when we get up. I guess I never thought of error being so broad of a word. Because when I think of error I think of mistakes, not accidents.

I guess that it’s a true statement when he says, “some errors are less serious than others.” Not all errors are the same but they do all have right and wrongs. Some teacher might think that an error is right, and some may think that the exact same error is wrong. So basically the mistakes that are made are up to the writer to decide where their guidelines are. Every writer has a specific type of creativity form, and that makes writing such a broad expansion on how to write. Writers obviously will also break their own rules as well, meaning that everyone makes grammatical errors in everything a they may write. We honor the fact when someone makes graded marks on our papers to make us become a better writer.

I feel that the more you write, and then more you understand the language of reading and writing and the logical sense of understanding the content that you will find yourself to making less grammatical errors, but in the end.. not everyone will be a perfect writer. In fact no one is.

Spam 2; Rhetoric

Pathos: He uses pathos by explaining how someone had passed away and how we should help them out by givin them your account, so that we can recieve money in return.
Ethos: By making himself sound like he has authority by telling us he works at a bank
Logos: There really isnt any logos in this piece of spam becuase the spelling sucks, and anyone who were to read this piece of mail would understand that it's not true.

The T-4 Super and 50 photographs

a. We think that an art teacher could have bought this item for the photographs.
b. Some high school art teachers collect random photos or objects for students to use for projects. Since this camera came with 50 photos, this could appeal to the teacher.

All My Life For Sale

The article All My Life for Sale by Freyer was very interesting it made me realize how materialistic I am. All the things I brought from home that aren’t even necessary to have at school are here. I bring those things to show who I am and what I like to do and such. But Freyer sold a lot of his belongings that I would consider that I would need to live, like his toaster and his clothes and stuff I would never consider selling those types of items. To him selling those items are decluttering his space, to me that’s getting rid of memorable items.

There are certain things to keep, and certain things to get rid of when the time is right. But at some point in your life when you start to realize that you have no room in your house, or your house is starting to look cluttered you need to start pitching things so that you don’t go to an extreme and realize that its getting out of hand. And that’s what Freyer knew he had to do in order to declutter his house.

I found it interesting that he sold his items on ebay and asked for the buyers to keep him updated on the items that they were purchasing of his. I know how ebay works my dad uses it all the time. But sometimes when you buy things on there you never know what condition you are going to receive them in, but people trusted that. He had a good idea overall and it came to a success.

Reading and writing.

From reading the text of the introduction of Ann Ramies I really did understand where she was coming from when she was saying to reread details, and get to know some basic understandings. I have heard the same thing for years ever since I was able to write. Myself, as a student, has always struggled with understanding what the writer is trying to say, comprehension can be tough sometimes if you do not understand words or definitions in the text that you are reading. I really do like how she wrote out the definitions and made note of what she did not understand on the side of her margins. Since I have entered college the past year I have tried to come up with some of my own strategies on how to understand the texts that I am required to read for class but sometimes it is hard to follow if you are not interested in what you are reading. Only thing I wish Ann Ramies did in her writing was to come up with strategies on how to keep students focused on what they are reading. I think that is number one problem a majority of students have these days is the patience to focus and understand the materials we are permitted to understand.

I feel like Writing is such a process and you cannot be a good writer unless you are a good reader and know words and definitions and can know how to get a point across. So basically if you know how to read and understand concepts and such, then you will know how to be a more effective writer