Blog #14 Reflection On Videos Monday 5/1

After watching the first round of videos in class, I feel more confident with my own video. I was originally a little nervous that the other videos would be totally different from mine but they turned out to all have the same message/ idea. I really liked the background music on the first video particularly. It was the song "unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield which made me think of the show "The Hills" that used to be on MTV (lol). I really liked these little details that were put into the projects. I believe that they reflected certain aspects of people's personalities that you wouldn't normally see everyday. I also liked the different effects and music that were were incorporated into the projects. My favorite part of watching these videos were the interviews. It was refreshing to see people's families and friends in this different light and hearing their different stories. While some of the topics had to do with language, others had to do with careers or some overarching theme, and were all nonetheless interesting. Seeing different people's family members was also a nice touch into the project as well and sort of made me wish that I had done it. Another aspect of watching the videos I enjoyed was the reflections. The reflections made the project come full circle and were very relatable as I listened to other people's reactions to them. They were nice because in a way I felt that we all learned the importance of literacy in this project just shown through different examples.

Blog #13 Reflection On Essay #3

     Going into this project, I honestly was a little nervous. I am really not tech savvy and everyone else seemed to have experience editing videos. I assumed that the actual editing would be challenging and a little tedious. Yet I soon found out later that a little research on the internet would be extremely useful for me. On the other hand, I was always excited to do the interviews and felt that they would be very informative. Overall, I felt that it turned out pretty well considering I didn't even know how to shorten a clip when I started and that I learned a lot of useful tips for my future career. There were a few different things I really enjoyed from the project. One of my favorite was that I got to interview Professor Bollert, whom I had first semester for philosophy. I think that he gave an interesting perspective overall in my project. He gave informative advice not only for me but for all students. I also enjoyed interviewing my aunt who is a lawyer. It was nice hearing her in a different lens than usual. She said things that I hadn't even known before this interview and it was refreshing hearing about her journey with literacy. Lastly, it was kind of fun adding background music and memes to my project which I think will keep viewers more intrigued. The only thing I wish I had improved upon a little more was the sound in one part, but I couldn't really fix it too much because the interviewee spoke very softly. Ultimately, I am really happy with the end result of this project, I left with a better understanding of video editing and a respect for everyone's path in literacy.

Response to Jonathan Malesic’s “How Dumb Do They Think We Are?” and Susan Blum’s “Academic Integrity and Student Plagiarism: a Question of Education, not Ethics.”

       After reading, Jonathan Malesic’s “How Dumb Do They Think We Are?” and Susan Blum’s “Academic Integrity and Student Plagiarism: a Question of Education, not Ethics" I have some new formed opinions about plagiarism. Blum writes,"There are big differences among imperfectly mastering citation norms, incorporating a sentence, omitting quotation marks, and turning in someone else's paper"(Blum). I found this statement to be very accurate. If a student doesn't properly cite and puts quotes in the wrong place, why should he or she get penalized so severely. The problem I have with plagiarism policies is that there is not one strict guideline. Every teacher explains rules differently and expects different things, so in my opinion students are pulled back and forth with these different styles. This results almost always in a paper being flawed in some way. However, Blum notes the difference between an improper citation and turning in someone else's paper. I think that if a student just blatantly cheats and copies a paper, then a penalty is suitable. I believe this is ultimately a better method, "That means teaching students what academic integrity involves, why professors value it, and how exactly to carry it out" (Blum).
   On the other hand, I found Malesic to be a little too hard on students in general. I understand his frustration, but does he really expect all students to be perfect for him? He states, "There shouldn't be room in my classroom for that kind of student. Indeed, that person is not really a student at all" (Malefic). I found this statement to be insensitive and a little extreme. Malesic then goes on to offer,"But maybe we can agree at least that we can try to broaden students' perspectives and raise their standards, so that they can be better critics -- and better self-critics" (Malesic). This approach could likely help a little more, but until there are more universal rules, this argument is questionable.

Response to William Zinsser's "Writing About People: The Interview

      After reading,  I found this chapter to be very useful in helping a writer go about the process of an interview. I think that the approach he advises is very helpful and the precautions he gives are insightful. My favorite piece of advice was, "Take heart. You'll find the solution if you look for the human element" (101). I found this to ring very true especially for my first interview. I think the fact that some of my questions got a more detailed about literacy made the professor I interviewed more personally with specific details in his life. I also found this tip to be important in the process, "Choose as your subject someone whose job is so important, or so interesting, or so unusual that the average reader would want to read about that person" (104). As Zinsser then goes on to say, it doesn't need to be the CEO of some fancy company but someone that people can find interesting or relate to in some way. People also especially enjoy hearing the specifics of peoples' lives. The only thing I found to be a little boring was when he went into detail about quotes and how to to them the right way. Lastly, I agreed with his opinion, "What's wrong, I believe,  is to fabricate quotes or to surmise what someone might have said. Writing is a public trust" (115). I don't think the writer should completely change what someone says in an interview. Maybe a few small spelling mistakes can be corrected but language is most interesting, I find, when it's raw and how someone truly speaks.

William Zinsser's "Writing Family History and Memoir," from book, On Writing Well.

After reading William Zinsser's "Writing Family History and Memoir," a chapter from his book, On Writing Well, I enjoyed his personal advice on how to write a proper memoir. He wrote and told various stories in a humbling manner which I thought to be effective. He gives advice in stating, "Writing is a powerful search mechanism, and one if its satisfactions is to come to terms with your life narrative." (283). I find this to be true in writing, a concept that writers need to understand so there writing is strong. He then writes, "Another is to work through some of life's hardest knocks-loss, grief, illness, addiction, disappointment, failure- and to find understanding and solace. (283)." I think this to be true because some of the best memoir writing possesses all of these emotions and different states of mind, essential in telling a good and true story. I enjoyed when he wrote about the woman who went back to the Polish village that her father escaped from during the Holocaust. He pointed out that the story did not need to revolve around her father because it is her story. He writes how this type of experience can be beneficial to one's writing, "It can also be an act of healing for you. If you make an honest transactions with your own humanity and with the humanity of people who crossed your life, no matter how much pain they caused you or you caused them, readers will connect on your journey (286). Ultimately, this chapter proved to be interesting in its efforts to explain how one writes a memoir, and to not worry so much about every little detail that a family member has to say, but your own true memory.

Blog #9 Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird

"Perfectionism"
After reading two chapters from Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird, I think it is safe to say that she is onto something in her lesson on informing readers how to write. I especially enjoyed her emphasis in saying that striving to be perfect isn't going to get you too far. She even claims that in one's efforts to be perfect it can actually hurt their writing. She notes, "Perfectionism is one way our muscles cramp. In some cases we don't even know that the wounds and the cramping are there, but both limit us" (30). I find this statement to be very true. Writers and students in general are held to such high standards that sometimes we forget that a mistake is acceptable. Not only a mistake, but also sometimes guidelines are so strict that it leaves little room for creativity. I enjoy how she acknowledged, "What people somehow (inadvertently, I'm sure) forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here-and, by extension, what we're supposed to be writing" (32). I particularly enjoyed this chapter.

"Looking Around"
This chapter served as a lesson to be more aware of your surroundings to enhance writing. I like how she acknowledged that in order to be a stronger writer, one must sort of separate themselves from their own bias. She also points out how we are all sort of in our own world, writing, "The conscious mind seems to block that feeling of oneness so we can function efficiently, maneuver in the world a little bit better, get our taxes done on time" (99). If we could all just try a little harder to understand and except each other, it seems the world would be better.

Reflection For Essay # 2

Completing this essay overall was a little challenging for me. It presented a challenge because I have honestly never really thought about issues such as who should have the power to control access to literature and literacy. I found that I had to critically think and research extra before I decided my opinion on the issues. The essay involved more thought than usual because the matters discussed had a lot of grey area that, in my opinion, was challenging to decipher. In the majority of the essay, I argue that the government should not have the right to control what people read or watch, despite the message they think it is trying to send. If I could fix my first draft, I would likely make it a little longer. I wanted to write more but I felt that if I did it would be hard to transition to the close of the paper. There are so many facts on the internet about government bans and why they do certain things, that it just felt a little overwhelming. Since I could only write so much, I included, which I believe to the most important to discuss. However, despite being presented with a challenge, I liked the fact that I got to learn about something new. It was extremely fascinating to learn about why the government bans certain things because they believe it promotes some concept in too "radical"  a fashion. Also I really enjoyed watching the movie Trumbo in class and felt it geared me in the right direction for the paper.

Response to Vershawn Ashanti Young's essay, "Should Writers Use They Own English?"

After reading  Vershawn Ashanti Young's essay, "Should Writers Use They Own English? In this essay Young makes an interesting claim that we should be more open to use of various linguistic styles. While I do see his point that we should increase cultural language in papers and be more open to variety, I do not see this method ever being fully implemented in an academic paper. He makes interesting points as well, "I'm sho not try- ing to say here that Black English don't have some rhetorical and gram- matical features that differ from what is termed standard English.(62) What I'm sayin is that the difference between the two ain't as big as some like to imagine." While I did think that his language made the essay more intriguing, I did find it a distraction in the point he was trying to get across. He then tries to persuade the reader of a matter in the workforce, "But if you look at it from my view, it most certainly don't mean that. Instead, it mean that the one set of rules that people be applyin to everybody's dialects leads to stereotypes that writers need "remedial training" or that speakers of dialects are dumb." (65) I think that this is a good point yet I also believe that in papers it it just better to have a certain standard to meet, which definitely could use a little more wiggle room than there is today. One of his most interesting propositions I thought was when he wrote, "Instead of prescribing how folks should write or speak, I say we teach language descriptively. This mean we should, for instance, teach how language functions within and from various cultural perspectives. And we should teach what it take to understand, listen, and wnte m mulnple dialects simultaneously." (66) I do believe after reading this that when it comes to a personal essay such as a literacy narrative, people should be able to write how they speak. Yet when it comes to writing such as a research paper, I think it might be best for formal language, keep in mind however, that everyone comes from different places with different speech and style of language.

Pros and Cons of Chapter 2 Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed

   Today I will compare chapter 2 of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In this chapter, Freire presents us with two different ideals in education. One is banking and the other is problem-posing in education. Banking is basically the teacher sort of assuming that students are indifferent and therefore teach what they decide is best. The con of this is that it is essentially teaching students things that are already decided, not allowing them to reach their full potential educationally. Freire notes,"The capability of banking education to minimize of annul the students' creative power and to stimulate the credulity serves the interests of the oppressors, who care neither to have the world sealed nor to see it transformed" (chapter2 73). This aspect of banking limits students. However the pro of it could be ""Indeed the interest of the oppressor lie in "Changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which presses them"" (chapter 2 pg 74) The potentially good thing about banking is that students, given this information, can take it and cultivate it into something greater than what they learned.
    On the other hand, problem posing education is a more open type where there is mutual benefit among student and teacher. It allows students to understand relationships and have potential to be more creative. Freire writes of the good that comes from this in stating, "Their response to the challenge evokes new challenges, followed by new understandings; and gradually the students come to regard themselves as committed"(chapter 2 81). A major pro of this is that it allows the freedom of education rather than teachers just saying one thing and everyone having to assume it is correct. It allows students to "transcend" themselves to be better. Freire ultimately supports this position in the chapter but a major con of this is the question of it being practical.

Response to "Raw Material"

After reading "Raw Material" by Jane Maher, it left me curious and reminded me of a few things. When I was reading this text, it reminded me of the movie Freedom Writers. The movie is about a high school teacher who starts working at an intense racially divided school where the students had little motivation to do anything involved academically. Eventually she starts to change their attitudes and gets them to participate and enjoy school more while also discovering things about herself. This reminds me of "Rawl Material" because in it, Maher is put into an environment different that she is used to, a prison, presented with the challenge of teaching to emotionally damaged inmates. It was sort of comforting to know that women in prison wanted to be college educated and that there are people like Maher who are doing a good job to make them feel more fulfilled.This essay also made me feel more sympathetic towards women in prison. Especially when Maher wrote,"The statistics are staggering- 65 percent of women in prison have been abused before the age of twelve; the abuse begins in many cases between the ages of two and seven..." It proceeds to talk about how this leads to women engaging in vaginal cutting. It just makes you feel more sympathetic to women who have committed crimes because most of them have started their lives with personal trauma. This essay puts women prison inmates on a more humanistic level, rather than just reducing them to mere convicts.

Literacy Narrative Reflection

     I really enjoyed writing this paper on the story of my literacy narrative, particularly because it took me down memory lane while also helping me to realize the importance it holds today. To me, it is good because it can intrigue the reader while also encouraging them to recall their own past and how it is connected in their life today. My favorite part of the paper was talking vividly about the story my first grade reacher would read to us. I remembered the details in the story talking about maple syrup that sometimes escape me today because it was so long ago. To improve my paper, as always, I am sure I could have read it a few more times. However, I feel as though I gave it my best effort, yet there is always room for improvement. I also feel that the assignment was very clear to understand and the thing that helped guide me the most were the prompts on moodle. Everything was concise and helped promote different ideas to write about while also making clear what was to be written in the paper.
My writing process is pretty simple. I usually sit down in a quiet place and get to work. I really can not have distractions because then I can't focus. I sometimes write out a little guide for how the paper will flow and use it to format. Ultimately, I believe there is value in writing about my story and reading others during peer review. With collaboration, you get see other people's spin and their stories that shaped them today,

Response to text question #5 Stephen King's "Reading to Write"

     After reading Stephen King's short essay, "Reading to Write", King calls the Television a "glass teat" in other words, expressing his disdain for aspiring readers getting hooked to the TV. However, the TV can be used as source of information and a starting place where good writing can be found in many instances. For one example, the news channels like CNN or FOX can inform writers on political news with the new president and important topics for debate. This could help the type of writer such as a journalist or even give a fiction writer an idea. Yet King writes in his essay, "I'd like to suggest that turning off that endlessly quacking box is apt to improve the quality of your life as well as the quality of your writing" (224). I have to disagree, when you have hilarious comics such as Amy Schumer or Aziz Ansari, they have a strong hold in shaping a young writers' mind. It can be any type of writer as well but TV whether it is comedy, reality tv, fiction, news etc. all have something that can be learned and interpreted in their own ways. Something so much as an animated superhero show on Disney can give a writer an idea for a strong heroine in their next book.
    In a Writer's Digest article I found on why television can be good for writers, a writer explains how TV has helped him, "Jim Kearney, author and former TV executive, said that the writers who have influenced him most are TV scribes such as David Milch, Steven Bochco and Matthew Weiner. (Weiner created “Mad Men,” which Kearney cited as an excellent lesson in verisimilitude.)" As explained, television has its benefits for all writers, there is much to learn when creativity is shared for all.

Source
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/why-watching-tv-thrillerfest

Review of Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue"

    Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" is an interesting insight into the world of immigrants and how specifically, Tan's mother interprets and speaks English. What I like about this story is that it is personal while also appealing to many people who can relate to Tan's points.
   One thing that sort of surprised me was how Tan disliked the term "broken English" when used to describe someone like her mother's English. She expresses her dislike by writing, "It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than "broken", as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness" (39). This line somewhat shocked me because I realized Tan thinks everyday people would look at her mother as less than because of the way she speaks. I have never looked at someone in a negative way because their English did not sound the same as mine. However, it was interesting to see it through Tan's perspective.
   I enjoyed how Tan sort of symbolizes each English she speaks to mean something important to herself and others. Her "simple English" that she speaks to her mother represents their bond and also the immigrants' struggle. Her "proper English" which she uses while giving a speech which also separates her from her mother in a sense. My favorite part of this text however, was when Tan reveals the type of audience she envisioned for her book, someone like her mother. She describes what she hoped to convey to the reader, "I wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech, and the nature of her thoughts" (42). I enjoyed reading this text overall and hope to read more of Tan's work.

My opinion on “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie

 After reading Sherman Alexie's  “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, I can understand a little more why reading is such a crucial part of many peoples' lives. As shown to be a huge part of Alexie's life, he defeats the odds and puts his frustration into something which he can harness as a tool to help others. I enjoyed his analogy with paragraphs and life which allowed him  to see the world through his own lens and making sense of it.
   One of my favorite parts of this text was how Alexie tells the story of how he learned to read by interpreting the pictures in the Superman comic. In the comic, Superman breaks down the door to assumingly achieve his goal and be something for himself. I love how Alexie sums up the text by using this analogy between slacking Indian students who are capable of greatness and breaking the door. Alexie writes, ""Books" I say. I throw my weight against their locked doors. The door holds. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives""(18).  By trying to break down other's doors, Alexie tries to get the Indian students to see their inner talent. This tool, I think is powerful and what makes this text intriguing.
    Overall, I feel as though Alexie tries to persuade a particular audience. An audience that may be overlooked at home or academically. By writing, "I refuse to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky", Alexie ultimately shows his resistance of being less than what he is capable of. A tool, to me, which is important for life. He refuses to be overlooked and persuades the readers act the same.