Final Blog, Final Thoughts

Time for celebration! (Actually, we can celebrate after Friday…). Wow, it’s finally the end of this semester and the end of this specific journey. First, I want to congratulate all my fellow students who have stuck with this class to the end! It has been hard and time consuming work, but our dedication will pay off hopefully with the grade we want but also with the skills we have learned along the way. This class has had the largest homework load so far, I only took three classes total this semester and feel like it was one of my busiest. If this wasn’t my last semester at AVC I would have been tempted to drop this class, but I stuck with it, gave it my best shot, and now the work is almost completed (I just have one more page to write for the research paper). Diligence is one of the skills that have improved the most for me. I am already an organized person and usually diligent, but this class has challenged me more than I have ever been with diligence. Even now I am tempted to just watch a movie and then take night quill (for my cold) and get a good night’s sleep, but this is the last blog and I have made the decision to push through and finish well!

The part of this class that I have enjoyed the most is our readings and your blog posts. The reading in our Exploring Language textbook introduced me to topics that I was not too familiar with, such as propaganda. The thinking critically questions forced me to digest and think deeper on subjects that I would have been to lazy to think about on my own. The reading I enjoyed most and learned the most about was “Reading Lolita in Tehran.” So much is going on in the Middle East but I did not know much about the culture and way of life over there. “Reading Lolita in Tehran” has given me a glimpse of what life in the Middle East is like for women. It showed me that there are unique individuals in Iran who do not conform to the social norm, it helped me understand some of the struggles women have over there.

I have also really enjoyed reading all your blog posts. It was good to read my fellow classmate’s thoughts on topics that I thought about that week, it gave me new perspectives to read your blog posts. This class has taught me that I do not despise all forms of writing. I still do not like or enjoy formal papers and essays but I almost enjoy blogging! This is huge for me, to almost like any sort of writing! Although this is my last blog post for this class, it will not be my last blog. I have decided to keep a blog during my stay in Thailand this summer. So I’ll be staying in the Blogging community! Alright, I guess this is goodbye. So have a wonderful Summer and enjoy your break!

-E

Improvements? I think so

This class has been a challenge, but without being challenged it is hard to grow in any area. A person who wants to build muscle will not achieve that goal by lifting weights until their muscles start to hurt, they need to “pump iron” past the pain. A pro surfer started off on the small waves, but they had to gradually be challenged by the bigger and bigger waves to get to the spot that they are at. I am not a “pro” writer after taking this class, but I do feel that through the diversity of challenges in writing and critical thinking, I have made improvements.

This is a writing class but the majority of writing each week was not formal essays. We have had writing assignments in the form of critical thinking questions from our book, blogging, discussion boards, and blog responses. I think that I have improved the most in thinking critically and then clearly expressing my formulated opinions and thoughts. One of the hardest things for me is to clearly express my thoughts on a subject, it takes time. In this class I have had lots of practice in forming an opinion on a topic that I might not have been too familiar with and then expressing those opinions in the form of writing. As the semester has progressed, I have become a bit faster at putting my newly formed thoughts into the written word. I have also improved, I think, in providing thoughtful responses to other people’s blogs and the minimum word requirement has been a major part of that. When responding to your blog and group posts, I usually say all I want in a response within 100 words. To get full credit I need 200 -250 words but I don’t want to meet the word requirement with nonsense. This has challenged me to process your blogs and group posts more deeply and formulate a meaningful response that is long enough for full credit.

The area I have grown the least in is in essay writing and it is my own fault due to laziness. I do not enjoy most writing and for some reason essay and research writing is my least favorite. It takes me forever to finally force myself to sit down and start writing an essay. I save it till the last minute and get burned out with it. Then when I have enough pages I am over writing and say that I’ll work harder on the revision but then save that till the last minute too, so I have not spent as much time as I should (except with my 2nd essay) with working on making my essays the best that they can be. The result is that I have not grown and improved too much in this sort of writing. I do have more English classes to take though so maby for those classes it will be a different story!   : )
-E

Journey to the Mountain aka research paper

I am currently driving through the Mojavi Desert on my way back from skiing in Mammoth (hey, there has to be a time of enjoyment in the midst of final projects and research papers, right?). As I drove up to Mammoth yesterday, I had to first drive through the desert, then through the green valley with the ginormous glacier carved mountains looming over me (with snow clouds over them). After the valley I finally drove up into the mountain and was able to ski on the mountain (my quads are going to be so sore tomorrow!). I feel like my journey to go skiing is similar to my journey to completing this research paper.

The desert part of the drive was the past two weeks. From the time that we got our research paper assignment till last weekend, I was dried up with ideas. I had a hard time picking a specific prompt because the inspiration and ideas were dried up, my thinking cap was flat like the desert floor, and the possibilities of specific topics to write about were wide open. When I drive through the desert, it feels like I’ll never drive out of it and with trying to decide on a research topic, if felt like I would never get out of that dry stage, but I did!

Last weekend I finally decided on a specific topic to write about, I did much of the research and even now as I am driving (actually, my dad is the one doing the driving right now), I was typing up possible quotes from Reading Lolita in Tehran. This research stage is similar to driving in the valley next to the giant Sierra Nevadas. The research stage is a bit more inspirational and the research paper (the Mountains) is in sight, but it still seems like such a great task. As I am collecting all of my research and trying to organize it and develop the outline for my paper, ideas and inspiration are more alive, are being narrowed and are taking on more focus, like the valley contained by the mountains on either side.

The research paper is like a mountain of course, it is ginormous and overwhelming. I have not started writing the paper yet, I rarely start writing a paper till a few days before it is due, but I do think about it and gather ideas long before the paper is due. Whenever I see the mountain of a paper, I always think, “It’s too much work, I’ll try climbing that mountain tomorrow.” So I procrastinate with the writing portion of a paper till I know that if I wait any longer it will not get done. It is somewhat comforting knowing that it is only our first draft that is due Sunday night, but because I know this I have procrastinated longer than normal for I know that I will have another week to work on touching up the paper and making my thoughts more clear and organized. I am a bit stressed about the paper, but it is my own fault for not writing it sooner, I know it will get done, but I’m not looking forward to the next three days…

-E

Sayin What Needs To Be Said

Online there are many different ways to communicate with others: email, social networks, and instant messaging. I personally think that a hand written letter is nicer than online communication and I do write letters occasionally, but online communication is very convenient and is often quicker. What is my online communication style? Well, how about you tell me? When writing blogs, an email, or a facebook message, I usually am very brief and to the point. I usually do not elaborate much in either phone or online communications, I like to say what needs to be said and then I’m good. My writing is usually very concise and I confess, I often have trouble meeting word and page requirements because I feel that I have already said everything need on a topic or sentence when I realize that I still need to write two more pages or one hundred more words. The only time when my communication style is more detailed and descriptive is when I am tired or creatively inspired.

When I am tired I often do not say much verbally, but if I am online and am tired, my thoughts flow in a different way than when I am awake and alert. I have a greater tendency to ramble when I am tired and this works good in certain situations, such as writing an email. When I write personal emails to keep in touch with close friends, they usually want to know more than a fact sheet of what’s going up or down in my life. When I am tired I will go into more details and share more thoughts and feelings which is more interesting than I did this and that this week.

The other time when my communication style is different is when I’m feeling creative. The computer screen is not a very artfully inspirational environment. When writing a letter outside under a tree or by candle light, my creative side kicks in and I write in a different style. I am the sort of person who enjoys “setting the mood” as my Mom always says. If I need to relax I turn on that classical piano music and light a candle, if I need to be energized I put some upbeat music on and open up the windows to let the fresh air and light flow in. My moods are easily influenced by my surroundings and environment. For me, the computer screen does not usually inspire me to write in more detail and in a creative way, but on the rare occasion when it does, my writing style is noticeably different. This is a reflection of who I am. I am a very practical person and I like to take care of business right away, I do not like to procrastinate, but rather get what needs to be done quickly. And with that said, I think that’s all that needs to be said on this topic! ^_^

-E

The Cartoon and Gas Prices

Editorial Cartoons have the ability to make a bold statement about a current problem or event with a picture and few words. What makes the editorial cartoon impactful is that they are often so true and will bring humor into the often serious problem. As you are all aware, gas prices have been rising and cartoonists have ‘risen’ to the occasion. There is a plethora of cartoons making statements about the rising gas prices, about what it is costing people, what people are doing to save on gas, and opinions on the ‘morality’ of gas prices.

 This cartoon is a bit morbid for my taste but it makes its point well. It is obvious that this is a drawing of a gas station. If the ‘Pay for GAS here” sign is not obvious enough, we have other give away signs indicating that this is a gas station. Out the window we see a car and gas pumps, in the station is the cashier and the LOTO sign that is always a part of any gas station in America. It is crucial that the viewer understands that that the man holding his arm is paying for gas. This cartoonist is relying on the fact that it’s viewers will be familiar with the phrase “It cost me an arm and a leg.” In this cartoon, it is literally costing the man his arm and leg to pay for a tank of gas. While this is obviously not the case in real life, the saying is to true for many people.

This next cartoon is cute. From the dialogue between this man and boy, we learn that the little boy is walking to school and was probably complaining about walking which leads to the dialogue which we as viewers are able to see. I am able to relate to this cartoon because I’ve been told the same thing. My mom and Grandma have told me of how they had to walk miles to school and for my Grandma, she too needed to walk through snow. Even if a person has not had this experience, they can still get the humor in this cartoon. The humor is in what the boy says, “so your parents couldn’t afford gas either…” The message in this cartoon is that people are having to get around the old fashioned way in order to save on gas, and this poor little boy is paying for it. The cartoon is demonstrating one way in which real people are trying to save on gas.                                                          
 
This final cartoon assumes that all its viewers are aware of police artist sketches. The suspect is the gas pump (the word GAS is even on the pump just incase someone doesn’t recognize the pump), and the crime is robbery. This is a rather bold statement, that the high gas prices are robbery, in other words it is unethical. This cartoon is challenging the government to “arrest” this suspect and bring it to justice.

How High Can a Ceiling Be?

As always, America is concerned with money-with the economy and with the budget. Now that concern has taken Americans to a new debate over raising the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is the maximum amount that our nation is allowed to borrow. It is no news that our nation is in debt and that our economy is sunk in the economic sea, one way to help raise the sunken ship is to raise the debt ceiling; according to Obama and some other politicians. The final decision about the debt limit will be up to Congress, until they vote on this many Americans will be debating from different points of views whether this will have a positive or negative impact on our economy.

Like many political issues or any debate for that matter, there are two main positions on the debt ceiling: 1) Raise the debt ceiling 2) Do not raise the debt ceiling. Of course there are many different angles and sub topics to this issue, but these are the two main stances. On both sides of the issue, politicians and supporters argue with logical reasoning and with propaganda. In the essay entitled “How to Detect Propaganda”, propaganda is defined as “expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups deliberately designed to influence opinions or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined ends” (496).

I found a video clip of Sarah Palin talking about the debt ceiling in an interview with FOX news. In this video Palin clearly says that she does not support raising the debt ceiling. Palin’s position is why increase our debt when we already have so much debt? Instead of digging ourselves in deeper, we should work on paying off the debt that we already have. This makes sense, if a person has reached their debt limit on one credit card why would they get another credit card to put more debt on? Borrowing more money will only increase our debt: ok, this is an easy idea to grasp. In this video interview Palin says, “I would say before you think about seriously voting to increase the debt limit and incur more unsustainable, immoral, unethical debt that is really going to ruin our country to continue down this path”. Do I detect a bit of name calling here? According to the Institute for propaganda Analysis name calling plays on people’s fears and uses bad names to encourage the listener to form judgment without looking at the facts (497). Palin calls this debt by the names of “immoral” and “unethical”. Palin does not go on to explain how the debt is immoral or unethical, these words allow the listener to assume the worst about the debt and she goes on to play on every American’s fear that our economy is “going to ruin” and this will surely happen if the debt ceiling is raised.

Now for the other side. Their main argument is that we are on the verge of a financial crisis (haven’t we already reached that point?) and that raising the debt ceiling will prevent this and help our economy get out of this recession. In an article in The Atlantic entitled “Why Are Democrats Playing the GOP’s Game With Debt Ceiling?” the author Derek Thompson states, “There is a consensus on the debt limit among the most important people in Washington.” In making this statement, Thompson is using the propaganda device called transfer. Transfer carries over the authority of some esteemed person or group according to The Institute for Propaganda Analysis. In saying that the most important people in Washington agree that the debt ceiling must be raised, the author is implying that we should take their side, after all, they are the most important people in Washington and they know what their talking about, right? Thompson also uses the name calling devise in calling the people who oppose this “wacky”….really? Isn’t that a bit childish?

We need to remain aware of the different propaganda devices and hear both sides of an argument before we form judgment, otherwise we may fail to think for ourselves and blindly believe one side based on their deceptive devices.



-E

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/04/democrats-catch-debt-ceiling-fever/238077/