Let us define our terms, learn to speak the language of each other while working with the internet. I had a hard time reading this essay because my views are almost completely opposite. Ullman’s major concern is self glorification and increased individualism. With individualism you lose the connection to society and all hope of having balance to life. This is all do to the internet which will be the cause of job loss because who will want to go and talk to a person when you can just find the information out on the internet. Ullman wants everyone to experience the crowded streets and the niceness of a store clerk. I see the other side. I see the side where after you have crazy day of helping others and being in the world you get to have a place where you can share the things you want to share, and where you can express your thoughts without being interrupted or told you are stupid.
The internet was a fast developing technology that took some by surprise. I think that it has created a lot of jobs over the years. I know lots have lost their jobs because things developed quickly and were not stainable, but I don’t think it was a job loss for travel agents. We were having a lunch room conversation just yesterday about cruise ships, and we were discussing how you get a better deal going to a travel agent then buying your tickets online. I think as a society we have embraced these issues and adjusted so that we take care of our job market.
Ullman also discussed the lack of communication about the online experience. I think that has changed with knowledge of what we are looking at and the development of online language. Google has made a new verb: googling. Wikipedia has become a quick tool for students, from high school to college, to research what their instructors are asking them and find new sources of information on the internet. At the same time, Ullman’s concerns come to light when we discuss topics like internet bulling, were students use online social sites to spread horrible rumors about someone. Or when a girl struggling with anorexia can hide in her room and find others like herself encouraging her eating disorder instead of helping her to overcome it. Then you have someone like me, who had a medical disability keep me at home. The internet became a way for me to do things I wasn’t able to do because of my disability. I made friends who were able to help encourage me when I was depresses. I also was able to stay contacted with my other friends whose lives moved on while I battled for my health. Like all new things in this world we have to find a balance for ourselves. The balance will come when we find a way to live our lives to the fullest and still have the internet as a useful tool and fun way to relax.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Audience and Voice - Can you hear me
I chose this piece because I know that my audience has read it because they have voice it back to me. I know that it connects to each of us because we have just celebrated Thanksgiving. My piece doesn’t talk about why we celebrate Thanksgiving but more about the echo the family gathering has imprinted on me. I have heard a lot of people talk about how they had a small family Thanksgiving and their feast was not as large as they would have had if there been more people. This Thanksgiving reminded me that just spending time with family is the important part. Giving Thanks for what we have and remembering that celebrating a tradition that is rooted in who we are as Americans. I think I may have challenged my readers to create better fruit salads and to create strong memories. I have been enjoying blogging. I think I am learning that I have a lot to say and I don’t have to hide it in my own journals but I can share it will my few readers.
Traditional Thanksgiving
Growing up, Thanksgiving was a huge event at my grandparents' house. All estranged family members we never see would converge on my grandparents' house in a remote corner of the world. We would have turkey, stuffing (with the giblets), mashed potatoes, Grammy's homemade yeast rolls, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, both types of cranberries (the ones with sticks and the ones without), fruit salad and of course, different pies (pumpkin, lemon meringue, homemade venison mincemeat). I almost forgot the holy black finger food, olives! I was trying to remember the veggies we had. I think we would have salad, I don't remember eating much of it, but I am sure we had some. I had an aunt that was famous for creating the oddest, yet yummy salads.
We had so many family members we would have two different tables full of people. The kids would congregate in the "music" room around a table, the adults in the dining room overflowing into the rearranged living room. Us kids would play board games and try to stay out of the way. When the Atari was invented, we would hide in the back bedroom and play games like bowling and pong for hours until our enormous meal was ready.
As I grew older, I got the privilege of being the one to make the fruit salad. I would start early in the day with the cutting of grapes in half. Then slicing the canned pineapple and the maraschino cherries. I would squeeze them into the fridge so they could hang out together. The maraschino cherry juice dyes the pineapple pink. Then later in the day I would slice apples, bananas and open a can of mandarin oranges. I would add as many mini marshmallows as I could get in the bowl and mix it all together with whipped cream. I was and still am very proud of my fruit salad! It is yummy and a must for a Thanksgiving feast.
We had so many family members we would have two different tables full of people. The kids would congregate in the "music" room around a table, the adults in the dining room overflowing into the rearranged living room. Us kids would play board games and try to stay out of the way. When the Atari was invented, we would hide in the back bedroom and play games like bowling and pong for hours until our enormous meal was ready.
As I grew older, I got the privilege of being the one to make the fruit salad. I would start early in the day with the cutting of grapes in half. Then slicing the canned pineapple and the maraschino cherries. I would squeeze them into the fridge so they could hang out together. The maraschino cherry juice dyes the pineapple pink. Then later in the day I would slice apples, bananas and open a can of mandarin oranges. I would add as many mini marshmallows as I could get in the bowl and mix it all together with whipped cream. I was and still am very proud of my fruit salad! It is yummy and a must for a Thanksgiving feast.
Freedom Writers - Intoducing my Essay
I have never been told that I am deft before and still gotten a grade I didn’t like. I worked hard on this timed write. It was my first ever timed write. My family endured my stress around preparing for and completing this timed write. In my thesis I was supposed to also include a part about how this movie challenged my perceptions. After much thinking, I think the only part of this movie that really would have challenged my perceptions was when the students visited the Holocaust Museum. Expect when I was in High School Schindler’s list came out and that really impacted me then, and I still feel that deep sadness that needs to be remembered so those events are not repeated. This movie was about a lot more than just the Holocaust, but it is an integral part of what binds the students together. It gives them a chance to connect to each other. I really like the movie and enjoyed the chance to really watch this movie in depth.
Are you an Outsider
The film Freedom Writers is about the conflicts outsiders face. Eva Benitez is a Latino girl forced to attend high school outside of her neighborhood because of desegregation rules for her school district. Away from the comfort of her scary gang life she faces many of her rival gang's members in class on a daily basis. Eva finds herself in Erin Gruwell's class. Erin is also an outsider. Erin is not supported by the faculty because she has new ideas and passion to back them up.
Eva gets ready for a night out with her gang, only to witness one of her gang's members kill a rival gang member, a friend of one of her fellow class mates. Eva lies to the police. She says she is "protecting her own." The day in court Eva struggles, right up to the last second. She decides to tell the truth. Eva tells them "Paco did it." The repercussion, of making the right decisions, was being "jumped" out of her gang in the way she was "jumped" into her gang. She felt very alone. She was an outsider in her world. Eva even had to physically relocate to her Aunt’s house.
Erin is an outsider to the facility at the school she is working at. She desperately wants to connect with her students. Erin seeks the assistance from Harrington to get books. When she is turned down she asks the other English instructor for support. She quickly learns that there is a strong dislike for her students and their ethnicities. Erin is finds herself working two jobs to support her classroom with books and field trips to excite her students about learning. Erin is also an outsider at home because she is unable to connect with her husband. She even finds that she is alone the night her husband leaves. She tries to call a friend and only has her father to lean on.
Eva and Erin find peace in themselves when they enter the classroom. Erin even tells her husband that her life makes since when she is helping her students make since of their crazy lives. Eva finds a friend in rival gang members after standing up and telling the truth. The movie does a great job of showing us that we all come from a different place but at the same time we are all the same. When we get ready for a night on the town, we all pick our clothes, put on our makeup and maybe even enjoy listening to music. When you don't have a sense of community you are left to feel like an outsider. There is a need to have people around you that have goals and dreams that support your goals and dreams. When there is a feeling that you are the only one it is hard to remember you’re not alone.
Eva gets ready for a night out with her gang, only to witness one of her gang's members kill a rival gang member, a friend of one of her fellow class mates. Eva lies to the police. She says she is "protecting her own." The day in court Eva struggles, right up to the last second. She decides to tell the truth. Eva tells them "Paco did it." The repercussion, of making the right decisions, was being "jumped" out of her gang in the way she was "jumped" into her gang. She felt very alone. She was an outsider in her world. Eva even had to physically relocate to her Aunt’s house.
Erin is an outsider to the facility at the school she is working at. She desperately wants to connect with her students. Erin seeks the assistance from Harrington to get books. When she is turned down she asks the other English instructor for support. She quickly learns that there is a strong dislike for her students and their ethnicities. Erin is finds herself working two jobs to support her classroom with books and field trips to excite her students about learning. Erin is also an outsider at home because she is unable to connect with her husband. She even finds that she is alone the night her husband leaves. She tries to call a friend and only has her father to lean on.
Eva and Erin find peace in themselves when they enter the classroom. Erin even tells her husband that her life makes since when she is helping her students make since of their crazy lives. Eva finds a friend in rival gang members after standing up and telling the truth. The movie does a great job of showing us that we all come from a different place but at the same time we are all the same. When we get ready for a night on the town, we all pick our clothes, put on our makeup and maybe even enjoy listening to music. When you don't have a sense of community you are left to feel like an outsider. There is a need to have people around you that have goals and dreams that support your goals and dreams. When there is a feeling that you are the only one it is hard to remember you’re not alone.
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