A Student Again

3rd conference

Yet again, I forget to write about my third conference, and it was so long ago.

I was expecting this conference to go quickly, mainly due to the fact that this assignment was so open. I really liked how Prof. Martin turned her back to us as we read to get a better feel for how the narration sounds. Once it was determined that I had a good piece, the real challenge started…. finding enough pictures to fill the piece without repeats!

Video killed the Radio Star…

In this case, not really. The three videos that we had to view for our Cycle 3 writing assignment were a bit odd. I found myself watching the clock to see how much more time was left than the actual videos. Two had powerful pictures, but the narration is what turned me off from watching. The third was just too sciency for me. Besides, wanting to age gracefully is not going to hinder me from enjoying my big greasy bacon cheeseburger. If I had to pick a favorite, or one that was the best, I would pick the first video (My Mama). Something personal is always more of an attention grabber, and it made me think of my grandparents in their ‘declining’ years. Now I am a bit curious as to what our new assignment will be.

2nd Conference

So it’s been a week since my conference. It went as well as the first. I thought it wa funny that I completely forgot to put a thesis in my paper. Thank heavens my partner caught it. The ‘praise’ wasn’t as much as the first, but I am glad for that. I had some difficulty with this assignment because I was using art work instead of ‘regular joe’ pictures (took it as a personal challenge to do a paper with famous art work). But i was greatful for the advice, greatful for the pointers, and very happy with my final paper as a result.

A word’s worth…

WOW! Cameron Granger’s piece was amazing. Things I never thought about when looking at any and all advertising was right there in his paper. In the past, I would look at the ad and think things like “why did they use this picture” or “I wonder if they thought of doing this a different way”, not trying to analyze the underlying meaning. Because of Granger, I think I’ll be trying to find the ‘hidden meaning’ now, just for kicks and giggles. Also, reading this piece makes me a little worried about the paper I want to write…. will mine be as good in the topic I chose?

I did really enjoy his bit about the large truck because it brought back memories of learning the drive my father’s truck we lovingly referred to as “the beast”, it was friggin HUGE! I liked driving it because of the size, people never expected to see a “little girl” step out of such a mammoth of a truck… not to mention, they got out of your way on the highway!

I see, You see…. we all see

The piece by John Berger was interesting. Though I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I agreed with a lot of what he said, I even wrote down a page and a half worth of quotes that I liked. What I don’t like, and this is pretty big to me, is his statement that a camera (reproducing a painting) destroys the uniqueness of the piece (106). I have a reproduced painting of van Gogh’s The Starry Night, I find myself looking at that painting everyday and find it just as awe inspiring and soothing as if it were the real thing. True, I have never seen the real thing live and in person, but I don’t think I would feel any different or more in awe because I would be able to see the real brush strokes. I was a big fan of my two art history classes, looking at nothing but reproductions (images in the books); I marked up the page of each and every piece that I loved and, to this day, will pull out the books to just look at them. Call me an art geek, but I feel a true lover of art would appreciate the piece the same whether it be in person or on a postcard.

“[art] has entered the mainstream of life over which they no longer, in themselves, have power” (117). Speak for yourself! I think all art has power if you let it. Some art can produce strong emotions while others can raise someone’s social status… art no longer has power…. poo on that statement. So I guess I really didn’t like this piece.

horrible hour, good conference

So, almost midnight on a cold Sunday, and I realize I have not written about my conference. First of all, I learned NEVER to try and find parking at noon… I’m just glad I left home early enough. Took me half hour to fins a space (across campus).

Anyways, the conference was great. I had no issues with reading aloud, since that is what I do when writing my papers; I read aloud as I go to make sure that it makes sense and ‘flows’ well. My biggest worry was that I totally missed the mark on the assignment and would have to start over. Professor Martin assured me that I was on the right track, but needed to strengthen my thesis. I could do that. My next concern was about plagiarizing, “holy lots of rules batman” (did I just age myself more?). I went through my paper three more times just to be sure I had cited everything right. Overall, this assignment wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but still a challenge. Now, I guess it’s time to move on to the next paper.

States

Edward Said’s piece was interesting, emotional, and memorable. On almost every page I found a quote that just really struck me. The first was this:

“even when we find ourselves decently in new places, the old ones loom behind us as tangible and unreal as reproduced memory or absent causes for our present state” (572)

Wow! All the people of Palestine wanted to do was to find permanence. They tried everywhere they went, sometimes being slightly better off than before, but all too soon the new became old, a memory.

“identity… is difficult to maintain in exile” (574)

Without firsthand experience with exile, it’s hard to be able to connect with this statement. But how long have we worked on our own identity, to become someone apart from the crowd? Some of us have a hard enough time being true to ourselves without the added problem of exile. To grow up never knowing your true self, never being from somewhere to identify with…

The last quote that really struck me was “…our children are ‘the population factor’-to be feared…each of them is a potential terrorist. Kill them before they kill you.”

Now, I have my days where my kids drive me crazy, I’m ready to lock myself in a room with a good chick flick and some Cookies & Cream Extreme ice cream. But I would not hesitate to do ANYTHING to protect them. They are mine and they are innocent, not potential terrorist. I can understand that statement being said in a country where terrorism is a problem, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. Children are born innocent and pure, terrorism and all manner of hatred is LEARNED.

Ok, I’m off my soapbox. I did enjoy this reading. I could almost say I remember this actually happening, but I was only 4 at the time.

Straight or Crooked?

Hans Kellner’s article was interesting. The points made were “food for thought” since my rhetorical paper deals with an historical figure. Am I going to read about the past with all my morals of today? If I do (and let’s face it, I probably will) then am I getting the story straight? Probably not. I like how he mentioned that focusing was a kind of necessary evil, you have to focus on a topic,but too much and the rest of the world, or event, becomes invisible. I know from experience that when I get too focused on the details I miss the whole picture or the whole point. I also really liked how he said that the beginnings and endings were a special issue with historians (on page 134). How the historians start and end their ‘story’ affect the rest of the story and “reveal the nature of their historical understanding”.

Anyone else have a hard time reading the article because it was sideways? In trying to save paper, ink, and money I didn’t print this out. And my reward for saving… a sore neck. (it’s ok to laugh).

Suddenly I See….

The reading of “Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively” By M. Kantz was a far better read that the other two assignments. I could say she ‘dumbed it down’ to make it easier to understand what she was trying to say…. but that would make it sound like she was doing that for her intended audience of teachers and professors (who, I don’t think, would appreciate that).

This reading opened my eyes to how I have always written my papers or gone about reading assignments (including those for this class). Kantz said that attitudes towards the author and content affect comprehension. I guess that’s why I “don’t get it”, I go in with a bad attitude towards my assignment and therefore misinterpret or miss altogether. What was also helpful was knowing the 3 most common mistakes we take with research assignments (reading sources like a story, expecting sources to tell the truth, and not knowing that facts are used persuasively).

Overall, this was a very helpful reading. Learn to ask why, how and so what; treat the assignment as a sequence of assignments and use those stasis theory questions.