the way i feel about blogging is ...

The way i feel about blogging is that it is a much more creative way of having assignments to do, rather than having essays. The blog posts we have also has an advantage in that i can always go back to the older posts and see what we were talking about in class. I also like how it is a more technolocically advanced way of interacting in class. I like that other classmates can read what other students in the class are thinking and their opinion on the topics discussed, and being able to comment on it, and interact with them. Blogging is just a really interesting concept and i really like doing it for a class as homework.

just add water questions; day II

1. What is in Ray's tin box that he has pulled out twice in the film?

2. Why is Mark so emotional?

3. Did Ray ever have a thought that maybe Charlene was cheating on him?

4. Why didn't Eddie ever tell Ray about his mothers affair with Mark?

5. Did Ray enjoy his childhood with his mom & siblings?

6. Is the lack of love between Ray and Charlene the reason Eddie wants to find it so badly?

7. Will Eddie & R'Ch'elle fall in love?

8. What is going to happen now with Ray & Nora now that Ray is available?

writer not a fighter

What is a writer? Am I a writer? Are you? why or why not?

A writer is someone who cn portray a story, phrase, or any type of feeling in a creative way. I think I am a writer, but not in the literal sense. I would much rather just draw, or take photographs than write an essay. I feel as though I even if the topic is not something i am interested in, if i try to portray it in a way i like and feel comfortable with it will be a lot better than having to sit at my computer and think of words to fill the pages. I feel like i can express myself in a more meaningful way through art, a way that is unique to me. Not that i dont find writing (like legit pen on paper or fingers typing away) to be creative because it is. I just find that my when writing an essay or assignment, my writing can be very similar to another persons, where as with a photo or drawing it is almost completely unique to me. I am a writer in that way. In the way that i can express my thoughts and ideas in any way i choose, as long as they are expressed.

writing center

I had a hard time at the writing center, I had scheduled an appointment on Friday at 11, and the person i was supposed to meet with to go over my paper never showed up, so the only other time available was the Monday the paper was due, and the only time available was an hour before class making it difficult to really get my paper to be its best. I feel like if I had a chance to go through my paper on that Friday it would have been much more useful to me. However the person i met with on monday understood my position and was really helpful and gave me insightful comments and was quick and to the point which really made it easy for me to go and put in the edits before class. It helped that he had me read my paper out loud, myself which 'made me cringe' as professor Lay likes to describe it. As i read it I would write down things to change, and the guy helping me (i forgot his name, i feel really bad. he was really nice) would also stop me to give input and insight about how to go about making it better. I think the comments I received really did help my paper to be that much better. They weren't major changes, but the little changes such as adding more quotes that would fit in with the content really added another depth to my paper. It also helped that He had read the play and had also seen it here at school and really could understand what the paper was trying to convey.

I changed my paper by moving around paragraphs around to where they fit better. Also by adding direct quotes from the play to better show the reader what i was trying to describe. I was also encouraged to add better transitions to help the paper flow better from paragraph to paragraph.

Roebke

" Do we create what we observe through the act of our observations? "

Roebke has a good point here. I think we see what we want to see, he describes the blue couch a lot. He says that a blue couch will be a blue couch no matter what mood you are in. I think this is true, but I believe there are some exceptions, I believe that if your in a bad or depressed mood you might find the color of the couch to be more of a grayish blue, and when you are in a super happy mood you can find the couch to be the exact color of the sky on a bright cloudless day. It's all about how we are going about observing the couch. If you are in a negative state of mind, you will see the couch negatively, whether it be the color, the way the springs dig into your back on the left cushion or just the place of the couch, and if you are in a positive state of mind, you will love everything about the couch, the way the color stands out, how it hugs you as you watch a movie or how well it goes with the rest of the room. It all depends on you.

I think a weakness of Roebke's writing is that it can get pretty technical and go into a lot of scientific detail which can get boring. I am in no way interested in quantum mechanics and having to read about the technical aspects of the theory just made me want to sleep. Not that i didn't enjoy it or find it interesting to read, but it did become more and more difficult to get through.

what a terribe thing to waste.

When thinking about the word 'waste' the one thing that stands out in my mind is the idea of a body wasting away. Seeing a close friend or family member having their body change from healthy to complete skin and bones. Having family deal with sicknesses that cause them to lose an excess amount of weight and having them look completely different from what i was used to was really difficult to deal with. I also have dealt with a friend who was anorexic, and seeing her waste away to almost nothing was horrible to watch, i would see her buy a lunch and sit there and nibble only on the carrots and celery of her small salad. It also hurt to know that the food was going to waste and knowing she was aware of what she was doing and was okay with seeing her body just waste away to nothing.

take every chance. drop every fear.

"Nothing intimidates me when I write. I say what I think must me said."

I really loved Derrida's fearlessness of writing. To hear that he has no boundaries when writing is so amazing and so inspiring. I found it to be really interesting that when he is not writing it almost haunts him. I have had similar instances, but I guess i never really felt so fearless to write whenever i was thinking, i feel like i have only wrote what i had to for a paper. For other circumstances, of course I have written with no fears, but mostly for things that no one else would see. There are times that I may take risks to see if it comes out alright, but I am never completely fearless in my writing. A lot of the fear comes from not knowing if what i am writing or the style is going to come out alright and appropriately get my point across. Derrida makes his writing seem unstoppable as well as unbreakable. His fearlessness would never lessen and nothing can make him stop. That there is no force, no critique that could make him less fearless.

comparing poems

I really enjoyed reading these two poems, i loved how Hass described that there is a limit on words that can be used to describe things, trees and nature included. I enjoyed reading it also because it made me realize that although there are endless ways to think about trees and describe them in our heads, there are only so many words to use. This poem is connected to the other poems in that there is a different way to look at using language. It points out there there needs to be thought out behind writing. It also explains that once the words are out of your mouth, or on that paper there is no taking it back, it will forever be there. Both poems are describing the use of the language we have and how we can use it as a tool, and exactly what we can do with it.

class notes 3/22

"when thinking of iPod commercials, most likely the first ones that come to mind are the silhouettes dancing in front of the brightly colored backgrounds."
-when you think ....
-commercials, you most likely think of...

"walking through Hofstra's campus, it is impossible to start any conversation with anyone."
-when you are walking....

GREEN: enviornmentally friendly, sustainable, recyclable, reusable, enviormentally consious, natural, organic, earth minded, jealousy, envy, money, plants, foresty, sickly, spring, camo, grow, moss, algae, young, emerald, jade

SOCIETY: government, gathering, people, population, clique, class, humanity, pupils, peeps, public, association, civilization, crowd, culture, group, class, flock, heard

GARDENERS: plow, hoe, harvest, rake, scatter, fertilize, uproot weeds, decorate garden, run squirrels out of garden, water,

class notes 3/10

TWN
Humans strive for higher love...

*love of sight/cupiditas <-- TWN is stuck here
appetite/desire
narcissism

Love of another/caritas (latin root of charity)
selfless

Love of God

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* Those who fight (- noblemen, aristocrats, rulers)
_________________
those who pray (- clergy, teachers, students)
_________________
Those who work (- laborers, peasants, tradesmen, slaves)

what is Andrew good at in the first three scenes
drinking, dancing, sings,

Thematic Strands

The theme I choose was the theme of water, tears, sea, drink, drunk, drowned, ocean

1. I found the theme of water, or a presence of some sort of water or liquid throughout the play. Many different factors have to do with the themes in this strand. Some examples are the idea of someone drowning, and the tears shed for that person, and the sea, there is also a theme of salt water present, also there are many examples of drunkenness and drinking.

2. The repetition of the theme through the play shows that Shakespeare uses the same ideas to get his point across. He also makes the theme very versatile and uses it to express different ideas through different situations. These themes get out different emotions. The themes also have many different layers of meaning. For example he uses the theme of water at first to mean sadness, and drowning and dying or doing something bad, he then goes on to make it mean a start of something new and making it refreshing.

Quotes

Viola: "I am the man" II. ii. 25

This quotes gives the idea to everyone that Viola is actually a man, when she, in reality is not, it is almost as if she is trying to convince or remind herself that she is a man, not just dressing like one. She is also finally figuring out that Olivia is in love with her, or the idea she has of him. Viola is trying to wrap her head around the situation.

Malvolio "...and yet to crush a little, it would bow to me..." (II v 143-1450)

Malvolio is saying how if he changes the wording of the letters, it will fit his description more easily. Malvolio feels like if only something or even just one thing has was different it would be his ideal situation,which is where Olivia is in love with him. He is starting to believe that his dream is coming true.

Viola "Then think you right. I am not what I am"
Olivia "I would you were as I would have you be" (III i 148-149)

I feel as though Olivia wants Viola not for who she truly is, but just because she is new and has an attraction to her. She is saying that it would be so easy to change to wat she wants her to be. Olivia has put Viola or her idea of Viola on a very high pedestal, and when Olivia realizes that she is not what she has made her out to be and Viola fall off of the pedestal, it is going to make her very upset.

inkshedding

"She is drowned already, sir, with salt water, though I seem to drown her remembrance again with more" - Sebastian

Sebastian is talking about Viola. Saying that she literally drowned in the ocean (salt water) & her memory is being drowned over and over again by his tears (salt water, in tear formation), he is crying because she is gone. Shakespeare is using this as a metaphor for her body, physically being drowned by the ocean and her spirit being by Sebastian's tears.This makes for an interesting situation because now both siblings are unaware that the other is still alive, and on the same island.Also, the second part may be that she continues to drown everyday in his head by him replaying it over and over in his head. She is drowning again and again and now even more so with his tears coming into play as well.

FFW

FFW
i really dont know to make of this quote, I know that maria is really keen on having Viola so it may have to do with that. Perhaps it means that she is letting him know that this is almost a sport to her, that catching him as well as reeling him in is just a game that she usually wins. Since Malvolio is her help, she is telling him that he will be one to help her win this man/woman over. She is calling her game of manipulation a royal sport, she is making it have a name that is supposed to be high class, but is the lowest thing she can do.

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themes in TN
the fragile nature of love
time/aging
types of love ( romantic, sexual, divine, filial)
money and love/sport royal
clothing costumes (disguise)
water/tears/drowning/drunkeness
music -> love
text/writing in letters
manipulation


pick a theme in the shakespeare query. one theme. website on blackboard. bring physical data to class for group

focused free write

After reading act I of twelfth night, I can't stop thinking about the movie "She's the Man." The first time i saw the movie, I loved it. I didnt find out that it was based off of twelfth night until after I had seen it. The movie is a much more modern than the original play, it is based around the love of soccer, and after the girls team gets cut Viola transforms into her twin brother and goes to his private school, making everyone believe it is actually Sebastian. The movie was hilarious, and after reading a short summary of the original play, it made watching the movie again that much funnier. It was interesting to see what they changed in the play to make it more modern, like a fair, a cotillion, and how it all comes together over a game of soccer.

answer questions by commenting on other peoples blogs.

The comic curve:
Act I: normal. Act III: not so normal, Act V: new normal(higher than original normal) (est. reunions), 3 marriages.

Illyria = delirium
Malvolio = mal - "bad, ill." volio - "will"

Orsino is in love with being in love, doesnt actually know olivia
act I, scene I
Viola, Violet, 'borrows' another scent, borrowing persona of cesario,
Olivia getting attention from uncles (blech) friend, andrew agucheek. Malvolio is also in love with her.
Olivia likes Viola/Cesario
ACT I scene IV 32

for wednesday: read act II, comment on 6 questions.

twelfth night; ACT I

1. How exactly did Duke Orsino & Olivia meet? have they known each other for a long time?

2. What is meant when they say "dry"? (scene III, V)

3. What exactly does Viola look like when she is a boy? how can they really not see it?

4. Why does the clown think Olivia's brother is in hell?

5. What made Olivia choose 7 years?

6. Doesn't it kill Viola to tell Olivia all the things that Orsino thinks of her, when she wants to be in that position?

revisions

I can be all over when revising. I like to print out the paper after sitting down and writing it for the first time, then later go back to the paper, read it then fully revise it. I go back and try to write in extra parts, add quotes, or take out things that aren't necessary. It is pretty tedious but every time i do it, i catch more and more mistakes that i have since learned from. A metephor for my revision style would be like tasting as you are cooking, making the meal, then deciding as it is cooking what to add to give it more flavor or cancel out other tastes.

Last night it snowed and... & class notes

Last night it snowed and it happened to be only the second time i've seen snow fall here on campus. I'm from upstate New York, right on a lake where it is always freezing, and snowing about 6 months a year, so this was nothing too surprising. Being around snow so much has made me hate it, but now living here on Long Island where the snow doesnt last for more than a couple of hours or so it seems, I have a new appreciation for it, seeing it fall and then not having to deal with it for the next couple months makes me love seeing it. The snow even seems different here, it is fluffier, more sparkly, it sticks in the prettiest way, where as at home, the 'pretty white' of the snow lasts all of an hour, until it is mixed with the old snow making it a disgusting brown/gray color.

Blue:
1. The sky
2. violets
3. Jeans
4. blueberries
5. Pen
6. Hofstra
7. Blood while in veins


Not Blue:
1. The Blues (music)
2. Sadness/feeling down
3. Blue Nose pitbulls
4. Blue potato chips
5. Bluegrass music
6. Ocean
7. Blue whales
8. Blue collar workers
9. Blue Moon
10. slate
11. blue blood (prince harry)


FOR MONDAY; read ACT I of twelfth night

Virtual War

Sue Halpern really touches on the effect the war has on the men and women who are out there, putting their lives at risk for our freedom. Of course i hear about PTSD while watching the news, i also have had a friend who had come back from the war and was suffering with the disorder. I never knew her before she was in Iraq, but after she told me her experiences, it all sort of clicked. Halpern goes into detail on a new form of treatment which is a virtual reality. A video game of sorts, it puts the soldier right back into the area they were in while fighting for both their lives as well as ours. She describes all the features that are available for the treatment. Soldiers seem to have a sort of shame of going to see a therapist to help them with dealing with the difficult transition they go through, and this treatment isnt as black and white as sitting and just talking, it is a interactive surreal experience for the soldier to go through. She goes into detail of the different smells, sounds and sights that may be seen on the VR. So far the results for Virtual Iraq have come out to be very positive. Helping people deal with their difficult problems, problems that stop them from leading a normal life again just touches my heart.
Knowing a friend going through this was very difficult, and having to watch what is said and done around her was very hard to deal with. I wanted nothing more than to help her get through her troubles. She had sought help, but she wanted nothing more than to go back. Katie constantly said she belonged there, and her job was not done. Although she had sought out help, and went to a therapist constantly, i can not help but think that possibly this sort of treatment could really help her.

small object; large subject.

iPods have become the main product for Apple. They now hold everything you could possibly need in one small, convenient gadget. Everyone enjoys music, and it is now easy to pop in headphones and tune everything else out, having your own soundtrack.
There are many different ideas that pop into peoples minds when thinking of iPods. They can be seen as distracting and impolite. They can also be seen as the best portable device. Music in general is known to have an effect on moods, making it so you can chooe what song you would like to be played for any occasion. The newest iPods come with many features such as wireless internet, capability to pick out a song you make like with the genius tool as well as hold playlists of specific songs that can be played whenever. It also holds videos and now has recording devices. The billboards and commericals were an instant hit with all generations.
These small devices have a large affect on the buyers and listeners. iPods are very personal and show what songs are the most played, what music taste you have and what apps you have. They can make listeners oblivious but that may be one of the best parts of owning a iPod, allowing yourself to be taken away from any situation simply by listening to music.

high tech tash

No one really thinks where our trash really goes. where that random piece of garbage is now, and what it is doing to the people around it. Carroll describes exactly what happens to the computer and other electronic accessories end up, and how harmful they become after they are disposed of. The idea of recycling these materials really isn't that hard to comprehend, but so many people dont care enough, not only for a better environment for ourselves, but for the public as a whole. Carroll goes onto describe how even though people believe they are properly disposing of these items, they are not.
It just truly sickens me, how these items that we once loved, can now be causing a death for someone who does not deserve it. Carroll explain that more than 70% of our trash that are believed to be recycled are actually put in landfills. Those landfills are the ones that little children in Africa are going through to get some type of income out of it, but are actually becoming deathly ill. It is not fair to them, and i cant help but blame us. Carroll makes it clear that it is our fault, and we should be more careful and actually follow through on our recycling of such precious material.

toulmin outline, abstract for "is google"

Claim: Google is making it easier for us to be lazy.

Statement of claim: Google is making it so we don't need to use our minds, and will turn to the internet to answer all of our questions.

Subclaims: By turning to Google, people are starting to have less of a attention span. it has now become hard for people to read long passages without just skimming it. Since there are so many things to do with google, people are just going from link to link. Since this has become the major choice of technology, so many other sites are making it easier to be comfortable with it.

Support: There are always links to other articles or other sites or sub sites that will lead to other sites, making it easy to stay on the internet and look at them. Less people are reading books, and would rather read a two paragraph short article. Sites such as twitter are making so there can only be a certain number of characters.

Warrants: Carr is addressing the younger generation, who has been surrounded by Google and the ways of the internet their whole lives.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

In Nicolas Carr's article, "Is google making us stupid?" he gives examples of how the Internet is changing. But is it really changing for the worse? I personally don't really think so, sure we as a population are finding easier ways to get to public information, but that does not mean that it is allowing us to just stop using our brains all together.

In the past we have not had the ability to use such advanced machines, but since the technology is there, why not use it? In the article Carr explains that it is changing people's way of reading with the fast paced technology we have today. We like reading, short and quick to the point readings, but that doesn't mean that everyone is going to only read that type of articles. If a person wants to read something they are interested in, or something that they really really don't want to but are being forced by their teachers, they will read it. no matter if its for the sake of their grade, or for their own interest. Of course if you re not interested too much in the topic and are just told to read it, you are not going to read it wanting to know every detail, you re going to read it to just get the gist. & if you're reading the most boring article ever, of course you're going to lose focus while reading it.

I think it just has everything to do with your own personal interest or how much of a priority the reading is. If you need to read it for a class, you are going to actually read it and try to understand it. If you're really interested in the topic a reading is on, you're going to be paying attention cause you want to follow what is going on. Its all a personal choice. If you want to do something, or if its for a grade, you will most likely do it.