Course Review

When we first began our first extended essay, the usage of the multiple authors and bloggers information and ideas really helped me beyond the making of my paper. I got a chance to learn about writing and reading than I ever thought possible. The Through the in depth analysis of how writing has evolved and been transformed into today’s form, I learned more about myself and how I changed the way I write and read. I began with rigorous hours of searching for research in a library, and ended 19 years later by skimming through websites for information. Once noticing this change, I got a chance to write my first extended essay on the matter. After this experience I ended up changing my ways in to the old me, which was much more true to the aspect of researching, reading, and writing about a topic. Once I decided that I was going to transfer back to the olden ways, I realized how this has affected me. I appreciate reading and writing more, and this allows me to think more in depth about a topic so that I collaborate a good idea to write about the certain topic that I am given to write about. This portion of the class probably had the biggest affect on me because I now know which way is better for me to read, write, think about the topic at hand. I intend to take these earnings with me through my adventure in college.

The Linage of Mysterious Mountain Man

Kollin Nava
Extended Essay 2
Eric Leake
2/18/2012

The Linage of Mysterious Mountain Man

Throughout history stories have started and proceeded. As this sense of time elapsed, new versions of these stories began, interpretations arose, and understandings began to take the story’s place as the plot and meaning of a topic. This way of change has been around since the beginning of folk culture. A “tale” appears into society, and as it is widely spread, different waves of the story begin and become known by many is various ways. Through this olden process, we get our version of today’s storytelling from the press, media, peers, and blogs. So as we continue our lives, so will news and stories. They will evolve in a sense and adapt to people’s perspectives and ideas.
The first story that popped up on most of my local reads early yesterday morning, was one of a local Utah man roaming the backcountry of the state, eluding police and breaking into log cabins to gain supplies and food. Now, this story like many others has become a hybrid as it has slowly changed and been allowed to transfer through this realm of perspectives. The first stage it received was obviously the press, for the reason of the actual story beginning with the journalist words of Brain Skoloff and Paul Foy from Associated Press. However, this part of the story is just an extension from where the last reporters left off, since this story is conjoined within five years. However, this portion of the timeline will be different due to the influences that time has on a story due to the word of the people. In this case with the beginning word of the press, the outline of the story begins and people start to get a feel and an understanding of what the information means to them. In other words, the press is the starting point in which people begin to interpret the story from the point of the story’s publication. From here, the story can take different paths, but in the end, the story is always different and some how distorted from the “beginning” point of analysis.
The proceeding path that this particular story takes is that of the media’s hands. Depending on what media station covers the story affects the stage before it continues on to the following portion of interpretation. For instance, through out the media of The New York Times, CBS News, and Fox News, the story itself has not changed, due to copyright laws, but the commentary about this issue has changed inadvertently. With CBS and the Times, I found different comments towards how it was a cool lifestyle and how we should leave the poor man alone since he is not hurting anyone. However, in the conservative Fox News, I found babbling about how this man should be poisoned, killed, stopped before he goes on a killing rampage, so on and so forth. As one can see, the polar fields of stances in which people can take are determined by who is giving the information. Once a source is titled a certain form, for instance Fox News being conservative, then its’ followers are more than likely to show characteristics in their commentaries of the source. From this case in point, the ‘new’ story starts its new route of being evaluated and explained by peers to others. These commentators will get off their computers and smart phones, and will go out into society and give their version of the story to their family and friends.
From this point of view, is when I actually find the biggest change in a story to occur. Through the peer portion of the so-called “press-sphere,” I learned a new version of this story, because of bias interpretation; and from this I was allowed to progress through the ‘lifetime’ of a story. After the press airs the story, media interprets it, then the peers’ version of the story appears, which is diluted and formed into the story that I listened to from my friend Brenan Birch, who is from Utah. Words of curiosity, awareness and excitement were said. Between the scrambled words, I got out of his version, that this mountain man is a concern, but not dangerous. However, he should be kept aware of. This version of the mysterious backcountry man story gives me a personal ideological depth of what its like to live in Utah and have to experience the effects of this story. In a way, the story becomes an almost close and personal type of news. I am allowed to get close to the scene and personally understand how I could be affected. Across this change of position on the topic, I feel, is in charge of most of the info that is spread so differently within the population. By means of word of mouth, seem to be the best way to spread stories.
Which connects to the next path in which a story can mutate and form, by virtual and textual based blogs. Places like blogger.com and YouTube help people connect to the general public quickly by publishing their virtual or text-based information. Through YouTube, I found the blog videos of dogwood12, who explained exactly what the media had informed him of. However, he as well added a little portion to the tapings, dealing with how he felt and what he sensed should be the correct precautions in capturing this eluding wilderness man. He continued on through his comments with his followers on how he feels that this guy has been roaming around too long for society to feel safe. However, he is leaning towards authority returning from the search parties with a live man, instead of a dead one. From this kind of context, one develops a personal kind of story, instead of the mass media from that is factually filled and delivered with a mask on by the news castor(s). In the opposite realm of blogging, this news becomes absorbed by few and in a newfangled and clearer understanding. By applying news to a lower number of people and how they receive the news, allows for the story itself to develop into the individual’s own interpretation. A sense of gray meanings steps into the playing field of the common black and white arena of the press-sphere. Through this transformed quality of media, comes the continuation of the story within different, possibly recurring steps, as it ventures across the cyber, peer, and blog media.
From all of these influences, comes the “me-sphere” version of the news that I acquired. This stage, after analyzing various types of stories, is when I start to develop my own take on this particular article. Through this, I found an ending story that seemed to be a mix of what I found through out my “digging.” I agree, that even though this mysterious guy has not caused any physical harm yet, he needs to be found and dealt with before further precautions are wished that they had been used. Besides this tangent, I feel this guy’s life style is an interesting one that can only be fully understood by few. The life with a natural background, one of simplicity, yet demanding at the same time. One that truly helps me set up what the actual information means to me, through my interpretations. From these different yet similar stories, I started to understand that the Utah mountain man was probably not too dangerous, and that maybe he was just fighting to stay alive like humans do. However there is a negative thought towards this because he should not be breaking into people’s log cabins, especially to the point of scaring people off. It’s not a description of one’s life that is well looked upon. Therefore after summing up all my diffused beliefs, I came to the idea of what this story means to me personally. The story is not too important to me, but I am concerned for people’s safety with this adventurous man out in the backcountry. As long as nothing harmful happens, and precautions are kept up, then this man shouldn’t be too destructive.









Work Cited
"Elusive Mountain Man Occupies, Robs Utah Cabins - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
"Mountain Man Scares Owners of Remote Utah Cabins - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
"Mystery Mountain Man To Utah Cabin Owner: Get Off My Mountain | Fox News." Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
Skoloff, Brian, and Paul Foy. "Mountain Man Scares Owners of Remote Utah Cabins - Yahoo! News." Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines. Associated Press. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
"The Press Becomes the Press-sphere « BuzzMachine." BuzzMachine. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. .
"Utah Mountain Man Eluding Authories « Kentucky Mountain Girl's Blog." Kentucky Mountain Girl's Blog. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .

Final Essay

Kollin Nava
Extended Essay 2
Eric Leake
2/22/2012

Throughout history stories have started and proceeded as time has passed. As this sense of space elapsed, new versions of these stories began, interpretations arose, and understandings began to take the story’s place as the plot and meaning of a topic. This way of change has been around since the beginning of folk culture. A “tale” appears into society, and as it is widely spread, different waves of the story begin and become known by many is various ways. Through this olden process, we get our version of today’s storytelling though the press, media, peers, and blogs. So as we continue through our lives, so will news and stories. They will evolve in a sense and adapt to people’s perspectives and ideas.
The first story that popped up on most of my local reads early yesterday morning, was one of a local Utah man roaming the backcountry of the state, eluding police and breaking into log cabins to gain supplies and food. Now, this story like many others has become a hybrid as it has slowly changed and been allowed to transfer through this realm of perspectives. The first stage it received was obviously the press, for the reason of the actual story beginning through the words of Brain Skoloff and Paul Foy. However, this part of the story is just an extension from where the last reporters left off, since this story is conjoined within five years of occurrences. However, this portion of the timeline will be different due to the influences that time has on a story due to the word of the people. In this case with the beginning word of the press, the outline of the story begins and people start to get a feel and an understanding of what the information means to them. In other words, the press is the starting point in which people begin to interpret the story from the point of the story’s publication. From here, the story can take different paths, but in the end, the story is always different and some how distorted from the “beginning” point of analysis.
The proceeding path that this particular story takes is that of the media’s hands. Depending on what media station covers the story affects the stage before it continues on to the following portion of interpretation. For instance, through out the media of The New York Times, CBS News, and Fox News, the story itself has not changed, due to copyright laws, but the commentary about this issue has changed inadvertently. Through CBS and the Times, I found different comments towards how it was a cool lifestyle and how we should leave the poor man alone since he is not hurting anyone. However, in the conservative Fox News, I found babbling about how this man should be poisoned, killed, stopped before he goes on a killing rampage, so on and so forth. As one can see, the polar fields of stances in which people can take, are determined by who is giving the information. Once a source is titled a certain form of information, for instance Fox News being conservative, then its followers are more than likely to show characteristics in their commentaries of the source, in order to further the story. From this case in point, he ‘new’ story starts its new route of being evaluated and explained by peers to others. These commentators will get off their computers and smart phones, and will go out into society and give their version of the story to their family and friends.
From this point of view, is when I actually find the biggest change in a story to occur. Through the peer portion of the so-called “press-sphere,” I learned a new version of this story, because of bias interpretation; and from this I was aloud to progress through the ‘lifetime’ of a story. After the press airs the story, and media interprets it in a new way, comes the peers’ version of the story, which is diluted and formed into the story that I listened to from my friend Brenan Birch, who is from Utah. Words of curiosity, but not feared; yet aware and excited to know more, became to be said in a conversation about my paper. Between the though scrambled words, I got out of his version, that this mountain man is a concern, but not dangerous. However, he should be kept aware of. This version of the mysterious backcountry man story gives me a personal ideological depth of what its like to live in Utah and have to experience the effects of this story. In a way, the story becomes an almost close and personal type of news. I am allowed to get close to the scene and personally understand how I am being affected. Through this change of position on the topic, I feel, is in charge of most of the info that is spread so differently though out the population. By means of word of mouth, seem to be the best way to spread stories.
Which connects to the next path in which a story can mutate and form, by virtual and textual based blogs. Places like blogger.com and YouTube help people connect to the general public quickly by publishing their virtual or text-based information. Through YouTube, I found the blog videos of dogwood12, who explained exactly what the media had informed him of. However, he as well added a little portion to the tapings, dealing with how he felt and what he sensed should be the correct precautions in capturing this eluding wilderness man. He continued on through his comments with his followers on how he feels that this guy has been roaming around too long for society to feel safe. However, he is leaning towards authority returning from the search parties with an alive man, instead of with a dead one. From this kind of context, one develops a personal kind of story, instead of the mass media from that is factually filled and delivered with a mask on by the news castor. In the opposite realm of blogging, this new becomes absorbed by few and in a new and clearer understanding. By applying news to a lower number of people and how they receive the news, allows for the story itself to develop into the individual’s own interpretation. A sense of gray meanings steps into the playing field of the common black and white arena of the press-sphere. Through this transformed quality of literacy, comes the continuation of the story through different, possibly recurring steps, as it ventures through the cyber, peer, and blog media.
From all of these influences, comes the “me-sphere” version of the news that I acquired. This stage, after analyzing various types of stories, is when I start to develop my own take on this particular article. Through this, I found an ending story that seemed to be a mix of what I found through out my “digging.” I agree, that even though this mysterious guy has not caused any physical harm yet, he needs to be found and dealt with before further precautions are wished that they had been used. Besides this tangent, I feel this guy’s life style is an interesting one that can only be fully understood by few. The life with a natural background, one of simplicity, yet demanding at the same time. One that truly helps me set up what the actual information means to me, through my interpretation. From these different yet similar stories, I started to understand that the Utah mountain man was probably not too dangerous, and that maybe he was just fighting to stay alive like humans do. However there is a negative thought towards this because he should not be breaking into people’s log cabins, especially to the point of scaring people off. It’s not a description of one’s life that is well looked upon. Therefore after summing up all my diffused beliefs, I came to the idea of what this story means to me personally. The story is not too important to me, but I am concerned for people’s safety with this adventurous man out in the backcountry. As long as nothing harmful happens, and precautions are kept up, then this man shouldn’t be too destructive.





















Work Cited
"Elusive Mountain Man Occupies, Robs Utah Cabins - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
"Mountain Man Scares Owners of Remote Utah Cabins - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
"Mystery Mountain Man To Utah Cabin Owner: Get Off My Mountain | Fox News." Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
Skoloff, Brian, and Paul Foy. "Mountain Man Scares Owners of Remote Utah Cabins - Yahoo! News." Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines. Associated Press. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .
"The Press Becomes the Press-sphere « BuzzMachine." BuzzMachine. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. .
"Utah Mountain Man Eluding Authories « Kentucky Mountain Girl's Blog." Kentucky Mountain Girl's Blog. Web. 18 Feb. 2012. .

Sports to Sports

The way, in which Jarvis describes, “taking an approach” in the first few sentences, is working in the mode of another writer. Through this process, there is a weak version in which a writer simply assumes the role of disciple, adopting the moves and interests of another thinker. Jarvis explained it as your typical school writing, in which you are asked to apply the ideas of a writer to your assignment. For instance, I would take the ideas that Matilde Zimmermann implements in her book Sandinista, and apply it to my paper about civil war corruption in Guatemala. Instead of drawing on new ideas and thoughts, the point of taking an approach is to prove that the originator of the reading is correct. However there is a catch to taking an approach. When you decide to take an approach on something, both yours and the author’s thinking needs to change, for the reason of new knowledge being acquired. Since the author cannot be entirely right about the entire topic, it is up to the individual disciple to research newer information and incorporate these finding into the original approach. Instead of rewriting an author’s factual-based article, the concept behind this literary concept is to rewrite a text by using the author’s mode/ style of writing. Characteristics of writing like what concerns does the writer usually take on, how the author answers these concerns, and what kind of person I feel this author is, behind his or her own writing.
Through this window of taking an approach, the media instantaneously appears in my mind. Many authors of the press use characteristics of others. For my blog in particular that I follow, called Deadspin, the few authors and contributors try to use the mindsets of news castors. The info is thrown out there as if I was sitting in front of the television. As well, they commentate as if it is Sports Center, meaning that they have conversations with the public as if they will answer, like people do usually with ESPN. These characteristics obviously all stem from either training or self-learning through other sources of media. Since this capability is more than likely happening, these bloggers are actually taking an approach of the reporters on sports news.

Forward or Counter?

After reading Jeff Jarvis’s “The Press Becomes the Press-Sphere,” the connotation is rather harsh. I feel Jarvis views the press as a stepping-stone towards what a final story becomes. Through this distortion itself, comes the actual story and information. The reason is because through commentary, blog posts, and reporting, come different aspects of the story, that as a whole collaborate to make one big story that is to be shared to the public. Because in my way of receiving stories and news, the way in which a story gets to me changes drastically as the source changes. For instance, if I get my news from the Television, then more than likely my story will be in the exact spot in which Jarvis placed it, or if I receive my news from peers, then my story line may be a bit more extended and have more components that allow it to become a story. There are so many ways in which news becomes someone’s own personal story by the end of the day. It takes a community to create a story, and it takes an individual to complete it.

I tried to edit the sentences that were countering and change them into ones that were more forwarding. Instead of being negative and going against his way of thinking, I simply tried to take his writing and ideas, and go off in a new direction. I interpreted his sense of how writing in the media is portrayed through his mind, and I took my interpretation of the article, and came up with my own understanding of Jarvis’s words.

It's Still Writing

In the next portion of Joseph Harris’s book, the chapter of countering becomes the next point of focus. Through this chapter, I very simply definition for the literary term of countering, is when someone simply reads a writing, and decides to compose another paper about the same topic. However this time, the new author may take the originator’s ideas and write about it in a new sense. Harris uses the phrases of ‘On the other hand’ and ‘Yes, but’ to portray the meaning of countering a position of a reading. Through this way of critiquing, the means of highlighting a paper’s weaknesses or showing the limit of the topic at hand are ways in which a person may counter someone’s words. It is not an argument, but it is a contradiction. This is exactly what Harris aims at trying to do when he explains the concept of countering. Once again, this type of idea is always seen through out today’s press and media coverage. Through a specific article called “The Utah Mountain Man Scares Owners,” a writer took a different outlook on the story at hand. Instead of commenting about how this mysterious mountain man is breaking into log homes and rummaging for supplies, he takes the position of talking about how cool of a life this guy is living, and how we shouldn’t bother him and simply just be more careful with our homes. This new direction of writing is an example of countering. However, through countering, one loses the aspect of the original story. Instead of facts being thrown around, opinions now take their place and make the basis of the actual story. The idea of the story is lost, and a new one is born. But after all, isn’t that writing of today anyways?

A New Way with an Old Meaning

After reading Joseph Harris’s second chapter in his book Rewriting, I learned about his characteristic of what he feels writers generally do inadvertently while reporting about a topic to the public. Through out the reading, I gathered his sense of a definition of being forward in one’s own writing. To be forwarding, means when an author takes words, images, or ideas from a source and is then using them in a new context or meaning. It is like a means of summarizing with out plagiarizing. You use some of the originator’s ideas and key concepts, but one may extend onto further ideas and maybe take a new direction of the story’s plot. All of these characteristics deal with the technique of being forward. One great example of being forward was seen in my daily blog readings of the blog spot: Deadspin. Through this sports based blog, a new story of Jeremy Lin popped up as the main story. As I read this story, I started to notice how forward the author of this blog was being. The evidence behind it, is that as the actual saying of, “Chink in the Armor” was posted as live feed, commentary and news reporting began immediately about the immense disgrace. Once this feeding frenzy began, the sense of being forward began, as at least in my understanding it did. However now, since the aspect of forwarding means to change the meaning or idea behind primary sourcing ideals, the concept of the reporter’s thoughts on the Lin headline will be different form the actual live feed. From this technique, the idea of simply reporting about Lin has switched to an apology to Lin personally and an apology as well to the entire Asian-American community. The idea of a miss slip that turned into an apology is how I feel being forward in writing works in today’s society.

Real of Fake??

Lately I have been keeping up with the New York Times and my blog of choice, called Deadspin. Through these two sources of information, I gain different kinds of information, but in the same aspect. The New York Times allows me to gain information about news going on around the US and the World simultaneous, while Deadspin allows me to get news about different types of sports. In this means, both are set on a national and international level of gaining and releasing information. Even though the New York Times focuses mainly on news and stories that impact our Nation and World, the paper is still capable of reporting on sports. While with the blog posts, it mainly focuses on sports news and every once in a while the contributors focus on “news” focused topics. As well, I don’t see Deadspin as the type of information source that has much distorted information. This is because it is simply sports and most of sports can’t be slanted, until it comes to commentary, and since this is simply a blog post, the bloggers own words can be the only part of the information that could be considered in a press sphere. While with the New York Times, most, if not all of the information is thrown through a press sphere, for the reason of it being apart of the press and the entire paper being about reporting about information that is happening around us, and not information happening in the actual New York Times. The Times lives off of gaining information and then reporting about it in a different way in which their bosses want to hear it. But they are not the only paper that does this; nearly every paper and news channel is at fault fro this kind of action.

A Surplus of Sources

After reading Jeff Jarvis’s “The Press Becomes the Press-Sphere,” the connotation is rather harsh. I feel Jarvis views the press as manipulators of information that run the news that is circulated through out the world. It is portrayed as if news is not considered news until the press has distorted it. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is very true. Through this distortion itself, comes the actual story and information. The reason is because through commentary, blog posts, and reporting, come different aspects of the story, that as a whole collaborate to make one big story that is to be shared to the public. However, I found it confusing on how he tried to explain the new news process. What comes after follow up if the story supposedly continues on after this point? Does the process of links, comments, and follow up continue on in a repetitive string, or is there more to the construction of a story? As well with this new news process; is it a time line of events, or can bits and pieces be switched around and still form a story? Obviously the second half of the line can’t be switched in time with the first half, but can pieces like reporting come right after the idea? Or can publishing and links come directly from the idea and or the discussion and simply skip the interviews and reporting? Can these things happen, or is this time line simply Jarvis’s way at looking at the press and news of today? Because in my way of receiving stories and news, the way in which a story gets to me changes drastically as the source changes. For instance, if I get my news from the Television, then more than likely my story will be in the exact spot in which Jarvis placed it, or if I receive my news from peers, then my story line may be a bit more extended and have more components that allow it to become a story. There are so many ways in which news becomes someone’s own personal story by the end of the day. It takes a community to create a story, and it takes an individual to complete it.

Typical Sports?

Recently I have been following a sports blog called Deadspin. Through this website, I seem to have run into your typical sports coverage that one would see on ESPN. However, the individual authors tend to add in a little humor here and there in what stories they cover. But for the most part, your major stories are touched and discussed heavily as if you were to watch sports center. Henceforth, why the main audience would be sports enthusiast, athletes, and or your typical sports watcher. However, there is a big difference between Deadspin and ESPN, if the fact that this bolt as well covers daily incidents in the media. For instance, there is a post about how Whitney Houston died, how Sandusky was videotaped by a creepy person throwing his dog biscuits haha. So this blog is a rather relaxed and chilled one that mainly focuses on Sports.

New Blog Followed

So recently in my Writt 1122 class, I was told to decide a certain blog post to follow that interest me. Therefore I decided I would go with a blog that fit my interest. So, I ended up picking the blog Deadspin. This blog post focuses sports in general in America. The Url ishttp://deadspin.com/. All your major sports are covered and updated about daily. I can't wait to see what I can read and find out. Until then, see y'all later.

New York, New York Posts

Doing this “assignment” over the quarter has been a rather different experience for me. Before this I honestly never use to read the newspaper or go online to get information from the newspaper. Back home growing up, the newspaper was always left at the end of the driveway until one day we decided to simply cancel the prescription all together that way we wouldn’t be wasting the mail man’s time and the companies money on printing papers for people whom didn’t want it in the first place. Either way, what I am trying to say is that this is a new experience for me. My reading habits have increased, by no fault of my own unfortunately hah. It hasn’t been too bad to read a few more things a week and be educated on what is happening around me in this world instead of staying in my own bubble. I feel this should be a more common assignment for more classes. It’s a good idea to expose students too that way they don’t develop into grownups that are self-centered and don’t think about the big picture of the World. For instance,, without this assignment I would have never of found out about things going on in the Middle East, which seem to be the main focus of today’s media. Stories like New York’s acceptance of gay marriage, to stories about presidential candidates and their personal lives. All of these stories influenced my capability to spark conversations with people about something interesting that was of importance in our lives. Unfortunately, the one thing the Times has not influenced me on is my writing style and skills. Regrettably the majority of newspaper articles are written on the reading level of a 5th grader, a level in which I surpassed many years ago. However, either way I still enjoy the articles that they daily produce regardless of the reading level that I read it at.

Different Similarities

In today’s society, and my classroom as well obviously, we all seem to receive our news basically the same. A lot of people seem to use the trifecta of Internet, word of mouth, and in particular Facebook. While online, people tend to focus more on Facebook as a simple way to find out quick little nodes of information. However, in a close second I seem to find my classmates using various websites like Yahoo, which has daily updates about news that is going on around our city, country, and our world. Due to this, I am not seeing many people, if any, that use the newspaper nowadays for a source of entertainment for receiving their daily news and updates. Will the newspaper seize to exist in the years to come? I feel that this may not happen entirely. However I do believe that the paper form will not be around. Instead I think electronics will take over the paper companies by simply just transferring the printed material into Internet sites like they have already started to do. This characteristic would be put down by Chris Hedges and Nicholas Carr for the purpose of them thinking that the Internet is already affected our society negatively. Hedges in particular is troubled about how the Internet may be lowering our reading levels. On the Internet unfortunately, when it comes to publically widespread items like the news can’t be a very high reading level. However in contrast, I feel Andrew Sullivan would like this kind of change simply because he focuses more on the fact whether or not people are communicating in society in general, he isn’t really concerned about exactly how we talk and learn about information, more or less he is worried about the content. I in particular might agree towards Sullivan's view just because it is more about what you read then how you read it.

A Time of Change

Kollin Nava
2/7/12
Eric Leake
Extended Essay 1
A Time of Change
[From the perspective of the elder generations, looking down upon the newer generations and how they have changed compared to them is a key factor in today’s society. Writing and reading in particular are some of the most important keys that have allowed for society to be malleable, due to the introduction of new technology. Through the eyes of the elderly, this problem can be easily seen and hopefully fixed. From the teachings of older societies, my generation will hopefully learn to be re-manipulated and taken back from their technological era, and brought back to a time of proper learning techniques that allow them to be successful and not run and distorted by their inventions.]
Throughout history, the usage of technology has become more profound as the qualities of equipment have increased in their capabilities. With this, the population has allowed these advances to permit them to increase their abilities and the ease at which they are completed. However, what consequences do people give up in order to live with these inventions? In this case, writing and reading is the point of issue that one should focus on. From the advancements in technology like the Malling-Hansen Writing Ball, to the typewriter, to the computer, to smartphones, they all affected our society at which rate we wrote at and completed literary components. Now, what writing mechanisms has the populous sacrificed in order to obtain faster completion times? There are so many that generations older than mine may not understand, due to their lack of dependency on my generation’s technology. However, maybe Chris Hedges, Nicholas Carr, Sylvia Scribner, and Clive Thompson can help enlighten these generations in what they missed while growing up.
Furthermore, one of the biggest issues that society is facing today with technology’s advances is how it is effecting our younger generations, unlike what our older generation may have experienced while growing up. Now, unlike your older generations, today’s newer technology is showing to be rather prevalent in how children are reading and writing. For instance, “research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes (Carr, 2008). People are now relying more on the Internet to do their work instead of applying their own the traditional way. Kids are losing their work ethic and are allowing technologies to do the work for them. Personally, I do not feel my generation or any below me have a fractional piece of work ethic compared to our society’s older generations. Elderly people use to live in harder times that required more time, more thought, and more persistence. The accomplishments in technology, that younger generations are capable of using, is due to the work that the people put into their projects back in the day. These goals were not just handed to them like they are handed to us these days. In order to regain these qualities that our elder society contains, it must begin in the schools and the ways in which we learn. It is up to the older generations who are teaching mine and younger generations to help prevent these damages. What damages you ask, ones that surround the idea of simplistic and lazy reading and writing. We have moved to a culture that reads in, “a form of skimming activity” (Carr, 2008). Instead of trying to read an entire book or article, we instead try to use a form of reading that is usually known today as speed-reading in order to complete the assignment quicker. However, in Nicholas Carr’s mind, this kind of skimming is only being used in order to score quicker finds and wins (2008). Instead of these techniques helping our reading and writing skills, then are having a detrimental effect on us as humans. Some people like Clive Thompson believe that these newer technologies are a great experience for generations to come because they, Facebook and texting in particular, help promote audience based literacy and communication. Instead however, I always find myself talking about and doing unimportant posts that have no medium and lacks purpose. Texting in particular for me, is always a one or two word chore that serves no purpose other than communication. Texting was never an option for older people in our society. Instead, letters, phone calls, and or god for bid personal conversations were needed. “Texting is bleak, bald, sad shorthand which masks dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness," (Berkmann, 2008). Even though Clive Thompson feels that, “Young people today write far more than any generation before them,” It is only due to social networking, which does not help promote good work habits, proper grammar, complete thoughts, or scholarly writing (Thompson, 2009). Not only this, but our reliance on technology as well muddles our personal way of thinking.
To add onto how our writing and reading techniques are distorted or jumbled due to technology’s influences in our lives, our way of thinking as well, is in range of being effected by our innovations. The way someone perceives something, how his or her brain receives the material, how we then in turn use it are all possible regions of infection. The reason behind this is because, by using these machines, we are in fact letting the machine itself do our thinking for us. In other words, “they supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought” (Carr, 2008). This thought was never really a possible thought of trouble back in the day of our parents or grandparents. These new technologies are not allowing for people to find out on their own what it is like to try and think for themselves. Instead, technology is implementing a new kind of learning and writing, one that is fast pace and has less meaning. Nicholas Carr, in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” mentions how his thinking, “has taken on a ‘staccato’ quality, reflecting the way I quickly scan short passages of text from many sources online” (2008). People’s minds are becoming the tools of the computer instead of allowing the computer to enhance our wellbeing. What are we becoming from this lack of self-work? What are we missing out on while our technology is doing the thinking for our brains? Nothing and a lot are the answers. We may be losing the hard work of our forefathers, we may be dumbing down compared to older generations, and we maybe becoming inferior over all. By not doing our own work, we are slowly allowing ourselves to change. I myself have even become more reliant on technology. As I write this, I am writing to you on a computer. However, instead of following my generation’s idea of finding research on the Internet, I read my articles on paper. Instead of completely conforming to society’s new ways, people should try to either have a good balance of old and new knowledge, or try not to make technology the main aspect of his or her life. This abstinence or sense of balance is key because, “technologies we use in learning and practicing the craft of reading play an important part in shaping the neural circuits inside our brains” (Carr, 2007). Without training our brains correctly, we as people will have the possibility in changing our mental processes and capabilities.
Not only does technology effect our writing/reading capabilities and the way we think, but increase in technology as well seems to be distorting are attention span. Personally, as I type this piece, I cannot help but have Facebook open in another window. The Internet seems to have taken over what my life deems important. Every 30 or so minutes I feel the action of checking Facebook and acting like updates are waiting for me, are taking my mind away from my work and it is some what of an addiction. The Internet deems itself such a big portion of my daily life, and it is sad to admit that it is due to my generation’s comfort ability in accepting the Internet’s ways in effecting our lives. With the continuation of my usage, “the Net seems to be chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr, 2008). The more I keep thinking about it, the more newer technology seems to have so many entrances into my life and how it controls it; from my phone, to typing this project, to television, to music, etc. Almost any action that I do through out the day is only allowed through the usage of a technological device. This mere reliance on technology is taking a toll on society and it’s attention span. Instead of being able to sit down and focus on a book, society would rather go watch TV or do something else that would take their mind away from their reading, even if that means checking Facebook for a few minutes here and there. “The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing” (Carr, 2008). This statement in itself explains what our society is on track for for happening to their mindsets. Sooner or later our populous will need to rely on elsewhere to keep their minds on track. Now, the question is what is the cause of this, is it the fact that we have moved from a paper society to an Internet-based society? Yes. “The change from a print-based to an image-based society has transformed our nation” (Hedges, 2008). Instead of staying at a steady pace and paying attention to detail, our minds are now use to rushing and skimming through reads like it is nothing, while on top of this, not absorbing as much information. Instead of receiving the whole story, our younger generations would rather get the easy win and acquire a general outlook. All this concept does is to deteriorate our core values that our society contains, like self-conclusions, judgments, common sense, etc.
In addition to attention span, core values seem to be much more effected by our futuristic concerns than any other characteristic in society’s population. The reason behind this is because we as people gain our reasons to life from are core values that we contain and show throughout our lives. Now if our values are distorted or changed, one has the right mind to believe that the consequences then cause the people to change in themselves. Now as our society proceeds through its future, “the core values of our open society, to draw independent conclusions, to express dissent when judgment and common sense indicate something is wrong, to be self-critical, to challenge authority, and to acknowledge that there are other views, different ways of being, that are morally and socially acceptable, are dying” (Hedges, 2008). As the younger generations learn to grow up with these qualities missing, they will soon grow further away from the older generations like you. However, until we grow old, it s still up to you older generations to reach out there and influence as many younger people as possible about the possible changes that await them and how it will affect us as a population in general. So go out there and make a difference in someone’s life.














Work Cited
Berkmann, Marcus. "TXTNG: THE GR8 DB8 ." New York Post [New York] 27 Jul 2008, n. pag. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?." Atlantic Monthly. August 2008: n. page. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .

Hedges, Chris. "America the Illiterate." Chris Hedges Columns 10 Nov 2008, n. pag. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .

Thompson, Clive. "Clive Thompson on the New Literacy." (2009): n. page. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .

New Old News

As you all can see, I am back again in the game of blogging. Instead of signing on in off, it is probably a good idea to think that I will be doing this for another three or so months, so sit back and get comfortable… Well on today’s post, news is the big topic. How do people get their news and how does it spread? Personally of course, with no big surprise, the Internet is probably the biggest source that allows me to obtain the daily, weekly, and urgent news of the world. I am capable of learning about any number of topics within seconds, where as other forms like newspapers, books, television, and people, all have boundaries on what they can tell me. However, on the other hand, if I am looking for personal information, then a person is probably my best bet, due to the fact that the Internet has a rather extensive wall on what they know personally about people and their lives. But for the most part then, the Internet and people are most likely my biggest contributors to my daily life on how I hear about news. However, in a close third place would be the Television. Even though I rarely watch TV, it still allows me to obtain the most recent and important news, where on the Internet I have to search for it since the Internet has such an extensive folder of info. The TV as well automatically puts my material into categories by channels, which helps lower the time it takes for me to find out things that are needed.
Nevertheless, there is a big difference in what is my most used source and what is my most preferred. I use the Internet the most, but that is kind of not controlled by me. Since I now live in the technology era, it is kind of hard to stray away from what is easily accessible and used. If I was allowed an easier choice, then the person wins my vote. With people, talks mean more and matter more to me in the end. You figure out something about someone after you talk to him or her, you take what he or she say to you and gather and put it into a thought. Then you interpret it and analyze it to make since into your own. This process is a much more interesting and fun thing to do, instead of pushing keys and clicking a mouse and simply reading a screen that has words on it just because of binary code, or some sort of code close to it. It seems too superficial and not real. People need to keep their roots in what society has always knows, talking to one another to gain information, and I truly try to live this way.

Extended Essay 1

Kollin Nava
1/30/12
Eric Leake
Extended Essay 1
A Time of Change
[From the perspective of the elder generations, looking down upon the newer generations and how they have changed compared to them is a key factor in today’s society. Writing and reading in particular are some of the most important keys that have allowed for society to be malleable, due to the introduction of new technology. Through the eyes of the elderly, this problem can be easily seen and hopefully fixed. From the teachings of older societies, my generation will hopefully learn to be re-manipulated and taken back from their technological era, and brought back to a time of proper learning techniques that allow them to be successful and not run and distorted by their inventions.]

Throughout history, the usage of technology has become more profound as the qualities of equipment have increased in their capabilities. With this, the population has allowed these advances to permit them to increase their abilities and the ease at which they are completed. However, what consequences do people give up in order to live with these inventions? In this case, writing and reading is the point of issue that one should focus on. From the advancements in technology like the Malling-Hansen Writing Ball, to the typewriter, to the computer, to smartphones, they all affected our society at which rate we wrote at and completed literary components. Now, what writing mechanisms has the populous sacrificed in order to obtain faster completion times? There are so many that generations older than mine may not understand, due to their lack of dependency on my generation’s technology. However, maybe Chris Hedges, Nicholas Carr, Sylvia Scribner, and Clive Thompson can help enlighten these generations in what they missed while growing up.
Furthermore, one of the biggest issues that society is facing today with technology’s advances is how it is effecting our younger generations. Now, unlike your older generations, today’s newer technology is showing to be rather prevalent in how children are reading and writing. For instance, “research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes (Carr, 2008). People are now relying more on the Internet to do their work instead of applying their own the traditional way. Kids are losing their work ethic and are allowing technologies to do the work for them. Personally, I do not feel my generation or any below me have a fractional piece of work ethic compared to our society’s older generations. Elderly people use to live in harder times that required more time, more thought, and more persistence. The accomplishments in technology, that younger generations are capable of using, is due to the work that the people put into their projects back in the day. These goals were not just handed to them like they are handed to us these days. In order to regain these qualities that our elder society contains, it must begin in the schools and the ways in which we learn. It is up to the older generations who are teaching mine and younger generations to help prevent these damages. What damages you ask, ones that surround the idea of simplistic and lazy reading and writing. We have moved to a culture that reads in, “a form of skimming activity” (Carr, 2008). Instead of trying to read an entire book or article, we instead try to use a form of reading that is usually known today as speed-reading in order to complete the assignment quicker. However, in Nicholas Carr’s mind, this kind of skimming is only being used in order to score quick finds and wins (2008). Instead of these techniques helping our reading and writing skills, then are having a detrimental effect on us as humans. Some people like Clive Thompson believe that these newer technologies are a great experience for generations to come because they, Facebook and texting in particular, helps promote audience based literacy and communication. Instead however, I always find myself talking about and doing unimportant posts that have no medium and lacks purpose. Texting in particular for me, is always a one or two word chore that serves no purpose other than communication. “Texting is bleak, bald, sad shorthand which masks dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness," (Sutherland, 2008). Even though Clive Thompson feels that, “Young people today write far more than any generation before them,” It is only due to social networking, which does not help promote good work habits, proper grammar, complete thoughts, or scholarly writing (Thompson, 2009). Not only this, but our reliance on technology as well muddles our personal way of thinking.
To add onto how our writing and reading techniques are distorted or jumbled due to technologies influences in our lives, our way of thinking as well is in range of being effected by our innovations. The way someone perceives something, how his or her brain receives the material, how we then in turn use it are all possible regions of infection. The reason behind this is because, by using these machines, we are in fact letting the machine itself do our thinking for us. In other words, “they supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought” (Carr, 2008). These new technologies are not allowing for people to find out on their own what it is like to try and think for themselves. Instead, technology is implementing a new kind of learning and writing, one that is fast pace and has less meaning. Nicholas Carr, in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” mentions how his thinking, “has taken on a ‘staccato’ quality, reflecting the way I quickly scan short passages of text from many sources online” (2008). People’s minds are becoming the tools of the computer instead of allowing the computer to enhance our wellbeing. What are we becoming from this lack of self-work? What are we missing out on while our technology is doing the thinking for our brains? Nothing and a lot are the answers. By not doing our own work, we are slowly allowing ourselves to change. I myself have even become more reliant on technology. As I write this, I am writing to you on a computer. However, instead of following my generation’s idea of finding research on the Internet, I read my articles on paper. Instead of completely conforming to society’s new ways, people should try to either have a good balance of old and new knowledge, or try not to make technology the main aspect of his or her life. This abstinence or sense of balance is key because, “technologies we use in learning and practicing the craft of reading play an important part in shaping the neural circuits inside our brains” (Wolf, 2007). Without training our brains correctly, we as people will have the possibility in changing our mental processes and capabilities.
Not only does technology effect our writing/reading capabilities and the way we think, but increase in technology as well seems to be distorting are attention span. Personally, as I type this piece, I cannot help but have Facebook open in another window. The Internet seems to have taken over what my life deems important. Every 30 or so minutes I feel the action of checking Facebook and acting like updates are waiting for me, are taking my mind away from my work and it is some what of an addiction. The Internet deems itself such a big portion of my daily life, and it is sad to admit that it is due to my generation’s comfort ability in accepting the Internet’s ways in effecting our lives. With the continuation of my usage, “the Net seems to be chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr, 2008). The more I keep thinking about it, the more newer technology seems to have so many entrances into my life and how it controls it; from my phone, to typing this project, to television, to music, etc. Almost any action that I do through out the day is only allowed through the usage of a technological device. This mere reliance on technology is taking a toll on society and it’s attention span. Instead of being able to sit down and focus on a book, society would rather go watch TV or do something else that would take their mind away from their reading, even if that means checking Facebook for a few minutes here and there. “The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing” (Carr, 2008). This statement in itself explains what our society is on track for for happening to their mindsets. Sooner or later our populous will need to rely on elsewhere to keep their minds on track. Now, the question is what is the cause of this, is it the fact that we have moved from a paper society to an Internet-based society? Yes. “The change from a print-based to an image-based society has transformed our nation” (Hedges, 2008). Instead of staying at a steady pace and paying attention to detail, our minds are now use to rushing and skimming through reads like it is nothing, while on top of this, not absorbing as much information. Instead of receiving the whole story, our younger generations would rather get the easy win and acquire a general outlook. All this concept does is to deteriorate our core values that our society contains, like self-conclusions, judgments, common sense, etc.
In addition to attention span, core values seem to be much more effected by our futuristic characteristic than any other characteristic in society’s population. The reason behind this is because we as people gain our reasons to life from are core values that we contain and show throughout our lives. Now if our values are distorted or changed, one has the right mind to believe that the consequences then cause the people to change in themselves. Now as our society proceeds through its future, “the core values of our open society, to draw independent conclusions, to express dissent when judgment and common sense indicate something is wrong, to be self-critical, to challenge authority, and to acknowledge that there are other views, different ways of being, that are morally and socially acceptable, are dying” (Hedges, 2008). As the younger generations learn to grow up with these qualities missing, they will soon grow further away from the older generations like you.
























Work Cited
(To be completed)
Carr, 2008
Hedges, 2008
Sutherland, 2008
Thompson, 2009
Wolf, 2007

The End of Reflecting

During this process of writing, my thoughts of have changed about reading and writing. However, my actions have not changed. Instead I just have started to realize more of how I am writing and reading and what works best for me, and how my surroundings are affecting me. Instead of this whole blogging thing being a hassle, I somewhat enjoyed reading and writing about literacy. I can’t say I didn’t learn anything from this experience. I learned to sit and express myself for at least 250 words hah. At first, this was my biggest challenge. No not the expressing thing, but the 250 words thing. I though at first that the blogs could not be over 250 words, but that we could not be too far under the mark. Until about last week, when professor told us how to gain an A in this assignment, did I start to writing more and expressing my opinions. Now I find myself writing more than double the required amount. This is no longer a chore, but some what of a liking, due to the fact that I get to express myself, not to mention, I get more time listening to music, since I listen to music to get my brain and train of thought going.
This entire experience has been a fun and interesting one. I went from running around trying to turn these posts in late, to double tasking eating and typing posts in Nelson hall, to finally doing two posts 12+ hours before they are even due. This last post especially is like a diary or a way to reflect upon what is happening in my head on a certain topic. However, once these blog requests are over, I won’t feel upset about ending my blogging “career.” Instead I will be somewhat happy that I won’t be rushed or be forced to read something that I am not that interested in. However, if this is my last post, I hope you enjoyed my some \what interesting posts as much as I did. Fair well general public. Until next time?

A Problem That May Help

In “Literacy In Three Metaphors,” and in the “New Literacy” the aspect of literacy is rather different. In the first article, Scribner talks about hoe literacy should be described and how it comes to be defined in a certain society. On the other hand, in the second article, Thompson talks about the new type of literacy and how the new generation’s form of literacy has helped them in becoming better writers. Now, both of these writers possess the aspect of there being new types of literacy in their articles. Scribner talks about how literacy depends upon what is present and what is deemed necessary in the society, talking about how societies create their own form of literacy. For example, how in some religious societies, literacy is not granted status until the person is able to read and memorize the holy book. However, in other places, literacy is not seen until one passes a certain grade in primary schooling. However, Scribner tends to focus more on the aspect of how literacy is originated. Scribner talks about how literacy is an outcome of cultural transmission, meaning that one does not gain the meaning of words through the interactions of the words, but through the interaction of how other people use them and mean them. On the other hand, Clive Thompson tends to lean more towards going against what Carr states in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid.” Instead of agreeing with Carr about how Google, along with other sorts of technology, are making us more stupid and are lowering are capability to read and write as good as our past generations. Instead, Thompson focuses on how technology has allowed my generation to develop a type of writing that is very audience-aware, which in turn allows for a more academic style of writing that contains a countless amount of prose in the body of the argument. The reason behind this style of writing is supposedly brought on by the constant communication between one another on technological devices. Now, as for my thoughts on this subject, I am kind of stuck in the middle of the beauty of it all. I some what agree with Carr that I have lost my concentration due to the implementation of technology into my life, which allowed me to focus more on what is happening in the social world, instead of focusing on what is in front of me, like homework or a book that I am reading. However, in the words of Thompson, I feel I have increased my abilities to be a better by writer by being able to express my thoughts and feelings on a daily schedule. I do agree that I write more than my past generations, mainly thanks to the availability of being able to share my thoughts with friends, family, and the world in general. But, even though I feel technology has helped my generation, and me I still feel it is allowing the gap to increase between the literate and illiterate. I feel that since technology cannot be dispersed equally throughout the world, that we are in a way holding back a huge percentage of the world’s populations’ abilities. I feel that if this were possible, that literacy would skyrocket due to the increase in possibilities in one’s society. People would be able to use their teachings more often and in a real world sense.

Illiteracy That Has Symbols

After reading Chris Hedges’ “America the Illiterate,” I was some what disturbed by the statistics that were thrown around. How almost a third of America’s people today are illiterate or barely literate, or how the presidential debate speeches have been dumbed down as the years have progressed to a now astonishing fifth grade reading level. The fact that a good portion of the people in America who aren’t able to read are still liable for electing our president is appalling. How Hedges describes and develops the issue of this is quite interesting. When I first began reading this article, I didn’t expect it to be about the presidential debates and how the illiterate are having huge effects over the final decisions. He seems to have blamed this exact opinion on why Obama won his election and why he feels he may win his reelection this year. Due to the fact that Hedges feels that Obama uses millions of dollars to dictate the general public and manipulate them with “appealing,” “glittering,” and “self-destructive” illusions, he feels Obama as well supplies to the political side of the story that they are all giving in to the fact that people are simply forgetting about the truths about elections, and are simply now focusing on how someone looks on TV, to the way they carry themselves, or how they seem to be a “nice person” who will take care of the peoples’ needs. I on the other hand believe that since Obama came from this kind of background, that he is not just playing that game, but that he is truly trying to do things that benefit the grater good.
Now, in order to understand where Chris Hedges is coming from in this argument, one must know the aspects of what he feels is America’s form of illiteracy. Hedges focus on the aspect that people pay attention to the visualizations of the commercial world. How people who are illiterate are deprived of other forms of getting by in this world. People who are illiterate will go to fast foot restaurants because they can order from pictures. Because of these lacks in daily life, Hedges sees these illiterate people as struggling on most basic chores, and that they watch helplessly as the world around them continues on with out them knowing how to enter into this realm.
Now, as for the connections between Chris Hedge and Nicholas Carr, they both described how our society’s change from a print-based culture has transformed our nation. As well, they both see that the core values of our society, like thinking for ourselves, common sense, understanding historical facts, and separating truth from fallacy are all dying because of the change from a text-based society, to one that is controlled and dominated by technology.

A New Way to Get Dumber

At first glance, I felt that these 8 pages were going to be about how Google is so bad for our generation and how we are getting dumber by the second due to the massive use and control of Internet in our lives. However, as I read, I felt Nicholas Carr strayed away from the concept of Google’s causation of dumbness, and focused on the actual use of the Internet and technology in general, and every so often he connected back to the idea of Google being the cause. So, as of now, I don’t know what Carr thinks is the causation of us dumbing down, and I don’t think he does either.
Even though I don’t know exactly Carr’s position, I will still explain what his title means. So since I feel that Carr is trying to explain that the Internet and the rise of technology are the perpetrators of people losing contact with the way they use to think when they read textbooks and not online articles and fast past research. I myself have to agree with Carr that, “all the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” Even as I type this blog, I have my Facebook open to the right of the screen barely so I can chat with friends, I have my smart phone to the right of me so I can text friends, and music is blaring. My mind is not really in control right now, I am simply looking at what my computer allowed me to highlight and I am just regurgitating what is typed on my screen.
Nicholas Carr as well touches base on the fact that our minds and brains are starting to work in the pace and ways of computers and not like “clocks”, like they use to. Instead of slow, steady and patient, we are now skimming books, taking in countless of information all at once, and rushing through the learning process. So to go as far as saying that we are getting dumber due to Google, the Internet, or technology, seems kind of hard to believe. Instead of saying my generation is getting dumber, I feel we are simply just using characteristics that are not so much needed or prevalent in our world today. Instead, we are simply adapting to our surroundings and are learning in a new way instead of sticking with “who knows best.”

Harris and Sullivan are Rewriting

After reading Harris’s introduction and “Coming to Terms”, I feel him and Sullivan themselves carry a few characteristics with in them that are a like. For instance, both of these men are able to view the purposefulness of writing and how it is used in a social setting. As well, they both take into account that that writing and reading should be used in order to either elaborate on another topic or to reiterate what one has once said or felt. One of the biggest comparisons that both Harris and Sullivan have in common is the fact that they both believe that when one reads, they must first take in what is actually read and what the author might mean by this, but then proceed on to interpret the text itself into one’s own thoughts and meanings. However, on the other hand, Harris himself is more focused on the actual topic of meaning rather than format, while Sullivan talks a lot on his last post that we read “Why I blog,” about how his job of blogging has a different format than other typed of writers like reporters, columnist, and novelist.
Now, for our next readings, I am a little hesitant to continue already due to the fact that I am getting this vibe that what I am about to read about is going to entirely be about reading, writing and how they connect one another through different styles and how people view these styles. Personally, I am not a huge fan of this kind of reading and writing, but I guess only time will tell. Either way I have to read this, so I will let you know in future posts.

Society's Way of Life

It seems to me that people not only in our class but also in our generation for the most part share a lot of qualities when it comes to using technology and how they incorporate reading and writing. From spending 20 to 30 minutes on Facebook simply just checking in to see what the latest news that is going on in their “social network”. As well, not only do a lot of people my age do this, but also they usually incorporate the aspect of accessing Facebook through their phone’s Internet, which means a lot of people have moved to digital media and are now using smart phones that have Internet.
Not only do people in our class tend to migrate towards the usage of Facebook, but they also manage to reunite with their roots of their parents by eventually reading an article here and there through out the week to catch up what is happening around them and in the world. So, it seems that people today are informational deprived and are hungry for either gossip to give them something to talk about, or to be engraved into the personal day to day life of people and the world itself. With out people knowing what is going around them, I feel this world would not be a very happy and productive way of life. People seem to strive off of what they seek and find interesting from the Internet, by reading, gossiping, commenting, and blogging. Almost everyone’s blog posts included one of these verbs, and I feel that is what makes our society what it is today.

Inside My Search Engine

From looking at my history and studying where I visit and how I specifically use all my website, I only see a few sites here and there. Varying from facebook.com, blackboard.du.edu, webcentral.du.edu, stumbleupon.com, youtube.com, backcountry.com, REI.com, and various web links that are for my classes and their homework assignments. On the websites of facebook.com and stumbleupon.com, not only do I read and watch certain contexts, but also at times I am asked to actually interact with the content of the site. Either I will be asked to type something, play along with a game, make a video, take a picture, or even analyze something that is in front of me on the screen. Compared to the other sites, these two sites contain more than one action that is needed of me. For instance, on backcountry.com and REI.com, all I simply do is look at snowboarding gear and topics that surround skiing. On the other hand, blackboard.du.edu and webcentral.du.edu are only used for school and viewing assignments and grades. So, in a sense, the four previous sites do have the concept of looking things up, as their thing in common. I simply use those web sites to gain knowledge about a certain topic that I am at the time interested in, or need to be interested in. Lastly, the only web site that I visit that is simply only used for visual, and that is youtube.com.

Purpose for Innovating a Genre of Writing: Why?

Andrew Sullivan really opened my eyes to the world of blogging with his article “Why I blog”. Before the concept of blogging never seemed complicated or deep. However, after reading nine pages of his opinion about blogs, my idea of posting online for the purpose of expression and publishing of myself became kind of liberating, like Sullivan suggested. As well, Sullivan’s expression of blogging being a spontaneous expression of instant thought that has no borders or restrictions warmed my thoughts about becoming a blogger. Not only did this article show me that the idea of posting one’s thoughts online for the public can be liberating, but also it is kind of a step down from a personal diary that forms relationships with the people that follow you. All of these aspects and more, I feel are the reasons of why Andrew Sullivan finds so much enjoyment in blogging. As well, he expressed his opinion about how being a blogger is better then being a reporter, columnist, and novelist; for the reasons of having free-form writing, being in a more accident-prone genre, being able to write less formally, and you develop more of a personal relationship with your readers. However, I feel the number one reason Sullivan feels the need to blog, or initially had the need to blog, was to have a presence “online”. With have a presence online, people get to find out what he is about and get to critic his work, like he explained, “blogging is kind of a community effort,” in the aspect of people writing on his blog with links, stories, and facts to help improve his stories. I feel he likes that people out there on the internet know more about a topic that he writes about, and I feel he appreciates that people care enough to express themselves.

The Creating of a Blog

Well first off, I had no idea what web site I was suppose to use, so I got some kind of humor out of that because I felt lost and hopeless. Honestly, this part of creating the actual blog was probably the hardest hah, even though it was rather obvious that if one wanted to create a blog, they should try www.blogger.com. Either way, I finally found out the website only because of my great roommate Patrick, who actually happens to be in my class. Other then finding the actual web address, the process was rather easy, especially since my email is already a g-mail account. However, I haven’t yet started to customize and personalize all the little characteristics that my profile and actual blog page contain. I’m kind of confused by the whole thing because I have never actually used a blog or left postings on a website that had a sense of importance. Now that I finally get a chance to be involved in aspect of blogging, I feel my thoughts towards blogs and bloggers might change. On the other hand, I feel it already has started. I am starting to see blogging as another way to vent and spread your ideas with out feeling too conscious about your odd thoughts or abnormal trends. Hopefully this will be a fun experience that I will learn to like and finally get a chance to get to learn to like writing as well. Only time will tell. I guess it’s time to take a leap…