Literary Narrative

Rita McCann

Literary Narrative

            “What is writing?” was a question our class was posed with a few weeks ago.  Obviously, the topic of discussion is very broad, but it can be dissected and closely examined.  Over the course of this year, I have realized more how my writing is very presentational.  That makes sense.  My passion lies in performance, so it is appropriate that my writing reflects that exact type of drive.  Out of the seven patches we have been given to create this quilt of a paper, I’ve chosen pieces that can create a paper possessing a performance spine.

            A sentence starts like….the first note of a song.  Better yet, it starts like the overture before a musical.  The sound of all the instruments setting the mood and giving a sneak-peak for the performance about to be viewed by the audience, is like the opening of a sentence or paragraph.  The audience is anticipating what is to come, as all writers hope their readers will do the same.  I began this essay by stating a question that readers will be drawn to because, although it is not being asked to them, they will think it directed towards them. Either way they get to think on that question, even when they read into how it was truly a question I had been asked.   The overture prepares the audience for the wonderful art that they are about to behold, by providing their ears with an overview of the music from the show, similar to a successful opening sentence keeping readers engaged. 

            Constructing a thought-out introduction is a lot neater when you can see.  However, writing in the dark for seven minutes can yield pretty naturally creative results.  The following piece is an altered version of the piece I wrote in the dark:

The story-telling pro in my family is my Daddy.  I feel as though my sister and I tell stories pretty well, from growing up always listening to his and observing the way he entertains us.  There are stories about Lojo at his job in the planetarium, the ever classic how i met your mother story, the tomato soup Godzilla and King Kong story, and a library of other stories both fictitious and true.  One that I can relay pretty well, is one of my favorites.

I was sitting on my Uncle Honey's front porch, you know? A simply beautiful summer day.  My whole family was over for a swim in his pool, and I was taking a break to sit on the porch, dry off in the sun, and watch people walk by.  It was a quiet neighborhood, and I was just sitting and relaxing, when all of a sudden I heard this faint "Buzza Buzza Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz...Buzza Buzza Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz."  I looked all around and could not match the very faint song I was hearing.  I listened around to try and find where the song was coming from when I noticed a knothole in the wood of the front porch.  I put my eye up to the hole in one of the slim front pillars and, to my surprise, saw a little bee with a towel drying off his bee bum after his shower.  He was dancing and drying to the rhythm of his buzzing tune, until he saw my huge eye poking into his bathroom.  He looked right at me and let out a "hmph!" in surprise and embarrassment right before whapping me in the eye with his towel. "OOOOOOOOOWWWWWWEEEEE!" I began to howl as I covered my stinging eye.  My dad came out with a big old stake and made me hold it on my eye to help the pain subside.  That little singing bee really got me good!

            This prompt was the most appealing to me because it was retelling a story that had been presented to me many times by the best storyteller in my family.  I honestly believe that my story telling style can be much accredited to my father.  My father is also a performer, and I feel as though being brought up in a home full of music and being on stage really set me on the current path toward my pursuit in theatre.

            I am a writer.  Reflecting upon my blog that I wrote about if I am a writer or not, I decided that in writing that response, I was exemplifying being writer.  I had written that I might not be a writer and merely just an actor playing the part of a good writer, but I have loved writing my life.  I think that writing is a wonderful outlet, and I’ve found it very therapeutic throughout all of the stress in my life.  Writing has been the assignment, exam, or project that I have always looked forward to completing. 

            If I were to give advice to future students, I would tell them that they are writers.  If you are skilled enough to exercise the art of writing, you should do so and express yourself through words.  If you cannot express yourself through painting, singing, acting, dancing, sketching, or any other form of art, you can write.  Writing is so vast, and there are so many forms to master or even invent.  Take the time to write for fun.  Keep a journal.  It isn’t stupid to write, and remember that you have the choice to share or keep private what you compose.  Take the chances you are given to write, and let your thoughts out onto the page and/or into the world.

            I write because I love to, have to, and want to.  As a scholar, I am required to write in order to complete tasks and get grades to help me towards a brighter future.  I write because I want to do well in writing.  I feel compelled to write things down to remember them, apply them to larger works, and organize my life.  I love writing because I can express myself and put onto solid paper what I am thinking in my head.  I can keep what I write private or share it.  Writing is something that I can work on, improve, and be proud of.  Writing is a different way for me to perform. 

Rita McCann

What’s Happening to Writing?

Essay #3

Well, This is Writing

            Taking a subject as broad as writing involves many avenues of explanation.  There is the meaning and reason behind it, it’s origin and history, different styles, evolutionary details, it’s presentation, and many other elements that encompass what writing is to the world.  Growing from etchings in caves, the written form of communication has advanced rapidly over its many years of existence.  The manifestations of the written word should be regarded as exciting and constantly moving forward.  Surely, new forms can seem unfocused or overwhelming, but each generation of text must have seemed like that at one point, and it is important for the process of recorded language to be celebrated in it’s forward advancement apposite to the fast paced world. 

            I’ve found our semester’s curriculum to mirror the evolution of writing in a way.  Our first assignment was to be done in crayon.  The task took the class back to days remembered when crayons were the only implements we cared to create with.  Next we wrote in a more usual, yet seemingly primitive, fashion using paper and pen.  This was followed by typed pages, blogs, media presentations, and prezis.  We can see how writing can be changing even over the course of a few weeks, but still hold weight in each form.  When putting thousands of years of changes into one writing course, it is easier to see how no particular form is negative to the craft of writing.  Some pieces displayed by the class have been enhanced by auxiliaries, but the more resources a writer has, the greater the overall piece.  We have the great privilege of having many avenues to express thoughts.

            Expressing thoughts was wonderfully displayed in “Flashy Words,” the YouTube video shown a few weeks ago.  Sihan expresses thoughts about language in the style of performance.  His appeal is visual, logistical, and audible.  He physically displayed the passion he feels behind his words, and the audience understands just as they would reading a newspaper or novel.  Images and videos in our four letter word projects and prezis have also assisted in our attempt to share information.  Images can express much of what written words can.  For example, Jenna Tanzolas presentation entitled “Save” said a thousand words.  The raw images of fellow human beings in such harsh conditions shook up the class in the way she intended.  Students also used images in their prezis to liven their overall presentation and help the class understand their point.  Although some are concerned about the materialistic drive involved in writing today, it is obvious that the use of visual ancillaries proves to be beneficial in final products. 

            As previously explained, classic forms of writing are still used in their unaltered arrangements, but they can be heightened or aided by other forms of communication arts.  Visuals aside, text alone has changed greatly even in the past ten years.  No longer are people hindered by the hassle of making paper before being able to write something.  Today, with the touch of a few buttons, anyone can be a published writer.  Personally, I find works from the past to be more riveting than many modern works I have read.  There is something about the permanent monumentality of works considered unorthodox or edgy from the 1700’s and such that just trumps scandalous writing found on websites and blogs today.  The fixity of Shakespeare’s works echo an eloquence that cannot be deleted or reposted.  The fact that certain documents can only be found on papers too fragile for a human to handle is beautifully historical and gives such works a sacredness that isn’t possible in blogs or online magazines.  Granted, these online pieces will someday seem ancient, the tangibility of a book really completes a reading experience for me.  Jay David Bolter introduces his book, Writing Space Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print, with an excerpt from Victor Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris.  On page one of his informational book, the years 1482, 1967, 2001, and the present year are all involved.  The excerpt is that of Frollo’s recognition of the power behind writing.  His fear that text will overpower or “destroy” sacred churches and further beliefs among people was partially correct.  Although Notre Dame still stands today, it has morphed into a major tourist attraction and has been written about for more than a highly religious and proper reason.  Destroyed may not be the word, but altered is spot on.

            Computers are covered in Bolter’s book as a success and also an overly relaxed outlet for anyone with an opinion.  In chapter one, on page 4, Bolter writes, “The shift to the computer may make writing more flexible, but it also threatens the definition of good writing and careful reading that have developed in association with the technique of printing.  In the heyday of print, we came to regard the written text as an unchanging artifact, a monument to its author and its age.”  On page 44 of chapter three, Bolter informs us “hypertext enthusiasts are also like modernist writers and visual artists in their dedication to the principle of the new.  They characterize hypertext as a break with the past, a revolutionary form of writing, just as modernists often characterized their forms of prose, poetry, and painting as revolutions in the early 20^th century.”  In that quotation two different kinds of writing and one expression through imagery are mentioned as progress in the 20^th century alone.  There are so many possible designs for writing, that any three off the top of someone’s head are probably accurate and well known.   Although I have previously stated that I do prefer the unchanging works, I try to approach writing advancements as just a way to spread the craft.  I posed the question to fellow WSC 2 students; Do you think that forms of changeable text have become available partly because writers these days are quick to publish, afraid to make their thoughts permanent, feel like the Internet is so cluttered their writing may not be found so easily, etc?  As most classmates would agree, people are more likely to post a composition when they are able to change it, if necessary, and feel protected by the vastness of the Internet.  However, the confidence of writers should not be completely downplayed.  There are many serious articles and online postings that have been unleashed for a very strong and specific purpose.  For those writers with a little less urgency backing their works, there is the comfort of the nonchalant nature of much of the Internet. A students answer that I find to be applicable to this prompt is, “I think that forms of changeable text have become available for a few reasons; one, today's society is ever-changing, and the changeable texts go along with it, two, there is a newer satisfied desire for instant gratification, so authors may be hard pressed to simply get something out to the public, and there, I think as ideas change, writers may want to go back.” Take all of the sections of a bookstore and multiply that by 100, and that is probably close to the categories the “Internet Bookstore” can offer.

            With so many sections, Hypertext comes in handy.  Hypertext, as defined by Mac Dashboard, is “a software system that links topics on the screen to related information and graphics which are typically accessed by a point-and-click method.”  The group prezi I worked on was all about Hypertext.  At the end of our presentation we challenged the class to do the hypertext scavenger hunt.  These online hunts involve beginning at one word, such as writing, and reaching a word, such as cat, all through hypertext linking.  Hypertext has broadened the average persons knowledge of multiple topics.  Some may find hypertext to overload their brains with information, but the wonderful thing about hypertext is that the reader controls how much information they absorb.  With the mouse, stylus, or fingertip a reader can control his reading path.  If he is unsatisfied with what he finds, he is more than welcome to add to the potential paths by putting his two cents in by posting or uploading his own composition. 

            The relationship between different kinds of expression must always be noted.  Great works have come from an inspirational painting, movies from classic novels, poems about feelings evoked from other art forms, and all of these in vise versa.  The leaps made among literature, film, textual technology, and art in general must give some credit to each other’s existence.  This is just another example of how what is happening to writing is progress that we should be proud of.  Just like there have been unsuccessful works, there may be distracting or failing ways of writing.  A more practical form can record them, as weaker parts in the history of writing.  From there we can continue in a forward motion making the creation of text as accessible, enjoyable, and well formatted at possible. 

            Writing is a form of communication dealing with characters arranged in a fashion understood by specific cultures.  The combination of characters form thoughts that readers can understand, relate to, question, or learn about.  Personal thoughts, historical events, documents of legal statuses, recipes, news, lists, etc. are all comprised due to the understood craft of writing.  Writing serves as a form of entertainment.  It informs us of details and important events.  Writing explains how to accomplish other creative tasks.  There is even writing used to better the writing of the reader.  These days, the arranged characters are often accompanied by images, music, or auxiliaries that make the statement of the writing that much more important or memorable.  The way that writing has evolved is in step with the way humans have developed.  Although some may be opposed to specific styles or genres, there is some kind of creative event that anyone can take part in, in order to make a point or share an idea.  It is a privilege to be able to turn to many forms and main, ever-changing, styles of composing original writing works.

Works Cited

Bolter, J. David. Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. Print.

Anonymous student from Dr. Lays WSC 2 class.

McCann, Rita M. "Rita's Question Answered!" Slainte! Anonymous. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <http://mccannblogger.blogspot.com/>.

YouTube Video

https://hofstra.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_168186_1%26url%3D

Rita's Question Answered!

By no means did I ask that question from a weighted opinionated point of view.  I just stated it that way to give you a clear argument. :) Thank you everyone for answering!!!! 

The following are answers I was given on note cards from my class:

I feel that everyone wants a little taste of being published.  People want their ideas out for everyone to know and the Internet is fast and easy.  Sometimes people say things just to say something not thinking at all.

I don't think most people who post on the Internet don't want their writing to be found - in fact I think the exact opposite.  Online blogs are a way to reach out to people anywhere and everywhere; if the "shy" writer didn't want anyone to find their work, they'd keep a diary or private journal.

I think that sometimes a writer's initial thoughts change, therefore their words change.  The Permanence is the final stage of putting down concrete thoughts.  The changeability can be viewed as editing.  Replacing some ideas with newer ones may provide better insight.  Once the writer is done, the thoughts are set for good. 

I think that more people would rather publish/post something that can be changed at their discretion rather than write on something permanent. It also has to do with their desire to want to switch to different mediums of writing, and some people would rather write something and be able to change it rather than it being permanent. 

Perhaps people like posting their thoughts online because there us a lack of ownership.  Online, it is easy to post whatever you like without taking responsibility. 

I think writers are afraid to make their thoughts permanent.  With different experiences peoples opinion changes something people write, people find offensive.  There is also a lot of peer editing around where people can give comment on what they should add or take out. 

I think that forms of changeable text have become available for a few reasons; one, today's society is ever-changing, and the changeable texts go along with it, two, there is a newer satisfied desire for instant gratification, so authors may be hard pressed to simply get something out to the public, and there, I think as ideas change, writers may want to go back. 

7 Minutes, No Eyebees

   The story-telling pro in my family is my Daddy.  I feel as though my sister and I tell stories pretty well, from growing up always listening to his and observing the way he entertains us.  There are stories about Lojo at his job in the planetarium, the ever classic how i met your mother story, the tomato soup Godzilla and King Kong story, and a library of other stories both fictitious and true.  One that I can relay pretty well, is one of my favorites.

I was sitting on my Uncle Honey's front porch, you know? A simply beautiful summer day.  My whole family was over for a swim in his pool, and I was taking a break to sit on the porch, dry off in the sun, and watch people walk by.  It was a quiet neighborhood, and I was just sitting and relaxing, when all of a sudden I heard this faint "Buzza Buzza Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz...Buzza Buzza Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz."  I looked all around and could not match the very faint song I was hearing.  I listened around to try and find where the song was coming from when I noticed a knothole in the wood of the front porch.  I put my eye up to the hole in one of the slim front pillars and, to my surprise, saw a little bee with a towel drying off his bee bum after his shower.  He was dancing and drying to the rhythm of his buzzing tune, until he saw my huge eye poking into his bathroom.  He looked right at me and let out a "hmph!" in surprise and embarrassment right before whapping me in the eye with his towel. "OOOOOOOOOWWWWWWEEEEE!" I began to howl as I covered my stinging eye.  My dad came out with a big old stake and made me hold it on my eye to help the pain subside.  That little singing bee really got me good!


    This story always made Carly and I smile, and retelling it in text was very enjoyable.  My dad has influenced me in so many ways.  Carly and I are strong reflections of our parents, and my dad is a musician and entertainer, so he can tell a pretty good story.  He has always encouraged me to entertain, do what I love, and work as hard as possible to reach all of my goals.  I love him and his stories.

Bitch, please!

" Nor, if we could watch a spark dart across a synaptic gap in the brain, would we cry out, "Mom!" or "Uncle Toby!", for thinking is conducted by entities we don't know, wouldn't recognize on the street."

The following are responses to this quotation from my classmates.

-Thoughts are composed of chemical reactions of synopsis, and these things are only significant to us because of how we experience them.  We feel sad because our brain tells us to, but without our brain doing that, we wouldn't feel very different.

- Our brain is a part of our body that makes up the whole works on it's own, we may or may not know the movement of synapses in our brain, only the result of it.

- Our brain similarly works like hypertext.  If we don't know something right away we urge ourselves to think until a spark of knowledge finally comes through.  It's like we didn't know a word and the hypertext linked us to another source with the answer.  *Hypertext works like our brain the way it sets up ways to find more answers. 

Writing Space: Chapter One

     My favorite section of this chapter would have to be the first page.  With the help of Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris excerpt,  Bolter's introduction to his introduction created a great image for me.  I really find the idea of "This will destroy that."  The power of a book over a monumental structure and hundreds of years of history is a grand example of societal evolution.  Granted, Notre Dame is still standing as a major tourist attraction and place of worship, it's purpose is different now than when it was first erected.  Text has changed many time over the years.  From stone to screen, there have been many generations of recording methods.
      Bolter brings up the impermanence of text today.  For instance, I can post this blog and go back and change it if I so choose.  There is something about printed text that seems so much more permanent.  Bolter doesn't mention how a tangible item, such as a book, can be destroyed, but something let loose into syber space is there forever.  The idea of monumentality vs. changeability is a reoccurring idea in this text as well as in the world of writing.  To expand on this idea, I ask blog readers to respond whether or not they think that this changeability has anything to do with the strength behind people's posted thoughts.  Do you think that forms of changeable text have become available partly because writers these days are quick to publish, afraid to make their thoughts permanent, feel like the Internet is so cluttered their writing may not be found so easily, etc?  
     Personally I prefer reading from a book than reading on the Internet.  I always have a book on me, and I love being able to open one anywhere.  I enjoy the tangibility of a book and using my imagination to create an image for what I'm reading.  No need for a makeacartoonofyourself application on the side of my literature.

Four Letter Word Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r1nqYNjpLY

The Problem of Describing Trees

    Rejection is introduced with the obviously negative word no.  Ending the 8th line of this poem, the two letter word changes the general feel and perspective of the speaker.  From there, the tone of this piece follows in the footsteps of the word no, and a harsh and metaphorical description takes place.  After reading the poem once, I felt as though I could sense the darker twist coming on before the word no.  No is where the rejection is announced, but words like drying and threw up give me unsettling images and hint at the rejection. The same word follows the original appearance and becomes structurally appropriate. Words like limits and disenchant support the rejection word.

Piggy Back

A sentence starts out like the first note sung in a song.
On stage, and in front of many.
The vocalist has been waiting to start her song, but could not have
her water onstage with her.
It is time to sing her first note,
and make an impression.
Will her audience think she is wonderful?
She chooses to take one last swallow instead of clearing her throat.
Takes a deep, supported breath
and sings the A she has practiced for months.
The introduction is complete.
So far, so good.
Although the beginning is not the part of the song she is most concerned about,
It is another successful start that gives her confidence for the rest of the piece.
She anticipates the most difficult parts of the bridge and finale,
And realizes she must just relax and go for it.
It is an adrenaline rush that she can't imagine topping, and although she feels her knees shaking,
She lives for this.

Free Write: Cell Phones

The cellular telephone was named for it's obvious purpose of purveying sound.  It's original and sole purpose is to send the sounds of one person's voice to the ear of another and vice versa.  However, now cell phones are programed to send actual text, pictures, and other media not dealing with sound.  This change occurred because text is convenient, more private, and less of an event.  In order to talk on the phone you need an appropriate setting and time.  Today, if you find yourself at a loud and busy concert, getting held late at work, or on the move and too busy to talk, you can send the message you are trying to convey silently with text.  It is less personal and more direct.  My dad always laughs about how easy boys have it today, when they can just ask a girl out over a text.  It is much easier to say anything over a text.  It is almost like people develop a certain personality (sometimes different from their real-life one) over their texting.

Moved and Unmoved by G and H

Sample G:
Moved
1. There is an abundance of supporting examples.
2. There is a strong thesis statement.
3. There are references to different fact sources from sports to science.
4. It has a specific voice about it that makes you believe what is being presented.
5. Mentions things like the fast pace of our society, thirst for energy, and instant gratification, which all define our culture.
6. There is a strong conclusion.

Unmoved
1. There is no mentioning of the negatives of the energy drink.
2. The diet version isn't specified in the diet section.
3. Calories and nutrition facts are not included.
4. No specific people are mentioned.
5. There aren't direct quotations linked to a speaker.
6. The addiction and socially inappropriate nature of the drink isn't highlighted.

Sample H:
Moved
1. There is an abundance of statistics.
2. Numbers are featured in the opening paragraph, which attracts the attention of the reader.
3. This paper in concise, but fairly thorough.
4. Great detail is used in the points set forth.
5. Focuses on trend of iPods.
6. Branches and highlights Podcasts (different from my iPod essay).

Unmoved
1. This essay lacks a stress on music and it's importance and cultural connection.
2. It fails to feature any personal experience.
3. It does not touch on applications much.
4. It does not give information about the origin and invention of the iPod.
5. It gives little sense of personal interest.
6. There are not many links to current society and American culture.

3 Minute Free Write

   It is 48 degrees today, and despite my new cough, I feel wonderful.  It is gorgeous outside, and I just found out that I am going home tomorrow. Being that home is 8 hours away, I wasn't expecting to leave for the long weekend.  My mom just had surgery though, and I am going home to help out since I can.  My sister is a busy Junior in high school right now, and she has MORP this weekend (It's a dance that the girls ask the guys to).  My dad will be working at night, and I would really appreciate some time at home.  I need to catch up on sleep.  Weather like this doesn't make you want to curl up inside though.  I love being outside, and I feel like the pleasant feeling of the weather brings that same feeling into the creatures enjoying it.  I'm looking forward to my trip home alone.  I'll get to do a lot of good people watching, studying, writing, and much much needed sleep in.

Twelve Questions About My Object

1. Are you from the sea?
2. Are you currently the way you have always been?
3. Are you made up from pastel blue, cream, orange, and brown colors?
4. Do you have rings of color?
5. Could water be sipped from you?
6. Do you have a cone-like shape on the innermost part of you?
7. Can I see inside of you?
8. Are you of a medium size compared to other class shells?
9. Are your color lines fairly distinct?
10. Could you be a home to a creature?
11. Do you make a porcelain glassy sound when you fall on the table or floor?
12. Are you fancy or dull?

Shell Activity!

3:22

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON

Dir. by Dean Fleischer-Camp Marcel is voiced (untreated & unenhanced) by a genius named Jenny Slate Written by Jenny + Dean More coming soon! www ...

by MARCELTHESHELL
4 months ago
6,837,366 views

• HD

A Note About Complex Errors

In thinking about a certain idea, many sentences and ideas can be drawn by using detailed words within this idea.

  This kind of sentence is confusing to me. At first glance I thought it said and meant something completely different, and there was a comma error in a list. When I realized that the word 'In' was not supposed to be 'I'm,' the first thing I noticed was the over-usage of the word idea.  This sentence is so vague, that I don't really know what it is explaining.  The punctuation of this is also confusing to me.  In thinking about a certain idea, many sentences and ideas can be drawn, by using detailed word, and within this date are all confusing combinations of words to put together.  Is there need for another comma? Where does that second one go?  If I were to write this sentence, I would probably add a comma before within, just to be safe.  Also, is this person talking about sentences he/she could write or specific examples from some text?  I feel that I could better correct this sentence if I knew what it was about. 

What kind of a reader are you? in class assignment

Carolyn:  “I know I shouldn’t like them,” she says. “But they’re just so delicious!”
“I’ve always been really good at waiting,” Carolyn told me. “If you give me a challenge or a task, then I’m going to find a way to do it, even if it means not eating my favorite food.” 

Carolyn's Mother: “Even as a young kid, Carolyn was very patient. I’m sure she would have waited."

Craig:  “At a certain point, it must have occurred to me that I was all by myself,” he recalls. “And so I just started taking all the candy.”

“I took everything I could,” he says. “I cleaned them out. After that, I noticed the teachers encouraged me to not go into the experiment room anymore.”

Mischel:  “A few kids ate the marshmallow right away,” Walter Mischel, the Stanford professor of psychology in charge of the experiment, remembers. “They didn’t even bother ringing the bell. Other kids would stare directly at the marshmallow and then ring the bell thirty seconds later.” 

“There are only so many things you can do with kids trying not to eat marshmallows.”

 “It was really just idle dinnertime conversation,” he says. “I’d ask them, ‘How’s Jane? How’s Eric? How are they doing in school?’ ”
 “That’s when I realized I had to do this seriously,” he says.

Craig:  “Sure, I wish I had been a more patient person,” Craig says. “Looking back, there are definitely moments when it would have helped me make better career choices and stuff.”

Mischel: “What we’re really measuring with the marshmallows isn’t will power or self-control,” Mischel says. “It’s much more important than that. This task forces kids to find a way to make the situation work for them. They want the second marshmallow, but how can they get it? We can’t control the world, but we can control how we think about it.”
“If you want to know why some kids can wait and others can’t, then you’ve got to think like they think,” Mischel says.

 “At the time, it seemed like a mental X-ray machine,” he says. “You could solve a person by showing them a picture.”
 “The East Indians would describe the Africans as impulsive hedonists, who were always living for the moment and never thought about the future,” he says. “The Africans, meanwhile, would say that the East Indians didn’t know how to live and would stuff money in their mattress and never enjoy themselves.”
 “It went against the way we’d been thinking about personality since the four humors and the ancient Greeks,” he says.
 “I’ve always believed there are consistencies in a person that can be looked at,” he says. “We just have to look in the right way.”
 “Young kids are pure id,” Mischel says. “They start off unable to wait for anything—whatever they want they need. But then, as I watched my own kids, I marvelled at how they gradually learned how to delay and how that made so many other things possible.”

Winters:  “We recently tried to do a version of it, and the kids were very excited about having food in the game room,” she says. “There are so many allergies and peculiar diets today that we don’t do many things with food.”

Mischel:  “When you’re investigating will power in a four-year-old, little things make a big difference,” he says. “How big should the marshmallows be? What kind of cookies work best?”
“I knew we’d designed it well when a few kids wanted to quit as soon as we explained the conditions to them,” he says. “They knew this was going to be very difficult.”

“If you’re thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you’re going to eat it,” Mischel says. “The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place.

“What’s interesting about four-year-olds is that they’re just figuring out the rules of thinking,” Mischel says. “The kids who couldn’t delay would often have the rules backwards. They would think that the best way to resist the marshmallow is to stare right at it, to keep a close eye on the goal. But that’s a terrible idea. If you do that, you’re going to ring the bell before I leave the room.”

“If you can deal with hot emotions, then you can study for the S.A.T. instead of watching television,” Mischel says. “And you can save more money for retirement. It’s not just about marshmallows.”
“In general, trying to separate nature and nurture makes about as much sense as trying to separate personality and situation,” he says. “The two influences are completely interrelated.”

“When you grow up poor, you might not practice delay as much,” he says. “And if you don’t practice then you’ll never figure out how to distract yourself. You won’t develop the best delay strategies, and those strategies won’t become second nature.”

“All I’ve done is given them some tips from their mental user manual,” Mischel says. “Once you realize that will power is just a matter of learning how to control your attention and thoughts, you can really begin to increase it.”

Berman:  “We can’t give these people marshmallows,” Berman

Jonides:  “These tasks have been studied so many times that we pretty much know where to look and what we’re going to find,” Jonides says. 

“These are powerful instincts telling us to reach for the marshmallow or press the space bar,” Jonides says. “The only way to defeat them is to avoid them, and that means paying attention to something else. We call that will power, but it’s got nothing to do with the will.”

Shoda:  “We’re incredibly complicated creatures,” Shoda says. “Even the simplest aspects of personality are driven by dozens and dozens of different genes.”

Carolyn:  “They turned my kitchen into a lab,” Carolyn told me. “They set up a little tent where they tested my oldest daughter on the delay task with some cookies. I remember thinking, I really hope she can wait.”

Mischel:  "I’m not interested in looking at the brain just so we can use a fancy machine,” he says. “The real question is what can we do with this fMRI data that we couldn’t do before?”
“This is the group I’m most interested in,” he says. “They have substantially improved their lives.”

 

Duhkworth:   “For the most part, it was an incredibly frustrating experience,” she says. “I gradually became convinced that trying to teach a teen-ager algebra when they don’t have self-control is a pretty futile exercise.”

She said that her study shows that “intelligence is really important, but it’s still not as important as self-control."

Levin:  “The core feature of the KIPP approach is that character matters for success,” Levin says. “Educators like to talk about character skills when kids are in kindergarten—we send young kids home with a report card about ‘working well with others’ or ‘not talking out of turn.’ But then, just when these skills start to matter, we stop trying to improve them. We just throw up our hands and complain.”

“We know how to teach math skills, but it’s harder to measure character strengths,”

Duhkworth: “When you do these large-scale educational studies, there are ninety-nine uninteresting reasons the study could fail,” Duckworth says. “Maybe a teacher doesn’t show the video, or maybe there’s a field trip on the day of the testing. This is what keeps me up at night.”

Mischel: “This is where your parents are important,” Mischel says. “Have they established rituals that force you to delay on a daily basis? Do they encourage you to wait? And do they make waiting worthwhile?”
“We should give marshmallows to every kindergartner,” he says. “We should say, ‘You see this marshmallow? You don’t have to eat it. You can wait. Here’s how.’ ”

Flight of the Kuaka Rhetorical Analysis

     After reading this article from Don Stap, I took a moment to break down his rhetorical approach into the specific appeals: Pathos and Ethos.  Pathos describes a quality in his writing that focuses more on pity or emotion from the reader.  The introduction paragraph sets the article in an uncomfortable and sad muddy place, and right away readers are emotionally invested in some way.  Ethos, on the other hand, is a more factual, cultural, and presentational kind of approach.  This style provides the facts and statistics that open the readers eyes to the reality of the situation in black and white.  For example, the first full paragraph on page 110 provides frightening numbers and specific illustrations of the hunting and loss of grass that are affecting wildlife.  Godwits become the leading characters for the reader to identify with, and the issues described in this article relate more directly to them than other species.
     Stap is careful to utilize the five canons of rhetoric, as well.  These include: invention/discovery, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. His discovery lies in the examples and statistic of endangered birds and the lack of wetlands. He shares personal experience and quotes others with knowledge on the subject. The arrangement of this article has a persuasive arch, beginning with painting a picture of the muddy location in New Zealand. Next, the specific facts and supporting links fill up the body of the essay, and he ends with more lyrical writing that leaves the reader with a more optimistic feeling about the future of the birds.  This arch can be linked to his style, for the sections of numbers and diversions about other birds are written more scientifically and informatively than those creating an image for the reader.  Stap does a good job at not letting his writing get stale.  Memory is sort of a sneaky canon that makes a big impact of the reader.  If a reader can realise a connection to something previously read in the same piece, that information is solidified for them and they recognize the importance of it.  Making connections is fulfilling as a reader, so when Stap touches back to Yalu Jiang, readers remember it's relevance from the previous page.  The delivery of this information is unique to other rhetorical articles.  I felt that the rhetoric wasn't shoved in my face and, instead, more politely presented to me in a mature manner.  I appreciated the calmness of Staps writing.  A lot was covered in eight pages, but Stap has managed to increase my knowledge of migrating birds, locations for recovery, population of birds, and concern for their survival.

"Don't!" Note Card Workshop

"While Mischel was beginning to dismantle the methods of his field, the 

Harvard psychology department was in tumult."

The following sections of colored text are copied as directly as possible from my note cards.  These are answers or embellishments from my fellow students to help explain the quotation above.

Mischel's experimental methods greatly attracted the world of psychology.  Harvard could have been conducting a similar experiment and then have gotten scooped by Mischel, or his findings disproved by a theory someone else in the psychology department had.  Such connections include a theory that a child's tendency to wait has no impact or correlation with their progress as an adult.  This shook the department like an earthquake, but the end result left a new topography and a new disciplinary field to be discovered and investigated.  From this came a new series of questions to which Mischel and his team could respond.  Indeed, such an upset was very productive for his inquiries into the role of delayed gratification as a measure of future academic and career success. The stability of the researchers department can radically influence the outcome of a test: Mischel's findings shook what was previously believed about personalities/psychological disorders, but not all of his colleagues agreed on their cogency. 

Mischel's findings were huge in the field of psychology.  The department had a straight-jacket view of psychology.  When Mischel completed his findings, the department was in disbelief because it was against what was true to them.  The experiment was not just an experiment about patience, but an eventual milestone for psychology. 

It was really interesting to read through these answers after rereading the text and actually identifying the quotation in it's true from.  Jonah Lehrer had just touched on the progression of Mischel's work, and the way he was working through the methods of psychology.  The "tumult" Harvard is said to have been in is referring to the state of the students.  Lehrer follows with, " Mischel remembers graduate students' desks giving way to mattresses, and large packages from Ciba chemicals, in Switzerland, arriving in the mail. Mischel had nothing against hippies, but he wanted modern psychology to be rigorous and empirical. " The confusing quotation is describing the department and how involved people were acting in the 60's.  Mischel was doing some break-through work, but that wasn't why Harvard was in tumult. Although, he did end up moving to Palo Alto to work at Stanford in 1962.

small object, LARGE SUBJECT

            The iPod is one of the most popular music playing devices of all time.  The first iPod model was launched on October 23^rd, 2001 as a first class potable media player.  The five-gigabyte hard drive allowed people to listen to 1,000 songs from their pocket.  The presence of this device brought must-have higher technology into to world of music again.  The success of Apple products skyrocketed and there are now 16 different kinds of iPods.  Many people would probably use Apple as an American icon and it is one of the most popular household brand names.  Eleven percent of Americans own their own iPods, use them daily, explore and share music through them, and are comforted by their portable media playing devise. 

            Apple is currently advertising that with your iPod, “you can take anything anywhere.”  It is miraculous that so much media can fit into such a small devise, but having so much on one electronic makes it easier for people to use, care for, and rely on.  Apple also promotes its items as “the perfect gift for anyone.” I couldn’t agree more.  As previously stated, there are several kinds of iPods to fit the lifestyle of, essentially, anyone.  The technological advancement of this product makes it better for the majority more and more every day.  iPods are linked to iTunes, which helps artists make money from their work, and encourages people not to download illegally.  The quality of iTunes songs and movies are top notch, and there are very often promotional deals and free songs to help spread music of otherwise unrecognized artists who deserve a listen.

            Music is a huge part of my life, and I would go as far as to say that I couldn’t live without it.  My iPod is one of my most important tangible items, and I love that it really has almost everything on it.  I am still a fan of the classic CD, but with an iPod you have so much variety.  It is far more convenient to carry one item with 32 gigabytes of video, music, and pictures than bring a CD case, portable DVD player, and camera or developed film.  As exaggerated as that sounds, all of those important things can fit into the palm of my hand with my iPod.  I use my iPod with my computer, I keep information on it, store days worth of songs, practice with it, run with it, and feel serenity and excitement from it.  It is so important to bring music with you wherever you go in life, and iPods make that possible.

            Producers, like Steve Jobs, know that their product is a hit.  It works, is well advertised, trendy, and well liked by many.  A large percentage of Americans find owning an iPod absolutely necessary and a part of everyday life.  The fact that iPods are so highly valued and desired makes them an extremely successful product and safe investment.  Art is being shared in such a positive way through these electronics and many products and ideas can influence owners and future owners of iPods and other Apple products.  The company is healthy and in constant motion, and those are two things that our culture always wants to be.  

#4

My general observations from my experience are that crayons are rich and very cool to write with.  They are meant more for coloring though, and that is probably why they are sometimes held differently when being used to fill in space on a blank picture.  My hand was tired at the end of my paper, and my handwriting was much larger than it usually is.  I would like to venture into the reasoning behind my classmates color and design choices.  I wonder it any of their choices were reflecting their moods or writing.  I'm sure that is so in some cases, and there are probably a lot of people who have no idea why they chose a certain color.  I definitely noticed more mistakes in this medium, and it could have possibly allowed for students to put less information into their papers.  I felt like this was a good assignment in the beginning of the semester because it gave a sense of what people are like based off of their finished papers.

#3

A culture writing solely with crayons would be very different from the one we live in.  Today, we are able to use pencils, pens, crayons, pastels, paint, etc for any sort of written work.  We can also record our thoughts with computers and cell phones.  A world of Crayola would mean that there would probably be many more brands of crayons, the people would all master use of the short wax tool, and the documents would be quite colorful.  There would probably be more formats for papers and a lot more doodling going on.  This culture would be highly artistic, but it would be limited to strictly crayons, the therefore, have no other mediums for people to make art with.  Maybe different papers would be assigned different colors, and everyone would have at least one crayon on them at all time.  Everything would seem more colorful, but the people would probably get used to the brightness of it all.  Maybe new colors would become popular, and there could be one color for one specific person in a class, school, or the entire civilization.  The people would be proud of advances in other writing implements and different designs that really impress.  I love using crayons, but I am thankful for the variety of tools our culture has.

Materialities of Writing

I was really looking forward to completing this first paper because of it's medium.  Preparing for this assignment took less time than actually composing it onto the large sheet of paper.  I was happy to have lots on table space, and I was extra cautious.  If I answered the prompt differently at all, it would be in the length of my essay.  I prefer to fill my paper with as many thoughts as I can link to the topic, but I had different space requirements that I had to keep in mind.  I knew that I wanted my draft to have a colorful appearance, so I arranged my paper to be blue, purple, green, and dark pink.  I did every three lines each of the "cool colors" and the words that stuck out to me in pink.  I also created a margin ad drew lines to write on so that my words wouldn't get crooked.  The writing actually did become uncomfortable near the end, and my handwriting probably shows that.  This project was very interesting though, and it was great to see everyones work hanging on the wall as art.

Pantene Ad Reaction

This extraordinary bit of film is entertaining. It can grab the attention of a viewer and lead them to become invested in a four minute and three second advertisement.  The advertisement factor of this commercial is not even clear until the very end, and it has been created more as a short film with a popular name brand shampoo shown at the very end.  After the advertisement was shown my observational notes ended up coming together to highlight certain motifs.

            Some of these motifs include the disability of the lead and her overcoming the challenges of being discouraged, the power of music, the importance of “movement” in music, and the butterfly emerging from her cocoon.  The presentation of this commercial gave me the impression that the message was going to be about the importance of music and it’s universal strength. Pachelbel’s Canon is a classic choice of song that can be easily recognized, and the protagonist and the supporting characters are loveable.  The cinematography of the film is very well done, and the dramatic elements of the protagonist’s struggle and her eventual success shape the four minutes into a complete story.

            A work such as this is unique compared to the typical, speedy commercial all about a simple cleaning product or new weight loss smoothie. This commercial is artistic and refreshing, and gives viewers a surprise ending advertisement after the lead’s hair has just been gorgeously displayed in a powerful climactic moment.  The product is now linked with music, development, and strength, and the commercial can be recognized as a more artistic piece.