Where has all the time gone? It just seems like only yesterday when this class started and now we are in the midst of our last research essay. According to the schedule we are already on week 13 and have only three weeks left. This research essay is a monster! I have just finished reading Invitation to a Beheading, by Vladimir Nabokov for the research project and am going to reread the first part of Reading Lolita in Tehran to refresh my memory and pull pertinent statements from it to support my essay. There seems to be so much to do for this research project and I do not know where to start. It is a bit overwhelming and I feel like I should be farther along than I am.
I really enjoyed reading Invitation to a Beheading, by Vladimir Nabokov. It was a really well written book with a lot of character and personality. If anyone has the time and is looking for a good book to read, I would definitely recommend this book. Nabokov thrills his audience with his style of prose and holds the reader captive with his writing. I think when this research project is over and I have more time on my hands that I will read Lolita next. If you go to Barnes & Noble you will find that they have many books by Vladimir Nabokov and all of them seem to be worth reading.
I am so stressed out and nervous about this research assignment that I do not know what to do or how to go about doing it. It is like I am drowning in a sea of information that I have gathered up to use for my sources. How do I incorporate this information into my paper? I have a lot of ideas of how the paper should sound and what I want to do with it, I just cannot decide on how to go about getting it done. I am definitely going to need help from the writing center on this one. I know that this assignment represents a major portion of my grade and that it needs to be as perfect as possible. Research projects are a major undertaking and if you do not give your all to the project it will show. I do not want to turn in a paper that looks or reads as if I did sloppy work or was too distracted.
I guess that I will just go about doing the assignment the way I always go about any writing assignment and that is one step at a time. Let’s just worry about rereading, Reading Lolita in Tehran and then take it one baby step at a time. I have searched the internet and have some really good information on both books. I guess the next step then would be going to the library and do some research so I can have some scholarly sources to cite. Then organize all the information according to what it pertains to and start writing the paper one word at a time. You know what they say, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” Now I must go off and eat my elephant!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
E-Mail has become one of the most popular ways of communicating in this day and age. Long gone are the days where you would write a letter, address it, put a stamp on it, give it to the post man and wait two weeks for a reply. Thanks to computers and the internet, we now have electronic mail. E-Mail has become part of our ever increasing now based society. In society today we want everything and we want it now! Thanks to E-Mail we can communicate anything in a matter of minutes as opposed to sending a letter and waiting who knows how many weeks for the response. Electronic mail has changed the way we communicate with each other, but at what price?
When we communicate using E-Mail our messages lose some of they’re personality. With using E-Mail we use a typical font that is somewhat bland and cold as opposed to writing a letter with our own handwriting. Our handwriting style has some basic characteristics that are unique to each individual that in a way puts our personal stamp on our message. When we want to express love we might use a flowing script style that helps convey the message and when we want to yell we might write in all block caps, which in a way can be done using E-Mail, but not as effectively as when we write it ourselves. How can you seal your letter with a kiss using E-Mail? To the best of my knowledge this is not possible using E-Mail.
Another problem with using E-Mail is you get a few basic stationary types to write with which are generic and everybody seems to have the same ones. The stationary you choose can be quite personal and you might want use different stationary depending on the type of letter you are sending and the purpose of the letter. Another drawback of E-Mail is it does not have the lasting impression that a letter has. Many people save the letters they receive from their loved ones as keepsakes. The stationary, the writing, and the unique little drawings and annotations on the letter are all personal and may carry special meanings to the writer and the recipient which cannot be conveyed using E-Mail. No one wants to print out and save a bunch of generic E-Mails as keepsakes although I may be wrong it just doesn’t seem personal enough.
I guess what I am trying to say is there are many drawbacks to using E-Mail but there are also many perks to it. I do believe that there is a time and a place for everything and E-Mail does have its place in our society. Even though we may not want to use it for letters to our loved ones it can be used just fine for a quick note, business communication, and a funny joke you wanted to share with somebody you care about. While E-Mail is here to stay it cannot and does not replace the unique handwritten letter from a loved one.
When we communicate using E-Mail our messages lose some of they’re personality. With using E-Mail we use a typical font that is somewhat bland and cold as opposed to writing a letter with our own handwriting. Our handwriting style has some basic characteristics that are unique to each individual that in a way puts our personal stamp on our message. When we want to express love we might use a flowing script style that helps convey the message and when we want to yell we might write in all block caps, which in a way can be done using E-Mail, but not as effectively as when we write it ourselves. How can you seal your letter with a kiss using E-Mail? To the best of my knowledge this is not possible using E-Mail.
Another problem with using E-Mail is you get a few basic stationary types to write with which are generic and everybody seems to have the same ones. The stationary you choose can be quite personal and you might want use different stationary depending on the type of letter you are sending and the purpose of the letter. Another drawback of E-Mail is it does not have the lasting impression that a letter has. Many people save the letters they receive from their loved ones as keepsakes. The stationary, the writing, and the unique little drawings and annotations on the letter are all personal and may carry special meanings to the writer and the recipient which cannot be conveyed using E-Mail. No one wants to print out and save a bunch of generic E-Mails as keepsakes although I may be wrong it just doesn’t seem personal enough.
I guess what I am trying to say is there are many drawbacks to using E-Mail but there are also many perks to it. I do believe that there is a time and a place for everything and E-Mail does have its place in our society. Even though we may not want to use it for letters to our loved ones it can be used just fine for a quick note, business communication, and a funny joke you wanted to share with somebody you care about. While E-Mail is here to stay it cannot and does not replace the unique handwritten letter from a loved one.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Writing!
Upon taking this English course I had no idea as to how much reading, writing and critical thinking would be involved. To say the least, this course has turned out to be very high maintenance. With all of the reading, writing, and critical thinking involved I would have to say that my writing skills have improved tremendously. I started out feeling very uncomfortable with the magnitude of writing that was expected of me in this course and ended up feeling quite at ease with it and actually enjoying it.
I think one of the things that helped me out the most was a chapter in our Exploring language book called Writers on Writing. The essays in that chapter gave me a lot of good ideas on how to personalize my writing. One of the first things that I learned was to write in the same way that I talk to somebody. There is no need to use fancy words and clichés to keep your audience interested if you do not use them in your daily conversations. When using big words and clichés in your writing it makes your writing seem artificial and you run the risk of losing your audience. Writing needs to sound personal and sincere to be taken seriously.
The next thing I learned is to be direct and to the point. This means you need to say what needs to be said and go on to your next point. Do not beat a dead horse, if you know what I mean. To be direct and to the point you should have a well organized thought out idea of what you want to say. When this is done make sure your writing is organized and thought out and not just thrown together in a hasty way. If it is, your audience will be able to tell and you risk losing your reader’s attention and your point will be lost.
One of the last things I learned was to have fun with your writing and write about things that interest you. When you do this your enthusiasm for your writing will be carried over to your audience. This will keep your audience interested and hanging on your every word. You should also make sure your writing is grammatically correct. It can be very frustrating for your audience to see blaring grammatical mistakes and typographical errors. When your subject and verb do not agree this, too, can be distracting to your audience.
Always proofread your writing for errors and use your spell checker as well. Writing can be fun and we can learn what we think and feel by writing. Do not be scared of it, if you do not like what you wrote, the good thing is you can always start over and try again. The last thing I learned is not to be afraid of writing, it may sound overwhelming to have to write an essay, so break it down into manageable pieces and concentrate on doing just a little at a time, then before you know it the essay is done and you ate the elephant using one bite at a time!
I think one of the things that helped me out the most was a chapter in our Exploring language book called Writers on Writing. The essays in that chapter gave me a lot of good ideas on how to personalize my writing. One of the first things that I learned was to write in the same way that I talk to somebody. There is no need to use fancy words and clichés to keep your audience interested if you do not use them in your daily conversations. When using big words and clichés in your writing it makes your writing seem artificial and you run the risk of losing your audience. Writing needs to sound personal and sincere to be taken seriously.
The next thing I learned is to be direct and to the point. This means you need to say what needs to be said and go on to your next point. Do not beat a dead horse, if you know what I mean. To be direct and to the point you should have a well organized thought out idea of what you want to say. When this is done make sure your writing is organized and thought out and not just thrown together in a hasty way. If it is, your audience will be able to tell and you risk losing your reader’s attention and your point will be lost.
One of the last things I learned was to have fun with your writing and write about things that interest you. When you do this your enthusiasm for your writing will be carried over to your audience. This will keep your audience interested and hanging on your every word. You should also make sure your writing is grammatically correct. It can be very frustrating for your audience to see blaring grammatical mistakes and typographical errors. When your subject and verb do not agree this, too, can be distracting to your audience.
Always proofread your writing for errors and use your spell checker as well. Writing can be fun and we can learn what we think and feel by writing. Do not be scared of it, if you do not like what you wrote, the good thing is you can always start over and try again. The last thing I learned is not to be afraid of writing, it may sound overwhelming to have to write an essay, so break it down into manageable pieces and concentrate on doing just a little at a time, then before you know it the essay is done and you ate the elephant using one bite at a time!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
What About Cartoons
My first job as a teenager was that of a paper girl. I remember waking up early in the morning before the sun came up, getting the papers ready for delivery, and reading the funny section of the paper before I would go out and deliver the newspaper out to my customers. It was a hard job and it did not last long, but it was at this point in my life that I fell in love with cartoons, and have been in love with them ever since. A few of my favorite cartoons are Garfield, Heathcliff, Marmaduke, Peanuts, Family Circus, and Ziggy. I would follow them religiously every morning and they always made me laugh.
Cartoons are one of the few simple joys in life. You can always count on a cartoon to enlighten you or your mood. They do more than just amuse us cartoons can be used as a communication medium by making light of social issues facing us today. Cartoons can be political in nature, editorial in nature, educational and just plain funny. Many times children can respond and learn better with cartoons because they are fun, hold the child’s interest and not threatening. Political cartoons can bring up issues regarding our government and politics in a fun unassuming way. They get us thinking about things. They can bring to the forefront many touchy issues that we may not want to deal with and get us thinking about them in a productive way. Reading a cartoon is a great way to release tension and have a good laugh while you are at it. You can find cartoons almost anywhere and they are accessible to just about anyone. They are in newspapers, comic books, the internet and on television.
Cartoons are entertaining; they hold our interest and are an American way of life. How many people have never read Peanuts? My guess is probably not many. How many people have never read a cartoon? I think it is safe to assume that there probably are not many people who have never read a cartoon either. I remember reading Peanuts and wondering what would Lucy do to poor Charlie Brown today? No matter how bad the new is in the paper, on television, or on the internet we can always turn to a cartoon to lift our spirits and have a laugh before we start our day. Cartoons are a medium that practically everyone can enjoy. I have never heard of anybody who hated cartoons although there might be some but not many. They are just too cute and funny not to love.
Cartoons have been around forever it seems and more and more of them are popping up every day. As long as there are newspapers, the internet, and politics, cartoons will thrive. They are also a part of our American culture whether we want to believe it or not. They are right up there with as baseball and apple pie. Just as long as we have freedom of the press, we will have cartoons that challenge it and get people thinking.
Cartoons are one of the few simple joys in life. You can always count on a cartoon to enlighten you or your mood. They do more than just amuse us cartoons can be used as a communication medium by making light of social issues facing us today. Cartoons can be political in nature, editorial in nature, educational and just plain funny. Many times children can respond and learn better with cartoons because they are fun, hold the child’s interest and not threatening. Political cartoons can bring up issues regarding our government and politics in a fun unassuming way. They get us thinking about things. They can bring to the forefront many touchy issues that we may not want to deal with and get us thinking about them in a productive way. Reading a cartoon is a great way to release tension and have a good laugh while you are at it. You can find cartoons almost anywhere and they are accessible to just about anyone. They are in newspapers, comic books, the internet and on television.
Cartoons are entertaining; they hold our interest and are an American way of life. How many people have never read Peanuts? My guess is probably not many. How many people have never read a cartoon? I think it is safe to assume that there probably are not many people who have never read a cartoon either. I remember reading Peanuts and wondering what would Lucy do to poor Charlie Brown today? No matter how bad the new is in the paper, on television, or on the internet we can always turn to a cartoon to lift our spirits and have a laugh before we start our day. Cartoons are a medium that practically everyone can enjoy. I have never heard of anybody who hated cartoons although there might be some but not many. They are just too cute and funny not to love.
Cartoons have been around forever it seems and more and more of them are popping up every day. As long as there are newspapers, the internet, and politics, cartoons will thrive. They are also a part of our American culture whether we want to believe it or not. They are right up there with as baseball and apple pie. Just as long as we have freedom of the press, we will have cartoons that challenge it and get people thinking.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Freedom Of Speech
We are among the people lucky enough to be living in the United States of America. We are afforded many freedoms that most people living in other countries are not. Among these many freedoms is the freedom of speech. This freedom means we are lucky enough to be able to say exactly what we feel and think which is guaranteed according to the First Amendment. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech; or the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Our founding fathers wanted us to be free to express ourselves, worship, and write without government regulation or censorship. This is a luxury we have as Americans that we take for granted and most people from other countries are not afforded.
What exactly is censorship? If you look the word up in the Webster’s New World Dictionary it states that censorship means to subject to a censor’s examination. A censor is an official with the power to examine literature, mail, movies, etc. and remove or prohibit anything considered obscene or objectionable. In many countries such as Iran, anything coming into the country is censored books, music, and movies all must be scrutinized for content by a censor. Have you ever wondered how you would feel if suddenly you were no longer allowed to listen to the music, read the books, and enjoy the movies that you loved because they were considered objectionable by a censor? Or going to prison or being possibly executed for saying something that was considered offensive by the Government? This is something we all take for granted and have never had to think about, on the other hand, there are many people who go through this on a daily basis, this is reality for them.
We as Americans are very lucky to have the freedoms of expression, speech, and religion that we do. With these freedoms also comes great responsibility. We must be careful that while using our freedom of speech that we do not infringe on another person’s freedoms. Just because we can say and do what we want does not mean we should. Exactly where should we draw the line? It must be drawn somewhere in order to protect people from being bullied by hate speech we must have some limitations. If you think about it if we had total freedom without limitations, stalking, harassment, terrorist threats, and child pornography would be perfectly legal. In essence, we have freedom of speech, and of the press to a certain extent. We still must obey the laws of our society. We cannot go around doing and saying everything we think and feel. We must be responsible and prudent with our actions and be considerate of others. If we know that something we say could be offensive to another person it might be a good idea not to say it. Just because we are free does not mean we should go around acting like an idiot.
What exactly is censorship? If you look the word up in the Webster’s New World Dictionary it states that censorship means to subject to a censor’s examination. A censor is an official with the power to examine literature, mail, movies, etc. and remove or prohibit anything considered obscene or objectionable. In many countries such as Iran, anything coming into the country is censored books, music, and movies all must be scrutinized for content by a censor. Have you ever wondered how you would feel if suddenly you were no longer allowed to listen to the music, read the books, and enjoy the movies that you loved because they were considered objectionable by a censor? Or going to prison or being possibly executed for saying something that was considered offensive by the Government? This is something we all take for granted and have never had to think about, on the other hand, there are many people who go through this on a daily basis, this is reality for them.
We as Americans are very lucky to have the freedoms of expression, speech, and religion that we do. With these freedoms also comes great responsibility. We must be careful that while using our freedom of speech that we do not infringe on another person’s freedoms. Just because we can say and do what we want does not mean we should. Exactly where should we draw the line? It must be drawn somewhere in order to protect people from being bullied by hate speech we must have some limitations. If you think about it if we had total freedom without limitations, stalking, harassment, terrorist threats, and child pornography would be perfectly legal. In essence, we have freedom of speech, and of the press to a certain extent. We still must obey the laws of our society. We cannot go around doing and saying everything we think and feel. We must be responsible and prudent with our actions and be considerate of others. If we know that something we say could be offensive to another person it might be a good idea not to say it. Just because we are free does not mean we should go around acting like an idiot.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Reading Lolita in Tehran
“Reading Lolita In Tehran” is a beautifully written book based on a true story of a female Literature Professor, teaching English Literature during a time in Iran history where women were losing all of their basic freedoms and rights. This time period is set in the ‘80s and ‘90s, besides the problems that the women face with the Islamic Regime, Iran is involved in a war with Iraq and the professor and students must deal with years of bombs and missiles being dropped all over Tehran and many of their friends and family being killed in the process.
Professor Nafisi and her students endure many trials and tribulations throughout the story and the focal point is the struggle that women must go through during this time period.
Television, movies, books, and music are either banned or censored because they are deemed as being too westernized and decadent. This also affects Professor Nafisi as many of the literature books she teaches become banned and she can no longer teach them, or some of the male students find the books she assigns to read offensive and sinful. As a professor she must put up with many demonstrations and students skipping class in order to participate in them. During this time the Islamic Regime forces the women to wear chadors, scarves, and veils. Professor Nafisi and the students attend many demonstrations against the rules and regulations forced on the women of Iran, but in the end the Islamic Regime wins and the women must wear the regulatory garments. Professor Nafisi gets expelled from teaching at the University of Tehran because she refuses to wear the veil, but after a while she conforms and resumes her career as a teacher.
After a while Professor Nafisi resigns from her career as a professor and selects a few female students to participate in a class she teaches at her apartment every Thursday morning. In this class the professor teaches the books she was not allowed to teach at the university, such as “Lolita,” and “Invitation To A Beheading” by Vladimir Nabokov and many other banned books. Professor Nafisi and her students must risk everything to continue with their class. If they are found out by the Islamic Regime they may end up in prison for many years or even executed. The students and Professor Nafisi find their freedom and happiness in these Thursday morning meetings reading and discussing literature. They not only learn a great deal about the literature, but they form bonds and learn about each other which gives them hope in the future. The class goes on for many years and each person in the class including Professor Nafisi finds themselves. The class only ends when Professor Nafisi and her family decide to move to America to live.
I would recommend this book for anyone to read. We not only learn about the hardships women have to face in other countries, but we also gain a new found respect for the freedoms that we take for granted. Because of reading this book I have learned that I am quite interested in reading many of the books she talks about in the story. We must all rejoice in the fact that we are free to read, watch, and think what we want to without having to answer to our government.
Professor Nafisi and her students endure many trials and tribulations throughout the story and the focal point is the struggle that women must go through during this time period.
Television, movies, books, and music are either banned or censored because they are deemed as being too westernized and decadent. This also affects Professor Nafisi as many of the literature books she teaches become banned and she can no longer teach them, or some of the male students find the books she assigns to read offensive and sinful. As a professor she must put up with many demonstrations and students skipping class in order to participate in them. During this time the Islamic Regime forces the women to wear chadors, scarves, and veils. Professor Nafisi and the students attend many demonstrations against the rules and regulations forced on the women of Iran, but in the end the Islamic Regime wins and the women must wear the regulatory garments. Professor Nafisi gets expelled from teaching at the University of Tehran because she refuses to wear the veil, but after a while she conforms and resumes her career as a teacher.
After a while Professor Nafisi resigns from her career as a professor and selects a few female students to participate in a class she teaches at her apartment every Thursday morning. In this class the professor teaches the books she was not allowed to teach at the university, such as “Lolita,” and “Invitation To A Beheading” by Vladimir Nabokov and many other banned books. Professor Nafisi and her students must risk everything to continue with their class. If they are found out by the Islamic Regime they may end up in prison for many years or even executed. The students and Professor Nafisi find their freedom and happiness in these Thursday morning meetings reading and discussing literature. They not only learn a great deal about the literature, but they form bonds and learn about each other which gives them hope in the future. The class goes on for many years and each person in the class including Professor Nafisi finds themselves. The class only ends when Professor Nafisi and her family decide to move to America to live.
I would recommend this book for anyone to read. We not only learn about the hardships women have to face in other countries, but we also gain a new found respect for the freedoms that we take for granted. Because of reading this book I have learned that I am quite interested in reading many of the books she talks about in the story. We must all rejoice in the fact that we are free to read, watch, and think what we want to without having to answer to our government.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
What is Political Correctness?
What exactly does it mean to be politically correct? If you look the word up in the Webster’s New World Dictionary, (and yes the word is actually in the dictionary) it is defined as holding orthodox liberal political views: usually used disparagingly to connote dogmatism, etc. If you go on line to Wikipedia political correctness is stated as a term applied to language, ideas, policies, or behavior seen as seeking to minimize offense to gender, racial, cultural, disabled, aged or other identity groups. To be honestly blunt and to the point it means to use language that is free of any offensive descriptions. This means when we see a disabled person or a retarded person we do not use the words disabled or retarded as they have negative connotations that some people may find offensive. We instead call them physically challenged or mentally challenged. The term disabled means not able and as we know most physically challenged people are capable of doing most anything they put their minds to do.
Political Correctness started in a think tank (called The Frankfurt School) in Germany in 1923. The purpose was to find a solution to the biggest problem facing the implementers of communism in Russia. So when did we start worrying about being politically correct? This happened around 1990 in the United States. Suddenly as a society we became overly concerned with being politically correct in an effort not offend anybody. Being politically correct is not a concept that is evident only in America. The term is familiar and politically correct language is used all around the world. Is it actually possible to talk anymore without offending somebody? I think the answer to that question is no! No matter what we say and how we say it we cannot please all of the people all of the time. There is always someone who will find offense with what we say. But is that what political correctness is all about? No, of course not!
What we need to do is free our language of discriminatory remarks and sayings. Once that is done we do not need to worry about whether somebody agrees with us or not. It is not as easy as it sounds though. You need to be aware of what terminology is acceptable and unacceptable in the society you live in. How do we rid our language of discriminatory remarks if we do not know what they are?
As a linguistic concept in the Wikipedia it states that using “inclusive” and “neutral” language is based upon the concept that “language represents thought, and may even control thought”. This is quite a strong statement to make as it essentially means that our language controls our thought process. So in essence if we use derogatory terms to describe someone it has an effect of controlling how we feel about what we said and how we feel about that person. Then other people who hear those remarks may even feel the same way! With that said, I guess it is a good idea of watching what we say and how we say it.
Political Correctness started in a think tank (called The Frankfurt School) in Germany in 1923. The purpose was to find a solution to the biggest problem facing the implementers of communism in Russia. So when did we start worrying about being politically correct? This happened around 1990 in the United States. Suddenly as a society we became overly concerned with being politically correct in an effort not offend anybody. Being politically correct is not a concept that is evident only in America. The term is familiar and politically correct language is used all around the world. Is it actually possible to talk anymore without offending somebody? I think the answer to that question is no! No matter what we say and how we say it we cannot please all of the people all of the time. There is always someone who will find offense with what we say. But is that what political correctness is all about? No, of course not!
What we need to do is free our language of discriminatory remarks and sayings. Once that is done we do not need to worry about whether somebody agrees with us or not. It is not as easy as it sounds though. You need to be aware of what terminology is acceptable and unacceptable in the society you live in. How do we rid our language of discriminatory remarks if we do not know what they are?
As a linguistic concept in the Wikipedia it states that using “inclusive” and “neutral” language is based upon the concept that “language represents thought, and may even control thought”. This is quite a strong statement to make as it essentially means that our language controls our thought process. So in essence if we use derogatory terms to describe someone it has an effect of controlling how we feel about what we said and how we feel about that person. Then other people who hear those remarks may even feel the same way! With that said, I guess it is a good idea of watching what we say and how we say it.
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