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Thursday, June 4, 2009
Table of Contents
Introduction to a revision
The piece I chose to revise is the last blog assignment we did, the original assignment was to write about how food plays a role in traditions in the family. The strengths of the piece are that it flows well and speaks of a tradition that is a little different then what most people would be expecting. The weaknesses are that its to short and doesn’t go into enough detail. For example in the original piece “Samhain is a time to remember the people who have gone before, it is also the last of the harvest ceremonies, food plays a big part in the ceremony.” That could easily be changed and strengthened into “. Samhain is also the pagan new year, and the last of the harvest holidays. It is also the day when the world of the living and that of the dead is closest and a time when you can reconnect with lost loved ones. All of this leads to many different pagan traditions surrounding food; mead and wine are also used a lot for any family or pagan tradition for this day.”
Introduction to Critical thinking
1) A writing that demonstrates critical thinking: For this piece I picked a writing I did at the beginning of the quarter. We were asked to write about our experiences in a high school lunchroom vs the experiences of the writer Emily White. For me critical thinking comes into play when you can relate your own experiences with the topic or discussion. For this I was able to show "High School cafeterias are almost all the same, only some small differences exist." The piece is fun and took me back to my years in High School. It also relates my experience to the one we were reading about.
Reflection letter
My personal goals in school are to get my AA in history and then go on to a four-year university and get my BA in history and possibly a minor in archeology. I like to get dirty so digging in the ground would be fun for me. I want to do my Masters work at Trinity College in Dublin Ireland, the library there is extensive and they have a very good history program. I also love Ireland and its tales of fairies, leprechauns and blarney. Writing is a little hard for me because I have two different learning disabilities, dyslexia and ADD, finding time to concentrate on writing has been hard. Plus I have to have some kind of background noise and so getting background noise that I can actually write to has not been easy. I have done my best however, and I hope the work can be seen in
Over the course of the quarter we have had to study in depth aspects of community, identity and pop culture. My views on identity and community changed over the course of the readings we did as well as the discussions. My ideas about community changed possibly the most after we watched the movie Remember the Titans. “To me this movie made me look at how I treat other people and my own ideas and attitudes toward people.” After that I spoke to a friend of mine from South Africa about apartheid and write a paper on that. Over the course of writing that paper it was brought to my attention even more that if one does not learn from history a person or a country is bound to repeat it even if it isn’t your own country. A quote from my paper given to me by Laura the person I interviewed shows a little of what I’m talking about “White people could go everywhere and do everything. For instance, there were white areas (suburbs), whites only schools, toilets, cinemas, restaurants, etc.” To respond to that I added how the same kind of thing happened in the history of the United States. “The Civil war brought about the ending of slavery, but until the time of the Civil Rights Movement communities largely consisted of Whites only or Blacks only. There were also white only schools, toilets, restaurants, etc.” The pop culture unit we did largely consisted of the groups of us taking a look at different kinds of traditions that have moved in to push out old traditions. Most of the discussion seemed to center around Britney Spears and how she wasn’t a very good role model. I chose to look at one of my favorite things, anime, and write a paper on that.
For the portfolio itself we picked several different pieces to show off the talents we have learned from writing this quarter. My first picked piece is the analysis of High school cafeterias. For my revision piece I decided to redo the last blog assignment we did I think it could be a lot better. The audience and voice piece I decided to use the second blog assignment we ever did. It is a very different look at communities. The last piece I picked for this is the first blog assignment we did where we looked at what was in our wallet and posted what that could mean about us. It is a very good look at what kind of person I am. I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Over the course of the quarter we have had to study in depth aspects of community, identity and pop culture. My views on identity and community changed over the course of the readings we did as well as the discussions. My ideas about community changed possibly the most after we watched the movie Remember the Titans. “To me this movie made me look at how I treat other people and my own ideas and attitudes toward people.” After that I spoke to a friend of mine from South Africa about apartheid and write a paper on that. Over the course of writing that paper it was brought to my attention even more that if one does not learn from history a person or a country is bound to repeat it even if it isn’t your own country. A quote from my paper given to me by Laura the person I interviewed shows a little of what I’m talking about “White people could go everywhere and do everything. For instance, there were white areas (suburbs), whites only schools, toilets, cinemas, restaurants, etc.” To respond to that I added how the same kind of thing happened in the history of the United States. “The Civil war brought about the ending of slavery, but until the time of the Civil Rights Movement communities largely consisted of Whites only or Blacks only. There were also white only schools, toilets, restaurants, etc.” The pop culture unit we did largely consisted of the groups of us taking a look at different kinds of traditions that have moved in to push out old traditions. Most of the discussion seemed to center around Britney Spears and how she wasn’t a very good role model. I chose to look at one of my favorite things, anime, and write a paper on that.
For the portfolio itself we picked several different pieces to show off the talents we have learned from writing this quarter. My first picked piece is the analysis of High school cafeterias. For my revision piece I decided to redo the last blog assignment we did I think it could be a lot better. The audience and voice piece I decided to use the second blog assignment we ever did. It is a very different look at communities. The last piece I picked for this is the first blog assignment we did where we looked at what was in our wallet and posted what that could mean about us. It is a very good look at what kind of person I am. I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Critical thinking
High School cafeterias are almost all the same, only some small differences exist. To many schools are overcrowded these days, and so lunch is done in shifts; usually three shifts for half an hour each. The time of the Lunch varies a bit, but at my school the first started at around eleven-thirty or so and the last was at around 12:30. We had started school at 7:15 in the morning and we finished at two in the afternoon. Lunchtime therefore couldn’t come soon enough for most of us, we were all very hungry by then as most teenagers don’t get up and eat any breakfast before going to school. A very real worry was whether or not you would have the same lunch as your friends. First lunch was always the best one to be in because not only did you get to eat first, it was more likely that you would see your friends. In the reading by Emily White she says that the lunches for the students are “drawn”, rather then assigned. At Everett High which building your fourth period class was in determined which lunch you had. If you didn’t like the lunch you had you could always see a counselor and change your fourth period class to one you liked better to see friends. The lines in the counselors’ office the first week of any semester were always long. Emily White interviews a girl who had gotten a different lunch then her friends and how the girl was then left out of plans and didn’t hear the stories or inside jokes of her friends, and how the girl can not break into the third lunch crowd. At Everett High that could have been solved by simply changing one class, many students did just that. The lunchroom had very definite cliques; the popular kids sat in the middle of the room, the rockers/rebels sat in the back of the room nearest the student store and the back exit from the cafeteria. The nerds, or geeks sat in the front of the room nearest the entrance to the cafeteria seemingly the nerds had the most fun during lunch playing “Magic the Gathering", setting up a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons, or simply talking about the newest video or PC game. For some reason all the military recruiters were sent to stand near where the nerds stood, to this day I am not sure why but we made friends with them all easily.
“In these free moments violence can erupt, and Calhoun has employed an armed cafeteria monitor, a nice guy in a golf shirt with a gun tucked discreetly into his belt.” (16) At Everett high we had three different lunchroom monitors. The Vice Principle of the school, an Everett Police officer, and a man who was known as the discipline officer, a former history teacher at the school. All three were nice men who looked out for the students and booked no nonsense from the rebels or the popular kids. Everyone was equal to them; however their sense of humor was such that they tended to good-naturally tease the kids who were known to them as having a bad reputation or those of us who had taken one of the discipline officer’s history classes. Our lunches had very few fights and the Police officer almost never needed to be involved the Vice Principle was usually enough to stop anything from happening.
I think that reading over this has shown that high schools are very similar in many ways, but that my experience seems to show that not all high schools are as rigid or difficult to deal with.
“In these free moments violence can erupt, and Calhoun has employed an armed cafeteria monitor, a nice guy in a golf shirt with a gun tucked discreetly into his belt.” (16) At Everett high we had three different lunchroom monitors. The Vice Principle of the school, an Everett Police officer, and a man who was known as the discipline officer, a former history teacher at the school. All three were nice men who looked out for the students and booked no nonsense from the rebels or the popular kids. Everyone was equal to them; however their sense of humor was such that they tended to good-naturally tease the kids who were known to them as having a bad reputation or those of us who had taken one of the discipline officer’s history classes. Our lunches had very few fights and the Police officer almost never needed to be involved the Vice Principle was usually enough to stop anything from happening.
I think that reading over this has shown that high schools are very similar in many ways, but that my experience seems to show that not all high schools are as rigid or difficult to deal with.
Revision
Original Piece
The biggest tradition surrounding food in my family is around the time of Samhain, otherwise known as Halloween. Samhain is a time to remember the people who have gone before, it is also the last of the harvest ceremonies, food plays a big part in the ceremony. It is also the pagan new year, so drinks like mead and wine are also big parts of the ceremonies. The traditional meal is called a dum supper.
A dum supper is a meal that is done in honor of the ancestors. A home cooked meal is prepared and the table is set with an extra place. The extra place is for the ancestors, when serving the meal the ancestors are served first and the meal is eaten in silence till everyone is done. The reason for the silence is to remember those who have passed away and think on the good or bad things that you remember about them. Maybe come to terms with something they have done that you were unhappy with. The ancestors plate is not eaten if there is anything left over, it is placed outside for the fairies. Wine or mead is the traditional drink and the left overs of that are placed outside as well for the fairies or other spirits passing by.
Revision
The biggest family tradition that deals with food is around the time of Samhain, otherwise known as Halloween. Halloween is typically the time to dress up in fun costumes, eat lots of candy and scare people out of their wits. Samhain is also the pagan new year, and the last of the harvest holidays. It is also the day when the world of the living and that of the dead is closest and a time when you can reconnect with lost loved ones. All of this leads to many different pagan traditions surrounding food; mead and wine are also used a lot for any family or pagan tradition for this day.
In my family, and sometimes if I can’t celebrate with family my coven, we do a meal called a Dum supper. A dum supper is a meal that is shared with those that have passed before. It’s done by cooking a meal at home, fast food should not even be attempted for this meal. Wine and or mead can be added for drinks but water or soda will work as well. The meal is placed on the table and an extra place setting is set for the ancestors. When everyone sits down the meal is conducted in silence. The ancestors are served first as an honorary duty to them, then the food moves clockwise, to each person. The meal being conducted in silence is so that you the person sharing the meal, have a chance to come to terms with anything you were worried about or didn’t get to finish with them when they were alive. You also have the chance to say to the ancestors whatever you didn’t get a chance to say when they were alive. Maybe there was something that was upsetting to you now would be the time to say something and get closer.
When the meal is over the left overs are taken outside to leave for either the other passing spirits or the animals. Wine or mead is thrown in the garden, if you have one, as the fairies will use that. It is an offering for them to prosper you in the coming months as well as simply a nice thing to do. After all this is done a small ritual is done to welcome the new year glasses are refilled with whatever you chose to drink and the new year is celebrated.
The biggest tradition surrounding food in my family is around the time of Samhain, otherwise known as Halloween. Samhain is a time to remember the people who have gone before, it is also the last of the harvest ceremonies, food plays a big part in the ceremony. It is also the pagan new year, so drinks like mead and wine are also big parts of the ceremonies. The traditional meal is called a dum supper.
A dum supper is a meal that is done in honor of the ancestors. A home cooked meal is prepared and the table is set with an extra place. The extra place is for the ancestors, when serving the meal the ancestors are served first and the meal is eaten in silence till everyone is done. The reason for the silence is to remember those who have passed away and think on the good or bad things that you remember about them. Maybe come to terms with something they have done that you were unhappy with. The ancestors plate is not eaten if there is anything left over, it is placed outside for the fairies. Wine or mead is the traditional drink and the left overs of that are placed outside as well for the fairies or other spirits passing by.
Revision
The biggest family tradition that deals with food is around the time of Samhain, otherwise known as Halloween. Halloween is typically the time to dress up in fun costumes, eat lots of candy and scare people out of their wits. Samhain is also the pagan new year, and the last of the harvest holidays. It is also the day when the world of the living and that of the dead is closest and a time when you can reconnect with lost loved ones. All of this leads to many different pagan traditions surrounding food; mead and wine are also used a lot for any family or pagan tradition for this day.
In my family, and sometimes if I can’t celebrate with family my coven, we do a meal called a Dum supper. A dum supper is a meal that is shared with those that have passed before. It’s done by cooking a meal at home, fast food should not even be attempted for this meal. Wine and or mead can be added for drinks but water or soda will work as well. The meal is placed on the table and an extra place setting is set for the ancestors. When everyone sits down the meal is conducted in silence. The ancestors are served first as an honorary duty to them, then the food moves clockwise, to each person. The meal being conducted in silence is so that you the person sharing the meal, have a chance to come to terms with anything you were worried about or didn’t get to finish with them when they were alive. You also have the chance to say to the ancestors whatever you didn’t get a chance to say when they were alive. Maybe there was something that was upsetting to you now would be the time to say something and get closer.
When the meal is over the left overs are taken outside to leave for either the other passing spirits or the animals. Wine or mead is thrown in the garden, if you have one, as the fairies will use that. It is an offering for them to prosper you in the coming months as well as simply a nice thing to do. After all this is done a small ritual is done to welcome the new year glasses are refilled with whatever you chose to drink and the new year is celebrated.
Introduction to a creative voice.
A writing that illustrates awareness of audience and voice: The second blog assignment was all about communities. We had to “Look into the ways one of your daily activities connects you to a community of people. Examine when and how the differences among individuals test a group’s ability to stick together.” For this I picked a wheel of time community message board I frequent called Dragonmount. I tried to show how even though the various groups of people had never met in person we were still a community and had issues with each other and tried to surpass the issues and find common ground. I think this challenges the readers because the idea of a message board being a community in any sense of the word can seem a little strange. To show a little of the sense of community we have “As with all large groups of people there will be conflict. Personalities don't always mesh and fights break out.” I think doing this kind of writing has been hard because each unit we had we had to focus on something spesfic and write about that. I was forced to try and think about things in a different way.
Creative voice
A message board is a community. Being a big fan of the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan I looked for and found two of the biggest Wheel of time communities, Dragonmount or Dm, and Tarvalon.net otherwise known as Tv.net. The two sites allow you to interact with people all over the world and learn new and interesting things from them all. What holds the group of people together is the love of the books and the sense of community that the sites have. A sense of togetherness defines a Wheel of Time community. As with all large groups of people there will be conflict. Personalities don't always mesh and fights break out. On the site there are people who try and keep everyone if not together and happy then at least trying to be nice to each other. There are also site rules so that people do not purposely try to hurt other people and to keep things running as smoothly as it can. Sometimes there will be people who come on site just to try and find someone to have sex with but generally they are banned from the site rather quickly.
For me DM is a place to unwind, I have a temper and tend to take offense easily to things. DM very relaxed and easy going which makes my time there more fun. I have only small complaints with people and and I tend to tell everyone whatever I think of them when talks come up. I am one of three most outspoken members on the board. I enjoy my time there because I have a love of the Wheel of time books and I've made many good friends, and several i've met off the boards.
For me DM is a place to unwind, I have a temper and tend to take offense easily to things. DM very relaxed and easy going which makes my time there more fun. I have only small complaints with people and and I tend to tell everyone whatever I think of them when talks come up. I am one of three most outspoken members on the board. I enjoy my time there because I have a love of the Wheel of time books and I've made many good friends, and several i've met off the boards.
Writers choice introduction
Writer’s Choice: The last piece I picked is from the very start of the quarter. “It gives a basic sense of what I hold important in my life, because after all, we always keep what is important near to us.” The story of a wallet is something I very much had fun writing. It was a little hard for me to find the proper words to express what I thought about me and how to get across what I needed to without sounding like I was rambling. In the end however, I figured it out and enjoyed the end result.
The voice of a piece
The Me in my Wallet
Contents: An inspirational prayer, a picture of my Mother, a picture of a young girl, a picture of my brother and myself hugging, a library card, my ID, and a business card for a fairy shop.
My identity as defined by the contents of my wallet could suggest to others that I am close to my family, that I possibly have a child, that I possibly have a boyfriend or husband that I love, that I am a religious person, and that I'm also interested in the occult. Someone seeing those items might also think that I'm overly neat, or that I don't hold on to frivolous things since there are no receipts. There are so many things not said by those items though. Each item, or lack there of, says something very different about who and what I am; yet none of those assumptions are completely accurate.
What that person wouldn't know is that the picture of myself and a man hugging is actually a picture of myself and my brother that I'm very close too. They wouldn't know that the girl is someone I cared for at a previous daycare job, and she gave me the picture when I left. That my mother means more to me then a simple picture can convey, and that her presence, even as a photo, is very comforting to me. They wouldn't know that the inspirational prayer helps me to cope on days when I'm particularly down, and that it is also a comfort to carry near to me. The fairy shop card not only shows my love for the art, but it also shows my deep faith in the pagan religion.
While this is also not all the parts of me, it is a small taste that someone could perceive from the contents of my wallet. It gives a basic sense of what I hold important in my life, because after all, we always keep what is important near to us.
Contents: An inspirational prayer, a picture of my Mother, a picture of a young girl, a picture of my brother and myself hugging, a library card, my ID, and a business card for a fairy shop.
My identity as defined by the contents of my wallet could suggest to others that I am close to my family, that I possibly have a child, that I possibly have a boyfriend or husband that I love, that I am a religious person, and that I'm also interested in the occult. Someone seeing those items might also think that I'm overly neat, or that I don't hold on to frivolous things since there are no receipts. There are so many things not said by those items though. Each item, or lack there of, says something very different about who and what I am; yet none of those assumptions are completely accurate.
What that person wouldn't know is that the picture of myself and a man hugging is actually a picture of myself and my brother that I'm very close too. They wouldn't know that the girl is someone I cared for at a previous daycare job, and she gave me the picture when I left. That my mother means more to me then a simple picture can convey, and that her presence, even as a photo, is very comforting to me. They wouldn't know that the inspirational prayer helps me to cope on days when I'm particularly down, and that it is also a comfort to carry near to me. The fairy shop card not only shows my love for the art, but it also shows my deep faith in the pagan religion.
While this is also not all the parts of me, it is a small taste that someone could perceive from the contents of my wallet. It gives a basic sense of what I hold important in my life, because after all, we always keep what is important near to us.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
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