From Pencils to Pixels

The main argument of this text is that the technology and the computer has changed the way we read and write and therefore has altered literacy.  We must adjust to the new technological advances and society as it develops new things.  

Literacy, as defined in this article, is someone’s ability to be technologically in tune with modern advancements in society.  It is an implicit definition of literacy.
The author talks about what he believes is the gateway to literacy, which is technology and in particular the computer. I fully agree with this statement, because as we evolve more and more technology is becoming prevalent in our everyday lives. If we do not take the time to learn how to work and understand these advances, we will become the few who can not evolve with the world as it does. Also, the computer provides us massive amounts of information with the click of a button and therefore we can learn more faster.
The pencil is technology because it allows us to create ideas, stories, plans, etc. in a visual image which helps us to organize our thoughts and also share these thoughts with others.
Plato disliked writing/written word because he thought that it took something away from us. He believed that it weakened us because it took away oral conversation and and the exchanging of ideas.
Thoreau believed that pencil technology was the best because he thought that other technologies were just an illusion and not actual hard evidence of ideas.
The telephone combined both talking and writing and made it easier for people to communicate with one another. People's tones of voice could be more easily recognized and understood but it did not express facial expressions and gestures which also changed the way we communicate.

Yancey's Writing in the 21st Century

In Yancey's article, he addresses three challenges and opportunities of writing in the 21st century.  These include developing a new method or model of writing, coming up with a curriculum to support such methods, and then creating models to teach the methods.  This article urges Americans to write more and also wants us to encourage others around us to write more so that we can create a more literate society.  Yancey's article addresses the problems within our culture that underrate writing and its influence.  Yancey also discusses the emotions attached with writing and reading.  Reading has a positive connotation that invokes pleasure but writing has gained a negativity around it that is often referred to as painful and isolating.  The 21st century is becoming the Age of Composition because people are starting to involve themselves a lot more heavily in writing.  Could the 21st century come even closer to closing the literacy gap that is so prevalent in America?

Brave New World of Digital Intimacy

In Thompson's article, he argues that social media and things like Facebook are both destroying and also building literacy, in different aspects.  His main claim is that the way that we interact with one another, make friends, and keep in touch with those friends is changing due to the presence of social media in our lives.  With things like Facebook we can instantly know who is doing what with whom, who is in a relationship with whom, and also what their likes and dislikes are.  We keep tabs on everyone no matter how close we may be with the person we "Facebook stalk".   This social media is aiding literacy in that it is expanding communication and the way that we pass on culture, knowledge, and experience.  But it is also limiting literacy because it has taken away the reading and writing that is so prominent in the literal definition.  Also, it is not making us go out and research information instead we are skimming through a newsfeed of people we may not actually care about.  Although the article argues both defending and attacking how social media affects literacy, it defines literacy in a whole new way.  Thompson defines literacy as the ability to create and expand friendships through communication on social media and by reading what someone posts.

Gin, Television, and Cognitive Surplus

In this article, Shirky's main point is that we should do something productive with our free time versus watching television and wasting the time away not thinking.  He tries to argue that we waste so much time doing things that are not making a difference in the world when we should be trying to use our free time to its fullest advantage.  In this article I found more than one definition of literacy.  Illiteracy can be defined as the ignorance of people to the time that they waste watching countless hours of television and spending an unlimited amount of time on the computer.  But also, literacy can be defined as someone's ability to understand information and not go any deeper into its meaning.  Also, throughout the article he brings forth facts about the millions, billions, and trillion hours people spend watching television, playing on the computer, or doing nothing.  He may keep reiterating this as to point out to the reader that this time can be better used in making a difference in the world, like the millions of hours spent creating Wikipedia articles that help to further people's knowledge.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

In this article, the author talks about how in the present day, with so much information available to us with the click of a button, we are losing our ability think for ourselves and expand our knowledge.  Things used to be so simple and they continue to get more and more difficult as time passes.  Being an author, he utilizes the internet for research instead of sifting through multiple stacks of paper to find the answer to a simple question.  But he has realized that now because of the internet, he no longer just sits and immerses himself in a book for hours on end, but instead gets onto the internet.  He says that the Net has become a universal medium and the main source for all information that his eyes gaze upon.  The internet has changed so much about the thought process of human minds.  It has also changed to reading process because instead of taking the time to read a book, we google a summary.  Although it is a lot quicker, we do not think for ourselves anymore or think deep into the meaning of a book.

Unit 3 Brainstorming: Identity and Social Media

Blake Shelton's twitter feed is filled with responses, retweets, and promotions of himself and his team during each season of the voice.  He does a great job of responding to his fans tweets to him and also promoting his team and the show The Voice.  Blake Shelton always speaks his mind on his twitter account and isn't afraid to let it all out whether it be a tweet saying "I'm sober......bitch time for a drink" or dissing Adam Levine after every episode of The Voice is filmed or aired.  But on the other hand, him and his wife Miranda Lambert exchange sweet and loving tweets between one another when not together, showing a softer and kinder side of Blake Shelton.  He emits a fun-loving, care-free, hard-working personality through his twitter profile, which is a pretty accurate representation of his life as well.

Social Media: What Does Your Tattoo Say?

I feel that I represent myself on social media very well.  I do not post inappropriate Facebook posts, tweets, or instagrams, but on the other hand i do not completely censor myself so that an outsider would not be able to get to know me from looking at all of the above.
When on twitter I tend to speak my mind , yet I try to make a point of not posting anything that could one day be detrimental to myself.  My tweets range from me raving on how much I love Auburn to something interesting that has just happened to me while walking down the street to something I'm craving to eat.  For Example:
"GAAMMEE DAAAYY (hump day voice)"
This shows my school pride and how excited I am to be at Auburn.
"To the two kids arguing over the reflective state of the window: I promise there are bigger things in life:"
This is just one of the many interesting things I have overheard while walking to classes everyday.
"I want great mex taco Tuesday. That is all"
This tweet expresses a craving for food from my hometown.
There is a girl wearing heels to class, with her Nike shorts. That is all.
Again this is one of the many crazy things i see walking across campus.
The sunsets here. I'm happy.
This tweet expresses my love of sunsets, which, if you know me well, is one of my favorite things in the world.

From my tweets, one can see that I love my school, love my friends, and love food. But these are only a few of the things that define me as a person. If someone were to look through my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, one could also see that I love to have fun, yet can crack down when it comes to studies. This would be an accurate representation of me and my life. I try to keep up with social media because nowadays it is the way that my generation communicates and spreads the word about important issues. You can even get a job that has to do with keeping up on social media and keeping your business relevant on social media. I would like to believe that I censor myself enough that if i sat down for an interview and was handed a copy of all my tweets, instagrams, and facebook posts i would still get the job. I try to keep myself in the best light possible at all times, of course we all have slip ups and the bad thing about social media is that the internet is forever, but that doesn't mean that we can not try to correct those wrong doings through future posts.

Carried Away

For my song I chose Passion Pit's "Carried Away" and to compare it to, I chose the Tropicana Farmstand commercial which uses the song as well.  They are two completely different moods and tones and do not have vary many similarities.  The original music video portrays a dysfunctional relationship between a man and a woman and their ups and downs.  The Tropicana commercial shows a happy store clerk setting out the juice and his face is just lit up and excited the whole time.  Each video focuses on a completely different tone and each video does a good job in making the song fit that tone.  The song in itself is about a man that is constantly apologizing for the wrong that he has done and his excuse is that his heart is guarded and that he convinces himself that he doesn't need the relationship just a friend.   There are very few happy moments within the original music video, whereas the whole commercial displays the song in a happy and bright light.  The store clerk is constantly overjoyed and playful.  The song was originally meant as a up and down piece, but the commercial places it in a continuous up.

From Flappers to Rappers

"The Great Gatsby" chose the music that they did for the movie because it not only reflects what the 20's were like, but it also has ties to today's world.  The music is current and fresh but the instruments and beats behind the lyrics has a 1920's feel to it.  Take for example the song "Crazy In Love".  This was originally performed by Beyoncé a few years ago, making it a current song, but by adding in the instruments popular to that time period, it creates a 1920's atmosphere.  By using such current music, the movie engages its viewers because they can relate to the songs, but by putting a 1920's spin on them it still maintains the era.  I believe that the music was a successful rhetorical device because it helps to relate the two time periods.  Gatsby's time was filled with extravagant parties, excessive drinking, and lavish living.  Times today, although further advanced, are not too different.  The music helps to create the mood of the movie with every song.  For example, when "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody" starts to play, the mood instantly rises not only for the listener but also in the movie scene.  The party booms with joy and excitement and the song becomes faster and louder reflecting the extravagance of the party.

Process and Product

The way we wrote this Unit 1 paper was different then I have ever done before, but I found it much more helpful than any way I have ever done before.  I found that by breaking my ad into pieces and then analyzing those pieces I was able to write much more than I would be able to by analyzing it as a whole.  Also, if I got stuck on a paragraph, I could just move ahead and start writing on another idea.  I did no have to worry about building on each idea and staying stuck until i came up with something to write about.  Writing out of order also helped me to organize my thoughts more clearly rather than skipping around and not having the paper flow.  I also found that by drafting multiple copies of my paper I was able to include a lot more of my ideas.

"Crossfire" Analyzation

One of the first things that I took from this clip was the name of the show, "Crossfire".  When hearing this name I automatically thought of heated argument and opposing opinions.  This is exactly what the video consisted of after watching it.  John Stewart with his casual attire and witty charm, transformed this debate into a sort of message for the viewers.  He indirectly criticized both hosts by stating that they needed to "stop hurting America".  John Stewart never once took sides, either Democratic or Republican, when arguing, he simply stated they needed the "stop hurting America" with their one sided views of the world.  The whole show is entirely appealing to the emotions of people and their beliefs.  John Stewart was appealing to the audiences emotions by talking with a comedic tone and constantly poking fun at the hosts and their views.  By making it humorous, John Stewart is able to relay his message and keep the interest of the audience.  His underlying message was that we need the media to help us and not degrade us.  The media has the power to alter opinions, relay messages to many people at once, and also educate people on issues they may not know about.  John Stewart constantly criticizes the hosts for not using the media to educate their audience but instead they only share their biased opinions.

Writing Habits

It is safe to say that writing is definitely not a strong suit of mine.  It is a constant struggle from the moment I receive the prompt to the moment I turn in the finished product.  The hardest part about writing is the brainstorming period.  In this moment I must recall every book, article, or literary work I have read that could possibly pertain to what I am writing about.  Once I have gathered a couple of different thoughts together, the next hurdle I must conquer is the opening paragraph.  I have found it easy to start with famous quotes or even possibly a song lyric that pertains to what I am going to be discussing in my writing.  After I have whipped out an intro, its time to get into the heart of my paper.  This is where my writing starts to shine.  Of course finding the evidence to support the claims I have made in my writing is another struggle, but once those are found I could commentary for days on end.  But of course, I get easily distracted by the tiniest of things and so I must work listening to music, which blocks out all other noises and sounds that might catch my attention.  Also I find that when I am not given an exact prompt, I have a hard time formulating something to talk about.  So when given a prompt with clear and precise instructions on what to discuss, my writing tends to flourish.  The closing statements have always been a struggle for me as well.  I feel as if I am scrambling for words and phrases that I have not previously used.  But once I have overcome the closing statements, I can sit back, relax, and be confident in what I have just written.