Daily blogger reflection

I found being the class blogger to be a very stressful task. I tried to focus on the important concepts that we were talking about in class but also found it important to summarize how we got the results that we did. When I was blogging on Wednesday, we were discussing how we wanted to compose our rubric for our Digital-Media History paper. Although I could have taken the easy way out and simply posted the final rubric on my blog, I decided it was important to document the thinking process we took to come up with this final product. I also tried to help the class by including links to all the pages we were talking about in class. That way I could keep everything organized so that when people went to refer to the site in which I was talking about, it was right there. I also focused on trying to make the information we were talking about as clear as possible so that there was no confusion.
Occupying the role of "class blogger" was a challenge for me. It typically takes me awhile to process information and then take notes on the most important parts. I had trouble keeping up with everything that was going on and found it to be stressful because I wanted to take the best and most detailed notes that I could to help my classmates. Being the "class blogger" I realized that a lot goes on in class from day to day. We go through a lot of information that a lot of times I don't even pick up on. For this reason, I think it is a good idea to have a set of eyes and ears in the classroom to take notes on those things that often times I miss.

Awkward family photo analysis

This appears to be an image of an average, or somewhat average American family. Aside from the way these people look, everything else appears to be normal. There's a mom, a dad, and a little girl. It is normal for a family to go a get their portrait done, which is what one may assume this family is doing. However, looking at the picture it is awkward to say the least. The mom and daughter's hairstyle is anything but ordinary. It looks like there is a bee hive resting on tops of their heads. Especially for the mother, this hairstyle makes her head appear deformed and the little girl looks as if she is being caught off guard. The woman and girl are also wearing matching blaizers while the man is wearing a sports coat of a matching blue color. Oddly, the father looks physically normal. The normality of the father adds humor to this photo as the wife and daughter look incredibly out of place.
 The photograph is composed like a typical family photograph. The father is sitting in the front, possibly signifying that he the head of the family. Sitting behind him is a woman who appears to be his wife and behind both of them is a young girl who one would assume is their daughter. The girl has her hands on each of her parent's shoulders, possibly signifying love and care. The irregularity of the way the mom and girl look is what grabs my attention and makes me laugh.
 This photograph could simply just be a family portrait, or it could be part of a much longer story. Possibly the man in the front of the photo is running for a position in office and that is the reason why the family is wearing matching colors of blue and red (symbolizing USA).
 As a student, this photo simply looks awkward. I see it and I laugh. Awkward photos are taken all the time and usually nothing is thought of it. However, there could be a lot more behind this picture than just humor.

Class Blog: Wednesday September 26th

Today in class...

We started off by drafting out ideas for the rubric in which our Digital-Media History paper would be graded on. Miss Lang instructed the class to go to the class blog where we would find a list of instructions telling us to individually make a list of five things in which we found would be important to include in our paper in order to properly respond to the prompt and create an overall good paper. After completing this on our own, we got into groups where each person shared their list. Collectively the group talked about what they found to be the most important and created a new list with these items listed and ranked by the order of importance. Once each of the groups agreed on a list, they typed them into the document posted on the class blog site so that they could be displayed on the overhead projector and the class could talk about it as a whole. The complete list of these instructions is found on the class blog page which can be found below.

http://enc1101-26.blogspot.com/

When all of the lists were presented to the class we found that many of the concepts we included we very similar. Together we went through each groups list, talked about what they included and went through and clarified any uncertainties. The document including what each of the five groups found to be the five most important concepts is posted below. The things highlighted are what we collectively found to be most important and are what Miss Lang will most heavily take into consideration when creating a final rubric which will be posted on the class blog tonight, September 26th.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_AgE0Eq-gwcWB3Pi7Yy3DaP1Q7R94BDmX6LJVOM7bKg/edit


We then turned to page 379 in The McGraw Hill Handbook, where Miss Lang introduced to us a sample MLA paper. This is a good resource to turn to in order to verify that your paper is in the correct format and follows the MLA style. Some of the most important things to remember about MLA format are:

~Heading should follow the format of

Name
Teacher
Course
Date (16 May 2008)

~ Paper should be double-spaced throughout

~ 1'' margins on all sides

~Heading should be at the top right of the page with a 1/2'' margin and structured as Last name page number ( Hoffman 1). This header should carry on to each of the pages that follow with only the page number changing from page to page.

~Paper should include a title that is NOT Digital-Media History, and should be centered NOT bold, underlined, or italicized.

Listed below is a website which also goes over the important aspects of MLA format or you should refer to page 379 in the Handbook.

http://www.csus.edu/owl/index/mla/mla_format.htm

In order to prepare our papers for final revision, we referred to an editing exercise posted on the class blog page. During this exercise we read sentences posted on the website focusing on some aspect of writing (ex. commas, voice, wordiness, etc). We then referred to The McGraw-Hill Handbook to learn the rules about the specified topic and then fixed the sentences. These sentences can be found on the link to the enc1101 blog (class blog page) which is posted above.

The class wrapped up after editing these sentences. The class was instructed to have the final draft ready to be turned in for next class (Friday October 28) along with all other rough drafts. Also the class should read The McGraw Hill Handbook, "Image Interpretations," and bring the handbook to the next class. In addition the class should bring an album cover along with song lyrics to the next class for analysis. A complete list of these assignments along with other upcoming assignments can be found through the link below which will redirect you to the class calendar.

http://enc1101-26.blogspot.com/p/class-calendar.html

Helpful Links:

How to put your paper in MLA format using Microsoft word on a mac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjP4jUVE8i0


DIGITAL-MEDIA HISTORY PAPER OFFICIAL RUBRIC:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y0PBpDk_aUAoIXZ_oxmXcgDlts-OXoNxNcbDv7aynt0/edit

Picture of the day

Introductions/ Conclusions

 In my own introduction, I focus on the general progression through life. I start by touching on the simplicities of childhood and work my way up to talk about how as you grow, so do responsibilities. As we grow up we get closer and closer to being exposed to "real life." I start with a commonly held view but expand of off it and take a deeper look into it.
 In my conclusion I touch back on how growing up happens in stages, which is what I focused a lot on in my introduction. I connect back to how things gradually get harder and more real as we grow up and how what we watch on TV changes due to what stage of life we are at. I think I need to focus more on the readers question of "so what." Although I talk about how our values change and growing up brings new challenges, I would like to leave the audience with a harder hitting image or possibly leave the reader thinking by presenting some possible implications for the future.

Peer Review #2

This peer review session went very well. I felt that after taking time and working on my essay for the past week has really helped me to get a better grasp as to where this paper should be going and what details and concepts should be included in order to get there. As a result, I felt that I was able to revise my peer's essay much better. I tried to really highlight what was good and touch on what could be expanded on to help her improve her paper. By doing this, it also helped me be aware of things I should look out for when going back and improving my revisions.

Editing my work

I definitely need to focus more about how my views changed throughout time and not necessarily media. Although media has changed and evolved throughout the years, I was the one changing what I watched on tv. Specifically as a little kid my parents did not allow me to watch shows such a teen mom, which I talk about later on in my paper. Instead I was exposed to shows where the endings were always happy and important values were always emphasized, even though they were not always that realistic. As I grew up I naturally went through stages where my ideals changed. When I got older I wanted to watch shows such as Lizzie McGuire because instead of being like cute little Michelle Tanner on Full House I now wanted to be that cool teenager. Instead of admiring how cute Michelle is, I wanted to be sophicated and hip. Watching this show exposed me to some of the things I would experience at this stage in my life and therefore I was intrigued by it. Now that I am much older, I choose to watch shows such as Teen Mom because it relates to people directly my age. I would have never been able to watch something like this when I was younger because it exposes its viewers to issues that are much more serious, issues that can not be solved with a hug and in a 30 minute episode. I choose to watch this because this is now my reality. Although I am not expecting a child, it could happen. The consequences are no longer "time-out" or being "grounded" but instead they are getting pregnant and going to jail. Especially being a college student I am no longer surrounded by puppies and play dates, but rather by drugs, alcohol and sex. Although I can confidently say I am wise about the choices I make, this is my new reality, this is how my life has evolved.

Writing workshop #1

I found my first writing conference to be very productive. My partner and I both started off on the same page approaching this assignment, and therefore it really helped to sit down and talk about where exactly we wanted to go with our paper and how we planned on getting there. Surprisingly, I didn't find looking over each others papers to be all that helpful. I found that discussing the general topic, the format of the paper, and what we wanted to portray through our work to be a lot more productive. Once I understand exactly what the prompt wants me to show and the structure I am expected to write in, I have a much easier time getting to where I want to go. I expect to be a lot more confident in my next draft, especially now that I know what is expected of me. I feel I can dive into my ideas more now that I know where I want to go with it.