Reflexive Blog 5- 9/30

For homework last weekend we had to read and respond to "Two Questions" by Lynda Barry. It was a strange writing that was set up almost like a comic. Here's the daybook entry where I started my response: 

The "Two Questions" that the title of this piece came from referred to the first panel, showing a writer at her desk asking herself "Is this good?" and "Does this suck?". She goes on to explain how into her writing career, these became the only two questions she could ask herself about her work.

In my daybook I mentioned how I really felt like I could connect with that feeling. I often notice that I'm questioning myself about my writing too much. I think when someone is writing  for someone else, like an assignment for school, or a test, or anything that would be graded, they can be hesitant to write what feels natural. I find this to be especially true for myself when doing an assignment that I'm not completely clear about or that I've never done before.

Knowing that feeling made me really understand the idea of questioning your own work too much. It can be frustrating when you know what you're trying to say, but you feeling like you have word or explain something differently than you normally would to connect to your audience. I've found the most effective way for me to get over that feeling is to just write the way that feels natural to myself. I try not to second guess myself too often, but it's important to still be open to suggestions about your writing and try out any advice that you may find helpful.


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwM_mqgmQbT3NjNYZ1BvQjIwc0U/edit

Reflexive Blog 4- WID 9/18

For our writing into the day on Tuesday we watched a video where a classroom of kids were given 10 seconds to complete a drawing. The drawings were collected and everyone in the class had drawn a clock, as the unfinished drawing led them to. The kids were later given 10 minutes to complete the same drawing.  Needless to say when they were collected for the second time, the drawings were much more elaborate. The end of the video showed a message that said something along the lines of creativity not being helped by the pressure of time, but by the freedom of playfulness.

I felt like I could connect with the message that this video was trying to get across. When I feel pressured to write something, like if I have an assignment that's due the next day(or now... too much to do this week), it's hard for me to think creatively and really think about all the ideas that I have about something. I think that when someone is given time to freely think about anything, they give themselves the time to actually register every idea that they come up with, and not turn down a thought that they're unsure of at first. They won't be frustrated about the completion of the assignment at the time, but considering all possibilities that they imagine.
It's a useful tactic not just in writing, but in just about anything. People would be amazed at some things they are capable of, given enough time and a relaxed mindset. I try to avoid feeling pressured when it comes to schoolwork by spacing out my assignments and allowing as much time as I can for each.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgvx9OfZKJw&feature=player_embedded

Reflexive Blog 3- Literacy Dig

Last week we were assigned to write a literacy dig.  The assignment was to find five literacy artifacts around our home, apartment, dorm room, or car. We were supposed to write thick descriptions of the five items after looking at them in detail, thinking of how they might be able to tell stories in other ways. I looked through a few of the examples and after looking around my dorm room here's what I came up with:

 Item 1: Envelope on my desk

In this envelope was my credit card that came I picked up from my mailbox right before I started doing this assignment.  I had been waiting for it to come in the mail for about two weeks and it took a few applications before I was accepted for the card. I read over everything that was sent with it and I know it will be important for me to pay attention to all of the details in the letter.

Item 2: Moodle grades window

I took my first test earlier in the day that I had started working on this assignment. I remember that the grades for it were supposed to go up at 3:00 and I was checking this window constantly because the grades still weren't up that night. I find it extremely helpful how easily you can check your own grades to know how you're doing in a class, but it stressful sometimes waiting to see how you did on a test or exam.

Item 3: E-Mail

I noticed that I also had my E-mail open while doing this assignment.  Although only really use my E-mail to communicate with teachers and sometimes my parents, it's a useful tool to find important information.  I also get updates through my E-mail to find out what's going on around the school.

Item 4: Keys

On my key chain I have the key to my dorm room, my car, my mailbox, and the key to my house back home. They kind of serve as a reminder for me to keep up with my life here and at home at the same time.

Item 5: Cell Phone

The last item I wrote about in my daybook was my cell phone. I don't have a picture of it because it's what I was taking the pictures with, but I'm sure you can picture a black iPhone in a red Otterbox. I chose my phone because it's a form of communication like my E-mail, but it's a lot quicker and I use it more often. I use my phone to text constantly and I'm able to reach people no matter what I'm doing or where I am.



While doing this assignment and really paying attention to the details of these five things, I made some interesting realizations about the items. I noticed that certain features of an item become noticeable only when you look at them in certain ways. I found it interesting how my gradebook online could distract and worry me so easily even when I felt confident that I did well on my test. I also realized that I sometimes connect items to certain things or ideas subconsciously, like how I connected my keys to keeping in touch with people back home.  I think it's important to notice what meaning some things have to you while looking at them in different ways.

Writing Timeline-(Reflexive Blog 2)

Here's a link to assignment we had earlier this week.  The instructions were to put together a timeline of events in our lives that formed us as the writers we are today. I decided to put my timeline together with a website that made it pretty easy to display a bunch of events nicely.  Here's what I came up with after thinking back over my life as a writer:


http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/56985/Writing-Timeline/#!date=2010-06-23_13:04:22!

I've never considered myself too much of a writer and I honestly still don't, but making this timeline helped me realize a few things about my own writing.  If you looked through the timeline, you probably noticed a bunch of the events I included were writing tests. I don't think the tests changed me as a writer, I just noticed that I hate that kind of writing assignment. I can't write when I know I have a short time limit for some reason.  I have to give myself a lot of time to think before I write, and knowing that I had to be done in 25 minutes on the SAT writing test slowed me down some. But I did end up doing much better than I thought, somehow.

Getting started with my writing is what takes me the longest and I've always been a slow writer.  Even now I'm sitting down trying to finish this blog entry that I've had up on my computer for hours while doing everything I can think of other than finishing it.

You will also notice that I posted about a research paper that I had to write during my junior year of high school. We spent a couple months on that, and it at least kept me interested the whole time.  I liked writing about my own research instead of having to make things up.  I find it much easier to write about my own findings or at least writing in the form of a research paper (preferably on a topic I already know something about).

After looking through the events I wrote down before making my timeline, I didn't really notice an event that had too much of an impact on my life as a writer. I've never been too interested in writing but hopefully I can learn to have an easier time writing any kind of assignment with some of the things we're planning to do in this class over the next couple of months.

Reflexive Blog 1- End of Publishing

8/30/12

Reflexive blog post 1

Earlier this week we watched a video called End of Publishing for our writing into the day.  We begin class by watching a video or clip or by reading something to just us started with writing anything that comes to mind.

I chose this entry in my daybook to write about because usually, it takes me a while to think before I start writing but after watching this video I was able to respond to it pretty quickly. It's an idea that I felt like I could expand on easily.

This video began with lines of a poem scrolling down the page being read aloud.  Poem begins: "This is the end of publishing and books are dead and boring."  The speaker is a girl who goes on to explain how her friends and her don't like to read and how books are boring.  She mentions that what's important to her is what Lady Gaga is wearing; and not what Gandhi did last century.  She finishes with a the point that the publishing market is dying.

At the end of the poem, the speaker says, "unless you reverse how you see me",  and the poem begins to scroll backwards.  The poem is read word for word in reverse, and the speaker argues the opposite point clearly.

I thought it was interesting how the writer had the ability to piece the poem together so it could flow regularly and both directions and clearly argue a point.  After seeing the video the first time and knowing that the poem plays in reverse, I couldn't ignore the fact that each line would be read in the other direction. This distracted me every time I went back to watch the video after the first time.

As far as the point being argued, I think the writer captured the attitude of a person in this generation who isn't interested in writing pretty accurately.  I can see where the first speaker is coming from with thoughts about the publishing industry shrinking, but her negative attitude causes me to disagree with the points she is making in a way.

I think that the publishing industry is obviously getting less attention than it has in the past, especially from our generation.  I don't necessarily think the industry is dying, however.  People like the second speaker of this poem who enjoy learning and reading books inspire others who feel the same way that they do.  The people who were commenting on the video were even talking about how it inspired them and restored their hope in humanity. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weq_sHxghcg