I am a little bit skeptical about writing this paper on Singer's piece. It was easy to read in the beginning, but I have to admit, once it got to the WikiLeaks part, I definitely started skimming and skipping some paragraphs. All together though, I definitely think that Singer has a good point in his paper. Today at lunch, a couple friends and I were talking about facebook and the repercussions it can have on your future. It's no secret that employers do background checks on applicants including searching facebook. I personally do not have any pictures of me drinking on my facebook. However, I do have pictures posted at parties, and when I don't have a drink in my hand, there are many in the background. In all honestly, at some of these places I hadn't even drank, but how would a perspective employer know that? Pictures leave everything to the viewers interpretation, which is really scary. Someone can easily judge your whole entire character through the pictures you have on facebook, although it may not be accurate, that's what they get from them. The topic came up about what will eventually happen to our facebooks? I'd like to think I won't be on facebook my whole entire life, but, my mom has one at 52, maybe I will. I don't really want to have pictures of college parties on my facebook when I am an adult with a career and family. But how do I change that? Sure, I could go and completely delete my facebook...but those pictures are still out there. Half of them I didn't even put up myself and others people have copied onto their own pages. These pictures are out there forever...regardless if I decide at one point I don't want them to be.
Basically, this whole concept of revealing yourself to the whole entire world through the internet, and never being able to take it back, is what Singer's paper is about. Privacy has become extremely limited in modern society and this greatly affects our day to day lives. I'm wondering if I can write my paper on something like this? Even though it don't have to do with WikiLeaks..it has to do with the importance of reputation and how you display yourself through the internet.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Visible Man
Peter Singer opens his essay describing the "Panopticon" of 1787, a building philosopher Jeremy Bentham suggested that consisted of multiple rooms, or cells, that could be looked into at any given time unbeknownst to the people within. Essentially, the Panopticon could potentially invade any and all privacy in places it would be applied including the following: factories, hospitals, prisons, and schools.
Singer continues to explain how the theory of the panopticon exists in our present-day technologies of cameras, internet, and other media. Not only do these modern technological advancements exploit privacy, but also people themselves. With social networks such as facebook, twitter, and tumblr, members voluntarily reveal their thoughts, feelings, and locations to the whole entire world.
The exploitation of privacy, says Singer, does not stop there. In addition to private information that society puts into the public themselves, United States government organizations exist purely to spy on American citizens both at home and abroad, without consent of individuals. Singer states, "Every day, the National Security Agency intercepts 1.7 billion emails, phone calls, instant messages, bulletin-board postings, and other communications." Basically, in modern day, true privacy is slim to none.
Furthermore, Singer describes the use of organizations such as WikiLeaks and how they also exploit privacy as they release classified documents and basically keep an eye on the government and major corporations. Although there have been multiple efforts to close down WikiLeaks, it is impossible as information posted to the internet spreads like wildfire and are then posted to hundreds of other sites.
At this point in his essay, Peter Singer asks the crucial question: Has the newly possible openness of society made us better off? Although some believe privacy as an inalienable right, it is becoming less and less possible to keep your life completely private. Singer continues to analyze this issue while asking, "Will this technology be a form of tyranny or will it free us from tyranny? Will it upend democracy or strengthen it?"
The extent of privacy society desires changes from situation to situation and is constantly evolving. In American culture, privacy serves as a status symbol as each member of a family typically has their own bedroom and often own bathroom. In other cultures, however, this is not the case and families often live all together as well as along side other families in their community.
With social media websites such as facebook, people display their opinion on the benefits and importance of "connecting with others, sharing information, networking, self-promoting, flirting, and bragging" that seem to outweigh everyday privacy once desired.
Peter Singer continues to delve into specific situations in government and society where privacy has been exploited and invaded, some having positive and some having negative effects. Essentially, the continuous technological growth that society experiences will correlatively lower the level of privacy the average person and society has. This development could produce both positive and negative effects on the world.
Singer continues to explain how the theory of the panopticon exists in our present-day technologies of cameras, internet, and other media. Not only do these modern technological advancements exploit privacy, but also people themselves. With social networks such as facebook, twitter, and tumblr, members voluntarily reveal their thoughts, feelings, and locations to the whole entire world.
The exploitation of privacy, says Singer, does not stop there. In addition to private information that society puts into the public themselves, United States government organizations exist purely to spy on American citizens both at home and abroad, without consent of individuals. Singer states, "Every day, the National Security Agency intercepts 1.7 billion emails, phone calls, instant messages, bulletin-board postings, and other communications." Basically, in modern day, true privacy is slim to none.
Furthermore, Singer describes the use of organizations such as WikiLeaks and how they also exploit privacy as they release classified documents and basically keep an eye on the government and major corporations. Although there have been multiple efforts to close down WikiLeaks, it is impossible as information posted to the internet spreads like wildfire and are then posted to hundreds of other sites.
At this point in his essay, Peter Singer asks the crucial question: Has the newly possible openness of society made us better off? Although some believe privacy as an inalienable right, it is becoming less and less possible to keep your life completely private. Singer continues to analyze this issue while asking, "Will this technology be a form of tyranny or will it free us from tyranny? Will it upend democracy or strengthen it?"
The extent of privacy society desires changes from situation to situation and is constantly evolving. In American culture, privacy serves as a status symbol as each member of a family typically has their own bedroom and often own bathroom. In other cultures, however, this is not the case and families often live all together as well as along side other families in their community.
With social media websites such as facebook, people display their opinion on the benefits and importance of "connecting with others, sharing information, networking, self-promoting, flirting, and bragging" that seem to outweigh everyday privacy once desired.
Peter Singer continues to delve into specific situations in government and society where privacy has been exploited and invaded, some having positive and some having negative effects. Essentially, the continuous technological growth that society experiences will correlatively lower the level of privacy the average person and society has. This development could produce both positive and negative effects on the world.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The Value of Friendship
Having a true friend is without a doubt the most significant and essential part of life. Without a true friend, I honestly believe life would not be worth living. Aside from being there to have fun with, true friends are basically an extension of yourself. Perhaps the most amazing part of a true friend is that they feel what you feel and go through what you do. Branching from this, sometimes, we hurt our true friends the most. The saying "we hurt the ones we love most" is definitely accurate. The worst fights I have ever been in in my life have been with my close, true friends, because those are the relationships that are worth fighting for. Those are the people who are worth being upset over and getting hurt over. Knowing you have hurt a friend, however, can be the most heart breaking feeling in the world. What I've just recently realized, though, is the reality that you CAN hurt your best, true, friends. The point of living life is not to just be alone and handle everything on your own. One of my best friends has been struggling with this a lot lately. She is constantly upset that it seems as if all of her close friends end up hurt trying to help her "fight her own battles" as she calls it. But that's what true friends do, they help. And sometimes they do get involved and end up hurt but that is the point of having a best friend and being a best friend, helping to take some of the pain away so it is more bearable. If we were expected to live life alone and handle every single obstacle, challenge, and pain alone life would not be worth living. It is impossible to count how many times my absolute best friend and I have blown each other off, done something stupid, and hurt the other. But unlike any random guy or person, I know that no matter what, in the end, we will still be best friends, because that's how we are. Essentially, I am thankful for nothing more in my life than my close friends and family because although I have only a few close friends and a very small family, I have the best ones who will be there for me no matter what. These are the people who make my life worth living and enjoyable.
Sirach 6:14 "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter, he who finds one finds a treasure"
Sirach 6:14 "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter, he who finds one finds a treasure"
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Controversial Visual Texts
After a very long time of sitting in confusion trying to figure out a good topic to write this on...I finally decided on the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States...as I guiltily stuff my face with after-dinner munchies while watching tv...oops. Here are my two visual texts to analyze! I think they are good ones...
In the first visual text, two maps of the United States are shown. One map is from 1998 and the other shows the United States in 2008. The shaded maps display the prevalence of obesity in each state. Obviously, there has been an extreme increase in obesity since the late 90's in the United States. I personally found this extremely disturbing and very thought provoking. To begin with, why has obesity increased so much and become such an issue? I believe many answers to this question exist. First of all, the fast food industry has most definitely impacted the growth of obesity in the states. Last year, I wrote a paper for my AP Government and Politics class on the book "Fast Food Nation" ...and was extremely disturbed. The book explained the history behind the fast food industry and how they manipulate customers (specifically children) to buy and consume their products. The convenience of the concept of fast food, however, is too good to pass up sometimes. This brings me to my second point. Society is extremely fast paced. A day rarely exists when I do not have 10 things to do in a short period of time. We drive from home to school to work to restaurants to the store to everyyyywhere every single day. This doesn't leave much time to sit down and fix a healthy meal! I believe the fast paced society we live in definitely correlates with the growing issue of obesity in the United States.
The second image I chose shows a young girl suffering from childhood obesity. Specifically, the caption underneath her caught my attention. "It's hard to be a little girl if you're not"...ouch. That is really blunt. This specific visual text shows the dangers of obesity on children. If a child grows up with unhealthy eating habits, they are likely to continue those their whole lives, and furthermore, raise their own children with unhealthy eating styles!
It's scary to think that we could potentially face the future of a completely fat country! Gross! I think that these sources will be good to analyze and discuss in a paper!
Free Flow
So today we're supposed to write about anything...I feel kind of awkward. Talking to myself? Not exactly sure if I have anything of significance to say. Blogs make me feel awkward...it's like a public diary. Why would I want to share every thought of mine with the world via internet...and who cares enough to read it? If someone did care enough to read it, I'd probably actually just feel uncomfortable and kind of creeped out.... hmm. Moving on...I guess I'll talk about my weekend at home!
This past weekend I went home:) and was super super busy the whole entire time. The main reason I went home was for my cousin's bridal shower. My mom and aunt hosted it and it was a lot of fun actually. I have family in Atlanta, Georgia, and my cousin, Amy, and her 4 year old daughter, Annika, came in for it, so it was so so nice to see them. Annika is absolutely adorable and I wish I saw them more often! I have such a small family and I absolutely hate the fact that we all live so far away from each other. Growing up with my cousins as my neighbors, I have always been extremely close with my family and very family oriented. My family means everything to me! (Below is a picture of my aunt, mom, cousin (the bride-to-be!), cousin's wife, me, baby cousin, and other aunt at the bridal shower!)
After the bridal shower, I went to a banquet for a performing arts group that I belonged in in high school. It was so fun! I loved seeing all of my friends. The seniors in high school now just heard of the cast lists for the school musicals and it was really fun congratulating them and talking about all the "high school musical" drama. (Basically what I thrived off of all through high school!...Musical is life consuming!) So yeah, that was really fun catching up with everyone. (Below is a picture of my 6 best friends from our performing arts group, East End Kids...the three of us kneeling down are the graduated alumni!)
This past weekend I went home:) and was super super busy the whole entire time. The main reason I went home was for my cousin's bridal shower. My mom and aunt hosted it and it was a lot of fun actually. I have family in Atlanta, Georgia, and my cousin, Amy, and her 4 year old daughter, Annika, came in for it, so it was so so nice to see them. Annika is absolutely adorable and I wish I saw them more often! I have such a small family and I absolutely hate the fact that we all live so far away from each other. Growing up with my cousins as my neighbors, I have always been extremely close with my family and very family oriented. My family means everything to me! (Below is a picture of my aunt, mom, cousin (the bride-to-be!), cousin's wife, me, baby cousin, and other aunt at the bridal shower!)
After the bridal shower, I went to a banquet for a performing arts group that I belonged in in high school. It was so fun! I loved seeing all of my friends. The seniors in high school now just heard of the cast lists for the school musicals and it was really fun congratulating them and talking about all the "high school musical" drama. (Basically what I thrived off of all through high school!...Musical is life consuming!) So yeah, that was really fun catching up with everyone. (Below is a picture of my 6 best friends from our performing arts group, East End Kids...the three of us kneeling down are the graduated alumni!)
When the day was finally over, I finally had time to do my favorite thing ever, sit on the couch! I've missed my boyfriend the most out of everyone...he's in school at home. Having time to spend with him was probably over all the best part of the weekend. I have two ultimate best friends and he's one of them...living 200 miles away sucks!
After such a busy weekend, I have to admit that I am glad to be back at OU and with my roommates. Guess I should start on some homework now....
Monday, January 9, 2012
BWP p. 23
Last quarter, in my EDTE 150 Intro. to Education class, we wrote a dreaded final paper...mine ended up being about 25 pages. I picked this paper to describe for multiple reasons. First of all, it's recent and fresh in my mind (I don't remember many specific papers from high school!). Additionally, as it was our final paper, in it I summed up essentially everything I had learned throughout the quarter. This included materials and concepts directly from the textbook, as well as inferences and conclusions I came to myself throughout the course. I thoroughly described and made conclusions as to what I personally believed characterized a teacher as "good" as well as delved deeper into the upcoming challenges and obstacles I will face while pursuing my career. This particular paper really engaged me as I, for once, was writing about a topic that affected and related to me, something I will actually do!
As this final paper was broken up into sections, parts were completely closed form, others more on the open form end of the spectrum, and some parts in between. For example, a section of the paper included direct research and summaries from the textbook. I wrote this section in a standard, 5 paragraph, closed form essay. On the other hand, the section in which I identified positive characteristics and qualities of a teacher, falls more in the middle of the spectrum. While I had specific points I touched across, I also delved into deeper questions of what exactly was the overall personality of a good teacher which furthermore develops their qualities and characteristics. Additionally, this section did not limit the answers to the question to simply what I put in my paper. Finally, at the end of the paper, I wrote a self assessment of my own path towards becoming a teacher, what I prepared myself for the obstacles ahead of me, and deciding which particular branch of education I want to go into. This final section definitely would be characterized as an open form writing style as a definite conclusion was not met, but merely discussed and questioned.
Essentially, the question mothering the whole final paper was "Am I suitable and called to become a teacher?" While writing about multiple aspects of the teaching career, including everything from qualities of a teacher to challenges a teacher faces to different networking opportunities teachers have, each and every section had the underlying personal assessment. All together, this paper definitely had a meaningful question behind it.
While writing this paper, I definitely kept purpose in mind. The purpose of the paper was to summarize the past quarter and look into the future. Additionally, I kept genre in mind as I was writing a formal assessment to be turned into a teacher. Finally, I probably did not consider the audience as much as the other two while writing. Only the professor read my paper, and for him, it was a tool of assessment of my own benefit from his class. I guess, actually, that I subconsciously took the audience into consideration as I wrote to please the teacher (a skill a student develops early in school!).
Although throughout my final EDTE 150 paper I used both open and closed forms, answered a meaningful question, and kept purpose, audience, and genre in mind, I did so subconsciously. While reading this chapter I not only learned to label the techniques I used in my paper but also the importance and significance of each. Additionally, I realized that these aspects of writing open up multiple new doors for my future writing assignments and pieces.
As this final paper was broken up into sections, parts were completely closed form, others more on the open form end of the spectrum, and some parts in between. For example, a section of the paper included direct research and summaries from the textbook. I wrote this section in a standard, 5 paragraph, closed form essay. On the other hand, the section in which I identified positive characteristics and qualities of a teacher, falls more in the middle of the spectrum. While I had specific points I touched across, I also delved into deeper questions of what exactly was the overall personality of a good teacher which furthermore develops their qualities and characteristics. Additionally, this section did not limit the answers to the question to simply what I put in my paper. Finally, at the end of the paper, I wrote a self assessment of my own path towards becoming a teacher, what I prepared myself for the obstacles ahead of me, and deciding which particular branch of education I want to go into. This final section definitely would be characterized as an open form writing style as a definite conclusion was not met, but merely discussed and questioned.
Essentially, the question mothering the whole final paper was "Am I suitable and called to become a teacher?" While writing about multiple aspects of the teaching career, including everything from qualities of a teacher to challenges a teacher faces to different networking opportunities teachers have, each and every section had the underlying personal assessment. All together, this paper definitely had a meaningful question behind it.
While writing this paper, I definitely kept purpose in mind. The purpose of the paper was to summarize the past quarter and look into the future. Additionally, I kept genre in mind as I was writing a formal assessment to be turned into a teacher. Finally, I probably did not consider the audience as much as the other two while writing. Only the professor read my paper, and for him, it was a tool of assessment of my own benefit from his class. I guess, actually, that I subconsciously took the audience into consideration as I wrote to please the teacher (a skill a student develops early in school!).
Although throughout my final EDTE 150 paper I used both open and closed forms, answered a meaningful question, and kept purpose, audience, and genre in mind, I did so subconsciously. While reading this chapter I not only learned to label the techniques I used in my paper but also the importance and significance of each. Additionally, I realized that these aspects of writing open up multiple new doors for my future writing assignments and pieces.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Closed/Open forms of writing
While reading through the first chapter of the textbook, naturally at about 1 in the morning the night before class, I was pleasantly surprised at how, let's say, not extremely boring it is. I might have to admit that I didn't hate it and didn't count the pages I had left every 5 seconds. Throughout high school I was always amazed at how English books, supposedly supposed to "teach" us how to write well, were SO BORING. I guess where I'm going with all of this is simply that I like our textbook and the way it reads.
ANYWAY.
To begin with, I would like to say that I did not pick this topic because it was the first one on the list, first in the book, and easy to do. As I read through the sections on closed and open writing techniques, I was genuinely interested. During our first class we read that Ashtray piece (sorry that's the only way I can think of to identify it as) and I really enjoyed it. Much different than the "closed" form of writing I have implicated in my work for the past 4+ years, the openness, for a lack of a better word, of the Ashtray piece was really entertaining and furthermore thought provoking. After reading chapter one of the Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, I identified that piece as an open form of writing, essentially meaning that the publication did not follow the standard, predictable, pattern of introduction, thesis, body paragraphs, conclusion. On the contrary, the piece ebbed and flowed to its own rhythm, effectively, if I do say so myself, entrancing the reader into a deeper than surface level connection with the story.
All together, I've come to the conclusion that I would like to read some more "open form" pieces as well as try to write some as my own! (Even though, judging by my sentence opener, "All together," it's pretty apparent I'm stuck in the closed form high school rut!... Help me get out!)
ANYWAY.
To begin with, I would like to say that I did not pick this topic because it was the first one on the list, first in the book, and easy to do. As I read through the sections on closed and open writing techniques, I was genuinely interested. During our first class we read that Ashtray piece (sorry that's the only way I can think of to identify it as) and I really enjoyed it. Much different than the "closed" form of writing I have implicated in my work for the past 4+ years, the openness, for a lack of a better word, of the Ashtray piece was really entertaining and furthermore thought provoking. After reading chapter one of the Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, I identified that piece as an open form of writing, essentially meaning that the publication did not follow the standard, predictable, pattern of introduction, thesis, body paragraphs, conclusion. On the contrary, the piece ebbed and flowed to its own rhythm, effectively, if I do say so myself, entrancing the reader into a deeper than surface level connection with the story.
All together, I've come to the conclusion that I would like to read some more "open form" pieces as well as try to write some as my own! (Even though, judging by my sentence opener, "All together," it's pretty apparent I'm stuck in the closed form high school rut!... Help me get out!)
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