Blog 6: Writing: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future

Writing is a fascinating topic, at least to me. I found reading these data sets to be incredibly interesting, especially in regards to how these three separate authors found, or didn't find, their voice in the world of writing. For my analysis, there are a few questions that stuck out as I began reading and re-reading the pieces. One of the biggest questions involves the pre-conceived notions that writers have about what writers are. Sample narratives one and two are both filled with mentions of what they believe writers (and readers) are perceived as by the public, as well as what they themselves believe writers are. My main question of focus is: what can our preconceived notions of what writers are do to us in regards to our development as writers? There is a world of data in these essays that help to answer this question, I have highlighted sections that center around this question.

As for coding:

Fact 

Notion the author has about writers/readers

Notion the writer believes the general public has about writers/readers

Characters with a positive personal influence on author

Characters with a negative personal influence on author

Characters who had a positive influence on the author, then changed to negative 

Change in attitude by the author


My first example comes from Sample Literacy Narrative 1:

"Around third grade, I had transferred to a new school and I didn’t know many people. I had my cousins there, but at the time, I was not really close with them. So I would read. I was that little nerdy kid sitting on the bus next to the window reading a book. I didn't really notice the things around me. It was just my book and me. Normally people who see someone reading a book would find that person unapproachable or unsociable, so they don’t really spark up a conversation with them. However, an unexpected thing happened, instead of being ostracized by my books, I made friends because of those books. I found that my cousins and a lot of other girls in my grade loved reading books too!"

In this paragraph we see a lot happening. It starts off with some facts about the author's childhood. She transferred schools and loved to read, so she explains that she was the nerdy kid reading a book on the bus. I code this as an opinion rather than a fact because the subtext of the line speaks volumes of what the author believed others around her would see when they saw her reading. What follows is the author's belief that people who read are lame and ostracized due to their love of reading. This sets up a change in attitude for the author. The author realizes that there are other people who love reading, and that they accept the author because of this. These girls are a positive influence on the author's development because they encourage reading, and find a connection with the author because of it. 

Later in the Narrative is this paragraph:

"It was around high school that my love for writing came back. I started to get bored of reading the same types of books and stories. I wanted to find something different to read, something raw. Then I found out how amazing the internet could be. I started to read internet writing. I was amazed by it. Some writing was so bad I would cringe. Others were creative and had a lot of potential, but just was not quite there yet. Then there were amazing writers that I found, and I couldn't help but think, “Why is this not published??” It was astounding. I would spend hours on our home computer just reading. It made my parents worry that I was spending too much time on the computer. I told them it was reading and, at first, they wouldn't believe me. But then, they finally saw what I was doing and lessened on yelling at me, even though they still did not like the amount of time I was reading on the computer"

Here we have the author, now older, talking about a "safer" form of writing and reading. The internet has, in fact, become a safe-haven of sorts for writers of all kinds and this author has discovered this world. The author's opinions on writers develops here as well, developing the notion that the internet is full of writers who are all over the map in terms of talent. This creates, sub-textually at least, the feeling that the author is seeing writers as a varied whole rather than a subcategory of loners. There is a reason why I coded the remarks about the author's parents the way I did. Earlier in the story, when the author was a child, the parents were very encouraging of reading. They were completely happy and content with the author reading all the time and they felt it would help the author in school. At this point they have taken a slightly more destructive standpoint. While their minds are in the right place, worrying that their child is spending too much time on the internet, they don't seem to fully accept reading on the internet as being as good as reading a book. This can have a negative change in the author because the author is coming to understand the positive aspects of reading and writing on the internet. Questioning or berating what the author is doing on the computer can make the author feel like they are doing something wrong, and cause them to withhold from continuing along this line of reading and writing. 

I move on to the second Narrative for my next example:

"My older sister Melanie started the habit of reading aloud whenever we took a car ride somewhere. She is another person of influence in my early life of literacy. Most of the books I read were (and still are) at her recommendation. If we didn’t read the book together, we would take turns with it, or at least discuss our readings with each other afterwards. 

I use “we” because I consider reading to be a shared activity. The cultural story would suggest that reading is the activity of lonely, solitary children. However, in my experience, stories are found in the context of relationships. My sisters, my parents, and my friends all had direct and indirect influence on my reading. People formed the backdrop in which I experienced stories, affecting my choices, preferences, and fervor in reading. Reading does not need to be, in fact cannot be, a solitary activity. "

Here we have the author talking about their early influences in reading and writing. The author explains that their sister was one of the biggest influences while growing up, especially in regards to reading and writing. The author then goes on to say that they believe reading is a shared activity, and broadens that to attempt and negate the "cultural stereotype" of readers and writers being lonely individuals. The change in attitude at the end is not specifically a change in this paragraph, but a realization set in the timeframe of the story, where the author realizes they don't have to be a lonely misfit of a character in order to appreciate and indulge in reading and writing. 

My next example is a huge turning point for the author of the second Narrative:

"My older sister was the person who filled the role of “writer” in our family. She could write stories independently, and with the natural talent that “true writers should have”. My younger sister and I were allocated to different, albeit valuable roles. While all of Melanie’s early works are chronicled in the attic the only evidence of my early literacy is some preserved homework.  I was always a good academic writer, but I placed this attribute under the “good at school” heading and didn’t keep the “writer” part for my own identity. That would have been infringing on my sister, claiming for myself what was rightfully hers."

I have coded this entire thing one solid color because of what is being expressed here. As stated in the first example from this story, the author's sister was a huge influence on the author's love of reading and writing. Later in life this became a negative influence, as the author was relegated to the background of the writing world, as the author's sister became more and more successful and talented in the eyes of their family. So one who was able to open up a mind so much later became the shadow in which the author would live in for a time. 

Based on these examples I would have to say that there are many interesting factors that can come into play when inhibiting a writer. The largest aspect of this inhibition seems to be a psychological one that not only stems from what the writer believes the public will see them as (whether it is true or not) but, also, is cultivated (albeit negatively) by the attitudes and opinions expressed by those who have influenced the author. Whether it be teachers with negative comments (as shown in the first narrative), a sister who is praised above the writer (as is the case in the second narrative) or any number of other comments that can get into the mind and fester, these small remarks can become larger problems.

If we were able to fully throw away our preconceived notions on what it is to be intelligent, on what it means to be able to read and writer, or even to love the act of reading and writing, then we may be able to live a fuller and more productive life in the manner that we would most prefer. My hypothesis here is that young readers and writers must try to shed their thoughts on what someone who reads should be and focus on what they, themselves, actually are. We are human beings, not stereotypes. It is entirely possible to be the captain of the football team and also a huge fan of science fiction novels. You can be the second-best writer in your family and still be an amazing writer. The trick here, however, is figuring out how that could be accomplished. Our neuroses are not easily overcome, but they may be dulled if we were told the right things at the right times by the right people. 

Blog 5: Shaggy Dogs

Last week in class we reviewed and analyzed Shaggy Dog Stories. This proved to be an interesting and amusing class, as we were able to have a few laughs, a few groans and a whole lot of eye rolls at the humor behind these stories. After reviewing the stories posted here I have determined what I believe the ranking of our classmates will be for them. In order from funniest to least funny I believe the ranking will be:

1 - String
3 - Ghandi
4 - Bears
2 - Chrome Plate

Overall, these stories are quite similar in length, making it hard to use that as a determining factor in ranking. Also, they are all centered around a final play on words (as opposed to the panda story that used a grammatical error as its punch line). These two things in mind, I will discuss my reasoning behind the ranking of the stories.

I will begin by explaining why I believe the second story will be voted the least funny of the bunch. One of the characteristics of the stories that we discussed last week was connection to the audience. This can come across in setting (the way the panda from the one story was in New York), characters, etc. The relatable feature that I chose to focus on in this story was the final line, the play on words. While it was amusing, and while the play on words itself is a component of the story we discussed as creating good humor, it bore a striking resemblance to the final line of a story already ranked low in the first discussion. Similar to the story about chess players that we went over, the final line entered around a play on words with a holiday theme. The reason the class mentioned that this wasn't too funny was because the time of year we were reading it was not appropriate for a good laugh. Someone mentioned (I forget who off the top of my head) that, had it been nearer to Christmas, the joke would have come across as more amusing. Due to this fact, and largely this fact alone, I have ranked the hollandaise/chrome plate story the least funny of the bunch.

Now, as for the funniest, I have gone with the first story: the story of the string. I'm not going to lie, I've heard this one before. It actually ranks as a personal favorite of mine, and has been a joke I've often told to the amusement and frustration of friends and co-workers. Personal bias aside, I still think this one would be ranked highly by classmates. My main reasons for thinking this are in the ridiculous components of the story, as well as the slight conflict. First, the story is quite silly and imaginative. To picture a piece of string entering a bar, ordering a drink, being rejected, and then coming up with a plan is pretty wild.  It is one thing to picture a snake with a lever, a panda with a gun, or a bear swallowing a man but it is another thing entirely to anthropomorphize a piece of string. I believe the humor of this story comes from the fantastic and ridiculous fact that the central character is something we use to tie up bundles of newspapers. Next, the conflict adds to how ridiculous the story is. The bartenders explain, quite simply, that they do not serve strings. Thing about this for a moment. Not only do they not act surprised when a string orders a beer, but they already have a rule in place that they don't serve strings (oppression much?). This conflict, as silly as it may be, adds to the humor and the build up towards the final play on words. While the story may not be the lengthiest, per se, it has the most components for an amusing shaggy dog story.

The ranking of second (Ghandi) and third (bears) stories came down to similar features. The play on words with the Ghandi story was so clever and silly that I have to believe it will rank pretty highly (though, due to its short length, I don't see it as being first) and the bear story was slightly more unbearable (pun!) than the rest, though not as removed from the audience as the chrome plate story.

In conclusion, my personal belief with all of these shaggy dog stories is that the humor truly lies i the ridiculous situation laid out before us. If we have to engage in our imagination more, no matter how cheesy the play on words at the end may be, we are more likely to feel satisfied by the joke. Only time will tell what my classmates believe, but I think this is a sound assessment of the shaggy dog stories. On a final note, here is a personal favorite shaggy dog story of mine from over the years.

"A man was dating a woman named Lorraine for years. After some time he realized that Lorraine wasn't who he thought she was and he grew frustrated with her. One day, while sitting at a bar and drinking his sorrows away, he met a beautiful young barmaid named Clearly.

When he decided to ask Clearly out on a date, she refused. She had seen him around town with Lorraine and didn't want to get involved in another couple's drama. She told him she would only date him if Lorraine was out of the picture.

The man was distraught. He didn't know how to end things with Lorraine. They had been dating for so long that he felt guilty about breaking up with her. One day, he asked Lorraine to go to the park with him, in hopes of figuring out a solution.

They decided to walk along the river, and as they did it began to storm. The wind grew harsh and blew Lorraine back, causing her to stumble and fall into the river, getting swept far away.

The man stood at the riverbed, watching Lorraine disappear into the distance. After a moment he smiled, fate had assisted him in his decision. He skipped away from the river singing, 'I can see Clearly now, Lorraine is gone.'"

;)

Blog 4: Analyzing the Data from class on Oral History Reports

For this post I have decided to analyze the data of Jaylecia Lee Davila in her interview with Christine Oania. My main focus in coding this interview is centered around the attitudes towards the groups associated with the attacks, and the difference in emotions then and now.

Coding for the data is as follows:

Personal Fact - any data that follows the interviewees own life outside of the events of September 11th, 2001 (ex/ age, residence, etc)

Event Fact - any data that centers around happenings of the day, minus any speculation or emotional reaction to said events (ex/ where the interviewee was on 9/11, etc)

Initial Emotional Response - any emotional response to the events of September 11th, 2001 that occurred in the midst of the crisis (ex/ crying, getting angry, feeling confused, etc)

Later Emotional Response - any emotional  response to the events of September 11th, 2001 that have been formed or nurtured due to the passing of time

Later Critical Response - any critical, non-emotional, thoughts that have arisen since the events of September 11th, 2001 in regards to how the event was handled, how those held responsible were treated, etc.

[Note: Questions asked by Jaylecia have been placed in bold text to help separate the questions from the replies.]

Where were you born / Where'd you grow up? 

Born in Newark and grew up in Maplewood NJ. 

How old were you when 9/11 happened? /Where where you? 

Nine years old when 9/11 happened and attending Tusken Elementary. 

Describe the events of the day to the best of you ability. 

School had been dimissed without an anouncement of what happened. Her dad picked her up and tried to explain to her what happened but she didn't understand. When she got home she turned on the t.v. and every channel was the news accept for the food network. She remembered crying as she heard the news stories of the victims that died so she watched the food network to avoid it. He parents were on a highway or bridge that has a clear view of the towers when the attack happened. and hit a wall of traffic because cars had stoped and gotten out of their cars to watch. they turned around and went back to pick her up at school. 

How did you feel about the event?  

Though she didn't have a clear understanding of what happened she knew that people had died and that made her sad. 

Did you know anyone that was personally involved?

There were people in her grade who's parents went to NY to volunteer to clean the rubble.

How did yo feel about the events that happened?

After the news talked alot aobut Al Qeada, Osama Bin Ladin and the Talaban. Her parents became paranoid after the attack. They put up a security gate and installed an alarm system in their home. 

How do your feelings now differ from your feelings then? 

She still feels sad about the victims and about the people that were up Muslim faith, middle eastern decent and Sikh who faced discrimination after the attacks.


Through the data presented in this interview it can be assessed that Christine, like a vast majority of Americans, felt quite emotional about the events of September 11th, 2001. Since she was of a very young age at the time, many of her emotional responses were born of the reactions that adults had (her parents) as well as the images presented on television of the tragedy. 

It can be inferred through the response about her parents becoming paranoid due to the media focusing on Al Qaeda that her family shared in the growing stigma surrounding Muslims in the years following 9/11. This is why I coded the final response in two separate categories. 

First, the response that Christine still feels sad about the victims of 9/11 to this day is an emotional response left over from the frightening and sad events of September 11th. Second, her sorrow over the way Muslims and Middle Easterners were profiled and mistreated in the wake of the attacks is built from a critical regret of the actions that Americans took against such groups. 

In conclusion I would say that the emotional response to September 11th, specifically in regards to this interview, shows that the attacks affected all Americans regardless of age and caused, in many cases, emotional responses that were later changed due to the passing of time and critical thought over the topic. In this case, the interviewee was emotional, and witnessed her family's response to the emotions by growing more paranoid over what the media was putting out there. However, the interviewee, like many Americans, saw the error in this method of thinking and felt regret and sorrow over how certain groups (i.e. individuals of Islamic faith) were treated. 

Blog 3: Oral History Data

The following is the date collected through note-taking during the in-class interview about September 11th, 2001. I was interviewed by fellow classmate Tempi Bradley. Also present was Stephane Roche, who provided an extra set of ears, eyes and thoughts for the interview process.


5:40 - Interview Begins

Tempie began with basic, introductory questions to get the ball rolling. She inquired about my age, where I live, and various other warmup questions. This part of the interview process was comforting, for even though I have no reservations about speaking I still felt that the beginning steps aided in making me feel ready to talk about the events of eleven years ago. And, as is common in conversational interviews such as this, we also realized many things we share in common (especially in regards to where we live).

5:44 - Where were you?

After the introduction, Tempie moved on to the biggest question at hand: "Where were you on September 11th, 2001?" I responded with my answer: I had been a sophomore in high school and going into my second class, which was Italian. I continued with explaining that the administration made a small announcement about a "little plane hitting the World Trade Center," but that it didn't seem cause for concern as it was downplayed.

Tempie followed this up by asking when the event was made explicitly known. I responded by telling her that I hadn't officially found out right away, but in stark comparison to my Italian class my Chemistry class had my teacher in an emotional frenzy. She began spouting out information that was inaccurate and infused with paranoia (as was the case in those first hours of the day when we, as a nation, didn't know what was happening). After this class was Physical Education and by then the school had announced the severity of what was occurring.

5:48 - What was the mood/feeling after the information was put out there?

Next, Tempie asked how the revelation of the attacks changed the mood at school. I explained that it was just like anywhere else, people were emotional, lost, confused, concocting bizarre theories, worried about family members in New York. There was a general air of frantic madness, a feeling that life as we knew it was changing before our eyes.

5:50 - A frightening discussion.

At this point Tempie interjected with an account of her own. At the time of the attacks, she was in the Army and also studying at Middlesex County College. There she witnessed as certain students of Middle Eastern backgrounds cheered and rejoiced over the attacks. This fact caused myself and Stephane to react with surprise and disgust. A small conversation about the tragic loss of life and the cultural differences in the area arose.

5:52 - Interruption

At this point our discussion was momentarily interrupted by Dr. Chandler making an announcement. This got us back on track with the interview process.

5:56 - New thoughts

Tempie was quick on her feet with new questions. Each thought I brought up created a series of new questions for her to ask. She asked about specific incidents surrounding the day: did I know anyone in New York at the time of the attacks, what was my own emotional reaction to what was happening, how did I feel about those speculated to have caused the attacks, etc. This part of the interview was much more free-wheeling and allowed for an interesting discourse about the nature of tragedy. Many questions arose from my emotional responses to the attacks, which furthered Tempie's interview processed and made for a very interesting series of inquiries.

Conclusion

As the interview wrapped up, we were left with our thoughts about that fateful day. Bringing old scars to light, we relived a time unlike any other in our lives. This was followed by Dr. Chandler beginning a discussion of the interviews and the data we collected from them.

Blog 2: Analyze This

Analysis, in my own terms, is the process of studying the parts, or whole, of "something". The "something" here is subject to change depending on what the analysis is being applied to. In the field of writing research, my best guess is that analysis would be the breaking down of a topic of research in order to better understand its components and how they fit into the greater whole of the topic. Essentially it would center around collecting data that relates to the topic and studying it to see how it can be applied.
     In order to use analytical tools in the topic presented in my first blog post (the effects of modern social media trends on language) I would first collect data on the topic. I am most interested in the varying viewpoints that individuals hold in regards to the current state of language, so I would have to speak with a number of individuals of varying backgrounds in order to get a well-rounded set of data. Then, I would categorize the responses of the interviewees into those who viewed language change as a "positive" or "negative" occurrence. Since I have yet to take a firm stance on this topic, I do not know how I would utilize this data. If, let's say, I decide to view the changes as a "bad" thing then I could use my compiled data from interviews to help prove that there is a general consensus about the trends. Then again, since "good" and "bad" are subjective, it could be a difficult point to prove either way.

Blog 1: Research

      Research, based on the brief discussion held in class on the topic, specifically in regards to the world of writing, seems to be a general tool that writers use in order to obtain data about whatever it is that they will be writing about. From writing fiction and researching the history or geography of a certain area, to writing about childhood education and researching the home lives of students, the possibilities of research in writing are limitless.
       For myself, I find it hard to articulate just what it is that interests me in terms of research. I like many things, and have the Achilles' heel of finding practically everything interesting. To try and narrow it down, I would say that I am interested in language as a whole, and possibly the current state of the English language. The development of the internet, highlighting the rise of social media, has put language in a state of flux. Linguists have always known that language is an ever-changing monster, one that adheres to the necessities of a culture, but never has language been able to change at such a rapid pace. I would like to research a bit more, see what people think about the popularity of acronyms (lol, omg, wtf) and abbreviations (u, r, gr8) and see what kind of divides are created by these new trends.
      Major casualties in this new world of language are grammar and word choice. Individuals are misusing the forms of "there," "they're" and "their" as well as "your" and "you're" and there has been an insurgence of people condemning those who are doing this. But, if language is always changing, is it actually a "bad" thing that the rules of old are changing? Are we on the precipice of a new age of language where rules conform to the individual? Will this make communicating with one another more difficult? There are some things that interest me. Then again, I might want to write about weather patterns in South Africa tomorrow, so who knows?