Technical Writing

During our class on April 17, 2012, we had to, in groups of two, put together little bug or animal projects that would typically amuse a 1st grader.  Not only did we have to put these together, but we also had to write out specific instructions on what we did.  This is what made the activity a little more challenging.  The easy part of the activity was putting the things together.  Its easy to picture in your head what needs to be put where and how.  When you need to put an eyeball on an alligator, its natural to put it towards the center of the head, and either on the right half or left half, depending on what eyeball.  Most people wouldnt even think of going into detail when describing how to put an eyeball on.  But when the directions made by one group were passed to another, their recreations rarely took the same form as the original.  This made it clear that specific directions are usually necessary, whether this be through description or illustration.
  Making the directions as specific as neccessary was the hardest part.  It was difficult to not assume that simple things are understood by all.  Just because I see that eyeball on the alligator towards the middle of the head doesn't mean that is the vision everybody else has.  Specific detail was needed in this experiment, and it was probably the area that I struggled the most.

Digital storytelling cookbook

Digital storytelling is an increasingly popular way of portraying a story.  It is becoming a new way for people to express emotions and insight through a story.  It is a form of art that many people are beginning to enjoy.  Digital storytelling can "revolutionize" the narrative experience.  It is a method that makes it more possible to funnel emotion and thought into stories rather than writing or typing it on paper.  Digital storytelling opens a new door for the narrator because it gives them the ability to depict the story in a very specific tone and attitude.  This methods also makes the story more valuable and easy to listen to.  Narrators of digital stories are able to really express themselves in these pieces of art.

Journal article "metaphors"

This artical was about a simple metaphor writing assignment a college proffessor gave to all his students, gifted or not, and what can come from this assignment and ones similar to this one. It is organized by separating different types of metaphor written by different students that symbolize different things in their writing styles and history. I believe the central claim to his article is that metaphors are a good way to analyze people and their writing styles and history. It also goes into describing how different fears, strengths, and weaknesses develop from past experiences and how they are found within these metaphors.
Each section of this article shows different types of writing styles and maybe why they developed. Most of the reasons consist of how grading of past essays went or even how the assignment was set up. The way this was set up was a good way of making the different styles clear and separated.

discussion question #3

  With the new availability to publish work on the internet, it is common that a lot of information out there on the web is inaccurate.  Because of its history of having inaccurate postings, Wikipedia is becoming a concern for many people and institutions across the nation.  This is the reason for the Middlebury College's policy.  Personally, I don't believe there policy is the way to go.  Although that citing Wikipedia is not a proper college strategy, college students should be able to decide what is a good source and what is not.  These skills should be used for not only Wikipedia but every source that is available on the internet.  So, though i do not agree with using Wikipedia as a cite in college, i do believe it should be up to the student whether or not it should be used.  They have the right to use what they want, and let their grade be the punishment for inaccuracy in their citations.
  Like other people said in this article, Wikipedia could be used in certain situations.  Whether it is used to find another reference or used itself as information, there are times where Wikipedia is appropriate to use.  I believe it should be used under the discretion of the student, and if they make a wrong choice, let it show in their grade.  I believe that policies such as Middlebury's is unenforcable and unnecessary.

  With the film and the book about Chris McCandless, most people are able to really understand what was happening to this kid.  Although one has a different style and it maybe everything is more dramaticized in the movie, the readers/viewers get the big picture on Chris.  He is a man looking for himself and true life by wandering the world.
  The main difference between the movie and the book is how the back home life for Chris was portrayed.  Like the blogger that blogged the book to movie comparison blog we read, i also wander about his at home life due to the differences in the book and movie.  The book goes into the situation a little, but doesn't make it seem like it is a place impossible to return too.  But in the movie, there are fights and violence between the parents that no kid should have to endure.  So whether this is the real situation, i do not know, but that's how it was made in the movie.
  The movie shows Chris in a more personal level.  It showed Chris as a funny down-to-earth kind of guy.  But it also showed the extrodinary sides of him.  These sides include things as extremely hard-working, persistant, and very intelligent.  Many claim to have these attributes, but very few reach the level of Chris'.

  Ever since the beginning of the book, I felt that Chris was a tad on the crazy side, but I also felt some respect for what he attempted to do.  At the beginning, when i read some of the things that he did like burning over one hundred dollars or donating well around twenty-four thousand dollars to a charity, i felt that he had lost his mind and was nuts.  But, then i began to think.  Maybe he wasn't crazy but one of very few normal people.  It is quite possible that material things such as money and getting a new car has turned the majority of us into lunatics.  Maybe he was the one who saw the light and could look back and criticize us as being crazy becuase he found hapiness.  But no one will ever know unless they try to do what Chris did.
  I feel that the McCandless family probably felt hurt and many memories came back to them as they revisited the bus.  Billie states that many people said that they admired what Chris did.  She also said that she would agree with them if he did not die.  She wishes to have him back but knows it is irreversable.

In the chapters 8-10, Krakauer focuses on other outsiders that have lived the same life that Chris McCandless lived.  The purpose was to show that Chris was similar to these people in many ways, but different none-the-less.  People critisized Chris as being just one of those dumb people that think they can handle the wild.  Some go on to say it was disrespectful of Chris and that they have no sympathy for him.
  A person's name should "fit" the person living it.  Like the example of Mrs. Mickel's friend Cat and even Chris, they didn't feel their real name fit their personality.  A name should say a lot about a person.

  These two men were both on the same page when they published these statements.  Tolstoy's excerpt is a piece about him or a character he wrote about wanting to live a dangerous and unexpected life and stray from the ordinary.  Stegner goes into almost describing why one might one that by pointing out the natural desires man crave.
  I agree what these men have to say.  Tolstoy wants to get away from the ordinary life and be free and wild.  This seems like the right way to live.  I also see where Stegner gets the information he writes about towards human beings.  I fell that same craving for excitement and freedom.
  I think McCandless definitely got his ideas of travelling from these authors.  He favored these types of writers the most and made their words his life.

  As McCandless did, I also see the freedom and life in nature.  I enjoy just breathing in the fresh air and, by myself, soak in the sounds, smells, and sights nature has to offer.  It can offer new meaning to ones life like Chris McCandless did.  He searched far and wide in an extreme manor to find purpose in his life.  Nature was what he strived for and found.
  Although I do enjoy what our unmanned parts of the world have to offer, I could not permanently give up what our daily lives consist of.  I rely on the technologies and other commodities in our world to survive.  I love to take trips into nature and escape the chaos, but my life consists and will consist of the things i use today.
  So, unlike Chris, I could not just throw everything away and travel.  I may take vacations to desired get-aways, but i will probably never give up what I got.  I enjoy the life i am living now and will continue to live it.

  Chris McCandless was a bold man.  He rebelled against the typical lifestyle that we all call "normal" and "right".  Whether the actual cause was from lunacy or something else, nobody will ever truely know.  But there is good evidence that this was not just an outburst of craziness.  This could be seen as an act of foolishness, but to me, it was not.  This was an adventure to find purpose in life and escape the world.
  By going into the wilderness, I don't believe that Chris would have changed completely.  I believe it was just a very long escape.  I do in some ways think he would have returned home and maybe picked up life where he left off.  No one will really know how this would have affected his life due to his unfortunate death.
  I think what Chris did was his way of "sticking it to the world."  He wanted to just focus on living for himself by himself.  Chris fulfilled his goals in the end, but was unable to return to the normal society.  Maybe this was for his own good and for good reason.

  Tolstoy's story is a prime example of how the world is becoming, increasingly greedy.  We strive for more things and when we receive our wants, we want to take it to the next level and get more.  Although Tolstoy wrote this long ago, he could see how the world is becoming.  This has been building up for a long time and, in my opinion, we are getting close to the limit of greed.  This will eventually ruin everything.
  If people continue on their track of greed, nothing will ever be good enough.  I have no problem with advances in the world, but greed can bring out the worst in people.  It often gets to the point where one ruins the lives of other just for their personal benefits.  This has been done by stealing, lying, and even killing.  Greed often throws morals out the window and ends with pain or negative affects to people.
  In my opinion, this is a big problem in our country on a governmental level.  With our current president (I'm not a good fan), there has been nothing done in office but an attempt to gain more power in office.  This could be the doom to the way we live now.  Say goodbye to democracy and hello to dictatorship.

2nd in-class blog
  Nature is a wonderful and unpredictable thing.  It is a provider, a murderer, a comforter, and much much more.  It has shaped everything that has happened in the world and, if it does not agree, will react.  Nature and I, along with many others, have a unique relationship.  I love it dearly, grasp every moment i can spend with her, and respect what it has to offer.  But I also fear what nature can do.  With one blow, nature can take out huge populations, and if it is angered enough, might eliminate us all.  But it is evident when or when not you can bask in her beauty.  Nature's like a woman.  Sometimes you can love her and make her happy, but at other times, no matter what you do, you will feel the wrath (lol).
  I feel it is impossible to survive without dosages of nature.  It would be hard to live (for me at least) without just kicking back and hanging with the birds, the bees, and the trees.  To me, it can be an escape that cannot be replaced by any man made amusement.  Its an addiction and there will be no point in my life where i will not crave the warm embrace of mother nature.
  I believe our spiritual sides and nature go hand and hand.  Nature fuels the soul.  You can feel electricity in the air if you know how embrace it.  It doesn't take much to find yourself when alone in the woods lying on your back in a meadow.  Its bliss!  But even when we die, we are one with nature, just six feet under.
  I LOVE NATURE!