Yancey

      Three challenges of writing in the 21st century are developing new ways of writing, developing a curriculum for this new way, and developing a new way to teach this new curriculum. These new ways of writing must be pursued through the devaluing of writing within different cultures. Yancey's main argument drawn from this is that literacy is the ability to write and compose. Cultures tend to value reading more valuable than writing because reading is seemingly the better of the two. Writing comes with negative associations like the physical requirements it takes. Reading is a much easier way for people to think critically, but it may not be the most effective way compared to writing. But writing is associated with having to obtain a pen and paper and enduring through physical pains of writing for hours and dealing with mistakes. Self-sponsored writing is directly from the composer rather than an institution. This leads to what some call the Age of Composition. People are finding ways to improve their composition skills. The message of this article is to emphasize that the meaning of literacy is the ability to compose materials well and pushes readers to improve their skills through extracurricular activities.

The Brave New World of Digital Intimacy

In this article, the main argument is: "[Ambient awareness] is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through the little things he does-body language, sights, stray comments-out of the corner of your eye."
Three different ways that this can be worded are:

1. Ambient awareness, some say, is similar to literally being with someone and seeing how he feels through the small signs such as his tone and expressions.

2. Ambient awareness is, they say, the state of knowing the same details as someone being directly next to target would through the expressions given by the target's words and actions.

3. Character awareness is, they say, getting the same signals of mood and emotion of direct contact with someone by other means excluding actual interaction with the target.

      Zuckerburg introduced the "News Feed" to enable ambient awareness. It is one of the leading reasons that people can "know" one another without actually knowing them. This may have negative effects with the depth of relationships, but overall, this helped establish relationships that encourage literacy in the way of planting the desire to know more about other people rather than just first impression details. This ambient awareness allows people to know others without investing excessive amounts of time. I think that everyone that uses a social media site regularly experiences this effect. The benefit of this is simply the amount of information it grants us. This benefit comes with the downfall of being a fake or shallow friend. Only interacting with a person over social media can lead people to being fake by only disclosing certain aspects of themselves and thus creating a barrier in the relationship. An example of an ambient update would just be a vague post about one's character such as someone expressing their feelings after a concert they just attended. This update can show how this person felt about the performance and anything connected with it along with general knowledge of a person judging off of what music they listen to.
      The difference in social media rather than in-person updates is the option whether to pay attention to certain updates by will. Users are not required to read everything on the news feed and can choose what they will use their time to read. This leads to the problem of "weak tied" friendships. While it is nice and entertaining to have so many different opinions on topics and many people to assist passing time, weak tied friendships can hurt users by tainting the meaning of literacy. The two problems of this are the actually changing of the meaning of literacy defined by social media and the pressure to have one in the first place. Most people are pressure by friends or even professional sources to own a social media to express one's identity for first impressions and further research. The meaning of literacy in the 21st century is being able to adapt our language through the perspective of others and take a step back from day to day moments. Literacy is the act of selfless comprehension.

Shirky's Article

Shirky is expressing an argument that if we utilize this cognitive surplus that we have, we can contribute greatly to the information on the internet. Shirky also argues his view of literacy. Through this article, literacy is not as much about the ability to read or write or comprehend, but the ability to use our free time to contribute through reading and writing. Cognitive surplus is the time that we have that is not filled with responsibilities, but wasted relaxing or just sitting idle. The point and importance of the article is to express that we need to use our time wisely and contributing.

       The author keeps referring to someone working on a TV show that he is explaining his point to. This person keeps trying to shut down this idea of using time wisely. The intent of the argument is not extreme, but realizing that only so much will change, it is to show that a little bit of change can show a huge impact on gaining useful information. The repetition of the person attempting to shut down this idea is actually proving and even helping the point. It proves it because it is evidence that not everyone will change their ways. There will be many that benefit from wasteful cognitive surplus and will disagree with change. For those who do agree, this helps them see more clearly why this is needed. The first step will change the way that skeptics see this idea of using time wisely. The strategically added repetition of this negative opinion only strengthens the argument. The entire argument is built upon negativity, but strives from productivity.

Google Article

The title of the article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" basically introduces the argument. The claim is that reading information on the internet makes us "stupid." More specifically, it lowers our attention span and ability to analyze text. The author explains that after using the internet for years he has felt that he cannot pay attention to long articles anymore and just skims longer reads. He is losing his literacy. Literacy according to this passage is the ability to interpret and understand text. This definition of literacy is similar to that of Socrates' Nightmare's definition of literacy. It is not about the ability to read words, but the ability to comprehend and analyze ideas.  This new age of networking has changed peoples' reading habits by enabling a "power browsing" mode to attempt to attain as much information as possible in the least amount of time. This is backed up by evidence of his own experience of skimming and skipping and his friends' experience having the same lack of interest in truly reading something. A study from University College of London also proved this with studies of people jumping to different sources for information after a few pages. Not only does this evidence have a personal aspect because it is the author's personal opinion, but it has a legitimate study backing up the claim. The author realizes that the internet is not going to cease to be used. It has too many advantages to it for users. The author is simply concluding that readers should be careful to be careless. Readers will lose all motivation to learn anything in depth if they continue to exploit the wonders of the internet.

Social Media Topic

     I will be analyzing the Facebook account of Tyler Carter of Issues. He is very public about his opinions and feelings on topics. He has an intention for his posts and shows his passion for his followers and fans. Overall, his account portrays his identity to be a passionate artist working and living for fans while also promoting his current band, Issues.

Social Networking

    Personally, my Facebook page is used for easy communication and link sharing. I rarely post things about myself besides my personal information. Other people, however, every once and while post pictures, statuses, or videos that tag me and add it to my profile page. The most recent posts on my profile are about various musical artists from friends and family. In addition to these are some videos intended to be humorous. My profile portrays a mostly passive profile with music and humor interests. The cover photo on my profile is very strange and also adds to this perception given. When the later part of high school starts is about the time when a Facebook profile should be monitored due to impressions it can leave on people from only seeing a profile. Actions should have already been done by the time college starts. Employers and anyone that could have interest in someone will always look at social media sites looking for inappropriate behavior to sway their opinion of a person. There is an option on Facebook to ask before anything is posted on a personal profile. I have this turned on and I approve what goes on my profile to avoid inappropriate posts getting to a public page. I do not have many security restrictions on my profile to prevent anyone from thinking there is something to hide. Everything on my profile is allowed through intentionally and is there to describe me in others ways other than on paper. This is a very important precaution to have to preserve innocence on first impressions on any future opportunities. It is always important to be aware than anything posted online can and will be released if it is desired. Any security can be breached. The best solution is to have nothing to hide.

Interpretive Leap

Lyric Analysis:

The lyrics seem to be a little depressing at the beginning of the song saying that he has to leave what he loves and go through pain, which is hard, but it doesn’t give him an excuse to make a big deal about it. He knows what it is like when change becomes overwhelming and affecting every part of his life and its tough not having anything to do about it or even knowing what he wants to do instead. He wants to rock and have fun like he is young again. That is the only thing that he can know will make him feel good again because it has made him feel that way before.

            The second verse explains how he is figuring things out now knowing what he can handle and knowing what he needs. When things aren’t good enough, he has the power to just leave and move on to something else. He explains that even though he can do that, sometimes it’s easy to just leave, but sometimes its difficult to abandon what is loved. But he always goes back to what he loves, which is rocking the night to be youthful and find entertainment again.

Music Video Analysis:

The video starts off with the band Europe leaving their tour bus and entering the hard rock café. This implies that they have been traveling and changing locations and stop for a moment only to leave soon after. When the lyrics start, contrary to the meaning portrayed from the lyrics, it seems like he is boasting that he has done all of the hard things and gotten through fine. He has gone through the change and pain without even going insane. The band shows that they have all gone through the feeling of rage and they all know that it isn’t easy, but they have all overcome it and deemed it as easy because they can just go rock the night.

            When the second verse comes around for the music video, there is a lot more pride shown in the band’s attitude. He sings that he knows his limits and knows what to do in this situation and he shows that he has power over the situation now by being able to “pull the brakes” whenever he isn’t satisfied. He knows that sometimes it’s still hard to leave, but now sometimes it’s easy and even when it is tough, he can’t get enough and it is all worth it.

Hot Rod Analysis:

            At the beginning of the clip, Rod explains that there is only a little bit left in the journey to save his Stepfather. He explains the next steps and rallies up his crew. The song in this clip is more suited as a life story for Rod when it says he has gone through changes with his dad dying as a kid and he has gone through pain trying to earn the respect of his new stepfather. But when the song says that it hasn’t been bad enough for him to go insane, it is implying through the movie that that is no reason for Rod to give up, but it is more reason to push him forward. He has had a rough life and he understands the overwhelming pressure to prove himself in his world. He knows it isn’t easy to live how he is living. It isn’t easy not knowing what to do next, but Rod is showing that he does know the next step and he does have what it takes to push through the difficult times. Instead of rocking like young people described in the other interpretations, rock the night simply means to work for Rod. It means to work nonstop “until early in the morning light” for what he needs to accomplish.

            The second verse starts as Rod is doing a stunt for an audience to raise money for his stepfather. It is a portrait of rod knowing his limits and what it takes to do it. Sometimes it is easy to make money because this is what Rod has done his whole life and he knows what he is doing, but sometimes it is tough coming to the realization that Frank does not support his efforts to save 

Great Gatsby Music

       I believe that the music in the Great Gatsby was executed well and helps set the scene to the movie. It also gives it a new take on the book, considering the movie was made long after the book was published. If the movie had stuck to jazz and music from that time period, I do not think that the audience would really feel the atmosphere that was contained in the parties scenes. Adding the contemporary music let people completely understand the mood during those times even though they had different music. It was all the same to them. The songs during the rest of the movie (not the party scenes) also helped clue in the audience to the mood being set and how people felt in the movie. For example, the remake of Back to Black by Amy Winehouse showed a different perspective from the original interpretation of the song and painted a clear picture of the emotions between the two lovers in the movie. Overall, the type of music and song choice chosen for this movie was very beneficial in aiding the audience accept the intended mood of the movie along with pleasing their music taste with newer, more contemporary music.

Process and Product

The times for quick and dirty research changed the way I went on my paper. Having certain progress points for my essay helped me keep on track and stay focused by stretching the time out instead of cramming all of the research and writing into a few days. Had I not been required to write part of the paper by the first week, I believe by the time the first draft was due, I would have been very far behind and rushing my essay leading to sloppy execution. The constant progress on my work kept me focused and learning more about my topic and how to write it better. The blog exercises before the writing began were also very important in getting my brain up and running and thinking about what I would write about and how I would start things and develop them. I think that spreading the work load of writing an essay over two to three weeks will result in much better essays than those that would be crammed into a few days.

Writing Process

     When I am assigned an essay assignment, the first step in my brainstorming process is thinking of all possibilities of focuses. Then I narrow down those ideas into the best candidates to write about by choosing the one that best fits my writing style. I have to choose an idea that is comfortable and fitting, but not too comfortable that I lose interest and challenge in it. Once I have chosen the idea that will work the best, I think of different facts and points about this topic by just thinking and researching. Once I have a better grasp on the point I am focusing on, I begin to get my ideas out by beginning my introduction. When I get through a few sentences of background and context, it sparks a definitive thesis. With the thesis done, the essay moves into the body and core of the paper which is personally the easiest part. After completing the body, the conclusion typically comes easily and naturally.
     When it comes to my ideal environment for writing, I am not bound by certain needs for atmosphere. Typically, I write during the afternoon in a moderately quiet place. I listen to music to keep my brain flowing during the researching process, but once I begin typing, I turn it off to keep my thoughts from being scattered and broken. Once the essay is completed, I read it out loud and start to pick some mistakes out and usually give it to someone else for a second look. My writing process is generally contained in this description.