West Coast Envy

UGH. I hate HTML's.

2008-09-05T15:27:30Z

This is my text file quiz.txt My HTML file quiz.htm

These teachers are educating the young minds of the USA?

2008-09-03T00:35:18Z

"Do the risque pages matter if teacher performance is not hindered and if students, parents and school officials don't see them? At what point are these young teachers judged by the standards for public officials?"
-When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web

I do believe that you must keep your professional life and work life separate. Like Chelsea said in her blog, "I know that if my name is on something I'm making sure that if anyone that wouldn't normally stop by my site doesn't think that I'm just another 'stupid teenager'." I think that if you are a teacher, you should grow up and not have a Facebook or MySpace account. At this time of your life, you should be past that stage, you're a professional educating the young minds of America.

I know realize that many of the teachers they interviewed were in their 20s but they are behaving, for the most part, like young adults like nothing they post on the internet will hurt them in the future. Well guess what? It does. It is amazing that many are clueless to the fact that their principals and superintendents can find ways around the internet and find their pages. Hello!!!! The internet is not safe.

All teachers, no matter what their age, are and should be judged by the public officials standards immediately following their acceptance to the job.

We all need to understand that nothing on the internet is private and if you are going to have an account on a social website make sure all your "friends" on that network are your closest friends and to keep it private.

A Vicious Mockery

2008-08-31T23:19:13Z

There are no more LOL's. This is serious. Completely scary. Unbelievable. Just plain on WOW!

This is my first experience with the term troll until now. I was completely blown away about the story of Megan Meier and how a simple troll could destroy such a young girl's life. The fact that a mother of one of Megan’s former friends created a fictional male character whom Megan later fell for is unthinkable, but reality. To know there is a growing Internet subculture filled with a fluid morality and disdain for online users is unreal.

"Drew later said she hoped to find out whether Megan was gossiping about her daughter."
- Malweblolence

It is horrible to read that people, in this case a mother, use the Internet to torment other individuals for laughs and giggles. I think it is people like these so called trolls that create problems in our world today, not just on the internet.

The internet is such a powerful world and a sort of luxury, why would people want to intentionally disrupt online communities with lies and deceit?

Trolls exploit insecurities to obtain drama and laughs and they do whatever it takes to achieve this. It is with this article, that I have become a little uneasy about the internet, security and what information I put out there on the web. I'm kind of freaked out. Aren't you?

Keep the professional and the personal seperate.

2008-08-31T19:44:27Z

"If you want to appear professional and courteous, make yourself available to your online correspondents. Even if your reply is, "Sorry, I'm too busy to help you now," at least your correspondent won't be waiting in vain for your reply."
- Writing Effective E-Mail: Top 10 Tips

Proper e-mail etiquette is essential especially in the professional world. This doesn't just refer to the actual writing of the e-mail but how long it takes you to respond to the e-mail. I find myself sometimes, waiting by the computer waiting for a response from a professor or a classmate on important information that I need to complete an assignment or a paper. I find it hard to believe that most of the people that I know check their email only two times a day. I check my e-mail hourly just in case there is something important that needs a quick response.

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"...the e-mail administrator has the ability to read any and all e-mail messages (and may fire you if you write anything inappropriate)."
-Writing Effective E-mail: Top Ten Tips

Just because you have a username and password combination doesn't mean that your e-mail is safe. There are people out there in the world that have the power to hack into any personal e-mail or website and expose personal and private information. My boyfriend has a work e-mail specifically for professional reasons and a seperate e-mail for personal items. His job has the authority to check his work e-mail at any given time to make sure he is not doing anything illegal or harmful to the company. I would advise anyone who has a work e-mail to keep that for the professional world and another for their personal life.

OMG, u cant b 4real?!

2008-08-29T17:29:56Z

"Most teenagers do not think of their e-mail messages, text messages and social network postings as 'real writing', the study found."
-Informal Style of Electronic Messages is Showing Up in Schoolwork, Study Finds

When I began reading this article, it made me think of a presentation Karissa Kilgore and Jay Pugh did in our Literary Criticism class where they argued that IM chat and text messaging is a new form of writing and language.

As Karissa wrote on her blog, "With its pervasiveness, IM language is becoming a genre all its own. It has conventions like any other, and develops as the technology does. Although many find IM language to be a lack of form, the reality of the language is that the lack of 'form' creates the newer version of form."

As the English language evolves, writing in this new form will slowly be accepted. Within the first paragraph of the article, Lewin explains how this new language has blended into school. I, personally, have never used emoticons, text shortcuts or omitted proper grammar and puncuation in my schoolwork, but outside of essays and other schoolwork, I find myself using this new form of communication frequently.

Any type of writing is real writing even if it is improper. They are still expressing their views, ideas and thoughts just with using shortcuts and other forms of the new English language to express it in a quicker manner.

I can't wait to see what the English language will look and sound like in the year 2025.
I guess I will just have to wait and see.

I think therefore I blog

2008-08-29T16:54:08Z

"Maybe it's no surprise, given how empowering it can be to have one's own thoughts transported instantly across the globe."
-Freedom of speech redefined by blogs

The power of the 1st amendment allows for all the right to freedom of speech as the right to hold opinions without interference. With the help of weblogs, social networks, e-mail, and other forms of communication, we, the people are able to freely write about our opinions and thoughts. In the article it explains that a fellow Seton Hill graduate was harassed by football players after they read his blog about why Seton Hill shouldn't have a football team and how a Duquesne student was disciplined after posting remarks about gays on facebook. So basically, you can write whatever you want, just be aware of the repercussions that may follow.

When we write on our blogs, we are allowing the world to view our thoughts and opinions with a simple search on google or any other search engine. For example, when I type my name into google, the first link is to my weblog. A little embarassing, but empowering at the same time. With a simple mouse click, the world can review my writing, my thoughts, my creativity and passion on my blog. I have experience my internship bosses reviewing my Seton Hill blog from time to time and having them ask me questions about topics I discussed.

Having my words transported instantly across the globe is kind of overwhelming knowing that anyone is able to view my blog and comment as well. That is why when I write on my academic blog, I know who my audience is and try to use that in my writing.

Thanks Jay.

2007-05-03T23:41:21Z

I just want to thank Jay for his input on my paper. I looked over his and was unable to find anything wrong with it. Cinderella. As he was looking over my paper, I glance over and see that my first whole page is covered with his pen. Most of his comments were constructive and helpful and a lot of them were positive remarks on my ideas and sentences. Looking over Jay's paper, I could not really find a lot of problems except for use of the same word in his paper, which I also did in my paper. Jay was very clear and precise with his arguments and ideas as well as went in depth into his paper. His structure was well done and it is noticed that he organized in a way to prove his argument in a great way.]]>

Reflections on Term Projects

2007-05-02T01:24:30Z

I am only going to tak about a few presentations. Sorry if you weren't one of them, I hope you are not offended. This is just very time consuming. presentation was very original and was a breath of fresh air to see that for once we could use slang and improper language. Their idea and argument was that AIM chat could be a literary form of its own. They explained that with its pervasiveness, IM language is becoming a genre all its own and it has conventions like any other, and develops as the technology does. AIM chat can be seen as a lack of form, but the reality of the language is that the lack of "form" creates the newer version of form. Even though I am not a fan of fantasy literature, Valerie and Tiffany's presentation was very informative and original. The website/blog they created with the outside links were very useful and creative. They explored the books of J.K Rowling's, particulary Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, through several theories we have studied in class, mostly Canon, Authorial Intent, Reader Response, and Freudian. Gina and Mitchell and their project is next. Their main idea was about the ideal viewer of children's programs.The idea of an ideal viewer would be proposed from the standpoint of the creators of the programming. This leads us to a more mature adult standpoint, not the innocent point of view of a child. Which leads to the question then, is the ideal viewer really the ideal viewer for children�s programming. Their arguments and use of outside material, the videos online, supported their arguments by showing that even though the main viewers of the shows are children, most of the content is for the adult viewer. The rest of the presentations were great. Every project was completely different and used different kinds of criticisms. Through these presentations, it gave me a different viewpoint and a better understanding to the criticisms. ]]>

A Little 411 On My Term Paper

2007-05-01T20:13:11Z

Here is just a little bit of what I am doing for this wonderful 15-20 page paper. ENJOY and feel free to leave some comments : ) So it is noticed that literature is a dream written down. Literature contains both the obvious text and the subtext. The obvious text is known as the conscious, while the subtext is parallel to the unconscious. The subtext is what we criticize and where we recognize the dreams of the characters. It is noticed that psychoanalysis reads too much into the meanings of things. It is the job of a literary critic to delve deeper into the text and the intent of the author. The criticism seems a bit reductive. Freud has shown that what we do, say and write- as well as what we fail to do, say and write-bears the stamp of our unconscious. Freud believes that our unconscious thoughts that are unacceptable and choice of certain images and symbols not only in our thoughts but in writings have more than meets the eye. Psychoanalytic criticism also helps achieve a better understanding of a writer�s triumphs and failures even though our judgment as to what a writers triumph and failure is based on considerations which are fairly independent of psychoanalysis. How the audience responds and perceives the author�s work explains the eventual failure and success based on the overall theme of their work and how the audience can relate towards it. The author�s of �The Tempest� and Cinderella chose particular symbols and objects, the tempest and the fairy godmother, as well as powers of magic, to emphasize the idea that in order to fulfill dreams and desires one must have the help of magic. In most literature, stories start with a character in trouble which leads to dreams and desires to escape their problems. Within �The Tempest� and the Disney animated feature film, Cinderella, the idea of a dream and desire of achieving a better life is seen with the use of magic. In the Tempest, Prospero uses his magic to create a tempest to get revenge with his brother and his assistants when they land on his island. In Cinderella, a fairy godmother helps her meet the prince with the use of magic that allows for her dream to come true at the end of the story. The idea of magic relieving one's problems is far-fetched and unrealistic, yet it is a choice behind both authors used to gain the audiences attention. Behind both stories the main focus is on a desire, a desire found within a dream and a storm that became attainable through the help of magic. Shakespeare�s story as well as Disney�s animated film is considered unrealistic popular fiction. Approaching these different stories with psychoanalytical criticism shows Freudian�s perspective of dreams and trying to achieve desires through dreams. The author�s choice of including both magic and dreams captivates the audience and allows for them to relate to the idea of dreams.

Blog Carnival - Education and Criticism

2007-05-01T19:48:52Z

Tiffany posted a blog carnival question regarding teaching literary criticism and education. Even though I am not an education major here at Seton Hilll, even though I used to be, I still find this subject very interesting. We may not have known it when we were in school but our teachers in school approached literature in a particular fashion that eventually affected us more than we thought. If I was to pursue my teaching career, which I am thankful I decided against, I would not just teach only a few criticisms, but I would present my students to all the criticisms, and as we do in this class, I would then pick a piece of literature and choose a particular criticism and in class discuss their take on criticizing the work with this type of criticism. By doing this, as Karissa mentioned in her blog, it would 1) keep their attention, 2) create interest in the work itself (and not just in the pieces of the work), and 3) help them help themselves (and each other) understand both the work and the type of criticism at the time. I would introduce the students to both the background of the author as well as the history during this specific time period to see if it had any effect on the work as a whole. I would want to emphasize the flexibility of the study of literature and emphasize to the students that there is more to literature than the plot and that there is never a "right" answer to the work, there is only endless possibilities that one needs to explore through different types of criticisms.

Blogging Portfolio III

2007-05-01T13:26:40Z

This blog portfolio is short and sweet. This does not show the full extent of my literary growth throughout this class but it does show how I have turned out. Each week I think I have progressed from a sophomore in a hard upper level class to a sophomore who has accomplished more in this past semester in this one class than in her whole high school career. Through many blog entries presented in blogging portfolio I and blogging portfolio II and presentations, not only have I learned through Dr. Jerz, but also through my peers, and I thank you all. The blogging readly helped me and I think for many of the other students to keep track of our thoughts. For our critical exercises, to clear up confusion on a particular topic, discussions, projects, and papers, I used our blogs as a reference to all the criticims we have learned. ]]> Coverage and Timeliness: Greenblatt and Culture Barker, Hulme and Nymphs?? Garson and Keats de Man and signs Miko and "The Tempest" Guetti and Aesthetic Feldstein and "The Yellow Wallpaper" Keesey and Chapter 7 Eagleton, Literature and History Depth: Not much in depth writing about these essays and articles. I was so concentrated on the project and paper, sorry. Interaction: Blog Carnival comment Vanessa, Culture and I Blog Carnival: Teaching Literary Criticism Discussion: de Man discussion Apostrophes Term Project and Paper: Reflections on Term Projects Garden State and "The Yellow Wallpaper" A Little 411 On My Term Paper Research Paper Workshop

I Love Apostrophes

2007-04-23T04:20:40Z

Garson, 'Bodily Harm" Keats's Figures in the 'Ode on a Grecian Urn''' -- Jerz EL312 (Literary Criticism)]]> "Apostrophe is an address to the absent as if present, the inanimate as if animate; a rhetorical question is one to which no answer is expected. These figures of power. To use them is to address someone who cannot talk back-a strategy that ensures not only that you will have the last work, but that your discourse will manifest a high degress of "'literariness'" (Garson 453). It seems to me that Keats used apostrophes to allow for an unanswerable, unsolvable rhetorical question about the urn and the overall poem. Since the narrator speaks to her, the figure as it is noted that the urn is personified as a female, by apostrophizing her, he calls her into being; he tells her history even as he laments her citizens' inability to tell it (Garson 458). This lack of identity to the urn/female as well as this dream of cultural possession shows a dream or desire of supplementing our lack with a borrowed integritas (Garson 458). The urn speaks to the spiritual ear in search of an answer that the urn/female as well as the readers are looking for to explain not only the urn but the overall theme of the poem rather than the material ear.

Can't we all just agree???

2007-04-23T04:08:30Z

Barker and Hulme, ''Nymphs and Reapers Heavily Vanish'' -- Jerz EL312 (Literary Criticism)]]> "Instead of having meaning, statements should be seen as performative of meaning; not as possessing some portable and 'universal' content but, rather, as instrumental in organisation and legitimation of powerrelations" (Barker and Hulme 445). Jay explains in his blog that it is not the act as much as it is the reaction to the acts that matter. This focus from the interpretative problem of meaning to questions of instrumentality and function allow for the audience and critics to view the text and their meanings as yo-yos. Their meanings and ideas sway from side to side and everyone views them through different lenses. These statements, discourses, and the level they operate at are not easy to observe but are only approachable through their effects similar to the way grammar work in certain sentences. Who is to say that 'something' means this?? Where is the power held? And here we are back to the politics... As Kevin Hinton states in his blog, culture itself is open to interpretation and can be changed to fit anything. This also applies to meanings of texts.

Culture =]

2007-04-23T03:33:40Z

Greenblatt, ''Culture'' -- Jerz EL312 (Literary Criticism)]]> "And if an exploration of a particular culture will lead to a heightened understanding of a work of literature produced within that culture, so too a careful reading of a work of literature will lead to a heightened understanding of the culture within which it was produced" (Greenblatt 438). Culture and literature depend on one another. Literature needs the culture to produce new ideas and suggestions to write about; and culture feeds of literature by looking back at works and understanding the themes and values at that time. So it seems to me that cultural criticism is a good thing. =] A cultural analysis needs to go beyond the text though to establish links between the text and values, institutions and practices elsewhere in the culture. These links should not be considered a close reading. Literary texts are cultural by virtue of social values and contexts that they have themselves successfully absorbed, not just because of the reference to the world beyond themselves. As Jay puts it nicely, Literature, or at least a majority of it, tries to find something that was against a culture, and through imagery and dialogue, the author completes the task of portraying a different spin on the representative culture portrayed in that story.

Belsey tells all

2007-04-23T03:16:18Z

Belsey, ''Literature, History, Politics'' -- Jerz EL312 (Literary Criticism)]]> "Here all writing and all speech is fiction in a timeless present without presence, adn the subject celebrates its own non-being in an infinite space where there is no room for politics" (Belsey 430). So Belsey is stating that between literature, history and politics there is a connection while arguing against deconstructionists who take it that there is no such thing as meaning, adn in consequence, since meaningless language is literally unthinkable, that words mean whatever you want them to mean. Along with the above quote, this meaningless language idea is almost related to fiction in a timeless presetn without presence and that in this infinite space it shows its own self. There seems to be an evaporated meaning of text that are from the past in the present. It almost seems that the language is almost useless to us because of the difference in cultures. This evaporation of meaning leaves us with no place to analyze meaning and that ther is no possibility of tracing changes of teh meaning/history. Belsey argues this and says that it the text within a work shows everything about change in history.