last in-class writing!

What have you learned? What have you enjoyed? Not enjoyed? What will you take with you to other classes?

My primary goals with this class was to get more efficient with my writing. I used to start writing assignments, get distracted, lose motivation, got bored, and feel repetitive, then give it a last-ditch effort to make a page requirement. This class has allowed me to remember what it was like for writing to feel natural because we can write about things that are relevant and things we are passionate about. I will definitely take the new strategies for "Shitty First Drafts" and pre-writing with me  since I had been just outlining and winging it before this. I enjoyed work-shopping and getting an idea about what everyone else is doing. Sometimes I write papers and feel like I completely miss the point and it's drowning in my point of view, but this was productive. This is one of the only settings where I have felt my writing was "at home" since my major requires almost exclusively scientific research and APA ramblings. I'll save the essays I wrote in here as personal creations, and part of the spatial analysis for paper 1 was sent out to my family after I had sent it to my boyfriend for him to proofread - that paper ended up being about the place where he became the fiancé!

pansy first drafts

Oh, how I wish I could adopt the reckless, carefree prose style of Anne Lamott. I am someone who labors over the first page and needs a remarkable amount of motivation to start because I know how long it takes me. I am guilty of treating a first draft like a second or third. I can do the hasty, unfiltered writing in brainstorming and prewriting exercises, but I would be mortified to put such thoughts in a document I would turn in for any kind of grade or recognition. I'm afraid in editing I'll run over it and leave that poor lonely thought alone in its unrefined glory and never come back to it again. Most of what I consider to be revision includes rephrasing repetitive sentences and messing with the flow of the story. I get frustrated when revisions I receive in work shopping processes are minimal, I want to have a lot to look over and think about - seeing things from only my own perspective is boring to read and write about. I like having things to argue and defend on paper.

author's note, draft 1

This is a start, but I need one more body paragraph where I want to touch on the nuclear-level effects of Affluenza like bankruptcy at rates above that over college graduation as well as increasing levels of family fracturing and divorce due to extensive financial reasons. There should be a brief conclusion at the end with long-term effects on us as a population and why non-asset-holding college kids should care. Suggestions about prevention and cure of affluenza will get thrown into the end as well including social and financial changes that need to be made. Works cited will be completed at the end, but I listed my main information sources for reference, they will get worked in for internal citations in-text. I would like to get feedback on what conclusions I might be jumping to without proper backing as well as where I can expand and add more detail!

to tame a wild tongue

What definitions does Anzaldúa dispute in her piece? What definitions does she introduce that are new to you? Respond to her arguments – what resonated for you, and what didn’t work?

Anzaldúa is arguing the disastrous nature of the linguistic terrorism her culture experiences by English speakers and Spanish speakers alike. I hadn't really considered any one dialect of Spanish (I have lived in Texas my whole life, so perhaps it's the only one I have been exposed to) to be inferior to the others. The only thing I can even think of comparing it to is the funny looks Texas give to the occasional aboot that sneak out a Canadian/Northerner's mouth, but I had never thought of one being superior to the other. I can see where she's coming from with this argument, but I'm not sure that war and the loss of a dialect in formal speech can necessarily be equated like she tries to. A dialect is certainly a form of expression, and it's sad that schools try to take it away, but I didn't really get that out of her argument. The way she presented the oppression in English classes almost made me take the side of the school. I don't speak Spanish in any capacity, and in the first half of the essay there's a lot of Spanish colloquialisms and phrases that I couldn't understand without Google. I was pretty frustrated with trying to get her gist when I couldn't understand everything she said, and if I was trying to teach an English class I was hired to instruct, I would be equally perturbed. 

pearls before breakfast

I think one of the main things the author argues in Pearls is that of Music. Not just music, but good music. Bell is an incredible artist, even a work of art, but a work of art in the wring place without a frame is just art - not a masterpiece. This essay takes on a Kant-like epistemological point of view: is good music inherently good, or does it need to be perceived as good by the listener to be good? Bell talked about the validation he got for performing for thousands of dollars per minute in front of hundreds of paying ticket-holders. When he was taken out of that glorious setting and transplanted into a cold and dark subway station with sad clothes and an empty case, all the controlled variables for the concert hall are gone (no captive audience, no attention, no name recognition, no acoustics, nothing.) He's playing the same pieces with the same grandeur as he would play in Carnegie Hall, but without a frame, the artwork hangs alone. People rush by without any idea what kind of talent they're passing up. Bell was hoping that even against the odds of people rushing by to get to government jobs or get home, beauty would transcend needs.

in-class writing 11/3

This class discussion helped me re-frame the argument I was trying to make. I don't think my topic is as huge of a cultural phenomenon as we were talking about today, but the papers and the way they re-framed the conversation about wither topic were helpful in structuring mine better. The reading we did for today wasn't totally helopful intil we put it into flowchart form - could make for some very well-put-together paragraphs here pretty soon. This also gives me some more ideas on topics in general since some of the samples in the file reminded me of the film paper where I tackled stereotypes and pre-conceived notions about groups. Definitely should be better. I got a political cartoon related to running/redefining the running shoe like my argument, so maybe that can tie in as well.

an introduction to the toulmin model

a more college-kid friendly interpretation:

Argument is kinda tough to teach cause all the books on it suck and if all you do is tell kids what NOT to to - that's what going to happen. They're not going to do it. We gotta be positive here. There's not a lot of really well-structured arguments in day-to-day talk, so we gotta go old-school here to this model that looks like a teeter-totter. Here's where Toulmin hits the streets. He says making arguments with real life examples is tough, but here's the basics:

The Data: The starting point and the reason you got on the teeter-totter.
The Warrant: The down low, what we should already know, and what the argument hinges on. Get it?!
The Claim: the point you're trying to make by the time you've gone through the whole teeter-totter.

Ok but here's the catch - arguments aren't always rainbows and butterflies here. There's going to be times when you need a little street cred to get the argument to stand on its own. Here's your backup singers:

The Qualifier: likes to hang out with the claim, keeps the argument realistic, "Keeps it real."
The Reservation: sometimes the warrant isn't always right (even Dog the Bounty Hunter could tel you that), so the reservation sets some ground rules (the first rule of fight club...)
The Backing: justifies what we're assuming with the warrant is legit, gives it a reason to be.

Pretty hardcore.

getting started

I'm lucky I work in the industry I'm looking to evaluate. I have hands-on experience and connections to the representatives of the brands that shape the footwear industry. Aside from hundreds of footwear catalogues and technical speification sheets for several shoes, there's a lot of promotional material that goes out to customers - a direct insight into a companies' motivation to push a shoe or lack thereof. There's a lot of exercise physiology and biomechanical research going on right now concerningthe shod vs. unshod foot and how it behaves in the running as well as walking process, and databases in EBSCO like SportDiscus and the ACSM database have great representation of this ongoing trend. There's a lot of information riht now since this movement is so huge, so I think this paper is all abot filtering the outspu and making sure sources are reliable and unbiased about the industry.

back to barefoot.

 I think there's a wide variety of definitions I would want to write a whole paper about, but I'll explore one really familiar to me that I struggle with everyday to get the brain going on this one. I work at a running shoe store, and my job is pretty much analyzing the gait of the customer, and custom-fit runners, walkers, and exercisers in shoe that fits their unique needs. The concept that has been most challenged in the industry I work with is that of the ideal running shoe. Companies like Asics, Nike, Adidas, etc. have owned the footwear market for years making really cushioned and supportive shoes for people who want something "comfortable" and doctors make orthopedic inserts for virtually any foot ailment. Sounds right? Here's the problem:

Feet.

Your foot is perfect the way it is. People complain about flat feet, high arches, and cramped up toes. It's hard to believe that people even survived without huge, fluffy, supportive, corrective shoes, right? Wrong. It sounds kind of silly to think our feet can't even support themselves. Your feet were made with the intention of supporting your body exclusively. They can walk and run and jump all day long. That being said, most of us have been wearing shoes on our feet since we were crawling. There are hundreds of muscles and tendons in our feet that function just like those in our hands - where they should be able to function independently. A foot raised without a shoe does an awesome job of supporting itself, gripping the ground, proprioceptive ability (think: stepping on a lego with bare feet), and efficient running and walking. Obviously, we can't just develop the strength of 20 years in shoes overnight, but there's first steps for everybody. Not everyone needs to buy barefoot shoes and run marathons. Bodies are made to run barefoot. Bodies are not made to run on concrete or without a gradual training plan. I think this redefining of footwear for fitness over time will change the face of running and walking shoes as we know it. Ever since Nike came out with the Free running shoe in 2005, almost every company has come out with a response, even as small as lowering the ratio of heel stack height to forefoot stack height. Over time, less running injuries and less injured runners will needs treatment if we go back to barefoot.

In-Class: The Forrest

The Redwood trees here just might be poking holes in the clouds that would otherwise be drifting by, but instead are pinned down by spears of pines. These pines coat the floor of the forrest along with the paved pathway that once could be seen below it. The pavement winds casually between the trees, but some of the most aged trees lifted up enough root to let the pavement wind seemingly through the wood as it stands - exposing dozens upon hundreds of rings showing age. Massive and hauntingly vacant holes in the sides of these trees were once home to any imaginable woodland creature, but now they only have space to call their home.

The pavement that winds through the otherwise thick foliage appears to have been abused by millions of feet, wheels, tires, and raindrops. The path it takes seems too long and too far gone. The twists and turns it makes don't appear to have a clear end destination in mind. "Scenic Route" was the name it was given, demeaning its purpose to one of just wandering or crime.

When all that is organic is all that is on the ground, a shiny car key stands out more than it would in any other place. There wasn't a car here at this point in time, and the car probably isn't in any sort of reasonable radius to the key. This key wasn't here on purpose. This key was left behind. The only other man-made sign of life tto be found within yelling distance from this key was a decrepit plastic cup. This cup was the red kind, white inside, bumps all around to ease the grip. This was the kind of cup you don't just use with dinner. It was the kind of cup you find at a bad party and when you're done drinking, you play with it enough to break it, and then throw it away: a similar fate to the one this cup found.

There was one tree in particular that had finally served this forrest long enough. It gave up its reign in the San Francisco skyline, and laid itself down right across the pavement path it had bonded with the past few years. Perhaps it just wanted to give itself to the land, or maybe it was a warning to the next visitors to the path who left behind a new kind of home. Trees and cars don't seem to agree on much, especially when push comes to shove. The self-sacrificing tree had met its match with the last car to wind down the path, perhaps too quicky. The car came to a forceful stop at the same place where the tree had given up just hours before. The ones responsible for the car driving were gone, but the now foregone vehicle had become a new home for the wanderers of the forrest and the creatures surrounding it. What was once a trunk now plays shelter to a small group of birds who once called the tree home.

The edge of the forrest was bordered by a fence. This fence was new. Brand new. The tree that gave its life to this fence was freshly gone. This fence was apparently just for looks, because it wasn't high enough to keep out anything but the lowest 3 feet of wind through the forrest. Just over the fence extended a stretch of field that was being worked over by dozens of colossal machines, flattening, paving, excavating, and smoothing. A highway laid in the horizon line that abruptly ended right before the forrest began - or moreso where the forrest was about to end.

In-Class for 10/27

Talk aboout what went well with your paper and what didn't go as well. What writing exercises helped? What didn't?
I don't think this paper came along as easily as the last one for a few reasons. With the space assignment, there was a lot of room for imagination and argument because I was the only one who experienced that space in the wat that I did at the time that I did. With the movie paper, the sources of information were definitely more concrete and the arguments had a be a little more solid. Also, I had a harder time finding a film in the first place. I went with one I enjoyed from the get-go because it was a very happy-go-lucky-feel-good documentary. It was a little more mindless than I would like for it to have been - but I suppose this is all about learning experiences anyway, right? Either way, I really appreciated  the quoteburger exercise. It wasn't a super new concept for me, but at that point I was really struggling with overall length and content of my paper. I felt like I had a few solid ideas, developed them, and had like 4 pages. The more thorough introduction and analysis of the quotes gave me a lottle more direction to give the quotes some body.

quoteburger

Benjamin Franklin satirized British policies toward America by writing a letter that argued, "A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges." While Franklin jokingly suggested that Britain should rid itself of its outermost provinces first, he directly targeted how Americans should feel toward the monarchy that disenfranchised them.

I'm a big quoteburger fan. We got beaten around with "blending quotations" in high school, and I think they did a pretty effective job. I have a hard time looking at a stand-alone quote without wanting to fix it now. I think it takes a lot of the work out of reviewing and analyzing works because all you have to have is a good eye for words. If someone can just pick out a string of words in a really pretty order, and then understand the intent of the phrasing the author has, quoting isn't too tough. Quoteburgers are all about context. I think tabloid writers and newspaper editors are professionals at liberal quoteburgering. They can take almost anything a celebrity/official said, throw it in some new quotes with an artistic set-up, and say something completely new and different. I hope to get a little QB-ing in with reference to the NETSationals. The dancers have awesome little snippets in their 60+ years of conversational experience - so their quotes are priceless.

where to go from here

This workshopping experience was very productive - I had a lot more complete than I did the last time around with the space analysis essay (The page requirement certainly helped.) A lot of the changes were oversights in a grammatical sense, where I couldn't quite figure out the wording I was looking for to get through my thought process. All of teh comments were really helpful, and I intend to use all of them. The direction the paper is taking is where I want it to go, and I hope to bring in a few more characters for the sake of specifica and a few more outside sources with credible reviews since this film was a Tribeca Film Festival release, not a first-run theatrical. Also, there were comments about doing some more work on common stereotypes of elderly people and how the characters in Gotta Dance defy those stereotypes.

where to now?

          I should probably get going on that here pretty soon. The prewriting is really productive - I feel like I have a lot more things to write about than I did writing the space analysis. With a work that so many people have seen and reacted to there's a lot more in the public domain to reference as far as arguments. I would like to study up a little more on the team themselves and poke my head around for some outside reviews to see where the points of controversy hit with people who actually make a living by reviewing film. I might also explore the possibility of checking out one other film I haven't seen in a while and see if I get immediately inspired to start this process over again on a new topic. We'll see. I need to get my thesis for this film to take more of a stand than introducing the general themes of the film and collect some quotes from the interviews that support all of my claims. It might be nice also go go back through my favorite scenes (since I watched it on Netfilx) and screen-shot the still images of the most poignant settings to see if I can do a little visal analysis on camera work.

real reality?

          I'm not sure there's a such thing as a real reality TV show. Television is inherently not a production of actual life. Between editing, sequencing, and camera angles - it's nothing like experiencing something first-hand. I can't think of a reality TV show I have ever seen that is even remotely comparable in situational accuracy to what it would be like off-camera. Once people can realize that the only qualification to become a reality show is to have amateur actors who might or might not be wiling participants. I don't think there's cheating in Reality TV - those that participate only have a false sense of control over their role on the show and longevity of participation. The producers of a Reality TV show have everything to do with the outcomes of a competition or what film makes the final production.
          That being said, I LOVE REALITY TV. I can't stand it. I'm not as much into the game shows and survivor-style competitions, but I can't pretend like I don't care who got kicked off the Bachelor. I do. A lot. I like a lot more scripted TV shows, and I think of reality TV as more of just a more poorly written script. I love the lifestyle-geared shows...it all started with Trading Spaces way back in the day. Now I can't help myself but watch hours of Toddlers and Tiaras and Dance Moms. Reality TV is like a really loud car wreck. You can't look away, you have to slow down and watch what happens next because you know its going to be interesting, if nothing else.

marie and juno

  I can see a lot of similarities between the two young women featured in the films themselves. Juno and Marie Antoinette were both just teenagers when they both had more dumped on them than they could handle at once. Whether it be a country in turmoil or an unplanned pregnancy, both films are pretty counter to the usual pop movie about teen girls. They're not all glamorous, even without costumes and pomp, the films expose an uglier side to ruling a country or trying to coordinate an open adoption. Between the two readings, we see the films evaluated as packaged products; and a tool to evaluate a cultural group. The hipster Juno image of I-don't-care-what-you-think contrasted with the high French criticism of Antoinette make a soemtimes unwanted social message more known. Both authors were pretty successful sending this message by putting out some more concrete examples of the reception of the films, direct quotes from the script, and some statement about the authors' intentionality in writing them.

iTunes got it right with so many options in sorting criteria. I like sorting songs by play count, it's a good dose of nostalgia. I'm a little obsessive when I find a song I really like or is particularly awesome to sing in the car. Here's some I stumbled upon when I did my latest sort (in no particular order other than what I want to talk about.)

Won't Stop by OneRepulbic
I can't remember if it was my freshman or sophomore year that OneRepublic came to campus, but I felt an urge to study up on the latest discography and I ran across this one. I don't usually get emotionally attached to songs, but this one just had good timing in my life.

Sunday Best by Augustana
Just goes all too well with Won't Stop. Practically made for each other. I think it must have been freshman year that I loved these, I remember listening to these on repeat on the long haul up 35 back from College Station for the short time the boyfriend was an Aggie.  Even if I wasn't in a bleh mood before leaving, these are hope-nobody-is-watching singing down the highway tearjerkers.

1901 by Phoenix
I love this one because it reminds me of the early high school days where I would dress in neons, go to little hipster shows with local bands, and pretend I was reeeeeeeally cool. Still wish I knew most of the words to this song and 90% of what I listened to back then.

The Distance by Cake
 As an endurance athlete, Cake has got the best song to start a race with, ever. The lyrics of this sing ("fuel burning fast on an empty tank" and "reluctantly crouched at the starting line/engines bumping and thumping in time") are the kind of lines that you can't help but think about when you're on the starting line or in transition. 

Up on Cripple Creek by The Band
If anyone finishes a TCU education without taking "From Rock to Bach" with Dr. Robert Garwell, they have really been disserviced by this institution. It is the best class ever. Rock to Back introduced me to The Band and "The Last Waltz" about their farewell tour. Cripple Creek was the first thing we listened to on the first day there, and it really just stuck for me. I love The Band.

Flashing Lights by Kanye WestThis song was made for running. The cadence is perfect, and it became a classic for me after I stopped running for TCU and started trotting the Trinity on my own. Listening to Flashing Lights during my sunrise runs, watching the downtown lights go off one by one made every morning start right.

I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab for CutieI was really excited for this album, and I randomly landed on this one first. It was a little confusing without a track listing because this sing is almost nine minutes long, but it makes for a good essay-writing or homework-starting when you just need a mental warm-up.

Desperado by The Eagles
I decided years ago that this would be song I would dance with my Dad at my wedding. It's perfect. I went to the same summer camp for 10 years, and this was THE slow dance song that we would all sing/yell along to every word. My Dad was a camper and counselor at my camp too.

Handlebars by Flowbots
I'm proud to know every word to this song as an avid cyclist. It's not a good group bike ride if this anthem doesn't get belted out once or twice.

if you ain't first, you last.

I would definitely trust McKay's ideas about American society's idiosyncrasies after watching Borat and Talladega Nights. These films really illustrate so many things about what's right and wrong with America. These movies and others about the average and not-so-average American lifestyle pick out and make a show out of the silly and backward things we do that we never think about outside of our own perspective. I think American culture in movies is obsessed with our rampant commercialism, general themes of a sexual nature, and generally low emotional and moral aptitude. We pay for water in bottles, go out of our way to idolize the the Pamela Andersons of our generation, watch cars drive in ovals and call it a sport, and hate our day jobs. These are probably the most glorious of traits as a nation, but instead things that are undoubtedly American. We're proud of what makes us unique, not necessarily successful. Americans don't need any help feeling national pride, so the things that set us apart become the things that matter most (and the easiest things to make fun of.)

most buzzkill movie experience, ever.

          It was senior year of high school when I found out that there was a theater on Inwood in Dallas that had a room that had no reclining stadium seats - but only LoveSac chairs, ottomans, pillows, and all the fixings of a great relaxing movie watching-experience. I was erally excited to get down there and try it out. At the time I was pretty into the indie movie scene and limited releases, so when I saw they had Boy in the Striped Pajamas, I very vaguely knew what it was about but I bought two tickets. I dragged along my now-fiance and he was excited at the prospect of a good movie but moreso comfy seats. The disappointment started at entry. There was only one screening per night in the LoveSac theater, and it wasn't ours. We sighed, and moped over to the theater where our movie was going on.
          If you haven't seen Boy in the Striped Pajamas, don't. While it won a slew of awards, it was horrifyingly sad, comlpetely depressing, and the worst date movie in history. It's a Holocaust piece, the good people die, and the seats were not LoveSacs. Not cool.

preparation and changes

         For this last paper, my style of preparation to write, prewrite, and take notes was more unique. I don't think I have ever sat and observed a space alone, with my laptop, writing fragments, and coming up with a very very rough draft to start. I'm someone who usually takes a lot of time and effort for the first time I write a paper because I don't like looking at things that are going to require future closure. Taking notes of just a few words at a time was difficult, and going back later and attempting to add meaning to little blurts I thought were worth mentioning was difficult. I look forward to an assignment about moves because of the more concrete nature of the art. If I feel like I missed something, I can pause it, rewind it, fast forward it, and get to the part I need to far more expeditiously. I can watch what I observe over, and over again to catch the small details and nuances of characters that I might have missed while trying to rush through and catch plot changes. I am also pretty thrilled I will have a reason to hang on to my Netflix subscription for just one more month. With a wealth of documentaries and quite a few on my instant queue, I can have a chance to catch a new movie for a fresh perspective on things instead of drawing on my experiences seeing a movie when I was younger with the assumptions I held back then.