Reflections

I learned a lot about how writing circulates and develops over time.  Through this course, I've seen multiple examples of how writing can change over time and across multiple different mediums and sources.  I thought our work with Harris did a lot to help me conceptualize the different moves writers can make with respect to other people's work.  The first chapter, "Coming to Terms", really helped me to be a better critical reader, and the chapter's about forwarding and countering helped me to see what other writers were doing, as well as to incorporate these moves into my own writing arsenal.

I really enjoyed the news focus of this class.  I had fallen out of paying attention to the news last quarter, but I've become an avid follower recently, do mainly to this class.  Reading the New York Times started as just an "assignment", but now it's gone on to me just caring more about the world around me.  I also really like how we discussed the news in class.  It was always interesting to hear what other people were following, and I liked talking about the news stories I had seen.  I also found myself looking into stories a lot more.  I never used to look at different sources for stories, but now I've become more skeptical about different points of view.  Overall I really enjoyed this course.

The Death of Chris Grundy

            On the morning of Saturday, May 10^th, 2010, Saranac boy Christopher James Grundy lay dead with a single bullet wound in his left shoulder.  Around 1:30 AM, Deputy Dan Bishop gave chase to Chris, 20, after he blew past a stop sign going nearly 100 MPH.  Deputy Bishop was soon joined by another officer, when they cornered Chris.  Chris rammed the other officer’s vehicle, and that’s when Deputy Bishop fired four bullets at the car.  Chris drove another tenth of a mile, exited his vehicle, and collapsed in a ditch.  By the time the ambulance arrived, he was already dead.  This was a local story, and it had a powerful impact in the small community of Saranac, MI; the town I grew up in.  I had known Chris since 2005.  He had been great friends with my older step brothers, and even lived with us for almost four months.  The story itself is pretty straight forward, and the facts of the incident remain the same from site to site.  However, what does change is how the story is presented and what purposes the story is used to serve.

            On May 15^th, at 10:26AM, Wood TV published a story titled “Family Questions Cop-Involved Shootings”.  This was one of the first news outlets to address that morning’s story.  The writer, Dani Carlson, focuses primarily on presenting the currently known facts, and the story also features quotes for Chris’ brother, Ben Rawlings, and Lt. Kelly of the Kent County Sheriff’s Department.  She begins by explaining what they know about what happened that morning, talking about the chase, the confrontation, and the eventual death.  She then presents the opinion of Chris’ brother Ben.  Ben was astounded by the situation saying “It’s just hard to understand.  Was there a way around it?”  He wonders about anything he could have done to save his brother, and who can blame him?  Lt. Kelly was quoted saying “It’s very traumatic” speaking for everybody involved.  Dina takes a simple news approach to this story, and this story represents a local news sphere as it has just begun.  She presents what facts she has at the moment, and she effectively uses quotes from Ben and Lt. Kelly to present opinions from both the family and the police.  She ends by mentioning the funeral to be held for Chris; an event which was attended by over 100 people including myself.  Wood TV 8 is a local news station in western Michigan.  It’s primarily a television news station for the Grand Rapids area, and like most news sources, it also has a presence on the web.  This was the first story I could find detailing the events of the shooting.

            Another similar story was featured on the Michigan news site mlive.com (a site that brings together local news from across Michigan), written by Shandra Martinez for the Grand Rapids Press.  Published on May 15^th at 7:42PM and titled “Christopher Grundy's shooting death by Kent County Sheriff's deputy mystifies family”, takes a more personal approach to the story.  It begins with a photo of Chris holding his baby niece, and talks about Chris at his 8-year old nephew’s birthday party, where he “was acting like a kid himself.”  She then goes on to talk about the story in a similar manner to Dina.  She presents the same facts of the incident, but then adds a more in depth look at Chris as a person.  She talks about him graduating from Saranac High School, some of the jobs he held, and also about some of her own reflections on him from looking at his MySpace page, saying how it “shows deep affection for the family”.  Being the first day of the story, Dina and Shandra were limited in what they could report.  They both drew from the facts given by the police, and also the words of Chris’ brother Ben.  Shandra added background information about Chris to bring more a clearer context to the story, and to help illustrate the family’s reservations about Chris’ intentions that night.
            John Tunison also wrote an article for mlive.com titled “Christopher Grundy's death is latest in uptick of officer-involved shootings in West Michigan” May 17^th, 2010.  This story forwards the story by Sandra Martinez.  John noted that Deputy Daniel Bishop had been identified as the officer that had shot Chris.  He also adds some more background context to Chris, saying that Chris “was marked by trouble with the law” and that he’d spent 93 days in jail in 2007 for reckless driving and destruction of property.  He forwards Sandra’s story by adding details, and also by using it for a new purpose.  Whereas Sandra was trying to present the story and the details she had available, John is trying to use this story to help illustrate a rise in officer-involved shootings.  He also provides a list of other shootings that happened in west Michigan over the past year.  This article is still early in the life of this story, and it would continue to develop as more details were presented.            On June 16^th, 2010, a story from WZZM 13 News (another local news TV station in west Michigan) titled “Prosecutor rules deputy-involved shooting of Chris Grundy is self defense” seems to be the end of this story in the news sphere.  It forwards the original story of the shooting, by presenting it again, and adding the information about the Deputy.  It covers the same facts as the other stories.  He blew a stop sign, ran from police, and the Deputy had no choice, but to use lethal force.  This story also adds some new details about Chris’ state of mind during the incident.  He had been driving on a suspended license, and his blood alcohol content was .19.  Also that day mlive.com featured the police video of the incident.  These articles marked the end of this news stories life cycle in the news sphere.  It hasn’t been reported on since, but this story still lives on in the hearts of Chris’ friends and family.
            This story had a tremendous local impact in the town of Saranac, and the story was spread around the town in unconventional ways.  I didn’t hear about this story from the news.  I heard about through word of mouth, from my friends and my older brother.  The story was all over Facebook, and was widely discussed around Saranac High School.  To help pay for the funeral, the local gas station, Torco, sold Chris Grundy wristbands.  They said “Rest in Peace” on the outside, and “Christopher James Grundy” on the inside.  I saw numerous people in my school, and the town of Saranac wearing these wristbands.  Many of his closest friends took his mother’s quote, “He could make people laugh” (mlive.com), as a line to remember him by.  They printed shirts and bumper stickers saying “Christopher Grundy: He could make people laugh.”  Chris may have died, but his memory still lives on through his friends and family.            I think this story helps show the lifecycle of a local story.  This audience isn’t as large as a national story, and it didn’t receive noticeable recognition by the blogging community.  However, I think this particular story provides a good demonstration of how a news story develops as new details are added about it.  It started by being presented as a local news story with limited information.  They knew what happened, but many details had not yet been released, such as the name of the deputy, and Chris’ bodily state that night.  As the story developed it was used to help illustrate a growth in police-involved shootings.  Finally, the case of Deputy Bishop was decided as a justified act of self-defense.  Throughout the whole ordeal, this story was spreading around the community.    While the news sphere has forgotten about the shooting of Chris Grundy, the village of Saranac has not forgotten this tragic turn of events.Sources1.       “Family questions cop-involved shooting”, Dani Carlson, Wood TV 8, May 15^th, 2010
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/suspect-shot-by-sheriff-deputy-dies 2.       “Christopher Grundy's shooting death by Kent County Sheriff's deputy mystifies family”, Sandra Martinez, mlive.com, May 15^th, 2010http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/05/christopher_grundys_shooting_d.html3.       “Christopher Grundy's death is latest in uptick of officer-involved shootings in West Michigan”, John Tunison, mlive.com, May 17^th, 2010
4.       “Deputy cleared in shooting after case”, Wood TV 8, June 16^th, 2010
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/deputy-cleared-in-shooting-after-chase
5.       “Video of police shooting of Christopher Grundy shows lengthy car chase” John Tunison, mlive.com, June 16^th, 2010
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/video_of_police_shooting_of_ch.html
6.       “Prosecutor rules deputy-involved shooting of Chris Grundy is self defense” WZZM 13, June 16^th, 2010
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=122717

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/05/christopher_grundys_death_is_l.html

Visual Impact

On February 23^rd, the day before the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s Nationwide race ended with a multicar wreck.  I read about this in an article on the Huffington Post (link).  I was drawn to this article when I saw this picture of Kyle Larson’s number 32 car partially in the stands of the race.  This image is placed near the headline to attract readers to click the story, and at the very beginning of the article is a video of the crash.  These build up towards the story which is very sympathetic to the fans that were injured in the race.  This picture is placed to draw out an emotional response from readers and it really delivers.

"The 20-year-old Larson Stood in shock a few feet from his car"

My jaw dropped when I saw this photo.  The caption “Massive Wreck at Daytona” couldn’t be more fitting.  Seeing the car with the engine taken clean off is a terrifying sight.  An estimated 33 people were injured in the crash, and the slideshow on this post (Huffington) really demonstrates that.  Larson’s car went through the guard, debris shot into the crowd, and a tire was launched into the stands.  Kyle Larson’s number 32 car was left a shell of its former self, but he’s just happy to be ok and “hopes everyone’s alright.”

Jenna Fryer took a news approach for this story.  This story was the day of the crash so this story was more focused on just presenting the facts to the readers.  She also used quotes from fans, officials, and racers to further present the story.  She highlights how Tony Stewart’s feelings after slipping past the wreck to win the race.  His statement “We assume the risk, but it’s hard when the fans get caught up in it,” helps draw the reader into the tragedy of the wreck.  These guys are professionals and the last thing they want is to see their fans hurt during a race.

                

Jenna uses the slideshow and her sources to make the reader feel emotionally attached to the victims.  She uses quotes for the viewers like “It was freaky” and “I immediately started to cry” to effectively make the reader feel similar to these fans, but the pictures of the flaming engine and the hole in the guard wall say more about the crash than the written word.  The slideshow and the video are the real eye openers of this article.   The video shows the entire crash unfolding and the slide show has crazy pictures of the whole thing.  Jenna let the visuals speak for the crash while she tried to speak for the people.

                

The pictures are the main appeal of this article.  I am in no way a NASCAR fan, but after seeing Larson smashed up against the catch fence I just couldn’t help but click on this article.  I found myself watching the video and looking through the photos before reading the article.  For me they were the important sources of information, and not necessarily the article itself.  Jenna presented the facts well, and she did a good job of adding some context to the pictures, but her words were overshadowed by the more visual aspects of this article.

Sources

·         Jenna Fryer, “Fans Injured In Daytona Crash On Final Lap”, Huffington Post, February 23^rd, 2013

Importance of Context

A picture is worth a thousand words, but are these words true or false?  Errol Morris, brings up a very interesting point about this by asking can a picture be true or false?  Ultimately the answer is no.  A picture without word can be neither, but the words and thoughts we use to describe a picture can be.  We may see a picture of boat, a mountain, or a person, but without any other knowledge, how is one to know what mountain they're looking at, or where is this boat sailing.  The point is without context we can only formulate our own ideas about a picture.  A picture doesn't say a thousand words.  We do.  Once we are given the context of a picture it suddenly changes how we think of it.  I'll give an example.

What could I be?

I just show this picture and one is free to judge what it may be for oneself.  One may see the round shape and think maybe this is some type of fancy new throwing disc.  Others will notice the word "nexus" and relate that to the Google Nexus line of phones and tablets.  Is it used with these devices?  Could it be a new portable speaker?  No, in fact it is a LG's wireless charger for the Nexus 4 phone.(link)  Simply set your phone on the slanted surface and it will charge.  It's difficult to guess such a thing from simply staring at a picture.

Before context is added one is left to simply wonder what they are looking at.  They use their past experiences to help them along the way, but their interpretation of the image may be true or false.  Without words to describe a picture it is difficult to guess what something may or may not be.  That is the importance of context in pictures.

Taking an Approach

"In taking an approach, you rewrite not passages or ideas from a text but another writer's mode or style of working."(pg.95)  As stated by Harris, this is the main difference between taking an approach, and forwarding and countering.  In taking an approach one must ask questions that pose problems for the author's theory.  Harris uses three terms to describe taking an approach.  They are acknowledging influences (Noting writers who have impacted your writing), turning an approach on itself ("Asking the same questions of a writer that he or she asks of others"), and reflexivity (analyzing the key choices you've made in writing your text).  In acknowledging influences you talk about what aspects of a writer's style and way of thinking have influenced your own work.  In turning an approach on itself you take questions that the author posed for the readers, and turn them back on the original work.  Lastly, in reflexivity the writer reflects on the choices he or she made in his or her writing, whether it be approach, goal, or even a certain term that has  been highlighted.  These three terms come together to explain Harris's idea of taking an approach.

I have found it difficult to find an example of this in the New York Times, or the blog I've been reading (engadget.com).  So I will instead try to take an approach with Rewriting.  I would say Harris has had a profound impact on my writing since I began reading this book.  In his book he has been combating difficulties with using other writings in your own work.  He has done this by coming up with terms that he relates to writing (countering, forwarding... etc), and using other writing as examples to help explain his terms.  I've found myself trying to incorporate the works of others more often since starting Rewriting, and the methods he gives for forwarding and countering have been very helpful.  I now ask myself and Harris's Rewriting "What is the project?" and "What are its uses and limits?"  The project is obviously to instruct people on ways of including the writings of others effectively into one's own work.  The uses range from how to build upon the ideas of others, how to effectively counter another person's idea, how to using non text sources (like a Dodge commercial), and how to effectively analyze the writing style of another.  He draws strength from the writings of others, and those are the spots where his book truly shines.  I've found the biggest limit is the one Harris acknowledges himself.  He finds some of his own definitions lacking, like in forwarding he even asks the reader to come up with other methods of forwarding.  I find that he is trying to use his own limit as a tool to help illustrate his point to his readers, in the hopes that they will build upon his ideas, like he has done with so many others in Rewriting.

Short Essay 1 Rewriting a News Story

**I will be rewriting the story “Decision on Afghan Troop Levels Calculates Political and Military Interests”.  I will be doing so with the goal of writing this story for a blog for families of military personal like The Heroes at Home, with goal of seeing the troops come home from Afghanistan.  To do this I will highlight Mr. Obama’s current plan as a good step forward, but will suggest that it isn’t a fast enough transition.  I will also make the story more focused on the people and less on politics, by talking about families, and the emotional toll of losing a loved one in war.**  

President Obama’s administration officials released his decision to remove half of the 66,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan by 2014.  This marks a crucial step towards withdrawing from Afghanistan, but to many families of soldiers in the Middle East it isn’t fast enough.  Many believe we are in a war being fought over oil and other natural resources (article comments).  Mr. Obama is expected to highlight this withdrawal in his State of the Union Address, and hopes to receive bipartisan support.

Vice President Biden has voiced a desire to pull out troops more quickly, but Mr. Obama has been known to favor a slower and more careful approach.  Mr. Obama once called this war a “war of necessity”.  Our goal was to stop Al Qaeda, and we succeeded.  Now it’s time to bring the troops home.

This war has dealt a tremendous toll to the families of the soldiers.  These men and women are out there fighting and dying, when they should be here; protecting our country, providing relief during natural disasters, and working to benefit themselves and their nation.  Instead they volunteer to go overseas to protect a country that doesn’t even want them there.  Too many wives have been left without husbands, kids without a father, and Mothers who have lost their children.  More will follow if the proper actions are not taken.

Mr. Obama’s plan calls for gradual withdrawal over the next year.  According to the White House’s withdrawal schedule, 5,500 troops will have left by May, by the end of November that number will be up to 14,000, and by the end of February 2014 the number of troops in Afghanistan should be around 32,000.

The decision for a slower withdrawal in the warmer months is appreciated by military officials.  ”The intensity of combat in the warmer months is twice what it is in the colder months”, said military expert Michael E. O’Hanlon.  Frederick Kagan, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, says that reducing the number of troops by half could reduce chances of the campaign’s success, but he says the flexibility of the schedule will lessen that risk.

Mr. Obama has also acknowledged some post 2014 concerns.  He has stated that there are two main goals for the future in Afghanistan.  “Training and equipping Afghan forces, so that the country does not again slip into chaos, and counterterrorism efforts that allow us to pursue the remnants of Al Qaeda and their affiliates”

Mr. Obama has been reluctant to discuss withdrawal after 2014, but he probably hasn’t thought a lot about it.  The plan for the next year is a sufficient one and the president has more pressing matters to deal with.  He is still working to try to find a solution to the looming debt crisis and the lockdown in Congress.  There is still much that needs to be done if we are to pull out, but this plan is a necessary step along that pathway.  One can only hope that a full withdrawal is in the future.

Sources-

-Michael R Gordon and Mark Lander, “Decision on Afghan Troop Levels Calculates Political and Military 

Interests”  New 

York City, New York Times, 12 February 2013.

- Military Family Blogs, The Heroes at Home

Piercing the Press-Sphere

Jeff Jarvis’ explanation of the “press-sphere” leads me to believe that we are all part of it.  Through the internet everyone from business marketers to bloggers can post what they see as news.  He uses four diagrams (I say four, because I can’t see the first one) to illustrate the press-sphere, how we perceive, and how a news story develops. 

The new press-sphere was born out of the internet.  He stresses how the press itself isn’t as involved in the press-sphere as one might think.  The press mya post the story, but they link to companies and to the government for information.  Often times these news stories are circulated by regular people to their peers.  He then goes on to draw a press-sphere from the "me" perspective.  The diagram shows individuals getting most of their news from peers, companies, and personal searches.  The press itself plays a role distant to those around it.
I found his diagram of the news process to be rather confusing.  At first glance I was somewhat intimidated by all of the jagged lines pointing out everywhere, and the way the ideas were linked together was a little confusing.  After staring at it for a few minutes I managed to glean the general idea.  Many ideas and sources come together to make a story,  then it is commented on and forwarded to others.  I preferred the diagram for the life of a story after it is posted.  The bubbles made it easy see bow many different sources come together to further the life of a news story.

www.buzzmachine.com/2008/04/14/the-press-becomes-the-press-sphere)

My Time with the Times

                 So far reading the times has been quite an eye opening experience.  I’m not particularly used to reading the newspaper, but I really like the NYtimes.com format.  I can just glance at all of the big articles and see which one appeals to me.  Lately I've been following the battle in DC over the budget.  Congress can’t agree on how to handle the budget, so we may be facing automatic cuts across the board on March 1^st.  Obama is trying to reach a deal, but who really knows with Congress.  They’ll probably just drag it out until a week or so before the fact and then pass a deal that not only delays the problem, but also aggravates it.  I also check out headlines that jump out at me.  Sadly this usually brings me to murder cases and kidnappings.  I was happy to learn that the hostage situation in Alabama has been resolved peacefully.  I was also somewhat surprised to hear that the Post Office is likely to stop delivering letters on Saturdays.  They say it will save about $2 billion a year, but the article also highlighted that the Post Office is losing around $15 billion annually.  It just makes one wonder if we’ll even have a post office in thirty years.  I think I’ve missed a lot of the happier stories.  The tragedies just jump out at me so fast, that I don’t even notice “World’s Biggest Cookie.”  I would say reading the times hasn’t really affected my habits, except for the obvious new habit of reading the New York Times.

New Era Speed Reading

Why are so many literary mediums fading into obscurity in this day and age?  The answer lays in recent technological advances, like personal computers, smart phones, and the internet that makes information easier to access than ever.  People can stay in touch instantly by using their phones, email, or the many social networking websites, like Facebook and Twitter.  Today’s readers don’t spend hours in libraries, looking through countless books for research.  Now they search the web and information is just a click away.  This trend has had some painful effects on many print industries.  Many newspapers, like Newsweek, have switched to online publications, because most people don’t go out and buy newspapers anymore.  The book store Borders went out of business, because of the increased popularity of eBooks.  Many complain about these changes, but this is just a natural shift.  With increased technology there is a trend that is moving away from printed writing, while moving toward electronic writing.    This all begs the question, are the changes good or bad?

            Some would argue this shift in reading and writing habits is detrimental.  The internet itself has had a powerful impact on the way we read nowadays.  The types of readers that the internet is spitting out are impatient.  Nicholas Carr notes that “what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.”  People don’t stop to read long articles on the internet.  They “power browse” through the web, and are always moving forward, while rarely going backwards.  People also now enjoy the ease of eBooks and online news, and as a result eBooks have taken $3.2 billion of their market (oedb) from print competitors, and most newspapers today are published solely online.  Chris Hedges would argue that this digital age is cultivating a “semi-literate” population who only understand “images and slogans.”  He talks about how these people lack “the ability to think for one’s self,” and that politicians will take advantage of that to gain control.  These arguments paint a dark picture, but the world has been in a state of change for as long as history has been recorded.  We are all just along for the ride.  Besides, these changes are good.  The transition to electronic writing cuts back on logging for paper.  Anything that saves trees can’t be that bad.  With newspapers going online, they have become more accessible.  My grandmother loves reading the newspaper on her iPad, because she has trouble getting out and about.  The internet brings her news straight to her.  Hedges would say that today’s America is a barely literate population, but this is simply not the case.  According to Lunsford’s study the kids of today are reading more than ever before, and I hope this is a continuing trend.

The shift to digital reading and writing has had some wonderful effects.  The internet has made information more accessible than ever before.  Students today don’t have to spend hours in libraries to gather their research.  They’re one web search away from a massive pool of good and bad information, but it’s up to the reader to judge the value of what they’re reading.  Today’s readers may not read lengthy articles or even books anymore, but they read more than one would think.  They “power browse” through web pages, never stopping, but instead, they look for the main idea and judge the value of what they see.  Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are a wonderful new source of reading and writing.  In them people can share their thoughts and experiences with their friends in a live feed.  Many people today will spend hours just reading about what their friends have been doing or thinking.  I wouldn’t necessarily call Facebook or its ilk a formal literary medium, but it can’t be argued that thousands of people read and write on social networking sites on a regular basis.  However, the best example of the way reading and writing have changed is the internet’s very own literary medium.  Yes, I’m talking about the blog.

            Blogging exemplifies how we as readers and writers have changed.  Andrew Sullivan describes blogging as “instant and global self-publishing.”  “Instant and global.”  These two words are the foundations of blogging and also the direction our literary shift is heading in.  The majority of blog posts are between 100 and 500 words (modern1).  This short length appeals to our short attention spans.  Like I said before, today’s readers and writers are impatient.  The readers like blogs, because they are relatively short.  One’s attention drifts after a couple pages so a short blog post is ideal.  The writers like blogging, because they can self-publish their work to a global audience for free.  This idea of “global self-publishing” really wasn’t possible until the internet.  This is bringing about a golden age for writers.  Any average Joe can go to a site like Blogger and start his own blog with relatively little difficulty.  This ease is unheard of.  Before the internet, one would have to be a recognized writer, or have access to a large sum of money to get published, but that is no longer the case.  I personally have found blogging to be an incredibly fun way to express myself.  I hadn’t blogged before this class, but I will continue to do so after this class is over.  Nobody knew what a blog was twenty years ago, and now it’s one of the fastest growing literary mediums.

            This new shift in literacy is also having a profound effect on writing.  Writing style changes based on the medium, and the internet’s new writers exemplify the current trend.  They write what they think as they think it.  Blogging is the end result of this.  As Sullivan puts it, “We blog now-as news reaches us, as facts emerge.”  I believe blogs will continue to evolve and grow until blogging is one of the main mediums that writers use to publish their work.  I also believe this writing class is an example of how writing has changed.  I think this blog writing class model is fun, accessible, and something similar could be used in High School classes.   The school could make its own blog like database for students to post there writings.  It would make submitting homework much simpler, and it would also make it easier to get input from peers.    Society and technology keep moving forward side by side.

            All of these changes in reading and writing lead one to wonder… What’s next?  Clearly our populations reading and writing habits are changing.  This new trend of impatience that is evident in today’s readers is leading to increasingly short and to the point writings.  Many new writing activities have emerged, because of the web.  Activities like blogging, posting, commenting, and even trolling have become the norm.  Hedges made a good note in that the trend seems to be to a more image based society.  People today fill their writings with all sorts of visuals, like pictures, videos, and even little text faces.  The internet bombards its users with visual ads on basically every webpage, but these ads fund the websites and keep them accessible to everyone.  These ads are aimed at the new readers, by being getting their message across in the fastest and flashiest way they can.  New readers won’t delve deeply into a site, unless they have a significant personal interest in the content. In the future, I imagine publications will continue to grow shorter and more image based, so as to grab the fleeting attention span for as long as possible.

            These new literary trends are shoving old habits aside.  People will continue to gravitate towards the ease of the digital age.  It’s a natural progression.  People are continuing to use eBooks as opposed to hard copies, and it’s easy to see why.  People can house an entire library of books on their computer of tablet.  EBooks are cheaper and help save the environment, by cutting back on tree consumption.  Web research has made research projects exceptionally easier too.  I’ve never spent an extended period of time doing research in a library, unless I was on the computer.  Using mainly encyclopedias and books for research is almost unheard of nowadays.  Everybody uses the internet.  One has to make the distinction between good and bad web sources, but that is an easy trade off to make in exchange for the vast amount information available on the web. 

            These technological advancements will continue to reshape the world as we know it.  The internet has made it easier than ever before to publish personal writing.  All of the major writers are going to have their work available on the internet.  Whether they are blog posts or eBooks, they’ll be on the web.  The new writers will be intertwined by the internet.  Their work will be accessible by a worldwide audience, and this global pool of information will continue to grow.  The “new readers” will swiftly swim through the pool of information.  They’ll be a click away from everything.  It’ll be a golden age for writers.  However change is a double bladed sword.  The last Borders closed on September 18^th of 2011, and this leads me to ponder what’s next?  Will it be libraries, blogs, cell phones, or even the beloved Facebook that lands on the chopping block of change?

Sources

- America the Illiterate By Chris Hedges

- Is Google Making Us Stupid? July/August 2008 Atlantic Monthly  By Nicholas Carr

-Why I Blog November 2008 Atlantic By Andrew Sullivan

-Our Semi-literate Youth? Not So Fast By Andrea A. Lunsford

- modernl.com – Ideal blog post-

-Bookstores in America- (oedb) - http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/12-stats-on-the-state-of-bookstores-in-america-today

Our News

                Compared to others, it seems like I have a little in common with classmates in terms of news intake.  I watch more TV news than most people.  Everybody seems to be getting most of their news by word of mouth from friends.  They also use Facebook a lot.  I don’t really understand the Facebook trend very well.  I get that a lot of people use it and I see how they can get news, but I guess I just don’t get the appeal anymore.  I don’t go on Facebook very much, simply because it bores me.  I really just don’t care anymore.   I do think that there is a trend that is moving towards internet news, and I can completely understand why.  It is just easier.  One can look up news on any category they want with a few taps of the keyboard.  This goes back to what Carr was saying about convenience.  People just want life to be faster and easier nowadays, and the internet caters to that.  Talking about convenience though, nothing is more convenient than being thrown news by your friends and that is how most people in my generation seem to be getting their news.  “Why do I care enough to watch the news?  Because I’m an adult and this is something adults do.”  This is the usual obligation that we seem to feel about the news in general.  We all have been reading the New York Times (I hope) and I think that has been good for everybody.  I don’t think most people in my generation read newspapers and I think it gives a good new perspective on the news.  Clearly the way we get our news is changing.  People didn’t even know what Facebook was 15 years ago, and now it’s a “legitimate news source.”

Where's My News?

                Thinking about where I get my news is a little strange.  I normally look at national news as opposed to local news.  I’ll normally be watching like Fox News or CNN when I’m interested, but my interest comes and goes with the political season.  I do often find myself tuning in for the Daily Show and the Colbert Report.  They’re lighter hearted than most news shows.  I just don’t really like how almost every news story nowadays is bad.  They’ll show happy things, like a new charity program, and glance at them for about five minutes, but they’ll talk about a murder case for weeks, months, or even years.  It’s just depressing.  I fell into a weird habit a couple years ago.  I used to watch Fox News while I played World of Warcraft.  I know it’s a weird combo, but I enjoyed it.  I felt more informed on current issues in the real world, but I was still enjoying myself in a fantasy world.  I've also been reading the New York Times since this class started.  I like being able to just glance over the top stories, to see if any of them jump out at me.  I also go to IGN.com for my video game news.  I like to stay up to date on big announcements in the video game and technology industries.  The technology news sights are probably my favorite news, just because I enjoy the material, and it’s always looking forward at exciting new developments.

Essay 1 Rough Draft

New Era Speed Reading

*I’m not really happy with my intro.  I also don’t really know if the overall structure is that good.  I made an initial plan, but it wasn’t lengthy enough so I just sorta kept adding stuff.  Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.

            The readers and writers of today are very different from their counterparts of the past.  With new technologies like personal computers, smart phones, and the internet, information is easier to access than ever.  People can stay in touch instantly by using their phones, email, or the many social networking websites, like Facebook and Twitter.  Today’s readers don’t spend hours in libraries, looking through countless books for research.  Now they search the web and information is just a click away.  This trend has had some painful effects on many print industries.  Many newspapers have switched to online publications, because most people don’t go out and buy newspapers anymore.  The book store borders went out of business, because of the increased popularity of eBooks.  I believe this change is just a natural shift.  With increased technology there is trend that is moving away from printed writing, and moving toward electronic writing.  Electronic writing cuts down on paper waste and is more easily distributed.  We are clearly in the midst of a literary shift and it will be interesting to see what direction we literates are heading in.

            Some would argue this shift in reading and writing habits is detrimental.  The internet itself has had a powerful impact on the way we read nowadays.  The types of readers that the internet is spitting out are impatient.  Nicholas Carr notes that “what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.”  People don’t stop to read long articles on the internet.  They “power browse” through the web, and are always moving forward, while rarely going backwards.  People also now enjoy the ease of eBooks and online news.  Many bookstores, like Borders, have gone out of business, and most newspapers today are published solely online.  Chris Hedges would argue that this digital age is cultivating a “semi-literate” population who only understand “images and slogans.”  He talks about how these people lack “the ability to think for oneself,” and that politicians will take advantage of that to gain control.  These arguments paint a dark picture, but I don’t think it’s all that bad.  The transition to electronic writing cuts back on logging for paper.  Anything that saves trees can’t be that bad.  With newspapers going online, they have become more accessible.  I always thought those old newspapers were too large and cumbersome.  Hedges would tell you that today’s America is a barely literate population, but I don’t believe this is the case.  According to Lunsford’s study the kids of today are reading more than ever before, and I think this trend will continue.

            I think the digital reading and writing shift is a good one.  The internet has made information incredibly accessible.  Students today don’t have to spend hours in libraries to gather their research.  They are a web search away from incredible amount of good and bad information.  It is up to the reader to judge the value of what they are reading.  Today’s readers may not read lengthy articles or even books anymore, but they read more than you’d think.  They “power browse” through web pages, never stopping, but instead, they look for the main idea and judge the value of what they see.  Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are a wonderful new source of reading and writing.  In them people can share their thoughts and experiences with their friends in a live feed.  Many people today will spend hours just reading about what their friends have been doing or thinking.  I wouldn’t necessarily call Facebook or its ilk a formal literary medium, but it can’t be argued that thousands of people read and write on social networking sites on a regular basis.  I have to say that I think the best example of the way reading and writing have changed is the internet’s literary medium.  Yes, I’m talking about the blog.

            Blogging exemplifies how we as readers and writers have changed.  Andrew Sullivan describes blogging as “instant and global self-publishing.”  “Instant and global.”  These two words go are the foundations of blogging and also the direction our literary shift is heading in.  The majority of blog posts are between 100 and 500 words (Link).  This short length appeals to our short attention spans.  Like I said before, today’s readers and writers are impatient.  The readers like blogs, because they are relatively short.  Our attention drifts after a couple pages so a short blog post is ideal.  The writers like blogging, because they can self-publish their work to a global audience for free.  This idea of “global self-publishing” really wasn’t possible until the internet.  This is bringing about a golden age for writers.  Any average Joe can go to a site like Blogger and start his own blog with relatively little difficulty.  This ease is unheard of.  Before the internet, one would have to be a recognized writer, or have access to a large sum of money to get published, but that is no longer the case.  I personally have found blogging to be an incredibly fun way to express myself.  I hadn’t blogged before this class, but I think I’ll continue to do so after this class is over.  It’s just fun being able to express myself, and I hope the next generation of readers feels this way as well.

            All of these changes in reading and writing lead one to wonder… What’s next?  Clearly our populations reading and writing habits are changing.  I believe the new trend of impatience that is evident in today’s readers will lead to increasingly short and to the point writings.  I also agree with Hedges in that the trend seems to be to a more image based society.  The internet bombards its users with visual ads on basically every webpage, but these ads fund the websites and keep them accessible to everyone.  These ads are aimed at the new readers, by being getting their message across in the fastest and flashiest way they can.  It takes something special to hold the attention of the new readers.  In the future, I imagine publications will continue to grow shorter and more image based, and electronic publications will become the norm.

            I think this new shift in literacy is also having a profound effect on writing.  Writing style changes based on the medium, and the internet’s new writers exemplify the current trend.  They write what they think as they think it.  Blogging is the end result of this.  As Sullivan puts it, “We blog now-as news reaches us, as facts emerge.”  I believe blogs will continue to evolve and grow until blogging is one of the main mediums that writers use to publish their work.  I also believe this writing class is an example of how writing has changed.  I think this blog writing class model is fun, accessible, and will be used in high school classes in the near future.  It is an easy way for students to publish their writing, and to view their classmates writing.  I think this model will have a really cool impact on high schools and even middle schools.  With these new writing methods I believe that we will continue to evolve as writers and the results will be more writers than ever before.

            These new literary trends are shoving old habits aside.  People will continue to gravitate towards the ease of the digital age.  It’s a natural progression.  People are continuing to use eBooks as opposed to hard copies, and it’s easy to see why.  People can house an entire library of books on their computer of tablet.  EBooks are cheaper and help save the environment, by cutting back on tree consumption.  Web research has made researching projects for school exceptionally easier.  I’ve never spent an extended period of time doing research in a library, unless I was on the computer.  Using mainly encyclopedias and books for research is almost unheard of nowadays.  Everybody uses the internet.  One has to make the distinction between good and bad web sources, but that is an easy trade off to make in exchange for the vast amount information available on the web.  Whether they like or not, it’s tough to argue that readers and writers aren’t different, because of the internet.

            These advances in technology have made me optimistic about our future.  The internet has made it easier than ever before to publish personal writing.  I hope in 10 or 20 years everyone’s blogging or whatever the equivalent may be.  Imagine young kids posting homework on school blogs.  The new writers will be intertwined by the internet.  Their work will be accessible by a worldwide audience, and this global pool of information will continue to grow.  The “new readers” will swiftly swim through the pool of information.  They’ll be able a click away from everything.  It’ll be a golden age for writers.

Sources

- America the Illiterate By Chris Hedges

- Is Google Making Us Stupid? July/August 2008 Atlantic Monthly  By Nicholas Carr

-Why I Blog November 2008 Atlantic By Andrew Sullivan

-Our Semi-literate Youth? Not So Fast By Andrea A. Lunsford

- modernl.com

Reflections|snoitcelfeR

Blogging has been a new a fun experience for me.  I haven't ever really blogged before this class, but I think I'll try to continue to do so afterward.  It's just fun to sit down vent my thoughts.  I don't really think blogging has been that difficult.  I have a little trouble getting started sometimes, but once I start writing I have those 250 words before I even realize it.  I think that has been the most surprising part of blogging.  It's easy to just go straight from my head to the screen.  I'm also surprised at how fun this is.  I find myself getting all giddy as I express myself on this screen.  Honestly, this open ended topic is my favorite kind of blog post.  I don't feel constrained by a topic based on specific readings, or anything like that.  I can just say how I feel and it makes me feel good.

I have to say my reading and writing habits have changes a little bit since this started.  My writing style feels similar to how it used to before, but I find myself getting more personal with these blog posts.  I don't really like formal writings, so I really gravitated towards the informality of blogging.  I don’t know if my reading style has changed significantly, but I have been looking for things that I wouldn’t be looking for a year ago.  I find myself looking for strengths, weaknesses, and tone much more than I used to in the past.  I also find myself looking for interesting parts of my classmates’ blog posts when I get bored.  I really enjoyed some of the blog posts people made that weren’t part of a prompt.  Those posts felt more personal, and gave me an insight to their interests.  I have to say that blogs are one of my new favorite writing mediums.

Literacy

Scribner and Lunsford offered interesting views on literacy.  I really enjoyed how in depth Scribner went into her analysis of literacy.  Her three metaphors of functionality, power, and salvation gave a very broad idea of what literacy is.  To be really basic about it, literacy is the ability to read and write in symbols.  It’s the ability to take your thoughts and put them down in a way that can be visually interpreted by others.  It is also the ability to read what others have written, and discern what they mean by it.  Anybody can look and a piece of writing and say something like “this is all about cheeseburgers” without the faintest understanding of what it really says.  That skill of understanding what the writer is trying to say is the key. 

I was really happy to see that Scribner showed both the strengths and weaknesses of the three metaphors.  Functionality is important for functioning in a modern society, but people don’t necessarily have to be literate to survive.  Power stresses the “relationship between literary and group or community advancement.”  It stresses that literacy is necessary for social change, but that isn't necessarily true.  Studies have shown that social change promotes literacy(ex: USSR, China, Cuba).  Also, I don’t believe most people write for the benefit of their country or for the collective.  They write to express themselves, and to convey their feelings to others, or just for themselves in the form of a journal.  This goes more into the salvation metaphor in that people write for themselves, but I don’t think any of these metaphors can stand alone.

I was glad that these readings had a more upbeat tone than Carr and Hedges.  Scribner talked about literacy in itself, but Lunsford seemed to be a complete U-turn compared to Carr and especially Hedges.  Lunsford’s studies showed that kids are writing more than ever before, and they also adjust their writing for different audiences and occasions.  Hedges talked a lot about how literacy is growing weaker in this technological age, but I don’t agree.  My generation reads and writes constantly.  Sure it isn't in the traditional medium, but times are changing.  There was a time when only a fraction of the population was literate, and now at least it’s a majority.

Clearly there is still a problem with illiteracy that needs to be addressed.  Too many are under-educated and these people lead lives of crime, because they don’t know what else to do.  I don’t know what the solution is, but I believe getting kids interested in reading at a young age is important.  I don’t believe the shift to internet writing and texting is a bad one.  Kids are reading and writing more in those mediums than ever before.  I think this is admirable, and I hope this trend of increased writing continues.

Illiterate America and Google Images

Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Is about the impact Google and the internet have had on thought, primarily through how they've affected reading.  It seems to me that Carr’s answer to this question is yes.  Carr talks about how he used to enjoy delving into lengthy articles, but after his exposure to the ease of the internet, his “concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages.”  He talks about how we as people are starting to think like the internet.  People don’t read as much in the traditional sense anymore.  Now we “power browse” and we seem to try to “avoid reading in the traditional sense.”  His reservations seem to be rooted in his loss of his ability to deep read.

Ironically I noticed the impact he’s describing while I was reading his work.  I found myself continually getting distracted, and feeling tempted to just start trolling the internet.  I also have trouble deep reading, but I can still curl up with a good book.  I don’t believe everything he said is true, but I can’t argue that the way we think has changed, because of the internet.  I can’t imagine having to do research in a library with a bunch books and a big encyclopedia, but I've been spoiled by this beast we call Google.

Hedges seems to be upset with America, because he doesn't consider a large chunk of the population to be literate.  He talks about how they respond to images and emotional appeals, and make decisions without referring to any real textual information.  He considers literacy not only the ability to read, but also the “ability to think for oneself.”  He points out how presidential speeches and debates are getting progressively easier to understand, so even a 10 year old (or someone who reads like a 10 year old) can understand their emotional appeals.  I found the end of the column to be particularly troubling.  He paints a dark picture of the future of America, where this “illiterate” sect of America will become a majority.  I found his piece to be a little too negative for my taste.  I’m all for “reading” and what not, but to me this guy seems a little over dramatic.

Both Hedges and Carr describe a change in the way America is thinking, that is being brought on by a desire for information to be simpler and faster.  People aren't reading as much as they used to, and it’s having an impact.  Books stores are closing, because of new eBooks and just a general lessening of people who read books in America.  Carr focuses more on the internet then Hedges, and Hedges paints a darker picture, but they both see a troubling trend in America’s reading habits.

Thoughts on Reading & Writing

Reading is the act of intelligently interpreting the writing of someone else or even yourself.

Writing is the act of taking one's ideas and recording them in a way that can be interpreted by others.  (Ex. Journal, blog, novel, video, etc...)

Rewriting a Blog

In Rewriting Joseph Harris goes a long way to explain the essence of academic writing.  It seems that most writing is rewriting, because we take the information we use from countless other sources.  Harris describes how “texts don’t simply reveal their meanings to us; we need to make sense of them.”(Pg. 15)  In “Coming to Terms” Harris talks about different ways to read someone’s writing.  He basically said that proficient readers look for “aims, methods, and materials.”  I really liked what he said about how writers take what they read and incorporate into their own work in their own words.  He talked a lot about analyzing different writings and how one should look for not only what the writer does well, but also what they seem to leave out or avoid.  I really liked how he incorporated other writings to not only serve as examples of academic writing themselves, but also for he himself to analyze them and show exactly what he’s talking about. 

Harris and Sullivan seem to have similar opinions on writing.  They both talk about writing as a “conversation.”  Harris and Sullivan both talked about the almost uncontrollable nature of internet writing.  They both clearly have a passion for writing, and blogging is really a form of rewriting.  One formulates an opinion or idea about an issue, takes in information about the issue, and they then use the information to support their writing, or in this case a blog post.  The hyperlink on the blog shows what is being “rewritten.”

The main difference between these two writers seems to be the formality with which they write.  Clearly “Why I Blog” is project of love on Sullivan’s part, while “Rewriting” is more of a guide to academic writing.  Sullivan seemed to want to express his love for blogging, and Harris seemed to want educate readers about his views of rewriting.

My First Blogging Experience

Ok, technically this isn’t my first blog, but whatever.  I haven’t found creating a blog to be very difficult.  In fact it is pretty fun.  I was a little surprised at how easy it is, not only to write for the blog, but also to add things to the blog like videos and pictures.  It gives me a lot of ideas for future blog posts.  This blogging experience has changed how I view bloggers as well.  It is such an easy medium for someone to put his or her opinions out there, and it has shown me that bloggers are really just regular people who thought, “Hey, I want to say something.”  Before I even realized it I had 100 words down and I was still going.  I can also see how blogging is similar to Facebook.  It’s quick and easy to post my thoughts, basically anybody can read what I wrote, and they can give me there opinion as easily as I posted mine.

Blogging is a little scary though.  Any random troll could come and rip me a new one in the comments, but that’s just part of the fun.  Honestly I’m tempted to use this blog as a means to rant about random stuff that ticks me off, and it’s also tempting to just spit BS.  It’s not like I have to fact check myself, but I’m pretty sure my readers would call me out if I start blatantly lying.  I think my favorite part of this blogging thing is that I can just start writing.  I don’t really feel confined right now.  I can just say what I think, and I think that is awesome.  So I hope you all enjoy my blog, and I hope to be insightful, lighthearted, and funny.

Oh and just for fun I added a cool picture. (figured I’d start messing with the special features on day 1 ;)

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/01/winners-of-the-national-geographic-photo-contest-2012/100434/

Sullivan Response

I found Sullivan’s “Why I Blog” to be very insightful on not only his experience blogging, but also at how blogging was viewed when it first started.  He talks about how he is instantly hooked on the free-form style and I get that.  I enjoy how blogging is just from the writer directly to the reader, without any editors or fact checkers in the middle.  Yes, blogging can be accident prone, but that is part of the fun.  He also talked about how blogging has an unfinished tone, like a never ending story.  The blogger just keeps adding his or her thoughts and people can choose to read it or not. 

I can see why Sullivan gravitated towards blogging after reading his article.  As opposed to when he worked for The New Republic blogging is much quicker and easier.  He complained about the “the endless delays, revisions, office politics, editorial fights, and last-minute cuts for space” that come with regular publishing, and I can see how that could be frustrating.  Blogs are a writer’s dream.  It’s means for someone to instantly publish themselves and it’s a medium that can potentially reach anyone on the planet.  To those who put down blogging as inaccurate and unprofessional, Sullivan brings up “the fierce, immediate scrutiny” of the blogs readers.  He also seems to like how blogs are short as opposed to other mediums.  People don’t go online looking for massive articles to read.  People like there information to be short and sweet, and blogging caters to that.  Sullivan clearly enjoys the freedom and speed of blogging and so do I.  It short, sweet, and an enjoyable means for someone to get his or her opinion out there.