Did I find myself, and not look for others to tell me who I am? That was my goal for this first year of college. I needed to know who I was before I could attempt to pursue the rest of my life. There are certain things that define me, and certain things that I do for fun that helped me figure all this nonsense out. A couple of those things are; laughter, is sounds silly but it is key to everything I love. Corny jokes, funny movies, and just being with friends. Probably the most important one, for the sake of this assignment, is writing. I love to write, but it’s a different kind of writing. I’ll get a feeling and hear one phrase that just speaks. An example of this is something I think I heard in class one day which is ‘structured chaos’. Mr. Mitchell said it one day examining the board about the lists we had written down. I immediately pulled out my phone and the ideas just started flowing.
This doesn’t really show up in most of my papers because I don’t know how to harness my ideas and make them presentable that people may understand. The closest I got to this was the very first blog assignment, about advertising. I picked a poster that dealt with baseball and Passion, ‘There is no other way to play than all out.’ I explained what it was this poster said to me, and why is described me as a person, having not played a day of baseball in my life. “This poster describes me because I love a challenge….” I feel there are so many challenges in life, and they are a great thing! I loved the challenge in my writing, did I always succeed? That’s a negative, but it made me better and I realized my style of writing more. I had only an inkling of an idea before this semester that my writing is actually important to me. I had just thought it was a bit of silliness and that I would grow out of it.
The topics were interesting, and broadened our horizons while letting us keep our opinions. For the most part I agreed and the only paper I was bored with was the technology assignment, and that was because I picked the most dull and broad subject of ‘computers’. I tried to write facts and still express my creativity, which made it hard to read and very abstract. An example of the difficulty reading it can be expressed by the comment from Paul Mitchell of the University of Oklahoma at the end of my paper “I feel your claim doesn’t truly appear until your conclusion paragraph. Without knowing what’s going on, it’s very hard to follow your body paragraphs”. I have trouble writing where other people can understand what it is I’m talking about.
This can affect the ethos of my papers, which make people not want to read what I have to say. Ethos, defined in Essentials of Argument “the writer develops a sense of awareness of the audience’s background, and finds a way to appeal to them’. (Wood, Nancy; Essentials; pg 164) I don’t usually appeal to my audiences which is my problem with my writing.
Did I find myself? Yes, I know who I am and what I am about. Did this class help? Of course, anything you do which requires you to look inside will help you to figure out who you are and what you want. Am I going to continue blogging? No, I was worried about people critiquing my work, and once there isn’t a format I might revert to the way I usually write, which is abstract and hard to follow. I learned a lot this semester, and I will apply this =)
They say, to laugh is to love, as to live is to enjoy—I say, to feel is to hurt to know you’re alive. With one comes another, so open your heart and be damned if you don’t get what you want.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Income. Battle of the Sexes
Men make more money than women in today’s world. It’s been this way since biblical times. “Set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at 50 shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; and if it is a female, set her value at 30 shekels.” (Leviticus 27: 3-4). According to Hilary M. Lips of Ranford University, in 2001 white women earned 73.4% of what white men earned.
Many people talk about how women are closing the wage gap, but statistics show that only about four percent of the worlds top companies in diversity have women in leading positions. This is discouraging for the women out there today looking to break into the corporate world. Women who make it to these positions typically work more hours then men, but have lower hourly wages. Why is this? Are women truly inferior to men? There are different valuable characteristics that both sexes hold, but women are not worth 26.6% less than men. Some people believe that women make less because men are more reliable in the work place. Pregnancies and being child care providers is a couple of the reasons that women are thought to be less reliable. Typically in a two parent environment, the woman is expected to be the one to leave work in order to care for the kid’s needs.
The inequality is a substantial difference and has an effect on today’s society and community. If we don’t acknowledge the problem, close the gap and get rid of the glass ceiling now; when will we?
Many people talk about how women are closing the wage gap, but statistics show that only about four percent of the worlds top companies in diversity have women in leading positions. This is discouraging for the women out there today looking to break into the corporate world. Women who make it to these positions typically work more hours then men, but have lower hourly wages. Why is this? Are women truly inferior to men? There are different valuable characteristics that both sexes hold, but women are not worth 26.6% less than men. Some people believe that women make less because men are more reliable in the work place. Pregnancies and being child care providers is a couple of the reasons that women are thought to be less reliable. Typically in a two parent environment, the woman is expected to be the one to leave work in order to care for the kid’s needs.
The inequality is a substantial difference and has an effect on today’s society and community. If we don’t acknowledge the problem, close the gap and get rid of the glass ceiling now; when will we?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
She's the Man.
She's the Man is a great movie that is impowering in many ways. While being incredibly funny and whitty with it's comments, it also sends the message that girls can succed in a man's world. It is based off of the Shakespeare play ' the twelfth night' . In the movie there is a girl named Viola and she loves soccer. Her school cuts the girls team and the guys won't let her play on their team. Viola's brother is Sebastian and he is following his music to London, So Viola goes to Illyria ( a school) and pretends to be her brother so she can make the boys soccer team in order to play against her old school. Her roommate at Illyria is Duke Orsino, who is in love with Olivia. Once Olivia meets Viola, disguised as Sebastian, she falls for Viola, who starts to love Duke. We now have a twisted love triangle in which no one is happy.
This is the same as the play- the characters are based off of Shakespeares characters and the main plot of this movie, as the play, is love. There are other points to this movie I want to cover besides the love aspect. In the movie how Viola succeeds in undermining people's thoughts on girls against boys. In the second to last scene is the soccer game against Viola's old school and boyfriend. She ends up playing the last quarter of the game as a girl. Her hard work pays off in the end and they win the game. She defies the stereotypes made for girls, when she is more of a tomboy than a lady. It's all about girl power ladies. We aren't built like boys, they are built bigger and stronger but skill goes a long way. If we want to do something we are not limited in today's world. This is the message She's the Man sends. As in the words of Viola Hastings " no I will not wear heels, becasue heels are a male invention to make a woman's butt look smaller. And to make it harder to run away."
This is the same as the play- the characters are based off of Shakespeares characters and the main plot of this movie, as the play, is love. There are other points to this movie I want to cover besides the love aspect. In the movie how Viola succeeds in undermining people's thoughts on girls against boys. In the second to last scene is the soccer game against Viola's old school and boyfriend. She ends up playing the last quarter of the game as a girl. Her hard work pays off in the end and they win the game. She defies the stereotypes made for girls, when she is more of a tomboy than a lady. It's all about girl power ladies. We aren't built like boys, they are built bigger and stronger but skill goes a long way. If we want to do something we are not limited in today's world. This is the message She's the Man sends. As in the words of Viola Hastings " no I will not wear heels, becasue heels are a male invention to make a woman's butt look smaller. And to make it harder to run away."
A Day Without Technology
I went an entire day without my cell phone! I chose a Wednesday to do this, the catch is I didn't tell anyone that I wouldn't have my phone. My day started at 8:00a.m when I woke up to my alarm. I then proceeded to hand over my phone, with some resistance, to my friend Vanessa. She kept it somewhere hidden all day. This day was actually quite freeing, not having to check my phone every couple minutes in case I missed a message. I held an actual conversation and gave people my undivided attention! I didn't know what time it was and had to keep asking people, but that is only one disadvatage of not having a phone. I think technology is a great thing, when used in moderation. It helps us but when we become obsessed and feel like we 'have' to have it, that's when it becomes a nuisance.
My day without technolgy showed me a few things, but not enough to change my outlook on how I use my phone. It was interesting for the day, but for longer period of time than that simply would not work with my life and schedule. There are things I could live without, but in this generation, a cell phone is not one of them. Plus, it made me feel loved when I finally got my phone back and there was about 15 messages! True most of them said something like, "why are you not answering me?".
It's interesting how we now expect people to have their phones on their persons at all times. I know how I keep my phone right beside me at all times, and others expect this from you as well. It's the normal thing to do now, and for someone not to text you back is almost an insult. My day without technolgy was an expereince, one that was worth it while it lasted and made an impression, just not one that I am willing to relive anytime soon.
'
My day without technolgy showed me a few things, but not enough to change my outlook on how I use my phone. It was interesting for the day, but for longer period of time than that simply would not work with my life and schedule. There are things I could live without, but in this generation, a cell phone is not one of them. Plus, it made me feel loved when I finally got my phone back and there was about 15 messages! True most of them said something like, "why are you not answering me?".
It's interesting how we now expect people to have their phones on their persons at all times. I know how I keep my phone right beside me at all times, and others expect this from you as well. It's the normal thing to do now, and for someone not to text you back is almost an insult. My day without technolgy was an expereince, one that was worth it while it lasted and made an impression, just not one that I am willing to relive anytime soon.
'
Monday, February 15, 2010
There in no Other Way to Play- Then All Out.
Baseball is about heart. You see these big guys on television. Contrary to popular belief it is not all about steroids and who can get in the hall of fame. Baseball is a way of life, a way of life that I grew up and appreciated more every year. This poster says everything I could ever want to say about baseball. It shows determination on the offensive players face<> it show the satisfaction he will get upon being called safe( he hasn’t been tagged) which is the dirt that you gladly brush off you pants after a big score is made. It shows heart of playing so hard just to get to this one moment which might be so crucial in this game. There are many people who would say that it’s only a game, but for those of us who have ever been in this situation where we know this isn’t just a game, it’s hours of hard work and discipline in order to portray your skills at that very instance where you can get the satisfaction of completing a task set before you. This is, most certainly, a way of life which you can take out of the diamond.
The author is unknown to us because I Goggled the image and it came up from several sources like posters.com, Shanefreeman.com and so forth. It was created for the purpose of inspiring people and showing that from passion, hard work, determination and a little grit, you can achieve your goals. The focus is on the guy sliding into the base. The dust being kicked up is not exaggerated but a good representation of what happens on a hot summer day while playing ball. The obvious focus is passion: there is no other way to play then all out; and the feelings that drive the players/people. What is missing is the defensive guy’s face as he tries to tag the ‘tigers’ player out at the base. We can’t see if he is dreading the contact, which would be understandable since the guy sliding isn’t a pixie, or if he is faced ready to meet the opponent. This would say a lot about his character. From the body language and the foot placement you can assume he is ready for the slide just isn’t quick enough to get lay the tag down.
The audience is geared towards anyone who can relate to working so hard for a goal. Everyone has a passion for whatever they do in their life; they do it for a reason. It might be that they want to be the top dog, or just actually love what they do. This message can apply to anyone who is driven and focused. This applies to me because I have played ball since I was 4 years old. I always went and watched games, been through the two a days. All those taught me to do whatever my task is to the best of my ability, and if that ability isn’t good enough, then make it better. I apply this at work, school, and my relationships. This message is so applicable to anyone who is willing to better themselves. The saying “Good, Better, Best. Never stop and rest; until your good is better and your better is best.” sat in a frame on my bedside table since t-ball.
Does this poster persuade people to do their best at everything? This could be an indefinite argument because I don’t know people’s reaction to the poster. For many it could be an incentive to get out there and be better at whatever they do; but for many it could also just be another poster and pass by it without a second thought. Most people when looking at something don’t think “I’m going to analyze this and see what the take home message was.” The way that the picture is eye catching could have helping hand in making people take a second glance.
This poster does represent me to others, but not in an obvious way. People’s immediate response to this poster brings to mind a certain kind of person who would identify themselves with this poster. I do not fit that profile one bit. This poster describes me because I love a challenge and yes I am in love with the game of baseball. I have never played baseball; I played softball, basketball and track. My boyfriend currently plays and I love going and watching not only his games; but the games here at OU will be a blast. Baseball is fun to watch because I have grown up around it and love being in a close game; it can get a bit boring just like any game when your team is winning by a zillion points. It is all worth it when you see that one game that makes you hold your breath down to the last pitch. Baseball is part of my life, and I love this defining part of me that helped define the person I am today.
The author is unknown to us because I Goggled the image and it came up from several sources like posters.com, Shanefreeman.com and so forth. It was created for the purpose of inspiring people and showing that from passion, hard work, determination and a little grit, you can achieve your goals. The focus is on the guy sliding into the base. The dust being kicked up is not exaggerated but a good representation of what happens on a hot summer day while playing ball. The obvious focus is passion: there is no other way to play then all out; and the feelings that drive the players/people. What is missing is the defensive guy’s face as he tries to tag the ‘tigers’ player out at the base. We can’t see if he is dreading the contact, which would be understandable since the guy sliding isn’t a pixie, or if he is faced ready to meet the opponent. This would say a lot about his character. From the body language and the foot placement you can assume he is ready for the slide just isn’t quick enough to get lay the tag down.
The audience is geared towards anyone who can relate to working so hard for a goal. Everyone has a passion for whatever they do in their life; they do it for a reason. It might be that they want to be the top dog, or just actually love what they do. This message can apply to anyone who is driven and focused. This applies to me because I have played ball since I was 4 years old. I always went and watched games, been through the two a days. All those taught me to do whatever my task is to the best of my ability, and if that ability isn’t good enough, then make it better. I apply this at work, school, and my relationships. This message is so applicable to anyone who is willing to better themselves. The saying “Good, Better, Best. Never stop and rest; until your good is better and your better is best.” sat in a frame on my bedside table since t-ball.
Does this poster persuade people to do their best at everything? This could be an indefinite argument because I don’t know people’s reaction to the poster. For many it could be an incentive to get out there and be better at whatever they do; but for many it could also just be another poster and pass by it without a second thought. Most people when looking at something don’t think “I’m going to analyze this and see what the take home message was.” The way that the picture is eye catching could have helping hand in making people take a second glance.
This poster does represent me to others, but not in an obvious way. People’s immediate response to this poster brings to mind a certain kind of person who would identify themselves with this poster. I do not fit that profile one bit. This poster describes me because I love a challenge and yes I am in love with the game of baseball. I have never played baseball; I played softball, basketball and track. My boyfriend currently plays and I love going and watching not only his games; but the games here at OU will be a blast. Baseball is fun to watch because I have grown up around it and love being in a close game; it can get a bit boring just like any game when your team is winning by a zillion points. It is all worth it when you see that one game that makes you hold your breath down to the last pitch. Baseball is part of my life, and I love this defining part of me that helped define the person I am today.
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