Post #8

After hearing everyone talk about Topic so negatively I am very very very thankful that I didnt ever take freshman composition at Tech. I think it is absurd from what everyone in class was saying, to not know or ever encounter who grades your paper. Half of understanding and benefiting from a grade is seeing and discussing the comments made by the teacher. Our discussion in class today was really interesting. I don't agree that web 2.0 is taking away credit from talented people... In fact I think it is doing the opposite. People who "make it big" now are even more admired because they are competing with so many more individuals. There is a fine line between the reader and writer on web 2.0 but that is not news to anyone! Everyone knows that when you read the review for a product, if its really good and shows no flaws, it was possibly written by the creator. It goes back to what we have been saying all semester-- what you see on the internet has to be taken with a grain of salt. I also think the loudest people don't always succeed. Alot of times when peopel are too in your face about an issue or too loud people block them out and don't listen to their argument. It's the people who are more shy that are listened to when they speak. If someone who is normally quiet speaks up, then it causes others stop and listen. I don't want to repeat what I said in my last blog but I was not a fan of the MOO. I thought it was too chaotic and a waste of time. I know alot of people were just having fun, so I guess in order to really judge that method of education we would have to do it several times.

Blog Post #7

I think that the internet can be used as an effective means for communication, but things like Facebook, Myspace and Wikipedia should not be used for composition… only communication. Like we experienced in class today, online classes would be very sporadic and off topic 99% of the time. I’m sure everyone had fun today using the MOO but how much educational value was there to it all. In order for a student to get anything out of chatrooms used for education they need to be taught from an early age the purpose of these teaching methods. There would have to be very strict teaching guidelines to monitor, not only the quantity of participation from each student, but the quality as well. The video we watched in class today on youtube was very interesting to me. It raises a concern for people who are planning to become a teacher. If education is going to continue to advance technologically it seems near impossible for teachers to catch up. I think generation gaps are natural, ya know as things advance it makes since that the older crowd would be slower to catch on. I do know a lot of parents who text message and have Facebook accounts, so it is possible to stay current. All of the technological advances do kind of scare me, but I think about what people predicted about the millennium and it has been fine so far. When the changes come gradually everything seems a lot more manageable. A question that I would like to have answered is what will happen to our grammar and our students’ language if everything begins being taught online? Just think how different text message lingo is from how you would write an English paper.

Blog Posting # 6

I think the discussion today about the differences between print and web was really interesting; especially when we broke the web into two different categories, 1.0 and 2.0. I think print and philosophers go hand in hand. People are a lot more reluctant to publish something in a book, and it’s a lot harder to find someone to publish your work, if you are writing about non sense. With the internet and rhetoric era people are just trying to persuade one another that they have knowledge they might or in most cases might not have. I made the argument in class that sites such as Wikipedia are probably pretty safe because people wouldn’t waste their time writing about something unless they were passionate and knowledgeable on the subject. However, as the day went on and I continued to think about that, I take my statement back. I think there are enough bored, ignorant people out there that would just put information on open forum sites because they have the power too. They are trying to convince themselves as much as they are trying to convince others that they know what they are talking about. I have come to find that people argue, just to argue, regardless of if there is a point… It is examples like these that make the internet less credible and dangerous for children. I am glad we have started switching to the 2.0 version of the web because I think it gives a lot of intelligent people a way to speak out and share their intelligence. Sites such as wikipedia can be a good reference point as long as people remember to use a filter when reading the information. The responsibility of patrolling kids on the internet is in the hands of parents AND teachers. If a child is chatting online or looking at their myspace I think that is more geared toward the parents’ responsibility. But as far as teaching students how to find credible research sites, that is something teachers should show them.

Blog Posting #5

Honestly, I think Humanism is the most difficult concept we have discussed this far in this class. Especially when you try to determine whether or not humanism should be recognized as a religion. Humanism doesn’t seem all that different to me that the way a lot of people practice religion. If humanism ultimately means seeking out personal happiness and happiness for others, I think that is the way a lot of people view religion on the surface. I understand that the bible sometimes asks you to overcome difficulties and to take the “hard” path in order to avoid sin and this will not always make you happy but I see a lot of similarities, too. If you describe humanism simply it doesn’t seem that abstract—I mean isn’t everyone trying to obtain happiness and most people enjoy making others happy too. The part that confused me is I think this is more a way of life than a religion. But then it makes me question, isn’t religion a way of life? Composition allows humanists to get their ideas out into society and to further their thoughts. Without composition people could still verbalize their ideas, however as we have already learned nothing reaches as many people or survives history like written work. As far as choosing an artifact for our rhetorical analysis… I haven’t decided on one yet. I was hoping to read everyone’s’ blogs to get some ideas. There are a lot of things that I think are persuasive but I’m struggling to find one that interests me. I think this assignment could be a lot of fun if you choose an artifact you actually care about. I welcome any suggestions you aren’t using!

Blog Posting #4

I think understanding rhetoric affects every part of a persons life. It not only helps you understand yourself and why you do and say certain things, but it also helps you better decipher what others are trying to communicate to you. Before I was familiar with rhetoric communication, both emotionally and logically, was very one dimensional. I didn’t think much about the meaning behind what I say or more importantly what others were saying to me. I think rhetoric is more accepted within “formal” relationships, for example between you and a co-worker, or a boss, or a professor. You understand that going to work and school means people are using their language to teach and persuade you of something. What it has really changed for me is the communication between people I feel very comfortable with, like friends, family and/or a spouse. Its with these people that I thought I said what I really meant to say without any type of persuasion involved. It has really made me question what I am trying to get from certain relationships by the way I use language. Its important to understand rhetoric in order to successfully communicate with anyone, regardless of the relationship or situation.

Blog Posting #3

I do think this class has raised a lot of questions in my head regarding language, but more specifically, rhetoric. I’m not an English major so until now I was completely unaware of what rhetoric was. I am not totally convinced that all language is meant to be persuasive but I am at least pondering the idea which is a lot more than I can say for before this course started. I like how we have open discussions and it seems like everyone feels comfortable enough to contribute. I also like the freedom we have to write whatever we are thinking about on our blogs. It helps everyone to get to know each other better than we could just meeting a couple times a week. The articles we read the first couple classes were really interesting and fun to talk about—maybe we could read more of those. I know it’s important to understand all of the theories too, but the other articles were more entertaining. I think it is helpful that you lead the discussions/lectures with a thesis to guide us; without the thesis I bet we could go off on a bunch of random tangents. Anyways I think this class is great and completely not what I expected.

Blog Posting #2

I am having a harder time finding my stand point on this issue because I think that SOME language is purely done for persuasion, but not all. I know a lot of people have ulterior motives when they talk with friends, but sometimes I think people do things without the mindset to persuade others. I think the reason I am not comfortable with saying that all language is rhetoric, meaning it’s persuasive, is because it makes all of our language seem “evil.” If we only say nice things to each other in order to persuade our peers it takes away the happiness and joy. Or if we only help the needy in order to persuade them, it takes away the selflessness. This goes back to our first class lecture about humans being innately selfish and evil… I’m beginning to see a trend here! Now I’m switching to the power that language has over humans and society. Without language we would have nothing. I definitely have a new respect for language… it’s not that I didn’t appreciate language before but I had never studied the effects as in depth as we are in this class. I don’t think this stuff is mindless at all… if humans know and understand anything I think it should be what sets ourselves apart from all other species on the planet.