What is Style? Part 2

Honestly, my perception of what style is has not really changed. I still think that someone's style is a term that shoudl eb used to describe the way that that person writes. However, a few more kinds of styles have been brought to my attention aside from informative or narrative.

I never really viewed comic writing as being a writing style. When we did the project about Scott McCloud's book "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art", it made me see comics in a new light. I am not saying that I completely enjoyed reading his book, but it definitely gave me a new respect for the people who read and write comics. I also never looked at YouTube videos as a form of writing. I never really thought about what was being said could have been derived from a script.

I also learned that there are many easy ways to make your writing better. If you use examples of the rules that we covered in Williams and/or Strunk and White, you can clean up your writing with ease. There were definitely some things that I found myself to be guilty of, like being too wordy at times, which I plan to remedy in my future works of writing. Even though the books were a little dry and boring, there was a lot of valuable information inside their covers.

I had never considered writing to be a technology, either. It never really had occur ed to me that writing was something that had to be developed over time since it something that I have always done. In Baron's "From Pencils to Pixels" he chronicles the journey of the written word. It is really amazing how far everything has come from the origins of writing. I guess I kind of developed a new respect for writing as well. I never realized that there used to be people who feared it or even hated it like Socrates. It is hard to imagine what the world would be like without having all of the knowledge that we have at out fingertips being so easily accessible. Thankfully, we will never have to find out.

Peer Review Recap Part 4

Peer review was more useful to me in the beginning of the course. I would present an actual draft of my work and have my peers critique it. However, as the semester went on, the helpfulness of peer review kind of went to the wayside. It is really hard to get attempt to provide a meaningful draft when your peers are not going to. Add in the pressure of having things that would actually be due to turn in for grade due on the same days as peer review essays, and you have not much motivation to complete a full draft.

I think that I have learned to be honest with other people about their writing. If you sugar coat it for them, they will not learn anything. Fear of hurting someones feelings can just lead to them turning in a piece of bad writing, which would probably be more detrimental to them in the long run. If something sucks, let them know!

I have learned to take my classmates' advice into consideration. There are a lot of good writers in your classes when you get to this level in your education. Some are really insightful. Granted, there are still those that don't know what they are doing or talking about, but there are not too many of those.

Looking @ Past Readings >>> Forward to Essay

Walter Ong discusses the "garbage in, garbage out" complaint about computers in "Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought." The same can definitely be said for short films. There is plenty of garbage out there...the dude that farts onto a flame seeing if it will explode, people doing stuff to their friends after they pass out at a party, etc... chances are, those people did not set out to make something meaningful. While we may enjoy those crappy videos, we understand that they are purely entertainment. In other words, we WANT the garbage. However, we just might not want it all the time. For the times we don't want it, there is good, deep stuff out there, too.
There is a an excerpt from Baron's "From Pencils to Pixels" that really sums up how I feel about this video technology: "as old technologies become more automatic and visible, we find ourselves more concerned with fighting or embracing what's new. Ten years ago, math teachers worried that if students were allowed to use calculators, they wouldn't learn their arithmetic tables. Regardless of the value that parents and teachers still place on knowing math facts, calculators are now indispensable in math class." I think the same definitely goes for low budget videos. There are definitely people, like Alexandra Juhasz, who feel these low budget videos are dumbing down out culture, but you can already see that they are becoming more of a staple in the education system today. How often does a teacher show a YouTube video in class? Most do at least once throughout a semester. I'm not saying that These videos should be used ALL THE TIME by teachers, but I think they can definitely help make things a little more interesting in the classroom.
There is a relationship between comics and short movies as well. When shooting a short movie, it is done in pieces, kind of like a comic is done in panels. Each piece is a little story, but as a whole, they accomplish something much bigger. If pieces were removed, the whole would be completely different.

Low Bridge Videos: Good or bad?

The actual process of making a simple video is pretty fun. Its nice to get to do a project and have very little limitations put on it. Its also nice to be able to work with other people on a fun project rather than the typical, horribly boring collaborative assignment. There are definitely a few connections between the making of a video and the writing process. Although the actual mechanics are different (you don't normally need a video camera to create a piece of writing) the processes are almost the same. First, you start out with a basic idea. After you decide what you will write about or make a video on, you do some brainstorming. Whether you rite it down or just do it mentally, it always happens. Then you create the work. Next you edit. In writing this is proofreading and revising; in film making its actually editing. Then, you share your work and await its review.
I can see why Anderson would advocate the use of low budget media. I think it definitely does help students to be more create and break way from the "repressive and undemocratic" ways of the education system that is in place. When we sat in our groups today, we were all trying to figure out what we were going to do for our videos. I have never seen so many people actually engaged in what we were doing. Everyone seemed to be excited to have a little freedom. I do also agree with Juahsz, however. There is definitely more crap on YouTube than useful, informational works. I think it is a great idea to use it for a fun project, but not much more than that. It is definitely a medium that should be viewed as entertainment, not education.

Peer Review Recap Part 3

There really weren't any similarities between my posts. The first I was just talking about Google Docs and the second I was discussing the Wetpaint Wiki. It seems that my opinion hasn't changed about Google Docs. I still really like it. It is so much better than the Wiki. The only thing that makes the Wiki better is that the Wiki allows you it view more people's papers, which gives you more examples to examine. I like that Google Docs lets allows you to put in a direct comment to someone. It is much better than having to put a thread in at the end. It seems that Brittany Reed and I feel the same way about peer review: our views really haven't changed that much. We also agree on the fact that people tend to sugarcoat things while doing reviews of their peers' papers. This can cause for people to do things wrong and never really be told, which makes the process of peer review useless. Susan McCraken and I seem to disagree: she likes the Wiki better than Google Docs. She thought that Google Docs was more complicated, which i completely disagree with. Setting up the Wiki was a nightmare! Google Docs is so easy to put together and edit. One thing her and I did agree on was that when you don't get much of a draft done, it is hard to really get much out of peer review. I have had drafts ready for both peer review sessions before this, but this time around I really didn't have much ready because I had two other huge assignments that were actually do on this day. To be honest, I probably won't even out what I submitted into my paper.
As a whole, I think peer review is extremely helpful. It makes it easier for you to see mistakes that you may have made. When someone else reads your work, they always see things that you as I writer do not see. It is also really good to have other examples of work to look at. The best things people can do to get the most out of peer review are to bring a good draft with them, be completely honest about the work that they review, and to not take the criticism of others to heart. We are all just trying to do the best we can!

Reading Comics w/ McCloud Part 2

I looked at Jeff Gerding's pick, "Slim" which can be found at http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF157-Slim.jpg. This comic is actually pretty funny. It might be short, but it manages to make you laugh in under five panels, which I think is pretty impressive. I agree with Jeff's observations. It is obvious that the artist has a very deep knowledge and understanding of comics. The way that it is drawn definitely gives an accurate portrayal of the old mobster comics. Jeff hit the nail on the head when he said that the style of art could be called iconic. He said, "there's enough detail that the images are able to clearly convey what the artist wanted them to: anyone who is even remotely familiar with the detective comics of the 1930s will recognize this as a pretty faithful parody."

The comic is a good example of of scene-to-scene transitions. It moves from setting to setting, not moment to moment. It is also easy for the reader to gain closure. It is clear that Slim has eaten the box of hamburgers in order to mask his identity, which allows him to get away with whatever he has done. Ambiguity is definitely lacking, as Jeff pointed out. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out what has transpired in the "gutter," or the empty white space between the panels.

The color scheme that is used in this comic stays pretty true to what McCloud was talking about in chapter 8 of Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. The color of Slim's clothing is what the reader associates with him, which is what allows the reader to understand that the fat mobster is Slim at the end. If the artist would have changed the color of Slim's clothing, the reader would probably have ended up confused. McCloud wrote, "while comics colors were less than expressionistic, they were fixed with a new iconic power. Because costume colors remained exactly the same, panel after panel, they came to symbolize characters in the mind of the reader." (188)

Understanding Comics 1

I chose a comic entitled "Copper" which can be found at http://www.boltcity.com/copper/copper_038_clockwork.htm. The comic follows a working man and his dog on an average day of work. The companions stumble on a clock that isn't working, so they decide to fix it. After doing so, they realize that they will have to come back to rewind the clock very so often. The dog points out that they will have to work more overtime than usual and he is not happy about it. The owner doesn't seem to mind though.

The first concept that i saw that reminded of me of McCloud was the concept of what happens in the "gutter" of comics. We see that the man is attempting to move some screws around on the clock. The next frame shows noises being made: "kchunk! tok tok tok!". Even though it doesn't show exactly how the guy fixed the clock, we can assume that he did something to make it work.

Another McCloud concept is the layout of the comic: it is action to action. Each frame represents the action that occurs next: first they stumble upon the clock, they ponder what is wrong with it, the reach in to their tool boxes, etc.

Section 2: Blog 1: Picturing Texts

I chose one of my favorite websites to navigate, http://www.puma.com. I can spend hours shopping on it, even if I really do not intend to buy anything. The way the site is set up illustrates one of the many concepts addressed in "Picturing Texts" beautifully: classification. The main page is divided in to four major categories: Shop, Sport, Sport Fashion, and Sport Lifestyle. This makes it easier to understand what you can expect to find on the site. Without these categories, you could spend tons of time searching for the women’s shoe line or a man’s sweatshirt. The categories allow you to move right to the section that you want to look through.
Obviously, I go to the women’s section. This category is divided even further into sub categories: footwear and apparel. This makes it easier for girls like me who might need a sweatshirt, but can’t bear to look at the shoes without making a purchase. The categorization of these things allows me to bypass the shoes that I love so much without being tempted to buy. If the categories that "Picturing Texts" mentions weren’t incorporated into this site, I would end up with empty pockets.

Post 9:Peer Review Recap 2

Both peer review processes were good, but for different reasons. The last one was a little bit more private. I don't like having my work put out there when it isn't finished. This was especially true of this assignment. The version of my paper on the Wiki is nothing like their version that I will actually be turning in.
People did seem to take time and actually read through the papers though. The feedback that I got was good. It always helps to have someone proofread your writing for you, which is essentially what happened. It was also nice to be able to view a plethora of other essays. It made it easier to decide how I wanted to attack the writing of my paper. The Wetpaint Wiki was kind of annoying at first, but once I understood how to use it, I actually liked it. I think its a good thing to do in a college setting, but for lower grades it might not be appropriate. (Kids can be cruel! No one needs to be embarrassed about their work.)

Post 8: What are Others Saying?

I totally agree with Jeff Gerding’s point about the Williams book: it is much more in depth than the Strunk and White book. It is crucial to use clear, concise language in your writing. Williams does devote a whole chapter to this point while Strunk and White merely say “omit needless words.” The principles that Jeff pointed out that Williams uses are much more helpful than the example that Strunk and White. Williams wrote:
1. Usually, compress what you mean into the fewest words.
2. Don’t state what your reader can easily infer. (115)
while Strunk and White only gave this example:
A period of unfavorable weather set in.
It rained every day for a week. (21)
The former is definitely much more helpful than the latter. Not only are those principles much more helpful, there are a few examples given as well. Jeff is completely right.

Allison Bondie’s view on the two books is really quite interesting. Strunk and White may be a little less explanatory but they are much less pretentious and a lot more basic, which makes them easier to understand. I love how she describes Williams as being “self referent to their (his) own greatness.” I guess there is something to be said for simplicity. I could definitely feel the pretention radiating out of the Williams book as I was reading it.

Beth Logsdon’s blog makes a good point about the shortness of Strunk and Williams as well. “It (the shortness) makes it very good for referencing,” Beth said. It would be much easier to find something in the Strunk and White book if I needed an answer quickly. In order to find something in the Williams book, I would need to take a few minuets to look for what I really needed. Strunk and White can be referenced in seconds. These differences in style may be due to the differenced in the time periods of which they were written, which is another good point that Beth brings up.

Siobhan Stevens brings up a really good point about the Williams book: it doesn’t really address punctuation at all. After reading Strunk and White, I would have thought that Williams would have addressed it more since I believe that punctuation is a very important part of writing. It helps make it clear just as much as word choice does. I disagreed with her on another point, however. I found the section in Strunk and White on misused words to be totally helpful; maybe I should be embarrassed to admit that, but I did. As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I tend to forget the correct usage of effect and affect. Nauseous and nauseated are another words set that I often confuse with one another.

It is interesting to look at other people’s blogs and see that we are all having a lot of the same thoughts about these books. It is also nice to get an outside perspective and have things be brought to my attention that I never would have thought of otherwise.

Post 7: Comparing S&W with Williams

I don’t really think that Williams discusses what I wrote about in my previous blog about Strunk and White’s book The Elements of Style. The Williams book, Style: Towards Clarity and Grace, focuses less on simple mechanics, like using commas or colon placement, and more on the placement of words and creating a thoughtful piece of writing.
I think that Williams’ book is much more helpful than the book by Strunk and White. There are a few reasons for this. The first is that the Williams book gives the reader a much more detailed explanation of why things sound better and look better in a certain format while the Strunk and White book basically just tells you what to do rather than why you should do it. When I actually understand why something is supposed to be a done a certain way, it makes it much easier for me to do it in that manner. The book explains each example almost too much. The Williams book also addresses things that cannot be fixed by using a spell checker. A spell checker will not let you know when your prose are unclear, do not make sense, or do not sound professional. A spell checker will often pick up on simple grammatical errors or when you use the wrong punctuation. The Williams book allows you to be able to scan your work of writing and understand what needs improvement or rewording. I feel that these skills are much more valuable than simply knowing how to punctuate correctly.
The Strunk and White book was much less helpful to me than the Williams book. I feel that I have most of the things that it went over under control at this point in my academic career. However, the section on words that are commonly confused and misused was very helpful. I still struggle with knowing whether to use effect or affect in a sentence. The fact that the Strunk and White book was much smaller and easier to read made it helpful as well. It is good to keep around if you need to reference something quickly. The Williams book would be harder to make a quick reference to, unless the person who read it marked everything off with little markers or flags. The fact that Strunk and White uses simpler language makes it easy to understand as well. Pretty much anyone that can read would be able to understand the point that the book is trying to make while the Williams book should only be used by a much more experienced reader. Both of the books serve a purpose, even if the purpose is different for each one. Each is good resource for any writer to have on hand.

Post 6: Revising with Williams

“Student Government at EMU is committed to improving the quality of student life on campus. The student body each spring elects a president, vice president and 24 senators who, along with representatives appointed from various organizations, compose the Student Senate. The executive officers and members provide input to the administration of the University to help solve problems and improve programs and services. Student Government also sponsors campus-wide events. The student services office, known as REACT, provides assistance to students with legal, rental or University-related problems.” This excerpt came from the Student Affairs and Campus Life section of the EMU catalogs. Although there are not major problems with it, there are definitely a few things that could be tweaked.
It might be better if it was written like this:
The Student Government at EMU is committed to improving the quality of student life on campus. Each spring, the student body elects a president, vice president, and 24 senators who, along with representatives appointed from various organizations, will compose the Student Senate. The Student Government sponsors campus wide events as well. The student services office, known as REACT, provides assistance to students with legal, rental, or other University related problems.
Basically, my problem with this excerpt was the second sentence. In the first part where is says “the student body each spring”, doesn’t flow very well for me. In chapter 4 of Joseph L. Williams’ book Style: Towards Clarity and Grace, he points out that is important to shift less important information to the left of a sentence (68). Each spring is definitely not the most important part of the sentence. The writer of this piece was not thinking of managing his endings. It is clear that the fact that the president, vice president, and 24 senators being elected will compose the Student Senate is the most important part of that sentence. By placing “each spring” at the front on the sentence, you are also moving the most important piece of information over to the right (69). I also put the article “the” in front of the first and third sentences. This really had nothing to with anything in the William’s book; it was just seemed like they were missing when I read the passage initially. Now the passage sounds much better and the meaning has not been changed at all.

Post 5: Strunk and White

Honestly, reading Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style equated to a few pretty dull hours of my Tuesday. I do think that the book is a valuable tool for writers. Any question that a writer could have about style is answered in this short little work. There were two particular elements that I found to be really helpful. In Chapter 1, the Elementary Rules of Usage, point number 8, use a dash to set off an abrupt break or interruption and to announce a long appositive or summary, was informative for me. I like to use dashes but I have always wondered if I was doing it right. The book made me happy to see that I was doing it right most of the time. The example “his first thought on getting out of bed –if he had any thought at all-was to get back in again” (9), seemed like a way that I would use the dash. The second example was a way that I would have been too scared to use the dash: “the rear axle began to make a noise-grinding, chattering, teeth-gritting rasp” (9). It totally makes sense, but I wouldn’t have though to use a dash in that sentence. Now I know that a dash is basically the same thing as a comma, but with more staying power.
I found the whole chapter on misused words and expressions to be helpful as well. I knew how to use a lot of the words that were mentioned properly, but not all of them. A phrase that I am pretty much ashamed to admit that I tend to use a lot of is “one of the most” (55). I guess Strunk and White consider it to be “feeble,” but sometimes it just comes out of my fingertips as I type a paper; I can’t help it! I tend to mix up the words nauseous and nauseated as well. Hopefully I will never do that again! Strunk and White give a clear distinction between the two. I never knew that the former meant “sickening to contemplate” (53).
There were a few things that were dated in this manual, though. Point one in the first chapter is so not necessary! Who doesn’t know to “form the possessive singular of nouns by adding ‘s?” (1) I think they teach us that one in about first grade. That definitely wasn’t the best way to start off the book. Many people may look at that and think that the whole book would be as useless as that bit of information. The second element listed, in a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last, was not very helpful either (2). Once again, this is a rule that I have been taught since I started writing. If I don’t have it down by now, chances are I will never get it right! This book may not have been the most exciting read ever, but, even though not everything was helpful, I’m glad that I know it exists. I will probably use it as a reference in the future.

Post 4: Peer Review Recap 1

When we started our introduction to Google Docs, I was a little apprehensive at first. I usually tend to prefer doing things hands on and speaking with people face to face more than utilizing any means of technology, but this assignment changed my mind. Google Docs made it easy to say things that I wouldn't normally have felt as comfortable saying to someones face. I never would have told someone that something sounded redundant if I was looking at them directly. Redundant insist really a mean word, but I still would have felt bad about it.
When I first began using the program, I couldn't understand why the highlighter color wouldn't change for me, which frustrated me to no end. Once I realized that I needed to highlight the text first, it was smooth sailing from there! I said everything that I wanted to say. Brittany and Nick have my complete, honest opinion to view and take into consideration. I would totally use Google Docs for my students when I become a teacher. It made the editing process a lot easier once I figured out was doing.

Post 3: My Writing Technologies

The writing tools I use on a regular basis are pretty standard; either a pen or pencil and paper or a computer. When taking notes or trying to actually learn something, I use pen and paper. For some reason, when I actually write information down, I retain more of it. I think that might be because it requires more thought to hand write than it does to type. There's just something about actually shaping the letters. If a piece of writing needs to be more lengthy, a computer is perfect. It allows me to get my thought out as quickly as possible and edit them with ease. Unfortunately, I hardly retain anything that I type.
I avoid using typewriters at all costs. I absolutely hate using them. If you make a mistake, it requires so much effort to fix it. I don't have time for all of that. I really hate fountain pens, too. My handwriting is not the neatest to begin with, but when I use a fountain pen, it looks even more messy than it usually does. I would even call it chicken scratch at that point. I also avoid any other writing technology that isn't really conventional. I don't use paint, human excrement, or any other weird things that people may write with.

Post 2: What is Style?

To be honest, when I hear the word style, I automatically think of the way someone dresses. Words like punky, preppy, or skater come to mind. Since this is an English class, I'm pretty sure that the word style is being used in a different way. When being taken into this context, the word style has to do with describing the way a person writes.
There are many different types of writing styles: historical, journal writing, narrative, etc. I don't think one is better than the other, but there are certain times when each is appropriate. Style can also describe the flow of a person's work. Some people tend to write in short, choppy sentences while others like to carry on and on in the smallest number of sentences possible. Some people change writing styles just as often as they may change the style of the clothes they wear, but others, like some of the really great authors, have a distinct style that they hold onto forever.

First day of class

I am having trouble digesting the fact that my summer is coming to a close. I am not a miserable person, but I am almost certain that I am being perceived as such today. Just give me a week and I should be back to my normal, cheerful self.