Relationships

Relationships are some of the most important things we can have in life. Beyond basic physiological and safety, as seen in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, relationships are the next "need" that build onto the essence an individual. Relationships, whether family, friends, or a loved one, make the mechanics of life worth everything. Yes, we need food to simply survive, but think of how much better a meal is when it is shared with those we care about. Perhaps this is why Thanksgiving and Christmas are really all about the food. Similarly, the human race needs sex to survive, but what does it become when you get to share that intimacy with someone you love? When some of our safety nets, such as employment or health, fail, we are left with only our relationships to help pull us back up.

Humans are not meant to be alone. We are, by nature, social creatures. Because of the importance of our social well-being, we must nurture and take care of our relationships. We have all learned hard, personal lessons in this realm, be it a break-up, divorce, fight, or any other thing that pushes us away from each other. Even introverts need people to at least understand and love them.

On a larger scale, groups, organizations, and countries all must take care of their relationships. With so many more people involved, there are many more people that can be hurt. While this may seem a pessimistic view, this also means that there are that many more people to be loved. However we think about about life and our inner self, we realize that our relationships must be cherished and cared for before we can truly live.

"What does it matter anyways? We only really live in each others' hearts."

Is it Really Almost Mid-term?

A few items on the sharing agenda today:

Google Docs: is amazing. The wonders of technology never cease to amaze me. Please read Sheri's blog for a full report.

Teamwork: Speaking of my fellow writer, our collaboration is going very smoothly. Having someone else to be accountable to, especially one that you see every day, is very motivating in the anti-procrastination realm.

Comments: I feel like we do not read, thus not comment, enough on each others' blogs. I am the first to admit to failure in this department. We are all A students, I think, and can go above and beyond the "2 comments a week for an A" suggestion. This blog is not about a grade. It is about becoming better writers and helping our peers become better writers.

Practice: Speaking of... I am finding it difficult to find things to blog about. I know we discussed this in brief during class, but still. After a whole day of working on a research paper, the last thing I want to do is write some more about something else and catch up on reading other blogs (see above admittance on comments). Can you relate? Along the same line, I find it difficult to blog everyday, nut maybe that is just me.

Ethnography: I am sure most of you have already started, but I am very excited for my first observation of my micro-culture! I am going to be learning about the Alpha Chi Omega sorority at the U. Hooray!

FSTI ch 27

For those of you who have not had a chance to read the wondrously insightful twenty seventh chapter of FSTI, this is the basic outline for your paper that the book suggests. Keep in mind, this is the outline specifically for analyzing an essay. We can still use the information presented on argumentation and logic. For further details, see the book.

Formal Introduction

· identification

· summary

· thesis

Analysis and Argument

· describe

· analyze

· interpret

*don't forget to use examples and quotes for evidence

Refutation and Rebuttal

· consider the other side

Conclusion

· tie it all together

Writing the First Draft

· don't force the form, but use it

Spacial Organization

I greatly enjoyed today's exercise. Like Mrs. Mork, I am also a very spacial person. I do prefer post-it notes, though, they don't move when you don't want them to. Being able to move small sections around made it easier to organize the information without having to get into the details. Seeing the form of -- (how the note cards look) helps make sure you have enough of the right information in the right spot. Tonight when I take notes, I am going to put each idea/note (plus source!) on a mini post-it note, then put it by the big, colorful post-it note. Maybe I'll throw some color coding in too. I'm pretty sure I will use this method in all the rest of my research papers, it works so well!

Side Note: I am kind of nervous about the history/background section of our paper. There is a ton of information out there, and we have to condense it down into 3-4 paragraphs, yikes!

Another Side Note: I loved hearing about my writing group's papers. The topics are super interesting and I am excited to read them.

Research Topic: Haiti

Rejoice! Sheri and I have discovered a research topic that we are ready to fly with. We are both passionate about helping people and giving back to society. Along with my special interest in global human rights, this led to our finding Haiti. This country has recently been wrecked with unimaginable disaster, but there is more to their problems than just last month's earthquake. We want to persuade our audience (that's you) that there are major problems, we need to care about them, and there are solutions that could work. This seems like a lot to cover, especially when you throw in the need for background info or the likely necessity of bringing up U.S. foreign policy. But, there is enough information out there that I think we can narrow it down enough to get what we need to make our point. Here we go!

Note Taking (FSTI ch 32)

Switch up!

Chapter 32 described note taking as a thinking process, not just a method of copying words. Critical reading is a big part of note taking . It means reading what really matters and understanding the important parts. It must get you thinking about the source and how oyou can use it. The authors really stress the importance of a bibliography, especially used to avoid plagiarism, which is often accidental. They specify the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing. Paraphrasing, even if you site the source, must be done in you own words. Sometimes, this is quite difficult. They have a really great strategy that I successfully used in my annotated bibliography today. Read through the information (critically, of course), then put it away (as in out of sight) while you recall the important points and how they could apply to your paper. Then, go back and check your notes with the information and fix any issues. This strategy worked very well for me. I would suggest trying it if you are having trouble paraphrasing in your own words.

The Final Staple

It has never felt so good to put the final staple in that paper. This paper was very difficult for me, but I learned a lot. I am nervous for my grade, though. But there's not time to think about that now, because we are on to our research paper. I am super excited for this. I have written several of these, so I am quite familiar with the process and format (including MLA, which is a beast). And, most excitingly, I get to write this with a partner! Some one will always be there to bounce ideas off of. The only trouble me and Sheri have right now is finding a topic. I suppose we will need to research topics before we can research one topic. Research paper, watch out, 'cuz here we come!

Editing Part 2

I have a newly found respect for my fellow classmates. The editing groups on Thursday went extremely well. I am not used to working with people who are so good at writing. Even in my college writing classes last year, those students did not know their stuff as well as this class does. I never really liked editing groups before, but now they seem essential to my writing process in this course. They made quality suggestions that applied to the class, fixed my comma errors, and provided overall feedback that I could work with. To find a group of 20 or so students who can do these kind of things is pretty sweet, and I highly respect everyone as writers. I may not get an A+ in this class, but I know I am among CP's finest writers.

Editing

Wow, we covered a lot of information in class today. While now these things seem like common sense, it brings back painful memories of learning the information in the first place. Comma splices, be verbs, and homonyms just sound like a writer's worst enemies. Although it takes more brain power than usual to consider all of these things in a paper, I'm glad that they are considered tools to be used, not analyzed. Three cheers for not having to "learn" grammar, punctuation, and spelling! (By the way, I definitely just misspelled grammar and the computer notified me of my error). It's refreshing to have these things expected of you. That doesn't mean it makes them super easy though. I'm glad that we will have all hour tomorrow to work with our group. Editing? CHARGE!!!

Peer Editing

I greatly enjoyed my first peer editing group (the second for everyone else). It was really nice to receive feedback that related specifically to the things we learn in class. My paper was kind of off focus, and my group definitely helped remind me of the things I need to be working on. Specifically, I need to work on describing the set, developing my characters, and adding things like dialogue, personification, and a metaphor. I really wish we had more time to work with our papers. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask! Reading through my group's papers also helped me. It gave me a general sense of what this paper is supposed to be like, which is something I needed. This paper isn't good to go yet, but we're on the home stretch!

Reflection on My Writing Process

I'm almost at a loss for what to blog on seeing as I don't have a field day, peer editing group, or class time to talk about. But, seeing as this is a composition class, I shall reflect on my writing process. It's probably too early to draw conclusions, but I always over analyze, especially when something isn't working. It helps me cope.

I thought I had a pretty good system. It always gets the job done without too many tears. This new way of pre-writing really bugs me. Why should I write ten pages of "crap" to get four good pages of the "real story"? This seems very inefficient. (By the way, inefficiency is a big pet peeve of mine). I tried something new. I don't think it worked. I have very little motivation to write without a concrete purpose. I reverted back to my post-it notes, created a solid outline (in this case, time line), and found the flow to my story. All this, in much fewer words and time. Well, I guess I tried it.

WARNING: Road Block!

If you have been reading my blog, or been in class everyday last week, you may have noticed that I am a little behind. I have hit a road block in my personal narrative. I'm just not used to writing about myself. Give me a book to analyze or a topic to research and I can deliver you an A paper. This whole personal thing is a bit more difficult for me. This is puzzling because I love to talk about myself. I over analyze everything in my life, my conversations, my relationships, you name it. It is so easy for me to use words to explain how I feel. Talking or writing a situation through is usually how I get to the bottom of it. I could easily spew out a 4 page analysis on my thought process and the college decision process. When it comes to actually telling a story, I freeze up. I have never been a good oral story teller, it's not something that comes naturally to me. I guess this translates into telling a story in a "nice little package" for an audience. I understand why we start with this particular assignment. We practice our writing with a subject we are familiar with. I am quite unfamiliar with this. When was the last time I had to write one of these? To me, a ten page research paper is much simpler. But a personal narrative is the assignment. I just need to figure out how to use my current skills in a new way. I can do this! I think...

Cultural Informant

Eek! Or should I say greek! I just emailed about 15 sororities at the U of M in my attempts to find a micro culture and cultural broker. I hope one of them responds with a "Yes! Sure, come on over!" I tried to sound as non-creeper as possible, but it is rather difficult when you are randomly asking people if you can come study them. I thought that a sorority would work well because they all live together (usually) and there is bound to be dirt or drama. Plus, my personal narrative ended up being about a clique, and what better defined exclusive group is there than the greek?

Learning to Write

Time for business. I've been down for the count the past week, but I am back and ready to write, at least I hope. It has been very discouraging to not see your lovely faces and hear all the wonderful stories you have to share. Also, the couch isn't the most inspiring place to work. Now that I have my fix of Disney, HGTV, and TLC, I've got work to do. As suggested in chapter 4, I am pre-writing. I don't really have an aim or theme to this. I have an idea. I will tell you the story of how I learned to write.

I credit my early writing skills to my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Byrnes, and my dad. In elementary school, I was pretty good at the English/writing things we did in class. Remember DOL, bare books, and spelling tests? Language came naturally to me. At one point during the year Mrs. Byrnes decided to have a writing assignment every week. Yes, one paper per week. They were only one page little blurbs, but I thought she was crazy. Nevertheless, I plugged away. I wrote about a tea kettle, my favorite kind of apple, and a killer personal narrative that was very traumatic for a fourth grader. At every step of the way my dad was there to encourage and teach me. I learned about sentence structure, "be" verbs, organization, flow, word choice, and more. I wasn't very good at any of it yet, but it laid the foundation that got me where I am today. Mrs. Byrnes knew what she was doing. The only way to get better at writing is to practice.

p.s. How do you write about the time in your life where you were just plain stupid? Kind of goes against nature here...

My Negative Voice

I fully intended using this blog entry to pre-write, as seen in chapter4, before writing my second crappy draft. I need to write a second crappy draft because as we were doing the writing exercises in class on monday, I realized (that) my first story did not fulfill the requirements for a personal narrative. It did not clearly exhibit an old self to new self pattern, nor were my feelings about it strong enough to write about it. Thankfully, I quickly found a passionate alternative that fits the bill perfectly. Unfortunately, I have taken medications that now prevent me attempting to think (or not think?). So, I shall reflect on FSTI chapters 1-4, 7-9. (What's wrong with 5 and 6?)

As I read this introductory college writing textbook, I am slightly appalled. Where is all of this information coming from?! Why have we not learned it yet? Do the curriculum writers feel that younger students aren't ready for this level of writing? If I had known this earlier, I might enjoy writing papers more, and I might have written them better! I recently read through copies of my papers throughout my career as a writer. Sometimes, I didn't even recognize that it was me speaking. I also was unsure as to the meaning of some of the words I used. Chapter 3 has taught me otherwise. Voice is very important and it MUST be pure, clean, and innocent (yes, I know I could edit these extra adjectives out, deal). If it needs to be cleaned up to be more formal later during the editing stage, this is fine. I really need to work on letting my voice come through.

I could rant all day about the idiots who came up with our educational system. Really, it's my pet peeve. Students need to be held to a higher standard. Unfortunately, the way it works is, by the time you get up to the highest level of English class in high school, there are only 21 kids in the class. Yes, I know this is technically a college class, but still. If they would have taught us all how to write better freshman year, middle school, elementary school, bah humbug, even kindergarten, maybe CIS English would be the norm. I'm just saying...

Please excuse my negativity. I was working on letting my voice come through in a conversational way?

Microcultures

Now I can't decide! There are so many different options, rules, and considerations, oh the possibilities. Knowing me, I will try to do something very difficult. Hopefully I can prevent this by following the two and half page, fourteen point guideline. I think it is a great idea to study something you want to go into, like pharmacy for Sheri. But you see, THIS is what I want to go into. I promise I'm not kidding, read my post from yesterday. I am also quite interested in education. Seeing as I have spent most of my life in this field, and likely have at least six more years in college, this seems like a viable option. But what part of education?

College and college decisions have been a big part of my senior year. I'm wondering what actually happens in the admissions office? See, at the small private Christian college I am going to, I personally know most of the admissions office. I grew up with my admissions officer! This is most likely a special case,but what about different ones? Ones that must reject thousands of candidates, sometimes crushing their dreams? I know I can't exactly sit in on the selection process. Maybe I can study the people who make these decisions, find out what makes them tick, how they got into this profession, etc. This idea working is going to be largely based off the availability of and admissions office letting me come in. Time to start emailing!

Studying Culture

This, is quite possibly what I would like to do with the rest of my life. I'm constantly being asked, what are you majoring in? Liberal Studies. What are you going to do with that? Until now, I didn't really have a good answer. It might take a bit more time in grad school, but I want to study how people live, what they do, why they live a certain way. Perhaps this comes from the realization of the significance of our connections with those around us.

Our relationships with other people are all we really have that matter. Remember when everyone put quotes in their instant messaging buddy info? I found this one in middle school, and it has always stuck with me. "What does it matter anyways? We only really live in each others hearts." I don't know where this quote is from, but I spent a long time thinking about it before I could begin to understand it. What is more important than our relationships? Besides things involved with religion, I can't really think of anything. This is why I want to learn about how other people relate to each other in new (to me) and different ways.

The first chapter of The Cultural Experience opened my eyes to the world of anthropology and ethnography. I am so excited to use new tools to learn about how to study culture!

My Writing Style

From Sight to Insight almost perfectly describes my writing process. Not each exact step necessarily, but rather the pattern my actions follow. I think it is very important for the writing process to be understood as vital part of the final product.

My favorite parts of the writing process are Discovering Form and Revising. Perhaps this is because these come the easiest for me. The two things I stress the most, my pet peeves if you will, are organization and sentence structure, which fit nicely into these to categories. If a paper is not organized, with a natural flow of logic, it is simply not finished yet. As for sentence structure, there is always a better way to say something. Admittedly, at times I have revised to the point where every sentence sounds like something out of a poem. Perhaps this is too much, but if a sentence has a poor structure, it will just tumble down, disrupting the flow of the paper (see organization, above).

My worst part of the writing process is most definitely Drafting. Because I focus so much on how words sound when put together, I find it difficult to get my thoughts down in an efficient manner. This is something I would like to work on.

To me, there is nothing better than putting that staple in the final copy. This makes every care taken on the meticulous details worthwhile.