Finding My Lost Love

Yes, I have found my lost love. That love is otherwise known as literature. It is so easy to take advantage of mindless activities, such as television and video games. Of course one can learn from these activities, but in my case they are for entertainment and comfort. I used to read. I used to read a lot, but with my hectic schedule I just found it easier to listen to television rather than think. It reminds me of Fahrenheit 451, and I’ve done away with the books in my world, and there are only walls of television that direct my very being (By the way, I saw Ray Bradbury at a Marie Callender’s.). Well, I won’t let that happen any longer because literature in my life has been revived, and now it is thriving. However, this would have not been the case if it were not for my current critical thinking course. My critical thinking class has enacted this chain reaction, and it was all because of the heavy workload.

I have never had such an intense work load, but that being said, I learned so much, and gained an important habit. This is the first course I have taken at my college that has actually challenged my thinking, or should I say critical thinking. It has expanded my way of thinking due to all the reading and writing. Every week I would dedicate many hours to reading alone. And I think that the reading was probably the biggest challenge for me in this class, but it has actually increased my reading pace. Normally, every week I, along with my classmates, would have to read at least 50 pages. And this is solid text. Reading a lot intimidated me at first. Since I am not a fast reader I was worried that I might not be able to keep up with the readings. I would come home from work, and be tired, and the last thing I would want to do is sit down with a book. I just wanted to sit down, and drown out my thoughts with television. I wanted to stare at a brightly lit television, and just listen to the electricity hum. But instead, I sat down, and read. At first, it felt like I was reading the same page forever. I would distract myself by thinking about my day, or mark the time on how long it took me to read a single page. However, after doing this week after week, I found that I was starting to enjoy it. I thought, “If I have to read this, then why not enjoy it and actually critically think about what I am reading”. So I started scratching at the text with my pencil, and looking up words I didn’t know. I was seriously into reading the class text. Another thing I would do was preview all the texts, and read the most interesting ones first. It was like a treat. I love desert most of all, so why not start with it? I started to actually appreciate reading again, and that’s when it hit me. I missed reading! I had been so busy with school and work that I forgot how great it was to indulge in literature. Not only did I rediscover my love for reading, but I increased my reading pace in the process.

This summer I actually have a list of books that I intend on reading. Firstly, I am going to read Charlotte Sometimes, which is an interesting book that The Cure was inspired by, secondly, Jane Eyre, and thirdly, Pride and Prejudice. It will certainly be nice to read for pleasure again since I will have the time. In fact, I am going to be reporting on my reviews of the books on this blog over the summer. For too long I have neglected and dismissed my love for literature. I have lost my love once, but I’m not going to lose literature again.

Better, Faster, Stronger: The Power of Writing

When I first started my critical thinking class, it was not this semester. In fact, I had started this class the previous semester, although within the first week I realized that I could no longer continue. I was working at Subway and working as a tutor. Also, I had three additional classes. I took on way too much. I knew that there was no way that I could take on the class work in critical thinking, and maintain high performance in the other areas of my life. I decided to drop it and take it the next semester. Ergo, I did take it the next semester, and I found that I was just as overwhelmed, if not more, although I knew I had to get through it, and in a way I was mentally prepared for it. As a result of working on all the assignments, which consisted of, blogging, group work, discussion boards, essays, critical thinking work, responses, and Peer Draft Reviews, I found that I made tremendous improvement on my writing skills. Specifically, I found that I can do a crazy amount of work within short periods of time and my description has improved.

Since I had two other classes, three jobs, and I started a softball team, I found it rather difficult to do all the work that was assigned in my English class, although I got through it and found out some spectacular things. I found out that I can write really fast, and I can do it efficiently. With my lack of time I forced myself to write get my school work done as swiftly as I could, but not skimping on the material. This determination to get my class work done with the little time I have made me realize that I can push myself a little further, just like a jogger running a little further because they tell themselves they can do it. I jogged through my mind with the high hopes of getting my work done, and doing it well, but now that it’s almost over with I need to do some actual jogging. Locking one’s self up in a room with a computer and food for a whole semester is not a good idea. Additionally, I believe that my writing has become a lot more descriptive. I find myself using analogies and metaphors a lot more based off my readings. I started to think about how a lot of the essays that I read from the textual material were rather descriptive, and thought that I should maybe add a little color to my writing as well. This class has definitely improved both my time and description.

Now, I am proud to say that I haven’t missed a single point on turning in my assignments, and I am extremely happy that my writing is much faster. I gave myself the extra push I needed throughout this semester in order to get my writing assignments done on time, with the little time I have. Summer is almost here, and I won’t be taking a class, and then I’ll be wishing that I had something to do. However, by taking this class I have been able to push the limits of my writing abilities, which has made my writing much more efficient, faster, and descriptive. In fact, this assignment took a little less than 20 minutes.

Father Time you Thief!

Last week, there I was in my brightly lit room, sitting in complete and utter frustration. I did not know what to do. I was lost. I had read two books, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi and Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov, and I could not think of one single way to interrelate the two. I was sitting there in the middle of my bed for hours staring at a piece of paper, and nothing clicked. The sun was starting to set, and I had been there for hours shifting my eyes between my cell phone, to my computer, to my paper. And this went about for the longest time. Then, all the sudden, my brain decided to wake up. I was writing so fast that I could not completely understand my notes. I found over five similarities. I sat there in triumph, and smiled with revenge at Father Time, for he took away so much precious time. My biggest problem and dislike in writing has to be getting a paper started, but I also detest researching, so this research paper that I have to complete for my critical thinking course has been like a small child running through the neatly organized files of my mind. This week I plan on finding two more sources at the library for my research paper, and putting this unruly child to bed.

I plan on going to my school library today to find secondary sources for my research paper, but I am concerned. My research paper requires me to have five external sources, excluding the books on the topic, and they cannot be all from one medium, so off to the old brick-and-mortar library. My concern with going to my school library is that there will not be enough books on my topics. Since I have to finish this bad boy in a week, I need to keep my fingers crossed that they will have something pertaining to my research. Additionally, I will be searching online on my school’s virtual library. However, if I do encounter this problem then I will reroute to the library in town. But there is no point in dwelling on the what-ifs in life, so I will see what I have to do.

Right now, I have organized my outline, and I know exactly where I am going to be incorporating sources into each paragraph. It is just going to take some work and determination. I spent many hours staring into space. And Father Time has stolen too much from me. I am going to find those two secondary sources that I am relying on to finish my research paper by searching both virtual and actual libraries. I know I will finish it in time, I just know it. And that is exactly what I am going to keep repeating to myself while running through the aisles of the library. I am going to put this shrieking child to bed and relax my mind.

E-mail and Conversation

E-mail differs from ordinary conversation in a couple of ways. The most obvious difference between e-mail and personal dialogue has to be the fact that one is face-to-face, while the other is electronically conducted. The second difference that is easily identifiable is that when you are emailing someone you do not necessarily get all of the interactive, or nonverbal, aspects that come along with it. For instance, one of my high school buddies and I would constantly e-mail each other in order to keep in touch. Our e-mail interaction was one long string of words composed of our heartbreaks and joys. One day though, I said something rather sarcastically through an e-mail, which would have been considered offensive if I had not said it in that tone. Alas, there was no tone. It sounded serious, seriously insulting. She was upset, but then I explained to her our miscommunication. Thus, nonverbal interactive aspects are lacking in the realm of e-mail. E-mail and conversation do differ, and that is apparent from anyone who has utilized the two.

Next, I was pondering on the idea of what kind of influence e-mail has on social discourse, and I came to the conclusion that it has both negative and positive attributes. The author of “The Other Side of E-Mail”, Robert Kuttner, sides with the primarily negative impacts that e-mail has on personal interactions. But that is simply one-sided. He shines a slight speckle of light on the positive impacts of e-mail, but is biased in his opinion because of his numerous negative encounters. I do agree with certain aspects of his argument, such as how e-mail is something that is insistent. “All of a sudden, on top of everything else we have to do, e-mail is one more garden demanding tending” (Kuttner). This statement is something I think about all the time. There is so much I already have to do in my daily schedule, and checking three e-mails sometimes is a tedious and tremendous task. On the overlooked positive note, I have to say that e-mail has an extremely positive impact on society. E-mail allows for communication everywhere in the world, and not only that, but fast communication. It is not a letter that will take days to ship, and it is not a telephone conversation that can run off track and waste precious time. Moreover, it allows for one to check at convenient times, despite the idea that it takes up a lot of time. And it’s defiantly not like a screaming telephone. Without e-mail we could not do many things in our daily lives. On the whole, there are negative aspects about e-mail, but I think I’ll take my chances.

Now, thinking about how we converse with each other offline is drastically different from when we e-mail each other, but maybe not in the future. There are many different things that go into personal interaction, such as eye contact, facial expressions, body language, and tone, to name a few. All of these things are not depicted through e-mail, and they add a lot to a conversation. However, I feel that technology is growing so advanced that you can build a real relationship online. My best friend and I actually met through my online high school, and I feel as though our text messages and e-mails are just as fulfilling as face-to-face interactions. On a similar note, look at online dating services. People seem to be able to build working relationships with each other, and do not seem to be effected by the virtual world. I think that eventually people will not really be able to differentiate interaction between e-mail or internet resources and real interactions. Right now, people can still see a difference between online resources, like e-mail, and real life interactions, but eventually I doubt they will see the difference.

Works Cited

Kuttner, Robert. “The Other Side of E-Mail.” Exploring Language. Ed. Suzanna P. Chambers. New York: Pearson, 2010. 429. Print. 26 April 2011.

The purpose of silly drawings: A look at editorial cartoons

There I was in journalism class, and there was an uproar centered around one of the talented kids on the staff. She was the editorial cartoonist for the school paper, or perhaps still is, and she had just drawn an interesting caricature depicting a couple in love that just produced a baby. It was certainly uproarious, and everyone was ticked by this image. Editorial cartoons play an important part in the journalistic world and American culture. They are what many people turn to the second they grab their local newspaper. These editorial cartoons are used as a means of communication, entertainment, and they are unfortunately endangered.

Editorial cartoons are a communication medium. Mort Gerberg’s article “What Is a Cartoon?” asked multiple cartoonists what they think the definition of a cartoon pertains to, and he deducted that “the definitions say the same thing, but differently, varying with the approach of each cartoonist. I’ll define a cartoon as instant communication of a funny idea” (Gerberg). All of these cartoonists, including Gerberg, think that a cartoon is something that communicates an idea through images, and that they depict something funny. Now, these cartoons are used as a form of communication by showing an image that represents something that is common to the public. This common image that represents something in our everyday lives, allows for instant communication of the idea that they are trying to portray. Cartoonists can do this by emphasizing some sort of stereotype among our characters of society. Or “Cartoon characters must be of a very specific type. They are people we immediately recognize from life, people we know” (Gerberg). It is easy to communicate to the reader the cartoon’s purpose if the image is related to something we already know in life. Otherwise, if we did not know what the image was, we could not relate to it, thus it would not be communicating anything to us.

In regards to how this cartoon makes something funny or entertaining is depicted through the dialogue. “A cartoon caption is super-disciplined writing—about twelve words painstakingly chosen for their meaning, imagery and sound, then polished and strung together in a rhythm that puts the beat on the funny part” (Gerberg). According to this idea, the dialogue directs the entertainment to some extent. Of course, this is not for all cartoons seeing as how many cartoons do not need words at all make you laugh. An editorial cartoon contains many elements that the cartoonist needs to take into account in order to convey a message, simultaneously splitting their sides.

My journalism class cartoonist certainly did her job well, but unfortunately cartoonists’ jobs are slim. Editorial cartoonists are endangered, and by extension their work is too. According to Doug Marlette, “Cartoonists have been keeling over in startling numbers—down from almost 200 just 20 years ago to fewer than 90 today. The poisonous fumes laying us low are the byproduct of the corporate culture that has engulfed newspapering during the past two decades” (Marlette). Cartoonists are definitely not in demand right now, and that is not only a result of the economy, but in Marlette’s mind it is due to the craving of gaining newspaper readership. Newspapers are trying to gain business, just like any other business, and thus they do not want to provoke their readers, “the editorial cartoonists’ very reason for being is to provoke helps explain why they are the first to go” (Marlette). Therefore, there are fewer jobs for cartoonists due to their provocative nature, and that means less cartoons.

Hopefully that aspiring professional cartoonist in my journalism class will find a job so she can provoke all the people in the world. After all, some aspects of journalism are all about provoking the reader, like opinion articles. There are many elements that go into cartoons in order for there to be a message and laughs. A cartoonist takes their time trying to get across something meaningful to the reader. Cartoonists should not become extinct because if they do, then their art and messages go along with them.

Works Cited

Gerberg, Mort. “What Is a Cartoon?” Exploring Language. Ed. Suzanna P. Chambers. New York: Pearson, 2010. 429. Print. 26 April 2011.
Marlette, Doug. “Freedom of Speech and the Editorial Cartoon.”