Writing In the 21st Century

New models of writing, different curriculum, and inventing models to teach are three challenges of writing in the 21st century. Writing has faced challenges such as gender issues, race troubles, and teaching differences. Yancey's main argument is that technology in the 21st century is increasing literacy through multiple ways. Writing can be viewed as just expressing feelings when reading is learning and becoming more knowledgable. reading produces feelings of new information and creation of new ideas. The negative associations of writing are that people to not think about what they are writing and just express their feelings. Some say their is no real importance in writing because there is no real importance behind it. Process writing is studying and learning how writing works and how it effects the readers. Self- sponsored writing is better know as writing for fun or one's own personal use. For example, a blog or Facebook post is for the writer to vent and share their personal trials. The 21st century is the age of composition because we write how we feel and create our own stories rather than just reading others. The so what is that writing and reading are literacy and are used by us to share our stories and rather than just reading other stories. Yancey defines literacy in this article is being able to not just read bur write our own stories with technology.

Pencils to Pixels

The gateway to literacy in this article refers to the computer and technology. This is true but it is not always a good thing because it causes grammar and reading issues today. Writing is a technology because we have to create an answer with points and evidence that all support our main cause. Although we currently view technology as cell phones, computers, or tablets, pencils are still a means of technology. A pencil is utilized to create a work of art, or better known as a book or paper. Plato warned that writing would cause us not to remember or be able to recall the information learned. According to the article the written word is good because it practices literacy but does not allow people to communicate or converse about the issues addressed. Then, the spoken word is good because it allows people to talk about issues among one another but does neglects literacy. Thoreau was against technology that was created to help people write so he solely allowed pencils. he understood the advancements in writing but believed the pencil was the only writing tool he needed. Telephones shaped technology because it was the first time people had the immediate access to any one on a daily basis. This is similar to the writing the enology because things were becoming east and quick. We no longer had to be patient and write a letter, we could just talk on the telephone. Technology has become a personal advantage. For example, it was created to improve the workforce but now we use computers and such for our personal pleasure. This particular article defines technology as keeping up with technology and becoming apart of it.

Digital Intimacy

Thompson's main argument for the article is that with the help of social media sites our lives are becoming more public with every status and picture we post. Zuckerburg created a new update for Facebook that changed the news feed. The news feed changed to be an easier view. Each user's friends are displayed on one easy screen in a quick fashion. The update says that our attention span is short and very brief. In terms of literacy the news feed is bad because it allows to see every one in a fast speed without having to search for any information at all. This article defines ambient awareness as knowing about someone with actually knowing them. For example, through Facebook we can see every aspect of one's life without every talking to them personally. Ambient awareness helps us because we do not have to waste time focusing on the small stuff. It also hurts our relationships because we know more about people without catching up with anyone. The media is making everything 'skimmable' so this is decreasing literacy. We are getting used to skimming over information that we forget how to actually research and read thoroughly. The weak ties spread our emotions thin and make it difficult to manage many friendships at one time. The 20 year olds feel the need to keep up with social media to stay in touch with old friends and check to see what people say about them. This article defines literacy as keeping up with social media. It is being able to read posts and statuses and understand the user's personalities and moods.

Gin, Television, and Cognitive Surplus

This article is about how we as a human race currently have been wasting countless hours watching t.v. and on the computer when we could be doing more productive things with our time. Shirky is making the argument that we are wasting our time doing meaningless things when we could be spending time making a difference in the world. This articles matters because it addresses the idea problem in the world today that we are too caught up in television and technology that we forget about the other things we need to fix and solve.

The Internet is Making Us Dumb (dun, dun, dun)

With the help of the internet we can google, read, and learn at a record speed. The web was created to give us easy and quick access to the world. Although it does accomplish that goal, it also changes how we are off of the internet. Since, we literally have all the information at the palm of our hands we forgot how to learn and read normally. The internet has helped us in many ways but also changes how we read and learn. This article seems to define literacy the same way as the other articles we read defined it.   For example, literacy is being able to read a text and understand the information you just read. According to this article, we read texts in short brief glances and just skim because of the web. The web now gives us brief information in short statements. Because of the internet information we receive everyday we cannot read long texts anymore. The author includes evidence that the internet does change our way of reading. The author says we now get distracted and uninterested when reading a long book or article. Then, we no longer have to do research for information so we do not. Instead, we just Google information and we receive it. Finally, we struggle now to understand the information and decode it. The evidence is effective because it supports the author's main claim that the internet does change the way our brain functions.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is a perfect celebrity to analyze on social media. I choose to analyze her Twitter because you can see more of her personality and attitude on there. Taylor Swift posts pictures, retweets her fans, and quotes or lyrics. She never tweets anything vulgar or rude. On Twitter, she comes across as very mature, happy, and confident. Her tweets are enjoyable and pleasant to read, which can be odd for celebrities. She is a celebrity that has young fans so, it is very smart of her to filter what she tweets or posts on any social network.

Social Media Can Kill

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are easy access to a person's everyday life. Social media is meant to keep old friends in touch and make new friends. These days though, it is not always that way. If you take a glance on my pages it is obvious I am myself 100% of the time. I never say crude or curse words. I like to post cute pictures and creative quotes. I usually prefer to post positive things but the occasional complaint about homework. (but never blog posts haha) My last couple of posts on Instagram were from the John Mayer concert, family, and sorority swaps. Those posts make me look involved and fun. All of those photos include at least one person so it appears I have made new friends and am enjoying college. I do think all of those posts and the posts on my other accounts are accurate of the person I am. At this part of my life, I do feel I need to watch what I post and censor what I say or do. Luckily, I have never posted any profane things so it is not difficult for me. I do believe that if my future boss handed and observed my posts that I would get the job.

Gatsby, Daisy, and Their Tragic Love Songs

The music soundtrack for the recent The Great Gatsby movie sets a quite haunting and "bad romance" mood. Without the movie, the music does not have the same meaning to it. As we learned in class, music may have the same lyrics but the meaning can change depending on how it is used. For example, when I first read the lyrics of "Over The Love" by Florence + Machine I just thought it was a sad love story about a girl who was trying to get her past lover. I could tell they had a tough past but she wanted him back and she was not going to let anything stop her. Then, when you see it in the movie, it all comes together. The song is about Daisy admitting she has always loved Gatsby and was not going to let her marriage of family get in the way. The music adds a certain sad and romantic feel to the movie. This song in particular is an emotional song with lyrics that make the audience feel the love and passion of Gatsby and Daisy's love history. Their love is one that everyone knows is doomed but they cannot seem to let go. I truly believe that the soundtrack was genius. Without the 21st century music the movie would not have the same appeal. If they would have used music from the twenties the film would have been more outdated and less glamorous. I definitely believe the soundtrack fits in well with the overall theme and mood of The Great Gatsby. The songs all are fast paced with very passionate lyrics. The beats are fast but they fit in with the lifestyle of Gatsby. He lives in a world that is wealthy and loud, but all he wants to do is win Daisy. He does not care about the people or things around him, he just does it for one thing. All of the songs describe that perfectly. Though each may be loud, the lyrics all tell the tragic love story of Gatsby and Daisy.

This paper was surprisingly difficult to write three pages on. I really expected this to be a fairly easy paper to write. I was able to get started smoothly but I tended to find myself rambling and repeating. The new writing techniques in chapter one were very helpful with this assignment. Paraphrase X 3 helped me the most. With analyzing a three minute commercial it can be difficult to keep finding details. If we would not have had required blogs and drafts I would have waited until  the very last minute. I am the queen of procrastination. I don't really like to admit it but, I seem to focus better when I am rushed. Even though I get it finished it does not mean that it is always my best work. Having a week or two to complete an essay has been different for me but it was what I needed. Doing the paper in a long period time gave me a chance to think more clearly. When you write in one sitting you seem to miss details and points. Time gave me the opportunity to focus on different parts of the paper one day at a time. My paper was better and I learned knew ways of writing.

Crossfire

When I found out we were watching "Crossfire" I really did not know what to expect. I had never seen the show but I could tell immediately that by the title it was not a friendly talk show. From the very first couple of minutes you could tell the show was not going to be pleasant because of all the sarcasm that was being thrown at Jon Stewart. To me, when you put two people with strong beliefs against each other, the debate will go nowhere. Since the two hosts were attacking Jon Stewart with questions and not listening to his views, it made the debate seem less genuine but almost rehearsed and fake. The hosts had a lot of emotion behind every question they asked. They only cared about how they felt and were completely one-sided.  The men only asked Jon the questions because they had to, not because they cared to listen to the other side of the debate. Watching the show made you wonder what was the point of having a guest or even a debate. If you never listen to the other person, why have them on for a debate show?

My Writing Process

Honestly, when I first get an assignment I plan on getting started early but it does not usually happen. If the teacher assigns it in class I begin to brainstorm about what I will write. I like to write it down in a web diagram during class. Web diagrams help me organize my paragraphs and keep the structure of my essay or paper. Then, I wait until a couple of days before the assignment is due to actually begin writing. When I finally get focused and ready to write I have to sit down quietly and just type. I normally don't actually physically write any of my paper down in drafts. I love to just sit down and type the whole paper as I go. If I start on an essay I do not leave my room until I complete the assignment. When I get "in the zone" I don't worry about anything else except the essay or assignment that is due. Since, I just type my essays I normally only have one draft. I like to edit as a go and re-read my essays a paragraph at a time. When picking a topic I choose the one that I can write the most on. I may not agree necessarily with the topic but if I can back it up with the most information then I choose that subject. Usually that seems to be the most interesting topic. Finally, as I am typing my essay I love to listen to music. Music just calms me down and keeps me from focusing on how long the assignment is actually taking me. The television just distracts me so I try to steer clear of having it on.