Basically the point of Sheryl Fontaine and Susan Hunter’s chapter, “You Think/I think; Therefore We Are,” from Collaborative Writing in Composition Studies, is that writers share ideas and thoughts, whether intended or unintended. In fact, Fontaine and Hunter say, “The words you think, write, and speak are partly your own and partly someone else’s…” (11). In other words, a large part of writing is about the collaboration, which is basically a fancy term for teamwork, working together. It is very difficult to come up with a totally unique idea or word or thought because somewhere someone has had that same thought or idea before. Whether you are thinking you are original or not, chances are the idea has been thought of before. Young children, especially, are the best examples of collaboration. Babies and young children rely on the behavior of others to teach them new things. They follow our examples as they grow and mature, and each of us as teachers went through the exact same thing.
I don't know why these two blog posts disappeared, but I am putting them back on now! My responses to the "Pleasures of Eating," and "Turns of Thought."
“The Pleasures of Eating” from What are People for? By Wendell Berry “The Pleasures of Eating” focused on how unaware consumers are to where the food they eat comes from. People never think of what happens behind-the-scenes to the animals that are prepared and processed for purchase. People believe only what they see and that is what is already in the grocery store or farmer’s market. They believe the food traveled from a farm to the store shelf, not a factory that processes more meat in one day than we should even be able to because the quality is no longer as important as the quantity. The way the food industry is run is almost like a chain with a link missing. The missing link is the one that informs the public of the unknown details in the food industry, the secrets of where the food comes from. In addition to the facts provided, the readers are also supplied a list of helpful hints to ensure that we are consciously aware of what is in the food we consume, and we are eating healthier. The list includes everything from growing your own food items, to becoming aware of the money spent on unnecessary additions to food. Only then can we enjoy “The Pleasures of Eating.” Turns of Thought The excerpt from Turns of Thought focused on reflexivity. Basically, the author, Donna Qualley, was trying to get the reader to look back at his or her writing in order to examine and understand the complex thought process involved (3). I see reflexivity in writing as a way of thinking critically about what both sides would say and taking into account the feelings of the opposite side as well. Qualley discusses how writing should be a balance of emotions and information and fact (5). When we write, we need to be aware of how we think through things because so much of what we write comes from within. In fact, Qualley says, “When students engage with texts—their own and others—I want them to become critically aware of the presence of their own minds at work” (4). In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollen discusses the major food decisions that Americans face every day: what to eat? In a nation obsessed with eating healthy but actually eating more unhealthy, it is difficult to determine which foods are the wisest choice to consume. We have too many choices. Is that food item healthy or unhealthy? Should I be eating this? “The Omnivore’s Dilemma is about three principle food chains that sustain us today: the industrial, the organic, and the hunter-gatherer. Different as they are, all three food chains are systems for doing more or less the same thing: linking us, through what we eat, to the fertility of the earth and the energy of the sun” (7). Each chain is somehow connected to the others. The industrial chain is all about the production of corn, a huge staple in the production of our food (8). The organic chain deals with the naturally prepared (no use of chemicals or pesticides), locally grown food products (8). Finally, the hunter-gatherer chain deals with the food products that are hunted and prepared and served by your own two hands (8-9). “How and what we eat determines to a great extent the use we make of the world—and what we make of it” (11).
The fast food industry is spreading like a worldwide forest fire. In fact, in his book, Fast Food Nation¸ Eric Schlosser says, “In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion” (2). Restaurant chains are taking over, which is a problem for not only the world, but more specifically, Americans because we love to eat. “On any given day in the United States, about one-quarter of the adult population visits a fast food restaurant” (3). People today are always in a hurry and rarely stop even for a leisurely sit-down meal with family. The restaurants are easily accessible on almost every corner. It is a shame that Americans are susceptible to the lies of the food industry and are caught up in the quick-hamburger hype. America needs to be aware and watch out because the food that tastes so good is the same food that is gradually killing us.
To be perfectly honest, I was confused with the majority of “Good, Clean, Fair: A Rhetoric of the Slow Food Movement.” I will not pretend that I fully understood what was going on, especially the parts with all the names and companies merging together, but I will try to pull a few quotes and provide a response. Basically the author, Stephen Schneider, was discussing the Slow Food Industry and how they are striving to make the world a healthier place through the use of organic and locally grown food. The Slow Food Industry grew into an internationally known organization. In fact, “Slow food now boasts approximately 80,000 members worldwide” (4).
One quote worth quoting is, “food is the primary defining factor of human identity” (5). Basically, you are what you eat. If Americans are eating food that is bad for them it does reflect unhealthy choices. Instead, we need to be careful and watch the food we put into our mouths in order to properly care for our bodies and make good, clean, and fair choices. Finally, Carlo Petrini said that, “food is far more than a simple product to be consumed. It is happiness, identity, culture, pleasure, conviviality, nutrition, local economy, and survival” (5). I thought this quote was similar to the previous quote about food defining identity. The consumer should take the food he or she eats seriously because it is a large part of who he or she is. Food is not only what we eat, it, in essence, defines us. I believe that is the main reason Slow Food is so keen on good food choices. This is a combined effort of Lindsey Clay and Abigail Parks
What is the discrepancy between the appearance and the reality of the health associated with Vitamin Water? 1. What is the public’s perception of Vitamin Water’s nutrition? 2. What is Coca-Cola’s claim on Vitamin Water’s nutrition? 3. Why is it called Vitamin Water? 4. What is the nutrition facts compared to other drinks? 5. Is there potential to do a blind taste test between Vitamin Water and a nutritionally sound drink? We could possibly ask participants to determine which drink tastes better as well as which drink they think is healthier without depending on labels. 6. What is the message that Vitamin Water’s advertisements are sending? 7. Who is to blame for being misinformed? Is it Coca-Cola’s lack of integrity or the public’s growing ignorance? 8. What are the implications of the public knowing the truth? 9. Once the public is informed, what is their attitude toward Vitamin Water and Coca-Cola? 10. Do we value the appearance or reality more? (“looks driven society”) In the chapter “Conducting the Interview” from Cythnia Stokes Brown’s book, Like it Was, she discusses the elements necessary for conducting an interview. I learned a lot about interview procedures and the proper way to conduct an interview. I decided to pull a few meaningful quotes and provide some commentary on each one.
The key to a good interview is the people involved: “…a person who wants to tell his or her story (and this includes just about everybody) [narrator] and a genuine interest on your part [the interviewer] in what is being told” (32). After all, if there is not personal, there is no interesting piece, and if there is no ear there is no accurate detail. The narrator must be willing to share personal information with the interviewer and the interviewer must be interested and willing to listen to what the narrator shares. It is almost like a never-ending cycle. The narrator shares and the interviewer listens and the cycle repeats throughout the course of the interview. Additionally, when you interview a person about activities or events from their lives, “you are making what happened to him come back to life again” (34). Whether the circumstance was pleasant or difficult, the narrator will be forced to relive past experiences in order to share them with the interviewer. The momentous events of one’s life can help shape the person they become. The interview process may be a difficult one for the narrator, so it is important for the interviewer to approach with caution and patience. Another important detail about the interview process is that “interviewers should refrain from indicating their opinions and expectations” (36). Instead of attacking the narrator with personal views and opinions, what you believe is right or wrong, sit back and listen to what the narrator has to say. After all, the narrator is being interviewed not the interviewer. If the interviewer constantly interjects personal opinion, the narrator will get defensive or shut down completely. Neither choice is a good one. Instead, show interest in what the narrator is sharing and keep personal opinion out of the interview. Interviews are excellent tools to learn and record a person’s oral history. "What is Oral History?"
While I was reading “What is Oral History,” I immediately thought of my grandparents. Every Christmas I go to Virginia with my family to spend time with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We all stay together and share wonderful family times. One thing the article mentioned about oral history is that it includes “…informal conversations about ‘the old days’ among family members” (1). This line describes my family perfectly. When we get together, we sit around the living room or the dining room and listen as my grandparents share a lot of special memories and stories from their younger years. I love the oral history that they share and pass on to each family member. Hearing the stories is very comforting and special; it makes me feel closer to them with this unseen connection. I love when my grandpa shares stories about being in the Navy and all of his trips around the world. I love when my grandma shares stories about her teaching and tutoring years and raising my mother. I love when they share together the story of how they met, fell in love, and got married. Too me, the stories they share form more than a memory or a history, they form a legacy. Part 1: Narrative Inquiry
In the article, "Narrative Inquiry," D. Jean Clandinin and F. Michael Connelly seek to discuss "the topic of what narrative inquirers do (49)." They are "not setting out to define narrative (49)." Basically they are trying to show what the job requires not what narrative means. They discuss the "...four directions in any inquiry: inward and outward, backward and forward (50)" and present two different stories showing the use of narrative inquiry space. I could not help comparing the first story about Michael, Ming Fang He, and Long Him to the work of my Twitterive assignment. They discussed in detail, how memories can shape who we are, returning back to the inward, outward, backward, and forward. Michael understood that “…time and place shaped their (Ming Fang He and Long Him) lives and the stories they tell of them (53).” I thought about my place, French Creek Bible Conference and considered how the stories and memories I have encountered over time have helped shaped me into who I am today. Reflecting on those stories and memories has shown me how much I have grown. I believe I am looking backward, forward, inward, and outward on my past experiences and memories at French Creek Bible Conference. Additionally, my Twitterive is an ongoing project just like narrative. “As narrative inquirers, we share our writing on a work-in-progress basis with response communities (60).” In order to complete a successful Twitterive, we must continue to revise the project. Our response communities would be equivalent to the peers and professor in Writing, Research and Technology. They read our pieces, or listen as we present the projects, and are able to provide useful feedback in order for the author to revise and edit the Twitterive. “As narrative inquirers we work within the space not only with our participants but also with ourselves (61).”The audience for the Twitterive assignment is primarily the student completing the assignment, but a large part of the audience is our classmates and professor. Part 2: Situating the Narrative In my honest opinion, the article “Situating the Narrative” by DJ Clandinin, was long, wordy, boring and kind of flew right over my head, unless that was just me losing my focus! I will, however, try to come up with some insightful thoughts related to the article. The four themes in the turn toward narrative inquiry are the parts that stood out to me the most. Here we go. “…as an individual, discipline, or group of researchers moves toward a narrative inquiry approach to research, there are four turns in their thinking and action that occur. By turn, we mean a change in direction from one way of thinking or being toward another (7).” “We recognize that there are indeed multiple ways of knowing and studying the world and the interactions of people (7).” “We use the term turn strategically because we want to emphasize the movement from one way of thinking to another and highlight the fact that each change can occur rapidly or slowly, depending on the experience of the researchers and their experiences when doing research (7).” “The four include the following: 1. A change in the relationship between the person conducting the research and the person participating as the subject(the relationship between the researcher and the researched). 2. A move from the use of number toward the use of words as data, 3. A change from a focus on the general and universal toward the local and specific, and finally, 4. A widening in acceptance of alternative epistemologies or ways of knowing (7).” Basically, what I interpreted these quotes to mean is that research for narrative involves a lot of change, which seems to be a common thread between each turn. First of all, the researcher must be willing to work together with the person being researched, even if it means changing his ways to be more understanding of the subject of the research. The relationship between the researcher and the researched will be more agreeable if the researcher can adapt his thinking to that of the researched. Second, the researcher needs to speak about the research in terms that people, including the researched, will understand. If the information is all number data, it will be harder to understand. I know that is the case for me. I would prefer to try to interpret the information in word format rather than the number data, which would most likely be way over my head. Third, the researcher needs to be specific when it comes to the subject being researched. Too often, the research is too broad to focus on. Breaking down the topic will make the research that much easier to interpret and understand as well as much easier to present. Finally, everybody has different worldviews, which means that everyone learns and understands things differently. While doing research about a subject, it is important to understand the subject and their individual ways of knowing and learning. How has technology impacted your writing in this class (twitter, blogs, youtube clips, etc)?
I have not always been technologically literate. My experiences with technology have only developed since my college years began. Over the years my experience has expanded to a point where my knowledge is now pretty extensive. I have learned a lot about using technology for assignments and other educational purposes. Technology has helped me branch out as a writer by using different media and genres such as Twitter and blogs. I am also learning how to create and maintain a website using Weebly. Despite its flaws, I am enjoying learning how to use Weebly. I plan to use it in the future! Additionally, I am using Twitter and figuring out how to make my thoughts concise and to the point on an online network. How has technology connected or made you more mindful of your writing & place? Typically I am a closed book when it comes to sharing my thoughts to other people. However, when I am using technology, especially in media that others can see, I feel like I can put myself out there and open the book even though it really is hard for me. Additionally, technology gives me a different perspective of who I am as a student, a teacher, and even just as a person because I can see what I put out there. How has technology impacted your identity construction? (different identities online, in class, at home?) -For me, technology makes communicating easier. Sometimes, I find that its easier to talk to people and convey my thoughts when I can simply join an online network and "friend request" people I know. It makes connecting with distant friends as well as close friends much easier and faster! Not to mention more fun! -Technology has expanded my identity in class by providing different means of media in which to communicate with others as well as providing a source for academic projects. |
AuthorI am an Elementary Education/Writing Arts major at Rowan University Archives
April 2011
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