All right, gang, now we’re in business.
Welcome to our class blog. It was great to see you all in class yesterday; both here and in the classroom, we’re all going to get to know one another much better as the semester progresses.
Remember that if you have not yet signed up for a WordPress account, you need to do so in order to participate in the blog. For the purposes of this class, you need only a username. You don’t have to sign up for your own personal blog, although you may, of course, do so if you wish. Important: I must add your username to the blog so that you can post here, so once you have registered, leave your username in a comment. I will add you, and then you will be able to create new posts on the class blog as a “contributor.”
Before we get to the blog posts, I want to remind you that you need to buy the reader, Seeing and Writing 3, from the bookstore, and that your reading assignment is listed on the course calendar next to Sept. 3.
How the blog works, redux: every student in class is required to do a reading journal entry before each class. The reading journal entry must be 300 words in length. In the journal, you will respond thoughtfully to one (or more) of the texts we are reading for the following class. You should always check the blog to see the prompt(s) I have provided, but this doesn’t mean you have to follow my suggestions, as long as you are writing about the readings for the next class. Bring your handwritten or printed journal entries to class each day.
Ten times during the semester, but no more than once per week, you will post your journal entry here. For now, when you post is up to you, as long as you remember that posts are due by 10 p.m. the night before class. If this schedule doesn’t work out, I may assign posting times, but I would prefer to leave this to your discretion. Also ten times during the semester, you will comment on entries written by other students. Simple, right?
If there are any questions about the blog, or about anything else, please email me at the address listed on the syllabus, and I will get back to you pronto.
Suggested Reading Journal Topics, week one:
1. What is a text? (I want your definition, not Webster’s.) How can an image be a text? How do you, as an observer, “read” images, and how can careful observation enhance your writing?
2. After you have completed the readings from Seeing and Writing 3, consider what you normally read, how, and where, and analyze your reading practices in your reading journal entry. What kind of reader are you? Do you read casually or carefully? Do you read for pleasure, or is reading a chore? Finally, how do you think your style of reading impacts your writing?
3. After completing the readings from the textbook, think about the paragraph and drawing activity you and a partner did yesterday in class, and in your journal entry answer the questions on the handout. Here are the questions, for those of you who may not have kept the handout: (a.) How much does the drawing resemble the place you were thinking of? (b.) How accurate do you think your description is? Did you leave out any important details? (c.) How can the image your partner produced be considered a text? (d.) Would you describe yourself as observant? Why or why not? (e.) Why do you think I assigned this activity?
Right, then — happy journaling and blogging! I encourage you to knock one of those ten blog posts off this week so you’ll have less to worry about later in the semester when things get hectic.
Tags: observing, posting guidelines, reading journal 1, writing
August 28, 2008 at 10:29 am
Hi, this is your student from your english 110 class Ting B. Zhao
just wanna make sure i m in
have a good day
August 28, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Hi, my name is Reut Berkowitz i’m in your M/W 5:30-7:20 class
my username is: rberkowitz
August 28, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Hi gang,
My name is Jessica Berlin, and my username is jessicaberlin (go figure:) )
Have a great long weekend!
August 28, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Hi all,
This is Mary Ann Maja in Monday /Wednesday, 5:30-7:20 class.
This is just a test.
I just want to make sure that I’m in the loop for this blog.
Thank you all.
August 29, 2008 at 12:05 am
Hi
This is Ozair Barlas here. Leaving my user name “ozairbarlas” so that you can add me to the blog.
Thanks
August 29, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Hello, this is Karen Ziegler see ya round the quadrangle! My user name is kzieg…this is my very first blog entry ever…look up guys things do get better after the fog lifts on doing the blog.
August 29, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Here’s my email address professor – m.maja16@gmail.com
August 29, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I just wanted to keep playfully blogging … Does anybody know where the name blog came from?
August 30, 2008 at 10:14 pm
hi my name is liz everson from english 110…my user name is lizeverson
August 31, 2008 at 9:18 am
hi. this is yaling liang, and my user name is yalingliang.
thanks, and enjoy holiday.
September 1, 2008 at 11:01 am
Hi. I am in your M W 5:30-7:20 class. My username is simantov. – Ariella Siman-Tov
September 1, 2008 at 11:26 am
Hi, this is Stefano Di Lorenzo and I am in the MW 5:30-7:20 English 110 class. My username is sdilorenzo100. Bye
September 1, 2008 at 11:47 am
hi, my name is Hao Jun Jiang. I’m in your evening eng 110 class
September 1, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Thinking to the word “text” I feel like it is one of those words in which what really counts is the meaning that the user gives to it within a specific situation, rather than its proper meaning. The word “text” to me is a cold one, but it has the fortune that it can be warmed up. In fact my definition would be actually very similar to Webster’s, since if you don’t put anything else close to it, or better in its substitution but related, it simply means “body of words”. A text in itself doesn’t even have to be reasonable. Yes, I believe if you have a number of words superior to ten, more or less, possibly that is a text. It is the coldest name for a collection of words. But, as I said before, if you put a word such as communicative near it, now you start to understand, and even the association with an image is possible, more smoothly thinkable. You can either imagine what the text tells you or if you have your eyes open you can talk about what you see. Moreover, without “anything” nearby, also the word “image” is a cold one to me. One that does not say too much. As the text is something you read, the image is something you see. Of course see is a thing, look is another thing. Look has already departed from your eyes and your simplest brain, you have some kind of interest for what is in front of you; and you are ready for a further step, observe. When you are attracted, you observe; and the more you observe, the more it’s you, less important what you see. I have the idea you are trying to discover yourself. So, in my opinion both texts and images have the power to communicate; this is the point, communication. A text or an image is meaningful to you if it makes you discover something, above all if this is about yourself. For example, I’m very fascinated by people like Albert Einstein and his relativity. That formula has tons of images in itself: his author, the bomb, how everything is subjective; but those things were already there in everything, in nature, it’s us that are changing, understanding, evolving. Einstein made us discover how we can be, and what we can do. It’s up to us.
Finally, after all this speculation, I find that as we observe we know more, and if you have good knowledge of the grammar, an open vocabulary, and you can use punctuation at your own advantage, then you are more at your ease and you have more to say when time to write comes. A simple text can become a message.
September 2, 2008 at 11:27 am
Hello, I was very excited when I opened the blog to see blogging regarding text. Yes, it is a difficult concept. One of those words hard to pin down where one size does not fit all. For this reason, the bloggist took on a great deal of material and quite a ride before landing on his feet.
September 2, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Practically speaking I see a text as part of an instruction or teaching.
The text can be only an image or something written, moving or
stationary as in a book. We can expand on the text for commentary and
survey the myriad inferences the text can convey. There is danger in the
inappropriate i.e. can you prove that what you see revealed can be truly
critically stated or merely some flight of fancy? The text is what it is
and thus does not have unlimited inference. This restriction forces the
mind to think and to think in and out of box.
On page 22 of SEEING & WRITING 3, three images are illustrated using
metaphor. The first strongly conveys a universal dilemma for our world
i.e. the apple/globe being eaten away (of its natural resources). The last,
showing a male image dissolving into a bar code. The “everyman”
losing his individual identity to over commercialization.
As the observer, I see and then having been invited in I read the
message that is being presented to me by the use of critical thinking.
I can determine if I understand what the message says and what I may
want to do about it, if anything. If the idea is very stimulating such as a
disaster message, I may want to act on this message which will remain in
my conscious mind. Most of my observances are taken in as the everyday
and mundane to which I submit very little if any response or action. I am
most observant in the car which may demand close attention to images
that are moving fairly rapidly before me.
The question is how can careful observation enhance my writing? For
me, it is a matter of being careful and not allow wishful thinking to
use up the space relegated for gathering observations. I don’t want to be
dramatic when it does not warrant it. I want to be concise, clear in
conveying facts and adding to knowledge. Otherwise, why write?
September 2, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Text is a picture spelled out. Written word is the act of relaying information in such a way that the reader can visualize the same image as the author. When one physically sees a picture there is little room for visual interpretation, what is on the paper or canvas is what is meant to be seen, the message itself is not always clear, but the image is pretty black and white. When one reads text, the image is bound by the information given. Details provided give structure for the imagination to paint whatever picture is meant to be portrayed. Depending how tightly the author weaves the image, the reader can either have total creative freedom or non at all. To really tell a story, to “paint a picture” if you will, is to be able to visualize an image and share it in a way so that the recipient can see that same representation. A good text is literally a verbal slice of reality (or perceived reality). If you really observe, perceive, interpret and conceptualize an image, writing as you see is not very hard. Believing in your words is the key. A good salesman can sell anything; so to a good writer can paint any picture.
September 2, 2008 at 4:23 pm
In responce to kzieg- you wrote “The question is how can careful observation enhance my writing? For
me, it is a matter of being careful and not allow wishful thinking to
use up the space relegated for gathering observations. I don’t want to be
dramatic when it does not warrant it. I want to be concise, clear in
conveying facts and adding to knowledge. Otherwise, why write?” is there really no point in writing beyond concise facts? most stories, in my opinion, can be consolidated into a page at most. the hundreds of pages of “fluff” is what differentiates a stick figure from Van Gogh.
September 2, 2008 at 6:07 pm
hi all
My name is Gagandeep Nanda and my user id is gagannanda. Thanks
September 2, 2008 at 7:06 pm
With this comment I would like to clarify that, concerning the word “evolving” I used in my former blogging, I meant proceed. To me the word opposite to evolving, involving, doesn’t make that much sense, and I identify evolution with walking towards the future. Evolution is our always increasing knowledge. Knowledge can’t decrease, and we are evolving because we have to survive managing this augmenting knowledge. Take nuclear energy; it’s powerful and it can help us, but it can destroy us as well. So now we have to be careful and to shape our mind in a more articulated way. Even bad things, mistakes are helping humanity to learn and survive. But this is not about the definition of text we were talking about. In the end I think text is a very general term, and I believe that, as Jessica Berlin says, the connection with an image depends on the intentions of the author; he may be very precise and let no space to the imagination, or on the opposite build his/her text with the idea of stimulating the reader’s fantasy. The message may be present or absent in both cases. Art, in my opinion, is a too wide matter to discuss here now.
September 2, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Aaron Friedman
aaronfriedman
September 2, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Thinking of the paragraph and drawing activity in the class, I just realize text and image can be exchanged which means text can turn into image, and image can be transformed being text. However, different readers have different thoughts to translate the information that the text or image conveys. My partner’s drawing is about 70% similar to my description of my room. In my image, I’m so familiar with my room but when I need to describe it into texts, I think I cannot describe it very correctly; for example, I just describe that my bed is in the middle of the room without saying direction which might cause a mistake. Since when we see something, our brain is trying to change it into text which can help us to memory. So my partner’s drawing can also turn into text but might be so different as my original one. I am not considering myself as a good observant, even though I always try to carefully observe. I think good observe requires skills, such as good memory and think deeply. However, I think everyone is observant no matter you can really see something or not. In the textbook, seeing and writing 3, page 6, it provides definition of observation that it is the act, practice, or power of noticing. Just how much you pay attention to notice matters if you are a good observant or not. Also, the skill of observation is possible to improve, through the first impression to looking over and over, you might notice more than what you saw and thought before. I think the reason for this activity is meaningful that not only show us the relations between text and image which can be changed to each other, but also tells us good observation can help to create good image and good text.
September 2, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I have to admit that I was never a careful reader, because reading to me is just like a punishment. I’ve always tried to avoid taking English classes if possible. But for requirement reasons, this is mandatory which I will take the chance to improve my reading and writing skills. However, for somehow, I always enjoyed reading newspaper and magazine articles. Maybe real facts are the right thing for me. My style of reading sometimes limits my writing. Since I read carelessly, I missed some of the content; therefore I have fewer points to write about.
September 2, 2008 at 9:06 pm
hi this is jullie im transfer student so im learning english and this class its a little bit dificult for me. i just want to learn a lot and understand the assigments…=) thanks
September 2, 2008 at 9:12 pm
In class when we were asked to describe a room to someone so that they could draw it, I was not exactly sure what the point of the exercise was. However, I figured there would be some meaning and lesson meaning behind it. Then, after reading the textbook the purpose of the exercise became more clear. Before reading about seeing and writing I never though about a connection between the two. However, after reading I understand that the one actually has a lot to do with the other.
Before doing the activity I thought that drawing someone else’s room from a description that they gave would be easy. However, once I began the activity I learned that this was not something that is very easy to do. Because of this I was impressed at how accurate the drawing of the room I described was. There was only one thing that I listed which was out of place. I think that the way I described my room could have a lot to do with the accuracy of the drawing. Although I feel that I gave a good description I also believe that it may have just seemed good to me because I already knew what the room looked like. The only part of my room that I left out was my closet. This is because I found that the way it is in my room would be very hard to explain. Since I was not exactly sure how to explain it I felt that this would add more confusion to the person who had to draw my room.
After reading the textbook, I believe that a drawing could in fact be considered a text. This is because I believe that a text is something which describes, teaches, or shows something to someone else. I think that a picture can do these things also. The only difference is it does not use words to describe these things, but rather visual aids. I would describe myself as a visual person. This is because if I see something, or someone explains something to me I can usually remember it, or understand it. However, I have to understand what it is they are saying. I think this was an interesting activity, and that it was assigned to show us that the way someone writes is very important. This is because the reader may get something totally different out of what you are saying, which could be something that you might not have even meant to say.
September 2, 2008 at 9:16 pm
When I first read the question, what is a text? I instantaneously jump right away and I thought that this is the easiest one in regards to the other questions. However, as I contemplate it takes me deeper to think of its meaning than I really thought. In the end, here is my own simple definition of what is a text? Text is a collection of words that defines your thoughts and can bring an image to mind. It is a way of how you perceived and reflect to understand things.
So how can an image be a text? The way I translate the illustrations on page two of our book “Seeing and Writing”, you will know that this is a perfect answer to this question. In a way, an image is not just drawings or pictures but it is also a form of letters in a text. Somehow, an image is a descriptive form of your understanding or observations that creates a fundamental objective in a form of a text. As I understand, they are both related – a text is an image and an image is a text.
Often times when I tend to read images by observing the object or the subject, I need to make a mere focus so I can grasp the form and understand its logic. Sometimes we do have a different interpretation but when you give a full attention of the images, it will certainly help you easily to understand the meaning, the complexity, and its importance.
The same thing when you do a careful observation of the image. One of the exercises in page five of our book – “what a penny looks like” is certainly an interesting exercise. I know that in our lives we encounter a “penny” for more than a thousand times and yet, if we have been asked to describe the penny, I’m sure that we will have a puzzled moment of what a penny looks like. My point here is that, not until we will have a full attention or with careful observation, we will not get at least the eighty percent of what is expected for us to describe the images. That is why I think by doing a careful observations, it does really enhance the way you write because your mind will work differently. You will have more focus and you can see clarity in your perceptions. In addition, you will have a good detailed descriptions of your observations. And in the end, you will have an easy distinct conclusion, as you perceive the images to its own with clarity and emphasis. Overall, when you do a careful observation, it will certainly bring more tools of good fundamental ideas to enhance the advantage of your writing.
September 2, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Text can be a combination of words and letters combined to form a sentence for the expression of one’s observations or just to give a statement or to tell a story or an event. The text doesn’t have to be in any specific form and in my opinion whatever I am writing is also a text. So the text can range from a simplest sentence forming of three words, to a complex sentence having with dependant and independent clauses.
As described above text can be used in different forms, so one form of text is for defining images. An image can be a text if we define the image in a form that the reader can portray a picture of that image in his mind by just only reading the text. To achieve this kind of imaginative writing, the writer must have a detailed knowledge of the image about which he is planning to write. Another thing about defining an image using text is that images usually cannot be explained in a single sentence. There has to be a series of sentences to fully define the image so that the reader can get the right picture of the image.
Regarding reading images, I am not very sure about how would I read images. But after reading the paragraphs from the book I have realized that the careful observation is very important in reading images. I as an observer have to be very careful in looking at images to properly understand it or give an appropriate picture of the image to the reader if I am writing about it. The more detail I know about the image the more accurately I can right about it. Most of the times we see an image or a place on daily basis but still if we are told to right about it in detail we will get most of the part right but there is a slight chance that we miss some part of that image or place in describing it.
September 2, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Shortly after I learned how to read, I couldn’t take my eyes off books. I grew up in a family that emphasized the importance of reading and its many benefits. I watched my parents and my older sister read in their free time for pleasure or to gain knowledge. Every week, I went together with my family to the library and each of us selected six or seven books to read for that coming week. As a child, my parents monitored what I read and pushed me to read different genres.
I started out by reading mostly fiction in any free time that I had. I enjoyed the different story lines and was drawn into them. At times, I considered myself as a character in the story and felt every decision they had to make, their happiness or sadness.
As a high school student in Israel, I started to read some of the higher level written books for my literature class. I had enjoyed exploring some classic books as “Anna Karenina” “Pride and Predigest” “Jan Eyre” and the like. I have realized that these forms of writing stimulate me more than the “regular” fiction books I used to read.
Today, I read mostly fiction novels, newspapers and magazines, all in English. I consider reading as a pleasure and a treat when I have some free time. In addition, I try to read “The New York Times” since many have told me it will help me improve my English. As to higher level books, I’m afraid to read them since English is my second language. I notice that the more I read, my sentence punctuation becomes smoother, and I see an improvement in my spelling.
I believe that frequent reading and writing will improve my writing skills. As of now, I’m comfortable with my reading skills. I‘m able to complete readings from my textbooks and perform well on tests. However, I can’t say the same about my writing skills. I’m not comfortable as a writer although I do write often. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking about the kind of books I read for pleasure, and thinking that reading different books might help to improve my writing.
Finally, I hope that this class will help me improve as a writer. I’m ready to work hard and hope to see better results.
September 2, 2008 at 9:57 pm
We are surrounded of a culture that tends to change. The way of communication, the way to have contact with the people, the public space is not the same some years ago, we know that, but also we know that always these changes are to be the easy life, the fast life.
I think that the new “age of the image” has big consequences for writing and reading because the people have been accustomed to have visual stimulations a more impacting way, more real and easier to obtain. People don’t want to think, that’s the reason why they prefer a computer than a book; and this is a disadvantage to the reader because having a computer instead of the book change the purpose of the reading because the reader will have visual distractions and he cant focus completely in a task so they will do a poor reading and consequently a poor writing because they will have the temptation to do another things. The commercials, ad screens will appear, windows will pop up, and they probably will be listening to music too while they try to focus in reading
I am easily distracted; I can’t read with any sound because I can’t concentrate completely. I need to read very quietly and peacefully in my house. I consider myself I casual reader because I tend to read when I’m in the subway or in a waiting area for example. I prefer to read twice a day and off course to read in my house just to make sure the reading and can do a good writing.
September 2, 2008 at 9:58 pm
To comment on Liz Everson
I realized what the activities point was before we started writing and therefore I was very careful with my description. It says that one picture is worth a thousand words. If the point is to convey a fast message, a picture will do it. However, I would prefer to see a written text and to imagine the message myself.
September 2, 2008 at 10:13 pm
In class my professor assigned each student to describe a place they are familiar with. I chose to describe the kitchen in my house. I was amazed when I saw that my partner drew my own kitchen, leaving out but so few details. The drawing my partner drew resembled almost exactly how I described it in text. I described my kitchen with all it’s cabinets, refrigerator, countertops, sinks, dishwasher, microwaves, stove, and eating corner. I also described that in my kitchen there are separate countertops, sinks, ovens, and microwaves for meat and dairy. The reason for this separation is because my family are observant Jews and follow the stringent laws of keeping kosher. I believe my description was very accurate however, once I saw the picture my partner draw I left out the important detail that my kitchen is a square shape therefore she drew the kitchen in a rectangular shape; leaving out the correct corner placement. I also left out the location of the kitchen door, therefore there was no entrance in the picture that my partner drew. If someone were to describe the picture my partner drew they would list the various details that they see. Those details can then be summarized into a coherent paragraph hence depicting what my kitchen looks like. I would describe myself as being very observant. As I read the way my partner described her bedroom I imagined the area in from of me I saw the location of her bed in the corner, her red couch in the corner, her desk, and her cozy fireplace reading her description of her bedroom enabled me to illustrate her bedroom with full detail. I think the professor assigned this activity to demonstrate that illustration goes hand in hand with text. I believe a good writer is able to write with vivid details which gives the reader a sense of the surroundings. I learned from this activity that it is important to use my own imagination when reading essays, articles or books.
September 3, 2008 at 11:16 am
Hi all,
My names Bryttne’ Nelson
and my username is bryttnenelson. simple =]
September 3, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Hi,
My name is Sunyoung Jang and my username is sunjang. Thanks!
September 4, 2008 at 12:18 am
HELLO
MY NAME IS LU,JIAXIN AND MY USERNAME IS JIAXINLU.THANKS
September 4, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Hello.
My name is Liz Giller.
My username is lizgiller.
Does this count as a comment??
Just kidding.
September 6, 2008 at 2:04 pm
hi my name is timur bravo, professor can u add me, thanks
September 7, 2008 at 10:01 am
I sent in my description for review. The blog responded your blog has been saved. I hope it went through.
September 7, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I wrote my short story on post I pressed the save button and then the submit. I don’t see my story and I am unable to e-mail the professor. To ensure its timely submission I will place it here.
First Shift
What could be seen as a most ordinary ride on the New York subway sometime in early morning takes place at a very significant time for a lot of New Yorkers and if fact for the world. It was December 24th at precisely 11:59 pm when this photo was shot. The two immortalized subway riders are Marjorie and Fred who will go there separate ways very soon…unnoticed and unobserved if it wasn’t for the timing of their ride. Marjorie, a long time “mixer” for Sunshine Bakery Company is on her way home. She reflects her work. Pale and powdery, hardworking, she is used to going about unnoticed doing her daily routine that she keeps in deep check. Except that hidden from us in this photograph, will be the fulfillment of a long, hoped for gift waiting at home.
On Marjorie’s left is the reason for the photograph. It’s Fred’s first day on the job presented as one of the Daily News’ topnotch crime reporters. They’re doing a series on the work of the new crime reporter that for him is anything but routine. Fred has that knowing glance of somebody who is just one step ahead of life. He savors it all…the beat, the broads and knows that this city will deliver what feeds the appetite in all of us…the guts, gore, and even the heart and soul. Fred knows that even ladylike types like Marjorie like to “read all about it” but discretly at the kitchen table far from the eyes of others.
Marjorie gets off first and reaches her building decorated brightly in the season’s greetings. The lights, so inviting, don’t match the loneliness she feels especially at this time of year. The steps Marjorie now takes, key in hand, are a signal for what’s to come. Meeting her on the stairs is the long hoped for Christopher, her son. And now having the wings of an angel, she welcomes him to her self.
And now it’s Fred’s turn. It’s still quite early when he reaches home. He quietly turns the key, but unexpectedly his wife, Coleen greets him at the door. Fred placed a present for her on their bed before leaving for work yesterday and Coleen dressed in his gift is a vision in a beautiful white negligee. Quietly, they share a glass of Champagne with a toast for a happy future and spend this quiet time loving each other…just the two of them before the joys and sounds of the season stir in Fred, his wife and their children.
Good night and Merry Christmas.
September 7, 2008 at 9:15 pm
The lines for which I apologize should read “in fact” and “who will go their”