Wobble, Wobble

When most people think of the word wobble now days they do not think of the actual definition but of the popular dance. The definition however is slightly different...

WOBBLE: to move or proceed with an irregular rocking or staggering motion or unsteadily and clumsily from side to side

    Many times in this class I have felt just like that definition, unsteady about what we were suppose to do for an assignment or unsure of what I was going to write about. The first time I felt this way during this course was when we were given the assignment to make our own blog. I have used blogs in the past but never actually had my own blog and had to make my own posts. I "wobbled" when writing my first post. I had no idea what I was going to say, or even really what I was suppose to do. By the end of this course however I have been able to see a good bit of improvement in my blogs. Personally I think my writing has improved, and I guess that was a main point in this course and I feel as if I have reached that goal. I know that I am not an excellent writer, I now feel that I am at least a decent writer and I have got that way through this English 1101 course.

   While I do feel I have improved and become a better writer through this blog there are still many questions that I have. I wonder what, if anything I will do with this blog when this course is over? I wonder if I will have to create another blog for my next English course? Or will I ever have to work with blogs again? I wonder if my writing would have improved any if it had not been for this blog? I wonder if my writing even has improved of if it is just that I feel more comfortable with writing? I wonder what other writing I will do after this class? Finally, I wonder what other wobbles I will encounter in my future writing?


PS. I had a great experience in this class. I normally do not enjoy English classes, but I actually liked this one and I feel like I got a lot out of it. Thank you so much Lacy for being such a great teacher!

-Taylor

Ethnography Reflection

This project had it's major up's and down's. It was very easy for us to figure out what we were going to do our project on..sculptures. However it was not easy for us to figure out how we were going to put the project together.

The revison part of this project also seemed to be kind of difficult to overcome. The technologies that we used to make our video were not exactly user friendly and took a while for us to figure out what to do.

Our group seemed to work together very well. All memebers showed up to every meeting and did what had to be done in order to make our project work.

The untradiotional part of this project was very difficult. At first we did not understand what we were suppose to do at all, and we were very confused when we figured out what we were going to do. I personally would rather just write a paper or do a blog post.

Overall I think my group did very well on our project and I think we showed the ethnography of sculptures around UNCC's campus.

Improv Insight

       I started off doing this blog post tonight having no idea what so ever, I was going to write about. I was begining to think I had run out of things to say. So I sat on my bed, racking my brain for ideas on what to write...
 
      Then I recalled the improv we did last class, Unfortunately Story. We had done activities like this before in which we were all in a big circle and went around making up a story. However in this activity we had to change the story when it was our turn, we had to make it something it was not. For me this was much harder than the previous game we had played. It is so much easier to add to a story than it is to take away from our change it. This got me thinking about the Literacy Narratives we wrote and I began to see the connection between the two. The game was a challenge to get us thinking in new way, and how to change the story we already have into something different, something new. I felt the same challennge when trying to edit my narrative, it was hard to completely change the story, to really dig in and make something new, but I eventually got the hang of it. Before this improv I never really understood the point of all the activities like that, that we do. Now I get it, improv can actually be helpful.

Princess and the frog twist

Last class we read "Hazel Tells Laverne" by Kathryn Machan. I really liked the twist to the classic fairytail of the princess and the frog. The girl is given the oppurtinity to become a princess, but she does not want that for herself, she does not believe the frog. It makes me think she is not gullible and makes this poem seem very real to life.

Ethnograpgy Group Project

Today my group met to talk about the hidden literacy in sculptures around UNCC's campus. We decided that we would all pick an individual sculpture and find out a little bit more about it. Since I had already done the Cyrillic Projector I decided to continue with it. Our group choose to interview people to find out what their takes on the sculptures were..


It was pretty cold this morning and since it was during class time there were not a lot of people walking by. I interviewed two girls walking together and this is what was said...


Interview

Me: What statement do you think this piece is making?

Hallie: I think the piece is probably a metaphor for something.

Samantha: I don't really know? I don't think I've ever even noticed this

Me: Have you ever seen this peice lit up?

Hallie: No, it lights up?

Samantha: No

Me: What message is the artist trying to send?

Hallie: I think all the different letters are a representation of different cultures coming together

Samantha: With the different letters and symbols it might mean something more, maybe there's a hidden message he was trying to give?

I also asked myself the same questions and this is what I came up with..
I think the piece is making a sort-of incognito statement, when you see it during the day you would probably over look it and not think twice about what it is. When you see it at night it seems to "come alive" and you cant help but see it and wonder what it is. I would say that the theme of this piece is mystery, after all it is a secret code. This piece leaves me feeling curious and wondering more.

Cyrillic Projector

Located in the plaza between Fretwell and Friday is the Cyrillic Projector. The projector is a sculpture created by Jim Sanborn with a secret message encrypted on it.

 

I noticed the sculpture one night walking through campus. I had passed by the same exact spot many times before during the day and never really payed much attention to it, however at night it is almost impossible to miss. I was very intrested in it, it seemed to be in a odd language with weird symbols and letters. I went back to my dorm and decided to try and figure out what exactly this sculpture was all about, and this is what I found...

 

"The Cyrillic Projector is an encrypted sculpture at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, that was created by Washington DC artist Jim Sanborn in the early 1990s. It was inspired by the encrypted Kryptos sculpture that Sanborn created two years earlier for CIA Headquarters. The message on the Cyrillic Projector has turned out to be in two parts. The decrypted first part is a Russian text encouraging secret agents to psychologically control potential sources of information. The second part appears to be a partial quote from classified KGB correspondence about the Soviet dissident Sakharov, with concerns that his report to the Pugwash conference was being used by the Americans for an anti-Soviet agenda.
Sculptor Sanborn created two codes -- One for the CIA's Kryptos sculpture, and another lesser-known one related to KGB operations. The CIA's Kryptos sculpture attained international media attention in 1999 when it was announced that the first three sections of the Kryptos code had been solved independently by two different cryptographers. Part 4 of Kryptos remains uncracked to this day, and was what sparked the creation of the Kryptos Group in May 2003. The group currently has about 70 members from at least four different continents, and includes cryptographers, mathematicians, game developers, academics, and other interested hobbyists. Along with investigating the Kryptos code itself, the group is also closely examining other elements related to Kryptos, such as other sculptures created by artist Jim Sanborn, including the Cyrillic Projector." http://elonka.com/kryptos/CyrillicProjectorAnnouncement.html

I visted the sculpture at night when it was lit up so I could get another look at it now that I had a better idea of what it was. Since I was there at night I did not see many people walking by, there was not a lot of action, no real noise besides the common noises you would hear at night. To me the work itself speaks enough about literacy. The encoded message that took so long to be decrypted, and the secret message it holds. A secret message in a different language is literacy.

literacy narrative struggle

My literacy narrative is for sure not a "success story" now don't get me wrong I did the best I could but I wont be bragging on myself here...

When we were assigned this assignement I was not at all excited, I had no idea what I was going to write about. Luckly we did a lot of work in class preparing for this paper and that helped me alot. Through the activites we did in our daybook I got an idea of what I was going to write. However I did not think I would be able to write three to five pages about it. This was a hard assignment for me, I mean obviously I know im literate but I didnt at all know what to write about it..

first edition

second edition

third edition

The first draft of the paper that I wrote, I thought was pretty decent. I made the minimum length of three pages and I talked about being literate so I thought I was good. I was wrong. My paper was not what I would call bad but it was not quite good enough, it was not my best work. I was challenged in class to change my paper, to play around and switch things up. I tried that, but I didnt change things that much.

In my third "edition" of my paper I really tried to play around and "mix things up" based on Lacy's suggestions in my review. I switched up the order of my essay, added new things and changed/edited it as much as I could. I tried my best to come up with new ideas, I still am not one hundred percent confident with my revision but I tried my best and I think thats all that matters.

literacy narrative struggle

My literacy narrative is for sure not a "success story" now don't get me wrong I did the best I could but I wont be bragging on myself here...

When we were assigned this assignement I was not at all excited, I had no idea what I was going to write about. Luckly we did a lot of work in class preparing for this paper and that helped me alot. Through the activites we did in our daybook I got an idea of what I was going to write. However I did not think I would be able to write three to five pages about it. This was a hard assignment for me, I mean obviously I know im literate but I didnt at all know what to write about it..

first edition

second edition

third edition

The first draft of the paper that I wrote, I thought was pretty decent. I made the minimum length of three pages and I talked about being literate so I thought I was good. I was wrong. My paper was not what I would call bad but it was not quite good enough, it was not my best work. I was challenged in class to change my paper, to play around and switch things up. I tried that, but I didnt change things that much.

In my third "edition" of my paper I really tried to play around and "mix things up" based on Lacy's suggestions in my review. I switched up the order of my essay, added new things and changed/edited it as much as I could. I tried my best to come up with new ideas, I still am not one hundred percent confident with my revision but I tried my best and I think thats all that matters.

MIDTERM MISSION

 

GROUP MISSION:

Go to Adkins Library

Find mentor text

Write beside the text

Document the mission

 

 

 

We met at the Adkins Library at 4:00pm on Sunday to begin our mission.

 

We proceeded inside and approached the information desk to find out where we could find a book/magazine/newspaper similar to what we were looking for. There was however no one at the information desk to help us. We continued to find the text alone.

 

We walked up to the second floor and searched down many isles to find what we needed. At first we could not find anything like what we needed. We were lost in the isles searching for something that would be of use.

 

 

Finally after much searching we approached this       ^       isle.

 

 

 

Where we found two magazines by the same publisher with articles we thought would be helpful.

The above magazine was a fail, we decided to use the other one instead.

(the above pictures are of the article we read)

 “Up and Away” in the June 2012 magazine of Quality Progress. The article talked about adding creativity in your work. The audience was business related, however we learned a lot about the group creativity and how to build off of others ideas and thoughts.

After choosing our article and reading through it we began to “write beside it” in our daybooks. The five minutes flew by, we were done before we knew it.

The article was written about creativity and it inspired me to be more creative in my writing. I used the same writing style in conjunction with the creativity idea to improve my narrative writing.

We proceeded to read back over our work, return our magazine to its proper place. Leave the library and terminate our mission.

 

Blind writing

Last week in class we did an activity "Readers Workshop Contract" I did the activity Blind Writing.
     The assignment was:
      Cover your screen with something (like maybe your daybook). Type into your
      literacy narrative without at the words you type.

I covered my screen with my day book and typed a document in word...

 

I did not at all care for this assignment, I am constantely looking up at the screen while I

type. It was very hard to do the blind typing assignment.

When I looked back at my work I had misspelled words and typed sentances incorrectly.

I am the type of person that when I type it has to be perfect, and change it right away when it is wrong.

 

Creativity requires TIME

In class we watched a video for our writing into the day, Creativity Requires TIME. In the video a class was given a picture of an unfinished clock and the task of completing the drawing in ten seconds. Most everyone finished the clock and the drawings varied some, but were mostly generic clock drawings. The class was then given the same task but with ten minutes to complete the drawing. With the extra ten minutes the students were able to add creativity and originality to their clock drawings. The new drawings were a reflection of the extra time the class was given. With more time they were able to express themselves through their drawings. Ten seconds is hardly enough time to finish the drawing much less be creative with it. 

  Creativity Requires TIME video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPbjSnZnWP0&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1

Creativity takes time.

I have learned this through my writing. When I take my time with my writing I am able to brainstorm and come up with more ideas than when I just rush through. It is better to take your time and become inspired and produce great work and put forth your best effort.

Literacy Dig

This week in English 1101 we have been talking about literacy. Merriam-Webster defines literacy as “educated, cultured, and able to read and write”. We were assigned to do a literacy dig. We were assigned to look for at least five literacy artifacts around us, in our room, car, apparent or etc. that may or may not be valued in school.

These are the artifacts I found around me…

 

 

Literacy Dig

Item #1: mini fan- This fan is almost always on in my dorm room. I live on the second floor and for some reason my hallway is always hot. When I moved it I thought it was just because there were a bunch of people going in and out, doors opening and shutting, moving heavy boxes but no it has not gotten any cooler. It is just my hallway that is hot, the other three hallways on the second floor are relatively cool.  We have complained, but basically nothing can be done, so they say. For now the fan stays on. 

 

 

Item#2: plastic water bottle- I drink a lot of water, I almost always have a water bottle with me. You are supposed to “drink eight glasses of water a day” so that’s what I try to do, although it do not always meet that recommendation.

Item#3: a desk- The dorm room came with a desk, that’s why it is here. I do not really use it to do my homework or study. I use it more for storage and to just put things on. (It is normally a lot cleaner than in the picture, im currntly packing. Please excuse the mess.) I keep my makeup, perfume, hair products, and all my girly stuff on my desk. It is just an easy place to store things, especially since my dorm room is not very spacious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Item #4: black blanket- I got this blanket as a graduation gift from my friend/roommates aunt. She got them to match our dorm room, and they have our names embroidered on them.  I use it almost every night because it is too hot in my room to use a big blanket.

 

 

 

Item #5: a television- I do not really watch a lot of TV, I just do not have time. I will turn it on sometimes while I am doing homework, or when I go to sleep. College keeps me going so I do not have a lot of free time to just sit around and watch TV.

 

Not all of these items have “made me” literate but a few of them

have for sure contributed to my literacy.  Being literate is obviously a very important

 and these items have of course at least contributed to me being literate.

Strings too short?

For this second blog post, I decided to go back a little bit frothier in my day book. Actually all the way back, to the first day of class. We were given a sheet with quotes from Breathing In Breathing Out: Keeping a Writer’s Notebook by Ralph Fletcher. We were told to read all the quotes and star one that seems to resonate with us the most. I chose the second quote…

Writer’s notebooks are filled with what Joan Didion calls,

“strings too short to be saved” yet too important to be thrown away:

The writerly instinct is to hang onto them. (p.22)

 

In my day book I wrote..

“A writers thoughts and words are significant, they have meaning behind them. Even the simplest thought or idea could turn into something great! You have to start somewhere nothing is too “short” not to be saved.”

 

So in a way I agree and disagree with the quote I choose.  Often times we as writers can get bored with our writings and just quit or start over with a completely new idea. What about the old idea that we just let go? Why should we not at least save it for later it may be too short to be saved, but it could be too important to throw away. Who knows what that simple paragraph, sentence, or idea could turn into. By saving these little short strings you can always go back to them later and frothier develop the idea into something great. We as sort of “new” writers should take this advice from Ralph Fletcher and apply it to daybook and blogs when trying to come up with something new. If we save all of our thoughts and ideas about writing in our day books then we will never run out of things to write and blog about.

 

"My Theme for English B"

At the beginning of our second class of English 1101 we read a poem by Langston Hughes, “Theme For English B”. It was our starter, our writing into the day. I wrote,

-“This is my theme for English B

a poem or page that is true to me,

our daily assignment to write in this notebook.

Now I wonder what will I put?

Will I write about me?

Or the things I see?”

When we write in our daybooks we can write whatever we want to, there is no specific format or guide line, we just write what we feel.  I was inspired by Hughes poem to try and write a poem myself.  I am not at all a writer, especially not a poem writer.  If I would have had more time I would’ve added to the poem and looking back now I would change a few things.  I would first change the title from English B to English 1101 since that’s the title of our class. Then I would add to the "poem"...

 

 

 

-“This is my theme for English 1101

a poem or page that is true to me,

our daily assignment to write in this notebook.

Now I wonder what will I put?

Will I write about me?                                     

Or the things I see?

Who knows where this book might take me?

At the end of this semester I’ll take a look back just to see little changes Iike that

Maybe it’ll be me or my writing, we’ll see.

I hope that by the end of this semester my writing skills will grow and change by using this daybook. The daybook gives me the opportunity to write what I think or how I feel about anything and everything.  I’ve never really been into the whole blogging thing. In high school we had to post in blogs or comment on them, but we never actually had our own blog. I’m actually excited about my blog, and can’t wait to see what it’s going to turn into.