Anzaldua

Pre-Reading:

3. I've read many many interviews of Audrey Hepburn, and even watched some that were available. I think it changed how I viewed her as person. Not really her work. As an actress, I thought she was great. Even if she was a terrible person, it would still not affect the way I thought of her as an actress. But as a person, I think my outlook of her would be different. When I've read anything Audrey Hepburn, I thought she was a great person, she was a true lady. Classy, talented, and intellectual in every way. Maybe if she wasn't all of these things, I might not like her as a person, but I would not be able to doubt her as an actress just based on her work. 

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

1. Personally I thought this piece was a bit confusing because it was so personal. I thought that by her not cluing us in, it felt like begin lead with a blindfold. For me, reading this piece without this information felt a bit too confusing. I didn't understand a good amount of it because of it. Even though I'm all up for being personal, there needs to be a line drawn. If you want readers to understand what you're saying and your piece, there needs to be a clear understanding. 

3. I think confidence is the key to everything. Even thought it's not nessarcy, it's a key part of being a writer. It's important to be confident in your abilities so there is no doubt in your own thoughts and abilities. Being a writer is close to being an artist, what you're giving out is your art. Even thought many might not view it as artistic, it is a good chunk of self expression and thoughts. I think being confident helps you do anything in life well. It not only helps me write well, but do everything else in life. My point of view is if you truly believe you can do it, then you can achieve it.  

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

2. I think for a topic like this, it's important to take a more traditional academic format. Even thought I'm all up for creativity and a different type of tone, it's only better if it's not confusing and displays the message without confusion. I thought as a writer, her piece should have been more of a traditional format in order to be a more affective piece of writing.  

3. I do agree that images are more direct than words, it's a lot easier seeing what's in front of you than imagining. Personally, I think every picture especially of places affect me more deeper than a text would. For example, if someone had to describe the effiel tower in paris in words, it would be hard to see the beauty of it. "A triangular building made of metal that has lights on it." But if someone instead given a picture, it would be easy to see why the tower is so iconic and considered beautiful. For a person who might not have the best imagination or ability to write, it may be more useful to use a picture than try to put it down in words. 

Alexander

Alexander Reading

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

6. The concepts of male/female stereotypes are very restrictive for all people because of the idea of stereotypes. Especially in writing, it can block a lot of true inner thoughts and creativity. For example, if a guy wanted to write about his feelings and 'sensitive' side, he would automatically be known as a 'pansy'. That puts a lot of restrict for anyone. I think since society is so harsh on people that have to follow the quote that the world has set up. Anyone who wants to defy stereotypes has to go pass the gender that is given to them. Now people seem to forget that gender is not chosen, yet when you take your first breath in the delivery room, they give you expectations. This can stop anyone from doing what they want to do. This stereotype given to all people can hurt the people of the planet as a whole. What if a women, wanted to become a doctor , but couldn't because society wouldn't allow it. Yet she could have cured cancer , but the world would never know because of the stereotype that was given to her and the restrictions she could not go past. It's important to realize that when people are restricted, it does not benefit anyone in anyway. 

7. Students, whether they know it or not reinforce gender stereotypes. I've been in the position where teachers have given students a topic to choose, and most of the male students have choose to write about sports and girls about ballet, fashion. To me, that's so stereotypical. I think as males and females, there is more to write about than what is usually thought of us. Even though we've come so far in technology, I think we still need to improve on gender roles and stereotypes. 

Applying and Exploring:

3. Many people don't realize that "normally" gendered students can gain as much as they want t from trans theory in their composition class. Being exposed to new theories and thoughts can always help expand the mind. It's like going to another country, it's adapting to changes and accepting what's different. It's important to teach students about this to raise awareness and block ignorance. I think people tend to be ignorant to what they don't know or understand, I think by introducing people to trans theory, it helps them understand. This also is true for every minority discourse in class, it's understanding a new type of discourse and way of being. Especially for something such as race, it's almost impossible to understand, unless given to us and explained. 

Deplit & Smitherman

Deplit & Smitherman

Delpit:

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

1. Personally I don't think Delpit's race has anything to do with this article. It wasn't nessarcy for it to be revealed in order to determine anything about this article. I think it was part of her plan, to not reveal her race in article to prove a point. Since many can be judgmental about race and stick to stereotypes, not revealing her race helped prove her point even more than before. I think it's important to realize that it was all in her plan when writing this. At the end of the day, writing and race shouldn't have a connection. Writing is writing, it should not be judged on who you are rather how you write and express your thoughts. To me, her message wouldn't change my perception of her identity, I don't judge people's work based on their race, instead I judge on the facts that are given to me. 

3. I do agree with Delpit's arguments. She has factual arguments to back it up, and a personal connection to tie it in together. I believe the most effective part was when she pulled her own story into the argument. Instead of making it sound biased and unprofessional, she made it as a perfect example. The weakness are some of her arguments, I think she meant well, but I don't think she took it into the right direction. I don't think she told people to embrace what they had, she only encouraged equality and learning in a way. I thought she should have covered more about embracing who you are. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas

3. I do see generalizations in this text, I think you can see the generalizations in the overall reading. But I think her point throughout the writing. It's to show that generalizations can hurt people and writing itself. In my own experience, generalizations are always problematic and never end up too well. For example when you generalize in a paper, teachers will automatically assume you don't know what you're talking about and question why. Generalization doesn't help in many situations because they create more questions and assumptions that may or may not be true. It's important to put everything as clear as possible. 

Smitherman :

"Pre Reading"

During high school, I had to read 'Romeo and Juliet', like most students it was like reading a different language. I didn't understand any of the meanings of sentences, yet I could read the words. Even though many people may think Shakespeare might not be 'dialect', however it is in a way. There are words and sayings that are not used anymore. It would come to the point that our teacher would have to explain every sentence that was said in the book because as freshmen we were not expecting this 'language'. It made reading this story extremely difficult to understand and make sense of. 

Questions for Discussion and Journaling 

2. He's using Black Idiom rhetorically as an example and to prove his argument. Smitherman is using this to show the readers the connection that should be broken. Even though many people don't think in such a biased and negative way, he uses this example to make a point to people. Many may confuse for what he's saying as ignorant, instead of seeing his irony to convince the audience about the argument. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas

5. I don't think it has any difference in the meaning, just grammatically. I think anyone who would read this would realize the double negatives. However, in the generation we have today, it would be almost impossible to not understand the meaning even with the double negative. I don't think there is a significance in the title because it means the same thing. Personally I'm not fazed by the language. It's the idea of "text talk", writing what you think or say in 'real life'. Think of someone saying "lol" in a paper, it's unprofessional however, the message is still there "laugh out loud". 

Flynn

Flynn Reading

Questions for Discussion and Journaling :

2. It's really important to take note of which time period a piece is written, it can really help understand the piece a lot more. Not only with language and slang that can be used but ideals as well. Obviously anyone who has read books such as Pride and Prejudice must note that time period that it was written for. Even more famous Shakespeare plays, there must be a note on the type of language that is involved as well. If someone read Romeo and Juliet now, and thought it was written yesterday, they would be baffled with not only language but 'culture' that is given off. The dominate male figure, that any feminist would cringe at. Ideas within should not be affected by years and generations, it should be noted and understood but not always agreed with. 

3.  This means that Women have been suppressed throughout the years. But even now with the unfair wages, and prejudice that can easily be found today. It's the idea that anything or anyone different is excluded because the world is so focused on being united. People often fear the unknown and different because the inability to relate. The way women's voices are silences can easily relate minorities. There are still a lot of racism that can be found. With all the hate that is found, it can be intimidating to anyone, its the idea of society pushing down anything that seems to be different. It's society way to blame change and differences on the unknown. Being not only a women but a minority as well, I've already felt the effects of society and the pressure of silence and fitting into a category. People expect you to fail or do extraordinarily well , there is no in-between. 

5. In general I believe that Chodorow's clans to be true, but there are bits and pieces I do not agree with. I agree with the idea that 'women parent women', I've been raised by my mom and have a lot of her ideals. Throughout my entire life I've had her support and care. She is the reason I'm so independent and the person I am today. However, I don't think ALL women are raised by women, I have quiet few friends who were raised by their dads. Even though i'm not one of them, most of my friends have expressed that they are daddy's girls and relate more to their dad throughout their entire life. 

Applying and Exploring:

4. I think Flynn's article is very general. She obviously has a biased views, she has not seemed to knock down any opposing arguments. It felt that even though her work was backed up and researched, she sounded more like she was ranting than informing. I don't think that her generalization served any benefits, I think an article like this, it's important to remember to include all details. This is an important topic that will always be discussed and played with, to put any generalization in this will offer no help. I think it's important to remember that any generalization can be used against you, and makes article look weak. 

5, I think gender influence language in a different way, It's difficult to explain most of the times. I think when we think of a male writer, we think of machoism and less emotional type of writing, more straight to the point. While women writers tend to show more personal example and emotion. The way society has taught us to act and think, makes us assume that anything that has emotion and 'soft' is often something written by a women. And any action film and gorge film was written by a man. Personally, I think that my writing may be considered the "typical women writer" however, I don't think every woman or man should be classified into that section especially with such writers like Nicholas Sparks and Mary Shelly.  

Villanueva

Questions for Discussion and Journaling 

3. This piece gives a personal touch, which makes it interesting. Instead of starting off the piece like the rest, it makes us think more and more. It really makes the audience intrigued and interested in what Villanueva has to say. Sometimes when you're reading these long articles, you forget that the person behind these writings are actual people and not robots. I think, just by starting his article the way he did states a lot. It's important for authors to remember to make that personal connection to the audience or else it'll just be words on a page. Personally I felt that starting this article with a memory really helped the text as a whole. 

4. The different poems and passages contributes to Villanueva's point because it shows us different sides of the work that is presented. It helps us relate more to the post and helps us realize more about the reading in general. By Villanueva bringing all this outside information, it gives a sense of more raw emotion. Something that isn't frequently found in readings from this book. By including these pieces, it gives him more of a point and clear message. These readings show us the discourses that come into one single purpose. 

8. I think people who aren't accepting in general can take a lot from this reading. It really shows them to 'open their eyes' and see more than what the world offers. By having a close mind in general, blocks a lot of people from truly being free. Even though there are ton of different discourses with different views and understandings. There still needs to be a mutual respect and attempt to mix. The world seems to be getting smaller and smaller , there needs to be an idea of a melting pot. Ignorance and closed minding thinking will not solve any of the problems that are arising in the world today. It's important to realize that times are changing, and it's impossible to live a bubble any longer. 

Applying and Exploring:

2. Intertextuality plays a very large role in this piece because of the article's purpose. Villanueva obviously has a lot of prove with this article because it's such a large message, but with intertextuality, it helps bring his paper not only to live but with enough information and proof to support his claims. Intertextuality makes us understand different discourses and etc. Different traces of memories affected my writing in such a positive way, It makes it easy to prove my point and connect with my audience. Because for all I know a reader could have gone through the same thing as me , and by making that connection with someone, it makes my piece more memorable.  

Dialectical Notebook -Heilker and Yerbeau

1. “We contend that autism itself is a rhetoric, a way of being in the world through language, a rhetoric we may not have encountered or recognized frequently in the past nor value highly in academic contexts, but rhetoric nonetheless.”

2. “Though the definitions of rhetoric are legion, what most have in common is their focus on language use in the social realm. Most definitions of rhetoric focus on the role of communication in social interaction.”

3. “Every utterance belongs to, exists in, issues from, and reveals a rhetorical universe. Every utterance comes from somewhere (its inventive origin), emerges as a structure, and manifests itself as a style”

4. “When we choose to listen rhetorically, though, when we purposefully adopt a stance of cross-cultural openness toward autistic discourse, we can begin to see that we engage in similar, though not identical, echolalia in academic settings, when doing research and citing sources.”

5. “Empathy- a loaded worded in autism discourse, a characteristic that autistics are said to lack- presumes that one can be so in tune with another person as to actually understand that person’s emotional state, to even perhaps vicariously experience it.”

1. When we discuss something such as rhetoric many people forget to recognize autism as rhetoric itself. However when you think of rhetoric, autism can fit into it. It’s misunderstanding for autism and dismissal that shows how it can affect how people think about what a definition can be.

2. This quote basically states the defection of rhetoric and how it’s main focus is on social communication and interaction. This really shows that many people are so easily to dismiss autism and the part it takes in rhetoric because of so much misunderstanding and ignorance. History seems to repeat itself that when society doesn’t understand something, it’s quickly labeled as “different” or “weird” not something that can be studied or understood in a different light.

3. This quote speaks about communication from people that have autism. It sheds a light for when people communicate, every single utterance stands for something. Nothing is done by accident or meant to be written off as unimportant. Everything has meaning and can be understood.

4. Through this quote it urges people to have open minds when we’re trying to understand the autism community itself. There is a lot of information out there that could be misunderstood and quickly judged by people that refuse to be open minded. But that is said for every topic, it’s impossible to learn and really experience life with ignorance and a closed mind.

5. This shows that empathy, something we constantly use to define what is human is put into the spotlight when it comes to autism. When people try to define ‘human’ they say it’s someone who has empathy. Since many assume that people who are autistic have no empathy, it’s easy to write off their existence. However, this quote tells us that autistic people are empathic but in a different way that we cannot simply understand. It shows us that we cannot just assume because of a misunderstanding, it’s important to realize that there are different ways of thinking and understanding. 

Intro to Proj#3

Discourses in the Celebrity community.

                Everywhere we go we’re constantly surrounded by tabloids and juicy gossip on the world of celebrities. It seems like there’s nowhere to go or hide from all the drama happening in Hollywood. However, we can only blame ourselves for these headlines. Let’s face it; we’re infatuated with the world of the unknown. We know so much about celebrities yet so little about their personal lives. We’ve all picked up a magazine that has a big headline about celebrities such Brangelina, Justin Bieber, and ton more. It makes you wonder why ordinary people are so interested in business of other people they don’t know. Is it because they’re lives are so glossy and fabulous compared to everyone’s seemingly bland lives? Or is it that we secretly enjoy seeing others stuck in situation instead ourselves. Maybe it’s all of the above. But one thing for sure is the lives of celebrities and the interest it creates makes revenue.  It’s come to the point where careers are made from just following the lives of people who are unknown to us.  

                In a celebrity discourse community, it seems like privacy is something that’s always invaded. With more and more technology these days, celebrities’ emails and other personal social media sites such as twitter are being hacked with the one purpose to find information.  It comes to the point where we must ask ourselves is it ‘right’? Is it okay to invade someone’s privacy because they are pushed into the public eye? The public and media think it’s just fine; the constant quote “it comes with the job” is always being thrown. It’s difficult to imagine what it’s like being followed with cameras and harassed with questions, but it doesn’t seem pleasant. Yet this unknown world is why people continue to become curious about the lives of celebrities.