Elbow - PG 40-60

Getting ready to read:

1. Facebook has become such a world wide presence from it's easy bait for a social media addiction to the ease of being able to keep up with friends so easily. If now more than ever, Facebook has been woven into our lives, like it or not it's there and there aren't any sign of it going anywhere. From simple connections it has to life such as 'adding' a new person you've recently met to having it's own story on the big screen ( The Social Network). Facebook has undoubtably become bigger than ever expected. But even though Facebook has some positive points, there is also a very negative side. The whole idea of judging someone completely on a Facebook profile. Personally when I look at someone's profile picture, if I see something a bit risque or provocative, I automatically assume they're huge attention seekers. My policy when 'constructing' to my profile is to keep everything private as possible. Making sure that all my statues are never too personal, my pictures are anything my parents would be okay with and most importantly hiding any information that could potentially harm me in the future. Hearing stories about how companies now find their potential employees on Facebook and have a check on them, makes me uneasy. Personally speaking, losing out on a beneficial career opportunity due to Facebook would be devastating. So I make sure to never let that happen at all. If anyone compared the way I act at home and the way I act on Facebook, there wouldn't be much of a difference. Maybe my potty mouth at points, but everything else is pretty much rated pg.

2. Using first person would be a blessing, not just for this particular assignment but all assignments. Personally speaking, most of my time in high school during my rough drafts were taking out the "I"s, however it seems a bit ridiculous to me. With so many limitation in writing, many people are so focused on what they can't write, rather than what they could. Restrictions seem to not only stop at writing but also on the thought process. When I used to write, I would always think "okay so I can't write this, or this… What can I write?". If I was allowed to write the way I felt was better for my papers, then my writing would have been stronger. 

Questions for Discussion and Journaling. 

1. When defining voice, there are many words that seem to come to mind, the main word being "me" . A voice would be a personal opinion, something that might be shared or might not be but easily claimed as your own. Elbow's believes that a voice is something that can be measured. How a person can sound and their writing style. If their writing can really connect to an audience. 

Contrary to Elbow's thought's on 'voice', I have a different idea of what a voice is. Growing up in New York City, I've lived to accept the different voices around me. Everyone seems to have their own, though it may seem similar at points. The voices I seem to become most influenced are my parents', teachers' and peers'. Their voices have always stuck to me, and in a way their voices have influenced mine. Their opinions and thoughts have become part of me, and part of my beliefs. 

Applying and Exploring:

1. Based on my beliefs, to me Sincerity is something that comes from within. Something very genuine and that can not be produced or made to be. Resonance is having a strong and lasting effect. In writing there are very writers that can have both sincerity and resonance. With my experience on writing, I understand it's hard to find Sincerity more than resonance. I can easily reminisce times where I would choose an easy argument to write a debate over than the one I truly believed in. In writing that can happen often, people often forget what they truly believe in and just put down the hard facts. I've encountered resonance more through books and stories, many books have had a strong and lasting effect on me. A good example would be the Harry Potter series, I always felt a personal connection towards the novels. 

I understand the whole concept of having these voices in our writing, not only because of their affect on our grades but on others. The importance of writing is because of the fact that writing has a clear way of sending one idea across to another. The effectiveness of processing one idea to another by words. Sometimes I do struggle writing with Sincerity especially if it's for a 10 page paper. But I don't have as much trouble with Resonance, I believe that everyone can easily make a lasting effect with the right words.

Meta-Moment:

Based on my understanding, academic papers don't have much sincerity. They often aim more for resonance for a higher grade. However there should be some sincerity and passion in what you're writing. But for creative writing purposes I never believed that there should be anything that's forced. It's completely up to the author if they want to include such voices. Creative writing is self-expression the idea of trying to make the writing fit a certain voice is useless. It needs to be there before, and can't be forced on.