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September 30, 2005

Morphology: The Words of Language

• Based on the specific examples above, do you have evidence that your brain might handle/learn/store function words different than content words? This question holds great validity and truth for me. After reading this chapter, I am convinced that the brain may handle/learn/store function words differently from content words. It just seems to make sense. We can turn content words upside down; add prefixes and suffixes to change the word into a completely different one with a completely different meaning. Function words do not have this ability. They are words that we know cannot be changed and switched. They always have the same meaning. These words must belong to a part of our brain that has to deal with memorization or logical thinking. When words are put together in a sentence, a function word helps to give the sentence grammatical structure as well as fluidity. Content words, on the other hand, seem to belong to a part of our brains that is responsible for part of our lexicon, but also our creativity. Having the ability to change words to form different meanings definitely has to deal with rearrangement and knowing what sounds right and wrong. This chapter of the open class of content words and the closed class of function words further solidifies the hypothesis that separate parts of the brain control each group. -Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 10:03 PM | Comments (1)

Representation of the World

It is impossible to treat representation as something that is cut and dry. Categorizing it as either mimesis or social construction is not completely accurate because all representation is a mixture of the two. This can be seen in the case of language...language is composed of some words that arbitrarily represent a physical object, the social contructionist approach, and other words that attempt to imitate the world exactly how it is, onomatopeioas being an example.

However, one approach does dominate over the other, and this is the social contructionist approach. Most representations in this world are social constructions, and we are only able to make full sense out of them because we have equipped in our minds the knowledge needed to interpret these images.

It seems surprising to think that every image we see we are only able to understand because our minds process it. One would imagine this to be an exhausting and time consuming process, however, it is done without our knowledge. So at first thought, one might approach this question feeling sure that our world is represented solely through mimesis, since we do not spend half of our waking time interpreting images. When really thought about however, it is more reasonable to say that the world is predominantly represented through social construction, but we are so used to this kind of representation that it takes on the feel of mimesis.

Posted by lcissullivan at 04:12 PM | Comments (2)

Alfred Leslie's Painting

The semantic meaning that I come up with after looking at this painting for a couple of minutes is that we live in a world where people are trying to control nature by technology. Slowly, but surely, technology is taking over our lives and becoming the most important aspect of our being.

The syntactic elements of the painting that lead me to think of this message are the lines and colors painted. I make meaning out of the square in the middle of the canvas. To me it is not just a square, but a television. The various other shapes painted within the square are merely more squares, rectangles, and circles, but I do not see just those shapes. Instead I see a screen, control panels, and knobs. The white paint in the top right corner of the screen has a familiar shape and color. I connotate this to be the moon. The other shades of color present in the screen are those viewed when the sun rises or sets, therefore I associate them with the sun.

These syntactic elements are what leave me with the impression that this painting is about society trying to control or "tune" nature as one would tune the picture on a television screen.

I think that the television set is a form of metonymy in that it is merely a part of technology, but is used to represent technology as a whole in this painting.

Posted by lcissullivan at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)

Alfred Leslie Painting

Having read the other blogs I will leave out what I could say about denotation in particular and will endeavor to look for meaning not already mentioned.

Leslie’s work is a still life. In other words it’s an arrangement of everyday objects to which the artist wishes to draw our attention and have us view in a different light. The objects are all, I believe, from the same time period and so I don’t believe that there’s nothing unusual in that sense about them. I think the meaning lies in their mundaness.

I agree with previous bloggers that the artist is saying something about our everyday lives. Further I believe Leslie is speaking about the social constructs or realities we develop because the only “natural” thing in the painting is the moonlit scene. And, even so, it is on a television.

I am interested by the little flap that’s open on the television. These are the tuning knobs (I’m giving my age away) and it seems that someone has just changed or seeks to change the channel. I believe this alludes to a searching for what is real or natural despite how advanced and helpful our inventions and technology are. And even in that I think the artist is saying something about the fact that we seek the natural via technology.

I will stop with that point so others can make additional “new” comments. And a hint - the copy on page 88 of the textbook is much easier to see than the one on the blog.

~ Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 09:35 AM | Comments (2)

Seeing Assignment: First Draft

When, in her essay “Seeing,” Annie Dillard writes “But I don’t see what the specialist sees, and so I cut myself off, not only from the total picture, but from the various forms of happiness,” she is exploring how we both construct and deconstruct what we see.

Dillard is using metaphor to heighten our awareness of sight by comparing it to the way a specialist is trained by years of study and intense interest to pick out specific and detailed elements that others might never even realize exist or contain information worth examining and mounting. These are processes that would take hours of one’s time and certainly great expertise. Through this metaphor she alludes to the complexity of the things we often dismiss as mundane – a drop of water, clouds or stones. The author also, by using the idea of a specialist, plays on the idea of naïvety. Often as children we know full well our ability to construct from anything an absorbing and complex study, we are, it seems, far more aware of the innate possibility contained in every penny. Dillard pointed to this when she illustrates her childhood love of placing pennies on the sidewalk, believing them treasures that fortunate passersby would discover.

The author goes on in the quotation to use herself as a reference for the way as adults we learn to both construct and deconstruct what we see differently, as the author points out earlier in the essay, “who gets excited by a mere penny?” As adults, we separate ourselves from this naïve and visceral experience of the world; in doing so Dillard sees us as cutting ourselves off from experiencing fully the whole of life and any one part of it. She goes further to say that in doing this we numb ourselves to the awe, wonder and ultimately the joy these discoveries and explorations hold.

I believe the author is pointing to the change in visual culture over our life span and is seeking to rebirth in the reader the sense of wonder with the world. A rebirth that would lead to a desire to seek out, by making oneself open and present, in person and spirit, the experiences of the world around one.

~ Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 08:36 AM | Comments (2)

First Draft (Seeing)

Whether you like Annie Dillard’s essay or not, it is clear that she has a unique way of saying things. “What you see is what you get” is not, in fact, her strongest statement in “Seeing” in terms of originality, however, it is a quote that I think may be the most important for the reader to pay attention to. Although this piece of writing is not the most pleasant to read, Dillard has an imaginative way of describing the point she is trying to make.

What is this point, exactly? Dillard explains her childhood experiences to begin. “…finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days” (Dillard 95). This is her first major idea that she constructs. She is saying that if we are in the mindset that something small, such as seeing a perfect flower or watching a happy family together on the subway, can bring excitement, then we will live all of our days in happiness. This is a strong point to make. Many people in today’s modern world have fast-paced lives full of burden and tragedy. They only see the big picture without the details.

This is very closely related to her other main idea. Dillard writes about how when we take the time to look at something carefully, especially in nature, we will get more out of it. When we make time to see, we get more out of what we are looking at. She uses the example of the birds in the trees, and how if we just glance at a tree, we may see nothing but a tree, but if we sit on the grass and watch it closely, soaking up the atmosphere and staying attune to our senses, then we may notice the birds there even before they move and fly away.

If we look at the semantic meanings of this piece of writing, rather than the literal syntax, other meanings can be found in the text. For instance, when we focus on and notice the people around us who care, and the relationships that we take for granted, the more we will get out of these relationships that we form. Therefore, using nature could also be a metaphor for everything in life.

Overall, I agree with Dillard’s ideas, and after reading the essay again, I enjoy the layers of meaning that she includes, as she points out the importance of seeing life using nature to form stories. And we too, have to really see and focus on “Seeing” to see the semantics behind it and realize that “What you see is what you get.”

--Ariel

Posted by lcishagan at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2005

Semiotic Analysis of Painting

The television set in this painting is very old fashioned, perhaps around the time frame of the 50's. The shoes also seem old and practically unused, almost forgotten altogether. The black telephone is very old fashioned as well, because it has a dial in which you have to spin it so that it will coordinate with the correct number. There is also a dust broom in the corner, which looks as though it has been used for cleaning. The chair is just pretty much propped against the old television set, while the plate is just perfectly placed on top of it. The objects appear to be inatimate, which gives the painting its stillness. Every one of the objects in this painting seems to have a particular place and purpose. Also in the reflection of the television set, their appears to be a moonlight beach with the sun having been set on the horizon.

I think that this painting is a metaphor for the average everyday life of a person. The different shoes are metaphors for work and play. The blue ones represent work and coming home after a long day. This is why those shoes are on the floor, because they are being discarded. The broom is there to symbolize work as well. The other red sneakers represent play and relaxation, which is why they are represented on the top of the television, along with the chair. The telephone and plate are also metaphoric of rest. All of this images form one continuous flow from left to right (top to bottom), except for the shoes and broom which are further away on the floor. The moonlit beach is a metonymy for relaxation, and an escape from the everyday life. All of these objects are illuminated by light, which means that they are just an idea, while the darkness in the background is closed around these objects.

I think that the painter is trying to say that relaxation is an escape from reality and the contemporary world. Sometimes people need to let go of work and preocupations and focus on something that calms them. This is the metonymy of the beach, because everyone regardless of what culture their from, knows that the beach is one of the ultimate ideas of relaxation or an escape from work and stress. This painting shows that we should all have some kind of imagination, becasue imagining is the ultimate escape.

I really enjoyed this painting.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 06:21 PM | Comments (2)

mimesis or social construction

I think that the wolrd around us is created by mimesis in a lot of ways. We use our language, our sights, what we know about the world, what surrounds us, etc. to create our own world. But we don't create this language, these ideas, sights, surroundings ourselves. Society and people from generations ago create this and we are merely imitating them. As others have mentioned, the items that are stereotypical of people with money (such as purses, clothes, cars, watches, jewerly) are imitated by people everyday. We need to have this certain car because so and so has it, or we need to have these clothes because it is what's in style. This is how we create ourselves, by imitation. I'm not saying that everyone imitates one thing and everyone is the same person. There are so many things to imitate in the world, it could be one person imitating a certain thing, or it could be 500,000 people. Everyone wants to fit in to something and I think to do this you need to imitate ways that you agree with and like and go from there.

It's not just clothes or items that can be imitated. There are also words and signs as well. I know many people that in their group of friends have certain words that are used so often and that is apart of who they are. They might have heard this wrod from a celebrity or an older brother or sister and now they are imitating it.

Posted by lcisnelson at 03:54 PM | Comments (1)

Definetely Social Construction

I think that we definetely utilize social construction rather than mimesis. I think that it would be difficult for anything to be straightforward mimesis. Mimesis implies that the world is represented exactly as it is. Even this statement does not make sense, for the world is seen differently by everyone. For example, as it was acknowledged in Chapter 1 of Practices of Looking, even a photograph is subjective to the photographer's point of view. Of course, there is a standard way to take a photograph (with the object centered in the middle of the photo), yet everyone sees something and tries to capture that something differently. When I was thinking of what I wanted to write in this response, I thought of Annie Dillard's essay, "Seeing" came to mind. In this essay Dillard spoke of so many apects of sight, of seeing what others cannot see, and told many anecodotes about blind individuals who were able to regain their sight. She stressed the fact that we all see what we want to see and all see what we search for.

Thus, I think mimesis, although not totally dismissable, is a concept that does not have much validity. In my psychology class last year, we discussed what is really in our world versus what we see. We talked alot about the possibility of the fact that mentally ill patients who "see things" that are not there may be seeing the real world while those who are presumed to have well-functioning brains may not. This idea is certainly far-fetched and difficult to grasp, but it is interesting to think about. What is our world really? Is what we see truly what is there? It is for this reason that I believe in social construction.

Another reason that I believe social construction is more prevalent than mimesis is because we base so much of our world and our thoughts on other people's perceptions of things. We base judgement on a potential love interest, for example, on a picture that we see online. We base our view of a foreign country, for example, on the verbal description that someone else gives. For this reason, our representation of the world is based upon layers and layers of social construction.

I hope that I didn't contrdict myself too much in this essay. I had alot to get out and I tried really hard to organize it, but I do not know how well it worked out. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Posted by lciscotis at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)

Picture Analysis

When I saw this painting, for some reason I though of those old Coca-Cola ads from the fifties and sixties. This painting seems like it could be a representation of part of a family living room from forty or fifty years ago. The red sneakers could belong to the son and the blue jelly shoes could belong to the daughter. The telephone, which is central to their every day lives is also in the picture, as well as the broom, which is also an important object in a home. The family seems to be a bit disorganized, since everything is laying on or around the tv, but that also shows me that this can be a place where they all come together and are able to spend some time together (even though that time is spent in front of a television screen). The tv is sitting in what looks like a dark corner, but there is a lot of light in front of the tv, which seems to emphasize it's importance in this family's lives. I can imagine them all sitting on front of the tv together at night watching the news, or some other program which they might all enjoy. The objects here (the shoes, the telephone, the broom, and even the plate), seem to symbolize and be a metonymy for family. Family is the word that comes to mind when I see all of these things, especially because they are centered around the tv.

Posted by lcismardin at 03:14 PM | Comments (2)

Alfred Leslie Painting

Denotation: There is an old TV in the middle of the painting. On that TV, there is red pair of sneakers, a phone, a piece of white paper, and some uncertain object next to it. In the left corner of the painting, there is a broken wooden broom, blue pair of women’s shoes. On the other side, there is a yellow chair that folds in, right next to the TV. All of the objects seem to be directing at sideways. An image of night-dawn scene is shown on the screen. In that scene, there is a moon in the dark night’s sky, and at the same time the rising sun that spreads orange yellow rays across what appears to be the land, earth, or ground.

Connotation: All of the objects and materials in the painting represent its owner(s). While looking at the shoes, the TV, or the wooden broom, one would immediately suspect that the time frame is not in present-day but sometime in the past. The location of yellow chair is uncommon. It is not in front of the TV but next to it. Therefore, it suggests an idea of its owners not using the TV as entertaining tool. Also, the chair looks as if it is a children’s chair since it is smaller compared to the TV. Also there is a sense of mystery since the room is dark in the back ground. What if the TV doesn’t work? What if the image on it is a painting just put into it? It seems that the painting is so much centered on the TV that I keep trying to make meanings concerned with the TV. When I look around the room in the painting, I feel disorganization and awkard, but if I look at the image on the TV screen, it provides me with relaxation and appreciation for the nature's beauty.

Posted by lcisbold at 02:58 PM | Comments (1)

Metaphor vs. Metonymy

If you revisit the chapter on metonymy, on the very last page is a chart comparing metaphor to metonymy. It also reminds us that an image or an object can function as both!

Have fun!

Posted by lcisEllen at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

Alfred Leslie Painting

Society is always evolving. To me, the broom seems to represent old technology being swept away, providing a basis for the current world to build on on. Although we are always advancing, some things stay the same- for instance, the broom has remained relatively unchanged in appearance and function. Furthermore, the broom is hard for the viewer to see, with the television dominating the foreground. There are various things cluttered on top of the tv, and it seems that whoever is watching the set is too busy and focused to think about the things around it. The broom represents society for me.

Posted by lcissearls at 02:44 PM | Comments (1)

Semiotic Analysis of Alfred Leslie Painting

This picture seems very simple at first glance, but after it is studied a bit,it seems more complex. The denotative aspects of this painting are, first off, the big brown box in the middle of the picture. This box is a television, and it shows, on the screen, a nightime scene. The person viewing the picture knows this because we use our previous knowledge to help us view the painting. We know that a small sliver of yellow against a dark background is the moon, and we know that the background with streaks of gray, blue, and purple is the sky. We also know that the yellow, orange, and red slice at the bottom of the painting is the sun rising. We recognize this based on our prior knowledge. The scene around the television is even more intriguing. On top of the television rests a plate, an old pair of sneakers, and an old-fashioned telephone. Next to the television is a yellow chair, and on the other side a pair of blue sandals and a broom. All of these objects we are able to identify because we match their shape, color, and other attributes to those we know to be true of certain objects.

The connotative part of the painting is much more interesting. It asks us to study more than the simple identity of these objects, but to decipher what they mean. For me, this picutre connotes a family, always busy, always on the move. The placement of objects act as a metaphor in this photo, for their random placement and use in this photo signifies that the same is true of the family. The apparent dishelvement of the objects is also a testament to the same thing. The sneakers appear less vibrant than they probably did orginally, while the chair has a grayish covering, meaning that it has been used again and again. The chair does not seem like one that would be found in this type of room, we would probably expect to see a big, comfy armchair, yet the existence of this chair attests to the frantic nature of the family's life. The metonymy in this photo is the scene on the TV, which in my mind stands for things that are always changing, never static. Just like the life of the family, where a new day begins practically before the previous one ends. I think that this picture could have been interepreted many ways, yet this is the one that was most prominent for me.

--Brenna DeCotis

Posted by lciscotis at 02:12 PM | Comments (3)

Picture Analysis

The telvision is the centerpiece of this entire picture, yet it does not seem to be the center of the lives or life that owns it. The picture displays metonymy by dipicting the life that does own the technology, maybe this person or people are older. The bright blue gelly sandals and the red shoes against the dark background also seem to show metonymy, indicating that children are around or maybe grandchildren. A stark contrast is seen between these two objects, displaying the old and the new. The televison scene is a representation of peace (a metaphor) amoung the chaotic world. When one sits down to watch something, all other problems are left behind. Although the television is cluttered with objects everywhere, acting almost like a shelf, I can't help but noticing that no where is the television screen covered, indicating that the television has some value in the household still. The chair next to the television is highlighted by the light streaming in from some source. For some reason, this chair is added to the picture; potentially to represent relaxation which comes with the televsion, or something unknown to me. -Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 01:42 PM | Comments (1)

Alfred Leslie painting

Leslie is using both metaphor and metonymy. The shoes represent their owners (metonymy) who have left reality for the world the television set represents. The television set is a metaphor to show the various ways humans escape their mundane and dark lives, hence the simple everyday objects like the chair, phone, and plate and the surrounding darkness in the scene. The owners took off their shoes to go for a walk on the moonlit beach in the TV, a convential symbol of romanticism and dreaming. Leslie is showing humans need to escape sometimes, though it is rather ironic there is nature scene in the television rather than an artificial world. Alfred Leslie is also demonstrating humans tend to confuse what is artificial with what is natural and real.

Posted by lcisfreya at 01:03 PM | Comments (1)

Response to Alfred Leslie Painting

This painting has many things going on. First of all there is an older style TV with a night scene on the screen. I'm not quite sure where the scene actually takes place. On top of the TV there is a rotary phone and a pair of sneakers, and possibly a plate, it's hard to tell. Beside the TV is a common folding chair and also on the other side, a broom and a pair of old jelly shoes. The whole painting seems to take place in a basement to me because it looks to me like the floor is concrete and it s dark which could mean that there aren't any windows.

I think that Leslie is trying to portray that this TV isn't used that often, since the chair is beside it and would have to be moved to see it and also it just seems it's being used more as a table rather than a TV. However, since there is a picture on the TV, I'm confused. I know it must mean something, but I'm not quite sure what. Maybe the night scene represents cold and darkness, much like the basement that I believe this scene to take place in. Also, all these objects seem to be old so maybe the painter is suggesting that when new technology arrives, people forget about the older technology and just put it in the basement. The TV and phone are obviously older technologies, and the sneakers seem worn and a little dingy as well.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 12:38 PM | Comments (1)

Alfred Leslie Painting

In a short paragraph or two, approach this painting through a semiotic lens. What is it signifying and how do you know this? Is metaphor used? Metonymy? What do you think the painter is trying to say?

Have fun.

Posted by lcisEllen at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2005

Mimesis vs. Social Construction

If we represented the material world simply through mirroring it, mimesis, then nothing in this world would have any meaning because we would not be adhering our cultural identities to the world. Art can be viewed as only the subject it is depicting but generally it is not because as the viewer we perceive it with knowledge and experience from our societies and cultures and we also try to view it as the artist wants us to view it and to see the deeper meaning behind the canvas or stone. Our cultures determine how we view the material world as social constructionism argues. This post brings to mind the art class I am currently taking, Museum Art. In the second chapter of my textbook, there is the painting The Portrait of Giovanni, Arnolfini and His Wife Giovanna Cenami. The Arnolfini Marriage by the Dutch artist Jan van Eyck from 1434. This painting depicts a man and a woman standing very prim and proper in a richly adorned bedroom, hands outreached and barely touching, and there is a small dog on the floor between them. Now if I were looking at this painting from a mimesis standpoint, I would see it literally: as a man and a woman about to be married or already married. However, the book explains the cultural significance of the painting and that the painting was not merely created to show a married couple. For example, the groom has his shoes removed which, according to the book, is a reference to God's commandment to Moses to take off his shoes when standing on holy ground and the dog is associated with faithfulness and marital fidelity. I found it particularily interesting that in Arabic culture dogs are traditionally viewed as dirty and degrading which affirms we view the world through social constructionalist concepts rather than mimesis. To me, mimesis sounds entirely too objective. We use our past experiences and culture to formulate judgements everyday on people, places, objects. We put meaning to everything we see from our social and cultural backgrounds.

Posted by lcisfreya at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

Semiotics... I Say Social Construction!

I believe that each of our own worlds is constructed by us. We, ourselves, see what we see. What we see is what we see, what it means is what it means to us. Our culture and society greatly impacts this. One image, such as the one of the American (?) lady and the cow, means something to me, and something to someone else. One image, one "representation", does not "represent" one thing, and that's it. It means what we take it to mean. The more we look at something, the more meaning we seem to find in it. If we just saw that photo on the cover of a newspaper on the ground as we were rushing off to class, we would see it, but it wouldn't mean much to us; whereas today, we saw it, but we examined it and looked closely at it. The longer we looked at and thought about it, the more meanings we found, which let to more possibilities and questions. There is not one meaning, and that's that. It does not work that way, as simple as that might seem to make things... It would be almost impossible to imagine; it not be life as we know it.

Not only do visual images create meaning about our own world, but so does language. And once again, it does not just show the world in one way "as it is". Language, like pictures, can be analyzed in many different ways, taken seriously, lightheartedly, or can often not even be thought about. I thought the "game of love" point was interesting; I had heard that metaphor many times, but I never really, truly, thought of it. Yet as the author raised all the points of the similarities love has to a game, and all that love being a "game" could imply, it was amazing how much there was! We make what we know of the world through what our culture is, what society we live in, what we see, what we hear, what we say, and just how much thought we give it.

P.S. Am I just out of it, or are we supposed to have a painting to look at and write a blog on? If so, WHERE is it?!?! Any guidance would be most greatly appreciated... (:

Posted by lcisthur at 10:17 PM | Comments (2)

Genie

After we googled Genie in class the other day, I was so intrigued by what I found that I went online later in the day to find out more. I went to the website feralchildren.com and found many more stories of children who had been made to live in isolation as well as children who had been raised by animals (one of them was a boy who was raised by gazelles and was caught by an army jeep while running 50 kph!). All of the children that lived in isolation since they were young never learned to talk, even after they were discovered, just like Genine. I also found out that many children who were lost in the wild and lived there in isolation for many years actually lost the ability that they once had to talk. Some of them could also no longer even laugh or cry. I think the whole idea of the critical period is so interesting, even after seeing the movie of Genie and reading all these stories, it is still strange to me to think that we cannot learn language after we have passed a certain age. It is hard to imagine that our brains could change so much in such a short period of time (compared to a normal lifespan). Language is so important that I don't know why our brain does not allow it to learn it after we have passed the critical period. I was especially suprised to see that children who had once been able to talk had completely lost that ability after having lived alone for a number of years. How can we loose the ability to do something that is so incredibly important in our everyday lives? I found the story of Genie and of these other children so interesting, I would encourage everyone to go to the feral children website and read some more stories of children similar to Genie.

Posted by lcismardin at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

Devil's Advocate

"Hence the material world only has meaning and only can be seen by us, through these systems of representation.” I believe that the social construction theory is more valid than mimesis. While the social construction theory addresses language and images, mimesis is merely an imitation of what is already real. I believe that social construction gives the foundation for mimesis.

Social construction believes that the language and images construct the material world for us. Since various languages and images surround our everyday lives, we are able to imitate the world around us. Social construction is more or less the idea that each person creates their own worldly reality. This is the basis for everything else. It is only after we can make sense of our own world that we can choose whether or not we want to be affected by mainstream society. Not everyone in society conforms to the norms of society, it is merely a choice. Furthermore, chapter 1 in Practices of Looking talked about how individuals view artwork, advertisements and the general world in diffrent ways. Interpretations will always vary due to race, class, gender, and reality. It is people's experiences that contribute to understanding the world.

I tried really hard not to contradict myself. Believe me.

Posted by lcissearls at 04:43 PM | Comments (1)

Mimesis or Social Construction

In response to this quote I believe that society uses mimesis, or languages and images to represent the world that surrounds us. This is something that it perfectly natural, because language and images are what help us to understand the things that are in the world. This is especially true in terms of the social status of people. Social status is understood by images of clothing, food, money, and other possessions. This is type of mimesis is shown throughout the celebrity lifestyle.

People see celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Brad Pitt, and Halle Berry and these type of people become an imitation of real life. People believe that they should look like these people or want to look like them. Just seeing pictures of people who have the "perfect body" (which is a loose term) or "the look", creates people to mimic those identities. This is why there are so many cliques and groups of people who all want to be like someone or portray a certain image.

Mimesis is not only true for images that we see in society, but also words and language. Sometimes there are popular words that should be said in order for someone to fit in, or words/sayings that someone might say that will ostracize them from others. We as individuals use these images and words to construct how we see the world. Although we pretty much don't have to do it on our own, since we are constantly bombarded by media influence. However, coming up with our own ideas about the world gives us our own identities.

Posted by lcisperez at 04:41 PM | Comments (4)

Picture?

Where is the picture, shouldn't it be posted on the blog? Is it under a specific category?

Posted by lcisperez at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)

Mimesis, Social Construction->Imitation

The society consists of people. Within that certain society, people have stereotypical norms and values. Different society have different means. Every individual in the society use language, images, and materials to express themselves. For example, if I walked down the Newbury St., there will be at least one Designer's apparel such as bags, purses, shoes, glasses on someone. Immeadetly after I see it, I understand from images and advertisements that I have been receiving since coming to America that those people are wealthy, or at least they are not poor. People use various materials (clothes, cars, accessories)to represent their identities. If I had same experience in Mongolia, before I got familiar with brand names, the bags from Louis Vutton wouldn't make any meaning or difference than that of purses from Mongolia.

As I was an individual in a different society, I have nearly never received those representations of high quality material objects, therefore it didn't make any sense to me. Now I wouldn't say that I am living in different world, but I am living in broader and richer world just because there are many more representations of this (American) society in my mind. The images that I see everyday are part of American culture, they imitate this society.

Posted by lcisbold at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)

Picture anaylsis!

This painting has a picture of a television. I know that there is a television becuase the lines make a square shape and I know from experience that that is what a televsion looks like. In the television there is night time. The colors used, especially the black and dark blue give this off. The way these colors are shaded together and allow you to see nothing except those things which are brighter allow me to know that it is night. Another item that clues in to it being night time is the moon being so bright. The backwards C like shape and the color, white-ish yellow, gives the idea that it is the moon. The moon is shining brightly against the dark background, another thing indicating that it is night time. The mood of the picture in the television seems to be mysterious. This is becuase of the bright light that lights up the middle. There are shadows on the ground, which you can see because of the contrast of colors. It is as if there is something coming out from the left side of the picture from the lighted area that gives it this mysterious feel. There is also a common fate of the light and shadow becuase they seem to be going in the same direction making it mysterious as well.

Random Side Note.... I just saw this picture and when I went to go look at it again..it was gone?? I seriously saw it..am i losing my mind?? Well thats my post about the picture..if it was the correct one. Maybe Ellen decided to change it?? I don't know but it was definitaly there.

Posted by lcisnelson at 03:13 PM | Comments (1)

Mimesis and Social Construction Ideas

We, as society, definitely represent the world around us through language and images; writing and speech. We are continuously using imitation or mimesis to portray something concrete and real. For example, I was assigned to write a short story in sophomore year. It could be written in any time period, in any place. I chose to write about my grandfather's life; some of the hardships he went through and his baseball career. I sat with him several times, or over the phone, writing everything down: where he had been, what he had seen, how he had felt. It was a truly powerful story. I completed the assignment and handed it in, only realizing the next week that I did very poorly. I had imitated his life, his past, but my writing never reflected the entire experience. I tried to reconstruct or imitate a story that couldn't be fully imitated. Documentaries are related to this representation. Directors try to "reflect the world as it is through mimesis", taking other people's actual stories and bringing them to the screen. In a sense, every movie is a copy of the orginial, which is a copy of an actor's words, which may be a copy a fight between two people years ago. Nothing seems real until one witnesses it first hand. So how can something be represented to another person who was not a witness, without the scence being imitated or replicated in some way, through the use of a movie camera, pictures, or speech? We see this representation on the news every single day, especially with the effects of Katrina on New Orleans (tapes, videos, personal accounts--everything is imitation and representation). As seen today in class, paintings are mere forms of mimesis. I cannot say that the sweater on OldNavy.com is actually there because it is not. I cannot reach out a grab it. I am only seeing little colored dots that seem to come together on the computer screen to make up a sweatshirt. All in all, our world is definitely a product of mimesis. Just pick any place, and there will be imitation.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)

Mimesis or Social Construction

“Representation refers to the use of language and images to create meaning about the world around us. Do these systems of representation reflect the world around us, as it is, mimesis, or do we construct the world and its meaning through the systems of representation we deploy? In this Social constructionist approach we only make meaning through specific cultural contexts….Hence the material world only has meaning and only can be seen by us, through these systems of representation.”

Please comment, based on your readings of Chapter one in POL and our discussion in class....

Posted by lcisEllen at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

CHapter 1 POL

I noticed that alot of the picutres in this book they used to represent things, I have seen before. That was weird becuase I'm not a big artsy-type person and don't look at images often except while in school. I remember seeing like 4 of the pictures in my junior year english class. It was just strange because I knew right away what they were going to say.

I liked the metaphor paper, it was quite interesting to realize that practically all of our sentences can be metaphors. I never thought of that, when I think of metaphor I always think of this thing that I now have to come up with in my head and it's going to take forever. But, it was interesting to hear a different view.

Posted by lcisnelson at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

Genie's Existance

Poor Genie had, and maybe still is having, an all-around terrible life, as we all know. It baffles me how anyone could do such awful things to his own child. Most parents can't help but love their children, it is innate. Her father must have been very mentally unstable. I wonder, though, why he didn't just kill her. If he was capable of doing these shocking things to her, and if he was so ashamed that she might have been retarted, then why wouldn't he eliminate her from his life? I think it was because he liked to control and feel powerful. Having this power over her, her mother, and possibly her brother made him feel superior. Even after Genie was put through this unheard of living situation, she was still put in many more than awkward postitions-- her mother suing the hospital, being placed in many foster homes, even more abuse, etc. In some ways, I do believe that the scientists exploited her in order to finish the "forbidden experiment". Genie's mother sued for $500,000 but this little girl's life was priceless and it is not something that she can buy back.

Posted by lcishagan at 10:17 AM | Comments (2)

September 27, 2005

On Semiotics, iconography, metaphor, and chapter 1

When I first looked at all the reading we had to do, I frustrated myself and mentally prepared myself to severly dislike each word. I started with the Metaphor reading, which was a good idea.

I liked learning about Metaphor and Metonymy. When I think about it, we definetly use metaphor all the time in writing and speaking. When I critiqued my blog, I noticed that I used a lot of metaphor to describe metaphor. It seems talking in metaphors is so common and instilled in our brains. And, it is everyone because I am sure you all understand my blogs for the most part. My favorite part of the article was the breakdown of the metaphor "Love is a game." I laughed when I read each conclusion the author made to that metaphor and then I realized it is true. Though some metaphors may be used out of emotion (making it greatly hyperbolized etc.), they usually are right. Subconciously, we choose the right metaphor to use and it applies in many ways (even if we don't mean to imply other things (such as: in love and games, we cheat)).

Next, I found the semiotics and iconography reading slighty, overdone. The author used so many examples, I found myself skimming through them so I could get to the point. I read that others got caught up in the length and blurry meaning, so I tried my best to undo misunderstanding for myself. My favorite part of the article was reading about interpretations between past and present. It is true, we can interpret anything, from advertisements to paintings, to mean different things. Not only do we take our personal experience, but we either try to figure out how it fit in context to the time period it was made (or how the author thought) or we try to relate it to our modern society. As I read the article, I found myself getting caught up in the similar vocabulary (such as iconography and iconological) but for the most part, I enjoyed learning new things.

Both of the readings seemed very informational yet not terrible to read. I learned a lot in each page and I am excited to share more with you all. It's odd to think that I learned so much about the english language in highschool, yet there is so much more to learn (and this is only the fifth week of school).

Lastly, In the first chapter of POL I found several things to stand out more than others (a lot was repitition from my prior knowledge and the articles). First, I was fascinated by the picture "Their first murder." I looked at the expressions on the children and thought "Oh my gosh, they are devil children!" They all seemed to be either smirking or flat-out smiling. I read a little more of the page and realized that the book was inferring that the adults were just as fascinated. I denied this at first but then i realized, it is true. Our ears perk up to a news story on a plane crash, when there are car crashes we look out the windows and wonder what happened. Then, I looked back at the picture and realized that the adults were craning their necks to see too. This just says some things about human nature (whether its good or bad, we each have to decide for ourselves.). Next, I liked that the chapter pointed out that "no matter what social role and image plays, the creation of an image through a camera lens always involves some degree of subjective chioce..." The best example was the one of surveillance videos. I never thought about the fact that the camera was intented to view a certain area and even the camera maker made aethetic choices of it. It seems we cannot excape the fact that photos can be biased too. I enjoyed thinking about the fact that we put value to things because of where it is and what it is associated with. The book uses the example of Van Gogh's paintings. We generally depict them as "good art" because, foremost, we see them in museams. If something is put on display, we usually think it is a "masterpeice status." One of the articles included the fact that we associate things by what they are put with. For example, if someone is drinking a alcohol in a fine car (such as a rolls royce), we associate the two and assumet hat the alcohol must be fine too.

I found a lot of similarities between the articles and the book (so it got a tish redundant) but I prefer the way/style of writing in the book. Overall, I enjoyed the fact that I constantly learned while I read. Plus, we are learning about how we think, and thats a good thing because I think all of us generally want to know what's going on in our crazy minds.

Posted by lcisyeich at 11:57 PM | Comments (3)

Question #3

In Japanese, there are several writing systems. Kana is phonetic (like English – the spelling corresponds to sounds, more or less) and Kanji is symbolic (like Chinese – words are represented as pictures) Reading which language would be more affected by left brain damage (and back it up with reasons) and reading which language would be more affected by right brain damage?

Reading Kana would be more affected by left brain damage because the part of the brain that dominates in the learning and use of language is in the left hemisphere. Reading Kanji, the symbolic language, would be more affected by right brain damage because it is the right hemisphere of the brain that focuses on recognizing the meaning of visual symbols

Posted by lcisowens at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

Semiotics Reading

I felt that the semiotics reading we had to do was pretty tough to get through. A lot of the time I found that I was reading the words, but not understanding what they were saying. It definitely confirmed my belief that I am a science/math orientated person as opposed to someone who excels in english or history.

One thing that I did find interesting however was how much the media manipulates our minds. Advertisements are designed with the concept of semiotics in mind. It is a scary thought that the media makes us take certain messages away from advertisements without us even realizing that we are doing it. When I see a commercial, I am sure I subconsciously take from it exactly what advertisers want people to take away from it.

Knowing this information, one would think that it would be possible to outsmart the media and merely take their advertisements at face value, instead of allowing the brain to connotate, or finding deeper meaning behind images. However, I've been doing just that my entire life, and I feel like it's too late to undo this thinking process.

Posted by lcissullivan at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

Practice of Looking, Chapter 1 and Semiotics

Through images, ideologies (systems of beliefs that exist in all cultures) and important means of that culture is reflected and projected.

Film, TV, and radio are important medias that reinforce ideologies such as good and evil, love, and what is normal and what is not normal life. Sometimes, those reinforced ideologies make us question our goals of lives. For example, after I see a good movie, I do want to have a life like the characters in the movie. It is not because I am not having meaningful and interesting life, but I sometimes forget to seperate what is real and unreal. We are being continuously bombarded with images and illustrations that are sometimes unrealistic. It is important to learn how we see things and absorb what is reasonable and not.

Human minds interpret images that we see depending on historical contexts. Whether we are conscious or not, the "interpretars" use tools of semiotics. They are connotations and denotations. In the book, O.J Simpson's mug shot was taken as an example. When I first looked at the picture without reading the explanation of connotation and denotation, I did think that he was guilty. After reading the explanations, I took a look at his shot and this time, imagined it with lighter background and skin tone. If the image in my mind was the first shot that I took a look at, I would've come up with some questions: Why was his shot was taken? Was he really quilty or not? rather than making unconscious/poorly reviewed judgements so early. It is importat to notice such thinking process. I am excited and looking forward to be able to answer such tricks of one's vision/mind.

Posted by lcisbold at 07:41 PM | Comments (0)

A bit of everything..

The reading assignments were very interesting. Basically all the information was new for me, and it felt somewhat unnatural and uncomfortable learning completely new ideas. For me, it was somewhat challenging to process theories about visual analysis: semiotics and iconography. Despite the initial frustrations, this class does a fine job constantly provoking new thoughts and changing the way I view the world.

Chapter one talked about how advertisements can have numerous interpretations and that our thinking can be completely altered by looking at a simple ad. I believe that advertisements, television commercials and bilboards can send subliminal messages through our perception. When reading this, it just reminded me of some of the concepts in Feed. Although the characters in Feed were constantly bombarded with advertisements, news updates and random information, we too are constantly stimulated by the same things just in a completely different way.

I also want to mention that I really enjoyed the Metaphor: Communicating by Analogy gave me a completely different understanding of metaphors and how we use them on a daily basis. Usually the analogies or metaphors we hear about in class are from famous writers and are complex. I also didn't know that there were three different kinds of metaphors. I never really understood the differences between metaphor and metonymy when my english teachers in high school explained it.

The reading assignments were truly very enlightening and I'm excited to learn new things this semester...

Posted by lcissearls at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)

Semiotics And Iconography

I found these readings (the long one in particular) a bit confusing and difficult to follow. I cannot wait to discuss them in class and I hope to get a better handle on the topics being discussed.

Other than that, the main emotion running through my head when reading these essays (and also Chapter 1 of Practices of Looking), was that I cannot believe that all of these theories and ideas about viewing an image go through our brains so fast. I am always amazed at what our brain can do, and this certainly tops it all. We are able to spend as little as three or four minutes looking at an image and immediately form connotative and denontative ideas. That this goes on our brain without us even knowing amazes me.

I was also interested in the differences in opinion and belief between the book and the "handout essays". This just goes to show that although something is in a text book or an essay, it certainly does not have to be fact. --Brenna DeCotis

Posted by lciscotis at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)

Genie

I find it interesting that Genie missing the critical period for language formation not only prevented her from learning language when she was older but also it also made her seem retarded. If I had happened to run into Genie randomly I would be under the assumption she is retarded rather than merely a lack of language and human experiences. Her behavior and intelligence is similar to that of retarded children. I believe also an aspect of Genie's life that may have been overlooked a little bit in the movie was the human experiences she, well, did not experience. Everything we take for granted for experiencing in our childhood Genie did not experience. Birthday parties, Sesame Street, kindergarden, coloring books, making friends, losing friends, playing games, homework, playing dress-up, first crush, first kiss, etc. All of these and more make up who we are today because humans experience and then change and experience and then change; it is a cycle. Genie did not have that oppurtunity and perhaps the critical period was also the period for her to experience everything children with normal lives are supposed to experience to function properly in society. It is impossible to reverse because as our mind and personality grow so does our body; they are supposed to be in sync. Genie's body grew (though obviously not as it should either due to malnutrition and abuse) but she as a person did not because she did not interact and experience with other humans.

Posted by lcisfreya at 05:54 PM | Comments (1)

A Continuation of My Culture, My Life

When we were given the assignment to blog about our own culture, I thought of exactly what I was going to say and how I was going to say it. I would write about my Polish heritage, my Polish background. Never once did I think above and beyond, and stretch my limit to something other than my Polish background and the traditions that I have been a part of ever since I was young. I looked back over my blog and realized that the culture I wrote was only part of me. Of course, my Polish heritage and my family are extremely important. I cherish all the experiences I have and all the love I have been given. Soo..here is another piece of my life, my culture. I have been a swimmer since I was in 5th grade. My swimming and my studies ruled my life. I was always called a fish when I was small (spending hours and hours in the pool; my fingers becoming pruney), but this was a time of competition where I could take out all my frusterations on the waves and the evil water, which sometimes on those cold 6:00 morning practices seemed like teeth, biting and tearing at my skin. I used to live for the water, but then I was hurt and most of my swimming was lost, but the pool is still a part of me, especailly of my past. My skiing has also been a release for me. I welcome the snow, ski jackets, and cold temperatures every year. The feeling of gliding down a ski slope is truly and completely indescribeable. I feel a passion, where human and nature meet. And my French. What an amazing language. I try to watch French films whenever I can, my eyes fixated on the differences in culture--in speaking, dressing, dispostion, or eating. I know that someday, when I am able to stand on the Champs Elysees, I am going to just cry in joy. I have been dreaming about it for as long as I have been taking French, for about 6 years. I hope to not only see France, but other countries, all over just to experience new places and new people with new interests and values. I am passionate about cooking and concocting new recipes like garlic shrimp or vegetarian sandwiches overflowing with peppers and onions. I love to spend time fishing, kayaking, and gardening, especially when it involves my family. I should have defined my culture as who I was, and what I am, but I never connected the two. ** Thank you, Ellen, for forcing us to comment on our writing. I probably would have never added anything to this blog if it wasn't for that assignment.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 05:40 PM | Comments (2)

Genie's word sequencing

Although I did learn some new things about Genie's case from the internet, instead of repeating the facts that everyone has already mentioned, I wan't to mention something that came to mind as I was watching the video.

Genie was eventually taught American Sign Language and although the words signed (for ASL) are English words, the grammar is different. Although I am a native signer, I am honestly not an expert on explaining why exactly the grammar is different. The information below is from a the sign language university website. The reason why I wanted to bring up this idea is because although Genie's sequencing of vocabulary was not similar to that of English, some of her phrases could be accepted when signed in ASL. Perhaps Genie was jumping a bit between both languages? Despite some of Genie's phrases being accepted, I still don't think Genie's progress was actual language acquisiton. But I think this is an interesting thought.

*American Sign Language has its own grammar system, separate from that of English.

What this means is ASL grammar has its own rules for phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics.

In general, ASL sentences follow a "TOPIC" "COMMENT" arrangement. Another name for a "comment" is the term "predicate." A predicate is simply a word or phrase that says something about a topic. In general, the subject of a sentence is your topic. The predicate is your comment.

When discussing past and future events we tend to establish a time-frame before the rest of the sentence.

That gives us a "TIME" "TOPIC" "COMMENT" structure.

For example: or "WEEK-PAST Pro1 WASH MY CAR "

[The "Pro1" term means to use a first-person pronoun. A first-person pronoun means "I or me." So "Pro1" is just a fancy way of saying "I" or "me." In the above example you would simply point at yourself to mean "Pro1."]

Quite often ASL signers will use the object of their sentence as the topic. For example:

"MY CAR, I WASH WEEK-PAST" [Note: The eyebrows are raised and the head is tilted slightly forward during the "MY CAR" portion of that sentence.]

Using the object of your sentence as the topic of the sentence is called "topicalization." In this example, "my car" becomes the subject instead of "me." The fact that "I washed it last week" becomes the comment.

There is more than one sign for "WASH." Washing a car or a window is different from the generic sign for "WASH" to wash-in-a-machine, or to wash a dish. The real issue here isn't so much the order of the words as it is choosing appropriate ASL sign to accurately represent the concept.

There are a number of "correct" variations of word order in American Sign Language (Humphries & Padden, 1992).

For example you could say: "I STUDENT I" or, "I STUDENT" or even, "STUDENT I."
Note: The concept of "I" in these sentences is done by pointing an index finger at your chest and/or touching the tip of the index finger to your chest.*

Posted by lcissearls at 05:20 PM | Comments (3)

Genie and Background!

When I was doing more research, I was profoundly struck by the amount of tragedy in Genie's family. There was so much more going on in this situation than just child neglect. First off, Genie's father was twenty years older than her mother, not a very unusual situation certainly, but an interesting fact to add to the story. Her mother was blind, due to an accident when she was young and was hit in the eye while helping her mother wash clothes. Her father grew up in a series of foster homes, but was still devestated when his mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident just prior to Genie's birth. It is believed that her father was serverely mentally ill, which affected his family in so many different ways. The couple had two children before Genie and her brother, both of who died due to apparent child neglect.

The reason I chose to write about this aspect of Genie is because there is apparently so much more to the situation than just face value. It is so complex, and despite Genie's father's apparent guilt, he certainly cannot be blamed for the entire situation, for some of it was beyond his control. I learned about Genie last year in psychology, but each the topic is brought up, I am intrigued beyond belief with the complexity of her situation. P.S. I got my information from: http://www.psychology.sbc.edu/cesarz.htm

Posted by lciscotis at 04:30 PM | Comments (1)

Semiotics

To me visual semiotics and iconography are two complex approaches in being able to interpret the meaning of a visual image. I think that it can be difficult at times to use these methods, because some visual images have multiple meanings that are sometimes hard to categorize specifically. So many meanings can be taken up by various individuals depending on their culture and the time period in which the grew up in. These are some of the factors that can influence the perception of any visual image.

I thought that it was interesting how we categorize wealth and a higher status, versus poverty and a lower status. This can be taken from the clothes that someone is wearing, their physical form, their features, and also what possessions they have. This can all be taken from a visual image.

I was not aware that food was so symbolic on many levels. Like in the 1930's is was used to represent the laziness of African-Americans, or it was used at a biblical allusion. This shows that food is a factor in our perception of wealth, social status, and religious references. This is why the media has such influence in people's decision making and thoughts, because they are able to communicate effectively through visual images.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)

Ch 1 of Practices of Looking

I never really realized that seeing and looking are considered to be two distinct practices. Seeing is more of just observing and taking in object that we may see on an everyday basis, while looking involves interpreting something that we see, exploring it in depth and trying to understand its significance. I think that I spend time seeing objects more than looking at them. I just sort of glance at something and not really pay attention to it or try to analyze it. This chapter gave me a lot of insight into how objects are viewed, and after reading it, I realize that a lot of the visual images that I see constantly are meant to be percieved on a whole other level than I have perceieved them.

For example, in Andy Warhol's work Marilyn Diptych (1962), he created multiple depictions of Marilyn Monroe's face on a very colorful grid. I thought that this was an interesting depiction of art, because it mimics the trends of society, which is mainly to repeat a visual image frequently in order to have an influence on a specific audience. This is so true for the teen generation today, because celebrities are of major influence in the media, and many teens want to resemble those celebrities or "become" them. Now that plastic surgery is so available in today's society, these endeavors are made even more realistically possible.

After reading this chapter it just makes me want to sit back for a while and think about how quickly society is changing, and how much of a powerful influence that visual images have on us. Sometimes it can be too much to absorb.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

The Story of Genie

What I found interesting about Genie was something that I found on the website "feralchildren.com" which was about Genie's brain development. I was interested by a paragraph that I found from a link that was taken from the book The Civilization of Genie which was:

"The theory of language learning recently offered by Curtiss is an attempt to explain Genie’s dependence on her right hemisphere. Possibly, Curtiss wrote in a paper on cognitive linguistics published by UCLA, the acquisition of language is what triggers the normal pattern of hemispheric specialization. Therefore, if language is not acquired at the appropriate time, “the cortical tissue normally committed for language and related abilities may functionally atro­phy,” Curtiss wrote. That would mean that there are critical periods for the development of the left hemisphere. If such development fails, later learning may be limited to the right hemisphere."

This paragraph was significant of the fact that their is a critical period for acquiring language in human, and that if that critical period has passed, there will not have been a normal occurence of specialization in the brain in which the two hemisphere have recieved information back and forth from each other. Although this story was very tragic, I thought that it was very interesting how Genie's right hemisphere of her brain was able to compensate for the left hemisphere of her brain, which had not been stimulated for language. This just shows the amazing adaptability of the brain, and how the brain is able to compensate for a tremendous loss of language such as this one.

After watching the movie I was just shocked and wondered how could someone possibly do that to a child. Language is one of the most important things in our culture, because it allows us to communicate our thoughts, words, and other important ideas. Language makes up and influences our society. It's just amazing for me to think of someone being in a situation of not being able to communicate, it is one of the most horrible punishments. Genie appeared to be so infant-like and helpless, yet she had so much understand in her eyes as if she had so much that needed to be said. This story to me just shows the world how important language is.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2005

Practices of Looking--Chapter 1

I found Chapter 1 of Practices of Looking very interesting and informative. The part that interested me the most was the comments that the book made about the value of images and while some people may place a certain visual representation at a very high level, others may not.

I found this particularly interesting because I have often wondered, for example, why the Mona Lisa is such a famous painting, and why the painting my eleven-year-old brother made in art class last week is not. Is the Mona Lisa valued because of the quality of the artwork? Is it valued because of the man who created it, Leonardo da Vinci, who is no less than a hero of intelligence in our minds? When I went to Paris in April, I saw the Mona Lisa (La Jaconde in France) and I have to admit, I was entranced, along with the two hundred or so other tourists who were knocking each other over in the hope of getting a glance. (Although I must admit, it was very orderly and everyone got their turn to be up close!) As I look at the picture I took of the Mona Lisa I am still amazed. But, in all honesty, I do not know why. Why is it that back in April my friends and I ran past all the other art to see the Mona Lisa? Is it because there were big signs proclaiming her new location in Le Louvre? Possibly one person was impressed with the Mona Lisa many years ago and the excitement just grew. Who knows? But, I can say that despite the value that is put on certain works of art, I think all art, modern art, digital art, "fine" art, whatever, deserves as much attention and study as the Mona Lisa.

Posted by lciscotis at 11:57 PM | Comments (1)

The genie that couldn't completely emerge from her lamp... (Cheesy, yes)

Perhaps I will start out by referring to my cheesy blog title... Well, Genie in a way, is kind of like a mythical genie, confined and put away, longing to get out, but can only do so when someone from the outside comes along to release her. Genie herself was stored away, in unimaginable confinment. She too, was eventually (after an mind-boggling amount of time) released, exposed to a whole new world. The researchers that found her, although they did care for her greatly, saw her as something that could fulfill some of their dreams - she was infact the "forbidden project", and this opportunity to study her and her situation was incredible exciting for them. Genie did provide lots of fascinating information, but never really enjoyed it as much as those who found her did. Sadly, in the end, she ended up in a similar situation to returning inside the lamp; isolated from the world out and around her.

I'm sure that sounded really corny, but I thought it was an interesting analogy!

Genie really fascinated me. She looked like such a cute, innocent, pretty liitle girl, with such big, expressive eyes that sometimes seemed like a window into her soul. She had endured so much unbearable confinement, and nevertheless, she was never really agressive or violent towards anyone to release any anger. It almost seemed like she did not feel anger, but more fear and frustration.

It is interesting to thing about Genie in terms of brain development, especially after reading Chapter 2 on Brain and Language. Was she in fact mentally retarded from the beginning, which perhaps lead to her being locked away? Or was her confinement, her isolation without conversation, what damaged, or prevented her brain from developing properly? It is difficult to decipher exactly in Genie's case, as there is evidence for her being retarted, like her brain signals when she is dreaming, yet there is also evidence in the theories of brain localization and the critical period that suggest otherwise.

Some think the whole Genie "experiment" was one hundred percent ethically wrong, but I do not agree completely. It was a very difficult, rare, exciting situation, that had an abundance of potential to provide crucial information we cannot get otherwise. Yet, I do wonder, perhaps they should have taken more time to think over what they would do with Genie exactly before actually doing it, without considering alternatives. For example, it was mentioned that if they tried teaching Genie sign language earlier on, not only would they have been more successful, but Genie would have been too.

Posted by lcisthur at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

Genie

What a truly terrifying story this was. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that parents could ever decide one day that they did not want to bring their child up through the knowledge of language, of words, and meanings. My language comes to me without difficulty most of the time. I rarely stop to think about what I am saying or how I am wording a sentence. Genie's inability to speak, even at an old age, gives me this sense of dissappoinment and longing to help her in any way possible. While watching the movie, I felt as though I could just jump through the screen and witness this incredible miracle, in a way, of one girl, touching the hearts of many, without the ability to converse. Genie had this innocence that I couldn't seem to get over. In some of the pictures, her face was just completely drained and plain, but her eyes told the story. Her eyes told of her days strapped to the "potty", and her days filled with anger, yelling, and fear. Yet, this must have happened for a reason. I believe that many things occur for a purpose. Through Genie, scientists were able to dive into the brain and language, in general, more deeply. Though they really did not obtain concrete answers for everything language-related, scientists were able to study how Genie processed different words and sentences. They analyzed her and were able to learn more about this certain "critical period" which deals with the time in which a child should be acquiring language or hearing language in order to develop their own. I have been thinking about Genie often. Her story just captivates me, and I feel compelled to learn more about her whereabouts. Scientists asked for a language experiment, and they sure got one. As cliche as it may sound, this is certainly a girl and a story I will never forget. -Christina G.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)

Genie's Fate

A girl, a human being, who grew up tied to a potty chair for over ten years. She lived under conditions worse than that of in prison. Her name is Genie. She was abused by her father, and left alone in the dark, empty room in silence. Genie's father shot himself after finding out that she was in public, and his last notes said, "They will not understand". What would be this man's excuse to be such brutal and inhumane? Genie had the least interaction with her family. She was beaten by her father, when made least sound.

Genie's patience is extreme. She went through hard life. Even after being granted "freedom", she had no choice, but to be an experimental subject for the next few years. Throughout the tests, Genie's left brain proved to have almost no process. She nearly had no left brain, therefore wasn't able to learn language efficiently. The scientists also wondered if Genie was born retarded. However, she had almost perfect right brain-nonverbal process. The Story of Genie reports, "She scored the highest recorded score ever on tests that measure a person's ability to make sense out of chaos and to see patterns. Her abilities to understand and to think logically were also strong. She had a perfect score on an adult-level test that measured spatial abilities" in the guide Learning about Learning.
Afterall, she may not have been retarded but missed her once in a lifetime chance to learn language. Her parents failed her to learn language during her critical period.

The parents of Genie tortured her. Still, her mother wasn't embarassed enough that she sued The Genie Team. Even though Genie might have been under pressure of testings, it was through the team's support and help that she learned communication and was rebirn to the world again.

Posted by lcisbold at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

Genie

Hearing about case studies such as Genie's depresses me. I never understood why someone would want to abuse their child and I'm sure I'll never understand. I read more about her specific case on Wikipedia. I learned many new things about her case after reading this article such as her father was twenty years older than her mother, which shows, I think, that it was probably a little easier for the father to gain such control over the family. The mother, being so much younger and partially blind was probably made to feel so much inferior to her husband because of these factors. I also read about the movie that we found in class today, Mockingbird Don't Sing and I think it would be interesting to watch, especially after seeing the documentary.

With the knowledge I have about psychology (I took an AP course my senior year) and Genie's case, it is my guess and opinion that it is a combination of minor mental retardation and missing the critical period that inhibited Genie's language acquisition. I do believe that there is a critical period that one needs to meet in order to properly learn a language. However in Genie's case, I think it was the combination of the two things, since it was shown that she did have some mental retardation.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 07:17 PM | Comments (2)

Genie Blog

The Genie story is really disturbing for me to learn about. It reminds me of how evil humans can be towards one another, which is something that I have always known in the back of my mind, but I try not to think about. However, when reading about Genie's story, I can't help but feel so disappointed that something like this could go on for years and years and never be detected.

After we watched the documentary about Genie I visited the web site about feral children all over the world, and I'm not trying to say that one case is more acceptable than another, but I found that the cases that took place in the U.S. (versus the ones that took place in other countries) were so much harder for me to read about.

Many of the cases from other parts of the world included children getting separated from their parents during war or their parents dying, leaving no one to care for these kids. Often times the children befriended an animal, usually dogs, and the children were raised by that animal. However, most of the cases in the U.S. involved deliberate child abuse. These children were knowingly locked away, like in Genie's case, for years by their parents or gaurdians. It is this kind of premeditated torture that makes it so hard for me learn about these cases.

Genie's story is such an eye opener. It makes me wonder if perhaps the same thing is going on somewhere else in the U.S. at this very moment. Somewhere, maybe even close to here, a child could be experiencing this same kind of abuse, but the most frustrating thing about that idea is the fact that there is no way to tell or to help. It is virtually an impossible thing to stop because when people have children or adopt children they are just given the benefit of the doubt, even though clearly not everyone deserves to be given that. I guess the only solution is to make an effort to raise a mentally sound generation so that when they are older they will not turn around and inflict the same abuse on a child that they themselves may have been victim to.

Posted by lcissullivan at 06:08 PM | Comments (2)

Genie

Searching information about Genie in calss today was very interesting. The website that I first found I think is very informative on matters that were not discussed in the documentary. If you want to check out the website feel free..the URL is: www3.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/hsbioethics/units/unit3_4.html

The article talks about how the social worker actually first saw Genie. I didn't realize that the mother escaped with Genie and ended up bringing her out in public. The social worker assumed she was six or seven years old and had autism. That is amazing considering she was thirteen. I have been told that I look like I'm still 15 or so but I'm only 18 not 23. Another thing that shocked me was the part where the father would sit with his loaded shotgun on his lap and wouldn't allow his wife or son to speak or to even leave the house most of the time. How awful, I can't even imagine what it would be like to be stuck in one place. It's bad enough for me waking up on a Saturday morning in my dorm room and wanting to get up and go out to my living room and sit on the couch to finish waking up but I can't because I'm not at home. I wouldn't be able to stay in one room for such a long period of time. It's so sad reading and watching the story on this girl. How can people be so cruel? especially to their own child, their own blood. It confuses me and I'm sure it will for a very very long time.

Posted by lcisnelson at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)

Question 3

Reading Kana would be affected by left brain damage because this side of our brain is the centre for the ability to understand, interpret and use a language built of symbols that represented syllables as Kana does. The same, left side of our brain is also responsible for our mathematical ability in addition to our comprehension of rhythm and our temporal-order judgments (Fromkin, 41). While the right-hand side of the brain is responsible for pattern matching, spatial orientation and facial recognition (Fromkin, 41), making it possible to understand a language such as Kanji where each symbol represents a word. Therefore were the right brain damaged an individuals ability to comprehend, interpret and use Kanji would be impaired.

~ Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)

A Recipe for Sentence Formation

When a normal functioning person forms a sentence, he or she usually does not even have to think about what they are saying and how they need to piece together the elements of the sentence in order to make it logical and coherent, so it is weird to sit here and actually take the time to think about how exactly the brain assembles sentences.

In order to form the sentence "My patient had brain damage" the brain would first need to focus on the message that is trying to be conveyed. A person, who happens to be a patient, experienced damage to a part of his body, his brain, at some point in the past, and this person happens to be my patient. Those are all of the meanings found in that sentence. Once the brain has determined those meanings, it instantly finds the words in its vocabulary to represent those meanings. The next step is putting together the words to form a correct sentence. The brain focuses on the subject of the sentence, the patient, and molds the sentence around it. The brain makes an effort to convey this message as succinctly as possible so instead of saying "A patient, who happens to by my own..." it simply uses the possesive "my." Once the subject has been established the brain would then convey the next message concerning what happened to the patient, or the term "brain damage." So thus far the sentence is "My patient brain damage," but because the brain has had years and years of experience is speaking grammatically correct, it knows that these words alone are not enough. It then adds the correct verb to denote that the brain damage was experienced by the patient, and this verb is automatically conjugated according to when the experience happened.

Sometimes the brain makes mistakes though. If the same sentence were to come out as "My patient had dain bramage," that would mean that at some point in the formation of this sentence something went wrong. All of the meanings that need to be conveyed are present, and the sentence is grammatically correct as well, but it is the formation of the words to represent that meanings that is incorrect. When the brain decided which words to use to convey each message it did so almost simultaneously so that all the words were chosen at basically the same time. Since the brain was focussing on all 5 words at the same time, it confused some of them, causing several letters on one to be switched with a letter on another, resulting in "dain bramage." Since the process of sentence formation is so rapid, the brain sent out the sentence to be spoken before even realizing that it was incorrect.

Posted by lcissullivan at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

Brain and Language... Question 3!

I must be ignorant; I always thought the Japanese language seemed rather difficult, but I had no idea that there were two completely different languages... let alone two different languages that used two completely different parts of your brain! I can't imagine trying to communicate with someone if I know one language, and they know the other. How frustrating must that get?!?

Okay, so the question for discussion:

As Kana is the phonetic language of the two, with spelling, and sounds, it is more like "language" as we think of and know it. The left side of the brain is predisposed for langauage from birth, and is better for processing verbal sounds and grammar concepts. There is plenty evidence of this from many tests and studies, including event-related-brain potential tests. Oh, and not to mention the demonstration of our brain having structured seperate facilities by Phineas Gage, the man who had a 4 foot iron rod through his head and still functioned, including language-wise, just fine!

Kanji, the symbolic Japanese language in which pictures represent words, would be processed by the right side of the brain instead. The right side has be found to be better in non-verbal, more visual processing, which includes pattern matching and recognizing faces.

Considering all this, if brain damage was to happen to someone on the left side, the Kana language would by far be more affected than the Kanji. If there was right side brain damage, the symbolic Kanji language would be much more affected.

Eeeesh!

Posted by lcisthur at 02:14 AM | Comments (0)

Language Chapt. Two

I don't think anybody else has answered this question yet in a post, so I picked it just to be different. :) It doesn't make much sense, but I thought it was an interesting question, and I'd like to know the real answer.

Question Two:

A person who doesn’t have any speaking difficulty would quickly think of what they want to say and the words come out verbally as the person’s brain works quickly like a database to search for the correct words in the correct sequence. It also helps if the speaker thought clearly and had a moment to think before they spoke.

When someone speaks incorrectly, they may switch the beginning sounds of words which translates into nonsense. We all make this mistake every now and then, and speaking from personal experience, this is because the speaker doesn’t think about what the words as they’re saying them, like when they are speaking fast, for any reason such as anger, excitement, etc. Because someone who is aphasic has a damaged brain and therefore a damaged thinking process, the words often don’t come out right.

Posted by lcishagan at 12:22 AM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2005

Japenese Writing Systems

Question: In Japanese, there are several writing systems. Kana is phonetic (like English-the spelling corresponds to sounds, more or less) and Kanji is symbolic (like Chinese-words are represented as pictures). Reading which language would be more affected by left brain damage (and back it up with reasons) and reading which language would be more affected by right brain damage?

It would be expected that Kana, a phonetic language that corresponds to sounds like English, would be more affected by left brain damage, while, Kanji, a more symbolic language using pictures, would be more affected by right brain damage. As stated in An Introduction to Language, “he accuracy with which subjects report what they heard is evidence that the left hemisphere is superior for linguistic processing, and the right hemisphere is superior for nonverbal information” (Fromkin 42). Many tests and experiments have been conducted to further prove this lateralization or the differentiation of the right brain abilities from the left brain abilities. One type of experimentation is called dichotic testing where “subjects hear two different sound signals simultaneously through earphones” (41). They may hear a laugh in one ear, and the word “cry” in another. “When asked to state what they heard in each ear, subjects are more frequently correct in reporting linguistic stimuli delivered directly to the right ear, but are more frequently correct in reporting nonverbal stimuli delivered to the left ear” (41). These tests show that the left hemisphere is more likely to distinguish and recognize actual words than the right hemisphere. The right hemisphere, then, would probably be more likely to decipher pictures and colors. To further this idea, many savants who are brilliant in calculating and completing large mathematical equations, do not seem to have the ability to be creative (49). Cases of actual people who have had part of their brain removed have not been able to regain their speech and or their ability to recognize certain objects. There is definitely a separation between creativity and speech development, and these two Japanese languages are definitely examples of this differentiation between the two hemispheres. ** To add, in high school, we were told to complete tests concerning right and left brain thinkers. It is truly interesting how some people really utilize their right brain skills by developing a vocabulary and making incredibly complex sentences, while others can analyze paintings and find great pleasure in color and art.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 09:32 PM | Comments (1)

Kana vs. Kanji

Kanji are one of the five character sets used in Japanese. It consists of Chinese characters that are like pictures. In Kanji, different words would have different "pictures". On the other hand, Kana consists of syllables that correspond to sounds.

The human brain has two hemispheres: left and right. The left hemisphere is superior for language, rhythmic perception, and mathematical judgements. If a person suffers from damage or loss of left hemispheric brain, then he/she wouldn't be able to comprehend to Kana - the syllables. The right hemisphere corresponds to non verbal information, such as drawings and pictures. Therefore, loss of right hemisphere brain will lose ability to read in Kanji - the pictures.

Posted by lcisbold at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)

Sounds v. Pictures

Number Three:

In Japanese, there are several writing systems. Kana is phonetic (like English – the spelling corresponds to sounds, more or less) and Kanji is symbolic (like Chinese – words are represented as pictures) Reading which language would be more affected by left brain damage (and back it up with reasons) and reading which language would be more affected by right brain damage?

Reading Kana would be more affected by left hemisphere damage because it is based on sounds and syllables (like English). The left hemisphere is where language is laterilized. Those with damage to loss of the left side cannot speak (according to Broca). On the other hand, reading Kanji would be effected by right hemisphere because generally the right side of the brain deals with "mathematics, logic, facial recognition, and drawing." If the right side of the brain is damaged, a patient might not be able to use logic and peice the words together to form coherent sentences.

Posted by lcisyeich at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

Brain and Language Question 3

In Japanese, kana is sound based like English is and there are symbols that correspond to syllables. Kanji is ideographic and each symbol corresponds to a word. Damage to the left hemisphere would impair someone's ability to read kana because the left hemisphere of the brain is the "verbal hemisphere" and is where we process sounds that we hear. Someone with damage to this part of their brain probably would not be able to put together the sounds that they saw on the paper since kana is made up of syllables. Damage to the right hemisphere of the brain would impair someone's ability to read kanji because the right side of our brain specializes in mathematics, logic, facial recognition, and drawing. This is the more visual side of our brain and if since kanji is made up of pictures, someone with damage to this side of the brain might not be able to put a symbol together with an actual picture of an object.

Posted by lcismardin at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)

Brain and Language Question #3

Someone with left brain damage would have difficulty in reading Kana, the phonetic language, because the left brain is typically associated with language, grammar, rhythimic perception, and mathematical thinking. Kana represents the sounds and syllables of the language which therefore can be processed better by the left side of the brain. Kanji is an ideographic language where the symbols depict the action or noun in a way that does not represent how the words are pronounced. The right brain does visual tasks such as recognizing faces and spatial orientation and someone with right brain damage would find it difficult to read Kanji because it is a language composed of visuals.

Posted by lcisfreya at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)

Chapter 2

Question #3

Kana, the phonetic language, would eb more affectd by left brain damage and Kanji, the symbolic language would be more affected by right brain damage. The left brain deals more with the verbal aspects and therefore a phonetic language like Kana or English would be hard to read if there's damage. When reading a phonetic language, the brain actually still sounds out the words in order to comprehend the reading. The right brain is more visual and would help read a symbolic language like Kanji and therefore if damaged, it would be quite difficult to make sense of the symbols.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)

Language Chapter 2: Question #1

This question is a very interesting one because it seems that the language of each aphasiac is affected differently by disease or trauma. However, some similarities can be found. For example, patients with damage to the front part of the left hemisphere, Broca’s Aphasiacs, tend to have difficulty with diction, syntax, and small function words. On the other hand, patients with damage to the back of the left hemisphere, known as Wernicke’s Aphasiacs, had difficulty with vocabulary and diction. However, their pronunciation and speaking skills were excellent.
In general, the language problems of aphasics seem to be small, but they make a big difference in language. In the examples that were given in the book, the most common problems included misuse of specific parts of speech and difficulty with word order. In general, vocabulary did not seem to pose a problem. Patients had no trouble choosing words that signified what they were trying to convey. In addition, although I was unable to study the pronunciation of the patients, there was no comment about overwhelming mispronunciation by the patients. Thus, although the language of each aphasiac is changed uniquely by trauma or disease, it seems that, in general, grammar and finer points of language are what is lost by aphasics, while a larger sense of vocabulary and general rules of language are maintained.

Posted by lciscotis at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)

Question Number 3

Question 3...In Japanese, there are several writing systems. Kana is phonetic (like English – the spelling corresponds to sounds, more or less) and Kanji is symbolic (like Chinese – words are represented as pictures) Reading which language would be more affected by left brain damage (and back it up with reasons) and reading which language would be more affected by right brain damage?

Reading Kana would be more difficult if a person had left brain damage. This is becuase Kana is based on the sound system of the language and the left hemisphere of the brain is superior for linguistic processing and understanding language based on words alone. With the left hempisphere damaged, people would have a hard time hearing the language and relating them to the words.

Reading Kanji would be more difficult if a person had right brain damage. This is because Kanji is based on symbols corresponding with a word and not on the sounds of the language and the right hemisphere of the brain is superior for nonverbal information, so with this hemisphere damaged, people would have a harder time putting together these symbols and relating them to words.

Posted by lcisnelson at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2005

Chapter 2 of Language

Question #3

Q: In Japanese, there are several writing systems. Kana is phonetic (like English-the spelling corresponds to sounds, more or less) and Kanji is symbolic (like Chinese- words are represented as pictures). Reading which language would be more affected by left brain damage (and back it up with reasons) and reading which language would be more affected by right brain damage?

A:In the Japanese writing system it would be more difficult to read or understand Kana, if someone had left hemisphere damage. This would be because Kana is based on the sound system of the language (spelling corresponds to sound), and the left hemisphere of the brain deals with understanding language based on words. Written material was to be processed in the left hemisphere to be understood. This portion of the brain directly relates to linguistic naming.

Reading the Kanji language would be more difficult if a person had right hemisphere damage, because Kanji involves symbols where words are represented by pictures. This would occur, because the right hemisphere deals with interpreting visual information and making sense of it. In all actuality both hemispheres work together to interpret both visual and linguistical information.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

Chapter 2 Question

3) The left hemisphere dominates language, rythmic perception, judgement and mathematical thinking while the right hemisphere is superior in pattern-matching, recognizing faces and spatial thinking. Since the left brain controls language functions, Kana (phonetic, like English) would be more affected by left brain damage. Additionally, the left brain is known to process letters, numbers and words. This ties to the speech aspect of the left side.

On the other hand, a patient with right brain damage would have more difficulty reading Kanji because it is symbolic and uses spatial and recognition skills. The right side of the brain is able to distinguish objects or symbols from one another. The right brain is better at processing faces, places and objects.

My answer can be backed by the apple experiment conducted with a split-brain patient. The experiment placed an apple in the left hand of the patient. The left hand was being governed by the right side of the brain (dominant in processing objects etc.). The person, with the apple in hand was able to use it, but not name it. Contrarily, when the apple was placed in the right hand (controlled by the left part of the brain) the patient was then able to name the object- apple.

Posted by lcissearls at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2005

Seeing

When I first began "Seeing" by Annie Dillard, I was unsure of what direction she was going in. Although she was very descriptive and provided numerous images, I didn't really enjoy the piece until I started reading all of the factual information about the newly-seeing blind. The essay posed a repeating issue in culture- medical advances and 'who' they benefit. Is it right for parents and medical professionals to have the power to change a child's life, especially those who are blind (or deaf) at birth? Although its only natural for all parents to want the best for their children, I cant help think that it absolutely changes the child's life, for better or for worse.

Obviously, I have not been a parent yet, but it is strange for me to think that parents have total authority over their children's fate. I know this is a very sensitive topic, but I would like to hear comments about what everyone else thinks about these medical advances.
For some similar cases think.....

-Achondroplastic dwarfs undergoing surgery to lengthen their legs -Intrasex (born both sexes) being designated a boy or girl by the parents -Profoundly deaf children born to hearing parents; cochlear implants to make them "hearing"

Posted by lcissearls at 11:00 AM | Comments (1)

Annie Dillard Sees

I think that this essay by Annie Dillard is powerful in the fact that it points out that there is more than one way to "see" things, but we do not often realize it.
Through her own unique style of syntax, she shows readers that we, as one, must see for ourselves. Sure, sounds obvious, but it's not! We often see through something else, and because of this, and because of the fact we are unaware of it, we often cannot see what surrounds us. What we do not see clearly, what we do not appreciate, is nature in all its beauty. Modern society, "culture", technology, etc. distracts us away from it, but we all need to take the time to break away and stop to actually look around and see what is truly there, and what truly matters.

Posted by lcisthur at 12:24 AM | Comments (2)

No Longer Overlooking What We Look At

I thought that the introduction to "Practices of Looking" was actually quite interesting. It brought up some points we, or most people, do not normally think about. We look at "things" all the time, everyday, and rely on it to get us through life as we know it. Yet we rarely think about what these images that don't "seem" to mean anything, actually do to us. Images, now used more than ever in television, photography, computers, etc., have a powerful impact on our culture even though we may not realize it. Images affect what we think about ourselves, others, and the world around us... what we do in our lives, what we think is good or bad, beautiful or ugly, acceptable or not. In many ways images are very harmful to us. In advertising commericals, for example, they are used to create ideas that "you are not okay the way you are, you 'need' this", which makes people insecure and vulnerable consumers. It is actually quite disturbing when you think about how powerful images are in our lives, yet we do not let them register with us, or simply do not want to have to face the fact.

Posted by lcisthur at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2005

Lateral Inhibition Predicts the Opposite Effect

When I look at this image, I see a square of black horizontal stripes. On the left side some of the bars are colored blue to form a rectangular shape, and on the right side there is an obviously darker, brighter blue rectangle in the background of the black bars. But when I use the tab to remove the black bars, the two shades of blue turn out to actually be the exact same as each other!

The "comment" behind this illusion is that "Lateral inhibition predicts the opposite effect."

Hmmm... I suppose as we "train" and learn our perceptions of what things are are aren't over our life, we rarely encounter cases like these, and therefore, have trouble accepting or believing them. I find it quite amazing. One would think our eyes, that see and determine such fine details everyday in our lives, would be able to tell when two colors are the same! Think again!

If you are interested in this particular visual illusion, which is indeed quite cool, (or many more good ones on this same site), check out:

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/lum_white-illusion/index.html

Posted by lcisthur at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)

My Visual Illusion

I think this is so cool. Basically, both the upper and bottom part of this object are the same color. However, because they are separated by a center section, shaded differently, and surrounded by different colored backgrounds, it appears that the two surfaces are different colors. If you block the center section it becomes obvious that they are the same color. I think this is interesting because it shows us how often times we see things in relation to their surrounding rather than just seeing the object itself.

If you want to check it out it is http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/alumni/dm29/purves.html. It’s figure four.

-Emmy O

Posted by lcisowens at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)

Seeing in the Dark.

What is most interesting to me about Annie Dillard's "Seeing" is the part about what happens when people who have never been able to see are no longer blind. Their reactions, quotations and behavior are things that I've never read about, so this is enlightening. The beginning of this piece of writing, however, I find slightly unorganized. It is difficult to follow, and I ended up falling asleep while reading it. The only part I remember well is the part about how you can't see in the dark, and you imagine what you see, your senses are heightened and you see things that aren't really there. The second half is more direct and easier to follow. I do understand what she is getting at, though, how we should really take the time to see what is in nature, and how people will miss the beauty of it when they don't take the time to "see".

Posted by lcishagan at 10:20 PM | Comments (1)

Seeing by Annie Dillard

I have already read this passage once before in sophomore year of high school. Well, more specifically, attempted to read this passage because I don't believe I ever got through it. This time around, however, I did manage to get through it and I did like some parts! I feel that Annie Dillard can find words to describe the most minute and literally indescribable facets of nature and life, such as the color patches. A few parts I could relate and even got excited about, and others I found to be tedious and irritating. For example, I found her description of seeing the color patches after reading the book to be unbelievable and overdramatic. On the other hand, she makes up for it with the next sentences explaining she cannot undo her knowledge of the meaning of the forms she sees and her inability to "unpeach the peaches", which I thought was a great expression. She lost me on the very top two paragraphs of page 103 and how she can "see truly" when she blurs her eyes and looks at the brim of her hat. I just found the paragraph to be too wordy. I could appreciate it in a poem but too much is too much. However, there was one part I enjoyed and brought back memories for me and that is when she is describing how she is always on the lookout for antlion traps and monarch pupae and all things minutiae. It reminded me of how when I was younger I loved to go in my field and look for monarch butterfly catepillars and then house them with some milkweed in a small mesh bug "house" through the stages of eating, chrysalis, and hatching, then setting them free. It was always so exciting. Now, however, I can't find the catepillars anymore, though I am always on the lookout like Annie Dillard is. So I suppose this passage wasn't as tedious as the first time through, and yes, I did enjoy most of it.

Posted by lcisfreya at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)

Annie Dillard's "Seeing"

After reading Dillard’s story I felt swindled. The story seemed disorganized and off task. She put too much detail and almost overwhelmed her point. She didn’t use every sentence to its fullest. On the other hand, I could appreciate her concepts of appreciation and taking advantage of what you get. I could relate to her going into the woods and looking for something interesting to happen. My favorite part of the story was when she described the blind people coming out of their state and not understanding size, depth and space. They were forced to live a new way that was almost regretted. Most of the patients that she described still used their old ways and found it more convenient and meaningful to do so. We cannot imagine not using our eyes and these people couldn’t imagine using them. Dillard created a sense of hope by describing the blind person that called everything “So beautiful.” It seemed like those who were blind and then cured were the most appreciative of the little things and described things in such a romantic way that it takes us time to realize what they mean. For example, the trees emitting light seems wrong and unrealistic but to these people, every ounce of light meant tons.

-Jessica Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 08:07 PM | Comments (0)

A blogging mistake

Maybe it is just my constantly malfunctioning computer but I believe our lovely blogging system has not included all of my first paragraph and even made the few words it decided to keep of it very small. So here is the first paragraph.

The introduction to Practices of Looking left me completely ecstatic. I am greatly looking forward to learning about how we make,understand, make meaning, and globalize our visual culture. I completely agreed with the agitated tone of the authors towards the fact that though visual images have become "dominant in our culture," we still learn very little about modern image-based cultures. I know when I was making my hopeful choices for classes, I saw that Simmons offers many classes based on images (movies, television, comic books etc.) of different cultures. It seemed so interesting to me and I think that was because normally we don't think of college offering those sorts of classes because we generally don't think them as useful. It is relieving to know that something we do in our modern culture is useful and unique to the past.

-Jessica Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 05:44 PM | Comments (1)

Practices of Looking Introduction: The Best I've Read (for an intro)

 The introduction to Practices of Looking left me completely ecstatic. I am greatly looking forward to learning about how we make,understand, make meaning, and globalize our visual culture. I completely agreed with the agitated tone of the authors towards the fact that though visual images have become "dominant in our culture," we still learn very little about modern image-based cultures. I know when I was making my hopeful choices for classes, I saw that Simmons offers many classes based on images (movies, television, comic books etc.) of different cultures. It seemed so interesting to me and I think that was because normally we don't think of college offering those sorts of classes because we generally don't think them as useful. It is relieving to know that <strong>something</strong> we do in our modern culture is useful and unique to the past.

I liked the word choice in the introduction as well. The authors used "cross-fertilization" to describe the process of associating things to others. Such as a TV show with an advertisement. The word gives a living element to our visual culture, which is perfect because our culture is a "process" (as the authors called it) and because it changes so rapidly, it almost is living.

The book focuses on "ordinary people" and how the general population is effected by these visual images. For once, it will be great to learn about us and how we learn; not how the Romans might have learned years ago.

Its also very interesting that the introduction covered an earlier blog entry of mine. I questioned the use of the word "culture" as being high-class and knowing the arts.

So, my response is excitement, not only towards learning about our "ways of looking" but learning about how I learn.

-Jessica Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 05:06 PM | Comments (0)

How do they move??

The most fascinating illusion I found is called “rotating snakes.”

http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/rotsnakee.html

I think the snakes appear to “rotate” because our brains try to make sense of a picture by relating to a familiar and remembered object. If you notice, if you look at one of the spinning snakes, it doesn’t move, but the others will. This must have to do with our peripheral vision. If we don’t concentrate on an object or see it directly, our minds associate it with the closest “relative” (per say) of the object. Our eyes continue to go around and around the snake’s body (peripherally of course) and we associate the roundness with motion. The fragments also help with the illusion because they create “steps” that our eyes would want to keep going around on. In a sense, it could be our innate inquisitiveness that makes our minds want to keep trying to associate it to a memorized figure.

-Jessica Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 05:04 PM | Comments (2)

Reaction to "Seeing" by Annie Dillard

I liked the beginning of the essay. An innocent girl on the sidewalk drawing arrows. As she learns to write, it points out her process of her growing up and maturing. Learning to observe and look around her. She wants to see what many of us don't see. The girl is eager. There was smooth transition when the girl grows up and the author writes in first person. People see what she sees, but don't take the time to observe that nature around us, as the insects crawling in the grass. Another Dillard's good example was, The Osage orange tree vs. hundreds of blackbirds. How the birds flew by in hundreds and hundreds from one tree to another, but her reaction is as same of those who have never seen them before.
The author lost me after the third paragraph. The paragraphs were flat and full with too many details and pure observations of what the author saw. It was hard to see through her eyes.
I liked the sentence, "If we are blinded by darkness, we are also blinded by light." We are not blinded by light. But even if there is light, people don't see what truly there is to see. If people don't see the obvious, it is as same as being blind, or being in the dark.

Posted by lcisbold at 04:06 PM | Comments (1)

Intro to POL

I think the introduction to this book was very interesting. I want to read it and I know I will get so much out of it. I am especially interested in Chapter 6. I took a course last year, Faith and Values in the Media, a religion course (I went to a Catholic high school) and it was really interesting. It wasn't even religious..but whatever...anyways it talked about what goes on in the media (on t.v., in magazines, newspapers, books, on the radio)and why companies portray things the way they do, how they go about it, what it does to human beings, how it effects people and the world around us, and how the world is changing and tells us that we need to take a step back and look at whats going on, and such. It was an interesting class and made my eyes open up to a see something that I've never seen before, but yet its been around me for so long, and I think this book will explain more about how things work in the visual media. I'm excited.

Posted by lcisnelson at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)

Intro to Practices of Looking

The introduction to this book was all about how our culture is shifting from oral to visual. It's amazing that our generation is here to experience this change from one extreme to the other. We seen to be caught somewhere in between, because as the introduction talked about,our education has for the most part focused on the written and the oral part of society.

I know in high school, I was never given the opportunity to take any kind of media based class that would help us to learn about what our society is becoming. The visual media seems to be taking over the written media, and we never learn a thing about it, even though it is something that impacts our everyday lives. We are surrounded by visual images and we see them everywhere we go. Of course books and the newspaper and even radio are still very important, but I think it would be beneficial to today's students if more classes were dedicated to the visual aspects of our culture, especially at the high school and college level.

Posted by lcismardin at 02:01 PM | Comments (2)

"Seeing" (Annie Dillard)

For the most part, I liked this essay by Annie Dillard, but like Brenna mentioned, I too thought it became boring at some points and I had to really work to pay attention to what I was reading. It probably would have made it easier to read and also more interesting if the essay had been a bit shorter without quite so much description. I think Dillard has a very good point, most of us never really "see" what we are looking at. I know that most of the time, I don't take the time to really see what is around me. I thought the section about the book that Dillard head read, Space andLight, by Marius von Senden, was the most appealing part of the whole essay. It was informative as well as captivating to read. I didn't expect so many people who were once blind to wish that they still were blind. Sight is such an amazing thing and I am so greatful to have it. Having always been able to see, I can never imagine having to live without it, let along wanting to live without it. I would have thought that everyone who was given sight would have been amazed at the world and would never have wanted to go back to having to live without the gift of sight.

Posted by lcismardin at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)

Practices of Looking (Introduction)

The practices of looking introduction was very interesting. It explained how our culture today is definitely a visual one. This is due to the popularity of television, computers, and the media. People commonly use images to express themselves everyday.

I thought that it was interesting how the older definition of culture involved "fine" arts like painting, literature, music and philosophy, which was primarily reserved for people of a higher class. The new definition of culture is shared practices of a group, community, or society through visual aural, and textual world of representations. This new definition involves a much broader range of ideas, showing that "culture is progress".

The exciting thing about culture is that it is constantly changing and will never remain the same. Culture is now much more diverse, although it does focus primarily on visual images. In our society today we communicate visually, it is just something that is natural to us. I know that I watch a ton of television and get most of my information there relating to what is going on in the world, or what are the latest fashion trends. This is just our way of communicating, and I know that as time goes on culture will progress even more and who knows where we'll be.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

"Seeing"--Annie Dillard

The writing of Annie Dillard was very intriguing, because of the way that she used nature and biblical references at the same time in order to bring across and idea. I think that the idea that she was trying to bring across was that people usually take everyday occurences for granted and are not appreciative of their vision.

She expresses her enthusiasm for life by proclaiming how exciting it is to see something in its true form and not focus on the superficiality of an object. She explains how the world is full of these things, and that people just have to capture them and not allow them to just pass by. She also states that everything is not always what it seems and places a tension on the contrast between light and dark.

This made me think about what I tend to see on a daily basis. I have realized that sometimes I just don't pay that much attention to nature and its beauty. It is something that is all around, but I fail to notice its intricacies. When you take the time to really look at something, you may notice that it will look different than the way you pictured it. I acknowledge the fact that I shouldn't take my vision for granted, but appreciate every moment of it.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

Annie Dillard's "Seeing"

I overall liked Annie Dillard's essay, "Seeing," however I felt that at times it dragged on and I found myself losing interest in it. There was one passage towards the end of the essay though that really caught my attention, and it was the following:

"The world's spiritual geniuses seem to discover universally that the mind's muddy river, this ceaseless flow of trivia and trash, cannot be dammed, and that trying to dam it is a waste of effort that might lead to madness. Instead you must allow the muddy river to flow unheeded in the dim channels of consciousness: you raise your sights: you look along it, mildly, acknowledging its presence without interest and gazing beyond it into the realm of the real where subjects and objects act and rest purely, without utterance. 'Launch into the deep,' says Jacques Ellul, 'and you shall see'" pg. 103

After I read this I immediately thought of the book Feed. Even though we ourselves do not have feeds, we are still continuously presented with this "ceaseless flow of trivia and trash." Dillard accepts the fact that trying to change the world that we live in would be a futile act, so instead we must learn to live with this "muddy river." We have to learn how to acknowledge the presence of all the garbage we are exposed to, but leave it at that. We shouldn't waste any time really thinking about it, but instead we should just gaze beyond it. For me, this passage is what gave meaning to the essay and made me overall enjoy reading it.

Posted by lcissullivan at 09:30 AM | Comments (1)

September 21, 2005

"Seeing"--Annie Dillard

Hi Everyone-- I do not know if we are supposed to blog about this or not, but I am anyways! I was not really impressed with this essay. Although I really enjoyed the main point of the essay, it took me a while to wittle down the numerous examples and explanations. I think the core of the essay is the following statement, from Paragraph 8, "The lover can see and the knowledgeable can see,". This statement is basically saying that those who want to see things, can see the tiny things in life. Those who want to see the birds in the trees will be able to see them, those who want to experience every aspect of nature will. I definetely agree with this statement. So many people blow through life and leave no time to experience what they could. I think that only focusing on the biggest part of life deprives someone of the most interesting part of life. The part of the essay that was most interesting to me was Dillard's descriptions of blind people who were given the gift of sight later in life. Many did not appreciate it and were stunned by the vastness, color, size, and detail of their world. This was interesting to me because it shows how much we take for granted, and how if we don't wish to see the small things in life, we won't. Although I really enjoyed the intentions of Diallard's essay, I think she could have easily obtained these same objectives (maybe even made them more prevalent) if she had made the essay shorter and more succinct.
--Brenna DeCotis

Posted by lciscotis at 06:59 PM | Comments (1)

Optical Illusion

Here's what I found: Optical Illusion #1 It took me a minute to figure out what was going on, but I found it highly amusing. I'm not quite sure how it works, but it must have something to do with how the inner and outer circles are composed of opposite facing parallelograms. Also, it only works if you stare at the center so it must also have something to do with your peripheral vision. If anyone has any more specific ideas on how this works, please share because I can't come up with a direct answer!

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 03:17 PM | Comments (1)

Blue team rules!!!

You were totally awesome! Great teamwork and fabulous sportswomanship!

You done us proud!!!

Posted by lcisEllen at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)

Woman in Vanity or Skull

http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/gif/opti3.jpg

Two years ago, I came across this image in the middle of a night, while I was surfing on friends' web photo album. The image appeared randomly, so I had no clue that it was a trick illusion. The first idea came to my mind was that the image showed me a skull, staring at me through the computer screen. Darker shades behind the woman's mirror makes the suggestion of the skull, over women in vanity.

People see and choose what to believe in. At first, I chose to see the skull involuntarily, but the woman in vanity convinced me to see her. I am sure, she will convince you, too. ;)

Posted by lcisbold at 12:17 AM | Comments (2)

September 20, 2005

Counting Optical Illusion

http://www.brainteasercentral.com/riddle.php?riddleid=119

I've looked at this optical illusion a bunch of times and I still don't completely get it. This was probably about the tenth website that I looked at that had optical illusions on it, so my eyes are really tired, but I have the feeling that if I looked at it right when I woke up and my eyes were fine, I still wouldn't understand it. The explanation is given on the website and it makes sense, I just can't see it happen whatsoever. If anyone gets how this one works will you please comment on it, thanks.

Posted by lcissullivan at 06:21 PM | Comments (4)

September 19, 2005

optical illusion

The optical illusion that I chose can be found on http://www.coolopticalillusions.com/opticalillusionsimages2/shelveseye_trick.htm

I chose this illusion because it amazes me. I don't understand how these things work. When i looked from the left I saw four, when I looked from the right I saw three. So then I tried to slowly move from left to right and right to left to see if i could figure it out, but no, that didn't work. How people creat these things blows my mind. Another one that I have seen before but still cannot do correctly can be found at...http://www.coolopticalillusions.com/opticalillusionsimages2/saythe_colors.htm I never can do this right, i probably tried a million times while i was looking at it. It weird how one side of our brain tells us one thing and the other a different. WHen i slowed down and thought about what I was seeing and wanted to say I eventually got it, but it took a good 5-10 minutes. I want to see if you all can do it on your first try! class experiment!! :)

Rachel

Posted by lcisnelson at 11:03 PM | Comments (2)

Optical Illusion

http://eyetricks.com/0101.htm

In this optical illusion there is one big square made up of smaller, black cubes that are separated by gray lines. At each point where the gray lines intersect, there are small dots. The dots appear to be a mix of both black and white, but when you try to count the white dots, they turn black, and when you try to count the black dots, they turn white. Everytime you look at a dot, it changes its color.

There were a lot of really cool optical illusions on this website, but I like this one the best because i can't find a way to explain it. How is it possible that the dots change colors when you try to focus on them? I have no idea.

There is one more optical illusion that I really like on this website. The URL for this one is: http://eyetricks.com/0601.htm When I first looked at this one, I saw the letter E standing off the page, but if you try to focus your eyes a different way, the E dissapears and all you can see is three crooked, black lines.

Posted by lcismardin at 05:39 PM | Comments (1)

September 18, 2005

What is Language?

1. What is and what is not language? Why make a distinction?

Language is a complex system of communication. Linguistic knowledge is the ability to communicate any idea and the ability to understand the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences in a language.
Language is not the imitation of sounds or a response to external stimuli.
A distinction of what language is and is not is necessary because it emphasizes the difference between human language and animal instinct.

2. You might say I learned a new word today, but not "I learned a new sentence today." Why?

One is more likely to say “I learned a new word today” because it is much easier to register learning a new word than an entire sentence. (Especially because there are an infinite amount of sentences to be created and only so many words.)

Posted by lcisowens at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)

My sweet visual illusion

My search for a visual illusion took me all of 3 seconds, thanks to a high speed internet connection, Google Images, and immediately seeing a thumbnail that caught my eye. When I first glanced at the thumbnail of this picture after I Googled "visual illusion" it looked to me like a picture of an old, Albert Einstein-esque man with a crazy beard and wild hair. After I clicked to see the full size image, though, all I could think was whoa, there is a lot going on in this picture. I love the wildness about it. The background of leering, snarling beasts coupled with the flaming windmill as the man's hair envokes in me a sense savagery and inhumanity. Yet...there is a look of sadness in the eyes of the large man and despair upon the faces in the path. Though through all the cruelty and sorrow, I can see the smaller man on the horse has diginity. His face is upturned with an expression of defiance and his posture and he holds his jousting lance with pride, not with fatigue or dejection. I really love the barely noticeable girl in the lefthand corner because it adds a touch of tenderness and feminity to an image primarily of violence and anger. I am definitely bookmarking this site and putting it as my background.

http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/toddsvballpage/Cognitive/illusion_4.JPG

-Freya

Posted by lcisfreya at 09:52 PM | Comments (1)

Visual Illusion

My Visual Illusion: http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/mona/mona.html

This visual illusion interests me because it relates to a project that I did last year in my psychology class. The project assignment was to investigate some aspect of memory. I chose to research and explore facial recognition, or what it is that makes humans able to recognize someone again and again despite different environments, hairstyles, clothing, attitudes, and more. What I found was that our temporal lobe is responsible for facial recognition. Some of the neurons located in the temporal lobe are able to recognize certain facial features. Thus, even when a face is altered, the temporal lobe can still recognize finite features on the face. People whose temporal lobe has been damaged may not necessarily be able to identify the face that they are seeing. This condition is called prosopagnosia. (This word originates from the Greek word prospon meaning face, and the Greek word agnosis meaning without knowledge.) Usually, prosopagnosics can tell they’re looking at a face and can identify separate facial features, eyes, nose, and mouth, but they do not know whose face they are seeing. These people cannot recognize celebrities, family members, or even their own face in a mirror. Instead, they must identify people by context, clothing, body build, and tone of voice.
More interesting research that I discovered on facial recognition was facial fragmentation studies that have been conducted. During facial fragmentation studies, subjects attempt to identify individuals in isolated photographs, such as a photo of only one’s nose. These studies revealed that we tend to identify people by their eyes first, then by their mouth and nose. When asked to describe the face of a person, the most distinguishing characteristic was hair. Eyes, nose, and eyebrows closely followed hair.
Thus, I was really interested in this visual illusion. The reason that I think that we do not immediately recognize the problem with the picture on the right is because our brain is so quick to identify the photo as the Mona Lisa that it does not focus on the fact that something is wrong with her face.
P.S. Sorry to go into sooooo much detail, I just find this so interesting. If you find it interesting as well, here is another website that I used for my project last year which explores some aspects of facial recognition.
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/faces.html

Posted by lciscotis at 09:00 PM | Comments (1)

"Practices of Looking" Introduction

I found that the "Practices of Looking" introduction was not radical, but simply a outline of what we can expect to see in this textbook. The part of the introduction that did strike me was the authors' many comments about fine art vs. "modern visual art", art that has resulted out of computers, TV, radios, and other technology. I thought this was a very intersting point. Since "modern art" is very new as compared to other forms of art, I completely understand how many are slow to accept it. I think it is definetely important, however, since it makes up such a huge part of our lives. Something that is so important to us certainly deserves to be studied. I am a definite advocate of colleges teaching "modern visual arts" and I think that many colleges have chosen to do this. --Brenna DeCotis

Posted by lciscotis at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)

Language

What is and what is not language. Why make a distinction?

Language refers to the ability to express oneself in response to both internal and external stimuli and creatively, and is the means by which one can be understood by others who share the same language. As such we learn to recognize, understand and reproduce at will the building blocks that make meaning or that we associate with things and concepts, namely words/signs. We possess the ability to know how our language is constructed, how we string words/signs together to understand and communicate ideas and thoughts, always making new phrases and sentences depending on what we want to express.

Language is not a particular number of expressions or learnt responses that can be elicited only by stimuli either external or internal. While animals clearly communicate and display an often-unexpected ability to learn and comprehend, they do not posses language. They cannot, that we know of, take previously learnt expressions and combine them or develop them to express new ideas. They cannot learn the grammar or structure by which language is built and through which ever-changing thoughts and ideas are conveyed. There is therefore a distinction between this communication and the concept of language.

You might say that you learned a new word today, but not “I learned a new sentence today.” Why?

It is far more probable that someone would say they have learnt a new word. If indeed someone learns a whole sentence, perhaps to imitate a humorous movie character or a role model, they would still have memorized it by learning the combination of the words with which they associate certain meanings.

We associate meaning with words and thereby with sentences. We learn the rules or grammar of our language only once, after which we understand how to combine words into phrases and sentences and can do so without consciously thinking about it.

The beauty of language is that each individual chooses to combine different building blocks – words – to create sentences that express exactly what that person wishes to describe at that time. The ability to combine words into any number of sentences of any length gives us infinite possibilities especially because we are continually adding new words to our language and modifying existing ones.

~ Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 05:40 PM | Comments (1)

The Human Essence

What is and isn’t language and why make a distinction?

Language is understanding phonology, meaning (semantics), lexicon, body language (even sign language), expressions, and syntax in a way that the congregation of people who speak a certain language can understand. Language is tracking and understanding sub-consciously the changes over time. It is the ability to manipulate words to create sentences that flow and can create meaning and study by other language-users. It is the ability to use context to react to a phrase or sentence in order to get something done. Complexity develops communication but is not necessarily a requirement, as we see with toddlers. We must be able to understand our thoughts. The key to language is realizing that we think, to know that we can develop language and manipulate it. That is what separates us from the animals.

Making a distinction between what is and what is not language is important because we can learn other languages and adapt to cultures if we understand that something is a language. If something is not a language, there is little reason for the common man to bother learning it if it cannot be used to gain and prosper.

Why Not Say “I Learned a New Sentence?”

We cannot say “I learned a new sentence today” because it is rare to reuse another person’s sentence. We hear and create meaning from “new sentences” but almost every sentence we hear is arranged in a way that we have never heard before. It is our understanding of our language that allows us to say that we learned a new word because with that new word we can create unique sentences that others will understand. Words are the building blocks of language; therefore learning a new word makes language more complex and we can create more meaning for the ones that hear us. It is of more value to learn (and know we learned) a new word.

-jessica Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 03:40 PM | Comments (1)

language

1. What is Language?

Language is an established method used to express one’s mind. Through language, people are able to understand each other’s imagination. Human beings must learn language, the system of communication, to improve within the society. It consists of thousands of words, sets of grammars written in the books and dictionaries, and unwritten grammars that people mechanically produce. It is not enough to learn grammars and words to understand and speak the language. Why do some people travel over the border to learn language? After learning the meanings of words and grammars, the hardest part of learning language develops, to receive and to produce correct responses to the speaker. As a result, either pleasant or uncomfortable contact rises, but we all try to develop friendly society while making efforts to fully communicate with one another.

1. Why learn a word not a sentence?

Why do I say I learned a new word today but not a sentence? Let’s assume that I learned a new word today, which spells out T-A-B-L-E. I never heard this word before. The table is a flat surface made out of various materials to place object(s) on it. Why the previous sentence is not new to me, but the word table is new to my imagination and a little storage in my brain? I seem to recognize most of the words, except the table. So, I learned a new word today, not a new sentence. By the way, I did learn the word table, when I was six in daycare.

Zaya

Posted by lcisbold at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)

Questions

What and what is not language. Why make a distinction?

Language is an organized set of sounds (or signs as in ASL) that convey emotions and thoughts directly from the brain and when produced can be understood by another human (or animal). Language has to be universalized within a group of people so as to be understood by everyone within that group. What is not language is emitting sounds or words not known or understood by the speaker, such as the book references talking parrots. Animals may have a set of sounds they use for communicating basic emotions and ideas of anger, fear, territory and food but it is very limited and they do not create new sounds for more complex emotions.

You might say that you learned a new word today, but not “I learned a new sentence today.” Why? /Equally probable?

I think this question could really go either way. I know that if I am learning a new language, I tend to learn in both phrases or sentences and words. One of the very first pieces of French I learned was “Je m’appelle Freya” and was then told in English this meant “I am called Freya.” From there I could deduce ‘je’ is I and ‘m’appelle’ translates to ‘am called.’ I did not first learn the meanings of each separate word. A fair amount of my French lessons were taught in this fashion. Learn phrase/sentence; learn meaning of sentence; learn meaning of words. However, on the same note I was also taught the meaning of individual nouns, verbs, and adjectives in addition to whole sentences. Learning a foreign language is a mixture of learning new words and learning new sentences. Though I believe this to be true for foreign languages, I don’t believe it to be true for learning in my primary language, English. I already have a very extensive knowledge of English and therefore learning a new sentence is improbable. Generally when we learn a new word in our native language it is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. We do not learn pronouns or prepositions because there is a very small amount of them and they have been installed in our brains for a very long time. Accordingly, a sentence must have either a pronoun or noun and prepositions for it to make sense to us. For example; if I read the sentence “He is a cuckold.” in English I would indefinitely understand the words ‘he’, ‘is’, and ‘a’ because they are simple words I have known all my life though I might not know the meaning of ‘cuckold’ because it is a rather obsolete and unused word used in everyday conversation. Therefore I would not have learned a new sentence but a new word, “cuckold.”

Posted by lcisfreya at 03:18 PM | Comments (4)

What is language?

Language could be said to be the most important things that we have as human beings. Language allows us basic communication with each other as well as "more cultural" activities such as reading and writing. Without language, who knows what the world would be like? It would most certainly be a place of misunderstanding and unnecessary violence..if we still existed at all. All animals have ways of communicating with each other, and although ours seems to be more complex, it still serves the same basic function: to be able to communicate with each other. Language is also grammar and sentences and rules, but I think the most important thing about it is that it gives us some way to understand each other and be able to relate to one another.

You are much more likely to learn a new word than you are to learn an entire new sentence. A word is simply that, just one word, but a sentence consists of multiple words. People don't usually learn new sentences, they learn new words that enable them to create their own new sentences. I think people are learning new words everywhere they go, because language is all around you, on tv, the newspaper, the radio...it is so easy to see a new word that you don't know and learn what it means, but when are you ever going to see an entire sentence of words you don't know?

Posted by lcismardin at 03:15 PM | Comments (1)

Language

1.)Language is an amazing thing. It is the construct of the human race and for animals as well. Language is knowing sounds, meaning, words, symbols, hand motions, or expressions and putting them all together to create sentences and meaning that one group of people or animals can fully understand. Language is a shared thing between a group that creates who they are. Without language we wouldn't know how to communicate, and without communication, there would be no world today. The wolf in question number seven does definietly have a language similar to a human's. We use words, or for some expressions or hand motions, and the wolves use positions of their bodies. If other wolves can understand them and they are communicating with eachother, then yes, they are using language. However, in question number eight, I don't believe that these words being used as cues is teaching a dog a language. I would say it's teaching a dog the English language, which he will eventually become familiar with, and respond to the words. However, they are only words and meanings that he is learning and language is made up of more than words and meanings.

Language is not just mumble jumble. It is a big deal to people and animals everywhere. It isn't just words put together because they sound nice, or gestures followed by one another because they look good, it is the way of life for people and animals.

2.)I don't think the statements "I learned a new word today" and "I learned a new sentence today" are equally probable. A person can learn a new word in a day because they continually hear words they don't know whether it is on television, the radio, by a person they walked by in the street. But to leanr a new sentence I don't think makes sense. You put words together every day to make sentences and most of the sentences you make, you probably didn't hear before. Every sentence is unique and is created differently. IF you write and essay on a topic, you don't go to a sentence dictionary to look for sentences that are relevant to your topic. You just write, you creat new sentences, and these sentences are probably new sentences. But you didn't learn them, you made them.

Posted by lcisnelson at 12:24 PM | Comments (1)

September 17, 2005

Visual Illusion

What is the illusion about?: This visual illusion is one of the most intriguing ones that I have ever seen. A man on a crate and a boy are painting a fence. This fence has words on it like "EAT" and "FLAKE CAKE", and the words are progressively smaller until they become unreadable in the background of the picture. Located in the picture is a road, phone lines, and a sidewalk, which is abutting the fence.

What is happening?: I was completely dumbfounded when I found that the man in the background is shorter than the boy in the foreground. There is a caption underneath the picture that indicates this. I had to actually take a ruler out just to make sure that it was true, and it is. The boy is about 2.7 cm while the man on the crate is about 2.3 cm. I guess the fence just grows larger and larger into the foreground. This visual image is astounding! This is picture is a representation of the effects of perspective on the human eye. Here, though, the size is particularly hard to distinguish.

Website: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://etc.usf.edu/clipart /4000/4003/illusion7lg.gif&imgrefurl=http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/ 4000/4003/illusion_7.htm&h=564&w=700&sz=30&tbnid=2k1aS4bDXGgJ:&tbnh =111&tbnw=138&hl=en&start=4&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvisual%2Billusion%2 6svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

(Make sure to look at the bigger picture, not the smaller one at the top of the webpage) -Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

"Woman"

The visual illusion that I came across while surfing the internet, is called "woman". This illusion is an ambiguous figure that can fool the eye and cause someone to doubt what they are seeing. The ambiguity of this picture creates a fascinating visual illusion.

The fact that two images can basically morphed into one, illustrates the creativity of the mind. It reveals how people truly see something, and how two distinct ideas about an image can really be a part of the same concept.

In this visual illusion there is a picture drawn of a woman. Although it takes very little time to realize that the picture does not pertain to only one woman, but two. One of the women appears to be older, perhaps a grandmother of someone, because of the shape of her nose and the wrap around her head that she's wearing. The other woman is a much younger woman, which is indicated by her youthful hair and the stylized feather she wears on her head. It is obvious that there is an age difference between the two women in the picture. Although after a while it becomes hard to distinguish between the two women, since they are drawn together as one image.

Here is the url:

http://dragon.uml.edu/psych/woman.html

Have fun with it!

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 08:15 PM | Comments (3844)

What is Language?

Language is classified as a form of communication that occurs among different cultures throughout the human race, and different species among animals. Language is composed of the knowledge of linguistics, the knowledge of sounds, and also the knowledge of words. All of these components are crucial to the understanding of language and its innerworkings. Without the capacity to produce these qualities, language would be difficult to comprehend. Languages are very creative and unique in their structure, but they are also very complex. The complexity of language is absorbed by young children who are later able to understand its rules.

The complexity of language, however, cannot be understood by animals. Even though there are some animals like parrots that are able to repeat human words in different languages, or dogs who are able to respond to commands in different languages, that does not mean that they are able to comprehend the grammatical rules of human language. They are able to absorb words and produce responses as a result, but humans should not consider that to mean that animals can understand human language.

Learning New Words vs. Learning New Sentences

The sentences "I learned a new word today" and "I learned a new sentence today" are not equally probable. This is because it is more difficult to learn a new sentence than a new word. You can learn a new word everyday, because they are constantly being made up and different people use different words to express emotion, or to describe something.

There are certain environments where certain words should be used. For example, when I am with my friends and I am in a more relaxed environment, I may use words such as "like" when I am explaining something or "whoa" when something seems strange or is completely out of proportion.

When I first came to Boston, I had never heard of the word "wicked" or thought that anyone use the word "sketchy". Even though I know what these words are meant to describe. I don't use them myself and consider them to be foreign, just as if someone was learning the slang of a foreign language. This has to do with regional location, but on a broader range new words can be learned constantly through the media.

Learning a new sentence is more difficult than words, because I do not spend time memorizing numerous sentences in books that I read or in conversations with other people. The only opportunity that I have had to memorize sentences has been when I have wanted to memorize quotes that were significant from a book. Also I find myself recalling phrases from people who have told me empowering things and its just stayed with me forever.

-Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 07:13 PM | Comments (3)

What is Language?

What is and what is not language? Why make a distinction?

My definition of language is a means of communication that both parties involved understand and can reciprocate in some way. In the case of the wolf in question number seven, I would say that this is an example of language because all of the wolfs would be able to understand and convey their emotions through the position of the tail. However, in question number eight, this is not language because the dog cannot talk back to the human and have the human understand. There is a distinction in what is language and what is not language because language is a very complicated thing.

You might say that you learned a new word today, but not I learned a new sentence today. Why?

These two statements are not equally probable. It is more likely to learn a new word than a new sentence because there are so many possibilities of sentences. Learning a new sentence will not apply as much as learning a new word would in specific situations. For example, if you learn a new word, then you can apply it in numerous situations, but learning a new sentence will not apply in as many situations. Therefore it is more logical to learn new words instead of new sentences and that is why it is more probable to learn new words.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 04:17 PM | Comments (2)

Geometrical Optical Illusion

The illusion I've chosen can be found here: http://www.grand-illusions.com/triangle.htm

This illusion is quite interesting because it not only involves optical tricks but mathematics as well. When I first saw this illusion I was quite puzzled when I the triangle rearrangement did not look exactly the same. At first glance, the triangles look like they are the same size, especially since they were built using the same shapes. Also, I remember constructing triangles (with only a certain number of shapes) in math class- and my math teacher saying that triangles built with the same shapes had the same area. Anyway, this illusion puzzled me, then after some thinking, I finally realized the trick.

I picked this illusion because it is different than all the other illusions we've looked at. It takes a bit more than a quick glance to figure out what the illusion really is all about.

If you want a mathematical explanation about the second triangle illusion, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the link.

-Lauren Searls

Posted by lcissearls at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2005

Optical Illusion

The optical illusion I’ve chosen can be found on the web at: http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~roweis/images/optical-illusion-wheels-circles-rotating.png

I thought at first that the movement might be caused because of the colors in the wheels - I know that sets of colors stimulate our cones (color receptor cells) but I’ve since found another site that gives an explanation and also credits the originator of the “Rotating Snake,” Akiyoshi Kitaoka.

You can visit this site at: http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/mot_rotsnake/index.html

So I’ve learnt that illusory movement happens in relation to the movement of ones eye and is not caused by color but by the luminance of the segments of the circles. The direction of the apparent movement is determined by the order of the luminance. And the strength of the illusion is related to the luminance of the background.

Apparently, Gregory & Heard (1983), were the first to describe that asymmetric luminance steps cause illusory movement.

~ Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 04:52 PM | Comments (3)

Blog Forum

This flyer just came across my desk. This Forum is at Northeastern and Jay Rosen from NYU is a particularly engaging speaker and very smart dude when it comes to blog politics.

Check it out if you can! Blog Flyer

Cheers!

Posted by lcisEllen at 03:12 PM | Comments (505)

Illusion

An illusion that I remember from my art class last year is at the following address: http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~moraes/optical-illusion-wheels-circles-rotating.png

When I look at it, I see concentric circles spinning around each other and each one looks like it's moving. The only way to stop the "motion" with your eyes is to keep your eyes still, according to my former art teacher. I think it looks like a kaliedescope, which I loved as a kid, so it's the most interesting one I've seen yet.

Posted by lcishagan at 02:59 PM | Comments (1149)

Ode to the creature on my desk

Flat but also round. Here on my island desk and at the same time far away in strange lands. Tall but also short. The Mac on my desk is filled with contradiction.

Smooth and sleek to the touch, it stands beckoning, it’s blank screen rimmed with glossy white Perspex. Its silver neck inclined toward me I run my hand across its surface, which seems neither warm nor cold. I can manipulate its screen to face up or down or to one side, staring blankly like a one-eyed creature that squats on my desk.

Its rotund body is a white ball-base with breathing holes carved in a circle like strange brail around its stiff neck. There are some other indentations – a belly button on-switch. And then my fingers roaming find a row of tentacle arms projecting jelly-like from the edge of its body. They run down out of sight into the murky depths behind my desk only to reappear in nearby places attached to odd shaped buoys. Two are round and float nearby, close to the body, each has circular indentations on the front side rimmed by a rubbery ring like a lip around a shallow crater.

Another tentacle pops into view when I roll the tide back with my keyboard drawer. On it is a long flat vitreous raft, of letters and symbols each printed black on it’s own white key, like rows of swollen seeds. There is a smaller float adrift nearby. It has a white inner body rounded to fit the inside of my hand and is coated with a thick and hard but limpid jelly. When I touch it a spark of red from somewhere deep inside reflects across it’s clear outer coating.

I trace my hands across the raft and as I press down on the letter-seeds my creature comes to life. Driven by the strange lilting melody of my fingers tap, tap-tap, the creature like an all-knowing seer, reveals that for which I long. Messages fished from bottles in the ether-ocean deliver news from around the globe. Loved ones smile back at me from warm places in the sun and from the small craters buoyed nearby in Perspex jelly, I hear familiar sounds that stir my soul. My contradiction: I am at my island desk and yet I’m far away.

~ Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 09:20 AM | Comments (17)

September 15, 2005

Ode to a Basketball

Holding a basketball, so peaceful, so rewarding. Remembering past games, seeing future goals accomplished, truly being one with the ball. I analyze its shape with my fingertips. Once perfectly round, now losing its youthful appeal and transitioning from a functional object into an antique of my memories. An indoor ball, 28.5 inches in circumference, lacking the discolored bumps and alternating colored sections found on many street balls.

Its old, dark orange-brownish leather, smooth to the touch. Each section detached from one another by the smooth black rubber seams. Comfortable in my hands, completing my fingertips as the smells of sweat, work, and desire escape from its outer layer.

The sound of the ball bouncing on a hardwood gym floor rings throughout my mind. Loud and demanding, an echoing thud, thud, thud… in an empty gym. With each dribble I determine the power, the speed, the sound; the basketball always follows through.

Slapping the worn exterior of the basketball roughly from one hand to the other, developing a connection between the hand and ball. Squeezing the ball between my hands, elbows extended. It is precious to me but I must trust its durability so onto it I hold. Images rush through my mind as I sit with the ball. Shooting, forcing the ball against gravity, smoothly flicking my hand against the ball, sensing the desired release.

Creating a spinning effect, each seam turns under, each section passes quickly by as the spherical form glides though the air and descends through the hoop missing the clanging sound of the red rim and producing a simple swoosh as the ball drops through the net.

Posted by lcisowens at 11:22 PM | Comments (2)

Language

What is language?

Language is a shared extensive collection of words with meaning made up of individual sounds, used as a way to communicate. To understand one's language, one must be able to read, write, and speak it, as well as be able to apply the grammar. Each word has a meaning behind it that the sounds represent, and being able to interpret these meanings are also part of language. What makes the distinction? Humans use language to express their feelings and thoughts. Naturally, humans want to share and connect with each other, and are intelligent enough to do so. This is why I believe we have such a complex communication system in relation to the other creatures of the earth.

Learning a Sentence vs. a Word?

Saying that you learned a new sentence today just doesn't make sense. It is much more likely that someone would say that he learned a new word. Sentences are created with a collection of chosen words using knowledge and creativity. You must know words to learn, write, or make a sentence. If you wrote a new sentence, it must be based on words that you already knew. I think "create" a new sentence makes more sense that "learn".

Posted by lcishagan at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

Ode to Paper

Paper, such an everyday thing that people don’t think about, but such an important tool to everyday life. Paper gives you a place to write down your innermost thoughts or just scribble down some notes. It is a palette for new ideas and a source of creativity. It is the beginning of a novel, a receipt, a prescription, a label, confetti as well as so many other things.

There exist so many varieties of paper: lined, white, colored and so much more. It is translucent, but yet still pure. Paper is so thin, that it can’t even be measured by normal means. It can come in a variety of shapes and sizes but the most commonly it is rectangular. Paper can easily be folded into various other objects as well, including the most beautiful swan through the art of origami.

Paper can feel so soft and smooth, but yet, when handled wrong, it can cut you and can really sting. It takes a lot of strength to pull apart a piece of paper, but at the same time it is so delicate and so easy to rip. Paper tastes bland as I have accidentally tasted it while eating candy buttons, as I’m sure many of us have experienced at least once in our lives. Also, at first, one might not notice the scent of paper, but it can smell like new ink or when it’s burning, it has a distinctive smell that reminds me of a campfire. I also love the feel of paper coming fresh out of the copier; it’s warm, but not too hot, almost like freshly baked cookies. Additionally, when paper is moved, it sounds like the rustling of leaves in the wind or like a thin sheet of metal flapping along in a workshop. It truly is a unique object that has been around for a very long time and serves an array of purposes.

-Jessica F

Posted by lcisfaria at 10:45 PM | Comments (1)

Ode to a Small Ceramic Jar

Round edges, round and imprecise lines. Abstract form meant to be symmetric. As thin as a pencil at the top, the piece starts. As this two-inch wonder is gazed at from top to bottom, it gets wider and suddenly bursts like a rose blooming. Like an hourglass it is timeless. One cannot say which art period the artist was aiming for. Its unique and slightly different in shape at all angles. From the angled open top to three quarters down, it is cream. The shadow gives off hints of gray. Each spun line from a pottery wheel wants to go in the same direction but conformity is lost. Each small ridge is lightly felt yet the cool clay feels smooth, delicate. The glaze starts three-quarters down. It is uneven in starting point as it is turned yet the line separating the clay and the glaze is precise. Tiny ridges in the line are seen up close, revealing the love and unsteady hand of an artist wanting to sell her work. The glaze is smooth and almost even. As I run my finger across it, I feel small bumps, overlapping glaze or bursts in the glaze from the red-hot kiln. The jar slowly pushes in towards the bottom giving it a small foot for its bulky body. In darker light the glaze seems like light and dark grays. In the lighter light, tiny hints of morning blue can be spotted. The dark starts at the top but the light invades from the bottom and creates wisps of light in the dark likes waves upon the sea. As I turn it, I see the lighter glaze clash with the other side’s lighter glaze. In the middle is a large chip, a devastating accident for its maker. It’s an abstract shape, almost resembling a mushroom with one side of the top bitten off. The line is jagged, not smooth like the glaze’s edge. The glaze is raised up a tiny bit from the jar. The top is utterly convenient, a forced convenience. A small hole, like that from a pen point, is forced through the once wet clay and a slippery, almost invisible tight string with a knot is pushed through. It is as if it is a necklace for the neck of the jar. I can hang it on any place just to gander at its multi-toned beauty. Inside is pitch black, darkness in the beauty, but the smell overcomes me. I breathe in deep each time I hold the small item. Each time I breathe in the darkness I smell an oil that reminds me of the sea. It is foreign yet reminds me of teatime in an English manor. I close my eyes as I breathe in as to make that one sense, my smell, heighten. If I put the mysterious hole to my ear, it makes the same noise as if I would put a shell up to my ear. Some say it sounds like the ocean, I say that would be convenient since it does smell that way; yet no, it sounds like night would sound if there were no cars, no people, no animals, and no life. Just the air particles, pushing their way past each other, exist. When I hold it in my hand, I am reminded of home. Smooth to the sight and touch even; a country essence that I miss so. I am reminded of the small beauties of the country and the fact that some things seem one-way to one sense and totally different to another.

Jessica Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 08:24 PM | Comments (2)

Nanette's Culture

I believe I predominantly have a societal culture, a familial culture and a personal culture that have all impacted and will continue impacting my being and way of life…

Societally, particularly looking back on my childhood, my culture was probably most impacted by apartheid (correctly pronounced uh-part-hate; it’s an Afrikaans word). Apartheid was a system of segregation institutionalized by a South African government, who were not fairly voted into power (even by the standards of the day), in the late 1940s. It sought to control the South African people, in particular, peoples of color who were marginalized and thereby oppressed and exploited.

Being white, this system did not discriminate against me but the impact of such a system could hardly be positive in the long-run for anyone associated with it. And so South Africans faced a huge challenge. I am proud as I consider that, on the one hand some never gave up the struggle for freedom and that, on the other, somewhere along the road both sides decided to make a change. In 1992 I was old enough to vote for the first time and did so in a national referendum that called for a democratically elected government. Two years later in 1994 while waiting in line to vote, my mother and I stood talking with an 87 year old black man who was voting for the first time. We were humbled and excited. Nelson Mandela was elected president and since then South Africa has been finding a new post-colonial future.

I am always interested to talk with others about this as I continue to examine and explore my past but I think it would have to be another conversation, perhaps over coffee.

Other things that strike me about my societal culture are that despite apartheid, I grew up in close proximity to people of different ethnic groups many of whom speak different languages and practice different religions.

Our country is culturally Christian, white South Africans having descended mainly from puritans who fled Europe much like those who came here to the United States. There was Christian prayer, scripture reading and talk of God in our schools and homes, so I grew up with a Christian worldview and a belief in a living Creator as did my mother even though she always questioned church dogma and has never settled in a congregation.

Our society is a communal one and is also strongly patriarchal which impacted my childhood particularly because my mother divorced my father when I was 4 years old. My mother’s father had died when she was 11 years old. And so combined with my estrangement from my father and paternal grandfather, my upbringing was strongly matriarchal. This is not unlike many other South Africans’ upbringings; women play a pivotal role in our culture but somehow their importance or centrality only makes our society more patriarchal as men seek to maintain or regain some type of control (or perhaps women self efface trying to give the assurance that they’re not “taking over”?)

My mother is an artist and an intelligent, independent thinker. So she has struggled to find her way in our society. I have great respect and admiration for her (also lots of love!). She’s had a huge impact on my life. She taught me to love the earth and all living things because they were created and have a purpose for being here as much as I do. She instilled in me the sense that all people are equal. She taught me to care for the earth, animals and people around me, especially those who have been discarded or hurt. She taught me as many skills as she could and instilled in me the sense that I could do anything I worked at.

All these positives (I like to think I choose to leave the negatives behind) I’ve taken from my upbringing and out of them and my developing personal worldview I’ve developed a personal culture that is sometimes very different compared to my societal and/or familial culture (for example having a gender-inclusive God). I refine this personal culture as I come into contact with others who challenge and question me or whom I admire and wish to emulate. I’m grateful therefore to have been able to travel and live in other places as it exposes me to more people of other cultures.

Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

Culture According to Allie

We all belong to more than one culture. In fact, there really isn't such a thing as ONE culture. There are so many different cultures, each overlapping with each other and lacking definitive lines. In my opinion, this adds to the beauty of it all, and feeling welcome in more than one culture is what moving forward as a world is partly about.

To me, culture has a lot to do with sharing. Culture is a group's shared background, beliefs, religion, location, ethnicity, the manner in which they go about their daily lives. Reactions to encounters are part of culture; values, a way of thinking, language. A common heritage, shared customs, shared foods.

Culture is the accepted practices of a society, its traditions, its shared life goals, its guidelines of what is right and what is wrong. What matters in life to you is your culture. What you do, what you make of yourself, where your priorities lie, what you are proud of, and how you choose to spend your time is your culture.

If we think of culture in this way, it is not difficult to see that almost everyone in the world shares some part of their culture with someone else - no matter how opposite they may appear to seem to each other at first glance. Culture goes beyond that.

After all this, it feels difficult to try to start to touch upon my culture!

Location: I was born and raised in one of the most culturally diverse and accepting areas. This has had a big impact in shaping how I look at the world and how it sees me. It almost feels unnatural to me to be in a room with the majority of the people in it being white (I'm not saying there's anything wrong...). I'm used to having ethnic leftovers with my Dad -literally having Japanese, German, Burmese, Indian, Chinese, Italian, and Mexican food in the timespan of a few days! I feel I respect other cultures, and exploring and learning about new ones is one of my life priorities -my culture.

Family: The values my parents have set for me have greatly impacted my priorities, what matters to me, and what I do with my time. They have always pushed me to work to reach my potential, and have always been supportive of me in my endeavors.

Heritage: My "Mum" coming to the United States from England, all my remaining family on her side is still in England. I live with British traditions everyday at home, hear British accents on a daily basis, and have been able to visit and live in Britain, which has had one of the biggest impacts on my life. I feel so fortunate to have been able to actually escape the United States to see what lies beyond our vast country, and to see that there are so many other places, ways of life, and cultures (!!!) out there.

My Grandpa being a Jew in Germany at the time of the Holocaust, he was incredibly lucky to escape and make it to England, despite losing relatives, friends, and everything that belonged to his family for many generations. Understandably, he was always relunctant to talk about his life in Germany, but his German culture was evident through his cooking, traditions, and very interesting Northern England/German accent. Over the past few years I have explored the German side of my heritage, have been able to visit Germany, and feel I have a better sense of that side of where I come from.

Posted by lcisthur at 12:23 AM | Comments (2)

Allie's Metaphor Story

Sorry -I remembered to "save" previously, but not "publish". Well, here it is...

It was such an "elephant" "hogwarts" and I felt so "iPod nano". Yet at the same time, I was "sweet-toothed kid in a candy-shop". Everything was so "wrapped in plastic "to me that I felt I didn't know how to "read the first page".

I was "getting an A on a final" to "glasses" that the people there didn't seem to all be "sunless tan". Instead of being "magnets to a fridge" and "homer simpson", they were "Indiana Jones" to go out and try things.

All the teachers were "live technology support" and very "Einstein" in each of their subjects. They welcomed me and were "hot chocolate on a cold day".

Although I was "meeting a ghost" when I thought about it all before hand, the actual experience of it was nothing but "getting a hot fudge sundae".

Posted by lcisthur at 12:09 AM | Comments (1)

September 14, 2005

Ode To A Ruler

Smooth, straight, cold, and sharp. Even the word “ruler”, rolls off your tongue, clean and precise. My ruler is smooth, straight, cold, and sharp, and as I run my finger over its surface I can feel the small indentations marking one eighth inch, one quarter inch, one half inch, one inch. The backside of my ruler is coated with a thin layer of cork, complete with a sticky, gummy, gooey area from the price tag. Much of the cork is peeled off from times when I compulsively picked at it, leaving jagged edges and crooked lines. The cork that still covers the ruler is littered with phrases and words, the most noticeable one being the big “Brenna”, which was outlined again and again in blue ink by my friend Elizabeth, who was apparently incredibly bored in History class. The ruler is also covered with short words I didn’t know how to spell and was attempting to figure out, “irregular” and “fierce”. The small hole on one end of the ruler is perfect for twirling it around my finger, over and over again; as it threatens slash my face down the middle each time. The ruler has an interesting smell, a combination of wood and metal, a curious mix of the natural world and the manmade world, the untamed world and the civilized world.
More importantly, this ruler brings me so many memories. Memories of my 4th grade Honors Program, “REACH”, when I consistently got low grades for not using a ruler correctly and of hours and hours of math homework in high school. It reminds of my former workplace, the Cumberland Public Library, where one of my fellow workers used a ruler to write, even if it was only a scribble to remind herself of something. She kept a different ruler everywhere, one at the front desk, one at her own desk, one at a colleague’s desk. Without her ruler, she was completely lost, and her writing became horrifically illegible. Most of all, however, my ruler reminds me of my mother, who is adamant about the use of straight lines and neat corners and always chides me for not using a ruler when doing projects and presentations.
Always reliable, always straight, always strong, always there for me, my ruler is like a best friend. Although I miss my friends so much in these first couple of weeks of college, it is good to know that some of my best friends—my material possessions, are still here with me.

Posted by lciscotis at 11:07 PM | Comments (4)

Culture and Identity

After much thought, I listed some of the aspects that define a culture: food, self-image, background, traditions, beliefs and religion, morals and thoughts. In the same way, these things define an individual. These are the things that characterize my culture and identity.

Family traditions were once very influential in my life. As a child, we had Christmas traditions at my grandmother's house such as setting up the train that circled around the tree. We had particular Easter and Thanksgiving traditions, and certain foods also coincided with these annual events, such as my mom's sweet potato pudding that she has been making ever since I can remember.

As for my background, I'm English, Irish, Norwegian, Dutch, Scottish and German. Therefore, I can't place myself in one particular category. This doesn't bother me though because there are so many nationalities in America now that we have merged to make our own combined and diverse culture. Although this is true, I do not define myself by my country, as it has many flaws on the superficial, materialistic and imperial levels.

In terms of religion, beliefs and morals, it's hard to decide from where or whom I inherited them. My extended family is quite religious, so in this sense, it is hard to identify with them. I adhere to what I think of as strong morals, but it is not my religion guiding me, but my own conscience. At this point, I'm not sure what I believe when it comes to a higher being. I know what I would like to believe in but I would say I'm agnostic. And with every year, each generation develops differing ideas from their parents and grandparents. So in that sense, it is also my generation and my own integrity that form my morals and beliefs.

In other cultures throughout the world, self-image is a very controversial issue because of the fact that women have been led to believe that they are inferior and should be submissive and silent. Practicing the opposite of these beliefs is one way in which I am proud of my culture; in this country, we have mainly gotten past such obstacles. In many ways, such as this, the society I was brought into at birth has shaped who I am, and who I am allowed to be, in my life. That was basically out of my control, and all I can do is be thankful that I am this luck to be one of the fortunate women of the world.

When it comes down to it, there are countless aspects of society and my background that have affected my own personal culture, but these are the main influencing factors on any individual and groups of people. What makes a specific culture or a particular person so interesting is that they are unique in their history and how they came to be. Every story is different.

Posted by lcishagan at 09:57 PM | Comments (1)

My Culture

As we all have noticed, it is so difficult to define one’s culture. I am not an exception. When it comes to nationalities, I am Italian, Irish, Welsh, Portuguese, and Finnish. However, I don’t think any of these really define who I am as a person. As other people have already said, I see myself as an American. However, I also identify myself as a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a dancer, an academic, a friend, a music lover, a designer as well as a plethora of other things.

I come from a predominantly Catholic middle class town with a strong school system that puts a strong emphasis on going to college. I come from a loving family with a mother, a father, an older brother and a large extended family. I come from a place where we have a parade to celebrate apples. I come from the typical suburban town where you know your neighbors and there isn’t a lot of violence or crime, not to say that it completely lacked this. I come from a place that almost every senior in high school has his or her own car, sometimes paid for by parents and sometimes paid for by the senior.

I would also define my culture by including my traditions. I celebrate Thanksgiving with the traditional meal of turkey with all the trimmings. I always make the same raspberry dessert to bring to my aunt and uncle’s house where we celebrate the holiday. I always celebrate Christmas at my house and I always make sure everyone is up at a reasonable time to open presents on my favorite holiday. I love the feeling of giving everyone a gift as opposed to birthdays where only one person gets gifts. Another tradition my family has is family dinners. In this fast paced world, it seems that the typical family dinners are dying out, but my family almost always ate dinner together and I thought it was a nice tradition.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 01:31 PM | Comments (5)

Ellen's attempt at metaphor story

Mr. Magoo at the wheel. Sudden Impact. House of Pancakes for a tire. CastAway! Sisyphus. Shaka, when the walls fell. Message in a Bottle. Rescue 911. The Little Engine that Could. Dorothy, back in Kansas.

Posted by lcisEllen at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

Thoughts after reading feed

I’ve been dying to blog about feed but have been a substitue parent (for a 10 year old) for a friend who has gone down South to help out, so I’ve been pressed for time!

I thought feed was really clever. The use of metaphor is really central as it’s all about the issues we face today and yet they’ve been exaggerated to highlight them in a grotesque and yet entertaining fashion.

I found the language use really clever too. Made me feel old!

I also really appreciated the author’s ability to speak to deeper or underlying things by the tinges of violence, decay and desperation that seeped in around the pages and story. Just hints that gave you a tangible feeling like a suspicion (I hate that this software doesn’t have spell check!) that made you feel very connected / have a shared experience with the characters.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the novel too (I have to run otherwise I will be late for our class!)…

Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

Meeting my son (he was already 3 years old)

The little prince and the fox.

The orchid thief in the Fakahatchee Swamp.

The little prince and the rose.

Posted by lcisnanette at 09:57 AM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2005

The Fantastic Four

Tightly packed molecules in a solid. A tasty stir-fry of various flavors. A fruit salad. Jazzy, a lioness, roaring loud and strong, caring for her clubs. Leah, an owl, wise, witty and observant, late into the night. Lauren, the golden retriever, loyal to her family, fetching the ball of hope and kindness. I, a young deer, naive and caring, clumsily running unfamiliar with her surroundings, unaware of danger. We are the Ninja Turtles.

Posted by lcisowens at 11:39 PM | Comments (6)

Ode to my Watch

I wear my watch everyday. It is both functional, and well, used to be attractive but everyday wear does take its toll. The once clean purple leather band is now tinged with a brownish color though the plastic buckle is still clear. The leather feels smooth and supple and will bend in any direction I wish it to though I know it prefers to follow the shape of my wrist. The outer edges have a funny bluish tint. From where this comes I do not know. There was once a small pink ribbon folded and attached to the band near the face but it is no longer there. It ripped off as I was putting my backpack at the end of an English class my junior year. The two pinprick holes are still visible though. I smell the band. J’adore Dior not an earthy leather smell. The face of the watch is remarkably near scratch free though a small crack in the left lower side reveals it has taken as much of a beating as the band. Try falling out of my car before cross-country practice one year ago. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. The sound is rhythmic and gentle. The tiny pink second hand is stark against the silver background. The small pink date box where a ‘6’ should be is off by two days. It says ‘9’ but should say ‘11’. I don’t care. I never use it anyway. Tiny metallic letters underneath the ‘12’ read SWATCH. I gaze at my watch more. A bit of the purple has peeled away from the leather on the small strap that secures the opposite end in place while I am wearing it. The stitching along the sides look like tiny railway tracks and the holes in the middle remind me of Frosty the Snowman’s buttons. The very top hole is the most stretched out because that is where I wear my watch every day. I have tiny wrists. If I turn the watch over I can watch through the clear plastic the tiny gold gears turning away. They look like miniscule wagon wheels. I can tell which gear is the second hand because it is the largest and moving the fastest. There is a smaller wagon wheel behind it that at first I though was stationary but upon pressing my nose to the clear plastic I could see was moving ever so slightly in the opposite direction of the larger wheel. I cannot tell whether the even smaller gear is moving at all. I assume it is for the hour hand. When I move my head to angle the light I see tiny letters engraved upon the plastic. Swiss made. A bubble of pride rises in me. Swatch watches are all I’ve ever known and this will not be my last. Swatch watches aren’t just watches. They’re art.

Posted by lcisfreya at 10:31 PM | Comments (2)

Ode to a letter

I have a letter sitting on my desk waiting to be sent. It is in a thin, white envelope with an address and a return address written across it. A small, rectangular stamp is placed in the upper, right-hand corner.

When I pick the envelope up and tip it from side to side, the letter inside is like an hour glass, falling from one side to the other slowly. It is nice and smooth and sealed tightly. The letter is ready to go on its way.

This envelope will see so much more than one person can probably ever see. It will leave my desk and my home and travel to many places all within a matter of days. It will meet a few different post men or women, fall in a few different slots or bins, and be carried away and carefully placed in a mailbox. Then this letter will enter another world, someone else's house. Although this letter can not smell, hear, taste, or see, it will in a way hear, taste, smell, and see more things than most people ever will.

The letter smells like blue ink, the ink that was pressed so firmly against the white, lined paper that was written on by it. It doesn't have a distinct smell, just one of pen. The envelope has so many different smells that you could never possibly name them all because it has been so many places.

The letter is sparkly from the ink and looks pretty. However, over time the ink will soon fade and take age. But it will still be beautiful because of the words written on the paper.

Posted by lcisnelson at 10:31 PM | Comments (4)

Ever-flowing feelings on prom night

A shaken can of soda. Electrons around a nucleus. A fan whirling around. A car not starting. Marines around holidays. Someone calling while on dial-up internet. Waiting at a filled hospital. Guiteau after Garfield won. The finding of Elizabeth Smart. Becoming engaged. Going to a foreign country. A ship lost at sea. The night after running a marathon. A small child at church. Red Sox after '04 world series. Drinking cocoa after playing in the snow.

Jess Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 10:22 PM | Comments (2)

Shiny new red apple bicycle

Hen and chick we set out. She was being all Geena Davis about Stuart Little. We found our plane on a runway and I was Tobey Maguire on Seabiscuit. The gun went off and we were streaking across a campus in the 70’s. I was Maria on the mountain top in the Sound of Music. Lance Armstrong with his yellow jersey on with the wind Harry Potter after the snitch in my hair. The Titanic had set sail from England. And all of a sudden she was the man in the moon and I was Ron Weasley playing Quidditch. Calvin and Hobbes on a sled. Another one bites the dust and I was Kenny at the end of a South Park episode. But I was also Kenny at the beginning of the next episode. So like Lisa Simpson now. And each time since it’s Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park.

Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 10:22 PM | Comments (1)

My Culture

I have lived in Georgetown, Maine my entire life. I have lived in the same house my entire life. If anyone knows anything about rural Maine, particularily the small fishing communties such that I live in, they could label me as a "townie", or a hick, or a country mouse. In some respects I am those. Being here in Boston has made me realize I love Georgetown and I do like to do semi-hickish things like going mackarel fishing with my dad and I miss the quietness of the woods. However, I have not spent all my time in Georgetown. My mother is from the Netherlands and my dad is in the merchant marines. Much of their culture has formed my culture. I have spent a lot of time in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe and some of my tastes may be considered Dutch such as my affinity for Dutch cheese (I LOVE Dutch cheese) and chocolates. Part of this culture is also the priority that family takes in my house. We always eat dinner together if everyone is home and it is always a home cooked meal. From a very early age my mother stressed in me the importance of manners and to ask in Dutch 'May I be excused from the table' and don't begin eating until everyone has sat down or wait until everyone has finished before leaving the table but my American culture, accrued from years of cafeteria eating and television, has rebelled quite often and I have found myself in shouting matches with my mother over discrepancies in manners. A clash of cultures: Old world Europe versus Adolescent America.

Posted by lcisfreya at 09:45 PM | Comments (2)

A thought on culture (not of my own)

After writing my culture exerpt, I realized that if we embrace multiple cultures, why say (for example) "Oh, they aren't cultured." What could being cultured possibly mean. Everyone is cultured because everyone is a part of a group. As soon as one is born, one is in a culture. One could essentially say that babies are even a part of a "baby culture," though they don't realize it. We are so quick to think that our culture is the right one. Isn't it odd that we would say that our culture is right when we are in so many cultures. Maybe we should be specific when saying our culture is better. We should say "my Chester County culture is better than your Lancaster County culture," for example. A person has to be cultured because there never is just one person doing something. I know that was confusing, so let me explain. If one would say that a man living in a cave is not cultured, it would be a lie. That person is not the only man to live in a cave. He is actually a part of the "cave culture." We belong to so many cultures that using the term "to be cultured" can not be used in the way it always is. If a group of people generally do the same things, believe what they are doing is right, and have common beliefs (etc), then they are cultured; that is to say, they belong to at least one culture.

Posted by lcisyeich at 09:03 PM | Comments (1)

Metaphor Story

A couple summers ago my family and I went on a boat ride and Bambi playing in the forest. I was with my mom, dad, sister and our old dachshund, Salty Dog and the Brady Bunch singing. After visiting my grandmothers, we needed to stop for gas so we went to the Boothbay Boat Yard. My dad wanted to look at the boats put on shore. I was Tom Hanks in The Terminal for a little bit. Both my sister and I were The kids in The Breakfast Club during detention by this point. We were two hummingbirds at the same feeder too. “Hey! Freya, Catrina, come here!” My dad called to us. He was Chevy Chase in European Vacation. He was standing on the dock with a camera in his hand. I groaned, knowing the clock on the time bomb was ticking away with the camera. Catrina and I reluctantly made our way back over to the dock. “Here; get in the picture with Mama,” he instructed us. “This is the war in Iraq. Why do we have to take a picture?” I Tom Brokaw-ed. “Daddyyyyy…” Catrina whined. “Just one, ‘I’ll never let go, Jack’, my dad said as he squinted into the camera. As my dad took a second picture I though I heard a distant splash. “Hey, where’s Salty?” Catrina asked, apparently having heard the splash too, “I haven’t seen Dick Cheney in the White House for a while.” “Uhh, I just heard a splash. I hope that wasn’t him,” I said nervously, but already Catrina had started jogging down the pier, gazing over the railing. “Salty fell in the water! Daddy Marion Jones and the final 10 meters!” Catrina screamed. Sure enough, our 17 year old deaf, dumb, and blind dachshund had walked the plank, which was a good five feet above the water. My dad Marion Jones and the final 10 meters past Catrina, ‘We’re going streaking through the quad!’ as he went until he was on the dock. He dove into the water in, to my Howard Dean emitting heinous scream, only his Tom Cruise playing air guitar and began to swim towards Salty who was going around in World Trade Center 9/11/01 circles underneath the pier. He grabbed Salty and swam back to the dock. First kiss and I was very relieved Salty was okay, though quite shaken like a salt shaker. Both my sister and I were quite Carrie dropping the cake in wet cement by the sight of my dad jumping into the water in his Tom Cruise playing air guitar and we laughed and teased my dad. We still to this day Teletubbies being tickled over the event though I know we could have invariably lost Salty if it had not been for timing and my dad risking his dignity to save a very big cheese of the family.

Posted by lcisfreya at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

Language

What is and what is not language? Why make a distinction?

(7-9) To simplify, a language is comprised of words, meaning a certain vocabulary, and grammar. It can include hand motions, gestures, noises, and specific pronunciations. A language is used to communicate with another being that has knowledge of the same language in order to express emotions, views, beliefs, etc. A language is not words, signs, symbols, noises, etc. tied together without meaning; these parts of language have to possess a certain value or purpose. A language is not just based upon an external or internal stimulus that forces one to converse, but it is an unconscious act. When one has a thought, language is automatically available in any sort of form. Languages, though, may change over time, but general rules for expression of thoughts are maintained and followed. It is important to make a distinction between what is and is not language because we have to establish some basis on what we, as humans listen to and believe. For example, if a human said that a car told him or her to steal jewelry when it screeched its wheels, any normal sensible person would quickly realize that cars do not have their own language and therefore, cannot converse with a human being.

You might say that you learned a new word today, but not “I learned a new sentence today.” Why?

(5) Technically, we all learn a new sentence everyday, and we all construct a new sentence everyday whether in writing, in reading, or in speaking. This is an interesting fact that I have never pondered. I believe that we don’t say that “I learned a new sentence today” because we take our own ability to create sentences for granted. We never stop to analyze what we have said. Contrary to the fact that we never say we have learned a new sentence, I feel as though I have. I possess a small quote book in which I write many different sayings and quotes that are especially valuable and priceless to me. A wide variety of these quotes are just sentences that have inspired me or made me sit and think about the way I life my life. So, in a sense, this question does not relate to me. To conclude, I believe that it is easier to remember a new word that one has found, than a new sentence. Also, the number of words in our language has a limit while the number of sentences that can be made from these words are limitless.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)

Cultures and how I'm involved

Potentially, I could be involved in many cultures, as everyone could. What matters is which ones I choose to embrace.

I could embrace my swiss and Italian cultures because, essentially, I am a part of both. Truthfully, I don't know what generation of my family came to America, why they came, or how they did it. In some ways I do wish I knew but on the other hand I choose not to embrace them because I am so happy with the cultures I am a part of and have the responsibility of passing on and evolving.

I am part of the Chester County culture. In my county, there are plentiful amounts of open area. People generally stick to themselves and live far away from each other. Some roads don't have lines on them because things of that sort aren't needed with the small population and the plentiful Amish population. Its a community of quietness. It's a majority white community with basic christian beliefs. Most people are old-fashioned. With the conformity of young teenagers these days, it is often a laugh to see people dress scantily or how city people often do. Many people are farmers. We see our town slowly decline in small shops and the old-fashioned life. Wal-mart has made it so. People are conflicted whether to love the low prices or to hate the overwhelming corporations. Entertainment is generally a half-hour away. People go to the movies there and the mall. In town, entertainment is staying in or just enjoying the outdoors. It's easy to break people up in stereotypical groups because people (especially younger ages) reach out to other cultures as a guide for how they should act. There are so many mixed heritages and everyone generally is accepted. Towns get together for the holidays and everyone decorates. My Chester County culture has molded me into the type of person I am and has also allowed me to realize that exploring different cultures (like the city culture) helps me appreciate the ones I am in.

I also partake in American culture. As an American, I am one of the millions of ingredients in our "melting pot" country. As an American, I eat burgers and enjoy money. I reason the things I do by saying that it is "human nature" to do what I do. I enjoy a baseball game or two. I know what "The O.C." is, though I don't watch it. I critisize what I want to with freedom. We defined "culture" as a group of people with the same morals, beliefs, traditions, heritages, values, customs, gestures, and experiences, but as an American, it is clear that our culture is almost the anti-culture. We are truly a blend of all of the above and that is truly unique.

Lastly, I am a part of the student culture. I partake in the things students do (studying, eating cafeteria food, making silly mistakes, being cheap, and trying to be my own person). Like America, we all have different heritages, values, morals, etc. but at the same time, we are accepting to other students. We relate to each other and understand because our experiences compare easily. We understand that there are authority figures and also younger, less experienced people. At a beach, generally students flock together. We have a sense of security and a feeling of not being alone in the world when we unite. We think in different ways and do different things and it encourages us to delve deeper into sciences, arts, languages, etc. and thus, we mature each other. The student culture is definetly a necessity in maturing and becoming an experienced human.

Posted by lcisyeich at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

Questions from Fromkin

1. Knowing a language is not just knowing the sounds of that language, or knowing how to combine those sounds to form words, or knowing how to combine those words to form thoughts and sentences, but it is a combination of all three. Language is an infinite form of expression that allows humans to be as creative as we want to be. The most important concept to take from the reading in Chapter One is that in language there are no limits. Language allows us to expess ourselves using both old and new sentences, as well as allows us to understand sentences that we have never heard before in our lives. When it comes to language, only so much can be taught. The rest is learnt subconsciously so that it often times feels like we can talk and communicate to others without really thinking.

Question # 7 in the Fromkin book proposes that if a wolf were able to express one thousand different emotions through the positions of his ears (instead of the mere 11 that they are actually able to express), would this be considered a language. Since there is a limit to how many expressions the wolf can make, this would not be a language. This would merely be a system of individual memorizations, but it would not allow for any creativity on the wolf's part, and therefore it would not qualify as a language. It is important to distinguish a scenario like this from actual language because it is literally what separates humans from all other animals. Our ability to understand and use a language, rather than just communicate through a series of memorized expressions, sets us apart and therefore needs to be distinguished.

2.

It is possible to learn a new word in one day because each person has a specific lexicon that does not include certain words. A word is just a sound or composition of sounds that represents a certain concept or meaning. So one could memorize a word and then attach that word to a meaning, and could say at the end of the day that they learned a new word. However, knowing a language does not mean that one can memorize a sentence. Most of the sentences a person comes across are new to them, but they are able to understand these sentences and create new sentences of their own becuase of the creative aspect of language. If the brain had to memorize every single different sentence a person hears, then that person would run out of memory and eventually start forgetting things. Forming sentences is where the creativity of language comes in, so the number of sentences that can be formed is practically infinite. You hear new sentences everyday, but you do not learn new sentences.

Posted by lcissullivan at 06:10 PM | Comments (1)

Ode to my cellphone

A cellphone is a tool that makes it easier for people to communicate with each other. Every morning I wake up looking at it. I hold the precious little equipment in my hand and feel its mirror like spotless surface. As I open my eyes, I am eager to put its half inch of antenna between my index and middle finger and flip open the top cover with the tip of my thumb to find out what time it is. Once I know the time, my brain requests me to play with its all kinds of pretty, small, and neatly organized rows and columns of buttons that lets me to snooze.

This navy blue, gray, rectangular and light object is one of the most important and stable link between people of the modern world. Very nearly every one of us has cellphone. If we lose it, it hurts not only our emotions but it might affect our personal information. The plastic or metal apparatus make people paranoid, angry, and nervous. I am obsessed with this tool. If I didn’t have cellphone in my life I will fail to keep up with people around me.

The cellphones have various purposes: to call, to text message, to calculate, to set alarm, etc., In the dark, I even use its blue display light as flashlight. I don’t usually trip in dark hallways to find my keys but I use my cellphone to look around. It proves me its necessity in every moment of my life. It brings me and my family and my friends up to date who are 6200 miles away from me, within several seconds from wherever I am.

When the cellphone rings, it brings me happiness, curiosity, or anxiety depending on the situation. Its cheerful ring tones travel through air and hit my ears to signal. My right hand slips into stuffed purse or bag of mine to locate the cellphone that is usually hidden under books and notebooks. Wherever I go and whatever I do, it will be one of the most essential tools I will carry on myself.

Posted by lcisbold at 05:12 PM | Comments (2)

Getting My License

I was Apollo 13 returning to Earth, but my cup was half empty instead of half full. Like Matilda to Miss Trunchbull, I thought I was the "weakest link, goodbye." Bag over my head, I tried not to Niagra Falls infront of Scrooge, but turns out it was on sale! I left Pats at the Superbowl and it's been Brady Bunch ever since.

Posted by lcissullivan at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

Metaphors

On my 10th birthday, I Marc Summer’s show on Food Network one of my presents to find a box, with weights taped to the bottom to Atlas and pillar and a note. The note was from my brother and it was DaVinci to Robert Langdon for me to Columbus to America my present. The clues led me throughout the house and finally into the basement. Sherlock Holmes until finally I Columbus to America a box taped to the bottom of our foosball table. I Marc Summer’s show on Food Network the box thinking it was the actual present, but instead I Columbus to America a video case for lasagna to Garfield movie “Clue” but no video. The next DaVinci to Robert Langdon was that the video was somewhere in the room so Sherlock Holmes more but finally I TaTavia, LeToya and Farrah to Destiny’s Child because I Columbus to India the video and I Charlie Brown to football it since it was lasagna to Garfield. So my parents coal to diamond my brother to duck tour to Boston, and it was in the VCR. I was Red Sox 2004 to have the video but it was Harry Potter at Chamber of Secrets to even find it.

Posted by lcisfaria at 04:34 PM | Comments (1)

My Blog About Culture

I was reading some of the blogs that people had written about their culture and it made me realize how detached I am from what many people typically think of as one's "culture" (I mean one's ancestors, native country, etc).

I'm Irish. My mother's grandfather came to America from Ireland and was actually supposed to travel here via the Titanic, but the story goes that he couldn't afford a ticket, which is a very good thing becuase I probably would not be here had he been able to come up with the money. That little story is basically all I know about my great-grandfather and his time in Ireland.

If I could travel anywhere in the world, it would be Ireland. I really want to know more about the land and experience it because I have heard nothing but amazing stories from people who have gone there, but I don't think that will happen for me anytime soon.

So in the meantime I would have to define my culture in terms of what made me who I am today, and looking at it in that aspect I feel like my family is my culture (as I'm sure most people feel).

I've just realized something this past week in moving away to college, and that is that I need my family so much more than I ever thought I did. When you are bombarded with unfamiliar experiences and new people who you have never met before, it is so easy to lose a sense of who you are and what you're all about. All I have to do to feel like myself again is just talk to a family member, and it doesn't matter who it is either. It could be one of my two brothers or my sister or my mom. Just listening to their advice and knowing that they know exactly how I am feeling is such a comfort. We all think and act the same for the most part, so in a sense we have created our own five person culture.

This is my immediate culture, and then I feel like I have an extended culture, which includes my cousins and friends, and although I definitely feel like I belong to that extended culture, nothing can quite compare to the feeling I get at home, with my family.

Posted by lcissullivan at 04:20 PM | Comments (16)

Ode to a... PEN!!!

An object that practically every person possesses. It lies, smooth, rounded, slender, either on the desk back home, or in your hand as you go about doing your work. This object is everywhere; it is vital in every scholar's life. Not worth much in terms of money, it has other values that stretch way beyond what we may think, every time we use it.

A pen. A simple, three-lettered, one-syllable name -nothing fancy. Yet this basic tool provides us with endless possibilities.

It enables you to express yourself; Remind yourself through a note, organize your day through a schedule, communicate through a letter, understand yourself through a journal, keep you focused through a to-do list, demonstrate creativity through a story, put things together in an essay, and helps you tap into your artistic side, either through a quick sketch or a detailed drawing.

It naturally fits snuggled into your hand, gripped between your fingers. You control its every movement. It flows as you want it; it stops when you do. You control the sound it makes against a hard or soft surface. Your handwriting that comes from it -characteristic to you, can be big or small, in cursive or print, sloppy or neat. It can show your mood, if you were in a hurry or relaxed. A pen shows who you are. Your signature is the most common identifying trademark you use, and each time, it is made with a pen.

Once it has served its purpose for the time being, you throw it into a bag, or set it down for next time. Small and light, and sometimes having a cap to replace when not in use, it is one of the most convenient items to store and to access. And if for some reason that particular pen is not there for next time, not a second thought is given when you use another one.

We all use a pen, yet never really stop to think about its valuable function and worth in our lives. Or to think about what we would do, or where we would be, if pens did not exist (no... don't think "just use a pencil"). No doubt, our culture would be completely different - no Romeo and Juliet, no Diary of Anne Frank... would any of our literature exisit? Would there even be such a thing as literature?

A pen is one of the many essential tools that we use every day, yet do not take the time to appreciate. Next time you grab a pen lying around to quickly jot down a note, stop and think about how much it does for us!

Posted by lcisthur at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)

Mischievousness

Wile E. Cyote chasing the roadrunner. Flappers in the Jazz age. Cameron Diaz’s smile. The quiet before the storm. Stirring cookie dough vigorously. Waiting for the bread to rise. Writing the Ten Commandments. Folding paper into origami. Throwing rocks at lover’s windows.

Dancing in the rain. Presents opened on Christmas morning. College acceptances in the mail. Michael Jackson’s charges. Lance Armstrong’s ride. Flustering red cheeks in embarrassment. Donald Trump’s you’re fired.

This assignment definitely made me think about the emotions I was feeling (at that particular momenht) and it took me a long time to match emotions with universal references that showed my feelings. This was very difficult for me because I tried so hard to make my metaphors flow well and make some sort of sense.

Posted by lcissearls at 12:07 PM | Comments (1)

Rachel's Culture

I honestly can say that I've never really thought of my culture. Maybe it's because I don't have anything extraordinary that sets me apart from everybody else that I can think of off the top of my head. I am German and Polish from my mother’s side of the family. I've actually been to Germany and I love German food. But I don't celebrate any German holidays (if there are any?) or make a huge deal that I'm German. Being Polish isn't anything big for me also, but it is still part of my culture. On my dad's side of the family, I am Swedish. That is a huge part of my dad's family, especially the baking! (mmmm). They have a Swedish craft fair every year around Thanksgiving and I used to always help out at that so that was something big for me. But I guess I would say my culture is based on my friends, where I grew up, but mainly on my family.

My family is my backbone. I wouldn't be who I am without my mother and father, but especially without my older brother. He has high-functioning autism and is very hard to live with. If you all were to meet him, you wouldn't notice anything was wrong with him. He is an angel, a hard-worker, an honest, reliable, funny, young man outside of home. He is twenty-one years old and I'm eighteen, but in reality it feels as though I'm twenty-one and he is eighteen. My parents have brought him to so many doctors and they all said the same thing: he will not drive, he will always need to live at home or with someone, he this and that and this and that. But today, he has three jobs, he drives, pays his own bills, and so much more. My brother makes me who I am; he gives me hope and courage to go through every day. He has pulled through so much, thick and thin, big and small. I am always the one who he goes to when he has a problem or when my parents are being "stupid" and he needs someone to talk to. I have learnt patience, respect, faith, and so much more from him. I don't know if that is what culture is, but when I had to think of what sets me apart, what is the traditions, behaviors, what I'm born into, what the common goals are of my family, I think of him. My family has so many practices or set of behaviors that have become the norm in our house because of him. He is who makes my family's culture.

Posted by lcisnelson at 11:56 AM | Comments (5)

Prom Dress!

I was a broom in an empty closet and I carefully pealed one side of the banana. A caterpillar crawled into her cocoon. Prince Charming gave Cinderella the glass slipper. A cow after grazing and feeling like a bride on her wedding day. A ballerina pirouetting. The caterpillar emerges a beautiful butterfly and the glove fits.

Posted by lcisnelson at 11:50 AM | Comments (1)

Pointe Shoes

King Tut putting on his crown for the first time, standing tall. I felt like a musician performing his first piece in front of an audience, a spider in my shower and a young child on Christmas morning. Fossils being discovered, millions of years later and fireworks going off, one by one, all leading up to the grand finale. Snow White in front of the mirror, a baby’s first time standing on her own two feet. It felt like Jesus on the cross, but he was sacrificing himself for his people. Cinderella putting her foot into the glass slipper, and I had found my Prince Charming.

Posted by lcismardin at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)

Graduation Metaphors

I was Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz during senior year in high school. I wanted to tiddly pom with Winnie the Pooh all day or frolic with Dorothy through the Emerald City; instead, I was faced with the task of writing a speech for graduation. At that point, I was the cowardly lion.

Being the turtle, I was left in the dust by the hares. Slow but not steady, and procrastinating with every day; I was Alice stuck in Wonderland with ridiculous and confusing images floating around me. I did end up making it to the finish line but it took more than tapping the heels of my ruby slippers together. I ran from the Big Bad Wolf and the only thing going for me was my pretty red hood that kept my mind off Mordor and the ring.

The day approached faster than Gandalf on horseback. The only things comforting me were the Fred to my Holly Golightly and the Brady Bunch at home. In reality, I was Lula-May, but thank goodness Fred still loved me. As the day approached, I was terrified that I was about to pull a President Bush at an unexpected press conference. As it turned out, things went better than expected and as soon as it was over, I was ready to go back to Kansas, and take the ruby slippers with me.

Posted by lcishagan at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)

18th Birthday

Hobbits going home after various adventures. My birthday was on the next day but Raskolnikov worn out in his apartment. Cut off Captain Nemo on the Nautilus. However, I decided to be one of the Incredibles on my birthday evening. Strangers greeting Gatsby at his party. The plan was Shrek dining with King, Queen and Fiona in the castle. I was Julia Roberts in red dress on the stairs in Casino. Blackout of 2003 in New York. All of a sudden, New Year’s Eve on Times Square!!! Aah, Ocean’s Twelve party after the job was awesome.

Posted by lcisbold at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

"Stork Stopped By"

The night before my Casey Affleck was born I Rip Van Winkled at my grandmother’s house and awoke Michael Phelps at the Olympics. Then, around 9:00, the phone rang. I Lance Armstronged into the kitchen and Little Peter Cotton Tailed from one foot to the next, silent cell phone ringing slightly. Of course, being the Marcia Brady, I had to American Idol audition and endure my sister’s Red Sox 2004. Finally, I got my turn at the phone and heard my father’s sponge in water voice. “Timothy,” he said, “A boy,”.
Later that morning, I went to a Mad Hatter party for my friend. I was seven years old and I was at an age where I did not want a Britney Spears happening, I just wanted to Goodyear blimp through life. So, I stayed Eeyore, but when the word “baby” came up, I was not reluctant to Jennifer Aniston with Vanity Fair. After that I couldn’t stop talking, Katrina in New Orleans.
I remember Forrest Gumping into the hospital and recognizing the new Simmons Library smell. I waited for college acceptances in Willy Wonka’s masterpiece and Ramirezed around the diamond into my mother’s room, only to see her like a firefighter on September 11th. Minutes later, my father mother ducklinged us back into the hallway to look into a Vatican Square on Pope Benedict’s Inauguration of babies. I immigrants on Ellis Island, but could not see my Drew Lachey. Finally, my Dad pointed him out. Funny, when we returned from Iraq with him he was the ugly duckling with the swans. Thank goodness he did not Peter Pan.

Posted by lciscotis at 09:38 AM | Comments (1)

September 12, 2005

"Riding A Bike, A Needle In A Haystack"

Riding a bike is a needle in a haystack. I thought big bad wolf and the three little pigs. I did not believe the little engine that could. The process was walking through a maze with no end.

My uncle a teacher in a classroom. I used all of my strength Moses crossing the red sea. I tried my best Boxer hit in a boxing ring. My hopes Prince in search of Cinderella. My practice led to Hurricane Katrina.

I got back on the bike survivors of 9/11. My uncle let got of the bike jumping on a trampoline. I didn't stop going fear factor champion.

Posted by lcisperez at 11:19 PM | Comments (1)

Story in Metaphors

Michael Phelps on swim team. Kerri Strugg at Olympics. Cinderella before ball. Michael J. Fox and disease. Muhammad Ali and boxing. Katie Couric and husband. Medical personnel at Pearl Harbor. Christopher Reeves and horse. Princess Mia before Clarise. Phantom of the Opera. Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. Stephen Hawking with stars. Meghan Cleary and Ralph de Bricassart. (or Noah Calhoun and Allie ). Little Mermaid on Land. Mariah Carey and Glitter.

**I am not going to lie. This was a really challenging assignment, but it made me think about relating my own life to other specific occurances around me.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

germ-X

The small, plastic container sits in front of me on my desk. Always ready in case I need it. The bottle is just the right size to fit in my hand, curved like the body of a snowman with broad, proud shoulders. The tiny string of air bubbles in the middle of the fluid that fills the bottle is so small that they are barely visible, like tiny fish eggs. The liquid inside is clear like water fresh from the spring, and I wouldn’t even know it was there if it weren’t for the miniature bubbles inside and the larger one that sits at the top of the container.

I like to turn the bottle over and watch the large air bubble at the top flip over and float to the bottom which is now the top. Sometimes the bubble becomes long and thin when I turn the bottle over, but sometimes it stays fat and round.

I can grip the cap of the bottle because it is bumpy and textured and does not slip away from my fingers. When I pull back the cap of the bottle, it makes a popping noise, like rice krispies do when they are immersed in milk. The scent of alcohol and lemons wafts from the small, circular hole inside the cap and lightly stings the inside of my nose when the aroma reaches me. The smell of the liquid is of the perfect intensity, I know that it’s strong enough to do the job it’s supposed to do, but not strong enough to make me turn away whenever the bottle is opened.

After I open the cap, I tip it upside down and let two or three small beads of the solution slip into my open hand. The drops feel cool on my warm skin and as they run down the lines of my palms the clean trails they leave behind are visible. My germ-X hand sanitizer, so familiar and reliable, just like the best friend who got me addicted to it. The distinctive scent has instilled in me memories of Jess, the girl who kept this hand sanitizer in both her locker and backpack last year, and made sure she had it everywhere she went. I would always go to her if I ever needed to wash my hands because she was sure to have it with her. I see the face of my friend whenever I use the solution, and it always makes me feel comforted and like she’s a little closer to me, even though in reality she is far away.

Posted by lcismardin at 11:01 PM | Comments (2)

What is my culture?

I have never really thought about what my culture is so this is a hard question to answer. I wouldn’t define my culture by what countries I am descended from because my family has never visited any of these countries or even celebrated any holidays from them. My mom’s side of the family is mostly Irish and English with some Scottish and Welsh mixed in, but I don’t even know where I come from on my dad’s side because he is adopted and we don’t know who his birth parents are. I have always been a practicing Catholic, but I wouldn’t define my culture by that either because honestly, I don’t usually go to church unless I have to.

I feel like my culture is more the town I come from and how my life has been influenced by friends and family. I come from Rye, a small ocean side town in New Hampshire. In the summer, the beach is filled with tourists, but for the most part, it’s one of those small, quiet towns where everyone knows everyone else as well as everyone else’s business. I grew up with my friends by my side every step of the way. We all played on the town soccer and basketball teams together, and we all attended “My Town” parades and town Easter egg hunts every year until we were in junior high. After that, there was nothing to do except hang out at the beach.

I have so many close friends from Rye because there just weren’t many people there and it was hard to branch out because there were so few ways to get to know new people and new cultures. That’s one of the reasons why my family decided to host exchange students. We ended up having three, one from Germany, one from France, and one from Taiwan. That turned out to be an excellent way to share our way of life with people who were totally different from us. I think having that experience really broadened my own culture as well as learning about some different ones, because I was forced to show other people what my life was like and how I lived on a day-to-day basis.

My “dance culture” is something that is also very prominent in my life. I have been dancing nearly my entire life and I have spent so much time at the studio with the same people that we have become life family to each other. My friends from ballet and I have struggled though so many hard times together, not in class or rehearsals, but also in dealing with the breakup of our first company and the destruction of our second. It’s a long story that I won’t get into here, but having spent so much of my life in the same place doing the same thing, I really feel that my dancing is an important part of my individual culture.

Posted by lcismardin at 10:55 PM | Comments (2)

What is language?

1. First off, chapter one was very interesting and definitely broadened my idea of what language truly is. Language is the source of life and power. Language is the ability to communicate (speak) and be understood by others that know the language. This means that we have the capacity to produce sounds that signify certain meanings and to understand or interpret the sounds produced by others. Part of this interpretation of sounds has to do with the sound system and being able to differentiate the sounds that are produced in our own language. This is an unconscious knowledge and is evident in the way Americans pronounce some foreign words with English sounds (instead of French, for example). There are also some things that do not qualify as language. For example, most animals do not have language skills but have some sort of "signaling" communication system which is basically a limited and fixed response to both internal and external stimuli. Since there is usually only one meaning in the gestural languages of animals, it is not language.

2. It is more probable to say that a new word was learned because we are constantly learning new words and implementing them into our vocabulary. Also, according to the text, we have all the tools we need to create sentences although we may not always hear or use them. Knowing a language means being able to produce and understand new sentences that have never been heard before. The linguistic capabilities of the brain is expansive, and the knowledge enables us to combine words from our vocabulary to form phrases and vice versa.

Posted by lcissearls at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

Display in library

I’m trying to wrap my brain around the term “graphic novels” it adds a lot more meaning to the idea of a comic book. I like it.

So I visited the display in the library last week and one book really caught my eye, I liked what I could glean of the story too. It was called “It’s a Good Life, If You Don’t Weaken” by Seth.

This morning I visited again because I wanted to read more of it (there were these recurring scenes in it of the main character feeling alone and seeing everyone in the crowd going by, alone). Anyhow, today it was gone! But another one REALLY caught my eye - Art Spiegelman’s “In the Shadow of No Towers.” What awesome imagery and mixing of different mediums / styles. I’ve since googled him and it seems he’s really big in the graphic novel world - for good reason, I think. I really like the one image about ostriches - it’s got a whole lot of people with their heads stuck in the sand.

I’d love to hear what you think of it…

Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

Memories and Fallen Leaves (an Ode)

Memories and Fallen Leaves (an Ode)

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are about to change color, and float to the ground in peaceful silence. Before we know it, old man winter will be waiting at our doorstep, and he will invite himself in without asking. It is the time between the final shred of our Indian summer days and the first snowfall that I like the most. What is best about this time of year are the colorful leaves. Memories from a lifetime coincide with their slow drift to the ground. For me, however, it is not a time of endings. It is a sign of a brilliant and hopeful beginning.

At age seven, waiting at the bus stop for the big yellow bus to come around the corner, I would notice each week the difference in temperature and the crisp, cool feeling of autumn that was creeping up on me. Suddenly one day, everything would burst into color: lemon yellow, cinnamon brown, pumpkin orange and red apple. I would snatch the first fallen leaf and save it for later to bring home and show my family. Its pointed angles, yet smooth edges, each jagged ridge leading up to a point, seeming like the outline of a perfectly symmetrical mountain. Three points for a maple leaf, and always with the veins running through it like tributaries of a river. The rich crimson color would begin at the vertex of the points and fade into a lighter red near the stem, and sometimes even yellow.

Everything associated with the fall leaves takes me back to my of my childhood: dressing up as a lion on Halloween and skipping down the street making crunching noises in other people’s neatly raked piles, carving pumpkins, picking apples and many other memories that will never be forgotten. For me, this time of year is reminiscent of a happy life. As I raked leaves last year with my friends, I was thrown into a pile of brown oak leaves and was reminded of how much fun it is.

If I could go back in time and speak to my twelve-year-old self, I’d say that nail polish is not, in fact, the most important thing in the world. Even though I had this mindset as a foolish teenager, still I enjoyed walks in the woods in the fall, with the pure white birch trees surrounded by maples and a sea of orange leaves in which to walk through. This was my paradise. Searching for the perfect leaf, I’d take it home to put in a scrapbook. Because nature is something I like to enjoy by myself, the leaves from years ago are a reminder of my independence and sense of self. When I stumble upon my scrapbook while cleaning, I am once again transported to my home in the woods. I can almost smell the earthy breeze that only comes once a year in the autumn while raking leaves or on a solitary walk in the forest.

Each year as I got older, the leaves and autumn had a new meaning to me. I started to bring my friends with me, or now, my boyfriend Matt occasionally on my walks. With the yellow, red, and orange swirling around us, we built a relationship. Nature is the place where everything in our busy lives disappears and it’s just us together in the most comfortable silence admiring what is so untouchable and flawless that we wonder if anything in life could ever be better.

With a twirl, a swirl, and a whirl, the utter beauty and simplicity of a single falling autumn leaf can remind me of who I was, who I am now, and how I want to continue to live in the future. This can be one second in time, whether it is walking down the street in the city or at home surrounded by a forest, it is my secret remembrance of years past, the evolving of myself as a person, and what is most important in my life.

Posted by lcishagan at 09:26 PM | Comments (2)

My Introduction

Since we’re already into the first week of classes I feel like I have lots to say about other stuff but I thought it’d also be good to go back to the beginning and blog an introduction with the two things Ellen and Nanette asked for…

I see my husband, Steven, each day and I truly value him. Meeting him was part of a big personal revolution in my life and I’m grateful for the uprising! I’ve claimed a lot for myself in the last 7 years and Simmons is a final cornerstone in what I hope will finally make a rock-solid personal foundation.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the second thing - what someone said that changed me in some way. There are many things and not all of them have been good! And I’ve been nervous about blogging because it’s so “you just put it out there” that I think I’m going to err on the fluff side of truthful!

I read an Eleanor Roosevelt quote in a magazing in a store some time back and it summed up a lot of what I’d realized (and learnt) about life: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

What a good way to end my first blog!?!

Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 09:13 PM | Comments (1)

My culture-Mongolia

I am a descendant of Chinggis Khan who is known to Americans and the rest of the world as Genghis Khan. No, I am really not. However, my family and I don’t know who our ancestors were. I know about my ancestors up until my great grandfather. As Mongolians take their father’s first names as their last names it is impossible to track down who is whose grandson or grand-daughter. But it might be possible that I am Chinggis Khan’s descendant.
In middle school and high school my teachers used to say that, “Once upon a time, our country was known to the rest of the world, as the Mongolian Empire under Chinggis Khan’s rule”. On the contrary, when I first came to America not many people were even heard of my country other than Chinggis Khan. He, who first established Mongolia as a country was not as celebrated but paralleled his name with Hitler or Napoleon, outside of Mongolia. My country is located between China and Russia. Most of the time I am usually the first Mongolian that Americans or other foreigners meet. It makes me feel special but sometimes sad as once my ancestors have ruled the half of the world but today hardly half of the world knows that my country even exists. Many people ask me whether Mongolia is a part of China. The Mongolians prefer to be recognized as completely independent and separate from China.
The Mongolians are affected by Russian and Chinese cultures. Our traditional food is dumpling and almost every family cooks Russian noodles soup everyday. We use Cyrillic alphabets and celebrate Chinese New Year.
When I go to Mongolia during summer, I notice how different and sometimes hard to relocate my thoughts and perspectives from American culture to my own. If I tell American jokes to my Mongolian friends, they wouldn’t be able to understand why I would think the joke would be funny. In the world of globalization, many people experience cultural and ethical dilemma between two countries-two cultures. In my opinion, people who experience the differences between cultures have advantage to see the gap from another angle. I encourage every one of you to go through different culture-different country, if you haven’t. Yet. Enjoy.

Posted by lcisbold at 08:55 PM | Comments (2)

I used to think I was mostly Irish with a little bit of almost every European nation. I used to think I was Methodist. I used to think I was a New Yorker, but not the cool kind that lives in the city. I used to relate to all of these things.

And that was my first response to this assignment. And then, on September 11th (yesterday), I woke up filled with thoughts of sadness for the many victims of 9/11. Keeping these thoughts in my mind all day, I realized that my first response to this assignment was very wrong and poorly thought out. I am an American. I felt detached from my heritage. The closest I have come to partaking in Irish traditions is eating potatoes and wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day. I am so much of a mixed breed that I don’t feel any allegiance to the many countries my ancestors came from. My immediate reaction was to relate back to my bloodline. My culture is not where my ancestors came from or what they believed in. My culture is what I am surrounded by and what I believe in.

I take pride in my country and I support my troops (no matter how I feel about the war). There is a certain kinship that Americans feel for one another; however, it is often hidden by the many subcultures that consume the American way of life. July 4th and Memorial Day are days that every American celebrates. And times like Pearl Harbor and September 11th are times that every American mourns.

In my psychology textbook culture is defined as a complex blend of language, beliefs, customs, values, and traditions developed by a group of people and shared with others in the same environment. I have grown up surrounded by American culture and this is what I know. America is a nation where a person can speak any language, practice any religion, and partake, or exclude themselves, from any tradition. I live in a society that bleeds freedom and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.

Posted by lcisowens at 12:08 AM | Comments (1)

September 11, 2005

My Culture—Smallest State, Fictional Heroes, & America

It is hard for me to describe my culture because it is comprised of so many things. So many people, places, and things have contributed to me being me, and I probably don’t even know them all. But, there are a few overwhelming factors that played (and still are playing) a huge part in forming me.
Firstly, growing up in the smallest state and, I believe, the most unique place in the world has done indescribable things for me. At first glance, it is hard to tell the difference between Rhode Island and any other state in the United States. But, when you look closer, Rhode Island is so unique and growing up there is unlike growing up anywhere else. Everything about Rhode Island is so extreme. The weather is like no other place, I boil every summer, freeze every winter, and everything else in between. Providence is like any other city: tall, busy, and daunting buildings fill a metropolis with everything you could ever want. Narragansett is like any other beach town: rows and rows of three room shacks threaten to tumble down if one more toddler runs through their rooms. Burriville is like any other small, secluded town: there’s no cell phone reception and if you’re born in Burriville you die in Burriville. But the extraordinary part is that all of these extremes fit into such a small state, small enough for us to experience it all. In no other place can a five-year-old boast he has been to and can name every town in the state. Thirteen-year-old girls can name every mall and shopping strip and all hopeful sixteen-year-olds compete to see who has driven on every highway in the state.
It is this notion of closeness and comfortableness that has been so important for me. I am really comfortable with myself as a person, but I am also very comfortable with everything and everyone around me because I grew up that way. This is not to say that new situations and different people do not intimidate or scare me. They do. But, I think that growing up in such a small, comfortable place has helped me to achieve the intimacy needed to adopt new people and situations.
The other part of my culture that has made a big difference for me is being a reader. My mother read out loud to my sister and I until we entered into high school, and even then we stopped reading together mainly out of necessity, not choice. When I was ten, I would read three or four books at a time, each with different people, and each in different situations, yet I would dive into each as if I was a dog in the desert. I still do the same, yet I only read one book at a time. (Or maybe two at the most!) Books, although inanimate and unfeeling have been so much for me. Their characters have let me into a world I could have never entered previously. They act as role models, heroes, and allow me to take the best part of them and make it a part of me.
Many people believe that their nationality is a very important part of their culture. In my case, this is not true. Although I do not think that I neglect my Irish and Italian culture, I really see myself as a true American. I am an American, with all the freedoms and restrictions, privileges and losses that this word connotes. I have been so lucky to always have food in my stomach and a roof over my head. Although recent events in the United States have made many doubt the country they live in, being an American is just so strong a belonging that it is one I could never dismiss. Being an American has made me who I am and helped me become who I am today.

*Sorry this essay is sooo long!! I know it was supposed to be shorter, but I just have this compulsive problem with writing too much.

Posted by lciscotis at 09:08 PM | Comments (2)

Does Anyone Know...

Sorry this is a little off topic, but does anyone know what Book Discussion we are supposed to go to? I think it is arranged by FYE class, and I do not know if all of us are together in the same FYE class. There is Honors 1 and Honors 2, for some reason I think I am in Honors 2, but I am not sure why. If anyone has any idea, could they clue me in?? Thanks.

Posted by lciscotis at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)

Ode to an Orange

Sorry I'm late with my opinions of Ode to an Orange. I had problems with my internet for the past three days. The technique of Woiwode’s that I found most helpful in conveying the overall appreciation he feels towards oranges are the many similes used. “And in the broken-open crates (as if burst by the power of the oranges themselves)…” “…glowing in the light, as if giving off the warmth that came through the windows from the real winter sun.” “…on Christmas day you would find yourself digging past everything else in your Christmas stocking, as if tunneling down to the country of China…” It took me a while to get over how strange the author's obsession with oranges was, and though I still don't see the essay as a metaphor for something deeper and more precious to him, I realize how much description can be used for an ordinary object and reading the passage has helped prepare me for our writing assignment due on Friday.

Posted by lcisowens at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)

"Deaf people can do anything but hear." - I King Jordan

Unlike many deaf people, I was born into a culture. Most deaf children (approximately ninety percent) are born to hearing parents, thus eliminating their exposure to different aspects of Deaf Culture, including language (ASL), norms, tradition, rules of behavior, art, and other values.

Ever since I was little I've been on the fence, the verge of conforming, but never quite stepping in. Being an individual in two worlds is not always easy. The reoccurring questions of identity always seem to pop up. The answer lies within the cumulative years of my existence, experiencing life as a bi-cultural and bi-lingual individual with American Sign Language being my first language and English following closely after.

The deaf and hearing worlds have many similarities, yet stark contrasts. Both worlds provide different benefits and different restrictions. It is an interesting position to be in, to be able to involve myself in both worlds and refuse to settle for just the benefits of one. Although the hearing world and deaf world have their differences, I have created a bridge between the two, balancing these two cultures the best I know how.

Yet, transitioning between two worlds is not always easy. There are many reasons why breakdowns exist between the two cultures; causing me to take a variety of difference stances depending on the moral and social issues that I am confronted with. I constantly have to expose my identity, heritage and culture to both worlds.

Sadly to say, there are many misconceptions about deaf individuals. I have been faced with many prophecies of the "hearing mentality" which is instilled by many professionals. Their stereotypes have caused some to believe that deaf people will only par up to certain standards; specifically the much acclaimed "inability of a deaf child to read beyond a fourth-grade level." The unfortunate beliefs and other stigmas that I am up against has not hindered my ambition to succeed; but rather has accelerated my claims to prove that these ideas should not be generalized.

Although being deaf is a big part of my culture, it is not all of it.

As the child of two photography/travel aficionados, photography has always been an enormous part of my life. Since young, my parents have always taken pictures, contributing to love and deep understanding of photography. Additionally, my parents have always made traveling a significant part of my life, believing that constant exposure to different cultures and places would enrich my life.

Last, but not least, my middle name; Oppenheimer is an enormous part of my Jewish identity. My grandmother, Ruth Oppenheimer escaped the extremity of the Holocaust by taking refuge at the Israeli School for the Deaf in Berlin, eventually fleeing by boat. Having my grandmother's maiden name, I feel a great responsibility pass on my Jewish heritage.

To all,

Sorry this is so long. I had a lot that I wanted to say and felt that two paragraphs wouldn't do much justice...

Posted by lcissearls at 12:14 PM | Comments (6)

September 10, 2005

What Is Language?

This entire chapter seemed to be hinting at the question "What Is Language?" and I definetely think it is a difficult thing to define. Certainly, I could give a textbook answer, but I think language is so much more complex than that. I really enjoyed the questions at the end of this chapter because they made me think about what I had just read in a fun, creative way. I definetely think that for something to be language, the individual producing it has to be capable of producing unique, new language. Language that is just regurgitated and spit out is certainly not language, it is simply that--regurgitation. However, I am not as adamant as our text book in distinguishing the difference between language and "not language". I understand the texts' reasons for doing so, yet I do not agree with them. I think that language is whatever you make of it. If an animal is able to communicate with a series of "tale-wags", then all the more power to it. In the same way, I think that language must be defined seperately for each species. The differences between animals and humans are so complex that I do not think we can compare language.
As far as the next discussion question, I do not think the two statements are equally probable. I think the statement "I learned a new word today" makes much more sense because the individual saying it is acknowledging that they acquired a new word that was not in their vocabulary previously. The statement "I learned a new sentence" makes less sense because the individual already had the components for that sentence in their head, they had just not combined them in this unique way yet.

Posted by lciscotis at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

"Boricua"

Culture is an interesting word to ponder upon and define. It essentially entails an individuals beliefs, their customs, traditions, perception, and overall lifestyle.

I consider myself priviledged to be a part of two different cultures. One of my cultures entails being an American, specifically African-American from San Diego, California. I am proud to be African-American and appreciate the opportunities that I have today, such as being able to recieve an education and be treated equally like every individual should. I am proud of achievements that African-Americans have made such as Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Emmett Till, Rosa Parks and many others that deserve to recognized.

In African-American culture it is common to love to dance and move to the rythym of a popular hip-hop song like that of Missy Elliot or the Ying-Yang twins. It is also common to get your hair braided in various styles and there are amazing techniques to doing so. The barber shop and hair salon are common meeting places to talk about drama on the street or what is going on in the neighborhood.

Sadly African-Americans are more likely to have children earlier, commit more crimes, and become involved in gangs ending their hopes and their dreams. I've seen it happen all to often even in my own family. But I consider myself bless as an African-American to overcome the obstacles that I've seen many others fail to overcome.

Being a San Diegan is also part of my culture. I was born and raised in San Diego and love to eat Mexican food. A large part of my time living there was spent relaxing at the beach, riding my bike at Coronado Island, hanging out at the park (or occassional trips to the zoo), enjoying the neverending sunshine, and appreciating the picturesque view of the sunset. This was my life as a San Diegan.

Another part of my culture is being Puerto Rican. My mother is African-American and my father is 1/2 African-American and 1/2 Puerto Rican. So I am 3/4 African-American and 1/4 Puerto Rican. Boricua in Spanish means Black and Puerto Rican, which is what classifies me.

The sad thing is that I do not know much about my Puerto Rican culture, because my parents are divorced and I have lived with my mother my whole life. I became better connected when I met my Puerto Rican grandmother Zayda, who taught me how to make "Arroz con Pollo" and "Platanos", which are very tasty Puerto Rican dishes. I am fluent in Spanish and love everything about the Spanish language.

I am proud to be Puerto Rican, but discouraged that I do not know as much as I should about what it is to be Puerto Rican. I hope that in the future I will contact my Puerto Rican family and become closer to another part of my culture.

Posted by lcisperez at 08:09 PM | Comments (7)

"The Light of My Room"

It is so green, so bright and so clear. That is the purpose of my lamp. So precisely built and meant to bring light into my world. Without its light my room would be dark and void. I would stumble at an attempt to find items in my room or my bed for that matter. Its bountiful light consumes every one of my senses bringing me a feeling of warmth like the sunrise on a cold morning.

The green color of my lamp gives me a serene feeling, as I use its light to write or read. I love the atmosphere that it creates, one of comfort and calm in a moment filled with darkness. I love the clicking sound that the button on my lamp makes when I turn it off and on. Every time I turn the light off and on, the transition from light to dark creates a mood change. In the darkness I can’t see and am unsure of where I’m going, but in the light everything is clear and certain, the way I like it.

Its feel is so smooth and its neck can flex and bend as I wish. I control the direction of its movement and the focus of its light. My hand guides its direction, and adjusts it to where light is needed.

If it was edible I would imagine it to taste like a green apple. It would be so sour, sweet, and good. Its color brings me into a whole world of green, in its serenity and stillness. Its rounded bottom is so firmly placed on the windowsill in its proper place, never moving unless I somehow manage to knock it over or move it from its position.

It brings me memories of home when being along in the dark, I was frightened at the sounds I heard at times of the leaky faucet or a creak from a nearby door, but I always knew that my lamp was there to light up my room. It was always within arms reach and gave me a sense of comfort. Now it continues to do so.

I replace the bulb to continue its continuous flow of light, for without it my vision would falter. Not only does it bring me light, but with it I can diminish the light as I slowly drift off to a calm and peaceful rest.

Posted by lcisperez at 04:20 PM | Comments (3)

My Culture, My Life

I am Polish-American and sometimes, people look down upon Poles or make Polish jokes, but I am proud of my heritage. Ever since I was little, I have attended Polish Easter and Polish Christmas Eve. My most comfortable place to be is sitting at the dinner table at Christmas Eve and awaiting hot cabbage-filled dough pockets called “pierogis”, mushroom soup, and rye bread while conversing with my relatives. I feel as though I am carrying on a tradition that has been celebrated for ages. I actually had the privilege and honor to travel to Poland two times in the past two years. Seeing people with the same round faces, pudgy noses, and disposition as me was absolutely incredible. Not to be cliché, but there are no words to describe the experiences I had in my “home country”. I possess many of the same values and beliefs of the Poles. Wanting to help everyone and give everything and anything you own to others has always been a part of me. I saw this immediately when I was offered a seat in my relative’s house and was given any kind of food I could possibly want. In the United States, the news is filled with information concerning the decrease in attendance at Catholic Church Services. In Poland, this was notion was opposite. I consider myself to be a religious and devout Catholic and to witness the amount of people going to mass was inspiring and made me feel like I belonged (since the scandals in the church have turned many away). I realized that my tastes and work habits were very similar, and I appreciated and respected many of their own customs since I had experienced them myself over the years. The Polish culture defines me, in many ways, as a human, even though I cannot speak the language yet! The other half of Polish-American is of course, American. I have the American mentality of time is money and the more you work, the more you will succeed ideals to some extent, and I enjoy much of the American entertainment. I might wear American clothes or listen to American artists and read American novels, but my Polish background truly defines me.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 04:16 PM | Comments (3)

Ode to...

To find the best fashion, travel to Milan, Paris, Tokyo, Montreal, New York or London. For those that prefer more unique, cheaper bargains, consignment shops do the trick. I have a favorite back in flat, cold Rochester, where winter lasts six dreary months. While many decide to stay at home, I brave the city sidewalks freshly sprinkled with salt. I am able to find the beauty in Rochester, after all, there are unique stores, alleyways, cafés, bookstores and interesting buildings only if one looks hard enough. Needless to say, I love the smell of fashion in the winter.

I am always prepared for a hunt. My well-trained eyes scan the disorganized racks, while my fingers pull and tug at the stiff and starchy fabric. The clothes are used, and lonely. They long for a home, hoping that their personality (fit, color, pattern) strikes me enough to take them home. After endless searching in the musk-doused store, I feel ready to leave. Nothing’s caught my attention. But, a good hunter must know when to go with her gut. Although tired, and ready to brave the roads back home, I felt as if there was something…just waiting to be found.

You’re a worn shade of black, yet soft to the touch due to frequent washings. The taste of experience is embodied in every fiber. You smell wise, because you’ve been places. Even as a children’s shirt, you fit well, seeming to cover my most worrisome areas. The yellow logo, although not as bold as I imagine it once was, is a universal sign, and a welcome to all. The sweet smell lingers in the cotton and always brings me back…

I wore you to a harbor of some sort. The sailboats were beautiful and the taste of the sun and salt water lingered in the air. The breeze from the wind felt nice on my semi-tan back. I remember how my hair was curling up and forming Shirley Temple-like patterns at the top of my forehead. I wondered if the sun lotion I slathered on made me look greasy. But I know it did. The first time I ever wore it, I wasn’t expecting the reaction I got. You were plain and worn, but I know I never loved something so much as I loved you in that moment. The man made me laugh, and I grinned the sheepish smile that I always pull out in times of irony. I spoke an Americanized “thank-you” like never before.

An ode to you, thank you for setting me free. No T-shirt could ever compare.

Posted by lcissearls at 10:28 AM | Comments (3)

September 09, 2005

"Ode to une Gaufre"

The soft wind, accompanied by the cool rain on a summer day, gently guides the tantalizing molecules of yeast and sugar crystals in spirals around and around my head. Each step along the cobblestone pathway is headed in one direction, toward the yellow drooping awning and the shiny glass windows. My mind is consumed by the molecules that skip to every taste bud and dance into my nose. I draw closer and closer, the anticipation mounts until I reach the counter. “Juste Une Gaufre, s’il vous plait”*. In that instant, a baker’s creation composed of the finest sugar, flour, eggs, and a splash of milk from the pastures of the Belgian countryside sizzles upon the steaming iron. And I know I have consumed my vegetables, so this wrapped bundle, this present, covered with smooth wax paper is mine, only mine to enjoy, to savor, to experience. I merely glance up at the vendor, smile, hand him my precious Euros and say “Merci Monsieur”. My hand senses the warmth as the treat is placed in the middle. As I peel away the paper, this beautiful light brown waffle emerges. The waffle is consumed by the sugary pools filling each one of the small twelve compartments embedded down into the dense dough, surrounded by crusty walls. Piles of whipped cream that top the waffle are like clouds above the fertile earth. The rain begins to fall rapidly as my tongue wraps around every morsel, every inch of the magical dessert. I feel the waffle’s comfort as it enters my body and soothes my soul. Waffles should be ingested with the utmost care, making sure that each bite is just as flavorful as the next. As I end this period when teenager and food have united, the most pleasant thought is in the imagining of another. The feeling of trying a Belgian-Liege waffle cannot be measured, cannot be fully described. Once a gaufre has been tried, nothing else compares. *"Juste une gaufre s'il vous plait" means "just one waffle please."

Posted by lcisgancarz at 06:08 PM | Comments (4)

"Ode to an Angel"

Before I went off to college my mom gave me this little glass angel to hang in my car. She said it would "protect me" when I was driving. I'm not really that spiritual of a person, but to me this angel symbolizes the fact that my mom is always thinking about me and worrying about my safety, and for that reason it's priceless.

I brought the angel to college with me because it tricks me into thinking that my mom is here. Through my window right now I can hear police and ambulance sirens, car horns, screeching breaks, and blaring radios, but looking at this angel reminds me of my home and helps me block out all of the noise in this city that I don't need to hear.

The metal frame of the angel is rusted from a night when I left my car windows down and it poured, but this is a good thing because it makes me laugh about how absent minded I can be sometimes. On the front of it, I can feel nicks in the second-rate stained glass wings and on the back glue is still stuck on it from the pricetag.

The clinging together of the angel's flip flops (yes the angel has flip flops...this also makes me laugh because it's one of those weird things you could only find at some random craft fair) is a familiar sound. It actually sounds exactly like that electrical noise that you hear when you shock someone or someone else shocks you.

The angel is this really nice shade of pink, but its wings are purple with flowers on them (to match the pattern on the flip flops). Even though there is not a lot of light on it right now, the glass of the angel still glistens so that it looks like I take much better care of it than I actually do.

I like the angel most when it's hanging over my desk by a string attached to it's halo. It's presence could make any space feel personal and it's just what I need to feel more at home.

Posted by lcissullivan at 04:16 PM | Comments (3)

"Enjoying LCIS"

I am enjoying the Learning Community Integrated Seminar very much. I love how I have started to learn how to pick apart certain characteristics of something as simple as a work of art and see it for what it really is. Although it can be difficult to focus on the literal terms of certain objects it is interesting and it can have a greater meaning than may have been intended.

In case anyone is wondering what I'm talking about, I am referring to the picture that was shown in the "zooming in" class session of a man and woman dancing together. The picture was so intricate and detailed, and seemed simple at first although it was interpreted by several people in class to have very different meanings. I found this to be very interesting and explored ideas that I would probably never have explored if studying this picture on my own. I enjoy learning how to think in different ways, and I am anticipating what is to come in this class.

Posted by lcisperez at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)

"Ode to an Orange"

The best aspect of "Ode to an Orange" is that the author covers almost all of the senses. The descriptions are phenomenal. He savors each bite and I felt like I was there, diving into my Christmas stocking hoping for my own orange. First of all, the taste and how the juice squirts out in an exlosion of sweetness is described intricately. Also, the texture of the orange is described, not directly, but by mentioning how his father peels the orange in a "continuous ribbon". As for smell, he reminisces how the whole grocery store once was filled with the aroma of oranges wrapped in their beautiful purple paper. All around, I enjoyed this piece of writing because it brings back the best feelings of nostalgia.

Posted by lcishagan at 10:53 AM | Comments (2)

Ode to an Orange

I think to be able to write an essay this meticulous Woiwode had to have had a lot of patience and time on his hands...and a lot of oranges. I had never thought of all the different ways an orange may be eaten until I read Ode to an Orange. These days I usually just cut them up into fourths or eigths and eat them off the peel but Woiwode's reminiscing reminds me of how when I was younger my mother would always peel my fruit for me and cut them up and serve them on a small plate. My mother too used to correct my manners and make me bow to her requests of politeness. I made note of when Woiwode said "...leftover peels are set on the stove top to scent the house." because it shows the difference between the 1940's and today where we tend to throw everything away instead of finding alternate uses.

Posted by lcisfreya at 10:38 AM | Comments (1)

Ode to and Orange

I'm not going to lie...I had to look up what ode meant. My vocabulary is not my strongest but I will admit to it. This essay made me think about differernt things. When Wiowode wrote "...finally, of an orange in your hand-this is it!-..." I literally said to myself "WOW." This person is extremely excited about oranges, the smell of them, how they feel, how they taste, etc. But what I get excited about is a new cell phone or the new style coming out at Old Navy or Gap. I don't find myself being so ecstatic about a simple piece of fruit. But after reading this essay, I wish I was. It's amazing how much we take for granted (or atleast what I take for granted), but the message I took out of this essay is that the simple things are enjoyable as well. I probably have learnt that lesson several of times, but it never sinks in so it is good to be reminded of that and that is what Wiolode did for me. However, it isn't a piece that I would normally read and I can't say that it is on the top of my list, it was a well-written, descriptive essay with a good message.

Posted by lcisnelson at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)

For him, Orange is Not an Orange but...

The author of this essay grew up in 40's. I imagine that during that time, there werent as many convenient and fancy grocery stores that we see everywhere in USA was established. As customers, we could purchase orange from anywhere in the country any time we want. The boy's desciption of craving for the orange seems to be really strong and he admits that he almost waits Xmas to arrive because of the oranges. The author writes, "...digging pasteverything else in your Christmas stocking..." bringing up that the oranges were included in the Christmas presents during that time. In today's world, would you be as happy as the boy if you find an orange in your presents? Of course NO, we are living in a different time, we are getting used to the habbit of getting what we want, whenever we want it. It wasnt always like that as I grew up in a communist country. The stores never used to sell fruits, cakes, cheese and such delicate stuffs to public. During one holiday afternoon, I came home from school and found watermelon on top of each other in my parents' drawer. I remember how I got excited to see those watermelon. Now I lost the excitement and that childish "I want that ..." feeling. In my opinion that feeling is both encouraging(will do anything to get it) and precious(so you get to have a nice memories and such) thing to have, not only for oranges and watermelons!

The essay is not only about the process of putting the orange in one's mouth and feeling the sensations of the fruit. It is about an American Culture during 40's.

Posted by lcisbold at 02:07 AM | Comments (0)

Chapter 1: What is Language? (?!?!?)

QUESTION 1) Language... what is it? I don't believe there is any one correct answer. In fact, I'm certain of that, and think that was a large point of this chapter! Language is something that is amazingly unique to man, which makes it one of the most important factors to distinguish us from the animal kingdom. Language seems like a universal connection between all people of the world; people of the past, people all over the planet right now, and of people to come. It is simply biological that every human, no matter where they are, no matter what language they speak, no matter if they can hear or not - is able to learn any language. There are so many languages all over the world, that all change over time, yet there is not one that is superior or inferior to another. All languages can express the same thing, but in their own words, with their own rules of grammar. Language, as far as animals are concerned, is a totally different story, and perhaps not a case of language at all. Even if an animal could express hundreds of emotions and responses by physical gestures or pre-determined sounds, it is not language. There is no creativity and no variation. In human language, we do not have any limits when it comes to being able to express ourselves; we can use as many different words as we want, just in one sentence alone. Many people use language that is considered ungrammatical, everyday and without thought. Some argue that this is "incorrect" language, and push the proper form suppported by grammatical rules. ("Prescriptive grammar") Others may argue that the "ungrammatical" language is just a demonstration of humans using what they know about their language, and is not in any way wrong. Language is constantly, and always has been, changing, and there are always different dialects -but one is not superior over another. Therefore, as this one side would argue, this is "descriptive grammar", and should not be deemed wrong by another person.

QUESTION 2) Although hard to say, I think it is more probable that I learned a "new word" today instead of a "new sentence". Vocabulary can never be one hundred percent complete, and has to be learned, whereas a person can make many different sentences, never heard before, in their heads, without having to learn them.

Posted by lcisthur at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)

Seems like the perfect person to eat a perfect orange

Before even starting to read the essay, the title alone, "Ode to an Orange", already lets readers know it is not your typical "Ode". Because, guess what?.... it's to an orange! Woiwode creatively dives into extreme details in his descriptions of various orange experiences. As noted in the reading, he draws from all of the five senses, perhaps to help readers relate to and envision his discriptions more clearly and personally.
His 1940s white winter setting of North Dakota seems far from exciting, and the descriptions of the oranges make them seem as if they are from another world, one that contrasts greatly from his own. Even the colors, the bright oranges against the white, represent the brightness the "lovely spheres" bring into his life.
The oranges themselves were presented as almost having some super power from another world. They could enter the stingy, unpleasant grocery store by the boxfull and then instantly transform the atmosphere and mood of the place and all the people there. They "foretold the season more explicityly than any calander" and even physically burst the crates in which they arrive. The statement that the narrator would do anything "in order to get one" suggests that, to him, getting an orange temporarily allowed him to escape his own world. An exotic world of bright colors, wonderful smells, and textures... far from the one that he resides in.

Posted by lcisthur at 12:36 AM | Comments (1)

September 08, 2005

Why not just eat oranges all the time?

I must say, I have too much to get out about "Ode to an Orange" that I just can not share my feelings on the first class...yet.

Ode to an Orange reminded me of how the world takes advantage of delightful things. They become so taken advantage of that they become little everyday tasks. Like robots, we eat oranges for their minerals, because they are good for us. As a child, Woiwode was innocent and thus, his words become truth because a child has not become a full "robot" yet. Throughout the descriptive, manual-like story, Woiwode tends to continue a theme of godliness and power that the orange ultimately retains. The orange provide a sanctuary-like feeling in the midst of "winters of the 40's." Not only is it a break from war and depression in that time period, but it maintains life in a characteristically filled with death season. Woiwode continues his description of the god-like oranges. Oranges are above human means ("foretold season more explicitly than any calender"), they are powerful ("as if burst by the power of the oranges...," "eruption (like a volcano) of smell.), and they are described in a manner such as a living person would be. They "lie free of the tissue" as if they were birthed from the womb and it has a "watery meat," which they obviously do not have. It is so godly that it was birthed from Eve and handed to Adam and then the author and his brother were honored with the gift ("went from Eve to Adam...to my brother and me."). He then goes through and describes the ways to eat an orange and to truly realize the honor it is to eat one.

Personally, I think the text (dare I use such an unmeaningful word) was hyperbolized. I don't think the author appreciated the oranges until he was older. As a kid, he wanted the oranges because they were not an everyday food item. As he got older, I'm sure he truly saw what the oranges could mean and that the tradition of orange giving (I also received oranges around Christmas) was not to be taken advantage of. Overall, it was redundant, but a necessary redundancy. A child thinks in a repetitive manner usually.

It was enjoyable reading it but I dont think it makes it in my favorites list.

If oranges were actually such a delight for most everyone, we couldnt eat them all the time.

Posted by lcisyeich at 11:32 PM | Comments (3)

Ode to an Orange

First of all, can I just say how intimidated I am by this class? I hope I am really up for the challenge of being in the honors program. I have never though of myself as a very strong writer, so now that I know much this class revovles around writing, I am very nervous about how well I am going to be able to do.

When I was reading Ode to an Orange, it actually made me feel a little strange. I'm not sure how much i like descriptive writing like this. At first it was interesting, but the description seemed to go on for too long and it just became painstaking to read. I remember thinking, "when is this going to be over?". I guess i need something more fast paced for me to enjoy. I can apreciate the style of writing that Woiwode used for this essay, but I guess it's just not my favorite to read.

Posted by lcismardin at 07:37 PM | Comments (4)

Woiwode's Approach to Writing

After I read "Ode to an Orange," I went back to the beginning and read the little biography on Larry Woiwode on page 48. In this biography Woiwode says that writing fiction is paradoxical in that the more simple, specific, and succinct a sentence, the more readers can relate to or take from it. He says that if you wanted to describe the state of North Dakota to someone who has never been there, then you are better off describing it with a sentence about a specific place rather than trying to encompass the feel of the entire state into that one sentence.

Woiwode proves his theory correct in "Ode to an Orange." I am not a huge fan of oranges and I definitely have never experienced as deep a wanting for an orange as Woiwode has, but because he pointed out such specific characteristics of an orange and took the time to describe each of these characteristics separately, I, someone who has not felt the urge to have an orange in years, came away from this essay knowing exactly how it felt to want to eat an orange with such an intensity as Woiwode had as a child. He succeeded in making someone slightly unfamiliar with the experience feel as though he/she could relate to the impulse. This proves that specifics give a universality, as Woiwode says in the biography, to writing.

For me, the most impressive thing about this essay isn't so much the flow of the writing or the subject itself, but more the fact that Woiwode wrote this piece with a plan in mind, yet made it so that the average reader is not aware of what he is trying to do. Had I not read the biography part at the beginning, I would never have figured out why it was that I was able to get so involved in such an unfamiliar experience. This kind of preparation and almost sublimal scheming on Woiwode's part is what, I think, makes this a fun essay to read.

Posted by lcissullivan at 06:40 PM | Comments (2)

Loving Oranges

Being from California where oranges are so plentiful, I connected to this essay. The sound, sight, smell, taste, and touch of the orange was so fervent through Woiwode's words.

I felt almost connected to his loving sentiments of the orange. Woiwode basically personified the orange giving it life and meaning in his world as a child.

I thought that it was so interesting that a person could love an inatimate object so much and appreciate its very existence. It makes me feel guilty for not appreciating certain things in life like I should, and it makes me think that I should make an effort towards doing so.

I enjoyed this essay.

Posted by lcisperez at 04:22 PM | Comments (2)

Ode to an Orange

This essay made me think about a common theme that no matter how many times people read it, I don't think it always sets in and that is, taking the time to appreciate life. In this fast-paced world today, so many people don't take the time and look at the little things in life. In this essay, the author appreciates the beauty and wonders of a such a simple thing as an orange and takes the time to describe just about everything about the fruit.

In my opinion, however, I don't think that this was the best example I have read about that shows this theme. I mean it did make me stop and think, but it didn't really have too much of an impact on me. My personal favorite that shows this theme is the play "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder and that did have a great impact on me.

As an added thought, I wonder how many oranges the author had to eat in order to come up with all the descriptions he used!

Posted by lcisfaria at 02:00 PM | Comments (2)

September 07, 2005

1st class!

I was extremely nervous for todays class, more than my others. Maybe becuase its labeled "Honors" and that seems to hold higher expectations than other regular classes (atleast for me). But to be honest, it was so fun! I felt extremely comfortable and I even asked questions about stuff. Normally I wait for someone else to ask or I will ask someone else in the class that I know. I never ask questions...and that was a big thing for me. I'm so excited! I can't wait to get to know all of you so much better and to become a real "community." I haven't read the reading yet because I was busy but I'm actually excited to read it. See you all on Friday!

Posted by lcisnelson at 11:32 PM | Comments (3)

Response to "Ode to an Orange" and more..

Ironically, it is often unexpected or simple pieces of literature that makes me think the most. The essay, "Ode to an Orange," as simple as it was, caused me to get in my analyzing/thinking mode.

"Ode to an Orange" made me wonder how often I actually pause to think about the color, textures and methods of eating my favorite foods. I know I hardly ever think about savoring the taste of my daily meals. How much does the visual appearance of food have to do with our hunger and desire to consume? And those who can't see what they're eating? What impact does visual and verbal messages have on the foods we eat?

Since I was reading this essay as my friend at Northeastern was cooking us some tempeh (a fermented soybean cake popular in Asia). I did something I do not usually do. I ate VERY slowly, savoring the taste of Middle Eastern spices. Meanwhile, I made sure I noted every texture that passed in my mouth. As strange as this sounds, eating slowly and thinking about what exactly I was eating made me feel full, and more content.

We all can achieve the pleasure that Woiwode described in his essay. Perhaps, only if we think more about what we're eating.

Posted by lcissearls at 11:14 PM | Comments (6)

I love "Ode to an Orange"!!

I found this "essay" by Larry Woiwode extraordinary. Even as I type this I have not finished reading the piece because I have so many things I want to say. First off, I am really enthralled by the language that Woiwode uses. Alot of the thoughts and concepts that he shares are ones that I am familiar with and believe in, yet he words them in ways that are so unique and orginal. For example, when he says "Their appearance was enough to set my brother and me to thinking that it might be about time to develop illness, which was the surest way of recieving a steady supply of them," (Lines 5-9), I recognized his thoughts so much. Very often I see something and I know I want it. Sometimes it's food (actually very often it's food!), but sometimes I see my dog and know I want to hug her, or I see a swimming pool and know I want to go swimming. Woiwode was able to word this feeling so explicitly. I felt this way about so many things that Woiwode said. The other thing I noticed and enjoyed about Woiwode's essay was how it achieved simplicity and complexity at the same time. Some of the language was simple, but I did need to use my dictionary to look up some words. I hope everyone enjoyed this piece as much as I did!!

Posted by lciscotis at 10:27 PM | Comments (3)

For anyone that was confused...

or can't access the syllabus, the two books you need for Zooming In are Practices of Looking and Writing and Seeing. Both should be available in the bookstore. You need Writing and Seeing asap because you need to read the essay Ode for an Orange by Woiwode for Friday.

I have a student from last year who is willing to sell her Practices of Looking for $15. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

See y'all Friday,

Ellen

Posted by lcisEllen at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

Ode to a Peach

Let me just first comment that I really enjoyed class today. It was an amazing experience, better yet, a renewal, not to enter a class feeling negative energy. I have never meditated in a class before (except for maybe Health Studies) but I felt this freedom, a release from a quite stressful day after sitting through a class of Chemistry and then awaiting Biology. For once, I was able to collect my thoughts on paper and run with them. I am not a writer, but my pad became my vessel and paper became my tool in which I could focus all my emotions. I read the essay "Ode to an Orange" by Larry Woiwode. What a completely moving essay! Woiwode's simple pleasure in an orange just illumiated his entire piece. It was kind of like what Emmy said in her introduction about the joy that came over her when her little sister smiled. What passion! I was blown away. I would like to try writing a few sentences about one of my favorite fruits, peaches: The sweet peach juice running down the hairs of my arm, dancing on each one, tickling every inch, every cell. Plump, round, and soft, the peach rests in my hand, a ball containing the sunrise, shades of yellows and purples (and reds and oranges). Its tender flesh, rich and fiborous treats my tastebuds. A most glorious product of the earth, of the cool rains, and the dense soil. A fruit handed down from the Heavens.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 05:38 PM | Comments (5)

You can call me Emmy!

Hello! I'll be doing my visual and verbal experience because I was unable to blog it over the summer.

My visual experience that I cherish most is my little sister's smile. She is only 15-months-old and has not yet learned the insincerity of a fake smile. Every time she smiles or laughs it is purely genuine and it fills my heart with warmth.

My verbal experience isn't a famous quote of inspiration but rather a simple song my Dad used to sing me before a big test, or during a rough time in my life to calm down my nerves, boost my self-esteem, make me laugh, or simply comfort me. It sings:

"Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don't mess with Mr. In-between!"

Posted by lcisowens at 02:13 PM | Comments (2)

Let's see if this works for me...

Hey everybody, hope we all can manage this high-tech computer blogging!

An extended entry...

Posted by lcisthur at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

Hello

Hi just seeing if this works out.

Posted by lcisperez at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

Hizzah!

Intelligence is the perception of the obvious and then the making of careful distinctions -Mr. Mundy (a previous teacher of mine)

Posted by lcisyeich at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

anything you want

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Posted by lcisEllen at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

Jessica

"I just need to unwind in my time machine."

Posted by lcisfaria at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

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Posted by lcisfreya at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

Hi I'm Brenna Sullivan

I can't think of any quotes of the top of my head.

Posted by lcissullivan at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

hi

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Posted by lcismardin at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

Hello everyone!

"In the midst of winter, I found an invincible summer"

Posted by lcisgancarz at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

My name is Brenna.

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Posted by lciscotis at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

hello!!! :)

Hello everyone! sfhsjdhfskjfhskjfhsfiuisufiujvmbnvmnbm

Posted by lcisnelson at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

Greetings from room 251A TEST

"Life is a festival only to the wise"-Emerson

Posted by lcishagan at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

testing hmwk 1

To post entries in more than one category (e.g. under the assignment category like "What is Language" and also under your own name), you must a) write the entry b) assign a primary category (drop down box top right) c) w/ post status as "draft", save your post d) go back to the top of the entry page and notice that there's a link under primary category now that says "Assign multiple categories". e)click on that link and assign your secondary category, e.g. I did mine as Nanette. f) Now, just have to publish and save.

Posted by lcisnanette at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

Homework Calendar URL

The homeworks will be listed, as they are assigned, at http://web.simmons.edu/~veilleux/t2m/calendar.htm

Posted by lcisnanette at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)