Responses to reading
Response 1
Nick Augustine
August 30, 2012
English 2
Mrs. I
This is my response to the first reading, I hated it. I had to read a paper about writing papers just to write a paper about writing papers. It however did hold some good insight it just didn’t really feel like I obtained much from reading the section. I have had at least 15 writing teachers throughout my life and each of them have been trying to teach me the same thing it feels like. I understand how the writing process works and how it is supposed to be used but there is no guarantee that by using this process you are going to be able to write an acceptable paper. Good writing comes from experience and practice. J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter on napkins while she was in a coffee shop. I doubt that she used the same writing process that my third grade teacher told me that I was expected to use. The human brain is very good at sorting information and putting it in place. Of course the topics discussed in the reading are used in some way or form but the most important part of writing comes from the knowledge of the writer. As long as the revisions that are required are made it really doesn’t matter how the rough draft was formed at all. This is just the way that I feel but of course I am no expert.
Response 2
Nick Augustine
English 2
Mrs. I
October 5, 2012
1) The problem Birkerts sees with the transition from written text to online text is that it does not follow a linear progression that causes the reader to engage in the writing it instead goes along a network. It also does away with the time axis that goes along with written word and switches the privacy from the reader to the writer. It becomes must easier to edit works that are online and make them untrue. He believes that a change like this one could cause a total rearrangement of the social fabric in that, it can clearly be seen that education is in a decline and so is young reader’s abilities.
2) Birkerts believe that most modern day popular culture language is not good because it is used to spread the ideology of white males to also revise the historical method that has traditionally been used to transmit information. Corporations are using these tactics mostly just to sell more products to a society that they have basically brainwashed into thinking that they need their merchandise. Most of these messages are filled with illusions, allusion and fantasy that do not tell the whole truths about situations which cause the viewers of these materials to become somewhat ignorant to the true nature of the world.
3) The Library of Congress is one location where every published work that has ever been in print for hundreds of years in held in one place. This has been tradition for a very long time, but it is not being used the way it used to because of the easily accessible research material that is located all in one place on the World Wide Web. More and older texts that are of great historical importance are being forgotten about and left in books that are unread. This is causing our language to be “dumbed down” because it is being transferred less and less through text and more through spoken words. When viewing the physical forms of these books it gives one the sense of the depth and dimensionality of the knowledge that is held inside of them, and also allows us gain a picture of the future building upon past events. This is taken away when we view one screen that can display a vast arrangement of material ranging from a thousand different sources. Birkers fears that if this institution is removed completely it could possibly cause the loss of the ideology we have that we are isolated individuals.
Response 3
Nick Augustine
English 2
10-30-12
Mrs. I
1. In the early days of the American Judicial System it is very clear that they were convinced of the existence of witches in their community. While it is very unlikely that there were any individuals that were capable of preforming dark magic for malicious purposes the public believed there to be, so there was this mentality to be weary of this false evil. The law said accepted these rumors because they wanted someone to be used as a scapegoat for the unsatisfactory events that had taken place in their community and it just happened that single women in the colonies were an easy target. This is dangerous for citizens today because it shows that a wide spread misconception can cause innocent people to be convicted of crimes that they may not even have knowledge of, if there is a push to remove alleged perpetrators from society.
2. The Oppositional Deficit Disorder is a term that is applied to many teenagers that are prone to argue with adults, defy adult’s requests, loose their tempers, become easily annoyed, act spiteful, blame others for mistakes and to be resentful and swear. This disorder consists of common symptoms that almost every average teenager go through at one point in their life, but it is considered to be a legitimate mental illness that may qualify kids to be moved into psychiatric wards. This is quite like the witch trials because while the actual existence of the alleged concept can’t be fully proven the “so called” effects of it can be observed and then the accusation can be made. This disorder is probably mostly used for parents to get rid of troubled children that they are having difficulties keeping in line themselves.
3. Modern day “witch hunts” occur when people are convicted of crimes mostly due to a public outcry that justice must be delivered regardless if the people on trial are actually guilty or not. This can be clearly observed whenever someone is convicted of a molestation charge after a child is coaxed into testifying against the individual. Concerned parents demand that the children must be protected so an “expert” may speak with the child in order to attempt to make them claim that they were raped even if it never occurred. Much like the witch hunts of the colonies many of the witnesses were very young and very likely claimed false allegations after seeing the power and attention that came to them after complying with the law officials.
Nick Augustine
August 30, 2012
English 2
Mrs. I
This is my response to the first reading, I hated it. I had to read a paper about writing papers just to write a paper about writing papers. It however did hold some good insight it just didn’t really feel like I obtained much from reading the section. I have had at least 15 writing teachers throughout my life and each of them have been trying to teach me the same thing it feels like. I understand how the writing process works and how it is supposed to be used but there is no guarantee that by using this process you are going to be able to write an acceptable paper. Good writing comes from experience and practice. J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter on napkins while she was in a coffee shop. I doubt that she used the same writing process that my third grade teacher told me that I was expected to use. The human brain is very good at sorting information and putting it in place. Of course the topics discussed in the reading are used in some way or form but the most important part of writing comes from the knowledge of the writer. As long as the revisions that are required are made it really doesn’t matter how the rough draft was formed at all. This is just the way that I feel but of course I am no expert.
Response 2
Nick Augustine
English 2
Mrs. I
October 5, 2012
1) The problem Birkerts sees with the transition from written text to online text is that it does not follow a linear progression that causes the reader to engage in the writing it instead goes along a network. It also does away with the time axis that goes along with written word and switches the privacy from the reader to the writer. It becomes must easier to edit works that are online and make them untrue. He believes that a change like this one could cause a total rearrangement of the social fabric in that, it can clearly be seen that education is in a decline and so is young reader’s abilities.
2) Birkerts believe that most modern day popular culture language is not good because it is used to spread the ideology of white males to also revise the historical method that has traditionally been used to transmit information. Corporations are using these tactics mostly just to sell more products to a society that they have basically brainwashed into thinking that they need their merchandise. Most of these messages are filled with illusions, allusion and fantasy that do not tell the whole truths about situations which cause the viewers of these materials to become somewhat ignorant to the true nature of the world.
3) The Library of Congress is one location where every published work that has ever been in print for hundreds of years in held in one place. This has been tradition for a very long time, but it is not being used the way it used to because of the easily accessible research material that is located all in one place on the World Wide Web. More and older texts that are of great historical importance are being forgotten about and left in books that are unread. This is causing our language to be “dumbed down” because it is being transferred less and less through text and more through spoken words. When viewing the physical forms of these books it gives one the sense of the depth and dimensionality of the knowledge that is held inside of them, and also allows us gain a picture of the future building upon past events. This is taken away when we view one screen that can display a vast arrangement of material ranging from a thousand different sources. Birkers fears that if this institution is removed completely it could possibly cause the loss of the ideology we have that we are isolated individuals.
Response 3
Nick Augustine
English 2
10-30-12
Mrs. I
1. In the early days of the American Judicial System it is very clear that they were convinced of the existence of witches in their community. While it is very unlikely that there were any individuals that were capable of preforming dark magic for malicious purposes the public believed there to be, so there was this mentality to be weary of this false evil. The law said accepted these rumors because they wanted someone to be used as a scapegoat for the unsatisfactory events that had taken place in their community and it just happened that single women in the colonies were an easy target. This is dangerous for citizens today because it shows that a wide spread misconception can cause innocent people to be convicted of crimes that they may not even have knowledge of, if there is a push to remove alleged perpetrators from society.
2. The Oppositional Deficit Disorder is a term that is applied to many teenagers that are prone to argue with adults, defy adult’s requests, loose their tempers, become easily annoyed, act spiteful, blame others for mistakes and to be resentful and swear. This disorder consists of common symptoms that almost every average teenager go through at one point in their life, but it is considered to be a legitimate mental illness that may qualify kids to be moved into psychiatric wards. This is quite like the witch trials because while the actual existence of the alleged concept can’t be fully proven the “so called” effects of it can be observed and then the accusation can be made. This disorder is probably mostly used for parents to get rid of troubled children that they are having difficulties keeping in line themselves.
3. Modern day “witch hunts” occur when people are convicted of crimes mostly due to a public outcry that justice must be delivered regardless if the people on trial are actually guilty or not. This can be clearly observed whenever someone is convicted of a molestation charge after a child is coaxed into testifying against the individual. Concerned parents demand that the children must be protected so an “expert” may speak with the child in order to attempt to make them claim that they were raped even if it never occurred. Much like the witch hunts of the colonies many of the witnesses were very young and very likely claimed false allegations after seeing the power and attention that came to them after complying with the law officials.