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Thursday, March 12, 2009
Quarkey Reflections for Readers
To start off, for those that don't know me, my name is Samantha Walker, I'm from the little town of Granite Falls and I'm a student at Everett Community College. 
Recently I was laid off from my full-time job, I was an electrical apprentice on commercial jobsites, but I have also worked for the last 4 years at the Granite Falls Sportsmen's Club on the weekends. I'm currently working towards a major in computer science with a degree in either web design, or software technician or possibly even tech support. My specific goal as you can see is still somewhat fuzzy.
Unfortunately my least favorite subject is English and this was the first fully online class that I have taken so certain aspects of this class I found to be rather difficult. I found that most of my writing was written somewhat vague. I needed to find a stronger way to introduce examples, as well as provide a stronger conclusion to my essays. I am definitely a procrastinator; I always have been so tend to wait until the last minute to do things. This class really taught me to reevaluate my study ethics. In high school it was rare for me to pull a C in my classes but now that seems to be the grade I hope for in some.
Reviewing the three different units, identity, community, and tradition, I have come to notice where I stand on different issues. One thing that I know always happens to me, by no fault but my own, is that whenever the chance arises for my opinion to be heard I kind of just jump on the bandwagon with whatever someone else said that sounds reasonable. Having to analyze the different pieces in our study among the talk between classmates on the discussion boards really helped me to form my own opinions. For instance in the identity unit, I found that I was arguing more with myself at how to voice my opinions without outwardly trying to offend anyone in discussions. There may be a few instances where I possibly did offend someone else's opinion with my own, but I certainly didn't go into the discussion intending to do that. In instances where that may have happened, I feel that I responded in a fashion as to explain myself and not make it seem as though I was dismissing their ideas and just putting them down. Then when we came through to the community unit I found it a bit difficult to provide strong ideas that would make sense to a "non-shooter" to support my blog posting concerning trap and sporting clays shooters as a community, the shooting community.
Each piece that I am including in this portfolio I believe reflects my best work throughout the quarter. My first piece replicates a discussion within one of the discussion boards during the identity unit. I feel that this discussion really shows some of the best of my critical thinking skills. I responded to a prompt and then had some very analytical discussions with classmates regarding the prompt as well as my opinions expressed in my original post. For my second piece, I chose to revise my first paper from the identity unit. This paper had multiple punctuation errors, and I also lacked proving my overall thesis. After a few revisions done to the writing I believe that it's a better example of what I got out of this unit.
My third piece is a timed write that was written about the John Sayles murder mystery Lone Star. This film dealt with multiple instances of non-conformity and I believe that my writing provided enough background for those that have not seen the film while still proving my overall thesis. Now, for my final piece; I chose to include my work on Remember the Titans. This was another timed write, but unlike the other, this write focused on community and what it's like to be an outsider. I enjoyed writing this piece; I feel that I did an great job in providing examples from the film as well as my own opinions to move my thesis along.
Recently I was laid off from my full-time job, I was an electrical apprentice on commercial jobsites, but I have also worked for the last 4 years at the Granite Falls Sportsmen's Club on the weekends. I'm currently working towards a major in computer science with a degree in either web design, or software technician or possibly even tech support. My specific goal as you can see is still somewhat fuzzy.Unfortunately my least favorite subject is English and this was the first fully online class that I have taken so certain aspects of this class I found to be rather difficult. I found that most of my writing was written somewhat vague. I needed to find a stronger way to introduce examples, as well as provide a stronger conclusion to my essays. I am definitely a procrastinator; I always have been so tend to wait until the last minute to do things. This class really taught me to reevaluate my study ethics. In high school it was rare for me to pull a C in my classes but now that seems to be the grade I hope for in some.
Reviewing the three different units, identity, community, and tradition, I have come to notice where I stand on different issues. One thing that I know always happens to me, by no fault but my own, is that whenever the chance arises for my opinion to be heard I kind of just jump on the bandwagon with whatever someone else said that sounds reasonable. Having to analyze the different pieces in our study among the talk between classmates on the discussion boards really helped me to form my own opinions. For instance in the identity unit, I found that I was arguing more with myself at how to voice my opinions without outwardly trying to offend anyone in discussions. There may be a few instances where I possibly did offend someone else's opinion with my own, but I certainly didn't go into the discussion intending to do that. In instances where that may have happened, I feel that I responded in a fashion as to explain myself and not make it seem as though I was dismissing their ideas and just putting them down. Then when we came through to the community unit I found it a bit difficult to provide strong ideas that would make sense to a "non-shooter" to support my blog posting concerning trap and sporting clays shooters as a community, the shooting community.
Each piece that I am including in this portfolio I believe reflects my best work throughout the quarter. My first piece replicates a discussion within one of the discussion boards during the identity unit. I feel that this discussion really shows some of the best of my critical thinking skills. I responded to a prompt and then had some very analytical discussions with classmates regarding the prompt as well as my opinions expressed in my original post. For my second piece, I chose to revise my first paper from the identity unit. This paper had multiple punctuation errors, and I also lacked proving my overall thesis. After a few revisions done to the writing I believe that it's a better example of what I got out of this unit.
My third piece is a timed write that was written about the John Sayles murder mystery Lone Star. This film dealt with multiple instances of non-conformity and I believe that my writing provided enough background for those that have not seen the film while still proving my overall thesis. Now, for my final piece; I chose to include my work on Remember the Titans. This was another timed write, but unlike the other, this write focused on community and what it's like to be an outsider. I enjoyed writing this piece; I feel that I did an great job in providing examples from the film as well as my own opinions to move my thesis along.
Critical Responses
For examples that best showed critical thinking and proper analysis on my part I chose to include a discussion between me and some other calssmates regarding a resonse to a few essays in the identity unit. I particularly enjoyed this discussion because it had varying opinions and really gave me the chance to express my thoughts as well as explain my reasoning behind them. I feel I did a very good job in presenting my opinions is such a way that did not dismiss the other classmates views and thoughts.
Critical Analysis Discussions
My Original Post:
Looking at Kathy Wilson's "Dude Looks Like A Lady", you get the insight of "a black woman with barely there hair and 40 Cs (21) ", as she puts it. She lets you in on a few days in her life, and you see just how some people react based on first judgment. Kathy exhibits that even when she is mistaken at first glance for a man, she doesn't take it personally because she's gotten used to it happening. This shows that she is not ashamed of who she is or how she comes off to people. She says that she mostly keeps her hair buzzed short "not out of any confusion over identity or self-hatred...but because I'm lazy and it's cool looking. And I'm cute this way (21-22)." She clearly displays that she chose to live her life in a way that makes her happy and despite what others say, she's fine with that. But in some instances when people clearly put her down in public like the "Redneck Man" as she has named him, when he yells at her to take her "boy-lookin' ass on somewhere". She then begins to revaluate her previous decision to get a hair cut, but quickly realizes that she would only be giving in to what she considers is the overrated ideals of female presentation.
When you look at Gloria Anzaldúa's story you notice that she seems more concerned with how she is accepted. She notes how when in school all the Chicano students were forced to enroll in two speech classes, "with a main goal to get rid of their accents (54) ". She spends her essay explaining how she wishes she could be accepted for who she is, and have people less concerned with her nationality or the language that she speaks. Not only among people of the "English speaking" language, but she notes that she is put down by people of the "Spanish speaking" language as well. "Chicanas who grew up speaking Chicano Spanish have internationalized the belief that we speak poor Spanish. It is illegitimate, a bastard language. (57)."
Evaluating the thesis from both of these wonderful essays, I've come to the conclusion that both women are concerned with how they are placed in society. They both want to be accepted for who they are, and not placed in a category based on quick judgment. To an extent I have to agree with her, it is wrong to force people to learn your language when they are from a different area, I don't think if you go somewhere else that they should make you learn their language either. However, I guess where I differ is where I think that if someone of a different culture/language comes to our country for work or something that involves everyday communication, they should be able to effectively communicate. Not necessarily learn every aspect of our language, just know enough to make communication easier between each other, and that goes for both sides of the spectrum, we should also be willing to learn some of their language, like a meet in the middle kind of thing.
Classmate Response #1:
Samantha,
I agree with the conclusions you have made. When you said, "Evaluating the thesis from both of these wonderful essays, I've come to the conclusion that both women are concerned with how they are placed in society," do you think they are concerned? I came to the conclusion that Wilson was accepting of her placement in society, but Anzaldua was concerned. It seemed like it bothered Anzaldua more than Wilson. Wilson didn't really seem to care what people thought about her while Anzaldua was more bothered. Do you think this is true?
My Response:
You make a great point, and when I look back I think concerned was in fact the word that I wanted. Yes, I agree that Wilson didn't seem as concerned as Anzaldúa, but there are a couple examples that perhaps could suggest otherwise. For instance, when she says, "I felt like I used to in the fourth grade when Robert, son of a Klansmen, put pictures of black folks hanging from trees on my desk, trapping me and then smothering me. I felt ambushed...angry and confused (23)". Also look at her comment about "flaxen-haired white girls throwing their manes around (22)," When I look at those comments, they strike me not necessarily as angry with how society treats her, but concerned with how society is. Yes, Wilson accepts her placement in society, but when you evaluate those comments, she seems concerned that this is how society is. Concerned that society places 'twisted' ideas over race and female presentation. Does that make any sense at all, because it seems as though I may be rambling a bit
Classmate response #2:
First off, I think your essay is well written and you have a lot of good points. You pointed out that "they should be able to effectively communicate. Not necessarily learn every aspect of our language, just know enough to make communication easier between each other, and that goes for both sides of the spectrum, we should also be willing to learn some of their language, like a meet in the middle kind of thing." While I understand your sentiments here, and to a certain extent agree, It's not completely fair. I for example know a little Spanish. I think it's great that I am able to sometimes be able to help "decipher" what it is they are trying to say. Honestly some people don't want to learn a second language, and frankly some just can't. Why should they have to, when the only language required to learn is English, or other languages respectively. I think until it is required that we as children learn a second language, its not fair to expect us to do so. Do you know what I mean?
My response:
I completely understand where you are coming from; I'm not necessarily saying that they have to learn our language, or visa-verse. All that I'm trying to say is that it would make situations much easier to work through if everyone just understood each other, and I realize that can apply to various different aspects of everyday life, but that would be in a perfect world. I also understand that it's not fair to say that a second language should be required, however, if I was to go to a foreign country for work or business, say France for instance, I would try to do all I could to learn the basics of their language so I could effectively communicate. I wouldn't expect them to expect me to know their language, but it is nice to be able to effectively communicate. I to know a bit of Spanish and I work in the construction industry, so I now how helpful it is to be able to effectively communicate with eachother. And yes, i do know what you mean, I don't think that we should have to learn a second language, however, I don't understand why someone wouldn't want to effectively communicate with others around them.
Classmate Response #3:
I really enjoyed your response to these writing. I was specifically interested when you said, “both women are concerned with how they are placed in society.” The placement of society is something that I hadn’t calculated into my thesis. When you say placement exactly do you mean? Are you talking social ranking (poor and/or rich), or more to male or female or cultural placement?
My Response:
Actually, when i said they are concerned with how they are placed in society, I wasn't looking at their social ranking or any of that. I was merely meaning that they both seem concerned with the fact that people have to put them down. In Wilson's case, the man in the van felt the need to insult her for his benefit. Whereas, in Gloria's case, she had an experience where people thought they HAD to get rid of her accent, and then other people put her down, calling her illegitimate because of the language that she spoke. To me both women came across as accepting of themselves, but all in all concerned with how society has to treat them just because they aren't the 'norm'.
Looking at Kathy Wilson's "Dude Looks Like A Lady", you get the insight of "a black woman with barely there hair and 40 Cs (21) ", as she puts it. She lets you in on a few days in her life, and you see just how some people react based on first judgment. Kathy exhibits that even when she is mistaken at first glance for a man, she doesn't take it personally because she's gotten used to it happening. This shows that she is not ashamed of who she is or how she comes off to people. She says that she mostly keeps her hair buzzed short "not out of any confusion over identity or self-hatred...but because I'm lazy and it's cool looking. And I'm cute this way (21-22)." She clearly displays that she chose to live her life in a way that makes her happy and despite what others say, she's fine with that. But in some instances when people clearly put her down in public like the "Redneck Man" as she has named him, when he yells at her to take her "boy-lookin' ass on somewhere". She then begins to revaluate her previous decision to get a hair cut, but quickly realizes that she would only be giving in to what she considers is the overrated ideals of female presentation.
When you look at Gloria Anzaldúa's story you notice that she seems more concerned with how she is accepted. She notes how when in school all the Chicano students were forced to enroll in two speech classes, "with a main goal to get rid of their accents (54) ". She spends her essay explaining how she wishes she could be accepted for who she is, and have people less concerned with her nationality or the language that she speaks. Not only among people of the "English speaking" language, but she notes that she is put down by people of the "Spanish speaking" language as well. "Chicanas who grew up speaking Chicano Spanish have internationalized the belief that we speak poor Spanish. It is illegitimate, a bastard language. (57)."
Evaluating the thesis from both of these wonderful essays, I've come to the conclusion that both women are concerned with how they are placed in society. They both want to be accepted for who they are, and not placed in a category based on quick judgment. To an extent I have to agree with her, it is wrong to force people to learn your language when they are from a different area, I don't think if you go somewhere else that they should make you learn their language either. However, I guess where I differ is where I think that if someone of a different culture/language comes to our country for work or something that involves everyday communication, they should be able to effectively communicate. Not necessarily learn every aspect of our language, just know enough to make communication easier between each other, and that goes for both sides of the spectrum, we should also be willing to learn some of their language, like a meet in the middle kind of thing.
Classmate Response #1:
Samantha,
I agree with the conclusions you have made. When you said, "Evaluating the thesis from both of these wonderful essays, I've come to the conclusion that both women are concerned with how they are placed in society," do you think they are concerned? I came to the conclusion that Wilson was accepting of her placement in society, but Anzaldua was concerned. It seemed like it bothered Anzaldua more than Wilson. Wilson didn't really seem to care what people thought about her while Anzaldua was more bothered. Do you think this is true?
My Response:
You make a great point, and when I look back I think concerned was in fact the word that I wanted. Yes, I agree that Wilson didn't seem as concerned as Anzaldúa, but there are a couple examples that perhaps could suggest otherwise. For instance, when she says, "I felt like I used to in the fourth grade when Robert, son of a Klansmen, put pictures of black folks hanging from trees on my desk, trapping me and then smothering me. I felt ambushed...angry and confused (23)". Also look at her comment about "flaxen-haired white girls throwing their manes around (22)," When I look at those comments, they strike me not necessarily as angry with how society treats her, but concerned with how society is. Yes, Wilson accepts her placement in society, but when you evaluate those comments, she seems concerned that this is how society is. Concerned that society places 'twisted' ideas over race and female presentation. Does that make any sense at all, because it seems as though I may be rambling a bit
Classmate response #2:
First off, I think your essay is well written and you have a lot of good points. You pointed out that "they should be able to effectively communicate. Not necessarily learn every aspect of our language, just know enough to make communication easier between each other, and that goes for both sides of the spectrum, we should also be willing to learn some of their language, like a meet in the middle kind of thing." While I understand your sentiments here, and to a certain extent agree, It's not completely fair. I for example know a little Spanish. I think it's great that I am able to sometimes be able to help "decipher" what it is they are trying to say. Honestly some people don't want to learn a second language, and frankly some just can't. Why should they have to, when the only language required to learn is English, or other languages respectively. I think until it is required that we as children learn a second language, its not fair to expect us to do so. Do you know what I mean?
My response:
I completely understand where you are coming from; I'm not necessarily saying that they have to learn our language, or visa-verse. All that I'm trying to say is that it would make situations much easier to work through if everyone just understood each other, and I realize that can apply to various different aspects of everyday life, but that would be in a perfect world. I also understand that it's not fair to say that a second language should be required, however, if I was to go to a foreign country for work or business, say France for instance, I would try to do all I could to learn the basics of their language so I could effectively communicate. I wouldn't expect them to expect me to know their language, but it is nice to be able to effectively communicate. I to know a bit of Spanish and I work in the construction industry, so I now how helpful it is to be able to effectively communicate with eachother. And yes, i do know what you mean, I don't think that we should have to learn a second language, however, I don't understand why someone wouldn't want to effectively communicate with others around them.
Classmate Response #3:
I really enjoyed your response to these writing. I was specifically interested when you said, “both women are concerned with how they are placed in society.” The placement of society is something that I hadn’t calculated into my thesis. When you say placement exactly do you mean? Are you talking social ranking (poor and/or rich), or more to male or female or cultural placement?
My Response:
Actually, when i said they are concerned with how they are placed in society, I wasn't looking at their social ranking or any of that. I was merely meaning that they both seem concerned with the fact that people have to put them down. In Wilson's case, the man in the van felt the need to insult her for his benefit. Whereas, in Gloria's case, she had an experience where people thought they HAD to get rid of her accent, and then other people put her down, calling her illegitimate because of the language that she spoke. To me both women came across as accepting of themselves, but all in all concerned with how society has to treat them just because they aren't the 'norm'.
Reflecting on Revisions
When asked to choose any work from the quarter and revise it, I had to choose this peice. I felt that this piece was the weekest of my work and knew that it needed revising. I opened the file from the gradebook that was returned with my original grade on the paper and decided to start with the instructor's recomendations. I began by fixing all the instances of run-on sentances and whent from there. I feel now that it is a stronger paper, though I do wish I could figure out how to replace all the referances of the implied "you" and still get my point across.
Society's Personal Mascot Revision
Society's Personal Mascot
The question often arises among people at one point or another; who am I? This question refers to our identity, which in this sense consists roughly of what makes us unique as an individual and different from others around us. In her essay regarding gender's importance Kathy Wilson writes, "Let me tell you what it's like walking around as a black woman, with barely there hair and 40 Cs" (21). Clearly she shows that she believes her race, hair and breast size are what makes her unique from everyone else. She shows that it is clear to herself that she finds herself beautiful despite what others say. Identity is the way that we see or define ourselves, or the network of values and convictions that structure our lives. Wilson also shares, "I mostly keep my hair buzzed short…I've got a pretty, round, brown face and dark eyes…And I'm cute this way". She defines her identity as how she sees herself, cute. The way that one sees themselves is the most important part of our identity. We cannot be fully aware of the little aspects of who we are until we accept the person that we know we are.
Identity can be shaped through acculturation. Acculturation is the process by which we absorb the practices, attitudes, and beliefs of particular social groups (10). The people that we choose to associate with on a day by day basis reflect how other people may view our character. In some situations it is important to mark ourselves as having the same identity as one group of people and a different one from others. As children we are taught that we are all equal and we should be accepted for who we are. However, we all have different groups of friends for which we wear different "masks" or identities when around. Between having to be a student and an employee and for some of us parents all at the same time we all have different identities which could be said to serve different purposes. Whether we have one or four of these different identities, we are aware of which "face" to wear and when it's needed. If sitting in class there really is no use for the "mother mask"; same goes for the employee that's dealing with a customer, there is no need for the student study skills to come into the picture.
Think about a situation where we meet someone for the first time, and in trying to find out who they are, ask questions about where they come from and what they do. In such situations we are trying to find out what makes up this person and also what makes them the same as us – that is, what we have in common – and what makes them different. If we see somebody wearing the badge of an organization to which we also belong, it marks that person out as being the same as us, as sharing an identity. And so we grow to be further aware of the fact that people can possibly share elements of our identity.
As we grow up in this American culture we can't help but be exposed to some of the poor values in our written and visual media. But it is a choice to take what is read or viewed and perform it in daily life. While watching television or movies we can get a false sense that it's okay to poke fun and laugh at another's expense. Firoozeh Dumas talks about her experience coming to America as a child, "All of us immigrants knew that moving to America would be fraught with challenges, but none of us thought that our names would be such an obstacle…all the kids incessantly called me 'Ferocious'…"(61). The choices that we make, good or bad, give us a glance of who we are as a person, and just shows how dramatic the effect of a failing American culture has on people and their sense of who they are, better known as, their identity. In other words, our individual identities are directly correlated with how we act and the choices that we make on a daily basis.
In conclusion, the effect that our culture has on our individual identities has positive as well as negative aspects. We present ourselves to others through everyday interactions, through the way we speak and dress, marking ourselves as individuals in the way we act and respond. Our identity holds many properties that can be described in many words, by many people. The only person that truly knows our identity and has control over how it is influenced by modern culture is ourselves.
Introducing...A Note to the Audience
For a piece that displayed how I identified with the audience I chose my analysis of the film Lone Star. I feel that I provided concrete examples and specific references in a way that would make it an easy read. I felt that this piece of mine is the best for the reader, in the sense that it makes it easy to follow as well as understand. I also think that this paper was one of my best for folowing my thesis and providing examples to move that thesis along.
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