Less Worth(y)

What is worth writing about?

I don't know why this question never stuck out to me before. Worth. Everything's been written about at some point. There's really nothing new. What isn't worth writing about? That's seems to be a smaller question. Maybe the only answer is: what you had for breakfast.

Unless you write a bowl of cereal better than anyone else.

Why, Where, For Whom- A Partial Literacy Narrative

In  the nights of my childhood - which are still so close to the nights of my adulthood - thunderstorm, blown fuses, and unpaid bills often stole the light from my home. When, in the dark, I had no buzzing electronics to drone on entertainment or knowledge my way, I had no light to read by, and my mind would tell me stories. The stories of my mind in the darkness of my home would pull me into them. I never thought of remembering as an important part of this ritual; my only goal was for the moment. When I grew, I felt the loss of my moments and memories and I mourned. Then, I wrote. I wrote to block out the darkness, and I wrote to keep the light bright.

Joan Didion and I share many aspects of our writing trials and tribulations in her piece “Why I Write”. Reading her was a very reflective experience for myself, as I had so often been the thinker of the surrounding information, or as Didion puts it, the “peripheral”. She writes about how she “tried to think” and couldn’t. Facts for both Didion and I come in and out as a means of giving the authorities what they desire but they end up meaning so little to our lives as writers and people. The dates and times are lost in lieu of the colors of the hats worn and the scent of a gently worn gardening gloves. But Didion and I veer on one important area. We seem to differ on what it means to be a writer. Didion puts it artfully and on a pedestal, saying : “a writer, a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on pieces of paper”. Why must one enjoy writing to be a writer? And, not only enjoy it, but enjoy it more than any other activity? Not all accountants love their job, does this not mean they are not accountants? A writer cannot enjoy an activity more than arranging words? Then, Didion, what are they to write? A writer, to my knowledge, is one who writes. A good writer, to my knowledge, is one who lives enough to have something worth putting on paper. And that should be the end of the distinction.

I am certainly a writer. I write. Phrasings and word choice are working through my mind always but through speech they find difficulties in both order and effect. On paper, the texture of what I think is jagged and rough. This is how I think and how I wish to express these thoughts. Unfortunately, I am trapped behind the voice of an audio-book commercial voice-over artist. My voice is not an appropriate venue for my poetic though. For my angry thought. My voice is only appropriate for this forum: the essay and speech-giving forum. But this writing is not what keeps me alive and thriving. This writing is not a lifestyles. And I write to express my jagged thoughts and rough ideas. To get the answers out. To get the questions out. To break through anger and injustice. I am a writer. I find it sad to think not everyone has that joyful self-designation.

Advice is a tricky word, but if I had to give it to those starting out as writers my first instinct is to say: write. Writing is not as scary as you’ve been told. But it is exponentially more important than you have come to think. Don’t be afraid to enjoy what you’ve done. Revel in phrases of beauty. Be proud of yourself. And that is when you edit. However, if you hate each word that you have laid down before the eye of the masses and more importantly yourself: don’t touch a letter. Leave it, I beg you. Crimes of passion are oftentimes impossible to recover from. Editing under duress has destroyed more beauty than a swift southern hurricane or the lost habitation of a rainforest.

As for advice from a more established voice, Ron Koertge wrote a piece “Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?”.  In support of what I said earlier regarding Didion, Koertge instructs : “Give up sitting dutifully at your desk. Leave/ your house or apartment. Go out into the world.” He praise the virtues of living live and carrying a writing tool while doing so. The overall message seems to be: write, but more importantly, live.

And, in the end, you might want a reader. The relationship of reader to writer is such a special and unique bond. Poet Billy Collins writes about his relationship in “The Flight of the Reader”. He speaks as if he is in an intimate relationship. At first glance, without taking into account the title, this reads precisely as a love poem would. However, he ends with the caveat that he does not have a crush on his reader. He says: “It’s not like that. Not Exactly.”

Speaking as freely as possible, my relationship my reader is like a dinner party. The room is crowded at this dinner party. And everyone is dressed in suits or gown and there are at least five red. Three purple, and six blue neckties. And thirteen bowties. But, I am wearing a top hat, and walking in six inch stilettos, after locking up my unicycle outside next to the fountain, next to that of my reader. And through this dinner party, I will try to find this person. And we will eventually speak, and I think he will get me, sometimes. But mostly, he will be intrigued each to ask “who rides a unicycle in stilettos?” and I like to think he would read on to find the answer. Because, unlike Billy Collins, I won’t deny it. It is “like I have a crush on you” It is that “I cannot live without you”. It is like that. Exactly. Don’t get me wrong, I have no stake in what you think or say. I really write for myself. As long as I am here, present, and accounted for, I have the reader I always hoped for. I had better strap on some stilettos…Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

The Quest for the Right Write

Cassandra DeMarco


WSC 002


4/27/11


What is Happening to Writing?


The Quest for the Right Write


In a way, writing can be seen as a deteriorating art, decaying at the hands of poor syntax, horrendous grammar, and “lol”s. However, in terms of comprehension and organization, there is a definite move toward progress. Verboseness is generally frowned upon and concision is the goal in most writings. A reader wants to get to a point with as little difficulty as possible, with important ideas highlighted, and unnecessary platitudes kicked out of the equation. The culture of the 21st century America is that of speed. Fast and to the extreme has become the new “American way” and if that means that writing must change to accommodate the culture, so be it. But how does writing do so, or, how has it? The genesis of the written language was a response to the desire to record important data: inventories, genealogies, events. As the scope of writing grew, however, stories were written. Emotion and humanity began to be placed into what was once a medium of mere information. This gave life to fiction writing and the use of writing as a medium of persuasion, and a written language of proper sentence structure and formatting was born separate from the language of speech and thought. Writing had rules and sequence. Respect was given to writers that knew and respected said customs; it showed education. However, these rules are merely constructs of tradition, and not natural or particularly conducive to the comprehension of the reader. Moving now to the present, the digital age has offered an entirely new venue from the book, or codex, or scroll. While computerized word processors may just be the electronic translation of such forms, web pages are an entirely new language, and the nature of writing and what it should be is brought into question more than ever, and addressed in a variety of novel ways.


Our class has looked through an incredibly wide scope at what is being said, yelled, shown, and written about writing. Essays, news articles, performance pieces, lectures, and the writings of peers have opened up the possibilities of what writing can do and the effect that it can have. It has also shown that there is a great deal of writing about writing. This sort of meta-writing proves the consistent impact which writing has on society. An example of this includes the poem “the Problem of Describing Trees” by Robert Hass. In his poem, he comments on the use of metaphor and the power that a writer has when the reader is in the grips of the text. He writes on the actions of a particular tree, using metaphor and personification. At a certain point however, he begins to have difficulty with this. He continues: “And the tree danced. No. / The tree capitalized. / No. There are limits to saying, / In language, what the tree did. / It is good sometimes for poetry to disenchant us.” (Hass) This technique of addressing his writing within the writing itself is an out-of-body experience for the reader, holding a mirror up to the poem and noticing the truths it contains. This commentary shows that writers are not just thinking about what they should write now, but what can be written, and the style and innovations that writers are becoming more fearless in employing. Hass is a good example of one who is aggressive in his review of what poetry can do. The commonly held idea is for poetry to enchant, specifically. However, Hass realizes the limitations of words, and for a poet to reflect on what words cannot do as opposed to what they can is a pioneering effort in the modern explorations of writing.


Moving along the lines of poetry but venturing into the spoken word forum, Taylor Mali is a teacher/performer with a passion for the power of words and speech. His performance of his poem “Like You Know” on Def Poetry is a testament to the virtues of speaking and writing with authority. (Mali) While it is certainly a written poem, the presentation style of it is not through text but through voice. In fact, when read off of a page, it has little of the impact it is destined to and loses much of the meaning. This is a reminders that writing is not only meant to be read, and never was, and the popularization and resurgence of slam poetry shows how powerful writing can be out loud and shared through the writer’s actual voice. The sentences can be fragmented and choppy, and it offers more strength to the words and the message without discrediting the poet as uneducated in proper syntax.


Jay David Bolter’s book Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print is a foray into the digital age that we are now living in. in working through Chapter 3: Hypertext and the Remediation of Print, it became apparent that writing is nowhere near as stagnant as many have assumed. The constant reworking of ideas and mediums gives writing the distinction of a living medium. It is working hand in hand with science and experience to find ways to make writing more accessible to the average individual. Jay David Bolter describes Hypertext as thus: “phrases in a webpage can be “hot”: clicking on them will bring up a new page. One page can be linked electronically to many others.” (27) This hypertext is a way of digital indexing that serves to make the landscape of the internet easier to navigate. Often, however, it can start a chain of distraction, opening page upon page of new information branching in all different directions instead on offering a plain, to-the-point page of information. While this might be distracting, it is conducive to knowledge retention and understanding in a way that the physical text on paper is not. It allows for instant definition of words or phrases that one might not be familiar with and breaks up the linear form of most perceptions of writing.


After the presentation we gave on Chapter 3, our peers went to their blogs - online forums for writing and thought - to respond to the chapter and ask some unanswered questions about writing through the scope of this medium. One such peer, Alex Breen, asked: “If hypertext is more akin to human thought, how might that change the linguistic habits of future cultures?” I believe that what is important to keep in mind is that we do not speak in the same way that we write unless we are reading something written or forcing it unnaturally. The way that our brains are wired is hypertextual. We speak and digress into other thoughts and fragment our sentences and backtrack to the initial point much the way we might do on a web page. But this linguistic formula has always been this way. Speaking in full sentences and paragraphs without creating a sort of vocal hypertextual web is only practical in terms of rehearsed speech. Most modern playwrights have realized that the linguistics of the English language as spoken differ vastly from the English language as written. Writers such as David Mamet have begun writing in the way that people think and speak, and it is more natural sounding to an audience than long blocks of thought without pause, retracing, repetition or defining. So, the new hypertextual landscape of writing should have no effect on the linguistics of our culture, present or future, but, in fact, mirror it more accurately.


Another colleague, Daniel O’Connor, in his blog, asks two questions about the potential of distraction that hypertext poses: “Can Hypertext worsen an argument by linking to an irrelevant piece of writing?” and “Along with Hypertext is there the risk that the reader continues to go from page to page and never returns to finish the original?” these are important questions. As impressively adept as the human mind is at establishing connections and finding meaning, it is also known for difficulties in focus. On a personal level, hypertext has distracted me almost in equal parts to the good it has done me. If the first question it is being asked from the perspective of the writer, then hypertext absolutely can weaken an argument. If a writer attempts to make an argument and does not know how to effectively manipulate the writing space which they inhabit, i.e., a web page, it is wholly possible that poor use of hypertext can devalue or dilute an argument. That is the same as using any tool, however: if the user does not have adequate understanding of or skill with the device, it works against him. Hypertext is not something that all writers should shove into their otherwise linear and meaningful texts: it is not a mandatory tool for internet writings. However, if the writer can weave it into his or her piece without adding confusion or distancing the reader from the true meaning, hypertext does its job. Much like writing itself, there is certainly an artistry involved in the shaping and formatting of an online text, not unlike any other text, but with more possible tools and higher risks of failing.


To answer Dan’s second question: the human mind, again, is prone to distraction. A writing form with such spontaneity and possibility also has its drawbacks in the context of the limitations of us as people. There are surely innovations to still be made, and hypertext is not a perfect creature, but from where we are technologically, these problems of focus fit snuggly into the discourse.


In conclusion, the time we live in is a fortunate one in the sense that we are living during a technological revolution. The way that we see the world is altered daily by new advancements and technologies instead of reading a magazine to find out about what is going on in, say, the theatre world. I can now read articles online sent directly to me through an RSS feed. Information is constantly coming at us from all sides and the scary thing is when we are overloaded, will we know? What is happening to writing is that it now needs to shout louder to reach us over all the white-noise written words we receive. It needs new organization and research to find the most appropriate formatting for our thinking patterns. It’s not so linear; it lives in fragments. What’s happening with writing is a revolution of time, speed, and form, and it doesn’t look like there will be an end anytime soon.















Works Cited


Breen, Alexander. Summareponse to Chapter 3 presentation. Breenbrain. 25 April, 2011. Web. 26 April, 2011.


Bolter, J. David. Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. Print.


Hass, Robert. The Problem of Describing Trees. 2005.


Like you Know. By Taylor Mali. Perf. Taylor Mali. 2003.


O’Conner, Daniel. Ch. 3 Hypertext and The Remediation of Print. DOC’s Blog. 26 April, 2011. Web. 26 April, 2011

Presentation Reflection

Watch our Prezi at: http://prezi.com/ltd96tjbiajm/hypertext/
I am going to categorize this presentation as a success! Mostly! I mean, I am relatively content with the way we presented our piece and the points we got across. I do think that we offered a coherent explanation of the chapter. However, structurally, I wish we could have been on more solid ground together. I enjoy giving oral presentations, and enjoy them more when I feel fully prepared for them and what they will entail.
For my part, I was happy with the video that I chose and the screenshots from eBay and Wikipedia. I also felt comfortable with explaining my points when Dr. Lay asked questions. What I wish didn't happen was the typos, because of my self-diagnosed spelling obsession. I'm very irritated by typos…
If we had more time, we could have had a more cohesive presentation and worked together more. But considering we absolutely didn't, I can't complain as much as I usually would. A plus side to this was that when each of us brought up points, they were open to disagreement within the group and we had a positive response when ideas clashed. I was happy with it!

Chapter 6 refashioned dialogues

Chapter 6 refashioned dialogues

Gorgeous layout
Don't understand the first video
The font sometimes was difficult for me specifically to read because of my eyesight, but is probably fine for the general reading population!
I can excuse typos in personal writing, but when quoting I don't think it's acceptable. There were at least two.

1) why is Bolter using music as a metaphor? Hips he a musician?
2) what was the point of the music video?
3) Is reading right to left not considered reading in sequence?
4) Is there a way to write which could interpret meaning in itself? For example, using formatting, italics, bold,underlines, size and color.
5) should speaking and writing exist in two separate realms? Speaking being linear and writing not so?
6) How do anti-writers format books in non-
Linear formats when confined to paper? Is it possible?

iRealize-your-limitations-pad

Well I think now is a great time to talk about the iPad for a second or two again. I think I'm going to go into some drawbacks, as my inspiration for this post is that I can't submit a file to this class's blackboard site from the creature. Not only can I not attach a file but I also could not type it in separately. I think the main problem for me is that it was easy to become reliant of this product, but it still cannot do all the things that a laptop computer can do, (obviously and understandably). Here is a fun, short list of some drawbacks I can think of right now:

Upload files onto blackboard
Save files in .docx, or .doc.
Stream music on www.stereomood.com (it keeps repeating the same songggggg!!)
Work on a prezi
Play anything that uses Flash.

I guess it's just what naturally happens in all relationships. You fall in love with the ideal form. The winsome smile and the curled eyelashes. Little do you realize she has nine cats and they're all named... "Cat".

But I digress, I feel like I have been cheating on my laptop, quite frankly, for a light and cheaper lady-friend in the iPad.

That said, I have to start appreciating the iPad for the incredible piece of technology that it is and not expect it to be a computer, because it isn't. Heck, I can't even spell-check on blogger with it...*

*it should be noted, for irony's sake, that when I first typed that last sentence, I mistyped spell-check as "spellcheak" which, coincidentally, would have been easier to catch if I had spell check.




Okay, cowboys. Have a Marvelous Monday, or at the very least, a manic one. For the Bangles' sake.

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

I Think I Crayon, I Think I Crayon

1) The writer of this crayon assignment oriented his piece in portrait format, with the only set margin being the end of the page. He wrote along the full width of the page, and began with his name in the upper left corner. The crayon is that weird gold/olive/bronze crayon color. The color doesn't pop out at all, and is very plain. The lettering is not spaced much; the words are written close together to utilize space. there are only two cross-outs, and the piece is, overall, well-organized and absolutely to-the-point.

2) Truthfully there isn't anything interesting or novel about this piece. I've been staring at it for quite some time trying to find something.

3) [see blackboard]

4) As these crayon assignments were done at the beginning of the semester, it is completely understandable that the space wasn't used to its fullest potential as a blank page. We've been indoctrinated to view "blank pages" as lined paper, to follow the standards expected of us in relation to format and spacing. This piece does well to prove that. (as did mine, for that matter)



Hey, thanks for reading, kiddies. Have a day of many splendors and food court vendors!

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Eyes closed, CAN'T FOCUS.

I am apparently useless with my eyes closed.. Cool... Enjoy!



When I was younger I was known for my ability to be eloquan and express ideas in a way that was relatively sophisticat for my age. WhenI graduated eigth grade I was asked to give the speech for my graduating class and . Scratch that. When I was in seventh grade I ran for class president andnwas allowed to give really incredible speeches to the school in order to become elected. I wasyoungerthan the other candidates, and although it was a compendium. I don't remember where I was but I plan to continue somewhere.... The speech for eigth grade gaduationjs abetted story anyway. Actually, no, when I was a sophomore in high school I ran for and won preside t of my government class. We had a limit on our speech to 2 mi utes and my teacher did not make me stop speaking even after 7 minutes until I was done because he enjoyed my speech so much and thought it was so mature and eloquent t. The end. Not the end, moral of the story, I used to want to be a speech writer for the president or for some other political figure. The real end. Clearly I am not nearly as eloquent S before...

Sincerely, Cassie DeMarco.

Chaptah 2, woo-hoo-hoo

I'm running out clever titles for these blog posts...


In Chapter 2 of Writing Space, Jay David Bolter takes a look at the technology of writing. This he does not limit to computers and typewriters, but expands to include writing itself. He says "Ancient and modern writing are technologies in the sense that they are methods for arranging verbal ideas in a visual space." by this he means that the earliest forns of writing are as much technologies as the most modern forms, because they are innovations to put down thought in a way that is not inherently natural or assumed. Later he goes on to say how the act of writing and reading changes the way we think into the forms of literature. We think in sentences if we are literate, he says, and this separates the educated from the uneducated. Of the literate, he says "They speak, as they write, in a variety of styles and levels [...] They write in their mind as well as on paper or at a keyboard; indeed, they are writing whenever they think or verbalize in that methodical way characterized by writing." the technology of writing has changed the way that out minds process and relay information.


Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Stitch Bitch Ink Shedding

"Alphabetical order is a contradiction in terms." there is no way to write 'correctly', creating a set of rules or way or organization puts unnecessary constraints on writing. How is alphabetical ordr a contradiction? Sometimes organization is needed to make sense. Yes, parts that can change randomly can be interesting, but they are parts not a whole. So we order things in an alphabetical order, ABC, but truthfully what does A have to do with B, and why can't C be first. Even though the whole is still the alphabet. Alex's response: aaabcehillp. The alphabet is a structured set in which we always rely on. We always somehow depend on it.

Like, ya know?

I would like to thank Taylor Mali for making a point to remind us to speak like we know, instead of speaking, like, ya know?

Taylor Mali's performance poem "Like You Know" as performed on Def Poetry is an effective piece about speaking with authority. A fan of his took the audio of the performance and made a video of the text being shown as it is said. The actual video of the performance shows Mali moving about the stage and illustrating his points with hand gestures. Watching him perform it brings it to life while the text depersonalizes it. It seems to just be the idea of the human contact we have when we watch him actually do it, as opposed to the barrier brought up by the text. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of closed captioning, which a lot of people do not like because it distracts them from the performance. I found the text distracting.

Take it to the Limit! (Of Language)

In Robert Hass's poem "The Problem of Describing Trees", the comfort of poetry as a guaranteed enchantress is pulled from us. In describing a view of a tree and its motions, he reaches a standstill in terms of what he can describe the tree doing. He says "And the tree danced.  No. The tree capitalized. No.  There are limits to saying, In language, what the tree did. It is good sometimes for poetry to disenchant us." In doing this, he pulls us out of the safety of his description of tree. The first "no" comes at us rather quickly, and jarringly, but then it seems to go back to the description. But, with the second "no" all hope of the enchantment is gone, and he drops the bomb "There are limits to saying, In language, what the tree did." and although we all know that there are some things that there are simply no sufficient words for, it is not common to be told that within a poem itself. Hass does something admirable in this poem, I believe, in bringing it to our attention that sometimes what is happening can't be described, even by one whose profession it is to describe. Although disenchanting, to say the least, Hass performs the important task of writing poetry that actually says something, and has a message.

Imagine All These Images

1) Image of him in mirror

When he was looking into the mirror and feeling like a hack, all of these images cover his face and he begins to choke himself. This is actually quite an accurate representation of the feeling I get when I write or act and feel stuck. it's this feeling of not knowing what you're even looking at in the mirror and just wanting to do a better job.

2) Image of car racing toward cliff

While, inherently, an image of fear and negativity, in the context of this movie this image represents anticipation and adrenaline. Sometimes the most dangerous things bring us benefits. He describes this as if it's a usual thing that gives him insight and inspiration. Once you get the blood pumping, it is a lot easier to feel and think and, to White, write.

3) Image of throwing the papers into a hole

After he writes what he considers bad writing, Chel White goes to an image of him, shot from below, tossing the papers into a ditch. We do not like to celebrate our mistakes, especially creative mistakes, and would rather hide them forever. The angle of this shot taken from the perspective of inside the hole makes it seem deep and permanent.

responses to sample essay

In an effort to preserve the fine spirit of cognitive dissonance, I will be arguing against my own statements in the four letter word response. Sample U, Part 5 "Visual presentations need to be ordered in a more careful manner than textual presentations. Images need to be shown in a sensible way, with sensible of time between each one to allow the viewer to establish meaning." First, this should read "with sensibility of time". Also, it presents an entirely dogmatic view of how visual arguments need to be presented. This worked for me, in the context of a narrative argument, however for the projects that did not have a narrative, the images could have told their story in different orders. And more, I don't know how the idea that visuals need to have more attention paid to order than text, but that is clearly incorrect. text means nothing without order, saying "the dog laughed" is a lot different than saying "dog laughed the".

Shelley, You are whack, son.

Well. Don't think we're going to get along, Shelly Jackson. Or whoever you are.

When I was younger and thought that I was really edgy and insightful I would write things like Stitch Bitch: The Patchwork Girl, by Shelly Jackson. But I certainly wouldn't publish them... This text is a strange philosophical venture into the idea of writing in hyperspace... I think.
Truthfully I had trouble following with the throughline. Basically, Shelley offers up several propositions as the sections of her piece. Examples include "BOUNDARY PLAY We don't think what we think we think." "AGAINST HISTORY It was not how they said it was." she goes on and on in Confusing circles about how nothing is as we believe and we must think of things as different or non existent or opposite. You know, the things that any basic eighth grader who thinks she is an existentialist or Nihilist because she doesn't know the difference or what either even means would just eat right up. Questioning beliefs! Undoing the dogmatic structures of thought! But now as a college student 5 years after eighth grade really I can't make sense of this piece of writing and I am just frustrated. Maybe I was smarter then. Or maybe this article is senseless. Probably the former, and I am looking forward to talking about this and figuring out what she actually meant in class today.

This is only a test

I'm testing out blogging from Microsoft office instead of inside my blog itself… let's see if it works?

please work...

This movie was made with windows movie maker, and it makes the argument of waiting as a potentially rewarding, frightening, and devastating endeavor.

yay!

FOUR! FORE!

for any o' y'all havin' trouble with some four-letter-word-searchin'.

A LIST!

http://www.scrabble.org.au/words/fours.htm

Making Sen(se)tences

A sentence starts out like a curtain
Closed in a crowded theater and as the lights are dimmed there is an uneasy, delicate air of discomfort.
The sentence begins too late and too soon all at once. The performance is greatly anticipated, so the ache of wait is too much in the still mist of a desirous audience. The thin veil breaks among the crowd as the curtains crack, and the fear intensifies.
It begins with a stutter, perhaps. A flub. awkward rhythm.
It begins with a need for editing but there is no going back
And the writer must work with the start they are given.
It begins with a nervous audience and a crack in confidence, and continues regardless. It gains motion and poetry. It gains itself. And in this gain, finds meaning and glory among the eyes of the world.
When in a motion of unstoppable delight, the show winds down, the sentence understands itself. A one night show, no flash photography, and the memory of the sentence and it's nuance is the duty the viewer.
And not everybody does his or her job.
So it is lost.
But for that night? The sentence gave a brilliant performance.

H.O., B.R.B., Sumbody is Txting Meh

A free-write:
Why has textual communication become the more prevalent use of phones when they were produced to transmit sound?

In many situations, speaking on the phone is considered impolite. Texting, however, is more accepted. I do not necessarily think it is easier to text as, physically, it requires more work. However, not everyone wants to hear the personal conversations of strangers and the ability to have phones outside of our homes introduces the public to our conversations. Texting is discreet, and generally considered more polite than yelling to be heard on a bus or in a restaurant. Also, in many ways, we are visual creatures. It is easy to see words or pictures in front of us as opposed to having them described. Having a textual record or an image keeps the information stored in a more concrete manner than our own memory.

Aye-Ay-Ay Pad Post 1

I HAVE FREE TIME. For the first time in months, I have a few rehearsal-free days (minus a read-through) to just catch up and breathe for a second before delving into what I presume (hope) will be a deliciously busy spring. That said, I want to talk about a little special friend I have made over the past week. She's sleek, slim, saucy, and certainly part of my joy in typing this blog. Her name is Tandee, and she is an iPad.

I must admit, when I first heard my name, I was mostly scared. There were two reasons for this fear, the first being that I do not own many things that are... Considerably expensive or elite. I am relatively frugal. And the second being that, although I have no true understanding of this alliance, I am famously a PC person. I appreciated Macs from afar for what they had to offer, but I would not ever consider buying one. Even the iPod I own was bought off of a friend.

First, I would like to talk about the social aspect of this device on which I now type. My first thoughts in recording this was "when will this be appropriate to use?" there is a certain stigma associated with the device, as it is seen by many, including myself until this last week, as excessive and unnecessary. Needless to say, when I first pulled it out and started working in front of others, they did double takes. Some people judged me, making comments about wishing they had the money for the device. Overall, the reaction when I explained the circumstances under which I had received it, was disbelief and impressively inappropriate questions of the relationship between Dr. Lay and I. There were questions of legality. It got a little ridiculous, but I tried to deal with as many people at once as I could to get that out of the way. I have been reluctant to bring it out in classes, as there are so many electronic device, teachers might not really know what it is and feel uncomfortable. I plan to ask formally if teachers mind or not, I am looking forward to responses mainly from those that do not like the laptop screen barrier and therefore do not allow laptops. Will the flat-against-the-table design make it okay? We'll see.

Dealing with responses from others has been my biggest challenge so far, surprisingly. So many people have strong feelings about this beautiful thing. It's amusing to watch, however I think that if everyone was given the chance I am being given, there would be no reason to dislike the iPad and presumably, other tablets like it. I admit it, I am a convert. Cult of Apple, here I come.

Look back soon for updates on my Apple-venture as it unfolds. I will be discussing positives and drawbacks in functionally compared to my laptop which I have just about completely replace with Tandee, at least for portable use. will the novelty wear off? Will it prove distracting?

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco... And Tandee. :)

WE. WANT. ANSWERS. To a few reasonable questions.

1) Did you purposely choose to make some of your metaphors ridiculous?- courtesy of the irreplaceable DOC

I think that this was the point of the piece. The ridiculous nature of overly metaphoric poetry that clearly just strives to be poetic has been overlooked for too long. My main man Billy is making a satirical comment on this by not using just one obscure and open-ended metaphor as many writers will, but a litany of them, one after the other in succession, until it is abundantly clear that nothing is being said at all. The fact that so many of the questions our class asked were about what the poem meant and the relationship between Billy and the subject of the poem shows that if the poem is a success at all, his goal was to border on ridiculous and meaningless to prove his point. And if not, then perhaps he's just a terrible writer. Which I don't think is the case.

2) Do you actually love the woman in the poem? - brought to you with limited commercial interruption by Nel

Have you ever read Shakespeare's Sonnet 130? It's really well-known as a comment on romantic metaphor. Read below:

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
   As any she belied with false compare. "

Shakespeare, In this poem, is mocking another poem that compares all of the enclosed things with the writer's love, and Shakespeare, in writing it, shows that his love is "as rare / As any belied with false compare." While the metaphors of music, roses and perfume might sound pretty, Shakespeare is advocating a more realistic look at love. Even though he is mocking this romantic writing, he is in love with his mistress. I am drawing comparison between this instance and that of Billy Collins. While Billy is mocking the writing practice, I do believe that he is looking at it in the same vein as Billy Shakes. He's pointing out the silliness associated with "love" and how unnecessary it. Shakespeare admits at the end that while his lady is not any of the metaphors above, he loves her incredibly. While Billy Collins does not do so, I think it can definitely be assumed. Or, rather, maybe Billy isn't commenting on a particular woman at all but just using one for the sake of the poem. I don't think that bully's relationship is as important to look t as the original writer's. Just because he wrote a poem and took it seriously are we expected to believe the message? Are we expected to even understand it? Not every poem is written in truth, and this may well have been one for the sake of the writer, to display his incredible appetite for seemingly meaningless, yet pretty, word choice.


3) And introducing special guest, Breen, with the question--- In the last three stanzas, what motivated you to turn the speaker’s attention to him/herself?

I actually think that this was a comment on this type of writer's (not Billy, but the one whom he rewrites) self-involvement and obsession. This self-reference and aggrandizement is characteristic of the writer that creates elusive metaphor and vague illustration. It seems as thought Billy is saying, at the end, "now, let's remember, that I am also involved in this grand world of metaphor, let's talk about me". It's the most biting portion of this piece, because it is a direct attack on the writer as opposed to the style. Needless to say, I appreciated it thoroughly.

Well, that is our show. Tune in next week for... Well, we'll just have to wait and see, hmm?

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Yes, I will take another.

Mmm more samples!

Sample H

Moving:
1) there is a lot of information
2) I mostly like the statistics in the intro.
3) the look into the herd mentality is clever.

Unmoving:
1) I don't like that the intro makes it seem as though the radio stations are nationwide. The "almost 15,000" statistic does not account for the obvious fact that the reason there are so many is because they are mostly local. It just makes it seem more dramatic than it needs to.
2) there isn't much humanity. To it in the way of what it says about Americans or quotes or anything.
3) why is the conclusion so long??

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Free samples!!!

Mmm! I love free samples... Let's dive into is with a taste of sample... G!

Moving:
) the idea of looking into the bulls as symbolic of people's desire for strength/superhuman abilities is clever.
2)the look into instant gratification seemed off-topic at first but the last sentence of that paragraph showed what the point was. it's nice when an essay isn't just "TOPIC TOPIC TOPIC" and takes a break to make another point once in a while.
3) the "door close" analogy is incredible! It is so telling and SO true. I relate to that very strongly.
4) this writer did a lot of research for this paper and it shows. The "drank" portion especially shows how much thought was put into this argument. By answering the opposition, the
Ack of desire people have for calming down, the writer strengthens his/her point tenfold.


Unmoving:
1)THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY TO PHRASE "Contemporary American Society" THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME WANT TO SCRATCH MY EYES OUT. It is so cliche and the only reason it really bothers me is because I do it all the time, too. But starting an essay with those word just bores the life out of me, which sucks even more because I actually really love this essay, but I started a little biased against it.
2)the last body paragraph regarding health makes red bull seem like it might be considered a health drink. Red bull is not healthy in any capacity and many sports teams have rules against using it to boost performance because of several deaths involved in mixing heavy physical activity with the drinking of red bull. This is misleading to The reader and frustrating to me because I know it is a stretch to consider it indicative of a society trying to achieve health; it is closer indicative of a society that needs more sleep.
3)I don't know why exactly, and maybe it is a personal thing with me, but I feel like this essay glorifies red bull as our savior and It seems irrspomsible. The writer fails to snow the dangers that we overlook in order to receive the bemefits. It seems incredibly one sided. Especially when it ends "red bull will continue to contribute to our lifestyle and embody it's spirit." it read as an ad for the product at times.

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

I Have No Idea What Many Ideas You Try To Draw With This Detailed Idea. Any Idea?

Dear Whoever Wrote The Following Sentence,
I want to apologize in advance.

Because I do not like it.
Sincerely, Cassie DeMarco

"In thinking about a certain idea, many sentences and ideas can be drawn by using detailed words within this idea."


The above is a lesson in "saying-nothing-in-as-many-words-as-possible 101". I am going to venture a guess and say that the writer cannot even tell us what (s)he was going for here. But, hey, you know what they say about assumptions. and if you don't:

 So, anyway, let's just say there was an intended meaning behind this, and try to analyze this babayyy. I'm going to start by breaking this down into several phrases and going from there.

"In thinking about a certain idea" Thinking about an idea is related to metacognition, or, thinking about thought. It is a process through which philosophy and religion are born in the mind of man and put forth into the world. Generally speaking, thinking about ideas is a good thing.

"many sentences and ideas can be drawn" I am interpreting "drawn" to mean pulled from or hatched. So far, we can simplify this to "Thinking about ideas produces sentences and other ideas" which still remarkably, means noting to me. maybe in the end it will all come together.

"by using detailed words within this idea" ... Wait, what is a detailed word? Let's interpret this as... a specific or a particularly descriptive word related to the aforementioned idea, thus simplifying this last bit to "by using carefully-chosen wording".

put it all together in the most suimple form and what do you get?

"Thinking about ideas produces sentences and other ideas by using carefully-chosen wording".

If we take out by using carefully-chosen wording, we are left with ""Thinking about ideas produces sentences and other ideas." If we choose not to repeat the word idea and can agree that sentences gets the point across well-enough, we are left with "Thinking about ideas produces sentences."

Ideas. Produce. Sentences.

Not only was this sentence intended to be read as a highly complex and sophisticated thought, the writer seemed to think that he or she was making a point nnever seen before, as opposed to one that is common grade-school knowledge. I would advise this sentence to be completely irradicated from the student's essay and never thought about again, because thinking produces ideas and many ideas and sentences..... yeah.

**Side note--- I am terrible at these diagnostic exams. I have a lot of trouble writing well or with any meaning under pressure of time. This sentence may just as well have been mine, and I don't blame the writer. However, it is a truly horrible, pointless sentence. and it should die. The End.

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Gonna Write an Essay... That's What I Say

I could not think of a clever title for this post, so I borrowed one of those classic Spongebob quotes.


Size- 8.5x 11. This is the most accessible paper size for essay writing in most contexts. having the same size paper across the board allows the recipient, Dr. Lay, to organize the pile and transport it with greater ease.
Orientation- Portrait. The look of chunkier, longer paragraphs that the portrait landscape affords is very visually pleasing to me, personally. It also allows for shorter lines and the ability to switch eye focus to a new line more often, which helps me stay focused.
Font- Times New Roman. This font is the most comfortable and the one with which I am most experienced. With a serious essay, I feel as though it helps me focus on the topic to go with my default font, Times New Roman. This helps me remain focused.
Color of page- white. I don't want my essay to be about the color of the paper used and the the emotions evoked through that, I would rather have the focus on my writing, also, the contrast of black and white makes this the most visible option across the board for readers.
Color of font- black. Black ink is the most conservative ink in terms of retaining focus as well as saving ink. When using public printers, it is common courtesy to use black ink for writing and colored ink sparingly. Again, this also provides the easiest reading against a white background.
Line spacing- Double. Double-Spacing allows the grader write notes in the margins and spaces in between. I was taught to use double-space as a courtesy to my teachers in high school, and have let that carry through my college years.
Paragraphing- indent a half-inch. This helps to establish a new paragrph without adding an extra line, making it blocky and choppy.
Heading- Italicized. It just looks classy.
Margins-1x1. Nice and even.
Single or double-sided printing- Single.
Visuals- Nope. This essay was all about the words for me.
Works cited- Standard Word 2007. Visually, I do not have much opinion on the Works Cited Page. It is purely for the sake of information to me and I... Honestly have no personal investment in what it looks like.

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Today it is 48 degrees and...

tomorrow will be some other temperature. the sun is 360 degrees in two directions, making it three dimensional like a golf ball and spherical like a golf ball and the shirt I am wearing is pink and light like ballet flats and I am not cold. I am not cold. I am not cold and the sun is 360 degrees around like a golf ball.

Today it is 48 degree and I am not cold.
Tomorrow it might be a different temperature, but I still hope,
that I am not cold
and that the sun
will remain
360
degrees
and exist in three dimensions.
like those golf balls the golfers hit into my backyard at home
and we put them in a dirty paint bucket and sell them a dollar each
little suns a dollar each in a dirty old primer paint bucket
hidden in the hand-made shed
which swells
when it is warm.
how warm?
at least warmer that
48 degrees.

It is today, today. And today, it is 48 degrees.

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

A Litany of questions for you, Billy Collins.

But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.

You are still the bread and the knife.

You will always be the bread and the knife,

not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine

I LOVE THIS POEM
And of course I have some questions:

1) Why are you so deadpan, Billy Collins?
2) Do you have something against metaphor or simply the over-the-top or ludicrous metaphor?
3) If it is not raining on my roof, are you also silence?
4) Is it still imagery if you are discussing sounds?
5) Are the two of you all of these things all of the time, or do they switch depending on mood/environment?
6) Why can't we both be the bread and the knife?

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Extra Foam, Please

            A ten person line in Pura Vida is gathered at 9:20 on a usual Thursday morning. The line curves around the wall filled with eager students jonesing for their own personal taste of the morning. Figuring it is worth the wait, I park myself behind peers, and directly in front of an adult woman, probably in her late thirties. After sitting through complex and detailed orders (Mocha latte with extra foam, half-caff hazelnut iced coffee, and there was a fight about soy or skim between one customer and the worker) it is my turn and I am already noticing a strange pattern among those around me which I cannot quite pinpoint. I still persevere, however, and get my incredible, perfect, made-for-me drink: a medium soy chai latte with a double shot of espresso. This drink is delicious, warm, foamy and satisfying, while giving me that good-to-go jolt of caffeine.

While waiting for the complicated mixture, the women in back of me - seemingly bewildered at the sights she has just witnessed – simply states “ medium black coffee”, is quickly handed her drink, and leaves. The juxtaposition made me laugh audibly, as I walked away with what was to become a much rarer indulgence, my soy chai tea latte with a double shot of espresso (herein referred to as “the drink” for the sake of space and patience). While we all have some inkling of how ludicrous the concept is of these luxurious drinks, the waiting, the wasted money, and the sheer ridiculousness seem to have no effect.

So, what does this mean about our society? Several societal concepts of what we deserve and need as free and content Americans show through this phenomenon. Freedom in choice is something famously American, whether it be on the president or on the meals we eat, which has made the idea of individuality or “uniqueness” a common theme not only in politics but in business models. On a more serious note, addiction has been famously glorified and romanticized in our culture within the past few decades through popular lore and more recent rehabilitation shows highlighting not only the struggle but the expansion of what addiction can be.

            In 2003, a Christian Science Moniter article ran a piece about the possibility of the city of Seattle instituting a 10 cent tax on designer coffee drinks, mainly anything containing espresso, and the tax being allocated to educational programs. Seattle, a decidedly caffeinated city was spit between those filled with horror and those with indifference. A resident named Ms. Balshor claims: "This is singling out one group - coffee drinkers - and making them pay. Why not tax chocolate-eaters?" She was among the several in this article with sensitivity against the tax. Another resident with the name Nombalais makes a decidedly more pointed comment, ringing with truth: "If you can afford $2.50 for a latte, you an afford 10 cents for kids." (Paton)

Maybe it is a bit harsh to stake the claim that the American consumer will support their coffee fueled happiness over the educational opportunities of the youth as a general rule, but questioning it for even a moment shows a strange allegiance to this luxury. This raises the important idea that we do not seem to be logical in choosing our indulgences. There is really no lifelong benefit to partaking, as in my particular drink where the price is a touchy subject at about $5.60. One per day will run over $2,000 wasted dollars per year. The drink which I so lovingly mentioned, with the official name of the Starbucks Tazo Chai latte, on average contains 240 calories and 41 grams of sugar. While normal coffee will run about $2.00 unless made at home and contains all of 5 calories per serving. (Starbucks)

We don’t let the logic deter us! We will have it our way! The people will have their sugary, creamy combos. But why is this necessary? There is a false sense of addiction associated with the drink. The same idea behind relying on food for comfort can be applied to the drink. It is there for comfort when you are stressed. The same woman who drinks three iced coffees with cream and sugar per day and considers herself a “coffeeholic” probably doesn’t have much of a tolerance or craving for the caffeine itself or even the coffee, but the sugar and fat that come with it. Television shows surrounding rehabilitating binge eaters, shopaholics, and sex addicts, as well as the traditional drug and alcohol abusers, have brought addiction to the forefront of our cultural mind in a way that is new and all-consuming. There are always trendy new words to describe the trendy new addiction, and to quote comedian Demetri Martin from his comedy act, Person: "Now I've met many chocoholics, but I ain't never seen no ' chocohol '”. (IMDB) The new view of addiction as an Americanized and basic human affliction is making meaning where there once never was. People use the same terminology in describing a drink “addiction” as they would, say, a cigarette habit: “I need my fix”, “I’m having withdrawal”, “I’ll quit when the price reaches…” and it is ridiculous. These items are intended to be luxuries, only experienced on occasions of celebration or as a special treat. As for the perceived need for “the drink” having a particular connotation related to 21^st century American society, Drama/creative-writing major Erin Trout offers this insight:  “it is a sad commentary on American failure to be happy with the simple things in life” (Trout) which she follows with a short giggle. This seemed to be the sentiments of many students asked about the lure of designer coffee drinks, however it was usually answered with a skim milk latte, extra foam, or its equivalent in hand, noting the irony. We are clearly in on the joke to which we may become penniless punch lines.

The need to be unique is a particularly strange desire that is not inherently in all people everywhere. Society shapes the values of uniqueness and conformity, and there are many people who are content to live their lives as they are expected to, with little deviance from that. In America, it is the norm to shun settling for cookie-cutter food, drink, and clothing. Advertisements show the horrors of not having it our own way, and many establishments of business, Subway, Burger King, and Build-a-Bear are examples, have a strong and narrow focus on the individual “you” as the most important entity, the center not only of their business model, but of the world. The inflated ego serves as incentive to partake in the product or service and to make it custom to your now-important desires. There was a day when coffee itself was the luxury, a treat, or a morning pick-me-up, or something to compliment dessert. Now it is not even considered a question and when people comment that they do not drink coffee in the morning it seems strange and senseless, or it is assumed there is a medical reason.

Of course, not everyone has a particular drink that they stick with morning after morning. The customization mentality also trails on the idea of collection. Many people enjoy collecting things, whether it be baseball cards or buttons, state coins or stamps, the idea of having adding something new to your possession and expanding the collection is a thrill for many people. Of course, many collectors do not collect tangible items.  Collectors may try to ride every roller coaster of a sort or see every film by a certain actor or try every complex combination of liquids purveyed at café. There is a “try them all” mentality among consumers that advertisers will reach out to. Curiosity is sometimes the best marketing strategy. Attending to a curiosity is a natural satisfaction for people, which advertisers know, so offering options gives consumers incentive to try them. Think of that dear old adage, “curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back”. This applies to marketing strategies in a big way, and personalized treats can satisfy to a large degree.

Not everyone partakes in the individualized indulgences of designer coffee drinks, but those who do are making a distinct choice as consumers to support this business of fluff and excess. Whether looking to express individuality, casually consider ourselves addicts, or just let our curiosity drive our purchases, the signature drink business will remain active long after this essay is written. The comments on the society’s taste for excess and lack of restraint when is comes to treating are as ingrained in us as possible, but there is always a market for this kind of wasteful indulgence. There is a magic in the cup. However, after such rational thought on the subject, the next time I find myself in Pura Vida, I hope to inspire these skeptical thoughts in someone else when I walk to the counter and I say, simply, “Medium coffee, black”.

Works Cited

IMDB. Demetri Martin, Person. (2007) (TV) Memorable quotes. 2007. 14 February 2011 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0954327/quotes>.

Paton, Dean. "Coffee Capital eyes tax on 'designer drinks'." The Christian Scinece Monitor 24 July 2003.

Starbucks. Tazo Chai Tea Latte. 2010. 14 February 2011 <http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/tazo-tea/chai-latte>.

Trout, Erin. Interview. Cassandra DeMarco. 14 February 2011.

Well-a Everybody's Heard About the Bird

I love starting these posts with back story. It always just sort of ... "happens". There is always something about my life related to what I am about to write about and I think it's only fair to show you my perspective before I write. I'll keep this one short and sweet:

I DON'T LIKE BIRDS. bird stories. birds.

Now that that is out of the way...

Wow. These are some awesome birds. I am not easily impressed by the flighty fellows. I used to have some parakeets and while they were cute and the whole "these things fly" concept never stopped blowing my mind, the kuaka- the godwits- are superheroes of the bird world. Regarding the actual piece itself, it is about as well-written as an essay on birds can be. A reader has a job to know when they dislike a piece or they dislike a topic, not just call it "bad". but I think that Don Stap did a good thing with this nature piece, even though I don't particularly appreciate nature writing. Especially about birds...
My main issue with the essay as a piece of writing is a general distaste that I have developed for simile.I do not appreciate most simile in writing, and Don Stap likes to employ this particular literary device often. While this is more of a personal taste, it alway reads to me as forced and explanatory when writers say things like:

" I wave my arms about with each step, as if I’m on a tightrope"
"godwit’s heart beating like a trapped moth"

nothing says "I promise I am a writer" more than the simile "as if I'm on a tightrope".

Most of the work is used to speak on the danger that this species of birds find themselves in. Many paragraphs are dedicated to the facts about their habitats and practices. This is clearly necessary for the entire point of the article and Stap wrote on it in the only possible way. He kept the factual part relatively simple linguistically with the purpose of just getting the information out there after the attempt to initially rope us in with his descriptive scene setting. Afterward, he returns to his English professor roots with a closing scene of him looking toward the night sky.

Comparing this piece to the Lehrer piece yields results that I am surprised with. I prefer this writing. Social sciences, such as psychological and personality studies, are one of the things I am most interested in, while nature writing bores me. However, Stap got to the point. He told the story of these birds without much extra fluff. Lehrer dragged his essay at least a page longer than it needed to be with completely unrelated detours into the history of the story's characters. In the respect of the reader who may not have previous interest in the topic or time to spend with anything but the story and maybe one or two brief detours, Stap is able to get his words across. Lehrer assumes that he has the reader for as long as he is writing, and it hurts his effectiveness.

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Spare Me your Life Story, Okay?

-Character backgrounds-

Carolyn Weisz-

In the late nineteen-sixties, Carolyn Weisz, a four-year-old with long brown hair, was invited into a “game room” at the Bing Nursery School, on the campus of Stanford University. [...] Although she’s now forty-four, Carolyn still has a weakness for those air-puffed balls of corn syrup and gelatine. [...]

“Even as a young kid, Carolyn was very patient. I’m sure she would have waited.”

Craig Weisz-

Craig, a year older than Carolyn, still remembers the torment of trying to wait. [...] According to Craig, he was also tested with little plastic toys—he could have a second one if he held out—and he broke into the desk, where he figured there would be additional toys.

Walter Mischel-

A large portion of this text is dedicated to describing the life of Walter Mischel specifically. It explains his familial/educational/travel background  in incredibly biographical detail I found all of this back story to be interesting, but also a little superfluous. If there was less about his immigration history, and fragile mother, and the Nazi regime (which all seems... absolutely irrelevant for this article... ) I would be a big proponent of the humanization of the scientist. Heck, I would read it separately as a biography. He sounds really interesting. But Lehrer can clearly humanize this man for me... I GET IT.
On the other hand, I truly appreciated the small and to the point characterizations of the Weizses. Lehrer did not harp on them for paragraphs on end, but instead the traits given help shape a useful framing of their personalities. Carolyn is a very vivid character to me in this reading. She has depth and interest, without me needing to learn everything about her. Also, it helps to make sense of her success later in life paired with her brother's troubles as a demonstrator of the merits of the study.




Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco

Dialogue!!

2.  Go through the text deliberately and highlight every instance of dialogue.  What do you theorize its role in Lehrer’s argument?

“I know I shouldn’t like them,” she says. “But they’re just so delicious!”

“I’ve always been really good at waiting,” Carolyn told me. “If you give me a challenge or a task, then I’m going to find a way to do it, even if it means not eating my favorite food.” Her mother, Karen Sortino, is still more certain: “Even as a young kid, Carolyn was very patient. I’m sure she would have waited.” But her brother Craig, who also took part in the experiment, displayed less fortitude. Craig, a year older than Carolyn, still remembers the torment of trying to wait. “At a certain point, it must have occurred to me that I was all by myself,” he recalls. “And so I just started taking all the candy.” According to Craig, he was also tested with little plastic toys—he could have a second one if he held out—and he broke into the desk, where he figured there would be additional toys. “I took everything I could,” he says. “I cleaned them out. After that, I noticed the teachers encouraged me to not go into the experiment room anymore.”

“A few kids ate the marshmallow right away,” Walter Mischel, the Stanford professor of psychology in charge of the experiment, remembers. “They didn’t even bother ringing the bell. Other kids would stare directly at the marshmallow and then ring the bell thirty seconds later.”

“There are only so many things you can do with kids trying not to eat marshmallows.”

But occasionally Mischel would ask his three daughters, all of whom attended the Bing, about their friends from nursery school. “It was really just idle dinnertime conversation,” he says. “I’d ask them, ‘How’s Jane? How’s Eric? How are they doing in school?’ ” Mischel began to notice a link between the children’s academic performance as teen-agers and their ability to wait for the second marshmallow. He asked his daughters to assess their friends academically on a scale of zero to five. Comparing these ratings with the original data set, he saw a correlation. “That’s when I realized I had to do this seriously,” he says.

“Sure, I wish I had been a more patient person,” Craig says. “Looking back, there are definitely moments when it would have helped me make better career choices and stuff.”

“There’s often a gap between what people are willing to tell you and how they behave in the real world,”

“What we’re really measuring with the marshmallows isn’t will power or self-control,” Mischel says. “It’s much more important than that. This task forces kids to find a way to make the situation work for them. They want the second marshmallow, but how can they get it? We can’t control the world, but we can control how we think about it.”

“If you want to know why some kids can wait and others can’t, then you’ve got to think like they think,” Mischel says

“At the time, it seemed like a mental X-ray machine,” he says. “You could solve a person by showing them a picture.”

“The East Indians would describe the Africans as impulsive hedonists, who were always living for the moment and never thought about the future,” he says. “The Africans, meanwhile, would say that the East Indians didn’t know how to live and would stuff money in their mattress and never enjoy themselves.”

“I’ve always believed there are consistencies in a person that can be looked at,” he says. “We just have to look in the right way.”

“Young kids are pure id,” Mischel says. “They start off unable to wait for anything—whatever they want they need. But then, as I watched my own kids, I marvelled at how they gradually learned how to delay and how that made so many other things possible.”

“There are so many allergies and peculiar diets today that we don’t do many things with food.”

“When you’re investigating will power in a four-year-old, little things make a big difference,” he says. “How big should the marshmallows be? What kind of cookies work best?”

“I knew we’d designed it well when a few kids wanted to quit as soon as we explained the conditions to them,” he says. “They knew this was going to be very difficult.”

“If you’re thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you’re going to eat it,” Mischel says. “The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place.”

“What’s interesting about four-year-olds is that they’re just figuring out the rules of thinking,” Mischel says. “The kids who couldn’t delay would often have the rules backwards. They would think that the best way to resist the marshmallow is to stare right at it, to keep a close eye on the goal. But that’s a terrible idea. If you do that, you’re going to ring the bell before I leave the room.”

“If you can deal with hot emotions, then you can study for the S.A.T. instead of watching television,” Mischel says. “And you can save more money for retirement. It’s not just about marshmallows.”

“In general, trying to separate nature and nurture makes about as much sense as trying to separate personality and situation,” he says. “The two influences are completely interrelated.”

When you grow up poor, you might not practice delay as much,” he says. “And if you don’t practice then you’ll never figure out how to distract yourself. You won’t develop the best delay strategies, and those strategies won’t become second nature.”

. “All I’ve done is given them some tips from their mental user manual,” Mischel says. “Once you realize that will power is just a matter of learning how to control your attention and thoughts, you can really begin to increase it.”

“We can’t give these people marshmallows,” Berman says. “They know they’re part of a long-term study that looks at delay of gratification, so if you give them an obvious delay task they’ll do their best to resist. You’ll get a bunch of people who refuse to touch their marshmallow.”

“These are powerful instincts telling us to reach for the marshmallow or press the space bar,” Jonides says. “The only way to defeat them is to avoid them, and that means paying attention to something else. We call that will power, but it’s got nothing to do with the will.”

“We’re incredibly complicated creatures,” Shoda says. “Even the simplest aspects of personality are driven by dozens and dozens of different genes.”

“They turned my kitchen into a lab,” Carolyn told me. “They set up a little tent where they tested my oldest daughter on the delay task with some cookies. I remember thinking, I really hope she can wait.”

. “I’m not interested in looking at the brain just so we can use a fancy machine,” he says. “The real question is what can we do with this fMRI data that we couldn’t do before?”

“This is the group I’m most interested in,” he says. “They have substantially improved their lives.”

“For the most part, it was an incredibly frustrating experience,” she says. “I gradually became convinced that trying to teach a teen-ager algebra when they don’t have self-control is a pretty futile exercise.”

“The core feature of the KIPP approach is that character matters for success,” Levin says. “Educators like to talk about character skills when kids are in kindergarten—we send young kids home with a report card about ‘working well with others’ or ‘not talking out of turn.’ But then, just when these skills start to matter, we stop trying to improve them. We just throw up our hands and complain.”

“When you do these large-scale educational studies, there are ninety-nine uninteresting reasons the study could fail,” Duckworth says. “Maybe a teacher doesn’t show the video, or maybe there’s a field trip on the day of the testing. This is what keeps me up at night.”

“This is where your parents are important,” Mischel says. “Have they established rituals that force you to delay on a daily basis? Do they encourage you to wait? And do they make waiting worthwhile?”

“We should give marshmallows to every kindergartner,” he says. “We should say, ‘You see this marshmallow? You don’t have to eat it. You can wait. Here’s how.’ ”


Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_lehrer#ixzz1DcAElxc2

 -----------------------------------------------------------------

 Above, you will find the extent of the dialogue found in the article Don't! The Secret of Self-Control" by Jonah Lehrer. This is a scientific journal regarding a certain experiment series surrounding the topic of self-control and it's applications and benefits as a tool throughout life. This article focuses mostly on the people involved, however, mainly: Walter Mischel, the mastermind of the Stanford marshmallow experiments in the late 1960's. The text gives him a loud voice great humanity- not necessarily cold calculation and assessment of facts.


Lehrer’s necessity for the dialogue is based on the fact that personal accounts make for an interesting inside look into the minds of the subjects in the study. Craig, one of the subjects who failed the experiment describes of his times in the room:  “At a certain point, it [...] occurred to me that I was all by myself, [...] And so I just started taking all the candy.” This shows the mental works behind the child in the experiment as not just a test subject but a human with desires and thoughts.

Also, The extensive dialogue with Mischel serves the purpose of showing where the man with the experiment is coming from. It answers a lot of why questions and humanizes the scientist in a way that is not expected but that illustrates his findings and the importance of this study to him. He talks about how important this is to him and how his past experiences show why he is where he is now. Also, giving exactly quoted dialogue shows the speaking style of the subject. When specific wordings are used it shows personality in a way that statistics and general "speaking of/" cannot do.

Signed,
Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco