A Reflection on English 102

I decided that for my last blog post, I wanted to rip off Casey's previous blog and reflect on our time together during English 102 this semester. I'm not super shy or anti-social, but I'm also not a social butterfly, and I really liked that I was able to feel so comfortable in this class (which is rare for me). In most of my other classes, especially my political science classes, I tend to not like most of my classmates, and I often just feel distanced from my classmates.

In English 102, however, I truly did feel comfortable in the class, and like I could say something and no one would hate me for it. It always felt like a safe, comfortable place to discuss ideas and express myself, without having to be apologetic about it. I wanted to thank all of you for making the classroom feel like such a comfortable place, and making English 102 a class that I actually looked forward to attending. So in addition to learning in class about writing and rhetoric, I'm happy I got to learn about all of you and all the different personalities we had in class. It really was a fun, constructive class to be a part of.

P.S. Extra props to Professor Hanrahan for putting up with us. You the real MVP. (insert fist-bump emoji)

"Rollable" Screens: The Future of Technology?

While browsing around on social media this week I came across this video that was shared on my feed and I thought it was really interesting how our technology has developed in the last ten years. In short, the video talks about new TV and smartphone screens that can be rolled up or bent without being broken. Apple has already bought rights to the products themselves, but I'm thinking that these really won't catch on in the market. The curved TV screen as well as 3D TV's aren't really bought because in most ways, they are impractical. The curved screens may be good for those looking at it head-on, but for those who are to the side of the room it becomes hard, almost impossible, to see what's happening.

That being said, much like how every Apple object ever seems to sell despite the inflated costs, I think that it's possible that some people may want to buy the new roll-able TV's to brag about the really expensive TV they have that no one else does, much like the Apple Watch. Now, my clear disdain for the bourgeoisie aside, what do you guys think about this?

Positives VS Negatives

I know that most of my posts this semester have either been acknowledging the positives of technology or discussing the negatives of it. Since this is the last post of the semester, I just wanted to say that I am neither for, nor against technology, because I feel that the positives and negatives balance each other out. I also wanted to say that it isn’t necessarily the technology, itself, that creates the negatives we see today, such as people not carrying on conversations or the whole online dating vs. naturally meeting someone debacle. What creates these negative effects is the people using the technology and their intentions when using it. Overall I feel that it’s relevant to make such a distinction because so many people blame the negatives on technology, on how the cooler the gadgets are the worse our society becomes. But it isn’t technology’s fault. It’s the minds that use it to whatever their ulterior motive may be.

As a side note, I just wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed this class and being able to converse with all of you!

Are We Becoming "Cyborgs?"

After talking about technology for the entire semester and observing my classmates, I have become much more aware of the amount of technology we use. Almost everyone in every single one of my classes has a laptop, a tablet, or both in front of them at all times. Technology rules all of our lives to an extent, and even though we are still generally in control, we are in danger of relying on technology too much. People allow themselves to become brainwashed by technology and many people seek to misuse it. This could cause serious problems in the future when technology becomes too smart and people become even more reliant on it. We could either become melded with technology, or we could be completely wiped out and replaced by technology. We should be careful about how much we rely on technology to "think for us."

Long Term Friendship

I have this friend named Ellie. She has been my best friend since second grade. Without technology we would never still be friends. In fifth grade she transferred to private school. She had all new friends and I felt left out. She would Skype me once a week and even when she was wit her new friends. Meeting her friends made me feel great. I knew who she was talking about when she would talk about them.

Throughout middle school we continued to spend the summers together on family vacations or by going to camp together. In high school we grew distant, spending less time with each other. But every time we called or texted each other we would catch back up. Ellie is a life long friend. Thanks to technology I know that we will always be able to stay in touch. I hope that one day our kids can be friends with each other no matter where we are living. 

I usually complain about technology, but this is one of the reasons why I am really thankful for technology.

Thank you all for an amazing 102 class this semester! (:

Technology to form bonds

I believe in technology. Despite all the negative connotations that can be related to technology, it can do more good than bad. For example, I have an older sister who I didn't have contact with until about two years ago. We started out by finding each other on Facebook and then later on we added each other on Skype. Through Skype we have been able to form a relationship and be able to keep each other up-to-date with everything going on in our lives. Through Facebook I am able to see pictures of my niece and be able to know that my sister is doing okay. I think that this is a good thing as far as technology because now I am able to know and see things from my sister that I probably wouldn't have known before. Without Facebook I wouldn't have known I was going to be an aunt and I wouldn't have been able to form a bond with my sister. For that, I am very thankful.

Reunited...digitally

This morning I was telling my friend a story about something that happened back in high school between me and one of my classmates, who I was really close with before we graduated. Through most of junior and senior year, Paraag and I got to know each other really well. We texted almost every day after school. Between classes, we would make sarcastic comments as we passed in the hallways. And in class, the teacher often scolded us for laughing and causing distractions. All around, just a really good friend. Then graduation happened... I knew once college started that I'd lose touch with the majority of my high school friends, but I was super sad to not talk to him as often. Over the summer, we talked a little bit and went to each others grad parties, but still no where near the same as during the school year.

Before today, I hadn't talked to Paraag since about October or so. But since he came up in conversation, I figured I'd shoot him a text to see how school has been going for him at WVU and ask about his summer plans and whatnot. Just to catch up. His reaction to getting a random text from me was wonderful, and we settled right back into how things were before life got in the way for a bit. We're still catching up as I type this, and honestly it's hard to not wear a consistent smile.

With finals approaching and end-of-semester projects being due, there is a lot of stress piling up for all of us. I hear things like, "I'm just ready to go home," many times a day across campus. Everyone is worn out. But something as little as reuniting yourself with a friend, even if it's just over text, can boost the day up so much. You guys should contact someone, too, and see if it helps you to not feel so dang bogged down with school.

Good luck with finals week! Keep positive and stay smiling.

Are You Registered To Vote?

Hey everyone!

As Vice President of the Shepherd Young Dems (and your friend), I want to take this opportunity to ask all of you: are you registered to vote?

If not, please come see me on Monday in the Ram's Den. I'll be there before ten and then between eleven and twelve. If you can't make it during those times, just stop by and approach the SU Young Dems table and say you want to register. It's super easy and only takes a few minutes.

Don't be apathetic about voting- especially if you're a girl. Seriously. I cannot stress this enough. Women less than a hundred years ago were harassed, ridiculed, and even tortured so that we could gain the right to fully participate in our political system.  While this entire presidential campaign process has definitely been stressful (at least for me, anyway), there is value in casting your vote, no matter what people try to tell you. Also, you can't really complain about our elected officials if you don't vote. Sorry.

So come register to vote if you aren't already registered on Monday in the Ram's Den, and the Shepherd Young Dems will help you out. Also, registering to vote at our table doesn't in ANY way mean you have to register as a Democrat. I want to make clear that this is not a partisan thing. We're just encouraging everyone and anyone to come register to vote- we don't care about your party affiliation. We know that's your business.

Hope to see at least one of you on Monday at our table.

Clarity

So in my final paper, I expand upon the argument in the Movie in Context Paper about how in Big Hero 6 Hiro and Dr. Callaghan act as parallels of toxic masculinity. Here is the portion itself, so please tell me if I should elaborate more on how Zootopia adresses toxic masculinity as well.

As a big fan of Disney films, particularly the more feminist films produced in the 1990s, I really enjoy more recent films like Big Hero 6 and Zootopia because they promote feminist ideals of multiculturalism and combatting toxic masculinity. Big Hero 6 shows how Hiro’s emotional development is important to the overall message of the film—one where his sadness and tears tell young children that boys do not need to be tough all the time. Hiro’s stages of grief challenge traditional masculine traits that do not allow for men to be emotionally weak or reliant on others. Hiro’s reactions to loss fight the ideals of toxic masculinity in regards to emotions like grief and sadness that men experience in their lives.

In contrast, Hiro’s parallel, Dr. Callaghan, shows the negative consequences that result of traditional masculine ideals that stunt emotional growth. To put it simply, Dr. Callaghan is unable to handle his own emotions so he bottles them up until he lashes out negatively. Dr. Callaghan is a victim of the patriarchy, one that tells men that the only “healthy” way they can express their grief is through anger and revenge. Due to the fact that Dr. Callaghan grew up with this being ingrained into his mind, he felt that his actions against Alistair Krei were justified because he was doing “the right thing.” As Tyson states in Critical Theory Today, “that anger and other violent emotions are the only emotions permitted, and anger usually produces the kind of aggressive behaviors associated with patriarchal manhood” (88).  In the film, Dr. Callaghan exemplifies this concept in his revenge plot against Krei, evident with his words, “You took everything from me when you sent Abigail into that machine. Now I’m taking everything away from you. You’re going to watch as everything you built disappear. Then, it’s your turn.” In addition, Tyson points out how “men are not permitted to fail at anything they try because failure in any domain implies failure in one’s manhood” (87). Dr. Callaghan could not allow himself to fail when he tried to kill Krei, and admitting that his actions were wrong would make him look and feel like a failure to his daughter and to others. Hiro, in contrast, did not grow up with patriarchal ideals that stunt emotional growth, so he was able to see the fault in his actions when he tried to kill Callaghan, thus enabling him to heal.

Zootopia also shows that it is okay for men to express their feelings openly. During Nick Wilde’s childhood he encountered fierce bullying from prey for his predator status. After escaping his abusers, he fled outside where he finally allowed himself to cry, later ending his flashback by stating “Never let them see that they get to you.” Nick reveals himself to be a victim of the patriarchy because he was told to not express his emotions, especially “weaker” ones, in front of others. However, later in the film he shows a willingness to express “feminine” emotions like fear. Nick and Hiro represent the third-wave feminist viewpoint of males and shows how when toxic masculine ideals are removed, men can learn to express their emotions in a healthy way.

So, tell me if you love it, if you hate it, or what I could clarify or explain more in this portion.

 

Rain Rain

In my essay, I have been looking at the positives technology has for sleep, primarily apps. My favorite type of app helpful for sleep is sound machines. These apps produce noises to relax and soothe the downloader to a restful sleep, if you couldn't tell by the app type. Some of these apps even lead meditation to put you to sleep. Most play sounds from nature like a crackling fire, rain, wind, or a running river. One app I found and love is called Rain Rain which has a unique library of sounds including rain, as title obviously implies, and sounds that Tim Gostony, the app’s creator, picked himself that he thought would be easy to fall asleep listening to, such as a washing machine, ceiling fan, dehumidifier, or ticking clock. The app also has a selection of animal noises to choose from like frogs, crickets, and other animals you often hear during the night. What I like most about the app is that you can mix and layer three of the sounds from the library in the app. I actually am glad I found this app because now I can fall asleep each night to a thunderstorm, one of my favorite things to fall asleep to.

End of the Semester Sap Fest

It's crazy to think how close we are to the end of the semester. We've spent a whole lot of time talking about technology, its advantages, and its disadvantages. I would like to take second to focus on one interesting (in my opinion) advantage.

Throughout our course, we had many class discussions. While they focused mostly on readings and assignments from the syllabus, we were also able to get to know each other a little better. But we only meet for 50 minutes three times a week. That isn't much time to get insight on a person, especially when there are ten or so others to get to know. Blogger has acted as a little insight pusher. With weekly posts, we get to see what each of us are doing in our personal lives, how other classes are going, how technology is affecting us in everyday situations, and even just seeing interests that may not be relevant to bring up in class.

Sometimes it slips my mind that the blog post deadline is coming up, and I think to myself, "Man, I wish we didn't have to do those." At this point in the semester, though, I can't tell you how interesting of a social media platform blogging is. I'm glad to have gotten to know you guys better than I could have if we only talked ("talked" virtually, too) in class.

This was kinda sorta sappy, but I'm not sorry. Much love for all of you!

Thanks a lot Technology

I was working on my paper today in the library. The library of all places should probably have the best WiFi signal on campus, but no. The library WiFi was terrible today. I moved from one room to the next just trying to get enough service to do some research. Then technology decided to waste more of my time. I was attempting to copy and paste a few charts from an article onto my paper. Again this couldn't be easy for me. I ended up re-typing all of the information into excel. Then tried to replicate the charts. It was time consuming and didn't even help me in the end. Thankfully I was meeting with Dr. Hanrahan today and she helped me copy and past the charts I needed. But for the last time today technology really disappointed me. My computer's battery life is worse than my phone's battery life, so as soon as I began to write my blog for this week my computer shut down. I lost everything that I had written. So this weeks blog deserved to be written about how GREAT technology is.

Technology Isn’t So Bad

So I was thinking about how useful technology can be. Yesterday evening I was at a free concert that Shepherd put on. It took place out in front of the dining hall. I really loved this one particular band that was playing, so I recorded some of their songs on my phone so that I could listen to them later. I was able to take pictures of them and even look them up on the internet. Now, don’t get me wrong, they were just a college garage band, but all of this technology allowed me to find this band that I loved. Technology has many disadvantages, but it also has many positive effects. So I think that all of those people who say such harsh things regarding technology are just bigoted. They refuse to look at all of the good things that technology can achieve. It makes me laugh that those that bash technology, are also the people that use technology the most. Like the elderly that say that the younger generation is so absorbed in technology that they can’t even hold conversations, yet they are the ones that are so absorbed with Candy Crush that they play it even at the dinner table. 

Be Careful With What You Live-Stream

Recently I was on Buzzfeed, while taking a break from doing some of my homework, just looking at some of the articles when I came across one that caught my attention in a negative way. As I’m sure you guys know by now the topic for my critical essay is about sexual assault, and it’s something I feel very strongly about, so as I was looking on Buzzfeed and came across this article you can imagine I had some pretty strong opinions about it.

The article is about an 18-year-old girl facing multiple charges for live-streaming her friend getting raped, by a 29-year-old man. Apparently, the three of them had been drinking all night before the attack had occurred, so of course alcohol was to blame in this situation. I’m not saying that alcohol didn’t play a role in this incident, but I don’t believe that the alcohol forced this guy to rape the victim.

Let’s not forget about the victims so-called friend, who thought it would be a funny or good idea to pull out her phone and live-stream a girl getting raped, and ruin her life even more. This poor girl’s life was already going to be hard enough without the help of a smartphone app. The live-streaming app that the other girl used just made it that much easier to tear someone's life apart.

If the pair end up getting convicted, they face potentially more than forty years each for the multiple charges.

Apple watch

For my birthday my boyfriend got me an Apple Watch. I have wanted one since they came out. Well he took me shopping one day and acted like he wanted one for himself. Since he knew I knew a lot about the watch he kept asking me what I think would be the best. The whole time he was trying to figure out what I really wanted if I were to get one. Overall, I really like the watch. Anything that shows up on my phone will come through on my watch and keep me alerted on all the up-to-date notifications from my apps. However, I can already feel myself being way more connected than I used to be. For example, I didn't have my phone on me for a period of time yesterday and my watch was plugged in charging. I walked downstairs to help my dad and I heard my phone go off and I thought, "It's okay I don't need to get my phone my watch will show me what it was." Right as I thought that I realized that I didn't have my watch and for the first time I felt bare. Like I was completely disconnected. While it is nice to have the luxury of an Apple Watch it also keeps you way more in touch than just having a phone.

Advice, Please?

So I have a couple things that I'm posting about today.
First, for my paper I am writing about the positives technology has for sleep, mainly the apps used to assist you to sleep. I am trying to decide whether to write about the reviews on these kinds of apps, the science behind the apps, or both. I have been leaning more towards the science side, but I am not completely sure I want to leave out the reviews on such apps.
And second, I want to get some opinions on my intro.

Even though technology has a negative connotation when sleep is involved, technology actually can help, instead of hinder, your ability to sleep. There are plenty of apps created for the purpose of helping the downloader sleep better. With all the negatives, the positives of technology are often overlooked, such as these apps. Technology would continue to assist today’s society, even though there are some downsides.

Should I add more to it? Does the wording work? Do I need to change anything?