Author: Bri

As I revise paper three, my main objective is to better and more clearly articulate the relationships I have identified between the texts (Wasik, Restak and Prickett) as they relate to making meaning in one’s life. Realizing this goal will require that I reach an accumulation of smaller, more specific goals.

First, I plan to revisit previous ePortfolio assignments that I have completed for this paper such as the round 1 questions for Wasik and the “How to Evaluate a Source Homework” for Prickett. When completing both of these assignments, I had begun to evaluate the texts on an individual level and started to form possible arguments I could make for that specific text alone. I had not yet attempted the difficult task of reaching out to make connections between two or more texts. I believe that these simpler, single text ideas will remind me to give each side of the relationship I am identifying in my paper an equal voice and thereby help me more clearly articulate and explain the connections I am trying to make between the multiple texts I am working with.

Next, I will work to better summarize the texts I am working with by including information that speaks truthfully not only to the chronology of the specific text but also to the argument I am trying to build throughout the paper. In order to do this, it may be necessary that I revisit the texts and re-read them quickly for better understanding. My initial homework posts for this paper via ePortfolio may be useful in this step as well because within those assignments, I was asked to summarize the texts in order to give context to the questions I was answering.

In my final step to more clearly articulate relationships between my ideas,  I will take a blank piece of paper and write out my thesis statement. Below this, I will write out each of my claim sentences. Then, underneath these claim sentences, I will write out (in bullet points) the evidence and/or quotes I plan to use to support each of these claims. Next to each piece of evidence, I will write how it relates to the claim sentence of the paragraph it falls under. After this, I will draw lines between the evidence in each paragraph that I am trying to directly connect and then annotate, in its key words, the connection I have made. This should help me more clearly articulate the relationships I have made between texts and avoid ambiguity in my final draft.

Growing up, I was an avid basketball player. I fell in love with the game in third grade and continued to play, nearly year round, until I was a senior in high school. Initially, many aspects of the game came naturally to me; however, as I got older and began to play against tougher competition, I realized that I did not have a strong left hand. In basketball, in order to be considered a well rounded, successful player, it is essential for one to be able to execute all skills with both their dominant and nondominant hand. Similarly, for one to be considered a good writer, it is essential that they draw on and integrate multiple types of rhetorical tools throughout their writing. Therefore, in order to develop a stronger left hand, I began a practice regimen that shares many similarities with the recursive writing process.

First, I had to be self aware and acknowledge the fact that my left hand was not as strong as it needed to be in order to successfully compete at a high level. I was able to reach this realization when I noticed that I was struggling to perform at the same level as the other players around me. I was falling behind. In order to catch up, I turned to my coaches and asked for help. Just like when a writing professor makes suggestions and gives feedback on how to strengthen a paper, my coaches made suggestions on how to strengthen my hand. I was attentive to what they had to say, and turned many of their suggestions into actions. For example, I began performing mundane, everyday tasks with my left hand. I would brush my teeth, open door knobs, and eat with my left hand. In addition, I would dribble a basketball up and down my street everyday, only using my left hand. To solidify my muscle memory, I would begin and end each practice with left handed layups, holding my right hand behind my back to isolate my left hand completely.

After weeks of repeatedly practicing the above mentioned actions, my left hand began to get stronger; however, it was still not where it needed to be. I began to get frustrated as I was not completely open to changing my habits, especially when I was not seeing immediate, far reaching results. When my coaches continued to criticize my game, I felt as though they were criticizing me as a person. It took me some time to realize that, just like when a professor offers criticism on a paper, my coaches were only trying to help me improve.

Finally, I realized I would have to  revise my practice regimen to help me reach my ultimate goal. I began changing the habits I was executing incorrectly and performing more intense drills to really push my left hand to get stronger. For example, I would  dribble two balls full speed using both of my hands and, upon reaching the basket, hold one of the balls in my right hand as I shot a layup using my left hand. I began to see a real change in not only the strength of my left hand but also in my confidence when using it.  As a result, my performance against high level competition greatly improved.  Being open to consistently changing and revising my basketball habits helped me become a better player and, in turn, earned me more playing time. 

The essay I have chosen to incorporate into my last paper is an article from The New York Times Style Magazine titled, “Look Out, It’s Instagram Envy: Sign of The Times”. The article was written by Sarah Nicole Prickett and was published on November 6, 2013.

The article centers around the social media application known as Instagram, analyzing and discussing the role that the app plays in our perception of those around us and, as a result, our perception of ourselves. Prickett begins the article by stating that, “Instagram has created a new kind of voyeurism,” as many people today gain some form of guilty pleasure by using the app to spy into the lives of the “rich and famous” or simply those who seem to have it better than them. This desire, Prickett claims, has been around long before the invention of the internet and instagram. She traces this desire back to 19th century Paris and 20th century New York, where flâneurs, more colloquially known as wanderers or window shoppers, would walk up and down the streets of these cities and peer into the windows of arcades and departments stores. Doing so would allow these flâneurs to envy and admire the products behind the windows, leading them to wish they could have what was on the other side. Prickett claims that instagram is the current day equivalent to window shopping, saying that it is, “the app built to make you covet your neighbor’s life,” but on a grander and more global scale. People use the app to gaze at what everyone else around the world has and wish they had it too.  Like shopping items displayed behind a window, Prickett notes that the images of items/stuff depicted on instagram are often carefully selected, staged and filtered to make an “instagrammers” life appear to be more effortless and perfect than it really is. She highlights this concept when she explains that when an “instagrammer” posts a picture of shoes, “what each says is not that ‘this is a good shoe’ or ‘these shoes look good on me,’ but ‘these shoes look good in my life.’” She notes that people put so much effort into making their lives look perfect and effortless through their instagram photos because, “These are technically still lifes, but in spirit they are actually the new self portraiture.” In other words, these people closely associate the stuff they own and they way they present it to the world with their identity. Therefore, they put a lot of time and effort into refining and perfecting the way they want the world to see them.

I chose this essay because I find Prickett’s interpretation of instagram very interesting. As an Instagram user myself,  I too have found myself, often subconsciously, envying the lives of others while using the app. In addition, I chose this essay because I see numerous connections I can make between this text, Wasik’s text and the other in class texts to help me support an argument in paper three.

I found this article on the website that Professor Emerson provided. To determine whether or not this source was acceptable, I used the library techniques our class learned and put the text up against the CRAAP test. First, I evaluated the currency of the text. As the article was published in 2013, it seems to be current enough for my purposes. Next, I evaluated the relevance of the text. The topic of the text, which is instagram and how it makes its users envious, is very relevant to our topic of using the internet as a tool for meaning making and pursuing purpose. After relevance, I evaluated the authority of the article. The author is listed and after some brief research on her background, Prickett seems to be an established journalist and editor in New York. Next, I evaluated the accuracy of the text. To support her analysis, Prickett used mostly examples, personal and otherwise, from instagram. When she referenced these examples, she named the owners of those instagram accounts which, in a way, was naming her sources. The article focuses mostly on Prickett’s observations and opinions on instagram and, therefore, it does not contain a lot of citable, outside research. Finally, I evaluated the purpose of the source. The source was published in The New York Times Style Magazine and therefore makes me believe it was published for commercial purposes. Based on the fact that Prickett offers only her particular view point, it seems as though the article was published because it contains information on what is popular/current now in culture as it relates to fashion. Overall, I decided that the article contains enough relevant, accurate and trustworthy information to use as a resource in my next paper.

One of the connections I plan to make and explore between my chosen text, and Wasik’s “My Crowd Experiment”, involves the idea of fitting in with the crowd/following the crowd. In Wasik’s text, he discusses the herd instinct in people that drives people to not want to be left out. Through technology and the mob project, Wasik shows that the internet increases this instinct in people.  In her article,  Prickett also notes that the internet ,specifically instagram, increases this feeling of wanting/having to fit in when she says, “belongings (that people post on their instagram) becoming so easily conflated with belonging.” Essentially, the internet is taking away from meaning making and purpose pursuing, which is meant to be highly individualized, because it is instead leading people to stick with the group/not branch out.

URL to new text

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/t-magazine/sign-of-the-times-look-out-its-instagram-envy.html

1.) Marginal Comments: Where can they lead?

Pg 480 “The mob was all about the herd instinct, I reasoned, about the desire not to be left out of the latest fad…”

Pg 482 ” ‘bandwagon effect’: the instinctive tendency of the human animal to rely on the actions of others in choosing its own course of action. We get interested in the things we see others getting interested in.”

Pgs 488-489 “What viral culture adds is, in part, just pure acceleration – the speed born of more data sources, more frequent updates, more churn…”

On page 480, I decided to hone in on the phrase, “desire not to be left out of the latest fad.” This desire, Wasik notes, seems to stem from the primal herd instinct where humans would stick with the group and do whatever the group did in order to survive. I noted, however, that the desire  not to be left out of the latest fad seems to differ slightly from the primal side of this instinct. Rather than sticking with the herd for survival, the herd instinct today presents itself as not wanting to be considered an “outsider” for social purposes. The internet, I argued in my annotation, is exacerbating this new version of this primal instinct in many people. Rather than using the internet as a tool for meaning making or pursuing purpose, people are using it to fit in. The internet is increasing anxiety/FOMO (fear of missing out) in people.  Essentially, the internet is taking away from meaning making and purpose pursuing, which is meant to be highly individualized, because it is instead leading people to stick with the group/not branch out.

On page 482, I touched again on the topic of the “bandwagon effect” and the “herd instinct”. Wasik says  that we, as people, “get interested in the things we see others getting interested in”. I noted that, since people like Wasik know that this bandwagon effect is a natural instinct in people, why wouldn’t he, and others like him, use this knowledge to encourage people to jump on productive and/or meaningful bandwagons?  Wasik uses the internet and this knowledge of bandwagoning to get hundreds of people to participate in seemingly useless/purposeless flash mobs. Seems as though he could have used the internet more wisely to get people to join a common and important cause. Is it that the internet can’t be used for meaning making/purpose finding or that people just don’t want to use it in this way?

On pages 488-499, I discussed the relationship between the internet and meaning making. According to Wasik in this passage, viral culture is all about spreading ideas quickly. In today’s world,  this lightning speed spread of ideas is made possibly by the internet/technology/online. I had noted that this immense speed of technology is killing any chance of meaning making because meaning making is something that takes time, patience, thoughtfulness and attention, all qualities that the speed of the internet and our current tech culture does not allow for. This “pure acceleration”, is constantly feeding us “more data sources, more frequent updates, more churn,”  and, because of this, is contributing greatly to our distraction as a species and never truly allowing us to focus our attention long enough to make meaning out of anything. Wasik provides evidence that technology is the culprit behind the distraction that is leading us away from meaning making when he says on page 475 that, “my idle stretches have been erased by the grace of the Internet, with its soothingly fast and infinitely available distractions, engaging me for hours on end without assuaging my fundamental boredom in any way.”  Wasik states on page 488 that,  “the sense, that is, that nothing we attend to is adequate, precisely because nothing can escape the roiling scorn of our distraction,” is a concept directly related to technology’s presence in our lives.

2.) Reading with purpose

The internet extends Bill Wasik in the sense that it allows him, in ways probably not possible without the internet, to connect with a large number of people. Wasik is able to use e-mail, an internet application, to send messages directly to unknown people regarding specifics for the flashmob such as where he wanted them to gather, when he wanted them to gather, and what he wanted them do once they got there.  In essence, Wasik used the internet as a tool to actualize a plan that was initiated solely to “satiate” his boredom rather than serve an actual, meaningful purpose.

I do not believe that the internet extended Bill Wasik in an existential or important way that could possibly, “change the course of history” or “change humans themselves.” In my opinion, “the only way to truly change the course of history and quite possibly change humans, themselves”,  is through tools that deepen human connection and understanding. I do not believe Wasik’s use of the internet for the flash mob project accomplished either of these goals. In reality, Wasik never even really connected with any of the people he gathered for these flash mobs. Not in a meaningful way. This becomes evident on page 481, where Fox News interviews some of the flash mobbers themselves. When asked about whether they knew Bill, the man who had orchestrated these flash mobs, both mobbers said no, Mobber two going as far as to say, “Well, from what I’ve read, he’s a – he works in the culture industry, and that’s – that’s about as specific as we’ve gotten with him.” The fact that Wasik made little to no connection with any of the mobbers speaks volumes about the internet as a tool for actualizing potential. In my opinion, Wasik used the internet solely to see if it would carry out his plan, which it did; however, in regards to Wasik’s project, the internet served no meaningful purpose.  Therefore, at least in regards to Wasik’s work, the internet did not serve as a tool for any evident meaning making or purpose finding.

3.) Reading with purpose

I would argue that Bill Wasik’s work pursues a meaningless, inconsequential purpose and, for that reason, does not pursue meaning overall. The purpose I think Wasik was pursuing in his work with the flash mob project was simply to see if he would be able to bend the internet to his will. To test this theory, he used the internet as a tool to get large amounts of people to do what he wanted them to do. What it was that he wanted them to do ( gather in one place at one time to all perform the same, meaningless activity in unison) however, served no purpose for anyone involved besides Wasik and, for Wasik, the only purpose the flash mobs served was to try to cure his boredom and verify his theory. Wasik notes on page 475, however, that the internet does not cure boredom but rather distracts people from it with its endless applications and possibilities. So, it seems as though his only purpose for the Flash Mob Project was to test and see if he could use the internet as a tool to puppeteer those around him.

I suppose it is possible that Wasik could have been trying to prove, in a roundabout, satirical way, the lack of meaning and purpose that the internet provides to human kind. By demonstrating the pointlessness of these flash mobs, which are a direct creation of the internet, Wasik highlighted how in today’s world, the internet makes it impossible for anyone to pursue meaning and purpose. Instead, people use the internet for useless reasons like creating flash mobs and to distracting themselves from their own boredom, procrastination and laziness.

If Wasik’s intention was to show that the internet is the farthest thing from a tool that should be used for meaning making and purpose finding, I think he accomplished his goal 100%. Him saying that “The point of the show (flash mob) would be no show at all,” epitomized the meaninglessness that he pursued in the flash mob project.

     Yet many proponents of technology may challenge my view and instead argue that having access to an abundance of digital technology actually enhances the emotional well being of younger generations. These adversaries would likely argue that social extensions of digital technology, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, provide young minds with avenues for self expression, connection, and creativity that are necessary for emotional well being. While it is true that social media can provide platforms for positive self expression, connection and creativity, it does not necessarily follow that young minds are actually using these online platforms for these purposes. Thomas King, an entrepreneur, social advocate and young mind himself, observes that his peers view social media not as a beneficial tool for self expression but rather as a tool to enhance their self image and popularity. In his Tedx Talk, King notes that many young people that he knows, “are trying to find purpose in gaining 10,000 Instagram followers”(3). Here, king highlights that young people today are measuring their worth based on trivial, social media statistics such as how many virtual friends they have. By engaging with social media in this manner, as many young people do, these young people will inevitably find themselves feeling inadequate when their selfie doesn’t receive a certain number of likes or when their crush doesn’t follow them back on twitter. As a young person myself, I can attest to this feeling of inadequacy as well as “FOMO” ( the fear of missing out) that I often  experience when interacting with social media.  For example, I often found myself feeling upset when I would watch someone’s snapchat story of a party that I hadn’t been invited to. If I did not have such easy, frequent access to social media, I could have avoided this disappointment altogether. Therefore, more often than not, interaction with social aspects of digital technology does more harm than good to the psychological well being of young adults.

As I continue to revise paper two, my ultimate goal is to craft a clear argument that is well supported by a variety of rhetorical tools. As I discussed in my learning log, I tend to stick with a strict quotation and analysis format in my writing. This is the format that I am most familiar and comfortable with which is why I largely used it in paper one. Therefore, I am going to have to step outside of my comfort zone while revising paper two in order to incorporate other rhetorical tools such as summary, paraphrase and synthesis. By doing so, I will make my argument much stronger than if I were to continue solely with quotation and analysis.

https://bwalker11.uneportfolio.org/english-110/my-learning-log/

The only plausible way for me to reach my goal is to jump into alternative rhetorical tools feet first. Much of my hesitation to integrate these tools into my writing is my fear of using them incorrectly. My greatest challenge in achieving this goal will be letting go of my inhibitions and fear of failure. The only way for me to learn how to use these tools and learn how to use them well is to experiment with them. Therefore, I simply have to accept the fact that although I may not execute these different rhetorical tools perfectly at first, each time I work with them is a step in the direction to using them correctly.

In addition to varying my use of rhetorical tools, I would also like to shorten my paragraph length and eliminate my consistent comma errors. Based on peer and professor review of my papers, I have found that my paragraphs are often too lengthy and therefore hard to follow. When revising paper two, I will focus on implementing natural paragraph breaks so that my reader can follow my logic more easily. In regards to fixing my misuse of commas, I will attempt to implement more short sentences as Klinkenborg advises. This way, I will not have to use as many commas because I  will not be connecting as many thoughts into one sentence.

1.)

Before: Upon closer inspection, however, the little girl can be seen gliding her chubby fingers across the magazine pages in swiping, tapping and clenching motions, her furrowed brow and disgruntled babbling indicating her dissatisfaction with the outcome of her efforts.

After:  Upon closer inspection, however, the little girl can be seen gliding her chubby fingers across the magazine pages in swiping, tapping and clenching motions. The furrowed brow and disgruntled babbling she displays indicate her obvious dissatisfaction with the outcome of her efforts.

2.)

Before:  With each touch she applies to the device, the young girl is able to make the screen of the Ipad shift, scroll, and zoom: the same results, the viewer realizes, she was expecting when interacting with the magazine.

After: With each touch she applies to the device, the young girl is able to make the screen of the Ipad shift, scroll, and zoom. These results, the viewer realizes, were the same ones she was expecting when interacting with the magazine.

3.)

Before: Anderson highlights how the current education system treats technology as a magical tool that they believe will allow students to divide their attention in countless directions while still understanding the information when in fact students can’t possibly learn like this!

After: Anderson’s observation highlights the fact that young minds today have to divide their attention in numerous directions in order to keep up with the demands of technology related school work. Attempting to study a plethora of different programs can become increasingly distracting to these young minds. Therefore, in an attempt to get everything done, young minds are forced to resort to inefficient multitasking.

4.)

Before: Therefore, if a student is not great at memorizing content or dividing their attention to multitask, it is likely they could fail in school and feel as though their inability to keep up with the expectations that a tech based society is setting makes them inadequate.

After:  With the increasing presence of technology in schools, society is prioritizing multitasking and memorization over actual understanding of content.  Essentially, schools are sending a message that education is no longer about learning but rather about regurgitating information. In the event that a student does not demonstrate exceptionality in either the ability to multitask or memorize, it is likely they will fail by school standards today. This failure to keep up with a technology-based society leads young people to feel inadequate, thereby disrupting their emotional wellbeing.

5.)

Before:  If you’re having workers multitask to meet demands they will be less inefficient and more likely to produce “half assed” results from being overwhelmed = less progression in professional fields = negative!

After:  By overloading workers with technological demands that can only be met through multitasking, companies are overwhelming workers and increasing the likelihood of receiving poor quality products. Not only do the companies suffer, but the employees suffer as well. The stress employees feel from being overwhelmed by technological responsibilities deterrs their progress within their professional fields.

For my brainstorming technique, I decided to begin with clustering and then used that clustering to kickstart a free write exercise. My initial inclination for this paper is to argue that a digitally distracting world is not beneficial. Between the two texts, I am beginning to see connections with the ideas of inefficiency,  medication/ drugs, mental/physical well being, and the increasing pressure to divide ones attention in order to survive in a changing environment.

In each of their respective texts, Restak and Anderson both acknowledge the fact that trying to multitask/divide ones attention most of the time is inefficient. Despite the inefficiency of multitasking, people are still doing it because many feel that if they do not, they won’t get anything done and will fall behind in society (lose jobs etc). The pressure to multitask and therefore be inefficient is not beneficial because it overwhelms people and sets up a system where tasks are less likely to be completed correctly/fully. This is neither beneficial to individuals nor to society.

Because people are feeling overwhelmed by society’s digital demand, many are abusing stimulant drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall to try to keep up with the pace. Both Restak and Anderson point out, for example, that many young college students use these drugs to complete school work.  These drugs can easily harm students or any person if taken incorrectly or unprescribed. Many people are harming themselves in some capacity to try to keep up with the ever increasing pace that a technological society demands. In general, physical/psychological harm is considered NOT beneficial.

After having some time to browse through ePortfolio, I think the digital space has tremendous potential to be a useful learning tool. The interface offers so many different features for us, as writers, to take advantage of. For example, as writing is considered an art form, I really appreciate the fact that ePortfolio allows us to express ourselves through personalized themes, headers, color selections etc. In addition, the website will let us view the work our classmates have done, allowing for online peer review and collaboration in real time. Although I have not yet had the opportunity to explore them all, ePortfolio also offers numerous web based tabs such as podcast, media and youtube embed. These valuable online tools simply would not be possible through pen and paper.

With all of the wonderful assets ePortfolio boasts, it also definitely has its downsides. I have found that ePortfolio is rather difficult to navigate if one is not a seasoned user of WordPress. Even after visiting DigiSpace for over an hour, I still feel quite overwhelmed and confused by the site. I can foresee many issues with students trying to upload writing or media to ePortfolio because depending on the theme one chooses, the way in which to accomplish the same task changes. For example, when I went to Digispace, the tech employee informed me that because of the particular theme I chose, I would have to compose pages in a different way than many of my peers would have to. If I hadn’t been able to make it to Digispace, like I know some students could not, I would have never figured out how to complete the assignment. Based on my past experiences with digital technology in the classroom, I also fear that ePortfolio could malfunction and disrupt students’ work. In general, I feel that pen and paper are much more reliable than digital technology.

Overall, I am excited to learn more about ePortfolio and hope that it becomes a useful tool for me as a writer!