Abstract...Sorry its so late Gabe!!!

How do I learn?
I am a visual person. Not everyone is a visual person. When I hear something, I don’t necessarily remember it. However, if I see something, perhaps drawn out, I am more likely to remember it. By writing out what I need to remember, I will remember it better. On flash cards I will have a definition but if possible I will have a picture. The combination of both will help me greatly.
As we proceed to a more technological era, we are using computers more and more. Thus, we are all becoming more visual human beings.
I learn by communication. I communicated with others and receive information that I store and use. Everyone learns by communicating. Communicating is not only verbal but non-verbal as well. We learn social skills by interpreting others actions.
I learn by mistakes. Mistakes teach important life rules. I made mistakes as a child and learned from them because I had my parents to help me. Now, in college, I do not have my parents with and when I make mistakes, which I do often, I am learning to pick up the pieces on my own.
Certain mistakes can be worse than others and you cannot learn from them but others can learn from them. Survival of the fittest it can be called or most recently changed to “survival of the best adapt.”
Why do I learn?
I learn for many different reasons. I learn for the sake of learning, I learn for interest, and most commonly, I learn because I have to.
My favorite is learning for the sake of learning or learning for interest. My favorite channel is Discovery Health and I love learning about medication and medical procedures. I also love reading about medical issues and researching them online. I am learning the information because it interests me, not because I have to or because I know that it will be on some test one day.
I mostly learn because I have to. I hate math and everything that goes with it. I study it and learn it because I know it is a required course that I must pass. When I do the homework it pains me because I do not find it interesting nor fun. English on the other hand, I find incredibly interesting. I love to read all books. I love to write because of the way it makes me feel.
I know more about English than I do math because I spend more time studying it and I enjoy it. If I enjoy it, it obviously comes somewhat easily to me and I understand it better.
In America, we learn a certain way. We all go to elementary school where we learn the basics of all the subjects and are forced to all study the same things. As we proceed to middle school we still study the same subjects as before but a little more in depth. We also are allowed to choose a small amount of electives. In high school we must take the same general education courses but are allowed more electives and can try as many new things as we like. I think the most important stage is high school. There, you are encouraged to try new areas of study and really discover what you are passionate about. My senior year I took almost all English classes because I loved that area. In college, we must pick a general area of study. Once that is done and we has taken all the required courses like in all the other levels we dwell on our major.
Once there, we study in depth everything about our major, then choose even more specific electives that pertain to it. America has a great structure of education because it makes everyone try everything and obtain general knowledge in all areas. But in England, it is much different.
I have several frustrations about learning. We all learn in different ways. As I stated before, I am a visual learner. Not all teachers teach in a way that is easy for me to learn. By everyone having a different learning style and it causes confusion and ultimately leads to frustration. Those with learning disabilities face even a harder battle. They are put on the same playing field as the rest of us and are expected to keep up. I am a slow reader, which makes being an English major tough. With the large work load consisting of mostly reading, it takes me much longer to accomplish homework than my peers. I also take tests very slow and have high anxiety. Anxiety is a huge learning obstacle for me. It keeps me from taking my time to fully understand a subject and makes me feel stressed which in turn hurts my performance.
These are obstacles that I have had to deal with my whole life. I guess you can say I am slow or to be somewhat politically correct, I am a slow learner. That is my learning style. I pay attention to little details and dwell on insignificant things because of my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This by no means makes me less intelligent than the next person, it just makes me different.

This became 481 words, whoa

I pressed the round 5 button and stopped to observe my surroundings: the round nubs on the floor tiles, the chrome walls which seemed to suffuse all colors and shapes until a group, meaning three or more, people standing within an elevator would appear to be a faint, pseudo-morphed globule in the reflection. (1)
From there it occurred to me how many times I have stood in an elevator exactly. Thousands, surely. We think of elevators as such an innovation, when few stop to consider the dumb waiter. (2)
I began to consider the hundreds of people I’ve never gotten to know whom I have stood beside in my various experiences in elevators, my arms condemned to stay at my sides for the sake of space, and my steps within it abridged. Conversation is ever slow to produce in elevators, usually limited to the weather and such daily happenings, as no one is in their element when they are standing two feet from a stranger.
This is, however, a contrast from other such limited situations in more open settings, in which I have spoken with people whom I have never known and never will, but thought I did at the time. (3)


(1) I have often taken an interest in reflections as a child, which began at the age of five when I came across a funhouse mirror in a doctor’s office waiting room, which tweaked my top half into a narrow, vaguely similar image, and made my bottom half appear quite bulbous. This began my musings that perhaps within us there is a person of about the same size, but what each of us sees in ourselves and others may simply be a funhouse mirror image.
This was, of course, before I knew of the ramifications of thyroid disorders, a main cause of obesity, and depression medications, which slow one’s metabolism.
(2) It has always interested me to know that dumb waiters were popularized in the early 20th century in restaurants, since we tend to think of today’s contraptions, elevators, as being motorized for our convenience.
This bring to mind the fact that car windows used to be turned by a handle, which, though less convenient, would save gas if we still used it today.
(3) This draws to my experiences of high school, in which I stood at the bus stop and each morning a middle aged fellow in my neighborhood was walking his dog, passing my stop at exactly 7:12am. This dog had been sold to him by my next door neighbor, a pleasant woman who sold insurance for a living and bred dogs as something secondary, but a love of hers nonetheless.
Each weekday we briefly spoke, of nothing in particular, sometimes simply “Good morning,” yet, there was something of a communicative bond there, simply from being within the same vicinity even on the coldest of days.

Baker is kind of a big deal.

When I went to go down to the lobby to check my mail*, I put on my outfit for the day. I unfolded my jeans and put my one leg through the corresponding hole and then proceeded with the next leg then worked my jeans over my butt, zipped the zipper, and buttoned them right up. But that’s not how I do it everyday. Sometime I sit on my bed and scrunch my pants down and set them on the floor. I put my feet through the holes and slide those suckers up both legs being covered in dark denim and maybe I would button the button first instead of zipping the zipper. Then putting on the cute top that I picked out for the day I would normally put one arm in the sleeve first and then work in the other arm, while simultaneously trying to work my head through the large hole that is just big enough to fit my head, but not big enough to avoid messing up my hair. So then I had to go and fix my hair again which delayed my trip to get my mail. I didn’t actually know if I had mail, but my aunt said she had something to send me and would send it this week. So, the entire week I went down the to my mailbox and reached up to hopefully find a blue stub that says “Take this to the front desk.” It was like opening a chocolate bar and find the golden ticket. There it was; the blue ticket that said my name. I took it to the front desk. I showed my ID, signed the book, and beamed at my glowing brown package.

* Mail can be the highlight of a college students day. Why this is, I can’t really be sure. I rarely received packages before I went to college, and if I got one I wasn’t overly excited about it. Snail-mail becomes away of staying connected with the outside world in a concrete way. Email, cellphone, the interenet. These things are all great in convienent, but there is something so impersonal about these electronic devices. I need to hold a piece of paper in my hand and see the ink that came from the pen that was in my generous senders hand that is controlled by the beautiful mind of the sender. Cardboard boxes with the dull brown flaps taped tight with care. The contents of these packages is not important. Just walking the lobby and the ride up the elevator with everyone looking at you in envy is treat enough. The inner smile that you feel knowing that everyone around you wishes they had a box to flaunt around because it means that someone was thinking about you and thoughtful enough to send you a package. Whether the content is food, clothes, supplies or decorations for the dorm room no one really cares. When I got my first package here I tried not to flaunt it. I didn't want people to think I was a girl carrying a package that thought she was better than everyone else. I was just a girl who happened to come across some good fortune upon opening the metal door of my mail box.

Tieing Back My Hair

As I sit down at my desk and open my laptop, the glow of the screen feels as if it is tanning my pale caucasian skin. I lean down to pick up my math notebook when my long curly brown locks of hair fall across my face. I tuck the locks behind my ear but this act is in vain and the worm like strans wiggle themselves free and brush against my face once agian.
Irritated, i scan my desk and look for the most optimum remedy for this problem. *(footnote)* A blue metalic hair tie catches my eye. This hair tie would work perfect. It was metal clip free which saves stuburn unruly strans of hair from being snagged and caught.
I reach for the tie and grasp it between my thumb and pointer finger. Slowly i test it out by rolling it back and forth between these fingers and then slip my middle finger in the tie as well and check the elastisity of it. Nice and tight, but not too tight where is would keep me from twisting it around my husky tail of hair. "this will do" i think to myslef with assurence.
I transfer the tie from my left and to my right. Slowly, three finger to start, i widen the circumfence of the tiny hoop. I let the tie roll slowly on to my petite wrists. Once in place on my wrist i feel the pintch of elastic. I see the extra amount of skin i possess rise on eiather side of the tie.
With both hands i pull my silky hair behind my head and hold it in my left hand. I use my right set of fingers as a comb and comb my scalp to make sure there are no liberating locks of hair. After this, i transfer my hair into my right hand and with my left hand grasp the tie off right wrist. I pull the tie taught, while makeing sure it dosent spilt, over my right knucles and over my bunch of hair. Now once it is in place i pull tight with my left hand and twist on to my left hand. I switch to bunch back and with my right hand pull it back over and through the hair.
This is where the delema comes in. Do i attempt to do one more twist and pull? With my right hand i tug the tie to test the boundness of it. If i do do one more twist and pull the tie might break, not nessasrily right away but possible sometime through out the day. *(footnote 2)* If i dont, i run the risk of it becoming loose. Decsions, decsions.....

*Now if you have ever had the misfortune of having long hair you know the frustration that goes a long with it. Never being able to concentrate with the constant tucking behind the ears and tieing back can been vexaious. Now i have tried many different hair styles but all of which have turned out disatrious.

*2 Having a hair tie randomly break throughout the day can be devestating. Once time during a sectional soccer game i had tied my hair back very tight so i would have any rebellious strains fall out during the game. As i am running up feild i collide with another girl as we fight to tackle the ball. One rough shoulder to shoulder collision did me in; i was fine but my tie had snapped! I continued to fight for the ball with my hair showering over the both of us. Once i cleared the ball with one big kick i immediatly look to my wrist for an extra hair tie. My wirsts were naked. I had to be subbed out soley for the fact that it was impossible to play with my mane of hair recoliling about. Moral of this footnote, alway keep and extra hair tie on your writsts at all times.

I am a Cultured Farmer

Not many people would know that I am currently learning a new language. At least three or more hours a week I am. I like to think that this makes me a bilingualist. Would you think more highly of me if I were bilingual? I consider bi-, tri- lingualists to be above people who aren’t. I certainly feel that they are more cultured than most. I love that word cultured. I wish I were a more cultured in the language aspect. Yet, what does being cultured even mean. Traditionally country people 1 are not thought of as cultured to the city life. I would argue though that city people are not cultured to the ways of the country life. But I also know that this “cultured” notion came about in the olden times, when the educated population lived in the city. Those living out on a farm were not usually formally educated. Did farmers know how to speak two languages? Probably not. However, if a farmer had to make a business transaction or sell some corn to a Spanish speaking man then he must be able to communicate in some way with him. That would make him more cultured than his neighbor down the road 2 who doesn’t know another language.
Learning a language can be pretty exasperating. Starting off your vocabulary consists of family member names, food items and maybe some directions and greetings. The first thing I learned to say in Spanish was Hello, My name is Elise. “Hola, me llamo Elise.” Who am I really ever going to say those words to besides my fellow bilingualists in class? I have yet to share my knowledge of this language to a native of Mexico or Spain. Is my skill a waste of space in my head? Have I failed miserably at my attempt to be cultured? 3


1 I have never thought of myself as country until I came here. There are so many people from Chicago or rather people who like to associate their home with Chicago. The accepted thought is that if you aren’t from the city then you are country. Your home is surrounded by deer infested corn fields; you drive your tractor to school and have a distinguishable southern accent. Something is definitely wrong with this.

2 My grandparent’s neighbors down in Parnell, Iowa, who live down the road, bought a horse to function as their lawnmower. They fence him in and move him to different parts of the yard occasionally. He eats that grass down the dirt. Best lawnmower I have ever seen.

3 There is a very good chance.

Famous Courtesy

Like a seedling being uprooted from its natural ground, I was forced to find comfort in the yield of other kinds of foreign soil—soil that contained strange brambles, weeds, stones and other insects. I had to grin and tolerate the asphyxiation that comes with the bizarre environment, that out-of-place feeling always present among those who’ve found themselves lost. Through these uprooting, because, yes—I’ve been blown over for countless of times and driven out from one home to another for that elusive greener grass, I’ve always found one comfort in one familiar entity. That entity comes in a form that most disciplined and courteous people know so well: courtesy. However absent chivalry might be, courtesy is still ever living in the hearts of the people—the people who have time and breath enough to recognize it. For example, courtesy dictates that we must hold the door for other people. That is the kind of tribute I always try to pay for Lady Courtesy. When someone is at least 4 seconds behind me, I always wait and hold the door for them. Even if a door knob contains virus and germs, courtesy must always be paid. Which isn’t that much of a payment if the other person you held the door for gave that fickle thanks. Because it’s implied—as it was implied a hundred years ago—that courtesy must always be recompensed with the words “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.” These two phrases are basic necessities just like breathing but it is these phrases that have been branded as unnecessary in some people’s minds. Saying these phrases is a part of courtesy. It is the uncouth individual who doesn’t use these phrases.
Another form of courtesy, a courtesy that is exercised among Smith residents, is also unnoticed until now. That courtesy is whittled in the contour of stairs. Tolerating the stairs in Watterson is a very painful experience, the kind of necessary evil one must endure in order to be viewed as a human being who isn’t too lazy to take the elevators—especially among Smith residents living on the third floor. Among the Watterson residents, living in Smith doesn’t equal taking the elevators. Heaven and the mighty earth forbid that the Smith residents might claim the rightful opportunity of using the elevators when they are so graciously provided for. But for courtesy’s sake, I take the stairs—6 flight of stairs made up of 12 rungs each. That’s a total of 72 rungs of stairs that Smith residents need to take for every elevator flight….

Tuned Beyond Standard

Earlier today I played my guitar. As I strummed the harmonious chords¹ of multiple songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers as well as the intricate guitar-work of Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman. I struggled to learn to master the speed and accuracy provided in the second solo (the solo right after the acoustic solo) of Holy Wars, much like the tortoise would. After about an hour or so of practice, I gave up. So frustrated, my hand struck all the strings much like an aroused adolescent boy to his genitals. After a second or two, the second string gave and broke², snapping and curling like an old handlebar mustache.

¹ It is almost redudant to say harmonious chords, seeing as a chord by definition is a series of notes played together in harmony. It is interesting to think that a normal chord can consist of a note and its 5th's and 7th's. Yet even though in my six years of playing, I still do not know exactly what to do when somebody tells me to play an A minor 7th chord, because I have primarily thought of music in only notational letters. Only until about two years ago did I begin to even fathom the idea that music is also represented numerically. Of course there are frets and tableture that tell you how and what to play certain songs, but in this case they mean nothing. However at the time of playing, I was indeed looking at the tableture for some of the beautifully written music and chords by Mr. John Frusciante, which allows the numerical mysteries of chords to be simplified to straight-forward numerical patterns in tableture so that even the slothful hobbyist could understand.

² When a guitar string breaks it is difficult to ignore the disappointment that wells up inside. Although it is known how to change a string and it is rather simple after you have done it a few times, it is very time consuming. One must unwind the once broken string, or at times all of them for they may now be all out of tune. After slowly unwinding the strings evenly you must remove the string from the nut and out through the back of the guitar or through the tremolo (this allows you to tighten or loosen the strings by pressing down on it and can provide a quick springy vibrato) in order to dispose of it, which you better, because having lost a broken string on the floor and stepping on it myself, I know that that kind of pain is not ideal. However, once you have finally restrung and tightened all the strings evenly (in the reverse order of removing them in case you were wondering), it is hard not to caress and slide down the new strings, feeling every intricate and microscopic nickel-wound notch in the strings. The sound again resonates wonderfully, and after you hear what you have done by changing the strings, the hassle of changing the broken string is almost worth it. Almost.

Reading Rituals ps: Lauren you are ridiculous

Reading
It is interesting all the things one reads in a day without even realizing it. Notes, calorie count on the back of your morning yogurt, Signs while going to the bathroom, brushing your teeth, road signs, the back of the towing ticket I got on Monday, the list is infinite and could possibly go on forever. Which brings me to the interesting point of reading a book, which I have recently became acquaintances with. I studied the picture of the immigrant Japanese mother and daughter before even opening up the book. It read “Nisei Daughter”1. What an interesting title, full of secrets which I was about to uncover. I flipped to the third page, because we all obviously know there is nothing important really on the first or second page.2 I found some annoyance with the sand papery texture of the pages. Life would be so much easier and more joyful if the pages were just white. I started to read the black doodles on the page, my eyes shifting from left to right, barely blinking because that is what your eyes do when you are reading something you like. You do not want to miss those moments of things you could have read while your eyes were closed in a fast blink. After an hour or so slithered by, my eyelids started to get weighty as if an imaginary finger were pressing them down, forbidding me to go any further.

1. “Nisei” in Japanese means second generation. Second generation daughter. It is not pronounced knee see, but knee say. This is speaking of the main character of the book Monica Sone who lived in the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The American’s foolishly threw all the Japanese into internment camps, only to realize generations later, that they were too busy with themselves to realize they ruined others lives.

2. Why is there never anything important on the first couple of trees. It would astonish anyone who knew how many trees are killed every year for those stupid bear pages in the beginning. Some books however to not follow this common scheme so I cannot generalize, but most books do this. The first page usually consists of the title again, but why? The title is on the cover or the side, therefore it is not needed. The second page usually consists of the title again and the publisher, which is to be repeated again on the next page. Once again, nonsense. Then there is usually a random blank page in the beginning or end, which makes some annoyance into my brain because it makes the book bigger than it really is.

yawn and stretch

my first accomplishment in the dating world was mastering the movie date.
It is the first of ten and probably one many haven't put much thought into before. many think seeing a movie is a good option for a first date, you don't have to talk much, and then it gives you something to talk about later; what was your favorite part, remember when..., those people behind us were so loud, and so on, but the truth is seeing a movie with someone new for the first time can be a world shaking experience, because you don't just experience the movie. I was not a master at these movie dates until sophomore year but I will take you back to a time when I realized I got myself into a lot more than a flick. It was December of 2003, my friend Chris Peterburs asked me if I'd like to see the movie Elf (1) with him, I saw previews for it and it seemed fairly funny, I mean it has Will Ferrell in it so it had to be good. We bought our tickets, well he bought are tickets, they usher gave us the " you're on a date smirk" as he tore the tickets and informed us we were in theater one, which was directly behind him, Chris lead the way, all the way, to the top on the right side of the screen. I didn't understand at the time why you would pick a spot so far back and one to the side, when I came to movies with friends and family we always picked a spot in the middle, of the middle, not close enough to give you the neck cramp from staring upwards like you do at the base of a sky scrapper when you're trying to see the top, and not to far back where it defeats the purpose of seeing the movie on the big screen, and in the middle so you get to see the screen looking straight on. We sat down in seat where the arm rest was already planted down I watched him look at it with a puzzled look, like it was a bomb ready to explored unless he decoded it before the movie ended, after the previews he gave up on thinking of a non awkward way of removing the only thing that divided us and just said you can use me as an arm rest and pushed it up, I sat with my hands in my lap for the majority of the movie, but I would always catch his eyes glancing at them, thinking of away to dart at them. The movie went on our hands some how became entangled. I was confused on why I had to hold his hand the movie wasn't scary, and it wasn't like I we were in a crowd and had to hold on to each other so we wouldn't lose the other, and as the movie rolled to an end he looked me in the eyes and inched closer, like a dog on a rabbit, I didn't know what to do, so I did the first thing that came to mind, I inched forward in my seat, causing myself to fall to the ground as my seat flung up just skimming his chin, the credits began to roll and I got up and said wow good movie, and started to walk out, Chris and I never say a movie again, nor really talked again. I tell you this story because I don't want you to have an experience like this, my little brother is now a Junior and new to the whole girl boy world, so I help him out and give him the skills I picked up through out my years of movie dates. 1. when you pick a set in the theater find out where the arm rest is already up, so there is no awkwardness when you go to remove it the job will have already been done, order a drink, because your mouth often because very dry when you're nervous causing it to also smell, don't go for her hands if they're in her lap, that means she doesn't want your hands shes fine with hers, if they're on her knee or anywhere close to yours inch yours closer through out the film, and when she flinches or jumps grab her hand for comfort all of these skills will strengthen and grow with time but are good starting ground for unawkward first movie date.











1. Till this Day I can't enjoy watching that movie, every Christmas it becomes popular again, everyone quotes it, answers their phones saying "Buddy the Elf Whats your favorite color" and I try to laugh, try to enjoy this holiday classic as much as everyone else but I can't. You ever realize how movies become more than just movies, when you see a movie you don't just remember the plot, the actors, and funny quotes you remember the day, the people, the place, the food, your mood, the smell, and all those impact your view on the movie so much more than the movie its self. When ever i go to blockbuster and walk through the aisles memory after memory rush to my head and I think to myself how long will these thoughts stay with me, when I'm a mom and take my kids to rent a Friday night flick will my memories block them from choosing the movie of their choose? We'll the thoughts my ex boyfriend who I Bad News Bears with still have an affect on me 30 years down the road, its a good movie i want my child to see it, will my family ever have a Christmas movie night and Elf be a part of it?

Yellow Truck with an Orange Sign

My family and I take a trip down to Florida every year and because of cost we have to drive. On this long drive I spend much of my spare time* looking out the window. I was pondering why they painted lines have significance on the rode when suddenly a truck passed by. Now trucks are very loud so I noticed it right away. For a small amount a time we drove next to it, but because of my dad's speedy driving we passed it up. As i looked back at it I noticed that it was a Yellow truck. No it was not the color it was, but the name of the trucking company. It just so happens that every truck from the Yellow company happens to be orange. I have thought of this question quite a few times. Many be it is orange because it makes a bolder statement, or perhaps yellow is to hard on the eyes. Either way I still believe if it is called Yellow, that's the color the truck should be. Otherwise, they might as well change the name of the truck company to Orange. I think it is weird that the truck company is named after a color in the first place. They didn't put much thought into that marketing campaign, or maybe they did. Maybe they thought that people would find it confusing if the truck is call Yellow, but the sign is orange, therefore they might want to know more about it. They could have done this all on purpose to create a stir about their trucks. Some people might not think they would have put that much thought into it, but I think it is very possible. I have always wanted to met someone who works for the company so I can ask them why their truck is called Yellow, but is not yellow at all. Sometimes I think like I might be reading to deep into this and they might think I am crazy. Whether I am crazy, or not I still want to know. Maybe I can go on their website to find out about it, or see if I can find someone's email who works their to email them. That way I won't have to ask them in person making it less embarrassing if there is no real reason at all. The truck is far behind my speeding dad now and I can barely see the Yellow truck. I guess I will have to wait to find out the answer because I am busy.

*When driving in a cart a person has alot of spare time. Is it really spare time though?

You are doing something, you are traveling, but if your not the one driving your not doing anything. If a friend calls you while you are traveling in a car with spare time and ask you to hang out, you say you are busy. If you have spare time are you really busy?

I Ripped My Pants (sorry, I had tech problems)

One autumn day I was walking across my yard, when I slipped on one of the mossy green walnuts that littered my yard. As I lay with my face on the ground, I was in the prime position to really examine the little chilly blades of grass that encircled my face and tickled my inner nose, like one of those pin impression toys[1]. I lifted my head to look out at the splotchy patches of brown and green[2], for which the cold weather was not completely to blame; the yard had been sickly even in the summer, undoubtedly due to my lack of fertilization and watering. As I sat up, I noticed that the knee of my jeans, which had formerly been worn down to the white spindles of fiber that obviously line blue jeans[3], had ripped completely. This shocked me for a moment, because this particular pair of jeans was my favorite, and although I had worn them often over the past several years, they had never faltered. It was as if I was a Spartan commander, and my phalanx[4] had broke formation. I stood up, a cold breeze blowing against my now naked knee, and walked back inside my house to look up the name of a gardener.





[1] The proper name for this device is the pin screen. This amusing toy became popular in the 1980’s, and consisted of a black rectangle of plastic with thousands of pinholes poked through it. Pins, resembling nails, slid through these holes. One end of these pins was the width of the body, like the point of a nail that had been filed down, while the other end was wider, so that the pin could not slide out of the plastic hole. Above the latter end was a clear glass or plastic sheet that would stop the pins from going too far forward, while the former end would press against things, such as faces, raising the pin various amounts, creating an imprint when repeated by each pin, over the surface of the object.
[2] The true color of grass is this deadish brown color. What gives grass its trademark shade of green is actually the chlorophyll that exists inside the blade, which consists of living cells that process water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen. Therefore, I believe my garden of grass is in fact beautiful and perfect, and it is the chlorophyll to which the neighbors should complain.
[3] Denim is simply cotton that is woven in a twill pattern (a pattern of diagonal ribs), and is then pressed under two or more warp fibers. The reverse of this fabric (the inside of the two layers pressed together) is called cotton duck, and is white because the indigo dye used to make blue jeans their color does not reach this part.
[4] The Spartan phalanx does not break. Ever.

Blog: Drinks: Baker Style: PS JESS SHUT UP =]

Water(1). Milk(2). Juice(3). Powerade(4).
How often do you drink these things and not even think twice about it? you need it to hydrate obviously. but the content, the liquid. everyday, morning, noon and night you need it.

1) water- its simple. people have made it into many complex forms. Carbonated, pure, aquafina, dasani. its always renewable its always there. but how much do we take it for granted. this clear liquid that makes us live? eight glasses a day.. yeah right. that never happens.. unless you carry around a gallon jug of water like my exboyfriend does. you go to the fountain, the fridge, or facut. and its there. without it for three days we wil die. its our solution to our diets.. it has no calories and no fat. without it you would be a dried prune.
2) milk- cows. can't believe it comes out of there. im obsessed. 2% only. skim tastes like water and whole tastes like cream.
3)juice- lemonade, fruit punch, orange, apple, pineapple. these things come from fruits. and sugar. they can be associated with seasons. spring and summer- lemonade. fall and winter-apple cider. i actually just bought some. they did put it in a bag, and i had to double bag it. it was with milk.. it might have broken. why is it that we put drinks and food together in a category for when it should be eaten or drank? egg nog at christmas, fruit punch sitting outside on a hot day.
4)powerade- the only reason i bring this up is because i love it. honestly. i used to drink sports drinks on and off. what really is in there? supposed that it is made from sweat.. its got electrolytes in there for you. for the good of you. for your well being. its associated with sports. but i drink it daily. ican't help it. i have a sick craving every day. its routine.. go to the cafeteria, get food, go to the pop machine and get blue powerade. sometimes it comes out as water because it is empty. i will not have this. i have to have it. i will go to the other side of the food court to another machine to get it. something must be wrong with me. i wake up and i want it. i go to sleep and i want it. I LOVE IT. =]

Sleep

I never knew how much I loved sleeping in. Sleeping is habitual, everyone does it. We all have to at some point. Have you ever wondered what you looked like when you sleep. Sometimes I wake up the next morning and find myself sleeping with a different pillow than I was at the start of my sleep. Or sometimes I have no blanket on at all or even sometimes, I end up on the other side of my bed. Do you ever wonder how you got there? I believe that when I sleep I have dreams that I am burning up or that I was running from someone and the only way to get away is to completely throw my body to the other side of the bed.

I sometimes think that it would be entertaining to videotape myself, or anyone else in that matter, while we sleep and then watch it. I take sleep forgranted but I think that once I saw how much fun sleep looks like, I will like sleep. When I think of sleep now I think of laying in a bed totally motionless and unconscious but thats not what sleep is about. I bet I have some of my best times sleeping. And some of my worst times. When I wake up and have a good dream, I just take it as a good dream but haven't you ever felt like you've had dejavu in one of your dreams. I believe dreams hold answers and sleep is what keeps us alive. It's not just habitual and necessary, it's entertaining.

Mot Juste..?

A typical day has gone by in a flurry. Not with actual flurries sadly, although there should have been being that it is November. I enter my hall of residence and climb aboard the tiny disturbingly unfaithful boxes that will bring me to the location of my bedroom. I dig out my keys and open the door to a most disgraceful site (1). Living in a suite, I often just run to my own room and slam the door. I barely even talk to my roommate. Having chosen to room random, I had no clue who my roommate even was until she slammed open the door the day before classes were suppose to start (2). I still can’t bring myself to comment on her rather repellent part of the room. You would think that a twenty year old would have more courtesy.

(1) Now at this time I would like to point out that this occurrence is quite common. I frequently open the door dreading the other side. For you see, my roommate is quite the slob. I don’t believe she realizes that she shares a room. I often ponder how to bring up this problem to her. Do I come right out and complain to her? Should I leave her a note on a colorful piece of paper? A post-it note would most likely land me with a very unhappy roommate. Do I really even care at the moment? Is it truly that hard to clean up after yourself? Leaving heaping piles of clothes and trash is disgusting.

(2) It was a humid afternoon in mid-August. August the 17th I do believe. I had been quite ecstatic about finding out whom my, hopefully, new best friend would be. I was in for quite a shock when this short, quite large, girl slammed open the door. Her pink hair assaulted my senses. This was not the new best friend I had been hoping for. She begrudgingly said hello and proceeded to haul her luggage into her room. I then realized that this was the beginning of a no-where near perfect friendship, or lack thereof.

He made it look easier than it really is.

On a recent excursion to the dining center, I was honored to partake in a meal with an old friend of mine(1). Following this meal I thought that perhaps my palate could benefit from the refreshing lucidity of ice cream. At the machine I found myself faced with a decision, a paper cup or a sugar cone(2). Ultimately deciding on the sugar cone I pulled down on the knob to release the ice cream in a frustratingly slow pace.
1) This friend is my current roommate. We met when we were half the height we are currently. It was near 7th grade when we started communicating. He was a shy boy who played the baritone in band. Initially I wasn’t drawn to music, instead I was drawn to the movement of the players themselves making the music. The bows of violins moved in rhythmic motions that could only compare to intricately choreographed sword fights. Despite my interest in the string instruments I ended up following my father and playing the trumpet. It is almost like a more pathetic version of a football legacy. But through my instrument playing I met my roommate and copied his algebra homework every day since then.
2) The whole concept of a cone to hold ice cream is a relatively new idea. It came out in the early 1900’s with the original inventor unknown. Many people claim to have invented the sugary treat, yet there is no evidence as to which inventor lays claim to the true rights of the sugar cone.
The whole process of receiving a sugar cone sparked an idea in my head. The sheer amount of refuse saved if everybody used a cone instead of a paper cup is startling. It lead me to believe that if there were an equivalent for paper plates that tasted half as good as sugar cones, we might be able to cut back on even more refuse. However, then there is a problem about which flavor would taste acceptable with a multitude of flavors. I would think some tortilla like substance would only be good for Mexican foods.

Blog: Baker style

The other day, while I was walking to my Politics class in the wonderful 70-degree warm, fall weather I saw someone. This someone’s name is Mallory and we also have history and geology together. We have the “quick smile-say hi-how are you and then go on with your life” relationship. We know each other but we do not know each other. We don’t know each other’s friends, family or past experiences. We simply know each other in passing. Hardly a friendship, perhaps more of an acquaintance. But when do you cross the line from acquaintance to friendship?  As I was walking , making the crunch crunch sound from the fallen leaves on the ground, I saw her just a few feet diagonal from where I was.  I knew her destination because it was the same as where I was headed but in my mind I was having a mini meltdown: Do I speed up to catch up to her? Do I slow down to distance myself from her? Do I acknowledge her? Do I say her name? Do I say hi? Do I walk with her to class? Does she want to walk with me? What will we talk about? Will there be awkward silences? If she were in my position would she call my name and say hi? I went through every single scenario possible and in the end I chose to do nothing about it but simply go on walking a few feet away from her, yet she’s still in my direct line of sight as we are both headed to the same class.

How many times in a day, a month, a year, a lifetime do we encounter this type of social situation? And are the outcomes different sometimes? What is it about social situations that cause people to become so frightened and scared. Looking back it seems simple what I should have done. I should have been the friendly person I claim to be and said hello and made a nice conversation but it seems it is always easier to look back and think of what we should have done. 

A World of Shoes

With suppressed hassle, I untied my black-dominated New Balance sneakers. As I pried one of the shoes off my right foot with a little twist of the heel, I naturally hoped that no obscure odor would release itself from the pockets of air inside either gym shoe (the space between the inner walls of the shoe and the sock and/or foot) and spread among the countless noses nearby. Taking off a pair of sneakers in a public place could only mean 4 things: 1) Some exterior entity had slipped inside one or both shoes (such as a wood chip) and was continuing to poke through the sock while the person walked, 2) the shoe itself was uncomfortable (perhaps a new, unadapted shoe that had not yet figured out a way to mold with the foot's shape and thus chaffed continuously against the top layer of skin)*1, 3) the person wearing the shoe had stepped into a puddle, drenching their feet (rare), or 4) someone was passing through security at an airport. The fourth possibility happened to be my scenario; and I didn't want the travelers around me to smell any odor coming from my shoe*2.

I looked at the people behind me; they were not watching me. I roughly detached my left shoe. Then, I picked both sneakers up with one hand, pinning the inside walls of the shoes together (four fingers in one shoe, the thumb in the other, pinching the sneakers together side by side like a crab's claw). I placed them both inside a bulbous gray bin and then placed that bin on the conveyor belt that led inside the X-Ray machine. The rubber belt moved a little (carrying the bin with it), but then came to a halt. It waited a moment, then retreated a bit, moving the bin back to its starting point. Then, finally, the belt carried the bin through the black, rubber strips that kept the innards of the security machine secret. It was inside.

After getting past security and retying my sneakers, I began noticing other people's shoes. I was amazed to see that everybody wore different pairs which they had, on one day like the rest of us, picked out at the shoe store. There must be billions and billions of different shoes in this world, because I didn't find any matches that day. And in a busy place like the airport, I was sure I'd find two of the same -- but I didn't. Everyone had on a different pair of shoes.

There was one time, however, when I found someone with the same shoes as mine. They were Nike. What an extraordinary moment. At that exact time, in that exact place, I realized that the two of us with the same sneakers must have been at a shoe store sometime in our lives and made the decision to buy the EXACT same brand of shoe. And not only that -- but also the exact MODEL of that brand. That was wonderful, and I marveled at it for a few seconds before having to say something stupid like, "Hey! Look at us! We're twins!" We both chuckled (maybe out of embarrassment, out of disbelief, or a little of both) and then returned to ourselves as we contemplated the chances of that EVER happening again in our lives.

*1: This is perhaps the least embarrassing of the different situations in which one might take off their shoe publicly. The relief of the removed shoe outweighs the embarrassment of the initial removal and might go as far as leading one to take off their sock as well. As soon as the sock comes off, the brain goes into a state of utter obsession -- focusing completely on the itchy red marks pressed down into the skin by the compressed sock. The miniature rash is most commonly found above the medial cuneiform bone (the little bony bump down from the big toe). The red indents of the sock engraved into the foot's skin yearn to be itched; and once you scratch that burning bump, a tingling fury erupts in both hand and body, causing a spasm of violent scratching and overwhelming pleasure until finally, you are satisfied. You can sit back and stretch your foot in a slow, circular motion -- feeling the lingering steam of the scratching drift around the foot and then dissipate into the air. This can often occur in theme parks.

*2: One might wonder why I was self-conscious of my foot odor reaching the noses of strangers. After all, I'd probably never see them again, right? Although this thought has frequented my mind like an undecided, pacing spectator, I have come to the conclusion that even though the probability of ever seeing the strangers again was quite low, the moment of embarrassment and later feelings of torment made hiding the stench a top priority. Out of the seven billion people on the planet, those select few (that won't ever see you again) will always remember you as the smelly-foot guy; and that pinch of poor reputation is enough to spill over your brain and soak it in a sour puddle of self-disgust. And THAT is why it still matters. Who knows -- maybe you'll run into one of those people someday, and they'll take that one moment of stink and use it to blacken the safe status quot you've worked to maintain your entire life. It's best to play it safe, I think.

Writing in the style of Baker, or at least trying to... haha.

It was not until today when I was writing notes in my psychology class, listening to the teacher, her voice but a whisper among the sounds of texting and mumbling throughout the entire lecture hall, that I ripped my paper with the force of my blue-inked dollar store pen(1). At that moment, I decided to go back to all the other times I had ripped my paper by my writing. I am quite sure there is more then one occasion I didn't remember. But, what I did remember was that my paper had never been savaged by anything other then an eraser of a pencil being dug into the paper much too hard by my own force, let alone the unnecessary harshness of my hand to my pencil, creating a slash in between the papers blue lines. Now, this pen being my favorite pen, the power of all of my writing; my notes, my doodles, my reminders, my homework! Had failed me? That upset me.I had grow accustomed to using this one utensil for everything, that I put my own trust in it. Silly, because who puts their trust in a pen(2)?Remembering that I was in psychology, I quickly got another piece of paper, and went on with writing my notes. All the while, I began to think up a theory of needing the proper writing utensil, and the importance of having one that never failed, much like what had just happened to me.  That is when I came to the conclusion that because my aunt had bestowed upon me, these such gifts, and that because I had not chosen this utensil myself, I truly never felt the connection of having the "perfect" writing utensil for me. This is what lead me to the much over thought conclusion that I must find the perfect utensil myself, and so my journey began at the Allamo(3).  Once at the Allamo, I realized how absurd it would seem to others to spend so much time finding the "perfect" utensil, so I decided to look interested in a couple of shirts and magazines before my hunt for the "perfect" writing utensil really began. Although this journey was short, it was sufficient. To this day, I have my perfect writing utensil, a black-inked BIC pen, that has yet to fail me! 

(1) I had never taken much into consideration about the different types of writing utensils I used. I always though, whatever worked, was fine with me. It was until my Aunt got me this set of blue-inked dollar store pens that I realized one has to enjoy what they write with. It makes taking notes, writings stories, even doodling way more fascinating then a boring old pencil would do, at least that is my opinion. 

(2) I had started using this pen once my Aunt had given it to me, without much thought of its use until I actually enjoyed writing with it. I put my "trust" in it, never losing it, and always used for everything I had to write, rather than type. It had yet to fail me, or run out of ink!

(3) A store I find myself wandering to quite often, when I think I need something, although deep down I know to be completely unnecessary. 

abstract that sucked and am totaly changing ,my paper

This is my philosophy of learning; I believe that in order for one to learn they must experience the world. You cannot learn about the world by sitting on your couch and watching the world pass you by. Although there are many things we are incapable of experiencing, due to time, money, and many other reasons, and for the things we can’t experience ourselves we have books to read, about other people’s experiences. But in order to learn from others experiences one must forget about who they are, and what they believe and allow themselves to absorb into the text so that they can experience the text what it is, and not who they are in the text. I back up my philosophy by quoting many authors from the book Falling into Theory, a poet Gabe Gudding, Stein, and many others to help support that one best learns from experiences. I also believe that one learns best from talking and interacting with peers, by bouncing ideas and opinions off of each other, I believe in order to learn no must be open and eager, one must want to learn in order to learn well. By listening to others and being active in a debate or discuss you do not only learn many sides, view points, and opinions you become a scholar yourself and allow others to learn from you, creating a haven of learning.



You are born, in your first few years of life your parents teach you how to eat, walk, talk, and perform other necessary tasks to prepare you for pre-school. In pre-school you learn your colors, the alphabet, how to write the alphabet, how to share, clean up, the importance of nap time, and popular nursery rhymes. After pre-school is completed you then go off to kindergarten where you prefect the skills you learned in pre-school and obtain the ability to learn which will help you excel in the twelve plus years of schooling ahead of you. After you complete each grade you find yourself to be a tad bit more knowledgeable and wiser, just thinking of how once you graduate high school you will be a genius, that by then you must have had learned everything there is to learn in life. But that is not true at all. Although one does learn and gain a large amount of facts, skills, and knowledge in school, there is another world to be learned outside the classroom, but to experience that world of information one must transform themselves into an eager, open, aware student of the world.
To learn is to live. To live is to experience. Not everything can be learned from experiences, but the things that are, are the lessons that stick with one for life. One can read a book about the slums, and the poverty in third world countries, but will never truly understand the realness of them until they visit a third world country and see the dirt covered child wearing no shoes, and sporting a belly the size of Santa but housing no nutrition. When one sees such a heart breaking, eye opening sight they will then understand that there is a world out there where a meal is not always promised, nor is a bed, an education, or even love. Without experiencing a world different from our own it is easy to think that everyone has a life like ours, and that people living below the poverty level only exist in books. Eyes are one of the most powerful tools we have for learning, and once one learns that, they will learn more daily than they ever thought imaginable.
From real life experiences one forms their own personal morals, values, and ideology. Eagleton believes that the truth or falseness of a belief is “less important than what it feels like to experience them” (51). Someone can tell you the grass is green but you don’t know that until you see it and experience grass for yourself for then you will truly know and understand what green is, and that grass is in fact green. But it is not always so easy to go out and experience something to find your own conclusion and view point on it, which is why we have literature. “For “experience” is not only the homeland of ideology, the place where it takes root most effectively; it is also in its literary form a kind of vicarious self-fulfillment” (52) So although experiencing something first hand is the best way to learn, and get a real grasp on the concepts of the issue being faced or taught, the world is big and life is short so we can’t experience everything, which is why we have authors. Not authors of history books who write to inform us on facts but authors who write about experiences: what it was like to live during World War 2 in Germany, or travel the Underground Rail Road; for those are things we can’t experience. But by reading a book from someone who did, one can get the full on feel on what it would have been like to experience such a life impacting event.
“Now, why is it so important that Davidson‘s theory allows the interpreter to learn from experience, to refine ones’ theory in accordance with experience? Precisely because it gives us a reason to study literature” (Dasenbrock 286). By reading we can make better sense of our own experiences. Authors write about their experiences so the reader can then compare and contrast their views with the writers to improve one’s stance on their morals or change them after reading someone else’s experience and seeing what they learned from it. Don’t read to change your beliefs but rather to make them stronger. To understand both sides of the issue, and know why others might think differently than you. In order to learn from others experiences though, one must open up and break down their wall of seeing black and white, wrong and right, thinking “I’m always right”. In order to fully learn from another’s experience you must read the words for what they’re worth and not for what their saying that goes against your own personal beliefs. In order to experience the text for what it is, you must become one with the text, and not make judgments against it until you are fully done with it. Books are written with purpose and intent, the author has goals in mind on what they want the reader to learn and walk away with after reading their book. If one puts their own experiences before the authors while reading it is impossible for them to learn anything new from the text. It is easy to read the text and form the text into an alliance with our own beliefs, but what will you learn from reading something that you already find true, how will that help you grow or even strengthen your values. “Our immediate reaction when we encounter difference is to refuse that difference, to preserve the maximum of agreement, and there are times when this works, when we get away with assuming that we are saying the same thing if by different words. But the interesting moments are when this doesn’t work so well, when we realize that what we are interpreting does express beliefs different from our own, this for me is the most important reason to read and to study literature, to break out of our own circle of beliefs and assumptions and to encounter another point of view” (Dasenbrock 287). Yes, learning from experiences is what I believe to be the finest form of learning but, one must also read of others experiences without building up a wall between themselves and the text. In order to learn how to view the world from another’s eyes, and take a walk in someone else’s shoes we must read their story with an open mind. To be an excelling learner one must have a strong foundation built with one’s own personal morals and values, but have the ability to listen and contemplate others beliefs, by doing so knowledge will be overflowing all around you.

Ohhh yeah

How We Learn
Without experience and emotion, learning as we all know it, would cease to exist. Well, it would exist, but would it be of any importance to us? Facts and knowledge are fragile devises; they are not to be thrown around like toys into people’s brains. Knowledge is to be taught through experience, and learned and retained as a result. Without experiencing what we learn, knowledge would just be there, a stationary object in which we could grasp with our hands, not with our minds. Without living through what we have learned, knowledge would not have any true meaning to its students. That is why students around the world learn better through “hands on” learning, and not through lectures. Like Paulo Freire once said, “Narration leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated content. Worse yet, it turns them into “containers,” into “receptacles” to be “filled” by the teacher. The more completely he fills the receptacles, the better a teacher he is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are” (Freire 69.) People are not machines, they are not robots, and they are certainly not receptacles or containers. Learning has to mean something to us, not just some random facts thrown around, and if we happen to catch one, then we are considered “smart,” and are understood to comprehend the issue because we can repeat it. In theory, we need something more than teachers spitting out facts, we need life lessons, life experiences, and then we would really have some geniuses among us.
We also learn with emotion. Subjects are best obtained if they appeal to our senses and emotions. Students remember things best when they have an emotional attachment to something. If there is something we feel strongly about we remember it, because some emotions are so strong that they engrave themselves into one’s mind, and can take a while to let go. Emotion attaches itself to learning subconsciously. Without even knowing it, we feel certain emotions when we obtain, and can relate to certain knowledge. For Example, learning about The Destruction of the Indies by Bartolome Las Casas, would be learned rather easily if someone had ancestry that had been killed in those cruel and unusual deaths. Also, emotion deals with religion, religion is never to be replaced, but can be compared to learning. To learn is like practicing religion, in which they both need emotion, and a cognitive aspect to practice. Like Terry Eagleton has previously stated, “… like religion, literature works primarily by emotion and experience, and so was admirably well-fitted to carry through the ideological task which religion left off” (Eagleton 51.) When practicing a religion, you feel the texts in which it is written. You feel the text as if it was alive, and can connect with you spiritually. That is how all literature should be; connecting with your emotions, so that it can be better practiced, and mean something other than just letters on a page that one can read. Emotion helps us open up and let learning in. Wishing fellow students a good day and a well understand of their life before one starts their work will take a weight off of their shoulders, and make learning easier. It is easier to learn when you feel warm hearted, and good at soul instead of close minded and hatred towards others who are in your situation.






Other Brainstorming that I did. . .
Why we learn. Learning is power, and without learning certain things one cannot accomplish very much in our world or at least in the U.S. Jobs and money are some of the things that we see as valuable in our lives, and without the proper education it is hard to obtain either of those.
Why we learn. Learning triggers our innermost feelings and thoughts. I think that a person is considered lost if they do not know at some point in time what their purpose in life is, why they make a difference on this planet, or who they really are. Learning helps open up our minds, and understand our souls. It can help us find ourselves, and see ourselves in another light that could have never been possible without literature or other knowledge.
Possible Quote: Page 59, “to read literature was thus to regain vital touch with the roots of one’s own being.”
Learning brings us together, other countries, ethnicities, and helps us understand issues through others standpoints. We have to realize that we are not the only country on this planet, and it is healthy to understand where other people come from, and how their life differs from ours. We cannot be so ethnocentric, we are not the best country out there, and we have to start understanding others.
Maybe be able to use quote... “Therefore, though culture may be concerned with making the individual better that is not necessarily to say that it is concerned with the restructuring of society.” Page 66
We learn because we can, evolution gave us the ability to branch out, communicate, and learn to great limits. We would not want to waste that privilege.
Page 72, “yet only through communication can human life hold meaning.”

Abstract
I hope to get many different things out of my philosophy of learning. One being that I will be able to write a better understand, or at least for me, of how and why we learn. While reading Falling Into Theory a lot of things confused me, I did not agree with much, and I never have seen theories about learning like I have read in that book. With this paper I get a chance to explain what I think. I do not have to read other authors talking about learning and literature, now I get to be just like them, and write how I feel about the learning process. Also, I mentioned in my brainstorming portion, that I believe someone is considered lost if they do not know their purpose in life, how they make a difference, or who they are as a person. I guess I am considered lost then, because I still believe I am young, and do not know yet what my purpose in life is, or who I am. Hopefully by writing this paper, and understand why and how I learn the things that I do, I will come into better grips with my inner self, and my deepest feelings.

Whoops. Two pages.

Learning. Learning is a constant process of human beings. To say that one is not learning is impossible; everything we do, everything we see we take something from it whether we want to or not. To die is to finally stop learning. I think everyone needs to embrace that. I am not just talking about learning in the classroom, I am talking about the things you hear on the news, the people you meet everyday, the things you see happening. To say you can't learn from a tree is ridiculous, even though saying that you can sounds extremely silly. Everyone can learn from everything if they open their mind to it, and that often seems to be a problem. Some students seem to not really care about what they are doing and school and, rather, go on auto-pilot. The amount of people I see do this has certainly changed drastically from when I was in high school, but still, the fact that people still do that is astounding.
Do not get me wrong, not everything you see or hear in the classroom necessarily needs to be learned. What good is a chemistry formula to, say, one who works in Public Relations? No, to such things I say write down and keep for later if the need arises. Keep your eyes open nonetheless, as one never truly knows what is useless and what isn't. But what about subjects that you need to learn about? How does an English major, for example, learn about writing styles or theories? How do you differentiate from learning a math theorem and learning an essential thing you need to know? What a terrible sentence. But anyway, one needs to be aware about such things and the difference between what they should pay attention to and what they should just write down. As there is the banking style of teaching where the teacher just inserts knowledge with very little rhyme or reason, there too is the banking style of learning, where even if the teacher or professor is great, the students just marks the notes in his or her
Aguilar 2
notebook and is done with it, only learning until the exam hits.
Learning, or at least academic learning, does not end in the classroom of course. This concept is not a difficult one to understand, as so many people accept this it is almost redundant to mention it. Nonetheless, it must be reiterated. As a student, I am obligated to not only do the homework but to understand it. What is the good of reading, say, Stein, if you do not at least understand why you are reading it? This is not to say that you should fully understand what Stein is saying, for example, as that is an exercise of tedium and may result in constant frustration in addition to taking months of constant attention to fully understand it. But understand the bare bones of the reading or at least why it was assigned and what else was assigned around it. There is another thing about learning and understanding, you have to make associations. Think about what is assigned and how they tie into each other. It is easy to read multiple essays at the same time and comment on them, but more than likely if multiple readings are assigned at once it is with a purpose. So one must be constantly observing.
I feel an obligation to the professor of the subject to pay attention or at the very least take notes. To procrastinate – as I often unfortunately do – or to not do the homework assigned almost defeats the purpose of the learning process. To forget that learning is important and always active is to fail, I think.
It is of course a struggle. Nobody is saying that is isn't. How does one overcome that struggle? Is it subject matter? An interest in that class? I don't know if I have gotten to that part yet.

Only the Beginning...

I believe that the heart of teaching should be patience with a side of understanding. There are many different beliefs on what teaching should be. What teaching really is, what it should convey and uphold. Books upon books exist consisting of theories on the supposed “right way” to go about teaching. There really is no right way. You teach how you teach. Students learn in their own ways. You can’t force them to learn in any certain way, it isn’t morally right. In reality everyone is a student in this world. As Paulo Freire says, “Man is merely in the world, not with the world or with others; man is spectator, not re-creator. In this view, man is not a conscious being; he is rather the possessor of a consciousness: an empty “mind” passively open to the reception of deposits of reality from the world outside.” He is saying that man is merely a spectator in this wide world. Every single person on this planet still has much to learn about life. We may be aware of our surroundings but we still have much to learn about them is the point in which I am trying to get across.
The qualities I have listed in the previous paragraph should only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the layout of teaching. The traits a teacher may possess will undoubtedly influence, in some way, shape or form, your ability to learn. If a teacher dulls you and is
completely monotone, you are not going to be interested in the topic. As such, your ability to learn will suffer from this. However, if that same teacher were to really make the subject interesting and would truly capture your attention, then you will listen more intently. You will be more compelled to come to class, to take notes, to really try to learn something new. People, whether they except it or not, want to learn. It’s in our genes. From the day we are born we are constantly striving for more information. Every essence of our being is programmed to learn. This is true for our physical being as well. If something is, for say, extremely hot to the touch. You touch it and instantly pull your hand back. You learned something there. See? Learning is all around us.
Why do people strive to learn so much? With so many questions and still so many answers for these questions. “The aim of culture is to set ourselves to ascertain what perfection is and to make it prevail.” (Viswanathan). Is that why we wish to learn so much? Perhaps a hidden desire to become perfect? I do believe that culture today has an unhealthy obsession with perfection. No one should have to be perfect. We shouldn’t have to feel that we need to learn just to become perfect creatures. We should learn to enhance our own self. We should take in all that we can and give even more to ensure personal growth. I feel that learning is a kind of gift. A gift that is to be taken and shared with everyone. I believe this is a true reasoning for learning; or at least it should be.
Students learn the best in helpful open environments. One’s they aren’t afraid to speak up in, where they can ask questions, and receive insightful answers. Some people don’t need
participation to learn. They can learn through example and through just listening. I personally feel that students should not be forced to participate if they are doing just fine otherwise. I know learning can be about stepping out of your comfort zone but forced participation is unfair. If it has to be done, let the students slowly come out of their comfort zone. Soon enough they will feel more comfortable with their peers.
Thoughts
-Go into more detail about how I personally learn. Really talk about how I go about doing this and why I learn in that way.
-Discuss other theories from the essays we have read. Quote all of them. Talk about if I agree or disagree with any of them and why I think that way.
-Really think about any more questions I may have about this topic.
-Think about any frustrations any of these make me feel. Discuss them.

Brainstormin's

Sorry about this, my comp was being weird.

Brainstorming

I learn best when my mind and body are free to navigate with the vessels of my thoughts. As socially aware beings, we are cartographers. We learn through pain, when something is taken from us; without loss, we never learn to cherish what we have. We learn to let go of illusions, drop broken ties. Our hearts and minds expand through knowledge and exploration, and knowledge exists so that we needn’t spend our lives reliving what others spent their lives discovering. With all the resources available to us know, in a way we’ve each lived thousands of lives, yet being fed from such a mass store of information sometimes detracts from both the desire and need to explore for oneself, even if the discoveries are known; the way in which babies experience and learn about the world is sensory, and though we each began with the basics, that characteristic still lies within each of us if summoned properly by the correct environment. Metaphorically speaking, if this were done properly, we would all wish to crawl, discover, grasp new counter tops, all with a sense of newness- a location where a carnation doesn’t have a name, just something with a pink, ruffled top, though none of those words exist either; nothing has to have a label there, or a category.
True, raw learning is apart from its fraternal synonyms: knowledge, scholarship, wisdom. The process of learning lends itself to unfamiliarity, a realm where there may not be a black or white, true or false, or better or worse. We first with basics, then group them together into concepts, which are less arbitrary, learn in ways that are transitive and may involve experimentation and being disproved. One of the keys is that learning is a process, as if we were each born with all the tools and understanding that we needed to comprehend the world without first making mistakes and creating our own theories, then w would lack other forms of creativity as well. Also, we learn as sensitive and perceptive beings (many until two decades in their lives), that what they say and do actually has an impact on themselves and those around them. I learn best not when what I’m doing hurts me, but when it hurts those I care about, because part of being sentient and emotional involves acquires empathy, or at least sympathy, through a series of hardships; if everything came easy to us, then we would never have any reason to try to connect with people or broaden our horizons. As said in class of a philosophy of learning, dissatisfaction and indeterminacy each exist for a purpose, to make us better ourselves and never cease to explore new things about the world, those around us and ourselves. The most we can seem to do, truly, as limited beings, is try to know as much as we can about one or two subjects. To me this seems to be why majors exist. Also, even experts in various fields seem to know that, more than likely, they will never know all that there is to know within their field, and a century after their deaths, their fundamental thoughts on the topics encompassed maybe become obsolete; just as people took whatever information was told to them throughout points of history, like with FDR’s fireside chats, people of today turn to the news for a, perhaps, false sense of security. This is strange, as hindsight is known to be 20-20, yet many rely on foresight regardless. Also, an interesting aspect of human nature is knowing that the world is ever changing, yet some things are constant, like the shifting of the seasons, and that, though many have become highly commercialized, traditions are often able to serve a function of bringing people together, even though the world is ever-changing. Ecosystems, even if un-tampered with by humans, fluctuate as well, but not as dramatically as the world of homo sapiens. With our complex webs of morals, we learn that making conscious decisions varies in difficulty by who or what is involved; I read once in Time Magazine that given a scenario in which a train is supposed to stop ahead but will not, an operator is near the lever arm which can bring the train to a halt if pushed onto the lever, and save ten people on an incoming bus or save the one person, the operator, the people surveyed quickly responded that they would save the ten people over the one. However, in the next scenario they were told that the operator was their father or brother, and this baffled people, bringing many to choose the one person, which of course is selfish, taking into account the loss of the families of the other ten people, but this is where love comes into play.
We learn that it can often be the main force to drive a decision, like whether to change jobs and receive a lower salary to be with someone, or fly halfway across the world to care for one’s ill relative. In addition, love is a crucial aspect of learning, putting lessons to use, and appreciating why lessons exist. Without the love of and being loved by others, our lessons would be different ones in that they would detach us from others with smaller spectrums of emotion, accompanied by lower expectations, and on occasion a listlessness for learning if the underlying goal in improving and broadening oneself would be questionable, possibly buried even deeper within us but we’d lack the desire to find it.

3 pages of hell..

Abstruse Of Comprehending

Learning is natural. We all have to do it. A philosophy of learning is connected with a philosophy of teaching. Education is a fragile thing. If you can’t learn, you can’t have an education. And without that, you won’t go anywhere in life. Having an education is powerful. Being literate is compelling. Learning is something that should not be overlooked.
There are many different ways of learning. Multiple intelligences are very important while learning. Depending on what kind of person that you are depends on the way that you learn. There are many different intelligences: linguistic, logical, spatial, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.
There are three different types of learning styles: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. I myself am a visual learner. I need things like overheads, and words written on the board to understand. Learning by listening sometime really doesn’t do anything for me. If I have be in a lecture, I have to take
Having the previous experience of being a student teacher, I have learned what it is to teach. I’ve learned what it is to be taught. When you are put in the position of being the teacher, you really have to understand how your students will learn from what you are teaching. You write the lesson plans, and have to assess what should be learned.
It is so frustrating to learn new things. It is even more frustrating to try to learn things that you don’t want to. That is when you’re five friends aren’t by your side. Not wanting to learn makes it hard. But when you are excited about learning it seems easier. You feel torn when you want to learn. You would rather being doing anything besides that at the time. To be honest, some of the books that we have read make me not excited to learn at all. Reading Stein made me not want to learn. I can’t do it. I can’t be excited to read books that I have to analyze. Why do we have to highlight and underline so much just to learn about one or two sentences? Do we honestly have to break down everything? There is so much under the surface and we have to understand more than just the sentence that is displayed in the paragraph. Writers seem to make it harder to learn. They make it harder for me to learn. Why isn’t everything just straight forward? It should tell you who what it means; it should be that simple. There shouldn’t have to be an underlying meaning.
How do I learn? I just do. But sometimes I feel like what Freire said is true. “Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor”. (Richter- Freire 69) Teachers just put information in our heads, also known as banking. “The more completely he fills the receptacles, the better a teacher he is.” (Richter- Freire 69) Teachers are only good teachers if they make their students learn information, permanently. I feel though as some time passes those things that were placed in our receptacles eventually drop off.
Terry Eagleton compares literature and religion. In the classroom, you are not supposed to integrate religion. I was taught that God was not supposed to be talked about in school. It is such a controversial issue. Teachers were supposed to teach the subject that was intended to be taught, and leave God to the church. Eagleton says that religion should be replaced with literature, which I think is completely wrong. “If one were asked to provide a single explanation for the growth of English studies in the later nineteenth century, one could do worse than reply: “the failure of religion”.”(Richter- Eagleton 49). I think that you can learn both about literature and religion. It is ironic though that he would mention that, because religion is part based upon the Bible, and the Bible is literature. “It took rather longer for English, a subject fit for women, workers, and those wishing to impress the natives, to penetrate the bastions of ruling-class power in Oxford and Cambridge.” (Richter- Eagleton 53). I don’t know if it was the fact that the upper class thought they were too good for English or that it just came to the lower class first. Either way, English was put on the table to be learned by all. It is the basis of everything else that we have to learn. If you don’t have English, then there is not point to even attempt to learn other subjects.
I think also that how you learn depends on where you are, what you are surrounded by. Who is around you depends on how you learn. If you are sitting by someone that won’t stop talking, or has nervous habits, like popping their gum and tapping their pen, you might not be as susceptible to learning. When I am learning I need it to be peaceful. I don’t need it to be “pin-drop” quiet, but at least a good volume of quiet. Don’t speak in my ear when I’m trying to learn. I won’t pay attention. Sweatpants can sometimes be a hazard in the learning environment. Sometimes I am so comfortable that I don’t feel like learning. No shoes are a must. Covering the feet is like covering the mind. It blocks information from coming in. Crossing your legs might feel like tightening up, but it doesn’t. Playing with your hair is fidgety. I do it, most girls do. I can’t help it. Colors can spark interest. White, black, and gray make me look at the inside of my eyelids. Orange, red, and lime green; those are the colors that make me wake up. They open my eyes to new things, to want to learn. Enough sleep is necessary to focus. And so is the contents of your stomach. You have to be right on before you learn.

3page philosophy

Philosophy of Learning
The Buddhist Proverb says, “when the student is ready, the master appears”, personally this is extremely similar to my personal philosophy of learning. From years of education and life lessons, I strongly believe that you must be ready and want to learn before any knowledge is gained. Through all the classrooms I have sat in to all the teachers I have worked under, I realize that it was the ones where I was willing and ready to learn that made a difference. For the desire to learn to be present, there must be three circumstances existing. First, the correct environment and curriculum for learning is crucial. Also, the educator has his/her responsibilities that are crucial for student’s learning and students must hold their end of the responsibility as well.
Learning goes way beyond the classroom walls and school property. Learning occurs through communication and interaction. For this to be possible, the learning environment is critical. The classroom, or wherever the learning is taking place, must have a very open and welcoming atmosphere. The environment must be both accepting and critical for quality discussions and interactions to take place. The learners must feel comfortable enough to express their personal opinions without feeling apprehensive of judgmental thoughts. Students need to feel as if they can voice their opinion even if it the teacher or fellow peers do not agree for quality learning to happen. The classroom needs to engage in conversations in which all students may participate. Beyond discussions and class material, students must have choices. There must be a variety of activities and interactions that are enjoyable for a wide range of personalities and individuals. With the correct environment, students will be self-motivated to learn and will develop accomplishment and satisfaction easier.
As educators, teachers hold large responsibilities in shaping the developing minds of their students. The mentors should clearly explain their goals and methods so that their students are aware of the expectations. Teachers should create interest and generate curiosity while encouraging students to work hard. Teachers should focus on weaning students of being depending on adults and help them form their own individual. When students ask questions or spark discussions, teachers should never just plainly answer the question, instead they should allow the students to think for themselves first (providing time for the student to wonder and struggle). Teachers must not judge prematurely and only provide fair criticism. Students should be encouraged to communicate and collaborate with their peers and the teacher should partake in this as well. Educators hold the responsibility of being active listeners and learners, for they are learning from their students as well. Learning is a two way process that definitely results in knowledge gained from both sides. Teachers must allow for doubt and frustration in their students and instead of disregarding or reprimanding these feelings, teachers need to understand them and work with them.
The student’s role as a learner is the most important of all. From personal experience, I understand that learning is like a sport: it requires effort, determination, and interest. Without these things you cannot expect to be the team’s MVP and then go professional. Learning is a sport and until you learn the basics, you will still be sitting on the sidelines. Students must make use of their previous and initial knowledge. What you learn in grade school is the basis of all knowledge to come. Students must open up their mind to everything and not just stay focused one what they are personally interested in. There has to be a development of desire to learn. By doing so, one must work effectively and intensely. Premature judgment of fellow peers, mentors, courses, etc. must be avoided to keep an open mind on education. Once a student can think independently and take responsibility for his or her own actions, then they will be ready to learn.

Brainstorm for rest of paper:
-Quotes and points made by all of the philosophers and authors we read from in Eng 100
-Personal examples of how I learn best
-In what environment (small class size vs. big, lecture hall vs. interactive classroom)
-With what type of teacher and resources
-Learning outside of the classroom, in real life
-Taking initiative to learn
-Absorbing the knowledge and using it in real life
-My personal best environment to learn/read/write in
-“Banking system of education”
-Teachers as students, learning from their students and their fellow teachers

check out this band

Check out this band. They will blow your mind. It's like contemporary art / music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGqJaFD7_wQ

Trippy trippy stuff.


1. Difference between factual knowledge, thought provoking knowledge, and reasoned knowledge
A. Factual Knowledge is objective and definite
A. Current Status of Education
a. This is what education is, but it is not what it should be
b. Increase of information on internet renders the knowledge of factual knowledge not valuable because answers are easy to be found
c. Factual knowledge can be easily found. Rendering it worthless if the value of knowledge is based on supply and demand.
i. Acquiring knowledge is done to elevate one’s status in the work place/job hunt.
ii. People pursue knowledge as a means of getting a better job to make more money which leads to a “better” life.
iii. The study of factual knowledge is ultimately futile because factual knowledge is worthless due to the ease of acquiring this knowledge
d. Paulo Freire Banking Concept pgs 72-74

B. Better technology makes factual knowledge worthless
a. Internet makes once hard to find information easily accessible by anybody with an internet connection.
b. About 75% of Americans have access to the internet from home. (Nielson-Nielson)
c. Through websites like Wikipedia.com, encyclopedia.com and Google one can find almost any piece factual information they could ever need.
d. Counter argument could be that online sources are not reliable sources of information but the sheer quality of information on the internet can verify most information.
e. Calculators are demonstrating this process .
i. Today’s common calculators can perform more tasks
ii. The need to learn how to multiply, add, subtract can be replaced with the knowledge of how to use a calculator, which can be found online
iii. New calculators have the power to perform advanced forms of calculus. TI-Nspire
C. Dangers in Schools emphasizing factual knowledge
a. Actually is detrimental to the progression of learning
i. Treats students as second class learners having to learn and regurgitate facts that might not be true
ii. Removes the freedom to question information which is key in education –scientific method
iii. Does not allow students to be a contributing member of society because the knowledge the possess will never be greater than the information yielded by a Google search.


B. Thoughts are subjective
A. Ultimately more beneficial to learn how to do
a. Requires actual thought process not wikipedia
b. Requires critical thinking and deeper understanding
Come about from communication
Heuristic- Thought provoking work
Freire quotes on pg 73
c. Thoughts are ideas or how to accomplish
d. Similar to reasoned knowledge
e. I’m really starting to think this isn’t going to be beneficial at all to what I’m actually going to write about.
C. Reasoned Knowledge
A. Come from a combination of factual knowledge and thought provoking knowledge.
B.
1. Learning through Experience
a. Learning is best done when questions are allowed to be raised
i. Only through communication is real learning acquired
ii. When someone can explain something and have a conversation about it can they actually claim to know it.
b. Learning is best when the initial goal is to create thought (heuristic)Learning through discussion


EPIPHANY!!Metaphor comparing learning to playing a trumpet

Quote Metaphors we live by at the very beginning. Probably something that has something to do with how metaphors make learning concept easier to comprehend.

Try to simplify as much as possible. I want it to be easy to understand and not seem like some of the stuff from richter.

Compare simple concept like “Play in a group of musicians” to the necessity of communication and group work.

Going with that concept.
“Take lessons” to “Go to school.”
“Spend a lot of time practicing by yourself” to “Spend a lot of time practicing by yourself”“Can read about how to play but you will never know how to play” to “experience Is necessary.”
“Listen to others, put forth your own sound, and blend.” To “communication.”This is so brilliant I’m so proud of myself. More to come later.
Stephen Stanger

Abstract: In keeping with George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s belief that “metaphorical concepts can be extended beyond the range of ordinary literal ways of thinking and talking into the range of what is called figurative, poetic, colorful, or fanciful thought and language(Lakoff and Johnson, P. 14)” Stephen Stanger compares the concept of learning with playing a trumpet. Through this metaphor basic connections are made between the act of learning and the process of making music. By comparing these two arts Stephen Stanger suggests that the process of learning is a universal procedure with how we acquire knowledge. Through human interaction, critical thought, and through personal experience we attain information that allows us to further the betterment of our character and our quality of life as a whole.

Free me from this prison!!!

This paper about my beliefs on the philosophy of learning is going to focus on such things as the importance of the setting and setup of the classroom, how the material can help me in the real world, and how the teacher of a class can often dictate their students’ feelings towards the subject as a whole. I will include examples of alternative teaching practices that have helped me learn, such as having class outside and discussing material as a class in a sporadic way, as to stimulate deeper thought. Discussed will also be the text that I have read in the English 100 class, incorporated in such ways as explaining that just as in Las Casas, teaching can be a serious form of propaganda that is often overlooked by society. The main theme of this paper, however, will be that the old standard for teaching, the banking concept, simply is not the most effective way to be taught. This concept brings about the ability to talk about subjects, without being able to actually speak. In other words, I will try to illustrate how the main purpose of education is to develop critical thought about the world, in which every person’s end result will be different, and how this is best reached through engaged discussion, as opposed to recitation or listening to a full class of lecture.

Ideas for this paper
Alternative classroom styles:
Outside class on warm days to lessen feeling of entrapment
Class sitting around a round table or one long business style table so everybody is visible all the time
Couches or beanbags (I’ve been in a class like this, it works surprisingly well)

Alternative forms of class:
Homework assignments due every two days
One day of traditional class, one day of discussion
Incorporating real world problems into the classroom for real discussion
More classes devoted to interdisciplinary studies
Homework submitted through a blog or a website
Use of secure class chat room, students can discuss assignments together
Assigning odd assignments, such as poems of Silverstien or Dr.Suess and drawing out the more mature themes in such works
Creating mandatory public service assignments that can be done as a class
Internships
Once a week classes with large assignments
Asking students to read banned books, but not assigning it
Learning is best done under no stress
Making learning important to the student, not just recitation
Study abroad programs
Studying plotlines of popular new movies or video games, in relation to The hero’s quest, plot triangle ect…

Incorporation of the texts:
Stein – how odd assignments can foster tolerance, love of the odd
Las Casas – learning can be used as propaganda
Helen Vendler – students can read some of their own books for assignments as opposed to cannon
Terry Eagleton – literature as religion, each reader seeks a different message, making certain books more enjoyable to read
Guari Viswanathan – how state can achieve propaganda means, unless class is allowed to beat it down with reason
Paulo Freire – mostly used for arguing against banking concept
Vladimir Nabokov – people obsess over literature, pull things out that aren’t there such as Catcher in The Rye.

How to get students SPEAKING:
Having a class where students can give a presentation about what they are passionate about
Teaching critical thinking about basic assumptions
Asking students to relate material to their lives
Allowing students to do assignments through art or music, as long as the proper amount of work and thought are shownMake tests that test concepts, not definitions

Gin Real foy Roeth

Why, How, and What we Learn

Why we learn is a tricky question. There are probably many reasons. Just a few that come to mind: interest, requirement, survival, uncontrolled, boredom, quest for enlightenment, to understand, etc. There are a lot of them. But I think it would be interesting to pose a theory that could be related to each one of the reasons given. I was thinking that perhaps the underlying reason for learning was fear. And that does sound very bleak. That was why I didn’t want to use that idea, but now I'm starting to think it might be a very valuable hypothesis worth exploring. If you think about it, fear is an emotion that drives us all in many ways. But there are many levels of fear. You can be afraid of change or you can be afraid for your life. There are very wide spectrums to the word and I think that range could be used to explain the sub-reasons for learning. I think this theory might run into some snags and loop holes. For instance, I was thinking about the opposing argument: but don’t we learn for our own personal interest? I thought about that and how fear could relate. You know, why ARE we interested in things? What sparks are attention? What is it about certain subjects that fascinate us and get us to research on our own? When I look at my own experiences, there are very few times that I have been interested in a subject enough to go to the library and read-up on it. Maybe I’ve looked up reviews on movies… or maybe I’ve researched s topic in order to prove someone wrong. But other than that, I don’t think I’ve ever looked up something PURELY based on interest (at least nothing too prominent; I’m sure I’ve done it in the past, but very briefly). I have asked questions about things and had people tell me what I wanted to know – whether that be school or at home. But I think THAT is how I find more about something. I ask people. I find it very dull looking for things on my own because I find it extremely frustrating when I don’t find what I’m looking for. When I ask a physical person, I get my answer from them. It’s much, much, simpler. And I think simplicity might have a lot to do with how we learn. But back to the “why.” When we learn in order to understand the unknown that can be related to fear. The saying goes that we always fear what we don’t understand. So we MUST learn if we are to rid ourselves of this fear – this fear for the unknown. When you look at the whole institution of school, you see that fear plays a big role. Why do we go to school as little kids? At that point, we’re still being told to do it, so we are afraid to not do it. Why are we afraid? Because our parents will get mad at us; and as a little kid, that’s a big fear. This same sort of idea weaves together our education, although it gets much more intense as schooling progresses. When you’re in elementary school, you are afraid to disappoint teachers and parents. It’s always scary getting yelled at by someone. As we approach middle school, that fear is less prominent, but it’s definitely there. That is why rules get stricter; to keep students afraid of not learning. NOTE: if you look at the kids who AREN’T learning, they are usually not afraid of authority. They don’t care if someone yells at them. They don’t mind punishment. They aren’t afraid, and as we can see, when the fear is purged, so is the necessity to learn. As students get to high school, there is a bigger fear. We fear for our futures. That is why we take things more seriously (and the rules get even stricter). We learn to do well on standardized tests and we learn to get good grades – all so that colleges will look at us favorably. We want a college education and the fear of not having one drives our high school learning. And then when we get into college, there is even a bigger fear. We become afraid to fail because then our resumes won’t look sharp. We won’t get the job we’re looking for. We learn because we are afraid to fail in life. That is the reason for our education. Now when we get into everyday life, we see new fears. At the very beginning, we learn (in a very natural way) to survive. And why do we do that? Obviously, we learn to survive because we fear for our lives. And even when we grow older, we learn to adapt to situations – either because we’re afraid to suffer or we’re afraid to die. I mention all these circumstances that can relate to my theory, but maybe I should look at a few cases where I can’t relate to fear. Uncontrolled learning does happen. We learn just by seeing and hearing and using our other senses. That happens without our control. Why does THAT happen? Why do we learn subconsciously? I think that’s a question for psychologists, but maybe not. It’s obviously a natural instinct used for survival, but can be used for other aspects other than survival. So I think IN ADDITION to fear, we learn because we can’t control ourselves. It’s as simple as that. But let’s get back to that snag we ran into earlier. How does learning for personal interest have to do with fear? As I think about it more and more, I’m starting to realize that maybe the two don’t relate, but there’s a catch. You have to ask why you are interested. Is it because you just want to know? But that can go on forever! Why do you want to know? I just do. Well why? It’s a nagging question that may not have an answer. I guess what it comes down to is one question; is there such thing as inquisitorial interest where the only gain from further learning/self-indulgence is simply pleasure? I don’t know, but I do think that most people usually have a reason for ‘being interested.’ Physiatrists want to learn more about the human mind because they want to UNDERSTAND (they are afraid of not knowing why someone acts the way they do). A historian wants to learn more about the civil war (he is afraid of dealing with the present so he obsesses with the past). There can be so many motives for why someone is interested. I really want to know, though: can someone be JUST INTERESTED? If it IS possible, then I think that becomes the most extraordinary learning of all. To be genuinely curious would be wonderful. And I think that is what needs to happen all the time. We shouldn’t be threatened into learning – we should be welcoming of it. But then again; what would the world be without a strict educational system? No mandatory schooling, no grades, no attendance policy, no tests, nothing that could cause fear. Would the world enjoy the learning process more and learn about the things that interest them? Or would people become lazy and do nothing other than survive? Can we lose appreciation for that miracle we have – the ability to learn? Would our ENTIRE system collapse as we know it? If we only had to learn for our survival, would we see a need for any further understanding? I think we would, but in this primal state, it would be entirely based on fear. We would fear death and therefore learn to make cures. We would fear the opinions of others, so we’d learn to make ourselves look better.

ABSTRACT: This scholarly essay proposes a challenging, controversial, and quite thought provoking theory behind the wonder of learning. It proposes that we, as humans, harbor a strong underlying fear that propels us to learn. It is fear that forces us to adapt and study. We are all slaves to this force, and because of it, the majority of the human race loses a simple beauty – we lose our genuine inquisitorial interest. The fear itself takes on many forms – each of which is discussed in this study. In this almost tyrannical system we have in place, this common fear leads us all to adapt. We all still learn, whether that be the cause of fear or not. But how does it happen? This essay proposes that it has to do with our natural instincts, and also through happiness. One can only learn when he/she is in good mental spirits. But with all this talk of learning, one would obviously wonder what needs to be learned. With such a misplaced driving force (fear), it is hypothetically suggested that we need not learn frivolous subjects such as history, science, mathematics, or grammar. In a primal world, these topics have little to do with natural survival – they have to do with societal survival. But what this study DOES encourage is learning based solely off of curiosity. With this suggestion in mind, the paper poses the ultimate question, “Can we and do we learn if we’re not afraid?”

No goodbye. No see you later. No nothing. You just left. I don't know much, but I know that.

This is my first semester of my freshman year here at ISU, and I must admit that I am bit thrown off by the request for me to write a philosophy of learning. For the fact of the matter is I am one of the worst candidates to write this paper, for I don’t really know what I am doing.
But I suppose that this is why I am at Illinois State University in the first place, and by acknowledging the fact that I am lacking in life experience, academic knowledge, and social skills, and overstocked with sarcasm and strange habits probably puts me in a better place than some of my colleagues.

See, I don’t know a whole lot about anything. I am no expert, or even a specialist of any sort. There are two things I can say with 110% certainty and those are:
A) I will never like Steely Dan
B) No one is just going to listen to what you have to say, you have to keep t­­hem interested.

First and foremost, in able to learn, one must be interested, not necessarily in the topic at hand, but perhaps in what the educator has to say about a topic. Something has to catch the student’s attention at each and every lesson, or nothing will be taken from it. Whether this make it entertaining, controversial, fun, sad, awkward, or just intense, any type of memorable emotion will help the information passed along in class much more memorable than anything that is described as boring, or sleep inducing.

Open communication is a necessity. Nothing can be learned by either party if there is confusion. Paulo Friere examines this in his essay The “Banking” Concept of Education,

“When their efforts to act responsibly are frustrated, when they find themselves unable to use their faculties, men suffer. ‘The suffering due to impotence is rooted in the very fact that the human equilibrium has been disturbed.’ But the inability to act which causes men’s anguish also causes them to reject their impotence by attempting to restore their capacity to act (Friere, pg 73).”

“Education as the practice of freedom-as opposed to education as the practice of domination-denies that man is abstract, isolated, independent, and unattached to the world; it also denies that the world exists as a reality apart from men. Authentic reflection considers neither abstract man nor the world without men, but men in their relations with the world. In these relations consciousness and world are simultaneous: consciousness neither precedes the world nor follows it (Friere, pg 75).”

The difference between knowledge and intelligence
Intelligence: the capacity for learning; reasoning, understanding, similar forms of mental activity. Aptitude in grasping truths, relationships facts, meanings.
Knowledge: acquaintance with facts, truths, principles. As from study or investigation, general erudition, knowledge of many things.

In order to teach something efficiently, an educator must understand at least a little of every single aspect of their chosen subject. I would at some point in my life, like to teach Theatre arts at the high school level, and I know (thanks to personal experience) that a theatre teacher that only knows acting, is not an effective teacher at all. To teach theatre, one must understand and be able to perform the technical, managerial, and performance tasks that are required. For this to happen, a person must realize that they will never stop learning. As cliché as it sounds, knowledge is indeed everywhere.

Some ideas and theories are best illustrated rather than described.

Not a lot of things have never been thought of before, but that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t try to reach for them. And it’s always fun to add to already determined theories.

Write a song. Music makes the brain work better.

No one will learn if they are miserable. Challenge people, but not obscenely.

Abstract: This essay attempts to describe and analyze all the aspects of modern education. What the author believes works and does not work, why the author believes learning is important, and how academic learning is just a viaduct into actual knowledge. True knowledge can’t be taught, it can just be uncovered. As an educator, your job is to expose students to ideas, theories, and historical instances that in other situations would be left undiscovered or forgotten. Hopefully, by the end of the essay, a previously unheard of or misunderstood aspect will be discovered, or at least explained a bit more thoroughly.

....Heres my 3 pages

Donny Miller
ENG 100
Like photography, we develop from our negatives. I believe that people learn about their lives from their low points. People can tell us over and over again not to do, or to do something but I believe we cannot truly learn until we experience something for ourselves. Accomplishment teaches us many things, however, failure teaches us so much more. It has been proven that memories are more vivid and can be stored longer if it is a traumatic experience. To some this may seem like a sad fact, yet I understand and accept that. I think that my failures have shaped who I am to this day. If everything went swimmingly in life I believe I would not know how to interact people, what is and is not socially acceptable, or how to handle negative situations. If we were never down in life we would never know what true happiness was.
I believe that because we do not get everything right away it helps us see what is good and what is not. This is seen with writing especially, the frustrations one feels at the beginning of an assignment teaches us that we need to work for the things we want. As well with writing first and second drafts help us see what we did wrong and how we can fix that for our final draft. This is similar to our lives in the sense that we make mistakes but when we realize they are wrong we can fix those mistakes and hopefully that realization will permanently affect our personalities. Yet, there still are some people who after their first and second draft do not change their paper and receive a bad grade. Yet, there are still some people who make the same mistakes over and over again but will not change. I am not saying that people need to change for others, what I am saying is that people need to change from themselves. If people learn from their mistakes it shows they are taking a proactive approach to their life because they are taking the negative in their life and turning them into beautiful pictures.
As people, we see how bright stars shine, and we are determined to shine brighter. Like I said earlier I believe we learn from accomplishments but I do not believe that we learn from our own accomplishments. I think that the accomplishments we learn best from are the accomplishments of others. If we see other people, especially people we look up to, undertaking in great things it inspires us to great things as well. When we see people who we admire doing great things it acts like the giant flames beneath a rocket and propels us up because people want to be like other people who they admire. We learn how and why to succeed by watching what the say and do.
This is not always a good thing though. Sometimes people, who are admired, are not worth being admired. Sometimes those people inspire the ones who look up to them to do things they should not. It is not a good thing when people idolize others who will not benefit their well being. This is something that is an issue in our society today because of how children, teens, and adults are worshiping celebrities who are drug addicts, or poor parents. This is unfortunate because a role model should be someone who is a person who possesses great strength, wisdom, and the power to help others. A role model should be a person who one learns how to make their life better from.
I believe the reason we learn is because we have a curiosity and because of a thirst for knowledge. This thirst is not only limited to people in school due to the fact that one can learn so many things outside of a school setting. However, it also does not exclude school because one can also learn very many things from being in school. Wherever someone may gain their knowledge, and whether or not they wanted to learn the information or not, the fact that they learned the information says so much about people. We can learn information even if we do not think we are learning or do not want to. Imagine how much we can learn when we want to learn, and when we care about knowledge. The reason people want to learn is because as cliché as it is, knowledge is power. The more someone knows about something the more the better they will do in that field. For example, I would not be studying English and taking so many English classes if I wanted to teach Math. Or a tow truck driver would not be picking people in their truck and driving them around as if they were a taxi cab driver. No matter what people who are going into their trade they are going to want to learn everything there is to know about that trade. That way when they are talking to people about their work they sound educated. As well, if someone knows very much about their trade it makes them more likely to get a job in that trade. If I wanted to teach English, I would not take a bunch of Math classes.
I have found that over the years, the way I have learned the best is from doing. I learned that especially when it comes to learning a language it is very easy to keep hearing, practicing, and speaking. When I learned Spanish the teacher made sure that she did not just cram vocabulary and grammar into our brains, but she made sure we were proactive in our learning. We would act out what the vocabulary meant that way would be able to remember the words that much better. Learning is a process that can be learned in many different ways to learn, there is no one right way and one wrong way to learn but there are many.

Philosophy of Learning: A Work in Progress

A Philosophy of Learning           

Anna Fogel

            Every single student is unique in the way that they think.  It is not rare to read a passage out of a novel in a classroom and have several different interpretations about what was just read. With this in mind, I think students should be exposed to many different types of learning so that they are open to everything and the student can learn which way is best for them.  This includes group discussions, lecture, reading various genres of literature, writing in styles we are not used to and thinking in ways that are new to us. From my experience, the classes that have been the most beneficial and the ones I have gotten the most out of, have been the most challenging ones where I was forced to try new things and think in deeper ways.

            My senior year I took an AP Literature course and it opened my eyes to English and not only did it change how I wrote and how I read but it changed the way I think; a class holds true meaning if it carries with you in the outside world. The class sticks out in my mind because it was more than just a regular class; it left a lasting impression on me. Our teacher, Mr. Johnson, had a couple main goals for us. First of all, he did not want it to be like every other English class we had taken in the past, filled with grammar and reading stories out of a textbook but never really getting any lasting meaning out of those things. He wanted to teach us in a way where we would learn certain things that would help us in the future and also in society. Every day we would move our desks into a circle to represent a more discussion-friendly environment. We would sit in our circle and talk about what we had just read; we would dissect the novel and we could spend the entire class period on a single paragraph.

Class and group discussion was a huge part of this class and I believe it is essential to the learning process.  It is one thing to write a response or a summary to a reading but a class discussion is so much more thought provoking and interesting. Everyone gets to share their individual ideas and it makes others think harder about their unique ideas and also about other’s views and they may see something they did not realize before. Students can learn so much from each other; I believe student-to-student interaction is a key part to the learning process and I base that statement from my personal experience. Mr. Johnson wanted the class to run in this fashion, he was there to guide us and add some insights but he really wanted the students to be in charge.

Some texts we have read have been extremely challenging, some of the essays from Falling Into Theory stand out particularly. It is ironic to me because many of the essays mainly focus on learning: the different types of learning, what the author feels like the best way of learning and teaching is and they are written in a style that is very hard to fully comprehend. These essays all have really good points and they are all important individually and when compared and contrasted but they should be written in a style that is more readable. Those texts were extremely frustrating to read and I believe that if they were written differently I would have been more open to the ideas represented in the text and I would have been more willing to give them a chance.

Another essential part to the learning process is being open to new things; whether it is a different style of writing like Kamau Brathwaite’s Ancestors or reading something that makes you rethink how you view certain things in the world like Lakoff and Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By. It is important to accept and engage in things that may seem foreign to us because in the end they are things that will make us more well rounded and well-educated.

Learning should evoke strong emotions out of people: happiness, understanding, warmth, and the want to share knowledge with others. Learning is a personal experience that is different for everybody but everybody learns and people should want to spread what they are learning.

            In class we talked about the effects of positive feelings that should be involved with the learning process and more specifically, with an assignment. The five friends are a key component to the process but I think they are overlooked and not viewed as seriously as they should be. Attitude, whether it be good or bad, really does make an impact on how a person learns.

 A positive attitude makes students more open to the project at hand, whether it is a reading assignment or a writing assignment. As a result, the reading is understood more fully and probably enjoyed more, as well and the writing will be done better; the paper will definitely be better written. Attitude plays a large role in the learning process; it is not necessarily essential to it but the quality of learning definitely depends on it. I really believe if all students had a positive attitude when completing an assignment or even just going to a class, the results would be great! This is also something that extends beyond the classroom and can be carried forward into the future. 

Abstract and 3 pages of paper(brainstorming)

Rachel Lulay

English 100

Abstract for paper

October 28^th, 2008

 

Abstract for paper

 

My paper will not only cover the foreground of the effects these pieces of literature have had on me, but by doing so I will use numerous quotes from the texts as well as my own experiences and thoughts that I believe tie into what I think the “Philosophy of Learning” is. I will state my thoughts and beliefs on the thoughts of learning by arguing what I believe learning means, and how it is incorporated in a way in which people build knowledge on how to properly learn. I believe the correct way to learn is through experiences and insights from others, such as the texts we have read that have taught us numerous ways of looking at things, and different points of view and ways to interoperate texts we have never thought of before. I believe learning involves creativity and cooperation from the learner themselves. What I plan to do is take my definition of the “Philosophy of Learning” and put introduce the “Philosophy of Learning” as a process rather then something one picks up out of nowhere. By using experiences and quotes and examples from the texts we have read in class, I believe I can argue my points of view on the meaning and everything involved in the “Philosophy of Learning” such as, why we learn, how we learn, and the different aspects involved in the learning process.

 

Three pages of paper

(Brainstorming)

 

Intro: Philosophy of Learning—What does it mean?

·      Definition/ examples/thoughts

·      How I will prove and argue what I believe the learning of Philosophy is.

o   Through examples of the texts I have read, experiences, quotes.

o   How I learned, effects it has had.

o   Why I believe we learn.

Definition of learning

            Further explain MY definition of learning

·      What my definition involves

·      Examples—from books we have read

 

How does one learn?

o   Wayne C. Booth—“The reader must “give himself generously”(Booth 350) to the reader…

§  Explain how this ties into the philosophy of learning. One must give themselves to learning in order to fully understand and engage in learning itself.

·      One gives them self to learning, they are open for anything and will retain information and be more interested in learning all together.

 

Theories of learning

*Theories of the philosophy of learning.

            * My own theory compared to theories of others.

                        * Graff/Birkenstein

                                    * Compare

* Use examples from book as well as my own, tie together. (I believe philosophy of learning is similar to the beliefs of Graff and Birkenstein. )

 

 

Why do we learn?

·      Explanation of why we learn.

o   My thoughts and ideas—We learn in order to grow, grow with knowledge and appreciation of the world around us. As well as to experience and understand things we never would have before, learning opens one’s eyes to the things they were blind to before.

o   Thoughts and ideas from texts we have read—Texts from, “Falling Into Theory”.

·      Give explanations based off of the thoughts and ideas from “Falling Into Theory” and “Metaphors We Live By” , from my point of view.

 

 

 

Different Aspects of Learning

·      Everyone “learns” different things, but the philosophy to get one to the main understanding of learning and how to do so remains the same.

o   Take examples from text and use to quote the different beliefs and views on how to read, write, learn, why, and how.

o   Ex: Brathwaite and Nabokov

·      Will show the different aspects of learning while all surrounding the same central philosophy.

 

Questions and Frustrations of learning

·      What problems, questions, frustrations people experience when learning.

o   How they are brought upon through the “Philosophy of Learning”.

§  Reading, “How to Write”.

·      How others felt when reading it, confused, not able to understand.

o   How my “Philosophy of Learning” helps these confusions and frustrations.

 

Conclusion

·      Tie together my “Philosophy of Learning”.

o   Finalize my thoughts and ideas

§  Capture the how and the why of learning.

·      Again, use examples to prove my argument and points of view.

o   Restate “my” definition of the “Philosophy of Learning”.

 

Final thoughts and ideas

*Constantly use thoughts and ideas from other texts to further explain my “Philosophy of Learning”.

* Make the “Philosophy of Learning” strategies possible for every type and instance in which one needs to “learn”.

*  Make sure to use many examples from ALL texts read in class. – in proper paragraphs.

* Further explain the “Philosophy of Learning” throughout all paragraphs to see why everything else fits within the way I view learning.

 

 

 

 

Late...as usual...Danny DownS

In years previous, I once knew a man. Yet before this time, I did not know this man, but I did in fact know of another man, one who carried the same nomenclature as myself. Although Dan and Danny seem very relatable, they are in fact unable to coexist at the same time. One with a heart of gold and a desire to make people laugh, the other with a heart of malice and misunderstanding which in turn made people laugh is very laughable in thought.

As we all know, a day occurs. On that particular day, Dan and Danny decided to coexist if only for a second, in the same institution, in the same room. Whether this occurence truly happened, it is impossible to tell, for all those there to witness the event were intent on the sub-par performance of Peter Cottontail.

It is hard to distinguish the motives of Danny over Dan, but what did occur was the pompous eradication of human decency as it had been previously known. Danny, in all his glory and splendor trudged onward to meet a class that only Dan had known previously in nothing but underwear and an oversized toilet-seat rung around his neck.

Sometimes people weep, other times people stare in horror. This occurence showed neither. In fact, it showed no emotion whatsoever.

When it was all over, people looked on and a faint giggle occured. Danny had removed his diaper and ran around the room of "equals". Granted he was not nude, but the effect was nonetheless shocking. The giggle slowly grew to uproarious laughter, Danny in complete confusion. What's more, Dan, nowhere in sight up until this point, slowly came into the picture.

Dan returned and looked upon himself in disgust as he had missed the entire show and felt a invariable cold sweep over his loins. He zipped up his fly and remained sitting where he had always seemed to have been sitting as Danny slowly fizzled away.

Abstract/brainstorming

In this paper, I plan to display what it is that I feel learning truly is. I want to cover the different aspects of learning such as the relationship between teacher and student. This paper is to show that in order to learn one most be accepting of frustration, and able to grow from it. The process of learning is more than just the taking in of new material, but is about discovering oneself in the process. Acknowledging your downfalls and strengths is a necessary process of being able to then learn about the world around you. You have to know yourself before you can truly know anything else. I also want to establish the fact that environment has a lot to do with effective learning, as well as the attitude of the learner. Knowing the ideal situations of your own personal learning will be beneficial to you because everyone is a lifetime learner whether they want to be or not. We learn not only in academic classrooms but from life experiences.

Teacher and student relationship is important
Teacher has to be learning with the student
Teacher cannot be superior because students will only trust in teachers thoughts not in their own
Student must think independently use someone else’s thougts to enlighten yourself-don’t just allow to be your own
Use teacher only to guide
Not be afraid of failing
Learn from each other through insight
Add quotes and ideas from Paulo Freire
Lectures are fine with science and math as long as student interaction is involved

The atmosphere needs to be positive and happy
Learning in an environment that is condesending and negative hurts ego
One feels worried about what they say is stupid and don’t allow themselves to think
Their desire to share opinions is gone
They can’t get feed back from others to improve their insight
Others aren’t enlightened by their ideas-the process is ruined

Know your friends and enemies
Be aware, put forth effort, trust in yourself, concentrate and understand there are dissapointments.
Avoid doubt in yourself and in overall subjects
If they are taught, they are worth learning, don’t hate the world because you have to do something, school is a job, you have to do it so get over it. Avoid looking too far ahead. Focusing on more desirable activities leads to lack of concentration. Focusing on getting into a book instead of just reading it also is distracting. Stop worrying and don’t be lazy. You only get out what you put in.
Overcoming difficult tasks is rewarding

Adapt academic lessons into life lessons
Relating ideas to personal life or our culture makes it relevant
Learners are interested in themselves
We must enjoy what we learn
Frustrating as it may be take in what you can get out of it
Focus on the elements that are interesting to you.

The best learning is done in a place that inspires you
Being stuck in a dorm isn’t ideal
Go outside and observe the world around you
The buildings and trees and grass and sidewalks and peoples and squireels can intrigue some insights or just allow creative thoughts to flow

Learning involves making mistakes
Adventure allows learning
If you don’t go out into the world and take risks you won’t be able to learn through experience
I hate the idea of learning through other people’s mistakes. Live your life the way you want to. Learn what you want from other people but realize that not every situation is the same.
What works for some may not work for you.

Learning is a never ending process
We as humans constantly grow and learn
We are never finished learning
I believe that you really do learn something new everyday
Sometimes it is a simple thing like how the sight of the leaves on the quad at 8 in the morning makes you feel

Abstract. Learning. Paper.

Wow I am doing a post! (Mostly because I can basically just copy and paste this one and no work is required...because I'm a lazy piece of shit. Now that I think about it, writing all this is requiring much more effort than I intended to put into this, so yea...Blog Post!)

Learning is a fundamental skill that is necessary to each and every person to survive. Some decide to further their studies beyond that of college and continue to learn for the rest of their lives. Others utilize only they feel they have needed to know to get to where they are today. Without necessarily being conscious of what is happening the act of learning continues no matter what a person does. Learning takes place in mind, body, soul. It helps distinguish right from wrong, fallible from infallible, establish different feelings and how to feel those feelings, and open many more doors to not only the world, but to ourselves as people. Learning is simply an extension of our mindfulness of the world. I am here to show how learning is an outreach of and towards human understanding and potentially why it occurs.

I did not copy the junbled ideas, because basically it is just an extension of the exact same ideas in the abstract itself.

my philosophy of learning

For one to learn one must want to learn. Learning, in my opinion, is being open to gaining knowledge of things outside of your comfort zone. Without the want and passion to learn, you allow yourself to shut out information. I am going to answer the questions how do you learn and why do you learn in this paper.
How do you learn? Everyone learns in his or her own way. For me, flashcards and writing notes helps me learn. I like to go over flashcards because I picture what the answer will be in my head and while I am looking at them I get to remember what the answer is. Taking notes is the best way for me to learn. If I am just staring at the teacher while they are lecturing chances are, I am not really concentrating on what the teacher has to say. I know a lot of students that are like this. They look like they are paying attention but when they are staring at the teacher usually they are thinking of other things like what they are going to do after class or what they ate for breakfast.
Taking notes helps me learn because I have to listen to what the teacher says in order to write down the notes. Even if I am not thinking about what I am writing down I can go back and reread what I wrote. Also, on tests, I can remember writing down those specific facts and it helps me remember the answer. Taking notes helps learning even when you don’t think so. These are ways to help learning now I am going to explain how the learning process actually happens.
With the help of flashcards, taking notes, and studying, learning, in my opinion, has a lot to do with the want to learn. It is easy to shut your brain off during a lecture and not remember anything the teacher has said but what about the students who gain knowledge and can recite the whole lecture? How does that happen? These kids have a passion for learning and know that it is important to learn. Learning is not very difficult as long as you are open to it. Babies learn how to talk because they practice and want to make out those words. Kids get potty trained because they want to learn how to be a big kid. Learning in college is no different than these situations. Students want to learn about calculus because they want to be more educated.
Learning is instinctive. We learn from our relatives and that is why we have such amazing technology now. We learn from the inventions they had before and create new and improved inventions. Learning is second nature to us and as long as we are willing to accept this knowledge, we will never stop learning. You learn new things every day.
Out of all the books we have read this semester in English 100, I have contained many different points of view on how and why we learn from these authors. I believe that in A Defense of Poetry, Gabriel Gudding was using humor to get people to understand what he meant. He uses phrases such as, “Someone cut off my head and punted it,” throughout his whole book (52). He uses humor and strange phrases to grab the attention of his readers. They look into what he says more because they want to know why he is saying such absurd things. That is one way students can learn; by finding strange things and wanting to solve them.
In How to Write, the author uses long sentences and questionable writing methods to catch the attention of her readers. She uses run on sentences and some sentences that seem incomplete but then she is telling you that that is the correct way to make a sentence. For example, she writes, “Very carefully what is it. What is it. They know they knew,” (Stein 166). When I read that part I questioned if the sentences she was saying were correct were even sentences at all. Like Gudding, Stein writes in an unusual way to get her readers’ attention. She believes that this will help them question things and learn about something that have never encountered before.
Vladimir Nabokov also writes in similar fashion to Gudding and Stein. He uses humor to get his readers involved. His whole book Pale Fire is a made up story that is quite humorous. Its about one guy writing a poem and another guy dissecting it because he thinks its about him but it truly is not. The man who is dissecting the poem is very strange and does not think he is humorous but while reading the book I found myself laughing at his thoughts. He states, “I am quite sure it was I who one day, when we were discussing ‘mirror words,’ observed that ‘spider’ in reverse is ‘redips,’ and ‘T. S. Elliot,’ ‘toilest,’” (193). He believes that the poet used his ideas in the poem but he did not have anything to do with why the poet wrote what he did. This is funny and interesting. The readers of this book will find this humorous and want to keep reading. By reading more, they will learn more. I believe this was the philosophy of Nabokov.

BFFS

My best friend Emily and I were at first not friends at all.
We hated eachother in Mrs. Angelettis 1st grade class.
We always got into competitions and my group of friends made fun of hers and vice versa.
We were very catty in elementary school.
We had a mutual friend, Kristina eventually we ditched her but ill go into more detail about that a little later.
Kristina would have to choose between us when we both wanted to hang out with her.
Well eventually Emily moved away in 3rd grade.
We were both still friends with Kristina.
In middle school, Kristina made us hang out one day.
It wasn't the end of the world but it was very awkward.
Well in eighth grade I got a job at Tinley Park Roller Rink.
Freshman year, I got Kristina a job too.
Sophomore year Kristina got Emily a job.
We hated working together until we started hanging out outside of work.
It was always the three of us together but I would never hang out with Emily by myself.
Until the summer of sophomore year Kristina got a tool ass boyfriend.
She would ditch me and Emily every once in a while and ruin our plans.
Well when me and Emily had had enough we decide we would hang out just the two of us.
And we never looked back since.
We're college roommates!
And the phrase Best Friends Forever seems like it might actually work out.
All of my best and worst memories are with Emily.
We know practically everything about eachother and even though we piss eachother off and can be total bitches, we can never stay mad at eachother for more than 10 minutes.
She is my favorite childhood memory.

Artistic liberties have been taken.

I remember my stage debut like it was yesterday. It was truly a juvenile affair; the cast were naught more than a bunch of pre-pubescents running around in anti-zit creme and construction paper costumes. But what can be said about that? Our director was no better, a future cat lady whose receding hair line seemed to indirectly correlate with her expanding waist line. Despite her faults, let it be known that she could recognize talent when she saw it. Why, when I came read the part of Alice, even going as far as to dress up in a blond wig and dress - I didn't need to wear fake breasts, mind you, as at this time my girth made it irrelevant - she pulled me aside and told me that I should perhaps be Humpty Dumpty instead. Of course, my lines would drastically decrease from a couple hundred to a measly 10, but in essence I would be the real star of the show. The plight of twit Alice is quite mundane and base compared to the almost Shakespearian sub-story arc of the tragic Humpty Dumpty. I think in everybody there is a little bit of a Humpty Dumpty, where all we want to do is bring ourselves together. Many of my so-called "peers" could not understand this, especially the girl chosen for Alice. I tried to educate them. I brought the book to every rehearsal, even the ones I was oddly not told about. I rarely read the lines from actual script, as the fools who wrote the play rarely followed the book. And for whatever reason, our plump director never supported me. I tried to petition her, I intentionally left the book in her purse and later in her mail-box, however each time I would find it back in my hands the next day. It was truly strange how detached she was from the whole production.
Needless to say, my performance was still mentioned for years. Many people would come up to me through high school and say to me "Hey, weren't you that nut who played Humpty Dumpty in Junior High and actually hurt yourself when you flung yourself from the wall to the linoleum floor?" To which I would reply and not only explain method acting but educate them on the fact that a nut and an egg, while both sometimes spherical, are not the same thing.

Was i ready

1. I was told to be bold
2. To be true to myself
3. That college would change me
4. That the people I met would have an impact
5. But keep all old relationships in tact
6. They said I wouldn’t get lonely
7. That I wouldn’t miss my one and only
8. To eat healthy and watch my weight
9. Don’t drink and order pizza real late
10. They said I would be fine on my own
11. That I was now full grown
12. But they were wrong
13. I wasn’t all that strong
14. I miss my mom and dad
15. I miss the good food I had
16. Being able to sit up in bed
17. Without having to worry about hitting my head
18. I miss the friends that know me to well
19. And know how I feel without having me have to tell
20. College nights are fun for sure
21. But for my homesickness I need a cure


Line 1- I was told to be bold.
My father has always called him is tough girl; he puts me at a level of standards higher than all the rest. He says I have style like Stevie Nicks and that I’m one of a kind. I don’t know if you have seen Stevie Nicks but she looks pretty out there if you ask me, why would I want to be so different. In high school I was taught to look the same, and you’ll get accepted into the game. In college are you really aloud to be yourself and bold? Did my father really know what he was talking about or did he just want me to look so weird that no boy would come within miles of me.

Line 3- College would change me.
Did they tell me as a warning, that I should have strong roots to keep myself from changing or did they say as you did a change and college will give you that change? Why is college a place of change, is it because there are just so many people that we now feel comfortable being ourselves, because if someone doesn’t like us there are 20,000 others who might. And in high school we were all fake, so college really doesn’t change one if just lets you be the one you want to be. Or it will change you as in you will go to college get the freshmen 15 and look completely different, therefore a change. Personally I don’t think I have changed, I still talk about stupid random things, snort when I laugh, dress like a slob, tell jokes I think are funny, let others walk all over me, and try to make everyone smile. Maybe be you weren’t happy with yourself to begin with college changes you, but college has not changed me.
Line 13- I wasn’t all that strong.
When I was little I would play Barbies with my older sister, and we would pretend the dolls were us, and I would always make my doll(me) go off to college far far way in Alaska or Texas, I said I want far away from here. That I didn’t need mom and dad that I was independent and could mange on my own, boy was I wrong. I’m only 2 hours away and I miss them like I was 5454545 miles away. I really am not that strong.

Who am I?

What am I doing here? Is this place adequate for myself being. Or do I simply find myself evoked into a large crowded space meant for certain people.

It seems to be a utopia many adolescents come to seek independence or freedom as I may say but yet become a strong individual full of knowledge in order to become someone they are not and strive be a better person.

Is it just me or do I simply talk about my outlook and categorize everyone into it, or am I simply just talking wild to someone who won’t read this….?

I sit here pondering on the fact that maybe making a wise choice isn’t bad and that hopefully it affects my way of viewing things in the future for the better.

Returning to my familiarity and abstaining from being fully dependent on my parents is definitely a wise notion.

Standing here beside her and wanting her to be someone who she maybe isn’t fully yet is probably going to be a tricky task.

Did i make sense?

i adequately dont mind whether this was quite interesting or what not!

5 mins late... sue me.

Disclaimer: This is all bs. Dont believe a word of it. I dont believe it and I wrote it. I know I contradict myself, I did it on purpse. And I dont think I did this right either.



A current issue that is constantly perplexing me is whether I should vote in the upcoming election. It seems as if the government is once again searching me out and trying to get my information. How many times must I eschew their requests for my signature? Their unceasing persistence is a bit of a pester as of late. I just may toss away my voters card just out in spite of them. Though I forgive them, for they know not what they are doing and am unable to abstain from the temptation of my reputation.

And even if they left me alone I would not be voting in the upcoming election. I refuse to until my state of Sionilli receives more electoral votes. Admittedly, some other states may not be as educated as my own and the Electoral College is necessary to balance the scales. However, the problem with the Electoral College is simply that it doesn’t go far enough. My vote is that of a commoner. It is appalling that my learned vote is equal to that of a college student who votes for their favorite name on the ballot. They do not care about the country in which we live in. I should be having a seminar later to instruct the commoners on which candidate to vote for, despite my own indifference towards the election.

Don’t mistake my indifference as apathy. I truly care about this country and I do favor the right candidate to win. However, with the current problems with the Electoral College, I am abstaining from casting my ballot because I am not going to toil with a corrupt system. Like Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. before me, I am standing up for the rights of man. Through my own act of demonstration I am going to better the country and assert a new, better, Electoral College.

Lorman to Indigo

Yesterday was quite the victorious day in Lorman. I felt akin to a pile of the trees, their leaves seeming to echo my love of the season. Thus, and solely for this reason, I was not above parting from my afternoon stroll to extract me from my work, and, upon speculation, found a suitable pile of leaves to lie in. There I lie amongst the flora and chronicled with my young companion. Spectators passed with admiring glances at my sheer wit and I laughed heartily with them.
The term flora caught my eye, and I suspect the reader will find this interesting, as it holds common ties with the greek goddess of the same name, as she is quite revered as the flower god, a key attribute of Spring, and I’ve always found that nature stewarded me. Also, as shown in the work ‘The Birth of Venus’, she was married to the greek god Favonius, a young man not dissimilar to the striking fellow with whom I shared my company. I had come to pass a canine earlier and some of the leaves were moister than I had anticipated.
Canines have always lacked the sophistication of efniles, and I am sure of the reader’s aquiescence in this, as whelps have this deliberate nature to their step and so expressive that their motions are even apparent in their slumber. Efniles connote an underlying sense of introspection, yet are also driven by instinct and are ever watchful as I am for any threat to them. Squirrels on the other hand, rodents being lowlier creatures in this food chain in any matter, have, befittingly enough, inferior brain function and patience as well. It is my belief that the majority of people in this world posess affinities to rodents. For instance, there was a thick-headed woman with whom I was forced to share my afternoon. She had the blind audacity to ask me what indigo was.

THIS WEEK WENT BY SUPER FAST. LOVE IT. =]

Happy reading to everyone! lord knows you will need it will nabocov. i swear this guy is a nut. hopefully i will be able to get through it. i will probably need my five friends now more than ever. i started to .. but its hard to understand.





It was spicy


Two of the same


It's always cold when we are together


She needs to do nothing


So far, far away



Love her


Commentary:





It was spicy


When my best friend Brittany and I first met I was wearing a blue shirt that said SPICY on it.


Sitting across the lunch table from her was a sign. I knew that we would be best friends. Ironic, that my best friend then introduced me to her. Thank god I found Britt. I wouldn't have survived high school without her.





Two of the same


We realized throughout sophomore year how much we are like each other, but at the same time we are opposites. I'm a blonde, she's a brunette. I've got a brother, she has sisters. I think what brought us together was the fact that our boyfriends were best friends as well. So we never ran out of things to talk about.





It's always cold when we are together


Brittany and I went to countless hockey games. Getting lost and freezing our asses off was all part of the fun. My boyfriend was the captain of the high school hockey team and her boyfriend was the assistant captain. We drove far and wide to watch them play. We were their dedicated cheerleaders and we loved it. Hockey was our sport.





She needs to do nothing


Brittany's mom and dad gave her whatever she wanted for a while. She didn't have a job right away like I did when i turned sixteen. She didn't have to go to work when she didn't want to. Pulling the green out of her mom's wallet was never a problem. But she learned.





So far, far away


She isn't here. She's there. Still at home going to college. I miss her. We don't talk as much as we used to. It sucks. Best friends forever was what we said. and i believe it. I plan on being in a rocker with this girl eventually.

Love her
It's pretty self explanatory I think. =]

Oh How This Weekend Will Be!

From Friday to Sunday I will be inseparable my incomparable companion. Now, do not get me wrong there are people who think they have a relationship similar to the one we share, however, they are foolish and do not know what they are talking about. We have been involved in each others lives for four years but I can honorably say that we will be involved in each others lives until the last judgment. Everything someone could ask for in a partner in crime is everything we give each other. In today's day and age people believe it is highly unorthodox that a man's best friend in a woman. But who is to say what is right and wrong? I have never listened to people in the past because simply no one else is worth me giving my time to. If I ever need help I will simply ask her due to the vast amount of knowledge she possesses. Some other people suspect a deep rooted attraction between us, but they are just jealous of a relationship that they could never have. Sometimes it is maddening they things we would do for one another but at the same time it is delightful. I do not understand why everyone and their grandmothers must obsess over the fact that a friend can do more than love. I do not understand why everyone must obsess that a companion can give everything of themselves. Love can give people feelings of robustness as well as warmth. Just because intimacy is not present in a male-female relationship does not mean anything. Some naysayers may not hold this belief as close to heart as I do however that just proves that they are stupid. It is not my fault I was blessed with superior intelligence and a vast amount of maturity. But, I cannot wait to see my friend Jenna.

next weekend is halloween. be excited

First of all i wished everyone good thoughts before i began my paper. I think we all need them right now because we are all so consumed by work. Also, i do not know if i did this wrong, but i do not know if i should be saying that because that is doubt and doubt is an enemy, therefore i tried.


She trots in the room like always
Best friends forever she said
She cannot do anything for herself
For daddy lets her do nothing for herself
What a rags to riches story
Too bad money cannot buy happiness
At least in college that is.

commentary:
She trots in the room like always
Brittany trots because I gave her a stuffed animal horse when we were little. She wanted to be like it, therefore the way she walks symbolizes a horse because she treasures my gift. Also, when I was little I kicked her leg, so walking this way, clip clop clip clop, might just be easier for her.

Best friends forever she said
Brittany and I met when we were in preschool. She was very fond of me, who wouldn’t be. She always let me be her partner for everything, therefore she adored me. I used the word said instead of says because things are different now. Her head is heavy on her shoulders and there is always this imaginary string pulling her nose up in the air. We are friends, yes. We are roommates yes. We will be this way forever no. She should be happy that she has someone in her life like me. You can still wear black on a beautiful day.

She cannot do anything for herself, for daddy lets her do nothing for herself.
Brittany’s father is king of Sarah Lee and resides in a village called Mokena. His queen believes she has an occupation because she looks pretty and smells nice. They believe everyone is a peasant in their territory. Well newsflash everyone, the medieval times happened a long time ago.

What a rags to riches story.
Brittany was adapted and came from a very poor crack addicted mother. She used to appreciate everything, how much that has changed. You have to be thankful for what you have sometimes. She was most likely adopted because when I was younger I told her parents that I wanted someone to play with.

Money cannot buy happiness, especially in college.
Princess Brittany is having a hard time adjusting to college life, therefore she might leave me and travel to the coast of Florida where one of her few castles resides. She has this notion that if she buys everything she will be happy, but she wants to make friends. You cannot make friends by handing them a ten dollar bill.

To dream a dream

In the dream, the forest seemed inviting.
The shards of the fallen moon mingling
Down and down to the forest below
That produced a feeling, so tender and mellow.
Out of nowhere the fox attacked.
Complete with its venomous saliva, in his grand act.
To me, to me, the fox claimed
Its rightful thrown, my unknowing gain.

Commentary:

Line 1: dream
I’ve had a million dreams, some fleeting, some that contained a grain of the future, dreams that were so unique in their bizarre grotesqueness, in their vivid clarity. Some dreams that questioned my actions were the kind of dreams I feared the most. Oh yes, these dreams brought shivers to my bonely spine. They brought, in their wake, such confusion and indecision that would have failed the weak-hearted, and I daresay even some of the strong-hearted ones.


Line 6: venomous saliva
It was year 1908 when my predecessors experienced an earthquake with its unforeseen ferocity. That year saw more than one family suddenly out of home and with heaps of useless hopelessness. Our barmy neighbors with their foolish children were pathetic in their muddy tears and torn clothes—clothes that did not warrant even a single glance. Though, not us. My family, my grandfather, may his soul be at rest, did not forget himself to stoop so low. He did not cry. In his cunning prudence, he looted all that there was to be looted. All the destroyed belongings were inspected by him. Those that were not worthy were cast away a second time, those that were not, of course, he kept. Only a foolish man would throw such away. After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

(Disclaimer: the commentary of Line 6 didn’t really happen. I’m sure that not all of the commentary in Pale Fire happened in real life, so I merely reflected the style of exaggeration. The dream, on the other hand, did happen. I did dream about a dog gnawing my knee while I was in a forest. And again, line 1’s commentary is just an exaggeration.)

I'm leaving for Purdue like now...sorry if its completely wrong =[PP

departed my home with a solitary glance back at the establishment that I grew so foundly of because of the memories and the sentimental value that sprouted from the cracks in the asfault of the drive. All of my familiar hangouts were passing before my eyes and the black car headed south to my new home. Never did I think I could call this place a home. My home is where I grew up and where my parents are. Neither of these things apply to this hotel-like fieldtrip that’s been ongoing for a few month and counting.

The public toliets and the Sinks full of nasty hair and noodles because some ignorant girl doesn’t know what a garbage can looks like apparently was slightly repulsive to me. The cleanest individual in the world I am not, but my mother taught me better than to dump the ever popular college dish of ramon noodles down a sink where others try to cleanse their hands and brush their pearly whites. Ah yes the sweet signs of home sweet home.

Taking the elevator to floor at was a nightmare and a half considering my childhood fear of taking an getting stuck in the little box and dying in a crowded spilled on floor. At one point in the course of history did it become acceptable for elevators to breakdown multiply times but the crowds of lazy students keep using them. Yes quite frankly they don’t care if there is someone like me who has a fear of this malfunctioning of machinery that carries precious cargo.

The Glare of the Gash

In the case of bathroom stories, there is one I have told that overcomes all others. In fact, it could be assumed to be the best and most emotionally gripping of any such tale. I think now would be appropriate to specify the time, place, and persons involved in my tragic event. The year, if I can recall, was 2000; a new millennium for a new disaster. In this year, the fear of Y2K was abandoned, but that's a whole other story. What's more important lies in my memory. I lived in Park Ridge -- a suburb in Chicago that, strangely, almost spells a name backwards (Egdir Krap, only it could have been Edgir Krap if the "d" and the "g" were switched).

Now on this particular day (whose date escapes me currently, but shall be posted on a later date), I was wearing blue khaki shorts with a white T-shirt. It was obviously summertime which implied that children would most definitely be found on a playground; I was one of such children. It was a weekend -- a sunny one. The green leaves had already been taken for granted, and therefore blended each day into an collage of blue, green, and yellow colors (sometimes it was gray, but I would not count a rainy day (they are best forgotten)).

A visitor from another state had arrived the day before and, being a child, joined my brothers and I at the local park. Although some playgrounds use sand and/or gravel for their ground foundation, this "jungle jim" saw it fit to use wood chips. There were three slides: one long (open faced) slide, one semi-entertaining (closed faced) slide, and one dull (open faced) slide which cannot be blamed for its dullness in that it was meant for toddlers. This is beside the point, seeing as it has nothing to do with my bathroom story. I have been told, however, that detail imagery can help paint a picture in a reader's mind (to which I disagree; readers should always keep an open mind). After 10 years of childhood, playground equipment (with the exception of the swing) usually shifts from primary entertainment to secondary entertainment -- making room for imaginative recreational games which can, if necessary, use the equipment as set pieces.

So on that day, me, my two brothers, and our visitor agreed to play an extraordinary game. The rules were a bit complicated, so I shall do my best to describe them. One player would be deemed "monster" while the other three players were merely... well, players. The monster would try and catch the other players by touching them with his/her right and/or left hand. If the monster caught all the players in a given amount of time, he/she/it would be victorious. And that was our ingenious idea. I was chosen to be the first monster (most likely because I could run like the rabbits we often chased on our lawn). So, I closed my eyes while the players scrambled to find a place to hide; they didn't realize I had a plan. After approximately 20 seconds (a number which could never be calculated accurately), I sprung into action.

A gray port-o-potty was located not too far from the playground. I would hide inside the miniature bathroom and wait for the unsuspecting players to pass by who, suddenly seeing me bolt out of the john, wouldn't have time to run away. It was masterfully planned -- almost too beautiful. And I say 'almost' because of the events that followed.

Here was the problem: I kept the bathroom door slightly ajar, so I could watch my prey approach my trap. Unfortunately, I underestimated the intelligence of my fellow playmates; my younger brother, Luke, who had been wandering by my hideout, spotted me before I had the chance to emerge. Acting like any player should, Luke instinctively closed my slightly-ajar bathroom door in the hopes of keeping me inside. What he didn't realize was my thumb -- which was in the hinged crack of the door. With a very loud smack, the door swung down on my right thumb, gashing it dead center. The problem with port-o-potty doors, however, is their tendency to swing on their hinges after closing. And with such a hard push, the door came down on my thumb several times before coming to a halt. I pried my opposable friend out of the crack, holding it with my left hand (I was covering the wound so I didn't have to see it).

It was throbbing, and I was crying. I also was yelling at my brother for his careless mistake (which now I realize was a transference of anger). I sat on the grass in a collapsed, defeated position, not looking at the severity of the wound. How pathetic a monster I was. A beast of my caliber should have disregarded the flesh wound and kept after his prey. But I realized I was human, and humans (especially the little ones) didn't take well to injury. My relentless crying and/or screaming must have alerted the rest of the park, because it was only a matter of time until an old tennis player came by to see what had happened. She bent down next to me and uncovered my injured thumb. The penetration was deep; it was a dark blue and red gash that seemed to glare at me. It was a creepy sight. I think I may have gagged. The kind lady took me home; and as I walked, I couldn't escape the glare of the gash. It was talking to me. Why did you do this to me? I didn't! It was Luke. It doesn't matter. YOU were the one that hid in a bathroom with your thumb in the crack of the door. I'm sorry! Well it's too late now.

I went to the hospital, bandaged the thumb, and put it in a miniature "thumb-cast" which I still have -- it sits in the top drawer in my kitchen next to the toaster. It was hard to play video games afterwards. My thumb still cracks when I bend it, and I always think it's growling at me. Maybe this wasn't really a bathroom story.

Affinison

This poem was written by a close friend of mine. I knew her back in 4th grade and I haven't seen her since, but on day she dropped this poem on the ground while she was walking to lunch in 4th grade and I picked it up. I have saved it over the years since she was such a good friend. One day she told me to stop talking to her and I think it was because she was so engrossed in writing more amazing poetry. Although my mom said that it is ghoulish to keep her poem, I thought it was a good idea. She just didn't understand our friendship. I think she was so diligent with other works that she didn't have time to finish this poem, but I will comment on it for my good friend, Jillian Brown.


Have you seen the stars
That once burned so bright
But have grown so cold?
Have you seen the stars
That were once such valuable jewels
But are now just so much glass?
Have you seen the stars
That pointed out the dreams in the dark
But have lost their way?

Commentary:

Line 1: Have you seen the stars

I remember back in 4th grade we went on a field trip to Florhio Zoo. This bus trip extended the duration of 3 hours and by the time we got back the stars were out. I remember Jillian sat three seats in front of me and she was looking at the stars out the window. The stars are even brighter in the kingdom of Affinison. In this far away kingdom lived a young women by the name of Joanne McDillian. Jo had a big dream of being an actress, but no one famous ever came from Affinison. She ran away from home one night under the stars, and decided to go to a town near Florhio called Hollvada. All famous actors and actresses came from Hollvada, it was the perfect place for her to start.

Line 2 and 3: That have once burned so bright but have grown so cold

The kingdom of Affinison was always extremely cold. The stars burnt out kind of in the same way Jo's mother gave up on her dreams. She tried to tell Jo that she couldn't even have a chance of being an actress. When she woke up one morning and Jo was gone she knew Jo had run away. Jo's mother then called up the Affinison police to help find her. Officer Gustav decide he would get on the case. He started off by finding Jo's friends and bribing them to spill what they know. He didn't get any answers, but from the information Jo's mother gave him he figured that he knew where she was going. I just stepped in gum.

Line 5 and 6: That were once such valuable jewels but are now just so much glass

Jo always dreamed off being not only an actress, but rich. Her mother never made very much and Jo never wore expensive clothes like the other kids at the private school in Affinison. Jo was always the brat of the family in some ways, all the other children were happy with what they received.

Line 8 and 9: That pointed out the dreams in the dark, but have lost their way?

I know that Jillian was writing about Joanne at this point. Jillian mentions dreams and also being lost. Jo would have been considered lost by her mother because of her looked to fulfill her dreams. Gustav finally arrived in Hollvada. He found Jo and brought her back to her mother. Jo was very upset about this,but she realized it was only because her mother loved her. She decided to fulfill her dream when she got out of college.

grow up

The repeated insult shouted at those who are supposedly immature is to grow up. To stop acting childish and mature into the young adult you should be acting as. Whoever knew that these "immature" ones all share a common characteristic. It is these humans who are holding onto something they cannot bear to let go of. For many it is something that has been persistently present their entire life. These people who cannot easily let go of values so important to them are labeled immature.
I never thought leaving home and taking a step into the real world would be so difficult. Holding onto my past and my family, leaves me with an empty feeling away from home. Incompleteness in my self, mind and body. I never imagined it to be like this with a feeling of constant despair and longing for home. This "immature" feeling of not being ready to grow up yet and longing for the past is something that is much deeper than imaginable.

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what I am doing here...

Like Gabe said, I took something in my life, and wrote it in the way of Nabokov. Or at least I tried to. I used big words, and elaborated on somethings that necessarily do not fit in to what I am talking about, sometimes it does not even make sense. And really, a lot of what I expand on is not true but whatever, tried! :]

My relationship with my Step Dad--

Presumably, my Mother would say that me and my Step Father do not really have a fantastic relationship, actually it is more of a relationship closer to that of a cat and dog. We are complete opposites, one feeling the need to dominate over the other. It is as if I am a baby, he talks into me, instead of to me, trying to figure me out. I do like puzzles though and it is quite hard to fathom how one can already know how to put a puzzle together before it is finished.

 

I read my diary from when I had first moved into that retched house of his, and I see not only the dislike I had for my "step" Father, but the lack of respect as well. Why waste my time with someone who does not care about me as much as I care about myself? I am looking in the mirror and my "Dorothy" shiny red slippers when I was 5, wondering if my step Father would approve of me walking across the wooden floor of the house with these on scuffling each end of my heal into the auburn wood. Too bad, I did. :]  His friends adore, me he sound adore me too. 

 

Making fun of me was his number one priority. I had to put my toothbrush back a certain way, or I would have bad dreams. After I left the bathroom he would sneak in and flip it around. Oh, the nerve that man had! But hey, I would much rather roam around outside then be in this inclosed room so often as I was put in it, I was pushed out. I never seem to get my way with this man, so I should just butt out. He was very feminine with his slicked back dew, no wonder my mother frowned upon her hair in the morning. There was no more gel for her to use! 

 

But alas, I love my family, my friends, oh and myself. So, I suppose I could reconcile my differences and love him too. Oh and I do love him as much as my family. He is my family. He loves me as if I am his own daughter in this faulty world, so I love him as much as my father. 

Blogg from Wend 15th and Fri 17th when i was absent

Topics: What we think Stein meant in her writing & how we learn

In all of the confusion of crazy sentence structure, long sentences, and what seems like an entire book that doesn't make sense, Stein is saying something. I thought that maybe the entire purpose of her crazy book was to show how important sentence structure, grammar and punctuation is. For example punctuation is what helps us read the sentence 'I helped my uncle, Jack, off a horse' instead of reading it as 'I helped my uncle jack off a horse'. Now that a disturbing imagine is in your head one can really appreciate grammar. I believe she used a similar method to show that without it reading is extremely difficult. She showed us without a period a sentence drags on forever and sometimes it is too lengthly and for the reader that can be very annoying.

Stein showed what not to do why doing. I believe people learn by doing so I will attempt to tell you how I learn through Stein's style:

Like photography we develop from our negatives. I think that as people we learn from our mistakes. A man once trained his dog to attack others but himself. One night a burglar broke into the mans house and the man attempted to fight the burglar. The dog got confused at bit his owner. After that the man got rid of the dog and never owned another one again. Scars are not only physical but emotional. When people look back on people they lost there is a scar on their emotion. One learns by mistakes, not getting a 100% helps because it shows us what we did wrong and how to fix it. Nothing is perfect but things can be damn close. One learns from example. It's hard for people to just tell others what to do. But an example is a nice. You can learn about me by examples I give you. Teachers use examples to explain their lesson plans. Mothers use examples to explain their child's life plan. Children use examples to explain why not to stick their hand in the fan.

 We learn by what we do not want. I do not want math. Although, we do not want war, yet it ravages our planet. We do not want death, yet there is not a cure for cancer. Maybe it is the fear that helps us learn. Animals are afraid to die so they play it safe. Humans are afraid to cry so they bottle things up. As people, we all have different learning styles. Look it up in psychology. All things learn so differently. Trees learn to grow the tallest to live. Karma is an interesting thing we learn from how it will bite us in the ass if we do not live by it. But then the others who do not believe are not affected by it. Interesting how everything is connected through how they learn Everything learns and that is what connects us as one world. The sea learns to move to the Moon. The Moon learns to move from the Sun. 

Better late than never i guess.. eek. sorry !

Learn. what kind of word is that?
we are set up our whole lives just to learn.. but are we really doing that ?
is the only reason we are even put on this earth is to learn?
Learn. learn learn.
i keeping wanting to type lean. but thats not right.

ever since i was put into school i was learning.
i dont honestly know how i am going to write twelve pages on learning.
i don't have a philosophy. i just know the way that i learn.

i need people to be patient with me, even if i don't return the favor.
i need things to be broken up and broken down.
take it slow.
sections are a must.
don't rush me. give me time.
visually i learn the best.
lectures really aren't good for me. maybe thats why im not doing well in chem. =/

we were taught the six questions in middle school.
who.what.when.where.why.how.
we have to become intelligent beings.
if you don't then what is the point of being here.
what would be the point of school..
why would i be going to school to want to teach school?

teachers tell us the ways that we should learn.
visually. listening. kinestic.
but we don't really care about those.
what do we care about?

if you are not percieved as being intelligent, its morally wrong.
if you don't know certain things, you are looked at funny.
If you dont go to school and get an education you are looked at as being an non-intelligent individual. stupid. dumb.
bad grades=you are dumb.

how i am going to write twelve pages on this is beyond me.
how am i going to do this.
i barely feel like i wrote four hundred words, let alone twelve pages.
hopefully i can come up with something.

Sorry about this...

We are all silver platters. Filled with ironies, hypocrisies, pain, joy.
Perhaps we are all doomed to live as Persephone, to shift with the seasons, between sets, beneath stage lights. If only we had cues.
Realism is what pulls us against our dreams which propel us. We learn which stars to reach for, and which to let go of.
We’re always late, between coming and going. Dawn breaks, always welcome. Parts of us are gone.
Memory exists to teach us lessons. Beyond goldfish.
Our lives are labyrinths of narrative. We sow our seeds and check the output.
Often, there are few benefits to knowing.
If he owned a parasol, he would be here by now.
Rain is renewal. I watch the tides wash us away. We are clouds, ever drifting. Between ideas and people, here and there. Perhaps some day you’ll understand.
Our lives echo similarities. I hate them.
The hero’s journey. Destiny.
Are we all bound to learn the same lessons, time and time again. Down.
Persephone.
We bend backwards, branching out. Extending ourselves, in hopes of the sun. It is our nature to be optimistic. Unless our branches are wrenched away from us.
I envy the kites in the park.
Our stairs are winding. I don’t feel a thing.
I wish I were so much more than this.
I’ve lived so many lifetimes, yet been repaid with pains. Everything’s a trial.
I wish I were clairvoyant, and that others were perceptive. Some people never learn.
The lack of others’ lessons has tangled mine in knots.
Is the train arriving soon.
Why are we here, if every story is the same. Are all our stories the same.
This angle’s terrible.
I can’t see the screen.
I wish I had my glasses with me.
How a dove. Why does it rise in the morning.
Are we all borne as dew, and dry as we whither. What do we lose. The desire to learn.
Would we live forever, if we were meant to keep learning.
An essence of being.
Is learning an instinct, lacking in cognition.
Everything is a cycle.
I can’t feel my toes.
Why can’t anything just be.

Also, this is overdue... my internet had been down. Woops.

(how of writing and booth)-I was a member of my school's creative writing club and literary magazine for four years. In my findings of my responsibilities as a writer, I've found that, an aspect that's often hindered my creatitivity, I feel this sort of unease most of the time that people don't get the sense that I get from my writing. Sometimes their perceptions fascinate me, but usually not, as I think this stems from my desire to make people understand me and my struggles, as I doubt they ever will. I've tried to play this off as literary ambiguity at times but often I just find it frustrating, unlike with reading other works, where I find this aspect interesting. I supoose it has to do with an emotional detachment from the work. I agree with Booth that every work, whetehr direct or indirect, is an extension of the author, an appendage of their current thoughts and fundamental values. It baffles me how many people seem to oversee this fact and view the work as a completely separate thing, like a stranger to the writer.

uneducated guess.

first of all,
shut up.
really though, question ... but not all the time.
to answer your question: There is a chance you may use this later in life
not this post, but "this".

visualize the sound they make. backwards soak. THINK ABOUT IT.
never dither.
think about a dwelling. a dwelling is a nice place to be. participate in dwelling. maybe this dwelling has a fireplace. THINK ABOUT IT.
don't be "afraid not". PURSUE.

Ringo Starr wrote a song or two. So can you.
Look at everything. don't glance. A tiny rock is tiny only because you think it to be,
think of the places it has been. Geology.
Roll your eyes and you will be rolled. Give yourself meaning give your words meaning DON'T put yourself into automatic.
Possibly, invest in a stick shift.
Sometimes, the moon is very big but only because we don't know it is always
very, very big.
Don't just listen to the moral of the story, understand the framed picture of the story.
Know the differences,
in math and in english.
Learning has the anguish of being spoke of in past tense


Learning has the anguish.

Write. Listen. There are pros and cons of both. To Talk and To Question are not always the same. A question without a meaning is not a question but a statement of nothing.

Learning. You cannot be taught by an index card unless you tell yourself.
Learning. Active.
Learning is associated with displeasure but we are displeasured to not


A rock broke through the jew's window and changed the night forever
The rock never learned of its significance.
See what I am saying, don't be a rock

Don't create forgotten text.


A constant See/Saw expression inexpressible, an impression in the sand never knew.
There's really nothing to it.
No tugging war, then you lose.

Don't be afraid to look like you don't know what is going on
Nobody knows what is going on,
to be afraid is to lose.
Too, afraid is losing.


If you are not learning, what are you doing?
Basically dead.
Uneasiness is natural, you know you are alive.

I know it, I feel it now
I don't think this is right.

i guess i wasn't the only one to forget about this...awkward.

Learn learn learn. Is it innate maybe is it rehearsed maybe is it hard maybe does it come naturally.. . just maybe. Who what where when how. Why does it matter? Because we want to know to know is to be intelligent and to become intelligent I have to learn. Learn what though who decides what I learn. I am not some stupid receptacle that you can fill random crap with. I choose what I learn, do not do it for me. Intelligence is power power is everything in this world anyways I wonder if other planets care about learning useless information. Stimulate my mind with colors with words with unique material and I will learn. Give me a book a magazine a novel a movie an email and I will learn. But why why is it important why was the idea of learning even thought of in the first place. To judge. Maybe. Need something other than looks to make people feel worthless. Animals do not judge by how much they learn. Why cannot I learn only the things that keep me happy and live a happy life. Like a dog. Or a cat. Now pay attention to me so you can learn what I say. Learning is attention learning is accepting learning Is knowing I know you do you know me. Didn’t think so. Why can I remember faces but not names. I have learned them once why did it go away. I try to learn but my information is escaping from my brain. Why does learning make learning so hard for me to learn in the first place. If English is a hard language to learn why cant I learn Spanish. Hard stuff hard stuff hard stuff . maybe by learning about learning I will understand it better. Thinking about thinking. Metacognition. Now that is a trippy thought. What’s trippy who made it up I do not know I should learn. If you don’t learn are you stupid, or better than the society we live in. that’s weird. Why learn about reading and writing when I can already do it. Learn how to draw . creative. Learn how to read. Wise. Learn how to sing. Musical. Learn how to live. Stupid. Think about it. Take a second. Where would we be with no learners. Nowhere . so why learn . to go somewhere. Why go somewhere in life. No one knows.

Don't Make Mistakkes

Dont speak. Correction do not. Do not talk out loud.
Listen. Listen to nothing. Listen to only me.
I am right. The teacher is right.
Learn from words. No experience necessary.
This is learning. This is bad. Don't go to the bank.

The sun is real and the sky is real. If they are real we are real. Listen to them. The basketball falls threw the hoop. This is learning. This is investing. Learning is discussing why Shakespeare writes. Banking is not learning.
When a man walks into a dark room full of empty files he is in the bank.
Empty minds make unhappy people.
Who is a teacher?
All powerful all knowing overseer of the class. Betty is a teacher, she barely made it to graduation day.
Overseers dont make mistakkes. That is an error. This is wrong to.
Frank teaches
Bob teaches
Franny teaches
A student teaches
learning is learning from your peers. Learn from and with. Listen to everything. Listen to the wind at the back of the classroom. It has good ideas even if they aren't directly shared.
experience is not necessary on the contrary experience is everything learn from doing seeing smelling tasting learn from doing this wrong right repeatedly whatever because these are all ways of understanding the more we learn the world becomes smaller it becomes brighter it becomes yours what could you not do without learning what could you do with knowledge what could you do with out a teacher.
Teachers aren't necessary to learn.
Frank helps
Franny helps
they are NOT a big deal.
They help you learn.
they guide you run.
Dont run to the bank run to nature. Frank gives you ideas. You run to the basketball hoop with the ideas and slam dunk. Run dribble and bounce their ideas and dismiss them or make them your own.
Do what your told.
Dont believe what your told.
Believe what you believe based on what others think and your own concept. Mix and match clothes. Ideas are learning. Power points are not learning. They are annoying.
Banks are bad.
Avoid memorization.
Save your money in your pocket.
Save your knowledge in your brain from experience.

Learning and lerning and lrning and lrning and lrnin and ....

Every time your brain creases you learn something the depth of the crease signifies the importance of what you learned therefore the crease in the sky should match with the crease on your paper while the learning is fresh the crease might still be barely noticeable but the hope is still there present when you count the number of note cards that you use for a subject it tell you the probability that you could learn something but when the note cards aren’t enough you could count the value of life on learning by the number of scribbles on the margin of your mind since you’re letting your imagination run free when your imagination is active and not passive it lets you retain enough information in order to jumpstart the way of learning and when lrning becomes undrstandbl you’ve learned the order of words though the order isn’t the only way that you could learn the way of Pooh is also the way when you don’t let Panic accompany you next to your seat when you’re trying to learn something instead play a soothing music to make Panic into panic then nothing at all when panic becomes nothing you could concentrate on learning that one plus two doesn’t really equal three but a hundred and three plus the possibilities that you have yet to explore like going to the library in order to learn because there are not only just a hundred and three books there are million plus the library offers slaves of knowledge who are willing to help you become better learners because the better learners there are the happier this world could be while it is ok if the world is happy it can’t do it without the help of friends like the Beatles “I get by with a little from my friends” it is true that learning also needs to have friends like patience motivation goals when you’ve befriended them don’t cast them aside like a fair weathered friend would that’s useless you have to keep your friends for as long as you can because they help you become less of a fool than you already are though you can’t keep them forever you only have to end it when you’re dead.

Open up

You learn something thing new everyday is what my grandma once told me.
Even when you are ninety there are still things to learn.
Who is wiser than a ninety year old to teach them though?
Who said you have to learn from your elders though.
We can learn from any and every thing and one.
The only thing you have to have in order to learn is an open mind.
Student means eager, you must be eager to learn.
It is impossible to learn if you don’t want to.
The moment you open your ears and eyes and brain you will learn.
You don’t have to ask a question to learn something new.
You don’t have to open a book, or be in a class room to learn.
You can learn from watching the people around you, or talking to a peer.
If you want to learn you will.
You can learn on your own by surfing the net.
Google.
Google is a teacher, a seekers best friend.
To be a learner you must want.
You must want knowledge.
You must want understanding.
You must want answers.
You must want to advance in your thinking.
You must be alert.
You must be listening.
You must be active.
You must be present.
You can’t think you know the answers already.
You can’t think my way or the high way.
You can’t be satisfied.
You can’t be a know it all, because there are none.
To learn is easy, to close your mind and not want to learn takes effort.

I Like Turtles

youtube "i like turtles" if you haven't already...it made me smile today. i'm trying to send the happy thoughts along.




Learn.
Do it like a bird
Like it flies in the sky
Do it like you feel the breeze in your hair.
Ride a bike
With not handle bars.
No a tricycle.
No big wheels
Big wheels were sweet though.
Open the window.
Let in the light
Allow it to shine on you.
Learn.
Yearn.
Learn to yearn to learn.
Be a philosiphizer.
Think about it.
Be confused.
Its okay to not know.
Learn through confusion.
Confusing you is teaching you.
Is that true?
Of course it’s true.
It’s true to you
And to me.
The confusion in you
Will set you free.
Free to b.
Enemies don’t want you to learn.
Learn to hate those enemies.
Write their names on a pumpkin.
Smash those pumpkins.
When the police come
learn you should do it to your pumpkins
not one that you stole
Music is key is the key to learn like you know.
Key to let the mind spin
Spinning like the rhythm of the beat and thump.
Let the bass inspire.
Learn to enjoy it.
Let the beat be meaningful
Think about what it means
Everything has meaning
You just have to find it
Find it
Be like Sherlock Holmes
Or Nancy Drew
Dig in the dirt of the Earth
Surprises are fun.
Learning something new.
Surprises are unexpected
Dogs bark for no reason.
Video blogs invite you to a world that is mysterious.
Techology allows learning.
Resources for learning have gone through a revolution.
Take advantage of what you have so that you will know
Teacher teach me something new
Make it interesting.
Learn with me.
I want to learn with you.
Why is the sky blue
Or the grass green
The purpose of butterflies is to please me.
Except that you don’t know it all
Except that you need a bra.
See it through green eyes instead of blue
Its better through green because the grass is green.
Believe it through the raisin in your head.
The raisin in you head allows you to grow.
To grow is to learn.

Who says a petal doesn't know anything about the world why does a flower have to know it all. Do you have write a paper for a paper or can you write a paper without a stapler. If you lose all of your staples you can still write a good paper it doesn't have to even to be words.
They said there was a teacher who lived in Bethlehem and he never assigned papers and some people liked him and some people didn't like him he was different so many people didn't like him. Everybody thinks you have to be in a classroom for class but I think on top of a hill or under a fig tree is fine. People never learn everything but at least they think.
If you think a thought and it's wrong it's ok you just have to keep thinking. It's not important it you are right or wrong it's important if you think.
Trees have seeds. Some trees have seeds that twirl in the wind and when they can either be trees or they can be seeds. Seeds don't always be trees just some of them and that's ok because trees are beautiful but so are seeds. I like seeds I think they are funny.
When is a teacher. I am a student but I know things but I am still learning things. Teachers are teachers but they are still students because they don't know things they are still learning things. I could teach things does that make me a teacher. Maybe everybody is both but how can everybody be both if there are flowers and petals. Petals aren't as old as the flower so maybe they don't know as much but maybe they know different things. The flower knows earth and the petals know the sun but together they know a lot more than they did when it was just the flower. A flower without any petals would be boring. I like pretty flowers.
I don’t like paper clips. I don’t like staples either but I like staples more than I like paper clips because paper clips don’t feel final but staples do. I don’t like staples much more thought because they both clip paper and paper isn’t what’s important. It’s words that are important. Words aren’t important. Thoughts are important and thoughts are in paintings and music and if Buddha sang maybe people would have still listened to him.

He knows a lot about Sean Connery. That's hardly a substitute. (Trainspotting)

The Cheesemonkeys.
Truth

Intelligence. Capacity for learning. Reasoning. Understanding. Similar forms of mental activity. Aptitude in grasping truths. Relationships. Facts. Meanings.

Truth. This is truth. There isn’t.
Truth. This is truth. There it is.

Performance. Opinions.
Knowledge. Acquaintance with facts. Truths. Principles. As from study or investigation. General erudition. Knowledge of many things.

Truth. This isn’t truth. It’s over there.
Truth. This isn’t truth. It left.

Repetition Repetition Repetition. Stop.

Being spoon-fed facts and histories won’t help you read a book.
Being spoon-fed facts and histories will help you know the book’s story.

In balance lies beauty. In exchange lies speaking.
There are two sides to every story, and four to every desk. They must be utilized fully to completely grasp others.
You are your ideas. Your ideas can change.

Chuck deserves some therapy. William too.

8 weeks a year the seasons change. Look at them.

Singing makes sense of the senseless. Anything put to music is beautiful.
Silly lyrics= the best poetry.
We spoke for hours.
She took off my trousers.
Spent the day laughing in the sun.
We had fun.
And my friends they all looked stunned (yeah yeah).
Dude she's amazing and I can't believe you got that girl.
McFly. That Girl.
Everyone relates.

There is a movie for every possible situation. If not, make one.
There is not a movie for every day. They aren’t necessary.

Trainspotting is a good one.
Choose chooses choose.
Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing. Spirit-crushing game shows. Stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all. Pishing your last in a miserable home. Nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish. Fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.
You know. Happy thoughts.
They help.

Depression isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Hitting rock bottom helps hit the high notes.
Steal life mantras from others experiences.

Live your own life.

The Philosophy of Learning

Learning is wondering, asking, thinking, exploring

Learning is the quest to know all that is possible. All that you can.

Learning is looking at the stars. The stars in the sky. The sky is above. Higher and higher farther and farther away. Why do we learn?

Learn for you. For me. For the world. Help the world.

Want to learn. The want to learn is important. Wanting to learn is important like wanting shelter when it is cold outside.

Communication discussion talking

Parts of learning

Why do some dogs have spots? Why do humans have eyebrows? Why do people smile in pictures? Why do we capitalize the beginning of sentences? Why do we associate colors with words? How can one word mean so many different things?

Green=trees, grass, recycling

Blue=sky, sad, music

Yellow=happy, the sun

Black=dark, gloomy, depressing

The question of why is learning.

Learning is living. We live and we learn. We learn and we live at the same time. One in the same.

Learning is everyday. Every day there is something to be learned if we are willing to accept that and not push it away.

Reading writing books talking. I like books. I like talking. I like learning.

Learning is watching a sunset  on the beach on a warm night with your closest friends.

The quest for knowledge. Is it a journey? Through the desert or the forest. The seeking of knowledge. Do you know what is on the ledge? Don’t jump

Learning is beautiful. Learning is accepting. Something for everybody. Nobody has to be left out. Learning is difficult it is challenging it is worthwhile it is meaningful

Learning is wondering, asking, thinking, exploring, questioning, wanting

philosophy of learing

how do we learn. the philosophy of learning.
to learn one must want to learn. read between the lines. speak between the lines.
how we learn and why we learn are the same. we learn because we want and we learn when we want to.
Learning is a want.
Learning is a passion.
Learning is a friend.
Learning is an acquire taste.
Learning is a sport.
To learn one must listen. Explore. Investigate. Analyze. Defend. Discover. Create.
One must be open to learning. To be an active learner is to find your personal way of learning.

Learning is looking above the surface. Beyond the ordinary. And right at the extraordinary.
Learning is to not understand. But to want to understand.

Learning is going deep. Deep below sea level. And into the depths of the oceans bottom. Solid, but full of information floating right above it.

To learn one must go beyond the norm.
For yourself. For others. For everyone.

The How's and Why's. The Where's and When's.
To learn is to live. Learning is not just in the school setting. You learn when you walk. When you talk. When you explore. When you eat. When you smile.
To learn is to live. To take in what you see. To take in what you do. Do not dismiss frustrations and anger. Understand the frustration. Understand the anger. And learn.

Doing this as my laundry spins

Googling philosophy reveals truths. Is the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. Is confusing. Is confusing is truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. Is it. Truths know conduct of beings being principles. Being principles know knowledge not truth. Eye balls is teachers is teachers eyes balls. Off spring offspring. Tips of fingers tip off eyes and balls. Sun light is not felt inside walls of cubicles. B side underside people. All of music is poetry! Sing songs. Thanks be given.Numbers are definite except for the food and the leaning eight. My favorite numbers is the countdown to dawnbreak suns shine. No number is love. No number is beautiful. Babies are beautiful. Numbers are for holocaust and prisoners and credit cards.

Doing is living is doing living. Learning is being born and doing. I am a human doing. I am a human seeing breathing feeling screaming crying buying dying lying. Showering is strange. When did water become upright.

All of life is music. All of music is life. Breathing symphony of French horns. People write music. People WRITE music. It is all interconnected. The whole world is a stage says a man. Say words pretty and people will believe the words said. Pretty words is power. Speak pretty and the whole world is yours.

Turn the ocean around with whale sail boats. Pretense makes sense. Around the world spinning little children in big whale boats. Around a round carousel blue coat goes by wishing for big brother to go back to school. Inspiration in tales of whales around the world in little children boats. Screaming the songs of little ones going round the around world.

It’s a small world after all.

Philosophy of learning through steins writing styles

     The who.

 The what.

 The when.

 The where.

 The How.

Learning is like a block. You build your way up.

One can crumble at the top. One has to see

What is there to see. A tree with branches like the branches of learning.

One has to pay attention. To who. I pay attention to you.

One has to be there.

Be there.

Be where.

Be everywhere.

What is everywhere.

It is everything. What is everything.

A boy. A dog. A boisterous hog.

Who is the hog. What is the hog doing.

The brain needs to focus. Who’s focusing on the focus.

A person. An animal. Old or young.

The Focus is focusing on the learning of the brain of the mind of the thoughts of which kind.  Brain like a rabbit hops and drops. When is time. What is time. How to learn with time. The how of learning is quite clear. Clear as glass. The brain must master the learning quite fast. Fast like a racecar gaining speed. First quite slow, then roaming free. The what of learning is the what of the butt. But what is a butt how do you learn with a butt. What comes in must come out. Much like learning without a doubt. The when is the When of the where and the how. When is like the time you forgot you were supposed to be on date. The where of learning is the essence of the Thought. Where were you when you thought of that thought. You were in your room. I was in my chair. The dog was barking. The mother was combing her hair. The How is the answer of it all. The answer on a test. An equation. Falling down the stairs. Becoming scared. The occurrence of the matter is in ones head. Just like the TV. When you shut it off nothing is there, when you turn it on everything is there. Learning is on. Learning is off. Learning is on and off when you’re asleep. You dream what you learn and you learn what you dream. If a dream becomes true do you know what to do. Learn what to do and the dream will come true.

A Crown

I would say so. So what?

So what will I do to be king?

Holy Cow.

Wouldn't you laugh if you could say you were king?

Maybe it would be sad.

King of what.

So what? Why do you want that? Why is a very puzzling pun.

A little kid in a classroom wants to know why and what do you tell him but that you said so and then he asks you again why you say so and then you find your brain asking your other bodies why you are saying so and then you tell the little kid so what and he says so what is my answer and you ask what is your question because you are avoiding the question and you want the kid and his chair to be one again and then he asks you why and then you get annoyed and you go and hide in a cone.

Learning is a why poem.

Learning. you are now human.

Learning. you are afraid.

Learning. you are curious.

Learning. you have to.

Why do you have to? do you do to?

You don't have to do anything but a human has to do something and that thing is learn.

One. stage/level one. you need it to eat and walk and look and hear and touch and live.

And that's when the deer and the antelope play. A stage is a place for play so you have to build a stage so you can play and that is why it's called stage one because you have to build the the.

What is second in? That is a tricky question and so is the stage.

So is it a time for tricky. Yes it is a time for tricky. And we are afraid of being trapped in the little web that keeps us from the sky. So we claw. But we don't know it so we have to let the teachers tell us.

A teacher tells us what we have to learn and that is all we need to know in stage two.

Next. We learn because of silence. A hole in a brain through the eyes and ears and hands that is not fixed and you don't have a phonebook. Too bad cause the brain has a lot of storage.

And lastly we want to be kings and that is a last straw to pull. You like to rule. A ruler is a man/woman who likes it.

And that is why.

How do you do? Well there are no stages in here.

Remember the hole.

Here is a list of buttons to push: you can listen you can write and you can disagree and you can sleep and you can eat and you can laugh you can tell a joke and you can tell a story you can see and you can taste and you can say no too -- who's telling you no? -- and you can insult and hurt and you can feel with your head and your hands and your heart and you can spell and you can open your eyes with a spoon (maybe two) and you can do nothing also.

Anything is everything. What works for an automatic worker is everything.

Remember stage two though. Because the how is just the same!

And if you ask me what, then you might be stupid because then you're a robot.

Stein Style... maybe?

What is love is a question.
The answer is different to everyone who responds.
To some it is an emotion done my chance, others it’s chosen.
To some it is infatuation for someone they see themselves spending the rest of their lives with.
Love is a pain that stings like a bee on a hot summer day when you’re sitting under a tree.
Did you ever notice when you look for something you can never find it.
The minute you forget you lost it, it finds you.
How come you find it when you don’t need it anymore?
That is just stupid!
What is the purpose to life?
Does it even have a purpose, or are we just Gods little figurines?
Are we here to find a lover, an enemy, a friend, a helper, or be a helper, a healer or a dealer?
Who decided our purposes?
Or do we? Does God make a map of our lives and we just pick the route to the end?
Money.
Money seems kind of silly to a poor man, who is happy,
But pretty important to a sad millionaire.
Why do we work so hard to have nice things, when we should be working hard to be nice and good people because then we will have nice things in the end.
Do you do things because you want to or because others want you to.
Live your life, take the road that will lead you to happiness and joy.
Thank you for life, and thank you for family.
Family is a strong bond.
A bond that is hard to break.
Thank you for family for they are the people who teach us to love.
But what exactly is Love.

I'M ALWAYS LATE.. ASK JESS. =]

how to read.
thats a very interesting thing.
you just do it. like nike says.
i dont know what stein trying to do.
make me not read, yeah.
makes me want to throw the book across the room. which i will do.

words are in a sentence. sentences are in paragraphs. paragraphs are in essays. essays are in books. books are on the shelf, waiting for someone to touch them.
books all want to be read. how do you get your pen to write these words.
they are just words.
our eyes scan them, with some kind of meaning. what would we do without our eyes. we couldn't read. we couldn't read.

its a strange thing, reading. we do it all our life, for some kind of thing we call knowledge. put does putting words
in
our head do
A N Y T H I N G ?

college students. the best kind.
all we do. all we do. do read, do write.
do we really know how ? the right way, what is it?
skim scan read.
library is the place to be at this time.
where i am now. for this whole week. college. who came up with it.
hard, lots of work. how do we interpret anything.
teachers fill our heads with information that their teachers have done to them.
how do we come upon this information.
please tell me.

typing..
makes noise.
its a little obnxious in the library.
click clack, back and forth.
im doing it now.
wonder who is listening.

write now i am reading. reading what i am writing. letters into words.


have to go. going to be late for class.

how to read... god only knows.

Where Are The Dinosaurs?

Sorry, I'm a day late.

Pens can be quite interesting objects. Colorful yes? Or not. The way they make the paper come alive. More than a pencil ever could. Yes, interesting. It can dance across the paper creating new words. A new world. Exploration. Perhaps become a new Columbus. Such new territories.
Ask yourself, is it worth it? Just begin! Time is a virtue.
Become a student. What is a student? A listener, a learner? The line between teacher and student can blur. So the person who stands in front of the class is the giver and we are the takers? No, that is not right. Good song though. What else.
Sparknotes. Not very helpful in my opinion. Too much.
The Early bird catches the worm. How truthful that sentence really is.
Go out into the fog, it will rise eventually. See? What do you see, Columbus? The distance. But what is in that distance?
The mountains. The plains. You're wrong, although, it is anything but plain. Fault lines. The geology of our world.
Interesting class.
What a long beard you have there sir. Whatever is it for?

Perhaps the real world will tell us. Aren't we in the real world? I don't care for that saying. This world is quite large, don't you agree? Whatever happened to the dinosaurs, I mean really.. Off topic much? Doesn't matter, I want to know! You are alive. You can't be prepared for this "real world" that is spoken of because you are already living it so why would they lead you on with such lies lies lies. Be someone! Make money! Have a career! Yelling! College. Now there's a given.
Go find yourself. Find your future. What if you already have? You are you. I am I.
The future is too broad. Can we narrow down that time period? Not likely.
Let's have a celebration.
People should do this more often. Life should be celebrated! As should nature. Nature is a part of life, so that works. How beautiful it really is. This life. Let's get some balloons streamers hats whistles music. Colorful. The human vision reacts to this. Something inside of us is programmed to respond to color. Rods and cones? No, it's something deeper. It lifts us up. It gives us hope. What a happy day. The weather is happy today. Can’t you tell by the colors? I certainly can. You can smell the color.
What a wonderful day.
Honestly though, where did the dinosaurs go?

how to read?

i asked you,
i asked you "how to"? "how do you do"?
i laughed and i forgot to forget to forget you
words end and Iris begets a pin "prick"
see the yellow cab.
see the brown cow.
see spot run.
feel spot run.
count the distance between spot a and be while figuring out the intricate nature of spot running. maybe spot run because rabbit run. or cat run. see spot and cat run. or maybe spot just run? maybe in spot's world there is only running and nothing to chase no incentive to run. maybe spot was made to run. maybe Dr. William S. Gray knows nothing about dogs.
or maybe a pretty little sentence. a dainty how to do. flowery words and lovely broads. the man presents a poem to two women, one slap one kiss. it's totally natural to be offended by lovers' pleas
sometimes, i am frightened rabbits chewing on tin foil. i am serious. how do i write, Gertrude?
today a love story tomorrow a misogynistic oppression. it can change just like that. i feel like if sat down and listened to the whispers of each passing book i would find the deeper underseated meaning underneath each and every line but who has the time to find out the intricacies of Charlotte's Web
sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and sometimes a book is Miss Universe.
sometimes my wit disappoints me.
deep truths and final thoughts. can a book only breathe when opened? can a book die when closed, suffocating on its weight and crying out for release i hate that
i hate that i forget
i hate that i forgot to love and sometimes, i speak out of place ( i am so sorry )
so does these thoughts.
shh,
quiet down,
harry potter doesn't have to be a social critique
dumbledore died , who cares, but that's beside the point...







twilight. no,
i felt the span and the glue holding the veins of the book together and the ink bled through the pages and into your fingers through the pores the bloodstream turned black but you know,
you really don't feel anything.
you just know when to look.
the difference between notes from underground and a hitchhiker's guide
i know you know.
how do I write? can you ape a reading like you can ape a writing? sometimes not a pretty picture painted by another hand.
flaw full.

now that's a knee slapper

The rain cuts through the air like a razorblade can you feel it. The words I mean not the blade. My eyes move through the paper The paper reads me Are you reading the paper. No interruptions no don’t interrupt me cant you see im writing here. Squiggles on the papyrus. At least that’s what it used to be in the past. The past. That’s a funny place to be or not to be that is the … answer. what are words words are letters what are letters who gave them meaning. Why listen to that meaning. The words are screaming to be read can you hear it. I can hear it. Ilovewords they appeal to my senses. This is a paragraph. That was a sentence. Jessica. That was a word. But words are in dictionaries am I not a word. Who cares I care. Now let’s dream. I don’t remember my dreams but we all have dreams so let’s dream together. Purple skies not blue that’s overrated. Rated over that’s all blue skies are purple. Now lets take that beat back again. When you think happiness I think of you you think of me do you think in words you have to right I do. If there is someone speaking in your head you can write that down and writing things down is language which are words. Don’t you know those words are going to get back to me so why say them don’t be so r u d e . rude dude neewwwbbbb. Why the hell wont my mind focus. Nonono. So anywho. How come two words can make one word but one word cannot make two words. What a double standard. Standards are double. I am not seeing double however whatever your on youd be seeing double. Sigh im bored your bored too. My hands are dirty. Slippery soap. Slipper slippery. Love is slippery. It slips away and is hard to pick back up again. This was all just a dream. Just kidding. Or was it how do you know your whole life isn’t a dream. Freud loved dreams. He dreamed about dreaming about dreams whos dreams were about dreams. Say that ten times. That’s slanted slander slaughter. That give me the heebeee jeeebieeesss. Don’t leave. That feeling I get when I see you no stop I cant catch up with you come back. I’m running from the truth to get to those feelings you give me. Wow that was a paragraph. Or was that a story how about a novel omg I’m a friggin author.

Gertrude Stein

I am a student. I am a college student. I am the recever of messages. messages sent by senders. Senders are teachers. I am a student. I ask questions. Because i ask questions I'm a student? If i dont ask questions am i not a student? Premises. True premises. False premises. Question asker is an inquisitor. An inquisitor is a student. Sometimes.

My sentence. My sentence has meaning. Meaning evokes emotions. If emotions are evoked, there was a sentence. Always? Premise. Always. Green swirlling color. Color of my pen. Pens are green swirling colors. Writing. I send messages. I send messages to myself. To myself, there are messages being sent. If i am myself, i sent messages. Somedays i send messages. Somedays i do not send messages. If i am lost, i did not send a message. If i am lost, a reciever did not receive a message. I am the reciever. Always.

I am kind. I am mean. To my friends. To my sister. I am a kind mean student. If i am a kind mean student, i am curious and i am not lost. premise. To the book is color, i have given it well. to my mother i have given, to myself not well. To scott i love, and will always have. to have is to hold, i have him, i hold him.

i have meaning. as i write i evoke emotions. stein dose not to her. to she does. her sentences. meaning. my sentences meaning. it is is wirten down it had meaning once it will always have meaning ever. ever will i love to write emotions. things that cant be helped make my emotions. emtions are made writting is made. emotions are gone writting is gone. premise.

to curly i love though almost dead. blind, deaf. cute as a button. cute be he deaf he be annoying he always be.

down the cobble stone street to life i dance free. dancing is not free. of emotion. twirl twirl twirl be life spinning ever so fast round this round about scene a scene that nvr ends until emtions do.

Stuck In the Elevator

What will happen
What will happen
What will happen when the dog gets there.
Dogs jump up and land on the man. The young man with the blue hat and yellow hair. You read this. This is able to be read.
The man can run faster then the bus the bus does not run very fast. You ran with the man. The man reads this means you read. You read words. This is a word. Banana. That is also a word. It is a curious word and is bright. Yellow is bright and many words are bright. Some words are dark. Words make what you want them to make.
The man fell off the tall building. This is dark. You read it.
They dance together. They do it together not apart but with each other. Bright. Together words are together yet apart. Words together can be read. This is reading.
The clouds part to become apart. The sky is clear as the children do what they do. What do they do? Everyone does. Young children and cho cho trains. That is a book you can read a book. Books are meant to be read not looked at. Pictures are looked at. Hills are in pictures. This hill it taller then all others. It is important. This is a sentence. This should not be used. Some sentences are not used. Sentences used depends on what is written to be read. Movies are not reading. Movies are fun to watch but you cant read movies. I am proud if you can.
What just happened? That just happened. What is that? that is your mom. Your mom is not a sentence it is a word. That is your mom is a sentence. There is a difference. Mark it.
The Fresh prince cannot be read it is watched.
Speak is read.
Words create an image.
Speak can be watched in your head.
imagination. That is a word. It is strong. You can read one word. One word with great emotional effect.

no one knows...

Take in the letters of the words of the sentence of the paragraph of the page of the book. The wind blows easy. The rain falls down, down, down. Hope the lady bugs drown in a puddle. Construction outside the window is a foe. No not a foe. It’s there. You know. Just keep with the flow. Smiling is contagious. Your mouth smiles your mind smiles. Your mind is outgoing. The fork lift takes the dirt and moves it away. The dirt and debri is stored with all the other dirt and debri and sits there until they go back to it. The car is on the same road for hours and hours. Takes the people to the destination. It is always the same destination. They might get lost. Trees and lanscape so contrasting with the sky. Not on the right path. But enjoying nature. The camera holds memories. Pictures with smiles and silly faces. Where and when? Do you remember? Not important. You see the smiles, the laughter, the friends. Post them on facebook. Let everyone see. They don’t know the whole story. Neither do you. But the smiles on the faces. A good time was had and that’s what they know. Watch them do their dance. They start to the left then move to the right. Take a step back then shake it on over. Do it again. Start at the left. Move to the right. Take it own down and then move it on over. The audience sees it. They don’t really get it. They question the way they move. Not a good mind. Obseve what they do. Try to understand it. Look at what they do and enjoy the entertainment. Why do is the grass green? Why is the sky blue? I like the color pink. Why does the corndog have legs and arms. I think it is smiling. Why does it grin those stupid eyes are going to be chomped offf. I don’t like her dress. I don’t like the color. The cut is disgusting. But aw I love her. What a beautiful friend in a hideous dress. It can’t see the trees that I normally do from my window. It’s kinda cloudy. I cant seem them damn it. But I know that they are there. There even though I can’t seem them. I’ll wait it out. Maybe after a few minutes. Oh wait there’s some of the green. But I still can’t seem them. Just keep looking and waiting. The fog is starting to clear. I can see them. Gorgeous tress. Like the first time we met.

I'd rather build a cat

A rain drop. A rain drops. Many rain drops make a flood. I have a word the word is surprise. I have a surprise for you. Surprised when he fell down the stairs.
A cat is made of fur. I collect cat hair. Someday I will make a cat. Cat is a word. The cat ate the food is a sentence.
The cat at the food. After that, the lazy cat went to take a nap. A cat nap. For a cat, every nap is a cat nap. Cat nip is what the cat ate. It was an old cat, with orange and black fur. I plan to make a rainbow cat.
That's a paragraph. That was a sentence. This is a sentence too. word.
The rain drops. It drops in rain drops. A rain drops, washes the house away. Houses have doors. Doors are attached to walls. Walls make the house, and people use the house to throw parties, or funerals, or anything they want. A book has doors. A dot is a door knob.
He jumped. He jumped rope. jumped off the building. A building has doors. He is a door.
A turtle doesn't have a house. Turtles have pretty shells. There aren't any doors in a shell but turtles are beautiful. Turtles are old and can tell you many stories. A turtle doesn't make sense why does it not live in a house? When rain drops a turtle can swim. If I build a house I'll build it like a turtle.
Some people don't know that leafs can talk. That is funny because if leafs couldn't talk they couldn't tell the tree to eat light. Leafs tell trees to take in rain drops too. I think a tree is made of sun and rain drops because the leafs tell the tree to. Turtles talk. Turtles make sounds that we don't understand. Houses don't say much because there are so many of them. We see them all the time and they would say the same thing. Not trees though. Trees are yellow and red and green like turtles. Sometimes trees change colors and you don't know when. Houses usually stay the same color. If I build a house, I am going to paint it green. If I bulid a house will it talk like a turtle? I don't want to build a house though I'd rather build a cat.

stein mania

Skyscrapers do not scrape the sky. The sky is a mixture of blue and open. Never ending ending with a period. How to read. Reading. read. read. What is reading. Putting nouns adjectives verbs adverbs pronouns into sense. A jumble into something understood. Words sentences paragraphs. Reading is like love. Love is pink and red candy and flowers. Roses and chocolate. The more you give the more love you receive. Happiness. Everybody wants this.

Everybody take it. If everybody wants it its all for the taking. Taking love.

The more you write the longer it takes. A boy named Matt wanted to go to college. when it came to studying he did not as far as enjoy. Enjoy never. He will never go to as far in a way to university. Buy the man a tie. A business man necessity is a tie. Family ties. A family is a rollercoaster ups and downs highs and lows. With highs come lows. With lows come highs. We can not feel low if we do not feel high. Listen to the silence listen to the nothing. But there is always nothing. Always something. Mosquito car person airplane. People in the sky above us in the clouds.

Rain is wet when big clouds hover. Rain is wet when the land is flat. Flat like a pancake. A cake can be made in a pan. The waterfall is falling water. Beauty is a fall made of water. Serenity is a fall made of water. The rocks the water blue clear.

Reading scanning interpreting understanding text. Reading is everywhere. Reading is signs. They cover the city of New York. New York is not so new. Feels new though. Reading is driving. Different kind of reading. License plates letters numbers. Reading is media. Television newspapers. Reading is left to right. Horizontal like the horizon. Sunsets and sun rises. Nature is priceless. A sunrise or a sunset can not be bought. Can not price something priceless.

Reading does not have to be sensical. Chaos is accepted. Understood even. As far as to go to wanted. The sirens blare outside the window. Someone somebody some people could be hurt. Help is on the way. Red blue lights light up the dark. The dark is something to be afraid of. Bad scary. Why. Reading is not something to be afraid of. Not bad not scary. Reading is as reading does.

 

Stein like a star.

When I read Shakespeare is above me. Hiss whispers how to read. Read with the mind while the microwave is open. The cloud is gone. The stars can’t see your eyes. The text hides you. The blank margin inks life. Mind is not the gutter from the sea. Treat the Fish, the holy reading, with care. The literature of holy can’t swim breath for long. The need is a friend that fish has. Patience in the sand buried the castle Truth. Oxygen understanding is fins that fits. Without humor bubble is humorless. Without patience so then Fish is out of you. It is out of me. How you read Fish is how you read life. With beauty guiding the blind so that the deaf could see. Microwave blasts the oven and cooks the fish yummy.
Cannonballs.
cars.
airplanes.
jets.
swords.
Tao.
machine.
Pooh.
atomic.
Quidditch.
bomb.
Alexander the Great.
Malfoy.
Brathwaite.
Edward
Edward Edward to March in September May June December open the mouth of Fish. The fish also eggs:
Victorian Age.
Civil of Rights (and my god, did you say 400words?!).
“the Potter’s hands.”
Industrial Revolution.
The Fish plumps the anemone off to produce:
Roseau.
Aristotle.
Anakin.
Achebe.
Bach.
Bacon.
Beethoven.
Blake.
No breath will come out of impatience to light the microwave. Without the microwave the Fish won’t breathe. It de-exists:




Machiavelli.



No one can exist without Machiavelli. He dies without the Fish. The fish can’t breathe without the microwave. The microwave doesn’t blast without you. The Fish impregnates itself to give you:
Boyle.
Botticelli.
Chopin.
Churchill.
Conrad.
Dickens.
Dr. Seuss.
All the people in between the great above. With these treasures learn to take care of the Fish. The fish gives eggs so we should give eggs from the mind. The mind is plastic. It can be either patience understanding tolerance. Be tolerant when reading ruins you. It is supposed to. Reading sometimes obliterates the words:
Fun.
Fling. It gives gold instead. The tomb of Constantine the Great is buried in the scales of the Fish. It is up to you to scrounge for it beneath Machu Pichu. Since the Fish doesn’t run out of : Augustus.
Aeneas.
Julius Caesar.
Marcus Aurelius.
Nero.
Ovid.
Romulus and Remus who were taken care of by Mother Wolf.
All the men who possess ageless beauty, “To read or not to read” shouldn’t even be a question. To read is to take care of the Fish. The Fish is to read. When you do a good thing to the fish the fish does a good thing to you too. So, take care of the fish. Someday you could also say “Veni, vidi, vici” like a one proud, proud fool.




P.S. Gertrude Stein is a genius. It takes me five minutes to write one sentence without just jumbling the words out of order. I can’t imagine what kind of drug Stein must be taking for her to be able to stand the kind of book she’s writing without minding the lack of conventional everything.

Twinkie Suicide

There is a twinkie hanging from my doorframe. How. Why. Masking tape. Dogs barking in the street. Screaming children don’t know what kool-aid tastes like. Carrots are orange. Red Blue and white. Technology is the camel’s back for color. Green is the connection of chocolate candy and sex. Bookshelves made from books hold shelves. Pumpkin carving is squash genocide. A solar powered bobble head is conserving energy for an ultimately pointless task, so I still feel guilty. The larger the cup the more I drink and the less I feel of yesterdays and the more I forget about tomorrow. Triangle potato chips are geometric miracles. Beards hide forked tongues from the slanderous lies that feed them. Bite the hand that feeds. Oranges grow in tropical forests from green trees but where might I find blues and yellows. Cannons explode and my ears bled for a fortnight. See spot run. WHERE. Drive the car and hit the dog. Screeching breaks break screeching crying screaming. Photograph the eyes and steal the mind of musicians who scream poetry of sadness and madness and all around calamity. Addition subtraction infraction distraction. Penance served under pontious pirates. Blow your mind. Scream the profanities that your parents screamed at each other that made your body bleed. Can you not see me. Can I see the sky. Clouds cloud airplane jets jetting high above. Blow smoke stacks steaming. Toast is bread genocide so I eat more meat. Christmas lights are stars brought closer to the touch of humans and demons and angels. Meet me at the corner. What did one wall say to the other wall. Altered states are educational and education is an altered state. It’s the me me me internet meme that me me likes. Talk loud speak softly carry big stick. Baseball batting for the human race. Non existant nonexistentialism. Idea-ology. 308 words 310 words counting forwards. 1 and 2 and 3 and abc but c can be 2 or maybe even 3 so abc can be 323 or more. Millions die from a typo and press the big red button because it’s easy. Mom and Dad are wrong. Mom and Dad are wrong. According to accordions. Drowning in flame. Like a one man funeral and an empty guestbook. All life is dying. All dying was once life. Screaming to listeners. A flat B flat C sharp D! Pentatonic major minor mixo-lydian and aleatoric. Let luck roll the dice because luck be a lady. The water over rocks is circling my head like the record playing old blue eyes.

gertrude stein. how to READ

Birthdays. The day of birth. Your day of birth. Your birth of day. A celebration of your birth date. A day to receive presents and cake for your day of birth. Exciting when young. Dreadful when old. Birthday parties. A party of your birth date. Why do we celebrate something that everyone has. Every one was born. Every one has a birth date. What makes your day of birth so special. People come to celebrate and give you presents and expect cake. What makes cake an expectation for your day of birth. Why does celebrating must always consist of food. Of cake. That is not a sentence. This is a sentence. Must we get fat to be happy it is ones day of birth. As well as weddings. Weddings mean cake. When rain falls on a wedding it is bad luck. Rain falls from the sky all the time. Rain drops. Made from the clouds. Falling onto the cement. Falling on your head. That was a paragraph.
Celebrations also occur for deaths. Different celebration. Celebration of a life. Life requires celebration. Celebration requires cake. Cake requires frosting. The frosting on the cake. The frosting made of sugar. Sugar which makes you hyper and on edge. On edge. On edge of life. Anticipation. Anticipation for what’s to come. Many people do not like surprises. Do not like being caught off guard. Must we always be aware of what is upcoming. Surprises. Surprise party. Surprise birthday parties. Celebrating ones day of birth with surprise. And cake. And frosting. And cupcakes with frosting. Cupcakes. A cake in a cup. Or a cup shaped cake. Celebration of cake and cupcakes. Mini cakes. Extravagant cakes. And cookies. Cookies with chocolate. Cookies with sugar. Sugar gives me a headache. Headaches which lead to migraines. Migraines are a surprise. Not a pleasant surprise. We do not plan to have migraines. They are not in our daily planners. Oh hey migraine you are one hour early I did not expect you until four. Leave and come back at four. Surprises can be pleasant. Surprises can suck. Pleasant surprises can suck. A surprise party without cake can suck. A surprise party for your day of birth. A celebration for the day you were born. Everyone else in the room has a day of birth too. Do not forget that.

Gertrude Stein

After our discussion in class and the readings we did last week, the ideas and reasons for Gertrude Stein's book, "How to Write" became more clear. Although I am still not quite sure about the "type" of writing she portrays throughout this book, it is clear that throughout all the language and writing she puts into this book, she is indeed providing us the tools and answers in how to write. While this was not clear at first, the discussion we had in class today made it more evident. What I believe Stein is saying about how to write is not just one thing in particular, but a bunch of different ideas and rules that tie together that allows one to understand how to write. The way Stein writes is quite interesting, something I had never encountered before. After reading a couple of pages in her book, I realized she puts examples into her explanations, making it easier to understand what she means and what she believes. What I believe Gertrude Stein is saying about how to write is that one must be patient. It is not something that just comes, it can take time and effort. I also believe she is stating that although we might think we know everything their is about language and writing, that is all but the stuff we are taught, is there more out there? I believe Gertrude Stein answers this question by portraying the many different levels of writing and ways to not only understand writing itself, but how to read it. By doing so she makes it evident that there is indeed other elements of language and writing itself that one may not fully understand. But instead of giving up and walking away, one should take time in comprehending and understanding in order to fully appreciate how to write. Again, although her style of writing is confusing, she is teaching us what she believes in about how to write by providing us with text that is somewhat different but comprehendible. This type of reading engages us in a way of thinking which we never really take time to do, because to us it is unknown. By engaging in this thinking, we are learning of new ways outside the box of "traditional" writing skills and learning so much more about writing as well as reading. 

How to Read: Mesquite Flavored

Oh my or oh yes.

Look at the cover. Look at. Is it a lot or not. Wow, it's heavy. Or maybe not. It's your call. I'm not sure about this, but maybe you are. Flip. Flip. Flip. Smells like a warm furnace to me. I like it. The words smell good. Time to do it.

Who is this guy? This F. Scott or this Shakespeare? Never mind. They write and they write -- how do they write? Maybe Stein knows... Okay. One. First. Once upon. Once upon a time. Once upon a time, there was a king. And this king had a castle. The castle was as big as. The castle was as big as. The castle was as big as a mountain. Here we go. The king had a son and he loved that sun. He loved that son. And there was a feast.

Starting is always the first part. The first part is always the hard part. Starting is harder. It is depressing to know how far you have left.

Standing at a pool, you want to jump. But you know it will be cold. You know. And the knowing is what stops your feet. No knowing. Don't know what to do. Know the no's but don't know them.

Early in the evening, supper's almost on the table.

Supper is a funny word. You can say it and it will give you the ha-has. Supper.

The evening is early, and supper is on a plate. Suppose supper was not supposed to be supported? That is a twist of the tongue.

Look for the twists in reading. They are fun. And be well fed. Have some supper, okay? Then you can start. Then is always the time.

Reading is, in recap, a time to not know and a time for fun. But you can know. You should know the things you want.

Talking can be unnecessary. Talking is one of those. Don't do what I'm doing right now. There are/is something on the rise. Here is your scoop: climb a hill, and see if you can. Can you get happy getting there? People have fallen without rope. We need rope sometimes.

We need supper too.

A hill has a crest on top. The top is hard, but you need to feel it. Feel it with your feet. Look up and then see if you -- see if you can -- you'll see.

Indiana Jones ran from the rock. You should stand in front of it. I promise.

Promises are easily broken, though.

Reading is no guarantee. There may not be a once. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, look again. Reading is a fool and a joke. Find the ha-has if you can.

Some people say this and that. People can eat a crow too. You can say that and this. You may have to eat a crow. Maybe a burnt crow. Mesquite flavored would be nice.

Think of reading as a mesquite flavored chip.

A Lofty Quest

What lies beyond the river. We set boundaries, give titles. Ocean, lake, creek. Penninsula.
Species. Genus.
Family. Order. Class.
Phylum. Domain.
Life. What is a life. Who defines it, us. Life may well be literature, or perhaps just a form of documentation. We are islands. I am a tree.
What makes us so weighty when branches bow with serenity, some for thousands of years. A lifetime is not a span of time, but a manner of being. A definition, bending towards the inevitable. Blood is water. Our lives are creeks, streams, then dams. Is anyone an ocean.
What if we all believed the advice we told others. Often, we do. Everything to have meaning. We need to be assured.
We tangle ourselves in the webs of our lies. To our children. We are as children even in business suits. How befitting to our illusions.
If I knew myself I wouldn’t be here.
The tide is coming.
I’m sorry.
The tide is combing.
Breaches in security laced the ivy of the cottage. The glass is half full.
Is there any cure. Can the tethers be untied. Our convictions. Blinding is binding.
I am aware.
He was sorry. The seams were broken. I tire.
I was aflame then. I should call her.
What is food really. The staple of life forms. Source of gluttony. Laced in our lies.
Return to the primal. Rests about all else. The sponge of this sentence shall soak in these words.
Can one contain a moment as an insect in a jar.
I foamed with apologies. He craved explanation.
If not then what are we. I wonder. Life forms.
Days collect as coins clinking in my pockets. Innumerable. Is life gluttonous.
If only we lived as stars. Do you wonder too.
Soon. Our days slip beneath the boards. If given the choice, I would fade.
Behind the sheds we watch them run. Behind the sheds we watch then run. The caves of ourselves were plush with lies. Our mouths were sticky. I tire.
If words are gifts then can lies be gifts. The darkness ever cease. If lovers can be liars and living between the framework of living and dark matter. Does nothing ever matter.
The tide is creasing.
Absence of wonder. Must all produce an answer. What is truth but what is claimed. The sable horse emerged from the stable. It bit my finger.
How does the lack of life process.
Photosynthesis. Aerobic respiration.
We are the boughs.

a fool.

Writing a book must be the most personal thing one can do.

(I'm likely not exactly breaking new ground here, as this is probably touched upon in some if not most of the blog posts before this one, but still...)

And I'm not simply talking about a memoir the Rhode Island Notebook, but any book at all. It could contain the basest poetry, the most high brow academia, or even very far-flung fantasy about elves and hobbits and still be intensely personal. Writing is of course an intensely personal act but to have the strength and bravery to publish anything at all is...
I don't know how to describe it. I couldn't do it. I still shudder at peer revision even when it is about subjects I could care less about.

I suppose some could disagree, but then I could always refer them to Booth's writing in Falling Into Theory. To truly discard or embrace something, you have to accept it and bring it into you.

"As soon as I replace my direct perception of reality by the words of a book, I deliver myself, bound hand and foot, to the omnipotence of fiction....I am thinking the thoughts of another"

Excuse me, but that terrifies me. I am not going to lie. I am a very self-conscious person, and the thought of somebody going into my thoughts is a little off-putting. Especially when it is through my writing, ... which i am very unsure about. I don't think anyone has ever really complimented it. Is that bad to want that? I am full of inunsureities.

I forgot what this blog post is supposed to be about. bear with me please.

Hm.
As a writer, don't plagiarize other work.
As a reader, don't plagiarize other thoughts.

I hope this makes sense.

I am going to publish the post, but I am going to try out that waking up in the morning and writing thing. In all honesty, I hated writing poetry,
until I wrote it in this class...

Dive In

"As soon as I replace my direct perception of reality by the words of a book, I deliver myself, bound hand and foot, to the omnipotence of fiction....I am thinking the thoughts of another"(353). These words written by Boothe jumped out at me when I read it. I thought yeah that makes sense. That's what I do. By that I mean diving in or surrendering to the text. Whenever I read anything that has characters or at least a story line I put myself into it. I become the protagonist. I forget about my life and just immerse myself into the words. I dont know when or why I started to do this but I love that I do. It is the reason I fell in love with reading.

Back to Boothe. This is one responsibility of the reader to the author; that they read through another person's eyes. The reader's thinking through the process of reading becomes the author's thinking. He is saying that must happen before the reader can decide whether or not he/she likes the text. The only way this process ceases is when the reader stops reading.
I thought this quote by Boothe says it all. "The only way to avoid 'thinking the thought of another'--that mysterious quite-probably-dead 'other' who chosse to tell this tale in this way--is to stop listening"(354).

This responsibility of the reader made the most sense to me aside from buying the books or "thou shalt not plagiarize." It is a process that comes naturally to me when I read a text.

errrrrrrrrr

While reading the passage about Wayne C. Booth, it opened my eyes to a new perspective of author/reader relationships. I have never thought about the books I read as relationships with the author. I usually just see a book that looks interesting, read it, think about it, and then I am done. I like the fact that Wayne talks about how we have certain responsibilities as readers. I liked when he mentioned that one of our responsibilities as readers is to not plagiarize. Authors are pretty creative people, and have a right to their own material. I disagreed when Booth mentioned that it is not the worst imaginable thing that can happen to a writer when something of his or hers is plagiarized. I know if I was in that position, I would be pretty angry. Also, this section speaks about censorship. I disagree very much with the whole idea of censorship. I believe that it ruins the authors original work. If something is too intense for a reader to view, read, or watch, then that person should just not view the material. It is just that simple. Now I know we were supposed to mention something about the “how” of reading in here, and to be honest, I have never thought about it so how should I talk about it. Therefore, I shall brainstorm. Reading makes me go crazy sometimes when I think about the whole process. How I read really depends on what I am reading. If I am reading something that relates to me as a person, I try to imagine the book as if I wrote it myself. If a book that I am reading does not relate to me, I try to put myself in that person’s shoes, because it is almost like a new experience just from reading a book. Books are difficult to read when they are in text book form, or “Falling into Theory” (which almost always puts me to sleep. ENEMIESS NOOOO). Therefore, because I have a difficult time reading them, I try to see where the author is coming from, and try to understand it through their point of view. I mean, something must have interested the author enough to write about a certain topic, so therefore, something good has to come out of it, right? All in all, I would like to change the way how I read. I usually simply just READ. Sometimes think over the topic a little, but now I know that I have responsibilities as a reader, which may just help me understand reading and writing a little bit more.

Writing is as Diverse as we are

I think that everyone's writing styles differ. Sometimes as students we are asked to write in certain ways that are not our own and it can be very frustrating. For example, my writing style is probably different than many of my classmates. This does not mean that I will not like their writing because as Booth said we have to have an appreciation for an authors work. The fact that everyone's writing styles differ is the reason that literature is truly beautiful. If everyone's work was just the same shit over and over again we would all be bored to tears. But since its not we have great works on both ends of the spectrum like Dante's Inferno and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. If Dante and Twain had the same styles I doubt both of these books would have done as well as there did because the would have been the same. 

Literature is ever changing, new works are constantly coming out, and with each work is a different writing style. The fact that there is all these different writers and writing styles gives readers perspectives from all different types of people and all different corners of the world. Literature has been around for ages and I believe the reason that it as strong as it was a while ago is because of how much each book differs from another. This can be related to television, many people like television because of all the different channels that are on and all the different options they have. This is just like reading because a library is like a channel changer where has each shelf is access to a different world just like each button is access to a different world. Humans these days....get bored easily, but with all the different styles of writing and different books how could someone get bored with reading?

sorry this is late ... :(

Booth explains that as readers we have certain responsibilities to the authors of the books we read, to the books themselves, and to ourselves. One of his main points is that we must be understanding when we read. This reminds me of our lovely Five Enemies. When we pick up a book to read on our own personal leisure, we normally are much more understanding than when we must read a book for a class. Most of the time we are naturally less interested in a book we are reading because it is mandatory vs. a personal book. Because of this we are less understanding and more apt to becoming frustrated with the difficult and possibly boring text.

We are told to buy, read, and teach books. We apparently should be buying the books instead of borrowing copies. I do not know if I necessarily agree with this considering books in today's economy can be pricey. There are plenty of people who are very appreciative of books and respect many famous authors who simply cannot afford these books. They admire the author and the text just as much as the person who could afford to buy the book.

I believe that my ethical responsibilities as a reader and writer differ depending on various situations. My responsibilities as a reader for school also varies depending on the course. In high school, if I was assigned to read a chapter in my History book, I would simply skim the chapter and take notes on major events and dates. My responsibilities to that reading assignment (to me at least) were simple. In comparison, my responsibilities as a reader in an English course are to analyze, theorize, dissect the texts, read between the lines, ask questions, look things up, highlight, take notes, etc. Since becoming an English major, I've realized the extreme differences of responsibilities a student takes on from course to course.

Ask Dr. Stupid...

Alright, so the how of writing...

First off, the relationship between writer and reader is a symbiotic one. Many of the ideas and responsibilities of readers that were presented by Booth can also be turned around and be responsibilities of writers as well. For instance, when discussing or reading a book or piece of writing, readers must be considerate that the piece was written by a human being presenting emotions, so they must put themselves in the writer's shoes in order to understand many things that may be overlooked. It is the same way with writers. Take the conversational (and hopefully polite) feedback that readers give you and think about it. Put yourselves in the the shoes of the reader and think as to whether or not you would really want to read this. Otherwise your writing may be unsuccessful. Writers must thrive off of the audience they are trying to reach. What is it that they really want to hear/read/see? Is it really necessary to add this if they are just going to overlook it? Should I really add this to the work? These questions should be asked when writing a piece.

Now, it can be said that writers can write what they want and not give a shit about what anyone else thinks. Granted, much of writing can and should be done that way, because if you write what everyone likes, then it is boring and lacks substance. However, if I were to write a book on necrophelia and describe how having sex with a corpse can be one of the most exhilirating things one can partake in, I'm not sure how many people would be interested in reading it. Writers need to thrive off the feedback they get from their audience in order to be successful, because while they may personally think it is the best thing since sliced bread, it is useless without any outside criticism to help people realize what is good and what may be not so good.

Also, writers need to be ethically sound with their audience. I slightly mentioned this above with the necrophelia example, but it needs to be reiterated. If your audience consists of old ladies, nuns, and preschool children, then writing a book about sexual fantasies with a corpse while killing babies and kidnapping toddlers would not be in your best interests. You can write what you want to write about, but you must appeal to the correct audience. A perfect example of this is the cartoon Ren and Stimpy. That show was a kid's show on Nickelodeon for quite some time, but it dealt with a lot of dark and disturbing aspects of life such as insanity, paranoia, violence, etc. Eventually it was pulled, but as a child I was unable to understand it. Now looking back on it I find it quite funny, however I cannot believe that it ever aired on that network as a show for children.

Writers do have the responsibility to give the people what they want in the way the writer wants to. In order to that they must be accepting of criticism and in tune with their audience. Not only do they owe it to the readers of what they write, but they owe it to themselves in order to be successful at what they do.

Here's a link for a bit of Ren and Stimpy if you are at all interested in reliving childhood or enjoy idiotic senseless humor as I do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD9_mFEDFMs

The "How" of Writing

Well first off, I'd like to say that "A Defense of Poetry" really relates to how I like to write. Of course there are "rules" of writing. But I like writing to enjoy it, not to turn it in and get a good grade. I like writing about stuff that is rediculous and funny and true. When I write for fun and when I write for class, I have very different responsibilities. When I write for fun I don't have to make sense to anybody else but myself. I can swear, I can refer to crazy ideas and be totally free of worry that I will get criticized because I like what I wrote. But when I write for a class, I pay special attention to fulfilling all guidelines required and have way more structure in my writing. I feel like I'm responsible for the understanding of my writing. I feel like it has to make sense to everybody and be very straightforward. Boothe's writing is very carefree but also confident. I feel like that is one of the reasons why I like his style of writing a lot. I think that a writer should believe in their work and when I write for fun I believe in my work way more than when I'm turning it in for a grade. I think I should be responsible for being confident in my work and I need to learn how to not be so structured because sometimes teachers don't want structure. It is my responsibility to tell the difference between the two and to master serious writing and writing just for fun. Who knows maybe one day I will have fun writing a research paper. But probably not.

As a person who loves books, I enjoyed reading Booth's thoughts on what our responsibilities are when dealing with them. The most obvious of these is of course not to plagiarize material from an author, and to buy books that we like, as to support the author. But then, he delves into less obvious responsibilities, such as critically considering the topics that the author brings up, and to critically inquire inquire both books that we love and hate. This article intersects with the "how" of writing in several ways.

First, it tells us that we should respect other writers' intelectual property; that is, their original ideas are not to be represented as our own. Secondly, as writers, we should try to enter into a dialogue with our readers, to illistrate to them what issues matter most to us. Third, related to the "how" of writing, is how we review other works. As beginning authors, we should try to be respectful or each other's writing, because we are not professionals. The reviewing that we do should be critically constructive, not degrading or overly harsh.

I also made a connection between what Booth says, and what we have read in this class. Some of the reading has been difficult, but according to Booth, we owe it to the author to first understand what the author means, and then to critically think about the issues they discuss. For example, as we read The Distruction of The Indies, it would not have been ethical to have read it purely for fact, and just understand that many native americans were killed. We have to internalize the horrible events that are discussed, so that they may influence our thinking.

blahhh.

My favorite responsibility, according to Booth, is the responsibility of friendship that you owe the author. I like thinking of the author as a real person, with feelings and such, instead of a machine that spits out novels. As a “friend” to the author I am able to consider his/her values and consider the piece from other perspectives. Sometimes, I find it hard to remember to do this. When I am really wrapped up in a book I tend to think about things only from my perspective. The part I can relate to the most as a “friend” to the author is passing on another “friends” work. When you enjoy something, such as a song, food, a movie, etc. friends talk and share it with each other. I like the idea of the author being a friend because “when a story ‘works,’ when we like it well enough to listen to it again and to tell it over and over to ourselves and friends, as we have all done,” I feel like I am creating a connection with myself and the author my spreading my love for their work with my friends.

While revising and peer editing papers I try my best to look at the paper from many different perspectives, instead of only my own. I realize that my values and background will influence the way that I interpret the writing, so when I make suggestions I try to make them as general as possible, without any personal bias’s. Also, while revising other’s work I try to keep in mind that they are people and are most likely sensitive about their work. With the criticism I give them, I try to imagine that I am receiving the criticism and what I would be comfortable with hearing. I realize that this blog post is not very long, but you said no BS, and this is really the only way I can connect my writing/writing technique/myself as a reader to Booth.

The How of Who?

“To decline the gambit, to remain passive in the face of the author’s strongest passions and deepest convictions is surely condescending, insulting, and finally irresponsible.” This quote is Booth’s indirect way of saying what the readers should do. The reader should find the author behind the words and punctuations of the book. He didn’t, on the other hand, mention what the author’s responsibilities are to the readers. After some reflection, I realized that it really isn’t necessary. The writer doesn’t have any responsibilities to the reader beyond this one universal truth: the writer should have a developed focus. It’s the writer’s responsibility to inform the reader, to offer the reader different perspectives other than what the reader are familiar with or whatever. What I’m trying to say, and rather failing at it, is that a writer’s work should have a purpose. It’s the writer’s responsibility to make sure that the reader finds something in the pages of the book—even if it’s the proverbial gem or just a piece of rock. Beyond that, a writer could do anything. He could invent castles made from grass in his writing. So long as there’s something to be found in a book or a journal or a piece of essay, the writer really has served his purpose. If the writer created a piece of writing that’s just made of patched-up words and glued nonsensically, then the writer really has failed.

I'm sending good thoughts to all of you

OH the responsibilites. I can’t even read a damn book anymore without having some sort of responsibilites.

I understand what booth is trying to get at when he says that the reader must support the author by buying, reading, and teaching by “neglected living authors.” But is it really our job to buy books by authors if we don’t find the book interesting? And if we do buy it and read it, how can you say that we should teach it? It might be complete shit. Maybe that’s not what he means. Maybe he means that you should teach GOOD pieces by authors today, not just ANY piece. If this is what he means than I completely agree. The author’s need to make a living and we shouldn’t “steal” their ideas by xeroxing the pages of their books.

I found in my english class last year that the student’s fought with my teacher about The Grapes of Wrath. The symbolism that the Steinbeck uses is ridiculous throughout the book, but there were some “symbols” that our teacher was throwing out there that we as readers didn’t quite believe Steinbeck intended to be symbols. We felt that she was reading wayy to much into the text. It is hard as a reader to know what the reader does intentionally and maybe just happened in the process of writing. I think it is important to be aware and take note of the elements of the literature that he or she finds interesting and how it enhances the text.

The idea that it is the reader’s obligation to make public my opinions about a text is something that I often find to be uncomfortable. I don’t like to criticize people who have put so much hard work and effort into creating a piece that they feel is worth publishing or even writing. However, I also know that when I write, I like to get feedback from others, so I know who to better the next piece that I write. This is just what Booth says too, but I still don’t like to do it. I’m working on it though.

I enjoyed when Booth talk about our own thoughts becoming different after we have read a text. I never really thought about reading in this light before. It was weird for me to think that the author’s thoughts were actually somewhat apart of mine. They way that Booth stated it triggered something in my mind…probably because his thought became apart of mine. It’s kind of weirding me out. I have a lot of other people’s thoughts in my head. Get them out! Sorry I’m not sure where I was going with this…

How to read?

The basic concept I got out of reading Booth's essay is that readers have just as many responsibilities as the authors. He thinks it is important to read and think about how the work came from a living breathing human. He thinks readers should consider these things before criticizing them. I agree with him because everyone is different and thinks in different ways, until you put yourself in the authors shoes you will never understand why they wrote what they wrote. I sometimes do thing and it helps me to understand where they are coming from and their reason for writing that particular work. To criticize before thinking about what the author's thoughts were, or why they did it, is unfair. I am not sure about how I feel about it the the readers responsibility to buy the books though. I myself rarely buy books, the library, or borrowing from a friend is the way to go in my opinion. Not everyone can afford to buy every book they ever liked. I also think it his way of saying it is about the money for authors. The more copies they sell the more money they make, but it shouldn't matter how much they make. It should be more about the impact they have on their readers. I think if it is only about the money, but there is no love in it, the author is wasting their time. I want to be a fiction writer someday, and only because I love it, money is not an issue. You do what you love, and don't worry if people buy it, as long as they read it.

Thoughts on Booth

I always thought of reading as a thing to do when you’re bored, can’t sleep, or as a chore. But as I’ve gotten older reading has become more of a pleasure, eye opener type of an experience than one to do while taking the long road trip to South Dakota( where I use to do all my reading) I started to read to get away, to put myself in a different dimension, to see the world in a different way. I feel as though you can learn more about the civil war by reading a book about someone during that time zone than you can by any old history book. With saying we read to enter a new world, I would also have to say we write to allow others into our own world. Wayne C. Booth says that writers “ feel neglected, misunderstood, useless” (349) I don’t think he means writers are the only people in the world who feel that way, but I do agree with them that many writer do feel only singled out and misunderstood and that is why they write. They write to not to just write but they write with a purpose, they write seeking sense and purpose of themselves and by doing so they allow the readers to understand the them and get a new view of the world. I think that is way reading is so important because it allows you to see the world and view issues in so many different ways. Reading allows you to be someone else for a day, and writing allows you to be yourself without caring what others have to say about it.
Reading the Defense of Poetry, showed me that writers are the only honest, happy with who they are, non ashamed people out there. There are many things I would love to say and share but am to scared to, whether it be because I fear being wrong and laughed at, or because of what others may think of me. But the poems in that book were so stranger, weird, awkward, mind boggling, funny, insightful, open, and full of truth and words that weren’t afraid to be heard. I think writers write to allow themselves to be themselves and to allow others to see them for who they truly are because as Booth says when we read we are “ thinking the thoughts of another”.

Another World

Reading about the responsibilites of reader's from Booth was interesting. Although I disagreed with some of the thing he talked about. He kept on discussing how authors had responsibilites to the readers, to basically fulfill our needs while we read. I do not think this should be true. It seems like with some authors it really is however. I believe an author should write for themselves, about what they want to write and how they want to write it. They shouldn't have to change their writing just to please certain people. You can always tell when an author goes astray in their books because the characters and the whole mood are sometimes thrown off with their new writing styles. Plainly, it begins to suck.

"It is not, then, that in identifying we stop thinking our own thoughts but rather that "our own" thoughts now become different from what they were. The author's thoughts have at least in part become ours." I find this quote to be completely true in some cases. There have been books that have completely changed my train of thought and have made me look at things in life completely differently. Those are the books that I truly enjoy and believe have fulfilled me in some way. We start to see things the author has in his mind and come to find a deeper meaning in the book. Not all books can have this effect on people, but not all are meant to. When books have that power to throw you into another imaginary world, even if only for a minute, I believe the author has done their job in their own way. Being thrown into that world is like taking a break from your own. You become so immersed in the book that you forget any stress or problems you may have in your real daily life. There are some books where you would, in lack of a better term, just kill to be a part of; to be able to step foot in the characters shoes and to feel what they are feeling. Sometimes you might already feel what they are feeling because you are so into the book, those moments can be wonderful.

Overall, Booth's does make a point with his writing. Reader's do have some kind of unconcious submission to the books they are reading if the book is truly worth it. We might not agree with what is being said in the novel but we find ourselves desperately trying to believe.. even if only for minute.

Shout "Digression" at me

"It's this course where each boy in class has to get up in class and make a speech. You know. Spontaneous and all. And if the boy digresses at all, you're supposed to yell 'Digression!' at him as fast as you can. It just about drove me crazy. I got an F in it."
"Why?"
"Oh, I don't know. That digression business got on my nerves. I don't know. The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It's more interesting and all."
"You don't care to have somebody stick to the point when he tells you something?"
"Oh, sure! I like somebody to stick to the point and all. But I don't like them to stick too much to the point. I don't know. I guess I don't like it when somebody sticks to the point all the time. The boys that got the best marks in Oral Expression were the ones that stuck to the point all the time--I admit it. But there was this one boy, Richard Kinsella. He didn't stick to the point too much, and they were always yelling 'Digression!' at him. It was terrible, because in the first place, he was a very nervous guy--I mean he was a very nervous guy--and his lips were always shaking whenever it was his time to make a speech, and you could hardly hear him if you were sitting way in the back of the room. When his lips sort of quit shaking a little bit, though, I liked his speeches better than anybody else's. He practically flunked the course, though, too. He got a D plus because they kept yelling 'Digression!' at him all the time. For instance, he made this speech about this farm his father bought in Vermont. They kept yelling 'Digression!' at him the whole time he was making it, and this teacher, Mr. Vinson, gave him an F on it because he hadn't told what kind of animals and vegetables and stuff grew on the farm and all. What he did was, Richard Kinsella, he'd start telling you all about that stuff--then all of a sudden he'd start telling you about this letter his mother got from his uncle, and how his uncle got polio and all when he was forty-two years old, and how he wouldn't let anybody come to see him in the hospital because he didn't want anybody to see him with a brace on. It didn't have much to do with the farm--I admit it--but it was nice. It's nice when somebody tells you about their uncle. Especially when they start out telling you about their father's farm and then all of a sudden get more interested in their uncle. I mean it's dirty to keep yelling 'Digression!' at him when he's all nice and excited. I don't know. It's hard to explain." I didn't feel too much like trying, either. For one thing, I had this terrific headache all of a sudden. I wished to God old Mrs. Antolini would come in with the coffee. That's something that annoys hell out of me--I mean if somebody says the coffee's all ready and it isn't.
-Kudos go to Mr. Salinger for this text.


After reading the reader's responsibilities by Booth, I thought that the writer's responsibilities will be somewhat similar in the sense that he or she must know what the reader's responsibilities are and cater to them. However, I don't think this is the case.

I like to think of authors as artists and I don't think that artists have any responsibilities to their audience. They have their own reasons for crafting their work but I don't think that real art is created for an audience, instead I think it is created for one's self. I think the same is probably true for authors. Maybe I'm wrong, that happens alot. Maybe I'm just being naive because sometimes that happens too. However, the more I think about it, the kind of music I like is not music that is created to make money, but it is the music that is created through hours of self-reflection and passion. This is true with books. You can hate me for saying this but I find the novels of Grisham to be about the literary equivalent of a reality show. There isn't a substance to it. It seems devoid of passion. Simply lifeless words on a page.

I might change my opinion on this when I'm less ignorant one day, but as of now I dont like the idea of novels as a form of entertainment. I think they should be something more. I'm not saying that readers shouldnt enjoy the books that they read. I'm saying that books shouldn't be written only for the sake of pleasure and money making. Maybe, I dont know. Books should be fun to read, and they should be an adventure to write. I dont know what to say. I just dont like books that exploit a reader's pleasure as a means to make money. I feel like the authors that do that are raping the pockets of their readers. I dont know what to think anymore. I know it happens and I dont like it, but everyone has to make money some how. I just think that's the wrong reason to even be in this field. Now I'm feeling slimy for feeling superior to the the people that do that as their job.

Gosh Gabe, what the hell? I meant for this to be about how to write and now it is something completely different. I dont know how to write. I suppose it's different for everyone. Me, I like to write late at night with the window open when I'm in a mood.

How to write: Come up with crappy idea, write crap about crappy idea, keep writing crap about crappy idea until it becomes something completely different from what you intended, then rethink your crappy idea and write some more crap.

I dont know. When I sat down I was going to write about how I thought that the most fundamental aspect of writing is living. So far I haven't mentioned that at all. Well that's what I think. We write because we live and we live because we write. How you write depends on the life you live. I believe that in order to write extraordinarily, you must first live extraordinarily. You must experience things first-hand. You must take risks and do things that you might not have done for the sake of the experience. I suggest doing stupid things like driving with the windows open in the winter to really learn what being cold is like. Writing is a sharing of personal experiences and first you must have experiences worth writing about.

I do not feel qualified to answer your question.

and this blog is a mess but I like the digression.

Double B's

It's funny; the first thing I thought of when reading Boothe's essay was John Wilkes Booth. So I pictured a guy with a pistol in a movie theater. Weird...

Anyway, I have to say that there was one thing that stuck out to me in Boothe's article. Although seemingly pointless, it got me to thinking. Is our responsibility to the author to buy their book? I was really wrestling with this idea. It kind of bothered me, because although I get the point, I still hate the idea that we HAVE to buy a book. If my friend has a copy, I'll borrow it. Saves money, you know? But then there's that counter argument that says writers won't continue writing if you don't meet their financial needs. I say: if they love doing what they do, they'll find some way to keep publishing their books. I'm not entirely convinced on this 'responsibility.'

I like to read for entertainment. That's pretty much the only time I'll pick up a book. And I think that's because the reading process doesn't follow the behaviour of what Boothe talks about. When I read Jurassic Park, I don't think the author's thoughts become my own. I believe that throughout my reading, I am an outside entity that views the events and the characters separately. I view it as a spectator and follow the story.

On the other hand, when I start reading essays and journals and articles, I can see Boothe's point a little more clearly. There is a subconscious submission that happens where the thoughts on the page become your own -- even if for the slightest second. I've felt that before, because sometimes when I read, I almost hear MYSELF saying the words. Then I catch my self and I say wait a minute; I don't agree with this. There is that moment where you lose yourself and that is what has to happen I think. I agree with that. It's the same concept with food. Little kids always say they don't like something before they even try it. And there are times when writing becomes spinach -- we say we don't like it before immersing ourselves in it.

I was bothered by Barthes. If I understood him correctly, he was saying that no one's writing is original because the words they use or 'stock' words and phrases that have been boundlessly used. All the writers do is put them in different orders. And at this point, the words act on their own; the writer disappears. Now, if I'm wrong, then ignore this paragraph. If I'm right, then what scares me is that I think he's kind of right. I've always felt this lingering sensation that what I write is nothing new. It's just a bunch of phrases overly used -- like mad libs where I fill in the blanks. That kind of bothers me because it makes me want to achieve something original, and I know I can't. It's very frustrating.

Although Barthes suggests eliminating the author and Boothe suggests acknowledging him/her, I feel that Boothe is closer to the truth. The level of acknowledgment is somewhere in between, but I think one should show responsibility to the author more than they stay disconnected form him/her. So take that Barthes!

If writings did not exist, what terrible depressions we should suffer.(The Pillow Book)

A famous Edmund Burke quote reads: “Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.”

A not so famous, but similarly profound Wayne C. Booth quote reads: “It is not, then, that in identifying we stop thinking our own thoughts but rather that “our own” thoughts now become different from what they were.”

Both quotes take something that on the surface seems pretty straightforward, reading, and analyzes the hidden difficulties within this seemingly simple task.
For reading something, even in its entirety and not understanding where the author is coming from or what he is saying, is just as bad as leaving that book sitting on your shelf gathering dust.
Booth writes that as a reader, you have the responsibility of having to surrender yourself to the reading and its topic before you judge it.
I don’t get offended easily, and even if I do, generally I find it offensive to someone else, and not me personally. I believe everyone has the right to express their opinion. But in that same respect, if it causes harm to someone else, then it’s not an opinion, it’s just being cruel. This idea of having to actually embrace a writing before you “embrace” it, is revolutionary.
In today’s culture, people are quick to jump the gun at anything that seems even the least bit controversial. Booth goes onto say “when art and criticism are viewed as forms of conduct, they lead us into the very battles that we have hoped to escape by turning to art in the first place.”
I think that this just goes to prove that you cannot judge a book by it’s a cover, in every sense of the saying.

the "how" of writing

Booth's main focus of his essay was completely surrendering yourself to the reading and trying to understand where the author is coming from. Instead of feeling confused and unsure of what you just read Booth says you should try and put yourself in the author's shoes and see their point of view. It is a fascinating idea and it makes a lot of sense because I know at least I sometimes don't even think of the author as a real person with personal feelings and ideas. But to completely understand a text it is essential to think of the author as a real person and try to get inside their head. After reading something that is confusing I find it helpful to think of the content from different viewpoints, trying to understand it in a different way. Booth talks about the how of reading but the how of writing is just as important a process. When writing it is important to think of how other people (your audience) are going to perceive your thoughts and ideas. When i write I can not just write my ideas and thoughts because they make sense to me I have to think how other people will understand them. Writing is a difficult thing because it is a personal experience; it is really hard to portray ideas for everybody to understand the same way that you understand things. The how of writing and reading are concepts that appear all the time in English and it is important to understand them and apply them.

Responsibilities and The "HOW"

After reading Wayne C. Booth I took into consideration the "How" of reading and writing through his point of view, based off of my responsibility as an Author myself. Booth's most evident belief was the responsibility A reader has to the Author, to let themselves go into the Author's point of view, to look at things from a more personal view of the Author's work one is reading/understanding. Booth stated that his "how" of reading had to do with responsibility and understanding, before criticizing ones work. As an author myself, I took into consideration the "how" of reading and writing based off of Booth's ideas and the responsibilities I  am capable of. Whether I am writing a paper, or reading someone else's. When finishing assignments, I sometimes do not understand them, but like Booth suggests, put yourself in the Author's shoes... After doing so, I take into consideration the ideas the assignment might be trying to convey, better understanding what to do, and how to approach the assignment. I, as an Author myself try to remember that people see things from different points of view. When working on a paper or an assignment, I always have this in mind. That way my work is more presentable towards others rather then focusing solely on what I believe in myself. By understanding Booth's ideas I am better able to see different views on things. I can relate to this with "peer editing" that I have to constantly encounter in many of my English classes. By doing so, I am able to better understand where the Author is coming from, as well as help them fix or better their work on a more personal level, rather than scrutinizing their work o