My Blogfolio

Just as God created the earth in six days and rested on the seventh, there comes a time when one should take a break from his or her work and reflect on what he or she has created. My first year of college is already wrapping up, and needless to say I’ve been working my butt off. As summer approaches and I get my well-needed rest from academia, I look back at all my work and, more specifically, this blog I’ve been writing this semester. The whole blog-writing experience has been one of great pleasure, and I’ve learned a lot about myself as a writer, especially what I enjoy in writing.

I’m sure this goes for a lot of people, but I enjoy writing SO much more when it’s about something I’m truly interested in. In my blog, I’ve had the opportunity to write about the internet, music, socratic discussion, and even my experiences with new media, from Reddit to Tumblr to word clouds. In addition, it’s so much easier to write when you’re not bogged down by formatting or having to write in an academic style. I can write however I want! Writing this blog has shown me that I’m a casual writer by heart. It’s just so much more enjoyable when I have creative freedom over my writing style.

Another thing I enjoy about blogging is having the ability to use hyperlinks. This was actually something I noticed myself about my writing in this blog as well as something that my Composition professor pointed out about my blog-writing. I really like using hyperlinks. I think hyperlinks are really useful in bringing in other sources of information beyond my own knowledge, from pictures, videos, Wikipedia pages, and potentially anything else on the internet. For example, if I’m discussing a topic that may be foreign to most people, I can easily lead them to a Wikipedia article or website that introduces the topic better than I ever could all with the click of a button. Hyperlinks are an easy way to supplement one’s writing.

I’ve written a lot in this blog, so I wrote up this “Blogfolio” to highlight some of my favorite blog posts. So without further ado . . . my Blogfolio:

My Favorite Comment on Another’s Blog: My Organized Mind’s “How Tennessee Helped Me Get Over My Fear of Making Mistakes” – Here, I found myself really examining myself and my behavior. My Organized Mind helped me uncover a bad habit of mine that I would really like to rid myself of. I probably never will get rid of it, but it never hurts to try.

Another’s Blog Post that Inspired Me: Once again, My Organized Mind’s “How Tennessee Helped Me Get Over My Fear of Making Mistakes”, for the same reasons as before.

My Most Intellectually Stretching and Analytical Post (#1 Strongest): “Does Art Need an Audience?” – This post was a response to a socratic class discussion about writing, art, and other deep, thought-provoking topics. During our discussion, someone asked whether a work of art, in order to be art, required an audience. And what was my answer to the question? Read and find out.

My Personal Favorite (#2 Strongest): “Music.” – In this post, I got to combine a personal narrative of my musical education with a discussion on why music is awesome. I also got to list some of my favorite musical works, or simply works that were on my mind at the time. Writing this blog post was a pleasure and a joy.

My Best Use of Images: “An Unintentional Fasting” – I put photos alongside all of my posts, but this picture, artistically portraying the exact problem I discovered after the events covered in the post, was the most relevant in relation to its accompanying post. The image is a side-by-side comparison of two pictures; in the first, people are bowing down to some form of the all-seeing eye, and in the second, people are on their computers and phones, and the all-seeing eye is replaced by a wifi symbol. This comparison shows how so many people become addicted to technology that it’s almost like worship. Being forced out of my own technological addiction (the circumstances of which are discussed in the post), I was able to see from the outside looking in just how inconsequential technology and the internet can be. Sure, technology is an amazing tool, but most of what I tend to use it for is shallow entertainment.

My Best Use of Hyperlinks: “Exploring the Blogosphere” – My first blog post also had the most effective use of hyperlinks. I used hyperlinks to easily refer readers to articles I was discussing, as well as to familiarize readers with the musical works of Joe Hisaishi. ( I suppose this Blogfolio also has some good use of hyperlinks too. . . .)

After all of this practice I’ve gained this semester with blog-writing, I feel that is could be a springboard to a long-term blog-writing venture and not just a short-term class requirement. I’ve really fallen in love with blog-writing. I have complete freedom over the subject matter, and I can write casually, which gives me more creativity over the style. As for what I’ll write about in the future, well . . . I suppose I could pick a central theme to guide my writing, or I could simply write about whatever the heck I want, like coffee brewing techniques or anime. I’ll figure it out when the time comes.

A Miniature Rhetorical Analysis on Project for Awesome

This is the official logo from last year’s Project for Awesome.

Project for Awesome, created by the infamous Vlog Brothers, is a Youtube video competition/charity drive intent on “decreasing world suck.” The gist of Project for Awesome is that people upload videos to Youtube that advocate some sort of charitable organization, and viewers watch these videos and vote on their favorite ones. During this time, an IndieGoGo fundraiser page is available for viewers to make donations to Project for Awesome. The five (or ten in 2012) videos with the most votes then split the donations amassed by all of the viewers. The 2012 Project for Awesome alone raised $483,296.

For my final project in my Comp 2 class, I was assigned to investigate a case of using digital media such as social media or online videos to support some sort of cause or community organization. I chose to perform a case study on Project for Awesome, or more specifically, the winners of the 2012 Project for Awesome. By investigating these winning videos and identifying the characteristics which led them to gain the most votes from their viewers, I can glean insight regarding writing or media techniques to apply to my own work. It would be especially relevant if I ever end up making Youtube videos.

Here’s a list of the videos/organizations that won the 2012 Project for Awesome:

1. Office of Letters and Light
2. Not Forgotten
3. Wildlife Waystation
4. Alzheimer’s Society
5. Harry Potter Alliance
6. Save the Children
7. BGSU Dance Marathon
8. Uncultured Project
9. Techo
10. Love146

Now for the rhetorical analysis. Here’s the agenda: (1) Identify the author and the intended target audience (2) Determine the intended purpose (3) Point out examples of ethos, pathos, and logos being used (4) Evaluate its effectiveness in achieving its intended purpose.

So what is the author of the winning videos? Obviously, there are many of them. Some examples would include Charlie McDonnell (AKA CharlieIsSoCoolLike), Gunnarolla, and the Harry Potter Alliance. The intended audience of these videos would be (again, pretty obviously) the entire Youtube viewership, which could be a combination of all sorts of different people (here is a page of the Youtube viewer demographics, courtesy of Youtube).

Next, what is the purpose of these videos? Well, as we’ve previously established, the videos are designed to advocate a charitable organization of some sort and to gain votes from viewers in order to win a share of the donations for the charity.

Now here’s where it gets fun. What are some examples of ethos, pathos, and logos within these videos? With all of the different videos that won just in 2012 alone, I have seen examples of all sorts of rhetorical strategies. For ethos, the most common strategy was charisma, using charm or humor to draw the audience in. Also, the fact that a lot of these video makers already had massive followings prior to Project for Awesome would have been helpful, since many of the viewers would have already been familiar with or were fond of the video makers. Some of the videos included firsthand experience from the speaker. One example would be Charlie McDonnell who, in his video advocating the Alzheimer’s Society, described his experience of having a grandfather who had Alzheimer’s disease and eventually passed away as a result. This one was particularly effective for me as it showed that Charlie McDonnell had a strong reason to be advocating the organization he/she was supporting.

These videos also had numerous instances of pathos. Since most if not all charities are established to solve some sort of world problem, it is easy to appeal to the audience’s emotion by describing in detail the problem they seek to solve. Appealing to emotion can also be easily achieved simply through language. One video supporting the Wildlife Waystation was effective in using pathos by making me feel responsible about helping their animal sanctuary since they are primarily funded by donations. The video said that it was up to me to help these animals. I immediately felt an emotional response. I didn’t want to feel the guilt of seeing those animals suffer, so I felt compelled to donate and support them. Now that’s pathos.

Finally, we have logos. Logos is probably the most upfront of the rhetorical strategies, and that makes it effective when used correctly. The most common use of logos I noticed in these videos was the use of statistics and general logical statements. The Harry Potter Alliance video showed an impressive use of statistics to inform the viewer of how many members they have amassed, how much money they have raised, how much supplies they have donated, and other useful information. While doing so, the video remained organized and engaging.

Overall, these videos were fairly effective. By using a mix of the three different rhetorical strategies of ethos, pathos, and logos, they got their points across and compelled me to take action as well. I saw instances of authority through firsthand experience, charismatic presentation, appeal to emotion and morality, and factual data and evidence. In addition, what I believe to be effective about Project for Awesome is that even though it is over for this year, the videos are still online and can still raise awareness about these various charities and nonprofit organizations. I hope to gain even more insight into the effectiveness of Project for Awesome through my digital activism project.

Word Clouds and Creative Learning

My word cloud. I think it left out the words “single” and “available.”

Hey y’all. This lovely thing above is known as a word cloud. There are these online programs such as Tagxedo or Wordle that take a URL or block of text and create these word-based pictures based on the words you give it. The more important or common the word, the larger it is. In fact, this word cloud was made from the very blog you are currently reading.

Now we (I and my fellow Composition classmates) have been discussing how word clouds can be used to teach or cultivate creativity. To help investigate this, our teacher gave us a rubric titled “The Capacities for Imaginative Learning,” formulated by the Lincoln Center Institute as an identifier for creative material. So basically, we need to weigh word clouds against this rubric. In this post, I’ll be focusing on just a few items on the rubric which I think that word clouds carry well.

Embodying (to experience [an object of study] through your senses, as well as emotionally, and also to physically represent that experience): After making my own word cloud, I immediately realized that it carried a strong emotional feeling. The certain combination of words gave me distinct feelings and thoughts. And while doing this, it manifested itself in an aesthetically pleasing illustration. It really does a bang up job at taking your own thoughts and feelings put into writing and making something beautiful and creative out of them.

Questioning (To ask questions throughout your explorations that further your own learning; to ask the question, “What if?”): I believe that word clouds are a great method self-reflection (that is, if you use your original writing to create them). A word cloud is composed of words significant to you, but you may not be aware that you use these words as you do. By doing this, a word cloud can prompt you to ask questions about yourself: Why do these specific words appear? How do these words describe me? Do these words accurately describe me? If you want to get really deep, you may use your word cloud to identify aspects of yourself you may not like and wish to change or get rid of. I almost did that. O_O

Identifying Patterns (To find relationships among the details you notice in [an object of study], group them, and recognize patterns): VIOLIN, ORCHESTRA, PLAYING, MUSICIAN, ART, INSTRUMENT. I think you can see where I’m going with this. If there is a common theme in writing, a word cloud will point that out. Obviously it found out that I talk a lot about music in this blog. (And Tagxedo even let me shape my word cloud into a treble clef!) Being able to notice and illustrate patterns is one way that a word cloud can be a vessel for creative learning.

Does Art Need an Audience?

Socrates and Phaedrus duking it out in an epic battle of the minds.

So last Wednesday my Comp class had a “mini-symposium” as we reflected on the writings of Plato in a passage of the Phaedrus. The passage’s main topic of debate was whether writing could convey as much information as normal conversation and whether constantly writing information down rather than simply memorizing and recalling said information would result in a loss of intelligence. While debating this issue, my class somehow got onto the topic of what makes art art. As a musician and a lover of all forms of art, this thought intrigued me. What makes something art?

The immediate answer to the question is that if someone finds that thing to be beautiful or otherwise artistic, it is art. So is a bag full of trash art because someone might think it to be pleasing? I guess so. After all, who am I to say what is and isn’t art? “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” so they say. However, another question came up: If something’s status as a work of art is dependent on someone’s interpretation of it, does that mean that something cannot be art if it has no audience?

I had to think hard on this question. But then I realized something: a work of art has to have an artist, just as a creation needs a creator. And that artist is likely to find his or her own work to be art. So, I guess you could say that a work of art always has an audience. So what if not even the artist finds beauty in his or her creation? I guess that’s the only time something could be regarded as garbage.

In regards to online writing and blogging and such, I find it hard to believe that any decent writing could be considered garbage. The online audience is simply too vast for there to be no one to appreciate it. Also, a blog is a very pliable work of art. You can easily change things and improve based on feedback from your audience. If people don’t like it at first, you can fix it.

This whole topic was quite intriguing. I had a lot of fun discussing it with my fellow classmates.

And speaking of art, did you see the painting I included on my previous post? Gee whiz.

Authoring a Wiki Article

Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. Amazing.

I found that photo on Wikipedia, which is more or less today’s topic. These past few days I’ve been working an article on Sandbox for my Composition class’ Wiki on digital literacy. I must say, after going through the motions to create the page, and having done a bit of peer review in the process, I have so much more respect for the people that do this all the time. Wikis are a splendid tool for amassing information and educating people. And, not only did I have the chance to research a topic and educate others on it, but I learned much from what others brought to the table.

The entire experience of writing the article was surprisingly enjoyable. My favorite part (call me boring) was using HTML code in regards to the references. I was able to include little superscripts that would link parts of the article to the reference page (just like you would find in a Wikipedia article). The cool thing was that when I used certain codes to make the superscripts, the reference page created itself! I had only heard of people using HTML code, but experiencing it firsthand was fascinating! I know it’s a bit strange to get so excited over HTML, but I honestly found it to be a great deal of fun.

More importantly, however, I think that participating in this project has really taught me a lot about how important it is to be digitally literate in order to share ideas and knowledge in this day and age. It takes more than just being able to write some words down on a page to offer reliable information. Wikis have strict standards as to how information must be presented, and knowing how that works is essential to be an effective communicator.

I would link you to my article, but I’m currently unable to. Here’s the Wikipedia article on Sandbox in software development to give you an idea of the topic of Sandbox.

This is completely off-topic, but if you’re a musician and/or classical music fan, check out P.D.Q. Bach. Basically, he intentionally writes horrible classical music. It’s great. Here’s his cantata titled Iphigenia in Brooklyn.

The Importance of Having Good Titles and Headers

I’m going to set this as a ground rule: If I can’t find a photo relevant to the topic of the post, then I will include a photo completely irrelevant to the subject.

Yesterday I perused the Writing Spaces open-source textbook (conveniently situated right here), and I read a section named “Page Titles, Headlines, and Subheaders, OH MY!” which addressed how important it is to have catchy, engaging, and informative titles. If a blogger truly wants to attract readers as well as gain attention from search engines and the like, he or she needs to title content so that it catches the reader’s eye amongst all the other stuff on the Internet. Something that the Writing Spaces textbook taught me that I totally agreed with, being a fellow Internet reader and all, is that getting a reader’s attention on the Internet is challenging. With all of the resources and knowledge on the Web, if a reader doesn’t see exactly what they need, or the content doesn’t look too enticing, they will move on without a thought. If you have a good title that tells readers exactly what is contained in your writing, or if you can create a catchy and appealing title, you will likely gain the reader’s attention, however limited that attention might be. (But in the immortal words of Billy Mays, “But wait! There’s more!”)

Alright, so with the great title, the blogger has the audience’s attention. But like I said, Internet readers will move on quickly if they don’t see what they need. That’s when headers and subheaders come in. If your writing can afford to be broken up into sections or segments, clearly label them according to what information is there. That way, readers will be able to easily find what information they need and find it quickly. With any luck, they’ll come back for more in the near future.

In conclusion, you should read some of this textbook. It has a lot of useful information regarding writing on the Web. Like me, you may know a good deal of it, but you may not really be aware of knowing it. Getting that information fresh in your mind is quite beneficial.

Farewell, i miei amici. (That’s “my friends” in Italian, in case you were wondering.)

P.S. I know the whole “irrelevant photo” thing kinda goes against the whole “have good titles and headers” thing. However, I ask you this: Who doesn’t love cats?

P.P.S. Any professor that uses a FREE online textbook for a class is automatically awesome.

Photo credit: Villya