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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis of: "Queering the Vast Wasteland" by Michael Bronski

Paragraph #1:

Introduces the idea of "Gay TV" and informs the reader about Viacom's plan to create a tv channel directed towards a gay and lesbian audience.

#2:

Gives examples of other groups plans for gay and lesbian targeted tv channel.

#3:

Tells the reader about humor columns speculating about future shows on those channels. Points out that the quality of the shows will dictate if the channel is a success or not.

#4:

Talks about how television execs are interested in quality, and that that is good. Points out the problem with having an all gay or lesbian channel, the issues involved.

#5:

Points out the "popular myth" that public visibility is crucial if a minority group is going to be liberated. Introduces Joan Garry and GLAAD. Stresses visibility. Tells us how a predominately white make society stereotypes minorities.

#6:

Tv can help minorities because they are in the everyday life of tv land. TV can be a big help to expose the minority groups.

#7:

Argument that increasing visualization and "banalization" only fuels the flames of stereotyping and that it causes more harm than good.

#8:

Even after the increased visibility of gay ans lesbians hate crimes are on the rise.

#9:

Introduces Suzanna Danuta Walters book "All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America."

#10:

Says that television is run by corporations that don't care about making anyone's life better. They operate to make money.

#11:

Important role of the media and its role in shaping opinion and informing the public.

#12:

After September 11th there was talk about the media changing face and going for a more news centered approach. This idea soon dies out after new celebrity things happened and the popular culture stepped into the media again soon after the attack.

#13:

"Its just as bad now as it was before" in reguards to entertainment on TV.

#14:

Gay cable TV channels are going to promote the corporations not the gay and lesbian community. It was corporate engineers that designed the idea of a gay tv channel, not the gays and lesbians.

#15:

What will be on the Gay TV channel?

#16:

Negative views of the shows on the channel.

#17:

Gay tv is possible because of the increased amount of gay and lesbian shows on TV over the last couple of decades. Raises the question of "will gay tv be redundant"?

#18:

Gay themed entertainment is watched and makes money.

#19:

Gay TV may be helpful for the gay and lesbian community, but it may also serve to "re-ghettoize" gay and lesbian content on tv networks. How much would the gay tv channel hurt the gay community?

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Depression and Nutrition: Topical Invention

SHane Brabant
English 100
Topical Invention
4-2-10

Definition:

Q: How does the dictionary define "Depression and Nutrition"?

A: Depression:
–noun
1.
the act of depressing.
2.
the state of being depressed.
3.
a depressed or sunken place or part; an area lower than the surrounding surface.
4.
sadness; gloom; dejection.
5.
Psychiatry. a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason.Compare clinical depression.
6.
dullness or inactivity, as of trade.
7.
Economics. a period during which business, employment, and stock-market values decline severely or remain at a very low level of activity.
8.
the Depression. Great Depression.
9.
Pathology. a low state of vital powers or functional activity.
10.
Astronomy. the angular distance of a celestial body below the horizon; negative altitude.
11.
Surveying. the angle between the line from an observer or instrument to an object below either of them and a horizontal line.
12.
Physical Geography. an area completely or mostly surrounded by higher land, ordinarily having interior drainage and not conforming to the valley of a single stream.
13.
Meteorology. an area of low atmospheric pressure.

Nutrition:
–noun
1.
the act or process of nourishing or of being nourished.
2.
the science or study of, or a course of study in, nutrition, esp. of humans.
3.
the process by which organisms take in and utilize food material.
4.
food; nutriment.
5.
the pursuit of this science as an occupation or profession.


Q: What parts can "Depression-Nutrition Connection" be devided into?

A: I would say that my topic can be devided into one part depression and the otherpart Nutrition. That is how I would break up my topic.

Circumstance:

Q: Who has done or experienced "Depression and Nutrition"?

A: Many people all over the world experience depression caused and/or affected by mal-nutrition. Some people even die because they dont have the urge to get up and feed themselves. Others die not because they dont feed themselves but because what they do feed themeselves is bad for them and lacking essential nutrients.

Q: If "Depressiona nd Nutrition" starts, what makes it end?

A: If you eat right, and do things to help yourself see the good and not just the bad in life, you will stop being depressed because of nutrition.

Relationship:

Q: What causes "Depression and Nutrition"?

A: If you become injured and have braiun trauma that affects your brain chemestry you can become depressed. You can also become deporessed because you are really sad or because somehting traumatic in your life has caused you to feel terrible, and maybe hate yourself, or life in general. Nutritional roblems are cause from eationg poor.

Q: What is the consequence of "Depression and Nutrition"?

A: L:ike I said before, some people die from being depressed. Some other just waste their lives away being unhappy. Others, who get better, life live happy wonderful lives after overcoming such a terrible thing.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Possible Genre Topics

Topic #1-Book Genre's

1)Example: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Fantasy

2)Setting: You can find books online, but most commonly you would read a book in print, actually in your hands.

3)Subject: The subject(s) of books are numerous. There is no limitation to the subject possible in a book.

4)Participants:
a) Writers: Anyone can write a book, it just takes an inspiration and dedication.
b) Audience: People in general. Anyone can read a book, you just need to be able to read!

5)Motives:
a) The writer would be motivated to write for a number of reasons. It could be that the writer has something important to convey through his writing, or perhaps to give inspiration to possible readers to do something, and of course, writers write to make money.

b) The audience would read to pass the time, enjoyment, or perhaps the book was recommended by a friend. Entertainment is the usual reason for reading. People also read for information.

6)Patterns in the genre:
I would have to pick one specific genre within the entirety of possible genre found in books in order to describe a specific pattern. So, for an example, Murder/Mystery novels. In a Murder/Mystery novel: there is a criminal, usually someone introduced early in the book but unidentified as the murderer; there is the murdered; and there is the person(s) who finds out who done it! That is a vague description of a pattern found in a Murder/Mystery novel.

7)Analyzing Patterns in Genre:
I will diffidently analyze the genre of my chosen genre found in books, but to do that I would need to have a specific genre to analyze. I would break it down as you have it outlined. I have some questions about how to go about doing that.

Topic #2-Poetry
1)Example: Haiku, Ballad, Sonnet, The Ode, Stream of Consciousness

2)Setting: You read poems in books, magazines, the Newspapers, and online.

3)Subject: There is not a specific subject that all poems follow or that is even really attributable to poetry in a broad manner. However, poetry such as love poems, the subject would be about love.

4)Participants:
a) Writers: Anyone can write a poem.
b) Audience: Everyone is included within the audience. There are sometimes specific audiences that a specific poem may be targeting, but there is not a specific audience for every kind of poem, other than humans.

5)Motives:
a) The writer would be motivated to write for many reasons. To write about love, what he/she sees in a painting or a scene in a restaurant. Inspiration for writing poetry comes from any and all sources. The writer may want to convey an emotion or bring the reader into a scene or to a place only found within the writers mind.

b) The audience reads poetry for enjoyment. It makes the reader feel a certain way, makes them happy or sad, angry, elated, etc. Or perhaps the reader appreciates art, and sees poetry as art, and wishes only to witness human creativity and finds satisfaction from that.

6)Patterns in Genre:
There are patterns attributed to every form of poetry, in fact, that is how poetry is defined, by analyzing the patter in the way it is written.

7)Analyzing Patterns in Genre:
Every poem can be analyzed categorically. You would analyze the poem based on what kind of pattern was associated to each category of poetry. Haiku's would be categorized because of the syllables in each sentence of the Haiku. I would then analyze the Haiku based on the content of the poem, the ordering of the words, the kinds of language used, etc.

Rhetorica Reading

Shane Brabant
Rhetorica Reading
Eng 100 Tu-Th 4:00-5:20
Anicca Cox
3-1-10

I found the reading to be extremely vague. The concepts outlined in this reading are very complex and in this reading they are not explained in a way that I can understand them. I am taking Logic this semester and the information outlined in this reading are very similar to some of the information we are going over in class. We outlined what an argument was, what a rhetorical syllogism is, as well as the forms arguments come in. I have a hard time with the language of logic. Syllogism, rhetoric and enthymeme are examples of words that I just cant seem to get the hang of. Their meaning eludes me, even though I am in logic class and I really need to understand what they mean.

The different forms an argument comes in was a new thing for me this semester. Inductive, deductive and narrative were all new things for me. I am currently studying inductive and deductive arguments, how to identify them, how to use them, how to analyze them. It is all very interesting but extremely convoluted and complex. I am having difficulty with my logic class.

The terms Ethos, Logos and Pathos were familiar terms, but their exact meaning is hard for me to keep straight and understand. I find dissecting language in this was to be extremely interesting but I do not always understand how to dissect our language. I would like to be able to have a better understanding of these three elements of logic so that I can better converse with classmates and teachers about their meaning and uses.

I am wondering if anyone else in my group, or the class as a whole, is having trouble understanding the above concepts. I would like to hear from them about how they understand logos, pathos and ethos and what ways they were able to conceptualize the concepts. If they don't understand then maybe we can work together on finding a way to understand them.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Scenes of Writing

Shane Brabant
Reading Response “Scenes of Writing”
English 100 Tu-Th 4:00-5:20
Anicca Cox
2-22-10

The “Title IX: Political Football” essay by Ruth Conniff, described the struggles and accomplishments women have had while attempting to become equally represented in sports in the USA sense the Title IX law was put into motion in 1972. Ruth delves deep into the controversies surrounding the issue of equality for men and women in the sports world. Male sports have always, and continue to have, more money for their liege than that of the women. Title IX is a law that makes it necessary for universities and high schools to attempt to equally represent both men and women. Sense the law has come about, the ration of women playing varsity level sports has jumped from 27 to 1, to almost 1 in 2. The argument for the removal of Title IX is made on the grounds that more money for women sports takes away money for male sports, which is true to some degree, and also now that men and women are almost equally represented in sports, there is no longer a need to put women into a special category or group. The law is still in action despite little Bush's attempt in 2002 to change it.

I am having a difficult time deciphering how to best describe what kind of genre the “Title IX: Political Football” essay would fit under using the “Scenes of Writing” guidelines. There is not a list of possible genre nor any indication about how to classify a piece of writing into a specific genre within the “Scenes of Writing” reading. I have read the entire “Scenes of Writing” reading and I am still confused as to how best to describe the genre of the “Title IX: Political Football” essay. I understand there are scenes, there are situations, but I do not understand how I am supposed to put this essay into a genre.

So, I will attempt to classify it with my own idea of what sort of genre it might fall under.

I would say that this essay would fall under the genre of informative, an informative essay. We are informed by Ruth on Title IX: how it effects women in sports, how it effects men in sports, controversy between male and female sport lieges. Ruth describes in detail the relationships between male and female sports teams and lieges. We learn about how the wrestlers feel they are being ripped-off because women are in a special interest group, we learned how football is where most of the money for sports goes. I would diffidently say that this essay falls under the genre of informative.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Final Credo

Shane Brabant
Final Credo
Eng 100 Tu-Th 4:00-5:20
Anicca Cox
Life’s Good!

After reading over my other three credo’s, I decided that there was a theme to my writing. There is a common idea that flows throughout the three, and I believe that this message is something I can more easily relate to myself and my thoughts about life if I were to rewrite it with this main idea in mind.

The ideology that was prevalent throughout my credo writing was that I am blessed, fortunate, alive, happy, learning from my mistakes and turning the seed of regret into a blooming orchid of understanding. Although there are many trials in life, many difficult moments and situations, many emotions and feelings that can create inside one a feeling of hopelessness and disconnection from the divine. It is important to hold in my mind the reality that these feeling and thoughts are transitory in nature. They come and they go, no feeling is forever, no thought is permanent. As surely as the sun rises our beliefs and momentary negative situations, like shadows on my soul, will reach the horizon on the edge of our minds, and be out-shined by the beautiful light of the sunset of understanding and personal growth. It is true that many times the winds of change can feel as cold and terrible as a winters storm on the naked skin of my future, but we must remember the times when the moments pass us by and leave us refreshed, filling our lungs with warm sweet scents of summer, and the winds of change blow by a smiling face and whisper encouragement into the soul. Life’s Good. This simple truth is extremely important to remember. When I find the shadows of my minds sorrow begin to collect on the dark edges of my consciousness and the terrible, lonely feeling of helpless, hopeless despair wedges its way into my mind, clawing and scraping into my thoughts, killing my motivation and filling my heart with fear, I need remember the love, the light, and the wonders of every moment of life.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Amy Tan

Shane Brabant
Eng 100 Tu-Th 4:00-5:20
Amy Tan: Mother Tongue
Anicca Cox

Although Amy Tan grew up speaking Chinese, she is now an accomplished and world renowned author. She begins by discussing the power language has on all of us, how the way you speak can determine what people think about you. She proves this point in her writing by explaining situations where her mother’s command of the English language inhibited her ability to get what she needed. Her mother spoke very choppy English, it was referred to as “broken”, “simple” English, and therefore her mother was thought of as simple, if not stupid. Amy tells us of how her mother’s ability to speak English affected her on an almost daily basis, and affected her negatively.

Mrs. Tan understands English very well, but her ability to speak has caused trouble for her and forced Amy to spe3ak for her in many cases she explains for us in the reading. I believe that because Amy needed to speak for her mother from a very early age, her command of the English language grew out of necessity. I really liked how she included her conversation with her mother in the text. Because the translation was verbatim I was able to grasp exactly what Amy meant when she attached “broken” to her mother’s speaking ability. This inclusion helped me to understand the concept of speaking different “Englishes”.

Amy explains how, growing up in a home with only her mother’s “broken” English to influence her affected her grades in school and her performance on tests. When Amy read about recent polls on Asian American’s and their preferred job choices, she found that there are very few Asian Americans in American Literature, and that there are not many Asian American writers. She attributes this fact to how mathematics, unlike English, has a definitive answer, whereas answers to English related questions are a “judgment call”. She supports this claim by giving us information about how Asian Americans often go into Engineering jobs, and jobs of that sort. Amy made the choice to decipher English and use her passion, imagery to seek out the internal intent of her words. In this way she was able to write the “Joy Luck Club”, using simple English, English that her mother was able to understand and enjoy.

To compare Amy Tans and Luc Sante’s narratives I would say that they both use real life stories to explain their points and ideas. The two grew up speaking a language other than English, yet English became their main language and the tool by which they are able to make money, be happy and generally prosper. The two writers emphasize the power of language and how it helped them throughout their very different lives. The two have strived to master the English language to better understand what it is they are saying and to help them speak to their audience with a clear and understandable voice. I would say the two narratives are of similar origin but like, for example, they are fruits, but Luc is an apple and Amy is a banana. The writing is from the same general category of literature, descriptive, based around stories and life experiences, but the twos journey into English were very different.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Luc Sante

Shane Brabant
Living in Tongue’s By Luc Sante
English 100 Tu-Th 4:00-5:20
Anicca Cox

Luc Sante is one amazing individual. I have never had the experience of understanding another language fluently, so this memoir was a very intriguing read. After learning that Luc began his life speaking French and then adopted English as his primary language I found myself in awe of his eloquent word structure. He brings the reader into his childhood memories with seemingly effortless recollection. I am unable to relate to Luc’s language/memory connection and I found his explanation of the language/memory relationship to be curious, and thought provoking. I began to think about my own childhood, about the little things that remind me of a time or a place from my past. I am not as skilled as Luc to be able to recall such memories with the level of description and fluidity that he shows us, the readers, in his passage about his uncle’s soft dark eyes, or the smells and sounds of his parlor in Belgium. His illustrations of memory astound me. I am envious of his ability to recollect such fine details of his life. I know this is the writing of a very intelligent and skilled wordsmith, so my feelings of inadequacy in relation to my own ability are overshadowed by the beauty of his words.

The difference between cultures is extremely apparent in the world. Luc gives us a brief glimpse of the Belgium way. Their food, “sirop” and “makee” for example, or how he explains that “real” beer, bread and cheese where hard if not impossible to come by. The comparison of living space was another area of interest for me. Having grown up in the woods of Humboldt County, I have only memories of my mother and fathers small wooden homes. A cellar was never a reality for me, nor was ceramic tiles a normal floor cover choice in the hills. He compares and contrast his apartment in the U.S. to his home in Belgium without making one or the other preferable, he simple points out the differences. For example, Luc Sante describes French as a correspondent to the soul, whereas English was more related to the word. I really enjoy how he writes.

As the reading comes to a close, I noticed another element to his writing that makes it so appealing to the eye. His choice of words is awesome, varied and descriptive, but what make the last paragraphs of this read intriguing to me is the metaphors he uses; the relationship of mind, thought, word and image. I hope to be able to write with such description and rich command of my language. In this class, and in my other classes I will try my best to expand my vocabulary, write with vigor and metaphoric illusions. I prefer to read a colorful passage, one with a wide spectrum and hue of language, so I will attempt to write with all the colors of my mental cognition of thought to word to text.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Letter of Introduction

Shane Brabant
English 100
Anicca Cox
January 21, 2010

Dear Anicca,
A letter of introduction is an important beginning to our relationship as student and teacher, I will try and give you a well rounded view of “who I am” and I will do my dandiest to answer Mike’s questions.

I was born March 3, 1991 at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon here in Humboldt County. I have spent the majority of my physical life behind the redwood curtain. I have lived in many places within Humboldt County. My parent’s houses are in the mountains of southern Humboldt, however I have lived in Redway and Arcata. I moved to Arcata ~7 years ago in order to go to a better school than the ones available in southern Humboldt. I also lived in Sayulita, Mexico when I was 10-11 year of age. That experience was one of my favorite in life thus far. I have traveled in Europe and Costa Rica. I plan to return to Costa Rica ASAP, Europe is a place that would take a lifetime of exploration, a life well spent. Hopefully I will have to opportunity to continue traveling over the small planet we call home.

What makes me, me? I am the reaction to a collective summation of my life experiences, a temple that is being built with the stones of my every day. I have learned and I have lost, I have forgotten and remembered, I have loved and I have hated, and today, I am happy to be alive and to be living. There are few truths in this world, many of them are simple qualia, I would like to remember that happiness is self manifested and love is never ending. My heart goes out to those whom are suffering, I do not know if I would feel the way I do if I had not suffered. Would you dislike the cold if you had never felt the sun upon your face? I believe that experience, and the ability to learn from our experiences, is a defining factor in life.

I am interested in many, many things. I like people, and I dislike them, but I certainly like watching them. They are so very complex and interesting. I like music, dancing, singing, laughing, crying, running, swimming, hiking, leaping, and appreciating the world and its natural processes. I am also, of course, interested in survival, which is the reason I am writing this here and now. Survival in this modern world requires money. In order to make money one must be “educated” in a specific field that allows for the generation of funds. I am unsure as to what path I will be taking in the pursuit of a job, career or business at the moment, however I am confident that a solution will present itself. For now I am simply living and learning, waiting for the spark of comprehension to light a new path for my feet to follow as I live here. Originally I thought that I would have liked to be an Environmental Resources Engineer (has a nice ring to it doesn’t it) and that is the reason for my choosing HSU. I suppose the fact that I was accepted within the first week of application as well as the fact that no other college on my list of possibilities accepted me, had some weight in my decision to go to HSU.

I have been in Arcata for many years now, I feel I understand it well, and I know the way things work here. Recently, however, my insurgence into the world of college has opened my eyes to numerous and boundless new possibilities here in little Arcata. I am ready for the challenges of this new semester and this new chapter in my life. The last few entries into the “Book of Shane” have been difficult to write. I find that persistence, support, love and humor are catalyst elements in the reaction of learning and living.

I spent the last couple of years at Six Rivers Charter High School, home of the Pirates, Arrrr!!! It was a very interesting school. My teachers were just out of college, young, enthusiastic and full of new and great ideas about teaching and learning. Narrowing my high school experience down to what I learned about writing I would say that I have learned a lot from Six Rivers. I had some really great teachers that helped me figure things out in creative ways. I spent a great deal of time structuring and writing essays. I also wrote poetry and short stories. I would say that I do enjoy writing, perhaps for the reason you quote from the home page of your site outlines rather eloquently. I believe my greatest struggle is that I really want everything to be perfect, which is impossible, so I just have to continue to practice acceptance in my writing. Another area of difficulty is writers block. I am easily distracted and I have a hard time writing sometimes. When I say sometimes, I really mean most of the time, unfortunately. Another area of struggle for me is the spelling element of writing. I have never been a good speller and I am eternally thankful for spell check!

Concerning writing processes, I have a variety of methods. Brainstorming and outlining seem to be the preferred methods. I do draft and advise. I usually write, read, fix, write more, and repeat. I spend a great deal of time writing my more important papers. I suppose it is because of my need to explain my thoughts “correctly”, and if I feel I have not accurately explained myself, then I have to reread and rewrite it until I get it “right”. I know I am done when I have reached the required length, finished all of my thoughts on the subject, and usually after I have someone read it over and give me feedback. In the past mom was of course the number one reference for acceptance in regards to my writing.

I would like to get an A out of this writing course. I am eternally practicing my writing ability, and all the necessary elements that come together to create a well written piece. I would like to have interesting assignments that compel me to write. Excess homework is always frowned upon. I would like to improve in all areas, nothing specific. Spelling is something I will just have to get the hang of, practice make perfect right? I would like to be able to carry the skills honed here in English 100 over into my life and academic career. Writing and the ability to explain oneself on paper is extremely important in today’s fast paced world. I am looking forward to a semester full of learning and application.

The scores I received from the VARK test are as follows;
Visual: 7, Aural: 8, Read/Write: 7, and Kinesthetic: 8.

The first thought I had about this was “Does this make me a well rounded learner, or am I just confused?” So I then clicked on the Multimodel link. I fallowed a few more links thereafter and I seem to be in the category of a “context specific” learner or I have a learning strategy that combines the entire V A R and K strategies of learning before I feel like I have grasped the subject at hand. This is according to Neil Fleming’s summation of multimodel learners. After reading further I begin to lean towards the “Whole-Sense Approach”, which really actually jives with the way I am feeling these days. It is the approach where the learner may take a longer time to understand a subject, but after the subject is understood, the learner has a more complete understanding of the material. The same idea is used for decision making. I do take a long time to make decisions, but after I have taken the time to make the decision I feel very confident in my choice. When I am rushed to judgment, I tend to make a misjudgment, and possibly regret my decision and replay the situation in my mind for days to come. This is a problem because of how fast decisions need to be made in this world, I find myself skimming over the important issues in life because there are so many that deserve my consideration, and time is such a precious commodity.