Summing It All Up!

1. Throughout this course, I have seen myself grow in many different ways.  One important area of growth is in my writing.  Writing was never a strong point for me; I always needed guidance and knew what I wanted to write but I had a problem putting it down in words.  My wording would also be awkwardly phrased and I was unsure of how to modify it to make it sound right.  After gaining more experience in writing, these problems I faced lessoned.  Now, I have an easier time with my wording because I have had to write about several different topics which taught me how to correct myself and broadened my scope of vocabulary too.  When I have a writing assignment to do, I first make an outline to organize my thoughts and then put them into sentences that focus more on expressing my thoughts rather than proper phrasing.  Finally, I go through my thoughts and change the phrasing because usually the phrasing that I want comes from reading over my previous thoughts.  By repeating this process every time I do a writing assignment, I have increasingly strengthened my weak points.

               This class also taught me how to use my resources more.  I enrolled myself in English 5 and my tutor was very helpful.  In our weekly sessions, he helped me with problems such as picking and narrowing my topics, phrasing, and vocabulary.  However, sometimes I found that this was not enough to revise my papers because they were only 35 minutes long.  I wanted to reach out for more guidance in my writing.  Therefore, I looked up places that offered free writing tutors.  After finding this information, I found myself to be a commoner at the Bouke Building.  I have always gone there for math but it wasn’t until I took this class that I started to go there for writing.  I also went to tutor sessions at the Pattee Library.  I truly believe that using my resources at Penn State helped me improve my writing.

               Even though I am a freshman, I never knew that Penn State offered so many cultural events/readings until I took this class.  This is another way I learned to use my resources.  The cultural events not only catch my attention but they are free to all Penn State students.  Getting an education is not only about getting good grades on exams, but it is also about learning about different aspects of the world and broadening your horizons.  The first cultural event I attended was the Gallary Talk at the Palmer Museum.  The speaker talked about the history of the circus.  I was never curious as to how the circus was originated to begin with, but after listening to this lecture, I was intrigued by the topic and happy I went.  The second cultural event I went to was the reading the Mary Rolling Reader Series presented in the Foster Auditorium.  At this reading, two popular poets, Nicole Cooley and Julia Kasdorf, read poems of their life experiences.  Nicole Cooley’s poems inspired me because she went through the challenges she faced living through Hurricane Katrina.  I have never known anyone who had gone through Hurricane Katrina, so it was really interesting listening to her detailed descriptions of her experience.  By attending these two cultural events, I have learned to expand my knowledge outside the classroom.  In the future, I plan on taking advantage of these resources to explore about different aspects of the world.

               Overall, I have improved my writing and learned an immense amount about the resources Penn State offers students.  I plan on deepening my knowledge to learn about things other than what is taught inside my classes and use free tutoring for the rest of my college career.

2.

http://kevinbeebie.blogspot.com/2012/03/penn-state-as-party-school-fourth-blog.html

http://mariahcarey1216.blogspot.com/2012/02/when-i-first-heard-about-blogging.html

http://voiceoflaurenrhoden.blogspot.com/2012/03/so-what-we-like-to-party.html

http://nobigrushh.blogspot.com/2012/03/welcome-to-college.html#comment-form

http://shainamelnickenglish15.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-am-very-new-to-whole-blogging.html#comment-form

http://welcome2myworld-2015.blogspot.com/2012/04/4.html#comment-form

http://alexbentz.blogspot.com/2012/02/first-time-for-everything.html#comment-form

http://meeten3.blogspot.com/2012/04/aron-ralston-artculture-event-1.html#comment-form

http://keepyourweightback.blogspot.com/2012/04/cultural-event-2-essence-of-joy.html#comment-form

3.  I completed my SRTEs!

The Unknown Muck

Have you ever gone to a bathroom in which the gruesome wooden floor transformed from light brown to wet spots of unknown muck?  Let me broaden the scope more, do you know that feeling when you really need to use the bathroom but you are afraid to open those doors and see what is inside?  As Penn State students, I am sure many of you have gone out on weekends to just hang around with friends, party at a friend’s apartment, or a fraternity house.  There have been multiple instances in which I have needed to use the bathroom at a fraternity house and it has been quite the utmost petrifying and repulsive experience ever.  Better yet, I have never been to a fraternity house bathroom that has been acceptably sanitary ever.  Here is a taste of what it’s like to use a fraternity house bathroom:

First, I patiently wait in a line of other anxious girls.  I finally get in a stall to use the bathroom and my feet are splattering the filthy sludge below the soul of my shoes.  I try not to move my feet around much to prevent this sludge from getting on my shoes.  Now that I am in the stall, I am uncertain as to where to leave my cellphone in fear of the millions of contaminated microbes in the stall, mostly on the walls.  I decide to hold it in my hand. I shortly ask myself an unusual yet challenging question; where is the toilet paper?  As I look around, I realize that the toilet paper is laying on the wet floor with one side dipped in the unknown muck.  I attempt to multitask and remove the dirty side of the role while holding my cellphone.  Thankfully, I am successful! But what do I do now with the toilet paper role? Well, I figure, there is nothing else to do with it except to leave it where I found it.  I flush the toilet with one foot as I balance on the other and not touch the other parts of the stall.  I walk out of the stall, grateful to finally wash my hands.  My friend offers to hold my phone as I use warm soap and water to lavish my hands. Finally, I dry my hands with paper towels and gladly walk out of that monstrosity.

Is this what a bathroom experience should be like? I never thought that going to the bathroom could be such an obscene and unsanitary activity until I witnessed a fraternity house bathroom.  Of course, what is my recommendation for using fraternity house bathrooms? AVOID ALL POSSIBLE MEASURES FOR USING ONE AND USE WITH CAUTION!

Cultural Event #2: Mary Rolling Reader Series presents Nicole Cooley and Julia Kasdorf

                On Thursday, April 5, I attended the activity in the Foster Auditorium hosted by the Mary Rolling Reader Series.  Two popular poets were presented, Nicole Cooley and Julia Kasdorf.  I typically describe myself as having an interested in poetry.  In fact, most of the time I think it is boring if it isn’t used to describe romance. However, in class Miss Squillante mentioned that Nicole Cooley survived Hurricane Katrina and was reading poetry on her experience.  This caught my attention and intrigued me to go.  I figured; why not give it a try?

Between Nicole Cooley and Julia Kasdorf, I was more interested in Nicole Cooley’s poetry because it explained the difficult situations she faced as she survived one of the most destructive hurricanes known.  I found Julia’s poetry to be more about her daily life which didn’t catch my attention as much.  Nicole used specific and very vivid detail to portray her constant combat. 

In her poem, The Evacuation, she explained day by day dreadfully yet descriptively through her tone and comparisons.  For example, she went through the process of how she had to file a missing person report or update for of her lost parents.  Also, she compared the sky in New Orleans to the ‘911 Sky,’ which left me when a sense of melancholy, cloudy image.  

                My favorite poem Nicole read was Write a Love Letter to Canilia Grill.  Canilia Grill was one of the popular traditional family restaurants in New Orleans.  The grill was closed because of destruction from the hurricane.  After it was closed down, people put posted notes on the door and wrote about what they loved about the restaurant.  One day, Nicole walked by and copied down all 500 posted notes.   This poem contains many of the notes that Nicole copied down.  People wrote about their memories of having been in that restaurant and traditions such as eating their after getting married or going on their first.  Others wrote about their feeling of being lost without this traditional hub or how they wished to bring their future children there.  What I loved about this poem the most was the idea behind it.  Nicole expressed how not only the restaurant was lost, but most importantly, the tradition was forever gone.

                 By listening to Nicole read several poetic memoirs of her traumatic experience, I really got the feel of how gloomy and lost New Orleans was after Hurricane Katrina. She left me with rich imagery by describing New Orleans as the “tour of the gone” and how houses were marked with an X if it was already inspected or a number to represent how many people were found in that house.  Overall, I am happy I went because I really got to broaden my perception of poetry nonetheless listen to a firsthand experience of surviving Hurricane Katrina.

This American Life

          After listening to the podcast This American Life, I hold very mixed feelings on the topics that were discussed.  Judging from my experience as a freshman at Penn State, I felt as if some parts were inaccurate yet some parts were. 

          I believe that the students chosen to be interviewed did not represent the attitude of the typical Penn State student.  For example, the group of guys that took a stop sign out of the ground was an extreme occurrence.  Also, the podcaster mentioned that students were littering.  Out of all the times I have gone out, I have never seen any absurd behavior such as this.  One of the reasons why I came to Penn State was because the caliber of the students was higher than most universities and the campus was incredibly clean.  Another part of this podcast I feel the need to argue is when the couple at the fraternity party was interviewed. In the interview the boy directly states, “I’m just trying to get her drunk so I can take advantage of her.”  This statement angered me greatly because I have been to fraternity parties before and never experienced this situation, neither have my friends. 

Besides the many parts I believe were inaccurate, there were some parts I believed were accurate.  For example, when girls go out, they often do wear very high heels and short dresses.  This attire is a little bit too promiscuous but to be honest, it could be so much worse.  Also, chants and songs break out on the buses just as it was portrayed in the podcast.  Many of the times, students are chanting “We are Penn State.”  A third fact in the podcast I believe is accurate is the scene where people are trying to get into a fraternity party.  If guys walk up to the door and try to get into the party, many of the times they will be rejected.

          For those listening to the podcast and do not know the party scene here, the podcast did attempt to persuade through ethos, pathos, and logos.  Ethos was created by having direct recordings of students; the interviewers were describing events that matched up to the interviews.  Pathos was mainly expressed when the story of John Dado was told.  Also, the interviewers did state that unfortunately, the party scene is similar in most big state schools. The whole podcast contributed to the logos appeal because people would expect the number one party school to be “crazy” and “crazy” is exactly what was demonstrated in this podcast.  Logically, it wouldn’t make sense for the number one party school to be quiet on a Friday or Saturday night.

Not only am I embarrassed by the portrayal of Penn State students in this podcast, but I strongly believe it is an inaccurate representation of who “We Are”.   It is unfortunate that many listeners are convinced that what was portrayed in this podcast is what the party scene here is like.

Cultural Event #1: Gallery Talk: Carnival Barkers, Beach Acrobats, and Elephant Acts: Circus Imagery in the Maimon Collection

On Friday, March 16, 2012, I attended Joyce Robinson’s Gallery Talk.  I went into this talk with the mindset it was going to be boring and that I wouldn’t be interested in it at all.  Soon after the talk started, I realized that I was wrong.  Joyce talked about the history of the circus and how artists at one point in time were amused by painting or drawing the circus.  I have never done a project on the circus or research about it so all this information was new to me and intrigued me more than I expected. 

          Have you ever wondered why the circus is a shape of a ring?  When the circus first came about in Europe in the 1800s, it was just a man running on a horse.  The reason why the circus is the shape of a ring is so the centripetal force created when the man goes around prevents the man from falling off the horse.   As the circus evolved over time, there were more features presented in it but the shape remained unchanged.   For example, in the 19^th century, acrobats and elephants became a part of the Circus; however, the elephants that were used in the Circus were female from India because they were said to be the easiest to work with.  The Circus became so popular that by the 1830s circus troops traveled by wagon to different cities.  In this same time period, the Circus became a part of French culture and the main subject portrayed in their art.  This popular event stood out so much because of its rich and vibrant colors, elephants, and enthusiastic acrobats.

          Because the Circus was now integrated to European culture, mostly in France, American artists started to spark in interest in the Circus.  They also started painting visuals of the Circus.  As a matter of fact, an artist name Alexander Calder painted a performance at Madison Square Garden.  Americans were amused by these acrobats, elephants, and craze of the Circus therefore becoming obsessed; soon enough, the Circus became an icon of America as well.  This new icon was so booming that it surprisingly lasted through the Great Depression, although it was very difficult to keep it in business.

          After Joyce Robinson’s talk, I examined some of the works of art the Palmer Museum had a more interested point of view because of the knowledge I had just acquired.  Before, I just walked past these paintings and didn’t think much about it; however, now that I know  the history of the Circus, I am able to appreciate these works of art.

What is Art?

Art is such an ambiguous word.  It has different meanings to different people. Because of its ambiguity, it is impossible to have one definition. 

According to dictionary.com, art has five different definitions; the first definition given is “the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.”  There are parts of this definition I agree with yet some I disagree with.  I agree with the first part that mentions art as the “quality, production, expression or realm.”  I believe that when an artist is working on something, they are expressing themselves, or a point of view; they are producing something based off of their desire to express a perception.  On the other hand, I do not agree with the whole rest of the definition.  In my opinion, art doesn’t have to be based off of aesthetic principles. Everyone has their own standards of beauty based on a personal or cultural level.  Let’s say I go to a museum, and see a picture of a leaf on the wall, I stare at this picture and say, “This is so ugly.”  But does that mean it isn’t art?  No.  Just because this leaf is ugly to me doesn’t mean that someone else will have the same opinion.  This picture of a leaf isn’t appealing to me especially because I see leaves every day.  However, this leaf may be appealing to someone else who is intrigued by it and doesn’t see leaves on a daily basis. Most importantly, this leaf must be significant to the artist or else that artist wouldn’t have created it. Although, it may be significant to the artist, it may not be significant to everyone else.  This definition fails to grasp what art actually is.  Instead, it sets expectations for art to be beautiful, appealing, and significant when in reality each opinion varies individually. 

What is my own definition of art?  Because I hold a broader view of art, my definition is short.  I believe that art is a form of expression created by someone.  This can be a choreographed dance, a sculpture, a company logo, a plate of food or even a picture of a leaf; either way, someone had to create it.  It doesn’t even need to be made from scratch.  It can be based off of something else such as a remix of a song written many years ago or a hair stylist’s version of a previously made hairstyle.  Many people narrow their perception of art down to traditional paintings, sculptures or music but art is so much broader than that.  I am very fascinated by the art of hairstyles just because it isn’t what people typically think of when they visualize art.  The link I posted below leads you to a website that has several examples of hairstyles.  As you can see on the website of hairstyles, there are so many various ways to go about art.  What is your definition of art?

http://www.hairstylesdesign.com/

Palmer Museum of Art: Life Size

Title: Life Size

Artist: Ida Lorentzen

Year: 1994

Materials Used: Oil on Canvas

             As I walked through the Palmer Museum of Art on campus, there were many intriguing pieces of art that caught my attention.  However, the piece of art “Life Size” caught my attention the most.  Why? Well first of all, if you walked close enough to the canvas, you feel as if you are in the picture because it is so big.  But this isn’t why I was intrigued by this mysterious canvas.  I was intrigued because at first glance, it looks like a room with an opened door looking out to a landscape of a mountain.  As I looked deeper into the canvas, reflections were everywhere.  After reading the description, everything made sense.  The furniture that Ida Lorentzen depicts in this painting is from her original home.  What I thought was a door, was actually a mirror reflecting the background of the landscape behind you.  This was a way for Ida to cope with her mother’s death.

               Considering the background of Life Size, there is a very strong emotional appeal Ida uses to engage the viewer. The dark colors around the outside of the objects made me feel very curious. Black is a color typically used in a negative light or show mourning for a death.  The walls of the painting were black but still had hints of pink within them.  The pink almost glows throughout the whole piece.  Ida further portrays the mourning of her lost mother with the black stool on one side of the table. The dark, maple, wooden table adds warmth to the piece so it isn’t so hostile.  Another observation I made was that all of the focus of this painting is in the center which has very light colors: pink and white benches, the mirror and door.  The mountain landscape Ida chose to be within the mirror creates a relaxing mood.  The white window frames glow through the mirror, giving the reader almost a heavenly feel.  Ida also has the stools reflecting in off the mirror.   By using all of these elements for emotional appeal, Ida demonstrates how on the outside she feels dark and saddened; however, on the inside, when she is reflecting back on her mother, she feels enriched and happy.

               Ida also uses strong logical appeal to contribute to her repeated theme of reflections.  Reflections are found all throughout the piece and demonstrate how this is a reflection of her emotional state of being.  Just as the mirror is a view from behind, Ida also looked back on her life with her mother.  Under the table, there seems to be another mirror that is reflecting the table and the stools.  Also, the door is casting a shadow of the straight, clear edges of the stools possibly representing that the image of her mother is still clear in her mind. 

Ida uses more than just reflections for her logical appeal.  For example, under the table there is a rectangular object that partially covers underneath the table.  This shows that Ida is still covering or hiding some of her feelings.  The stools add dynamic because only one stool is usable, yet the other side of the table has two stools stacked on top of each other. Because the dark stool is still usable, I believe that the dark stool represents Ida.  This logically makes sense considering the emotions that are portrayed by the dark stool and that she was still alive when she painted this so she could still sit in the stool.  The other side of the table has a white stool stacked on top of the pink stool.  I believe that this corresponds to her mother; the pink resembles her mother’s life and white resembles her mother’s after death, possibly heaven.  The touches of pink everywhere logically fit together because if the pink resembles her mother’s life and the pink glows everywhere, then the message Ida wants to get across is that even though she feels very dark and saddened, her mother’s life still shines through her.

               Ida doesn’t have much ethos in her painting but, in my opinion, I don’t think it is necessary.  Ida painted this piece because she was coping with her mother’s loss.  Her emotions seem to be so strong toward this subject that she painted true to her feelings.  Expressing emotions, in my opinion, is as true and honest as someone can be.  Through her emotions, Ida adds to the credibility of her piece.  Although the main source of her credibility is her emotions, Ida still added her initials, IL, on the bottom corner of the door.

               As my first time being in the Palmer Museum of Art, I had a great experience.  I don’t typically enjoy going to museums because I always thought they were boring.  However, now that I know how to analyze the rhetorical situation of something, I see everything so much differently.  I can see myself bringing my family there to show them the wonderful pieces of art.

What Does My Blog Say About Me?

Whether it is for personal or professional use, a person’s blog can say a great deal about that person.  The background in itself is a visual argument demonstrating what that person took into priority or the mentality behind it.   It may be just one plain color, a pattern, or a specific photograph.   Because of this, I generated my first blog to fit my persona so my readers get a sense of the type of person I am.  When readers first visit my blog site, they see a background of a beach with the sun rising.  I chose this background because it is soothing and has detail but it isn’t distracting.  Also, I want my audience to be welcomed on to my blog; I don’t want them to be overwhelmed.  I made the tap background blue so it matches the color of the ocean but it still stands out enough to guide the reader’s eye to the middle of the site.  I chose the title “Hear What Cristina Has to Say” because the blogs I will be writing are my opinions.  Because the background has enough detail, I chose a simple font to further prevent the reader from being overwhelmed.  I made the font color white so it contrasts to all the other items on the page and it significantly stands out.  The details that I added to my blog portray that I love the beach, but I am also simple and practical.

            An important aspect I emphasized on my blog is ethos.   On my profile, I added a photo of myself with the option that the reader can view my complete profile.  My profile describes who I am and what my interests are.  Also, I created an “About Me” page.  My “About Me” page gives a summary of my life, more interests, and goals/aspirations.  In this summary about myself, I used friendly language to create an amiable and welcoming vibe.  I don’t want to stress my audience out by using sophisticated and high level academic vocabulary because I want to portray my friendly personality.  I did not include any links because I wasn’t exactly sure which ones I should have added; thus, I want it to remain simplistic.  I didn’t want to add my Facebook profile because I felt as if it was too personal and the purpose for my blog is for English 15 and not exactly for personal use.

            I believe that my blog is a realistic representation of myself because of the beach background, simple font, and “About Me” page.  The experience of creating my first blog was just as I expected.  For example, I adjusted to the way blogger works quickly and understood how to make adjustments to my blog without much trouble.  By creating this blog, I expect to gain a larger understanding of the dynamics of the World Wide Web and getting to know the science behind it.