Yesterday's English 105 class had a few good ideas swirling around, things like what a blog vs an academic blog sounds like, what the blog for class is being used for, even privacy issues (in a world where Facebook is a private detective and Big Brother all wrapped up in a candy coating).
One of the main issues I did hear was how to properly "sound" like an academic blog, even when you're lacking in the vocabulary or indeed the skill needed to make a scholarly argument on a writing space that seems like anything but. Most of the students in class are new to the blogosphere and don't quite grasp the full nature of a blog and its applications, not unlike the professors and teachers in the articles discussed yesterday .
Allowing for my ego to take a blow in, I would assume this fear and uncertainty comes down to a confidence issue; confidence in both your own argument and the tools you have at your disposal to make it (be it scholarly journals or a blog, for example). Is there a difference in talking/discussion/having a discourse in class and making an argument in a scholarly essay? Yes, of course. There are certain protocols to be followed (essay formats like MLA, margin spaces, even cover pages and how the essay paragraphs are constructed). Do any of us argue the same way, with the same vocabulary and precision, in a regular conversation? Probably not.
Yet I don't think that one should have a lack of furvor or even proof/evidence of your argument no matter the situation, be it an academic essay or a blog or even a friendly informal debate. What really makes an argument is having the confidence to use the tools and evidence you have, more than the way its worded.
Anyhow, that's how I feel about it. I don't see myself as having much of a confidence issue, but again, that's my ego showing through. XD My problem lies on the other side of the problem, which is sounding far too informal. But, its all a part of my learning process.
2/24/10
2/23/10
Dr. Blogspot, or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love to Blog
One of the articles about blogging I read for my Eng. 105 class was Dr. Clark's "I Don't Really Want to Go into Personal Things in This Blog": Risking Connection through Blogging. The thin line between using a blog as a diary and using the blog as a place to invite conversation is one that many professors who want to utilize it as a tool struggle with. One of my favorite blogs when I started blogging was one written by a London call girl, definitely not for the faint of heart nor prude of nature. However, despite her subject matter and wild stories of men (and sometimes women), she still had interesting anecdotes about the human condition, even love advice. She opened up her world to invite discussion, and though it sometimes drew irked feminists or queasy PTA soccer moms/dads, it enabled the reader to take a glimpse into the world and see that we're not so different and even a call girl has important things to say.
Dr. Clark's fears, or rather, intimidation, of the blogging world becoming too personal were well justified. Yet, once he opened himself up to his students (and not even with anything completely intimate), he was able to make a connection that was two-way. There is no need to become completely intimate with your readers, but there is additionally no need to completely seal yourself up from them. A dialogue is just that: a two-way connection, required for an exchange of ideas.
Another article I read was Amy Earhart's entry Knit Blogging: Considering an Online Community. Earhart's hobby of knitting took her to the world of blogging through the lack of a knitting community near her. She found this community of like-minded hobbyists through blogs and Internet searches. I don't argue this; in fact, before my major (and certainly not the only) hiatus from my old blog, I had used it as a tool of finding a community and using it to communicate with other like-minded bloggers. I had links to friends' blogs in my side bar and often played comment tag with them. While I've moved most of my activity to my DA account (and even less to my oft-abandoned Facebook and Twitter [I am not proud of the latter XD]), they still function the same as my blog. I used the online community to find myself a community with which to fit in.
Not unlike Earhart's point of the nature of knit bloggers. Knitting, or rather any hobby I suppose, crosses all genres, sexes, sexual preferences, race, and age, even distance. A blog is able to move beyond a personal statement, even going as far to allow for an emphasis on how people can be the same. A blog functions as a representation of a person, or at the very least different facets of a person, and a respresentation of how one belongs in a community. This fluid sense of belonging, and yet retaining one's individuality is something that blogs can provide in a way that Facebook/Myspace, or even DA.
Dr. Clark's fears, or rather, intimidation, of the blogging world becoming too personal were well justified. Yet, once he opened himself up to his students (and not even with anything completely intimate), he was able to make a connection that was two-way. There is no need to become completely intimate with your readers, but there is additionally no need to completely seal yourself up from them. A dialogue is just that: a two-way connection, required for an exchange of ideas.
Another article I read was Amy Earhart's entry Knit Blogging: Considering an Online Community. Earhart's hobby of knitting took her to the world of blogging through the lack of a knitting community near her. She found this community of like-minded hobbyists through blogs and Internet searches. I don't argue this; in fact, before my major (and certainly not the only) hiatus from my old blog, I had used it as a tool of finding a community and using it to communicate with other like-minded bloggers. I had links to friends' blogs in my side bar and often played comment tag with them. While I've moved most of my activity to my DA account (and even less to my oft-abandoned Facebook and Twitter [I am not proud of the latter XD]), they still function the same as my blog. I used the online community to find myself a community with which to fit in.
Not unlike Earhart's point of the nature of knit bloggers. Knitting, or rather any hobby I suppose, crosses all genres, sexes, sexual preferences, race, and age, even distance. A blog is able to move beyond a personal statement, even going as far to allow for an emphasis on how people can be the same. A blog functions as a representation of a person, or at the very least different facets of a person, and a respresentation of how one belongs in a community. This fluid sense of belonging, and yet retaining one's individuality is something that blogs can provide in a way that Facebook/Myspace, or even DA.
2/18/10
Look, Ma! No Hands!
I had another blog, and I'm not sending the funeral invitations, but that doesn't mean I won't be posting. At least this time, it won't be about the random drivel I hear on a daily basis or movie reviews interspaced with pictures of my dog. I know, you're real disappointed. 8D
For those who remember this.
Also, I tend to post a LOT more here.
For those who remember this.
Also, I tend to post a LOT more here.
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