Prezi Presentation

Here is a link to my Prezi about MLA citation!
http://prezi.com/5k-znlchnuiy/what-i-learned-in-eng-102/

Technology

Phillip Bradford

English 102

Laura Cline

5 May 2012

Online classes have an advantage for me because I have a daughter, so taking classes in person can be an interesting scheduling challenge. There are a lot of roles I have to fill and often these things occur at the last second. It is much easier to adjust my schedule accordingly in an online setting. Also, for many in person classes a portion of the grade is based on attendance making it even more of a challenge. It is more convenient for me because I am more comfortable in an online setting, I do have my own blog and study game design, so if given the choice I would choose an online class.

A big difference in online versus in person is the lack of interaction with other students and teachers, online classes make you more independent. Taking a class online means that a student cannot rely on classes that are completely lecture or review. It is up to the student to read the book, study for the test, and look at any additional information a professor may post online. However, this does have its advantages and, in particular, for an English class. I felt students were more honest about their feelings regarding what we read because the class online so students felt there was less judgment. Students are also forced to participant in order to get a grade so there is are a large variety of opinions. This is important to an English class because there are often different views regarding books for a wide variety of reasons. With the requirement of students responding to books there is the benefit of getting a wide range of opinions resulting in a students views being challenged and having to support their own opinions regarding a reading.

The technology that was most beneficial to me was the videos and the general benefit of an online class. The online classes fit my schedule and the videos were always available for me to watch. I also enjoyed the few videos that I did do for the class. I found it easier to watch lectures than to read for an assignment. Most of my classes require a lot of reading so seeing a video posted was also a breath of fresh air.

What I liked the most regarding technology is that it allowed me to come back to what I was doing. I was able to make my own class time and review my work. The notes, assignments, and lectures were always available and I could work at my own pace. For example, I felt the rough drafts were easier to work from than in other settings. Everything that I may have missed was on the page and reviewed. This was most helpful to me regarding learning to properly cite sources and how to set up a paper. I felt visually seeing what where and how I went wrong and being able to see it side by side with my my final draft helped me to learn these skills.

In the future I know I will use videos and outside sources to learn. I am going to continue to take online courses and will utilize making videos for assignments. I will also use research for other classes in order to either better understand a topic or to support my argument.

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/05/05/3950181/the-college-campus-tsunami.html

image source:

http://www.gifsoup.com/view/167866/man-smashing-computer.html

Reflections on the Course

In this course I have learned how to be more efficient in researching topics which currently is effecting my college courses. I have learned how to find the information I need and use it effectively in papers. I have also learned the importance of making research flow naturally in a paper.

I feel the readings have not effected me so as much as seeing other class members reactions to the readings. It is often easy to overlook certain aspects of books and form one opinion. However, discussing books have made try to see things from others perspectives even if I may disagree. This was most obvious when I was reading Up In The Air. I felt the movie was easier to relate and tried to understand why others enjoyed the book more. I felt reading multiple perspectives helped me see parts of the book I had overlooked. It may not have changed my opinion but it did change how I read the rest of the book. I feel in the future when I read a book or even watch a movie I will try to keep other possible views in mind.

I feel that in each learning outcome I have improved. This is most evident to me in using and citing sources. I felt at the start of this course much of what I used was done so awkwardly and cited improperly. Now I feel much more comfortable using outside sources and citing them. As I stated before I also feel I have improved in considering new perspectives.

My writing process has changed in that I find it easier to create a thesis statement and to work from there. Before I felt the most difficult part of writing a paper was starting it, however, it has become easier for me to start with an idea or statement, go through the research process, and to realize that it is okay if my idea changes during this process.

My primary challenge in this class, like all my classes, has been time management. I felt that I was able to overcome this by pretending I was unable to turn in any assignments late and only using it when I had a week in which I was overflowing with work, homework, and other responsibilities. I felt this method really helped my time management.

Rough Draft #4

Phillip Bradford

April 22, 2012

Laura Cline

English 102

Up in the Air

While the movie and film “Up in the Air” are both about the openly secluded life of a man who's job it is to fire people, and a pro at it too. The two are their own separate beasts, the protagonist Ryan Bingham is at heart a lone wolf, there is no room for human connection in his line of work. Bingham is not only in the business of firing people, he also lectures about his business philosophy in the book the character comes off as a cold unfeeling businessman who one can connect with only if they too were a unabashed cynic with six figures in their bank account. In the film George Clooney's character with Ivan Rietman direction immediately adds a likeability to the character. Given the black and white jaded cynicism of the character in the book who you wouldn't even want to be in the same room as, where as Clooney's character however seems to have a light air about him, he's someone you could relate to in someway even if it was just mocking the suckers on the plane. Bingham in the book had little purpose or message, where Clooney's speaks to a more modern economic climate, one an audience can actually relate to.

When you dig even deeper, you see that it's not just the bad development of the character in the book that didn't translate, but that it also lacked a “side kick” that was in the movie. The character development and the addition of a new character, Natalie Keener who may replace Bingham, made him and the plot easier to understand and relate to. He became a man that the audience could sympathize with despite his job of firing people. In the book your insight is provided by Binghams inner monologue which at times can be well put and even a little humorous although it still does little to help the reader relate to him. Thanks to Natalie's addition, Clooney seems like a man who's prime is passing, a man who seems to have everything figured out is now given a very humanistic side with the threat of having his position revoked. He is becoming outmoded and that is a scenario anyone can understand even if they haven't actually experienced it.

When the book was written the world was in a much different place economically, the book was released before the recession and, as a result, the job of Bingham did not have resonate the same as it did in movie form. Bingham's job does not seem as important and acts more as an excuse to keep him away from than as a reason. The movie was created for an audience that is struggling economically and Bingham's role is to protect the companies and offer the newly laid off employees hope (however false it may be). The character in the movie understands his role and how sensitive it is and has turned it into an art. However, this results in him distancing himself from others. These changes based on the economic situation in the country resulted in further character development.

The addition of Natalie also created sympathy for Bingham in that it showed just how important his job is. The movie was created for a country in economic turmoil with the possibility that those in the audience would have been laid off. It is difficult to create sympathy for the person that could have told them they no longer have a job. However, Natalie shows the audience how important who and how you lose your job. She believes it can all be done in an efficient impersonal way. This ends in disaster when one employee loses their job and commits suicide. Natalie, devastated, decides to quit. Bingham, with all his flaws, understands people. This creates character development not seen in the book.

In an articled in Forbes magazine Klaus Kneale discusses “layoff specialists” or “workplace planners”. Those hired by companies to downsize and keep morale up in the process of lay offs. The article discusses why it takes a specialist instead of others in the company. The specialists can make the tough decisions while keeping the company and its employees safe. The use of Natalie in the movie showed the positive results of Clooney (Bingham) being detached from others. He was able to view the job objectively and do what was needed to lay people off in a sensitive, quick, and safe way. While it is not pretty it is a necessary job.

In conclusion the differences are stark even with the same backbone, all things considered the book is still a well writen and insightful look into the modern business culture, but surely few people can associate with that culture in a way that the author is trying to engage the audience. While the movie engages the audience on a social, satirical, emotional, and economical level that the book, coming from a well off businessman's perspective was unable to do. The movie, overall, connected with the current problems through Bingham's development and telling the story of those that have been laid off.

Works Cited

Kirn, Walter. Up in the Air. New York: Anchor Books, 2001. Print.

Klaus Kneale. “You're Probably Doing Your Layoffs All Wrong.” Forbes. Feb. 12, 2009. Web. April

18, 2012. http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/12/layoffs-workforce-planning-leadership-management_

0212_kneale.html

Up in the Air. Dir. Jason Reitman. Paramount Pictures, 2009. DVD.

Thesis for Up in the Air.

The current economic climate is bad, but it wasn't always like this, Up in the Air is a great example of this change. The differences between the book and the George Clooney film highlight just how much things have changed. The film focuses more so on people suffering job loss in order to better relate to how audiences feel during the current economic situation. The book, however, focuses more so on learning how to live a fulfilling life instead of hiding behind work.
Image: http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2009/12/500x_up_in_the_air_georgeclooney2.jpg
Here is a movie review I found discussing how the movie reflects the economy:http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20323777,00.html

Fired.m4v

Mid Semester Review

April 1, 2012

Laura Cline, Instructor

YCC

Prescott, AZ. 86303

Dear Laura Cline,

I feel that, as with all online courses, the most challenging aspect of the course has been the discipline it takes to keep up with assignments. It is all to easy in an online course to forget about due dates and slack a little at this point in the semester. I also feel at times that the assignments, because it is online, are not engaging enough so it makes it easier to fall behind. I feel the most rewarding part of this class has been staying engaged with other students and keeping up with the work.

I feel the assignments as part of the readings have affected me more so than the readings themselves. I also feel that reading what other students have to say about different readings have affected more so than the readings. I feel these parts of the readings have challenged my opinions about what we have read and have also driven me to improve my own writing. I can see what I am doing well, what I could improve, and what I may have overlooked.

The literary analysis is less research driven and more created by proving your point and supporting it. So much of college writing is based around others opinions and just the facts. In a literary analysis the voice of the author is heard more. There is more room for style and everything is open to interpretation.

My primary goal for the second half of the semester is to continue to keep up with my assignments. I also hope to remember to continue to check for using “I” in papers. It is also my goal to complete the extra credit.

Sincerely,

Phill Bradford   

Methamphetamine and children

For this assignment I chose an article that focuses on the effects of meth on children specifically. It opens up with some very vague descriptions of experiences of children living with their meth addicted parents. The experiences range from being left to fend for themselves (sometimes for days alone), to the more extreme being forced to partake in the drug with their parents (for some reason I have trouble visualizing that being the case in any event). Nevertheless from a professional standpoint these children are encountered, no doubt, in the foster care system or other social work fields. In these fields the foster parents and caregivers are given help and advice on dealing with the emotional strain that they have been put through. It goes on to talk about just how the children have developed serious emotional issues and trauma from the abuse and neglect that occurs. The last two parts of the article discuss the differences in  home life between what would be an average household and those who are accustomed to the neglect that comes from a meth users household. The difference being that some may Have to take on responsibilities that most children don't like taking care of siblings, family members, regular meals, rules, bed times, etc. Finally it describes how some children become resourceful and can actually benefit from the experience.

Wrong Meth. 

It should be clear how the article and the book are related given that the books protagonist is handling the care taking  of her mother and siblings ("Another complication is that some of these children had taken on the role of caring for their parents, as well as younger siblings, when their parents were under the influence."). Battling with some emotional trauma, neglected by her parent but ultimately prevailing.  Along with developing some keen problem solving skills by exhibiting her unrelenting spirit and drive to help those she feels responsible to. She may ave had many setbacks along the path to righting what is clearly wrong becoming better for it in the end.
Sources:
Image: http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l34yb4Eg7m1qagkhko1_500.jpg
Article: http://alcoholism.about.com/od/meth/a/meth_kids.htm
"A Child's-Eye View of Parent Methamphetamine Abuse: Implications for Helping Foster Families to Succeed"

Heroes

My father always told me stories about running from the law for making what he called white lighting. He would come and go as he pleased, for some reason I always imagined the this lightning in a literal sense. When he was gone I conjured images of Zeus forging lightning high atop Mount Olympus. For obvious reasons, I was wrong, but damned if I didn't think it was heroic in my early years. All of this comes to mind at a rather inappropriate time, if not ironic, a trunk full of crank, a house forty miles away that is probably still on fire, and at least five cops on my tail, it's hard to count at a moment like this.
Even as I became old enough to realize that my father wasn't hammering out lightning bolts for months at a time, I still saw a man standing up to the law, like the Bandit sticking it to Beuford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit. Daring escapes and amicable rants between him and the dastardly and incompetent officers, it seemed so glamorous. I could never understand what made mamma cry when daddy would go away, god, I was dull. Something tells me I can't be all that heroic in the boy's eyes, "tweak" just doesn't resonate with a little boy like "white lightning".
I remember the last time I saw my father, I was ten, we were separated by an inch of glass, I had no idea it would be the last time. I told him about Albert Fisch throwing me in the mud. I didn't think it would be long, the good guy never stays down for long. I'm starting to realize that he was no hero, sad it dawns on me as I realize just how much of a failure I am. It doesn't matter at this point, the boy is far away, and after this ends I won't be seeing anyone for a very long time.

Bartleby draft

Phill Bradford

2/26/2012

English 102

Death by Lack of Work

In “Bartleby the Scrivner: A Story of Wall Street”, by Herman Melville, the focus of the story is a man who's job it is to copy materials for a lawyer. What makes him worthy of a story is his apathetic view towards his work, and seemingly every aspect of his life. Bartleby and the old lawyer he works for represent two opposing views towards work. The country was changes and the ethics, including work ethic, were changing with it. The narrator, his boss, represents the Protestant work ethic while Bartleby represents a new ethic of leisure time. Melville saw this lack of work ethic as harmful towards society.

The piece is narrated by a lawyer who has his own firm and I think represents the capitalist view of the time the piece was written. Under his employ is two Scrivners, an elderly man by the name of Turkey, an elderly man who is no stranger to the pulling of a cork. Nippers, another scrivener, who is irritability was as much of a problem as Turkey's alcoholism. Lastly is Ginger Nut an errand boy who's name was gained from the snack he frequently brought the staff at the lawyers office. When business begins to pick up for the narrator he brings on the last scrivener and the major player in Melville's story, Bartleby, who at first is a great employee and who's addition represents that capitalist expansion of the time on Wall Street.

After a time Bartleby's productivity begins to decline. This starts when the narrator brings him some extra work to do. Bartleby responds very firmly with “I would prefer not to” which is so passive the lawyer is unsure of how to react. Eventually he discovers Bartleby is living in the office and he attempts to reach out to the struggling scrivener in the form of a raise and edible incentive's. The old lawyer also tried to reason with him to do his work. This type of charity was a common ethic but directly clashes with the work ethic capitalism values. The lawyer is so stunned by how passive Bartleby is that he does not force him to take responsibility. Bartleby's laziness also comes on slowly, first he refuses the extra work and finally he refuses to perform the basic copying he was hired to do. The narrator does not get angry with him the way a typical boss would. Instead he continues to give incentives to do the work he was hired to do. Capitalism values money in exchange for work but Bartleby was not performing any work.

In the end, this was the downfall of the narrator, he went against the tenants of capitalism by giving Bartleby incentives for doing nothing. The narrator never made Bartleby take responsibility for his actions while at the same time the narrator takes no responsibility for Bartleby's inaction. The narrator, as a result, is forced to move his business off of Wall Street in order to get rid of the responsibility of caring for Bartleby. It is the narrators inaction in the situations he is posed with that goes against the tenants of a hard working post industrial revolution society, of almost enabling the lackadaisical behavior if not rewarding it as opposed to just cutting the fat, it is important to note that in this case it isn't just Bartleby who doesn't pull his weight but the other scriveners who become useless around the middle of day. So while the narrator is a cog in the capitalist machine he is a very weak one, with his inability to make those executive decisions.

It was Bartleby who at first was a poster child for this capitalist frame of mind, a seemingly unstoppable hard worker, at the lawyers office he worked around the clock and produced more than the other scriveners. He also had a previous job in which he was a hard worker and dedicated employee. Bartleby left that job and found a new, more enjoyable, job at the lawyer's office. This reflects the capitalist value of freedom of choice and that so long as someone is a hard worker they will eventually be rewarded.

However, eventually Bartleby has a shift in attitude that marks the beginning of the decline for Bartleby, as he did less he lost more even despite the lawyers feeble attempts to “help” him. The more the scrivener refuses to work the more he loses, so it is easy to draw the parallel that the author is of the belief that the less you contribute the less you will get, that “you get what you give” mentality. Bartleby eventually has no home and lives at the law office. The old lawyer confronts Bartleby about this living arrangement but chooses to ignore it, out of charity. Bartleby has not earned this charity though and so he does not learn to “pull himself up by the bootstraps” as the old expression goes. Instead he continues to rely on the charity of the narrator.

This reliance on others eventually lands Bartleby in jail because he refuses to move out of the old lawyer's former office. He lives at the banister outside of the office and is arrested for being a vagrant. The old lawyer attempts to help Bartleby offering him a place to live and, after he is arrested, paying to have Bartleby taken care of in jail.

Bartleby refuses this care and instead starves to death in jail. Melville here is showing what could happen to society if the work ethic of society is changed in the way he saw it changing. He could see that people were beginning to rely on others to do their own work, becoming more interested in consuming things than in working.

Bartleby represents this shift in work ethic. He starts the story as a hard worker in an expanding business and ends the story as a poor homeless man who starves in jail because he would rather not work. As he repeatedly states he “would prefer not to” towards more and more activities. He would rather not do the extra work, the copying, and finally he is too lazy to even eat.

He relied on the charity of the old lawyer so much so that he was unable to care for himself. It was as if the changing society allowed him to be lazy. This is because Melville saw society as changing to become lazier. The death of Bartleby represents the death of society if it continued on the course Melville saw it was on.

The old lawyer while still a hard worker was stunned by these changing values and, as a result, did not know how to react to Bartleby. Capitalism, while allowing for failure, still makes room for charity but only to those that deserve it. If Bartleby and the narrator would have taken responsibility and corrected their actions Bartleby would have live and the old lawyer would not have had to move.

Melville's Bartleby represents how he saw a changing society. He showed what he believed would happen if the work ethic of capitalism was ignored. The old lawyer represents the old values of hard work and determination.

Works Cited

Melville, Herman. Bartleby the Scrivner: A Story of Wall Street. 12. February. 2012. bartleby.com  

I prefer not to

 “I prefer not to” is the part of “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” by Herman Melville that jumped out to me the most. The statement was made six times in the short story and also seems to reflect the attitude of Bartleby as well as other characters. It is very ambiguous as to why Bartleby chooses this inaction other than as a plot device. It drives the story in such a way that without it I suppose you would just have a rather light-hearted tale of two scribners who's shortcomings make for an almost slapstick days work when enters Bartleby, a smart capable scribner who makes the new workload manageable for the old lawyer who hires him.

I must say that after reading the piece I was curious to just what the message is here, much to my chagrin it is a much debated subject, but I must say I am not surprised. Bartleby's statement “I prefer not to” to me makes me think of just about anyone. When your boss asks you to do some task, at the end of the day do you really want to? No, of course not, Bartleby seems to tell it like it is in a similar fashion to Peter Gibbons in “Office Space”. The only difference I see is that Bartleby's situation to Peter's is the disposition. Peter would rather enjoy his life then spend it on the business end of cubicle clamoring for what little time he is allotted to enjoy the finer things in life (not to mention hypnosis, but that is irrelevant). While Bartleby seems almost manically depressed, in all reality I suppose an explanation is purposely left out to open it up for interpretation.

The other characters, like the narrator and the new tenants, also reflect the “I prefer not to” attitude. The lawyer chooses not to fire Bartleby because he feels bad. He prefers not to deal with the discomfort of firing someone who appears to be in such a bad situation. The new tenants at first feel bad for Bartleby and contact the lawyer so they to “prefer not to”. In this way the and given the time period the piece was written it could reflect the values of society. Capitalism and Wall Street were just beginning to be a part of society. The ending, with Bartleby starving, could show that those around him were being to easy on him and doing more harm than good.

Bartleby's statement reflects the attitude of both himself and others in the story. The message could also show a new thought process starting in society because of Wall Street. It also reflects the feelings many of us have.  

Image source: http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lc1kl5vFOP1qzx9vno1_500.jpg

Extra reading: http://arcade.stanford.edu/what-bartleby-can-teach-us-about-occupy-wall-street

Analysis and Summary

 There is one main difference between a summary and analysis which is an analysis digs deeper into the meaning the of something. A summary tells the basics of a story much like a newspaper it covers the who, what, when, where, why, and how. An analysis would look more into those topics in order to draw a conclusion.

An extensive summary would still look deeper into the the who, what, when, where, why, and how. For example a summary might look at the when in terms of time period or time of day and the what as the topic being covered and issues being addressed by the writing. It would not attempt, like an analysis, to look into what influenced the writing or the why the characters in certain ways.

An analysis could also look at an patterns in a story or the consequences of events in a story. The goal of an analysis is one of finding meaning in certain contexts such as the gains and losses, causes and their effects, or the roles of objects and situations.

One thing that is important to remember is that it seems impossible to have an analysis without first starting at the summary. When analyzing a story first the story needs to be summarized in order to look at what can be analyzed and how. For example, if someone were to look at the Crucible hey could summarize the panic of the panic of the characters and analyze it from the writers perspective. He was writing in the 1950's during the panic of Communism. This is looking deeper into the summary in terms of when (time period) and why (the cause). It is using the summary in order to see the deeper meaning in that summary.

One book that seems to be always up for an analysis is A Clockwork Orange. It seems that the book has been analyzed in so many different ways. Here is one website with a very quick and broken down analysis of the very popular and debatable book http://www.shmoop.com/clockwork-orange/literary-devices.html

Image Source: http://www.lz95.net/lzhs/library/Pathfinders.htm

A Modest Proposal.

Johnathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick" contains some rather inflammatory ideas (or namely one inflammatory idea).  The "proposal" as mentioned in the title is extremely logical, coldly logical in fact. Ireland, being in poor economic standing was facing some of the issues commonly found when in that position, homelessness or generally decrepit living conditions especially in 1729 (the year the piece was written) the conditions must have been horrendous.

The solution posed by Swift is to take the children, which there are an excess of and be sold as a delicacy to those with a better economic standing. Obviously Swift was writing this in a satirical fashion, but to make an interesting point. My family was very active in the Northern Irish community in Philadelphia and as such I am very plugged into things of this nature. And regardless of the time anything after the war with the English made things extremely hard on the Irish (especially in the North). Posed with British rule and their lack of compassion this piece set its sights on pointing out the cold calculations of the British in concerns with the relationship with the Irish.
http://www.online-literature.com/swift/
Image Source:
http://verydemotivational.memebase.com/2011/01/25/demotivational-posters-jonathan-swift/

My friends and I had quite a time making this, encase you couldn't tell...

Good Reading

Vladimir Nabokov writes in "Good Readers and Writers" about the importance of good reading writing techniques. One thing that really stuck out for me was Nobakov stressing the importance of dashing preconceived notions, I think that is something that most people don't understand when consuming any art medium. Be it a painting, film, song, or play staying objective can be difficult you may think it is bad because of those notions, without putting it in the proper context you are losing the message the writer is trying to convey, and thus not engaging yourself in the whatever you are attempting to consume. Take Nabokov's own "Lolita" a very controversial piece in it's own time.

                   

You may hate what some of the content but that doesn't mean that there isn't a worthwhile piece of art in it. I think another great example that some might relate to is a film by the name of "Happiness" (Directed by Todd Solondz) centering around three sisters, one of which is married to a pedophile, at heart it is the best and blackest of black comedies, some may not find a movie with a child molester stalking his prey funny, but it would be because of their notions coming into the film.

I agree with his points and tips on accomplishing better reading techniques through the use of a dictionary, imagination, and contextual reading, because without those things when you do read or write you might as well be looking at an Ikea manual or write a how to on building dog houses.
“And the rest is rust and stardust.”  -Vladimir Nabokov
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5152.Vladimir_Nabokov
Image Sources: http://pacejmiller.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/lolita.jpg
                        http://www.sagindie.org/wp-content/uploads/Blog_Photos/happiness.jpg
                        http://college.holycross.edu/faculty/ssweeney/nabokov3.jpg