Triumphs and failures

The class went well. I thought i wrote the instructions well, but apparently people with little concept of what a butterfly looks like built the kit. I was frustrated about the group who we gave the kit seemed determined to screw around. While i know the instructions were a little distant,  I had no idea that people could be this thick. I was pleased how the monkey i built went. I liked the monkey. I learned to be a bit more clear and a bit more through in my writings.

Amy Tan is encouraged to peruse science and math over English because her vocal language may be sub par. She may have spoken with a slight Chinese accent, which in our American view, is an indication that person does not speak English well. While there is some similarities to spoken English and written English, these 2 skills are separate. A fine orator may not be the best writer.

Amy Tan is trying to disprove the thought that verbal skills indicate intelligence and writing abilities. Her mother may not speak correct English, but it does not mean she deserves poorer treatment or judgement. A child may speak "better" English, but they will still understand their mother.

The meeting with Joel for CWS was a nice revisit. I haven't seen some of those people since the last CWS lab, and i found out that the American education system has failed. While I will not mention names, a person in our class failed to realize the difference between Washington D.C. and Washington State. She also failed to locate Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New York on an unlabeled map.
At the meeting, we went over how our semester was coming along. Joel asked if we had any questions, concerns or problems he could help. The silence was deafening.

Topic for Digital Story telling

My first kiss and the atomic fallout resulting from that kill

This article is organized by topic of the metaphors. It is almost arranged like a text book. There is a heading at the top of each new subject. The metaphor the stuck out at me the most was about the eagle and the artificial bait. I can relate to the feeling of accomplishment, only to be shot down by a stupid error. The thesis of this article was how the writers view themselves. This was not like an argument or persuasion paper, where the thesis is supported by concrete facts. This thesis was supported by flowing metaphors and other literary techniques.  "Good" writers view themselves in a positive, optimistic way, while "bad" writers view themselves negatively or out of control of their situation.

Wikipedia is a useful tool for research. It provides good insight and a broad understanding of most topics. With this said, it should not be used for in depth research. Wikipedia is good for getting general data on certain non controversial topics, like when Hans Zimmer was born. Die hard Encyclopedia lovers point out that they have the same information in book form. What they fail to mention is that encyclopedias are heavy, expensive, and not always up to date. The nice thing about Wikipedia is that it is always being updated and changed. It has articles from topics that happened only last week. It might take years for that to reach print. Just because something is printed on paper, doesn't necessarily make it true. The negative aspect of Wikipedia is that some topics, such as abortion, Christianity, the war in Iraq, and which way the toilet paper should fall, are disputed and not always accurate. ( the paper should always come from the top!!!). So, with these points being out there, Wikipedia is a tool for getting base knowledge of a topic, but it should not be used as a crutch to sustain an argument.

No. I still feel like he was a stupid, arrogant, dumb@$$ who got him self killed. His die was preventable, and not romantic like it is portrayed. He starved to death, which is a painful way to go. He caused unbelievable pain to his parents and family. No child should die before their parents. I feel sorry for his mother and father. They know in their heads that their son died a horrifically painful death. I feel like Chris deserves some pity, but not idolized like he is in the book. He thought he could survive, and he was wrong.