https://pantherfile.uwm.edu:443/pmmiller/Memory


https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/pmmiller/Eng202/gift/

“The Phaedrus”

Reading Phaedrus proved to be difficult for me,I have not read much work written from this time period or style. The actual language was easily understood but the sentence structure was what tripped me up. Sentences went on forever and I had a hard time keeping track of the subject. As I read the work I also had to continually remind myself to read it as a conversation, almost having to switch my voice in my head to keep the two voices separate. To read the piece easily a general knowledge of Plato and his works would be beneficial. To grasp the piece in the context we are looking at I had to keep in mind as the greater audience should that being able to recall speeches verbatim was prestigious and allowed power.

When remarking on the speech Socrates at first claims he does not have the knowledge to do so and that if he were to critique it the wise men before him would look down upon him. Later however, Socrates admits he just thought the speech was bad.

Socrates has a very clear way he believes that memory is formed and recalled. He has the ability to recall speeches perfectly and believes this is a valuable skill as he uses the speeches he has memorized to critique others. In this way I find the way you look at memory and the way Socrates looks at memory very similar. Reading several texts and gaining knowledge. Socrates also believes that by witnessing the speech first hand or hearing it from another will further sustain the memory. However, "your" ideas of memory differ in that by writing a written response you formulate opinions about the texts content and critique structure as well as using it as another concrete way to remember texts. This idea that writing something is a tangible way to remember content.

Stalking with Stories

In Basso's chapter "Stalking with Stories" he wants us to connect with the Apache people understanding somewhat their unique ability to recall information. Basso wants to make clear that they have no written documentation of stories or place names but the constant repetition and pride they take in these names is what makes them stick in their brain. Basso also states clearly that when naming places each name is really several words to form a statement, this giving it a more powerful name. When recalling stories there are several categories stories fall in to this making them more complicated. The two main differences are Apache myth, a more dramatic stylized story and a narrative historical story.


The Apache have a great asset in being able to maintain their stories and culture through spoken word. Generally these stories stay accurate over time. I appreciate that their stories are a concrete part of their culture. Stories are used to pass down knowledge but to also uphold moral code. They have stories that speak to inappropriate sexual conduct and expectations as a young adult.

Anyone can make a story, but the subject of the story according to the Apache is always aware. If someone sees the way you are acting positive or negative they can "stalk you" or watch you closely and use what you are doing to make a story chronically events in your life and your actions. After the story is told it finds you, if it is negative it goes into your mind and shows you what you have been doing. At this point it can make you feel ill and effect you until you change.

ethical representation

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Technology Autobiography

Technology Autobiography

Photoshop

Response to "The Plaintiff Speaks"

When Barry was writing "The Plaintiff Speaks" I believe her audience would be photography or journalism students. I was unclear of the purpose of the writing until the end when she disclosed her career as a photographer and her work traveling analyzing newspapers and layouts. Barry includes a very detailed description of the choices both the photographer and the writer made when publishing the original article. This showing that she is has a great understanding and knowledge of these choices and how they affect the reader.

Barry starts her chapter with an emotional response to the article letting us know how she felt at the time the article was first published. She also admits to not fully understanding her dislike toward the pictures. As well she was left confused by the content choices. Barry begins with this emotional account to show that she personally was affected.

Using profanity in writing can connect to a reader, make the writer human as well as add emphasis. The way in which Barry uses the word "shit" is common and as I read it I could hear myself in everyday use it in the exact same way she did. Using certain words or phrases is universal, she wanted to project a specific emotion and was successful in doing so by using profanity.

Having a general awareness of being exposed by posting unattractive pictures online is a similar feeling to having a bad picture printed in a newspaper, it is public. After reading Barry's insights of photography and graphic choice it makes you more aware of the concept the person producing the work wants you to receive.

Reflection...

Thus far in the semester we have used pen and paper to create a work and used a computer to type and display the same work on a website. When given the original assignment to hand write an autobiography and turn it in I outwardly groaned. I felt handwriting something and turning it in for a grade was sloppy. I also knew that handwriting it would take longer and the probability of having to rewrite it multiple times was high. This turned out to be true, no spell check or backspace proved to be problematic. I also was constantly concerned with my penmanship, rereading it over and over again making sure it was legible. Writing it out with pen and paper was frustrating, it looked unprofessional. The margins were not always straight, my handwriting grows and shrinks depending on the word or if my hand cramped and I was unable to rearrange paragraphs by dragging my mouse around. Although frustrating it was helpful. In middle school and the start of high school we were forced to hand write papers as our first draft then move on to typing them. I never really understood this process and found it tedious. I now understand that when you hand write something you truly do spend more time on it, you are forced to. I’m not sure how many words per minute I type but it is surely much faster than what I can write with pen and paper.



This realization was supported after completing the second part of the assignment. We were instructed to type and post on our personal website the same autobiography expanding a little without having our handwritten autobiography as reference. This too I was frustrated with; having been pleased with the work I created with pen and paper. I tried to recall what I had written by hand and could remember bits and pieces but not exact wording or the way I had assembled it. I was content with the piece I created online until I got my original hand written one back. The handwritten version was much better, and I admittedly spent more time on the handwritten piece. This may be a novice theory but the simple fact that handwriting something makes you slow down in a way computers have abolished. Yes, proof reading is preached and practiced but it is not the same as handwriting something. Before taking that pen to paper you are forced to truly think about the sentence you are going to write, backspacing is not an option.



Beyond the content of the piece handwriting gives you a whole different idea of formatting and color scheme, decisions that are made when creating a website, book, magazine. Handwriting something adds something special because no one else can every have your exact handwriting. There have been a couple books published called Post Secret, all it is are people secrets or thoughts written on postcards and bound in a book. This at first sounded uninteresting but the secrets are each unique in text but the book includes a picture of the original postcard with the secret on it. The postcards are sometimes photographs or magazine clippings as well as just plain postcards. Most of them are handwritten using different color pens, markers and many styles of handwriting. Yes, all of this could be done with computer graphics but I kind of like imagining people writing their secrets quickly and rough with a black sharpie marker on a hated high school snapshot.



We have discussed in class that different writing and formatting styles are used according to their purpose. You would logically expect a more professional style of writing on our course website versus a personal website or blog. Graphics and color scheme would also be more neutral and easy to read whereas websites visited for entertainment can be louder. Although professional websites tend to be more neutral they are not without color, graphics, photographs and a general theme. Writing text that is to be posted on the Internet on any website I feel is completely different than writing for a magazine or book. There is an underlying assumption that the Internet in generalities is meant for “browsing” quickly gathering information usually stopping at many websites in one sitting. It is to the benefit of the author to add visual aids and quick links for their viewer.



I would like to have a better understanding of the effects of color and design on how the viewer is taking on your web page. I have a very plain taste and want things to be clean but I have noticed in class that I am in the minority. Many other students are drawn to the loud colors and over sized photographs. I would like to compose something that will be catchy but not overly aggressive.


I cannot say that having to keep a blog or create a website with an autobiography left me feeling completely exposed on the Internet. I have a facebook, so the idea of being “online” is not new, but it is a little scary. My facebook is bare, almost no information on the info section and limited pictures. The comments that I make and receive are mostly topical and of no real genuine importance, I plan to keep it that way. I was relieved when our autobiography had a theme, based on our relationship to technology. This felt a little less invasive, but I still knew that I would need to make my autobiography funny or with limited details of myself to truly feel comfortable. I know that once you post something on the Internet although you can delete it on the surface it is embedded somewhere. I feel in knowing that anything I post needs to be well thought out.

Autobiography Response

“A Short Autobiography of Dan Mahoney” although one of the least creative pieces kept my interest the longest, to his benefit his life has been pretty incredible. Mahoney writes as if in front of me verbally telling me the ins and outs of his life. Honest and humble he does not hold back the mistakes and misfortunes he brought upon himself and ran into along the way. Mahoney writes of being a police officer, a body guard to a celebrity, an author and a husband all remarkable things that people strive their entire lives to achieve and he did it all in one lifetime. Mahoney’s nonchalant attitude toward these accomplishments intrigued me as a reader, and wished he would delve deeper. I do have to admit that Mr. Mahoney’s lackluster attitude left me wondering if he was indeed telling the full truth, after some googling and amazon.coming I believe him. Mahoney’s straight forward presentation, no graphics, no funky formatting and no spontaneous fonts was acceptable. Without such an interesting life and easy writing style I doubt this would be acceptable. It was easy and quick to read without distraction, unlike Sverre Stolen’s “This is Me, a very short autobiography” that turned out not to be all that short.

Stolen placed his autobiography on thin broken rectangles making it difficult and confusing to read, I was unsure if I were to continue reading or if the next rectangle was a different component of his site. The dark blue and stark tan layered atop each other made my eyes hurt and made me itch to be done reading. For proclaiming it a short autobiography it seemed lengthy. After checking the word count at 625 words I considered holding in my complaint about its length, but decided against it. I blame the strange rectangle chapters on the unrealistic assumption of length. It makes the original scan of what you are about to read seem overwhelming and never ending. Not exactly the message you may want relayed, I know I thought twice about reading it only motivated because it was an assignment. The thumbnail sized pictures made it personal however, the pictures were not links to larger sizes and left me disappointed. Content was interesting, but, I did not relate to Stolen’s abrupt writing style.

After reading several web based autobiographies page layout is just as evident as writing style and content. Layout, pictures, music and video aid in the writers story telling. Monica Suzanne B. Castro’s plain white background and broken English in times new roman font was not the most exciting to read but her short clip giving the peace sign let you into her life in a way that her text could not. Personalization of these autobiographies creates a closer relationship to your reader, the ultimate goal otherwise, you would not be writing about yourself and posting it on the internet.