Blog #1

1.) Technology is becoming a great and useful tool through a students education. Technology offers a student many different resources such as word processing, powerpoint, world wide web, and many other search engines. With all of the advances in technology it's helpful to have the students know how to use the current technology to his/her advantage. The one concern that i have about technology would be that maybe it could become a distraction in the classroom. Students may become to distracted with the internet readily at their hands.

2.) The students in grades pk-2 are expected to communicate their reasoning and stories using digi-tools. Also students will work together in groups to create a digital presentation or product.These targeted outcomes are very achievable for the grade level I want to teach. Technology will aid me in teaching students in group work and other activities.

3.) I would use powerpoint to display a lesson plan or for an activity. I would incorporate technology in the daily lesson plan to further the students academic achievement. Also I would teach students on how to explore and use the internet. When I was in Grade school I would enjoy viewing a presentation on the projector or going to the computer lab. When I was given the chance to explore what technology had to contribute to my education, I would be amazed! I want to give my students the same opportunity that I was given.

Deshpande Group Claim

The picture my group chose to work with was a picture of pesticide being sprayed into a gutter to kill bug larvae. Only the nozzle of the sprayer is shown and in the background is a small naked child standing a foot or two away with an older woman crouched over holding a bucket and a basket of some kind. The woman is very skinny and she is in an awkward crouching position. The building they are outside of is rusted and has chips in the paint all over. It looks very unsanitary. Although the article is focused on how they spray pesticide in the water because of an outbreak of Malaria the emphasis is put on the small child and woman in the back of the picture. This picture is a prime example of a claim made by Shekhar Deshpande within his article The Confidant Gaze. The claim made was, “In fact, it would not be out of place to suggest that National Geographic has made an aesthetic of its own in photography. It is slick, it is technically flawless or even adventurous, and it attempts to sanitize and universalize the uncomfortable as well as different elements of other cultures” (Deshpande par 7). In an attempt to sanitize this picture National Geographic has the small naked child standing in the middle of the picture so your attention is drawn to this cute little kid instead of the pesticide going in the water a couple feet away from him. Perhaps National Geographic purposefully does this to make you feel alright about looking at the picture. The image without the child would be very ineffective because the viewer doesn’t want to look at a pesticide nozzle spraying pesticide into the water. They want to see the culture and the people its affecting.

Deshpande Group Claims

The claim that our group used in Deshpande' article was, "Human suffering becomes worth a good image (par 10)." This is related to our picture and all that we have read about Deshpande because our photograph portrayes a scene with a naked kid who is about three years old and behind him is an elderly woman who is chouched over collecting water from a stream on the ground while the boy watched and the water in the picture looks as if it is dirty or unsanitized and unhealthy. This is exactly what Deshpande talks about in his article how National Geographic magazine photographers take pictures like this one to get the interest of the "Western World Eye." So when the viewers see this photograph or ones that are similar to it they become hooked to the article because we are looking for the problems or situations of other cultures.
The complex claim that I have gotten from reading and viewing Deshpande' article is; Are the expressions or emotions given by people of different cultures in National Geographic's photographs their true fellings. Or does the photographer portray each character in certain ways to influence and change the perspectives of the western world viewers. Not giving them the real aspect of what is actually happening.

Deshpande Summary

In Deshpande' article "The Confident Gaze" he talks about the National Geographic's special issue "India Turning Fifty," on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of India's Independence. In his article he talks about the cover page of the issue how it shows an Indian boy who is painted in all red and his eyes are glaring straight in to the camera. The significance of showing this boy is what Deshpande describes saying that photographers that take pictures for National Geographic magazine try to get the "Innocent attractiveness" in there photographs. Explaining how photographs that are taken in different countries of different cultures are edited, "polished with gleaming lights and perfection of the position of the object to change the perspective of what he calls, "The Western World Viewers." So the sorroundings or areas that they photographer is in to get these photographs, are a lot different then images that are portrayed in a magazine photo. So the audience of National Geographic are not given the real aspect of what is actually happening where the photographer is and they change the actual photo to put the viewing world in a "happy place" so we become interested and hooked in to read the magazine and stay focused on the articles. He also goes on about how National Geographic magazine covers or represents all the troubling issues or situations around the world and how they, "can sanitize and even beautify the blood and the gore of the conflict. This power to transform the most repulsive results of the human actions around the world into images that are digestible is what makes for the culture of National Geographic." So the repulsive and gory images that the photographer is seeing in real life are nowhere compared to what is being portrayed to the western veiwer and we are not able to grasp the real concept or reality of what is happening. So we will never be able to see through the eyes of the photographer.

National Geographic Photo

In this issue of National Geographic, which is focused on Pakistan, there is a photo of a large group of male Pakistani men protesting something. They are all wearing black business suits complete with ties and shiny shoes. The protest appears to be taking place in a city square. The man closest to the camera is posed through an object, possibly a rock, at an unseen target. He is holding a stick in the other hand, which could be a picket sign. His shows what looks like anger and determination.
When I first saw this photo my initial reaction was: “That reminds me of Wall Street.” While this photo does not seem to “beautify the blood and the gore of the conflict” as Shekhar Deshpande suggests some of National Geographic’s photos do, I believe it holds an appeal to Western viewers for a different reason. I immediately connected these men’s plight with many American men’s problems in America’s economy. The photo didn’t have to be edited or posed to catch my attention, it was enough that these men resembled American business men.
The article this photo is featured with is about the controversy over the Pakistani government’s use of funds on the military instead of on the rebuilding of mosques. This photo does not immediately say to the viewer “religious controversy” and I believe it balances out other photos featured in the article; which featured images of groups of men praying and dancing, which are acts some Americans can’t relate to at all. I believe the protest photo distracts viewers from the bigger issues occurring in Pakistan, even though the article discusses one of them. Instead of helping us to accept their culture in its entirety, differences and all, the photo causes us to focus only on one part of it. Thereby not comprehending how intertwined the different aspects of their culture are, such as their religion and their military.

National Geographic Assignment

A) In the July 2007 issue of National Geographic, we see an interesting article that involves a colony in Nigeria, Africa called Nigeria Delta and their influences with famine and the war on oil. In the article there is a two page printout of a picture. This is the one picture that caught our attention when reading the article. It had two people in what appeared to be a dark home with no electricity or running water. A mother and her child were the only two in the room. Her child lied face down on a bed and appears to be starving due to an abnormally large-bloated belly. The mother caught our attention the most simply because the light of her eyes were so intensified that it instantaneously spoke of how much pain and suffering she is going through. In an article titled “The Confident Gaze” by Shekhar Deshpande, he states that “They have an urge to satisfy the curiosity of the viewer while defining it” (#2) which means that we as a western culture view depression or sadness in a way sparks our interests and ideas to flow smoother without hate or stereotyping.

B) Claims that we have come up with to further give a better view of what our main point would be is “Despite the resources that some countries may have available to them, it doesn’t mean that they are able to use them in an effective way.” (Complex claim for Beth) and “No matter what the situation unfolds, we as a society can take charge of our own actions.”(Complex claim for Mike)

Presented to you by Beth Brummel & Mike Kingma

The Unicorn Fish

The image that I am viewing right now is tragic. The seen is taking place at the sea – half frozen sea. The scene is created of sky on the top, ice in the middle part of the picture, then few streams of water in the middle and ice on the bottom. The color scheme used was mostly consisted blue shades except the sky owned some tones of pink and yellow. The picture itself was very smooth and calming. The atmosphere is clear, the air is cold, the sound is silent. And then in the bottom left corner, but not too in the corner – a bit closer to the middle, we see a bloody, dead whale the whale contains the blue shades too so he adds on to the picture. But the fact that he is dead doesn’t evoke anything. His horn (because this is a unicorn whale) cuts the image and leads the eye away to the other corner making you examine the sky even more.

The placement of the poor thing is so perfect and the streams are at the angle where the image becomes less of a scene but more of a scenery where you could just place this image on your wall. The calming attributes are not playing on feelings the image makes it seem ok to kill the ocean creatures. And the realization of that fact is striking to me, because we as the nation can make tragedy moment images into art, and accident occurrence into fun videos.

National Geographic Picture

thpicture I decided to depict was a 2 page spread of 9 people from Palestine praying. When you look at the background of the picture you see holes in the walls, wall paper coming off the walls, and exposed cement on th walls. There are 8 elderly people all intensely praying with deep emotion in thier faces. They look defeated as if they are asking God for something better. Among those elderly people stood one boy. He was croutched on the ground like many other of the men were. The only decoration in the whole place was a picture hung up on one of the walls of what looks like baby Jesus. The room is dimly lite making the picture more dramatic.

When I look at this image I feel like the people of Bethleham are suffering from the low economy and are praying for better things to come. The trashed room and dim lights gave it a depressing feel to it. The facial expressions of the praying people looked sad and helpless with a little of hopefulness all mixed in together. I think that everything that I saw in that picture was set up by the camera people. Even the things that the people were wearing was picked out by the National Geographic team. National Geographic has been around a while and they know what needs to be done to keep readers coming back. When they take pictures they think of ways for the pictures to be depressing, but make you think that there is hope and things are going to be better. National Geographic also tries to get you to focus on certain stories rather than others. Most people learn a lot about the world around them from reading National Geographic, but we need to remeber those pictures are photo shoots too. Shekar Deshpande wrote an article called the "Confident Gaze" which was about National Geographic and how honest thier work is. She went on to state, "we forget thatt he photographs and the contexts which they are placed represent a very concious effort by the editors to make the world a happy place and a happy place especially for the Western eye" (2). This means that the editors know what kind of pictures to put in the magazine to get the best results. National Geographic know what kind of articles to write next to the picture so you have a certain emotion while reading it. National Geographic is a great magazine with wonderful pictures and articles, but they dont always have the best intentions for the reader, or even who the article is about, they are always thinking about the magazine.

Photograph Response

A) My group focused on a photograph that was in a December 2007 issue and is of a group of Palestinians praying. This picture is of eight elders looking very defeated and one young boy and takes up two pages. In a dim lighted cavern with miss matched floor panels the young boy is in the middle of the spread and is squatting down almost sitting on his heels with his hands turned palms facing the roof almost as if asking for something better. The elders in the room are standing with heads bent and palms towards the roof. Behind the praying group hangs a torn from ceiling to floor wall covering, thus exposing the cement wall behind. In the upper left hand of the photograph hangs a portrait of what seems to be baby Jesus. This photo’s presentation of Palestine Christians supports Shekhar Deshpande’s statement “[i]t is as if that world needs to be posed in the appropriate way to the Western observer, he could not see it in its bare essentialities” (9). The way the prayers are positioned and situated for the pictures is almost so the viewer doesn’t have to see the rest of the grotto and only our imagination of what makes up the room is will fill in the feeling of despair rough way of life.

B) Without conscious awareness a viewer imposes knowledge he or she has of what is being looked at. That knowledge helps set the stage for how the picture is perceived. Photographers are, in many cases, relying on this knowledge to help impose feeling into their art. For example, the cover page photo on the May 1997 issue National Geographic is of a young Indian boy covered in red Holi powder that appears to the viewer as looking almost painfully sad yet has very curious eyes. A viewer imposes the pain onto the boy because of the knowledge he or she has about everyday living conditions in India. With a little more information the reader could find out that the red powder is for the spring festival Holi and it is a very happy exciting time for Indians.

Deshpandes quote

The setting of the photo is in an alleyway where cardboard and scrap metal are used as roofs and shelter, trash and waste water everywhere. So filthy that us, Americans would label this place as inhabitable and yet there are people in the picture, not just adults but children and even an infant. We chose Deshpande’s quote, “the photographs are rich in their content, but entirely dishonest in their relationship to the environment or the context” because as Americans would think the people living here would be miserable and unhealthy, the face expressions of the children show no sign of sorrow but somewhat curious which the little girl is seeing two boys playing on the side, supporting Deshpande’s claim. The picture’s rich content is the tons of filth we see and the dishonest relationship is how we interpret the picture, our first reactions seeing the kids which would be something like, “How are these people alive!?”
My claim would be about the way the western eye interprets the rest of world, comparing and contrasting cultures, thinking themselves as superior.

National geographic

National geographic has been a main staple of cultural knowledge in are society for a long time. It is read by such a wide variety of people, and just about everyone will have at one point in there life flip threw one of there magazines whether it be at a doctors office or for a school project. In are society it is looked at for an insight to other less known cultures to give us a chance to see how other parts of the world live or to see unusual animals. But recreantly a man named Shekhar Deshpande wrote an article called the confident gaze and in his article he addresses the issue that national geographic my not be giving us the whole story or may be cleaning it up for the western reader. My group chose a photograph of hunting at it’s most glorified version. In the picture you see a large bull elk laying dead in the grass while a female hunter sits atop. The photo has a peaceful look to it with a back ground of cool green grass. The photographer has completely cut out the real bloody aspects of hunting and make it seem like an almost tranquil experience. There is not a drop of blood to be seen in the photo and the hunter who sits on the lifeless animal does not seem excited or thrilled she looks rather like she is contemplating something not an expression you would think of for a person who has just killed an animal. National geographic has not really given there audience the true way hunting goes down. They have shown the audience only what they think they will want to see, they have cleaned it up to look neat and painless so the audience doesn’t have to see the other side. We look to magazines like national geographic to show us true accounts of what is going on in the world around us but what they are showing us instead is posed photos to entertain not inform.

Photograph response

a) In my group we focused on a photograph featured In the November 2007 edition of the National geographic magazine. The photograph is about hunting in Kentucky. It is a double page photograph that shows a black and brown elk with huge anthers dead on the bright green grass with a woman dressed in camouflage sat on the elk that she had just killed. The woman’s expression is odd because she looks like she had some regret about what she had done. The photograph shows hunting almost as an art. The elk is dead but there is no blood, or gore almost suggesting that hunting is a clean sport. The elk looks at peace. There is an obvious spotlight surrounding the dead elk and the woman to draw immediate attention to it. The photographer has made the photograph into something that you would show someone else as a piece of art. Although the photograph is good, it has been manipulated in order for the reader to not be disgusted by it. Many people are aware of how messy hunting can be, but the photograph does not show that part at all. The magazine leaves a big part of what is hunting is about out of the article. In the recent article “The Confident Gaze” Skehar Deshpande himself writes “They have an urge to satisfy the curiosity of the viewer while defining it” (2). Basically what Deshpande is saying is that the National geographic magazine photographers are modifying the photographs that they take in order to appeal to the viewers. They do not want their readers to be repulsed by what they see and would rather shield them from the truth.

b) On the cover of the 50th Anniversary of India’s independence featured in the National Geographic magazine we see a young boy painted red. It is a close up picture of the boy and the reader is immediately drawn to his eyes. His eyes are big and shiny and the viewer can see innocence about him while telling that he is emotional about something. His lips are dry and cracked that gives the illusion that he is deprived. We as viewers immediately feel sorry for him as we automatically assume that the boy has had a really hard life. What we forget to inform ourselves of is how there is a lens, a photographer and many other people involved while this picture is being taken. This boy is probably being told how to pose as the photographer is fully aware of what will tug at Western people’s hearts. While there is obvious emotions in the boys eyes we as readers have to ask ourselves, are these real emotions or is this boy just posing in front of a camera?

National Geographic photo response

Shekhar Deshpande makes a claim about the photographs in the National Geographic magazine: “[b]ut while it covers or represents such issues or situations, it can sanitize and even beautify the blood and the gore of the conflict” (Par. 12). While in small groups, my group chose a photo that followed along with Deshpande’s claim and how National Geographic can make horrible situations into beautiful pictures. The photo was of a boy standing in a field of crosses, almost like a graveyard but the crosses were a foot maybe two feet apart. The boy had a sad yet glaring look on his face, staring directly into the camera. He was positioned in the middle of the photo, and while there are others in the photo, you cannot see their faces, it is below their faces but high enough to see the boys face. There are many white crosses which the boy is leaning on, almost holding his hands as if he was praying, and there are also a few red crosses. By reading the description below the picture, I found out that the white crosses represent citizens who have died fighting ranchers from clearing land and the red crosses represent people who are still alive, but have death threats upon them. Poverty is most present in this area, the boy’s shoes are torn and his clothes are dirty. It is a dark and morbid photograph that is obviously posed. Yet at the same time one can see the beauty in this picture. It is well posed and emotional to the viewer. A sense of sympathy is almost overwhelming just from seeing this picture. That is why National Geographic has made a horrible situation into a beautiful picture. The complex claim I have developed from this photograph is: Even as beautiful as the Amazon forest is, there is still tragedies occurring to the people inhabiting it.

Shekhar Deshpande "The Confident Gaze"

Many Americans receive what they believe as valuable information through the visual and written texts of the magazine National Geographic. One may look into the article, dazzled by the lives of different cultures, often expressing curiosity. This is what draws the reader in, the different aspects of different cultures that Americans aren’t used to and want to familiarize themselves with other cultures without ever having to leave their own. An author by the name of Shekhar Deshpande explores this topic related to National Geographic. His viewpoint is that through the images that the editors are able to manipulate, the photography in National Geographic doesn’t tell the whole story of the culture. It tells the story that Americans want to hear. “While we admire the accomplishments of its photographers to bring us the rest of the world, we forget that the photographs and the contexts in which they are placed represent a very conscious effort by the editors to make the world a happy place and a happy place especially for the Western eye” (Par. 9). Even though the photography is quite amazing and admiring in National Geographic, it still doesn’t represent the whole truth of the culture such as; political conflicts, wars, religious conflicts, etc. Deshpande goes on to say that what the ‘Western eye’ desires to see is a sense of progress towards their own culture from other cultures. “The primitive, often a focus of the magazine, serves the same function by providing images of what ‘would have been’ if the West had not taken a march toward ‘civilization’” (Par. 15). This sense of ethnocentrism is blinding our perception of the reality of what is really happening in other cultures. National Geographic is informative, but only informative about the information they wish to teach.

Shekhar Deshpande's "The Confident Gaze"

“The Confident Gaze” is an article written by Shekhar Deshpande, were he digs into what he calls the desensitizing of front cover, inside photographs and world events covered by of the famously known National Geographic Magazine. The May 1997 issue of National Geographic covers the 50th anniversary of India’s Independence as the feature story. The cover is a photograph of a young boy covered in red which is one of the many colors that are used in the yearly spring festival Holi, which takes place either in March or April. When really observing the photo one is drawn in by the pain filled yet curious eyes of the boy. Then the question arises, did the photographer pose this boy in a way to show only what he wanted to about this boy? Deshpande puts it the best when he states, “[i]t is as if that the world needs to be posed in the appropriate way to the Western observer, he could not see it in its bare essentialities” (par 9).
For many young and old the National Geographic Magazine has been as common in the home as televisions are. In his article Deshpande explains that “Middle class parents have regarded the investment in the subscription as necessary for the exposure that the magazine gives their children about the world” (par 2). This is for many the only way to get knowledgeable about other parts of the world. Deshpande describes how even though the magazine is covering worldly events, the editors have this way of taking all the “third world” problems which make us all feel something and so we don’t get overwhelmed with reading the articles and viewing the photo’s, the editors and photographers have this way of sharing the stories without making the viewer not want to pick it up again due to all the sadness of the issues. In doing this the viewers are more apt to purchase more issues of the magazine.

The Confident Gaze Summary

National Geographic is a world renowned magazine that allows people to discover foreign places in the comfort of their own home. One reason why National Geographic has been so successful is because they take such vivid pictures. According to Shekhar Deshpande, author of "The Confident Gaze", their pictures don't show the full truth of all the issues going on. Deshpande states, "we forget that the photographs and the contexts in which they are placed represent a very conscious effort by the editiors to make the world a happy place and a happy place especially fro the Westen eye" (2). In other words National Geographic take pictures to represent what ever emotion they want you to feel while reading the article. The magazine tries to make poverty seem happy or improved to keep the Western eye reading their articles.
National Geographic needs to stop worrying about how many readers they have and begin to show truth in what they display in their magazine. National Geographic shows poverty and other sad stories in their magazine, but it leaves out important issues such as neighboring wars or an arms race. If they tell the truth of the real problems that are occuring in other countries the Western eye will still be interested. Deshpande states, "Human suffering becomes worth a good image" (2). Deshpande means that National Geographic would rather show a mother of four children not having enough food to support them rather than thousands of lives lost in a war.
Reading "The Confident Gaze" reassured my thoughts on continously looking at media critically.

"The Confident Gaze" summary

The National Geographic magazine has been a window for many people to be able to see other countries for many years. It is the 3rd largest subscription in the United States according to Skehar Deshpande. In his editorial featured on MEDIAWATCH Deshpande wrote an article called “The Confident Gaze”. In his article he talks about the edition featured in the National Geographic magazine in 1997 when India celebrated 50 years of independence. Deshpande discusses whether the Western culture are really being shown the correct information when it comes to educating themselves about other countries through the magazine or are they only showing elements of the culture and leaving out all of the most important parts? The National Geographic magazine uses mainly photographs to give the reader a look into other countries. The images that are featured about India gives the reader a sense of what goes on, but Deshpande feels that the images are dishonest and that they have been sanitized for people to able to deal with them. The images look vibrant, almost like a piece of art that someone can put out on their coffee table for people to gaze almost suggesting that western people need shielding about how life really is in India. Deshpande points out that what the readers are being shown are Indian lifestyles rather than regional conflicts. Deshpande himself writes “They have an urge to satisfy the curiosity of the viewer while defining it” (2). Basically what Deshpande is saying is that the National geographic magazine photographers are modifying the photographs that they take in India in order to appeal to the viewers. The photographers edited and manipulate the photographs so that the western culture will appreciate the photo as they may not want to see what really goes on behind the lens. Deshpande states “The idea of progress is always in terms of whether the others have taken steps to be Western” (3). In making this comment Deshpande argues that this implies that the western people are superior to the Indian people. If India does not adapt and live their life the same way western people live their life that they are doing it wrong. If the national geographic magazine is only showing the readers different country lifestyles then what are they really learning?

Summary of The Confident Gaze by Shekhar Deshpande

National Geographic is one of the most famed and beloved articles of text and photography through history, anthropology and culture to the eyes of the western world. Shekhar Deshpande, the author of The Confident Gaze, delivers the western culture’s view on India and how vivid in detail the culture is shown through the raw emotion of the visually stunning and awe inspiring photographs from various places around the world. However in this essay, Deshpande describes the photographs and the angle from which they are taken to be interpreted in a way that will be pleasing to the Western world; Whether the perceptions that are taken are given from a false light or not.
“Human suffering becomes worth a good image…the will to see is dominated by what they see” (Deshpande pg2 paragraph4). In this quote Deshpande is giving the idea that the Western world is consumed by images revealing poverty and suffering in other places around the world. He is saying that people are enticed by these pictures because of how they make them feel; meaning in a way, superior to those we see in the pictures that are in a worse state than us.
Deshpande also states that “The idea of progress is always in terms of whether the others have taken steps to be ‘Western’” (Deshpande pg3 paragraph2). This relates to Deshpande’s idea that we as a Western culture expect other countries to aspire to be like us. We expect others to catch up to us and be “Western”. When we saw how well India was doing according to National Geographic, we admired how well they were doing when comparing how far they’ve come to be like us, but Deshpande stated that, “…it has a lot of catching up to do if ‘catching up’ has to mean something” (Deshpande pg3 last line). Deshpande is meaning that if we have to compare every country and culture to us that everyone else will only ever have catching up to do.

Brought to you by:
Beth Brummel
&
Mike Kingma

"The Confident Gaze" Summary

The article “The Confident Gaze” by Shekhar Deshpande discusses issue of National Geographic which focused on India’s 50th anniversary of independence. Deshpande begins with a brief history of National Geographic and what it means for many Americans. Americans see the magazine is a reliable source of information about the rest of the world, and “[i]t has been a solid cultural reference for a number of issues” (Deshpande par 2). As Americans the majority of what we learn about certain cultures comes from National Geographic. We use the magazine in our schools, in our homes, and in our workplaces. Deshpande mentions that many parents view the magazine as vital for their children as it exposes and educates them about the realities of the rest of the world (par 2). For over a century National Geographic has delivered to us documentation of other cultures through photos and articles, and over time has gained our respect as a truly reliable source which holds nothing back.
However, Deshpande questions Americans ability to truly take in the magnitude of what National Geographic’s photos represent. He also questions National Geographic’s ability to present the photos in a truthful way. Deshpande states that while National Geographic “covers or represents such issues or situations, it can sanitize and even beautify the blood and the gore of the conflict” (par 11). Deshpande claims the richness of the photos content only serves to distract readers from the photos relationship to the environment or the context in which the photo was taken (par 13). In other words, while National Geographic does not shy away from including important issues in their magazine, they often use softer images and relatively small issues so that Americans will accept the information. By doing this, it takes away from the importance of the issue itself and does not convey the reality of what other, less developed civilizations go through.
National Geographic does this by “providing an identity formation to its readers” (Deshpande par 16). Deshpande sees National Geographic doing this by incorporating elements of the Western and modern world into its photos (par 16).
Why is National Geographic relevant to Americans when it is so focused on the disparity between the “us” and “them?” Deshpande points out that especially in the “India Turning 50” issue of National Geographic, Americans notice a sense of progress coming from India. Through “its commitment to democracy, the rise of the professional class, the spread and competence of its technology, etc.” it seems as if India has something to prove to the Western culture (Deshpande par 16). Perhaps this apparent strive towards democracy is what has made India the second most featured country in National Geographic. While the photos show us images of poverty and suffering, we are comforted by the fact that India has in fact been independent for 50 years, and has at least made a fraction of what Americans would define as “progress.” This is strongly emphasized by National Geographic’s editors who are making a conscious effort to make “the world a happy place and a happy place especially for the Western eye” (Deshpande par 9). The magazine does this by focusing on minute details about life in India, and leaving out the larger, very real issues such as war. So while Americans feel as if they are really learning about a culture, they are in fact only standing on the outside looking in; and looking through a lens wielded by people who are only selling us another product, not wisdom.

Out of class #2

Luke Buehrer
Out of Class Essay #2
1st Draft

Dumb Talk

No one argues that the world has changed drastically in the past decade with the rise of technology. When technology comes up, almost every one has an opinion. Some people like Clive Thompson feels that technology is pushing literacy in new exciting directions. Where others like Sven Birkerts feels that “We are experiencing in our times a loss of depth—a loss, that is, of the very paradigm of depth. A sense of the and natural connectedness of things is a function of vertical conscience.” What he basically says here is that we are losing depth and wisdom, because of new conveniences technology offers. I wonder if technology is doing what Birkerts suggest (loss of wisdom) to peoples social lives? Maybe social interaction and communication skills are becoming less important with the new ease of technology, making peoples social and communication skills shallower and less meaningful.
Texting and chat rooms are now a huge form of communication. With cell phones people are now able to carry on conversations from almost anywhere, at any distance and at any time. This seems like it would be a good thing. First it makes communication much more efficient, allows for more social interaction, and can promote relationships. But I wonder if it really is hurting instead of helping. Texting is now more common than phone calls, it’s quicker and allows people to hide behind text. Where people once had to practice carrying on real life conversations, texting offers relief from possible awkward situations. If something uncomfortable comes up, you just stop texting; you don’t have to try ending the conversation. This encourages immature behavior and shallow interaction.
Nicholas Carr, author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” notices a developing trend caused by the Web, “The more they (literate types) use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing.” He is saying that the ease of sites like Google and Spark Notes is making reading for extended periods of time harder and harder. It seems to me that this same principle may be true for communication. Like skimming over different texts, you can skim over different conversations in chat rooms, never fully committed to one. This possibly leading to weak skills on carrying on lengthy talks, similar to reading long books or articles. Carr suggests that this inability to read leads to stupidity (hence the title). I wonder if these chat rooms could do the same? If people rarely carry on in deep conversions how could they develop vertical thinking? Yes, personal reflection and resonance is a big key to gaining wisdom, but without others to bounce ideas off wisdom is hard to grasp.
Another more apparent way technology (primarily Texting and chat rooms) is hurting us is just the content of the conversations carried on. Particularly true with teenagers, the conversations revolve around shallow self-center garbage. Since they have access to this all the time there is little effort put forth to have a meaningful talk. When this technology was not around, people had to either write a letter, or call a person up. The only way you would do this is if you truly had something of importance or meaning. You wouldn’t write a letter to a friend saying you were just “hanging ‘round doin’ nothing.” Technology has made communication something that you do when your bored, just to entertain, not gain depth.
One of the biggest things that annoys me with sites like Face Book and Myspace is that it allows you to have friends and a “social life” with out ever leaving you computer. I know lots of people with hundreds of on-line friends, but they don’t know half of them. They just like the idea that they are popular. I personally don’t partake in these sites. I think that to have a social life you must go out and do stuff with others, not just sit around blabbering to people how bored you are. With out real life interaction I find it hard to see how you can call these on-line friends true friends. Relationships are built off of past experiences together. This is hard to accomplish on-line, some people manage to meet on-line, get engaged on-line and first see each other on their wedding day. I don’t know the statistics but I am sure they don’t have the longest marriages out there. Although these sites can help spark relationships, true relationships occur off the computer.
Chat rooms and texting from every angle I look, seem to hurt people social, and communication skill. These sites promote easy escape from awkward situations, encourage skimming of conversations that ultimately leads to poor communication skills, let people blabber on about them selves, reinforcing immature habits, and also kill true social lives. These sites really just add up to a lot of dumb talk.

Standing Before a Window RR#7 Jeff Richmond

Susan Sontag in her paper “In Plato’s Cave” brings my attention to task on my interaction with still media, photography. I appreciate photographs, but I'm not sure if I have ever thought about how they influence my life, or how they express meaning. I’ll admit I had not given much thought to the influence of photos in my life as I have always seen more influence from video.
Sontag brings up the idea that the photo is a new medium of seeing the world. Almost to say that it is a new bit of software for our minds to understand our experiences. “In Plato's Cave” Sontag starts by inferring that we started to learn from the images photos gave us access to. It seemed not to be the images themselves, but the ideas framed in them that gave strength to the influences they had on our mind, and I'm sure our culture as well. Sontag's statement “This very instability of the photographing eye changes the terms of confinement in the cave, our world” is a reference to how much of the world is photographed. Not though, how much is photographed, but how much those photos have changed how we see the photos we take.
Our scope of reality changes by the ideas captured by the eye of the camera. I often think about the influence that video has but seeing still images reminded me that there are forces that seem almost more primal in experience. The still photo reminds me that video came from somewhere, photography, and that seeming simpler objects can give a coarser and seeming more real experience.
There are places on this planet that are almost covered with pictures. We have a varying understanding of these still pictures, and those pictures influence our relation to other pictures yet. Is there a feedback loop here, a prophecy playing out in a memetic landscape? One can only notice how these images influence the way we see the world and threw that influence we must take into account the fact that our way of seeing things change, dramatically, over time. Still photographs are a window into the past, but I seen now how they might also be a window into the future as well.

Reading Response 6

In reading, “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution” by Cynthia Selfe, I noticed that she mentions “the computer network that spans the globe will serve to erase meaningless geopolitical borders, eliminate racial and ethnic differences, re-establish a historical familial relationship which binds together the peoples of the world regardless of race, ethnicity, or location” (Selfe 194). This essentially means that people expect the expansion of the internet to unite the world. Because of the internet’s ability to connect people anywhere in the world instantaneously, it is natural to try to divine the effects of the internet in the future. It seems that there is a common humanitarian believe in a future utopia, a world were all the differences in the world are erased.

In order to unpack this idea, one must ask, “What separates people from one another?” In truth, Selfe gives the answer. Geopolitical borders create two disparate countries and racial and ethnic differences have been the sources of countless atrocities throughout history. Through a screen, all these differences are erased. Whatever the result would be however, would be so wildly alien to the way our brains are traditionally programmed that we would never actually create such a future. This “global village” completely undermines the hidden values in American society. Americans place great importance on the idea that with hard work comes great reward. Having worked hard and earned great rewards and privileged status in the world, it seems highly unlikely that Americans would willingly surrender the advantages we have worked hard and fought for. All personal interest aside, all patriotism would be extinguished as well. This internet utopia future of the global village, really reminds me strongly of “Imagine” by John Lennon. This song, while full of hope and idealizing a utopia is really advocating communism, another word that strikes a hard note in American hearts. Communism in theory is a very sound system, however it generates dictators like Stalin and Castro, so one may ask, if the internet community comes to life, who is the new leader of the world? Unpacking the hidden connotations is a very useful tactic for predicting how the public will receive the idea. Many people may think that the internet utopia is a good idea. Looking at the surface of it, it generates images of happiness and togetherness of the world. However, the cold hard reality is that we are divided. Sometimes because of these differences we can live life separately and in peace, rather than forcing our ideologies down one another’s throats.

Reading Response 7

In reading Susan Sontag’s “In Plato’s Cave”, Sontag states “Photographs furnish evidence. Something we hear about, but doubt, seems proven when we’re shown a photograph of it” (Sontag 5). This seems very ignorant of Sontag to make this claim. In light of new technological developments in computer-generated imaging, it seems very illogical to apply the “see it to believe it” philosophy anymore. Humans are very visually oriented and therefore, when shown an image, our brain tells us that this must be true. However, everything we see in an image must be re-examined to determine legitimacy. Often, this process happens instantaneously, the brain tells us “no, this could never happen” or “I can believe that”. If the first response is generated, we must seek more proof in order to legitimize the event that the image is capturing. It is essentially the same thing that Robert Scholes advocates for in analyzing video texts. Analyzing visual text is the same thing, we must look for discrepancies in the image that would alert us to the possibility that the image is forged. Sometimes in scandals or other high media attention events, the proof is not legitimized before it is taken public. Such actions can be dangerous. The public viewing the image will respond as though the evidence is concrete proof because that is what they believe it is. Such things can cause great damage because a lack of digression.

However, if we can accept that without further proof, visual evidence is inconclusive what is there left? If we cannot trust our eyes to deliver accurate information without further skepticism, what can we use? Sounds, tastes, textures, and smells can be manufactured as well, therefore what do we have left to use? It almost seems that the only thing left is human instinct. But people need hard evidence to believe these days. As the years go by, people are less and less prepared to take things on faith. Therefore, in order to produce solid proof, we must once again turn to technology. Science and technology; just as they can be used to create illusion, can also be used to gain enlightenment. Only through scientific process can we legitimize information.

By disagreeing with Sontag, I have used logical process to find an alternative to photography that constitutes solid proof. I find it necessary to examine what constitutes belief to the human mind. By understanding what causes people to believe something, it makes persuasion as well as analysis of information, much easier.

Travis Upper

In the article “in Plato’s Cave” by Susan Sontag she goes throughout the article and letting her viewers see the bunch of metaphors that she uses in her article. One of them is “the old fashioned camera was clumsier and harder to reload than a brown Bess musket. The modern camera is trying to be a ray gun.” What that means is that Susan is trying to show a similarity between the two completely different objects. I feel that the comparison is a good one because I have seen documentaries on the revolutionary war and how the brown Bess was the main weapon of choice for the average infantry man. It also when into great detail that they would have lines after another to shoot because it took so long to reload the musket. Susan does also bring out a good point that the modern cameras are trying to be like ray guns. Now days with a digital camera you can take pictures quickly and reload even quicker because you have a memory card. I feel she has a great idea beginning to bloom here. If she can get people to see the difference in the 18th century than the 21st century than she may get support about the photography.

In this article by Susan Sontag she says “the old fashioned camera was clumsier and harder to reload than a brown Bess musket. The modern camera is trying to be a ray gun,” it makes me feel that she is not putting in any evidence to convince me that the camera is like a gun. I feel she is not taking into consideration that most people probably don’t know how fast a brown Bess reloads or a camera in that era of time. The gun is very different than the gun now days and I feel she does not even mention the fact that the camera is very slow at reloading and is very clumsy.

The countering strategy I used was that she did not use enough evidence to support her claim. To make her article better and more intriguing she should add the evidence of how long it actually takes for an old fashioned camera to work and how long it takes to reload a brown Bess. If she did that I would be impressed and would agree with her that the camera takes a very long time to reload.

Reading Response # 6

            For the majority of citizens of America, there is a great deal of pride surrounding the freedom of each individual regardless of religion, race, gender or social class. While the aura of American values is held strongly in a citizen’s mind, Cynthia L. Selfe believes that the mass media is instilling other ideals into our way of viewing America. In what she deems “the Land of Equal Opportunity narrative,” Selfe presents the idea that society is held to specific expectations through ads. The suburban home with a white picket fence, a white family, two children and a dog is just an example of how the ads resonate with America’s citizens. Her evidence is provided in a series ads and revises the narrative to what she calls the “Land of Difference narrative” promoting that the story “is present not in what they show, but what they fail to show…There is a remarkable absence in all the images of people of color, and poor people, and people who are out of work, and single-parent families and gay couples and foreigners.” Selfe is conflicting with how ads in the media actually represent how diverse our country is.

            While Selfe makes a strong case for her claim I have to respectfully disagree. Today, diversity is valued more in America than during the time of publication of her book.  There are a vast number of ads and visual images depicting the diversity of America. I almost find it a little cheesy when you an ad has a female Asian child, a white male child, an African American male in a wheel chair, and a middle eastern female child all playing together nicely or sharing an experience. I don’t find this image cheesy because it is not possible. I find it cheesy because the large amount of these images portrayed in texts books and schools. I can remember seeing these at a young age and over the years thinking that they were probably done on purpose to reinforce how diverse our country is. It may have been different for Selfe growing up but for my generation, it is extremely hard not to notice the portrayal of diversity in the mass media. During this current recession, there are plenty of ads depicting people out of work, as well as single mothers.  What ads may have failed to show at one time of America’s technological life, ads are showing them now and in great abundance.

Reading Response 7

In Susan Sontag’s essay “In Plato’s Cave”, she writes a passage comparing the camera to a car and to a gun, explaining how the camera “Is as simple as turning the ignition key or pulling the trigger.” Further on Sontag describes how cameras are addictive and that “To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. Just as the camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is a sublimated murder – a soft murder, appropriate to a sad, frightened time.” After reading this passage, Sontag’s views on pictures seems to be that they are so simple to take of anyone, at anytime, and anywhere. But her views on pictures being taken of someone other than your self is a complete violation of that person’s life, and it makes them feel utterly uncomfortable with themselves and with their thoughts of themselves. I disagree with what Sontag has said, and I believe that taking pictures is not murder – it is a way of expressing to people your personality and your likings, things like that. Pictures are proof of memories and they allow you to go back and remember stories that you ordinarily wouldn’t remember from thoughts. If you were to not allow anyone to take photos of you, those memories would be lost. I understand how if a random stranger wanted to take a picture of you, it would make you feel slightly uncomfortable. But that is how you come out of your comfort zone – by letting others see you for who you really are. It can be said that people “put on a show” around others that they do not know. But photos allow you to let go of yourself and be how you truly want to be. Sontag might have exaggerated how taking photos is like murder. That seems far-fetched. Maybe if she hadn’t said that, I would have agreed with her theory. I chose this passage to argue against because I had opposite views than Sontag had. She had some strong claims throughout her essay, and it was a bit difficult to find one to argue against.

Memories of the Past

In her story In Plato’s Cave, Susan Sontag explains that a camera is like a “predatory weapon.” She discusses that, “like guns and cars, cameras are fantasy- machines whose use is addictive.” She also adds that, “there is something predatory in the act if taking a picture. To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. Just as the camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is a sublimated murder- a soft murder, appropriate to a sad, frightened time.”
Sontag is basically saying that cameras are like guns. That they cannot physically hurt someone, but it’s the concept of a camera that relates it to a gun. She is saying that they are “predatory” because a person with a camera is capable of knowing something about someone that they themselves are not capable of knowing. She also states that photographing people turns them “into objects”. My interpretation of what she means by this is that is that people are really their mind and personalities, not their bodies. And when a picture is taken of them, all you really see is what’s on the outside, not the inside. So judgment could be made on them based on their outfit, hairstyle, ect. But what’s really important is who they are as a person, and photographs take that away.

Sontag makes a good point; however she fails to see the true meaning in picture taking, memories. Pictures help a person remember and event or time that they may not remember otherwise. It also helps one remember more vividly. If you can capture the moment as it is, it is easier to recall what happened. Also, emotions experienced during that event can also be remembered by looking at pictures. Photographs also allow people to share their experiences with others. It allows for not just telling someone about a trip or event, but showing them. Instead of trying to picture what you are describing in their mind, they can see and actual picture while you explain it. Pictures also act as a sort of souvenir because it is a memory of the trip or experience. Our lives are made up of our memories of the past. If we forget the past, we forget who we are. Photographs can help us remember our past, especially the best moments.

Part 1.) In the video "Growing up Online" by the directors Rachel Dritzen and John Maggio, which aired on Frontline, is based on reasons that the internet is affecting the younger generations. The main idea of this video is that parents are unaware of what their children are doing on their computers or phones and that the parents do not understand how to use these modern technologies as well as their kids do. Parry Aftab the executive producer of WiredSafety.org states "Everyone is panicking about sexual predators online. That's what parents are afraid of; that's what parents are paying attention to"(PBS Par 10). It has been brought to our attention also "My parents don't understand that I've spent pretty much since second grade online, I know what to avoid" states one ninth-grader (Par. 9). Adults, who have less time on the internet than the average kid, do not understand what kids are doing online and don’t know if the kids know what is ok and what is not ok to be looking at. What adults don't understand is that the internet has more issues than just preditors. At the same time though some students and or kids engage in behavior that isn't quite accepted and then post these things on sites such as Youtube so everyone else can see what they have done. A mother herself, Evan Skinner, knows these things are happening and tries to stay involved in her kid’s lives as much as she can. But at the same time we learn from her son Cam that going too far into this can in turn lead to less of a relationship. Cam a high school student was participating in going to a concert and they were traveling on the train. They were being rude and were partaking in drinking alcohol and just not doing smart things. They had posted the videos on an internet source and it didn't take long for Evan Skinner, Cams mother, to find it. She then wrote a letter to the whole student bodies parents and it really compromised the two of theirs relationship. Cams friends didn't trust him after this and lost a lot of them due to this action his mother took. Evan Skinner says "I remember being 11; I remember being 13; I remember being 16, and I remember having secrets, but it's really hard when it's the other side"(Par. 6) I will admit there is much bad on the internet and it can really persuade people to do for lack of better words stupid things. There is a lot of good that comes along with the internet and I just think the best thing we can do as a Nation is to educate the children better on what is good and bad on the internet and try to keep close to what they are doing but at the same time not to close. It sounds so easy but it really takes a lot to find that medium ground and it’s really what is needed to make sure our children are truly staying safe on the internet.
Part 2) Internet has had very little change in my life because I have been on the computer since I knew what computers are. Every day I talk to people via Facebook and Myspace. The internet is becoming my source of communication more than it use to be, but the internet has always been a form of communication in my life. One thing that is changing in my life due to the internet is my access to videos. Since Youtube has become easier, and more widely use, I can search for videos related to anything that I need. It doesn’t matter if it is a music video, a song being covered, a motorcycle video or even a how-to video.

Summary of Growing Up Online

The internet is full of surprises; we indulge ourselves in a world of socializing and presenting to others online. In the film “Growing up Online”, directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio we see that teens are exposed to internet socializing more than adults do. Typically students have a double life on the web, and their parents know nothing about it. They will post graphic pictures of themselves and even have online relationships. Parents typically feel that the internet is consuming the lives and attention of their children to an obsessive need level. The internet has changed the way families get together, it is almost as if everyone is in their own world and parents don’t have any control as to what the teens are in. for kids and teens, the internet is a safe haven. It allows them to hash out their problems and issues online to a nearly unlimited amount of viewers. Video posts and forums help engage the teens into seeking comfort amongst others.

A prime example of myself becoming detached from my family members and others is when I am at home, back in Snohomish, I found myself either texting frequently or constantly surfing the web on either facebook or on a paintball forum website that helped me become more appreciated amongst other paintballers. I spent more time doing these then anything productive. It was something I could do and it made me happy. Being with my family members wasn’t good enough to me. (Mike)

An example for me is that whenever I would go to my dad’s house to visit, I would spend most of my time on facebook or random sites in general because it was almost like normal company wouldn’t suffice for me and I felt like I had to know what was going on with all my friends all the time. I would detach myself from the rest of the house and seclude myself to the computer room for a majority of the day. (Beth)

summary and examples provided to you by:
mike kingma
beth brummel

Metaphores of Photography/ In class discision

Functions of metaphors for Photography
1. The camera is the ideal arm of consciousness in its acquisitive mood.
2. A photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened.
3. It is an Event: something worth seeing- therefore worth photographing.
4. Like a car, a camera is sold as a predatory weapon-one that’s as automated as possible, ready to spring.
5. To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves.
6. A photograph is both a pseudo-presence and a token of absence.
7. Photographs express a feeling both sentimental and implicitly magical: they are attempts to contact or lay claim to another reality.
8. They give information, they make an inventory, to tell one what there is.
9. Cameras are fantasy-machines whose use is addictive.
10. Act of non intervention, tool of power
11. Photographs are interpretation of the world.



To give knowledge to people to understand what is happening.

It connects to Birkerts project because it does not give any depth to where we might see someone getting beat, but we don’t know why they are being hurt.

The importance of photography to understanding what is happening.

By Jason, Kyle, Karen

In Plato's Cave metaphors and insights

Alyssa, Lara, Diljeet

Functions of/metaphors for photography

-To collect a photograph is to collect the world
-The photograph is a book, obviously the image of an image
-by converting experience into an image, a souvenir
-picture taking is an event in itself
-the camera is an observation station
-like a car, a camera is a predatory weapon
-it is a thin slice of space and time
ect.

-Photography can be both positive and negative, depending on the photograph and/or the experience. Photography is complicated. We view photography as an act of capturing a memory or an experience. You can look back at a picture and re-feel the moment or remember something that you have forgotten. Pictures are also a way of sharing your experiences with someone else using more than just words.

notes to "In Plato's Cave" Jeff, Kaitlin, Michaela, Kim

Functions of /metaphors for Photography(Jeff, Kaitlin, Michaela, Kim)
-Pseudo-presence and a token of absence actually analogy pg16 “Like a wood fire in a room…”
-Talismatic uses of photographs of sentimental and implicitly magical- attempts to contact or lay -claim to another reality
-Brings news of some unsuspected zone of misery
-Memorable than moving image, neat slice of time not a flow
-Ideology that determines what constitute an event
-Event are not events unless named or labeled
-Phallus
-Guns (predatory weapon)
-Fantasy machine
-Tool of power
-Claim anther reality
-Experience
-Event
-Reinforce morals
-goad conscience
-numb us to horror (desensitize)
-furniture
-ownership
-violate
-mini-reality
-proof/furnish evidence
-fill in blanks
-corrupt
-nostalgic/ elegiac
-extended family
-momento mori/ immortilizing
-interpretation/ imposition
-separate/ small units (infinite)
-sooth anxiety/ buffer from unfamiliar
-possess
-replace experience (becomes event)
-certify experience
-accumulation of trophies
-act of non-intervention

The impact difference between an image and a video. example of the girl screaming. in the photo, she will always and forever scream whereas in a video she will eventually stop whether she is about to die, she will eventually stop screaming.

Growing up online

The video text "Growing Up Online" mainly focused on how much the younger generation uses the internet. Studies have shown that an astonishing 90% of teenagers are using the internet and those numbers are still growing. One story is of a young teenage boy who was in middle school. He was getting picked on at school so, he turned to the internet. He chatted on the regular social networking sites with what friends he had. His parents knew he wasnt the most popular kids in school, but they assumed all was well. Until one day they found that he had committed suicide. "I clearly made a mistake putting that computer in his room. I allowed the computer to become too much of his life." Cyber bullying has become more of a problem today with how many teens are on the internet how. We look at young kids as victims because there might be sexual predators, but I feel that there is a larger problem with cyber bulllying.

Since the increase in the use of the internet teachers in schools have noticed an increase in students who struggle in class. Its almost as teachers have to become entertainers to keep the students attention. The internet has made it a lot easier for students. Instead of researching in the library for hours to get enough information the students can spend 30 minutes on the internet and ready to write a paper. This has made it easier for students to plagerize. Steve Maher a Social Studies teacher asks, [Is plagerism that bad to and extent]? He thinks about the fact that with todays job opourtunities we should encourage students to take information from other people, change it around into our own words, and publish it. The internet has changed the way we think. It should also change the way and how we teach. The internet has had a huge impact on our society, I just hope its for the better.

Part 2
Hi my name is Courtney, and I'm addicted to Facebook. I feel that the biggest way that technology has impacted my life would be the use of social networks such as Facebook. It has come to the point where everytime I'm on my computer I log in. Recently my Grandma got one. It is a great way to keep in touch, but I also feel it is almost made for the younger generation. I dont wish for her to see everything on my Facebook page, but that doesnt really stop me. The use of technology has allowed me to Facebook whenever I have my cellphone on me, which is always. It is a huge distraction and takes away from time I should be working on something diligently. If I have ten minutes extra in the morning I will check out my Facebook rather than picking up my room. I dont blame technology for my use of Facebook, but I look down on it because it encourages me keep checking up on it. I think that so many of us today use Facebook on a regular basis because we are such a social generation. We grew up like this and its what we are used to.

Reading Response 6

In Cynthia L. Selfe’s essay titled “Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution”, one of the passages that Selfe brings to my attention is when she introduces the second narrative, that being the Land of Equal Opportunity and the Land of Differences. The statement that Selfe says about the Land of Equal Opportunity is that, “it is, in fact, at some level, a romantic re-creation of the American story and the American landscape themselves – a narrative of opportunity in an exciting land claimed from the wilderness, founded on the values of hard work and fair play. It is a land available to all citizens, who place a value on innovation, individualism, and competition, especially when tempered by a neighborly concern for less fortunate others that is the hallmark of our democracy.” (302) In this passage, I believe that Selfe is depicting the American image as being peaceful and harmonic, like a way that is only seen as good. Everything is done equally and fair with no one being put down and no discrimination. The way Selfe is describing this American story and landscape is in fact no way reality. I completely disagree with what Selfe has said, and at no time in history has equality ever been present, and most others do not care for those who are less fortunate because it is them who are not in the less fortunate’s shoes. What Selfe sees as the Land of Equal Opportunity is the complete opposite of what the world is and always has been. There is discrimination, poverty, racism, and everything in between. The ways that the world views the American lifestyle to this day is a disappointment. For example, advertisements shown on billboards, television shows, and the media found on the Internet – the main sources to how the world is described to us – only display the false hopes of what Americans want the world to be. People who are too afraid to understand the real world use these methods to keep from stepping towards reality. I believe that if America could really see how citizens are being treated, differences could be made, and maybe one day every citizen can truly be treated equal and equal opportunities can be achieved. The countering method that I used was arguing the other side, and my paper ties in to this strategy because I took the passage from Selfe’s essay and argued against her claims.

Reading Response #6

In “Lest We Think the Revolution Is a Revolution” by Cynthia Selfe claims that technology has created a general idea of what people think America is. She mentions of two narratives, “Land of Equal Opportunity” and “Land of Difference. The first narratives describes this idea of how America was a exciting land of opportunity, where it founded because of the “values of hard work and fair play” and that it was available to anyone who had any “value on innovation, individualism, and competition”. She advocates that this “Land of Equal Opportunity” of America becoming open to anyone, meaning open to all men, women, different ethnicities, class and whoever peoples connections may be. America stands for the strong faith of “traditional values” to which many people know as the America Dream. Anyone who comes to America knows of this American Dream which consist a family living in a home with the white picket fence and a two door garage. This idea of the American Dream can be achieved by hard work, playing fair and using all the opportunities that are given to person trying to achieve it. I agree with what Selfe is saying about this American Dream because of my experience with this. American has given my family and I many opportunities to succeed life here in America. It has given my parents jobs to work very hard and to provide us with many things like clothing to wear, food to eat, education, and especially a roof over our heads. Even though some tough times have hit America, they don’t let us suffer; they assist us and keep us from going homeless. Now I have taken a job to help pay for my education, expenses of a car and insurance and to keep myself afloat in this tough time by helping out my mom by doing this.

I think Cynthia Selfe is mistaken because she overlooks the bigger picture in what America has offered and the all the history behind it. The “Land of Equal Opportunity” hasn’t exactly applied to most people with the American Dream and the American culture experience has told us otherwise. Self mentions how this American Dream applies to those who work hard, fair play and utilizing the opportunities given but she forgot to point out about America’s history on slavery, deaf education, women’s suffrage, immigration, labor unions and poverty. These parts of history explain that not everyone is given equal opportunity and the people involved with our history have had it harder to get equal opportunity than others. Never before in history has America ever had a black president until Barrack Obama proved that when he entered elections and eventually became the 1st black president in history. Until he entered office, all previous presidents were white males and women are still fighting their place in office and jobs because men still don’t see that they have the right to work besides the idea of them as housewives. Immigration is still a big issue, because America is having double standards on deciding who can enter America when they want people here from anywhere else. It has been hard for many people especially Hispanic people. Immigration and assistance from America has been rough on them. I keep hearing the news about the south borders between the U.S. and Mexico and how they are not letting cross the border. Also, it has been rough for Hispanics to prove they are worthy to work in America because most of them have taken jobs that others don’t like to do.

I used countering in my paper by using “they say/I say”. I used this countering because it was a nice format to tell the reader what my point is and how I countered Cynthia Selfe with a piece from her passage. It helped me to argue the other side of what Cythnia Selfe said.

Reading response #6

Travis Upper

In the essay “lest we think a revolution is a revolution,” by Cynthia Selfe, one passage sticks out to me. “technology will help us create a global village in which the people of the world are all connected.” I feel that is true because the internet is showing us the new way to bring people together all across the world. People will be able to see what is happening hundreds of miles away with just one click of a button. The global village that Selfe is taking about is the connection of the world through the internet. What she means by that is having peace throughout the world because of the internet. I believe she has a good idea about the global village. She brings into this that Americans want the global village to work, but doesn’t bring any effort into actually trying to bring the village into a reality not just a hope. I feel that Americans are using this idea to gain knowledge of foreign countries in their own living rooms. Selfe also agrees with me because in her essay she says, “Americans use technology to become world travelers, to learn about-and acquire knowledge of-other cultures, while remaining comfortably situated within their own living rooms and, thus, comfortably separated from the other inhabitants of the global village.” Basically what she is saying is that we all want the global village to work, but we have separated ourselves from the global village because of the internet. The internet makes us able to gain knowledge of other countries while not going and actually seeing it for yourself. Selfe also tells us that the global village is being created by the internet, but the internet is also making it possible for Americans to Cheat the village by using the internet.

In the passage “technology will help us create a global village in which the people of the world are all connected,” Selfe uses that to explain to her viewers that the internet will create the global village. I disagree with that because I feel the internet will not create a peaceful village, but create a world war. I feel that way because in my English class we have been reading a lot about the internet and how it is affecting its viewers. I feel that the internet will cause countries to want to be in charge of it and will fight a war to see who gets to be the one in charge of the internet. I feel it will only be a mistake if we allow the internet to become a powerful icon in the world.

Growing Up Online Summary

Part One:
The internet. It’s a whole mew, alternate world where anyone can escape to. You have a whole new persona where no one knows who you really are, but love your alternate ego. Or, you can show a side of yourself, your real, true self. The real you you’re afraid to show to everyone around you. Either way, it’s a place where you can express and expose yourself in any way you choose to show it.
In the documentary “Growing Up Online,” a PBS Frontline broadcast directed by Rachel Dertzin and John Maggio, tells the story of many American teens on how their lives are growing up in front of a screen and how adults are dealing with this generation gap between them. Erin Skinner, a mother or four, said, “I remembering being 11; I remember being 13; I remember being 16, and I remember having secrets. But it’s really hard being on the other side” (PBS). It was mentioned that the internet is the biggest generation gap since rock and roll. The net is the most reliable source for communication. 90% of teens are online and the number is still growing (PBS). If you aren’t online, you’re out of the loop. Greg, a teenager that is a internet users, states, “You need to use the internet to talk to your friends because everyone uses it. It’s like a currency. If you don’t use it, you’re gonna be at the loss” (PBS).
With that generation gap, it’s harder for adults to understand and communicate with their children. Not only the adults at home, but as school as well. Teenagers are use to sitting in front of a screen so it isn’t a surprise to see a projector in classes around America. They won’t be able to focus with a teacher talking in a plain voice, writing facts on a chalk board (PBS).
Although the internet is a way to keep in touch with friends and family, there are other things out there that can be hurting teens. Parents are concerned predators, stalkers and cyber bullies. Parents are fearful for their children, but many of them would say they aren’t stupid and know what to avoid. A nine-graded said, “My parents don’t understand that I’ve spent pretty much since second grade online. I know what to avoid” (PBS). But online predators aren’t they only concern. There are sites out there that encourage bad behavior like eating disorders, inappropriate sites with adult contents and even sites for unhappy kids, telling them the best way to kill themselves.
The internet might have brought some good times to this day in age, but it also brought some bad. It’s hard enough for adults to understand the mind of a teenager, even though they went through that stage themselves; it’s even harder when teens now are isolated in their bedrooms, in front of a computer or TV screen and they don’t even know what their kid is doing at all.

Part Two:
If I were to write a story on how the internet and digital media have affected my life, I would focus on probably the music area. Although music have been around forever, for me, it’s like an addiction to know the latest hit, who’s debut album went to #1 in the first week, what did this artist mean when they wrote these lyrics, what’s the newest technology being used in the recording studio. I just have to know.
I mainly use the internet as my source to find the information I want. When I was younger, I remember just listening to the radio, buying Cds and watching music videos TV. Now, I’m on sites for artists, records labels and technical equipment for recording music. I’m always downloading (legally) the last track from an up and coming artist. It’s an addiction to know and learn more. I also spend a lot of my time at record stores, talking to owners and go see under ground bands, sneaking backstage to hopefully talk to them about their music.
Of course, all the time I spend researching and looking, I’m usually stuck upstairs in my bedroom rather than being downstairs with my parents. They understand the passion I have for music, they don’t understand the reasoning for it. Like how people have said Myspace and Facebook is addicting, finding the newest track from James Morrison, Adelitas Way and Flo Rida is mine.

Response #6

Luke Buehrer
Reading Response #6

Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution, by Cynthia L. Selfe, focuses on different narratives that Americans have made up about technology. “Like most Americans, however, even though educators have made these adaptations, we remain decidedly undecided about technology and change.” What Selfe is basically saying here is that when it comes to technology, we have feel that technology is both good, and bad, so we are undecided, and have little opinion feeling that it is either great or horrible.
This claim that Selfe brings does not represent Americans the way I see it. The way she states her claim (although it sounds nice) makes every one seem like they have no opinions on technology. I know for my self, and others this is not the case. There are people that believe that technology is the greatest thing ever, and that it will solve all the worlds’ problems. There are those that think that technology, especially the Internet, which has brought nothing but hurt, and bad things. People believe that technology is killing literacy, destroying depth and leading to a shallow world, while at the same time people state that this is simply a paradigm shift in literacy, and that it is bringing us back to the age of reason and augment, the age of the Ancient Greeks (A New Literacy, Thompson). People think it is hurting social lives, because all you do is sit and chat back to each other, never going out side. While still others claim it has helped their social life, they now have hundreds of on-line friends. I personally think that technology isn’t as good as lots make it out to be. I find no satisfaction wasting hours on end chatting with on-line friends. I don’t believe that technology is going to make the world a better place, maybe faster and more efficient, but not help where we really need it.
Selfe’s statement on what Americans think of technology is quite simply wrong. You probably have an opinion of technology and so do almost all Americans. The opinions vary from extremely against to very for it. Selfe over oversimplifies our views in to one single view, which is definitely not the case. A better way to communicate this message would be “Americans have many opinions for and against technology” not “Decidedly undecided.” This over simplification could turn off readers to her ideas, which is the last thing you want.

Culture You Silly Thing. R-R #6

I often find myself musing over modern mythology. What we as a culture believe in, how we see ourselves, how we view our reality, or our day to day life, and even our moral compass. Cynthia L Selfe approaches most of these topics to some degree in her paper “Lest We Think The Revolution is a Revolution,” but from the stand point of media (mainly advertising.) I feel she does an amazing job of shedding light on, not only what we think of ourselves as a collective, but how we reinforce and/or shape these narratives through advertising.
One thing that caught my eye in C. Selfe's paper was a comment about our cultural memory as Americans. The statement “Cultural memory is a potent one for Americans, and these ads resonate with the values that we remember as a characterizing that golden time” seems to infer (to me) our cultural memory is imbedded deep in our minds. Not to say it is truth, or that we are built to act this way, but to say that maybe a part of our social organization reinforces our cultural narrative. The word in her quote “remember” draws my attention especially. I can not see her saying that we all remember these experiences ourselves, more that through media, we see these things as the way things are/and have been in the past. All of this makes my head swim with the ramifications, is someone guiding our social/cultural memory?
This is America. The heart of the capitalistic world, and we are (seemingly successfully) getting the rest of the world to conform to our way of life. I feel most of our population gets its identity from the media that saturates our nation, and the rest of the world is shaped by this media. We are (the mass majority) a nation of peeople unaware of a media that is only trying to wring every last dollar out of th populous it can. As well it is molding us as a nation, like clay, into the consumer platform of it's choosing. I feel that many people do not stop to look up from their fast food and their “reality TV” programing to examine their life well enough to resist the way media programs us.
This is where the word “remember” scares me in Cynthia L Selfe text. It draws me to the conclusion that we are having our memories changed. Memories that we don't even have! How deep is this corruption of thought? C. Selfe slowly drags out many of our cultural narratives for us to reexamine, but I feel that she does not point at the implications of these pressures fully. Her point was to shed some light on our conceptions of technology, in beneficial social change, but I feel that her point was to unmask a larger idea. The idea that our identity is being shaped by our media. Shaped, for the most part, without our majority of our populations notice.
With us pushing our American way of life on other nations, how will the way we (as a world) identify with ourselves change. Will we be told who we are more, or will people tell themselves? Myself being one that tries to see what is meant by our media not what is said I can see how difficult it will be for many to start to examine their world view, but I am hopeful. Culture has always shaped our world view, but the amount of access we have had to that culture was different. Now with television and the internet everywhere we are at its access more. One can only hope the technologies that are at our access as often can be of benefit to us.
Only when we take value in shaping our growth will we truly grow. Our technology may give us an opportunity to “culture” that value. I am not a sentimental fool, and I do not hold faith in many things, but in this I do.

Response #6

When English instructors get together and try to talk about technology the reason why it usually ends up discussing change is because well technology changes, according to the article processing power becomes twice as fast every eighteen months. I think that the conversation goes in this direction because of how we as people, teachers and students can relate to the pieces of technology we use to get our tasks done. In the article by Cynthia Selfe “Lest we think the Revolution is a Revolution”, they say that each time discussing the matter they come to the conclusion that their undecided, they don’t know really what to think about the ties between tech and change. Most cases when it comes to school the students often know more about technology than that of the teachers, so my assumption is that even for anyone it may sometimes be hard to keep up with the revolution or change as most people would say. From the article the beginning text tells me that the pieces of information provided were that from years ago, I believe that they are accurate assumptions but I’d want to hear from the same people their thoughts on how between then and now has changed or supported their opinion, what would they have to say about the issue today.
Frankly I could see how all this ties into English using computers and such to incorporate learning in the classroom. My thoughts on this subject is to just try and keep up and be informed on all related issues involving the tech revolution change. We can’t stop it or say that we’re only going to use a certain type of technology and never upgrade or adapt to possibly make things easier; we just have to play along and while this might conflict with teaching there will always be some way of improvement.

Growing up online

Growing up online
By Emily Levelle
I watched a documentary called “Growing Up Online.” Frontline. Dirs. Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio. PBS. The documentary was all about how the internet and computers have effected are generation and how for teens especially it has become more of a lifestyle then a tool. People known longer use the internet just for homework or games it is used for communication you use it to meet new people the internet has become it’s own world were people can portray themselves as who ever they want to be. In the class rooms teachers have had to become entertainers to keep the focuses of there class. Because students can so easily get the information else wear. When watching growing up online they talked about a girl named Jessica long who was shy and kind of awkward but when she was online she was Autumn Edows a gothic model and artist. She was able to do what most people would love to do and seemingly change everything about themselves. There was a lot of similar opinions coming from the parents, and as a child of the technological generation I thought some of them were honestly being a bit dramatic. One of the moms from new jersey I understood her concerns but see was so sure if her daughters used the internet they were going to get a stalker. I can here her reasoning especially with all the media hype about online predators, but I just feel like maybe she should look and see if she is more afraid of her daughter making a wrong call. It didn’t seem that she was taking the time to see how these social networking sites work not everyone can be a persons friend they need the persons permission. They interviewed two female professors they seemed to second this view saying how most kids know better. I can understand a parents concern especially if they haven’t grown up online it might seem like a scary abyss that there children are playing on the edge of but in actuality what the two women professors were saying is that with a little common sense it isn’t. It was interesting to see the effect the internet has had on parents and how kids can be keeping secrets from there parents yet showing the rest of the world. They also in the documentary faced the subject of cyber bulling. And how that can be just as hard as being bullied face to face and can even cause some teens to turn to suicide. Over all I though PBS did a fantastic job addressing this new digital world we live in today and the effect it has taken growing up online.

After watching this I really had to stop and think about how the internet has effected me. And honestly I can’t say it has, only because I don’t know a life without it. Social networking sites are great when used with caution they have allowed me to stay in touch with friends and family that live far away. Growing up online is the only thing I know I really can’t imagine a world without internet. Am I saying the world wide web is perfect no, but I do believe it is a great communication tool as longer as you use common sense.

Reading Response #6
I have always believed in the power of technology to lead our society in the right direction. I accept, even hope that there will always be change, knowing change is essential to growth, and I understand when I see resistance to change, as beliefs and comfort zones give people a sense of stability.

The book Passions, Pedagogies, and 21st Century Technologies: A Review
addresses this issue, and more. Chapter 16 Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution Images of Technology and the Nature of Change: by Cynthia Selfe states, “we remain decidedly undecided about technology and change…we fear the effects of technology, and the potent changes that it introduces into familiar systems.” “Because our culture subscribes to several powerful narratives that link technological progress closely with social progress, it is easy for us – for Americans, in particular – to believe that technological change leads to productive social change.” She focuses the issue further by adding, “…existing social forces actually work to resist change in connection with technology; how they support the status quo when technology threatens to disrupt the world in any meaningful way.” So now, according to Selfe, it is because of these narratives that I believe technology leads to productive social changes.

The powerful narratives she discusses in this chapter are:
The Global Village and the Electronic Colony.
The Land of Equal Opportunity and the Land of Difference and,
The Un-gendered Utopia and the Same Old Gendered Stuff.

Because the first two narratives are written as support for the third and the subject of the third narrative it is the focus of this chapter of the book in Part III: Ethical and Feminist Concerns in an Electronic World, it seems appropriate to give a closer consideration to the narrative of The Un-gendered Utopia and the Same Old Gendered Stuff. This narrative is the belief that computers, and computer technology is gender blind, allowing students the same opportunities regardless of gender. Selfe quotes a study showing “Computer games are still designed for boys; computer commercials are still aimed mainly at males; computing environments are still constructed by and for males.” I have to admit, I hadn’t realized the truth in this observation because it fit a familiar and comfortable narrative.

I believe she allows her biases to overcome her reason when she opines, “we might have to learn how to understand people outside of the limited gender roles that we have constructed for them in this country, that we may have to abandon the ways in which we have traditionally differentiated between men’s work and women’s work in the market place, that we may have to provide men and women with equitable remuneration for comparable jobs, that we may have to learn to function within new global contexts that acknowledge women as Heads of state as well as heads of households.” She reveals her own limitations in the third person when she writes, “we find ourselves as a culture ill equipped to cope with the changes that this Un-gendered Utopia narrative necessitates.”

When a highly educated writer uses inflammatory language such as, “It takes energy and careful thinking to create a landscape in which women can participate in roles other than those of seductress, beauty, or mother; and in which men don’t have to be bikers, or abusers, or rabid techno geeks, or violent sex maniacs.” I am offended that someone would believe these limits of men or women exist, and the society I live in does not believe this. If a woman believes she can’t participate in a role other than seductress, beauty, or mother, she needs help, she is not healthy, and it is not a cultural problem. I admit to being a biker, I have no problem with it. I am not an abuser, I am not a rabid techno geek, I am not a violent sex maniac. I have never had the slightest urge to be, or in Cynthia Selfe’s words, “have to be” any of these things.

Her bias and intention was apparent upon my first reading of this text. I was shocked and offended by her misandry. I was surprised by the anachronistic views of an educated person (even for a 10 year old book). When she quoted Andrea Dworkin I was reminded of her feminist mindset, “All personal, psychological, social, and institutionalized domination on this earth can be traced back to its source: the phallic identities of men.” Cynthia Selfe’s description of herself is revealing, Nomadic Feminist Cyborg Guerilla.

The countering strategy I used was Arguing the Other Side. I believe her biases overcome her reason in her vision of gender inequality and gender roles. I also used Uncovering Values in researching and defining values that were undisclosed and undefined.

Not as Connected as We Think

As stated by Cynthia Selfe in Lest We Think the Revolution is a Revolution, “One of the most popular narratives Americans tell ourselves about computers is that technology will help us create a global village in which the peoples of the world are all connected- communicating with one another and cooperating for the commonweal. According to popular social narrative, the computer network that spans the globe will serve to erase meaningless geopolitical borders, eliminate racial and ethnic differences, re- establish a historical familial relationship which binds together the peoples of the world regardless of race, ethnicity, or location.”

Popular narrative is saying that technology allows for better communication with the people outside our own country. People that we normally would not have access to communicate with. It’s saying the communication could be brought about without “borders” or racism. That we must work together as one, and technology can do that. Americans are trying to create a “Global Village” with more communication between people around the world.

The truth is, we, as Americans, are only seeing part of the other world. The part that we want to see. We are scared of the truth because it’s not pleasing to us. Technology (the internet/ computers specifically,) allows us to feel as though we are connected, while staying away from the “dirty” stuff and getting up close. We can see pictures of it and try to understand what’s going on, but unless you experience something in person, you wont really feel the true emotions. We don’t smell, feel, or see in- person, the truth. Cynthia also gives her opinion that, “it is easy for us- for Americans, in particular- to believe that technological change leads us to productive social change.” It’s simple minded for us to believe that technology will solve our problems. If were trying to communicate with the rest of the world and help them because they need our help, the Internet is not the solution. What we think is helping is actually contributing to the problem and making it worse. A lot of Americans talk about the global village and “one world”, but never act on it. Talking about it wont solve anything and it’s not going to happen on it’s own. If something’s going to change people need to be aware of what’s going on and the fact that we think we may be helping, but were not really doing much at all.