Who is Plagiarism?
While reading these articles I have to say that I was a little confused at the beginning, but as I went on through the other readings things started to get clearer. The first article for me was a bit of a challenge to get though and I did not understand completely what was going on. The second and third article surprised me a lot. They both have me realizing that it is easy for everyone, not just students, to slip up and do exactly what has been drilled into our brains not to do. The fourth reading has opened my eyes a bit to see exactly what plagiarism has been defined as.
Going back to the second and third readings all I can really say is wow. I am at a loss for words. How on earth are these people getting away with something we can get kicked out of school for? Honestly, that makes me a bit sick. These are supposed to be people that we are able to rely on and we are supposed to trust them. These articles are causing me to second guess everything that I have ever read. And that goes back to the first article where everything that we know today comes from something else, that also comes from something else, that came from something else. What are we supposed to believe?
The fourth article was something that I was happy to read. It is something that I will be able to use with my own writing and it will be something that I refer back to. I can see how the lines can be blurred around not citing correctly and blatantly copying something that is not yours for your own work. I completely agree that it is smart on the faculties part to create assignments that would cause the student to stray away from plagiarizing and to accutlay investigate the sources and compare them back to each other. This means assignments that allow the student to be more open with their own creativity would be smart. Encouraging students to use their own imagination or thought however can be a bit intimidating. There needs to be that medium ground that the student and teacher are able to meet on.
I have to say that these articles have been helpful in my own writing and I will take this away from this class and use them in the future and now with other classes. We all need to be cautious of our what we are writing. As I now know it is way to easy for everyone to take someone else's work as their own and I would like to try to not fall victim.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
What's Up With That Wristwatch?
What's Up With That Wristwatch?
Observations of Stranger Than Fiction
Britni Vrbensky
As we are thrust into the everyday routine of Herald Crick what catches my attention the most is the fact that his wrist watch seems to be in control of a lot of things in his life. Not only does he rely on the wrist watch for everything, this watch seems to have a mind of its own. The narrator of the movie we soon find out is also the author of the book being written about Herald. As she is describing Herald's routine we get the feeling that this wrist watch can think and do things on its own. It thinks that Herald's neck looks fat when he is tying his tie. It delights in the crisp air and the way that Herald's jacket swishes over its face. This watch rests on the night stand it is not just set there.
Throughout the movie the author of the book chooses more and more to rely on the wrist watch for most of the action. The watch tries to get Herald's attention again and again throughout the movie but often times fails because Herald only sees his wrist watch as, well, a watch. I believe that the use of the watch is a good representation of how writers are able to make objects and things have a big role in how the plot is advanced. It is one form of writing that, if used correctly, can become a big symbol of what the main point is about. This use of symbolism with the watch could also be something that the author did on purpose to mirror something in her own life.
The way that the author is depicted in the movie is a little depressing. She is unable to overcome this writer's block that she has come to. She is shown in a very lonely and discouraged. You get the feeling that she has been in this state of mind for a very long time. Her publishers have hired an assistant to hopefully get her passed this point and she seems to become more frustrated with the block than before. I think that this representation of a writer is very believable. She does not seem to want to try any of the assistants methods for getting past this and I can understand how that would be aggravating. I would not enjoy someone coming in and telling me how to be a writer if I was the one with much more knowledge and background on going through this possible with other books, even if it was not as extreme before. So for now I am able to relate to the author in that sense quite well. As she continues to use her own method of writing, even if it is a little cliche', we are able to watch her find the ending of her book. It was not the assistant that really helped her she just needed to keep putting herself out there in Herald's place to come up with the way that she wanted to end him and the book. Without any method at all the ending came to her. But, this sense of not having a method, I believe, is a method in itself. Sure she does not have a fine set of rules that she goes by and that is how she gets great books, but standing on the edge of her desk and imagining a death from the top of a building is also one form of a method. She has it in her mind that when something may help her creative juices flowing she will do it. If however it is something that sticks too close to the rules for her she is going to shy away, as she did with the assistant. Seeing her portrayed this way maybe a good representation for some writers but I would argue against it being about all writers. And I am very positive that this was not what the goal was in depicting her this way.
I enjoyed how as the ending is playing out and we know that it is the morning that Herald is going to be killed everything that happens is dependent on the watches and clocks of everyone involved. We see the boys alarm clock go off and he starts his day. The bus driver's clock also goes of and she begins getting ready for work. Herald's wrist watch signals the beginning of the end- and he knows it. The author has continually placed such an importance on the time and it is the one thing that leads to Herald getting hit by the bus, he was given the wrong time. This is something that most writers are able to do and I think that the portrayal in this way is very sound and true. It is proving that even the screenwriters for this movie had that knowledge and skill to portray this the way they choose. I think that this relying on the time also relates back to the author herself and what she is dealing with in her own life. She has been attempting to write the ending of a one book for ten years. This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it relates to what she is writing so well and can be seen as a parallel to her very own life. I think that a lot of writers do this. We write from our own experiences and our books, or other materials, can be continually compared back to ourselves.
Observations of Stranger Than Fiction
Britni Vrbensky
As we are thrust into the everyday routine of Herald Crick what catches my attention the most is the fact that his wrist watch seems to be in control of a lot of things in his life. Not only does he rely on the wrist watch for everything, this watch seems to have a mind of its own. The narrator of the movie we soon find out is also the author of the book being written about Herald. As she is describing Herald's routine we get the feeling that this wrist watch can think and do things on its own. It thinks that Herald's neck looks fat when he is tying his tie. It delights in the crisp air and the way that Herald's jacket swishes over its face. This watch rests on the night stand it is not just set there.
Throughout the movie the author of the book chooses more and more to rely on the wrist watch for most of the action. The watch tries to get Herald's attention again and again throughout the movie but often times fails because Herald only sees his wrist watch as, well, a watch. I believe that the use of the watch is a good representation of how writers are able to make objects and things have a big role in how the plot is advanced. It is one form of writing that, if used correctly, can become a big symbol of what the main point is about. This use of symbolism with the watch could also be something that the author did on purpose to mirror something in her own life.
The way that the author is depicted in the movie is a little depressing. She is unable to overcome this writer's block that she has come to. She is shown in a very lonely and discouraged. You get the feeling that she has been in this state of mind for a very long time. Her publishers have hired an assistant to hopefully get her passed this point and she seems to become more frustrated with the block than before. I think that this representation of a writer is very believable. She does not seem to want to try any of the assistants methods for getting past this and I can understand how that would be aggravating. I would not enjoy someone coming in and telling me how to be a writer if I was the one with much more knowledge and background on going through this possible with other books, even if it was not as extreme before. So for now I am able to relate to the author in that sense quite well. As she continues to use her own method of writing, even if it is a little cliche', we are able to watch her find the ending of her book. It was not the assistant that really helped her she just needed to keep putting herself out there in Herald's place to come up with the way that she wanted to end him and the book. Without any method at all the ending came to her. But, this sense of not having a method, I believe, is a method in itself. Sure she does not have a fine set of rules that she goes by and that is how she gets great books, but standing on the edge of her desk and imagining a death from the top of a building is also one form of a method. She has it in her mind that when something may help her creative juices flowing she will do it. If however it is something that sticks too close to the rules for her she is going to shy away, as she did with the assistant. Seeing her portrayed this way maybe a good representation for some writers but I would argue against it being about all writers. And I am very positive that this was not what the goal was in depicting her this way.
I enjoyed how as the ending is playing out and we know that it is the morning that Herald is going to be killed everything that happens is dependent on the watches and clocks of everyone involved. We see the boys alarm clock go off and he starts his day. The bus driver's clock also goes of and she begins getting ready for work. Herald's wrist watch signals the beginning of the end- and he knows it. The author has continually placed such an importance on the time and it is the one thing that leads to Herald getting hit by the bus, he was given the wrong time. This is something that most writers are able to do and I think that the portrayal in this way is very sound and true. It is proving that even the screenwriters for this movie had that knowledge and skill to portray this the way they choose. I think that this relying on the time also relates back to the author herself and what she is dealing with in her own life. She has been attempting to write the ending of a one book for ten years. This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it relates to what she is writing so well and can be seen as a parallel to her very own life. I think that a lot of writers do this. We write from our own experiences and our books, or other materials, can be continually compared back to ourselves.
Personal Writing History.
Personal Writing History.
Reading Leads to Writing in My Imagination.
Britni Vrbensky
My earliest memories of writing are found somewhere between one of the biggest moves of my life and evenings spent on the Super Nintendo with my sisters. It was sixth grade and we were doing Daily Oral Language (DOL) everyday. They were simple assignments that we would go through before the class would start. It consisted of writing down the sentence on the board and fixing the grammatical errors that were in it. This was also the year that I began using a computer at least once a week. We were in the computer lab twice a week and working with a program called Mavis Beacon. I felt very far behind all of the other kids in this class. They had been working with this program since they were in about third grade and this was my first year with it. We had keyboard skins that would cover up the keys and I would struggle so much with where the letters were and would become discouraged with myself.
As life moved on and I grew older typing became easier. There are times even today when I struggle with where my fingers are supposed to go, but I continue to push right on through. Another form of writing that I soon started to enjoy was journaling. It first started as assignments in my seventh grade English class. We would have a question or series of questions on the board when we got to class and we would have to write up to a page on our thoughts and answers. This was one form of writing that has stuck with me and I enjoy writing for myself quite frequently even now.
I know that many ways that I wrote as I grew up have slipped past my train of thought while staring at the computer screen. I was of course writing for other classes and doing many projects that invloved me writing. My most fond memories of writing however would always have to come from my English classes. One in perticular that I enjoyed was my creative writing class my senior year of high school. We were able to write poems, short stories, and listened to lyrics in songs and grasp meaning in them. This was the class were I allowed my mind to run free and put my thoughts into words and words on to paper. This was the class in which the writer inside me was awakened and a new passion in life was found.
I remember my earliest forms of writing to be only about the assignment given and I saw it all as work. I was not early on drawn to writing at all. It was something that grew with me as I matured through school. Early on I did not fully grasp the greatness that I now find in others writings and my own.
I know that for me writing is largely tied to reading. One other thing that I was introduced to in sixth grade was the program called ARP (Accelerated Reading Program) We had to read books that were put into this program and then take tests on them. We were placed at a certain grade level and were told to read books at that level. At that point in my life reading was like a chore, I did not enjoy doing it, but it was something that had to happen.
I am not really sure of the specifics as to why my dad and I were discussing books one day, but nonetheless there we sat, me complaining and him unveiling something that was hidden from my view. He shared with me that I had to let the books take me places. I had to open up my imagination and travel all over the world. He told my that I could be in a cave hiding out with monsters or in a school with a girl not much different from me. No matter where I was he said that those books could be an escape to a whole new world. That was the day that I fell in love with reading. For me now writing is something that I want to do with my life. I want to be the provider of that far away land that a child escapes to. I want to be the eyes watching small knights slay giant dragons. I want to be the author of that book that you get grounded from because you are so soaked up in the adventure that you do not hear your mom tell you to do the dishes seven times. Maybe that was just me, but I am hoping that I am wrong and that there are many others out there just like me. Maybe I will be the one to ignite the flame of reading or writing in someone else. That I would have to say would make me very happy.
Reading Leads to Writing in My Imagination.
Britni Vrbensky
My earliest memories of writing are found somewhere between one of the biggest moves of my life and evenings spent on the Super Nintendo with my sisters. It was sixth grade and we were doing Daily Oral Language (DOL) everyday. They were simple assignments that we would go through before the class would start. It consisted of writing down the sentence on the board and fixing the grammatical errors that were in it. This was also the year that I began using a computer at least once a week. We were in the computer lab twice a week and working with a program called Mavis Beacon. I felt very far behind all of the other kids in this class. They had been working with this program since they were in about third grade and this was my first year with it. We had keyboard skins that would cover up the keys and I would struggle so much with where the letters were and would become discouraged with myself.
As life moved on and I grew older typing became easier. There are times even today when I struggle with where my fingers are supposed to go, but I continue to push right on through. Another form of writing that I soon started to enjoy was journaling. It first started as assignments in my seventh grade English class. We would have a question or series of questions on the board when we got to class and we would have to write up to a page on our thoughts and answers. This was one form of writing that has stuck with me and I enjoy writing for myself quite frequently even now.
I know that many ways that I wrote as I grew up have slipped past my train of thought while staring at the computer screen. I was of course writing for other classes and doing many projects that invloved me writing. My most fond memories of writing however would always have to come from my English classes. One in perticular that I enjoyed was my creative writing class my senior year of high school. We were able to write poems, short stories, and listened to lyrics in songs and grasp meaning in them. This was the class were I allowed my mind to run free and put my thoughts into words and words on to paper. This was the class in which the writer inside me was awakened and a new passion in life was found.
I remember my earliest forms of writing to be only about the assignment given and I saw it all as work. I was not early on drawn to writing at all. It was something that grew with me as I matured through school. Early on I did not fully grasp the greatness that I now find in others writings and my own.
I know that for me writing is largely tied to reading. One other thing that I was introduced to in sixth grade was the program called ARP (Accelerated Reading Program) We had to read books that were put into this program and then take tests on them. We were placed at a certain grade level and were told to read books at that level. At that point in my life reading was like a chore, I did not enjoy doing it, but it was something that had to happen.
I am not really sure of the specifics as to why my dad and I were discussing books one day, but nonetheless there we sat, me complaining and him unveiling something that was hidden from my view. He shared with me that I had to let the books take me places. I had to open up my imagination and travel all over the world. He told my that I could be in a cave hiding out with monsters or in a school with a girl not much different from me. No matter where I was he said that those books could be an escape to a whole new world. That was the day that I fell in love with reading. For me now writing is something that I want to do with my life. I want to be the provider of that far away land that a child escapes to. I want to be the eyes watching small knights slay giant dragons. I want to be the author of that book that you get grounded from because you are so soaked up in the adventure that you do not hear your mom tell you to do the dishes seven times. Maybe that was just me, but I am hoping that I am wrong and that there are many others out there just like me. Maybe I will be the one to ignite the flame of reading or writing in someone else. That I would have to say would make me very happy.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Look Right Here!
Look Right Here!
No Right Here!
Oh Maybe Here!
I have to say that this is what my brain is doing when I am working on the web or even just searching for something that I need to know. I can get so distracted by the little Facebook button in the corner and if I come to a break in my train of thought I am tempted to get on real quick to see if anyone has anything interesting to say or if I have any new posts. Most of the time I am able to ignore the pull, but other times I have to push it.
The author of Writing in the Age of Distraction had so many good points that I would love to carry over into my own writing life. When I am asked what I want to do with my life I tell people that I want to write, which I do. The thing that they are unaware of is that I am thoroughly over whelmed with the thought of trying to write a book. When I think about it I feel as if I have to dedicate so much of my life to just writing and doing nothing else. I love the way that this article opened my eyes to seeing that it can be as easy as writing a page or two a day.
I know that this article was meant to focus on the distractions that we have to face everyday and for me that distraction was the thought of writing itself. I have a passion for writing a novel someday and this has allowed me to see that getting into the habit of writing everyday, even on the weekends, is something that will improve my writing tremendously. I hope that I am able to fine the time and that I will see that I can be writing in different environments, but that all I need to be doing is writing. I think that any kind of extensive writing will be a sharpening of my skills as I take my relationship with writing to the next step.
So, although this articles focus was on what we can do to limit our distractions, as writers, in a very hectic world it has also shed some light on problems that I was having with writing myself that I did not know how I needed to deal with. I hope that from this information that I will be able to see ways in which my own writing will be improved.
No Right Here!
Oh Maybe Here!
I have to say that this is what my brain is doing when I am working on the web or even just searching for something that I need to know. I can get so distracted by the little Facebook button in the corner and if I come to a break in my train of thought I am tempted to get on real quick to see if anyone has anything interesting to say or if I have any new posts. Most of the time I am able to ignore the pull, but other times I have to push it.
The author of Writing in the Age of Distraction had so many good points that I would love to carry over into my own writing life. When I am asked what I want to do with my life I tell people that I want to write, which I do. The thing that they are unaware of is that I am thoroughly over whelmed with the thought of trying to write a book. When I think about it I feel as if I have to dedicate so much of my life to just writing and doing nothing else. I love the way that this article opened my eyes to seeing that it can be as easy as writing a page or two a day.
I know that this article was meant to focus on the distractions that we have to face everyday and for me that distraction was the thought of writing itself. I have a passion for writing a novel someday and this has allowed me to see that getting into the habit of writing everyday, even on the weekends, is something that will improve my writing tremendously. I hope that I am able to fine the time and that I will see that I can be writing in different environments, but that all I need to be doing is writing. I think that any kind of extensive writing will be a sharpening of my skills as I take my relationship with writing to the next step.
So, although this articles focus was on what we can do to limit our distractions, as writers, in a very hectic world it has also shed some light on problems that I was having with writing myself that I did not know how I needed to deal with. I hope that from this information that I will be able to see ways in which my own writing will be improved.
Monday, September 14, 2009
I'm a writer. You're a writer.
I'm a writer. You're a writer.
But, do we know how to write? I believe that the whole idea that we are all writers now is very true. I do however wish for myself that this is not all that I do with my time. I do not want to give up the face to face interaction that I have with my friends and family. I know that if I chose to I could sit on the Internet all day and I would be able to write anything I wanted to virtually anyone. What good does that do me? It would be the cause of some horrible self hygiene I am sure.
I have to agree with the author of We Are All Writers Now, in that we are improving our writing skills with everything we do on the Internet. But I believe that, just like everything else in life, it is a balancing act in knowing how much is too much. I will not become the self consumed individual that is updating every five minutes, eating junk food, and talking to that one other person in the country that I am now 'dating'. So yes we all may be writers, but at some point we need to set the computer aside and go experience the world for ourselves.
In regards to the other articles that we read that were dealing with what kind of writing is appropriate for the web and what kind is appropriate for text I would have to agree that this is one hundred percent correct. When I am writing a paper for a class I am going to be writing differently than if I was writing a letter to my boyfriend. I think that writing on the web is just another genre for writing and that we have to learn to adapt the right principles for it just as we would any other form of writing.
As I am sitting here writing a blog on how to write on the Internet I am consumed by the fact that I may not be doing it the right way. Am I just telling you what I am going to tell you then telling you and telling you what I have just told you? I hope not but at the same time I would understand why I am if I am. This is how we are taught to write, grade school and on. I hope that you are able to bear with my writing skills and the lack there of. Hopefully, as class progresses I will get my Internet legs- or fingers for that matter- and what I have to say will end up coming out in one hundred and forty characters or less.
But, do we know how to write? I believe that the whole idea that we are all writers now is very true. I do however wish for myself that this is not all that I do with my time. I do not want to give up the face to face interaction that I have with my friends and family. I know that if I chose to I could sit on the Internet all day and I would be able to write anything I wanted to virtually anyone. What good does that do me? It would be the cause of some horrible self hygiene I am sure.
I have to agree with the author of We Are All Writers Now, in that we are improving our writing skills with everything we do on the Internet. But I believe that, just like everything else in life, it is a balancing act in knowing how much is too much. I will not become the self consumed individual that is updating every five minutes, eating junk food, and talking to that one other person in the country that I am now 'dating'. So yes we all may be writers, but at some point we need to set the computer aside and go experience the world for ourselves.
In regards to the other articles that we read that were dealing with what kind of writing is appropriate for the web and what kind is appropriate for text I would have to agree that this is one hundred percent correct. When I am writing a paper for a class I am going to be writing differently than if I was writing a letter to my boyfriend. I think that writing on the web is just another genre for writing and that we have to learn to adapt the right principles for it just as we would any other form of writing.
As I am sitting here writing a blog on how to write on the Internet I am consumed by the fact that I may not be doing it the right way. Am I just telling you what I am going to tell you then telling you and telling you what I have just told you? I hope not but at the same time I would understand why I am if I am. This is how we are taught to write, grade school and on. I hope that you are able to bear with my writing skills and the lack there of. Hopefully, as class progresses I will get my Internet legs- or fingers for that matter- and what I have to say will end up coming out in one hundred and forty characters or less.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
To Blog or Not to Blog?
That is the question. There are so many people out there with their own opinions on blogging. Some say do it and are all for it and others think that it is a complete waste of time. A few of the articles that we read for today got me very excited and I wanted to start my blog right away. If it's something that will improve my writing I am all for it. I mean what writer wouldn't want to improve their writing? Sure I might not come up on a Google search, but at least my brain is being worked and stretched. I think that every one of us needs that every once in a while, and us writers need that even more than those that are pursuing other areas of work. I am more of a creative writer so informative writing is some what of a reach for me, especially since I haven't been practicing it for at the most a year.
Before this point i my life I have only ever heard the term blogging in passing and I have never had the desire to "tweet". Although this has been my feelings so far, reading the articles last night put that desire in me, much to my surprise. On my Twitter account I am going to be leaning more to creative poetic writing where on here I am going to be discussing and writing my feelings on articles and such.
I can understand why some people think that blogging and other like things are a complete waste of time. I also don't care what someone is eating at that very moment or where they are going. I don't think that a blog or twitter should be used like that. Facebook on the other hand is something that I only really see as a way to stay connected with family and close friends. I am not one to post something in my updates that is going to get my friends and family to think really hard about or have to discuss for long hours at a time. This blog however and my twitter account are going to be used for just that. I want to make people question things that they once thought were true. I want to be the cause of a heated argument. I know weird aspiration huh? But, I want to make people talk or laugh or ask me exactly what I meant by something. I want to write.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
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