1. Big Question/Master Topic: How does music connect to the mind and emotions? And what makes it sound good to humans?
2. What I've done was think about what fields I would need to research my big question. I think psychology and science can help me with research.
3. A thing I did over break was research on how we hear music. (So sound waves , the ear, and the brain)
4. Maybe some people are attracted to some music because of the diction and syntax of the lyrics. For example, some lyrics are just so fun to say.
5. What I'm going to do next is investigate the psychology of the mind and how our brains process music.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
WE EAT SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BREAKFAST
When writing an essay, authors often consider using tools that will help get their readers engaged with their writing and try to persuade them to agree with their argument or theme. In the essay, "We Eat Social Media for Breakfast", the theme was how the internet is a belief system and connects people together. The author's use of diction, syntax, tone, and rhetorical devices make the readers feel welcomed by providing personal experiences as examples and uses language that makes the reader feel as if the writing was an actual conversation. All of those tools help the argument because the audience feels a connection with the writing.
The author's diction is informal because it is meant to make the reader feel like they are in an actual conversation thus providing the reader with inviting and welcoming feelings. For example, at the end the author writes, "Thanks for reading" instead of "Thank you for reading". This makes the reader feel as if the writing came from a friend. The author's tone was also humorous, which provokes more emotion from the audience. When he writes, "I'm a wannabe millenial", I can't help but chuckle because I see those kinds of posts everywhere and can understand where the author is coming from. He also started off the essay with something personal he did, which was take pictures of his breakfast, which helps establish a connection with the readers.
The author's syntax also helps give examples of his argument. He uses rhetorical questions to help prove his point. In the paragraph about finding the right tools for the job, he explains critical questions by asking, "What IS the job? And what do we want to accomplish by sharing information? And what tool to use?". A lot of sentences are short and declarative. That is effective for keeping the writing informal and proving a point at the same time. The author does this when he writes, "So, back to my breakfast. She didn't get my pictures." and "But there's more to this than meets the eye."
The author also uses rhetorical devices like imagery to keep the reader engaged by helping them pain a picture in their minds. This works when he writes, "I wipped out my iPhone and started snapping pics of my breakfast." The reader can imagine this scenario happening and keeps them engaged. The author also uses anecdotes to help explain a point while creating an emotional response from the audience. When the author wrote about sending breakfast pics to someone he wished he could share it with, he explains his argument about how he uses technology to connect with people while the audience is in awe.
So overall, the author's main argument was explained effectively by the tools he used because not only did the tools help explain his point, but they helped persuade the audience to agree with him. He uses the tools to explain how technology is "a belief system about how we interact and communicate" by sharing personal experiences and establishing a connection with the audience. I, myself, was persuaded by his argument especially because of the anecdotes, which evoked emotion and humor when making a point. This contributed to making the essay an even more enjoyable experience to read.
The author's diction is informal because it is meant to make the reader feel like they are in an actual conversation thus providing the reader with inviting and welcoming feelings. For example, at the end the author writes, "Thanks for reading" instead of "Thank you for reading". This makes the reader feel as if the writing came from a friend. The author's tone was also humorous, which provokes more emotion from the audience. When he writes, "I'm a wannabe millenial", I can't help but chuckle because I see those kinds of posts everywhere and can understand where the author is coming from. He also started off the essay with something personal he did, which was take pictures of his breakfast, which helps establish a connection with the readers.
The author's syntax also helps give examples of his argument. He uses rhetorical questions to help prove his point. In the paragraph about finding the right tools for the job, he explains critical questions by asking, "What IS the job? And what do we want to accomplish by sharing information? And what tool to use?". A lot of sentences are short and declarative. That is effective for keeping the writing informal and proving a point at the same time. The author does this when he writes, "So, back to my breakfast. She didn't get my pictures." and "But there's more to this than meets the eye."
The author also uses rhetorical devices like imagery to keep the reader engaged by helping them pain a picture in their minds. This works when he writes, "I wipped out my iPhone and started snapping pics of my breakfast." The reader can imagine this scenario happening and keeps them engaged. The author also uses anecdotes to help explain a point while creating an emotional response from the audience. When the author wrote about sending breakfast pics to someone he wished he could share it with, he explains his argument about how he uses technology to connect with people while the audience is in awe.
So overall, the author's main argument was explained effectively by the tools he used because not only did the tools help explain his point, but they helped persuade the audience to agree with him. He uses the tools to explain how technology is "a belief system about how we interact and communicate" by sharing personal experiences and establishing a connection with the audience. I, myself, was persuaded by his argument especially because of the anecdotes, which evoked emotion and humor when making a point. This contributed to making the essay an even more enjoyable experience to read.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
New Big Question.... (yup, again)
I came to a conclusion that I'm not really attached to my previous big questions. It went something like: Does luck exist? Are there more lucky people in the world than others?
I don't really care if luck exists or not. I kind of developed an answer to that myself anyway.
The reason to why I'm making this post is that I've been thinking about these questions recently:
Why does music sound good to humans? What is the connection to the mind or emotions?
These questions intrigue me because it's about a topic I love and I'm actually curious about learning about them. It's something that I actually can't wait to do research on.
Other stemming questions from those are: Why do certain humans like one type of music while others don't? Music is something we all hear and goes to our brain, so why do people disagree on different songs? Is there some kind of different frequency that people get when listening to music that makes them not like something?
I can really go all day thinking about new questions but for now, this is what I'm most intrigued by.
I don't really care if luck exists or not. I kind of developed an answer to that myself anyway.
The reason to why I'm making this post is that I've been thinking about these questions recently:
Why does music sound good to humans? What is the connection to the mind or emotions?
These questions intrigue me because it's about a topic I love and I'm actually curious about learning about them. It's something that I actually can't wait to do research on.
Other stemming questions from those are: Why do certain humans like one type of music while others don't? Music is something we all hear and goes to our brain, so why do people disagree on different songs? Is there some kind of different frequency that people get when listening to music that makes them not like something?
I can really go all day thinking about new questions but for now, this is what I'm most intrigued by.
Reflecting on my essays
I'm not really confident and proud of the last three essays I did. I tried choosing topics that I thought I would struggle with and took different sides than I would normally would side with. I did this because I know on the exam that there is a big possibility of getting prompts that would be harder to tackle. I also gave myself a time limit for each essay (including the pre-writes I did last week) and I felt that if I had more time I would have done better. Since I was worrying about beating the time, I kept repeating myself and not bringing up much new information. Even writing a pre-write is so pressuring because I kept thinking how I need to finish it fast so I can get on with the actual essay. I think I might look at the prompts and try a few more so I can get used to being timed. Overall, I'm not that happy about any of the essays I did.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Essay #3
Recent college students have faced records of unemployment and students now ask themselves if college is really worth it. I'm a strong believer in you can learn something from everything. In any situation you're in, anyone you talk to, and anything you read you learn something new. If you can't benefit from that information now, you can later in life or at least have gained more knowledge because of it. There are so many things to learn and any information gained isn't a waste. So even if college doesn't guarantee a great job, it is definitely worth the cost.
The information you learned whilst going to college may help you get a good job later in life. Some places may look at the fact that you went to college and hire you even though it may not be your dream job. Once you become more stable, you could always go back to college and try to get a different degree. For example, say you take some music production classes in college but you didn't get a job in that field, you could always go back to finish your education and try to get a different job. You don't have to go to college just once in your life.
College makes you a smarter person because you gained information that you wouldn't have if you had not gone. You can never stop learning new things. Even with electives you gain some tips and knowledge about how to do somethings. Maybe you are good at reading music, cooking, taking pictures, or sewing. All of those skills are helpful and can use in your daily life.
College can help you find a passion or even a hobby. Sure you didn't get a good job out of it but you found something interesting that you thought you would never like and can pursue that instead. For example, maybe you took a literature class and found that you love reading Gothic books from the Victorian Era and that can inspire you to write a book of poems in that style. Maybe you found that you love science and want to become a scientist. You could discover that composing music is something you enjoy. College can be a place where you find yourself.
Taking classes and being able to learn new things is never not worth it. Since when did learning more things about life not worth it? There is so much that we don't know. Wether it is about life's mysteries or getting to no yourself better, taking extra classes can always give you more knowledge. You can discover a lot about yourself and what your passions are there. That to me is definitely worth it.
The information you learned whilst going to college may help you get a good job later in life. Some places may look at the fact that you went to college and hire you even though it may not be your dream job. Once you become more stable, you could always go back to college and try to get a different degree. For example, say you take some music production classes in college but you didn't get a job in that field, you could always go back to finish your education and try to get a different job. You don't have to go to college just once in your life.
College makes you a smarter person because you gained information that you wouldn't have if you had not gone. You can never stop learning new things. Even with electives you gain some tips and knowledge about how to do somethings. Maybe you are good at reading music, cooking, taking pictures, or sewing. All of those skills are helpful and can use in your daily life.
College can help you find a passion or even a hobby. Sure you didn't get a good job out of it but you found something interesting that you thought you would never like and can pursue that instead. For example, maybe you took a literature class and found that you love reading Gothic books from the Victorian Era and that can inspire you to write a book of poems in that style. Maybe you found that you love science and want to become a scientist. You could discover that composing music is something you enjoy. College can be a place where you find yourself.
Taking classes and being able to learn new things is never not worth it. Since when did learning more things about life not worth it? There is so much that we don't know. Wether it is about life's mysteries or getting to no yourself better, taking extra classes can always give you more knowledge. You can discover a lot about yourself and what your passions are there. That to me is definitely worth it.
Essay #2
Many schools have a honor code which enforces no cheating and are meant to "cultivate integrity". However, anyone who has integrity don't cheat because they take pride in their work. People who don't care about honor cheat regardless of any set of rules because that's who they have become and most likely won't change. Therefore honor codes should be eliminated because cheaters are going to continue doing what they're doing because they already know it is wrong.
People may think punishing cheaters will give them discipline. They have done it before and most likely will do it again. They already know it is wrong to plagiarize and is why they try to keep it on the down low. Yes plagiarizing is wrong, but having an extremely strict honor code isn't going to be enough to change behavior. There shouldn't have to be rules to not cheat and especially when they know it is wrong to do so. Since cheaters don't care about learning something new and cheat to save time, they are only cheating themselves out of new information that they hadn't known before.
Honor codes effect non-cheaters in a negative way as well. Encouraging students to report cheating gives the student unwanted stress. It is not their job to be a patrol and their peers can have tension with them. Non-cheaters' personalities usually value honor since they do not cheat and know cheating is out of the question. When they see someone who is cheating they feel pressured because they feel they need to report it because of the honor code but they don't want to because it can cause problems with their peers. Non-cheaters don't need any stress because they are already doing what they are supposed to do. They shouldn't get punished with stress for something someone else is doing wrong.
Cheating is inevitable. There is so much information now with new technology that it is harder to catch plagiarizers. So how do you separate non-cheaters from the cheaters then? Now there are websites like EduBirdie were you can pay someone to write a paper for you. That's cheating but it is harder to catch since it is someone else's original work that they give to the student to pretend they did it themselves. There is so many loopholes created in honor codes because of this and is basically impossible to catch all the cheaters.
Overall, honor codes should be eliminated because they don't do a good job at stopping people from cheating. They just create more work for people who are trying to grade assignments and put pressure on students who see their peers cheating. It is now nearly impossible to catch cheaters and make their behavior change.
People may think punishing cheaters will give them discipline. They have done it before and most likely will do it again. They already know it is wrong to plagiarize and is why they try to keep it on the down low. Yes plagiarizing is wrong, but having an extremely strict honor code isn't going to be enough to change behavior. There shouldn't have to be rules to not cheat and especially when they know it is wrong to do so. Since cheaters don't care about learning something new and cheat to save time, they are only cheating themselves out of new information that they hadn't known before.
Honor codes effect non-cheaters in a negative way as well. Encouraging students to report cheating gives the student unwanted stress. It is not their job to be a patrol and their peers can have tension with them. Non-cheaters' personalities usually value honor since they do not cheat and know cheating is out of the question. When they see someone who is cheating they feel pressured because they feel they need to report it because of the honor code but they don't want to because it can cause problems with their peers. Non-cheaters don't need any stress because they are already doing what they are supposed to do. They shouldn't get punished with stress for something someone else is doing wrong.
Cheating is inevitable. There is so much information now with new technology that it is harder to catch plagiarizers. So how do you separate non-cheaters from the cheaters then? Now there are websites like EduBirdie were you can pay someone to write a paper for you. That's cheating but it is harder to catch since it is someone else's original work that they give to the student to pretend they did it themselves. There is so many loopholes created in honor codes because of this and is basically impossible to catch all the cheaters.
Overall, honor codes should be eliminated because they don't do a good job at stopping people from cheating. They just create more work for people who are trying to grade assignments and put pressure on students who see their peers cheating. It is now nearly impossible to catch cheaters and make their behavior change.
Essay #1
Anywhere from television, podcasts, magazines, and social media you can see public figures expressing their opinions on many different topics. Since people in the public eye are followed by many, they have an opportunity to get a message spread out. A lot of public figures use that opportunity for good and try to better the world with their opinion. Since they have a wide following, their message can go viral and will result in people talking about their opinion.
Almost everyone has someone famous they look up to and admire. Public figures can influence a lot of people's opinions by using a variety of platforms. Some feel like it is important to take advantage of that and try to influence people to make a change and better themselves. Just from the passed election, almost anyone in the public eye were sharing their thoughts and urging people to vote. Even if they just state who they voted for, that is enough to make someone want to vote for that person. A lot of public figures are open about their lifestyles and try to encourage their following to be the healthiest version they can be. They make videos on YouTube on how to do some exercises and what they eat to be healthy. That can influence some people to try to be more healthy. With websites like Good Reads, Twitter, and YouTube, I've seen a lot of public figures influence people to read by recommending books and sharing what they have been reading. Reading is amazing because there is always something new you can learn that can better yourself.
Another way public figures use their platforms for good is to spread the word about movements and events that are occurring. A few months ago there were a lot of women's right protests in the U.S. Public figures used social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat to encourage people to go to the protests. Many people attended because they saw someone they admire go there. Everyone there hoped to get a message across and since it was all over the media, the message did get to were they wanted it to go to. Last summer people used their platforms to share their opinions on the Black Lives Matter movement. This got everyone talking and spreading their opinions. Some artists released music about the topic hoping it would get people to make a change. For example, "Better Days" by Victoria Monet and featuring Ariana Grande got everyone who follows both artists talking about the topic. This makes everything that is happening currently known to everyone and influences people to share their opinions too.
Public figures are also good for helping their following form their own opinions. A lot of famous people may not attend to protests but still share their opinions by tweeting or blogging. Many people who may have different opinions can still contribute to the discussion and share what they think. This just creates a massive thread of ideas and thoughts that has great value. There is something new someone can learn when reading the thread and can even provoke another thought that they can contribute. Online discussions are great because it gets people involved in sharing opinions. Public figures create a place for learning and talking with new people.
In conclusion, public figures using the opportunity to spread their opinions is good in many ways. They encourage people to better themselves by recommending lifestyles and books. They also spread the word on the things that are currently happening in the world and encourage others to keep the conversation growing. Without public figures using their voice, many things that are happening can go unnoticed and maybe not get a lot of change going on. People are influenced by the people they admire which is why using their voice is important.
Almost everyone has someone famous they look up to and admire. Public figures can influence a lot of people's opinions by using a variety of platforms. Some feel like it is important to take advantage of that and try to influence people to make a change and better themselves. Just from the passed election, almost anyone in the public eye were sharing their thoughts and urging people to vote. Even if they just state who they voted for, that is enough to make someone want to vote for that person. A lot of public figures are open about their lifestyles and try to encourage their following to be the healthiest version they can be. They make videos on YouTube on how to do some exercises and what they eat to be healthy. That can influence some people to try to be more healthy. With websites like Good Reads, Twitter, and YouTube, I've seen a lot of public figures influence people to read by recommending books and sharing what they have been reading. Reading is amazing because there is always something new you can learn that can better yourself.
Another way public figures use their platforms for good is to spread the word about movements and events that are occurring. A few months ago there were a lot of women's right protests in the U.S. Public figures used social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat to encourage people to go to the protests. Many people attended because they saw someone they admire go there. Everyone there hoped to get a message across and since it was all over the media, the message did get to were they wanted it to go to. Last summer people used their platforms to share their opinions on the Black Lives Matter movement. This got everyone talking and spreading their opinions. Some artists released music about the topic hoping it would get people to make a change. For example, "Better Days" by Victoria Monet and featuring Ariana Grande got everyone who follows both artists talking about the topic. This makes everything that is happening currently known to everyone and influences people to share their opinions too.
Public figures are also good for helping their following form their own opinions. A lot of famous people may not attend to protests but still share their opinions by tweeting or blogging. Many people who may have different opinions can still contribute to the discussion and share what they think. This just creates a massive thread of ideas and thoughts that has great value. There is something new someone can learn when reading the thread and can even provoke another thought that they can contribute. Online discussions are great because it gets people involved in sharing opinions. Public figures create a place for learning and talking with new people.
In conclusion, public figures using the opportunity to spread their opinions is good in many ways. They encourage people to better themselves by recommending lifestyles and books. They also spread the word on the things that are currently happening in the world and encourage others to keep the conversation growing. Without public figures using their voice, many things that are happening can go unnoticed and maybe not get a lot of change going on. People are influenced by the people they admire which is why using their voice is important.
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