Final Blog Musings

Writing in a blog every week has definitely changed my perspective on writing both academically and recreationally. This class has helped me to broaden my audience. It has helped me to see that it is possible to communicate with people outside of my family and my friends. I think that that is the most useful part of this class: the ability to recognize the ideas of others and to be willing to share your own. I think that this will definitely be applicable to life beyond writing courses in college. Especially with politics and current events, I think that I will be more open to discussion. This is a very important tool to have if you want to be involved with what is going on in the world. I also find this course very interesting because it added a new concept to what I know about writing. In school we always learned about making sure you don’t plagiarize and ethics behind it, but we were never given a way to rewrite something. I think that this is a very important skill to have, especially in school. Reading Harris’s book gave me a new perspective on writing using the works of other writers.  I think that I am better able to contribute to ideas and put my own spin on them because I now have the tools to make my “rewriting” interesting and effective. This class was very interesting overall and I think that it has given me new ways of thinking that will benefit my writing in the future.

Essay Numero Dos

Following the BP Oil Spill

April 20, 2010 is a very important date for our country. Now most people may not immediately remember what happened on that day, but mention BP Oil and a light goes on. On that day the Deepwater Horizon oil rig for BP Oil had an explosion which would soon cause the worst oil spill that has ever occurred in U.S. waters. Countless lives, both human and otherwise, were affected by the oil spill causing huge media attention from the press and the public. Reflecting back on this event you can see how the different forms of press were able to move the story and focus national attention on different aspects of the event. Throughout this process you can see how the many lives of a story can help change and shape the subject of the story.

The first news of the oil spill was reported the morning after the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Most coverage of the oil rig explosion focused on the workers both those that had been rescued and those that could not be found. The notion that the oil rig could sink and that some of the oil was going to leak into the ocean was mentioned in some articles, but very few elaborated on this. The New York Times for instance had a report on the oil rig the next day, April 21, 2010, discussing the missing workers and the actions that were being taken to control the fire caused by the explosion. The author mentions the threat of water pollution, “The rig was taking on water…but company officials said they did not expect it to collapse” (Cambell). Many other news reports were broaching the possibility of an oil spill, but most kept an optimistic outlook on it. The cause of the explosion is explored in the article in the New York Times as well, mentioning how the phase in the drilling that they were in can be temperamental. However, the article cites an oil analyst who says that it is highly unusual for this to happen. Since the explosion had just happened and it seemed as if it was being taken care of there was very little media attention.

For the next two days news sources covered the efforts of firefighters to stop the fire from the explosion and the search of the missing workers. Then on April 22, 2010, it was confirmed that the oil rig had sunk into the ocean with oil now being leaked into the ocean through the open wellhead. Now the media attention turned to the very real potential of one of the biggest oil spills in history. Blogs, newspapers, radio broadcasts, and more all over the country were all covering how the oil spill was going to affect countless ecosystems, companies and communities. One of the biggest concerns was how the oil was going to affect the wildlife of the Gulf area. Many environmental organizations and bloggers were discussing the catastrophe that would be caused by the water pollution. News reports focused on the different ways that the Coast Guard was trying to contain and clean up the oil. Reports were given by the Coast Guard and BP Oil of the estimated amount of oil that was leaking into the ocean (Brenner).

On July 15, 2010 the wellhead of the oil rig was capped, stopping any more oil from leaking into the ocean. Still the damage had been done with more than 62,000 barrels of oil being released from the oil rig a day since it sunk in April. Now the focus was turned to how much oil had been released and how much was still in the ocean. Reports were widely scattered with the government issuing a statement that almost 80 percent of the oil had dissipated, with private companies claiming that the dissipation of the oil did not necessarily mean that it was no longer affecting the ocean. BP Oil trying to control the information given to the public issued a statement assuring the public that the government had overestimated the amount of oil released from the oil rig (Cappiello).

With the oil spreading out across the Gulf of Mexico and approaching the shore, the blogging community exploded with information for the public. Soon blogs that were devoted to documenting the reach of the spill formed, showing live Webcam footage of the spill and posting updates on what both the government and the different oil companies involved were doing. Every person had a different view on the oil spill: what caused it, what should be done to clean up the oil, how it would affect the wildlife, and how this kind of disaster could be prevented in the future. The blogs were written by average people that were trying to get whatever knowledge or experience they had to the public. They wanted to contribute to the building amount of information that was circulating throughout the country. During this time there were many conflicting reports between the government, BP Oil, and private scientists and universities. There was also conflict over the information given to the public by BP Oil. Wildlife and environmental organizations called for more government support to get information that BP was hiding. Journalists were also prevented by BP Oil and the government from getting access to public areas to cover the spill. This caused a lot of mistrust from the public, who focused on information provided by the press and by the blogosphere. Because these sources had no affiliated with the oil companies or the government, the public was more inclined to trust this information. While this did help the public get first-hand accounts from people who were being affected by the oil spill it also caused problems with misinformation.

During this time the public blew up with talk of conspiracy theories. Stories ranged from simple mechanical failures in the engineering of the oil rig to political cover-ups organized by the White House. These theories were not just voiced by your average conspiracy theorist sitting in the basement writing about the existence of Area 51 and how Elvis is currently alive and living in Kansas. Rush Limbaugh discussed on his radio broadcast that “environmental whackos” caused the explosion on the rig to make a statement about drilling for oil. A news website in Raleigh had an article discussing how the explosion was caused by North Korean submarines firing torpedoes at the oil rig. Many more people claimed that this was an act of terrorism. WorldNetDaily, an independent news company which is known for being socially conservative, described the explosion as an act of God caused by poor relations between President Obama and Israel. Each theory that was released had its own purpose, usually to further the political standing or attention of whomever wrote it. In Rush Limbaugh’s case he was using the event to support his own views on environmentalists reaching the more conservative crowd. Also serving the more conservative crowd, WorldNetDaily was using this event to support their religious claims. The conspiracy theories not only discussed what caused the oil spill, but also theorized many different and rather unlikely events that would soon happen because of the oil spill. These ranged from methane gas explosions underwater to the disturbance of a UFO buried under the ocean (Phillips). With all of this information out on the Internet, who was the public supposed to trust? The public began to push for more government action and more transparency with what was going on in the Gulf.

As attempts were made to clean the oil out of the ocean, media attention turned to the cause of the initial explosion. The public was outraged by how their lives were being affected by the oil spill and they wanted straight answers calling on the government to make sure that justice was brought to whoever was responsible. The government promised an investigation into the explosion at the oil rig, forming committees and requesting investigations from private engineering organizations. While there were many reports as to where the blame lied over the following months, the government’s final report indicated that BP Oil was responsible for the explosion due to cost and time cutting measures that were taken that went against the safety precautions for the oil rig.

Once the final reports were issued to the public giving BP Oil and its affiliated companies responsibility for the spill, the news turned its attention to making sure that those who were affected by the spill were compensated. Public pressure, led by the press, to aid those who were being affected by the spill forced oil companies to contribute financial aid. Besides funding all of the measures that had to be taken to clean up the oil, oil companies also donated funds to organizations such as the National Fish and Wildlife Association. The publicity surrounding this catastrophe which was brought on by the power of the press and forms of news brought real change and real help to those affected by the spill.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the worst oil spill in U.S. open-water to date. Because of this it acquired an enormous amount of media attention. Every writer had their own take on what was going on and who was at fault. This brought a lot of conflicting ideas to the American public. While most writers focused on how BP Oil was to blame, some wrote it from a different point of view. Matthew Lynn, a columnist for the financial corporation Bloomberg, wrote about how the public should be blamed for the oil spill. He discusses how the high consumption of gas forces the oil companies to cut corners with cost and drill in more dangerous places. Other writers drew parallels between the attention on this oil spill and the lack of attention on much more severe oil spills. Jon Snow, writer for British news corporation Channel 4 News blog, brought the story to an international level, focusing on how little attention was brought to the Union Carbide explosion in India. He notes how much more damage was wrought by the Union Carbide explosion, but because it happened in a poor area of India there was very little done in retaliation against the executives of the company responsible for the explosion (Snow). Snow wrote this article to bring more attention to disasters that occur in poorer parts of the world. This extensive coverage shows how far a story can travel and how it can affect change.

The oil spill had such a great impact on our country that it is still being talked about today, almost two years after the event. Many people are still looking for the government to help prevent such a disaster form ever happening again. Others are still trying to recover from the damage that was done. One thing that can be said about this catastrophic event was that it showed the power of the press and of the media. National attention focuses on whatever the news brings to light. When the news reports focused on the missing workers that is what the public focused on. When the news reports focused on the cause of the explosion that was what the public focused on. The ability of the press to change the subject or bring a subject into a new light is something that can change how disasters are handled now and in the future.

Works Cited

Brenner, Noah et al. “Coast Guard confirms Horizon sinks.” Upstreamonline.com. 22 April 2010. http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article212769.ece

Cappiello, Dina. “BP contest size of gulf oil spill.” The Charlotte Observer. Associated Press. 13 June 2010. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/04/1885694/bp-contests-size-of-gulf-oil-spill.html

Phillips, David. “Conspiracy Theories Behind BP Oil Spill in Gulf – From Dick Cheney to UFOs.” CBS News 01 July 2010. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-43240454/conspiracy-theories-behind-bp-oil-spill-in-gulf----from-dick-cheney-to-ufos/

Robertson, Cambell. “Search Continues After Oil Rig Blast.” New York Times. 21 April 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/us/22rig.html?ref=gulfofmexico2010

Snow, Jon. “For America is BP India’s Union Carbide.” Channel 4 News. 08 June 2010. http://www.channel4.com/news/about-channel-4-news

Extended Essay 2

Following the BP Oil Spill

April 20, 2010 is a very important date for our country. Now most people may not immediately remember what happened on that day, but mention BP Oil and a light goes on. On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig for BP Oil had an explosion which would soon cause the worst oil spill that has ever occurred in U.S. waters. Countless lives, both human and otherwise, were affected by the oil spill causing huge media attention from the press and the public.

The first news of the oil spill was reported the morning after the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Most coverage of the oil rig explosion focused on the workers both those that had been rescued and those that could not be found. The notion that the oil rig could sink and that some of the oil was going to leak into the ocean was mentioned in some articles, but very few elaborated on this. The New York Times for instance had a report on the oil rig the next day, April 21, 2010, discussing the missing workers and the actions that were being taken to control the fire caused by the explosion. The author mentions the threat of water pollution, “The rig was taking on water…but company officials said they did not expect it to collapse” (Cambell). Many other news reports were broaching the possibility of an oil spill, but most kept an optimistic outlook on it. The cause of the explosion is explored in the article in the New York Times as well, mentioning how the phase in the drilling that they were in can be temperamental. However, the article cites an oil analyst who says that it is highly unusual for this to happen. Since the explosion had just happened and it seemed as if it was being taken care of there was very little media attention.

For the next two days news sources covered the efforts of firefighters to stop the fire from the explosion and the search of the missing workers. Then on April 22, 2010, it was confirmed that the oil rig had sunk into the ocean with oil now being leaked into the ocean through the open wellhead. Now the media attention turned to the very real potential of one of the biggest oil spills in history. Blogs, newspapers, radio broadcasts, and more all over the country were all covering how the oil spill was going to affect countless ecosystems, companies and communities. One of the biggest concerns was how the oil was going to affect the wildlife of the Gulf area. Many environmental organizations and bloggers were posing the catastrophe that would be caused by the water pollution. News reports focused on the different ways that the Coast Guard was trying to contain and clean up the oil. Reports were given by the Coast Guard and BP Oil of the estimated amount of oil that was leaking into the ocean. Soon more reports were given to the public by outside scientists that were not affiliated with BP estimating much higher amounts of water pollution (Brenner).

On July 15, 2010 the wellhead of the oil rig was capped, stopping any more oil from leaking into the ocean. Still the damage had been done with more than 62,000 barrels of oil being released from the oil rig a day since it sunk in April. Now the focus was turned to how much oil had been released and how much was still in the ocean. Reports were widely scattered with the government issuing a statement that almost 80 percent of the oil had dissipated, with private companies claiming that the dissipation of the oil did not necessarily mean that it was no longer affecting the ocean. Scientists also went against the government’s claim that the oil was mostly gone, arguing that it could not take into account any oil under the surface.

With the oil spreading out across the Gulf of Mexico and approaching the shore, the blogging community exploded with information for the public. Soon blogs that were devoted to documenting the reach of the spill formed, showing live Webcam footage of the spill and posting updates on what both the government and the different oil companies involved were doing. Every person had a different view on the oil spill: what caused it, what should be done to clean up the oil, how it would affect the wildlife, and how this kind of disaster could be prevented in the future. During this time there were many conflicting reports between the government, BP Oil, and private scientists and universities. There was also conflict over the information given to the public by BP Oil. Wildlife and environmental organizations called for more government support to get information that BP was hiding. Journalists were also prevented by BP Oil and the government from getting access to public areas to cover the spill. This caused a lot of mistrust from the public, who focused on information provided by the press and by the blogosphere. While this did help the public get first-hand accounts from people who were being affected by the oil spill it also caused problems with misinformation, especially from conspiracy theorists.

During this time the public blew up with talk of conspiracy theories. Stories ranged from simple mechanical failures in the engineering of the oil rig to political cover-ups organized by the White House. These theories were not just voiced by your average conspiracy theorist sitting in the basement writing about the existence of Area 51 and how Elvis is currently alive and living in Kansas. Rush Limbaugh discussed on his radio broadcast that “environmental whackos” caused the explosion on the rig to make a statement about drilling for oil.  A news website in Raleigh had an article discussing how the explosion was caused by North Korean submarines firing torpedoes at the oil rig. Many more people claimed that this was an act of terrorism. WorldNetDaily, an independent news company which is known for being socially conservative, described the explosion as an act of God caused by poor relations between President Obama and Israel. The conspiracy theories not only discussed what caused the oil spill, but also theorized many different and rather unlikely events that would soon happen because of the oil spill. These ranged from methane gas explosions underwater to the disturbance of a UFO buried under the ocean (Phillips). With all of this information out on the Internet, who was the public supposed to trust? The public began to push for more government action and more transparency with what was going on in the Gulf.

As attempts were made to clean the oil out of the ocean, media attention turned to the cause of the initial explosion. The public was outraged by how their lives were being affected by the oil spill and they wanted straight answers calling on the government to make sure that justice was brought to whoever was responsible. The government promised an investigation into the explosion at the oil rig, forming committees and requesting investigations from private engineering organizations. While there were many reports as to where the blame lied over the following months, the government’s final report indicated that BP Oil was responsible for the explosion due to cost and time cutting measures that were taken that went against the safety precautions for the oil rig.

Once the final reports were issued to the public giving BP Oil and its affiliated companies responsibility for the spill, the news turned its attention to making sure that those who were affected by the spill were compensated. Besides funding all of the measures that had to be taken to clean up the oil, oil companies donated funds to organizations such as the National Fish and Wildlife Association. Despite going to great lengths to make sure that justice was brought, public opinion of both BP Oil and the U.S. government was very low.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the worst oil spill in U.S. open-water to date. Because of this it acquired an enormous amount of media attention. Every writer had their own take on what was going on and who was at fault. This brought a lot of conflicting ideas to the American public. While most writers focused on how BP Oil was to blame, some wrote it from a different point of view. Matthew Lynn, a columnist for the financial corporation Bloomberg, wrote about how the public should be blamed for the oil spill. He discusses how the high consumption of gas forces the oil companies to cut corners with cost and drill in more dangerous places. Other writers drew parallels between the attention on this oil spill and the lack of attention on much more severe oil spills.

The oil spill had such a great impact on our country that it is still being talked about today, almost two years after the event. Many people are still looking for the government to help prevent such a disaster form ever happening again. Others are still trying to recover from the damage that was done. One thing that can be said about this catastrophic event was that it showed the power of the press and of the media. National attention focuses on whatever the news brings to light. When the news reports focused on the missing workers that is what the public focused on. When the news reports focused on the cause of the explosion that was what the public focused on. The ability of the press to change the subject or bring a subject into a new light is something that can change how disasters are handled now and in the future.

Works Cited

Brenner, Noah et al. “Coast Guard confirms Horizon sinks.” Upstreamonline.com. 22 April 2010. http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article212769.ece

Phillips, David. “Conspiracy Theories Behind BP Oil Spill in Gulf – From Dick Cheney to UFOs.” CBS News 01 July 2010. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-43240454/conspiracy-theories-behind-bp-oil-spill-in-gulf----from-dick-cheney-to-ufos/

Robertson, Cambell. “Search Continues After Oil Rig Blast.” New York Times. 21 April 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/us/22rig.html?ref=gulfofmexico2010

Taking Harris' Approach

In “Rewriting” Harris describes “taking an approach” comparing it mostly to the concept of cover songs. It’s taking the idea, frame, form of writing, and many other different writing techniques and styles from an author and using it to build your own. One way that you can write by taking an approach is by acknowledging your influences, noting authors ideas and concepts that have an influence on your work. Another way that you can write by taking an approach is turning an approach on itself by asking the author the questions that they originally posed to their readers. The final way to write by taking an approach is by using reflexivity or reflecting on the key choices that you have made in your writing such as the method and the way that you write. It is important to note that when you take an approach you do not simply rewrite or paraphrase passages or lines. When taking an approach you borrow a writer’s style and way of writing. I think that in taking an approach, it can help you form your opinion and help you give a clear format for you to show your opinion to others. However, it is important that when taking an approach you do not just steal everything that the writer has done. It is important that you put your own spin on what you’re writing. It is silly to write something that has already been without adding something to the “conversation”.

Reading the Huffington Post, I can see that every reader has a very distinct way of writing. It was difficult trying to find an example of a writer “taking an approach”. None of the articles that I have read have really cited their influences or reflected on why they wrote the way that they did. I think that almost everybody takes an approach in some way. Depending on what we’ve read in our life and what kind of language we were raised in, it influences the way that we write. It would be crazy to write out our influences every time that we write. However, I can see the importance if you take a particular writing format to make sure that you note why you are doing it.

Countering My Take on Hedges

In Chris Hedges’ article “America the Illiterate” he describes his take on literacy in America today. He focuses on how the illiterate people today can only function in society using images and only understanding the bare minimum of what is going on. In my analysis of what his take on literacy is in America I wrote about how the Chris Hedges is convinced that the media today is causing people to lose all independent thought and be unable to make well-informed decisions. In doing so I did not consider who Hedges meant by the illiterate. As I was reading his article it seemed as though he was writing about everyone in America. However, upon further reflection I see that he was writing more about those who are technically “illiterate”. He was not writing about people of high socio-economic status, or probably even people who graduated from high school. He was writing about those who have had a very limited education and therefore very limited reading abilities.

Because I did not take this into account in my paper, my writing does seem to be incomplete. I can see that there is some point to the fact that the people who are not well-educated may not be well-informed as to how our politics work or how important decisions being made in the government may affect them. I think that in this way Hedges does have a point. We do need to make sure that everyone is equally informed of their rights and anything else of importance. By taking more into account the subject of what the author is talking about, it can bring greater meaning to an analysis. By not analyzing the whole paper, it reflects poorly on my own writing. I hope that by doing this assignment, I will have a more critical eye of my own analyses in the future.

Countering in Writing

In “Rewriting”, Harris describes another form of rewriting, “countering”. In this form of rewriting you go on the limits of a piece of writing rather than the uses of it. He describes this not so much as arguing a another author’s point and winning, but rather as building off of what one author said and forming a different opinion. To do this you can argue the other side of a point, showing the different side of an idea that the writer focused on. You can also uncover values, expanding on a term or analysis that the writer did not focus on. Finally you can dissent, identifying a shared thought showing the limit of an argument. In countering, Harris stresses the importance of civility making sure that you do not tear an author to pieces because rather than show their weaknesses, you often show your own. To do this Harris suggests that you focus more on the position that the author has rather than how they phrase something, be careful with modifiers or words that hint at negative aspects of the writing, and always bring it back to what you are bringing to the discussion. By countering you gain a new perspective on an analysis or an idea. You show the limits of a piece of writing while building upon the idea. This can help to bring many new arguments to the table, extending the “conversation”. In countering you may lose the credibility of what is otherwise a very good analysis or idea by focusing on the weaker part of it.

Reading an article on the Huffington Post “Online Piracy: Youth Shaping Future of Online TV, Movies, Music” I saw not the author countering the analysis of the problem that is causing online piracy. Because most people focus on the people that are illegally downloading TV shows and music, the author countered this idea by arguing the other side of the point. Rather than writing about how to punish people who are illegally downloading entertainment the author writes how the entertainment industry could make things more available to the public. I thought that this was a very interesting article to read especially since it focused on studies done with college kids. Interestingly enough, the author also “forwarded” in this article using the research done by universities to help prove his point.

Forwarding in Writing

In “Rewriting” Harris describes one of the ways that we can rewrite, “forwarding”. Forwarding is taking another person’s written work and using that work to help you form your own statement. This can be done using four different techniques. First there is illustrating, where you describe a text as an example for your own work such as describing a car commercial. Next there is authorizing where you use the status of another writer for support. Then there is borrowing where you use the key words or ideas from another writer to support your writing. Finally there is extending where you add your own opinions to the writing of another. Each of these techniques can be used to add to your own writing by drawing on the writings of others. This gives writing a more conversational feel as opposed to a debate. This is because with rewriting nobody really “wins”. Rather than winning you just add your own opinion to a topic and then continue on. While this can be very beneficial to writing it can also cause the writing to lose something. With this writing you lose the beginning. With a continuous conversation you may lose the credit of whoever started it or the purpose behind it.

Reading Bill Moyers’ article “Freedom of and From Religion” in the Huffington Post was a good example of forwarding. In his article Moyers discusses the contraceptive law that is becoming quite controversial in Congress right now. He discusses his own view of what is going on especially how it is connected with the First Amendment. In doing this he draws on Barack Obama’s views, discussing what Obama is trying to do to amend the situation. I especially liked how he quoted a speech Obama gave in 2009. It really brought the point that the writer was trying to make to home. In his writing Moyers used the notions of authorizing and extending. Taking both the status of Obama and his opinions while putting his own spin on what is going on in Congress. In my opinion this was a very well-written post.

Huffington Post vs. New York Times

Reading both the New York Times and Huffington Post have given me a new perspective on the connection between blogs and the more traditional forms of press. In the New York Times you get up to date information on current issues, written in a clear and intelligent way. When reading the paper you know that you are reading information from credible sources and competent writers. Reading blogs for news are similar in many ways. You still to get to read information, often from credible sources and competent writers. However, with blogging you get a more connected feel between the writers and the readers. As you read a blog post, you can feel yourself connecting to the writer, because as a blogger he or she is just a regular person giving their take on the world. They don’t have a lofty title of editor-in-chief, separating you from the writer. This connection provides you with a way to better bring the news into your life, allowing yourself to connect with people and issues all across the world.

Still getting news from the press does provide you with a kind of guarantee that the information that you are getting is accurate. With editors and fact-checkers working for newspapers, they give you accurate information in a well-written way.  In this way the press and the blogs work together to provide the general public with information, giving both the credible, detailed reports along with the more opinion-centered version of the news. Both the press and the blogs are necessary to the “press sphere” proposed by Jeff Jarvis. Both contribute to the flow of information that is constantly coming at the general public from the internet, from the government, from private companies, from coworkers, from friends, and from the press. This interconnectivity provides a reader with a full grasp of the news from the comments of strangers to the words of witnesses. With the many different sources of news, we are better able to connect to events going on across the world.

Discussing the Press Sphere

In his article “The Press Becomes the Press Sphere” Jeff Jarvis writes about how we perceive and use the press is changing. In earlier times, the press was our direct link to the world. All news that we received was reported and edited by the press and distributed in the form of newspapers. Now, times have changed and so has the press. Instead of just one means of getting the news, we have numerous ways. These include the media, your peers, the government, private companies, work, and of course the press. Rather than use just one medium we can link across many different mediums to follow a piece of news. This new system of getting the news has changed a lot of things about the news that we get for better or for worse. Rather than reading edited information written by a professional writer, we read a Tweet from a friend or a blog from someone who has a strong opinion about what’s going on in the world. Jarvis also explains how the final product has changed. Rather than using a process to achieve a product, the service is the product.

There was not a lot in this reading that confused me. I think that a lot of the points that Jarvis was making made sense. I do see a change in how we get the news even from when I was little. Rather than getting the news solely from the newspaper or the television, you can receive news from tons of different sources. I think that this is especially true in college where the more traditional forms of the press are more difficult to come by. I always seem to get my news from the internet or from my friends. The next place I go is to the more “press-based” forms of news like the newspaper to verify a story or to get more details on a story. I think that this does lose some of the elegance of the press. However, it does add a whole new dimension to the news where you are able to interact with other people such as witnesses and the people reporting the news. I think that we still cannot determine how this will affect how we receive the news in the future.

Huffington Post Rhetorical Analysis

The Huffington Post is a giant blog that contributes to many different kinds of current events and news from politics to technology. The purpose of the Huffington Post is to inform readers of current issues and often to make readers see an issue in a different light. For example in the technology section there was an article about how the use of drones affects the world politically. The author did not necessarily focus on the technical aspects of drones but rather how they affect us socially. This is the main purpose of the entire blog, to show readers how political issues may affect them. The audience of the Huffington Post is anyone looking for news on a multitude of issues although focusing on more liberal leaning people. It is geared toward the general masses, with the reading and information not geared toward a particular interest or intellect. The author of the Huffington Post is a large number of bloggers that write with more liberal tendencies. The blogs focus more on political issues. Even posts on different topics such as the post on the drones had more of a political focus.  Basically the Huffington Post is a blog written by people that lean more liberal for readers that are more liberal with articles focusing on political issues. The main project of the blog is to inform readers on current issues. The uses of this blog are that many of the bloggers that contribute are reputable writers that have a lot of experience with writing on political issues. The limits of this blog are that it has somewhat of a liberal bias.

Blog Following

The blog that I chose to follow is the Huffington Post. I chose this blog because I wanted to follow a blog that wrote about current events specifically the news. The Huffington Post blogs about a variety of current events including political, entertainment, technology, and culture. These blogs are posted by a variety of bloggers that are all very reliable and quite good writers. I chose this blog because it seemed like an interesting new way of getting the news. I love keeping up to date with what is going on in the world. I do this by reading the paper and going to websites such as the times and BBC. Following a blog seems like it could be a new, interesting way to discover what is going on in the world.

Here is the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Reading the Times

Reading the New York Times has brought me back to when I was younger. Not that I was reading the Times while drinking juice out of a sippie cup, but I would listen to my parents discuss the paper every morning as my main source of news. In some ways it’s a lot of fun sitting in the lounge reading a newspaper and watching people give me funny looks as they pass by. Newspapers aren’t really that common anymore, but I enjoy reading them still. There’s something about holding the reading material in your hands and knowing that the articles were written by “professionals” that just gives you more confidence in what you are reading.

Many of the stories that I have noticed have been articles that cover world events. I really don’t focus on the articles that center on what is going on in the country, with the exception of some articles that focus on the 2012 Presidential Election. I think that I notice these because these are stories that I haven’t really heard about and are more interesting sounding. Reading about some rich white guy making more money or losing more money isn’t all that interesting. I have also noticed that I do tend to focus more on the flashier articles that have a more interesting sounding headline or interesting looking pictures. Because of this I may pass over articles that pertain to more important information; information that may directly affect me. An example of this is the Eurozone crisis that is going on in Europe right now. I know that it is very important because the financial welfare of Europe affects the whole world including our markets. However, I am simply unable to will myself to read those articles because financial based information is not interesting. Reading the Times more is influencing the kinds of articles that I read now though. I do find myself better able to settle down into a news article rather than just skimming the important information. Reading the paper is something that I really enjoy and is something that I hope I will do more often in the future.

Comparing the News

Looking over everyone’s blog posts, it seems that the majority of the news that they get is from the internet. This makes sense because the internet makes news a lot more accessible, especially to college students. Being in college, it is difficult to get a newspaper, watch the news on tv, or listen to the radio. Therefore the majority of our news comes from the internet, from sites such as the New York Times or CNN. It wasn’t all that surprising that most of the internet news sources that people put down were reputable sources like the Times. I think that we’re smart enough to know the difference between someone blogging about the news on their own personal website from a paid writer writing a professional article. Although I do find it interesting how some people pointed out the fact that even though these sources are reliable they can still be biased to certain view points, especially politically.

When I compare my classmates’ comments to my own they all seem pretty similar. It helps that we are all kind of in the same boat being in college where for many of us the internet is our only link to the outside world. Another point that I saw was similar was people who talked about getting a lot of their news from their friends. This is something that I also found because many times I find out about some sort of breaking news from one of my friends and then go online to research it. Some differences that I saw were that some people do still read the paper and watch tv to get the news; whereas, I can never seem to find the time to do either. I think that with the internet we are better able to keep up with civic literacy. We are better able to follow current events and stay informed about what is going on in the world outside of college. This is very important because soon we will be out of college and we will have to deal with what is going on in the world. I think that each of the writer’s would have a different opinion on how most of us getting our news from the internet. Hedges would see it as negatively affecting our literacy, commenting on how the news is solely entertainment-based and making us incapable of individual thought and discernment. Carr would see it as having the potential to change the way we think about current events. I think that there can be many different assumptions made from the increase of the news on the internet, but the true effects that it will have on the future of literacy will be difficult to see.

The Societal Dangers of the Internet

Introductory Paragraph

I am writing this paper to everyone that is in their late teenage years at this moment. Essentially I am writing to anyone that is around my age. I feel that I was born in a very crucial time. When I was younger, the Internet was becoming more available to the public, and it certainly was not easy to use. The main mediums of the media were newspapers and magazine articles. Reading books was still considered fun, and not a laborious task forced upon children by annoying teachers and parents. If you were born around the early 90s, you have seen the rise of the Internet. You know both the simple times before and the exciting times after the explosion of the Internet throughout our culture. I think that this is a very crucial generation because being raised both in a culture that did not focus mainly on the Internet and one that now focuses almost completely on the Internet we are able to bridge the gap between the generations. Because of this I am writing to my generation to warn them to be aware of how the Internet is affecting us. It is alarming not knowing the extent of the consequences of something that has become integral to our lives.

The Societal Dangers of the Internet

Imagine everything that you do in an average day, from waking up in the morning to when you fall asleep at night. Did you think of every time that you got on the Internet? Did you remember the three times that you checked your notifications on Facebook? Did you remember checking your Email or looking up a news article? Odds are that you did not. The Internet has become such a major part of our lives that it is already second nature to get online.  With the variety of what it gives us, it’s almost deceiving how much the Internet affects our lives. Because of how much we use and depend on the Internet it is pertinent that we comprehend the full effect that it has on our lives, especially the negative effects it may have on our life.

The danger of the internet is how quickly it is changing our society, from reading and writing to how we interact socially. This is something that I had not seen myself until looking back on my own life. When I was little the Internet was something that I was rarely on, simply because you could not be on the Internet and have phone access at the same time. So my time on it was limited by my parents and whether or not they were expecting a call. There also was very little to do on the Internet anyway. Games and social networking were just barely beginning and therefore a lot less engaging. This freed up my time to play outside, read books, and just use my imagination to have fun. However, as the Internet grew more easily accessible and entertaining, I started spending more and more time on it. Reading became a chore that took too long to be considered fun. Then entering high school, I bought a laptop through my school. This opened up a whole new world of finding research easily online and staying in touch with my friends. I also started getting all of my news online. I began to read short articles that were quickly understood and then forgotten. “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr). In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr states this discussing the possibility that the use of the Internet, specifically search engines, is affecting our ability to read long articles and books (Carr). It’s a disturbing thought that the Internet may be causing us to not be able to read as easily or as in depth as we used to. This concept can be seen slowly spreading throughout our culture and society in more ways than just how we use the Internet. Conversations are shorter and to the point; writing about how we feel has dwindled down to a tweet limited to one hundred and sixty characters. The frightening part of this change, is that it is hardly noticeable anymore. Now when I collect my thoughts, they seem to arrange themselves perfectly to fit a witty Facebook status or a clever Tweet.

Another danger that can be seen with the increasing use of the Internet can be seen in the way that people interact with each other both in person and over the Internet. While this does not directly address reading or writing, I think that it indirectly affects how we read and write. In some ways it can be seen as beneficial to writing. We write now more than ever before with blogging and social networking sites. In his article “The New Literacy” Clive Thompson discusses a study done by Andrea Ludson on how the Internet is affecting the way that we write, specifically college students using blogging and social networking sites. In it she comments on how young people are writing more now than ever before because of the Internet. This can be very beneficial to our generation because we are becoming more capable of writing for a specific audience and more knowledgeable of writing in general (Thompson). However, I can see this in a negative light as well. Because it is so much easier to just type out one’s opinion to the faceless mass that is the Internet, we are slowly losing our ability to interact socially in person. So while this increase in writing online is benefiting our ability to write in general, it does not necessarily make it beneficial to society overall.

One negative aspect of this is that we are less able to interact one and one, focusing more on oneself then on others. Christine Rosen makes an interesting point, comparing sites such as Facebook to self-portraits. While the internet does provide us with a fantastic tool for self-expression, it also provides us with the opportunity for self-seeking attention (Rosen 1). I think that this is interesting when compared with Andrew Sullivan’s perspective on writing on the Internet. Through his description of the Internet he sees writing as more open conversation than more traditional forms of writing. He himself says “It renders a writer and a reader not just connected but linked in a visceral, personal way. The only term that really describes this is friendship” (Sullivan). This is an interesting take on something that is causing us to be less conversational in our daily lives. It also does not consider how impersonal this conversation is, focusing more on the idealized “conversations” that occasionally float around the blogosphere. There is more to a traditional conversation than words on a screen. Body language, emotion, and tone are all important to a conversation and all are lost when using the Internet. While many may say that this is no better than letters and books that were all handwritten, I think that there is a difference.

With conversation more easily available on the Internet, it detracts from interaction in person. Why leave your house to talk to a friend when all you have to do is check to see if they’re online? Whereas with letters and books most chose to go out into the real world to communicate simply because it was quicker. Many may question what this has to do with literacy, but I think that all forms of communication are connected in some small way. What do people write about on the internet? They usually don’t write about what they were doing online. They write about the business that they’ve started, the family trips that they go on or the music that they like, because nobody wants to read about the Internet while they’re online. It’s similar to how people are never watching television in a television show. Why watch someone do what you are already doing? “They cater to a nation that now lives in a state of permanent amnesia” (Hedges).  Losing the ability to interact in person will change the way we write because we will not be limited to writing about virtual experiences. We will lose that human experience that provides the excitement and interest of reading.

The Internet is such an all-encompassing concept in today’s society, that it is difficult to see the extent of its effect on us. While we must progress as society progresses it is important that we do not ignore something that has such a significant impact on our lives. Understanding that something has both beneficial and detrimental effects is important. As the generation that is developing just as fast as the Internet, it is important that we acknowledge both the positive and negative aspects of reading and writing before and after the Internet. Our culture is on the precipice of either a spectacular age of culture and knowledge or a dismal age of loss of literacy and in-depth thought. It is important that we maintain balance in how we use the Internet, despite the ever-increasing use in everyday situations.  

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic July-Aug. 2008. The Atlantic. Web. 27 Jan 2012.

Rosen, Christine. “Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism.” The New Atlantis Number 17, Summer 2007, pp. 15-31.

Scribner, Sylvia. "Literacy in Three Metaphors." American Journal of Education 93 (1984): 6-21. Print.

Sullivan, Andrew. "Why I Blog." The Atlantic Nov. 2008. The Atlantic. Web. 27 Jan. 2012.

Thompson, Clive. “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy”. Wired Magazine. 24 August 2009.

My Daily News

I normally get my news online, visiting official sites such as BBC news. BBC is my favorite resource to get the news. Not only do I use their website, but I check their cell phone app every day. Also my phone will send me updates when there is breaking news somewhere in the world. With BBC I keep up to date on everything that is going on in the world. Now since BBC is a British-based news source it does tend to focus on either world news or European news. Because of this I do like to read American based newspapers and news articles for news that is more close to home. Some sites that I tend to visit are the New York Times and the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Now the St. Louis Post Dispatch isn’t really all that reliable or well written; however, it does keep me updated on news from my hometown. I also use websites for magazines such as Time magazine because their articles are usually very interesting. The internet really is my main source for the news, but it is not my only source.  

 Another source for news that I have are my peers. If my phone doesn’t let me know immediately, usually one of my friends has heard something and will let me know. Many might think that teenagers wouldn’t really talk about the news in their daily chatter, but I think that most do. As adults in society we want to stay informed both nationally and internationally. And while this information does come second hand, it does provide you with information to go on. For example one of my friends might let me know that something happened politically. Then I would usually go on my phone and look up what happened on the website of a newspaper. In this way I get more reliable reports. Being in college I don’t really get news from the newspaper, radio, or television, although with the New York Times being assigned I do find myself reading more newspapers. This is mostly due to the fact that these resources aren’t as accessible as the internet. Also in some cases I think that these reliability of these sources is not as great as the internet. Because of these and many other reasons, I get the majority of my news online and from my friends.

My Very Very Rough Draft

Introductory Paragraph

I am writing this paper to everyone that is in their late teenage years at this moment. Essentially I am writing to anyone that is around my age. I feel that I was born in a very crucial time. When I was younger, the Internet was becoming more available to the public, and it certainly was not easy to use. The main mediums of the media were newspapers and magazine articles. Reading books was still considered fun, and not a laborious task forced upon children by annoying teachers and parents. If you were born around the early 90s, you have seen the rise of the Internet. You know both the simple times before and the exciting times after the explosion of the Internet throughout our culture. I think that this is a very crucial generation because being raised both in a culture that did not focus mainly on the Internet and one that now focuses almost completely on the Internet we are able to bridge the gap between the generations. Because of this I am writing to my generation to warn them to be aware of how the Internet is affecting us. It is alarming not knowing the extent of the consequences of something that has become integral to our lives.

Imagine everything that you do in an average day, from waking up in the morning to when you fall asleep at night. Did using the Internet ever come up? Whether it’s checking the weather on your phone or updating Facebook the Internet plays a major part in our lives. With the variety of what the Internet gives us, it’s almost deceiving how much it affects our lives. Because of how much we use the Internet and how much we depend on the Internet it is pertinent that we comprehend the full effect that the Internet has on our lives, especially the negative effects it may have on our life.

The danger that the Internet exposes to the world is the way that it is constantly changing our society and our culture especially in how we read and write. I find that the best way to track how something that is widely used by society changes is to track how my use of it has changed. While this is not the most scientific or impartial way to study something, I think that it is the best way to study something so that it is significant to oneself. I think that this is important because any study that is done is done with a purpose, whether it’s for yourself or others. With the Internet and how it has changed the way we read and write I think back to how I used the Internet when I was little.

When I was little the Internet was something that I was rarely on, simply because you could not be on the Internet and have phone access at the same time. So my time on it was limited by my parents. There also was very little to do on the Internet anyway. Games and social networking were just barely beginning and therefore a lot less engaging. This freed up my time to play outside, read books, and just use my imagination to have fun. However, as the Internet grew more easily accessible and entertaining, I started spending more and more time on it. Reading became a chore that took too long to be considered fun. Then entering high school, I bought a laptop through my school. This opened up a whole new world of finding research easily online and staying in touch with my friends. I also started reading all news articles online. I began to read short articles that were quickly understood and then forgotten. “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr). In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr states this discussing the possibility that the use of the Internet, specifically search engines, is affecting our ability to read long articles and books (Carr). It’s a disturbing thought that the Internet may be causing us to not be able to read as easily or as in depth than we used to. This concept can be seen slowly spreading throughout our culture and society in more ways than just how we use the Internet. Conversations are shorter and to the point, writing about how we feel has dwindled down to a tweet limited to one hundred and sixty characters.

Another danger that can be seen with the increasing use of the Internet can be seen in the way that people interact with each other both in person and over the Internet. While this does not directly address reading or writing, I think that it indirectly affects how we read and write. In some ways it can be seen as beneficial to writing. We write now more than ever before with blogging and social networking sites. In his article “The New Literacy” Clive Thompson discusses a study done by Andrea Ludson on how the Internet is affecting the way that we write, specifically college students using blogging and social networking sites. In it she comments on how young people are writing more now than ever before, because of the Internet. This can be very beneficial to our generation because we are becoming more capable of writing for a specific audience and more knowledgeable of writing in general (Thompson). However, I can see this in a negative light as well. Because it is so much easier to just type out one’s opinion to the faceless mass that is the Internet, we are slowly losing our ability to interact socially in person. So while this increase in writing online is benefiting our ability to write in general, it does not necessarily make it beneficial to society overall.

One negative aspect of this is that we are less able to interact one and one, focusing more on oneself then on others. I think that this is interesting when compared with Andrew Sullivan’s perspective on writing on the Internet. Through his description of the Internet he sees writing as more open conversation than more traditional forms of writing. I think that this is an interesting take on something that is causing us to be less conversational in our daily lives. I also think that it does not consider how impersonal this conversation is. There is more to a traditional conversation than the words on a screen. Body language, emotion, and tone are all important to a conversation and are all lost when using the Internet. While many may say that this is no better than letters and books that were all handwritten, I think that there is a difference. With conversation more easily available on the Internet, it detracts from interaction in person. Why leave your house to talk to a friend when all you have to do is check to see if they’re online? Many may question what this has to do with literacy, but I think that all forms of communication are connected in some small way. Losing the ability to interact in person will change the way we write, though it may be difficult to perceive how exactly that will change.

Another point that is important to note is how each society and culture reads and writes is affected differently by the Internet. It is impossible to lump everyone into one giant group that can only be applied to a small percentage of people. Scribner discusses how it is nearly impossible to define literacy because it is different for every culture; therefore, it is affected in different ways especially by the Internet (Scribner). I think that this is one downfall of focusing on how something affects oneself. It is difficult to use one’s own experiences to understand how something affects another culture. While using self-experience as evidence may help in the small picture, if you want global change, you need to understand the big picture of an idea.

The Internet is such an all-encompassing concept in today’s society, that it is difficult to see the extent of its effect on us. While we must progress as society progresses it is important that we do not ignore something that has such a significant impact on our lives. Understanding that anything has both beneficial and detrimental effects is important. As the generation that is developing just as fast as the Internet it is important that we acknowledge both the positive and negative aspects of reading and writing before and after the Internet. Our culture is on the precipice of either a spectacular age of culture and knowledge or a dismal age of loss of literacy and in-depth thought. It is important that both individually and globally we maintain balance in how we use the Internet, despite the ever-increasing use in everyday situations.  

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic July-Aug. 2008. The Atlantic. Web. 27 Jan 2012.

Scribner, Sylvia. "Literacy in Three Metaphors." American Journal of Education 93 (1984): 6-21. Print.

Sullivan, Andrew. "Why I Blog." The Atlantic Nov. 2008. The Atlantic. Web. 27 Jan. 2012.

Thompson, Clive. “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy”. Wired Magazine. 24 August 2009.

Opinion of a Blogger Newbie

Having my own blog is something that I did not really see in my future. You never really expect to have blogging as a homework assignment and I never really thought that I would have a reason to blog. Well times change, and now I have eight blog posts out for the world to see. I think that this is the most challenging part about blogging, knowing that basically anyone can read whatever I write. In many ways I think that is one of the good reasons that blogging exists. It allows your audience to be anyone on the internet. When has something you have written ever been available to anyone you want? I think that the most surprising part about my blogging is that what feels like the hardest part is also surprisingly easy. When I post a blog it’s weird knowing that it’s out there on the web for anyone to read. But it’s so inconsequential, very few people read it. I think that everyone who blogs has this ideal of a great amount of people reading everything that they say. But I think (and I hope) that very few people really go around just reading blogs. This kind of makes the whole anyone can read what you say a little obsolete.

I think that doing all of this blogging has really changed how I use and look at the internet. The thing that changed my view the most was when we logged our internet hours. I realized that while I probably do use the internet more productively than some people who use the internet, I still am on Facebook and entertainment based sites a lot. It really makes me wonder about what I’m spending my time on. I also wonder about how the internet has become the main social medium. Any other form of media can be found on the internet. It’s almost scary to think what might happen if we suddenly didn’t have the internet anymore. I think that while the internet can be productive in many ways and bring about positive change, it must also be used with caution. You don’t want the internet to take over your life, and keep you from experiencing real life. So while using the internet for reading and writing, whether it is for educational or recreational purposes, can be very productive, we can’t lose the other forms of reading and writing.

Three Forms of Literacy According to Scribner

In “Literacy in Three Metaphors”, Scribner presents literacy, and the concept of defining literacy. She states how literacy is impossible to define because it has so many different facets to it, usually depending on the society that is being used to define literacy. Literacy can mean so many different things depending on how you use it in society. The three metaphors that Scribner gives are literacy as a adaptation, literacy as power, and literacy as state of grace. She describes how literacy is functional in a society, how people use the written language in their daily lives. She also describes how literacy can be used to give strength to a community, allowing more social participation from a larger amount of people. She also describes how literacy can be used to give a person certain virtues or spiritual power. I think that it is interesting, how Scribner describes the many facets of literacy. Most think of it as reading and writing. Few expand on how it is defined based on its purpose and need in a society. I think that is important because the purpose of an action will always give a lot more information than the action itself.

While both Carr and Hedges show how literacy is important in a society, they do not show how it is different for every society. They also show how literacy is continuously changing; however, they do not see how it is growing. In Thompson’s article “The New Literacy” he shows how literacy could potentially be changing for the better in America. He discusses how we live in an age that is filled with writing. I never really thought about how much more writing is done in society than in the early 20^th century. With the internet you just assume that writing is decreasing. However, with all of the blogging and status updates, we are writing more than ever. Yes it may not be that every status update and tweet turned out is a Pulitzer Prize in the making. Still the magnitude of people writing is enormous. While I can see the disadvantages of writing becoming shallower, it does seem to be growing more functionally ideal with the number of people who are writing growing.

I think that our most pressing literacy concerns should be on making sure that the rate of literacy grows without losing depth and intelligence in writing. If we all start changing literacy into the shortest most convenient thing possible, like doublespeak in 1984, then we will be in serious trouble. Still I think that literacy should continue to grow so that everyone can both listen and be heard.

America the (not so) Illiterate

In his article “America the Illiterate” Chris Hedges writes about how the term illiteracy is changing from his point of view. While there are still people who are illiterate, or unable to read, Hedges is redefining illiterate to mean people who can read, but who choose not to. He focuses on how everything is turning into pictures and entertainment. Why read when you can just see a picture and know what to do or what to buy. Hedges has a very harsh critique of the American public. He views the public as brainless simpletons who vote for the entertaining politician and have no independent thought. I also find it interesting that Hedges seems to indirectly blame Obama for America becoming “illiterate”.

While reading this article, I didn’t really find any particular idea confusing or troubling mostly because I think that he is completely wrong. There is not a single part of me that can agree with what he is saying. I will say that we are a society that does focus on entertainment and flash. However, we are still capable of independent thought. We are able to see a political ad campaign claiming how a rival candidate is evil because he or she never went fishing as a child and understand that is ridiculous. And sure some people probably are gullible enough to fall for it. But I don’t believe that society as a whole is unable to discern fact from fiction. It seems as if Hedges is getting all of his statistics from a certain group or demographic of people. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t know at least one historical fact. And everyone that I know is capable of independent thought and reasoning. It is more than insulting saying that the majority of people in America are “illiterate”.

It is interesting comparing this article to Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”. In both articles the authors describe how the thought and reasoning of the American public is becoming shallower and shallower. While Carr focuses on blaming the internet for the problem, Hedges focuses on blaming the increasing focus on entertainment in America. Both show how fewer books are being read and bought in America, with Hedges saying that 80% of families did not buy a book last year. And excuse my independent thinking here but that sounds made up. While both articles focus on America becoming stupider, I think that Carr has a bit more faith in the public. He seems to think that we will become computers with endless amounts of information but not a lot of deep thought into the information. Hedges seems to think that we will become brainless idiots only capable of reading pictures and believing anything that is shown to us through some sort of entertainment medium. Both outlooks look bleak, but hey I would prefer to think that America has a chance to become more socially aware and knowledgeable. But again forgive me my independent thinking.

Search Engines: Helpful or Not?

Reading Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” was both enlightening and terrifying. In it Carr discusses how the use of the internet, specifically internet search engines is changing not only the way that we read different types of writings, but could even be changing the way that we think. While most people just consider how the internet is benefiting us, Carr is taking the flip side of it, and showing what ways that using the internet could be negatively affecting our lives. He mostly focuses on how using search engines has limited our focus and attention to only snippets of information. Because of search engines we are allowed to flit about on the internet following hyperlinks and only reading the basic information. Carr discusses how this is limiting our ability to read in depth and actually contemplate about what we’re reading.

In this article, Carr does make some interesting points. As I read this article, I realized how few books I read now. Reading the article also made me realize the irony that Nicholas Carr was employing in writing this article. He wrote an article that took up eight pages on a Microsoft Word document about how people can no longer read for extended amounts of time. That made me wonder who this article was actually aimed at. Because if he was trying to direct this to people who don’t read anymore and who can only skim pages because of using internet search engines then according to him they wouldn’t even be able to read it. Also according to him, to the people that don’t use the internet that much, who would actually be able to read this article, this would only be reconfirming a belief that they probably already have. Just a thought I had while reading.

While Carr does make the interesting point that people are not reading as much as they used to or as in depth, I don’t think that search engines are only being used for shallow reasons. People today still use search engines for in depth searching. Looking at our internet logs and the blogs based on those, many of us use search engines to find news articles. And while I’m sure not everyone reads the entire article, I know that I usually do. I also do not think that we are mindless drones following hyperlink after hyperlink. We do not spend time just staring at the computer taking in useless bits of information just because it is there. We still think when using the internet and contemplate what is read, whether it’s the validity of a source or the opinion of an author. To say that humans may be turning more machinelike than the machines themselves is a scary and slightly insulting notion. But I do not see that in our future.

Harris and Sullivan define writing

In his book “Rewriting: How to do things with texts” Harris defines reading and writing in a way that I have not seen before. Rather than focusing on making sure that all work is being properly cited and quoted, he focuses more on building on what a writer has already created. It almost seems as if he imagines as writing as one large, conglomerate form, with each writer contributing a small part that others may build upon. In this way, Harris also defines reading, as an action that despite reading the same text, each reader will process it differently and add their own experiences and ideas to it. For the majority of my life, writing has focused on finding the meaning of a written piece, finding some way to make it my own, and making sure to cite the author correctly. I have never really been instructed to build upon another’s writings and to point out both “the limits and the uses”. This writing also involves a lot of focusing on what the author is trying to do with the words, rather than what he means by them.

Harris discusses how writing is like email, constantly forwarding an email bringing on numerous new comments while always reflecting back on the original email. On the other hand, Andrew Sullivan discusses how writing is more like a conversation, with both the writer and the reader contributing to the topic at hand. Both of these ideas show writing as a more freeform concept that is constantly building. They both show the connection between the reader and the writer; both contributing to an almost never ending topic. It’s starting to seem as though blogging is used as a way to constantly build upon other people’s opinions. Commenting on other blogs, writing your own on your own opinions, or blogging about another writer’s piece are all ways that you can contribute to the build.