Blog Post #17

I have learned a lot in this class. I have never had a writing class like this, but I can say that it was both fun and challenging. From reading about style, to actually reading a book of a particular type of style, this class has given me a new definition of what style is. What I liked most was the variety of readings we were assigned in this class. I learned about the world of comics, a genre that I knew nothing about before.

Williams’ Style: Toward Clarity and Grace and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style were two of the best books that I have ever read about writing. These are two books that I will have on my shelf for a long time. These writing rules were very helpful throughout the course.

I also enjoyed the readings about how important pictures are in society. I guess this class just made me think about things in a new light. Speaking of pictures, I enjoyed putting together my own comic strip and analyzing others.

Although I had scanned YouTube before, I did not know how much it actually did until I watched Wesch’s video. I learned about a new tool that could be used for educational purposes and for leisure. As far as incorporating technology with learning like Anderson mentioned, this class was a true example.

Now that the class is coming to an end I would define style as the personality and creativity of the writer’s written work. I was able to create a manual for fashion and create a music video using my personal form of style.

 

Blog Post #16

At first I did not understand why we had to go through the peer review process after every assignment but as time progressed I realized how much my peers’ comments had improved my writing. I also learned a lot just from reading through their papers. It was good to see how other people approached the assignments.

Everyone in this class was always receptive to my comments. They never took offense to the suggestions I made, and after reviewing their final pieces my comments reflected. This was the most fulfilling part of the peer review process. Actually going back and seeing how my comments helped them to draft a better essay.

Most of the time my classmates gave me detailed revisions, but there were times when I received vague feedback. And I must admit, there were times that I did not give the most helpful feedback. I found that I gave the best feedback when I dedicated more time to the peer review process.

The last peer review was helpful because I had an incomplete draft. This was the first time I posted a draft that was so unorganized. But the feed back I received from my group members helped me to put my paper in order. Although their comments were brief, they said just enough to guide me in the right direction.

If I had to give advice to someone about the peer review process I would say that you should never take it lightly. Overall, I think I took most of the peer reviews lightly, and my papers suffered from it.

 

Post #15

I had a great time making the group video! It was all new to me, but I had fun learning. There was a lot of work that had to be done that I did not consider before making it like the editing, and making sure the sound and music synced. Before this class I would have never thought that the “video making process” and the “writing process” was related. But now I know for sure that there is indeed a connection! Brainstorming for a video is similar to writing a paper. You can not just start taping a scene, or just start writing the introduction to a paper. There must be a time set aside for putting ideas together and this is true for both processes. Editing is another technique that is similar for writing and making videos. There is always something that must be taken out or added to make the final project better.

I agree with Anderson’s advocacy for “low-bridge” technologies like the ones we are using for this project. In his article he made the point that these low-bridge new media technologies provide a sense of creativity that leads to motivation-and that motivation creates a challenge for the students. And this is all in the process of learning.

 

Blog Post 14

It was alot of fun making the video collaboration, however it did take more work than I thought. I think that all of the readings had an influence on how we put the movie together. The most influential was the short video we watched by Michael Wesch about You Tube. I think this video helped to give our group ideas. After watching the variety that was being posted on YouTube, it made our group realize how creative we could get, no matter how weird we got.

As far as the editing was concerned, McCLoud’s reading was helpful. In his book he discusses the importance of the order of frames. When Katie was editing the video she had to put the frames in a specific order so that the video was clear to the viewers. McCloud also expresses the importance of color. Just the simple colorful screen at the beginning of the video that introduced the song was appealing and makes the viewer want to see more. We also chose to make our video a colorful visual instead of having it done in black and white. This made a major difference in the presentation of the video.

The readings by Williams, Strunk and White were helpful when it came to making sure the material in the video was clear. We did not want to confuse the viewers so it was important first to use language that was familiar to the audience, give an introduction to the topic we were addressing, then tell the story.

I think there is a definitely a relationship between comics and short movies. The importance of the images, wording, and order are just a few things that directly relate comics with short movies.

 

comic peer review recap

I received some excellent constructive criticism from my group members. I didn’t even notice some things that they pointed out about my very own writing…..thank God for peer review!

I think that I gave all of my group members insightful feedback too. I was grouped with good writers so I can truly say I benefited from that.

One thing I did not do that my group member reminded me of was putting my own thoughts about comics in the paper as well as mentioning the other authors. I only focused on McCloud’s ideas in my rough draft.

I also enjoyed looking at the way they decided to form their comics. I thought they both did a good job with carrying out that task.

I have a lot to work on in my essay and I know I will have a much better paper due to this peer review.

 

Blog Post #12

http://jellysworld.net/2010/03/how-i-powerwatched-my-life

I chose to discuss the blog entry Jessica posted. I thought that this was an interesting comic. This was an example of the kind of comic which had the same picture in each panel, yet after reading the text the reader will notice a difference in each panel. She pointed out that the text was particularly important in this comic in order to get the message the comic was trying to convey.

After reading the second part of the book I am now able to notice how important the color is in this comic. The graphics are very colorful which will appeal to a larger audience, compared to if it was just black and white.

McCloud also talks about how technology has really changed the look of comics. This comic that Jessica chose is a perfect example. This comic is not just a simple drawing, however it has a digital effect to it, almost like the most recent childrens movies.

On page 67, McCloud talks about the spacing between comic panels. Although the spacing was not very obvious in this comic there was a small spacing which gave time for closure in between the panels.

This was a simple and easy comic to read and understand.

 

Blog Post #11

 

I chose this commercial because I thought it was short simple and sweet. This comic strip is about a grandmother and her grandson Nelson. I thought this comic would be relatable to many people. The grandmother is coming in from the grocery store and she asks her grandson for help with carrying the milk. Like most children, Nelson is uninterested in helping out his grandmother so he makes it quite obvious that he cannot help out. But once the grandmother mentions that it is chocolate milk that she has in the car, he darts out the room to help.

In McCloud’s book he talks about how closure is the agent of change in time and motion. This comic strip requires the reader to use closure to fully understand what the author is trying to convey. I also noticed that the gutters that were used gave rhythm and created a connection between all of the panels.

I would categorize this comic to be a Subject-to-Subject transition as discussed on page 71. This comic has the same scene and idea in each panel. It was up to the reader to use closure and make sense of the transitions.

McCloud also talked about how symbols and pictures can be used as visual metaphors. Just by adding lines and smoke in the third panel, the reader uses closure to suggest that the boy ran out in a hurry when he found out there was chocolate milk in the car. I found the third panel to be my favorite because it was the most simple panel, yet the most powerful one.

 

Post #10

The page I chose was the home page of the Lucky Strike Lanes website. This is such an interesting web page because of the contemporary style. LUCKY STRIKE LANES-LOUNGE is written in bold letters on the right side. The pictures of the bowling alley scenery changes after 2 every seconds. What I found most unique about this website was the X in which the pictures are flashing in. The X symbolizes a strike. I thought this was quite creative.

Although there is not a lot of wording on this page, the numerous pictures that are flashing inside the X says enough. Lucky Strike is an upscale bowling alley that offers drinks and food. Without any words, the viewer on this page will already know this just by simply looking at the images that come onto the screen.

I also want to comment on the clarity of the images. Although the images are not taking up the entire screen, they are at a normal size where as everyone will be able to see them clearly. It looks like the images were taken with a digital camera because they are vivid and it seems like they pop out at you.

At first I thought that this page did not really create a balance because there were more images than text, but I think that they complimented one another. Although this page only showed the actual name of the bowling alley, the pictures described what this place could offer.

 

Blog Post #9

I really enjoyed looking at how creative everyone got with the manuals. The use of pictures and the conversational language in most of the blogs made it easier to understand and relatable. The one problem that most people had was the actual format of the project, like making sure that there was enough space in between the rules and making the rules bold. This was suggested to me as well.

Overall, I received good compliments. I love peer reviewing because someone else can look at my work and show me what I missed or what I misprinted. You know the phrase, “Two heads are better that one”. This is true! My peers showed me the changes I needed to make so now I can apply them!

I think I gave good advice to my group members as well. I always give my compliments first, then I suggest changes that should be made if there are any. I could have been more specific in my reviews though.

Maybe one thing I would change about this peer review is the number of people that were assigned to each group. I wish there were about 7 people in my group so that I could get more feedback on my manual.

I think that the last peer review was more helpful just because the assignment was more in depth. There were more elements to the last assignment so there was more to critique. However, I did think the comments I received were constructive.

 

What are others saying?

After reading most of the blogs it seems that everyone is in agreeance with the fact that both books were extremely resourceful, but Williams’ book was mostly favored. Like Katie, I think that Williams’ book was better at explaining the specific rules. Katie mentioned,  ”I like how each rule contained many examples, which allowed me to ensure that I was understanding what Williams was trying to explain.” I agree with this 100%. The detailed explanations made the rules clear. There was even times in the book when Williams gave examples of the incorrect way of the writing, then he showed the corrected form of the writing. Like Katie explained in her blog, those simple transitions made it clear as to how to actually USE the rules in your personal writing.

Andy made the point that clarity is most important in writing and he felt that Williams’ did the best job at constantly pointing it out in each of his chapters. I also noticed this while reading Williams’ book. He always noted how clarity is what gets the audience to continue reading the writing and leave with a clear understanding of what was being read. I think alot of times writers get so caught up in their thoughts that they lose focus, causing the reader confusion. But Williams explained how to avoid this.

While Williams’ book was favored amongst the class, many people also gave some positive feedback on Strunk and White’s book, but everyone was clear as to the major differences in the books. Angela, Kelly and I all agree that Strunk and White was not as detailed as Williams. The Strunk and White book was basically a book that listed what you should and shouldn’t do. But everyone agreed that the book did offer useful grammar rules. Andy noted that although Strunk and White’s book wasnt necessarily lenghty, it provided clarity. I  agree with Andy but there were also times when I was confused due to the lack of effective examples.

It seems that everyone had different opinions about which one was an easier read though. I personally felt like although Strunk and White’s book was shorter, it was easier to read Williams’ simply because it focused on the writing proccess as a whole. Eric felt the same way, he mentioned, “Besides offering a wider view of writing (role of the audience, subject matter, etc.), Williams’ book is also much deeper than Strunk and White’s, in that it analyzes the entire process of crafting and constructing clear and cohesive writing. ” Williams’ book is such a resourceful book that we can all refer to. Strunk and White is also a book to keep on the shelf, but it is a book to help with the revision proccess. It was quite interesting to read what my classmates took from the books. I noticed new points that the book made that didn’t stick out to me before.