My Home

A special place that comes to mind first is my home, my home is basically where I grew up to be me and it’s the only place where I feel 100% comfortable being me.  Not only is the space itself important, but the location has a lot to do with it.  I live in a small town called Lennox, which is located between Inglewood and Hawthorne, and it is where I have been all my life.  Every time I go out somewhere that is not Lennox I feel like an outsider because I am so used to being in one place my whole life. 

My home is also very important because of the objects it holds as well as the people who occupy it and the activities that go on there.  My family is everything to me and everything I do is to make them proud.  They are the only people I trust and the only ones I can count on unconditionally.  Some activities that go on in my house is the celebration of birthdays and holidays.  Since we are one the few people in my family to have a pretty big space, a lot of the holidays and birthdays are celebrated there and it thrills me every time this happens because it shows a sense of unity.  Ansa described a special place to her and shared with us in “The Center of The Universe”, “The image has always made me feel safe.  Sheltered by my surroundings, enveloped in the arms of “family” of one kind or another, mostly southern family.”  This exactly my feelings as well, in my home I am able to feel safe because I know that I am surrounded by people who love me.

There are many objects in my house that I would consider extremely important for me.  Some would include my car, cell phone, computer, clothes, shoes, etc.  There are also objects with no value, such as pictures and home videos, which hold an important meaning for my family. I agree with Kron in “The Semiotics of Home Décor” where he mentions that “If an object reflects a person accurately, it’s an index of status.  But symbols of status are not always good indices of status.  They are not official proof of rank in the same way a generals stars are.”  Meaning that and object does not accurately tell you how a person is, like their personality and their economic status.  For example, in my community if you wear Ugg boots and have more than one pair it means that you have money, since the boots are pretty expensive.  In my opinion this is very false, I personally have three pairs but I am in no way wealthy.  They were just gifts from my parents, which someone can see as “spoiled”, but I disagree.  If your parents buy you something nice it was because they wanted to not because you told them to or forced them to.  Yes they may send some signals to others, but it definitely does not mean that objects represent who you are.

Personally I think that the only message that my home sends to others is that we are very family oriented and traditional.  This being because we have pictures of my sister and I as babies as well as other family pictures around the living room.  My personal belongings in other words might give the message that I probably am a conceited person and that I have money, but that is false.  I worked hard to get my things and some are just plain necessities.  Yes, I will not lie that I do like the “finer” things although many times I cannot afford them but when I can I like to treat myself and I like to dress nice but that’s just my personality.  That type of personality does not affect my relationships with other people.

In the end, I think that a space can really be meaningful although you do not think about it very often.  In my case, if my home was taken away from me I would be forever devastated because it holds memories that cannot be relived.  My home also contains personal objects that shape who I am, but these objects are not a reflection of my personality.  For example, because I like nice things that are sometimes pricey it does not mean that I am wealthy or stuck up because I like to look nice.  That is an attribute between me, myself, and I.  Only you are capable of defining your personality with others with your actions.

Work Cited

Ansa, McElroy Tina. “The Center of the Universe”. Reading Culture: Context for Critical Reading and Writing. Eds. Diana George and John Trimbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012.

Kron, Joan. “The Semiotics of Home Décor”. Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Eds. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford-St. Martins, 2012.

The Real World vs The Web

                The web is a resource that has been able to provide us with so much from information for school assignments to entertainment like social networks.  It is safe to say that for many the web is truly a place for freedom.  We are able to speak up and say things that perhaps we would not say in real life.  Although it has many positive effects, sometimes there are those questions of doubt that may rise.  For instance, does the web give others more power?  Do they act the way they do to receive attention?  It may not be something that crosses our mind, but if we come to think about it the web has the ability to change who we are online.

                It is impossible to deny the fact that there are many people obsessed with the web, but sometimes we may go a little too far to gain attention.  When someone’s life is at risk and your priority is to have all eyes on you in the web is something that is very unfortunate, this is when you know there is a problem with people and their relationships with others.  In “I Tweet, Therefore I Am” by Andrew Lam, he shares with us in his article, “At USC a few weeks ago, professor Bill Nye, popularly known as “the science guy” on TV, collapsed on stage out of exhaustion as he prepared to give a lecture.  Instead of helping him, many students in the audience took out their cell phones, snapped photos, texted and tweeted.”  Instead of calling for help their first instinct was to share this with everyone.  It is as if they were some type of news reporters who felt it was necessary to let everyone know about what was going on, just as Lam mentions “It would seem that our 21^st century response to an emergency is not to interact, but to record it.”  We see that in many social network sites people always feel as if their lives are so important that they decide to play news reporters with their lives and let us know about everything that goes on. 

These people may think that all eyes are on them when they are being so detailed and descriptive about their lives.  They want people to read what they are writing and they make it clear that they want everyone to have their eyes on them and let them know, because if they did not then they would not be posting so many things that are irrelevant.  I understand Facebook asks “What’s on your mind?”  But it is something that should not be taken too literal.  It is safe to say that many people take it literal because they think it is okay to write about their lives and share it with everyone because they do not mind others knowing about their business, they are extremely open people.  It is okay to post something that you may find interesting such as “Wow I did not know that a person who sits and watches TV for three hours a day is 64% more likely to die from heart disease” as compared to “Omg everything in my life is going wrong I hate it.  First I wake up late, then my car gets flat tire, I spill my orange drink on my white shirt, I trip on my way to class and dirty my pants and when I get there its canceled! Ugh! Can this day get any worse? I hate my life!”  That is something that would be considered a little too much.  It is as if they were tethered to express themselves like this, they probably feel as it is necessary to express themselves in a way where everyone can know how they feel.  Ever heard of something called TMI? Well it stands for too much information, and it is something these audience seeking web users may be confused about. 

We also have to keep in mind that many times the web is the only place a person can feel a sense of great power because they are able to write whatever it is that they want.  People often they decide to post things or comment on others pictures/posts because they feel that they have the power to do so therefore they can say whatever it is that may come to mind.   But as Bernstein claims in his essay, can we truly be anonymous in the digital world?  To a certain extent yes, but in the end the technology is too advanced that eventually someone will know who that “anonymous” person truly is.  We see that Bernstein mentions, “But anonymity is also a tremendous aid to the resentful, the scandalous and the cowardly, and the signs are that the tidal wave of anonymous comment made possible by the internet is getting even bigger.” (Bernstein 349)  This is clear that those who decide to remain anonymous are the people that in fact are cowards.  For example, when a person sees a picture of someone and decides to comment something negative anonymously it is because they are afraid to actually tell the person what they think face to face.  The fact that it is so easy and okay to do something like this is also an unfortunate thing.  Like Bernstein says, “But what the internet and its cult of anonymity do is provide a blanket sort of immunity for anybody who wants to say anything about anybody else, and it would be difficult in this sense to think of a more morally deformed exploitation of the concept of free speech.” (Bernstein 350)  As we can infer, it is more likely that these are the people that do not speak up in a social environment because they are not confident in their thoughts.  This clearly shows how their interactions with others are affected because the only way they feel confident about speaking up is when they are online and remain anonymous because they know that no one will find out they are the authors of the post and therefore they will not be judged.

An important factor that many of us do not pay as much attention to as we should is safety.  “Discipline’ may be identified neither with an institution nor with an apparatus; it is a type of power, a modality for its exercise, comprising a whole set of instruments, techniques, procedures, levels of applications, targets;…” mentions Foucault in “Panopticism”. (Foucault 206)  Discipline is important.  They way your treat others is eventually the way you will be treated, therefore people should discipline themselves and people online should also discipline each other when it comes to their posts.  “Genrelly speaking, it might be said that the disciplines are the techniques for assuring the ordering of human multiplicities.”  (Foucault 207)  In my point of view what I mean by discipline is that people should not harass others on the internet just because they have the freedom to do so.  It is unfair for other innocent people for undisciplined online users to harass and disrespect them by using foul language, saying negative comments about them, harassing them in a sexual way, etc.  Luckily, an undisciplined online user can go so far before they get into trouble with the authorities.  This does not mean that it is okay to do all this into someone gets into serious trouble. Us, as online users know we have to respect others and if we see any one being harmed in a virtual form through the use of the internet we should probably try to speak up and say something, since we know its morally wrong to act in such a negative way, if not we can learn from the experience so that we never do something like that ourselves.

In the end, we always have to keep an open mind and remember to stay true to ourselves and not let the internet wash our head.  We have to do what is right, which means not insulting others or anything of that sort.  If we are unfortunate enough to experience or witness something of that sort, then we should speak up and do what we know is right.  When it comes to school work we must also remember that there is a difference between posting something on Facebook or Twitter and an essay.  School is not like the internet and we cannot change who we are, meaning the way we write.  When anything is related to school we have to remain professional.  We cannot let the internet change us negatively because it should be seen a positive resource that we should take for granted.

Work Cited

Bernstein, Richard. “The Growing Cowardice of Online Anonymity”. The Norton Sampler 7th Edition: Short Essays for Composition. Thomas Cooley. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2010. 349-353. Print

Foucault, Michel. “Panopticism”. The Foucault Reader. Ed. Paul Rainbow. New York: Vintage Books, 2010. 206-213. Print

Lam, Andrew. “I Tweet, Therefore I Am”. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Eds. Diana George and John Trimbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012.

The Other Side of the Internet

Many of us tend to only focus on the good side to the internet.  It is safe to say that it is an invention that has changed the world in so many ways.  It has obviously made our lives much easier, I mean I cannot imagine how my life would have been if I was a teenager during my parents time.  It means I would have had to do research by reading books; I would not be able to get answers to anything that crosses my mind like Google does, and not being able to have Facebook or twitter?  That itself is a catastrophe!  We’ve come such a long way from then, now we can do almost anything with the help of the internet and it has been extremely beneficial to our busy lives.

In Carr’s essay he tells us how it has been getting more and more difficult for him to focus on one thing and he blames the internet because he has spent too much time on it.  This is the case with many people.  I am sure back then it was enjoyable to sit outside your house under the tree drinking a cold cup of fresh lemonade while reading a book.  That was the way of many people to relax and release any stress they may have.  Although I am sure that there are still some people who may do that, how I see it is wealthy adults sitting outside in their backyard that happens to also be the beach, the majority of people really do not have the time to do that but in many cases they are just too lazy.  Who would want to spend days and days sitting reading a book, instead of doing other things like running errands or hanging out with your friends, when you can spend less than over half of that time looking up a summary online where it will tell you what the story was about without you being confused or anything.  Because that is another factor when it comes to reading, there are times where you are reading and think “What the hell is this author telling me?” but online you are able to find summaries that clearly state what the author is trying to tell you.  And that was just about reading a book, you can only imagine the benefits of the internet when it comes to socializing with others, getting updated with what is going on around the world, and shopping.  But now to get real, yes the internet provides us with so much that it makes our lives way easier but clearly we are not benefitting from it. 

                It is way harder for us to focus on one task when we have the internet right in our hands, literally.  It seems as if nowadays everyone needs to have internet on their phones in order to survive.  Put it like these, the internet to many is like a basic need in life such as water.  It may sound a little exaggerated but we cannot deny that this is true.  Many people cannot stay away from the internet for over a day, not even hours.   Going back to how it affects our cognition, we are not able to easily complete a task without focusing on one thing only, better yet without using the internet.  For example, when I have to do homework like writing an essay, which does not require the use of the internet (sometimes), it is honestly impossible for me to not go on the internet and log on Facebook and check what is going on in the world with Yahoo.  It is extremely difficult to focus on one thing only, which is my homework.  When I am trying to read a book as well it is so hard to even get through a page without thinking about what is on Facebook or twitter.  What is so frustrating is that I probably read two or three pages but then I realize “I have no idea what it is that I just read”.  That is a waste of time because I have to go back and make sure I focus and make sure I know and understood what I just read.

                I definitely agree with Hayles evidence when she mentions that students are using hyper attention more often, which basically means that they like to focus on various things quickly, they do not like to stay focused on one thing for too long and they like to get information through different sources.  In my opinion the reason why they enjoy this more is because they are not able to get bored as easily then if you had to only focus on one thing for so long.  Whether it is reading or gathering information, if you are able to do it through different ways then you will not see it as such a drag.  I know there are some people that cannot complete a task without taking a break (which can be seen as an interruption).  I know I have to be switching back and forth between my essay and Facebook because if I only focus on my essay I will get bored and end up doing a crappy job.  By taking a break it allows me, and many other students I am sure, to relax for a bit and gather up our thoughts and sometimes even come up with new ones to make our homework come out great.

Although it has been nothing but good things, in reality does all this benefit us?  Personally I think it has only made us into a lazier society and it has affected the way we do many things.  We rely on the internet too much.  From getting information for a school assignment, getting answers to any question that may come to mind, to reading online summaries instead of a book.  It is as if we do not even try to use our heads anymore because we rely on the internet to help us out with anything.  We need to once in a while do things only our own, like go out there and get answers to our questions by asking somebody.  And instead of relying on the internet to socialize with your friends, try hanging out and/or going out for lunch.  You just never know what a positive difference it can make for you.

PW 2

The Web and Us

                The web is truly a place of freedom for many of us.  It allows us to speak up and say things that perhaps we would not say in the real life.  Although it has many positive effects, there is much negativity to it as well.  Are putting the web ahead of everything else?  Are we being too open?  Are we truly remaining anonymous in certain circumstances?  And most importantly, are we safe?  We may not see these negative things at a day to day basis, but if we come to think about it may be possible that the web is doing us more wrong than right.

                The fact that many people are obsessed with the web is undeniable, but when someone’s life is at danger and their first instinct is to share the situation with the web, then that is when you know there is a problem with their relationships with others.  Lam shared with us, “At USC a few weeks ago, professor Bill Nye, popularly known as “the science guy” on TV, collapsed on stage out of exhaustion as he prepared to give a lecture.  Instead of helping him, many students in the audience took out their cell phones, snapped photos, texted and tweeted.”  Instead of calling for help their first instinct was to share this with everyone.  It is as if they were some type of news reporters who felt it was necessary to let everyone know about what was going on.  In many social networks, people always feel as if there lives are so important that they decided to play news reporter with their lives and they let us know about everything that goes on.  Some people need to know where to draw the line between being public and keeping certain things private.   

We see that Bernstein mentions, “But anonymity is also a tremendous aid to the resentful, the scandalous and the cowardly, and the signs are that the tidal wave of anonymous comment made possible by the internet is getting even bigger.”  This is a clear statement that those who decide to remain anonymous are the people that in fact are cowards.  They are fearful of speaking their mind and being completely honest.  For example, when a person sees a picture of someone and decides to comment something negative anonymously it is because they are afraid to actually tell the person what they think face to face.  It is more likely that these are the people who do not speak up in social environments such as a classroom or a gathering with friends because they are not confident in their thoughts.  This clearly shows how their interactions with others are affected because the only way they feel confident about speaking up is when they are online and remain anonymous because they know that no one will find out they are the authors of the post therefore they will not be judged.

An important factor that many of us do not pay as much attention as we should is safety.  “’Discipline’ may be identified neither with an institution nor with an apparatus; it is a type of power, a modality for its exercise, comprising a whole set of instruments, techniques, procedures, levels of application, targets;…” mentions Foucault.  Discipline is always important.  The way you treat others is eventually the way you will be treated.  There are many incidents of cyber bullying which is completely wrong and unacceptable.  There are also times where we may encounter other types of disrespect on the web.  In my opinion, these people should be carefully monitored and should not be allowed back because all they are doing is creating a negative atmosphere for everyone else as well as victimizing innocent people.

In the end, although the web may have a vast form of entertainment we have to realize how it is affecting us.  For instance, when it comes to writing.  On the web we are able to say what we need to say in a few words without having to expand and say many details.  This is not good because this habit may follow us when we try to write an essay and we are not able to expand and add more detail to what we need to say.  We have to keep in mind that the web is a privilege and it should not be taken advantage of.

Work Cited

Bernstein, Richard. “The Growing Cowardice of Online Anonymity.” The Norton Sampler 7^th Edition: Short Essays for Composition. Thomas Cooley. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2010. 349-353. Print.

Foucault, Michel. “Panopticism”. The Foucault Reader. Ed. Paul Rainbow. New York: Vintage Books, 2010. 206-213. Ptint.

Lam, Andrew. “I Tweet, Therefore I Am”. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Eds. Diana George and John Trimbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012