As this semester at Rowan comes to a close, I look back to all of the profound things I was exposed to. In my writing, research, and technology class, I spent most of my time learning how to connect ideas represented in different mediums and compare them to other mediums. I looked at many different examples of finding the importance in writing and in research while using technology to connect it all, as well as share it via the web. The most important thing I am taking away from this class is the ability to make significant connections to the information I am presented with in terms of authenticity and nature and being able to depict them accurately given research and technology.
For instance, I started off the semester reading "Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?" parts 1, 2, and 3 by Errol Morris. These articles were about the authenticity of photos taken by Rodger Fenton, regarding which photo came first, and which was altered by Fenton himself. In going about his research, Morris had to use the information he found, rather than base his findings on what he wanted to be true. This related closely to reading "Consider the Lobster and Other Essays" by David Foster Wallace. His understanding of the Maine Lobster Festival shows that no matter how much we dress up the reality of boiling lobsters alive, the truth persisted for some, including him. In relating these two writers to John Berger and Roland Barthes, two other writers we worked closely with, I was able to see this other connection, about the ways in which people understand the world and the effect that understanding has on the way reality is created.
In reading John Berger and Roland Barthes, I noticed a comparison in what Berger and Barthes said about nature to the way Morris and Wallace conducted research. Berger and Barthes show the reader that situations are created and interpreted by a reality that a writer, or researcher, must be aware of while addressing the audience. In exploring John Berger with my class this semester, I learned about how important the audience is to the message. Specifically, Berger discusses the ways that women are depicted to the audience, presumably male, and how the message of nakedness changes with the reality of women's place in society. We also looked at Barthes' Studium and Punctum, which are factors of a photo that draw you in, then prick you, or change you. This can be applied to the ways a situation can be presented. There are parts of the information that will pull you in, then the parts that will change you. It is important as a writer to use the elements of a rhetorical situation (audience, speaker, and context of situation) to set up the information you want to convey in the precise organization and influence, much of the way artist must do it their own work.
I was also able to connect this concept of displaying information in a concise way for your audience through Bill Cunningham: New York. As we watched this documentary in class, I was in awe of Bill's work and dedication to his passion. But more importantly, I was taken in by his ability to adapt to the situation rather than create it (relating back to Morris in his effort to reveal the truth of Fenton's picture). He was able to take pictures of women as they were and create a space in the New York Times for a larger audience to see these women as they were. Bill did not try to dress up a reality, rather praise the one that was already there.
For instance, I started off the semester reading "Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?" parts 1, 2, and 3 by Errol Morris. These articles were about the authenticity of photos taken by Rodger Fenton, regarding which photo came first, and which was altered by Fenton himself. In going about his research, Morris had to use the information he found, rather than base his findings on what he wanted to be true. This related closely to reading "Consider the Lobster and Other Essays" by David Foster Wallace. His understanding of the Maine Lobster Festival shows that no matter how much we dress up the reality of boiling lobsters alive, the truth persisted for some, including him. In relating these two writers to John Berger and Roland Barthes, two other writers we worked closely with, I was able to see this other connection, about the ways in which people understand the world and the effect that understanding has on the way reality is created.
In reading John Berger and Roland Barthes, I noticed a comparison in what Berger and Barthes said about nature to the way Morris and Wallace conducted research. Berger and Barthes show the reader that situations are created and interpreted by a reality that a writer, or researcher, must be aware of while addressing the audience. In exploring John Berger with my class this semester, I learned about how important the audience is to the message. Specifically, Berger discusses the ways that women are depicted to the audience, presumably male, and how the message of nakedness changes with the reality of women's place in society. We also looked at Barthes' Studium and Punctum, which are factors of a photo that draw you in, then prick you, or change you. This can be applied to the ways a situation can be presented. There are parts of the information that will pull you in, then the parts that will change you. It is important as a writer to use the elements of a rhetorical situation (audience, speaker, and context of situation) to set up the information you want to convey in the precise organization and influence, much of the way artist must do it their own work.
I was also able to connect this concept of displaying information in a concise way for your audience through Bill Cunningham: New York. As we watched this documentary in class, I was in awe of Bill's work and dedication to his passion. But more importantly, I was taken in by his ability to adapt to the situation rather than create it (relating back to Morris in his effort to reveal the truth of Fenton's picture). He was able to take pictures of women as they were and create a space in the New York Times for a larger audience to see these women as they were. Bill did not try to dress up a reality, rather praise the one that was already there.