This week, I was asked to show two different scenes to my writer, one familiar scene, possibly something from my own home, and an unfamiliar scene, a strange place, somewhere I've never been before.
Familiar Place: It's pitch black outside, 7:05pm. We're in the kitchen, and Zachary is dancing around the table while our kitten runs across the hard wooden floor. One of the eight lights in the antique chandelier has stopped working, but with all of the other lights in the room, there's no need to worry about it. We're all sitting around the wooden table giving our attention to our father, with the exception of Zachary who is still dancing like a spaz. Bowls filled with salad toppings surround dirty dishes covered in sauce and salad dressing. We can still smell the Italian spices in the air after the raviolis dad chose to have for his birthday dinner. the dark green table cloth is a stark contrast to the bright red sauce stains that have appeared at Zachary's end of the table. Sam and Emma are anticipating the cherry pie I made, so they start to clear the table in hopes that they can have dessert now. The stainless steel sink now full of dishes after the six of us finished eating. I can still taste the pecans that had topped my salad. As I type these words, Emma runs to the next room to grab dad's birthday gift, and mom has her grab our gift too. Zach is now scurrying to try and find his gift, as he runs in circles thinking he'll see something different each time he circles the table. Emma comes back with a long but flat rectangular box in colorful red Christmas wrapping, and a partially transparent white bag that has the gift from the rest of the family. Mom also comes back to the table with the card sent up by my grandparents, they can't be here because they live in Florida 6 months out of the year. Dad rips open the neat wrapping from Emma's gift, to find a long white clothing box inside. As he slowly pulls off the top of the box, he finds a navy blue, extra large shirt that reads : This Is What A Really Cool DAD Looks Like. Sam joked around saying how there should be an arrow that points to the left, and dad responds saying that he just earned himself one less Christmas present. He was joking of course, but Sam didn't find it all too funny. Dad set the shirt down and grabbed the white bag. There was no tissue paper or anything, and to be honest, the bags was just there for the significance of identifying it as a gift. Not only did he pick it out himself, but he had also taken it out of the box and charged it already. He had picked out a small power drill, the same one he had lost almost a year ago. Finally, he opened up his card from his parents, but I couldn't read it from this end of the table. All I had seen was the bright blue envelope he had taken the card from. Apart from the brownies and the cherry pie, all of the festivities are through with, and it's time to put Zachary down for bed, and get my bag packed for class tomorrow. Strange Place: I was almost asleep in the leather passenger seat of my mom's Chrysler Town & Country when she said that it was time to go in. "Go in? We're not even past Weavers yet." Came my groggy reply. We were on our way to Grammy's house, when all of the sudden, mom parked the car. "Yeah, we had to go somewhere new for your assignment. Come on Rebekah, you were the one who suggested the antique's shop anyway." She said trying to coax me out of my seat. "What? I'm confused" Piped up Sam from the back seat. "I'm going in too!" Zach exclaimed. "We just have to go in for a minute" Mom said, "You can stay out here, we need ten or fifteen minutes for Bekah's assignment." "Okay, goodnight" Sam mumbled as he laid back down to fall asleep. I grabbed my phone to video tape the store as Sean had mentioned in class the other day. From the outside of the little shop, you could see farming tools and the like hung on shelves or set on the ground. The glass door let out plenty of light, and my eyes had to readjust as mom opened the door for me to go through. As soon as you went in, you had to walk through the line of customers waiting to visit the cashier on the right of the door. Though the employees tried to organize everything, antiques were scattered everywhere. Little oil cans adorned most of the shelving, racks of old clothes were pushed up against the walls, and from the ceiling, hung lamps and lanterns and tools of all sorts. One shelf was overflowing with black and white photos they had collected over the years. It was interesting, seeing so many people's memories just laying on a shelf in some random shop out in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Zach and my mom went up the stairs in the back corner of the shop while I stayed downstairs looking at the rotary phones. I would have loved to have purchased one for my own room if it didn't take so long for the numbers to reset themselves. I was fascinated by the jewelry and fashion magazines next to the telephones, and all too soon, I had to leave. next Reflection Time! Class Life: This week in class, we discussed logical fallacies, showing and telling, and the basics of our next few blog posts, which seem as though they are going to be very interesting. If you've read some of the Room for Debate arguments my classmates and I have made, then you can tell we're trying to argue a point saying whether we are for or against a point made by the New York Times' Room for Debate website. So, we went over the logical fallacies to be found in our assignments. Fallacies are basically flaws in the logic of the assignments, that could potentially cause our arguments to lose their strength, because there is not enough evidence, because they don't answer the question being asked, or because the person making the argument my be manipulating their words in such a way that although it seems as if they as saying something intelligent, in all actuality, it has nothing to do with the point they're trying to make. Showing and telling has more to do with the One Semester Memoir that is coming up. Showing we the type of writing I studied throughout high school, and telling is the type of writing we used in middle school, so I had a pretty good idea of what each of these were before Dr. Mangini discussed these near the end of class. Before he discussed these, I wrote this in my notebook: Showing - To truly describe the scene, giving the reader a vivid picture about what it is they are reading. Telling - Slightly descriptive, just enough to tell the reader what it is they need to know, mostly informative. I think they pretty accurately captured the definitions of these terms. Home Life: So, I went to the winter retreat, which was amazing, I've come home, gotten some rest, went to a few classes, and I'm getting back into the swing of thinks, which means I'm more than ready to start blogging again! In a previous post, I used the following telling language to explain a moment from my life: The Prayer Experience is basically a tent we set up in the main hall, that we use as an extension of the speaker's messages. It usually is set up as a redemption story that as you walk through, you realize the love and mercy and grace God has towards us. I don't want to reveal too much yet, because I don't want to explain everything and ruin it for all of my friends on the retreat, but the four main rooms in relation to the messages, are Grace, Devotion, Love and Life. We will also have what is going to be known as the psycho room at the very beginning. Here, I will revise this language into a scene that shows readers this same moment from my life. I walked past the door and inhaled the nice warm air. I wonderful transition from the bitter cold of the outdoors. I took my time walking through the hallway trying to experience everything. Pictures of other camps had been posted on the walls, you could see the joy in the faces of those using the canoes and running around the playground. You could almost hear the laughter emanating from the photos themselves, as you saw the children from the summer camp working on their projects and eating their snacks. A cool breeze flows over me as the glass door is thrown open. My friends call me into the gym so we can hang out. The humungous gym seems as though it could fit every person I've ever met, and we'd still have plenty of elbow room. On my right, a homey, antiqued coatrack is placed next to the vending machine. In front of that, two ping pong tables covered in craft materials, zip ties, fishing line, spray paint, giant tarps, and anything else we thought we might need to finish our project. On my right, nine-square was set up, and past that, a giant black tent. On the outside, it seemed totally out of place in the room with the bright yellow floors, but on the inside, it was perfect for the retreat. As I walked into the first room, I actually had to wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness before I was able to move on. I was immediately placed in a small, almost claustrophobic room. Magazine pictures are posted everywhere. Colored strings connecting pictures are also draped from the ceiling and I have to duck and swerve to try and avoid ripping them down. You can see words that describe things that pull us away from God, "Girls," "Money," "Celebrities," "Boys," "Guns," "Music," "Makeup" etc. Anything that we place higher than God. We were supposed to have a strobe light set up to enhance the craziness, but we ran out of time. As you walked through the next door, you were almost hit with a peacefulness, being pulled out of the craziness and placed into a serene blue room with white clouds and golden raindrops hanging above your head. In the center of the wall, a beautiful painting covered in writing. You will come, like a flood of golden raindrops, you will come. And we will be ready. The roots of our hearts will soak up your living water. And we will bloom that all might see your beauty and your goodness. You will come, like a flood of golden raindrops, you will come. There were long scrolls draped down the side of the room, and on the other side, a chalkboard that read:
Characteristic of God... GRACE It is... Being given a pass when you don't deserve it It is not... just a get out of Hell free card As I moved through to the next room, I saw a large chair, and above it, a 4x4 cardboard sign adorned the wall. On this sign, three thrones had been painted. It was asking who we had in control of our lives, do we place ourselves on the throne, and have God completely out of the picture, do we place ourselves on the throne and have God on the side helping us out just when we need him, or do we place God on the throne and allow him to take control of our lives? Keeping in mind with this option, that he has a perfect plan for us, and that we need to accept whatever is in his will, even of we don't always like it, because He loves us and He knows what's best for us. The walls of this room were also adorned with scrolls, all of which were related to our devotion to God. Reflection Time!
Class Life: Today in class, we split into groups and used our Reverse Outlines to examine and critique each others' work, and to help us revise our room for debate assignments. Group number three consisted of Qin, Marquee, and myself. Qin based her essay off her belief that China's one-child policy deserved to be abolished, and she offered her solutions for fixing the economy after being botched by the one-child policy. Marquee decided to write his assignment so that it would revolve around the entertainment industry. He argued that even though video games are great, movies are being ruined because Hollywood is trying to make movies using video game graphics. He also gave the example of The Amazing Spider-Man having the graphics of a game called Mirror's Edge, and linked to a video showing how the movements and graphics style were almost exactly the same. We did a bit of brainstorming, and we tried to rearrange some sentences with clarity as our main focus. I was surprised with how comfortable I was working in a group like that because I am used to being really independent with my work. I tend to work in my bed or on the couch, and I tend to get the most done when nobody is in the room and I have the TV making noise behind me. I usually just leave the TV on enough that it isn't dead silent in the room, but it's still quiet enough that it doesn't become a distraction. Overall, I really enjoyed what we did in class today. Home Life: I have to be honest, I feel like I have been getting lazy with my blogs, thankfully, I have a lot to say in this reflection, so I don't feel all that bad. I promise to get better with it though. I am going to be at a retreat this weekend, so I won't have internet for a few days, but when I come back, there will be plenty to blog about. This past week was crazy busy with planning and trying to figure out all of the details, and I'm not even a leader, I'm just a student helping out with the Prayer Experience. The Prayer Experience is basically a tent we set up in the main hall, that we use as an extension of the speaker's messages. It usually is set up as a redemption story that as you walk through, you realize the love and mercy and grace God has towards us. I don't want to reveal too much yet, because I don't want to explain everything and ruin it for all of my friends on the retreat, but the four main rooms in relation to the messages, are Grace, Devotion, Love and Life. We will also have what is going to be known as the psycho room at the very beginning. The winter retreat is one of my favorite events of the year, and I have to go pack everything tonight when I go home. I finished one of my main projects about an hour ago, and I am trying to keep it safe until then. I had to write up a scroll with the lyrics to Let it Happen by United Pursuit , we also have Kind by Amanda Cook, and one other song that I can't remember the name of. I am so excited to see how this all turns out, and I can't wait to tell you all about it soon. Bye for now! Reverse Outline
Title: The Technology of this Generation Thesis Statement: Technology, I've concluded, is of great use to America's teens, allowing for much productivity and communication, it seemingly has more benefits than anything else. Topic Sentences: Though our cell phones and computers harbor many distractions, they are also what help us to learn the most. Apart from productivity, communication is an amazing benefit from the constant use of technology. Source Material: Room for Debate Article YouTube Video with Dr. Amanda Third from the University of Western Sydney Web Site Matches Ready Teens and Willing Employers Rebuttal: Now, Many people argue that teens should not have access to technology because there are so many distractions, I understand that, I do. But the bigger issue is that our society no longer allows for failure, they are looking for perfection in an imperfect world. Yes our devices offer distractions, yes there are many who are willing to take advantage of the entertainment provided, and use it to help them procrastinate, to put off their work until later. I also understand that could cause teens to flunk an assignment, to forget something important, or lose sleep. But after that happens, it becomes an instant wake-up call, people learn the most from failure. You can never stand up without having fallen down. We had to fall down a few times before we could even learn how to walk. Of course we’re going to fall down a few times with harder things like high school, or college, or sports, or relationships, or anything else for that matter. We’re allowed to fall every once in awhile, and if it’s not caused by distractions offered by our phones, then it will be from board games, a hobby, playing with the springy doorstops, if we are being distracted, it is because we already wanted to be distracted. Argument Summary: Altogether, I believe I wrote a very convincing argument. I feel that I did a great job of acknowledging and responding to another viewpoint. I know that I need to shorten the length of the assignment, and I definitely feel that there are some parts I could strengthen, but apart from that, I feel as though my argument was very convincing to the general audience, and that I had some great supporting points. Many argue that teenagers are addicted to today's technology, and that it is a major concern for both their health and mentality, but it could actually be the thing that sparks the most creativity. Whether its due to homework, being grounded, or parents wanting to keep their children safe, America's teens are constantly stuck indoors; this makes it difficult to connect with their peers. Whereas previous generations stayed at the park from dawn to dusk with their friends, most teenagers feel that they never have a chance to see their friends, one of the things that inspires the most creativity, storytelling, and causes development of the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that allows for decision making.. Technology allows a bridge to be built, allowing communication between friends even while stuck inside. It allows for friends to share opinions, gain support, or share stories of events someone might have missed out on. Technology is also vital for learning, and education. Maybe a teen's favorite video game showed them their love for programming, maybe a smartphone is the only opportunity a person has to learn an instrument, plus, there's always just the enjoyable and beneficial communication of a friend who lives far away. Technology, I've concluded, is of great use to America's teens, allowing for much productivity and communication, it seemingly has more benefits than anything else.
This issue was debated by five experts on the New York Times' Room for Debate page, the article, Is Internet Addiction a Health Threat for Teenagers? used five different viewpoints and decided to let the reader decide. Danah Boyd, author of "It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens." explained that we should blame the society we live in, and not the screens themselves. Chris Bergman, founder and chief executive of ChoreMonster, followed a similar line of thought and went on about how we shouldn't limit the amount of time teenagers are allowed on technology, because it affects their behavior once they're out of their parents sight. After that, Brendesha Tynes, professor of education and psychology at University of Southern California, took her debate article in a totally different direction, and decided to share how she feels that Cyberbullying is the bigger issue. Yale professor of psychiatry, child study, and neurobiology, Marc Potenza, tells us that although more research is needed, he believes it to truly be a problem for America's youth. Finally, Kimberly Young, author of "Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction — and a Winning Strategy for Recovery," "Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide for Evaluation and Treatment" and other books. shares her tips for regulating the amount of time your child or teenager spends on technology. Though our cell phones and computers harbor many distractions, they are also what help us to learn the most. My free time is spent on websites such as Wikihow, Wikia, and BeeACoder.com, not to mention countless hours spent learning random trivia. It's the only way I have access to sheet music to continue studying piano, and it's how I complete any and all of my homework, not to mention more than half of my studies. My friends use their laptops to mix and edit their music, design with CAD, and share their latest paintings. More often then not, my teenage bother spends his time using YouTube to learn as much as he possibly can about the mysteries of science. We have access to the world through our phones and our computers, that's why the majority of us our stuck to them. We can learn anything we want from the comfort and safety of our own homes. Teenagers are given the opportunity to skip through years of school online, when entering into a cyber school setting, so long as you have the ability to keep up with the work, you're in whatever grade you want to be in. Our technology is one of the greatest resources we have, without it, we could never have made as much progress as we have today. Apart from productivity, communication is an amazing benefit of the constant use of technology. Recently, millions of teens moved around the world to begin their college experience, they left behind the people they knew, the things they were accustomed to, and the places they grew up. Without their social media and SMS capabilities, they might never talk to some of their friends or family again. With sites such as Facebook. Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and so many others, there's no end to the possibilities of how you can keep in touch with your loved ones. You can keep them up to date with the latest things going on in your life, or just enjoy looking through old memories on your friends' pages. Even high school students reap the benefits of having these social media sites. If you're away from friends on holiday, or if you cannot find a way to meet up, you can call, text, or chat with them almost all the time. You always have a friend nearby, without actually having to have a friend nearby. In my life, technology is vital for communication. My grandparents live in Florida half the year, my mom's side of the family lives over an hour away, the best friends anyone could ever have either live over an hour away, or in California, and as a homeschooler, I tend to see my friends Sunday mornings at church, or Wednesday and Saturday evenings at youth group. So when something insane happens and I need to talk to someone, it may be a few days before I even have a chance to talk to them. Although with messenger, it only takes until the time their phone dings, after that, we can chat on for hours with ever having to make an extensive commute. I personally find this to be one of the greatest benefits technology has to offer. Communication and Productivity are great things that come out of a teen's use of technology. Without the usage of technology, teenagers would never have had the ability to learn as much as they do, they wouldn't easily be able to follow after their passions, and they would have an extremely difficult time connecting with their friends and families. It has become such a major part of each teenager's life, that I believe they would be much worse off without it. It is the reason for so many of our advances, although the are a few distractions and issues that come with it, I truly believe technology makes up for them every step of the way. I also believe that the most important benefit of technology is the communication it provides us with. Technology shapes the way teenagers think, and how they act, it helps them to learn and to grow, and without it, I think our generation would look very different. Reflection Time!
Class Life: This week in class, Dr. Mangini switched to more of a Lecture style setting. It was really hard to wrap my mind around this and focus in his class, because I'm not used to that setting. I guess I have to use some of that neuroplasticity we've learned about. But I totally get the lecture thing, he's teaching according to the style of the major assignment. The last assignment was the Adaptive Mindset Assignment, so he used some crazy teaching techniques to give us an idea of what adapting looks like in our lives. Now, we are doing a more formal essay, known as the Room for Debate Assignment, so he is using a more formal teaching style. Where he had given more of an overall look at our last assignment, this time he plans to give us more nuts and bolts, grammar related feedback. So, it's actually really interesting to see the class change with the assignments, but it will take a while to wrap my mind around the changes. Home Life: October 31st, Halloween. My sister Emma felt like changing up the routine a bit, it's been ages since we all went out to dinner, so she wanted to eat out like a normal family. But, if you haven't realized yet, my family is anything but normal. She asked my mom, who initially said no, but realized that even though it may be expensive, it's not like eating out is something we do often. "Go ask your dad." the usual reply. Emma then shot up the stairs and back into our bedroom. She begged me to ask dad because she didn't want him to say no, and she didn't want to upset him. I thought she was being ridiculous, so I walked into my parents bedroom and told him how Emma didn't want to ask him, but she wanted to know if we could go out to eat. "What did your mother say?" They always ask the same questions. "She told us to ask you." I replied. He was just making we weren't searching around to find the answer we wanted. I don't know" was all he said. I suggested we go somewhere like the Burger King up the road to save money, just so long as we didn't have to make dinner, or even worse, do dishes. I left it at that and went back into my room. Dad left for work, and I started on my math homework. time went by, I had finished my chores and completed some math. When he finally finished up and arrived home, he found mom and I at the computer. He never said hi or anything, he just strutted up to us and said that he had two conditions. "What?" Questioned mom having been given no context whatsoever. "The kids said they wanted to go out to dinner, so I have some conditions," He started laughing, which kind of concerned us, yet at the same time we were suddenly very intrigued. "One, you all need to dress up. All!" "Really?" I almost jumped out of my seat. "Really. everyone is going to dress up, and you have an hour to do so." "That's awesome!" I exclaimed as I darted up the stairs. I rushed to mom's dresser, looking around for her olive colored shirt, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I went back into my room and grabbed the October issue of Seventeen Magazine, and looked at the makeup ideas they gave. I loved the comic book superhero idea, but I didn't have the right makeup to created that look. Then I saw the mermaid costume idea, and knowing I had heaps of beach related items, I thought that would be a good idea. But I had nothing for the tail. Eventually, my mom mentioned her and dad's old karate uniforms, she said that maybe I could wear the karate uniform, and she could wear my nursing scrubs. Then I felt like a total idiot because I forgot about my scrubs. I said that she should wear the karate uniform, because it was hers and because she still wore the same size clothes as she did when she took karate. Plus, the scrubs were my size because I need them if I become a nurse Eventually, I threw on my scrubs, wrapped my stethoscope around my neck, placed some pens in my pocket and threw on the closest things I had to tennis shoes. I was ready to go. I also slipped my phone into the pocket of my scrubs instead of my jacket so it would look like I had something in my pocket. My dad never told us where we were going, but we took turns guessing, and I found out I was right as we pulled into Applebee's, and we were pleasantly surprised to see all of the waiters and waitresses in costume. They absolutely loved our costumes, and we were seated immediately. My dad dressed up in his dad's old clothes from the seventies, my mom wore her old karate uniform, I wore my scrubs, Sam wore his hunting outfit, Emma wore her everyday clothes but with a cowgirl hat and a pair of cowboy boots, and Zachary dressed up as a lamb using a costume we had to make for his pre-school's harvest party. It was actually a really great idea, and it's a great story to share. |
Rebekah W
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