Blog: Self-Reflective

How I See Myself as a Reader and Writer

Growing up in a Vietnamese household and being the first generation in America, English is my second language. Therefore, from a very young age I have always thought myself as a weaker writer than most of my classmates. English for me has always been area of weakness in school. This put a lot of pressure on me to be a better writer; I felt the need to excel in English to prove to myself, to my family, and to all my peers that a foreign person can succeed in America. I believe I have come a long way as a writer and I have my family, friends, and teachers to thank for.

English 1020 have taught me the meaning of reading critically and writing well. As a reader, I have learned to read for meaning and read like a writer. These strategies allow me to look at a text in more than one way. When reading a text, I have learned that in order to fully comprehend what the text is attempting to convey, it was best that I read the text multiple times. I am now able to convert my focus from meaning to rhetoric; in other words I am able to convert from what the text is trying to convey to why and how it is conveyed. My writing improved as I begin to master these concepts. To be a good writer I had to be able to understand the text in terms of what, when, why, who, and how. It was important to understand the style of the text such as is it a form of observation, reflective, or rhetoric. Each of these styles of text were studied and analyzed in class. I believe that because we were able to discuss each assign article in class, I learned a lot from hearing what my peers had to say about what they understood from it. Having the opportunity to discuss each article as a class was the most effective part of my learning experience.

Out of all our major writing pieces that we were assigned to do, I believe that my rhetoric piece showed the most improvement because as we spent more time in class discussing about how to be a critical reader and a better writer, I grew as a reader and writer and became better at analyzing a piece whether it is in a text form or a multimedia form. For my rhetoric piece, I used a video from YouTube and just from images that was provided, I was able picking out and understanding the types of rhetorical strategies that the author used to make her argument about poverty such as her use of logos and pathos:
“In the YouTube video, the author uses logos in the form of various pictures and facts to support her argument. The video consists of clips of young children with barely any clothes on, children who looks like they haven’t ate in weeks causing their ribs and joint area to protrude, a woman working in a factory, a homeless man sitting outside next to his cart. All these video clips are her strategy of trying to get us to acknowledge the extent of poverty that some people have to endure everyday. It allows us to see visual images of what it means to live in poverty. Some facts that were used in the video were…” In writing this rhetoric piece, it was important that I understood that her strategy of using logos and pathos was a very important asset of her video because this was what captured the audience attention. I learned that it is crucial to capture an audience attention when dealing with a rhetoric piece because the goal here is to sway the audience.

This class has honestly helped my improved as a reader and a writer; I hope to continue to improve as there is always room for improvement. Not only have this class helped me improve in my English skills, but it have helped with other college courses that I am currently taking such as Anthropology, Human Physiology, and Biochemistry. All these courses require a lot of reading. As I read assigned reading from textbooks for these classes, I find myself really analyzing the text and trying to get a better grasp about what the author what me to understand as a reader. In addition, I’m better at picking out what is important within a text and why it is important. As for my Anthropology class, I just wrote an 8 page paper about different cultures around the world and received 100% on it! I believe I have this class to thank for that. Thanks Joshua!

Rhetoric paper

“A Rich man is nothing but a poor man with money”
-W.C. Fields

Living in country where the economy is booming we sometimes forget about other countries around us. We live in a country that has advanced in technology, where education is provided through our government, and where food is unlimited. We are apart of the first world country that have it all. But what about other countries that are not as fortunate. Poverty is a huge problem in this world; it is a problem that has been neglected by many.

In making this video, a cause and effect would be the author main goal or strategy in capturing to audience attention. The author hopes that in watching this video the audience will acknowledge the extent of poverty around the world and by acknowledging it, the audience will hopefully take actions to help decrease poverty rate. Along with the images and text of facts, the author also used music as part of his/her video. The song that author used is call ‘Mr. President’ and it starts off as, “Dear Mr. President, come take a walk with me….I would like to ask you some questions, we can speak honestly. What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street.” This song is obviously directed to the president who represents America. The video is therefore directed towards America.

In the YouTube video, the author uses logos in the form of various pictures and facts to support her argument. The video consists of clips of young children with barely any clothes on, children who looks like they haven’t ate in weeks causing their ribs and joint area to protrude, a woman working in a factory, a homeless man sitting outside next to his cart. All these video clips are her strategy of trying to get us to acknowledge the extent of poverty that some people have to endure everyday. It allows us to see visual images of what it means to live in poverty. Some facts that were used in the video were:

-“About 24,000 people die everyday from hunger or hunger related causes. This is one death every 3.6 seconds”
-“3 thousnd of the deaths are children under the age of 5”
-“Poverty is the main cause of hunger”
-“One in 12 people worwide is malnourished, including 160 millions children under the age of 5”
-“Worldwide more than 850 milllion people are illiterate”

These facts appeared in the beginning of the video and it focuses on poverty in underdeveloped countries. Half way into the video the author then uses facts about our economy which allow the audience to better understand how severe this situation really is. These facts allow the audience to compare and contrast between the first world countries such as United States, Europe, and Japan to the third world countries that are exploited and underdeveloped. We live in a society with high living standards; we buy way more than what is necessary for sufficient living. We spend a great deal of money on materialistic goods such as nice expensive cars and big houses. With as much money as we spend on ourselves for unnecessary goods, we could have fed millions and prevent deaths that are caused by poverty and hunger. The facts that the author used were:

-“Nike paid Michael Jordan $20 million a year to promote Nike sneakers. The combined annual income of 30,000 Asian women who sew Nike sneakers equal less than $20 million”
-“Sweden and the United States have 681 & 626 telephone lines per 1,000 people. Afghanistan, Cambodia, and the democratic republic of Congo have 1 line per 1,000 people”
-Cosmetic in the US equal $8 billion”
-“Perfumes in Europe and US equals $12 billion”
-“Narcotic drugs in the world equal $400 billion”
-“Business entertainment in Japan equals $47 billion”
-“Cigarettes in Europe equals $50 billion”

These facts are significant part of the video in that it made us aware about children and poverty. Another astonishing fact from the book Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism written by Richard Robbins, is that approximately one-fifth of the world’s population, over 1 billion people, earn less than one dollar per day. Facts and images that were used in the video played a powerful role in stirring emotions of sadness, empathy, and sorrow within the audience which gave the effects of pathos. In addition to stirring up emotion within the audience, each person presented in the video showed some sort of emotions ranging from sadness, hopelessness, and hungriness which is also a form of pathos. They didn’t choose to be born into a world of poverty and they have done nothing to deserve such things. Just by looking at the image, you can imagine their daily struggles. Their clothes are torn apart and dirty. They look weak and fragile from starvation. Their life is threatened from poverty and their life span has been cut short because of poverty. The message here is: save the children of mankind!

The main purpose of the second set of facts is to stir up guilty emotions among people from first world countries by using facts to remind us how much money we spend on non-strategic resources. The use of astonishing high numbers caused us to feel guilty that we as a country spends so much money on assets when there are millions of people out there who are struggling to even get by life daily.

In the end of the YouTube video, the author quotes: “Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn’t commit.” This brings in the idea of cultural resonance, as human we have moral obligations to help these people who are getting punish for a crime they did not commit. They didn’t choose or ask to be born into poverty, instead the life of poverty were forced upon them. We have the necessary technology and resources to make changes, to make a difference in this world. The problem is: are we willing to put in the time and effort? That decision is up to you, each and every one of us can make a difference. As the audience watches this video, the author hopes to do just that—to persuade the audience to make a difference in the lives of the unfortunate.

Reference:

Robbins, Richard. Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. Suny at Plattsurgh: Allyn & Bacon Publishing Inc., 2004.

Blog: Free Write

A Little Bit About My Family

My parents arrived to America 25 years ago from Vietnam to give their children a better life. I have heard heroic stories about my father’s journey to America many times, and I still can’t believe the hardship he went through to give us a better life. Life in America for my parents was very tough especially since they were foreign and therefore did not know any English. Both my parents work 10 hours a day 6 days a week. Why so much? Because there’s five of us kids plus an additional 3 which belonged to my uncle; therefore they were raising 8 kids. Amazing isn’t it. Till this day, I still don’t know how they managed. All five of us are now currently attending college. I am the 2nd oldest of my siblings, and I have to admit, my parents did an amazing job raising us. With one more semester to go I will be applying to pharmacy and nursing school next semester. I will be first in my family to graduate college and I have my parents to thank for. Growing my parents encouraged my to excel in school, to be the best I can be; and today I am as far as I am because of my parents. Many of us take our parents for granted but it is important to remember that they gave us life and they help us shape who we are today. They love us unconditionally even though at times it doesn’t seem like it and when we become parents ourselves one day, we will understand.

Blog: Free write

Tragedy Strikes Us Again


As you all know, there has been another school shooting, but this time it was at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg Virginia. It just seems to never stop; it’s like a non-ending curse. A curse that has been haunting this nation for as long as…who knows how long. When will it all stop? If anything, it seems to be getting worse. This is now the deadliest school shooting; thirty-two victims had been shot to death by Cho Seung-Hui. When I first heard what had happened, I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. At first I thought there has been some kind of mistake, but it didn’t take long for me to finally realize what had happened. My heart just dropped, it felt so heavy. I was overwhelmed with sorrow, my heart just poured out to all the families that have lost their love ones, for every student at VT. This horrible event will forever change their life, it will forever change our lives, and it will forever have an impact on our nation. I just hope they have the strength to endure the long healing and painful journey they still have ahead of them. Thing will be tough and rough, but we must hold each other up. My prayers go out to all the victims. My heart goes out to each and every one of them.

Blog: Free write

During work on Friday, two of my very closest friends dropped by my work at separate times and unexpectedly. Since I work at the Walgreen Pharmacy on Colfax and Race, it get incredibly busy there and there’s never really any time to just to a break and talk so for that reason I knew something was up because they never drop by my work. My first friend, Shauna that dropped by my work dropped off a pineapple drink for me and just said “you better get off on time” and left. My other friend, Nancy dropped by an hour after and quickly handed me a card and left. As I read the card, I quickly realized that it was an invitation to my ‘surprise’ birthday party that they were throwing for me. After I got off work, I went home and quickly got dressed. When I arrived at Erin’s house, everyone screamed “surprise!” I acted surprised even though I really wasn’t; I knew what was going on. To tell you the truth, I am a very hard person to surprise. The food that was at the party was amazing. Nancy baked so many sweets I felt like I was going to get sick if I didn’t stop eating. Among the stuff that she baked, she also made this flower basket out of fruit. The night ended continued at the club called The Church where everyone was just wasted. I however, was just buzz since I was still sick I tried not to drink so much. The night ended when we got kicked out of the club because Nancy was too drunk. It wasn’t the best birthday, but the only that really matters are the people that are there to celebrate my birthday and I thank them for that.

Pictures of that night as posted below

Blog: YouTube video clip

Extra Credit assignment

Danielle Dutton and Stephanie Young

The session that I attended was about poem reading done by Danielle Dutton and Stephanie Young. Danielle was the first one to present her pieces which I thought was pretty amazing. What I though was most important and what made her stand out a lot more than Stephanie was her energy and voice. The first poem that she read was one to which she wrote in Chicago. This was a descriptive poem; it described the narrator’s surroundings such as “hills sliding from yellow to green”, “fish eating themselves in gutters” and “living in an abandoned chop house pulling weeds” allowed the audience to visualize her situation. This piece was basically about the narrators live and everything she goes through in life. The other piece she read however, was harder for me to understand it seemed to jump from one idea to another and I found myself lost most of the times. I believe one of the last pieces she read was about a crazy and paranoid woman who has a lot to tell the world. She had episode hallucination.

Stephanie Young was the second to present her piece. Her piece I thought was easier to understand, but wasn’t as lively as Danielle Dutton. Her piece was about a bitter woman who just got out of a relationship. The narrator in the poem speaks nothing else but her lover. She seems to try to make herself at times that she’s over him but really she not, but in reality she is deeply in love with him and is hurt. She wants and craves for the presence of her love. She describes the pain that he put her through as putting her in a bottle without any air for 8 hours. Then she comes into control, she speaks about how she owns him. Near the end of the piece she goes through a trance where she names everything they have ever done together such as eating ice cream together, the phone calls, drinking beer, wine, coffee, water melon juice, eating, dancing, going to Boston, going to Denmark, listening to music, reading together, taking showers together, conversations that they have had together, clothes that they have worn, places they have been such as parking lot, pools, hotel, parties, weddings, bars; she named special occasions that they have attended.

Overall, I really enjoyed the poem reading. Both girls did an amazing job and all of their pieces were very interesting to hear. I wish the session could have been longer, the one hour that they had went by really fast. I just wish I was able to have a better understand about each piece that they read.

Blog: Adbusters

The Ad that I have chosen is an ad directed for people with depression disorder. It has a woman a lively yellow dress glancing up at a bright orange box of Prozac, a prescribed anti-depressant medication used for people who are usually depressed and feels helpless and lonely. There are uses of appeals to emotion. In the ad, I women has her head lifted up and her arms are stretched out she seems to be happy and relieved. Her arms are stretched out towards the box of Prozac as though she is thanking it for uplifting her spirit. In addition there are printed words to that ad “wash your blues away!” which indicates that her sadness had disappeared with the help of Prozac.

The ad also uses brand logo as ethos. The uses Bounce logo of what seems like sunshine. In addition, they used the same coloration for the box as Bounce. On both the Prozac and Bounce box, Bright orange color is used as the main background color, in addition to the orange background, yellow hallow or rays stands out from it. The audience can also tell that the Prozac ad is using Bounce logo because they used phrases: “Fresher! Cleaner!” these are the same phrases that fabric softener companies use. This can also be seen as parody since its can be thought to be mocking Prozac in a sense that a prescription drug used to cure or improve one’s quality of life is being compared to something of no significant such as fabric softeners. In addition the ad used the phrase: “wash your blues away”, here the word ‘wash’ is used as part of the parody effect since it is also something you would hear from laundry detergent such as Bounce ads.

Blog: Unofficial Calvin Klein Ads Archive

In this ad from the “Unofficial Calvin Klein Ads Archive”, sex appeal was obviously used. In the photo a curvy naked woman, Carre Otis stands with her arms stretched over her head as though she is surrendering herself to a man. The man is wearing Calvin Klein jeans. He also stands with no shirt on, his right arm is wrapped around her body and his left arm rests against her buttocks. Their lips are only a centimeter apart and his groin area is pushed up against hers; their body position in addition with their body contact gives the photo a sexual appeal. I believe it is both effective and ineffective depending who is the audience or buyer. In this case, the male model is advertising male jeans. Men who are looking for jeans that will make them look ‘attractive’ and therefore attract women might fall for this ad. However, men who are just strictly looking a good pair of jean will be as affected by the sex appeal. Instead he will just look at the jean itself and judge it quality from that and not the ad as a whole. I believe the ad is appropriate because it geared towards adults and is intended for only adults. As we age and mature, we naturally become sexual being as a process of human evolution and that is why this ad uses sexual appeal as the theme or focal point and this is also true for his commercials. This ad does exaggerate the use of pathos. This ad arouses sensual emotions especially for men because of the attractive women that is completely naked and who seems to want the man she is with to take control in addition the man shows signs of dominance. Sensual emotions may also arouse when see how close their lips are as though they are on the verge of kissing.



Below: Commercial from Calkin Klein

Blog: analysis of photo

The author, Polixeni Papapetrou uses outdoor as her theme for this particular photo that she took. The photo is taken place outdoors in the woods in autumn. This setting gave the picture its green background that comes from the leaves of branches, twigs, and bushes. In addition, the brown ground that comes from all the wooden chips and pieces that the girls sits and lays on. Right in the center of the photo is an enormous tree trunk which the girls have positioned themselves in front of therefore this allowed the audience to easily pinpoint the focal point. The author used two girls of near the same age to signify friendship. Both of which are out in the woods together and far from any signs of human existence, they are young and innocent; this signify vulnerability of young female and the danger that are out in the world. The author has chosen to have the girls wear neutral colors of white, tan, and brown. The neutral colors gave the girls a earth-tone look as though they are apart of their environment. The photo seemed a little dim with little sun-light giving the audience reasons to believe that the sun is about to set.

I believe the persuasive statement that this image conveys is that you must always cherish your friendship. That friends must always stick together and watch-out for each other such as in the case of the image. We rely on each other for survival. With each other we have higher chances of over-coming situations such as getting lost in the woods.

Blog: Reflection on the photograph

This is an image of two close friends who decided to venture out into the woods and unexpectedly got lost. During their adventure they seemed to have also lost their shoes. After their attempt to find their way back they rapidly became exhausted and decided to take a break. The older of the two girls takes the responsibility to stay awake and she is also the one who decides to keep on a watch-out while her friend takes a nap. The sun is about to set and the girl that is awake seems to be worried. She is pondering about what to do and how to get out of this situation safe and sound. The other sleeps restlessly as she depends on the older to save them as she always does. The focal point of this image is the two girls and their friendship or the bond that they share.



This image reminds me of my friendship with one of my very close friend, Shauna. We have been friends since we were kids and because I’m two years older I always felt the responsibility to watch over her. Even now that we’re much older and are adults, I always watching over her; except situations are much different. When we were young my responsibilities were that of what is seen in the image, I too would be the one keeping a watch-out while she takes a nap. Now, however, I keep a watch-out when she decides to do things such as drinking.

Blog: Observation

In this image from the Foley Gallery that I have chosen, two girls are on the ground in front of an enormous tree trunk in a forest near sunset. One girl wears a tan shirt whose arm length extends down to her wrists. Over her shirt, a white mid-calf length dress is worn over it. Her hair is dark brown and curly, it is let lose; her eyes are open as she looks forward into space. From the expression on her face, she seems lost and confused. She has no shoes on; even then, the bottom of her feet remains clean. Her legs are position so that the second girl can rest her head comfortably on her leg as she lies on the ground full of wood chips and braches giving the ground its brown appearance. The second girl wears a white shirt whose arm length also extends down to her wrist. Over her shirt, a dark brown dress whose length also extends to mid-calf is worn over it. Her body is in a linear position. One of her arm is rested on the ground while the other is rested on the left side of her hip. Her hair is medium brown and straight and slightly wavy, it is also let loose as it flows freely past her shoulders. Her eyes are closed and she appears to be sleeping restlessly. She also has no shoes on. Both girls are approximately 15 years old. The background is green as a result of all the leaves from branches, twigs, and bushes.

my pets

Reflective essay

The Sacred Words of Buddhism

I was only about 8 the first time I have ever heard the sacred words of Buddhism. I can still distinctly remember running out from my bedroom as I was getting ready for bed when I heard my dad’s voice speaking in language of unfamiliarity. I watched him bewilderedly as he stood there facing the Alter that he had made with his bare hands, he continued chanting “Nam Mô A Yi Đa Phât” in a rhythmic and steady pace. The Alter resembled that of a book stand; except it had much fewer shelves, only two shelves to be exact. On the very top center of the Alter was a Buddha deity; it is something my family have worshipped for generations. On the first shelve was a Buddhist text that was laid open. The second shelve however, was empty. For the years to come, the ritual became his daily routine. My dad would stand in front of the Alter every night and chant the same words. I later learned that these unfamiliar words were not of a different language, it was my native language—Vietnamese. That didn’t make much of a difference however; I still couldn’t comprehend what it meant. It wasn’t the normal everyday speech I was accustomed to hearing at home and that as I later learned was because it was the sacred words of Buddhism.

Thirteen years after my first encounter of the Buddhist ritual, I found myself once again in bewilderment as I stood in the enormous Alter room of a Buddhist temple. This Alter was a lot different from the one in my parents’ house in many different ways. The Alter consisted of three levels in a shape similar to a pyramid, the top level had a golden deity of Buddha, and it had to be at least four times my size. The golden color of the deity intensified as the glistening sunlight started to set through the windows. The sunlight reflection off the deity gave the whole room a beautiful golden glow giving the room its lively sensation. On the second level of the Alter was at least ten vibrant vases filled with flowers. The vases were evenly distributed around the deity in a half circle. On the third level of the Alter was even more flowers.

Dozens of Buddhist have come to participate in the Sunday Mass. As the ritual began, I found myself once again lost in the words of unfamiliarity although it was in Vietnamese. Even though I have heard and witnessed my dad performed similar ritual, there were many phrases that were being chanting that I have never heard my dad chant before. In addition to chanting the familiar words: “Nam Mô A Yi Đa Phât” they also chanted “Bôn Su Thích Ca Mô A Yi Đa Phât Quán Té Âm Bô Thát”. I have came to an understanding that these religious terminologies are really only understood by those who were taught the meanings by the monk.

During the ritual I noticed many things being performed that I have never seen my dad done. They had incense burning. The aroma of the incense lightly burned my nostril each time I breathe through my nose. Within time however, I slowly adapted to the burning sensation of the aroma and by half way through ritual, the burning sensation dissipated. In addition to the burning of incense I noticed the practice of bells and drums. Throughout the ritual, the drum followed the same rhythmic as the chanting. At the end of each chanting phrases, the bell was rung. Each time the bell rung, it echoed throughout the room.

Once again my attention swayed away from the ritual to the Alter. I was still so astonished on how beautiful the Alter was. Its beauty can not even be compared to the Alter my parents have set at their house. The Buddha deity on this Alter was enormous, its golden coating even much more mesmerizing. The Buddha deity was surrounded by dozens of vibrant flowers. As my eyes gazed upon the vases that held the flowers, I astound by the intricate artwork on vases. A dragon was carved onto the surface of the vase, its body wrapped around the vase as though it was protecting it. To my knowledge, dragons are very popular in Buddhism because it is one of few sacred animals they worship for reasons that dragons symbolized power and strength.

Once the ritual ended, I remained in my place as everyone departed from the room. Within minutes the room was cleared of people but aroma from the burning incense remained. As I stood in the room alone I came to a realization that I didn’t really understand who I was in terms of religion. In my attempt to participate in the ritual, I ended up lost and confused. I tried to come to an understanding of what all that chanting meant. What was the underlying message? What kind of significant meaning does the ritual have? Why do some people choose to become Buddhist? How does becoming Buddhism change your life? Am I considered Buddhist because my parents are Buddhist? Do I have to understand the Buddhist sacred text to be a Buddhist? All these unanswered questions brought me to a new conquest in finding myself and this was how the search of my religious identity began.

Blog Free write: A New Addtion to the Family

A week ago from yesterday I brought home a new addition to the family, a French bulldog name Lilo. Her name originated from the movie Lilo and Stitch. Lilo is two-and-half months, weighs approximately 5 pounds and is 85% house broken. She is black and white with freckles on her paw. She has only been with me for a week now and she is already attached to us. One major reason my boyfriend and I decided to get her was for our Boston Terrier, Pua, who gets pretty lonely when no is home because we’re so occupied with school and work. Pua was jealous at first when she first met Lilo, but now they are started to get along really well. However, Pua does not know the extent of her strength and plays too aggressively. I hope within time she will acknowledge that Lilo is just a puppy and realize that she needs to be gentle with her. Hopefully they will become best of pals.

As for me however, things have been a little tough. Lilo looks up to me as her mother figure, and has become really attached to be. I too have become attached to her. She refuses to sleep in her kennel and will continue to whimper throughout the whole night until you let her sleep on the bed with you. The problem with this is that as a puppy nature calls frequently so I’m always getting up in the middle of the night to take her to go potty. After she does her business, she wants to stay up for about half-an-hour to play. Well, this is tough on me because I have to wake up early and get ready for school. For this past week, I have been getting about 6 hours of sleep in a night. I guess it’s what I sign up for when I decided to get a puppy right? Well I can say one thing for sure the joy she brings us I worth it! I wouldn’t trade her for anything.

Blog Caption of image: sewing machine

The first sewing machine invented was in 1970 by a man by the name of Thomas Sur Singer. Named after its inventor, this first innovative sewing machine is called Singer. Similar to that of the sewing machines utilize in today’s world, this sewing machine uses a needle to which a thread can be attached to one end. With a push of a button, this machine runs about a quarter a mile per minute. As seen on the image above, in front of the machine in a large knob that can be turn a clockwise direction to adjust desired patterns, length and width of each stitch. This machine is made of steel and weighs about 30 pounds. It can be detached from its wooden stand for easy storage. A small bobby thread of any color can be used and setting it to the sewing machine can be done in three easy steps: first the bobby is place in a small vertical pole on top of the machine, second is goes around the next notch right above the needle and last, it goes in the hole of the needle. To the left of sewing machine is large rechargeable battery. This 12 volt battery lasts approximately 2 hours. As shown, this first invented machine is particularly used for thick and heavy durable fabric that is usually otherwise difficult to be sewn and stitched by hand. This machine allows for the existence of luxurious materials such as window curtains, blue jeans, comforters, and coats.

Blog: Best blog of 2006--The History of Buttons

The blog ‘History of the Button’ is exactly as the title states: it is a blog about the use of buttons throughout history. The first blog posted recognizes the use of buttons on ovens that were used in 1950. The oven had various button that lit in different colors depending on how high the temperature was set. The author of this post talks about how a push button oven is still working and still in god conditions after 60 years! The next post was about how the use of buttons on washer and dryer machine came about after the radio. Specifically it states about how the ‘Play pause icon merges, evolve, and migrate’. The ‘play pause’ button was first seen on the radio and as it evolved, it has migrate onto washing machine. This can be seen on the new LG washing machines. As with the older washing machines, ‘start’ and ‘stop’ buttons were used. The next post states all the different kinds of Start and Stop icon from various multifunction printers. Most of which had a diamond image with a vertical line down the center on the start button; whereas a circle with an inverted triangle in it was used in indicate Stop. This proves different manufactures all adopt the same images to indicate Start and Stop. All the post after that include buttons such as ones from recorders, industrial buttons used for jet-ways and airplanes, navi button from multi function photo printer, Sony clock, pinball game machine, phones, and toys. The point made here is that buttons are universal, they are everywhere, and they used daily without much acknowledgement. Buttons are something that was invented before most of our parents were even born and they continue to thrive as of today.

The author of this blog uses similar conventions of many other blogs including mine. In this blog, pictures and hyperlinks were used. In addition, just as in mine, to each post there is a date and time in which the post was posted. To the right of the blog is column that is basically a table of contents for all the different posts of buttons; these were done through the use of hyperlinks. The second set of hyperlinks is important years in which buttons came about. The third set of hyperlinks are of categories in which button are used—examples are such as keyboard, kids, kitchen, Kodak, etc. To the left of the blog are conventions made so audience and readers like us can us the contact the author. In this column there is a hyperlink to contact the author through email. The color that the author used for the blog is a neutral blue color. The text color used is black for easy and comfortable reading. This blog is different from mine in that this blog talks only about button and there is no information about the author, whereas my blog is about all different kind of things depending on our assigned assignment. In addition my blog has a profile link to which my audience can learn more about me.

observational essay: The Ceremony Room

It was near noon and I was near to missing the beginning of the Buddhist ceremony that was to be taken place at a Temple located in the Denver Metro area on Federal Street and Iliff Avenue. As I drove into the enormous and crowded parking lot, I realized that today’s Mass was going to be nothing but a full or crowed room. I thought to myself Damn, I forgot it is Sunday. I hope ceremony room does not get too crowded. I quickly parked my car at the far end of the parking lot for all other parking space was already taken. The parking lot was divided into two sections that were separated by a row of trees whose branches seemed to be withering from the weeks of snow storm to which it had withstood.

To the left of the pathway that led to the main entrance was a small building. As I glanced inside, I noticed children from age five to fifteen sitting cross-legged on the bright red carpet staring up at a large overhead. I assumed they are in Class. As I continued to anxiously walk up the pathway towards the main entrance, I noticed the delicate architect of the temple. It was similar to one of those temples in Thailand that I had seen on the Discovery Channel. Each corner of the bright yellow building was arched upward similar to the shape of a crescent moon. As I pulled on the heavy doors I felt a slight breeze from the cool air that was circulating inside. The entry area was very spacious; to the front was a row of shoes that were neatly lined up in rows in front of the steps the led to the ceremony room. I hastily walked toward the step, took off my shoes, and made my entrance into the ceremony room. I remained standing in the back of the room trying not to disturb the ceremony that had already begun.

The room was enormous, much bigger than the entry level. To the front of the room, was an Alter made out of what seemed to be Maple Oak. The Alter consisted of three levels in a shape similar to a pyramid, the top level had a golden deity of Buddha, and it had to be at least four times my size. The golden color of the deity intensified as the glistening sunlight started to set through the windows. The sunlight reflection off the deity gave the whole room a beautiful golden glow giving the room its lively sensation. On the second level of the Alter was at least ten vibrant vases filled with flowers. The vases were evenly distributed around the deity in a half circle. On the third level of the Alter was even more flowers. To the left, however, was a medal metallic bowl which was used as a bell, to the right was a hollow wooden bowl which was used as a drum. In the center was small golden bowl with handles in a shape of a dragon attached to the sides. In the golden bowl were three incense sticks. The incense sticks were lit and as it slowly burned, it released a distinctive aroma throughout the room. Visible smoke could be seen moving away from the burning incense sticks. On each side of the Alter were two smaller Alters. Each of the smaller Alter had approximately 25 x 25 small picture frames hanging from it. In the picture frames were pictures of deceased Buddhists that had past away within the recent years.

The crowd was segregated: women were to stand on the left half of the room and men were to stand on the right half of the room. Everyone was chanting sacred words that were unfamiliar to my ears. The chanting followed the same rhythm as the drum that was echoing through out the room. The chanting was guided by one man, the monk. The monk stood in front of the crowd facing the Alter. A microphone was attached to the yellow robe that gracefully draped over his body. Every single inch of his skin from the neck down except for his hand was covered by the robe. As the sun shined on his head and as the room started to get humid from all the breathing, sweat began running down his head. His head that had some new hair growth sprouting from it since the last time he has shaved it.

An hour have past, the pace of the chanting continued at a steady pace. The majority of the crowd seemed to be getting exhausted. Their posture started to decline as they started to slouch. The room had large tightly sealed windows that allowed the sun to shine in but did not allow fresh air to flow freely in and out to circulate the room. The confined room was making the crowd sweat, their face showed signs of relinquish. The children who came along with their parents have already given up. They were no longer following the praying procedure, they were no longer chanting; instead they were sitting on the ground restlessly waiting for the prayer session to end.

Another half-an-hour past and the sounds of the drum started to slow down. As the drum began to slow down, the chanting slowed down with it. Within minutes the sounds of the drum came to a complete halt along with the chanting. The ceremony also came to an end. The crowd then turned around and calmly exited the room. As people cleared out from the room, the humid air also cleared out with them. Standing there alone I was bewildered. I couldn’t believe what I have just witnessed; I have never seen anything like it. The room was now empty although the aroma from the incense burning was still present and the smell still potent. And there in front of me, the golden deity continued to glow throughout the room as the sunshine continued to reflect its light against it.

Blog 1 for wk 4: Uncreative Interlude

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Blog 4

Leading a way to observational essay

I have chosen to do my observational piece on an Alter. An Alter is also known as a shrine to some. It holds our faith, our ancestors, and most important the deity to which we worship. I believe it is important to do my observational piece on this because it is important that people understand other culture and religion. In addition this will give other people an opportunity to broaden their knowledge about the way of Buddhism. There is a technique on how we place our Alter and how we setup up our Alter as you can read on one of Geocites web page.

Buddhism is a religion that originated from India and over many years has spread all over Asia including a vast majority of Vietnam. Buddhism also exist in America as Asian-Americans continue to carry on the same religion as their parents. It has a tremendous influence on my family and me. Buddhism all started by a man name Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha was a prince who one day sought to search for answers on human sufferings. He would sit for days without eating in search for inner truth on why we go through our daily routine of struggles and sufferings. He spent many restless nights under a tree in hope for the truth about human suffering. From this it was said that he became “enlightened”. Five major precepts of Buddhism are first is to respect all living organism, all beings have a right to their lives and that right should be respected. This does not apply to only human but also any other living organisms. Second, is to avoid stealing. One should avoid taking anything that does not belong to them. Third, is to avoid sexual misconduct. This precept is often mistranslated or misinterpreted as relating only to sexual misconduct but it covers any overindulgence in any sensual pleasure. Forth, is to refrain from false speech. This goes along with avoiding lying, deceiving, and slander. Finally, is to abstain from substances that cause intoxication and recklessness. These precepts are strictly followed by monks and nuns. I was taught these five precepts; but I don’t strictly follow it, I do try my best to follow some of it.

In Colorado alone, there are more than 10 Vietnamese Buddhist temple; 2 of which are in the Denver metro area. The Alter on which I will be doing my observational piece will be in a Temple of Federal St and Iliff avenue. Temple is unique and can be distinguish from other buildings in America in that the architect have very unique features as can be seen in one of the Temple in New York. The temple architect is influence by Asia. Most famous of these architect are located in Thailand, the temple in Thailand are usually tall and vibrant.

Within each Tempe there is an Alter. An Alter is a place where people can gather and pray. People come here to pray every Sunday in respect to all the deity; they come here to prey when there has been a death with the family in hope that their love one will be able to escape this realm and go on to a better one; they come here to pray in time of distress; and they come here to pray when they feel lost and need guidance.

Blog 3 -- YouTube

Care Bear

In this clip there are Care Bear of different identities each representing plant, rain, sun-shine; all of which are important factor of life. Plant produce an essential element significant to life, it produces the oxygen that we breathe in. Rain is nature’s way of keeping our environment in balance. Sun is our energy, it allows human existence. All of these are essential to life.

Aside from the Care Bear that represents signs that are essential to life, there’s also Care bear that represents optimistic abstracts such as love, wish, and luck. Love is an abstract, it can not be measured nor can it be seen; but none the less it has the power to conquer all. Wish is also an abstract, it gives us hope. Luck is our fortune.

In video clip, Care Bear is the focal point. Each care bear signifies something such as plant, rain, sun-shine, love, wish, and luck. Bears in different colors sing and dance to lively musical songs. Each has different shapes imprinted on their belly; these shapes allow the audience to identify what sign each bear represents.

Through out the video clip, the lyric “Nothing is better than to be a care bear. I want to be a care bear” is also a focal point since it was repeated many times over and over again. The Care bear made a clear point that there is nothing better than being a Care Bear; they stated that they don’t want to be a cook or fire man nor do they want to be in a marching band.

Music is a great source to use when the purpose is capture an audience attention, one reason behind this as it has been proven in scientific study/experiment is that music stimulates the brain. In addition, the uses of vibrant colors are also used as a captivating method for it too takes part in stimulating the brain. In the video clip, the author/producer avoid using dull colors; instead colors like fierce red, sky blue, spring green, sun yellow were used. The clip shows them skipping on the clouds, sitting on the moon, painting balloons, dancing, and sliding down poles. These Care Bear helps us recapture our childhood memories as it remind us our carefree days. They are the days to which we never had to worry about much if at all anything.

The video clip has an important role in helping us recapture our childhood days. It reminds us about the days in which we were also carefree. Addition the video clip reminds of about the important of everyday simple little things such as plant, rain, sunshine, love, wish, and luck. I believe this video clip also hold its importance in reminding us that we all have our own identity of who we are and that we should be proud of who we are and not want to be something else.

This video clip was broadcast on YouTube. YouTube can be seen as a community of on-line viewers and/or broadcasters. It is a website used by millions of people, it allow us to interconnect by enabling us to broadcast our video online so millions of other viewers can view it. Other type of entertainment such as TV does not allow this type of interaction within the community.

Blog 2

Understanding a content fully

In order to understand cultural context to a full extent, one should acknowledge who, what, when, where, and why. However, with shopping sites, you do not need to acknowledge all of these in order to understand the content fully. It is necessary to acknowledge ‘who’ the shopping site is intended for. The Arden B shopping site is intended for young and middle-aged women. Customers’ trust plays a major role in how successful retailers become. Without these customers trust, their retail would not be very profitable and within time would come to a halt. The customers must be able to feel safe, that all the credit information will be kept confidential. In addition, they trust that their purchased items will come in a timely manner. Retailing through the internet allows retailer to reach a wide range of people all around the world. ‘What’ the site is will also be important to understand for it is a shopping site for people who want to shop around for clothes and accessories. It would be a useless site to go to if one is looking for a search engine to search for information. What the site’s purpose is holds very important value to the reader or audience. Sites such as MySpace, Google, Webmail, and Arden B all have different intentions and are all have very different layouts. MySpace is for journal logs and social clicks, Google is famous for their search engine, Webmail are used as a quick way to send and receive emails, and Arden B is used to shop. What they can provide ranges widely from things such as books, CD, clothes, cell phones, and anything else you can think of. You can basically buy anything online! ‘Where’ can be an important factor if you are searching Arden B store locations. As you can see on the bottom of the Arden B homepage, there is a link which you can click on to find all store location. ‘When’ and ‘why’ is not an important factor for the Arden B site.
As you can see understanding a website to the fullest can be very beneficial. When shopping online, it is important to stay away from retailing stores with bad reputation. It is important to understand how to order the color and size you want, it is important to understand how the purchasing process works, it is important to understand how the billing process works, it is important to understand how the shipping process works, and if shipments are late it is important to understand how to track your order. By understanding all of these processes, shopping online should be fairly easy.

Blog 1

Clothes are everyday essential. Most of us go shopping at least once ever couple of months. But if you are a girl like me, then you would go shopping at least once every two weeks. When we think about it going shopping, we usually think about the Mall, Walmart, Target, or whatever ‘rocks’ your style. How many of us however ever shops online. Recently, I have been shopping online a lot the past couple of weeks. I find it very easy and a lot less time consuming especially when you don’t have the time to go out and shop. Maybe it’s just because I am addicted to shopping. One of my favorite shopping sites is Arden B (click here to access). As you open this site up you see that the focal point is the picture that is locate right in the center of the page. This is the focal point because as you can see the picture is large with a beautiful stylish model in it. Your eyes are drawn toward her bright blue blouse, which is the webs’ designer intentions sense it’s a page advertising clothes. Not only is the picture large but it is also located right in the center of the page, making even more captivating to the eyes. What makes the picture even more appealing and eye-catching to the eye is the neural beige background color use on their homepage. The white colored font creates an illusion as though it was standing out from the background for the reader, making certain links easier to find—such as the link to tops, or bottoms, or dresses.
This website is a shopping site which represents our fast pace world where shopping is now becoming available online just away from a click of a finger. The convention of shopping at department stores is now moving along to the convention of shopping online. But there are differences that lie between the two. Shopping at department requires a lot more energy and a lot of wandering and walking, whereas shopping online requires one to only just sit and shop therefore not taking much energy at all. Although both have check-outs, their check-out process differs greatly. In department stores, you get to take the purchased clothes home immediately, whereas online you have to wait about a week to receive the purchased clothes. Another difference is that in department stores you can try on the clothes in fitting rooms, whereas online you can only see the clothes on models and won’t really know how well it would fit you until it arrives after it has already been purchased. In addition to differences, similarities also arise. In department stores, there are sections for men, women, shoes, accessories, etc. Online, you will also see similar sections which are represented by the tabs which can be seen on top of the page on Arden B’s homepage. So which method do people prefer shopping by? Hmmm, I guess that depends on how much time you have to shop around. I know time is very important for me.