Emotion through texting

Between the texting I’ve done today and the capstone presentations, my mind wandered off on a tangent that has currently made it to this blog post. Today, we all know what texting is and how it has taken over the world of communication, but is it the best way? Sure texting is fast and easy, but what about those texts that either don’t have any emotion or have some type of emotion that you cant figure out.

Where is this going? Well, considering the fact that the process of writing a short story was explained today in the presentations of projects…and the fact that I did text today…I started thinking about emotion through text. I mean, it’s obvious to tell when someone is excited by a “!” at the end of their sentences, or when they are mad by TEXTING IN ALL CAPS, but what about those texts that are not as clear? In our short stories, we use other words to describe how a character says a certain line. For example:

“I have to go now.” She exclaimed hurriedly while turning her back to the man.

The word “hurriedly” paints us a picture of how she said the line as well as how we should read the line. While texting, certain texts that are sent may be read differently than they are meant to be read. For example, the idea of sarcasm doesn’t really work well over text. Personally, my best friend and I have misread many sarcastic texts in our time; sometimes even to the point of a fight. Either way…texting proves to be both fast and efficient. It’s main downfall, though, is that sometimes the emotion that is portrayed in face-to-face interaction and even story, it lost.

The Time Traveler Project...

Just like everyone else, I had the pleasure of watching myself present my time traveler project to the class via Youtube. Needless to say, the only thing I could think about were things that were wrong about the presentation. Interesting enough, however, the same day the videos were up and ready to be viewed, one of my coaches told our team that it was important to not only recognize what we need to improve, but also what we did right whether it be in a game or at practice. Picking out the negative things is always easier than the positive, but in order to keep improving in any area, we must also acknowledge the positive aspects as well.

Using what my coach told me and noticing not only the negative but also the positive, I decided to start off with the things I need to work on and ending with the things I did well while presenting. In terms of things I should work on for the next presentation, editing out words such as “umm” and “like” are my main goal. Also, working on not making faces when I am trying to figure out what Carty was saying (whoops). At any rate, I think that my eye contact and “animation” were pretty good. Although, I could work on looking into the audience rather than at the wall. Also, my voice didn’t sound as terrible as I thought it would…which is also a positive thing.

Steve Jobs's Style

I decided in this blog to go off of the rather massive discussion in class today regarding appropriate dress attire while giving a presentation. As the “motivator” of the discussion, Steve Jobs’s first unveiling of the iPhone was used as an example. In Jobs’s presentation, he is wearing a plain black turtle neck, jeans, and sneakers. With this being said, Jobs’s attire for the event was a topic of controversy. I myself was unsure of the attire at first; however, I changed my mind about halfway through the presentation. Right when Jobs walked out, all I thought was “isn’t this a major event? Where’s his suit?” As I said before, halfway through I couldn’t get over how genius of an outfit choice this was for the event. I mean think about it…

* We already know how much of a genius Jobs is

* His audience is a group of everyday people

* The main focus is the product

* He knows what his audience wants to see

With all of this in mind, why wouldn’t Jobs wear something like he ended up walking out in? Just as he explained in his presentation, the iPhone was made for the average person. This is what made it different from any other smartphone of the time. Where am I going with this you might be asking? The main point of the outfit was to connect to the audience. I believe that Jobs wanted his audience to see him as equal and as an average person. After all, he wants to live and breathe his products. Therefore, if the product is easy for the average person, he wants to show that he is “the average person.” Thus, no suit and tie was needed; the message was conveyed in an extraordinary way that made people want to go out and get the phone.

Language in Sports: The Origination of Hand Signals

I thank my sister’s championship basketball game for this post. While I was watching the game, I noticed how many different hand signals were used by the coach to tell his players what to do. Being an avid sports player and fan myself, I know what most of these symbols mean and why they are used; however, I never knew where they originated from. Yes, these are the things I thought about while watching the game that was playing before my sister’s game- where the hand signals in sports came from.

Anyway… When I got home after the game (they won by the way, Go Squires!), I did some research on these signals. It turns out that the first time these signals were noticed and used was back in the 19^th century during a game of baseball. According to many sources, William Hoy was the first player to actually use signals. Why? Because he was deaf. Yes, deaf. Along with Roy, Ed Dundon, the first deaf baseball player in history, also received signals from umpires to tell the number of outs, strikes, whether or not someone was safe, etc. During the time of these players, hand signals were mostly used just as a way to help them follow the game. Eventually, an umpire named Charles Rigler came along and used signals to tell the count and number of outs to help the outfielders who could not hear him from behind the plate. Also around the same time as Rigler, Bill Klem was accredited for his signals for things such as strikes and foul balls. Eventually, both the umpires’ and the players’ use for signals in the game was carried over into the major leagues of the time all of the way up to today’s games. Of course now, we have universal signs used by umpires during the game as well as the different signs teams use in order to communicate different plays.

Credit to ESPN for the Video

 

Crime and Punishment and The Hunger Games?

Crime and Punishment and The Hunger Games?

As our English class begins to read Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment, many questions and feelings of uncertainty arose with concerns to many of the choices made by the characters in the story. One topic that is hard for readers to adjust and relate to is revolves around the daughter of a man Raskolnikov met in a bar. As Raskolnikov is introduced to this man’s family, he learns that the daughter, Sonya, is in possession of a yellow card. For many readers, the fact that Sonya has given herself up to work for others comes as a curveball to them. Interestingly enough, Sonya’s decision to go through with this in order to help out her family is much like the mature decisions we see other characters make for their families. One of these characters being Katniss Everdeen. I know, I know, I just compared Crime and Punishment to The Hunger Games. Trust me though, I am going somewhere with this…

For Katniss, her father’s death and mother’s shut down means that she now has to keep her younger sister Prim on solid ground while providing for the family. Having her father’s death happen so suddenly, Katniss is thrown into the life of an adult without any preparation or warning. Later on in her life, Katniss volunteers to take her Prim’s spot in the Hunger Games in order to keep her alive. Nobody forced Katniss to volunteer; it was her unconditional love for her sister that drove her to jump out of the crowd. Therefore, like Sonya, Katniss gives up any childhood she had left to care for her sister and keep the family afloat. Sonya never wanted the job she has now; however, when faced with the possibility of losing her family, there was nothing that she wouldn’t do to save it. Furthermore, it is sometimes easier to comprehend the events and character dynamics of a scholarly novel, such as Crime and Punishment, by to a popular book or series today. Although not as appraised as Crime and Punishment, The Hunger Games is a very modern take on the choices and feelings Sonya made for her family in their time of need.

       Recently in English class, we read an except from Oscar Wilde’s essay “The Decay of Lying” as an AP test prep assignment. In the excerpt, two men are going back and forth about “enjoying nature.” When you first read the piece, it may seem different than anything you have ever read and even a little difficult to follow. If you take a closer look at the excerpt; however, there are many things that may make you stop and think. One example in particular is the idea that which “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” This idea is conveyed through the character of Vivian, a man not afraid to express his critical and rather philosophical ideas. Although his ideas can be both concurred with and disagreed with, Vivian does express an insightful and somewhat interesting view regarding nature.

       I have to admit, when I first read Vivian’s lines, I was a little surprised to see how much he truly disliked nature. Don’t get me wrong, I like nature a lot, but I draw the line at certain points. For example, if you asked me to go on a weekend hiking trip, I would probably say “sure!” But if you asked me to go on a camping trip that lasts more than about a night, I would turn you down almost right away. So in a way, I could relate to Vivian’s dislike of nature. However, his point of nature and art is what made me stop and think. According to Vivian, “What Art really reveals to us is Nature's lack of design, her curious crudities, her extraordinary monotony, her absolutely unfinished condition.” But is this true? Maybe for the time of Wilde.

       I can see how art can take nature and show only its beauty through the eyes of an artist, yet at the same time, we know that nature is beautiful. But how do we know this? Sure art can show us how beautiful nature can be, but we know how beautiful it is by what it does for us. Nature inspires us and makes us think in more ways that we ever thought we could. Maybe that’s why some of the best things in life revolve around nature itself. Many its our experiences with nature and our many interpretations of it that make it so beautiful. If you ask Vivian, nature does not deserve all of the attention is gets; however, for me, sometimes the best creations come directly from nature.

       In the eyes of Vivian, the painting shows a part of nature that isn't possible, in my eyes, paintings merely show what nature is like...in order to experience all of its beauty, we need to go and see it for ourselves.

 

Over the break, I finalllllyyyy saw “Catching Fire.” Yes, I am aware that everyone in the world saw the movie forever ago, but hey, I can now say I finally saw it. I did read the first book of the series, “The Hunger Games” and I cannot wait to read the third before the next movie comes out. I absolutely love the books and movies. Mostly because Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are my favorite actress and actor….but the book was awesome too. Ever since the movie came out, all I heard were people talking about how good it was and how they couldn’t wait for the next one. I already knew that the movie was going to be even better than I could ever imagine, but then I started wondering why everyone took a liking towards it.

I eventually came to the conclusion that the movie has something for everyone. It has action, adventure, sci-fi like elements, and of course, a love story. And aren’t these the things that we as viewers and readers hook onto? It’s no secret that we watch movies and read books to escape the world we live in. Whether we become stranded on an island, street race like the “Fast and Furious”, or solve a mystery, we use media to go to a world that is like ours, yet isn’t. As I said before, we use these things to escape reality. So why not spend a few hours in an arena fighting for your life while internally battling over two people you love in your life? After all, that’s what it’s about…experiencing the thrills and dilemmas through our favorite characters to help make to take a break from our own lives…even if it’s just for a couple of hours.