final blog entry

The author talks about how a wild tongue cannot be tamed but can only be cut. With this, she’s trying to explain that a person’s identity cannot be changed but can only be erased. This is why no matter how she tried to change her English speaking ways, in the end she’s the same because she is who she is. Comparing this with the blog entry writing process, I realized that it could be related to her ideas. Every blog entry I have written, the ideas I expressed in them are very “me.” With that I mean the way I think, the way I talk, my choice of words reflects my identity which could be my culture, native language, or the environment I grew up in. Since I am in America now, it cannot change the way I will feel, think, or believe because that is who I am. 

Literacy and Technology

I think that technology can’t exist without literacy. Literacy creates new technology. For example; how the computer became to be a computer. It started off as a code of 0s and 1s. And then literacy in mathematics, etc. created advance computer programming that leads to today’s computer. And after literacy create new technology, that new technology creates a new literacy. And then the literacy of that new technology can lead to creating another new technology. It is like an endless cycle of creation of literacy and technology.

While I think that new technology creates new literacy, I also think that at the same time it has a bad influence with old kinds of literacy. For example; since most of the time we type and print from a computer now, many Chinese language speakers are forgetting how to write Chinese characters by hand which is becoming a big issue, especially in Japan where they also use Chinese characters in their language.

I am the Audience

I have been creating and writing assignment in writing class for different audiences. It is the time to take myself as an audience. Among the high tech-media, computer with internet could be the most persuasive media for me and it is also my favorite media of knowing the news and new knowledge. A small box contains everything!

If someone is going to make a project for me, I would like it to be an artwork. I like such things are non-verbal. There is no specific aspect of an artwork. Everybody has their own interpretation and their own words for it which are I find it interesting. I like to know and hear different perspective from people of a same work.

web design literacy

In my CSE101 class, I am done with all the common course and start to do web design in detail. I learned about the language of website. I have never learned anything about computer before. All I knew about computer were about chatting on messenger or browsing website. The TA taught us both how to us NVU, which is a web design program, and Cascading Style Sheets to create our own word of a website. This is the first time I wrote a complete “html” file, which is simple but interesting. I realized that even a website has its own language just like human. I was pleased in today’s course because my web design literacy has imporived.

Visual Literacy

I have always wondered how big the world is, how broad the sky is, and how colorful the life is. This image represents my literacy, a little girl full of curiosity. I open my eyes as wide as possible like I am observing things through the magnifying glass. I am so curious about every single thing happening under the beautiful blue sky. It is so big and wide that there is always something I do not know. All I can do is keeping learning through different stage. Now I am in the stage of studying abroad in the United States, which earns a lot of new information. The most significant difference is I meet many people from different country and know every country’s cultural background. Even though people come from different place, we all live under the same sky and share the pretty little things. I enjoy learning new things to satisfy my curiosity. Without pressure, I wander freely on lawn, enjoy the cozy atmosphere.

Disney Literacy

I went to Disney World with my boyfriend during spring break. I have always admired Walt Disney, who created the place where dreams come true. After we came back from Florida, we have started to search the information about him both through the internet online and books. We wondered why he is so successful and how every story was created. How come only three simple circles could become so popular? Afterwards, we have known a lot of his background and accomplishment through reading all the information. He was a guy full of imaginations. Mickey Mouse was the first character that Walt Disney created, and also its voice was from him. Walt Disney won about 22 Oscar Awards, which I guess was the highest records ever. We read the article about how he planned every theme park. The budget was extremely high and unaffordable, but he was lucky that his brother always helped him to find a way out. There are way too many information about him for us to dig out. In fact, I do not really like reading, especially reading in English. However, I enjoy learning all the information about Walt Disney. Because of the passion to Disney I have, no matter how long it takes me to read to understand its background, I will still do it. I consider this is Disney Literacy.

blog entry for literacy - language is part of the literacy in my life

Even though I am now in the United States, I had hung out with Taiwanese people a lot. Usually we talk to each other in Mandarin, so my English did not improve at all. Ever since I got a boyfriend who came from Thailand, English has become the main language use in my life. In order to communicate with my boyfriend, I have to learn English harder than I used to do. I have started to learn and remember vocabularies by reading some newspaper and magazines in my free time. Speaking is the primarily method which I learn. My boyfriend came to the United States when he was young, so he English is very good. He has taught me a lot, and my English has improved a lot, too. Now, I understand what professors are teaching in classes more than before. I am not afraid of talking with foreigners anymore. Learning second language is hard; however, it has become part of my literacy in my life.

Literacy blog 1 - March 7

Today is March/07/2009. I am here at Universal Studio Orlando, Florida. I came here for spring break and today was the first day being in the theme park. It is not my first time to go to Universal Studio, but I was still surprised from what I saw and observed today. One of the shows which I learned the most from it was the “Horror Movie Make-up Show.” I was the audience watching the people showing us how makeup works in Hollywood movies. They showed us through not only talking but performing and demonstrating. As far as I am concerned, it is more efficient and better for people to learn from using all these ways together. And then, I took a tour which showed how Hollywood movies make different kinds of scenes, such as tornado, fire, flood, and so on. After I watched those, I realized that all the scary scenes in the movies are all faked. I was cheated. From now on, I will not be afraid of the scenes anymore because I know they are all schemed and designed. I learned a lot from today’s experience through watching, listening, and feeling, which helped me learning. I have known more about movie literacy through these interesting shows.

Literacy

To me, literacy can be used in many ways. As we discussed, literacy can be meant by interpreting and understanding some kind of text. But since a definition of a text is somewhat not clear, anything could be a text. I think that literacy involves identifying, interpreting, understanding, and also feeling. When reading an article, book, or a story, not only you will be able to interpret and understand it, I think it creates an emotion. If it's sad, a sad emotion will be created though interpreting and understanding of it. Same goes with everything else such as a movie, photograph, music, or even an art piece. To me, literacy is not just the ability to interpret and understand, I think it is also the ability to feel an emotion from the "text."

A day in my Life

Trace back to my third grade of senior high school year, I have a bunch of close friends. We are not just friends but a family. A girl named Yan is one of my best friends. However, we have similar characteristics which are stubborn and pride. We always got annoyed when our opinions are different, so we fought so often and our pride would not let us to apologize first. I still remember it was a regular school day; we went to school as usual. I do not really remember what small thing we have made us fight again. Because of the different perspectives of our opinions, we did not talk to each other during the entire morning. We sat next to each other during that semester, so it was kind of awkward that we did not talk. In the class before noon, it was a Chinese class, I decided to talk to her. “We have to communicate!” at least that was what I thought about. I passed a piece of note with “we should talk” on it. However, she threw the paper on the floor. “What the heck! I talk to you first and you still give me attitude?!” I yelled in my mind. After that, I showed my anger by put or dropped thing really hard. We were still in class time so I could not really do much. When the class off, we both sat still and remain in silence. I was really upset. Unexpectly, she turned to me and said “let’s communicate.” We stared at each other, but our pride stopped us from apologizing first. All of a sudden, we both cried. Other of our friends were shocked that we were crying, and they wondered what was going on then. Yan and I tried to communicate while we just murmured “why did you do this to me.” Then, we embraced each other so hard with tears. After class all of my best friends went out to dinner together like a happy family. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and chatting. Before I went to bed that day, I realized how important communication was between people.

Photo image analysis - Lunch atop a Skycraper

This photo is taken by Charles C. Ebbets during construction of the GE Building at Rockefeller Center in 1932.
The photograph depicts 11 men eating lunch, seated on a girder with their feet dangling hundreds of feet above the New York City streets. The workers look pretty much enjoying their lunch in the sky without fear. I have been to New York City twice. I went every famous place in NYC; however, I have never seen the city from the sky. These men had such a special and unique experience other than everybody. Even if laboring everyday, they still look satisfied and enjoyed the time. Through these guys faces in ease, they probably look life in an easy way. Honestly, they could die at anytime for just a slip or something. Not like the pilot, they got NO parachute. I guess they might take every single meal as the last meal in their life, just like the story of Jesus. What is more, the weather must really peaceful, nice, and no windy at all. Ebbets took the photo on September 29, 1932, and it appeared in the New York Herald Tribune in its Sunday photo supplement on October 2. Taken on the 69th floor of the GE Building during the last several months of construction, the photo Resting on a Girder shows the same workers napping on the beam. I don't understand why american workers take their life as a bet that easy.

25 Things Writing Assignment

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(Please post your list to your blog, and if you want to, put it on your Facebook as well.)



1. I love to create my own recipes. I made kiwi porridge, fried banana peel, and chocolate pot for my mom last summer, stuffed Hi-chu and chocolate chicken for girls’ night, strawberry spaghetti for Bryan, and dipped chocolate shrimps for Mr. Long and his friends!
2. I have a twin sister HANNAH LIN who is 10 years old.
3. Stitch is my son! I love stitch so much. I kinda get a bit jealous because Stitch got a new girlfriend on Valentine’s Day.
4. Im a fruit person and I killed 8 bananas within two days.
5. I hadn’t brushed my teeth for 6 days last time I went to LA bc I forgot to bring my toothbrush
6. I seldom get angry (real one), but if I get angry, it’s really SCARY.
7. I wanna go Egypt so bad. I always dream that I can live in the Pyramid with mummies.
8. I hadn’t taken a shower in 3 days when I was dumped by my ex during summer 2006. The weather was really hot and humid. Omg so gross.
9. I am narcissistic! I take picture of myself all the time.
10. I love the friends I met during high school so much. I consider they are my second family. We call ourselves “BOOFAY” (BooBoo Family) and there are 5 girls in BOOFAY.
11. Red is my favorite color. Almost all the things in my room are red, my sheet, my desk, my table, my night table, my clock…etc. and my MINI cooper, she’s so hot.
12. I almost never go to beaches because I hate getting tan and I’m not confident of my shape. As I think, beach is a place for either skinny or good shape ladies.
13. I though love was the most important thing for me in my life when I was young. Now, as I grow up, I realize friends are more important than love because friendship will last forever.
14. I always want to own a pet but my mom never allow me to, “You just want to play and have fun and always leave a mess behind which I have to clean it up,” she said to me.
15. I’m really spoiled by my parents, my grandparents and my boyfriend.
16. I am very stubborn. I do whatever I think it is right. It is hard for me to take my mistake but I learn from it anyways.
17. I wish I could go back to my high school year. It is the happiest period during my whole life.
18. I have been to Italy, Paris, Australia, Japan, Korea, and LA, NY, OR, MI in the United States!
19. I curse a lot when I drink.
20. I try to play this tough girl; I hate it when people see me at my worst.
21. I want to be a vegetarian but I cannot resist seafood. I love seafood so much.
22. Every time I go to LA to visit my best friend in junior high school, she takes me to have so many good foods there and usually we have 3 meals for just one night. The food there is so good so much better and so yummy.
23. Michigan is too cold for me. I had always wanted to see snows because there’s no snow in Taiwan. Now, when I see the snow I will only say “Please, STOP!”
24. I cannot eat anything icy because my body is not in good condition.
25. I let love took over my life and later to find out love is not worth it. Love is one of my biggest mistakes in my life.

Cultural Narrative and Ideology

This commercial is a good example for the use of cultural narrative. Even though there’s very little narration in the commercial but it shows a lot of American culture and ideal of dogs. In the beginning, the owner of the rhino called for her pet to go out for a walk as if a dog owner would but if it was a dog, it wouldn’t have broken the door and it is an American culture to walk their dogs. The second part, the ostrich is chasing the mail man like the way a dog would since in American culture, dogs are known to hate mail men. The third part is the boar riding in a car with a family sticking its head out of the window like how a dog would. This also is an American culture of having a dog, and letting it sit in the back seat of a car with the family with its head out of the window. The fourth part is the man wanting his buffalo to fetch the Frisbee that he threw like how a dog would have. This is also another American culture of owning a dog and playing fetch with it. In the end of the commercial the narration happened and he said “maybe you should get a dog.” This commercial is effective in a way that it shows exaggeration of having a different kind of pet rather than a dog and how less of a fun and more trouble you would have having something other than a dog.

Five Ways of Interpreting a Text” by John Peters

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/01/28/cb.facebook.boss.friend/index.html#cnnSTCText

This text reveals the social concern of using Facebook at work. Since Facebook has become one of the largest online social networking website, it is most likely that people at your work place which would include your boss may request to be your friend on Facebook. Friending your boss on Facebook could have a positive or negative effect depending upon what you have on your Facebook. The article also discuss about the basic use of Facebook so that the reader may obtain some important information to prevent people from work seeing things on the reader’s Facebook that he or she may not want them to see. The article also discusses whether you should friend your boss or not. This text relates to the past in a way that it explains how online social networking was not as widely used as now. Things we do on Facebook today, we used to do them face to face in real life such as meeting new people, leaving messages, or even making appointments. But nowadays, Facebook has become such a big part of people’s lives that we almost do not socialize in real life anymore but rather socialize on Facebook with people that we may not ever meet.

Response to "Mother Tongue"

I disagree with the writer of the essay, “Mother Tongue” because she thinks that her mother’s bad English affected her own English skills. I can understand while the mother’s English isn’t great because she was not a native in the United States. With different in culture, tradition, and language, it is very difficult to be able to learn and adapt to speak English like a native speaker. While that is true for the mother, I don’t think that would affect the writer. I have many perfect English speaker friends who have parents that are not native English speakers or don’t speak English at all.

I can relate with the writer’s situation since I am also an international student. But my parents never even lived in the United States before. When I first came to the United States for school, I came to Oregon and I hung out with mostly Americans. After I came to Michigan I started to hangout with more Taiwanese than Americans and I found out that my English has gotten worse. This is also another reason why I disagree with the writer saying that her mother’s bad English affected her English skills because her environment, which is being in America should have a lot more effect in making her English better.

The Capacity Inventory: ABCD

First Branstorming (ten different categories of skills):
Creative,
Musical,
Artistic,
Good at emotional control,
Good cook,
Patient,
Time control,
Communication,
Optmistic,
Healthy

Second Branstorming (different skills under artistic):
Painting
Craftsmanship
Handmade stuff
Drawing
Being unique
Designing
Sketching
Sewing
Perspective drawing
Creating new things

What is the relationship between language and how you perceive the world?

As a person who knows more than one language, I believe that language represents many things. For example; if you ever take a language class, one of the first things you learn from that class is the culture of the language. In that I mean the culture of the countries that use that particular language. Knowledge of cultures will lead to more understanding of languages for why certain expressions are said in a certain way. I agree with Bakhtin that the world and we are created when we speak and write. Everything in this world is described by words. Without words, neither feelings nor intelligence would exist in this world. Without feelings and intelligence, there is nothing. If there is nothing, it is not the world, at least to the human’s perspective. Language allows the world to communicate, express, and interact. Without language, the world would be in chaos.

0113

Hihi

My name is Emily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!