Amy Souder Professor Kopp Writing, Research, and Technology Blog Response Log February 13th 2014 What

Inspires You? by Brittany C. Response: Twitter certainly is a valuable tool for communicative education and idea sharing, but in reading your live tweets about McKee I see a severe disconnect in your tweet "Story is, at heart, nonintellectual" idk I've heard some very intellectual stories before #robertmckee." The problem with it is that McKee's premise is about this need for unity between the rational and irrational, the intellectual and the creative. In other words, he would completely agree with your comment that intellectual stories are a valid means of creativity. Once these two entities are shared, the story comes alive. Again, however, this is the beauty of twitter. The heated discussions you are having with your friends will only help to refine your own ideas.

Analysis: Counter vs. Controlling Ideas by Sara P. Response: Controlling and counter ideas are inevitable in any story, as you have mentioned. Interestingly enough, there is often more than one counter idea to a given controlling idea. I say this because in The Little Mermaid, I see the main counter idea as a girl giving up her body and voice to a man. I realize the other counter idea "that humans are harmless" as you say, is also a potential opposing value, but I don't think it is the prevailing one. Many feminists dislike this movie for that reason. It does not empower young girls, just as The Lion King does not empower children to go against the norm.

February 21st, 2014 A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words by Jackson B. Response: I too found that episode of John Berger's Ways of Seeing awfully interesting. It is amazing how much of an impact music can play on our interpretation of a painting or picture. What I noticed that you failed to mention, however, is the negative effect that this can have on our individualistic ideas. Cueing sad music to a sad painting done prior to Van Gough's suicide will inevitably set a gloomy mood. But what if Van Gough, for instance, wanted to show those birds as a sign of release and hope? Or just as a snapshot of time in a cornfield? Setting music to convey a message inhibits the onlooker from establishing their own independent perspective, thereby creating conformity.

Is the Art of Photography Dying? by Lauren L. Response: You have a very valid point that art is not just about what the hands can do, but also what the mind is able to create. Creativity requires both aspects. What I do see an issue with, however, is your argument that digital photographys ability to capture any image as it stands in time is a form of creative art. John Ebert mentions in this chapter that traditional photography is a learned craft, whereas digital photography is not. Art takes dedication and time to learn the craft. Digital photography, on the other hand, is accessible to anyone and requires no effort other than a click of the cameras button. Therefore, no creativity or experience has to be exemplified to capture a digital picture, and it is for that reason that I see only traditional photographs as artwork.

March 2nd, 2014 Can You Interpret This? by Jade B. Response: Semiotics, and the significance of symbols in meaning is, as you say, "interpreting figures in a way that you know them as." But the problem lies in an unknowingness of those symbols. What do you make of a symbol that you have no background knowledge on? This is where the interpretation can go astray. Perhaps, for instance, a person unaware of the symbol of the person on the height measurement for amusement park rides assumes that this means that only men can ride, because there is no representation of a women. I suppose that a mixture of words with the pictures may be helpful in crucial situations instead of only relying only on pictures. What Makes Art? by Courtney W. Response: I'm not quite sure that drawing a stick figure, no matter how much meaning you may conger up when doing so, constitutes art. Art takes craftsmanship and time. Drawing a simplistic figure takes none of these elements. Just as John Ebert argued that digital photography takes out the art in photography because there is little work needed in the process, so too does a quick sketch. I suppose there is no say in who will find sketches like that meaningful, but there is no comparison to a well-crafted work of art. Then, there is no question of time and talent.

March 8th, 2014 We See What We Want by Valerie F. Response: The screen shots of the definitions for semiotics and simile served as a helpful resource for readers, but I'm afraid your example of the two pictures of the woman was not. When you say, "When we look at differences of objects we tend to highlight the main features that interests us and ignore the other features," I think that your statement is far too vague, as is the picture that goes along with it. Some people are much more observant than others, and spend more time examining pictures or text to see every little detail. Although you may not, that does

not mean this is a commonality for others. I think the picture that shows contrast between underlying changes of the girl and the background are far too subtle and limited to prove your point.

Analysis of Perception by Amy McKeever Response: I also found the paragraph of misspelled, yet readable words interesting in Hall's chapter. Our minds truly are magnificent machines. The problem I am seeing in your argument of different people seeing different things within the same picture, is that the picture you provided is actually an optical illusionpurposely meant to be seen in two or more different ways. I do not think this is a valid image to prove your point, because firstly, you emphasize the importance of text and pictures in unison, and this image lacks any text whatsoever. Secondly, optical illusions are not made to prove a point, but only to trick the mind, which is not the purpose of semiotics.

Halls Opposing Concepts by Gary L. Response: I am a bit confused by the examples you provided about Hall and the differences in both food and clothing characteristics. While I understand your incorporation of understanding that a man is only a man because he is not a woman, you provide no explanation for the food and clothing instances. Does a person understand a food because it is edible? Then how do people differentiate between what is edible or not. For clothing, how do you determine exactly what is and what is not? What defines that as such? I feel like when you use examples such as these, you must help the reader to put the pieces together, especially with such an abstract concept.

March 15th, 2014 RemixWe All Do It by Jessica H. Response: All ideas really do stem from other ideas, whether it be in literature, movies, or just plain old speech. Because of this, there is no real way to ever be completely original. Even say, for the topics of the mashups that we are working on, any original ideas will just be taken from content that already exists somewhere in cyberspace. Just think, how would we even have any ideas if there weren't others that preceded it? The answer is simple--we wouldn't. This is the idea of intertextuality, a concept that claims all texts rely on other texts. Whether you are aware of it or not, the entire premise of this blog surround that idea. I would suggest doing research on it to understand that even considering being original is impossible. Think of it this way: Creativity? Yes. Original? Never.

Are Myths True? by Jessica H. Response: Myths are debatable, and it seems that they exist solely to confuse rather than clarify. It is because of this that I do not agree with spending time pondering them at all. If myths can be "considered true, partly true, or simply false," then why bother? I would much prefer to waste energy researching already proven and excepted factual evidence than debating whether Bloody Mary will show up in the mirror or not. I think that myths are more of a scapegoat for bigger, much more concrete issues. Especially because if the myth is a longstanding one, it seems to be completely false, such as the Bloody Mary one for instance, yet people choose to still be scared of it--a sheer act of ignorance.

Copyrighting: Friend or Foe? by Laurie T. Response: Original ideas are impossible to come by, especially in the music scene. I can't tell you how many times my cousin will play a riff on his guitar and I'll ask him if it's from a certain song, and his answer will be, "No, but good ear, it's the same chord progression." So as you see, while sometimes lyrics are stolen, such as in Flo Rida and Led Zeppelin's case, even the instrumentally composed elements of songs are unoriginal by nature. Of course, completely copying the song, versus copying the sound of a band are two entirely different entities. Luckily for musicians, copying overall sound is lawful, as Everything Is a Remix tells us.

March 30th, 2014 What Really Makes a Story? by Kaylee C. Response: Without a complication, there really is no plot. A complete story does need to have a beginning, middle, and end, of course. But what really makes the story interesting is the resolution to the problem, as you said. Im concerned that you are missing the concept of what exactly Hall meant by a story, however. All of these examples that you have presented are movies. A Walk to Remember began as a book, but you also only highlight the movie component. Stories can also be told through books, an aspect of story that you did not touch on whatsoever. I feel that if you added a few more books to your examples the reader would gain a better, more wholesome understanding of what Hall really means about stories.

Is Anything Really Original? by Kaylee C. Response: I find it interesting that you pose the question about stepping out of the box in order to gain originality, when the beginning of your argument states that every new creation from someone is 99 percent of the time a spin off of something that has already been made. The problem with getting out of this so called box is that this is also an idea that has already been established. Staying within the realm of normal doesnt necessarily mean that jumping out of

the box is any less original than remaining within the box. The box is thus a perception of reality, and one that can be imitated from both the inside and outside perspective.

April 1, 2014 Mash, Smash, or Pass? By Samantha G. Response: Mashups are certainly a great way to re-create existing videos, music, ideas, etc., while there is a creative nature to this, I would argue that it does not fall under the "creative" category of Bloom's Taxonomy. As a future teacher, I spend much time with Bloom's. The creative realm comes from establishing something entirely new, not merely creating what already exists. I would say that mashup-ing falls more-so into the analyzing and evaluating sections because in order to make a mashup, the creator must pick apart the pieces of the video that already stands to make any new thought and apply it to the real world.

Old Art/New Art by Samantha G. Response: While oil paintings did change from the concrete to ones that exemplified ownership, an even bigger change was that pictures changed from pictures that displayed items in ownership, to the idea of the purchaser of the painting as another type of owner. The naked women that were so often shown in these types of paintings were a testament to the owner of the picture. These painted woman were his, and he could do what he pleased with them. Thus, it was the owner that had the prowess instead of the rich within the painting itself. Though both show the value of the person, the owner of the painter is now the more concrete aspect.

April 4, 2014 Mashing-Up the Writing Process by Chelsea S. Response: I do agree that the video mashup is somewhat like writing a paper, but I think it depends on the type of paper being written. Of course, there are a collection of sources, such as in a research paper, but the sources are not indefinitely linked to the overall thesis itself. It is in putting together these video sources that a story unfolds. Therefore, I would argue that video mashup-ing is more similar to a story. One that has a cohesive narrative, or beginning, middle, and end. The story of the video mashup serves to intrigue the audience, as in any good narrative.

Baby, Youre Beautiful by Chelsea S. Response: I think people mistake this "thin trend" as something very recent, and that, in Marilyn Monroe's day, curves were all the rage. I'm glad you mentioned that even 60 years ago the motto was "thin is in." Eating disorders to fit society's standards is nothing new. The problem is that not all women feel they must have flat bellies and large breasts, or thinness and voluptuousness, as

you say. Some women, like myself, don't try to readjust body image for the sake of meeting a standard. I think that all women tend to be categorized into wanting to be thin in an argument such as this, but I must remind you that this is only a portion of women's intentions.

April 11, 2014 Death of the Bookstore by Jen D. Response: You said it well. Both print and electronic books have their perks. While I am more of a fan of printed books, I do think that we will see a crossover to the e-book style. I have come to believe Barnes and Noble will eventually become that of Blockbuster Video. A once, booming entertainment store that has been outrun by technology. It's not as though the media changes, movies are still movies, stories, still stories, but the presentation has. Thus, outdating book and movie stores for instantaneous downloadable entertainment. Inevitably, e-books are more convenient and far less bulky, both of which todays society values. It is because of this that I think we will see more printed books sold at yard sales, and more Kindles given as birthday gifts.

Permanence of Fads by Kelly M. Response: The entire point of countercultures are to do exactly what the name implies--counter against society's overall culture. Naturally, humans are creatures that crave routine, so whether "law" based or not, they are certainly still following a specific mold set for themselves. It is my opinion that you make this seem like a hypocritical thing, whereas it is really human nature. Without structure, people would be living in chaos. That is no way to really live, and it is with relief that I say even countercultures respect that. It is usually just a bit different from the norm. Structure creates unity.

Taking A Chance by Leah F. Response: As an elementary education dual major as well, this is the first I have heard of Edmodo. I seems to be a useful way to interact outside of the classroom, for as we know, today is about always staying connected. However, I feel that this may bridge the gap slightly too far. Should students and teachers really be communicating just as if they are on Facebook? Where will the professional conversations stop and casual ones begin? Also, if educators plan to rely on this website only, potential site crashes are always looming. What if students depend on this for assignments, and something goes awry? I think it can be a helpful educational supplement, but I do not feel that it should be the only way for students and teachers to communicate outside of the classroom.