The Beginning of Improvement?

We've decided on a project to complete: the "stairwell job." It's not that complicated, we've started already, and if we don't finish the job my home will look like the underneath of a highway bridge. Here's what we have done so far: We've already removed the wooden paneling (still waiting for removal to the city dump), and on Saturday Dac (the Mr.) patched all the holes that came into being from ripping the panelling off the walls. The next few steps in the process will be:

• Sand all new patches and old glue blobs that still appear on the walls;


• Purchase a nice, neutral nonwhite paint. My options are from the Ralph Lauren
  collection: Cream stone, Sailor's Knot, Modern Studio, and another sample I just lost;


• Prime and paint the stairwell, which extends up at least 16-17 feet in places. This might make us use some tricky ladder combinations to get that done; and


• Sit back and enjoy a nongraffitied stairwell.

About that graffiti'ed wall: Apparently there were at least two men
living in this house in the 70s; one is named Bruce. The other, interestingly,
is Manino Jr. Maybe it's Bruce Manino Jr., but the handwriting is different. You see, we found inscriptions on the wall from those responsible for the fake wooden panelling, and so I'm dedicating this job to Brucie, wherever he might be now.

Costs
1. One can Ralph Lauren paint: $26
2. Sander from Home Depot: approx. $20
3. Patching adhesive: $5

Full cost of project: about $50.

Timeline
1. Sand down spots Friday, April 4
2. Purchase paint Friday, April 4
3. Paint: Hopefully by April 15

Let's see if I can now stick to the schedule!

Examples of Summary, Synthesis, Analysis: The Matrix

Summary: “In the near future, a computer hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that all life on Earth may be nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the purpose of placating us while our life essence is ‘farmed’ to fuel the Matrix’s campaign of domination in the ‘real’ world. He joins like-minded Rebel warriors Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in their struggle to overthrow the Matrix” (Gittes, 2006).

Considerations of Synthesis: Think about how the Matrix was filmed (there is a short on the DVD called “bullet time” in which the Wachowski brothers explain this new filming technology). Now consider how this bullet-time technology has been manipulated, in both music entertainment (music videos from Rascal Flatts) and parody (think the Scary Movie franchise). These entertainment venues are taking an idea that became quite popular from The Matrix movies and expanding it out to other genres. This keeps The Matrix in the news and shows how this particular technology evolves in mainstream media. Ways for us to synthesize “bullet time” (see “Bullet Time … Sort Of” on YouTube).

Think of ways to combine ideas from multiple sources to further your position on any topic imaginable. Using multiple sources to come up with new ideas is the main goal of “synthesis.” Could we now write an article on how technology (specifically “bullet time”) has allowed for new conceptions of the use of special effects in entertainment, using as sources not only The Matrix but Scary Movie and music videos?

Analysis: James L. Ford’s article “Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema” in The Journal of Religion and Film, Vol 4. #2, 2000.


References cited

Ford, James L. (2000). Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema. Journal of Religion and Film, 4(2), 2000. <<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/thematrix.htm>>

Gittes, Jake. (2006). The Matrix—Plot Summary. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://imdb.com/title/tt0133093/plotsummary

Home Improvement

Ok, so I have chosen my topic for the next eight weeks: home improvement. I can hear you saying it now, "that's a boring subject." Well, it isn't as exciting as my last forray into blogging, in which I carped on and on about my dissertation topic. That was an experience I thought would be good for me and it ended up confusing me even more. I have learned in blogging about various topics (politics, finance, composition theory, and now home improvement) that I need variety in writing, that I need to learn to use power tools, that I need to explore avenues that interest me (like making my house livable), and I think this blog can be a great catalyst for that.

So. Here I am. We're in the middle of a house project right now (removing horrid wooden panneling from our stairwell), and it's been at the ready for about 3 weeks. Another reason I think this blog will be good for me is that it will motivate me to make some positive changes in the house. We have done a lot so far: torn down an ugly overhang, put on new siding, added new lights downstairs, almost-completed the half-bath, painted the deck and fences, fixed masonry, installed a new kitchen, even. But there is so much more to do: scrape the glue off the walls (the glue that held the disgusing panneling in place), install new floors downstairs (the vinyl tiles and carpet have been abused by my dogs); change light fixtures upstairs, remodel the 1973 bathroom, down to the lovely flowery vinyl tiles, move the water heater (long story), fix closets, paint rooms, repaint deck (wrong stuff!), resod front lawn, build out small decks in front of house, and so on!

I know for a fact that all of this can't be done during this course, but here is what I can do: learn to use power tools; investigate do-it-yourself vs. expert work on all the projects left to go; attempt a job on my own, like finishing the half-bath (24 months and counting!); interview a friend who is a jack-of-all trades carpenter/plummer/electrician; and plan a budget that will let me know if these things are doable or if I'm just smoking somthing. Finally, if this isn't enough territory to cover, I can provide commentary and review on some of my favorite HGTV shows (House Hunters, anyone?). I think there's plenty of material to work from.

So now I actually have to get off my backside and do something. This is what enrages me about blogs like mine...action is required!

So, until Thursday...

In-Class Exercise: What is "General Welfare"?

Here is the preamble to the U.S. Constitution:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. [as quoted off Cornell University Law School's website]

What does general welfare mean? How can we adequately define it?

Consider, for example, how politicians fighting for the upcoming U.S. presidency are promoting or fighting over a new concept for America: "Universal Healthcare" (UH). Can the preamble's goals be tied to UH? Which candidate do you think supports the preamble most closely with regards to health care or what you have come to define as "general welfare"?

Where Does This Piece of Writing End?

The Waiting Game

So by now most everybody within a 100-foot radius of me at any moment knows that I've started my dissertation. Proposal round three is with my director, and I'm sure I'll get it back after the Thanksgiving Holidays. For rounds one and two I was suspicious of any large white packet that came in the mail. Is this the one with the feedback? Is it a sweepstakes offer? Could it be quarterly losses from my 401(k)? Any of the above would have been depressing. I was waiting (am waiting still) to jump through this last hoop on my way to finishing my Ph.D. work. And it still feels like the beginning.

For starters, here are all the places in which any graduate school can waylay the best of educational travelers (or gatekeeping mechanisms, as they are):

1. Acceptance to any graduate program (GPA, letters of recommendation, work histories, other experience, writing samples);



2. Introductory courses/grades;



3. The "qualifying portfolio": a place in which, midway through coursework, students must put a portfolio together that's considered academically viable work;



4. Finishing coursework (both required and elective) at a steady pace with acceptable grades (mostly "A"s);



5. Getting somebody to chair your dissertation committee;



6. Getting the proposal passed;



7. Signing up other advisors/readers to be on your committee;



8. Passing the 3-chapter defense; and



9. Passing the final dissertation defense.

And so, three years in, I am only at step 6. I guess it feels like I've done more than that, but there is so much left to do. And where does this writing piece end (the theme, of course, of my dissertation)? Through rounds and rounds of submission, feedback, frustration, rewriting, and resubmission, I have gotten this far. And I guess that's pretty good. But this piece of writing will then blend and merge into my dissertation itself (mostly part of the prologue and chapter 1), continue to change, and not be anything at all like I thought it would be.

I am a stranger to my own written voice. I never sound on paper like I do in my head, or when I speak. It is as if there are three writers here, and each voice is distinct; yet I never know who will show up for the final version. I just hope that I don't have to wait too long to know whether I can take that next step. I mean, I know it's coming, but the waiting is excruciating.

And this reminds me: this is exactly what it feels like for my ENG 111 students to wait 8 weeks for a grade (I'll never do that again!).

Photo Courtesy the Yoga gurus.

Week 5: In-class exercise

Blogs and reporting...

How do blogs and "legitimate" (depends on how you define it) news outlets report on the same issue?

Take a look at the recent Hollywood writers' strike. Here are two bloggers different interpretations of issues surrounding the strike: Writer's Blog or Lowrychris's "Is the Writer's Strike in Hollywood just Gold Digging by the WGA?" and how media (newspaper and online news outlets) are reporting on the issue: "Bad Day at The Office" from MSNBC.

Questions to consider:
1. How do these different types of Internet "reports" handle the issue of the Writers' strike?
2. What are the writing style(s) shown? Are they similar?
3. Based on what you see here, where do you go to get your news?

References Cited (Thus far)

Here is a copy of my growing References Cited list. Not all the pieces are used in my proposal, but I believe I will be actively using them (99%, at least) in the main project.

Baynes, Kenneth, et al., eds. After Philosophy: End or Transformation? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986.

Berlin, James. Rhetorics, Poetics, Cultures: Refiguring College English Studies. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1996.

Burke, Kenneth. A Rhetoric of Motives. Cleveland: Meridian, 1962.

Carter, Michael. Where Writing Begins: A Postmodern Reconstruction. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

China Daily. “Archaeologists Rewrite History.” China Daily, June 12, 2003. 29 Sept. 2007 http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Jun/66806.htm

Dobrin, Sidney. Constructing Knowledges: The Politics of Theory-Building and Pedagogy in Composition. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997.

---------. “From Writing Processes to Cultural (Re)production: Composition’s Theoretical Shift.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, 22 March 2002.

Faigley, Lester. Fragments of Rationality: Postmodernity and the Subject of Composition. Pittsburgh: U. of Pittsburgh Press, 1992.

Fish, Stanley. “Being Interdisciplinary Is So Very Hard to Do.” Profession 89, 15–22, 1991.

Guthrie, W. K. C. A History of Greek Philosophy. 6 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press, 1962.

Haldane, John. “Philosophy, Death, and Immortality.” Philosophical Investigations 30(3), 245-265.

Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Toronto: Bantam, 1988.

Hyers, Conrad. The Interpreter’s Bible. 12 vols. New York: Abington, 1952.

Joyce, Rosemary. The Languages of Archaeology: Dialogue, Narrative, and Writing. London: Blackwell Publishers, 2002.

Journet, Debra. “Writing within (and between) Disciplinary Genres.” In Thomas Kent, Ed. Post Process Theory: Beyond the Writing Process Paradigm. Carbondale, Ill: Southern Illinois University Press, 1999.

Klein, Julie. Interdisciplinarity: History, Theory, and Practice. Detroit: Wayne State U. Press, 1990.

Knoblauch, Cy, and Lil Brannon. Rhetorical Traditions and the Teaching of Writing. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook, 1984.

Lucas, Gavin. The Archaeology of Time. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Luce, J. V. An Introduction to Greek Philosophy. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992.

Lukacs, John. At the End of an Age. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002.

Lyon, Arabella. “Interdisciplinarity: Giving Up Territory.” College English 54 (1992): 681–93.

McIver, Tom. “The Alpha & the Omega.” Skeptic 7(3), (ID # 10639330), 1999.

North, Stephen. The Making of Knowledge in Composition: Portrait of an Emerging Field. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton, 1987.

Plato, and Albert Keith Whitaker. Parmenides. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 1996.

Preucel, Robert. Archaeological Semiotics. London: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.

Said, Edward W. Beginnings: Intention and Method. New York: Basic, 1975.

Vandenberg, Peter, Sue Hum, and Jennifer Clary-Lemon. Relations, Locations, Positions: Composition Theory for Writing Teachers. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English, 2006.

Vitanza, Victor. “Three Countertheses: Or a Critical In(ter)vention into Composition Theories and Pedagogies.” In Harkin and Schlib, eds. Contending with Words: Composition and Rhetoric in a Postmodern Age. New York: MLA, 1991.

Whitehead, Alfred North. Adventures of Ideas. New York: Macmillan, 1933.