The most important thing that I have learned from being a part of this entire research paper process is that anything can be manageable if you give yourself enough time. Doing a research paper step by step, specifically using milestones, made the whole thing easier to write as oppossed to when you try to write everything in one sitting. With that being said, my understanding of college-level research has changed in the sense that i won't always have the liberty to take my time with writing papers. ENG103 was great in the fact that we only focused on a paper, but in order classes it wont always be like that, especially if a research paper is involved.
The advice that I would give to future students is that you should do always do your milestones on time. These milestones are crucial especially if you're trying to get feedback on a class that only meets once a week. The Research Speed-Dial was extremely valuable for me in writing not only this paper, but also papers I had for other classes. I would take full advantage of this wonderful resource Professor Dragan has provided us and will with you.
If there is one thing that I would have done differently during the last milestone was that i wish i gave myself more time to read each document in greater detail as opposed to rushing it. Although i got the information that i had wanted, i feel that i could have elaborated more and made my paper stronger if I had a better understanding on what it is i read. It is not always that what you quote goes with what you are trying to say. But nevertheless, this class was great. I could not have found a more helpful class when it comes to writing essays than with this one. Professor Dragan is a fantastic teacher who takes you step by step through everything, pushing you to get to the finish line even when you may be behind with the rest of the class.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Close Reading of Film Stills in Temple Grandin
Since I am not writing about a film in my research paper, I will go ahead and analyze the Temple Grandin film stills that were given to us in class. Looking at "Still #1" there is a lot going on when looking at it. We first notice that Temple is on the ground and inside some box, while pulling down on a string. She is looking directly at her roommate who had just walked in to find Temple doing something which she considered to be "strange." Judging by her face, it looks as if Temple is at peace with herself while inside the 'squeeze machine' that she has invented. Because I have seen this film before, I know that in her eyes, what she is doing is normal because it is helping her get the sensation of a hug whenever she is in need of one. However, for the roommate and the rest of the college, it is very difficult for them to understand without judging.
Moving on to "Still #2," we notice right away that Temple is the only female in present in a room filled with males. In her meeting with the men, she is showing them her blueprints for her design to make slaughterhouses more human. Despite she herself being very focused while looking out at her design, the rest of the men in the room are instead looking straight at her, with expressions in their faces that may indicate that they cannot believe the words that are coming out of her mouth.
Finally, in "Still #3," we see the faces of everyone in the crowd looking directly at Temple. This happens as a result of Temple standing up to say how she was a person living with Autism who was fortunate to become highly successful. We see that room is filled with people; many whom before listening to Temple speak, were listening to an individual in the back holding his hand on his mouth. The people's emotions seem shocked in disbelief, as many could not believe how a person with Autism managed to become so successful and and overcome it.
When doing this exercise, what i manged to get out of it was that we tend to miss a lot of small details when we are looking at a film in real time. If you were to pause a certain part, especially that might be an important part to the film, you start to notice little things here and there, and begin to question why they're there. Directors know why they put certain things in a certain part, why the lighting during the moment might be light or dark, etc etc. These stills therefore allow us to question and try to come up with conclusions towards these questions.
Moving on to "Still #2," we notice right away that Temple is the only female in present in a room filled with males. In her meeting with the men, she is showing them her blueprints for her design to make slaughterhouses more human. Despite she herself being very focused while looking out at her design, the rest of the men in the room are instead looking straight at her, with expressions in their faces that may indicate that they cannot believe the words that are coming out of her mouth.
Finally, in "Still #3," we see the faces of everyone in the crowd looking directly at Temple. This happens as a result of Temple standing up to say how she was a person living with Autism who was fortunate to become highly successful. We see that room is filled with people; many whom before listening to Temple speak, were listening to an individual in the back holding his hand on his mouth. The people's emotions seem shocked in disbelief, as many could not believe how a person with Autism managed to become so successful and and overcome it.
When doing this exercise, what i manged to get out of it was that we tend to miss a lot of small details when we are looking at a film in real time. If you were to pause a certain part, especially that might be an important part to the film, you start to notice little things here and there, and begin to question why they're there. Directors know why they put certain things in a certain part, why the lighting during the moment might be light or dark, etc etc. These stills therefore allow us to question and try to come up with conclusions towards these questions.
Monday, April 20, 2015
My Milestone #3 Research Game Plan
During my research plan for Milestone 3, the things i will mainly be looking for are 2 encyclopedia sources and 2 scholarly articles to add on to my research. For the encyclopedia articles, I will mainly be looking for them on either Academic Search Complete or JSTOR online database. For the scholarly articles, I will focus on trying to find them on the Gale Virtual Reference Library online database.
My topic has to deal with the perils of the 1939-1940 World's Fair; a Fair which had promoted so much promise in terms of all the innovations that had been brought out and shown to the public. This paper mainly focuses on how despite all of its promise, there has been more harm done than good with the innovations from this Fair.
Some possible search terms that I will look into while looking in Gale Virtual include "suburban pollution" & "carbon footprints" because it relates to the pollution that has come as result of so many suburban areas across the country.
My topic has to deal with the perils of the 1939-1940 World's Fair; a Fair which had promoted so much promise in terms of all the innovations that had been brought out and shown to the public. This paper mainly focuses on how despite all of its promise, there has been more harm done than good with the innovations from this Fair.
Some possible search terms that I will look into while looking in Gale Virtual include "suburban pollution" & "carbon footprints" because it relates to the pollution that has come as result of so many suburban areas across the country.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Blog Assignment #1
The topic that I'm writing about is on the promise and perils from the 1939-1940 World's Fair held in New York City. The fair is significant because it was here where the idea of superhighways and suburban areas were first presented to millions of Americans who visited the Fair. It falls under the category Research Paper Idea #1 -- Science or Technology: Promise or Peril? because while the Fair presented a lot to look forward to in terms of driving for long distances on highways or getting away from the city and moving to the suburbs where there was more space, a lot of people have argued and made the case that things like pollution and an increase in carbon footprints have come about as a result of trying to emulate the visions put into place at the Fair.
The first source I am using during my research is an online blog post/ article from Huffignton Post written by Seth Bauer entitled, American Suburbia vs. the Planet. I was given this source via email from Professor Dragan, and it is mainly a disucssion about the origins of global warming and American's way of life Bauer has with an urban planner named Andres Duany. One argument being made by Dauny is that by building bigger houses, "[Americans] have eliminated a healthy civic life." He points out on how we create things like media rooms in order to avoid going public theaters that require lots of traveling and money spent. Knowledge on the fact that our way of life continues to gear us towards more harm than good is the kind of information that this blog post provides me with.
The second source I have decided to use is a book called 1939: The Lost World of the Fair, written by David Gelernter. I found this book at the school library, thanks to the recomendation of it by Professor Dragan. What is relevant about the information given in this book is that it provides the reader with an insight of what the Fair was, the kind of things presented in it, and the level of impact it had on society. I am choosing to use this book as a source because even though I am going to argue on how the perils of the Fair far outweigh it's promise, it is important to understand what visions these people had back in the late 1930's and early 40's. When discussing suburban living for example, Gelernter writes on how this idea that a person could “own a house, tend your plot, let your children ride their bike in the streets and hear the jinging of crickets on summer evening[s]” (Gelernter 69) was something American’s had yearn for in the years before and after the Second World War.
It will interesting to see how well this paper develops as i find more and more sources to include in its research.
Bauer, Seth. "American Suburbia vs. the Planet." Website 18 January 2010: n.pag. Web. 19 April 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-bauer/american-suburbia-vs-the_b_426989.html>.
Gelernter, David. 1939: The Lost World of the Fair. New York: Free Press, 1995. Print.
The first source I am using during my research is an online blog post/ article from Huffignton Post written by Seth Bauer entitled, American Suburbia vs. the Planet. I was given this source via email from Professor Dragan, and it is mainly a disucssion about the origins of global warming and American's way of life Bauer has with an urban planner named Andres Duany. One argument being made by Dauny is that by building bigger houses, "[Americans] have eliminated a healthy civic life." He points out on how we create things like media rooms in order to avoid going public theaters that require lots of traveling and money spent. Knowledge on the fact that our way of life continues to gear us towards more harm than good is the kind of information that this blog post provides me with.
The second source I have decided to use is a book called 1939: The Lost World of the Fair, written by David Gelernter. I found this book at the school library, thanks to the recomendation of it by Professor Dragan. What is relevant about the information given in this book is that it provides the reader with an insight of what the Fair was, the kind of things presented in it, and the level of impact it had on society. I am choosing to use this book as a source because even though I am going to argue on how the perils of the Fair far outweigh it's promise, it is important to understand what visions these people had back in the late 1930's and early 40's. When discussing suburban living for example, Gelernter writes on how this idea that a person could “own a house, tend your plot, let your children ride their bike in the streets and hear the jinging of crickets on summer evening[s]” (Gelernter 69) was something American’s had yearn for in the years before and after the Second World War.
It will interesting to see how well this paper develops as i find more and more sources to include in its research.
Bauer, Seth. "American Suburbia vs. the Planet." Website 18 January 2010: n.pag. Web. 19 April 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-bauer/american-suburbia-vs-the_b_426989.html>.
Gelernter, David. 1939: The Lost World of the Fair. New York: Free Press, 1995. Print.
Monday, March 23, 2015
My Research Topic
As of right now, the two topics I am currently deciding on are the portrayal of Autism in the film Temple Grandin and the impacts the 1939's Worlds Fair had on American life. To be honest, i'm stuck when it comes to both because i'm really interested in both and i'm also confused on what sources i would be able to use if i picked either one. For the World's Fair topic, i'm even more confused because most links that were given to me by Professor Dragan were YouTube links, so I don't know if these are valid or credible sources.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Welcome Post
Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. My name is Karol Ortiz. To start off, I am 18 years old, currently in my second semester here at Laguardia. My major is Liberal Arts Social Sciences and Humanities, and although it is what i am studying right now, my educational plans are to eventually major in media studies at a four year institution like Hunter College or City College. Career goal wise, my goal is to become a broadcasting announcer for some baseball team because it's been something i've been wanting to do since I was a young child.
When it comes to the kind of films and books i like, i tend to like films and books that have to do with historical things; so biopics or biographies.
As for whether I am a optimist or a pessimist when it comes to technology, i'd say i fall somewhere in between. Speaking for myself, i feel that technology has provided us with some many great things to make our lives easier and more effecient. However, I do also feel as though we've payed a price for it at the same time. Many of us have lost our ability to critically think for ourselves as well as do little things like carry out a casual conversation without paying attention to our cell phones constantly.
Most people i feel are divided when it comes to this issue because there's always going to be an older generation trying to knock down technology and say it is slowly ruining us as humans, well a younger generation will defend it and argue that it is not the case and that instead it is helping us become better humans. To each its own.
When it comes to the kind of films and books i like, i tend to like films and books that have to do with historical things; so biopics or biographies.
As for whether I am a optimist or a pessimist when it comes to technology, i'd say i fall somewhere in between. Speaking for myself, i feel that technology has provided us with some many great things to make our lives easier and more effecient. However, I do also feel as though we've payed a price for it at the same time. Many of us have lost our ability to critically think for ourselves as well as do little things like carry out a casual conversation without paying attention to our cell phones constantly.
Most people i feel are divided when it comes to this issue because there's always going to be an older generation trying to knock down technology and say it is slowly ruining us as humans, well a younger generation will defend it and argue that it is not the case and that instead it is helping us become better humans. To each its own.
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