Kaila's 328 Blog

2006-04-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well it is about that time.....
and I have finally come full circle with this once crazy, complicated and confusing course. The beginnings of this course were the most difficult to me, Writing as a Technology specifically, but looking back at it now it set up a great groundwork for everything else we did. You can never know where you are going, until you know where you have been.

Moving onto the All About Style Unit, I learned that I can have my own approach to style and writing, but still follow the rules that govern my writing and improve upon them to make them better. I can't make up my own language without following the rules because then my style would not be recognized, it would gibberish. So from this unit I got a hold of how to say what I wanted to say, but through words. Through speaking there is facial expression, tone, etc. This can too be expressed through written style.

The Visual Rhetoric Unit took style a step further by introducing the visual aspect. McCloud opened my eyes through an entirely new world; one that I still feel is the most effective, and somehow the world lost touch with this style of communication. The combination of words and pictures makes your personal style that much more apparent. The disconnect between words and picture can even further one's unique style.

In building the websites, I was really able to showcase my style using words and pictures. This was even taken a step further than comics. By following the Web Style Guide and Spider Pros, these were the specific rules that I followed (like following Strunk, White, and Williams) so that my style would be understood correctly.

In gathering all this useful information, I think I proved my understanding in my final website. It's been fun, it's been eventful, and it's been stylish. ;)

2006-04-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

#1 Web Style Rule

The style rule that I feel is most important in web design is site design. Site design is what caters to the audiences needs. Without the interest of an audience, your website might as well be an all black home page, because no one will look at it. The Web Style Guide states it best. “The design of the site will determine its organizational framework. At this stage you will make the tactical design decisions about what your audience wants from you, what you wish to say, and how to arrange the content to best meet your audience's needs. Although people will notice the graphic design of your Web pages right away, the overall organization of the site will have the greatest impact on their experience.”Web design is the biggest factor in meeting a user’s needs. What the audience is looking for should be centered on the site design.

Spider Pro gives an excellent list on what to do and what not to do when it comes to web design. The elements I feel that are most important in this list are using a consistent look and feel and using recurring visual elements. These two things are key to having a professional, visually stimulating, respectable website.

2006-04-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

WEB vs. PRINT

After reading Spider100 Do’s and Don’ts and the Web Style Guide, and having reviewed the elements of style, I was able to come up with some differences and similarities between writing for the web, and paper-based writing.

In the Spider 100 reading, I found many similarities with paper writing when it came to being grammatically correct, matters of spelling, writing about the subject, and knowing your audience. Whoever you are writing for and however your communicating, these three things still need to be very clear. Just because you are writing for the web does not mean that you can have misspelled words. In both print and the web, the subject and topic of discussion must be clear. When it comes to feedback, the way in which it is received may be different, but they still are welcomed. No one should publish anything without having it reviewed by an outside party.
One difference I noticed with the Spider 100 reading vs. print was the short sentences that are necessary for the web. The web is so fast paced, and when people are surfing the web they want to get information quickly. They don’t care for technical writing, or long explanations, short sentences are best for the web.

In reading the web style guide, one similarity I noticed with print was the organization of the information. The processes may vary in direction, but are accomplishing the same goal of clearly presenting the information. The five steps to organization from the web guide were: divide your content into logical units, establish a hierarchy of importance among the units, use the hierarchy to structure relations among units, build a site that closely follows your information structure, and analyze the functional and aesthetic success of your system. With this in relation to print, there has to be the same kind of organization; dividing paragraphs into logical sections, establishing the piece in order of importance (depending on the piece), and building on that draft.A major difference in the web style guide was planning. A majority of the people who are involved in the planning of the website, will never actually use the website. Companies hire someone to make their companies website, but that person has no immediate connection to the company. So when the site is being planned out and the layout, color, content and everything is being worked on, the client who is requesting the service is not even present. This is very different from the planning for a print document. There is much more hands on involvement, foe example with a book or a magazine. Since the web is more advanced people feel the need to let someone else take on the task, and don’t really get that involved.

2006-03-16T17:40:00.000-08:00

McCloud Part Two

I chose to take a look at Tia's blog. http://girlswannahavfun.blogspot.com/ This comic, like Tia described, displays exactly what we all were/are thinking in the process of building our first website. McCloud wanted to share his art form online, so he had to learn the 'html' process. I am in the process of doing this myself (making my own real site aside a simple web page) and it has definitely been a challenge. So I thought Tia's blog was the fitting choice. Like Tia, this book has also rekindled my interest in comics, and opened my eyes to things that I never viewed as comics before. Like the pre-Columbian picture manuscript that was "discovered" by Cortes. McCloud states, "This 36-foot long, brightly-colored, painted screenfold tells of the great military and political hero 8-Deer "Tiger's Claw. Is it comics? You bet it is!" (10) Comics can range from, art, to manuals, to books, to many other means of communicating, McCloud makes the variety in Understanding Comics quite clear.

In chapter six McCloud went on to explore when and why pictures and words drifted apart. By the early 1800's "Pictures and words, once together in the center of our iconic abstraction chart, have at this point drifted to opposite corners" (145). He went on to elaborate on how pictures went up in a sense, and evolved toward having deeper meaning. The written word was evolving too, conveying meanings quickly and easily like pictures. McCloud describes this as a collision that is most prevalent in none other than the modern comic. In today's society, the old artform of the comic is just that, archaic. Today we are mesmerized by the media, movies, television shows. Try to think of something that you enjoy with both words and pictures, it's pretty hard to come up with. People today for the most either enjoy pictures alone (ex. movies) or words alone (ex. Books). McCloud states that, "words and pictures have great powers to tell stories when creators fully exploit them both" (152).

McCloud does a great job of depicting the word and picture relationship and lack there of. He shows a girl in the rain walking into a store, she buys some ice cream and proceeds to eat it, this is all shown without any written words. The next page adds text to each scene. Some show it as an advertisement, others as an outlandish statement that has nothing to do with what's going on, and the other an integral point in a possible monologue. Then the following page shows written words describing all the actions taking place, but there are no pictures. When the proper scenes are linked up with the proper words, it all works out in the end. He even goes beyond this and showing different scenes with a more emotional impact, and others shift back in time displaying a previous action. It's all in the delivery.

2006-03-11T05:40:00.000-08:00

McCloud, Comics, and Me

I'm not a big fan of comics in general, it's not something that I read on an everyday basis, but I found one I liked,the Boondocks. After reading Scott McClouds book, I'll see if I'll become a more avid reader. So what is the Boondocks Comics you ask? Well I did some research, and I am really into it. The Boondocks is a comic, and now television show, by Aaron McGruber. It features two main characters, two African American boys, who are the first Black kids in a previously all-white suburb. One of the characters, "Huey Freeman, the radical scholar," spends most of his time questioning perceptions of African Americans and the ways they are treated in the United States. The comic has always been distinguished by its willingness to raise tough questions and express dissenting opinions. This comic has been banned by certain newspapers and praised by others, it's controversial to some and hailed by others. I personally don;t think it's as political as some people say, it's funny and not every strip is serious, it's a comic, people seem to forget that. Here is a link to several Boondocks comics http://community.livejournal.com/boondocks_comic/

McCloud made a statement that I never thought about. "Space does for comics what time does for film"(7). Since the Boondocks is both a comic and a show, I can relate to and see the validity of this statement. Moving directly into the discussion on sequential visual art, comics don't have to contain words to be a comic. On the link provided there is a Boondocks comic 3/09/06 and the first three frames have no words, but I bet everyone knows exactly what is going on. Actually it is the comic I have shown above. The character 'Grandad' has taken all kinds of different pictures of himself in different outfits and poses. This communicates better to us than any words would. I think I'm getting it. McCloud pointed out the picture manuscript from the 1500's. I immediately though of Ancient Egypt and 'the pictures an symbols engraved on the walls' and never thought once of this being a comic, but it is. I turn the page and there it is, Ancient Egypt. This is really the sequence of occurrences, I thought of it before I turned the page. He elaborates on this when he talks about the Normandy Conquest scene. "Reading left to right we see the events of the conquest, in deliberate chronological order unfold before our eyes. As with the Mexican Codex, there are no panel borders per se, but there are clear division of scene and subject matter" (13).

Looking at many of the Boondocks Comic strips, everything that McCloud touches on in chapter one is relevant. I didn't know anything about the Boondocks prior to reading it, but I could relate to it and it made sense. Something that would usually not be considered a comic and that can be understood by everyone is the flight information 'diagram' in which the pictures show how to properly secure your mask incase air pressure changes in the cabin, and then to do the same for the person next to you. Now from what I just said, you would think all of the words were right there in the diagram, but they weren't it's just pictures of a woman and her child going through the actions. With that, comics really do have a way of communicating without words, and even greater chance of accurate communication with words. Who would of thought.

2006-02-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

What do others think?

The first of my classmate’s blogs I reviewed was Ms. Tarah’s. She touched on something that I have been going back and forth about as well, the apostrophe “s”. Like Tarah, I agree that the book offers many helpful rules, but this rule in particular seemed to be a little shaky. I like that Tarah went around and asked people how they would write Chris’ pen. Tarah stated that, “If I go around writing Chris's pen instead of Chris' pen, people are going to think that it's wrong so how does that make me a better writer? Unless other people have read this, they will be under the same notion that Chris' pen is correct.” I agree with this statement. This is the opinion from one book, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s correct. In regards to Williams I also agree with Tarah, that the examples in the book do help you to better understand and become a better writer.

In a black and white comparison of Strunk and White and Williams, I was searching the various student blogs and found that Zach had an almost identical comparison of the two books. Zach stated that, “The main issue is that Strunk and White’s book is very accessible and easy to use; it could be considered a quick hit reference book. Williams’s book is much more in depth and more of a textbook. It offers examples and explanations that bring about a comprehensive use for the rules of style. So while Strunk and White give explanations for quick reference Williams offers an explanation for why the rules are used.” I also discussed in my blog that the two books are good under different circumstances, sure enough, Zach discussed this same issue. He wrote that, “If you wanted to learn about the importance of style and how to use style to be a better writer then you would want to use Williams. On the other hand, if you had a good grasp on style then Strunk and White would be a good help guide for when encountering a style issue when writing. The books are different resources for comprehending style.” These two passages are literally my exact thoughts and what I wrote in my blog. ;)

After looking through everyone’s blogs, I couldn’t find one that I really had a differing viewpoint with. So here is yet another comparison. Lameka’s blog in regards to Williams clearly stated why Williams is the better book to have in the scheme of things. I too wrote this in my blog. Like Lameka stated, “As for the long term memory and a deeper understanding, Williams Style Toward Grace and Clarity is worth trying to commit to memory.”

I enjoyed looking over the student blogs, it is good to know that other people feel the same way I do about these books.

2006-02-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

Comparing Strunk and White and Williams

Strunk and White's Elements of Style is what I would refer to as a quick reference guide. In contrast to Williams, Style Toward Clarity and Grace gives us the more in depth explanation behind the change. Both of these books are helpful, it's just a matter of when each would be used. If I were to sit down a write a term paper, I would refer to White's book because of how the book is laid out. Common errors are referenced in this book, and the correction is easily spelled in a very short length. One can go straight to the contents and look up what they need, and figure out the change in an instant. On the other hand, if I were to sit down and revise or critique a fellow student's paper, or a document for work, I would need to be able to explain my reasoning for the change, and refer directly to the Style book.

In the previous blog assignment I was so tempted to just make the corrections that I thought were wrong, but wasn't that simple. After reading the book, I found that some of the things I read that were hurting my ears (in the paragraph I decided to change) actually had some reasoning behind it, go figure. It was definitely a moment of clarity. One example was the string that is tied through the paragraph being highlighted by word choice, and their patterns. In my particular paragraph the words for the most pat all flowed together, but there were a few that didn't fit with the paragraph. Chapters three and five went in depth on this topic, and helped me understand the why behind what was throwing the paragraph off.

The advice offered by Williams I feel is more useful in the long run. Let's take math for example. If I am able to use a calculator to solve a problem, then I'll be just fine, but when it comes time to take the test, I don't know the whole process of how I came up with the answer, and that's really the whole point. So in writing, it's fine to know how to make change, but it's crucial to know why the change has been made. Writing is used under many circumstances, so knowing the rules will help us to apply them to any situation, rather than being confined to one word and one correction. Anyone can make something sound better or make something look better, but the people that are the experts can accurately state the reason behind the change, and defend their work. The people who just make the change and have nothing to back it up are the frauds.

2006-02-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

Revising with Williams

Original Text
At the end of every fall and winter semester, hundreds of students from English 121 classes display their written work at the semi-annual Celebration of Student Writing. For the celebration, sponsored by the Department of English Language and Literature and the Office of Undergraduate Studies, students create products representing the research they do in their 121 classes. Students who display their work are joined at the celebration by EMU faculty and administrators, students from other EMU courses and visitors ranging from prospective EMU students to students in writing courses from other colleges. Attendees wander the room and talk with student authors about their celebration projects and their research work for the semester.

Process of change
In chapter three Williams stated that "readers need familiar information at the beginnings of sentences. This led to my use of sequence beginning in the first sentence. In the second sentence, the sentence is structured in such a way that it obscures the student's role in the celebration. The purpose of the celebration isn't reached until the end of the sentence, and this had to be sorted out in my head. In the revision the students are the subject of the verb, and who the celebration is sponsored by is clearly stated in a separate sentence. Both sentences end up being arranged in chronological sequence. This ensures that the topic string is being woven through the paragraph properly. The word products should be projects to adhere with the context of the sentence. With this same sentence, the context calls not for the present tense of they do, but the past tense. The context has shown us that the event takes place at the end of the semester, therefore the research has already been done. This adheres to our sense of coherence. The secret to a readable sentence is in the first five or six words. In the sentence beginning with 'attendees wander the room', this word choice for doesn't create for the reader a consistent point of view. "Wander", figuratively and literally leads us astray. Williams states in chapter five the second the second kind of string, the thematic string. The set of conceptually related words in the revision are in bold.

Revision
At the semi-annual Celebration of Student Writing, hundreds of English 121 students display their written work the end of every fall and winter semester. The celebration is sponsored by the Department of English Language and Literature and the Office of Undergraduate studies. Students create projects representing the research they have done in their 121 classes. Students who display their work are joined at the celebration by EMU faculty and administrators, students from other EMU courses, and visitors ranging from prospective EMU students to students in writing courses at other colleges. Attendees talk with student authors about their celebration projects and research work for the semester.

2006-02-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

Elements of Style

In comparison to the first assignment when we gave our first definition of style, this book really helped me to redefine what style is. There was one short paragraph that I think did an excellent job of showing an example of style. "If you doubt that style is something of a mystery, try rewriting a familiar sentence and see what happens. Any much-quoted sentence will do. Suppose we take 'these are the times that try men's souls.' Here we have eight short easy words words, forming a simple declarative sentence. The sentence contains no flashy ingredient such as 'Damn the torpedoes!' and the words you see are ordinary. Yet in that arrangement, they have shown great durability." (67) The variations of sentences that followed did indeed show different styles using the same words in the given sentence.

Another area which I thought was helpful was the misused words section. To have a relevant list of words that are so commonly misused was very helpful. Two words in paticular that I really have issues with are comprise and effect. I try to remember the United States analogy for it, but I always forget it. The example in the book was quite easy to remember. "A zoo comprises mammals,reptiles,and birds (because it 'embraces,' or 'includes,'them). But animals do not comprise ("embrace") a zoo-they constitute a zoo." (43) So I'll see how long this one sticks with me.

The few rules I did not consider helpful were some of the elementary rules of usage. Some were actually helpful in regards to the dashes and independent clauses, but some were very elementary as the book stated. For instance adding an 's' to make a word plural, or in a series of three place a comma after each term except the third. Everyone has their trouble spots when it comes to grammar, so the book does a good job of covering many areas.

2006-01-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

All Na-Tu-Ral

I had the hardest time coming up with a writing technology, and I blame it on today's society. Looking around my house for ideas there are things like Ipods, televisions, stereos, cellphones, where was my creative inspiration. I had to sit down and think simple. First when looking around the house I was thinking about using the television as a graphical representation of hypocricy, then I just had to take a break. I sat outside, just for a little bit, and though about the whole clay thing, but I didn't have any clay. The hardest thing for me was that there were plenty of sharp objects to write with, but what was I going to write on. So I tried my hand at making my own clay. I dug up some dirt from the big mudpile next to the trash and put it in a bag. It was loose and I had to make it sticky and smooth, so I added some water to make it the right consistency. Once I got it just right I put it into a baking pan and let it sit and harden under a bright light . It worked! Sharpened a stick with another stick and began to carve into my self made clay. I was surprised how well it worked, and equally surprised that I had been racking my brain for hours coming up with such a natural, abundant, realistic writing technology. Dirt is everywhere, water is everywhere, and the sun (my lamp) shines everywhere. I think my invention touches on the readings in that who would think dirt and water would be used as technology, just as know one saw the pencil being a technology. Everything has a use, it's just how one uses it and puts it to use;)

2006-01-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

MaNgUeL and BaRrOn

These two essays have a lot in common. Barron mainly discusses the pencil as a technology, and how it is a paradigm of the development of literacy, as Manguel discusses the book, and how it developed in different ways over time. In both essays the new literacies allowed more and more room for fraud. The pencil used to be a tool for bean counters, now it seen as an old technology merely invisible, and every year it seems we have to catch up and embrace whatever is new at the time. With computers, as Barron points out, it is less authentic and there is ample room for fraud. Similar with Manguel, when Gutenberg bible was cheapened to quick production, it led to a larger market, yet there was that much more of the book out there that was less authentic. People were skeptical of which sources were reliable.

The writing technology I came up with would be seen as an early example like the pencil or clay palates, and would be modified just as these were. Manguel stated that books were made to be read more comfortably, and inventions were made to utilize this like the rotary reading desks. Nowadays things are created to fit into the fast lifestyle. I am proud of the writing style I created, but it wouldn't fit in today.

Writing technologies have to develop with the times, this is the common thread between Ong, Plato, Barron and Manguel. Not only without he times, but at the convenience of people. Like the computer, it may seem complex, but it's convenient. With the pencil, it may not seem complex, but as Barron stated, they needed knowledge of ink, cotton, waxes furnaces,dyes amongst other things to create was seems like a simple technology. With Plato, spoken word was more noble than written, but then truth was based on who the speaker was and where they came from. There's always that something as time goes on. With Ong and Manguels essay, they both touch on new technologies being artificial. How calculators are even allowed to be used, and how spell check was not even implemented when word was first introduced in classrooms. As time goes on, we become more and more outside ourselves, and create objects to do the thinking for us.

2006-01-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

What is Style?

Style in writing is similar to style in fashion. Style, in regards to clothing, in the professional world has a basic set of fashion guidelines. For woman there are basic style peices that should be incorporated in a business wardrobe, but how these pieces are put together is what makes the person wearing them have a certain style. This style can can be liked by some and disliked by others. Like style in fashion, writing style is subjective.

Writing style is the way you put together a sentence. Of course there are basic principles of writing and grammar usage, but how an individual puts the pieces of the puzzle together is what crreates the style. Thers a difference between sounding smart and intelligently getting your point across. Being clear and being able to be understood is a big part of style. With the fashion metaphor for example, wearing a short skirt and revealing top to work sayss alot about that person. In writing, if someone is trying to use big words and no point is getting across, that person is kind of like the intern with the short skirt, trying a little too hard.

2006-01-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

2006-01-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

My name is Kaila, pronounced Ky-eee-la. It's a Liberian name meaning wise woman. I pretty much do a bit of everything. Some highlights would include: traveling to Monterrey, Mexico for missions work, playing soccer in Hawaii, attending the NCAA Leadership Conference, and getting the internship of my dreams;)

I am blessed to have such a wonderful support system. My family is very important to me and are really incredible people.

Random:
When I hear a really good song for the first time I cry
I just got a new car and it's my first car ever!
Ignorance is most definitely bliss