Work space
9/1/16
A. My name is Emmett Turn. I am from Montague Ma. I am a political science major and a french minor. I love to play sports my favorites are basketball and soccer. I like to snowboard in the winter, I am part of the international relations club, I am on the ski club. I work at the subway in Bristol. You should know that I am a visual learner so pictures help alot. I do sometimes struggle with focusing for long periods of time and I do my best to stay on task with the assignment at hand. I am a very dedicated student that want to work hard and do my absolute best in this class.
B. I want to better understand how text and images are used to persuade an audience and create emotions that convince people to think or act a certain way. I want to be able to recognize the methods or tactics used in the media and other modes of advertisement. I want to be able to develop my technological skills and familiarity because this will help me later on in my career. I want to improve my skills pertaining to working with other people on projects or assignments.
C. I expect this class to be a challenging writing class that will involve a lot of self reflection and putting your thoughts into coherent passages or essays. Understanding the concepts in our book on the wire. I want this class to be a very open discussion in class and less of the lecture style. I hope we can set aside time to discuss the homework from the previous night.
D. I don't want this class to be one essay assignment after another I want a variety or different assignments that challenges me in multiple ways. I dont want there to be a lot of hand written tests because I struggle in that area of study. I don't want to fall behind or not be able to keep up with the pace of the course.
9/08/16
A public sphere is a group or community that comes together to voice concerns and issues that are occurring in that society, these people come together to generate ideas to solve issues. The right to political participation is very important in the public sphere so every member of the society has a voice. In terms of politics frasers thought that there was a general negative connotation paired with socialism or democratic socialism. The question of whether social equality is a necessity for a democracy is very interesting. The differences between us make us label and categorize people into classes in society. Fraser wanted politics and citizens to work for a common good for the society instead of strictly being concerned with personal or private interest. Some public spheres are specifically created to defend oppressed people that are being discriminated because of their culture. Public spheres need to be promoted and advertised to other people to gain support. There is examples of public spheres like the controversial discussion of racial stereotypes about African Americans such as lynching and black males stereotypical perspective of being sexually uncontrollable. Power dynamics are created in the public sphere such as what norms are accepted in that society are put at an advantage. Fraser tries to open peoples eyes on the fact that we should recognize inequalities in public spheres and attempt to help small sub groups present their opinion because they are being ignored.
9/12/16
The first takeaway that I had from the reading was how Ratio if used correctly can be used in a three dimensional method because when you are describing a situation your words and emotions can create a scene in the mind of the audience. This is very difficult to do because you are only using your words to create a picture. Next I remember specifically that to start off or keep your story interesting you have to build suspense which creates a feeling of needing to know what is going to happen next in the story. To create this hook you must describe a sequence of events which allows the reader to use their imagination and predict what will happen. I believe the example was a boy looking weird in a high school hallway so you approach him and he is about to pull something out of his bag and it leaves the reader wanting to know what he is pulling out of his back pack. I took away a high respect for the people that preform the editing process for NPR because when it describes having to take out every time someone says um or ah for too long or maybe there is a pause all of that needs to be edited out in order to get the programs message across in the amount of time given. Lastly there was alot of emphasis to the location and situation in which a reporter should choose to interview a person. You want a private quiet and safe place to do the interview. The tools you will need is a mic, headphones, recording device.
9/15/16
A. I had a hard time remembering certain details or phrases said through out my child hood. I had trouble deciding what was the event or phrase that stood out the most. I struggled with showing progression through out my poem and how I have changed over time.
B. This experience brought back a lot of memories good and bad but made me realize how fast the time goes and how impotent living in the moment is because we are consistently making life long memories. It made me appreciate the great times I have had with my family members.
C. I didn't know how personal I wanted to get so I tried to just write a poem that showed the good sides of my childhood and felt that the serious or possibly tragic events to be left out because I wanted the overall theme of the poem to be happy. I tried to describe me and to do that I had to add very meaningful events of phrases that hold emotional value for me.
9/19/16
A. Is the interview process usually more of a question and answer or more of a conversation type dialogue?
B. How do you think sharing your story can help understand the immigration and situation currently going on in Syria?
C. Was it hard to develop a new life in the U.S?
9/26/16
What I remember the most was when Sana said that when she is in front of a large audience sending an informing message of what it is happening in Syria she would never listen to anyone that was telling her to filter what she should say to not bring up controversial topics like threatening military groups in Syria that are terrorizing citizens. Sana also said that when the interviewer or interviewee gets emotion from a personal story that it is best to act positively and tell them to look at where they are now. I specifically remember Chanda mentioning how this was the first time she was willing to share her story in this kind of interview setting, because she really believed in the programs purpose beyond the class. Chanda said that telling your story is unique and having an empowering story is ok and if your story is different and in a different environment that ok too. Sana said that the interviewer should not be nervous because that will make the interviewee nervous. Do not only correlate refugee with traumatic and horrible events, sympathy is important but it can be over done.
part 2 The comments I got from my peers was to edit the end of my music. They said to change up my tone throughout the audio essay. They told me I need to not do such a formal beginning telling the audience what my major is and where I go and what grade I am in. I need to get right into the story at the beginning. My plans are to eliminate pauses and ums throughout the recording edit my music to fit the story length. I also want to add a few more sound effects. I need to use headphones for recording instead of my laptop.
10/13/16
This chapter describes the very difficult process of deciding what sections in an interview to keep and what ones to cut. The chapter starts off with the metaphor of a sculpture and when you have all your footage its like you have a marble block and the edits you make chip away at the block until it is statue and a master piece. This process need to have other people involved because as the creator of the video you can get attached to certain clips but you need to be told that a clip really does need to be taken out even if you like it because it does not relate or it is taking away from the message you are trying to tell the audience.
Part 2 We have not recorded yet but we believe that this chapter will help us in determining what our best footage is and where to place it in the video to get the maximum effect. We are going to have to seek as much feedback on our video as we can get. Then use those suggestions to improve our video to make it more powerful. This chapter will help us understand that every section of the video should be complementing the overall idea we are trying to present. We have to be very particular in what question we decide to ask and make sure they are framed in an open way that leaves a lot of room for explanation by Victor. The interview questions will request that Victor explain events that have happened through out his life and will show the progression of time from where victor was in his childhood then to adapting to life in the U.S in his 20s to finishing school and now currently working in a high level position for the mayor
10/24/16
Sound is metaphorically compared to the deep sea because it is vast and it can have a large effect on your project. When listening to a radio story you have to use sound to create an image, this a very difficult process because you can easily confuse or lose your reader if you are ever unclear or unsure of what you are explaining. Sound can connect different parts of the story and the sea connects and keeps the world together and that is the purpose for sound in a story especially a radio story. Sound is what holds the story up but it is hard to see all the time.
11/3/16
The purpose of an edit is to get different opinions and mostly criticisms of a piece of work. People with different perspectives offer new and valuable information that the creator may be unaware of or blind to. When I say blind to certin issues in the story its because the creator put so much work into the project that the author becomes emotionally attached and cant let go of certain sections of the work. This process involves being able to understand criticism and know that the only reason the people are saying bad things about your work is so it can improve and the work can achieve its message and highest potential.
part 2 In terms of framing and signposting you need both elements to form a more compelling story. Framing is when you focus on a particular message and try to avoid getting off topic. Framing is determining how you want your audience to react and feel after or while reading your piece of work. Framing is relating your story to your audience and giving a reference point. Signposting on the other hand is like you will only hear this information from us and you wouldn't believe this.
Telling the readers that this particular part is very important.
11/10/16
1. Summarize the primary feedback you received from your colleagues (How did they understand the purpose? What did they say about pacing? What were their primary suggestions for revision?). How do you think your group can address this feedback in your revisions?
All of the comments thought that our purpose was very clear in our video, showing the progression from living in Guatemala to immigrating to the U.S and then adapting to life in the U.S although I liked a comment that said that having the explanation of his job was not needed and took away from the overall message. Most comments also included on how Victor proved the general stereotype of an immigrant wrong, saying that all they need is an opportunity to prosper and they will succeed but they need that chance. They said our pacing was great although they wish that there were some pauses or points to reflect on what victor says and these pauses can be fade away shots and music would make the transition seem more smooth. I was told by many people that it was great although they want us to add more pictures so the two that are currently in there doesn't seem so awkward in the video they want us to get pictures of Victor in school which I think is a great idea. Also I liked the comment saying that I should start off with an informational slide that explains his story a little or just state that he is currently the press secretary for the mayor and take out the part where he talks about his previous job and current job because the audience will already know what he currently does. I believe that we can still make a lot of improvements with the revision advice we were given and I am glad we have new eyes and ears on our current draft because it helps us emphasis our message. I also think that we will be using all the suggestions made by my peers in class and my roommate.
2. Summarize the feedback you received from your outside viewer (What did they understand about its purpose? What were their take-aways? Where were they confused?). How do you think you and your group can address this feedback in your revisions?
I showed this video to my roommate and he said that he thought that it was very clear the way the story progressed from his life in Guatemala to him going through struggles to get to the U.S, and then being very successful in the U.S even as an undocumented citizen for a while. He said that they prove the stereotypes wrong and was very inspirational in his story and his struggle to get to the U.S. He said he was not confused about the story our what the overall message of him proving the general stereotype about immigrants saying they take hand outs which is not true. am excited to add the revisions I believe they are very helpful and was very important to taking out some information that can be quickly summarized instead of fully explained by victor
11/14/16
The definition of Oral history is the collection and study of historical information using sound recordings of interviews with people having personal knowledge of past events. Someone's history is told through an oral story that may not cover all portions of the story but will cover the main topics that create a point the author is trying to make. In order to do proper narration the interviewer must first know the history of the person being interviewed. That way a relationship will already be created before you meet and the person being interviewed will feel respected because the interviewer took the time to do some research. The term map coherence onto the disorder of lived experience is meant to make sure the listener is properly explained important details that will help the listener better understand the setting and emotions being felt by the storyteller. Just because the author is aware of the aspects of the person's story does not mean the reader is just as knowledgeable as the author on the topic. These questions help me try to explain victor's story in a way that someone that had no idea who he is to have a firm understanding of who he is after viewing our video
part 2 The olive project makes me see that there are many different forms of multimodal writing and that a collection of images and narration are powerful on their own but when added together it has a stronger meaning and is more likely to be remembered by the audience. This project makes me think of multimodal composition as a very complex way of presenting an idea and that in order for your message to be clear there is a lot of editing and eliminating of certain aspects to the work that may not contribute to your desired message as an author. I believe that this project has shown me that as the creator of a multimodal writing piece you have control of the way the audience will react and you must dictate what happens in your video to match the particular emotions you want your audience to hear.
This has shown me that everything within a piece of work is noticed by the audience therefore you must decide what details are the most important and moving. Representing someone's life is a huge responsibility and it is not an easy task. The hardest part of representing someone's life is summarizing the important things someone has done but explain those actions or events in under 7 minutes. It's almost like asking yourself who am I to listen to someone's entire life and then minimize everything down to a concise description of that person's life. This project gave me new ideas on how to format my video to reach an even deeper meaning. This gave me the courage to not be afraid to be complex in explaining a message.
11/17/16
This article's purpose is to inform the audience about different aspects of the recording process and the common ideas that need to be kept in mind when conducting a great interview. This purpose is achieved by the interviewer asking the correct questions which allows the educated person being interviewed to have a detailed response to a particular part of the interview process. This article defined a lot of the terms discussed in class and showed the clear differences between certain modes or aspects of multimodal or multimedia projects. Also it mentioned what to keep out like new media or certain methods that might hurt your message.
I focused mainly on the two concepts of precise and and limited and I learned and enjoyed the contributions made by both sections. First in the precise section I was interested in the specific to general section because it explained that once you have all your footage you have to decide on what particular message or idea you want to show the audience. Then say your video is 7 minutes long when you cut it down to two minutes of very important information your video improves tremendously and your message is much more clear. Also I like how it explained how people's ideas change over time by giving the example that if you asked someone a question in 2007 and then asked them again years later they would most likely have a different answer. Next in the limited section I related to this section a lot when it mentioned how the interviewee does not always rephrase the question stated when answering which can make the response confusing for the audience.
11/21/16
1. I made the subtitles I edited the video I added graphics. I wrote down all the words victor said. I was the person in charge of filming the interview. I created informational slides. I felt like I did most of the heavy lifting for our project, I felt like I put in maximum effort into this project and was really happy about the outcome. I felt like a lot of pressure and responsibility was put on me because I was the one with the laptop and had the most accessibility to time to devote to the project. That stressed me out a lot.
2 I like the constant progression of Victor's life throughout the video. I like the ending of our video it is very dramatic and has a very powerful message. I don't really have anything I don't like because I edited out all the bugs and issues within the video. I really didn't like how we had to format the subtitles in a specific way to be able to see the words his tie made it difficult.
3. I would have calmed down and found a better place or a better room to do the interview in because we were very tight for space and there was only one place for him to sit to be interviewed. I wish we could have done the interview on campus. I wish that I asked Victor to give us some pictures of him in Guatemala or him and his family especially his mother. I would most likely pick a different partner to work with.
12/6/16
1. I liked the way other people incorporated images and texts which clearly showed an understanding of the concepts and outcomes that this class is supposed to cover by stating the outcomes and explaining what projects we did in class which exercised our knowledge. I want to add personal photos of myself that will add to my message. I want to add audio recording of all the text on the writing piece this will help with understanding the context.
2.I need to add more multi model elements that prove my understanding of the material. I need to inform the audience of the ways I used these new writing modes to have a more specific effect. I am going to record my voice using a microphone and use audacity to insert it into my video. I need to have more structure and my hyperlink menu has to stay at the top of the page and not be on every slide.