Pecha Kucha: Possibilities

Pecha Kucha: Possibilities

     I watched the presentation on possibilities and how they can affect our lives. The presenter did a very good job of relating her experiences to the topic she is talking about. Her tone and pace was slow and easy to understand. I loved how she showed the progression of her painting throughout the presentation. Her painting's step-by-step progression and development showed how she changed as a person throughout her experiences and choosing what path to take for her future.

     I think she really needs to work on getting her main ideas across with more detail and less "umm" and "like" words. There were also points in her presentation that she laughed. That was very distracting for me as an audience because I want to know more about the topic. I don't want to take time and pause for her to laugh. I think that if she had rehearsed it a little bit more, it would have flowed better.

    I think that the Pecha Kucha form of presenting is very upbeat and interesting. It keeps your audience involved and focused. I also allows them to retain more information because they are more focused on what you have to say and they aren't trying to read a paragraph off of a slide. I think this will be a great project for all of us, however, I'm a little worried about the timing and getting my point across. I think ten slides is a good amount for a presentation, as long as I can get the main points of my information across in 20 seconds for each slide.

Response to Face to Face:

Response to Face to Face:

I found the stories from Face to Face to be very interesting. The three that stood out the most to me would be the accounts from Anjum Mir, Toru Saito, and Sayema Hameed.

Anjum Mir tells a story about the aftermath of 9-11 and how it effects her because of her religion. I understand why it would effect her, but I find it sad that it does. Just because one bad thing happens because of a group of people, doesn't mean that everybody else with one thing in common will do the same thing. It would be the same way if one group of Caucasian American's decided to blow up a library, but the majority of people wouldn't start accusing other Caucasian or becoming suspicious of them. It's a prejudice. That's all it is. No excuses.

Toru Saito's story is about the first time he was called a derogatory term, a "Jap". He was so young that he didn't understand what it meant and he asked his mother about it. She refused to tell him the definition of the term, but he knew it was bad because of the way it was used and how it was said. It's so sad to hear about how a little child who had no involvement with the war itself, was impacted greatly.

Sayema Hameed talks about a time when her cousin was stopped in an airport because of the way his name sounded and its Arabic origin. I found this astonishing because they are clearly judging other races and organized religions. The fact that they could do this to a Muslim and not do it to a Christian or someone who is Catholic. It's the same as the first story. It's simply not fair or equal.

Reading Response #4: Plagerism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age

Reading Response #4: Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age

       This article spoke of many real experiences of plagiarism and the action taken to discipline the students committing the act. There was also an analysis of why plagiarism has become so wide spread in the generation of technology. The author of the article writes in a very passionate voice, almost attacking the younger generation as a whole. He makes an assumption that most people growing up in this generation have either already plagiarized, or will in the future. 

       I found this article to be very interesting. I agree that plagiarism has increased since technology has advanced. However, I don't believe that it is due to the information seeming to be "our work" because we don't have a tangible book or article in our hands with authors clearly printed on them. I believe it's because students have just become lazy. We simply don't think we have time to create our own work, so some of us copy other works. We have a huge problem of procrastination because of all the activities and sports we participate in and trying to juggle that with every other class’s work that must be turned in. There is no excuse for plagiarism, but I see the reasons behind it a little bit differently than the article.

Here is an example from the article showing their ideas on why plagiarism has become so wide-spread and a link to the article itself:

"Ms. Brookover, who works at the campus library, has pondered the differences between researching in the stacks and online. “Because you’re not walking into a library, you’re not physically holding the article, which takes you closer to ‘this doesn’t belong to me,’ ” she said. Online, “everything can belong to you really easily.” -Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age by Trip Gabriel

Article (click here)

       Yes, the information of a article is more easily accessed with computers, but I don't think it changes the way a student sees the ownership of the information. Students know the words aren't theirs. They choose to use them anyway because it saves time. 
Like this picture states: 



Link to site of picture

Reading Response #3: The Sweet Far Thing

     The Sweet Far Thing is the third book of the Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy. Gemma has just finished her first complete year at Spence Academy, a school for girls and has dealt with many changes in her life. After coming to Spence, she found out a lot more about her mother’s death than she ever knew and discovered another world outside of reality. She suddenly has a lot more to worry about than just becoming the perfect wife.

      In Rebel Angels, Gemma bounded the powers of the realms to herself in an attempt to keep the power away from evil forces. However, the next time they see Pippa she looks mysteriously different. This makes Gemma uneasy because she knows that the evils of the realms can influence a human the longer it stays.

      The Order, a group her mother was a part of, desperately wants control of the realms and will do anything to get Gemma to release the power. Gemma can’t trust anyone, not even her old friend Kartik. As Gemma struggles trying to determine who her real friends are, she has to decide what she will do with all this new found power. Will she give it away? Or will she learn to control it?

 

This photo represents Circe; Gemma’s biggest enemy in the realms. Circe usually appears as dark black smoke, but can sometimes take shape of other things or other people.

Excerpt:

"What would you wish for, Gemma? What do you want?" Felicity asks.

     What do I want? Why is that simple question, four little words, so impossible to answer? I would wish for things that cannot be: my mother alive again, my father well. Would I wish to be shorter, fairer, more lovable, less complicated? The answer, I fear, is yes. I would wish to be a child again, safe and warm, and yet I would also wish for something far more dangerous: a kiss from a certain Indian boy whom I have not seen since Christmas. I am a jumble of passions, misgivings, and wants. It seems that I am always in a state of wishing and rarely in a state of contentment.

     They are waiting for my answer. “I should wish to perfect my curtsy so that I might not scandalize myself before Her Majesty."

This except helps show the inner turmoil Gemma faces trying to decide the ultimate fate for her power and the realms.

      Libba Bray does an amazing job keeping the reader involved. She allows the reader to hear every thought Gemma has and see the realms and reality through her eyes. She takes you back to a time that was so different than it is today, but also to a place that nobody has ever been before.

Reading Response #2: Rebel Angels

     Rebel Angels is the second book of a riveting trilogy started with A Great and Terrible Beauty. As the books progress, Gemma's life changes dramatically; what she used to know proves to be all wrong. Fantasy is real and she is living two separate lives between reality and another dimension.

     The book starts out around Christmas time in London. The year is 1896. Gemma Doyle is excited to finally spend a holiday from Spence Academy, but this holiday might not be a very pleasant one. Gemma has to care for her sick father. However, her plans for the holidays also include a handsome Lord Denby, who has intentions of wooing Gemma. As Gemma enjoys time with her father, her visions intensify. These visions include three girls dressed in white. All Gemma knows is that something bad must have happened to these girls because she gets an eerie feeling when they are around. The only solution is to go back to the realms and find out.

     When Gemma, Felicity, and Ann return to the realms, they get distracted with the enchanting world that only Gemma has access to. Pippa is there as well; the fourth friend that chose to stay in the realms, trapping her there forever. The world is not well in this dimension though. Kartik has reappeared; a boy from a gypsy family with advice for Gemma. He tells her that she must find the Temple and bind the magic or else bad things will happen. Gemma knows she must do what he says even if it means that she has to meet up with her mother's old friend and now her enemy, Circe. Until Circe is destroyed, Gemma cannot live in the realms or reality in peace. However, Circe is very difficult to find, let alone destroy.

     Libba Bray manages to get the reader really involved with the story. Every little feeling that Gemma feels, you can feel yourself. She also writes in a way that connects you with each character really allowing you to be entranced in the book and submerse yourself for hours.

The picture included shows how over the course of all the books, the cover show her letting her hair down slowly. I think this shows that she is finally figuring out who she really is.

The excerpt below gives the reader a perspective of Gemma's life and how the girls interact together.

Excerpt:

"“You know that Mrs. Nightwing is like God—everywhere at once. In fact, she may be God, for all I know.” Felicity sighs.

The firelight casts a golden sheen upon her white-blond hair. She glows like a fallen angel.

Ann looks around, nervous. “Y-y-you oughtn’t to talk about”—she whispers the word—“God that way.”

“Why ever not?” Felicity asks.

“It might bring bad luck.”

Quiet descends, for we are all too well and too recently acquainted with bad luck to forget that there are forces at work beyond the world we see, forces beyond all reason and comprehension.

Felicity stares at the fire. “You still assume there is a God, Ann? With all we’ve seen?”"

Link to more information:

http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/rebel-angels

Reading Response #1: A Great and Terrible Beauty

     This book is a romantic fantasy novel written in the Victorian era. Gemma Doyle, the main character, is sent off to a boarding school, Spence Academy, at the age of 16. All the females in her family have attended this school. The curriculum focuses on learning basic skills like manners and how to be come a lady. All girls attend this school until they are picked up by a suitor and ready to be married off. At first, Gemma despises the school and everyone attending, however, Gemma finds out many things about her family history that change her life forever and forces her to not want to leave. These secrets have been kept and protected for many years by her mother who died trying to protect her. Gemma soon realizes that she has a strong connection to another group of girls in the school and later finds out why.

 http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/gemmadoyle/books/great.html

       I have provided a link that will give you a little bit more information about this exciting trilogy. This book will make you want to lock yourself in your room and read for days.

Here's part of an except from the book which can be found on the link I provided:

Chapter One
June 21, 1895
Bombay, India
"Please tell me that's not going to be part of my birthday dinner this
evening."
I am staring into the hissing face of a cobra. A surprise-ingly pink tongue slithers in and out of a cruel mouth while an Indian man whose eyes are the blue of blindness inclines his head toward my mother and explains in Hindi that cobras make very good eating.
My mother reaches out a white-gloved finger to stroke the snake's back. "What do you think, Gemma? Now that you're sixteen, will you be dining on cobra?"
The slithery thing makes me shudder. "I think not, thank you."
The old, blind Indian man smiles toothlessly and brings the cobra closer. It's enough to send me reeling back where I bump into a wooden stand filled with little statues of Indian deities. One of the statues, a woman who is all arms with a face bent on terror, falls to the ground. Kali, the destroyer. Lately, Mother has accused me of keeping her as my unofficial patron saint. Lately, Mother and I haven't been getting on very well. She claims it's because I've reached an impossible age. I state emphatically to anyone who will listen that it's all because she refuses to take me to London.

I love the way Libba Bray writes. She is so descriptive in a way that paints a picture in your mind. Her writing style works very well with this fantasy novel because it makes all unrealistic things come to life.

101 Things About Me

101 Things About Me

It's actually 16 things

1. I love yoga. It's so relaxing and a great way to workout. I enjoy regular yoga classes and hot yoga from time to time.

2. Nature is a big deal to me. I love the earth and I want to protect it. I recycle everything. I was even born on Earth day.

3. I want to get the Hindu hamsa symbol tattooed between my shoulders. The symbol is supposed to protect you and aid you in being prosperous.

4. I believe in horoscopes. I am a Taurus born in the house of Scorpio. This totally explains my stubbornness and care for others.

5. Family means a lot to me. I spend every Sunday afternoon over at my grandma's house with all of my extended family on my mothers side.

6. I plan on becoming a neonatal doctor. I love babies and the medical field. I know dealing with premature babies will be hard, but it is something I have always wanted to do.

7. Indie music is very close to my heart. Some people might think that the music I listen to is depressing, but I like it because it's very relaxing and calm. The songs also usually have pretty meaningful lyrics. I love listening to The Neighbourhood because they are awesome.

8. I have been a dancer since I was four years old. I quit last year because I had too much on my plate. To this day it still makes me sad that I had to stop. I love dancing. I find myself leaping around the living room from time to time.

9. I can't stop singing. There is always a song playing in my head. When I was little I used to get in trouble for singing in class.

10. I am very easily entertained. In my opinion, a night of movies and popcorn with friends sounds just as exciting as a trip to St. Louis.

11. I enjoy the simple things in life. A hike by myself on the trails at the nature center or simply napping on the porch in the rain makes me happy.

12. I have very strict parents when it comes to grades. They only want the best for my future and I understand that.

13. My sense of humor is weird. I don't laugh at jokes very often, I just sit there and smile. However, if someone trips and falls, I'll be on the ground too because I'm laughing so hard.

14. I have two yellow labs. They like to lick people a lot.

15. Doughnuts and chocolate are both beautiful creations.

16. One day I want to live on the west coast. I would prefer to live in Oregon or Washington. The area is very green and wonderful. There are trees everywhere and mountains, beaches, and populated cities close by where ever you are.