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.