Blog 11: Responding to a significant topic in "The Truman Show"

Truman struggles between what his society (and his "god," Cristoff) tells him to do and be, and what he feels he wants to do and who he wants to be.

Consider your own life (or the life of someone you know well): Have you ever disobeyed society’s rules because you were trying to follow your own instincts? What made you want to disobey the rules? What did you expect to gain from your disobedience? Did the consequences to your disobedience confirm that you made the right choice?

               

“The Truman Show”, directed by Peter Weir is a movie that shows us a life journey of the title character – Truman. Truman is 29 years old and his whole life (actually even before he was born) he has been the lead star of a reality show called “The Truman Show”.  However for the most part of the movie Truman is unaware that he is being watched 24/7 by people all over the world. The world he lives in – Seahaven, is the biggest movie set, seen even from outer space. Everything in Seahaven is controlled by the creator of the show – Cristoff. The crew of the show starts making mistakes such as: dropping a light (from what Truman considers the sky) almost hitting Truman, talking on a radio frequency that Truman listens to on his way to work (he can hear the crew comment on his each move), and letting his supposedly dead father on the set so that Truman can see him. Yet the biggest mistake they made was getting rid of his true love – Sylvia, who was just an extra on the show (Truman was not even suppose to notice her). They told Truman she left with her family to “Fiji”. Throughout the whole movie Truman tries to put Sylvia’s face together from scraps of paper torn out of magazines for women. After all of these mistakes Truman starts to notice that everything in Seahaven revolves around him, which makes him remember Sylvias words that everything is fake, nothing is real. He decides to leave Seahaven. Sadly Cristoff makes sure that that does not happen. He forms fake traffic, simulates a fire in the forest an even stages a nuclear meltdown, which makes Truman even more suspicious. One night he finally manages to run away through a tunnel. He fights his biggest fear –water – and sails into the sea. Cristoff develops a storm that nearly kills Truman. Truman sails to the end of the dome. He leaves through a door with an exit sign saying his famous phrase – “And in case I don’t see you good afternoon, good evening and good night”.  

Living all his life accordingly to the society and Cristoffs ways, Truman never got a chance to grow up.  After all growing up is not about getting older but about starting to think on our own, analyzing everything  we had learned so far to determine whether  it is really true to us.

Since I was little I remember the saying – “rules are made to be broken” which to me is absolutely true. If we didn’t break any rules, we would be stuck in Seahaven like Truman.

In Poland People my age pretty much have their future planned. They go to primary school, high school, college is a must and all this is done without any breaks it is a steady process. Than after they are fully educated they are expected to work. After I finished high school I came to the US for a little vacation and to most importantly renew my green card. I was expected back in Poland right before my college acceptance exams. Throughout my short stay I realized that I did want to go back, I did not see my future in Poland. Without telling my parents I went to a travel agency and changed my flight for a later one (about a month difference). That meant that I was definitely going to miss my exams. I was aware of what I was doing and even though I might not have been a hundred per cent sure of my decision I still stuck with it. Everything in the US was so different than back home. Everything seemed better. Now I can even say that back then I was amused with America (now I am used to it). When after that month I went back to my home country people started looking at me differently, it was like maybe they envied me that I got the chance to stay in NY. I stayed a week in Poland that was it.  Nevertheless I felt that I had more opportunities in NY school wise, work wise, socially – since people come to NY from all over the world. I have been here for seven years now and I can gladly say that I have made the right choice by listening to my gut. I talk to my friends from Poland every now and than and most of them actually also live abroad.  

Obeying our society’s rules stops us from thinking outside the box. Just like animals are hunters from nature, people are explorers. We seek new adventures all the time sometimes even without realizing it.

Blog 10: Reflection on Skills

In my ENG 099 class with Dr. X, I have learned about the four most important writing skills that are: Annotating, Summarizing, Thesis-based writing, and Paragraphing.

All of these writing skills when put to use together make a great whole which would be a clear, on topic and well developed essay.

Annotating will definitely help me concentrate on the main ideas of the given text, which will reflect in my summary that will than show that I have read the text with understanding it. By writing thesis’s I will be certain that I write a paragraph about each reason given in the said thesis, and paragraphing will show that I can relate to the given text with examples from my personal life, books, movies etc.

After the lessons we had so far I feel more comfortable with my writing, because I now have a clear visual of how my CAT essay should look like. If my essay will consist of a summary, good thesis, developed paragraphs and a clear conclusion I should not have a problem in passing the exam. The only thing I have to make sure of is to stick to the subject and not brain storm to something totally irrelevant.

The only really confusing thing we were asked to do was Blog #5 – Summarizing the symbolic meaning of “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato. I just hope that with time, like Dr. X told me, I will get a better and better understanding of it.

Blog 9: Blog 9: Reflecting on Paragraphing.

• What have you learned from the paragraphing class?

Another way to keep my essays clear and on topic. This class showed me AGAIN how important it is to give examples, since each paragraph is an elaboration of reason. he?!

• How do you know that you have learned it?

I don't know but I sure hope so.

• Can you describe how you learned it? 

 Ofcourse Dr. X, reading examples with class, writing a paragraph with my group JAC.

• What helped your learning? What made it difficult?

  Ofcourse Dr. X, reading examples with class, writing a paragraph with my group JAC.

• How do you feel after today's class? 

Even more confused than after Mondays class.

Blog 8: Developing Your Summary and Response to "I Know the Truth, so Don't Bother Me with Facts"

               Jeffrey Kluger, starts off his article "I Know the Truth, So Don't Bother Me with Facts" by stating that people are known to be gullible. As an example Kluger mentions a recent dispute in downtown Manhattan. Kluger continues by making a remark about two assistant professors of communication from Ohio State University - R. Kelly Garrett and Erik Nisbet, who performed a study to show what the real influence of such lies is and what it would take for people not to believe in them. They recruited 750 people familiar with at least one rumor about the Islamic cultural center to determine whether if given true facts about the topic the study group would change their beliefs. Garrett's and Nisbet's study showed that even though with people’s beliefs being easily manipulated only less than a third of people changed their mind. Garrett states that when our beliefs are in conflict with the truth people “respond by sticking to their biases even more strongly” and that “none of us likes being told we’re wrong”. Kluger finishes his article by saying that no matter the outcome of the studies, it is up to us to decide what we believe in, to separate given information into what we think are facts and what we consider fiction.

I agree with the author Jeffrey Kluger when he states: “Even when people do take time to learn the facts, the effort often does no good”, because people are narrow minded, they do not like to be told that they are wrong and they tend to be oblivious to what is going on around them.

           Once we learn something no matter if it is a rumor or an actual fact we decide to stick to it. We tend to be very stubborn if it is argued whether what we believe in is true or not. No matter how many different ways someone tries to change our mind we still do not. Recently in my ENG 099 class with Dr. X we discussed “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato. It is a story about people being imprisoned their whole life in a Cave. They have their necks and legs chained so that they cannot move and all they see is what is before them. Before them are shadows of people walking behind them on a raised pathway. Shadows are all the prisoners believe, it is their only reality. One of the prisoners is set free, after struggling with sharp pains from moving his neck and from the sun touching his eyes for the first time he finally leaves the Cave. After this prisoner explores life outside the Cave he decides to go back to the Cave and tell the other prisoners what he had learned. The other prisoners however were not as open minded, they did not want to learn new things. So instead they started mocking him for not being able to name the shadows anymore since his eyes were no longer adjusted to the dark. To them it was unimaginable that there was life outside the Cave and that it could have been so different from their reality, represented by the shadows.

             Obviously nobody likes to be told they are wrong. Kluger mentions in his article that it has a lot to do with our ego. We put a lot of pride in whatever it is that we believe in, so how can we be wrong? A couple of weeks ago I witnessed two of my friends argue about a broken car alarm. The owner of the car was positive that the alarm was constantly going off because it was simply broken and had to be replaced, and my other friend was sure that it had something to do with the alarm sensor in the trunk of the car. I am not a mechanic and car alarms are the least of my worries I would just bring the car to one of the local shops to get it fixed. My friends however were so engaged in their argument that it lasted for at least an hour and a half. Neither one of them admitted that they were wrong nor did they come to any understanding in the middle. They haven’t spoken until today.

            People tend not to be aware of what is going on around them. They live in their own little worlds and do not pay attention to any of its surroundings. This reminds me of my boss who is really something else. I was the one who always supplied the office with paper towels and toilet paper so we usually never lacked it. One day however we ran out of paper towels and it just so happened that my desk was stacked with paperwork for me to go over and I could not go to the store. My boss after coming out of the bathroom had the most surprised face I have ever seen. It seemed to him impossible for us to be out of paper towels. He asked me – “Agata, what now?”. I responded saying that someone has to go to the store since I was too busy. He continued looking at me like I was some kind of a freak. I came to the conclusion that all this time not once had he seen me walking into the office with dozens of paper towels or toilet paper rolls. As long as we did have bathroom supplies it did not batter to him how we actually got them. People learn something and it does not matter to them whether it is right or wrong, they just decide to stick with it, so they would not be bothered with (what to them is) more useless information.   

In conclusion, people may be easily manipulated as it showed in Nisbets and Garretts study, but it is very difficult to actually change ones belief, even if the reason behind that is plain spite, laziness in learning the facts or ignorance.

Blog 7: Reflecting on Thesis-based Writing.

• What have you learned from the thesis-based writing class?

I learned the difference between a claim and a thesis; how both are structured and what they should consist of.

• How do you know that you have learned it?

Practice, practice, practice.

• Can you describe how you learned it? 

Listening to Dr.X, reading about the thesis in our booklet, writing claims and thesis in group.

• What helped your learning? What made it difficult?

Working with the whole class and in groups.

• How do you feel after today's class? 

Confused .... But I'm happy I learn another way to keep my essays clear and on topic.

Blog 6: Things I do Not Believe in Any More.

1. Definitely the example in the instructions - I do not believe in Santa Clause - at a certain point i figured out that it's my parents who put the presents under the Christmas Tree.

2. I believed that it is impossible to work full time as well as going to college full time. Now I work full time and study full time and I am managing.

3. I believed I would spend my whole life in Poland, I came here to NYC for vacation and so far I've been on this vacation for  7 years (hehe).

4. I believed I will always live with my parents.My mom always cleaned my room, did my laundry, cooked from breakfast to supper - now I'm on my own and I'm doing ok without the constant help from my parents.

BLOG 5: SUMMARIZING WHAT THE ALLEGORY STANDS FOR

In “The Allegory of the Cave” form book VII of “The Republic” by Plato, Socrates tells a story to his student Glaucon about a group of prisoners that have lived their whole lives in a Cave with “their legs and neck chained so that they cannot move, and they only see before them”, and all they saw before them were shadows of people walking behind them on a raised pathway. Being imprisoned all their lives all they knew was their Cave and the shadows. The shadows became their only reality – “to them, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images”.

In reality people are not born chained, so that they cannot move, but everybody is born into a certain culture, religion and society. We are given a specific stereotype to which we have to subordinate. From day one we are being thought by our parents,  later on we learn through the media, from friends and other sources how we should live to lead proper lives.

In Socrates’ story one of the prisoners is set free form the Cave, but before he actually leaves the Cave he suffers from sharp pain caused by turning his neck, which he wasn’t able to do before, and from the light hitting his eyes, which he also experienced for the first time.

The purpose of Socrates’ story is to explain that there are two worlds: within the Cave and outside the Cave. Life within the Cave is the life the we are familiar with, accustomed to, the world we were bought up in. It stands for everything we know and even though we might not be a hundred per cent comfortable with it, we try to make it as true and real to ourselves (just like the prisoners did with the shadows) .Living in the Cave limits our life in every aspect of it, emotionally, mentally, socially. On the contrary life outside the Cave represents a new better world, filled with good and many great opportunities. Sharp pains the prisoner suffers from stand for the struggle with adjusting to something we are not familiar with.

The prisoner that left the Cave, after becoming familiar with the outside world, decided to go back to tell other prisoners what he had seen, experienced, he wanted to share what he had learned. The other prisoners started mocking him, because he wasn’t able to recognize the shadows anymore, since his eyes were no longer adjusted to the dark. According to them he didn’t fit in anymore.

People are scared to leave their comfort zone. They worry that if they ever decide to come back from the outside world they will no longer fit in. However, if they are so scared to leave the Cave they will never experience all the good that awaits them in the outside world. As Socrates says: “in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right (…)”.

Blog 4: Revision of "Hype"

             Kalle Lasn, the author of “Hype” starts the article by stating – “advertisments are the most prevalent and toxic of the mental pollutants”. The author continues with giving us an approximate number of advertisements we see, hear or read throughout the whole day which equals to around three thousand ads. Lasn also mentions the increase of commercial advertising and their placement. They are no longer placed in the typical places like buses, billboards, stadiums. Now they are everywhere even on gas pump nozzles,  ATM machines, in kid’s classrooms, and even supermarket carts – “there is nowhere to run”, the author writes. Lasn ends her article by saying that everyone’s life, without exemptions, is filled with advertisements – “no one is exempt and no one will be spared”.

            I do not agree with Kalle Lasns’ statement mentioned above - “advertisements are the most prevalent and toxic of the mental pollutants”, because to me they are entertaining, informative and secure a lot of people good paying jobs.

            Commercials now a days are created more and more to first entertain people and than to promote the product itself.  They are short, funny and very catchy. I can bet that everyone has caught themselves singing a jingle or even saying a whole phrase from commercials like “I lift things up, and put them down” or “stay thirsty my friends” …I actually know people, which may surprise you, that watch the Superball just for the commercials aired during halftime. If commercials were, so disturbing as many people say they would not waste time picking commercials of the year, right? Or the funniest one, or best and worst commercials.

            Commercials might make the movie you are watching on TV last longer, but at least you get the latest news on upcoming products or even news on sales and promotions on current products. Several times I caught myself running to the Queens Mall after I learned from a commercial that American Eagle or Aeropostale is having a sale.

            It takes a lot of work and a lot of people to create a commercial. Creative designers, advertising specialists, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales specialists – that is a lot of job positions filled by what some consider the most annoying thing they see throughout the day.

            With commercials being everywhere we turn I still don’t consider them disturbing. They serve their purpose – they promote by getting our attention in every way possible.

            I say that if we were to stop all advertising at once, people not knowing it now, would actually miss it, and most of all a lot of people would end up being unemployed.

Blog 3: Reflecting on a summary

 

• What have you learned from the Summarizing class?

I got a pretty clear idea in my head what a summary is and what it should consist of.

•         How do you know that you have learned it?

I still remember what a summary is, what information I should use when writing a summary. 

• Can you describe how you learned it?

Doctor X, Reading page 2, talking with other students.

• What helped your learning? What made it difficult?

Doctor X, and doing a summary of a text in a group.

• How do you feel after today's class?

My head is filled with summaries, summaries and summaries ;)

Blog 2

1. What did you get from thinking about annotations?

I learned that annotations are a very helpful and useful. They help pinpoint out all of the important clues in the text to for me to later elaborate on in my essay. Annotations help stay focused on the main point of the text so we don’t start writing about things that are totally irrelevant.
We annotate everything - main point of the text, clues that we will elaborate on in our essay, ideas for quotes, facts. Annotations help us get an idea of how we are going to write our essay.


2. What did you get from writing annotations for "Is Google Making us Stupid?" with your partner?

It helped me understand what the text was about. Given clues gave me ideas on how to elaborate on the main point of the text and how to relate to it.


3. What did you learn about the reading by annotating it?

It helped me to understand better what the author was writing about.


4. How may annotating make you a better writer?

It will help me first read critically, than keep my work more organized and elaborate all important clues.


5. What did I learn from the exchange with my partner?

Comparing my work with Lisa's I realized that annotating really does help pinpointg out the most important clues in the text, because we both basically have highlighted the same lines. :)

Blog 1

In the given passage "Hype" the author writes about advertisements being the "most prevalent and toxic of the mental pollutants." He concentrates on their constantly increasing number. He points out that no matter where we turn all we see and hear are commercials -"there is nowhere to run".

I agree, commercials are everywhere, in every aspect of our lives, even on a nozzle of a gas pump, however  I do not necessarily think that it is a bad thing. Ads now a days are created more and more to entertain people first and than promote the product itself. Yes maybe a movie you are watching on tv lasts longer than it should but al least you get news on upcoming products and get a good laugh as well. They are short, funny and very catchy. I can bet that everyone has caught themselves singing a jingle or even saying a whole phrase like "I lift things up, and put them down" or "stay thirsty my friends" .... I actually know people,which may surprise you, that only watch the Superball just for the commercials aired during halftime.

I say if we were about to stop all advertising at once, people not knowing it now, would actually miss it.

What do I expect from this class?

I expect to improve my writing skills so that I am fully prepared to pass the Final Test and go to the next level - ENG 101.