Thesis Statements

1. In a small work environment, clear, direct, and concise writing is key.

2. Professional writing for an intern may vary quite a bit depending on who is addressed and what the concern is.

3. In a fast paced work environment where most communication happens face to face, the emphasis on formality is not as important as getting the message across quickly.

Personal Journal Week 6

I really liked this week's chapter of the Happiness Project. I spent most of my teenage years thinking about death and dying, and I think that's what ultimately led me to becoming a happier person. It's almost as if I exhausted the subject for so many years that I finally got sick of it and couldn't care less. (Even though I still find it kind of fascinating, at least I don't spend my days obsessing about it).

I really like how Rubin looked into the lives of people who were less fortunate than her and started to realize she did not have a lot to complain about when it really came down to it. I also liked when she wrote that most people will look at happy people as less intelligent, which I can actually somewhat agree with when thinking about the saying "ignorance is bliss."

However, I completely agree with her when she says that being happy is A LOT of work. You need to write gratitude lists, stop yourself when you're having self-destructive thoughts and accept everything that life throws you in order to think of solutions to the problem instead of the actual problem. I personally try to remind myself to stay positive several times every day. I know the option is to go down a spiral that is very difficult to come out of.

I thought the "Recovering Jerk" was super interesting because I used to be pretty obnoxious myself. I know I have the tendency to sometimes think I know better than others even though I know it is so far from the truth. Instead of what happened in the text, having a professor tell me that was the case, I was once thrown into a situation where every single person around me had come way, way, way further in life, and shared knowledge I had no idea was even out there.

That is when my "humble phase" began and I started to listen more than I spoke. I started to read more and truly question everything I thought I knew. I still have moments where I'm a little too eager to share my opinions and I try to remind myself to slow down, to not let my ego take over, and to remember that I would not know what I know if it wasn't for other people.

"Don't Complain, Just Work Harder" sort of reminded me of Rubin's chapter. At least when it comes to how to stay positive and not complain. By giving examples of people who saw the bright side of life, one must wonder how and why that is. Maybe they did count their blessings, and maybe they did try to focus on what's good in life instead of anything else.

In "The Lost art of Thank-You Notes," I was reminded of what my mentor once told me when I applied for an internship I really wanted. He said "Send a hand-written thank-you note and I can pretty much guarantee you'll get it." I don't know to this day if that's what made it happen but I got the internship, so I can't do anything but agree to this text...

"Show Gratitude" also reminded me of my mentor who would always say that the way I can pay him back is by becoming successful and promise to help others the way he helped me, a.k.a to pay it forward.

"Be a Communitarian" goes along the lines with what Rubin described in the assigned chapter for this week. She spoke about how by helping others, we become happier. They're talking about volunteering in this text and how it impacts our lives for the better: "...when we're connected to others, we become better people." I really believe that's true. In a way, we do it to feel better about ourselves, but at the same time, we're helping our community so it's a win-win.

Academic Writing Week 5

In "They Say, I Say," Ch. 11, I thought it was interesting to read the arguments for how to transition between classmates statements by referring back to or summarize what they just said. The reason I thought it was a good read is because I feel like that is how we already discuss subjects in class, even though there's always room for improvement.

I like how the writer brings up that it is important to make one specific point since in a class discussion, your classmates will not be able to go back and reread what you just said. Therefore, the author states, it's better to make an oral argument simple and to the point.

In "They Say, I Say," Ch. 9, I was thinking about Gloria Anzaldua the whole time since I have studied her writing in two previous classes. I was happy that she was brought up in the text. It was great to read that academic writing doesn't always have to be overly professional depending on your audience. I personally appreciate texts that I can relate to more, even though I realize I can't expect that from, say, a scientific academic paper.

I guess I feel like it gives me more freedom to play around with words as long as I keep it on a professional level in general. However, I do believe you need to be a pretty damn good writer in order to "break the rules" like that. Sticking to professional lingo is probably the best way to go until one is more comfortable as a writer. I still have a long, long way to go, but again, I was excited to learn that my future in academic writing doesn't have to get boring because of the lack of freedom.

Like Smitherman tried to convey in her writing about African-Americans, we need to open up "our habitual language practices... and... the number of participants in the academic conversation needs to be expanded."

"Reading Like a Writer" was a great read to me. A few years ago, when my English wasn't as good as it is now, I asked my journalism professor the best way to expand my vocabulary. She said "the only way I know is to read. Read books, articles, anything you can get your hands on."

So I started doing just that. However, even though I read a lot and try to get into the authors' heads, I don't write comments in the margins, and I don't actively think about the style of a sentence or paragraph or entire book, or the effect of the way it's written.

This text was a little bit of an eye opener, and after reading it, I feel like reading will be more fun than usual. The article made me want to become more engaged in whatever it is that I'm reading for school or recreationally. 

Personal Journal Week 5

When reading "Putting Ethnographic Writing in Context" by Seth Kahn, I appreciate Kahn putting himself out there by describing how he learned from his mistakes made in his ethnography about the professor he highly respected.

I really enjoyed reading that ethnography is no longer looked upon as a science since a researcher will always be biased and might only see what they themselves are comfortable with, and therefore paint an unfair picture of a culture/person etc., something that has caused problems in the past.

I also think it is interesting that Kahn brings up two things to think about when it comes to ethnographic writing: "Ethnographers always have to remember that our work can have serious implications for our participants. As such, we share the responsibility to make those implications: (1) as positive as possible; and (2) collaboratively determined with our participants. "

I find it a little confusing that he writes that an ethnographer should be as objective as possible, and then follows up by saying that an ethnographer should try to angle his/her work as positive as possible. Isn't that in itself biased and could take away from an objective standpoint?

For me personally, I do find it difficult to stay completely objective in my writing about things I am too attached to, or passionate about. However, I find it reassuring as I read Kahn's conclusion saying "... you can only sort through these problems of representation and authority, and of collaboration and mutual respect, by writing your own way through them. Your writing, the feedback you get, and your revision processes will all make you see these problems as connected and complicated; keep writing, and you’ll find your way."

In "Participant Observation as a Data Collection Method" by Barbara B. Kawulich, we get to read about Frank Hamilton Cushing's participant observation with the Zuni Pueblo people. It was interesting to learn about the fact that it's easy to get too close to the culture one is trying to objectively observe. It said that when you become part of the culture in a sense that the members come to the observer for questions or include him in "gossip" it is time to conclude the research.

I found that interesting since I usually get too close to my interviewees for the paper I write for here in Santa Barbara. I get so into their stories that I find it hard not to become too friendly with them which is very unprofessional, just like it was for Cushing to become part of the culture to a point where he could no longer analytically write about it.

Kawulich brings up why participant observation as a data collection method can be so much more valuable than any other method. She states that "... it allows for richly detailed description, which they interpret to mean that one's goal of describing 'behaviors, intentions, situations, and events as understood by one's informants' is highlighted and it provides opportunities for viewing or participating in unscheduled events."

This reminds me of how a person can read anything, study a country or culture, but that it really isn't until he has experienced it himself that he can apply what he has learned. Nothing is ever the way we imagine it before it happens. We can make up a hundred scenarios in our heads about what a certain place would be like, and it doesn't matter how much we've read about it, because when we finally get there, it is completely different.

I know this is a wild idea, but in a perfect world, I would like to see funding for people to travel more for themselves in order to fully understand other cultures, to bridge the gaps between different ethnicities, cultures and classes. That would be a way of beginning to understand that we are all the same and deserve the same amount of respect and privileges. Anyway, I guess that's what ethnography is all about...

Personal Journal Week 4

Botton, Ch. 6 - Painting

"... it seems logical to ask what Taylor's art might be for. To help us to notice what we have already seen... They are in a sense comparable to advertising billboards, but instead of forcing us to focus on a specific brand... they incite us to focus on the meaning of nature, the yearly cycles of growth and decay, the intricacies of the vegetal and animal realms, our lost connection with the earth and the redemptive powers of modest dappled things. We might define art as anything that pushes our thoughts in important yet neglected directions" (184).

I really loved the above paragraph. My thoughts about the reasons behind Taylor's paintings lingered throughout the chapter, so when it was finally revealed -- despite the writer urging people not to try to define the meaning behind a piece of art -- I totally got it. Trees in general symbolize so many things as well, like "the tree of life" with its roots and strong foundation that carries the smaller branches up to the sky like a great leader would do (maybe not like the world leaders we have today, but still). Or how you yourself need to have a strong foundation in order to grow as a person. I know the poet Robert Frost used trees as symbols in so many of his poems as well.

Interestingly, one sentence that struck me in the beginning of the chapter was when it was mentioned that Taylor had noticed the tree shortly after his girlfriend's death. A lot of what was written about honoring the tree after that seemed to, in actuality, be a way of honoring her spirit. But I think that's just my own interpretation because nothing else was mentioned about that throughout.

I also loved the language. Even though I sometimes find this type of writing a little too drawn out, pretentious and pompous, I didn't mind it this time. I think it's because art and artists deserve to be spoken about in this way, and it fits in with the type of artist Taylor is. He devotes so much time into exploring aspects of one single object to create something to inspire others with messages and reminders about the importance of life, and receive little to no money for it. Also, the writer is British so the pretentiousness is easily forgiven.

"Psychical Distance as a Factor in Art and as an Aesthetic Principle" By Edward Bullough

Okay, I took away a lot from this reading even though I had to reread a lot of the paragraphs to at all comprehend the meaning of them. In order to make sense of it here, I need to refer to quotes that particularly stood out to me.

The first thing that I thought was interesting was the sentence quoted below:

"Temporal distance, remoteness from us in point of time, though often a cause of misconceptions, has been declared to be a factor of considerable weight in our appreciation."

I interpreted it as the more the spectator uses Distance, the more he internalizes and relates to the work of the artist as long as he can avoid over or under distancing, as well as taking what he thinks is the artist's intentions/thoughts and making them his own.


The following paragraph was the first part of the reading that made me "get it," and I'll describe why below it.

"As a rule, experiences constantly turn the same side towards us, namely, that which has the strongest practical force of appeal. We are not ordinarily aware of those aspects of things which do not touch us immediately and practically, nor are we generally conscious of impressions apart from our own self which is impressed. The sudden view of things from their reverse, unusually unnoticed, side, comes upon us as a revelation, and such revelations are precisely those of Art."

The reason I was so taken by this was because Bullough is speaking of our internal biases and personal perspectives that are so hard to shift or affect, but explains that with Distance, this is possible through written or visual art. He argues that; "the sudden view of things from their reverse... comes upon us as a revelation..," and that sentence in itself made me understand how art can be appreciated in a more intricate way if one knows how to analyze it from the artist's point of view - if that's even possible, something he also talks about in the essay, suggesting it might be with the right Distance.

Speaking of objectivity and subjectivity, the following quote reinforced my own belief that most things are subjective since we're all experiencing our own realities fueled by our own beliefs, cultures, interests etc.

"The success and intensity of its appeal would seem, therefore, to stand in direct proportion to the completeness with which it corresponds with our intellectual and emotional peculiarities and the idiosyncracies of our experience"

He's basically saying, according to my own interpretation, that a piece of art is only as "good" or "bad" as the spectator believes it to be based on his own inner world. In the end of the essay, it even points out that "Many an artist has seen his work condemned, and himself ostracized for the sake of so-called 'immoralities' which to him were bona fide aesthetic objects." These judgments come directly from peoples religious, cultural and environmental beliefs, and he continues to say that "his power of distancing, nay, the necessity of distancing feelings, sensations, situations which for the average person are too intimately bound up with his concrete existence to be regarded in that light, have often quite unjustly earned for him accusations of cynicism, sensualism, morbidness or frivolity."

When Bullough makes the example of a man who's suspicious of his wife being unfaithful, watching Othello, the loss of Distance may be created because of the spectator's ability to relate in a way that, for example, a single woman couldn't. She, in turn, is able to keep the Distance, and reasonably so, keep the objectivity of the play. It reads: "The reversal of perspective is the consequence of the loss of Distance."

I guess what I ultimately got out of this essay is that one must be willing to lose and gain Distance to a piece of art but not stay fixed in one world or the other in order to appreciate it the most.

Academic Writing Week 4

In "Everything's an Argument," Ch. 6, I found it interesting to read about the different approaches to form an argument in order to persuade a target audience. On page 8, it says that an ad is not trying to just get you to buy the product but to also adopt the lifestyle it's advertising. It makes me think of a Coca Cola commercial where the product is seen in every shot, and during the commercial, drinking the coke seems to be the single component that makes a beach party fun and exciting.

In the article, it asks if we really believe that a soda would magically give us a lifestyle of friends and beach parties. Logically, we all know that isn't the case. However, Coca Cola is planting a seed in us that makes us associate the product with something positive, and that is all they need to do. Their job is done. I personally don't agree with this type of advertisement since I think it's manipulative and deceitful -- It would be very surprising if there's one scientific research article saying coke adds any healthy or real positive value to a persons life -- but I see why it works.

I don't want to go on forever here, but there are so many aspects of this article. What I take away from it, regarding how to make a trustworthy and solid argument for what you're trying to convey, is to be thorough, support it with actual facts and statistics, use a language that is as neutral as possible not to turn off people who might already be skeptical (since they might be the most important ones to reach out to), while also including why choosing to consider their product, lifestyle or idea would be beneficial to them.

I also found Rachel Kolb's response to David Brooks article really awesome.

In "Everything's an Argument," Ch. 17, I like the body of the article, giving specific examples of how to find resources and the many different ways one can go about it. Sometimes, I don't think about the fact that you can go interview someone, or creating your own experiment instead of just finding one online that might not be as relevant as your own would be.

It also was really cool to read about the interview example in the beginning of the article with Oriana Fallaci and Ayatollah Khomeini. It made me think about how one can change the type or source of evidence one may use in order to convince a specific audience. It's kind of like the comic chapter about wearing different hats to adapt to a certain environment. It becomes challenging to think about what evidence is to different people and cultures. Since we all see the world through different lenses, deciding how to word evidence to an audience that doesn't see it your way sounds really useful.

Comparison of Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, and Amy Winehouse's Journals

First of all, I’d like to mention that this is an especially fun assignment for me since my grandfather used to work for the government analyzing crime suspects’ hand-writing through graphology. He gave me a book on the subject years ago, and has taught me a lot about it. Inevitably, I will include some of those analyzations in this paper.

After speaking about Kurt Cobain, someone whose opinions and lyrics I have always had a lot of respect for (he was a complete feminist which I think is awesome), I was intrigued to analyze his writing a little further since I have not read too much by him in the past. With that, my interest in Courtney Love peaked, and I managed to find a few diary entries of hers as well. Lastly, to stick with the depressed and self-destructive, yet brilliant, musicians, I chose to also take a look at Amy Winehouse’s journals. 

The first thing I noticed about Cobain’s writing is that it seems rushed when he is excited or passionate about something. He crosses a lot of stuff out because he doesn’t really seem to think about what it will look like or how it will come out before he puts pen to paper. He used his journals, it seems like, to reflect on his problems and personal faults - he was trying to figure out who he was but obviously never really got a chance to before his premature death. He writes: “Maybe if I dwell on these relationships with people I might help myself and them as well.” Something that becomes very clear in this sentence if one has knowledge of graphology is that he values others a lot more than he values himself. This is clear because the word “myself” is below the line while “them” is above it. Cobain had a tendency to write below the line in general, which indicates negative thoughts and depression.

Something I have always loved about Cobain is his extreme liberal and feminist views. He writes: “…but at the top of the food chain is still the white, corporate, macho, strong ox male… classism is determined by sexism.” Contrary to the other diary entry, it seems like this particular one might have been partly written for an audience to read, whether it was consciously, because his writing is smoother, not as cluttered, easier to read. He cleaned up his language a little in this one and the style of it reminds me of a speech an activist would possibly hold in a room of people. 

Overall, Cobain’s diaries were definitely a venting outlet for him to find out who he was, but also to come up with, and entertain already existing, ideas.

Courtney Love’s writing is a little bit more dramatic and immature - not the words or message in particular but the style of her writing. Big, round letters often indicate a sense of immaturity, and contrary to Cobain’s entries, Love writes all over the place, above and below the lines which could be analyzed as a rebellious personality, and an entitlement that rules/laws don’t really apply to her. 

It’s also interesting to see how her writing style shifts depending on what mood she’s in. In her slightly depressed state of mind, judging from the text, Love’s handwriting is childish and stubborn, chaotic and strong. However, while writing about her goals, the text is more structured and leans to the right which indicates maturity. 

She definitely utilizes her diary/journal to vent in the same way Cobain did. They both have feelings of not belonging, the world not being what they want it to be, and a sense of trying to find themselves through jotting down their innermost thoughts. She also uses it as a checklist type of outlet; what she wants out of life, goals etc. It’s interesting to look at it because it reminds me so much of what we discussed in class trying to pinpoint what a journal is or isn’t. What I really like is how artsy she is with her different colors and photos. It inspires me to do something similar myself - I am positive that it will make it a lot more fun to look through in 20 years or so.

When reading some of Amy Winehouse’s diary entries, it seems like she primarily wrote to control her anger, or at least to vent by getting it out on paper. Similarly to Cobain’s writing, her words sometimes fall under the line, and it makes sense because most of us probably know that Winehouse suffered from depression and addiction. The piece of writing that says “Jan. ???” could have possibly been written when she was high. The content does not really make total sense and the writing is relatively hard to read compared to the first one I referred to. She is obviously, again, angry and is using her journal to vent. 

I hate to say this because I love Amy Winehouse’s music and I think she was brilliant, a genius, but I would be so uncomfortable around her considering how explosive she could get, and I would not know how to handle her rants about, what to me, are petty details. I would say she was very intelligent, yet from what I read, similarly to Courtney Love, entitled in a lot of ways. Maybe that is simply the effects of stardom and fame and maybe I should feel sorry for these people instead of judging them too hard for feeling entitled. I have too been depressed and dealt with anxiety, and to combine fundamental feelings of low self-worth with their level of fame would definitely screw with ones head.  

In conclusion, I would like to say that I see a lot of similarities between Cobain and Love when it comes to thoughts and philosophies, but not so much between them and Winehouse. Analyzing Winehouse’s writing also gives me the feeling that she felt very lonely, and alienated herself from close relationships. I did not feel that way when reading Cobain and Love’s writing. They all, however, use/d their diaries to vent and make themselves feel better, and to make sense of things that is/was going on in their lives.