Table of Contents http://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/reflective-letter.html">Reflective Letter http://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/players-choice-intro.html">Player’s Choice Intro http://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/players-choice_05.html">Player’s Choice ttp://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/remix-intro.html">Remix Intro http://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/remix_05.html">Remix http://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/analyze-this-intro.html">Analyze This Intro http://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/analyze-this_05.html">Analyze This http://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/sounds-like-im-talking-to-you-intro.html">Sounds Like I’m Talking to You Intro http://digidossier.blogspot.com/2009/06/sounds-like-im-talking-to-you.html">Sounds Like I’m Talking to You
Friday, June 5, 2009
Directory
Reflective Letter
Throughout this quarter, each paper I’ve written has had the specific requirement of not using first person words like I, my, or mine, but now I get to talk about me. I came into this class after being away from school for five years. During those five years, I had a few thoughts on what I wanted to do with my life. My first path led me to culinary school, which was what I had been planning for years. I had enrolled at Western Culinary Institute in Portland, OR. It took my only three weeks to realize that I didn’t want to spend my life in a kitchen. As much as I loved cooking, I knew I would grow to hate it if I had to do it ten hours a day, six days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. My next path was to become a pastor. After getting accepted to Northwest University in Kirkland, WA , that thought came to a very abrupt halt when I was unable to muster the tuition money. The next, and current, goal became attending school to earn a degree in secondary education with an endorsement in English.
As I mentioned, this was my first quarter back at school after nearly five years, and I’ve decided that school was much easier back in high school, when I was still living with my parents and I didn’t have to think about how tired I’d be after work, which is when I have to do my homework now. The experience of an online classroom also differs quite a bit from the brick and mortar classroom. When having discussions about the readings with other classmates, it is typically easier for me to actually hear tone and inflection in voice, and to be able to ask questions immediately in order to clarify thoughts. The discussion boards made that task slightly difficult, especially when people have the option to simply not respond to a post.
One of the biggest influences on my choice to take this class was the added element of if being a diversity class. I’ve read my fair share of literature by “dead white guys” and thought it would be interesting to do a class that taught the elements of English 101 with selections that showed other views. I would say that I’m a pretty open person as far as not being closed off to people or practices of other cultures, and I have no prejudices against people of other backgrounds. This being said, some of the things I read this quarter really made me see things that I had never thought about before. For instance, the closed-mindedness that is shown in “Dude Looks Like a Lady” really got me thinking about how I view people that dress or look in a way that I’m not accustomed to; whether I say something out loud or not. This class also made me rework my idea of what a community is. I had always considered it as a very close knit group of people, but it doesn’t have to be. Even in “How To Tame a Wild Tongue,” it talks about the hispanic people in America, which I would consider a community, but they are spread out all over the nation.
I was able to write many different pieces throughout the class in many forms; blogs, discussion board posts, timed writes, and essays. For my portfolio, I chose two blogs, a discussion board thread, and an essay. The first piece I chose was the first blog post I did, which was for the identity unit. I felt that this was one of the best examples of me putting my own voice into my writing. Anybody that has talked to me in person would be able to recognize it as something that I wrote. The second piece I chose was my essay on the comics community that I did for the Community unit. This was my rewrite/revision piece. I chose this because I felt it was a good essay, except for my misunderstanding of the directions in regards to the interview portion of the assignment. So I revised it to include elements from my interview. Next, I inserted a discussion that I had on the forum regarding some of the readings in the Tradition section. This is included because it shows my ability to take a reading and analyze beyond the text in the book into the way the subject matter affects society. For my final element of my e-portfolio, I decided to add the blog post I did in the community unit. I added this in because I was able to use the assignment to talk about something that I really enjoy, and I feel that it’s a solid piece of writing.
I’ve had the chance to read a variety of selections in this class that I normally wouldn’t and I’ve been challenged to think and write about things that I’ve never had to in my school career. Each of my writings displays a different function of my thinking. The thing that I take away most from this class is that my writing is far from where I thought it was, and from where it will need to be if I want to become and English teacher, but with some direction and practice, it will get better.
Player's Choice Intro
For my personal choice, I picked a blog post I did on a particular community that I am a part of. I chose this piece because I think it does a good job of demonstrating my ability to inject my voice and thoughts into a subject that is interesting to me, and still maintain an outside perspective.
Player's Choice
The comic book community is a very large, very obsessive one. It is comprised of millions of readers who buy their personal favorite books every week and pour over each panel as if it were a priceless paint hanging in the Louvre, or an original manuscript of the Iliad. These readers then take their opinions of the books and share them with as many fellow readers as they can. There are countless message boards and websites online where these fans can gather together and discuss thei favorite and least favorite characters, arcs, artists, writers, pencilers, colorists, editors, marketing directors, interns, or whatever else they feel like picking apart in a given issue. Many comic fans have now also turned to podcasting to get their opinions out there. Some of the bigger podcasts getting many thousands of downloads per episode. The Mecca of the comic book community is the many conventions that are hosted throughout the year in different parts of the country which give fans access to their favorite creators, special panels with privleged information about upcoming storylines, and the ability to see work from smaller press companies that may not be availible in the comic specialty shops.
The common thread between the fans of comic books is the appreciation for the different elements of each book; the story, the characters, and the art. These things are also what causes the most tension between memebers of the community. With anything, people have their own preferences about what they like in a comic. Some like art to be very realistic, called photo-reference, others like a very cartoon-like type of drawing. There is a camp of fans that like painted art, and those who prefer digital coloring. There are the same divides with writing styles, page layouts, even types of paper that the comics are written on.
Like all the other comic fans, I have my own preferences as to each aspect of the books as well, but ultimately I just love reading them. I have been collecting for almost thirteen years, and have well over five hundred issues. I enjoy being part of a community where the common bond is one that offers such a variety. There is a comic out there for almost any genre that can be thought of, and the people that read them respresent such a wide range of age, ethnicity, status, and belief that it really is a way of crossing many social barriers, and in just twenty-two pages per issue.
Remix Intro
Remix
Community of Continuity
Up until the late 1970's the way to purchase comic books was from your local newsstand or drug store. Publishers would sell their products directly to these markets. An unfortunate result of this was that it was difficult many times to find sequential issues of your favorite comic at the same retailer, making it very difficult to keep up with a multi-part story. Many kids would get the books they could find, read them, and then trade books with other kids who had managed to find different comics. This caused the comics community to be very cut off from each other, many people were only able to interact with those they knew directly that also read comics.
In the late 1970's, a new innovation happened in the comics industry, the introduction of the comics specialty shops. These stores allowed readers access to many more titles than the spinner racks at the drug stores. Suddenly people went from being able to pick up books sporadically as they showed up at the drug store, to being able to select from the wide range of titles put out by all the publishers that the shop owner decided to order from. This was a huge advantage for people who were wanting to get every issue of a certain title.
With the introduction of specialty stores, many people were introduced to books they had never heard of before. The direct-market system allowed for an individual to be able to be exposed to any comic by any publisher that the shop's distributor carried. This was the start of what was called the "comic book boom" because with so many stores and so much shelf space, publishers were taking on almost any book pitched in order to get more product in the hands of the consumer. This led to a lot of less-than books.
Having so many books in one place allowed for many readers to meet other readers that they may not have encountered at the local drug store. Many shops had "regulars" that were in every week on the day that comics would arrive, and would hang out in the store reading the issues after purchasing them. These people would then rant or rave about the issues they read. For many people, this was the only time they got to discuss their comic, and they formed good friendships with these people.
Once the internet started becoming more prominent, the way that comic readers talked about their favorite, and least favorite books, changed immensely. Once people discover message boards, the comics community was drawn to them. There were boards related to individual titles, characters, publishers, and even creators. The comic readers with access to the forums were very outspoken about their opinions on the current state of comics. Many of the people on the forums considered other forum members to be some of their closest friends.
One of the most important ways that the comics community directly expresses their shared interest in the medium has always been the convention. In the early days, most conventions were a umbrella "sci-fi" convention which celebrated not only comics, but also sci-fi novels, movies, and even the furry population. Soon, many of these individual entities would split off and have their own conventions. During the comic conventions, fans would get the opportunity to meet the creators of their favorite characters, get autographs and sketches, receive first-hand news about upcoming comic events, buy comics that may not be available at their local shops, and most importantly meet and talk to all the other comic fans that come to the conventions. Today, there are comic conventions in every state throughout the year, with the San Diego ComiCon being considered the largest and most influential of all.
Take 2:
Up until the late 1970's, the way to purchase comic books was from a local newsstand or drug store. Publishers would sell their products directly to these markets. This is how Brandon Ottenborg, an employee at Everett Comics and Cards, first got into comics. He was at the local 7-11 with his dad and his brother and saw an issue of Batman on a spinner rack. This began a tradition of Brandon and his brother traveling with their dad once a week to the 7-11 to get their comic book for the week.
An unfortunate result of this was that it was frequently troublesome to find sequential issues of a favorite comic at the same retailer, making it very difficult to keep up with a multi-part story. Many kids would get the books they could find, read them, and then trade books with other kids who had managed to find different comics. Consequently, the comic community became very cut off from each other; many people were only able to interact with those they knew directly that also read comics.
In the late 1970's, a new innovation happened in the comics industry, the introduction of comic specialty shops. These stores allowed readers access to many more titles than the spinner racks at the drug stores. Suddenly people went from being able to pick up books sporadically as they showed up at the drug store, to being able to select from the wide range of titles put out by all the publishers that the shop owner decided to order from. Therefore, this was a huge advantage for people who were wanting to get every issue of a certain title. Comic book lovers were brought to a central location instead of drug stores and newstands spread throughout the city.
With the emergence of specialty stores, many people were introduced to books they had never heard of before. The direct-market system allowed for an individual to be able to be exposed to any comic by any publisher that the shop's distributor carried. This was the start of what was called the "comic book boom" because with so many stores and so much shelf space, publishers were taking on almost any book pitched in order to get more product in the hands of the consumer. This led to a large amount of sub-par books.
Having so many books in one place allowed for many readers to meet other readers that they may not have encountered at the local drug store. Many shops had "regulars" that were in every week on the day that comics would arrive, and would hang out in the store reading the issues after purchasing them. These people would then rant or rave about the issues they read. For many people, this was the only time they got to discuss their comic, and they formed good friendships with these people.
Once the internet started becoming more prominent, the way that comic readers talked about their favorite, and least favorite books, changed immensely. Once people discovered message boards, the comics community was drawn to them. There were boards related to individual titles, characters, publishers, and even creators. The comic readers with access to the forums were very outspoken about their opinions on the current state of comics. Many of the people on the forums considered other forum members to be some of their closest friends. Some people, like Brandon, feel that the internet has ruined the comic book industry. Many websites devoted to comics post content known as “spoilers” which refer to information in books that may have just come out, giving people little time to have actually read the issues for themselves, or may refer to information released in press releases or interviews that give details about current or upcoming plots.
One of the most important ways that the comic community directly expresses their shared interest in the medium has always been the convention. In the early days, most conventions were a umbrella "sci-fi" convention which celebrated not only comics, but also sci-fi novels, movies, and even the furry population. Soon, many of these individual entities would split off and have their own conventions. During the comic conventions, fans would get the opportunity to meet the creators of their favorite characters, get autographs and sketches, receive first-hand news about upcoming comic events, buy comics that may not be available at their local shops, and most importantly meet and talk to all the other fans of comic books that come to the conventions. Today, there are comic conventions in every state throughout the year, with the San Diego ComiCon considered the largest and most influential of all.
Analyze This Intro
For my critical writing selection, I choose posts from out readings in the Tradition unit. I feel it is a good example of my ability to read something and not just discuss the ideas in the reading selection, but expand on them and how they affect other things. I was able to take the views of the authors about the sexuality and portrayal of both Britney Spears and many of the female characters on reality shows, and analyze their affects on the young females of society.