1000 words in a picture?

In the article “Liar Liar Pants on Fire” by Errol Morris, he argues that a picture is not always worth one thousands word, but a picture without words can be meaningless. I agree with parts of his argument however disagree with other parts.

I enjoy how Morris makes the argument that a picture can be “true or false”. When you take it upon yourself to interpret a picture, you are not necessarily getting the complete truth or any truth at all. When the is a fact or caption next to the picture the reader/ viewer is able to get a much more accurate depiction of what the photo is actually portraying. Morris describes a photo like this is this quote “Without a caption, without a context, without some idea about what the picture is a picture of, I can't answer. I simply cannot talk about the photograph as being true or false independently of beliefs about the picture. A captionless photograph, stripped of all context, is virtually meaningless. I need to know more”.

Although I do I agree that a caption can add a lot of value to a photo, I do not believe that a photo is “virtually meaningless” without it. I believe that a picture is still worth a thousand words it just may not be the one thousand words it was originally purposed for. The viewer has the power to see what they want and a picture can be interpreted in so many ways. I think in a sense a picture is worth more words if there is not a caption added. Although Morris does have several good points I do not believe in what he is trying to convince me of. Pictures will always have meaning even if there are absolutely no words attachted.

taking an approach

            The way I look at “taking an approach” is taking an article and combining, rewriting, countering, and forwarding while adding a unique voice into your own article. Taking an approach is a way to turn any article to something that has your own voice and ideas. With taking an approach you are reshaping another work “Otherwise you are simply applying ideas to examples. To transform is to reshape, not replace or rebut. The original does not go away but is remade into something new” (74). Taking an approach is crucial when it come to differentiating a piece of writing that one creates.

            The New York Times has a very distinct approach on most of their articles. With the New York Times they try to write from a non-opinionated stance without to much personal emotion. I think that is this form and personal connection to the story is lost. On the other hand it is easy to see the facts and therefore be able to form your own opinion. On the other hand I have talked about a blog I read called Barstoolu. This blog is extremely opinionated and is specifically written toward the audience of college-aged students. With this type of “stance” you get a lot of opinions and ideas written directly into the article. It is very easy to connect to, forward, or counter but on the other hand I think specific facts are lost in translation. With direct written opinions often times emotions get in the way and in that sense the writing can be skewed.

            I believe that taking and approach when writing is crucial that you make it clear the direction you are portraying in order to be as unique as possible.

covering the sex change

Bryce Quigley

Writ 1122

February 15, 2013

Covering the Sex Change

I read a very biased college blog called Barstoolu. Typically they take an article and look at it from a ridiculous point of view. They first summarize the article then give a personal take on the same article. If I were to take an article such as this and write it for barstool this is what is would sound like.

            Recently Brown University became the 36^th college to start having their insurance cover gender reassignment surgery. In addition to 36 colleges that cover the surgery there are 25 other colleges that will cover related hormone treatments. This idea is still radical but it is a large step in recognizing transgender rights. This directly affects a small group of students but it is another step toward equality. It is no longer just recognizing that trans-genders can use their respectable bathroom, it is taking it to the next level. There has been a guide for transgender students released online that includes Brown as a top ten transgender friendly school.

 This trend is something we are seeing not only in colleges but also about a quarter of fortune 500 companies support the same or similar insurance policy. Gender reassignment surgery is a complex process that requires psychological treatment as well as hormone treatment. The entire process costs tens of thousands of dollars, however colleges are not concerned about that, as it is a process that is rarely seeked. Transgender issues are relatively new around campuses in the United States. Even in colleges that are progressive about gay and lesbian rights can still be relatively naïve about the issue. www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/education/12sexchange.html?hp&_r=0

            According to the New York Times Brown University just released a statement saying that their health care program will cover “gender reassignment surgery”. Brown is now the thirty-sixth university to do so. Only six years ago this type of thing was unheard of and now it is becoming a bit of a norm. They are now not only supporting transgender people but they are now financially helping people who want the surgery. I am not sure about you but seriously? I am all for supporting people who are transgender or people who want to change their lives in that way. But to have a University help pay for it with insurance is just silly. If every type of plastic surgery was supported like this girls would be getting breast implants left and right and the country would be full of synthetic people. I think that if you want a surgery this drastic you should have to go out of your way to take the measures, not have an insurance company pay for it.

            According to Princeton, Brown is one of the top ten-transgender friendly schools. That is something I fully support. I believe everyone should be treated equally no matter his or her race, ethnicity, gender, or personal views. But this is so radical it seems to be encouraging something that is very extreme.

            I fully encourage people to be themselves but to have insurance to cover an extensive plastic surgery process seems a bit intense.

Charlie review:

1.     A times article that covers transgender surgery at universities.  The audience is other college students who are the majority on barstoolu and the purpose seems to be purely informational for the reader. 

2.     It seems to be written more loosely and is very easy to understand it also has an opinion at the end of the article so it seems to be written in more of a blogging format.

3.     Maybe introduce the article that you are talking about if you are planning to keep the last sentence in the opening paragraph.

4.     I have been on the site and this is a pretty good interpretation of how the site actually runs and gives out information

5.     Grammar check, maybe a little formatting with the first paragraph that’s about it.

Carter review:

1.     What is the original story, audience, and purpose? Whatis the new audience and / or purpose?

The original audience is prospective students for Brown or anybody looking where to go for college. The purpose is to inform readers that their [Brown College] has certain aspects few other colleges and if it interests you then go there. The new audience is the same people, but those who are opposed to the idea or basically think it is dumb.

2.     How is the change in audience and / or purpose reflected in the rewriting of the piece?

The change is used with the Barstool approach of summarizing the initial article and then voicing a specific opinion on the matter. The author does a good job of this by explaining the fashion he is going to take in changing the article. Then he does a good job of emphasizing his opinion about why it is dumb and giving examples of what the future might hold for similar situations.

3.     What is the single best thing that could be added to the introduction?

Grammar. There are a few grammatical errors that are easy fixes and can touch up the introduction to make it easier to read and more effective.

4.     In what other ways might the piece better target its new audience and / or purpose?

Maybe continue to use the questionnaire approach. An example would be to ask, are you really considering choosing a college because of a transgender operation you want done? Or if you disagree with this idea do you want to attend a college where your tuition is going to funding of transgender operations?

5.     Any additional comments?

I like the Barstool approach and Bryce does a good job of explaining as well as portraying it.

countering for real

Another aspect Harris describes in terms of writing is called “countering”. Like forwarding, countering is a way of keeping a conversation going. The idea of countering is that people are challenging an idea instead of taking the information and just recirculating it into another piece of writing. Countering occurs when someone has a different way of thinking about a certain article or fact. Harris describes it best when he says countering is not to “nullify” someone’s ideas but it “suggests and different way of thinking”. There are so many ways to look at a topic that there is no specific right or wrong, and that is what countering proves. I used countering in my last essay, when an author suggested that society was getting lazy with the improvement of technology, I countered that idea and suggested that society is just adapting to their surroundings.

Countering is a common thing to do in articles, blogs, tv, and any other source of news. It is all over the place. Some of the biggest examples can be seen in politics. One party may think lowering taxes will improve the economy while one party may think the opposite. Neither party is necessarily wrong but they just have different ideas on the same situation presented in front of them. Another topic that one can see countering in lately is on the topic of gun control. In this article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/gun-control-constitution_b_2657841.html it questions whether or not the constitution restricts gun control. It is not saying that people are interpreting the constitution wrong, it is once again just another way to look at a piece of writing.

info passed foward

Joseph Harris’s concept of forwarding is basically the idea of keeping a conversation going by using certain techniques. Harris uses the specific examples such as sending  emails to one another. In this sense writers are not directly responding to the text but they are rather taking information from online articles or other writing forms and moving the information to a new source. What happens when you are circulating information like this some of the authors thoughts and ideals get lost in translation. The person who is forwarding on the information of another writer has their own opinions that they work into a message that uses forwarded information and facts.

An example of this “forwarding” can also be found in almost all new york times articles. For example, in a recent article I read about Frank Ocean there was a hyperlink to his tumbler in the quote “Channel Orange,” Ocean took to his Tumblr site — his main point of contact with his fans”. This shows that the times is not trying to summarize his blog but rather trying to give readers a first hand example of the blog in order to make the article more specific. They are taking information from other websites and putting it into their own to redistribute that material. Examples of this are not just limited to news articles, it can be seen in other blogs and even social networking. Forwarding is in essence another way to take information and move it forward in order to keep  conversation/topic going

jeff jarvis...?

I just read The Press Becomes the Press Sphere by Jeff Jarvis and even after reading it several times I am still not sure if I know exactly what he is talking about. In the blog article he uses many charts all of which are pretty hard to read. To me it almost looks like a bunch of random circles and arrows.
In my humble opinion I came to the conclusion that Jarvis is trying to state how news these days revolves around the press and not the other way around as it should be. I find this fairly accurate when relating it to the New York Times. The New York times always has news available whether it be good or bad. Also the New York times has an elevated status in our minds as an always reliable and accurate news provider. It is almost as if the New York times can influence more than our own peers who we see everyday. With social media anyone can be a reporter by posting thing about the latest news stories online. I believe Jarvis is trying to explain how the power should not be given to the press but the news itself.... if that makes much sense. The news is the important part that everyone should be paying attention to. Jarvis states it best when he says " It focuses on the press as if it were at the center of the world, as if it owned news, as if news depended on it, as if solving the press’ problems solves news. That’s not the ecosystem of news now".  Thank you Jarvis for you great wisdom and insights.

How does everyone else get the news

I can certainly tell the primary method of how people get there news in modern times. I read from several different blogs that people get most of their news from social media. Often times people post status about import current news on twitter or facebook. I think that this way of getting news has only arose in the last few years and it is a progressive trend I am seeing. Gone are the days where people pick up the paper every Sunday and read everything that has gone on in the world. Even turning the tv to a news station is a common practice that people no longer do. Another common source of news that seems to be trending is getting news from apps on a smartphone. This allows for quick news updates on the go. I think Sullivan would appreciate all of these new ways to obtain news. He was one of the first to catch on to blogging as a new way of writing and I think he would accept this new age way as well. Hedges on the other hand would most likely criticize us for being lazy.

I also read in a few blogs that some people do not pay attention to the news entirely. They do not visit any news websites, tv shows, or any other of the various sources. I find this kind of silly because personally I believe it is important to stay updated on current events. Hedges would certainly criticize this and most likely argue that it is contributing to our illiteracy.

News in the times

The New York times has an abundance of information and news. The website has a very clean look and is separated into neat categories. Some of the features that I really enjoy is the popular news story feature. This makes it super easy to find news stories that other people find interesting. Typically when other people find things interesting, the article appears to mass amount of people. I still do not completely rely on the new York times as I find the news dry sometimes. As far as how it has influenced my reading scheduling, it has not really at all. I spend a very brief time on the New York times and during that time i skim the main page looking for something that sparks my interest. When I find that article I do not always read the whole thing. With the news I like to get the general idea of what is going on. Unless something is extremely unusual or odd I do not spend the time to get every bit of detail.
I think i will continue to browse through the New York times in the future. I do believe it is very important to stay up to date with current events and breaking news. Without a source such as the New York times i would not have heard of stories such as the recent one. Korea is testing a nuclear bomb soon and they released a threatening video toward the United states. When I saw this news story i took the time to find the details because it was so new.

Oh Yea The News!

            Getting news these days can come in many different ways.  You can get it online, on the radio, newspaper, or on TV. Even with all of these options I still find it hard to keep updated on what is going on in the world sometime. However when I do get the news I use mostly utilize the radio and internet. With the internet I often can see what is going on just through social media. With facebook and twitter I can look at people’s statuses (often about what is going on in the news) and immediately get a brief update on current events. One of my other favorite places for news is a blog called barstooolu.com, they typically have funny views on news stories and it is always interesting to see their perspective. This I found is one of the best ways to get the news because I am entertained at the same time.

In the summer when I work, I listen to the radio a lot, which does include Nation Public Radio. I found that NPR reports all of the major stories in current times and is a great way to stay updated.

            Since this class began I have been checking the New York times much more than I ever have before. Once again I found that it is a great resource for everything I could possibly want to know. It has categories that separates the topics into things from sports to politics and everything in between.

            I try to stay updated as much as I can, with all of these resources it is not to hard. I am not sure how up to date I would be if I had to read a newspaper all the time. News is out there and available in many forms so stay entertained and updated!