surveeeey ;

I posted the link of my survey on my Facebook page and had many different people take it. It ranged from my past high school teacher, to friends my age, and the older and younger ones. Turns out they all have something in common; they love music!

Everyone who took the survey agreed that music can change their mood. Depending on the song, their excitement can be lifted but it could also be brought right back down. Also, over 50% of the people surveyed said that there’s songs which remind them of past events or people, and only one person said that they don’t listen to music when they’re angry or sad. Everyone else agreed that music calmed them.

My results were much of what I expected. I think I came up with pretty good questions and i would’t change anything. Well, maybe one thing, which didn’t even have to do with the questions. I probably should have included a place for the surveyers to put their name, in case I wanted to quote them in my paper, because now I have no idea who said what. Other than that, I think my friends had fun doing my homework for me by taking this survey. It was a good assignment and I will definitely use some of the data I obtained in my paper.

interview paper

What do you do when you’re feeling down and out? What does anyone do in that case? Well, if you’re anything like Amanda Lotko, your answer will have something to do with music. I chose to interview Amanda because she’s the only one from all of my friends who relates to music as much as I do. She could be having the worst day ever and her favorite song will come on the radio, and she’ll go crazy from excitement. She’ll completely forget that she was just angry or upset. I’ve heard that music can change moods and calm nerves and I know that not everyone will agree to this, but Amanda knows it’s true. I asked her how she would feel if for some strange reason, all of a sudden, there was no more music to listen to. Her response was, “I’d probably be depressed all the time. You know how I sometimes have my bad days where I’m just angry for no reason? Well, those would turn in to, like, bad weeks or months or something.” Shoot, I think it would be worse for me than her, seeing how I’m her friend.
We’re both from Hamtramck, and it’s a little 2.5 square mile town with not much to do. People here drive around for fun. Yeah that does sound pretty stupid, but when you’re in a car full of people, singing along to loud music and acting like a child, it’s actually really fun. It’s times like these that show how great music can be. Amanda said, “I like when we drive up to people, stop, and start singing random songs. Not only is it fun for us, but it gives them a good laugh too, and if they were having a bad day, we just brightened it a bit.” Music doesn’t always change your mood to a better one, though. Sometime’s you’ll hear a song and it’ll remind you of an unpleasant situation. Amanda recently got out of a long term relationship and is still coping with her heartbreak. Every time she hears a love song she gets quiet and starts thinking about the past; what could have, should have, or would have happened. “Sometimes when I hear a new song, and actually pay attention to the words, I get goose bumps. I feel like I’m listening to my life story,” says Amanda. It doesn’t even have to relate to your life to give you chills. It happens to me when I hear an extremely good song.
“Music get’s me through my day, I could never get tired of it,” says Amanda. She falls asleep to music, gets ready listening to it, and even works around music. She’s a waitress at the Harbor House downtown, where they always have music playing, and on the weekends they have live bands. “Work is so much more fun when there’s a band, we get to dance,” she exclaims. When I asked her what she thinks makes a song a “good song,” she said it was the lyrics and the beat, not necessarily together. She believes a song can have a good beat but the words will be really pointless and it will still be a good song. On the other hand, the beat can be very bland but if she likes the words and can sing along to it, she considers it a good song.
Amanda also loves to write. She has a whole book of poems. She has anything from free verse lyric type of poems to two-line rhymes. Instead of keeping a journal she shares her thoughts and feelings through these poems. They’re pretty personal so I can’t give any examples but they’re amazing pieces of writing. She won’t let the public see because it’s a part of her, “something that no one else should see, unless they’re close friends.” They could definitely be published as songs though.

Sorry my digital camera is broken so the pictures I took were from my phone. [Not the best camera phone]


[left]
Amanda singing in the car. Too bad she doesn't have tinted windows cause she always looks like this!











[right]
This is her life right here. She takes this ipod EVERYWHERE she goes.








[left]
She was pretending to go through her poem book, trying to hide it.

Reading response #2 [chapter five]

exercise one!

In this passage by Julie Charlip, she clearly distinguishes her views from others. She starts off by saying “Marx and Engels wrote,” and then quoting a passage of theirs, which is clearly not her own view point but that of Marx and Engels. Then she says, “if only that were true,” meaning she doesn’t agree with it. So, right away the reader knows her view point is different than that of Marx and Engels. In the second paragraph she talks about a sociology professor’s opinion on the subject. She uses signal phrases like “he said” and “his definition.” Lastly, she poses questions on the issue. In the beginning of the passage she stated that things would be more simple if what Marx and Engels wrote was true, which implies that she’s sort of confused on the matter. The questions definitely assure us that she’s not sure of the answer, and we see her view point clearly. She says what the average American or her father would “think” but she finishes off by sharing her opinion and using “I.” So, in the passage it was clear whose view point each statement was from. She used very good signals to keep the reader conscious of the view.




Exercise two!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of all sorts of music, from Rap to Country, disrespectful or praising. That’s not the sort of material I’m offended with. Certain songs are aimed towards a certain group of people and when they talk about “Bitches and Hos” it’s usually not about every woman on the planet. Joan defines these “Bitches and Hos” as, “Women who reaffirm their depiction of us on vinyl. Backstage, the road, and the ‘hood are populated with women who would do anything to be with a rapper sexually for an hour if not a night.” It’s pathetic, really, as if these women have no morals. Take, for example, R Kelly’s sex scandal with underage girls. He’s not the only one at fault here. The girls themselves should have known better then to sleep with someone only because they’re famous. They’re throwing themselves at him for what? Because he’s seen on the big screen? He’s still a perfect stranger and in cases like this it’s hard to refrain from using the term “Bitches and Hos.” Since most of the women rappers meet at concerts and tours fit this description, it’s only common sense for them to rap about it. Why? They do it simply because they don’t have the least bit of respect for these women.

This was a passage from my previous COMP class’ essay. The title of the excerpt was called, “From Fly Girls to Bitches and Hos,” which is why I used quotation marks when I used the terms. I think I did a pretty good job letting people know what the author’s perspective was because I used quotation marks and such. On the other hand, even though it’s obvious what my opinion was, I didn’t really use any signal phrases. I probably could have said “I think it’s pathetic” after I quoted the author, just to let the reader be positive that it’s my opinion. Also when I said “since most women rappers meet….” I made it seem like a fact. I could have restated that to, “I’m sure the women rappers meet …” to make it sound like my opinion.

a.) I engaged in two perspectives.

b.) I could have included perspectives of some friends I know who are getting into the music industry.

c.) I summarized others’ views by using quotation marks.

d.) I used clear voice-signaling phrases when I was quoting other view points, but not so much on my opinions.

e.) I had the options of saying “I think” or “I believe.”

f.) Either one would have been fine, I just stated my opinion as if it were obvious.

Reading response #1 [chapter one]

Exercise one!

a. After many experiments, scientists have suggested that there are dangerous levels of chemical X in the Ohio groundwater.

b. With everyone's thoughts and beliefs today, how can they not believe that history is driven by material forces?

c. I've heard that Proponents of Freudian psychology question standard notions of "rationality."

d. According to a few of my professors, male students often dominate class discussions.

e. Even though i think the movie was about friendship, my friends believe it's about the problems of romantic relationships.

f. Templates like the ones in this book can be very helpful, but many professors don't like students using them because they believe that they will stifle our creativity.


Exercise two!

If there was an idea custom-made for a Jay Leno monologue, this was it: in reality, men and women are not equal, no matter what people think. Isn't that like saying black and white people are not the same and don't have the same rights? Whatever happened to equality, not based on sex, race, gender, or religion?
I happen to sympathize with these sexists, though, perhaps because I'm pretty girly myself, and expect a man to do all the hard work for me. It's not that I can't do it, I'm just too lazy to do it.

screenshot

Well, my difficult composing task was figuring out how to copy my computer screen and make it a picture! I remember doing this back in high school, but I don’t know if I couldn’t do it because I’m using a laptop now and I only learned how to do it on a computer, or if I just forgot. I tried the ALT and printscreen button together, but it didn’t work. I had to search for a solution through the internet, and thank goodness for search engines because they work like charm every time! As you see, I captured the best result I got for how to copy my screen. You have to know just what to search, and you should have results in minutes.
Composing changes shapes in digital spaces in many ways, whether it’s writing up an essay or searching the web for a simple solution. It’s much easier to compose on a computer than in actual writing, especially in the 21st century, where everything is done over the computer. From socializing to employment, the web is always at our fingertips. Many employers offer job applications only through email nowadays, and websites like MySpace and FaceBook are more popular than ever. It’s just easier and less time consuming to type something verses hand writing it. Even when you’re having a conversation with someone; as you write, you have time to think about what you’re saying, and if you don’t like it you can rewrite it. If you’re talking to someone over the phone, you wouldn’t be able to take back what you said, and that can cost you. The only way someone would be able to understand digital composing is through experience. When you see the beauty of it, you’ll never want to go back. I’ll use myself as an example. Since I made my first email address, I don’t believe I’ve ever written a letter by hand. I do everything from homework to socializing over the computer. On the other hand, my mother (who doesn’t even know how to turn a computer on) would prefer paying bills through the mail, and calling people over the phone. I’m sure that with use, everyone would turn to digital composing for all their needs.