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2:2 Draft, Revision, Reflection

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Draft:

At the first glimpse you notice an absence of color in the picture and a couple of things which draw your attention right away. First: the sharp, straight and white lines on a vast stretch of grey surface. Second: the round and shining points spread above in the second plane. Third: a single object standing in the middle of the plane. As we continue examining the picture we start noticing more details: the surface is becoming a vast and empty parking lot, the points are turning into lamp posts’ lights and the awkward object in the middle takes on a form of an empty shopping cart. It may seem like the front which is sharp and vivid with it’s white parking lines blends into the back being dimmed and clouded by the fog. The shopping cart is in  the middle of the picture, between the foreground and the background giving us a clue that it may be a focal point of it. It’s turned the same way as the lines on the ground. Above the cart raises a post with it’s black, straight line holding round light on the top. We could see some shapes in the fog, but it’s hard to tell what they could be. Behind the shopping cart are some tracks on the asphalt, but they don’t look like tire marks. There is one more lamp post on the left side of the picture with the light off. The picture can make an impression of stillness, quietness or stagnation.

Revision:

At the first glimpse at the picture you notice an absence of color and the peaceful stillness of it. Although you may think of it as not peaceful but haunted or deserted. The sharp, white parking spot lines stretch on a vastness of an empty parking lot. Above the flat surface hover the round lights of the lamp posts vanishing in the foggy background. Awkwardly abandoned in the middle of it stands an empty shopping cart pointing to it’s lonely significance. It’s hard to tell what time of the day it could be: dawn or dusk? You feel the screaming absence of the cars, people, and any glimpse of action or movement. The foreground is wide, empty and opened and the background is giving a claustrophobic impression, because it’s all covered in a fog and not only is it unclear, but it also looks like it’s closing around on the shopping cart. Now, it’s time to start wondering how is this picture connected with the theme of the book: “Petrochemical America“. What are we looking at? Is it a picture of fossil-fueled American consumer’s lifestyle, when even after the shopping center is closed you still have the lights on, wasting away energy? Or is it about the petrochemical production of shopping cart, asphalt and lights? Perhaps it is a symbolic representation of where America is heading if climate change continues to be ignored. The possibilities of subjective interpretation are as vast as this empty parking lot…

Reflection:

In the draft I solely focused on a concrete description of the picture trying to be as detailed as    I could. Throughout the exercise I had to fight using personal tone and refrain from making implications. That meant a lot like avoiding adjectives ;-). It was hard.                                                   In the revision I focused on an abstract more, trying to match the tone of description to the picture. I don’t know if I succeeded in it. The revision gave me an opportunity to come up with some claims I could later pursue. This exercise showed me how important is the context plus abstract and concrete description, in connection with claims and evidence. Thank you ;-).

Webinar

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The zoom meeting webinar, was conducted to bring together, students from various colleges to participate in an event that could possibly raise climate awareness, the ability to tweet messages to a wider audience using zoom, is like writing it is a form of expression…

Planting Gardens in Graves volume III by r.h. sin

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Here with you

“…i’m sorry that your self-esteem was shattered by the mouth of someone who instead of building you up chose to tear down the skyscraper in your soul

i’m sorry they left you behind after promising to stay

i’m sorry that forever has never been long enough

i’m sorry that your eyes have been drowning in the ocean of your own emotions 

i’m sorry that your heart doesn’t know what it means to be held in the hands of someone who truly cares for it…”

https://docs.google.com/document/d/184EItJJLrSVFVsOpY6swwyvYSghMre-2qreuYLEeAjM/edit

In R.H. Sin’s poem he uses PATHOS to catch the readers attention. He is expressing sorrow to those who have been hurt making a deep connection with them immediately. This is the first poem in the book, when I read it the barrier between author and reader completely dropped. It felt as if a close friend was comforting me. It made me reflect more and understand my own issues in a deeper level because I felt as if he cared and understood the pain that I was going through. While  writing this post I realized that he was a he, I assumed that it was a she, but all this time it he spoke so well and his targeted audience was people who hav been hurt not just women. The purpose of this book was to help people realize, understand and heal from their trauma. 

Bojack Horseman s6ep7 19:40-19:18 mins left

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To give a little background I’m a Mexican daughter and that has always been a big challenge for me, since there have been so many standards set for me to be. While I was told how I should act and be around people, my older brothers would do whatever they please without getting yelled at. My mother and I never had a good relationship because of her unnecessary standards like doing chores, being mature at a young age and doing the men’s chores in my house, even having to serve their plates when we would eat.

So when I was watching this show one of the characters named Todd is talking to Bojack about babies and how we were held as babies by our mothers and how were were seen a perfect thing and how they would love us forever then proceeded to say “whatever happened to that” and “how mothers are weird.” Bojack has been one of my favorite shows because they are not afraid to talk about situations where families aren’t perfect it really hit me that maybe I’m not the only one dealing with these issues if a popular show is addressing it.

I just kinda reflected on my life and how my mother did love me but her way of showing love to me was the same way my grandmother did and how my great grandmother showed her. I was thinking of how my mothers mentality is completely different from what we learned in school and our generation. In a way I learned to appreciate her more even though she makes me do these chores in the future I will be th one benefiting from it. Sometimes we cannot express our emotions and we try to justify them with actions and her actions are genuine. Mothers are weird they want to love us and my mother is showing me the love she was taught.

3.5 Annotated Bibliography; Draft

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My topic didn’t change much, however, I did target the entirety of New York State rather than just New York City. It was clear that Long Island has the worst water in the state compared to the city, which – thank God – is nearly contaminant free. But Long Island water is borderline hazardous yet the New York Water Canal Systems don’t seem to acknowledge how serious the problems are to those that don’t own water purifying filters. My best piece of evidence was actually a letter from US Representative Kathleen Rice sent to the EPA, voicing her concerns of Long Island’s water supply. She also took a stab at the EPA who have taken several years to fix water concerns (see Flint, Michigan). So, I can only hope Long Island’s water supply is fixed sooner rather than later. I think what I have left is adding quotes from the sources I have, or not? I’m actually not sure if an Annotated Bibliography needs quotations from the articles or not. The examples I came across online lacked direct quotations, so maybe I’ll just write a little more in my descriptions. However, I do think my answer has been completely answered because New York’s water is very questionable and I definitely recommend a filtration device in every home if affordable.

3.5 Reflection On Assignment 3

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  • How has your research question/topic shifted over the past few weeks? What made it shift?

I changed my question at least four times. First time it was too general and I had to narrow my research. Second time I completely changed my topic, because while doing my research I found something else which I thought would be more creative to do. During writing everything down I had to tinker around the question to keep it as a question. The last time after I put annotations down it looked like the question wasn’t right anymore, so I had to switch the end with the front.

  • What’s the most useful source you’ve found? Why is it so useful?

My useful source I found was my object. I think it helped me to focus more on something specific and helped me to narrow down my research. I hope that the choice of the topic and the lenses applied to it would make the essay interesting to read and will raise some questions for the reader.

  • What work do you have left? What more research do you want to engage in? What do you need to tackle in your research process in order to address your question?

I have to work more on my annotations, because they were incomplete. I also need to go and properly learn about MLA format. Some of my bibliography entrances are seriously wrong. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to check all of my findings within my search, so I’ll have to do that as well. Overall reflection: I could’ve done a better job.

Draft Reflection

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My research question became more to the point. It is a question that established a ground for an argument and my research material made more sense in favor of my argument. It shifted with better understanding of how to come up with a research question when confused. The most useful source I’ve found is the internet and many reliable articles and publishings that provide details. I just have to review my work and take in any advice to see if my sources match the requirements for the assignment.

Blog post 3.4

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Working Research Question:

How has the pandemic changed the New York Subway System?

Annotation of New source:

CNBC Television https://youtu.be/NF_cmvEDIwM

Published on April 29,2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/nyregion/new-york-coronavirus-homeless.html

Published on April 13,2020

The corona virus outbreak has dramatically altered New York City’s Subway System in many ways. According to the state of New York’s Governor, Governor Crumo “Ridership is down more than 90%”, the majority of people riding the trains are either essential workers or the homeless. Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced the subway shutdown for cleaning, which will allow workers to disinfect trains and stations nightly. But what about the homeless? Where will they go? Many homeless people are afraid to go to shelters. Crowded shelters like Wards Island Shelter in the Bronx, became a breeding ground for the Covid-19 virus, Which left 23 dead last month.

Working thesis :

For the first time in 115 years, overnight subway service in Nyc has been shut down to clean trains because of the pandemic. But this left no place for homeless on the train or shelter.

Anything else:

  It’s early the time is 6am, me and a group of other essentials rushed down the stairs of Jamaica Avenue Junction into the subway station.Someone yelled “Three minutes until the train departs”.Immediately I started looking for the nearest available seat, my nose indicated the trouble coming across the end of the cart. Five homeless men gathering in a circle and the welcoming stench of ten dead rodents. Cart after Cart it seemed there were no escaping the homeless, it was an eye opener into the massive crisis for me about Homelessness in our city.

Show and Tell “Prow-Ling”

Draft:  “This video is not the one to comment on”

This video goes a little back in time. I guess I like this video because it’s a zoom in, on the possible  fire of climate change,  we’ve heard about that has been smoking, and so like this bear “Smokey the bear”, prowling and growling at times, we try to stop it (climate change) from flaming, what’s left of the remaining forests (the earth and atmosphere).

Smokey is a cartoon character personified to address the issue of deforestation caused by forest fires. His advertising message is how you(anyone) can help prevent it from burning. The story of Smokey the bear was that as a cub, he got scorched by fire ( is it reminiscent of the pandemic).  Smokey shows its very  educational that we know the effects on our environment than if we don’t know, for example if we were reminded of the dangers and effects of a burned down forest, would this serve as a hopeful reminder to something close like our homes/condo/apartment/workplace or someone else’s home, etc. The forest were homes and is still home to many creatures even though, at times what we see are only trees. In one way, street littering seems to have a less devastating impact than deforestation, because for the most part people try to clean up their mess, regrowing a forest and a destroyed habitat can take some more time, usually some controlled forest fires are good at providing the soil with essential nutrients.

Revision: Here’s another video “a little more recent. and what I think of essay, “Prow-Ling” “This video is not the one to comment on”

In my opinion:)Climate change is mysteriously as wide a topic as efforts to lessen the burdens of the pandemic has been, with the considerable debate if we do this, that might be bonkers, etc, Such a diverse topic that it seems incredibly interconnected with our current science, spiritual, technological, economic, health and arguably political debates.

Here’s the trivia on “ No Prowling and Growling”

Why aren’t their ads to encourage climate change efforts or are we doing a good job of reducing carbon emissions?

 The audience doing the lesser pollution are the ones driving just a motorized car or taking transportation to school or work. Should there be another “Occupy Wall street, Occupy London, Occupy Moscow, Occupy Rome, Occupy Smokey Mountains, Occupy Mars Claim” and how rebellious are such protests normally portrayed by commercial figures?

Why do I share a belief that climate change actions, had become politicized, and that experts were not true witnesses of  environmental pollution, and to other dwellers these effects were that of the super-storm Sandy and to yet another group climate change is oblivion?

Reflection Clicking on the karaoke “A little to my liking” Here’s the video to comment  on.

1.2: Solnit’s Trouble and Spaciousness

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Solnit, Rebecca. “Climate Change is Violence.” The Encyclopedia of Trouble and    Spaciousness, Trinity University Press 2014, pp. 56-60. Solnit had received a master’s degree in journalism and had been an independent writer since 1988. The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness is a series of essays written by Solnit. Solnit shares her opinions on various news articles commonly publicized in the media  occurring over the years, in the essay “Climate Change is violence”. As a writer she vividly explains to readers that Climate change is not simply the effect on the environment we usually think the subject to be but is very much a cultured feedback. She makes a great deal of comparison with what well-funded organizations; the oil industries and global government may have on their citizens. She speaks of historical events that are somewhat reminiscent of the modern-day difficulties surrounding the climate. Given the recent pandemic dilemma, I found this quote to be of particular interest, as it not only applies to climate change but transcends to so many topics: “Climate change is not suddenly bringing about an era of equitable distribution. I suspect people will be revolting in the coming future against what they revolted against in the past: the injustices of the system” (Solnit 58). Although clearly stating the essay was “climate change is violence” she further states “one can hope they’ll recognize that violence is not necessarily where their power lies” (Solnit 58) condemning that violence was the answer.

3.5: Draft Progress

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My research question started off by focusing on the lack of education on the topic climate change, and then briefly, it shifted towards the lack of education causing politicians to not focus on the important subjects. Finally it ended with How can our education system be reformed in order to lessen the effects of the rising sea level in Long Island?

The most useful source I have found was Christina Kuwuak’s article on the failure to properly educate our youth on the topic of climate change, because I feel like this article is the one that helped me perfect my thesis and research question the most.

Unfortunately due to working a lot of overtime at work I only have six entries in my annotated bibliography so far I would like to add the remaining two if time allows. For my last two entries I want to bring in an obscure idea that at a topical glance does not seem to relate to my research but as I dive deeper its meaning will be more clear.