Dear Patrick,

If you could have done one thing to better help you succeed in this class, it would be to take the way you express yourself and use it to stay focused and use it as fuel to power your writings. I feel as if I really got a sense of who you are through our conversations and realize that you do not bring bullshit to the table, but i feel that you often would build up ideas and motivation to do something amazing with your work and you just let it disappear and never bring it back. That tells me that while i  see real potential in your work, you do not quite have the desire to help yourself, which in turn means there is nothing else I can do you.

Dear Marlen,

If you could change something to make me better succeed in this class, I would ask you to please not be so sarcastic as you sometimes are. While I love the fact that you are a fun loving type of person, the way that you spoke to the class sometimes really irritated me. I felt like it was one of my peers asking unimportant questions when you would sometimes ask things rhetorical to the class. Again, I love how you always were honest and straight forward with us, but that was one thing that made me think to myself when will it be over. SORRY!

ps. do not think that im saying be a dry teacher that is always serious and an ass, cause thats not you and i would never want you to be.

final paper outline…

I. answer what is I by quoting myself from the what is I blog

A.)explain that i am mostly a very simple person

     a. look at blog

     b. look at my writings…simple

II.Main parts

A. What has happened throughout this course to me

III. What is I today

final paper freewrite

when it comes to writing about myself, i can start anywhere. for one, i am definately a simple ass person. my bog , the way it looks, everything about it. if you ask my ffrineds about me, they will tell you i stay away from as much bulshit as i can because of the fact that i hate to complicate things. it makes no sense to me why people insist on keeping so much unnecessary drama in their lives, which is definately on of my no it is the biggest trait about me. my picture on my blohg is just chillin in my room. the same thing with alot of my facebook pictures. they are of me just chillin wih friends, takin it easy and staying relaxed. also, when itcomes to explaining myself, or I, i can only say that i am made oup of so much other shit that it isnt even funny. i noticed how in alot of my things that i wrote, a common theme of self expression came through. to elaborate on this, i can say that all of my writings were formed around the fact that i am very comfortable with the way i express myself. i do not try to be anyhting that i knwo im not and this has always kept me on track. my papernts always used to say to me be true to yourself. this makes perfect sense becausde it is exactly what i do. in my writing, i am always honest with myself. i never write about something just to write about it. even if the dtails and specifics may be fabricated, i still imcorpertate real feelings and real thought s into my writing.

listening workshop

My partner Kylie is definately someone who is very chill and loves to just relax wit hsome . The first piece, an acoustic and vocal song, shows me this because it was very relaxing and was a song that really allows you to “feel” and “vibe” with it, as i said as i was listeningto it. On the other hand, she is also someone who know how to turn up the volume and have a good time. Her second song, a hip-hop track with high energy, is a song that only someone with these traits would listen to. I feel as if she would listen to this song is like the other side of her personality.

hearing-freewriting

How does eharing affect peoples everyday lives? i mean, i know that when ever im having a conversation with someone, irts a pain in the ass to have to repeat myself, and they get pissed having to ask me and vice versa. Also, how does listening to music affect peoples lives? I know that i have a completely seperate playlist i listen to whever i get bored, when im sad, when  im pissed. Well there actually cds but thaat doesnt matter.l all o know is that whever i can, i live to listen to them because they pit me in a very sppecial mood…but why? that is the point of what i want to do with my essay. Why do certain sounds, or this whole idea aout hearing affect different people. we are all humans, so why dont the same things appeal to everyone? i grew  up on jazz, but does that mean i was destined to love it, or is it something more? Others may think its the worst thing on the planet. Or maybe its genetic…do i love it ONLY because my paretns love it too? back to the general idea of hearing though. I know like i said that i listen to certain things when im in a certain mood, but do deaf people have this sae abilityt? they can read lyrics, but they cannot hear the music…at least not the sane waythe i hear it. so does that mean that

Errthang

I have learned about writing how to…

1. use parenthetical doc
2. create a proper header
3. create a proper works cited
4. where to put comments
5. how to write in other genres
6. grade a paper
7. write to an audience
8. start off wit ha very rough rough draft
9. create a blog
10. comment on others blogs
11. everyone has their own way of writing
12. -on a bed
13. -while listening to music
14. your first draft should never be your last
15. how to use constructive comments
16. -what they are
17. -where to put them
18. -why they help people
19. goal statements
20. -whos my audience
21. -what my purpose is
22. -what do i hope to gain
23. accomplishments statements
24. -did i achieve my goals

As a student, I am not sure that i am doing everything in my power to succeed in this new atmosphere. i mentioned in class that the teacher has a job to relate to his/her students in order to let them know that they were in the same position and know how stressful it can be. i can honestly say that marlen is doing this for me as well as the others every class. however, whe nit comes to me, i said that the student must do everything in their power to “make the grade” as my dad always told me, as well as pull out as much from the class as I can. While my math and physics, and especially history classes are not doing this at all for me, in english i feel as if i am taking  in what i am told not only about writing and the benefits of the exercises, but also about how to suceed in life, which to me, is more imortant than any A i could ever learn.

Touch Test #1

The long thin metal film gave it away, but that was not all that i was able to pick up from it. The solid box at the end of the film felt hard and square like. I know that my object was a measuring tape because of the way the rule part gave when i applied pressure to it. Furthermore, if i pulled on the rule, it extended, and vice versa if i pushed it in. I imagine it to be a yellow tape with a siver metal box.

Physics and Touch

    People feel things everyday, not only emotionally, but also physically. As humans, the sense of touch plays an extremely important role in our everyday lives. We know when something is too hot, too cold, or too anything. However, living creatures are not the only ones who can utilize a sense of touch; in recent times, scientists, mainly physicists, have found ways to actually put a type of “skin” on robots, giving them not only the ability to detect pressure when grabbing something, but also the ability to detect the specific texture of the object and also the temperature of the object.

    While this may sound crazy, (the actual physics and science behind this is truely amazing), the simple concepts are not difficult to understand at all. Stu Hudson, a staff writer for National Geographic, explains, “The meshwork of sensors laced onto a thin plastic film resembles thickly threaded fishnet stockings. WHen stretched over an object, such as a robotic hand, E-skin can detect pressure and temperature” (Hudson). In other words, all it is is a network of sensors that can detect an objects properties and register what those properties mean. A similar application, being developed by the same group of people, is for medical rooms. Brittany Sauser, a writer for Technology Review published by MIT, clarifies, “The robots are often praised for their dexterity, advanced visualization technologies, and mechanical stamina. But there is one important aspect the robots are missing: a sense of touch, also known as haptics” (Sauser). On top of this, alot of this work is being done by American scientists, showing how these physicists are doing this work right here in this country, which also means that those with physics majors can one day be working on developing projects such as this. Rebecca Morelle, a science reporter for BBC News, makes clear, “US scientists have created a sensor that can “feel” the texture of objects to the same degree of sensitivity as a human fingertip” (Morelle). While all of this is obviously very interesting, it serves a very useful purpose as well. As already explained, these robots can work in emergency rooms to serve as a surgeon’s third or fourth hand, which can become very useful on certain procedures.

    As one can tell, the sense of touch has moved far away from beings that just have a heart beat. WIth these robots gaining a sense of touch, many applications can be found for them to put this new trait to use. Additionally, these robots might cost money to be operated, but imagine how much money can be saved by utilizing these robots in limited amounts. I say limited amounts because job possibilities do need to be considered. However, imagine how much more efficient this world can become if there exist robots that can practically do a job the same way a human can. This may sound extremely radical or even crazy, but lets face it; this is 2008 and the old ways of production are quickly becoming extinct.

Works Cited

Hutson, Stu. “Fake Skin Gives Robots Sense of Touch.” National Geographic 17 Aug. 2005. 9 Oct. 2008.

    <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0817_050817_robotskin_2.html>

Morelle, Rebecca. “Robot Device Mimics Human Touch.” BBC News 9 Oct. 2008.       

    <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5056434.stm>

Sauser, Brittany. “Surgical Robots get a Sense of Touch.” Technology Review 18 Dec. 2006. 9 Oct. 2008.

    <http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/17909/>

 

                                    

 

reflective letter 1

Throughout my years as a student, I have had to write many different papers. All of these papers were structured around the same idea though, which was follow a strict form of sentences per paragraph, with some being explanatory, some containing quotations, etc. Never before this class have I ever had to challenge myself as a writer with the task of choosing a genre and shaping it the way I wanted to. It is for this reason, however, that I feel as if I have learned about myself and about writing more than I have in any other class. The design of this class is to get students thinking about how they can, as writers, tap into a side of them that rarely comes out in writing; in other words, this class is designed to make an individual voice come out in every student. Within this voice, for me, I have started to use my true feelings, emotions, and senses to develop my writing into something that is truly an original piece. As far as learning goes, there is much to talk about. I have learned that only through experimentation can any student’s writing become better. By this, I mean that we cannot stick to what we know. There are more genres that exist than I will probably write in throughout my lifetime, and in order for a writer to excel in writing, they must practice in many different forms which is exactly what this class is doing. Also, I have learned that utilizing the senses and emotions in writing does not make me look soft or “sensitive” (as I feared it would). In fact, it is when I close my eyes at my computer and really think about how I feel towards a subject that my writings are at their best. I only know this because this class has challenged me to write with strong emotion, where as all I wrote before was papers that I would use big words and fancy wording in to give my structure-loving teacher no choice but to give me an A. And then there is the aspect of myself. How have I grown or what have I learned about myself through this course? The answer to that question, unfortunately, is not very apparent. I cannot look into a mirror and see a different shaped head or different color eyes. The way that I have changed, in fact, is much more complex. It is hard to explain, but what I can say is that I now know of a place within me that blocks out all distractions and cares about nothing other than my feelings on a topic. Before, I never wrote about how I felt, or incorporated how I felt into a paper. Now, though, this is one of my must-dos because as I said earlier, in order to write well, I have to feel towards the subject.