HW 25: The blog of Riverbend

After reading the forward and the introduction of “Baghdad Burning” I got a clear idea of what the book was going to be about. Riverbend provides the reader with details about the war which people are experiencing in Iraq. Riverbend also provides personal information about her family and what it is like to be living in Iraq during these scary and dangerous times. Riverbend explains that she writes on her blog weekly about her daily events. The introduction focuses on the factors, which led up to the war and the reasons why the war is occurring. The introduction discusses the Gulf War and how it is had a major impact on the problems which Iraq is experiencing today. Iraq was never able to fully recover from the Gulf War, which is why they are still suffering with no electricity, food and scarce job opportunities. I was unaware of the severity of the implications, which the people in Iraq are facing. I feel that this book will provide me with an insight to the war, which I never had before.

HW 24: The Acceptance of Women

After reading the last chapters of “A Room Of One’s Own” I feel that Woolf believes that things are finally beginning to change for women. She demonstrates a sense of hope for the success of women. “I had at last, in the course of this rambling, to the shelves which hold books by the living; by women and by men; for there as almost as many books written by women now as by men.” (Woolf, 79) This statement proves that she has finally found a reason to believe that things are beginning to change. “Also, I continued, looking down at the page again, it is becoming evident that women, like men, have other interests besides the perennial interests of domesticity.” (Woolf, 83) She recognizes that women are writing and publishing books, which contain different ideas than men. They are able to express their own knowledge and opinions without basing it on the opinions of men. Since Woolf has written we have continued to make progress, women now maintain much more equality. Women are accepted in society and are able to freely express and publish their views. Women are not only able to publish their opinions, but they also receive respect and support. In the world today women do have a room of their own. There is no place where women are forbidden to go, women have the right to be anywhere, which men do. This allows a woman to find any place she wishes where she can best write without being interrupted.

HW 23: With Apologies to Virginia Woolf

It is pathetic that the act of rape has yet to be taken seriously. It seems as if women have failed to gain respect from society since the Elizabethan times. It is quite disturbing that rape still remains to be thought of as a shameless act. I resent the fact that men obtain the idea that they have the right to degrade women in such a manner. In my opinion rape and torture of women has been an issue for much too long. In the particular blog on Jezebel, Interview: Can Rapist Get You Off? Our Question About How Serial Rapist Jeffery Marsalis Got Away With It, Answered the issue of how rapists get away with their behavior is explained. The blog discusses the issue of how rapists manage to manipulate and take advantage of women. It discusses the issue of how rapists manage to continue these acts and remain free of punishment. I am baffled by the fact that society is still allowing these men to get away with this type of cruel treatment towards women. It fascinates me that men are thought to be heroic figures and of utmost importance despite the fact that they participate in these acts of brutal torture. Women have been portrayed as having no feeling or emotion of their own. They are considered to be the property of men. Men are considered to be the masters while women are expected to follow their instructions with no input or consideration of their own thoughts and feelings. I believe that these blogs indicate that the attitude towards the views of women has had very little progress.

HW 22: A Patriarchy in England

After reading chapter two I can clearly understand why Woolf claims that England is under the rule of a patriarchy. “Nobody in their senses could fail to detect the dominance of the professor.” (Woolf, 33) She makes this statement after carefully examining the paper and observing the strong male dominance. She recognizes how women are being treated around the world. The topics of articles in the paper make a strong statement, “Mr. Justice___commented in the Divorce Courts upon the Shamelessness of Women.” (Woolf, 33) It is understandable why Woolf makes such a strong statement about the paper after observing the type of articles, which are included in the paper. The paper directly indicates that The male is the power, money, influence and the ruler. I do not believe that the United States is under a patriarchy. I chose to look at the New York Times, and I noticed that each article equally represented men and women. Both genders were addressed in the articles and they both seemed to maintain the same level of respect and attention. I feel that unlike in England, in the United States men and women are treated equally.

HW 21: Women and Fiction

Dear Timmy,
I understand that you have been assigned to read the first chapter in the book “A Room of One’s Own.” I have been reading this book myself and find it quite difficult to always interpret exactly what is being said. From what I understand in the first chapter she is trying to explain the subject of women and fiction, in which she believes women must have a room of their own and money in order to successfully write fiction. She attempts to prove her point by taking the reader through a fictional detour with fictional interruptions. The interruptions which she experiences prove that a woman needs a space of her own where she can write without these disruptions. In the beginning of the chapter she describes an experience in which she was at the river of Oxbridge where she has almost obtained a complete thought, when she is interrupted by a security guard who informs her that women are not allowed on the grass. Then when she attempts to enter the library she is denied the right to enter unless she is accompanied by a man or a letter of introduction. By taking the reader through these different situations Woolf is trying to point out that women have been deprived of having a place to write in which they will not be disturbed. Also she is stating that by denying females the right to enter certain buildings has impaired their freedom. She also addresses the issue between truth and fiction. She claims that fiction is more likely to contain more truth than facts. These are the main points which are expressed throughout the first chapter in the book. I hope this helps.

Your Favorite Cousin,
Ellen

HW 19: Advantages of Blogging

The network of blogging has become increasingly popular all over the world. Many factors contribute to the success of blogging. One of the main factors is the format in which blogs are written. ALTHOUGH SOME READERS MAY OBJECT that this format is unprofessional, I WOULD ANSWER that it is actually quite beneficial. The easy to read format allows readers to quickly obtain the important information incorporated in the post. EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is that the mainstream media is able to look at the most popular blog posts and incorporate that information in their articles. Also blogs have an advantage over the mainstream media due to their low cost of publication. FOR EXAMPLE blogs are able to reveal information before other media can even respond. IN OTHER WORDS the speed of posting new information is extremely crucial and beneficial to blogs. In addition blogs are also able to quickly correct or update their posts if they are confronted with an error. MY POINT IS NOT THAT WE SHOULD rely solely on blogs to provide us with our news, BUT THAT WE SHOULD be aware of the strong relationship which it maintains with the mainstream media.

HW 18: Horrific Rape Epidsodes In Congo

My least favorite blog, which I read this week, is called “Hearts of Darkness.” It was published in the blog of Jezebel on Monday, October 8. This blog was about horrific events, which are occurring in Congo. The blog post was extremely powerful and disturbing to read, it made my stomach turn. My heart breaks when I read awful stories such as this one. The blog addresses the unbelievable issue of children, as young as three-years-old being raped. The blog not only explains that these children are suffering the act of rape but they are being brutally and unmercifully raped. It is stated that “Many have been so sadistically attacked from the inside out, butchered by bayonets and assaulted with chunks of wood, that their reproductive and digestive systems are beyond repair.” This kind of torture is absolutely disgusting. I cannot imagine what kind of person would do this to an innocent child. It is devastating to think about the immense torture, which these young children have endured. Although we may never be able to understand the reason for these pitiful acts, it is the responsibility of us around the world that are capable of providing help to follow through with our efforts. The world will only become a better and safer place if we actually pursue our intentions of helping to save these poor and unfortunate children. This is an issue, which should not be put to the side, it needs to be dealt with immediately.

HW 17B: How Blogging Impacts The Way We Vote

In my opinion the blog “DailyKos” will be more influential to the way a person will vote in the upcoming election. This blog provides readers with all different issues, which occur in the political world. It informs readers of many important news features relating to the upcoming election. This blog is written by a man who is extremely passionate about politics and who maintains a strong viewpoint about certain issues. He is proud of his views and clearly states his opinions. This blog consists of issues, which are of interest to him. Yet, he manages to address opposing views and cover a wide variety of political issues. Although “Wonkette” provides a great deal of information about political factors, it focuses on one main topic, known as sexual scandals. This is a very interesting topic, which can greatly affect voter’s views of their political leaders. These personal facts about political leaders can largely impact the type of assumptions and judgments, which voters will make about them. Although this blog provides an excellent source of personal information I do not feel that it is as affective in the way people will vote because it does not contain as wide of a variety of topics about politics. Voters do not make their decision on who to vote for based on one sole topic, they need to be aware of a variety of different sources and situations.

HW17: How Women Fight

The blog which was one of my favorite posts this week was extremely funny. I could not help but laugh as I read the first few sentences of the blog. This particular blog was about the different styles of fighting between men and women. It discussed how each gender tends to portray different attitudes during a fight. This blog expresses the fact that many women tend to scream, make a scene and drag on the fight. It pointed out that in many cases this tendency drives men crazy and leads them think that women should be put on drugs to control these obnoxious outbursts and burst of emotions. I could relate to this statement because when my mother and I fight we tend to yell and scream at each other and we both drag the fight on. This always annoys everyone else in the household. I was surprised but glad to hear that this obnoxious behavior is actually beneficial to our health. This means that I am in good shape. The blog suggests that it is much healthier to always be honest and reveal your true feelings to your spouse or close relatives. Holding in your feelings and ignoring issues that annoy you is unhealthy. I found this blog to be funny and very interesting. It is something that I can closely relate and connect to.

HW 16: The Five Pillars of Conversation

Scoble states that the five pillars of conversation are considered to be the ease of publishing, discoverability, cross-site conversations, permalinking and syndication. Scoble believes that these are the five areas in which made blogging successful and popular. The first factor is the ease of publishing. This is proven to be true because anyone who desires to write a blog is able to. There are no requirements or standards, which have to met in order to create a blog of your own. A person does not need any type of training or special education in a particular area in order to write about it on a blog. Blogs are a place where anyone and everyone have the power to write about anything they wish and express their knowledge, views and opinions with their readers. This supports Scoble’s claim about the ease of publishing and the fact that anyone can publish anything they want. Next is discoverability, which means that by tagging your blog, or by giving it key words it is easily found and discovered by readers. Readers are able to type in any key word, which you have used in your blog tag and they will be able to find the blog, which you have posted. Cross-site conversation is another factor, which contributes to the success of blogs. This is where a blogger is able to see who is looking at their blog and therefore can read the blogs of their readers. Permalinking is where a blogger can set up their URL so that it is isolated and it immediately takes them to their post. This is beneficial to the blogger because they do not have to search for their blog they are able to easily access it at all times. Finally syndication has contributed to the phenomenon of blogging. This makes things easy for readers because it allows them to see a quantity of sites at one time. Also they are then able to expand their blog reading by using this source. In conclusion Scoble’s five pillars of conversation accurately demonstrate the success of blogging.

HW14: Are Blogs Taking Over Mainstream Media?

Granted the phenomenon of blogging will not occur overnight, I believe that it will eventually take over and replace the existing published newspapers. Although bloggers do not have any special training in the particular subject area which they are writing about, they provide a community and a human voice. In fact Denton states that he does not base his decision on resumes and he prefers to hire younger, less experienced writers rather than an experienced journalist. As a result bloggers do not struggle with the transition from writing for a newspaper or magazine to writing for a blog. Also this theory provides an opportunity for people to become successful writers who otherwise would have struggled getting a job as a journalist. Despite the fact that people do not have complete trust in information provided by blogs, the media has also made some mistakes. Furthermore bloggers are able to provide their readers with a direct insight from within the actual source. Therefore, weblogs will gradually build their audience reducing the dependence on mainstream newspapers. Hence, weblogs will inevitably become the main source of information and will decide which stories to cover.