863 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2020
    1. Digitalization is more effective . we can conversation facetime entire the world which make us closeness. We are taking online classes this during pandemic. Krukowski also says that ” sound of voice build a proximation”, every single people have different voice which give different feeling to other people. For example, my small daughter voice so sweet it makes me relax and stress relief. Another side, my mother-in-law’s voice give anxiety  because I feel her voice irritation.

      Very apt examples.

    1. akes it easier for us to communicate on the digital network. Even though these digital sounds may not sound that intimate by processing them differently from real sounds, they allow us to be intimately connected, which is another way of helping us experience intimacy. Krukowski also says that “feeling is build on the sound of voice.” As we know, everyone’s voice is different, and the voice gives others a different feeling. In my opinion, sound is also unique when digitally processed. Therefore, even if the digital sound is removed some kinds of qualities, we can still distinguish the sound of each person’s voice and get different feelings. For example, my accounting professor’s digital voice made me feel closer than my btm’s professor. There is no doubt that they are good professors, but their voice has different frequency and amplitude. I feel very different from them.

      Interesting points

    1. tance. Even if we can’t see the other person’s face, we can feel what the other person wants to convey through our voice and tone. The impact of digital sound on people’s lives is huge. The telephone can convey the feelings between us and our loved ones through digital sound. I think the most interesting thing about sound is that it can regulate and relax our mood. Many audio-decompressed videos are popular on the Internet. People tap or squeeze things into the microphone to

      Great points

    1. However, I still think that sounds through the phone are good and we are able to recognize the person’s voice or his/her emotion through it. 

      Say more about this.

    1. being more sexually by just hearing the person voice, making you feel like the person is next to you! In my opinion, it can be compared to a.s.m.r but in words then objects. He also explains how it can make you imagine the person next to you and make a connection through the voice on the microphone. After reading the article, I learned more about what is a.s.m.r and how it makes some people feel just with the smallest sounds of different things. It makes you feel a tingly or sensation in the brain. After watching the .s.m.r, it gave me anxiety. I really didn’t enjoy some do enjoy. I really didn’t feel anything. It just got me to feel nervous about the noises they were making; maybe is just me. But it is interesting how it got the name and how it became a sensation for a lot of people.

      Good point

    1. The things that seem interested to me is singers can use their voice to make same sound in different ways for listeners. Which makes us interested to it and want to listen to it again. As the people use space between them and microphone they are using. The way we manipulate our voice and hear differently for everyone. Based on tech as it develops and our vo

      Interesting but say more.

    1. This proves that there is scientific backing behind why there is less character and presence in the voices over the phone since engineers want the communication simply exchanged.

      Interesting. I'm not sure about "scientific" proof, but I take your point.

    1. pment of technology, we have conveyed our message faster and farther, but the message’s emotion has disappeared. Because of the loss of feeling, connecting with others has become a difficult task.

      Interesting point

    1. Even though FaceTime sees everything about the other person, it doesn’t feel real emotion because of the lack of sound. What we’re losing is the perception of sound and the most precious thing.

      interesting point

    1. ven times that I and my friends are on the phone not even talking to each other and doing other things but the thought that they are there can make us feel their presence. I don’t remember how house phones sounded but I do agree that with mics used to sing used to be way better back then, it was a different vibe. 2. ASMR is very relaxing to hear, even more relaxing with headphones on. ASMR is used to improve mood and even pain symptoms through various common triggers such as whispering or crisp sounds. For example, I sometimes use it when I have anxiety, I put my headphones on an

      Great points

    1. with background, however you can still experience intimacy when communicating with someone. Despite the lower quality, you can still tell and experience how someone feels based on their voice. One inter

      Interesting. How would you compare these situations?

    1. In episode two of the podcast, “Ways of Hearing”,by  Damon Krukowski explains how social interactions within spaces are becoming less accessible due to digital technology. Noting how earbuds and phones have taken us of our ability to learn our environment and energy around us. Technology also is part of our everyday lives, it is easy to be distracted by it. Although most of the time, I allow myself to intake the multicultural experiences the city offers. I also can relate to Krukowski’s perspective on it. Jeremiah Moss, a guest on the podcast, noted how he feels as if people create their own private space thru technology while out in the city. Personally, I can relate to sometimes zoning everything out with my headphones while I commute. I’m able to achieve a state of peace within the Disorganized world, a fast-paced setting of New York City by just simply pressing play on my music. Some of us don’t notice this type of behavior in our everyday life because we’re used to it. Growing up in New York, you’re forced to push aside the Chaotic sounds of the city. So for some, putting on earbuds may be seen as a form of peace and escape. But for most, it’s a way to avoid communication as Krukowski explained. I can obviously notice this type of action-behavior while riding the subway or walking the street, you notice people with their heads down and earbuds in. People walk right by each other, not saying a word. 

      Interesting points.

    1. Yet the technology that we use makes us fascinated with ourselves. We never consider that the sound is not just for noise, but also for the support of those who are humanity’s responsibility.

      This is a really interesting idea.

    1. ski  explain that New York noise different between before and now, and how new technology effect soundscape and people life. it also says that less sound and different in the countryside than city. people are avoided environment sound because  of new technology. New technology is daily part of our lives which is directly influence in our lives. people are isolating each other in this modern society.  I also have  same view  sound environment  like Krukowski. when I walk on the street, nobody notice each other and talk to each other. people even don’t notice they drop from their pocket. who are calling them. people are literally, avoided environment sound by earbuds and phone. similarly, Jeremiah Moss, a guest a on the podcast, said that how he feels about sound space in New York city. He complained that city moving so fast, it is out of control. people are privatizing in the public place. I can relate similar experience that most of time, I couldn’t hear micro sound around city. Now new city sound environment different then before because of covid-19. when we heard sound how we react the sound.  some of sound people should ignore but some sound how relate with us. we can’t totally ignore environment sound  it represent all society, culture, situation.

      Very interesting points.

    1. According to the book, “The Soundscape” by R. Murray Schafer, the author argues that people should seek a way to make environmental acoustics a positive study program. He develops soundscape theory and  makes a lot research to propose that soundscape is composed by sound and landscape. Schafer’s theory of soundscape is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of noise. As he argues, the management of noise is not only sound, it also is a environmental concern. When we live in New York City, we tend to think of outdoor sounds as noise, such as the sound of car horns, the sound of ancient subways and all kinds of sounds of people taking. When we only think these sounds as noise, they are regarded as a kind of waste. However, soundscape theory treats sound as a resource. It take advantage of sound from the perspective of environment and so on. When we are in an environment, we should distinguish the sound source and focus on more preferred sounds, and use them to mask the unwanted ones, then reducing some sounds what we unwanted. What’s more, different sounds in different environments will make people produce different emotions. We need to protect and use some kinds of special sounds because they are already embedded in people’s minds. For example, the bell of the end of class, the sound of the subway door will be opened and the sound of police car passing. Soundscape is that people use some specific sounds or create some sounds in some environment to reduce the sound that people do not like. My grandfather is an architect, my hometown’s house is near the highway, so any sounds from the road becomes a sound that we don’t like. Therefore, grandfather planted some bamboos to reduce the noise. We like the sounds of bamboo blown by the wind.

      Interesting points and great job engaging Sschafer's ideas

    1. “Ways of hearing’’ describes the impact of space and sound on people’s lives. Krukowski mentioned that “people wear headphones to avoid ear contact.” Whether on the street or on the subway, we can find that most people ignore many things around them and immerse themselves in their world with headphones. I feel the same about this. I don’t know when it has become a habit to wear headphones before going out. Compared to the noisy roads and noisy subways, I seem to be more willing to wear headphones to isolate myself from the world, and no longer listen to each other better and lack patience with things. After a long time, it seems that I am no longer interested in the sounds of the city. People have become more chasing for quality sound. For example, we are willing to pay to go to concerts. With the development of society and technology, people began to control sound and make the sound beautiful. Although this improves our quality of life, it also leads people to always ignore the most primitive and natural things. We should open the windows and remove the headphones to feel the special charm of the city. 

      Interesting points

    1. th Krukowski, before when there was less technology in the streets people had no option but pay attention to their surroundings and was stuck with the noise that the city brings however now if we go on a train we see more than 80% of the people on a phone, with headphones/AirPods on or on a kindle and the other 15% is probably with someone else such as a friend or family member having a conversation. We can all agree that we have been guilty of this when we get on a train we don’t want to hear the loud noise that the train makes, little kids crying, people talking over each other so we put our headphones on and it is like if we are in our universe. We try to avoid strangers talking to us or people asking for money and when we have our headphones on people understand that we are trying to not be disturbed.

      Great points.

    1. Every now and then though, I resort to tradition by removing my earbuds and listen to myself walk, hearing my feet hit the pavement and everything that surrounds me, including those private bubbles. 

      Interesting. What do you learn from this experience?

    1. a is relatable and logical because of my own use of headphones. Whenever I go out in public, I always bring my headphones with me. This helps me stay comfortable in public and also makes trips more exciting to me. Like most other people, I tend to ignore my surroundings and people in public. Sound makes it easier to do so. Krukowski’s idea explains that earbuds are a great way to drown out public noises. This idea relates to a lot of people as well, especially in the city. Manhattan can be home to a bunch of loud noises. Oftentimes you will see people with earbuds or noise cancelling headphones to help drown them out and create their private bubble.

      Good points.

    1. seem to be talking on the phone or staring at a screen not aware of their surroundings. They do not pay attention to what is in front of them and sometimes can lead to accidents because they are to busy staring at a screen while walking. Krukowski also mentions that “the streets of NYC move much slower” which is relatable because people who are staring at their phone or talking on the phone move slower, bump into people. They are not aware of what is going on around them at all. Most people use earbuds to cancel out all the noise that are around them. They can’t hear the cars, trains, people talking, dogs barking etc… which is like they are not really even there to begin with because they are in a whole different noise environment. If I do not have headphones on and one of my friends with me does, we will not hear the  same things and its like we are in two different places even though we are right next to each other. Personally I do not use earbuds much, but when I do it’s not for long because I like to be aware of my surroundings. Technology has advanced plenty through out the years causing people to be less social with one another. People do not talk as much and avoid eye contact because they are to busy looking at their phones

      Very interesting post!

    1. After college, I moved to London and then 3 years after I decided to live in the Big Apple. Living a big city for my entire life taught me how to ignore the noise. I can even say I enjoy hearing them. On the other hand, my ex-wife had anxiety and panic attacks. Because of environmental reasons, one day she blew up and had to leave to city to live back in her hometown in Pittsburgh. This personal anecdote illustrates how some technological devices have a good, useful impact on people who need to use it for their own peace. 

      Very interesting anecdote.

    1. we are not in it. It might be accurate, but there are other reasons why we wear headphones and alienate ourselves. One of them is to avoid negative interactions with specific situations. For instance, I remember when my daughter was rushing to school one morning and was desperately looking for her Apple air pods. I was like, “you’re going to be late; just leave without them.” She responded, “no, I don’t want to because when I listen to my music, it helps me not to hear people say bad and ugly things on the train.” Even though it is a known fact that you are bound to hear all kinds of different noises when you live in New York City, and yet there is still the need to plug in headphones. By doing this, you avoid communicating with strangers or being put in an awkward position because you build a barrier of feeling uncomfortable around them. It is based more on the person’s perspective to choose to wear headphones to block out their surroundings’ sound.

      Interesting points!

    1. For me, I used to use them to listen to music on the way school. But I would still pay attention to my surroundings.

      Explain how this works more in terms of what the podcast says about the use of these devices.

    1. ally on my own experiences, I remember the times I’ve chosen to remove my earphones because I became conscious of my lack of awareness. It’s as if not being in tune with my surroundings can cause spikes of anxiety. When one’s senses are deprived, the deficit can distort one’s perception of their own reality. With many people practicing the same habits, there has been a societal shift in how we interact with others on the outside. We now market audio products with terms like soundproof. There’s business in enhancing these personal spaces. I’ve found myself cranking the volume to the max on my earphones so I could combat the loud interior of a train. I never engage with any strangers because I’m uncomfortable with the idea of forcing someone out of an experience they’ve opted to be in. In a lot of ways our society has normalized the use of personalized safe spaces.

      Excellent points!

    1. th over populated. Another good way of eliminating the noises of the environment would be earbuds. Krukowski and his guest Emily Thompson described earbuds as “an auditorium without walls”. I would agree with this comparison.  I would say that earbuds function the same way with me because it feels as though the sounds coming from the earbuds are as loud as stereos and other loud noises but the sound is only being bounced around inside our heads.

      But, would you agree with their assessment that this is bad?

    1. Kurkowski and his guest statements on New York’s loud sounds would be similar to mine because I  as well do hear cars constantly passing and driving by and I would have to agree with Kurkowski when he stated how it sort of “sounds like the ocean”. I would also like to include that it can be hard to sleep at times when sirens are constantly going off whether it can be an ambulance or a fire truck or even a police car. Sometimes arguments with couples or people in general breakout and I find it to be extremely annoying specifically because I am a light sleeper. They mention how it’s easier to manipulate what people hear thanks to the earbuds and the radio city desires them very much because it helps them take all their performances to the next level thanks to the fact that they can control and tailor the sound they produce on the spot. A women mentioned I forget who she is claims that earbuds make us asocial but i feel as if this is partially true but also if you look at it in a positive way it can also be a therapy as i personally believe that it is because I usually listen to relaxing or meditation music and that alone helps not to be distracted by my surroundings or sounds.

      This is interesting, but what do you make of this situation?

    1. I grew very accustomed to all the noises and ruckus of the street below me hearing it all day and night.  When I moved away for a few years out of the city to a more rural area where there was barley any cars or anything going on for that matter the nights were silent, and it was hard for me to sleep I found myself sleeping with the tv on throughout the night.  Along with all the sounds I can relate with him on the gentrification aspect the area I grew up in was mostly industrial all factories and plants.  It was where all the European immigrants came to work there was not much else going on.  When I go to revisit now its nothing but high rise apartment’s and hotels strips of bars and clubs and fancy restaurants the cost of living has also gone up exponentials little remains of the neighborhood it used to be as cost of living has gone up exponentially.

      Interesting

    1. simply pressing play on my playlist. Some of us don’t notice this type of micro behavior in our every day because we’re accustomed to it. Growing up in New York, you’re forced to push aside the overwhelming sounds of the city. So for some, putting on earbuds may be seen as a form of escape. But for most, it’s a way to avoid communication as Krukowski explained. I can obviously notice this type of micro-behavior while riding the subway, you notice people with their heads down and earbuds in. People walk right by each other, not saying a word. It’s as if they were invisible.

      This is all a really good summary of the episode, but what do you make of how he criticizes this situation?

    1. I think I can relate a lot with Damon Krukkowsi’s idea about how we are privatizing the public. When I used to get on the train everyday to go to school or go to shopping, most people are staring at their phone and either listening to music, watching a video, or reading a news. I often noticed that since people are not aware of their surroundings, they don’t realize when an elderly or pregnant people get on the train and therefore they don’t give up their seat to the people who need it. I myself often wear earbuds too on the train even when I am not listening to anything because sometimes when you are not doing anything some random people starts talking to me and often times they ask for money and things so I get a little scared, so I try to pretend like I am busy looking at my phone and cannot hear anything. I also feel like not many people are talking to each other so even when I am on the train or bus with my family or friends, we just keep quiet often times and just stare at our phones until we get off.

      Is this a good or bad experience for you? Do you wish it were different or do you lie the way things are?

    1. It helps someone stay zen. It allows us to create a safe space in a world where safety is a constant concern from all angles. Those “living in the moment” times that everyone expects to happen in the world of the public, happen in the true world of personal life. Leaving that bubble to create those moments with your family and close friends, where we all practice the concept of cancelling out the background noise and honing in  on the real interactions that truly matters. 

      Interesting points about finding a balance here.

    1. I would put on my headphones and ignore my surrounding and be in my personal bubble sometimes I don’t like hearing people conversation or strangers talking to me to ask a question.

      Do you agree or disagree with DK's criticisms of this?

  2. Oct 2020
    1. When I first started writing, I found it to be particularly difficult because there are many aspects to be considered as a story narrator. Because my reading volume is not abundant, it is difficult to fabricate heroes, places, and stories out of my imagination. Because I feel that warm works come from life, it is difficult to fill work with a good plot at the same time based on imagination. I think the amount of reading and experience is very important, but with a lot of training, writing becomes relatively easy. The first article I tried was a short romance novel. It was about a couple going through a series of twists and turns, but the storyline in my writing was too plain, which was very different from the idea I had conceived. Because this sense of contradiction makes me feel that my storyline does not have too many ups and downs, I feel that there is no sense of substitution.

      This is interesting

    1. I enjoy watching movies and dramas though I am busy, sometimes I feel puzzled that why there are so many more important things like making money in front of me, but I waste time on entertainment? Am I lazy or bad? I realize the real meaning after I read the “What stories do” section in chapter 6 of this book. Actually, each movie or drama is a novel or story, and, in fact, what we mostly learn about social humanism are from these stories as drama and movies.  The reasons that I enjoy watching them are the pleasure I get, the social knowledge I learn,  the opposite criticism perspective I see, and numerous practice skills of daily life. All of those are unable to be learn from classes and scientific books much and deeply. Reading stories is an essential part of growing to be mature.  That’s why I can not resist it.

      What are some examples?

    2. It is hard for me to think or write a narrative because I seldom read word novels. I watch dramas and movies mostly which is the person-displaying of novels(scripts). I find that in the plays, audiences are the narrators most times, especially when the audiences tell the plot of plays to another person or they are telling the stories of what is happening to themselves in their mind.  They are put as the third person narrators by the play. Also, I find it is interesting that the play or director decides audiences as omniscient or ignorant narrators, for instance, when the play wants the audiences to know that this plot is a conspiracy, it plays what bad figures did thoroughly, whereas if it wants the audiences to be ignorant it displays limited perspective and confuses the audiences.

      This is a good account of the issues involved in creating a narrative.

    1. The audience can get information from the light and shade of the picture or scene changes, rarely needs to use their imagination to what the character or the events like, even the story is not straightforward and unconnected.

      Interesting. Say more about this effect.

    1. After read the chapter six “Narrative” by Jonathan Culler, the author has discussed the importance of plot and discourse of a story. plot is considered as the fundamental element of a story. A good story consists of a beginning, a middle and an end. There are connections between one and another, which offers pleasure to audience since it is rhythmic for the order. And discourse is the term that can be described as various ways to display the story based on different sequence of acting. I am the person who loves watching TV shows, dramas and movies, especially those relate to detective and suspense. A good detective or suspense drama or movie is able to catch audience’s attention due to exciting plot, and sometimes they are unpredictable, which provides opportunity for audience to imagine what is going to happen afterward. I still can remember there was a detective movie that I watched couple years ago about a boy hid the fact that he killed his girlfriend, and a detective tried to find who was the murderer. During the time I watched that movie, I assumed that the murderer was another guy based on the beginning and middle of the plot. Then, when it came to the end, there was a reverse of the entire story that the murderer was the girl’s boyfriend. I was shocked since I thought he was innocent.

      Yes, good points!

    1. Give us pleasure, by allowing us to enjoy realistic events with twists that we don’t expect, as well as allowing us to imagine and write down our deepest desires in these events. Teach about the world, by allowing us to understand the ideas and perspectives of others through their own minds. Be it from the perspective of someone older, younger, opposite gender, poorer, richer, or someone from a different era. It has the ability to show you the differences between those like you and those with whom you share nothing in common. Police, by not only taking our desires and shaping them by reality, but instilling ideas of their own, that are seen as  acceptable or believable. Provide a mode of social criticism, by turning the failures, the horrors and the unknowns of reality into inviting tales to allow the readers to see and understand why the situations are intolerable.

      Nice job

    2. Recently, I began to write a little realistic fiction. As it was my first attempt it wasn’t very good. There were many details that I failed to include. However, as I was the author, narrator, and protagonist, it has made it incredibly easy to identify the different variations in presentation. That aside, as the story is a Romance, the plot regards, the life of an adolescent male before he is married, his attempt and success to court a female, their marriage, and life after marriage, where the protagonist describes his life after marriage and compares it to the notions of what he thought marriage would be like when he was younger. However, the discourse does not do a good job showing this to other readers, as this story was written by myself, for myself. The discourse could only explain this plot to the other characters in the story, or if this plot was to be acted out in real life.

      This is very interesting

    1. One recent example I can think is from the animated movie called Promare. The basic plot is that there are humans that mutate into the Burnish, who are people who can wield fire. This causes a disaster and half of the world is destroyed. 30 years afterwards, we follow the story of a man called Galo Thymos who is a part of the Burning Rescue, a firefighting force. They usually respond to attacks by the Mad Burnish, a radical group of Burnish that seemingly attack for no reason. In Galo’s point of view, the Mad Burnish are seen as terrorists. However, later in the movie Lio Fotia (the leader of the Mad Burnish) reveals to him that they try and save people who turn into Burnish because if they leave them alone the government will capture them and use them in cruel experiments. In the conclusion, they do figure out how to stop the government and stop people turning into Burnish.

      This is very interesting!

    1. Culler explains in the “What stories do” section, that narrative is used to : People have a desire for cognition. They are curious about the unknown things and eager to find out the truth so as to satisfy their desire. Stories are created by imitating real life.Twisting real life plots gives people a sense of pleasure. Stories bring people knowledge to know the world. The author describes the world in a story because the author has unique skills to observe the world, and readers learn to understand the world from more angles through reading.

      Yes

    2. I tried to write a few plays because of my major. I think the biggest difficulty in making a story is to create contradictions or conflicts in the story. When I saw that the stories I had written before had some problems, especially the conflicts in the stories. The most fascinating part of a story is the problems that arise in the story. Because there is a problem in the story, both the reader and the character will think something. How to deal with this problem? Or who is going to deal with this problem? It is easy to establish the plot of a story and the emotions of the characters in the story. But it is also the most difficult part of writing. Writers with little creative experience, like myself, often describe the problems that arise in a story as very large or without obvious twists and turns. Overstating the problems that arise in the story will make the story impractical, because the character will break away from the original story while someone is dealing with the problems. The conflict in the story is not described, leaving the reader bored.

      This is very interesting.

    1. One of my favorite novels so far is The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I wrote on different perspectives about this novel. Writing and discussing different plots and events about this novel was difficult for me. However, it was very interesting at the same time because there were always clear connections between the events, even though the plots were very different. Based on the way I interpreted this novel; I could say that the narrative of this novel sets up two main points. The first important point discussed in the story is related to the challenges of an Indian couple, especially for the woman, faced when moving up to the United States from India. Its plot introduces Ashima as a traditional Bengali woman that while trying to adapt to her new lifestyle kept behaving the same way she had done in India. Throughout the novel, the narrator discussed the plot by presenting different scenarios where the readers can identify the difficulty, pain, and tears Ashima went through, and how she kept herself as a traditional Indian woman in a place so different from the one she was born and lived for many years. The second and very important point of this novel discussed the suffering of this Indian couple’s son. Its plot introduces Gogol as a depressive character who has not known how to handle two such different cultures. The Indian culture inherited from his parents and the American culture from the place he was born. In the same way, as in the first plot, the narrator discussed this plot by presenting this depressed boy, Gogol, in different situations where he is more related to the American culture,  how is trying to avoid everything about the Indian culture, and also how he got involved in the same culture he is trying to avoid.

      How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. The literature means all about the story. Novels start in modern history, it is epic poetry, what writers and readers read it. The theory of narrative has been an active branch of literary theory and literary study relies on theories of narrative techniques. Narrative is not an academic subject. They have a human drive to hear and tell stories. The theory of narrative, what we know about the basic shape of stories. The theory here can be conceived as a setting forth of an intuitive cultural knowledge or understanding. A good narrative has beginning , middle and end. The narrative focuses on the reader’s ability to identify plots. They can summarize plots and always agree. We can think about the plot in two ways . writer and reader shape events into a plot in their attempts to make sense of things. The three characters can be presented in narrative from the point of view of the suffering heroine. The three levels have been discussing events, plot, and disclose.    

      Interesting ideas here, but I'm a little lost in your paragraph. Think about what Culler says about the differences between what events of a story are told and how they're told.

    1. A movie that I watched before, which contains many interesting plots and it make the ending of the movie quite contrasted with the beginning. A 70 years old retired man, Ben, applied for an intern program in a startup because he found life was quite boring after retirement. After he was admitted, he was assigned to work with the CEO, Jules. But Jules was quite skeptical about him at first and did not assign him the work. There are many plots showing how Jules keep a distance with Ben. At that time, I assumed that Ben would be fired soon. However, with a great personality and observation, Ben took care Jules in a careful way and gave her practical advice in work and life. The relationship between them became ease and they became soul mates at last, which was a great transformation.

      How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. In the “the stories do?” section, Culler said that storyteller would provide the pleasure and satisfaction to readers through literature, but reader’s mind should not be bonded with it. For me, I agree that what reader want to gain from literature is knowledge, or inspiration for them to gain knowledge. Gaining knowledge might not be happy and attracted, but it can make us wiser, once people stop just relying on what they see, and start to think the meaning behind words and superficies, we are truly ready to grow

      Is gaining knowledge the same as experiencing the pleasure of a good story?

    2. According to chapter 6, plot is the significant element that tell what happened in the story, which would shape the story and makes it genius, and it can be narrated in many different ways through discourse. These are very common to be used in the suspense novel, to promote the story, picture the situation, enhance readers’ emotion, and raise question and thinking. For example, if a crime was committed, readers are going to identify who is the criminal and how did he/she make it. Except some of the information are hidden temporary, the author would promote reader’s perspective with some hints, like the perspective of the novel’s characters, or a third person perspective like camera, sometimes even the thought of criminal, to state the plot from different angles and help readers to better understand the details, or lead to misunderstanding. Overall, most of the information must be related to the plot, which for the story to maintain its logic, otherwise, the story would not make sense.

      Yes!

    1. focalization

      Say more about what you learned.

    2. I find it is seriously difficult to write a novel as a narrator. First, I should think about what kind of story is, who the characters are, and where it happens. It should be logical. The author says that the plot is the most basic feature of narrative and is the structure of a story, and a plot requires a transformation. I like to watch horror and crime movies because you can hardly infer what is going on and what is going to happen. Every plot is very amazing and you can not predict. When I watch these kinds of movies, I will concentrate on watching it and be addicted to it. As if I am also the crime. Plots are ever-changing, and the results may be unexpected. I think these changes are transformations. I remember a movie, a man is killed by his four friends, but the police think he died of natural causes. His wife remarried to one of the four friends, the wife poison in the food to her new husband every time. Their daughter is bringing by her grandparents. Many years later, the daughter’s stepfather dies, her Mather is the crime. She tries to find the evidence, but she finds the fact is that her Mather is killed her stepfather. However, she chooses to cover the truth as a prosecutor and says that the stepfather died of natural causes. Finally, her Mather was acquitted. From the perspective of human nature, her choice is correct.

      This is interesting, but how does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. I would definitely say that narratives have the value of knowledge. Minimally in the sense of learning some important life skill sets. For instance, through narratives, we can learn how to be more empathetic, have better imagination, learn from others’ mistakes, understand better others, and connect with others. We can also better connect to historical events and get a deeper look at what effect it had on people, not only historical facts. As it was said in the part about what stories do: “Stories are teaching us about the world

      Good points!

    2. I would like to discuss one of my favorite movies – Zelary. The narrative is set up as a story of a young, ambitious nurse who decided out of her own moral and ethical urge to cooperate against nazists during the second world war. Consequences resulting from her bravery bring the audience a unique chance to understand the unprecedented time around the second world war and empathize with the complicated, emotionally challenging emergences and dilemma, which the nurse had to face. The entire story does not have a set up the narrator. The plots are showing a difficult part of the nurse’s life from her own perspective.

      Very interesting

    3. a trailer

      Thanks for including this!

    1. Culler starts by determining what stories are. Stories are the manner in which we sort out things; life doesn’t just have a circumstances and logical results relationship. Stories can be centered through one character both in first person as what they watched or in third individual yet from a third person restricted perspective. Untrustworthy narration is an outcome from impediment in point of view. In the ending, Culler’s main focus is pleasure. They can give another twist to natural circumstances. Pleasure is connected to desire and when story is driven, a craving to know, we ne

      Yes

    2. 1. In my writing, the leading point is plot and discourse. When I started writing, I thought of my writing structure and, also there are many difficulties that I face as a writer. I am writing to represent one of my brother’s life events. My brother, Bawanjot, needs to purchase a little dog. He goes to the pound and starts glancing through the cages for his future dog. Toward the finish of the cages, he sees a little, sweet earthy colored dog with a white spot on its nose. Immediately, he realizes he needs to adopt him. After the dog gets shots and a clinical check, he and the dog, Sky, return home together. In this example, the composition acquaints us with my brother and his contention. He needs a doggy yet doesn’t have one. The rising activity happens as he enters the pound and starts looking. The peak is the point at which he sees the dog he had always wanted and chooses to adopt him. At the end, my brother and his dog joyfully head home. The plot is the thing that makes a story. It gives the story character advancement, tension, energy, and passionate delivery. It permits a creator to create subjects and above all, contention that makes a story sincerely captivating; everyone realizes that it is so difficult to quit viewing a film before the contention is settled. Discourse is the principle power which works behind a wide range of human exercises and changes in social texture; while Innovators property discourse to advancement and progress. 

      Yes, this is a very good application of material from the chapter.

    1. According to chapter 6, the plot does a significant element to describe the story. There are many methods to tell a story, where the writer can be the first person and that gives a sense of reality to the story. Using flashback to inspire the audience’s thoughts. Also, The author could be the narrator (The Third-person) what is way more interesting to the reader.  The plot is effective to express the author’s emotions, add suspense to the story, attach the reader’s attention, picture the situation, and reinforce the ideas and the imagination of the reader. I tend to the Action and Drama plays or movies where the writer gives the opportunities to the audience to predict and imaging the next move of the movie. I believe this is a particular type of literature that we already read about in the previous lectures where the audience’s knowledge plays a critical part to receive the message and understand the concept and the details. I believe each of us has his/her own story but the point here is (how). How you can tell to make it sounds like a story.  How you will create a whole structure as a complete masterpiece, not a fraction.

      Yes, very good.

    1. After reading chapter 6 I got a better understanding of what makes a story. Based on the narrative stories are the main way we makes sense of things. Culler says “that good stories must have a beginning, middle and end, and that they give pleasure because of the rhythem of their ordering.” One example i can give is from one of my favorite movies The Notebook.The movie focuses on an old man reading a story to an old woman in a nursing home. The story he reads follows two young lovers named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun, who meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie’s parents who disapprove of Noah’s unwealthy family, and move Allie away. After being seperated for 7 years when noah returns home from the army, it becomes clear that their romance was never over. From the beginning to end you feel and imagine what Noah and Allie go through and that’s what makes a great stor

      This is interesting, but how does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. In the section “What stories do” the author Culler presents the importance of the stories, its effects on our society. The benefit of the function of the story is multiple, it gives us a pleasure of reading and interact with people in a fictional situation. Also, the stories teach us about the world by helping readers to be able to analyze real or unreal events because some novel relate real facts or fictions. For that reason, it is one of the best ways to improve our knowledge.

      yes

    2. vent, plot and discourse. We realize that in the twentieth, the narrative has become the significant instrument in the literary education. For my example, I would like to talk about the novel “The strange destiny of Wangrin” by Amadou Hampathe Ba. The event took place in west Africa during the colonization. Wangrin was a translator of French to the local language (dialect), he was employed by the French colony. He became very famous in his region and make wealth because of the corruption in the way he was interpreting the language to the local population. He was a person who believed i

      Interesting

    3. ses rhythm, chronology and arguments to give sense and pleasure to the readers about the event. T

      Say more about how this works.

    1. In the narrative “what stories do,” Culler discusses the purpose of narratives. First, he says that stories give the readers pleasure and desire. The readers get the pleasure because the stories mostly talk about lives and are twisted at some point, and when things turn out wrong or good, there’s a pleasure experienced. Desire arises when a reader gets curious to know what happens next or how the narrative ends. The urge to know everything the story is desire. Also, Culler explains that narratives might be a source of knowledge or create illusions in the reader’s mind. He says that it would be best if a reader would be wiser after reading the narrative, rather than sadder. In my opinion, what Culler says should be helpful to everyone who reads because it can help them understand better what the stories do. I think Culler’s message in this section explains how the readers feel and how much stories influence their lives.

      Interesying points.

    2. I watched a movie named Lucifer, and I liked the plot and discourse of the movie. The plot is about how the king of hell, Lucifer Morningstar, gets bored to stay in hell and decides to change his lifestyle. He decides to live in Los Angeles and owns a nightclub named Lux. Here, he considers himself a retired King who should enjoy life. Lucifer meets with a Detective (Chloe) in his club, and their chemistry leads them to work together at LAPD, where he teams up with Detective Chloe as a consultant to help solve cases. His ability to know people’s desires helps solve the crimes, and he tries to discipline criminals by use of the law. The movie has discoursed unlimited length on religion, matters regarding God and his judgment of sending Lucifer to rule hell.

      How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. In chapter 6, Jonathan culler, “Narrative” stories are the main way to sense the thing considering of our lives as a movement driving to some places or telling ourself whats happening in the world. He said that good story must have a beginning, middle and the end and also the rhythm that gives the pleasure. When I was reading “Narrative” I was thinking about the movie “Bedtime stories”. In this movie Marty Bronson builds the Sunny Vista Motel in Los Angeles, California, with the intention of raising his son Skeeter and his daughter Wendy in the place where he works. However he is not a good businessman and the hotel goes bankrupt. Marty is forced to sell his motel to Barry Nottingham who promises to hire Skeeter in a general manager position when he has grown up. Years later, Barry builds a new hotel; forgets his promise to Marty and Skeeter Bronson is only the handyman of his hotel. The general manager is the arrogant Kendall, who is engaged with the shallow Barry’s daughter Violet Nottingham. When the Webster Elementary School where Wendy is the principal will be closed to be demolished, she needs to travel to Arizona for a job interview. Wendy asks her friend to watch her son and her daughter during the day and Skeeter to watch them during the night. Skeeter meets the estranged kids with his best friend and makes up bedtime stories to help them to sleep but the kids add details to the stories, changing their endings. Soon Skeeter realizes that the plot of the stories are coming true and affecting his life. Meanwhile Barry Nottingham decides to give a change to Skeeter to dispute the manager position in his new hotel with Kendall like in one of his stories. But Skeeter has told to his nephew and his niece that stories do not have happy endings. So, I think this stories has perfect ending even though it has not happy ending.

      This is interesting but how does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. d third person narrator could have a lot of thematic options and tend to directly receive clues. Plus, descriptions of plots are added into works in different ways like flashback that making structure impressive. A movie I watched called “Forrest Gump” is displayed as first person narrator. The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump, a slow-witted but kind man who created some amazing stories witnesses several historical events in the United States as well as conveys a kind of spirit. The development of plots naturally comes along with a sense of intimacy and reality.

      How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. In the film “Forrest Gump”, the protagonist Forrest Gump plays the narrator of the story. The author and the audience are both characters outside the film. The film’s narrative structure has improved from the linear narrative structure in the original novel. The audience will not think that the protagonist Forrest Gump narrates his own life experience after experiencing various life situations. The difference is that the story’s narrator The protagonist, Forrest Gump, lives in the story, and is not placed outside the story. When he recalled his life experience, he was still waiting at the bus stop in the film, looking forward to meeting his lover and good friend Jenny. He is always in the life of the story. After he narrated his life experience, he followed the old lady’s route and started rushing to Jenny’s home. At this time, the film changed from flashback to regular narrative, and the film was about to come to an end. Gradually, from A-Gump’s figure, the audience feels that when A-Gump is dragging his tired body towards his son in the film, the audience appears in it, feeling that they have gone through the various states of life and want to stop and rest. This place makes people feel warm and kind. The narrator of the film is always in the story, and some viewers have a deep understanding of the main content of the film.

      How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. I analyze this movie. I find that the movies have their beginning, middle, and perfect ending. I like the style of the author how he takes the story smoothly from beginning to end.

      Say more about this.

    1. I wish I could share my story with you, but it is in arabic language.

      I would love to read it if you end up translating it.

    2.        When I started writing a few years ago, I found that it is difficult to be the narrator of a story because you are the one who creates heroes, places, and stories from your imagination. It is hard to imagine all of this at the same time to present a story that has a good plot. I admit that it was hard at the beginning, but it became easier with training. My first successful writing was a short fictional story that tells about a couple returning at one night with their car when a fire broke out in the forest near them. The husband rushed to rescue the injured, but after he returned he started to search for his missing wife. The plot of the whole story was to find out where the wife disappeared. I wish I could share my story with you, but it is in arabic language.

      This is interesting. How did you decide how to tell this story, not only the plot but what kinds of words and sentence structures you would use?

    1. See if you recognize this one, the plot: we follow the story of a simple southern boy with a low IQ and leg braces. We see him through his years as he grows, learns, loves, travels, and ultimately lives through world-changing events seemingly unfazed and constant. The discourse: this story is told mainly in first-person. The narrator speaks to us by speaking to other characters in the present-day, about his past. As such, the main character uses a temporal focalization; as he is speaking about his now past, he constantly contextualizes actions and events with phrases such as “now, at the time”. He also relies heavily on the narratee’s knowledge of world history, as he casually mentions these events transpiring around him. Despite constant breaks to the present-day as the characters he speaks to change several times over, the narrator manages to tell his story in order from past to present almost methodically.

      This is good, but take this further. How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. The way the story develops, characterization, and everything related to performance were good.

      Say more here. How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. Culler discusses narrative in “What Stories do” as giving pleasure to its audience. Culler discusses narrative as almost a craving that audiences get because it gives a surge of desire for its audience to want to uncover the truth of the narrative. Culler suggests that narratives place within us the internalization of social norms which lead us to believe that scenarios of heterosexual desire, love and youthful illusions are foundations of our true identity. However, Culler questions that fictional narratives may have a misleading effect to its audience. He questions if narratives are a source of knowledge or illusion. Culler says we do not know the answer to if narratives are a source of knowledge or illusion and I agree. I believe that narratives pose a false sense of expectations in reality for many of us. We tend to romanticize many parts of our lives that I believe may stem from the exposure to fictional narratives as we grow up. However, I also believe that as humans we are given the abilities to distinguish ideas to reality.

      Interesting ideas here

    2. A film that I recently watched in which the narrative included a plot and discourse as introduced by Jonathan Culler in Chapter 6 of “Narrative” is Parasite by Bong Joon-Ho. The plot of Parasite circles around two families of different social classes. The Kims are a family of four that live in a dark and grungy basement who get entangled with a family of excessive wealth when the son of the Kim family Ki-Woo gets an opportunity to tutor the daughter of the wealthy Park family. The Kim family takes this window of opportunity to get the entire family working for the wealthy Park family for their own advantage. The naive Park family hires the father as the driver, mother as the housekeeper and daughter as the sons English tutor. The entire Kim family swiftly entwined themselves into the Park family to live off their wealth, enormous mansion and lavish amenities. However, things go awry for the Kim family as their plan of new-found fortune gets interrupted as it turns out they weren’t the only con-artists leeching off the Park families wealth.  The narrative of the movie completely changes from this point on.  The plot of the movie goes through a change from a lighthearted comedy following a family of con-artists into a plot of a suspenseful, creepy thriller that reveals the monsters people will turn into in order to leech off others success and fortune.

      How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. Throughout history, the narration has been used to share the news through the troubadours that were traveling from land to land, relating events and battle. They brought to sleep many excited children, who, later on, dreamed about slaying the dragon that kept the princess in her tower, and in a more awake state, they allow us, the narrates to escape this reality through the white page covered with ink.

      It seems like you're most interested in fiction as a way of relating current events to the masses.

    2. I only saw the movie, so I could not describe the narrative style: Abord, a train stuck between Istanbul and London by heavy snow, a man is found dead, stabbed 12 times. A famous detective start tries to solve the murder. The plot twist is incredible as it is actually the 12 other passengers of the train who each stabbed the victim.

      This is Murder on the Orient Express, right?

    3. During a dark night, a young boy is dropped behind the door of his uncle and aunt, who will raise him with negligence until his 11th birthday, a day where his life will be changed forever, taking us with him for seven magical years.

      Hmmm...I don't know enough about children's books. Harry Potter?

    1. When I first started writing, I found it difficult to consider this as a lot of topics to be considered stories. Because I’m hard to read books, to make a lot of heroes, space and stories. Because I think it’s a warm job from life, at the same time it’s hard to meet the job based on good plans. I think reading and experience are important, but it is relatively easy to write with many training. The first article I tried that was a report of a small Roman novel. It was going through a couple of young people’s series, but my story is simple, which I could mean, which is very different from my thoughts. Because contrary to this, I think that my story is not too high and I think I don’t feel alternative.

      I'm confused here. I'm not sure what you mean.

    1. It catches attention from the audience.

      Say more about this.

    2. The plot and discourse

      What do you mean about these two things? How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. narrative itself is driven by a desire.

      Say more about this. What do you mean?

    2. I would like to talk about the movie called Green book,  the movie describes how a white man changes his mind about a black musician in a narrative way. Green Book is about the relationship between two real-life people: Donald Shirley and Tony “Lip” Vallelonga. Shirley was born in 1927 and grew up in a well-off black family in Florida, where he emerged as a classical piano prodigy: he possessed virtuosic technique and a firm grasp of both classical and pop repertoire. Vallelonga was born in 1930 to working-class Italian parents and grew up in the Bronx. As an adult, he worked as a bouncer, a maître d’, and a chauffeur. Shirley about to embark on a concert tour in the Deep South in 1962. In need of a driver and protection, Shirley recruits Tony Lip, a tough-talking bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx. Despite their differences, the two men soon develop an unexpected bond while confronting racism and danger in an era of segregation. for example, After a bar incident leads to a group of white men threatening Don’s life, Tony rescues him by threatening to pull a gun on them. He instructs Don not to go out without him for the rest of the tour.  

      How does this show the relationship between the plot of a story and how the story is told?

    1. When Culler said that “there is a basic human drive to hear and tell stories” he wasn’t kidding. I could tell this simple story was handled with care to present the best possible story they could tell.

      Say more about this.

    2. The movie even starts with a narrator explaining the plot of the movie in the first five minutes of the movie. This is all to set the stage of the world we are about to visit in this movie. When the movie ends with its surprising climactic ending it ties it all back together.

      Interesting. Maybe I will suggest it to my son.

    1. of “pay-off” to the readers for embarking on the journey of the story

      Yes

    2. I think it is cool how the main character serves as both an actor and narrator in his own story. I think this is done by the writers and directors to give us greater empathy towards the protagonist as well as the people close to him. In my opinion this technique creates greater depth for the story

      What effect does this create? How does this help shape the story?

    1. In many ways they are trying to bring the reader, gamer, and the people who are watching the movie to vicariously experience a thought that they are trying to portray what the author  the see in his vision.

      This is interesting. Say more.

    1. In chapter five, Jonathan Culler uses one word to refer to another to express the rhetorical devices of poetry. I think this chapter is interesting compared with other chapters. In my opinion, rhetoric as a language or literary technique is very attractive. For example, if we read an article, if the whole article is to narrate the facts and the process, we will only feel a lot of boring facts and data without emotion. The article needs to be decorated to make the readers interested, which can quickly attract the attention of the readers and have the motivation to read. In my personal opinion, I think some special rhetorical skills can make a thing more vivid, and it can break the limitations of the rigid description. Therefore, I think a successful article or poem can make people feel the flexibility of words. The author hopes to arouse the reader’s emotional resonance. In this chapter, the author puts forward the writing technique of metaphor, which is used by many poems to express a special signal of emotion or situation. I think this technique can be used more in writing, which will make our articles more hierarchical.

      Do you see any of these devices in either of the poems?

    1. After I read this chapter, I think the author defined that language is used to express and impart meaning, and it is not pre-existing, even though language has existed for a long time. In fact, the meaning of language existence is given by human beings with various meanings, which makes the language have the necessary meaning. I think literature is not only about reading words, but also about what information and emotions the author want to convey to readers. Because just reading the text is rigid and without any emotion. In this chapter, as Culler mentions, that meaning should not be determined by words. As a conventional symbol, language has certain limitations on the author’s way of expression and the reader’s own understanding ability, so the thinking and imagination are limited by the rigidity of language. In my opinion, when reading literary works, the most important thing is how to analyze the author’s situation and views, because, without it, different meanings may be transmitted to readers and cause misunderstanding. For example, a good lecture in a university is more likely to elicit a positive reaction from the audience. However, it is normal to say that the audience may have different views on the same class because their understanding and opinions will be different. I think that just like commenting on a writer, readers have their own educational level, life experience, and values, which shape their unique personality, which makes a language have different meanings for them. For those of us who are a second language, reading some English books has different views because of the different educational concepts. Comparatively speaking, it is different from people who are English as a first language. Therefore, I think reading is like an unknown secret waiting to be explored and discovered. There will be resonance and opposition. We should not limit our thoughts and opinions so that whenever we read a book, we feel that the text is as fresh as ever. I think that’s the meaning of reading

      This is very interesting!

    1. The sea is history”, Derek Walcott uses metaphor a lot all over the poem, he compares the sea to history, compares emancipation jubilation to the faith, and almost finished the whole poem with metaphor figure. It is hard to understand what he really wants to utter without cultural and religious knowledge background, but viewers still can get the feelings through the metaphor based on the most basic knowledge.

      Yes, and the title itself is a metaphor.

    1. I get a clearer understanding of the relation between text and meaning through chapter 4 by Culler. Intention, text, context and reader‘s experiences are four major factors determining the meaning of a text according to Culler, and language seems to be a platform for these factors to transfer meanings with each other. A more formal and regular language usage can help this communication platform function better with fewer barriers but not a complete determinant. It can never be a complete determinant because the experiences of readers at different times are uncontrollable. However, a better language command is easier for the transformation of meaning. When I was a kid I was not good at even my native language usage, every time I tried to express something I uttered in unorganized and impertinent words which made what the author says in chapter 4 that ” you may have intended to say x, but what you said actually means y “always happened in my early life. I got misunderstood for too many times and frustrated so that I choose to keep silent. I think the part of my brain that performs language function is not developed well and that’s why I am better at math than words, but I try hard to fix it and even labour for the second language now

      It's interesting how the chapter relates to your experience with language.

    1. “Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich is easy one, I thought “story of the wreck” and “myth” means when we look back on history, someone will record the events, who may be a historian or a poet. However, this is the process in their eyes rather than the reality that we can see and touch. Author try to lead us build up a system in order to doubt and verify.

      Good. How does this connect with Culler's chapter?

    1. e poem is metaphor. According to Culler, “Metaphor treats something as something else.”, it functions powerfully and succeed in conveying the author’s emotions and meanings. Take the title as the example. Rich compares the difficulties for fighting for women’s rights to wreck, which catches reader’s attention to wonder what exactly the wreck is, what does it represent for. It provides imaginations to readers and impresses them with various vivid pictures in their mind. But at the same time, it also express the feeling to readers. The second paragraph of this poem, “There is a ladder. The ladder is always there. hanging innocently. close to the side of the schooner.”, Rich compares the ladder to the silence and the failure for fighting for their rights. It signifies helplessness. They tried so many times in order to change the situation, however, it failed. There is noting  they can do, only be silent.

      For this to be a metaphor you need the poem to have a line that makes this connection.

    1. After reading chapter 4, “Literature, meaning and interpretations”, I have understood the relationship between language, its meaning and its interpretations.  As Culler discussed in the article, we can not just ask meanings from words. Meaning is based on difference and determined by four factors which are intention, text, context and experiences of readers. It is very difficult to ask about meaning since there are various dimensions or level of meanings: the meaning of a word, of an utterance and of a text, and sometimes it is possible for these factors to transform with each other. The meaning of a literary work can be interpreted differently based on personal experience, culture, language, and so forth. There is a saying stating that “There are a hundred Halmets in a hundred people’s eyes”. When it comes to literary works, people have their own specific understan

      Very well-put

    1. have already written in my annotation, I believe that the distinction that Rich makes between the wreck and its myth is comparable to the distinction between our world, and what we are told about it. We’ve come to explore the wreck to see it for itself, not to see what we’ve been told.

      This is interesting. I'm not sure it is a metaphor, though.

    1. The idea that language, regardless of whether it is spoken, written or sung, can convey an entirely separate meaning than the intention of the speaker, author or singer is something that never occurred to me. Culler runs through the ideas that one’s interpretation can be derived from things such as an author’s intentions, context, experience of the reader or the actual body of work (referring to the language used). Regardless, whether or not you (with your experience) are capable of understanding the mind or thoughts of an author (based on context), it may be impossible to tell whether or not the author got their actual intentions out in their work. Despite the fact that it is okay for a reader to have an interpretation that is different to others, it may be impossible to compare what you extrapolate from a text to, what the author wrote the text to represent. Such information is something we are unlikely to find, unless an author has written a memoir or specifically explained what their intentions were and whether they were misconstrued. It is even harder to do such when referring to poems or books, as many of these tend to become popular after the death of an author, or at least much further along in their career. However, it is reassuring to know that great writers of the past may have never understood the power or the effect that their ideas could have on so many others. The “oracle” isn’t truly all knowing.

      This is very well-put!

    1. Specifically, stanzas 6 and 7 which talk about the diver finally finding the wreck after swimming through the sea. I found the use of metaphor in these stanzas interesting because it was used in subtle ways to bring up the idea of how stories/myths can be remembered or forgotten throughout the course of history, whether by accident or on purpose.

      What is the metaphor in these lines?

    1. One example that I can think of that happened fairly recently is with JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. In the books, the bankers of the wizard world are controlled mostly by goblins. Back when these books were still being released, many people glossed over it as a fantasy thing. But after the recent controversies with JK Rowling and her extreme opinions, upon looking at the books with this in mind brings a different meaning to these goblins. In the books, they are described as goblins with “hooked noses” and “with a distrust for anyone else but their own kind”, which sounds extremely similar to racist caricatures of Jewish people.

      This is interesting. I have heard about her comments about transgender people, but I didn't know about this.

    1. Metaphors, for example, come up a lot in poetry.Because of the special structure of poetry in literature, poetry is more about expressing an emotion or situation than it is about describing a story.Metaphor can better establish this kind of emotion for readers in poetry.

      Can you think of a specific exampe?

    1. After I read this chapter, In the process of analyzing literature, the author breaks down “literature” and analyzes the meanings given by sentences or words.Words have no real meaning, but are given meaning artificially.In my opinion, words tend to be a kind of symbol, and people’s cognition of such a symbol is often related to their experience or education, because people’s cognition of words is endowed with meaning, and the meaning is not significant with the words themselves.When Reading this article gave me an idea.Let’s say a person sees something blue, and it looks blue to him.Then the person tells the other person that this is blue, the color of melancholy.The other person sees the same thing, but it’s not blue in his eyes, it’s green.Because of his education or experience, he thinks that something he sees is “blue” even if it is not blue, and the green in his eyes is given a melancholy meaning.People experience things differently, even when facing the same thing.But the same thing can

      Good points.

    1. One of the techniques that culler has described in chapter 5 about rhetoric that I find most interesting is the metaphor. As culler discussed, “A metaphor treats something as something else.” Trough metaphors, we have the opportunity to describe something by comparing it with “similar things” and make the text more intriguing and more interesting. Sometimes, it can be hard to understand a metaphor, but that is also one of the things that make us be a critical thinker and exercise our brains. Another thing I also like is that metaphor is related to the language and imagination as culler says. That is to say, the metaphor is also based on the understanding and learning of something. I see metaphor I both poems, “The sea is history” and “Diving into the wreck.” Derek Walcott used metaphor multiple times in his poem, The Sea is History. For instance, “The sea is history.” He is making a comparison. History means past, and in this context, the sea contains the tribal memory and other things he is talking about in the previous line. As the sea contains these things that are part of history, the sea itself become history. Adrienne Rich also used metaphor when she said, “The words are purposes.” “The words are maps,” meaning that words are no just “letters.” Words are everywhere, and behind them, there are meanings and objectives to meet.

      Yes, good points.

    1. One idea that strikes me as interesting about language and meaning is the idea of the language and though. As it is mentioned in chapter four, “the language we speak determines what we can think.” I agree with these phrases. First of all, there are many languages over the world, and every language has its structures, rules, vocabularies, etc. thus making us think differently. I think the structures and rules are key to determine the meaning of a text. Culler gives us an example when he says, “Speakers of English have ‘pets’ – a category to which nothing in French corresponds, though the French possess inordinate numbers of dogs and cats.” This is just one of the many examples we can have. For instance, if two people who speak different languages observe the same event, they may interpret it in different ways because of the differences in each language. I think that is very interesting for many reasons. It can make us aware of the diversity around us, but most importantly, I think it can help us to understand why others think differently from us and why we think the way we do. It is to say, why do we give things the meaning we do?

      Great observations

    1. Rhetoric the art of persuasion and poetry being the art of imitation. The two forms were integrated . language that makes abundant use of figures of speech and language that aims to be powerfully persuasive.  Poetry can be defined through the relationship of the author to the speaker, and by extension, that of the speaker to the reader.it is crucial to make the distinction between the voice that speaks the poem and the poet who created it, for the author may not be intending for their voice to narrate.Rhetorical devices are used to exaggerate and sometimes the human experience. Culler means to treat poems on a different level than other forms of rhetoric. Poems are simply explorations in poetry through the use of those rhetorical devices, and at their basest sense, are attempts at creating meaning from our experiences.

      This is a good summary of Culler's distinction between rhetoric and poetry.

    1.  literature opens our eyes and makes us see more than just what the front door shows. It helps us realize the wide world outside, surrounding us. With this, we begin to learn, ask questions, and build our intuitions and instincts. We expand our minds. Literature means interpretation according to Jonathan Culler. Language expresses that existing idea by culler theory. Every language has its own influence and action of its speakers. The important point is when anyone has learned a new language is stuck in many ways. Culler states three different dimensions there are the meaning of the world. Culler states that the meaning of work is that the accomplished what the writer thinks during the process of writing and what the writer’s thinking at some moment in writing. It is about what people understand in the text. Culler says meaning is context bound but context is boundless. People’s cognition of such a symbol is often related to their experience or education , because people’s cognition of words is endowed with meaning. Language has certain limitations on the author’s way of expression that are limited by the rigidity of language. When reading literary works, the most important thing is how the author analyzes the situation.Talking about the use of language, two things are important – Displacement and Open-endedness. literature sources from way back in history to give them at least some examples of language of that time. A single literary source, such as an old epic, will not show every peculiarity of the language used, both written and spoken, at that time, but it is at least something to start with when you’re trying to find out what the language was like back in those days.

      Yes, these are good points!

    1. I found that metaphor is the main rhetoric technique of this poem. The wreck represents women’s rights and social class, which is neglected in a male-neglected society. The wreck is in the deep see. The same is true of women’s rights.

      Here you are making an analogy between what's in the poem and society. For this to be a metaphor, the speaker of the poem would have to say something like "the wreck is society"

    2. een used in our daily life. Take irony as an example, imagine one lady coming out of a salon with a new hairstyle and it suddenly rained, ruining her new hairstyle. She said, “what a nice weather”. But actually, she was complaining. I think this is an example of how irony rhetoric technique is used in our life, which is a verbal way.

      Ha!

    1. From the chapter “Literature, Meaning, and Interpretation”, one of the ideas that strikes me as interesting regarding the relationship between language and meaning is the method of reading literature works, which is the combination of poetics and hermeneutics. The author made the concepts of these two methods clear to us. The poetics is based on the attested meaning and aims to find out what have to be accounted and how the meaning is achieved. However, hermeneutics is based on the forms of the literature works and aims to discover new and better interpretation of the it. Poetics and hermeneutics are often combined to read literature works. I believe reading literature works by both of these methods is important and helpful for us to grasp and discover the meaning that we find in the literature works. Only when we know how the attested meaning is achieved by learning every part of the literature work will we have a better understanding of this, which I think is the basis of seeking to discover the new interpretation. Just like our annotations assignments, we read the poems, note what this part or that part is talking about and grasp what the author wants to deliver. After we have a basic understanding of this, we can read the poems again and try to think deeply.

      This a very good summary of Culler's argument.

    1. The sea is history” written by Derek Walcott, the author implies that time locks the history up, but there is no physical barrier which stop people from found it, the author is actually means that all the container of memory, culture, history, are buried under the sea and have been forgotten, as time goes by, these records have become a part of the sea, and the sea have become their container forever until someone discover them and dig them out.

      Yes, this is a good close reading of this image.

    1. As a result, reading is like an unknown chemistry reaction, when writer and reader’s idea crash together, you have no idea what would come out eventually.

      This is a very interesting way to put this idea.

    1. Derek expresses that the tribal history is not existing,  and it may not record. All monuments, battles and martyrs have disappeared, but the sea is not. The sea is always seen, then the sea is history. 

      Good point, but how does the metaphor work?

    1. I think this metaphor is indicating that even we function ostensibly normally, during our lifetime, we are getting experiences that are harming us not only physically, but especially physically. If somebody will badly disappoint us or hurt us, our trust will probably be harmed. In the future, then, after our experiences, we will be more careful and maybe even unfair or skeptical towards other people that do not have anything to do with our past. We can still feel or have all kinds of emotions, but the emotions are usually somehow affected by our previous experiences.

      This is a good close reading of this image.

    2. we are the half-destroyed instruments.

      Very interesting choice

    1. if my thoughts are limited in one or the other language. My answer is definitely no. I believe that learning and understanding a new language is closely related to reading or studying literature. Learning English was especially challenging for me, for its phrasal verbs or idioms, and so I had to open my mind a bit and think more abstractly to understand the meaning. It is not only about the language itself but also about its value-added because of conventions, history, or cultural habits that are an integral part of each language. But it does not mean that I can not use one or the other language to precisely express my thoughts. I think it is just about the knowledge of the language and, of course, it is easier if you know even the intercultural connections. In t

      Very interesting to read about your personal experience with respect to this chapter.

    1. e state of the boat, which may not be equivalent to what she has perused or found out about it. The tried and true way of thinking about the boat may just be a legend. Not long before she shows up at the disaster area, she pictures to herself the likeness of a female face that was cut on the fore of the old cruising transport, which consistently looked upward, and she thinks about the harm the disaster area has gone through in all the years it has spent submerged, with only a skeleton of its structure remaining. As recently expressed, rhetoric is firmly connected to poetry.

      Which figure of speech is she using here?

    1. we do have proof that one language makes ‘common’ or ‘ordinary’ contemplations that require a unique exertion in another.

      This is an important point.

    1. I think the most interesting claim Culler makes is that literature is more about what the reader interprets that what the author thought of when writing because literature and linguistics focus on structure more than they do meaning.

      An important point.

    1. the ladder here is what the society believes in the woman rights and her role as a part of it.

      What you are doing here is giving an allegorical reading of this line. The line itself is not a metaphor. For this to be a metaphor Rich would have to say something like "the ladder is society" or something like that.

    1. In Jonathan Culler’s Chapter “Rhetoric, Poetics, and Poetry” The two figures that really stand out to me was metaphor and metonymy. He states “Metaphor is thus a version of a basic way of knowing: We know something by seeing it as something” I think most people are familiar with what a metaphor is because its not only in poems but its in everyday life . In everyday life we use a metaphor to understand and see things better. In the other hand Culler also states ” Metonymy produces order by linking things in spatial and temporal series, moving from one thing to another within a given domain” This basically is a figure of speech where one thing along with another is associated. In the poem “Diving into the Wreck” By Adrienne Rich one place i identified a poetic technique is when she says “And i am here, the mermaid whose dark hair streams black, the merman in his armored body” In this sentence i was able to identify both metonymy and a metaphor. Identified metonymy because as she states a mermaid she then states hair and when she states a merman she then states his armored body, when you think about it those things are associated with each other because when you think of a mermaid you think of long hair and when you think of a merman you think about a man’s body strength. I also believe that the author is using a metaphor because as she is progressing in the poem she then becomes a male and a female. Here we are seeing a diver become something more than when the poem started. This technique is important to me because i was able to understand the poem more. It helped shaped the meaning of the poem more because i was able to understand growth which is what i think the poem is about.

      Excellent work here.

    2. And i am here, the mermaid whose dark hair streams black, the merman in his armored body” In this sentence i was able to identify both metonymy and a metaphor.

      Yes!

    1. In chapter 4 Language meaning and interpretation, I learned that meaning can be understood by the author’s intention, the text itself and the content or the reader. The most interesting part of this chapter for me is language and thought. I found this section very interesting because like Culler says “language offers ways of expressing pre-existing thoughts” I relate to this statement because my first language is spanish, I was taught spanish at home from my parents then learned english in school. As a person whos first language was spanish I mostly have thoughts in spanish first. Culler also mentions that “speakers and readers can be brought to see through and around the settings of their language, so as to see a different reality” I agree with this statement because with different languages we can learn other’s cultures and see things different then what we are used to, it makes it more interesting to read.

      Very interesting points.

    1. In the poem “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott, we can identify poetic technique that Culler describes in chapter 5 and the first four lines in this poem illustrate that fact. in the first line he asks, “where are your monuments, your battles, martyrs?” He wants to attire our attentions by expressing an emotion that push us to think and develop our knowledge about the past events. In the second line he also asks, “where is your tribal memory?”, he uses convention of unity to give correlation between these two lines and he ends the second line by using the world “sirs” that is an important feeling of responsibility. In the third line, he says all these things are “in that grey vault”. He employs the words “grey” to express the color that is more perceptible by the readers and use “that” to show the closeness of the vault. Also, he repeats two times the words “sea” to be understood by the readers and we can interpret the “sea” as equal to the time, the past and the history where everything is consumed and would finally disappear. In the fourth line he writes that “has locked them up” by making allusion to the sea. At the end, he writes that “The sea is History”, he uses metaphor to compare the sea to the history that can be considered as a place where everything is stocked and finally would disappear. In this part of the poem, the author doesn’t use contrast but use a logical continuity to express his ideas. This procedure creates meaning of the poem and let readers follows the flow of the rhyme.

      This is a good close reading of these lines.

    1. Also, in some particular situation our differences, for example our culture or origin can influence to the interpretation of the text, we can see or read the text in different angles. In addition, language of literature is one of the ways to learn how we can articulate words and give signification to the words.

      This is an important point.

    1. Every write uses different contexts to portray their message in a better way and they use different languages with different meanings. One of the things that really stood out to me was how the words can have different meanings and connotations based on the context of the story and how they convey different messages in the story.

      Can you think of an example?

    1. The persona says “We are, I am, you are by cowardice or courage the one who find our way back to this scene carrying a knife, a camera a book of myths in which our names do not appear” is symbolic of the struggles people have especially from historical injustices that have very few recorded instances of personal experiences.

      But, how does this relate to your discussion of metaphor?

    1. onvey meanings with one another. With a more established and well-organized language use, the language policy can function better for the barriers will be fewer. Still, it can never be a perfect determining factor since the readers’ experiences can, at times, be insubordinate. The notion of intellectual competence draws attention from the implied understanding that readers involve in their experiences with narratives. However, the variation of meaning is simple with better pronunciation. In their early lives as kids, many people get hardships speaking even in their native languages, true to what Culler says in chapter 4 that one might have meant to say x, but what they say literally implies y. They end up being misunderstood and depressed that they decide to stop talking. The same way some people are better in arithmetic and practical classes than they like theory classes. They may experience difficulties coping with narratives, maybe because they feel their cerebral are not mature when it comes to words or only because they lack the attitude. But all the same, they have to work hard to adjust since language is compulsory.

      Interesting points here

    1. The sea is history”

      This is a metaphor.

    2. I found metaphor as a main rhetoric technique and this is the interesting for me. In the middle line of poem, Walcott says that sad and mournful songs could be heard from the seabed and the mournful songs have been sung by the slave women

      This is not a metaphor

    1. peaker and meaning of a text which represents an unknown speaker making an utterance. Language doesn’t provide labels for pre-existing categories as it generates its own categories speakers and readers can be brought to see through and around the settings of their language, in order to see alternate reality. Meaning is directed to a great extent by setting and experiences.

      I'm not sure what you mean here.

    2. Jonathan

      Culler

    1. I believe he compares some of the most important positions in the country to tiny creatures that implying  no matter how small the country is or how lowly the people living in it are, as long as the country can independently develop and free write its own real history.

      This would be an example of allegory.

    1. The sea is History.

      This is a metaphor

    2. But what I think the author is trying to say when he basically compares the sea and history to one another is that both share a major similarity; many things can easily vanish in both.

      This is interesting

    1. And then I began to think of this detailed wreck, “whose breasts still bear the stress whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies obscurely inside barrels half-wedged and left to rot”, as a metaphor for a person’s introspection.

      Focus on what you set out to do: identify and talk about synecdoche and/or metonymy. Does this image evoke either of these concepts? How?

    1. The reason it is a metaphor is that it is essentially using a thing seen as representative or symbolic of something.

      For it to be a metaphor she would need to say one thing is like or similar to another thing.

    1. Rich displays metaphor in her use of the texts wreck, damage and treasures. Rich signifies throughout the poem that although she endured abuse from the patriarchal society, she was able to gain a sense of identity and self-discovery through diving into the events that led her to herself.

      Where does she make this connection explicit in the poem?

    1. How describing something can bring us to visualize something but actually refer to something else. Dereck Walkot uses metaphor in his first paragraph, referencing the sea as a ” grey vault” that would keep in “the monuments and the battles” the author asks to see. It can be easily visualized that the monuments are boats that sank from battles, trapped forever and preciously kept by the sea

      But, how does this work as a metaphor? It seems like you're just talking about imagery.

    2. Dereck Walkot uses many of them all along his poem to refer to historical events, only calling the name of an object appearing in biblical events or implicitly referring to history’s past actions.

      What is one example?

    1. “the sea to history”,

      Concentrate on this line/concept. How does it fit the definition of metaphor?

    1. Metaphor was used in the poem “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott, “and the furred caterpillars of judges examining each case closely.” I see comparison in this metaphor because of the word judge Walcott used. I felt like Walcott was comparing something big and important to something small as a caterpillar which is also important. This metaphor was inspiring because even if you may feel low and smaller than someone or something just know that you are still important to everyone. This helps shape the meaning of the poem because already Walcott used metaphor multiple times in the poem however, I felt like “and the furred caterpillars of judges examining each case closely” was a deep metaphor. It gave a meaning to the poem which I found interesting. 

      Metaphor usually signifies a relationship between two things that are dissimilar or not usually thought of as related. What you're writing about is definitely an example of personification, but I'm not sure what a caterpillar judging is a metaphor for.

    1. “The Sea is History”, he uses unique rhetorical figures at the beginning of the poem “in that grey vault. The sea. The sea has locked them up. The sea is History”  to show the charm of the poem. As Culler mentioned in the  chapter, Metaphor has been treated as basic language and the imagination because it is cognitively respectable, not inherently frivolous or ornamental,  it is the part which I am interested in. Literature depends on rhetorical figures but also on larger structures, particularly literary genres, genres are sets of conventions and expectations. poetry as word and act, the relative importance of different ways of viewing poems is that a poem is both a structure made of words and an event which is an act of the poet, an experience of the reader, an event in literary history. The extravagance of the lyric is another factor of rhetoric, lyric shows us the meaning of the story emerging from verbal patterning. You repeat words that echo in a rhythmical structure and see if a story or sense won’t emerge. Rhythmic words are the scandal of poetry that ‘contingent’ features of sound and rhythm systematically infect and affect thought. Interpreting the poem is the last rhetoric which Culler mentioned in chapter five, don’t treat the poem as we might a bit of conversation, a fragment that needs a larger context to explain it, but assume that it has a structure of its own.

      Interesting ideas here, but I wonder if you could focus on one and apply it to the poem.

    2. charm

      What do you mean by this?

    1. A good thing that was mentioned was that in rhetoric poems, you do, have to stop and think…think about the rhyme, think about the meaning of the rhyme and or what the rhyme meant. It also dawned on me that the use of rhythmic words are used in baby songs, and for a bright reason

      Say more about this. How would you describe what you have to stop and think about?

    1. ts off by asking a rhetorical question“Where are your monuments, your battles, martyrs? Where is your tribal memory? Sirs,”and than continues to point out specific events in history that took away people’s joy, freedom, tragic events kept happening one after the other and how time went by with no change being made until years past by. Now when we look back at these events we see them as history and we learned from the mistakes that happened and it really impressed me because I never really thought of poetry in this way I always assumed poetry would be

      Good points here.

    1. or swerve from ‘ordinary’ usage” this is such a great definition for a rhetorical figure by Culler. The use of metaphor is also great, all these things are used to attract the reader and keep them interested in the very thing they are reading. Metaphors are also described as a rhetorical figure. When reading “Diving into the wreck” by Adrienne Rich the use of metaphors is very apparent. Rich uses all types of metaphors to describe the inner personal struggle most women have to deal with. From gender norms and gender roles.

      Try to connect these two elements of your post more. Pick one metaphor from Rich's poem and show how it does the things you describe in the first paragraph.

    1. grey vault”.  I feel that this metaphor is so strong because of the visual that it conjures as well as the deep unknown of which it implies.  When we think of the deep expanse of the sea we are often struck with the archetypal feeling of mystery that the sea gives. The ocean is vast, seemingly everything and nothing all at once. There are many parts of the sea that have not been explored and these areas remained somewhat “sealed” in this unending “grey vault” of the sea. Hidden away waiting to be excavated.  This analogy serves as the perfect allegory for the horrors of the middle passage, trans-atlantic slave trade and colonial Black history as a whole. Many of our stories lie un-discovered both figuratively and literally in the sea.

      Excellent close reading of the poem

    1. which I would like to identify in “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott. Towards the start it is written: “First, there was the heaving oil, heavy as chaos; then, like a light at the end of a tunnel,” makes use of metaphor to give a very heavy atmospheric feeling as if something was brooding. This is abruptly followed by a juxtaposition of the light at the end of a tunnel, perhaps making usage of irony as one would not expect to see light in oil. He uses a clever comparison of darkness to oil to give it a tangible feeling since we can refer to what we know of oil and then uses irony to create an immediate contrast to this. The contrast undoes the effect he created with the metaphor in a manner I find suiting of a release of intense emotions. I believe this helped shape the meaning of the poem by creating a strong introduction and atmosphere for the rest of the poem to follow.

      This is a very good close reading of the poem.

    1. Readers have to analyze and think hard the language used in a work through connecting the language to the context, so as to understand meaning of a literary work by specific expressions of language

      Can you say more about what you mean here?

    1. As culler mentioned “a word. We can say that dance means “rhythmic and regular movement”, but what does this sentence mean?” It has both superficial and deep meanings. Therefore, when we are reading or studying, we must analyze and connect the semantic meaning of the context to analyze what the author wants to say and what it means.

      Could you say more here? I'm not sure what you mean exactly.

    1. But ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ language we choose, where we don’t need to make more effort to express our thought but if it is different, then it is difficult in expressing actual thoughts. Language may be different, but the thought is centered and willing to express within the same set of surroundings.

      I'm not sure what you mean here

    1.    I see that the most interesting idea in this chapter is the part that relates to “language and thought.” As Culler says that there is a theory that says “language expresses the existing ideas by providing methods for this.” So language and thought interact in many significant ways, thought comes first, while language is an expression of what we think. Also each specific language has its own influence on the thought and action of its speakers. Likewise, according to Culler, Expressing ideas that we think are easy and natural in our language may require a great effort from us to express them in another language. This brings us to an important point, anyone who has learned more than one language is struck by the many ways in which languages differ from one to another. I think that this part reminds me of myself when I started learning languages other than Arabic. Sometimes it was very difficult for me to express what I was thinking in English, I felt like my thoughts were frozen, and other times I couldn’t express them at all. Therefore, Culler mentions that literary works often try to reconfigure ideas in order to be able to express things that we did not expect to think of before. The relationship between language and thinking is often a strong one, but literature generates other ideas so we can see a different reality.

      Very insightful

    1. Culler sited several pointers on how to define the meaning of language. In my opinion, language has various disciplines, meaning of the word, the use of words and utterances, differences, and contrast in some situations. Meanwhile study, reveals that there are at least three different dimensions or levels of meaning: The meaning word, of an utterance, and of a text. The meaning of the words contributes to the meaning of an utterance which is an act by a speaker. Finally, the text which here represents, an unknown speaker making difficult utterances its potential to affect readers the general meaning is based on the difference.  The one that struck me the most is the Saussure theory of language which says, a language is a system of differences. What makes each element of a language what it is, what gives its identity, is the contrast between it and other elements within the system of the language as sited in an analogy. Here, it didn’t emphasize the physical features of the train but instead focus on the difference in the time schedule of arrivals and departures from the different points of origin and destinations. I am therefore enlightened by the author’s definition of language. “Each language is a system of concepts as well as forms: a system of conventional signs that organizes the world. (Culler.59). Likewise, I believe it will be a great help for me as I venture with my studies regarding literature. 

      Very insightful

    1. What caught my attention the most was actually the correlation Culler made between language and thought. Specifically, the “extreme view” that comes from the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, that states what we think is governed by what language we speak. When he mentions, “Whorf argued that the Hopi Indians have a conception of time that can’t be grasped in English”(pg60), I was baffled. How hard could it be to translate seconds, days, and years? Just after that, Culler says that the French have no corresponding word to English’s “pets”. Does this mean that French people lack animal companions, furry and otherwise? Of course not! (I know, I’ve seen it.) Fun fact: the closest translation you can get in French would be “animal de compagnie”. Which when literally translated into English becomes “animal of company”; I personally find this a far more fitting description of, say, a dog. And there it is! To some, the term “pet” may seem demeaning – just some thing you own. In this context, it might appear odd to view “man’s best friend” as something you just happen to buy at the local pet store; like buying a t.v. from Best Buy. “Animal of company”, now there is a term that commands respect and shows appreciation. I’m beginning to understand exactly why translators often say “there’s no word for it in English”, or, “the closest it comes to is/ a rough translation is”. Language is heavily influenced by the speaker’s view of the world. I’m reminded of my frustration with Spanish, and its insistence of assigning genders to inanimate objects. Is a bicycle called a “bicicleta” (“a” being female) because it looks feminine?

      This is a very interesting account of how you related to ideas in the chapter.

    1. I mostly learned from this chapter that we didn’t learn individual words and their meanings but we also learned rules of grammar that help us put those words into sentences in a sensitive way. Another topic from this chapter is language codes which are special “grammars” of specific languages, for example, rules for creating words and sentences,  sounds for communicating meaning and rules for uttering those sounds, This chapter clearly explains that people activate languages when they perceive the real environment and that this language information impacts how speakers of different languages concentrate their attention.

      Very insightful

    1. An idea from the chapter, “Literature, Meaning, and Interpretation,” by Jonathan Culler that I found most interesting regarding the relationship between language and meaning was the role of intention in the determination of literary meaning. Culler argues that interpretation of an authors work is not settled by consulting the author, but by what he or she was able to successfully embody in the work. I found this to be interesting because I agree with this theory  that literary works are open to interpretation by the reader based on what the author was able to deliver. I believe that oftentimes, the message that the reader or audience takes away from the authors work is different from what the author initially desired to deliver. This does not mean that the author failed to deliver their message in a successful way, but proves a point that it is truly important for authors to communicate exactly what they desire for the reader to grasp. However, authors sometimes intentionally leave endings ambiguous for readers to interpret.

      Very important points about the slippery nature of interpretation here.

    1. The Saussure theory is based on the fact that the word we attribute to an object gives it importance and recognition. But as Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” English not being my mother-tongue, I had to learn as an adult to attribute words to objects that were meaningless to me when I was reading or seeing them. Imagine reading a menu with fish listed at a restaurant. As much as salmon is almost the same in French “saumon,” I had to wonder what will arrive on my plate when I ordered the sea bass. Nowheredays with the language evolution, we can easily find words borrowed from other languages; English often pick some words from French when it comes to cuisine, literature, fashion vocabulary. But this is where it gets complex; does this word has been borrowed correctly, or as it lost its original meaning for a new one imposed? And I can assure you that it is the second option that applies, most often, losing all the roots and the original rhetoric of the word, unfortunately. Finally, taking three words of an object with the same function but different values due to the name it has been given to show how language can be versatile. Let’s take a throne, a chair, and a stool. They do have the purpose of seating, but if we were to read that the king sat on his majestic stool, the image created in our mental projection would be less impressive than the one of a King sitting on his magnificent throne. What if when we decided the name of things, a throne was named a stool, and a stool a throne?

      This is very insightful!

    1. But, I think a better language can order it’s simple for the meaning transformation. As to understand meaning of a literary work by specific expressions of language, a readers must need to analyze and think about it seriously that the language used in a work with connecting the language to the context. I think the system of understand the meaning and work that will be an interesting experience for reader’s to gain knowledge which connect to the work that plant to reflect.

      I'm not sure what you mean here

    1. aning of the word. The second dimension addresses the possible meanings of words that contribute to the meaning of an utterance, which is an act by the speaker. The third dimension is text, something the author has constructed, and its meaning is not a proposition but what it does, its potential to affect readers. It is important to look at the whole picture while reading a text, not just the literal language that the author used, the same literal language in the different pictures may present a totally different meaning. I was interested in how language can be a system of differences, his theory of language states that “what makes each element of a language what it is, and what gives it its identity, are the contrasts between it and other elements within the system of the language” (58). Since language is a system of signs and the key facts, Saussure calls this “arbitrary nature of the linguistic sign”, which means the sign is a combination of a form and a meaning, and the relation between form and meaning is based on convention, not natural resemblance. Each language is a system of concepts as well as forms: a system of conventional signs that organize the world. Meaning is the experience of a subject and a property of a text; what we understand and what we try to understand

      This is a very good summary of the chapter

    1. What stood out to me was his mention of the correlation between language & the people who put the words together…the mention that when analyzing any writing it’s very important to understand the background of the piece, like where the person is from, how they view life, asking yourself what is the true meaning behind a particular word or sentence even beyond what it SEEMS to mean on the outside, etc…I think meaning behind language is very important to catch on to, so you can have a better interpretation of the hidden message.

      Yes, the idea of context is very important.

    1. his intrigued me because I never thought of language as any deeper than just a means of communication. Culler later says that some languages such as English can’t express a conception of time due to the restrictions from our language. Culler goes on to say “There seems no way of demonstrating that there are thoughts of one language that can’t be thought or expressed in another” which is true, in Spanish, there aren’t any gender-neutral way to address someone, unlike English. As years go by languages like Spanish adapt to changes and create new words to describe things like gender.

      This is really interesting

    1. Personally, Culler’s thoughts on how different languages take on the culture that either bore or informed them brings to mind the classic argument towards the subjectivity of comedy. It makes me think about how some jokes that we find funny here in the states might not “work” if we were to take them to another country. To be honest, some jokes specific to different cultures in THIS country would not work if done to a crowd that didn’t consist of a majority of that demographic. For example a joke that reflects a specific facet of working class Latino culture might not work when told to a majority Caucasian-American audience. Does this mean that the joke is no longer funny? No, it just denotes that the language used has been given different meaning.

      This is very insightful.

    1. When I’m having a conversation with someone in Spanish the words can convey the same meanings a conversation in English would have.

      But, also think about when you switch between Spanish and English. Why do you switch? Is it something about the meaning you're trying to convey in whatever language you choose?

    2. They use different styles of language to better portray the message the author intended them to have.

      Yes!

    1. The racial perspective is a reinterpretation of iconic black civil rights photographs. I agree with Berger, whose groundbreaking and groundbreaking research shows how these photographs aroused white sympathy, paving the way for civil rights legislation and effectively limiting the scope of the 1960s race reform. Berger analysis for many of the famous image of peace – a dog and a fire hose to Birmingham black marchers, tear gas and have the right to vote against Selma demonstrators waving the club – and argues that because of the white sympathy is dependent on the helpless black photos, so memorable picture is damaged, or even imagine of reform efforts, these reforms could derail the racial balance of power

      Interesting ideas here. Try to formulate this into a thesis statement.

    1. it is quite true as these days everyone are in their own world and with hear phones they are controlling what they want to hear, but not the things happening around them. it’s because of time that everyone change. as the new technology come people became more and more connected but separated at the same time. we keep what we want to hear and others also have their own what they want to hear.

      This is interesting. Can you say more and include a quotation?

    1. We live in such a prosperous metropolis, to avoid the noise affecting us, ignoring the noise is more from our judgment of the noise.

      This is a run-on sentence.

    1. In his podcast, Krukowski and his guests point out how people are completely caught up with their phones and headphones that they don’t even notice the space around them. Jeremiah Moss describes this as “a private kind of bubble in which to move through public space”. In my own experience, I do witness many other people moving around in these bubbles, but I choose to walk around without headphones. The noises of New York was part of the appeal of the city for me. Every day I used to walk out my door and hear the men on my apartment stoop blasting music having conversations. I enjoy the honking of cars and buses and the rustle of the subway, but many others like to drown out the noise. However, it is interesting to note that these past seven months have been different for NYC sounds. The ambulance sirens have a different meaning. The outdoor noise has become quieter, and the men that used to hang out on my stoop have disappeared. The soundscape of NYC has changed as people are confined to stay inside.

      This is a very probing analysis of this situation.

    1. Krukkowsi says ” Are you really here in this crowd with me? On this sidewalk , Moving together like we are all in the same wave.”

      Nice use of this quote.

    1. history shows, writers and photographers have played a big role in how we see society as a whole.photographer and journalists another people can give and shows the truth of what is happening in the world, however, know one can  never know whether what you are seeing is the whole truth. In the video ” Seeing the Race”, Martin Berger reveals how during the 1950s and 1960s photos of black people during the civil rights movement were used for comforting white people. Because most of the writers and photographers were white, they lean to show black people as the victims and can’t fight for their rights. Berger stated “ the photographs allowed white viewers to feel secure, and therefore more amenable to change”, and in illustrating blacks as victims, However, they never showed the strong side of them. their perseverance and the protest to get their rights.

      Very interesting ideas here, even if your sentences need some work. How would you formulate this into a thesis statement?

    1. I agree with Berger, who is not only focused on the significance of these visual images in garnering support for the black civil rights struggle but focuses that the way of documentary photographs of that era reveals as much about whiteness as they do about blackness.

      Look again at the "Ways of Responding" chapter and review how the authors describe formulating a response in agreement.

    1. According to the book “seeing through race” , Berger explained that about how white people discriminate black people and their right during the civil war (1950-1960) era.  At that  time,  white people wanted to  deprive all  discrimination activities and image of during the nonviolence protesting from social media. They  wanted to show black people’s violence. Most of  photographers, editors were controlled by them so real picture and story very hardly came out. However, some of images of civil war and  news were represented  the social media which helped them to get their own right. I highly agree with Berger that social medial  images are utterly powerful  to convince  to other people about what exactly happening there. Recently, we have evident about GOERGE FLOYED who killed by police brutality.  many protesters pros tested against the police brutality when people saw cruel image of Floyd’s. If that picture didn’t came out in social media  , nobody couldn’t protest. Even  some news channel wanted hided that picture.

      This is an interesting argument. How would you formulate it as a thesis statement?

    1. I think that photos showing black people as victims not only attract white people visually, but also promote racial reform in society. These photos make white viewers feel safe. What’s more, they maybe think from the perspective of equality for everyone, rather than the perspective of race first. That will make whites think that blacks who are victims also need to be protected and are equal to them. Therefore, that will make it easier to promote civil rights and racial reform.

      This is an interesting point of view, but could you formulate your thoughts here as a thesis statement?

    1. I concur with Berger’s theory about how the use of certain photographs was meant to appeal to white viewers because it helps demonstrate how white people have tried to maintain the power and supremacy they have had over black individuals throughout history.

      Great job!

    1. I agree with Berger that editors of newspapers and magazines choose photos based on their perception to attract white readers. In the 20th century, most white editors would choose photos with black Americans as victims in order to promote the interests of black Americans and not threaten whites. It can be seen that the editors hope to stimulate the emotions of white people and try their best to resolve the long-standing racial problem. In addition, it can be seen that the race issue is still very serious about George Floyd. There are too many black Americans who speak out for racial equality in the media pictures. The world is working hard for the issue of racial equality. The choice of pictures is very important to convey information. If you choose not carefully, it may intensify conflicts. Even though the white editor’s selection seems to weaken black Americans, it helped the racial movement.

      Good ideas here. How would you condense this into a thesis statement?

    1. I agree with Martin Berger because this kind of strategies still happing in social media today. For example, the death of  George Floyd where they only showed the violence that black has been causing in some protests and spread it everywhere but they never showed the other peaceful protest. This needs to change. The media need to cover what is happening and show everything 

      Good ideas here, and you are approaching a viable thesis statement. Look again at the Sheridan Baker Thesis Machine.

    1. According to the book “seeing through race ” during the 1950-60s time period white controlled new wanted to show the violence of black people which was for beneficial for them since white had the power. The real things what were happening to black people were hidden but recently they have been getting light shined on what was happening to the people. The killing George Floyd lead to the protesting against police brutality and unfair treatment of the people that have been going on for longer than it show that. This protesting also gave people the opportunity to ally themselves and speak up on things that they know were wrong.

      Very interesting and probing ideas, but could you formulate them into a thesis statement?

    1. I can agree with Berger’s argument as he states, in his article that newspapers and social media only show African Americans as victims. I agree with him because yes I feel like protesters, social media only do to show compassion for them instead of showing what’s really going and letting the truth be told. As now it happened with the case of Floyd, you will see African Americans posted everywhere why because they actually got together and stood up. still, news, social media, will make it seem yes there are the victims but yet there’s no respect for them. The whites editors that allow this want to make their audience believes blacks are victims in the worst way to get more (whites) audience.

      Interesting ideas here, but could you use the Sheridan Baker thesis machine to make a thesis statement?

    1. The colored people had hard time in the society which white people were taking control of. As it is said that every American have equal rights but we all know colored people were treated unfairly. The right to vote was one of the rights taken from colored people. As many white people back then were getting better education then the colored once. Many colored people were killed by the hands of white. Colored people were having peaceful protesters and police were biting on every colored man and women they saw. As you can see in the first photo there were colored people being bitten by white police man. In the second photo to sabotage the colored peoples march the vehicle was bombed as you can see smoke coming out of it’s doors. News paper have shown lot of pictures of colored people were brutally bitten by white people. In 3rd and 4th photo you can see white people are using any mean necessary to stop colored peoples peaceful protest.

      These are interesting ideas, but could you formulate this as a thesis statement?

    2. The colored people

      You should use the term African American.

    1. use different ways of thinking like Berger and influence the consciousness of modern people by analyzing the positive side of history, to eliminate the concept of race and realize the real racial fairness.

      This is interesting, but I'm wondering if you can be more specific.

    1. lthough it’s good to include and show pictures of the long-standing harsh fight of oppression against Black Americans, but why when their united, protesting what’s wrong and standing up for civil justice together, it goes ignored. The media purpose is having an image and although they like to be diverse by giving recognition to minorities, they still manage their image regardless.

      This is a really interesting and complicated idea, but look at your sentence structure again.

    1. No longer should we unconsciously show them in a light of being in an unequal position of power. We must be more discerning on what type of media we intake and continue to support and uplift our Black citizens so we can truly make a difference for them in their fight for equal rights.

      This is a well-articulated argument.

    2. According to Martin A. Berger, white owned newspaper and magazine owners during the times of the civil rights movement often selected photographs that catered to their white readers’ base even though the heart of the movement was supposed to be about fighting for African-Americans’ civil rights.

      Well put

    1. For society to continue advancing we need to clear balance between the positive and negative. The mainstream media need to highlight more positively within minorities instead of portraying only negative for it sets a certain stigma around POC that’s not necessarily appreciated.

      Excellent point. Try to connect this idea to the sentences a bit more tightly.

    1. According to the introduction of the book “Seeing through race”, Martin A. Berger states that the editors (who were mostly white) of newspapers and articles used photography pictures where the blacks were seen as victims in order for the whites to feel sympathy for them. I agree with Martin A. Berger because in today’s society it is still happening. For example, the whole George Floyd protests that were happening  weeks back, newspapers would report pictures of blacks in which were seen as victims and being beaten by the police. They did not show while the blacks marched together as one in order to show that they are fighting for their rights and justice to what had happened to George Floyd. Not too mention that there were many stories circulating around that he was armed or that he was not cooperating with the police offers when in reality, no one was reporting the true story. Newspapers then and now do not show the fact that they all march as one in order to fight for their rights and for justice of the inequality is happening in today’s society. Many would say that these newspapers and their photographs are simply trying to show you the reality of the news, but if that were the case then why show all the bad and make blacks seem like the bad people. Not too mention that they would make up so many stories and always leave some thing out making the blacks seem like “just another victim”.

      These are all interesting ideas, but how would you formulate this into a thesis statement?

    1.         Media has always had a powerful influence on readers. Readers beliefs are highly dependent on how media presents the story. Even though, some of pictures show how white mobs acted aggressively towards black activists, those pictures were ignored by white media. Therefore, the truth wasn’t reached to all readers. Unfortunately, we are still facing the fact that blacks are being discriminated and treated like second class citizens now. Recently we had issues similar to these in 1965. The killing of George Floyd shows we didn’t make much progress on the equalization of human rights as the struggles of black Americans still remain. Furthermore, media publishes only black violence, not how white officers use their weapons or their authority on innocent black people. I believe that Black Lives Matter is a instrumental movement in order to open people’s eyes. I hope it will change control of the media to not only show a specific narrative but give everyone a fair chance to find the truth.

      These are very interesting ideas, but try to formulate them using the thesis statement material from the syllabus.

    1. I agree with Berge because in today’s society for the BLM movement, George Floyd was the face of the movement; His story was all over the news, social media, etc. Showing black people as victims in today’s society makes white people feel more sympathetic in order to draw more media and news coverage. Another reason why I agree with Berge’s statement is because often the initial headlines are about what happened but not about the full story; the events leading up to the event. For example, the shooting of Breonna Taylor showed a black woman being shot by police breaking into her home and they painted Breonna as a victim. In reality, police officers shooted in self defense because Breonna’s boyfriend pulled a gun on police officers. Although this doesn’t justify what happen to Breonna Taylor, it is a prime example of how the media portrayed Breonna as a Victim and police officers as the “Bad Guys”.

      This is interesting. Look again at the "Ways of Responding" chapter in They Say/I Say for how to format a response that agrees with someone.

    1. According to the book “Seeing through Race”, Berger states that White Photographers are more likely to use pictures, videos, and photos that make Black People seem the victims. Even to this day, it is still happening. History has shown that it has happened before and it is still happening. The society we live in has create steriotypes that reflect on their reputation. Because of it, it branded them as what they are today. African Americans have been protesting everyday to make a change. The government has yet to make a Major change and Inequality is still happening among African Americans.

      Great ideas here, but look again at the thesis statement exercise and try to formulate this into a thesis statement.

    1. Today’s media is being overtly biased and dead set on preserving the status quo. My proposed remedy is for mainstream media to become active in the public condemning of racism and oppression of all forms. 

      Use the Sheridan Baer thesis statement worksheet to formulate this into a thesis statement.

    1. I believe Martin A. Berger’s argument is accurate and I agree because there are many evidences throughout history that have proven this argument. I believe that Berger is right about the white media giving more insight on black victims than black political actions because black Americans have been going through injustice and abuse for centuries. Those who are not familiar with black history may not agree, but it even is shown in today’s society. Berger’s argument of black Americans being shown more as victims rather then activist leaders is important because it gives more focus on the issue of racism that still exists in today’s society.

      These are interesting points, but go back to the "Ways of Responding" chapter in *They Say/I Say**. Look at what it says about responding by agreeing.

    1. I agree with Martin A. Berger he definitely has a point about the racial tensions that are present all around us in America.  He really digs deep into the oppressive structure of our society even today.  The media should show more Poc’s in prominent and influential positions and call out those institutions that are detrimental to the further advancement of Poc’s in our country.  I believe that the news and media today is to overly concerned with pushing their own specific narrative they should be more on the side of giving people a more honest depiction of what is actually happening in America.

      God points here, but try to formulate them into the thesis statement form.

    1. I strongly agree with Berger’s theory, mainly because of how big of a problem it is today. These communities have gone through years of oppression and were able to withstand some of the most difficult issues in history, just to be downplayed by media and seen as a marketing ploy. This constant narrative portrays these communities as weak and helpless, drawing the sympathy of millions, failing to highlight all the empowering and positive advancements within them. This is controversial because such images appeal more to white readers, which in turn results in heightened racial tensions because of how such touchy subjects are perceived by the black community. 

      This is a well organized response, but you may want to condense it a bit more to fit it into the thesis statement form.

    1. This narrative that Berger’s pointed out is still seen very much alive today as we see new images of the BLM protests. News outlets make the protesters seem violent and aggressive looters when in reality they are peaceful by taking many actions such as silent protests, petitions, organizations, etc. But, that’s not the narrative news outlets want people to see because it wouldn’t get as much attention. This is why I frankly agree with Berger’s outlook on the way people are perceived by news outlets and how things may seem one way when there is another side of the story.

      Well put

    1. Even in today’s media, you can see images of protesters being beaten by the police. Instead of lifting the voices of black people or showing images of these powerful individuals fighting for change, the media consistently decided to portray the protests with images of violence that ultimately discredits what the movement stood for and now what the Black Lives Matter movement stands for today.

      Great point