For our research project my group has chosen to examine the tradition of Alaska Native Storytelling. This is something that as a group we all seemed interested in and that should make it all the more fun. I feel that this topic is extremely important given the decaying state of Alaska Native Languages and, as there is no current page on Wikipedia that defines this topic, I think that the information should be made available to the entire world.
Of course, considering the subject, I have found myself asking many questions.
-Why is Alaska Native Storytelling so important?
-What life lessons or traditions are passed down and taught though these stories?
-What key significant factors are used in the creation and retelling of the stories?
I hope to answer these and many more questions before the conclusion of this project.
As this is to be a combined research project my group decided to split up the research into pieces so that we would be able to effectively research all aspects of our topic. In this situation I have been tasked with exploring the connections between life lessons in the stories, the origins of the stories, and whether or not the stories can be traced to a specific tribe. These questions I think are extremely important if we are to get a full understanding of Alaska Native Storytelling.
When it comes to actually creating our page, I think we will all work together on general planning and layout. Then as Tyler and I are more comfortable with computer use, the two of us will be working to get the information entered and posted to Wikipedia.
At this time I have completed a lot of research on this subject online and by locating “classic” texts related to Native Storytelling. Shockingly I was able to find much more than my fair share in a relatively short amount of time. As per our request, Lance Twitchell has agreed to meet with us next week and will provide information on our topic as well as answer questions for us. This should allow us to really achieve a deeper understanding of our topic as well as make it more thorough.
For my time-line I will be sticking to our project guidelines and completing every piece as quickly as possible for, I believe that, by the time our research is complete we will have a vast amount of data to combine, organize, and publish. As it just so happens, my working schedule has been rearranged and, I will be able to devote a considerable amount of time to the successful completion of this project. Also at my side I have a great group of people that will be assisting with nearly every step! Thanks Guys!!!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Reading Response: Politics and the English Language
“Politics and the English Language” written by George Orwell posed an enlightening and interesting read for me this week. This text, it would seem, has been written to educate the apparent ignorant masses that Orwell found himself surrounded by in his day and age on the so-called “correct use” of English and touches on many subjects in written and spoken English language.
While much of the information contained in this piece does somewhat educate the reader on the proper use of certain functions in the English language and how to apply them correctly, it is almost all completely one sided. Sadly, Orwell comes across as arrogant and above the rest of society as he makes his argument that English is “in a bad way” and used incorrectly.
His description of things like “dying metaphors, pretentious diction, and meaningless words” leads the reader down a self righteous path of “what it is” and “how it should be”. His use of passages taken form other authors written text does incorporate a feeling that some writing is not what it should be, however instead of guiding the reader and explaining the indifference Orwell seems to seek placing blame and demonstrating that minds of his caliber don’t exist or they wouldn’t write like this.
While this piece is written to supposedly address the use of English in Politics, it really comes across as him trying to dictate how language should be used by everyone, in every situation, and in every writing style. Could you imagine trying to creatively write something without these so called “Meaningless Words” used to describe a scene, setting, or object? Or to not be able to use “Pretentious Diction” to elaborate to your reader?
His argument of the “Not un-” formation of writing I felt was sound but any then it sounds so ridiculous to think that anyone would write like that anyway. The example used by Orwell “A not unblack dog was chasing a not unsmall rabbit across a not ungreen field” is hilarious (and scary), however hardly used in the common language of today. Perhaps this came about because Orwell chose to write about it?
After reading this, I did find myself questioning my use of language and metaphor in my everyday life. However, I am not a politician, I don’t write political documents, debates or laws so I don’t feel that I should allow the words of George Orwell to affect my skill advancement in my “generally” creative writing style…
Sorry Orwell!
While much of the information contained in this piece does somewhat educate the reader on the proper use of certain functions in the English language and how to apply them correctly, it is almost all completely one sided. Sadly, Orwell comes across as arrogant and above the rest of society as he makes his argument that English is “in a bad way” and used incorrectly.
His description of things like “dying metaphors, pretentious diction, and meaningless words” leads the reader down a self righteous path of “what it is” and “how it should be”. His use of passages taken form other authors written text does incorporate a feeling that some writing is not what it should be, however instead of guiding the reader and explaining the indifference Orwell seems to seek placing blame and demonstrating that minds of his caliber don’t exist or they wouldn’t write like this.
While this piece is written to supposedly address the use of English in Politics, it really comes across as him trying to dictate how language should be used by everyone, in every situation, and in every writing style. Could you imagine trying to creatively write something without these so called “Meaningless Words” used to describe a scene, setting, or object? Or to not be able to use “Pretentious Diction” to elaborate to your reader?
His argument of the “Not un-” formation of writing I felt was sound but any then it sounds so ridiculous to think that anyone would write like that anyway. The example used by Orwell “A not unblack dog was chasing a not unsmall rabbit across a not ungreen field” is hilarious (and scary), however hardly used in the common language of today. Perhaps this came about because Orwell chose to write about it?
After reading this, I did find myself questioning my use of language and metaphor in my everyday life. However, I am not a politician, I don’t write political documents, debates or laws so I don’t feel that I should allow the words of George Orwell to affect my skill advancement in my “generally” creative writing style…
Sorry Orwell!
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Cove - Critical Review
The lights go down and a cool, dark stillness creeps through the room on cat‘s paws. The only light passes through an open window shackled and chained into a corner by the walls that hold it. Great attention is being placed upon a television in the center of the room and, almost, all eyes watch in anticipation. Images begin to form on the screen, and suddenly a lighthouse appears to guide me on. My classroom is no more. I have been transported. I am far across the oceans of my world. I am in Japan. I am in Taiji. I am in pain.
The Cove is a documentary based on the whaling industry and the so-called “dolphin slaughter” that is happening in Taiji, Japan. It, in depth, describes the massive amounts of dolphins killed each year by the local Japanese “fishermen”. It also documents a cove located in Taiji where we can witness the tragic method used to capture the dolphins and the sickeningly brutal manner in which the dolphin slaughter takes place.
Hosted by Ric O’Barry this film bombards the viewer with information, however incomplete, at an alarming rate. Like an emotional rollercoaster this documentary keeps the viewer enthralled by providing information that causes a serious of emotional peaks and valleys. This, well thought out, information organization technique proves most effective. However, the films intended purpose is to “bring down” this industry and condemn them for their crime, and therefore is lacking, in many ways, complete information. Without further analysis outside of this film to locate this missing information, there are many questions left in my mind and, inevitably, the mind of most viewers.
As this film as been referred to, and accused of being a, Trojan Horse, for me that can only lie in the content of the subject matter and the manner in which it was presented. Upon viewing this film I felt it slowly eating away at the insides of me, even long after our class was over. I was unable to forget or to see what was happening now that my eyes had been opened to it. Of course there are other prejudices at play here. For instance; the American viewer has, most-likely, grown up in a society where the dolphin is a treasured and nearly sacred animal. This makes the subject matter almost instantly one sided. How could someone hurt our precious friend the dolphin? Why would someone do it? And the most common of human responses who can be punished for this!?
I think that in general the Japanese people had no true idea of what was going on. Did they know that dolphins were slaughtered in Japan? Probably. Did they know the extent or the brutality associated with this? I don’t think so. Human society tends to provide a great ability for “rational ignorance”. Rational ignorance, though usually used in Economics, states that if the cost of educating oneself on a particular subject enough to form an opinion outweighs the benefits of doing so, then rational ignorance happens and humans just don’t pay attention. I sure the Japanese people had some idea of what was happening but without the need to know more, they didn’t. This films does place a grim look on many people in Japan, but Taiji’s residents are not the whole country, and I do not see need to cast any blame without further understanding.
I hope that people will seek out the truth before deciding to cast their vote for or against Japan or the country’s people. This situation, like many others on Earth, needs to be studied properly and a better decision based upon all of the facts can be reached.
The Cove is a documentary based on the whaling industry and the so-called “dolphin slaughter” that is happening in Taiji, Japan. It, in depth, describes the massive amounts of dolphins killed each year by the local Japanese “fishermen”. It also documents a cove located in Taiji where we can witness the tragic method used to capture the dolphins and the sickeningly brutal manner in which the dolphin slaughter takes place.
Hosted by Ric O’Barry this film bombards the viewer with information, however incomplete, at an alarming rate. Like an emotional rollercoaster this documentary keeps the viewer enthralled by providing information that causes a serious of emotional peaks and valleys. This, well thought out, information organization technique proves most effective. However, the films intended purpose is to “bring down” this industry and condemn them for their crime, and therefore is lacking, in many ways, complete information. Without further analysis outside of this film to locate this missing information, there are many questions left in my mind and, inevitably, the mind of most viewers.
As this film as been referred to, and accused of being a, Trojan Horse, for me that can only lie in the content of the subject matter and the manner in which it was presented. Upon viewing this film I felt it slowly eating away at the insides of me, even long after our class was over. I was unable to forget or to see what was happening now that my eyes had been opened to it. Of course there are other prejudices at play here. For instance; the American viewer has, most-likely, grown up in a society where the dolphin is a treasured and nearly sacred animal. This makes the subject matter almost instantly one sided. How could someone hurt our precious friend the dolphin? Why would someone do it? And the most common of human responses who can be punished for this!?
I think that in general the Japanese people had no true idea of what was going on. Did they know that dolphins were slaughtered in Japan? Probably. Did they know the extent or the brutality associated with this? I don’t think so. Human society tends to provide a great ability for “rational ignorance”. Rational ignorance, though usually used in Economics, states that if the cost of educating oneself on a particular subject enough to form an opinion outweighs the benefits of doing so, then rational ignorance happens and humans just don’t pay attention. I sure the Japanese people had some idea of what was happening but without the need to know more, they didn’t. This films does place a grim look on many people in Japan, but Taiji’s residents are not the whole country, and I do not see need to cast any blame without further understanding.
I hope that people will seek out the truth before deciding to cast their vote for or against Japan or the country’s people. This situation, like many others on Earth, needs to be studied properly and a better decision based upon all of the facts can be reached.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
