Journal Blog #2: When is it ok to copy in Art?

This week, we have been thinking about issues like intellectual property, copyright, and plagiarism. In terms of design, the laws on intellectual property are quite difficult to understand. When talking about the copyright of music, it is a big mess and the major record companies don't know what to do about people copying music and sampling it. In terms of copying published words, plagiarism rules are extremely strict and unchanging. Gladwell is asking us, why?

All of us copy, me included. I copy pictures from the internet everyday to prepare presentations. I burn music CDs for my friends. Copying and pasting are pretty routine, and I don't think about it much. However, in the world of academia in which I work and in which you study, it is clear that copying the words of others in research and writing is absolutely unacceptable and punishable. I don't know how to answer Gladwell's question.

In your view, when is it ok to copy Art? Why is it ok to copy some creations but not others? What is your view?

Make sure you include you ID# in your post. Aj. M

Journal Blog #1: What does Art mean to you?

Some of us might think about Art frequently. You may play the guitar or piano. Some may to paint and draw or have some technological skills to design graphics or games. Art may be something you do all the time.

But then some of us may not think about it much, yet still appreciate Art and can't imagine a world without it. We may see Art in the way Messi passes the football or in the way Bolt runs the 100m. We may see Art in the way a car is designed or in the fashion that we wear. Art is everywhere...

In this first journal blog, I would like to know how you experience Art. What does it mean to you?

Don't forget to include your ID# in your post. Aj. M

Journal Blog #5: What happens next?

We are nearing the end of the trimester...  we have come a long way. You read about a lot of issues regarding Health and Nutrition. You looked at areas that were interesting to you. We narrowed those areas down to a possible topic, brainstormed it, organized it, and put it into an Introduction that catches the reader's attention and tells us the clear point that you're looking to express.

So...  what happens next?

Where does your essay go from here? What are the best ideas you can think of to support your clear thesis statement. Don't feel pressure to write ALL of your ideas. Be picky! Think of your ideas and choose out the best ones... the ones that are most important and that are most likely to keep your reader reading.

In this journal blog, explain what happens next in your work.

Remember to include your ID# in your post. Aj. M

Journal Blog #4: What is your Category?

Now, you need to take this course where you want it to go. The only rule we have is our theme, Health and Nutrition. This includes a whole variety of ideas related to Economics, to Health, to Lifestyle, and Culture. It can also include ideas like mental health, happiness, motivation, and inspiration. I'm open to where you want to go. In this journal blog, let me know what you're thinking about.

I'm asking you here to tell me your Category. You don't need to know your exact topic yet, but let's start the process together. If you know more than your Category... let me know that too, and I'll help you to develop it further.

Remember to include your ID# in your post. Aj. M

Journal Blog #3: Try your best Introduction

We discussed in class different ways to start an essay. Starting is always the hardest part. You want to get words on that blank screen or page, but you also want to choose the right words that are going to give your reader a reason to read.

More than that, you have to inform you reader. You have to slowly, gently, and creatively pull the reader into the world of your essay. You may need to provide the statisitics or research. You may need to give the reader and example or two. You may have to tell the reader a story.

We practiced in class with two example topics: "men's body image" and "Thai street food." In this journal blog, post your best try at an Introduction. The best examples will be reviewed in class.

Remember to include your ID# in your post. Aj. M

Journal Blog #2: Nudge Nudge

In this part of our report on food and the obesity problem around the world, it discusses the obsession of dieting. An entire industry of media, tv shows, advertising, books, and companies have made a big profit on big people. Old adages like "just eat a balanced diet" and make sure you moderate your lifestyle with "good food and exercise" have been taken over by more extreme kinds of advice: no wheat! no starch! no trans-fat! no meat! VEGAN! and so on...

In our busier and more stressful lives, we look for short cuts to stay thin and join diet plans that have wholesale guarantees. When actually, the only thing we need to do is take a walk once a day... go play tennis with a friend... join a yoga group...  and then eat whatever you want.

In this journal blog, read Part 9 called Nudge Nudge. Identify the main idea of the essay. Identify the key points. Post your summary of it.

Remember to include your ID# in your post. Aj. M

Journal Blog #1: How has your diet changed since you were a kid?

The theme for this term in ERS is Health and Nutrition. We all like food. We all like our health. Our health depends almost totally on the food that we consume and then what we do to take care of it after. This term, we will read a report about changing diets around the world and the growing concerns about health and nutrition.

Thai food is famous. Thai food is something Thai people take enormous pride in. Yet, many worry that busy Thai people are turning to other fast food options: more salts, more fats, more sodas... more convenience. American fast food restaurants are finding success in Bangkok and around the country. This brings up concerns of health and changing diets among some groups of Thai people, and worries that they too might follow the unhealthy and obese trends we're seeing in the West.

The question for this first blog is: How has your diet (ie: the food that you eat) changed since you were younger? Has it changed at all? Or, have you made conscious decisions about what you eat, how much you eat, and so on. I'd like to know.

Remember to include your ID# in your post. I look forward to reading your thoughts. Aj. M

Journal Blog #4: What happens next?

By now, you would have an Introduction. This Introduction bring the reader into your world. It does this by presenting a kind of an anecdote about the point of your essay. It may do this by citing statistics, quotations, and research that show a surprising fact or trend or problem. Which ever way you do this, make sure your reader is hooked; the writing should make the reader wonder... be curious... and ask him or herself: So...   WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

What happens next? What are the ideas you will use to organize your Body Paragraphs? Don't just think of ideas. Think of GOOD ideas. Think of SURPRISING ideas. Think of ideas that we wouldn't normally think about. In the Introduction, you have to hook the reader's attention. In the Body, you have to keep the reader's attention.

For this final journal blog, please write your thesis statement and tell me what 3 or 4 body ideas you plan to use to support the thesis statement. Remember to include your ID# in your post. Aj. M

Journal Blog #3: What is your Area of Interest?

At this mid-point of our very fast Summer term, we have read 6 different essays and considered a variety of themes and ideas. Now, it is your job to jump from these ideas with your own interests.

In Journal Blog #1, you wrote about your Major and why you were interested in that subject. The best topics for a Final Essay can combine your own interests in your Major with the themes we have been looking at so far in ERS: Technology, Leadership, Health, Art, Inspiration, and Culture. Work to link your own interests with one of these themes to create a narrow topic for an essay of 2-3 pages.

In this Journal Blog, I would like to know about your Area of Interest, and then hopefully we can work to narrow further from there to develop the topic of your final assignment of the term.

Don't forget to include your ID# in your post. Aj. M

Journal Blog #2: What is your Writing Weakness?

Writing is hard. Writing takes time. Writing takes effort and care, and it is a riddle of rules and wrongs. You have to worry about capitalization, punctutation: commas and comma splices. Run on sentences...  Fragments...  Adjective phrases... Participials...  partici- WHAT!!??

Why would anyone like writing? Well...  I guess it is because it is the way we make words last. It is the way we record the things we think. When we say something out loud, we usually forget what we said later. Written words stick. Written words matter. Writing is important. Writing is hard.

In this journal blog, apart from the craziness of grammar, what is your weakness in writing?

Include your ID# in your post.