November 19, 2009
My microwaved squash is better than your oven-baked squash
The third and final part of our paper is due in a little under one and a half weeks. As my audience has heard quite a bit about Catalan nationalism lately, I have decided to persuade my audience why they should eat my butternut squash that I am currently cooking in the microwave. I am also doing this because my mother does not approve of making squash in the microwave because the oven is “better”. She may receive an email link to my blog later this evening…
To begin, cooking squash in the microwave is easy and quick. As a college student on the go, I do not have the time to preheat my oven. Furthermore, cooking anything in the oven does not only take longer, but it also creates a mess. Something inherently goes wrong in the oven and I wind up needing to clean the oven, plus there is pan clean up duty after the squash has cooked in the oven. This clean up duty is much more difficult then the bowl that I cooked the squash in. It is easily put in the microwave instead of hand washed with elbow grease to get the caramelized sugar off of the dish. See below at the comparisons with dishwasher friendly v. non-dishwasher friendly items like this one: http://lighterportions.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/134.jpg
Aside from begin quick and easy, I can multitask without being concerned that it is overcooked. Namely, this is because microwaves shut off automatically, and mine in particular beeps incessantly if the food is not removed from the microwave. My oven does not even have a timer, posing a serious threat of not only overcooked squash, but also a visit from the fire department…
However, perhaps the most important aspect of microwave-cooked squash that I know everyone wants to know is that it tastes delicious! Furthermore, I wish my computer gave you the ability to smell it, but it smells great, and the end product took a total of 7 minutes to cook and maybe 30 seconds to cut and de-seed… This blog entry took me longer….
Posted by apdonnel at 06:10 PM | Comments (1)
Can I Be a Michigan Seventh Year?
I told my Dad when I began the school year that I was going to be a perpetual student and stay a fifth, sixth, maybe even seventh year at Michigan (despite the fact I need 3 more credits to graduate). He laughed and told me good luck paying for out of state tuition.
I wasn’t serious when I told him this because I’m excited to start the next phase of my life. Yet at the same time I feel like I finally am grasping the whole “how to be a student/ friend/ family member/ volunteer/ sorority sister/ intern” identity. When I was a freshman my first semester I had brutally horrible GPA, but a GPA which I have progressively made better and better and better. Finally, I understand how to balance my work, where you squeeze in a little bit of reading, how to stay focused, and how to be a successful student. I finally feel like I am starting to question what professors say (something many professors have challenged me to do but I struggled with) and I finally feel like I get it. Go figure, and now it’s time to graduate.
While graduation will be bittersweet in the spring, I better understand what an undergraduate education is about which is interesting to me because it is something that I wrote my college application essay about, but completely unknowingly. I wrote an essay about sitting in London’s National Gallery looking at a piece of art and having a 90 year old man confront me and proceed to teach me about the painting. My realization in the essay was that an undergraduate education is equally about sharing and passing on this knowledge, just as this 90 year old man had done for me. I do think that an undergraduate education is about communal learning and learning together now, but I'm not sure where I came up with that in high school, when I competed with people constantly looking to beat me for an A. I guess this is something I will always question, and I wish I could return to this though process and the evolution of this paper. I have a nagging feeling it came about after a discussion with my English teacher in high school, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Regardless, I have to wonder if my realization regarding the learning process has something to do with this essay and that it was always in the back of my head.
So now that I finally understand how to work the Michigan red tape, won’t take no for an answer, question the readings I am given, have found a passion for different disciplines, and just finally understand how to be an effective student and how to effectively learn, it’s time to graduate. At the same time, maybe that’s a part of the purpose of an undergraduate education. I might still put up a fight and graduation in the spring and beg my dad for another year, but at least I’ll accept that it’s probably time to graduate.
Posted by apdonnel at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2009
H-A-LLO-W-EE-N
One aspect of identity that we have not covered in class is assuming the identities of others. While the identity theorists have identified how we acquire our identity, most do not cover how we change our identity, although I believe most recognize identities evolve and many people change their identities.
I had my first experience with an identity change on Halloween. My friend and I (the one I described as “Indie” in a former blog) decided to dress up as each other for Halloween. We assumed each other’s identities right down to the fact that we switched cell phones. I walked around with “my’ iPhone and even went as far as text messaging her sister all night. We played up each other’s stereotypes to the fullest extent, decked out in the most absurd portrayals of each other including an indie beanie hat and suspenders, as well as pearl earrings and high heels.
While this Halloween activity was done for fun, it made me think a little bit more about identity and the evolution of an identity. What is it about clothes and material items that can effect someone’s perception of you and allow you to assume someone else’s identity? I was legitimately texting my friend’s sister as if I were her. I think this has a lot to do with societal values and the way images shape our society and our perceptions of others.
Perhaps the next identity theorist needs to create the “Identity Constructed through Apparel”. While I’m being sarcastic, I think it is a valid point that people often allow themselves to identify with a certain group through their apparel of material possessions. Relating to my last blog, Obama had the identity of a young person through his technological savvyness. Overall, I think that identity development can be a part of playing a role and fitting into an image of an identity- be it an iPhone, pearl earrings, or an indie beanie hat.
Posted by apdonnel at 07:02 PM | Comments (2)
Persuasion Audience
For class on Wednesday, we read “Constitutive Rhetoric” by Maurice Charland. As I read through this article, I struggled to understand the concepts; however, our discussion in class helped clarify his theory. Charland demonstrates the importance of understanding that your audience must be willing to engage in your topic.
As a blog writer, while anyone in the world could read my blog and acknowledge this for my audience, my blog is tailored towards my English 225 class. Essentially, because it is tailored towards my English 225 class, it would be silly to merely reiterate a reading or reiterate something said in class. Rather, I use a class concept to grab the audience’s attention, but engage them through the new perspective on the issue in class.
Charland’s concept in Constitutive Rhetoric has made me better understand what an audience is and that the importance in an audience is that you engage them as a reader. For this reason, I am going to have to think about who I choose my audience to be for my persuasion piece. I am most torn between my audience being my English 225 class or a set of scholars in my field. Essentially, I am arguing that because the existence of a nationalist identity is positive for the European Union, the nationalist identity should be promoted. My problem here is who I would want to take action, but also, how I want to frame my argument. I do not have a lot of statistical data, which I would think would be more appropriate for a group of older scholars in the field. However, will my classmates see the need to take action on this issue? While they may see the importance of my issue, how exactly do they take action? This is a problem that I am grappling with, especially because I was planning on using a lot of informal modes of persuasion such as videos and visuals, which for an audience of scholars I am not sure would be appropriate. I am open to any suggestions in better understanding how to frame my argument!
Posted by apdonnel at 07:01 PM | Comments (1)
November 05, 2009
Persuade. Yes We Can.
This is the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s election. With the one-year anniversary, there have been various different statements, opinions, and commentaries regarding President Obama’s progress or lack there of. This discussion brought me back to the campaign and the element of persuasion. During the Obama campaign, there were various different forms of rhetoric that swept the country trying to persuade voters to elector Obama. One of these pieces of rhetoric- and a very effective piece of rhetoric at that was the Yes We Can video. If you haven’t seen it, here is the Emmy Winning video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsV2O4fCgjk
The element of persuasion here is song. This video features popular actors, actresses and singers of today’s time, and employs music that plays with Obama’s message. The song is so effective that I question, how do you not get swept up in this rhetoric? Maybe you don’t agree with some of his policies, but he’s pledging to change the county. The song itself persuades the American people not only his message, but he has more subtle messages as well. Specifically, he is demonstrating his commitment to the younger generation.
A year after this song came out and Obama was elected, people are arguing little has changed. After interning on the Hill this summer, I would say it is not because of a lack of effort. Obama has strived for change, but little has changed in Congress. Perhaps Obama cannot address Congress in song (ha), but what other elements of Obama’s campaign can he employ to enact change and persuade Congress and the country to support his policies?
Posted by apdonnel at 07:53 PM | Comments (3)
German "History" Books
In class today we watched the film “The Triumph of the Will,” produced by Leni Riefenstahl for Hitler in 1934. This film is interesting because it uses a lot of visuals and tracks Hitler when he first gained power.
The strongest aspect of the movie was the visuals, specifically the repeated imagery of conformity. These are the same images that I have grown up seeing, with titles saying that it only takes one to stand out. The constant imagery of conformity to Hitler and saluting Hitler is overwhelming, but at the same time it shows how difficult it is to be the one that is the non-conformist. Reflecting on these images reminded me about many of the textbooks I read in my History classes as a grade school and middle school girl. I have seen these images of Germany so often and associated them with negative thoughts; however, if I had seen these images in the 1930’s, I most likely would not have had these associations. As a German, I would have thought of the unification and the bright future for Germany. It was not until I went to high school that we learned about the difference in German and United States textbooks regarding the history of WWI. German textbooks focused on how Germany was mistreated after WWI, whereas US textbooks often villianize Germany and demonstrate the reparations were appropriate. This made me realize how every picture can have so many different connotations as a result of the audience and someone’s background.
The final shocking aspect of the film was how moderate Hitler was in 1934. He barely alluded to the cultural genocide that would start very shortly. After studying Riesman and his theory on conformity for my research paper on Catalan nationalism, I saw a lot of similarities as well as a lot of differences between Hitler and Franco in this conformity aspect. The major difference is that Franco was far less manipulative and was extreme in his takeover immediately, as Franco immediately isolated Spain. Is this perhaps because Franco took power via a military coup? Franco also did not institute genocide, although perhaps he would not have had the ability to because he did not have a gradual and manipulative takeover in power. Maybe military coups are a little less dangerous than political scientists would lead you to believe when comparing them to Hitler…
Posted by apdonnel at 03:52 PM | Comments (1)
October 30, 2009
The Opposite Claim.
While Foucault argued in the 1970’s that language effects identity, I have found that in the case of Barcelona, Spain, the Catalan language has not affected the nationalistic identity in Spain. Foucault has countless followers that support his point; however, it is not the language itself, but the location and unique history that has created the nationalistic identity.
The location of Catalonia has affected this unique regional identity rather than identification with a country. Catalonia is situated in two countries- France and Spain. With an entire region straddling two separate countries, there is an identity crisis for the residents. You are situated in a region that is both Spanish and French. Rather than identifying with either country, the residents identify with their region.
Foucault is further disproved by the unique history in Catalonia. The Catalan language was repressed for over forty years during the strict dictatorship of Francisco Franco, yet despite the absence of the language, people still identified as Catalans. This demonstrates that language could not be the cause of the creation of a distinct identity. If the language was the cause of the Catalan identity, then it would be theorized that the Catalan identity would have died out with the restriction of the language.
The final aspect of the unique Catalan history is the socialization of the Catalan language. It is not the language, but rather the tradition of identifying as a Catalan and the practice of traditions that play a more important role in Catalonia than the language alone. This socialization process at birth, rather than the spoken word, is a direct cause of Catalan nationalism.
In conclusion, it is not language that has caused the nationalistic identity in Catalonia. While social identity theorists may argue this way, the geographic location and unique history of Catalonia demonstrates otherwise. The location and history of Catalonia has caused a distinct identity, not the Catalan language.
Posted by apdonnel at 12:57 PM | Comments (2)
The Underpinnings of my Paper
Last winter semester, I studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain. When I arrived in Barcelona, I was immediately immersed in a whole new culture, with a foundation steeped in history I knew little about. The city itself is large and disjoint, so at first it was overwhelming; however, as I became more accustomed to the city, my friends and I began to constantly notice the overwhelming presence of young people dressed in punk clothes. Some had shaved heads with a braid coming out of the center of their head, others had piercing all over their bodies, and others were adorned in tattoos. These people were starkly contrasted to the ultra-conservative older generation, who seemed to wear neutral colors and were very covered. As I got to know my teachers a little bit better, we started asking them questions about who these ultra-punk people were, and they would respond that they were Catalan nationalists. This term- Catalan nationalist- became well known to me while in Spain. Barcelona is situated in the region of Catalonia, and has a set of traditions, including a distinct language of its own.
After I left the City of Barcelona, I still had a lot of unanswered questions regarding the people of Barcelona. Who exactly was this young, alternative group? I had an idea that there was a value for non-conformism in this new culture, after the socially and politically restrictive dictatorship of Francisco Franco until 1975. As I did research into this topic, my viewpoints were affirmed; however, in addition, I learned that having a distinct language- Catalan- also greatly affects this nationalistic and unique sense of identity. This, coupled with me reaffirmed notion that there is a value for non-conformism helped me better understand the evolution of this unique identity in Catalonia.
Posted by apdonnel at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
