Blogging Around

Nick's post described some of the positives and negatives of blogging. He said how blogging was useful in remembering what went on during the week and in developing good writing. However, he also said that he was stuck sometimes, because he couldn't think of anything to write about the prompt that we were assigned.

"Nick,

I agree that blogging was very useful for recording ideas and learning about myself through writing. However, like you, there were several times when I simply had nothing to say about a particular prompt. Maybe good way Mr. Allen could have prevented this would be to have us use whichever prompt we wanted for each week, but make sure that we used each one at least once before using the same one twice. That way, we could pick a prompt that we actually had something to say about."


Mitch's blog also discussed positives and negatives of blogging. He said that, while writing blogs was helpful for him, sometimes he wished the prompts were more interesting and fun to write about.

"Mitch,

I agree with your post, though I think it would be almost impossible to have a prompt that is simultaneously interesting and pertinent to class. These two things tend to be polar opposites. Whenever we do something for school, whether it be reading a book (even a good one), or writing blog posts, it sucks all the fun out of it. That being said, just because writing blogs wasn't fun doesn't mean that it wasn't worthwhile and valuable, which apparently both you and I think it was."

Metacognition: Blogs

When I first found out that we would be blogging this year in English, I was a little apprehensive. I thought that I didn't have anything important enough to say to put in a blog. What I soon realized, though, was that I was using the blogs more as an internal thing than external. By that I mean that I really found out a lot about myself while reading blogs that I had written. Whereas previously I had thought that the blogs were about sharing my thoughts with the world, I soon discovered that it was about clarifying and delving deeper into my own thoughts. This was pretty cool, and I often benefited from these looks into my own thought process.

Another great thing about the blogs was reading my classmates' posts. Sometimes I would do this as part of a brainstorming process, to gather ideas for my own post. Other times, the assignment would be to read other people's blogs and comment on them. In the process, I learned a lot about other people in Academy. For example, did you know that Jon Choi is an atheist? I was shocked when I learned this from reading his blog.

The experience of writing and reading blogs was very rewarding, and I'm glad that we did them. Hopefully, next year in English we will have similar assignments that help us grow and recognize our growth.

Carry it Forward: Compassionate Imagining

In class, we have been learning about compassionate imagining and how it relates to Life and Times of Michael K by JM Coetzee. At first, I was skeptical of this concept. This may be because I was caught up in the clearly false claim that imagining is impossible without compassion and vice versa (I can imagine I can fly; does that mean I automatically empathize with the situation of birds? I don't think so). However, semantics aside, it's a very powerful concept. It's a new take on the old cliche about walking a mile in someone's shoes. Compassionate imagining really makes sense because you can't really try to understand someone and their actions unless you put yourself in their place and consider how that person is feeling.

I will definitely utilize the technique of compassionate imagining in the future. It seems corny, but before I judge someone, I'll stop and do some compassionate imagining first. That way, I won't pass judgement on anyone unfairly, or without knowing what's going on with them. This will definitely make me a better person, and help my relationships with others.

Best of Week: Narration in LTMK

Since I was practically dead on Tuesday and subsequently missed school the next two days due to being really sick, chosing something from class to be the best of the week is pretty slim pickings. Therfore, I will have to go with the discussion we had in class on Monday about why Coetzee chose different narrators for different sections of Life and Times of Michael K. It was kind of interesting, and it really made me think about the author's thought process. This conversation had a special connection to me, because my short story happens to be narrated from two different perspectives; the first part is first-person and the end is third-person. Though I didn't have any deep, significant reason to do this (I was stuck and bored, and I wanted to mix it up a little bit), our discussion made me realize that good authors really think about every little thing they put into the story, and evaluate how it strengthens the overall effect of the book. Next time I write something, I will definitely put some more thought into the little things, and I'm sure this will greatly benefit my writing.