Blogging

I think that blogging is a very different approach to take in assisting the students learn in this class. My perspective has changed a little bit since the begining of the semester. Essentially, I still see blogging as a way for people to interact and share their thoughts and ideas with one another. It is definitly a good way for people to communicate as well. In one aspect, it is a way for many different people to tell not only tell their view on a cerain subject, but to also get feedback from others. Many will have opposing opinions on certain matters, and it can be a way of stimulating even more thought about the subject. In this way people can discover ideas that they may not have thought of one their own without the assistance of another person's ideas.

I feel that blogging for this class was beneficial in some ways and a disadvantage in other ways. For me personally, I had a difficult time making what I considered to be my "homework" available for others to view. It was a little bit strange to me at first, but I got used to it. I did enjoy reading other peoples' blogs and posting comments to let them know what I thought about their thoughts. I liked knowing what other peoples' ideas were on certain topics. Although it was not personally my favorite way of going about the classwork it was beneficial in many ways. These blogs were helpful because in order to write something down you have to think about your ideas more and get them organized.

However, I feel that (for me personally) discussion is the best way to stimulate thought. I really enjoy listening to peoples' opinions and seeing their reactions rather than simply reading their words. By doing so you can tell a lot more about how a person feels about something or what they may be thinking about the matter at hand. When you are actually speaking with the person about something there is little or no misunderstanding in the message between the people. Even if there happens to be a misunderstanding along the way, the other person is there to clarify the message for the other person or people. In writing it can sometimes be difficult to get the message across that you are attempting to get across with the full understanding of the person who is receiving the message. Also in writing there are often questions that are lingering in the readers' mind. If the interaction is not happening in person, but through writing, there may be certain aspects of the subject that have not been addressed by the writer (or the person who is trying to tell others about their ideas).

I think that blogging was a very different way to set up the homework. I found it enjoyable to interact with people in this way because it is not necessarily something that one would usually think of as something you would do for a class. I also thought it was very interesting mostly because it is something that I have not had experience doing previoulsy. The way in which we used it for in this class blogging, in a way, reminded me of writing letters to your classmates.I have never had a class that took auch an interesting and different approach to doing homework. In this way I will certainly always remember this class because of the blogging; and I have truly never experienced a class in the same way in which I experienced this one.

The Imperial Message

This parable is somewhat difficult to comprehend. I had to read it through a few times in order to grasp the concept that I think Kafka was trying to present to the reader. I am still not entirely sure that this is the message he was intending to get across to the reader. Kafka tells a story of an Emperor on his deathbed. The Emperor has a vital message that must be delivered to someone who is not within the palace. The reader knows that the message must be of great importance because the Emperor makes sure that the message was clearly understood before it was delivered. After confirming the message the messenger sets out on his journey.

The messenger is full of arrogance and is completley convinced that there is no doubt that he will finish his task without complications. Therefore, he is goes forth with his full vigor and energy, not even considering the journey and the obsticles to come. Since he is so completly preoccupied by delivering his message as soon as he can he wearies himself too early in the journey; before he even leaves the palace grounds. I think that the message in the story is that one should look into something and consider all of the options instead of jumping into something unknown too quickly. Maybe a person should also better know theirself and what they are and aren't capable of. Do not get so fixated on one thing without seeing anything elso or everything will catch up to you all at once. If you do that you may get burnt out and not be able to finish the vital task at hand.

Discrimination

In his essay Miller clearly states that the word "dicrimination" is very much represented in todays world. When people hear this word they immediatly think of it as meaning prejudice against another group of people. Miller clarifies that the word's true meaning is to be able to tell something apart from something else, or chosing one thing over another (such as friends, the clothes we chose to wear, and the food we eat). He strongly suggests that discriminating is usually a positive concept as opposed to a negative concept, as most people tend to percieve the word. In looking at the word from this different perspective, it may be helpful for Americans to begin discriminating in different ways.

The presidential race of 2008 is unlike any the the history of the U.S. with the two Democratic candidates running against each other being of the minority. I think that a lot of voters are chosing to discriminate these candidates, however they seem to be approaching this in the wrong manner. Instead of focusing on the candidates themselves or the ideas that the candidates stand for people seem to be to preoccupied with either having "the first woman president" or "the first black president". American voters need to stop being silly and start discriminating against these candidates in the correct way. Instead of getting all hyped up about the canidates' minority as a presidential nominee, people should dicriminate who will be the best choice for a president.