Hidden Rituals Right in Front of My Face

Ritual - the word makes me think of smoldering sacrifices, incense, and bells... people on mystic islands doing things with dead birds and their entrails. But what about here and now? What do we all do that we don't even realize that we do every day? Quick, pretend you are brushing your teeth; do you always start in the same place? always proceed in the same direction? Most of us do. What ELSE do you do that might look like automatic pilot but is secretly one of your day-to-day rituals?
What do you "always" do when you:

• get into your car
• leave your home, apartment, or room
• go on a date or out to be with friends
• clean up your space
• take a shower

Where does "luck" and "superstition" come into it? Why do we do these things? Would we be weirded out if one day we did them differently? Do we sometimes even go back and redo them "correctly"? It all makes me wonder how many of these little "rituals" we would notice if we really looked.

A Ritual of Mine

Nowadays I don't do anything too ritualistic (if I do these decisions are made subconsciously). I'm just a go-with-the-flow kind of guy and I don't really do anything out of my way ritualistically to make myself feel better.
However I do remember when I was about 4 years old and stole pieces of dog food from my dog. I would place a single piece of this food into the red couch in my family room and wait a minute for the dog food to "cook" like it was in a microwave. I believed the couch imbued the food with special powers that made my life better. Then I would eat the dog food and go about my day. This ritual happened almost on a weekly basis and I don't know why. To this day I still know what that dog food tasted like.

Rituals/Good Luck

I do not consider any of my daily acts to be ritualistic but I do have a few constant behaviors that I connect good luck with. One odd behavior that was introduced to me by a friend a few years ago is whenever I drive through a yellow light, I tap the ceiling. This action is supposed to prevent me from getting pulled over, getting in an accident and even bring me good luck. I continue this action because nothing bad has happened in the past after doing it. Another good luck behavior I have is when I find a penny heads up on the ground I always pick it up and put it in my shoe, this action is also supposed to bring good luck. I conciously know these actions do not truly help bring good luck but I execute them because I always have.

Rituals

Well when asked if I have any rituals I take a strong look into my religious views because this is where many of these would show up.I do celebrate lent,but I do not give anything up like I used to be lcause my life is so hectic I often forget. On a day-to-day basis I have the ritual of checking my blood sugar.

I classify this as a ritual because I do it everyday and it is something that is close to me and a part of my lifestyle that I can live without. Other than this I really don't see any thing else being a ritual I have.

Rituals

I don't believe that there is anything i do in my life consistantly or ritualistically, aside from the everyday basic routine. However, i do have a certain security blanket that i often wrap myself in when feeling the need to escape. I often draw for pleasure in order to feel as though i'm actually accomplishing something. It's a great feeling to sit down with a blank piece of paper and a pen and create whatever i desire. Art is a way for me to escape from the noise and chaos that is everyday by centering myself around one object and having that object hold my complete attention for a period of time. When im drawing i don't need to talk, or listen. It isn't even really necessary to think. Being able to sit, relax, and rest the mind is a great thing, but when an end product results in such activity, it makes one feel even more at ease. I usually take between 30 minutes and 3 hours a day on my art, creating a portfolio to, hopefully, someday, frame and sell. The only consequence for my daily art time is the just that. It takes time, and i can often get so caught up in drawing that time goes by faster than expected, leaving little time left for homework or other things that should probably come first.

Rituals

There are a number of different rituals that I can remember having as a kid, but none of which seemed as important as some rituals I had on some of the teams I was on in high school. In hockey, we would all align ourselves in numerical order on the blue line for the national anthem. In soccer, we would listen to the same warm up c-d as we did our pare-game warm ups. We would huddle up on the field right before the game started to just get ourselves ready. These are just things that I have gotten to share with my friends and teammates over the years. It is a way to bond and come together as a team. We wouldn't have to question one another as to when we do this or that. Everyone was on the same page, and its a great feeling and experience to share with your friends.

Ritual

I don't really have any rituals that i do on a day to day basis. As a kid i did. I used to always wake up and sit on the floor and look at myself in the mirror and say " I am going to live my life to the fullest today". I'm not exactly sure how i started that, or how it ended, but it did. As of today i don't think i do anything special in my day, but it is all possible.

Rituals and Lucky Habits

I'm Jewish, so I fast every year for Yom Kippur, but I understand the reasons for it. I feel good after spending the day cleansing myself. I also observe Passover and watch what I eat that week. I consider that an homage to my ancestors.

But one thing I don't understand is what I call my "Lucky Habit" I consider it luck, not divine intervention, because the habit involves me replacing God with the fictional object of my affection. Some consider me obsessive, but it's the only religion I have that wasn't shoved down my throat from age three. It's a kind of healing for me. My mother still thinks I'm incredibly religious, and she's right, but I've made my own religion. When it rains, He's there, I go to the highest point I can reach and feel so close to Him. Why? Because I've been doing it for years. It's what I consider lucky. If I go to sleep one night and it rains without my knowledge I feel incredible guilt, I don't know why. It might just be an after effect of the fear of higher powers ingrained in me as a child.

Liz McGarty, Ritual

When ritual I perform daily is listening to my I-pod at nite. I cannot fall asleep unless I am listening to my music, though it has to be through my headphones. If music is playing through a radio or Tv it annoys me, and I won't be able to fall asleep. I have been practicing this ritual for a good five years. Whenever I am in the situation without my I-pod and I am trying to sleep, I usually will have a very difficult time doing so. I don't believe that listeing to my I-pod leads to any consequences. I suppose it could damage my hearing in the future. I don't know what started this ritual, but I know that it would take alot of effort for me to stop.

OCD Drives My Ritualistic Behaviors

It's an annoyance I'm forced to deal with on an average day, that usually includes: checking my phone for times like 3:33, 5:55, 11:11, etc., or turning the knob on my door nearly a thousand times, to reassure myself that it's locked. If I do not complete one of these rituals, it will be on my mind for the rest of the day. I'm not entirely sure when I developed these behaviors, but I have a feeling they are motivated by my schedule. If I'm having a busy day, then I'm less likely to waste time doing these acts, but when its a slow day, you can bet I'll be preoccupied with my OCD.

To have good luck

As a child, I found a four leaf clover on the soccer field during one of my games. During that one game, I played better than I ever had before. This lead to me to keep this four leaf clover laminated too a piece of paper and kept in my soccer socks up until high school, when I stopped playing. This clover gave me the feeling that I would play better and that our team would always win. Even though that wasn't always the case, I still did it in order to give me hope I guess. This is sort of a ritualistic act that I performed during every game for a good number of years. I feel as though that clover gave me the courage to try and perform my best throughout my soccer career.

Ritual

A ritual I continually take part in, even though it isn't founded in much logic, is wiping down my electric guitar before every time I play. I had gotten this guitar when I was a junior in high school and upon purchasing it, thought it was my most beautiful possession. I still believe it is as beautiful to this day, and I assume my constant shammying of the guitar is some sort of subconscious thing to assure myself it is maintaing its good looks. If I don't wipe down the guitar before I play, it feels unclean and unplayable. Immediately after my ritual, I feel as if I can play better and my guitar seems to sound cleaner. I don't know if I will stop this ritual because it doesn't do harm to me or my guitar, but it is one I have found myself taking part it without knowing exactly why.  

Rituals

When I was younger, I used to sacrifice things that were important to me for Lent. When I was a portly nine years old, things that were dear to me included soda, candy and video games. Candy was usually the least favorite of my vices so I would stop eating chocolate for Lent. I did not understand the concept of Lent because I never went to Sunday school but my relatives and good friends were Catholic, so I joined them in their traditions. Looking back on it, it is sad to think that refraining from inhaling Hersey Kisses was my way to relate Jesus's suffering.

Good Luck Strategy

I can identify one thing that I used to do to ensure good luck during my lacrosse season. I would always wear the sweatband of my cousin on my left wrist. The story behind it is that my cousin was 3 years older than me and he died at the age of 18 in 2005. He was a big part of my life, and he always played football when he was growing up. He wore the number 52, and after he died I had my varsity number changed to 52. My aunt ended up giving me his sweatband that he wore that had he number 52 on it in the Colchester Lakers School colors. This means a lot to me, so I put it on before every game and wore it hoping it would give me the extra boost if I needed it.

The Lottery and Community

Can you identify any ritualistic acts (e.g. fasting for Lent/Passover/Ramadan)you perform without examining the reasons for or the consequences of your behavior? What motivates you?
If not...
Do you do anything such as make sacrifices to ensure good luck?
What set of beliefs motivates the sacrifice?

Contact Zones and Responding

As a way of encouraging you to respond to each other, please post a response to any one of the postings or my comments and offer your ideas.

For example, consider Will's thinking about the cafeteria.
Can you identify a space in the cafeteria people of varying cultures (social, age or ethnic groups) would meet for a common purpose and inevitably clash and grapple?

You may want to respond to one of the discussions about zones in Burlington.
Where and why do cultures meet?

Contact Zone

When I first heard about the contact zone, I tried to think of something that I identified myself with. The first thing that popped into my head was my hometown. I consider it my contact zone because it is a place where I feel that I love to be and have people there that I confide in. I think a specific requirement for having a contact zone is comfortability. If you are not comfortable being yourself, it isn't much of a willing place I'm sure you'd like to be. How can you say that you confide in a place as your contact zone when you are unwilling to display your true self?

Facebook Community?

As much as i hate to say it, I definitely believe facebook is a contact zone along with other virtual websites that allow people to connect and communicate to either ones they know and love or anyone else out there in the world. I hate to admit this because although, i do think we've come a long was since communicating through telegrams or through the mail, internet communication has become an obsession. However, facebook and other online communities count as contact zones because as Pratt states they are a place for people to come together in order to communicate, express feelings or idea's that they all share, and sometimes even to disagree. Pratt lists some literate arts of the contact zone as being "Autoethnography, transculturation, critique, collaboration, bilingualism, mediation, parody, denunciation, imaginary dialogue, and vernacular expression." And some of the perils of the contact zone: " Miscomprehension, incomprehension, dead letters, unread masterpieces, and absolute heterogeneity of meaning." All of which could be related to the facebook community, and in it's being a (broad) contact zone for people all over the world.

My Personal Contact Zone

I would have to say that a contact zone I visit frequently would be the cafeteria. In the cafeteria, I am almost always likely to find somebody I know, whether it is my friend from high school, some buddies from my dorm or class, or just some people I know from around school. When I enter the cafeteria, I will usually get food before awkwardly shuffling around the room looking for someone I know. Oftentimes when I do find a friend, he or she will be sitting with some friends that I might not know. This presents me with a great oppurtunity to meet new people as well as catch up with established friends.

The cafeteria is a good contact zone because everyone goes there at some point in the day. This makes it a great place to meet up with people and catch up on classes or other activities. Everyone in the cafeteria has their own stories to share with other people about anything that has happened during the day.

The Otaku Contact Zone

I tried to think of a place where different backgrounds and cultures clashed and grappled, it didn't take me long to think of one. A place where totally different people merge on one setting and mingle as brethren. Some take on alter-egos, some like to debate, still others just want to become one with the cultures of others.

Anime conventions are my contact zone.

I arrive at one and am immediately struck by Japanese words and phrases intertwined into the English natives' speech. The vernacular is always changing, the trends come and go. Still, year after year these same people descend upon hotels and convention halls and the only ones who don't enjoy themselves are the ones who are trying to ruin it for others. True Asians feel welcome, as do American japanophiles and technophiles.

Contact Zones

Hmm, a contact zone? What would I choose when posed with this question, for me I could pick the obvious and go with the Champlain community, but I feel this is way to easy because we all come from different backgrounds and have different stories that make us a diverse group. I would like to mention that on a broader scale is that the Diabetic Community is a diverse and very large contact zone.

This would be a contact zone because it is made up of various cultures all connected because of a condition that has affected them in ways that are different for everyone. I have different views that others may not have along with cultural views that differ from people who say may live in England. The thing that we all share is that we need to take care of our bodies and keep an active lifestyle (this may be harder for some than others). Although this may not be an obvious choice for a contact zone I feel that it is.

My Contact Zone?

A contact that zone that is growing very quickly in today's society are forums. They are places where lot of people talk about different things that are happening and problems that they may have in their lives. Discussions ensue within these forums and backgrounds of different people may influence how the arguments turn out. The people who use these sites come from all around the world and may not agree on everthing that it said, and clashes of there cultures may ensue. The good thing about these sites is that they normally are for one topic such as skiing or video games, and these ideas are what helps that community resolve their differences and agree on something.

Contact Zone

My “Concepts of the Self” class was definitely a contact zone. The students in the class came from various backgrounds and had differing political and social philosophies. There were many instances when students would clash with one another but more often that not, the students would always be in conflict with the teacher. There was an asymmetrical relationship of power between him and his students. Opinions and thoughts were heard but not necessarily listened to. This attitude created an environment of tension and subdued discord. Towards the end of the semester, a full on passive aggressive war was in progress.

Is Facebook a Contact Zone?

What is considered a contact zone? A place where you can have face-to-face contact with someone, anyone. I consider Facebook to be a contact zone because you Re communicating with many people of your age, and older all in one place. You have yourself a community of Facebook friends that may not necessarily be your friend outside of Facebook. Can anything be a contact zone? Yes, yes it can. Anywhere you have a group of people or just one other person in it , you have a contact zone. For example, any games you play on the internet, or blogs (like this one) that you talk to people. Anything you have in common with your friends or family you can consider it a contact zone.

My Contact Zone

To be honest, one of my favorite things to do in life is to workout, and I love being in the gym. When I was asked about contact zones, it was first hard for me to think of a place where I contacted with other people every single day. But now it comes to me, one of my largest contact zones is in the weight room. It may seem a little "out there" to other people, but you start to connect with people and have a little community while you are working out. I know that I go to the gym every day with Peter Mindnich, and that right there is our own little community. In the weight room you get to learn about people, and learn from what you see them doing. Out of no where you can have a conversation with someone you just met about your workout routine, or a diet or a supplement that he/she is taking to enhance the workout. It is a great place to interact with people, and a place to learn more things about working out.

Is Facebook considered a contact zone?

I definitely believe Facebook and other types of social pages are types of contact zones. Pratt describes contact zones as “social places where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other.” On Facebook, people of all cultures, races, and religion socialize and even meet other people through different searches. Facebook serves as a gateway for many new relationships to form and communicate. Although it is virtue, it contains every component that a “face to face” contact zone has.

Wha????

Contact Zones

How is the virtual world a contact zone?
How can facebook be considered a CZ?

My Contact Zone

I, like Rob, consider the culinary community to be a community that I belong to. The contact zone, however, for me is not just in the kitchen but through cookbooks and TV networks, like the Food Network. The contact zone for me is not just physical contact and interaction between chefs, but the sharing of ideas, wherever that may take place. I know that for me, just seeing chefs on TV and also up close and personal, I am able to draw from there ideas then in turn shell out my own ideas and creations and share with the rest of the culinary community. The kitchen, like Rob said, is also a perfect example of a contact zone in the culinary community because chefs are sharing ideas, or competing in some instances, but either way ideas are being shared and the community is developing and changing.

My Culinary Contact Zone

As a fan of the culinary arts, the "culinary community" is my most identifiable community. I think a contact zone for my community would be the kitchen. When your cooking all types of conversations arise, from cultural background to political debates, it's the perfect environment to vent your thoughts, and listen to people who have like interests.
Another contact zone might be culinary school. The classroom would provide a place for people to come in contact with the ideas of others who have a shared a common interest. Also, by living in the dormitories, and sharing a common eating area there could be a place for people to be exposed to the thoughts of others. These are just a few contact zones that I believe could exist within the culinary community.

Contact Zones and Your Community

Where in your community can you identify potential
contact zone(s)?

King's Point

Martin Luther King Jr. has been a very important part of history. He has always believed in equality for all. He continues his thoughts and feelings towards this subject in his Letter From Birmingham Jail. He wrote in reply to eight clergy men who wanted him to stop his public demonstrations in the city of Birmingham. Dr. King was just demonstrating his civil rights act, which at the time, he had been doing a lot of, which is why he was hated and loved by a lot of people. Dr. King's point of the letter was to clarify the need for civil rights for all Americans, blacks along with whites. He believes that the time for change is now, and his public demonstrations are very important for the African American community. He attempts to connect with the men whom he is writing to by explaining what it means to be black and the things they have to deal with in a society run by whites who despise the blacks. King sends these men a very strong and ideal message, attempting to change their minds about is demonstrations and understanding that they are very important for the African American Community.

What is MLK's Point?

I believe the overall point expressed in Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail is to explain to the clergy men to whom he writes that no matter how they act against the black community, or even how the clergy men talk about making the community better for the blacks in Birmingham, it is a nationwide struggle that must be dealt with fairly. Birmingham had a history of being the richest city with the best police enforcement to deal with the acts against racism. The clergy men agreed that the acts were being dealt with in a calm and collective manner; perhaps they saw end to protests as brotherhood between races. King states a powerful truth when he says, "Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood." This is important because the police enforcement in Birmingham was also known for being the most violent against its victims of racism. The point in King's letter is to address what the clergymen had to say, and help them understand how the blacks only option was to take action using non-violent campaigning; collection of facts, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action.

The Point of Martin Luther King's Letter

Martin Luther King, in his letter from Birmingham Jail, was written as a response to the people writing to him, asking him to stop his protests for various reasons, and saying that he should wait to hold them until a better time. King's letter explains to these men why there is no 'ideal time' for holding such protests, and goes on to explain why the protests must be held, for the sake of the African-American community. King tries to make the men understand what it feels like to be a black man in a white-run society, with many options unavailable to you, and many people who despise you simply for the color of your skin. King uses a great deal of pathos in his letter, trying to form an emotional connection with the men, as well as backing up his claims with examples and facts. King sends a powerful message to these men, hoping to change their minds about the issue, so that his reasoning would be understood.

Dr. King's Point

In the letter, Letter From Birmingham Jail, Dr. King addresses the complaints made by the eight clergymen from Alabama who were pressing King to end public demonstrations in Birmingham. I believe his point in writing this letter is to address the acts of the civil rights movement as not being defiant of just laws, but rather the unjust laws -the laws that, as King put it, "...degrade human personality." It is in this way that King was attempting to persuade the clergymen that the actions made by the movement were justified, through their non-violent endeavors.

Brittny Gross: MLK's Point

I feel that the main point of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" is that the church has a responsibility to uphold peace without violence. And by legalizing and justifying unjust laws they were only making things worse. I think that he felt that the clergymen, as men of God, were responsible for making the white politicians negotiate before the crisis ended violently. I think he succeeded in making this point mainly because his argument is airtight. He's covered every possible argument or rebuttal.

MLK's Point

I think the main point of Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is to rebut the issues presented by prominent clergymen who protested his methods of activism. King very effectively explains why he is doing what he feels necessary and how his way of attempting to achieve equality is superior to violence or doing nothing at all. It seems as though this letter is a means of both enlightening and silencing his critics. King explains that it is not wrong to protest segregation; it is wrong to stand idle and let it prevail over humane and Christian ideas. It is also noteworthy that King mentions Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. He is explaining to the clergymen, and any other reader, that if his ways of nonviolent protest fail, the angst created by hundreds of years of oppression will be released in a radical and violent way. In his letter, King articulately clarifies many of the misconceptions surrounding both him and the civil rights movement.

MLK letter

Martin Luther King is a man who has affected every one of our lives, both in the past and now in the future. In the letters written to the clergy men, he is talking about how the clergy men think that the protests are ridiculous and not something that is completley random. They are there to inform people of their knowledge about racism. He refers to these protests as a "nonviolent" action that no one should be worried about I feel that King's letter is a huge part of why we are how we are in the world today, and if he had not voiced his opinion, i am sure that this world would still be racist if he had not done anything.

MLK's point

I think that the main point of Martin Luther King Jr's Letter From Birmingham Jail is to clarify the issues that they are trying to address by protesting. The first letter that is received goes over why the clergymen think that the protests are "unwise and untimely." (178). The response by Martin Luther King Jr. address why these protest are necessary and what he thinks needs to be done in order to make peace. He speaks of how the protests are not random and how they are their last resort when it comes to fighting the racial war. The protests are not their preferable source of attention. They would rather take a method along the lines of negotiating, but many won't allow this to happen because they feel it should be white supremacy. I feel the reason for King's letter is to open up to the white community (along with other's) why they are doing what they are doing. They only want to be given the same rights as other's and to "break unjust law openly and lovingly" (183).

The Letter's Point

Well of course the overall point to this is that racial segregation is wrong, but more specifically, MLK Jr. wants to make it clear here that a change cannot be made by negotiations through the court system. In order for a direct change to take place in the realm of civil rights, Dr. King suggests "nonviolent direct action." This was a great idea and and the letter surely helped racial segregation and racism slow down to the point where it is now which was the point of the letter in the first place.

King's point

In "Letter from Birmingham Jail", Martin Luther King Jr is responding to a letter written by clergymen who were trying to stop the demonstrations and campaigns occurring in Birmingham. King describes these demonstrations as nonviolent direct action that he considers the only option after all other alternatives such as negotiation and self-purification have been used. King describes his acts and reasoning, "freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." Overall, I think King is trying to make the clergymen and any other person in the US understand the reasoning behind the words and demonstrations.  

King's Point

I think that the main point is this is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s reaching out to the man in Birmingham Jail. As King states in this letter, "and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Greco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town" (p.180). His point is that he is personally reaching out and touching the lives of others in all of the different communities surrounding him. King is a man that believes in direct contact, and that is how he made a difference. He has stated before that, "the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly." That is a direct quote from our handout that we were given in Concepts of the Community. So i truly believe that King's main point is once again direct contact is the answer to our problems. We have to reach out and touch the lives of others to get our point across.

King's Point?

Martin Luther King Jr., a man who for his time, and even today has made a significant impact on the lives of many people. These people belong to many different social and economic classes. He touched the lives of many and one of his profound readings come from his stint in the Birmingham Jail where he wrote a letter asking for the support he felt he hadn't been receiving from his brethren. His point of his letter is that non-violent protests were the last way of handling the situation that had taken place within Birmingham, Alabama and that he feels that he should have backing by all members of the Clergy to overcome and rise above the issues at hand.

On a completely different note, I feel that we are relating King to that of President elect Barrack Obama, and as his inauguration draws closer it seems that it is being hyped. I don't mean for this to cause any controversy, I would just like to know how my fellow classmates feel about this issue, because it is something that interests me.

Whats the Point?

Dr. King makes a very strong point in his letter. He points out the obvious flaws in Southern society at this time and conveys all of his points in a very logical way. He displays all of the evidence behind the direct actions that the African American population was taking at this time in Birmingham and pretty much makes the clergy men look like complete fools. Every point he states has reasoning behind it, showing how much thought has gone into the entire Civil rights movement. He was really trying to show the clergymen and anyone that read this letter, that he was complete correct in what he was doing. He made anyone who supported segregation seem like a bad person and called for people to finally realize that it had to end. Finally, this letter summed up everything that any person needed to know about the entire movement and provide them with information so they could support it. I would have to say that anyone who read this and was not it agreement with Dr. King afterwards was quite the stubborn person.

Response to Fight for the Right

Overall, I enjoyed this essay and the topic it brought up. I don't often hear about the issues related to giving blood and what determines if someone is able to donate. I agree in what the author was saying in that it could be considered discrimination and needs to be changed. It isn't fair for those who want to donate, but can't because of their sexual preferance. These issues are all very important and I thought she did a good job of "bringing them to bear." Firsts she grabbed my attention with the facts and stated the issue, then went more indepth And explained the laws and regulations, which I find to be discriminitory. She noted that the blood supply in America is low and an increase of 5% of the population donating blood would help solve this issue. The FDA's laws on blood donation limit more than 10% of the population, the 10% which might help to solve this major issue.

What's King's point?

So what is King's point in "Letter From Birmingham Jail"?
How do you know?

In response to "Entangling Roots"

It's a sad reality that video games have pretty much taken over the social aspect of life for gamers. In "Entangling Roots" the author explains that role playing games are substitutes to personal contact. Gamer's may not be the most popular or well liked in school or even have confidence in themselves to make friends, so they turn to these RPG's where they can be idolized by other gamers online (if they are good enough). The more interation with games, the further they withdraw themselves from reality. I believe these RPG's, along with other games, have had a huge impact on society in mostly a negative way. The ability to withdraw from raelity and abolish the need for persoanl contact and relationships have hurt the so called gamers. Overall, I hope that these video games are only a phase of our generation and don't turn out to be damaging to society.

"Entangling Roots" Response

I found Jeff Lessard's piece of writing quite interesting. I liked this essay because it was a real eye opener for me. I didn't know that the play of video games could be considered an "addiction" for some of the people that chose to take part in video game play. I can understand that a player can really enjoy playing a game, but I never thought it was an actual problem for some people to put down their controller. The fact that there are even facilities for people to go that have an addiction towards video games is a shock. When I think of the term addiction, I usually relate it to people that have problems with alcohol or cigarettes, not video games. I think the information that Jeff Lessard presented made this piece of writing good. All the facts and information were important to Jeff's message and it was convincing. It made me believe that maybe video games are a problem in society for certain people.

Response to Entangling Roots

This essay may not agree with how I feel on the standpoint of online games, but I still do like how it was written. I liked it because it was very informative with a lot of sources, making it something worth reading. Without sources, no paper is really worth reading because the credibility is always in question. Also, the author was very short and to the point with his arguments which is a style of writing that I enjoy reading. I tend to get lost in the really descriptive writings of some authors because I lose track of what the paper or story is about. Finally, I like this writing because it has come from a student. You don’t get to hear or read students perspectives as much in a classroom situation and this was a pleasant change to that. This student was rewarded for his strong argument by making it into the book with many other well known authors.

This essay has many traits that show how good it is. The argument that the author brings up is a strong one with support coming from many different people. He sticks to the one side of his argument throughout the paper which keeps his argument at a very strong level. Also, grammatical errors cannot be noticed in the reading showing that our writer is very good at checking over his papers. The overall ideas of the paper flow very nicely through the paper and allow for a very easy read.

A Response to Entangling Roots

Because I did an extensive advocacy project last year on this very subject <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQSkFMHVs20>, I know exactly what Jeff here is talking about and why. Overall, I believe this essay of his was well done, pointing out every fact and counter-argument students need to know about this topic. And do they need to know? Yes. Technology is making its way into all sorts of communities, and games are now being targeted at every sort of audience. Young and old alike are getting their hands on every kind of system which even astonishes me. I see my 3-year-old cousin already working his way into the gaming culture and my aunts and uncles playing Wii Fit. Gaming and technology in general is rapidly taking over the world where we are relying on it more and more to sustain our needs.

I am not against video games. I love them and play them all the time- but I certainly know what they can do to people. Jeff Lessard knows this too.

Brittny Gross Casts Aside "Entangling Roots"

As a gamer, I like to pull myself into other worlds. As a reader I choose to do the same. But when an author is of my same age group and education level, I distance myself. I consider it to be insulting to read another student's writing in such a formal way. I find it demeaning. Professors, Professionals, Adults. I can read their works because they have proven to be my betters. For this writer, Jeff Lessard, I cannot say the same.

But, the writing is "good."

My definition of "good" differs, however, from most. When I say something is good, I don't usually mean I like it. I mean that I can see how others would like it. I didn't like this essay's message. Sure, the writing is to par, the organization is fine and he makes his point. I just don't feel I need to agree with it.

Why take a subject that is already under such scrutiny and point to extreme cases to make your point that the subject has more flaws than are being acknowledged? Everyone knows that game addiction exists. Everyone knows that extreme gamers are "antisocial." Why point that out? Why make fun of a subculture simply for it's differing lifestyle choices.

I pose the question, have you ever indulged in a fantasy? Of course you have. You dream of meeting Mr. or Ms. Right. Then you take your pick and convince yourself that they are perfect. Is that healthy? No. But I think it is worse than playing World of Warcraft. But, how can I argue that? The writing has used hard evidence. I have used nothing more than assumptions.

So it is good. But it also hurtful. I read this and got angry. That's a good essay. It pulled emotion. But, I wish the writer would have considered those among us who have, instead of pushing away the world, been pushed away. I am one who treats these other worlds as a safe haven, a way of healing. After a day surrounded by men telling me that I haven't got a prayer, I find entering a world where opportunity awaits me to be euphoric. I'm not pathetic, I'm not an "addict," I'm just doing what I can to survive.

Comparing the game industry to Big Tobacco is like comparing crystal to diamonds. They only look similar if you're uneducated. Will writers like this get pleasure out of the loss of a game industry? Will they be happy if someone's only hope has been stolen because they were different? Yes, people have killed themselves over MMORPGs, they have lost valuable grades due to their gaming habits. The same can be said for people in dedicated relationships. A woman might kill herself over a lost love or skip class to be with her beau. Shall we illegalize intimate relations with others? After all, artificial insemenation has made traditional impregnation unessicary.

Well, as I've said many times, it's a good essay. But that doesn't mean I like it. Good is not excellant. Good is not great. Good is good. It's not fair, not poor, but definately not great. Personally, I've always preferred evil.

Response: Fight for the Right to Save a Life

I thoroughly enjoyed this essay, mostly because I can really relate to the topic. Though I can still donate blood, I have quite a few friends who cannot due to the laws put in place by the FDA. I have seen how demoralizing it can be to a persons demeanor when they feel they are being treated unequally.

More to the point though, I believe Schmidt exemplified good writing in this essay due to her detailed investigation of the discrimination against gay men who have had sexual relations with other men. In providing a moderately large list of cited sources to back up her point, I feel she attains more credibility. Aside from the cited sources, Schmidt also put her emotion into the writing, thereby giving it more appeal to the reader -to me, this is good writing.

I Guess It's "Good"...

Well, this is my first blog post of the new semester and as I begin my journey through Rhetoric II I am faced with the question, what makes a writing worthwhile to read or "good"? For me it is something that draws me into the reading, what that this I mean by this is that I find it compelling to read. I chose the essay "Entangling Roots" by Jeff Lessard. It happened to be something that I found very compelling because it dealt with one of my interests. It was an essay devoted entirely to how video-games can be addicting to some. This however, has seemed to be an issue that has been beaten to death, but was still compelling to keep reading as I wanted to see what Jeff had to say on the issue. He chose a much different approach in his writing than other articles or essays I have read on the issue. He chose to focus more on the MMOs(Massively Multiplayer Online) than blaming violent games for the behaviors of children and teens.

But I digress. Getting back to the original question asked "good" to me can be many different things. I feel that "good" is compelling, entertaining, informative. It is also something that I could relate with. But these aren't the only things, because after all most writings are hard to fit into this category of what I consider "good". "Good" is something that can be different for everyone what I may consider good may not be for someone else and vice-versa.

In closing, I feel that this essay was "good" because it appeals to something that I have a first hand experience with and something that as a future career in the industry (major is video-game programming) I will be dealing with this on a day-to-day basis.

A Fatigued Response to "Entangling Roots"

Well, it looks like it's that time again, everybody! Yes, time once again to blame video games for all the world's evils. Perhaps I am being more dramatic here than is necessary, but this is by no means the first time I have heard this worn out tale. In this essay, "Entangling Roots", Jeff Lessard takes a firm stance against massively multiplayer online role playing games, claiming that they ruin the lives of many people who play them and that the players can no longer tell the difference between fantasy and reality. I have spent a considerable portion of my life sitting in front of a computer or television screen, engrossed in a video game, be it by myself or playing online with other people, and I can proudly say that no game has ever motivated me to neglect my social or personal responsabilities or to leave the real world behind. As Lessard says, there are millions of people playing World of Warcraft, a number which I believe has recently jumped to 11 or 12 million. Out of all of these people, there are bound to be people who get caught up in the game, just as there are millions of others who play it simply from time to time without getting addicted. Many of the events Lessard describes in his essay about people killing themselves over online interactions are true tragedies, but it is simply wrong to claim that the game was the sole reason for the incident. Consider the example of Shawn Wooley, who commited suicide after having his proposal rejected by another person playing EverQuest. This is a very sad story in itself, but if someone is willing to devote their lives to something as trivial as an online game, couldn't it be possible that the person had something wrong with them before the game came along? Many people out there have addictive personalities, and simply become engrossed in the games they play. With a game like World of Warcraft, there is no real end-point that gives these people a point they need to quit playing. I am not saying here that World of Warcraft cannot hurt one's social life in the real world, Lessard provided plenty of examples of that, but it just seems to me that online games, and video games in general, have become this generation's scapegoat toward most of society's ills. People are blaming too many things on video games today, just as they did with Dungeons and Dragons 15 years ago, and rock and roll before that. Rational people usually have no problems with online games, but even so, if someone close to you is becoming addicted to a game, is it too much to ask that you try to help them kick the addiction before they end up doing something stupid?

-Will Cook

-Edits
I've just realized that I never really answered the question of whether or not I considered this essay to be "good" or whether I liked it, although my answer to the second question should be rather clear. I think that this essay is well written, and that the author cites his sources well, but I can't call it good. The author makes his case against the games, but there is much that he does not mention about the other side of the argument, and he is seemingly reluctant to admit that normal people can play the game and lead normal lives, despite the whole "millions of people play this game and a few individuals have problems" basis of the argument. I feel that if Lessard had entertained the other side of the issue, I would be more willing to consider his points.

Entangling Roots Response

I agree with Jeff Lessard's stance that using video games in excess is a detriment to physical and mental health. I think a majority of people who witness these "addicts" would agree how obvious it is that playing video games is the catalyst for such massive social awkwardness. Growing up, I always heard the potential mind-rotting effect of video games, and I assumed it was just old-school fallacies. Apparently not. My dad and all his angry rants seemed to be true. Video games ARE rotting peoples minds, enough to the point where they commit suicide over a non-existent female character. 

I enjoy playing certain video games. And many other sane people do as well. My opinion is not that all video games are bad, or that anyone who is into video games is some sort of social goon. I just agree with Lessard's stance that video games in massive excess will make you go nuts and become a social outcast.  

"Entangling Roots..." by Jeff Lessard

“Entangling Roots…” by Jeff Lessard is a well written essay. He writes in an organized manner and it is clear that he has a firm grasp of the information he is presenting to the reader. Lessard also has a good mix of information. The combination of hard facts and anecdotal evidence not only keeps the reader interested; it further demonstrates the effort put into his research and argument. Other parts of this piece that struck me as being particularly well done were the introduction and transitions. Lessard’s paragraphs have a logic flow into each other which enhances the overall attractiveness of his writing. “Entangling Roots…” is has many aspects of “good” writing.

Entangling Roots: Liz McGarty

In the piece, "Entangling Roots" by Jeff Lessard, he talks about the posative and negative effects of the popular hobby online gameing. One thing I enjoyed about this piece was that the author is a student here at Champlain. It shows that he is similar to us in a way, thus some of us can relate to many of his points. One thing I thought was good about this piece was all the works cited shown in the end. This also shows that the author took the time to get accurate research to back up his point. It shows he took the effort needed to write a well thoughtout essay.

"Fight for the Right to Save a Lfe"

Kaitlin Leonard

Rhetoric 2 section 19

1/15/09

When reading “Fight for the Right to Save a Life,” I found it to be very well written. I thought that it was going to literally be about fighting and saving someone’s life. When actually reading it felt that the title fit very well in that people who are fighting for their lives need other people to save them. Whether it be in the way of a doctor saving your life, or just another one of your average Joe’s off the street donating blood for a good cause. I thought that it was good because the facts that were mentioned in it made me think more about it. Why is it that we discriminate against all gays? They have no reason to make all gays not give blood, jus the ones who are HIV positive. I think that if your gay then you should be able donate blood because you are not infected with anything you’re just gay. I also like the amount of research that Rebecca Schmidt put into this story, because it makes the story much more true and makes you feel worse about what they are actually doing with discriminating the gay’s.

Response to "Fight for the Right"

I found “Fight for the Right to Save a Life” by Rebecca Schmidt to be a very interesting yet informing essay. This piece of writing was filled with a lot of information protesting the restriction of gay men for donating blood. Not only did the author state her opinion on the subject but she also gave her readers information on both sides of the argument in order to us to form our own opinion. I enjoyed reading Schmidt’s essay because she stated her opinion and gave her reasoning behind her view without trying to convince the reader that it was the right view. Even with the amount of detail given, Schmidt made the information appealing to me and other readers by using statistics and studies that were conducted recently. These studies and statistics attracted my attention because they pertained to my life rather than in the past. After I finished reading the essay I was presented with amount of references used in this essay. This impressed me because it shows that the author did a lot of research in order to fully provide her readers with an abundance of and correct information.  

"Entangling Roots" by Jeff Lessard

I read "Entangling Roots:.." by Jeff Lessard and I found it to be quite interesting. One part of this essay that I found to be a "good" thing is that it seemed to me that he had done quite a bit of research on the gaming community, and he was not basing this whole essay on a hunch. Many people today talk about the gaming community, and point out how some members are not as social as non-members. But Jeff Lessard seemed to have done the research, and went passed purely observing. This is the biggest thing that jumped out to me while reading this essay, it was well researched.

What's Good Writing?

What's good writing?
So what makes writing worthwhile reading? Can you identify what it is that keeps you from giving up on a text?

In class tomorrow we'll decide what we mean by "good," but in the meantime, think about the essays you read (Schmidt and Lessard) and post a blog in which you identify a positive quality in the writing.