My Final Blog post...I know, sad right

Did you like the blogs?
- Yes and no. I liked how easy it was to post things and such, but I didn't like having another thing to worry about in this ever growing and expanding world of social media. Perhaps I'm just lame, but I don't like social media, and so I didn't like that I had to start a blog for this class. I'll probably just end up deleting it (but I don't know how).   :)

Did you like posting assignments on your blog instead of turning a paper copy in during class?
- YES! Saves me time, I could do the assignment ANYWHERE as long as I had a computer with internet, and I saved paper = I saved a twig on a tree! Plus a lot of the assignments were really short and simple, and so it would have been dumb to have to do a paper assignment that you turn in that's only got one paragraph of stuff on it.

Have you enjoyed reading your peers' blogs? Was it useful to you to see everyone's responses to the assignments?
-  Sometimes. I didn't always having to read 4 of them (especially when we had a long post), but some of the stuff said was funny and got me to laugh.
- Sometimes it was helpful seeing their responses to the assignments. Often times the responses were a simple: Oh, I know how you feel...I've had the same problem... Basically the exact same stuff, but no solutions. But there were times that someone did give you some legit advice, and so that was helpful.

Analysis on one of my websites

I don't know if I'm going crazy or what, but it seems like the format for YouTube has just changed since the last time I was up there, and it's much better. But it's still not my most favorite.
- There's not a whole lot of strategic placing of things on the website (and there's a LOT on the main page). Yes, at the top center is the search box for what video you want to look up, but directly below it is a big add window that almost hides it because it attracts so much attention, and so unless you're looking for the search window you won't find it. So the website is awfully concerned with advertising, and I don't use YouTube to get products shown to me, I use YouTube to watch what I want to see. So I don't like that. Plus, there are tons of video links off to the right, and a tab of options on the left, and a whole bunch of who knows whats in the center. So it's organized and there's proximity, but there's just a LOT. But since I last got on, it seems like they've taken a few things off, so it's just a little less cluttered, which I like. They should just keep taking more off in my opinion.
- But I think the website has changed, because I think the color is different now, and instead of lots of stressful red, there's a fair amount of soothing really dark shades of grey.
- The rule of thirds (for composition) doesn't exist at all on YouTube, because it's all about showing as many video adds and choppy videos non-professionals have done as possible. So there's no real pattern to composition, because everything is just so random; there's no norm for YouTube.
- And there's TONS of repetition. Tons of video links that just go on and on down the page, but the size and style and color of the font remains consistent which I'm VERY grateful for, because if every video had a different font style and size, I would die just trying to read a few of them simply because there's so many videos links so close together.

4 Good and 4 Bad Websites

The Good Ones...
1. Wikipedia.com
-Do I really need to explain why this site is so great? :) No, you can't site it, but it's great for getting a general overview of ANYTHING in ANY language, and it's a great place to start if you need sources and leads to go off of when doing research.
2. cia.gov
-This website has EVERYTHING on it about EVERY country in the world. Excellent place for research on an international level (and if the world fascinates you as much as it does me, then there you go).
3. whitehouse.gov
-It's super simple to navigate, well organized, and it has a nice feel to it which makes it easy to read.
4. lockheedmartin.com
-First of all I just love this company, but second of all it has TONS of stuff in it and can go a million different directions, but it's all well organized and simple. Come on, who doesn't enjoy having pictures of airplanes flash by while you're reading something? :)

The Naughty Ones...
1. army.mil
-I know, ironic considering that I'm in the rotc, but it's just confusing and way too jumbled. It's tough to navigate and I feel it has way too much crammed into it.
2. newt.org
-This is Newt Gingrich's official campaign website, but it's not the first link that shows up when you google his name! (what does that tell you) Plus I hate the shade of grey that he uses as the main block.
3. bbc.co.uk
-I love the Brits, but I hate this website. I don't like the layout, the font used, the format in the articles, and I don't like that they have a big block of red at the top of each page (and it's a scientific fact that the color red causes you to be more alert and stressed - thanks but I don't like getting stressed).
4. youtube.com
-Someone will probably kill me for saying this one. :) Don't get me wrong, there's fun stuff on youtube, but I hate the format and layout of it. And I hate how many adds and video links there are on the main-page that you have to ignore. Sorry, but give me something that's add-free, simple and direct.

How I Resolved my Problem in the Writing Process

So one of my big problems was just sorting through all my info sources and knowing how to manage it all and find those perfect sentences and quotes to cite.
My big problem with this was that I simply wasn't studying and researching my topic enough. But when I finally just sat down for a few hours and went over things and really started to just study my topic at a very basic level that I really started to find stuff and actually learn quite a bit.
So my problem to begin with was simply a lack of effort. My solution was to hunker down, do some more research and study, and simply take it one bite at a time, and study the whole picture (rather than try to weed through it and look for specific things and nitty-gritty details).

Paraphrasing (not Patchwriting)

“We do not in everyday life reflect much on how one people’s ‘myth’ may be another people’s religion or episteme. What ‘we’ label ‘myth’ from other cultures then translates into the ‘that’s just a myth!’ formula that implicitly sustains the value of our own beliefs. Thus trivialized—though in different ways—both outside and within Western culture, ‘myth’ in common English-language usage today is the object of exoticizing amusement or dismissal; it is deprived of its associations with history, knowledge, and vision—what has made myth culturally valuable and has most fascinated scholars of myths and traditional narratives” (Bacchilega 25).

 

My Paraphrase

There is a lot of misunderstanding on what we (on an individual level) call a 'myth.' We may label someone's faith as a myth, or see other parts of cultures as simply a myth. What we define in English as a 'myth' is largely influenced by our history or cultural. A 'myth' is defined as on object that's not understood and seen as funny or easy to dismiss (Bacchilega 25).

A problem I've faced is just having to revise my thesis, and then trying to tie in my resources into it. And I've found it very difficult to go over ALL the material I have for resources and then pick just that right sentence I need. So yeah, it's stressful...oh well. :)

What did I learn about Research on Monday?

Well, to start off, I learned how amazing iPads are (even when I had to go through 2 or 3 of them because they kept malfunctioning on me). :)
But seriously, I was amazed with the online resources the library has. I had no clue BYU had such a database. So I'm glad to know that I can get online and anything I find there I can likely find in the library, and really just narrow down my research and such.
But to be honest, I also didn't like the library database search system, because I feel that it restricts how much information we receive. That can be a good thing (not getting too much info) because it helps us narrow down our research and sources, but I still like being able to Google something and get a bazillion responses, and then I can weed through the most popular ones. Or I enjoy going onto Wikipedia and then when I find stuff I want or need I look up the referenced source.
So as awesome as the library is, I still hope that I'll have the freedom to search anywhere I want, because whenever you restrict research, it's never quite as incompassing or as through as it could be (in scholarly language: It hinders my creativity). :)

The 'Syrious' Syrian Genocide

I'm really scarred to think about how many people Hitler would have killed if he lived today, because it seems like the international community doesn't care anymore about genocide. All they care about is making sure they don't offend anyone. But in Syria, it is a full-blown genocide, and it gets worse and worse everyday. And all the talk in the international community about punishing Syria, has been nothing more than just talk. Caught up in the wave of the Arab Springs, Syria's people are anxious to get rid of their tyrant of a leader, President Bashir-Al Asad, but he has no desires to leave and has cracked down hard on anyone who opposes him. He's already killed THOUSANDS of his own people, all the while telling the world that he's just trying to 'cleanse' his country of terrorists and such. But the world knows it's simply his lust of power that he's unwilling to give up. Even the Arab Leagues has disavowed Syria, but Syria still continues to kill dozens of its people everyday...and the world just keeps watching.

If the U.N. doesn't get its game face on and start intervening in Syria (with military action if necessary - and it sure looks like that's the only option left), then the killing will continue. I guess if the world is okay with watching people die that want freedom, then we should just keep doing what we're doing right now (which is nothing). But if the world has any good, decent, caring people left, who are willing to do something hard because it's right, then the U.N. should step up and actually live it's creed of promoting peace.

My Research Questions:
Why has the world not intervened with force? What more must happen before they do?
What would it take to stop Syria? How big of a military force?
Are there any legitament options left besides military action? If so, what are they, and how does the U.N. do them?
If President Bashir-Al Asad left power, would that solve all the problems? Would there still be civil unrest (as there has been in the other countries that have experienced the Arab Spring)?