Since this class is a seminar, it's important for all of us to get to know each other. Let's get started by introducing ourselves.
(1) In a post of about 200 words, tell us a bit about your background (including your area of concentration) and why you chose to sign up for this course.
(2) Please read all the postings, and reply to at least two.
Finish all posting by noon on Jan. 22 so that everyone can read the messages before our next class meeting.
My name is Anthony and my area of concentration is trying to write better. I have problems staying on topic in essay's and describing what I feel and think. I chose this course because I love writing, I love words. I have dreams of becoming a novelist one day. I am 15 and have lots to write about, lots of things to say and point out. I am bursting with ideas but yet I can't explain them. I need to work on organizing my thoughts a little quicker and trying to say what I have to say. I also have a problem with rambling so I hope to fix that as well.
I was selected for this course by my college counselor who thought the English classes I was taking was way below my level and thought I should take a class at NYU. That opportunity is only given to juniors and I'm a sophomore so I am proud. I'm a little scared, already worrying about how I'll do and how I'll manage to keep up with the work but I'm sure I'll do fine if I take it easy.
Writing Ethnicity sounded interesting, I knew we were going to talk about ethnic writing or writings from different cultures. I am interested in how culture shapes a person's mind, how it affects them. I am Hispanic, my family comes from Costa Rica. Costa Rica isn't a country with lots of readers, books aren't really appreciated and not many books have sprung from that region and I want to know why?
My ultimate goal in this class is to learn how to write better, precisely, eloquently and to read more and more books and enjoy them with others in the class.
My name is Kristen and I am currently studying film production and taking some side courses in medical sciences. I have been working with film and television production since my freshman year of high school. I was always interested in it, but I was able to take advantage of the opportunity of going to a public ?career academy? for communications studies in order to satisfy my interests. I worked on many productions and projects with most of my electives being in the film, art, and media areas. In fact, this semester I have been given the opportunity to intern at Tribeca Film Productions as a way to expand my knowledge of the field as a whole.
I was previously enrolled in a different writing seminar, but when the opportunity came up, I went back through the seminars that were of interest to me and picked a new one that would work better with my new schedule.
I think Anthony?s case is definitely an inspiring one. If I have a high school student in my class, it will drive me to work harder. If he is willing to take a writing course at NYU in order to better himself, I should be taking advantage of the fact that this course is given to me by the program I am involved in. I feel somewhat on the same page as Anthony because I feel like I do have a lot of ideas in my head, but I do not always know quite how to present them. I like to get things done, so sometimes I find myself being too brief and to the point. I need work on elaborating my ideas to make my thoughts more clear to my audience. I think this should be an interesting class as well as one that I could use to really expand my writing abilities.
I forgot to mention what I've done so far in high school. In Spring '06 I participated in a fellowship at the MoMA, it was a printmaking program. That program really helped me a lot in my writing because I learned new names of colors and I wrote stories about what I saw in the paintings. If anyone would like to read one I'll send it to you. I recommend to everyone that if you want to write better you can also learn at an art museum, descriptions are great on the flyers and paintings really make you think about what’s going on.
In summer '06 I took a writing class at the PEN Institute. I learned a lot from that class and it inspired me to take more classes involving writing because it taught me writing can be much more fun with other people.
And Kristen said in one sentence my problem in what I said I think in two paragraphs "I like to get things done, so sometimes I find myself being too brief and to the point. I need to work on elaborating my ideas to make my thoughts more clear to my audience." Thanks Kristen.
I also think this will be an interesting class, I can't wait to get started in conversations!
Having already (sort of) met in class, I'll try to get the boring introductory business out of the way. My name is Carter Carter and, much to my dismay, I'm not kidding. I'm originally from Cambridge, Massachusetts, but I've been fortunate enough to have spent the first semester living on Union Square. My concentration is, broadly speaking, culinary anthropology; I study how and why different ethnic groups deal with food the way they do and how these practices and ideas surrounding food came to exist. Geographically I focus on the Silk Road, Central and South Asia, but because I work as a professional cook I also pay a lot of attention to Western Europe (it's sort of the cradle of the trade). I'm something of a nerd. In any case, I opted to take this class because I'm fundamentally an anthropology/ethnology major and thus I take any opportunity I can get to work with ideas of ethnicity and ethnic identity. Like Kristen I've also got some interest in medicine, mostly running towards medical anthropology and developing world public health--I currently have a fierce crush on Dr. Paul Farmer, whose books you should read if ever you get the chance. Anthony, I might be being a bit dense, but I'm not sure if you said that this is your first course here; also, do you have any sense of what we might do to make the experience/transition easier? I took a couple of college courses in high school and found them to be overwhelming, so let me know if a little Do-Unto-Others action is in order. Peace and Stay Warm, Carter
My name is Sarah Francois. I am concentrating on social justice through racial and cultural constructs. However, this year I wanted to do alot of self-identity. Honestly, there's nothing like being black or brown and rejoicing in it. In high school, I compiled a book of poetry as well as a portfolio of paintings, collages etc. Every single person that saw my portfolio wondered if I realized that I had not painted anyone who wasn;t black or brown. Last semester, I took Lyrics on Lockdown (Hip Hop and the Prison Industrial Complex). I even dabbled in African Dance and Swahili. I'm even toying with the original idea of changing my name to Fahima, which means she who understands in swahili. This semester, I looked at all the choices for a writing seminar ( the online list) and I found that I didn't like any of the choices. Then, while browsing through a paper copy of the bulletin I saw this class. It was almost meant for me. Every time someone asks what writing seminar I am in, I am always responded to with "Ah I figured you'd be in that one"!
I used to love to write poetry. I still love words. However, I now place alot of importance on the performance aspect of the spoken word. I still love to write but I'm told I have such a distinct style that before reading the name people can tell it is me. Usually it is because of the content and the subject matter. I like to write what I know, which is social conflicts: religion, race, sexual orientation, violence etc
I have this love of languages and ethnicity. I come from the unique position of growing up speaking 3 or 4 different languages. Honestly I just believe in writing your own story and I want this class to start me on my way to doing that.
My name is Anthony and my area of concentration is trying to write better. I have problems staying on topic in essay's and describing what I feel and think. ( I have the same problem) I chose this course because I love writing, I love words. I have dreams of becoming a novelist one day. I am 15 and have lots to write about, lots of things to say and point out. I am bursting with ideas but yet I can't explain them. I need to work on organizing my thoughts a little quicker and trying to say what I have to say. I also have a problem with rambling so I hope to fix that as well.
I was selected for this course by my college counselor who thought the English classes I was taking was way below my level and thought I should take a class at NYU. That opportunity is only given to juniors and I'm a sophomore so I am proud. I'm a little scared, already worrying about how I'll do and how I'll manage to keep up with the work but I'm sure I'll do fine if I take it easy.
Writing Ethnicity sounded interesting, I knew we were going to talk about ethnic writing or writings from different cultures. I am interested in how culture shapes a person's mind, how it affects them. I am Hispanic, my family comes from Costa Rica. Costa Rica isn't a country with lots of readers, books aren't really appreciated and not many books have sprung from that region and I want to know why?
My ultimate goal in this class is to learn how to write better, precisely, eloquently and to read more and more books and enjoy them with others in the class.
Anthony, I seriously thought you were an NYU student. Congratulations. I love writing also. I had the same problem of rambling and not staying on same topic in high school. In fact, one of my teacher's just got in the habit of writing two words on every essay "not clear". Don't worry too much. Writing is a process and it takes time. Last semester, my professor wrote those same two words ( which could have sent panic signals to my brain)on one paper pertaining to one paragraph. Instead, I smiled because I knew that it meant there was some progress being made. It helps to outline your ideas out first, freewrite. Then, stick to your outline.
I hope you enjoy the readings that we do as much as I will... and believe me I will. I don't know if its just because I like to read or because my sociology-type concentration entails alot of reading but I took a look at the syllabus and swelled with joy. C'mon. Zora Neale Hurston was on it![/u]
My name is Kristen and I am currently studying film production and taking some side courses in medical sciences. I have been working with film and television production since my freshman year of high school. I was always interested in it, but I was able to take advantage of the opportunity of going to a public ?career academy? for communications studies in order to satisfy my interests. I worked on many productions and projects with most of my electives being in the film, art, and media areas. In fact, this semester I have been given the opportunity to intern at Tribeca Film Productions as a way to expand my knowledge of the field as a whole.
I was previously enrolled in a different writing seminar, but when the opportunity came up, I went back through the seminars that were of interest to me and picked a new one that would work better with my new schedule.
I think Anthony?s case is definitely an inspiring one. If I have a high school student in my class, it will drive me to work harder. If he is willing to take a writing course at NYU in order to better himself, I should be taking advantage of the fact that this course is given to me by the program I am involved in. I feel somewhat on the same page as Anthony because I feel like I do have a lot of ideas in my head, but I do not always know quite how to present them. I like to get things done, so sometimes I find myself being too brief and to the point. I need work on elaborating my ideas to make my thoughts more clear to my audience. I think this should be an interesting class as well as one that I could use to really expand my writing abilities.
Now that I think about it. I have the same weakness. I tend to write as if everyone knows what I am talking about. I make points and don't expand on them. I filter alot of points in an argument that do not really strengthen or weaken my argument. They are just there for decoration , or to make the paper longer. I talk alot and jump around from topic to topic. However, when I write I run out of words or I say too much irrelevant information. For example information about the KKK in an essay on education. I have the same problems with coherence and the smooth togetherness of an essay. The transitions from topic to topic are loose if even there at all
Carter, for starters, I'm really interested in your name. How did that come about? Is it a family thing or something? Have you always lived in Massachusetts or did you live somewhere else besides that? I love your major! So Gallatin-esque! I need to work on my phrasing a bit I think! What do you think you would want to do with the medicine side of your interests? At this point, I do not know if I want to combine them, like a producer for DiscoveryHealth or working on psychological/thinking-types of films, or if I want to explore professions in the different fields at different times in my life.
I will also agree with Carter in the way that anything we can do to help Anthony adjust to the classroom, let us know! See you all soon!
Treating me like a normal student would help me adjust to the class.
I sometimes have problems talking, I prefer to write what I have to say more than talk so if I explain something and I appear to be struggling, others can help me explain saying what they think I'm trying to say after I'm done.
I really don't know how you guys can help me adjust to the class. Treating me like any regular student would be nice and just being nice would be good as well. I am very open in friendly atmospheres.
Also, when people talk in discussions I hope someone wouldn't mind not talking so fast and talking in a way in which every person no matter their level of education can understand- did that make sense?
My name is Tiffany Rios and I just transferred to Gallatin from Loyola Marymount University. For the past two and a half years I have been studying film production, so I do not have a specific concentration yet.
I'm from L.A. so the atmosphere here in New York is pretty different for me, but in a good way. I was barely able to register last week, but am glad to have found a writing seminar with a subject that piqued my interest.
I really love to write, be it journalistically or just throwing around script ideas. I guess my problem with writing is the fact that I'm a perfectionist. I can easily waste so much time trying to verbalize my thoughts, and re-write over and over until I'm satisfied.
Going along with what everyone else has said so far, I think it's amazing that Anthony is spending the semester with us. And it sounds like, so far at least, we're all in here because we are genuinely interested, so I'm sure the group dynamic will be great.
Hello all. I'm Miles Markus, the ferret. I'm from Los Angeles, I have brown hair, and I enjoy the musical stylings of They Might Be Giants. The problems I have with writing are manifold. I have something of the opposite problem of Tiffany and rather than agonizing over word choice or pains-takingly editing a paper down, I will tend to just spit a bunch of words all over the paper and then hand it in, hoping it makes some sense. This served me better than it ought to have in high school and is bringing me up against something of a wall now that I have to do some serious writing. I have a serious aversion to making outlines and planning out an essay before I write it. This write-by-the-seat-of-your-pants style tends to work with a little bit looser assignments, but, last semester, once we got to arguments and literary criticism my weaknesses made themselves painfully apparent. Taking a little more time to structure my work is really what I need to learn to do, and hopefully this class can help me with that. And Carter, your name is awesome.
Hello all. I'm Miles Markus, the ferret. I'm from Los Angeles, I have brown hair, and I enjoy the musical stylings of They Might Be Giants. The problems I have with writing are manifold. I have something of the opposite problem of Tiffany and rather than agonizing over word choice or pains-takingly editing a paper down, I will tend to just spit a bunch of words all over the paper and then hand it in, hoping it makes some sense. This served me better than it ought to have in high school and is bringing me up against something of a wall now that I have to do some serious writing. I have a serious aversion to making outlines and planning out an essay before I write it. This write-by-the-seat-of-your-pants style tends to work with a little bit looser assignments, but, last semester, once we got to arguments and literary criticism my weaknesses made themselves painfully apparent. Taking a little more time to structure my work is really what I need to learn to do, and hopefully this class can help me with that. And Carter, your name is awesome.
Anyway, I can relate with you Miles. I have the problem with making outlines and planning essay's. I also just write down whatever comes to mind, I do that when I notice I can't think or write down what I'm trying to say. So, another goal for this class is learning how to get my point across as well.
Peter Chung Wu. My name itself tells a unique story of the 20 years of my life. I am an Asian. I am an American. Better yet, I am an Asian-American. I used to be ashamed of my middle and last name. I was fortunate to have an American first name. I dreaded the moments when teachers would take attendance and call you out by your last name. “Wu. Is Peter Wu here?”
I am a transfer student at Gallatin with a concentration of “Asian American Identity in the Media”. This is my second semester at NYU and I’ve previously attended Penn State University. Today, instead of rejecting my Asian identity, I have learned to embrace it. The media has a powerful yet dangerous influence in our lives and I believe it played a part in my rejection of my identity. Because I want to be an Actor, I feel that I need to understand my role as an Asian-American in the media.
I want to take this class because I am very interested in the how different cultures express themselves and the challenges and pressures they have to deal with in their writings. This means a lot to me because I feel like there is a subtle barrier for expression as an Asian American Actor and I want to further explore this idea and be able to express myself.
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