Blog Post 2; Web 2.0 Video

This video was extremely eye-opening. It made me realize how much technology, especially the internet, is impacting my life and the entire human race. The creator of this video, Michael Wesch, used a fast paced, upbeat song and quick shot transitions to better get his point across. The song and speed of the video were only a few of his clever strategies that helped the viewers of his video come to a better understanding of how the internet is changing the way that we communicate with each other. At certain points of his video, the music rapidly grows and emphasizes more important parts. There is somewhat of a climactic feeling at three minutes and ten seconds into the video. At this point, he shows google.com, the largest search engine in the world. Shortly after, the music returns to a slower, low key beat because he has us read rapid successions of highlighted text which explains that we are the machine. WE are the ones who produce the material seen on webpages, and every time we click a link, we teach ourselves more material.
In addition to having an intelligent way of showing us the information, he has a great purpose behind the video. I personally was intrigued by the video because I have never realized how important the internet is in our lives. Every time we click a link on a webpage, which is billions of times every day, we take in more knowledge. We unconsciously re-teach ourselves material and unconsciously communicate with millions of people every day. Whether it be directly through facebook chat, face to face on Skype, or just reading up on an article on CNN, someone had to write, or type text for the rest of the world to read and someone had to create a program to translate it into hundreds of different languages. If you think about it, you have probably communicated with people halfway around the world! People who don’t speak the same language as you!

Quotation Reflection

“I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” - James Michener

This quote is intriguing because for me, it is true and I also enjoy the pun. When writing, I often find that my first few drafts are not nearly as good as when I take time to review my writing and find mistakes. I feel that there is always something that can be changed to make my papers better and I can assure you that this paper will have several errors in it. It is always smart to reread and rewrite because there is always room for improvement. It is easy to find parts of my papers that need improvement and is also just as easy to pick out the strong points.

This quote has a direct sense of purpose. The purpose of this quote is to state that although you may not be a great writer, reviewing your work can always be beneficial. James Michener was a famous American novelist. James was most likely trying to communicate to his audience that even though he was viewed as a brilliant novelist, he still made mistakes just like the rest of us.

James Michener did not have a direct audience when stating this, however he did realize that he was regarded as a famous novelist, so there must have been a sense of speaking to a “lesser” audience. Michener’s audience and context is unique. There was not a set time or place that Michener was looking to say this, but his quote will be around for as long as humans are able to communicate. His audience can be just about anyone. He did not know that I was going to fall upon this quote in English class, and he sure didn’t expect me to write a reflection paper on it.

James was a good communicator and said this to influence young writers and to encourage people to strive to do the best work they can. He knew people would listen to what he had to say. His statement of purpose is simple, direct, and easy to understand.

TEST POST