I recently changed majors, from one where there were no essays required from me, to one where there are lots of essays required from me. As such, I've become very aware of the process I go through to write an essay.
Note: This is just a general format, obviously each essay is different.
Step 1: Read the prompt.
Step 2: Look at the number of pages expected from me.
Step 3: Panic.
Step 4: Read the prompt again, hoping desperately that I think of something to say on the topic.
Step 5: Go off and do other things, occasionally thinking about the essay and worrying.
Step 6: Out of nowhere, think of an argument or fact that can be used for the essay.
Step 6 1/2: Go back through my readings/do research to find facts I can use.
Step 7: Write down the fact(s) in my outline.
Repeat steps 6-7 until I have an outline that is at least half as long as my paper needs to be, because the outline is single spaced, doesn't use full sentences, and doesn't include anything regarding the introduction or conclusion.
Step 8: Go over my outline, rearranging things until I feel like there's at least some transition between main points.
Step 9: Try to start writing an introduction.
Step 10: Get annoyed because every attempt to start the paper is garbage.
Step 11: Skip straight to writing the first body paragraph because I have an outline for it so I at least have some idea of what I want to write.
Step 12: Get inspiration for my introduction in the middle of writing a body paragraph.
Step 13: Go back and write my introduction.
Step 14: Finish my body paragraphs.
Step 14 1/2: Every so often write a sentence that I just hate so much that I delete it, then rewrite it only to delete it again until I just give up and decide to let future me deal with the problem of the terrible sentence in editing.
Step 15: Try to write a conclusion.
Step 16: Get frustrated because conclusions are hard.
Step 17: Just write something as a conclusion, mostly by reiterating my main points.
Step 18: Wait 8-24 hours before rereading the essay.
Step 19: Reread the essay, expecting it to be terrible.
Step 20: Become pleasantly surprised that it isn't a steaming pile of turd after all.
Step 21: Fix the terrible sentences that annoyed me earlier, because for some reason I can now figure out how to phrase them so that they aren't terrible.
Step 22: Reread the essay, fixing spelling and grammar mistakes as I go.
Step 23: Turn the essay in.
Step 24: Panic that it's actually a horrible essay and that I should have spent more time fixing it. At no point reread the essay to reassure myself that it isn't bad.
Step 25: Listen to the person who graded the essay explain in general terms what we as a group did wrong and should improve on for the future.
Step 26: Assume that every single one of these errors applies to me, even if the part of my brain that remembers the essay knows that they can't all apply.
Step 27: Get the graded essay back.
Step 28: Congratulate myself on having tricked the TA/professor/grader into thinking I'm a good writer.
Step 29: Briefly consider that maybe, just maybe, I have unrealistically high standards for myself as a writer.
Step 30: Disregard that thought. It's clearly stupid.
Showing posts with label obsessions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obsessions. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Bechdel Test and Me
Recently I started looking into something I'd heard about only slightly called the Bechdel Test. In order to pass the test there are three criteria that must be met.
1. There must be at least two female characters
2. Who speak to each other
3. About something other than a man/men.
This test is applied to movies and TV shows to look at how women are presented. Mainly, the goal of the test is to try and shed some light on how infrequently women exist in movies independent of their relationships to men. Think about your favorite movies. How many of them pass this test?
This test is interesting for a lot of reasons. It's very revealing when looking at the percentage of movies that pass, but when the actual movies themselves are examined, passing the test doesn't always mean the movie is female friendly, or contains a strong female role model. Similarly, not passing the test doesn't mean the movie is antiwoman. After all, according to the Bechdel Test Movie List Paranormal Activity 3 passed the test while the final Harry Potter movie does not.
After all, a thing to note is that the test doesn't care if the women talk about stereotypically "girly" things like shoes or make-up, so long as they aren't talking about men. As a result plenty of movies that don't provide positive female role models or positive messages about women pass. Meanwhile an action movie where the strong female leads discuss defeating the evil male bad guy, would fail.
It's also interesting because of how strict the definition of men is. The test doesn't care if the women are discussing a romantic lead, an ailing father, or a mortal enemy, if the person about whom they are speaking is male, the movie fails. My problem with this is when the topic of conversation is about a public figure. If the women are discussing the recent actions of the male president and how they feel about it, I'd view that as a pass, because they are discussing politics, however according to the test, it is a fail because they are talking about a man. Luckily from what I've seen, while my president example would fail, a discussion about congress would pass, because it is an organization, even if it is an organization mostly made of men. A more concerning part of the test is that women who discuss their daughters pass, but women who discuss their sons don't. While this makes sense when characters are talking about adult children, if characters say "Nathan rolled over today. Did Bobby" "Why yes, Bobby did." instead of Lucy and Emily, I feel this should be a pass.
The test is further complicated with the added requirement that the female characters be named. The purpose of this restriction was to avoid movies in which two background characters that have nothing to do with the story are the only reason it passes (ie. Police Woman 1: Boy it's hot today. Police Women 2: Sure is. Say what's that? Police Woman 1: Why it's a meteor. And it's heading right towards us!). Unfortunately, there is no clear definition of named. Do the characters have to be addressed by name during the movie, or is it sufficient for them to be named in the credits? There is no clear indication, which leads to interesting fights in forums about the test.
I think the Bechdel test is a useful indication about how women are presented in film and other media, but it cannot be used alone. Context is not a part of this test, and context must be provided to fully understand what is going on in the world of media in regards to women.
1. There must be at least two female characters
2. Who speak to each other
3. About something other than a man/men.
This test is applied to movies and TV shows to look at how women are presented. Mainly, the goal of the test is to try and shed some light on how infrequently women exist in movies independent of their relationships to men. Think about your favorite movies. How many of them pass this test?
This test is interesting for a lot of reasons. It's very revealing when looking at the percentage of movies that pass, but when the actual movies themselves are examined, passing the test doesn't always mean the movie is female friendly, or contains a strong female role model. Similarly, not passing the test doesn't mean the movie is antiwoman. After all, according to the Bechdel Test Movie List Paranormal Activity 3 passed the test while the final Harry Potter movie does not.
After all, a thing to note is that the test doesn't care if the women talk about stereotypically "girly" things like shoes or make-up, so long as they aren't talking about men. As a result plenty of movies that don't provide positive female role models or positive messages about women pass. Meanwhile an action movie where the strong female leads discuss defeating the evil male bad guy, would fail.
It's also interesting because of how strict the definition of men is. The test doesn't care if the women are discussing a romantic lead, an ailing father, or a mortal enemy, if the person about whom they are speaking is male, the movie fails. My problem with this is when the topic of conversation is about a public figure. If the women are discussing the recent actions of the male president and how they feel about it, I'd view that as a pass, because they are discussing politics, however according to the test, it is a fail because they are talking about a man. Luckily from what I've seen, while my president example would fail, a discussion about congress would pass, because it is an organization, even if it is an organization mostly made of men. A more concerning part of the test is that women who discuss their daughters pass, but women who discuss their sons don't. While this makes sense when characters are talking about adult children, if characters say "Nathan rolled over today. Did Bobby" "Why yes, Bobby did." instead of Lucy and Emily, I feel this should be a pass.
The test is further complicated with the added requirement that the female characters be named. The purpose of this restriction was to avoid movies in which two background characters that have nothing to do with the story are the only reason it passes (ie. Police Woman 1: Boy it's hot today. Police Women 2: Sure is. Say what's that? Police Woman 1: Why it's a meteor. And it's heading right towards us!). Unfortunately, there is no clear definition of named. Do the characters have to be addressed by name during the movie, or is it sufficient for them to be named in the credits? There is no clear indication, which leads to interesting fights in forums about the test.
I think the Bechdel test is a useful indication about how women are presented in film and other media, but it cannot be used alone. Context is not a part of this test, and context must be provided to fully understand what is going on in the world of media in regards to women.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
100 Happy Things
Drumroll....
It's the 100th post on Full Circle Crazy!!!!! In honor of this, I present a list of 100 things that make me smile, in no particular order.
1. Puppies.
2. Babies
3. Comic-Con/panel interviews with the casts of science fiction shows
4. When the Doctor speaks baby
5. Seeing this when I peer up from my computer.
6. XKCD comics
7. Smartfood Popcorn
8. Movie Theater Popcorn
9. PopSecret Homestyle Popcorn
10. The feeling when the popcorn kernel that was stuck between my tooth and gum finally dislodges.
11. Getting actual, physical mail.
12. Stephanie Perkins' books
13. Hot Showers
14. Being done with all my midterms/finals/etc.
15. The yarn aisle in craft stores.
16. Wrock
17. Libraries
18. Bookstores
19. Snow!
20. Driving
21. Seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time
22. Taking shortcuts
23. The Harry Potter series
24. The Harry Potter fandom
25. That Harry Potter inspired a wonderful charity.
26. Nerdfighteria
27. Trock
28. Doctor Who
29. Doctor Who fandom
30. Using things that I've made
31. Seeing other people use things that I've made.
32. The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio (movie)
33. John Green's "The Miracle of Swindon Town" videos
34. The fact that the above has been written about in an actual Swindon newspaper.
35. "No homework this week."
36. "No class today/tomorrow"
37. Sarah Dessen's books
38. Growing things
39. Getting discounts on items I need to buy anyway
40. When I think of an item for this list
41. Alice in Wonderland
42. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references
43. Pixie Stix
44. Calvin and Hobbes
45. Pomegranate seeds
46. When my phone makes the noise that means I either have a text or an e-mail.
47. Unicorns
48. Despicable Me
49. The fact that the nerdfighter sign appears in Despicable Me.
50. My friends suggesting I lower my expectations and only write 50 things.
42. Juice boxes
52. When books get meta.
53. Jasper Fforde's books
54. Cookies
55. Inanimate objects that look like they have faces
56. Coming home after being away for a while.
57. Sleeping in my bed at home after being away for a while.
58. Getting to come home 3 days earlier than planned.
59. Finding items I've been looking for
60. Joss Whedon interviews
61. Finishing an exam and feeling confident in how I did.
62. Finding out that the terrible exam grade I got was still higher than the average.
63. Band-aids with cartoon characters or silly images on them.
64. Bulletin boards that only have relevant fliers on them.
65. Using Green Cup as an excuse for why I haven't done laundry.
66. ThinkGeek.com
67. Ravelry.com
68. Curling up in bed with a good book and a snack
69. Coming up with incredibly unrealistic and unlikely explanations for things.
70. Hot Cookie Bar
71. Having someone to sit with in the dining hall.
72. Putting on "shuffle" mode and having a song I like come up.
73. Actually knowing the words to a song.
74. Thinking I know the words to a song and realizing I'm wrong.
75. Knowing where my keys are without having to search around first.
76. This sign
77. Actually knowing what to bid in bridge.
78. Friends
79. Playing with little kids
80. Getting a good night's sleep.
81. Wa-Wa
82. My family.
83. Care packages
84. Actually doing something that I want to do "someday."
85. Class ending early
86. Airline travel.
87. Using my drivers licence as ID to fly instead of my passport.
88. Sherlock
89. Joss Whedon shows (When he's not killing off my favorite characters)
90. Meeting people with similar interests
91. Smarties!
92. Writing
93. Remembering dreams
94. Sudoku
95. Remembering people's birthdays without Facebook.
96. Unicorns
97. The moments when I feel psychic
98. Winning.
99. My dorm room wall.
100. FINISHING THIS LIST!!!!!!
It's the 100th post on Full Circle Crazy!!!!! In honor of this, I present a list of 100 things that make me smile, in no particular order.
1. Puppies.
2. Babies
 |
| This is my cousin H. He is the most adorable baby ever. This is not up for debate. If you feel differently, you are wrong. Unless you are my mother arguing that I was the most adorable baby ever. That is an acceptable position. |
4. When the Doctor speaks baby
5. Seeing this when I peer up from my computer.
 |
| It's my Pillow Pet unicorn, Agnes. |
7. Smartfood Popcorn
8. Movie Theater Popcorn
9. PopSecret Homestyle Popcorn
10. The feeling when the popcorn kernel that was stuck between my tooth and gum finally dislodges.
11. Getting actual, physical mail.
 |
| Of course I'm covering up my address. This is the internet. |
13. Hot Showers
14. Being done with all my midterms/finals/etc.
15. The yarn aisle in craft stores.
 |
| I didn't take this picture, but this looks like a Michaels craft store. |
17. Libraries
18. Bookstores
19. Snow!
 |
| One of many unused shots from "Doodling and Snow" |
21. Seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time
22. Taking shortcuts
23. The Harry Potter series
24. The Harry Potter fandom
25. That Harry Potter inspired a wonderful charity.
 |
| Learn more at thehpalliance.org |
27. Trock
28. Doctor Who
29. Doctor Who fandom
30. Using things that I've made
 |
| My red backpack of wonder. Those are Wrock buttons adorning it, with a few others thrown in for fun. |
32. The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio (movie)
33. John Green's "The Miracle of Swindon Town" videos
34. The fact that the above has been written about in an actual Swindon newspaper.
35. "No homework this week."
36. "No class today/tomorrow"
37. Sarah Dessen's books
38. Growing things
 |
| You may remember these from "A Simpler Pet". They still haven't bloomed but they've definitely been growing. |
40. When I think of an item for this list
41. Alice in Wonderland
42. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references
43. Pixie Stix
 |
| Full of sugary goodness |
45. Pomegranate seeds
46. When my phone makes the noise that means I either have a text or an e-mail.
47. Unicorns
48. Despicable Me
49. The fact that the nerdfighter sign appears in Despicable Me.
 |
| All you have to do is make Spock symbols and cross your arms! |
42. Juice boxes
52. When books get meta.
53. Jasper Fforde's books
54. Cookies
55. Inanimate objects that look like they have faces
 |
| This building is in Italy. I picture it greeting every day by singing to the sun. |
57. Sleeping in my bed at home after being away for a while.
58. Getting to come home 3 days earlier than planned.
59. Finding items I've been looking for
60. Joss Whedon interviews
61. Finishing an exam and feeling confident in how I did.
62. Finding out that the terrible exam grade I got was still higher than the average.
63. Band-aids with cartoon characters or silly images on them.
 |
| I had these band-aids until they got used up. |
65. Using Green Cup as an excuse for why I haven't done laundry.
66. ThinkGeek.com
67. Ravelry.com
68. Curling up in bed with a good book and a snack
69. Coming up with incredibly unrealistic and unlikely explanations for things.
70. Hot Cookie Bar
 |
| They have this every Sunday in my dining hall. It looks so gross but it tastes so good. |
72. Putting on "shuffle" mode and having a song I like come up.
73. Actually knowing the words to a song.
74. Thinking I know the words to a song and realizing I'm wrong.
75. Knowing where my keys are without having to search around first.
76. This sign
 |
| NBN stands for North by Northwestern, a student website/magazine. |
78. Friends
79. Playing with little kids
80. Getting a good night's sleep.
81. Wa-Wa
 |
| Don't even try to tell me that you don't have some childhood toy or blanket that makes you smile. |
83. Care packages
84. Actually doing something that I want to do "someday."
85. Class ending early
86. Airline travel.
 |
| I know I'm in a minority here, but I enjoy flying. |
88. Sherlock
89. Joss Whedon shows (When he's not killing off my favorite characters)
90. Meeting people with similar interests
91. Smarties!
 |
| More sugary goodness! And just in time for finals. |
93. Remembering dreams
94. Sudoku
95. Remembering people's birthdays without Facebook.
96. Unicorns
97. The moments when I feel psychic
98. Winning.
99. My dorm room wall.
 |
| There are pictures in the picture. |
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Things Other People Are Obsessed With
I fully admit to being a tremendous fangirl about a lot of things. I love Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Wrock, Trock, youtube, Nerdfighteria, books, knitting and way more. I realize I go on about these things a lot. There are however, things I've noticed other people are obsessed with. Some obsessions I understand, and some I don't, but here are, some things that other people are obsessed with.
1. Twilight
People tend to be obsessed with this series in one of two ways. They are either obsessed with it because they love it and need to be a crazy fangirl, or they're obsessed with it because they hate and need to bring the TwiHards down. Now I've read the books and I enjoyed them while I read them, but I never really saw the point to picking a team. I know that there was a big debate in the Harry Potter community about whether Hermione should be with Ron or Harry. While there are many fan fictions that explore Harry/Hermione, once the books made it clear that wasn't happening no one really went around saying they were Team Harry. Then again, unlike Twilight, the focus of Harry Potter was on a great battle between good and evil, not about what boy to make out with.
Which brings me to the Twilight haters. I realize that it's mostly people like me who are Harry Potter fans doing a lot of this but really, this needs to stop. The only reason there's really any hatred is that Twilight began as Harry Potter was ending. The fantasy elements and heft of the book caused some people to proclaim it as the next Harry Potter. This is an unfair comparison that has led to much strife. All the people who complain about Twilight do so under the impression that Twilight is being treated as great literature. However, my view of it is that the Twilight books are good snow day books. They're fun to curl up with on a snowy day while you drink hot chocolate. They aren't books you write papers about.
Both groups need to calm down and learn to respect each other's opinions.
2. Chipotle
Yes, they have good burritos but this restaurant seems to inspire rapturous praise from almost everyone I know (at least, on a university campus). Maybe it's because I had a negative experience my first time there (pretty much all their meat except the pork is at least a little spicy which I did not know, and was not informed) but I don't have the same obsession. I have nothing against them, and I will eat there, it just seems like when people are trying to figure out where to go for dinner, it Chipotle is mentioned, that stands out as the clear favorite. It may be that Chipotle has the familiarity of a McDonalds or Taco Bell, but is higher quality enough that it doesn't get the same negative connotations. I'm sure that I will be eating there more frequently over the next few years than I have in the past (considering that I've eaten there twice, once in eighth grade and once last quarter, I need only dine there once within the next four years to up my rate) I don't know that I'll ever really "get" it.
3. Football
While I have recently come to understand the rules of football more fully than I ever have in the past, I still don't experience the same obsession that others seem to have. When I went to the homecoming game, or if my school is playing, I come closest to getting it. It's a point of pride for "your" team to win. I still have trouble with understanding professional football. I support my school's football team as a way to support my school. I chose my school and I love my school and I want us to do well. As for professional football, do I support a team just because I happen to live nearby? Do I support them because I grew up nearby? If the team moves to a new city do I still support them? What if all the best players leave for another team? I just don't get what determines what teams I'm supposed to root for. Frankly, I don't care if I do.
1. Twilight
People tend to be obsessed with this series in one of two ways. They are either obsessed with it because they love it and need to be a crazy fangirl, or they're obsessed with it because they hate and need to bring the TwiHards down. Now I've read the books and I enjoyed them while I read them, but I never really saw the point to picking a team. I know that there was a big debate in the Harry Potter community about whether Hermione should be with Ron or Harry. While there are many fan fictions that explore Harry/Hermione, once the books made it clear that wasn't happening no one really went around saying they were Team Harry. Then again, unlike Twilight, the focus of Harry Potter was on a great battle between good and evil, not about what boy to make out with.
Which brings me to the Twilight haters. I realize that it's mostly people like me who are Harry Potter fans doing a lot of this but really, this needs to stop. The only reason there's really any hatred is that Twilight began as Harry Potter was ending. The fantasy elements and heft of the book caused some people to proclaim it as the next Harry Potter. This is an unfair comparison that has led to much strife. All the people who complain about Twilight do so under the impression that Twilight is being treated as great literature. However, my view of it is that the Twilight books are good snow day books. They're fun to curl up with on a snowy day while you drink hot chocolate. They aren't books you write papers about.
Both groups need to calm down and learn to respect each other's opinions.
2. Chipotle
Yes, they have good burritos but this restaurant seems to inspire rapturous praise from almost everyone I know (at least, on a university campus). Maybe it's because I had a negative experience my first time there (pretty much all their meat except the pork is at least a little spicy which I did not know, and was not informed) but I don't have the same obsession. I have nothing against them, and I will eat there, it just seems like when people are trying to figure out where to go for dinner, it Chipotle is mentioned, that stands out as the clear favorite. It may be that Chipotle has the familiarity of a McDonalds or Taco Bell, but is higher quality enough that it doesn't get the same negative connotations. I'm sure that I will be eating there more frequently over the next few years than I have in the past (considering that I've eaten there twice, once in eighth grade and once last quarter, I need only dine there once within the next four years to up my rate) I don't know that I'll ever really "get" it.
3. Football
While I have recently come to understand the rules of football more fully than I ever have in the past, I still don't experience the same obsession that others seem to have. When I went to the homecoming game, or if my school is playing, I come closest to getting it. It's a point of pride for "your" team to win. I still have trouble with understanding professional football. I support my school's football team as a way to support my school. I chose my school and I love my school and I want us to do well. As for professional football, do I support a team just because I happen to live nearby? Do I support them because I grew up nearby? If the team moves to a new city do I still support them? What if all the best players leave for another team? I just don't get what determines what teams I'm supposed to root for. Frankly, I don't care if I do.
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