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blackswaneuroparedux · 4 years

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Anonymous asked: I love your blog it’s definitely one of the most smartest and cultured ones around. Since you are a super chilled out military vet (flying combat helicopters, how cool is that?!) and also a very thoughtful and devout Christian (I think you talked about being an Anglican) I know this is a cheeky question but I’ll ask it anyway. Would you rather live in a military dictatorship or a theocratic dictatorship?

Now this is an interesting question you play at 2am and the wine is dangerously low.

I have to correct you on a couple of things. Yes, it was ‘cool’ to fly combat helicopters especially in a battlefield setting but it was just a job, like any other. And it’s never about the pilot it’s about the rest of the team behind you, especially your ground crew who make sure you go up and come back in one piece. As for being super chilled you clearly have never seen how sweaty one gets flying in high stress situations. Oh and the stink! A skunk wouldn’t last 5 minutes in my cockpit.

As for my Christian beliefs, I’ll settle for being a believing one. My faith, such as it is, is about living - and failing - by grace day by day than being fervently devout. Faith is a struggle to not rely upon one’s own strength but on divine mercy and grace.

Anyway....

Would I rather live in a military dictatorship or a theocratic dictatorship?

History has shown there's not a lot of difference between the two...

No, wait. On second thoughts maybe I would rather live in a military dictatorship as the lesser evil.

As an ex-officer in her HM armed forces, I know things will be run pretty efficiently with no dilly-dallying. So there’s that.

I suppose even if one does say it’s preferable to live under military rule rather than a theocratic one there is still the question of what kind of military rule? Every nation that has been under military rule came to power and sustained their hold under different dynamics. And of course it also depends on how mature civil society and the rule of law as well as the democratic culture really was in the first place. A lot is tied up with the brutal nature of the personality of the regime leader too. There are simply too many variables.

So one is forced to generalise. So l can’t get too serious in answering this question.

Rather than focus on the negative side let’s look on the bright side.

Just off the top of my head I can think of these reasons why I would choose to ‘live’ under military rule than a theocratic one. There are in no real order:

Beds will be made properly subject to inspection.

Families will be run like military units with the man at the head of the table.

Family meals will be taken at set times.

Public civility will make a return (e.g. no public spitting, drunken, or loutish behaviour).

Freedom of speech will more likely be censored than abolished (better than nothing I suppose)

Elections would be rigged rather than banned (but who really votes anyway these days?) 

They will most likely make the trains run on time (unless you’re British or Italian).

Military leaders often enjoy genuine popularity - albeit after eliminating plausible rivals - that is based on “performance legitimacy,” a perceived competence at securing prosperity and defending the nation against external or internal threats. The new autocrats of today are more surgical: they aim only to convince citizens of their competence to govern.

Maintaining power, for military dictators and their court, is less a matter of terrorising and persecuting victims than of manipulating beliefs about the world. But of course they can do both if backed into a corner to survive.

State propaganda aims not to re-engineer human souls but to boost the military regime leader’s ratings.

The military tend to stay out of personal lives. They have a political police but not necessarily a moral police.

Economic growth is more likely to be stable than under a theocratic state.

Military dictatorships are more likely to build vast bureaucracies to run the state - more jobs for everyone

The military put on great events. Their parades are more colourful and spectacular.

Having a sense of humour is more likely to get you imprisoned than executed for telling an anti-regime joke. It’s no joke to say that people develop a more refinery subversive sense of humour when oppressed. Take for example a famous comedian in Myanmar, Zarganar, for whom comedy is a shield and a weapon. During the time of the military dictatorship (1962-2010) he would make jokes like, “The American says, 'We have a one-legged guy who climbed Mount Everest.' The Brit says, 'We recently had a guy with no arms who swam the Atlantic Ocean. But the Burmese guy says, 'That's nothing! We had a leader who ruled for 18 years without a brain!" It was for jokes like this that Zarganar received a prison sentence in 2008 - for up to 59 years.

Military dictatorships don’t last long. They are more unstable. They tend to fall from the weight of their own contradictions.

One of the problems of living in a theocracy is how absolutist it would be in looking at life in terms of clear cut black and white according to those who rule over you. I strongly suspect in a theocratic state the morality secret police will be all over you looking for any social or moral infraction. In a Christian Theocracy, you'll never be Christian enough - the same would be for states that were Islamic, Judaic or Hindu etc. There's always going to be some pious asshole there with another version of Christianity that is more Christian than you and you're going to lose the freedom to make your own choices.

Under theocracies, unlike other authoritarian regimes, the rulers are the moral authorities that legitimises and fuels their political legitimacy to govern. It assumes its own moral correctness married to its political destiny to rule over others. As C.S Lewis memorably puts it, “Theocracy is the worst of all governments. If we must have a tyrant, a robber baron is far better than an inquisitor. The baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations.”

Finally, I’ll go with the military dictatorship with the hope that there might be some way of bringing the system down with a bit of logic and rationality. Hell knows that wouldn't be possible in a theocratic system!

I agree with Margaret Atwood when she said, “If you disagree with your government, that's political. If you disagree with your government that is approaching theocracy, then you're evil.” There’s more wriggle room with fighting against a military dictatorship because it’s usually against an asshole tyrant - or a ruling oligarchy of a military junta - and not a pernicious idea soaked in theological bullshit or an entire ideology divinely santificated by God himself.

A more interesting question is not to ask is why many people are so readily drawn to be ruled under a military rule or a theocratic one and especially a benevolent dictatorship (like Lee Kwan Yew in Singapore or Paul Kagame in Rwanda) but why increasingly more people in the Western world look to authoritarian figures to rule and shape their lives?

Why do Silicon Valley titans like Peter Thiel and others like him think fondly of ditching democracy in the name of some utopian hyper-capitalist vision of ‘freedom’?

I hear murmurs of the same talk when I interact with corporate colleagues and high net worth individuals I hear it around dinner tables about how democracy is bad for business and profit. Often it’s accompanied by praise for China's ability to "get things done." I just roll my eyes and smile politely.

I think - outside of the legitimate concern of the decay of civil discourse, the corruption of politicians, and corrosiveness of crony capitalism - it’s because democratic politics is hard. Damn hard.

Moreover democratic politics does not have a "right" answer. There never is.

In our Western societies it is the playing field (or market place?) where our values compete. Surely, you say, there is a right way to get the job done: to fill in the potholes, build the roads, keep our streets safe, get our kids to learn reading and math. Ah, but look how quickly those issues get contentious.

Whose potholes should get filled first? Do we try to keep our streets safe through community policing or long prison sentences? Should teachers be given merit pay, are small classrooms better, or should we lengthen the school day? These issues engender deep political fights, all - even in the few debates where research provides clear, technocratic answers. That is because the area of politics is an area for values disputes, not technical solutions.

One person's "right" is not another's because people prioritise different values: equity versus excellence, efficiency versus voice and participation, security versus social justice, short-term versus long-term gains.

Democratic politics allows many ideas of "right" to flourish. It is less efficient than dictatorship. It also makes fewer tremendous mistakes.

The longing for a leader who knows what is in her people's best interests, who rules with care and guides the nation on a wise path, was Plato's idea of a philosopher-king. It's a tempting picture, but it's asking the wrong question.

In political history, philosophers moved from a preference for such benevolent dictators to the ugly realities of democracy when they switched the question from "who could best rule?" to "what system prevents the worst rule?"

But clearly democracy is buckling under pressure in our torrid times. Populism - the logical end consequence of a purer democracy - is chipping away at the edifice of democratic norms and conventions. Increasingly inward looking nativism and nationalism fuel passions beyond the control of reason.

Perhaps it is time we went back to the tried and tested example of a monarchy, a constitutional one that is.

A revitalised monarchy in Britain needs a Head of State that can provide a personal identity to an impersonal State, and a collective sense of itself. A Head of State who does not owe his or her position to either patronage or a vote can more properly represent all the people. Consider that a President who has been elected, often by a minority of a minority of the electorate, cannot adequately speak for the people who did not vote for him or her. It is even worse if the President has been appointed, because then he owes his position to a small clique.So, the accident of birth is the best means of appointing a Head of State. Someone who has no party political axe to grind, or special favours to repay to a vested interest. Someone whose allegiance is to the people. Not just allegiance to the people who voted for him or his political party, but allegiance to all the people of the country equally. Far from being "incompatible" with democracy, a Monarchy can thereby enhance the government of the land.

The Monarch is a national icon. An icon which cannot be replaced adequately by any other politician or personality. This is because the British Monarchy embodies British history and identity in all its aspects, both good and bad.

When you see the Queen you not only see history since 1952, when she took the throne, but you see a person who provides a living sense of historical continuity with the past. Someone who embodies in her person a history which extends back through time, back through the Victorian era, back into the Stuart era and beyond. You see the national history of all parts of our islands, together, going right back in time.

As Edmund Burke, Roger Scruton and Michael Oakeshott would say, the monarchy is a living continuity between the past, the present and the future.

With its traditions, its history, its ceremonial, and with its standing and respect throughout the world, the British Monarchy represents a unique national treasure, without which the United Kingdom would be sorely impoverished.

If you value national distinctiveness, you should be a Monarchist.

If you are anti-globalist you should be a Monarchist because Monarchies represent the different national traditions and distinctions among the nations.

The desire to secure, strengthen and promote your own distinct national icons, whether your Monarch, or your own unique national identity, should be your concern, whether you live here in St Andrews, or whether you live in St Petersburg, or whether you live in St Paulo.

As the global financial system rushes us all towards a world intended to eradicate all local and national distinctions, the Monarchy stands out as different, distinct and valuable. Constitutionally, practically, spiritually and symbolically the Monarchy is a national treasure, the continued erosion of which would change the character of Britain, and not in a good way!

I’m speaking as a High Tory now, sorry. And so of course I only see it working for the United Kingdom....and the Commonwealth (slip that discreetly in there for you India, Australia, Canada, and Africa).

Still, if you want egalitarianism then look at Norway and the Netherlands - both highly "egalitarian" societies, and both monarchies.

Everyone else will just have to jolly well do without or ask us politely to come back (I’m looking at you my dear American colonial cousins, all will be forgiven).

The best of all worlds? Time will tell.

At your service, Ma’am....

Thanks for your question.

#question #ask #military dictatorship #government #rule #democracy #culture #society #theocracy #army #christianity #religion #nd high net worth individuals

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gfiedlerbi214 · 4 years

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Unit 3

Psychology of Sex, Reproductive Anatomy, Fertility and Contraception, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Sexual Disease and Prevention

Browse the Overview and Lecture pages. How much/what do you already know about this topic? What are you interested in learning about/initial questions.

I am familiar with what has been taught in anatomy classes and other sex-health related subjects in school. I am interested in learning more about the anatomical features of the reproductive system and sexually transmitted diseases and it’s commonality.

Go through the lecture. For each item, take general notes. What facts seem important to know?

Review the female and male reproductive anatomy so that you can label the parts

Sex: our biological/genetic assignment at birth (generally man or woman, with XY or XX chromosomes, although some people have biologic anomalies)

Sexual orientation: our psychological orientation/attraction towards potential sexual partners.

Gender identity: our psychological orientation to who we are and how we see ourselves (a sense of maleness, femaleness or other).

Bacterial STD/STIs: Can usually be cured with antibiotics. May still cause long-term damage if not caught/treated early. Examples: Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis. Another condition, Trichomoniasis is actually caused by a parasite, but is treated with antibiotics like bacterial conditions.

Viral STD/STIs: Can be managed/treated with medication, but are NOT curable. May have periods of active disease or periods when they're dormant. Examples: HPV, Herpes, Hepatitis, HIV, Genital warts.

Fertility/ Ovulation

Women's monthly cycles vary from 18-35 days, naturally. The 28-day cycle myth was normalized as a standard when the birth control pill became widely available.

Women usually ovulate 14 days (+/- 2 days) before the first day of their period. This is not necessarily on day 14 of their cycle unless they have a true 28-day cycle. There are many ovulation trackers online and apps that can help women track, but they will only be accurate if a woman's cycle is consistent. If a woman has a 14-21 day cycle, she can potentially get pregnant while she's having her period.

A woman's egg is only "good" to be fertilized for 12-24 hours after ovulation. But, sperm can live 5-7 days after ejaculation in a woman's body.

The same body signs to help a woman recognize ovulation (and prevent pregnancy) can also be used to HELP a woman get pregnant. Infertility is unfortunately more common than people realize. After 6 months of trying with no success, you are encouraged to seek out an OB/GYN doctor.

Contraception

Contraception is our active plans to prevent pregnancy. While there are hundreds of prescription drugs, devices, and approaches, contraception basically falls into three categories:

Hormone methods. A woman is given a certain dosage of hormones (estrogen and progesterone derivatives) to regulate her monthly cycle and in some cases, prevent ovulation. The hormones can be delivered to her body through pills, injections, or implantable devices. Examples include: the birth control pill, Depo-Provera shots, Implanon, and some IUDs that release hormones.

Barrier methods. These are physical barriers that prevent sperm and egg from getting together, and fertilization from occurring. Examples include, condoms, Today Sponge, Vaginal Contraceptive films, contraceptive foams/gels, and some IUDs that do not have added hormones.

Fertility Awareness. This is a system of behavioral approaches which include tracking a woman's cycle and signs of ovulation, and avoiding sex during those weeks she is most fertile. This can be effective if used perfectly, and a woman's cycle is predictable. In reality, there's a substantial failure rate. Some people also call this "Natural Family Planning" or the "Calendar Method".

What was the point of the videos? What are a few things I learned on the websites, and might the site be useful in the future? What questions do these resources bring up? If you were telling someone else about this class, what would you share from this unit.

The supplemental videos and websites were excellent visual aids to use during the research portion of the unit. I would share the information regarding fertility and ovulation to my fellow female peers If I had to choose something from this unit to present.

I would present the following information about ovulation. These were great facts from a supplemental website included in the unit’s lecture.

Key Facts:

An egg lives 12-24 hours after leaving the ovary

Normally only one egg is released each time of ovulation

Ovulation can be affected by stress, illness or disruption of normal

Some women may experience some light blood or spotting during ovulation

Implantation of a fertilized egg normally takes place 6-12 days after ovulation

Each woman is born with millions of immature eggs that are awaiting ovulation to begin

A menstrual period can occur even if ovulation has not occurred

Ovulation can occur even if a menstrual period has not occurred

Some women experience pain/aching near ovaries during ovulation called ‘middle pain’

If an egg is not fertilized, it disintegrates and is absorbed into the uterine lining

youtube

As/after you engage in the Discussion: Can you summarize the question and the conclusions you and your classmates found? How do you feel about the issue now?

Discussion Question:

“Who should teach sex education to our youth? What do you think would be best practices for sex education? How do you balance a parent's choice with a social obligation for an informed public? A lot of current sex ed curriculum (even what's used in public schools) is developed by organizations with religious affiliations. Should that be a factor in choosing curriculum? During President George W. Bush's term, many states adopted an "abstinence-only" approach (as opposed to "abstinence-preferred) meaning public organizations could not teach about contraceptives. How do you think that affected the teen pregnancy rates during that time?”

My discussion response:

I believe education professionals that specialize in the study and sex psychologists are individuals that meet the needs and requirements to teach sex education to the youth. By combining professional experiences and a formal education, I believe the trustworthiness within student instruction strengthens. It also helps place the students in a safe-social environment. The youth are very impressionable, so it’s good to provide models, appropriate media, and the opportunity to explore and learn about the subtopics that fall under sex education. It’s important that students are understanding a complete spectrum of knowledge regarding their bodies and sexuality, both ethical and medical. According to the article, What Are the Goals of Sex Education For Youth? from Planned Parenthood, the following are an extraordinary combination of teaching objectives to keep in mind when fulfilling a sex education curriculum: “[It should focus] on clear health goals -- the prevention of STDs, HIV and/or pregnancy, [focus] narrowly on specific behaviors leading to these health goals (e,g, abstaining from sex or using condoms or other contraceptives), [gives] clear messages about these behaviors, and addressed situations that might lead to them and how to avoid them, [and addresses] multiple sexual psychosocial risk and protective factors affecting sexual risk behaviors (e.g. knowledge, perceived risks, values, attitudes, perceived norms and self-efficacy).” (Goals of Sex Education for Teenagers: Youth Health Services). I think these objectives make for a great start to the beginning of the framework for an effective curriculum. It’s definitely going to be up to the educator to how they decide to teach and what methodologies they choose to practice. I personally have never had sex education growing up and was unfortunately left to fend for myself learning about the topic outside of the formal classroom. I would love to know what activities and lessons stood out to those of my peers that have had the course.

Citation:

Goals of Sex Education for Teenagers: Youth Health Services. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2020, from https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/for-educators/what-are-goals-sex-education-youth

Regarding how I feel about the issue now, my stance has not changed. I still believe it’s important that students are understanding a complete spectrum of knowledge regarding their bodies and sexuality, both ethical and medical. Other students within the discussion thread had a similar perspective. There were few that had beliefs that did go against certain aspects of my perspective.

After you complete the Homework: What did you learn? What do you want to know more about?

Assignment requires:

Think of three (3) questions you have about the topics covered this unit. Maybe you have a question about a woman's fertility cycle. Maybe a friend is pregnant and there's something you want to know. Maybe it's a related topic we didn't really cover (erectile disfunction, etc.) Here you really get to personalize your learning.

Find websites or resources to answer your questions. For each of your 3 questions:

Imagine a friend asked you to find a website/video to teach them about proper condom use (male, female or dental dam). Find one resource, and provide the URL to the website or video (YouTube is fine).

Write your initial question.

Write a few sentences about how you found the answer (I searched for...; I thought this was a reputable source because...; if someone else were researching this, they might want to...), include anything relevant.

What is the answer to your question? Please cite your sources.

I learned “Hormones do influence a woman’s sexual behavior, particularly desire, to a certain extent, but these effects are complex and can vary from woman to woman… women’s hormones also change at certain life stages [which will in turn affect libido]…Medical conditions, such as diabetes and coronary artery disease, along with certain medications, can also affect a woman’s sexual desire” (Do hormones influence women's sexual behavior?).

I also found reputable sources about condom placement and the following important information regarding problems in pregnancy,

Three other conditions may cause more problematic periods after pregnancy:

• Structural defects. Your doctor likely will treat defects such as polyps and submucosal fibroids with minimally invasive surgery.

• Adenomyosis. Your doctor can manage this thickening of the uterus with minimally invasive surgery or hormone therapy.

• Overactive or underactive thyroid disorder. Your doctor may use a range of treatments for these conditions.

After you complete the Project: How was the experience? Any take-aways?

Project requires:

1. Choose a program to track your eating. We recommend MyFitnessPal (Links to an external site.), though you may use any program that can track your foods, nutrition, and can print out/copy a log to turn in here. You may need to create an account on these sites, but you do not need to PAY, the free tools on these sites are fine.

2. Record four (4) days of healthy eating and generate detailed reports, broken down by day. Try your best to eat the healthiest possible on these 4 days, using the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as your standard. The following reports are REQUIRED for each day:

Daily foods list and servings

Nutrient Intakes

Ideally, you'll find your Recommended Daily Allowances(RDA), too, but this is not required.

3. Directions for submitting assignment: When you are finished printing, you need to write a paragraph about your experience with "eating healthy". Was it easier or harder than you expected? Points you should address include calories, carbohydrates, proteins and fat intake, RDA values (optional). Would this be sustainable for you to eat this way all the time?

I thought this tracker was a great tool in helping visualize my eating habits into a concise collection of charts. The specific tracker I used incorporated really nice colorful pie charts that showed how much carbs, protein, sugars, fats, etc. consumed in my tracked days.

General reflection on the unit--is there anything that feels important that you didn't mention above? If you had free time, what topics might you want to look into further?

If given more time, I would look into more ways to incorporate healthy foods into my diet. Sometimes I would catch myself eating bad, but then try to balance out the action with something good. I realize this isn’t truly effective. Especially since I am not consistent with my fitness routine.

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adventuretaryn · 7 years

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Linguistics 101

Hey guys! first off, this isn’t technically linguistics 101 this is a Ling220 class, based off of english grammar. its a requirement class that I need for college, and I feel like many linguists and future linguists might like some of my notes. also, I really hate how pretty the format once was, but then tumblr was like NO

Also this is a realllllyyyy long post lmao.

chp.1: the study of grammar

English: a world language

⅓ of the population -globally- uses english as a way to communicate.

English, overall, is a very easy medium for people to use and is sometimes the only option.

English tells a multitude of tales, all of them referring to dialects.

The shared linguistic features of a group of people, often one from a particular region or of a particular ethnic or social background.

Take for example: southerners say y’all, mid westerners say ‘you’uns’

B. three definitions of grammar

These are just broad definitions to help provide framework for later chapters.

The system of rules in our heads.

You bring a lifetime of “knowing” how to make sentences. This subconscious set of interconnected rules is your “language competence.”

Recognize that these internalized rules vary from one language to another.

2. The formal description of the rules

Refers to the formal description of language, the subject matter of books, which identify in an objective way the form and structure (See syntax) of sentences.

Applies when you say “I’m studying grammar this semester.”

3. The conventions of common usage, sometimes called linguistic etiquette.

Called the do’s and don’ts of usage, rather than grammar.

Using certain words may be thought of as bad manners in particular contexts.

Syntax: the structure of sentences: the relationship of the parts of the sentence.

C. traditional school grammar

A model, based on latin’s eight parts of speech, goes far back as the middle ages, when latin was the language of culture and enlightenment.

In many grammar books and classes, lessons tend to focus on parts of speech, their definitions, rules for combining them into phrases and clauses and sentence exercises.

1762, robert lowth, prof of poetry at oxford and the bishop of london, published a short introduction to english grammar - a book that greatly influenced the way grammar would be taught in the US and ENgland for yeaarsssss.

Today, we refer to the type of grammar the lowth championed as prescriptive grammar.

These rules are not the rules you have internalized, ascribable in great to your everyday exposure to language.

Rather, these rules have been established by an authority. Usually have to be consciously learned.

D. Studying grammar today

Since the 1920’s a great deal of linguistic research has been carried out by anthropologists studying Native American languages. Many are in danger of being lost.

To understand the structure underlying languages unknown to them, researchers do not assume that the language they are studying is related to Latin or to the germanic roots.

Nor assume that word classes like adjectives, pronouns, etc resemble those in english.

Not only has these methods changed, methods for teaching and learning it have changed as well.

In the past, students could expect to memorize terms and concepts, and do exercises.

Today, students will encounter a range of activities.

Memorization, repetition, and error correction.

In many grammar classes, learning about the structure of the language is also connected to learning how to write.

Together with the teacher, they now study the grammatical choices writers make and the effects of these choices.

May also learn grammar concepts connected to a specific reading or writing assignment or describe the way applying a grammar principle improves an essay.

E. Language variety and the issue of correctness

Can you make a distinction between…

Grammar 2 ( an objective, situation specific description of language)

Grammar 3 ( general linguistic etiquette)

Even dictionaries recognize variation in the use of ENglish.

Some use a thing called usage notes. (brief summaries on usage issues)

Designed to offer guidance, rather than prescribe hard and fast rules

What about the difference between…

Grammar 1 (the internal rules of grammar)

Grammar 3

For example: you may have assumed pronouncements about ain’t with incorrect or ungrammatical english, but they don’t

Ain’t = am not. The same rule that gives us isn’t & aren’t.

So basically, it's an issue of status

The word standard is objectionable when applied to a particular dialect, given that every dialect is standard within its own speech community.

But here, we’re using it for the public dialect. The one that is used in newscast, formal business transactions, etc.

Edited American English is the version of our language that has come to be the standard for written public discourse -books, newspapers, etc - and most of the writing you do in school and on the job.

The version of our language that this book describes, the written version of the status dialect as evolves through the centuries and continues to do so.

Ungrammatical: usage that does not conform to the rules that native speakers follow. Varies from one dialect or speech community to another is not necessarily ungrammatical.

F. Language Change

Closely related to the issue of correctness and standards is language change.

So basically, if you were to look at two passages of a story, say Pinocchio, and one passage was from the 1920’s and the other say 2011 you will be able to see the differences in words. Though the 20’s is more fancy, but we don’t use slang like that lmao.

G. language in the classroom

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

Taken the position that teachers should respect the dialects of their students.

Code switching is the practice of alternating between two or more languages or varieties of language in conversation.

When teachers use this, they have notable success in helping students not only to acquire standard english as a second dialect but also to understand in a conscious way the underlying rules of their home language.

They also recommend the integration of language awareness into classroom instruction and teacher preparation programs. Language awareness includes:

Examining how language varies in a range of social and cultural settings

How people’s attitudes toward language vary across cultures

Classes, genders and generations

How oral & written language affects listeners and readers

How “correctness” in language reflects social, political & economic values

How first & second language languages are acquired.

Also includes the teaching of grammar from a descriptive rather than a prescriptive, perspective.

so that concludes chapter 1! stay tuned and I’ll post chapter 2

#lingblr #linguistics #notes #linguist #college #studyblr #linguistics 101 #technically 220 #english grammar #chapter 1 #future linguist #linguistic

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realtalk-princeton · 5 years

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I have a paper due on dean's date and I'm really scared because I've never written a paper like this before (I have writing sem next semester and I never really did anything like this in high school)?? Is there any advice you can give on how to start the actual writing process (I think I've found some good sources but idk man this is all so scary!!!)?

Response from Sulpicia:

I’ve written somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 papers and formal written assignments of various lengths, and I will say that things get much easier as you get practice. Don’t expect things to be perfect the first time! This is my personal writing process, so feel free to adapt as necessary.

Step 1: Understand the question. How long should it be? Are you supposed to be close reading a passage, bringing together research from different readings/areas in class, or conducting original research? Often, it’s a combination of a few things. For this example, I’m going to assume you’re doing a research paper with a fairly open-ended prompt. Page count matters a lot too; a 5-7 page paper will be much smaller in scope than a 10-12 page paper, which will in turn be smaller than a 15-20 page paper. I’m going to assume you’re doing a 10-12 page paper but most of the same tips apply.

Step 2: Develop a topic. It seems like you’re already mostly there! I find this to be the hardest part of the writing process. I usually like to start by going through class readings that I can draw upon for the paper (for some classes that’s all of it, for others that’s a subset) and rereading them, looking to see if there are any questions that were left unanswered in class. If you have a more structured prompt, then it might be useful to reread the material and see how much you can develop an answer through that. At this stage, I like to make a lot of notes on paper, and if I’m using a lot of sources I might make a web or chart to figure out how the concepts relate. Personally, I find it helpful to center my research papers around one “lead” concept and one “supporting” concept. By that I mean that you can focus on reading one piece of text through multiple theoretical lenses/the broader themes of the class, or you can apply one theoretical lens to multiple pieces of text/the broader themes of the class. The key is to focus on one specific thing.

For example, in my Fall JP my “lead” concept was a group of poems, where I narrowly focused on the treatment of slavery. In addition to my own close reading, I researched some theoretical sources and then used those sources to help understand this particular area of the text. Even though I was critiquing and quoting these scholarly sources, they were the “supporting” concept because they were helping me (and the reader) understand the main thing I was writing about.

I actually like to brainstorm term paper topics all semester and write them down when inspiration strikes. Good term papers are typically about something that, when you’re reading it, makes you think “That’s weird” or “You’re wrong, [insert scholar/author name]”, or “This contradicts with [other reading]”. Academic paper writing, just like good storytelling, requires conflict; it’s not useful to anyone to write papers that just go along and agree with everything in a source. Going back to primary sources or comparing secondary sources is how you find these conflicts and bring them to light.

The last thing you should do in this step is write a clear, specific question you want to answer. For example, I once wrote a paper where the question was “Based on manifestos from Italian Futurist writers, how was clothing incorporated into the Futurist movement, and how was this similar to and different than other Futurist art forms?”

Step 3: Brainstorm Solutions. Once you have a topic, you probably have some sources already. At this time, it’s helpful to go to the library and look for some research on your topic. Sometimes I go to the library to get ideas for topics, while other times I have specific questions I want answered and look for those answers in an existing text. In addition to our amazing library, you can look on Jstor, which is freely accessible to Princeton students, as well as Google Scholar, which has a lot of links to useful books and articles. This stage of research will help you start developing answers to your questions.

Once again, I like to make paper notes because I think it’s easier to think non-linearly on paper. Write anything down; all ideas are good ideas at this stage! I also like to make scans and print out passages from books so I can annotate them. After you’ve done this for a while, look at what you’ve written and see if there are any common themes. If you had to answer your question in one sentence, what would you say? Try to avoid the “three-pronged” thesis; this kind of roadmapping can be helpful for you and a grader if you’re writing a timed essay for a test, but isn’t really helpful for college-level writing, where you want to give more room for your ideas to breathe. The prompt that I learned in Writing Sem for writing a thesis statement goes like this: “By looking at [lead concept,] we can see that [answer to your question], which is important because [connection to broader concept/theme of class]”. If you can it’s good to not use these exact words, but it’s also okay to have some sort of structure, especially at this stage. Here’s the thesis statement from my Futurism paper, which was not my best thesis statement ever, tbh:

“I argue that Futurist fashion, as exemplified by Volt and Balla’s manifestoes, creates a realizable posthuman experience characterized by the destruction of traditional boundaries of the human condition.“

That was for a paper that was about 10 pages long. If your paper is shorter then you’ll probably need a more specific thesis statement, and if it’s longer you’ll need one that is broader or has more details.

Step 4: Develop a structure. Writer/editor Yung In Chae ‘15 wrote a really great piece about writing (which I’ll link below) in which she said that “ If the sections of your article are completely interchangeable, then you have not figured out the structure.” This is the same with your essay. Think about the first thing you need to prove for someone to buy your thesis statement, then the next thing that builds on that, then the next thing that builds on that. If I’m writing about a text, I often find it helpful to begin at the beginning and progress roughly chronologically, although you should feel free to jump around as sometimes you need to present a later piece of evidence for someone to understand the earlier one. I’ll make a rough outline either on a piece of paper or on a Word document, making bullet points with pieces of evidence and things I want to cover. Some people like to outline so heavily the process of writing is just stringing the outline together with transition words. I don’t do this, but think it’s helpful to include usable sentences in your outline so that way you make easy spots for yourself when writing. Then I print out my outline and keep it next to me.

Step 5: Write a rough draft. I lied. This is the hardest part of a paper. The blank page is like a speed bump; if you’ve done a lot of prewriting/acceleration it’s easier to sail over, but if you’ve done nothing, it feels daunting and impossible. I like to start at the beginning with my writing, but some people prefer to jump into the middle and write the introduction later. I find the introduction helps orient me, but you can see what works best for you. I’m a huge fan of what writer Ann Lamott calls “shitty rough drafts” in her book on writing, “Bird By Bird.” While the aim isn’t for the draft to be garbage, telling yourself that you will revise (and giving yourself time to revise) helps liberate you from the feeling that you have to make perfect prose every time. Just start writing and see what your paper looks like; I have never written a paper where I didn’t find more evidence while writing, or where my structure hasn’t changed in ways I could have predicted by doing anything but writing the paper.

Don’t get too stuck on a perfect first sentence. I find it helpful to open with something we discussed in lecture, or the weird, incongruous thing that led me to write the paper in the first place. Here are some first sentences I’ve written in the past:

1. “At its core, elementary education is a concise synthesis of a society’s core values, biases, and contradictions; the “basic” concepts which make up the first years of learning become the foundation upon which all later thought must necessarily rest, both in and outside of the classroom. “ (JP)

2. “A man wanders through city streets alone, buys his groceries, and returns home unharassed, noting that in his solitude he is more fortunate than even a famous senator” (JP)

3. “In his 1920 “Futurist Manifesto of Women’s Fashion,” Vincenzo Fani (using the pseudonym “Volt”) writes that Futurist thinkers will “transform the elegant lady into a real, three-dimensional complex,”[1] encouraging the use of “one hundred new revolutionary materials”[2] in the making of women’s clothing, including “paper, cardboard, glass, tinfoil. . .gas, growing plants, and living animals.”[3] Readers a century later will find striking comparisons to the daring and subversive ensembles worn by celebrities on contemporary red carpets, such as the singer Lady Gaga’s infamous “meat dress.”” (Term paper I’ve been using as an example)

As you can see, in (1) I started off with a broad generality meant to orient my reader which I, in my intro, narrowed into my specific topic. In (2), I used a narrative opening which I then expanded to get inside my topic. In (3), I introduced my source right away and then compared it to a contemporary source. I’m not saying any of these are the best writing ever, but there’s no “one way” to do an opening, even within one writer’s style.

Your intro can be as many paragraphs as you want and should end with your thesis statement. I like to think of this as the first part of a rollercoaster; you’re bringing your audience up a hill, slowly dragging them along as you introduce all of the major ideas of your paper (as well as any assumptions you may be making) before seamlessly placing your thesis statement at the top of the big hill and letting the argument run its course. The rest of the paper should be like a roller coaster as well; just like a rollercoaster pretty much zips along on its own force, you should aim for paragraphs and evidence to smoothly follow each other, with each sentence contributing to the last. Follow a pattern of evidence and analysis, and try to incorporate little chunks of evidence into your sentences rather than dumping them into sentences. Try to end your paragraphs on analytical points rather than evidence dumps.

Finally, you have to write a conclusion. My sixth-grade English teacher explained that the conclusion is where you “go beyond,” and this is what I think is key to a really successful essay. Yes, it’s awesome that you’ve proven your thesis, but why does it matter? How does it connect to broader course themes, the scholarly conversation, or even just life in general? Don’t be too trite, but try to think about how you, in 4-5 sentences, can summarize your argument and also make the meta-argument about why the world is smarter with your paper in it.

Step 6: Cite, Cite, Cite! Do this while you are writing your rough draft. Make a works cited page and add to it as you go, and also add in your in-text citations as you go to save yourself a world of stress. If your professor doesn’t specify you can use any style. I personally prefer Chicago style but I know APA is standard for sciences/social sciences. There are loads of resources online like EasyBib and Purdue Owl which are helpful for figuring out how to write citations, but the writing center is also helpful and you can always ask a research librarian as well (check your email for the “personal librarian” contact info). I brought both my JPs to my department’s subject librarian to double-check my citations.

Step 7: Revise! This is where your paper really takes shape. I revise like this. First, I print out my paper. Then, I sit down with it with a pen and write notes all over it, marking places where I need more information/evidence, where my argumentation is weak, where I’ve made typos, etc. Then, I open a new document and retype the whole thing from my revised copy. This helps me because I get overwhelmed by lots of text, and it also forces me to make all the revisions. Once I’ve got a clean non-rough draft, I also like to read my papers out loud, since that’s a good way to make sure you don’t have endless run on sentences or awkward prose. When I came to Princeton, I was usually doing 4-5 revisions of my papers, and I did about 5 complete drafts of my JP (with the biggest changes happening between my rough and first drafts). Now I typically only do 1-2 revisions, but that’s because I put the time in early as a self-editor and developed the skills to write better first drafts. I also find it helpful to have a patient friend read a draft, although it’s important to be conscious of their time.

I really can’t emphasize enough how much doing proper revising helps you stand out; most people here do not revise their work substantially, but that’s the space where you’re thinking critically about your work and enriching it. Unfortunately, our best ideas don’t come all at once but in stages, so editing is just as much about allowing your thinking to progress as anything else.

Step 7: Polish. Once your paper is edited, take this time to check for typos, add page numbers (with your name in the header), double-check citations, add a title (it doesn’t need to be art, but should be a real title and not “ENG 101 Term Paper”), and either cut down the paper to length or elaborate on a point to get it to the minimum length.

And you’re done! At this point, it takes me about 1hr/page to write a paper once I’ve done all my research, but I would allocate about 2hrs/page if you’re starting out. My #1 advice would be to not be afraid; the wonderful thing about writing is that your early drafts can be as bad as you want and nobody will ever know because you can revise, so liberate yourself. Also, you’re probably a really good writer already, so don’t be nervous :)

Here’s the link to the article which has much better writing advice than me, and write if you have more specific questions: https://eidolon.pub/ten-things-i-learned-about-writing-by-editing-68f3f93e45ef

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kayawagner · 6 years

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How To Deal With A Difficult Teacher

Most teachers are amazing.

The vast majority of teachers are amazing, selfless people who spend countless hours working to teach our children while being woefully underpaid. They are the unsung heroes who not only take our children off our hands while we go to our jobs, but who lead the way in teaching our children how to read, count and act in a classroom setting. (Know one of these kind of teachers? Nominate him or her here!)

But – as with every profession – there are also some teachers who suck. I probably shouldn’t say “suck,” but that is probably a verbatim response you’ll get from your child if he or she has a bad teacher. If you’re one of those households where “we don’t use the word ‘sucks,'” just know that’s how your child is describing the teacher to friends.

The worst part is that a bad teacher can have as big an impact on a student as a good teacher can – only in the worst way.

Being boring doesn’t make a teacher bad, but can make learning in that class more difficult.

Now not every “less than great” teacher is terrible. There are some that are difficult, but not horrible. And dealing with difficult people is something that your children will need to do for the rest of their lives. In a perfect world, your child wouldn’t have to deal with difficult teachers. Of course, in a perfect world, every student on the planet would be playing our games (like this one!). We don’t live in that world at the moment.

Instead we live in a world where some teachers are boring or are strict or are basically just teaching out of the teachers manual. They’re not necessarily bad, but they can be difficult.

Dealing with a difficult teacher – and your role in this process – is obviously going to depend on your child’s age. You’re going to play a much more active role if your child is in first grade (by the way, my girls’ first grade teacher is AMAZING) versus if your kid is junior in high school.

My first piece of advice is the biggest.

Be on your kid’s side.

Just trust me on this one. That doesn’t mean storming into your teacher’s classroom like a nut job just because your child says, “My teacher is mean.” But it means don’t just brush it off or imply it’s your kid’s fault, asking, “Well, what did you do?” Find out why your kid feels that way. Let them know that you have their back.

Give your kid some strategies for dealing with the teacher.

Encourage your kids to bring their concerns to the teacher before getting too involved. For example, if your son says his math teacher “doesn’t explain” how to do the math assignments, have him directly ask her if she can explain it to him. If you’re daughter is unhappy with grades she is getting on her homework, see if she can ask the teacher to give her more feedback so she can improve going forward. Help your child try to find the solution.

Sometimes, it really is just as simple as talking to the teacher.

Talk to the teacher.

Now, if your kid says she’s struggling with a teacher, you don’t need to drop everything and arrange a meeting. But you also don’t want to wait until it gets too bad. If your kid isn’t getting anywhere with his or her efforts, then it’s OK to step in. But when you do, know what you want the end goal of that conversation to be.

Come with solutions.

Don’t just come with complaints. If your kid isn’t understanding math homework, see if the teacher can carve out a few more minutes for explanation, whether it’s in, after or outside of class. If your daughter would like a little more feedback on assignments, any decent teacher will be wiling to make that happen. We’re not talking demanding essays of teacher commentary – but a sentence or two should be doable until your kid gets the idea. If a teacher brushes off clear and basic requests, read that as a red flag.

Sometimes, a teacher just wants to get home at the end of the day – or maybe has his own kids to pick up.

Be realistic.

Depending on the grade, your child’s teachers could have been have between 20 to 80 kids in their class(es). Expecting your child’s teacher to anticipate your kid’s needs isn’t a practical ask nor is expecting the teacher to give Timmy an hour and a half of individual tutoring after school every day. But responding to requests for help isn’t too much to ask. Also keep in mind, school rules are not going to be the same as home rules. If Francine is getting in trouble because she’s using a mechanical pencil when she’s supposed to be using a yellow No. 2 pencil – because the rule is everyone is supposed to use a yellow No. 2 pencil – even if you think it’s a stupid rule, it’s a pencil. That doesn’t mean you can’t complain when you think things are unreasonable, just make sure your definition of unreasonable is reasonable.

Follow up.

If you’ve come to agreement with the teacher, stay on top of it. I don’t mean sitting in the back of the classroom to make sure she follow through. But ask your kid about it. See if it’s getting better. If the teacher tells you, “If Zoey has questions on how to do her history assignments, please have her let me know and I will work with her after class.” Make sure that Zoey is letting her teacher know when she has questions – and that her teacher is working with her when she does.

Let them know when things improve.

Be appreciative. So often, we get worked up when things aren’t going well. But when they’re going good, we don’t even think about it. When a teacher does take that extra step (even if you think it’s a step they should have been taking in the first place) and things improve, tell them you recognize their efforts.

Take it to the top.

Don’t start off demanding a meeting with the administration. Because the first thing a good principal will do is ask if you’ve talked to the teacher. That said, if you’ve tried to be reasonable and waited a reasonable amount of time, then yes, maybe it is time to “talk to a manager.”

Know when to go!

Get the hell out of there.

Did you ever have an awful teacher? I’m not talking one who was boring or overly strict. I mean bad. Mine was my fourth grade teacher – and to this day, I think she was one of the most awful people I have ever met. If your kid ends up with one of those teachers, do whatever you can to get your kid as far away from that person as possible. Those kind of teachers are toxic – and just like you would keep your kid away from toxic chemicals, keep them away from toxic people.

Dealing with difficult teachers is no fun. But you know what is fun? Playing Fish Lake! The game teaches fractions and history in a cool 3D virtual world. Available for Mac and Windows (and coming VERY soon) for iPad!

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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6 Ways Movies Fool You Into Ignoring Bad Reviews

Terrible movies will always exist. They’re one of those unavoidable annoyances, like stubbing your toe or getting picked last during an orgy. Unfortunately, even when knowingly faced with a dud, studios still have to pretend they’re sitting on the Holy Grail of eye-blasting family entertainment — at least for the duration of the marketing.

So how does one polish a brawny turd in an age when resources like Rotten Tomatoes have made the average moviegoer hyper-aware of mediocrity? It’s not easy. And in a way, the ability to spin a piece of terrible entertainment as the next big Star War is an art in itself. Only instead of ink and light, these modern-day Rembrandts (had Rembrandt gone to Emerson and was nicknamed “The Donk”) are painting with beautiful lies.

Shitty Films Have Used “Joke” Reviews In Their Ads

Film studios want nothing more than the power to write their own reviews … something Sony actually got caught doing back in 2001, when it was revealed that fake quotes from a nonexistent critic named David Manning were used to praise masterpieces like The Animal and Hollow Man — the latter film featuring invisible gorillas and Kevin Bacon’s CGI dick muscles.

It was a ruse that would end up costing the studio over a million dollars in lawsuits, and so no other studio attempted such a blatant teabagging of the public’s trust. Instead, they did find a way to more gently dab our foreheads with technically-legal jest: They use fake critics under the excuse of “humor.”

Take the recent Lynchian abomination that was Nine Lives, a film about a rich and powerful Kevin Spacey being turned into a cat via Christopher Walken voodoo. The movie features all the things we’ve come to expect from a children’s film, such as existential torture, a cat getting drunk, and a fucking suicide fakeout. Needless to say, critics weren’t on board with it. And so TV spots opted to sprinkle the feline romp with hilarious joke reviews from places like “Vanity Fur,” “Meowsweek,” and the “Catfington Post.”

It’s exactly the kind of incredible wordplay you’d expect from this film about cat possession. And while there’s nothing wrong with including bullshit pun reviews as a joke, when you watch the ad in real time, it becomes apparent that chucklefuckery wasn’t the only motivation.