My Email

I HATE HOTMAIL. MSN is the worst email service ever!

I have lost so many emails when using Hotmail. Every once in a while, it tells me that it has sent a message, and then hours or days later I find out that it was never delivered. This circumstance is made all the more awesome after spending a large amount of time writing an email to someone like... your PROFESSOR.

I'm going to go waste some more of my life retyping emails.

Oh, yeah...

I should probably talk about how my presentation went last week. Better late than never, right?

Overall, I think my presentation went okay. The reviews that I got from some of you were fairly mixed... several people thought that I seemed very at ease and comfortable in front of the class, and others felt that I was a little unsure of myself. I do think that I should have more firmly decided (and not asked) whether I should read some excerpts from my website to you, my audience, but otherwise I was comfortable with what I was presenting. I'm satisfied with how I did, though, now I wish that I had given the class a better look at some of the things I had written... And now that I've discovered some extra things that I've added to my site, including some sweet videos, I wish I had those at the time of my presentation so you could have seen them. But, then again, you can still look at them! I have them in a text box on the right. Go look! :)

"Shitty First Drafts"

Remember that essay by Anne Lamott that we had to read a few weeks ago? I mention it now because I caught myself using this approach to writing, and I realized how much of a difference it's made in how I write. I think that essay is definitely one of the most important things I've come across in this course. I've always struggled with getting things started in my writing, and that single, short reading assignment has improved my efficiency in writing a great deal.

"The first draft is the down draft -you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft -you fix it up.... And the third draft is the dental draft, where you check every tooth, to see if it's loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help us, healthy."

This is my favorite thing that Lamott wrote in her essay. I also liked what she said about starting by "getting something -anything- down on paper." This has encouraged me quite a bit; now I'm comfortable with the fact that, yes, what I first put down on paper is crap, but once I take that first step, the jumbled words and sentences will start to form into concise paragraphs and pages by the time the second and third draft come along.

Thankful for the Lull!

So. This week, I have taken advantage of the break to focus on revising my Research Proposal, my Essay, and my Initiating Action Project. I have put a lot of work into editing them, and I still have a lot of work ahead of me! I’m really glad that I’ve had this week away from school so that I could dedicate a lot of time to narrowing my concentration to my portfolio, my final grade for Honors English. I’m a little wary of the fact that if I screw this up…I screw this entire class up! Haha, but hopefully with a bit more time and effort, I can finish this well and get a good grade. :)

17-14!

Virginia Tech > UVA! We totally needed this!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283340259&w_cid=widgets:team:ncf:www.vt-football.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone enjoyed eating lots of turkey and giving thanks today!

Check this out: http://www.history.com/minisites/thanksgiving

Arabs and Muslims...

Sometimes we forget that there is a difference between the two!

Arabs are an ethnic group, whereas Muslims are a religious group.

The Middle East is an Islamic region (with major exceptions like Israel), but not necessarily an Arab region. Other ethnic groups such as the Kurds and Turks live in the Middle East as well, and they are definitely not Arab.

Wait. What?

I'm taking the World Regions course this semester, and lately that class and Honors English have strangely coincided very well! I'm doing my community project on Islam, and for this past week or so, John Boyer (our professor) has been focusing on the Middle East. Here are some things from his text book that are good to remember:

"Virtually all Arabs are Muslims, but most Muslims in the world are not Arab. Does that make sense? Islam is a worldwide phenomenon now, and places like Indonesia actually have more followers of the faith than any single country in the Middle East. The reason this is confusing for outsiders is because Islam started in Arab lands [Saudi Arabia to be exact], and the original and only Koran is written in Arabic. So no matter where you go in the world, from Morocco to Malaysia, Muslims will be reading the Arabic Koran and praying in Arabic tongue...but that don't make them Arab."
-The Plaid Avenger's World

Some more super helpful information is available on this blog/vlog, in the Middle East section:
http://www.plaidavenger.com/category/middle-east/
Be warned...it's the Plaid Avenger we're talking about.

Poll on Islam

I've added a poll to my blog about Islam... maybe you guys can take a minute and participate! :)

Initiating Action Project Feedback

"Great job!" :D

I thought this project turned out pretty well, so I'm glad that I received some affirmation from Professor Grete. Of course I didn't get limitless praise, though; I got some really constructive criticism as well.

Professor Grete encouraged me to make the main points of my website pages more obvious at first glance for my viewers. That is, using big phrases and visual aids that offer the general idea of my topic more readily.
The biggest suggestion I was given was to limit how much text I used in my website. (...Um. Did I understand that correctly? My Honors English Professor told me to write less? Haha. ;P Anyways...) Of course that made sense. One of the main points of a website is to make information less like a book, and more like ...a website. Emphasis on visual and interactive themes is necessary for me to stay true to the genre I chose for this project. I've already written essays on Islam, I don't need to keep writing more. So I probably had things right at first when I had less text. You know, before I got worried about having too little content on my website. Haha, oh well.

The other feedback I got was that my site links would look better as actual buttons. I wholeheartedly agree, but I don't think that I can do that... Any suggestions, anyone??

So. I have already tried to improve my homepage, giving more clarity to the main idea of my website. I think that over this next week I will "try to do more with hyperlinks," and adjust the amount of text I have included. I used hyperlinks several times in one section of my site, and I was actually a little unsure of whether that was okay or not. Now I know. So, in that fashion, I will revise the rest of my project. My website pages: "Islamic History" and "Initiating Action @ Virginia Tech" are in need of the most attention.

Yay for presentations due tomorrow!

Assignment #3 -Draft-

My website (draft) is complete!

Want to take a look? Here's the link: http://sites.google.com/site/islamatvirginiatech/Home

Please tell me what you think!

Feedback from Assignment #2

Again, Professor Grete's feedback was really valuable in guiding my essay to what I want it to be. She confirmed several of my doubts about its clarity and effectiveness, and also pointed out several things that I didn't realize my essay lacked. I now have a better plan for how to improve my essay. I need to give more information about my experience in the Middle East this past summer. My audience will be better able to form an opinion about Islam if I allow them to see what it was like being in Jordan, talking to Muslims, hearing the call to prayer, and learning about Islamic culture by immersion. By giving them that experience, I can leave it to them to decide what they perceive Islam to be.
I was relieved that Professor Grete did not consider my essay to be a "plain awful essay," as I anxiously expressed to her in my cover letter prefacing my essay. She was very encouraging, and I now feel more confident about what I have written. I certainly don't mean to say that I don't have substantial work ahead of me...but I do have less to do than I anticipated.
I definitely know what I will be doing during Thanksgiving break!

A Change of Plans

So. I've decided to attack my project from a different angle... I think I'm going to use Google to create my website, as opposed to creating my site basically from scratch. With Google, I will have an actual website, whereas had I gone about things the way I previously intended, it would only have been a document on my computer that would've looked like a website -not quite as cool. (I was planning on using Dreamweaver, if anyone knows what that is.) I think that using Google Sites will be a much more effective way of doing things.

A Persuasively Informative Website

The genre I have chosen for my Initiating Action Project is that of a (persuasive and expository) website.
By the way:
Expository writing is defined as:
seeking "to inform, explain, clarify, define or instruct."
Persuasive writing "intends to convince the reader of a stated opinion or belief."
We're all familiar with these definitions.

Some questions about my website genre from Professor Grete....

What are the conventions of your genre, and how much/what kind of freedom do you have within your genre?
There are really no stipulations on what a website should be; there aren't many standards to measure up to. Every website you go to on the Internet is proof that one website doesn't have to look the same as another or accomplish the same purpose. So, I have quite a bit of freedom with how I set up and organize all aspects of this project. I can make it purple and pink, or black and white; crazy, or sophisticated. (A great example is the very blog your reading right now - I designated what I wanted it to look like. It was a flexible process, and all about my preference. ...Selfish much?)
So yes, anyone can create a website that looks like anything and accomplishes any purpose ...but a successful website has to live up to certain standards of organization, efficiency, clarity, etc. It needs to appeal to the intended audience (just as traditional media does) so that it can achieve its goal.

Who writes in your genre, and for what purposes? Everyone writes through the Internet! The entire world is moving to the Internet to get things done, and by "things," I mean EVERYTHING. In our steadily globalizing society, the Internet is recognized to be one of the most effective means of initiating action, spreading information, entertaining, publicizing, shopping, networking, teaching, ....this list could grow very large! From teenagers to business men, everyone uses the world wide web to express themselves. Websites are a very effective genre.



Sources:
"Expository Writing" http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/genre/expository.asp
"Persuasive Writing" http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/genre/persuasive.asp
"Uses of the Internet" http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resources/tutorial/conceptual/uses.html
"How Fast is the Internet Growing?" http://www.savetz.com/yic/YIC01FI_12.html

"Argument is inquiry, not war."

Haha, I loved that quirky sentence from our reading assignment. It seemed to be a strange thing to say, so I read it twice and then highlighted it because it's so true! Upon discovery of diverse opinions, so many people think that they have to convert others to their way of thinking. By whatever means necessary! No, it shouldn't be that way. We should seek to understand others before expecting to be understood, always looking to discern why another person thinks the way they do. So much more is accomplished that way. We need to grasp the "Concept of Audience" before attempting to exert different opinions on someone with whom we can't relate.
"The Concept of Audience" reminded me to step back from my perspectives and think about who I am writing to and about. That mindset will help me to convince my readers to consider my argument because I have shown consideration for their thoughts or beliefs.

So tomorrow -which is technically later today- we have to bring to class some preliminary details regarding our intentions with this third project. We have to define our audience, purpose, exigence, and genre(s). Here we go:

Audience: Students at Virginia Tech
Purpose: Improving education and Tolerance/Coexistence
Exigence: Lack of Knowledge and Awareness of Islam
Genre: A Persuasive and Expository Website


...9:05, here I come!

Initiating Action Proposal

The purpose for my Initiating Action Project will be to further inform my audience about the Islamic community. The issue that I see that I am trying to address is that people don't know very much about Islam. My audience will be the Virginia Tech student body, which will be a change from the audience to whom I've geared my previous projects.

My project will be in the form of a website (though it will not actually be online), flyers, and possibly a letter as well. I will use the flyers to catch people's attention and direct students on campus to my website where they can learn more about Muslims and Islam.

On the website, I will include:

• Several paragraphs of educational information about Islam
• Links to websites that I have found to be helpful and informative about Muslims and their faith
• A page of faith testimonials about Islam by Muslims?
• A link to and information about the Muslim Student Association on the Virginia Tech campus
• A link to and information about the MOSAIC theme housing community
  
• A page discussing my personal experiences in the Middle East
• A page calling for intercultural awareness, specifically on the VT campus
  
  • An appeal to Tech leadership to have some sort of (free) event geared towards raising awareness of cultures outside of the USA (not only Islamic communities, but other religions/cultures) -whether that be in the form of guest speakers or special events, ...etc. (This is where my letter might come in.)
    
• Pictures and graphics related to the Middle East
• A page with my contact information
  
• A page citing my sources

*Upon taking GOOD advice from Professor Grete, I'm only doing a website. Not a bad idea at all.

Initiating Action Examples

So, we are supposed to bring to class a few examples of Initiating Action projects of other people/groups...
The first thing I thought of was the "Pickens Plan" energy campaign that T. Boone Pickens has so successfully publicized. Something so effective is of course my #1 example. Here's the link to the site:
http://www.pickensplan.com/index.php?bcpid1842760405?bclid=1842745810&bctid=1819673299&page=ad
Example #2 is a flyer that I've snagged off a wall in my hall. It is geared towards recruiting a group of people to help clean up the roads near campus this past Saturday.

Happy Halloween!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj1I1GH8ADw

Tardiness..

I got to class late today. :(
People were in my room until 3:00am (couldn't get them out!), so not a whole lot of sleeping took place last night. I totally woke up at 9:00am on the dot...but I made it to class within 15 minutes. Still late, but not too shabby! (Though, of course, shame on me for oversleeping.)

My New Favorite Thing

Pandora Radio!
http://www.pandora.com/

Thoughts on My Essay Draft

I am a little unsure about how I performed on the essay draft that we all had to turn in on Wednesday. I know that I still have a lot of work to do on it....but I don't know whether that "a lot" entails an entirely new essay, or just typical editing. I never gave myself time to just sit and read my essay and really digest what it was that I was doing with my text; I wasn't able to get as deep with it as I wished. I definitely intend to make time for that much-needed contemplation before the official essay is due...and Professor Grete's feedback will absolutely help me improve and refine my writing as well! I'm looking forward to getting her email! ....I think, haha.

Feedback on Feedback

Last Friday, we received the essays of another one of our classmates to look over during the weekend. We were instructed to write a two-page letter to them with encouragement and critique in order to help each other improve our essays. Tyler evaluated my essay on Islam for our Peer Review exercise, and he was very helpful! My essay is definitely still quite a bit of a "shitty first draft," and Tyler gave me insights that will help me bring my paper to be something more like a final draft. Tyler pointed out weaknesses in my paper that definitely need to be addressed in order for me to have a balanced, unbiased essay. He noted that I need to include more persuasive information and clarify to my readers what my argument regarding Islam actually is about. Tyler also reminded me that I completely forgot to cite my sources. Where would I be without him? ;)

Assessment Criteria for the Persuasively Informative Essay

In a good essay, an author should:

• Write about a relevant topic
• Keep the reader's attention
  
• State facts and citations to support his ideas/argument
• Express trustworthiness, sincerity, and reliability to the reader
  
• Write an essay that possesses clarity in persuasiveness and informativeness
  
• Write a story that the audience would be able to relate to
  
• Include his readers on his process of discovery that led him to write on the topic
• Always be thorough
• Initiate action and be a catalyst for change in the lives of his readers
• Efficiently do something with the text

Properties of The Essay

What makes an essay an essay? What separates it from poetry, articles, and short stories? What qualities stand up from the page on which they were sitting and inform us that we are, indeed, reading an essay?
It seems that essays are whatever all other structured types of writing aren't. It is writing without regulation. Essays are whatever the writer decides they are. There is no power dictating standards and stipulations. Anarchy on paper..?
I've never viewed essays in this light. I very much related to the author who referenced essays as something adults dread, remembering them as the endless writing and reading assignments we were given when we were younger. We were instructed to write on specific topics within certain guidelines and deadlines...but essays should be much more natural than what they were to us then.
I think, most of all, the essay needs to be heartfelt, genuine, and relaxed like a casual coffee conversation. Essays should flow out of our mouths and into our ears with ease. I need to be sure to pay attention to this foundation of the essay. Sometimes I can be too forceful in my writing; I tell myself that if I exert enough effort, I can force something into being a good essay. The evolution of essays takes grace, patience, and time. I don't want to hurriedly express myself, I want to leisurely savor every sentence as I direct my reader's attention to where my pen is about to press. I aim to capture my reader's attention, I want to present them with something that they can relate to and understand better due to my input and perspective.
Furthermore, my audience should sense that I care about my topic and that parts of who I am have been intertwined into the heart of that matter. I want my passion to be contagious so that I might possibly inspire someone to tilt their heads and think about what I mean.
I'm not sure what role imagination has with the type of essay I am working on, but I will wait and see how the incorporation of a little creativity evolves... this part of my essay goals may likely be abandoned.
Another part of my essay that I need to improve on is exploring opposing viewpoints so that my writing can be well-rounded. Maybe this calls for a few last-minute interviews of random people on my hall? We'll see.

There is much work to be done!

"Start By Getting Something--Anything"

"Shitty First Drafts" ....such a helpful essay! I feel really comforted by the fact that I am not the only one to endlessly stare at an empty, white page on my computer screen with twitching fingers and furrowed brow, and, hours later, still have no idea of where to begin becoming an author. Someone else, a professional writer no less, understands the feelings of frustration that writing can induce. Creating a piece of writing from nothing into something that inspires, instructs, declares, defines, describes, summarizes, equips, analyzes, compares, contrasts, narrates, or criticizes does not spontaneously happen for me. I thought that experts, who are much better at writing than myself, were capable of neatly writing out everything, revising a little, and then having a perfectly complete essay. But no, Anne Lamott reminded me that is not at all true. :)
I have never been one to write official drafts...my writing tends to just evolve from a rough sketch of my ideas to a (hopefully) complete work, typically all in one sitting. I have not never thought about writing out everything that I can think of, everything that I can turn from thoughts into text, and cut and paste that into an acknowledged "shitty first draft." If I did things that way, I could allow myself a transition from nothing to anything, and then from anything to something, and then from something to meaning. Accepting imperfection in my writing is a novel idea to me, and I think that is going to allow me to be much more at ease and flexible as I sit down to write my first "shitty first draft" for tomorrow's homework. I think my writing will improve by employing this transitional approach, and I think I will use this technique for future writing projects.

Purpose and Audience

The purpose of my essay will be to persuade my readers of the relevance and importance of becoming more familiar with the Islamic community. The tone of my essay will not be very entertaining, as we talked about in class, but most certainly informative. I consider this subject more serious than lighthearted, so I don't think my audience would appreciate a humorous satire about Islam. My audience most likely already knows how they feel about Muslims, so my goal is to change how many of them view this faith group. I intend to incorporate logos as well as pathos in my writing to help convince my audience of my perspective.
I'm honestly still mulling over my intended audience. Originally, my audience was 1. people who have never heard of or have little knowledge about the topic, and 2. people who know inaccurate facts about the topic. That's all well and good, but that is a really broad audience. Though that list still applies, I want to narrow it down. I talked to Professor Grete about it today in class and, as always, she was really helpful and gave me some great things to think about. I have a better idea of how I want to structure my essay now since I'm changing the way I'm viewing my possible readers. I think that as I contemplate my "Shitty First Draft" over the weekend my plans about what readers I am gearing my essay toward will continue to evolve, and I will have a good plan of action by the time I write my first draft.

Have a great weekend! I'm off to North Carolina for the next two days!

A Shout Out to Kayvan:

Kayvan tells the truth! I agree with him in that the library is a super valuable resource...
I had to watch a VHS for extra credit in one of my classes the other day, and I was bummed because I thought I wouldn't be able to watch it. Really, who has a VHS player these days, let alone in college? I asked around if anyone had any ideas, but I had no success. No VHS player, no extra credit. So what does my RA say? They have VHS players at the library. They have this convenient little VHS/DVD/TV setup right there on the second floor near the reception desk -where a lot of us took our Library Tour quiz. I don't know about anyone else, but I had no idea they offered that, and I was stoked. Yes VHS player, yes extra credit! After I watched the video (which was boring as all get out, by the way), I walked around the library and found a good nook for attacking my many reading assignments. No one bothered me. Amazing.
Stupid story, but the moral is: Kayvan is quite right by saying that the library's research databases are amazingly "Godlike", and I must add that this statement is true of pretty much the entire library!

Make-A-Wish Foundation

Who is it that is doing their research project on the Make-A-Wish foundation..? There is a group on Facebook advertising that Make-A-Wish is having a meeting for prospective volunteers who want to help out with MAW's many fund-raising activities on the Virginia Tech campus... Firstly, it's a good thing for all of us to know about, so I decided to post this for everyone to see. Secondly, I thought this might be a good experience for my fellow classmate to have as they do their research.
Here's the info and the link:
November 5, 2008
Squires Brush Mt B room
@ 8:30 pm
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29068734773

Today's Class

I won't lie, I was really bummed to see on our course outline that our essays would be reviewed by the entire class today. Why? Because I knew that mine sucked! I spent most of our allotted time pursuing my topic from an angle that was uncharacteristic of my writing.... with no time to spare, I hesitated and started over! Bad move. So I rapidly wrote a really bad essay. I'm just glad that we won't have to do that for our upcoming graded essay; timed writing is not my cup of tea. But I guess it's good that I'm doing it, so that I can practice and get better!

After reviewing everyone's essays, our class discussed what constitutes a good essay. Here's the things we thought were important:

• Introduction
  
  • The introduction defines the reason the author is writing about the topic, the reason why the reader should continue to read, and it transitions the audience into hearing the meat of the topic.
• Captivating/Interesting
  
  • The reader is often impatient to understand what the writer is communicating, so the author of the essay must be efficient in capturing his audience's attention before they move on to something else.
• Good Structure
  
  • An essay needs understandable, logical organization and transition of ideas.
    
• Main Point
  
  • An essay should not be comprised of only facts and figures; it should have a purposeful main point for the ideas being passed on, along with some character mixed in.
• Informative
  
  • The author should give his readers good, factual information so that the audience can effectively learn from the essay.
• Conclusion
  
  • The conclusion summarizes the main idea, possibly expounds on what the author wants you to do with their argument/ideas/etc., and reiterates what the writer wants the reader to take away from their perspective.
• Legible
  
  • If handwritten, an essay is kinda sorta worthless if it is written in the foreign language of Chicken Scratch.

That's what we think is important!

Seriously...I love my English professor!

I knew that my research proposal would come back with a lot of critiques, but I had no idea of how much input Professor Grete would give me! I've never had a teacher put as much effort into helping me improve my work as Professor Grete has. Her feedback was really constructive, and I now have a much better idea of how I should make my proposal better. I understand the purpose of my proposal better, and I feel more capable of providing more clarity in it. I have a lot of work to do, but I'm actually looking forward to revising it!

Reviewing "The Stunt Pilot" and "Ali in Havana"

The Stunt Pilot
"Idly, paying scant attention, I saw a medium-sized, rugged man dressed in brown leather, all begoggled, climb in a black biplane's open cockpit. The plane was a Bucker Jungman, built in the thirties. I saw a tall, dark-haired woman seize a propeller tip at the plane's nose and yank it down till the engine caught..." I really enjoyed the way Annie Dillard expressed herself in this essay. This paragraph stood out to me as a good example of why I appreciated her style. "Idly, paying scant attention..." At first, I thought that these phrases were awfully similar and possibly on the repetitive side, but after I thought about it, they were coupled together in a way that gave a great look into what was going on in the scene the author so effortlessly described. I can just picture the narrator bouncing on her toes, arms crossed, relaxingly looking on as they air show began. The author overall does a great job of painting pictures with words without hefting around gaudy sentences with too many commas. (Have you noticed how that tends to happen? I overuse commas like it's my job!) I can learn a lot from the way this author describes things. The other thing that I like about Annie is that she uses really great action verbs, for example, "seize." Perfect, brief imagery.
I think one of the bigger lessons that I learned from Annie Dillard's writing was that she told the reader what to think without doing so obviously, it was subtle. At the very beginning, she inspired my imagination by seamlessly showing me the setting's surroundings, the situation's background, the weather, my attitude, even the texture of the ground I'm standing on as I'm leaning my neck back to watch the white streaks of an airplane cross the sky. Streaks which I've now been convinced are as artistic and unique as Picasso....and I definitely wouldn't have thought that before. As the essay continues, the author details her plane ride with Dave Rahm, detailing even the look of the snow she glimpsed at upside-down, mid-flight. Her description convincingly gives clarity and reality to her story.

Ali in Havana
The second essay that I read, "Ali in Havana," was interesting. It was humorous as well as strange, in a peculiar sort of way. I personally didn't like it as much as "The Stunt Pilot," but it was just a different type of essay, and a solid one, to be sure. I loved how the author, Gay Talese, described each character and setting in such a manner that the audience felt physically connected to what was happening on each page. The author allowed the readers to feel as though they had personally known each individual in the essay and he gave them the ability to see, feel, and even smell the environment of each scene. Talese described the bus ride by pointing out exactly where everyone sat, noting that the air in the bus was (fortunately for some, unfortunately for others) filled with "a costly cloud of fragrance" from the smoke of an expensive Cuban cigar, and also gave glimpses into some peoples' attitudes during the trip. I also liked that the author so uniquely compared the life of Muhammad Ali and Fidel Castro, something that is not at all readily apparent. He informs the reader and broadens their perspective.

I think what makes these writings "essays" is that they captivate, they inform, they entertain, they invoke curiosity and then satisfy that curiosity.... They tell a story with a purpose.

Help?

I am doing my assignment for Monday, and I can't seem to find "Silent Dancing." I searched for the book on Google Books, and I found it, but the book is not all inclusive. The book preview stops at page 67. Am I looking in the wrong place? ....and am I the only one having this problem?

:-/

Woo!

I'm sending off the draft of my research proposal right now!
...I hope it's okay!

Rewriting

What's your project?
My project is to investigate the rift between Islam and the secular world and research how that gap is being intentionally bridged. I am also seeking to build knowledge of Islam in those that do not understand it.

What works?
I think I have a passionate goal, and I have a lot of information to build on....almost too much information, to be honest.

What else might be said?/How might you acknowledge other views and possibilities?
One could say that I should leave well enough alone. They might believe that Islam is something that does not affect the "Average Joe," and that a lot of people have no desire to learn more about this community. Thus, I would be wasting my time by trying to raise awareness of this faith group.

What's next?
The implications of my perspective state that people need to be more tolerant of neighboring religious groups, i.e. Islam, and they must be more proactive in understanding the world around them.

Literature Review - Muslim Communities

How do Muslims adapt to a culture outside of their own community?

There is a population of about 6 million Muslims residing in America. France has a population of roughly 3.7 million Muslims within her borders. The United Kingdom counts nearly 1.6 million. These Muslims are respectively "American", "French", and "British"; but do they embrace this title? Do they cling to their heritage as Muslims and reject the West's often drastically different culture? Some Muslims feel very threatened in the irreligious society, whereas others feel perfectly comfortable in it. They have some different customs, but, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, about 63% of Muslim Americans feel that they can synthesize their thoroughly Muslim life with the more secular customs of the US. Some Islamic individuals, however, feel as if they will never truly fit into a foreign culture, whether that is self-induced, or imposed by peers.

Muslims of the West and those of more traditionally Muslim areas tend to show great variance in their daily lives. Conventional, religious lines of black and white shift to gray as the years and miles increase away from traditional Islam. Living in such a different world, many Muslims have adapted their faith to fit the respective culture of the West. They have melded into being flexible in their standards and obligations in order to coalesce more naturally into a different lifestyle. Still others, adhering tightly to custom, reject any close connection to the life and community of outside nations and have no intention of becoming a part of others' society. They are content to remain on the outskirts of outsiders' perspectives and communities, remembering that their authentic home is in the heart and with the people of the Holy Land.

Just as in any other religion that one might encounter, questions regarding certain specifics of Islamic doctrine depend on who you ask. Some more orthodox Muslims might tell you that the hijab, for example, is an absolutely mandatory expression of the Muslim identity. A woman rejecting this exterior sign of dedication to her faith commits sin, and in some places her decision could be viewed as rebellion and might affect her well-being. The inverse of that, though, is a woman who feels it is her deserved right to decide whether she will accept the traditional use of the hijab. Another scenario is that a woman may feel threatened when wearing the veil in public, and thus, she separates from it. Many imams and other leaders of the Islamic faith have no argument against this, but again, others do not accept it.
Living in the secular culture has brought unique challenges to Muslims. Situations that Islam has never dealt with often occur in the different environments that Muslims are continuing to find themselves in. Nieman Reports expresses this situation occurring in America:

"In Muslim countries, imams lead the five daily prayers and deliver the Friday sermon. When they are recruited to American mosques--for their Islamic expertise--they end up filling many unfamiliar roles. They become marriage counselors, Islamic judges, matchmakers and Qur'an school principals. They broker business disputes, grant divorces, and often deal with the FBI. For none of this are they prepared. And as they take on these new roles, they often find themselves rethinking Islamic law in the context of American needs."

Tradition is fusing with culture worldwide to create a different kind of Islamic community for Muslims.


Bibliography:

• Forecasting the future of islam; Visiting expert sees renaissance of islamic culture. (2008, April 19). The Ottawa Citizen, p. A10.
• Muslims in america: in this together. (2007, May 28). Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p. B5.
• Elliott, A (2007, Jue 22). Muslims in america: creating a new beat. Nieman Reports, 61, 2, 55.
• Between faith and country: Muslims in america (2006, September 11) NPR:Morning Edition
• (2008). Islam in france. Retrieved September 28, 2008, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_France#References
• (2008). Demography of the united kingdom. Retrieved September 28, 2008, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_Kingdom#Religion

About the empty seat...

I missed class on Friday. I wish that our bodies were invincible... Had mine been, I would have been in class, as always. Since I am not superwoman, I unfortunately missed out. I have a few people filling me in on what we did, but if you'd like to pass on anything additionally helpful, that would be very much appreciated! :)

My New Favorite Thing

Pandora Radio!!

http://www.pandora.com/

This is the Coolest Thing Ever!

Like many other people living under an eroding ozone layer, I am distressed by the amount of styrofoam (among many other non-degradable products) that is carelessly put into our environment on a daily basis. Granted, often times our waste production is not careless, but more like choice-less. I know I feel so guilty when I have no option but to dispose of things improperly. For example, here at Virginia Tech, there is no specified container for styrofoam waste. That's not just here, though, recycling centers are inaccessible all over the place.
Approximate number of recycling centers in the USA, per state.

So, I am always interested in learning of new ways we humans are learning to clean up after ourselves... Check this website out!
"Using Oranges for Styrofoam Recycling"
This site tells of a scientific breakthrough that the Sony Research Center has discovered.

Another super cool, environment-friendly idea...



That's all for now. Happy weekend!

Interviews and Site Visits

Our assignment is to research communities of our choice...and so far we've implemented that with site visits and interviews.

A week or two ago, I contacted the Virginia Tech's Muslim Student Association and discussed my research project with their Community Liaison. I explained the Honors English class that I am taking, and why I am interested in researching the Islamic community. He was extremely welcoming and was very eager to allow me to observe and interact with their group.

Ramadan is taking place this month, so the timing of that event and my project have been very convenient. Mr. Amine, the Community Liaison, invited me to join the MSA as they broke their fast in one of their daily Iftars. I gratefully accepted his offer, and went to an Iftar last Thursday. I think it was a valuable experience to be able to take part in the Iftar; I would have had many
more questions about it had I not gone and gotten a taste of it myself.

At the Iftar, I sat with my notebook and inconspicuously observed the actions of my new Muslim acquaintances. After filling his own plate, the gentleman that I had previsouly spoken to by email
came and sat down with me, so did the President of the MSA. We chatted for a few minutes talking about all sorts of things, spanning from the topics of education to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I learned new things about the significance of Ramadan, and I also attained a view of his personal perspective of the religious festival.

The second part of our assignment was interviewing people related to our community. I have had great luck with interviews! So far, I have about two hours worth of audio from interviewing Muslims that I met through the MSA. Both on Tuesday and today, I interviewed a man and a woman together. I have spoken with four individuals so far, and there is a possibility for a fifth. I have had great success with these discussions, which have all given me valuable information and points of view that I will be mulling over for some time. I know I learned a lot about Islam, and I think that the people I interviewed learned some things about me and my faith as well. I believe that each party felt it was a good experience overall, and I am satisfied with my results!

(Hopefully the links in this post were helpful, and not annoying.)

Course Goals

What are some things that I, personally, wish to accomplish through this course?

1. I want to learn how to better use English in a concise manner, so that a lot of information is given in as few words as possible. I tend to be very repetitive in my writing. Mainly, I reiterate my words because I try to give as much clarity as possible...but saying things twenty different ways is probably more unhelpful than had I said it one way the first time. I also like to describe things...there are so many different ways to state something, and sometimes I just don't know what is the best way to communicate a certain idea.
   
   
2. I want to discover how creative I can be while maintaining the attention and comprehension of my audience. Now, I do not claim to be creative...that's part of what I mean. I want to learn, or just continue to acquire the knack for how to throw in unique, witty things at the appropriate time and in the right situation.
   
   
3. Introducing and summarizing paragraphs is not a strength of mine. Another weakness is titling papers. This somewhat ties into what I was saying about creativity. I don't want my writing to be bland and predictable; I want to add some character as I open and close a topic, but I want to be confident in knowing that I haven't gone over the top.

Interview Questions

For our project on communities, I will be interviewing a Muslim (or two) from the Muslim Student Association here on the Virginia Tech campus...

Possible Interview Questions:

• Are your parents Muslim?
• Is a person who is born into a Muslim family and raised by Muslim parents considered a Muslim?
• Can anyone convert to Islam?
  
  • Can they do that at any time?
    
• How long have you been a Muslim?
• If you can remember when you converted to Islam, or have done so recently, could you describe how that came about?
  
  • Who or what was the primary influence of your decision?
• Are there things about Islam that you still don't understand?
• How might you describe the Five Pillars of Islam to someone who had never heard of them before?
  
  • What might you tell that same person about Mecca?
  • How would you explain Ramadan to them?
    
  • What about the differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites?
    
    • Why do you think differences like this happen, and what do you think causes them?
      
• What are some words (e.g., adjectives) that you would use to describe Muhammed?
  
  • How might you describe Alláh?
• Is there anything you would like the world to know about Islam?
• What do you like best about your religion, if anything?
  
  • What do you like least, if anything?
• Do you ever feel uncomfortable when discussing your religion, or any religion at all?
• Have you ever encountered a situation in which you met conflict because of your religion?
  
  • If so, what was that situation like?
• Have you noticed a difference in the way that people treat you since your conversion to Islam, or because you are a Muslim?
• Have you noticed a difference in yourself since your conversion to Islam? (What affect has your faith had on your life?)
• How different would your life be without your faith?
  
• How might you describe Islam to a curious Atheist? Agnostic? Christian? Jew?
• What do you think of people in other religions?
• What do you think is the most common misconception about your faith?
• Do you feel your belief system is misrepresented by media, groups, etc.?
• What do you feel your role is, as a Muslim?

....."What in the world is going on here??" ;)


(Please feel free to mention anything that you personally would like to know about Islam, etc., and I can add that to my list!)

Speaking of quotes...

"Lives are not transcriptions of events. They are artful and enduring symbolic constitutions which demand our engagement and identification. They are to be perceived and understood as wholes." -Elliott Oring

This quote from our bi-daily reading assignment struck me. It so elegantly summarizes our purpose in our coming research assignment...and really, what a fantastic synopsis of how we should treat each other in our daily lives. We are all worth each others' attention. We all deserve to be acknowledged and understood by those around us. A life is not something that should be haphazardly represented on paper as just another faceless point of view to give evidence for our one-way perspectives. We are dealing with people, just as we are; people who have experienced things that we might never imagine, things that shaped and molded their character, beliefs, biases, and worldview. We each have something to learn from these lives, it would be impossible for us not to. Later, we will have that same something to pass on to another who is willing to perceive and understand those around them in totality.


See you in class tomorrow. :)

This is bothering me!

...Does anyone know how to indent paragraphs on here?

An Evening In a Dorm Room

A few doors down from my room, giggles and one-sided arguments can be heard from the room with a sound leak. The two roommates went to town earlier this week; one girl bought a calling card for the room phone, the other purchased noise-cancelling headphones.
Walking in from the hallway, the heat of the room meets you right away. The two football-game-sunburned young ladies are each beneath their respective lofts. Roommate is at her laptop getting homework done, and Chatty is talking on the phone with the same person she started talking to over an hour ago. Abrupt exclamations of playful retaliation are common interruptions of study.
The Colts vs. Bears game is on the tv. The volume is surprisingly low. “I’m gonna punch that guy in the face! …I hate that football player,” a diss in reference to a member of the so-displeasing opposing team. In her frustration, she looks away from the television. Remote in one hand, phone in the other, she incessantly jerks about in her chair, looking for a more comfortable spot as well as other things in the room to occupy her visual senses. Rocking back and forth, and then leaning to view her toes, a pedicure session has begun. But ever so brief, that takes a lot of effort. What’s this on the floor? Oh, it’s just trash. I’ll leave it there.
Around 11:00pm, she yawns. Contemplating her bed, she grumbles, “If I find out that we won and I missed it….” And then continues to “Mhm,” and nod in reply to her friend. Oh, what about Myspace? That hasn’t been checked in a few minutes. Logging in. A friend request?? Ugh, it’s that girl. THAT GIRL. THE ONE MY BOYFRIEND DUMPED ME FOR. DENY FRIEND REQUEST. Why does she need to be friends with me, anyway?? She just wants to stalk me…she knows I’m better than her. He wants me back and she’s just jealous. But oh well. Now, to the odd socket wrench in the desk…let’s spin that around. What a wonderful clicking noise it makes. Just what I… “Wait, she did WHAT?! Oh my god, she DID?”
Suddenly, Roommate skips over to the opposite side of the room…Roomie stealthfully sneaks from behind and places her nose right next to the phone-framed face of her blabbing friend. A cry of surprise and then some profanity erupts, as well as self-satisfied laughter on Roomie’s part. Conversation about banana splits illogically ensues.
Back to the phone. “Well, if you wanna go, that’s fine. I have to get up early. I have to get dreeessed, get coooffeeeee, walk all the way to claaasss….. Okay, I love you too. Bye.” Chucking the phone into its cradle, she exhales, “BOY, he can be long-winded!” Quick displays of some child-like ballerina skills are randomly exhibited next to her desk. On go the slippers, and she scampers off to the Ladies’ room.
…Silence…
She’s back, and now an outbreak of some more song and dance. “I used to know a girl who took jazz lessons…I was SO jealous of her. Oh, but what about the football game?! Is it over?” She pushes the dusty power button and stands with her face six inches away from the screen. “…What are they talking about? Is it….oh, it’s over! She’s interviewing the BEARS. We LOST?! Ugh, we’re never going to make it to the superbowl at this rate. Stop being so dumb, Manning! ‘I think I’ll throw the ball where no one’s standing!’ UHHhhh!”
Getting ready for bed, she pouts and stomps around the room. Her roommate is half-observing, while typing away at her homework. It’s about 11:30pm, she hasn’t gotten much done. It looks like it will be another late night for Roommate.
So it is, just about every night in the ever-leaky room of my hallmates. Every time I go in, they’re doing just about the same thing as always. Studying, and chatting -loudly. …I wonder how much those headphones cost…

Go, Colts!

In honor of our good professor, I'm rooting for the Colts tonight...

Go COLTS!!

It begins with me.

So which one of these previous quotes is the most important for us, as a society, to hear? Such a tough decision...but after reading through them a few times, I think it may be this one:

HH the Dalai Lama:
Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us.

It starts with me. Communities reflect each individual within them. The integrity and character of those within communities are the threads and fabric of the community quilt, and every color shows.
If each person in a community asks, "What can so and so do for me?" not much will be accomplished, and the community wouldn't have a whole lot of purpose or meaning. Instead, if individuals were to ask, "What can I do for so and so?" verbs happen. "What can I do?" If no one were to ask this, think of what the world would be like. If Mother Theresa had not taken up the responsibility to minister to the sick and poor in Calcutta, India, who would have? And what would that community have been like without her? She didn't dedicate her life to such a cause because she felt capable and comfortable, but because she knew that the responsibility to those weary people lay with her.
Many times, we talk about how our government, our school, or our family should change this or that. During one of those situations, did we ever think of what we might be able to do to mend the issue? In so many situations, we can begin with ourselves as we seek to solve problems. Communities would not be what we want them to be without our willingness to make them better; in order to improve our communities, we must begin with bettering ourselves. "It (the responsibility) lies with each of us individually."

Some Great Quotes on Community

Abraham Lincoln:
The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman:
The first duty of a human being is to assume the right functional relationship to society -- more briefly, to find your real job, and do it.

Chinese proverb:
One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.

Cicero:
We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race.

Elie Wiesel:
This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.

Eugene V. Debs:
Now my friends, I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life. We were taught under the old ethic that man's business on this earth was to look out for himself. That was the ethic of the jungle; the ethic of the wild beast. Take care of yourself, no matter what may become of your fellow man. Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society.
Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death. [1908 speech]

Eugene V. Debs:
Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Frederick Buechner:
The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.

George Bernard Shaw:
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

HH the Dalai Lama:
Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. [This entry continued...]

Harold Kushner:
What cannot be achieved in one lifetime will happen when one lifetime is joined to another.

Lyndon B. Johnson:
The American city should be a collection of communities where every member has a right to belong. It should be a place where every man feels safe on his streets and in the house of his friends. It should be a place where each individual's dignity and self-respect is strengthened by the respect and affection of his neighbors. It should be a place where each of us can find the satisfaction and warmth which comes from being a member of the community of man. This is what man sought at the dawn of civilization. It is what we seek today.

M. Scott Peck:
There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.

Margaret Mead:
Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Marian Wright Edelman:
The challenge of social justice is to evoke a sense of community that we need to make our nation a better place, just as we make it a safer place.

Marianne Williamson:
In every community there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart there is the power to do it.

Mitsugi Saotome:
If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Nor knowest thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbor's creed has lent.
All are needed by each one;
Nothing is fair or good alone.

Robert McAfee Brown:
How does one keep from "growing old inside"? Surely only in community. The only way to make friends with time is to stay friends with people…. Taking community seriously not only gives us the companionship we need, it also relieves us of the notion that we are indispensable.

Rumi:
Come out of the circle of time
And into the circle of love.

Sandra Day O'Connor:
We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.

Simone Weil:
The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say, "What are you going through?"

Starhawk:
We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.

Vaclav Havel:
Genuine politics -- even politics worthy of the name -- the only politics I am willing to devote myself to -- is simply a matter of serving those around us: serving the community and serving those who will come after us. Its deepest roots are moral because it is a responsibility expressed through action, to and for the whole.

Wendell Berry:
We clasp the hands of those that go before us,
And the hands of those who come after us.
We enter the little circle of each others' arms
And the larger circle of lovers,
Whose hands are joined in a dance,
And the larger circle of all creatures,
Passing in and out of life,
Who move also in a dance,
To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it
Except in fragments

William Pickens:
Living together is an art.

There is quite a montage of different people being quoted here...that's intentional. (I think that if some of these people were to be in the same room with each other, we might have some conflict, but anyway.) It's here to say that community is something that we all think about, long for, and try to build; community is in our makeup, we are destined to be with and to belong.

Community, Our Theme.

Honors English (but really, Honors Research and Writing)...
We'll be focusing on community throughout this semester, so don't be perplexed when most of my blog topics will be focused on that. Each student in the class had to choose a community in our local area, Blacksburg, that was of interest to them and that they wanted to research further. As soon as this topic came up, my mind went directly to the Middle East, a region which I love very much. I tried to look beyond my first reaction and look into some other groups and organizations like: Virginia Tech's Radio Station, Sororities and Fraternities, Classic Car Organizations, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Martial Arts.....I'm interested or a part of all of these groups, but I'm going to stick with communities in the Middle East. Specifically, Muslims and Islamic culture (Anybody have a friend here at Virginia Tech that is a Muslim?) I'm looking forward to learning more about the culture and religion of my chosen group!

Hey, welcome to my blog!

I just created a blog: yay for new experiences! This, good people, is the product of a homework assignment -the beginnings of one, at least. I never anticipated that my Honors English class would incorporate the world of technology in such a way. I somewhat expected to yawningly suffer through a stale, humdrum course aalll semester. However, instead of a crusty, wrinkled professor of at least 95 years of age waddling in to our classroom on the first of many 9:00am mornings, in strolled a youthful, fresh-looking woman of at most 20 years of age. ;) Is she a student? Of course not! She's the teacher! It was a pleasant surprise. Anyways, I'm looking forward to learning a lot in this English class; I've learned quite a bit already, for example, learning how to create a blog!

Now. Business. I don't yet know exactly what form this blog is going to take, but its focus will of course be on the assignments about which I'll be required to write. Otherwise, it'll probably contain a bit of everything, hopefully in a well-rounded way. I look forward to acquiring any form of feedback from my fellow classmates, Professor Grete, and any random Joe Blow stalker who stumbles upon "The World is My Oyster." Okay, maybe not the last one... The point is, I love hearing other people's opinions and perspectives! So, critcism, encouragement... it's all appreciated.


:)