Month: September 2021

1. Quote: “The understanding of war among people who have not experienced war is now chiefly a product of the impact of these images. Something becomes real – to those who are elsewhere, following it as “news” – by being photographed” (Sontag 21). 
   1. Comment: This is a very common theme and concept throughout the first two chapters. Sontag tries to describe the difficulty of portraying war to people who are not present for it; it doesn’t have the same kind of meaning to them. To certain people, it may be just another news update – when the photographers really want to portray the realness and the pain of the war. They want the viewers to feel it, and they try to depict this in their photography. Comparing the reality of the war experienced by others and the viewers perception only from observation and images. 
      1. Question: How does the deepness of the image affect how the viewer at homes perceives the war? Ex: A mother at home seeing an image of a child, could really resinate with her more than the next photo of a destroyed city. Change their perspective on war and feel more “present” in the war scene.

2. Quote: “Photography is the only major art in which professional training and years of experience do not confer an insuperable advantage over the untrained and inexperienced – this for many reasons, among them the large role that chance (or luck) plays in the taking of pictures, and the bias toward the spontaneous, the rough, the imperfect” (Sontag 28). 
   1. Comment: This quote is wrapped around the paragraph about the 9/11 exhibit, which I thought was so empowering. In this exhibit, they had thousands of people submit photos they had taken during the tragedy. Everyone who submitted work had at least one piece included in the exhibit, and no names were given as to who the photographer was. You wouldn’t know if the photo was taken by an ammatuer or a professional photographer – which is what, I think, is the coolest part. Tying this into the quote about how photography is the most “loose” of the arts. You don’t need years of experience to take empowering, touching, and professional-looking photos. For some it comes naturally, and that is the beauty of it. 
      1. Question: I wonder if these people who submitted work (the amateurs) went on to indulge more into this “war” photography? Did this exhibit help them find their creative voice and a passion for it?

1. Quote: “Gates argued that computer screens are able to replace paper in all the functions that paper has heretofore assumed. He also insisted that, in addition to being less onerous, computers take up less space, and are more easily transportable; and also that the transmission of news and literature by these electronic media, instead of by newspapers and books, will have the ecological advantage of stopping the destruction of forests. A cataclysm that is a consequence of the paper industry. People will continue to read, Gates assured his listeners, but they will read on computer screens, and consequently there will be more chlorophyll in the environment” (Llosa 5). 
   1. Comment: This article was obviously written in 2001, so technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. Does that mean everyone is now reading on computer screens today? No. I think Gates was very wrong to want to strip people from reading hard copy, in-print books. My mom got a kindle for Christmas once, and I don’t think she’s touched it in 5 years. There is something about reading a paper copy book that feels more relaxing and more real. I almost feel I get more lost in a print book than reading on a screen. It hurts my eyes, it’s not relaxing at all. I understand using it to stay up to date with news, it’s actually more convenient, but otherwise no. 
      1. Question: It’s now been 20 years since Gates put out this statement. Do you think there will ever be a world where print books completely disappear and everything is technological?
2. Quote: “A person who does not read, or reads little, or reads only trash, is a person with an impediment: he can speak much but he will say little, because his vocabulary is deficient in the means for self-expression” (Llosa 5).
   1. Comment: I highly disagree with him on this one. This is one of the areas where I believe he goes way too overboard and his thoughts take over the reality. In my opinion there are no limits to creative expression and it can be shown in many different ways than through just vocabulary. A few sentences he mentions that a society without literature would resemble a community of deaf-mutes. This is very dehumanizing to me and there are so many instances in the world and in history where this does not apply. Although, I understand where he is coming from about using vocabulary to have a better understanding about the world around you, I just don’t think that is only way.

Question: What are Llosa’s though processes when writing this? Does he draw form history at all? How close minded is he?

1. Quote:  “Technology, the machine age, and mass society have been cited as the reasons why the private should be subordinated to the public. Several artists have flaunted depersonalization in their art as a response to modern society’s reality” (Pozzi 134).
   1. Comment: I love the ending “depersonalization in response to modern society’s reality.” I love art where it feels relatable and has so much meaning yet so little at the same time. If you’ve ever seen winning AP portfolios from artists with a concentration in “depersonalization” you know how real it feels. For example conveying a destructive mental disorder in the form of art. Or presenting the loss of ourselves in technology these days – the harsh reality of it. 
      1. Question: This paragraph is titled “privacy,” where does this come into play in this quote? Does it mean that the depersonalization piece and elementing that into art is the private piece? 

2. Quote: “Intentions become mere ever-changing, ever-updated, flexible instruments for the conduction (not the definition) of the art being made. They are a springboard for a flight or fall one never knows the end of. It is impossible to compare the works of art to the original intentions of the artist” (Pozzi 139). 
   1. Comment: I have taken many art classes in my life, especially in high school. In advanced art we had a specific unit that was all about the intention of the artists in their art. Everyone had different opinions about the true meaning, and they all could be COMPLETELY different from what the artist was truly trying to convey. Maybe we look so much into the deeper meaning of a piece, when in reality there was never a deeper meaning. Or maybe the artist doesn’t even know the meaning themselves. 

Question: In this quote “They are a springboard for a flight or fall one never knows the end of.” In this quote, what is meant by flight or fall?

1. Academic 

My short term academic goal is about how I’ve been thinking about possibly adding a minor into my study. I’ve been talking a lot about this with upperclassmen and hearing from professors that most people highly recommend it. This got me thinking. In my professional career I want to focus on marketing, and I think adding a business administration minor to my communications major will be really helpful in this field. I’m finding it hard to link this goal to any text we have read in the past. Business is not part of the liberal arts, so that is where it’s becoming difficult for me. It doesn’t directly talk about it in the handbook but it floats around the idea of being well-rounded. I want to be able to have multiple opportunities for jobs when I’m in that position and I feel like studying communications and pairing that with a minor in business will do that for me. I could even link this to Dweck’s Growth vs Fixed mindset. “… because once we know that abilities are capable of such growth, it becomes a basic human right for children, all children, to live in places that create growth, to live in places filled with yet.” Recently I’ve had a fixed mindset about adding a minor into my studies because I’ve been saying “I can’t, I will fail accounting.” This is now how I should be looking at it. From now on I want to take Dweck’s mindset into account and tell myself that I’m not good at it YET, but I will be.

2. Personal 

A short term personal goal is to learn how to accept change and roll with it, and not let it affect me as much as it does now.  It’s hard to link this to any of our readings but I drew a relationship between this and a section of the text in the “Critical Thinking: Human Response to Problems and Challenges” on page 3. I know this has to do more with classes and thinking critically in that atmosphere, but I think it can still relate on a personal level “Centering on the thinking process, as well as the on the issues, students research and identify causes of problems, generate and evaluate possible solutions, and decide upon a plan of action.” This can be used in a sense of working out a problem, in my case it’s about learning to grow with change and not resent it. I can use critical thinking here to identify the cause of my problem, coming up with solutions, and deciding on a plan of action on how I will start to fix this problem. 

I finished what I didn’t get done from last time I worked on this. I didn’t get to draw the relationships to the texts because I ran over the time limit with this, and I end up drawing the relationships in the two paragraph assignment anyway.

This is only how far I got on this assignment. The ones that I wrote down are the ones that came to mind the quickest. The long-term goals were harder because I’m still just trying to figure out right now. The field hockey (extracurricular) ones were easy enough because those are goals that I’ve had for a long time, since I knew I was playing in college. Personally, the personal goals are the hardest to think of. I didn’t get anywhere.

I didn’t get to the making connections part of this, but that is something I will add in. I at least wanted to get some goals written down to build off of.

I uploaded four examples of my annotations from last nights homework. The first one relates text to text, the second relates text to self, the third is asking a question, and the last one of more of a challenge.

Madi Robito

LIL 120 – Scheuer : Critical Thinking in the Liberal Arts 

Pre reading:

After reading the title “Critical Thinking and the Liberal Arts,” I have come to a few ideas on what I believe that liberal arts is. Liberal arts prepares people for not just their career, but also applying these skills to life outside of it. Liberal arts is so diverse and the core classes are so important and can be beneficial in any field with communicating, creativity, and critical thinking. The title “Critical Thinking and the Liberal Arts,” tells me this article is going to focus on how the two connect and how important critical thinking is in the liberal arts. 

Section 1 “What are the Liberal Arts?”

This paragraph breaks down the two words Liberal Arts and goes deeper into the meaning of the two words individually. Scheuer goes into depth about how the liberal arts don’t focus on a set vocational education, scientific education, or a specialist education – quoting “It is rather an education based fairly and squarely on the nature of knowledge itself.” I particularly like the way this quote is worded using the words fairly and squarely and how in liberal arts we don’t give knowledge “a box to be contained in,” in how I see it.  Philosophy is huge in the liberal arts dealing with human beings, society, and nature. Wrapping up the summary with the statement that is it so hard to pinpoint a clear definition of the liberal arts no matter which way you define it – it’s flexible and diverse and meant to open students’ minds to this flexibility and openness rather than just implementing facts and information into the brain. 

Section 2 “Why Do We Need the Liberal Arts?”

Traditionally the liberal arts have been dictated to deal with two key elements: critical thinking and citizenship. Just like the topic of the liberal arts being diverse and ever changing – the same goes for citizenship and the ecology of it. How do you connect and get involved with your community? Ie: voting, public/jury service, volunteering etc. Then there is economic citizenship dealing “doing something useful for oneself and for others. Being an active member of your community ie: on the farm, office, home etc. The last type of citizenship focuses on the cultural aspect which includes going to sporting events, church etc. “A liberal education is not about developing professional or entrepreneurial skills, although it may well promote them. Nor is it for everyone; we need pilots, farmers, and hairdressers as well as managers, artists, doctors, and engineers. But we all need to be well-informed, critical citizens. And the liberal arts prepare students for citizenship in all three senses—civic, economic, and cultural.” I like this quote because I feel it summarizes the overall point of this paragraph and helped me better understand the topic. It circles back to the relationship between the liberal arts and citizenship. 

Section 3 “What is Critical Thinking?”

Yet again, as previously stated about critical thinking and liberal arts – it isn’t easy to describe or define. It’s a complex skill that doesn’t have a set list of rules to it, think of it more as a “set of navigation skills” as Scheuer describes it in the text. Especially in the liberal arts, critical thinking allows the individual to become a lifelong learner and engaged citizen. With this skill of critical thinking any career path is possible because of the adaptability and compatibility. Some examples of critical thinking would be making a good and strong argument, thinking outside the box, drawing analogies, engaging with complexity and so many more to name. I feel it’s hard to be able to summarize a paragraph like this in such a short manner because there is so much to unpack and understand. I like this quote from the text “These are precisely the skills that a liberal education cultivates. It heightens our abilities to speak, listen, write, and think, making us better learners, communicators, team members, and citizens.” This describes what the skill of critical thinking will do for you in your career and overall in your life. I believe that this skill is one of the most important ones you will learn in college because it’s something you will carry with you through everything in life. 

Section 4 “The Importance of Critical Inquiry”

This section generally just sums up why critical inquiry is important – in more ways and in more areas of study than one. It talks about the philosophy behind it all and why this skill cannot be given a set of rules because of its open endedness. I like where Schueler says “They are not substitutes for, or shortcuts to, knowledge or understanding. But they form a general roadmap indicating what students can expect to find, and the useful navigational skills they may acquire, if they venture onto the rich intellectual terrain of the liberal arts.” I’ve talked about the general roadmap phrase before and I think it’s a great way to generally speak on critical thinking. I made a note (annotation)  of one sentence that confused me  in the start of this section- “Critical inquiry, like philosophy, begins but doesn’t end with careful attention to language.” What exactly is meant by this? 

Connections: Core Handbook and Scheuer 

There are a lot more connections than I thought there would be after reading this and comparing it to the core handbook. The one I want to focus on is the connection regarding critical thinking and citizenship. This is such a big focus in Scheuer’s article and it also happens to be the last two themes outlined in the core handbook. In junior year you focus on critical thinking and you have to take a class in it. Although, I think we do critical thinking in every class, and there shouldn’t be just one class focusing on it. Senior year is geared towards citizenship – which is talked about a ton in Scheuer’s article. Here are two related quotes: “This theme directs the student’s attention both outward with a civic contribution and inward with reflection on their connection and commitment to the larger community.” – Core Handbook. And now from Scheuer’s article: “The overall goal is to foster vibrant and prosperous communities with broad and deep participation, in public conversations marked by fairness, inclusion, and (where critical thinking comes in) intellectual rigor” – Scheuer.