Elizabeth Mouse

The chapter I chose to read was Chapter 2: “Her Point Is”, about summary. I chose to read this chapter because as I was skimming through the book, I saw the title and realized that I didn’t have a super strong stance on summary. This chapter is all about putting together the best summarization you could possibly make. Topics like avoiding listing and how to incorporate your own ideas without over shadowing those of the other authors. This was a very helpful chapter and I feel that I will be able to weave these ideas into my own works, and that these techniques can help me be a better writer.

While many people believe that arts and sciences should be integrated, is that necessarily true? Yo Yo Ma states, in his essay “Necessary Edges”, that “Empathy comes when you understand something deeply through arts and literature and can thus make unexpected connections”. This is a large claim to make. Empathy is a basic human emotion and can be felt by almost everyone on the planet, regardless if they have been exposed to meaningful art or literature. Claiming that it can only come from certain things undermines the feelings of everyone who hasn’t experienced that art or literature. What right does Ma have to claim that only those who have seen art and literature can feel deep and meaningful empathy? Ma also states in his essay that “Only one [Neural] pathway can be activated at a time, so when one is on, the other is off”. This directly contradicts his point and proves that arts and STEM cannot be taught at the same time. While they may be integrated and layered, one cannot be learning STEM and art at the same time. It is like juggling while riding a unicycle- doable but very hard to achieve successfully.

My first draft was very similar compared to the ideas in “Shitty First Drafts”, as much as I hate to say it. I am a person that won’t take up new hobbies because I can’t stand not being good at something, which makes writing the first few sentences and ideas very hard. I don’t want to create something if it isn’t going to be a quality piece. This article really opened my eyes to how I should be writing compared to how I write now. No one has to see this first draft, it is truly for my eyes and improvement only. My high school english teachers advice to me when I graduated was “Give yourself time to write” which I think applies very well to this topic. If I give myself the time to write a piece of shit and edit it, then I can produce something that is worthwhile of someone else’s time. I definitely struggled with writing this paper, similar to how Lamott struggled every month with her food reviews. I sat, I tried, I then panicked and contemplated dropping out of college. Finally I let myself type a few sentences, which then gives way to more, which then ends in a first draft. I feel that I can apply the techniques of just spilling everything out on paper in my next first draft, and I think that will help my writing tremendously. I really liked this essay, and I feel that it resonated with me. Her sense of humor brought out the bullet points she was bringing up and highlighted what she wanted to be seen. This was very helpful and hopefully I will be using a shitty first draft technique in the future to improve my writing.

I have always been very uncomfortable with the idea of peer review and letting my work out for others to see. I was always the person that felt that a first draft was for myself only, and it should only be seen by me. It is hard for me to give other people the ability to see and critique my work, but it is helpful and gives insight on how I can improve my writing and get better as a creator.

The TED talk I watched was the one about painting favelas in Rio to create art in a place of poverty. I found this to be a very interesting talk, and it especially peaked my interest when they started to talk about helping the communities through this art. It really is amazing the impact that just some color had on this poverty stricken place. The art was installed, and then all of a sudden this is a beautiful community and newspapers are writing about it. This really reminds me of the butterfly effect, how one small action can multiply and change the world. A setback to this art is the funding and the large scale that it is on. Many people wouldn’t want to invest in this project because the results aren’t clearly seen and the project isn’t laid out in exact measurements. But the lack of preparation is what makes this so special and unique. Like Koolhause said, this project has room to grow from the ground up, organically, like the favelas that it is based on. With planning and perfection, the organic and natural element would be lost. Knowing the amount of paint or how many houses involved takes away from the experience the neighborhood gets from it. This isn’t just artists choosing a spot to put their next piece of art, this is an entire community participating in the betterment of their homes.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coalescing

After rereading Southan’s essay again, I am left with the same feeling of general uneasiness as I was the first time. After thinking deeply about many of the ideas mentioned, this project feels like a cult to me. These people are trying to make each and everyone of their members into a uniform perfect citizen, giving away their life to charity. In a sense, this is very selfless and kind, but also very creepy . I found that I did understand the text better, and repetition does help the level of retention and the small pieces start to come together in my mind.

1.  “[Art] demands resources that, in the right hands, could have saved lives”(Southan, 3). I commented on this saying is art not also valuable in saving lives? While maybe not everyone can publish a book with extreme social repercussions, or make a movie that changes the world, how is anyone supposed to make any significant difference with art if they can’t have any experience making it? I feel that without art, much of life would be lived in a lethargic and pointless state. Many people refer to the craft or career that they choose as an art, so then is art not anything that someone puts passion into? This is where I find holes in the logic of EA’s.
2. With the analogy to the analogy to the shallow pond, I feel that there are many more factors involved than just those mentioned in the essay. In that situation, the problem is easily viewed and easily fixed, where poverty and lack of resources can be seen as out of sight, out of mind. Problems like poverty are also much more complex than a child drowning in a pond. For the child, you simply remove them from the harmful situation and stop them from drowning. Poverty has been a problem for many years and will continue to be a problem in the years to come.