MattNobleComm111

Writing Tips

2008-03-05T18:58:00.000-08:00

1. Escape broad sentences that are unnecessary. Don't bother writing a sentence just to fill space if it isn't going to hold relevance or substance.

2. Don't put more than three numbers (three spelled out) in a sentence. If a reader has to juggle more than two numbers even, he or she will have to reread it more than once to avoid confusion.

3. Redundancy is a major flaw in young writing today. Kids feel as though they need to reach the quota for their thousand word essay so they will reword the same sentences over and over again...don't do that. Saying the same thing twice is pointless and takes away from your credibility as a writer.

4. Avoid using quotes just for the sake of using quotes. If a person has something significant to the story use it to back up the point you are trying to make. Throwing in arbitrary quotes can hurt your piece and confuse your points.

5. Stay on track! Don't go off on tangents within your own story. Every piece has a point to it and it's your job to convey your ideas in a clear, concise manner

My Interview

2008-02-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

My plan is to interview Max Bemis, lead singer and front man for the uprising band "Say Anything." I want the interview to take place at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles because it has great relevance to the growth of the band. I would like Max to talk about his mental illness's when he was on tour and how that affected their most recent tour.

The three questions I am "rehearsing in my head are:"

1.) If you don't mind me asking, how does your condition affect your songwriting/playing.

2.) Does your disorder conflict with your current rise in popularity? Are you finding it easier to tackle the social anxiety?

3.) Articles from various music magazines such as A.P. and Spin are calling you the Bob Dylan of our time, do agree with this claim? Why do you think this is the general consensus. What makes your lyrics/music different from what's in stores now.

Waking Life

2008-02-05T05:18:00.000-08:00

Conversation is what separates human beings from animals. Although animals have their own means of communication, through signals, odors and sounds, none are capable of conversing. The evolution of man has allowed a more sophisticated form of dialog to come about. When we say certain words or phrases, the associations people make are becoming more and more similar. With the passing of time we have come to articulate feelings with words and expression. This is not to say however that everyone interprets theses words the same. Emotions such as love, anger, hate, frustration all have different meanings to us. We associate memories with words and phrases. One persons experience with "love" could leave them hating the word after a lover they lost. Another married couple could embrace the word. A third party might have week long relationships and has never felt the emotion. If we put these three people in a room we would discover that although we all believe we understand what a word is, people do in fact associate their past with specific words.

Diane Arbus

2008-01-30T19:00:00.001-08:00

The pieces of work that we've examined so far have shown me that not only is Diane Arbus a terrific photographer, but also an artist with excellent judgment. In high school, I took a photography class and found that not only was it difficult to physically snap a great shot, but it is equally challenging to choose which photograph captures a moment or expression best. This understanding brings me closer to Diane Arbus's thought process when not only reviewing her work, but also in reading her quotations. Upon reviewing the quotations, the one that I found most interesting was the one in which she states that a picture she takes is always better or worse than she thought it would be. Some may say this discredits Arbus's work in making her profession seem much more like a guessing game. I however believe that journalistic and artistic photography differ in the sense that artistic photography is created, where as journalistic is found. Diane Arbus's job is not to set up something aesthetically pleasing for critics to judge. Instead she is paid to capsulize a moment, event or expression of a person place or thing. Many might challenge this with an argument that claims her profession is merely luck. I would contest that statement with, "her portfolio of photographs suggests she is in fact the luckiest woman on the planet."