Blog for final: Part 1

"Notes for the final" is actually pretty vague, (like 'guess what it is we are thinking' vague), so hopefully this is what it is supposed to be. Also, why call it a "salon"? That is a really random word (like provocative). When I think of salons, I think of going to get my hair done. I looked up the word, but I still don't really see the connection, unless the Maiser building is really a house in disguise and we are secretly living in the 17th or 18th century. There has got to be a better word somewhere, like "graded discussion" or "workshop" or something else.

Unit 1: Folk Knowledge
Self-directed learning
For this unit I did two weekly-type blogs and two project-type blogs. I researched the burial and mummification practices of a group of people in Ancient America, mostly because I wanted to do something somewhat unique. I also just became more aware of the way that we teach things to each other, since we talked about it in class, and then I would see it in the world around me. It was weird to think that there are a lot of things I've learned that I don't at all remember learning.

*Pre-Salon Prep Notes*

Unit 1- Folk Knowledge

Self-directed Learning

• I was very interested in the different forms in which folk knowledge is passed along from generation to generation. To guide my research and keep it focused I studied things that were personally interesting to me which I could relate to in various ways. This not only helped my understanding of various interests, but also pushed to me study more and find more information. Like Brenda mentioned, it is fascinating to read my first posts and realize how much it has changed and just the way I go about presenting information has changed. My knowledge of blogging and the topic of “knowledge” itself has branched out in many directions.

Others Blogging

• I found it very fascinating to read other posts and see how people tied the knowledge they researched into their own lives. Everything from dance to stick shift driving to tattoos. Seeing how other perceived folk knowledge helped me to understand it better myself. 

Collaborative Learning

• For these first couple blog posts it was really easy to see that there was a struggle as to what we should say in our comments and how to really keep a riveting discussion going, but even in it’s primitive stages we did help each other learn and understand better the things we were studying

Projects/ Activities

• The project for this unit was very enjoyable. I had the opportunity to teach someone how to play tennis and pass on that knowledge in the same way I received. This gave me more insight into folk knowledge than a number of blog posts combined would have. On top of that I spent some time with a Spanish professor learning the ways of cooking an authentic spanish tortilla which was as much and tasty as it was educational. We had a final group interview to end this unit off and this was the first time I had experienced this type of test. It yielded good opportunities and reasons to followup on each others blogs.

Pre-Salon Notes

Pre-Salon Notes

Self directed Learning: Brushing Your Teeth; This was my first blog ever and it was a real eye-opener for me. This post revealed to me how much is not learned formally. I have noticed a definite improvement of my blogging over the semester. My favorite is brushing your teeth. Blogging has taught me how to be informal yet educational at the same time.

Others' Blogging: Alyssa's post on tattooing was very interesting. She has a lot guts to do that. This post showed me how broad folk knowledge is. I never considered tattooing folk knowledge. There has been such a variety subjects that have been blogged. I have learned a ton.

Collaborative Learning: Preparing for the interviews with my group was very insightful. Planning and preparing for the interview was a fun yet kind of iffy experience. I didn't know my group very well so we had to go by feel how we interacted. The other projects also helped the group come together.

Projects/Activities: Learning and teaching folk knowledge gave me the insight on how much of it I pass on to other people like my siblings. The King Benjamin's speech showed how difficult it is to pull of such a large group effort. The Rosetta project was my favorite because of the of the tranlating and how my group bonded because of the difficulty of it.

Salon Notes: Preliminary Blog

	Unit 1: Folk Knowledge	Unit 2: Oral Knowledge	Unit 3: Written Knowledge	Unit 4: Print Knowledge
Self-directed learning	Midwifery--maybe one of the first times I just picked a topic from the list of options on the seed post. Midwifery could never move from the realm of folk knowledge to any other realm because it is so dependent upon hands-on experience. You can't learn to deliver a baby effectively from a book. Researching for this blog helped me understand folk knowledge better because I realized that even today professionals field rely almost entirely upon shared folk knowledge (again, no doctor gets his expertise from reading a bunch of manuals or going to a bunch of speakers).	My post on The Origin of Language was almost entirely based on the book referenced by Dr. Petersen in her seed post on oral knowledge. Just as teaching something helps you understand it, writing a blog about a topic really does too. Trying to understand Mark Turner's theory on the origin of language gave me better understanding about how we bring story and parable to create grammar--the system of language.	Researching for my post on the letter "C" and how it came to be a part of our alphabet was really interesting and it helped me understand the process of creating a written alphabet from a spoken language which facilitated my learning through this unit.	Researching for The Printing Press and Reading really helped me recognize that the emergence of the printing press brought with it huge changes, changes which you would not expect. The printing press had a huge influence on our culture today and writing this post really helped me see that.
Others' blogging	Kody's post on Prayer really helped me understand folk knowledge. Because a lot of our posts before that were about hygiene (Shuan's post on Showering was one I patterned a lot of my blogs off of, even my midwifery blog was semi-health related) or dating, I think my understanding of folk knowledge was limited. This post helped me look beyond those two categories and really grasp all the things that folk knowledge encompassed	Kody's post "Written vs Oral-the Hittites" was a favorite in this unit. He was so explicit in laying out the function and systems of language in the Hittite culture. Plus, it helped me recognize the importance of precision in preserving a language. He also talked about how emotion is best communicated through oral knowledge than by any other means of communicating.	Ted's post on Greek language was really memorable, and it really highlighted the strengths of written knowledge. Dr. Burton's post on Written knowledge  was really helpful in my learning process because it defined and discussed writing-dependent institutions.	Diane's post on the history of Dictionaries was really interesting. The printing press played a really big role in the emergence of dictionaries because it kind of created the need for them. Very interesting, definitely facilitated my learning and taught me a lot not only about the history of dictionaries but really the reason we have them at all.
Collaborative learning	Teaching my room mate to do French Manicures facilitated my understanding of folk knowledge in a new way: sharing folk knowledge, being that primary source for a skill for someone else, is really a wonderful thing. Folk knowledge has a special value because of the inter-personal aspect it carries that other forms of knowledge simply do not include.	We talked in class about how it's harder to meet with a professor if you email him rather than go directly to him or call him on the phone. This discussion helped me really see the role oral knowledge still plays in my life, and how it is still very important. Oral knowledge was "realler" to me after that lecture. King Benjamin's speech was also great in helping me understand the power that oral knowledge has.	Going to Special Collections in the Library was definitely a highlight in this unit because the lady there really emphasized the role that writing played in a lot of cultures. The tiny tablet she showed us that had a business record on in in cuneiform was so cool, and it really helped me understand that once writing came on the scene a lot of other institutions emerged or became more efficient.	Reading Walter Ong's "Print, Space, and Closure" really helped me see the way print has evolved and the importance of it taking on some of the roles of written knowledge. I don't know why we didn't talk more about "Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation" but that also gave me a historical context, it was easier for me to see the importance of a more-accessible Bible through the printing press in the Protestant reformation
Projects / Activities	The project/ activity for this blog was teaching and learning folk knowledge. I learned about how to make a tattoo. Maybe this is not the most valuable skill I could obtain, learning about the history and art of tattooing helped me understand folk knowledge in a new way because tattooing is almost entirely reliant upon folk knowledge-- in fact, in many situations it is passed down among family members.	For this blog we had a videoed discussion--we had a dress rehearsal and then two days later we tried again. This exercise helped me as I prepared understand the difference between oral knowledge systems and written knowledge systems. For example, you use a lot more self-referencing pronouns when speaking than you would in writing. It is a lot more informal.	The Rosetta Stone project. I have a lot more sympathy for scribes because of that project. Not only was it difficult to copy a text but to translate was really difficult, too. After Kody's post on Scribes, I had this attitude that scribes received more than they deserved. The Rosetta Stone project set me right!	Because the written paper was probably the most formal proof-of-intellectual-growth we have had to provide this semester, I felt like this project really showed that each medium of knowledge transmission we have studied this semester is slightly more formal than the last. This project gave me an added appreciation for typography and the blackletter font.

Done!

I know that we still have two more blog posts and a final for this class, but I just wanted to celebrate with everyone the fact that we are done with all of our regular assignments, especially the essay. I dislike doing essays at the time I am doing them, but always afterwards it makes me feel like I have learned and accomplished something. I am glad I did it, and I am glad it is over, especially since it was pretty hectic in the end to get everything in.

Thesis! Edit: Now includes full paper

EDIT: Open page break for full paper

After lots of searching around and trying to figure out 1) what I was interested in about the far east and 2) what actually had enough information for me to knock out 4 pages, I've come to this conclusion:

Although the printing press is largely thought of as a Western convention, it was Eastern Asia that pioneered the first breakthroughs and early triumphs in print because of a large and diverse system of religions that was focused on preserving and making accessible and standard copies of important literary and artistic works.

I think this is what thrilled me the most about the non-european subject matter - granted, the Gutenberg Bible was one of the first books printed through a printing press in the West - is that all of the religions in Asia (Buddhism, Confucians, and Taoists) all provided a great deal of backing behind the printing movement. Did I state that clearly and concisely in a way that Dr. Burton's helper guide makes sense with? Help is always welcome!

First Response to the Essay

The first thing I noticed about this essay assignment was that in very many ways it is similar to the blog posts we've been doing every week all semester. For one thing, the length is similar. The blogs of my group members vary a bit on word count (Alyssa's tend to be the longest, for example), but I have been shooting for around 800 words per post, which fits securely into the 750-1000 word guideline for this essay. The other thing is that the essay has to have at least two sources. They are probably supposed to be a little more 'scholarly' than the one's I've been using on blogs, but I usually have at least four sources per blog post, so maybe that makes up a little for lack of 'scholarly-ness."

There are also differences, of course, or this wouldn't be a very good unit final. Essays are generally more formal than blog posts (although my rough draft doesn't show it. Hooray for writing last-minute essays at 2:00 in the morning). They are also more heavily edited (supposedly). I considered putting as a difference that the essay is supposed to be an argument, and the blogs are not, but I've had too many advertising units in English classes to believe that there is anything that isn't some sort of argument.