Propsal

The language and content of children’s books controls the minds of children and influence the way they think and view the world. I have several topics including children's books and the development of language in minority students, and censorship. My paper will focus on how language and content in children's books influence children, and the world.

Cultural Choice (aka really late abstract)

This paper, "Cultural Choice" discusses the effects different cultures have on each other. Different cultures impact each other through different ways. Cultures clash through miliraty occupation, immigration, and sharing cultures peacefully. This paper also discusses the concept of cultural choice, being able to choose one's own cultural practices. Cultural choice is shown as a viable option for all people becuase it enriches peoples's lives and creates a more accepting atmosphere where cultures other than the dominant culture are accepted. This paper uses several examples from around the world including the Incan culture being influenced by the Spanish, the Korean culture being influenced by Japan, and the different cultures that make up the United States's cultural mix.

Public Libraries: Their History and Existence in the Public Sphere

Public Libraries, as we know them, are a very recent invention. So, how has this history impacted the position of the public library in today's society? What is the role of the public library in providing free access to everyone to knowledge? I am writing this paper for two key reasons. As a student in Library Science, I am intrigued by the history of public libraries. Also, I am incited by the attack that has been begun on the public libraries to become another privatized public space.

So, through this paper, I am hoping to find my thoughts on those two topics. I have looked at the works of Fred Lerner, and hope to continue and compliment his work by adding a new dimension to his thoughts. I also hope to reflect on how libraries have entered his computer age, and how they will continue to thrive, if they continue to thrive. I also wish to take a look at the work of Dr. Ann Curry, who has written about the use of the public libraries, and the ways that they can facilitate public discourse. I see literacy as a key to democracy, and libraries as a pathway toward that literacy.

I hope to look not only at the history of public libraries in the United States, but to also look at their development in the developing world. I want to pursue the history of the Carnegie Library, both domestically and internationally, and hope to reason if they are, and how they are continuing to serve their purpose.

Finally, I plan to talk briefly about questions dealing with censorship. Where, as a librarian, do you draw the line between information that benefits the public, and the information that harms. It is a tricky balancing act, and one that has inspired much debate over the years.

Starting Foreign Language Young

Since I was interested in Pratt’s “speech community” that she described as being an essential part of the contact zone, I decided to use language as a basis of my final paper. Since I am an elementary education major, the issue of foreign languages in the elementary schools seemed to jump out at me. Foreign language has been an increasing and prominent element of schooling for students of all ages.

There is an elementary school in Washington D.C. called the J.F. Oyster Bilingual Elementary School. At this school, both the English and Spanish speaking children within the next few years will become bilingual. Parents have camped out in Washington D.C. to reserve a spot for their child in this prestigious school. They claim it to be culturally, economically, and racially diverse. This school has become very popular, influencing many public schools to take part in foreign language immersion programs.

Although, the idea of foreign language being pushed into the elementary schedules is a positive long-range goal, it also is very tough to follow through with. With the amount of time given in the school day and all of the requirements that school districts and teachers have within their curriculum, it is hard for me to see how foreign language can be brought into the public school so forcefully at this point.

Throughout this paper, I will be supporting the importance of foreign language in a child’s education and how some elementary schools go through this of including foreign language. However, I will also be questioning the possibility of it while still being able to further the children’s education with the necessary curriculum already set up.

?

I know that we had talked about putting something on the blog for today, but I don't remember exactly what it was. So, I figured I'd lay out what I have finally decided to do my final project on. Ever since Katie decided that she would be doing children's literature, I decided that there was still a realm of the library that I could use to write my paper on. I have decided that I'm going to base my paper around the public library as a pulic space. I will probably do some research on the history of the public library, which I have a book on, and then talk about some modern issues involved with the use of the public library. What is considered public? What should go on the shelves? And what is the future of this public space? I think that this willl be an interesting topic, and is definitely one that I'm interested in. I have also found some resources that give insight into how some other places around the world use their public libraries. I found an article about Latin American public libraries and plan to use them as a basis for comparison with the public libraries that we use in the United States. So, yes, I changed my topic once again, but this time I think it is where it will stay.

Leavin' unexpectedly early for Turkey Break!

Just lettin' you know that I won't be in class on Monday. Anything extremely important I'll be missing? Sorry if this ends up causing some sort of inconvenience or annoyance. Have a good one, everyone.

when can i get this paper to you?

ATTN: Dr. Mahoney

The past few days have been insnaely hectic. I've gotten about four hours of total sleep and could just not handle going to class today. I was considering coming so i could hand in my paper, but I didn't want to just sleep in class, because that's what would've happened. I have my paper done, but i need a time and place where i can drop it off.

I'm sorry about this, and I'm getting myself back on track.

I hope I didn't miss too much.

A penny's worth of thoughts

ok. so i was working my way through finding sources. i had decided that i wanted to do something with public space, so i started with that as a search topic, and quickly realized that i needed to be much more specific than that. so, i tried looking up some stuff on sauer and the biologicaly distint borders, but the info out there was a little shoddy, so i changed my focus again. i then considered doing research on the internet as a public space, the limits it has received and the ways that it is being used, but once again came up a little dry for hard articles on it. then, i thought about maybe doing advertisement as public space, and how advertisement is used through clothing and billboards. I haven't gotten around to doing a whole lot of research on that one yet, though i kind of like it as an idea. so, if any of you all have any ideas on what you think would be a good topic, or have any resources relating to any of these topics that i could borrow, that would be wonderful. thank you all for your input and i will see you in class.

...

I think I might be a little late for class tomorrow.

Madd Late

The composition, simply titled Democratic Culture, is an essay explaining the forces at play in the current state of a 'democratic' society. It is deeply focused on the role media plays in politics and how it influences the publics vote. There is use of Mary Louise Pratt's assumption's of an egalitarian democratic society, shows how the development to technology aids in the media's influence in politics and the effects of Conglomerate systems influence on the media corporations it supports in relation to political ideologies. The essay also discusses the exposure of political influence in the media, along with propagandized campaigning. Ian Angus' definition of democracy is used to prove that the American system falls short of a true democracy.

This abstract is pretty basic but give me break. I had to write two papers today.

Immigration and "Americanization": Language as a Contact Zone

This work is an attempt to reason through the history behind modern language use and how it affects immigrants to the United States. It begins by looking at a few of the turning points in history that have led to the standardization of English as the language most used for education. It then follows to talk about a few of the other shortcomings of the current language system practiced by the dominant culture. Also, the paper takes a look at how language can be seen as a contact zone, or a meeting place of cultures. Finally, it takes a look at a few possibilities for change and improvement of the dominant culture, to more fully accept new cultures into its own.

A related essay can be found here.

Untitled as of yet

America is without doubt one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. In a sense, we are the United Nations. People feel safe coming to the US; we promise freedom, opportunity, and the American dream. However, it seems that many different issues arise out of the diversity that exists in this country. Issues such as language, racism, patriotism, ethnocentrism (of so-called “white America”), and cultural differences all lead to many minorities crying “foul!” Is America really the land of promise? Or is it just a big, fat lie?

This paper is my attempt to sort through the realities and the fallacies of the some of these issues, examining different works which attempt to present a realm of victimization. Are immigrants victimized in American society? Or is it all just a big scheme to attain sympathy and the upper hand in a somewhat challenging corporate society?