Olivia Cigna

"Happy Mind, Happy Life."

Month: September 2020

Reflection Blog #2

September 24, 2020 /
When thinking about digital editions… 

Since my last reflection blog, I was able to write both a close reading annotation, and a secondary annotation, and I feel a lot more confident in my abilities to judge these types of writing. After doing both of these assignments, I have been able to determine (for myself) what parts of a text stand out to me and make me want to talk more about. I love to annotate based on the grammatical or structural choices an author makes within their piece. I think it is super interesting to take one of those choices and expand it further to determine its relevance in the text as a whole. In my close reading annotation, I touched on the use of an em dash, and in my secondary annotation, I looked at the use of an oxymoron. Both of these details allowed me to highlight the author’s purpose, but also the content of their text. I think this is what annotations should be about. And, I find these types of annotations to be more helpful to me, as a reader, because I am able to see a physical piece of the text discussed in a more metaphorical meaning. As for critical introductions, I haven’t been able to explore many of those or write one myself yet, other than the one I reviewed a few weeks ago. Additionally, I liked how in my secondary annotation, I was able to draw on another credible and relevant source to enhance and support my thinking. This was very beneficial to me, as the critical reader and commenter, to digest the text. 

When reflecting on the course and ePortfolio…

I do not have any struggles or difficulties with ePortfolio as of right now. I am sure that as I start to develop my digital edition on this platform, questions will most likely arise. I also read Professor Tuttle’s feedback on my entry a few weeks ago, and I am now comfortable/confident in my set up of these reflection blogs. I am curious to see if any of my other courses this semester will bring in elements of ePortfolio (maybe even ENG 200 like you said, Prof. Tuttle).

 

Reflection Blog #1

September 10, 2020 /
When thinking about digital editions…

After reviewing a sample digital edition this week, I was able to recognize what it is that editors choose to annotate on their sites. It seems that editors choose a specific word, phrase, theme, and/or grammatical choice to focus on and dive deeper into. This choice might come from what catches their eye as they analyze the work they are drawing from. Additionally, it seems that editors choose not to annotate pieces of the text that are very plain and self-explanatory. The annotations that are most helpful are those that can cite actual textual evidence from either the work they are discussing, or outside sources that can back up their claims. Throughout my work with this one digital edition this week, the annotations that were able to point to specific parts of the text to strengthen the claims were the most powerful and believable. The purpose of a critical introduction, in my opinion, is to hear the editor’s opinion of what the text reveals to them. The process of reading the introduction (to hear the editor’s voice about the text), and then reading the primary source itself, is very interesting. You can almost read the primary source with the lens of the editor in mind. It allows me to form my own opinions about the primary source, but also have another voice in my head as well. While the editor of the digital edition I viewed did not explicitly bring in many secondary sources through his/her annotations, I did notice other sources referenced throughout the site. For example, there were links to a TED Talk from the author of the primary source, an interview with the author, and a recipe from one of the meals discussed within the primary source poem. I did not feel that these sources helped with the editor’s argument, because they were just placed on the site for viewers to look at, but I could see the potential they would have for discussion, if the editor brought them into his/her annotations or introduction more. Looking at this edition, I felt that the sources that lend credibility to the edition itself were the examples taken from the poem, the TED Talk, and the interview with the author of the primary source. All three of these examples allow viewers to learn more about the subject of this digital edition. The recipe included at the end of the site was not as helpful (and somewhat detracted from the site) because it did not add anything to my knowledge of the topic. However, I do feel it was a nice, creative touch.

When reflecting on the course and ePortfolio…

I feel that my skills are pretty sufficient when it comes to WordPress and ePortfolio. The only thing I seem to be struggling with is how to place a post under a page, without adding it to the menu of the site. As you can see for this post, it is included on the menu of my site as “Reflection Blog #1,” but I’m wondering how I can have it exist as a post, but not be placed on the menu (and instead, be placed under the “Reflection Blog” tab). I have used this platform for many other courses, both my English and Education courses; but, I could also see myself presenting this site to a future employer (since it encompasses so much of my work during these past few years). In terms of the course, we haven’t fully been able to dive into these big, overarching topics just yet. But, I do feel that I have already learned that the topic of “mental illness” is presented in many forms, both through behavior and terminology. There are several behaviors (some that I would never consider to be classified in this way) that would condemn someone as “mentally ill” during this time period. Additionally, there are many words and phrases that can define mental illness. 

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