Semiotics, much like a gnat in my eye, has become annoyance that will unfortunately never leave my life. Due to authors like Jack Solomon and James Gibson, my enjoyments of simple life pleasures have now become a grueling process of critical thinking and over analysis. Whenever I return home to my hometown in Knoxville Tennessee I will always have that annoying itch, to over evaluate the people in south to discover if I think they are “good country folk” or “white trash.” To my dismay, my desire to excel academically has come at the cost of my childhood innocence. What once were smiles and kind words towards Prius drivers and eco friendly hipsters have now become suspicious and judgmental eyes directed at their intentions towards consumer elitism. I can no longer think about buying an I-phone, Macbook, or flat-screened television without evaluating my own underlying intentions about wanting to be elite and on the frontier of American technology. Although semiotics has become the irritating mosquito bite that I cannot scratch, I believe that it will become an integral part to my academic writing. Semiotics has given me the ability to dig deeper into issues than what is immediately perceived. The authors in Signs Abound have transferred their ability to strip away peoples initial uncomplicated views towards society, to myself. So thank you Semiotics for turning me from a bright wide-eyed college student to a contemptuous, cynical super villain chomping at the bit eagerly to reveal what American idealists are really thinking.
Upon revising my own writing in these blog posts I have learned to become a more concise and balanced writer. I confidently wrote my first blog post thinking that because I had a lot of striking detail that I understood the concept of posting blogs. Later after I revised my work I discovered that I failed to lead the writer towards a key point of my writing until deep into the post. I learned that having a guiding question was very important when it came to creating a post that was 250 words or less. By creating a key opening sentence that focused on a sole issue such race, class, or gender, I found that my posts were easier to follow. Creating a key opening sentence kept my posts short and to the point while keeping my reader interested in pivotal details that supported answering guiding question. Staying focused on a guiding question enabled me to create a key clincher sentence that tied in my main point and key details. This made my posts more cohesive and created a short interesting blogs minus unnecessary detail.
I believe that my third post was my strongest post. Going back to my hometown of Knoxville, TN after being away for so long put me out of my element and gave me the ability to make new observations about southern culture. Also, it gave me the unique perspective to re-observe a culture that I was once heavily immersed in and let me give an outside perspective on what someone might think about typical southerner. I enjoyed posting about southern culture because there was a heavy amount of striking details having to do with a culture trying to modernize themselves for the sake of monetary gain. Having the ability to discuss southern culture while providing strong examples and links created a way for me to transport the reader to Gatlinburg. The research and observations were so strong that it made note taking almost unnecessary. A guiding question about a clash in culture was created through simply viewing this Vegas of the south. Through the description bright lit pictures, Zorbs, and upside down mansions, I was able to paint a vivid picture of a once simple cultures attempt at become elite and on the verge of the technological frontier.
1. Puritans, Freedom, and Foul Morals
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