Cracking Open the Shell

The following are some thoughts that came to mind during our discussion of modernism in my digital civilization class this morning:

1. I struggle with modernism because with experimentation of new ideas and breaking away from what is rational, there is a disruption of the past (sometimes more logical) ways to approach life.  
2. Modernism takes people our of there comfort zone even when it might be a good thing.  I feel that my digital civilization class is a good example of this.  Like I said in my last post, there is a sense of uneasiness with change and I have definitely felt that.  However, I also feel that with change comes growth.  I am being stretched in ways that I wouldn't have imagined (especially with respect to digital technology).  Therefore, even though uncomfortable, change can be good if accepted with an open mind.
3. Although I still have much to learn, I feel like I understand the general themes of modernism much better than many other historical concepts previously discussed in this class.  I feel that it has a lot to do with the structural manner in which the information was initially presented.  I really enjoyed reading through the power point in Dr. Burton's post on modernism.  There was structure, organization, a logical presentation of facts and ideas.  These Renaissance-like way to introduce the topic of modernism (for me at least) helped increase my understanding of key concepts and facilitated in drawing conclusions. 

Modernism in a nutshell

One aspect of modernism is that it is “marked by experimentation”, particularly manipulation of form, and by the realization that “knowledge is not absolute”.   Modernism was built on a sense of lost community and civilization.  People weren’t satisfied with the way things were but became more and more interested in how things could become.  Basically, the twentieth century was a "time of change". 

One of the movements of modernism was that of literature/ poetry.  A key characteristic of modernist literature was the use of “free verse”.  Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.  This was a huge change. 

One of the great modernist poets was William Butler Yeats.  Yeats was a master of using symbols to paint detailed images in the readers mind as he/she read his work.   As he matured as a poet, Yeats began to rejecting the more conventional poetic diction and began using a more austere language and more direct approach to portraying his themes and ideas.   The impact of living during the time period of modernism is evident in the change in his style. 

In his poem “The Second Coming”, Yeats’ use of rich and vivid symbols helps to paint clear, distinct images in the readers’ mind. The first image with which we are presented in the poem is an image of disaster; a falcon cannot hear the call of safety, and begins to spiral wider and wider, more out of control.  This image of disaster can be compared to a society or civilization that is in disorder and heading towards chaos.  When this happens, people naturally begin to look for solutions and “change”.  Yeats is living in anticipation of a great change in the poem, which he encapsulated in the Christian concept of "the second coming". 

The lion with the head of a man is a pretty weird image in his poem.  As this weird creature comes closer and closer to us, naturally we want to turn it away.  Often times, we react similarly to change.  As old ideas die and new ideas are born a sense of uneasiness sets in causing man to spiral again in yet another "widening gyre". 

Throughout “The Second Coming”, Yeats’ uses symbols to create a feeling of disaster, turning to dread at the thought of facing a change, even when such change could be an improvement.  This is modernism in a nutshell. 

Digital Literacy meets Missionary Work

After a recent discussion in my digital civilization class about how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its use of digital media, I wanted to post a few of the thoughts that I had related to our discussion.

1. It takes time to become proficient in online chat just like a new language.  This also applies to becoming proficient in the use of digital literacy tools.  
2. Last Thursday, was my favorite digital civilization class period of the semester.  I had no idea that there was so many different LDS church sites and ways to spread the gospel digitally.
3. It's probably pretty obvious that the digital world is new to me and I am far from being proficient but seeing how it applies to something that I am passionate about has really changed my views towards digital media.
4. I no longer super hesitant about potentially working in Provo, UT post graduation.  I used to be hesitant because I wanted to live in a place where all members could participate and feel a part missionary work in the area.  Having seen many of the digital tools/ resources for missionary work that are available, I feel a lot better about living in Provo after I graduate. 

Sound Notes

Hello everyone.  Last week, after Rhett, Andrew and I held our mini book club, I had a great idea.  Instead of boring everyone with a long post of what I learned, I wanted to post a sound note to my blog for everyone to listen to.  Simple, right???  I don't think so.  Hopefully someone will be able to help me out but I couldn't figure out a way to create a link to hear my sound clip directly to my blog so I posted it another way.

The following is a list of the steps I took in order to post my sound clip (commentary about The Count of Monte Cristo) to my blog:

1. Create a sound note.  
2. Try to upload sound clip straight to blogger (Failed)
3. Create a movie using Windows Movie Maker (Upload the sound clip and a picture/ slide show/ or actual movie)
4. Once the movie has been created, upload the movie to YouTube.
5. Embed the recently uploaded YouTube video into your blog.  

Even though it was a more complicated process than I was hoping, I feel like I became more digitally literate because of this experience.  I learned how to use Windows Movie Maker and how to upload a video to YouTube.  Pretty cool stuff.  More information on these great tools to come.  

The Count of Monte Cristo

Now that it's been a week since Rhett, Andrew and I started our book club, I wanted to tell you how it went.  After discussing the books on each of our lists (and casting lots), we came to the consensus that we would read a classic romantic novel written by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo.

To be honest, I was a little uneasy at first because I've never really been one who enjoys reading books and The Count of Monte Cristo is very long.  I always assumed that I could maximize my utility by playing sports and being active rather than delving into a "good" book.  It was time to put reading to the test and see how much utility I could actually get from reading.

After we decided what book we would read, it was time to get reading.  In order to get a general overview,  I went to sparknotes.com and then began reading the abridged version.  I was a bit overwhelmed by the 396 pages but I didn't want to let my group down because I knew that they were depending on me to be able to talk about what I learned from this experience.  The following are a few things that I learned from reading The Count of Monte Cristo:

Book List

In preparation for a mini book club project that I will be participating in for my digital civilization class, I have created the following list of books that I would be interested in reading:

 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist who escapes from a workhouse and travels to London where he meets the leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets.  This book will help to understand more about the hardships that children went through during the Industrial Revolution. 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period.  I want to read it because I've heard it's really good and it's set in London and Paris before and after the French Revolution. 


Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Great Expectations is the story of the orphan Pip, writing about his life (and attempting to become a gentleman along the way). The novel can also be considered semi-autobiographical of Dickens, like much of his work, drawing on his experiences of life and people.  I think it would be interesting to learn more about what it must have been like for children to grow up during the Industrial Revolution

Technology can be good

I just found an article about Jessica Holcomb and how she makes enough money to support her family by working part-time (10-13 hours a week) from home.  How does she do it?  Automatic Profit System.
She made a simple website and created an on-line business that became an instant cash cow.  

I am happy for Jessica.  I'm glad that she found a way for her to be happy and restore financial security to her family.  I just wanted to share an example of how the Internet strengthened a family since my last post was primarily on how it tears families apart.  

I also found an interesting article on the Effects of technology on society.

Technology....what does it do to your family?

What is the first thing you do in the morning?  As a society, we are becoming more and more dependent on technology every day.  Think about it.  Most of us wake up to the alarms on our cell-phones and immediately check to see if we received any texts, e-mails, or missed phone calls while we were sleeping. 

Whatever happened to eating breakfast together as a family?  Now, instead of eating breakfast, parents and kids rush to the computer first thing in the morning.  As technological innovation continues to increase, spending time together as a family has taken a back seat.  The effects that technology has on families today are similar to those caused by the industrial revolution. 

Self-interest...what's wrong with it?

This weekend, after hanging out with Rhett, I read an article about the backlash that LeBron James is receiving for signing with the Miami Heat.  To my surprise, the thoughts that came to mind after reading the article weren't about basketball or even sports.  I began recalling a recent topic discussed in my history of civilization class at school.  What does LeBron James and his decision to go to the Miami Heat have to do with ancient history?

The Printing Press = Accessibility

As I have contemplated how to make my blog more interesting and more contributory to my digital civilization class, one word came to mind......accessibility.  During class and as I go about my day to day life, I look for real-life connections to the historical topic we are studying in class like we've been instructed to do.  The problem is that I record my notes/ ideas/ connections on my iPod touch instead of my blog.   But why?  The reason is because of accessibility.  When I record my thoughts on my iPod, they are more personal and the conclusions that I come to are always right.  However, when I post on my blog, my ideas are no longer personal but accessible by anyone.

As I've studied and researched about the evolution of the printing press, it was interesting to discover that I'm not alone in my fear of my thoughts/ ideas being made more accessible.  In fact, Gutenberg himself wanted to keep his invention of the printing press a secret.  Why?  I think it might have had something to do with accessibility