Bestiary

One of the animals that I found interesting when reading the bestiary was the bonnacon. When looking at the picture of the bonnacon, it looks like a realistic animal. After reading the description of it, you know this not to be true. The Bonnacon is an animal that runs away when being attacked and it's only defense is it's stool which can be projected up to two acres. I wonder if people had an easier time believing these animals existed by some of the more realistic pictures?

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Bestiary

In my opinion, the Bestiary was basically the most humorous article that we have read thus far in the course. I have to agree with Jennifer in regards to her statement that it was interesting to see the factual and ridicules statements made in the summaries about the animals. I feel that it wasn’t so much that the people who believed these statements were less knowledgeable because they only believed the higher up “God” like figures that wrote the statements. What else could they go by…? If you’ve never seen something you would most likely believe the highly educated and upper class church people who wrote the statements since these people were most important back in the day. However I guess the writer’s of the Bestiary took into consideration things they heard in the past, other people’s opinions and stories along with their own interpretations to what they felt was the best illustrations and characteristics of the animals. By interpreting the factual and false assumptions made by the writers of the Bestiary, people know our days can question more what has changed from the past to the present, and maybe even debate on how meaning will be perceived in the future.

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When I was reading the Bestiary I found it rather interesting. Although some of the things that were said were what we look at today as the truth, there were many factors on the other hand that were absolutely ridiculous.
The one statement that I looked at when doing my essay on ‘bears’ as rather humorous was that “the bear cub is born as a shapeless and eyeless lump of flesh, which the mother bear shapes into its proper form by licking it.” Looking at this fact today we might wonder why the people of the early days would of even considered that being of the truth.
** Going back to what Michael said in class the only reason why I can think up why people believed these comments were that a lot of the time it was only the people of the church or of high social status that were capable of reading. By having this god like appeal to them the rest of the towns people were probably more then likely looked up to them and had 100% belief in everything that they told. I don’t believe that people of the early days were not intelligent they were in fact just more capable of imagination, something that is quite difficult for us to do today.

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Jabberwocky/Tutorial Game

I just wanted to kind of add on to what both Tawny and Natalie discussed in their postings about Jabberwocky and the games we played in tutorial last week. I was thinking about the game that we played where everyone had to make a definition for a word that they were not familiar with and how this sort of relates to the discussions we had earlier in the course about relativism. I thought it was interesting how everyone had such different definitions and how when given a word without knowing the meaning, the word meant different things to everyone. This relates to relativism because it agrees with the idea that at least in some situations ideas or associations are unique to the individual. Of course, the problem with everyone having different definitions for the same word is that without an agreed upon definition there would be no way to communicate using that particular word, making it nonsensical like many of the words in Jabberwocky.

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Jabberwocky*

When I first read the poem Jabberwocky, it just blew my mind. When we played the game as well as discuss it, I got a much better understanding. Jabberwocky was interesting to read. Like what tawny said, sense and nonsense work together hand in hand. If you read something that is nonsense, then you will not understand it. However if there is some sense with that nonsense you can find some understanding to it. In the poem, it was easier to make sense of what was being said when English words were incorporated. Without the use of some english words alongside the nonsensical words, the poem means nothing to me.

-Peace out *

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Jabberwocky

I found the Jabberwocky poem very interesting, in that we were about to take the English words that we understood in order to put the words we didn't understand into context and figure out what they could mean. I feel that the poem was a good way to illustrate how nonsense and sense work hand in hand.

The game we played in tutorial also helped illustrate this point. Although many of the sentences did not make a story that necessarily fit together, we were able to make sense of the story no matter how wacky or bizarre it sounded.

Discussing the poem in class and participating in these games allowed me to better understand the Jabberwocky concept. I found this topic to be one of the more fun concepts to talk about, as the poem was almost like a puzzle waiting to be solved.

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What is a word?

At first after reading the poem Jabberwocky, I was a little confused. However after going through the poem again and understanding the sensible words, Jabberwocky was a lot more amusing. When reading the lines you begin to wonder if the poem is even English. The poem sounds like perfect English yet we cannot understand it fully. The fact is that we do understand most of the poem yet as a whole it may still be confusing. The sensible words or phrases are comprehendible and of the English language, therefore by using those words as a somewhat guide we can hopefully understand the meaningless words of Carroll’s poem.

I thought it would be interesting to look up the definition or meaning of the word “word.” I looked “word” up on Wikipedia and found that the precise definition is controversial. This was actually interesting since no one can say for sure what the true definition is because a word depends on the language and the type of phrase or sentence it is being used it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word)

All I can say for sure is that in order to make up your own definitions or meanings of the nonsense words in Jabberwocky, Carroll had to incorporate the sensible words into the stanzas. Therefore the nonsense words need sense words in order to understand the context of the poem.

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Announcement

Dear Colleagues,

This is the address for General Announcements blog for Cultural Studies 100: http://cust100-notes.blogspot.com/. News and assigments that apply to the whole class will be posted here. In addition, I will post my lecture notes, as they are written. No promises on how understandable they'll be, because they are, after all, merely personal reminders. But if anyone does find them helpful, well, there they are!

MWM

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jabberwocky

So I thought this might be an interesting little tidbit to share with everyone! I found it sorta interesting. I looked up jabberwocky in the oed online dictionnary... and it's a word. This is what they have for a definition
incoherent or nonsensical expression’. So jabberwocky, invented language, meaningless language, nonsensical behaviour; also as adj., nonsensical, meaningless, topsy-turvy. Also jabberwock(y) v. intr., to write, speak, etc., in jabberwocky style.
So the title of the Jabberwocky states everything...

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Sassure

"It is very hat in here"

When we discussed this line in class it was very interesting to realize that we do not need the exact words to understand what it is we are listening too. This is a little different then what Michael is saying exactly but I think it has a similar idea. I was shown this in my English class in grade 12 and I thought that this may be relevant.

"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, olny taht the frist and lsat ltteres are at the rghit pcleas. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by ilstef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

This is similar to what Michael is saying except he is focusing on speech and this is focusing on spelling and language. It is amazing that our minds can understand what we are reading as long as the first and last letter are the same, and it is amazing that our minds can also still figure out a sentence without needing the correct word. Michael was referring to time as well, saying to mess up the pronunciation is a lot better then messing up the timing. This is probably another reason why my example above is able to understand, you are reading it on your own, so you cannot mess up the timing. Just as Michael said in his lecture - rule out what doesn't make sense, and go for the interpretation that makes sense.

Casey Woods

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Is logical reasoning rational choice?

The art of logic seems to go hand in hand with the Rational Choice Theory. With the similar ideological premise being the process by which individuals make decisions can come to conclusions. With both processes there is a high regard for the notion of an individual.
With the Rational Choice Theory, which seems similar to the art of logic, an individual comes to a conclusion by assessing a particular situation, and with help from past experiences, point of view, and general needs or goals, the individual is able to make a rational choice, or a logical one. So with such reliance on experience and personal goals or objectives, does a person’s logical reasoning’s and decisions base solely on the individual? Does common logic, like common sense, depend solely on the individual?
In the court of law, the role of the judge is to deliberate and formulate reasonable decisions based on fact. They can use the deliberation of related cases in terms of a guideline if need be. So generally, do judges follow their own form of logical reasoning to make decisions? Like emotions, in the court of law, nothing can be taken at face value, and what might seem like the obvious logical decision in deciding a case, may take time and critical thinking outside the box to determine the right choice.

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logorrhoea

It was interesting to see the different meanings behind logorrhoea. How it can be used as a euphemism, or the use of long words that aren't needed and how it is defined as a language dissorder. The author of the article spent a lot of time giving examples of this term and I personally found these examples helpful. How the author could take a simple evrey day saying and make it into a confusing statement was quite interesting.

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Noam Chomsky sentences/ Logorrhoea-- meaningless or meaningfull??

The articles this week were easily comprehendible, except for maybe the last few that were more of a jumble of letters put together to make words especially “Jabberwocky,” by Lewis Carroll. The wikipedia articles “Logorrhoea” and “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously,” made me come back to everyday life activities in which we use freely flowing words and nonsensical terms to express an idea, much to the dismay of the people trying to understand what exactly your talking about.

With the idea of Cromsky’s nonsensical sentences, the reactions by many functionalists that were expressed in the article really made me think. At first after reading both articles I was at a point where I thought I agreed with the argument against the sentences being meaningful because for me on the surface it was very hard to recognize the purpose that these sentences should demonstrate communication. That’s when I thought that maybe the use of these sentences really had the true intention to get our minds rolling and try to make you evaluate the words and expand your vocabulary. Logorrhea can also be wordy speech, this went on to maybe support what I thought because after reading a complex statement you must decipher the true necessary words and also take out unnecessary ones that only serve to complicate the statement. Therefore in the process you must also decide the meaning of the thoroughly detailed statement, which ultimately utilizes and enhances your comprehension and communication skills.

I hope this is kind of on the right track??

See you guys tomorrow :)

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Logorrhoea Article

After reading the Wikipedia 'Logorrhoea' article, I was interested to find out that there is actually a "technical" term for what teachers usually refer to as "verbal diarrhea". The part of the article that I could connect with or understand the most was the section on logorrhea as a description of rhetoric. Sometimes when I go to read a scholary article or book, at first glance I always feel like it's been written in some other language or that it makes absolutely no sense and it takes me a while to read and re-read particular sentences just to get a general sense of what the author is talking about, just like the article discusses. Logorrhea in this sense also used to come up for me when I was writing papers for school because I would always try to use big or complicated words to sort of "pad" my writing to make myself look like I understood what I was discussing and I had to learn to start simplifying my writing so that it was more "concise" and I could get my point across instead of my arguments always getting mixed up in a bunch of unnecessary words.

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A Universal Language

For this week's blog, I decided to bring up the discussion had in tutorial about John Wilkins and his wish to create a universal language. After listening to the arguements about this issue in tutorial, I thought about what it would be like to have such a language exist.

Depending on how strict the language turned out to be, there may be difficulty for humans to properly express themselves. One assigned word can not always describe the feelings we wish to present, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact communication we are trying to get across. If there is only one word for each meaning, there is then difficulty in expressing the degree or variation of the meaning that is being discussed. For example if the only way of expressing that you are having a good day is to say that your day is "well", we may not be able to fully express just how well our day has been. Words such as magnificant, fantastic, and the like also indicate a good day, but at a higher degree than simply "well".

Not only would it be difficult to express yourself using this language, but the construction of the language would be difficult in itself. We live in a world full of an endless number of meanings, objects, and symbols. To find a sufficient replacement for every single one of these things that exist would take an endless amount of time an patience.

This sort of language would have to be gradually introduced in order to be learned in an effective manner. It would be nearly impossible to ask people of a society or culture to throw away the language that they currently use, and quickly pick up on something new that could be understood worldwide. This gradual introduction would have to be introduced over a long period of time, a period so long that Wilkins may not even live long enough to witness the results.

I feel that a universal language would take away from cultures, in that language is a huge part in distincting different cultural aspects. Language is also a product of history, and instead of trying to re-invent history, I feel that the large amount of work and time required to produce a universal language could be better spent in resolving serious issues that already exist in our world today.

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Rhetoric

This is in response to tawny. I totally agree with what you are saying. The media has a funny way of manipulating us into buying something that we never thought of buying or we don't need. I know this is true for myself. Once you have gotten the item, you stop and wonder "why!". In commercials they use catchy jingles or slogans to capture our attention which then may lead to one buying the product unnecessarily. For example, when i was in grade 5 or so, one of the big things was pokemon cards. I look back to this day and wonder what the "h" i was thinking. But i mean the commercial was so convincing, "Gotta catch em all" being the catch phrase. There really wasn't any reason nor logic as to why i wanted to. Perhaps it was the fact that i wanted to see what would come of it...if I caught them all, what would happen. So truthfully it was a waste of not only time, but money as well.

It' funny how one little song or phrase e.g. :"Im lovin it" or "hands in my pockets..." can influence a person. It's frustrating to know that this will not be the last time I randomly buy something because of a commercial and soon regret it after. You don't realize you have been fooled until it's too late.

I also like rhetoric because it can be applied to everyday life.


Catch you on the flip side*

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this weeks tutorial/lecture

Hey there everyone... I was wondering if someone could tell me what our assignment is for next week and also what notes to catch up on, as i was unable to attend class yesterday...thanks alot

slainte

Jackie

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Rhetoric

I just wanted to add onto what Katie said about the rhetoric lecutre. It's amazing to think about how advertising agencies can take our own natural human qualities and use them against us to benefit in the economy. Understanding the concept of rhetoric enables us to look at commercials and understand why we receive the urge to purchase various items, and then later question why we bought it in the first place. Almost everyone can relate to this impulse, watching a catchy commercial on TV and responding in the way that the advertisers hope.

Because rhetoric relates to our everyday lives, I found it one of the most interesting subjects to learn about.

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Hidden Intensions

I just wanted to comment on the use of advertising and subliminal messaging, that we talked about in the last lecture, and how it relates to logic. It was just interesting to examine the commercials that we witness daily and how they truly affect us. I know myself that I’ve bought things that I’ve seen on TV and then after I get it I realized that I didn’t really need the product. After talking about how logic relates to commercials in the sense that you need to get proper information out of the claim, I realized that essentially you use the process of evaluating claims on a daily basis without even being fully aware.

After reading the article about John Wilkins by Borges, I found it to be really confusing and actually I didn’t really understand it. Hopefully we will go over it a bit in class tomorrow or something because it was truly hard to comprehend, he just jumped around a lot and thing’s didn’t make much sense like the 40 categories?

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this weeks assignment

For those who are in sarah's tutorial group..She has sent out an email for possible assignment topics... That are as follows:Rhetoric option: Why study rhetoric?In order to answer this question, it is also necessary to define what rhetoricis as an object of study - as opposed to just saying it is a skill or an "art". Logic option: Is Logic Natural?It is an intentionally difficult and vague question, and could be interpreted ina variety of ways. In your assignment, make it clear how you have interpretedthe question. Also, keep in mind that it is not always necessary or desirable tohave a definite answer, at least not right away. If it turns out that way, yourwork can be more of a working through the question than an argument strongly oneway or the other. Hope everyone had an awesome reading week slainte jackie

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