The Tellings of a GT Freshman
SABAWOON
I have been looking at a website entitled
Sabawoon that is designed to provide news and information about Afghanistan. It covers topics from the land, people, government, and history, and it also covers topics dealing with political, and cultural issues. There is a special editorial section on this website that allows many different people to publish their thoughts and ideas. The editorials focus on not only Afghanistan issues but on issues from around the world. Many of the editorials focus on war and conflicts between different countries. One particular editorial I found very interesting was one that was written about the effects of
September 11th and what has happened since then. The editorial was written by a U.S. citizen who discusses how September 11th caused many diverse reactions. Using a cause and effect method of writing he is able to show how many great and how many terrible things have come from the September 11th tragedy. He writes about how the attack brought America so much closer together and many other parts of the world as well. In a time of need the people of our country became extremely involved in politics and current affairs. We were a country UNITED determined to stand up and demand justice and strive for peace. However wonderful our intentions were bad things still came. The plan the U.S. designed to receive justice from these attacks was not a good one. The U.S. had a plan to fight terrorism which seemed to be a great plan, but people ended up having the wrong idea of what this actually meant. People began to harass, discriminate, and humiliate people of Middle Eastern or Islamic name or outlook. Innocent people were pushed around and treated like criminals. We were so angry that we forgot about justice and became interested only in blood and revenge, and it did not matter who we took revenge on as long as someone went down. In this editorial all of these things are discussed in detail and the saying that you have to take the good with the bad seems to be true. There are many editorials like this one that focus on similar topics and many others that are written on completely different topics. This web page really has a different perspective from the average American perspective and I recommend checking it out!
I've recently been reading a blog entitled
Riverbend by a girl from Iraq. She uses her blog mostly to get out information to the public about the situation in Iraq. She speaks up about the negative influence the Americans have on Iraq. She uses her own personal experiences to give the reader an idea of what it is like to live in Iraq these days. She tells the stories of all the harsh treatment of the citizens and the poor lifestyle the people are being forced to live in. She is very descriptive in her blog making the stories seem real and very personal. Being that this blog is in first person you really want to get up and help this girl and do something for her. The stories she tells range from stories of house raids to stories based on the poor economy. She often mentions electrical losses and she has talked about how hard it is to cook because there is no gas. I really feel that the writing style and narrative used throughout this blog make you feel as though you are actually having a conversation rather than simply reading a blog. This blog really challenges your imagination. Considering that most people that are reading this blog have no experiences that can relate to what she is going through your imagination is challenged to understand and relate to the stories without any personal connection to them. She talks frequently about the chaos and confusion that has taken over Iraq. She often seems to loose hope for the situation and days will go by that she does not write in her blog. During these days off she seems to find inspiration and always comes back with more stories and feeling she wants to share. If you get a chance I recommend checking out her blog…. http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
"THE STORYTELLER"
I have recently finished torturing myself with Walter Benjamin's essay "The Storyteller". His essay which uses large (capacious) words, and complex (byzantine) metaphors was such a struggle to read I cannot imagine actually trying to make sense of all the hidden meanings and undertones of his essay. Benjamin's essay focuses on storytelling and its impact on society. He describes storytelling as the connection between the past, present, and the future.
Benjamin makes a strong argument against novels saying that they are not able to pass on knowledge and wisdom to the reader because they lack a personal connection from the writer to the reader. However a storyteller stories become the experiences of the listener throughout the listening of the story. Advances in technology, such as printing (which made novels possible) are seen by Benjamin as "symptoms of decay". The past will simply die and be forgotten without storytellers to pass it on.
This essay which was written post WW1 holds strongly to the importance of storytellers, for only they have the ability to pass of the feeling and experience of each story. I personally disagree with Mr. Benjamin because I have found many writers to have the ability to pass on experiences through their novels. As I blog I feel I am in between writing and storytelling. Yes, I am writing and entry, but I am writing from my own experience and attempting to pass my experiences on to you, my reader. However just in case I failed my mission with this blog let me leave you with a word of advice. If you were considering reading Benjamin's essay...............DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!
BLOGGING ETHICS???
There has been some controversy building on the topic of how blogs should be used. What is right and what is wrong blog usage? Many people feel that if a blog is trying to argue a certain point that the facts used should have cited resources for the information used. There are also a lot of people that feel that once published it is wrong to delete a blog. In short it appears as though people feel the blogger has a responsibility to its audience to make sure the blog is not corrected or deleted and that all the information is 100% facts! WRONG!
Bloggers have no responsibility to the people who read their blog. If a blogger is trying to rally support for an argument it might be wise for them to cite their sources but definitely not required. It is the reader’s responsibility to determine weather the information is right or wrong by researching the topic they may choose to support or disagree with.
As for people who believe that bloggers should not reserve the right to delete post, HA! A blog is someone’s personal property. They do as they wish with is. The blogger might remove a post for many reasons and that may be annoying but it is their right.
Blogs are a place to express feelings and opinions.
Public blogs are simply journals that have been opened for other people to examine. I, as a blogger reserve all rights to do what I wish with my blog, the information in it, and I find this to be true of all bloggers!
