Month: April 2017

Klein and His Heuristic

One of the assigned readings of our Critical Thinking and Writing class, “What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One–And How Can We Get Students To Join Us?” (it’s a mouthful, I know) by Michael Klein presented the typical scene of college students “researching” via copying texts from materials in the library, not truly comprehending what they were reading or writing. Thinking more about this, Klein decides to consult other English professors and reaches the conclusion of what academic writing requires.

Until this point, it seems like Klein’s making a breakthrough in the field of research, seeing it as being both “strategic” and “heuristic”. This means to “collect data and write…their goal(strategic work), but also…to accommodate and consider unexpected data and insights that are discovered during the process (heuristic work)” (Klein). Klein’s concepts can be achieved through the “hunter and gatherer” strategy. According to his idea, “A hunter finds what he is looking for; a gatherer discovers that which might be of use” (Klein).

Me as a Hunter and Gatherer! 

When it comes to archives and written texts, I’m both the hunter and the gatherer, looking in specific subtopics while being open to reading anything somewhat useful. In terms of online databases, I tend to lean towards being a hunter, simply due to the search methods used in researching online.

For example, I searched through the Chicano Studies in the 1980s box in the SCU Library Archives, hoping to find something relating to the Multicultural Center or just diversity. Although I knew it would be a bit of a stretch, I was open to finding anything after hearing how difficult and complicated archival research could be. Flipping through the heavy files, I randomly chose a file, hoping it could be lucky. Carefully reading the documents, I found “Admissions Office Proposed Black And Hispanic Recruiting Plan, 1986-87″. This packet of roughly 20 pages ended up being one of my main materials for my first research essay in class! 

This experience proves that it’s not always intense hunting that can lead you to great sources, but insightful and careful gathering that reaps the most important pieces.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Click on this link to get basic, but gr8 tips for researching!

My Weekend Plans

Last Saturday, I participated in the APSU + MEChA Lunch and Ice Skating Event, which were hosted by two groups of the Multicultural Center. Eating at Taiwan Restaurant (yes, that’s the real name of the place) with a table of 25 Asian, Caucasian, and Latino kids proved to be more fun than I ever thought. Making jokes and bonding over things like ice cream rolls and going to Japan led to connections with people I would’ve never met otherwise. Next, we went to Shark’s Ice in San Jose for a fun-filled hour of ice skating (but mainly seeing everyone fall). Both APSU and MEChA peeps clung onto the walls, joined the little kid section for bucket supports (see the pic below) and sped gracefully across the ice.

We concluded the outing with the sweet taste of boba milk tea at Gong Cha and a little car race among the drivers (don’t tell the police).

So What Does This Have To Do With Anything?

Well, I’m glad you asked, subtitle. It’s proof of the progress that’s been made due to the efforts of UNITY in the past. If you’re not familiar with the UNITY group and movement, you can refer to the link at the bottom of my previous post, “Archival Research. Who knew?”. But if you’ve been keeping up with me, you’ll know that this shows how useful and beneficial the MCC has been in the present. It allows student organizations like APSU and MEChA to spend time together and learning about each others’ cultures (i.e. Taiwan Restaurant’s food). More than that, it allows us to exit the bubble that is Santa Clara University and express multiculturalism in the real world, unlike what FTP! had to say about it. Overall, I had fun watching people slip and slide while appreciating befriending people of a different cultural club.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. If you’d like to look into these groups, check our their Facebook pages! ~ MEChA ~ APSU ~

What’s Archival Research?

Archival research is a type of researching that consists of going into a physical collections of materials to find documents from original records. Sounds boring right? Some assumptions of it include the following: it’s lengthy, it’s unproductive, and it’s so old-fashioned. Keeping these in mind, I became hesitant and unsure of what to expect in the Santa Clara University Archives. 

However, I am proud to say that it was extremely interesting and an experience like any other. Interactive and hands-on, boxes relating to the Student Involvement Center and academic departments like Chicano Studies had me excitedly flipping through the pages. Eventually, I stumbled upon documents about the birth of the Multicultural Center (MCC). Going deep down in that rabbit hole gave me incredible insight and knowledge about what it was like to be a minority at SCU during the 1980s and 1990s. I also found this newsletter.

Fight The Power! (Is it really though?)

At a glance, it looks like a newsletter written by the MCC but actually it turned out to be written by a group named, “Fight The Power!”.  Also known as FTP!, their motto is “All the news that’s not fit to print in The Santa Clara“. So far, sounds a little strange… 

This was a response to the many articles written in The Santa Clara about the new MCC and what it means for the minority population of SCU. Reading sections like “Guide to MCC Organizations” and “MCC Week” opened my eyes to what some of the student body thought about minority students on campus.

In the “Guide to MCC Organizations”, FTP! described organizations like APSU as, “The most annoying MCC Asian club. Most of its members tend to be white-washed Asians who could not associate with their own kind and get humped into an ‘Asian’ group”. Stereotyping and insulting the various cultural organizations, the FTP! reveal the racist feelings that can arise when certain groups get more attention and resources than others. Yet, these resources are meant to encourage and empower minority groups, not discourage majority groups.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the FTP! staff continues on a rant about how the MCC was not inclusive of groups like Spanish and Irish clubs, stating they, “are not considered to be ‘multi-cultural’, but rather ‘WHITE’ and not fit for the MCC”. In the population of students at SCU, these groups are considered to be the majority while the MCC aims to be a community for underrepresented and oppressed groups. In addition, the group thought the MCC Week was the MCC’s way of saying, “We want to stay down and continue to be looked down upon as minorities…because we like it that way. We have no room for advancement and want people to feel sorry for us”. This outraged me that such a blatant insult was written and how incorrect it is since it contradicted the entire purpose of the MCC. This is exactly opposite of what the goal is for racially and culturally discriminated individuals and it was disappointing to see that some of SCU did not understand this. Although it contradicted by beliefs, I was grateful that I found this document in the archives and was able to understand what life was like in SCU’s past.

My Takeaway

Overall, I was able to understand the views of students at SCU in the 1980s and 1990s through my archival research. Flipping through pages and pages and sorting through all sorts of documents proved to be resourceful and useful in finding information on the topic of student involvement, and specifically diversity. 

Thanks for reading!

P.S. If you want some more history on the MCC, check out this helpful link!

Eating Alone Can Sometimes Be A Good Thing

During my lonely lunch break today, I whipped out my phone and tried to find videos to watch while eating my BBQ Pork Chow Mien (which was pretty good considering it’s from Benson). After a watching a couple beauty videos, I stumbled across this.

It brought my back to the days of high school where I needed a quick fix for yesterday’s homework I forgot to do, turning to sources like Sparknotes and Crash Course. Watching this video reminded me not only of my difficulties analyzing and understanding literature in the past but also how different my current Critical Thinking and Writing class is from past English courses.

But Isn’t This Video About Literature?

Although this video does discuss more about literature and the function of reading it, it also gives insight to English and writing in general. Hosted and written by John Green, vlogger and writer of popular young adult novels such as The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, The Crash Course video provides knowledgeable commentary about the whole purpose of reading and writing in a comedic and easy-to-swallow way. For example, after discussing how humans perceive language, Green explains that, “Writing–or at least good writing– is an outgrowth of that urge to use language to communicate complex ideas and experiences between people”. By saying this, he takes a step back and looks at writing holistically and for its true, raw purpose. Unlike Green, I believe that even bad writing can accomplish this communication, and by bad writing I mean texting using “4” for “for” and “u” for “you”.

On the other hand, Green provides a different, unexpected view to writing’s counterpart, reading. He states, “Reading is always an act of empathy. It’s always an imagining of what it’s like to be someone else.” Usually when I think about reading, I think about trying to understand a passage about a certain topic or trying not to fall asleep during a boring article. Yet, Green relates to reading as if it were a conversation and learning the mindset and perspective of the author. In this way, reading seems so much more significant that people have been taught to view it as since it’s easy to lose sight of a reading’s important message.

Lastly, Green asks the viewers, “to look closely at a text and pay attention to the subtle ways the author is trying to communicate the full complexity of human experience, but I’m not asking you to go symbol-hunting because reading is supposed to be some treasure map in which you discover symbols, write them down, and then get an A in class”. Completely and accurately depicting the student’s view of English, literature specifically, he calls on the audience to fully take in the reading and employ the same wide, big-picture perspective he has been speaking about throughout the video. Regardless of the type of reading, this thinking can be applied and unlocks the true meaning of the author’s writing and why it’s significant.

To sum it up, Green’s “asking you to read critically because by understanding language, it will 1. Have a fuller understanding of lives other than your own, which 2. Will help you to be more empathetic, and thereby…4. Reading critically and attentively can give you the linguistic tools to share your own story with more precision”.

Thanks for reading!

It’s My Time to Shine! 

Reading article after article about researching has really beaten the ideas in my head. This is both a bad and good thing. It’s bad because it feels like I’ve been listening to a broken record about the same concepts by different authors. Yet, it’s good since I REALLY understand the purpose of research and how to do it as best as possible. More importantly, it has caused me to think about topics that would be interesting to research. So, the good outweighs the bad.

How Readings Have Helped

One of the most helpful readings was Katherine Tirabassi’s “Journeying Into The Archives: Exploring The Pragmatics of Archival Research”. The main principles discussed outlined key points to keep in mind when researching specifically in archives. The principles of selectivity, cross-referencing, categorization, and closure perfectly capture what’s needed to execute archival research well. To me, the most insightful principle is that of cross-referencing. Tirabassi explains that cross-referencing is useful to fill in gaps and provide much needed context for documents that seem to lack such information. Doing so will create a better, fuller source for my research project.

And My Research Topic is…(drum roll please?!)

Within the history of Santa Clara University, I want to look at the journey its racial and culture diversity. Being part of the Asian Pacific-Islander Student Union through the Multicultural Center has given me a little insight to what Santa Clara students have experienced as far as diversity and inclusion. During weekly meetings, we have discuss movements such as Unity 4, a series of solutions to tackle discrimination and negativity towards certain student groups.The name, Unity 4, derives from past Unity movements about issues with diversity in the 1980s and 1990s. Submitted to the school board in 2015, Unity 4’s important documents have sparked cooperation among students of the Multicultural Center as it has been updated to suit campus’s most current concerns.

Here’s the link to SCU’s Original Unity 4!

Thanks for reading!

“Don’t Be a Mess!” Well, okay I’ll try. 

Taking a break from making Easter Egg door decorations, I wandered around the wings of Graham Hall at 12AM. Besides finding the layouts of A and B wings strange and foreign, I saw this bulletin board that reminded me of this class.

Initially looking at the title, I was a little confused and slightly shocked at the intensity of such a statement “Don’t Be a Mess!”. Yet, the subtitle gives more clarification and viewing the bulletin board closer provides further information on how to achieve organization academically and personally.

As someone obsessed with organization and planning, seeing this section of the board made me excited since I live by all the ideas listed. Such mentality behind planning is similar to that behind writing and English in general.  Thinking more about these tools, I realized it reminded me specifically of the readings such as “BEAM” and “The Role of Inquiry” and the skills necessary to succeed in writing and reading. Both the advice and the articles relate to how to do something common like writing in a systematic and concise way.

Relating to the Readings

In “BEAM” by Joseph Bizup, the author mainly focuses on the BEAM method, which stands for “background, exhibits, arguments, and methods” (p. 75). Bizup explains this procedure in the case of researching, yet a similar technique can be used towards writing in general. For example, this blog post can be created using a BEAM-like method when I look for sources to backup my thoughts, format my argument clearly with those sources and write in certain styles to drive my point home. On the other hand, the bulletin board uses this same systematic thinking towards studying and learning. This type of thinking is key for succeeding in writing and allows the writer to remain focused and organized when creating an argument.

Stuart Greene writes “Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched Argument” about approaching research as a conversation in which questions must be asked and answered. He develops this further when he states that “Framing is a metaphor for describing the lens, or perspective, from which writers present their arguments” (p. 150).  Greene’s idea of framing links to planning because both allow the individual to present themselves precisely and efficiently. In English, framing helps the writer accurately build their argument to effectively persuade and inform the reader. In life, especially that of a student, planning aids the individual in being thorough as well as being efficient in utilizing her time and efforts.

Holistically, the relationship between brightly-colored board and the readings of CTW is more broad than direct, yet both contain valuable concepts of usefulness of methods and tools.

Connecting to School Overall

Other sections of the bulletin board connect broadly to education and life on campus, such as the Apps highlighted below.

The useful, accessible resources for organization captured in the image may seem like mere applications at first. Thinking more critically, they illustrate what it means to be a good student in all aspects of education. Simple yet valuable, these scheduling tips are concepts that can be applied to not only this Critical Thinking and Writing class but also other classes.

With its quick tips, this Graham bulletin board holds more information than meets the eye and even related directly to my class content!

Happy studying and thanks for reading!

Works Cited

Bizup, Joseph. “BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing.”Rhetoric Review 27.1 (2008): 72-86. Web.

Greene, Stuart. “Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiring in Writing a Researched Argument.” The Subject Is Research. Ed. Wendy Bishop and Pavel Zemliansky. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2001. 145-64. Print.

So cute yet so real.

Between the images of lovable hedgehogs and wholesome memes, I spotted this adorably drawn gif/photo hybrid.

After laughing for a minute, I realized that behind the flashy stripes the meme revealed the unfortunate reality of writing. Today, students have a negative attitude towards learning, as seen int the endless procrastination and fear of assignments. This behavior extends strongly towards English and writing since students find it harder to wiggle their way out of it. Besides Sparknotes and a class Facebook group, few resources for “b***s***ing” reading and writing assignments exist. As a result, students find themselves in a situation without the safety net of the insightful Internet sources.

Who’s to Blame?

I’ve always heard fellow classmates complain, “My teacher’s literally the worst. She just assigned this today and it’s due Friday. And it’s 8. Pages. LONG.” When you put it like that, it obviously sounds like the instructor is at fault. But in reality, the work is perfectly capable of being completed if the student chooses to start now instead of cramming it into the last hour.

The point of that example is to reveal that students hate writing because it’s hard to wing it, particularly at the last minute. Compare this to the fact that I could search up the answers to last night’s math homework and receive full credit on the assignment all in 10 minutes with minimal effort. Writing requires deep, critical thinking which is something Millennials today find difficult, simply because it’s not the easy way out. It requires one to form an argument, analyze essential sources and quotes, and use them as strong evidence. It is a lengthy, complex process. It challenges the individual to ask “Why?” in a age where students have only learned to ask “What?”. After all, having all the power of technology at their fingertips makes it hard to resist searching answers for every single homework assignment.

Now Why Can’t Everything Be Different? 

I believe that a main reason for this attitude is a lack of pure interest and passion in the work being done. I agree that writing about Shakespeare’s Macbeth can become incredibly dry and dense. But, not all writing has to be that way.

Other forms of writing such as research and narratives allow students more flexibility in having a powerful voice and an interesting point. The problem is that there are not enough of these assignments in the majority of English curriculums.

This may be a result of the concept that topics of such flexible assignments can conflict with the academic purpose of them. Writer of “They Say, I Say” and English Professor at The University of Illinois, Chicago, Gerald Graff elaborates on this perceived tension between topics seen as intellectual and non-intellectual. In “Hidden Intellectualism”, he explains that, “Making students’ nonacademic interests an object of academic study is useful, then, for getting students’ attention and overcoming their boredom and alienation” (Graff). Allowing them to investigate in interesting topics can be a source of motivation for reading and writing critically. The combination of the world of academics and that outside it gives students the ultimate tool towards enjoying writing. Thus, this concept creates path in English for students that not only leads to success but also passion.

Relating to Researching

The same attitude the boy in the meme employs is especially prevalent when it comes to research projects. Seen as never-ending and tedious, they’re usually extremely comprehensive and thorough about a specific topic. The requirements like these cause students to feel annoyed and rush to complete it.

Yet, research projects often give students more flexibility to choose what topic to investigate in. Research does not get the credit it deserves because students fail to take advantage of the opportunity to dive into a subject they’re passionate about.

Thus, there is no reason that students should hate research essays, even if it is just another paper to them.

Thanks for reading!

Works Cited

Graff, Gerald. “Hidden Intellectualism.” They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.” Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006.