Persepolis has arrived!

You can pick up your copy of Marjane Satrapi's book at the Barnes and Noble on 41st.  Begin reading for our discussion on Monday.

This weekend, be thinking about a work that you would like to illuminate.  It can be in any medium that you like.  While you should be true to the original, an adaptation is fine.  We'll talk more about this on Monday.

Internet Goodness: Articles and RSS

Remember, we will be sharing articles on Tuesday.  Bring an article that you find interesting, something for the class to discuss.

To assist you in your search, I thought I'd share this with you:

I use the Google RSS reader, but there are others out there. (See links in video.)

Here are a couple of good article sources that I use:

• NPR.org breaks up the site sections into different feeds, which can be found here.  After you sign up with an RSS reader, click on the RSS button next to the section you're interested in.  I'm subscribed to Top Stories, All Things Considered, World Cafe, Morning Edition, Topics: Music, and of course, Education.
• The New Republic is always a good source for opinion articles.  It's a bit liberal, but always creates solid discussions.
• The Urban Tulsa Weekly is my favorite source for local entertainment and opinion articles.  The Most Recently Posted feed delivers all content for your perusing pleasure.
• Adbusters.  This one's a bit liberal, too, but good for discussion.
• The New York Times RSS feeds provides all the content of one of the nation's best newspapers without the cost.  Because $5 on Sunday is only okay if you don't buy books with your hard-earned money.  Home Page, Movies, and Technology are all worth subscribing to.
• The New Yorker.  I subscribe to all feeds.  But then, I'm addicted to this.
• Time isn't my favorite news source, but the photography is always amazing.

I'm a big fan of these last four.  You might say they're the winning-est blogs on the web.  You'd be wrong, but the wordplay remains.  If you choose no other feed, subscribe to these:

• Windmills and Giants is always an interesting read, and a great place to discuss/learn about contemporary rhetoric.
• The Winsome Scholar, a site devoted to contemporary fiction.  It can be a bit heavy on music, art, and graffiti news, though.
• Winter's Night Blog is a brilliant site that collects interesting news stories and discussion of contemporary nonfiction.  I hear the webmaster is simply amazing.
• Windfall Knitting is designed and run by K vOn MO and Kathryn, with occasional postings by yours truly.  Stop by for the latest Knitting Club information and projects.

If you have any further questions about RSS feeds or any other Internetness, post a comment below.  The next post in my Internet Goodness will be about the wonders of Google docs.  Never have to deal with emailing a report to yourself again!

KW Volunteers

I'm told that the 3rd graders are planning a "secret" pizza party for their high school friends. Wouldn't it be nice if we returned the favor?  I'm reaching out to you all for ideas.  Something knitted for our friends might be cool; I'll talk to Ms. C about that.  Please remember that there will be no reading this coming week, so we should have plenty of time to plan and create.  If inspiration hits, post it below.

I've been very impressed with all of you who have stuck with it this semester.  It may seem like a simple activity, but it makes an immeasurable difference in the kids' lives.  For them to have interaction with someone, if only for an hour each week, someone who is interested in their lives and their development, is a very big deal.  You each have made a difference in the life of another.  For that, much respect.  The world needs more people like you.

Daily Articles

If you read nothing else from this post, read this article from In These Times.  Author Mike Levy discusses Kurt Vonnegut's works with a small group of students in China.  As a rare insight into how a very different culture views our own, it may be fitting that their lens was crafted by America's most insightful absurdist.  In These Times article

Because everyone loves Jackie Chan.  NPR story

Fathom this: MSNBC Story

Midterm Questions

Here are two questions to choose from, based on the books we've read so far.  This is not a book report.  Write on something that affects your life, or a topic you would like pursue further.

We covered the impact of popular culture on our everyday lives when reading Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson.  Our discussions centered on the impact of video games and television, and the cognitive effects of our consumption of these materials. 

Edit: I have received a few messages from you, suggesting possible topics for an EBIGFY essay.  If you have an idea, run it by me and then begin work.  The essay should follow the ideas in the book, either in support or refutation of, or using Johnson's ideas in a new application.  Again, run your idea by me before you begin, but I want you to make this essay your own.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell explains how information (and fads) can spread through a population like a cold.  We've talked about the people that begin these fads (The Few),  and how a message's "Stickiness" can allow or prevent ideas(or fads) from spreading.  My challenge to you is to come up with a plan based on Gladwell's theories that would create a Tipping Point of your own.  Who would be your "Few"?  How would you make your message "Sticky"?  In what context (i.e. time, place, population, medium) would you seed your idea?  Remember, Gladwell's examples range from Paul Revere's ride to Sesame Street to shoes and crime. 

Before you begin planning, think about something that you'd like to happen.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Which candidate would you like to win?
• How you could improve the quality of life for people around our city?
• How can you get students to read/do their homework?
• How can you make a product the next "big thing"?
• How could you change people's ideas about something (a minority, a religion, NAFTA, comic books, video games, school, volunteering...)?
• If you have another idea, please let me know.

After you've come up with your topic, review Gladwell's explanations and my questions above.  We'll discuss this (and Chapter Four up to page 163) tomorrow.  Comment below if you have any questions.  (We will discuss format, length, due date, etc tomorrow, so no worries about that.)

Oh-oh, it's magic...

you noo-o-o.  Not really.

Gladwell makes some interesting assertions in the second chapter, and today we focused on the effects of interpersonal communication.  He cites a study by Syracuse University that explains the impact of newscasters and their expressions in Presidential races, and explains what makes Tom Gau so convincing.  Derren Brown was brought up, and I promised videos.  Here they are:

Watch Brown's movements as he talks to the man.  He mirrors his movements, then takes a step back.  The man follows.

This one is a bit off topic, but I think it effectively illustrates just how easily our creativity can be affected by our environment.  As always, you are what you eat, even if you don't mean to consume it.

This one is similar.  You think you aren't listening, but you are.

I'm trying to find video or an article explaining the microemotions explained in this chapter.  If anyone finds something, post it below.

Autism, Stroke Victim

Here's the video we watched today in class:

And one that I talked about in class.  This is one of the most profound descriptions of right/left brain thinking that I've ever seen.  Check out TED.com for more videos.

Tonight you should read the rest of the second chapter of The Tipping Point.

Some Articles and a Reading Schedule

This article from the NY Times describes the newfound importance of right-brained intelligence in the workforce.  One more reason to get your M.F.A.  NYT Story

Another update in the development of video games.  Christopher Williams of Popmatters reviews NiGHTS.  Popmatters story

We will be discussing The Tipping Point up to page 59 tomorrow.  If you have not purchased the book from Border's Midtown, today is the last day to use my educator's discount on your purchase.

While reading (and journaling, marking, or post-iting), consider the "three agents of change" Gladwell describes on page 19: "the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context."  He briefly describes them in the first chapter.

• Do you see the Tipping Point in your own life?  (Think homework, perhaps.  At what point do you "shut down"?)
• Are there other trends that this can be applied to?
• Are there trends that the Tipping Point doesn't explain?  How do you explain those?

In Chapter Two, he explains "the Law of the Few" in more detail, labeling three types of people that generally make up "the Few": "Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen" (Gladwell 30). 

• Are you a "Connector"?  I new 19 people from the list on 40.  Suppose I should update my address book.
• Do you know anyone who might be a Connector?  What is your connection to him or her?

Talk to your parents and friends about this.  See how well they do with the name test, or see what trends they remember—either national or local ones.

The Tipping Point

has arrived, and that's the bottom line.

We will be reading through page 30 (the Introduction through the first chapter) by Monday.  For instructions on purchasing at the Midtown Border's, see the previous post here.