Using links in blog posts provide a new dynamic to reading, something that manuscripts obviously lacked.

It is interesting to note that we would consider the "mammoth machine" detailed in David Loeb Weiss’ “Farewell etaoin shrdlu” (1978) as interactive. Well, I would, because it required human contact to function and properly work. But I would also consider this current web page interactive, minimally so. The links allow for a more dynamic experience, but I am sure the mammoth machine was a lot more dynamic than it is typing on a computer.

The font is very uniform with the rest of the page, and it looks aesthetically pleasing. Now, we are back to all capitalizations in the title. Either way, contextually, because the text is above all else, it is evident that this is a title.

The various older newspapers we observed in class were thin, usually only two spreads (front and back). The text was small, and there were minimal images. When there were images, they were mainly ads.

Creating a photo gallery for this article emphasizes the cultural want for visual aspects in media. Since high school, we have been told, as journalists, to find photos to accompany our text. Old newspapers usually lacked photos, mainly because of the effort it took to make one. Now, photos are expected in order to enhance the story. It is interesting to see how the evolution of journalism mirrors the evolution of writing. Now, newspapers can be read online with all sorts of media, a reality that was not possible because of the limited tools back then.

Because I can't annotate photos, I will post my comment here: I wanted to mention how I wish there was attribution to the photo. I didn't take it, and I already forget which team this was.

This is interesting because although I wrote the article, I did not publish it on the website or in print. Because there are so many different people that have a hand in publishing the story, sometimes there's a disconnect between the words and the imagery that follows.

It is interesting how the title does not use all caps, unlike the titles in my high school newspaper. What do capitalizations say about our writing? Our culture? Does it say anything? Before taking this class and a few other English courses (Topics in Writing + Writing in Global Contexts), I would say that capitalizations are always required in titles because that is what I am used to. Capitalizations have always given a sense of authority to titles. However, now I know that grammar and rules are so arbitrary. A title is a title no matter what is capitalized. In high school, my worldview of the English language was narrow: I was very orthodox in my writing. Now, I know that as long as things are contextualized, the rest doesn't matter as much. College has opened my view about the English language.

This small addition of parenthesis adds a foreboding aura: will there be more snow?

Reading this now, I feel as though this is not "uncanny" at all. It is interesting to see how a few years can change my mind so much. I find it so normal now to seek news through Twitter, and verify it elsewhere, but the journey starts on social media. We have read so much about the end of books (ex. Octave Uzanne’s “The End of Books”), so I wonder if the end of television is coming soon.

Using media to criticize media... interesting.

This reminds me of Chaucer's "Words to His Scrivener"... He uses words to highlight his anger towards scribes in particular. Chaucer is frustrated with his scribe, Adam, because the writer finds mistakes made by the scribe that he must spend time editing and correcting. It is so ironic. If Chaucer was able to write a poem criticizing his scribe, maybe he should've just written his own poems.

I can thank my privilege of attending a diverse and supportive high school for my opportunity to address issues like this.

I was able to write about an event that divided people once again. One side couldn't see the racism attached to the horrible event, but the other side knew that the deaths were a result of just that.

Brandon W. Hawk's translation of Ælfric of Eynsham‘s Preface to Genesis discusses the vast differences between the old and the new. Preface to Genesis states, "it seems to the unlearned that all that meaning is locked up in the simple narrative, but it is very far from it.” Without the opportunity to reflect, through words, on a tragic event, we can never learn and build a better future. So it is ironic when people condemn journalists, the very people who document our present to ensure we can heal and move forward in an appropriate way. This is my small way of reflecting and trying to make sense of an irrational tragedy.

Content aside, the bolded type gives the words power. This again relates to Chris Gayomali’s “How Typeface Influences the Way We Read and Think,” which I addressed in the previous article.

This easily connects to the readings about the negative effects of reading too much, such as “On Novel Reading” (from The Guardian; or Youth’s Religious Instructor, 1820) and “Devouring Books” (from the American Annals of Education, 1835). My article is (broadly) about the positives of social media and the Internet as a whole, which is displayed online, so some old scholars may have cringed at my work. To this day, people are put down for sharing personal photos on their personal accounts. Thus, the cycle of new media criticism continues. 😱 (I can add emojis!!! I discovered this randomly and this is something that typical pdf files fail to provide.)

My tone is so strict and authoritative, which is something I don't remember during high school. Even if I had a timid personality, my writing showed force and power.

Ted Chiang's “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” discusses an individual’s personal journey in relation to memories, but more specifically, technology.

Our memories are not the impartial accumulation of every second we’ve lived; they’re the narrative that we assembled out of selected moments... But, I wondered, if everyone remembered everything, would our differences get shaved away? What would happen to our sense of selves? It seemed to me that a perfect memory couldn’t be a narrative any more than unedited security-cam footage could be a feature film. (Chiang 16)

Our memories are personal to us, but only when they remain untouched by technology. Although this web page is not a video, the same idea remains. I don't remember being forceful in-person, but even this one line tells a different story about myself. It is interesting how an article from years ago can remind me of myself.

Reading this now sounds very dramatic, but that tension felt real and frustrating when I was writing this. Because this was a high school publication, I knew my audience would not be very big, but my platform was still visible. And it is still up today.

Bonnie Mak, in "How the Page Matters," details the trends and aesthetics that have transformed a page and defined it. There is a conscious message that speaks to the cultural or social components of a given time or space. This (web) page is simple and readable (to most). The white background and black text is standard, and hopefully accessible to most. Back then, my piece made it into the physical newspaper that we printed every month, but it is weirdly satisfying to see it still live on this web-based platform. It speaks to our culture and social environment because I am still able to interact with something years later in a direct way, giving value to the web page itself (maybe not necessarily the content, but the page itself).

Why is the font and size the same as the article font and size? Visually, it could've been adjusted better.

Chris Gayomali’s “How Typeface Influences the Way We Read and Think” relates to this placement/ visual aspect of the text. Gayomali declares that, “Words hold power. But the aesthetic manner in which those words are presented can affect the way we read, and the way we think about the information presented... Type design is something we tend not to think about when we're reading. But font can have real-world implications that affect our lives in tangible ways." Although the caption on the graph is relatively minor, it is also the only caption on the page. It's disruptive in a bad way. Because this is so minor, yet so distracting (at least to me), it is important to keep in mind how aesthetics play a key role in relaying the message you want.

Yes, those are 200 year old pickles on the far left of the image

Stands for Malden High School