Across from the Finish Line
As we begin to pick up the pace and start the final stretch before freshman year comes to a close, it becomes apparent that it is now the time to take a look back and reflect. This semester has felt like a race. There were times where it was ok to slow down, take a few days to review and critique our work and other times it was imperative to sprint in order to complete everything. Although, there was always a good balance between the two. To me, the most important aspect to reflect upon from the second half of English 1103 are the assignments that truly showed how much I have grown. The most significant assignments that have benefited my development as both a writer and a student were the creation of my WordPress blog and my Creative Narrative. After completing these two assignments, I was able to experiment with different types of writing, find a new value for my work, and further develop my voice within my writing.
Over the last thirteen years of my academic career, I have always found writing to be just another grade in the grade book. As a student, I have viewed writing assignments to be something that will take me hours to complete, only for the instructor to read once, judge, grade, and then toss to the side with everyone else’s work. But, after beginning my WordPress blog, I have gained a new perspective of my writing. By uploading my work to a place that everyone and anyone has access to, I have found myself starting to feel more pride in my work. I have begun to see my writing as a piece of art that does more than just check off boxes on a rubric. The WordPress blog, to me, is like a writer’s notebook that is shared with the public. The authors of Writing Analytically describe a Writer’s Notebook to be “…a book you are writing for yourself,” and that is how I feel about the WordPress Blog (126). I feel as though it is a book, a compilation of stories that I am documenting to save for the future. Viewing my blog in this way has given more value to my work and allowed me to express myself further through the different works.
As I have seen through creating my WordPress blog, there is more to writing than just the assignment and the rubric. That is why the Creative Narrative project was significant to my academic career. Reflecting back on my past experiences in English classes, I have discovered that it was very rare to be assigned creative pieces in a classroom setting. Even in a course titled “Creative Writing” that I took back in High School, the majority of the assignments were focussed on looking at other creative writing pieces and analyzing them from a rhetorical standpoint. I am aware that all writing requires a certain level of creativity, but I am referring to the narrative style of writing. During my time planning, drafting, and revising my Creative Project it felt like a breath of fresh air. This was a distinct point in the race that is ENG 1103 that truly felt like a point where I could slow down and really focus, and I truly enjoyed completing it. I had the freedom to choose a topic that means something to me, there was clarity in the instructions, and the opportunity to write about a significant turning point in my own writing career. Although the literary analysis of novels and short stories are seen to be imperative to our growth as writers, it isn’t the same type of growth in my eyes. Storytelling and creative pieces grow our own voices, minds, and imagination; instead of our ability to critique others. The way that creative writing grasps my attention and allows room for errors, changes, and mistakes is an unmatched writing experience.
Throughout the last few months, I have grown immensely as both a writer and a student. Every other morning at nine-fifteen, I walked into a new experience within the classroom that taught me something about myself. Whether it was that I had a hard time focusing while sitting where I could see outside the door or that parenthetical citations just aren’t my thing, I learned that writing is more than just an assignment and that I enjoy writing in a creative style. This whole semester felt like a race to the finish line, and now that the end is in sight it feels like it went by too fast.
Work Cited
“On Keeping a Writer’s Notebook: Things to Try.” Writing Analytically, 8th edition. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2019. pp. 124-25.
Just Half of It
Although we are only halfway through the semester, I already am seeing a significant amount of growth in myself on an academic and personal level. Walking in the door that first day in January, I could feel the quivering of my knees as I looked around a room full of unfamiliar faces, while I approached one of the only open seats in the front of the classroom. I sat there regretting not taking the same ENG-1103 section as my friends. In my head, I was planning out a way to switch around my schedule and place myself in a class where I would have that sense of comfort being around friends. Within these last two months of class, I have seen a new side of myself academically. The past English classes I have taken have focussed on individual assignments, heavy on both reading and writing simultaneously, with little group interaction. That is not the case in ENG-1103, this year we have seen a balance between the two types of assignments and this was certainly an adjustment. This change to the curriculum that I have known for twelve years, has given me the skills to be a more critical and analytical thinker.
I have pushed myself to try new things within and outside of the classroom. I started out timid but through many group activities and class discussions, I have found myself to be more outgoing than ever. It all started with the word “za”. The second Word Play day of the semester my opponents were struggling, Dr. Lucas came to the rescue. By playing one singular tile, they were able to earn sixty-two points. It sounds absurd but by placing a “Z” in the corner of two “A”’s they basically shut us out for the rest of the game. This, although a disappointing loss, showed me how important it is to think outside of the box. A word that I stated in my Writer’s Notebook to be one that “I would have never thought to play or even to say, won my opponents the game”(1). This type of thinking has carried over into other aspects of my writing as well. I have begun to notice new and unique words in my everyday life, that I have continued on to utilize in both my writing and Friday morning Scrabble games.
This semester has been challenging though. I have always enjoyed writing and usually score well on assignments, but the grade I earned on my Analysis Essay was not something that I felt proud of. I worked hard on the paper, but I do believe I could have paid closer attention to detail and pushed myself harder to improve my score. When I opened the gradebook on BlackBoard after our scores were released, a wave of disappointment fell over my body and my shoulders became heavy with regret. However, it was not soon after that I realized those were my mistakes and it is on me to do better in the future. This feeling was something that I believe is a crucial aspect within my growth as a student. To change for the future, with this reflection essay I decided to start the process earlier. We were also given more time by Dr. Lucas to complete the assignment which was very helpful, but it can be easy to get caught up and procrastinate with there being more time in between the first and final draft deadlines. I also decided to use the grace period between Wednesday and Friday of the soft and hard deadlines to fine tune and really look into the paper. I have seen a great improvement in my work and I am hopeful these strategies for success will carry on to future assignments as well.
One skill that I am certain will become a staple in my future academic career is the use of a Writer’s Notebook. In this day and age it is so easy to get lost in the newest technology and switch everything to virtual. Although technology is a good tool and it has shown it’s true importance in the last few years, in the last few months I have truly found the importance of utilizing pen and paper in the writing process. By keeping a Writer’s Notebook, I have been able to broaden my abilities to analyze and critically think. Taking the time to reflect upon assignments and collaborative projects gives me the opportunity to find different patterns in my work. I am able to see what approaches work for me and make changes in the future. Something that Dr. Lucas has implemented within the classroom is hand-writing the first drafts of our essays; it helps the brainstorming process and keeps us focussed on the task at hand. The authors of Writing Analytically explained “the low-hanging fruit problem: the temptation to keep interrupting ourselves to chase links to other people’s thinking” (125); this is something that I have always struggled with and utilizing the Writer’s Notebook has made a great impact on my ability to stop procrastinating and finding distractions but rather stay focussed and get more accomplished.
Since that first day in January, I no longer find my knees quivering as I walk into the classroom. With Word Play day every Friday I have made connections within the classroom and been able to branch out of my comfort zone to speak my mind in a group setting. It has also given me the skills to think outside of the box. Keeping a Writer’s Notebook is one of many new techniques I have learned that I will continue to use in the future, to improve my writing and reflect upon my assignments. The extreme change in setting between my previous English classes and ENG-1103 has given me numerous tools and techniques to improve my critical and analytical thinking skills. All of that and more, and it is still only the first half of the semester.
Works Cited
Marshall, Madeline. “Word Play Day: Za Edition” Writer’s Notebook, 1 Feb. 2022. pp.1-2
“Writing on Computers vs. Writing on Paper.” Writing Analytically, 8th edition. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2019. pp. 124-25.
Googly Eyes and Hot Pink Ribbon
At the age of seven, there was no one able to take me away from the arts and craft table that my dad built in our basement. I would sit there for hours on end, cutting stips of colorful construction paper, gluing googly eyes on characters I created, molding the same three pieces of clay into many different animals, and so much more. I would tell my mom stories about the different characters I would create. Some nights after dinner I would even make my whole family sit in the living room and listen to whatever chaotic story I wrote, as I showed the different clay villains and googly-eyed princesses.
After fourth grade, things got serious. We went from writing picture books and stringing the pages of colorful drawings together with hot pink ribbon, to writing paragraphs about novels that were written tens of years before I was even born. I found myself slowly losing that love of writing and creating that I had always had. My arts and crafts table slowly got cleaned off and became a homework station. I would sit there for hours on end working on math problems that made tears stream down my face as my sister would attempt to help me figure out the quadratic formula. A space that was once filled with joy and creativity became one that I could barely even get myself to sit at. Not too long after I wouldn’t even go downstairs anymore, I would finish my homework at school and by the time I was home I was too tired to even think about creating anything.
One day, junior year of high school, my Spanish teacher gave us an assignment that brought me back to my seven-year-old self. The assignment was to write a children’s book in both Spanish and English and there would be a competition for two groups to go to the local elementary schools and read their stories aloud to the students. My partner and I got off to a slow start, it was a huge change in our every day curriculum. I had become so accustomed to reading novels like To Kill a Mockingbird and Jane Eyre and writing literary analysis essays that all followed the same format. My experiences writing required little to no creativity, filling in the same template for every essay, focussing on three quotes in each of the three body paragraphs, ensuring the thesis and organizational statement were clear and easy to find in the introduction but also reiterated in different diction in the conclusion. The most creative aspect of these text-book style essays was the final statement, or the “point to ponder”, but there were still guidelines and instructions that took away all freedom to make it my own. But this assignment changed that streak.
We began brainstorming, using the skills we had learned through those analysis essays to create a strong prompt and outline. After drafting a story that was the perfect combination of creative and educational, I invited my partner over to begin creating the physical copy of the book. We went downstairs to the basement and sat at that same table that hadn’t been used in months. I broke out the scissors, construction paper, paint, glue sticks, and of course the googly eyes. We sat down there for hours just messing around, playing music, and just having fun with the assignment. Our picture book looked just like the ones I used to make in elementary school, colorful pages strung together by hot pink ribbon and all.
Walking into class the following day, proud to show off our brand new picture book, we looked around the room to see our classmates holding plain white, perfectly binded books. This was very discouraging to me, I felt as though my book was not professional enough looking, it was too creative. But, we continued with our book and turned it in; googly eyes and all. My Spanish teacher loved our creativity and granted us the privilege to present our book to the local elementary school.
This series of events showed me the true importance of creativity and sticking to what makes you happy. I would have never gone back to that side of myself that I had known for and loved for so long. But being given that small push to take free reign of the project showed me what I was missing and reminded me of what writing is supposed to be. I also realized that those many years of writing that I considered “boring”, gave me the tools to improve the writing that I love to do. I now find myself constantly writing small short stories while I sit at the beach or have a minute of alone time. Writing, to me, is more than just what we do in the classroom. It is something that illustrates the ideas in our heads, creates television shows and movies, and can have an impact on everyone. Although every story may not have perfect grammar or spelling, it doesn’t have to- as long as you, the writer, are proud of the art you created.
Facial Recognition in Our Digital World
The digital world went from box style televisions to smart phones that can fit in your back pocket, this world has seemed to be constantly changing and evolving adding new innovations to our society each and every day. And facial recognition technology is no exception to that, it has evolved from something that only existed within the pages of a dystopian novel to sitting at our fingertips everyday. This software has caused a lot of controversy in the last few years as it is growing and evolving into something more common each day. Every one of the most recent smartphones has face-id as a feature to unlock the screen, similar to how it used to be finger-print-ID. This new software has had people suspicious that the government has mal-intentions when utilizing this technology, but many people also see the technology to be a great addition to our society. Facial recognition software and technology is continuing to have a positive impact on our lives in the digital world. The value of this impact is shown in many ways, but it becomes very apparent when focusing on the integration of automatic facial recognition into the law enforcement community.
There is a lot to understand about facial recognition technology before forming an opinion about the software. The use for this type of technology varies greatly, which is why there is so much controversy over the software itself. People distrust the use of this technology within law enforcement and other branches of the government due to the fact that it is also the thing used to unlock a smartphone. To shed light on both sides of the argument, many people believe that the technology is too simplified, to be used in a manner like an investigation, because it has become so casually used. But, on the contrary many believe that due to the fact the software has evolved and improved it has become so casually used simply because it has been mastered. According to the article Facial Recognition Technology, “these systems are capable of identifying individual human faces by comparing input from an image against information stored in a database”(“Facial Recognition Technology.”). The article implies the idea that the system is just as useful whether or not it has become commercialized, there is no reason to distrust the system due to its integration into everyday life. Facial recognition technology is present in all aspects of life at this point, including governmental, personal, and “emerging commercial applications include identity validation in stores, at ATMs, and on e-commerce platforms, as well as personalized targeted advertising” (“Facial Recognition Technology.”). This technology has been seen as a breakthrough, opening doors to opportunities that people never thought possible. Although there has been a significant amount of innovations to this technology already, the article stated that “In the coming years, facial recognition technology may be integrated into personal vehicles, schools, casinos, hospitals, and other facilities to confirm people’s identities and track their presence or movements,” further pushing this technology into people’s everyday lives.There is talk that this type of technology could change the way that people are able to travel by replacing passports with facial scanners, to unlock cars by requiring a scan before opening the door, and even within the hospital by being able to identify when non-verbal patients are feeling pain by studying the changes seen.
The use of facial recognition technology within law enforcement is one of the main concerns from civilians. There is a lot of stipulation regarding the way in which this technology is used and whether or not police are using it to cut corners within investigations. There has been evidence to back both sides, many reports that suspects were taken into custody after being identified solely from facial recognition off of camera footage, but there are also rules put into place that prevent officers from relying on this technology and require more evidence than just a match within the facial recognition system.
James O’Neill, the police commissioner for New York City, wrote his article “How Facial Recognition Makes You Safer” to show his experience with technology and explain to readers how the police and government use this technology. In the simplest of terms, O’Neill describes facial recognition technology to be a “uniquely powerful tool” (O’Neill), he puts emphasis on the idea that it is used as just an additional tool in the world of crime fighting, nothing more than a finger print machine or a roll of crime scene tape. O’Neill goes through numerous scenarios in which facial recognition is used to help uncover suspects. He also denotes “no one can be arrested on the basis of a computer match alone” (O’Neill), giving readers a little more certainty that this software is used as a tool but not as the sole resource. The author also goes into the evolution of forensic technology and describes how facial recognition is a huge step up from fingerprint identification when looking for first time offenders.
O’Neill leaves the reader with this, “it would be an injustice to the people we served if we policied our 21st- century city without 21st-century technology” (O’Neill). The article gives strong insight to the use of this technology within a precinct and how it is used when conducting an investigation. O’Neill utilizes the concerns of those who oppose the use of facial recognition within the law enforcement as a counter argument within the article and then combats it with his own experiences. All in all, the article shows strong evidence that facial recognition is used as a tool for law enforcement to advance within an investigation, but not as a sole resource; making it a strong improvement.
A study completed by six political science researchers discovered that there were many similarities between the viewpoints of residents in Australia, China, the United States, and the United Kingdom in regards to automatic facial recognition and its integration into everyday life. Although the authors who reported on the research that was completed, stated that the most apparent differences were the way that “people in the USA were more accepting of tracking citizens, more accepting of private companies’ use of [automatic facial recognition] and less trusting of the police using [automatic facial recognition] than people in the UK and Australia” (Ritchie, Kay L., et al.). There are many cultural differences that play a significant role in the way different countries view the use of facial recognition technology. For example, over the last few years there has been a lot of controversy over the level of power that law enforcement in the United States holds which could be a part of the reasoning that people distrust this technology being used in the hands of law enforcement. The research team “recommend that governments should set legal boundaries around the use of [automatic facial recognition] in investigative and criminal justice settings,” as a solution to the negative feelings that people have toward the integration of automatic facial recognition software (Ritchie, Kay L., et al.). When looking at the negative perspective, many people view the malintentions if this technology to be primarily rooted at the fault of the government. There is no way of telling how every individual would react, but setting legal stipulations over the use of this technology could stunt the way in which it affects the digital world as it may halt further evolution and innovation of the technology.
It has become very apparent through the research conducted that “support for the use of AFR depends greatly on what the technology is used for and who it is used by” (Ritchie, Kay L., et al.). A lot of distrust for this software roots from the idea the software is not reliable. A person can go through significant physical changes in a short period of time whether it is growing a beard, cutting their hair, or even getting plastic surgery like a rhinoplasty. According to the study, “74.09% of participants thought that [automatic facial recognition] is accurate at identifying the correct person from a database, dropping to 55.62% who thought [automatic facial recognition] is accurate at recognising the same person across changes in physical appearance”(Ritchie, Kay L., et al.). This is also a concern when dealing with older individuals, according to the article Facial-recognition Technology may Help Detect Pain in Patients with Severe Dementia, all softwares “are not always able to distinguish wrinkles from frowns, for example. And they do not accurately interpret the expressions of adults who have cognitive and physical disabilities” (“Facial-recognition technology may help detect pain in patients with severe dementia.”). This is a big concern to the medical community and also would play a huge role in the integration of automatic facial recognition software into this field. But, this concern has been addressed and many sources inquire that there are steps being taken to bridge the gap between this software and identifying older individuals.
According to an infographic reported by Gale, a Cengage Company that covered the opinions on facial recognition technology of adults in the United States, the outcome believed that “41% of respondents believe the federal government should be responsible for protecting the privacy of personal data such as fingerprints or facial recognition” (“Opinions among US Adults Regarding Facial Recognition Software and Privacy, 2018.”). This percentage was the highest amongst all options, that included the responsibility of protecting this data in the hands of either the individual, a private company, and state governments. There is no way to ensure that this information is kept safe, but it relays the question of safety from what? Many people who reported being concerned of a mistaken identity through facial recognition software were referring to being wrongly convicted of a crime; but if facial recognition security is left up to the federal government then nothing would change from how it is presently. There is a lot of misinformation when it comes to facial recognition technology and that is where the stipulations from society are rooted. By informing the public about the uses and intentions that are set by the government and law enforcement, it would inspire people to do more research before forming a negative opinion.
When reflecting upon our lives in the digital world, facial recognition technology plays a very apparent role. This technology has had a significant impact in our society especially from a law enforcement stand point. There are many connections between the ways that automic facial recognition is used across the world, and the way that people view it- whether they see it as a positive innovation or a negative. There is a significant amount of controversy over the integration of automatic facial recognition into our everyday lives, many people see it as the government being too overbearing but others choose to see it as a stepping stone into further innovations for the future. Although change can cause fear, change plays a vital role in our lives in the digital world.
Works Cited
“Facial Recognition Technology.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/ZCCPNN823651880/OVIC?u=hpu_main&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=76ea05e6. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.
“Facial-recognition technology may help detect pain in patients with severe dementia.” Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada], 22 July 2019, p. A12. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A594142715/OVIC?u=hpu_main&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=72afdd22. Accessed 18 Apr. 2022.
O’Neill, James. “How Facial Recognition Makes You Safer.” New York Times, 10 June 2019, p. A23(L). Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A588322355/OVIC?u=hpu_main&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=539d1a56. Accessed 22 Apr. 2022.
“Opinions among US Adults Regarding Facial Recognition Software and Privacy, 2018.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/YGJTBD502906892/OVIC?u=hpu_main&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=3748afab. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.Ritchie, Kay L., et al. “Public attitudes towards the use of automatic facial recognition technology in criminal justice systems around the world.” PLoS ONE, vol. 16, no. 10, 13 Oct. 2021, p. e0258241. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A679440047/OVIC?u=hpu_main&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=ccba48a5. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.
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