First let me say that I read all of the books, it was intolerable after the first chapter but I have to finish what I start, even if it kills me! Also, I don't want to offend anyone, so this is just my opinon. This is very, very long.
Dictionary:Mary Sue:A female fiction character who is so perfect as to be annoying. The male equivlalent is the Marty-Stu. Often abbreviated to "Sue". A Mary Sue character is usually written by a beginning author. Often, the Mary Sue is a self-insert with a few "improvements" (ex. better body, more popular, etc). The Mary Sue character is almost always beautiful, smart, etc... In short, she is the "perfect" girl. The Mary Sue usually falls in love with the author's favorite character(s) and winds up upstaging all of the other characters in the book/series/universe. There are several main types of Mary Sue: Victim!SuesBELLA) The Victim!Sue is your whiny, wimpy, pathetic female character who can't seem to do much of anything except cry and get herself into trouble that the romantic interest of the fic has to rescue her from. Warrior!Sues: The Warrior!Sue is usually loud, obnoxious and (of course) an amazing warrior. She'll usually have some tragic past that led her to become a warrior, and she'll upstage all of the Canonical characters with her mad Sueish powerz. Mage!Sue: Similar to the Warrior!Sue, the Mage!Sue has amazing stregnth in magic, or has a magical power that nobody else has. She'll usually wind up upstaging all of the magical characters of the series. Punk!Sue: Also called Noncomformist!Sue or Goth!Sue, the Punk!Sue is usually written by female beginners in the 11-15 age group. The Punk!Sue is loud, obnoxious, annoying and generally the type of person who you'd want to send off to boot camp for six months. The Punk!Sue almost always has angst coming out of her ears and isn't really a bad person, she's just oh!-so-angry at whatever tragic past the author has chosen to give her. The Punk!Sue is based on what the 11-15 year old author thinks is "cool" and wishes she could be. This includes Evil!Sues. Misfit!Sue: This includes all Sues who are supposedly geeks, nerds, misfits, etc. Usually, the Misfit!Sue doesn't start out as inhumanly beautiful, but winds up getting a makeover and finding out she had the potential to be a guy-magnet (or girl-magnet, depending on the genre) all along. Also includes the "My parents want me to do this but I want to do that and it's not fair!!one!" type of Sue. Usually, this Sue is very bookish and smart, but will find some sort of physical talent nobody expected and become a star as a result. Another thing to note is that a Sue will usually have a completely off-the-wall name, like "Viquetoria". The more wierd and pretentious the name of the character, the more likely it is that she's a Sue.
Marty Stu/ Gary Stu:The male counter part of what I wrote above.
The Evidence:Miss Meyer has admitted that she "fell in love" with the character of Edward (GARY STU) when she wrote him. Many writers discuss their characters like this, but few single out their protagonist's love interest for the honor.Bella(MARY SUE) has a very magical, Mary-Sue-like name. "Bella Swan." She's allegedly perfectly ordinary in every way, to the point of absolute tedium, but somehow when she moves to a new area, instead of becoming a true outcast, she is instead fawned over by every guy in the school. And she can't be bothered with it. "Ho, hum, yeah, you can have my leftovers. How droll."Bella has precisely one flaw: she's clumsy. Wow. That's absolutely *classic*. Her only character flaw is that she's endearingly oaf-like? That's it? And it makes her even more *adorable*?So, this perfecly ordinary girl from an only moderately poor home life who is just bored with her social life captures the attention of the world's most perfect guy. He's so perfect that he SPARKLES. Literally. He sparkles. Most vampires blow up, or burn or turn to bats when the enter sunlight, who the HELL would think to make them sparkle? Maybe in the moon, MAYBE, but in the sun? Thats like making a vampire who doesn't drink blood! Oh, well actually...Anywyas, he is so F*ing classic. He's strong, and handsome, and brooding, and intelligent, and INTERESTING because he's secretly a sexy vampire with a really cool vampire family. He's so in love with Bella for no good reason that they can't sleep together lest he lose control of himself. He's "mysteriously drawn" to her. And he wants to protect her. And take her away from all this. And she gets swept into a magical world that she never could have ever imagined.The only way this chick could be a bigger Mary Sue is if she had violet eyes and the power to talk to animals. This isn't the plot of a best-selling novel. This is the kind of story that middle-school girls tell themselves when they fantasize. The kind of shit you wrote in your diary at age 13 about the amazing adventures that you have in your head. Except it's not you, it's sort of a better you, more interesting, more perfect, more beautiful, more popular. "And everyone loves me even this really mysterious secret beautiful VAMPIRE who can't resist me!"This has been a ridiculous rant, but I can't believe this piece of adolescent tripe has made it into print, much less grown to its current frenzied height of popularity. It is vile. You know a book should have been left in the slush pile when its Fanfic is indistinguishable from its canon.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
What have you done to work on your leadership style? What are your plans and goals going forward?
My leaderships styles are inspire a vision and enable others to act. I noticed that I do have trouble conveying what I am thinking without feeling out of place. I have tried to work on the public speaking aspect of leadership as I have always been a very shy person, but I have learned that I am more open with others about my opinions and thoughts on a matter, that I am respected more so for standing for what I believe. I have always been on e to fight what I believe in, but I have always done so from behind the scenes. I am more of an organizer than one that can get up and the morning and start a protest. I also learned that to expand my experience, as silly as it sounds, I have to take action rather than watching and waiting for others to do so. I plan on exercising these skills I have learned and I hope to teach others what I have learned. The experience of this class has impacted me in such a positive way. It has helped me accept my styles instead of trying to fit into everyone else’s. I would suggest this class to anyone who would ask.
My leaderships styles are inspire a vision and enable others to act. I noticed that I do have trouble conveying what I am thinking without feeling out of place. I have tried to work on the public speaking aspect of leadership as I have always been a very shy person, but I have learned that I am more open with others about my opinions and thoughts on a matter, that I am respected more so for standing for what I believe. I have always been on e to fight what I believe in, but I have always done so from behind the scenes. I am more of an organizer than one that can get up and the morning and start a protest. I also learned that to expand my experience, as silly as it sounds, I have to take action rather than watching and waiting for others to do so. I plan on exercising these skills I have learned and I hope to teach others what I have learned. The experience of this class has impacted me in such a positive way. It has helped me accept my styles instead of trying to fit into everyone else’s. I would suggest this class to anyone who would ask.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Reflection 9
Think of a time when you have helped someone through a tough time. Was it a good friend or someone you just met? How did you know what to do/what to say? What would you do differently if the same situation came up again?
Most of friends come to me and me only with their problems. They refer to me as their consoler and the problem solver. My best friend, Brittany, is going to school in California, as far away as possible and I am still the only person she tells her problems. For example, she recently just broke up with her boyfriend and called me at 3 in the morning. I helped her through her crisis and we finished a 5 hour conversation talking about our times back in 5th grade. We haven’t seen each other since high school graduation, but we catch up almost immediately. Brittney seems to attract crisis if you ask me, and he boyfriend does nothing to help. She called in a fit of distress and I talked her through his decision by entertaining other possibilities, other than the negative. She provided every reason that he could have left her and I dismissed them with simple explanations. Once she was reasonable again, and felt much better after letting it all out, I told her what I thought happened and helped her take the steps to resolve her issue. They are now back together and are quite happy. I wouldn’t change anything that I did because it worked out well.
Most of friends come to me and me only with their problems. They refer to me as their consoler and the problem solver. My best friend, Brittany, is going to school in California, as far away as possible and I am still the only person she tells her problems. For example, she recently just broke up with her boyfriend and called me at 3 in the morning. I helped her through her crisis and we finished a 5 hour conversation talking about our times back in 5th grade. We haven’t seen each other since high school graduation, but we catch up almost immediately. Brittney seems to attract crisis if you ask me, and he boyfriend does nothing to help. She called in a fit of distress and I talked her through his decision by entertaining other possibilities, other than the negative. She provided every reason that he could have left her and I dismissed them with simple explanations. Once she was reasonable again, and felt much better after letting it all out, I told her what I thought happened and helped her take the steps to resolve her issue. They are now back together and are quite happy. I wouldn’t change anything that I did because it worked out well.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Reflrction 8
What advice do you have for young women leaders?
Work hard, aim high and try again. This is something that I try to aspire to everyday. As a child, I was very, very shy up until about 9th grade. I had a teacher that was one of my biggest inspirations. He taught us to stand up for what we believe and to never stop fighting. He used a dry erase board instead of a chalk board and everyday he wrote “Work Hard, Aim High, and Try Again” and asked us why he did it. We all had theories and he indulged us, but never divulged the answer. Some of us tried everyday for a year to figure his true purpose and he just shook his head and laughed. The end of the year came and we all sat excitedly waiting for the answer, but most had lost interest .I am naturally curious, so I knew I had to figure it out. He never told us. So, I went to see him on graduation day to see what he really meant. He said that his mentor had done the same thing when he was in high school and he wanted to continue a tradition. I asked the meaning of the lesson and he smiled, and told me that the phrase itself was a motivator and he wanted us to persist in our inquires and continue with his puzzle. He meant to make a mark on us, he wanted the phrase itself to be a motivation to uncover the meaning of the phrase. (I hope that makes sense) He also said I was one of the very few (about 6 in 20 years of teaching) that ever came for the final answer. Since then, I have always taken the long road to figure out the puzzle and it helped me find a way to help others do the same.
Work hard, aim high and try again. This is something that I try to aspire to everyday. As a child, I was very, very shy up until about 9th grade. I had a teacher that was one of my biggest inspirations. He taught us to stand up for what we believe and to never stop fighting. He used a dry erase board instead of a chalk board and everyday he wrote “Work Hard, Aim High, and Try Again” and asked us why he did it. We all had theories and he indulged us, but never divulged the answer. Some of us tried everyday for a year to figure his true purpose and he just shook his head and laughed. The end of the year came and we all sat excitedly waiting for the answer, but most had lost interest .I am naturally curious, so I knew I had to figure it out. He never told us. So, I went to see him on graduation day to see what he really meant. He said that his mentor had done the same thing when he was in high school and he wanted to continue a tradition. I asked the meaning of the lesson and he smiled, and told me that the phrase itself was a motivator and he wanted us to persist in our inquires and continue with his puzzle. He meant to make a mark on us, he wanted the phrase itself to be a motivation to uncover the meaning of the phrase. (I hope that makes sense) He also said I was one of the very few (about 6 in 20 years of teaching) that ever came for the final answer. Since then, I have always taken the long road to figure out the puzzle and it helped me find a way to help others do the same.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Reflection 7
What do you think makes you a productive leader? How do you get things done... and is there anything you'd like to do better?
I am a productive person, overall, because I organize my tasks according to importance and by due date. I really have to concentrate on the tasks to do them efficiently. I am constantly making lists. I have a planner by day, by week and by month and all of my assignments are color coded. I have to write any online notes, because I cannot study from my computer, there is too much distraction to be had. (By the way, YouTube’s sole existence is to distract every college student from their work. YouTube is the bane of homework’s existence). So, when it comes to being a leader, I follow the same path and since I am leading a group, YouTube is far, far away. I try to organize the purpose of the group and find the best way to get to our goal. Then, I work my very hardest, doing everything I can possibly do to accomplish what needs done. I was taught that all that matters is winning, so for a long time I had many misconceptions about the meaning of reaching the goal. So I guess I need to work on not needing to be number one at everything, and being more trusting that people will do what they said they would do. I definitely have been taught to trust through experience and I have had several experience that back this theory up, but as I have moved to college, every group I have worked with has really come through and my trust has severely increased.
I am a productive person, overall, because I organize my tasks according to importance and by due date. I really have to concentrate on the tasks to do them efficiently. I am constantly making lists. I have a planner by day, by week and by month and all of my assignments are color coded. I have to write any online notes, because I cannot study from my computer, there is too much distraction to be had. (By the way, YouTube’s sole existence is to distract every college student from their work. YouTube is the bane of homework’s existence). So, when it comes to being a leader, I follow the same path and since I am leading a group, YouTube is far, far away. I try to organize the purpose of the group and find the best way to get to our goal. Then, I work my very hardest, doing everything I can possibly do to accomplish what needs done. I was taught that all that matters is winning, so for a long time I had many misconceptions about the meaning of reaching the goal. So I guess I need to work on not needing to be number one at everything, and being more trusting that people will do what they said they would do. I definitely have been taught to trust through experience and I have had several experience that back this theory up, but as I have moved to college, every group I have worked with has really come through and my trust has severely increased.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Reflection 6
What do you think so far about Madsen's book? How have you seen yourself or other women around you represented in the stories of these women presidents?
The thing about Susan Madsen's On Becoming a Woman Leader, I really can not relate in the slightest to these women, other than being a woman myself. The book itself has some interesting roots and the point that Susan is trying to make is obvious, and she is clearly trying to lead other women to successfulness, or at least share how these ten women did so.
The stories are, however, a step backwards, in my opinion. The really take away from the book and its meaning. If it was called “A lifetime with…” or something of the caliber but this book focuses the too much on these stories that aren’t entertaining and all they do is repeat the “moral of the story” for example, instead of just saying lying is bad, she says lying is bad and this is why… story of boy who cried wolf (Brother Grimm), one-eyed cat (Paula Fox), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) and three pages later, still trying to prove that same point. It takes away the attention and the fact that none of the stories ever connect really turned me off.
The writing is good, the like how her words flow, but as for the “story”, she side-skirts a lot, and I feel that the book could be reduced a few chapters and a few “select stories” from each president.
I would rate this book a 6/10 and would not re-read it, nor recommend it to anyone. As I said before, I cannot relate myself or anyone I know to the stories of these women, other than we are women, and we have to work to get where we want in life.
The thing about Susan Madsen's On Becoming a Woman Leader, I really can not relate in the slightest to these women, other than being a woman myself. The book itself has some interesting roots and the point that Susan is trying to make is obvious, and she is clearly trying to lead other women to successfulness, or at least share how these ten women did so.
The stories are, however, a step backwards, in my opinion. The really take away from the book and its meaning. If it was called “A lifetime with…” or something of the caliber but this book focuses the too much on these stories that aren’t entertaining and all they do is repeat the “moral of the story” for example, instead of just saying lying is bad, she says lying is bad and this is why… story of boy who cried wolf (Brother Grimm), one-eyed cat (Paula Fox), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) and three pages later, still trying to prove that same point. It takes away the attention and the fact that none of the stories ever connect really turned me off.
The writing is good, the like how her words flow, but as for the “story”, she side-skirts a lot, and I feel that the book could be reduced a few chapters and a few “select stories” from each president.
I would rate this book a 6/10 and would not re-read it, nor recommend it to anyone. As I said before, I cannot relate myself or anyone I know to the stories of these women, other than we are women, and we have to work to get where we want in life.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Reflection 5
If you were to design a university from the ground up, what would it be like?
I have been dreading this question since I first read it on Moodle and, as you can see, I have waited until the last possible moment to finish it. I have been chewing on it since the first day of class and I still have no idea how I would even begin, so I am going to start with problems I see every day and work from that.
-Cable
-Air conditioning
-access to a wireless router ALL THE TIME!
-more flexibility with meal plans
-option to have all flex dollars
-flexibility to use meals when you want, where you want and how many you want
-Fix the roads and add side walks up Chapel Hill
-Clean and organize the kitchens and laundry rooms of the res halls.
-curtain rods provided in the res rooms
-allow painting of the walls in res rooms
-and many more, I am sure
SO, as you can see, I have some of the basic complaints that everyone at Chatham shares, and some not so usually, who honestly sits in a dark corner and broods about not having a curtain rod? Me, that's right! (I was lucky enough to get a room with a rod holder installed and all I needed was a rod, but in my last two rooms, believe me, I was brooding) Anyways, back to he subject.
My university would have all of the above things but I only really listed improvements to be made to Chatham, which implies that it already is quite perfect(for me, anyways), which is why I chose to come here, verses every other school that I was accepted.
Like I said, this question is one I have been avoiding, so I answered it to the bes of my capabilities.
Shannon
I have been dreading this question since I first read it on Moodle and, as you can see, I have waited until the last possible moment to finish it. I have been chewing on it since the first day of class and I still have no idea how I would even begin, so I am going to start with problems I see every day and work from that.
-Cable
-Air conditioning
-access to a wireless router ALL THE TIME!
-more flexibility with meal plans
-option to have all flex dollars
-flexibility to use meals when you want, where you want and how many you want
-Fix the roads and add side walks up Chapel Hill
-Clean and organize the kitchens and laundry rooms of the res halls.
-curtain rods provided in the res rooms
-allow painting of the walls in res rooms
-and many more, I am sure
SO, as you can see, I have some of the basic complaints that everyone at Chatham shares, and some not so usually, who honestly sits in a dark corner and broods about not having a curtain rod? Me, that's right! (I was lucky enough to get a room with a rod holder installed and all I needed was a rod, but in my last two rooms, believe me, I was brooding) Anyways, back to he subject.
My university would have all of the above things but I only really listed improvements to be made to Chatham, which implies that it already is quite perfect(for me, anyways), which is why I chose to come here, verses every other school that I was accepted.
Like I said, this question is one I have been avoiding, so I answered it to the bes of my capabilities.
Shannon
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