Author: Ilana

What’s in Your Bag

 

  • FullSizeRenderColor coordinated notebooks- as a college student it is key to be organized so I never mix up my chem and english notes
  • Pencil case- where my mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens, and colorful highlighters are stored
  • A pile of miscellaneous pens and pencils- though I like to stay organized sometimes when I am running out of class I just throw my pencils into my backpack
  • Water bottle- I can never go through a long day of classes and walking around campus without this
  • Chem model kit and lab safety goggles- though I only have chem two times a week, I seem to just leave these items in my backpack so I am always prepared.  In addition, I never know when I am going to have to randomly put together a carbon hydrogen model throughout my week.
  • Maus- as we have our “Tracing Maus” assignment due next week, I have been carrying these books around with me so I can trace and annotate pages during my free time in between classes.
  • Lab composition notebooks- Since my lab professor is very particular with the organization of our lab notebooks, I am rewriting my first few labs in a new composition notebook so it is all organized properly.  Since this is easy but tedious work I like to do it in between classes when I have a free moment.
  • Agenda- I am the type of person who has to write down every assignment for all my classes.  I love to cross work out as I complete it to feel accomplished.
  • Laptop- from photos to documents to the whole wide internet, my computer contains everything.  I need this everyday to complete assignments, take notes, and even a little time for netflix here and there.
  • A pile of rappers- A the bottom of my backpack was a pile of rappers so I guess this assignment was a good way for me to clean my bag.
  • Charging wires and Portable charger- There are days that I am out of my dorm from before classes in the morning to late at night after spending hours in the library.  I cannot do anything without all my devices charged and recharged throughout the day.
  • Granola bar- I always grab one on my way out the door in the morning for breakfast, but sometimes I also have an extra for long and busy days.
  • Wallet- always a necessity around campus.
  • Room key- I have to carry this around everywhere so I am not locked out of my room when my roommate is gone.
  • Gum- I love carrying a pack of gum with me and know my friends do as well.
  • Chapstick- during the cold winter months this came in handy very often.
  • Boarding passes- I took this same backpack on my family trip to Peru over winter break and somehow still have these.  This was a very good memory as I was emptying out my backpack.
  • Change- I found coins and dollar bills at the bottom of my backpack as a pleasant surprise while doing this assignment.

 

Since for the next few years much of my life is revolved around my education and time as a student, my backpack definitely represents this.  My notebooks, agenda, and chemistry model kit are the items that I lug around everyday here on campus but I hope these items do not completely define me.  Though I am organized and a hard worker, that is not everything- there is also a personality behind the studying.  I love adventure and spending time with friends and family so I was very pleased to find my boarding passes in my backpack to remind me of to other parts of my life- rewards for the hardwork and dedication to my academics.  

Sketch 5 (triptych)

I honestly had no idea where to start with this sketch assignment.  In my head I tried to think of play-on-words and how I could make them into comic strips.  I read and reread the assignment multiple times hoping it would just come to me.  Once I came up with the idea to use a “knock-knock joke” I thought I would do something with the famous “orange you glad I didn’t say banana” line.  However, I did not know where the flow and stages of the comic would go besides that.  Then, I came up with this “who’s” “who” “hoo” word jumble.

It was a challenge to decide whether or not the owl should be seen in the panel where he answers the question of “who’s there.”  I did not want to show that it was an owl until the last panel even though the answer of “hooooooooooo” does this job.  Then, I had to decide whether the lady inside the house would answer with “hoo who” or who who”.  This would indicate whether or not she could differentiate the words and whether or not she already knew an owl was outside.  I purposely went with “who who” and drew a very surprised face in the end to show she was not expecting the owl.  While the reader knows it is an owl from its previous answer, that is taking place outside the house purposely covered from the lady inside.  IMG_20180225_0001default

Quotes for class Today

While reading Maus, it flows like a story.  A reader would never expect how much alterations and tedious work went into the pattern of the panels of this graphic novel.  While it seems as though it could have been written paragraph by paragraph in a flowing manner, Art Speigelman admits to have put everything into ever detail of the pattern.  Since there is such a difference between how this was written and how it is read, this must be why it takes “reader participation” to read this text.  Readers are the ones who have the text flow as a story.  It is so interesting how perfectly Art places the transitions between Vladeks story and the modern panels that Art is actually present in.

An Icy Fresh Day

I purposefully read the prompt for this sketch assignment a few days in advance because I knew it would take me time to brainstorm a solid idea.  I am so glad I did because for three days straight it felt like I tried to picture every object that I came across incorporated into a sketch.  Nothing was coming to me until I took a piece of gum out of my desk draw while studying and noticed the speckled pattern on its shiny outer shell for the first time.  As a result of the recent snow days we had, it hit my that I can turn these white and blue pieces of gum into snowflakes falling from the sky.  Since the freshness of super minty gum is commonly compared to the cool temperatures of ice, I decided to title my sketch “An Icy Fresh day.”  The day pictured is bright, vibrant, and sunny.  This freshness of the landscape is a result of the snow falling which could clear up any dullness.

Since the pieces of gym are very minimalistic, with the addition of a shiny speckled touch, I immediately knew I wanted to incorporate them into a cartoon like version of a landscape.  Then, it was more of a spur of the moment decision- that turned into doubling the assignment a single sketch- to put cotton ball pieces on the clouds to make them fluffy and more realistic.

 

http://eng101s18.davidmorgen.org/assignments/sketch/sketch-3-sunday-sketches/

 

Visual Note Taking

For my visual notes, I drew my ISOM-350 lecture on probability.  I worked to put the information of the lesson into the word probability.  I did this in two sections.  The notes within the “Probab” part of the word are the real notes on probability overlap, definitions of terms used within this unit, and equations used to calculate probabilities under certain circumstances.  I completed the phrase with “Probab-ly do not understand this.”  This is the more difficult stuff that I will be putting into use throughout this course. The notes within the bubble letters are the bullets straight out of the powerpoint lecture while the random parts around are the side notes I included in my notebook that came straight from my professor while going over different material.

Then, in the “ility” part of the word, I included my true probability “Ab-ility.”  The random math symbols that float around my head in color- instead of the boring black and white of the material before- when I think of math, numbers, and probability. Drawing out my notes allowed me to see the overwhelming information and formulas in one place organized by bullet.  I did not have much room inside the bubble letters so only included the most important and relevant information.  Seeing the notes in front of me in this way does not scare me away from the numbers and word problems that come after learning these basics.  

Literacy Narrative Reflection

In my literacy narrative, I compare the positivity I have experienced with writing and the setbacks I have had in my history with reading.  Though I have always been a dedicated student, I have learned that needing extra help in a single subject area is something to accept.

Since I have had a similar assignment in the past, I knew I wanted to just go more into depth.  Having the pre-assignment prompts allowed me so include details that I otherwise would not think to.  This assignment was the first time I have put into words how I actually felt with the extra reading program I attended in first grade.  I was able to actually ponder how this made me feel in the past compared to what it means to me now.

Avatar

When assigned to create a public avatar of myself I initially had no idea where to start. No, I’m not an artist and do not have photoshop on my computer to make a coded digitized avatar. But then, it hit me. The twenty first century is all about connecting through social media, which has become easier and more amusing with everybody’s use of the ever expanding library of emoticons. I scroll through the assortment of emojis on my phone almost every day to add a quick visual aid to my written text messages. Personalized bitmojis add uniqueness since you can make the characterized version of you do almost anything- the options are endless.

So, I decided to create a bitmoji of myself doing the work for this class. The background is a collage of comics between students and teachers in a school setting. Even though this is only serving as a comics backdrop, it adds a quirky touch knowing they are all related to classwork. The graphic novels we will be exploring in this class have visual illustrations to assist words while emojis are a modern way of using images to communicate and relay messages.

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