Made to Stick

Dan and Chip Heath writes about stickiness by say:
"Our interest is in how effective ideas are constructed-what makes some ideas stick and others disappear."
The term, stickiness, refers to the catch and appeal that some stories have and others don't. These certain qualities feed off of emotion, shock appeal, and the persistence of memory in their simplicity. Stickiness is an age old technique used from storytellers to the media industry to English classes.
I think we all pick up on stickiness unconsciously. Even a middle school girl knows what gossip will "stick" and what gossip just won't impress, independent of what the truth is. Dan and Chip Heath hit a concept that is in many different areas of our society. This stickiness that they refer to is how many industries thrive and work. It's part off human nature to be consumed by ideas that inflame the imagination, what can we even say for ourselves?

Library Stalking

Once I got over the awkward darting eyes during the library activity, I realized that this activity actually does push myself as a writer. Finding a subject to write on wasn't too difficult. He is sitting with both feet on the floor, working on the assignment, nothing too surprising. And then I got to... "Make metaphoric equivalences for your observations". What kind of metaphoric equivalence could I possibly make out of "Size: Average"? I then found myself making many references to animals when making my metaphors. I think I was struggling for some sort of sensible metaphor to an obvious observation. Making metaphoric equivalences is a good exercise though. I would assume that to be a great writer you should be able to make an exact metaphors for seemingly apparent observations. This was the frustrating yet necessary element of the library stalking.

What the Dog Saw

First off, I wish all of our homework assignments were written about the Dog Whisperer. Cesar undoubtedly has a touch with dogs. His body language naturally soothes dogs who are too high strung. There is an approach that works best with dogs, and, as Gladwell writes about, an anxious dog is the result of an anxious owner. While many people can be taught how to handle their pets, the reason that Cesar is the "Dog Whisperer" is that he has this ability naturally.
In the article, Gladwell writes a paragraph that compares what Cesar does to calm an unruly dog, to what parents do to calm an unruly child. Yet, surprisingly, Cesar lacks that human interaction. This is unexpected to me. I feel like anyone of such a calm and peaceful nature such as Cesar would have the same effect on humans. But as Gladwell goes on to write, Cesar lacks the ability to interact with his own wife. This is so odd, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. There are a lot of examples where people who are so gifted in one area are completely lost in another.
The article eventually ends with a sort of realization for Cesar that humans too have temperaments and ways to approach them. Cesar begins to learn how to transcend his natural ability with canines into a connection with his own wife. Interesting that it took a therapist to do this.

In Response to Peter...

I don't believe Shelley Jackson was ever looking for herself in the article. I could see how this could be thought though. In the beginning of her article, their seems to be an identity crisis going on, but that seems to be written for the purpose of making a point. The point being that it doesn't matter who the author of the article is, call her whatever you want (Shelley Shelley), because all writer reuse and rework the ideas of other writers. This is especially true when writing in hypertext. Later in her article, Shelley Jackson even encourages her article to be plagiarised. This just solidifies her point that writers are working off of each other even more in the digital age.

"Stitch Bitch"

After my initial read of "Stitch Bitch" I didn't know what to make of it. I was confused to say the least. But after class today I think I'm finally beginning to grasp what Shelley Jackson is writing about. When I originally read "Stitch Bitch" I missed the whole reference to Frankenstein. And now that I know that crucial allusion, the rest of what Shelley Jackson writes is much clearer. This may not be the point Jackson is intending to make, but this is what I interpreted from it. The title "Stitch Bitch" is referring to the making of Frankenstein. That's an obvious one. Frankenstein was sewn together out of different body parts. But that metaphor of the body is a reoccurring metaphor in Jackson's piece. She compares the human body to writing, to hypertext. "But hypertext provides a body, a vaporous sort of insufficiently tactile body but a body, for our experience of the beauty of relationships." Frankenstein was made up of body parts from other people all sewn together to create this monster. Writing is a sewn together body in a way, each limb representing an influence from someone else. Plagiarism. The works of one writer influences another, and this is done so much more now that we are writing in the digital age, in hypertext. The writer didn't produce their works from only their own thoughts, it's impossible. The writings were produced from a sewn together body, a stitched bitch perhaps? But Shelley Jackson doesn't mean "bitch" in a negative way. It's simply a literal meaning. She intends to say that it is a good thing to be a sewn together body, composed of other writers' works. Frankenstein was a monster, but Shelley Jackson ultimately concludes by writing:
"A beaker of imaginal secretions makes us all desire's monsters, which is what we ought to be."

Questions for the Patchwork Girl

1. Who is writing the article?
2. Is Shelley Jackson a real person?
3. What is the meaning of hypertext?
4. Why does she encourage plagiarising her work?
5. Why does she choose "A beaker of imaginal secretions makes us all desire's monsters, which is what we ought to be." as her final sentence? What does this mean?
6. What is the intended message to take away from this piece?

"Litany" by Billy Collins

1. Does Billy Collins have an intent to make this poem ironic?
2. Why does Billy Collins steal the first two lines?
3. Why those lines specifically?
4. What is the intent of Billy Collins by writing this poem?
5. How does Billy Collins feel about comparisons in western love poetry?
6. What is the meaning of the poem's title "Litany"?

Mark Twain Response

http://editorialengine.com/?p=808

In this article on Mark Twain, there is a quote that reads, "The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say."

Mark Twain is communicating that the majority of the time spent writing a piece is actually time just spent trying to figure out what you even want to say. So much of one's writing can be edited out because it doesn't contain any progressive thought. Twain is advocating for revision and editing when writing. Once a piece of writing is finished to satisfaction, it should then be reworked to communicate the writers intended thought.

This quote goes along with the notion that not all great writings need to be long. It is essential for writers to spend time editing and revising their work, which often leads to shorter pieces. There often is a misconception that writings should be long and wordy, when in reality a short writing could say more than one of greater words.