Space Odyssey second draft

Kellee Grahn
Space Odyssey Review
Second Draft


The Space Odyssey was very confusing to me. I’m not really into science fiction movies like that so it was hard for me to follow. It was known to be one of the greatest films ever made when it came out. “A Space Odyssey is so acclaimed by mainstream critics – it is one of the most eminently visual of all science-fiction films. Spaceflight had been depicted on screen before but never with such realism – there is the breathtaking visual poetry of the scenes where Stanley Kubrick shows us the docking with a space station and Moon landing where spaceships gracefully twirl and dock in freefall all to the sweep and lull of Johann Strauss’s Blue Danube waltz. This is why 2001 is great as science-fiction because it is a demonstration of what science-fiction can conjure in the visual medium .” I also have to consider the time period that it was made. They didn’t have all the special effects that we do, so for that time period, I think the viewers were impressed. I liked seeing how they thought the future was going to be. It was interesting to see what they thought was going to happen in 2001.
In the beginning, it went kind of slow. The movie had a lot of shots of deserted land for about ten minutes. Then we began to see violent apes with very little water and food. One morning, the apes wake up and see that there is a suspicious monolith outside their cave. After this discovery, the “Dawn of Man” begins and the apes slowly but surely begin to turn into humans. At one point, one of the apes finds bones from a dead animal. The scene depicts the ape’s thought process as he gradually puts two and two together and uses the bone as a toll of survival. I believe this was supposed to represent evolution and how far mankind has come.
Millions and millions of years later in 2001, things have changed. Technology is outstanding, and five scientists are on their way to Jupiter. These scientists are equipped with HAL. HAL is a remarkable computer that is thought of to never fail. However, HAL detects a problem with the communicating hardware and ends up being wrong. Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, who are two of the astronauts on the mission, talk about deactivating HAL. What they do not know is HAL can read their lips and from then on plots revenge on the two unknowing men. This is the major turning point because it turns this mission into a dangerous, and deadly operation.
Watching the movie, I had no interest in it. It was very hard for me to keep up with the plot and understand it. It wasn’t until I researched it after that I even fully understood it and what is was actually about. When I read the reviews of the movie, I taken aback at how amazing critics thought this movie was. Then I began to realize when this was made and slowly I began to understand the significance of this movie. In my generation, there is so much technology that can make special effects in movies look as if they are realistic. I decided I was being bias of this movie. For its time, 2001 The Space Odyssey was an exceptional film. Stanley Kubrick had to have a brilliant mind to think of all the futuristic technology. Man himself had not even landed on the moon yet in 1968 when this film was released. This shows that the technology such as HAL and most of the other interesting things that were depicted in the movie were imagined. Most of the technology shown in the beginning is white, which to me, makes it look new, modern, and clean. The people in the movie act like the technology is no big deal. They act like they have been around it forever. I think by the actors doing this, it made the technology seem even more realistic. Nothing goes wrong in the beginning and the astronauts have trust in their technology. On the other hand, as the movie goes on, we see that HAL not only fails the humans, but turns on them. People knew about the moon and space, and just a year later, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. I thought that that was very interesting. However, 2001 A Space Odyssey was not about the moon, it was about landing on Jupiter which is an even bigger deal at that time.

space odyssey

Kellee Grahn
Space Odyssey Review
First Draft


The Space Odyssey was very confusing to me. I’m not really into science fiction movies like that so it was hard for me to follow it. It was known to be one of the greatest films ever made when it came out. I also have to consider the time period that it was made. They didn’t have all the special effects that we do, so for that time period, I think the viewers were impressed. I liked seeing how they thought the future was going to be. It was interested to see what they thought was going to happen in 2001.
In the beginning, it went kin of slow. The movie showed a bunch of apes and deserted land. The apes go from being just regular monkeys with barely any food to almost human like creatures. The one ape figures out how to use a bone as a tool and I think that was symbolizing the dawn of man. Dr. Floyd is one of the main characters. He goes up into space in a elaborate space ship. I don’t think that is how space shuttles look these days, but again, that was what they thought in 1968. I was really confused when he was in the all white building because I didn’t know if he was in space or on earth. Nobody was floating around or anything, but when he looked out the window, he saw space. That part was not clear to me. Floyd’s mission is to go examine an artifact on the moon. When they arrive on the moon, they see a tall column-like object. It looks like the same object that was discovered by the apes in the very beginning of the movie.
Dave, Frank and Hal are two men going on a mission to Jupiter. They discover that the antenna that lets them get in reach with the people on earth is going to break. This part was really hard for me to follow. I was very confused the whole time. Dave and Frank want to replace the unit but if they did they would have to deactivate Hal. Hal sees them talking about deactivating him. He ends up being deactivated.
The end was really weird. The column-like object shows up again, but there is a creature in it that I didn’t understand what it meant. I think they were trying to say that there was life on Jupiter. If I interpreted it right, that’s what they were trying to tell the viewers. My favorite part about the whole movie was how they though the future was going to be like. It was really interesting what they thought. I think I would have liked it better in 1968, because me and all of my peers have been exposed to so many special effects. It would have been a lot better if I didn’t know what the future was going to be like because I have lived through 2001 and I do not think that space was like that and I know that so far, no extraterrestrial life has been found on Jupiter.

Compiling a Portfolio (224-235)

I have never really made a portfolio before. I didnt even know what it was until I read this chapter. We made on in like fourth grade but I don't think that counted. We just compiled all of our drawings and report cards into it. I guess I always thought of it as something like a scrap book. When I tought of portfolios, english never really came to mind. In the very beginning of the chapter, it tells what I could possibly put in a portfolio. From that I got that all a prtfoli is is a collection of whatever you want. Almost like a journal. It also talks about labeling. I think that is important, because the folder shouldn's just have a jumble of papers in it that you don't even know what they are. I guess my definition of a portfolio would be this: A collection of little pieces all leading up to the final project. Something to show progression. I think they a re a great idea. I always kept my rough drats and outlines so I could see how to improve my final piece, but I never rrally thought of to organize it in a way that would make it a lot easier for me and anyone one else who needed to take a look at it.

My group has Ariel, Jess, Audrey and myself in it. We are making a one minute video comparing Carter's hotdogs to Greeks pizza. They are both stands that are located in the village. They are open late night and many BSU students are familiar with them. Our goal is to tell the incoming freshman which one is better. We are going around campus interviewing random students and staff asking them which one they like better. Then we are going to make a video which consists of those clips and also history on both Carter's and Greeks. So far we have all of out interviews and have made half the video. All we need to do now is add music to it and also somehow the history into the video.

250-254 Guiding your reader

I never really have thought about guiding my reader in while writing my papers, but it is a very important aspect of the text. The audience needs to know what exactly they are reading or listening to and why it is important. I also never pay much attention to my title. In fact to me it used to be one of the least important things of my text. However, it is a vital part. I judge what I want to read based on the title, so why wouldn't other people? Another point for the reader to pay attention to is the thesis statement because it is supposed to sum up your whole text in one sentence. This way, the audience can get a taste of what exactly it is you are trying to get at. I'm very bad at transition sentences, but they are also important in telling your reader what is coming up next and also refreshing their memory on what they just read about.

239-249 Strategies

The beginning and the ending of a text are both vital. The beginning needs to grab the reader's attention depending on who the audience is, and the end needs to make sense and satisfy what the reader wanted to know. In a rhetorical situation, the beginning will tell what is going on and kind of have a brief summary about the subject and get the reader up to speed on what he/she is writing about. It also included a thesis statement which in a way sums up the whole text and what you will be talking about. Depending on who your audience is you need to make sure to try to grab their attention and to connect with them. Endings need to state the point that you are trying to make and getting rid of any questions that the reader might have. If these aren't provided, the text was not successful because the audience did not get what they wanted.

266-274 Comparing and Contrasting

Comparing: Looking for similarities. Contrasting: Looking for differences. People do both of these all the time without even realizing it. There are two ways to organize comparing and contrasting: block, and point by point. When you use the block method, you give all the information about your first item and then the next item separately. In point by point, you basically compare them side by side at the same time. Metaphors help compare things by using like or as. This usually isnt contrasting things because it is trying to show how two things are similar.

Classifying and Dividing 260-265

Classifying and dividing are very important. Things need to be grouped together so the reader can make sense of your text. If everything is jumbled and there is no organization then the reader will get bored and not want to see what you have to say. Classifying is when you group things together that are similar and diving is when you go even further and break up what you classified. This also helps you write your paper because it organizes your thoughts and puts them in order. The categories have to be distinct or else there is no point in grouping them. There can't be a lot of gray area.

255-259 Causes and effects

Every cause has an effect. Most of the time, I just want to know the effect and not have to ask myself why something happened. That's just me being lazy. Analyzing causes and effects is very important because without it, our world would not be filled with very much information. "Listing, clustering and outlining" these are three things I can do in order to analyze a cause. Why would I want to analyze a cause? So i get more out of it. So i don't just go the easy way out. In order to analyze a rhetorical situation, you have to have evidence that supports what you are talking about. I couldn't just say "You have the flu" without telling the person why and how I know this information. Obviously there are many effects to certain causes. Using common sense comes in handy here because some are probably more legit than others. If you do research and analyze each one, you can narrow it down to which one fits the best.

Strategies 313-328

I like the points that the first paragraph makes about reading texts. Sometimes I find myself reading pages and pages and not even realizing that I'm not paying attention. Especially if it's something that I'm not interested in. Skimming a text is easy enough. That is usually as far as my reading goes. That way when important things pop out at me, I can read those over again. I actaully do always underline word I don't know, but I never find myself looking them up, so I dont really think that does me any good. I think it's a good idea to read the text and take notes as I'm reading the text. I know I wont read it over again, so there is no point in reading it once then reading it again to take notes over it. "When you summarize, you restate a text's main ideas in your own words, leaving out most examples and details." I agree and disagree with this. Usually when I can sum something up, it means I understand it. If i can restate it in my own words, it will usually stay in my head forever. However, it does leave room for error because what if I sum something up that I think I understand but I don't?

More analyzing 518-553

More interpreting. For analyzing, I think it's easier to ask yourself the questions they have in this chapter. That way, you have something to start with then you can just build upon that. "When you analyze a text, you are basically arguing that the text should be read in a certain way." So i don't know if analyzing is more along the lines of a persuasive essay or a research paper like I thought before. "The sheer volume of it requires us to take in everything as a whole, absorbing much while actually seeing very little." I like this because even though it is actually in an analysis, it explains analyzing as well. I would need to look at the piece as a whole, then see what I want to see and talk about it. That is how I interpret that quote.

Analyzing 39-59

I didn't know analyzing something involved so much. I don't understand if analyzing has a right or wrong answer or if it just my opinion. When William Safire analyzes "A Spirit Reborn", it sounds like he knows exact facts, not stating his own opinion. When I analyze something, I just talk about what I see and read. "When you interpret something, you explain what you think it means." So I guess that answers my question. However, what if you interpret something completely wrong? So i use resources from the text and outside sources. Analyzing texts seems like it's similar to doing a research paper. My senior year, I had a teacher named Mr. Funk who taught my class how to annotate texts. So i can ask myself what certain things mean then state my opinion. "Having read the text carefully, think about what you find most interesting or intriguing and why." So don't analyze word for word, I will only point out what is most appealing to me.

219-223 Editing/Proofreading

"Your goal is not to acheive "perfection" so much as to make your writing as effective as possible for your particular purpose and audience." I really like that quote. It is on the first page and I think it was really good to start the chapter. Sometimes when I write papers I am just always thinking of perfect grammar, perfect punctuation, and make it perfect for the audience I am presenting it to. Editing words. I don't like thinking about that. I have to admit, when I use a small word I just click on the right side of the mouse and find that thesaurus tab. I never look up the word in the dictionary. I dont even look it up on line. Sometimes in highschool teachers would write on my paper that the word didnt make sense in the sentence. I need to work on not being lazy and checking my words.

213-218 Responses and Revising

I really only like when teachers revise my papers. I feel like when students revise it, they don't get every problem. I always want to know exactly what is wrong and exactly how to fix it. Since I really don't care that much when I revise people's papers, I really dont think they care when they revise my papers. Deadlines are a big problem for me. Sometimes I just think I can do a paper in an hour, and papers need a lot more time than that. They take several steps to write. I like how on page 215, the author says to give yourself a break from writing. Like walk away from your paper for a little bit. That makes sense to me. That could be why my papers aren't always that good. I usually just write the whole paper all at one time and a lot of mistakes are made. I don't feel like I would ever completley rewrite a paper in another form. I dont think that is worth it. If your paper is supposed to be an arguement, why rewrite it as a story? That seems like wasting time that you could just be spending on revising the actual paper and make it what it is really supposed to be.

208-212 Assessing my writings

I think it's a good idea to start any writing off as free writing. No matter who it's for or what it's about. Then after you have let your thoughts flow on the subject, you can begin to assess it. Usually when I write I just do it really fast to get it over with, but this chapter makes really good points. Free writing is really easy and it would give me a chance to just say what I want to say before I censor it. This chapter also has good tips on how to censor my writing. "Purpose, audience, genre, stance, and media/design." These are all points that I can look at when I am revising my free writing. I think audience is probably one of the most important. I need to make my point based on what the audience wants to hear and based on the point that I want to make.

Organizing my thoughts

This is very hard for me to do when I write. I have all of these ideas and thoughts in my mind but I can't put them down on paper. I dont know how to organize all of my thoughts. I like how they give me the idea to free write for ten to fifteen minutes to see what is on my mind and to give me and idea on what exactly it is I want to write about. I would basically do it is steps. First I could free write, then I could put it into categories of some sort, then comes the outline. The outline would be the hardest part for me because thats when I have to be super organized and my thoughts have to be completley settled and I need to know what it is I want to write about.

The power of reading and writing

The stories that were told in this chapter gave me a lot to think about. I think that I take advantage of the fact that I can read and write decently, and some people don't even get that privevledge. I could never see myself sitting down and copying the whole dictionary down and enjoying myself. However. Malcolm didnt have the advantages that I had. When we were talking about the english language in class, I said I don't think there is such thing as proper english. People cannot help where they come from or who the grow up around. No matter who says whats improper and whats not, people are going to continue to speak how they want to. Language and ways of speaking is a culture. Writing and speaking and knowing how to read is an important part of everybody's life, and if someone doesn't get that luxury, there is a lot to miss out on.

Narratives?

I hate narratives. I think they are one of the hardest ways to write. I can't bring myself to write like I'm in someone elses mind. I try to be creative but I always end up putting something down that I have already heard before and I feel like that is plagierizing. One of the things that I think is very helpful in this chapter is describing the setting. I never thought of to just look and see and smell the things around. I also liked how they explained to choose the topic. It would be so easy to just think of something taht happened to me but just ellaborate on it a bit. The biggest problem for me in narratives is the quotations in the story. I never know where to put them and the longer the story it gets, the hardest it is to place the quotations.

Discovering writing 3-17

One point I like that this book brings up is how the audience's expectaions might affect the way you compose and define your purpose when you write. I do this when I know I have to read a paper outloud or know someone else is reading it. I try not to, but it's hard to pour your thoughts on a piece of paper and be expected to read them to your peers. However, I could use this to my advantage. I can learn to write my paper to make the audience think and feel how I do. I just have to practice how to do that. This way I won't have to worry about what they are thinking because I will know how to convince them to think like me as I read my paper to them.

Writing with attitude is difficult for me. It's hard to write something when I just want to speak it. I just think of all these things in my head, but I can never get them down on paper. I have to learn how to identify my attitude in the first place and decide how I would like my paper to sound. The design sends out a ceratin message as well. I never thought of writing as something you can make your own. I always just thought I was writing and researching what my teacher wanted to hear.

Kellee's first blog!

Hello

This is my first blog ever. I think it might take me a while to learn how to work it so sorry!