Friday, May 28, 2010
Buzzer Beater
Procrastination and writing research paper the day before is definitely not the key to success. Winning a basketball game at the last second of the game is not an easy to thing to do, it almost seem as impossible but to Kobe Bryant NBA superstar doesn’t seem like a hard thing for him to do at all; when he beat the buzzer and bring 6 game victory to the Lakers . He makes everything look easy and possible. However, this research paper submit in the last minute is not easy at all. Beating the last second to finish the essay is a risk. When started this essay, I have no clue what to write about or topic to choose. As I mentioned last blog, I read the Great Gatsby in high school but my memories seem to be erased. So I decided to pick The Great Gatsby topic. Most interesting fact was comparing Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Great Gatsby. These books taught me how to appreciate my life more and more everyday; and how to value everything in this world. In fact, my critical thinking also involve in this essay as well. I already came into this class knowing that I needed to analyze written material as well as possible to fully understand what the author is representing in their work.
I found this very example in Reading Lolita in Tehran when the class put The Great Gatsby on trial and the one gentleman named Mr. Nyazin was the prosecutor and he presented his case against Gatsby through a single window of ideas and did not see the entire picture, while the defense of Gatsby came from the women named Zarrin who critically thought of what Gatsby was about and what ideas the author was trying to convey. She had the stronger case because she critically thought of the book and looked at it from all angles. This is precisely what professor Nafisi was trying to get the students to do. This is precisely what I have been doing this semester. This course is on critical thinking and in order to pass it we must be able to demonstrate it. This is still an ongoing learning process for me. Obviously I will not master this technique in one semester but this has been a great launching pad.
As I have discovered critical thinking goes far beyond just being used in an English class. It applies to everyday life. When it comes to the news one must really know how to critically think. There is so much information being thrown us that the only way to decipher through it is to critically think about it. We must look at what is being presented and break the information down to its simplest form to try to see if it is truthful and applies to what it is addressing. News now has become so distorted it is hard to distinguish it from opinion. People must critically think in order to distinguish between the two. It is especially important now with all the problems the world is going through people must be informed of what exactly is going on. The issues that the world is dealing with are so complex that the only way to understand them or at least get some grasp is to critically think. Of course in hindsight we can say that if the people in charge displayed critical thinking we may have never gotten in this mess but what can we really do? Oh I know we should vote these bums out of office!! But I digress, so critical thinking is a vital part of life and I am grateful for the knowledge I have gained from taking this course and will use these skills in every part of my life.
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It sounds like you got more out of this class than anyone could have anticipated. Looking at life from different angles is called "SMART" for one obvious reason: most people fail to LOOK at life - they only go through it. If you got how important it is to look at life through all angles out of an online English class then you have far greater mastery of skills than most of the rest of your peers. In the work force, employees who utilize their critical thinking skills are in high demand and command their own price tag.
ReplyDeleteThe world is yours to conquer. Go get it.
Michelle
Aguilar's Pride Akitas'
You have some pretty good things to say in this blog about critical thinking. It's crazy how much we use critical thinking in our daily lives even when we are not required to. I also was going to choose that topic, but I decided on another instead. The Great Gatsby is a great book and it is cool that both books sort of gave you a better understanding at your own life and gave you a different outlook. I think both Fitzgerald and Nafisi make it one of their goals in writing their books to make people appreciate what they have instead of focus on what they want. I think that they both have pretty good messages and I felt the same after reading both books. You feel happier and accept your life a little more.
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ReplyDeleteLakers, really. I mean I like them don't get me wrong but kobe no thanks, its all about Fisher. Ha ha :) well I enjoyed your blog it was a great way to procrastinate instead of actually doing homework. Then I realized that I was technically doing homework not just reading. It is crazy to think that we started this class and blog thing. With the topic of critical thinking and now we are in a way ending with it too. The only thing that has changed is how we use it and what type of question about critical thinking it was. The first weeks blog was about what critical thinking is and how we could use it in our life. Now it is about how much we use it and how it has become a part of our life. We have come a long challenging path during this class and it has been fun. I will miss it.
Kudos for the picture and the team! I Great way to add excitement to you last passage just from the looks of it your going out with a bang and lets just hope the Lakers do to (wink). I agree that waiting a day before a research paper is due is no way to go about an assignment such as this, I hope you did not do so and I personally know that winning a basketball game in the last seconds is not the easiest thing to do. Anyway I did not procrastinate so much on my research paper but unfortunately I feel like it has been the worst work I have done. I am right there with you when you mention how you read the Great Gatsby in high school but could not remember. I did the same but I never thought I would wish that I have read it because I found myself wishing so when I saw the assignment. Anyway I am so happy that things are winding down and I have enjoyed reading your posts, Good luck and talk to you later.
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