Reading Comprehension: The Author’s Voice

I decided to do a reading comprehension on Sheilagh Walker’s Kia tau the rangimarie: Kaupapa Maori theory as a resistance against the construction of Maori as other. To be precise, I will be responding to Chapter seven: Conclusion. Notes to myself. Writing from the gut.

Walker’s text really resounded to me, though I am not Maori, I am still a foreigner in an mostly white institution. It makes me wonder if this will affect my academic career as Walker had felt in this text? Only time will tell.
Walker’s text has a passionate and loud voice that emotionally connects with the reader; in saying this the text itself doesn’t feel formal but more like, as the chapter is titled, notes to herself. I feel like in a way I am having coffee and a discussion with her in person due to the informal tone of the text.
Her position here is very personal as she writes of her frustrations of being a minority in academia, and how her thesis will not likely be read as they would not be relatable or her preferred audience. The pronouns Walker uses is “I”; as it is titled, these are notes to herself, so she is writing for herself.

The text was very easy to understand and to me, it was like Walker was pouring her heart and passion out into words; it makes me feel connected on an emotional level and relate as a minority in academia and in New Zealand.
I liked her informal tone throughout as for me, that was easier to understand and more interesting! If it was a formal bit of text with long words and no emotional connection to the viewer, I would have no interest in reading or even trying to relate.

 

How to See the World: Introduction

The two key points I will identify from Nicholas Mirzoeff’s work, “How to See the World”, from his introduction. These key points are

• The entire world’s population is connected to the World Wide Web, or the internet. More than a third of it’s population are connected and online daily.
• The internet makes information, particularly visual information, easily accessible; this visual information helps us form a vision of what the world is like or what we think is like.

“In 2012, more than a third of the world’s population had access to the internet, up to 566% since 2000.”  (Mirzoeff, Pg.5)
The internet is, at it’s heart, a global system of interconnected mainframes, personal and wireless computer networks that uses something called the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to connect to billions of devices worldwide.
By the time the internet (or then called the World Wide Web) had been released for personal use all over the world, not a lot of the population had home access. But slowly, but surely, people had easier access whether they had personal computers, use a friends or go to the library. However it makes me think;
Lets go back in time, to lets say between 300 BC to the invention of the telegram in the 1800’s; people had a way of staying connected though a bit of a slow and tedious process. Information wasn’t readily available however it makes me wonder;
Because we have such easy access to information, people, and services through the net, has our lives have gotten easier since people had to send letters or telegraphs? I feel like because of the advanced technology that had made our lives easier, we maybe taking stuff we can easily overlook for granted. because we can get it faster than ever.

Fig.1. Girl. Scene Still. Dir. Hibiki Yoshizaki. Studio Khara. 2015. Different Seasons. Web. 22/10/2016

We connect to people easier but are we actually “connected” to them through an emotional level? Or do we just see them as a profile picture on our smartphones? Is easier connectivity for the best or is it disconnecting us from what is important?
Is it disconnecting us from reality? These are questions you should think about.
(Or maybe I am rambling on nonsense….)

“Like it or not, the emerging global society is visual. All these photographs and videos are our way of trying to see the world. We feel compelled to make images of it and share them with others as a key part of our effort to understand the changing world around us and our place within it.” (Mirzoeff, Pg.6)
Since the invention of the selfie and viral videos, we are seeing a lot more visual information everyday. Some of it good, funny, bad, misleading or informative. In a time where people feel self important and the need to assert their place in the world; selfies are a common thing to see. However; is this an act of vanity or a way of identifying ourselves?
Social Media sites such as Facebook and Instagram have over a billion users, who upload hundreds to the thousands of images everyday. These platforms are another way of creating an identity using visual images like the selfies. However I cannot help but wonder;

Fig.2. Me! Me! Me!. Scene Still. Dir. Hibiki Yoshizaki. Studio Khara. 2014. Zero Gravity INQ. Web. 24/03/2015

Are we creating a false image or representations of ourselves using visual information? Or more like create a representation of ourselves that we want people to see just like how fashion magazines want people to see “beautiful” women who are actually altered digitally. Depending on someone’s standpoint; we either see the real world through visual information or we see a false, disjointed reality.

Resoures
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to See the World. London: Pelican, 2015. Print
Ghost in the Shell. Scene Still. Dir. Mamoru Oshii. Production IG. 2004.  Deviantart. Web. 2014

Critical Thinking: What is it exactly?

So, critical thinking; what is it?
To me it’s understanding our world and surroundings so we can wrap our heads around on how things work or how people think. For example it could be analyzing a novel, or a film scene by scene. Questions while we are analyzing a film or novel could be:
What does that recurring motif mean? What is it’s importance?
 Whats going on in that character’s head? What is their motives?
What is the author/directors message?
These questions would then lead to more questions, answers and, if you’re in a public forum/with a group of friends, these could also generate discussions; thus leading to more critical thinking.

This principle doesn’t just apply to media however; it could apply to anything else! This could range from current events on the news, people you interact with in your daily life, and our lifestyle or someone else’s lifestyle. Critical thinking isn’t just an academia or a school thing; to me it’s constantly switched on; I always think, always question the world around me and the things in it.

Resources
Auguste Rodin. The Gates of Hell. 1917. Sculpture. Musée d’Orsay, Paris