George Orwell

The frustrated undertone of Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language", is what really set it off for me. Orwell directly calls out what common society would call "smart people", and cuts them down at the knees. I find this to be so humorous and I firmly back this piece because all the verbage and long diction that modern day politicians and "over-thinkers" put in there works essentially is a long shot ploy to have the uneducated reader think the author is smarter than they truly are. I struggle often when reading these works and also struggle when trying to keep up with the standards of writing levels today. I simply write what comes to my head without really performing plastic surgery on words that could be made bigger or more intellectual sounding. This really modernized way of thinking where one must use big words when writing stems off our beginning years as writers. High School mainly establishes the fact we must put our essay's and literature on steroids if we want to even get close to being published or even recognized. Orwell really hits home with this essay and exploits this common flaw that is all too prevalent today.

Lamott and Orwell response

The article by Anne Lamott was rather amusing. The painful experience of writer's block described by Anne is one that I can easily relate to. I can recall countless number of times I have put off writing the first few lines of an essay. I walked around with fear in my heart that I wouldn't make it through school and I'd spend the rest of my years as a hobo who sat on the corner of streets and cried. Lamott gives us a wonderful alternative to this cycle of misery: first shitty drafts. First shitty drafts are undoubtedly an essential in the writing process. It's near impossible to write a perfect essay off the top of our heads because our thought processing is much more complex than perfectly flowing and structured sentences. The thoughts that go through our minds are often choppy and skip from subject to subject. To write a perfect first draft would be to think in perfect grammar and sentence structure in our own heads. Yet somehow we still manage to pressure ourselves to be able to perform this impossible task of writing perfection on the first try.

George Orwell's essay seemed almost angrily written in my opinion. The random array of fully capitalized sentences describing horrible grammatical mistakes did not impress me. Rather it gave me the impression that he felt his arguments weren't strong enough on their own and that he had to put them all in capital letters to make them more powerful. Orwell's writing was by far much harder to read and not nearly as interesting and fun as Lamott's writing. Lamott gives off the impression that the reader is at the same level as her when she shares her personal stories. On the other hand, I get the impression from Orwell that he is better than the reader, knows more, and does not make any of the mistakes he discusses in the article because he's perfect like that. 

This isn't a "Shitty First Draft"

For the most part, I agree with the statements made in "Shitty First Drafts" except that I usually, and mistakenly, think that what I write the first time is pure gold. Only later, when rereading the assignment, at some other time that isn't two in the morning, do I realize that what I have written is trash. Don't get me wrong. There are bits and pieces that are decent, even worth salvaging. But overall, what I produce is usually incoherent, padded out, and grammatically an insult to the english language. Unfortunately, laziness has set of precedent of dominating my schoolwork. Therefore, most of the papers I have handed in have been this sort of "shitty first draft."

George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" highlights several awful strategies in writing that, I have to admit, I am sometimes guilty of using. The example that I relate to the most was best stated when Orwell wrote, "A mass of Latin words falls upon the facts like soft snow, blurring the outline and covering up all the details." Too many times, I have been assigned a paper I don't care about and purposefully written just enough more than the minimum length to slip through the cracks and avoid further scrutiny that shorter papers may receive. 

In consideration of readers, the above statements are second drafts.

Response to George and Anne

The first reading from George Orwell was extremely long and boring. I had to prevent myself a few times from falling asleep. Maybe I'm the only one that had such an experience with this writing, but that's probably because I don't read serious stuff like Orwell's writing that often. Even though it was long and boring to me, it did teach me a few things. For example, we use too many big words in our current form of the English language. I never I never really thought about that before I read this essay. When you think about all the different points he makes you start to realize he may be right. The only problem is that most of it doesn't really apply to the average person today. Most people don't talk with as many big words as he uses in his examples. I may be wrong, but that's what seems apparent to me from my experiences. Also, he uses too many examples when he is talking about specific misuses of words of phrases.

The second reading from Anne Lamott was more interesting than the first one. The author put more personality into her writing. She gave experiences from her own life and went off on little entertaining tangents while still getting her point across. I enjoyed her essay and learned quite a bit that should help me in my future writing.

"It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words."

Hopefully I won't be responsible for any of that destruction this semester.

I opened up the Lamott attachment first.  I've read parts of Bird by Bird and have enjoyed reading her work.  

Last semester, I had a screenwriting class, in which we had to turn in a script every week or so.  It took me so long to get any momentum going on a draft that I ended up pulling customary all-nighters every monday night so I could print them out and walk right to class.  Those were the only mornings I was awake for breakfast.

Shitty First Drafts isn't new to me; it's easier to read Lamotts trials in front of the keyboard instead of attending several hours of expensive therapy to rebuild my crumbled self-esteem.  Seriously, it's comforting to know that sometimes that the best that even Ann Lamott can come up with is "Well, so what, Mr. Poopy Pants?"  It's comforting to know everyone is having as terrible/wonderful/harrowing a time when they're trying to write as I am.

Lamott's writing reads naturally, as if I'm sitting down with a friend.  It's relatable, informative, intriguing.  It begs you to read on, to know the rest of the story.  Plus, she knows what she's talking about.  Bird by Bird has become one of those great texts on creative writing.

Moving on to George.

First of all, and it's not the author's fault, but I had to print this one out.  I typed "Orwell Politics of the English Language" into Google and clicked I'm Feeling Lucky! at 7:36pm and at 8:10pm I hadn't made it farther than the example passages.

But once I had the piece printed out on nine crisp sheets of 8.5"x11" (Sorry, trees!), it was a breeze (Hey! A tree pun!). It was even enjoyable.

It took me two pages or so, but by then, Orwell had me on his hook.  I was agreeing with everything he said.  "Yeah! Screw political nonsense and their extra words."  I like small words.  Their nice, easy to say, and I don't feel like a pretentious ass.

Several hours after I read Orwell's piece, and even Lamott's, I have concrete images in my head, phrases they used that clearly communicated an idea.  Orwell's poorly constructed "prefabricated hen-house," Lamott's band of critics like the "vinegar-lipped Reader Lady."  I didn't even have to go back to the text for those quotes.  They're still fresh in my brain.  I completely agree with Orwell: instead of putting weight behind words, we're just putting weight in the words.  As the English language grows more and more "decadent," we're not getting any closer to effective communication.  We're bordering on newspeak.

Even though Orwell wrote his piece over 60 years ago, once I got into the flow, I found it as comfortable to read as Lamott's, mostly because he was practicing exactly what he was describing.  He was concise, he was simple.  He spared his readership from the superfluosity that plagues so many textual publishings, a pitfall that many a not unexperienced auteur happen upon in attempts to translate their synapse firings to parchment.

Sorry.

The truth is, we all do exactly that.  I'll be completely honest, I do not consider myself a strong writer, and as soon as I realized the motto of this class would be along the lines of "Write Less" or "KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)," I grew excited.  Simple words?  Short paragraphs?  This will be easy.

No, it won't.  Case in point: look at how long this post is.

My Analysis on Orwell & Lamott

The first article I read was George Orwell's "Politics and English Language." As I was reading it, I realized that our English Language is continuing to collapse. Our language is becoming "ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish." I definitely agree with Orwell because our society is starting to become extremely lazy with our english language and writters don't care what our modern language used to be like. Orwell then gives us some examples what not to use when writing on the internet because it simply is pointless and it is not striaght to the facts. I believe that when you are scanning the web for resources, you only need the facts and not the other junk like metaphors and meaningless words. While, in a book you can have those extras in there because it all goes together in the book and makes it more interesting. Orwell provides six rules in which one should consider while writing. These rules will help your article that your writing to be more informative, detailed, and straight to the point.
While I was reading Lamott's passage in the book, I found myself in the same exact situations when I would start writing a paper. Its always a hastle to start off with a first draft because you knew that it was going to be a "shitty one." Then once you finish that part you have to go through it again to make sure you got all your mistakes corrected and you added some important things here and there. Lastly, you have your completed final draft and you feel great becuase you know you perfected it to the greatest of you ability and it has been a sugnificant accomplishment. I agree with Lamott, you have to start off somewhere even it takes some "shity" rough drafts, your final outcome will turn out to be a masterpiece.

Response to Orwell and Lamott Essays

After reading Orwell's Essay, Shitty First Drafts, i agreed with everything he had to say.  My Sophomore English teacher taught me essentially the same technique, only she phrased it differently. She said to figuratively, "Throw up all over the paper on your first draft." When I write essays or any paper I often find myself with that feeling Orwell described, the feeling of being stuck and not getting anything started. But this technique actually makes me feel as if I am accomplishing something, despite the fact that what you I am writing might be really terrible. Another way of thinking about this technique is that it eliminates the fear of failure from writing. You know beforehand that what you are writing is going to be shitty, so your not afraid of writing something shitty.  When you take the fear of failure out, it becomes fun.  I play baseball and this same concept applies there and in any other sport.  To quote Babe Ruth, "Never let the fear of striking out get in your way."

Although less interesting than the article by Orwell, Politics and the English Language had its solid points.  The last part of the essay in which Lamott describes a concrete set of rules to write by was the part that I got the most out of, because the rest of it was hard to follow.  I did agree with much of what Lamott was saying about the English language and how people use it.  Most of the points Lamott made in his article sounded good while I was reading them but I did not really take anything away from it.  The best part of his article was the set of rules he laid out at the end.

Orwell/Lammott

When reading Lammott's essay, I found myself agreeing with a lot of what she had to say. Basically, she's trying to tell us that we need to write multiple drafts to get to that one, final, pretty much perfect final copy. I think this is a really good idea, mainly because in order to write well, you need to learn how to not write well, so you can build on the *shit* that you started with. I'll admit, I hate writing multiple drafts because I get bored and figure, eh, what I originally had was good enough, but if you continually edit and fix your first draft, it'll end up being a much better version of the original. 

After I read Orwell's essay, I realized I actually do a lot of what he said is annoying and bad writing. As students, we often times overanalyze how we should or should not write, therefore we end up freaking out and doing all of these things that Orwell says is the decline of the English language. Like I did with Lammott, I agreed with with Orwell wrote, and feel that if we follow what Orwell had to say, those five, simple tips, we all could become much better writers and save this English language.

Response to Lamott and Orwell

I first read Lamott's writing; I found it to be truly beneficial. Most of us obviously know that writing a first draft is always a good way to start, but I constantly tend to  find myself trying to write a good first draft instead of just getting all my thoughts down on the paper.  Instead I continuously find myself adding more important information when I'm revising my first draft.  I am confident enough to say I don't believe I'm a good writer, but it was reassuring to know no one always is.  Even the best writers write shitty first drafts and find each new composition a challenge.  Even though its common sense, I thought the hint of revising several drafts and making each one better was a useful tool. Lamott's advice overall showed me how to start and improve a paper by using multiple drafts.

As for Orwell's document, I completely agree with his discussion of contemporary English being too vague.  Writers should express their thoughts in a clear precise manner instead of leaving it open for interpretation.  I honestly don't see the point of someone writing if they are not getting their specific point across, except to protect themselves. Like Orwell stated, interpretation opens the door for dishonesty and lies.  I believe a writer should man up to their work and take passion as well as responsibility for their thoughts and ideas.  As you can tell I don't like poetry or abstract thinking, but rather concrete facts and concrete thoughts. Lastly, I found the 6 "elementary" rules to be to useful tools.   

Both Lamott and Orwell both expressed useful information for helping me learn to be a better writer. A great document needs to be well structured and contain beneficial information. Most importantly the author must clearly express his point in order for the reader to understand the message the author is trying to convey.

Orwell and Lamott

I started out with Lamott's essay, which I actually liked quite a bit. I especially loved her use of metaphors and similes, which were original and thought-out, yet fitting. 

I also have a tendency to try and perfect the first draft of an essay, which I would like to work on in this class. The English class I took last year was not very demanding for me as a writer, so I have a feeling that I used many phrases and descriptions we read every day.  Writing new material can be intimidating at times, just because it feels like everything has already been done. It's very difficult to come up with something fresh these days, in my opinion.

Orwell's essay was definitely more technical. Ever since I read 1984, I've found him to be a very mechanical thinker/writer.  I have to admit that I have a hard time relating to his work and didn't really connect to his essay as much as Lamott. I know we talked about keeping work concise and short, and I feel like she accomplished that much more than Orwell. However, I seriously doubt that Orwell was intending to publish this essay online. He did get his point across, however, and made me realize how much I seem to butcher the English language. Nothing like a hard grammatical slap in the face, eh?

Orwell/Anne Lamott Reading

I read Orwell's essay first, I guess because I was familiar with his name and enjoyed Animal Farm. There's something so genuine about authors from his era, but I've always enjoyed his writing especially. He seems like the kind of person who has an answer for everything; or even answers for why he doesn't have an answer. Everything reads as being perfectly thought out, and as he explains meticulously  throughout Politics, doesn't waste words. I love his writing, because as polished and convincing as his work is, I always manage to laugh out loud - I suppose it's just the simplicity of the way he conveys confidence in everything he says, and because as I read his work, it seems as though he is always right. 

I agree with Nick, in that unfortunately the English language has sunken further into an inarticulate mess. In a sad way I find it almost funny, because the problems of language that Orwell is speaking out against seem like such dignified complaints compared to how language has become today. However, his principles of literacy and proper diction still hold true if anyone expects good writing to exist. I've never felt like I was one to come up with good metaphors, or to find the right places to use them without sounding either pretentious or overzealous. But I think Orwell did an excellent job in explaining clearly how to overcome those common obstacles. Which leads me to Anne Lamott's reading....

I read her excerpt immediately after Orwell's, and I found myself looking for the flaws Orwell had pointed out, in Lamott's writing. Surprisingly, I came to find that she adhered quite well to his guidelines for successful writing, and I noticed how doing so made her book an enjoyable read. 

In the past I too have been guilty of writing only one draft of essays. I've always done well in high school english courses, but I've certainly gotten frustrated when trying to express my thoughts without the trial and error process. Also, I have to admit that there is a growing trend of expecting students to use big words and 'scientific' sounding phrases, that many high school teachers are following. I personally wrote a lot of papers that had overly used phrases and words in my high school essays, because I knew it was what my teachers wanted to see. I'm glad that this class is asking for a change in direction though. 

Hopefully these lessons will stay with me for some time, so I can really digest them and become a more veritable writer. Maybe I'll get better at thinking of creative and appropriate metaphors to use as well. 

Response to Lamott and Orwell

Maybe this post should be entitled 'Response to Lamott and Orwell Based on my Own Experiences.' I guess that's just how it turned out.

First, Lamott. I found myself agreeing with this essay from the beginning. I know that when I write for school, I start out with an idea that I am relatively sure of, but while I write that idea changes; it isn't actually fully formed and solidified until that paper is done, so that first paper ends up being nothing more than a physical record of my thought process. The first draft should always be one's thoughts about a subject spewed onto paper, so that they can be gathered together into a comprehensible idea or argument and served up on a beautiful, polished platter of good writing in the second or third draft.

Now, Orwell. I found evidence to support Orwell's case in my own education. I have always been good at the sort of elevated but empty wordplay that Orwell complains about. It was inherited from reading modern books, as that is how I first learned to write. A young person learns by copying, so I copied phrases and big words and used them in my essays for school. These big words and tired metaphors were rewarded by teachers who were grading for coherent sentences and grammar, and not for ideas. This sort of writing blurs worthy ideas in a misty grandeur so that the reader cannot fully make them out. Which is a shame, because those ideas can be very valuable.

This is the second draft of this post, you can see the first draft in Lamottian style posted below as a comment. It seemed appropriate to the reading.

Orwell and Shit (...ty First Drafts)

I assume we're just writing one paragraph for both, because that's what the email says.

Personally, I loved both of them. They each presented really good points while maintaining a level of humor that made me laugh out loud at times. As a writer, I really appreciated the advice I found in both; Orwell's was technical, and Lamott's was more emotional, but they were equally inspiring. I've always been the type of person to write one draft of an essay and turn it in for an A, but that probably won't fly in college, so let's hope I can work on that. Some of what Orwell was talking about is so ingrained in our language at this point that I'm not even sure when or if I'm breaking his rules. I wish I could show him what language is like today so I could see his reaction, though, because I think it's hundreds of times worse. If he saw how much people overuse - and misuse - metaphors and the like, I think he'd be rolling over in his grave.

Alejandro Raoul Solano

Hi, my name is Alejandro Raoul Solano, but you can call me Alex. I am a Computer Science major here at Chapman. I come from a place called Antioch, CA. It's city no one has heard of in the East San Francisco Bay Area. I have one sibling, an older sister named Francesca, who is 21. Now, something interesting about myself. Well a very important thing about me is the fact that I am a Macintosh Computer Nerd. I have always been in to Mac computers since I was about 5. My Mother is a teacher, so she had to get a Mac so it would be compatible with the ones at the school she teaches at. Since then, I became interested in technology, computers especially. Eventually I decided to start my own business helping people with their computer and technology problems. Since then I have been very successful and have help many people with their tech problems. Since I am really into computers and technolgy, I decided to take this class. So I hope I enjoy it. I guess I will see all of you in class.

ME...

Hey my name is Colby Suder. To tell you a lil about me, I'm an outgoing, energetic, adrenaline junky. These personality traits fuel my love for extreme sports along with those more conventional activities. I play football and baseball and love basically staying active, whether it be at the gym, playing ball, etc. I am sponsored by Active Rideshop (Temecula, CA) for snowboarding. I mainly to freestyle park but on occasion throw in a little boarderX. I enjoy meeting new people and feel like i make myself approachable so don't be shy... I don't bite though many feel i might. Other than the fact that my hobbies and social life control my decision making, that's about all there is to me. I do have a diligent school side to me but that rarely comes out... Other than in this class of course. So if i left anything out feel free to approach me or if you think I am weird or interesting go ahead and chat with me then too.

Oh hey!

Hey everyone! I'm Sadie Upwall, and I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah. I want to throw two things out there right off the bat:

1. No, I'm not Mormon. 

2. Yes, skiing and snowboarding is amazing back home.

I have 1 brother who's 15 and 1 sister who is 20 and a Junior in college. My dad is an architect and has a tendency to quote Monty Python at least every five minutes. My mom owns a beauty salon slash boutique, where I worked most of this summer. I have 3 cats, all who sleep on my face. 

I decided on Chapman because of the amazing film program and its location under the sunshine. Despite being in the best location in the world for winter sports, I'm much more of a warm weather person. 

Theater was my favorite subject all through high school, and I was able to play a lot of very interesting roles throughout the four years. It's something I want to keep doing for the rest of my life. 

One of my favorite pastimes is photography and photoshop, which I have been doing for four 

years. I'm also a very good swimmer, but don't really get to do it very often. Crossword puzzles are my area of expertise, so I wouldn't cross me in that arena, if I were you. I could probably beat you at Guitar Hero, as well.

This class sounds really interesting, and I'm very excited. I look forward to see all your shining faces in....35 minutes. :S

-Sadie Upwall

What's up everyone!

Hey class! My name is Kyle Miyamoto and I am from La Habra Heights, CA.  I graduated from Sonora High School in La Habra.  I'm currently majoring in business administration and will play golf for Chapman in the Spring. Back home I have two younger sisters, ages fourteen and twelve, my mom, a homemaker, and my dad, a pediatrician. Some basic things about me are: I love to eat sushi and mexican food, I enjoy playing golf, basketball, or just sports in general. And like everybody else I like to hangout with friends and family, catch a movie, watch some TV, snowboard, use the computer, and party. Looking forward to getting to know everyone better! See you tomorrow. 

Hello!

I'm going to try to make this quick because I am currently engaged in an intense battle with my computer.  It has been resistant to waking up recently (much like I am in the mornings) and I have work to do, so... while it's up and running and I'm copying things off of it, I figured now would be a good time to introduce myself.

My name is Jordan and I'm a sophomore film major from San Francisco. Er, close enough.  If you actually know the Bay Area I'll say I'm from Marin, but for the rest of you, San Francisco.  Don't worry it's fine, I don't think any less of you just because you don't know my area, and plus, I get to pretend I'm all cool and actually live in the city.

As I said, I'm a film major, but I'm also into mountain biking, fencing, and computers.  I really enjoy mountain biking, especially in my area up near SF, because there's tons of open space just a short ride away from my house.  It's easy access to a great natural gym with great views and fresh open air.  

I was on our high school fencing team for a few years, back in the day, as a team co-captain for my last year in fact, and I'm proud to say we won our one (1) match over the course of two years under my co-leadership.  There really aren't that many high school fencing teams...  or fencing in general, so I'm not actually pursuing it right now.  However, my fencing skills are still pretty sharp (pun semi-intended), so I should be just fine if challenged to an impromptu poke duel.

During the summers, I work at our local Apple Store as a Specialist, helping people pick out the right Mac or whatever they need, while also serving as the in house Final Cut Pro guru.  So if you know Final Cut, find me, we can chat.

That's pretty much me in a nutshell.  There's more, but you'll have to come up and talk to me if you want to know!  See you at 10!

Why hello there.

Oh! I'm sorry, you startled me. I didn't notice you there.

Well, where do we begin? I'm Nick Longley - writer, musician, gamer, digital artist, otaku. I was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, but I moved to California when I was about 10. I've always been very quiet in real life, but I'm pretty different online; I tend to voice my opinions very loudly over the old 'tubes.

As I said before, I enjoy creative writing (I've been working on a novel for a long time), and I play piano and tenor saxophone - though here at Chapman I have access to neither so I'm sure my skill will go down the drain. I'm self taught at piano, and I pretty much just play video game music. I called myself a digital artist, but that's an exaggeration. My major is Digital Arts, but I'm not very good at that kind of thing on my own. I mean, I've messed around with some programs and made some stuff, but it's no big deal.

Hm...What else...There are few things that'll get me talking a lot in real life if I don't know you very well, but video games and anime are two of them. If you don't know what an otaku is (I mentioned it near the beginning if you forgot), it's basically a Japanophile. If you want to know what games / anime I like, the list would be too long for me to type out, so just ask me personally. I've been studying Japanese for a few years (I took a year-long break and since I had no way to use it I forgot a lot of it) and if I could have my wish it would be to work at a game company in Japan, like SquareEnix or Team Ninja of Tecmo, or maybe even Konami.

I guess that's about it, hopefully this wasn't supposed to be in some formal format or I'll be pretty screwed. I do however at least hope that we're forced to write with good grammar and not 1337-sp33k or AIM-grammar, 'cause that kind of stuff drives me up a friggin' wall.

See you guys tomorrow.

Edit: I forgot all about adding hyperlinks so I added some.

What's up?

Hi everyone. My name is Dave Soltes and I'm from Chicago, Illinois. On that note, I am a fan of the Chicago Bears and White Sox. I graduated from Amos Alonzo Stagg High School where I was on the debate team and played football. For the moment, my major is undeclared, but I am considering changing to either Pre-Law or Pre-Med.

This year I hope I get a chance to meet alot of interesting people and decide, at least to some degree, what direction I want to take my academic career. I came to Chapman because I loved the campus and the idea of my car not being frozen shut in winter. My brother Zack graduated from Chapman a few years ago. I am the last of six kids in my family going through college. I look forward to meeting lots of new people, preparing for a future career, and trying new things during the next four years.

Hey my name is Eric Robbins, I am from Seal Beach, California.  I graduated from Los Alamitos High School where I played baseball for four years, and I will be playing baseball this year at Chapman.  I am also majoring in business.

When I'm not playing baseball, I love going to the beach, playing beach volleyball, and hanging out with friends.  My favorite baseball team is the Anaheim Angels, so I am pretty excited that they are only five minutes down the road, and that the cheapest tickets are only $12.  I have a younger sister who is 15 and plays lacrosse, she is going to be a junior next year.  My favorite T.V. shows include The Office and Baseball Tonight.  I went on a cruise this summer to the Caribbean and visited places such as Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, and St. Thomas.  I am looking forward to meeting everyone and having a great year. 

-Eric Robbins

My Profile

Hey you guys my name is KaSondra Carver. I live in Orange County and I graduated Mater Dei High School, which is in Orange. Im 18 years old and I live at home. I have a younger brother whose 17 and we are really tight.  Hopefully he will be attending Chapman next year. 

I love spending time with my family and friends. I travel during the summer with the family and we go to different places every year.  We just got back from Tahiti and it was pretty amazing besides the fact that everyone spoke french and I took three years of spanish in high school. I have a beach house in San Clamente and hangout with my friends there. I love the outdoors and enjoy many activities. Some would include: wake-boarding, wake-skating, surfing, snowboarding, boggy-boarding, scurrfing, motor-cycle riding, dancing, singing...pretty much anything. I also love trying new things!... I love getting involved and meeting new people!I can't wait to see how this class is going to turn out and I hope we all have a great time!!!

Self Introduction

Hi, I'm Austin Page.

I'm a new student to Chapman, and am looking forward to meeting lots of new friends.

I generally enjoy multiple forms of art, including drawing, painting, graphic design, and soon Digital Art (my major). 

I also like music. I play piano and organ and a few other keyboard related instruments, so I like making silly (and sometimes serious) songs with my friends. I also have played in several jazz bands over the past five or six years. 

This class seems pretty awesome and unique, and I'm glad to know that we'll be learning good argue/debating/persuasive skills. 

See you all Wednesday,

Austin Page

Amanda Vo

Hi! I'm Amanda Vo, and I graduated last June from Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington (about fifteen minutes outside of Seattle.) I'll be majoring in Public Relations/Advertising, and I hope to produce commercials as a career later on in life! My current residence is in Glass Hall...I have a Wii in my room, and everyone is welcome to come play =]

I love photography, film/movies, reading, playing my Wii, hanging out with my best friends, and music. I literally love ALL types of music...my favorite artists include Daft Punk, Kanye West, Maroon 5, Justice, T-Pain, Justin Timberlake, The Beatles, Queen, Death Cab for Cutie, Forgive Durden (a local Seattle band,) Cut Copy, Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, NERD, Jonas Brothers, Chris Brown, Radiohead, Michael Buble, Lil Wayne, Nsync, Linkin Park, The Strokes, The Academy Is..., MGMT...the list goes on forever!! I also have played the piano for twelve years.

I have a very strong relationship with my family, so when I left to come to Chapman, it was quite a sad time. But I have absolutely no regrets coming here, and I can't wait to meet a bunch of new people! Seattle will always be my home, but Orange is a great home away from home.

Let's try this again. Welcome to the class. Please post your own original post about yourself (not just a comment under this post).