Category Archives: Theory and Practice

Calvin and Hobbes Cartoon Images

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Copyrights are useful tools for authors to ensure safety of their material. Copyrights give the rights of a specific work to the person who created them, and does not allow other people to use the work of that person without acquiring permission or paying that person for the right to use their work. The digitized Calvin and Hobbes cartoon images that appear on the Assignments tab on the syllabus might be in violation of copyright regulations. The pictures are not claiming ownership of the work, but at the same time it is lacking any indications as to where the picture have come from or who is the creator of the work. Although fair use allows the usage of copyrighted materials for educational reasons, which is the case here, there are guidelines that are required to be followed in order to claim fair use. There is no source to where the comics are coming from, which is why i think this points to copyright violations.

 

Navigating through primary sources

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Primary sources can be hard to navigate. specially if they are older ones that require close reading and inspection. one of the primary sources that i thought was interesting is the one from The National tribune magazine that was established in 1877 and ran to 1917. the magazine was co-owned and edited by John McElroy who was an american soldier with the union army before starting his printing trade. He had a very clear view of the current issues at the time, and specially about slavery, since in his magazine he clearly condemns slavery and calls it ” a monstrous evil”. He also mentions in his post that a lot thought slavery would last forever, but until it proved to be wrong in many aspects, emancipation was the right choice. the post was published in washington D.C in 1909, which is almost 30 years after the emancipation proclamation was issued by president Abraham Lincoln.

Another primary source that i found interesting was a post from Flickr: The Commons. It is a picture of the installation of the statue of Abraham Lincoln, in our nation’s capital, in the year 1920. The picture was created and shared by the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital.lincoln The picture shows how Abraham Lincoln is one of the most influential presidents in the history of the United States of America, and that is why his statue is right in the middle of the heart of America’s capital. Although a lot of people didn’t agree with what the President was calling for and standing up for, in the end president Lincoln’s values prevailed because they were the right thing to do.

I did find it more difficult to analyze pictures and photographs than posts and magazines as primary sources, because the producers of the photographs don’t really give any information other than where was the picture taken and by whom it was taken. On the other hand, magazine posts show you a lot more about the personality of the author, his values and what he thinks of whatever he is writing about. Thus, analyzing posts in magazines are way easier to source, contextualize, and close read it.

Evaluating The Price of Freedom: Americans at War.

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American-Flag-Eagle The website The Price of Freedom is basically an online museum. It is very interactive and provides a wide range of American History and all the different wars that Americans had to fight in order to gain their freedom.

The Price of Freedom is founded to educate the American people about the price that their ancestors had to pay for them to get to where they we are now. It serves a purpose of reminding them that everything they have now was earned through the sacrifices of the brave people of this country. The website was created by The Smithsonian Museum, the National Museum of History, which by its name only, it shows a lot of authority and credibility.

The website contained a lot of valuable information, but at the same time it fell short in providing in depth stories and resources about whatever subject they were presenting. It brings up the thought that although it is an online museum, it is not as capable of presenting all the information as an actual museum can.

Navigating through the materials of this website was very easy and smooth. It provided a lot of kinds of resources from pictures to writings to pdfs. The website is appropriate for all ages, the learning resource section is specifically geared for grades 5-12. The website employs visual learning so it would be usable for readers and non-readers.

The Price of Freedom is founded by National Museum of American History, and it seems to be a little biased narrating history, as it is told by Americans.

In conclusion, although of this website’s shortcomings at times, overall it is very informative on various aspects of US military history. The site has been updated this past month, and given that it is a history site and the information within it is not subject to a major change,  this indicates a lot of review from the moderators and editors of the website.

Digital Autobiography

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The world wide web. What a big creation. Our world has been trying to be connected for quite some time now, and the internet made that humongous world into a small sphere that is very connected and intertwined.

Our every day tasks are all dependent on being connected to each other. The internet is an essential part of almost every institution from schools, to work, to government, etc , all the way to the everyday communication between members of the same family, that are living together in the same household. This brings me up to how the internet plays a major role in my everyday life.

I can’t possibly think of going one day without checking my email. My smartphone is always accompanying me. All i ever need to be connected to the outside world is in that small piece of technology, which ironically enough is not “connected” to anything. It’s mind boggling if you ask me! I use emails mostly for work and schooling purposes. Send and receive up to date information from instructors and bosses, but my real connection to the world lies in the social media aspect.

I belong to multiple social media websites, for different kinds of connection. Facebook is my number one website, as it keeps me connected to the ones i love and care about, whether it is family overseas, old classmates, ex-gfs ( wonder why i have them in my circle if they are supposed to be ex’s, it defeats the purpose. oh well!) and also current friends that i don’t get to catch up with them so often. Facebook gives me almost everything i need to know. Twitter is where i get all sorts of news from locally to globally. following those news channels proved to be a heck of an investment. Lastly, i use the internet for directions!! I don’t think i would’ve survived living in a new area without having my Google maps guiding me every step of the way. Thank you Google, you are a life saver! 🙂

The internet has become an essential part of our lives, and it just keeps getting more and more involved in almost everything. It is a wonderful tool to aid us, if we know how to take full advantage of it, without letting it takes advantage of us.