Steven Tao

• Introduction

Memoir: "It was an actual trail in the woods, and to make it I cleared dozens of the prolific and invasive honeysuckle trees that choke much of Central Indiana, and I dug up the English ivy that had taken over, and then I covered the path in wood chips and lined it with bricks." (Green 9)

Research: "Recovery from labyrinthitis meant weeks in bed, unable to read or watch TV or play with my kids." (Green 9)

Reflection: "When my breastbone starts to hurt, and my throat tightens, and tears well in my eyes, I want to look away from feeling. I want to deflect with irony, or anything else that will keep me from feeling directly." (Green 15)

General impressions: I think it must be hard to do those things that he described. He made it sound easy to do but it needed to take a lot of time and effort. I believe he must loved what he was doing, so he could describe it so beautifully.

• Lascaux Cave Paintings 

Memoir: "I am extremely happy that my children are no longer three, and yet to look at their little hands from those early artworks is to be inundated with a strange, soul-splitting joy" (Green 39)

Research: "When Robot returned, Ravidat thought the dog might’ve discovered a rumored secret passageway to the nearby Lascaux Manor" (Green 39)

Reflection: "But the hand stencils also remind us that humans of the past were as human as we are. Their hands were indistinguishable from ours. More than that, we know they were like us in other ways." (Green 42)

General impressions: I think that it's interesting because I never thought things about humans and why everyone is different.

• Teddy Bears

Memoir: "When I was a kid, a talking teddy bear named Teddy Ruxpin became popular, but what I loved about teddy bears was their silence. They didn’t ask anything of me, or judge me for my emotional outbursts." (Green 62)

Research: "Many linguists believe these names are substitutes, created because speaking or writing the actual word for bear was considered taboo. As those in the wizarding world of Harry Potter were taught never to say “Voldemort,” northern Europeans often did not say their actual word for bear, perhaps because it was believed saying the bear’s true name could summon one." (Green 60)

Reflection: "It’s hard to understand how dominant our species has become, but I sometimes find it helpful to consider it purely in terms of mass: The total combined weight of all living humans currently on Earth is around three hundred and eighty-five million tons." (Green 63)

General impressions: I like the part where a move that the president made can make that big difference, and people started loving it because of the story of the president refusing to kill a small bear.

The Anthropocene Reviewed podcast series 

• Humanity's Temporal Range (part 1)

Text: Content & Form

-This episode mostly talked about a reflection on humanity, covering both possible future problems like Y2K and the climate issue, and the world ends.

-The things that most impressed me were John Green's remarkable oratory abilities and impact on his audience.

-Various audio elements were used, including Green's narration, and soaring music during intense periods.

-The podcast follows the same format as the book, beginning with a personal reflection from Green and moving on to a more general discussion of humanity. 

Paratext

-I look up on Google and listen to a website.

-I had some similar thoughts when I listened to him talk about humanity.

-I tried to find the transcript to use it, but I did not find the transcript.

-I do not have any.

-I also did not encounter visual elements.

Listening Environment and Experience

-I was on my chair in my room.

-No, because I wanted to focus.

-I listened to one.

-I was doing another homework.

-I used a PC.

-I used a speaker.

Part 2

I think I would like to listen to the podcast with a transcript because I can translate some words that I have never heard or seen, so I can understand more things he talked about.

How Can I Fight Fake News?

 There is so much fake news around us that we cannot identify whether the news is fake or not, and there are many ways to spread fake news. It can be found on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and even in the New York Times which most people read the news from. Maybe someone just told you fake news that they don't know if it's real or not. The use of fake news can be related to patriotism and "traffic" which is money nowadays. Sometimes fake news uses pictures as evidence to support their statements, but they only take a part of place many times so they can focus on where people want to focus.

source: Jane Lytvnenko, a reporter at BuzzFeed news who covers mis- and disinformation

Metacognition is not Cognition 

"In the end, while cognition remains critical to effective writing, it is metacognition that endows writers with a certain control over their work, regardless of the situation in which they operate" (Tinberg 76) 

• This part emphasizes how essential metacognition is to helping authors succeed in many writing situations.

• Writers can discern which skills and expertise are good for application in novel writing scenarios and which ones are not.

Self-Reflection Memo

1. Before I wrote this paper, I had never written anything about my first dog Xiao Wang. This time, this topic seemed to be something that I could write about my first dog. I started remembering what had happened to my first dog, and I found the sadness I had a long time ago when I lost my first dog and it was also my best friend. 

2. I found it hard to write the correct logic because I could not remember every detail. 

3. I had many grammar mistakes in my writing after I read my paper, so I think I will try to do better on the grammar and the correct logic in my next project.

4. I think I will give myself an A- because I spent a lot of time on this project although I had a lot of other things, and the thing I believe I did not do was that I did not write a good paper, but I believe I can do better on the next project.

Project 2 Portfolio

Preliminary Project 2 Description

How will the traffic become if we have flying vehicles one day?

I think the best thing about having flying vehicles is that people can manage their time a lot better and easily, and people can travel to some places they want without going by plane or train. Will flying vehicles come out as perfect as we expect? What if the government does not approve these flying vehicles?  

I think I will interview my mother because she is the person who gives me the inspiration, I did not know that flying vehicles were coming out for a few years after she told me about it. She was extremely excited about it, and I think she will have many thought on flying vehicles.

Sources:

https://mobilesyrup.com/2023/07/26/first-electric-flying-car-hit-u-s-dealerships-2026/#:~:text=Model%20A%20is%20a%20two,USD%20(roughly%20%24396%2C610%20CAD).

https://youtu.be/BVvIGcp15Ug?feature=shared

https://www.aeromobil.com/#introduction

Final Project

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1llZTk4Imu2FsRTD7HlHfVSdCmoDsgqcJ