User:LlauraIspas

=English Composition=

Statement of Intent
You are responsible for deciding what you will produce this quarter, with the one caveat that I will vet your project idea(s) based on appropriateness of scope. Your statement of intent will be 300 words, free of typos, and posted to your Wikiversity userspace. Here is an example.


 * overview. What you intend to accomplish, stated in quantitative terms.
 * rationale. What do you hope to get out of this?
 * publication/presentation. How will the public access the work?
 * schedule. Build a realistic order of events.
 * anticipated problems. What might go wrong? How will you compensate?

Statement of Intent by: Llaura Ispas for English Composition

I am intending to build a website based on the need for a way for students to have access to selling, trading or buying used books and/or supplies required for this school from each other.

I am hoping to get, as well as help others obtain, a valuable resource for making college less expensive.

My work will be accessible online as a website, and I am hoping to get access provided via links on other sites to mine. For instance something to include would be the student library site. I am also intending on posting the information about it around as many public school places as I can possibly get away with.

What could go wrong:

Being my first created from nothing website, I think most of my issues completing it could be technical difficulties. I will intend on solving this issue by not being afraid to ask for help from people who know more than me about it, and using my textbooks in this area for help.

My schedule could be way wrong in the scripting area, I could be way off base in how long that will take me in reality, especially because of my addition to detail in these areas. This will be something I will quickly figure out when I start scripting, it will be a fly or fall moment. If it is a fall moment then I will be really having to exactly schedule out my time to get it finished with other classes assignments.

It could be challenging to get the basic version of this up and running if start rolling to much with other additions to the site, my basic avoidance technique here would be not getting convoluted and overwhelmed as much as possible going back to the main idea.

My Schedule: (made up in weeks from now until 1 week after my workshop which is wk 9 of the quarter so this will be an 8 week schedule, added wk after the workshop to finalize and make revisions)

Due:

Week 1(3):

Have an outline of what things I want included on the site, for instance origin, user policy etc.

Find a domain name that is not taken, that is user friendly.

See what is already out there, how to improve it or use it to my sites advantage as far as usability and design. (Because I’m sure this exists for colleges somewhere, although not so far that I have seen for this school)

Week 2(4):

Get all of my writing for the sections completed.

Find out legalities and how to get around them, and who to even communicate with at the school about that.

Figure out useful links to include.

Next wk midterms, be prepared in other classes to give time for this.

Week 3 (5):

Do a design layout, what looks good but isn’t overwhelming, since the site is intended for information and not really necessarily visual appeal as much.

If I’m ahead start scripting now.

Prepare for this to be midterm wk so as to schedule time appropriately.

Week 4 (6):

Start scripting, and testing.

Week 5 (7):

Finish Scripting. Start testing for user friendliness.

Week 6 (8):

Have the site up and running. Keep testing for problems and usability.

Design a handout to get the information out there.

Week 7 (9):

Be prepared for workshop.

-Have 25 copies of screen shots printed

-Site must work to show in class

-Have handouts beyond so people can start using the site for what it is intended, maybe like business cards with just the site info on it for people to keep and hand out accordingly.

Week 8 (10):

Use information from the workshop to better the site, and its contents.

Start tracking traffic to the site, and get the information out there as much as possible.

Workshop
You will have a piece of writing critiqued by the class, at least 1,500 words (or less with my permission if you wrote a villanelle). The workshop is explained fully here.

Publication/Presentation
Your project will be presented in two ways.
 * On your wikiversity userpage.
 * In one of the following formats:
 * 1) A physical zine of at least ten copies.
 * 2) A performance/recording that is available to the public.
 * 3) Attempts toward publication.

Week 6 Progress Report
I am currently doing well on my schedule, although I have not started scripting yet because I found that I don't have to. I found a great place to host my site, and therefore I can pick and choose what I want to do myself or not as far as creating goes. I have drafts of all the information I want to go up on the site, and now it's just taking the time to do it. So I believe I will go ahead this weekend and get it up and going. I am so grateful that I had the conversation with my web scripting teacher about the best way to create this, she has saved me so much time and unnecessary effort. Development of what I want to be on the site went really well and as of right now I feel really good about it all. As well as research all pointing in the right direction of what I am trying to accomplish.

Reader's Report
I read Html, Xhtml & CSS by Elizabeth Castro which was a great reference to figure out simple coding issues while scripting. It is the suggested book for the Web Scripting class offered here, and it is quite helpful for that. I wouldn't say it was a great read or particularly entertaining, but very useful for the reasons it was written. I also read The Visibone Everything Book for Web Developers. This guide is awesome. Very handy laminated cheat sheet for coding, with great simple things like a color/code chart. Laid out in a really easy to use way and the best quick reference I have seen for coding. Also very helpful with font types and appropriate sizes. It's all color coded and easy to use. This was a better read for me just because it was like a super condensed version of the above, plus it is better organized and more aesthetically pleasing. I also did quite a bit of research on the internet to see whats out there already. I did a lot of random Google reading for this, as well as being directed to the wiki a lot. I'll I really found out is that this doesn't really exist around here, or really not very many places at all ( I think I found one for a community college in Colorado). All in all it was somewhat hard to find something to model it after that wasn't like Craigslist, and when I get more skilled and have enough people interested then I think going that route would be a good choice.

Works Cited Castro, Elizabeth. HTML, XHTML & CSS. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit, 2007. Print. The VisiBone Everything Book for Web Developers. January 2009 ed. VisiBone, 2009. Print.

Participation

 * attendance, including field trips
 * active in discussion and during in-class assignments
 * self assessment

=Freshman Seminar=

Always Wanted To Schedule

 * Topic

Create a Cookbook For My Family
 * Research Component

Find out where all of the recipes came from, as well as the history of the cookbook.

The History of The Cookbook Research 1.)	The American Cookbook A History This book first talks about the first settlers to America. How they gained knowledge from Indians and had difficulty adapting to using corn. Recipes were passed down orally at this time (1607 and 1621 were the first settlements) because 9 in 10 women couldn’t read and 2/3rds couldn’t even write there own name nevertheless a recipe.  Although the first book at this time (brought to America) (originally published in 1615) that contained some reference to cookery and recipes was The English Housewife, which I will include a picture of the cover to in my project, because it is hilarious (“Containing the inward and outward virtues which ought to be in a complete woman.”).  It goes over a women’s main functions in society at the time and includes but is not limited to such things as: Surgery, Cookery, Physique, Banqueting fluffe (?), Ordering of Great Feasts, Preserving of all sorts of Wines, Conceited secrets, Making Cloth, the knowledge of Dairies, Distillations, Perfumes, Ordering of Wool, Hemp and Flax, office of molding, of Oates, there excellent uses in a Family, of Brewing, Baking and all other things belonging to a household. It also says that it is necessary for all men to own one for the general good of the Kingdome. My main concern for this book was how helpful would it really be for these women when none of them could even read. It was actually an accompaniment for a book about a Husbands Recreational activities of the time (hunting, sports and so on) again I found all of this quite funny, especially because not included in the husbands recreational activities was reading to the wife. Revamped and redone versions of this book, and more specifically the cooking part were published all the way into the early 1800’s, one in particular was published in 1747 that was (finally) “made plain and easy” the author said in an interview that “my design is to instruct the ignorant and unlearned (which will likewise be of use in all private families).” Something else to note is that only about half of these recipes are “American” most of them containing recipes for things considerably hard to make in America where the resources differed from those of the English. So in my opinion all in all here in America the Cookbook started out pretty inefficient if not unusable. Continue starting in the 1800’s.

2.)	The Medieval Cookbook ISBN # 0-500-01548-1 The first thing to note about this book is that it contains many medical recipes. Also a lot about the food restrictions imposed by the church (will give more details as I find them).  Funny side note that some medical recipes say “I proved” after them to insure the consumer that this did indeed work. To be cont. 3.)	The Art of Cooking The First Modern Cookery Book ISBN  #0-520-23271-2 This is considered the first cookbook ever. It was originally taken from a few manuscripts, so far appears to be written in the early 1400’s. To be cont.


 * week 1

Find the best, most cost efficient way to create the cookbook, via a kit, Kinko’s, or a publishing company. Budget to be able to make 25-50 of them, so I can give them as Christmas presents this year.

The most cost efficient way is definitely going to be Kinko's/Staples. Kit's are around $19.99/pc they only make 1, so great for the project, bad for the Christmas gift. Found out that via websites they run an average (checked 5 sites) of $380 for 25. I can buy a basic binding machine at Staples for $99, 50 bindings is $12.99, plus paper and printing and I could still make on my own around 300 or so for the cost of 25 done for me.
 * week 2

Choose best way. Gather the recipes from my family(mom,grandma,aunt's). Make sure I have enough time to order from week three or do layout by deadline to get the book in in time to print before week 8.
 * week 3

Research where the recipes came from, possibly write short stories to accompany recipes.
 * week 4

Get photo's together, design cover, layout, place order (if doing myself add plan to the following weeks to get the printing and binding done by due date). Checked out Staples this weekend Binding Machine on sale! My Mother Helped get together a multitude of recipes, so many in fact that now I have another step to add which is weeding through all of them and choosing the best ones. Also found a laminating machine decently cheap to do the covers. Still deciding if photo's and color are worth extra cost.
 * week 5

Research the history of the cookbook. Don't forget Resources! Layout, Balance of recipe type and finish up research component. Write stories and/or add in where the recipes came from.
 * week 6

Check over everything see if I'm missing anything and hopefully start answering the questions for the final presentation. Possibly spending time binding and what not. Have printed at Staples then bind and Laminate covers myself.
 * week 7

Review finished product for accuracy, make any corrections if needed/possible.
 * week 8

Work on getting project together for presentation (save cookbook as pdf so I can show it via the internet on the class board.) Make sure all questions are answered and requirements fulfilled for Presentation.

Midterm Assignment 1: Taste & Aesthetics
http://www.psychresearch.com/headache1.html    Accidental Fallacy, Unlicensed person claiming Migraines are caused by only 3 things (2 of which he says are psychological and can be cured instantly if the person is willing)  Dubious Authority and Oversimplification

http://www.jackinthebox.com/       Truth Through Irony, Making of fun of "cure" commercials but still advertising smoothies for Jack In The Box

Midterm Assignment 2: Manipulation
Bench By Roy McMakin Olympic Sculpture Park This is the Sculpture that I chose as the one I didn’t like, or just really couldn’t see the artistic value of. It is so simple and utilitarian. I did however like the other sculpture in the park called “Love & Loss” by the same artist. After looking at more work by the artist I found that I really like most of his work, especially the wooden pieces. A lot of his work appears to be somewhat simple but also somehow askew or having some element of contrast to what you assume to be the style. For instance the farmhouse he designed on Vashon Island has elements of being based on a farmhouse but is also VERY modern which is in a huge contrast to what you expect from a farmhouse. He uses light in very interesting ways, the room he did called “Drawing A Line” appears to be a Gray box inside a color space, but upon closer observation the interior space looks white, this piece makes the very traditional furnishings of the room pop with contemporary style due to the monochromatic feel and contrast again in vastly different styles. All in all I found an artist that I really like, his work gives me varying emotions, memory recall in classic styles combined with an edgy pushing the limits feeling created in the drastic contrast within his pieces. Although I could not however make myself like or really appreciate his “Bench”, in fact the only curious or interesting thing I could find about it besides that it isn’t linear, is that one side is always shady and one sunny (weather permitting), which I learned online after I had seen it because the weather wasn’t so good when I saw it. I am not depressed or disappointed that I couldn’t make myself like it, I guess for me it doesn’t serve an artistic purpose that I appreciate really, I mean I would rather see a park bench, then one made out of concrete. It didn’t really represent for me the usual tone of his pieces, no real contrast in shape or style. I don’t really feel either that my dislike of this piece is necessarily derived from preconceived notions or feelings, because there are similar pieces that I do like that just contain a little more variety or visual interest. I can see how everyone’s personal experiences can create their taste one way or another and that it is for sure possible that it could have affected my opinion. I do know that it is indeed my opinion as I visited the sculptures alone and didn’t have anyone else’s input on what they thought, which I know could have affected my opinion if I had.

Final Presentation

 * Topic (10%)

< > Create a Cookbook For my Family


 * Research (20%)

<>


 * 1) Internet site:
 * 2) Book:
 * 3) Scholarly Journal:
 * 4) Other (interview, TV show,etc):

Works Cited

Black, Maggie. Medieval cookbook. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1992. Print.

Como, Maestro Martino of. The Art of Cooking The First Modern Cookery Book (California Studies in Food and Culture). New York: University of California, 2005. Print.

Fisher, Carol. American Cookbook A History. Boston: McFarland & Company, 2006. Print.

Pinkerton, J. C. "Historical Information: history of cookbooks." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. Pagewise, 2002. Web. 07 Dec. 2009. .


 * Your accomplishment (20%)

<> Cookbook Accomplished


 * Project Review (50%)
 * 1)What went well
 * 2)What went poorly
 * 3)Future strategies

What went well:

Research, I was able to find books with a lot of information. Also the website there at the end. I was able to layout a solid plan and stick to it until just about midterms.

When I made time going through recipes with my mom and getting to hear about some of them were great. Although more of their origins were unknown then I had thought there would be.

The evolution of the tactile side of the project went very well, finding out the fastest most cost efficient way to produce the cookbook. It ended up that the best way to do it was the easier more homemade way, which made it possible to add more to later. Binders and paper were much cheaper then having them made or binding them to be more like a book. The cookbooks cost about $3.15/pc to make instead of about $16/pc to have them done.

Designing the cover and layout went well also and was a fun part for me.

What went poorly:

Sticking to the plan after about week 5. I got very busy with projects from other classes, my whole family came down with the flu, everyone missed school and work and I had no time for homework. Then my parents came into town about a month and a half later then they were supposed to so we didn’t have any backup when the kids were sick. Also we were trying to close on our home and we ended up having to redo the paperwork about 3 times, which was time consuming to say the least. My daughters birthday was right as everyone was getting better, and now I am preparing to host Christmas for my whole family (about 25 people) for the first time, while moving into our home. All of this on top of my school money still not being in, which was supposed to cover my travel, school supplies, and my kids tuition has been a very stressful time for my family and I, and made it very difficult to focus on this project. I do believe that these circumstances were particularly difficult, and that hopefully in the future I wont have so much happening at once, but with kids, family, and being married to someone in the military I just never really know. So on to future strategies.

Future Strategies:

My first strategy would be to make time, no matter what else is going on, to stick to the plan because if I had stuck to the plan I wouldn’t have been cramming last minute to finish. Another thing for me to think about in the future would be to focus on something I’m more interested in and maybe something for myself. I found that although the cookbook is something I have been meaning to do for a long time, that maybe the reason I was putting it off was that it was a chore to do it. It wasn’t something that was necessarily fun for me or that I was looking forward to doing. So I think that also could have caused some of my procrastination about it. It was more fun for me to do projects for my art classes, and those projects were also due weekly. I would always do those first telling myself I had more time to finish the cookbook so it would get put on the backburner compared to the rest of my assignments. For me setting a it up in a way where I would require a step to be completed week and not give myself leeway would have worked better to not be struggling to finish in the end. In short next time I would have: Stuck to the plan, made more deadlines for myself, picked something more interesting to me if I get to pick, and have more resources in place to help out with the family circumstances.

Self-Assessment
Self Assessment: I feel that I learned in this class that college is truly different from high school, you are encouraged to be smart and participate vs. not wanting to stand out from the crowd in high school. I know I have a lot left to learn about society in general, the more things about it we looked at (stereotypes, critical thinking etc.) the more I felt like I didn’t know or really the more I just never stopped to think about. I also learned a lot about perspective, and resources. For sure learned about my time management skills and what still needs work about them. I also learned more about the resources I use and how to check their validity.

I did do all the assignments to my best ability, and came to every class I possibly could.

I feel more prepared to give educated viewpoints and think things through better.

I think I was able to contribute to the class by hopefully giving some a new perspective of the issues discussed. I also made a couple of good friends.

I believe the biggest thing for me that came out of this class was a desire to set aside the time to take on things I had always put aside. The “always wanted to “ project is something I am really going to try to continue to do for myself every quarter regardless of my classes. Thinking about all I could accomplish this way really motivates me to stick with it. Learning that if you can make a plan to do it and be flexible, make it a priority, then you really can accomplish some of these more short term personal goals, or even long term ones one step at a time.

My grandfather is someone I really look up to, someone who has accomplished so much in his life thus far and he has always said to me whenever I told him a goal for myself or my family "Llaura, Make a plan, stick to the plan" and now I realize what he really meant.