Battle for christmas

2005-12-07T15:57:00.000-05:00

Today's class spent time discussing the GUPS part of revising papers. I thought it was really beneficial information to go over. Many little things, such as comma necessity/placement and I vs. me/he vs. him type situations, were things that I was unsure about, and now I feel like I have a better grasp on grammar and punctuation.
However, I must confess that every previous time we corrected single sentences during class time, I always think it makes things a lot easier and leave class with every intention of applying that method to correcting my own paper. But do I really do that? Unfortunately, not really. I just revise it as a whole, instead of piece by piece, and I really think the latter way would allow for better/more improvements to be made.
This time I'm really determined though, especially since this paper is focusing on revisions, to actually go in sentence by sentence and make sure the GUPS are all used correctly. :)

2005-12-06T22:07:00.000-05:00

The sixth paper is giving me some trouble :/
I'm choosing to rewrite my 4th paper, and I'm trying to improve it by using a new thesis. And thats not really the tough part, but it's more the journal part of it. My corrections aren't really just corrections on what's already written, but large movements, alterations, additions, and subtractions. So, its not like writing, "Paragraph 2 Line 4-I did this, because of this," but my supporting paragraphs are just based on some of the things I talked about in my fourth paper, and a lot of the things I used in the original paper aren't pertinent to my new thesis. So the structure of my content is all different...But I think I'm doing it alright, its just a lot of work...I'm not complaining per se...just sharing my thoughts/frustrations about this paper.
But it's the last paper for the course...Wow!
The semester flew by like crazy. I really can't believe it.

But I'm gonna cut this short so that I can go to bed. :)

2005-12-05T23:58:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I haven't mentioned something about class in my blogs yet. We're doing a Secret Santa!
I love secret santa's, even though I don't really talk to anyone in the class(which is a fact that I hate), so it's not like a really personal thing, it's still fun. It really puts me in the spirit too-I love giving presents, and I really hope my person likes theirs :)
Ah-I can't wait to go home for Christmas and exchange presents with my friends and family. I'm really into crafts and stuff like that, so I'm big on homemade stuff, and I always have so much fun making the presents, and then that joy gets furthered by seeing the reactions of my friends and family.
I love when those people give me homemade presents too. They just mean so much more than anything you could find in a store. The thought and love and personal touches that go into homemade things is really unique and rare...Thats why when my mom asked me over Thanksgiving break if there was anything I really wanted for Christmas, I couldn't think of anything, but I told her to make me something. If I get something made by her, that'll mean even more because my mom isn't exactly into crafty things as much as I am, so it'd be extremely special coming from someone who wouldn't normally dive into an artsy project.

Hmm, I always find myself connecting this stuff to the things I've learned from class, and especially from Nissenbaum's book, and I'm thinking about how when Christmas became a domestic holiday, consumerism and materialism rose due to the purchasing of presents. It's really a shame that people didn't just embellish upon those household items that were previously given to wassailers, but instead searched outside of the home to provide gifts for their family members. I can't even imagine what a different atmostphere Christmas would have if it was centered around a tradition like this rather than one of purchases. Had this been the case, then many arguments and discussions, such as Professor Showers's blog, would probably never need to exist. And on that note, I think I'm going to go check that out, and think of some ways to provide a response that would be useful to others reading the blog.

2005-12-02T14:06:00.000-05:00

This week is really not going too well for me...I hate missing class, especially when its to lay around drinking hot tea and feeling crappy. Things are so much different being at school than how they ever were before. Its really weird to not be like, "Mom, I don't feel good today...Can I stay home?" And and have it be completely your responsibility to choose what to do. But I guess that comes with growing up, even though I still feel like I'm about 13.

Anyways, I decided that I should check the Outbox for class to see who my partner for the 6th paper was, because it wouldn't be right if someone didn't get peer feedback just because I wasn't able to make class. Turns out that I could only find his journal though, so now I'm not too sure what to do.
I'm really not enjoying this paper too much. It's just a lot of work the way I'm approaching it, because I don't think I addressed the right thesis in my 4th paper, so I'm using a new thesis, and basically writing a new paper, but using some of the same supporting evidence. I don't know if what I'm doing is right, especially because rewriting instead of just doing corrections means that my changes are more complex than just altering stuff in a paragraph or rewording or something.
Oh well. Guess I'll find out after its handed in when I get my grade back.

2005-11-30T14:39:00.000-05:00

I figure since I missed class on the 28th, I should at least make a blogentry...And its been a little bit since I've blogged, so it's probably nota bad idea to update.Feeling really crappy the past couple days made me realize that one thingI really don't like about this season is how much easier it is to getsick. Just another negative effect of the cold weather I guess.Anyways...Thanksgiving break was really relaxing, and it made me think alot about the long break next month. Digging out all of our Christmasboxes full of decorations, reminiscing about each specialornament/decoration, curling up watching tv on the couch with hotcocoa...It all made me get even more excited for Christmas next month. Even though I have no idea how I'm going to deal with being freezing forthat long, since the temperature change compared to how it is in the dormsis so drastic. Hopefully the warmth of the season will warm meup...Jeez-I'm so dorky sometimes lol...OK-Back to discussing the course...Last night as I was working on my 6thpaper, I went onto the course website, and noticed that the rough andfinal due dates were both delayed again. I just hope that it wasn'tchanged because of something important that was discussed in class onMonday. Hopefully not, but I always worry that the one day that I don'tmake it, I'll miss something important.Anyways-The 6th paper...I've found that it is testing my organizationalskills, as we're working with 3 word files, and then going back toNissenbaum and the primary source article as well. I'd have to say thatthis is a much different way of making a paper rewrite than I've done inthe past. It is making me work more diligently though, and the methodmeans my corrections are more important and substantial.

2005-11-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

So its my birthday today, and I'm excited.
Since birthdays are holidays too, I figured it was ok to write a little bit about it in here today.

I have to say, my friends here at school are amazing. I woke up this morning to a decorated door/wall/hall area...it was more than I ever could have dreamed. I had streamers and balloons and signs and everything.
They even bought me a wand, tiara, and ribbon that says "birthday girl." How cute is that?!

Because this is my Battle for Christmas blog, I think I automatically start finding ways to connect anything I talk about here to the course somehow. So, that has me thinking about how far back various birthday traditions date. I wonder which culture first started giving presents on birthdays, and when...
And what about Birthday cake...cuz what would birthday be without cake and ice cream?!

K, well on that note, I'm gonna go get some ice cream!

I'll be sure to post a more significant blog sometime soon...

2005-11-17T13:25:00.000-05:00

A couple blogs ago, I said something I might blog about later would be some of the facts I stumbled upon as I researched my contributing page of the Wiki Collaborative Writing Project.

Like most other Christmas traditions, I had figured that the stocking custom originated in some foreign country, and then was brought to America. To me, the most interesting foreign stocking tradition that I found was Puerto Rico's. They left out small boxes of flowers and greens under their beds, not for Santa or the reindeer, but for the Three Kings' camels. This makes me think that the Puerto Rican Christmas is fairly more religion-oriented than others. Not too sure.

Another thing I liked about the tradition was how charity-based it is. Originating from a sweet little story about a gift from Saint Nicholas to three poor girls whos widowed father couldn't afford their dowries for them to be married.
And this gift was a surprise for the girls. I thought that was neat, because for me it would always be such a surprise as to what I would find in my stocking on Christmas morning. Since it was filled with stocking stuffers, which normally were candy, but seeing as how I never really liked candy too much, I would never know what to expect in my stocking. Kind of like the girls never knew to expect gifts of gold in their stockings.

Also, I was hoping to find a larger amount of information on giving coal to "naughty" children. However, there was a large lack of information posted online regarding this aspect of the custom.

2005-11-12T18:22:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a day at Marketplace Mall, and I saw something there that I thought would be really neat to note in my blog.
While I was browsing around a store specializing in Christmas stuff, I noticed a book sitting by the nativity scenes. Since I Love children's books, and it was obvious that this book was one, I decided to look at it. The book, A Special Place for Santa by Jeanne Pieper, was one of the sweetest I've ever read. Even the cover was adorable, as it was the picture of the kneeling Santa by baby Jesus.

It started with Santa overhearing two women talking about how they were starting to get really upset with the fact that Santa was becoming more important at Christmas than the idea surrounding Jesus's birth, and this made Santa extremely sad.
Every Christmas Eve, the last stop Santa would make was to a church with a lifesized nativity scene, so that he could be the first person on Christmas to see and thank Jesus. But this year he could only make it as far as a pew because he felt so bad about what his role during Christmas had become.
All of a sudden, he heard a voice telling him that he has helped to preserve the holiday spirit more than most others, and goes to shortly tell of some of the history behind Santa. This voice ends up being God's, and he successfully restores Santa's confidence in his role in the season.

This book really does an amazing job of incorporating historical facts into a children's book. I was so shocked to see Pieper mention the story of St. Nicholas dropping bags of gold down the chimney into 3 poor girls' stockings, and of Moore's development of Santa through A Visit from St. Nicholas, and of the further development through Thomas Nast's illustrations.

I almost wish that I bought the book...maybe I'll tell my mom about it, and it'd be a cute little thing for her to give me :)
Ha-I'm so cheap now...

2005-11-09T16:38:00.000-05:00

So we're heading to an end as far as papers go for this class...The final copy of our fifth paper is due Monday, and then all we have left is our sixth and last, which is a rewrite of either the fourth or fifth paper.

I think I'm definitely going to rewrite my fourth paper because I was really unhappy with my work. I was actually really relieved when I found out about this assignment because my thoughts immediately jumped to my fourth paper. It was poorly written, and I didn't develop my ideas well at all.
Another thing that brought relief regarding the fourth paper was the extra credit Wiki assignment that we may opt to do. By adding to the Collaborative Writing Project, we can get up to 10 points added on to our fourth paper.

A couple nights ago, I started working on a page about Christmas stockings linked from the reference in the poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas. Hopefully my work on that will pay off because I have a feeling that when I get make my grade on the fourth paper, 10 extra points would really come in handy. I think later I'll blog a little more about things I've found out while making the page. :)

2005-10-30T12:57:00.000-05:00

A night or two ago, since we discussed the blogs a little bit last week in class, I decided to browse around some of my classmates' blogs just to see some other people's views of the holiday, class, papers, or just seeing what other people are writing about.

One thing I found kind of amusing was how many people blogged about the day that class was cancelled. I thought that was cute-you could almost guarantee that around whatever date that was, the subject would be Class Cancelled or something like that.

I also liked reading about people's views of the holiday traditions, and things like people's favorite seasonal songs and movies.

I started wondering if anyone actually read mine, then I found myself wondering about how their responses to my posts would be.
Hmm...well this has been one of those "pointless," not too deep posts, but I guess every once in awhile that should be ok. :)

2005-10-28T21:53:00.000-04:00

So, in an attempt to waste some time before I go over to my friend's townhouse then out to the midnight movies, I guess I'll write a bit in my blog.
Today in class I got a much better idea of how Professor Schacht is going to grade the Wiki, which was nice to find out, since I was one of the people who had posted my curiousity about it. I think viewing the changes throughout the whole thing is a very fair way of assigning the grades, and I would have to agree that the final thing would deserve about an A- for a grade.

Class time was also used to discuss corrections that should be made on sentences that people were unsure about in their 4th paper. I hate how it always seems easier to analyze something when it isn't yours. Its hard to correct your own work as if you're an uninformed reader since you know the context and meaning that you're trying to convey, its quite the task to forget about all that knowledge you have and read as an outsider. I think I'm going to approach the revising of my paper kind of like we did the sentence in class today, and go over things sentence by sentence, or at least just a couple or few sentences at a time. That way I can read it in pieces and not just assume I know the meanings based on just my knowing what I'm talking about.

Hopefully I'll keep up with the grades I've previously received, and won't start slacking off on any work now that we're farther into the semester and I have more things in all my classes to get done. I'm not really too worried though...that darn perfectionist side of me always shines through and makes me do the best I can.

:)

2005-10-28T11:37:00.000-04:00

Our 5th paper topic was posted a few days ago, and its based a lot on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The themes of community, good will, religion, excess, misrule, and social inversion, consumerism, time, tradition, tiny tim, christmas symbols, and family all play significant roles in the novel, and the paper is going to discuss Dickens's discussion of one of these. Our interpretation must be supported by A Christmas Carol, Nissenbaum, notes/intro to the Hearn edition of A Christmas Carol, or any other sources. We have to show that we see how this novel is truly a "work of its time."

I'm kind of looking forward to this assignment. I like when our assignments have more to do with Christmas subjects that I am more familiar with, such as the first paper writing about our favorite traditions. A Christmas Carol has always been one of my favorite stories of the season, but that's only based on movies I've seen, like the Flinstones, Mickey, Scrooged, and others. So, to read the actual story seems interesting to me because I definitely think that books tend to be even better than movies.

I'm curious as to when I read the story, which topics will stand out most to me, and which I will lean more towards when thinking about what to write for my paper.

2005-10-26T21:13:00.000-04:00

Today in class, we were shown an article about a tree in Rochester that people claimed had the face of Jesus on its trunk. It was supposedly a sign from God.

Personally, I'm completely with the people that are like, "What?! No, its a tree. Nothing else. Just a tree."

I believe in God, but I don't think my beliefs should be validated by some earthly signs. Isn't it enough to have your faith without having physical evidence of it. That's what I like so much about believing in things. The fact that it's something that doesn't need to be justified is amazing to me, especially because we live in a world where it seems like Everything has to have an explanation.

So, to say that God sent the people of Rochester a sign of his existence or of whatever by means of putting Jesus' face on a tree is ridiculous to me, and its a bit upsetting because it takes away that strictly faith-based belief system that religion is in my head.

Someone in class also said that if you look at anything, and want to see something, you'll be able to see it.
For instance, people look at clouds all the time, and see animals or objects or other images. Doesn't mean that if you see a bear in the clouds, you're gonna be attacked and killed by a bear o something like that. Ya know?
Kinda seems to me like this is the case here. I mean, ok the way the bark is or whatever does resemble a face. Yes. But why Jesus? Can't it just be like, "oh wow, that looks kinda like a face." Not, "WOW! That's Jesus. God's sending us a sign!"
I don't mean to sound rude to these people's beliefs, but it just seems a bit wacky to me.

If it makes them happy to see Jesus in a tree, then hey, who am I to ruin that?

2005-10-25T22:12:00.000-04:00

Ooook, I know this is a blog about Christmas, but with another holiday coming up next week, I couldn't resist.

Halloween.
I wonder a lot about the indepth real history of Halloween now that I've been learning so much about Christmas. I cant even imagine all of the hidden facts that none of us really know about that holiday.

I've never been super into Halloween...its definitely not as high in my mind as some other holidays. I guess I never really liked trick-or-treating too much...I hate the cold, and it seems like it was always freeeezing on halloween, and most of the time rainy too...So it was never really fun to go out and walk around in costumes and get candy.

And I always hated how my mom made me wear sweatshirts and stuff under my costumes. Totally ruined it. How can you be a princess or something with a puffy sweatshirt under your dress?! It completely ruins the effect of dressing up. But I know if I didn't do it I'd complain even more about the cold.

One thing I must admit I love about Halloween is pumpkin carving though. Sooo much fun!
I love getting all messy and cleaning out the guts, and then using the kits that we'd buy to make really cool looking pumpkins. I always got sooo into it, and took forever to make mine as close to the picture as I could get it.

Over fall break I actually carved a pumpkin with my Goddaughter. Well, actually, I carved the pumpkin, and she cleaned it and complained about getting "icky." But she said she "couldn't cut the pumpkin," even though they're childproof type knives. Shes too cute :)
Her pumpkin was a witch, and it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

On another related note, the holiday's this Monday, and I still have no clue what me and my friends are doing for it this weekend. I guess we're dressing up, but its sooo cold and windy and rainy here, I'd much rather curl up with a cup of hot chocolate-Guess Christmas really is the holiday that suits me better.

2005-10-23T15:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my mom took me to the mall in rochester, and wow theres so much out to put you in the holiday spirit already. We went in this Christmas decoration store, and of course went to Hallmark because they already have the new ornaments out. My mom buys me one every year, so its always special to look at them. I also LOVE the christmas villages. there were soooo many at the Christmas store we went in. It was amazing! My favorites are the old Charles Dickens styled villages, but I think I love them all...

I can't wait until the malls are all decorated for the season...Theres just something about the mall in November/December that makes me smile.(Especially when you see the little kids with Santa!)
:)

2005-10-21T04:53:00.001-04:00

So, chapter 4 of Battle for Christmas discusses the commercialization of Christmas, which is something that has always kind of bugged me about the holidays.
But Nissenbaum poses an argument which I haven't really thought of before. He says that Santa is like an "anticommercial icon." Santa has a special way of being able to hide the fact that presents are commodity items, because he stands for such traditional holiday customs.
And Santa with his cute little elves and handmade, special, individual presents I guess help to compromise with the commercial aspects that Christmas developed. Hiding this with Santa kind of makes it ok to use massproduced gifts, instead of more genuine things...

2005-10-21T04:53:00.000-04:00

2005-10-18T21:40:00.000-04:00

I think I was really too quick to say that there wasn't enough in my article that I saw there to write about. After reading it closer and making notes and things like that, I can't say its as flat of an article as I had first thought.
I like how even though the letter was published 123 years ago, the customs have lived on so well that it could practically have been written last year. It is filled with descriptions of the secretive nature that everyone has about what they bought their friends and family for Christmas, and the last minute shopping that occurs, and the special extra slurges that people make during the holidays. It was really a cute little letter that someone wrote about the craziness surrounding their Christmas, and each family member seemed to have their own individual role in the chaos.

Thats exactly how my family is when the whole bunch of us get together on Christmas. There are some of us who are quieter and kind of lay low, others who attempt to keep things organized and such, the ones who just relax and "be merry," and then the little kids running around getting into things whenever they can. I'm definitely one of the quieter ones, and as horrible as it sounds I love it when the big family gathering is over. Not because I'm a scrooge or anything, I just like it more when we leave the extended family and go back at our house and exchange presents between the few of us. I love the calmness and really cozy feeling I get when we go back home, eat left overs from earlier that day at Christmas dinner, make hot chocolate, and exchange our presents.

Aw...I can't wait for that!

2005-10-17T15:55:00.000-04:00

Wow, two entries in one day... this is new, as horrible as that is, its all too true.
Today class had me fairly confused...I thought the point of having the librarian come into class was to teach us how to go out and find our articles for the paper. But no, we were told and then just given articles that we can write our papers based on. I mean, I don't have a problem with being given the article, just didn't really see the point of today.
Even though it may be more time consuming, I may choose to find a different article to write about. Or, at least I'm planning on browsing at things on the sites linked on the library's site. I just don't want there to be another article that really interests me, and not search through them.
We'll see.
Plus, I didn't find much substance in my article. It was just about a family at Christmas-time, and briefly describes the process of one member buying a few gifts, and then travels to the family's home as they are exchanging gifts, and one woman becomes engaged. There is enough that could be discussed in relation to Nissenbaum's book, of course, but I'm not sure if its what I feel like writing about...

2005-10-17T08:37:00.000-04:00

Wow, I just realized that its been too long since I've updated my blog-With looking up stuff for the Wiki, the blog seemed to have slipped my mind. Speaking of the Wiki, with that due this morning, I find myself fairly confused as far as how grades will be determined. Even though this topic was discussed in class a little bit, I guess I'm just curious as to how everything will be fairly determined. Especially, with the way that it seemed almost like a competition to see who could get to editting a page first, even though this probably wasn't an intentional thing.
Anyways, it is kind of a relief that the assignment is done, just because I am so behind in the whole understanding how to do things online. I think I'm more of a write my own paper in a conventional way kind of person. And, I'm a much better independent worker than one who is successful in team environments.
So, now on to the 4th paper, which I think seems pretty interesting. I've always been interested in looking back on first account, historical sources-such as going through old newspaper articles, which ironically is one of the main components of one of our choices. I remember working on some AP social studies projects where we had to go back through my town's old newspapers, and I could spend hours just looking through them. Probably one of my dorky interests.
I'm curious as to what we will find out later in class about how to go about finding these articles. :)

2005-10-04T21:38:00.000-04:00

Earlier at work today, I decided to finish my reading of Chapter 3 of Nissenbaum's book.
In a previous entry, I had wondered when people gave up at trying to end the tradition of alcohol surrounding the holidays. Nissenbaum answers this by informing us that what happened was people just began associating the drunken behaviors of the season as "crime," rather than holiday-related crime. I guess this solved the problem of trying to combat holiday drunkenness, even if it seems more like they were just choosing to ignore the problem instead of really solve it.

Additionally, the chapter dives deeper into the issue of role reversal switching from a custom surrounding class to one involving age. Christmas was increasingly becoming more and more of a children's holiday. Something that really shocked me involving this was the rowdy behaviors that children were adopting as they felt they had more freedoms and rights on this holiday. "Barring out the Schoolmaster" really surprised me...and when the schoolmaster talked to some of the parents, they just shrugged it off, and said that they had once been children, and the holidays would soon be over, and with their end would come a return of order in the classroom. Wow. The idea of things like that occurring completely boggles my mind...

There were some other aspects of this chapter that I found really interesting too, these are just a couple of the ones that stick out brighter in my mind.

2005-10-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

Today in class we discussed our assignment for our third paper. Of the three choices, there are two conventional essay topics, and one that is to co-author part of an article on the Wiki about "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Personally, I am the kind of person that really only understands the bare minimum when it comes to the internet and computers and stuff, so I'm not too sure about which assignment to pick.
If I was to decide on a standard type of essay, I would probably pick the first one, in which you discuss who made the stronger argument about the poet of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," Foster or Nickell. I have done a lot of extra searching about this, and feel very strongly that Nickell holds the more solid evidence.
However, since I have explored this topic, part of me thinks it might be a good little challenge to opt for the Wiki assignment. And, who knows, I may end up learning a good deal about the internet and posting stuff through working on the collaborative writing. Plus, it seems as if Professor Schacht really would like us to give the collaborative project a shot, so maybe it will serve as a beneficial assignment, both in the class and for my own knowledge.
And I could always contribute something to the article regarding the authorship controversy.

The whole "collaborative" part of the assignment kind of scares me too...I really don't want to ruin anyone's grade or add something that makes me sound unintelligent. :/

We'll see...

2005-10-03T08:28:00.000-04:00

So last night I started looking over the reading that we have to do for class on Wednesday. Chapter 3, "The Parlor and the Street," from Nissenbaum's book so far seems to deal a lot with the subject of the more rowdy holiday customs, in particular drinking.
The chapter begins with an account of a reporter's suggestion of drinking coffee as an alternative to alcohol in an attempt to get rid of the unruly practice.

This got me thinking of how similar our present day New Years celebrations are to these old holiday drinking traditions. It is almost expected in today's society that the new year will be brought in with lots of alcohol, partying, and other forms of "merry making." No matter what one's class, New Years Eve parties are pretty much always the norm for the night. So, these reformers that were voicing their opinions hundreds of year ago must not have been overly successful in changing the holiday tradition. Although it is true that the actual day of Christmas is now for the most part a domestic, peaceful holiday, New Years is still closely linked with excessive alcohol consumption.

It is so crazy to think that one day, many of us are in church or at home celebrating our beliefs in a quiet, calm, orderly manner, and then just a few days later, a large majority are out drinking and acting wildly. What a complete 180 in terms of actions.

I wonder when this tradition stopped being protested, and just became widely accepted. Maybe reformers just compromised with allowing alcohol on the new year, as long as Christmas day was a sober holiday?

2005-10-01T20:55:00.000-04:00

I've been wicked cold lately. I hate it...That got me thinking about the thing that I hate most about the holiday season. The weather.

Fall weather is even too cold for me, so when it gets to the teens and below-I'm definitely not a happy girl. I'm really nervous about how its gonna be up here in the winter, walking to class in the freezing cold. I think its the wind that gets me mostly...Without that it'd be a little more bareable.
I dont like snow either...Not even on Christmas :/
A lot of people will say they don't like snow, but that its nice to have on Christmas. Nope. Not me. Can't stand it. I'll admit that sometimes it can be pretty on the trees and stuff while looking at it from inside, but that doesn't help the fact that once you go outside when there's snow on the ground, it means that it's cold out.
With all this thinking about the history and background of Christmas for the course, I can't help but think about how I would have survived in the winter back in the 17 and 1800's and earlier...I really wouldn't have been able to be a whimp about it all back then...

Well, this has been pretty pointless and full of whining about cold weather that unfortunately accompanies Christmas.

2005-09-28T17:01:00.000-04:00

Having finished both Foster's and Nickell's arguments for either Livingston or Moore's position of true authorship of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," I'd have to say that I still believe that Moore is the true poet. None of the support for Livingston seems to be really solid or strong...It seems as if Foster is relying heavily on "he-said/she-said" type evidence, and a lot of inferences.

One of the very shaky arguments that was brought up dealt with Foster saying that Moore could not be the poet due to his personality. Livingston seems to be the warmer, holiday-spirited sort of man who advocated things such as equality, while Moore was if anything, closer to a "scrooge," who did not support democracy, and wrote of loud unmerriness. However, I don't really see how that could hold any validity as evidence. To write from a certain point of view, one doesn't have to accept, believe, or live by that view. For example, take another form of expression, acting. Just because an actor can act convincingly as a mean villian, doesn't mean that he is cold-hearted in reality. So, why does a poet have to be full of the Christmas spirit in order to write a memorable holiday poem?

Furthermore, it seems kind of suspicious to me that those supporting Livingston as the true poet are in some way related to him or from the same hometown as him. These people are obviously examining the evidence with biased eyes, which is unfair to Moore's case.

This whole thing really is intriguing to me...I did a little search about the "true poet of 'A Visit from St. Nicholas'" and found some kinda interesting sites...one by a relative of Livingston who was really pretty obsessive over persuading people that Livingston is the poet. Part of me thinks its pretty pathetic, and I don't understand why someone would care about proving something that much...
Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to check out more of those sites, and post my opinions about them.

2005-09-26T09:41:00.000-04:00

Last night I began working on the reading that we have to do for Wednesday's class, and I have to say, no matter how dorky on my part this is, I really think the whole subject of the controversy over who wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas" is quite interesting.
As I'm beginning to become informed about this conflict through the readings, I'm finding myself trying to "pick sides" and see which person, Livingston or Moore, is the true poet of "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Having just started, and not knowing the "whole story" yet, I seem to think that I agree that Moore is the true poet, althought with the reading of Foster's argument, something in my thinking will probably be altered. It just seems that there is a whole lot more physical evidence supporting Moore as the poet. I think perhaps Livingston's family/home town has some sort of mix up in what was written by who. I find it very possible that Livingston may have constructed some story very similar to that of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," however, that the actual poem is his and that Moore later took the credit for what was not his, I doubt.
I really don't see why Moore, or anyone, would lie about something like that, especially when he's already of high standings socially, and has a multitude of things to claim his name to. More importantly, I can't truly believe that anyone would lie to their children about something that had become such a warm, heartfelt message to hear with the holiday. It seems completely unneccessary and unlikely in my eyes.

I am still excited to finish the readings, and find out all of the information regarding the controversy, as I feel like I do not have a thorough understanding of all of the evidence for each poet's agrument yet. I think I find all of this so intriguing because its like a mystery surrounding one of my favorite Christmas stories, and that I never knew all this background information behind what I always thought of as just warm Christmas spirit is crazy to me.

2005-09-24T18:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday towards the end of class, Professor Schatch mentioned that we have been in class and learned enough so far to begin thinking about our part in the annotation of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" on the Wiki. So, I figured it'd be a good idea to check that out, figure out what its all about, and start thinking about what I might want to add.
I know he'll probably talk more about the assignment in class, but while I was looking at it online, I definitely came across some things I'm questioning. I'm not sure if we're supposed to link part of the text to something based on grammar and literary type things, because that's what the example does. Or if we are able to just link part to any further information about a select line or words of the poem. For example, if there were a few words about Christmas trees, if we link it to information or history about Christmas trees.
Also, I found myself wondering if we link it to an existing page, or to one that we create ourselves.
But, as I said, these are probably all things that will get discussed in class...hopefully anyways.

Before I end this, I just wanted to say a few words about my thoughts of the class because I've definitely been thinking them...This is so much different than anything I've been assigned before...All the internet things that we do-the blogs, the wiki, message board, peer editting by uploading papers, turning in and getting back papers through the computer...It's so different. I'm trying to decide if I prefer assignments this way or the traditional, on paper type way. Possibly because it is something so new to me, I think I may like things this way a little bit more. The only thing I don't like about it is that it kinda scares me that things are becoming so technological nowadays. Besides the fact that I've never been too great working with computers or stuff like that, I'm definitely on the side of the issue that things that the internet, and things like aim especially may be dangerous to the kids that are growing up right now. Making them rely too heavily on computer slang and things like that, I feel, is taking away from their using things like proper grammar.
However, I must admit that it is good in the view that it is making more kids actually use some kind of language and writing...

2005-09-21T15:36:00.000-04:00

I discovered in class today that I really need to speak up, because too many times I'd be thinking something as an answer to something Mr. Schacht would say, but would be, I don't know-afraid? to say what I was thinking, so I wouldn't say anything. And then someone else would say what I was thinking, and it wouldn't be stupid-sounding. So, I'd be left, being like, shoot, I should have said something when I had the chance!
That was always my problem in high school, and I really don't want it to continue here...I just think I get intimidated by other people's views of me or something, and that's such an immature way to handle things, especially at school. I need some darn confidence!

But anyways, the class discussion didn't really get too much into the reading that we were supposed to do for today, which is always kind of disappointing, especially since I really enjoyed reading about the topic for today. (Because, as i said in the last post, I always really loved the story of The Night Before Christmas)

We did talk about the article by the poet that was on Eres...and mentioned how he discusses the poem in a very emotional kind of way, while Nissenbaum focuses on the more historical, scholarly aspects of the origins of the poem. Personally, I like the poet's response to the poem more, just because I think personal, emotional-driven accounts of something are much stronger than just factual ones. Even though the facts might be more concrete, I still will always find feelings to speak louder.

2005-09-20T13:26:00.000-04:00

The reading for the discussion tomorrow is largely based around the poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas." I used to absolutely love this story when I was younger. I remember there being a bunch of little Christmas books that my mom would put out around Christmas time, and my two favorites to read were always The Nutcracker and The Night Before Christmas. When I was really young, I would set out my little stuffed animals or dolls and read for them, pretending to be their teacher or something...Ahhh childhood memories-Little kids are so sweet.

But anyways, because I had always really enjoyed this story, it was especially interesting to learn a little of the story behind the story. Nissenbaum compares it to another poem, "The Day of Doom." Even though there truly are many parallels that can be found, I didn't really like the fact that the two are connected. I guess I always loved the warmth and magical aspects that A Visit from St. Nicholas held, and to see that it finds its roots somewhat from a poem saying that God's, the poem's character equivalent to Santa, visitation is being dreaded because he is going to mercilessly judge each and every person, is kind of a disappointment. It's weird to think that the jolly old St. Nick I grew up with partly originates from a judging character. But at the same time, it is a fascinating discovery.

2005-09-18T22:56:00.000-04:00

This class is really starting to get me excited for Christmas...All the reading and writing about it and everything...
And it's also made me start doing random searches for stuff about Christmas when I'm bored online working on stuff and want a break...How weird is that?!

So, I guess I'll write about some interesting Christmas facts that I found out today...

Due to the time zones, Santa has 31 hours to deliver gifts...This means that he would have to visit 832 homes each second! He's magical...

Christmas cards...Over three billion of them are sent every year in the United States, and Hallmark introduced its first ones in 1915, which was 5 years after the store was founded.

Songs...White Christmas is the biggest selling Christmas single of all time. Jingle Bells was originally titled One Horse Open Sleigh. The most popular version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was recorded in 1949 by Gene Autry, selling over 2 million copies in one year.

Alright, well those are enough cool facts I think...(I really thought that Silent Night would have been the biggest selling Christmas single of all time, but I guess not.)

2005-09-17T00:23:00.000-04:00

Our second paper topic is to write a "slave-master" dialogue challenging some belief, value, or practice that is important to me. I'm having a little bit of trouble with thinking about what my topic should be. It's really kinda tough that we're gonna have to make the side that we don't agree with be the side making the better argument.
I'm trying to think of things in my life that I have stong opinions about, but I'm having a tough time coming up with things that are controversial. I'll probably go with abortion because I know a good amount about the topic due to writing papers on it in high school, and I have grown to have pretty strong feelings about my views on women's rights regarding the issue.
Or I was thinking gun control...It might be kind of upsetting to fight for the side that I'm against with that one though. For that, it's more than just being difficult, but it's just so wrong in my view that I would not want to consider the "positives" of it. Is that being close-minded? I hope not, because its just that I'm fervent about my feelings that there should be strict controls on gun ownership. And its not that I'm not willing to consider other views, its just that I have heard them, and am so against them that I would not feel like getting into them.

So, abortion is not taking the easy way out, because I'm still extremely against the counterargument to that issue. I just think gun control hits some really touchy spot for me...who knows.

Well, I'm glad that we don't have to write about Christmas in this blog, cuz I was really feeling talking about the paper topic tonight...

2005-09-15T18:40:00.000-04:00

I realized I haven't yet discussed my feelings on the first chapter of the book that this course is kind of based on by Nissenbaum. Like many of my classmates, I was very surprised by many of the things I read about the history of Christmas. I really had no idea about the way that the holiday season was celebrated centuries ago as far as the whole reversal of roles, and the extreme emphasis on things like feasting, sexual behaviors, and drinking. It is pretty shocking that the holiday I have grown up seeing as the most spiritual and religious of all only has held these qualities for about two and a half centuries.

Wassailing was one of these things that surprised me especially...although it probably shouldn't have as much. I mean, think about things like the song talking about demanding figgy pudding and not leaving until the demand is met(I'm drawing a blank as to the song title for some reason). And, children at Christmas time demand presents from their elders...the flow of materials from the "higher" to the "lower." None of these have seemed really strange before, but now that I think about it, traditions like these relate strongly to old role-switching, non-religious customs.

I'll get more into this later

2005-09-11T20:32:00.000-04:00

Want to know one thing I love about that lovely season that begins the day after Thanksgiving? I love turning on the television and being able to see Christmas specials and movies on almost any time you want. I've really always loved the movies of the holiday season, probably because most of the time they end up having a really uplifting or positive message within them, or they just make you feel warm for some reason.

I have 2 Christmas movies that really stick out as favorites of mine. They are movies that I've grown up with and I can't remember a Christmas season without watching them.

It was a little tradition with me and my mom to watch the Mickey Mouse version of the Nutcracker, and a Muppets christmas special, where they all got snowed in and ended up having this really sweet celebration even though it started out where they all just wanted to get to where they were planning on going to spend Christmas. Mom and I had a tape of Christmas specials that we recorded off the tv, and these 2 were my favorite off of the entire tape, and I'd always fastforward through everything else to get to them. I loved sitting all cozy, drinking hot chocolate, and watching Christmas movies with my mom. It was a special part of Christmas that I still don't mind taking a night to do with her.
I think what I love about these movies is that they really just make you believe in the impossible, and get a cheery feeling about the season. That's one theme of Christmas that I've always loved, how it makes people just believe. Whether its in a religious belief, Santa Clause, or simply in the power of the season and family and stuff. It really makes people believe. And thats so strong-to believe in something, no matter how impossible it seems.

2005-09-09T12:42:00.000-04:00

Here is my first Blog(finally...)

I guess I wasn't exactly too sure about what I was supposed to write about, so that made me a little apprehensive about starting to post. However, now I see that we can write pretty much about anything Christmas or writing related, because it really is helpful to just write in general.

I think I'm going to take this time to reflect on our first paper, which was about important holiday traditions. Having picked the donating of presents to underpriviledged children as my topic, I really enjoyed writing last night. It was so nice to think back to the bonding experience that picking the names from the tree was for my mom and me. I love that it's our thing, and until this day it is one thing that I really look forward to during the holiday season. I love that first glimpse of the tree. I love the excitement that I get over seeing what my mom is going to pick out for "her kids." This excitement still exceeds the anticipation I get of opening my own presents at Christmas-time.

As much as I was nervous about this paper, due to the kind of immaturity I thought I was writing with, it did make me think of things that bring a smile to my face. I think I felt immature in my writing because of the use of first person that I was writing in, and almost felt as if it was too sappy or filled with too much warmth. But warm is really the strongest of emotions I feel about this tradition, no matter how sappy that is, so as long as I got around any sense of that feeling, I feel that I succeeded in the task.
Also, this writing assignment made me look forward to the holiday season that is a few months ahead. It also strengthened my desire to pass on this magical tradition to my own children one day...So, even though I feel more comfortable writing more "formal" type papers, I think this class might help to increase my self-confidence in writing more "informal" papers-depending on what the upcoming paper topics end up being. And thats not a bad thing.