Meta-Post

Rereading my blog posts, I have definitely made some leaps and bounds since last semester. In my last meta-post, I complained that all posts were pretty standard and followed the same format. They discussed a topic from class, took a new take on it, and then proposed and answered a question. While my first few posts somewhat followed this format, they also became increasingly creative. I began giving more commentary and coming up with more interesting subjects. For instance, in Goodbye Summer, Hello School and Yet Another Teachable Moment, I discussed current events and connected them to topics and motifs discussed in class, rather than directly referencing class discussions and books we've read. While I used to mostly answer the questions I proposed, I began asking thought-provoking questions at the end of my posts. (see Goodbye Summer, Hello School).

While these creative improvements were nice to spice things up, there were some downsides. I realized the more out-there and creative I seemed to get, the less concrete and substantial evidence I provided. 2011 was fun and interesting, but did not have any real, substantial information, nor was it related to class. And, sometimes I don't conclude properly and could add a lot more. In The Ugly Truth, I bring up the very interesting statistic that "unattractive defendants are 22 percent more likely to be convicted than good-looking ones" and tied it to to unfairness of the court room in The Crucible. However, I end with the conclusion that these biases are unstoppable and are "something the justice system will just have to live with." This is a very thought provoking, interesting subject and I could have either gone in more detail or raised more questions, instead of simply providing a hasty and naive conclusion.

So, for the most part my blog posts have improved. They become increasingly creative and interesting. However, sometimes they tend to lose their reliability and substance. I think my goal for second semester will be to find a healthy balance between my random, fun posts and important, class-related posts, as well as fusing the two together.