I’m now four months into this blog, and I really am enjoying the blogging experience. It’s been more challenging than I thought it would be to adapt to the blog forum -- to strike the balance between writing intellectually and writing casually.
Originally I was skeptical about using
a concept as a “lens” for all my blog posts. I thought it would be constraining, and that
good blogs always need to revolve around some sort of a project. However, it has actually made it easier to
brainstorm ideas and has caused me to problem-solve. According to some, we actually do our most
creative work when we are forced to thinkinside the box.
Having blogged now for an entire
semester, I feel like it’s time to take stock of my strengths and
weaknesses. My post entitled “Mukesh Kapila”
captures both some of the best and worst parts of my blog-writing process.
In that post, I certainly had an interesting topic to work
with, and it was relevant to my life, as well.
I was able apply Dr. Kapila’s ideas about the UN’s policy during the
Rwandan genocide and relate it to altruism. There was a situation in which the
UN had promised shelter for a crowd of Tutsis, but were then not able to keep
their promise; all the Tutsis were killed.
“The
UN’s half-baked altruism actually created a concentration camp – it
concentrated a group of people which facilitated their efficient murder, en
masse (albeit unintentionally).”
I was then able to insert my own analysis by applying his idea to
another area of foreign policy “[O]ne
really has to wonder what 100 peacekeepers will do more: stop the LRA or
discredit the arguments of human rights activists.” Though I was proud of what I had written, the
post still had its problems. It was just
a block of text without any external links or graphics to make it more
readable.
Since then, I have made a more
concerted effort to include graphics and links to external sources in every
single blog post. I believe this has
made my blog a better experience for the readers, and it has also allowed me to
go to a new depth of thinking. Including
links to other sources facilitates connection-making and ... Sometimes, the images are simply for aesthetic
purposes (as in the case of the Museum post). Other times, the images are an integral part
of the point I am trying to make (as in the case of the post on women and Islam.
One of the more memorable moments in
my blogging thus far was when a reader posted a full-blown critique to my very
first post. This critique, however, was not any ordinary critique; rather, it
was written in a comedic form of Early Modern English peppered with words like
“prithee,” “methinks,” and “betwixt.” I decided
to reply with a full rebuttal, which was as long as the blog post itself, concluding
with, “I would most appreciate it if thou would refrain from use of Middle
English and Latin, ad nauseam, whilst submitting your acerbic commentary on
this blog.”
The reader’s nom de plume was Zeno of
Ela, but it didn’t take much guesswork to uncover his real identity. He was a peer who had also commented on a classmate’s blog, which examines issues
through the lens of Zeno’s Fallacy. (And hence the name, Zeno of Ela.)
Derek’s Zeno’s Fallacy blog is
phenomenal. His layout is aesthetically
pleasing and his lens is timely. His
writing style is eloquent without floweriness, intellectual without artifice,
and above all, incredibly clear.
Another one of my favorite blogs
written by my classmates is The Cult of JLev. He does a great job of
incorporating current happenings into his blog in a way that makes a point, but
is always sure to get a laugh, as well.
Overall, I think this blog hasn’t
reached its full potential yet. My blog
could certainly incorporate some more personal elements, and I know there’s a
lot out there about altruism and self-interest that is yet to be explored. I’m
better-equipped to tackle these topics now that I have some practice with
blogging under my belt.
No comments:
Post a Comment