I’m very lucky, my entire childhood I lived in the same house, with my sister and my parents.  Now that I’ve moved across the entire country and I’m living in Montreal, it’s a new sort of home.  I did have a step between these two extremes, I moved out of my parents house a few years before I moved to Montreal but no mater where I’ve lived the “home” number in my phone has not changed.  That’s not to say that I haven’t felt at home in the other places that I have lived but simply that no matter what, my home will always be where my family is.

When I think of home I immediately have certain memories that flash into my mind.  The first is breakfast time, my dad always made breakfast, now that I think about it we had some weird breakfasts.  My favourite was boiled cornmeal that he poured onto a plate and sprinkled with chocolate chips.  On easter and valentines day the chocolate chips would be replaced with easter chocolate or red and pink smarties.  This breakfast was always accompanied by the soundtrack of the Gypsy Kings, I can sing the entire “Bamboleo” song even though I have absolutely no idea what it means.

I’m on the right with my mom and my sister

I feel like as a kid I had a lot more freedom than kids do now, I understand that parents want to protect their children and they don’t want their kids to get hurt but some of my fondest memories of my childhood and my home are the times that I did get hurt or we did get in trouble.  Somehow my neighbour Stephanie was always the one who got hurt the most but I was always the one who got to play doctor.  Of course all of these things had a be a secret. I still don’t think her mom knows where she got the scar on her hand from pruning shears trying to make a fort in the neighbours hedge, or the scar on her hip where she got bit by a dog while rollerblading.

My childhood dog is a huge part of my memories of home, he was the best.  Simon was the most tolerant dog in the world.  He was also a thief. He would steal any food that was left out.  He once stole an entire roast chicken off the stove and ate the whole thing, not a bone was left.  That’s really only the start though, his thieving also included a pound of butter, two dozen gingerbread men, 30 year old christmas ornaments made of salt dough, and more panettone bread than I’ve consumed in my whole life.

This is me and my sister with Simon on the beach near my grandmas house

These memories are what make my home special. It’s not the home itself, it’s the people and the memories that happened inside it.  Living in Montreal I have no old friends or family around me but I know that as soon as I miss home I can be there again with a phone call.  If I’m sad I can talk to my mom, if I need to laugh I can call my dad, and if I need someone to kick my ass and make me see reason I call my sister.  These people will always be there for me, no matter where in the world I am, just like I’ll always be there for them.  Home is where your people are, but more than that it’s the people who make your home.

Hi Everyone,

Here is a video that I made with my version of the “How evil came into the world” story.  This is my first ever video post so I really hope that it’s not completely horrible.  I hope you enjoy my story and I look forward to hearing your feedback.

Jennifer

Movie on 2015-01-26 at 20.15

Questions #7

At the beginning of this lesson I pointed to the idea that technological advances in communication tools have been part of the impetus to rethink the divisive and hierarchical categorizing of literature and orality, and suggested that this is happening for a number of reasons.  I’d like you to consider two aspects of digital literature: 1) social media tools that enable widespread publication, without publishers, and 2) Hypertext, which is the name for the text that lies beyond the text you are reading, until you click. How do you think these capabilities might be impacting literature and story?

Although it is indisputable that technological advances in communication have vastly changed the information that we are able to obtain on all levels, from basic recipes to violent propaganda, the most notable change I feel, is the speed at which all and any communication can be spread.  While there are obviously many positive things about this, such as the addition of countless book, journals, manuscripts, and so much more onto scholarly sites such as the UBC library website, which allows for so much more knowledge to be shared by a huge number of people, there are equally as many negative factors.  Because anybody can post anything, we lack a sensor of sorts.  This is NOT to say that I don’t believe in free speech, just simply that many people do not seem to understand that just because it is on the internet, does not mean that it is true.  Think for example how many times we, as students, have been reminded not to use Wikipedia.  Even in this class it has been stated at least once.  The fact that I feel it is redundant to state this, does not change the fact that if no one ever cited wikipedia, it would simply not have to be stated.  Therefore, even educated university students are fooled by the draw of easily accessible “fact.” Chamberlin states that “words make us feel closer to the world we live in.” (1) Although this is true on so many levels, especially when discussing stories, or shared experiences, I feel that this has become such a overgrown phenomena.  Singh, Mani, and Pentland discuss in their article “Social Persuasion in Online and Physical Networks” the impact of persuasion and the differences between online and offline pressure. (1) 

Hypertext creates another issue.  Because one can chose if they would in fact like to see what lies beyond the blue underlined word, the initial intention of the author is skewed. The author intended for the reader to click and expand on the information which they already provided, the reader gains control of the text by deciding if that piece of information is relevant without even perhaps knowing its content.

The online world of information is vast and marvellous, however it is a scary place as well.  Not only can we not control any of the information which is provided by the “authors” but the readers also have more power.   This power struggle is social medias breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it has so much more power than we will ever be able to comprehend.

Jennifer Heinz

Works Cited

Chamberlin, J. Edward. “A New History of Reading: Hunting, Tracking, and Reading.” For the Geography of a Soul: Emerging Perspectives on Kamau Braithwaite. Ed. Timothy J. Reiss., 145-164. Trenton: Africa World Press, 2001. 145-164.

Singh, Vivek K., Ankur Mani, and Alex Pentland. “Social Persuasion in Online and Physical Networks.” Proceedings of the IEEE 102.12 (2014): 1903-10.

Hi everyone, my name is Jennifer and as I’m sure you can tell from the title, I’m new at this.  Actually I have no idea what I’m doing and I’m not going to lie, it took me over an hour to get this far. I feel like I am this generations technology failure.  Moving on from my lack of blogging experience, I am proud to say that I am Canadian.  I grew up in Vancouver (well actually Richmond but Vancouver sounds better, lets be honest) but I am currently living in Montreal. What am I doing in Montreal? I have no idea. The original goal of this Montreal adventure was to improve my French and see more of Canada. I have to say the east coast is great, the people are amazing, the poutine is divine, and the temperatures are enough to take your breath away, literally.

I am currently taking all of my classes online through UBC and because UBC doesn’t offer any Anthropology classes online, I finishing my electives.  That being said this class is also very appealing from an anthropological perspective. The concept of learning through oral history has such a history itself, not only have the indigenous people of Canada used stories as a way to share their history for centuries, this method of sharing allows for continued communication and learning as group, rather than as individuals.

I’m very much looking forward to finding relationships between stories and our countries history.  I’m excited to be able to expand on my knowledge of Canada’s history and literary accomplishments from Quebec, because I will be able to experience more of this beautiful country while learning of its past.

I hope that this will be an opportunity to learn in a supported online community and that we will all be able to feel like we understand more about this country when the course is over.

UBC’s indigenous foundation has a very interesting write up on the importance of preserving oral traditions and stories, as well as some of the challenges that face this tradition. Check out the article in the link below.

http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/culture/oral-traditions.html

This is the Government of Canada’s definition of what makes us Canadian, I feel like it’s pretty impersonal, what do you think?

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/discover/section-05.asp