Blog 10

Doing a research paper to begin with it tough. When doing a research paper you have to get all of your sources together and make sure they are believable sources. The research part is tough alone because you have to look up everything about your topic. Sometimes the topic that you chose can be broad and you have to slim it down to a sub-topic. For me, I had Elvis Presley, so I asked myself, how did Elvis impact the media? I found out that Elvis did a lot for Rock n Roll music. So I just focus on Elvis and his music. I research music before, during, and after Elvis. Doing the draft to me is kind of easy because with the draft you can make mistakes and you can go over it to make sure I'm not plagiarizing. Afterwards doing the final draft can be difficult or easy depends if you did your draft and research right. When typing your final draft you have to double check to make sure you didn't plagiarize. When you write a quote make sure you add the source from where you got the quote. The major issue I believe researchers have is plagiarism. Some researchers tend to do it by accident while others do it on purpose. Because of this some researchers are getting blamed for plagiarizing someone else work. The can resolve this issues I guess by looking double or triple over their work to make sure they're not plagiarizing. It's hard to spot them but when you do make sure you have the source for each one.

Blog 9

For my research project I plan on doing a book about graffiti. Get people opinions for this kind of art. There are some people who thinks that graffiti is art, others thinks its vandalism and a few think its both. Also I know how and where I can make my book at. Its a website called blurb.com. The tittle of the book is called Graffiti-NY. I also found a place where I can rent out a camera so I can take pictures of the graffiti. So far the best know spots where graffiti is located such as 5pointz which is in Long Island City, Graffiti Mural which is Grand Concourse in the Bronx and Canal St and Harlem. Basically I covered three boroughs. Hopefully around Thanksgiving I plan on having some of those pictures upload in my computer. I want to take up all the time I have to make this project look good and professional.

Anyone who is reading this blog please give me your opinion about graffiti.

Graffiti-Art, Vandalism, or Both? Why? You can give me your answer at my research blog which is nygraffiti.blogspot.com

Workshop 11/12/09

You need to look at my research blog to check on my updates on my project.

nygraffiti.blogspot.com

Essay 3.2

"Source" and "ontological status," what do these two terms mean when refering to The Matrix? Why does Gracia and Sanford use them? During this essay I can give you the meanings to these two terms, quotes and reasons why they used these two terms to claim that the world in the Matrix is "unreal" and the world outside of the Matrix (outside of the program) is the "real world".

What they mean by the term "source" is that , they're talking about where did everything come from. Everything must have come from somewwhere, someone, or something. Things and people don't appear out of nowhere. On page 61, from The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real, Gracia and Sanford states, "We know that machines and electrical signals are produced by humans and by artificially intelligent machines. We know that human beings born in the city of Zion come from their parents. but we don't know the ultimate source for these things. That is, we are not told from where that matter comes from, which machines are made and humans are reproduced" Basically the term "source" has something to do with who made everything that the people see. There has to be a higher power that none of the machines and the people know about. This higher power is the "source" and he, she, or it is above all. Since the higher power is the "source," the "source" fuses into the term "ontological status".

What Gracia and Sanford mean by the term "ontological status, they're talking about the existence: one without the other. For example, in the movie The Matrix, Morpheus and Neo are talking about The Matrix, "Neo: I thought it wasn't real. Morpheus: Your mind makes it real. Neo: If you're killed in the matrix, you die here? Morpheus: The body cannot live without the mind." This is a good ontological status example, basically Morpheus is saying that your body depends on your mind whenever your in the matrix. If you die in the matrix your mind is gone then your body will not have its "source"(which is the mind) to live. An other example of ontological status is with The Matrix itself and the world outside of The Matrix. Sanford and Gracia states, from The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real, on pages 61-62, "The "real world" in The Matrix, as far as we can tell, does not depend on something else for its existence, it stands by itself..." The Matrix would not survive without the "real world". If the "real world" dies, The Matrix dies along with it. The Matrix depends on the 'real world" for it's survival. But the "real world doesn't depend on the Matrix for they're survival. They can live without the Matrix, so if the Matrix dies, the "real world" is safe.

These two terms depends on one another, they go together. Without one you can't have the other. The "source" is apart of "ontological status," the "source" or higher power doesn't need to depend on someone or something for its existence. But the people and things that the "source" created have to depend on him, her, or it for its existence. I agree with Gracia and Sanford's assessment, without the "real world" the Matrix wouldn't exist. Since I'm Catholic, I believe that God created us in his image. so without God creating us, I believe we or anything else wouldn't exist. We depend on God for our life. Its the same when we are born. Without our parents giving bight to us, we wouldn't be here. So God is our main "source" and our "sub-source" is our parents.