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Panic!

Luckily this hasn't happened to me. However, I still do get nervous when I'm speaking in public. I prepare thoroughly and tell myself I know the information, because I do, but the nerves get to me. Interestingly they tend to come after I'm done talking when I have time to reflect on my speech. Even though I know having some nerves aren't the end of the world I would feel better knowing they wouldn't be there after the speech. The only way I feel I could improve this is to practice more and more so I have no subconscious doubts that I know the material inside and out.

Ironically, one of my strengths is appearing prepared and confident during my presentations, especially in the way I hold myself. I know how to make it appear that I know what my material is about. I tend to listen more closely to people who come across as educated and confident during presentations; therefore, I would like to continue my strength as having a confident stance as to capture and keep the attention of my audience.

One thing I know I need a lot of work on is how my voice sounds while presenting. Often times, I can be very passionate about a topic but it just doesn't come across in my presentation. This is partly due to the fact that I don't like sharing my emotions with others. One way I may be able to make my passion for a subject shine through is by really emphasizing words or phrases. Often when I practice and people tell me I sound really good I think I over did it. Practicing out loud and remembering to go a bit farther than I normally would be comfortable with is key to making my points come across clearly and passionately.

Building on the past point, I know I have to work on not fading at the end of my sentences, which I tend to do in conversation and presentations. In order to help myself not fade at the end of the sentences I need to practice out loud and make a conscious effort not to do so. I know in the past when I have thought about it I have been able to fix this issue.

Finally, I'll end on another strength which is memorizing presentations. Ever since I had to memorize a 20 minute speech in 8th grade I knew I was able to memorize presentations. I would love to build on this strength for all presentations so I wouldn't have to be reliant on note cards. Something that holds me back from using this strength to its full ability is the fact that I wait to long to start memorizing. If I stop waiting till the last minute I feel like I could have very strong presentations without note cards, further playing on appearing confident.

From Eye Contact to Public Sex

Since the early 1900s to present day there has been a drastic change in what was considered appropriate for a couple to do in public, public display of affection or PDA, in America due to changes in history and the changes in sexual morality.

In my essay I plan to follow the changes in PDA and analyze what the underlying reason behind the changes are. In the early 1900s a man would court a woman by bringing her gifts and asking her parent for permission to date her and eventually to marry her. A girl wouldn't dare leave the house with a boy without permission from her parents. Reasons behind this come from the fact that most families were deeply religious and believed in no premarital sex or really no public affection before marriage and very little after marriage.

As the roaring twenties came around girls began exploring a new found individuality, independence, and consequently a new found sexuality. While not to the extent of public affection today, there was a lot more physical affection shown in public. The essay will explore what caused this drastic change in the twenties, a major part being prohibition. I still need to do more research to see what other social issues, morals and events caused this drastic change.

Since the twenties, teenagers have been more and more open with their relationships. At first, they would kiss in public very minimally unless they were in a slightly private or dark place, Currently, it is a common sight to see couples making out and sometimes doing more in a brightly lit area. Morals have loosened since the roaring twenties as women have gained more rights and different products, such as birth control, have become readily available and therefore the women are able to make decisions on there own and not be reliant on their parents or husband to decide what and when they can do things.

Some other topics I have to look into but know play a role in the changes that have occurred in PDA in America include changes in technology, such as faster way to communicate and travel, a change in the culture of relationships, what age to start dating and if hooking up was considered acceptable.

I may also look into how these themes are currently being seen in the same cycle for homosexual couples.

Finally, I've noticed the level of PDA and the morals that cause these changes are directly shown in movies during each of these time periods. I may mention this in my essay but it won't be a main focus.

At this point I have my ideas down I'm just not sure exactly how I'm going to organize all of it besides chronologically at this point.

Sources:
http://www.boundless.org/relationships/2007/a-brief-history-of-courtship-and-dating-in-america-part-1
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/09/27/public.display/
http://family.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26204/~/the-bible-on-pre-marital-sex-and-sexual-morality
http://www.countriesquest.com/north_america/usa/people/family_life/19th-century_families.htm
https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/historpedia/home/personal-group-identities/women-in-the-roaring-twenties-fall-2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rich-hawkins/its-okay-to-be-gay-just-d_b_7637046.html
https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/hist3164s13/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/fashion/18affection.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.families.com/blog/public-displays-of-affection-how-much-is-too-much
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/pda-does-it-serve-a-purpo_n_2725789.html

Punishment and PDA

Throughout history many changes have occurred; some have been good some bad. I have noticed two major changes throughout history that have continued changing even in the past few years.

First, the way people discipline children, whether it be their own or other people's kids, has changed rather drastically over the years. It used to be punishment through physical contact, of varying severity, was the way to go, then time outs, then chores, then disappointing looks, then public shaming, and now taking electronics away. While this may seem like a lot of different kinds of punishment, I know there are many other types I am unaware of. However, there seems to be an overarching theme starting with severe punishment and becoming less severe over time. Also, it used to be more acceptable for another parent, family member, or friend to discipline a child instead of just the parent. This shift probably occurred over time as morals changed. People seem to have become more focused on the home life being private not something everyone and anyone can be involved in. Therefore, the parent seems almost possessive over their child's punishment. Parents also want to be independent and successful by their own measures, not constant judgement from others. Also, there has been an increase in concern about a child's wellbeing and potential risk of child abuse so parents have had to change their techniques as not to raise concern from the public. Also as kids change what they are interested in having and doing the punishments follow these patterns.

Another major paradigm shift I have recently noticed is the change in PDA, public display of affection. It used to be that when a guy and girl liked each other the male would court the girl and they would little to no affection before marriage. However as times progressed couples began holding hands, hugging, kissing, and now practically having sex in public before being married. These changes followed events that happened in history. Before the roaring twenties very minimal PDA existed. As the roaring twenties began and women became more comfortable with themselves and wanted to be risque, the level of PDA increased. As time went on the culture behind relationships changed. People began dating younger and it became more socially acceptable to have sexual relations before marriage. Since people were okay with these relations couples began to show their love for each other in public. It has slowly escalated over time as people pushed the boundaries to see what was socially acceptable. This change in attitude of PDA is also reflected in the movies of each time period. The characters tended to follow the morals of the time period they were or would appear to have slightly looser morals.

The Failure to Communicate

As I began reading Chapter 2, "The Flight From Conversation," of Rhetoric and Civil Life a chord was immediately struck. The author focuses on how the younger generation, my generation, has become obsessed with their phones. It seems all they want to do is stay in their own little bubble and keep the rest of the world at a comfortable distance away from them. While I have always admitted that my generation, myself included, loves technology- specifically our phones, it never dawned on me to the extent that we feel we need them and will never leave them alone. The author helped me realize this by explaining what she observes on her trip to Cape Cod- everyone staring at their phones instead of observing the beautiful landscape around them (16).

Since I read this chapter, I have tried my best to realize when I am becoming one of these people from Cape Cod and seem to be unable to put down my phone. This is when I chose to put down my phone and watch what is going on around me. I have realized lots of interesting things happen when you put down your phone on a walk to class. People watching here at Penn State can be quite interesting.

Now that I have realized how I need to put my phone down and observe the world around me, I am starting to realize how much damage being absorbed in your phone can be and the lasting effects it can cause. The analogy the author included from a senior partner in a law firm that compared the set up of technology by the young lawyers to the pilots of a cockpit really set this realization up for me. Just as the atmosphere created by being the lawyers when we use technology obsessively we create "a quiet that does not ask to be broken" but that needs to be (14). 

In order to preserve this quiet we seem to want, we chose carefully who we want to talk to and in what depth. Most of the time the conversation is very shallow and created just because we want to feel connected. "We are tempted to think that our little "sips" of online connection add up to a big gulp of real conversation. But they don't" (14).

There is one last point Sherry Turkle, the author, brought up that definitely needs to be noticed by the public- the main reason we use our phones is our fear of being alone. I found it fascinating that Turkle called connection via technology a "symptom" rather than a cure (16). This made me realize how much of an issue it could potentially be in my life later on when I won't be able to sit alone for a few minutes or maybe not have a face-to-face conversation because I may become to dependent on my phone.

Recently, in addition to putting down my phone and observing the world I have been trying to fight the urge to pick up my phone when I'm sitting somewhere alone. While it is often very difficult for me and feels awkward at times I'm glad every time I do it. I feel like it will help me be a better participation in the world rather than a piece of the game.

When it Happens Once it's Tradition!

Coming up with a topic to write for a passion blog was very difficult for me. There is a lot I care about but I could not think of one topic that screamed WRITE ABOUT ME! As I started thinking more and more about what I could write about it dawned on me the things I care most about revolve around family, friends, my swim team and my religion. However the overarching theme that ties all of these topics and many others that I care about together is tradition. My dad has always said once something happens once it becomes a tradition to me. This is actually quite true and may become somewhat of a tagline for my blog. So for this blog post I'm going to break the rule a bit and just focus on one topic. Once I thought of the topic of tradition I knew it was right for my passion blog as I am a huge proponent for tradition. At this point I know if I chose another topic I would regret it and would just be thinking about what I could have written in my tradition blog.

As for a name for this blog I'm not sure yet but I may try to tie in something from the song "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof.

In my tradition blog I plan to focus on a variety of different aspects of tradition. Depending on the week I will try to focus on a holiday coming up and my traditions involving it. However if there is no holiday coming up I may talk about another tradition not quite related to that time and maybe not even to an exact time. Since I'm Jewish several of the posts will involve the Jewish holidays but I also celebrate Christmas which I will be sure to explain why when that time of the year approaches. Depending on the week and how much I have to say I may also interview some friends to find out what their traditions are and how they relate to mine since everyone can celebrate the same holiday in drastically different ways. I also plan to focus on how tradition evolves and how it has evolved for me as circumstances in my life have changed. Tradition keeps cultures together and I cannot wait to reflect on my traditions and explore others in more depth than I ever have. Hopefully readers will share their own traditions from different holidays or events expressed in future posts!

Signing off for now,
Laura

Practice Post

I am learning how to blog.



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