jaranda's blog

September 11th was a sad day in American history, so it is not surprising that people wanted answers about what happened and why. The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States was supposed to answer these questions, but more than 500 pages in the hardcover edition is a lot of information to digest. The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation is supposed to be a simpler version of the information for people who might not want to read the entire original report. In a message from the authors on Amazon, they say that the

In class, we have talked about the idea of where dictionaries and reference materials fall on the spectrum of reliable sources. On a spectrum where one end was reliable and the other unreliable, we came to the conclusion that these types of materials were considered much closer to the reliable end. With traditional dictionaries, like the Oxford English Dictionary, there is usually an unseen authority that decides what words are worthy of being included. Urban Dictionary, which is much less traditional, has definitions approved by users who can sign up to be an editor of the dictionary for free. Should dictionaries really be considered more reliable only if they have a select group of people

The idea of what is real and what is constructed is frequently called into question. A place where this question is asked, but never really conclusively answered, is on television. Reality television shows are extremely popular, whether these stories are constructed or not, is very difficult to tell. Most reality shows follow a similar story line to that of regular television dramas. Do the people featured in these shows encounter such dramatic situations everyday, or is it really just a constructed version of reality to keep viewers interested? If reality is never ending, how do these shows ever come to an end? What is it about these shows that are categorized as "reality television" that makes them any different than a