Honestly, coming up with something
to write about for this passion blog has plagued me for over a week. Perhaps my
muted enthusiasm doesn’t constitute passion; hours and hours of brain wracking have
yielded at least a few viable topics, though. I’m the sure the title might’ve caught
you off guard, but allow me to explain.
My first topic revolves around the pithy aphorisms of the esteemed Winston Churchill. I’ve always found his oft-quoted sayings to not only reflect his direct candor, but also to demonstrate an inner intellectualism that can be detected upon slightly deeper inspection of the language and meaning of his most famous expressions. I hope that through a thorough analysis of select quotes, I can uncover the contained meanings while applying the lessons learned to my own life in order to create an analytically intriguing and increasingly applicable blog.
As much as I find Churchill’s words interesting, they light no fire in me like mathematics does. My true passion lies therein, but I have qualms about developing a blog revolving about the mother of all sciences. I’d like to cite examples from popular math texts and expound upon them in an attempt to cultivate appreciation for mathematics and to instill fondness for its elegance and beauty. I worry that this topic is simply not applicable enough to a majority of students, but I believe that channeling the deep passion I have for it, in the proper medium and with appropriate examples, could create an engaging blog.
Finally, I
am acutely aware of my own dismal participation (read: lack thereof) as a
citizen of this nation. In an attempt to inform both myself and my readership,
I think another interesting blog idea would be to read and analyze the cover
story of an issue of the New York Times
each week. In doing so, I would attempt to not merely summarize but to dissect,
synthesize, and disseminate the more important facets of each cover story. In
an era of compartmentalized information being boiled down to 140 character
messages and 15 second sound-bytes, a thorough analysis of good old newsprint
could be especially rewarding.
I thought your title was very clever. You seem torn between a multitude of ideas, all which have their benefits. Persoanlly, I'm interested in the Winston Churchill idea, as his quotes are very fascinating and hearing your analyzation of them would be pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteAlright, three ideas! I'm going to go the classic pro/con route here.
ReplyDelete1. Churchill has intriguing quotes that often inspire new ways of thinking. There is definitely a lot to write about here. Only downside that I can see is that fixed interpretations of quotes may accidentally cause certain beliefs to be fixated upon.
2. Calculus is interesting; I like a good problem every now and then. However, not everyone shares that interest and may not feel inspired by the topic.
3. New York Times is a solid paper (have you ever tried the crosswords?). Communicating the news of the world can enlighten readers of the events occurring across the world. The problem here is which one to pick.
Ran short on time, may continue later in second comment.
Out of those three options I would most certainly recommend that you use the idea of the New York Times. I feel that it would provide classmates with an up to date analysis on current events. This would give readers of your blog the opportunity to view top headline stories without any political level of bias that various news sources may throw into it. Additionally, I would be wary of going with the math blog. I feel like it would be difficult to maintain the reader's attention for 500 words every week.
ReplyDeleteJon, rarely do I say this to a student, but I almost wish you could choose all three of these topics. They're fresh and interesting, and each has fabulous potential.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, what's your gut reaction? Which topic would be most exciting, challenging, or fun to write about? Which would you most want to explain to your audience and connect with their lives? Which approach would feel least like homework and more like something you'd choose to do out of your own volition?
THAT's the essence of tapping into a passion: you'd like writing about it even if you didn't have to do so.
I wish you all the best in deciding!