And So It Ends

Folk Knowledge

Self-Directed Learning:
For me, folk knowledge is anything that is learned outside of the classroom. I focused my initial studies on symbols and their meanings.  I noticed that the culture greatly influenced a person's understanding of symbols. Also, I learned to knit. Something that I never expected to learn to do. In fact, my roommates were quite shocked when they found me sitting at my desk with the purple knitting needles in hand. (maybe they were even more shocked by the "lengthy" scarf at the end of the needles.)

Others’ Blogging:

        Brett learned some new swimming techniques. This really resonated with me since I took this opportunity to teach one of my friends some new strokes. I really feel that swimming is something that can only be learned from a patient coach. A textbook just doesn't cut it.
Montana explored the connection between folk knowledge and folklore, coming to the conclusion that they are one and the same. To outsiders, folklore may seem fictional, but they believe it to be true. As such, it's knowledge. :D

Collaborative learning:

           Like I mentioned before, Shuan taught me to knit, so I'd say that we worked together on that project. Also, many of our blog posts were responses to others' posts. Shuan blogged about the mantic and the sophic, so I replied with my own post on the necessary absence of God in science. Our comments were extraordinary, often posting additional links to the personal studies that we had done on the topic introduced by our peers.

Projects/Activities:
We all chose to learn a new skill that perhaps isn't all that necessary. For example, Tanner learned to moonwalk and Montana learned how to apply makeup. I learned to knit and Brett learned some new strokes. We all learned something new in that activity.

            

Oral Knowledge

Self-Directed Learning:

            I learned a lot from the Mahabharata. This epic poem was originally passed down orally before it was written down. The Hindu religion bases many of its core beliefs on the tales told in this poem. I gained a glimpse into their world while reading this book. One of the stories I studied focused on the importance of rhetoric in their society, citing a woman who was able to talk death out of taking her husband.

Other’s Blogging

           Brett also found an epic poem (the Iliad) to be his main source of information. Tanner found that since his culture was entirely oral, we really can't know much about them. He realized the importance of writing things down real fast because it was hard to find information on this culture. He finally had to reference the Egyptians since they interacted with the Kush and actually recorded information on tablets.

Collaborative learning:

            The video was very interesting. We found that we could talk forever about our own topics, but it was hard to have a group discussion without referencing our own cultures nonstop. Our first attempts to have a conversation failed miserably, but in the end we realized things that our cultures all had in common. Things about the learning systems and the value of orally transmitted knowledge. The power belonged to those who knew the stories of the past and could repeat them from memory. Our seemingly diverse collection of cultures all shared common values and practices.

Project/Activities:
Memorizing King Benjamin's speech was quite an adventure. It took me forever to get my lines right! We all met at Shuan's apartment and practiced over and over until we could all recite it word for word. In the end, we did quite well. It was great to see the passion that some put into their parts. It really brought the words to life and helped me see the difference between the printed and the oral.

            

Written Knowledge

           

Self-Directed Learning

         When Sanskrit was first written down, it borrowed its script from a language that was actually derived from Sanskrit, forming this interesting paradox. Oral languages formed independently from writing systems (a strange concept for me since I only learn languages by studying their writing systems) so they had to adapt scripts later. I discovered that Sanskrit can be (and is) written down using about 10 different scripts.
I also learned that those who spoke Sanskrit were originally against writing things down, believing that their ideas could never be fully expressed and preserved on paper. They valued the oral tradition too much.

Other’s Blogging

          Shuan blogged about her own efforts in learning to write in Chinese, citing the rules that must be followed in proper handwriting. She showed that writing Chinese requires some level of artistic talent since each word requires a different character that is written uniquely. I enjoyed watching the videos of herself practicing. Both Montana and Brett studied the advent of the novel. The first time that a fictional story made its way to the printed page. These were the first writings that were always meant to be written and not spoken. Prose became the preferred medium since long passages no longer had to be memorized.

           

Collaborative learning

           Our entire group studied the origins of our written languages and found that many of them had common roots. Together we discovered that primitive writing methods were VERY basic. Many of the characters had to be simple enough to be easily worked into stone or clay.

Project/Activities       

           The Rosetta Stone project was very interesting. We decided to make a book out of palm fronds and write in Sanskrit on it. We were handed a gigantic stone to translate. The language was entirely made from lines. One long continuous line ran through the entire message and other lines were scratched on in relation to the first. They were diagonal, long and short, vertically placed above or below. As the only male in our group, I was elected to lug the heavy thing back home. :D

Printed Knowledge

Self-Directed Learning:

            I lost myself in the library that day. There were so many books to choose from. Mostly I spent my time browsing the shelves looking for sections that had to do with my topic. I also got to use a reference book for the first time to find other books. I would read about them in the reference work and then search for them in the library database before setting off to find the physical copy.

Others Blogging:

            Tanner and Montana commented on how my post helped them to understand how they should format their bibliographies and complete the assignment. Shuan commented on the ineffectiveness of the library topic search engine. She used Google instead to find the books she needed and then searched for those particular books with the library search engine. A very effective method indeed. I noticed that Brett had to translate my Rosetta project and I found his blog post to be very interesting. Turns out that they were holding it upside down to start! haha

Collaborative learning:

           This time we were asked to collaborate with people who shared our same topic instead of our assigned groups. Talking with Blaine I realized how different our views on the history of printing were. He shared his thesis ideas with me and we discussed the ways that these points could be evaluated.

Projects/Activities

     We were given two options, and I had already done both! The Crandall museum here in Provo teaches some very interesting facts about the printing press. Pretty much everything I know about early printing I learned on that field trip freshman year. I also had the chance to study the King James Bible exhibit in the HBLL. I had a grand old time comparing the different translations of the Bible and trying to interpret the old English text.