Turtles All The Way Down

John Green, author of novels including The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, recently released his latest novel Turtles All The Way Down. This novel introduces readers to a young girl by the name of Aza who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and in particular struggles with the idea that her body and mind is completely her own as a result. During the novel, she engages with these struggles of living with OCD and gets entangled with a search for a fugitive billionaire.

I picked this novel up a few days after it was released and managed to consume it all within 2 days, neglecting some of my assignments in the process – oops. There is something about Green’s writing that makes it hard to put the book down. He has an uncanny ability to connect you with not only your own teenage self, but with the diverse experiences of others. Not only does he realistically connect with teenage angst-filled experiences, but he writes very intelligently and manages to weave in factual information and thought-provoking descriptions without it feeling disjointed.  I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and despite its bittersweet ending, loved the narrative he portrayed.

After reading, it was interesting to discover that Green also suffers from OCD and put a lot of his experiences into the novel. When talking about the novel, he said,

“This is my first attempt to write directly about the kind of mental illness that has affected my life since childhood, so while the story is fictional, it is also quite personal.”

I also came across an interesting podcast that Green did on this novel and his experiences with OCD. It’s definitely worth a listen if you want to find out more about John Green’s experiences, writing or even just to develop a deeper understanding of the invasive nature that mental illnesses such as OCD have.

https://www.npr.org/player/embed/558534128/558819610

Embracing Home-Grown Literacies

My love of Australian dramas and comedies is not something I am ashamed of. I think it is fantastic to see our country creating some fantastic television shows and films featuring talented Aussie actors/actresses. There is something about the nature of these works that I find more authentic and relatable than big-budget hollywood productions, so I am proud to support these fantastic shows when they come along. One such show that I am currently enjoying the home-grown talent of is Channel Ten’s The Wrong Girl. 

Sadly, this season is coming to an end and next week will see the season’s penultimate episode and finale air one after the other. While it is a little bittersweet that one of my shows will be ending, with the airing of the episodes comes the relief that I will find out what on earth is happening between Lilly and Jack! Although I know why he left her at the alter, it doesn’t make it okay… Counting down the day’s till its here so I can all make sense of it and see if she ends up with Pete or not!

 

My Literacies – Week 3

This week I decided to focus in one of the literacies that I regularly encounter – my studies and learning at university. Below is a collage of some of the forms that I consume my learning through, and therefore the types of literacies I experience while learning. These include textbooks, readings, articles, videos, powerpoints, hand written notes, journals and blackboard.

Some of literacies that I encounter in my university study and education.

To develop my learning further, I also attempted to implement some literacy pedagogy, in the form of Knowledge Processes, into my studies.

As part of the introduction to science course I’m currently undertaking, we had to learn about the seasons and what causes them. To learn more about them, I practice the applied learning technique of creating my own ‘place mat’ of knowledge processes in relation to the seasons. I explored the four elements of this process, experiencing, conceptualising, analysing and applying in relation to the season and attempted to complete the below place mat to demonstrate how each process can be applied to learning. Overall, this method helped me to experience learning on a deeper level; relating it to my own experiences and then extending what I then learnt to possible real life scenarios.

In your week ahead, have a go at applying just one of the knowledge process areas (experiencing, conceptualising, analysing or applying) to your learning or experiences to see how effective this method can be.

My Literacies – Week 2

This week I tried to pin down some of the most important literacies that I encounter by having a look around my bedroom. Upon inspecting it, I found a number of things that required my literacy skills as well as things that I make and find meaning in through the use of literacy.

These are some of the literacies that I have in my bedroom.

Each of the things pictured in the above collage were in my room at the time that I searched it for literacies. This hunt provides a strong indication of some of the things that I regularly use and further gives a snap-shot of some of the things I enjoy and value. These include:

• The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson, which is the current novel I’m reading (after finally finishing The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion).
• My laptop which I both consume and produce a great deal of information through (In case you’re wondering, the show Orphan Black is playing on it).
• An alarm clock which I use everyday to check the time and make sure I’m getting out of bed when I need to.
• My diary and my to-do list pad, both of which I think are very cute, help to keep me organised and to plan ahead for what’s to come. I am a huge fan of making lists and love the satisfaction that I get from ticking something off it.
• A collection of books that are sitting in my bedside table that I plan on reading next. If you can’t see, they are Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews and After You by Jojo Moyes.
• Some cooking magazines which I picked up (for free!) from the supermarkets. It might seem strange that they were in my room, but I was flicking through them in hope of finding some dinner recipes for the week ahead.
• A few beauty products which I use (sometimes) when getting ready. Again, these are an interesting thing to have on here, but I would argue that you definitely need knowledge and literacy skills in order to understand how to use them and when best to use them!
• And then finally, one of the biggest parts of my life, and who I also share my room with, is my partner, who is pictured in the photo on my bedside table. Having a partner, especially one that you live with definitely requires certain literacy skills to be developed so that we can live effectively and comfortably together!

Hopefully reading this has allowed you to gain a little more insight into my literacies and further assists you in understanding just how extensive and important the functions of literacy are in today’s society! Take a look around your room and see what you can find; maybe even let me know in the comments!

 

My Literacies – Week 1

Each day, we consume a huge variety of literacy in a number of circumstances. These are just a few of the literacies that I have encountered over the week.

Just a few of the literacies that I encountered in the past week.

In a society where we are surrounded by technology, it is no surprise that the majority of my literacy experiences are engaged in on devices, screens and through internet. In the past week alone, I consumed a large portion of my material through technology including:

• The Big Sick, a rom-com directed by Michael Showalter, that I saw at the cinemas with my partner.
• The latest Game of Thrones episode that I watched with my room mates.
• Price checking and ordering textbooks through the internet to compare textbooks costs and in the end found that it was cheapest to order them on one of my favourite book sites; Booktopia.
• Reading articles such as one about The Bachelor and that they may have already given away the winner of the season; a beauty hack article (that I also shared with my friend) on ‘reverse washing’ your hair (I am still yet to test this out) and an article on Bill Shorten’s speech at the Labour conference and his push for Australia to become a republic (I also watched some of his speech on TV on the ABC).
• Memes and text posts (bottom left corner) – this particular one was one I sent to my partner and found still saved to my phone, but I usually read many in a week and either share or tag him or my friends in them.
• Quizzes – super lame, I know, but sometime you do get bored enough to complete them and I mean, who doesn’t want to know what Bananas in Pyjamas character you are!?

My other literacies that are not technology based inlcude:

• The Rosie Project is the current book I am reading; It is a bit quirky and follows the story of Don, a geneticist with Asperger, who is trying to find the ‘perfect partner’ through a scientific questionnaire he has designed. He has an ideal image of who she will be, until he meets a girl called Rosie who is everything but ideal.
• I recently baked a Sheppard’s pie and planned to follow Curtis Stone’s recipe, however when it got to cooking I did adjust it slight and made it my own. It still turned out delicious, just slightly different to the recipe.
• My university timetable and working out where to be! – This is a vital literacy for me; I ensure that I have a hard copy of my timetable on the fridge to check I know where I am going, what I have on in the week and so my room mates have an idea where I am. It definitely helps to keep me organised (along with all my to do lists).

Obviously this is just a glimpse into my encounters with literacy in a week – there are numerous instances where literacy is required and used everyday and it would be impossible to fit them all in. From working as a sales assistant, to driving around, grocery shopping, following rules and regulations, attending university and taking a bit of a break from it all in my everyday meaning-making, there are endless opportunities and applications of literacy. I guess that’s why developing an understanding for it is so vital!

Over the next coming weeks I will aim to share a few more of my encounters with literacy that will provide further insight into my regular literacies.