thlog 3/31/16

In class I’m getting much more acquainted with the idea of a genre. Throughout my prior learning experiences, I had only seen the word genre in the context of different kinds of books, whether they be dramas, romantic, comedy, etc. I now know that genres range across a wide variety, and essentially infinite variety of categories. They can be small, and can be contained in as many other genres as I could think of.

Person 3 mentioned in Journal 1.2 that the genres they are most familiar with are novels, newspaper articles, and adventure. This was interesting to me because I previously would have known that adventure was a genre, however I would not have known to categorize newspaper articles or novels as genres.

I pictured genres being more specific than a novel or an article, however it is now clear that these broader categories also have conventions and styles that are specific to just them. To me, if I’m testing if something is a genre, I picture reading it while unaware of the genre, and seeing if there are enough conventions that I could classify it under a category. This category would be what I would consider it’s genre, or one of its genres.

It is also important to keep in mind that one piece of writing can have as many genres as you can think of for it. I would not have thought this before; I probably would have just immediately tried to categorize writing into a generic genre, like comedy or drama. However, that would be extremely limiting to less generic genres, such as emails, texts, columns, etc.

When first reading something and deciphering it, I think it is more useful to use first order thinking, just as you should when you are initially trying to write something. If you read something and process it initially with second order thinking, your thoughts will be constricted and it will be more difficult to decide what genre the piece is. Overall, genres are much more outside-the-box than I originally thought, which is why I think first order thinking is useful.

blurb about self

My name is Kailah Korsh and I’m a middle child from a suburb right outside of Boston, Massachusetts. People have described me as shy my entire life, but I continue to grow out of this description as I get older. I also prefer to describe myself as selective about what I say in given situations, rather than shy. I can come across as soft-spoken, but I am a good listener and open up more with time.

I have two brothers, who are both huge parts of my life. My older brother is an artist and inspires me every day. I eventually took up photography after he convinced me to and have been shooting film ever since. I started shooting about five years ago and it was one of the best decisions of my life. People often ask me what I usually take pictures of, whether it’s people, or nature, etc. I usually construct scenes to take pictures of, rather than walk around and shoot things as I see them. This allows me to have an ideal image in my head that I try to make come to life. However, sometimes I get something that I was not expecting at all and it can be different and even better than what I was intending. Photography is my creative outlet and an alternative way to express my thoughts and energies without using words or explanations.

Another huge part of my life is music. To most people’s surprise, I love rap music. I’ve gone through many music phases, but I stopped on rap a few years ago and fell in love with it. I listen to a very wide variety of rap, from Madvillian and The Roots to Lauren Hill to Drake and Kendrick. I like to listen to it critically and analyze the beats and lyrics, as well as listen to it for pure enjoyment. I spend a lot of my free time listening to full albums.

Moving all the way to Santa Barbara was exciting and scary at first, but I have definitely thrived here and come out of my shell. I have found people here who are artistically driven and creative, like myself, and push me to think in different, interesting ways. I hope to continue to be inspired by my surroundings and to expand my knowledge and view of the world during my time in SB.