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critical thinking

I found Halpern's idea that critical thinking is "used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed" to be related to my experience writing my hypertext essay. While making my hypertext, I not only had to review the information I read, analyze it and organize it into a cohesive essay, but I had to plan how to spread this essay across multiple web pages. I found this a little challenging at first but by planning and directing my ideas towards my goal, a series of webpages, i was able to create my hypertext. I had to think critically about how to lay out and organize my hypertext before I began writing, which I actually found made writing my paper more easy than the way I would traditionally write a research paper. I also used this concept to predict whether my site would be a successful site for the reader and if it would promote interest.
Moore and Parker's definition of critical thinking, "careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment", related to the topic of my hypertext. While researching and writing my essay I had to be careful not to include my own opinions of whether or not I felt prostitution was right. It was difficult to set aside my judgments and opinions when writing but I realized that I had to in order to effectively analyze the topic. I found at some points that my opinion was beneficial to my writing, however, for the most part I had to set aside my own views.
I related to Kurland's definition of critical thinking similarly to that of Moore and Parker. With Kurland's definition, I did find myself "following evidence where it lea[d]; considering all possibilities; relying on reason rather than emotion (...) considering a variety of possible viewpoints and explanations; [and] weighing the effects of motives and biases". I found all of this necessary in order to effectively create a hypertext essay on prostitution. My topic, prostitution is very controversial, especially considering arguments for and against the legalization of it. I found that I had to set my own judgments aside and "consider all possibilities" as well as "rely on reason rather than emotion". I also examined "the effects of motives and biases" and because I remained so openminded, my opinions on some aspects of prostitution did change, however, I did not include my opinions in my paper. I found the part of the definition "being precise" as related to my organization of my hypertext.

Learning Essay

Taking Marc Bousquet’s English II class gave me my first opportunity to learn about composing websites. Obviously, learning how to create a website/ hypertext involves getting through a relatively challenging learning curve. We started by composing a personal page which was the easiest way to learn the basic tools because we didn’t have to focus as much on content. Once it came to creating an actual hypertext, the challenge of getting to know the tools better were slowly fading and I could focus more on creating something that I actually felt proud of. The first drafts were a good way for me to see my progress but the thing that I found helps the hypertext the most was the printable version.

Since the printable version came after the creation of the second draft of the hypertext, creating the printable version was a relatively smooth process. Once I had most of my hypertext in a linear version with added detail and analysis, it was extremely useful to go back and touch up on the hypertext itself. I found that by creating the printable version I came up with a large amount of useful material for extra hyperlinks and pages that weren’t initially there.

Composing a hypertext is a great way to think critically about the topics we chose. First of all, the format of a hypertext allows you to run with your ideas in any direction since the information doesn’t need to flow in a linear manner. It was a huge relief to get away from the traditional five paragraph essay format because it allowed me to break some of the habits that had formed from always using a linear style of writing. I think that this was one of the most important things that I learned in this class.

Composing a hypertext also taught me a lot about my need for improvement in the area of artistic composition. Since the hypertexts can be wrapped around images along with interesting facts about the issue etc., it was necessary to learn how to make the site interesting while keeping the readers attention on the important content.

My site has the potential to reach many different types of people. The focus is somewhat informative yet it has a lot of interesting information on things that I feel need to be changed. I do not feel like this is a site that would be particular interesting to drug dealers because I did not focus on how they should get out of their bind. There is always a demand for drugs and when there is such a strong demand, there will be suppliers. I feel that one of the main issues of solving this problem is helping people get out of their addictive cycles. We need to find ways to decrease the demand for harmful drugs. People who are interested in finding ways out of addiction may find some useful information in my hypertext.

I highlighted a number of goals half-way through the quarter which I felt were important to achieve. As mentioned earlier, composition was one of my main focuses. Although it is very important to make the site interesting, I found that by keeping the design relatively simple, the site was more effective in keeping the readers interested. If I went too far with the design, it almost seemed distracting. Another goal that I wanted to focus on was adding more links within my text and that is a process that I am still involved in. I want to make sure that the reader feels like they are going somewhere and by using both a navigation bar and links it allows the reader to have many options in terms of direction.

The blogging on Google were helpful because they allowed me to see other student’s opinions with even more detail than some of the class discussions. If there was one thing I could do over again, it would be to use the blogs to my advantage even more.

critical thinking

1."Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular context and type of thinking task. Critical thinking also involves evaluating the thinking process - the reasoning that went into the conclusion we've arrived at the kinds of factors considered in making a decision. Critical thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because it focuses on a desired outcome." Halpern, Diane F. Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. 1996.

2.Critical thinking is "the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible." Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin (1989)

3."Critical thinking includes the ability to respond to material by distinguishing between facts and opinions or personal feelings, judgments and inferences, inductive and deductive arguments, and the objective and subjective. It also includes the ability to generate questions, construct, and recognize the structure of arguments, and adequately support arguments; define, analyze, and devise solutions for problems and issues; sort, organize, classify, correlate, and analyze materials and data; integrate information and see relationships; evaluate information, materials, and data by drawing inferences, arriving at reasonable and informed conclusions, applying understanding and knowledge to new and different problems, developing rational and reasonable interpretations, suspending beliefs and remaining open to new information, methods, cultural systems, values and beliefs and by assimilating information." MCC General Education Initiatives

These three quotes describe the process I have gone through so far in designing my hypertext. Initially, I had to use a great deal of judgement about the sources I was finding and whether or not they could help me. I found out there is a lot of useless information out there, and finding legitimate resources is a long process. Then, once I did find some useful information, I had to think about how I could present it in the most effective manner. The advangtage of a hypertext is that they are much more engaging than formal essays, and I needed to decide how I was going to use this advantage. Also, a lot of information I had, while on the same topic, conflicted in some manner. To get past these problems, I had to think critically about what information would benefit my site the most, and then use that source rather than cause confusion with two.
Writing this hypertext has been different from any other essay I've worked on mostly because hypertext flow is much more liberated than that of an ordinary essay. Instead of hitting point after point as I would typically writing an essay, with hypertext I found that I was all over the place working on one section followed by a totally different aspect on another section. A regular essay also doesn't have the intricate design and aesthetic work associated with it obviously.

Critical Thinking of Travis Lee

All along our scholarly career, we are on the constant journey to find the “right answer”. In essays, we are looking for the right response and the right formula of sources and examples. Even though some teachers encourage students that there is no “right answer” answer in some cases, we still look. The engineering side of me agrees with Halpren when she says that critical thinking is ‘the use of those skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome.’ I am constantly acquiring new skills and problem solving abilities in my studies of math, physics, and other sciences. I use these skills to solve new, harder problems. In my hypertext, I am acquiring many new skills and I use them to try and solve things to a standard.

In research for the hypertext, you have to do a lot of “judgment” on the scholar or author’s writing. You can’t take every piece of evidence or opinion as the Word of God. Moore and Parker illustrate that in their definition of critical thinking as the “determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment.’

Putting both these definitions, Lindzey, Hall, and Thompson define critical thinking as the ‘examination and testifying of suggested solutions to see whether they will work.’ In the formulation of the hypertext, I have to go over pages time and time again to see whether the pictures/text are relevant or whether the format of the page works for future viewers. It’s a guess-and-check process that I use to find Halpren’s ‘probability of a desirable outcome.’

Critcal Thinking

Critical thinking, that is a headache within itself. For me critical thinking is what Ennis said “deciding what to believe or do”. When I write I always write what I feel or in other words what I read and believe in when I read the material, using the skills of reasonably and reflectively, of course. Not only do I put into consideration of what I believe, but thought process of what to do after I have considered reason and reflection that went into it questioning the topic. To consider what I do after understanding what I believe I would turn to Paul, Binker, and Adamson because their definition of critical thinking. In which I would have to go back and read, again, and think of what I thought of the first time to make things a lot more clear, accurate, and less of a judgmental believe. Thinking at the same time as reviewing the work can be fairly hard, but it does make things a lot more definite and understandable. Paul, Binker, and Adamson call it “the art of thinking” and that is a good way to put it because it is. To think critically involves a lot of thinking, as artwork involves a lot of staring and imagination. After I read the article twenty times, I then look for inspiration from Lindzey, Hall, and Thompson. In this case I have to examine what I have re-thought about and see if in the end it will work out as a suggestible solution.

Critically Thinking about Critically Thinking

Out of all the definitions I really took in 4 that seemed to sum up the experience of writing a hyper text. I probably wouldn't have been able to critically think about all the various elements of writing a hyper text if it wasn't for the persistent teaching. Because we were encouraged to think of the audience while we developed our sites we followed Ennis's definition of critical thinking as, "Reasonably and reflectively deciding what to believe or do." We've constantly been pushed to think of an A.D.D. reader by using Dang's knowledge of internet reading. This has given me something to critically think about and has effected the choices I've made about how to construct my hypertext. The MCC General Education Initiatives had a lot to say about critical thinking, but what I pulled from it was to, "devise solutions for problems and issues...sort and organize data...and remain open." These were all elements involved in creating a hypertext. We've really had to look at how to make issues come alive for people who are curious or ignorant. I've had to find more diverse data then any other writing experience that I've had before. Remaining open has also been vital in all situations when working with this new media and many new situations of writing. With Diane Halpem's her definition really emphasizes the point of thinking about actions and how they will effect others. The way we've been taught to write hypertexts is through critically thinking about what choices our readers will make and how to best reach them. Each definition can apply it self some way to our hypertext experience. That's a good sign for all of us, not only are we learning how to write with new media we are being encouraged to think critically.

Kurland:
He says, "considering a variety of possible viewpoints and explanations," is part of critical thinking. This is important for writing in hypertext because getting multiple perspectives is important for creating a complete hypertext essay.

NCTE Committee on Critical Thinking and the Language Arts:
What they say about critical thinking is that it ultimately leads to action. This is what many of our hypertexts are basically about: finding out about the low wage life, and what can be done about it.

Halpern:
She says, "Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome." Writing in hypertext uses this idea. The desirable outcome of a hypertext essay is one that effectively communicates to the viewer what the essay is about. We have studied many strategies for effective ways to communicate in hypertext.

Critical Thinking

When I think of critical thinking, I get the idea of a time to evaluate what has been done, and it is now time to make a firm decision. The NCTE committee believes that judgment is suspended in order for a decision to be made. I also believe that critical thinking involves exploring other options after evaluating the progress made thus far. Like Maiorana says, one must ask more questions and explore new view points. I don't think a project can be completed without stepping back from it, re-evaluating it, and then asking more questions or trying to look for new ways to improve it. When asking yourself questions about a project, you can look for what is wrong or what is ineffective. Then, after asking those questions, you can fix the problems. Like Halpern says, the goal of critical thinking is to use skills which will result in a "desirable outcome." Critical thinking is the use of these skills in order to better the outcome. Like Maiorana says, some of these skills involve asking questions and thinking outside the box. There are so many shapes which a hypertext can take, so it would be a good use of time to explore other options for your hypertext. Since Halpern says you are looking for a desirable outcome, the goal of exploring other options isn't to create the "correct" project, but to create the best project which you can.

Writing about thinking about thinking critically

-Critical thinking is the development of cohesive and logical reasoning patterns. Stahl and Stahl, 1991.

-"Broadly speaking, critical thinking is concerned with reason, intellectual honesty, and open-mindedness, as opposed too emotionalism, intellectual laziness, and closed-mindedness. Thus, critical thinking involves: following evidence where it leads; considering all possibilities; relying on reason rather than emotion; being precise; considering a variety of possible viewpoints and explanations; weighing the effects of motives and biases; being concerned more with finding the truth than with being right; not rejecting unpopular views out of hand; being aware of one's own prejudices and biases, and not allowing them to sway one's judgment."
Kurland, Daniel J. I Know What It Says . . . What does it Mean? 1995.

-Critical thinking is "the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible."
Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin (1989)

In terms of applying my notions towards hypertext creation, I can say honestly that I make the most progress when I constantly evaluate and make more concise, evocative, and straightforward the message behind the hypertext. Stahl and Stahl are absolutely right. Logical and cohesive reasoning powers bring cohesion and fluidity to a web-page. With links sensible and, well, logical, one need never fear that the reader is straying away from the main point or hypothesis. Even if they move out on a tangent, they're always directly or indirectly connected back to the main theme or idea. Kurland brings up an interesting point that I feel is directly applicable to my hypertext page and experience. The idea of open-mindedness as opposed to emotionalism rang the most clearly. With a pre-conceived disposition and mindset, one will stagnate in the constant denial of other ideas and points of view. The last quote about critical thinking I found quite comic yet intrinsically useful and insightful. The "thinking about the thinking to improve your thinking" or whatever just makes sense. The constant re-evaluation and re-assessment of one's own thinking process can only improve one's conceptual capacity and one's ability to recognize the good from the bad in terms of effectiveness, clarity, and other hypertext concerns and issues.

Writing in hypertext is necessarily different than writing a flat essay. My favorite analogy is that of the web. There's a central theme, and branches away that are all interconnected yet still connected to the main theme. Flat essay writing is more of a logical progression centered around a key point. One point leads to another that leads to another and so on. In a hypertext, though, one point can lead to myriad points, each of which could lead to myriad more. The options and ways of imparting information are more numerous and less linear in form. More is left open to the viewer of the web page in terms of their navigation and use of the site. In a linear essay, I guess, the writer is in the driver's seat. In hypertext the opposite is the case, but the creator must make sure that the reader is allowed this freedom of movement and that numerous angles and insights are provided to make his reading of the site worthwhile and mentally expansive.

critical thinking

Hypertext writing is incredibly different from all other types of writing I have ever done. It has challenged me to think in new and different ways. Essentially, it has encouraged me to think more critically about all all aspects of my writing. Those aspects include but are not limited to my intended audience, the purpose of my writing, the effectiveness of my words, the most effective layout etc... The critical thinking I have engaged in to create my hypertext aligns with the definitions of Halpern, Maiorana, and Smith.

Halpern suggests that critical thinking is important when reaching a desired outcome. I find this to be very true because in all my writing I have thought of how it best encourages people to become aware and active about the garment workers in Los Angeles.

Maiorana suggests that critical thinking is effective in solving problems through understanding, evaluating and resolving them. I find this to be true because the entire goal of my site has been to solve the issue of exploited low wage laborers.

Smith suggests that it is important to judge the validity of scholars on the issue. This is important because my writing is based on the gaps in certain scholarly research. That is, I feel I am trying to expose an issue that has been somewhat disregarded by the academic sphere.

I feel that there has been one very significant difference between my hypertext writing and my previous writing. I feel that this writing has a real purpose beyond the classroom such that much of my writing has been influenced by the possibility that people other than my professors will read what I have written. This has guided me to make decisions that I would have otherwise disregarded as unimportant.

critical thinking

Writing a hypertext requires a unique type of thinking. The first quote that I feels best defines my experience using critical thinking skills while working with hypertext is by Halpern, "Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular context and type of thinking task....Critical thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because it focuses on a desired outcome." I definitely feel that when writing / formulating a hypertext i need to have a sense of direction of where I am going- otherwise i will end up with a wide range of web pages that don't connect.
The second quote I picked was by Maiorana, "The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve." This probably represents my whole outlook after working with hypertext. By designing a hypertext, you really need to know what it is you are trying to get across- you need to understand your topic to a degree that you understand all viewpoints and are able to propose a solution to any problems that you consider. Throughout this course, i have been asking myself numerous questions to deepen my understanding about issues in order to help propose solutions and resolve them.
the last quote i picked was by MCC General Education, "Critical thinking includes the ability to respond to material by distinguishing between facts and opinions or personal feelings, judgments and inferences, inductive and deductive arguments, and the objective and subjective...applying understanding and knowledge to new and different problems, developing rational and reasonable interpretations, suspending beliefs and remaining open to new information, methods, cultural systems, values and beliefs and by assimilating information...." This particularly addresses my process with working with hypertext because while working on certain issues, I've had to put certain issues aside and evaluate situations without a bias. It has forced me to remain open to new ideas and in some cases changed my opinion on certain issues. Although it was hard to do at times, it has made me see situations from different points of view and allowed me an opportunity to deepen my critical thinking skills by remaining open.

Quotes about Critical Thinking

The three quotes I thought described the process of critical thinking for hypertext the best are from Diane Halpern, Victor Maiorana, and MCC General Education Initiatives.

Diane Halpern talks about critical thinking as "goal directed" which I found was very true while writing for hypertext. I know how I wanted my pages to look and generally what I wanted to say, but I had to work towards these goals. She also talks about being "thoughtful and effective for the particular context" which is very true when writing for hypertext. We have to think about the context when we are creating our pages.

Victor Maiorana talks about evaluating viewpoints, which was a big part of writing for these hypertexts. We had to look at a lot of different viewpoints when writing for something that will be published online. He also talks about problem solving, which I thought I did a lot as well when I was writing. There are a lot more problems when trying to write for hypertext, so I had to think about how to solve them.

The last quote from MCC General Education Initiatives talked about "distinguishing between facts and opinions or personal feelings, judgments and inferences" which I thought we had to do a lot while writing these hypertext essays. Since we were publishing this information on the web, we had to be sure we were putting up objective information and not just someone's opinions. We had to evaluate a lot of information on certain levels that are not thought of when writing a linear paper.

Evalutaion Of Critical Thinking

The critical thinking definitions that most apply to my writing of the hypertext essays are those by Simon and Kapplar, Victor Mairoana, and Lindzey, Hall, and Thompson. Simon and Kapplar says that critical thinking is the "formation of logical inferences." I believe this goes along with the creation of a hypertext because a hypertext must be entirely interconnected while at the same time being connected with the world outside of it as well. Points must move in a logical order, yet allow the reader to see how the second to last page is connected to the third page of the site and allow him or her to jump around while still maintaining the same thesis. Victor Mairoana said that we use critical thinking to "achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems," and I think this also applies to the hypertexts that we have learned how to write. We use the websites to not only learn about a subject by ourselves, but to also formulate our own opinion and try to help the visitors to our site try to understand the problem as well. The hypertext also allows us to link to a worldwide community in order to promote a global understanding a a more unified effort of solving problems. Lastly, Lindzey, Hall, and Thompson say that critical thinking is the "examination and testing of suggested solutions to see whether they will work." This works both with the design of the website and the content. We struggle as authors of hypertexts to find variations of both design and content of our websites in order to both capture the reader's attention and at the same time try to allow them to hear a clear argument. This process of trial and error allows us to create wonderful projects that are clearly thought out and that will hopefully make a difference to the world, or at least the reader.

Critical Thinking 101

I'm going to break it down based on each statement about critical thinking;

1.Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment.
Moore and Parker, 1994.
This statement is very relevant to how we've been thinking (or at least I have) for this class, especially about hypertext #2. My topic is on legal immigrant gardeners and their struggle to survive, as well as examining the effects of illegal immigrants on this ability. I find it funny because there are some cases where gardeners are very successful human beings, running their own businesses and becoming mini business tycoons, so in that regard i need to "suspend" judgment.

2."The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.
This one is DEFINITELY what this class is based on, asking random questions. Alot of "Why" and "How" questions are asked in this class, and so i believe that this pretty much nails it on the spot on how critical thinking is done here. I personally have asked some pretty generalized questions in this class, and begun to examine things that i had previously assumed as normal or average, and not out of the ordinary.

3.Critical thinking is "a process which stresses an attitude of suspended judgment, incorporates logical inquiry and problem solving, and leads to an evaluative decision or action."
NCTE Committee on Critical Thinking and the Language Arts.
Finally, this quote is more of an application of the two quotes above, and really sheds light on how we solve problems in this class. I think critical thinking in this class is really a combination of all 3 quotes, because we're asking all of these questions and then suspending certain parts of our judgment to logically come to a conclusion about the topic or idea we're studying. Overall, this class' end of critical thinking is really a multi-faceted idea of how to explain and come up with solutions to problems that we haven't even necessarily discovered yet.

Differences in writing hypertext vs. writing a 5 paragraph essay;
For me, writing a hypertext is much more engaging and interesting than writing a standing 5 paragraph essay. Hypertext allows me to express my opinion whenever i feel it is necessary, and it also allows me to go in depth and allow my readers to jump and change their focus on certain parts of my writing. In regards to a 5 paragraph essay, a hypertext doesn't really have a thesis, it really has an idea... which i like much, much, better. Marc said it perfectly when he said that a thesis is like a hammer that you're bashing over your reader's head. I couldn't agree more. I feel like a hypertext is a better type of writing when it comes to developing an idea or expressing your opinion of that idea to a greater mass of people. While it is somewhat informal, because it is just as such, as readers you feel more connected to the writer, whereas in a 5 paragraph essay it feels like you're being lectured or told about the topic.

critical thinking

i think Halpern's definition,

"Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular context and type of thinking task. Critical thinking also involves evaluating the thinking process - the reasoning that went into the conclusion we've arrived at the kinds of factors considered in making a decision. Critical thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because it focuses on a desired outcome."

Stahl and Stahl's definition,

"Critical thinking is the development of cohesive and logical reasoning patterns."

and Lindzey's definition,

"Critical thinking is "the examination and testing of suggested solutions to see whether they will work."

are the best definitions for critical thinking. from my experience whenever i do critical thinking, i usually need to solve a problem and figure out whether or not a statement is true or not and if i agree with it. i have to consider all points of view or solutions before coming to my conclusion, which is what halpern, stahl and stahl and lindzey all say. critical thinking is thinking logically about things you've learned before and putting it all together to produce a cohesive argument or conclusion.
i hope to create a website that forces people to think critically and create their own opinions about a certain topic. i wish to include all the views, positive and negative about my topic, so that people will think critically before making a judgment as soon as they figure out what my topic is. i don't want to lean toward any one side of my topic until i have considered all views.

the difference between the writing i've done in the past compared to the writing now is a lot more structured. all the papers i've written in the past all have the same structure and look the same. none of my papers ever had graphics or pictures, which is one very big difference to the writing i do now. i think pictures and graphic help and enhance a paper a lot. i wouldn't want to be the teacher reading forty papers over the weekend if they were just a bunch of words with no graphics. with graphic, papers become a lot easier on the eyes, instead of reading papers all day long, one can relax for a bit to look at the pictures on the side of a paper. the hypertext writing now is also a lot easier because we don't have to worry about writing transitions or summaries, everything is held together by links.

An Original Title

"the examination and testing of suggested solutions to see whether they will work."

This is the one that i think sums it up the best. How many times did Marc as well as the entire class give us suggestions about how to do it, or what to improve on? but when it got right down to it, we just had to try it. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but we had to figure it out. We couldn't have simply done what they said we should, we had to examine and test each one to see if it would work with our site.

"Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment."

This one was also very close to what critical thinking meant. While the first quote said what we should do, assuming we accepted the criticism, this quote points out that hey, screw them, i can decide what to do for myself. and while that is kind of crass, that is a huge part of critical thinking, is deciding which ones to take, to listen to, and which ones to ignore or defer.

"The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."

This summed it up pretty nicely. At first we had to ask a question to even begin making our projects. And so, we sought after understanding when we first started. Secondly, we evaluated view points, those of our teacher and classmates to decide if they were valid or not, and how much weight to put behind the suggestions. and finally, we had to solve problems. We looked at what we had to change, at all teh shortcomings our site had, and change whatever was necessary to resolve the issue.

Differences in writing, now and before:
The main difference is in this class is the lack of a coherent topic. In high school, there was always a reason for writing, a point you were supposed to get across. If i were to do an essay on one of my websites, it would be a simple, one-track essay with a self explanatory title and a clear focus. Now however, there are so many different angles and literally hundreds of ways to present them, that the reason for doing it seems clouded, unclear. The point of the website is hidden almost. If I were to finish reading a website and ask myself the question "so what? why should i care?", i would have a much harder time answering it than at the end of my old essays. Reading a traditional essay, you know what you are reading and what the person is saying. In one of our websites, both of these can get very confused.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the development of cohesive and logical reasoning patterns.

Stahl and Stahl, 1991.

While working on my hypertext i have made a point to use logical reasoning patterns. For instance, I try to make sure my links are clear and they follow a logic pattern. The most important thing for a website is to ensure that it is user friendly and people can use logic and simple thinking to navigate the page. that is what I've tried to create for my website.

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Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment.
Moore and Parker, 1994.

Once again i think it is imperative to evaluate the hypertext, imagine it from all angles, and see what can be changed. Once I've challenged myself to answer these questions i can then accept, reject, or suspend my judgment. But only through my judgment can i question and change my work.

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"The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

This definition describes my experience of composing hypertext. I look at different view points, i try to understand others, and try to think of all possible outcomes. Therefor i think that questioning is a key part of what I've done with my hypertext. I really try to push myself to see what else can happen, what can i change, what can i edit. I revise and revise till i think I've successfully answered all those questions.

The way i write for a an academic, research paper differs hugely from a hypertext. For a hypertext i write small excerpts and link each excerpt (or paragraph) lightly. In other words there doest have to be a concrete connection- i can loosely link parts together. When writing an "traditional" paper i need to be more concrete and direct. Also on a hypertext i do a lot of my writing with pictures or design, as where a traditional paper i must use only words and follow a certain way of writing.

Critical Thinking

Definitions of Critical Thinking are best for writing a hypertext:
Maiorana: I think Maiorana brings up a good point when he states that we must take into consideration different viewpoints on various topics. Specifically writing a hypertext allows the author to bring to light different opinions in a unique way so the ability to critically evaluate those beliefs and present it to the reader in a organized and non biased fashion is imperative to critically writing a hypertext.
NCTE Committee: The committee talks about incorporating an attitude of suspended judgment with logical inquiry and problem solving. I believe that not holding prejudice is key to critical thinking. Only when you suspend your own biases and add logic can true critical evaluation flourish in a hypertext essay.
Ennis: "Critical thinking is "reasonably and reflectively deciding what to believe or do." Ennis conveys the necessity for reflection as apart of rational evaluation. We must reflect and ponder with pure reason to critically think about something. Thinking is only the tip of the ice burg, it is reflection that results in true understanding.

Differences in essay writing before and Hypertext writing now:
The most important difference for me is the incorperation of various genres to illustrate your information to the reader. This allows you the freedom of expression to use the best medium to convey your ideas. More mediums envoke to different levels of comprehension which result in deeper understanding. Also, different points are more effectively communicated in through unique methods.

critical thinking

Critical thinking is "the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible." Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin (1989)
Critical thinking is the formation of logical inferences. Simon and Kapplan, 1989.
Critical thinking is "the examination and testing of suggested solutions to see whether they will work."
I think that these three definitions best describe the formation of my hypertext so far, but I think the first definition describes my process the best overall. While I was making different pages for my hypertext, the second one, I has one set topic that I was writing on. As I started to write more, there were subcategories that were coming up in the main topic I was writing about and then I made links for those categories. The one page that I sought to make turned into 5 pages easily. Also, the much experimenting I did to come up with an effective design can best be described by the third definition of critical thinking pasted above. In class we were given suggestions on how to improve our site. From easy navigation to making it seem like there is less context on the page than there really is so it would not scare of the reader. In order to come up with an effective design for the hypertext one has to do a little of experimenting with the setup and placement of text and pictures. The writing has to be reviewed over and over again because you want the writing to be interesting and to the point because if there is excessive definition and unnecessary writing in the hypertext, the viewer is more likely to skim over the work and not read it. Also, I think that links have to be carefully chosen so that they are clear to the reader and so readers will want to click on them. The links are ways to get deeper into your site and you don't want people to miss the details which will then make your hypertext "more accurate" and "more defensible."
The difference between writing for hypertext and writing essays is that writing essays is a bit of a drag. With hypertext, your ideas don't have to be formal as in a thesis for each page. Each page of the hypertext is like a new paragraph in an essay but without the boring opening sentence and the transition sentence to the next paragraph in the end. All the pages are related to each other somehome and it doesn't matter what page you start with in the hypertext, whereas in an essay the first paragraph has to lead to the seond and the second has to lead to the third and so on. Hypertext can also include bullets instead of all linear writing as in an essay. If i had to choose writing in hypertext and writing an essay I would chose writing in hypertext. It's much more easy and faster to complete and besides from wanting to write in hypertext rather than in essay form, I'd also rather read hypertext than an essay.

Critical Thinking

Although I felt that many of these definitions of critical thinking were accurate, the three that I chose really do reflect my experience in my journey to learn how to write in hypertext. You really do have to change your trajectory of thinking when writing in hypertext. The definitions I chose were written by Halpern, Kurland, and Maicrana. When reading Halpern's definition I really felt as if she was discussing hypertext specifically. There is a very specific path that you must take to get to a specific hypertext, involving cognitive skills and the strategies that Halpern discusses to "increase the probability of a desireable outcome". In my mind, the "desirable outcome" in the context of hypertext would be someone being able to easily navigate your site, being able to understand it, and being inspired to action after reviewing it. Halpern states that critical thinking is "purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed" and I think I used attempted to achieve these characteristics in hypertext more than in any other writing I have done.
Maiorana's definition also stood out to me as being extremely valuable in the context of a hypertext essay. With the possibility of multiple layers of our website, we were encouraged to "evaluate view points and solve problems". In our second hypertext, with the review of literature, I attempted to "add to the discourse", to propose what particular viewpoint I was contributing to the issue with my website. As Maiorana claims, "the purpose of critical thinking is to achieve understanding..", which I also feel is a goal that we are striving to reach in our second hypertext essay. We are trying to evoke the lived experience of a low wage worker, and in order to do this, we must be able to "achieve understanding" of these people's lives within ourselves.
Kurland's definition also outlined for me some of the most vital components of writing in hypertext. In his definition, he emphasizes "intellectual honesty", which is something that is necessary in all writing of course, but more important to recognize in this context. We had many class discussions about the issue of copyright, and the fact that writing can be very much influenced by how public it can be. I definitely altered my way of writing due to the fact that it would be viewed by so many people. I made it a point to adhere to all copyright laws, because in this case, not doing so can be much more detrimental that plagiarizing a five paragraph essay. Kurland insists that to achieve critical thinking we must "consider all possibilities, variety of viewpoints and explanations." Once again I feel that this statement is especially salient in the issue of hypertext because we take points of view from all sides of the issue and can develop a more well-rounded argument by doing so.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is truly defined individually by the one doing the thinking, but there are a few quotes listed which capture what it means to me to think critically. To put ideas and thoughts together in the form of a hypertext provides not only the reader, but myself with a clearer and more refined idea of what it is I am discussing.

The first quote I chose is that of Kurland's, because it truly relates to the discussion I lead on my site. He speaks of avoiding close-mindedness and intellectual laziness, two vices that have plagued proper analysis of my issue. But more importantly, he makes a note to mention that one must be continually aware of one's own judgment and biases. As I play computer games myself, I must be careful not to let my own prejudices about the system affect my analysis and discussion of low-wage gold farming and the online gaming-related factors.

The second quote that connects the dots in my topic is that of Simon/Kapplan, who say that "Critical thinking is the formation of logical inferences." In my own experience having written various paragraphs on my hypertext topic, this cannot be more true. In discussing the low-wage life of gold farmers, one must make inferences in order to generate points of discussion, especially with a topic that has thus far received very little critical analysis, given it's widespread and growing influence.

The final quote I chose was that of Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin, in that "the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible." My thought process on the topic is one thing, but having been thinking critically about it, I can say with first-hand experience that I am able to better articulate the nuances of the material, putting sentences together on my pages of the hypertext that are clear, concise, and cognizant of the overall message that I wish users to receive as they surf from page to page.

Overall, critical thinking is, for me, considering the factors that have made my issue such a large one, and categorizing the factors which caused it to continually grow exponentially. By being able to articulate these ideas and cross the spectrum of catalysts, I can give the readers a clear idea of my hypertext material, so that they too can make informed decisions about what will a larger and larger issue, as more and more players enter the virtual world of gaming.

In terms of comparing my previous writing endeavors to that of this hypertext, if anything there is an aspect of unbridled freedom that I feel as I segment my discussions into different pages. To be able to assert specific topics on different pages under the umbrella of a hypertext topic gives not only my work a better sense of direction, but I would imagine gives my readers a better road-map of what it is I discuss. To the hypertext extent, I would say that the virtual medium this class has offered has served to prepare us for a lifestyle in which the written word is antiquated in the face of the digital counterpart. We attempt to express ourselves personally through a naturally impersonal medium, compensating for the lack of visual emotion with critical richness that keeps readers interested.

critical thinking

Although writing a hypertext essay requires a different form of writing than the traditional form that most of us are more familiar with, the thought process is still rather similar. I agree with Maiorana’s interpretation of critical thinking which suggests that in order to think critically, one must be inquisitive. If one were to write solely about that which is already known, what would that essay accomplish? Writing is intended to be informative and oftentimes thought-provoking, and neither can be accomplished if the author does not first ask the difficult questions. Ultimately, as the quote suggests, these questions will lead to a greater understanding of the topic at hand, and will therefore allow the author to better evaluate and ultimately resolve the issue that his topic initially presents.

Additionally, I support Kurland’s interpretation of critical thinking which suggests that one must remain emotionally uninvolved in the subject matter, and must keep an open mind. This concept goes hand in hand with the notion that critical thinking involves inquiry. If one were to become emotionally involved, he risks not looking into more than one perspective, and therefore is unable to fully resolve the issue presented. Moreover, to become involved emotionally suggests that the author is not keeping an open mind, which is critical when one is asked to write an unbiased piece.

Finally, I agreed with Stahl’s definition of critical thinking. In any piece of writing, it is imperative to first observe “cohesive and logical reasoning patterns” in order to create a cohesive and logical product.

1) Moore and Parker, 1994.

I believe this definition of critical thinking provides the best representation. We can judge a situation based on what what we've heard from other people or the media, but we never will know the truth unless we have researched other valid view points. To be able to consciously recognize your judgment and determine whether it valid is critical thinking.

2) Ennis (1985)

This is along same lines as my first choice, but it focuses on belief. Is the issue right or wrong? Again, it's easy to believe something, but it's not the same if you've first reviewed the subject and gone back to see what is actually going on. It impossible to not subconsciously take a stance on an issue, but it is possible to change it.

3) Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

Eventually, through all the facts, statistics and personal accounts we will come to a conclusion about what we believe or what we judge. Constantly, we must ask ourselves why is it wrong or why is it right? In order to come to a conclusion, we must ask ourselves what is the other side of story? what are the exceptions.

3 Best Definitions for Critical Thinking & Hypertexts

1. Critical thinking is "the examination and testing of suggested solutions to see whether they will work."
Lindzey, Hall, and Thompson, 1978.

2. Critical thinking is "the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible."
Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin (1989)

3. "The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

My first choice represents the best critical thinking definition while creating a hypertext. My experience has been a complete trial and error system. I will make a post for my site and alter it the hour. When something goes technologically wrong, I try my hardest not to hesitate in clicking various buttons. I learn the best when I take risks even if they are mistakes. If you have an idea for your site, create it because you can always make changes later.

The second definition about “thinking, thinking, thinking” is very much the way I go about my writing and site making. I have to think about my thinking while thinking especially because we are both writing and designing at the same time. Making these connections helps the final product be more clear and accurate.

The third definition I selected is similar to the second about achieving understanding. Along with this, one must evaluate and solve problems. For example, after deciding your links you have to evaluate whether they are effective, and if they are not, then solve the problem by making all links fall under the 4 questions we set up as guidelines. We are constantly questioning our product in order to continue the cycle of understanding, evaluating, and solving. Asking questions is the best way to improve you’re the solidity of your project.

The three quotes I picked on critical thinks were ones by Daniel Kurland, Stephen Norris, and Victor Maiorana. The one I liked the most was the one by Daniel Kurland. When defining critical thinking he brought up the point of leaving “emotionalism” out of critical thinking. When I thought about this I realized the often times emotions are what normally cause people to be close minded. To me this is a very helpful reminder to leave the morality aspect out of my project. To me selling drugs is morally wrong, yet when I put my morals aside I realize that the whole world doesn’t see things the way I do, and people have to do, what they have to do to survive.

The other quote I picked was one by Norris. I liked this quote because I believe that often times people believe things to easily. The just believe things without really knowing why they believe, they just believe because they think that’s what they are supposed to do.

The third quote I picked was one by Marioana. I liked his quote because it talked about questions things. There are three things you do to achieve understanding and all of them involving questioning. I like that fact that critically thinking does not just involve memorize regurgitated information, its playing around with the information and drawing your own conclusions.

Critical Thinking

"Critical thinking is the development of cohesive and logical reasoning patterns." This quote applies strongly to my work with hypertexts so far. My project goal is to create a body of material that logically guides the reader through it's various sections in a logical manner. In my critical thinking on hypertext, there is no way to avoid the development of logical reasoning patterns.

Smith, 1990:

Critical Thinking

The three quotes that I feel best describes how critical thinking applies to hypertext writing are the ones by the MCC General Education Initiatives, Smith (1990), and Stahl and Stahl (1991). I feel that these three reflect best because they each address the process as a whole or parts of the process used in this kind of writing. The first step of the process is looking at what literature is already out there and deciding how this information works with our topic and if it is valid information. Smith and the MCC both address this directly. Then to make the work your own you must analyze all that you have learned and synthesize the information to create your own work. In order to do this you must have a clear, logical process and approach. The quote by Stahl and Stahl hits the logic portion clearly, which is the base of critical thinking. Smith takes it to the next level focusing on comprehending a source that you may be given and its validity. The MCC then takes it all the way through the whole process by outlining not only each step, but then how to bring it all together into one product. This is so important in hypertext essay because, as there is now set beginning and end, there has to be a consistent theme through out the site that is very clear. To insure that you have no extra information and everything in comprehensive you must apply these principles of critical thinking to your hypertext essay writing.

My top three definitions in respect to composing hypertexts were by MCC General Education Initiatives (1), Victor P. Maiorana (2), and Diane F. Halpern (3). The MCC definition relates to composing hypertexts perfectly when it said, “It (critical thinking) also includes the ability to generate questions, construct, and recognize the structure of arguments, and adequately support arguments. It goes on to say that in order to think critically you must see relationships and evaluate information/ data and come up with solutions while remaining open to different beliefs and methods. That is the main goal of hypertexts. You want to be opinionated and clear about the purpose of your website while maintaining an open mind and presenting the material in an unbiased fashion.

The second definition by Victor P Maiorana states that you must achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Again, when composing a hypertext you need to come up with a view point and have a purpose. It is important to evaluate the situation and come up with solutions.

The third definition by Halpern is right on the money in terms of making sure that you are goal oriented with purposeful insight and reasoning. Also, one must evaluated their thinking process once they feel like they have reached a conclusion.

Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

Something that came up in several of the defenitions of "critical thinking" we read was the importance of "suspesion of judgement." In the age of the internet, there is a danger that we can become trapped in an "echo chamber," seeking like-minded opinions without paying mind to any opposing voices. This can push us to extremes of opinions that may not be based on the facts, or the "whole truth." When I was researching immigration, I was surprised to learn about the recent immigration reforms that Bush proposed, that seemed to come close to amnesty. I can't be sure that this is the "whole truth" either, but either way my opinions of Bush as a president were challenged. This suspension of judgement is essential in writing a good hypertext, becuase it strengthens our argument by making our perspective more holistic.

Critical Thinking

1. MCC General Education Initiatives
2. Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.
3. Kurland, Daniel J. I Know What It Says . . . What does it Mean? 1995.


I believe the MCC General Education Initiatives' definition of critical thinking is most suitable for our hypertext essays because he states that it, "includes the ability to respond to material by distinguishing between facts and opinions or personal feelings". Although we utilized a series of scholarly articles/journals as well as books for our research, we also rely on information gathered by the internet. This information may contain a lot of bias, which could shift our standpoint on a certain subject. In addition, they believe that critical thinking requires us to, "sort, organize, classify, correlate, and analyze materials and data; integrate information and see relationships". In our hypertext essays, we spread our essays over multiple pages, yet, they are all related. What we are doing when we are generating our websites is sorting information into specific subjects, while correlating them by using links.
The next suitable definition is Maiorana's because she states that critical thinking requires us to, "achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems". This is very similar to the MCC definition because, once again, we are researching while questioning the credibility of our resources to make sure certain biases/prejudices do not alter our judgment. The final process of critical thinking is formulating our own conclusion/solution based on our research.

Critical Thinking

1) "Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular context and type of thinking task. Critical thinking also involves evaluating the thinking process - the reasoning that went into the conclusion we've arrived at the kinds of factors considered in making a decision. Critical thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because it focuses on a desired outcome."
Halpern, Diane F. Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. 1996.

2) Critical thinking is "the examination and testing of suggested solutions to see whether they will work."
Lindzey, Hall, and Thompson, 1978.

3) Critical thinking is "the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible

I relate the most to the description of critical thinking that focuses on a favorable outcome. Most of what I do is in order to achieve a good outcome. The driving force behind my desire to right a good hypertext is so that I get a good grade in this class. I constantly look forward and do not learn things for the joy of learning them, but so that I can get a good grade and forget all of the information right after I take my final. Also what drives me is thinking about a nice, artistic, and polished final product. I start something so that I can be proud of the end product and I work hard to get there.

I also go through a great deal of testing while I am working on a project. I like to try out a lot of different thinks to see how they will fit with my final project. I am a huge believer in trial and error and I believe that in the end, all of the errors will improve the final result. The solutions that I try usually don’t work and I can get frustrated, but in the end all of the work was worth it when it all comes together. I went through a lot of trial and error on my second hypertext as far as the design of the web page and the different topics of the links. This helped me to see what would work the best and create a more effective hypertext.

The third description of the concept of critical thinking greatly describes my personal thinking methods. It is all about making yourself better so that you can better the product. I am constantly in my head thinking about improving myself and my work. In order to do this, I must improve the depth of my own critical thinking so that my writing will have greater analyses. It is important to have different approaches to thinking about a topic so that you can tackle it from many different angles and represent many possibilities.

Critical Thinking

I believe the processes of critically thinking is varies within differnet subjects. In sciences, its i think critical thinking has to do with facts and math and hopefully matching results to confirm answers. In this case I could relate to Linzey, Hall, and Thompson. However in english, in order to read or to write critically, I think that one needs to find a topic, find different view points, discuss them, find the logic in each, find a solution to problems, and then write. Thus I think that my writing relates most to Victor Maiorana's and NCTR Committe's notion on what critical thinking is. However, I did not think that this website was quite like anything I had ever written. I approached my hypertext as a project that ultimately will provide information about my topic in a subtle way in which the readers would not be bored. I never really thought of developing this project in such a away that critically formed to lure in readers, but as I look over my hypertext I realize that I have unknownly created a website that asks questions, inquires certain aspects of my topic, that tries to resolve the problem or give an answer, and that try to give several view points to ultimately provide understanding for the reader.

Critical Thinking

1)Daniel Kurland
2)Victor Maiorana
3)Paul Binker

I can closely relate to Daniel Kurland's example of critical Thinking. I approached my hypertext with an open mind disregarding the fact that i had experienced the negative effect of teenage employment first hand. From what is proposed in my research, my personal experience proves most articles wrong. Knowing that I was an exception to the majority of society, i approached my hypertext emotionless and open-minded. This was helpful because if i had written my hypertext with emotion, it would have turned out very biased and just a reflection of my personal experience.

Critical Thinking

1)Maiorana, Victor P.
2)Paul, Binker, Adamson, Martin
3)MCC General Education Initiatives

I believe that critical thinking is a process of asking questions before setting out on research. Critical thinking is an effort to understand what you are researching in a broad sense while being specific in your inquires. This is why I liked Victor Maiorana's interpretation. Specific and broad critical thinking, therefore, involves much more than taking in information and regurgitating it. For example, it involves thinking about your preconceived notions about a subject before you even begin researching. This is why I liked Paul, Binker, Adamson and Martin's interpretation. Critical thinking involves recognizing different thought patterns that emerge from engaging in different activities. The MCC interpretation embodies the initial two interpretations because it stresses the idea of thought organization. Critical thinking has to have some sort of structure to it to truly be effective. It also asserts the notion that critical thinking is truly "critical".

Critical Thinking and Hypertext

1. MCC General Education Initiatives
2. Halpern, Diane F. Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. 1996.
3. Stahl and Stahl, 1991.

My experience in writing these two hypertext essays involved a lot of planning, outlining and mapping out. In a formal and flat piece of writing, I still utilize these strategies, but do so in a much less technical way. Hypertext requires many sections of the writing to have direct relation to each other as well as the main subject, whereas typical writing styles allow for a more separate and rigid form.

The first quote I found to ring true to how I formed my hypertext was the one by: MCC General Education Initiatives. This quote speaks to the process I used to gather information from research and form it into my own writing. This requires a sense of analyzing the material and taking my thought process to the next level to bring about more information by asking questions and forming opinions on the material.

Another quote I found applicable was by: Halpern, Diane F. Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. 1996. I like how this quote explains critical thinking as a sort of a mathematic series of thought. I think this way in daily life and found that I did even more so when writing hypertexts. The plans and methods I used to create my hypertext were done strategically from the beginning of my research to the completion of my pages.

The third quote that I found useful was by Stahl and Stahl, 1991.The connection between information, pages, and thoughts that is required for hypertext requires a bit more logic than standard writing does.

Critical Thinking

The three quotes concerning critical thinking that I believe are relevant to the composition of hypertexts are those of Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin, Stahl and Stahl, and the MCC General Education Initiatives.

1. Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin: The idea that one can think about thinking seems to be a mind-bending concept that can only lead to a headache. The way that it is presented in this quote though, relates directly to my process of hypertext writing. Hypertext composition requires a large amount of planning (and therefore thinking) about the direction of the hypertext. "...more clear, more accurate, or more defensible" is how the authors describe critical thinking. What struck me about this quote is the third point, "more defensible". I have realized that as I write my hypertext, I continuously look at it from a viewer's point of view, searching for faults or miscommunication. I feel the need to defend my hypertext with solid work and firm information that is rooted in the facts.

2. MCC General Education Initiatives: This definition is basically a comprehensive overview of the entire process of making a hypertext. It depicts opposing forces such as facts and feelings, the objective and the subjective. These differing points of view are some that I definitely encountered in the hypertext process, especially when it came to being factual yet able to relate to. "Suspending beliefs and remaining open to new information" is something that I think is quite necessary for the formation of a hypertext. ON several occasions, I have had to take a step back from what I would personally like to say about the subject, and instead provide an accurate depiction of a view that I would have otherwise passed by. By stepping out of my boundaries of knowledge and being open to other's ideas that might be a little more eccentric or outside the lines, I have learned valuable information about my topics as well as my creative process.

3. Stahl and Stahl: Here, the authors focus on the point of patterns. I think that in hypertext it is extremely important to look for patterns in the work, so that the most accurate and powerful connections can be made. When designing my hypertext, I have found it very helpful to map out the pages and content on a piece of paper, so that I can more readily identify the patterns of my thinking process.

Critical Thinking

Two of the quotes seem most applicable to me. The first, by MCC Education Initiatives, talks about critical thinking as the ability to respond to materials, and understand that response. It refers to asking questions, creating good answers and using the information available to do so. All of this, along with the references to addressing different problems, coming up with interpretations, and remaining open to new information, methods, values, &etc. This, as an explanation of critical thinking in preparation for a hypertext, seems to make sense in that it talks about finding information, thinking about it thoroughly, coming up with a variety of different answers based on varying perspectives, ideas, using the available information. It discusses critical thinking with the aspect of not necessarily coming up with just one answer and one way to get there, but a wide range of possibilities and several ways to get there. It reminds me of the way a website is constructed, with many pages that have connections to different subjects in more detail, along with cross-referencing and links between pages. Trajectories, which seems to be present within this quote on critical thinking, are an important part of websites, and are an important part to critical thinking- considering many possibilities.

The second quote which made a lot of sense to me was from Diane Halpern, which talks about critical thinking as directed thinking. Though critical thinking, especially when creating a hypertext, should include a variety of pages and ideas, directed thinking is important for keeping to the topic and maintaining a sort of focus. She also talks about thinking about critical thinking, to evaluate it. This is important because realizing the methods used to draw a conclusion allows for comparison with other ways of critical thinking, and this ultimately expands one's perspective.

A third useful quote comes from Daniel Kurland. He says that critical thinking includes following evidence where it leads. This is significant in using what is available to draw reasonable conclusions. If one tries to make a statement based upon nothing, how valuable can that critical thinking be? He also mentions being more concerned with finding the truth rather than being right. This is the greater goal of critical thinking; not to prove that your opinion is better or more right, but to find out what is truly right.

All of these quotes have in common the value of critical thinking, and how valuable strong critical thinking is. By being open, looking for the truth and using the resources available to consider many avenues in seeking this truth, one may most effectively and best use critical thinking.

Hypertext 2

The sex trade in international markets has increased exponentially over the last couple of decades. Young girls and sometimes even males are shipped into countries all over Europe and Asia, and are exploited for tourists and locals alike. My website will explore this problem from the view of the people who are being exploited and hopefully through maybe some people who have experienced it firsthand, either through being a sex slave or a witness to what is going on. My review of the research has led me to believe that this is an increasingly growing trend in the United Kingdom, and so I will look to do my most research in that area. Also, the fact that a growing number of young boys are in this trade as well is very interesting to me, as I’m sure that not many people focus on that aspect of this dilemma. My website will have videos from a few sources, but will mainly focus on being pretty somber and hopefully visually enticing. I’m going to try and incorporate a flash template into my website, making it more of a fluid design instead of a static background. I would rather go for a cleaner look, trying to use simplicity to convey my message. I’m going to try and go for more interviews if I can, and also try and get as many facts as possible, especially facts such as the fact that most of the girls trafficked are under 12 years of age and that there are something like 400,000 women every year just from a place such as Ukraine which traffic women into this trade. It is an international black market funding source for some governments, and I am going to do my best to incorporate my views as well as others into this hypertext.

For me, Shipler’s nonfiction novel The Working Poor has best demonstrated the low wage life. His great use of statistics from the Clinton and Bush eras are used well along with quotes from people that are flirting with the poverty line. He also does a great job of simplifying the differences between skilled and non-skilled wages as well as the difficulties of receiving welfare or government financial help. However, one of the examples he used that hit me the most was on page ten when Shipler gave a few quotes from a man named Frank Dickerson. Before he spent three years in prison, Frank was a janitor who supported his family with his janitorial wages and the large amount of money he made selling drugs. Dickerson’s justification was that the janitorial gig was barely livable, and in order to give his wife and kid’s decent clothing, food, and a nice area to live, he had to sell drugs. Dickerson’s called it living ‘comfortably’.
Surprisingly, this little part in Shipler’s introduction really helped me realize the topic for my second hypertext. Previously, I had been wavering on a couple main ideas, but Dickerson’s story brought narrowed it down to one thing: the low wage life of janitors and maintenance workers. For the past couple of years, I’ve really started to notice those people fixing or cleaning up around me wherever I go, and I can never get that feeling of guilt when I’m around them. I look at my nice clothes, my expensive university, and my lackluster way of life, and I feel bad for the workers at schools who work long hours and most of the time never hear a thank you.

Hyper text essay 2

In my second hypertext essay I plan to write about young adults working in retail stores. I plan to show my own personal experiences in the retail business as well as the experiences of others. I want to incorporate the views of both the customers and workers and why the majority of retail workers seem to be made up of young adults. I also want to explore what the benefits and also disadvantages of being a teenager is in the retail business
About two christmas’ ago I had worked at a retail store called TAJ Warehouse. At Taj we would sell clothes mostly for kids. Not only did we sell retail but we also sold arts and craft products such as stamps, stickers, pens, ect. For the most part working at TAJ was bareable only due to the fact that I had good co-workers and my aunties owned the shop. Though even with relation to the owners, after that Christmas I never wanted to work in retail again. Coming into the job I had thought it would be a breeze to sell shirts but little did I know how many odd tasks I would also be sent too do. Working in Retail could also be seen through Nickel and Dimed. The whole third section of selling in Minnesota is on the retail industry. On pages 156-157 you get a good look of how one in retail is suspossed to act and treat customers. If not for co-workers the working environment and also the job criteria does not seem intriguing at all. Though I have yet to do extensive research I am interested in exploring this subject

Hypertext 2: Landscaping

In my second hypertext essay, I am going to write about the low wage life of landscaping workers and also to incorporate why there are more people of one ethnic group that work in landscaping.

I myself have not been employed in the landscaping industry, however, I have had experience with landscaping at my own home and we have recently had our front walk/patio redone through a landscaping company. Throughout the week-long process of construction (although it seemed more like a remodeling), I watched this small landscaping crew take apart my front walkway, dig it out, rip up all the cement, add new materials for the base and to make it level, and to actually place all the stones for the new walkway. When I left for work on Monday morning at 7 in the morning, I saw the landscaping crew drop off one (1) guy to start tearing up the old walkway. When I returned that afternoon at 4, that one guy had completely removed every stone slab, all the cement underneath those stone slabs, and even dug out the wider path for the new walkway without any help from others and without any power tools.

But even more interesting, was that they probably get paid near to nothing, and most likely are paid under the table. The workers themselves spoke very little English, yet they were greatly skilled and knew exactly what needed to be done on the job. Shipler states that “for a paltry wage, albeit on far greater than at home, [immigrants] feed and clothe and comfort the Americans they wish to emulate. So it is in potato fields and sewing lofts, in cleaners and restaurants, and in the manicured gardens of suburban affluence” (77).

Immigrant workers in the landscaping industry seems to be directly related to everyone in the U.S., whether we have hired a landscaping crew or not, you see it everywhere – public gardens, parks, schools and universities, the list goes on. The basic business objective is to obtain equal or higher quality but by paying much less for it. Landscaping companies can offer this to their customers through the use of immigrant workers, and also by paying their employees very low wages.

Hypertext 2: Retail

For my second hypertext essay, I’m going to write about my experience working in the retail industry. I will focus on how retail workers are often overworked and usually underpaid. My personal experience was at Sur la Table, a store that sells high-end kitchen appliances, gadgets and miscellaneous kitchen accessories. I will discuss my time spent working at Sur la Table and how I was coerced into doing far more than I was hired to do. I will talk about my discussions with fellow employees and my relationship with my manager. I will talk about how I was treated by customers working in an upper-class neighborhood (like Los Gatos) and how it may differ from other locations. The people I worked with ranged in age from 18 to 55. One common denominator among most of them, however, was that they were forced to work more than one job. I will discuss the paradox of working at an expensive retail store that grants employee discounts to their workers, yet doesn’t pay enough to allow them to actually buy anything there.
When I was reading Shipler’s, The Working Poor, the vagueness of climbing up the pay ladder made me think about my personal experience.
“Debra had no confidence that she could move up in position and pay. Whenever she asked supervisors about the salary at their level, they’d answer vaguely, ‘It varies.’ She couldn’t get specific figures, so she had no sense of what her goal might be.” (Pg. 49)
One thing I found interesting while working at Sur La Table, is the variation in salary. The job paid per hour, but it was different for everyone that worked there. I got paid $1 more than a girl 2 years younger than me with more experience. Another male co-worker, the same age as me, with the same experience, was paid more.
The style of my hypertext essay will draw from Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed. It will be an autobiographical account of my working experience and my association with my co-workers. I have a lot of friends working in the retail industry that feel they are treated unfairly in some way.

Immigrants in the Hotel Industry

In my first hypertext essay I talked briefly about my own experience in the low wage workforce as well as artists and their low wage struggles. For my second hypertext essay I want to focus on immigrants working in the hotel industry. Having worked as a housekeeper on a guest ranch in Wyoming this past summer, I experienced the full effects what it is like to work long hours for little pay.
Housekeeping is a common employment opportunity many immigrants flock to, sometimes earning as little as $5.25 an hour. As hotels transform to a more luxurious “home away from home,” added amenities only provide maids with more to do in less time. During busy seasons, maids are typically expected to clean a set amount of rooms and are forced to work through breaks and lunch to finish on time. Not only are hotel maids considerably underpaid but they also endure harsh working conditions and treatment. Without a doubt, housekeepers hold one of the most dangerous jobs in a hotel. Hotel maids fall victim to on-the-job injuries as well as verbal, physical, and sexual abuse from managerial staff. Many hotel maids develop medical problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome and serious back injuries from the overly repetitive and meticulous nature of housekeeping. Still, the hotel industry relies heavily on immigrants to keep hotels operating throughout America. Immigrants often flock towards these “unskilled” employment opportunities because many Americans do not want them. Further, discrimination and the lack of understanding of diversity, thwart immigrant success in America. These disadvantages leave many immigrants vulnerable to tainted businesses and corporations that undercut worker rights. Employers rely on immigrant workers because they think they can get away with cheating them of their wages. Like most low wage workers in the US today, these New Immigrants, legal and illegal, find little glamour in their daily work and often struggle to make ends meet.

Hypertext #2 Topic: Low Wage Workers at Wal-Mart

For my second hypertext essay, I have chosen to write about working at Wal-Mart and how disadvantaged their employees are. One of the reasons I chose this topic is that one of my closest friends works at Wal-Mart for very low wages. I started researching a little and found out there have been studies showing that workers at Wal-Mart are prevented from forming unions. This idea came up when Eric Schlossen wrote in 'Fast Food Nation' about how McDonald's workers are also prevented from forming unions (75-78). Speaking of Schlossen, I admire how he wrote his book about the fast food industry from many different perspectives and included a lot of personal stories. I would like to find some great personal stories to include in my second hypertext essay from not only one perspective.
In David K. Shipler's 'The Working Poor,' we get the idea that once you are poor, it can be a never ending cycle. He writes about how people are "stuck at such low wages that their living standards are unchanged." (4) I would like to find out more about how this idea relates to workers at Wal-Mart. Perhaps I can find some great personal stories about Wal-Mart workers being "stuck." In Barbara Ehrenreich's 'Nickel and Dimed' she incorporates the stories of her new co-workers with her narrative about her different low wage jobs. While I enjoyed her narratives and learned a lot from them, I do not have enough time to go make a living off of the low wages from Wal-Mart. I can however take some of the ideas she presents and work them into my essay. I have not yet read her chapter on working at Wal-Mart, but I plan to use that as a starting point for my essay and go from there. If I find my topic to be too broad, I will try to narrow it down a little by looking at the type of articles I can find on the subject.

Child Sweatshop Labor

The topic I am going to write on for hypertext #2 is Child Labor in Sweatshops of Third World Countries. I know that this topic is a very salient issue and I know that it is very widespread and has the potential to be extremely vague. I didn’t want to put my topic in an extremely specific time or place, so I narrowed it down by examining the presence of child labor in third world countries. I want to look particularly in sweatshops. From the books that we have been reading for class by Enhrenreich, Schlossler, and Shipler, I have begun thinking in depth about the different aspects of a low wage life. I think that this topic fits perfectly into what I have learned about the low wage life. Schlossler’s book, “Fast Food Nation” highlights the idea that corporations employ teenagers purposely for many reasons (26). He discusses that these corporations like McDonald’s seek out teenagers for their tendency to obey, and their compliance with the low wage and ridiculous hours that are often in store for fast food workers. This idea translates directly to my topic, it is just an exaggerated version of Schlosser’s hypothesis. The idea that children are submissive and vulnerable, is the reason that they provide them with little or no wages, for ridiculous hours. It is even harder for the child sweatshop labor in third world countries because usually there is no strong, successful government to enforce any child labor laws, or to increase the general standard of living through a strong economy. Reading Shipler’s book, “The Working Poor”, I have begun to understand the vicious cycle that is poverty. As Shipler states, “it is very expensive to be poor”(11). It is even more impossible when you start at this level of poverty as a child, and they wear you out before it is even time to start struggling on your own. Barbara Ehrenreich social experiment that spurned her to write, “Nickel and Dimed”, showed me a lot about how point of view makes such a difference in the attempt to “report on a lived experience”. The way that she brings the character to life through her first person narrative really gave me some perspective on how I want to tell the story of these children.

HT2 proposal

I plan to write about Nike sweatshop workers. I chose Nike because it is the biggest name in athletic apparel, similar to McDonalds being the biggest name in the fast food industry. I also chose Nike because I’ve some things about the workers of sweatshops, so I want to do some research to see what I can find about what goes on. I’m thinking about the sweatshops run in China, but I haven’t done any research yet, so when I do, I’ll probably see where most of their factories are. I read some interesting things about sweatshops in America in The Working Poor. One thing that amazed me was that the workers are paid by the piece, and a very experienced, very skilled worker could make minimum wage if they worked at a feverish pace (78). Another thing was that one of the workers said that it cost $2 to pay the people who make one pair of pants (79). If this is how it is in American sweatshops, how cheap is it in foreign ones? Hopefully I will be able to find out when writing this hypertext essay.

hypertext #2

My hypertext essay #2 is going to be on the retail business, clothing to be exact. Barbara Ehrenreich writes about her experiences in working for a low wage in “Nickel and Domed.” I’m going to do the same in my hypertext. I’m going write my point of view as a worker there, the point of view customers have of the people who work there (I’m going to use the point of view/opinion I used to have of the people who worked at the store). Also, like Ehrenreich and given experiences of people from “Fast Food Nation”, I’m going to talk about the type of people who came into the store and how the workers and I would deal with them; from scary to annoying to not being able to understand what they were saying. In “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser, I could easily relate to Chapter 3: behind the counter. Working in retail does not require much, if any, skills. The only skills which are needed, and what hiring is based on, are people skills. Page seventy in Schlosser discusses jobs being “de-skilled” and page sixty-eight talks about teenagers being the main work force and relying on part-time. Teenagers and people in their early teens with willingness to work for low wage makes it less expensive to hire them, and the job being in retail does not require much experience makes it easy for those businesses to justify the “low-wage.” I’m going to talk about what the customer do see and what they don’t see. For example, do they know the people in the back have special boards to fold the shirts uniformly in size? That every hour a list of what has been sold in the previous hour is printed out and that we have people to look for those things in the back and bring it on the floor, and that perhaps there is an hierarchy in the store? Page eighty-four in “Fast Food Nation” talks about closing and robbery. I think I am also going to mention these topics in my hypertext. I couldn’t really relate to the meat-packing chapter besides “The Worst” section (pg. 176-178). It talks about all the bad things the cleaners have to go through at night. Retail is not that bad by far, but I’m considering mentioning what the least favorite parts of working at the store were.

ESSAY 2

The topic I will probably write about for my hypertext essay #2 is working at the movie theaters. I have never worked at the movie theaters but I do know some people who have worked there so I could set up an interview with them to get a better feeling of what it's like to work there. I really wished I could have picked a topic that relates to me directly, but the only low wage job I’ve work at is at my aunt's work place as a student worker. I found that that topic is a little too hard to research and develop. Through my own observations, I have noticed that teens practically run, own and operate movie theaters. I found this similar to how teens run and operate fast food restaurants (schlosser, 67-68).
I have also noticed that many of these laborers are unskilled and perhaps uneducated. I could talk about one scenario in my hometown where a girl with Down syndrome works. She’s been there for a long time now. This could be seen as a positive for the movie theater reputation because they are providing handicapped people some means of work. This is another topic "fast food nation" talks about (schlosser, 68, 70-71).
I am also going to talk about the benefits one gets for working at the movie theaters and if it’s worth it or not. This topic will eventually lead to wage and the question, where does all the movie theater money go? In “Nickel and Dimed” Ehrenreich says that the maid company gets $25 per person-hour while the workers only get $6.65 (72). This is similar to the movie theater scenario, because the movie theater charges almost $10 for tickets and a lot of money for food, but only pay there workers a small amount of that. I’m going to research statistics such as percent of teens working at movie theaters versus adults, I’m going to look up the different positions and the pay they earn and I’m going to try to get other’s experience on the matter. I know that the wage these workers earn are definitely not fair considering the amount of work they have to do, cleaning the theaters after each showing, and serving costumers, which can get very hectic. Another idea that is in “fast food nation” is that workers are sent home when the work flow is low to keep from paying workers more than they need (74). This is the same for movie theater workers. Hopefully I can get enough information to make a good hypertext essay.