The Concept of the "Blogosphere"

Virginia Woolf unfolds her argument that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" (4) throughout her book A Room of One's Own. During the time when she wrote this book, writing for women was looked down upon and often discouraged, as were many other freedoms we now take for granted. In order to become a successful writer, Woolf argues that a woman needed money and a private room in order to write fiction. Paula Maggio, in her blog post "Blogs as Literary Devices," refutes Woolf's argument based off of present day experience and opportunities. The recent popularization of "blogging" allows women, men, and children of every race, religion, and ethnicity to write from their heart. Due to the fact that blogging is free, informal, and uninhibited everyone has an opportunity to express themselves freely with just a simple click of a button. Soon, unexpressed thoughts and ideas are published for anyone to read. Maggio talked about how this allows for empowerment of an individual and I agree with this idea completely. There is a "blogosphere" for anything and everyone, which creates a safe place to write about anything. Our society has progressed so much within the last century, it would have been inconceivable for Woolf to imagine a world where freedom of thought and words was so simple. The room that Woolf talked about is now behind millions and millions of computer screens where people are able to escape for a moment from their busy lives and express themselves with hopes to be heard. Who knows, maybe someday their blog post will be the most widely read blog. Until then, at least their thoughts and feelings are out there. Virginia Woolf would be proud.

Lives and Times

Living in South Bend, Indiana forces me to embrace the COLD. Along with the excellent education that I am receiving, I have also learned to overcome the blistering, cold winter days (which seem to be quite abundant this winter). As I walk out of my warm classroom building and enter the negative twenty degree weather and another blizzard, my creative juices somehow began emerging. One assignment I have is to create a metaphor that captured my writing process. What more appropriate metaphor than a blizzard, one in which I cannot see a foot in front of me. Each step in the fresh snow becomes one step closer to the final destination, either my dorm room or a completed paper, though the beginning is often blurred. Usually when I write, I become easily overwhelmed and bombarded with ideas which could create a dynamic paper but the end product is never clear. I often write and rewrite my opening paragraph several time before I have something that works, sometimes I even begin my paper with an unfinished, unclear opening. In a blizzard, the snow obstructs my vision making it difficult to see where I am going or even where I have been. As I continue to trudge through the weather, my steps become clearer and clearer. Similarly, with each page that I write the paper begins to unfold in a more clear cut manor. Perseverance during this stage of the writing process and during a blizzard is crucial in order to move forward, to complete the task. When the blizzard dies down, all that is left is a beautiful, snow covered scene- everything becomes clear. I never seem to have a problem writing my concluding paragraphs because once the body is complete everything comes together forming (hopefully) a masterpiece. This masterpiece may not be as beautiful as the freshly snow-kissed trees or the unbeaten sidewalks, but the paper is complete. And that, to me, is a masterpiece.