Author: dennisart

My name is Patricia Dennis and I am a native of Newark, NJ. I am an aspiring artist, student, traveler, and educator. I use this blog to share my many experiences, thoughts, works of art, and education!

All my life, my mind and voice has been my sense of power. Being able to express myself through many different forms has gotten me to where I am today. I continue to strive for my own potential of greatness and wish to share my journey with the world, in hopes that I can inspire generations to come.

As for my educational and professional background, I received my B.A. in English with a minor in Studio Art from the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ. After graduating, I began to serve under AmeriCorps as a Reading Coach for 2nd Grade students where I am currently serving my second term. I am also currently pursuing my M.A. in English Writing Studies at Kean University in Union, NJ. As a graduate student at Kean, I work as a Graduate Assistant for The Kean University Writing Project directed by Dr. Maria Zamora.

Another fun fact! I am also a chess instructor for young beginning chess player!

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the journey just as much as I am!

If can not be the best, I will do my best

If I do my best, I will try my best

If I can not try my best, then the best is yet to come

Either way, the best is what I strive for!

Miscellaneous

Screen Writer Pat!

So far in my draft in my screen play, I have been able to produce one of my settings, my 3 main characters, and the expositon of the plot map. I actually didi a bit of research to map out my story. I loked up a physical story map to follow behind to keep my […]

Blog 11: Story Treatment

Spinning Smilies 20.20: How we landed here!

Post author By dennisart
Post date April 29, 2020
No Comments on Spinning Smilies 20.20: How we landed here!

As we come to the very near end of the semesetr, #NetNarr management has promoted me to producing my own episode in the Net Mirror series! All jokes aside, in the final classes within this amazing #NetNarr adventure, we have finally gotten to the point in where we will producing our own episode in the […]

Blog 10: Data Detox Miscellaneous

Data Detox: SHIFT YOUR SETTINGS to secure your data

Post author By dennisart
Post date April 22, 2020
No Comments on Data Detox: SHIFT YOUR SETTINGS to secure your data

As we wind down to the very close end of the semester, we are at the point where we, as the #Netnarr class, would be presenting at Kean University: Research Days. Due to the unfortunate current circumstances of COVID-19, the school unfortunately could not host the events in person. Even with that being the case, […]

Miscellaneous

Better Late Than Never!

As we come to the home stretch of the semester and double down on our final projects for #NetNarr, we were assigned with looking at possible ideas through viewing a number of video in the #NetNarr library. As there were many great choices, I decided to go with A Model Employee. What drew me to […]

Blog 9: Blaxites

Blaxites; Too close to Home

Post author By dennisart
Post date April 9, 2020
1 Comment on Blaxites; Too close to Home

Interesting … scary .. very true. This was my thoughts by the end of the short film Blaxties. There are so many issues and interesting points to take into consideration, that I as a student can personally relate to! But before I get started, I would first like to say that the beautifully directed and […]

Miscellaneous

TED Radio Hour: IRL Online

Post author By dennisart
Post date April 2, 2020
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The TED Podcast was a great follow up from my presentation on Surveillance Capitalism! The entire podcast felt almost like a rerun of my present, except know I was fully aware of terms being used. But what particular stuck out to me the most in the Podcast, that I really did not touch too much […]

Miscellaneous

Surveillance Capitalism

Greetings! Below is my reaction and prezi to follow along with my presentation! Also below are extra outside sources that helped me kind of understand all of this: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e5RKGGBz5tArksVVR_g0Q24ucbHx-UvRsKrOVRPFwrQ/edit?usp=sharing https://prezi.com/view/0VDA6Vh1v8UK7qsD1AQS/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/16zwdpenMInsc56HsOCGhRW0XAbo3I0xsEBD_2RHW8aU/edit?usp=sharing https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-surveillance-capitalism-and-how-does-it-shape-our-economy-119158

Blog 5: Algorithms Miscellaneous

Brain Ranting on the Algorithms

Post author By dennisart
Post date March 5, 2020
1 Comment on Brain Ranting on the Algorithms

To be quite honest, this post turn from taking notes, writing numerous passages that made no sense, to a final outright rant that has me questioning my usages of the internet and how me as an African American consumer will face the idealism of what the internet will have in store for me (and other […]

Blog 4: Filter Bubbles

Filter Bubbles: Tune in or out, its your choice

Post author By dennisart
Post date February 27, 2020
1 Comment on Filter Bubbles: Tune in or out, its your choice

History is always bound to repeat itself … History is always bound to repeat itself… History is always bound to repeat itself … History is always bound to repeat itself… History is always bound to repeat itself … History is always bound to repeat itself… When reading this article, this statement of History is always […]

Blog 3: Self Representation in the Digital Age Miscellaneous

101 of Social Media: Self-Representation

Post author By dennisart
Post date February 20, 2020
No Comments on 101 of Social Media: Self-Representation

“For Millennia,humans have used media to represent ourselves. Children draw stick figures with a stick in the sand. Stone Age Australians blew ocher dust around their hands to leave marks in a cave. Vikings carved runes on sticks to tell the world their names (pg 2).” From the start of this article, the idea that […]

Tags #filtermeout, #selfie, #selifeculture, #socialmedia

Announcements

The Net Mirror homestretch May 9, 2020 11:34 am

In the Net Mirror, we are now on the homestretch. As we look to this last week, and the completion of your work for this special class, it comes with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the semester has been a true roller coaster as we have faced many challenges both individually and together as a small community. And so it will feel like a relief to make it to the proverbial finish line. Regardless, in many meaningful ways, our group (and our weekly discussions) has meant so much to me. Our standing appointment to gather together on-screen has been a weekly high note during this lockdown. I will sincerely miss you all, and our tangible connection. Our work will continue of course (in either the summer or certainly in the Fall), but still, it makes me whistful thinking about how I will miss our #NetNarr hangouts and our Net Mirror conversations. Wrapping up Your final projects are all in “full swing” and our last hangout-workshop discussion covered much ground, from how to publish in the Arganee Journal, to making memes and refining your story concepts. Your blog post for this final week should be a quick progress report about your final project work, and your plan for presenting your concept on Thursday during our class hangout. Some dates to remember: On Thursday, May 14 we will have our final class wherein you will be invited to present your story concept work. Your formal deadline for publishing your story concept into the Arganee Journal is Friday, May 15th. You are welcome to publish it earlier (i.e. before Thursday hangout) if you would like, but the final deadline is on Friday. The final step in Net Mirror is the self-assessment narrative, which should be written in a google doc (we agreed that it will not be a blog), and sent to both Prof. Levine and me via email. The self-assessment is due by midnight on Sunday, May 17th. See you all for our grand finale on Thursday! xo, Dr. Zamora

Silly Media in Narrative Space May 7, 2020 2:18 am

I don’t have to explain often what a meme image or animated GIF is; we see them flying in social media, we reach for ones to express a reaction or an emotion. But for some time I’ve suggested there is a space to subvert the usual, throw-away and just-repeat-what-exists aspect this media for serious or perhaps narrative purpose. https://cog.dog/show/2019/03/20/silly-media/ See a conference talk I made out of this topic! For your final Net Mirror Story Concepts we are asking you to use this typical form of media differently, to weave it into your narrative. In the last session, we reviewed that extracting of small portions of film as an animated GIF– for your project, the task is to use this as a means of suggesting/showing how your imagined surveillance technology might work. The same approach for using giphy to isolate a scene from a Screening Surveillance film can be used to make a GIF from any video. In my ongoing demos, I am dealing with the Anonymous creatures in Google Docs that are taking over my writing. They animals are in control. This was my Story Treatment for last week’s Net Mirror Writers’ Room: I am so lost in my narrative I imagine that there really is a typing wombat! This is maybe not super technical, but it is my story. In my narrative, this would be woven into the flow of my writing. In the next segment, maybe I am trying to gain control back of my resume. https://giphy.com/gifs/wombat-netmirror-RNcctSIddbb0dkKCOr We are also asking you to make meme images a part of the narrative too. There are hundreds or more tools to do this, it’s mainly putting text atop an image, and you are welcome too to create them in any image editing software. When we teach Memes in NetNarr, we typically use the imgflip memegenerator. Like most meme making tools, they offer you a lot of popular based images to use, but you can also upload any image to build a meme image. For details on this process, see some of our previous activities; again, the steps are the same even though these were for different types of assignments: Most Fascinating Subject in the World MemeNosedive MemeA Meme to Counteract the Internet Darkness For your story concept, we are asking you to go beyond the simple, typical meme, and create a series of four or more that might represent a conversation or inner dialogue in your story. You can use any graphics software/site/app to make these, you will just need to create them as image files you can eventually add to he publishing site. For a really simple tool to add text to images, meme style and more, try PicFont https://picfont.com/ That was how I made this conversation: This is not the most scintillating dialogue, but it’s just a demo. Play with the form. The very last thing we’d like you to include is a true meme image, one that uses a commonly used image and message type (maybe it will be Oprah Everybody Gets a Car or Batman Slapping Robin), but bend it to be the cliff hanger for your plot or a closing commentary. Tp dp this, use imgflip memegenerator (or another) to find the meme’s “name” and research it on the Know Your Meme Database. This will help understand the meme’s origin and way it is used. This was the approach for the Memes That Meme Themself assignment. So I might try the Distracted Boyfriend because it’s so versatile. Hopefully by experimenting with this media forms, and creating your own content, you can expand the media limits of just writing to be writing with Silly Media. Image Credit Meme image generated from Grandma Finds the Internet.

Building your story concept May 2, 2020 8:03 am

In the “Net Mirror”, we close our time together with the composition of speculative fiction(s) in order to help synthesize our complex feelings (anxieties ?) regarding our relationship with technology. Each story will grapple with the reality of our data-driven society and the omnipresence of data surveillance. In the process of building unique story concepts, we hope to confront the possible consequences of new technologies that are inherently shaping our lives. In our last class meeting, I shared the plan for your Final Project for the Net Mirror: the development of both a “story treatment” and a “story concept” for our Net Mirror Story Collection. You have already developed a story treatment this past week, which is designed from a template that includes an image, a title, a plot synopsis, and credit. In the coming two weeks you will develop further details in a “story concept” that will include the following elements: Setting A description of setting and accompanying imagery: Where is your story taking place? What mood does it capture? What’s the ambiance- natural light, dark alley, fluorescent offices? What are the furnishings, the objects that make it seem real? Think of the apartment, the coffee shop, the riverside scenes from Frames and the Jai’s home, the doctor’s office, the street scenes from Blaxites. The setting is both the time and geographic location within a narrative, and it helps initiate the main backdrop and mood for a story. Elements of your setting may include culture, historical period, geography, and hour. When selecting multimodal artifacts or imagery to share a sense of your setting, look for specific visual/textual references that capture the aesthetic style of your story environment. Characterization List the main characters in your story. Name them, describe their physical traits and age, describe their personalities, give them a back story. What are their strengths and flaws? What makes them memorable? What motivates them? What is their relationship to the main character? Consider in Frames the neighbors in the elevator, the people on the bus, the strangers in the park. Or from Blaxites, what are the characters of the doctor, Jai’s friend, the staff in the special center? Plot Map What happens in your story? A plot map or storyboard allows writers to visualize the key features and key moments in a narrative. Give an overview/outline of the events that unfold in your story. Highlight key decision moments in your story concept. Look for moments in other video stories that match key moments in your story development, that you might be able to use as reference points. Sketch out and describe the important (turning-point) moments of your story. Media Your story concept will be written in a blog/journal style, but you will also be required to include at least the following media: Your story treatment (from the “Net Mirror” template)An overall metaphorical image to serve as a cover image for your conceptA screenshot / exported image of your NetMirror Writers’ Room plot summaryFive+ images of settings/scenesAt least two tweets (they can be your own) that may be used as plot points in your story (these can be embedded into your published concept).At least one original created animated gif representing the surveillance technology in your story.At least four original (self-created) meme images playing out a dialogue scene in your story, plus one to leave as a teaser for what happens next. Your to-do list: This week, make some progress on your story concept by working on the setting, the characterization, and your plot map. Also, tinker with gif making and build up your selection of media to be inserted into your story concept (you can keep all of this development material in a google doc which serves as a draft space). Next week in class we will workshop your story concepts further by discussing how they are developing and offering feedback. Prof. Levine will also conduct a meme making workshop (similar to this week’s gif workshop), and we will go over the details of how to publish your piece in the Arganee Journal. Your blog this week should be a brief reflection or progress report on how that development process is going. Some dates to keep in mind: On May 14 (our final class “hangout”) you will share your story concepts with each other in presentation-mode. The submission of your final Net Mirror story will be published in the Arganee Journal, and this submission is formally due on Friday, May 15. Reminder: Your final self-assessment blog is the last submission for Net Mirror class and should be posted no later than Sunday, May 17. Take care, and have a safe (and creative) week. Sincerely, Dr. Zamora

Looking closely into the Net Mirror April 24, 2020 4:34 pm

This week we had a great (virtual) class and I can feel the intellectual and creative energy that you all are contributing. I can’t believe we are nearing the end of the semester, and despite the fact that this has been an extraordinarily difficult time, I am starting to realize how much I will miss our weekly connections once the semester comes to a close. But we still have about 3 weeks in which to savor our learning together, and of course, the learning doesn’t end just because the Spring semester is winding down. Kean University Research Days 2020 As you all know, we were originally slated to design and host an interactive outreach installation at the Kean University Research Days forum on campus. This campus-wide event was obviously canceled due to our quarantine, but at least we were able to summarize our advocacy work with a brief Net Mirror data literacy advocacy video shared here: https://youtu.be/eE5XPqJQpqU Your Final Project These final three weeks of class will be devoted to developing a “story treatment” and a “story concept” for the final Net Mirror story collection. We have discussed that the reason why “Screening Surveillance” and “Black Mirror” are so compelling. They often build upon our existing anxieties about technology and push them just a step farther. In Net Mirror, we take a final turn now to speculative fiction(s) to help synthesize our concerns/wisdom/fears regarding our relationship with technology. We will think through the possible consequences of new technology by creating a collection of stories that push are imagination one step further. This week we shared with you the first step in this work, by prompting you to create a story treatment. We want you all to brainstorm a near future data surveillance technology based on a present-day experience of your own choice. It should be close enough that it seems like a plausible future. What are the potential social implications and/or ethical issues and/or regulatory challenges with this technology? What are the potential social implications and/or ethical issues and/or regulatory challenges with this technology? Your to-do list: When you browse and surf in current streaming services like Netflix, you can check out content by reading a brief “cover page” synopsis of the viewing selection. We invite you now to create a story treatment for our forthcoming Net Mirror Story Collection. In creating your story treatment this week, we have a template for you to work with. Use a blank slide in this presentation (or duplicate an existing one) to create the information for your own Net Mirror episode. Include an image, a title, a plot synopsis, and credit. Your blog for this week should include your story treatment (screenshot, embed, or link) and also share a reflection on your initial thoughts regarding the direction(s) your story might go. Next week we will explore our story concepts together in an open writer’s workshop, and also explore a bit of media making by creating some gif files together. As always, stay safe, and take care, Dr. Zamora