Pagnucci uses personal narratives to shape his stories. His stories are rich in detail and narratives. In the beginning narrative the setting is grounded and we can sense the author as a little boy at a fair buying a comic book. Later in the narrative we learn how the comic books led to a successful life in the literary world. Pagnucci's narratives are personal so the reader can picture his stories, and he explains that it is important to pause and remember your childhood stories because they can make the best stories. Pagnucci's narrative approach helps readers feel a connection to the stories. 
     Ondaatje uses a more old fashioned approach in his writing. The story is loaded with poetry and imagery. The imagery is included so the reader can get a sense of the story he is trying to portray.  Poetry and white space are added to shape the story. I personally prefer Pagnucci's style of writing, but I can see how many readers would be captivated by Ondaatje's style of writing. 


 

     I love multiple modes of communication. I love texting and I love social networking. It's a great tool to reach out and connect with new and old friends. I love logging onto Facebook and reading all my "friends" status updates. I must check Facebook several times a day to see what my friends are up too. I like knowing that I have friends that look forward to my status updates as well. I am new to the Twitter world, but I love that I can follow celebrities and various news outlets. I love these sites so much that at times I feel like a stalker. Texting is wonderful because I can send a quick message to a family member or friend to find out what they are doing. 
     After reading Stites article, "Rock My Network", I was left feeling a little uneasy about my use of this type of communication. I felt like the author was so consumed by internet communication that in real life she was left socially awkward. I don't want to be that person. Real life interaction is so much more important to me then communicating via text message or Facebook. After reading the article, I took a step back and really reflected on how this form of communication was impacting my worldview and my writing.
     I am ashamed to admit it, but this form of communication has impacted my life in a huge way. I really never call anyone on the telephone anymore. Why would I need to? It's so much easier to send a quick text message if I need something. This isn't only affecting my worldview but my writing as well. For example, the other day I texting my friend and we ended up in an argument. The argument started because one of the texts was taken out of context. This is the biggest problem with this form of communication, it is very difficult to read a persons tone when they text something. Words can be read but it is very difficult to know the context they were meant to be read. I think this is what Jewitt was referring to in his article when he said "The linguistic meaning of what is written is often illegible and transformed."  If I just spoke to my friend on the phone an argument never would have occurred. 
     From now on I am going to make an effort to communicate in person along with internet communications. Real life communication will keep me from becoming socially awkward and can only help my future writing. I know that internet communication will keep my updated on everyones personal lives and world events and will also help me in my writing. Who knows, maybe I can find a way to write through text and social media postings so that they may never be taken out of context. 




     

  Technology is a wonderful thing, something I personally could not live with out, but I do believe that it is a major distraction. In Prensky's second article about digital native and immigrants he explains how the digital immigrants are struggling to teach digital natives because they don't really understand their language. Prensky explains that while technology is creating a rewarding learning experience for digital natives it is also causing problems, such as students today do not have an opportunity to reflect or think critically.  
  In my own experience, technology has been a distraction. I'm always engrossed in some sort of technology. I'm either watching my shows commercial free on the DVR, or looking up the newest trends online, or stalking family and friends on a social networking site. My children are even more engrossed in technology then myself. They play video games, can navigate my iphone, and complete homework assignments all online. When I tell the kids its time to go outside and play they whine and groan that they don't want too. I think this is a major problem. I have to set limitations in my house so everyone isn't sitting around online all day. The kids are aloud one hour of video game time a day, and one hour a day of computer/ipad time. 
   Critical thinking and reflection are so important and I can understand how it is getting lost in our technology savvy society. I think digital immigrants should continue to teach in a somewhat traditional fashion but include some technology so the students do not become bored. Students need to see that there are other fun ways to learn that do not involve sitting in front of a computer. 

  After reading Prensky's article about digital natives and immigrants I have come to the conclusion that I am not a digital native. Prensky defines a digital native as students that have grown up in a world of advanced technology. Prensky states that digital natives "have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age." This is not the case for myself.
   I remember typing my first school paper on a type writer. I didn't have my first computer until I was in the eighth grade. When we got our computer the internet was brand new and had to connect to a phone line. The very first time I used the internet I kept getting kicked off anytime someone would call the house. It was extremely frustrating. My generation didn't use the internet for research papers. We had to actually go to a library for hours when we had a research project. 
   My generation wasn't technologically challenged though. We had cell phones, just very large ones that were used for emergency only. If you were really cool you had a car phone. We also carried around beepers that we would leave secret messages to our friends on, an old school form of texting. I may be a digital immigrant but I feel like I can easily keep up with most of today's digital natives. I love technology and am eager to learn new techniques.