I have taken many online classes now at OTC and I am always amazed at how much you can learn from people by reading their short posts. The reason I asked the question what happens to you when you die is because generally speaking people will react to a question like this from the gut. There is no go way to skate around a question like that so what they believe just spills out. I was not real surprised by the answers because in all of my different classes to date I have noticed that OTC is full of closet believers in heaven. When your audience is somewhat spiritual you kind of need to adjust the way you write. I tend to have a very crude sense of humor and look at life from an odd perspective. I can tell my audience is not the type that sits around the campfire talking about what happens if you eat to many beans for dinner. I need to compensate for this. One thing that did strike me a little odd was that this particular class seems to be very grounded and mature. I can truly say that I don’t think there was one silly question or answer in the whole discussion. This will enable me to really get down to heartfelt writing. This is good because it will challenge me as a writer.
The one question that kind of startled me was by Falguni Patel. I have never thought about erasing something in my life. This question really touched some nerve endings and had some odd answers. I got the feeling that some of my classmates live with some personal pain. Writing answers to the different questions was enjoyable. I really tried hard not to sit and think about the perfect answer (one that fits the norm) but just answer what came to my mind. I think this will give my classmates a better idea who I am. I don’t want them to read the label. I want them to see what’s inside the can.
Remember that even though we all read the questions and responses in order to analyse and evaluate our audience, we were asked to tell why we came to the conclusions we came to. Why do you say that OTC has closet believers and what is that? Why do you say the class is grounded and mature? Don't forget the why. All said and done there is some good thinking going on here. ~Ms. A.
ReplyDeleteCloset believers are students who believe in God, Heaven and Hell but are afraid to voice their opinion. I call them closet believers. When I read twenty some odd posts and 95% of the writing has some deep meaning and is not silly I consider my audience mature.
DeleteSam,
ReplyDeleteThank You. I like to think of myself as mature but I would definitely sit around and talk about what happens when beans are consumed!