I started my WordPress website in April 2019, and for my Digital Writing course, I opened another WordPress website focused on the topic of knowledge worries people. However, a few days ago, when I was revising my posts and websites, I realized that it was unnecessary to have two separate blog websites. Instead, I could merge the website for my course into my existing blog as a new page.

Under the “Menu” in the “Appearance” section, I organized my pages into Home, Literature, Daily Life, TV/Movie/Music, Knowledge Causes Worries, and Contact. I also categorized my posts accordingly. With this structure in place, I began editing and revising my posts.

Firstly, I revised “Eight Chinese Classics You Must Read” by replacing it with the version I had edited for a blog writing position. Additionally, I made several grammar corrections to my “Play Review—Twelfth Night.”

I have now revised all of my posts under “Knowledge Causes Worries.” For example, I added references to “Understanding the Internet,” corrected grammar and usage mistakes in “My Digital Literacy Narrative—Television and I,” changed the title from “Television and I” to “Television and Me,” and capitalized “Narrative” in the title.

One of the main areas I focused on was revising my podcast titled “The Chained Mother of Eight in China—How Knowledge Worries People.” Unlike a research paper or printed article, the goal of a podcast is to deliver the content clearly and directly to the audience through listening. As a result, the podcast script should resemble a speech or dialogue. Keeping this in mind, I rewrote certain sections of my podcast.

In the original post, I used several long sentences with multiple clauses to describe the suffering of the poor women. For example, “Because this chained woman once was a beautiful 12-year-old girl and was kidnapped and sold to many men, who raped and tortured her, hammering off all her teeth and cutting off her tongue tip, now she becomes psychotic and is locked by a farmer and forced to give birth to at least eight children.” I have now rewritten it as, “Because this chained woman was once a pretty girl and an elementary school student. At the age of 12, she was kidnapped and sold to many men who raped and tortured her. They hammered off all her teeth, cut off her tongue tip, and damaged her vocal cords to prevent her from resisting. When a journalist found her, she had been locked up by a poor, uneducated farmer and forced to give birth to at least eight children.” Additionally, I added an opening line, “Hello, everyone; welcome to Ying’s channel,” to create a friendly and relaxed atmosphere for the audience.

Apart from revising the podcast script, I also improved the recording based on what I learned from my classmates’ podcasts. I divided the background music into four parts, inserted it before each paragraph, faded it out at the end of each segment to introduce my narrative, and removed any long pauses.

Running a website is not easy; it requires frequent log-ins and updates. My plan is to revise all of my posts, add a design, and make my blog my online home where I can share my confusion, thoughts, and feelings. I hope to eventually use it as a platform to promote my novels and connect with like-minded individuals.

After reading the assignment requirements, I came up with three topics for my Wikipedia article: a book called “An Unfinished Life” written by Yu Juan, Ming Chu-cheng, my favorite political scientist, and TCK Publishing, the publisher I love the most. Although the author of the book has a link on Wikipedia, there is no English version or English introduction for the book, making it potentially difficult for English readers to understand. In the case of Ming Chu-cheng, there is a Wikidata page that provides information about him. Furthermore, the Wikipedia article requirements suggest that writing about a person is the most challenging. Therefore, I decided to choose TCK Publishing as the subject for my first Wikipedia article.

Since 2018, I have been applying for writer or editor positions at TCK Publishing. The nonfiction editing test involves editing the founder’s speech about the company, its mission, services, and advantages. To meet the requirements of Wikipedia, I searched for reliable sources that discuss the company and its founder and CEO, Tom Corson-Knowles. I selected a few independent and trustworthy sources to use as references.

After gathering the necessary information, I created an outline for the article, including sections on the company’s background, values, business scale, and the authors they have published. I completed my paper in Microsoft Word using the Chicago style with endnotes. During this process, checking each author to see if they have a Wikipedia page took a significant amount of time, as there are 46 authors, some of whom share names with existing Wikipedia articles.

Although I read the requirements for creating a Wikipedia article, I still needed to study new knowledge. Therefore, I revisited the criteria, Article Wizard, and tutorials. I signed up to become a Wikipedian and created my page. I copied and pasted the content from my Word document onto my Wikipedia page. However, the linked items did not appear on my page, so I had to manually link the Wikipedia pages to the related authors, requiring careful attention to avoid mistakes.

The challenge I encountered was linking the endnotes to the cited sources. Adding references to the endnote numbers was simple, but I spent a long time figuring out how to properly fill in the author’s name, article title, URL, and retrieval time using the cited sources template. During the editing process, I frequently previewed the article to check for any necessary corrections. Once I was satisfied that everything was well-done, I submitted my article.

Through the creation of my first Wikipedia article, I learned the importance of writing with an objective attitude and maintaining a neutral point of view. I sent my article to TCK Publishing and received feedback suggesting that I provide more information about the company’s history. I will search for additional supporting sources to address this feedback. When comparing my article to those of other publishers on Wikipedia, I realize that I still need to learn how to add an infobox, divide my article into sections, and make the lead section more concise.

My favorite writer, Sanmao, from Taiwan, once shared a story about a boy in the Western Sahara Desert, where most people are illiterate. The boy had a strong desire to learn how to read, and Sanmao taught him basic knowledge. However, in the end, he didn’t acquire much knowledge, and Sanmao remarked that it was fortunate because knowing too much would bring unhappiness and even pain. As a teenager, I didn’t fully grasp the meaning behind Sanmao’s words.

Twenty years later, while attending college in the United States, I gained a wealth of knowledge that I hadn’t acquired during my education in China. However, the more I learned, the more concerned and pessimistic I became about the state of the world and humanity. Particularly when I discovered environmental damage, climate change, population growth, wars, and historical falsehoods, I felt disheartened. I wondered why knowledge often leads people to worry and pessimism, and how one can overcome this negative realization.

In this topic, I aim to explore the nature of knowledge, how individuals acquire knowledge, and ways to overcome worries and pessimism associated with it. I will compare my educational experiences in China and the United States, the subjects I studied, and the perspectives I gained as a young person and later in life. During my youth, I focused solely on memorizing information to achieve high scores, enabling me to gain admission to a better school or secure promotions. Knowledge served as a means to improve my life. However, now I contemplate the significance of what I have learned and seek to connect that knowledge to my community, country, and the world as a whole. I have decided to find answers through research that will provide comfort and broaden my understanding of knowledge and the development of the world and humanity.

By sharing my insights, I hope to offer assistance to anyone who shares the same sense of confusion. My goal is to provide guidance and help individuals find solace in their quest for understanding.

I had no idea how to create a podcast, and I wasn’t even familiar with what a podcast was. To educate myself, I searched online to learn its definition and listened to podcasts using the Apple App and a post by my classmate, Heather Herbaugh-Abourezk. Through this exploration, I discovered that a podcast is an audio recording accompanied by background music.

The most crucial step in podcast production is establishing a theme, and fortunately, I had something on my mind that I wanted to express. Since January 27, when news about the “chained mother of eight” began circulating online, I became deeply invested in the story. I spent considerable time reading news articles, watching related videos, and engaging in discussions by leaving comments on posts. The four contradictory investigation reports issued by the local government further piqued my interest. The government sought to suppress this news and prohibited public discourse about it. In my social media platform, Xiaohongshu, I attempted to comment and write articles about the incident, but the media censored my remarks and eventually banned me from posting anything. These censorship measures and government control prompted me to contemplate China’s political system. Concurrently, the story of the unfortunate woman, who had once been a beautiful 12-year-old girl and had suffered rape, torture, and confinement, with her teeth knocked out and her tongue tip severed, filled me with anger, as it did many other Chinese individuals, especially those with daughters. This anger inspired me to reflect on the knowledge I had acquired in China, leading me to decide to discuss it in my first podcast.

With my podcast topic established, I needed to learn how to create it. I turned to YouTube videos for guidance and discovered that the first step was to download podcast creator software. I initially downloaded an app called Audio Editor, which was a music recording editor. I then obtained background music from a Chinese website, selecting a somber-sounding piece to match the tragic nature of my topic. However, I encountered difficulty in pasting the background music into the Audio Editor. I revisited some YouTube videos and downloaded another software called Audacity, which allowed me to successfully add the music and record my narration over it. Initially, the volume of my narration was too low, so I re-recorded it while adjusting the volume accordingly. Additionally, I realized that the background music was too long. Following a tutorial on YouTube, I learned how to trim it to the desired length.

After completing the editing process, I listened to the final product to ensure everything sounded good. I then saved it, which automatically converted the file into an MP3 format. Finally, I submitted the podcast to the assignment page and shared it on the discussion board.

The internet is a world with the same structure and functions as the real world. Invented and formed by the people who live in the real world, the internet is a fictional world where people benefit more or less from it, no matter which country or field they come from. Though there may be some differences in the fictional world, the core quality is the same. It is like the world of heaven or hell, which has people, land, water, fire, and plants, and all these elements are created according to the real world. People communicate, build communities, share information, establish policies, look for friends, make money, and solve actual problems in the internet world. The internet connects the whole world and offers conveniences for people in all fields. Without the internet, this online course cannot benefit many students; we cannot access information and news from other countries without the internet. The internet is a world that is built upon and serves our real world.

The working process of the internet is complicated and detailed, with terminologies similar to the working process of the human brain. It can be divided into the server-side and the browser side. The whole process includes four steps:

1. Users type a word or several words into the search bar of the browser, which enters a URL.
2. The DNS server receives the request and starts to process the input words, assigning orders to different servers to retrieve all the related data from other computers (forming the World Wide Web).
3. The server responds by sending data via the “HyperText Transfer Protocol” (HTTP), and the data are displayed as “entries” or “websites.” Sometimes the content is not a website but a PDF; in that case, the browser parses the data as HTML (HyperText Markup Language) code, and the entry shows up as a PDF-style text (Schwarzmuller, 2019).
4. Before the websites show up on the page, there are three languages used on the browser side to add color, style, and dynamic content. HTML determines the structure, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) handles the styling, and JavaScript adds dynamic content.

For internet users, search is an essential skill. People use the internet to search for all kinds of information, text, or pictures and choose the best ones to meet their requirements. I worked as a data entry professional and gained a lot of practice in searching online. My job involved finding information related to people, movies, TV programs, music, government, biology, and sports, in both English and Chinese. I had to find the best translation names and descriptions, which required filtering through numerous websites. Apart from official websites, we needed to identify the most appropriate and primary sources. One assignment involved identifying the users’ intentions based on the words or sentences they entered in the search bar. This assignment highlighted how the internet deals with data. For example, if a user inputs the word “volleyball,” there will be entries related to volleyball for sale, the definition of volleyball, how to play volleyball, etc. Through this assignment, I learned the importance of knowing what to look for when conducting a search. If I don’t know the exact thing or name, I need to figure it out before filtering the right information from the displayed websites. This approach helps me avoid the mistakes described in “How to be a better web searcher?” (Russell and Callegaro, 2019).

References

Russell, D. M. & Callegaro, M. (2019, March 26). How to be a better web searcher: Secrets from Google scientists. Observations. Retrieved from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/how-to-be-a-better-web-searcher-secrets-from-google-scientists/

Schwarzmuller, M. (2019, April 15). How the web works. Academind. Retrieved from https://academind.com/tutorials/how-the-web-works

TCK Publishing is an American-based book publisher founded by Tom Corson-Knowles[1] in 2011. Headquartered in Granger, Indiana, TCK Publishing follows a remote working style, with its international employees working from various locations across the globe. TCK Publishing does not charge fees to publish books or pay advances on royalties but instead pays 50% gross royalties[2].

Making a difference, authenticity, learning, connection, and freedom are the values of TCK Publishing. The publisher’s mission is to help writers earn a full-time income from book royalties. Their blogs provide information and resources related to reading, writing, publishing, editing, fitness, health, and news.

In addition to publishing books, the company offers courses to train authors on self-publishing and hosts award contests. TCK Publishing has provided courses such as eBook Publishing School, How to Become a Full-Time Author, Unleash Your Creative Genius, The Complete Kindle Publishing Course, How to Write Nonfiction Like a Pro, Email Marketing Mastery, Systemize Automate Delegate, and How to Build Your Website Like a Pro. They have also held TCK Publishing Reader’s Choice Book Awards contests[3] and short story awards contests[4].

TCK Publishing releases books in various genres, including business and investing, self-help and how-to, health, fitness and dieting, religion and spirituality, general nonfiction, historical romance, contemporary romance, thriller, science fiction, horror, young adult and middle grade, and children’s books.

Authors published by TCK Publishing include Kevin Horsley, Mary Christian Payne, Michelle Paisley Reed, Dr. Veronique Desaulniers, Mort Orman, John Del Gaudio, Susan Campbell, Christo Hall, Franziska Iseli, Dan Johnston, Kusha Karvandi, Debbie Drum, Heidi Eljarbo, Rochelle Katzman, Peter Wood, Jenna Ryan, Joseph Kassabian, Ellie Crowe, Phyllis Perry, Ntathu Allen, Dan Janal, Julia Daniels, Shami Stovall, Angelina Allsop, Michael Mackintosh, Clive Fleury, Vishal Reddy, Mark Spivak, Keith Hendricks, Shai Plonski, Sarah Warren St. Pierre, Don Hartshorn, Jon Richter, Wendi Tardieu, Victor Gold, Peter Yang, Johnny Payne, Michael Cordell, Sez Kristiansen, Dr. Bruce Chalmer, Melissa Steginus, Jeff Morrill, Dr. Bohdanna Zazulak, Maclen Stanley, Lucas Hault, and Jerry Manney.

[1] Gati, Eric. Learn from the Master of Kindle Publishing: Tom Corson-Knowles. The Daily Interview. Retrieved April 15, 2022.

[2] TCK Publishing Official Website. Retrieved April 15, 2022.

[3] TCK Publishing Reader’s Choice Book Awards. American Writers Museum. Retrieved April 15, 2022.

[4] Short Story Awards Contest. The Writer. Retrieved April 15, 2022.

Hello, everyone; welcome to Ying’s channel. Today, I am going to talk about an unfortunate event. On January 27, 2022, a video about a woman chained in a cold, crappy room with thin clothes in the winter in Xuzhou, China, has spread online inside and outside of the country, leading to hot discussion and concerns. Even though the Chinese government requires all its social media to report the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, this poor woman’s suffering overrides the Olympic Games. It stays a hot topic that forces the local government to make four investigation reports. Still, netizens don’t buy them because they are not reasonable. At last, the province has to form an investigating team to examine this event.

Why is this event so important to Chinese people, especially when all social media are shut up and all movie stars, writers, artists, and professors stay quiet? Why doesn’t it die out like the other hot topics but grow hotter and hotter online? There are two reasons.

First, it destroys many mid-class people’s confidence in living in a beautiful and peaceful environment. Because this chained woman once was a pretty girl and elementary school student. At 12, she was kidnapped and sold to many men. They raped and tortured her. They hammered off all her teeth, cut off her tongue tip, and damaged her vocal cords to avoid her resistance. When a journalist found her, she had been locked as a madwoman by a poor, uneducated farmer and forced to give birth to at least eight children. This news shocked women and men who realized their daughters, sisters, and mothers could meet the same tragedy. This event is related to people’s daily life and threatens their safety. The knowledge that there are cruel things that happen in poor places wakes them up and, at the same time, worries them.

Second, like I, some people have a chance to read a direct report from YouTube or Twitter that people inside China cannot reach. We now know that a single evil man cannot chain the woman for over 20 years without the help of other villagers and local government officers. That’s why the local government keeps lying to the public. Then we must rethink what we have learned about our country in the past, and then we realize we were brainwashed by the government, which told lies about many things. We feel disappointed and angry and try to adjust our views about the world, people, and life.

The fifth, maybe the final, investigation report was published on February 22. People still don’t believe in it because many questions aren’t explained or have no solid evidence to support them; some explanations are fake and twisted. Some people trust the government because their knowledge about the world is narrowed, and they are brainwashed that the government must be right. People abroad who have access to open news and knowledge worry about those who lose the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

We go through doubting and adjusting our old knowledge system by accessing new channels and hearing different opinions. We worry about people who couldn’t reach new knowledge and thus have no discriminability.

In 1991, when I was nine years old and a fourth-grade student, the remote and impoverished village where I was born and raised got its first television. It was a second-hand black and white TV that my uncle, who lived in the city, gave to my third uncle. The entire village was shocked, and everyone rushed to my third uncle’s house to watch the only TV show available – “The Legend of the Snake” (new version). The show aired two episodes each week. My uncle had to construct an antenna to receive the signal, and we often encountered situations where the TV screen would suddenly turn into static during the show.

Watching that TV show sparked a lifelong interest in imagination for me. In the show, a snake transformed into a beautiful woman and married a doctor to repay him for saving her thousands of years ago. However, a monk did not approve of their true love and captured and imprisoned her in Leifeng Tower in Hangzhou. I felt sorry for the woman and angry at the monk, so I would imagine myself as a strong woman with magical powers who could defeat the monk and rescue the woman, allowing her to live happily ever after with her husband. Imagining such scenarios became a regular practice for me every night before falling asleep and every morning upon waking up. After watching a film or TV show, seeing a picture, or reading a book, my vivid imagination would occur while walking on a road, working on the farm, or engaging in activities that didn’t require my full concentration.

In 2000, I graduated from a teacher’s training school and became an elementary school teacher earning a monthly salary of 400 RMB (approximately 70 USD). At the end of the year, my parents wanted to sell one pig to buy a TV, but the price of the pig was too low to afford a television. So, I bought our first TV, a color one, and my parents slaughtered two pigs to make smoked meat for protein throughout the year. This time, we didn’t need an antenna, but a satellite dish to receive signals, and we had access to more than 50 channels. My entire family gathered to watch the Chinese New Year’s Gala together, and my two younger brothers were more excited than I was because owning a TV had been their dream. Soon, televisions became popular in my village and at my school, and I was exposed to various dramas and live shows. I also became familiar with TV programs from other countries like South Korea, Japan, and the US. All these programs further expanded my imagination, and I began writing down my imaginative thoughts, eventually shaping my lifelong career aspiration: to become a writer.

In 2006, computers gained popularity in my hometown city, and I was fascinated by them. I started watching shows on computers instead of TVs because I didn’t have to wait for weekly episode updates. As the internet rapidly developed, computers and cellphones provided me with more information and news. However, I felt that my imagination became more fragmented. I still believe that televisions offer clearer images than computers. Eventually, my parents agreed to sell the ten-year-old TV in our home, and my brother bought them an LCD TV.

In 2014, I moved to the US. I noticed that televisions were not only found in living rooms but also in kitchens, bedrooms, garages, and cabins. Until my son turned two, we didn’t buy a TV because computers and cellphones fulfilled our daily needs. However, once my son began understanding children’s movies, we purchased a large TV for the living room to protect his eyes (as I developed astigmatism from using small cellphone screens). Nowadays, apart from occasionally watching cartoons with my kids, I seldom use the TV.

Our TV is mostly used by my son to play video games or watch Netflix shows. I believe that computers, cellphones, and iPads will eventually replace televisions, and the era of television will come to an end soon. However, I am grateful for the immense interest that television has sparked in me and the benefits it has brought. I love and appreciate TVs. The only concern I have regarding television is how to handle old televisions and television waste.

I’ve been feeling extremely stressed out lately, which has made it difficult for me to focus on my favorite activities like reading and writing. I’ve lost interest in enjoying the last days of summer in Minnesota, and even cooking meals has become a daunting task. When it’s time to sleep, my mind gets filled with negative thoughts and scary imaginations, making it hard for me to fall asleep. Instead of cleaning my messy house, I find solace in indulging myself in soap dramas all day. It’s only when I watch these shows that I can momentarily escape from my fears and worries.

There are several reasons contributing to my stress. Firstly, I took four courses during the summer semester, and I didn’t perform as well as I had hoped in two of them, receiving a B instead of an A. Secondly, the ongoing pandemic has forced us to stay at home for over half a year, depriving us of the joy of experiencing the outside world. Thirdly, the new fall semester is approaching, adding more pressure and responsibilities. Lastly, the most significant stressor of all is the deteriorating health of my husband. I’ve witnessed him losing weight and becoming frail, experiencing constant stomach cramps that hinder his ability to walk properly. It’s heartbreaking to see him in such a miserable state.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an outlet to vent my stress. My family and friends are back in China, and I don’t want to burden them with my worries. I don’t have any friends here in the US, and I wish I did. I understand that stress is detrimental to my well-being, and I need to find ways to alleviate it because I am the sole support system for my husband and two children. Falling ill is not an option for me. This blog serves as my only means to express my concerns and fears, and I hope that by doing so, I can alleviate some of the burden on my shoulders. I genuinely hope that everything will improve soon!

On April 24, 2020, I had the opportunity to watch Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on the National Theatre’s official YouTube website. This production, lasting 2 hours and 42 minutes and featuring English subtitles, was a live recording of a stage performance from 2017. Directed by Simon Godwin, the play boasted a talented cast including Tamsin Greig, Daniel Rigby, Tamara Lawrence, Doon Mackichan, and Daniel Ezra. Despite watching it online, I could still feel the energy of the packed theater.

Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare’s renowned comedies, revolves around two main plots. The first centers on twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated during a shipwreck, each presuming the other to be dead. Viola disguises herself as a man to serve Duke Orsino, who is infatuated with the wealthy Olivia. However, Olivia ends up falling in love with Viola, while Viola herself is smitten with the Duke. Meanwhile, Captain Antonio rescues Sebastian, and they develop a close friendship. Eventually, Olivia mistakes Sebastian for Viola, leading to a romantic entanglement, while the Duke discovers his true feelings for Viola. The second plot involves the characters Toby, Maria, Andrew, Clown, and Fabian, who harbor a strong dislike for Olivia’s steward, Malvolio, and conspire to play a cruel trick on him.

The National Theatre’s production remains faithful to the original play while rearranging certain scenes for a smoother narrative flow. Notably, they placed “Scene First of Act Second” before “Scene Fifth of Act First.”

I was particularly impressed by the character of Malvolio, portrayed by the talented Tamsin Greig. Through her performance, we witnessed the transformation of a cold-hearted and conservative steward into a woman with a caring and romantic heart. Greig fearlessly donned the yellow stockings with cross-garters, as instructed in the infamous letter. She skillfully conveyed Malvolio’s internal struggles when mistaken for a madwoman by her mistress, her fear while confined in darkness, and her profound sadness upon discovering the truth about the trick played on her by Olivia. I couldn’t help but feel immense sympathy for her and wished for a more positive outcome. Towards the end of the show, I even found myself imagining that Toby or Andrew might fall in love with her.

In addition to the compelling performances, I greatly admired the set design and music of the production. The introductory music by the saxophone player set a comedic tone for the entire play. The incorporation of modern lighting and contemporary dances during the musical interludes created a lighthearted and relaxed atmosphere, effectively bridging the gap between the “ancient” story and the present. All the actors showcased their singing talents, with the actress playing the Clown delivering a remarkable performance on par with that of a professional musician. While watching the show, I compared it to the original work and found myself in awe of the musicians who composed the beautiful and impactful songs and poems. They even included a musical rendition of Shakespeare’s famous quote: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” The lighting effects, particularly the use of blue lights to depict the ship and the dynamic backdrop during the dance sequences, were stunning. The flashing lights and rhythmic music created an atmosphere reminiscent of a disco room, which was an unexpected yet delightful connection to Shakespeare’s story. The various set elements, such as the curved potting, the wooden stairs resembling a ship, and the running water setting, added further visual effects to the production. The costumes were equally impressive, reflecting the comedic impact and bridging the gap between the Shakespearean and modern periods. The outfits worn by the Clown, Malvolia, and Andrew showcased the incredible imagination and design talent of the costume designer.

Watching this show, I gained valuable insights that withstand the test of time: true love surpasses material wealth and power, and women should enjoy equal rights as men.