Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Project 4 Draft I Factoids (Betcha Didn't Know...)

The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.

The adult human heart weighs about ten ounces.

Of the 206 bones in the average human adult's body, 106 are in the hands and feet. (54 in the hands and 52 in the feet)

Men have more blood than women. Men have 1.5 gallons for men versus 0.875 gallons for women.

Women breathe faster than men.

A red blood cell can circumnavigate your body in under 20 seconds.

It takes an interaction of 72 different muscles to produce human speech.

The average Human bladder can hold 13 ounces of liquid.

During sleep, if you are snoring, then you are not dreaming.

The storage capacity of human brain exceeds 4 Terrabytes.

Project 4 Draft I The Unpopular Wild Ones


Leaf Muntjac (Leaf Deer)
The Wildlife Conservation Society, based at the Bronx Zoo, says the animal is the world's smallest deer species. It is found in dense forest habitats at an elevation of 1500 - 2000 feet, where it s solitary and eats mostly fruit.




Chacoan Peccary

When frightened, Chacoan peccaries flee, raising the long hairs on their back and spraying secretions from their dorsal gland, presumably to keep the group together in the dense brush via odor. These secretions are rubbed against group members.







Kinkajou
Found in the Americas with its slim dark body and clever paws, you can see that this mammal is related to our raccoon. The kinkajou's long grasping tail helps it travel around its home in the rain forest trees. Although its diet is varied, its love of honey earned it the nickname "honey-bear."



Okapi
It inhabits the almost sunless rain forests of the upper Congo and feeds on leaves. Its shape is reminiscent of a giraffe's, but it is smaller, with a much shorter neck. It is deep reddish brown with black and white zebra-striped legs. Its head is giraffelike and in the male bears blunt skin-covered horns. The okapi was unknown to zoologists until the beginning of the 20th cent.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Journal Entry # 11

Project 4: Stacy, Yasim, and Xiance

  • Graphic Cover (incorporating magazine name and highlighting contents) Yasim Stacy
  • Front Matter (lists staff, magazine title and description, and table of contents) Everyone
  • Piece of fiction (any type of fiction) Stacy
  • Piece of non-fiction (this could be an interview, profile, process-description, or any number of other non-fiction genres) Yasim
  • Factoids (facts about your topic; these could be presented in several ways) Xiance
  • Editorial (a persuasive piece of writing with a clear thesis) Xiance
  • Review (evaluation of a work related to your theme—an artistic work, a venue, etc.) Everyone
  • Advertisement (for a product you imagine; related to your theme in some way). Stacy

Interview

Puzzles/ Brain Teasers

Questioners

Technology

Around the world technology

Science Project

Quote of the month

Calendar

Medicine News

Biography

Article: Too Much isn't always good

Plastic Surgery

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

In the News- "Juiced"

1. Do you believe that Jose Canseco was right in the fact that he gave the names of the baseball players involved with steroids in his book "Juiced"?
I do not think that Jose should have revealed the names of the baseball players that were involved with steroids in his book. Especially since he respected them and thought of them as his friends. Thats just not something that you do to people you think highly of. It was very disrespectfully of the other players. And if the other players wanted to be known they themselves would have come out. If Jose wanted to use their names he sould have asked permission or at least you a suto name.

2. To what degree do you think the "steroid era" will tarnish the history of the great American sport baseball?
I think there will become stereotypes about the game as well as the players. I think that itll never go away as well especially since so many people have been caught and admitted to using them.

3. What is your view of some positive and negative aspects of performance enhancing drugs?
I think if you make a world record or beat it by using drugs it should not be considered. Of course you will preform way above average but thats not really you preforming, that a hulk version created by the use of drugs.

4. Do you believe that performance enhancing drugs play a major role in all sports today?
I definitely think that it is a factor, and that anyone who is using drugs to enhance their performance should take a look and weigh the outcome: Doing really well on a game or having your reputation at stake and your health which can ultimately prevent you from playing the game you love. I also think that if you really love the game that much you would want to strive to do you best and you would want to do that naturally, so you could be known for doing your best the right way. Today in any game there has been leaks about people using drugs to enhance their performance so yes, they do play a major role in ALL sports today.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

In The New - Democrats in the White House

My question to you now, is do you think that the democratic party and the new elect President is capable of bringing the change that we need to the United states and its economy?
I have faith that he can. So far Mr. Obama has come through with all his promises and one of his promises that he has made to the American people is that he is going to bring about change and do things a little differently than thing have been running. So since he has never bailed on his prmoises I don't expect him to bail on this one.

Do you think the state of the economy will improve or get worst in the years to come?
Right now I don't really think that it can get any worse than it is now, but I think with immediate action and the right choices made with constant attention I think that in the years so come the economy will improve not right away but in a few years.

Do you think inexperience is a big issue that should be considered?
I believe that it is an issue that should be considered but if Mr. Obama is surrounding himself with people who are more experienced than him then that somewhat makes up for his lack of experience.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Journal Entry # 10

Abortion Pentad
Act: Research, Go to dr. appt
Actor: Women, Men, Fetus, Doctors, babies, the families
Agency: Embroy, Sperm, Egg, Surgical tools, ultrasound
Scene: Dr. Office, Medical Place (hospital)
Purpose: When a woman gets pregnant but does not want to give birth to the child some women do recearch and choose to have an abortion in a medical facility to remove the fetus.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Journal Entry # 9

Picture # 1
1.) When you are 18 you can enroll in the army but not drink.
2.) When you are 18 you can enroll in the army but not drink because enrolling in the army is good but drinking is not.
3.) When you are 18 you can enroll in the army but not drink because you are doing a good thing for the country by enrolling.

Picture # 7
1.) Drinking and driving is not good for you.
2.) Drinking and driving is not good for you because you can die when you drink and drive.
3.) Drinking and driving is not good for you because your brain is not functioning properly when you are intoxicated.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Questions for Active Reading

Questions for Active Reading pages 271 and 285
Page 271
1.) I think reading the first and last paragraphs in a passage help the reader to understand what the passage will be about typically because in the introduction paragraph it is supposed to be an overall of what is to be expected through out the passage and the conclusion paragraph is supposed to sum up all the points that was made throughout the article.

2.) It is important to know that Lightman is a scientist because it allows the reader to lend more belief to the passage. More importantly what Lightman writes is credible because of the simple fact that he is a scientist. An artist or a social worker are not that likely to write a passage such as the one Lightman wrote because that is not their area of specialty.

3.) In the last paragraph Lightman is more lighthearted. And he is not so much lighthearted when he gives out factual information. I think that the effect of this is to make it interesting because a lot of times science can be a bit dry and boring or hard to understand. When Lightman writes lightheartedly he adds some comedy to it.

Page 285
1.) In paragraph 16 " Transitions are found in the fossil records. Preserved transitions are not common, and shouldn't be. but not because of our understanding of evolution."

2.) In paragraphs 16 and 17 states some interferences.

3.) When Gould used that reference it made it gave an idea as to what he would be talking about.

Journal Entry # 8


This controversial image is saying that uncle Sam is trying to save the Caucasian people while leaving the African American people to drown.
This image is saying that Uncle Sam is calling all the shots in America and he wants the African Americans last and wants to keep the Caucasians safe.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

In the News - U.S close to $1 trillion Deficit.

1.) In your opinion, what do you think the US government should do in order to stabilize the economy to not be in such a huge deficit?
I think that as a country we should end the war in Iraq that is just wasting money in which we do not have to spend in the first place. That should give us a few billion dollars there and increase taxes slightly not by much due to the way the economy is very unstable, but just enough so that it doesn't hurt people financially.

2.) Do you believe that taxes should be raised in order to pay back the debt that we are in?
I do believe that the taxes should be raised in order to pay back the debt that we are in right now. I cannot think of another way that we could get out of debt without increasing taxes. I believe that if we do not do something about it now that we will always carry this debt with us.
Obama is saying that he is not going to increase taxes but what he is not saying is how are we going to fix this debt.
McCain on the other hand is saying that he does have to increase taxes in order to get back some kind of stabilization.

3.) If you were president of the United States in January of 2009, what would you do in order to solve this deficit problem?
I think i would definitely have to raise taxes or come up with a really great plan to get the country out of debt and out of debt fast.

Project II Draft III

She was a very strong woman in her time. She bore 12 children and was married to a very powerful politician who passed away at a young age. She was proclaimed by many to be the best roti maker ever and I have seen the mystical patterns that she made using crochet hooks and yarn. I have heard stories about her renowned recipes, and expert card playing strategies; but I have never tasted the chef’s hand or seen the great card shark in action. In the last decade of her life, my paternal Grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She spent one of the most difficult parts of her life living with my two younger siblings, my parents and myself.

My Grandmother was born in Grenada, moved to Trinidad and finally years later, began a new life in Florida. My family at the time lived in South Carolina but visited Gran’s house every summer. I remember finding out that she was coming to live with us so we had some renovations done to the house and designed a master bedroom for her comfort. As a few months went by her memory began to deteriorate. We were slowly losing the one we cherished. The doctors thought it would be best if we took her back to where she was most familiar. So that summer we moved into her house in Florida.
Alzheimer’s changed the person we once knew. Gran became a different person; we had to do everything for her: feed, bathe, and dress her. She developed an aggressive behavior courtesy of the mind erasing disease. One thing about my Grandmother is that she always loved to dress up. Everything had to be perfect, the wardrobe, hair, nails, shoes and pocketbook to match. Despite her forgetting she was hungry and our names she never forgot how much she loved to dress up. I can remember every three days my sister and I would polish her nails a new color.
A few years past and my Grandmother’s eldest daughter decided that she wanted to take care of Gran, so she took her away. This meant that she only got her nails polished on weekends. One weekend we went to get her but she wasn’t there. My Aunt explained that she put my Grandmother in a nursing home: my Dad’s biggest fear. Since my Aunt had power of attorney there was nothing we could have done about it. Now Gran’s nails were done twice a month because my Aunt wanted to take her on weekends too and the home only allowed patients to be dismissed on weekends.
As I grew older we got to see our Grandmother less due to her immobility. Unfortunately, we made too many excuses not to go see Gran and before we knew it my Grandmother developed a urinary tract infection. She was hospitalized for a few days and then transferred to Hospice. I spent my 14th birthday in Hospice with her praying that she wouldn’t die or at least she wouldn’t be in any pain since she lost her ability to speak.
March 20, 2004 the day after my birthday, Gran passed away just as we left Hospice that night. After that all I thought about was my Grandmother’s nails. They were not done in her favorite pink colored polish, nor were not done to match the gowns she had to wear in Hospice; they were not done at all. I reflected and cried about all the times that I could have done Gran’s nails but always found something else to do. And at that second, that’s when I started to believe that you cannot take the moments you have with people for granted. Eventually we all have to go and I never want to be in the same position that I was in with my Grandmother, regretting the fact that I didn’t take that extra five minutes out of the 1,440 minutes of the day to polish ten fingernails. You never can tell when your last moment with that one person may be so, cherish the time you have with those you love and this I believe.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Journal Entry # 7

The sort of trouble that Orwell suguests that the English languages is in is that when using it it lacks imagery, its not very presices it seems very vague. Some of the bad habits may be passed down through culture from generation to generation even though the people may haven known better. And when using the English languge people use to many phrases an not enough simple words.
Since Orwell wrote this essay about 60 years ago I think that the language has deteriorated even more. I think it is because of all the new modern technology. Text messaging and instant messaging has shortened the language and even invented new words, words with different spelling and completely new acronyms.
I completely agree with them. My 12th grade English teacher lived by the very same rules. He made us write our essay and then do a draft looking for and editing each rule one draft at a time. I think that was really helpful because u focus one one thing at a time.
I think what Orwell means by focus on pictures and perceptions before writing is know, feel, and understand what you want to write about before you write it and then when you begin to write you will be able to choose the right words to convey your meaning. I have done this before and its like brainstorming without writing it down. It does help. It kind of creates a path and helps you narrow down the way you want your writing to go.

Questions for Active Reading Ch 6

Questions for Active Reading Page 158
1. I would revise my project one paying close attention to dimension. I think I need to work on that one the most because there was a word count of 700 max and I went over that by about 100 and I did get it down to 702. I tried to get only the important things in without losing depth. The other things that Murray wrote about i think i have a pretty good handle on.

2. I always try to read aloud my work, especially when i am having difficulty with grammar. No matter how many time i do read it aloud it always seems to me that something could be changed.

3. When Murray quotes a few authors and then gives a phrase to go along with the authors it does make me pay more attention to the suggestion about editing papers, it feels like it is a personal suggestion from the author themselves.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

In The News

In regards to Stacy's In the News I think just to be on the safe side religious art such as those should be viewed in the relative place of worship. If it was in the public there are many evil people out there who would get offended and vandalize the art which then would offend the people who followed the faith that the art depicted. So I think just to prevent any of that happening I think that it should not be in the public eye.

I think that any religion should be able to display their art if it is in the appropriate place due to people disrespecting other people's religion. I think people should keep religious art in a religious art gallery or within their own place of worship.

Should the government be involved in the funding or do you agree its unconstitutional?
I don't think that the government should be involved. But if they were I suggest that they fund all religions or none at all.

Would it be much more acceptable if an independent group of people did it since in America we do have "Freedom of Speech"?
Either way there are people out there who are not going to accept it and show hatred to the art, so frankly I don't think it would make a difference who does it.

Project 2 Revised

“The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree”


It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~Joyce Maynard

When an apple falls from the tree there is nothing to look up to other than the very same tree it fell from. And in time that one little apple will grow up to be exactly like the tree that it fell from. This aphorism is easy to understand in that sense. However not all apples that fall from the tree falls near to the tree. There are a wide variety of different scenarios that may change that apple’s life.

In so many ways the aphorism is also true. Due to Biology an apple or in a more realistic case a child cannot turn into another species, or rather into someone with different DNA and genetics[l1] . There is nothing anyone can do to alter or change the DNA that a person has. In which the aphorism would be very true. A child and his or her parents are very much alike based on genetics and DNA.

Although genetics in biology also have a way of skipping one or many generations and not revealing itself until many generations later. In this case the genes are the same from the parents to the child; however the phenotype is different causing the child to not necessarily looking like the parents but maybe someone else from the family “tree”.

But then again, what about nature verses nurture? Nature would ultimately adhere to the aphorism and reveal that the apple would turn out to be exactly like the tree. However the nurture side would argue that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree granted that no one else picks up the apple and cares for it until it has ripened. Nurture would disagree with nature in the sense that other things affecting and influencing the apple would shape the apple more than the parents of the apple ever could.

There are many twins out there who adhere to this aphorism and just as many that do not. There have been studies done where twins were split up from birth and the twins turned out to be exactly alike and other studies that the twins turn out unlike each other and more like the parents who raised each child.

In a much different take on this aphorism, there are children out there who have seen who their parents are and vow never to have this aphorism said about them. The child may not be able to get away from their parents genetically but they do have a choice as far as mannerisms, characteristics, and decisions that their parents have made.

Robert Fulghum once said “Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you”. At a very young age the child may not realize what is right from wrong but as they get older this is what determines how far the apple falls from the tree. A young child may not understand the actions and the consequences that accompany the parents’ choices and as the child grows up he or she most likely will idolize their parents and try in every possible way to become more like them. Then as they grow older and don’t have a grasp on how to make wise decisions and learn from their parents’ mistakes then they will continue to follow in their parents’ footsteps and prove the aphorism true the other side to this particular aspect starts off rather similar but ends up quite differently. Of course the child will grow up wanting to be exactly like his or her parents but then somewhere along the way the child realizes that throughout life their parents have made some decision that they themselves do not want to make and in this case the apple will fall a good distance away from the tree.

China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC Confucius once said “Gravity is only the bark of wisdom's tree but it preserves it.” Most of the time the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree but there are those few times in which an apple falls from the tree and rolls far away.

Gay Adoption: Statistics [l2]


[l1]Was: genetic history

[l2]Consider

Project 1 Revised

She was a very strong woman in her time. She bore 12 children and was married to a very powerful politician who passed away at a young age. She was the best roti maker ever and I have seen the mystical patterns that she made using crochet hooks and yarn. I have heard stories about her great strength, her renowned recipes, and her card playing strategies; but I have never tasted the chief’s hand or seen the great card shark in action. My Grandmother suffered the last decade of her life with Alzheimer’s. She spent one of the most difficult parts of her life living with my two younger siblings, my parents and myself.
My Grandmother was born in Grenada, moved to Trinidad and finally years later began a new life in Florida. My family at the time lived in South Carolina but visited Gran’s house every summer. I remember finding out that she was coming to live with us so we had some renovations done to the house and designed a master bedroom for her comfort. As a few months went by her memory began to deteriorate. We were slowly losing the one we cherished. The doctors thought it would be best if we took her back to where she was most familiar. So that summer we moved into her house in Florida.
Alzheimer’s changed the person we once knew. Gran became a different person we had to do everything for her: feed her, bathe her, and dress her. She developed an aggressive behavior courtesy of the mind erasing disease. One thing about my Grandmother is that she always loved to dress up. Everything had to be perfect, the wardrobe, hair, nails, shoes and pocketbook to match. Despite her forgetting she was hungry or our names she never forgot how much she loved to dress up. I can remember every three days my sister and I would polish her nails a new color.

A few years past and my Grandmother’s eldest daughter decided that she wanted to take care of Gran, so she took her away. This meant that she only got her nails polished on weekends. One weekend we went to get her but she wasn’t there. My Aunt explained that she put my Grandmother in a nursing home: my Dad’s biggest fear. Since my Aunt had power of attorney there was nothing we could have done about it. Now Gran’s nails were twice a month because my Aunt wanted to take her on weekends too and the home only allowed patients to be dismissed on weekends.

As I got older we got to see our Grandmother less due to her immobility and my Aunt insisting my Grandmother being moved to different homes further away from us. Unfortunately we made too many excuses not to go see the new Gran and before we knew it my Grandmother developed a urinary tract infection. She was hospitalized for a few days and then transferred to Hospice. I spent my 14th birthday in Hospice with her praying she wouldn’t die or at least she wouldn’t be in any pain since should lost her ability to speak.
March 20th 2004 the day after my birthday Gran passed away just as we left Hospice that night. After that all I thought about was my Grandmother’s nails. They were not done in her favorite pink colored polish, they were not done to match the gowns she had to wear in Hospice, they were not done at all. I reflected and cried about all the times that I could have done Gran’s nails but always found something else to do. And at that second, that’s when I started to believe that you cannot take the moments you have with people for granted, eventually we all have to go and I never want to be in the same position that I was in with my Grandmother, regretting the fact that I didn’t take that extra five minutes out of the 1,440 minutes of the day to polish ten finger nails. You never can tell when your last moment with that one person may be so, cherish the time you have with those you love and this I believe.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Peer Editing- My Questions

1. Do you think that I should give a definition of what an aphorism is?

2. Do you understand the quotes that I incorporated throughout the passage?

3. What other examples can you think of to prove or disprove the aphorism “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”?

4. Is it clear when I use the apple as an analogy for a child?

a. Do you think that I should stick to one?

5. When talking about genetics and phenotype should I give definition s of them?

a. Do you think that part of the passage flows well?

6. Do you understand the part about nature versus nurture?

7. Am I using the word “aphorism” too much?

8. Can you think of a different title to title the work?

9. The three paragraphs where I talk about children wanting to be or not wanting to be exactly like their parents is that clear to you?

a. Do you think the structure should be changed?

i. If so how would you recommend?

Project # 2

“The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree”
It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our
children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't
tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~Joyce
Maynard

When an apple falls from the tree there is nothing to look up to other than the very

same tree it fell from. And in time that one little apple will grow up to be exactly like

the tree that it fell from granted that no one else picks up the apple and cares for it

until it has ripened. This aphorism is easy to understand in that sense. However not all

apple that fall from the tree falls near to the tree. There are a wide variety of

different scenarios that may change that apple’s life.

In so many ways the aphorism is also true. Due to Biology an apple or in a more

realistic case a child cannot turn into another species, or rather into someone with

different DNA and genetic history. There is nothing anyone can do to alter or change the

DNA that a person has. In which the aphorism would be very true. A child and his or her

parents are very much alike.

Although genetics in biology also have a way of skipping one or many generations and not

revealing itself until many generations later. In this case the genes are the same from

the parents to the child, however the phenotype is different causing the child to not

necessarily looking like the parents but maybe someone else from the family.

But then again, what about nature verses nurture? Nature would ultimately adhere to the

aphorism and reveal that the apple would turn out to be exactly like the tree. However

nurture would disagree and state that other things affecting and influencing the apple

would shape the apple more than the parents of the apple ever could. There are many twins

out there who adhere to this aphorism and just as many that do not. There have been

studies done where twins were split up from birth and the twins turned out to be exactly

alike and other studies that the twins turn out unlike each other and more like the

parents who raised each child.

In a much different take on this aphorism, there are children out there who have seen who

their parents are and vow never to have this aphorism said about them. The child may not

be able to get away from their parents genetically but they do have a choice as far as

mannerisms, characteristics, and decisions that their parents have made.

Robert Fulghum once said “Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they

are always watching you”.

At a very young age the child may not realize what is right from wrong but as they get

older this is what determines how far the apple falls from the tree. A young child may

not understand the actions and the consequences that accompany the parents’ choices and

as the child grows up he or she most likely will idolize their parents and try in every

possible way to become more like them. Then as they grow older and don’t have a grasp on

how to make wise decisions and learn from their parents’ mistakes then they will continue

to follow in their parents’ footsteps and prove the aphorism true.

The other side to this particular aspect starts off rather similar but ends up quite

differently. Of course the child will grow up wanting to be exactly like his or her

parents but then somewhere along the way the child realizes that throughout life their

parents have made some decision that they themselves do not want to make and in this case

the apple will fall a good distance away from the tree.

China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC Confucius

once said “Gravity is only the bark of wisdom's tree but it preserves it.” Most of the

time the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree but there are those few times in which an

apple falls from the tree and rolls far away.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

In The News

I believe that the trooper did intentionally hit Grant. Due to the fact that it was sad that the trooper was caught on tape saying that he hit Grant and he meant to. I'm still undecided about whether or not it was a racist act. I would like to believe that it was not but yet still there is a part of me that wants to say that it was an act of racism.
I think that there are not many cases brought to the public's attention because the feds don't want to have a state that doesn't trust their authority. They rather have these cases kept silently than let the public know about it and then question the authority of officers.
I do think that the punishment was reasonable. There are some people who attempt to commit murder and get way with less than that. I do believe that there is favoritism given to those who were suppose to be protecting and committing to the community's safety. I think the reason for that not that I do believe there should be a reason is that the person who gives off the punishment looks at what good the officer has done and counteract his/her punishment.

Journal Entry # 6

What do you think about serial killers?
Serial killers I believe are individuals who have just snapped with the world. They
either had a grim and sad adolescent life, which emotionally and physically scared them
for life and they just turn on the world and seek revenge or refuge in causing people
suffrage.
Or they are just individuals who have had a wonderful or moderate life but because
something happened, for example a stalker guy who has a girlfriend but she dumps him and
hides cause he's a stalker, so she goes out with someone else he gets jealous and doesn't
want her to be with anyone else so he kills her finds that enjoyable so he keeps killing
or someone who believes some type of person is bad...rapist or prostitutes so he just
decides to kill them all...purge the world

Do you think that they have a myth?
Their myth is their criminally insane, if they have a consciousness of what they’re doing
and they have emotions that are triggered by their actions who’s to say what’s insane
anyway? It’s funny every time someone kills some people their defense attorney decides to
tell them to plead for insanity
And serial killers look like jack Nicholas with some huge evil smile or they always use
knives and stab people and wear masks and are just these scifi beings when they can be
normal every day people, could be a priest

Do you think that they are able to caught by their MO?
Yes I believe they can be caught by their method of operations like Sherlock Holmes says,
"Eyes and brains Watson eyes and brains"
Say the person is a throat cutter it can easily be known whether the killer is a lefty or
a right and depends on the cut, if they have surgical background or butchery background
or novice regular person background
choice of weapon...hunting rifle..person might like to hunt, 9 millimeter could just be a
normal person thats one of the easiest accessible guns,

how clean the kill is...easy to tell if a crime was rushed or carefully planned out..no
finger prints on the door knob (possibly using gloves), no footprints possible (used some
kind of bag, taking good care of how they hit the body and how they stop the leakage of
gunpowder or their hair (could be a clearly shaven person...all over...but hmmm after
shave could catch them) yeah so basically if it’s too clean..the person is smart and has
experience like with guns

Do you think that a killer always leaves evidence behind?
there’s always evidence left behind. Always. witness sightings, finger prints, foot
prints, phone records, emails, credit card purchasing locations, no matter what something
gives you away, unless you’re absolutely invisible and metal gear solid ect

How about taking a treasure from the crime scene?
tells a lot about the criminal basically serial killers get caught cause of these
criminal psychologist that study psychos and their habits and all sorts of people and
their habits basically serial killers get caught cause of these criminal psychologist
that study psychos and their habits and all sorts of people and their habits especially
if you take a weird item, like a piece of vase from this china set...you know?
Crimes I don’t believe are ever perfect in this lifetime...maybe before 1990 but now it’s
virtually impossible

Monday, September 29, 2008

Questions for Active Reading

Questions for Active Reading page 243
"How Friendship Was Feminized"
1. Cohen does not believe that men have real friendships, however, Tarvis does believe that men have friendships but that they communicate their friendship without having to say too much about it. Both suggest that men do not necessarily directly speak about important things in life but they do talk about things in life.

2. Choen's definition of friendship is something that women have more than men if they do have friendship at all. Many men do not consider themsleves as friends or really say they have men they moreso say they have people to hang out with.
Tarvis' defnitio of friendship is something that is meaningfull and deep, it is something that grows between two people who communicate with eachother and share experiences, and life together.
My definition of friendship is a couple or group of people who share common interests and enjoy eachother's company, they talk to eachother not necessarily only about personally things but things in general.

3. Tavris not only classifies people as mature if they can verbally expression their feelings but also if they can make moral, or benifically decisions that are not necessairly good for them but good for the important people in their lives. I think that in order to be mature you also have to be resposible, moral, commited, somewhat organized or have an order of some sort, I also think that having something to work toward classifies a person as being mature.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

In the News

Pit bull Attacks

I do not believe that humans should have the same punishment that dogs have for harming humans, despite their intelligence level. I don't agree that dogs should be put to sleep for showing some aggression towards someone however i do think that the dog should be placed in some type of training to decline its aggressiveness because it has displayed aggression which can lead to the dog bitting someone in the future.

I do that that pit bulls are dangerous animals they display behavior just like lions and tigers and we don't see many people trying to have a lion or tiger as a pet, because at any given moment just like a pit bull they can attack humans.I think that pit bulls should be banned because too many innocent people are getting hurt and this can be easily prevented.

I have never liked pit bulls because of their aggressive nature so these recent attacks from pit bulls only heights my dislike for them.

There really isn't much that I can think about to prevent future attacks. I personally believe that there have been too many attacks and that pit bulls should just be banned altogether.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Journal Entry # 5

• This essay was written in 1971. What types of duties does Syfers describe as being performed by wives? To what degree do you believe these are still done primarily by women? Have these or other things about the husband/wife relationship changed in the last 37 years?
The duties that Syfers describes in this essay are basically everything that needs to be done within a household: going to work, taking care of the children, taking care of the house, running errands. I do think there are still many, many, many women in the world who are just as Syfers described but very few of them reside in the U.S. Many of the things that Syfers described have changed drastically within the last 37 years.

• How would you describe Syfers’ writing style? Does she do things you would typically avoid in your own writing?
Syfers' writing style is very basic. I would do a lot of things differently in my own writing. Syfers has a lot of run on and incomplete sentences, she repeats things many times in different paragraphs which are not for the most part very organized.

• Syfers was reacting to a social structure that she felt at the time was unfair. What types of injustice or unfairness do you see in the world nowadays that you think should be addressed? Syfers implies that men benefit from the servile position of women in the family. Who benefits from the injustices you see active in the world today?
I think that there is a lot of unfairness to women in the workforce. Today women are still not being paid as much as men in some work areas.
I also think that wet foot dry foot policy with the Cubans is unfair.
The many genocides that are going on in Africa and nothing is being done about it.

Questions for Active Reading

Questions for Active Reading Page 233
1. In paragraphs 17 and 26-28 Sanders clearly and vividly describe how he puts up the wall to divide the room. I think that at the end of the passage Sanders describes finishing up the wall to precisely because it signifies the end of his work with the wall, the end of the passage and most importantly the end of his father's life.

2. Sanders uses what is called elepises when he goes form describing the past or present and vise versa. When he talks about the past he usually refers to his father teaching him how to use the tools he now owns, and when he talks about the present he is ususally talking about his daughter's gerbils or the wall that he was putting up at the time that he found out about his father's death.

3. A dawn stone is one of the earliest forms of hammers, in which some of the first people used to grind corn, and break bones. He describes it in this essay because throughout time the dawn stone has not changed much and has been basically passed down rom generation to generation just as his grandfather's tools were passed down to his father and then to him.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

In the News Facebook

In the News

These types of social networking have drastically altered many people’s lives. The social networks have changed the way we communicate market and advertise, meet people, and even write as well as so many other daily activities. Personally I think that facebook is just a phase that people are going through. Look at myspace that was social networking that started it all and now there are hardly people on it. I do believe that there will be many more social networks to come and they will all eventually fade out just as myspace did.

I think that facebook is a plus and minus. It does help a lot with advertising, meeting new people, marketing, However there are people who do not know how to use this tool responsible and are just adding random people who they don’t know and putting obscene photos for people to comment and this type of behavior is getting them into major trouble. I think it could be a good thing if people were just conscious about what they do and how their actions can lead to great consequences.

Journal # 4

  • What does Bartholomae mean when he says that students must "invent the university" when they write in college?
What Barthaolomae means by students must "invent the university" is that they have to become the expert in whatever it is that they are writing about. They have to know everything possible as applicable to that subject.
  • What does Bartholomae suggest is a way for students to become "insiders" within academic discourse?
He suggests that students should go ahead and write what they feel. Do not be afraid of what students have to say. They were given the right to speak and they should take advantage of that right. It is ok to not understand everything but try and when students are not sure ask questions.
  • Summarize some of the differences between the two examples of student writing that Bartholomae examines, and Bartholomae's opinion of these examples.
The difference between these two examples that Bartholomae examines is that the first one is
just simple and straightforward, the other one tries to tell a story and explain more in detail than
the first one did.

Bartholomae's opinion of the first example was that it is natural and gives what the prompt asks
however it isn't sophisticated. The second example on the other hand lends its voice to the
paper; it develops a language and gives more of an opinion than the other example.

Questions for Active Reading

Questions For Active Reading Page 108

1. 6 Myths of Creativity?

1. Creativity Comes from Creative Types

Do not restrict creativity from any area of your work. Let creativity flow and

develop on its own.

2. Money is a Creativity Motivator

Money does not always motivate creativity. The majority of people who are

creative do not think about how much they are making or are motivated by money.

Those who do think about money are not so creative. What seems to motivate

people is if they are paired up with a project that they take an interest to and

if their skills meet the creativity that is needed for the project. However

their skills cannot be less than the creativity need because then they would

become frustrated and if their skills are beyond what is needed then they would

get bored and creativity will become dry.

3. Time Pressure Fuels Creativity

For some people having a deadline increases their creativity but for most people

that is not the case. People usually become distracted because they have to come

up with something creative by a certain time. They then begin to focus on how

much time they have left instead of their creativity.

4. Fear Forces Breakthroughs

In a study with artists and writers it was found that the more depressed the

person the greater their creativity level. However in the study with people in

other job positions people who were happy the day before experienced greater

creativity the day after.

5. Competition Beats Collaboration

Some people may believe that competing develops more creativity than

collaborating. However this is not the case creative ideas flourish when people

collaborate. Because no one person knows everything and when people combine

ideas it turns out to be an even better idea.

6. A Streamlined Organization Is a Creative Organization

When downsizing a business it prohibits creativity because people once again

begin to focus on who is going to be cut out and not concentrate on how they can

be creative. It was found that even after the downsize has been made five months

later there is still a lack in creativity.



2. Amabile designed her research by working with a team of PhD graduate students

and managers from different companies. She collected 12,000 journal entries from

about 238 people who were working on creative projects who were not informed

that she was looking closely at creativity. She asked then about their work,

their environment, and inquired about how they felt on that day. The thing that

was interesting about her work is that she found out things that people would

not necessarily think is the norm. Such as people who are happier are the ones

who seem to produce more creativity in the work field however those who do

creative work such as artists are more depressed when they produce creative

works.


3. The audience for Breen is people20who are more likely to be CEOs in a company

which is trying to develop their employees creativity. His audience can also be

people who are trying to enhance their creative ability at their workplace.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Revised Project 1

1. Connect Alzheimer’s with the belief

2. How has Alzheimer’s affected us not being able to spend time with her?

3. CUT DOWN

This I believe…
Cherish the time you have with those you love
She was a very strong woman in her time. She bore 12 children and was married to a very powerful politician who passed away when my dad was at the tender age of nine. She was the best roti maker ever and I have seen the mystical patterns that she made using crochet hooks and yarn. I have heard stories about her great strength, her renowned recipes, and her card playing strategies; but I have never tasted her cooking or seen the great card shark in action. My Grandmother suffered the last decade of her life with Alzheimer’s. She spent one of the most difficult parts of her life living with my family comprised of my two younger siblings, my parents and myself.
My Grandmother was born in Grenada and then later moved to Trinidad and finally years later began a new life Florida. My family at the time lived in South Carolina but visited Gran’s house every summer. I remember finding out that she was coming to live with us so we had some renovations done to the house and converted our garage into a master bedroom for her comfort. As a few months went by her memory began to deteriorate. We were slowly losing the one we cherished. The doctors thought it would be best if we took her back to where she was most familiar. So we moved into her house in Florida at the beginning of summer.
Alzheimer’s not only took her away but also changed the person we once knew. Gran became a different person we did everything for her: feed her, bathe her, dress her. She developed an aggressive behavior courtesy of the mind erasing disease. One thing about my Grandmother is that she always loved to dress up. Everything had to be perfect, the wardrobe, hair, nails, shoes and pocketbook to match. Despite her forgetting she was hungry or our names she never forgot how much she loved to dress up. I can remember every three days my sister and I would polish her nails a new color.

A few years past and my Grandmother’s eldest daughter decided that she wanted to take care of Gran, so packed Gran up and took her away. We only got to see her on the weekends, which meant that she only got her nails polished once a week. One weekend we went to get her but she wasn’t there my aunt explained that she put my Grandmother in a nursing home: my dad’s biggest fear. Since my aunt had power of attorney there was nothing we could have done about it. Now we only got to see her every other weekend because my aunt wanted to take her on weekends too and the home only allowed patients to be dismissed on weekends. And now Gran’s nails were done every other weekend.
As I got older we got to see our Grandmother less and less due to her mobility becoming even more difficult and my aunt insisting my Grandmother being moved to different home which was further away from us. Unfortunately we made too many unconscious excuses not to go see Gran and before we knew it my Grandmother developed a urinary track infection commonly known as a UTI. She was then hospitalized for a few days and then transferred to Hospice. I spent my 14th birthday in hospice with her praying she wouldn’t die or at least she wouldn’t be in any pain since should lost her ability to speak and would not have been able to tell us.
March 20th 2004 the day after my 14th birthday Gran passed away just as we entered the house that night. After that all I could have thought about was the nails on my Grandmother’s fingers. They were not done in her favorite pink colored nail polish and they were not even done to match the gowns she had to wear in hospice, they were not done at all. I reflected and cried about all the times that I could have done Gran’s nails but always found something else to do. And at that moment, that’s when I started to believe that you cannot take the moments you have with people for granted, eventually we all have to go and I never want to be in the same position that I was in with my Grandmother, regretting the fact that I didn’t take that extra five minutes out of the 1,440 minutes of the day to polish ten finger nails. You never can tell when your last moment with that one person may be so cherish the time you have with those you love and this I believe.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

My In The News



Is technology harming us more than helping us?

http://www.nbc6.net/health/17060207/detail.html

In this particular article the main point of it is "texting" while doing any type of physical activity is dangerous. With this article I would like to take it a step further by examining diferent types of technology and how has it harmed us, instead of helped us.

Let's take the cellphone for starters. The cellphone is has come a long way. It's very useful in many different ways. However, it is just as harmful. People are developing cancer from using cellphones, and now according to this article people are dying because of texting.


Now let's look at another technological advance. the microwave. There has been birth defects from pregnant women standing too close to the microwave, as well as an increased number of cancers from the radiation given off from microwaves.

Those are just two examples. What other types of techonological advances can you think of that has harmed us instead of helping us? Think about the computer (spellcheck has worsen our ability to spell) think about x-rays. Do you think that the benefit of these elecronical techologies outweigh the risks? Do you think that technology should be tested longer before being approved?

Monday, September 15, 2008

Project 1 Draft

This I believe…
Cherish the time you have with those you love
She was a very strong woman in her time. She bore 12 children and was married to a very powerful politician who passed away when my dad was at the tender age of nine. She was the best roti maker ever and I have seen the mystical patterns that she made using crochet hooks and yarn. I have heard stories about her great strength, her renowned recipes, and her card playing strategies; but I have never taste her cooking or seen the great card shark in action. My Grandmother suffered the last decade of her life with Alzheimer’s. My Grandmother spent one of the most difficult parts of her life living with my family comprised of my little sister, little brother, my parents and myself.
My Grandmother was born in Grenada and moved to Trinidad and then finally years latter began a new life Florida. My family and I at the time lived in South Carolina but visited Gran’s house pretty much every summer. I remember finding out that she was coming to live with us so we had some renovations done to the house and converted our garage into a master bedroom for her comfort. As a few months went by her memory began to deteriorate. The doctors thought it would be best if we took her back to where she was most familiar with and that was here in South Florida. We moved into her house in Florida at the beginning of summer that year.
While we lived with Gran we had to do everything for her feed her, bathe her, and dress her. It was never really all that much fun or easy especially since her joints and muscles began to stiffen. Not to mention the aggressive behavior that accompanies the mind erasing disease. One thing about my Grandmother is that she always loved to dress up. Everything had to be perfect, her hair, her nails, the outfit, shoes and pocketbook to match. And despite her forgetting some things she never forgot how much she loved to dress up. Since my sister and I were at the age where dressing up was fun for us too we didn’t mind playing nail and hair salon with our Gran.
A few years past and my Grandmother’s eldest daughter decided that she wanted to take care of her mother now. So she packed my Grandmother up and took her away. My Grandmother still lived in Florida but half an hour away. We only got to see her on the weekends, which meant that she only got her nails polished on the weekends. One weekend we went to get her but she wasn’t there my aunt explained that she put my Grandmother in a nursing home, which was my dad’s biggest fear. Since my aunt had power of attorney there was nothing we could have done about it. The nursing home had rules that you can only take the patient on weekends. Now we only got to see her every other weekend because my aunt wanted to take her on weekends too. And now Gran’s nails were done every other weekend.
As I got older we got to see our Grandmother less and less due to her mobility becoming even more difficult and my aunt insisting my Grandmother being moved to different homes which just happened to be further and further away from us. Unfortunately we made too many unconscious excuses not to go see my Grandmother and before we knew it my Grandmother developed a urinary track infection commonly known as a UTI. She was then hospitalized for a few days and then transferred to Hospice. I spent my 14th birthday in hospice with her praying she wouldn’t die or at least she wouldn’t be in any pain since should lost her ability to speak and would not have been able to tell us.
March 20th 2004 the day after my 14th birthday Gran passed away just as we entered the house that night. After that all I could have thought about was the nails on my Grandmother’s fingers. They were not done in her favorite pink colored nail polish and they were not even done to match the gowns she had to wear in hospice, they were not done at all. I reflected and cried about all the times that I could have done Gran’s nails but always found something else to do. And at that moment, that’s when I started to believe that you cannot take the moments you have with people for granted, eventually we all have to go and I never want to be in the same position that I was in with my Grandmother, regretting the fact that I didn’t take that extra five minutes out of the 1,440 minutes of the day to polish ten finger nails. You never can tell when your last moment with that one person may be so cherish the time you have with those you love and this I believe.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

In The News # 3

Since in class we are about to being out first project which is based on what someone believes. I think that this particular in the news was a great connection to the project. The first In The News was about the incident of Obama's wife making a comment about how she was proud of her country for the first time. The question is that should voters take into consideration the beliefs of the candidate's family. I think that it is important to think about what the candidates' families believe because as we discussed in class some of our personal beliefs arrive from our family's beliefs. Something like the comment Mrs. Obama made I believe was a misunderstanding therefore I would not really may much attention to what was said.

The second In The News was also about Obama. The overall article was about Obama and McCain going to ground zero and showing respects to those who were lost seven years ago today, they also agree not to campaign today. The question that arose was should Obama not campaign today because he is against the war on terrorism and Bush and McCain are not. In my opinion I think that it is sheer respect for the two candidates to forget about their differences and individual beliefs and opinions and just meet with the families that lost loved ones and act like normal everyday people. I mean yeah McCain can take this day for advantage and say see this is why we need to continue the war and play on the emotions of people but I don't think that would just be disrespecting the people who lost their lives today, their families, and all the troops ans their families. All in all I think that the candidates did a really nice thing today by not being worried about the race to the white house because today is one of if not the saddest day in America's history.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Questions for Active Reading

Questions for Active Reading pg. 73
1. The experience that changed Smiley's belief about chores was her work at the stable. Smiley introduced her change of belief in the middle of her passage, after she states why she does not view chores as a positive thing and confesses that she was never one to do chores growing up. If Smiley had introduced her experience at the beginning of the passage I would think that she would hold a different opinion about chores.
2. Smiley supports her argument about chores by giving an if then situation. the example that she used was that if a child did not vacuum the parents would still love the child despite what the child did. She also supports her argument by describing how the child would feel while doing the chores as well as after they accomplished it. She also used her husband and support as to what she believes children who do chores will end up. She states that her husband despises doing chores and tries to hurry them up so that he can go do what he enjoys.
Since Smiley's support and evidence was not scientific nor did she include statistics or facts which shows that she is not writing to people who may be able to discontinue chores for children but to an audience who may want to try to persuade their parents to not give them chores.
3. Smiley uses rhetorical questions to get her audience to form their own opinion to have a belief of their own before hearing and understanding her point-of-view. I personally agree with Smiley not only because I'm still a child myself but also because I can relate to exactly what she says about not having to lift a finger in the house. I especially agree with what she says in regards to children growing up to just finishing their chore because they have to do it and it is not something that they enjoy doing. However, on the other hand I also agree with when children grow up and have to live by themselves as a parent I think you would want to know that your child is capable of taking care of them self. And as a child I would think there comes a time in your life that you yourself will think ok I am old enough to do certain things on my own and want to feel a sense of respoisibility.

Journal # 2

The Power of Hello
http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=48202&topessays=2&start=0
One of the difference that I can still remember about my move from
South Carolina to Florida is that in South Carolina there are more
people who genuinely greet you with Hello, how are you, and it seemed
like they were really interested in how you were doing compared to some
people that you meet in Florida and greet you with the exact same four
words. And to my surprise the difference was actually a drastic change.
I’ve been living in South Florida for almost 12 years now. In Florida
people seem busy they always seem to be in a rush to do something or go
somewhere. In South Carolina their motto is “Smiling faces, Beautiful
places.”
You can never underestimate the power of hello; you never know who you
might run into one day who just needs someone to talk to no matter how
trivial the matter may be. Just as Howard White believes in greeting and
talking to anyone you may come into contact with I believe that a simple
smile can work similarly to the word hello. You also can never tell how
much a simple smile may change a person’s day. That one person may have
been having one of the worst days but just because someone smiled at
them they are forced to smile back and for a few seconds that person may
have forgotten about their awful day.

Living Life to the Fullest
http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=8415&topessays=3
I could not agree more with the author Valerie of Living Life to the
Fullest. There are so many people in the world who do not realize that
their life is a lot better than they think when they compare it to the
millions of people who don’t have food, who does not have clean running
water not to mention the other hundreds of horrifying scenarios.
I don’t expect people not to have days or moments when they think it
that they have it really bad, but when that does happen to me I try to
think of all the things that I am fortunate for, for all the things that
I am lucky to have. Usually when I it helps me to pick myself out of the
dumps and deal with the horrible situation that I am faced with.
Sometimes we have to forget about all the little things that eventually
add up to create a huge problem and live life. Enjoy what you have and
what you don’t have. For example my dad tells stories of when he was a
little boy playing with his brothers making little boats to race in the
river. He thinks that my siblings and I missed out on things like that
because of the technology that we have to occupy ourselves nowadays.
Despite his belief that we have missed out on simple things like that he
is grateful for the technology that we have today. With it we are able
to find information on just about anything in a matter of seconds
compared to the hours of research that come with the intelligence of books.
There are too many things to be thankful for. Life itself I think sums
it all up. In life I really don’t think the material things matter I
think what really matters in the memories that you build in your
lifetime. Material things can become damaged, wither away stop working,
get thrown away, stolen, or just disappear; but what stays forever are
the memories that you store forever.

Questions for Active Reading

Questions for Active Reading Page 13

1.) In my opinion I think that Powell’s purpose that he had in mind at
the time of writing his autobiography was to inform his audience of the
type of hardship that he faced regarding racism in America. I think that
he also wanted to tell his audience that people are not automatically
handed a prestigious position as Powell acquired, but people have to
work hard to get to where they want to be, and many times it isn’t easy.
Powell tried to achieve his purposes by introducing where he came from
and transitioning that to where he was going to go and describing how he
was told to behave in his new state. He also achieved his purpose by
describing himself as a player on the field and how he was going to play
if he could only play on one side of the field.
Two examples from the reading to support how Powell achieved his
purposes are “Davis had gotten himself into trouble in the South,
Brookhart said, because he had tried to buck the system. The colonel was
telling me, in effect, not to rock the boat, to be a “good
Negro.””(Powell, b. 1937). This quote taken from the passage shows how
Powell describes the racism that he will face when he moves into the
South. This other quote shows that Powell was not prepared to just stay
there and take the racism, “…I was not going to let bigotry make me a
victim instead of a full human being. I occasionally felt hurt; I felt
anger but most of all I felt challenged. I’ll show you!”
2.) I think that Powell intended audience was people who think they are
being faced with something unfair or believe that they cannot accomplish
something based on their status or level in life. I recommend this
reading to anyone who once had a dream to become more than what they are
and have somewhere along the line become faced with a huge challenge and
somehow gave up on their dream.
3.) If I were to describe the writer I would say that his tone is
thankful at the beginning of the passage. However it does change to
innocent towards the middle of the passage and then finally ends as
determined when he realizes that he is always going to be faced with
racism if he does not stand up and do something about it.
I admire Colin Powell for all the hardships and times that he has had to
face throughout his life and then be able to hold such a prominent
position. I do not think that one can fully appreciate someone unless
they know that person’s background. If you don’t really know where the
person comes from or what the person has done I don’t think you can form
a true opinion about the person. Since I did not know much about
Powell’s background I did not admire him as much as I do now that I have
read this passage from his autobiography.



Questions for Active Reading Page 19


1.) I think that Goldberg’s purpose of this excerpt was to inform people
that it is not always easy to just begin to write. For most people that
is the case. Her solution to that problem is to just continue to write
no matter how awkward it may sound.
One thing within the reading that that identifies her purpose is that
she focused on not worrying about how your writing comes out and just
let it flow onto the paper.
2.) While writing I think that Goldberg’s intended audience was probably
students who are discouraged by the way their writing comes out
naturally, as well as people who are interested in starting to write.
Audiences who may not benefit from this passage would be people who are
not at all interested in writing and perhaps people who are beyond this
level of writing that Goldberg is describing.
3.) Goldberg’s subject is writing, mainly the beginning of writing when
your ideas first start to generate and you need to get it onto paper.
Her subject based on people is those who are starting to write but may
feel that the beginning of their writing is off to a rough start.
Her attitude towards the subject is very understanding, optimistic. She
has a don’t give up just continue and it will get better type of
attitude. She tries to give advice to the new writers and she also gives
an example of one of her best students that went through the same
problem and how he was able to overcome it.


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Journal # 1"Rhetorical situation"

· Describe the situation that made you feel a need to respond in writing.
There are some situations in which one may feel compelled to reply to a comment or a situation for a number of reasons. Perhaps it was to prove a point, to or ask a follow up question or even to inform. My situation was slightly different in some matters. In the International Baccalaureate Program, the program which I was in demanded that throughout your two years in the program you develop this sophisticated style of writing and at the end of the year you write two types of papers. At the end of my senior year I wrote a comparative study on two novels.

· Why did you decide to respond in writing instead of taking some other action or not responding at all?
I had to respond in writing not only because it was part of the criteria but also because I wanted to inform myself about my writing abilities and to persuade the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) that their program did teach me to become a better writer.

· What type or genre of writing did you use to communicate your purpose, and why did you choose this genre?
The genre that of writing that I used to communicate was a comparative study of two novels:
House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, and So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ. I happen to choose this type of genre because I felt that I was able to use it to best portray my knowledge of the two pieces of literature as well as my writing abilities.

· Who was your audience and what kind of relationship did you want to establish with your readers?
My intended audience was the members of the International Baccalaureate Organization. The type of relationship that I wanted to institute was a professional and scholarly as well as an informative affiliation.

· What was your purpose in writing? Did you feel you accomplished this purpose?
I had two purposes to my writing. The first one was to prove to myself that my writing has improved drastically due to the techniques that my English teacher taught and through the genres of writing that IB implemented within their curriculum.

My second purpose of my writing was to prove to the members of the IBO that their promulgated curriculum was beneficial in improving writing.


·
What knowledge of the context and culture did you draw on to guide your writing?
The title of my writing was called
Subliminal Writings: The role of the Journals and Letters in the House of the Spirits and So Long a Letter. My overall thesis was that the authors secretly gave attention to genres of writing within their novel. Within my writing I drew attention to the styles of writing the two authors used. I took into consideration the time periods that they were written in and if the style of writings were popular at the time that they were written. The authors Allende and Bâ had two different cultures within their novels in which I took note of and established that because of their cultural upbringings they inserted the use of writings differently.

· How is thinking about your writing as responding to a “rhetorical situation” different from other ways to think about the writing you do?
In using “rhetorical situation” you think about what you did intentionally about your writing, whereas the other times you think about your writing you are usually thinking about it before you begin your writing process or as you write or when you are editing your writing. Usually at those times you do not focus on the details that rhetorical situations demand you think about such as factors which can affect your writing or the context which may be affected my time period, location, and current events. Even if the writer does think about those things it is not really thought about intentionally it is usually just part of the writing process that the writer goes through to be able to finish the writing.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

In The News- Drugs,and Fairness in the Olympics

The Olympics is something which people train years and years for. Many people train naturally while others use technology or medicine to help enhance their performance. This is something that I disagree with. I view the Olympics as the ultimate test for an athlete's natural ability. To be able to make it into the Olympics is an honor itself.
I view using various sorts of technology and medication as a form of cheating. It helps you to do better than you natural ability. It is not fair that one person within the entire competition is able to have an advantage especially when the winner is a difference of a matter of a split second. If one person has that advantage everyone competing should have the same treatment.