Final Post :)

Throughout the course of the semester my personal views on blogging has not changed very much, although I did learn more things that I do not like about blogging. I did not like having to read, then start my computer and get on just to write about what I read, when we always discussed it in class anyways. Nick did bring up a good point in saying that this is a writing class so I respect it in that way, but I would prefer to write what I thought about the reading in my own words, not forcing it to be 500 words or so when I feel that I covered the point in less than 500 words. I felt that I would get redundant and my writing would start to trail off when trying to achieve 500 words. I understand that this may be the only way people interact with others in the classroom by responding to others blog entries, but that is not teaching them people skills that they will need in the real world. I like interacting in the class room and talking to people face to face while discussing topics to get the full context from their facial expressions and body language, but with the blog you have to assume that language along with what they are trying to say. I feel it is easier to understand what a person wants to say in person.

A blog, to me, is still a portal for people to write whatever they feel like, whenever they feel like it. After writing about 20 blogs I still do not perceive them as a learning tool. I still see it as a myspace or facebook page. People decorate them all cute and post pictures; I just do not see how that relates to the classroom and the topics we discussed on here. I still agree with my first blog when saying that a blog is used mostly for hate crimes and people to discuss their personal views on others. I can see how some people use it to keep in touch with other far away friends and maybe family members, but not a learning tool. Even when our class used it for classroom purposes, people still personalized them and had discussions not related to class through responding.

I also had some problems with blogging when it came time to do the homework. I did not understand fully what I was to be writing about, or what exactly the point was that I was trying to make. When it came time to respond to other people’s in class it became very clear that I either was on the same page or not. Also when responding I did not like how it had to be formal writing and about 50 words. We use formal writing in the blog and in our papers, but when we are responding and making suggestions to others I do not understand why that writing had to be formal as well.

Discrimination is a Virtue

Robert Keith Miller's essay "Discrimination is a Virtue" is a good thing to read and consider before looking at the upcoming presidential candidates. Miller states in his essay that discrimination is used wrong in today's society. The actual meaning is "the ability to tell the difference", not "racist" as most people in this generation grew up knowing it to mean. It is important to consider how to use the word since both presidential candidates are "minorities" in America; Hilary Clinton being a female, and Barack Obama a African American male. In order to discriminate the right way in this situation would be not looking at their race, or gender, but really listening to what they are saying and "being able to tell the difference" in your opinion. People are discriminating in a wrong sense by judging baised race and gender, some of them not even listening to what they are saying before they make their accusation.

Visual Intrepretation

imgurl=http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/8633/screenhunter5rs8.jpg&imgrefurl=http://micpohling.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/world-morale-euthanasia/&h=324&w=376&sz=29&hl=en&start=12&um=1&tbnid=tl-gbgyH0dbKYM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deuthanasia%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

The graph shown above represents different countries and their views on Euthanasia, 10 being they agree and 0 being they do not agree. As seen 17 of the countries listed on the graph are over a 5, meaning more of that particular country agrees, while the other 11 countries are below a 5. Also shown is that non of the countries are completely against Euthanasia since non of them are at a 2, 1, or 0. The graph is representing how more and more countries are becming more open to helping their citizens who are terminally ill and are in great pain.

If Black English isnt a Language, Tell me what is

James Baldwin writes about how language is everywhere. It is how we communicate with one another, whether it is spoken words, hand gestures, or even clicks with the tongue, it is a form of communication and is different through out the world. In Spain were Spanish is the native language, it is still different from the Spanish used in Mexico or even South America. In England they use different dialects depending on what area they are in. Some words do not even exist in the same places. Even in America we can see all the different dialects. We have the southerns and northers, easterners, and westerners, and within each segment there are even more dialects. If the Cajuns are able to speak their guttural language, Baldwin states why cant the black have their language. It becomes modernized or censored by the white folks. Everyone wants to pretend to be a hard core rapper in LA, when they live in Orange County. The whites take the words they say and use them in everyday language as well, only when they do it they hide the real meanings and make it sound not as bad. If everyone else is allowed to speak their dialect without other people trying to sensor it or modernize it, why cant black language be the same.

CRAAP Test

The article "Feline Reactions to Bearded Men" did not pass the CRAAP test by any means. The article was written in 1999 and the evidence they used to support their web site was over ten years old, and over forty years in some sources. They use idiotic things such as pictures of cats being shown pictures of bearded men, and they are said to have reactions to them as opposed to non bearded men. The headline on the web site is even "Research that makes you laugh then think", that does not sound formal or accurate. Also it would be interesting to know who wants to use this information. It does not seem like it would be very relevant to researchers or students, maybe for humor, but nothing else.

http://www.improb.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html

Right to Fail

In the article “The Right to Fail” I think the title speaks for itself. People do in fact have a right to fail. Society over the years has taught us that going to college and getting a huge luscious office is the only way to prove you are successful. Now people are starting to realize that they can have success in their own individual ways. There is no longer a definite “right” or “wrong” answer. People have the right to find happiness and succeed in the peace core, or in a prestigious corner office. They also have the right to fail as many times as it takes to find what suits them the best.

This article relates to my family and I because Zinsser uses the idea that people learn what is “acceptable” and “unacceptable” thru their parents, and their parents. When my mom wanted to be the first in her whole family to go to college the rest of the family looked down on her and said that it was a waste of time and money because she would not amount to anything anyways. My dad on the other hand had to apply to every college in the book and make straight A’s in order for his parents to consider them their son. The line Zinsser uses for this example is the kids whispering “What if I fail?” and the parents response being “Don’t”. My mother ended up getting more scholarship money for academics then my dad did for football, and she came out with a higher degree. She found her success in doing her school work and getting a good degree, while my dad found his success in playing sports and then focusing on getting a degree. When it came time for me to choose what I wanted to do with my life I took both of their stories into consideration to figure out my own individual outcome of what I thought of as success.

I have failed more times in my life that I would like to actually admit to, but the ironic thing was I did learn from every single slip-up. I am a product of my mother and take pride in my grades and doing well in school. I find success in working towards getting two masters degrees, just as much as a peace core person find success in helping other people.

Success is defined in many different ways and it is up to the individual to fail a couple times in order to find out what they truly consider their own success.

Logical Fallacies

In the article " Vegas clinic may have sickened thousands", the title already portrays a fallacy. MAY HAVE sickened thousands, says who?? This is an example of Begging the Question, Appeal to Improper Authority/ Appeal to Biased Authority, and Hasty Generalization. It is considered begging the question because the author is assuming that there are thousands infected. It is appeal to improper authority/ appeal to biased authority because the author never says where he got his facts from an authority that proved it was thousands infected. Also a hasty generalization because he could, and probably is, exaggerating.

The discovery led to the biggest public health notification operation in U.S. history.....
This sentence is also a hasty generalization because how does this author know this is the biggest public health notification in U.S. history?

Bell said such improper procedures appear to be more common in outpatient surgical centers like the endoscopy center. Unlike hospitals, such centers often do not have employees whose sole responsibility is to monitor and educate staff on best practices.
This is an example of Straw Man because the author is putting down the outpatient centers in a way saying this infection amoung thousands happened because it was an outpatient not a hospital where the staff is more responsible because they have less responsibilities.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/5595894.html

Middle-Schoolers Get the Pill

In "Middle-Schoolers Get the Pill" one point of view is that these children in middle schools who are between the ages of 11 and 13 and who are getting condoms without their parents knowing is wrong. No child of this age should be having sex, and especially should not be getting condoms through a school without their parents even knowing. It is wrong. A counterargument to this issue is the fact that 17 girls have already been reported pregnant in one middle school, so the school feels it has a right to give out condoms to aviod these pregnantcies.

Another point of view besides the kids being so young, is this awareness is traveling across the nations and more middle schools are starting to do it as well. They say it is because some of these girls are 14 and 15 and have already encountered sex. The schools believe they are getting a fair and equal opportuinty by letting these young girls get condoms to reduce STD's and pregnantcies. As "smart" as this sounds the counterarguement is this is just as absured as giving low-tar cigarettes to teens. Society does not want them smoking, so we make it illegal. Why is this so hard to do with 11 year olds having sex?!

One point I think was over looked was where are the parents in this. Why are the parents not teaching their kids about not having sex at such a young age? Also, how do the parents not know that the schools are giving out condoms and not check to see if their kids have some and if they do talk to them about it?

Rhetorical Analysis Reflection

My rhetorical analysis paper was over the essay "On Dumpster Diving" by Lars Eighner. In my paper I talked about how he used logos, pathos, and ethos to express how he lived from a Dempsey Dumpster. He used logos to show us what was safe and unsafe to eat, ethos to express his feelings about other scroungers, and pathos for things he learned about humans through what they consider trash. My paper was ok but had a lot of errors. My thesis lacked clarity and I had quite a few punctuation and grammar mistakes. The grammar mistakes could have been fixed before I turned in my paper if I evaluated it a little more carefully and having someone else read the whole thing before I turn it in. My ideas also did not flow perfectly with the main point. This could have been avoided again by a better evaluation and by taking my ideas a step further than just what is on the surface. My main focus for the rest of my papers is to make sure my silly grammar mistakes are caught before the final draft and have others read my paper to make sure my ideas are clear and precise with the main point. I also think I should have picked a better way to write my last paragraph about how Eighner used pathos for the things he learned through the trash. Even though he talked about it, I did not have enough to write about to make it a well structured paragraph and that could have been avoided by finding something he talked a little more about, like the food situation and the other scroungers. Another kind of big problem I had was sentence structure. My sentences made sense by themselves but did not complement each other when I put them together in a paragraph.

Even though I had some flaws, since I am only human, my paper also had some good points. Throughout my whole paper I engaged the audience the whole time, and I also used good examples from the book and cited them as well. I felt like I could relate to him more since I am from Texas and I have heard of his story before. University of Texas is only three hours away from my house and we have swim meets there every march and July, also a lot of my friends go there and their parents and grand parents went there as well. I have heard of his story from one of my dad's friends even though it obviously was not as real as when you read it from Eighner first hand. I felt like a had a better understanding going into this paper since I already knew what I was reading.

Overall I think my paper was good, but can always be better. I need to focus more on grammar mistakes that should not have happened, and putting sentences together better to make my point clear. I also need to make sure that even though I used good examples and kept the audiences attention, I can not forget that in my next paper.

Plato and Ferire

In Ferire's "Banking Concept of Education" he presents the idea of learning being a two way street. Not only are the students learning from their teacher, but in reverse the teacher is learning from the students as well. He looks at students as not being inferior to the teacher on some kind learning level, and the teacher not being as superior as some were taught. In this type of setting where infact the teacher is superior and knows all, the student, inferior, gets information by memorizing it not actually learning it. Its one thing to memorize information to pass the test, but there is a whole nother level beyond that, actually learning it and understanding the concept. Ferire wants the students to be able to learn the way that is best for them and be prepared for real world ecperiences. He wants them to be well rounded, not just memorizing machines.

In Plato's "Allagory of the Cave", he states that people can be ignorant in learning by only seeing one side and not getting the whole picture. People should be open to new information rather than critisize them when they state something that people have never seen before. For example when the prisoners are in the cave they hear echos and see shadows leading them to believe that the shadows are some creature and the echos are its noises. When one prisoner is released into the light to see that it is not true, the shadows are from people and the voices are echos, the other prisoners say hes mad because his eyes are adjusting to the light from outside to coming back into the cave so he must have not seen correctly. This Plato says is the iggnorance. We learn through reasoning and asking questions not just believeing one side to every story.

Both of theses stories clearly state that we all learn from eachother. Teachers learn from students just as well as students learn from teachers. People need to think open mindedly or experience things for themselves, your not going to learn everything from seeing one side, or from memorization. Being ignorant to information just because its new is no way to go through life, question it untill you get your satisfaction in an answer.

Sythesis Unemployment

Sythesis, as stated in our book, is just a "combination of two tings that presents them anew". They are not quite compare and contrast but come close. In sythesis you are forced to have the ability to make "leaps from differences/similarities to critical claims in both texts".



In "Roger & Me", Micheal Moore expresses how devistating unemployment was in his home town Flint, Michigan, through a documentary. Most unemployment occurs because the company does not have sufficient amount of money to pay all of the workers, and still maintain their output, as we can see in the film "Roger & Me". The author of the article "Model of Keynesian Depression, Involuntary Unemployment" states that "reducing supple eliminates the excess supply of commodities by throwing the burden of excess supply back on the labor market. Thus output and employment give way before proces do". This is why, firtst off, that so many people got laid off from General Moters, and second why it took so long for the town of Flint to get itself back on the map after the closing of GM. Once the people are laid off they are in such demand for money to get out of unemployment, but their expectations are too high when they try to get back into the force, they ultimatly fail agian. "One major problem is the level of money income is too low to provide for full employment".

Companies are too consumed with maintaining their output at a high level and make more money than having to spend in employee wages. This is ultimatly why General Motors started laying off workers in "Roger & Me". Its a shame, but it is the harsh reality.

Unemployment

In the article posted above, "Model of a Keynesian depression, Involuntary Unemployment", talks about how we can look at the relationship between people getting paid the wage they are supposed to get, and the wages they are getting from the company, as equilibrium. If both money and wages go down at the same time they are still in equilibrium, but this is obviously not the case since unemployment does exist in our world. The author states that the company cannot afford to lower prices by 10% and still be able to produce outcome, this is why people are laid off. The company or firm does not have a sufficient amount of money to pay for all the workers, and still maintain their output. "Reducing supply eliminates the excess supply of commodities by throwing the burden of excess supply back on the labor market. Thus, output and employment give way before prices do". People are in such a demand for money to get out of unemployment, but their expectations are too high when they try to get back into the work force, and they ultimately fail again. If, with the system in this state, money wages do not give way and the money supply is not increased, the economy will remain at this level of unemployment indefinitely. One major problem though is the level of money income is too low to provide for full employment. I believe this relates to "Roger & Me" because the companies are too consumed with the output their company is providing, and they would rather keep that level high and make more than having to spend it on employees. This is why they start laying people off and closing companies. It is a shame, but it is the harsh reality. Companies have to look out for their profit, no matter what it takes.

http://wf2la3.webfeat.org/

Wolfgang's Use of Pathos

In the cartoon Woflgang uses pathos obvioulsy through pictures the most, but also through very few words. It starts off as what seems to be a old man who has just past and his soul is trying to find its way to "heaven". You see first it visits what looks like him reading to someone else. As the ghost of the old man moves on he travels through the town and it seems to be different parts of his life, only backwards. He finally sees him as a boy and the boy tells him that hes on the road to being dead, and there is no such thing as heaven, "everything just goes black", is how they explain it. When the old man gets mad that hes not going to heaven, which he considered the "pay-off", the angel on his left says that living life in dignity is the reward and the devil explains living life in shame is a punishment. Not only does Woflgang use funny illustrations as pathos, but also some words to describe what I guess he feels is life after death.

The Southland

"The Southland", written by Henry Miller, was written for people to see there is more than one way to look at the South. He sees the South as being able to raise again from what they were, "A new South is being born. The old South was ploughed under. But the ashes are still warm". He uses extrodinary imagery when he talks of the battle between the North and South, "I have stood on many battle fields...but when I stand beside the graves of the dead in our own South the horror of war assails me with desolating poignancy". Not only does it appear that he is for the South or possibly a southerner, but he questions why the war was even fought, and how the South is being posiened by the North. He talks of the North and South history and compares it to other nations parts of histoy, such as Rome and China. In the story Miller relies mostly on pathos for the imagery of the South and how he compares it, and ethos for how he relates the South to other nations through history .

Blog Analysis

After reading my classmates blong's and taking in the diversity of everyone I decided to do Susanne's, not because we have the same background on our blogs, but because I love reading the way she thinks and acknowledge's different topics we dicusss. I agree with alot of her views and the way she writes is amazing. I noticed she is a very smart girl by the way she writes and expresses her views. She uses a higher vocabulary and states things clearly. The way it is organized impressed me as well. The fact she is from Germany makes me want to get to know her better because my grandparents came here from Germany and I would love to go there someday. I am also assuming because she picked the pink background that she is girly and likes pink, but thats only going off of the fact that thats why I picked it :D

Tan's reading assignment

After reading Anne Tan's story "Mother Tounge", I came to the realization that language is viewed differently by different people. I will be completely honest and say, before I read this story, I had no respect for the way Chinese people spoke. It annoyed me, it made me feel like, how Tan put it, "broken". I thought if you came over here to get a job and a better career, why cant you speak my language better? I realized now that I was very wrong for thinking that. I was too consumed in my own world to even come to the rehlm of thinking, maybe thats how some child, such as Tan, looked at the way their mother or sister or cousin spoke as beautiful and intregueing. It felt like comfort to them. When they heard that soothing vioce it made them feel like nothing was wrong with the world, let alone the way theys spoke. I have alot more respect for the background behind why people speak the way they do, wheather it be broken or not and I have "Mother Tounge" to thank for that.

What a Blog is, should, and could be...

After reading the blog posted on Nick's page, I noticed that a blog is just an open diary for everyone to share and express their feelings on any topic they wish. I do not agree that people should be able to post whatever they want about violance towards others and other hate crimes. I think blogger and other blogging web sites should have sensors to these sensitive issues. Its not fair for someone to say they hate someone else because of religion and race, I thought we were past that, we should be past that. If you were freinds with someone before you knew what their sexual preference was, why does it change when you find out they are gay or bi? I also disagree with people being able to share this way because not only are they telling eachother how much they hate others, but they are targeting it towards younger kids to pick up on. Even though its dumb, adolenent minds are like a sponge and they will do anything to fit in, even if it means being hateful. I really dont see the point of putting others down on a web page when hearing about the acts of violence through the news is bad enough. A private journal at home should be a place for people to write about how they feel about others, not a public blog. A blog could be a cool place for people to write down some thoughts and ideas and see what others had to say thats not offensive. It could very well also be a place for people to catch up with others and see how their life is going. I just dont understand why people feel the need to express some of the crap they do.

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