End of the year blog

1.) How were you able to use the blog (e.g. as a thinking tool, space for exploration, place to gather responses from peers, etc.)?
I was able to use the blog as a way to share my ideas with the rest of the class. I used the comments other students left me to revise my ideas.

2.) How did your blog posts connect with and/or enhance your learning?
It did not enhance my learning at all. The only thing it did was force me to actually read the information so that I could respond to the blog assignments.

3.) What, if anything, do you like about blogging?
I did not like the blogging. It was too much for me to remember. I would rather have face to face discussions in class to help me better understand the information.

4.) How did you apply the evaluation & suggestions I gave you in the mid-term evaluation?
I just continued how I had been doing my blog posts the way I was doing before because I got a pretty good evaluation.

Proposal Paper

For my proposal paper I am going to write about standardized testing. In the state of Virginia we have to take SOL's and I think that these tests are hindering the children's learning. Teachers get evaluated based on the scores their students receive on these types of tests. So now a days it feels like teachers are just teaching so their students do well on the standardized tests rather than teaching them valuable information that they will use later on in life. It is going to be really hard to find sources for me to site becuase this is a pretty recent issue. My mom is a teacher so I think I am going to do a personal interview with her and use that in my paper.

The Hardest of the Hardcore

From the very beginning of this essay I was hooked on reading it. The author used words like "killed", "mutilated", and "hung" to grab the attention of the reader. The author uses the word civilian meaning the mercenaries. But when I think of civilian I think of a person just like me. Mercenary means a person that has previously been in the armed forces who still performs tasks for the military. I do not agree with the use of mercenaries. The use of mercenaries causes a great loss of money. Mercenaries are not counted as members of the armed forces or the militias. With the use of mercenaries, militias, and the regular military there are more casualties counted. some of those casualties could be avoided. I think the only people that should fight in a war or defend a country in any way have to be part of a militia group or a member of one of the five branches of the military.

While channel surfing today I came across a commercial for Maybelline Mineral Make-up commercial. The commercial shows a young adult female clearing off her make up shelf of all the pore clogging liquid make up. The commercial for the new mineral make up claims that using the make up will make your skin look fresh. The rhetorical aim and logos of this commercial can be explained by the phrase "Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline." That catchphrase makes females want to buy this product because they want to wear make-up without people being able to tell they are wearing make-up. The ethos in this commercial comes from the speakers character. She is wearing the make up and you can barely tell and she seems to really believe in what she is advertising. The pathos, or emotion, in this commercial i think comes sole from the actress in the commercial. She seems to really believe in the product and by the way it makes her skin looks makes others want there skin to look the same.
This commercial can also appeal to males. The actress in the commercial is a beautiful girl. If a male were to see this they would want their girlfriend or wives to look the same way.

Formal essay prep

I am not quite sure sure exactly how I am going to write this paper. I probably won't until it comes down to writing it and revising it. I definitely plan on incorporating main some of the main points we discussed in class such as consumerism- like how colleges are becoming more business like and the strategies they are using to get more people interested in their school, the classical view of education vs. the utilitarian view of education, commercialism, and many others. i think the hardest part to writing this essay is going to keep it focused on the main points. There are so many different lessons being discussed din the essay that it will be hard to focus on just a few. also it will be difficult to condense a summary to the word requirement for an essay that is itself eleven pages. While reading the chapter I discovered many ways to start an essay like this and make it effective. To be successful on this essay assignment I will definitely have to take my time and dedicate my work into doing so.

On the uses of a Liberal Education

I found this essay very thought provoking. Along with thought provoking there was also a little humor in the essay. The essay was written in a formal format but it was written with a semi-informal style because the audience is college students. The essay is written in a conversational type first person. Although it was a really long essay it was pretty easy to read and understand. I thought his examples of how there was no enthusiasm in his class and the poor participation was dead on. I know that this is not true in every class, but in some classes people are afraid to speak up or answer a controversial issue because someone might criticize them or disagree with them. I also like how he quotes himself in the paper, it makes it more real and easier to relate too. I definitely enjoyed reading this except for the face that it was so long. Before writing my paper I will definitely have to read it a couple more times to make sure i did not miss anything.

Descriptions of the same scene

My Dorm Room
Favorable View: When you open the door to my dorm room you are greeted with a great array of colors; colors on the floor, walls, and beds. There is a sweet aroma of a mixture of Ralph Lauren HOT and a variety of Victoria Secret perfume. Looking around there are clothes thrown all over the place but none on the floor. Moving further into the room you see a TV set sitting in clear view of every seat in the room. Behind the TV is a huge mirror perfecting for ready in the mornings in. Right in front of the mirror is a big make-up box, filled with enough make-up for about 15 girls. In the middle of the room there is a large metal shelf. The shelf is a very handy, it hold books, snack, and a fish named Marley. Getting a little more nosey if you open the closets, you will find two very jammed packed closets, overflowing with shoes and clothes. You can definitely tell this is a girl’s dorm room.

Unfavorable View: When you first open the door to my dorm you are greeted by a rush of hot air. The lack of central air conditioning really makes the room burning hot. You will also quickly feel the hard tile floor underneath your feet. You will also notice the size of the room, smaller than any room two people should live in together. There is barely room to move around much. When you finally walk onto the carpet you might get a little grossed out about how dirty the rug is. With no vacuum it is really hard to rug, so it is normally covered in hair, leaves, grass, and other unknown things. You better watch out for the cable cord running along the floor. You follow the cord to find a TV the size of about your computer screen that looks like it is from the early 1990’s. Hopefully you have no allergies when you come into this room the smell of perfume is so strong I even sneeze. You can definitely tell this is a college freshman’s dorm room.

Self-Reflection: Doing this assignment made me look at thing in a different way. Also it made me think of ways to describe everyday things so that a reader can easily get a picture in their mind. Writing those descriptions made me concentrate on the angle of vision I was trying to portray with each paragraph. Because my scene was something I would describe in a favorable view I had to look at it like I was a different person who did not like my room. It was much easier to do the favorable description.

Loose Change

The angle of vision for the first chapter of Loose Change is definitely from one that is educated and political. The first chapter tries to answer any questions that Americans have about the 9/11 terrorists attacks. After the 9/11 attacks there were so many questions about if the terrorist attack could have been prevented. Some Americans believe that there is no reason a person who is not an American citizen can destroy our country while in our country using our air planes. A lot of the questions were about who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The aim of this movie is definitely for educated Americans who still have questions about 9/11. I think this movie really reaches is prospective audience.

Angles of Vision

Angles of vision is what the author "sees" while he is telling the story. Part of the story can be left out because the author does not "see" it. What is "seen" by the author can be determined by the age, race, and gender of the author. I want to know how the author determines what he wants the reader to "see?" How do authors do such a good job describing the scene so it is like we are seeing the story unfold right in front of us?
I really like the example used in the text about how you would describe a Friday night to a friend versus how you would describe it to your grandma. I think it really puts into perspective what angle of vision is. Because if you go to a party on Friday night you definitely will leave out if you drink or hook up with a boy when your talking to your grandma. When describing the Friday night to your best friend you will probably not leave out any of those juicy details. I definitely think the angle of vision can really make a story.

Arthus Miller Essay

While i was reading Arthur Miller's Essay "Get it Right. Privatize Executions" I had to giggle to myself in my head. Although I completely agree with the message Miller was writing about, the satirical way he presented it gave me a laugh. Capital Punishment and executions are a very controversial topic in today's society. Some people completely disagree with the death penalty. i do not believe Miller is one of those people that disagrees with the death penalty, however I believe he wants the executions to be more private.
In the essay Miller is poking fun at the lack of privacy during executions. Stating that they are so open right now that they might as well be displayed in a stadium and charge a large admission fee so at least they are making money out of it.
Personally I agree that there should a death penalty. Murderers need to penalized for the crimes they have committed and the only punishment close to justice is the death penalty. I do also agree with Miller, the executions should be made more private. Friends and families of the convict do not want the execution of the friend or family member to be put on display for the world to see.
All in all, the satirical way Miller wrote this essay really made his point. It was much more enjoyable to read then if he was just stating his belief

Thesis response to "Volleyball’s Identity Must Shift"

Thesis statements are the backbone of a piece of writing. A thesis statement sets the stage for the rest of the paper. In the article "Volleyball’s Identity Must Shift" the thesis statement of "The senior class that graduated in May was one the James Madison University volleyball team won’t soon forget." blatantly stated what the article was about. This is a strong thesis and leaves no question ion mind. Clearly, the article is going to be about the seniors that graduated from the JMU volleyball team.
Thesis statements are very important to a piece of writing. Thesis statements shortly describe what the paper is going to be about. If a piece of writing does not have an interesting thesis readers will not be intrigued to read the paper. In this article the thesis statement catches the audience's attention because you want to know why the players will not be forgotten. The rest of the article describes what the players brought to the team including statistics and other specialities the the two graduating seniors brought to the volleyball team.
Thesis statements often propose an arguement. It is the authors side of the arguement. In this article the thesis is not a side of an arguement however. This thesis is almost like a topic sentence and describes what the article is going to be about. In the case of this article this is a strong thesis because you know exactly what the article is going to be about and you get interested very quickly. It makes you want to read the rest of the article