Blog Reflection- 12/4

Well, to be perfectly honest, when I heard that we had to do blogging I was not too happy. I am the most technologically impaired person I have met- I don't really like computers nor do I know how to work them or the internet all too well. But, once we got it set up and started doing the posts I began to like it more. Not only did I learn how to blog (and what exactly it was), but I was able to read other people's assignment reflections, and what they wrote about, which was nice because it gave another person's insights and ideas into something. I'm not sure if blogging really "enhanced" my learning, per say, but it opened my eyes to the "blogging world" and to different ideas that fellow peers blogged about. I think that blogging is kind of cool because you could be able to keep an online diary, but overall I don't think I really like it that much. As for the midterm evaluation, I would definitely have to agree that when I'm not trying to sound intelligent my point comes across clearer. I think that I have been trying to work with that not only in the blogs but also my papers, which I'm not too too sure is a good idea, but we'll see! Anyways, overall blogging for me was a learning experience. 

Ideas for Proposal 11/10

Earlier this evening I had absolutely no idea what to write this proposal paper about so I called my mom and asked if she had any good ideas. Well, my parents like to give advice and it can get really annoying- "do the problem with the economy! It's so interesting!" Blah, blah. So then I realized that I wanted to write about teenage rebellion. I figure we've all gone through it so I have at least had some first hand experience, but I've also realized where my parent's were coming from when they put all those restrictions and rules confining me to my house by 9:30 every Friday night when I was younger, and gradually giving me more freedom. I think that the problem that I'll discuss will be that of teenage rebelliousness and how teenagers go through the stage of not listening to their parents and doing everything just to spite them. I'll talk about why we do this using my opinions as well as official doctors, etc.  Then to finish my paper I'll talk about different solutions- what parent's can do, what kids can do, and why parent's put restrictions on us and how in the long run we can actually benefit from it. I'm not sure if "we" actually benefit from the rules, but I know that I did and that I'll probably want to raise my kids very similar to the way that my parents are raising my siblings and I right now. 

"The Hardest of the Hardcore": Let's Outlaw Hired Guns in Contemporary American Warfare

After reading this I was a little confused as to what its purpose was. Was this article proposing a solution to a problem or just addressing a problem? Primarily I only really saw the background information, theses put in different paragraphs to keep reiterating it's main point, and the information used to back up the idea that action must be taken to outlaw hired contractors. Then I read the "Thinking Critically" part and it became a little clearer that his paper was "almost entirely devoted to showing that a problem exists." If he hasn't convinced people that there is a problem with the civilian contractors, than I don't know what his paper does. He stated that there was a problem and gave multiple reasons as to why it is a problem. It almost got boring because after the 3rd or 4th point he didn't need to convince me anymore, I had gotten the point. I think that after that he could have proposed some solutions.  This would have made me want to become more involved and learn more because there would have been a point that I could've started with to solve this problem. All in all though I learned something new, and I guess that although this is considered a "planning proposal" type of essay, I don't think that I will necessarily choose this type of writing in my next paper. 

Issue in the US- Brainstorming 10/15

This actually took me a very long time to think of a current issue in the US that I would be interested in writing about. At first I thought of abortion, or the election, then I moved on to crime and, yes, fishing. Then, when I was flipping through a magazine I realized that I'm quite interested in learning about eating disorders- eating too much, eating too little, exercising too much, exercising too little. It's all really quite interesting. It also sort of hits home a bit because I've seen a lot of my close friends and relatives go through troubles with their weight and it will be interesting to learn about the effects of magazines and TV shows have on people, while at the same time 60 million Americans are considered obese. There's plenty of information on this topic and I'm interested in it, so I hope that I'm on the right track. 

Angle of Vision- 10/13

First of all, let me get it out there that I am not a smoker. I think that it's bad for you and in no way pleasures you at all. However, my dad's a smoker so I see the "I'm just really stressed side"; I have friends who say they have a cigarette "only when I'm drinking," etc. For this assignment I chose an image of a smokers lung. The image is a poster of a disintegrated, discolored lung with the words "Smoker's Lung" in white capital letters across the top. This image shows only what happens to a smoker's lung when they smoke- it never brings up the idea that they were stressed, and at the time it made them feel happier or more relieved. The angle of vision is telling you that smoking is bad because it destroys your lungs, it's telling you what happens on the inside, rather than addressing the reasons why you smoked that cigarette. This photo appeals to logos because the point that this image is trying to make is quite clear- smoking is bad for you. The image itself may not be totally credible because no where on the poster do you see the source cited; however, it came from the Boston University website, making it more credible to the viewer. If the viewer is a non smoker than it will most likely appeal to them; however, if they are a smoker they probably won't appreciate it and they'll reject, or on the other hand they may appreciate the awareness and stop smoking. The image of the destroyed lung shows what happens to smokers, but it never addresses what led the person to smoke. 

Classical Arguments- 10/8

This chapter was especially interesting to me because in my Gcom class we are getting really close to the date that our presentations are due. I thought that it was a neat concept that there are two parts of an argument: the truth seeking part and the persuasion part. Once the book tells us these two different parts of an argument it is easy to think of examples of each; however, if this chapter had not brought that to my attention I wouldn't have ever thought of it. Argument, they say, is both a process and a product- gathering information and contributing to that debate. An argument isn't just stating your claim, as many students think, but its collecting data to back up that claim and then presenting it in a way which will persuade the audience through clear, calm evidence. Later on in the chapter the STAR criteria is introduced to us: seeing that there is sufficient evidence, representative and relevant examples, and accurate and up to date data and evidence. I think that the STAR criteria is also useful in developing a speech as well as an argumentative paper. All in all I liked what the chapter said and think it will be useful for not only future papers but future speeches as well. 

Freewriting about Formal Response- 9/29

As of right now I'm still not sure whether my final paper will be based upon my agreement or disagreement with the arguments that Edmundson puts forth in his essay "On the Uses of a Liberal Education." So far I see two main points/arguments that Edmundson develops throughout the essay: 1. Today, universities are catering to students through fancy facilities, etc., more so than through the qualities of their professors, and 2. That students need to change- they need to go from being shy and reserved to engaging and knowledgeable with an urge to learn and less of a fear of failure. 

I think it would be easy to agree with him because many students want to come to specific universities because of their name (Princeton, Harvard, etc.), because of their beauty, or maybe even because of a specific reputation that they have (party school, smart school, getting good jobs afterwards). I would also agree to some extent that there are not many students who have the same attitudes and personalities as Joon Lee, the urge to learn and explore different ideas and question the teachings of professors. Edmundson thinks this because of the lack of expression and the lack of active participation during class, and instead the increased conformity, of students. However, just because student's don't want to speak up in class does not mean that they are not interested in the subject and don't have their own opinions. 

On the other hand, if we were all afraid of failure because we've been pampered our whole lives, wouldn't we be more likely to go out on a limb because of the belief that we wouldn't fail, even if we were wrong? The idea that we would never fail just isn't true since, maybe in high school and college professors just might pass us, once we get into the real world with real jobs, we'll get fired if we are wrong or making mistakes. I would also have to argue that maybe the students aren't the only consumers- but the universities as well. Universities only accept the best applicants, so throughout high school the students must not only do well in school but volunteer, play sports, participate in extracurricular activities, and just be an all around good student so that they will appeal to the universities.