BLOG reflections

Having a blog was a nice way to communicate to my fellow classmates besides being in class. The blog was also a good place to see how I have progressed, in writing, over a period of time. I also liked having a blog because it was nice to have a place where I could write/type what my thoughts were and not worry so much about what other people thought. Still, the comments I received, also helped my writing as well. It was also nice to be able to see what other people's thoughts were on the same topic I had written about, all together in one area. Also, personally after using a blog, I would rather blog my homework than hand it in on a piece of paper. I would highly recommend doing this for future classes.

"Hardest Of The Hardcore"

This article does shed light onto the whole "privatized warfare" that goes on in Iraq. The author, Fujitani, definitely poses good reasons why our military should not use these "civilian contractors," which is also a very misleading name. These mercenaries do have good and bad qualities about them. Most of these bad qualities Fujitani touches on in his essay, but what about some good qualities? Mercenaries allow high ranking military personnel get key jobs done faster and without losing the lives of our military soldiers.
Fujitani is right about how mercenaries are not really talked about in our country unless they "had been brutally killed, mutilated, and hung up on a bridge." The reason that this is most likely true is because that our country probably would not take to kindly to our military taking "alternative" ways to fighting oversees. It all just depends on how these "civilian contractors" are looked at and used.

Angle of Vision Cartoon

For this week's blog, I stumbled across a radical democrat, political cartoon, titled "The Lunatics Take Over The Asylum" by Paul McDonald. This cartoon came out back on December 4, 2000. It depicts George Bush holding a burnt out match in one hand and the world with a fuse, coming out of the top of it, in the other hand. This cartoon is clearly in favor of the Democrat party saying that George Bush will end up blowing up the world sometime during his presidency and that because of this he was the lesser between him and Al Gore. The fuse in the Earth, is a countdown, and says that it will be George Bush who will be the end of not only the United States, but the entire world. Also, the is an expressionless face on George Bush which, to me, means that McDonald thinks that President Bush won't even realize that he lit the fuse of destruction that will end society as we know it. This cartoon also makes it seem like George Bush isn't capable to run our country. This cartoon clearly states that President Bush will do something stupid to annihilate our beloved country and the world.

Here is the link if you wish to see the cartoon
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0012/S00012.htm

Freewrite

In my formal response to Edmundson's I am going to try and write with the graing and stick with it throughout the response. In my response, I will make sure it is not as "jumpy" as Edmunson did in his essay because, to me, if something is like that then, there will be confusion because the response/essay will have no flow. It is much easier for the reader to follow the response/essay if it flows; going from one idea to the next smoothly. Unfortunately in Edmundson's essay there wasn't really any smooth transitions in his essay and I will make that a top priority in my response; that it flows from one idea to the next.
I will use quotations within my response so it can be more powerful and my point will be more obvious as I am writing the response. I will most likely use some of my points from my last blog but go into deeper depth with them. I would also like to go into depth with the logos, pathos and ethos that are mentioned, or hinted to, throughout his essay and make them some kind of points in my response.
Some of the points that I would like to talk about are:
-about the money, especially now that Congress didn't pass the bill.
-about how students don't really notice the education they are learning but other things like: other students, food, parties, ect.
-how students should get to pick the classes they want to go with their major and have any they have to take.
-how teachers and students should keep their class interesting, so students don't dread going to it or fall asleep in class
These will be some of the topics I would like to talk about in my response. These will probably be my biggest points that I hit on in my response.

If anyone has any really good tips for writing a really good response/summary please feel free to comment on this blog with them.

The Edmundson Essay

This essay was a little hard to read with the grain for to main reasons. One being that he seems to be writing from a professors stand point about college students. I can not relate to him for I am only a college student and not a professor. He is also very choppy and jumpy throughout his essay. He seems to just bounce from one idea/problem to another not giving enough information on his statements or enough information to back up what he is leaving out. Another reason is that he seems to be very sarcastic and he talks down to the audience, which would most likely be students of some kind. To be quite honest he seems very full of himself. There are some other things that I liked and didn't like in his essay.
He seems to blame things that go wrong on the students. This is only half true. Professors are just as responsible to make sure the students are learning what their supposed to be learning, or have an understanding of it. So, if the majority of the students in a class missed the same questions then there is a problem with the way the professor taught that material and they need to correct the situation. Now, here me out I am not saying that all a students bad grades is because the professor is a poor teacher. I am saying if more than three-quarters of the class missed the same questions then there is a problem. However, he does touch on some good points in his essay.
One of his points is that he believes that students should solely pick their classes and not have required ones. I completely agree with him on this because, he states, that students lose focus on what they are supposed to be doing. However, if they are in a class they pick that directly affects them then they will pay more attention in the class. So, if I was a psychology major and was taking both psychology classes and chemistry classes, I would pay less attention to chemistry and more to psychology because it directly affects me and my future because that is what I am majoring in.
It is also true that students do get bored with school. I agree with him on this remark. I also like the idea/plan he states about trying to keep the class "fresh." Giving class curves on a test will make them happier but do other things to keep them entertained. If it is a small class, take them outside on a nice day and go over things outside. If it is a cultural class give students extra credit to come into class, one day, dressed up as the culture that is being studied currently. Just to have an activity relating to the class so the students are not only learning but have a good time to will definitely boost their mindset to pay more attention in class.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 has been one of the most beneficial chapters I have read, in this book, thus far. I, personally, am not a very good reader. I am usually very slow and sometimes it takes me more than one time to read the text to understand it. It also doesn't help me when I had to read and carefully analyze the text to answer questions.
Chapter 6, gave me some awesome tips to ensure that my readings, and answering questions, goes a lot smoother. Tips like reading with and against the grain; which is taking, and understanding, both sides of what the author is for and against to get the best understanding of what I am reading. Taking short, marginal notes while I am reading, will allow me to enhance certain areas of text that could be necessary at a later time.
Another is to identify quotes in the passage. This is important because I can for an opinion whether or not I agree with the given quote. The quote could, also, raise a whole new set of problems or just bring the reader into more confusion. The last bit of information that really helped me was modifying the way I read.
Since I am a slow reader, I should skim through the text really quickly to pick up key points in the beginning and ends of paragraphs; especially the conclusion paragraph. Then after I have the gist of the reading, I can fully read the article at my pace. If necessary I can read it again but maybe just a little bit slower to ensure I comprehend all the points the author is trying to make.

Contrasting View Points

Part A
Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm clock is going off and I have to get ready for class. As I sluggishly wake up, I make my way to the shower. As I step into the nice, hot, and steamy shower I immediately wake up. After I put on my attire for the day; I grab my brand new book bag with my recently bought books and supplies, and head out of the building. As I walk out, other cheerful students pass by and show a smile as I do the same back. The cool, crisp morning air brushes against me as I make my way to the ISAT building. As I get closer to the trees that are by the entrance to the building, I can hear the birds singing their merry morning songs. What a great way to start off my day.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Aw, come on five more minutes. Another Monday, this means another long week of classes. As I barely roll out of bed, I have to get ready for my eight o’ clock chemistry class at ISAT. I look over and see my roommate sound asleep. He is so; lucky he gets to sleep in because his class isn’t until twelve thirty. I am tempted to just throw something at him so he has to suffer with me and be up for the time being. After I leave my dorm building I see other students who are much like me; a zombie. As I make my way to class, I realize that it is extremely humid out and that today will probably be a scorching hot day. I have to walk all the way to Memorial Hall and back when the day is at its hottest. This week is going to be the worst.

Part B
It is amazing how the same situations can be totally different with a different look on it. The tone can be determined based on the word choice. At the same time, students can relate to both sides of this situation. It has to deal with the way the story is told. In the positive angle of view, I used words like: steamy, new, cheerful, crisp, ect. All of which give a positive look on could just be another normal day with the same old routine. As for the negative however, the word choice gave readers a negative look on the day. Words like suffer, zombie, scorching make the day sound like nothing good will happen and that it is going to be the worst day ever.
As you can see word choice and angle of view can influence any piece of writing. Word choice and angle of view can influence: an article on a controversial topic, like stem cell research, or just someone’s view on a common topic like a movie or the day. It all has to deal with the way the story is told and with that authors can influence their audience to take a specific side of a certain topic.