Blog 5

For our next Argument Essay, I feel it's going to be kind of tough. The topic I picked is about tanning, being against using tanning beds because of all the risks it brings to your health and body. I hope I can find enough information to make this essay work because I think it could really change people's minds about tanning.

Our last essay though, the classification one, I loved! I thought it was so fun writing this essay. Even thought i'm not completly done with the final draft I feel that I am writing it alot better than any other essay I have written. So hopefully for this next essay will be as good as the classification!

Blog 5

I am not looking forward to this argument paper very much. I'm sure it won't be hard to write the five pages we need to but it's not that that I don't look forward to, it's all the note taking and finding sources and all that stuff that I don't like doing. I know we have to but it is just extra stuff that takes time.

Another thing I wanted to discuss was the workshop days. I thought the new way we did workshops work much more effectively than the old way. With only two people in a group it goes a lot smoother and a lot more can be done in less time. When it was four people in a group not even everyone got involved and it was such a hurry to get done. I also like how we actually had a worksheet to answer questions on so we knew pretty much exactly what we were looking for.

Blog 5

Who likes argument papers? I am so nervous that I am not going to finish on time, or it will not be a good paper. I know in class Jennifer has said not to worry so much about not finishing but the worry is always still there. It is so hard to think that in a few weeks we will be cramming to write a 7 page paper while still finishing every other classes homework. The hardest thing about the whole paper is coming up with a good topic to use. I personally did not have a topic until yesterdays class and had thought about it all spring break. I hope now that the topic will be a good one and there will be the information out there that I will need to write a well educated paper. I have also been learing a lot in class about different things with writing. I never in my right mind thought that there would be so many things having to do with writing a good paper. Like falacies, how many different ones there are. I just thought you could be biased about something but all of those falacies. That just blows my mind. I am really hoping in the end that I have a good argument in my paper and I am not too biased and use these falacies to give people the wrong impression of my paper.

Blog 5.

Argument papers, where to start is what I am thinking. This paper is going to be one of the hardest papers I think. I need to have a good topic and the one that i thought I might do I now think that I do not want to do it anymore. I am probably thinking about the topic to much that nothing is coming to mind all though I know there are allot of simple topics that I have in my daily life that I could write about. There is so much that has to go into the paper that it is overwhelming. I feel like I will never be able to get it done although at the same time I know that it will get done. The last time I had to write a paper like this was in high school and that was a few years ago and that one was hard as well. I think out of all the papers that I have had to do in my writing classes this by far is the most scariest paper to write.

Post 5.

So with this new argument paper rollin around the corner, I'm struggling to find a good topic. It may or may not be a good time to stop by the learning center! I thought of that option, or just waiting a bit longer (hopefully it won't be too long to to the point where I'm not procrastinating)until I run into to something, perhaps in the paper/on tv... and that it'll be something I know a lot about and that relates to me in some sort of way. Hmmmmmm... With that being, handing in the last few papers has done me in. I feel I could've done a way better job with a better topic, more time, and extra extra revising. But those are almost always a factor no matter what. I think the RESEARCH for the argument paper will be fun though... it's just the hard part to actually write it. I think my writing will alwayas need hours after hours after MORE hours of time. I've realized how much I've struggled, and I know from previous little hints that I've got something in me to, by golly, pull off a decent paper.

Blog 5

Once again, my other classes are helping me out greatly in our College Writing class. Our next paper, our arguementive essay, is going to be a lot work. It's going to consist of a lot of hard work and a lot of time. This isn't going to be a bad thing in any way, just a challenge. The topic of this essay is very important because it has to be debatable and have enough information to be able to be worked into 5-7 pages. I wanted to come up with a topic that hasn't been overdone and may possibly even be new to some people. This is where my Criminal Justice class comes into play. A fellow classmate of mine was doing a current event story and they were talking about drug testing in schools. I have never heard much about this and thought that it would be very interesting to research it and see what it's all about. I dont really have a side on it yet, but hopefully after a lot of research I'll be able to have a strong opinion on it and be more informed on the subject. It will be interesting to see where this paper goes and what side I decide to argue upon.

Blog5

we are now talking about the argument paper in class. i havent thought that hard about a topic to write about, although i think im probably going to write about school lunches. once i start researching im sure i will be able to find alot about the different sides of what people want from a school lunch, from fast food establishments to the normal school food and how it affects the students, teachers and parents. also im sure there are alot of school that have fast food sites in their schools and have positive and negative results. i am kind of worried about all the MLA stuff we have to work with, only because it will take alot of time and patiences. it also scares me when Jenn says if the works citied page isnt right then the whole paper is bad, although i understand why. however i am glad that we have the rest of the semester to finish this. today in class we talked about the fallacies and did an activity, it was nice to actually learn about it in a fun way instead of only reading about it and hoping it processed. the activity really helped me learn about the different fallacies.

Argument Research

Right now we are talking about the argument research paper in class. On Tuesday we were taking notes on how the paper should be written. Even though this essay follows the same criteria as all the other essays we have written all year long: it must have a clear thesis, body paragraphs to support your thesis, and a conclusion. Although the only difference that is crucial for this essay is to add information that we find in our research to support our opinion as well as the apposing side and cite it correctly. But the only problem I have with this essay is finding a topic that is interesting enough with good information that can be found. Althoug there are a few topics I have in mind which are medical records should they be open to closed adoption children and their new parents, but still keeping the biological parents names a secreat, should the somking ban also include non resturant establishments, military establishments like the VFW and the Legion, and establishments that promote smoking such as JT Cigaros, when soldiers come home from the war do they get adequate mental medical exams before and after they are reintegrated into the community. These are my possible topics to write about, but which one should I choose is still a problem. Besides which topic to choose from that is all we have learned in class this week so far.

Argument and Research Paper/Blog 5

Personally, I am excited to do the argument research paper, because I instantly knew what I was going to do my topic on. I am thrilled that the paper is only five to seven pages long, and the fact that there really is not anything different technically about this paper than any of the other ones that we have already completed. I am excited to learn more about my topic, as I do further research. My topic is about genetically modified organisms also known as genetic engineering. My argument will be on the idea that I do not support the use of this new and high yielding technology. I believe that it is unhealthy for the environment because these genetically modified organisms that man is manipulating, can uncontrollably interbreed and contaminate other non-genetically modified organisms in an unforeseeable future. Their release is considered genetic pollution and cannot be recalled once these new organisms are released into the environment! But, there is another side to this controversy. Farmers who use genetically modified organisms have much higher yield profits now than ever before. Other countries such as southern countries in Africa desperately want to use genetic engineering because of the higher profit and the less attention that is needed for these GMO crops. In my essay I intend to convince my audience that the use of genetically modified organisms is far more harmful and uncontrollable than natural crop production, and that the negative effects of genetic engineering outweigh the so called benefits of GMO production.

Blog 5

I've been thinking a lot now on research paper topics, and I have a few ideas on what to write about. I was thinking I would write about either: should adoption records be open to people over eighteen, and I would research for adoption records in a closed adoption to be open to people after age eighteen; the smoking ban in Fargo; a law for pregnant woman to not smoke when they become pregnant; and the plan b contraceptive. I am still debating on which one to do so after this post I am going to do some research online to see which one would be easiest to find information for. To do this Mrs. Beyer showed us how to go online and look up your topics. I think I would go to proquest and EBSCO to find information.

On Tuesday we also went over notes on the argument paper. Some of the notes we already know how to do are the thesis statement, body of the paper, and the conclusion. There were some notes about the paper that we didn't know and they are going to be a little challenging getting used to and using them in our papers. For example the countering the opposition, Mrs. Beyer explained how to do this by stating what other people are saying about your topic, then explain why they are wrong and restate why your idea is better. I also think the fallacies are a little confusing. Simply because there are so many of them, it is hard to remember all of the things that you are supposed to avoid. I guess if anyone or if I forget what to avoid you can go back and re-read pages 443-449 because our reading for today points out everything that you are supposed to avoid in your paper. For example avoid logical fallacies, ad hominem, false anology, non sequitor, and post-hoc fallacy. Although the research paper looks really challenging, I believe we all are going to do good if we just fallow our guide lines and show up for class.

Blog 5

I am sitting here thinking to myself what can I write about. The thing that comes to my mind is the argument paper that we have to do. I still am not sure what I should write about. There is a couple ideas that I have, like doing the open adaption but I am not sure what to argue about. Another option was doing kid violence on T.V. Then I run into the thing about what do I argue? The point that I am trying to make is if anybody has any ideas for me I would love to hear them. Well maybe I should just stop stressing over it and something will come to me I hope.

4

As I was thinking of an argumentative topic for the next research paper due, I came up with lots of ideas. The first one that came to my mind was whether or not Guantanimo Bay Cuba's Navel base should be closed. I of course would argue that its wise to keep it open. Where else is a better place to keep alquida prisoners? Cuba is the perfect place! With the Carribean sea all around the island it is impossible for escapies ( if they can climb 30 foot barbed wire) to leave sucessfully. Even if the prisoners do escape they would have to swim over 40 miles to haitii or florida (they would never get past the aquatic life). What is the government thinking when they want to close such a cool place? The Navel base is only like 11 miles if that, but communist Cuba ( outside the base ) is much more dangerous! No prisoner could leave the base by foot without first being blown up by land mines. Besides the prison camp, Guantanimo bay has Tons of things to do if you enjoy the water. As a 4th grader I could rollerblade in any direction for 4 miles and hit up any of the 10 public beaches. Each beach was diffrent, my favorite one was called hidden beach. When my sisters and I swam out past the rocks and tide on either side of us were caves filled with underwater entertainment! multiple eels of diffrent colors, 4ft groupers, sand- dollars, baby hammer heads, manta rays. The tide would bring us in and we could climb up on the caves rocks, the reflective lights were always wavering and we could watch as the bigger nursing sharks moved in(: Guantanimo also had a freshwater river on the Westward side where not even 10 years previous Giant Alligators resided. On weekends my dad would take us skiiing all day in the colder parts of the ocean. I can vivedly remember learning to get up really fast because I was questioning the fins popping up right along side me! Mostly these were just dolphins but I never knew better. Oh how I miss these days! I Hope the base never closes!

3

All day I have been reading over boring miserable chapters of stuff i dont really want to know about. Is a nursing degree really want I want to aquire? I am often puzzled by people who continue to go to school for years long after taking their required generals.Why did they never figure out in school that they wouldnt like the job they went to the first 3 years of hell for? What happened? Does a person just wake up one day and decide that they dont want to become a pschologist right before they get their degree? I have talked to lots of people who dont have the answers to my questions; but they do have stories of how they changed majors after first spending thousands of dollars ,only to realize that what they are going to school for isnt the job they can see doing forever. I love to do so many things that i cant imagine only doing one thing the rest of my life. Right now i cant see myself waking up with a smile to go to a hospital everyday from 8-5. I can always change my major but then the classes i have already taken would be in vain . I was offered a scholarship to play my trumpet, it sounded like a great idea to me! however my parents wouldnt agree to help pay for tuition. Being a professional trumpet player is a "job that doesnt exist". All of my teachers have always said do somthing that you will love, not somthing that makes good money. I liked Anatomy and physiology in highschool so I thought taking nursing classes wouldnt be so bad. Highschool and college classes are much diffrent, so how is a highschool student suppose to know what college classes to sign up for?I am probly not the only one who is confused, but I want to talk to someone who knew from the beginning that they were destined for a specific job!

blog 2

Reading Bill bryson's book has brought attention to many pet peeves that most americans have always overlooked. Bill being a stranger to america after being gone for twenty years,means he noticed alot bigger change than those who remained here. bryson brings in many hillarious perspectives from pestering sales men to aisles of tempting junk food. Many americans feel they are overweight , they also wonder why they are wallowing in debt. Some ideas he brings up are logical like how obesity is linked to all the junk food we consume, in the end he wanted crispbread and celery! Does getting out side of the U.S for a couple years make you appreciate everything it has to offer? Yes ! I remember when i lived overseas in Guantanimo Bay Cuba there was no fast food, least to say there was only one place on base where you could get your groceries. After i lived in cuba for four years moving even to a rural minnesota town with a couple fast food places was a change. I do agree with byson that is america is the home of junk food, its so cheap and easy to buy. This must mean that by far we have more than enough food here to support our well being, but is it really well being if the quality is non nutritious? I dont think so. He talks of other countries being more fit eating a diet consisting of things other than little debbies and Mc donalds. As for the pestering sales men, i guess they reside all over the world.

post 1

lets all face the fact that its very difficult to grow up in the world we live in today. There is so much that can go wrong when you can be doing everything right. People take life for granted. Every day that that people can live and walk and talk without illness or disease is a blessing. Last november 3rd i was the backseat passenger in a very significant car accident that almost took my life. I did everything right that day, except for one thing. I didnt listen to my conscious. My oldest sister met this guy at the Old Broadway the night previous, he was her sober ride. That cold day November 3rd, i knew as i got in the backseat of his mustang saleen i was doing somthing risky. He was suppose to bring us to the movie store on 45th. He started getting pulled over for speeding, i told him to stop. What makes people think they can resist authority like this? He ran 5 stop lights before we crashed knocking down the lights on main st and 25th st. i almost died from this highspeed crash. I know i made this choice to be in that car. When we knocked down those lights a girl was crushed in her car by the lights he had knocked over. What had this girl done wrong? nothing, she had done nothing but yet she was almost killed. This is just my personal example of growing up in the dangers of a very corrupt, demented world. possible essay topic? perhaps i could write about how making right decisions only weeds out deadly situations, because it doesnt stop them completley

Blog Four

I just have to say that I agree with everyone else about the Bryson essay's, I tink there hillarious! :) I really feel that I agree with everything that he's talking about in his essay's, I love how he has personal stories for every essay. I also thought that our comparison essay was actually pretty fun! I really enjoyed writing about something that I knew about and that caught my interest. When I first started writing my classification essay though, I had a hard time coming up with ideas on what to write about. Now that i've been writing more and more though I feel like I can't stop writing, so hopefully this will turn out to be a good essay! :)

Blog 4

Ladies and Gentlemen, spring break is near! Finally!! It should have been here this week, but nope, had to wait a week longer. Anyways, I just find it fascinating how College Writing and Public Speaking are so closely related. I guess one reason for that is because both classes require you to do research on a topic, and both classes require you to use the school's library for most of the research. Not only that, but both classes talk about similar subjects too. If you think about it, college writing is public speaking without actually getting up in front of the class and giving a speech. Both require you to do research, write it down, and present it. It's just that one is presented orally, and one is written. Maybe the two classes should be combined into one! That could be a good speech/essay paper topic: why speech and college writing should be one class. You all can go ahead and steal my topic if you like, it's ok with me!

Blog4

I am having a tough time of trying to think of a topic for a classification essay. I have been thinking it over between a few topics and either one doesn't sound right or I believe there won't be enough to write about. Also this paper being do, wow it just keeps stacking up on me and never seems to end. Its feeling like the first week of condition for football, I mean it never seems to end and tires you out. I just can't wait to be done with this week and hopefully just relax and have some time to hang out with friends and not worry about anything I have for homework.

Essay

When I heard about having to do a classification essay; I was what you would call "a nervous wreck." The class went over on how to do a classification essay most of last week, but sadly I do not recall much on it. My ideas for a topic would be on customers at Papa Murphy's and/or the various people who I hang out with, but I don't think that this will work. I'm trying to figure out how to come up with a better idea for my essay right and I only hope that I can find one in time. The reason is that today in class I discovered that our rough drafts are due Thursday of this week, which gave me a heart attack and a hammer to the head. I can only try to work on this assignment the best I can and nothing more and I hope it goes well.

Essays

During this class, I have learned that papers and essays are extremely important to get what you think, or feel across to people. I have come to realize that I have issues coming up with topics for the essays. I read the chapters and it sometimes helps, but its frustrating. I am a very talkative person, even if in class i dont, and its hard for me just to decide "that is the essay I am going to write." I guess that is something that happens. However, reading the Bryson essays, I become a little relieved because they seem to some how make it easy.
How any one could make household objects, such as garbage disposals, seem interesting is beyond me. But that is what makes them so much more interesting. It takes random objects, and other inadiment objects into something interesting or something to think about. Often when I've been out shopping for groceries, I have recently started thinking about how they would sound in the garbage disposal. (Even though I will probably not ever try), it is something that never crossed my mind and now has been constantly crossing it. I find it quite interesting, odd, but interesting.
I was also thinking of the classification essays. Trying to come up with something to write about, that will be interesting, and not over used. Something will show up. And thinking of the argument essay coming up, well its interesting. It will all fall into place.

Blog 4

When we were first assigned to write a classification essay I was very nervous to say the least. I had no clue what I was going to classify, and it was hard for me to even understand what a classification essay was. Even after reading the chapter on classification essays I was still lost, but after one of our classes it was a lot clearer for me what it was I was supposed to do. The ideas that were given by the teacher made me think a little bit more on what my topic could be. I had already had in mind doing the essay on different types of drivers, but I started to think about all the other things I could classify. When one of the options that was brought up was “boys and their toys” I thought I would maybe have fun classifying my son Gabriels toys, but when I went home and looked at the two fifty gallon totes and all the other toys he has I decided that there would be to may categories for me to write a three page paper and he would defiantly have to have a “other” category; which is not acceptable for this paper. There were a few other things I thought of categorizing but in the end I decided to stick with classifying drivers because I came up with some fun witty names for the categories and that was one of the things the teacher asked for. The names of my categories or the classes are “the holy mollies” “the pokies” and “the Maniacs”. My son was my inspiration for calling one of the classes the maniacs because that’s what he calls some of the drivers that we encounter when we go somewhere together.

Blog 4!

About a month ago, I began my business as an independent beauty consultant for Mary Kay cosmetics. I've realized that while running a business--which is harder than I thought as a 19 year old--and going to school, AND working at the Sunmart Deli, it's hard to balance my life out!! School has ALWAYS been my #1 priority. I think teens these days are working too much. My mom insisted that I spend my college career without a job at all! I spent only a half semester in the freshman dorms. I absolutely, without a doubt, hated it! So I moved out with my brother and his girlfriend to a place just off campus. I began to look for jobs and my mom still insisted that I just take out a loan and live off THAT my college career... then when I graduate, I'll get a great job in a Hospital somewhere and THEN start earning the big bucks to pay off all my school debt! But I got a job instead. What if I ended up not having a job? Would I have a better GPA? Maybe my mom's right! Even though I earn twice as much money per month than I EVER have... I still wonder how much better my grades would be if I didn't have OTHER priorities. And what about everybody else? Would they feel less stressed and more confident in school if they didn't have a job?!


I don't think I have yet to find a GREAT topic about any of the essays we've done. I'm pretty confident I can write a decent paper, but I feel like I spend 1/4 of the time writing it, and 3/4 of the time thinking of a topic! When I begin to write my classification essay, like Jennifer said one day... mine sounded like a comparison essay! It may or may not be a good time to go talk to a tutor in the Learning Center for ideas!!

Blog 4

I have to agree with Tashas Blog 4, i really enjoy readying the bryson essays! they are soo funny and its not really and assignment to read them because they are really enjoyable and practical. He talks about things that people only think of and would really consider writing about them, so when you are reading, you're thinking to yourself "how does he come up with this stuff" and how he puts it into words. I also think that it has help my writing out alot, and i seem to be improving with more i write, i believe it has alot to do with the bryson readings. I am looking forward for more readings and more outragous findings he has to talk about!

Blog 4

When first starting the class I dreaded reading the Bryson essays, but I now love them. I look forward for reading these essays because they are so funny. He has such a fun way to write about the little things in life that we always seem to take for granted. Who would think to take something like your garbage disposal and write a hilarious story about it. These essays have also really help, especially with the classification essays we are to write. It really helps show that you can write classification essays in more than one way. He is such a good writer it is amazing that I have never heard of him before this class.
It is crazy to think that I actually look forward to an assignment in a writing class. I dread writing and everything that has to do with it usually. I have never had the best use of grammar or sentence structure. I have already seen an improvement with my writing and I hope it keeps going in the right direction.

Blog 4

In class we read four Bryson essays that were supposed to give us a better understanding of how to classify items. This is supposed to help us in our classification essay. So we had to read pages seventeen through twenty, 47 through fifty, 59 through 62, and 218 through 221. I thought this was quite helpful. I got to see the different ways you can classify objects and different groups you can use. We were put in groups and our group had one of the four passages called "Well, doctor, I was just trying to lie down..." We had to find a set, scheme and three classes for each scheme. Our group did very well. I think we were the first group done, and this class activity furthered out knowledge on classification. I think that the Bryson essays are a huge help and are entertaining to read. Exspecially with out essay we read the outrageous things people get injured over like sheets, money, and clothes. I thought that this was a great assignment and I think the class gained further knowledge on it, because I know I did.

Workshops

The writing workshops done in class seem like, to me at least, to not help out all that much. It seems like everyone is just doing it because they have to and not to help out the writer. In my group it seems like we are just doing it to get it done and trying to get it done fast. We just seem to come up with about anything to just write down so we get it done with because it seems we are crunched for time. Then I get my paper back from other groups and it seems the same. I feel like the other group just wrote about anything down just to be over with it. I'm not sure what would be a way to fix this but it's just something I noticed. Maybe more time would help but that is pretty hard because class is only so long.

Papers

When I was working on my comparison essay, no matter how difficult it seemed to be once there was finally an idea in my head about what to do it on, the rest fell right into place. It seems like there is so much more to papers when they are first assigned, but when you actually sit down and think about it and let your hands type (or write) and when you are done, just going back and re-reading it. Taking the time to slowly make sure everything fits nicely, and the mistakes are corrected. In other classes I have had to write short essays, or papers, and they seem so hard, but once they are down on paper and ready to be turned in; I sometimes feel that they were almost to easy. With everything that must be put into a paper, they are nowhere near easy. Why does when you are working through things, and they get done it seems that it actually was easy? But when you really think about it, it was honestly hard? It seems to be somewhat of a conundrum to me.
Something else that was kind of on my mind was the fact of participation. Not just in one class have I noticed it, but in all of my classes. It is just the fact of how are you going to get to know people and become comfortable talking to others in the class, if you can not talk during class? Its been on my mind in alot of my classes. I know that I am not a shy, or quiet person, and that it is not as easy for everyone else as it is for me to talk. The way I look at it though, is how am I ever going to be comfortable with talking to my fellow students if no one is willing to talk unless called upon. I just do not understand somethings. Maybe it will come with age.

Class Points

There are sometimes I sit and wonder why people do not like to talk in class. It is not that bad of a thing to do. All that you need to do is talk,or read something so it is really easy. I guess that some people just can't handle talking in front or around people that they do not feel right about,they think that they are going to make fun of them because of something that they say or do. That is not always true,you have to take a risk and do it even if something is not right or if someone does not agree with you.