College Writing I Spring 2008

what a Flood, in 09

2009-04-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well where do i even start. To tell you the truth i had never been in a flood until this one. it all started when i came back from my spring break. see i went ahead at the beginning of the mouth and took all of my time off so i would get to go home for the whole spring break and well when i came back something was going on that i had never had to deal with before, a flood. it started off that Monday with me going to school and starting class at nine in the morning. there was a lot of talk going around at the beginning of class saying that there may be a chance that there may be no more school for the rest of the day, for they need as much help as they could get with some sandbaggers. well i didnt know it was going to happen but the rumors where true, for after i was finshed with that first class they stopped the school and told us to go out and to start to sand bag so i did like a good citizen i am.
I started that after noon of working at some house on the south side that was going to be blocked off from the whole city, from what i understood this house was going to be bought out after the 1997 flood but fargo township did not have the money to do it at the time. well to sum it up they built a big dike right down the road, blocking this man's home off from the rest. so we spent that whole day just filling sand bags and making a very big dike - it was 42 feet up from the river. we were not too sure how high to build it up but from the looks of things that was not the right height.
i sand bag around for a few days and then that weekend i ended up having to leave from fargo to go with the old peoples home that i work at to make sure that they where are safe and had all of the things they need. and then after that i went home for a few days and then returned back to fargo the following monday to go back to school.

Coming from your one and only blogger boys last mesgge of the year - have a good one everyone.!!!!!!!!!!! :)

The lovely Flood of 09

2009-04-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

I spent the flood time helping sandbag a little, seeing I am pregnant I couldn't do much. Since I couldn't help sandbag my family and I bought thirty pizzas a day over the first weekend to the Fargo Dome for the volunteers. It was funny, as soon as we unloaded the pizzas a line formed behind us as we brought them to the designated area. Within 5 minutes the pizza was gone. My neighborhood also did alot of sandbagging so we made food and bars and walked down our street handing it out. When the water started getting pretty high and it turned into a war zone by my house I sent my kids down to my dad's in Perham, three days later I followed. We spent about five days there before we came back home. My dad really enjoyed spending time with all of us, as did we. The flood may have been awful and devastating but alot of compassion and good was shown through it. It was amazing to see strangers coming together to help fight for our city and homes. People from all around, even other states, came to help us out in our time of need. It is nice to be reminded that there is still compassion and kindness in people.

2009-04-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

just wanted to say....i loooove reading everyones blogs! i wish we did more...not even for a grade. claudia u poor thing! yeah i got sick too cept i was the last my sisters had ruptured ear drums and strep and my mom had a cold...it was a good exuse to go out...but it bit me in the ass later and when i got up here i missed class cuz i was sick from them. but im glad you are all well!

and everyone else...why would u live up here?!?! horrible winters and floods...your nuts! :) yup im too much of a city girl there arent really floods there...

Da floooood!

2009-04-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Well, i dont know about you guys but how much i loved not being in school i thought it really sucked at the same time. It really touched my heart to see and how all the voluteers come out and help and support everyone in need. It made me feel really good about our country. Even though we hear about all the bad shit that happens and all the bad people in this world, times like the flood and the flooding still going on, and people STILL helping, makes me be happy to say im an American. I really wish had millions of dollars to help out with some of the damage. More or less the families in need. But i dont, and i wish i did. i wish i had all the time in the world and money to help give back a ton. I can volunteer, but that doesn't seem like enough. However, how much the flood sucked, yes it was a nice break and pressure of school was deffinetly lightened. Have a great weekend everyone!
-gini

Extra Credit Blog

2009-04-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

During the flood time I went thru a lot of things. Some were good, some were bad, and some were the craziest things I have ever done in my whole life. The bad things are that in my family we all got sick at the same time. I was the first one to get sick for the whole week, but I still decided to come help with the sandbagging because they really needed the help and because my Anatomy teacher was giving extra points for doing this. Good thing I didn't get worse because that day it was kind of raining and cold. Then all of my three kids got sick at the same time with strep throat, fever, running nose, and cough. On top of that, I got evacuated from my apartment because I leave very close to the river. My husband was not in town, so I had to do everything by myself. I got some valuables out of the apartment and took them to a garage I rent and which was not at risk for the flood. I have never experience this before, so I got scared and decided to go to Texas with my family. This was so crazy because I had to drive for 30hrs and I only spend the weekend there and came back. The flood screwed up things, in my Anatomy class I went from a "B" to a "C". We now have to cover so much stuff in the time remaining that is making me all stressed.Anyways, the sandbagging experience was good, but I didn't enjoyed the break from school at all.

Deja Vu

2009-04-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

I was only twelve the last time their was a major flood to hit the valley. It was the flood of ninety- seven and at that time I was living in my home town of East Grand Forks, MN. The only difference is the flooding that year in Grand Forks/East Grand Forks was much worse. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, because I understand the magnitude of the devastation that has occurred here in the F-M area. It's just that in my opinion this event wasn't as grave as everyone made it out to be. I mean the support given to the two communities was amazing, and the quick action taken by both cities along with the state and federal levels of government without a doubt saved the cities from mass devastation. In ninety-seven we didn't exactly get the level of support we saw here in Fargo/Moorhead. For example, that year we were told for weeks that the river would crest at forty-nine feet. A crest level the National Weather Service stood firmly behind until whoops, it rose another five feet to make the final crest level fifty-four feet. A level that flooded ALL but SEVEN homes within city limits of East Grand Forks. The unforeseen crest level mixed with numerous dyke failures combined for the worst flood in centuries. The evacuation was city wide in both GF/EGF, and it was good luck if you found a house that didn't experience sewage backup. My main point for this blog is that, I never once was terribly concerned that Fargo/Moorhead was in any eminent danger. Because, the preparation I saw here was non-existent in GF/EGF, and I knew these cities would be victorious over the Red. So what did I do during this recent flood? Helped sandbag and enjoyed the extended break from school.

Hello H2O!

2009-04-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

I honestly have never seen anything like it, except for Lake Sakakawea! Yes I am referring to the River water that scattered across our land. Moving to Fargo wasn't the most exciting thing, but it beat where I was before. Then all of a sudden there was water! I honestly had no idea there was even a thought of a flood coming until a few days before the crest of the river. Shows how much I watch T.V. Anyways, there we were, me, my boyfriend, and his uncle. We were taking a little drive through close by neighborhoods. I had never seen so much white in my life, not from snow. There were so many sandbags, and they were EVERYWHERE! These sandbags outnumbered the people in the Fargo-Moorhead area, by a lot. I was just in awe watching all of these random people helping the houses along the river. Working day, night, evening, all the time. They had a lot of work to get done in a very little amount of time. This is why everyone pulled together to get this done, and that they did. After seeing all of this, I wanted to help. I helped out by going to the huge Fargodome, wehre i had never been before, and filled sandbags. There were a numerous amount of people there, but it wasn't too crowded just yet. I was sitting on a bucket holding open the bag while my aunt shoveled in sand from the pile. All of a sudden we started getting pushed out of our spot. People were starting to accumulate by the minute. After a while we just got sick of it and decided to leave. We did what we could and that's all we could do. I felt better about myself knowing I maybe helped to save someones house. Then the next day I thought long and hard and decided to go help in a sandbagging line. I was worried becuase i'm not suppose to lift a lot, but I didn't strain myself so I was fine. Plus it was cold, so it was hard to stand outside for a long time. We also had to help break up the sandbags that day because people made the mistake of leaving them out overnight to freeze. But all in all the Flood experience was interesting. I helped as much as I could and I felt good about it.

Flood?!

2009-04-14T13:12:00.001-07:00

Just moving up here this year and experiencing the long, harsh winter would have been just enough to push some one out of this area! Nope, then the flood came along and struck the Red River. It was scary because I had never had to experience anything like it. Granted, the last flood was in 1997.Its still a shocker for me. I actually went on Google and looked at the definition of sandbagging, because I did not even have a clue what that term entailed. Well, after doing twelve hours of it total, I got the picture. It was a long, tedious process. My body ached for a few days after. It didn't bother me much to go out and do it, because I felt as if I were doing something good, and I was. My roomate and I had went to a small neighborhood loacted right in front of the river. We knew a few college friends living there. We filled lots of sandbags and put them on four wheelers, where the sandbags would be taken to wherever needed. Then we moved a few blocks down and helped pass the sandbags through the line, leading to the bank of the river. It was muddy and messy, but alot of fun. I got to meet some new people, and just hang out with the FM area community, while supporting a good cause. I also went to the Fargo Dome and sandbagged for a while there. It was so noisy and crowded, but alot of sandbags got filled there! Then we went over to Sandbag central where it was such a small building and the smell of the large trucks exhaust, made me light headed. I shoveled there for about two hours straight, it was quite a workout! As much fun I had meeting new people, and doing something for the community, I hope I never have to fill another sandbag again! I will be happy to drive the fork-lift though! :)

The Flood

2009-04-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

My house was not effected at all by the flood. My dad had a pump in our basement so that if any water came in it, it would go right back out again. I was very grateful for that because so many people lost a lot of valuable stuff and there were some sad stories to be told by people I had talked to. We had no sewage back up either, I was happy about that! My family members that live around here were not effected either. During the flood week I was one of the only people out of all my friends that had to work everyday. That was kind of a bummer but a good check. I worked with this little girl every day nine to five unless I couldnt get out of my house which happened twice. I only had time to go out and help sand bag two of the days. In addition, my dad and I carried up furniture and valuables from a friends basement and helped my mother move her stuff into a friends house for the time being because she lives very close to the river. I really hope that this does not happen again any time soon because the next time my family and I might not get so lucky!

credit

2009-03-02T17:37:00.000-08:00

I don't understand banks. I am trying to get a loan to buy a house but I keep getting turned down because I don't have enough credit built up. If nobody will give you a loan how are you supposed to get credit? I had purchased a house before and had to sell it because I moved up here, so why doesn't that count. I had a car loan paid it off, ended up trading that in for a new van. I got a loan for that but can't get one for a house. It is very frustrating. I just needed to vent, thank you for listening.

Blog two

2009-02-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

I've really begun to enjoy this writing class, at the start of the semester i wasn't sure what to think of it, but after these first couple of writing assignments I figured out that I'm a fan of writing. Now this Bryson character on the other hand, doesn't excite me too much. Seems to me he just enjoys whining alot.

Blog -3

2009-02-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

Bryson cracks me up, in a low impact kind of way but still funny. I got to read a lot of it my weekend in the hospital , but since i couldnt see what was assighned to read i just read whatever looked interesting. Dying accents was good , so was innefficiency report. I like the book because its more like reading someones notes they took in class than telling a story , sometimes.

blog 2 college writing

2009-02-23T08:42:00.001-08:00

This class has been helpful for myself and for my other classes, but it has also been helpful when im dealing with the veterans administration . I have some ongoing medical issues and the VA has limited resources so sometimes its hard to get everything you need to done because the appointments themselves are an all day event and you are often rushed through. Being able to clearly state my purpose or problem saves a lot of time and makes mistakes in medication and treatment less likely, and for that i am grateful.

Valentines day blog 3

2009-02-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

Valentines day was really fun I figured out a few things about Fargo, never go out on valentines day and if you are be prepared to wait in every aspect the roads are just horrible packed with people and if you want to eat be prepared to go atleast an hour before you want to eat enless you have reservations because the wait is going to be very long.

Blog 3

2009-02-17T18:16:00.000-08:00

Hi! I really enjoyed my Valentines this weekend. It was very nice having those two extra days off school. It gave me time to spend Valentine's with my family, study for my anatomy test, and to start working on my rough draft. I believe this coming rough draft is the one I will enjoy the most simply because I will compare two nursing facilities that I'm familiar with. I don't know if it's going to be a good one but one thing I know for sure is that I will truly enjoy doing it!

Bryson Pages-Blog 3

2009-02-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

I read all three reading asignments in the Bryson book, and found that The Mysteries of Christmas was my favorite to read. I never realized that we split our celebration among the three holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. I found that pretty funny, and so true. Thanksgiving everyone gets so full and tired, an early bedtime is usually the case. Christmas is just exciting and casual, usually a few drinks and fellowship is the conclusion of the night. New Years Eve though, is the craziest night of the year. Kissing random people just because the next year has arrived, drinking excessivly to not remember all the people that were kissed by ones self, and being hungover for two days usually is how that goes. I really do dislike the fact that Thanksgiving and christmas are only about a month apart, and most families eat the same exact thing. I think when I have a family someday, I am going to have the traditional turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, and for Christmas, have steak and shrimp, or tacos.. that sounds good to me!! Keep it light and unrepeating of the previous holiday. The other two readings that we had assigned were kind of boring. But, I will have to agree that spending eight to ten dollars on a movie that was not worth it is such a mood ruiner. I would rather spend three dollars to rent the movie, eat snacks that arent as expensive, and be able to put your feet up, or burp, or text, and even pause the movie when needing to run to the bathroom. This book is great because, as an american, I find myself realating to most of what he is talking about.

blog number two

2009-02-07T01:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't slepted for days. After my college writing class, I went straight home, went to bed and set my alarm clock at 4:40 PM. I woke up right on time to go to work. Friday night was kind of bussy for normal work day. I got off work tired. And wanted to hit the sheets again, but I end up talking to my uncle in Penslvania. Right after I got off the phone I when on my computer and check on facebook. I start chating with an old friends and till now at 4:05 am. It hit me! I need to write the jounal today, then I told myself it was too late to write, then again it never too late for anything this interesting.
well, let me cut to the chess. I don't have anything interesting to write about; I could write about what I've chat about with my friend but that would be too personal. And I don't want to get personal or nobody is interested in my private life is there?
I got lucky today because my psycholoy exam has been postphon till monday. So I better start studing some disorders. since everything in that class is abnormal. And yes including me too.

Whats cooking?

2009-02-06T10:42:00.001-08:00

I really enjoyed reading the Bryson. I like it because it goes with my mind and thinking. I always think why cant servers at a restraunts. Why cant they just say steak instead of some kind of crazy language that not to many people use or even understand. But finally i find a book that saya what im thinking.... yeah

Blog 2

2009-02-06T10:35:00.001-08:00

I read the assigned pages and I realized that I am beginning to become a fan of Bill Bryson. He has a particular way of writing that hooks the reader and makes it feel like he is talking to you personally. Several of the instances that he writes about relate to me personally, or sometimes I know the other side of his story. I know what it’s like to be both the order taker and the order giver. I may not have been a waitress, but I have worked in the drive thru at McDonalds and I know what certain things bother the order taker, which has taught me not to do those things.

Whats Cooking?

2009-02-06T09:53:00.000-08:00

I really liked this reading the best out of what we had to read today for class because I can relate to what Bryson is saying. When I go into a restaurant and a Waiter or waitress tells me all the things that there are to choose from I easily forget and I also request for them to go threw the choices one more time. Even after that I sometimes still don't know. Waitresses never have really liked me. When I worked at miguelitos and people did that to me I was more then happy to slow down and tell them again because i know how it feels and it was nice to know I wasn't the only one like that. I hate going to new resturants for this reason. I like to go somewhere where i can get foosd I know i will like and i dont have to be explained everything.

HELP!

2009-02-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

The Bryson reading I decided to blog about is titled "Help!" The Reason why I decided to blog about this one imparticular is because I think he makes a very good point. But why?, why even care that your just a number. This reading starts out by the narrator (Bryson) calling the computer hotline and having to find a serial number. Which leads him to go on and talk about how companies such as credit card and, insurance companies identify you as a number. I think the point he is trying to come across in this passage is if we are all just numbers, why not just have one personal number to identify you for everything instead of many other numbers. I think the reading was very informative and true because if you really think about it we are all just numbers to the government and to companies all over the U.S. and even internationally on of Brysons examples of this is passports. So honestly I kind of agree with Bryson's passage if we are all just a number why not just have one personal number to identify you for everything. Because wouldnt that just make life a lot easier?

2009-02-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

Will I didn’t really understand the “At A Loss”, at the beginning I thought it was about someone losing weight. Than it start talking about how he forgets things. It was very hard for me to understand what was really going on but, I thing he was talking about how people forget things when they are in a rush. That could sometimes be hurt fall or u might forget your important information

blog numero dos

2009-02-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

So I read these pages in the book and decided that all Americans are LAZY! I don't care what anyone says we are lazy. Our whole nation is becoming automated. All machinery and technology does everything for us. It's so ridiculous. We even have to think of easy ways to remember numbers. I do have to admit though I'm one of these people that rely on technology and easy ways of doing things in this world. It's just so much more convenient and takes less time. I honestly don't have enough time in a day to do all the things i want to do if i did not have a car, cell phone, computer, etc.. You get the point. But I am one of those people who like to save energy. I shut off all the lights if I don't need them and don't start my car early on a nice day. And another thing in the reading was that he went somewhere and basically had to speak another language to know what to order. I like to keep it simple and even if there is a weird way of saying hamburger at a restaurant, i'm going to say hamburger anyway.

Crazy Blog #2

2009-02-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

I read “Help” in the Bill Bryson’s book "I’m a Stranger Here Myself". Numbers that identify us to different companies are crazy, I agree. But, having 1-800-BILL for everything for Bill Bryson would also be crazy as well. I think that it is a great thing to have crazy, confusing and hard to remember indentation numbers. If we didn’t have it this way identity theft would be easier.

Blog 2

2009-02-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

I still am yet to decide if I like "I'm a Stranger Here Myself." The chapter on "What's Cooking" really sparked my attention. I have been a waitress now for almost two years, and I have had customers like him. They can seem or be very funny at first, but they usually continue on, and become very rude. I still believe that every person should have to serve for a day, and then they would know what servers have to deal with. I think that I am just a little too crabby this week, but most of the stories I read from this book just seemed to annoy me. For example, the airplane story, and how he spilled his drink twice on the lady sitting next to him. I would be so mad if that happened to me!

Bryson Book

2009-02-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

After reading the Bryson pages that were assigned, I realized that I can relate to most of what I read. I worked in the food business for about 5 years now, and I always disliked when the guests would ask the same question over and over. It does get frustrating when you have many of them come in all in one day. I like how Bryson writes, everytime I read the book, I always giggle about one thing or the other. I also can realte to the wasting energy thing, i usually dont turn my laptop completely off, because I hate waiting for everything to load. I really am trying to do better at wasting energy. I try not to leave my phone charger plugged in when not in use, and I always try to turn off lights that aren't necessary. The little things make a big difference. I also like how he goes about how proper english is super confusing, I went to chicago and ordered sushi, thinking it was the seaweed wrap with rice and veggies(yummy!)But no, it was raw fish. I of course didn't complain because I was in a fancy restaurant, and I needed to look and act like I had the cash, just following suit. I really like reading this book, it is very interesting and funny. I learn some things that I never knew. I think we should all leave for a couple years and see what we DIDN'T miss :)

Blog 2

2009-02-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

I couldn't agree with bryson more on his HELP article. I to have wondered sometimes why there are so many numbers on some of the cards or belongings I have. I am sure that to someone else, like someone that works at a place that makes some of these things, those numbers make a lot more sence, but why so many? I also agree that calling some sort of help center can sometimes make you feel dumb. The people on the other line do often seem to make the thing you are asking for help with sound like a 2 year old could have done it.

Bryson

2009-02-05T22:36:00.001-08:00

I will admit when I first got the book "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" By: Bill Bryson, sorry I can't figure out how to underline, and skimmed through it I thought it was going to be the stupidest book ever. After I actually started reading it though I am really enjoying it. I have read the whole book already, had that done the first two weeks of class. Now I just go back and skim the readings to refresh my memory. I enjoy the fact he writes about pointless stuff that we all think and wonder about, don't get me wrong he does raise some serious questions. He adds humor to his writing, which helps keep me intrigued. He is an excellent writer that know how to captivate his audience. I am glad Jennifer is having us read him because I don't think I would have ever read this book under my own free will.

what a week!

2009-02-05T20:26:00.000-08:00

what a week! this week has sucked! ive had a constant headache for a few days now. However, it was intresting doing a process paper in this class and talking about process writing and process papers in speech. It was actually very helpful. For those who got a chance to read my paper i hope it was a little helpful once you get past the things i needed to edit. and those who didnt read it, it was about how to decorate a room for your special someone for valentines day. :) i hope we all get better at our writing workshops and that the criticing* only gets more and more productive. sorry i dont have much to say i honestly just feel like totally crap. maybe ill see all of your bright faces later not sure ill try to make it but not promising. have a good and safe weekend!

2009-02-05T18:57:00.000-08:00

My teacher would have liked me to write a little about the bill Bryson book "I am A stranger Here Myself", but i am not feeling it. the reason this is becuses there is something that is driven me a little bit up a tree.it is not comeing to me on what we went over in class, i am completly confused on the subject. See in class on wednsday we talked about how to exemplify. I was listening to the teacher the whole time. Ok, maybe not the whole time, yet even still it is not clickin. I even went back and looked at it yet a nother time after I got home. And still nada. Hmmm.... well i just thought i might tell you whats up.
Coming from your only and true, Blogger Boy!

Blog 2

2009-02-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

Hello people,
I read bryson and I didnt really get interested in one chaper like i did with the food chapter that we had to read last time. I also read out of the Text book and thought that the crying story was funny but wierd at the same time. I thought that a funny part in that story was when the author wrote that when she bought towels and she cried because her buying towels meant she was going to college. One of the parts in the Bryson books that was funny was when he ask the waitress or waiter to repeat the list of salads and dressing which was funny because he didnt want her to repeat it again and so he pick the one that he rememebered. I also want to say that When i go through the food aisle and remember that chapter. So yeah thats all i have to say. byebye.

Blog 2

2009-02-04T14:59:00.001-08:00

In speech this week we were given our next speech which is to write a demonstrative speech which I think I quite a bit like the process essay we just wrote for this class. You have to use chronological order so your steps make sense and everyone can do the process. I think it’s helpful for classes to relate to each other because than you can use information you have already learned to help you make other projects better. I’m a little nervous about writing our example essay in class since we won’t get a chance to revise it and I’m like the worst speller ever! I think the easiest topic to do would be something that you’ve experienced so than you can use your own personal experiences. I just got done reading the Bryson pages for Friday; I liked his part about “What’s cooking” because I always think I’m annoying my waiter also. I think his part on “The Waste Generation” is a little dated and we have started doing many of those things such as off peak, and we have seen gas rise by a tremendous amount!

Here's to no more late assignments!

2009-02-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

I was late getting my paper written, undoubtedly because of my absences from class. Which I've come to the conclusion don't help you in any way, as if I, nor everyone else didn't already know that useful piece of information. After beginning my work on it, I found it really enjoyable, especially when i began revising it. Hopefully the rest of assignments will be equally enjoyable, and unlike this last one, oh and this first blog post, I can get them turned in on time. I better smartin up a bit or this just might end up being a tough semester.

process analysis

2009-01-29T10:59:00.000-08:00

After we were told we had to pick a topic for our process analysis paper, which I am not good at, that's all I think about. If I am driving to a certain place I think, oh the directions would be a process paper. Even when I got my ultrasound done the other day I thought of the process paper. The ultrasound tech had a student and was explaining the process to the student the whole time. Even with all the options I am still having a hard time picking a topic.

Blog A

2009-01-28T21:15:00.000-08:00

So, last semester almost no writing was required for any of my classes. This semester, almost all 5 classes require alot of writing. Hopefully ill at least be able to write well when all is said and done. I am liking the book , Im a stranger here myself . I lived in Germany for almost 6 years as soldier in the Army, and i can relate to alot of what he has written, at least what iv read so far.

Blog #1

2009-01-28T20:54:00.000-08:00

am...,I don't know what to write about. well, what I'm trying to say is that my life is boring. My classes are happen to be hard, because of my lack of interest on material I'm learning. I very much force myself to learn these things, because I have to, not because I have the interest of learning them. I spend hours reading the a signed material, but still, I do not comprehend what I'm reading. Again lack of interest.
Psychology make me feel abnormal, and make me question myself "What is normal anyway?" I can't stand all the disorders that people have...; called themselves normal! Nobody is normal. What is it that tick me off about Anatomy? Oh yeah, it's just hard Period! I don't know what make people think zooming in the vagina is easy. Some things are mean to be left unseen or unread; vagina is one of them. We need to talk, not write. And there, is where the hatre of writing come in. I'm not much of a talker, but prefer to get my point across through talking. No need to get creative with words now, is there?
It's helpful if you love everyone you work with, but that is not always the case. I love my job, but hate the little "Bret" that work with me. He actually admit that he is racist. I am just waiting right now, if they don't fire he, I'll have to..., anyway change of subject. Well, life isn't fair, but who said it is? ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha h...; dude cut it out!

Blog 1

2009-01-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how similar this college writing class is to my intro to public speaking class. The first three chapters of our book are just like the things I went through in public speaking. For example writing a thesis, the body, the conclusion, and how important the first sentence (the attention getter) is. The class are also similar because we are doing process essays in here, and demonstration speeches in public speaking. The process essay involves writing how to do something, and the speech is showing it. I thought that was very interesting.

BLOG # 1

2009-01-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today, i was thinking about chapter nine. I use processes all the time, I just don't think about them as a process but maybe a routine. Routines are the small things, like getting ready in the morning or driving to school. I know i use a process to make mac and cheese. Also in my accounting class we use a process for every little step throughout the accounting cycle.

blog for wed.

2009-01-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

Today in class I learned a few things including differences between informative which is when the audience learns what your talking about but is not expected to perform the steps, usually tells how something is done by others, and usually technical or personal. And Directional has instructions to follow, needs development and content to move from list.

Blog 1

2009-01-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

I don't have a class that is too much similar to this one, but I did do a lot of writing in high school English. This semester I am taking four classes, business communications, employee processes, intro to computer tech. and college writing. none of my classes have to much relation so far, but maybe as the semester goes on I will notice more things. the only class I can say has some relation to English 1101 is business communications. So far in business communications class, we have studied grammar, parts of speech, and spelling, which could be very useful for a writing class such as this one.

Blog 1

2009-01-28T15:17:00.000-08:00

The only thing that my classes and this class is connected to is writing papers. In High School, I had a speech class and our first speech was a how to speech so thats a connection. I got a C on it but thats not the point. I also had writing fundamentals last semester and thats another connection too. If you want to be really in depth this is kind of like my principals of bookkeeping class because the paper we are starting to write is a directional process paper and my bookeeping class is following steps and making sure its write so that is a comparision. I have a couple Ideas for my paper but not sure which one to use yet thats what i will figure out tonight. The housekeeping story in the book i thought that that woman was crazy for loving to do that job i used to be a housekeeper and i now have total respect for them and i hated housekeeping but it was a job.

blog #1

2009-01-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

Hi! I don't have any classes that are link together as far as I know. Last semester I had one class that links with this 1101 class. Of course it is the Writing Fundamentals class! Anyways, today we were assigned to write a 1 1/2 page rough draft that is due on Friday. Thanks to my writing Fundamentals class and to my currently instructor this will be easier to write. In that class we did a process paper too. It was very similar to the one we have to turn in on Friday. So I hope that with what I learned last semester and with the chapter 9 reading I can come up with a good paper!

Blog 1

2009-01-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

Ok so i'm taking two science classes and this college writing class this semester. Both of my science classes do not connect with this class. Until I thought long and hard and came up with something. I don't know if it's a good one, but it's something. In our nutrition class we are learning about how you should eat and how much and what's good for you. And in college writing we talk about how we apply all these different writing things to our lives. So how they connect is how you should use things in your life. Now we are learning more in depth about different styles of papers and how to write them. In nutrition we are learning the more complex parts of nutrients and how to apply them to your daily diet.

Tie it up!

2009-01-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

The thing I can tie in as the class goes thus far into any part of my daily life is the Bill Bryson book we are reading. I have been reading just more than the required reading for this book (which is more than I can say for the required), but this book has so many things that I think about on a day to day basis going on in it that it really blows my mind. I am sure as the semester progresses I will find other similarities in my other classes, work, etc, that tie in with 1101.

Blog 1

2009-01-27T22:05:00.000-08:00

All the classes that I am taking this spring are pretty different. There are only a few I am taking that i would say connect at all and those would have to be phych., soc., and first year experience. Other then that I can't really apply what I'm learning in math to my college writing class. And as far as my FYE class, that's just a giving that it applies to just about every class. But I'm sure as the year progresses I will use things I learn in one class to help me in another class.

it really does all tie together

2009-01-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

its weird after it was mention to see how your classes are tied together...its true. Whats funny is that all my teachers have said 'think about how your classes tie together'. English and Speech especially. In speech we touched based on how to narrow something down; how to pick a topic to talk about. Your audience and why is it important to talk about. So Im trying to use what i learned in speech for this and how to narrow down wat to talk about. And well im stuck. Im trying to think of something that everyone isn't going to pick...like how to make a sandwhich or how to make cookies, even though yes, it did in fact cross my mind. Right now im getting my CNA license and talking about process in this class...all it is in my nursing class is process paper after process paper it seems like. So many steps. Even though our notes are in a outline form how the teacher is giving it in is deffinite process paper form. I could talk more but it would probably get a little boring. Today i just really, really realized how much my classes are related and are tied together. Pretty cool, and helpful.

Blog 1

2009-01-26T17:31:00.000-08:00

This semester I am taking a lot of business class, for I am going in to business, sales, marketing, and manegment. As of know I am really enjoying all of my class. The class that I am really starting to like is my sales class. She to me is an all around likeable teacher. She teaches her class very well, for it is a learning style I enjoy. I have been learning a lot of other great thing in the first few weeks of this semester. I can’t wait for what is yet to come.
Your one and only Blogger Boy! :)

little something on chapter 9

2009-01-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

Hi there, so I was reading up in my hand dandy student writer book, witch was writing by Barbara Fine Clouse. I learned in, chapter nine a little on how there is proper way of write a process paper. I found that a process paper is kind of like describing. In the way of getting someone to feel as if they where doing it the self’s. The process comes from telling some one how you would do it in steps.
Thing that could be good to write on may be setting up for fishing, clean a gun, putting gas in your car and so on things that you have a process in getting it finish.

Blog 1

2009-01-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

College Writing is a lot like my speech class I am also taking this semester. We discuss many of the same things. Some of the things that are the same is knowing your audience, knowing you audience helps you relate to the things that want to hear about or about new things you can teach your classmates about. Also like techniques to use to get people to pay attentions to what your saying and remembering it. The only major difference is in college writing you don't have to get up a read it out load in front of the whole class! Thank goodness!

Classes

2009-01-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

This semester I am continuing to take classes to go towards my generals. some of the classes I am taking are Psychology, Writing I, Economics, and Algebra. So far I like all my classes, although I seem to have a lot more homework then in the fall semester. I dont really mind having homework in each class I just need to get back in the habbit of having to study and do homework. Some of the classes that I think might be a little difficult for me are my Writing I class and my Economics class. Only because these classes are probably going to require me to put more effort into studying and doing my homework. So far I like all my teachers, and classes but we'll see if anything changes as the semester goes on.

Junk Food Heaven

2009-01-25T21:01:00.000-08:00

I know exactly where Bill is coming from when he says he has missed his junk food. I lived in a household where if my mom was on a diet, so was everyone else in the house. She bought everything non-fat, less fat, low-fat. It drove us all insane! So once I moved out on my own I was finally relieved that I could eat whatever I wanted! But that all came to an end soon. After not eating sweets for a while it kind of makes me sick to eat them now. I barely even go out for fast food anymore, and I love it. This world is becoming obese and this whole chapter really explains why. The whole grocery store is high sugar, high fat foods, while in the little corner in the back is the fresh and healthy foods.

Journal 1

2009-01-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

Wednesday lecture was kind of fun because the instructor talk about different things. One of the things I liked the most was when she gave us the option to choose ten out of the eighteen fill in the blanks. I enjoyed this because it reminded me about my past and present life. I remembered how I was never the same after I got married and how I changed my way of thinking as I grew older etc. Anyways, I really enjoyed the assignment that day.

Junk or Heaven?

2009-01-22T19:59:00.000-08:00

When reading the short story Junk Food Heaven in our book i was reading it as a woman's voice which later changed how i read the story. But what i think is really cool is that second paragraph is a type of flash back and i didnt realize it until just now looking back at the story. And it makes the whole story just come together which is odd that it's in the begining at the story and you have to realize it after your done reading the whole thing. sorry if this isn't making any sense its making perfect sense in my head. ill get better i promise. Bare with me. So anyway reading it at first i felt a little sorry for the guy becuause his wife is a health freak but then once he started talking about going to the store and picking everything in sight that is fattening i deffinetly saw where it was going...but when he walking about the ho-hos and all the junk food and how its american culture all i could think about was "no shit america is just a big fat ass" and that there is such a huge problem with weight. Well duh when all there is fatty foods. I felt so ashamed to live here almost. Embarassed. Embarassed to say yeah i live in America you know the country where everyone is fat or over weight. yeah that one! I just thought it was a little ironic that i read this story and the night before I had just watched this special on TLC about these people who were 600,900 and 1030 pounds. Americans are the biggest lazy asses ever hate to say it. Its true we do buy mircowave pancakes and marshmellow goo. Its actually quite gross. And I just laughed when the man's wife made him eat it all and he just was disgusted. I found it awesome! Mostly I like that the second paragraph tied the whole story together. The breakfast pizza in his fridge which he couldn't eat. Good story. :)

Class Connections

2009-01-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

The classes that I have taken this year are all foundations to get me prepared for the dental program. I always wonder why I need to know most of the things I am learning. Why would someone who cleans teeth need to know how to do math problems, public speak, write well-formed sentences, and learn the whole human body, and not just the mouth? Well, not even a quarter of a second semester in, I’ve realized that all these skills are important for any career. It’s good to know math, even just a little. Public speaking is a class that helps people communicate with others, which is a good trait, especially being a dental hygienist. The human body is a must, so that we can understand how everything works. When a hygienist cleans teeth, he or she is aware of what kind of pressure to use, and what kind of nerves to avoid, because it could affect a major part of the body. No employer would want to hire anyone that does not know how to write good sentences, it shows lack of education/knowledge. So, now I understand why I am taking the classes that I am. The classes all work together to help me understand what is necessary for the career I choose!

cLaSsEs tHiS sEmEsTeR

2009-01-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

I really like my classes this semester! on Tuesdays and Thursdays i have two classes starting at ten o clock. my two classes are Economics and then about an hour and a half later i have Intermediate Algebra. I really like the teachers i have to. Mr. Grubb is loud but it is a good thing to keep me awake that early in the morning. On Monday Wednesday and Friday I have class starting at eleven which is nice to sleep in a little bit longer. I start those days off with Psychology which was my favorite subjest in high school and then about an hour later i go to college writing. I'm taking these four classes to satisfy my goals and then either to transfer to MSUM or stay here at this college and pick a Major to go into. I'm undecided as of right now so generals is what im taking. I really need to get into school mode, that long break is still affecting me! !

Junk Food Heaven

2009-01-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

I think the purpose of the essay "Junk Food Heaven" is to point out the changes from childhood to adult. He wants to feel like a kid again by eating all of the junk food he can find, but in the end realizes that its not all that great and healthy food can be good too. I think this composition is directed to those who are in the transition stages from being a teenager to an adult. He is showing that some of the things that were great as a kid can't be great forever. His strategy is showing how it seems so great at first, but then exposing the after effects, and proving that sometimes adult choices are the better choices. I liked this piece, it was comical and yet still informative, but it did not directly state the information, instead it told of his enjoyment with what will end up to be the mistake in the end.

Junk Food Battle

2009-01-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

After reading this chapter it is obvious that the food has taken over the planet in this Bill Brysons mind. Not quite sure why they do not have the junk we have here in the states in the U.K. but whatever the reason Bill thought he missed "it". After buying all the sugar coated this and cheese covered that, he is definitely more than happy to go back to basics. I think this does say something for portion control at least.

junk food heaven

2009-01-19T22:35:00.000-08:00

The junk food heaven is mostly targeting men and women (husband and wife). The author had used process and cause & effect style of writing. The story teller, who happen to be a husband had first plan to go to the store with his wife because the wife wasn’t bring the right (junk) food home. Then he went to the store and got the kind of food he wanted then after awhile he decided he didn’t want the kind of food. The cause & effect was that his wife makes him eat the junk food he wants and final got sick of it and didn’t taste good anymore. The main point of this article is to stress the part that women know what is best for their men. And men should trust their women and not finding out for themselves how bad something is. I liked it, it was kind of funny. I had fun reading it.

Junk Food

2009-01-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

I believe the main purpose the author was trying to make was that as we age, junk food really becomes less desirable. Also, we need to understand that we all need to start eating better to improve our health. He referenced Hostess Cupcakes as one food he could not believe did'nt really taste good to him anymore. A snack which sounds like it was one of his favorite's growing up.
I feel he was really trying to appeal to all ages who were able to read this book. Not only to the adults who are likely experiencing the same likes and dislikes. But also to the younger age groups who can read this and maybe learn that we need to start eating better.
One strategy he used was to describe the junk food in his fridge in a really unfavorable way. He seemed to go out of his way to make the food really sound gross to the reader.
I liked reading the essay, I really related to the author throughout. I found myself drawing mental pictures of the junk food and also having the feeling of not really liking those types of food anymore myself.

Im a Stranger here myself

2009-01-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

I am reading a book called “I’m a stranger here myself”. I read a story on junk food heaven. I felt that the purpose of the story, to me, was trying to tell and show us that U.S.A junk food is just not all that it is cut out to be. I felt the author was trying to show the U.S.A what junk food was really like. This was the audience he was targeting.
I felt that is was very funny.
Hi Jennifer Beyers MoM

Test Text

2009-01-16T11:43:00.002-08:00

Did you know that the infamous John lennon seen as a symbol of peace has likely killed a man? When the beatles where starting out in Hamburg ,Germany the band wasn't making enough to cover rent so they went out and Paul and John would mug people. But John was very violent and Paul said "that one time John kept on beating this guy after he was unconsess and then they ran when he stoped breathing." Because of the violence that John did in his past he believed through karma that he would die a painfull death. (Which he did.)

Test Message

2009-01-16T11:43:00.001-08:00

testing new account

Junk - Food Heaven

2009-01-16T11:36:00.000-08:00

I think the purpose of Junk-Food Heaven is that everything is good in proportion, the author wanted to have junk food in his home but he became consumed with junk food and ended up hating it in the end and wanting to eat something his wife had bought and was in the house the whole time. I think the audience of this chapter was anyone who grocery shops mostly adults. I think one strategy he uses is using brand names makes it easy to relate to what he is talking about. The author also goes into detail making it even easier to understand how nasty this food really is. I liked the point of this chapter and I liked how he described everything.

junk food heaven

2009-01-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

The purpose of this I think was to inform readers of how much change has occurred in the types of food out there and how growing up may influence the types of food you may have liked when you were younger compared to the types you like now.
The audience that he is most likely aiming for is most likely just the general public, or anyone who finds this topic interesting. And I think that he uses brands and names that most people will recognize so that they can relate to the situations he is writing about. He also throws in a little humor to keep the readers reading.
All in all I don't really read much but when I have to I like the things I'm reading to be interesting and even though this was kind of a random subject I managed to keep on reading so it wasn't all that bad. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what sort of other random subjects get brought up in this book.

Blog #1

2009-01-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

I chose Junk Food Heaven as the chapter I wanted to talk about. The purpose of this is He hadn't had junk food in a while so he wanted to try it and thought it looked good. In the End he didn't like it as much as he did when he was younger and always have mix reactions to the food. The Audience of this chapter is probably teenagers to adults. I think that he uses junk food and how he has never had it in a while and people wanted to read it because they want to see how he reacts to eating that much junkfood. I actually liked this because i remembered it and thought it was a interesting topic to write about.

Junk-Food Heaven

2009-01-16T11:29:00.000-08:00

I think that the purpose of this reading, is to inform people that even though junk-food may taste good, or look better then many healthy foods in all actuality it is really bad for you. Also that sometimes junk-food may taste good occasionally, but in mass quantities it may make you feel sick. I think the audience the author is trying to target in general is all Americans, but mostly younger generations that have grown accustomed to fast food and poor eating habits. Some of the strategies the author uses to inform his audience that junk-food is not the healthiest choice, is talking about the chemicals that keep the food product preserved, the way even the sight of junk food made him feel sick to his stomach, and describing the taste in textures of the food in a negative light. My response to the authors essay is that most of what he rights is very true. Americans thrive on junk food, I mean think of all the fast food chains that extremely successful. The reason that they are so successful is because they are easily accessible and fast. Two things that Americans love, and that is why I agree with the author in the sense that Americans thrive on junk-food.

First blog

2009-01-16T11:27:00.001-08:00

The purpose of the chapter seems to me to be about the things we dont understand but work with everyday, such as the example given about the moble phone. How they work all around the world sending voices to other peoples ears, but they cant do the same with pizzas. The audience that he is directing to is the genral public and his strategies are pretty simple. Just by giving examples like the size of engines and stuff.. for what i have read of this book so far its very unimpressive.

junk- food heaven

2009-01-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

I think that the purpose of this reading is to inform us that junk food isn't really that good for you and that it makes you very unhealthy, even though it tastes good. I think that the author is targeting all of us but mostly younger adults because we are the ones that are all getting bigger and eating unhealthier food because of all the fast food and junk food that is easily assessable. The author used stratigies that were very good like telling us how delicious all the junk food was and how it was going to taste so good but in the end it made him sick and he didnt want to eat it anymore. It is also showing that there are people, like your parents who tell you to eat healthy because it is good for you but most kids dont listen and end up with a stomach ache. The stratagie is saying that healthy food is alot better for you then junk food. i think that this is a very good artical because it is very true, i love to eat junk food but to mush of it can make me sick and it makes me feel alot better to eat a good healthy meal rather then snacks all day.

2009-01-16T11:26:00.006-08:00

I think the purpose of the short story, was doing the same think over and over sometimes is not the best thing. For example he talks about eating all these good junk food even thought they are not good for your health. He believes that this is the way of the American life. He also did not like the fact that his wife was bringing home healthy food. I believe that he is trying to tell us what create obesity are supermarkets that is what his is telling us as audience without coming out and saying it. He also use words the can be identify as what obesity line the junk food, because if you but all these together that’s what we find out depending on what your minds think off at that’s point

2009-01-16T11:26:00.005-08:00

Junk- Food Heaven

Purpose
I think that the purpose of this article was that a person can not eat junk food all the time. Junk food can be good once in a while, but should not be eaten for every meal. Even though it seems so good, it will eventually get old. He is showing and targeting so many of us who do the same things he described in the article.

Audience
I think the audience he was trying to target was the average American. He just describes what so many of us do when we eat, and go grocery shopping.

Strategies
I think the strategies he used was giving examples so many different kinds of examples. For example when he described cereal, cheese from a can, and toaster pastries. He also gives examples of how the average American consumes 17.8 of pretzels every year.

Response
I really liked this article. I think that it sounded like me when I go to the grocery store. I think that most Americans do eat a lot of junk food these days.

junk food heaven

2009-01-16T11:26:00.004-08:00

I think he wrote this article to prove that our society is kind of going down the waste side, once a person can get them selves used to a certain eating style either healthy or bad they usually stick to it and when they try a different style that they arent used to they dont like it just like anything else if you speak english and you try to learn to speak german you probably wont like it because your not used to it.
I think the audience he was trying to get to was just anyone who wants to read it because i dont think theres a certain age group or sex or anything in general that he was aiming at just trying to get it across to people. It's a pretty simple article.
The strategies to get our attention and so on, is using a lot of detail and making sure we understand what he is talking about by using examples.
I liked the article because I have been in the same boat a few times with that food issue my fiance always tries making me try different foods and when your used to certain style of foods you usually try sticking to them and thats what im good at.

Junk- food heaven

2009-01-16T11:26:00.003-08:00

I think the purpose of this essay it to talk a little about how some people(Americans) just get use to eating junk food. There is aisles at the supermarket full of just junk food, like cheese out of a can and breakfast pizza. Then after a few weeks of eating junk he just couldnt just eat junk he just wanted healthy food again.
I think the audience he was targeting was young people to people who want to change the way they eat.
I think his tratagi of sharing all the different types of junk food and the way he went all out and in alot of details on the junk food. he alos shared the out come of having to eat junk food for a few week .
I did like the essay on junk food becauseof the detail the author put into it to keep my attention (job well done) the out come was not what I expected so that was even better.

Junk-Food Heaven p.55-58

2009-01-16T11:26:00.002-08:00

The purpose of this essay is clearly to show how american food should not be considered food. It is so filled with chemicals to preserve the food, that its quality does not even compare to nutritional, good food.
The audience is any U.S. citizen that wants to hear the truth about the so called "good food" that we have become so accostumed to (that which we probably wouldn't like if we weren't used to it.)
The strategy he uses is an expiriment performed by himself. (buying tons of junk food and eating every last unsatisfying bit of it.) He adds funny comments such as "I longed for melted cheese that was in the shade of yellow unkown to nature."(haha!)(56)
I liked this essay! It made me laugh, but also kind fo disgusted to know that we eat food that is just so bad for us, and don't even realize it anymore. So many preservatives and additives that we just can't resist! I like the sarcastic humor, it makes it kinda fun to read, and makes you giggle in your head while reading.

Bryson- Life's Mysteries

2009-01-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Life's Mysteries (Pg. 198-201)
I don't think there was to much of a purpose to this chapter except to get people's minds thinking. It is target audience is everyone. He asks random question. I liked this chapter because he asks questions everybody wonders about and gets you thinking well after you are done reading it. Some questions are serious, while some are humorous.

Hello

2009-01-16T11:25:00.000-08:00

The purpose of writing this essay is to remind you that you can always go home. Yeah you might forget some of the techniques and be out of the ordinary, for instance, not remembering the name something in a hardware store. I believe his audience would target young people who move away from home and soon realize they have forgetton their natural home. His strategies, he uses his examples when he moves back home. What I thought about this essay was, it was nice, because, I didn't find it boring. I somewhat can relate myself to this essay, because soon, I will be going back home, and im sure I will not remember everything.

test

2009-01-16T07:31:00.001-08:00

got it to work i beleive

Testing Testing

2009-01-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

Yay!!! I did it!!!

2009-01-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

test message

2008-07-28T06:54:00.001-07:00

All posts below are from the 2008 spring students. Watch for new posts from the fall 2008 students!

Argument Paper

2008-05-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

Research papers are very difficult to write for me anyway. I am trying so hard to do my best on this paper but it is so difficult for me just to be able to write my own words and put my resources in with also. I get very frustrated and I just want to put it away and not look at it and hopefully in some way the paper would write itself. I have learned allot on how to write papers and I enjoy writing but research papers to me are not very fun to write. I like to find information on subjects that interest me and then find out more than I thought about it. I just have a hard time writing about a topic and then quoting someone and making sure that I do it correctly so I won't plagiarizes. It is very stress full! I want to do my best on this paper and I am trying to make changes to word sentences differently. Some times it's hard to think of good words top put in place of the words I repeat often. I hope my paper turn out great and I am able to do a good argument on the topic I am writing about.

Argument Paper

2008-04-16T13:07:00.001-07:00

This paper that we are having to write is definately difficult. Its hard to find the right sources that aren't just a bunch of baloney. I have noticed that it is even harder when there is a limit on how many internet sources we are able to use. At the same time though, I can understand and justify not using too many internet sources for a paper because of the ability for it to be written by a fifth grader.
This class is definately alot harder than I thought it ever was going to be. I should have prepared more appropriately for taking this class than just showing up. With the pace and everything you really have to stay on top of everything that you do. This being my first year back in school after taking almost a full year off after high school, it really has opened my eyes to the fact college is not easy, but it is a useful resource that more people should utilize. I definately have realized I am not wasting my money by attending college.
In other classes I have taken what I've learned about works cited and other activities and applied them. It has helped me excel at other courses, now I will just have to wait and see what it gets me in this class.

Argument Paper

2008-04-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

This whole arguement paper is so stressful I do not know what to do. I have alot of problems with the work citied page. They tell me that it is very important to cite everything right, but how do you do that when you do not know how it works. Does anybody know that how it all works and wdould be willing to help me out that would be wonderful. I also have some information if other people are having troubles. The learning center is a wonderful place to go they are very helpful.

Blog 6

2008-04-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've found that this arguement paper is going to be the hardest one. It is very time consuming with finding all the sources and and citing them and everything. It is also kind of interesting to do though because you get to find more info about a topic that you are interested in. I guess I can't say it's fun but it could be much much worse. At first, five to seven pages seemed like a lot but after doing some of the research I realized that five pages is going to be very simple. One of the hardest things for me so far is just deciding which five sources to use. I have looked up so many different sources that it's tough to decide which ones to use. We also have quite a bit of time to get it done which is nice because she could give us only a week or two if she wanted. So all in all, I guess I'm not looking forward to this but it could also be a lot worse and it shouldn't be all that hard.

Blog 6

2008-04-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

I like everyone else is thinking the argument/research paper is the hardest one yet. This paper will really test us all as writers. I am enjoying my topic but has been a little hard to find really useful sources on year round school systems and if they are truly beneficial. It has been helpful in class to see what a credible source is. Spending so much time working with our sources I am hoping that I have good ones. It is amazing how much work it takes though to properly cite a paper. I am certain that I have plagiarized once or twice just because my paper was not cited properly. How many periods can you have in one small area like that? I am getting very good at writing dots. My goal in the end is to have all of my sources cited properly, and have a very informative paper on the benefits of year round school systems.

2008-04-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

This argumentative/ research paper is going to be the most difficult of all the papers yet. We have been taking notes on how to properly cite our work, correctly quote others thoughts and ideas, and paraphrase what we believe their work means to us. Writing this paper not only goes into great detail on what be believe to be true, it also expresses what the opposite side thinks about our topic. Our opinions in this paper are not believable or credible so we are suppose to research what others say is true, and correctly cite where and who wrote what. I have found that in my research so far there are many credible sources but also many phony, bias and extremly wacky theories out there written by people who only have a strong opinion. No doubt everyone has a side before they pick a topic, but some of the sources ive found( not used) have no proof or experience, therefore i would never be swayed by their words.Iam choosing to do a personal interview for my paper. I have found personal interviews to be very insightful, if you ask the right questions you can get responses you would never be able to find written in text. The more research i do on the Naval base the more i want to find out, so many new things have happened in Cuba that living there now would be a completley diffrent experience.

Blog 006

2008-04-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Currently what's going on in 1101 is research for an argument essay. This has been enjoyable for the most part with the collection of sources that we needed to find to support the argument that we'll be talking about. The topic that was chosen for my essay is on Video Game Ratings Fair? I'm hoping that this topic will be fun because of what I like about games and anything else about them. In class on April 10th was an in class discussion on taking notes. The information covered was specific and easy to follow. The information talked about on paraphrasing and quoting correctly to have a better argument essay so that it doesn't get counted as plagerism. Hopefully the information disscussed in class can maybe prove useful for the essay I'm going to do in the upcoming months.

Blog 6

2008-04-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

Currently in class we are working on our research/argumentive papers. Within the last week we have learned how to cite our sources, make a works cited page, and take notes on our resources. Already, this has been the most difficult paper we've been assigned and we haven't technically even started writing it. I'm beginning to get a little worried on how much more difficult it can get. Reading over other classmate's blogs, I can see that I'm not the only one who feels this way. I hope that once we get everything pieced together, the writing will be a lot more smoother than the preparation. I guess these are just the hard steps that need to do in order to produce an amazing paper. That's what I'm planning on aiming for at least. I know if I continue to give this paper all the effort I possibly can, it will benefit me in this class and others down the road. It's a tough thing to learn, but it will be worth it in the end.

Blog 6

2008-04-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

What I have learned this week and how I can use the information I received in class. This week in class I learned how to correctly cite a work cited page. I can use this information when I need to do my work cited page for my research paper, so I don't end up plagiarizing. Also this week I have learned how to cite quotes, paraphrases, and summarize information that I have collected for my research topic. Which is great to know specially when it comes to writing up our five to seven page research paper.

Where I am at in my research paper I can honestly say not very far because when I try to finding information about my topic I keep getting the same information and trying to find recent statistics about adoptees who have actually went looking for their biological parents, which will be vital information to prove my argument, but it is easier said then done. So when it comes to writing a five to seven paper it may prove to be more difficult then what it sounds.

Blog 6

2008-04-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to get a little stressful. Judging by the comments from other students, I think most of us are starting to get a little worried about the difficulty of this paper. I know I sure am. It's also crazy to think we have only like 7 class period left and our paper is due. That means a lot of work has to get done in what seems like not a lot of time! I just hope everything falls into place and things don't get too hectic. At least we don't have to do a 60-100 page research paper. I think 5-7 is bad enough, I couldn't even begin to imagine 60-100 pages. Here's wishing everyone in College Writing 1101-03 who reads this good luck on your paper!

Blog 6

2008-04-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

Now that we have started working on our research paper, I'm thinking this is definatly going to be hard and take alot of time to work on! I'm scared because i'm hoping nothing will go wrong like plagarism or just making stupid mistakes. On all the other papers we have written I felt like I did very well, But with this one i'm not quite sure. Everything is just so confusing, with all the different steps you need to take and such. I just hope this will turn out good and also that it won't be as hard as I think it will be :)

Blog #06

2008-04-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have found a lot of good information on the smoking ban. I can find a lot of information on people who are for and against the smoking ban. It is a very controvesial topic because so many people have different opinions on if it should or shouldn't go into effect. I need to do some more research on this topic so I can get enough information for five to seven pages.

blog 6

2008-04-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

Lately in class we have been researching out research projects and looking up information, reading it and citing it.On Tuesday we recently learned how do a works cited page and I thought it was not that hard. Simply because in high school we have been doing the works cited page in projects and having to do them in MLA format so I didn't think that the works cited page is going to be that hard. I still am a little confused with some sources though, because some of them are not giving me all the information I need to do a citation on it. Also for today, Thursday the tenth, we were supposed to read pages 508-514. Our assignment was about taking notes and different ways to do so. For example using note cards. The book also talked about what to avoid if you do use index cards, for example avoid the temptation to fill up each card with notes. The pages also tells you what to be aware of like copying and pasting because that is plagiarism. In this section it gives good examples I thought on paraphrasing notes, how to quote notes, how to combine phrases and quotations, how to summarize notes, and how to do personal notes. I thought that the personal notes were the easiest to understand because all it is, is ideas that occur to you as you take notes, and how you want to start and write your paper. For example if you want to start your paper out with a stat. or a fun fact and how to do so. Anyways see everyone in class!!

Blog 6

2008-04-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

Now that we have started our argument papers things are getting pretty difficult. first off you have to have 5-7 reliable sources, its kind of hard finding them because there is soo much crap on the internet that you dont know what is true or false. Next you have to cite the source, this is when it gets really hard. i dont know wether its a book, newspaper, or journal since i got all my sources from the internet. Having the class time tuesday was great so we could get help and learn more hands on what to do. i am still a little nervous about it though, there is so much work that has to be put into it and alot of time. hopefully i will be able to figure it out. I should know how to do some of it because i have written a paper in MLA style before, that was back in high school so i have forgotten alot of it. its always good to know that help is just a question away.

#6

2008-04-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

Coming into this research paper I thought I'd have no such trouble at all. I had planned on going to get help to pick a topic at the learning center.... didn't have time so I've switched my topic probably 5 times. I've finally just given up and stuck with one. Surprisingly when I spent 5 hours in the library, I found a few books that had quite a bit of information in it. I was hoping to find more periodicals and journals, but found none. Internet had A LOT of reliable sources, but since we were only allowed one, that was a bummer. The first two hours at the library I couldn't find ANYTHING. But ended up actually reading and reading and then getting into stuff, which surprises me because I'm not a big fan of reading what so ever, and can hardly concentrate if I'm not in bed. Therefore, research papers take time!! 5-7 pages really sounds a lot to me now, but I think once I find more and more information, it'll really seem like nothing and I'll probably end up writing too much. One thing I do struggle with is blabbing on too much... it's either that, or TRYING to blabble on so I can add more to my reearch paper, which in the end isn't good at all. Let's hope this paper goes well!

Blog 6

2008-04-09T09:46:00.001-07:00

The research paper we are working on in class is by far the hardest paper I’ve ever done in my life! All the readings and lectures have been really helping me to understand what a research paper really is. In my speech class we had a speech that we needed to cite sources for and the only way I knew how to look up information was to Google it. Once I found out that we need to use credible sources and how to access them it really calmed my nerves and taught me something that I know I’m going to need to know through out my college days.
Then the problem of how to cite a source properly came up! I thought that I could just use the computer and plug in the information and it would spit out the work cited page for me. I tried that to see if it actually worked and cited the source the way that is required and surprise surprise it didn’t do it right just like I was suspecting, but using the pocket manual and doing it by hand did and I cited all my sources except for one which I’m unsure of how to cite. To me that is a real accomplishment because I really thought that learning how to do this right was near to impossible for me. I guess anything is possible if you work hard and try, so if I can do it so can anyone else.

Blog 5

2008-03-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

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.