Ex. Credit!

I really enjoyed the College Writing II class. I feel like it has improved my writing and got me to explore a different direction of writing. Before I thought of writing as research on a topic or something boring like that. By taking this course I learned that writing is also a way of exploring and discovering who you are. I really liked exploring our identities and giving us a better look of who we are. I also liked that we got to use modern sources of media such as facebook to see what we are letting others think about us. I haven’t really thought of facebook to be that impressionable but I learned that it is.

I also had a good time listening to others and seeing their points of view on topics. I am very stubborn and don’t usually see the way others do but by listening to them and seeing different ways that people think let me be more open minded. Another part of the class that I liked is that it wasn’t your typical college writing class. I enjoyed the bloging, watching movies and clips from the Simpson’s and the Colbert Report. I feel like it takes more than a professor standing in front of a room talking to make students learn. By adding these sources of media, it helped me understand and help me to learn. I really enjoyed the class and I feel like I am walking away with a lot from the class.

Final Project

I think that one of the biggest obstacles that I will face in my final project is making the video. I think that it might be dificult to edit the video and put in clips of youtube videos or pictures. I am not familiar with editing movies, however i though it would be different and interesting to do so. I would like to know what all has to be turned in together. I am a little confused if we have to write a paper and do a video or do either or. I would also like to get a better understanding of how the video lay out should be and if there are any requirements in making a video. Beside these few concerns I am very excited to part tkae in this assignment and to interview people.

in class klosterman vs identity.

1. One thing we connect identity to from Klosterman's reading is when he's talking about how he doesn't feel like he knows the people he interviews. We think this correlates to identity because sometimes people are 'fake' with who they are around certain people and Klosterman thinks that the relationship between an interviewer and an interviewee is fake. Klosterman always says that sometimes the interviewer asks questions a certain way so the answers go in a certain direction. We can connect that to identity because you may shift your identity a certain way while hanging out with a certain group of friends so you fit in. 2 & 3. Klosterman's overarching research question is whether or not we should stop asking questions. Klosterman says that we shouldn't stop asking questions because it's a way to find out more about people. We agree that it's important to ask questions to build relationships and get to know people on a deeper level. 4. An interviewer or reporter has a set plan on how they want a story to go before they even conduct interviews. With that in mind, they tend to steer the interviewee in a certain direction to fit their plan. Even if the interviewer doesn't say exactly what the reporter is looking for, there's a way to edit and manipulate one's words to coincide with yours without actually changing any words. One example we talked about what when an interviewee decides not to answer a question. With not answering, the reporter or interviewer can draw certain conclusions that may be false and publicize their idea on what the silence means. 5. Morris's argument poses a good point. If people were reasonable and say the media or interviews or what they were, they would avoid interviews all together. They would be able to see how easy it is for the media to manipulate and change the meaning of something you say to say something completely different. However, not everyone thinks like that and strive to be in the limelight at all costs even if that meant harming their reputation for something they didn't even mean to say.

Simpson's vs. Gladwell. -in class

Homer tried to undergo many changes to fit in with the stereotype of "cool". When at the music fest, Homer bought a reggae hat thinking it would make him appear cool and hip. Unfortunately, that was not what the crowd saw as "cool" and it backfired. Homer was accidently hit by a cannon and was given a job opportunity with the traveling freaks. Homer saw this proposal as an opportunity to look "cool" so he took the job. After a while of traveling, he was damaging his body and his doctor told him if he was hit by one more cannon he would die. Homer decided that death was not worth being "cool". He wanted to be a good father and at the end of the episode he realized that to him, being a good father was considered "cool". We can connect this to the article because Gladwell talked about appearance when looking "cool" and dressing in the right fashion. Also, doing activities you usually wouldn't, like Homer traveling with the Freaks, would make you cool. In the end, Homer found out what cool meant to him and that was his family. Gladwell also points out that what is considered "cool" changes so rapidly. Homer found this out when jamming in his car to music he thought was cool but the next generation thought it was so uncool. Gladwell also points out that when he grew up LA was alot cooler than what it is today. Cool changes so fast and what you think it cool when you're a teen, its most likely considered uncool by the time you're an adult.

Power Pont is Evil

I think that Tufte is completely wrong and very unprofessional in his arguement. I feel that Power Point is a great way to help audience members feel part of the presentation. Many people are more of a visual learner than an audio learner. Some people understand the message better if it is written in front of them instead of them being told the information. He says that it is slide after slide, well that is why it is called a slide show. It helps the audience keep track with what the speaker is saying. Tufte says that in grade schools that kids often write slides with a few words and a picture from clip art. These kids are learning how to use Power Point and the many tools and options that help to make a slide. he aks like these kids are going to be making slides like this all their life. I also think that Tufte is unprofessional in his arguement against Power Point. I believe that it is extremely inappropriate to use curse words in an argument such as this.

in class google questions

1. when the author says that his mind is "changing", he is talking about the effect that google has on the function of his brain. The more we use the internet to research and find information, the quicker our brains expect to find and understand information all the time. He allutes to the fact that at one point, people had to spend time looking up data in books and at the library whereas now we can hop online, google the topic and find it in minutes.

2. Since Carr is a writer, he finds using the Web to be very helpful. He says that he can conduct research that at one point took days to complete, in a matter of minutes today. Outside of work, Carr finds the Web great for entertainment and often finds himself watching videos, listening to music and reading blog posts.

3. Carr and his friends believe the internet is shaping their ability to focus. There was a time where sitting down and focusing on larger pieces of writing was no big deal. Thanks to the internet now-a-days, however, they find it difficult to focus for lengthy periods of time to read. I think this is an example of how medium is shaping it's users because its not only affect their learning capabilities, but its also affect their chances of success in life.“I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print" (Carr p. 6).

4. We think the Carr's biggest concern in reguards to the internet being everywhere is that it's becoming our everything. "The Internet, an immeasurably powerful computing system, is subsuming most of our other intellectual technologies. It’s becoming our map and our clock, our printing press and our typewriter, our calculator and our telephone, and our radio and TV" (Carr p. 18) We think Carr is referring to the fact that we as a society are putting all of our "eggs in one basket". We are relying on the internet for way too much.

Billy Sim - group answers

1. The most interesting implication is that in today's society people seem to rather live their lives online. Online, people can be whoever they want despite who they are in real life. In the writing, the author wanted to live his life through the game Sims instead of living in reality. Online you can say and do things without it actually affecting the person you are in reality.

2. We can relate Klosterman's piece of writing to Slumming, the writing we read a few weeks ago. They relate because the characters in both stories think the 'grass is greener on the other side'. People seem to think that no matter how well they have it, living another person's life must be better. Whether it's online or on the streets, people look for outlets to escape their own lives.

3. When Klosterman argues about children thinking like computer, we feel he is talking about emotions and social interaction. On computers, children don't necessarily have to express their emotions and don't get experience with face-to-face social interaction. The children of the future may find it hard to socialize publicly because we are familiarizing them too much with the usage of computers. In the real world, while technology is important for success, if you lack the social skills to interact with others and share ideas, you will not be very successful.

Online Virtual LIfe

I feel that these online social communities are changing the way people communicate to one another. People can make themselves look anyway they want, act anyway they want, and say anything they want and their will be no consequences for it. That's why people love these games so much. You can get away with anything on sites like that. They let people be who they want to be and not who they really are. The games are addictive because people begin to like that life better their own. If you go on these sites and play for a while you will notice that you won't find one fat person or an ugly person. People will make themselves look so attractive because in real life they aren't. These online games are bad because people become so addicted and attracted to their online life that their real life does not matter anymore. This article reminds me of the movie, "Surrogates." This movie was about how people could make a body and live through that body while they sat at home and controlled it. In thus movie everybody was so attractive and didn't have any flaws. This is what these games are, they are an alternate universe that looks better then the one we live in.

Our Final Draft

I feel that as humans we continously grow not only physically but mentally, spititually and emotionally. I do not think that there is a point in life that we stop maturing and ecoming a different person. I feel that we constantly change and grow and strive to be something else that we never stop and take time out to appreciate the person that we are. It it impossible to look at yourslef and think that there is nothing that you would change about you. There is no point where we can say I am happy with who I am and I never want to or am going to change. Even if we try not to change, we still do. Change is impossible to avoid. I do not think that there is a final draft to who we are because we are never finished.

Slumming

When I started reading this article, I found it very strange and a little hard to read. As I continued I began to understand what the point of the story was. What I got out of the story was that people lose sight of what is important in life and get caught up with material things and trying to out do one another. I especially liked the comparison when they compared both the rich and the poor by living out of a suitcase. Neither of them take the time out to just relax and enjoy life either because they can't or because they are too caught up in their hectic lives to do so. I feel like when you are caught up in this madness that it is important to made your self absent for a while like they did in the end so that you can get perspective about your life and how you want to live it. I liked the message that the story was trying to get across and I think it is an important one. Many people forget what is important in life and they need to be reminded of what really is important. Overall, I enjoyed the story but I thought that it could have been written better.

Am I a Writer

I do not consider myself to be a writer. I feel that a writer is someone who enjoys writing and wirtes professionally, someone who writes for a living. I do not write for a living. There is not a large audience reading what I write so I would not consider myself a writer. A writer, in my eyes, is someone who has a book published or an academic journal article written. Another example of a writer is somone who is studying to be a writer or a journalist. A writer has to enjoy writing and be passionate about their work. There has to people reading their work and being interested in it. Since I am none of these I would not consider my self to be a writer. I write because I have to not because I enjoy to. Writing is something I consider a chore than a excitement, so I would never call myself a writer.

literacy and voice- in class

4. finding one's voice: Finding something you are passionate and knowledgeable about and be willing to express those thoughts and views with others. Anyone can obviously forge their voice if they are heavily influenced by something or someone else. What makes it originally is by taking the information and opinions of others you've gathered and interpreting it into what you think it means. Its how you put that information out there that makes it your voice.

5. With today's technology, we are exposed to so much knowledge, opinions and voices. We think its impossible to have an 'authentic' voice because anything and everything can influence your ideas. Anything you write was influenced by something else. Especially as college students, when we are assigned a paper, we may take into consideration the views and opinions of the person grading the paper. In my gender and communications class, my teacher is an extreme feminist so when I'm assigned a paper about my opinions about topics that come out of feminist movements, I'm more likely to be influenced by my teacher's voice rather than my own.

6. In today's society, imitation plays a huge role in our lives. I can't tell you how many papers or discussions i've been involved with about 'who is your role model'. As a society, so many of us want to mimic someone we may see on tv, in movies or even a stranger on the street. In the writing aspect, many papers require sources. We are required to include sources of other people's voices, knowledge or life experiences. No matter who you see or what you do, you are influenced by someone or something else.

Why I Write

In this weeks reading Joan describes her writing background in writing. In the first few paragraphs, she said that she use to have a hard time focusing on what she was reading and writing and focusing on the more tangible things. I can relate to this because when I am either reading or writing I get easily distracted by things such as facebook or television. It is easy for me to stop writing and go on facebook chat, I find it more interesting and more fun, but writing is what is important. She continues on to talk about how she graduated and what she had to go through to get there. I took this story as a way of perceiving and staying focused on what's important in life than finding the easy way out.

Why Write?

I find it important to write because it is a great way to get your thoughts and emotions out. Sometimes when a person is going through a hard time it is beneficial to them to let their feelings out on paper even though it is not for other people to read.
Another reason why people write is to tell others of a story or an expierence that people will find interesting. People like to read about other people and expierences they have gone through so it is good to write so that people can enjoy and appreciate what you have went through.
The last reason why I think it is a good idea to write is to persuade people to a particular idea. You can find a lot of persuasive writing in campaigns when trying to persuade voters on a candidate to choose. There are many different reasons why people should write and I think that they are all equally important.

What Obama did to the draft

Vince feels that Obama made the changes so his speech didn't make it seem like he is talking down to the audience, making his speech more personable. Vince also agrees with Obama's changes and feels that it makes his speech sound more relateable. Obama attempted to put himself on the same level as the people he is talking to. For example, when he added 'of us' to the first line.

I feel that Obama's changes are a bit manipulative. You can make anyone agree with what you are saying by the way you say it. In this case, I feel like Obama is trying to appeal to the audiences emotions more so than the content of the speech. The blogger states that the President repeadedly added feelings and thoughts to specific people or groups of people. I think there is a time and place for appealing to one's emotions, but I don't agree that in a speech given by the President is appropriate.

A&P

I feel like Sammy was an typical 18 year old guy. He was think poorly and acted impulsively. He was more worried about the girls that walked into the store than his own job. I feel that he was not acting rational and thinking logically. I don't think that he should have chose the girls than his job because the job is more important at the moment. His parents is friends with the store owner so he is probably going to get in trouble when he gets home. I found him to be childish and foolish
I however liked the story and thought it was well written. I found it nice to read a short story and take a break form the academic article. I liked the story but found Sammy's gramar a little annoying while readding.

A&P group review

1. Sammy was a bit upset and frustrated with his decision of quitting his job. He did it with the intentions of becoming the young girls' hero but, as we out, that wasn't the case. His boss also said that you don't want to do this to your parents and, as sammy said, was true. So, at the end we think that he realized he made a quick decision that he probably should have thought more about it.

2. We feel that Sammy did not quit his job for the right reason. Sammy wasn't living meaningfully because the meaning was not interpretted by the girls. He wanted to be their heroes, however, it really doesn't affect them longterm like it would Sammy.

5. We both agree that we would not have quit because it wasn't that big of a situation. We can understand if the boss was being extremely rude to the girls, but he had to tell them they couldn't come into the store again unless they are in clothing. We think that's a very reasonable request.

Spam Rhetoric

The spam letter that we read was the Spam Rhetoric letter. The letter shows all three rhetorical appeals in trying to persuade the reader to participate in working with him. The author uses ethos by telling the reader that he is aa Audit Debt Manager for the Bank of Africa. He also uses pathos by telling us about the family who died in Iraq and asking the reader if he can trust you and if you are ready to work with him. Logos is used in the introduction when he opens his letter with "How are you." He makes it informal to sound more like a friend than a stranger. He also uses it when telling the reader about the sum of two million five hundred thousand united states dollars. Another part that shows logos is when he makes the letter sound confidential by telling the reader if he is not interested to delete the letter. Overall the letter is poorly written but shows all theree forms of rhetoric.

all my life for sale item

We chose the $25 bill and 3 photocopies of it. We think the kind of person that bought this item was a random old guy who likes collecting bills and coins. We believe it sold because there weren't many of them made and they were never circulated so its a very unique piece of art. This guy must have a whole room devoted to his hobby and has many books filled with coins from all over the world and different time periods.

By: Bailey A. and Vince A.

All my Stuff

I listened to all my stuff, and I didn't find it all that funny. I think that what he was saying is true, but I wasn't impressed with it. I do remember a situation I experienced that was similar to that was when one time I went on vacation to Orlando, Florida. While we were there our relatives in West Palm Beach wanted us to go down and visit them, so we packed our "stuff" and went down to stay with them for a few days. While we were there they wanted to take us to the gulf side of the florida coast so we packed again and went there. I couldn't help but think of this when I was listening to the sound clip. The only thing that I was expecting to hear from him that he didn't say was when you come back from vacation, you end up bring more stuff back then what you came with.