Week 14 number 1

One of the films the girls and I have watched recently is Elf. The idea of the film is that it is a Christmas movie. The main character, who thinks he is an elf, has to go into the city to find his dad. This is the main issue that he has to face, but along the way he runs into all different sorts of struggles. Along the way he finds other things that he realizes are meaningful to him, and he is able to change and have a positive effect on other people’s lives. This is one of my favorite movies because it is really cute, and allows you to see that just one person can make a difference in other people’s lives. I think that this movie not only does a good job at keeping you laughing but it gives you the warm happy feeling inside, and makes you want to do something good. Although I think that people should feel this way all the time.

be thankful number 3

My mom, she is the greatest thing in the world. The strongest woman I know, she was able to raise be all by herself.

Week 14 number 2

I think that America’s celebration of Thanksgiving is something that is interesting. To many Americans it is just another day that we get off to do as we please. There are many Americans who do not even see this as anything but a day to sit around and watch football and eat. Although at the same time I think that it is something that gives us the chance to be with family and look at how much we have. I do however mainly look forward to Thanksgiving as many other people do. I enjoy a day off to just hang out with my family, and eat as much food as my body will take without imploding. And I really enjoy watching football, although this year it really was not much of a game to even spend time watching. Thanksgiving is a time that is fun and brings everyone closer together. It is also the start of the whole Christmas frenzy! Which I love also.

Responce Week 13

This article which is titled as Suspect remains at large in Southcenter slaying, talks about the gun shooting that happened in the Southcenter Mall. The shooting happened on Saturday the same day as the Apple Cup. It isn’t thought to be as a random shooting, rather a gang related shooting. This was between two groups who were seen arguing when one man pulled out a gun and fired 6six to seven rounds. This is something that is very upsetting to people who are not only shopping but plan to go out shopping in the near future. They say that security should be more enhanced and that this is wrong that there is so many shootings happening. In the past two years there have been four shootings at this mall. There was one man who was in the Army and stated that he thinks this is extremely wrong that this is happening, he also stated that this reminds him of being back in Iraq. The author of this article is also upset about this because the man who was shooting is still out there. The author also talks about how there should be stronger security in and around the mall because this is something that isn’t safe for the community. They think that he got out with the crowds when they let people out. The fact that this is probably only going to continue in vengeance because the man who survived is now going to try and get back at the gun man for killing his friend, is sad. What is also bad is that this isn’t the only man out there with a gun, and that something like this could happen again. This is something that isn’t okay, and other people’s lives shouldn’t be put at risk while these kids try to solve such stupid debacles.

Week 13 Number 2

One of the major priorities that had had when revising my paper was that I needed to add more sources. I also needed to figure how to tie in my sources to my paper so that they would make sense with the rest of the paper while still being relevant to my topic. I think that another major issue that I needed to address in my paper was to relate the information that I was giving back to how it had to do with the media, because I was just saying information and not really talking about how it had to do with the media at all. I think that I needed to do all of these things equally, but there really wasn’t anything that was before the other. These things that I needed to do are all requirements, but if I don’t do the other things then my paper isn’t really going to be all that good, because you will not be able to understand it.

Week 13 Number 1

Before me research paper was peer reviewed today, I thought that one of my strengths was that I had some good information down on my paper. I also had already started to put information into my double entire journal which had made it easier to write it. These things that I had put in my journal I put in my paper too, so this made it easier on myself later on when I had to do the double entry journal to turn in. One of my weaknesses would be that I did not really read over my paper so there were some grammatical errors. I also did not uses enough sources, and I think that I should have brought it more back to how each thing that I talked about related back to the media, rather than just stating facts. My essay also did not have a picture for my first draft.

Week 12 Response

In Five Gadgets That Were Killed by the Cell phone, is an article that talks about interesting things that are included in it. Originally cell phones were used to call back and forth, that is all that they did. In today’s society cell phones do so much more. They are able to plan out your day, have a camera, a phone, an MP3 player, and more. Today there are phones that can connect you to the internet in seconds. Phones can do virtually anything and who knows where it is going to end. People are connected to their cell phone so much that some cannot even function without them. There are even 8 year olds who have cell phones. The thing is why is it nessisary for a young child who cannot even be left alone need a cell phone. I think that this is only a way to allow children grow up faster. Parents can monitor what their child is doing to an extent but giving them this opportunity in the first place is only letting them feel as if they are older and more mature than they really are. There is no reversing this either, you cannot just take away the phone when the kid does something back and expect them to go back to how they were before. Cell phones are taking over the world today, it used to be rare to have a cell phone, but now if you meet someone without a cell phone it is amazing. This article is something that shows how dependent the world can become on just one thing, and it is only a matter of time before there is something that we become dependent on and are no longer able to produce it.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/11/five-gadget-whi.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp

Week 12... 1 AND 2

All round the world today the media is influencing body image and how people see themselves. The way that the human is portrayed is something that not only affects women but men as well. Many people do not realize how influential these television shows, magazines, and models can be. The way in which the everyday person is affected can be anywhere from nothing, to depression, to starvation leading to hurting their bodies, and in some cases death. Reasons for which body image in the media is causes a negative effect on the world are the depression, eating disorders, and a uniform looking county.

I wanted to just give an overview of some of the information that I was going to be talking about. I think that I touched base on everything that I was going to talk about. My thesis was at the end of my introduction paragraph.

Week 11 Number 2

One naysayer that I have thought about that would come up in my paper would be that the media isn’t at fault for the eating disorders. Some would say that not every body image is portrayed in the idea that it is perfect and everyone should be thin in order to be beautiful. I agree with this, that yes not every person that is put in the media is the “perfect” body type, but at the same time I don’t think that the media is putting images out there of girls that are thought of as what the youth want to be. It seems to me that nearly every magazine you flip through shows skinny and happy people. They make it seem that you can only be happy when your skinny which I don’t agree with at all. I think that this doesn’t affect my thesis in a bad way if anything I would say it supports it.

Week 11 Number 1

The ways in which body image is portrayed in the media is one of the major causes of eating disorders among young teems today.

Week 10 Assignment 1

The topic for my second paper that my group members and I have decided on is Alcohol use among teens. The drinking age is the main point of the paper; should it be lowered, or should there even be one at all? The three argumentative sides that we have come up with are how teens really choose to drink in order to rebel. The second point would be that Europe, a country with no legal drinking age, really doesn’t have many issues with drinking. This isn’t a problem for these foreign countries because teens have grown up with alcohol, and are accustomed to it. Our third point would be the naysayer, which is that there is new research proving that it can cause physical damage. For the paper each member of the group is going to take one of the points and write about their point. We are then going to come together as a group and put it together with each others input. Putting the paper all together will avoid my major concern of restating something someone has already said.

Week 10

Since I became a full time college student time management isn’t really an issue that I have faced. I feel as though I often times have too much time on my hands, which is what causes issues. In high school I had so many things going on in my life. My average day would start at 8 and end around 9 or 10. I had to balance school during the day, and then I would have cheer, work, homework, hang out with friends/ boyfriend, and then go to bed. I didn’t really have any time to do much at all. I was so involved in school that I was always there and if I wasn’t I would likely be found at work, which was like my home away from home. I think that high school really taught me how to deal with time management because it was something that just had to be done. One of the biggest issues that I find here is that I have to much time and not enough to do. One of the major reasons I want to go back home next year is to work. I feel like I have to much time on my hands which becomes a handicap for me. I have a tendency to put things off thinking that I can just do it later and then come to find I am running out of time. I end up just writing a paper the night before rather than just doing it in the first place, and getting it out of the way. I think that I am doing ok when it comes to school here and time management. I think that the only problem I have is that I have too much time and not enough to do.

Responce

The article I choose was based on a man from the North end of Tacoma, known as the strong man. “Man killed by stepdad mentally ill, mom says.” This is the title of the article, but I don’t think that this is a good title. From just reading this it makes me think that the father was mentally challenged, and that this son died an innocent man. However this wasn’t the case at all. The man had a history of issues from thinking that he could do almost anything, including moving a truck 25 yards, to beating his own mother. This strong man changed his name numerous times, and had multiple personalities along with each name change. On Sunday, he went over to his mom’s house in North Tacoma, where he had a restraining order. He and his step dad started to get into it, and which led to fighting with his mom. The stepdad and son started to argue which led to the father stabbing the son. The way that the article was written seems a little confusing. At one point he is talking about how the mom says that it is the fathers fault, but then two sentences later the writer is saying that it was the son’s fault. I think that a mothers love will always be there but she knows that her son had problems. I don’t think that the father is going to get charged for anything because the son shouldn’t have been there. Also the son was unwanted in their house and he was hitting his mother. The father was only doing self defense for him and his wife. I think that the article could have been written a little better, because even the title was confusing.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/514172.html

Week 9

Encyclopedia- Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen. "The Body in the Media."Encyclopedia of children, adolescents, and the media. 1st ed. 2007.
Book- Dittmar, Helga. Consumer culture, identity and well-being : the search for the "good life" and the "body perfect". 1st. New York: Psychology Press, 2008.
Journal- Grabe, Shelly . "The Role of the Media in Body Image Concerns Among Women: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental and Correlational Studies ." Meta Lab 3(2008): 460.
Flim, I could use any film where body image is a major issue.

Week 9

For my individual research paper I think I would want to write about the image of the body in the media. This would interest me because I don’t like how the media shows the body, and how everyone reacts to how their body should be. This topic would be a good choice because there is a lot to talk about. I can touch the points of how men and women form bad eating habits. It also can lead to problems of depression and can make people sad about their life. I think that this would be a good eye opener for not only me but if anyone else read the paper. This wouldn’t be good because I might have a hard time finding books that have to do with this topic. This is something that has caused a new issue in today’s society. This is causing teens and young adults to worry about their images in such was that they will do anything to make this image. There are some people who will make out their credit cards in order to achieve this certain look. Others will put their own bodies at risk, in ways such as throwing up, or not eating to be the ideal body type. I think that this is something that really needs to be discussed and I am hoping that others in the world are worrying about this issue too. I think that there is a lot in the news papers that are talking about this problem that comes up, but I don’t feel as through it has changed anything. However at the same time I don’t think that my paper is going to be able to shift mountains, I just want to do some research on it, to see the insides of the thinking that the magazines have.

Week 7 number 1 and 2

The website would be http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/oct/12/1013_online/. In the article, “Many accolades for Obama, but no mention of his experience” the writer has many opinions. He talks about how Obama is an unwise president. He does choose to back up his arguments with interesting debates. He talks about a letter that was written about Brack Obama and how he was many things but experienced wasn’t one of the options. He talks about making the right choice towards the end, but he can’t be the one to say what the right choice is. He doesn’t know how anything is going to turn out in years from now. I think that he is entitled to his opinions but he shouldn’t be able to tell people what the right and wrong vote would be. Everyone is allowed to decide to do what they want to do and he is influencing their choices.

Response week7

I think that it is sad that in today’s society kids have to grow up with what the media is putting them through. Many kids think that they are ugly and unworthy of love from others around them. In an article I read there was a 12 year old, writing in saying that she wasn’t pretty enough or good enough for her peers, and that she thinks that it is superficial. However she knows that this is something that everyone does, and the truth is that she will never be able to get away from a world like this. She is worried about being able to change what she looks like, not just her hair and makeup, but she worries about her eyes, hips, lips, and other parts of her body that her parents “gave her.”
The writer thinks that this little girl shouldn’t be so hard on herself. She does also know that there is no escaping what everyone in America has to deal with, how superficial others can be. She also tells the girl that it takes time to come into beauty, and that not everyone is beautiful right away. We all have our awkward stages, and that just makes us who we are when we grow up.
While this little girl is in one of the hardest times of her life, going through the awkward stages of making new friends, and starting to date boys, she needs to understand that everyone is dealing with the same issues. Although some of the girls may seem more put together, looks only take a person so far. Looks is a rising issue all over the world today. The ideal beautiful women are something that is almost unreal. The images you see in the magazines and on TV aren’t average people, these aren’t the same people you see walking down the street or seating next to you in class. This young teen just needs to realize that no one is perfect and she will come into herself eventually.

Response

In today’s society there is issues with eating out at restaurants, not just that American’s are becoming fat from it, but there is another issue. This issue is that people are become sick from unclean restaurants. In the article Dirty Restaurant’s: Sounding an Alarm, it shows how many issues there are with the sanitation issues, and why so many American’s become sick after eating out. There are many different cases, but one example was the ice machine ad mold growing in it. Another example was a subway was using a sink for the employees to wash their hands and to wash the lettuce without sanitizing in between. In this case one of the employee’s was sick leading to the others to become sick and the lettuce to become contaminated. Some of the other issues is that the cutting boards, and knifes that are used aren’t cleaned in between uses. This leading to one cook coming by and cutting chicken, wiping It off with a towel and putting it back. Then another cook comes along and cuts fresh lemons to go into water, leaving the bacteria from the chicken on there causing illnesses.
The author doesn’t seem to really have a voice in this article, but they constantly referred to Sarah Klein who seemed extremely upset about the situation as a whole. Klein is a staff attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). She feels as though the people have a right to know what kinds of restaurant that they are going into eat at. As of right now this information isn’t all that easy to access, but CSPI is trying to get the information out there for the public to see. This article is an eye opener for me, to be able to see how many restaurants aren’t taking the precautions to assure a safe eating environment. If things get to out of hand many of these restaurants will be shut down, leaving the workers out of a job. So that leads me to the question of why don’t they try to do something about the issue now, while they still have jobs.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1831421,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topics

Paper 2

For paper two my group has decided to write about alcohol and teens. The idea of the paper is that the drinking age should be lowered, if there should even be one at all. The three main points of this paper is the argument that teens only do something like this to rebel. Another reason is that in Europe often times they don’t have as many issues with drinking and teens because it isn’t something that teens do to rebel, and they are accustomed to it because they grew up drinking. However the naysayer would be that there is research showing the drinking as a child or even a teen can cause physical damage to the individual. Each of us in the group are going to take one of these three topics and address it, and then bring the whole paper together. I would have to say that my only main concern would be that since there are three of us that we may restate some information because they all relate to the same topic.

Reponse

Two years ago there was a man who was involved in a train accident, and he saved himself in my point of view. He was one of the workers on the train, and he had fallen off. With the train still moving he held on for as long as he could, which was about 20 seconds. By this time he could hold no longer. His lower half of his body was then ran over by the 20,000 pounds of weight that was on the train. While still conscious and loosing blood Dunncan called 911 himself. He told the operator that he what had happened. While still laying there he called his family and talked to his oldest son, who said he loved his father. The Doctor that was called in to operate didn’t think that there was any possible way that Dunncan was going to live, that it was a miracle. The authors view of this article is completely third party, and is amazed. It is amazing that this man lived. As with many people they wanted to know what was going on in this mans head while this was all happening. Dunncan choose not talk to the public at all about his accident until two years later. The article goes on to talk about how the mans house had to be completely redone so that it could be wheel chair friendly. It is amazing to everyone that this man survived, and his health insurance paid for everything in his house to be redone. He is now able to drive and get around, all while still playing football with his kids. He wants to eventually learn how to use prostatic limbs.
I find the whole prostatic limbs very interesting, and I would want to learn more about them in the future, and how this man feels about his life now.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26834245

Summary of Part 1

In part one of Graff and Birkenstein the book is trying to eliminate students using the term, “They say.” Often times when writers are trying to write a research paper or any type of paper using sources, they tend to uses the phrases such as, X said this, or he calls it that. One of the best’s ways that the book introduces additional ways for writers to introduce others opinions is by giving templates to use. The templates are easy to understand, and frequently are set up so that the students are able to use them in their own writing. Part one also shows the reader that there is more than one type of way to introduce what others are trying to say. This section also informs us that you want keep your ideas in view once they have been stated, so that it doesn’t confuse the reader of the paper.

Exercise 1

The author in Cash for Trash, uses references to other items frequently. He as with many authors uses many of the templates that were provided in the book. The main one that he uses was “X calls it.” He introduces the topic “paradox of deleveraging” by saying, some call it, and then going right into the idea. The author then goes on to use this idea in the rest of his article minimal times. He doesn’t choose to base his article off this one statement. He uses the statements as an informational piece to the rest of his article. After reading the chapter, I think that he did a good job of introducing the quotations into the writing. However he didn’t really choose to put all that many in the article giving it more of the opinion based feel, rather than the idea that he had researched anything and came up with new topics.

Response

The two men from China, were sent to jail should be getting more than just jail time for killing two babies. The two men were arrested for adding Melamine to the baby formula, to make it appear that it had more protein. It not only killed two babies already, but it also sickened 1,200 others. There is a team that is going in on Monday, September 15, 2008, to remove all the substandard milk from the market. This not only makes these two men look bad, but their whole company now has to deal with it, as with China’s product safety system.
This is to bad that it had to come to something this bad. The fact that these men felt that they needed to add the product, Melamine to the formula is horrible, because it shows that they are just trying to make the sale. They must not care about the well being of the children, or else they wouldn’t have put it in the formula. Some would argue, what if they didn’t know the affects that it would have on the babies? But my response to something like that is they should have researched it better. The fact that there are lives that are at risk is a major concern that should have been going through their minds.
The topic is similar to many of the other issues that are going on around the world today. It has to do with people who are only worried about themselves. These two men wanted to add these chemical to the milk because they wanted to make it look as though it had more protein than it actually did. Had they just been honest about their product they wouldn’t be in jail right now, and there wouldn’t be two babies dead, along with at least 1,200 others at risk.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080915/ap_on_re_as/china_baby_formula_recall;_ylt=AvZkl7enGrJuYDg8K6Px6aSs0NUE

Graff and Birkenstein Ex 1

In the article “Keep the Drinking Age at 21,” Robert A. Corrigan argues that there are less overall deaths with the drinking age being higher. In the college atmosphere many students choose to drink, and the major path towards making bad choices is too much alcohol. Corrigan emphasizes that changing the legal drinking age from 21 to 18, is going to increase the number of accidents in vehicles. He claims that students have to deal with visiting the ER while in college frequently, because their friends are there due to alcohol related issues.
In my opinion, however the concern doesn’t come into play because alcohol is the problem, there are other factors that are causing the issue. While it is true that there are students having to go to the ER, this has to do with the fact that students want to rebel. Take away the temptation and it will no longer be exciting for kids. For example in Germany, and other foreign countries there is no drinking age, and these countries aren’t having half the amount of issues we are. Telling kids they can’t do something only gives them the drive to want to do it more.

A Writer’s Resource

Some of the things that I will take from, A Writers Resource book are learning h0w to structure my personal essays. There are the three main ways to format the personal essay chronological, emphatic, and suspenseful. The chronological is writing in order from the start to the beginning. Empathetic, formats the paper from most important to least important, or visa versa. Suspenseful writing is used to keep the writer hooked and wanting to continue reading. The suspenseful writing doesn’t have an exact method but one example was starting with the end of the story, and telling it from there. I also always thought that as a writer you are supposed to put yourself out of the story and tell it from the third point of view. However, tells the students to use the present tense strategy, this is used to get the writer in the story and allows them to feel as if they are really there. The example that is given in the book really encourages me to want to write in the same form.