First College Semester

This year has flown by. It is remarkable how much things have changed, the people I’ve met, the things I’ve done, and the effort I have put into school. It has been a major change in my life but I believe I am taking it on the best as I can. I have learned a lot about myself, and also the people I have chosen to associate myself with.

My classes have been a lot different than I expected. I came into this year planning on easing into things. I knew my fraternity rush would take up a lot of my time so I planned on taking as easy of classes as possible. Class hasn’t been as easy for me as I expected. I thought it would be a breeze to keep a 4.0 the first semester. But now I am praying I can maintain a 3.5.

Turns out most of my learning has come outside of the classroom. I have learned things in this first semester that I will take with me my entire life. I have become independent. I do my own laundry, make my own food, buy my own groceries, pay bills, etc. I have really taken on the role of what it means to be a true adult. Most importantly I have learned what not to do. And how to stay out of trouble. I have learned to never show a cop your fake ID. Never take six beers out of a two story beer bong. Never go into a exam you feel unprepared for. Most importantly never to give anything but your best no matter what it is. Whether it be showing up and cleaning up the fraternity house at 4:30 in the morning or writing a seven page paper. You never know what you what will come out of it.

I guess what I’m trying to ask is. How do you guys feel about your college transition so far. Do you guys have any interesting stories you’d like to tell? Or anything you have had trouble with?

Awkward Blog Is Awkward

Since we started class out on Tuesday with an awkward freewrite, I decided I would torture you guys even more with an awkward blog.

Sex.

Nobody wants to talk about it, and that's understandable. It should be awkward. It's something that should remain hidden from everybody but your "romantic partner." However, should the awkwardness of talking about sex keep parents from telling their children what it is?

When I was a kid, my elementary school had a video they would show on puberty in third grade. My dad thought that they would cover the topic of sex, but they never did. It was more on the changes you go through. I never told him that we weren't told about sex, so I ended up learning from the worst possible source: the middle school "upperclassmen" that I was friends with at the time. Everybody knows how juvenile middle school boys are, and because of that I was told everything wrong, and nothing made sense to me. I remembered being a very confused third grader; at least until I told my dad that I was confused the next year. Everything was straightened up after that, but that's not really the point.

My point of this blog is pretty simple actually. Do you think that some topics should just be ignored because they are awkward? Sometimes, as in my case, they could be important. If my dad had just told me about sex straight away instead of depending on my school to do it, it would have saved a lot of embarrassment and confusion in my third grade life. I think this sort of thinking could apply to anything, whether it be friendships or literature. I believe that being open about topics that would often be avoided often brings people closer together. What do you guys think?

The Destination

I read a piece yesterday. Which really means a lot to me. I wrote it in search of trying to find the true meaning of life. That may sound cliche but life should not be taken for granted. The writing is called The Destination. It reads

"Deep inside ourselves, lie our thoughts, hopes and dreams. We see ourselves on a long trip across country, with several pit stops along the way. We're traveling by car. Taking the backroads across America. We travel through scenic highways, traveling along from coast to coast. Along the way, glancing at cattle grazing in distant pastures, taking in the smoke spilling from power plants, getting a taste of the rows of cotton and corn and wheat, exploring through flatlands and hidden valleys, being mesmerized by city skylines and discovering the beauty of the small towns.

But uppermost our main focus is our final destination. Soon our car will pull in to wherever we are headed. And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams of ours will come true. So restlessly, we speed through the journey. Looking at the GPS, counting the miles and trying to get there as fast as we can.

Thinking "Yes, when we reach the destination, that will be it!" we promise ourselves. "When I’m eighteen I’ll go to college. . . I’m going to win that promotion. . . I’m going to start a family . . . I’m going to buy my dream car. . . . I’m going to retire in the Caribbean"

From that day on we will all live happily ever after.

Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no destination in this life, no one
place to arrive at once and for all. The journey is the joy. The final destination is an illusion.
"Relish the moment." Instead of counting the miles and rushing through the journey. Take a step back. Be yourself, spend time with the people you love, make new friends. Do crazy things. You only live once, so live everyday like it’s your last. Life should be taken one day at a time. The destination will come soon enough."

What do you guys think? How do you feel like should be viewed? Do you feel like your living up to your potential and living everyday as if it's your last? If not talk about what you can do to improve your life overall.

Holiday Traditions

After writing my final draft for our third paper my brain was a little fried. I couldn’t think about anything extremely exciting or deep to write about for this blog. But one thing has been on my mind all month, Thanksgiving.

Most, if not all families, have traditions that they practice every holiday season. I know a few friends that go out of the state, sometimes out of the country during Thanksgiving. And of course who could forget about that famous time of the year, Black Friday. My family’s traditions have changed over the years. We have moved quite a lot and we are the only part of our entire family that doesn’t live in Ohio so it gets kind of lonely. The only thing that has stuck with our tradition is spending time together. No matter where we are or what we are going through we are always together for Thanksgiving.

Over the past five or six years my dad has taken control of our activities during Thanksgiving. Before we used to just watch the parade in the morning and cook all day long. Now we watch the parade and do work afterwards to get ready for Christmas. The first thing we do is set up our outside Christmas tree. The tree outside isn’t a real tree, it is made out of 13 strings of green lights that travel from my driveway up to the top of my flag pole with a huge star on top. It sounds like an easy task, but believe me, it takes ALL DAY.

Our next tradition is to get our actual Christmas tree. We used to go out on my mom’s birthday (December 20th) and pick out a tree, but of course that has changed. Now we have to order our tree and get it the day after Thanksgiving just to make sure we have the right size. My house has 30 ft ceilings so a little 6ft tree looks a little weird. That is why we order a 14-16ft tree every year now.

And Black Friday? I have never ever gone to a mall or store on black Friday. I don’t like dealing with that many crazy people. Haha.

Everyone has their own holiday traditions. Some seem normal and some seem ridiculous. What are some of your favorite traditions during the holiday season?

Decking the halls too early?

Since we haven't had class for a week and thanksgiving is right around the corner, I figured I would write about something a little more festive.

So we all notice that when the holiday season comes around, stores seem to get a little into it...and by a little I mean A LOT. I was in CVS the other day and I couldn't help but notice that they already had blow up christmas decorations for your yard out and christmas lights along the shelves. I thought to myself, "Christmas decorations...already??" Then, a few days later I walk into the mall and see "Santa" already taking pictures with little kids with Christmas music in the background. I don't know about you but I get super annoyed when it comes to stores preparing for a holiday months in advance! It's not even thanksgiving yet and stores are already decking the halls.

The picture to the right was taken by one of my good friends back home. I have to give Nordstrom credit because they are the only store so far that takes into consideration that decorating early for the holidays is a bit under rated.

Hopefully stores can stop this awful trend in the future and stick to one holiday at a time because it really gets on my nerves.

Next holiday to watch out for: Valentines day in January.

Disappointment

It’s the night before your big paper is due. You’ve been working on the paper all week. Now you are finally putting the final touches on your masterpiece. Paper is perfect. Miss Ahmed is going to love this paper. She has to give it an A. The next day in class you turn in your paper. As you place your paper in the stack of papers satisfaction fills your body. You smile as you leave class because of the amount of hard work you put into this paper. This is a good start to college. I’m definitely getting into whatever great law school my parents talked about. Now they’ll shut up about me being a lazy good for nothing.

Fast forward to a week and a half later when Miss Ahmed hands out the graded papers. Right before she hands out the papers Miss Ahmed mentions how she went easy on the class. Whatever I don’t need her to go easy for me to get an A. You receive your paper. It’s a D minus. You’re in complete shock. You feel like Mike Tyson just punched you in the stomach. Everything you thought was great was mediocre or horrible. Forget law school. Can you even stay in college? You forgot everything she told you not to do. You screwed up the oxford comma, quoting, and how to use I feel. You walk back to your dorm in utter disappoint.

Everybody has felt disappointment in school. Although this story exaggerates our feelings I know everyone can relate to this story. I know I have been disappointed with the grade I have received after putting hard work into it. Which is why I always get nervous before conferences. I think I do a great job but then Miss Ahmed finds so many mistakes in it. Then I return to my dorm thinking of ways to reach her expectations. When was the last time you were really disappointed with a grade on an assignment? Describe the experience and how you respond to it. Or do you get nervous before a conference or maybe frustrated afterwords? Let everyone know! Share your experiences below.

"What you see is what you get."

"What you see is what you get."

Many of you have heard that quote a numerous times. But I want to go into more depth in what I think the means to me. The first sense that helps my memory is not smell but sight. I remember little tiny details of irrelevant events, which sometimes frustrates my parents when I am off task. For example, I can remember exactly what happened on the first night I went to Downtown Disney. I can remember all the different sights. But the smells however, I can't imagine at all unless reproduced.

Sight also plays a big role when we judge people. We judge people on clothes, style, hair, accessories, etc. Some people may say that we shouldn't judge people by there looks because it is unethical. I say that it's human nature to judge people by how we see them. I do feel it's unethical as well. But in fact, it's our DNA to judge people by looks. I am not encouraging that you should judge someone like that. But I just want you guys to not feel so bad if you do. What are your thoughts?

The Power of Anger

I am responding to this quote:

"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored
than to anything on which it is poured."

-Mark Twain

To me this quote means that someone being angry is more harmful than acid being poures onto something. It reminded me of our discussion in class on Tuesday about the short essay "Tourist, Stay Home." The author was so angry about tourists coming to her homeland. It made me angry when at the end of the essay she told us to stay home if we care at all about preserving the culture. I was offended by this because I went to Maui two years ago and was in awe of how beautiful it was. I didn't cause any harm to the culture like she thinks every American does. In fact I probably benefited the Hawaiian people by spending money while on vacation there.

I even noticed in class some of us were not too happy with what she had to say. She doesn't have the right to say who can and can't visit Hawaii. She is taking out the anger she has about the destruction of her culture on us. The state of Hawaii probably could not survive on it's own if it wasn't apart of the United States. I don't think it's very fair for her to blame Americans on the mainland when we're only trying to help Hawaii's economy. How does everyone feel about this? Does she have the right to place the blame on us?

A Day Made of Glass

I couldn't get the video to show up on the blog, so here's the link:
http://youtu.be/6Cf7IL_eZ38

So, my grandmother is one of those who sends me so many e-mails to the point where I almost want change my e-mail address. But today, when I logged on, I saw only one. The subject line read "The Future in Glass." Of course, I just checked the box next to it and scrolled my mouse up to the delete button, but someting stopped me before I had the chance to click. I was curious. There are so many people who come up with concepts of what the future may be like. Hell, every time there's a new technologial advancement, it's seems like people jump on it and assume that it will be necessary for living in the future. So of course when I started watching this video, I was skeptical.

The video suggests that upcoming generations will be taking advantage of the integration of technology into our everyday lives. Virtually every surface has the potential to become a touchscreen, with the ability to push and retrieve vital data in order to assist us with tedious tasks. This has the potetnial to make all of our iPads, tablets, desktops, and laptops obsolete. Quite frankly I think it's fascinating to see what we may be able to do very soon. Mind you, this is purely conceptual as it stands right now. However more recent breakthroughs suggest that this portrayal is not pure fantasy, it's possibility.

All of this leaves me wondering though: Are we too concerned with the future that we neglect the present? Do we dwindle on what the next big thing is so much that we soon forget the last? It just worries me to see that all of our "specialists" are too busy speculating on how the world will be rather than how it is. How do you all feel about this?

Cheese

So in the last class, for the attendance question, we went around and stated our favorite and least favorite words. I did not have a favorite word at the moment but my least favorite is c***. I hate that word because for one, I'm a girl (in case you didn't notice) and second, I HATE what it stands for.

Some of you like me, did not like a word because of its meaning. While others hated a word because it is annoying. Some of you said that a certain word was your favorite simply because it sounded cool. That kind of got me thinking. Maybe half the reason that we despise a word is simply because of the way it sounds. Kind of like taste buds. We all have different taste buds, I hate cheese. Yes, I know you probably think I'm crazy. But I kind of think the way a word sounds either repels or intrigues us.

Like our varying tastebuds our brains vary and therefore love or hate certain things. This following example may sound crazy but it is the honest truth. ......

I speak spanish. For those of you who don't know you can pretty much add the ending "-ita" or "-ito" to any word. Adding either ending to a word (-ita if its a feminine word and -ito if its masculine) indicates affection to the word and can make it less harsh. Dog is "perro" but you can say "perrito" to add more affection. My point to this spanish lesson is that I ABSOLUTELY HATE/LOATHE/DESPISE when a spanish speaker adds these endings. It makes me want to puke and makes me want to punch something. I can't stand the way it sounds, i literally cringe whenever I hear my mother use them. It used to make me cry when I was little! I know this example is kinda psychotic but do any of you have words that you literally cannot stand because the sound of it gets under your skin?!

Tourist, Stay Home.

The reading for this week by HAUNANI-KAY TRASK was very interesting. Reading this article made me realize how great amounts of tourism can affect native people in a negative way.

In the beginning, the author talks about how a wave of tourism has dishonored the Hawaiian culture over the years. Ancient culture of Hawaiian people has been used to attract tourists and advertise their land around the world. Basically, she says that tourism has brought up serious problems such as population densities, crime rate etc. Tourism is not the only complain the author gives, she also talks about the loss of precious land to american military bases.

 Personally, i believe tourism can be both beneficial and detrimental. Tourism helps the economy and creates millions of jobs for the natives of these key destinations. It can also have negative effects because when a place becomes extremely popular, millions of people will want to go, eventually abusing it. Tourism should definitively be controlled and tourists should be educated about the responsibilities of preserving the beautiful places they travel. Locals play a big role is this too, they shouldn't discourage tourism because after all it helps economically and it allows the rest of the world to enjoy the place where they live.

what do you think about this situation? Do you agree with the frustration of the native Hawaiians? How do you feel about tourism?

Lunatics/Lunartics

After Reading Lunatics/Lunartics I thought that woman could be anyone. I'm not saying that we are all crazy and bipolar but we all have our moments. I think that she made herself sound crazier then she was by calling herself "me" and "psycho". I know when I was writing my first draft of this last paper I felt like a crazy person. I was rambling on about nothing because I thought that this topic was so hard. I wanted to rip my hair out. I want to apologize ahead of time to my workshop group who is grading my paper.
I think that at any time we can all have high or low moments that make us come off as crazy. We are not bipolar but we can relate to the situation. Some things just push you over the edge and it makes people react. Your family and friends are always there to love you, but is there a breaking point where you can push them away for good? I think that anyone who has been in a relationship before can relate to this situation. You burst out into loud fights where completely irrational thing are said. Eventually you forgive each other but sometimes too much is said. There may be no turning back. I liked how the author ended her paper this way. She made herself relatable, whether you are a crazy person or not.

Creativity and Its Many Manifestations

While growing up, I always thought I wasn't a very creative person. I couldn't paint, draw, or do things in a unique way. I always did things by the book. I used to love playing with LEGOs or the more obscure K'NEX when I was a kid. I would build huge replicas of things, and whatnot. However, I always followed the books piece by piece. It would bother me more than anything when somebody would ignore the instructions and build something different.

Many people would look at my way of doing things and say I was not a creative child. I believe that creativity is a word that has a very broad definition. A musician who composes a musical masterpiece is most certainly creative. But is the artist who takes parts of those masterpieces and converts them into something different and unique to them not creative as well?

Lately I have invested much of my time playing a computer game called Minecraft with my friends. If you've never heard of it, starting a game creates a randomly generated, infinitely large world composed of billions of blocks. You can collect these blocks, mine to get more rare metals and minerals, and even craft tools out of them. With the blocks you collect, you can create almost anything you and your friends can come up with. I have built a castle with a lava mote, a house on stilts in the sky with a trapdoor that drops you into the lake below, and even a sky scraping lighthouse made entirely of glass.

Playing Minecraft has revealed hidden creative talents in millions of people. I believe that many people are extremely creative, but they have no idea because of the generalized definitions of the word "creative". Creativity is extremely important for writing, and I think that everyone in our class is creative just because of the many examples of papers I have read.

What do you think?

How to start this paper!

Well i don't know about anyone else in the class, but i am having trouble figuring out how to start this paper. I know what my topic is and have some really good sources but do i start with my story on the topic, or do i jump straight into what research i've done? Is anyone else having trouble starting their papers off in the right direction and feeling good about where they've started? I am going to introduce my topic and give a slight background on it and how i can relate before i go into my research. This will give the reader some background so i don't just jump right into the research part of the paper.

What do you all think about this idea? And if you don't like it how do you suggest i start my paper? How are you starting yours?

Am I a Full Time Loser?

So in class, we all listened to the career women talk about our future. Even though I am in college I really wasn't thinking about it. After she left I honestly was kind of freaked out. I have no idea what I want to be in life. My major is business but I don't know what I want to do in it. I could see my self as a CEO of a corporation or an owner of a sports agency. But I cannot see myself working at a boring desk job. I don't think i could ever do it. Now this career center lady has me worrying about my future and I have no idea what to do. I have no general basis so it seems difficult to ask for help at the career center. To me, it is just crazy how old we actually are because I do not feel like a college kid. I don't feel like that in four years I will be looking for a job to support myself. I still feel like a kid. I still goof off sometimes and have a lot of fun. I know I obviously am mature, but the real world scares me.  I just don't want to mess up and work at Burger King or Wendy's forever.

Is anyone else feeling like I do? Is there thought process about the future/career freaking anyone out?  Or they just no idea why they are in their major?

Aliens in English

Social outcasts are the greatest tool a writer can use to convey their message. When we read something, we want to hear the things we all think, but are scared to say. The best books I have ever written have been about taboo subjects and often controversial topics. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk is about a serial killer but is written in the perspective of the people who knew him best. The most intriguing parts of the book were when characters talked about his ex habits, his inner thoughts, and the way he behaved with others. What makes these interesting is how the author makes the killer seem eerily similar to the reader. The idea that we may be able to identify in some part with a psychotic killer makes the reader reexamine themselves.


Coincidentally, one of the topics I put up to be voted on my paper in class was about serial killers, and it received an almost unanimous vote. This made me think that maybe people want to read on these subjects. Maybe people want to relate to these outcasts of socially acceptable behavior. I think this is because these outcasts are able to say and do things without fear of guilt. They sling slurs at those they hate, and attack those who wrong them. I think we all identify slightly with their anger, and we can all feel alienated from the world at times. I believe we long for their freedom, but without the cost of our sanity. It is a fine line to walk, and there are few who have the privilege to meander across it without fear of retaliation.

The point I'm trying to make is that a writer can use these outcasts to make wild, but possible true, accusations without fear of being scrutinized. The killer in Rant hated the suppressive control of the government, so he targeted people who represent this repression. The author was trying to make a point about these types of government, but needed the help of the killer to make it pungent. He also couldnt just come out and say he hated it, because he may be scrutinized for his views. By putting his views into the mind of someone who says and does things with out fear of retaliation, he allows his true opinions to be heard. (Keep in mind the fact that he does a fantastic job of making the killer relatable.)

Using the social outcast as a tool is something every writer can make use of in a creative piece. If you want proof, look fr yourself-- some of the most powerful and thought-provoking pieces of prose are made so by the use of someone who is alienated by the world, but yet can still be related to by the reader.

Paper #2 vs Paper #1

When I was writing my second paper I could not help but notice how much easier and more enjoyable this paper was opposed to our last one. Writing the first paper was a rather difficult task for me. As you remember we wrote about our previous experiences with reading or writing. Since I did not really care for English that much, it was rather difficult to write for me. I honestly just did my work for English and moved on with my life. Overall, writing the first paper was a rather frustrating experience for me.

However, writing the second paper was another story. Writing about a life changing event led to me having many experiences to choose from. In fact, I’m having a hard time fitting my paper within the seven page limit. This paper’s topic made this writing experience so much easier than the first one. Not to mention I actually enjoy writing this paper. It brings back many great memories and reminds me how far I progressed as a young man.

What do you guys think? Which paper was easier to write for you? Which paper was more enjoyable to write? Or maybe you just hated both?

How I Feel About This Section of ENC1101!!!!!!!!

As some of you may know, I have trouble writing in general. I usually miss a word or have bad sentence structure. I think this class is definitely a start of I can improve my writing on my own. I think the workshop groups do help a lot because you are getting help from different viewpoints and people who have variety of experiences that you may or may not have had yet. I also I think our teacher is very "down-to-earth" (I actually properly used a hyphen properly). She knows what we're going through and knows how to teach the lessons in very chilled manner. I never thought that I would be calling our teacher by her first name. College is so different from high school in the way English gets taught (or at least in this class/university).

I enjoy that we as a class bring something different to class. For example, Ryan being so obsessed with Fight Club, and Connor with his interesting ideas (i.e. turning the chairs around today in class). It is also great that we can meet different people that our not in our major. I find this a great way to be able to network with people in the future (you never know who will reappear in your life).

So in general, I am enjoying the class. I hope I can make some really nice friendships in this class. Although, I do think our teacher is can be critical. But I know she has to be so that we can become better writers.

Yet Another Movie 'Based On a True Story'

Last week I went and saw the movie Dolphin Tail. As the previews ended and the movie began that famous disclaimer popped up on the screen. ‘This film is based on a true story.’ Since I used to live in the town this film was made and I knew the real story I decided I would see how much was made up by Hollywood. I’m sure you guys are not surprised to find out that an unbelievable amount of events weren’t true.

When we talked about how these kinds of movies made us feel or think everyone felt the same way; betrayed. Some people even said that the hope and motivation that a movie would give someone would be completely ruined when they found out it wasn’t real. I believe that this can be very true. But I think it depends on what parts are actually true and what are not.

In Dolphin Tail the main character was a dolphin named Winter. She was found on the beach after getting her tail caught in the line of a crab trap. When they took her to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which was the Clearwater Marine Hospital in the movie, they had to amputate her tail because of how infected it was. Everyone believed that she wouldn’t survive. Dolphins need their tail to swim and stay above water to breathe. Winter somehow taught herself to swim without it. Unfortunately the way she swam, which was a side to side motion like a snake, was really messing up her spine. They came up with the crazy idea to make her a prosthetic tail. The amazing thing was it actually worked. She learned how to swim like a normal dolphin again.

People who have prosthetics themselves or just recently lost a limb are and will be motivated by this story; regardless of its complete truthfulness. Psychologically, people feel a lot better about their situation when they see someone (or something) else succeed with the exact same circumstances. It gives them a sense of comfort and helps them understand that everything will work out for the best. Even though the majority of the movie is made up, except for the actual story of Winter, people are still motivated by that alone.

Workshop groups: Helpful or not?

Now that we've all gotten through our first paper, we're on to the next and on to different workshop groups. I found my last group to be super helpful and really verbal about what I should do with my paper. I felt comfortable with them but now, we're all in smaller groups so we can pinpoint errors even more and have more freedom to talk. Being in a new group for me, can sometimes be a little on the awkward side. Here you are, reading your classmates(who you know nothing about) paper and telling them what they need to fix and what they need more of. You try your best to not sound harsh but then in workshop groups, come off as being harsh. I think while commenting our peers papers, we need to sound supportive but yet helpful of what they have written. It's always weird telling people you don't really know what to write but I think focusing on the good in the paper but also giving suggestions as of what to fix, can really go a long way.

Then there's the other side of workshop groups. "What if my group doesn't give me any input?" I think what's really helping this time around, is writing down questions you have about your essay at the end and having your group members answer it. I know it's really helped me with the essay we're writing now. I don't want to sit here and give you solutions because I really don't know a good solution for people like that. I'm not an English teacher, but I think writing down questions at the end of your paper is a good start.

How about you?

Do any of you have the problem of getting no input? Can you think of any solutions to fix the problem? Or do you feel like you're the one that can't give any input?

How we are raised

Reading Brambles by W. Brian Overcast got me thinking about my own family. Overcast talked about his nuclear family and the divorce of his parents. The piece made me think about how the way you are raised and the personality of your parents really influences your own personality. I love my mother and she would do anything for my sister and I, but she tends to get mad too easily. She sometimes freaks over little things and I always tell myself I don’t want to be like that. Even though I am learning from her faults I still have moments where I act like her. Spending most of your time around someone makes it hard not to mimic some of their actions.

My dad grew up in an abusive family. Even though he is not abusive towards us it is really hard for him to be emotional with my sister and I. Being the first child it really affected our relationship when I was younger. It wasn’t until a few years ago that my dad and I became close. My dad never had a loving family growing up and it shows in some of the choices he makes. I feel fortunate that both my parents raised me so I could learn from each of their flaws and strengths.

Luckily I was raised with parents who taught me to be respectful and act properly. I am amazed when I see how some kids my age act. Obviously its not all the parents fault, but you have to question how the kids were raised. If kids are not taught how to be respectful you can not solely blame them for being disrespectful. I also believe though that you can learn a lot from observing your peers. This is where the saying you are who you hang around comes into play. I don't think this means that you become just like them, but they do influence you. You either pick up on their positive attributes or learn from their flaws. The sad part is some people our negatively influenced by their friends and begin making the wrong choices.

Your Way is Not Always Best.

I decided to respond to this quote

One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own best.

Jane Austen

I think that this quote applies not only to this class with writing our papers but also to life in general. We are all biased. This is why it is so hard to take negative criticism. Our way is the only way we know how to perform. It is hard to step out of our comfort zones, but it can be done.

It is a personal insult when your paper is ripped apart. I know personally that I have handed in papers before that I thought were master pieces and gotten them back with red ink marks everywhere. I think that this really lowers the writer’s confidence because they feel that they did not do a good job. I really like how we have been taught to point out the positive aspects of the paper in this class that way the writer can see that their paper is not hopeless.

I think we need to all try to see others perspectives. I know that this is challenging sometimes because it is human nature to think that your way is the right way. Some of us are worse then others but it is important to not think that you are right all the time. Not only is it annoying but it keeps you from growing and learning. If I never listened to all the tips that my teachers gave me to help me improve, I would not be here today. There would be no improvements and school would be pointless.

Being stubborn is a quality that many people share. I come from a family of extremely stubborn people. We all want our way all the time. Normally, we compromise and come together to make decisions but we have to remember that sometimes we are wrong. Being wrong is never a bad thing though because the best way to learn is by making mistakes.

Common-place to Unique

Even though we have already gone into some detail about Donald Murray's "Trying on the Essay", I would also like to touch on the subject. The subject I found most interesting was the section entitled The Common World. Donald explained that the writer and reader are in a "common world" of shared thoughts, experiences, ideas etc. After a while the shared aspects turn into common-place aspects and fade into the background. Then the writer observes the normal, everyday aspects and by writing and working through their jumbled thoughts they form a new image. By doing so the writer discovers something new either about what was observed or about themselves. By exposing ones thoughts about something as common as say a moth, then the reader has the ability to see the common moth as something more than just a moth. The other day, there was some uproar in class over Annie Dillard's "Transfiguration." I think that it does not really matter if you did or not like it, all that matters is whether or not you took something from it. I find it amazing how the whole process interlocks and works together to develop and inspire one another. Or how something so ordinary can turn into something distinct and even insightful, it just depends on how we interpret it.

How lucky are you?

I figured I'd blog about something other than the class work...

So this weekend, I was headed to Orlando for a rugby game against UCF. I had left on Friday and about an hour into the drive, my friend and I ran into some rain and wind. I slowed down, a little. A gust took my car into a small puddle and I lost hydroplaned. My car took a hard left and slid perpendicular with traffic. We had turned 180 degree by the time we hit the median and continued to spin for another 180 before finally stopping a foot shy of the opposite side. My door literally opened into the rumble strip of the oncoming traffic. You could imagine I was a little freaked out. I stepped out of my car and did a spot check for any damage. I got back in the car, made sure my passengers were okay, and then went down the road. My car started to shake and my tire pressure light came on once I hit 55mph. Of course I'm thinking to myself What now? as I pulled over to the shoulder. So I checked my tire pressures and changed the one that was the lowest. Then I found the nearest walmart in hopes that they would see my car. When I pulled up, they were about to close, but I explained my situation and the agreed to help me out. They balanced out my pressures and tightened the lugs my wheels. Seeing nothing wrong with the suspension or frame, they sent me on my way. Thankfully, I made it home safe and the car ran flawlessly.

While all of this was happening, I just felt like this was the worst possible situation. Looking back though, I was extremely lucky. There were no cars near me. And if I had lost control 100 yards earlier, I would have slammed into some trees. 100 yards later, I would have been stopped by a bridge and then possibly t-boned by oncoming traffic. Heck, I could have spun all the way across the median. I had arrived at walmart with 15 minutes to spare before their automotive center closed, and their workers stayed after to ensure my car was okay for the drive. The only damage that came out of this ordeal is in the picture above. That's it. Just a broken mirror.

So I guess my question for the readers would be, have any of you ever had a similar reality check where the result could have been exponentially worse? And if not, how would you have reacted in this situation?

FACEBOOK GROUP?!

hey guys, i made an ENC1101 facebook group. heres the link to it!
http://www.facebook.com/groups/126140640824661/
not sure if i did everything correctly because it did say that its a closed group. lemme know if i need to make it an open group or what cause im pretty much clueless with anything to do with a computer... haha

This is Juan Paz's blog (his account wouldn't let him post)

I decided to respond to the following literary quote:

“What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote.”- E. M. Forster

As I read this quote I was able to relate it to a lot of what we have been doing in class lately. In this quote E.M Forster describes “Great literature” as something that can basically change the reader into feeling like the author. I absolutely agree with this guy! To me, this quote means a reader can actually feel the same emotions as the author when reading his work. If you’re reading something happy your attitude will definitively be different than if you were reading something depressing. I think that when you write something, your ultimate goal is to connect with your audience. If you can achieve this than people understand what you are writing about and can actually see it from your point of view. Connecting to your audience is very important because it gives your writing a purpose. If you were to write something which no one could relate to then your purpose is lost. For example, say you were writing about an issue and how important this issue is etc. if you can’t make your audience see what you’re seeing then they’re not going to understand your point of view and possibly disagree with you on that issue.

This is Michael Roman's post (his account didn't let him post) so comment here!

The Primary Reason

So we all had to read Donald Murray’s “Trying on the Essay,” and something that caught my eye was his part about finding a context. He talks about the primary reason we write and read is to see what Robert Frost said was “a momentary stay against confusion.” I agree with this. I write to organize my thoughts and I read to understand what someone wrote. Murray also explained that we write to discover meaning, not necessarily the meaning, but a meaning. We all interpret the meaning of a story differently and there is normally no correct answer. As I write the essay that is due that we are all doing, I think about all of these things. I think about why I am writing and how to not make it confusing. This is so that readers can interpret my ideas in a way that they understand them. So as I write my shifting point essay, I think about a meaning. Murray also says that a reason he writes personal essays is to “discover how much I know that I didn’t know I knew.” It is pretty great when I read what I wrote and find out that I know a lot more than I actually did. Basically, this article helped me a lot in figuring out what reasons I am writing for and Murray had great points in how to write a great personal essay.

"Based on a true story"... what do you think about that?

So another debate we had Tuesday in class was about what we think when we see the words “ based on a true story” or “memoir” on a TV show, movie, book, etc. Some of us believed showing this in a movie looked like a joke. Maybe to get people’s attention or make people believe something is real wen it really might not be. Some thought that seeing this totally changed our mood about the movie or book and made us connect with it more because we can relate to these “real” people. Like someone mentioned, Paranormal Activity says it is based off of a true story. This might frighten someone so much they never want to see nighttime ever again. Someone else might see this as a joke, “how could this possibly have happened to a real family?”

It is all a matter of opinion how we see these things. When I see “based off of a true story,” like on The Blind Side, it does affect me and make me more emotional towards the film since it is in my mind that this has really happened. Some people it might not affect at all and they might just find the movie or book to be entertaining. Like we discussed about Patricia Hampl’s writing, is it really lying or is it just a way of making something more entertaining by bending the truth?

Personally I believe that in things such as memoirs and biographies, of course we should only be given the complete truth, even if it is a little boring. If someone is trying to reach out to others and give them advice, why would you want to lie to everyone and give them false information or help that possibly won’t work? On the other hand, when creating stories or movies based off of a real life event, it would be much more acceptable to exaggerate the true story a tiny bit in order to add a little more flare and entertainment to the piece. If someone is creating a story just for the fact of providing entertainment to others and just using their own lives as inspiration, I believe the author can change and exaggerate whatever they want because they are not trying to tell a real story, they are just trying to write for fun and for the enjoyment of others.

Either way, it is all up to the individual to read and interpret what they believe the story or movie means to them and how it affects them. What if you were not told it was based off of a true story until after you read the book or saw the movie? How would you be affected then? Would it be the same or completely different throughout the story?

Memory and Imagination

The story that Patricia Hampl wrote got me thinking about how we tell our own personal stories to others. After she was done telling her story about her first piano lesson she admitted to the audience that the truth was a little stretched. Who can blame her, it was during her childhood. Also the more details a writer has the more interesting the story can be. At first I wasn't a fan of this kind of writing because I thought she was giving her readers a false impression of what her first piano lesson was like. Then I realized that all of us have done this.

When we tell a story to our friends we exaggerate the truth as much as possible. It makes what was once a boring story a much more interesting and exciting one. I've noticed this when my friends tell stories about what we did over the weekend to my other friends. Since I was with them I actually knew what really happened. The story that they tell says otherwise. Instead of chiming in and saying that's not exactly how it happened I let them tell their story anyway. We aren't lying to our other friends, only stretching the truth to make our weekend sound a little bit better. Like Hampl, we have all stretched the truth at least one point in our lives to make it sound more interesting.

"What is 'good writing'?"

“What is ‘good writing’?” Well, this could have numerous answers. We all have our own individual preferences on what we believe is “good writing” and what is not so good. In class when we got into groups we saw that we had some similar thoughts on what aspects made something “good writing” and which one’s we believed to be some of the most important ones. Of course we all thought our own ideas were the best, but then we had to come to an agreement in our groups on the top two which was tough enough. Then as a whole class deciding which options were greatest wasn’t so easy either.

As Mrs. Ahmed showed us, there are authors out there that don’t fit some rules that make writing “good.” It is all up to us what we enjoy reading and what we do not. Maybe one person thinks this bad writing is excellent writing. Just because someone absolutely loves a book or a piece of literature, doesn’t necessarily mean we will love it just as much as they do, or at all.

One of my old English teachers told us our next book we were to read was “awesome and really interesting.” Well that definitely was not the case to us students. The Fountainhead was the name of the book, and it by no means was “awesome and really interesting.” Books are sometimes written for specific audiences, so maybe we were the wrong audience to be reading that book. This could be a reason we did not think the book was “good writing” and had no interest in it. How we view books is all a matter of opinion among each individual person, not everyone as a whole or just a list of facts about writing authors must follow.