Blog Entry #11

Blog Entry #11

 

If you look at the assignment description for the final essay, you will see that there is a list of banned topics.  Do you think I should be able to ban certain topics, or should you be able to write about anything you would like?  Why do you think I ban topics?  (Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings if you don't think I should be able to ban topics, and I will explain why I ban topics on my blog on Monday morning if you are interested.)

 

I believe that if there are banned topics to right on that it may be holding a future writer back from learning all they can. Personally I would love to be able to choose what I right about no matter what the topic is due to what I know more about and have an interest in. being interest in a topic allows the essay to flow easier and will allow one to express their true feelings on their topic. While if made to choose from topics they are unfamiliar with will basically all be definitions throughout the paper due to the writer trying to figure out the information as well as the reader. Then again I see the teacher’s point of view as well. If there isn’t a ban of certain topics then they will get several essay on the same topic and having to read and grade all our papers I would understand that she does not want to read the same stories over and over again. As far as the banning of topics goes of the teacher… she is the teacher and can make any decisions she wants for our assignments and we should do our best with the instructions for our essays.

Blog Entry #10

Blog #10

There are several schools that are promoting the idea of "cash for grades." In this system, children who get good grades will be given money from the school.

Discuss what you believe to be some of the negative and positive aspects of this policy.

You must respond to at least two of your classmates for this blog.

 

The negative aspect of cash for grades would have to be that the children may just be getting good grades for the money and not actually learning or could even just have someone else do it for them so they can get money. While bribing children to do good in school also can be a positive thing. They will have a reason to make good grades and won’t just say “forget it” and wind up failing all their classes. It used to be that earning an "A" was enough of a reward for doing well in school. Today, in an effort to boost achievement, some schools give students (especially those at risk for low achievement) gift cards or high-tech gadgets. And in a surprising trend, some are rewarding students with cash. Public schools across the country are experimenting with incentive programs. In urban districts and rural outposts, some schools reward students who earn higher test scores and grades. Rewarding students' efforts and achievement with gold stars and token prizes is, of course, nothing new. Paying them in cash is another matter. What's the short-term impact of these cash-incentive programs on student motivation, grades and test scores? Will this approach engage students in learning for the long haul? In my junior high school years we were given Wii’s, game cubes, etc.  for our good grades. And it wasn’t until know that I have actually thought about this happening in my life but knowing it did puts new thoughts in my mind. I believe that it just depends on how you go about doing the cash or electronics for good grades that will determine if it is positive or negative.

Blog #9

Blog #9

Discuss whether or not you believe the use of medical marijuana is justified or should be legalized.

 

Is marijuana a harmful drug or a beneficial medicine? Put all the arguments together and you might answer, “a little of both.” Marijuana can be addictive and have short-term side effects like memory loss and trouble thinking. It may have harmful long-term effects, like lung cancer, a weakened immune system, and increased heart-attack risk in the hour after smoking it. Marijuana also may have good health effects, like treating glaucoma, nausea, appetite loss and seizures. Proponents say it’s helpful for people experiencing side effects from AIDS and cancer medications and may help treat multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.  Medical marijuana is illegal at the federal level. But it’s legal in certain states. Those states won’t come after providers, but the federal government can. Confused? Don’t blame ya. In its policy statement, the American Medical Association recommends that for now, marijuana remain classified as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. The government deems drugs in this category to have a high abuse potential, no accepted medical use and a lack of acceptable safety. Then again, the AMA sees enough promise to recommend more studies on the drug and urges the National Institutes of Health “to implement administrative procedures to facilitate grant applications and the conduct of well-designed clinical research into the medical utility of marijuana.”  Marijuana is a lousy drug but can be a great medication. The same applies to most medications. Drugs can be used for medicinal purposes and/or abused in order to alter mood and run away from life. There is no question that marijuana should be considered a dangerous drug. It is carcinogenic, mood altering, motivation destroying and life wrecking. In the alternative, the same may be said for such dangerous medications as Valium, opiates, diet pills and even Tylenol. When any medication is misused it becomes a clear and present danger.

Blog Entry #8

Blog #8

You should have a Moodle message from me with two names in it by Monday evening of this week. I want you to use what you have learned about finding and evaluating sources to see what kind of information you can find about both of those people. You will write your biography on one of these individuals. For this week's blog, I would like you to discuss which person you chose and why you chose that person. If you cannot come up with 250 words about why you chose the person, it might be difficult to write an essay on that person, so be sure to do some research and decide who is more interesting to you.

I have become very interested in Vincent Van Gogh out of the three choices I received. His birth came exactly one year after his mother lost her first child in a still birth that she was also planning on naming Vincent. He was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot Zundert, The Netherlands. This was said to add trauma to his life with the since of feeling like a “replacement child”. This was not a marked historical point in his life so there isn’t much information about it, but he lead an amazing life of his own that I cannot wait to write about in my paper. I honestly can understand why he would suffer some psychological trauma because of this just as I think anyone would who was named after or even possibly made just as a replacement of someone else or a genic multiple of someone else to help them survive. Everyone deserves to have his or her own life and shouldn’t be seen as anything different. He is a wonderful artist that shows a lot of uniqueness in each painting that he creates. There are way too many paintings of his to choose a favorite. I took a fine arts visual class last spring semester and learned a few things about Vincent Van Gogh, and how he grew to become a very famous and unique painter, that shows total individuality with each brush stroke. Creativity should be learned by each person. It defines the true characteristics of each individual.

blog entry #7

Blog #7 Read the following article and discuss.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25wwln-medium-t.html

 

Thinspiration videos, are mainly made by people with anorexia or bulimia. They are normally about eating disorders. People who are ready for help sometimes find it here while watching other people tell their story. While others deny anorexia and bulimia as being mental illness and say it is a “life style choice” instead. They hope to get respect from others. Whether you want to lose or gain weight thinspiration has a lot of different tips on how to do either one. There are now people trying to pass a law forbidding these videos and comments from being posted on the internet, because they feel that it is killing them along with other men and women who watch and act upon what they have seen. Exercising  instead of eating meals  is the path of life these people have chosen and it is honestly killing them faster and faster with ever squat, sit-up, jump-n-jack, push-up, etc. they do. They make posts and however many likes they get they do so many of each kind of exercise to reward themselves which is not rewarding at all. After reading this and looking up the meaning of thinspiration my eyes are now open to these cases and I am in hope that everyone that do this become aware of what it is truly doing to their bodies and turn their lives around for the better. Laws against this would totally help lead these men and women back into the right direction.  You can be in shape without harming yourself. Just watch what you eat… if you do not want to be really big, cut back on the sugary foods and drinks and maybe go out for a walk or jog a few nights a week but do not go into the thinspirators state of mind you just might be setting yourself up for death.

Blog Entry #6

Blog #6

Since we are discussing/writing about literature, this week's topic is about banned books. Should we attempt to protect our children from "adult" subjects, or should we allow children the intellectual freedom to read whatever they choose?

Well, I kind of feel like either way would be okay. If you allow children to read adult books you can try to make it to where they are in their teens at least and this way you will be a little more comfortable with answering the questions they may have about it. I think it is best for kids to learn on their own for the most part but always need a little guidance from the parents. But then in today’s generations, it seems like if you tell someone not to do something they will go and do it anyways so why not sit down with them and read it together and maybe share what you went through in your life and hope they lead a better life. Then there is the other rout where you are 100% against letting them read these books which could cause them to go experiment and possibly not tell you. I think I would want my children to feel safe to come to me and their father for anything they have questions and that we should find a way to explain it to them and what the consequences are for each thing.  Most of the children these days know way more than the parents do when it comes to this, to be quite honest. All I can say is listen to your children you could learn what they are doing, going through, and need help with just by their words and actions.

Blog #5

Blog Entry #5

Discuss at least one of the potential paper topics at the bottom of the Literary Analysis assignment description.

For this blog, you will need to comment on at least two of the blog entries of your classmates

 

Possible Topics:

1.  Discuss the symbolism of the wallpaper in Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

2. Why does Charlotte Perkins Gilman choose to tell “The Yellow Wallpaper” from the point of view of an unreliable narrator? How would the story be different if it were told by John?

3. Is John a villain in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”?

4. Discuss the symbolism of the gun in Richard Wright's story "The Man Who Was Almost a Man."

5. In Richard Wright's "The Man Who Was Almost a Man," is Dave ready to be a man? Does he understand what being a man is?

6. Discuss what you believe to be Richard Wright's purpose in using dialect in "The Man Who Was Almost a Man."

7. In Ernest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," does Margot intentionally murder Francis? Does it matter?

8. Discuss how Hemingway treats the characters of Francis and Wilson differently in light of his "hero code" in "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber."

9. Discuss the meaning of the title in Ernest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber."

10.   Discuss how Hulga is defined by her disability in Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People."

11.    Explain the role of Mrs. Hopewell and the relationship with her daughter in Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People."

12.    Discuss the symbolism of names in Flannery O'Connor's "Good Country People."

13.    Choose your own topic. If you decide to choose your own topic, it may center around one, two, three, or even all of the works as long as it is primarily about one of the works you read for class. (This means that you could even compare one of the stories to something else you have read, as long as the primary focus is the work from class.) If you decide to create your own topic, you must get your topic approved.

Chose

5.         In Richard Wright's "The Man Who Was Almost a Man," is Dave ready to be a man? Does he understand what being a man is?

I feel that he does not understand what being a man is because he is still rebelling against his parents. One must mature, whether you are a boy or a girl, before you can be considered a man or woman.  In this story he even plays around with a gun and has to learn horrible mistakes for going against his parents form: buying it to shooting it and killing a cow in the field where he worked. Not only were his parents upset but so was his boss at this point. One thing to remember and learn as a child is that what things you do wrong hurt more than just yourself, it hurts your family and everyone else around you in some way. And once you have learned that and grown out of your childish ways will you be considered a man or woman.