Reflective Essay

In this course I learned how to use the databases in a way that would enhance my paper. I also learned how to write different types of essays like a compare-contrast or classification-division which I something I never had to write before. I enjoyed the pace of the class, even though it was one paper after another, I didn't get out of the habit of writing. If there had been more time in between the papers it would have been harder for me to get started writing. The in class essay was my least favorite part of the course, I feel pressure to write a good essay in a short amount of time without knowing what I will be writing about before hand. The essay I am most proud of was the cause effect essay. My major is Psychology and I want to help people with eating disorders, so that paper was about something that i am very passionate about. The one thing I would change about the class it would be to take a little more time to explain the requirements of the essays and what we are supposed to write about. If I took this course again I would take it at a later time, I am not awake at 7am and I think that hurt my learning. If i had been more awake I think I would have gotten more out of the class. Over all I did enjoy this class and learned a few things I never knew.

Penn and Teller: Recycling

Penn and Teller make the argument that everything we do to recycle is a waste of time because in the long run it doesn’t help the environment.  They took what we thought was fact and proved that it’s not true.  They went to the experts to get their opinion and went to everyday people and asked about recycling.  They found that normal people will sort their trash into 6 trash cans because they believe they are helping the environment.

In the show they have one expert that loves recycling and thinks it’s the greatest thing ever.  Then they have another expert that comes on and says why recycling is not helping the environment but hurting it.  They show one side then explain why that side is wrong, then prove it.  By going to a landfill and showing what really goes on, and what the process is help to show that landfills are not as bad as some people said they are.  Depending on what the audience is more concerned with, they defuse a lot of reasons to recycle. 

Writer's Craft Questions

Stephen King
2)  People crave to be scared, they ask for it every time they pay to see a horror movie.  King compares roller coaster, lynching, and sick jokes to show that people want to be scared. 

Buzz Bissinger
2)  Bissinger uses the word "just" throughout the paragraph to empasize what they money is actually going toward.  Repetition is very effective, it gets the point across quickly and lets the reader know where you stand on the issue.

Brent Staples
2)  I think Staples starts the essay in a misleading and dramatic way so that the reader will continue to read, the more dramatic the more people are going to want to read it.  It is intriguing, at first you think the paper is going to be about him killing people, then it turns out to be something completly different.

Questions about the Writer's Craft

1) The author uses point by point organization. By using this method she gets her point across and the essay flows better.
2) I think she is wirting to an audience that is indifferent. She talks about how the show works, and doesn't try to persuade the audience one way or another.
3) She uses quotes from the men on the show and from the movie Pride and Prejudice. Direct quotes make the paper better and gives more meaning to the essay rather than just paraphrasing.

Simple/Complex paragraphs

Simple/Compound

It is hard for roommates to get along. Their personalities are different.  One person may be neat, while the other is messy.  They have different sleeping schedules.   One girl may get up early because she went to bed early.  The other girl may stay up late and want to sleep-in in the morning.  The type of music they listen to could be very different.  These differences make it hard for some roommates to get along. 

Complex/Compound

It can be hard for some students to get along with their roommate.  Since their personalities are so diverse, it can be difficult for them to become friends.  Their sleeping habits are most likely not going to be the same.  One girl might be an early riser while the other girl likes to sleep in.  Their tastes in music could set them apart from each other.  They might have some fights if one likes punk rock and the other likes country.  Some roommates find it hard to get along, but they overcome it and learn to live with each other.    

Thesis Activity

Drug education programs in public schools are not effective.

• Purpose: explain why the programs don't work
• Audience: Teens
• Tone: informative
• Point of View: 3rd person

1. Peer pressure
2. Some teens are already doing drugs
3. Teenagers don't listen

Drug education programs are not effective in public schools because peer pressure is so high. Teens are going to listen to their friends and not some 40 year old man or woman telling their life story about how they over came drugs. They want to be cool and it is imprinted in their brain that the only way to be cool is to do drugs. These programs only work for a day or two and then, they are forgotten about.

Revised Paragraph Chapter 11

Driving down the street in my bright blue sports car, I saw a car coming rapidly around the curve. The car maintained speed as it approached the red traffic light, where a young couple started crossing the street. The woman saw the car and yelled out to her husband who leaped onto the shoulder. Seconds later it was obvious that the man was fine but, the woman was not. I hurried to a nearby emergency phone and called the police. Even though the ambulance arrived within minutes, the woman was already dead. The driver looked terrible, and failed the sobriety test and later the police discovered that he had two previous offenses. It's apparent something more must be done to get drunk drivers off the road.