I feel its time for an update.

So far school had been going great… very stressful, keeping my busy… but i love it. I just totally kicked but on a history test which i was freaking out about. I did decent for my first round of test. But here comes the second one. :X

I put my two weeks notice in about two weeks ago… so this is my last week working! FINALLY, i will have my life back! I will have Saturday afternoons  to sit around in my PJs!  and i will also get to spend more time with my family and my lovely boyfriend!

For some strange reason my sister and i have been getting along great. I dono… the 5 year difference is quickly fading away and i can talk to her about everything. The one thing about living at college that i really miss is having her around… its fun to be silly with her.

OK i should say  there’s two things.
My moms cooking… i HATE eating out of a microwave

Lets see what else …. my love life is great… i love my boyfriend…i don’t know what i would be doing with out him right now. He is my foundation!
Even though he made me watch Saw 3 tonight.. UGH NASTY NASTY DISTURBING MOVIE!

 I dono I’m pretty content with my life right now … i couldn’t ask for anything else.

Oh yeah… two of my closets friend are transferring to UNT next fall! I am super excited because i will have 4  of most important people just down the street!

OK that’s it for now… its way to late and i got an early class tomorrow!

My first thoughts after i read ashley’s blog was  that her parents were only doing what they believed was best for her. I don’t agree with the other people who judge their actions, they should put themselves in the parents positions. Ashley’s parents must have lived through a difficult time trying to decide which direction to take. I believe the choice they made was the best interest for both Ashely and her parents. This way she could receive the best care from her family members. And her parents would capable of supply the help with out any other problems arising. Even it it does some experimental to others,  the “Ashely treatment” might help some other child in the future. 

* gay marriage

* HPV shot for young girls

*AIDS

*drafting into the army

*discovery of “Jesus tomb”

What comments have I received that emphasize the strengths in my essay? How can I maintain this type of writing in the future?

-Strong Introduction
-Good Point made in the essay

Keeping up with the bloging and class work that ties in to the assigned papers is an excellent  way to improve writing. This way its a constant reminder that there is a paper. While writing these blogs ideas pop up that can work great within the paper.

What did I consider the strongest part of my essay? Do the comments reflect this belief? If so, how? If not, what can I do in a revision to make this my strongest point?

- I had a good, solid introduction. A strong introduction is a very important part of any paper. A week introduction can cause the paper to quickly to fall apart.  The comments supported my thesis and other point through out the paper.

What comments have I received that point out weaknesses in my essay? What do I need to do to begin improving on these essays?

The comments that i did recieve were on little, formating issues. In order to improve i could have someone else proof read it, and get help at the write site.

Could the Write Site help me with these improvements? Why or why not?

Yes, the write site would be beneficial. They could help me further develop and explain my arguments as well as fixing any grammatical or formatting erros.

Do you feel that you could adequately revise this essay and receive a better grade now that you are able to see where the weaknesses in your essay?

 Yes, there are some point i would like to further explain. As well as addressing gramatical and formating errors.

I am putting in my 2 weeks notice tomorrow… 

I’M quiting and i am SO GLAD to be leaving that hell hole!

plus school is starting to kick my booty and work gets in the way!

 celebrate with my guys!

 have a grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat weekend!

 

1. Respond to the two articles directly. How do they make you feel about common beliefs held by others? Have they made you aware of any racially motivated thoughts or actions you have had yourself?

It makes me upset that the world still revolve about your race. We are all humans and share similar characteristics, no matter our color of skin. There are times that I think in a racist fashion. Only ______ people would do that or that’s something a ______ person would do.  It’s sad to realize but to a certain extent I think it’s inscribe in your genes. It’s a defense mechanism.

1. What is the difference, as you see it now, between xenophobia and ethnocentrism?

Xenophobia is when you are scared of having any sort of contact with people of other races. On the other hand ethnocentrism is when you view your own race superior to others.

1. Do you know anybody who has any of these beliefs? What (speculate if you need) led them to these beliefs? Were they raised this way? Was there a life experience that changed their attitude?

 A lot of older people that I have come in contact with have racist views. They really can’t help it because it’s the way they were brought up; they were thought that was the correct way.  Many of the older people lived during the days of slavery and strong racism.

1. Have you ever had an encounter with somebody who shared these views? Are you comfortable sharing this encounter? If so please do. If not, we will not delve into the experience

I have heard people talking about it but not really encountered a situation. It up sets me that people could be so mean and harsh in today’s world. I would feel uncomfortable around close-minded people.

Tamar Lewin “Growing up and Growing Apart” This story started out talking about three girls who were all best friends. They came from different racial and ethnic backgrounds but they were inseparable.  When they were young no one noticed the difference in race, but as they got older the race became an important factor in how they made friends. As people grow up they began to realize that race does play an important role. At the start of middle, most kids start to notice the racial difference. Teen’s then separate and go with their own kind. The three girls, tried to ignore race, and stay as good as friends as they were from the beginning in kindergarten. Amy Tan ” Mother Tongue”This was a story of a Chinese daughter and how her mothers English had affected her life. Amy spoke many different types of englishes, it all depended on who she was speaking to. Because her mother spoke “broken English” Amy had to adjust her ways of speaking so that they could both understand each other. At school she did ok in English, but excelled in other subjects like math and science. Later, in college she deiced to be English major. This was a way of proving that she was good at English. After writing a book, she realized that the way her mother spoke was the simplest way of understanding. 

What (specifically) is a culture? Put this in your own words. I want to see how well you can define culture on your own. Culture is based on a mixture of different things.  A lot of it is traditionally passed down by groups of people from different regions of the world. The most common include; customs, ideas, beliefs, goals, and practices.
What cultures do you belong to? What specifically makes you a part of this culture? First of I am 100% Colombian. Both my mother and my father are native born, there parents as well. Some where down the line, I know that I have some Italian in me as well. The Italian comes from my father’s side. I am fluent in Spanish, and have grown up being taught to be proud where I came from. My parents have never really acknowledged the Italian part, mostly because we are only a small fraction.
What cultures (list 5) would you like to know more about? (Note: these cannot be cultures that you classify yourself among. I want you to explore cultures outside your own.) Even though I know a little about Italians, I would like to learn more about them.

• Italians
• Greeks
• Asians
• Middle Easterners
• Russian

Now that you have chosen your cultures, rank them by preference (i.e. your top choice should be #1 and the one you wish to consider a last choice should be #5)
1. Italians
2. Greeks
3. French
4. Asians
5. Middle Easterners
Finally, for each of the cultures you have listed, make a quick list of what you already know about that culture.

 1. Italians- hairy, good cooks, strong family ties, mobs, catholic
2. Greeks- Greek gods, strong family ties,
3. French- lots of culture, very fashionable, good food, effile tower, wine
4. Asians- different fashions, good food, very smart people, studious
5. Middle Easterners- very religious, kosher, male dominated society, eat everything with curry  

1. What credibility did you give to the article after a first reading? Did you feel that the author adequately persuaded you to see their side of the issue? How subtle was this persuasion?

After first reading it, I thought I was a decent article. It was some what interesting and easy to follow compared to Wu’s.
Anderson did help me see the other side to the story, and from his article I did change my mind. To some extent he did convince me, and I changed my mind about legalizing marijuana.  
Anderson could have used many other techniques to make is argument stronger. I felt that his efforts to persuade were weak.

1. How have your feelings changed now that you are more aware of the author’s ethos? Do you feel that knowing the credibility of the author changes the way in which you view the argument presented? What have you learned about the author’s education, peripheral writings, and career that altered your view of the article you are studying?

 After careful and detailed examination of
Anderson’s article, I believe that a lot of it needs a lot of work.  His ethos was very unstable and left my questioning what he was really trying to argue.  Credibility of the facts he used is very important, this way we know he actually is informed on what he is taking about and not just making it up.  After exploring ethos, I found that his article was not efficient in trying to convince the reader. He is a writer for an average newspaper.  He writes about a variety different subjects, he seems like an average Joe who was just assigned to write about legalizing marijuana, he didn’t have much knowledge of it before.

1. If you were writing an argumentative essay on the article’s topic, would you consider using the article as a credible source in your essay? Why or why not?

No I would not use Monroe Anderson’s Article as a credible source. In the article there is no evidence present of research, citations, or out side sources. He randomly mentions names and numbers but there is nothing backing it up saying that it is an actual credible person, evaluation, or establishment.

Pre-Argumentative Paper BlogWhat is the argument the author makes in the essay?
The author’s argument was that the government is concerned with other problems out side of theUS, instead of concentrating on what is going on inside the borders. Marijuana has always been around but they didn’t make it illegal into the 1940s’ Marijuana has always been popular, and the government has tried to put a stop at it but they get sidetracked with other problems.  The author uses some facts, names and statistic to support the argument but as you analyze the article you can conclude that they are weak and even worthless.

Is this argument clear? Does it make the point?
One quick glance, the argument seems clear. But there are parts that are fuzzy and it takes many times of rereading to get an idea of what he is trying to say. In some parts of his article he speaks in “slang”, which I think is unprofessional. There will be other people but pot smoker reading the article as well.  In his article he seems to just skim over the topic. He fails to mention the counter argument on why to legalize marijuana. The paper would be stronger if he were to mention the other side of his argument, and how they would play out. The facts and statistics that he did include were weak and didn’t seem creditable. If Anderson could have proved his sources, his article would seem much stronger. The topics he talked about also lacked interest.

Which side of the issue does the author take? Does he enforce his opinion?

The author wants marijuana to be legalized. He mentions how it would decrease the amount of money spent to send and keep marijuana users in jail. He states that it used to help cancer patient’s deal with pain, marijuana has medical benefits. Anderson also compares marijuana prohibition to alcohol prohibition. There were problems enforcing alcohol prohibition as well.  His arguments were weak, he needed to find better arguments, facts, and statistics to back up and actually convince the reader of which side he was actually on. After reading his article, you are left confuse, you are not sure what side he was taking. What facts does the author use to support the argument? What references does the author use to support their argument? How does this factor into the author’s ethos? Do these facts support the author’s logos? How? If not, what should be done to aid in supporting the author’s logos and, therefore, improving his own ethos? 

He mentions very little and weak support to his argument. They include; everyone smoking weed, reducing the cost of keeping marijuana users in jail, taxing it so the US can profit, etc. The author mentions some numbers with his support but there is not actual “source” of where he actually got these ideas and numbers from. Andersons paper includes no ethos, there is no way to know if facts are true, his statistics real. Because he didn’t use ethos, the reader then assumes that Anderson is not creditable writer. Andersons Ethos barley supports his logos. Once again we do not know if he made up the facts or if they are actually true.  The author should include where he got his facts, and furthermore explain how they affect what he is trying to argue. If he were to do this, people would actually assume he knew what he was talking about. With out ethos is seems like he made everything up, and will throw off his logos.

How does the author use pathos to aid in his persuasion? If the author has not used pathos, what could be done to improve upon this appeal?
Anderson does use pathos in various instances, which really help the direction of his article. He first starts out mentioning the war in Iraq, a very sore spot in many Americans. This catches the readers attention, and makes them interested into reading what might come next. The next use of pathos is when he mentions marijuana’s medical use. The two above are his strongest use of pathos. There are other instances used through out the paper, but they are much weaker and to some extent confusing.  

For your personal response:Does the article evoke an emotion in you as a reader? What, specifically, in the article evokes this response? How could the author have done a better job at making you believe the issue was important and/or in need of immediate action
I think that Andersons article is half way written. There are many different ways he could have approached his side of the argument, and he could have used other facts to support his side. My emotions were not really evoked; this seems to be just a plain informative paper on why marijuana should be legalized. Anderson included a quote from Ansllinger, in which he talked about why different races smoked weed. I found this quote to be depressing and some what irrelevant to the whole point of the article.Anderson needs to use better support, his article is lacking it.

Did you have an opinion on the topic before reading this article? Has that opinion been changed or reinforced through reading the article? If you were ambivalent to the topic before, how has this changed? If your opinion has not changed, what could the author have done to change your mind?Before reading this article, I believed that marijuana should not be legalized in the US. The only reason that it should be used is under medical approval. To a certain extent this article has changed my opinion, but on the other hand I feel even more confused.  He provided little to no facts, and his ideas were half boiled. His presentation was also questionable, it made Anderson seem unprofessional.  But I did like how he mentions that our government is concerned with other problems, that don’t really need to be looked into and should be left alone.

If you were writing this article, what would you have done differently in order to persuade the audience? To start of I would have provided the counter argument to the facts that I choose to write about. I would have been sure to include my sources of where I got my information. Finally, I would have written it so numerous types of people would want to read it. (Pot smokers, mothers, lawyers, etc.) I would have thoroughly explained every thought and idea so there would be little not no confusion in the article.