Regards!

     Grammar and Composition was a fantastic class to take. It really helped me learn to write better and be more confident in my writing. I think you have to have some devotion to writing in order to take this class. You do have homework and a good amount of it too! But there comes a time when it doesnt really feel like homework but something you actually like doing.
     The multigenre project was by far my favorite project. You are given such freedom and choice in what you do. After you are flanked with a few research papers, the idea of doing another one seems deathly. So, when you are finally able to write whatever you want about whatever you want it the choices are endless! And then suddenly, all those poems and writing exercises you did throughout the year, help you! You can choose to do a poem that you learned how to write in the beginning of first quarter. I loved that project.
     If you are a person that is thinking about taking this class in the future, some advice I could give you is:

• Do not be lazy!

  If you dont have time for homework, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Or, like I did, make time. I found myself scrawling out paragraphs on napkins at work. You have to be able to manage your time.

• Use class time!

  When a teacher gives you time to work on a project in class, use it wisely! Dont spend it talking to your friends, sleeping, or reading. Get your stuff done when the teacher lets you.

• Allow people to read your work and critique it.

     Nobody is going to flat out tell you that your work sucks! Don't freak out about someone correcting some grammar mistakes on your paper. They are trying to help you, not insult you. Don't be afraid to helo someone on their work either. I promise, if you find a spelling mistake and fix it, they will be happy that you caught it before they turned it in.

• Don't wait until last minute.

    No one likes to be up until two in the morning trying to write a paper on Sex Education. I promise, been there, done that. This one is kind of self explanitory.

• Have fun with your pieces.

     Don't choose subjects that you dont care about because reading about it will not be fun. The more interested you are in something, the easier it will be to research it.

    All in all, I loved this class. I think it was helpful and taught me how to wirte better. Take this class! You will learn a lot if you pay attention and try hard in it!

  

Why I Write

It's hard to pick a reason that I write. I love to write even if I'm not the best at it. I think it's a good way to relax and really get my thoughts out. Sometimes, it makes me feel better to just write things out. Writing letters to people has always been something that I do when I need to let them know how I feel. I think I just enjoy writing. I never let anyone read my free writing. I hate being forced to have others read my writing in school, but if I learned anything in this class, it is that you have to let people read your writing sometimes and if they like it, Great. If not, oh, well. No one is going to totally rip your writing to shreads in school, so you just have to get over it and let people read it. I love to write in my free time. It is a good way for me to get any frustration out, or escape reality for a little while. When you write, you can make anything happen, and thats what I love. There are no rules as to what you have to do. I could make a magical world of faries and mermaids if thats what I wanted to write about.

I really do love writing. My Grandpa is a very strong writer, and he has always endorsed writing and reading in my life. Reading and writing have been some of my favorite things to do since I was in middle school. There was even a time in my life when I wanted to be an author, if you can believe that. Everyone has their own reasons why they write. I really cant just choose one reason why I do it. I just do. I just enjoy writing! For me, I feel like I am leaving my thoughts behind for someone else to find one day, after I am gone. I think that is kind of how my Grandpa sees it as well. He talks a lot about how he wants to be rememberd when he is gone. He has written a memoir of his life that he gave to each of his kids and some of the grandchildren. That is something that I think is really cool. I would love to do that and be remembered for something like that. This sounds so corny but it is really hard to explain why you do something that you have no idea how to explain!

I guess, what I am trying to say is that I write because I can and I like it. I dont think you have to be a fantastic writer to write. I am not, but that doesn't change the fact that I like it. In closing, I love writing and I always will. I'm glad I took this class and got the opportunity to write about things I actually cared about.



Multigenre Project Final

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-3w4hns9iyca0hPU3ZOenI1MDg/edit?usp=sharing

Article Response Six: Plagiarism

 In todays day and age, writing a research paper is all to easy. We type our topic into Google and look t the first three results that come up and there we go. Our paper is done. Sometimes it is hard to re word information you find on the internet and copying and pasting is such an easier alternative. And we all know it's wrong but who is going to know? I have never had a teacher (until now) who actually checked to see if our papers were copied from an online source. I know there are people out there who think "Hey, If I take this paragraph from a website online, change two words and site it, Im okay." But that is not okay. It's lying. You are taking credit for something you didnt do. I know I wouldnt like to have someone else say they wrote my paper when they only copied and pasted it. Plagiarism is not really focused on in school, they tell you it is wrong and move on. As said in the article,

"It is a disconnect that is growing in the Internet age as concepts of intellectual property, copyright and originality are under assault in the unbridled exchange of online information, say educators who study plagiarism."

 It is all to easy for a student to take words from a page online and use them as their own even though they should not. I know plagiarism is wrong and allthough when I do write a paper, some words from the article get thrown into it, I know that I cannot take a whole sentence or article and use it as my own.

Multigenre Example Response

One of the multigenre posts that really stuck out ot me was the one titled: From The Voice Within. This was a multigenre project on the book "Speak." It is mostly centered on Rape. This one was just really interesting and sad! The project is mostly made up of poems. I think the poems are the transistional pieces because they are all done in the same form. There is a piece entitled "RAPE" and It is done in an expository/ research paper way. It is deffinatly the one that she used a lot of research on. It uses facts about statistics about rape and how often it happens. There are some journal entries and notes to people that the author used her creative license on. The transitions are effective I think because they go through the emotions that someone who is a victim of rape would go though like anger. I certianly learned new information about the statistics of sexual assult like that someone is raped every two and a half minutes in the USA. The formating is different because the poems are on pictures... I dont think that made since. But the poems have images behind them. I liked the idea of using poems as transistional pieces. Overall, I really enjoyed this project and I was trying to skim it and ended up reading every line and word. I loved how passionate she was about it and I plan on reading this book now.

Article Response Five

*The Secret to Being Memorable and Persuasived

Joe Romms article "The Secrets of Being Memorable and Persuasive" is about how you should speak or write if you wish to be remembered. You have to have launguage intelligence. I agree with Joe. We all have those songs that get stuck in our heads and we can't get them out! I know that his example of "Call Me Maybe" was stuck in my head for months. A catchy tune with alliteration or a rhyming metaphore can become engraved in our brains so easily.

" Last summer’s monster hit “Call me maybe” has one of the cleverest, hardest-to-get-out-of-your-head hooks you can squeeze into three words, “Call me maybe.”  The words “me” and “maybe” have both rhyme and alliteration."

I really liked this article because it useed examples that I knew and could relate to, such as "Call Me Maybe." I thought the intro was funny when Shakespeare and Lady GaGa were compared. Two people so different, and from wildly different times are being compared! I thought that was hilarious. I think this information might be helpful next time I'm trying to write a poem or a catchy pop song. I think that this is a good skill to have. To be able to talk to a crowd and have them have a line of your speech caught in your head for weeks would be amazing. I liked this article. It was interesting.

Article Response Four

*Dave Barry on College*

I actually really liked this weeks article. It was a lot easier to read then the ones we read last week and the week before. The author of this piece has a different purpose for this article then the others we have read. The articles we rad previously, the authors mostly seemed like they were trying to infrom us about grammar and not have to much fun with it. This author made it more of a point to entertain us and make us laugh. I loved the part about the English major because that is one of the majors I have thought about for myself.

"Your professor, who is sick to death of reading papers and never liked Moby-Dick anyway, will think you are enormously creative. If you can regularly come up with lunatic interpretations of simple stories, you should major in English."

This was by far my favorite paragraph because it is very true. I have had an English teacher in the past who would have us read a paper about dogs and then tell us that the paper was not about dogs but infact about the Scandanavian Government! So, that paragraph was by far my favorite. I liked the whole article and enjoyed it a lot. I would much rather read articles like that in class instead of the ones about all the "bogus grammar rules." 

Article Response Three

*Seven Bogus Grammar Rules 'Errors' You Don't Need to Worry About

    Yet again, Ben Yagoda takes into the swirling world of grammar to tell us nce again that we are wrong! As much as it hurts me to say this, but I actually agree with him! The 'error' of starting a sentence with 'but' or 'and' is okay for me too. I mean, I agree that you can start a sentence with 'but' or 'and.' I don't understand why Ben Yagoda has so much time to sit and write articles about grammar and that makes me think he is not a very popular guy (probably because he corrects everyones grammar all the time). Either way, weather I like him or not, this article is not bad. I do agree with him and the majority of his arguments. Honestly, I didn't understand some of the things he said didn't matter, but I guess thats okay since they don't matter...

Article Respose Two

*Seven Grammar Rules You Should Pay Attention To

    In todays article, Ben Yagoda takes us through seven grammar rules that are commonly misused. From semi-colons to misused words, he basically talks down to us and makes us feel dumb. Thats how I felt at least. The whole time I read the article, I was thinking things like "Who does he think he is?" and "Why is he such a know it all?" His rules and advice is heplful but I just dont like when people treat me like I'm dumb, because thats a little rude. Overall, I think the article was helpful, but could have been a little... nicer? I think the picture I included displays my feelings toward Ben Yagoda pretty well. A lot of the articles we have been reading, to me feel like they are written by men who have nothing better to do with their time except display their vast collection of knowledge on the internet. I think that his rules are helpful, but not all of them. I'm having some very mixed feelings about this article!

Five Lists

1. Question Catagories
• What kind of education was provided to you?
• What did your family think?
• Were there any other Americans that made the journey with you?
• The people there and their reactions.
• When?
• Where (exactly)?
• How?
• Any lessons learned there?
• What was your goal and was it accomplished?
• How did you get there?
• Do you want to go back?
• How did you communicate?
• What was taught to them?
2. Five things to make them feel comfortable.
• Have them let me know if they don't want to speak more on a specific topic.
• Do it in their home (or somewhere they choose).
• Stay interested.
• Provide questions so they know what I want to know.
• Let them tell me what they want to.
3. Ten Factual Details.
• When did you go?
• Why were you there?
• How did you travel there?
• Were there any international conflicts at the time?
• What was life like there?
• Were there any conflicts in the USA when you left?
• What kind of culture were you in?
• What food did you eat?
4. Three things incase the informant doesnt want to talk.
• Ask other questions.
• Take a five minute break.
• Have other people to interview.
5. Five academic topics
• African culture

Multigenre Project

    I really like the idea of doing my family history. Since I know my moms dad would not want to talk about his time in the war, I think my dads dad would be better. I know he spent some time teaching in Africa but I'm not sure what he taught, I think English. I am not sure how long he spent there or why he chose to go there but I still think it's interesting. I would deffinatly interview him and then go from there.

    I'm having a hard time thinking about what other things I could do with it. I dont know who I would interview about it other then my grandpa. I don't  know if him and my grandma were together when he went or if they had any kids at the time. My grandpa has some things he brought back so I suppose they might be helpful in doing this project.
  
    I think this project will be very hard but I am excited to do it. I am also nervous about interviewing people.

Research Reflection

      A research essay is always hard thing for me to write. I have a hard time keeping myself from throwing my opinion into my essay. Sometimes, I am outspoken and so it's hard not to have an opinion on something. I don't like research essays, but I know I will always have to write them for school.
   Next time I write a research essay, I'll try to pick a topic that isn't so hard to research. I got a lot of websites that werelike tabloids and opinionated blogs and I even got one website that I figured out was completley false. It was a website that was just a mock website of all kinds of things. I realized this after I read  the whole article...
    I thought it was cool when we read eachothers proposals. I liked being able to put my input in on everones paper even though not as many people commented on mine as I commented on theirs. That was frustrating. I tool two whole class periods to comment on everyones blog and I only got about six comments on mine.
    I don't really know if I learned anything from pop culture from this essay. There were things that surprsed me even though they shouldnt have. Such as the VD clause I talked about in my paper. It makes since but it isnt something people really think about. I learned that shows that we think of as harmless, really arent. They affect us all in some way or another. Some of us surround our lives with celebrities and pop culture and we shouldnt. There are more important things in the world and I dont think we always realize that. I think our generation is in for a big reality check one day and I hope it comes soon.

Reading Response Three (Is Google making us dumb?)

      For this weeks response we were told to read an article attached to the blog about how the internet makes us dumb. While I couldn't agree more with the authors arguments, this article made me angry. Nicholas Carr, the author of the article states in his second paragraph,

"Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle."

    My question is, if You know how hard it is to read a lengthy article, why would you write such a long article? I don't know if he was trying to prove his point even more or if he just gets paid for word, but that was ridiculous. I could not agree more with his arguments about how hard it has become to read a lengthy article and keep focused. Reading really has become a struggle especially something that has some hard words and complicated thoughts. 

     I feel like my generation counts on technology way to much. We not only publish our loves on facebook, but a lot of us would be lost without our smart phones. If there is something we can't figure out, we pull out our phones and google it. I can't really criticize anyone else for doing it because I am just as guilty. 

    I liked the content of the article but they way it was written was very hard to read and at times very repetitive  I had a very hard time reading through it and it took me a few times to do so. 

Reading Response Two (The Black Dahlia pt.2)

    "I crossed the border at dawn. Tijuana was just comig awake as I turned onto Revolucion,

 it's main drag. Child beggars were digging as for breakfast

in trash cans, taco venders were stirring pots of dog-meat stew, sailors

 and marines were being escorted out of whorehouses at the end of their

five-spot all-nighters. The smakrter ones stumbled over to Calle Colon

and the penicillin pushers; the stupidos hot-footed toward East TJ,

 the Blue Fox and Chicago Club-no doubt eager to catch the early morning

 Donkey show. Tourist cars were already lined up outside the cut-reate upholstry

 joints; Rurales driving prewar Chevys cruised like vultures, wearing black uniforms

 that looked almost like Nazi issue."



Betty Short



     Recently, I have found myslef still engulfed in the world of The Black Dahlia. I've re-checked out the book and have plans to have it finished in time to turn it in! The Black Dahlia was a very famous and publicized murder in the '40's. To this day it remains unsolved. In the novel, James Ellroy takes us into the crime with detective Bucky Bliechart. Along with his partner Lee, Bucky gets sucked deeper and deeper into the crime. The police have a few leads on the crime. They have found a girl who knew Betty Short quite well, Lorna. She admits to making a porn film with Betty and says it took place in Mexico. She couldnt remeber the name of the man who shot the film. A few detectives are sent to Tijuana to find the man. Bucky has also traveled down to Tijuana, Mexico to look for Lee who has been MIA for a few days after being suspended from the police department. In addition to searching for Lee, Bucky is also on the hunt for a man names Bobby De Witt who has recently been released from prison and has a bit of of a grudge on Lee for putting him away. De Witt is also in Tijuana and eventually, a mexican police official leads Bucky and another detective to De Witt who sits in a jail cell. After a bit of roughing up, De Witt admits everything he knows about Lee but swears that he is not in Tijuana to get Lee. After De Witt makes a deragatory remark about Kay, Lees girlfriend (Bucky loves her as well) Buckys beats him up and blacks out. Soon after, De Witt is released from the jail. He is then murdered by an unknown person, Lee remains lost and there are no leads on The Dahlia case.

Movie Poster for "The Black Dahlia."

   This is as far as I have gotten in the book. As I already stated in my last post, I am in love with this book. I've already watched the movie and it is one of my new favorites. The book is kind of hard for me to understand at times which is why it has taken me so long to read. I would deffinatly recomend this book to a friend as well as the movie. Even though the book is called The Black Dahila, The murder of Elizabeth short plays somewhat o a backstory to everything else that is going on! It is hard to keep the stories straight and the book is somewhat mature (I was surprised to see it in the school library) and very graphic. I am fassinated by the Dahlia case! It is just so strange and so many things could of happend to Betty Short.This is easily one of my favorite books and I have yet to even finish it!

Project Proposal

    I will write an essay on Jersey Shore. Jersey Shore is a popular show among teenagers and is about friends living in Jersey who's lives consist of drinking, dating and drama. In this essay I will argue that Teenagers have been molded to idolize the cast as well as others for irresponsable behavior when they should be idolizing those of greater achievements. I will begin my essay with a look at the shows children and teens watch opposed to the shows children and teens watched in previous years. Teens look to them as role models and expect them to teach them how to act. Because the cast does engage in risky behavior, does that teach teens to do something of the same sort? Does Jersey Shore provide an accurate image about what adult life is like in Jersey?

Questions:
1. Does Jersey Shore represent an actual depiction of life in Jersey?
2. Is Jersey Shore real or scripted for effect?
3. Do their actions effect us?

Reading Response One (The Black Dahlia)

The Black Dahlia

James Ellroy

"It was the nude, mutilted body of a young woman, cut in half at the waist. The bottom half lay in the weeds a few feet away from the top, legs wide open. A large triangle had been gouged out of the left thigh, and there was a long, wide cut running from the bisection point down to the top of the pubic hair. The flaps of skin beside the gash were pulled back; there were no organs inside."

                On January 15 1947, Elizabeth Shorts body was found in Los Angeles. She had been brutially mutilated, as partially described above. The true story of her murder is one that is still unsolved today... but in James Ellroys novel, he spins a largely false account of how the murder could have happend. Two detectives, Lee Blanchard and Bucky Bleichart are assigned to the case along with every other cop in L.A.. Not only are they partners, but the two are also best friends, spending their free time together along with Lees' "girlfriend," Kay. Multiple stories coexist in this epic tale. There is of course the story of Elizabeth Short, as well as the story of Kay and Lee, Bucky and Lee, Bucky and Madeline, and Bucky and Kay.

      Lee goes crazy trying to solve this puzzling murder, leaving the case he was working on prior to the Dahlia case behind. Kay and Bucky both worry about Lee but he continues to do whatever it takes, sending Bucky out to find leads. This brings Bucky to a lesbian night club where he meets Madeline Linscott who he soon begins a relationship with. Meeting the Linscott family, Bucky sees how crazy they are and they are CRAZY. Bucky is sent on many a wild goose chase trying to solve the murder and eventually Lee goes over the edge. At the same time that Bucky is dating Madeline, he is also pursuing Kay. This is about as far as I've gotten thus far.

      I really like this book so far. I like that it is based on a real murder. While it's incredibly sad circumstances that Betty Short died, the author of this book is able to weave a story out of some true facts. I cheated and watched the movie before I finished the book, and I liked it. When I finished the movie, it took some of the excitement out of reading the book but I think the two might be kind of different from what I saw in the movie. I really liked the movie, but I still want to read the book and finish it. I chose this book randomly in the library because it stuck out to me. The blue color of the font on the black backround really popped out. I already knew about the Black Dahlia-- I though the story of it was common knowledge, but I found out that not a lot of people know about it. I made my friends watch the movie and of course, they didnt find it as interesting as I did, but they thought it was a little interesting. I am very excited to finish this book and see if it measures up to what I think it will.

Real picture of Elizabeth Short after being arrested for

Underage Drinking years before her murder.

January 2, 2012 (Book Choice, 10 years later)

      Book Choice for 2nd Semester

      For this semester, I have chosen to read "The Black Dahlia." I am continuing to read it from last semester, yet I havent posted on it yet. I cheated and watched the movie when I had only just begun the book and now I know what happens! This is one of the better books I have read latley and I look forward to sharing it with everyone.

Ten Years From Now

       My future is honestly something I haven't really planned yet. I am however, very excited for it. I know that I want to be a teacher. As much as I dislike highschool, I want to come back and teach. I would preferably like to teach history classes, english classes, and something along the lines of lib and law. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in sixth grade. I have a lot of amazing teachers since I started school and I couldnt choose one of them as my solo inspiration. I also want to travel and go to a lot of places. Among my list is Egypt, France, Germany, Norway and Greenland. Since I will have my summers off, this may actually be achieveable with time. In ten years, I see myself enjoying my life and living somewhere that is not here (Missouri).