All in All

I really REALLY liked this class! There was alot of reading but I enjoyed it! The blogging wasn't so bad, but I also had to do blogging for my previous English course so maybe that's why i'm not complaining. I liked the assigned readings and how we had daily quizzes so as to remind you as freshen your memory of what you had read earlier. I have known crossed over to the dark side though and still enjoy my non-fiction but I definitely have more respect and am more open to picking up a fiction book. I wouldn't change a thing in this course. What also made this course fun was the professor was always happy and always smiling which is something you don't always see. Awesome class :).

"A Rose for Emily", "A Good Man is Hard to Find", and "The Yellow Wallpaper"

After reading Charlotte's article about why she wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper", I understand now why she gave the male character in this story ignorance. In the story, John ( her husband ) is a physician and everytime she tries to tell him how she feels or that something is different about her, he rides it off by saying that she needs to strictly follow her medications, sleep more and not lift a finger, for that will make her stronger. Those were the same instrucitons given to Charlotte, but right at the brink of madness, she picked her up her pen ( which she was told not to do ), and started writing. I thought the short story was a perfect blend of patrial male-heiarchy and the wilting innocent woman plus the idea of horror because we don't really know what causes her to go mad, but we do know that she is very fascinated in this wallpaper that seems to grow more intersting each day to her.
In "Good Man", I believe the misfit is grotesque mainly because he seems to know what he is doing is wrong, yet feels no remorse for doing it. Almost like he doesn't care for anyone else but himself and will literally stop at nothing to keep his appearance a secret. In "A Rose for Emily", I believe that Emily is grotesque but i'm torn between Emily and Homer, not because they are mainly the only two characters you read about, but because it seems like they both have qualities about themselves that are different from other people. In the end, I am SURE that Emily is insane in "A Rose for Emily" because she has this dead rotting body in her bed and then the people find a silver hair, one of hers I believe, under the pillow next to the corpse. I just think that's disgusting. I do though see another revised southern belle in "Good Man", the grandmother. She has such a sweet side and sees the good side of things and never says many bad things throughout the story and even tries to talk some sense into the Misfit by telling him to pray. I know that if I had a guy with a gun who is known for murder standing right in front of me, I wouldn't do anything that might anger him! But the grandmother tries, even though she knows she keeps hearing gunshots.
I notice that time stands still in "Good Man", but in "Emily", times seems to progress rapidly and on a downward side at that. The "yankee" I believe is Homer Barron in "Emily", not jsut because it says so in the story, but because he is much different from the people in the town h's at. He's loud and disrespectful, always causing trouble. The white perceptions of Black americans in the story, I could only find in "Emily" when Homer Barron would "...cuss the riggers..".

Jean-Ah Poquelin

Consider and write about the changing South. In what ways does it change? Is there resistance? How does the subject of change influence the narrative. How is this story Southern Gothic. Do you see any of the Southern Gothic troupes. (PPT is in eCollege)

There always has to be at least one source of decay in a story, and in this story it is the plantation and pretty much everything surrounding it is decaying. Also, in this story, there is an introduction of wild animals, which is something I haven't seen or noticed in the other short stories and novels we've read. On the first page, you see that the "...shallow strips of water were hid by myriads of aquatic plants, under whose coarse and spiritless flowers, could one have seen it, was a harbour of reptiles, great and small, to make on shudder to the end of his days." The mention of animals great and small works on the readers mind because they don't tell you how big the animal is when he's "great". Also, the house of being "...the object of superstitions" is also another gothic element that is used, along with classifying the main character as being "...a symbol of witchery, devilish crime, and hideous nursery fictions..." when he didn't come back with his half-brother. There is resistance to change when the main character does NOT want a street built in front of his property. It starts on page 170 when the main character goes to the governor and says "...Strit can't pass dare" and goes on many many times to put his foot down and telling the people that he does NOT want a street built around his property and he does NOT want anymore people moving in around where he lives. This resistance is brought about because he probably does not feel comfortable with having others living around him, or that he doesn't trust anyone else, or maybe because he just wants to be alone. Throughout the story, you are used to reading about how the main character's house is falling apart and how he is lonely and only has an african mute staying with him, but the introduction of new blood in the story somewhat excites me because I thought that maybe he would come out of his shell, but then I was also worried because I wasn't too sure how the children would treat him, since they are always up to no good. There seems to be more action and more characters talking when the change happens and you get a little bit more of a sotry out of the story you are reading and it just makes it a little bit more interesting to see how other people act and react to the main character. I consider this story souther gothic because there is of course the decaying plantation, there is somewhat of a hero ( Mr. White ), there is the element of terror and mystery, and there are "ghosts" in the story. No one is ever really able to state whether or not it is a ghosts and since we never get to read the story from the main character's perspective we never know for sure if that really is his half-brother's ghost. What exactly did happen to Jacques?

Charles Chesnutt

In both "The Goophered Grapevine" and in "The Sheriff's children", the black character is not seen as inferior neccessarily, but more of an equal person ( well except for the lyncher's in "Sheriff's Children"), and are given respect. The black characters are also given a chance to speak their mind and tell their past lives ( which you see in both stories ) that are actually interesting and help give you information for the story to make sense. I do not know why Uncle Julius did not tell his story on what happened to the plantation but I rather rnjoyed hearing the story about the plantations past by someone who worked there, it's not so boring and despressing as hearing about how the character just looked out onto the fields and watched his servants work. There's no fun in that! You actually got to learn about the other characters in the story, the other workers, and how tey interacted with one another and how they were treated on the plantation. The racial identity of both the blacks in both of these stories is one that you didn't see in "Our Nig". I may be way off but in both of Chesnutt's stories, they were both intelligent n some way. The prisoner in "Sheriff's Children" tricked the sheriff by being stealthy and having very good dialect and the man in "Grapveine" knew of a past that the other two characters did not know about and actually asked him to explain instead of just brushing him off and saying that he don't know what he's talking about. the gothic elements come out in "Goophered Grapevine" with the works of Aunt Peggy and her being classified as a 'witch' by the narrator along with her goopher the grapevines. And then of course there's the element of horror in "Sheriff's Children" when the prisoner has the sheriff held up at gun point. I say this is horror because there is no way for the sheriff to get out therefore there is no resolution. Then, unlike other gothic novels, the heroine ( Polly ) comes to rescue the hero ( her father ) by shooting the prisoner in the arm.

I really don't think that readers cared for the "Sheriff's children" all that much because at some turn of events the black character is in control and has the white man's life in his hands. This is not usual to read and might not have gone over very well with those who believed that blacks were inferior and could never rise up or have the intelligence to retaliate. I rather enjoyed it though :). Along with "Sheriff's Children", in "Grapevine", the worker whos rubs the sap on his head to keep him from dying ( from the goopher Aunt Peggy set one the vines ) seems to take control of Henry, instead of Henry controlling it. The element of gothic in this story is the knowledge of the unknown, we know what happened to the vines, but we don't know exactly if that's the reason why Henry grows younger and older, or if the goopher really worked. there's many more ideas of mine I could talk about, but I think that's enough for now!

Our Nig

To me I see many reasons why this novel would be kept hidden for a number of years. First of all the title is somewhat offensive if you don't really take the time to read it and understand why it has the title that it does. Second of all, I think it was because the North did not want others to see how the slaves or their black servents were treated because they were seen as good and just people. I mean, even though you knew that there was beating and whipping and starvation going on, you didn't want to read about it! There are many parts in this story where things do get a little graphic and discussions tend to get unfair and prejudice which could anger any person who would have been reading it, I know it did me. I applaud Harriet Wilson though that she had the guts and courage to write about this and show people that even though you worked in the house and you were just a young girl, you still got the unruly treatment, worse than a dog. The Christians are actually given a good name in this novel ( except for the characters Mrs. Bellmont and Mary that is ) and I just think that many didn't want this book to be seen by the public eye because of her and they were pretty much ashamed of her and thought that she would give Christianity a bad name. The rest of the other characters treated her fairly, like she was a human being and no different from the rest of them. Christianity didn't want to look bad.
After Frado left the Bellmont's, she had a tough time getting by because she was black, thinking that her work or what she made wasn't good enough for anyone else to buy or respect. When her brother came up to her and wanted to marry her, she didn't hesitate because she finally had someone out there in the real world that cared about her, which almost reminds me of how her mother felt out in the public when Jim told her that he cared for her ( who was also black ). Even when she was wick, she was still having false rumors spread about her saying that she was a fraud and that she wasn't sick at all, which made her feel even worse. She bounced back and forth between different houses just trying to find someone who would take the time to care for her and hopefully accept her, but each time she got better, she had to leave. she never really had a home after the age of six and I think that Harriet was trying to show us that even though you are a free black, you still don't feel like you belong like everyone else. People still look down upon you and turn their noses up at you as if to show you are inferior to them and to their race just because of the color of your skin.

The Fall of the House of Usher

4)What kind of narrator is used in this piece? Is he reliable? Speculate as to why Poe would use this type of narrator for his work.

The narrator in this novella is the friend who come and visits Mr. Usher. Everything that we have read is through his eyes and also through his imagination and understanding of events. Although we do not get to fully understand what all is wrong with Roderick, we can at least get a feeling that something is not right with him when his friend states, "The now ghastly pallor of the skin...miraculous lustre of the eye...the silken hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it floated rather than fell about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity." Before this statement was made, the narrator went to explain how Usher used to look like which is why he was so astonished to find that Rocerick had some what decayed and things that used to sprakle and shine about him are now dull or even dead. For the story's sake, I believe that the narrator is reliable because it seems that Roderick is slowly but surely going mad and we wouldn't want to read the story from a madman's point of view, might not make any sense. I think Poe wanted the story to be told this way so that then we could get the full feelings from a normal sane person ( at the beginning that is ) and see what the house looked like from the outside, how grim and quiet it is on the inside, and what the characters look like compared to when he first knew him. Not much is said about Madeline, but the story seems to focus more on Roderick anyways. Now later on in the story, the narrator seems to be falling under the same dreary and decayed feeling, or feeling of madness, probably because of hos gloomy and dark and dreary thigns are around him. Might even possibly be a complete shift from what he's used to and he's still trying to make sense of it but just can't. I might even be way off right now ( thank god for class discussions!! ) but that is the way I see it.

Young Goodman Brown

I remember reading this in high shcool and actually being interested in the moral of the story. The significance in naming is one thing I noticed. The story is about the nature of sin in man and Nathaniel wrote the character's names as Young GOODMAN Brown and his wife FAITH. These two characters are unaware of the natural sin in humankind and yet are happy because they don't know how man can really be or what secrets they hide. I think the names were used to just add a little extra touch to his story. In my mind everything makes sense but when I try to type it out it just doesn't sound right so for now i'll just say that I believe Nathaniel used the names he chose because we associate the names with something good and innocent, and would never think anything beastly of them. The forest though, is where he meets the traveller who he mentions looks alot like him, but older. When Brown tries to turn around and head back, his traveller bades him to go further and further, giving in to temptation while going against what he knows is right. When his traveller lets him (Brown) sit and rest and go no further, Brown waits to see someone he knows that takes walks in the forest, but when he hears two people talking, he hides, almost like he's ashamed of where he is, guilt. The devilish communion that takes place in the forest also ( to me ) symbolizes the evil things that can happen when no one is around or when no one is there looking, pushing you even more to do things you would never do in the public eye. I may be way off track but the forest with it's tall trees and quiet atmosphere almost acts like a sescure place, letting you feel like you can do whatever it is you want to do, without being seen.

Female Gothic

It seemed like in Northanger Abbey, Lois the Witch and in Jane Eyre there always had to be some relationship with a female. Jane was friends ( for a short time ) with Helen, Lois was friends ( for a short while ) with Faith and Catherine is friends with Isabella ( along with Mr. Tilney's older sister). Since each protagonist has a female friend, obviously female relationships are very important in any story because not only does it symbolize that they are friendly, but they are also lonely and wish to have someone to relate with. That type of innocence and need for social interaction with other females makes me have a softer heart toward the female characters in these stories ( except for Grace Hickson ). With a female friend by their side, I believe the character doesn't feel so lost and is comforted with the others being near them.
In danger, the female protagonist will then lean on their female friend to give them support and comfort them and letting them know that everything will be alright. In "Lois the Witch", Lois turns to her Aunt to protest against the people were proclaiming that Lois was a witch. Than Faith steps in and agrees with the other people that she is a witch, depressing Lois. When Jane's friend Helen dies, Jane cries because she had lost the one person who was kind to her after her "family" left her.
In all three novels mentioned, it is implied that it is important to have strong friendships with other women not because it gives them comfort, but because it wasn't that proper back then to talk open-mindedly to a male. Female's needed to have a friend to run around the town with and gossip with, but also needed a true friend there for them as well. Women do need to support each other because sometimes you need someone there to stick up for you.
In the end of "Lois the Witch", after being betrayed by Faith, Lois finds comfort in telling Nattee stories of the Holy One as they sat in their hole dreading the morning. Lois felt stronger as she helped calm down and soothe Nattee with her stories, and with that confidence, she did not so much dread the hanging, until they took away Nattee first.
In "Lois the Witch", there is a cinderella formula, but the hero comes too late and does not save the heroine. The formula is the same as any other Cinderella story for the hero is always in love with Lois and promises one day to find her and marry her, but it is different in "Lois the Witch", because the hero comes too late. Weakness can be good and then on the other hand, can be bad. If the female characters speak up and speak their mind, they are seen as witches or as uncontrollable, but yet when they don't speak up for themselves others start making their own judgements about them and start getting ideas of their own in their minds without knowing the true story.This also comes into play with the term prejudice, people making their own judgements because the protagonist will not speak up and tell the truth, or the truth is not believed. There is no redemption in "Lois the Witch" until years later when the Hickson family writes up an apology for juding Lois so harshly, and Prudence delivering a speech explaining that what she did was wrong and shouldn't have happened.
When women become outspoken and decline the hand of marriage, they are seen as devilish and uncontrollable. When that happens, the father feels ashamed and send their daughters to take the veil. But that was in the older stories, in the mroe recent stories, the daughters were to feel ashamed of themselves and also to get an ear full from their father and mother on how her actions were not proper. Lois I guess you could could be seen as sexual because here she is declining her hand in marriage because her lust and love are to be with only one other man, whereas you should be grateful and take whosever hand you should have received.
I perosnally read "patriarchal" rule as "parental" rule and as an authority that opresses others. I do that not just because of my morals, but because usually in these stories the children must obey their parents and can do nothing to get their way or to get the parents to see things their way. The parents are so set in their own beliefs and udnerstandings that no child will steer their thoughts. Unfortunately, I do see the novel "Lois the Witch" as allegorical. I say the word unfortunately because Lois's aunt does not treat her very well along with not supporting her. Poor Lois is left to fend for herself in the end, knowing that what she says is right but can do nothing to save herself without bringing shame upon her name.

Value of Novel Reading

Reading novels is a great way to get a kid's imagination started and can actually help them become more creative ( and also help their grammar along the way ). I've always been fond of reading novels, more so non-fiction than fiction, but it always helps calm me down and gets me own imagination going ( which is good because i'm not that creative ). Nancy Drew was my favorite series of non-fiction books to read because the main character was this beautiful strawberry-blonde haired girl who was skinny and smart. She loved mysteries and always played the detective in her stories when something begins to puzzle her. All in all, I think reading novels is a great way to unwind and relax and just forget about the real world for just a little bit.
Older novels that explain in great detail the ways of living and how no woman would have never "done this" or how a man would always act "this way" around a lady. Just like the book the "Scarlett Letter". The story was mainly of a woman who commited adultery without being married, and had a child. Back then, people were scared of doing such a thing as to avoid personal embarassment. Now in these days, nobody really cares except for if you are able to take care of the baby. But those days are over, there's no proper way of living anymore in these years. It's just about covering up your body with clothes and going to work. No need to think about how you're walking or how you should hold your umbrella anymore. Today, television news takes over for what our society focuses most of their attention on. I mean of course there are books out there that will teach us how to properly speak, properly write, or how to eat at a fancy dining restaurant, but then there's also google that can help us with that.
I think alot of historical novels help us see ourselves in a way that we didn't want to percieve ourselves. We don't want to think about how we are just savage beasts who want their way and will kill in order to get to our goal. Some novels do do that and I love those because it then opens our eyes to our behavior and how we are not as perfect as we think.
Literature, in these days, I don't think can move a society to change, unless it was a book written by someone of higher power and status than us. Unfortuantely at the moment, I can not think of any novels that may have changed my life or the way I view society. I can only think of the stories that I have read which have helped me change the way I act. "The Tortosie and the Hare" being one of them. I was always a girl who wanted things done as fast as possible, but when I slowed down and payed extra attention to the small details, I realized that being fast doesn't always mean it's better. I know I will think of more examples later, but for now, that is all I have to say :).

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

2. In this Gothic fiction, it seems that Mr. Utterson serves as a detective-type figure. Do you see any evidence that J & H is a precursor to the “detective novel” genre? (Technically, the genre began with the Sherlock Holmes novel in 1887.) Be sure to pull examples from the text to support your answer.

- There are incidences where Mr. Utterson plays the part of a detective. On page 71, for example, states ...the lawyer was to be found on his chosen post." Again on page 71, it states "If he br Mr. Hyde" he had thought,"I shall be Mr. Seek." Later on in the text, Mr. Utterson sent out to find Mr. Hyde at his Soho place to see if they could find any evidence that he had for sure murdered Sir Danvers Carew. This is found on pages 90-91. Along with that, it seems that this book was written through Mr. Utterson's point of view so most of it to me seems like a wait-and-watch story.

4. One aspect of Gothic fiction is the Gothic castle setting. Stevenson doesn’t use a castle, but he uses other settings about London to create the same terror inspiring feeling (Look at the Literature of Terror vs. Horror below). Look over the narrative and, using examples from the text, explain how Stevenson built another aspect upon the Gothic setting: think of the city of London, think of the House, the door, the courtyard, think of the laboratory. Blog your thoughts with examples from text

- The first time the reader learns about "the door" is on page 63 being described as "...blistered and distained." There was never much explanation of the house Dr. Jekyll lived, but the other houses surrdounding Dr. Jekyll's was described as "...ancient handsome houses, now for the most part decayed from their high estate and let in flats and chambers to all sorts and conditions." This iamgery pretty much sets up this vision of a street with old houses that dingy and slowly falling apart, page 74. Not a bright or colorful street, nor does it bear any signs positive life. The description of Soho on page 80 gives the reader a feeling of being uncomfortable or a little depressed for this city is not happy nor is it clean. "The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with it's muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and it's lamps, which had never been extinguished or had been kindled afresh to combat this mournful reinvasion of darkness,...like a district of some city in a nightmare." The text also mentions fog about three times on page 80 as well too which you don't read about in the other city where Mr. Utterson lives. On page 97, Dr. Jekyll's dissecting room's door is broken down for Poole and Mr. Utterson want to see what exactly is going on in there and if Dr. Jekyll's body is hiden somewhere in there. What they find inside though is a neat and somewhat orderly place with the fire that is going and the papers that are spread out on each table, but the mention of the chemicals in the cabinet somewhat raises the reader's awareness. What are all these chemicals? What are they for? A question, that is never really answered.

Castle of Otranto

1. Take a feminist point of view and blog your ideas about the role of women in the text's setting. What options do women have? Are these options reasonable considering the time period? What concerns do characters have for women's feelings? Speculate as to Walpole's views about women.

-Women either have the choice of pleasing their husband and do whatever it is to make them happy or respect their wishes and get a divorce. I believe these options that are present in the Castle of Otranto is reasonable for the time period. Look at Romeo and Juliet. Both of the wives did nothing but stay out of the husband's ways ( at times) and always stuck by them no matter what they did. I think that the readers feel for the women characters in this book like they would a child who could not stand up for themselves. I felt very sorry for the women in the book because they were just seen as objects of love and fancy, or as objects that needed to be gone. Walpole, in my opinion, wanted to give women the dainty and saintly characterism so as to pull the readers more towards the good people who tend to treat them as an equal person. -

2. How does the text promote chivalry and romance? By romance, I don't mean just love between two people, but heightened sensitivity to feelings and emotions.

-Chivalry and Romance is not very apparent to me in the novel until Theodore comes to rescue Isabella, and later on after that. At that moment, it seems like the whole book had a more positive feel to it, even though there were more incidents of fighting. I noticed that romance played a role in this book when the author went to great lengths to let the readers know how Isabella felt about Conrad. Then the passionate scene between Matilda and Theodore grabbed my attention because it again reminded me of romeo and Juliet. Here's the boy that the family does not like but the daughter cheerishes. The author also puts emotion into when two characters are talking, and into the thoughts of the characters.

3. Speculate as to what Walpole may be saying about patriarchy and monarchy. Do you think he supported unquestioned allegiance to King and country--unquestioned submission to authority (King or parent)? Do you think his personal views about his father played into the text? Do you think it is reasonable to see the text allegorical--that Walpole was actually making commentary about 18th century England?

-I don't think Walpole supported alliance unless the Prince and Marquis each got what they wanted. Manfred did not go out of the way to give someone else what they wanted, but only himself. Manfred did know when not to battle with the other, expecially when he knew the other was of higher status than him. Manfred was not a very good listener, always quick to interrupt, and wanted things done his way. I don't remember much of what Dr. Davis said about Walpole's father but if Walpole has the dominant male character as an angry and harsh prince, than who's to say that the male figure in his life was not good to him? I do believe that Walpole was making commentary about 18th century England because the way the characters were played out in the book did resemble how some people would act. Men were very dramatic, whether it was with anger or passion, while the women played the role of being the good and wholesome wife who would never do a thing to hurt the one she loved.

4. Do you see a moral theme in the tale?

- I am still struggling with that question but I do know that I will find out later on today. The only moral tale that I could think of after reading the book was that You should never indulge yourself in your fantasies for they will drive you to do things you will soon regret.

5. What do you make of the conclusion? What does the conclusion say about marriage and romantic relationships.

- Since none of the marriages played out in the book and Matilda was not to see Theodore ever again, I have no doubt in saying that the author does not believe in happily ever after. The only marriage in the book ended up in agreed divorce which makes me wonder if the author saw that marriages fail or that there is always something better out there that the male wants.

6. Do you see evidence of Shakespearean influence in the story? How so?

- I do I do I do. Not only through the text but through the story! Yes the characters roles have been switched up a bit but this story reminds me exactly of Romeo and Juliet. With the Friar who wants nothing but to bring peace, Theodore ( Romeo ) who has fallen madly in love with the daughter ( Juliet ) of the angry Prince ( Juliet's Father ). I know that might seem a little farfetched but that is just what comes to my mind when I read the story. Of course, at the end Matilda ( Juliet ) is killed due to the anger driven by her father to rid himself of Hippolithia ( sp? ). Juliet "kills" herself earlier on in the story but in the end, she ends up dead just because the father will not want anything mroe than to pass on the family name, but not with a rival.

Gothic Fiction 10103: First Entry

Hello! I am from a little town called Benbrook, here in Texas. Haven't lived anywhere else!! I am a Junior at TCU and getting a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. I have never really cared for Fiction just because I am a person that enjoy's reading what is real, but I really need to broaden my horizons and become more creative instead of just sticking to the facts.

I have never really focused any of my readings on Gothic Literature but I do love movies such as Sleepy Hollow, which I consider to have a Gothic theme to it as the characters are dressed in suits and tight ballroom dresses. I in all honesty will say that I do not have a concrete idea of what Gothic Literature is or what it's supposed to look like in a reading. I struggle to be creative so at times I may not give the most elaborate and descriptive answer to a question, but I do answer with honesty. I can, at times, be a little blunt so if I offend anyone with my posts or remarks, please don't get mad. I just tend to stick to my point of view.

I am not very talkative and can be very shy. This could become a problem for the class discussions but i'll do my best. I guess i'm always just scared of someone laughing at me and thinking that reply to a statement is not up to others standards.

I have read and agree to the terms of the course syllabus.

Can't wait for the class to start!!

In Class: Free write

When you're given the chance to write about anything, you kind of jsut sit there and think wow, but there's so much on my mind right now, how could I choose what to start out with? Anyways, i'm starting to get a little stressed about finals week and all the exams and papers I have to torture myself with but that's okay because once I get my degree, this will all be worth it. I am still also thinking about the cartoon I have to make for my groups topic for the Unit 3 project. I have a few ideas, I just hope they're good enough. Okay so don't judge me but I went and saw 17 again with my family and it was hilarious. Not saying that because Zac Efrons in it. I don't really care for him. Well, lets see I hit the snooze button like 8 times this morning but still managed to get to school in time...crazy. I have to go get some shots today to update my shot record for nursing. I'm kinda dreading this appointment because I have no clue how many shots I have to get and for some reason, shots reeeeally hurt me. I have extremely sensitive skin as it is and getting shots makes it worse...plus I usually get sick the day after. I can't wait to go to my boyfriends fraternity formal. It's going to be awesome and it was fun searching for a dress to wear to it because he helped me pick it out. So we ended up with a red dress and I got some black heels to go along with the dress. He then went out and bought a black shirt and a red tie so we would somewhat match...like it matters. I so need to go get my ring cleaned, I have so much soap scum and lotion underneath the stone in my ring and it looks all cloudy and gross :/. I'm so lazy....Hope today is good and I hope your day is even better!

Proposal

Well it’s about that time to choose our topic. Last week our group made the decision that we were going to argue against the bill that would allow students on public university campuses in Texas would carry handguns. Students would have to have their Concealed Handgun License and must be 21 years old. I think that this is a scary proposition. I also find this a little daunting because I would not like to be in a class with a student who receives an F on a test and has a Glock 9 mm in his backpack. I have always believed that one of the scariest situations in college would be someone with a gun on campus who is mowing down students in front of the library. Also, carrying a gun in a backpack would not be too different from the Plaxico Burress case when he was in a New York nightclub and he shot himself in the leg with the pistol that was in his pocket. You just never know when a gun may go off. For our visual argument we are planning on doing a series of signs that would be read as students walk. This message would be conveyed in five or six signs placed in a row that could reach a high amount of people because of the amount of activity that occurs on campus. Also, one argument that could really help us convey our message would be a list of student’s names that have been killed on college campuses. This could also be used in a paragraph form and may be more effective.

In Class: Visual Arguments

1. What overall impression does the visual text create in you?
This question is that the book asks you is a little tricky to answer because everyone sees an image in their own way so it would be hard for me to explain how I saw an image if someone completely disagrees with what i'm saying. Using visuals in general can be a task in itself because when the author or whoever it was that made the visual has to pay attention to what kind of message the picture might send to others or if it might offend some people or maybe they didn't use the right font size & type, blah blah blah. To me, the picture on page 420 shows five people standing in what looks like a line-up with the caption underneath stating The Usual Subjects, instead of Suspects. They all look like normal average people that would not cause a threat to anyone, but the fact that they are all not smiling in the picture makes you feel like you don't wan't to be close to them, especially with the background the way it is.

In Class: Free Write

When I read the chapter last night, it was pretty much full of all of the information that I already knew about. What I mean by that is that I pretty much already knew how to make en effective argument due to having to analyze so many different arguments in this class. It's all about how you put the information together and how well it can work to make an effective argument, but you must pay attention to the details within your written argument. I had no idea though that punctuation was a major influence in creating an effective argument but I did already know that grammar and word choice was because if you can't even spell the words, why even waste your time trying to convince someone if they can't even make sense out of your argument?
Also, when I was reading about how sentence structure, I had no idea that the style and the way you compose the sentence could have such a strong impact on the readers/audience. Not only does it matter on how you start the sentence but also the length, as described in the chapter. When starting a sentence, you never want to start it the same way you started the previous sentence. I have always had a problem with that and reading this chapter helped me better understand how i'm supposed to write and compose my sentences.

Again, I knew about how to write paragraphs and arguments but that's it. I didn't have any knowledge of how it was done. so reading this chapter really helepd me in a sense to become stronger with my writing.

I'd like you to discuss your group job title and description. What role are you playing in the group? What are your primary responsibilities? How will your role help the group function efficiently? In addition to answering these questions, please list your other group members (mainly to help me keep track of everyone!).

My group job title contains more than one job. The first job I have is to be the group's reporter. This pretty much means that I will record everything that is said, every website we might go to and jsut in general everything that my group does during class. The second job I have is to bring a checklist to make sure everyone is on track and that everyone is during their share of the group work. The third job I have is to be in charge of the poster, if that's what my group ends up doing. Since i'm pretty creative with hands-on activities, I thought it'd be best if I was in charge of the poster.

As being a part of the group I too have to put in my share of the work which means that on top of my jobs I will need to come to class prepared.

With keeping track of what all we do during class, it will help my group if we need to go back and revisit a certain website to get more information that we did not get the first time due to any reason. As for the checklist, the job speaks for itself. The checklist is there to keep me and the other group members on top of everything and if they forget something than next class they will have to bring last weeks material and the current weeks material.

My group members are: Shawna Marcus, Will Christensen, and Erin Lorenzen.

In Class: Doing all the work

Group work to me is always dreadful. I always try to avoid getting together and working with others because some people never do the work and then make up excuses on how the material got burned or their cat ate it...true story. I never take pity on them and will usually make a point in front of the class during our presentation time that they did nothing for this presentation. Humilation is my goal for that eprson because if they never learn their lesson, then they're going to be that person who works in the office and never gets anything done or never likes to do the work because it's "too hard". I'm honestly petrified about getting into groups and doing work with others because I feel like I can never rely on the others to do their part. I have been in soooo many groups where they think that i'll do all the work and they'll take the credit. I know there are people out there that actually give a crap about school and their classes and i'm hoping that my group for unit 3 is just like that. I honestly am not too afraid of this group work because all this class we have done nothing but writing and making sure we have our assignments in class with us on certian days and I think that helps all of us become more responsible in a way.

MYYYY ideal group work: Of course the perfect group would be the group that did what they had previously agreed to and won't back down from what they said they were going to do leaving the restof us scrambling to figure out what's going to happen to our grade!! I hope that everyone does their work and that we come up with an awesome topic for unit 3 because honestly, if we don't come up with anything that seems interesting to me, my work might not be so good. I'll do my part of work no doubt, but it just might not be that great or it might not even make sense at all! So 1. My group members should do their work and 2. The topic should be interseting

Different roles of group members:
1. One person will keep a check-list of all the peoples names in our groups and if they completed their assignment or not so in the end, if someone didn't do their work, the professor will know.
2. One person might come up with what genre they want to focus manily on or what genre they work best with.
3. One person might even come up with making goodies or something for the class so they don't fall asleep in the middle of our rpesentation, even though it's only 15 minutes long...I have ADHD, I might jsut dose off in someone elses....
4. One person might, like Amanda Irvin said, be in charge of making up the title. The title to me is a pretty big deal because all throughout high school, we aLWAYS had to have a title to our paper...even if it was just a few paragraphs. I just feel like people should get an idea of what they're about to read.
5. Every grouop member should keep a folder of all the work they've done so as to credit those who did their work.

In Class: Reflections on first post

On my very first post, I didn't really say much. I guess that's due to the fact that i'm a very structured type of person and just writing what ever I wanted about myself sort of overwhelmed in a weird way. I feel like I have more to say now that I have been typing away 90% of the time in my spring semester and I feel more comfortable with writing too. I used to hate english class whether it was in elementary school, 6th grade school, middle school or high school. The teachers were always so mean and spiteful and that really affected my motivation to learn how to write better, plus my future career doesn't require alot of writing : ). I think it's a little weird to look back at my old post and read what I put up. I seem so cold and distant in my blog and that's not really me, I just watned others to take me seriosly.

Anywho ( as my boyfriend says ), Matt's parents are coming down to Texas again for a few days and so i'll probably need to go and visit with them since I don't think they're comfortable with me yet. I think it's because Matt is the most religious one out of all of his siblings and i'm sort of, oh what's the word...wild? I honestly think that they're scared that i'll corrupt Matt or something...pretty funny if you ask me. Anyways, i'm just thinking about my advisors meeting later on this afternoon.
Have a good day!

In Class: Freewrite; Titles are overrated

In all three of my primary texts, I would say that they are all alike in the text in that they are all about how this even that happened in California was an upset to doctors, specialists, bioethicists, and just regular people. There is also an upset in how the ethics of this situation folded out. How is being pregnant with eight children right? The focus on ethics in all three texts is whats alike in all three and honestly, that's the main concern right now with Nadya. How was this decision morally right? Of course we're all worried about how the children are at the moment and we all worry about how the children will be and how they will act when they grow up, but mroe importantly, why did a fertility specialist do this to a patient knowing all the risks involved with carrying just one fetus?

The way the texts are different from one another by how they are all each approached by a different view, unfortunately, they're all negative. One text focuses on how the professional standards were being disregarded by the fertility specialist and another text focuses on why this decision was made or the explanation behind the reasoning.

Everyone is not happy about this. When you're not married, don't have a job, and alerady have six children, why would someone do this knowing they can't properly support themselves let alone now their fourteen childern? We are all confused right now and we all want a clear and strong response from Nadya on answering the big question, why did you do this? Her only reply though that we've gotten from her is that she wanted a big family. Did she ever put into mind the finanaces and the love and care you have to put into having a big family? Did she ever think about how messed up these childrens lives will be never getting the proper attention they deserve?

An unstaed assumption and/or belief is that all women want children and that they will do anything to make that happen. Some women and married couples don't want to have any children at all but those who do want children try feverishly to make that happen and if it doesn't, they get frantic. They will then turn to a fertility specialist and pay over $10,000 just to get a few eggs fertilized, but to some money is not the issue. The main issue to these desperate women and married couples is that they can not seem to make a children naturally and they need some professional help. We all know that fertility specialists can give you a better hope of becoming pregnant with either a single baby or even multiples and by knowing that, we can conclude that Nadya did use a fertility specialist to become pregnant with her octuplets and that this was not done naturally.

Looking at all three texts, I do believe we live in a culture of assertion because when something unsual happens, we all want an answer of why it happened and who/what is the reason on why it happened. Many professionals, bioethicists, and doctors are all scratching their heads wanting to know why and they all want an answer. I can't even imagine how many questions have been asked to Kamrava and Nadya in wanting them to explain why they chose to do this and wanting to know the reasons behind their decision and when we don't get that answer, we automatically feel shut out and somewhat irritated by them and their ignorance in answering a single question. Even when we do get an answer from either two of them, we still ask why?

Unit 2 Proposal...maybe

Ok so here's the thing, I still have no clue what I want to spend six weeks on. I mean, yeah the "Octo-mom" is very VERY interesting and is still going on right now in our society and is veeery controversial. If I do decide to do my unit 2 proposal over the birth of octuplets from a SINGLE woman, I will most likely get my primary resources through the Los Angeles Times, possibly interviews done between the octuplet mother and a newscaster, and any other California newspaper, even though this is an event known around the country I believe that most of the best stories will be found in California.
I chose this topic because the whole idea of artificial insemination and invtiro still boggles my mind and I really believe that I need to focus on one event that has happened under that subject/topic because yes there are MANY cases of multiple births ( twins, triplets, etc. ) but why would a fertility specialist insert 6 embryos? Is there something going on in this practice that we don't know about? By focusing on one event that happened as a result of this practice ( and a very touchy subject as that ) I hope to help others better understand how others feel about all this, how I personally feel about this, and also I just wish to see why some people choose and decided to go down this path in order to become pregnant.

Like I said, i'm not 100% sure if this is what I want to do for my unit 2 proposal, but at least I have a strong idea in what I might want to do.

In Class: Free write

You know, I read all of chapters 5 and 6 and I understand the parts of rhetorical analysis and how I should go about doing my unit 2 topic, but I just don't know where to start. There are jsut so many things going on right now in the world and the thing is is that we have to choose one thing that's going on in our life right now. Intense to me. I did get some good feedback from my blog posting last week about the woman who had 8 children through Invitro. I'm thinking about using this as my unit 2 paper just because i'm more interested in the medical field and especially when things go haywire in the medical field or I might find something else to use as my topic for my unit 2 paper. Who knows. I have so much going on in my life right now and I don't even know where to begin, let alone this unti 2 paper that'll take weeks to finish. I am looking forward to spring break though because I get to go to california with my bf Matt and we will be actually skipping friday so we can fly down there and we wont be coming back until the 21st. My sister will also be gone too as well so me and my sister ( my moms only two children ) will be gone! Sad :(. My sister will actually be out of the country as she is going on her second year anniversary trip to London.

Hope she has fun. So my mom's birthday is also coming up soon ( this thursday ) and all she wants for her birthday is a coffee pot. Yeah right! It's always hard to find a gift for her because she never tells you what she wants but then on the other hand she always gets disappointed with the gifts she receives...yeah I don't understand it either.

Anyways, I hope this day gets better. I also hope that I will udnerstand what exactly it is that I need to do for this unti 2 paper. I have some studying to do for Biology...fun....

BABY BOOM!

This is about as disturbing as that picture we have in our textbook on page 111. A human just shouldn't look like this, PERIOD.

When I was thinking of a topic to analyze, I had a tough tim thinking of one that I would be interested in. Don't care much for politics and any topics related to health right now is the salmonella outbreak in peanuts, how boring is that?

Mmmm I think this is pretty interesting to talk about. The fact that she had octuplets AND already has six children just blows my mind, but what's even more interesting about this lovely lady is that she CHOSE to have this done. Who in their right mind would do such a thing? As you can tell, this woman obviously had some back issues when she was carrying all eight in her womb. The reason why i'm showing yout his picture is because I want you to SEE what exactly this woman looked like before she gave birth and why I think this is a topic worth noting.

As I reading the website http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_11652331, I soon realized that the reason why people are so up in arms about this birth is not because she gave birth to eight, but because this was just downright unethical. Why would I trained fertility specialist DO THIS? If you didn't know, Suleman ( her fertility specialist ) had implanted six embryos and two split pushing the baby count to eight. All eight of those eggs then implanted.

Many people, including me, are outraged at this fertility specialist. Why would he do this to a woman who does not have a job and already has six children? Logically, none of this makes sense. I hate to keep repeating myself but a woman who has six children, divorced and who lives with her parents, should not want another child, let alone demanding six embryos be implanted! What was the fertility specialist thinking when he agreed to go through with this procedure knowing that this, inturn, might lead to the end of their practice due to the implanting of six embryos to be unethical? The Medical Board is now looking into Sulemans case to see if there were any violations.

When you look at the picture of Nadya, you feel sorry for her for a split second because of how massive her stomach is and how painful it looks. Then you realize, hey, she paid to have this done. I shooluldn't feel sorry for her!! Alas, I feel sorry. Not for her but for her children! How are they going to get the proper education and enough love and attention at home? These children might grow up and have behavioral problems later on down the road!

Being someone who feels like a "normal" family should only consist of three children, I feel very uneasy about this woman taking care of fourteen children by herself. Why did I mention that this whole even is unethical? Well, for startes no woman should even think about having six embryos implanted in her uterus UNLESS she didn't have any children to begin with. Most women wants to have children, but you know maybe after one or two some may call it quits and get their tubes tied. Not this woman. She went above and beyond and wanted MORE! Not only is her choice unethical but the fertility specialists choice is unethical. Why would he do this? He had no clue on how well the pregnancy was going to go and he ahd no idea what amount of pressure this puts on her body or else he wouldn't have done it!

Either way, this is they way I perceive the situation. I am sorry if I offended anyone, but sometimes we just have to open our eyes to what's really going in instead of trying to sugar coat it and make it look the way we want it to.

In Class: Image for rhetorical analysis

http://www.moiinc.com/bouquet/index.htm

WOOO!

In Class: Rhetorical Thinking

Thinking in general is, to me, the same thing as seeing an ad or listening to a speech and thinking of it in the way you want to interpret it in your own mind. Rhetorical thinking, to me, is seeing an event and then looking at it from both angles. You look at an event and think to yorself, ok thisis the way I see it but how might others see this? When you tink rhetorically, you pretty much make an argument out of what you see and what you hear.
When you make an argument out of what you see and hear by, rhetorical thinking, you pay more attention to what the author and you start to pretty much make a rhetorical analysis of the statement or picture or event. During yoru rhetorical analysis you might do things such as anaylzing how well the argument is put together to specifically catch the attention of the audience that is paying attention to or reading what you have you have sent out to the public. You , as well, might also want to pay attention to where and why an argument makes sense and where it seems to lull the audience and where it seems to lose its magic. There are many other things to hone in on but the most important part to understand is the purpose of the argument.

I say this because without a purpose for anything, what's the point of even saying anything about it in the first place? You always have to have a reason.

Pathos, Ethos, and Logos of Castle Park

Since my blog isn't that popular, I would just like to restate that I will be doing my Public Analysis on Castle Park, a place that I pretty much grew up around.

Ever since I was little, I always wanted to play outside. I always wanted to have fun and for some reason could never get rid of all my energy at home, so I would go outside and play, or bore myself to sleep. Everytime we see a swingset or a slide, we think back to the times when we would play on those and how much fun we had. There are trees everywhere at this park with a duckpond. I always thought of that as being a relaxing environment to be in, where this is no hustle and bustle, you're not trying to wiggle your way round people who walk too slow, and you're not constanlty surrounded by others. To me the environment of castle park is an emotional appeal because it really changes your mood and how you feel because it's such a beautiful and relaxing atmosphere.

I'll be honest, I can't really think of an ethical appeal for a park other than it is a pure place with no deals, savings, or sales. It is more of a place to come to relax and even work out.

The only logical appeal about castle park is that it is a place where you can do more than one thing. There is track so you could come to castle park mainly to walk, jog, or run. There's a swingset for you to swing on. Everything you see at this park serves a purpose for the human being, it is there for you to use.

In Class: Visual Analysis Free Write- Candy Cigarette

My attention is immediately drawn to the little girl, looking at the camera, hunched over, holding a cigarette. I guess it's because I know that girls her age should not be acting that way or taking things like that seriously. She shouldn't think that holding a cigarette is cool or normal but, unfotunately, this is probably what she sees everyday in her life at home, on the streets, or in stores. I really also don't liek the fact that she knows how to hold a cigarette. Why and How does she know?
Why isn't this little girl being supervised and where in the world did she get that candy cigarette?
The image as a whole is really ahrd to explain because I can't really see much in this picture. All I can see is her because of what she's wearing. This is a dark picture and she's wearing a white dress, and she has a bright face but the rest of her seems dark and unclear, like the rest of the picture. I also would like to mention that the girl standing next her seems younger, has her hair up nice and pretty instead of the other girls where it's hanging in her face. The other little girl is also turned around and not looking at the camera. I'm wondering why that is because usually when someone that you are talking to is staring at something, you naturally turn around to see what has grabbed their attention. The picture is also cut off at the waist and is very blurry in the back.
When I see this emotion, I feel depressed. Depressed because of the coloring ( black, grey and white ) and the facial expression on the little girls face. She just doesn't seem happy at all.
This picture is obviously centering in on one big problem here. That problem is that there is a little girl pretending to be holding a real cigarette. That is, pretty much, the center of the attention.
I believe the purpose of this image is that we should really be aware of what we act and what we do around our children. Our children soak up everything we do and try to renact what we do because they want to be like us. Our children want to be more like us in a way that some willa ctually start acting like us. When I see this picture, I think of the little gils parents as possibly depressed chain-smokers. But we don't want to go up to her and tell her to take the candy cigarette out of her hand because we aren't her parents. Why should she listen to us? She might not have gotten this idea from her parents but possibly her grandparents or cousins...anyone! I just think she's holding the candy cigarette because she sees it so much in her life that she thinks that since everyone else is smoking and holding the thin white cylinder, than she should too or else she would be seen as different, and that is NOT what any little girl wants. She wants to be accepted.

In Class: Free Write

I didn't really understand the concept of Degree in an argument. I can't really explain to you why because I just don't even understand it and why it was put in the book in the first place. The book also didn't really explain what a Degree was except it gave examples of what looked like comparisons. At first I also didn't understand the section on Statistics, but after reading the whole chapter, and all of the other chepters, that arguments are about anything, including numbers.

Everything else in the chapter I understood without any problem whatsoever. I understood how facts, hard evidence, surveys and polls, using reason and common sense, and everything else worked in a logical appeal. My favorite section was the one over hard evidence. Who can go wrong with that?

I never really payed attention though to how sensitive wording polls could be until I read the two exmples that they gave us on how results can be drastically different if you change up the wording. I'm still wondering though, why is that? I mean it's the same words just stated a LITTLE bit differently.

Another thing that I was a little confused in was the section about Precedent. I'm sure though that after class I will be able to understand all of this though : ).

In Class: My Ethical Appeal Object

Well, let me just say that this object will cause an ethical appeal or just a plain annoyance to some. I brought the Bible. I really think that this causes an ethical problem in some because one time in sixth grade, I brought my Bible to school to read in English class. The teacher said we could bring anything we wanted to so I decided to bring the Bible since I was studying it at the time. Well, I accidentaly left it at school one day and when I went back to my English class, the teacher humiliated me in front of the whole class for bringing a "silly" book. Being only 12 at the time, that really hurt my feelings so I never even talked about my religious views until my second eyar of high school when I joined the Christian group at my high school where we would go and pray out in the front lawn one day out of the week. I never really WANT to make a statement about my religion, but I feel like I should be able to express it without others judging me.

I have never judged or made fun of someone else's religion and I always thought I should be treated the same in return. Unfortunately though, that's not always the case but I have gotten over being insecure about it and just don't care what others think anymore.

I think the Bible might make others feel uncomfortable and might make others be disgusted in me but either way, that's their choice.

The whole reason why I brought the Bible in as my ethical appeal object is because everyone is really touch about this subject and everyone is usually hush hush about it. The Bible does hit others in a certain way and sometimes even causes controversy. It's really hard to explain why I chose to bring the Bible as my ethical appeal object because the Bible means something to me. I don't see as something that might cause an uproar between me and others but I know that in other people's eyes, the Bible is seen as fake and they don't care to hear anything about the Bible or anything about God for that matter. Liek I said though, it's fine to me what others think about it now because some choose to believe in other Gods or choose to see Christianity in a different way.

I may not be answering your question fully on why I brought the Bible as my ethical appeal object. I know that the Bible will cause disagreements upon others and I think that's the main reason why I chose to bring the Bible to class.

Unit 1: Public Analysis

Castle Park

What makes this space appealing?-This space that I picked out to analyze is very appealing ( to me ) because i've come to this place ever since I was a child and it is a very calm and relaxing place to be. This space is very opan and inviting with trees everywhere. There is also a little duck pond if you feel like getting rid of some old bread too : ). This park is very appealing to the eye because there's just so many activities you could be involved in when you're there. Who doesn't like being outside feeling like a kid again?

Why did you choose it?- I chose it because ( due to my ADHD ), it's a place that I can observe for many hours if needed and I will never tire of it. There's always something new happening. New people, new ages of people playing, different activities going on ( there's a volleyball court, a track , a soccer field, and a baseball field here too ), different sights and sounds each second, and it is very peaceful. I love being outside and so I thought that this would be the perfect place for me to sit back and observe what all is going on because there's just so much to see! You won't ever get bored!

What do you expect to find upon observation? Why?- I expect to find that when i'm observing the park that I will see alot of people doing different things and just enjoying themselves. I expect to see benches and trees, the more obvious things. I hope to see many people engaging in different activities and i'm also hoping to see many children running around crazy and releasing all their energy. I guess I expect to see all these things because i've been to the park before and it's always so busy (especially with the little kids running around the playground part of the park ). If things were to have changed, it wouldn't be the same place.

Are you part of the target audience?- No I am not. I am simply there to observe and have no intentions of being analyzed while sitting on a bench with a notebook and pencil in hand. I am not going anywhere where there are people trying to sell you an object or device of some sort nor do I want to analyze in that type of environment. Wouldn't be very comfortable to me.

What pre-conceived ideas may influence your objective observation?- Well, I don't have pre-conceived ideas, I have past experiences with this park. I know this park, I know what it looks like and I already know what's there. I'm simply going because I need to focus in on my surroundings and take in everything that i'm seeing instead of jsut focusing in on the things i'm doing. The only idea that I have right now is that since it's cold outside, there might not be as many people playing as there would be in the summer time. I might not even get enough notes to hand in.

How can you overcome these obstacles?- The best I can do is sit and wait to see how many people show up. I am really looking forward to this assignment and am hoping that I get enough notes so I have more to talk about in my paper so it won't be dull and boring in any way.

In Class: Free Write on Public Analysis Location

I have not chosen a place to spend a few hours at and paying the msot attention that no one has ever payed to that place. I will be watching the people come and go, what they are wearing, what they might be talking about and what the decorations are in the place. Of course as i'm sitting there, i'll find mroe things to wrte about and more and more objects will jump out at me, kind of like a seek and find game, if you look hard and long enough, you jsut might find it! I was honeslty thinking about sitting on a bench at a playground and watching to see the ages of children, teens, or even adults that might come and play on lets say the swingset or the slide. How they would be dressed and if they brought along a picnic to eat there. Another place I was thinking about doing my Public Analysis on is the mall. We have all seen some scary things at the mall. Girls who wear skirts that go up to their butt pretty much, guys wearing those skinny jeans with the huge skateboard shoes, and so on. That might sound mean how i'm picking out all these different things about people, but that's just what I see. I will also be paying attention to the way the mall might be layed out and where the food court is located and so on. Are the floors clean? Are the people in a good mood? Who's working at the foodcourt? Is it primarily one race or another? I might even go to my old high school and sit in the courtyard and watch how the students behave, what they're wearing, if I notice a trend in clothing or slang, and all the different things that I will be looking for in every palce I go to.

I might even be very critical about the environment. I tend to be a bit of a germophobe and if I see, for example, a piece of gum on the ground, I am absolutely disgusted. I tend to pay attnetion more to the details of a public space more than the overall feel that the place might want you to notice. If a place is dirty on the inside but niceand clean on the outside, not worth going in there...We'll see where I end up going!

In Class: Free Write

Writing about anything you want to is pretty tough...especially when you have what feels like moer than a million things going through your head! Let's see, I have reserved seats at the Rodeo for next tuesday and i'm really excited because I am going with the love of my life, Matt. Another reason i'm excited is because I have never been to a rodeo due to my parents allergies. Lets see....there's also all this reading I have to do for Film Music, which i'm somewhat excited about, but not really because everytime I read I tend to fall asleep so keeping up on class reading is pretty difficult for me...especially since I have ADHD. Oh yeah, and what's going on with the weather? It's in Janruary and we are almost to the 80's already! I kind of miss the cold because it gives me a reason to stay in bed longer in the morning under my heated blanket covered with my poodle sprawled out across the sheets. Oh Dixie, I got her when I was in sixth grade, she follows me around everywhere!!!! She's also VERY picky about what she eats too...and for some reason she's scared of bowls and plates. She'll walk up to them and tuck her tail and kinda slink on over to her food making sure her chin doesn't touch any part of the plate or bowl...we don't know why she does this because we got her when she was just a month old ( or possibly younger...I can't remember) so we know that nothing has caused her to be scared of these objects. I don't know...anyways, Matt is in class right now. All I can think about right now is class, food, and church. I have found this new and amazing church that I think everyone should check out! It's called Keystone Church. I go there with Matt, his sister and her husband but not with his parents because his parents live in california but they are coming down soon to stay in their Southlake home for a little bit. It's really shocking that his parents own three houses but only stay in one of them for a long period of time. Southlake house, over a million. Crazy. Who has that kind of money?

I really can't decide on what else to write about because it's like keyboard chaos in here right now and my ADHD is getting the best of me...wanting me to look around. But I will resist and keep on dumping all of my thoughts onto this page so anyone who happens to stumble upon this might get a good laugh out of it. I had rice chex this morning with a granola bar...but I am by no means a health freak. I had pizza last night. It was really good! Matt got hawaiin pizza, yuck. I don't know why I don't like pineapple. But I had a little weird streak because I wanted both green olives and black olives put on it. Who else does that? Anyone?

Well, i'm going to go now!

Obama's Inauguration Speech

You know, I just have to say this right now but I have NEVER seen an inauguration speech...I even missed watching Obama's! Alas, my Film Music class did not care about the new president who might pull this nation out of the economic pit that we have somehow managed to get ourselves into. Although, after watching the video on C-SPAN and reading his whole speech online, I have come to conclude that I personally think that he is what the United States needs right now. One of the first lines that really stands out to me is,"Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred". Why? Well because Obama is bring attention to a touchy subject while argumenting about the present and appeals to the audience in an emotional way. There are sons, daughters, mothers and fathers serving in the Forces. Some have died, some have come home wounded. Who wants to hear about something that depressing on a day that is supposed to be remembered forever? To me, the answer is because we should never put the biggest problem aside, hoping that it will eventually resolve. As much as we would like that to happen, we all know that's not the case. I would also like to point out that to me, this statement is also an example of Argument to explore. This situation needs attention and is a serios problem in society. My only question is, why does Obama bring this topic up when we can't do much to change it? We can't change our opponents minds and make them listen to us, but what we can do, is show kindness and respect towards them, in hopes that it will make a difference in this event that we are struggling to overcome. This other line that stood out to me was, "Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet". This statment appeals to the logics because it is, as the book puts it, just the facts. We all know that this is happening, but what can we do to fix it? Well, for one thing, we need a leader who is aware of these problems and situations so they will make an effort to hopefully eradicate what might be causing these things to happen. This is also a good example for the Argument of Fact. This statement can, unfortunately, be proven true with examples and statistics. I really thought this Argument was effective because it's always nice to point out the facts so others will pay more attention to what is happening to others instead of focusing on themselves in their own little world. Arugment number three comes from the statement, "Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met." I don't know if anyone else sees this, but when I read that line, the first thing that popped into my head was how this is an ethical appeal and an Argument of Convince. He is explaining the values that we both have in common. We know of all the challenges we must face and, even though he doesn't have to explain on this, we know exactly what these challenges are. I also believe he is convincing us by saying"...they will be met". Almost like this is a match. U.S.A. downfalls against Barack Obama! Who will win?? I only applaud him when he explains that they will not be easy, quick to fix, or a waste of time. Although those are the things we WANT to hear, I on the other hand believe he will make it happen. The fourth Argument is a little bit more tricky to understand. "What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works...". Here Obama is measuring his ideas against those of ideas that we have all at least thought about once in our minds. Obama is more worried about the people of the United States instead of the people that represent the United States. This argument that I am trying to point out is the Argument of Evaluation. Obama shows an interest in being concerned about ideas that go against the bigger ideas of all the politicians out there. All they think about is themselves, but what about us? What about the common people who work so hard yet recieve so little? Above all of these arguments, is the Argument to Make Decisions. There are MANY examples of this argument in his speech but to give you an idea of what an argument to make decisions is, I picked out this line,"What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task". Even though Obama is including the word WE and US in his speech, we all feel like we're a part of it because he does not set categories or stages that some people might not be in in their lives. He chooses to make a decision with responsibility. Oh boy, who wants to take on that job? I know that not everyone cares to be responsible for their actions, but here Obama is helping us make that choice in deciding if what we do from now on is our responsibility.

Obamas speech left us with many things to ponder on. Did his speech mean anything to you?

In Class: Free write on Argument

My view rreally didn't change on the topic of what I thought an argument was or what it might mean because I learned about in high school, but we never really went intot oo much detail as we are right now so I am really starting to understand that an argument can be amde out of pretty much anything just because we all have different views on different subjects. We do not all think the same ( thank goodness ) and I think it's really gerat that we had this reading assignment about learning all what an arugment is. My definition though DID change because at first I always thought that an argument was primarily used to pretty much convert the way someone else thought into the way you think. Like I said, I learned about this stuff veru vaguely in high school....high school teachers usually don't go into too much depth about things like this because it was never on the TAKS ( an exam that I had to take in high school in order to graduate ). I did learn though about all the different ways you can question an idea or a tpoic or even a picture up in the library. ANYTHING can be viewed in many multiple ways and I think that's why the terma rgument is so hard to udnerstand for some. Many of us jsut want one simple and concrete definition to go by so that then we don't have to overwork our brains and try to fit in any more than we have too...because some of us are just, well, lazy! I also never really knew all the different types of arguments either. What I mean by that is that I didn't know there was a name for questioning events in the past ( Forensic Argument pg. 16 ), in the present ( Epideitic Arguments pg. 19 ), or about events that will happen in the future ( Deliberative Arguments pg. 18 ).

What I like about Arguments is that it can be about anything! Anything that you or someone else doesn't agree with.

In Class: Argument

Suicide. Kind of a touchy subject but unfortuantely we all know about it. Why must people be so depressed into thinking that they have no way out except to kill themselves? Anyways, I chose the story asking, "Do suicide rates go up because of the fall of the economy?". Why did I choose this? Well, I wanted to know and hear from others if this really is the only reason why suicide rates go up. Well, is it really? To me, I don't think this is the only reason for suicide rates to go up. Maybe suicide rates are going up because of the rising prices of tuition or it might be because of a job loss. Who knows. I honestly think that the economy has an effect on people and all this news about how much money the DOW and NASDAQ is losing, all these companies that are going bankrupt, car companies struggling and the problems with mortgage does tend to put people in a negative and gloomy attitude on top of what else they might be having problems with in their life.

Truth comes out.

Where do I begin. My name is Rachel Richey, but I go by Amanda which is my middle name. I am from Benbrook, Texas and have stayed in Texas my whole life. I am a Sophomore at TCU and am a Nursing major.

I am in this course because my it is required in my major. I do hope though that what I will get out of this course is a new and better way of writing and thinking of new ways to express my thoughts and feelings into words.

Me being a young adult, I am very fond of texting as my boyfriend also goes to TCU so we both never really have time to talk on the phone. Since my mother works at TCU, we usually communicate through e-mail when she is at work in case I need to tell her or something and vice versa. My writing definitely has room for improvement and i'm not very creative and clear in my writing so i'm hoping that this course will help push me to the next level in my writing skills.

The type of argument I believe my blog is creating is that myabe some of the things I say or some of the videos and pictures I put up later on will not make everyone happy There are going to be some classmates that completely disagree with the things I will say and do. The colors on my blog really represents how I feel about myself. I'm a fun and very down to earth person, but on the outside, i'm very very shy. I'm not loud and outspoken but more quiet. When I meet someone new, I tend not to say very much or talk loud enough just because of my self-esteem. Online though, I feel prefectly fine typing out exactly what i'm feeling though. All of my choices with my font size, colors, images, songs, and videos shows you as the person I really am on the inside. My participation is very limited in class discussions. I always feel like no one cares really about what I have to say except for the professor, so I usually keep to myself.

Since i'm more of myself on the internet instead of in person around people I don't know, I am more honest and will write down my own opinion on a topic. I can be a bit blunt and harsh with the things I write and I just want to say that I do not mean to offend anyone's ideas, it's jsut that if you ask me for my opinion, I will tell you the truth.

Even though I am not registered in this class, I will say though that I do understand and agree with the terms of the course syllabus since I saw it in the classroom this morning. I understand how I get the grades I will receive from each assignment and how my grade is weighted.

Have a good day!