What is a blog...now?

Well my view on blogs have not really changed since the beginning of the semester. I still feel that a blog is a form of communication. It is a place for people to communicate with other people around the world. It is a way to express feelings, share information, reflect on experiences, and just tell the world that you are here. It helps you find old friends and make new ones. Also, it helps you find people out there who share similar interests or are going through the same things you are. Blogging can also be used as a tool to succeed because now days many companies are using blogs to post information about jobs and just to connect with employers. It also can help you get a different outlook on things going on in the world. Other bloggers can bring up certain questions or different perspectives about your blog topic that you did not think of when you wrote it. So in a way it is a way for you to expand your thinking and open your eyes to everything that the world has to offer. I still feel that talking in person or over the phone is the best way of communication. It just feels more personal to me. However, I think that blogging in a good way to communicate with others, especially if you do not have a lot of time.

My feelings toward blogging this semester is somewhat even. Sometimes I liked doing the blog assignments because it was easier to do homework on the computer and it was so informal. You really did not have to worry about making everything perfect like you would in an actual paper. You could just put all your thoughts down and not worry about it not sounding right or flowing together. However, there were others times when I did not want to do the blog assignments. I felt like certain blogs really did not have any importance and they did not help me out when it came to the “big” assignments. Also, it was so easy to forget that I had to do a blog. I am so used to having to do homework on paper that sometimes I forgot that we also do blogs. So the times I did forget, I was up early in the morning writing my blogs and I felt that I was not able to fully put all my thoughts down on the subject because I was in a rush to get it done. So I am in the middle when it comes to blogging. It is a different form of homework but sometimes it can be a pain in the butt.

The main thing that I really liked about blogging was the blog responses. By responding to each others’ blogs we communicated with one another, even though we hardly talked to one another in class. It was like our own language. Also, it really helped me look at the whole issue that was under discussion. It is so easy to just look at one side of an issue and totally ignore another side because it does not fit into your beliefs or way of thinking. I think the blog responses really opened everyone’s eyes to all the different angles that a particular issue can have and sometimes even changed their opinion on the issue. I know that on certain assignments my mind was changed about a particular subject after reading the blog responses.

So all in all, blogging was “ok” this semester and I see why we did it.

Dicrimination is a Virtue

Robert Miller's "Discrimination Is a Virture" discusses how meaning of the word 'discrimination' has changed over the last 30 years and how it is now being used. The word actually means "the ability to tell difference" and not "racism" as many of us believe. Miller's idea about discrimination definately applies to the current presidential race since two of the Democratic nominees are considered to be "minorities." Hilary Clinton being female and Barack Obama a African American male. When deciding who to vote for, Americans cannot discriminate between these two nominees based on their gender or race. They need to look at the issue at hand and actually listen to what each nominee is saying then they can make their decision on who to choose.

Visual

I'm writing my arguement paper on on-campus living and how college students should live on campus during their college career. The above picture shows a floor-plan for a suite type of a dorm room here at Northern Arizona University. Compared to traditional style dorm rooms, this room has a restroom that the occupants of the adjoining rooms share. So the residents don't have to share a community bathroom with the rest of their hall. The picture can be used in my arguement paper because it shows that colleges offer different styles of rooms to their students and are moving away from the more traditional style rooms.

Prospectus

1. How is the writer going to find out what students think when they plagiarize? Student interviews?
2. What are some ways that students plagiarize? Writer could have given some examples just to give an idea about it.
3. One too many questions and they are all pretty much either/or questions.

"If Black English Isn't a Language, then Tell Me, What Is?"

In his essay, James Baldwin makes a convincing argument about Black English and how it is a language of its own. He supports his claim by saying that there can be many versions of a "general" language depending on the region where it is spoken. He uses the example of French and how a person living in Paris cannot understand what a person from Quebec is saying, even though their "common" language is French. He also uses history to support his claim. He talks about how the Black English originated during the time of slavery. When the slaves were brought over, they were from different tribes; therefore, they did not speak the same language. So in order to survive during that time, they established their own language. They used language as a tool to help them survive and eventually be set free. In addition to slavery, Baldwin talks about how Black English has influenced White English. Phrases and words were taken from the Black English and their meanings were changed a little and incorporated into White English. Baldwin uses several examples such as “sock it to me” and “jazz.” Since White English influenced by Black English, Baldwin wonders how white Americans would sound like if there had never been any black people in the United States and if they did not create their own language. Baldwin makes a really good argument in his paper and uses a lot of logic to support his claim. He is a credible author on this subject because of his background, experience with the Civil Rights movement and experience living in American and France.

Annotated Bibliography

Barker, Kaitlin. "A Place to Crash College-Bound Students Weigh Option of Living On Campus, or Off" McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - The Free Press. 20 August 2007. <http://wf2la4.webfeat.org/cid=clineli&wfn=wf_lnau_quick&sess=JSESSIONID%3D0001V73zzU9fpoCi6N-OAEo21Q-%3A132v5gerk%3B%20bhCookieSess%3D1%3B%20bhCookiePerm%3D1&addr=10.10.22.82&url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?risb=21_T3343932288&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T3343932292&cisb=22_T3343932291&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=227171&docNo=1>

I chose to analyze the article "A Place to Crash College-Bound Students Weight Options of Living On Campus, or Off." The article talks about what factors students consider when deciding where to live while going to college. It also gives the opinions of college students about why they chose to live on campus or off. The article was written by Kaitlin Barker. I'm not really sure who she is or what are her credintials. So I'm not sure if they information is reliable. The article was published in August 2007, so it's less than a year old. So the information is pretty current.

This article was very relevant to my paper and I was able to use some of the information to support my claim. It gave different perspecitves on the issue of living on campus or off. These perspectives were from actual college students, which was a change from "experts." I think that that information provided from the students will help my paper and make it more convincing. It also gave the opposing perspective. I was able to learn about how students and parents feel about on campus and off campus living.

My Right To Fail

The article "The Right to Fail" by William Zinsser talks about how sucess is defined and determined by the individual. People have the right to fail and go against society's definition of success, which is going to college, getting a degree and having a good job. Success comes in different forms and occurs differently for each person. A person can feel succesful by joining the Peace Corps while another person is successful by getting that corner office. There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to success, it is all up to the individual to find what works for them.

Growing up, my family always told me that I could do whatever I wanted with my life and they would support me no matter what happened. In their eyes, I will always be successful. But I knew at a young age that their standards for success were high. I guess it had to do a lot with their own successes. I would say that I come from a very successful family, which consists of my maternal grandparents, mother, aunt and older brother. My entire family has had very successful lives and being the youngest the standards for my success were based on their acheivements. I was able to live up to those standards. For majority of my school years, I had a 4.0 GPA. I never received a report card grade that was lower than a B. But don't get me wrong I have had my share of failures. I didn't win my first pageant until after two tries, I had to fail at basketball before I realized that I was a better volleyball player, I burned several things before I learned how to cook and I didn't get into the U.S. Air Force Academy. Also, I got some low grades on assignments, quizzes, and tests in certain classes. But I never let those failures get me down. I feel that a lot of my successes would never have happened if I first didn't fail at them. I learned from my past failures and they all helped my grow and be successful the next time around.

For me, success is a lot more than just getting my degree and getting a good job. I also believe that success just doesn't happen once and it doesn't have to be a big thing. You can be successful numerous times in your lifetime and something really small can be as successful as the big things. I have had many moments in my life that I consider to be successes. For example, I felt successful when I won my first pageant, when I made my first fry-bread, and when I became a starter for my high school's varsity volleyball team. As you can see, my successes are more than just academics. There are other aspects in your life where you can be successful. Success to me is more than just what I accomplish academically.

All in all, there is no one definition of success. It is determined by each person and they shouldn't be judge because their definition is different from the norm.