Monday, March 31, 2008

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.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

"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.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

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.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

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.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

CRAAP Test

I chose to analyze the site http://www.martinlutherking.org/ . This site is basically about Martin Luther King, Jr. and how he was not the man we all thought he was. This site does not pass the CRAAP test. First of all, there is really no date to show when the site was last updated or how old the site actually is. The year 1998, used to refer to an article, is the only indication of when the site was last updated. If this is correct, then the information is about 10 years old. Also, the design of the site seems out of date. The background is gray and the font is very basic. The site has other pages but they do not seem relavent to Martin Luther King, Jr. For example, there is a page about rap lyrics and the lyrics that are given have nothing to do with Mr. King. Secondly, the site is hosted by Stormfront, which is a white nationalist community. I did a little more research on Stormfront and found that it is owned by Don Black, who was a member of the KKK and the American Nazi Party. So, the information that is presented is pretty biased and one sided. Lastly, the homepage shows a quote from a Newsweek article that says, "That night King retired at the Willard Hotel. There FBI bugs reportedly picked up 14 hours of party chatter, the clinking of classes and the sounds of illicit sex-including Kind's cries of 'I'm f--ing for God' and 'I'm not a Negro tonight.'" When I read this, I thought it was kind of "if-y" therefore made me question the whole entire site. This quote definately did not show the Dr. King that I, or anyone else, knew. So I decided to search for the article on the Newsweek website. Not suprised, I did not find the article. So this makes the whole website and the information given questionable. If one were to write any kind of paper on Martin Luther King, Jr. they definately would not want to use this site.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Logical Fallacies

I chose the article "Feds, tribe both responsible for public safety", which can be found in an issue of the Navajo Times. The articles talks about the issues of public safety of the Navajo Nation and what needs to be improved. The first logical fallacy that I found was appeal to emotion. Right off the back, the article talks about the various crimes, violence and abuse that can be found on the Navajo reservation today. But it totally ignores the many postive things that the reservation has to offer. It makes it sound like the entire reservation is full of criminals and abusers. Another logical fallacy in the article is the use of oversimplification. The writer talks about how safe and stable communities attract business development. The writer is making it seem like safety and stability are the only factors that businesses look for in potential locations. But in reality, there are many other factors besides safety and stability that determine whether or not they should start a business in a particular community. The writer is using a fallacy when she says, "Without adequate protection from crime, without jails for criminals, and without more Navajo police officers, Navajo families are not enjoying-nor will they enjoy-the freedom from the terror of crime in our homeland." I feel that the write is using the band wagon approach and the either/or fallacy. The quote is an example of the band wagon approach because it is saying that all Navajo families are unhappy and feel unsafe because of the crime on the reservation. I know that crime is a problem on the Navajo reservation but there are a lot of Navajo families out there that are happy. They have many reasons for them to be happy like their child succeeding in school, having a stable job or having many relatives that care for them. In addition to being the band wagon approach, the quote is also the either/or fallacy. The writer is saying that either there is more protection from crime, more jails and more police officers or Navajo families will never be happy or feel safe. Of course, safety is an important factor for happiness, but there are many other factors that contribute to one being happy. Once the crime rate on the reservation drops, it doesn't mean that people are just going to be happy.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Middle Schoolers Get the Pill

In "Teen Sex: Middle Schoolers get the Pill," one point of view is since girls are having sex at a younger age, they should have access to contraceptives. This view is supported in several ways. First, it is supported by stating that King Middle School is made up of lower class kids and immigrants. Since these kids are poor, the district is trying to make the same healthcare services, that higher class kids can afford, available. Also, the view is supported by saying that some of the girls are already sexually active and they just want to keep them as safe as possible.

Another view in this article is that giving contraceptives to young girls is not a big deal. This view is supported by stating that girls must "first travel a long--even arduous--road of counseling" before they are given the contraceptives. They are informed about the risks of underage sex and urged to talk with their parents. Also, they are told to notify the authorities if an older man victimizes them.

One counterargument in this article is that girls shouldn't be having sex at 11 years old in the first place. This is refuted by saying that girls are having sex anyway and it is not just happening in Portland but in other middle schools across the nation. Also, the article states that "there [has] been 17 pregnancies in Portland's middle schools in the last four years." This goes to show that girls are having sex anyways so why don't the schools try to do what they can to ensure the safety of the girls.

I feel that two very important perspectives were missing in this article. First, there was the perspective of the parents. Throughout the article not one parent gave their opinion about their kids receiving contraceptives at school. Sex is a very sesitive and serious issue to deal with alone, especially at a very young age. The parents should be involved in their child's life to help and guide them with whatever they're dealing with, even sex. Another perspective that was overlooked was the students. The students should have been asked how they felt about being able to receive contraceptives. Not all middle schoolers are sexually active so they should have some say about the matter.