Brandon Eller
ENGL MWF
CR 221-240
The purpose of this reading was to get us thinking about how to approach and revise our papers. The author created many exercises to help us approach our papers without getting overwhelmed. He also used many analogies to help us connect to what he was saying like comparing his essays to his high school girlfriend. His statement “I’d work on something very hard, finally finishing the draft. I’d know there were problems, but I’d developed such a tight relationship with my draft that the problems were hard to see. And even when I recognized some problems, the thought of making major changes too risky” really connected with me. I know my original papers had issues, but I worked so hard on them, and at a certain point I didn’t care anymore. With all the research and time I put into my paper, I saw it as a beautiful thing. But as with most of my papers, after taking a long break from looking at it, I can see a lot of areas where it needs work, and now I have no problem going back and making some changes. Exercise 5.4, which we are doing on Wednesday as far as I can remember, seems interesting, and beneficial to do. Who knows, maybe it will help to reorganize ideas and make it a more fluent paper. I can honestly say I wish I had these hints and exercises in high school to help with some important papers that I needed to graduate so I could have finished them before my senior year.
With these directions on how to properly revise my papers, I am confident that my portfolio will turn out to be a wonderful thing. I won’t have to spitball fixing up my papers and just hoping for the best, I will now have a guide on what needs to be done, and how to approach each revision I do.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
CR Read
This reading was about revision. It gave helpful pointers on how to revise the first draft of a paper successfully. The author says that you should not be afraid that you will ruin your paper when revising. He goes on to give helpful exercizes one could use while revising.
This is reading will help me while I begin revising my papers. I can relate to what the author is talking about when he mentions falling in love with your first draft. I do that sometimes and it makes me not want to add or take away anything from my first draft. When revising my ethnography and argument papers I need to focus on adding more information and analysis rather than taking away. The author also mentions trimming down wordy sentenses which is another thing I am going to focus on. Overall, this reading will turn out to be helpful when I begin my revision.
This is reading will help me while I begin revising my papers. I can relate to what the author is talking about when he mentions falling in love with your first draft. I do that sometimes and it makes me not want to add or take away anything from my first draft. When revising my ethnography and argument papers I need to focus on adding more information and analysis rather than taking away. The author also mentions trimming down wordy sentenses which is another thing I am going to focus on. Overall, this reading will turn out to be helpful when I begin my revision.
Reading these pages kinda gives me a headache thinking about my revisions. I think there is alot of good information in this section, though a lot of it I feel like has been gone over in previous classes. I liked the part about about controlling information. I feel in past papers I haven't always integrated really valuable information into the paper in an appropriate manner that gave its full value. this is something I think I need to work on especially in my ethnography. I think having an interesting read that isnt just reciting facts, but integrating them in a readable manner is pretty important. I'm definitely not a huge fan of some of the exercises he has in the section, I feel if you take time to examine a paper from an outside point of view, and at different times a person should be able to clear up the issues that he addresses in the book.(I have a sneaking suspicion we will be doing one of the exercises in class tomorrow). Overall, I found it helpful but not really ground breaking, though it helped to set the tone for this upcoming revisions.
Reading Response
For this reading we had to read pages 221-240. These pages talked about revising, but not just revising because someone said to. But with a purpose, with the feedback that we received on our papers is just a starting point for where we need to go. The reading also says that people tend to "fall in love" with their drafts and are scared to do anything to them because they don't want to ruin their work. But the reading says that the first draft is just a start and when you revise you can expand on the "love" that is there for the first draft.
This reading is important to what we are doing in class because we are working on revising all of our drafts. Some of them might have a lot of work that needs to be put in and we cant be afraid of changing a lot of our papers so that they become better. Working on revisions is going to take a lot of time and effort and we need to be ready for whats ahead.
This reading is important to what we are doing in class because we are working on revising all of our drafts. Some of them might have a lot of work that needs to be put in and we cant be afraid of changing a lot of our papers so that they become better. Working on revisions is going to take a lot of time and effort and we need to be ready for whats ahead.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Op-Ed. Exciting, right?
Brandon Eller
English 102
11/13/09
Stop Smoking Op-Ed
Smoking is an addiction that many people want to break, but are often mislead in the best treatment. Most people believe that Nicotine Replacement Therapy is going to free them from their addiction, but this is simply not the case. According to The American Cancer Society, 91.4% of former smokers have quit cold turkey, or by simple weaning from their normal intake. The reason people smoke and continue to smoke is to give the body its fix of nicotine, which cigarettes supply. Nicotine is addictive, but not really all that harmful, but the other chemicals in the cigarettes are, leading to many health issues. This is why people quit, to live longer, healthier lives. And since nicotine is the only part the brain is craving, many people will try to replace their cigarettes with a patch, gum, or other item to give the body its “needed” nicotine.
One major problem with switching over to a nicotine gum or patch is that users will become dependent of those, and may easily relapse to their old smoking habits. According to lifestyle.iloveindia.com, chewing nicotine gum for too long will lead to prolonged hiccups, gum disease, and loss of hair and teeth. The reason for the gum disease and tooth loss is due to the nicotine causing poor circulation in the gums. And what happens when someone cuts their addiction to one of these Nicotine Replacements? Well they are likely to turn back to smoking, and when someone “quits” smoking, and comes back to it, it will be twice as hard for them to quit again.
Rory Stafford is a former smoker who originally tried the patch with no success. He said that after only six days using a patch he decided it was useless and went back to smoking for another five years. What did he do when he worked up the courage to try again? “I prepared by setting a date and began to consider each cigarette as I smoked it. I noted its horrible taste and the feeling of weakness that followed from the smoke. I told myself that there was no benefit to be had from smoking and in time, I came to realize that this was true.” When he came to the date he set to be finished with smoking, he welcomed it and was relieved to be finished with his 20 years of smoking. After being smoke free for five years, he says that if he had used gum or patches at the same time it would have prolonged his recovery. He admits during the first few weeks there were moments where he was shaky, but it passed and he’s feeling great. Nicotine Replacement Therapy is a good concept, but it lacks the success rates that self motivation has. Smoking is a hard habit to break, but if you want to be completely rid of it, then willpower will is clearly the strongest option. Some treatments are being worked on to eliminate smoking addiction without feeding nicotine into the body, and these will probably greatly help when combined with pure willpower.
English 102
11/13/09
Stop Smoking Op-Ed
Smoking is an addiction that many people want to break, but are often mislead in the best treatment. Most people believe that Nicotine Replacement Therapy is going to free them from their addiction, but this is simply not the case. According to The American Cancer Society, 91.4% of former smokers have quit cold turkey, or by simple weaning from their normal intake. The reason people smoke and continue to smoke is to give the body its fix of nicotine, which cigarettes supply. Nicotine is addictive, but not really all that harmful, but the other chemicals in the cigarettes are, leading to many health issues. This is why people quit, to live longer, healthier lives. And since nicotine is the only part the brain is craving, many people will try to replace their cigarettes with a patch, gum, or other item to give the body its “needed” nicotine.
One major problem with switching over to a nicotine gum or patch is that users will become dependent of those, and may easily relapse to their old smoking habits. According to lifestyle.iloveindia.com, chewing nicotine gum for too long will lead to prolonged hiccups, gum disease, and loss of hair and teeth. The reason for the gum disease and tooth loss is due to the nicotine causing poor circulation in the gums. And what happens when someone cuts their addiction to one of these Nicotine Replacements? Well they are likely to turn back to smoking, and when someone “quits” smoking, and comes back to it, it will be twice as hard for them to quit again.
Rory Stafford is a former smoker who originally tried the patch with no success. He said that after only six days using a patch he decided it was useless and went back to smoking for another five years. What did he do when he worked up the courage to try again? “I prepared by setting a date and began to consider each cigarette as I smoked it. I noted its horrible taste and the feeling of weakness that followed from the smoke. I told myself that there was no benefit to be had from smoking and in time, I came to realize that this was true.” When he came to the date he set to be finished with smoking, he welcomed it and was relieved to be finished with his 20 years of smoking. After being smoke free for five years, he says that if he had used gum or patches at the same time it would have prolonged his recovery. He admits during the first few weeks there were moments where he was shaky, but it passed and he’s feeling great. Nicotine Replacement Therapy is a good concept, but it lacks the success rates that self motivation has. Smoking is a hard habit to break, but if you want to be completely rid of it, then willpower will is clearly the strongest option. Some treatments are being worked on to eliminate smoking addiction without feeding nicotine into the body, and these will probably greatly help when combined with pure willpower.
op-ed
Micah Andersen
Christi Vance
Engl. 102
11 Nov 2009
America Open Your Eyes, And Drink Wine
America is known for being the Best at a lot of things; economy, cheeseburgers, and even military occupations. What it is not widely known for is the exceptional quality of its wine. One has to wonder why a country that excels at anything it puts effort into isn’t regarded as the premier spot for wine. One might ask some basic questions as to this little dilemma; maybe we don’t have the best growing conditions, or maybe French wine is simply better? It could be that America just doesn’t produce enough wine to really get into the quality stuff. In truth, all these questions are pretty easily answered in America’s favor, and the only thing holding back America from being the world’s foremost producer of quality wine can be summed up in one phrase, Eurocentric bias.
It’s the European wine community that’s holding back American wines. Their nationalist opinions, and narrow mindedness, don’t let them accept the fact that American wine is usually superior to their own countries. This has been proven time and again in international competitions where American wines routinely trounce their European counterparts. On their website, Chateau Montelena recounts the famous wine tasting of 1976, as it was later known as “The Judgment of Paris” through a series of newspaper articles in which American wines (chateau Montelena included) beat out French competitors in a blind taste test. The panel of judges was composed entirely of French wine experts, who voted American wines first place in both White and red wine categories. These results have been repeated time and again. Dr. David J. Hanson tracks of 30 years of wine tastings in his article “Historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 and Other Significant Competitions”, in which American wines have defeated their international competitors.
From the 1970’s onward American wines have been embarrassing the prestigious French Bordeaux and few other European countries dare to challenge American vintages. So where’s all the media attention? As can be seen in an article from Wine News by dick Rosano’s article “Wine Service in The President’s House” French wine has still been served in the seat of America’s power for off and on for the past 30 years. Why until the 1990’s was French wine still served in our own White House? Why aren’t bottles of quality American vintages lining the shelves of high end wine shops in France? It all comes back to the fact that some people just can’t let go of the past.
Sure French wines were the greatest the world had to offer for many years, but the time has come to pass the torch and the glass to their American beneficiaries. The best wines now are coming out of the multi-climate pacific coast of the U.S. and a few other regions in the interior. America has always been destined to make the world’s best wine and it has assumed its place, what it lacks is the recognition it deserves.
This is all changing with the dramatic growth of America’s wine industry. A simple look at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s website shows that America is now the fourth largest producer of wine in the world. Soon the image of fine wine won’t come from antiquated cellars in Europe, but instead the new and robust wineries of our own country. I would implore all wine enthusiasts from America and the world in general to stop buying in to their Eurocentric bias, and buy American.
Christi Vance
Engl. 102
11 Nov 2009
America Open Your Eyes, And Drink Wine
America is known for being the Best at a lot of things; economy, cheeseburgers, and even military occupations. What it is not widely known for is the exceptional quality of its wine. One has to wonder why a country that excels at anything it puts effort into isn’t regarded as the premier spot for wine. One might ask some basic questions as to this little dilemma; maybe we don’t have the best growing conditions, or maybe French wine is simply better? It could be that America just doesn’t produce enough wine to really get into the quality stuff. In truth, all these questions are pretty easily answered in America’s favor, and the only thing holding back America from being the world’s foremost producer of quality wine can be summed up in one phrase, Eurocentric bias.
It’s the European wine community that’s holding back American wines. Their nationalist opinions, and narrow mindedness, don’t let them accept the fact that American wine is usually superior to their own countries. This has been proven time and again in international competitions where American wines routinely trounce their European counterparts. On their website, Chateau Montelena recounts the famous wine tasting of 1976, as it was later known as “The Judgment of Paris” through a series of newspaper articles in which American wines (chateau Montelena included) beat out French competitors in a blind taste test. The panel of judges was composed entirely of French wine experts, who voted American wines first place in both White and red wine categories. These results have been repeated time and again. Dr. David J. Hanson tracks of 30 years of wine tastings in his article “Historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 and Other Significant Competitions”, in which American wines have defeated their international competitors.
From the 1970’s onward American wines have been embarrassing the prestigious French Bordeaux and few other European countries dare to challenge American vintages. So where’s all the media attention? As can be seen in an article from Wine News by dick Rosano’s article “Wine Service in The President’s House” French wine has still been served in the seat of America’s power for off and on for the past 30 years. Why until the 1990’s was French wine still served in our own White House? Why aren’t bottles of quality American vintages lining the shelves of high end wine shops in France? It all comes back to the fact that some people just can’t let go of the past.
Sure French wines were the greatest the world had to offer for many years, but the time has come to pass the torch and the glass to their American beneficiaries. The best wines now are coming out of the multi-climate pacific coast of the U.S. and a few other regions in the interior. America has always been destined to make the world’s best wine and it has assumed its place, what it lacks is the recognition it deserves.
This is all changing with the dramatic growth of America’s wine industry. A simple look at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s website shows that America is now the fourth largest producer of wine in the world. Soon the image of fine wine won’t come from antiquated cellars in Europe, but instead the new and robust wineries of our own country. I would implore all wine enthusiasts from America and the world in general to stop buying in to their Eurocentric bias, and buy American.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Op-Ed
If I had to choose between working out with a personal trainer or working out with a friend. I would choose a personal trainer without a doubt. Personal trainers have the knowledge and the experience to help people accomplish things that no one else can. When talking to Jerry Flynn who is a personal trainer he went on to say “When people want to see results that show up quickly then there is nothing that can come close to the effectiveness of working out with personal trainers.”(Flynn) If people didn’t think that personal trainer worked then there wouldn’t be nearly two hundred and fifty thousand personal trainers nationwide, also that number is expected to grow by nearly seven thousand jobs a year from 2006-2016.(bls.gov.)
When people think about working out with a personal trainer there is one thing that they know they will get, someone who is honestly interested in helping people get better. While working out with a personal trainer might not be the thing for everyone it is the way to get the best results. Working out on your own or working out with a friend isn’t the way to go, when working out with someone who is a friend one is more likely to get off track and cheat themselves out of a workout that could have really helped get them.
Personal trainers are people that know how to handle problems when they come up. They are able to get the best out of people even when they don’t want to work hard. When someone is working out alone or with a friend they might just take a day off and say they will make it up later, with a personal trainer they can try and help get peoples mind off of what is bothering them, this fact is overlooked because people tend to think that things won’t come up and change their workouts. It’s a lot harder to change workouts when one is working out with a trainer.
There is nothing that can come close to the benefits that someone can get from working with a personal trainer. Just based on the knowledge that they have, and their willingness to help people out. “There is nothing better than helping someone get better and reach their goals. If I had to go through a day where someone I was working with didn’t feel like they got an advantage from working with me then I shouldn’t be a personal trainer anymore.” (Flynn) I know that this is only one persons view on things, but this says a lot about how much it really means to him. When someone decides to work with a friend they don’t get all of this. A friend isn’t really invested in the workouts because there isn’t anything in it for them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)