I feel like I have addressed everything that I have learned in English 112 multiple times, but I guess one more time won’t hurt.

1. Time Management: This was my biggest struggle with 112 because un-like my other courses I couldn’t wait till the night before to complete what needed to be done. I needed to prepare for my paper by pre-writing, asking for help and most important work ahead of time so that my paper can be better than I can do.
2. Asking for help: I learned that asking for help is NOT a bad thing. In fact I learned that by asking for help I can show my teacher that I am trying, and together we can work together to get a great paper.
3. English can be done: This is the third time I have taken English 112, I dropped out early in the other two, and I learned that it is all about the teacher. Amanda has been SO helpful with me and has been very patient in adapting to my writing style.
4. Different ways to draft: I learned that when drafting and writing your paper it is all about making the sources work for you. You need to find the sources after you have a definite topic sentence and where you want to go with the essay.
5. Most importantly: Even though it isn’t about English 112 in general, I have learned all about how EASY distance education makes my life. Even though English 112 was a difficult class, i would believe that it would be harder if I actually took it as a class.

YAY FOR BEING DONE WITH ENGLISH!

I still absolutly love Stacey’s presentation. I think that road rage is a huge issue that not many people think too much about. There have been many deaths associated with road rage and it should be stopped. Think of how you were as a teen driver and then imagine yourself running into someone with major road rage, that equals a very scary situation. I really like how she touched on the aspect that road rage doesn’t just have to deal with you. It affects everyone you drive around and it most importantly affects children if they are in the car with you. I am really excited you wrote about this Stacey!

Throughout my writing process in 112 I feel like I have been more comfortable with my writing style and have adapted many ways to make writing large papers easier. The best thing I learned was how we set ourselves up to write for our essay 3. We were required to write a proposal, which got all of our ideas out on paper and how we were going to go about it. Then we were told to write a source analysis, which in other words is just practice for the synthesis and arguments you are going to use in your paper. Then, by the time we got to our final paper, I honestly did a lot of cutting and pasting. I had all that I needed already infront of me. I went through the source analysis and looked at the corrections that were given to me and used that within my essay. Like I said, the synthesis was already present and even the structured paragraphs were laid out. I feel like the essay was much easier this way to complete and get all of my ideas out.

Another thing I learned from 112 was how to get an idea and find sources that go along with it, instead of the opposite way. This was is much easier for me to get my exact point across and actually enjoy what I am writing on. I have also learned the importance of a good/bad source. I can evaluate an article now based on its credentials, subject matter and how it is written. I now critique sources to see how affective they are, or things that could be done differently. This gives me an opportunity to see what I need to do differently in my paper and how I can get across to my audience more effectivly.

This English 112 experience was a lot better than I have had (or the first three weeks I have had) in the past. I finally stuck to it because I found a teacher that was willing to work with me and help me with whatever I needed. I feel like I am a better writer, even though I still don’t enjoy it very much. In the future I believe I can write papers confidently and this class will help me tremendously in the future when I have to write my research study for Athletic Training.

    Suicide is the number 2 cause of death’s in teenagers nationwide, but why is it the least talked about? Suicide is a problem and if no one chooses to acknowledge it, it will never get better. There are numerous “causes” of suicide and often the same warning signs to be concerned about. Some of the signs include getting rid of personal materials, talk of suicide, collection of possible suicide materials and a darker outlook on life. A common misconception about the process of suicide is that people who talk about suicide will never do it. This idea is completely false. Those who express suicidal tendencies or thoughts are more likely to attempt or keep thinking about suicide. Others who are at risk or often think about suicide are those suffering through severe financial crisis, those who have just lost someone close to suicide, and those who are suffering from depression or even those having family problems at home. There is no one proper way to go about talking about suicide, but the wrong was is to not say anything. If you suspect a friend to be suicidal do not wait until you see a clear sign, ask them right away if they have ever thought about suicide. If their response is yes tell them that they are not alone. Help is everywhere, it just has to start with you. The number 1 cause for suicide is silence.

I think the editorial helps me create my strong stance on the issue. I was able to incorporate what I wanted to say with my personal experience mixed with the facts. I also think that it helps us practice what the important things are with our issue. We were only given 250 words so we had to choose wisely what we wanted to talk about.

By writing our proposal for our 3rd essay we have basically already laid out exactly what we are going to write about in our paper! We have set up our main points, our topic sentences and maybe even our thesis statement. This is our rough draft and now we have a better idea of where to go from here. I learned that my topics fit better together if I brainstorm a little bit about what I want to say and then find the articles to support it. Ebsco host is great for that because you search keywords and then find exactly what you want. By writing a proposal I am already way ahead in my writing process. I feel that now I wont be as discouraged with where I am going with my topics and I feel I have a centralized idea of what I want to say with my essay. I will use this in the future because it isn’t writing down technically what I want, it is just getting my ideas out on paper so I can play with them.

I am not sure what you mean about “writing in this genre” but if you mean by writing a proposal before a big essay I could say anything from Pop Culture to Ethnic Studies. We have a major paper due for Pop Culture soon and I plan on using the proposal to start what I want to say and getting all of my ideas out on paper. If you mean “genre” by my research essay I will use it again for my final project for Athletic Training and what I want my final thesis to be on.

This is going to be the first part of my blog entry, but I just wanted to get it started.

My topic is going to be based around some aspect of suicide. It is kind of obvious to take a stance that it is wrong…but that is exactly how I feel. I have lost 7 friends to suicide within the past 4 years of my life. Ever since these events our High School and those affected have never been the same. It is still a day by day struggle for me to go through since none of them were expected, none of them left notes and one happened while we were all at school. So much confusion, frustration, anguish, and any other emotion you can describe, I have gone through. Suicide prevention and acknowledgment is something that I am very passionate about. The biggest flaw my High School had was that we weren’t allowed to talk about it. If we cried the say that someone died, if we said their name or even acted a little sad we were sent to the principles office to be shut in a small room to talk about our “feelings” with the stupid counselors they brought in. The notes that they sent out to students to notify them that a student had died were all the same, except for the boys name, we weren’t allowed to mourn, we weren’t allowed to feel. We were basically all put on suicide watch, but were taken away every form of happiness or freedom away from the school that we could have had. I think that that is is the one thing that i wish that my school did differently. I took part in a city wide walk this summer called “Out of the Darkness”. It is a walk to raise awareness about suicide and that it actually DOES happen. I think that the focus of my essay that I want to use will have something to do with the medical abuse of anti-depressants and how they just try to hide the problem instead of addressing it. I am not really sure where I can go with this, but I am going to use the research database and use Suicide as my keyword and see what I can find. Thats all I have for right now.

Part 2:

So, with talking to my mom I think that I am going to focus a lot on common risk factors and correlation with depression and self mutilation after suicide/suicide attempts. There is a lot of research out there about common factors, targeted genders, age groups and so on. I want to make my focus more towards teenagers or high school aged children because that is what I have been around the most. I think I want my question to be “As a friend are you missing the signs?” or “Would you want this to happen to your friends? If not speak up!” I want my paper to be written advocate for suicide awareness and prevention. I feel like it is my time to help and make a difference and also my chance to get out emotions that I have yet to deal with.

A lot of the articles I have found have actually gone right along with my topic sentence. One of the articles I found has to deal with how schools should deal with a suicide, the emotions students will go through, what to do and how to help. Like I said, my High School thought if they mentioned the word of suicide that they would be glamorizing it. But their plan backfired on them. Instead of creating a sort of acceptance with the issue we had almost a “domino effect” of suicides, self mutilation, poor school performance and depression.

I want another one of points to deal with ways to address a friend or family member. It is a common misconception that people only think about suicide. By showing people how to talk to others about their fears for their friends or even their own bought with it, I think that it will shed the light on prevention.

Obviously, the main part of my essay that I want to address is going to be warning signs. We didn’t see any in our case but I feel it was because we were un-prepared and oblivious to the idea that it would actually happen in our small town.

I don’t know much about how I would correlate this idea, but I want to talk about the use of therapy and medicine as almost a form of cover-up or a “fix-all”. Or I could even talk about the benefits of the suicide help line and in-school counselors. Right there could be my counter and rebuttle.

So, I have 4 paragraphs and have 5 sources already to use from. I am going to continue to find more and contact our local center for suicide awareness which my mom is involved in. After I contact them I will hopefully be able to get a better understanding of what I want to write on and will have more information as well.

I have often described myself as a visual/hands on learner instead of listening to lectures to describe what needs to be done. However, that doesn’t happen with English. I don’t know how else I would learn, besides examples from a teacher, but I don’t get it with all of the reading. I have tried to read it and apply to my writing but since I have such a grudge against english it is hard for me to put forth a true effort.  I find the examples in the book very helpfull when I actually sit down and listen to it, but I think that I get a better idea of what is expected of me through virtual lectures like we are presented on our masterplans. Not only does Amanda talk us through the lecture and tell us what she wants us to do but she gives specific examples on the correct and incorrect format and tells you different ways on going about it.

I think that my writing process actually hinders my writing process.  When I was writing my MSE paper I ran into the problem that I was finding my sources first and then trying to write a paper around it. Amanda quickly pointed out to me that this was the WRONG way to go about it. I wasn’t trying to find a common topic, I was just trying to force one together. I have learned that it is a lot easier if I just take the time to read and try to find a current theme. I also don’t read the articles as well as I should. Instead of skimming the articles for important information I should take the time to really read the articles for the true important messages and underlying themes. Not only will I have a better understanding of the essay but I will also be able to pick up on writing techniques of what to do and what not to do with my writing in the future.

So I have written this blog entry three times now and my computer has frozen on me all three times… I AM NOT HAPPY! But here goes, AGAIN!

Since I was little I have always loved animals. I have been the one to let every stray in the house, and trust every animal I saw. Even now I can’t say no to the Humane Society when they need a place to foster animals (we have 4 dogs and 2 kittens right now). My parents claim that I am helpless and will never learn that every animal cannot be helped, but I refuse to give up. When I was a senior in high school I decided that I wanted a puppy of my own. It seemed liek everyone else was getting one and now it was my turn! It didn’t help that we already had two dogs and two cats at my parents house, and they weren’t looking for another one anytime soon. But when has my parents saying no ever stopped me? So, one day wehn I was at petco I saw an add for a free puppy that a couple couldn’t take care of. So, being the indepent soul that I am, I decided to call and see how much they wanted for it. When the answer came back as free, I knew it was fate! Well what was I going to do now? I had to convince my parents that I was ready to get a dog of my own and fast, considering I was on my way to get it. So here is what I came up with.

1. Dogs add extra years to your life! Who doesn’t want to live longer!?
2. I had been very responsible within the past year with my job, car, curfew and grades
3. The dogs suffered from seperation anxiety, so why not add a stable dog without it to help them get over us leaving
4. SHE IS FREAKING CUTE!!

So…Here goes!

I would first approach my mom and tell her flat out that I think that it is time for me to get my own puppy. I would bring up my first point by talking about how responsible I have been within the past with my schooling, part time job, car and curfew. I would bring up specific examples if just saying it was not enough, but I would be prepared for that. Then I will add in the fact that having a dog adds happy years to their life. I would say something about how much I love them and want them around, so bringing another dog in I would be able to keep them around longer. (very sneaky right?) If those two points alone weren’t enough I would use the medical status of our current dogs, Jake and Pember. Both were suffering from seperation anxiety, so why not bring a stable dog into the home to make them not focus on the fact that we left. That would cut down on the time that we had to spend cleaning up their messes and have more time to relax. And last but not least, I would just bring her in as the final zing. Her wrinkly shar-pae face and tiny body would for sure win her over.

Well, 3 years later I am still the owner of a very adorable alaskan malamute/shar-pae mix. She is the cutest dog in the ENTIRE world and haven’t found one cuter since. I dare you all to try.

How do you see Essay 2: MSE #1 building upon Essay 1: The Critique?

Well, I haven’t quite turned in my final draft yet, but I already feel more relieved to have the overall paper done. Now all I have to do is some critical tweaking. I was pleased with the comments I received and all of my mistakes are easy enough to fix! (whew!) Since i was rushed for time I didn’t really get a lot of options with my writing process. I chose the story that I felt I could relate more to, Harry Potter, and spent a majority of the time analyzing and getting my feeling for the piece. When I started writing my essay I had the wrong stance on the way I was writing my paper. Instead of writing about the article format, I was trying to critique the actual material and the way the author presented them. After my meeting with Amanda she quickly steered me in the right direction and we both came up with really good ideas! I plan on keeping the whole reading process the same. I took my time and read and re-read the article. I also like meeting with Amanda to make sure that I was doing okay. I  have always have problems with asking for help with assignments when I needed it, but I think since English is my weakest subject it would be benifical to do it again.  The only thing I would change is giving myself more time to work on the essay. I feel like I rushed through it, and maybe if I take more time I will have less to change.

I think that the way our critique will fit into our MSE is that we have to start reading multiple articles and see which articles are better sources of examples than others. We also could use the way the author wrote their article we critiqued and play off of their writing style and their formatting. I feel like we have an upper hand now and are more prepared to write a better essay. This one is going to be a lot harder for me personally because one of my biggest problems is being able to blend ideas together. I guess it is just something that I have to work hard at and in time I will get better.

This actually isn’t the first time I have used Wiki. I was in a summer class of Computer Science 100 and we were asked to record some collaboration assignments on here. I like the idea behind Wiki, but I feel like people don’t use it to its full potential.  It is the perfect opportunity to have everyone do their own required work, and if some information that a group mate presented it wrong than we would be able to change it.  How many times have you had a major group project and a group member doesn’t do something they’re supposed  to do and claim they do? I have had it happen before, and with the use of Wiki you would be able to see if the person logged in or made the changes/did the work that they needed to do.

Being able to work in a group isn’t just about college or quick assignments. Pretty soon we are all going to be grown up and have real jobs. We are going to be in a new work environment and having to work with other staff around us on certain issues or tasks in the office. They started prepping us for this in fifth grade, who would have thought we needed it still? For a writing class I believe that we get our best work through help of friends. We can bounce off their ideas, share our own and maybe even collaborate for a great essay.

Like I said, it is often challanging to get everyone to do their own share of work on a certain project. I feel though as we’re getting older people are getting more responsible for what they need to do and thinking more about others needs too.