thewaterinmyear

Harold and Maude

2005-04-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

I really like the movie Harold and Maude. This movie really made me think about life. Besides hooking up with a really old lady this movie had a lot of really good things to get across. I thought there were many good one-liners. I really like the part were Harold and Maude were in the daisy field. Maude pointed out to Harold that at first, all the daisies look the same but when you look closer, you realize that they all are very different. That relates so well to people. Everyone is different but each has their own unique beauty. Maude really inspired me. I know its kind of silly but I really look up to her. I want to life a life where I experience many things and see beauty in everything. My grandma was a Maude. She did not care what other people thought, she lived every moment with such energy. My grandma was also very clever, as was Maude. I think that this is a very awesome quality. This movie also showed many problem solving skills. There were many situations where a very creative thought solved the problem.

Thoughts on the sample essays

2005-04-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

“ADHD—Not the Epidemic Doctors Want You to Think It Is” by Simmans
I thought this was a really good paper! I thought that the author gave a lot of interesting facts that supported his or her enthymeme. I noticed that there was a lot of voice in this paper. I thought that by giving personal experiences it made the paper more enjoyable to read. I liked that the author gave different solutions, besides medication, to the problem of ADHD There was a MLA mistake here and there but they do not disrupt the paper and the point it makes. I would definitely give this paper an A.

“The Media” by Allworth
Just starting off reading this essay I noticed a lot of MLA mistakes. I liked that the enthymeme was stated in the first paragraph. I noticed the author used signal phrases, so that’s a good thing. I thought that the backing facts were interesting. There were parts of this paper that I had a hard time staying focused. An obvious weakness was some of the works used. I don’t think US Today is a reliable source. I think I would give this paper a B.

“Stem Cells: A Promising Generator of Life” by Lo
In class I remember the group that had this paper saying that there was a lot of stories and not enough backing. Oh boy I agree with that! I think this was definite weakness! I think that the when the research was finally added to the paper it was good. I liked how there were quotes from president Clinton and Bush on the subject of stem cell research. I didn’t read this paper really closely, I kind of got bored with all the stories so I think I would have to give this paper a C+.

attempt to write creatively for 1984

2005-04-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

There it was, covered in dirt, a small book with crinkled, dark yellow pages. After reading this book I knew I would be killed if anyone ever found out about it. When I returned from work yesterday I noticed that the base board under my telescreen had separated itself from the wall. This was not an unusual thing; everything around here is in bad shape. As I went to kick the board back against the wall, I heard an odd noise. I got down on my hands and knees to see it I could place the board back in place. As I grabbed the board my eye caught a glance of something, a rectangular shape covered in spider webs. As I looked closer I realized it was a book! Carefully I reached my hand into the dusty whole and barely pulled the book out, fearful that someone may be watching. Since I was under the screen I figured that I could somewhat feed my curiosity. As I gently opened the book I noticed that it was a journal. The date on the first page read January 8, 1937. The writing in the book described an unknown world. There were words I have never seen before and there was no mention of Big Brother or of the party. There on the 5th page I read about voting for a leader. The people would be led by a person who they chose? Big Brother is leader? As I continued to read the more I questioned what I have always known. I tucked the book back in the whole and placed the board back against the wall. I couldn’t sleep all last night. What was I going to do about this discovery, who could I tell? I couldn’t bring anyone else into my room. That would look really suspicious if two people ducked under the telescreen. Big Brother lied. What else could be a lie? I am going to secretly hide the book in my overalls and take it to the wooded areas. There I hope to read more without a telescreen watching me. It will be hard to change someone else’s thoughts, most people will doublethink what I show them. What can I do?

who will be our leader?

2005-03-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

Do names like Marin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Blackwell, mean anything to you? Lately they have meant more to me then they have ever meant before. Since listening to Tom Fenton, talk about our media, I can’t get the message out of my mind. Just recently I was looking through the Adbuster magazine and I came across an article titled “Let’s Fight for a New Human Right.” The article starts, “Every movement, every age has its own unique human rights battle. Fifty years ago, blacks fought for their civil rights, then women for theirs, then environmentalists for the right to clean air, water, and food. And now in this age of systematically distorted information, we face a new human rights battle- one that we can no longer ignore. This battle is for The Right to Communicate.” This got my brain-a-tickin! First I started thinking back to history. I tried to image what it must have been like when the blacks were fighting for their rights and women theirs. There was a situation that our society needed to be aware of and change. There were great punishments for presenting these ideas. I think of the great leaders, some listed above, that took their strong feelings and did something about them; People who took a chance. These people saw a problem with our society and worked to make a change. Today we have a new problem. We no longer have the right to hear the truth and make a statement. We are being dumbed down! We are being fed a whole load of false crap! Who can we trust now? I think of the leaders from the past and the differences they made! Who is going to lead the U.S. today into getting the truth? I think there is something we all can do, lets make a statement.

Analogies

2005-03-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Five analogies from the book (We don’t particularly agree with our analogies)

1. Using spanking to discipline children is like running over a raccoon, you feel bad doing it but you know they probably deserve it.
2. Using racial profiling for airport security is like
3. Using steroids to increase athletic performance is like putting a potato in the front of your pants; you really don’t have what they are looking for.
4. Paying college athletes is like paying a babysitter to eat all the food in your fridge, a waste of money.
5. Eating at fast-food restaurants is like a one night stand, its fun at first but you regret it in the morning.
Eating at fast-food restaurants is like a blind date, it can be fun at first but you can’t go to bed without dumping it.

Five of my own analogies

1. Wearing make-up is like wearing a trench coat to a tropical beach, they both cover you up but eventually they both have to come off.
2. Living with six girls is like going to the circus, it’s entertaining because there is a new act in every corner.
3. Working on general educations credits is like running up the down side of an escalator, it feels like you are not making any progress towards your goal.
4. Not showering after a 5 mile run is like pulling your friends finger, it stinks.
5. Not wearing shoes a public shower is like a toad, wet, slippery and might include warts.

Bad news

2005-03-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

3 claims
-The American public can no longer rely on the news reported because it no longer credible.
-Because the media was lacking we could have prevented many problems or death in the past.
-The reported news is not accurate because we don’t have correspondences there
and this can be deceptive and dangerous to the US people
2. Types of claims
-simple categorical argument
-cause and consequence argument
-simple categorical argument
3. Mr. Fenton’s claim can be controversial because some people may be ok with what they are getting out of the news. I agreed with what he said but many people may not, making this a controversial topic. In the interview Mr. Fenton said that “you have to make the people look.” Is it the media’s job to make the US population to look?
4. I honestly haven’t even started reading the book yet. Yes, I know I should probably get started. I was in a furry when I listened to the discussion! I have been dumbed down. I have never really realized this side before, a sign of being dumbed down. When I watch the news I think, “Wow I know what’s going on around the world.” Yeah, no, I really have no idea. The media has some much control over us. The news reports biases; we are given one side of the story and not even the full side! What’s up with that? Our minds are being fed what the media wants us to think. They are reporting the things that are really not that important to our society, they report about shark attacks when they aren’t a very big issue. I want to know all sides so I can make my own decision.

Beauty?

2005-02-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

There is a Nike ad in the art section of the Adbuster book. The ad shows a little girl holding a tiny hand held mirror and she is looking at her lipstick, puckered up lips. This ad shows how the media is telling a girl that looking “pretty” is the right thing to do. I am so sick of seeing super thin girls with big boobs. These false images are everywhere. I think my enthymeme will be, “The media needs to kill the “Barbie” image because it is hurting women’s’ self image.” I have seen many girls I know go to great lengths to be thin or large chested. These images are creating a standard for beauty, an image I feel is wrong. I found a statement that said that eighty percent of ten year old American girls diet! At ten years old girls are already worrying about how thin they are, isn’t that sad? Women are compromising their health for the image of “beauty” that the media is bombarding us with. One day I got caught up in the show “America’s Next Top Model.” On the episode I was watching the girls were shooting a lip gloss ad. After the pictures were taken they showed the images being cropped and altered. The final product showed a completely different girl. On an everyday basis we see these false advertisements and images. Many girls compare themselves to these not even “real” girls. The media needs to give girls a new image of beauty! They need to show girls with all different kinds of figures and builds. They need to “Turn beauty inside out.” The media should start showing beauty though personality.

Ch.1-7 Questions

2005-02-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

Chapter 1
Which of the following is not needed in an argument?
a. justification of claims
b. anger
c. truth seeking
d. persuasion

Chapter 2
When reading an argument it is important to read as a__________________ and a _______________.

Chapter 3
Name 5 different people who write arguments.
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

Chapter 4
Effective arguments consider all three points on the rhetorical triangle. These three points are
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

Chapter 5
Successful arguments require just three components: a claim, a reason, and grounds. If there is any chance that the audience might have doubts you should include,
a. a warrant
b. backing
c. a because clause
d. a joke

Chapter 6
A writer might use “evidence” to support the argument. Which of the following would not be considered “evidence”
a. experimental findings
b. survey data
c. a blood stain
d. statistics

Chapter 7
Arguments are more persuasive if readers trust the credibility or the writer. What else can the writer do to make the argument more persuasive?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Answers
1. b. anger
2. believer, doubter
3. Examples would be: Lobbyists, advocacy groups, legislators, government officials, business professionals, lawyers, judges, media commentators, scholars, citizens, etc.
4. message, audience, writer/speaker
5. b. backing
6. c. a blood stain
7. Examples: The writer can appeal to the readers’ hearts and imaginations as well as their intellects. Sometimes images such as drawings or photographs may reinforce the argument by evoking strong emotional responses.

Adbuster Arguement

2005-02-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

“Brands Get Political” is the title of the article that I choose from the Adbuster magazine. The article talks about how the new fads of clothing are becoming very political. The article gives an example of a shirt that reads “Fcuk you, I’m voting.” I think that many companies are getting into the groove of shirts with writing on them. Everywhere you look there is a shirt with some sort of saying on it. As I am sitting here in the library I can spot about half a dozen shirts that have something to say. We are seeing things like this everyday, but are they really affecting the way we think? Every once in awhile I will get into drawn into the TV show Extra, or Access Hollywood. Especially during the presidential election there were many examples of these shirts. I saw many celebrities stating their views through their clothing. Honestly, I think that it did make an impact on me. The last sentence of the article is “If you think that you can change the world by shopping, the answer is yes.” I don not necessarily agree with this statement. I think that by wearing certain clothes you can make a statement and maybe change the thinking of a few people but not change the whole world. It seemed to me that the author thought that political clothing is a bad thing. I think that clothing is a good way to express who you are and I don’t think that by wearing your opinion is such a bad thing. There is a sentence by Andy Johnson in the magazine that says “It seems the biggest challenge we face is no longer the problem itself, but our inability to see it.” This is something that really frightens me. We are bombarded everyday by the media and sometimes I don’t think it is affecting me, but it really is! I think that the Adbuster magazine has a lot of interesting subjects! I really look forward to reading the other sections and seeing different view points and creating my own opinions.

Just a quick blog about my interesting author search

2005-02-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

Since I did not write a letter to my author I am going to write about the most interesting thing that I came across while writing my paper (I hope that’s what this blog is supposed to be about?). Well the first author I picked ended up being a children’s writer. That was quite interesting and embarrassing! Riseley came up to me in class and told me my story came from a children’s magazine, aaaaaaaaaa. I really liked that story and the other two stories I found. The sad thing is, I didn’t find the reading super way easy like you would find reading a children’s book. Well I got to play the thumbs up thumbs down game for a few more hours. The best part is that I found a really good adult author, Thomas Beller. I really don’t like reading so to find an author that I really could relate to was a surprise to me. I thought that finding the fifteen facts was also really interesting. I thought that by learning about the author I enjoyed the reading a lot better. Did anyone else like their reading more after learning about your author?

Critical Response to a Single Arguement

2005-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

“No Such Thing as a True Story,” by Pima Chodron. In this article the author expresses her feelings about holding on to beliefs. She states in paragraph two that, “Holding on to beliefs limits our experience of life.” From reading this article I don’t know much about the author. I wish I knew where she was from or what religion she was. I think I might have had a different insight to the article if I knew where her opinions were coming from. When I read this article I was reminded of the US going into Afghanistan to “better” the lives of people. We are taking our own beliefs and forcing them on the Afgan people. We are telling them how they need to vote and things like that. They have their own culture and beliefs. Many people there will strap a bomb to their back and die because of their beliefs, that is something that we don't exactly believe in. “The stubborn attitude of insisting things be a particular way; the way we cling to our beliefs and thoughts; These are the problems (3).” I had a hard time agreeing with some of statements, like the one above in this article. I think that beliefs are very important. I think that they give us a sense of self and something to feel strong about and stand up for. Even though I think it is good to hold strong to your beliefs, I also think that we need to be open to others beliefs. I think we need to be tolerable, and except that there is more than one way of thinking.

English Paper

2005-02-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

Is anyone one else stressed out about the English paper due today? I sure am! I’m sorry I don’t have time to put a lot in this blog, I’m sure it will be quite dull. I need to finish writing my paper. Well I have changed my author three times now. It has not been a fun thumbs up thumbs down process. After hours of searching I have finally came across the author Thomas Beller. He seems to be a pretty famous guy so I am super, way stoked about that. The stories I read were about the lives of men living in New York. My dad grew up in New York so we visit there quite often. I liked that tI could get a mental picture in my head and remember those fun vacations. Two of my stories were about the same boy. I really liked this because I got be a part different experiences in his life. The stories put this boy in situations were he will learn and make the journey from being a boy to a man. I found that there are many other stories about this boy out there by Thomas Beller. I would love to read them! I would love to see him experience other things. It was pretty exciting to see the world from a boy’s perspective. This author rocks! Even though he has written many stories I am having a really hard time finding fifteen facts. Has anyone else found theirs? If so, was there a secret way to finding them?

three sample papers

2005-01-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

I read three sample papers written by students. The writers were trying to persuade the reader to short stories written by an author of their choice. I would give the paper “Charles Bukowski: A writer With No Patience for Liars, Thieves or Snobs” an “A”. I thought this paper was very well written. The student used signal phrases and then backed them up with lines from the story or quotes. The student found someone else’s opinion on what they thought of Charles Bukowski and included it in the paper. I thought the student did a good job keeping on the same subject and backing up what the paper was about. I thought the choice of lines from the book were interesting. It looked like there were a few mistakes on spacing but other than that it looked really good. I was not as impressed with the paper written by Sara Laughton. I thought it was good but there were parts I had to read over a few times to understand what was trying to be said. There was a line on page four that I really didn’t like. It was right after the big quote in the middle of the paper, it read “I love this description; it really got me interested in the story.” In the phrase right before the quote she said that the lines to follow come from the end of the story. She had already stated that she became interested in the stories written by Matt Waterman by reading the first paragraph or so. To me it seemed that she was or should’ve been already interested in the story without one of the last paragraphs. I thought she picked very good lines from the book, they made the paper interesting. I somewhat got bored in the in between stuff but I looked forward to the book quotes. I also noticed a few MLA mistakes. Overall I thought it was a good paper and I would probably give it a “B+.” The third paper titled “Jill McCorkle: Life in Reality” was also good. I thought the student did a good job backing up that the author wrote about reality. The student also had a quote from the author which I found interesting. I also thought the book quotes were well picked. It looked like there were a few problems with MLA. I didn’t read this paper as close as the other two but I thought it wasn’t bad. Since I didn’t look close into the paper I don’t think I could give it a grade. I don’t think I am too excited to write this kind of paper!

Fiction

2005-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

What makes fiction worth reading? I class we talked about about different criteria that makes fiction worth reading. Some things we came up with were: it mirrors reality, specific elements, metaphors, makes the reader work, interesting intro, thought out characters, and expressed in a simple way. I would definately put all of these things on my list of elements that makes fiction worth reading. I read three stories by Scott William Carter and all three of them had the elements listed above. I liked that I could read his stories and not be confused by big wording or experiences that I couldn't relate to. That is something that makes me hate reading! In each story i read there was a dead woman. Weird huh? Even though it was weird I enjoyed reading how the different men in the stories dealt with these dead women. At the end of every story I was forced to put my own thinking into the story. I like stories that keep you reading, puttting characters in situations that make you wonder what is going to happen next. In one of the stories I read there was an old man that really wanted to go out in super freezing weather to build a snowman that would please his dead wife. The old man goes out in the weather that could kill him. Many things happen during his adventure to build the snowman that could result in death. During the whole story i was wondering what would happen to this man and if he was going to die. I think that everyone has their own idea of what makes fiction good but these are a few things that work for me. What works for you?

Citation

2005-01-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

Author: Scott William Carter
Title: The Red Scarf
Journal: Cicada
Vol./ issue: Vol.7 Issue 3, p5, 14p, 2bw
Date: Jan/Feb 2005
Database: Oklahoma Review

Good Will Triumph Over Evil

2005-01-20T13:29:00.000-08:00

I found an article at www.rense.com titled "Is Satanism in Your School Yard." As I read it I thought what type of crap is this. I didn't read the whole thing thinking the rest would be like the first three paragraphs. It talked about how kids in school are forced to play satanic games such as dungeons and Dragons. The reasoning behind that statement was that kids are taught it is ok to kill your friend. I think this is crazy. What do you think? I know when I was younger I played a lot of Cops and Robbers and games where you go against your friends and I do not think that was satanic. I think kids learning how to play together and have fun is not a bad thing either. The article aslo talked about how everything around us is bring us to the devil. I think we encounter little evils in our everyday lives that, is true. Evils such as stealing, cheating, lying, and bad media influences. We also may encounter some big ones too but for the most part I do not think that world is going down the hole, as the article says. I have always liked the saying that good will triumph over evil. I believe that to be true. I do live in Utah, in a "bubble" you might say, but I see good things happening wherever I go. You can watch the news and see wonderful things happening all over the world. I see people helping one another on a daily basis. For the most part I believe that people have good hearts. We all make mistakes and do things we wish we wouldn't have but we also do good. In my mind good can makeup for the bad and good will triumph over evil!

gotcha, WHEN PRANKS GO BAD by Mark Galli

2005-01-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

A short story about two pages long about filling gym bags with shaving cream, letting air out of tires, painting a high school boy's bike pink and filling a locker full of manure, how much better does it get? The short story I picked is titled "gotcha, When PranksGo Bad" by Mark Galli. If you have a couple of minutes this is an entertaining story that is worth 5 min. of your time. This story in a nutshell goes as follows, two boys are best friends and they play pranks on one another for kicks and giggles. The girl that is crushed on by boy #1 asks boy #2 to a school dance. Boy #1 pulls a girlie move and doesn't say how he really feels when boy #2 asks him if its ok to go to the dance with his crush. The once funny pranks turn into revenge and their friendship takes a hit. The girl brings it to boy #2's attention that they are ruining their friendship. A sorry e-mail is written, the girl is dumped, and the fun pranks begin again. I read over the beginnings of quite of few stories but i think I picked this one because I can relate to it. My apartment of girls and a house of boys across campass have a prank war going on. We have done all sorts of pranks, and they have always been a good laugh. Now they are starting to get out of control. That is not cool when guys put Nair in your shampoo. Wouldn't you be ticked? Yeah, friendship terminated!

Journals we have here at Snow

2005-01-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

New Yorker (0028-792X)
from 01/01/2002 to 7 days ago in Literature Resource Center
from 12/27/1999 to present in LexisNexis Academic
from 1986, 6/1/1994 to present in Snow College Print Holdings

Oklahoma today (0030-1892)
from 07/01/2000 to present in MasterFILE Premier

Partisan review (0031-2525)
from 03/01/1995 to 03/01/2003 in Literature Resource Center

Ploughshares (0048-4474)
from 03/01/1990 to present in Academic Search Premier and MasterFILE Premier
from 12/01/1992 to present in Literature Resource Center

Yankee (0044-0191)
from 07/01/1997 to present Acedemic Search Premier, MasterFILE Premier and Mas Ultra-School Edition

lets give this a go

2005-01-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog! I'm not quite sure what I am supposed to do but I am going to give it a go. I am going to write about fish. Yes fish, not squirrels or crazy English teachers but the creature that lives in water and makes funny lip motions. I don't know if you really care about fish, to be honest with you I really am not very interested in fish. It is something to write about though, right? Have you ever watched a fish? I mean really watched a fish? I have, wow, what a life! Swimming, eating, and releasing the food you ate consumes your whole day. If you have ever seen the movie finding nemo you would probably disagree with that statement. Those are abnormal fish:) I doubt real fish plan secret escapes and talk to turtles. Fish can be very pretty and fish can be very ugly. Some people like to eat fish and other could not be paid to eat fish. I am one of those people hates eating fish. Swedish fish, the red gummy candy fish, and goldfish, the golden orange, cheddar cracker fish, are the only fishies I like to travel my instinal track. Some of the boys I have dated could have learned a lesson or two from fish. You know when you are longing for a kiss from the super hottie body sitting next to you and you turn to him and he is moving in for the "kill"? The butterflies in your stomach start flying faster and then your lips touch and you both are kissing. All of a sudden you have slobber all over and his tongue is in your mouth and all over your face, gross! Do you really want to kiss or even go out with sloppy slobber face again after that? You see if these boys would observe and learn from fish they might be better off. Let me explain. When you see fish moving their lips they are not sucking water or eating food, they actually are practicing their kissing! Lesson one, you can practice good kissing technique wihtout a partner. Next, they do not go at a super fast speed but rather they take things slow and gentle to start out with. Lesson two, Don't go too fast to start out with, briddle your hormones. The last lesson I would like to draw your attention to is, when whatching a fish you do not see any slimey, gross tongue on any fish face. Keep your tongue off the face. My time to write has come to a close but this may be a subject to come back to :)