Last Blog. For Reals.

Jessica Biel Wayne's World

In the English 103 course goals, it is stated that upon completion of English 103 students will be able to take responsibility for their own progress. In the transition from high school to college, I believe responsibility is the most crucial step to success in this new world. Elbert Hubbard said, “You can lead a boy to college, but you can’t make him think.” With college comes freedom and with freedom comes responsibility. In English 103, the choice was ours. Professor McArdle was not there to spoon-feed us. We knew what was required of us and it was up to us how we would handle the situation. All the resources we needed were laid out in front of us. This class has showed me that the grade I receive is what I earned. At some point I must take credit and accept the consequences, good or bad. I am sure this value of responsibility will linger throughout my college career.

Another part of the English 103 course goals states that upon completion of English 103 students will be able to understand how persuasive visual and verbal texts are composed for different audiences and different purposes. If there is one thing I have learned from this course, it’s audience recognition. From day one McArdle stressed the importance of to whom you are speaking. The way I write is impacted enormously by the audience I am addressing. However, I am no slave to my audience. I do not let the audience control me. Also, now I feel I am better at dissembling and analyzing the arguments of others. I can look deeper into what others are saying and uncover the rhetorical and truthful meaning behind it. Being able to analyze others’ arguments helps me analyze my own. It helps me build a better argument.

One of my favorite things I learned from this course is to speak with authority. This wasn’t an official part of the course goals, but I believe it should be. The video we viewed in class really opened my eyes to how broad and unclear people speak and debate. I have learned that when I am trying to advance my argument, I need to be clear and concise. When I see something on a commercial, the Internet, in a paper, or in any other form of text, I can call their b.s. because I can analyze what they are saying. I can see past their public relations face to what they are really saying.

Throughout this course I’ve learned a lot about writing, but I’ve learned about a lot more than writing. I’ve learned a new way of thinking. This class is more what I expected of college. In my other classes I feel like I’m back in high school. College is supposed to teach us about more than facts and rules…or so I thought! I hope that more of my classes in the future are like this. I suppose that once I get out of some of these core classes and start focusing on my major college will start being more intuitive.

Last Blog

It's time for the last blog. I think we're all ready for a break. I know I am. However, I am going to miss the people on my floor. It will be nice to see my family for Christmas. I'm not looking forward working, but books aren't going to buy themselves! Last semester they costs about $550. And I imagine when I go to sell them back I won't get very much. How convenient for the bookstores...Well I'll end my last blog with a question. What was your favorite part of your first semester of college?

The Matrix

So I recently watched the Matrix for the first time. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it! I think this would have been a cool movie to rhetorically analyze. I really like the ideology behind it. I only watched the first one, but I do plan on watching the others soon. However, I did find one slip up. When the camera zooms in on the doorknob, you can see the camera in the doorknob's reflection. Seriously! Go watch it and pause it there. I was proud of myself for catching that. I've heard that the first one is the best, but I heard the second one had some pretty cool fighting sequences. I also heard the third one sucked. Did it?

Here it comes...

I am not looking forward to these next two weeks. I have a lot of final projects I have to complete. I can't believe we are already on the homestretch for Winter break. First I've got to make a Spanish presentation on the culture of Venezuela. Then, later today, I'm going to work on my final portfolio for English. I think this week is going to be more stressful than finals week! Thank God the Colts are winning!

Finally Friday

So today is Friday and it couldn't have come soon enough! These last couple of weeks before Winter break are passing as slowly and as stressful as possible. I'm just glad I don't have to go back to Westfield to work this weekend. Weekends at Ball State are fun. They're a good way to just relax and hang out with some good friends. But come Sunday, it's back to revising papers, studying, and everything else. Today my roommate is moving out because he is dropping out. College just isn't for everyone. However sad I am to see him go, another one of my friends is moving in. We're going to rearrange the room so it's a better place for people to come hang out. So if you're ever in Howick Hall in Noyer...hit up room 432!

Argument

For my argument observation I observed my Aunt confront her husband about who gets to carve the turkey. My Uncle, a Vietnam war veteran, was convinced it is the man's job to carve the Thanksgiving turkey. This wasn't an intense argument. It was more like a comical debate. It was funny listening to my Aunt call my Uncle an old, southern sexist. They ignored the fact that it is tradition that he carves it. He's been doing it for twenty five years or so. My Aunt didn't really effectively combat his reasoning. She just argued for the sake of argument. I don't think she actually wanted to carve it, I think she just wanted to argue. In the end, my Uncle was victorious.

Home?

Just about everyone went home for Thanksgiving break, including me. It is nice to visit with relatives and old friends, but after a while, I'm ready to go back to school. While back home for break I've worked everyday (I've got to save money for books next semester!). I do enjoy the opportunity to make some money, but I must say I'm rather fed up with the recent Kroger shoppers. I work in the delicatessen (no, that's not me in the picture) and I get some damn rude customers. Lucky for them, I keep my cool. You might be surprised at how offended customers get if you cut just 0.03 more turkey than they requested. It really is a guessing game when you are slicing the meat. And it's not like I can't take some off. Anyways, I'm changing my definition of home from my parents' home in Westfield to my cozy little dorm in Muncie.

After of week with a brain dead phone, I finally got a new one. I have Verizon and I do love their cell phone coverage. However, I'm not a fan of their contracts. The phones you can buy with them are relatively cheap-with the two year contract. But without the contract, you're looking at spending no less than two hundred. So if your phone breaks within the two years of your contract AND you didn't buy the fifty dollar insurance, you better start saving. It's amazing how dependent this society is on technology that people are willing to spend full paychecks on a phone.

Monkey Chant

I added a video (right) of Glenn Kotche. In the video Kotche is performing his piece called Monkey Chant. He uses some very unique instruments. At the beginning of the video, he opens up a bunch of little containers. In these are live crickets. This is one of the most unique solo percussion pieces I have seen.

The End is Near

I didn't realize we are almost done with the first semester of the year. For most of us this is our first semester as college students. Personally, I loved it. For the most part classes were good, but I'm excited to take more classes that have to do with my major. As much as I love learning about the history of Madagascar's ecosystem, I don't. I'm glad to be getting the required courses out of the way as soon as I can. Next semester I have all writing classes. Should be interesting...But what about YOU?

Counter Argument

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act is aimed at preventing underage smoking. The FDA has created this act to reduce smoking in families in an effort to create a more healthy family lifestyle. The children of today are the future of tomorrow and this act was created to ensure that future that is in store for us is a healthy one.

Blog Assignment!

English 103 Course Goals:
English 103 introduces students to the fundamentals of rhetoric; to the elements, strategies, and conventions common to persuasion; to the use of those elements, strategies, and conventions in the construction of their own persuasive visual and verbal texts. Upon completion of English 103 students will:

1. Understand that persuasion-both visual and verbal-is integral to reading and composing.
-I think the multimodal project we did really helped me and our class understand this. Using visual imagery to help advance my persuasive argument helped me further understand how to successfully represent my stance.
2. Understand how persuasive visual and verbal texts are composed for different audiences and different purposes.
-Realizing our audience is probably the biggest thing I will take from this class. Knowing to whom I am writing is going to be critical, especially when trying to persuade the readers. Audience recognition is being well covered in this class.
3. Develop effetive strategies of invention, drafting, and revision for different rhetorical situations and individual composing styles.
-Drafting and revision has been a big part of class. The intensive reviews really helped with my revisions to my I Believe paper. Personally, I like the peer reviews better because everyone gets more feedback on your paper from your peers.
4. Compose texts in various media using solid logic, claims, evidence, creativity, and audience awareness.
-This is basically the description of the multimodal project. This project did exactly that. We used various media to create a persuasive argument. I liked being able to get creative with the project.
5. Integrate primary and secondary research as appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
-When we took a trip to the library, we learned all about research. I feel like that helped a lot with researching my topics. It even helped me get some good ideas for future papers.
6. Develop strategies for becoming more critical and careful readers of both your own and others' texts.
-I think this ties the critical analysis paper and the intensive reviews together. We basically critically analyze each others' papers during the intensive reviews. This has shown to be a very effective way to peer review.
7. Demonstrate a professional attitude towards writing by focusing on the need for appropriate format, syntax, punctuation, and spelling.
-Although we have talked about format such as MLA and APA, I don't feel we have put much emphasis on the importance of proper grammar and spelling.
8. Take responsibility for your own progress.
-This class is more of workshop than a class. That means a lot of the responsibility to get our work done is on us. As said by Professor McArdle, "This is big boy radio." We should all be old enough to do the necessary work to complete our assignments, and I think we have done a good job of showing that we are capable of just that.
9. Develop the ability to wrk well with others on composing tasks.
-We do have peer reviews for every paper, but only one. Other than that, we don't work with others on a face to face basis. The blogs are provide for some interaction, but not a high level of it.

Course Content & Format
The content and format of English 103 are designed to enable students to achieve the course goals; specifically, students in English 103 will:

1. Discuss, analyze, and respond to a variety of visual and verbal texts to identify rhetorical elements, strategies, and conventions.
-We have viewed several examples of our projects. We have done several critical analysis' of these examples. They help us see these rhetorical elements that we should be incorporating into our papers.
2. Discuss, analyze, and respond to the persuasive logics by which various visual and verbal texts achieve, or fail to achieve, their purposes.
-When I read this, I think of when we analyzed that artists' sand drawings. That helped greatly with the multimodal project.
3. Collaborate in developing ideas, analyzing visual and verbal texts, and providing peer feedback.
-Our class works very well together when collaborating together to generate ideas. One class, we took about fifteen minutes coming up with different kinds of public writing. We came up with ideas and solutions.
4. Compose persuasive texts through multiple drafts, revising based on peer feedback, self-reflection, instructor's written comments, and teacher-student conferences.
-We have many ways to get feedback on our paper. We have had a teacher conference, peer editing, intensive reviews, Professor McArdle's comments, and the writing center.
5. Reflect (orally and textually) on the rhetorical choices and decisions they are required to make as authors to shape a text for a specific audience and purpose.
-Our class has touched many times on the important decisions we will have to make regarding our audience. In a way, our entire class is based around the audience and the decisions we make regarding it.
6. Reflect (orally and textually) on the rhetorical choices and decisions they are required to make in order to construct meaning out of anther's text.
-I also feel we are covering this topic very well in class. We use our classmates' papers as examples. We also pull examples form short stories and the internet.
7. Complete a variety of writing assignments for multiple purposes, audiences, and contexts, using various media, and including primary and secondary research.
-We have had a good variety of writing assignments. For the most part, they all vary in purpose. Recently, we have used research to support our stance.

University Core Curriculum Goals
The central purpose of University Core Curriculum is to enable men and women to live rich and satisfying lives and to undertake the borad responsibilities of citizenship in a free society. Although the University Core Curriculum seeks to discover and nurture individual talents, its primary emphasis is preparation for roles people share as human beings and as members of family and communtiy groups. Thus, students will be able to:

1. Engage in lifelong education by learning to acquire knowledge and to use it for intelligent ends.
-I think this is one of the few classes I have where I actually am learning this.
2. Communicate at a level acceptable for college students.
-I think we are learning to write in a way to better convey our message the way we want it to be interpreted by others.
3. Clarify their personal values and be sensitive to those held by others.
-Our class is very respectful of others' opinions and viewpoints. I don't feel pressured or anything at all.
4. Recognize and seek solutions for the common problems of living by drawing on a knowledge of historical and contemporary events and elements of the cultural heritage surrounding those events.
-The public writing paper we are working on right now is addressing this goal. I think by the end of this class we will all be able to seek solutions for the common problems using the tools we acquired in this class.
5. Work with others to solve life's common problems.
-I don't know what this is supposed to mean. Some of life's common problems are the hardest to solve. I think the only way to solve them is to gain life experience.
6. Assess their unique interests, talents, and goals and choose specialized learning experiences that will foster their fulfillment.
-I think this is what college is all about. I especially think the I Believe paper had a lot to do with this.

Next Year's House

Four friends of mine and I have recently put a down payment on a house for next year. The house has a six bedrooms, two kitchens and two bathrooms. It also has a walk out deck on the second floor. The basement is small, but it'll do. The best part is, it's a fairly cheap one. $325 a month (including utilities) is not bad at all. Especially when it includes a weekly maid service!

Halloween

For Halloween, I am being a Kroger employee...Mostly because I'm working tonight. I'm actually at work right now while posting this blog. I have never seen Kroger this busy-except for Thanksgiving weekend. Not to mention the air conditioning is broken so we're all roasting in here!

Recently, the FDA banned flavored cigarettes known as "cloves." This ban comes attached to the FDA's new tobacco law. I believe this policy was created for the wrong reason and is combating underage smokers in the wrong way. To write this persuasive paper, I plan to research further into the entire new tobacco policy. The FDA's reasoning behind this is flawed and unfair. It is not treating adults that are of age to make their own decisions regarding smoking like adults. I plan to send my argument to a magazine or maybe even the FDA.

Public Writing

Public writing is when an author writes something for an audience, intended or not. I think our class blogs are an example of public writing. Our intended audience is usually our classmates, but anyone around the world can read them. Since the writing is open to the public, I think responses are welcomed and those responses have a lot to do with how the author writes.

Snapple

Personally, I believe that the Diet Snapple Peach Tea is better tasting than the regular Snapple Peach Tea. I think it has more of the peach flavoring in it. When I compared the two side by side, the Diet Snapple just outperformed the regular Snapple in so many ways: Texture, taste, sweetness, deliciousness, and even appearance. And with this test, I confirmed my preference for Diet Snapple Peach Tea.

Test

I just about forgot to schedule my test for my telecommunications class. When I tried to schedule the appointment in the computer lab for Sunday, there were no available spots. By this point I was worried because I am going back home for the weekend and we can only take the test on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I am leaving tomorrow after my last class so I ended up taking the last spot available tomorrow...at 8:00 am.

Sister

This weekend I get to see my sister that lives in England with her husband. I also get to see her son, my nephew. I haven't seen them since Christmas last year. My nephew's name is Tristan. Hopefully Tristan will remember me from his last visit, but he is pretty young. I am bummed that I won't get to see my brother-n-law. The United States Air Force cut his leave short, so he won't be able to come visit us. I won't see any of them until Christmas next year, so I hope this weekend is a good one!

Multimodal

Last night, I finished my first draft of my multimodal assignment. I made a video about protecting endangered species and their environment. I know I still have much to improve on, but I believe it is a good first draft. I am especially fond of the music in it. The song is called "Adiemus" by Karl Jenkins.

Conference

Yesterday I had the one on one conference for our English class. I found to be very helpful. We worked on my rhetorical analysis paper. I plan to make many of the changes we discussed to my paper for the final portfolio. Professor McArdle and I also talked about the upcoming multimodal assignment. We pondered the idea of music as my topic, but more specifically the question "What is music?" However, before I do a project on that topic, I think I need to do some more thinking on my personal stance.

Multimodal Assignment

I have begun brainstorming ideas for the upcoming multimodal assignment. I have not given much thought as to what my topic is going to be, but I know I want to create some sort of video. I am already very familiar with iMovie, so that should make this whole process easier. I have also thought of creating some sort of audio project. Perhaps I could incorporate and audio project with the video. I still need to figure out what my topic is going to be. I would like a topic that I am familiar with, but would like to learn more about.

Fire Drill

This morning, the Noyer Dormitories had a fire drill. Now I'm all for safety and being aware of the fire exits, but not at two o'clock in the morning. That's right. Our fire drill was at two AM! At first I thought it was my alarm, but once I ruled that out, I realized what was happening. Thinking it was a real fire (because who on Earth would have a drill at two in the morning?), I hurried out of my bunk. Well, I should say fell more than hurried. Disoriented from the chaos of everyone running along the halls banging on doors, I grabbed my jacket and bolted for the door. I'm glad I brought my jacket, but in the midst of the madness, I forgot my shoes. We all stood outside in our groups to take attendance for about twenty minutes. I got to bed around three. My first class today was at eight. Lovely.

Crash Bandicoot

The other day, I was watching my friend play this video game called Crash Bandicoot on his Play Station. This game is a classic for anyone that knows Play Station. While I was watching, I realized how far video games have come in a mere twenty years! The graphics nowadays a simply amazing. Now, any system has multiple capabilities such as internet usage and the ability to watch movies. The Play Station 3 can even play Blue Ray discs. These video game consuls are bringing a whole new meaning to multimedia!

Apple's Mac Commercials

For my rhetorical analysis, I decided to use the well known Apple computer commercials. Personally, I do prefer Macs to PCs. The idea of having virtually no viruses is very appealing to me. Although the price for a Mac greatly outweighs the PC, I believe the extra cost is worth my while. I grew up with a PC. Our family of five all used it. I cannot even begin to describe my immense frustration with the endless reboots, warning messages, and loading bars. Once in high school, I was introduced to the world of Apple. I began using the school's Macs for all of my projects such as editing videos. That's why I was very anxious to purchase my MacBook Pro for college. I worked forty hours a week all summer just to get enough money to pay for it. So far, I don't have one complaint about it! The battery life is excellent, which is very helpful in a mobile society. I am especially pleased with the ability to have Microsoft Office on my Mac. I don't really ever see myself going back to using PCs. However, it may be too early to tell.

English Post

Tuesday, September 15:

Today, Kevin Banich and myself had our I Believe papers intensely reviewed. I started by reading my paper to the class. Then, everyone had the opportunity to give some suggestions as to how I can improve my paper. Following my intensive review, Kevin received the same treatment. The class made some excellent points. Professor McArdle also gave us some suggestions for improving our paper. After the intensive review, Professor McArdle discussed the ever-changing schedule with us and we decided to continue the intensive reviews for future assignments.

Thursday, September 17:

Today, it was Jacob Dietz's turn to have his paper intensely reviewed. After he read his paper aloud, the class offered helpful suggestions to improve his paper. After Jacob's intensive review, we learned about our upcoming Rhetorical Analysis paper. Luckily, we have one more class period next Tuesday to discuss it in more detail. After the Rhetorical Analysis discussion, we proceeded to our small groups to peer edit each others' papers.

Intensive Review

My intensive review on Tuesday was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I received some very good critique. Since then I have made some good corrections to my I Believe paper. After the intensive review, I was able to trim my paper down to four pages. I will continue to improve my paper until the final draft is due in our portfolio at the end of the semester. Writing about what I believe in was harder than I thought it would be, but nonetheless, I'm glad this was our first assignment.

Wuhnurth

Thee is this music festival in Muncie this weekend that looks pretty cool. It's called Wuhnurth. It lasts from Friday afternoon until early Monday morning. It's only $30 for the whole weekend, which is a fair price for three days of camping out and seeing some live music performances. I've actually decided just now that I'm going to go! This should be a good way to meet new people. I'm looking forward to hearing some new music by some artists I've never heard of. I'll be sure to post my experiences next week.

Lollapalooza

I have added a link to a song on my blog. The song is called "Lollapalooza." This is my favorite orchestral compositions by one of my favorite composers. John Adams, the composer, wrote this in 1995. Adams is famous for his minimalist work. If you listen closely to the piece, you can hear the actual word 'Lollapalooza' emphasized by low brass instruments about 45 seconds into it. See if you can hear it. It sounds like 'LollapaLOOza.' This is a very energetic overture. It's amazing what can be done with such a simple beat, or even a word!

Music

I have decided to do my I Believe In paper about music. Music has been a big part of my life ever since elementary school, so I think it should be fairly easy to write about. I mean, music has impacted almost every aspect of my life. I met my best friends, met my girlfriend, and had the time of my life thanks to music. I think my first draft is pretty good. I'm actually looking forward to improving it.

Texting and Driving

I recently watched this short video emphasizing the dangers of text messaging while driving. The PSA video uses strong, graphic images to deter teens from using their phones while driving. The video has, unsurprisingly, received much criticism. A large percentage of parents are protesting the video. They seem to believe it is too graphic for their teens to watch. I think that the short film does a fantastic job of showing the real life dangers of text messaging and driving. Sometimes, the shock factor is the best way to reach new, young drivers. Still, this raises the question; Did the media go too far?

Clint Mansell

Today, I added a song to my blog. Now, I listen to a wide array of music, but one of my most favorite genres is soundtrack. The song I have added is "Lux Aterna" composed by Clint Mansell. This song is the main title for the movie Requiem for a Dream. Requiem for a Dream was directed by Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky is known for his innovative visual techniques. Requiem for a Dream is nothing short of an Aronofsky masterpiece. I won't go into details (you should watch the movie for yourself), but the movie is basically about drugs and how they can ruin lives. Anyway, Clint Mansell does a superb job linking Aronofsky's vivid visual effects with the soundtrack. This song is a fine example of how Mansell uses layering to accent the downward spiral that is the plot. I believe everyone should watch this movie, but viewer be warned, it's kind of graphic.

First Day of ENG 103

Today was my very first class of English 103 at Ball State University. I was very pleased with the overall flow of the class. The professor, Mr. McArdle, upheld a witty and enthusiastic dialogue between himself and the class. I am confident the entire class enjoyed straying from the average, dreary Tuesday morning. I strongly believe Professor McArdle (not to be confused with McCardle) will be a fantastic teacher that will inspire us all to write like never before. Only time will tell. God Bless America.