Class Reflections

     I have noticed a pretty significant change in my writing over the term. At beginning of the semester, I looked at the syllabus and had no clue how I would write about any of the prompts, or meet any of the page requirements. I was never taught to write anything more than a 5 paragraph essay in high school, so the length was a major concern for me. It was difficult at times, but in the end I figured it out.
     I have noticed that I am much better at description now. In my first paper I struggled with it, and as each paper as passed I feel a little more confident about it. I have become better at showing, and not telling as well. I do admit this is something I need more work on. I now have a better understanding of what showing means, and what it looks like, I just have to apply is better. I now also understand how to synthesis things much better. I had little to no knowledge of how to do that before, and now I get it much better. I think that will be an important tool in business school. Being able to take multiple sources, analyze them, and interpret them, is a great skill to have. I am looking forward to applying the skills I learned in English 125, and applying them to my schooling and career in the future.
     As far as future things to work on, I know I need to improve on the "so what" of my papers, and my showing. Both of these are important pieces of a paper. I have read some pretty good examples of both of these during the term, so I know what it should look like. Now the key is applying it to my own writing. I think I have learned some great skills in this class, and I am looking forward to applying these skills in my future.

Paper Re-Write

For my paper re-write I am planning on redoing my second essay about the term “bro.” I enjoyed writing this essay because it was a fun topic to research. Many of the websites I used, as sources were quite entertaining. I think in this paper I did a pretty good job of description, but I think I may have over done it in some cases. On the first paper I struggled with description, and I believe this caused me to over do it on the second paper. I had many different examples of the “bro” in all different regions.  The problem I had with this paper was the synthesis.(which is not good because that was the goal of the paper) I was unsure how to take multiple sources and combine them together. I have a clearer understand of how this will work now however. My thesis is that is paper is that bros are typically seen as obnoxious party animals, which they are, but they also have a lighter side. They are all very conscious of their friends or other “bros.” This is what I wanted to show in my paper. When I go back and edit it I plan to show how each region has certain activities that only he and his bros take part in. Since each region has slightly different activities for “bros,” this should work. In the end it will be clear that bros all share the same traits and lifestyle, but are also very familial. 

As far as over all structure I plan to keep it mostly the same, but I plan to take out the part about the “bro-ho.”  Looking back, that is sort of irrelevant. I also plan to take away some of the description, and add in more examples and dialogue. I think this should give a better picture of the bros.  As far as the “so what,” I am still a little unclear of how I am going to work that. Ill ask around and hopefully get some help. I think the peer revision will help me with that aspect.

Thanksgiving

I apologize for my Thanksgiving blog being late. I had a great Thanksgiving this year, like always. Each yeah my family and I make the trip to Flint to stay with my Aunt Margaret. My other aunts and uncles from  various parts of the country join us as well. The Appel family has roots in Oregon, Washington, and California along with a few from Michigan. On the trip there we hit some hectic traffic, and getting off the highway at the craziest exit I have ever seen didn't help. This off ramp turned into a giant traffic circle with 5 entrances. We went to grab a bite to eat, and when we tried to get back on we ended up cruising down the highway in the opposite direction we were trying to go. When we finally arrived we were greeted with the sweet smell of apple and cherry pie. We spent Wednesday night celebrating all the major birthdays form the previous year. These consist of milestone birthdays and anniversaries. This year was my Aunts' 65th birthday, and my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary. The festivities began with a loud screech filled rendition of happy birthday by my Aunt Margaret. After all the birthdays were done we ate some pizza and watched Michigan play (and defeat) UCLA in the Maui Invitational. The next day when I woke up I was hit with the smell of a 20 pound turkey roasting in the oven. We watched the lions lose in a pathetic fashion but didn't let that get our spirits down. Dinner was next. Mounds of mashed potatoes, hunks of turkey, a steaming mound of corn, and a roll garnished my plate. After dinner we sat around and watched the Cowboys game. At around 7 o'clock when all of my cousins and their wives arrived we went to the basement. Since my family lives across the country we have Christmas on Thanksgiving as well. Our Christmas is unlike most other families Christmas' however. We partake in wadding up balls of wrapping paper, and chucking it at each other. This can occur when opening a present, or simply not being on your toes. Being blasted in the face with a wad of paper is our way of saying "I love you." Crazy? Yes very. But it is what we do. After all the gifts are unwrapped, and the wrapping is picked up, we all head up stairs to eat some pie. This is a much less violent activity, and it is a great way to end the night. The night ends with everyone saying goodbye, and I'll see you in a year. Thanksgiving is a great time, and I really enjoy seeing my family. The great food and enormous amounts of laughter make it one of my favorite times of the year.

Illegal Immigration Paper Structure

            I am writing my paper to show that is should be easier for immigrants who want to work in America to become citizens, or legal residents. In the beginning of my paper I plan to discuss the class of people that are the closest related to the illegal immigrants, skill wise. This is the lower class and high school dropouts. They have relatively the same education level and therefore they work in the same jobs. Most of these jobs are service positions such as hotels, or simple maintenance.

            The process for becoming a legal resident is quite complicated and very time consuming.  To receive a green card someone must either have proof that they have a full time job in America, or have family members who are in America. In order for either of these to happen it takes multiple years for the process to be complete. If an immigrant becomes legal, and then wishes to bring his newly wed wife to America with him, it takes six years for this to be complete. It is this type of law that makes people come here illegally instead of following the proper procedures.

            The illegal immigrants that are here eventually earn enough money to enjoy some of the novelties of life. They buy clothes, cell phones, gas, and many other day-to-day items. By forcing them all to leave it would take away from all of the businesses that supply these items to the immigrants. The best thing for our economy is to make it easier and faster for immigrants to receive their green card so they can legally work in America, and help to support our economy.

            I plan to use these three main points for my paper to show that it would be better for our economy to have immigrants come her and work. They do not have much competition for the jobs the do, they are willing to become legal it just takes to long, and they support our economy. By making them legal this also forces them to pay taxes. Taxes form 12 million people would give more money to the government and would be a good thing for the economy.

Illegal Immigration

I think that there should be stricter laws on illegal immigration into the United States of America. Each years thousands and thousands of illegal immigrants are smuggled into the country, or sneak in on their own. The problem with this is that these illegal immigrants to not pay taxes, and they use many of the services provided by the federal government that is funded by taxes. The most common service they use is the school system. Approximately fifty million dollars will be spent on educating illegal immigrants this next year. These illegal immigrant children should not be allowed to go to school here if their families do not pay taxes.

            There was a law passed in Arizona in 2010 that was aimed at catching illegal immigrants. This law allowed police officers to ask for proof of residency from anyone who they are reasonable doubt to suspect they were here illegally. This law was later declared unconstitutional by the United States government. This law did seem to be rather invasive, but in order for this epidemic of illegal intruders America is going to have to do something drastic.          

            A new tool to catch illegal immigrants is called “e-verify.” This is a government run system that allows potential employers to check if someone has the right to work in America. This tool is very useful because it prevents companies from hiring illegal immigrants, and it also allows the government to find illegal immigrants. The number of illegal immigrants infiltrating America is getting out of control, and our government needs to take action to get this under control.

Close Reading

Dr. Sheldon Cooper displays many socially awkward characteristics, with the most prevalent being his eagerness to remind others he is smarter then them. He often refers to himself as a "highly regarded physicist." In the episode titled "Rhinitis Revelation" Sheldon cannot understand why his mom does not want to go to the convention with him. He plans to ask a series of questions that will stump the Nobel Prize winning speaker. This episode gives the viewer a small peak into where this unusual behavior stems from. Sheldon is constantly trying to please and impress his mother. He is very concerned that she is paying to much attention to his friends, and not enough attention to him. Sheldon wants her to go to the convention with him because he has the opportunity to show off his intelligence by insulting the Nobel Prize winning speaker.

         This goal of always proving his intelligence to the people around makes his character very comical. In our society today it is not polite to be as blunt and brash as Sheldon is about his gift. His random outbursts and claims of being smarter, and more important, than the rest of his friends provide for an awkward situation that is in turn funny. The key to this is however that he does not see the awkwardness, or impoliteness. He simply thinks that this is acceptable and it is this combination of social taboos, and his inability to notice them that creates a character that is unlike any other on television. 

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are off to their best start since 1956. This uncanny style has both wowed and thrilled Lions fans. These feisty felines of 2011 were the exact opposite in 2008. In a season most would love to forget, the Lions successfully completed the only 0-16 season in the history of the NFL. This was a time of sadness and sorrow. This atrocious season was the byproduct of many terrible decisions made my the upper level management over the previous decade. One can trace this downfall back to the draft of Joey Harrington out of the University of Oregon. Joey had potential, but ultimately was not cut out to be an NFL quarterback. This blockbuster pick conveniently led to a string of terrible draft picks consisting of Charles Rogers and Mike Williams. The Lions also went through a plethora of coaches in the past decade. These unfortunate drafts and hires were mostly thanks to Matt Millen. Luckily was fired after the 2007 season. The Lions miraculous turnaround started in 2009 when they hired Jim Schwartz from Tennessee. Schwartz has produced three improving seasons so far, and has made two key draft picks; Ndamakong Suh and Calvin Johnson. Jim is without a doubt the future of the Lions franchise.

The Detroit Lions started this season with easy wins over the Buccaneers and Chiefs. Next on the schedule was the Vikings and Cowboys, both of which the Lions defeated with huge second half comebacks. This past Monday was an especially thrilling game because it was the first time the Lions had had a Monday Night Football game since 2001. The Motor City was buzzing with excitement all weekend that ended with a packed house to see the Lions beat the rival Bears, 24-13. The intro to SportsCenter the next morning started with Scott Van Pelt asking, "Are the Lions SuperBowl bound?" A very valid question considering the strength the Lions possess on both offense and defense. A high powered offense lead by Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson (aka. Megatron) and a defense with Suh as its staple will be very tough to beat. This exciting start to the season has insured that the roar has been restored in Detroit.

Backwards

I wake up in a camper in the middle of the woods next to Lucas. Its cold, and I am thinking to myself what the hell happened last night? I slowly crawl in to bed unable to support myself, slamming into these random cupboards trying to find something soft to sleep on. "Kelsi! where are you sleeping at tonight?," I shout, to which she responds, "I am going home." Once I see the police walking back to their cars, I think to myself, "what a night, this is going to make one hell of a story," but for now I am going to bed. Joe says to the office, "yes sir we will."The policeman says to Joe, "alright this time I'm serious, you guys need to pack up camp and go to bed." I'm playing beer pong with Lucas, (we are winning of course) and all the sudden I see the officers coming back again. Nic says to me, "I guarantee you can't beat Joe and I" I am just chilling by the fire thinking man that was a close call, we should probably just go to bed so they don't come back. As I walk over to the fire I hear Lucas yell, "Oh my god Kelsi why did you shit in my truck!?" After this we walk away from the pong table, pretty disappointed and Lucas tells me he's going to go grab his hat from his truck. The police then walk away, trudging through the mud that leads to the dirt road about a quarter mile away. He says to us, "alright I just need you to quiet down and won't have any problems." Erric says to the police officer, ok thanks you won't have to come back." Next the female police officer hesitates but says "no we have to head out" Erric then responds, "why don't you show us how its done, and offers her the ping pong ball." I think to myself, "did she really just say that?" You guys need to quiet down and get a lot better at beer pong. We all shake our heads and smile as if to say yes, and then he says, "you guys are all 21 here right." To my surprise, I look up and see to police officers staring next to me with a flashlight, covered in mud up to the middle of their shins. They say, "Ok we aren't here to bust anyone, we just had to come check out what was going on, we had some neighbors call and complain." I then walk to the campfire and talk to Cassandra for a bit, but Lucas drags me over to play pong against Nic and Joe. A few minutes after that I pull up with Lucas in his truck and we see probably the coolest set up ever. There are people everywhere, music blasting and even a generator. Once we finally find this hidden path of the dirt trail I realize that my car will never make it so I hop in Lucas' truck. It seemed like we have been driving forever, I was about to leave and then I finally find the trail. I am pretty pumped to go to this party because it had been a long day, and a rough night at work. It took about 25 minutes to get from the party to my house, but I knew it would be worth it, after all it was Mikes birthday. The last thing my mom says to me is, "Ok have fun, but be safe and don't do anything stupid." I went to go say goodbye to my mom, and then I throw all my Michigan clothes on (just to remind everyone I am going there). It was a long night at work and I was glad to finally be home. I hop in my car and begin to drive. At then end of my break Erric called me on my break and told me about a party at Gaines Lake for Mike. I had just started my break and was trying to find something fun to do. Before I went to work, I thought to myself, "hmmm I haven't hung out with the guys in a while, I should try to see whats up tonight, they always know something fun to do."

Guilty Pleasure

My guilty please is that I enjoy the television show, "Teen Mom." I began watching it when it was still "16 and Pregnant" and kept following as it morphed into "Teen Mom" For some reason I was intrigued by the lives of these four girls and their children. It was interesting to see how they were treated when they were pregnant and after they had their children. The show is centered around four girls, Caitlyn, Maci, Farrah, and Amber. I think I enjoy it because they are just average teenagers who are forced to be adults. I can in no way relate to this, but never the less it is interesting. I felt like after watching enough episodes I could begin to predict what they would do, and I could predict what others were going to do to them. They almost always had problems with their boyfriends, but they still stayed with them for the betterment of their child's life. I would have to say I enjoy watching the segments about Maci the best because she seemed to have the most stable life, and seemed in my opinion to be the best fit to raise a child. I also liked the fact that she had a southern accent. My least favorite is Amber. She is by far the least capable of raising a child because of her random burst of violence. I was always intrigued however by her situation because her boyfriend Gary was a pretty good father, and was incredibly nice to her even though she was vicious to him. I would describe this as a "guilty pleasure" because this show is generally a show that girls watch. I told only a handful of my friends that I watch it because I find it strange that I enjoy it. I never got into the other episodes of "16 and Pregnant." I have a sort of connection with the girls on the original shows, and I am not about to desert that. The third season just finished up, and I am eagerly awaiting season four next summer.

Blink-182: Enema of the State

Blink-182's album, "Enema of the State" is Blinks most popular album and arguably one of the greatest albums ever made. The first track really sets the tone for the entire album; it is titled "Dumpweed." This is also the first song that is played at each Blink-182 concert. This song discusses how Tom Delong (Co-Lead Singer) needs to "find a girl he can train." He depicts previous issues with girlfriends and also the tension between his father and himself. The lyrics, "Turn your back and run now, you haven't got a chance now" provide a foreshadowing into the rest of the album, which depicts low self-esteem and girl issues. The next song, "Don't leave me" discusses a break up between Mark Hoppus (Co-Lead Singer) and how the girl told him that he brings her down, and is no longer fun. The third track is called "Aliens Exist” which is a little deeper of a song. Tom is referring to himself as an alien, in the fact that he is unlike the rest of his friends and family. Track four is one of my favorite songs that they ever produced; it is entitled "Going Away to College." This depicts a high school relationship and the struggles they face while trying to keep their relationship during college. My favorite lyrics are, "This worlds and ugly place, buy you're so beautiful to me" The fifth track is a very powerful track titled, "What's My Age Again?" This is the story of Mark and his struggle with immaturity. He states that, "My friends say I should act my age, what’s my age again?" Next on this great compilation of ballads is "Dysentery Gary." This song is one I can relate to very well and that is what also makes it one of my favorites. It discusses how for some unknown reason girls always "choose the guy that makes you want to kick and scream" This song has one line that really speaks to me, and that is "girls are such a drag." That idea is a pretty common theme throughout this entire album. The Seventh song is titled "Adams Song" and is my favorite song they every created. It is their most serious song, and discusses a teenager who is struggling with depression and the hardships of growing up. My favorite line is “I traced the cord back to the wall, no wonder it was never plugged in at all” The best part of this song is that at the conclusion he is feeling better about life and has a new positive outlook on his life. Blinks’ most popular song is next titled “All the Small Things” It is about Mark’s relationship with his girlfriend. All the small things refer to the little things they do for each other that make their relationship work. Blink-182’s album Enema of the State is a great album for any teenage boy who has had struggles with girls or self-esteem, and enjoys partying.

Mundane Act (Blog 2)

Crack!! Everyone turns to look at me. I think to myself, "Dammit, that was louder than I anticipated." I pretend to be working really hard on my computer and avoid any eye contact. I wait, give or take thirty seconds, then I begin to indulge myself with a hefty swig of ice cold Coca-Cola. Hindsight being twenty-twenty, I probably shouldn't have cracked open a cold one in the middle of the library, but the deed has been done. After my first gulp I set my can down and begin to work on my paper. I keep getting this urge to drink the Coke. Its like it is watching me. Staring me down saying, "Darren just one sip can't hurt." I look back at the can in desperation as if to say, "Please, just one more paragraph." But then it does the most irresistable thing possible. It starts to let little beads on condensation down its side. This is a view straight from a Coke commercial. My foot begins to tap. It's like I have a nervous tick or something. My entire body is dying for the sweet bitter goodness that lies in the bright red can sitting next to me. Finally, smash!, I slam my computer shut! (which forces everyone once again to glare at me) and I grab the can, crinkling it a little bit, and slowly begin to sip every last drop of my can of Coca-Cola.

1st blog

I believe the best place for me to write would be in a quiet atmosphere without any distractions. I have not yet found this place here on campus, but at home it was always in my room at my desk. Here I could close my door and have silence. I have also noticed that I write best later at night. I think this is because I am calm and there are fewer distractions. Depending on the subject I am writing about I can sometimes have background noise. This is typlically from a radio. I cannot write as well if the music is playing directly into my ears. I prefer to have the noise coming from behind me. I think this is because in my room the stereo was always to my back, and I have just come accustomed to this. I usually write in spurts. I will think of what I want to write and be able to write a full paragraph non-stop, and then I plan for the next paragraph. I get a stream of ideas going and in vision the points I want to make, but when those points run out, it usually takes me a while to get back on track. I like to look over my papers, but in high school I usually did not revise. In my English class we did a lot of practice for the AP exam, so we would have one hour to write a paper, and therefore there was no time for revision, just checking for small errors. I always start my papers with the beginning, and my favorite way to start a paper is either with a quote, or a fact that grabs the readers’ attention. I enjoy the act of writing because I think it is a great way to express your thoughts and ideas. I also love the feeling when I can get on a roll and spit out all my thoughts at once. I believe writing can be a fun activity, and is a great way to get a point across, when utilized correctly.