Busy.. Just simply busy.....

Where to start? Last week was kind of hectic for me since I had to go down to San Diego to celebrate my uncle’s sixtieth birthday and then drive back home immediately the day after. I haven’t had really any time to start on this research paper until this week. I choose to do the Great Gatsby topic since I just recently wrote a paper for it for one of my other English courses, which now I have to type out a revision as well. The revisions are also another thing holding me back from starting this paper mainly for the fact that I have three papers to revise which are the second essay for this class, a different Great Gatsby paper, and the final draft of the Doublespeak and bullshit paper. I am just glad I have read Great Gatsby so many times already; this allows me to not have to reread it again and just focus on writing the paper and gather sources. I will be getting the books need for my sources today after my American Literature class.
I am probably going to get the majority of my papers done before Friday, including this research project. I don’t imagine I will have any real trouble finishing this since it is after all the first draft and it will not be perfect anyway. The only thing that I will probably have trouble with is my biggest fault which is my procrastination. I am afraid that I might forget something or dwindle my time away with out paying to much attention to what really needs to be down. If all else fails I am going to be pulling all nighters, I am used to this so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for me to do. If I am have any further problems I will probably try to make arrangements to have a meeting with our teacher since she seems pretty understandable.
The one thing I am not looking forward to though is doing peer draft reviews. Sine each of these first drafts we are all doing are suppose to be five pages in length that means there is going to be a lot to review for everyone, this doesn’t help since it seems like I am in an even bigger group now than I was previously. Anyway, I look forward to reading other people’s papers regardless since I don’t know the majority of the people in my group now.
Right now I am praying that I am able to cover everything down to the letter in this research project, even though this is only the first draft I am still nervous a bit. I hope that I can rely on my new group to help me with their edits in their peer draft reviews on my paper and I hope I can offer the same kind of services in return.

Lolz! I r 1337! jk No, really I am joking...

Okay first off I apologize for this entry being so late and there is a good reason behind it being late. I know excuses are just poor, but when you are preparing to transfer and graduate while going to visit relatives due to one of your uncles turning sixty things can get really hectic. On with the show as they say in show business. When I am communicating online through emails, forum posts, comments, or what ever form of text I normally try to be as literate as possible. I don’t normally shorten words by using acronyms or something like brb, gtg, lol, or lmao. I don’t use smilies unless I am being flirtatious or just being goofy with someone I know well.
My style is normally to the point since I want to get answers as fast as possible to my questions and I figure it would be safer if I was just straight to the point with my questions. My answers to other people’s questions can range from being short to long and detailed depending on the situation at hand. If I want people to get the full grasp of something I would try to be as detailed as possible with my answers to their questions. If I am irritated at a person online I may give a negative long detailed answer as well to prove how wrong or just how foolish their previous response was.
On forums I tend to be very silent and just lurk, when a user reads other post on the said thread of the forum to get a grasp of the situation that is being discussed. If I feel like I understand the subject that is being discussed I may or may not share my input on the topic. I tend to hang out website forums that are very deep in my own hobbies, so I tend to run into people online who know more about my hobbies than even I do which is why I tend to be silent at times more than talkative less I get trolled/flamed, insulted or teased, for saying something that may be slightly off or wrong. Listening, in this case reading, instead of talking can sometimes be the better of the two options so you don’t sound foolish or just plain out wrong when you do decide to share your input on a situation or topic that is currently being discussed on the said forum.
I tend to send emails only when I am trying to send something in, asking questions, or wanting assistance in which case I would be just as formal and literal as I would at anything else that I am posting in. I figure if I want something I should be as clear as crystal with what I am trying to say to obtain the information that I want to get from the people I am trying to talk or communicate online with. There are too many situations where I can’t answer someone’s question due to the post from that said person being very illiterate and filled with internet acronyms. In the end I just want to be as polite and understanding as possible.

Th-th-th-that's all folks..I don't think so.

The newspaper is one of the oldest forms of written communication in a society for a person to share their opinion or views, the oldest form being books which also sometimes contained political/editorial cartoons themselves. An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration or comic strip containing a political or social message, which usually relates to current events or personalities. You can see editorial cartoons in the Sunday funnies section or the editorial page, like Doonesbury and Boondocks. As already mentioned these types of cartoons are trying to give off political message of some sort of what the artist/creator may be in favor or against a particular event dealing with normally the government at the time. Since the editorial and the Sunday funnies sections are commonly read by a lot of today’s society it is probably one the best ways to promote an opinion about some political event that may be going on or has passed.

Editorial cartoons are made specifically to entertain and amuse readers. Most of the time the editorial cartoons are set up in a way to make a situation look funny, even if the final message is in support of the political event. With giving the message a cartoon humorous look not only does it attract views of audience it also may help the attended audience to get a better grasp and understanding of the political situation that may be going on. The audience does not have to agree or disagree with artist’s opinion since the editorial cartoon’s purpose to begin with is just to make hidden truths and the opinion of artist known to society.

I don’t necessarily agree with Marlette’s fears of editorial cartoons being endangered. If anything is happening to editorial cartoons they are expanding and increasing in number due to technologies like the internet allowing people to express themselves as cartoonist in a broader, cheaper, and faster way. The internet itself just grants that many more options and freedoms for artist to publish their political cartoons. Of course the amount of freedoms and options for artist who create these cartoons varies from country to country, but even then I doubt that stops the artist from trying to get their opinions out there.

To be the better man, or in this case writer.

Finally a blog entry where I can let loose and just fritter away and talk a little about my improvements over this semester in terms of writing. In short I believe that I still have a long way to go as a focused writer, meaning a writer that is has to write something that he is being told to write and not what he wants to write. When I am being able to write about whatever I please is when I can really show my true skills and totally just let myself loose upon my reader audience.
I believe that the area which I have grown stronger in is being able to communicate my feelings stronger in my writing and be able to convince others to support my cause. The area which I believe I am weakest in is coming up with a strong thesis. I can’t seem to wrap my head around the area of solely focusing on one thesis through out an entire paper since I am so use to expressing many different opinions when I normally speak. I normally do not like to put people through ordeals or ask for help when I am working on a written piece of work, but I am beginning to learn to rely on others who have experience in the fields by having people peer edit my writing drafts and seeing what they think about it.
I have learned and gained experience in using MLA format correctly. The thing about MLA format is that it can vary depending on how the teacher prefers the format. One way you may cite a source or use a block quote may vary from one teacher to the next. I am lucky that most of my teachers haven’t asked for anything beyond MLA format, except the occasional odd ball of a teacher that may ask for APA format.

I will be meeting up with my teacher from this online course for the first time next week to see if I can get some help from her and work on improving my previous essay. I am praying that things will go well with the meeting and hopefully I will understand her method of writing so I can adapt to it myself.