Wednesday, November 24, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

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.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

GOOD LORDEH! HE HAS GOT A FOUL MOUTH! Blog/RJ WEEK 10 Writing Assignment #2

My views on taboo language can be summed up honestly as not giving a flying fig about it. You can see how American television still censors a lot more than most countries do in language and practically everything about media compared to other nations. You will most likely see a child cussing up a storm in another country than you would here due to the amount of censorship that goes into our media. However, you can see that American censorship is letting a lot more things fly in the language department as of late. An example of taboo language being unbleeped would be the words ass, asshole, shit, and even bitch.
Since I am an adult now I couldn’t really careless what people say in terms of language on television. I can understand the concerns of parents being worried about their children hearing this taboo language over time, but if you are a responsible parent you would be naturally making sure you avoid these said channels that would promote this language to begin with. I think it is a misconception that people blame the people who make shows that contain foul language when they can simply just ignore the show, block it, or just never even mention them. I don’t think that taboo language helps television characters sound like “real people”, but I do feel like it makes the characters look less mature in general or just unlikeable.
I figure it is okay to cuss every now and then, but if every word out of your mouth was “fuck” then I would have issues with you. Everyone should be able to watch what they want when they want it as long as it is legal. I find there is no issue with cussing/foul language at all. If you enjoy people cussing up a storm then I figure that is your own opinion and taste. Everyone enjoys different things and if we try to tell people what they can or cannot watch or say then we are no better than communist.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

To censor or not to censor, I prefer not to censor however I am no parent.

All forms of media entertainment may it be movies, books, and or television shows have major influence on every culture, every race, and just plain out every human’s language that they use in every day conversation. Just like with the concept of watching to many violent shows and playing to many violent games making one violent the concept of enjoying mass media entertainment that uses prejudicial language can have increase negative effect on increasing use of prejudicial language in daily conversation.
The way mass media entertainment has increasing effect in the influence on the use of prejudicial language can be compared through the same method and effects that war propaganda had on people. Being shown only one type of media commercial, an example being listening to one type of music or reading one style of book over and over, is almost like brain washing. For children up to children, teenagers, and up to young adults this method of is very common since they are all still growing and absorbing new information everyday, so companies can take advantage of this and have their products have an influence in their life by being a part of their daily lives that they experience pretty frequently.
The fact that censorship on foul/mature language is being lowered every year on daily media, news, television shows, and even movies, is having an ever so increasing effect in the use of judicial language as well. There was a time where you couldn’t say bitch on television without getting the word bleeped out, but now you hear it everywhere from MTV to the morning news. I do like the fact that America’s censorship is becoming more open since most of the world their censorship is practically nil or non-existent, but you think we would be tightening our grip on censorship instead of loosening it to effect younger generations from using such prejudicial language, forming new prejudices, and being inspired to use these new found ideals in everyday life. This issue of watching, reading, or using any form of media entertainment is not the fault of the children but instead the parents' fault in the method they use to raise their children. In my opinion if the parents of the child gave a care into what mass media their children or teenagers currently use on a daily basis they would turn out to be fine, but the problem is that most parents really don’t care at all which gives free reign to mass media being able to bend the mind of children and young adults out there to fill their heads with what they want them to think.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Prompt 2 THIS WORLD IS MADE OF LOVE AND PEACE! (I can dream!)

I believe that both happiness and respect are very important things to have in life, but if I had to choose between the two I would choose happiness. A person can all the respect for himself/herself and all the respect they can get from everyone, but that doesn’t mean that all that respect will make them truly happy. If everyone is happy with themselves then there would be no reason fights to start over anything. Through happiness we can achieve true peace in the world, something like the ideal respect can never achieve.

I just see more benefits and more positive things coming from the idea of happiness than the idea of respect. Happiness is not only good for those around you but it is also good for yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually. Being happy and reflecting that happiness will do wonders for your health and you will also probably live longer as well. People tend to respect those who are happy as well and who treat them nicely. If everyone is happy then everyone is respectful of one another.

I believe that to be able to achieve true happiness in our nation we must allow those to be able to pursue their happiness. The one thing that I find most hypocritical about our great nation of America is that homosexuals can not marry in most of the nation, if not all of it already. One of the very ideals which were one of the foundations of our nation cannot be fully achieved due to this current big issue. Until this issue is resolved then we are not all truly equal as Americans I believe since not all of use can achieve our true happiness.