another IC progress report

Well, I've finally decided exactly what my topic would be and have started on the second part of the project. My topic is the controversy over censorship in public places around the holidays. I know it sounds kind of confusing but I still haven't figured out a way to word it better than that. Basically my topic is over whether or not it's alright for stores and public places to decorate places show show holiday spirit. Example's of this would be something like santa being on display in the center of the mall, or light and decorations being hung from street lamps. My project is to see if it is right to openly express holiday spirit in a public place.

process one

Unfortunately my progress is well... minimal. I haven't really done much but think of any more ideas that would work. There is one that has come up to mind, though. Recently I saw an exhibit that was said to be a little controversial. It was an exhibit on the anatomy of the human body that used actual humans as the models. People have been complaining because most of the subject are Asian males. I guess it just kind of creeps those type of people out but I think there could be something that could make these two groups happy. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way to write about this for seven pages or so. SO, I will continue to think on subjects that would work.

ideas for inquiry contract

I've had a few ideas for this inquiry contract taht we are suppose to right up, but I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with a good one. The first thing I thought of was the argument in the NFL between whether to change all stadiums, indoors and outdoors, to artificial turf to prevent an event like this monday between the Steelers and the Dolphins.
The second one I thought of was the problem of overcrowding in jails. With this one I would probably find more material and it'd be easier to go on for a few more pages than my other idea. Along with this one also comes the controversy around the death penalty. While it is a hard topic to touch on, I think it would be more interesting to write about this topic.

Incidents

It is definitely important that the author does not clean up any of the language or edit the story to seem more "appropriate". Even though I am a big supporter of not censoring passages or art created by people, I still think that from an unbiased opinion this book needs to stayed unabridged so that it can get the true point across to it's projected audience. By doing this, true rhetoric can be taken from the passage as well as giving the reader a look into the life of a female slave in those times. The author's whole point would be for not if someone took her original passage and edited it to be more suitable for today's readers.
At the same time, it is also important that this story be true and not fiction. This is just important because a real story that actually happened always makes more emotion in it's audience. It this story was just made up, no one would take it nearly as serious.

Probably the first of many DoaS blog

Willy has one distinct view of individual accomplishment and how a person can reach it. He believes that if a person is well like, he could be successful in anything they do in life. He thinks that it matters how people view you and how you are perceived in public. Otherwise known as the Social You. Willy's idea is completely based on the fact that others are around to judge you and will use their judging of you to base how they feel about you as a person and an employee. This is just one of the many flaws with this idea. Another one is that this doesn't rely on how well you can do something or the actual person you are on the inside. This could eventually lead to emotional bankruptcy. This idea only relies on what others think of you, and also states that it doesn't matter who you are or if you even have a personal you. This could lead to an inevitable downfall of the person who believes or practices this belief.

second day observations

And now the assignment is over with. Everyone can go back to worrying about whether they turned in their blogs on time and what they're missing, at least until the next big essay is due. But that's not what we're suppose to talk about here. So let me get back on subject.
The second day of speeches went fairly well if you ask me. Of course you had those who didn't do so well, not naming any names here, but they still did their speeches and completed them. There were others who did exceptionally well and definitely knew their material, as well as made good presentations. Everyone else just seemed to fall somewhere in the middle, not that that is a bad thing. But overall, I believe that all the speeches were definitely good and everyone was properly prepared.

first day observations

Todays presentations were a great way to start off the speeches for this project. I have to give props to Alex for volunteering too go first for this. It takes a lot of guts to stand up and go first for such a big project. Anyways, though only a few people went, they had very good presentations and well prepared speeches.

Yet another Writing Arguments assignment

In the passage, the author talks about the idea that in order to be successful, you just have to zone out others and ignore them. By doing this, you ideally will be successful and be ultimately happy. Now I have to admit that this idea does look good on paper, but in the real world this idea would never work. The Author is not taking into effect that humans instinctively worry about what others think and based many decision on the pressure of others. No matter how much we want to get away from that fact, we just can't filter out the thoughts of others and how they'll perceive who we are. The world just doesn't work like that, no matter what we may wish it to be like

The story of Ragged Dick review

The story of Ragged Dick has three main idealistic views that all have to d with the idea of people being judged mainly by their merit. The first is the idea that people are mainly judge on merit alone when it comes to what type of person someone is. The second is the idea that everyone has the potential to achieve their best through the use of merit. And the last is that merit will win out. While these idea sound good on paper, they don't work very well at all in real life.
The idea that people can be judge solely on merit is probably the most unrealistic of all of them. I don't think there is anyone on this earth, including myself, can judge a person on just merit and exclude other element like background, pedigree, upbringing, and even in some cases race. It is fairly well known that your appearance when you meet somebody is about half of a person's first impression of you. It is just some part of human nature I guess, but whatever it is, it exist and it plays apart in your sucess in life.
The second idea actually has some more credibility when in comes to use in the real world. The only reason is because, the author of the article doesn't state that doing your best is becoming rich or anything like that. He only states that it means you can achieve your absolute best through the use of merit. And the last idea has omse truth to it, but it really doesn't work that well. While merit can get you far if you are indeed a good person, there are other factor that will always be included and counted when it come to that idea.

American Dream revamped

Steven Cruz brings up some very interesting points that I enjoyed and agreed with. The one that hit me the hardest was the notion he made that the new American dream is to not lose. As Americans, I think that we have adopted this idea that it's ok if we don't do anything to progress ourselves further, as long as we don't lose. Our only drive is to do minimum to win. I think it's ridiculous how no one wants to become something greater than what they are. They just don't want to lose. It's what is really wrong with this society and the American Dream now a days. Where would we really be if no body wanted to maybe advance life a little bit?
Would Washington have crossed the Deleware? WOuld Peyton Manning have won the super bowl after years of shameful dissappointment. None of them settled for just "not losing", so why should anybody else? Some people just need to get a grip on life and realize that you cannot just go coasting through doing whatever you wish until it's too late to change anything. If that happens what will this country come to? If we all go the way of Cruz's revamped "American Dream", America might no exhist in the state if was meant to become.

Rich exploiting the poor

I don't think that the rich are really exploiting the poor. Even though the rich do under pay and seemingly take advantage of the poor, the poor voluntarily do it. While the rich do abuse how desperate those in lower class society. While at the same time the rich do use to poor for everything they don't want to do and lower their wages to the lowest amount possible. While this may sound a lot like exploiting, my personal definition of exploitation is when you abuse someone for your own amusement or benefit. What the rich do does not really fall into that category in my mind since they just use them by giving the least in return as possible.
By now I bet there is someone out there saying that just because that is my personal definition, doesn't mean that it is a good ground to base itself on. So now I will give the actual definition to exploit: "to make full use of and derive benefit from" (dictionary widget for iBook). TO those people I would just like to say "ha" because even though my definition is completely different from the dictionary one, they still have the same underline and they both fit into my argument. The rich do not exploit the poor merely because, even thought it's meager, the poor at least get something in return.

Ethos and Pathos in the government and state

Ethos and Pathos are powerful weapons in any argument. Ethos uses credibility to back up your argument. While Pathos uses feeling words to bring out the audience's emotions to help them make a decision either way. When you use these though there are some things that are expected of you. One of those is that you use the complete truth in your argument to back yourself up. It is just immoral to sit there and lie to somebody to get their vote. It is immoral as well as illogical. Why would you want to lie in your argument just to get people to side with you.
This is one of the ethical values that we expect our government and media to live up to. Unfortunately they don't always keep to their unwritten code. Whether it's for votes or ratings, these two groups will lie from time to time just to save their own asses. It is definitely wrong but so far nobody has stepped in to stop them.

Pseudo arguments

Pseudo arguments are argument that take place over a subject that can't be measured. An example would be something like whether cats are better than dogs or not. It is basically any argument that can really be argued till the end of time.
One pseudo argument that has come up in my life is whether movie are better than theater. It was a pretty heated argument. On one hand you have movie that can produce a more realistic picture and make you believe that you are actually in the story. But on the other you get a real life performance that could be different every night. You can also make a longer play than you can a movie. With movies, people expect to go to a theater and be out in less than three hours. On the other hand, with plays, as long as you have intermission, people can expect to spend their evening or night there. It's almost like a gathering place for people. While both have their distinct advantages, you can never really decide without a shred of doubt that one is better than the other. But they both do share something in common and that is what's most important of all. THey both are created to tell a story to the audience.

The use of Pathos

Pathos can be a great tool for using in an argument, that is if you know how to use it right. Pathos plays on the emotions of the people you are trying to sell your argument to. Whether it's those who support you or those who disagree with you, Pathos can help make them believe what you are arguing for. Pathos is when you use words that repersent feelings in your argument. This brings out people's emotions to help make theri decision about a certain topic. Whether it's pity or anger, the use of Pathos in an argument can be a very helpful tool. Many times, a person's emotions can get in the way of their logic and almost make a decision for them. If you can do this right, it will help you become better at arguing.

Sides in Torture

In the argument for using torture only in necessary situations, the writers make some very good points as well as some key mistakes. He uses human emotions to pull at you heart and make you feel guilt or pain to cloud your judgement. What i mean by this is that while these types of emtions can be very useful in certain situations, here they just get in the way of your clear thinking and can even force you into a decision you wouldn't be ofr otherwise. Now I'm not saying that this is a dirty trick or anything like that, but merely a well thought out strategy to get people to see his view of things.
While he does put out a lot of good points, the way in which he did it seemed rushed and very vulnerable. Because he was verbally pelting the reader with all of these ideas and arguments, it was suppose to not give the reader time to come up with a response or a counter arguement. This clearly shows that while he can make a good opening satement for his side, he is most likely not ready to continue on in a drawnout argument about this subject. In this case he is clearly either not through enough in his undestanding of the subject or that he just issint a good debater. By reading his paper I would be put to the side against it just because he uses more mental warfare to try and pursuade people than actaully giving him facts and clear convincing explnations, but I still have to side with him because what he said only enforced what I thought before reading this paper.

implicit vs. explicit

For as long as humans still have consciousness, and possibly even after, there will always be arguments between other humans. These arguments will be played out for either sides feeling towards a certain subject. Within these boundaries, there will be two distinct ways that people will argue. One way is through implicit argument, the other explicit.
Implicit argument is possibly the harder of the two to understand fully, it is using a subtle or non-direct way to state something. For example a picture. Say you have a picture like this
this would show that the argument that a great man just died and that he will be sorely missed. It is not directly said but when you look at it, the meaning should become fairly clear.
Explicit Argument would probably be an easier one to comprehend. It is pretty much somebody stating something like "The iPhone is evil. There is no way something could really be that perfect!" That would be an example of a more explicit argument.

Memories

It was sometime near the end of July. My family was checking out land in a rather large rural neighborhood in the southeastern part of New York. My family was thinking of moving there and having a house built. Out in the front of the lot, there was a large mount of gravel that was just lying there. At this moment in time I was around eleven or twelve years old. To me it looked like it was taller than a house. That was where I first met my soon to be neighbors, Blake and Troy.
One, Blake, was a grade younger than me and about year younger also, but we shared a lot of the same interest. But so do most kids around that age. The other was around my brother’s age, who was just about to go into 1st grade. They seemed like they were nice, and even though I didn’t know they’re names at the time, I knew that we got along well.
About three or four months later, our house was finally ready to move into to. When we got there, Blake and his Brother Troy were already there. We would hang out and play all day around our little section of the neighborhood. We lived in an unfinished dead end street that turned in to a dirt road. There were only about 5 houses on that street. One day Blake decided to introduce me to the rest of the kids that hung out on the street. There was and older blonde girl, Whose name I sadly cannot remember, who was probably in 6th or 7th grade. There was a young kid who was either in 1st or 2nd grade. And A brother and a sister a year younger than me, You would have thought they were twins. We all got along really well.
We would all like to hang out at this one spot that was right on a creek. Running on one side of my house was a creek. It ran under the street all of our houses were located on and came out on the other side. On the other side of the street was where we would gather and talk for hours on end. Above the creek there were two large rocks that had flat tops. They were pretty high above the creek, and they were prefect for standing on or lying down. We would sit there, all of us dangling our feet off the rock looking at the creek as it flowed through. Here, we would talk about anything and everything. Mostly about schools and how our teachers were giving out tons of homework. It was fun and everyone enjoyed just talking, sharing jokes, and laughing.
One weekend, we were pretty bored. It was a long weekend and the teachers have given us no homework. We all figured we would go down to our usual spot and hang out down there. After a while one of the kids came up with a good idea, or at least that’s what we all thought at the time. He decided that he could jump from one rock to the other over the creek. Well, he made so we all decided to try it. It was fun and we did that for as long as kids could do that without getting bored.
Days passed and we continued going to that spot and hanging out. We would explore the tunnels that the creek ran through under the road. One day, the man who owns the area that we were hanging out on said that he didn’t want us there because we could get hurt and it would be bad if we sued him for us injuring ourselves doing something without our parents around to watch us. Eventually we all just went our separate ways after that. With nowhere to hang out we just stopped all together. That January I left New York and moved to Indiana.

Class Discussions

The talks in class in the recent days have been very interesting to say the least. It has gotten me to think a lot about how stories are told and given to others around us. I have thought about human nature and how us as human beings want to be heard and want to be acknowledged. We want others to notice us, and at the same time, to notice others. I've thought about how stories that I write pertain to the Big 5 questions. I also wonder whether I should write my story around those or just let it come naturally in order to create a more believing piece. It would be an understatement to say that I have had just a few "light bulb" like moments. I've gotten more out of passages than I have ever hoped to get out of them before. If I wasn't in class to hear about how Gatsby is related to a machine gun, I would have never believed it.

"How I Started to Write" reflection

Carlos Fuentes' piece How I Started to Write was a piece about how his Latino and American background has affected his writing and the way he views the US and the world. The Audience I believe Fuentes is talking to is general Americans. You can tell by how in first person it sounds like he's talking to America as a whole when he says "you". The reason for this is to show people how your background can affect your writing and how you can view different aspects of life. He wanted to get his side of his unique story across to the general American audience so they can see where he coming from and where he's planning on going.
Another reason he wrote this passage is to just show how he started writing was unique and different. We all have a story to tell, and Fuentes chose this one. I believe that he wanted to get his origin across for educating his audience of himself. We all could tell our own individual story of how we came into writing. That is something that is unique to each and every one of us and there is probably no one in the world who can have the same story as you.

"I could tell you stories" reflection

Overall I found the discussion very deep and intriguing. It made me think of how you can judge characters in a new way, but probably the most important, for me at least, was the idea of the different levels of story. I never thought of how you can convey the same information and it could be so different. While I have to admit that I have seen it in different places before, I have not until that class given it more thought. After that discussion, anytime I'm watched TV, read a book, or heard a story. My mind immediately thought about that discussion and made me think of how the real story is being portrayed differently by the way that i was originally, or even meant to be, presented. I wondered how it could be conveyed better for it's own meaning. It just made me look deeper into story that I would normally look at only for entertainment, and really wonder it's value and how it meets up to the actual story in it pure and original state. Along those lines I guess I came to a small conclusion that for certain stories, there are certain ways that the story can be portrayed. This is something else that would just seem to pop into my mind as I was doing one of these things. I wondered whether there was a better way to portray the story, or if the way it was presented was the best way, or at least the one that made the most sense. I don't know why but after that discussion all of these things started popping into my head, and I would just unconsciously start evaluating everything. I can't say that it's bad because I believe it helps me a bit understand more about those stories and the lessons that they could possibly, most likely not, hold deep inside them.

Class Reflection- 8/22

AP English is a challenging, thought provoking, and overall rewarding class. From the little of the class that I have experienced I have learned not just a lot about the English language and literature, but also much about human nature and psychology. I’ve expanded my brain to think in ways that it hasn’t done before. It makes me feel accomplished and intellectual. It has been fairly hard so far, but it’s been a rewarding experience. I have learned a lot and have taken two books that I wouldn’t have given a second look at before and looked at them under the surface to truly find out their literary meaning and what lessons we can learn from reading these books. It has been an enjoying class so far, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds in store for my class as a whole.