I had a lot of fun just talking with all of you in class. This class was fun even though i didnt get everything done to the best of my potential. An example is this weblog, look at it i have 4 posting in a row in more than one place, i just couldnt get things done on a regular basis. Also i am doing a bunch at the last minute, i just hope that this wont effect my grade in the class. Well that is all i have to write here i will probably check the site out every once in a while to see if anyone is writing on here still, i will try to keep writing if other people are. But that is it for now. Have a great Christmas break.
I had a lot of fun just talking with all of you in class. This class was fun even though i didnt get everything done to the best of my potential. An example is this weblog, look at it i have 4 posting in a row in more than one place, i just couldnt get things done on a regular basis. Also i am doing a bunch at the last minute, i just hope that this wont effect my grade in the class. Well that is all i have to write here i will probably check the site out every once in a while to see if anyone is writing on here still, i will try to keep writing if other people are. But that is it for now. Peace out class!!
I dont know what this has to do with anything but i just was writing about country singers and i had a good story to tell so i figured i would tell it to you all.
The big thing in my school for homecoming and other things is to paint a railroad bridge that a big highway by the town i went to school in goes under. On the night of my high school graduation me and a bunch of friends decided to paint it because we had nothing better to do. We went up there and if you have ever heard of the band "Big and Rich" they have a song called "Save a horse, Ride a Cowboy" so we painted that on the bridge and on the other side we wrote Rednecks '04 because we were rednecks and we graduated in 2004. The reason this is relevant is because a week later there was a country music station in my area that was talking about it on the radio and then they played that song. I just thought that that was cool and i thought i would tell you all the story.
Since my favorite music is country here is a list of 10 country singers that you should really listen to i think that they are good. Not in specific order
1. Big and Rich
2. Brooks and Dunn
3. Who can forget Garth Brooks?
4. Kenny Chesney
5. Mongonery Gentry
6. Alan Jackson
7. Rascal Flatts
8. Toby Keith
9. Tim McGraw
10. Dierks Bently
These are just a few good ones there are many others out there that i like also, i have a good story i will tell in another post about one of these bands
My first semester at college has been a really good time, but i think that that is the problme is i had too much fun and didnt do enough studying, i am still going to pass all of my classes but i am not going to get the grades that i hoped for, but what can i do now but try harder next semester. It has been fun hanging out and stuff like that but i really relized that i shouldve spent more time studying. I think next semester will be better because i have more classes that i am interested in than i do this semester. That is all about that though Peace out people.
Hey everyone! Wow! Can you believe how fast this semester went? Although this was technically my first real college semester, I attended the U of M full-time last year for the PSEO program so in reality it was my third semester. However, living on campus this semester was a whole new experience. I think that I have changed more than ever this year from being at the U of M. I have noticed that I could care less about the high school drama type things, and I feel a lot more grown up (when really I'm just one year older). It is interesting to see the way you grow in every part of your life just by becoming a little more independent and disciplined by being in college. Although I feel I won't necessarily remember how media use affects our society or the technical names for each muscle group in my body, I have learned how to be a better person. College teaches you life long skills such as how to communicate in a professional arena, how to market yourself to future employers, how to utilize your personal skills to acquire a job... etc. I feel living in the dorm has taught me independence but on the other hand, taught me to appreciate all that my family has done for me over the past 18 years. I must say, nothing beats a home cooked meal that you can eat at WHATEVER time you want! hehe! Well... thanks for a great class, I will be thinking of you all and hope to run into you again on this giant campus! Happy Holidays and hope everyone's year is successful in many ways! ~Courtney
I, like everyone else, can't really seem to grasp that this semester is actually coming to a close! It's so weird that at this time next week I will be home in my own bed, eating real food, and not havign to worry about homework. I've really enjoyed this class. I learned a lot, not only relating to Rhetoric, but just relating to people in general. I wish everyone the best of luck with their classes second semester, see you around!
Wow..its amazing that we are finally DONE with first term !!!! I can't believe it has already been six months since we left the UAE and moved back to Minnesota, and since I started here at the U of M...Well, I really enjoyed this class personally, it's been interesting and most of all EXTREMELY USEFUL..I now have a lot more confidence about making arguments, since I have learned so much about arguing and persuading in this course.. Thanks to Clancy and thanks to everyone for making this an enjoyable class !!!! Everyone have a WONDERFUL BREAK !!!!!!!!!
yay for being done with first semester!!! it feels so good to be through with school for a month!!!! it was fun, everyone, good luck in the future. also, good job to everyone on the final presentations they were interesting. good day.
well everybody, today is the last day of class so i just wanted to say that its been fun and i hope everyone has a good second semester! hopefully everyone has their research papers done! see ya in class
I just thought that it was a good idea how stores (Best Buy!) are releasing classic cartoons that I used to watch when I was younger. I thought I would never see those cartoons again (like - My Little Pony, Care Bears, Garfield, and most importantly the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons!). I was so excited when I saw the DVDs of those cartoons episodes and I spent like my whole Saturday watching them and reminiscing.
oof. i do NOT want to go home for break. i mean yeah, it would be nice to be home for like 3 or 4 days for christmas but thats it. i think it sucks that we cant be in the dorms at all for a month. this is mainly because i only live 15 minutes west of here... so i technically could go home whenever i want (i never do though). i love meeting my parents for lunch and catching up... i feel like we have more of a friendship than a parent and child relationship, which i have been ready for for quite some time now. i wish that i could still live here and all my old friends who came home can come HERE to see me and stuff. this is definately my home now, and i would rather be here. oh well!!! this is the only year this will happen because ill have an apartment next year. i suppose i'll be spending a lot of time at my brothers house over break.... he lives here in the city. i am, however, ready for classes to be through. my chem course is killing me. its really annoying how the class i work the hardest in is the class i have the worst grade in. grrrsnarl. oh well, i hope everyone survives finals!!! good luck to all.
Hello! Ok so I actually was going to talk about two things in this blog, i'll start with the one that makes me a little more sad. I don't know if anyone else thought like i did, but you know in high school when the semester ends and you are a little sad because your classes are ending so you have to get all new ones and it was kind of not fun because you liked the class you had. On the opposite side of that though, even though classes were ending it didn't matter because in high school you knew most all of your grade so you knew that your friends would end up in some of your classes? Well i thought that way and as i was thinking about the first semester at college ending, it made me a little sad to think that it was goign to be ending. It took me a while to open up and get to know people in my classes but now that i have i feel like it's just going to end, and unlike high school there's a very good chance that you'll never see a lot of people in your classes anymore. Just wondering if anyone else thought of that. On a happier note though, I went to the movie Ocean's 12 on Sunday and it was very good! I think that it may have been a lot better had Ocean's 11 not been so good, but it was still a good movie that i would recommend seeing! I just love those movies where you're so confused throughout the whole thing and then at the end it makes complete sense! I guess that's about all I have to say, have a good night everyone!
Hey everyone, I'm just blogging about my first semester of college. So I've heard that the first semester of college is the toughest for a lot of people. I hope that is true! I am from Eau Claire, WI (about an hour & a half away) and came here thinking this is great, I'm going to be away from my parents and have the time of my life. Turns out, I got very homesick. I would call my parents & sister just about everynight. I missed them all so much. It was weird because I would have never thought that I would be home sick. It was a bigger adjustment than both my parents and I expected. So now as this semster is coming to an end, I'm getting use to being away from my family. I've stopped going home every weekend...instead I go about every other...haha. I still call my mom almost everynight, but thats just cus I love her;-) As far as classes, I feel like I'm still adjusting to the difference between high school and college classes. I've done pretty well this semester but I'm hoping that I can do better next semester since I kind of know what I'm getting into. Anyways, this first semester has defintly been a growing experience. See you all in class:)
so, life at the U, its been fun and i am sure it will continue to be fun. Living in the dorms is definetly an experience, one i hope i will not have to go through again! i guess that living in the dorms is the most different part for me compared to high school. i like living in the dorms but sometimes i just wanna be home away from it all, ya know? but i would never be a commuter that would be nuts, no way! the course work hasnt really been that tough yeah somethings have been more challenging then others but not to where its so hard that it cant be done. the food stinks, i hate the cafe food, i cant even eat it anymore, except for b-fast thats the only meal that i can stand, living here has been kinda expensive i have noticed, before when i was in high school my parents would pay for stuff for school and now they are leaving things like notebooks and random stuff like that for me to pay for. i like that being in college makes you so independant tho, i love it! i guess i wasnt really all that dependant on my parents before but this is like total freedom and its hard for me to imagine that when i am not in the dorms i will have even more freedom and independance! wow! but first semester has been good, there have been those nights i was afraid of coming into college, the nights where i stayed up really late to get something done, or the nights i studied for hours for math tests but overall i am really glad i came to the U and even more glad that i stayed in the dorms! i might add to this later when i have more to say
I feel that having to buy college books/manuals is a big rip off! Other Universities allow students to rent the books they need for their classes and return them after the semester is over (Riverfalls). I don't know why we can't do that too. I spent hundreds of dollars on books and half of them I didn't even use and will never use again. I know that we are able to sell them back, but we only get about 50% or less of our money back, and some of the books you can't even sell back like "course packets" and manuals. Sometimes they tell you "we are not using these books next semester" because they always get new versions which are still similar to the older ones. I also wonder how the go about pricing these packets and manuals. How can a few printed stories and articles cost $40, and I barely even used it. I think that if people want to buy the books because they want to keep them, they should. But there should also be an option of renting the books for the semester, for those who don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on books they barely used for a couple months.
I use to love reality shows, and still kinda do, but they seem to be losing the excitement and the hype is kind of dying down. Reality shows use to be something new and different from the ordinary evening sitcoms. They showed ordinary people doing extraordinary things (like be stranded on a deserted island, or doing crazy stunts) and it was fun. Now, Everything is getting redundant and "seen it!" But the point I'm trying to get at is that I don't think reality shows are realistically choosing people to be on the shows. I feel that reality shows are only looking for certain kinds of people to be on their shows and that also makes it boring. They look for people who are young, in good shape, argumentative, looking for sex, etc. Because they think that is all what people want to see, and it will boost their ratings. I know that doesn't apply for all reality shows (CBS), but majorly that's all I've been seing lately. Also, they almost always have only one non-white person in the show (which is unrealistic since all minorities together make up about half of the US population). Reality shows also rarely have people who are overweight or obese on their shows, which is also unrealistic since half of America is overweight or obese. I've just been noticing that lately and I feel that for reality shows to be realistic they need to realistically represent reality.
The first semester is almost over for me. My last classes are next week. I have to say that college was not as hard as people told me it was. The workload was not that intense except for periods like now when I have teh final tests for classes and a research paper due. Other than that life is great. Anyway, I am looking forward to a nice long winter break. College is SOOOO much better than high school. You get to meet more people, the classes are better, you don't have to wake up at six in teh morning when it is still dark outside, the food is better and you have some independence. And classes are shorter. Anyway, hope everyone's semester has been great and see you in class monday.
I have just had an realization of what I an here on this what I am here on thius world for. I am here to be me. I can't change the person I am but I can make a better way for myself and i can make it through any thing if I put my mind to it but it is just one thing that is blocking this whole process from happening, and that is me.
You see a persons worst enemy is his self and his mind, they say that a mind is a terrible thing to waste but it is also a terrible thing to have sometimes. thoughts can drive a person crazy sometimes. to the point where they dont know if they are going up or comming down.
But back to my statement I know what I am in this world for is to be me I am puzzle peice out billions of people designed in this field we call life. my action is what makes the world circulate diffferently and what affects your day.
We all know that catchy little Mcdonald's jingle "Ba da ba ba ba I'm lovin it!" and I even find myself humming it out of nowhere way too often. Why could this be? Maybe it is because we are so bombarded with advertising and the media these days that it seeps into our brain and we are not even aware of it. I think that this can be related to the current trends we see in consumers these days, especially involving the food industry. The Fat Revolution discussed in Lamm's essay made me feel like she is making excuses for being fat and saying she is 'meant' to be that way. I'm not so sure I agree with this idea as it seems like she is just giving up on the idea of being thinner and healthier and replacing it with the excuse of not being able to control her body figure. I think that obesity is a huge problem in our society today but I also recognize that there are a million factors that affect health of individuals. Lamm is very outspoken in her views about obesity but I feel that she doesn't necessarily grasp ideas that are reasonable. I think she needs to understand that starving yourself and dieting is not neccessary and that regardless of your so-called "body figure" by eating well-balanced foods and exercising regularly you can be a healthy and much happier individual. So what was the old McD's slogan again... We love to see you smile???!
Have you guys heard of this guy that won $2,520,700 on Jeopardy. Unfortunately his 74-game winning streak is over, and he's writing a book on his accomplishments. I wastched him paly a couple of times, and he is just genius. He got almost every single questions correct. Just crazy. Here's the URL for an article regarding this Ken Jennings
Hey everyone! I just thought I'd write a quick response to the Lamm essay that we read quick before I go start some homework. I think that the article was completely refreshing. The fact of the matter is, no one comes out and says anything like that these days because people are too self conscious about what everyone else will think about them. I think people need to quit worrying so much about what everyone else thinks. The essay to me didn't necessarily portray to me the fact that being fat is this great thing. although she did make a very good argument towards that. To me it was more of an essay just arguing to be happy no matter what your faults are. Sure some people are bigger then others or some people have different sexual preferences or have bigger feet then someone. You can honestly go your entire life picking things out about yourself that make you unhappy, even if it's something as minor as your eyelashes not being long enough(yes i did have someone actually tell me they were up set about that!!) When I was growing up, i had a quite a few friends who had body image problems all of the time and went to extremes-like anorexia- to fix them. It always made me feel a little self conscious because these girls that i am friends with that are torturing themselves to be smaller were already smaller then i was! After a while of going through the emotions of maybe trying to better myself i realized that i was not going to be happy in life until i was happy with myself. It gave me a whole new outlook on things and at this point in my life i couldn't be happier! See you all in class!
Yesterday in my gym class, the teacher said something that sounded to me like an informal fallacy, but I wasn't sure:
One girl was complaining that a person who scores the most goals in soccer should not get a higher grade than someone who puts in the same effort at scoring, but couldn't score because she has less athletic ability. "I try just as hard as she does, but she is an athletic person, scoring comes to her easily, she's been playing for years!! How come she gets a higher grade than I do just because she scored more goals than I did even though I tried just as hard??" ..The teacher replied to her by saying: "Would you consider it unfair if a math teacher gave someone who answered a math question on a test correctly a higher score than someone who tried to solve it but wasn't able to? The person who solved the question should get the credit, right?
The girl who asked the question seemed confused, and was at a loss as to how to answer. The teacher's reponse kind of reminded me of the "equivocation" we had just been discussing in class, and I was wondering, was the teacher's response an informal fallcy in that she compared two things as being the same (which are not) so as to give her a greater advantage and to justify her grading system??
I felt bad for the girl who asked..and I was also wondering how someone should answer back to something like that?? <--- Most important part of my question
Isn't part of an informal fallcy is that you can't answer back (you know it doesn't sound right, but you don't know why, and therefore you cannot refute it) ???
College, College, College. It is what I expected. Lots of work, lots of parties. The one thing that I'm having a hard time doing is keeping the balance. This summer I was excited for college. Not the classes, but being out on my own. It's gonna be really hard going home for winter break, I know my mom is going to try to give me a curfew or something like that.
But that's crazy, I can't be trapped in one place I have to let my free spirit roam. That's what college has allowed me to do, but I haven't really taken advantage of it because college also makes you lazy. There are lots of lonely times too. Coming from a family of 8, I was never home alone. I thought that I would enjoy some peace and quite, but peace and quiet can drive you crazy. I guess it wasn't so bad, with people running around all the time. It might be a little in one of the more friendlier dorms, but I'm in C Hall, where no one comes out of their rooms. Anyways, so my final advice for myself is to get out and do more. There are so many things to do here especially on the east bank, so I shouldn't have a problem with that.
this essay was good. i liked how it was very casual, just trying to get the point across. the part where Lamm says that the cultural standard of society is that fat is ugly, and that we should accept fat people the way they are, instead of telling them you know what they are going through, and understand them; but tell them to lose weight anyways. i liked how Lamm says that that is not the way to go about it. we need to accept fat people for not just who they are, but that they are fat, and they can be beautiful on the outside too, just like any thin people. i hate how society "brainwashes" us so much that the "thin" culture is embedded in our brains and we dont even realize it. i think if society would accept fat people, and not try to make them be thin all the time, our society would be much different. but im not sure if i would like it that way, because then no one would care who was fat and who wasnt (im really only concerned about the health problems that will come of this), and our society would become more and more unhealthy adn fatter. (at least, thats what i think so far.) i think lamm's style of writing is effective for her purposes, because it is casual, and says exactly what she wants it to say, she doesnt need big fancy words. and the profanity really gets you to sit up and take notice, because its not everyday that you see stuff like hers. yes, so i liked the essay.
Just like most of the people in our class, Fall Semester 2004 has been my first semester at University...I have to say I really like the U of M..at first it seemed intimidating because of its sheer size, but once you walk around for the first couple weeks, it all becomes very familiar..As I walk into the Classroom Office Building right here on the St. Paul campus, I feel as though I have walked into the building every day of my life!! The whole atmosphere is great..
Something I find to be very unique about the U of M is the diversity of people that attend university here..there are people from all over the world, with different beliefs, cultures and religions..its soo cool !! Already I have met people from Bangladesh, Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan, and Iraq, not to mention people from all over the USA..I love getting to know people from different parts of the world, and to learn more about where they come from.
I think this semester has been pretty good, though I have learned the hard way NOT to take three writing intensive 4 credit courses at the same time *duh*..all the reading and writing has been pretty strenuous..I love to read, but University reading is not always particularly enjoyable..lol...I'm hoping to take more classes next semester, with less credits each..hopefully that will make it easier for me to get the work done without so much pressure.
I can't really think of any 'majorly bad' incident..oh wait a sec..except for one thing: I had this History Essay due on the Monday of Eid (which is our Muslim holiday that's like Christmas for Christians)..and I was sooo depressed because of the pressure of having to get the essay done amidst all the holiday happenings and spirit (parents decorating the house, siblings wrapping presents, me writing an essay ?!) ..I felt so depressed, and I finally just emailed the professor asking her to PLEASE give me an extension on the paper..thankfully she did, so in the end it all turned out okay..
All in all, I'm looking forward to next semester..but not without a NICE LONG BREAK first..I mean, who does not like vacations ?!!
Thought you guys might want to take a look at Lamm's site. It contains more of her writing and even some of her music, available for download.
I thought the article was refreshing, fun to read. Some articles, it's like agonizing torture to follow along with, but Lamm moved gracefully from one thing to another keeping the readers attention with some less than angelic words and expressions.
Personally, I have had phases were I was 'overweight,' by clinical standards and I've had numerous friends that were considerably overweight, I guess if one thing comes to mind from my experiences are that no two bodies are the same, no two bodies respond to diet or exercise the same, no two bodies lose weight or gain weight quite the same, so to make statements like "fat people (in general) are never going to be able to lose weight, deal with it, I'm fat and that's who I am," is kind of a cop-out in my opinion, I mean, I've been 40, 50 pounds heavier than I today and it times it did feel like I was going to be stuck that way forever, but obviously that wasn't the case.
There are proven medical risks to being overweight, and it's intuitive, having to carry more weight around puts more stress on your body, your heart, lungs, everything, and you do feel lazy because you're tired from just carrying all that extra weight around everywhere you go. I think Erin brought up a good point, if you don't want to starve yourself, fine, then exercise. So many people are so dramatic, it's like binge or starve.
I think our society is very orientated around looking good, and looking good involves being trim. In this day and age, most people aren't concerned with having enough fat on their bodies to survive the next week in the event no one kills a mammoth or not. Media plays a huge role, you can watch E entertainment television any time of day and hear all about who looks good and who doesn't. In terms of a revolution, there are more obese people, and especially children this day and age already.
Finally the semester is almost over well i learned alot in my first semester in the U of M. the first thing i learned is that this is not at all like High school. which means the classes arent as easy as highschool classes. in high school i alway had a clique or a group of people that i was always wit. like my guys devin and derek and myself were everywhere togther people thought we was related. but i found out that i dont need a clique to survive i am content wit my aquantencies and all i need is myself to be cool. the next thing i learned was that people have alternate motives everbody in college is trying to make contacts for the future and sometimes people are not real at all. i also realized that some people are weird as hell like my roomate he is jus weird as i dont know wat. i cant wait to go home and see the people that care about me cause my guys is havin a party fo me when i get home a straight JUKE party cause everybody is gonna be home i cant wait for that well until next semester ill holla at yall
one
Big Willie
I believe this is a good essay i liked it alot it was humorous to me. when i read scholarly essays i think the words makes the reader uninterested because they audience does not understand. but this essay keeps the reader interested because of the colorful language that is used in the essay. i just really liked this essay alot.
I thought that Lamm brought up an interesting perspective in her article. It seems as though there is really nothing anyone can do about being fat. You can't lose enough weight and keep it off no matter how hard you try. In the article where she was issueing her family I felt sad for her because weight shouldn't be about how a child grows up. The tone she uses in this article I believe really let you know that she is trying to approach her problem as honest as possible. Her style tries to show that it is a real issue and she is laying it out for everyone to see. After reading her article I believe her argument was very convincing, we can only imagine what it would be like to be in her situation because even if we tried some of us would never fat and made fun of and beltittled the way she was. I think that the message of this argument is that people need to become more aware the situation that others have to live with. Why does our society think that thin is in? Especially the part of the article with diet books in it made me think that all being thin is a media portayal of the perfect body type, and a marketing ploy.
This semester has been such a great time. Moving out of my house was the best thing ever, and I absolutely love the U of MN. Do you guys remember when everyone turned 16 and got their drivers licences? When this happened, I could not even remember how I had a life without being able to drive... Now, I can't see how I had a life before, living at home and going to high school. Academically, I am doing fine, I have my "sea legs" now and am ready for second semester. I really did not think that classes were very hard. I have been doing more reading than I ever did in high school, but I do not think the classes are as hard as everybody says they are, but then again, I went to a nationally ranked high school and took a lot of AP and enriched classes. The college atmosphere in academics is what works for me. I like not having as much "homework due the next day" because I never did it anyways in high school. I also like not having the same classes every day. Variety is indeed the spice of life, and I need stuff like that to keep me sane. I also like managing my own schedule and deciding whether or not I need to attend class, after all, we are adults and can make our own choices. Aside from academics, I have met many wonderful people here, and I couldn't be happier with my choice. It is also very helpful to have my brother here (he is a senior and is 21). My brother and I have been extremely close our entire lives, and it was really hard for me to be left behind when he went to college. I missed him and I was ready to go at the same time he was... and hated being the only kid at home (I'm the youngest). Now, its all good, and I have a feeling that my college career is going to go by WAAAAAAY TOO FAST!
Well, technically, this is my second semester of college. This semester was very different from my first term. Last fall I want to a private school in Florida, I thought, I'm going to just take a chance and move across the country and do the whole 'start a new life far from home' sort of thing. It would have worked fine, but ... the school was kinda of one those schools for rich brats and everyone there - it was like all of the most obnoxious and arrogant prom kings and queens that you've ever met decided to all go to the same school! I'm not kidding, and we all know what a social butterfly I am, plus, you know, it doesnt help I didn't like the classes there, too easy, and dorm life was less than ideal because my roommate, not a good match. So I came here because I can count on the MN for having nice people, you wouldn't believe the difference. This semester has been hard because I live at home and commute a short distance each day - I'm distracted by my friends that don't go to college and I have my home life which is quite distracting too. Working, commuting, and then when I'm home, studying is not always on my mind, but my grades are ok, I didn't screw-up or anything, although a lot is riding on a certain chem exam tonight, but all the same, and in conclusion this semester was a good experience and this sentence is one heck of a run-on, so I'm going to say adieu for now.
As the holiday season is near, I feel like this year I haven't really felt in the spirit of it all. I don't know if it's because I've been so busy with work and especially college that I haven't got the time to actually enjoy it, and I probably won't until this semester is over. What holidays do you guys celebrate this time of year, and what are some of your traditions? For me I celebrate Christmas, and one tradition that my family has is that my mom, my sister, and I bake Christmas cookies on Christmas eve. Sometimes we stay up til 2 am baking and listening to Christmas songs. Me and my sister would always sit by the glowing Christmas tree with all the presents underneath wondering whats inside (I'm still a kid!). When I used to live in Colorado, I remember this song we always used to sing it goes: "If theres one thing on this planet......(oh no! I'm forgeting the lyrics)....is a quiet Christmas morning in the Colorado snow." (haha-good times)
I think that this episode of the Simpson's tells us a lot about presidential election rhetoric and political rhetoric. It shows a lot about what really goes on in the presidential elections. For example the politicians tell us what we want to hear. Like in the video when I think Dole says "Abortions for all" and then audience yells "booooo" , then Dole says "Abortions for no one" and the audience yells "booooo", then he finally says "Abortions for some, mini American flags for others" the audience yells "yayyy". This is a good example of the politicians just trying to get votes from people, which really does happen in real life. I think the video makes arguments. For example it shows how the American people are naive and gullible. They didn't even know that Dole and Clinton where aliens. Also it shows the argument that the two party system is not really a two party system. The two systems are really similar in many respects. I think "Citizen Kang" does a better job of communicating a message than the flash movies because it is longer and goes more in depth on an issue while including humor, hyperbole and visual stimulation. So yeah I enjoyed analyzing the Simpson's, it is kind of fun looking at it at an education stand point. See you all in class.
The first semester at the U has been great for me. I haven't had any problem getting used to the people or the definitely screwed schedule. I wouldn't say that college is something very hard. It actually has been pretty easy. Not as easy as the high school, but somewhere there. I have met a lot of new people, and have made many friends. Although I am taking only 12 credits at the time being, I am planning to take 15 next semester. Another thing I like about college is that I get it paid for, so it helps A LOT. Hopefully I will be getting Economics Ph.D by the time I am 23. That's it for now.
well, folks, my very first semester at college was a very interseting experience. to say the least. so much has happened in this past couple months, that it doesnt feel like i've only been here for one semester. a lot of the things that i was told about came true. my old chemistry teacher used to lecture us on how college was going to be so hard, and if you didn't get your act together by the first semester, you were screwed. well, when i got here, i still had senioritis from the previous year (i had it ReaL bad), and i pretty much kept those studying habits, but definetely not that bad. i didnt study all that much, but i did my homework, (for the first few weeks). i ended up dropping calculus, not doing so well in chemistry, and just overall being lazy. i also think that my choice of weekend activities (practically every weekend) were not such a good choice to coincide with my studies. now i definetely dont think i have learned my lesson the hard way yet, but i know that next semester i have to work a heck of a lot harder if i want to do well in college in the future. overall, it was an excellent experience, and since i live in the dorms, i didnt think i would transition too well, but i did perfectly. much better than some people i know at other schools. so yeah. this semester was great, and i know that i have to do a lot more work next semester.
hey guys! this is totally off topic but kinda fun, yeah so since we all go to the U and hopefully our favorite mascot is Goldy the Gopher everyone should go to this site and vote for him! he is losing as of right now but everyone should change that! the link is at the bottom, just click the Vote Now! thing and you can vote for goldy! please vote, after all he is our mascot! Go Gophers!
http://r.espn.go.com/espn/contests/capitalone04/story2?storyID=1892054
At this time I would like to tell you about my first semester in college. It has been absolutely fabulous! I made the decision to join a sorority at the very beginning and it helped my college transition a lot. I'm not going to sit and tell everyone that they should be greek because I know that it's not for everyone, but it was the right decision for me. It helped me feel like I had a family away from home and gave me a direct connection to people. Basically that's been a very big part of my first semester of college. I've also gotten involved in the Big Brother/Big Sister program. That has been very rewarding for me. It's something that i've always wanted to do and has helped me a lot in deciding that I want to minor in Child Psychology and work with kids someday. Classes were a lot harder then expected and as a lot of people have said, the homework has become very overwhelming. I have a lot of stuff to do by the end of the semester so when it's over it's going to feel very good to be able to go home and not have to worry about any homework or anything for a month. I also really really enjoy the city life here. I come from Moorhead, MN for those of you who don't know where that is it's North West across the river from Fargo, ND. I wouldn't say it's a small town but it's significantly smaller then the twin cities area. The scenery here is soo much different! There's large buildings and lots of lights everywhere, it sounds cheesy but it's really the difference between country living and city living. I can't think of anything too traumatic that has happened to me since I've been here... I haven't fallen in public or anything like that. All in all I'd say it's been an awesome first semester of college and hopefully for next semester I will learn not to procrastinate with homework and also maybe get involved in more stuff. That's all, have a good day! :)
Being that I haven't made a blog post for a very long time i'm going to have to go all the way back to previous topics for my posting! Actually I'm just going to make a top 5 movie list because that's always fun!
1. Miracle- a must see for everyone!! Sooo good!
2. Mean Girls- you wouldn't think it'd be good but i was very surprised
3. Along Came Polly- very funny, kind of reminds me of myself!
4. Finding Nemo- great movie!
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Jim Carey version- the girl in that movie is too cute and in light of Christmas season I thought that'd be a good one
Mrs.Ratliff sent out an email saying send her an email ranking the top five fallacies. I wasn't able to send the five fallacies to her in time before she gave her five so I thought I would just post it on the web blog. Her five important fallacies were Hasty Generalization, Slippery Slope,Strawman, argument to the people, and Ad Hominem. All of the fallacies that she gave and all in general are good fallacies, but the five most important fallacies to me are Appeal to Irrational premises, appeal to the person or Ad Hominem, slippery slope, non sequitur, and hasty generalization. These are important to me becaause these are used mostly in everday life.
This weekend I was paying close attention to fallacies and I am going to explain one that I encountered this weekend. I have seen more fallacies on tv and different places, but I thought that I would put this one on the weblog and save the rest until class starts. The type of fallacy I encountered fell under the category fallocies of pathos. The type that I encountered was Appeal to Irrational Premises. O.K. this is what happened I am not going to say any names or places though. I was chilling with some freinds somewhere and the place I was at everyone was drinking but me and they were drinking on some light beer called Michelob. Me being as cool as I was was hanging out with these guys laughing and having fun. Then all of a sudden one of my friends friends was trying to use peer pressure to try to get me to drink the beer. So I told him I don't drink beer it's nasty to me. So them he was like come on take one everybody else in here has one just try it. This guy tried to con me but I wasn't going to do it. I then started to think like man this can be used as an example of fallacy so then I decided to post it on the web blog.
i really enjoyed reading "Its a big fat revolution." i think the main reason the article maintained my attention was Lamm's writing style and how i felt like she was talking to me, in a conversation type way... rather than me just reading text. she is completely blunt and isnt afraid to say anything. for americans espeicllaly, and our country as a whole, obesity is a huge issue (as we all know from people's research papers). I knew exactly what Lamm was talking about in terms of body image and the media because that is exactly what my reaseach paper is about. people in general are exposed to aproximately 3000 ads per day, and the majority of them are promoting diet, exercise, suppliments... etc (you get the picture). i think it is very important for a women to stand up for what she believes. i feel like in the US today, issues are either of people becoming increasingly heavy, or sickly thin, leaving no room for anything inbetween. her tone is very affirmative and incorportates pathos through her truthful words. as Lamm says "it will never be over, and thats really f-ing hard to accept." i think in that one statement she touches the audience because as individuals, we all think this way about some aspect of our lives... and for many of us, its the exact same thing she is talking about. overall, i completely agree with Lamms perspective and arguements. just turn on the TV, open up a magazine, or read the newspaper... you cant view any type of media without encountering something on this topic!!
i want to comment on Dante's blog from probably quite some time ago ... but since his comments are "closed" ill just form a new bLoG! i have absolutely no interest in seeing the incredibles, but i would like to comment on Pixar.. the company who created this movie. Pixar also created i think toy story and monsters inc. i think they are the new "it" when it comes to cartoons, or animated movies you might say. their artwork isnt just cartoons anymore, but the characters look and move like REAL people. i think that is so crazy to see how far animation has come. and what is it going to be like when we have kids.. i cant even picture. i just think its cool to see how technology has changed since we've been alive (and can remember it) and what its going to be like in 20 more years when we are the adults. ha to think, our parents or grandparents didnt have color TV.. how weird it must be for them to watch it now a days. ok so kinda random im just amazed every time i watch movies by PiXaR!
my first semester of college has truly been "unforgetable." on one hand, aside form the school work, moving to a state about 11 hours driving distance was quite a challenge... one you will never understand unless you experience it. lets see, in my first say 3 weeks of school, i found cochroaches in my dormroom, got my laudnry stollen, found myself completely lost at midnite on a friday night, and the disasters go on. and yes michelle, what doesnt kill you will make you stronger! or so we all hope. in terms of school, ive missed a lot of classes from being sick and other personal reasons. now, as we only have about 2 weeks of class left, its crunch time. all the work ive been procrastinating on, have piled up into a huge mountain of work. very overwhelming and stressful and all i want to do if put it off - but it CANT! now i know what i need to do in terms of earning good grades for next semester. so yes, i might not have been as good of a student as normal, but its a learning experience. now i cant use what ive learned (u must go to class and NOT slack off) and make next semester that much LESS strenuous!
Now we are all in college for one universal meaning: future success, but I want all of you all to hear this, "Don't forget where you came from." Go towards the future for I know that you all will do something great one day, but don't forget your past, because that is what made you. Don't stop watching cartoons because you think you're too old. As you saw on Friday, most cartoons actually have messages that reach "adults" anyway so don't think that they are for kids. Keep your youth because in many ways your children will love you, not just unconditionally. Listen to the king, he knows.
I have always like the Simpsons, bringing humor to something so serious. They always portray the ignorances of human kind and shows how naiive some people can be, presidential elections are no exception. Sometimes all we need is a catchy phrase or slogan to hook us, and that can go towards anything(twirling towards freedom?). We always go for the two major parties (republican, or democrat), and overlook other parties which might even be better for us at the time. That's kind of like thinking that we must either choose the coke or the pepsi, because they are major brands and advertised more than the other "generic" brand. I know that this doesn't apply towards everyone, and some people do think "outside the box" when it comes to important decisions like elections, I just thought it was funny how they portrayed something that happens a lot during elections and everyday life.
In all honesty, my initial response to watching the Simpson's episode "Citizen Kang" was "Wow...watching cartoons in college...this is great!" Then when I realized it had a purpose other than entertainment... I paid a little closer attention. I feel the arguments in the film were presented quite creatively. Although the film was sarcastic and humorous... I feel they portrayed elements of the real-life election and the way society reacts to it all quite effectively. Being so blunt as to say "Abortions for all.... (audience booos)" then switch to "Abortions for none.... (audience booos)" and conclude with "Abortions for some... little American flags for others.... (audience cheers)" really struck me as a realitization of how society reacts to the candidates in Presidential campaigns. This is a perfect example of the bandwagon jumpers and careless political supporters that we see so often in today's pool of voters. I think the argument being made by this film is not necessarily an "argument" rather a display of certain truths in today' society. I feel the sarcastic tone of the film was intended to show us how pathetic we can sometimes be during the time of an election. I feel "Citizen Kang" communicates more effectively to the youthful population who are so dependent of visual media such as television and internet, because we tend to engage more in visual means of communication and learn better from them. I feel this film was a great new tool for teaching and a bit of a relief to us college students who spend most of our learning time staring at millions of tiny black-and-white words in a textbook.
As this semester comes to an end, I sit back and think about how the first semester of college has gone for me. I started out so well, but then got kinda rough. I guess I got a little SADD, (and not to mention getting sick every other week) and got a little behind in my classes. Now that the end is near, I have to work triple times as hard to make ends meet. Oh well, what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger, right? It was a lesson well learned, and now I know what not to do for the remainder of my time here. What lessons have you guys learned this semester? I would like to here.
Thinking about the article on "It's a Big Fat Revolution," I think that Nomy had a lot of good reasoning and purpose for this revolution. I think that America is so influenced by the media, and puts down anyone who doesn't fit the criteria of a what they think the "perfect" male/female are. I think when people say that this generation is so rebellious, they should understand why. I like when she says that "it doesn't seem fair to me that I have to always be fighting to be happy." Because I don't think anyone should be fighting to be happy/"perfect" also. I think the media should be trying to unify people, instead of breaking them apart. There is no universal perfect kind of male or female, and they shouldn't try to put that in people's heads.
Hi everyone,
Haven't wrote a blog in a while and have a lot to say. For the discussion on "Deafness as a culture, I feel that deafness can definitely be a culture depending on what definition of "culture" you choose to use. I don't mean to get all scholarly but in the dictionary culture is defined as "social and intellectual formation," "the totality of socially transmitted behavior, patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought characteristic of a community or population," and "a style of social and artistic expression perculiar to a society or class." Also "the growing of microorganisms in a nutrient medium." If you look at the last discription, obviously deafness is not a culture. But if you look at the first three discriptions, deafness can be a culture. Deaf people do make up a social group and community/population, and they do have a distinct way of expressing themselves (sign language, lip reading). I can see how people think that they are not a group, afterall they don't have the same beliefs, and are interested in different things, but that can go with almost every culture. They share common characteristics unique to their group and have a style of social and behavioral expressions.
But ultimately, I feel that it's up to the deaf people to decide whether they think they are a culture or not. Because eventhough cultures can be involuntary, in many ways they are also voluntary.
I think the "Citizen Kang" DVD was really mostly about criticizing our voting system: both the government, and also the American public. For example, when they showed the two candidates (who were actually the aliens) giving speeches, one of them was saying: twirling, twirling toward freedom.....I think they are mocking famous slogans that presidential candidates often use in their speeches, and showing that a lot of candidates say good things that in reality do not always happen..Also, they were talking about how voting for a third party candidate is like "throwing away your vote", and this is bad because the two main parties are not always who people want to vote for (like my case!)... About criticism of the public: I think the DVD is trying to say that voters are too naive and gullible, by showing the candidate saying: No to abortion, then getting booed by the crowd..Abortion for all, and also getting booed...Abortion for some, and everybody cheers...or like when the candidates were saying that all voters want to hear are "bland pleasantries"...
I feel this short DVD is appealing to an audience for several reasons:
It is a story rather than a formal essay or speech, so it grabs your attention and is not boring. It is also entertaining at the same time as relaying a message to the audience. The use of humour also appeals to the audience and makes it easier to watch (would humour be pathos?). It is also short, and this is a GREAT way to appeal to an audience. When something is long, the audience usually tends to get bored and lose track of what you're saying, so I think that because it is short it is more effective than say, a formal speech by someone talking about the negative aspects of our voting system.
I found the viewpoint expressed by Nomy Lamm to be very forward and confrontatious. She comes right out and addresses what she believes. She does not cover or soften her message because of society. If anything, I would say the tone is anarchy. Rather than conform to society's views, she stands out and is very outspoken, something that isn't easy to do when the media and most of the world disagrees. She talks about the existence of 'fat oppression', something that is not in your face but is subtle in daily life in society. Everywhere there are ads to 'lose ten pounds in a week' or 'I was never happy until I went on such and such weight loss program and now I'm getting attention and I feel so good'. While they are not always as apparent, they exist and this is the pressure that society puts on 'fat people.' Her essay is an intriguing look at what is becoming an icreasingly large social issue for Americans.
i remember watching that particular Simpsons episode when it aired back when i was in sixth grade. it's alot funnier now. back then i think i used it to form my political views but i can't exactly remember.
anyway. maybe it's argueing that we're all stupid. maybe it's argueing that if we don't watch out evil aliens are going to take over. all of which could be very true but i think it's all in good humor. and it's what the simpson's does best. but that's just my opinion.
this semester has been the craziest semester in college for me ever. i don't really remember how or what happened the only thing i know is that i'm here, it's the third of december, christmas break is just around the corner and i have a lot to get done between then and now.
i don't know if anyone else feels this way ever but, it feels like time can pass by so many times and i don't even notice at least not until something makes me. i feel like i spent alot of wasted time worrying about work and my stupid broken car instead of sitting down and reading One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish with my little two year old sister who gets bigger everytime i see her. or i'd spend time worrying about how i was going to get to school and work and pick up my little brothers from school instead of talking to and focusing on my housemates while we ate dinner together the nite before.
you'd think i'd learn. hopefully i will this time. there are so many times in life when we spend so much time worrying about somethig that's going to happen in the future instead of paying attention to the wonderful moments and people that are right in front of us. hopefully i'll learn to focus on what's in front of me because no matter how hard i try i can't control tomorrow any more than i can control my two year old sister. maybe i could have a little faith that if i do my best everything will work out in the end.
anyway that's my thoughts on this semester. we'll see if i can get better at any of this next semester.
In class today we talk about issues dealing with the president election. We came to the conclusion that when voting for a president the only thing people want to hear is bland pleasantries and marque slogans. Almost as if it really doesn't matter what the person actually stand for but for how much bull that they can push down your throat at one time.
There is another factor that plays into this assumption to one is that no matter how hard you try the president election is set up soyou can only vote for the lesser of two evils and thats still like saying I rather be stabbed in the heart than shot in the face
I think a culture exists only when a certain nation state or a nationality declare themselves in a way independent. For examlpe Zionism, the great Jewish movement in the 30's and 40's was a type of nationalism, yet it carried a culture that was "different" as what we may think of Europe. I also don't think that culture should specifically have its own language. Culture is a natural phenomenon that gets produced with nationality and I don't believe that deafness should be considered a culture, since the only difference between us and the deaf population of the world is a small physical defect, not a whole different set of beliefs.
Thanks, Olzhas