growth as a writer

For the most part, I cannot say that my writing process, our how I write best has changed much at all, except for a few changes. Yes, I think I have developed as a writer, but how I write is just how I feel comfortable when I need to put words down on the paper. I still enjoy that soothing song in the background allowing me to be less tense and start writing.

            Here are the things that have definitely changed about my writing process and writing in general. For one, I used to occasionally outline. Maybe if I had time or if the teacher required it, then I would go through the process setting up my essay before actually writing it. Now, required or not I don’t let myself debate it, I need to write an outline, its an easy way to gauge your thoughts and let you get your focus straight. By doing so, you can only make your argument stronger.

            Another part of my writing that I feel stronger with is, is being able to identify my weak points. I think this improvement came with reading, proofreading and editing my classmate’s work. Not only does it allow you to help out other people’s weak points but also it can help you with your own work by giving you new ideas. At the beginning of the term when given a task to write a description paper I couldn’t do it, I obviously knew what it was. I just had nowhere to start. Now, I know where I need description and where I need analysis. 

Teen Drinking

In my argument essay, I'm looking to use common knowledge along with articles regarding teen drinking to show why the law saying you must be 21 years or older is a necessary law. I will use articles providing evidence of teen health such as an article that shows that there is evidence showing irreversible brain and nerve damage for teens who drink excessively. There are also articles that I've looked at that look to show why teens under the age of 21 should be able to drink, but by disproving them and pointing out the holes in the logic presented it will make my argument stronger. An example of these articles is one that uses the well-known argument that if you should be able to fight in a war and take on responsibilities such as marriage than you should be able drink as well. These articles are will provide the necessary logic that I can use to produce an argument where I can use deductive reasoning to lay out why the age should be 21 years old. I can also use arguments talking about alcoholism and the link between drinking early and becoming an alcoholic to further enhance my argument. As for the thesis there are many points that I can use as the “common” point so I will say that many people believe because you are considered an adult you should be able to drink as the “common” viewpoint. For the strange viewpoint I will say that 21 is an acceptable age, not because of the law, but because of the evidence that I can use to support it. 

Logos Paper Ideas

There a number of important issues in today's society worth digging deeper into. Topics such as: Violent video games and their impression on young children; Teen drinking (drinking age); music pirating; and legalized marijuana. All of which clearly cause much debate today.
Violent video games have been around since video games have been created, but recently, especially in the past ten years, the violence and realness has escalated exponentially. Games like "Grand Theft Auto" and "Call of Duty" are all about violence and are targeted towards a younger audience. What could the repercussions of these video games be though? Could these kid's be more prone to issues later in life? Will they be more violent as they mature? All these questions lead to the debate of whether or not these games should be allowed to be put in the hands of young children or let alone even made.
Teen drinking is also another important issue today. Everyday on the news you hear of teens at party's getting hospitalized or even in today's music culture teen drinking is very prevalent. Should this be curbed? What about the drinking age and the fact that soldiers can enlist but still can't have a beer? All very important questions.
Another possible topic for this paper would be the legalization of marijuana. In many states across the country it is now legal to be used as "medicine" but many are still not on board with this. Is it possible that it could become federally legal? If so what new laws would come into effect, new taxes, regulations? The main focus of the paper would be taking a side and providing evidence for why that side is correct and why the other is not.

Close Read

Parody Films ("Scary Movie", "Disaster Movie" etc.)

Quote: Abraham’s and the Zuckers’ early collaborations are characterized by the way they effortlessly crammed every scene with anarchic sight gags. Today, that style of frenzied genre spoof has been co-opted by the considerably less inspired film-making team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, who are responsible for such soulless dreck as Not Another Teen Movie and Vampires Suck.

If you've turned on a television in the past ten years or been to a movie theater then you probably know what a parody film is. One where they usually take popular films, ones that most people recognize, and then warp the characters and plots into "somewhat" comical reenactments. If you're like me, then you're probably pretty glad these films seem to be what i like to call a "dying breed"... We don't seem to see many of these too often anymore. 

Why's this? Some might say that it just been done to many times and we all know what happens when you repeat the same joke just one too many times; it's just no longer funny. The humor found in these films were very "immature" and repetitive. What they lacked in creative and witty writing they made up with humorous injuries. 

How did these catch on? Like most jokes or funny movie sub-genre's, when something is new, it seems brilliant. These movies appealed to anybody up for a good laugh. If you were interested in something funny or if you loved scary movies or drama's and wanted to see them being made fun of, then these were directed towards you. 

Like mentioned in the quote above, these movies were just overdone and uninspired. They no longer contained the creativity or wittiness that they once did and once that was gone, they began to seem over-done. They used the same soulless, thoughtless jokes and no longer appealed to anyone as there production quality exponentially decreased very quickly. 

Reason

Some people have drive. An unexplainable, unimaginable urge to succeed, improve and learn. Those who do not possess this drive sometimes find it hard to understand.

Todd, also known as Chamberlin, is a Caucasian, 18-year-old male from Long Island, New York. What makes Todd, or Chamberlin rather, interesting is his passion for rapping.  Since the age of 10, Chamberlin has kept a notebook of rhymes, every second of the day writing new verses and correcting others.  Just because he started young doesn’t mean he was good, though. He just had the drive to get better.

         It wasn’t until the age of 16 that he had the courage to start telling friends of his hobby, he was clearly no longer embarrassed. This quote by Benjamin Franklin truly exemplifies this, “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins”.

         As Chamberlin continued to improve his skills he started to get more and more popular, even booking his first show in a small club in Brooklyn. This new found “fame” clearly got to his head when he told his parents he no longer wished to attend college. Where was his reason? Had his passion got the best of him? Letting it all get to his head, was there a real future in rapping for him? He believed so and was almost willing to give up a world full of other great opportunities in order to find out.

Luckily, reason found its way into his brain and was able to once again “hold the reins”.  He’s now able to balance his incredible passion with education and is even combining the two.  

Reverse Cronology

Finally, I’ve made it. The day’s travels are over and I can now sit back relax, and catch up with one of my oldest friends. Amazing, in how just over a month you realize how things can change. As I got off of the subway and saw him it seemed as if I had never said goodbye.

Getting on that subway to come see him was a task in itself. I’d never been to Chicago, and even in new york I rarely used the subway system. Who am I supposed pay? Where do I buy my ticket? Was I supposed to sit next to the elderly man or young woman? But before that I had to get on the train. These stations are nothing like I’m used to. I thought I was supposed to buy the tickets before I get on. Was I going to have to pay extra now?

Before I got to the train, I had to deal with the task of getting my way to Chicago from Ann Arbor. By chance, my randomly selected roommate was from Chicago and was going home this weekend. But would the drive be awkward? I didn’t know his friends and they didn’t know me. I spent my time sleeping and laughing awkwardly at the inside jokes I was not apart of,  passing time looking out the dirty window thinking about what it would be like to visit my best friend in his new home. Before the trip I had lunch with my roommate and his friends, this gave me a taste of what the trip would be like, they were nice, but I just didn’t know them, I could tell I was just a bit different from them. Waking up to get ready to leave was nice, refreshed from a nice sleep and excited for the days traveled. 

Help or Win?

http://www.cnn.com/video/

First, imagine running in a race. You’re breathing heavy, moving your legs as fast as you can, trying to win this race for your school’s track team. Nothing else is on your mind except for the ground in front of you and the finish line up ahead of you.

            Now, picture one of your competitors up ahead of you, falling. Clearly writhing in pain, covered in blood and no longer in competition with you. Do you stop and help him? Or do you continue on with the race and finish in a better position?

            There was clearly no other option for runner, Josh Ripley.  Josh is an athlete who saw no other choice but to help his fellow competitor, Mark. Although, the two were competing against each other, Josh saw it in his heart to extend his hand to Mark and ask if he was all right. Josh clearly saw that Mark needed medical attention and with no hesitation picked up Mark and continued running with him until he could place somewhere, where he could receive medical attention immediately.

            Covered in Mark’s blood, Josh continued on and finished the race. He hadn’t helped his competitor for a reward just simply it was the right thing to do. If you were faced with this decision how would you react? Help the person in need or continue on in the race and win for your team?