Looking back over the past semester in English 125, my writing skills and techniques have been refined and perfected.  Reading through my first blog post and my first couple of writings of the semester I can see a big difference in my writing now.  I have become a better writer in terms of not only focusing on in scene description which I was fairly good at before but now using dialogue, narration, and other techniques not just relying on in scene description.  I have also learned to apply to “so what” technique to the papers that I have written and will write in the future.  This technique will not only bring my essays together but will allow me to focus on the concentration and refine the work. 

Another major lesson that I have learned is the difference between works that rely on pathos vs. logos and ethos.  This lesson is essential when trying to write different types of works whether they are academic in style or for creative writing, it is necessary to employ the correct technique.

I also really enjoyed the activities that were done in class.  These were not only fun, but helped to solidify ideas and techniques that I will be able to use for the rest of college and eventually later in life.

The essay that I would like to revise for the mandatory revision is my last essay.  I feel like I can greatly improve on several aspects of my paper some of which include transitions.  As of this point my transitions are very rough and need more of a connector piece in order for my essay to have better flow.  Another major aspect that is missing from this essay is the ever so important so what.  Maybe I could back up many of the statements with specific studies thus presenting new evidence.  Also many of the examples seem to be geared towards advertisements via commercials.  In order to have a better argument that advertising has a very negative effect on the youth and changes societies perceptions, maybe I can include other types of advertising such as little things like product placement in movies, advertising using labels on shirts or newer techniques such as the ever so hated ads on youtube.  If I can revise these two aspects along with others I believe that I can tighten up the paper and there will be more of a so what.

Another essay that I would like to revise is my second essay.  Throughout this essay like my 4^th essay it is also missing a so what.  Maybe if I focus on the importance of the word chill, and use many other sources it will also help to further my argument.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving- a time for family, Lions football and of course good food!  Thanksgiving for the past 5 or so years has been dramatically different from this year’s turkey day festivities.  This is the first year that I have actually been home for Thanksgiving.  Usually I am out west in Colorado at a ski camp for Thanksgiving break.  It felt different sitting at a table full of family, rather than a table full of racers and coaches.  This is not a bad thing though.  As much as I love skiing and the Thanksgiving camps that I have attended in years past; there is nothing like being surrounded by your family during Thanksgiving, especially after being at college for 3 months. 

     My Thanksgiving Day celebration began by watching Americas Thanksgiving Day parade on television.  As the floats and inflatable’s came across the screen I sipped on hot chocolate topped off with plenty of marshmallows and a heaping amount of whipped cream.  As the parade came to a close the Lions game followed soon after.  After watching the Lions fight the first half of the game, their implosion in the second half sure brought down my spirits, which were pretty high!

     That night I had dinner with my family, minus my sister who was out west skiing, along with my grandma.  There is nothing like a home cooked meal after weeks on end eating in a college cafeteria.  After dinner we had apple pie and vanilla ice-cream for dessert.  While apple pie for Thanksgiving may seem weird, no one in my family likes pumpkin pie.  Overall my Thanksgiving experience was quite enjoyable and relaxing.

The main point that I will be arguing throughout my essay is the significance of marketing and adverting on society.  I would like to examine the effects of advertising on Americas youth and its persuasive value.  Advertising is all around us.  No matter where you go it is easy to see just how prevalent advertising and marketing is in America.  From product placement in major motion pictures to billboards and commercials.

There are also many underlying forces that advertising has on society.  Some of these forces include peoples change of perception based on advertising.  For example many of the commercials on television, in an effort for viewers to purchase their product place good looking people in their advertisement.  An example of this strategy is the pro-activ commercials. These commercials have celebrities such as Jessica simpson along with other pop culture icons.  These icons have a wow effect on the audience.  These people appeal to their target audience, being the teen population.  The teens think that if these popular people have had acne and then used the acne product being advertised then the teen will have no problem admitting their acne problem and purchasing the product.

Another aspect that I would like to convey in my essay is the influence that some advertisements have on young kids.  These victims of the commercials are not yet old enough to realize that these commercials are not to be taken at face value.  The younger kids see an older good looking authoritative figure drinking alcohol, then this could in turn make them want to indulge in the illegal activity.

Another talking point could potentially be the positive side of advertisements.  For example psa advertisements are key in terms of warning people of the dangers of activities such as using drugs.  These announcements are not only positive for the single viewer but for the community as a whole.

United States involvement in the Middle East over the past 30 years has been characterized by opportunistic goals alongside with American shortsightedness.  Ever since the end of World War II the United States has had an influence in the Middle East and has been using its resources and manipulating their political structure not only for peace but for American gains.  One of the biggest reasons that the United States went into the Middle East and more specifically Afghanistan was to stop the spread of communism.  When the soviets attacked Afghanistan the United States began to train special forces of fighter known as the mujahedeen.  The mujahedeen were Afghani fighters that were not only trained by the United States funding but they were also given weapons.  The mujahedeen were employed by the United States to kill the soviets.  America overlooked the political standing of these Afghani fighters and only cared that they would rid Afghanistan of all the soviets.  What the United States didn’t know is that many of these fighters after the war took the weapons and the bases provided by the United States and used it to create what is today known as Al Qaeda. 

One of the other main reasons that the United States went into the Middle East was due to the abundance of oil.  The United States wanted to protect their interests in the oil game and wanted to control the political scheme behind it, insuring that the United States would not get left out.

Modern Family Television Series

Haley: Okay, Mom, you can't have a problem with this one. I am Mother Teresa.

[Haley walks in with a short white dress and a nuns cap]

Claire: Are you kidding me?

Haley: What? I am her back then when she was hot.

Claire: I will give you $10 to go up and put more clothes on.

Alex: I bet that's the first time you heard that.

This series of interactions and quotes was taken from an episode of Modern Family.  The episode takes place around Halloween time and is titled “Halloween”. 

In the first line Haley, who is the oldest daughter in the series questions her mother (Claire) in an accusing and disgusted tone, asking if her Halloween costume which is Mother Teresa is acceptable.  This is quite ironic because Mother Teresa is known throughout the world as a very kind and caring public figure.  As Hailey walks down from upstairs she is wearing a mother Teresa outfit but it is very short and revealing.  In utter disgust and frustration Claire fires right back at Haley with “are you kidding me”.   Haley’s response to her mother’s comment almost suggests that Haley knew that the costume was pretty revealing but she wore it anyway.  This battle between authoritative parent role and kid is very present throughout the whole series.  The next two lines in the conversation really relay the comedy that is packed into each and every episode.  Claire responds by saying to haley that she will give her $10 to go back upstairs and put some more clothes on.  Alex, Haleys younger sister then buts into the conversation and says that that was probably the first time someone would give haley money to put back on her clothes.  This statement obviously doesn’t mean that Haley is selling herself for money but instead is a jab at haley.  Alex is just trying to make fun of haley in anyway possible.

blog 6

Hannah was the most popular girl in school; the kind of girl that all of the guys and girls alike looked up to.  She was always involved in numerous school activities ranging from student leadership to lacrosse to soccer.  She always had the latest and greatest clothes, a trend setter for the rest of the girls at the school.

The one thing that no one knew about Hannah, not even her best friends was that when Hannah went home after school, and all of her activities that she was involved in, she went home to a broken household.  Hannah yearned for a normal life.  She desperately wished that she could be like her friends.  She would throw away her superficial style and appearance that she had when she went to school each day for a more normal life.  After all, her superficial looks and her style was the only way that she felt normal and for six or seven hours of the day she felt accepted and recognized.

Hannah’s father was an alcoholic. Her older sister had long ago moved out of the house far away from her crazy drunk ass dad. Hannah had always loved her father even in his worst of moments.  Hannah knew that he wasn’t himself when he drank.  Every time things start to get out of hand Hannah remember a quote that she heard somewhere in school “The only way to love a person is to love them without hope”.  This quote really resonated with Hannah because she knew that her father’s situation was not going to get better any time soon.

 Whenever the phone rang at the house Hannah would race down the stairs and answer the phone out of breath.  “Hello” she would say, in hope that it would be her older sister. Most of the time the calls were mainly business stating that the cable company had come to shut off the cable or something to that extent but occasionally she would come running down the stairs and hear her sisters calm and warming voice across the line. Her sister was one of the only things that helped Hannah get through the days.  Hannah hoped to follow in her older sisters footsteps and move out of the house right at the age of 18.  Hannah just wanted to escape and be free from her life as she knew it.

      Head hits the pillow, eyes close quickly, tuning out from the everyday worries.  No matter what happens during the day, come night or sometimes mid-afternoon, it is my time to forget about earthly problems. 

    Some call it a guilty pleasure I call it a necessity.  Without sleep the world would not function and effectively fall apart.  Sleep is actually one of the best things you can do for your body and is part of a healthy lifestyle. 

     I can practically fall asleep everywhere.  No matter what the atmosphere is, if I am tired enough I will be able to rest my eyes and check out for a quick cat nap or a long deep slumber.  Falling asleep with my head out the window on the highway….no problem, I have done it before.  Falling asleep on the back of a cruising boat…you bet I have done it.  It honestly doesn’t matter where I am, if I am tired enough I will be able to shut my eyes and relax. 

     However I can see how sleeping can become a guilty pleasure.  If one oversleeps and skips a class then this would become a guilty pleasure.  Also when sleeping gets in the way of your social life then it becomes a problem.  My best advice for those people would be to go to sleep earlier and not to procrastinate on school work until the last night.  I’m not saying that I have ever done this, but it will definitely help to eliminate the problem.

     No matter how long or where it is, sleep is sleep and I will forever treasure the act and not abuse it.

 

Pawn Stars

Nothing….Nothing is on TV at this time of day, beside the occasional soap opera or talk show.  Thankfully I have a Netflix account which is very convenient for times like this, where there is nothing good to watch on TV.  Scrolling through the Netflix queue I immediately find several shows that look good.  I finally choose Pawn Stars, arguably one of the best shows on TV and also one of the most informative!

      The pawn shop located in las vegas draws in many people from around the country looking to sell or pawn rare and collectible items all in hope of making a quick buck.  As the title sequence is playing I settle into the futon with the computer on my lap.

     The first man that walks into the pawn shop has hair as silver as a wolves coat, with wrinkles in his face that look as if they could tell his life story.  In his hand is an Ansel Adams print.    As he hands it over the counter to Rick who is the owner, Rick looks very amazed and happy with the print in his hands.  He tells the grey haired man that the print if real could fetch good money but rick would have to check with an expert to double check its authenticity and worth. 

     As the silver haired man leaves, the scene shifts outside where there is a 1987 jaguar parked outside with an eager owner ready to get it off his hands.  The jaguar has a rounded body type with great lines and a spectacular wood finished interior.  As Rick and his old man look over the vehicle they notice some minor imperfections such as a ding in the door.  When asked about it the owner of the car replies that his wife must have done that.  The owner of the car that has a thick Western European accent asks for $5,000 for the car but after some haggling and hard negotiating like always with Rick the price is lowered to $2,500.  Rick picked up a very cool car that he believes he can turn around and sell it to make a profit.

     The next man to walk into the pawn shop is wearing an orange and white stripped polo with khaki shorts.  His voice is clearly that of a New Englander not pronouncing his r’s.  In his hand is what looks to be an old deflated football with black signatures haphazardly about.  As he places the football on the counter he describes that it is a football signed by the 1942 Chicago Bears team.  He got the football through his wife’s aunt that had recently passed away.  Chicago was the team to beat back in the day as they won many championships.  Rick and the owner of the football negotiate a price which is much lower than the owners original asking price.  This always seems to be the case when negotiating with Rick, in the end Rick always seems to come out on top.

     As the episode wraps up images of the items and the final prices flash across the screen.  Yet another great episode I think to myself.

     It is that time again, time for a random stranger to pry their white gloved hand into my mouth just to prod around and check each tooth meticulously.  Filling out the paper work is very time consuming as each line has to be filled out to the fullest and each bit of information checked twice.  Thumbing through the pages of a Sports Illustrated, the images seem to come alive as the superhuman athletes run, jump, throw, and swim through the pages.  Seconds tick by that seem like hours.  A very distinct smell encircles the room as it wafts passed my nose.  This unique smell is familiar yet very uninviting.   The room is white except for several decent sized posters reminding small children to brush their teeth.  The image is of a small boy looking so overjoyed to be putting an unnecessary amount of toothpaste on his purple dinosaur toothbrush.  In the far corner of the room where the two walls with the posters converge is a book stand from which I picked out the Sport Illustrated which I am currently reading.  The magazines and books are littered through the stand and are haphazardly placed on random shelves.   Each book and magazine looks as if it has gone through a storm if not a lower level hurricane, with the pages tattered at the edges and covers bent back. Tick, Tick, Tick, the time passes so incredibly slow as I sit in this very uncomfortable excuse for a chair.  Looking at my phone occasionally pretending to do something, I grow more and more impatient by the minute.  Nurses peek their heads out from the doors in the back to pluck someone from the waiting room as the receptionists are busily filing and talking on the phone all the while writing information down.  Finally, from the far door I hear my name “Andrew Thomas, follow me right this way”.

writing environment

     My room dark all except for one solitary light illuminating my desk which is of course scattered with papers.  As I sit down in my chair I think of the work ahead of me and what must be done.  Reflecting, editing, and jotting down ideas as the shadows of the room grow nearer.  Closer and closer they come as I watch the time pass.  My fingers whizzing across the keyboard, the only sound in the room is the taping of the keys.  At this point I am in the zone, in my own world, connecting ideas and writing them down.  One page, two pages and eventually three pages completed.   As I sit in my desk chair I read over my work time and time again, picking it apart with a fine comb brush.  Highlighting and underlining mistakes and spelling errors that I see.  After the editing and revision process, it is now time to print a final copy of the paper.  Picking up the paper out of the printer with care to not smudge the ink, it is warm to the touch.  My eyes are set into motion as I begin to scan the page for mistakes not caught in the first round of editing.   Once satisfied with the completed work, it is time to make some food or get a drink.  This seems to always get my mind off of my work, so that once I am done taking a break I’ll be able to look at my work again with fresh eyes and a satisfied stomach.  One last time I look over my work and at this time and only after this time, I am finally done.