This quarter in writing 101, I have gained a great deal of knowledge in terms of the writing process, and the writing styles that work well in different situations. I definately think I have progressed throughout the quarter. Compared to my way of writing at the beginning of the course, I believe I have improved in many aspects of my writing. Early on in the course, I never payed a lot of attention to detail and language usage. I also began by never writing with my own point of view, and never arguing another point of view. It was difficult to move away from this because I had only learned these types of writing in my past english classes. After a couple of different writing assignments, I saw my skills improving in terms of making progress towards these new writing styles. Overall, this course has greatly helped me improve my writing skills, and I am so glad I got the opportunity to learn many more of the styles that writing has to offer.
In our first essay assignment, written about the influence of tobacco on todays society, my essay was extremely short. It did not have as much information as I could have added, and everything was very jumbled together into one big paragraph. It was also very much like a list. For example in this sentence; "...ingredients such as tar, ammonia, sodium hydroxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and higher amounts of nicotine than in previous years are now additives and some of the main components of cigarettes." All I really did was list information and ingredients, whcih was somewhat useless information, and could have been shortened to a degree. Although this essay definately could have been greatly improved, in some aspects of the essay, I felt it had nice detail.
I believe the second essay I wrote on the topic of Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 showed slightly more progression in terms of length and detail. A lot of it, as I was soon to find out, was the wrong kind of detail. When I first began working on this essay and doing research, I found a lot of information that I believed would be great to add into my paper. Instead, it ended up being mostly informative. Such as the part when I say; "Around 1675-1676 the colonists started to expand further west. They began to fight with the Indians for the land that they both believed was theirs. I think this was unfair for the Indians. They were there first, therefore should be entitled to this land. The government tried to erase tensions between both groups." A lot of this was just unnecessary information that could easily have been overlooked or taken out. The feedback I got was that I should have had more of my opinion put into it. Overall, this assignment was somewhat rushed, and I ended up doing final revisions very last minute. This resulted in a loss of points. I definately could have made this essay a great deal better if I had spent more time editing.
In a writing assignment about loyalism and patriotism, I believe I did very well when it came to improving my research skills, and adding a lot of my own perspective. I spent a long time researching so I could gain the knowledge I believe I needed in order to make this essay better than all the rest. This definately payed off because I felt more confident about what I was writing about. Doing this also assisted me when it came to adding my own persepective and opinion because I had my own character to let those opinions flow through. This was one of the assignments that were more fun in my opinion, because we got to make up a historical character and portray them in terms of what side they were on; patriots or loyalists. A quote from my character, Nicholas Addy that I particulary loved in this essay was; "I found my son Isaac's journal this very morning. He only confirms my opinion of him being a complete fool by his writings. He says we who uphold the british government are greedy. He is the one who is greedy. Fighting against the british, who made our colonies what they are today. The patriots will never get away with this!" It was really enhoyable being able to express emotions through another character, making this piece one of my favorites to write.
When it comes to my final writing assessment, I believe I did very well. It shows a great deal of improvment when compared to our very first real assignment. For example, I feel that my language usage showed improvement. For example, in the sentence; "A major reason they did not wish to ratify was because they believed that the nation could experience a downfall due to the fear of the proposed centralized government becoming in a sense, a tyranny." I just feel as if this language compared to what I shared in my example of the first essay language definately shows great improvement. "It's amazing how tobacco was once (and still is) thought of as quite a trendy thing to do, while tobacco users never knew fully the dangers of smoking until many years later." This introduction sentence in my first essay was definately not my idea of brilliant.
All of this being said, I do believe my skills have greatly improved since the beginning of writing 101 this quarter. All of these are specific examples that show my work in terms of progression. These were all chosen for specific reasons and to show my improvement over this course. That being said, I, once again am very glad to have had the opportunity to learn from my mistakes, and improve in many aspects of my writing style.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
PORTFOLIO; patrots vs. loyalists
For future reference aimed at anyone who should read this journal in years to come, let me tell you who I am. My name is Nicholas Addy. I am the governer of Massachusetts.*1 I have a son named Isaac Addy. I have a very strong bond with the british government, and I am able to obtain almost anything I might need from them. It seems as if there are going to be some problems with the british by way of how citizens of America are acting in the present. I shall see what happens, and document it further along in this journal.
February 04, 1775
Dear Diary,
Today was a very interesting day for me. I have firmly decided that I am completely against the Patriot act. It is repulsive that some of the citizens of America would dare think they could try and rebel against the British government. What do they think they are getting at?! I for one am all for being a British-American. Since I am a wealthy government official, I have splendid benefits given to me by the British government that I would rather not part with.*2 I dare say, all of those patriot fools are only rebelling because they cannot seem to come about such great stature as I and other political leaders of America have gained over time. That is not the British government's fault. The whigs should learn to deal with the fact that they are not superior to us officials. Is that my fault? Of course it isn't. But do I care about them anyhow? Of course not. Regardless of this, I strongly believe that only a stable sovereign government can bring the colonies of America together in theory that this will help defend us from outside attack.*2 Enough for today. I must go eat dinner. Goodbye, and may tomorrow be a wonderful day.
-Governor of Massachusetts Nicholas Addy
March 07, 1775
Dear diary,
My son has taken side of the patriots. I am completely and utterly shocked. He confronted me this morning, telling me that on March 04, he heard me talking with a friend in the parlor about my loyalist views. He says that he completely disagrees with me. He is a fool and a traitor. But I feel as if he thinks more lowly of me now that I have officially established my position of a loyalist. I stand firm in my beliefs of loyalism and will stand firm for the British government, as it secures my position as a governor. I do not understand these patriot's views. I mean, being loyal means all the benefits for me. I most definately am a defender of the constitutional order of Britain.*3 If we change our ways in America, it will be complete chaos. The prosperity of America depends on the British! I don't know what my son is thinking. Fool fool fool! In further news, I have heard that those loyal to the british have begun getting publicly humiliated. A friend of mine got tarred and feathered. The highest level of embarassment I do say.*4 Aside from that, I feel something more coming. Something powerful, that will determine our future as a country. I can only hope those loyal to the British government will prevail if we should have to go to war with the patriots.
-Nicholas Addy
April 19, 1775
Dear Diary,
The war has begun. I guess we all knew it would happen eventually. The british did some searching and discovered preparations being made by the patriots hinting at attack. If we change the way of the colonies now, it will be in such complete chaos! We need order here and the british help us maintain that order.*1 The patriots need to accept the colonies the way they are, and not try to change things. I guess it is too late for that now, as I hear a battle is beginning in the near future. We must fight for what we believe in, and shall the loyalists prevail!
-Nicholas Addy
April 21, 1775
Dear Diary,
I found my son Isaac's journal this very morning. He only confirms my opinion of him being a complete fool by his writings. He says we who uphold the british government are greedy. He is the one who is greedy. Fighting against the british, who made our colonies what they are today. The patriots will never get away with this! Now I must return Isaac's journal to its original resting place, or he shall know something was up.
-Nicholas Addy
Sources:
1- Jstor. Article review of a book written by Robert Mccluer Calhoon; published 1973. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642%28197408%2940%3A3%3C462%3ATLIRA1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8
2- Article titled: The Liberty We Seek: Loyalist Ideology in Colonial New York and Massachusetts; by Janice Potter. Reviewed by John W. Tyler. Published 1973.http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0028-4866%28198312%2956%3A4%3C622%3ATLWSLI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage
3- Article:Loyalism and constitutionalism by Daniel Larison, 2004http://larison.org/2004/08/08/loyalism-and-constitutionalism/
4- Source: Wikipedia. I know I know, but it had some really good information.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalist_(American_Revolution)#Loyalists_in_the_Thirteen_Colonies
PORTFOLIO; revised paper of my choice: tobaccos influence on society
It's uncanny how tobacco was once (and still is) thought of as quite a trendy thing to do. In earlier times, tobacco users never knew fully the dangers of smoking. Tobacco first originated in Virginia in the 1600's. It soon became the cash crop of the state, and many were eager to cultivate it for the wealth it brought. Unfortunately, in those times, many people did not associate smoking with being as deadly as it really was. This was because a lot of people did not get the education needed to know of these dangers. And because a person's lifespan was somewhat shorter in the 1600's than modern times, nobody really knew that the tobacco was indeed shortening their lifespan a good amount.
Tobacco in the early years was made into more cigars than cigarettes, and what cigarettes were made were mainly just pure tobacco. That however, is not so much how they are developed today. As stated on "www.whadafxup.com" ingredients such as tar, ammonia, sodium hydroxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and higher amounts of nicotine than in previous years are now additives and some of the main components of cigarettes. I feel that this is much worse than even just straight tobacco.
Both in the 1600's and today, cigarettes and other tobacco products have often been subliminaly aimed at a younger generation. In the 1600's, postwar cigarette ads were geared towards women and children. And now, advertisments are put into movies such as "The Muppet Movie." Also reported on "http://www.whadafxup.com/" was the fact that in 2006, an estimated 75% of youth rated movies (G, PG), and 90% of R rated movies gave reference to tobacco products. Also stated was a quote from a 1984 tobacco company that simply declares younger adult smokers "replacement smokers." I think this is absurd, and should cause people to start thinking of what these toabcco companies real motives are.
From the 1600's on, a large portion of the nation were fans of cigarettes and cigars. It was not until the 1960's that researchers discovered the many health defects associated with the usage of tobacco. Today most of society is well informed of the dangers of tobacco, yet many continue to use the products of the tobacco companies. One of the reasons why people are so hooked is because the nicotine levels are double the amount than in previous years in order to keep people addicted. This in turn, equals more money for tobacco companies, who seem to not care even remotely about the health risks of the use of their products. A quote relayed by "http://www.whadafxup.com/" is said by the CEO of a major tobacco company in 1997. He states; he would "instantly shut his doors, to get a better hold on things," if it were proved to his satisfaction that smoking causes cancer. That same company now admits on their website that smoking does indeed cause cancer, yet they continue to manufacture these lethal products. I find this completely foul and repulsive.
Tobacco in the early years was made into more cigars than cigarettes, and what cigarettes were made were mainly just pure tobacco. That however, is not so much how they are developed today. As stated on "www.whadafxup.com" ingredients such as tar, ammonia, sodium hydroxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and higher amounts of nicotine than in previous years are now additives and some of the main components of cigarettes. I feel that this is much worse than even just straight tobacco.
Both in the 1600's and today, cigarettes and other tobacco products have often been subliminaly aimed at a younger generation. In the 1600's, postwar cigarette ads were geared towards women and children. And now, advertisments are put into movies such as "The Muppet Movie." Also reported on "http://www.whadafxup.com/" was the fact that in 2006, an estimated 75% of youth rated movies (G, PG), and 90% of R rated movies gave reference to tobacco products. Also stated was a quote from a 1984 tobacco company that simply declares younger adult smokers "replacement smokers." I think this is absurd, and should cause people to start thinking of what these toabcco companies real motives are.
From the 1600's on, a large portion of the nation were fans of cigarettes and cigars. It was not until the 1960's that researchers discovered the many health defects associated with the usage of tobacco. Today most of society is well informed of the dangers of tobacco, yet many continue to use the products of the tobacco companies. One of the reasons why people are so hooked is because the nicotine levels are double the amount than in previous years in order to keep people addicted. This in turn, equals more money for tobacco companies, who seem to not care even remotely about the health risks of the use of their products. A quote relayed by "http://www.whadafxup.com/" is said by the CEO of a major tobacco company in 1997. He states; he would "instantly shut his doors, to get a better hold on things," if it were proved to his satisfaction that smoking causes cancer. That same company now admits on their website that smoking does indeed cause cancer, yet they continue to manufacture these lethal products. I find this completely foul and repulsive.
Monday, December 10, 2007
PORTFOLIO; Final Exam
"Why [consider history]? Simply because I am interested in the past? No, if one means by that[...] a history of the past in terms of the present. Yes, if one means the history of the present." This theory written by Michel Foucault relates to my history and writing courses this quarter. In simpler terms, I believe Foucault is saying this; We do not focus on past history because we are interested in it, we only focus on the conflicts of the past, because of the ways in which it it is currently influencing our world. We should not focus so much on the earlier times, considering we can not change the past. Instead, we should do is concentrate on the present, and take a look at the choices we are making now, for those choices will greatly affect our future.
This theory relates well to my own observation of history throughout the course this year. I have learned so much about the ways in which history repeats itself, and how, rather than focusing on the present, a lot of times in history, society focused more on the fact that things could end up the way they used to be. A demonstration of this type of behavior comes from the state of Rhode Island during the time of the debate over the ratification of the constitution. The majority of the population in Rhode Island sided with the antifederalist point of view. A major reason they did not wish to ratify was because they believed that the nation could experience a downfall due to the fear of the proposed centralized government becoming in a sense, a tyranny. The antifederalists thought of the possibility of this happening only because of what had occured in the past, when the British had almost complete control over the colonies. And although they had an idea of what the constitution would present to America, it would have been wise for Rhode Island to hear opposing points of view from the federalist side. Considering the fact that Rhode Island sent no delegates to the first constitutional convention, I expect that this would have given them, as well as other antifederalist states a different perspective on the matter.
When it comes to Foucault's opening question ("Why consider history?"), I feel as if there are many reasons to be schooled on the topic of historical development. I do agree with Foucault and how he is saying that we should focus on the present, in order to assist in creating a finer future. If we focus on doing things correctly in our generation, and not on what the people of past generations did incorrectly, we can begin to create a more positive future for ourselves, and generations to come.
In my opinion, this way of thinking helped me in history this quarter. When I think about happenings in the past, I see how things that went on back then affect us greatly now. I feel the need to focus deeper on today's society, and how what we are doing in my lifetime will affect people hundreds of years from now.
When it comes to the answering of Foucault's main question, I don't think my learning would have been the same with a different answer other than my own opinion. Considering, I had never read his theory before now, I don't really see how the question could be answered any differently than what I have written today. I guess there are different opinions on the matter, but I have always known to concentrate on how and in what ways the past affected the future, therefore, yes, my personal answer to the question did affect my learning in class.
This theory relates well to my own observation of history throughout the course this year. I have learned so much about the ways in which history repeats itself, and how, rather than focusing on the present, a lot of times in history, society focused more on the fact that things could end up the way they used to be. A demonstration of this type of behavior comes from the state of Rhode Island during the time of the debate over the ratification of the constitution. The majority of the population in Rhode Island sided with the antifederalist point of view. A major reason they did not wish to ratify was because they believed that the nation could experience a downfall due to the fear of the proposed centralized government becoming in a sense, a tyranny. The antifederalists thought of the possibility of this happening only because of what had occured in the past, when the British had almost complete control over the colonies. And although they had an idea of what the constitution would present to America, it would have been wise for Rhode Island to hear opposing points of view from the federalist side. Considering the fact that Rhode Island sent no delegates to the first constitutional convention, I expect that this would have given them, as well as other antifederalist states a different perspective on the matter.
When it comes to Foucault's opening question ("Why consider history?"), I feel as if there are many reasons to be schooled on the topic of historical development. I do agree with Foucault and how he is saying that we should focus on the present, in order to assist in creating a finer future. If we focus on doing things correctly in our generation, and not on what the people of past generations did incorrectly, we can begin to create a more positive future for ourselves, and generations to come.
In my opinion, this way of thinking helped me in history this quarter. When I think about happenings in the past, I see how things that went on back then affect us greatly now. I feel the need to focus deeper on today's society, and how what we are doing in my lifetime will affect people hundreds of years from now.
When it comes to the answering of Foucault's main question, I don't think my learning would have been the same with a different answer other than my own opinion. Considering, I had never read his theory before now, I don't really see how the question could be answered any differently than what I have written today. I guess there are different opinions on the matter, but I have always known to concentrate on how and in what ways the past affected the future, therefore, yes, my personal answer to the question did affect my learning in class.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Reflection letter: rough draft
This quarter in writing 101, I have gained a great deal of knowledge in terms of the writing process, and the writing styles that work well in different situations. I definately think I have progressed throughout the quarter. Compared to my way of writing at the beginning of the course, I believe I have improved in many aspects of my writing. Early on in the course, I never payed a lot of attention to detail and language usage. I also began by never writing with my own point of view, and never arguing another point of view. It was difficult to move away from this because I had only learned these types of writing in my past english classes. After a couple of different writing assignments, I saw my skills improving in terms of making progress towards these new writing styles. Overall, this course has greatly helped me improve my writing skills, and I am so glad I got the opportunity to learn many more of the styles that writing has to offer.
In our first essay assignment, written about the influence of tobacco on todays society, my essay was extremely short. It did not have as much information as I could have added, and everything was very jumbled together into one big paragraph. It was also very much like a list. For example in this sentence; "...ingredients such as tar, ammonia, sodium hydroxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and higher amounts of nicotine than in previous years are now additives and some of the main components of cigarettes." All I really did was list information and ingredients, whcih was somewhat useless information, and could have been shortened to a degree. Although this essay definately could have been greatly improved, in some aspects of the essay, I felt it had nice detail.
I believe the second essay I wrote on the topic of Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 showed slightly more progression in terms of length and detail. A lot of it, as I was soon to find out, was the wrong kind of detail. When I first began working on this essay and doing research, I found a lot of information that I believed would be great to add into my paper. Instead, it ended up being mostly informative. The feedback I got was that I should have had more of my opinion put into it. Overall, this assignment was rushed, and I ended up doing final revisions very last minute. This resulted in a loss of points. I definately could have made this essay a great deal better if I had spent more time editing.
In a writing assignment about loyalism and patriotism, I believe I did very well when it came to improving my research skills, and adding a lot of my own perspective. I spent a long time researching so I could gain the knowledge I believe I needed in order to make this essay better than all the rest. This definately payed off because I felt more confident about what I was writing about. This was one of the assignments that were more fun in my opinion, because we got to make up a historical character and portray them in terms of what side they were on; patriots or loyalists. Doing this also assisted me when it came to adding my own persepective and opinion because I had my own character to let those opinions flow through.
When it comes to my final writing assessment, I believe I did very well. It shows a great deal of improvment when compared to our very first real assignment. For example, I feel that my language usage showed improvement. For example, in the sentence; "A major reason they did not wish to ratify was because they believed that the nation could experience a downfall due to the fear of the proposed centralized government becoming in a sense, a tyranny." I just feel as if this language compared to what I shared in my example of the first essay language definately shows great improvement. "It's amazing how tobacco was once (and still is) thought of as quite a trendy thing to do, while tobacco users never knew fully the dangers of smoking until many years later." This introduction sentence in my first essay was definately not my idea of brilliant.
All of this being said, I do believe my skills have greatly improved since the beginning of writing 101 this quarter. All of these are specific examples that show my work in terms of progression. These were all chosen for specific reasons and to show my improvement over this course. That being said, I, once again am very glad to have had the opportunity to learn from my mistakes, and improve in many aspects of my writing style.
In our first essay assignment, written about the influence of tobacco on todays society, my essay was extremely short. It did not have as much information as I could have added, and everything was very jumbled together into one big paragraph. It was also very much like a list. For example in this sentence; "...ingredients such as tar, ammonia, sodium hydroxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and higher amounts of nicotine than in previous years are now additives and some of the main components of cigarettes." All I really did was list information and ingredients, whcih was somewhat useless information, and could have been shortened to a degree. Although this essay definately could have been greatly improved, in some aspects of the essay, I felt it had nice detail.
I believe the second essay I wrote on the topic of Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 showed slightly more progression in terms of length and detail. A lot of it, as I was soon to find out, was the wrong kind of detail. When I first began working on this essay and doing research, I found a lot of information that I believed would be great to add into my paper. Instead, it ended up being mostly informative. The feedback I got was that I should have had more of my opinion put into it. Overall, this assignment was rushed, and I ended up doing final revisions very last minute. This resulted in a loss of points. I definately could have made this essay a great deal better if I had spent more time editing.
In a writing assignment about loyalism and patriotism, I believe I did very well when it came to improving my research skills, and adding a lot of my own perspective. I spent a long time researching so I could gain the knowledge I believe I needed in order to make this essay better than all the rest. This definately payed off because I felt more confident about what I was writing about. This was one of the assignments that were more fun in my opinion, because we got to make up a historical character and portray them in terms of what side they were on; patriots or loyalists. Doing this also assisted me when it came to adding my own persepective and opinion because I had my own character to let those opinions flow through.
When it comes to my final writing assessment, I believe I did very well. It shows a great deal of improvment when compared to our very first real assignment. For example, I feel that my language usage showed improvement. For example, in the sentence; "A major reason they did not wish to ratify was because they believed that the nation could experience a downfall due to the fear of the proposed centralized government becoming in a sense, a tyranny." I just feel as if this language compared to what I shared in my example of the first essay language definately shows great improvement. "It's amazing how tobacco was once (and still is) thought of as quite a trendy thing to do, while tobacco users never knew fully the dangers of smoking until many years later." This introduction sentence in my first essay was definately not my idea of brilliant.
All of this being said, I do believe my skills have greatly improved since the beginning of writing 101 this quarter. All of these are specific examples that show my work in terms of progression. These were all chosen for specific reasons and to show my improvement over this course. That being said, I, once again am very glad to have had the opportunity to learn from my mistakes, and improve in many aspects of my writing style.
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