What is a blog?

What is a blog? A blog can be considered many different things to different people and it also depends on the situation at which the blog is being used. Some people may use a blog to comment about news, current events or even just about movies or book reviews. There are also personal blogs, corporate blogs and some blogs focus on a certain subject.

When a person writes a personal blog it is often an ongoing diary about their life. Some people will also create blogs if they are on vacation or living in another country for a period of time. Writing on the blog will allow that person to communicate with friends and family on their daily adventures. Though personal blogs are not often read by many, it gives the author their own personal satisfaction.

Corporate blogs can be used for internal use to create a greater communication between its workers. An internal blog can help a business or corporation update their employees on new developments and it also allows employees to communicate with each other and discuss new developments. It may also be used for external use such as marketing or PR purposes.

Blogs may also be created to focus on certain subjects such as political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, music blogs and the list can go on forever. Blogs such as theses bring people with the same interest together. It gives them a chance to express their feelings without being judged. It also allows a person to argue their point with someone who shares different ideas.

Before this class I had never blogged before and was really not fully aware of what blogging entailed. After almost a whole semester of blogging for our class, I gained a greater understanding of what blogging means to me and learned that blogging can be used for a variety of different reasons. We did over twenty different blogs throughout the semester and all displayed a new form of how a blog can be used.

We blogged about short stories, other classmates blogs, other websites and a variety of other forms of blogs. Each blog gave me the chance to broaden my perspective on a certain subject. For example, when we were asked to blog on a website using the CRAPP test it gave me a chance to look deeper into what the content is being placed on a website and how to tell whether the content is factual or not.

Blogging with the class allowed me to get an insight how my other classmates viewed the readings and often broadened my view of thinking. Reading others blogs brought different ideas that I would normally not think about. I also enjoyed commenting on other peoples blogs and I also liked receiving blog responses from my other classmates as well as the instructor. Receiving blog responses pointed out to me my strengths in my writing as well as areas I could work on. Receiving the instructor’s comments often gave me confirmation that I am writing on the right tract or maybe how I may have missed the idea of the assignment.

I enjoyed blogging for the most part, though there were times when we were required to write a certain amount and I had to think real hard about how to accomplish the required writing amount. I also enjoyed blogging much more than having to turn in homework assignments. Not only for the reason that many have mentioned, that it saves paper but also because it felt less like homework and more of me expressing my views and opinions for others to share. After this class I highly doubt I will continue to blog on my own page but if there is ever a time in my life where blogging skills are needed I will now I will be able to fulfill those skills due to the practice I have had in this class.

"Discrimination is a Virtue" and the Democratic Election

The current Democratic presidential nomination race includes two nominees that are often considered a "minority" in today's political system. Senator Hilary Clinton an Senator Barack Obama are the two candidates. Clinton is a white female while Obama is an African American male. I feel that just because both of these candidates are of a minority in the political world, people are cautious not to show "discrimination" towards them. According to Robert Keith Miller in his essay, "Discrimination is a Virtue" he writes that discrimination does not always have to relate to racism but is also means the "ability to tell differences." This is important to remember during the election. Just because the candidates are a female and African American does not mean we should not discriminate their political views. As Miller says, "The ability to make intelligent judgments is essential both for the functioning of society and as a whole."

Global Warming Visual

For my extended argument, I am writing about the debate of global warming. The above graph shows the changes in global temperature, sea level and Northern Hemisphere snow cover. The graph shows that from the years 1850-2000, global temperature and the sea level have increased while the Northern Hemisphere snow cover has decreased. Such information would be useful in my paper in that it shows that there has been a change in our climate which helps support the idea that global warming does exist

Negatives About Prospectus

1. What are some ways the students plagiarized?
2. Give more detail about the topics that will be discussed in the paper.
3. Not a very strong thesis in introduction paragraph. 

Black English

James Baldwin makes a compelling argument in his essay “If Black English isn’t A language, What is?’ regarding language and the roll it plays in our cultural and even personal identities. Baldwin goes to state that language is a political instrument and proof of power, “It is the most vivid and crucial key to identity: It reveals the private identity, and connects one with, or divorces one from, the larger, public, or communal identity.” Baldwin shows that language can be broken down to many parts and through language a person reveals who he or she is.

 

Baldwin also addresses how the Black English has helped develop and influence the White Americans English. He mentions that he wonders what white Americans would sound like if there had never been any black people in the United States. He supports his claim that the language of the black cultural is to get just as much credit as the language of the white cultural for the formation of the English we speak today. He uses the example of  how the White Americans  have adopted the Jazz Age and without the black cultural influence, the Jazz we know would not be the same.

 

Baldwin uses good historical evidence to support his claim and leaves out logical fallacies that may provide the reader with false information. Baldwin is very descriptive offers the reader many examples to further support his claim. It can also be trusted that James Baldwin is a credible author for he has experienced different forms of language by living in the United States and France and also his background of being involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

"Concealed Carry on Campus"

“Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.” Concealed Campus. (2007), 13 

            March 2008. <http://concealedcampus.org/index.htm.>

The source I chose so site and evaluate is the website “Students for Concealed on Campus.” This website advocates for the right of students and teachers to be able to carry a concealed weapon on college campuses. The supporters of this site argue that students over the age of 21 should be able to carry a weapon that they are able to carry just about everywhere else in order to protect themselves. Since school shootings such as the one at Virginia Tech, it is argued that students and teachers should have a way to protect themselves since it often is too late by the time authority arrive to the scene.

 

This website lists facts and statistics regarding how many states allow concealed carry and why concealed carry should be legal on college campuses. It is very clear what this view of this website is, but they also offer the readers possible arguments someone from the other side of the argument may say. I can trust that this site is reputable and can be used in my argument paper because they offer video clips of their representatives speaking on well-known news stations such as Fox News. It was last updated on March 4, 2008, which shows that the information provided is recent and accurate. The website is targeted to college students to try to get them involved on their own campuses and to reach out to their local government officials. I found this site to be very clear and easy to navigate through. Their purpose was easy to understand and they offered good reason and sources for the stand that they have taken which is to allow concealed carry on campuses. 

"The Right to Fail"

Who decides what is success and what is failure? According to the “American Dream” success involves graduating high school, attending a college university and then become successful in a professional career.  In “The Right to Fail”, William Zinsser writes, “ The right to fail is one of the few freedoms this country does not grant its citizens.” Today there is so much pressure for a teenager to go to college, whether they are following the footsteps of everyone else in their family or are the first in their family to go to college.

 

My mom didn’t finish college, but rather got married and started a family. Though she did not complete college, that has not affected her ability to be a hard worker. She is in sales at a computer company and works with many people that have a college degree, yet she is one of the best sales people in her company. This shows that receiving a college education is not where you receive all your knowledge and you can still be successful if you are determined.

 

Though my mom did not complete college, she has always urged me to go to college. Ever since I was young I knew I would go to a four-year university and become a nurse. This may be considered following the “American Dream” but has always been my dream that I formed for myself. I have always strived to receive good grades and consider getting a “C” a failure. But as I have grown I have come to realize that failure is what makes a person grow.  Without failing you will never be able to know how you can make yourself better.

 

Everyone has their own definition of “success” and I feel that they should all be respected. Everyone must fail at some point in his or her life in order to be able to grow and become a stronger person. As Zinsser says, “Don’t be afraid to fail” for with failure comes growth and maturity.