All through high school and into my adult age, English has been my preferred subject when it comes to core academic class. Writing is not my favorite thing to due, as it takes me a very long time to figure out what thoughts I would like to put on paper. Structuring has always been a huge problem for me as well. Enrolling in this English class, I knew that there would be a lot of writing involved, therefore I mentally prepared my self for the challenge. The beginning of the semester was a bit difficult for me as I was not use to writing every night of the week. Although I am glad to say that the writing became flowing a bit easier due to the constant repetition. I was very glad that this course was composed of weekly blogs, as it was good to have assignments that weren’t as mandatory in structure. Certain blog assignments where easier than others as they were topics that I could relate to a bit more. I began to notice the effect that the blogs where having upon my writing. I began organizing my thoughts in an effective matter and was able to articulate my self with more success.

Another struggle that I have always had is providing feedback to others in regards to their writing. My thought behind it was that everyone has different writing styles and it became very difficult for me to criticize anyone for their style. With this class however, it was okay to provide constructive criticism to other’s writing. Making each individual response worth assignment points, made me inclined to be very truthful with that feedback as it depended on my grade. It is also pretty good to know that your feedback will help another student, that is going through the same struggles as I am, achieve a higher score in their writing. As far a the group projects, I believe the hardest assignment I had, yet the one I most enjoyed was the discussion between religion and the opinion in which is correct. As I had read the story about the Muslim religion, I found it very interesting to understand the true meaning of what others considered terrorist or suicide bombers. Aside from reading it from the text, I enjoyed having to type of my interpretation of the story and reading others alike.

Overall, I feel as if this course has allowed me to explore different styles of writing. The actual conception of a topic is still very hard for me to formulate, as it takes me hours to type something and actually like it. The only difference is that I have become use to having to type for an extensive period of time. Writing assignments no longer scare me after the large amount of writing that was required for this class.

Reyes, Dalila

Instr. Gross

English 103

May 20, 2011

Research Papers…

            At the beginning of this course, we were asked what our experience was with writing and how well be adapted to assignments that are assigned.  My response, if I could remember correctly was that I was very difficult for me to think and develop what I want to physically write.  With this research paper, the felling is the same.  I took me a very long time to decide which one of the prompts I wanted to do.  I choose to go with The Great Gastby because I remembering reading it in high school, and from I can recall I didn’t hate the book.  As I finished the book, the prompt kept ringing in my head.  I kept thinking how was I going to relate this book to Reading Lolita.  I became very overwhelmed with the prompt alone.  I began researching topics using Google Scholar, yet one of my biggest frustrations is that many of the pages that I open up are very limited with information, as it requires to actually pay for a book in order to have access to it.  Very frustrating.  At times, some of the information sounds very interesting, yet the ticket price for a book is about thirty dollars.  I unfortunately do not have that type of money to be spending with two kids.  Therefore I thought about taking my research to the library.  Yet I realize that there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to physically do that.  In between shuttling my kids around, from basketball practice, girl scouts, track and art class, there is not time for me to stop and visit the library.  Weekends are out of the question.  I have thus continued my search through the internet, but I do realized I will have to make time to stop by and spend ample time in the library.  One of my other frustrations is that I keep forgetting to write down the URL for all the sites that I am visiting.  I becomes very frustrating as I then have to revisit everything again  just to find the site I was previously in.  Overall, I has been a bit frustrating, yet I keep reminding my self that I can do it.  I haven’t failed yet.  

Research Papers…

At the beginning of this course, we were asked what our experience was with writing and how well be adapted to assignments that are assigned. My response, if I could remember correctly was that I was very difficult for me to think and develop what I want to physically write. With this research paper, the felling is the same. I took me a very long time to decide which one of the prompts I wanted to do. I choose to go with The Great Gastby because I remembering reading it in high school, and from I can recall I didn’t hate the book. As I finished the book, the prompt kept ringing in my head. I kept thinking how was I going to relate this book to Reading Lolita. I became very overwhelmed with the prompt alone. I began researching topics using Google Scholar, yet one of my biggest frustrations is that many of the pages that I open up are very limited with information, as it requires to actually pay for a book in order to have access to it. Very frustrating. At times, some of the information sounds very interesting, yet the ticket price for a book is about thirty dollars. I unfortunately do not have that type of money to be spending with two kids. Therefore I thought about taking my research to the library. Yet I realize that there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to physically do that. In between shuttling my kids around, from basketball practice, girl scouts, track and art class, there is not time for me to stop and visit the library. Weekends are out of the question. I have thus continued my search through the internet, but I do realized I will have to make time to stop by and spend ample time in the library. One of my other frustrations is that I keep forgetting to write down the URL for all the sites that I am visiting. I becomes very frustrating as I then have to revisit everything again just to find the site I was previously in. Overall, I has been a bit frustrating, yet I keep reminding my self that I can do it. I haven’t failed yet.

Reyes, Dalila

Instr. Gross

English 103

May 13, 2011

The Take Over of Social Media

          “Is this another one of your life stories?” is what I hear every time I begin a conversation with my friend and until recently found out the reasoning behind it.  I was rudely informed that my small comments, ornate least what I think are small comments, always turn into large anecdotes.  It has become so  bad that at times he prefers to not even know the information even if it is in regards to him.  I was very upset when this “life story” comment began, but I have learned to understand and realize that I indeed make everything into the longest story possible.  There are many times in which I will speak to a friend in regards to certain issue and let that very same person relay the same message to someone else.  My reasoning behind it is knowing that the first person will shorten the information to only the most essential points.  The comment goes from being three minutes long, to shortened in a matter of seconds.  Another fact that makes this attribute terrible is that my job consists of a lot or re-iterating of information.  As a watch my coworkers relay the same information, I take note that their sixty second check-ins take sixty seconds unlike my three to five minute speech.  I am a very complex person that does not leave to leave out a single detail or information, therefore, I am no different when I comes to most social medias. 

          With the rapid advance of technology, there are many ways in which to communicate.  It is no longer dependent upon hand writing or phone.  Through text message, I am not as detailed at times as I normally would like to be.  Reason being is that typing with my two thumbs is not the most comfortable thing to do.  I understand that phones, just like mine, have been enhanced with an actual key board, yet this technology doesn’t really reduce the amount of thumb usage one has to make.  Therefore my messages stay short and very limited in detail.  If detail is crucial to the comprehension of the sentence,  I will begin abbreviating and omitting  words throughout the sentence.  On the other hand, social media through the computer produce’s another type of communication style within me.  For example, if I was writing to a friend on Facebook, I would not hesitate to include every single detail within my story.  The device in which I use to communicate through Facebook is my laptop and comparing those keys to a cell phones keys, a laptop is much easier to type with.  Not to mention I have had years of practice.  I believe it is easier to express my self through a computer due to the typing skill I have acquired over the years.  The differences in styles are time dependent as I consider texting to be more time consuming.  One might comment that texting and how fast one can text, has become a skill as not many have the same ability.  Yet this society continues to become more and more dependent of technology of small devices, that perhaps the question: How many words per minute can you text?, might be found on a job application in the future.  

Reyes, Dalila

Instr. Gross

English 103

May 6, 2011

                       That man for president 2008

            Editorial cartoons are created to call attention to certain issues, ideas or topics.  They can be filled with humor, shocking at first glance or intended to for controversy.  Unfortunately, there is no consistent editorial cartoonist that I follow or who’s work I am informed or aware of.  I have always enjoyed, however, political cartoons as they are very interesting to observe.  Cartoons which express political candidates are comical in the sense that the cartoonist over exaggerate facial features and make elaborate on the truth of any politician.  These political cartoons also address the political issues within their cartoons, at times not illustrating politicians themselves, but using the key figures of their political parties, the elephant and the donkey.  While researching this prompt, I took a look at the different types of cartoons that highlight presidential nomination topics.   A cartoonist by the name of Jack Higgins, drew my attention with his cartoon titled “Batman,” which appeared in the Sun-Times on September 26, 2008.  In the height of the 2008 elections, the cartoon pictures President Obama on the podium stating: Change We Need.  On the opposite side of the then presidential candidate, stood Batman, seen running toward the city stating: Gotta Run, My Country Needs Me.  On the capped crusaders podium reads the sign: Change of Costume. I consider this cartoon to have different meanings.   Higgins makes the two correlation between both candidates by attracting the readers eye to the slogan that are stated.  He depicts President Obama’s change sloggan next to change of costume.  In presidential elections, candidates make many promises that they will achieve if chosen to take the presidential seat.  Many of those promises that are delivered to the country are never met.  Can one consider this as a change of costume?  Having a politician make a promise, then when they achieve their goal they do a complete turn around and become someone one else, a different politician with different intentions and leave the citizens to pay the price of deception.  Another, thought that I had when looking at the this cartoon is the irony behind who really helps our country or its citizens when there is a calling.  In the background lies the Batman signal and pictures Batman rushing to help.  In 2008, fresh from a president that was citified for his delayed reaction to disaster of Hurricane Katrina, one can’t help but to think of other presidents would be just as slow to react to a state in peril.  Which brings the relation to Batman or any caped crusader that essentially changes costumes, the comic heroes do anything to save the public and even risk their very own lives doing it.  Which posses the question, if Batman ran for president, with the public already knowing that he has a 100% success rate, would be likely to win the election

Reyes, Dalila

Instr. Gross

English 103

April 26, 2011

Revoking Public Pensions

            As public servants enter the workforce each day, both city and state levels guarantee pensions after a certain amount of years of employment.  Public pensions are funded through state funds and tax paying dollars, but with the state in a budget deficit, officials speculate that pensions must be eliminated.  Legally, many argue, pensions cannot be revoked without violating exciting contracts in which benefits are guaranteed for the services rendered.  Mayors throughout states like California are looking for legal loopholes that will allow states to cut pensions from their public servants.  Due to the states financial struggles, many facilities have had to cut back on their payroll and involuntary terminate employees, in order to  continue paying the high cost pensions.  With this political debate, many of the actual city and government employees do not agree with the proposed measurements the state is considering.  Many people believe that it is morally and legally incorrect to strip pensions off of an employee after many years of dedication and loyalty.  Police officers and fire fighters whom dedicate and scarifies their lives for the public deserve to retain those benefits but it would be at the cost of other public services.  Although many argue that it is those same benefits and pensions that attract people to continue that line of profession.  Considering states are not expecting a decrease in demand for these professions, states must determine different measures that will help control and decrease the budget deficit. 

             Like many political issues, the public becomes informed through the media’s reports and articles.  Regardless of the informative content such as this as topic conducted by the New York Times, many of the authors express their political opinion within the editorial.  Biased opinions, doublespeak and inflated language are all tools in which people such as authors and political speakers use to convey their message across to the reader or audience.  This article entitled, Public Pensions, Once off Limits, Face Budget Cuts,  appeal to readers by highlighting both pros and cons of the issue.  First, the article address the issue of the massive budget deficits many states around the country face.  This appeals to each American, as we are affected by the funding or lack of funding in public resources such as law enforcement or fire departments.  It address the issue of the need of severe reduction of speeding in order to relieve the financial mess our country is in.  Secondly, the article appeals to the countless of individuals which would be affected by the removal of their pensions.  Not only affecting the working class, but also affecting the income of retired citizens who’s lives depend on the yearly pensions.   The rhetorical effectiveness of an article allows the readers to form opinioned ideas and thought in regards political debates that occur within the country.  Due to the strong influence media and written publications, it can become very difficult for measures or decisions to be made as the public scrutiny can either provide huge support for a topic or kill an idea dead in its tracks.  

Reyes, Dalila

Instr. Gross

English 103

April 12, 2011

Blog 10

            It was late night March 10^th, as I was writing my blog for this English class, when I briefly checked Facebook for the newest social updates.  I saw the usual updates from friends who are always up around that hour, but a different post caught my attention that read “earthquake in Japan.”  Realizing I was approaching midnight and began feeling very tiered, I didn’t pay much attention to it and continued writing my paper.  As I checked Facebook minutes later, the next post I read was “earthquake in Japan, keep them in your prayers.”  It was not till then that I became very curious to what people were referring to.  I reached for the television control and immediately changed it to CNN.  CNN has always been a reliable source and I knew they would be covering any type of breaking news.  I was shocked to see the aerial views streaming straight from Japan as the terrible catastrophe presented its self. I watched as a tsunami swallowed up acres of farmland in a matter of seconds.   I was no longer able to focus on my paper, as I was consumed by emotion about the current events. 

            Like the devastating tsunami,  the attacks on the World Trade Centers were unforgettable events that have received massive media attention.  It was a ninth grade morning when I was doing my usual routine: got ready for work and walked to my friends house.  When I arrived at her house she mentioned to me that an airplane had just crashed into a building.  Thinking the incident was minor, I headed to school without thinking much about it and at that age what fourteen year old would?  I was terribly wrong, my friend failed to mention that it was a commercial air plane filled with passengers that had crashed into that building.  Throughout the day I continued to hear about the “plane crash” but it wasn’t until I was in my 6^th period class that I realized how devastating the situation was.  The attacks against the World Trade Centers would be one of the worst attacks committed on the United States.   

            With both and many other horrific events, the mass media and technology efforts have allowed the information to stream out moments after they occur.  Local and world news allows for information to enter our household throughout the day.  CNN has been a leader in world news for many years and always provides on scene reports form those affected areas.  With the advance of technology, people around the world have access to post the latest news, current events and devastations that occur.  Unlike news reports that often can take days for a news anchor to be present on foreign countries, these individuals can post information in a matter of seconds.  Social cites such as Facebook, Twitter, Skipe allow friends and family members to stay connected despite time laps or location difference.  Like the events of Japan’s tsunami, Facebook was my primary source of information.  Through everyone’s notifications and the assistance of the mass media, the entire world, even those affected became informed of the devastating events.