this is an optional blog post, that i am completing so i can get a full grade for the blog.this is talking about about the research question generation paper, from which i obtained the question that i probably will stick with, for the rest of the semester.

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Revision Plan Brainstorming Questions:

-Do you need more specific examples?
i should maybe include more examples of what kind of opportunities already exist, like maybe a short word on the declined DREAM act, or Obama's executive mandate that accomplished the same goals

-Do you need to revise with your reader in mind? (better explain things)
i can probably write more about my direct motivation with the issue, to make them better understand why i am writing on this topic

-Do you need to reorganize your points?
both me and my reader agreed that the points in my essay are in a good order, and get the point across correctly

-Do you need to take the filler out?
at this point, i do not have any filler, and in fact, i need more to fill out the essay, as it's already barely meeting the requirements

-Do your main ideas need to be clearer? When in doubt, tell the reader your main idea as soon as possible, then, discuss how you got there.
i think that the ideas are already clear enough on my essay, as i introduce my question very early on, after my introduction paragraph

-Should you rephrase your research question to take the complexity of the situation into account?
i could maybe rephrase the question to introduce more aspects about the costs of all of those extra programs, or perhaps including why some people would not want to introduce these programs into place

-Do you need a new research issue?

no, my reader liked the question, and thought it was a good idea, and even my teacher said that there would be a lot of sources from where to get information

-If it is not in MLA format (uses in-text citations and a works cited page) this should be on your revision list.
my paper is not in MLA format, and it is on the list to do

Brainstorming Journal #4

for today's assingment, i read George D. Kuh's essay "What Student Engagement Data Tell Us about College Readiness" talking about if there was any correlation between involvement and effort in high school related to involvement and effort in college, using data from National Survey of Student Engagement, and the High School Survey of Student Engagement.

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            I was one of the people that the article states that spent less than 3 hours a day studying in high school, and I passed most of my classes with A’s and B’s with nearly no studying at all. Along the same lines, I was unprepared to face the amount of studying I had to do when I entered college. Because of this, I did not study enough to pass my calculus class, and just barely passed psychology with a D. I however did not come in with expectations of joining a lot of clubs, or doing a lot of involvement. I did join the D20 knights, which is a club for playing and discussing table-top role playing games. After the first semester of being involved in the club, I ran for an officer’s position in the club, and was elected the PR manager of the club, which goes to show that I became a lot more involved than I originally expected, coupled along with the many service hours and other community events that I have attended through the LEAD scholars program. I also have attended many school events such as the many concerts and raves during Pegasus palooza, and homecoming week, when I was not expecting to really attend any events before I came here.

            This all comes back to the topic of high school because in my high school there were never any events to attend, and I never joined many clubs. Furthermore, I never really felt challenged in high school, which probably leads to my abysmal study habits. I am not going to blame any of my high school teachers for me failing any of my classes these past two semesters, because I know it was all my own fault for failing to understand the warnings they all gave me about how much harder college would be. 

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we can draw forth the issue of whether students are being properly readied for college life in high school, along with whether the students themselves are personally prepared for entering college

Brainstorming Journal # 3

for today's Brainstorming Journal, i read Grabill & Pigg's essay on the survey the did on writings in college. i chose it because i am very technologically minded, and the writings seemed to make sense to me. the journal, however was about plagiarism, and therefore, that's what i wrote about.

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Luckily, I have not yet, nor do I plan to be on the sights of a plagiarism accusation. I have however, seen a friend go through an accusation process, for an essay in high school. We were writing a paper on a book we had to read for class, and he copied a whole paragraph from someone else’s paper, which was published online, without any form of citation, or even a reference that it was anyone else’s work. After a hearing process, he was found guilty, and was given a failing grade for the entire class. Because of that event, I have always been careful to document all my sources, and give proper citations everywhere I write, even though I do believe that all the rage over plagiarism is a bit over blown, and maybe a failing grade for an entire class might be a bit too much, although it does depend on how much was plagiarized, and how important the assignment is. Another issue that has hurt me along my path as a writer has been the issue of finding a proper audience for my writings, as I have never really mastered the art of finding who I am writing to. I have never understood whether I’m supposed to be formal when writing papers, as some of my teachers have demanded super strict formal writing in everything we ever submitted, from simple class discussions, to final term papers, and I’ve had teachers who accept more relaxed forms of writing even in formal papers. Because of this, I sort of have accepted that whatever I write, it’s going to come out how I want it to come out, but usually within the needed parameters if it is for school. Sometimes, I write formally when talking with friends on Skype, or Facebook, and sometimes I write without a care for writing conventions, or formalism.

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if i have some time, i might type out a poem i wrote during my senior year in high school. it was fun to write, although it doesn't really make much sense. but, you know... whatever

Found an Audience!

so, i now know who the audience for this blog is. the new audience are my friends from the CFB After Dark chat! yay~

hey guys. lets keep this clean, yeah?

"Learning how to read" By Malcolm X

in my second assignment, we had to read Malcolm X's "learning how to read" and, again, answer some questions from the readings.

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            Malcolm X had a large number of literacy sponsors, ranging from real people, the writings of real people, and entire institutions. They include the library at Norfolk Prison, by providing the books which he read during his imprisonment, Bimbi, who first inspired Malcolm to learn by always leading the conversations with his personal knowledge. Another person who sponsored Malcolm, this time through books, was Elijah Muhammad, who wrote the books that most impacted Malcolm, and lead him to fight for black rights. Muhammad only became a sponsor for Malcolm through the help of Charles H. Parkhurst, who donated a bunch of books for the prison.  Other sponsors include authors and intellectuals such as Will Durant, H.G. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, J.A. Rogers, Gregor Mendel, Arnold Toynbee, and ideas such as when he found the horrors of slavery, and philosophy. Also included are the pamphlets from the anti-slavery society.

            Since his sponsors included all sorts of people, it is almost guaranteed that some of his readings were from a white perspective, which makes it possible that there were some writings that were against his ideals. One case that comes to mind is the writings of Arnold Toynbee, who, as stated by Malcolm, “…Toynbee is among those who have helped to bleach history” (pg3), which means that in his ultimate ideals, Malcolm misappropriated Arnold’s sponsorship.

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from the reading, we can ask about the issue of race relations, and their state in today's society.

"Sponsors of literacy" By Deborah Brandt

my first assignmnet and, therefore my first post, i had to write some responses to a journal by Deborah Brandt, about literacy sponsors.

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Brandt defines a literacy sponsor as someone who facilitates the access to knowledge from various sources, be they institutionalized learning centers, or specific people who give access to knowledge. They also include one’s parents, who may possibly be defined as one’s first literacy sponsors, as they are the ones who may be reading us bedtime stories, or telling us other anecdotes which can form the primary reason some of us tried to learn various subjects

            Brandt claims that literacy sponsors always have something to gain from their sponsorship because by sponsoring someone, they spread their own ideas into their students, which propagates their own ideals and morals into more people, which in some cases means more power to throw around, such as in politics, where more people following your ideology means more votes, which ultimately means more decisive power in office. To do this, sometimes people change facts a bit, hide some truths, or maybe even lie to achieve their goals.

            Another way that sponsors can gain from their sponsorship of other people can include the broadening of their own knowledge pool, just by increasing their numbers. Having more people means you can spread specific problems around in a way that makes it easier to solve them, especially in occasions where the problem is multifaceted, in a way that specific parts can be easily solved by different people with separate skillsets, which otherwise would have rendered the problem unsolvable.  

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from this article we can ask questions about the true intentions behind some of the biggest educators, asking whether they are giving access to education in exchange for indoctrination into their own belief system.

Welcome~

hiya ~ i'm not exactly sure who i'm writing this for yet... so... in the future, whoever is reading this... hi!~
this is my blog for my English composition class at UCF this semester, this being fall 2012. here, i will be posting random musings, along with some classwork.

sooo.... whoever my audience is, i welcome everyone to my blog, and may you enjoy your stay here~