Lesson 14

The only things I would have done differently while working on this essay was allow myself more time and to have taken better notes. It just seemed that life kind of got in the way while I was trying to work on this essay. Every time I started to work on it something came up and so I ended up having to stay up late many nights working on it. Also, my note taking kind of got unorganized and some of them I did not even use for this essay. I think that the end result was the best that I could have done, but I feel that if I had allowed myself more time that I would feel more confident about the essay.

Lesson 13

I had consulted Steven at the Writing Center on Sunday. He gave me a lot of great advice for not only writing this essay, but for future essays. The first piece of advice he gave me was to always read your essays aloud and if it does not sound like the way you talk then it probably needs further work. He said to always try and make your essays sound as much like you as possible. He also pointed out that I used the work it too much. He suggested that I not do that and try to explain what it is. Steven also suggested that I try and make better transitions from one subject to another. He also suggested that I be a little more organized when I write. I thought the experience overall was very helpful. I had someone look my essay over prior to sending it to the Writing Center and it was helpful to get another person’s perspective on it. It also forced me to change my thesis statement. The one that I had originally I thought was good, but Steven had suggested that my final paragraph would make a better thesis statement. So that was nice to have someone suggested that for me because that is one of things that still confuses me a little bit.

Lesson 12

Number of questions attempted: 5
Number of questions correct: 4
Percentage score: 80%

I was unable to copy the test score that I received for the second test but I got the same score as above.

Lesson 11

I had dismissed two articles for my essay because I did not think that they provided enough information. One article in particular was about how a town came together to buy and produce food locally. Even though my essay is about the industrialized food system in America, I just did not think that it pertained to my essay. After rereading it again for this assignment made me think that by how this community came together to buy and produce food locally it boosted their locally economy. It created more jobs within their community and it helped family farms stay afloat when a lot of them are going out of business.  Even though it did not talk about the negative side of the industrialized food system it show that by trying to produce and buy locally how it can impact their locally community in a positive way. The second article that I chose not to use for my essay was about an organization that is trying to steer people away from buying industrialized foods and to try and buy more locally. I chose not to use this for my essay because it I just thought that this article did not provide enough information that I needed. After rereading the article again I actually found some information that I was able to use. It also help me include information that I previously was not going to discuss in my essay and that was the impact the industrialized food system had on local communities and local family owned farms. Because of the industrialized farms are mostly owned by corporate companies, family owned farms cannot compete with their prices and are often times forced to sell their land to farm corn and soybean or just simply shut down all together. If they have to shut down this not only effects them, but it also effects members of their community by people who may have worked on the farm not having a job and may end up having to move. So I am glade that I was able to give this article a second chance because if I had not then I would have not been able to discuss this side of the food system in my essay. Neither of these articles were difficult for me to understand they just did not provide enough information that pertained to my essay at the time when I was researching.

Lesson 10

According to a news article, on November 18^th 2011 President Obama signed into law the slaughtering of horses for human consumption.  This practice was banned in 2006 when people who were opposed of this practice banned the funding for inspections. It has been predicted that these slaughterhouses could be up and running in about 30 to 90 days and slaughter up to 200,000 horses annually for human consumption. There has not been a state picked out for this yet, but there are investors who are interested in helping to finance this operation.  Although most people here in the United States do not eat horse meat, the majority of it will be shipped to other countries that do. Since this practice has been banned in the United States, ranchers who have horses that are older or unable to work could ship the horses off locally to be butchered, now have to send them off to Canada or Mexico.  Since the recession it has been documented that people who can no longer afford to care for their horses have also ship them off to the slaughter houses in Mexico or Canada. There is some concern that when the slaughter houses do open that instead of looking for a suitable place to place a horse when the owner is unable to care for it, the slaughter house will be their first solution.  Animal rights groups are arguing that the process of slaughtering is cruel and would be a lot better if the owners had their horses put to sleep by a veterinarian.

Lesson 9

What else do I still need to do?

I still need to do more research on my essay topic. In addition to that I also need to go through and figure out what I can use from the information that I can now. I also I am going to go through all my previous assignments that I have done and look at what mistakes that I have made to make sure that I do not do it again in this assignment.

What do I need outside help with?

The one thing that I keep making mistakes on his my WC page. So I need to reread the book on how to do that and maybe go to the writing center to seek help with that. I also would like to ask my husband or a friend to look over my essay maybe once a week as I work on it to make sure that I am not making any kinds of mistakes.

Why am I feeling threatened by this research paper (if you are)? or Why am I feeling confident about this research paper?

I am not feeling threatened by this research paper as much as I am feeling overwhelmed by it. It is a big assignment that is worth a lot of points and the expectation of it to be completely error free is a lot to take in, but with the help of the writing center and other people that makes it a little easier to deal with at the moment.

Lesson 8

In the essay” Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” by Jean Kilbourne there is an image on page 325 that shows a woman being picked up by the back of her pants by a man and she is bent over as he lifts her off the ground.  It looks as though he is about to slam her into the brick wall that is next to them while two other men look to be getting ready to join in. If someone where just glancing through a magazine and came upon this most people would be shocked by the image or might even take them time to read the small print that says what the image is supposed to be about. The image was run in a Czech Elle magazine and it was an advertisement for jeans being sold to women. It is too bad that we live in a society where people think that in order to sell jeans especially to women that women need to be portrayed in this way.

The article that I read for my research topic is called “Hitting the Wall With the Industrialized Food System” by Asher Miller. The image that is with this article is glimpse of the living conditions that cattle have to endure while living on a farm getting ready for market. For anyone who does not know most cattle have to live in living conditions that would completely horrify most people. They are fed a diet of corn which cows are allergic to and they live in grassless pastures that have enough of their own waste to come up to their ankles. Not only are the living conditions horrible, but they are contributing to some of our environmental issues.

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/hitting-the-wall-with-the-industrialized-food-system/

I believe my thesis is a strong statement, but I am always open for constructive criticism and ideas.

Lesson 8 Memo

Date: 26 October 2011

To: Romina Kline

From: Nikki Nantz

Subject: Topic of My Research Paper

The topic of my research paper is the industrialized food system in America and  the effects it has on our environment, the health of humans, and the conditions in which animals who are waiting to go to mark have to live. The question that would be answered is if there are any possible solutions to get this system back on track.

I am planning on going to library to look for any helpful books for my topic and also I plan on watching Food Inc. again. In addition to that I also plan on looking for information on the internet.

If you could let me know if my topic that I choose for my research paper is approved by October 30^th I would really appreciate it. If it is not could you please give me some suggestions of an appropriate topic?

Lesson 7

Who is the audience for your essay?

It is for a slightly resistant one

What is the thesis of essay?

It is how universal health would have a negative impact on our country

Does it include the claim and 3 supporting reasons to make it a strong thesis?

I think it does by stating how universal health care would have a negative impact on our economy and our country.

Can the audience be swayed by your claim and reasons? Why or why not? Tell why each reason is strong enough to sway a person to your way of thinking.

I think so because it brings up some good points not only for our country but how it is in the countries that currently have it. The first point is some proposed ways of how universal health care would be paid for by either raising taxes or have to cut back in other areas. The second reason being that we would have a decline in patient care and long wait periods is based off of how it is in some countries especially Canada. The third reason is how some people could choose to abuse the program by living a more extreme lifestyle than they normally would because the know that they will be covered medically if they ever got hurt. I think they those three points may be strong enough for a person who thinks that universal health care would be a good idea to may reconsider it.

I posted on Panama John’s blog lesson 9.

Sounds like you have a great plan and a very interesting essay topic. I agree with you about feeling pressure about how many points the one essay is worth, but as you said it seems to broken up and hopefully that will help. Good luck!

Lesson 6

On page 118 of Writing Arguments are two pictures of John Walker Lindh, who is an American citizen, but was part of the Afghanistan Taliban. The first picture is of him clean shaven and a shaved head looking blankly as his picture was taken. The second picture is of him taken while he was captured in Afghanistan strapped to something, naked, and blind folded. He appears to be underweight in comparison to his picture that was taken when he was sent back to the United States.  The argument that is being made is that when the picture of him in an American prison clean shaven and obviously not being starved people call for him to be punished for him crime. When the photograph of him in Afghanistan strapped down naked and looking to have been starved, people may looked at that and see that he may have been punished enough and call for his release.

The slaughter of many exotic animals and a few that are endangered early this month was a horrible sight. Terry Thompson the owner of the animals chose to end his life, but before doing so chose to release the animals. Sheriff Matt Lutz gave the order to have the animals shot on sight resulting in the death of almost 50 animals. Now the being question is should people be allowed to purchase and keep these kinds of animals as pets. A lot of people are looking at this as an example as to why owning these types of animals and having them as pets is something that needs to be strongly enforced and hopefully abolished.

I think having visual images when trying to make a point helps the reader see where the person who is doing the writing is coming from. I think it makes more of an impact on the reader when they can visually see what it is that is being talked about by the author.

Lesson 5

Which of the techniques for generating ideas for essays has been most valuable to you? Why? Give an example from the writing you have done so far. Which technique would you choose not to use again? Why?

The most valuable technique that I use to write essays is free writing. I like it because I can just wright down my ideas and not have to worry about if my grammar or punctuations are correct. I can just focus on the topic of the essay and try to generate ideas for it.

What have you learned about the writing process and/or about yourself during this lesson?

During this assignment I learned how to do several outlines that before I did not know how to do or just forgot because it has been so long since I have taken an English class.

What have you learned about your instructor's expectations of you?

I think that my professor at this point does not expect perfection but is preparing us for our final essay that is needed to be error free. When there are errors that are made on essays she gives helpful advice to help correct the problem and prepare for the future essay.

Comment on any problems you had with outlining

The only problem that I had with any of the outlines was with the classical outline. It was a little difficult because of not having enough information to try and come up with ideas.

A question to my peers

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone else was having a problem with trying to find resources for things when you are restricted so much as in the smallest community outline.  I also had a hard time finding any real issues that I felt where worthy of both a discussion and writing assignment.  I live on a military installation and although you would think that there are a lot of different things to tell you what to do or how to do it there was really only one document that governed the living areas.  Trying to come up with a second source was really hard for me so I was curious if anyone else had ideas of where to look for information.

Lesson 4

Evaluation of My Sources

For my essay Fear of Public Speaking I chose two sources. The first one is titled “Glossophobia Fear of Public Speaking” by Lisa Fritscher and the second one is information I got from the website ehow.com. I defiantly think that the first source is the most creditable because it gives the author’s name and the title from which the information came from. The second one I would have to say is the least creditable because it is just a website and it does not give an author’s name.  The reason why I had chosen to get information from that website was because it was pretty much the same information as any of the website that had researched.

Which of the suggested Tasks from Writing Arguments did you find most helpful in pre-writing your revision? Why?

I choose to do listing because it was helpful to me when I did my first assignment

Which genre of argument would you most likely write on your own? Why?

I guess I would probably post on blogs or chat rooms on my own. It is something that I currently do now.

Did you ask anyone else to make recommendations about your revising process? Why or Why not?

No I did not ask anyone for recommendations because I felt that I did not need any.

Why and how is argument both a process and a product? What is the goal of argument?

The process of an argument is where two or more groups of people try and find the best answer to a problem. A process is what a person contributes to the conversation.  Both are needed in an argument because without a process and a product a solution to a problem might not be found. The goal of an argument is to come up with the best solution to the problem.

How did previewing sections of a book (rather than simply reading them) help you to understand the material?

When there was something that I needed help with rather than reading the whole section again I just reread what I needed help with.

Lesson 3 Journal Entry

"September 11 Memorial to replace 'Ground Zero' officially?

I personally think it should not be called Ground Zero anymore. By calling it Ground Zero it is referring to what it was at the time that happened and not what it is now which is memorial site.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg would like for people to stop referring to Ground Zero as Ground Zero and start calling it by what it is The World Trade Center and the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. Many New Yorkers agree with him and have so for years. He is not asking people to forget what happened there, instead to make a place to come and remember what happened there. Although the museum will not open until September 2012 the park and the two large pools are open. 

Introduction

Hello everyone my name is Nikki Nantz and I currently live on Eielson AFB Alaska.  I have been married for almost ten years now and have three wonderful boys; Tyler, Cody and Riley.  My husband has been in the Air Force for 10 years.  Over the past ten years we have lived in North Dakota, Germany and now Alaska.  I am currently going to school to become a RN.