Ashley Dominique
WRA135:2-S05
Last Updated:1/21/05
EARLY ESSAYSIntroduction of myself
Our first assignment was designed to get a feel for the type of writing we are expected to do in WRA 135. This assignment entailed answering a few general questions about myself given by Professor Dowell. We were asked questions like "what kind of technology do you possess at hand?" and "have you even done any kind of community service?," but which pertain to the type of class this is. Here are some interesting facts all about me!
Nacirema Essay
My Nacirema essay took me about two hours to do. It was an interesting essay but very difficult. We will be working on this assignment for almost the whole semester. It is a really big assignment and we are required to get a peer editing evaluation at least once. Throughout the writing process, we are required to have a meeting with the professor at least once this semester and visit the Writing Center at least twice. I will probably use both of those resources as I write and revise my essay to better my work.Pop QuizzesFirst Draft
Second Draft
Final Draft
Pop Quiz #1 was over Carter's speech titled "Crisis of Confidence: Energy and National Goals" and the Achievement Requirements for the course.Group Library Tour
For this assignment,
our group
met at the main library on campus. We had to answer seven
questions on the library quiz
listed on the back on the library tour packet. After completing
this part of the assignment, we had to make up a second quiz
we wrote on our own for others to answer.
Sentence-Combining Exercise #1
For this assignment, we were given numerous sentences and were asked to combine them into a shortened sentence. This is my sentence-combining exercise 1.
Sentence-Combining Exercise #2
We were assigned another sentence-combining exercise to complete. This exercise was a lot harder than the first one we had to do. There were more sentences we were asked to condense, so I found it a lot harder to put all the information into one sentence. Here is my second sentence-combining exercise.Plagiarism Exercise
For this exercise, we had to read a passage from Bellah's "St. Martin's Guide to Writing 4th ed. (p.177)" and five short excerpts from students' essays. Then we had to decide which ones plagiarized Bellah's work. I had a really hard time figuring out with essays had plagiarism in them. My answers had to be corrected because I was not sure on a lot of them.
EXAM ESSAYSMidterm Exam #1
For the first midterm exam, we were asked to complete both a test and a written portion. The actual test part was fairly easy for me because I took very good notes over the first months of the class. The assignment for the second part of the exam consisted of updating SLWP and WRA webfolios. We were given two different grades, one for each session of the exam.
Midterm Exam #2
The second exam for the course will be given on Thursday, November 17, 2005. Like the first exam, we had to complete a formal test and a written section. The test was on all the readings we have done up until this point in the semester. There were twenty true and false questions. The assignment for the written section was to write a 600-800 word essay dipicting an American hero in one of the listed movies. We were to compare a character to Campbell's and Reich's writings about American heros. I wrote my essay about George from the movie It's a Wonderful Life.
Final Exam
As part of our final exam, we were asked to write a 250-350 word essay. The essay was based on the assignment
to write a response to a bumper sticker stating "I wasn't using my civil liberties anyways."
ABSTRACTS OF SELECTED CLASS READINGSHorace Miner's "Body Ritual among the Nacirema"
Miner's ideas on the culture of American is explained using irony. He uses outlandish rituals done by the Nacirema to prove how important outer beauty is to them. He explains the body rituals the tribe performs in attempts to rid off evil spirits, such as getting one's hair done and going to the dentist. In line two in the eleventh paragraph, Miner writes "These practitioners have an impressive set of paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods." This is a perfect example of Miner's irony in his writing. Americans are so obsessed with how they look, they are willing to go to ridiculous extremes to look just a little bit more attractive.
James Earl Carter's "Crisis of Confidence: Energy and National Goals"
Carter's speech took place on July 15, 1979. It was best know as the "Malaise Speech" because its central point was the lack of confidence shown in America. The reason he spoke about the crisis of confidence instead of other issues is because Carter believed this problem would destroy the country eventually. Ever since the Watergate scandal, the JFK, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations, and the Vietnam war, Americans have shown no comfort in the government. Carter best explains his ideas for rebuilding the nation, stating "[l]ittle by little we can and we must rebuild our confidence. We can spend until we empty our treasuries, and we may summon all the wonders of science. But we can succeed only if we tap our greatest resources - America's people, America's values, and America's confidence."
Katherine Newman's "American Nightmares"
In Newman's writing, she describes the downward mobility of the middle working class. She uses a case, a man named David, to describe the suffering which occurs when jobs are lost to the middle class. Even though it is made to be a big deal among Americans, there has not been any studies done to figure out why this nightmare happens. Almost all Americans suffer from a downward motion at some point in their careers. Newman explains these "[c]atastrophic losses create a common feeling of failure, loss of control, and social disorientation." Downward mobility is a very large problem being overlooked in America, even though many are affected by its results.
Charles Derber's "The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach"
In Derber's work, he explains many different situations where a term 'wilding' comes from. People are too concerned about themselves and not worried enough about others and their feelings. This is a huge problem which has been escalating tremendously in the last couple of years. The title describes the Ik culture and their need to fill their own stomachs.
P.J. O'Rourke's "Slamming and Jamming"
The title of O'Rourke's writing, "Slamming and Jamming," is the term the Guardian Angels used for going into crack houses, breaking everything, and stealing their drugs and money. It explains the importance of the Angels because the government policy does not always work in areas such as the Bronx. The Guardian Angels are heroes to many, but are not really recognized by anyone outside of the Bronx.
Paul Recer's "Use of Guns Likened to Disease"
This article is all about gun violence and homicides in the United States. Some studies so the problem is family relations. Also, Rosenfield demonstrated the removal of people from the streets provided a 25% decrease in homicides. From this, an increase of 670 prisoners a year equals to the decrease of one homicide a year. The question is then raised: is one less homicide worth the amount Americans spend to keep 670 more prisoners in jail?John Grisham's "Somewhere for Everyone"
In "Somewhere for Everyone" by John Grisham, Grisham investigates the effects of homelessness in the inner cities. He traveled to D.C. and went around to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and park benches to ask the homeless people questions. He was amazed at the government's reaction to homelessness. Instead of trying to help these people, they were trying to pass laws to get rid of the homeless. Grisham was also amazed by the compassion of the social workers and volunteers he met.
Jo Goodwin Parker's "What is Poverty?"
What is poverty? This question can be answered in two different ways: one by someone actually suffering from it and the other by a person looking at it from the outside. In "What is Poverty?" by Jo Goodwin Parker, Parker demonstrates many things in life which are struggles to someone in poverty. She speaks by using personal experiences, which really makes one feel for her. Parker cannot afford nutritious food for her or her children, medicine, electricity, or even soap. She is not asking for the reader's pity, but she is asking for people to be angry about poverty and take action against it.
Studs Terkle's interview, "Mike LeFevre: Who Built the Pyramids?"
Stud Terkle wanted to interview a real working man on his opinions of work. In "Mike LeFevre: Who Built the Pyramids?," Terkle asks Mike LeFevre many questions on his life in the steel mill. LeFevre is unhappy with his job, but at the same time feels stuck because he has a wife and kids. He shows the ways he tries to relieve his pains by going to taverns and fighting, and how he has troubles being motivated in his job. He often relates back to the quote by Bertolt Brecht, "Who built the seven towers of Thebes? The books are filled with the names of kings. Was it kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone? ... [W]here did the masons go?" He compares himself and other working men to the so called "unknowns."
Peter Marin's "Helping and Hating the Homeless"
"Helping and Hating the Homeless" by Peter Marin, Marin addresses the problems of homelessness in America. He presents both sides of the homelessness issues, how we as middle and upper class try to help them but at the same time look at them as garbage. At one point in the article, the homeless are referred to as "human waste." Marin realizes how big a problem homelessness is in America and what little people are doing to eliminate it.
Jonathan Alter's "Bridging the Digital Divide"
In Jonathan Alter's "Bridging the Digital Divide," it is stated "the gap between rich and poor is now greater than at any time since the Great Depression." This is a major problem in America's society as a whole. It is not only the digital gap which is threatening the welfare of America, but also the opportunity of all cultures in the nation. Once these two factors are been resolved, there is a better chance of justice in the economy.
Kate Santich's "Life's a bummer, but whatever"
Kate Santich's article is all about cynics in America. It talks about the low youth voter turnout in the past couple years, a subject discussed by David Mindich. There are many different areas of issues America is facing. Cynicism has increased ever since the JFK assignation, the Nixon/Clinton scandal, and Iran- contra fiasco. Santich addresses the fact we did not fully unit after September 11th. "Didn't we circle the wagons, pay our respects, set aside our partisan bickering and wave our flags?" states Santich.
Jay Shaft's "US Homelessness and Poverty Rates Skyrocket"
The article written by Jay Shaft contains many statistics on the increase of homelessness in America. One main topic in this writing is the rising of homeless children, an increase higher than that of homeless adults. Poverty and homelessness are not the only problems increasing at an astounding rate, unemployment has increased 11.7% from 2000 to 2001. Shaft also complains about the money the U.S. can been pouring into foreign countries. He presents the idea if we used more money on poverty in America instead of other countries, it would eliminate homelessness entirely.
Robert Reich's "An American Morality Tale"
In the writing done by Reich, there are four examples of parables important to the American Dream. Although the America Dream is never really fulfilled, the stuggles to attain it is what is important to Americans. The first parable, The Mob at the Gates, is about finding light when one is surrounded by total darkness. In Reich's essay, he states "Franklin Roosevelt warned of "rotten apple" nations who spread their rot to others." This is the whole point of this parable. When one is surrounded by all the rot, it is important for one to overcome it. In the second parable, The Triumphant Individual, the main idea is one of lower class going from "rags to riches" and becoming successful from having nearly nothing. It discusses "cowboys and detectives...get involved in a dangerous quest and end up with the girl, the money, and the glory." This can be compared to Cambell's receiving the boon in his ideas of the perils of a hero. In the third parable, The Benevolent Community, the central idea is "neighbors and friends rolling up their sleeves and pitching in to help one another.." It is related to religious ideas. The fourth and final parable, The Rot at the Top, is about the corruption caused by success. The people at the top who use their power for evil instead of good. In all of these parables, the goal is for the character in the lower class to humbly achieve the success he/she deserves.
PRESENTATION MATERIALS ON CHAPTER ONE OF CIVIL LIBERTIES: OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS.
Our group, group number one, is called the Freedom Fighters. The assignment was to present our information for Chapter one of Civil Liberties: Opposing Viewpoints, freedom of expression, on November fifteenth. We will have a group website which will be linked from this page, and also my own individual website. My website consists of a 500-700 word essay on why gay rights are or are not protected under the first amendment. We also will be giving out a handout outlining our presentation and a quick quiz to test how well the students know the information.
AMERICAN THOUGHT AND LANGUAGE SERVICE-LEARNING WEBFOLIO
My Service-Learning Writing Project is for an organization known as YouVote. YouVote is dedicated to informing college age people on the process of voting, as well as registering such people to vote. We were to complete assignments for this organization. You can see these assigments by going to my SLWP webfolio. In this webfolio I kept journals to keep track of the progress made on my SLWP project.