Christopher Kellogg's WRA135 Webfolio

Christopher Kellogg
WRA135:5-F05
Last Updated: 12/1/05

EARLY ESSAYS
Introduction

General information about myself as well as my rubric strengths and weaknesses.

My personal and rubric info

Nacirema Essay

Nacirema Essay detailing the worshipping habits of the Nacirema.

First Draft
Final Draft

Pop Quiz 9-20-05

The first pop quiz answers for my WRA135 class with an focus on Jimmy Carter's "Crisis of Confidence: Energy and National Goals."

                        answers

Library Tour

My WRA135 group attended the Michigan State Library for a self guided tour to familarize ourselves with the library. After the tour was completed we took a quiz to test our knowledge and then made our own quiz in similar fashion to the one we had just taken.

Sentence Combining Exercise #1

This exercise was designed to teach us to use fewer words in our papers without losing the meaning. There were only two problems for this assignment, the first is about pinball machines, while the other focuses on a street musician.

Exercise 1

Sentence Combining Exercise #2

This exercise involved combining many short choppy sentences into one which made better sense and was easier to read. For the assignment, we were only required to complete the odd numbered problems.



Exercise 2

EXAM ESSAYS

Midterm Exam #1

On November 6th, 2005 we had our first of 2 in class exams. For this exam there would be two parts. The first part consisted of a 20 question multiple choice portion. The second part included editing our WRA135 and S LWP webfolios.

Midterm Exam #2

For our second in class exam on November 14th, 2005 we again had a 20 question multiple choice section. The second part of the exam consisted of watching one of several movies and then writing an essay about how the "classical" American hero was portrayed in the film. An essay detailing a classical American hero, George Bailey from the movie "It's A Wonderful Life" can be found here.

Final Exam

Our final exam was again a two part exam. For the first part we were to write a short email to Professor Dowell on one of two topics that can be found here. The second part was a 25 question multiple choice portion. 24 of the questions were made by Professor Dowell and the 25th we had to make up and then answer using the F.O.I.L.s that were provided with the exam.

ABSTRACTS OF SELECTED CLASS READINGS

Horace Miner's "Body Ritual among the Nacirema"

Miner's "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" is a satire of American society in the 1950's. In his essay, Miner portrays the Nacirema as a simple tribal culture with beliefs which often involve "magic." The focus of the essay involves simple acts or "body rituals" performed by the Nacirema. These "body rituals" often take up a large portion of the Nacirema's time and are all very important to each and every person in Nacirema Society.

Katherine Newman's "American Nightmares"

In Newman's "American Nightmares," she focuses on the trend of downward mobility in the American middle class. Newman states up to 1 in 5 middle class Americans will experience downward mobility in their lifetime. In this piece, Newman tells of David Patterson, a well to do executive in the computer industry, who due to budget cuts is laid off and cannot find another similar job. Patterson and his family feel cut off from their friends, who don't understand their situation even though Patterson desperately tries to find another similar job. In the end of the essay, Patterson begins to blame himself for his current financial situation and becomes deeply depressed.

Charles Derber's "The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach"

Derber's "The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach" tells of how American society has become so obsessed with "The American Dream" that some people will go to any lengths to get what they want. "The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach" is an excerpt from Derber's Money, Murder, and the American Dream. Several different stories are told by Derber, including a man who kills his pregrant wife to collect the insurance money so he is able to open his own restaurant. Derber feels "wilding" is just a way for people to live out their own American Dream.

P.J. O'Rourke's "Slamming and Jamming"

O'Rourke begins his "Slamming and Jamming" by calling Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels. The Guardian Angels are a group on vigilantes who are unarmed who go through tough city areas stopping crime and revitalizing the communities where they patrol. O'Rourke is surprised with the admiration and respect the community shows the Guardian Angels for their accomplishments in "getting the scum out of their neighborhood."

John Grisham's "Somewhere for Everyone"

Grisham discusses the problem with homelessness in America. He feels that everyone tries to ignore the problem, hoping it will go away. Grisham even feels that the homeless are persecuted against in order for them to not be seen by the general population. His paper which appeared in Newsweek can be found here.

Jo Goodwin Parker's "What is Poverty?"

Parker gives a first hand account of her real life experience dealing with poverty in America. She discusses the hard choices that must be made between purchasing food, medication, housing, and other necessities while raising a family. Though a disturbing tale, Parker does not ask for sympathy, but rather for the complete erradication of poverty. Parker's piece can be found here.

Studs Terkle's Interview, "Mike LeFevre: Who Built the Pyramids?"

In this interview, Mike LeFevre, a blue collar laborer, discusses the lost honor of being a laborer. LeFevre feels that there is an honor in being a laborer because he gets to work with his hands and can look back at his finished work and be proud of it. LeFevre does feel that the American Dream is not what everyone thinks it is and he has been growing increasingly tired of his white collar bosses that are younger than he is. Though he doesn't like the white collar workers he works with, he does want his children to get an education and have all of the things he never did. Terkle's Interview can be found here.

Peter Marin's "Helping and Hating the Homeless."

Marin discusses the division of the homeless in America. He feels that there are two main groups: those that choose to live the life because they are disenchanted by the American way and those that are forced to live a life of poverty. Marin feels that those that want help should get it, but that those that reject help to move up in social class should be left alone, but not looked down upon. Marins piece can be found here.

Jonathan Alter's "Bridging the Digital Divide."

In Alter's article he discusses the great gap in the technology that is available to those of wealth and those who live in poverty. Alter feels that the rich are gaining more and more access to technology, while the poor are forced to deal with less and less over time. Without access to technology such as computers, Alter feels that the poor will fall on to even worse times than they currently have.

Paul Recer's "Use of Guns Likened to Disease."

Recer feels that the increase of gun usage is related to people trying to not appear weak with their peers, usually young males. Recer also feels that this gun "fad" will eventually die out and be looked upon in a negative light. Recer's article can be found here.

Jay Shaft's "U.S. Homelessness and Poverty Rates Skyrocket."

Shaft's piece details the horrible state that the homeless in the U.S. are currently in. He also notes that the current government would rather rebuild a nation halfway around the world than help it's own citizens right here in the U.S.

Kate Santich's "Life's a bummer, but whatever."

Santich's "Life's a bummer, but whatever" explores the cynical state that she feels America has slipped into since the 1960's. Santich believes Americans are so cynical because they expect to be lied to by the government since the presidencies of the 1960's. The younger generations are who Santich feels are the most cynical and need the most help.

Anna Quindlen "Life of the Closed Mind."

Quindlen's piece explores the American state of mind after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She feels that Americans have become too close minded because of the fear of terrorists and that by keeping an open mind, we will truly be in better shape after September 11th.

Robert Reich's "An American Morality Tale."

Reich's article discusses the classical American hero. The hero that Reich discribes is very similar in every major movie, book, or other form of media. Reich discusses the trials that the hero must endure and the rewards that the hero will obtain if the quest is completed.

PRESENTATION MATERIALS ON CHAPTER TWO OF CIVIL LIBERTIES: OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS.

My group the S.A.C.S. consists of Jessica Fuller-Murphy, Nate Browning, Alex Heimann, and Albert Hur. Our group website can be found here.

My personal essay for our group project can be found here.

AMERICAN THOUGHT AND LANGUAGE SERVICE-LEARNING WEBFOLIO

For the semester our Service-Learning Writing Project was with YouVote. YouVote is an organization that was formed after the 2000 Presidential Election in order to encourage people to vote as well as make sure voters were as well informed as possible. We had several assignments throughout the semester that were posted on the YouVote website and in my SLWP webfolio.