Blogging experience

When I was asked to create a blog at wordpress.com, I was worried because I never used a blog before for a class. I created my own ID and password, also named my blog. It was fun, putting different skins on my blog and exploring others’ blogs. My first blogging expeirence turned out to be not so bad as I thought it would be.

The first aspect that I liked about blogging was that it really helped me to keep up with my class work. Blog entries and questions that Ms. Blackwell posted on her blog gave me some idea what she wanted and expected on our acutal papers. When she posted several questions for our ‘Argument Analysis Essay,’ I could easily come up with a rough draft by answering those questions. I remember when I was taking English Composition I, we did not have any homework except few readings from the textbook. The instructor just tossed some essay topics that we could choose from throughout the whole semester. Since he did not check what and how we were working on our essays, I used to write the essays right before the due date. Of course, the grades were bad. But using the blog made me to keep up with my work, helping me from getting lazy.

The second aspect that I liked was that I could explore other students’ blogs. When I had troubles answering Ms. Blackwell’s questions, I clicked one or two of my classmates’ blogs and read how they answered the questions. This does not mean I copied their answers or their ideas. Classmates’ opinions and thoughts helped me to understand the questions.

The last thing that I liked was that I could get feedbacks from Ms. Blackwell and my classmates right away. Those comments really helped me to get an idea about how others think about my opinions. For my researched paper I chose a topic about the Real ID Act of 2005, and the comments by my classmates helped me to come up with a better idea for my paper.

There is nothing that I did not like about blogging. Actually, I sometimes did not like this whole blog thing, but it was nothing like “Oh, it’s worthless. It’s waste of time,” it was just because of me being lazy. I am not sure whether I would use the blog for my academic reasons, but I am sure that I will use it for my personal reasons.

Essay Exam

• Plenty of time to write an essay
• It could be about “Ashley X Treatment.”
• We don’t need any sources.
• We might have to know MLA Format.
• No grammar goals in final exam essay
• Maybe we will know the topic before the actual exam for preparation.
• Ms. Blackwell is our audience.
• No curves
• No page limit
• She’s looking at the content, not length.
• Last chance to shine

Essay Exam Blog 2

• Throught the semester, we have been talking about “Ashley X Treatment.” Could the final exam be about this topic? Asking whether I am for this treatment or against.
• In the beginning of the sememster, we talked about ethos, pathos, and logos. Would the final essay exam ask what they mean? And give specific examples for each terms using any readings that we had through out the semester?
• Do we have to know the terms that we memorized for the netology quiz?
• On “Argument Analysis Syllabus”, there is a list of NEW TERMS. Do we have to know those terms? There is note that I wrote saying “They’ll be on the final exam.” I’m assuming when we got this syllabus, Ms. Blackwell mentioned that they will be on the final exam.

Essay Exam Blog 1

I have learned that it is very important to understand the essay exam question in order to write a well written essay. To prepare for an essay exam, I should remember “main ideas and theories, key terminology, and a few supporting examples” that were talked during the class discussions. In order to get prepared, one should attend every class, take good notes, participate in class discussions, and keep up with the reading (p 714). When I am prepared, it would help me not to get nervous and put too much stress on me.

When I read the question or prompt, I should pay close attention to the key terms that are used in the question. Those key terms would give me the idea on what kind of answer the instuctor expects or wants from the students. On page 719, there is a chart that has important key terms, verbs, that could be on the question. It provides how to response to each of the terms and examples. Just knowing these terms and their meanings would help me to understand the question better.

Why I hate essay exams.

Since English is not my first language, it takes me extra time to come up with a well written essay. Writing is not my strongest ability. When I take essay exams I tend to hurry up to finish it in time, so the result comes out with a lower grade than I always expected. I get nervous when I’m taking essay exams, and it makes my head completely blank. It makes me harder to concentrate on essay question or prompt when I get nervous. So in order to fully understand the prompt, I have to read it over and over. I keep erasing my writings to start over the whole essay. It makes me frustrated over the fact that I can’t write and finally makes me to give up. Especially when I don’t understand the prompt fully, I start writing an essay that does not make sense or does not answer the question or prompt. I still write though, but in my head I’m thinking ‘Oh, I failed.’

Argument and Transargument

Will the Real ID Act of 2005 make the citizens feel safe enough to live in America? According to Brian Doherty (2005) all state driver’s licenses will must have the name, date of birth, and gender – a digital photograph, a residential address, and “a common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements. There are identity thefts happening everyday in this nation. The Real ID Act of 2005 was created in order to help people from being protected by identity thieves. But with the data and information that will be on the new national IDs will create more serious problems than before. The government constantly keeps trying to protect the data from identity theives but the databases are not fully protected (Lisa Vaas).

Seven hijackers that were in 9/11 incident had fake Virginia driver’s licenses in order to get on the planes (Jesus Mena). The Real ID Act of 2005 “expands the scope of terror-related activity making an alien inadmissible or deportable, as well as ineligible for certain forms of relief from removal” (Michael John Garcia, Margaret Mikyung Lee, Todd Tatelmen). The act disenables anyone who had participated in or supported of a terrorist activity or organization. The technology that will be used on this new national ID will be used in everywhere to make you accessible to your house, car, finances, medical records and workplace (Celeste Biever). The iris-scannning device will be used for that reason. This device prooves whether you are the owner of the ID or not. Even if the ID is stolen, it would be useless to the thieve because the iris-scanning device will confirm the thieve’s iris does not match to the iris on the ID.

my audience

•  Who is your specific audience?
  • My audience will be the general public since the Real ID Act will affect everyone in the U.S.

•  Why did you choose them?
  • People can learn about the actual act and be aware of it. They can get some ideas how others think about this act and what their argument is. I want my audience to have their voice on this act whether they want this act to be proceeded or not by reading my essay.

•  How will your audience affect the argument you intend to present?
  • I need to explain the Real ID Act 2005 thoroughly to inform my audience well.

• Which fallacies will you need to focus on keeping from your argument? Why are these (individually) important to consider in  your argument?
  • Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc – There is so many phrases from the articles that “If the Read ID Act 2005 becomes a law, such such things will happen.” There is no logic on these sentences because nobody knows what will happen.
  • Appeals to False Authority and Bandwagon Appeals – Many governors now speak about this act and just because of they are governors, I shouldn’t rely on their opinions.
  • Red Herring – I should be aware of that some of the audience know this act but some of them don’t. I should have this in mind and try to insert pathos in sentences where there is more need of an explanation.
  • Overreliance on authority – I should look into both sides’ of argument not just relying on one side.
  • Oversimplification – My point in this essay is to inform the audience about this act. If I don’t put detailed information on my essay, my audience will get confused. I should answer thorougly and give as many detailed information as possible.

Research Prospectus

• overview of the argument
  • what issue are you examining and why is this issue important to you?
• I am examining the issue of the Real Id Act of 2005. I have noticed that this act could have benefits for homeland security. Some says that it is an invasion of privacy and it costs too much.
• how recent is this argument? How easily can you find the materials needed for the research?

                   The Rel Id Act was passed in 2005. The materials are easily found because this act is related to homeland security which is very important since the 9/11.

• summary of the pro side of the argument
  • For those on the pro side, what arguments do they use (Why should you be “for” this)?

                 Making new driver’s license would prevent people from making fake IDs. It would limit the size of illegal immigrants. It would prevent national terrorism.

• summary of the con side of the argument
  • Why should you be “against” this argument? What does the research say?

                 The cost of making new driver’s license would be high. It contains too much information, so it is an invasion of privacy. If it is stolen it could lead to a real problem of identity theft.

• Are you pro or con? Why?

     I am con because of the reasons stated above.

•  
  • what you have learned in your research thus far?

                  Many states are against this act. There are possibilities of crimes that could happen because of this new ID.

• provide a brief summation of the research you have completed.
  • Have you found statistics?

                 I have found statistics on how much the U.S. spending on Homeland Security.

•  
  • Have you found support for your side of the argument?

                Yes, Lisa Vaas, Brian Doherty

•  
  • Have you found counterarguments you can use?

                    States who are for the Real ID Act of 2005

• What you still need to find in your research?

      I need to find more counterarguments.

• What statistics do you still need to find?

                 Cost of making this new ID.

• What testimonies would be helpful?

              People who had experienced an identity theft.

• Do you need to interview somebody to get an expert’s testimony?

Using an e-mail to interview would be nice but it would be hard to find one that I can talk about their experience

• What is your timeline?
  • In this section, I want to have a detailed list of upcoming major deadlines for your other classes and I want to see how you plan to work your paper around these deadlines. I specifically want to see when you will have your research completed, rough draft completed, when you plan to revise, and when you plan to proofread your essay.

I work on Tuesdays, Thursdays (3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.), and Fridays (8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.).

Research finished by April 2

FS group presentation on April 2

Government test on April 4

First draft done by April 6

Revision done by April 10

Visiting Write Site on April 11

Government project due on April 16

Finishing touch on April 17

Ask a friend to proofread by April 18

annotated-bib.doc

Article Summary

Encephalopathy is a brain damage which occured by the mother’s drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

There is no specific tests or x-ray to diagnose encephalopathy.

The cause of the static encephalopathy is not found, but when bleeding into the brain, lack of oxygen happen, which damages the brain, can lead to the static encephalopathy.

There is no cure for the static encephalopathy but there are some treatments such as therapies, medications, and ect. to help people with the static encephalopathy.

People with the static encephalopathy would experience difficulties such as learning difficulties, behavior difficulties, gross motor movement difficulties, ect.

Students with the static encephalopathy need assitance to help them at school.

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Judge the article as it relates to potential research on the Ashley X issue. Would this be something that you would consider appropriate for including in a researched essay? Why or why not?

Yes, this would be something that I would use for a researched essay.  This article provides a good explanation about the static encephalopathy and a list of what kind of help they need.  This article was not hard to follow, any difficult medical terms were not used in this article.  It was easy to understand and simple. 

Working on my Topic

My topic is going to be about the new national driver’s license.  This act was introduced in order to prevent terrorism and people from making fake ID’s.  I see this topic is already narrow and I think I should expand this topic a little. 

Questions that I am going to ask myself:

• What exactly is the Real ID act?
• What information does it cover on the ID card?
• Is the information too much or too less?
• Is it really going to protect the country from terrorism?
• How is this act going to affect me?
• What are the strategies to make a new national driver’s license?
• How do people think about this act?
• What did the government do to protect our homeland before they introduced this act?
• Were they successful?
• Will this act be successful?

As I googled this topic I found out many countries are using the national driver’s license, so I think I can research some countries and find whether they worked successfully or not and provide this as an example of one of the sides.  Also I found out that illegal immigrants cannot apply for this new license since they don’t have any legal status to prove that they are citizens/permanent residents.  It will affect the labor force especially in those states where many illegal aliens reside such as Texas, California, and Florida.