Thursday, April 23, 2009

Horoscope!!!!

ARIES
(Mar. 21- April 20)
You are best to do your homework before the end of the semester. Taking on other projects during this time will most certainly end in your premature scholastic demise
TAURUS
(Apr. 21- may 21)
You have no worries this month. You are a freakin bull for heaven’s sake. Continue doing what you do best, giving people the horns!!!!
GEMINI
(May 22-June 21)
Your love of all gems will come to a test this month. Be prepared to be presented with a particularity rare gem by a suitor on bended knee. Problem is that it isn’t the ring you already picked out for him to give you. Will love prevail or do you keep shopping for the perfect man for your ring.
CANCER
(June 22-July 22)
Your best results will come through hard work and extra study sessions at the compter lab. Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and dig in.
LEO
(July 23-Aug 22)
Finish overdue paperwork and catch up on letter writing and reading. This is particularily imports because you are probably going to die this month. Sorry.
VIRGO
(Aug. 23 -Sept. 23)
Make your intentions perfectly clear and find out exactly what is expected of you. Marriage is a commitment and you should not enter any commitment this month without knowing exactly what is expected of you. You still have some good years left before you really need to settle down. Don’t buy the cow this month unless you absolutely have to.
LIBRA
(Sept. 24 -Oct. 23)
You can stabilize your financial situation this month if you take what you learned in Chemistry and invent a new designer drug. Don’t worry about the legal ramifications, if it’s a new drug it cannot be illegal yet.
SCORPIO
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)
You have no worries this month. All Scorpios are red personality types who are prepared long in advance for finals. Take some time and go looking for some lost Sagitarius to help out, you need the good Karma.
SAGITTARIUS
(Nov. 23 -Dec. 21)
Don't second guess yourself, if you think you cannot do something, you are probably right. The world needs retail staffing as much as it needs Doctors. Quit stressing yourself out over details that in the afterlife, really isn’t that important.
CAPRICORN
(Dec 22.- Jan. 20)
You need to stop and take a moment to realize how close to greatness you are. The word Capricorn is really close to the word Unicorn, and unicorns ROCK!!!!
AQUARIUS
(Jan. 21 -Feb. 19)
Don’t eat sushi, its cannibalism. You must not come from a water sign and eat things that live in that water. Go eat a steak.
PISCES
(Feb. 20-Mar. 20)
Some people have bad hair days, you are going to have a bad hair month. Just ride through it and realize that next month will be better. Be especially careful of Mondays and children with water balloons.

Letter to the Editor

Letter from the Editor
I would like to take a minute to thank everyone for their effort in the publication of our first magazine. Without their hard work and dedication, our magazine would look like something created during arts and crafts. I cannot tell you how nice it is to see so many copies of our product out and about.
Special mention must go out to our resident English Professor/Copy Editor. She has been there week after week keeping us all on time and in the black. For this I cannot thank her enough.
I hope everyone enjoys the articles in this issue especially the one on the negative effects of media written by our own James Ross. His writing as much of a joy to read, as presents from Santa are fun to open on Christmas Day. His willingness to go beyond the sound bite and into the real story is an inspiration to us all.

weekly reading

This week we had to read America the Beautiful: What We’re fighting for by Dinesh D’Souza. I have to say that my feelings were quite mixed on this article and that was a surprise to me.
I very much enjoyed the way Dinesh compared our American culture to that of Islam. Islamics having such a harsh culture with violence and rudimentary oppression of almost everyone in the name of their god is difficult to accept. Whereas the American culture of freedom and choice for all may be great, but doesn’t it leave us like the hole in the donut? I have to say in some respects I like the idea of such devotion and structure, but the penalties and oppressive nature are obviously impossible to accept.
Dinesh goes on to talk about the definitions of freedom and how it is the liberty to do good or evil, but not all choices can be so easily categorized into one of those two options. Is getting food good or evil? Is getting caffeinated products good or bad? It gets sticky when I step away from the text and attempt to put it in perspective for myself.
I do not see American culture and Islamic culture mixing anytime soon. In my opinion, once the oil is gone, there will be many more converts to our softer and nicer mandate for society.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

My final grammar post: common spelling mistakes

This, my final grammar post is on the dreaded simple spelling error. When using Microsoft Word at the College you occassionally get a version with spell checking turned off. This means that to spell check you have to go to reveiw and click the spell check button instead of it just doing it automatically (see above)



Usually when you make a typing error, it will look more like this




I can tell you that not having spellchecker be automatic, makes me look like this



I found that there was a time before spellcheck that people used an actual "dictionary" to look up words. Although I understand the concept of a "dictionary" I cant figure out how people would look up words that they cant spell using a device that requires them to know how to spell the word in order to look it up. As you might of guessed... below is a picture of a dictionary for you to see for yourself.



You can also look up




which I use often for spellings.

Another great place to look up words is ..... google.com. They have an auto spellcheck that is really helpfull in correcting misspelled words. Yup, you guessed it... a picture is below for you to see.



This concludes my last grammar post. Funny, it also completes my picture requirements for my blog page... now that makes me ...........

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

50 questions about fitness for our major paper

Group topic is on Media and I have done most of my work on diet and fitness. My idea is a report on fitness and its evolution. Fifty different questions about it are listed below.


1. What is the evolution of fitness?
2. When was fitness first treated with a real value?
3. What early influences of fitness are still here today?
4. Is fitness a fad or a fact?
5. Is fitness really good for you?
6. Can you do fitness and eat anything?
7. Are men or women more fit?
8. What countries have the best fitness?
9. Can you be ultra fit without drugs?
10. Who pioneered fitness?
11. Who invented spandex?
12. Where is fitness going in the future?
13. What will gyms be like in 20 years?
14. Is pre puberty fitness good?
15. When should you start a fitness routing?
16. What are the essential components of fitness?
17. Is all fitness the same?
18. Does biggest loser help or hurt people interested in fitness?
19. Why should you see a doctor before beginning a fitness routine?
20. What is proper gym attire?
21. Can women get buff?
22. When is there too much fitness?
23. Can you get too buff?
24. What types of training does a runner do?
25. What types of training should a body builder do?
26. How do you measure fitness?
27. Why is the thigh master so popular?
28. Do people really need a machine to train their abs?
29. When is the best time to train?
30. How does Nautalis work?
31. What is the value in free weight training?
32. What is pilates?
33. Where did pilates come from?
34. How does the military train for fitness?
35. Who is the national fitness council?
36. Why cant people just plug a machine in to exercise them while they sleep?
37. How does the stress of fitness affect the human body?
38. Can babies be worked out before birth?
39. What are the benefits of massage and fitness?
40. Who wrote the most comprehensive book on fitness 20 years ago?
41. Are any of those ideas still valid today?
42. Does stretching help or hurt exercise?
43. Is fitness at all mental or just a physical activity?
44. Do fit people live longer?
45. Are fit people happier?
46. What fitness events are there in Utah?
47. Does any physical activity count as fitness?
48. When does the body switch from burning carbs to fat during exercise?
49. How many college students actively participate in fitness?
50. How can fitness stop the freshman 15 from happening?

Grammar Post: One for the Gipper!

In this grammar post, I am looking at the useage of slang and cliche in writng. I have a tendancy to try and insert some "hometown feel" but find that during editing, I always end up taking it out.

The site I chose can be found HERE
The basic advice on the subject is to avoid them at all costs.... bummer. The article gives several reasons, but the best quote is "Avoiding clichés like the plague, and ensuring a level-playing field will help you get ahead and prevent you from going belly up. " I would have to agree.

So, using slang is "going by the wayside", "giving up the ghost", "All's well that ends well", and finally "One foot on a banana peel the other in the grave "

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Breather Assignment "Battle Of The Bulge"

Battle Of The Bulge

"I'll start a new one Monday", we've heard it all before,
but if I don't really start one soon I won't make it through the door.

I start with good intentions of that I can't deny,
I'm getting fatter by the hour, I'll really have to try.

So no more chips or chocolate, no more 'pigging out'
I'll be be very careful what I eat of that there'll be no doubt.

I'll watch my waist get tiny, I'll watch my figure thin,
Oh what a joy it's going to be to at last be nice and slim.

I can see me walking down the street in dress size number ten,
I just have to resist and resist I will when I get a hungry yen.

With exercise in every form and regular daily jogs,
you'll see me lazing by the pool in my top designer togs.

So come join me all you tubbies, come join with me at last,
I'll need all the help that I can get to get me through this fast.

If you see me eating lollies or sneaking greasy fries,
then smack my hand and click your tongue, remind me of my size.

I'm sure that I can make it, I just need a little space
before Monday comes around again, till then I'll "stuff my face"!

Copyright; Barbara Warnock

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Selected reading for the week. Serving in Florida and Framing Class

The first reading for the week is titled “Serving in Florida” and although it is about a woman choosing to live in impoverished life of minimum wage jobs, I felt like the one serving a prison sentence having to read page after page of poor attitude and bitterness.
It appears she chose to do the physical activity, but chose to leave the attitude change back at home. All this article is, is paragraph after paragraph of complaining about having to work without any gratitude for the job or perspective outside of being angry at everyone. The owners are mean, servers are mean, building is too hot, building is too cold, trailer is shaped like a dumbbell, dishwashers are disrespected… ENOUGH ALREADY! Putting yourself by choice into a hard situation, then complaining about it is not journalism, it’s just sad. I cannot wait for her follow up article about taking a job as a toll booth attendant, then complain for 6 pages about all the fumes from the cars!!!
The second reading is titled "Framing Class, Vicarious Living and Conspicuous Consumption". It is about how media likes to frame stories about class. Diana attempts to show readers how the subject of class is trivialized by the media instead of being given the respect it is due as “the heaviest of topics”.
I like how the author breaks the different classes up and describes subsets of those classes. She introduces things like Thematic and Episodic framing in a way that gives the reader information without taking a break from the point she is trying to make.
I also like how relevant the author’s material is and how many different media sources are used. Originally I saw reference to FOX network and began to think she was going after some of the more “liberal” media sources. She then followed with ABC, MTV and NBC which thwarted my feeble attempt to categorize this author. She jumps around in a coherent way that makes you want to continue to read the piece.
Great work on the second, it is the singing canary pooping on the newsprint of the first article. Rather you agree of disagree with me, I love that we have a place to share our thoughts.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Its now a problem for it's grammar post

People (me included) always seem to confuse the use of Its and It's in a sentence. This is one of those grammar issues that is tricky because spell check does not see it has a bad word. I found a site HERE that give a short version of what do do and after reading this one I came up with what I will use from now on for me.
I just elongate the two words in it's and try reading it in the sentence to see if it makes sense. It's my turn would elongate out to IT IS my turn. Since that makes sense, I use the conjunction. Now for a sentence like Download the HTA, along with it's readme file." using It is would make the sentence sound all wrong, so I use its instead.
Anyway, it seems to work for me now and hopefully I can keep from messing these two words up in the future. Thanks for reading!!!!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Grammar posts are where great learning is.

Sooooo, aparently you cannot end a sentence with the word "is". I think that it is because of the poor teaching that High School is. A cool website says that "Ending with "is" often creates an awkward, deflated conclusion to a sentence--and an inflated word count.", HERE is where that site is. This is something that I do all the time and I never know what the problem is.But now I know the reason for sure and I hope you find it as useful as I think it is.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The roots of debate...

Throughout this essay Tannen critiques the "debate" rhetoric we often rely on in college classrooms. What is wrong with this, according to Tannen?
Tannen feels that the debate system puts more emphasis on winning an argument instead of learning information. Tannen also feels that this puts people who do not have an advaserial style naturally at a disadvantage in school. With most classes giving up to 10% of their grade based on participation, its gives advantage to those who are louder and more noticeable. It seems pretty clear that Tannen is not a big fan of the Socratic Method.
How does Tannen suggest we move beyond this argument culture?
Tannen suggests that we overcome our desire to think in twos. Instead of talking about “both sides” of an issue, we should look at ALL sides of an issue. She also feels that debate should not be glorified as something more important than the issues being discussed.
Does Tannen move beyond simply arguing a point in this essay and engage in a higher order of critical thinking?
I think she does a good job of laying out the history of confrontational learning and she does in fact have some reasonable points for change. What I would of liked to see is more on the Asian method of harmony. It is like she spent so much time explaining the way she disagrees with, but only a page on her ideas for change. I think more history on cultures that adopt more of her style would have been beneficial for her argument.

My grammar posts are awesomenesserest!

For a grammar post this week, I chose to cover one of the most diabolicalist of issues. Using words that do not exist! I know, I know, we all use them, but even the most studfasterest of pupil knows in the heartest of hearts that these words do not belong. I was going to skipple over this shig, but feel that any effort of such Clandestination would surely wipple under the watchful un-caffeinaticeye of our instructor.
A link to the top 100 or so imaginarly made up but most often used verbace can be found HERE

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Rhetoric Reading for the Week

Our reading for the week was on two separate articles designed to highlight rhetoric and its use in media. The first article is entitled “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto who is a former teacher. The second article is called “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike rose who is an author of several scholary material and a professor at UCLA. The information they share is of significant value on its own, but both choose to employ rhetoric to make their points.
The first article uses Ethos (credibility) as a major force to drive home his points at the beginning of the article. In fact, the first sentence is straight to that point “I taught for thirty years in some of the worst schools in Manhattan…” This is clearly designed to immediately let the reader know that when it comes to education, he is the man.
His second point of rhetoric is in his Pathos (emotion). He uses this with questions to the reader such as “Do we really need school?” Questions like this are meant to bring the reader into the article and respond with feeling. Another use of this technique is when Mr. Gatto says “Now, you needn’t have studied marketing to know that there are two groups of people who can always be convinced to consume more than they need to: addicts and children.” This vicious little sentence brings the emotion of something you SHOULD know and allows him to link children and addicts in the same sentence to scare you. These tactics are used so well that its hard to realize exactly when the author “got” ya.
Mr. Rose chose to start his article with Pathos instead of what he could of easily relied on, his credibility. It’s hard not to get immediately swept up with his emotional appeal as he describes the two busses he took to get to school. His use of the language in order to paint an emotional picture is a tell tail sign that he intends to hook your heart first.
Mike Rose uses less of the other two rhetoric pillars of Ethos and Logos. He uses only a small amount of foot notes for his story to bolster his opinion and his educational background is not highlighted anywhere near as much as he could. It is possible that this message just did not need to expand to other parts of the rhetoric playing field, but I think it might of bolstered his argument. Emotion will keep the reader involved for a bit, but its logic and credibility that let the reader walk away with a message that can be shared with a friend and in the long run lead to making a difference.

Possessive Pronouns

My grammar post last week was on apostrophes and I noticed a rule about possessive pronouns that made me think about investigating it this week.

What the post said was "Please note that none of the possessive pronouns are spelled with an apostrophe." This is something I had no idea, so hence the grammar article this week.

I have found that over the weeks it is getting harder and harder to come up with grammar posts. I will be looking forward to some feedback on our first assignment in order to come up with some grammar issues that I actually have a problem with.

Anyhow, the link for the article is HERE

Good luck to all and I cant wait for some more fun on Thursday Night!!!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Idiot Nation Response

This week our assignment was to read Idiot Nation by Michael Moore and respond with some more raw response. I knew this information would be controversal to those without a lifetime of exposure to the more direct and brutal of peoples oppinions, but I did not consider it to be much of a stretch for myself. I was not only prepared for read one mans oppinion on our society, but actually looking forward to it. I relished the idea of engaging in some great debate on the merits and wisdom of his beleifs.
What I was not prepared for was an oppinion article laced with sudo factual data that is delivered as the truth. "There are forty-four million Americans who cannot read or write above a fourth grade level", great fact but where is the footnote? Where did he get this information? When was this study published? He lays out information in order to bolster his oppinion, but without any traceable validation or complete reference. He then goes on to answer all my questions about validity with "How did I learn this statistic? Well, I read it." Oh boy that make it all better now doesnt it. There are way too many other examples of this authors creative use of "facts" to cover in this response, but I can tell you that there are more holes in his information than a cheese grater.
I beleive everyone is entitiled to their oppinion. I have an issue when it is distributed to people with facts that have more bends and twists in them than a pretzel. It is dangerous and irresponsible to distribute information closer to propoganda than fact without a disclaimer attached.

Mike's Apostrophe' Article


I knew this one would come up in regards to grammer issues, mostly because I have no idea what an apostrophe is. I know it must be important because it ranks above the " on your keyboard and is even on the home row! I took the opportunity to look it up and still have only some idea on what it is and how to use it, but hey... I am trying.
Here it the official rule from Houghton Mifflin "Use apostrophes to show possession: add 's after a singular noun or plural noun not ending in –s ; add ' after a plural noun ending in –s. Do not use an apostrophe after a possessive pronoun (my, mine, our, ours, his, hers, its, their, theirs)." More fun and merriment on apostrophe usage can be found HERE or HERE. Please be carefull about the second one as it is signifigantly more colorfull in showing errors found in cartoons. You have been warned… really.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I dont need no stinkin Dictionary, I have spellcheck!


For my grammer article this week, I figured it was time to branch away from adminsecrets.com to a new and wonderfull place that is strangly familiar. This is a place that back in my time was an amazing invention, a place that was light years ahead of its time. Instead of going to a library to use a dictionary, you could actually just dial into the internet and access one online! It was fun, exciting, simple, convient, and out of date as soon as spell check for word processors came along.
I admit that my use of the dictionary dropped considerably after I learned about spell check, but what I did not realize was that many words that are spelled correctly… are still being used wrong. Been their two many times!!! A dictionary is a great way of looking up the correct word and even finding some new ones.
So, her’s too you www.dictionary.com my old friend, I have come home ounce again!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Looking for Work vs What we Really Miss about the 1950s

Using your analytical skills choose one or two elements to focus on from each essay explain how these elements do or do not contribute to effective writing.

For the first essay titled “Looking for work”, I was interested in the portion about how the Catholic teacher put him in the dumb kid section, but the other references included in that section show him as nothing near stupid. The part where the globe was dented and he remarked “…denting the already troubled Africa” showed his knowledge of international history. Another is when he remarked that the teacher sitting the smart kids with the stupid ones would not work “…as though intelligence were contagious” displayed his knowledge of learning and the brain. Finally that he figured out how the teacher was sitting them in rows all show a much greater intelligence than most kids at that age. All of this was in direct contrast to how the presumably caring and smart teacher viewed the class.
For the second title titled “What we really miss about the 1950s”, I loved the element of research and documentation. From the Knight Rider polls to the overlay of numbers and information on family incomes, choices and the 1950s in relation to World War 2, I was very much enjoying every page. Little facts like that a family could afford a median priced home on 15-18 percent of their salary made me feel connected. Facts that allow the reader to draw a parallel really help to draw the reader into the story. I found this reading much more enjoyable than the first.

On the interpretive/rhetorical level of critical thinking, what do you think these authors are driving at?

For the article written by Mr. Soto, I had a difficult time understanding what he was driving at. Everything seemed jumbled and aimless. Starting out with ideals of fortune that turned to going swimming with a buddy and followed by being ditched by his brother? It all just seemed rather pointless. I know we should really take the time and look deep into the hidden meaning of writing, but when presented with an article like this, I find it difficult to want to dig deep. Maybe this guy is really famous, but it appears more like the emperor has no clothes.
For the article written by Ms. Coontz, I feel she was very clear in what she was driving at. She was clear at the beginning that there was a difference between the nostalgic memory of the a950s and the factual nature of that time. The author took the time in the article to present the facts and the feelings with care, so as not to offend either particular thought process. It felt as though there were two different colored shoestrings represent fact and memory. She then took the shoestrings and weaved them back and forth creating a bond that went beyond the factual nature of the article and really made you stop and consider the information in a different light. This was a really great article.

Given the nature of our text, do these pieces challenge or critique some cultural beliefs about American families?

The article on looking for work was enjoyable to read as a glimpse of life in the 1950’s. I do not see much of a challenge as I do not believe anyone lived the life of Leave it to Beaver. The show was as all things are on TV, a glammed up snapshot of life with problems that could be solved in 30 minutes minus commercials. The family depicted in his story seemed quite normal.
The second article did nothing but challenge or critique cultural beliefs about American families. I loved how she presented the facts about whites and their choices about time periods, while almost to a fault of understatement noting that blacks didn’t so much enjoy the earlier decades. It actually made me stop and chuckle as the reasons for their choices slowly entered my consciousness.

What do you find the most interesting about each of these pieces?

The part I found most interesting in the first story was the accolades thrown at this writer at the beginning by whomever was doing the setup for this story. I felt that his boisterous prologue did nothing but to create an expectation for the story that in the end did not hold up. Maybe if he put this in at the end, there might have been an opportunity to better share his thoughts. I say, show the work with minimum editorial and let the reader form thoughts for themselves.
Most interesting part of the second authors work was her ability to share two sides of a topic without judging either side as wrong. This would be difficult with any two sided conversation, but with an article that is so fact and research laden, it’s quite amazing. I liked the references to later decades that were made without losing the reader in what facts were relevant to what decade. I also enjoyed the connection she made to the readers of today and how common things today compared to things in earlier decades.

ITS not a problem anymore!

My grammar article this week is on the dreaded apostrophe. It is one of the few grammar items that have a name as difficult to spell as the word is to use. Generally, I just try and avoid both. Typically the only time I really use the A-word is when the spell check on my document writer inserts it for me, at which time I look blankly at the computer and mutter “… well, if you say so” before moving on.
The rule for this week was a bit easier than last week, due to the fact that I already had a handy online resource to look for it. I just love using www.adminsecret.com for all of its simplicity of use and down to earth language in explaining a particular topic. The specific rule that I needed help with was about possessive pronouns and the rule I found was this: -It’s vs. Its: “It’s” is short for “it is” or “it has” (“it’s raining”), whereas “its” is a possessive pronoun, as in “its coat.” This rule is relatively simple to understand, to the point and easy to remember.
As before, you can find a link to the specific topic HERE. I will of course endeavor to use some different sources in the future, as there are many many sources on the Internet to find information. For now though, like a boy in love, there is nothing else on my mind!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Here are my two Media Cartoons!!!!




Here are my two Media Cartoons!!! I am interested in body image / Media and I hope these will be fun!


Monday, January 12, 2009

CaPitaliZe THIS??

An assignment that we as students are also required to complete on a weekly basis is the dreaded grammar assignment. In this task we must focus on a grammar issue that we struggle with. The response must include information on how we struggle with it, what the correct rule is and a link to a site with some compelling information on the topic.
The grammar issue I have chosen for this week is that I do not always know when to capitalize a piece of information. I struggle in knowing if it is important enough to be capalized and I get completely turned around when dealing with book titles or words that seem like they should be capitalized like American… or it is American!
I looked up the proper rule or rules for this topic and realized a new reason why I am confused. There are as many as 17 different rules for this grammar topic. The rules listed in this response are courtesy of www.grammerbook.com and are the ones I have found to be at least the best in terms of brevity for each rule. Of the 17 listed on their site, 3 offer an encapsulation of this week’s issue.
1. Capitalize points of the compass only when they refer to specific regions.
2. Always capitalize the first and last words of titles of publications regardless of their parts of speech. Capitalize other words within titles, including the short verb forms Is, Are, and Be.
3. Capitalize federal or state when used as part of an official agency name or in government documents where these terms represent an official name. If they are being used as general terms, you may use lowercase letters.
Of the 315,000 sites on Google that claim to have knowledge on this topic there is one that stands out and may become a resource for future articles. The site is called adminssecret.com and their approach seems softer and simpler than some of the other powerhouse alternatives. The information is presented as if one admin was secretly sharing some tips over coffee with a friend who is in the same spot. I think it’s a great site and I encourage others to tap its resources. The specific topic can be found by clicking HERE.

What does it mean to you to be an American Citizen? How might this text challenge or complicate your opinions?

As part of our English 2010 class for Ms. Sutton, there is a requirement to do some extra work in the form of creating responses to questions posted on her blog. These responses will be posted on my blog and you are more than welcome to read and respond to them. The question raised by our instructor’s blog post (found HERE) is twofold this week. First, “What does it mean to be an American?” and second, “How might this text challenge or complicate your opinions?”
The first question regarding how it feels to be an American is one that without reading the introduction to required text would have been very simple to answer. The answer would be good, normal, or fine as I have always been an American and therefore and extremely used to it. As I read the introduction to our text Rereading America, I am confronted with concept of challenging my narrow definition of an American by seeing that it is not just the simple definition of a citizen of the USA that I first considered it to be. Being an American is not just a geographical reference as I had thought it to be. American can be North, South, or Central as the book talks about as early as page 2. Nor is being American a specific cultural reference as myself and I am sure others have assumed. Being American is a consciousness and an opportunity to explore, challenge and use the power of dialog to grow and expand as a person.
The second question is about how the text of Rereading America could complicate or challenge my opinions. Although the text does a great job of both warning and enticing the student with lines like “Thus, you may find certain selections of Rereading America difficult, controversial, or even downright offensive.”, this student has had many an opportunity to have his beliefs challenged already. I am 38 years old and have lived in some of the most diverse cities in this country. There is no emotional staking of one particular corner of political or religious beliefs in my life, only a firm belief that my way is not the only way. The opportunity to learn some new tools to uncover different opinions, such as Pre-reading and the power of dialog are the real gems of this course. Mastery of these, will be the greatest challenge… and the most fruitful reward.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

First Day of Class

This is a test for the first day of class