Self-Review Questions for Essay 3

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1.    How well does the paper "match up" with the assignment's requirements and expectations?

I felt that I chose an appropriate topic and I feel that I represented it in the most scholastic way I was able.

22.    What is the paper's thesis statement?

The thesis statement was to pick a topic that we wanted to write about and present it in our own analytical essay demonstrating the various literary tools that we have learned thus far.

33.    What are the major supporting points for the thesis statement?

My major supporting points were that I stated the beneficial medical and social affects playing video games can gave as well as ways they are improving society.

44.    What questions or issues do you have regarding each supporting point?

I had no questions when it came to supporting each of my main points. I feel that I was as definitive and researched as I could be and I feel I properly informed my audoience as to my subject matter.

55.    What other supporting points/arguments could be helpful to the paper?

Another supporting idea that could have been helpful to this article is whether or not any physical ailments such as carpal tunnel can arise from playing video games.

66.    How clear are the relationships between the thesis and each supporting point?

The relationship between my thesis statement and my supporting point is very clear.

77.    Where does the paper need transitions, content-lexical ties, bigger/smaller paragraphs or other organizational improvements?

The transition between where I describe the physical alterations playing video games can bring and the benefits they bring to the job market could be smoother.

88.    Was each sentence easy to read and understand?

While I do try to use more colorful speech, I maintain a simple idea the reader can always follow.

99.    If not, what was usually the problem?

My sentences tend to run on and an idea that started one way will end up changing by the end of the sentence.

110. How well does the paper's format "match up" with standard MLA formatting?

My paper has one inch margins on all side, with double spacing, minimal use of contractions, and I thoroughly did my research so my article could be graded seriously and of its own merit.

111. How does the paper's title affect your interest in the paper?

The title draws my attentions in and informs what the general topic of it will be. I like to take great pride in my titles. The catchier the better, I usually use a play on words.

112. Overall, what is the most important improvement that you should make? Why?

I think that the only way I could improve my paper is with a subtle refinement and double check of my details and a smoother flow to the entire piece.

Are We Gaming Alone Out There...

This blog post is in regards to our upcoming writing assignment and a small exert from it. My essay is about video games and their effects on our youth. I have been a gamer since I could say, “up, up, down, down, B, A, Start, Select,” and have always had a great fondness for them. In my opinion, video games are at their base another art form that is meant to be appreciated and enjoyed. Many people make the claim that the excessive playing of video games can be harmful to a child social and even mental development, mainly but not exclusively pertaining to violent content. This is the small portion of my essay that I chose to blog about. I chose an article written by a man named Douglas Gentile who writes for the website babycenter.com that publishes many articles on child rearing and development. In his article he describes that many kids that play games in front of computers miss out on physical, intellectual, social and emotional development and children that play console games are missing out on making friends and spending time with their parents. So to straighten that out, kids that sit in front of the computer are slow, fat, stupid, anti-social, emotionally stunted freaks while anyone with a console sits alone in their room crying themselves to sleep after a full day of leveling. Now to clarify, anyone that chooses to be anti-social and sit at a computer all day are going to do so anyway and any gamer playing will be a byproduct of behaviors already in place. Also, if that guy thinks consoles lead to loneliness then he’s obviously never rocked a Guitar Hero or Super Smash Brothers party. As a closing thought I will leave you with this, if parents want to spend more time with their kids, maybe they could try picking up the controller one time.

In the Lie of the Beholder

This week’s blog is about the article written by Mike Rundle. The article describes the process of web design and the several criteria that go into determining a well-made web page. He talked about how someone should use sharp contrast to highlight differences in the subject and alignment to keep everything visually connected. The point of this blog assignment was not as much to analyze the article that Rundle wrote and more about analyzing the subject behind it. His article goes to show that nearly everything in this universe is based on a system, whether simple or complex, of assigning aesthetic values to nearly everything. Aesthetics and symmetry are what govern relationships, mating, art and design, and even the world economy. To say that designing a web page would not require a certain amount of aesthetics is just silly. Web design is much like fashion that uses a combination of several aspects such as color, texture and lines to make people more aesthetically pleasing to each other. Anything a person buys or may use to buy something has to be appealing to the eye. Everything that you look at, you describes it as “looking just right”, or you say that it, “looks off”. Our eyes are how we perceive the world so they are obviously the sense we are going to but the most stock in. we are a shallow race and that fact is just as relevant when you apply it to our consumerism.

They Should Have Called Them Root Cells

For this blog assignment I chose the topic of stem cells to write about. I have heard a lot of mixed views on stem cells and the research involved in studying them and the benefits they could have in fighting and curing disease. As anyone today could tell you, stem cells are bad because they come from killing babies. If this was not the actual case its more than I would have known considering no one could talk about stem cells for more than two seconds without someone making that tired point. I did a little research and ended up at the Mayo Clinic’s website, reading an article about this particular controversy. The article was simple and informative. They seemed to avoid any complicated medical vocabulary so the less informed reader could still take something from the article. Since the doctors behind the article would most likely want to see their research advanced, I would guess that they want more people to know more about stem cells. This being considered, they remained emotionally distant from their topic and relied more on the facts they were presenting to sway their audience. This was probably wise seeing how the opposing side would be standing on the more sympathetic platform. As I read the article it went on to simply explain where stem cells come from and all of the benefits they could hypothetically present to disease control and prevention. I did notice that they listed all of the nice and miraculous things stem cells could do before they were forced to remind people where they come from. When I read this article I would have to say that it could not have really swayed my opinion, mainly because it was already leaning in that direction. It did affirm many things I had suspected and I certainly agreed with everything they had to say. It blew my mind that stem cells have the potential to cure almost every major disease plaguing our nation including spinal cord injuries, type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, stroke, burns, many forms of cancer and osteoarthritis. The surprising thing that most people do not know is that this research material is just the trash from fertility clinics.

Rose Colored Glasses

This blog is to discuss the causes and solutions of media and campaign misinformation. I would like to address the obvious fact first and that is people lie to get something they want. In the simplest terms, candidates lie to make their opponent look bad because they want to be president. Most would agree that is a pretty substantial reason to lie. More complicated reasons why one might lie in the media or a political campaign is a skewed sense of protectionism. The media and the powers that control it would like to convince themselves that they are doing everything they can do in our best interests. They revolve around a system that tells them they must protect us from ourselves. Many pieces of popular cinema include examples of government agencies subtracting or omitting facts to keep the populace from panicking because of some impending threat. I would have to be honest that I would not know where to begin to k now how to get around the information blockade that surrounds our society in today’s times. News and other media outlets are controlled by unseen forces that are scattered in dozens of parts global wide which would make it hard to even identify any such power, let alone neutralize it. The only way I have found to not be taken in blindly like some mindless sheep is to discriminate the information I take in and use my critical thinking skills to try and determine what fact is and what is manipulated.

                                          

Kruse'n for a Bruise'n

This is my summary and analysis of the article written by Kevin M. Kruse. When I first started reading the article it gave me the impression that this guy was simply trying way too hard to look smart. It seemed that every other word he used had to have four syllables in it. When I was finally able to get to a point in the article where I could see through the alphabetical fog it was to see that he could only tell me that politicians lie. After all of this blubbering on his grand and final point to make was that politicians use cheap and underhanded tactics and means to achieve their goals. He lists several examples stemming from the Regan elections to the Bush elections including smear campaigns and fabricated accounts. On top of the fact that I did not need mister Kruse’s help in knowing that politicians would sell their own grandmother for a swing vote in a primary but also the fact that he wrote a piece for a very specific audience. Seeing how he writes for such a large publication I would have thought he would have been better suited to writing for a much wider demographic. He is actually doing exactly what these politicians he writes about are doing; hiding facts the people need to know in slow and dense reading so that most people will brush over it and agree with the person who bothered to read it, or most likely wrote it. I think subjects like these should be more generalized so more people can read and comprehend them. I don’t feel like this is dumbing down but catering to a society that is developing more and more systems that revolve around what I call “specific” knowledge.