Blogging

I think that blogging is a very different approach to take in assisting the students learn in this class. My perspective has changed a little bit since the begining of the semester. Essentially, I still see blogging as a way for people to interact and share their thoughts and ideas with one another. It is definitly a good way for people to communicate as well. In one aspect, it is a way for many different people to tell not only tell their view on a cerain subject, but to also get feedback from others. Many will have opposing opinions on certain matters, and it can be a way of stimulating even more thought about the subject. In this way people can discover ideas that they may not have thought of one their own without the assistance of another person's ideas.

I feel that blogging for this class was beneficial in some ways and a disadvantage in other ways. For me personally, I had a difficult time making what I considered to be my "homework" available for others to view. It was a little bit strange to me at first, but I got used to it. I did enjoy reading other peoples' blogs and posting comments to let them know what I thought about their thoughts. I liked knowing what other peoples' ideas were on certain topics. Although it was not personally my favorite way of going about the classwork it was beneficial in many ways. These blogs were helpful because in order to write something down you have to think about your ideas more and get them organized.

However, I feel that (for me personally) discussion is the best way to stimulate thought. I really enjoy listening to peoples' opinions and seeing their reactions rather than simply reading their words. By doing so you can tell a lot more about how a person feels about something or what they may be thinking about the matter at hand. When you are actually speaking with the person about something there is little or no misunderstanding in the message between the people. Even if there happens to be a misunderstanding along the way, the other person is there to clarify the message for the other person or people. In writing it can sometimes be difficult to get the message across that you are attempting to get across with the full understanding of the person who is receiving the message. Also in writing there are often questions that are lingering in the readers' mind. If the interaction is not happening in person, but through writing, there may be certain aspects of the subject that have not been addressed by the writer (or the person who is trying to tell others about their ideas).

I think that blogging was a very different way to set up the homework. I found it enjoyable to interact with people in this way because it is not necessarily something that one would usually think of as something you would do for a class. I also thought it was very interesting mostly because it is something that I have not had experience doing previoulsy. The way in which we used it for in this class blogging, in a way, reminded me of writing letters to your classmates.I have never had a class that took auch an interesting and different approach to doing homework. In this way I will certainly always remember this class because of the blogging; and I have truly never experienced a class in the same way in which I experienced this one.

The Imperial Message

This parable is somewhat difficult to comprehend. I had to read it through a few times in order to grasp the concept that I think Kafka was trying to present to the reader. I am still not entirely sure that this is the message he was intending to get across to the reader. Kafka tells a story of an Emperor on his deathbed. The Emperor has a vital message that must be delivered to someone who is not within the palace. The reader knows that the message must be of great importance because the Emperor makes sure that the message was clearly understood before it was delivered. After confirming the message the messenger sets out on his journey.

The messenger is full of arrogance and is completley convinced that there is no doubt that he will finish his task without complications. Therefore, he is goes forth with his full vigor and energy, not even considering the journey and the obsticles to come. Since he is so completly preoccupied by delivering his message as soon as he can he wearies himself too early in the journey; before he even leaves the palace grounds. I think that the message in the story is that one should look into something and consider all of the options instead of jumping into something unknown too quickly. Maybe a person should also better know theirself and what they are and aren't capable of. Do not get so fixated on one thing without seeing anything elso or everything will catch up to you all at once. If you do that you may get burnt out and not be able to finish the vital task at hand.

Discrimination

In his essay Miller clearly states that the word "dicrimination" is very much represented in todays world. When people hear this word they immediatly think of it as meaning prejudice against another group of people. Miller clarifies that the word's true meaning is to be able to tell something apart from something else, or chosing one thing over another (such as friends, the clothes we chose to wear, and the food we eat). He strongly suggests that discriminating is usually a positive concept as opposed to a negative concept, as most people tend to percieve the word. In looking at the word from this different perspective, it may be helpful for Americans to begin discriminating in different ways.

The presidential race of 2008 is unlike any the the history of the U.S. with the two Democratic candidates running against each other being of the minority. I think that a lot of voters are chosing to discriminate these candidates, however they seem to be approaching this in the wrong manner. Instead of focusing on the candidates themselves or the ideas that the candidates stand for people seem to be to preoccupied with either having "the first woman president" or "the first black president". American voters need to stop being silly and start discriminating against these candidates in the correct way. Instead of getting all hyped up about the canidates' minority as a presidential nominee, people should dicriminate who will be the best choice for a president.

Prospectus

• I think that the paper would flow a little better if the third paragraph was switched with the second.
• Although it does breifly describe that plagiarism is "academic dishonesty" it does not specifically define plagiarism.
• Does the writer have ideas of how instructors should catch plagiarism? What should the conseques be?

If Black Isn't A Language, What Is?

In Balwin's essay he discusses language and its broad meaning. Language can have many different ways in which it can be defined or looked at. Baldwin explains that language is a part is part of what makes a person who they are and how other people may see that person. A person can be judged by their language and how that person chooses to use their language. People change their language and their word choice based on their environment or the people they are speaking to. For instance, one usually will not use the casual language while speaking to an authority figure that they would use while talking to a close long time friend.

He also talks about how people can speak the same language (such as English) but not always necessarily be able to understand what is being said by someone else. For example, in the essay he compares white and black languages. Neither would be the same without the other. However, at the same time the different ways that the languages are used by these two groups are not always understood fully by the other group. A lot of the language barriers within the same language have a lot to do with cultural barriers, and different interpretaions for the words being used.

Baldwin draws in the reader by not just filling the reader's mind with information but by giving statements that make the reader think about the subject of "what is language" in depth. He also makes a great point by arguing that the "white language" would not be the same without the influence contrbuted by the "black language".

The Right to Fail

Success means something different to each person. However, what society tells us that success is going to college, getting a degree, and being wealthy. This does define success for many people, although it does not mean success to each person. Success may be going to colloge, entering the armed forces, going to a trade school, to some people success could simply be graduating high school. I know a lot of people who do not particularly like school so they do not continuing their schooling with a four year universtiy. However, I do know that in a lot of cases these people do continue to work hard and still strive for success and achieve success.

I think that success all depends on the goals of each individual. I also think that success should be measured by the feelings of satifaction and accomplishment of the person. Success is whether or not a person is happy and feels exceptionally good about themselves and what they do.

Goals and ideas about success can change over time. Some people keep the same goals from the time they are children until the time the get older and accomlpish their goals. Thereafter, they will usually have more goals that they are reaching for. There are also people who think they know what their idea of success is, but this idea changes for them over time. Sometime people may have a goal in mind, and in trying to achieve that goal may fail.

I agree with Zinsser. He proposes the idea that it is okay to fail. Failing is a part of life and it is part of what makes a person grow and discover more of who they are and what they are meant to do. True failure, in my opinion, is not trying your best. If one has a goal and tries their very best to accomplish this goal, and they end up not acheiving their goal it is okay as long asthey gave their best attempt.The true definition of success should consist of working hard and obtaining contentment and self worth.

CRAAP

I feel that the article about how felines react to bearded men completly fails the CRAAP test. First of all, there is no significance to the topic at all, unless you are planning on getting a cat and you are a bearded man. Even then, this would not be a reliable source if one were looking for any kind of professonal information. Each of the dates from the sources shows that this article is very old and is hardly updated. The affiliations and sources also display that there is little or no authority within this article. This article also contains very little accuracy; there is no real evidence to support their theories, it has not been refered, and I have had no personal experience with such an issue, nor has anyone I have ever come into contact with. The only possible purpose of this paper is for teh audience to get a laugh.