Argument

I choose to use an argument from the movie “The Great Debaters,” the claim was that African Americans should be admitted to state universities, were they could be educated among white Americans. The first reason the female debater presented was that blacks are the thread that holds this country together. Her evidence to this was that Sergeant   Crocker, who was an African American was the last solider to die in the civil war. Also in 1918 the first U.S. soldiers declared for bravery in France were blacks Henry Johnson and Nedmen Robins. The person arguing against this claim states that it would be a waste of time and money to send blacks to college. His opponent, the male debater, shot back the response that  W.e.b. Dubois was the first African American to get a p.h.d. from Harvard, a white university. W.e.b. Dubois is a well known credible black scholar who was persistent in gaining an education and is now the “product” of an Ivy League university.  A third reason the female debater states is that as long as schools are segregated blacks will receive an education that is separate and unequal to whites. Her evidence is that Oklahoma was currently spending 5 times more on education for white students than for colored students.

The use of logos, pathos, and ethos was certainly present in this argument. An example of the use of logos would be the persuasiveness of how the female repeats what was stated by her opponent, that it is currently not a right time for blacks to go to school, and reverses it to express it as the opposite. She asks if today is not the day for colored and white people to attend  school together than when is? She answers the time for change is now! There are several uses of pathos in this video clip, when the male debater uses personal appeal so that the audience is able to understand and relate to him. He argues that if people didn’t not push the south towards something it wasn’t ready for he would be a slave in chains and his female ally would  be trying to escape slavery. Another example of pathos would be the emotional expression of when the female debater began to cry when she expressed how the time for change is now. It made the viewer understand how significant this topic is to her. The use ethos in this argument was how convincing the debaters were to their audience, they were very well prepared with reasons and evidence that they stuck by. They eloquently stated their opponents arguments to their advantage. They were well dressed and they presented information that is substantial toward what they were arguing.

This was a very good video for this assignment because it is a clearly structured argument that is perfect for what is trying to be examined. They were presentable and credible, all their reasons were well thought out and supported by evidence that was relevant to what was being presented. They had an educated argument and were able to effectively convince their audience that blacks have just as much rights as whites to attend state universities.

New edited refined topic for research paper

People who suffer from sleeping issues need to consider kava rather than turning to harmful sleeping medications such as Ambien. Kava is a safe herbal alternative to Ambien which is known to be addictive and have severe side effects. Many people are uninformed of the effects this drug has on your mind and body. Anybody who struggles with sleep needs to consider Kava, it is an all natural remedy that has been prescribed in the South Pacific to treat insomnia for over hundreds of years. I myself am aware of the pain that comes from not sleeping but I don’t want to turn to addictive sleeping pills. Kava is nonaddictive and has no side effects, people should replace their sleeping medication with this healthy alternative that is just as effective as Ambien.

Refined Topic for Research Paper

People who suffer from sleeping issues need to consider kava rather than turning to harmful sleeping medications.

What’s been on your mind?

I have had many things get stuck in my mind which I cannot let go of but one tjhat stood out to me was last year when I decided to go to Humboldt I always had a skeptical feeling that everything wouldn’t work out as planned. Im not really sure what exactly caused this anxiety I think it was just general nervousnesses about starting a new life that I thought would just never work out. I think another factor to it was just that I tend to try and not get to excited about things for some reason, I don’t want readers to misunderstand me I do get excited I just don’t show it to much and I try not to get to excited so I won’t be disappointed if it isn’t exciting or if it doesn’t work out. I think this is kind of what happened to me, I was incredibly excited to start out new and independent but in the back of my mind I had a weird feeling I don’t really know how to describe it but it was a general feeling that not everything was going to work out with how I planned. Yet everything worked out perfectly so I still can not pin point why I thought this way  but I think it helped me overcome a general feeling that everything might not happen as we plan. Life is spontaneous and things do not always go to plan but when you are setting goals like I was to come to Humboldt, you do tend to accomplish those goals despite that feeling in the back of your mind.

First Meetings

I am trying to think of all the first meetings I have ever had and it is pretty easy considering I just started college and I have been meeting new people everyday. The first group of people I am going to start with I did not meet at college I meet at a highschool (one that was not mine) football game. I meet a group of friends through my group of friends on the field of my friends football game my junior year in high school. Since that meeting we collided groups and all became close friends. The next encounter I am going to talk about will be my roommate she was already moved in for a while before I was but when I went to move in she wasn’t there, but I continued to set all my things up which took hours but my roommate still didn’t come to our room. So I left and got lunch with my family and when we got back to the room you can tell my roommate had been there but I just missed her. Then me and my family went to go get some more stuff from the mall for my room when I got back again you could tell she had been there but wasn’t there. Eventually late at night when I was sitting in my room we finally meet and we clicked instantly. The next relationship I am going to talk about is going to be when I found a girl’s school ID on the floor, I new she was at a party I was walking back from so I figured in the morning I would take it to wherever I needed to bring a lost card however early the next morning I decided to go on a nature walk in the forest and I found her walking with her friends, I let her know how I had her ID and we introduced ourselves and I gave her back her ID and we say hello whenever we see each other now.

Repair: What have you tried to repair

My friends around last year got really jealous of my boyfriend and our relationship because since I had another person I also needed to spend time with I spent less time with them. This often happens with friends when one has a boyfriend and such, but i never thought this would happen with my friends and I. When it happened I was unsure what to think of the situation, I thought they were over reacting to be honest because I still saw them, however as the year progressed I ended up seeing my friends less and less, to this day I never wanted to fall under that stereotype, the usual girl meets guy and girl stops seeing friends or vice a versa. Yet it still happened but I have been working on trying to repair it for a while, we are better now but our relationship hasn’t been the same. I worked on trying to repair my friendship with my friends by calling and trying to spend time with them but since the start of the problem I noticed they never really gave much effort to trying to spend time with me. I think this showed a lot about the situation, it showed me that they didn’t put in any effort and I put in most. However this didn’t matter to me because I still wanted to spend time with them and be on good terms with the friends I love. I still talk to two out of my three closest friends. Now that I am in college I am trying to correct my mistakes by making plenty close friends of my own and maintaining a good friendship I do notice differences between my friends here and my friends at home and that is that we both put in equal effort to just spend time together.

Response to “Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education”

Word Count: 583

My initial response to Bell Hooks essay “Keeping close to Home: Class and Education” was one of immediate agreement and then after this instant reaction I started to question the possibilities and legitimacy of what Hooks was saying. She uses a personal example to start of the subject of the essay; she being from a southern black working class family was going to take on the role of a prestigious Stanford student. While at Stanford Hooks felt torn between taking on the identity of a privileged university student or keeping her identity as a community-centered southern black girl. In this essay she examines the situation that arises when working class students enter universities.

As a girl from Kentucky Hooks felt a lot of confusion as to whom she was when she first arrived to Stanford. She was quick to notice the cultural gap in the education system, the gap between academic eloquence and language and community.  Being a southern black Hooks held a high respect for her parents and her community but when she got to Stanford she felt torn and confused as to whether or not she should maintain this respect because of the new title she held as a well-educated student contradicts what she was raised to believe.

Hooks reflects on her emotions as this student and came to the conclusion that we must work to end the continuous gap between different cultures and a higher education. It is custom for African American culture to have a strong sense of community and stick together but she emphasizes the importance of self-discovery. At universities there must be an attempt to form different cultural communities for people to feel close to home but also be able to identify themselves as an individual. People often loose their background when put in academic situations because they consciously or subconsciously conform to the dominant way of thinking, the academic mindset.

I agree with Hooks, I feel that the education system often looks at working class language as one of little importance while in fact it is of great importance because that is what often makes the student who comes from a working class comfortable. Especially today I feel that more and more colleges are working to have a greater diversity in the student population one that varies from class, race, and gender. In order to do this the education system must also work to bridge the gap between languages. Hooks says it is important for those who speak “in particular patois as well as standard English to express ourselves both ways.” Students should feel comfortable using language they are familiar with to write at the university level. In order for students to feel this comfort the education system must openly bridge this language gap.

The questions I was left with at the end of my reading were how could we possibly shift language between one that holds such dominance and ones that vary so widely from English, possibly not even a written language, or something that professors may not even be familiar with. However I answered my own question while I was writing this response, our education system has needed a great change, those who hold great power must shift away from what was traditionally passed down and seek alternatives such as freer language in the classroom and in writing. These alternatives will benefit universities and students in that more people will feel comfortable in seeking a higher education and our schools could have more diversity.

Definition Essay: Step 8a

*I apologize because I was unable to locate the artist or photographer of these images but I do have the URL’s for the images. Thank you, and enjoy!

“Religion and Spirituality Headquarters.” Squidoo : Welcome to Squidoo. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. <http://www.squidoo.com/groups/religion-spirituality-group&gt;.

When I did a google search of spirituality this picture came up and I felt it would be really interesting to use this picture because it is various religious signs. I have made it clear in my writing that spirituality and religion do not have to be grouped together but what I enjoyed from this picture is the fact that they had multiple religions, religions whose philosophies are polar opposites from each other. I felt this image represents that no matter what religion you (as an individual) still have your basic beliefs, views, and ideas which I feel is your spirituality.

“Stress: Spirituality.” Life Positive. Web. 16 Sept. 2010. <http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/psychology/stress/mental-health.asp&gt;.

I choose this image for what it says, “spirituality for stress relief” I feel it says that when you reflect on your spirituality and when you have a strong spiritual outlook on life you are healing yourself , what I mean by healing is mental healing, like stress relief. Spirituality is a positive and when you have a positive outlook on life you are in a good, peaceful state of mind. I selected this image because when I looked at it I immediately felt that it was a visual interpretation  of what I touched on in my previous writing, step 3, and that was that when you are in touch with your spirituality you are gaining a positive fulfilling outlook on life, which leaves you happy and content.

9/6 Blog post “Individualism” “unity” and its meaning

Word Count: 509

Immediately when I was assigned this definition blog post the word individualism stood out to me. I choose this word cause there are so many various definitions that center around the same thing, being an entity out of the whole. Many people I feel take this word out of context by focusing their thoughts and actions around what is going to make them appear to be an “individual,” rather than letting the individualism show through on its own by going about your day on your own unique terms with or without influence of others. When you focus on what has not already been done or avoiding what has you are missing out on a realm of unique ideas that are inspired by others thoughts. People influence how we think and act everyday and we do not even realize it is happening, by allowing this influence it does not mean you are not unique, but rather what makes you unique and an individual is what you make of this influence and what it means to you.  When you do this it becomes your own one of a kind thought.

I thought it would be interesting to search on google the definition of  “individualism,” and compare it to my idea of individualism, “Belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence” and “the action or principle of asserting one’s independence and individuality; egoism.” I think that most people can agree that these are pretty universal definitions that match up pretty well to what most people would come up with. In order to survive in this world it is instinct to take care of yourself mentally and physically before taking care of others, because if you are not well taken care of how are you supposed to take care of another person? Our views and thoughts are those that are dominate in our minds therefore; we feel the need to assert these views upon others to reinforce our individualism.  Everybody is an individual because we are self-sufficient beings but with this comes responsibility to show compassion and care to other persons because we are all individual parts of a whole. We need to also listen to others individual thoughts to broaden our understanding of things.

I feel that the word “individualism” is connected to the word “unity” because when people unite there is harmony between every single individual. Unity is the bringing together of individuals, this word is almost like a continuation or the next step from individualism, it is connecting and sharing everyone’s individual unique idea’s. Once you have achieved this unity you have a better understanding of what it is like to be an individual in society. We are all part of a whole and we must show solidarity to each other in order to coexist. The words “individualism” and “unity” go hand in hand and compliment each other, when we are able to obtain unity people’s individual needs become satisfied and we are able to be united as individual people.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/individualism

Letter of Introduction

My name is Quetzalli Rocha I am a freshman at Humboldt State University, the college experience is very new to me but I do enjoy what I have been experiencing. I love my independence and being in a new, unfamiliar environment helps me form my own persona. I do miss my family and friends very much; they are in southern California, in the city of Oxnard, which is north of Los Angeles. I take pleasure in reading a good book, spending time with the people that I love, exploring new areas, being in the forest, and listening to music. I chose Humboldt State University because of its ideal location and once I came to visit the summer before last I decided it was the place for me, I love the atmosphere and the laid back people here, it is very different from where I am from.

Writing has been enjoyable for me since my sophomore year of high school. That year I was determined to do well in school in preparation for college and I had a wonderful teacher who taught me the ins and outs of good writing. English has always been one of my stronger subjects; I have a strong appreciation for the freedom behind writing, I love how you have the power to express your thoughts on paper. Aside from schoolwork I do not write, however I could see myself in the future writing about something monumental that has happened to me, yet this would be once I have completed my education and have taken a break from the analytical essays. Everyone struggles with writing at some point, my points of struggle are often when I cannot think of the perfect words or phrase to write and I find myself sitting in front of my computer for hours.

When I have a big essay or writing assignment ahead of me I start off by giving myself a lot of time to write and brainstorm, I am not a procrastinator and I do not work well under pressure. There is not a specific structure I follow in planning to write but I do start by writing down any thoughts that come into my head on what I would like to say or any quotes or phrases I would like to use that work well with what I am going to write about. I start by sitting on my computer and writing and revising while I type, the time it takes to start and complete my assignment usually depends of the length and the material I would be writing on. I know when I have completed a writing assignment when I have followed all guidelines, am satisfied with what I wrote, and all my points have been made.

When I have completed English 100/100 A I expect to have improved in my writing. I think this class will help my confidence as a writer and I will leave with much more experience with writing and different forms of writing. I hope to gain support from my classmates and professor this semester by each of us creating a community in which we can all be open with each other. In order for this to happen we must all drop any biases and open our minds to new thoughts that we perhaps have never heard of. We also must respect what each other has to say and also say your own opinion. When we do this each one of us will learn something new.