Finish Line

Well, I apologize for this late post. I was busy studying all day on Wednesday for my last final which is today. I’m glad it’s over; and I hope we all did well. Now I have time sit down and write this final blog before I go to bed because I really need to catch up some sleep. What a long journey! In actuality this is not really the end of my journey. It is only the end of my third year in college. For me it has been a long semester. This class combined with business math and writing has pushed me to the brink. It is amazing that I even had time for this class. For an online class this was definitely more like a real class. When I first signed up for this class and saw that I would need to commit six plus hours a week I thought that was overrated. But to my surprise I ended up committing such hours to this class. This was not like a typical English class I had come to believe. My thoughts were that hey were going to write 3 essays, read a couple books, do some assignments and be done with it. This was how my previous experience with English went. After taking this class I was humbled. This class was no joke. If you did not keep up with the work there was no way you could catch up. It went at a hundred miles an hour. Now that we have reached the end of the semester it feels like a weight is coming off me for a little while until spring semester starts.

This class taught me a lot of thing. From reading all the essays out of the Exploring Language text to the books we read, I have gained a new perspective on many different issues. To hear all of these different voices has been a great lesson on how to approach a certain issue from all different angels. The most valuable lesson I learned from the EL text was on propaganda and political word play. In my opinion there real is no such thing as actual reporting or real journalism anymore. It is all opinion based off how people feel and not on actual facts. It is sad when I hear that a majority of people now get their news from talk radio. Learning about wordplay and propaganda has been really helpful in cutting through the nonsense and getting to the truth. These lessons learned will help in finding the truth. The real lesson learned was about critical thinking. Now when I read something I apply these skills so I can get to the bottom of what the author is really trying to convey. This skill goes far beyond just the English classroom. Critical thinking should be used in all fields. To me it is another form of scientific observation where you ask questions and try to find answers to those questions. This skill has been invaluable and I will look to improve on it as I continue my education. To all the classmates that managed to tough it out and stay with the class I say bravo. We did it. Through hard work and determination we made it to the end. Now let’s not slip up and blow off the final assignments. It’s been great working you guys and the ideas each of you brought were great. All the best to your future endeavors and good luck.

Buzzer Beater

Procrastination and writing research paper the day before is definitely not the key to success. Winning a basketball game at the last second of the game is not an easy to thing to do, it almost seem as impossible but to Kobe Bryant NBA superstar doesn’t seem like a hard thing for him to do at all; when he beat the buzzer and bring 6 game victory to the Lakers . He makes everything look easy and possible. However, this research paper submit in the last minute is not easy at all. Beating the last second to finish the essay is a risk. When started this essay, I have no clue what to write about or topic to choose. As I mentioned last blog, I read the Great Gatsby in high school but my memories seem to be erased. So I decided to pick The Great Gatsby topic. Most interesting fact was comparing Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Great Gatsby. These books taught me how to appreciate my life more and more everyday; and how to value everything in this world. In fact, my critical thinking also involve in this essay as well. I already came into this class knowing that I needed to analyze written material as well as possible to fully understand what the author is representing in their work.

I found this very example in Reading Lolita in Tehran when the class put The Great Gatsby on trial and the one gentleman named Mr. Nyazin was the prosecutor and he presented his case against Gatsby through a single window of ideas and did not see the entire picture, while the defense of Gatsby came from the women named Zarrin who critically thought of what Gatsby was about and what ideas the author was trying to convey. She had the stronger case because she critically thought of the book and looked at it from all angles. This is precisely what professor Nafisi was trying to get the students to do. This is precisely what I have been doing this semester. This course is on critical thinking and in order to pass it we must be able to demonstrate it. This is still an ongoing learning process for me. Obviously I will not master this technique in one semester but this has been a great launching pad.

As I have discovered critical thinking goes far beyond just being used in an English class. It applies to everyday life. When it comes to the news one must really know how to critically think. There is so much information being thrown us that the only way to decipher through it is to critically think about it. We must look at what is being presented and break the information down to its simplest form to try to see if it is truthful and applies to what it is addressing. News now has become so distorted it is hard to distinguish it from opinion. People must critically think in order to distinguish between the two. It is especially important now with all the problems the world is going through people must be informed of what exactly is going on. The issues that the world is dealing with are so complex that the only way to understand them or at least get some grasp is to critically think. Of course in hindsight we can say that if the people in charge displayed critical thinking we may have never gotten in this mess but what can we really do? Oh I know we should vote these bums out of office!! But I digress, so critical thinking is a vital part of life and I am grateful for the knowledge I have gained from taking this course and will use these skills in every part of my life.

Another Research Paper...

First I want to say, “Woohooo!! There only two week left in school.” I can’t explain to you how much school works I have in the last few days and in these final two week. Home work, test, report project, and research paper. Talk about my research paper for English due this Sunday, it coming along very slowly. Honestly, the last few days for me been very hectic; I feel like my brain about to explode somehow. Thinking about how I am going to write this paper when I have my project and report due this Monday. I want to say that I do not want to do it. It sound like I’m giving up and being lazy but I really do not want to do this at all. There just is not enough time in the day and this week for me because I have a test and report to work on. This class combined with my Business Communication and Math for Business/Economics classes have weighed me down all semester. There is so much work and little time. I am aware of what I signed up for and what it’s going to take to finish. These higher courses require high level work. If you not up for the challenge then just drop this class. I am fully aware of what is at stake and plan on tackling it head on. This research project requires all the knowledge I have gained from the past several weeks in the class. This is a challenge of skills and I feel I can accept this challenge.



At first I want to write on Education in Iran but I haven’t done any research on this topic. However, I already read The Great Gatsby about few years ago but I don’t remember anything about the book. Therefore I started re-read the book, but still have to finish reading. There is a temptation to go out with friends, watch the NBA playoffs, and play video games instead. These distractions could hold me off from writing this paper. Because there are many great games have come out this month. I told myself that I can play all these game after I’m done with school, so I decided to unplug my videogame console. The end of this road is so close and I do not want to stumble and fall on the ground. This is the end of my year at AVC so I have to give it all. I have worked so hard this semester I want to finish strong. I have to work really hard these final weeks and get this done. After I finished reading The Great Gatsby I will then proceed to make an outline of it and of RLit. Based on what the prompt is asking for I will make a rough outline of what my essay will look like. This essay does require it to be long. I will definitely have to make a detailed outline of both books. Combined with this outline I will integrate some outside research I have done. I know the majority of the essay will come from the two books but there needs to be some outside sources. It starts with the outline and once I complete that then the essay will be a breeze. Writing comes easy if I know what to write about. Once I complete my first draft I will seek the help of tutors to ensure my essay is on par with what is required of it. The online tutoring service will definitely be used by me. I would be a dumb not to use it. What I have learned from the previous essays is that peer review is priceless. The input from others will help me to strengthen my paper. The only difficulty I have is the research on EBSCO HOST and make an outline after that. I hope I can finish my first draft by Sunday but first I need to finish reading the book.

"Dress to Impress-->Write to Express"

What is online communication? Blog, IM, E-mail, etc… has changed the way we speak. The advancement in technology and the internet has allowed us to be connected anywhere and anytime we want. It is as if we are plugged into the machines that we use. As these machines become more and more apart of our lives we use them to speak for us. The internet has allowed anyone in the world to have a voice. That voice can be heard by all through the internet. Each of these voices has its unique communication style. It ranges from short and sweet to long, overdrawn, complex ideas. My online communication style I like to do both.

I am both brief and detailed when it come to communicate online. It depends on what the situation is. When I am talking to my friends I am mostly brief and to the point. When we talk it is mostly about random things. Whether it is about the ladies, sports, games, movies, or anything else we just speak in short sentences online. I believe we do this because we are on a computer and it is different to read then to hear. When we speak to each other physically we can listen and talk for hours. But when we communicate online we have to type and read, this just leads us to be short and to the point. When we speak physically we can speak over hundreds per minute. When we speak thorough typing, most of us cannot type as fast as we speak thus this leads to brief communication online. We have to be short and to the point or else if we took a long time to type the conversation would be lost and we would be constantly backtracking trying to figure out what we were talking about. If this was to happen it would just lead to frustration and we would probably stop talking online. When I do write online in complex and expanded language it is more then likely because I am do an assignment or talking to someone of significance such as a professor. When I am talking to professionals I have to speak professionally online to be taken seriously by them or else they will just brush me aside as immature. Even though I’m online when speaking to people of significance it is important to speak to them as if they were sitting across from you. Communicating online is critical to make sure that you are careful how you do it. When people communicate online those words they use are the only things people from around the world have to get to know you. If you communicate in a professional matter it will resonate that you are a person of knowledge and if you speak in an unprofessional matter using slang and misspelled words it will send the signal that you may be a kid or teenager. Even though we are communicating online and others can’t see us they can still read us and the way we speak will tell them who we are. I try to be a professional when I communicate no matter if it is online or offline.

Breaking News!

TV news and newspaper has always been providing world’s major events. They both play an important role in our life ever since TV was invented and the advent of newspaper. Early 17th Century, everyone received information and world event through the publication of newspaper, then TV and internet was introduced where you get more visual on the event such as live video. Information published from these sources are considered the most accurate and credible. However, reading a newspaper is more effective as a provider of important information than TV. With TV news you have certain times that you must tune in, such as twelve or ten o'clock news, to catch what is going on in the world today. And even when you do catch the news those designated time slots on TV they show what people want to see rather than what they need to know to better TV ratings. With TV it is easy to grab the attention of their audience but hard to keep it for an entire show, losing its effectiveness as a provider of important information.

Usually when major events occur in the world; for avid daily news watchers, it interrupts their morning routine with a red blaring headline titled "Quake in Chile" or "Suicide bomber kills in attempt to assassinate WORLD LEADER”. If CNN isn't your cup of tea in the morning, the drive to work listening to the radio might be. The radio isn't just for music, so if something major has occurred then it definitely would be mentioned over the airwaves. And at the chance that you are neither a news watcher or a radio listener then you would still hear the breaking news in passing. Be it at your workplace or at school. You'd have to be living under a rock to NOT know. News travels fast, so if you didn't hear about it before you left your house. You will definitely hear about by the time you get home.

In this time of day, information is so easily available that is basically at our fingertips, literally. With the advent of smart phones, we can now easily access the web and obtain the news for ourselves. We can easily turn to the net, for information right away because. Breaking news would be updated online the same way it is on TV. With everything that is shown on the news, it shouldn't be taken at face value. Don't automatically believe that because it is on the news that it's indeed fact, or that it is indeed the truth. Sometimes news headlines that probably aren’t as important as other ones are blown out of proportion. For example, "Breaking news, list dog finds his way home after being lost at the mall." Incredible. Yes, to a certain extent, but hardly "news breaking" worthy. So it's falls up to you, the public, to sift through the crap the media feeds us and find out which topics really hold meaning and are indeed "breaking news."

So Far...

What we have done so far in this class, I feel that my writing has greatly improved. I can start writing down the first thing that comes to my mind, instead of just sitting there for hours just trying to fill up one page. In my opinion, writing is difficult if you do not know how to properly do it. Writing starts with 3 steps: organizing, writing and completing. Ideas and gathering information always be the first step I started with but the problem was getting those ideas to written down. My mind would move from one thing to another at a rapid pace but my writing was stagnant. I just could not find a way to write. It just became frustrating to do a simple 2 pages essay. From reading and seeing different articles I have expanded my knowledge of writing.
Exploring Language textbook is one of the best guides help me improved my writing. The most interesting I like about this text is that it contains the writing of diverse authors on multiple subjects. It is very interesting to read what each of these authors has to say about whatever topic they are writing about. Beyond what they say, I am studying how they write. I see how they convey their ideas and try to incorporate them into my own writings. What I have noticed is that the more I read the more I see how diverse writing can be. Everyone has a unique voice and if you know how to write, you can express that voice. I can relate to an author in the book like Malcolm X, who was uneducated but when he began to read his knowledge grew and he became a better writer. When he did become a great writer he said it was a freeing experience for him. I can truly understand because when you do not know how to do something, in a way you become fearful of it and tend to avoid it. So when I was frustrated with writing I did feel as if it was a weight I could not get off. As Malcolm X, when I started to improve my writing it did become a freeing experience because I now finally had confidence. I still have a long way to go but this is a great foundation that I have made for myself.

The peer responses also another way improved my writing. It’s one thing to have confidence in yourself and think that what you have written is the best thing ever. You need to be brought back down to reality and peer response is just that thing to do it. Through peer response there is an exchange of ideas and both parties benefit. As I have received peer responses I have taken the advice and it has helped me improve my writing. When I write I feel as if it is the best I have done but when a peer reads it they can find holes and things I have missed and I can take this advice and make my writing even better. There is a chapter in the Exploring Language text that explores the communication gap and how people talk to each other. The main idea was that if people talk to one another then ideas are exchanged and everyone is better off from it and it expands knowledge. By taking this lesson to heart, peer responses are a great way to expand anyone’s writing. Practice, practice, and practice is the way to improve my writing. Not only reading but listening to other people advice is another way. And I shall continue writing more!

Is This Cartoon Offensive?

The controversial political cartoon that offended me came from the New York Post in February 2009. The cartoon featured two uniformed police officers shooting a chimp, shown lying on the ground, as one officer says to the other: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." The depiction of the chimp is apparently a reference to the 200-pound chimpanzee that mauled a woman in Connecticut couple days before officers had to shoot the animal to death. "The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event," explained Post editor-in-chief Col Allan, who denied that it was intended to refer specifically to Obama. "It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy," he said. This is a racist cartoon aimed at the president of the United States. This cartoon incorporated two news stories into one. But that terrible incident was taken and put in a political cartoon. The Post should at least clarify what point they were trying to make in this cartoon, and reprimand their cartoonist for making inferences that are offensive and divisive at a time the nation struggles to come together to stabilize the economy if, in fact, this was yet another racially charged cartoon. At the same time this incident was taking place, a massive stimulus package was begin discussed in congress to help boost the economy. There was a lot of heated debate over the stimulus and whether it would be a good thing for the economy. There was massive destruction of the economy and Wall Street almost collapsed a few months prior. There was a need for government spending in order to offset the lack of consumer spending to give the economy a boost. What this cartoon shows in an opposition to the stimulus package and to cops shooting a monkey. The monkey is a representation of the president Barack Obama. The cops saying that someone else would have to write the stimulus bill says to me they are taking a shoot at the president.

This cartoon is offensive on many levels. There is the racial imagery of a monkey being equated to the president who is black. There is also imagery of gun violence and also the imagery of police brutality. I can understand those people who say that this cartoon represents an image of a stimulus package that is so ridicules it looks like a monkey wrote it and that it’s just humor that it’s shoot dead by cops to represent the opposition to the package. I would say that this is not the case. If that were true then the cartoon would have spoken for itself. I argue that something that is great does not need an explanation because it is so genius that it just speaks for itself. When some people see police officers shooting a monkey and then a caption saying someone else has to write the stimulus package they would connect that monkey to the president. In American history the image of the monkey has been used to represent African-Americas. Now that the country has an African-American president who was vocal about passing the stimulus package, it is obvious why this cartoon would be so offensive. There is also the image of police brutality by the cops shooting the monkey and saying what they said. The cartoon shows the police killing the monkey because they disagree with the stimulus and not because it was self-defense. Again with the history of police in America it brings up images of Rodney King. I understand this cartoon was meant to poke fun at the stimulus package but it was distasteful. There are other ways to show that the stimulus is ridiculous without implying that it was written by a monkey.