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.

Expanding Your View

If someone of a known hate group was invited to my campus to speak would be fine by me. I would welcome the opportunity to hear a different perspective and also have a discussion with them about why they feel the way they do. We live in a country where our culture has the freedom of speech. There is no doubt it would cause controversies but we are not the moral authority? Who are we to judge others? What an individual believes is their right and I am in no moral authority to tell them if their beliefs are right or wrong. If there is a problem people also have the option to ignore or take it as a learning experience on a whole different perspective then they have ever confronted.

When this person does come to our campus I would defend their right to be there. What free speech means is the ability for individuals’ to exercise freely opinions and ideas which is the First Amendment in the Constitution of the United States. This would go against the first amendment. I value freedom of speech because of the history of tyranny in where those who lived under it did not have free speech and lived in fear. If the people under the king’s rule spoke out against him they could find themselves muzzled or worse dead. They made sure that the first amendment would be free speech because this was the most important. They wanted people to be free to speak their mind and be able to bring their ideas to the table. Thus if a leader of a hate group was to speak at a campus they would have every right to do so. Free speech is free speech. No matter how we feel about what they say, they have a right to say whatever it is they want to. Most of us would find what they would say as appalling but again it is their right to say that. Free speech is not a one-way street. When we talk to each other we can begin to understand one another. Hopefully when we talk new ideas would be exchanged and minds would begin to open and maybe, just maybe that person would change. Maybe it will not be a dramatic change, just a seed we may plant in their heads about the opposing side of an argument and they will begin to asses if what they truly believe is right. This is why the U.S. is a great country, and stands out from the globe; because we allow and accept other’s view as well as we can comment on their view for the purpose of improvement, not harming each other. If we do not let them speak because their tones are offensive to others, how can we analyze and help to understand one another. People should listen to both sides of the argument in order to make a proper decision. There are times, we need to listen, or step back, so we can speak and go forward to make the world a better place to live.

Self-Respect is the Key to HappYness

What is more important Happyness or Self-Respect? This is a difficult question to answer. These two things go side by side. In my opinion, to be happy is to have self-respect and to have self-respect is to be happy with yourself. Is one more important than the other? I believe that it is more important to have self-respect than to just have happiness. Self respect is one of the most valuable things you can have. It helps you feel worthy of happiness and the respect of others. It reminds you that you are a valuable person-simply by virtue of being alive. When you have self-respect you gain confidence that cannot be shaken and no matter what challenge comes your way you will be able to conquer it without hesitation. This confidence you get from having self-respect will bring you unlimited supplies of happiness and as a person you will know who and what you are. It also sets a standard for others to follow. People take most of their cues from how we treat ourselves, so if you want to be treated with kindness and respect, make sure that you are setting a good example.

If you believe that you deserve happiness and fulfillment, you are very likely to attract and create circumstances that promote these conditions. By feeling that your happiness is a priority, you will be on the lookout for opportunities to do things you enjoy, and that are in line with your goals and desires. Knowing that you deserve to be happy, you will probably not pass up chances to be happy. On the other hand, if you are stuck in a negative mindset, and you believe that everyone else’s happiness is more important than yours, you will possibly forego your chances for fulfillment with flimsy excuses such as time, money, or other ‘more pressing’ commitments. We consciously and subconsciously set out to create an external life that matches our internal beliefs. If you have a good level of self respect, clear ideas of what you want in life, and the belief that you can and should have what you want, it is very likely that you will seek and find opportunities to fulfill these desires. Knowing what you want is a very big factor in having what you want. If you only have a very vague notion of a better life, it is very hard to take concrete steps towards creating one.

On the other side, it is different for the people living in Iran as described in RLit. The women there have been dehumanized and the average people have been put down by the corrupt leaders who never allow them to better themselves. When someone is dehumanized or put down to a level so low they have no understanding of what self-respect is. When they lose their self-respect they have lost themselves. They may find temporary happiness but it would just be that temporary. Without self-respect they would not have goals to achieve or desire to better themselves. How would they truly be happy if they do not have self-respect? When people have freedom of thought they can find their self-respect and then find what makes them happy. Having self-respect is more important than happiness in my opinion. A healthy self respect is one of the foundations of happiness and emotional well-being. It can help you through tough times, and inspire you to follow your heart and your dreams.