Fun Methods of Literacy

My definition of literacy is the ability to understand what one has read and interpret the text into your own words. In addition to reading, one must be able to write effectively in a manner that will help them interact or communicate with others. Whether writing an essay, research paper or letter, literacy works both ways. It’s up to the writer to write a grammatically correct letter that can be read in whatever language that the letter is written. On the other hand, it is up to the person receiving the letter to be able to read, interpret and understand the letter.
I personally think English can be a boring subject at times. Especially when everything goes according to plan or by the books. It’s even worst when assignments are given on a certain boring subject and students are to write endless amounts of pages and do endless research on this subject. Therefore, I think the English classroom should adventure outside the realm of text-based writing to other forms of composition. As we move towards the future, things change. Although we should not throw them away, we also shouldn’t rely on the traditional genres of academic and scholarly writing. What should be done is take them into consideration, depict their flaws and modify them to suit the present and future.
The English classroom is a perfect place to experiment with frivolous methods of composition because as stated earlier, English could be a very, very dull subject. Adding playful methods of composition to the subject helps ameliorate the situation. It’ll make the subject that much more interesting and increases the chances of students doing English assignments to learn the subject rather than completing the work just for the grade and to be done with the class.
What we have been doing in class so far is alright. We’ve been including other elements such as the media and technology into our writing, therefore, making a little less boring than it would be without these elements. It’s a whole lot more interesting and easier to read a paper on the web with corresponding images and colors than a white sheet of paper with thousands of tiny letters. Essentially, writing in a children’s book format, with pictures and colors, is a great method of composition that I think both the writer and reader would enjoy.
I, personally, am a technology and electronic fascinated person. However, I wouldn’t be fully interested in writing a ten page research paper on technology. I would actually like to engage and interact with an electronic device or program besides Microsoft Word on a computer. In essence, doing the same thing over and over gets dull. The routine must be changed, especially if it’s not working, from time to time to keep things interesting. Therefore, frivolous methods of composition should be used more often than the traditional methods of composition. I commend the idea of using various visual programs, such as NVU, Power Point, and iMovie for the final paper. It makes me that much more interested in writing the paper

Literacy

I consider literacy to be somewhat the same thing educated… To be educated is to be able to comprehend a language, to read it, speak it, write it and understand it. I think that literacy kind of goes along with that…to be literate, to be able to read and write and understand something. I don’t think that if a person isn’t very good at writing poetry they are not literate. I think literacy is an extremely broad term and can apply to a number of people with different educational backgrounds. I don’t think that one can become literate just by reading books all the time, or writing constantly. I believe literacy comes from a combination of reading, writing, creativity, comprehensive thoughts, etc. I don’t think that one particular type of writing should be considered the basis of learning how to write, but I don’t think that everyone should be forced to write in specific ways… that sounds kind of complicated. Let me rephrase that…um I don’t think that a research paper should be the only form of writing that students are allowed to write in but I also don’t think that students should be required to write haikus and all that…some people just aren’t good at that kind of stuff and it’s just a lot of limitation. So no, i dont think we should have to learn all different types of writing like we did in high school (and probably sucked at them). I liked the crot assignment because it allowed us to write in a way that we could express ourselves comically, seriously, poetically, etc and write in forms that we knew we could write in. The crots were basically stories, and what are college students best at? telling outrageous stories.

unusual communities

i think it would be tight as fook to write about a few communities, here i have listed a few of them which i think would be pretty neat,

1. couch surfers if u havnt heard of it check out couchsurfing.com
2. the rainbow people no not gay people but the crazy hippies who wander the united states and shroom out around campfires, i have accidentally stumbled onto a "gathering" and it was pretty scary
3. goth culture. anyone who has seen the people in black with piercings knows exactly what i am saying hopefully i am not out of line with the term vampires
4. world travelers, people who travel and work as they go, they stay in hostels and just want to travel their entire life
5. gangs- i met a crip one time his name was mane, "when its rainin outside others get wet but i stay dry" havnt figured out what he meant by that however im sure its something deep
6. the underground society of pick up artists or womanizers
7. greek life
8. sidewalk surfers, lets face it the shit they do off the wall is sick
9. peanut farmers
10. wizards, worlocks, palmreaders and shit like that
11. circus performers and carnies! this is my favorite of course this includes the bearded lady and lizard man
12. hello my name is. and im addicted to.

Polygamist Community

When looking at different communities to explore for my next paper I had a hard time thinking of creative topics. I wanted something that would have plenty of information on the internet and numerous photos to show. I finally came up with a few good ideas. The one I’m writing about now is the community of polygamists. A polygamist is someone who has multiple spouses. In particular I’m thinking about research a polygamist society that caters to the male. This is when the male has multiple wives but the wife has only one husband. Their children are plenty and the women are typically not treated well. The husband is definitely in charge whether it’s what his wives wear that day to whether or not they can go somewhere. In some instances the children are forced in to the polygamist community. Their only option is to escape by running away. By running away they leave behind their family from which they are now shunned. States outlaw these types of communities but some still exist secretly. They do this through private fences and other means of hiding the polygamist community. I personally do not agree with polygamy, especially if it’s one sides and degrading to women.

Comment on "What i Like to Call Unique Commuinties"

I've always kind of wandered why people who were confederate keep those confederate flags on their homes also. If the war was about 144 years ago, that means that the people who are representing the confederates in such a hard core manner weren't even around at the time of the war. On my way back to Tallahassee, we stopped at a McDonalds where I saw some people with a confederate flag on their car. The first thing that one of my friends thought of them was that they are races. However, they were quite polite and even had a couple African American friends that were waiting for them at the McDonalds. They exchanged greetings, had several conversations, laughed and everything else. So a question that can be posed to those people is what do others think of these people?

on the streets

So i thought and thought.. and for my community i would like to look at gangs. Not exactly one gang in specific, but all gangs in general. You know along the lines of the bloods and such. Maybe just the different origins of gangs, different types, their purpose, their initiations and such. I think this would be a good topic because it is a unique community that people don't know about, or aren't really supposed to know about. Gangs are real and they are also interesting. Maybe I could look at gangs in different states and the type of people that are in them. I don't really know what else there is to know about gangs but I think it is an interesting community to analyze. If a gang is not a good community because the information is secret, then my second choice would be to look at the homeless community. I think it would be interesting to find out about poverty in the U.S and the rest of the world. How they got into that position, if they intend to get out if it, what they live like and stuff like that. I think people often have a negative view towards the homeless and in analyzing this community it would enlighten people to their everyday lives. Those are the two possible communities that I think would be interesting topics for paper three and the final project.

Unusual Communities

In my senior year of high school, I read a book named 1984 by George Orwell. The book contains a futuristic plot of how the future will be completely run by the government. You and everything about will no longer belong to you. You aren’t even safe in your own mind. You cannot express any feeling, gestures, or any other natural human emotions or reactions or else you will be eliminated. That meant that you can’t have sex for pleasure, only when told, with the no emotions gestures or feelings rule still in play.
Since I’ve read this book, I’ve always wondered how someone would survive living in a community such as that. To live your life like controlled robots, constantly fearing of being eliminated, and knowing that whatever the government or higher powers are saying is not true but you still have to accept it as a fact. The newspaper could say one thing today and completely contradict itself the next day but there is nothing you can say or do about it.

I worked on a film project on the subject of helping the homeless while I was in high school. Most people say they are reluctant to give the homeless a helping hand because they waste the change they are given on alcohol. Of course that is not the case with all homeless people but there is an argument that you don’t know which are telling the truth and which aren’t. It’s tough for those who would actually use the money they receive in order to really help themselves to have to be in the same category as who throw away their spare change on useless things and even things that will actually harm them.
I find the homeless community to be a frightening community to be a part of. Struggling to gather some change to find something to eat and the horrors of finding a safe place to sleep and a ton of other factors are all some scary situations that come with being part of the homeless community.

I’m not sure if this would be considered as a community or not, but one place that I would enjoy being is the classic cartoon world, including cartoons like The Looney Tunes and my personal favorite, Tom and Jerry. I could see myself laughing constantly living in the Tom and Jerry community. I would get hurt in one scene but with a transitional fade or wipe, I would be at 100% in the next scene. I would seldom speak but you would be able to figure out my intentions from my gestures and actions. I would never do any chores because I would have a cat named Tom to do that for me and I would never do any homework because I would have a smart, writing capable mouse named Jerry to do that for me also. I would probably be rich or well known for having a dog named Spike who knows how to growl, bark and speak English

Amish

While Ms. O'Malley first told us what our next paper was going to be on the first unique community that came to my mind was Amish. I don't really know much about them except for what I've seen in movies, but I have always wondered do people really live like that. How could people really live like that. The questions about Amish are endless for me. I just don't understand why they would want to live completely away for the world. It's it a lot faster to drive a car then to go on a horse drawn carriage.  I don't understand why a new bride would just be okay with not getting a wedding ring just because they are not allowed to wear jewelry. I am not sure if I will be allowed to do my research on the Amish though because I know we are not allowed to do religion and I know that the whole Amish culture is based on their religion. I do think that this religion is very unique from other religions. 

If I am not allowed to use this community then while researching a found another unique place that got my attention. IT is called Bicycle City. This is more of a future plan where people are coming together to form a community with no cars and only bicycles. There plan is to come together to form a community that is saving the society. Now they are taking reservations for people who would want to live in the city.

My country tis of thee

Frankly I am not really interested in anymore communities than the ones that I wrote my crot on, for the plain fact that I really don’t see a visible point in doing so. But since it is an assignment and I need a good grade I shall put my mind to make an effort. I like to travel, even though I haven’t really been anywhere other than Iran, France, and a couple domestic states. But along with traveling come very unique sights, sounds, and cultures. I am sure we will narrow focuses down later, so I am going to discuss the international community in general. The international community can be broken down into three simple areas: culture, people, and places. Each place has its own characteristics that it is distinguished by. The place is sort of a class, and people and cultures serve as the sub class. Place is important because depending where you are the community will be very different. Communities within three miles of each other are very different just imagine different countries, then imagine different places in each country. Next come people, people make up the places (well most, some places can have communities without the presence of people). Each individual person makes up the place which makes up the community. People are all different, no two people are the same therefore no two communities abroad will ever be the same. Culture is the most important aspect that I will delve on because culture is what separates Americans form Asians, from middle easterns…you get the picture. Everyone’s culture around the world is different, and people within the united states have cultures based upon their own beliefs from the mother land. All in all there is a whole world out there full of communities cultures and people that we haven’t come into contact with and may never will, and I want to uncover some of those.

NFL players....BIG......help

I don't know if this is too well known or isn't what you were looking for but I was planning on choosing the NFL's charity organization. Several player and teams in the league give their free time to offer help to their communities. For example several New Orleans Saints such as Reggie Bush helped give people supplies in their time of need. FSU's own Warrick Dunn is the biggest of all NFL's contributors as he buys a home for a needy family on a yearly bases and stuffs the refrigerator with food. That along with community work he has been awarded for his community work by the NFL. One article referencing this states in description of the picture above "Christine Bonilla, a single mother of five, cries as she holds the keys Warrick Dunn handed her this morning to her Habitat for Humanity house in Dade City."

police as a community

One community that I found it very interesting to explore is that of the police. When I was just messing around online the other day I say that there had been 7 police officers that were shot and 4 of then died last week. This is really sad but one thing that I found that was really interesting was how they banded together and were like a family. I do want to be a police office when I graduate so this is very interesting to me. But one thing that really stuck out to me was that they are so close and such a strong community because of what they have to deal with everyday (the idiots and the danger) that the co workers (the other officers) were grieving just as much as the actual blood related family was. I thought that this would be really interesting to investigate because we don’t think of the police as being a family but more as being the people that save hostages and who pull us over and write us speeding tickets. With all of this said I was very intrigued with the uniqueness of this community and thought that this would be a great one to analyze and dig deeper into.

What i Like to Call Unique Commuinties

Ok ok I have to come up with some interesting communities that intrigue me or set off certain feelings. Ok the first one that has to be are those people who get their food out of the trash by dumpster diving. They are called Freegans they are an anti-consumer group that out of political protest go dumpster diving in super market dumpsters looking for unspoiled food. This one really grosses me out, I don’t understand their protest why are they forcing themselves to eat garbage, what’s their cause and why are risking their health for this.

Alright another group is the people who go out and reenact like civil war battles. I know it is important to show your “Heritage” and to remember those who died. But some of those guys go way over the top. I mean hey the civil war is over, it has been over for 144 years, the south lost. Get over it. I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, and if I do I am sorry but united we stand divided we fall. Side note I had family fight on both sides of the war mainly confederate since, obviously from Tallahassee, but you don’t see me strapping a huge ass confederate flag on the back of my car and driving down capital circle with it, that is just silly to me.

My last community, the Rainbow people. I know what you are thinking but No these are Nomadic Hippies left over from the hippie era they are Nomadic Americans who travel from forest to forest normally on national forests or states forests land just living. Rainbow Gatherings are temporary international communities, typically held in outdoor settings, and espousing and practicing ideals of peace , love , harmony, freedom and community, as a consciously expressed alternative to mainstream pop culture, consumerism, captilism and mass media. The media often cast negative light on this group due to drug use, nudity and other things. This one is strange group I never really knew about.

Transgender Community

The community that I think I might write this paper about is the community of transgender or transvestite people. I have always had mix emotions about this community. I wouldn’t say that I am necessarily scared of transgender people but more intrigued. I didn’t really understand what transgender people were until I watched the most recent season of MTV’s the Real World in which a transgender person (Kaitlin) is one of the cast members. She at first is not open about the fact that she is transgender but once she opens up she is very open to sharing her experience. The emotional and physical pain that she had to go through just to be the way that she wanted was very interesting to hear about. I am unsure if I want to combine the two communities or just focus on transgender. Transgender people are people that were born a certain sex yet undergo a surgical procedure to “transform” into their desired sex. It is an expensive and extensive surgical procedure and is not performed in the United States. Those that want to get the surgery done have to go through months of therapy and take a ton of hormonal pills way before they can even have the surgery performed. The physical and emotional change that the transgender people undergo through their metamorphism is something that I find could lead to a very interesting paper. I feel that that the gay community is such a hot topic in today’s society and there are so many different opinions out there that it will be interesting to research.

The Drug World

So as soon as Ms. O’Malley mentioned outrageous communities to explore I couldn’t help but think of nudist colonies. While not so common in America as in Europe, I actually know of one in South Florida and think it is one of the strangest things ever. In correlation to the nudist colony I thought “what about nude beaches”, if the saying “no shirt, no shoes, no service” is so popular, and clothing is required pretty much everywhere, why not in these places? What are the exceptions to the law and who decided to fight for these communities? I think it’s just weird that a nudist colony in South Florida is divided from a normal neighborhood by a single fence, on one side you can walk outside butt naked and on the other it’s illegal.

So as I was online, those stupid survey ads popped up on the side of my screen and said "Do you think marijuana should be legalize?" Then it hit me, the drug community, not the whack little teenagers selling weed, but the big boys, the bosses. It’s illegal, we are aware of the matter, so how is it still everywhere? Why are there so many drugs and drug dealers? What about the Drug community? Or should I call it a drug business? It is easy to assume, the do drugs and they sell the drug, but actually its not necessarily true. Statistics say more then half of cocaine drug dealers don’t actually smoke or snort cocaine, it’s just part of their job. Is the drug community like a corporate business? Is there a boss and chairmen and employees of different levels? Do they work together? Or is it just once its in your possession, your on your own? I learned drug dealers actually take care of their employees and discourage violence. What fears do they face? Why do they get involved in that community? I guess its hard to understand at first but I think the drug world is fascinating, and no I do not do drugs, but I think its crazy how drugs are illegal, yet so many people do or have at least tried some. People grow it at home even, how do so many people get away with it all? It’s kind of impressive, and if the law is aware of its popularity, how has it not been shut down? Or legalized? Can you imagine if marijuana was legalized and the government could tax it, they’d make a lot of money. I have so much interest and curiosity in it all, especially because kids even on this campus think they know everything about weed, or whatever drug, but its like a whole other world, the drug world and I'm sure we'd all be surprised at things we could find out about it and the people involved.

Looking at it from Another Perspective

At first it was hard to think of “outrageous” communities, without being cliché. My train of thought had immediately gone to the communities we had already explored, like sports teams, high school friends, fraternities, etc. After reading the prompt about “Toddlers and Tiaras,” for some strange reason the idea of Harry Potter and Twilight came into mind. The idea to explore the world and community of “Witches and Warlocks,” and Vampires would be interesting. Maybe even exploring a little background information on the city of Winston-Salem. To try and figure out why they think they are witches, warlocks, vampires, or if they really are.  

Another community, that I must give Ali credit for was a Nudist colony. In the town we live in, there is a Nudist colony. I think it would be interesting to explore the reasoning and habits of these people. The history of how such a bizarre thing started, or even how it’s not illegal.  Along with the nudist colony, another possible community could perhaps be the community of reality shows. I’m not sure if this community makes sense, but I feel that it is something someone could explore behind. To try and find the factuality behind them, and figure out if they are really staged or not. This community may be difficult to explore, because you would have to break it down part by part. But, it was just another possibility.

Communities

I was thinking about communities and found it hard to find unique communities that Jennifer didnt already mention in class. One idea i had was an army community, because my cousin is in the army and i thought i could interview him and get a lot of info that way because of how helpful my interviews were for my last paper. But i honestly am really bad with politics and war and topics like that and i feel like i would get bored because i didnt understand it. So then i was back to square 1...with no ideas. I was watching CSI when the idea of serial killers kind of came to me. I think it would be really interesting to learn about some of the people who cause chaos in our societies. Then that idea kind of led to the idea of gangsters or mobs, but i dont really like that idea and probably would end up really tired of it. My dad suggested that i study the community of jigaboos but i dont really thats a winning topic either. haha. I still go back to the idea that jennifer mentioned of Wiccans. I think that would be really interesting but i feel like it is really over-done and not quite as unique as this assignment is supposed to be. I mean yes the community is unique but the topic isnt so much. I kept thinking about communities you see in the media and I saw a commercial with a bunch of athletes on it and thought hmm maybe a community of pro athletes or pro team of some kind but then I remembered she said no sports teams. So then I thought well what about the people that are in the shows and movies we watch, how about the acting community? That idea led me to the idea of the Playboy community which I thought would be kind of interesting. We all wonder about how they each deal with the fact that they aren’t someones significant other…they are alllllll Heff’s girlfriends and in a house of mostly women…there has to be some serious catfights. So that I think was probably the most interesting topic I had thought of thus far. I was still thinking and looked over to see my sister sitting with her glasses on (which she never wears) and her computer on her lap and I told her she looked like a geek…hmm the Geek Squad community? I bet they get made fun of a good bit… because they really are geeks and most of them look the part. Could the geek squad be the guys from high school that everyone made fun of and called a geek and here they are all grown up with jobs and still living under the title of a geek? Idk just brainstorming. Probably not a topic for me. I think the best idea I had was about serial killers. I would be really interested in that and might actually enjoy researching it. To get a look into the mind of someone so sick that instead of playing a sport for fun they take peoples’ lives… I think that has some potential. So if anyone wants to write on that…Im down just let me know…lets group it up.

brainstorming communities

In trying to come up with some ideas for a unique community to do my paper on, I found it kind of difficult to come up with communities that are out of the ordinary and ones that go as you say “out of the box.” But brainstorming I came up with a couple that might do. At first thought, I thought how in the movies, how abusers and psycho killers are portrayed and I thought it might be interesting to maybe find out more about them maybe and see what’s going on there. Another idea was people with a bunch of tattoos how the media has this perception that they all have to be hardcore rockers. So that would be interesting finding out if that’s true or not. Another is the whole housewives idea, such as with Stepford wives, and if there really are communities like that of the movie where housewives are perfect and so nice and put together, or are they more like the characters as seen in “Desperate Housewives.” The whole idea of witches too is another idea maybe that could be done. Hey and if you really want to cross the line and talk about going something completely out of the box and shocked by, there’s even the whole idea of transgender or drag queens. I don’t know I am just brainstorming here and these are some of the ideas I could come up with. Hopefully some of the ones I’ve listed here or at least is a good enough one to do for the paper and project.

Blog Post #8 - Did that guy just pick his nose?

I was reading another article for my Research Methods graduate course. It discussed a specific ethnography that observed the "community" of grcoery store check out lines. Hmm...I never thought about thatt one. But now that I think about it, some crazy stuff happens at the check out line. Have you ever observed the people in line behind you? In front of you? Have you ever peeked at another's cart and made judgements about her based on the contents of her cart? Oh, I totally do! I admit it. And have you ever read the name tags of the cashiers? Sometimes I think they make up their names. I had one friendly girl the other day. She was probably in highschool. The name on her shiney white name tag was "Gertrude." I'm not sure about that one. And what about the tabloids? Do you look at them? Do they influence your shopping experince? How do they shape the environment of the check out line? So many things to think about! Oh yeah, I almost forgot - I was on line (or in line, whatever) and I definitely caught the guy behind me picking his nose. Gross, right?

i hate this shit

This reseaerch shit sux ass. I am so over this topic and everything it stands for. I do not want to ever do any of this ever again Thanks

What a Pain

So far in writing this paper, I found that the hardest thing was trying to understand the topic. My first draft for this paper was the epitome of a “shitty first draft”. I misunderstood the prompt and the lady that I met with at the reading and writing center tore it up. I was taking a wrong approach to it but I got help from her and got my paper on the right tract. After she pointed me in the right direction, the problem that I had concerning how to make my paper long enough, disappeared. I had more to say and my paper wasn’t so broad anymore. That was the first bump that I ran into. Now I am stuck again! I have five pages written and I don’t really know what else to add to make my paper the required eight pages. I’m starting to get a little stressed that my paper is going to have a lot of repetition and be boring. That is one of my biggest fears that my paper is going to be boring and my reader is just going to give up on me. Another thing that I found difficult about this paper was the research. I would much rather prefer to write a fictional piece or a crot paper than having to spend time in the library doing research and finding some creative way to incorporate it into my paper. I know that this is school and a lot of time goes into work, but I would prefer to spend my time writing fiction or even work on math homework than sitting on the library website searching for sources. I cannot stand that process!
One question that I have still is how to make my paper more interesting. Right now it just seems like I’m relaying facts and there is nothing that exciting in what I have to say. Any advice?

I hate Writing

I am tired of Writing and I am tired of school. I do not want to do anymore writing however since this is only the third draft well I have to write more. It always seems like we have to write more I can’t wait for someone to say hey kid you can stop writing now, I have written 5 page papers for history I have written papers for English, I have defiantly written papers for English, and now soon I have to write a paper for Dinosaurs and Disasters, why do I have to write a paper in Dinosaurs and Disasters I can sum it up in one sentence, the dinosaurs roamed the earth till a giant meteor killed them off. That is dinosaurs and disasters. I know a little off topic. Back to the research paper I am tired of sitting at my key board and pressing the buttons. I think I hate my Computer now because every time I sit down at it I have to write five more pages. MLA is dragging me down just because it takes time to do the sources and to ,make sure everything is right. My mind is starting to refuse to proof read my paper because I have read it countless times and I am still finding mistakes. I can’t type as fast as I can think so ideas get lost, so I write them on paper and then loose the paper. You know what screw typing I am going fishing and will be back in an hour…. Well I am more upset now I lost a lure in a tree that fell in the water and missed catching a fish…twice…. But really I guess overall this research paper is not that bad I still have to write more pages though but I know once I reach those eight pages I can start to calm down and relax. I can’t wait to stop typing.
My question about is about citing figures and pictures in my paper I am still confused and am not to sure the proper way to do it.

(by the way that picture is not my computer)

whoops forgot the questions

I also would like to know how many sources, including how many different sources we need (i.e. books, internet, articles)?

How did you find the balance of inserting your own opinions while also keeping the paper formal?

Time Management Lessons POR FAVOR!

This process has supplied me with a lot of late nights and a few points where I indeed wanted to rip my hair out. Never did I want curse the name of Jennifer O’Malley but I for sure wanted to curse the name of the devil that came up with the idea of research papers. I don’t feel that my perspective of research papers has changed at all. I chose a difficult topic and although I have made some break through since my first rough draft I still feel that my paper isn’t that strong. The toughest thing in writing that I have found is finding the balance in my paper between summary, scientific and sourced data, and my own opinions. I just feel that my paper is lacking any real substance. A lot of my stress though is self induced due to my lack of having any sense of time management. I feel like I have been rushing to do these last drafts of my paper and they feel almost thrown together. Don’t get me wrong I have definitely been putting effort into them but the essay itself is not in the best of shapes. I am actually glad that we have spring break to work on them, loser I know, but that is because I feel that over spring break I can really take the time to make my paper something decent. Again the time management factor is a huge issue the beach always sounds better than a research paper but hopefully I can find some sort of discipline and whip my research paper into shape.

Timeless.

I can't say I've become that upset, or frustrated, with this paper. My only issue is the one thing that as always, seems priceless - time. I honestly wish I could spend more time on this paper. Surely, we've had a while now to compose these. But it doesn't seem to be enough. My topic makes me want to search for more information. More theory. More ideas. And that isn't proving to be easy when I have to submit a document in 12 hours. My fault, sure. But life's way too busy right now. I look around my room and just see books laying open around my floor. Post-it's marking pages and quotations. And I know that there will only be a minority of that information in my actual paper. That's depressing. The page constraint doesn't help much either. So yeah. I just want more time. But this isn't that stupid ClockStoppers movie. It's...college. Go figure.

Final Question: You're a writer. Does the stereotype have any bearing or affect on you? 

And I also second Wes' question...how many sources total? I'm at 16.

not bad

I don’t really have much to bitch about, the only reason I chose the topic I did was to watch Family Guy. I thought I could probably make an interesting essay, and for the main research or as I like to call it watching cartoons.
It is obviously a long paper and I have a lot more to write, the spacing between the paragraphs made me think I was basically done but apparently not. But overall it wasn’t a bad assignment. Although I hate research papers it made it easier to have such a broad topic which was also somewhat interesting and easy to write about.
Making the appointment with the RWC was kind of a pain but worth missing two classes but then writing about what we got out of the meeting with the tutor was also annoying. In fact I don’t even think the research paper was the worst part because if you choose something you are interested in its not that bad. The worst parts were the assignments surrounding the paper which I will admit that most of them were helpful but some were lengthy. I am just glad to almost be done with this research paer.

The never ending paper

freaking paper.. thought i had a good topic at first but then i was like oh my lord almighty... why the crap did i choose this stereotype. So then i started to write how i felt about it and i was like you know what, maybe its not so bad, i mean i know teens are sex obsessed, the world knows teens are sex obsessed, and so it won't be so hard to find information on these type of things right? WRONG! super wrong. I guess maybe because teen sex is an awkward topic people don't exactly talk about it. While researching on the web, I kept coming across a bunch of weird porn sites of young teen girls/boys. Not gonna lie I  looked at like one to see what was up, and it was totally gross... I then decided to never do that again. So then i looked on FSU database, and guess what?! scholarly people do not exactly have a strong interest in writing articles on how teen boys love sex stuff. I couldn't find anything on my topic. This was the hardest part of my paper. Finding the sources was so so so sooo hard because apparently it is not really something that people tend to talk about very much. I am so over this paper it's not even funny. If i could give a presentation about how i felt on the matter, maybe that would be different. I hate page requirements, i think it forces students to include information that is not like super important to the paper just so that its long enough. Write what you need to make a good strong point, thats what i think... but I'm not the teacher. Anyways, this paper kinda sucks, but i guess there is not much of a point to continue my complaining since i have to do it anyways to get on with my college life and hopefully pass this class with an A. So. my paper is turning out O.K, having trouble staying on track and i need to constantly be checking the structure of my paper, and other than that, i hope it turns out well because i have worked really hard on it, and i learned a lot about teen sex. Woohoo! 

My question is... can I use my educated opinion  to make a point in my paper ? i mean that is what the paper is made of right? 

so much research...

 Obviously research papers aren't my favorite things to write. I don't think this research paper is as bad to write as some of the ones I have had in the past. I like how we got to pick our own topics and how we could relate it to the media. I mean that is pretty much the best type of research paper you can write. I know when ever I have to do something if I had an interest in it then it is so much easier for me then something I could careless about. Oh course I had trouble finding research on sororities. I don't really think they are first one writers list to write on. When I had to look into the media to find sources I had no trouble. It seems like movies love to portray that sorority girl stereotype. It seems to be everywhere. Also being involved in a sorority also helped to give me a better edge on this paper. I actually kind of liked doing all of the research on my topic because it helped me to learn more about something that I am apart of. The question I would probably ask was on my last paper you said some of the stories I wrote about were like everyones stories. Is there something I can do on this research paper to help make mine different then another paper?

One Question:

My question is basically the same as Ali's (we kind of share a brain).  Is there anything that would make the paper extraordinary? Is there one thing that we should work on the most? I know it a paper, so there isn't really one thing I should work on, but is there anything that would make a paper stand out? 

Another Paper...

I have to admit that I find this paper a lot easier to write than the crot paper. Random isn’t my writing forte. However as difficult as the crot paper was for me, I enjoyed the process so much more compared to the research paper. I HATE MLA citing. It’s such a pain to have to go back and find the page number or the name of the author once you’ve already written your paper. It’s even more frustrating when you forget the name of your source and return the book back to the library. I love structure, format, and having instructions, but I hate how tedious and drawn out this paper is. I HATE interviews. They are so awkward, even the initial, “can I interview you”. I really don’t feel that the interviews contribute all that much information. I had a different perspective which was nice, but as a whole, I think my paper could have done without. I’m still not even sure where I will incorporate my interview into my paper. I also hate the page length requirement. I understand why it’s needed and enacted, but I feel that it begins to make my paper drag because I’m now just trying to fill up white space. My question is: Are we required to incorporate and include our survey into the research paper?

Semester from Hell

So I knew this semester was going to be a lot of work, but I didn't think it was actually going to kick my ass. Between the weekly lab reports from Bio and Chem, the mandatory water polo practices that I still seem to skip, and the thousands on little assignments that serve little purpose... I'm pooped. But to be honest, the one thing I dislike the most is writing. I've never been fond of it to begin with, nor have I been good at it. The first Crot paper was "okay" to write, but this research paper is just too much! It's so difficult to find legitimate work and websites that I can site between all my other schoolwork and trying to fit in an interview that didn’t really serve any justice is quite difficult as well. When I started to write this paper I was annoyed because I didn't even understand what to do. I didn’t know if I was writing the research paper correctly, and usually I don’t mind research papers. The past few I’ve written weren’t that bad for me… but this one just has been causing me stress upon stress.
I must say though, after the RWC conference it gave me some confidence. Still I get frustrated having to look these arguments or interviews, or facts up. This is the one thing I've had the most difficulty with, was finding good enough sources. I’ve been able to find thousands of blogs and how people feel about Disney Stereotypes, but not a lot of factual sources. This in turn just gets me aggravated, and not wanting to continue working on my paper. AHHH! I can't wait until Spring-much-needed-Break… Even though I’ll be finishing this paper.

STUPID RESEARCH PAPER!!!!! WHAT IS THE POINT???????!!!!!!!

I HATE RESEARCH PAPERS!!!!!!!!! I know that for the rest of my life I am going to be writing papers. I mean I want to be a Police officer so all you do is go somewhere, do research on what just happened, and then write a report about it but at least that has a purpose. I think that the major problem that I have encountered is lack of enthusiasm and drive to write this paper. My thing that I have always had about writing research papers for English classes is that I have never cared. English has always been my least favorite class and it also has been my hardest class because I hate it so much so when I am given a research paper in those classes I hate it. At least this one could be partially interesting but the worst is when we get papers that want us to analyze the rhetorical devices in some work. WHO CARES! That is why I have always hated English classes because I don’t see the point of analyzing Hemingway’s use of imagery. So all of that has contributed to a few bumps in the road with this paper but I will say that it is awesome that we were at least able to write on something that prevalent to our lives.
I guess my final question is how many sources total do we need?

Breaking from the Norm

O the agony of the final crunch time of the research paper. Within the span of the next four classes we will have turned in what we have all been diligently working hard towards in order to reach the final goal: The grade that we all think we will receive. In actuality though, the paper didn’t go as rough as I thought it would go, perhaps maybe because the third draft is right around the corner and I haven’t had to deal with any stress yet about how my final draft should be. Maybe this will come later, but I sure hope not because as of now the ride has been long lived and well overdue. The fact that I believe it is overdue is the basic principle that I just want break to be here and I believe we have been working on this paper for far longer than we should have been. By no means at all am I bashing the method behind the madness of our enthusiastic instructor but in a way I am ridiculing the system that forces her to conform in an unconventional way to the norm of freshman composition courses. Difficulties haven’t began per say or they haven’t even existed in my path to finish my paper. I only succumb to a few rhetorical questions every now and then about the paper itself, in which I fully answer myself within the next few minutes. What I do have to complain about though is the readings in the Curious Researcher, because I feel it is an exact replica of what we do in class, as well as what you teach us. I feel as though the quiz’s and exercises are insulting my intelligence, in the way that, you are not trusting my ability as a student and hard worker to do what is expected of me. I believe they are a complete waste of time. As for the question that I should pose you, I would have to ponder through my mind, but it makes me realize that back in the day on a certain blog before we began the research paper you told us to face you with a question, and mine was about why there has to be a page length. But thanks to your help you answered the question without answering it directly. In comparison to that I will pose you with a more difficult question this time around which entitles the whole aura of the classroom we go to every Tuesday and Thursday. What is the point of this research paper (as I have not come to a valid reasoning behind its actual portrayal of scholarly merit)?

too much stress.

UGHHHH! I hate research papers! I always tell myself that the next one is going to be easier and I am actually going to make sure that I do little by little so I am crammed with having to do so much. But if feels no matter how hard I try I can’t seem to succeed with that and it always feels so stressful! I have all this research and most of it connects but I don’t know how it connect it properly so it flows smoothly. And to make it into my own words where I’m not just repeating the information is so hard. I don’t want my research to drown out my own voice but it’s so hard to do it feels like when its research. I have papers and papers of research, highlighters all over the place. With scribbles here and there, as well as writing notes and reminders in the margin, and just trying to organize my thoughts into something that can make sense. I feel like I can do so much more with my paper and do so much more with it and make it better but it feels so stressful trying to get it there. I just want to scream everything I look at my research in trying to organize some sort of thoughts that make sense. I feel like research papers are such a headache! And trying to write in a different way than what I’ve been taught is more difficult yet. Straying away from something I grew up how to do and then get to here and be told I have to change it all, really makes you lose a little hope. I want to just write my paper and get it over with. I have these ideas, now I just have to make them happen. But it seems like so much, and with everything else going on such as midterms, life seems so stressful. I feel that since I have to write in certain ways I am not used, that it’s going to be hurt my paper. I am worried that I am not going to do well on this paper. I have all my research, now I just need to figure out what I’m going to do with it all. I just ughhhh, I don’t even know. And not having specific guidelines either is difficult either because I am used to have strict guidelines and being told how to do a certain thing because with those guidelines I am able to make sure they are met so I can feel more satisified with my work.

So my question is there any advice you can give me in order to make my paper a better one such as guidelines or what you’