Tenth Discussion/Blog Post

I have no process of “getting to writing”; I usually just sit down and stare at a blank piece of paper to collect my thoughts. I am a big procrastinator and it progressively got worse as I finished each paper. I procrastinate because the hardest part of writing a paper to me is starting and I always have problems getting together ideas to start. I do brainstorm and try to eliminate some ideas on the basis of how hard they will be to get the adequate volume and how easy it will be to get the sources required. Once I narrow these ideas down I think about topics under this idea and try write around the center topic. I don’t really like sharing my writings with other classmates because since they are learning the material just like me, I don’t know whether to take their critiques as correct or an honest mistake just like I make. I really enjoy getting feedback from the teachers because they have the knowledge and I can feel confident that the critique that is given to my writings is correct and complete. I don’t like the idea of writing being a continuing process because I like to see a final ending accomplishment rather than always having something that you have to improve on. I prefer the process of continuing to revise work instead of just turning the paper in to get a grade because I get a better ending project to later turn in which improves grades. The way I will arrange my portfolio is in order completed for the course because this is the easiest way to show my progression. The first papers were really rough in the sense that I was trying too hard to follow a process, but the second round of critiques that said that I seemed “robotic” in my writing; I tried to reflect a change in the last writing.

Ninth Discussion Board/Blog

The assignment that I found most relevant academically was the Argument Response paper because it forced me to look at all sides of the argument instead of my side. I think people, myself included, tend to look at things their way as being the only way. The assignment that I found relevant personally was the Literature Review because it not only allowed me to get a grade researching something I am interested in; also I learned more on the subject. I am glad to have completed all of the assignment because English composition scares me. The Literature Review was tough because of the scholarly sources needed to complete the assignment, but even thought I have no other English classes to take, I think the writing will help me in any other classes that require any sort of writing to be done. It will be a relief that no other courses will challenge me, in the sense of writing, more than this fast paced class.

Eighth Discussion Blog Post

At this point I have had two papers work-shopped. What I realized after reading several other papers is that other students are making a lot of the same mistakes that I make and although it’s quite easy to shop the mistake in other papers, it is very hard to spot in my own while proofreading. The parts of the process I am finding most useful is the critique by the teacher. Work-shopping is good to catch some mistakes, but since the paper is being viewed by other students who are learning the process just like me, it is hard to trust some of their input. One example is that I was told that my paper wasn’t in the correct form, but the person work-shopping the paper wasn’t sure, which I totally understand. I am not totally sure either so I guess I’ll have to wait till the teacher critiques the paper to find out.

Seventh Discussion Blog Post

The topic of my research paper is “What are the Issues of the Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Car”?

Ashley, Steven. “On the Road to Fuel Cell Cars.” Scientific American March 2005:62-69

The author Steven Ashley is a member of the editorial board for the magazine Scientific American. He has written many articles on general science and technology. The intended audience of this article is people that have a special interest in the “green movement” and people that are interested in up and coming technologies. This work illuminates my topic because the author gives very informative information about the Fuel Cell car.

Behar, Michael. “The Hydrogen Economy May Be More Distant Than it Appears.” Popular Science January 2005: 64-68.

The author Michael Behar is a freelance writer for various magazines who has been writing articles on adventure travel, the environment, and innovations in science for over 15 years. The intended audience is people who reading about advancements towards the future. This work illuminates my topic because my topic is a part of the Hydrogen Economy therefore this article has a lot of information I can use for my research paper.

Burns, Lawrence D., J. Byron McCormick and Christopher E. Borroni-Bird. “Vehicle of Change.” Scientific American October 2002: 64-73.

Lawrence Burns is the vice president for research and development and planning at General Motors. Byron McCormick is General Motor’s executive director of fuel-cell activities. Christopher E. Borroni-Bird is the director of design and technology fusion. The intended audience is people who are curious of what energy platform will be used on vehicles in the future. This work is very comparable in being informative as like author Steven Ashley’s work.

Wald, Matthew L. “Questions About a Hydrogen Economy.” Scientific American May 2004: 66-69

Matthew L. Wald is a reporter at the New York Times that has been writing articles on energy for about 30 years. The intended audience is anybody who may have questions about hydrogen or someone who just wants to educate them more about it. This work brings much information to my topic.

Fourth Discussion Board/ Blog

The written argument that I chose to write about is from a website named “Common Sense Journal” (http://www.commonsensejournal.com/2006/04/15/hateful-racist-vitriole-from-the-pro-illegal-immigration-protests/), article named, “Hateful, Racist Vitriole from the Pro-Illegal Immigration Protest”, by an unknown author. The article is about the dangers and consequences of continuing to let illegal immigration occur. The author establishes social significance first by saying that we need to build a fence on the border to not only control the people coming in and out of our country, but also to keep terrorists out. The author supports this by saying, “We need a state of the art fence to keep terrorists out, and, by common sense, keep track of who enters and leaves the country.” The author establishes social significance by putting some of the blame on illegal immigrants for some problems in our cities, messing up the environment of some areas and driving down everyone’s wages. The author supports this by saying, “see how uncontrolled immigration has led to and will lead to the destruction of America’s natural environment, more urban sprawl, and lower wages.” Lastly the author establishes social significance when saying that there are some illegal immigrants that want to take back California and the parts of the United States taken a long time ago. The author supports this by saying, “Many people call for part of the United States to be “given back” to Mexico.”

Third Discussion board/ Blog

In the article, “The Murder of Dr. Tiller, a Foreshadowing” by Christina Page, the author is inferring that the murder of Dr. Tiller, an abortion doctor, is because we once again have a President in office that is pro abortion. The author gives statistics and numbers comparing the time periods of anti-abortion presidents against time periods of pro-abortion presidents. The author is saying that the anti-abortion movement is going to intensify. The strengths of this piece is that the author does offer a lot of surprising statistics to back up his argument which tells me that the author did a lot of research on the matter. The weakness is that the author does not reveal his sources which would have been very helpful in adding to his argument. The type of evidence that the author uses is statistics and maybe source if the author reveals his/her sources for the information. I agree with the author because the numbers are much more than a coincidence to ignore and not too many reasons for the outcome to occur.