These expressions could represent that I am more at ease with writing in general. When I attended English Composition I in the Fall of 2014 I was very nervous about writing. Within that semester I learned to just let my mind flow and write it down and correct the mistakes later. In my English Composition II blog, I can see the results and even though there is a lot of room for improvement (I am always tough on myself) I can't help but see that I have grown as a writer.
I have noticed that with this semester of English Composition II that my writing has come clearer. Clear in the way that I add descriptions to my writing. When there is an assignment, I noticed that I am giving more context about what I am writing and describing how the process makes me feel or think.
These expressions could represent that I am more at ease with writing in general. When I attended English Composition I in the Fall of 2014 I was very nervous about writing. Within that semester I learned to just let my mind flow and write it down and correct the mistakes later. In my English Composition II blog, I can see the results and even though there is a lot of room for improvement (I am always tough on myself) I can't help but see that I have grown as a writer.
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Please write an analysis that focuses on concepts of motivation and demotivation as they relate to the course group project.
Who did you include in your motivational group? Include the student blog posts you may have used as a model for your work. My motivational group included Connie, T.J, Anh, and Daniel. We are always collaborating on ideas in class so we knew that we would do well as a motivational group for this project. What did you write [out of the three blog assignments]? Include links to each blog post. I did all three of the blogs assigned, click the assignments and check them out! Informational Literacy Assignment Flipping the Classroom Annotated Bibliography When did you write the blog assignments? I got started on the blog assignments on Wednesday. I did them one day at a time. The first on I started was the Flipping the classroom assignment. Doing this blog first helped me to figure out what I wanted to research and come up with my thesis statement. Informational Literacy Assignment came second. With this one we had to present how to use the library database and provide one of our sources. This got me started on finding the sources needed for my research paper. The last blog I finished was the Annotated Bibliography. With this assignment I had to read all of my sources and make sure they would benefit my research.Writing about the sources and how they would benefit my research paper framed my way of thinking about how I am to form my essay. . Where did you write the blog assignments? I completed my blog assignments at home. For me, this is the most challenging place to work because I have to take care of my family while I work. Why did/didn't you write the three blog assignments? Focus on motivation. At first, I started the blog assignments because they were assigned. As I got deeper into the blogs, I realized that as I kept going that I was actually getting into my research assignment and I am about 1/4 done. How did the group dynamic motivate and/or demotivate you to complete the assignments? Consider your previous experiences with completing course blog posts on time. The group dynamics worked for me in a way that we all knew that we wanted to achieve the goals. It seemed that we were all on the same page in understanding the project. With help and motivation of understanding the assignment, we were confident when we proceeded to start the project. Should the project outcomes be awarded to the individual students who completed the work? I believe that the individuals who completed the work should get the benefits because this was an intense project to complete. If this was a career and the benefit was a promotion, the person who does the work should be promoted. Would it be fair that a person gets promoted who is not familiar with the work? I think that most would feel slighted if that happen to them in their workplace. Source #1
Thompson, C. H. (June 13, 2013). Feminist views of the family (Marxist and Radical) retrieved from web: http://sociologytwynham.com/2013/06/13/feminist-views-of-the-family-2/ In this article contains two views of feminist perspectives. Marxist feminism has the perspective that women choose to become wives and mothers. They also argue that women function as the "emotional safety-valve" and by doing so they are actually keeping capitalism stable. The Radical perspective argues that men benefit from exploiting women rather than capitalism. I will use this source to touch on sexism that is represented in the film "American History X". This article will help me to explain how the how a male dominated family effected Danny Vinyard's way of thinking. Danny's family structure played a role in leading to his death and sexism played a huge role. Source #2 Berkowitz, M. W. & Bier, M.C. (Sept 2005) Educational Leadership: Character Education Parents as Partners Permalink: http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=18154059&site=eds-live This article explains how character development in children is not just the school's responsibility. The authors go on explaining that such involvement help children to learn morals, understand how to socialize with society and improve their problem skills. Berkowitz and Bier also explains how schools can get involved with helping parents to understand their role in their child's character education. This article will help me explain how Danny's parents and siblings played a role in his character development. Danny's moral fiber was at stake when his father presented his feelings about how he felt about Black people and people who were Jewish with one conversation at the dinner table. His mother at (who was at that dinner table) did not express that she did not have the same opinions as her husband. In result, that conversation had an effect on Danny's character about society. Source #3 Harbeck, K. M. (2009) Social Disorganization Theory Permalink: http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89185709&site=eds-live This article explains how communities with high crime rates fail to maintain order by lack of social rules. This article also touches on "White Flight" and the consequences of this action leading to no interaction between the low income residents that are left in the neighborhood. I will also read the theories on why communities face social disorganization and how crime is easily embedded. Social Disorganization Theory will help me to understand Danny Vineyard's social institution of community. In the film, Danny's brother Derek, was the leader of a gang which Danny was also a part of. After reading the different theories about social disorganization, I will have a better understanding as of why the gang was able to operate within Danny's community. I have been attending Delaware County Community College since the Spring 2012 semester and every semester there is a different way of getting around the campus and navigating the website to find information. In this blog, I will provide you with a step by step way of accessing the DCCC online library database for the Spring of 2015.
First: Use your web browser and go to www.dccc.edu Second: Click the menu tab (4 small horizontal lines on the top right of the screen) and click on the delaGATE tab Third: Sign in using your DCCCid (your "P" number) and password. This will take you to the "MainGate" screen. Fourth. Click on the "Learning Commons" tab and you will see in the middle of the page under library resources a search box for the library database EBSCO host. You can start right there by entering keywords on a subject of your choice and clicking on search! I typed in "Social Institutions" and received a huge amount of results about all social institutions. I wanted to narrow it down to the social institutions that I am inquiring about for my research, so I type in "Social Institutions, Family" and that narrowed it down to articles about Family as a Social Institution. This made my research easier because the results were what I was focused on. Here is one of the articles that I found helpful: Family Functions: A Structural-Functional Analysis. Wienclaw, Ruth A. Permalink: http://search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89185464&site=eds-live Research Question:
What were the main factors that led to Danny Vinyard's death in the film "American History X"? Purpose: The purpose of my research is to inform and educate Audience: My audience is my professor, classmates and anyone who is interested in how social institutions can affect a person's way of thinking. Style/Tone: Digital media style will take the lead in citations. The tone will be at the informative level. Thesis Statement: How did the Social Institutions in Danny Vineyard's life affect his way of thinking? Product: The finished produce will contain 5-7 pages with three sources, typed with the double spaced format. I saw multiple literary conflicts in Derek Vineyard’s life. I believe that his main conflict was Man vs Self. Even though Derek’s father’s strongly voiced his views about how he felt about society, Derek was old enough to know what was right and what was wrong. It is clear in the movie that he shared those same views, but does that justify Derek acting violently and forming a hate group? I am sure that there are still people in this world who are prejudice against other races, but not everyone acts on them. We have to also consider in the film that Derek never got over his father’s death. I do not believe that he grieved his father in the proper way. He let his emotions overcome him and instead of seeking some type of treatment he lashed out in a negative way which resulted in him committing murder.
Danny Vineyard looked up to his brother and valued his opinion leading him to have his brother’s racial beliefs about society. In the scene where Derek was discussing his assignment with his father, Danny was paying close attention. It seemed like Derek was favored because he was an “A” student. Maybe Danny wasn’t an “A” student and was scolded in some way that he should be more like his brother. The symbols Danny wore on a daily basis represented his gang which did not sit well with his community and schoolmates. There was constant conflict between Danny and the black people in his school and neighborhood. Everyone knew that his brother was a leader of a gang whose purpose was to cause harm to anyone they thought was below them. Anger is one theme presented in American History X. Derek was clearly angry that his father was killed while doing his duty as a firefighter. His father was shot by drug dealers who were black. Revenge is another theme in this film. Because of his father’s death, Derek seeks harm to everyone that he felt deserved it. The prison society and the home society both had gangs. When Derek joined up with the gang that shared his beliefs while in prison there was that since of belonging and protection. There were also places that the gangs stood in the prison yards and at home there were places in the community that certain people were known to have territory. Derek’s mother and sister, Doris and Davina, represented sexism. They were not supposed to have an opinions about the racial tension that the men in the family felt. The women were supposed to stand by the men in the family by way of obeying and agreeing with their views. I believe that ten years after the death of Derek’s brother Danny, Derek is a high school teacher. I believe that the principle that he had in high school had an influence over him when he was in prison. Doctor Sweeny asked Derek while he was incarcerated “Has anything you done made your life better?” Derek comes to the conclusion that everything that he done did not amount to anything but more hate and grief. Feeling guilty over being the cause of his brother’s death he felt that it was his duty to try and save other teenagers from making the wrong choices in life. He may have also teamed up with the police department to try to help teens who wanted out of the gang life. In the film “American History X”, Derek Vineyard’s views on society were shaped by several social institutions. The three I believe had a huge impact on his world views were his family, community, and his social group of choice.
Family has a huge impact on a person’s social experiences. It is the forefront of how we socialize with the world because with family we learn to socialize with each other. Family is where we develop how to shape our thoughts of the world by way of our family member’s opinions. Derek Vineyard’s father had a huge impact on the how Derek thought. He had an assignment to read “Native Son” (a novel about a black American youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s.) and voiced his opinions at the family dinner table. Derek’s father did not like the idea that his son had some type of empathy. He quickly advised his son not to take the subjects of Affirmation Action and Political correctness for African Americans seriously because it was all “Bullshit”. Derek’s father talked to him about his views on the subject which he had a strong racial opinion of and strongly encouraged his son to agree. Derek’s father was murdered my black drug dealers while putting out a fire. This incident ignites a fire within him and he forms a white supremacist gang with someone who is like a father figure to him. The D.O.C which is ran by Cameron puts Derek on the forefront to get recruits that they feel that are worthy and together strongly place their opinions that whites should rule over non-whites upon them. This gang is a form of a counterculture. Countercultures reject conventional standards of behavior of the majority and provide alternatives to mainstream culture. American History X is a movie about a teenaged boy, Danny Vineyard, who has to write a paper about his brother. Reason being is he first wrote a paper that is 'pro Adolf Hitler" and is reprimanded by the principle of his high school. His brother, Derek Vineyard, is the leader of the Neo Nazi white supremacy gang in his area, is convicted of manslaughter of three men who tried to steal his truck in Venice Beach, California. After serving three years for the crime and released Derek's views about society changes.
Our Multigenre project consists of an out of place essay along with other forms of genres that pose a theme.
My essay, Killer Looks, along with my multigenre projects reflects on redemption. Medusa, who in Greek mythology, was a priestess who was cursed because she was a victim of rape. This happened inside of the Goddess of Athena's Temple and was considered desecration. My multigenre focuses on Medusa redeeming herself had she not been beheaded. Should she had gone on living her life after being cursed, what would the quality had been? In my multigenre piece I used the colors of greens mixed with gold to represent freedom and forwardness. Medusa is moving on from her past life and going for the gold. She is trying to be all that she thinks she is capable of while going for the gold. The color of red is also used to represent that she sometimes has to come to a halt because her "disabilities" of her sight and the serpents that she carries. Killer Looks has five genres arranging from when Medusa left being a Priestess to her would be current place in life which represents her accomplishments and her places of employment. The subtext is that Medusa is able to move on with her life. Since she was a priestess who served a Goddess and was convicted of a "crime" she would show that there is more to herself and she is capable of being someone of significance. I am open to positive criticism so I can make proper revisions. I had to consider 3 movies that I would like our class to consider watching for our course research paper assignment. Here are my choices:
Crash This three time Oscar winning movie is all about the misunderstandings in society. Crash makes you think about the different stereotypes that has been presented to the world through media and history. When people make assumptions from falseness, they are blinded by the truth that stands in front of them. At the end of the film the chain of events reminds us of human spirituality. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix In this installment of Harry Potter we come to the terms of Harry’s past and how he prepares for the future. His dealings with his peers, society and education come into play as he prepares for his battle against the most evil wizard in the world. Lord Voldemort has returned and the Ministry of Magic is keeping it hushed. They send in a Ministry official to teach the children defense against the dark art from the text book only. Harry realizes that this will not help student in any way and secretly trains them to defend themselves with everything that he knows. The Pursuit of Happiness A true story of Chris Gardner who was a salesman that lost his life savings in an ill-advised investment. He found himself destitute and living on the streets with his young son. He manages to get an internship all the while keeping his homelessness a secret from his colleagues. This movie has elements of man vs man, man vs self, man vs environment and man vs society. |
Janelle
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