A Review of English Comp. 101

Last class, we were asked to give our opinions of class over the semester. The best part about class was that it was very laid back. I liked how we spent time going over how to write each of the three papers. The essays we read every week were straight forward for the most part and enjoyable. You were always willing to give up your own time to benefit the students in their writing techniques. I did not like how we had to write so many essays. I am most confident when writing about a topic that is opinionated. It is very easy to write about but sometimes the opinion may not be what the reader wants to hear. The papers topic must be about something that interests me. I am very good with grammatical corrections as well. This comes natural to me and benefits me when I write academic papers. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who wants to improve their writing skills. Writing is key to being successful in this world. You are a very knowledgeable teacher in your profession. I liked watching movies in class because the alternative teaching methods made me more interested. I think I achieved a lot of success this year in class and have improved my writing greatly. This class helped me to understand how writing is expected to be at a college level. The Hitler's mustache essay made me understand how the mustaches meaning itself has changed over the years. It was really interesting how the article was written in a fashion magazine. The final paper that I turned in was about a highly controversial topic. I plan to maybe major in English because it is such a broad field with many opportunities. The essay was of the Logos nature.

Class on November 11th

I thought it was very interesting how the man discussed the history of the camera. It is so strange to think about when we were never able to take pictures and record the times in our lives. It made me take a lot of the stuff I have for granted. It was surprising that a man who was using one of the first cameras got asthma. Now all people have to do is press a button and a picture is taken. Many people enjoy a "candid" picture which means it is taken when one is unaware. People look a lot different opposed to a "posing" picture. This essay is argumentative because it talks about the history of the camera. Digital cameras today depend on batteries. The author uses lots of logos to get us to be interested. The "unchanging spouse" suggests that there is certain stubbornness. When having a camera, the purpose of it is to capture pictures that will be remembered forever, such as the concentration camps. Another reason why people have cameras is to have factual evidence that something occurred. Today in class, we also identified what our topics were going to be for our argumentative essays that are due Monday after Thanksgiving and need to be three to five pages. I am going to start writing it before we go on break so that I will not need to cram. It needs to be based on pathos, ethos, or logos and needs to be directed at adults from our age to anyone who is older. Some of the topics we could write about were parking, the war in Afghanistan, and Healthcare. I think I am going to write about abortion because the topic has so many ways one could look at it. The essay needs to have two sources and will hopefully be an easier paper to write.

Class on November 9th

Today in class, we discussed the passage "Run Like Fire Once More". Many people complete this run every year because it is like a pilgrimage and it is very spiritual. If I was capable of running this much, I would definitely do so. In a way this race is unhealthy but people still do it. I could not imagine running around the same block from six in the morning until twelve at midnight. This relates to the metaphor that people climb Mount Everest because not everyone can afford to and they encounter problems on the way. I think that running this type of race is illogical. This type of extraneous activity is hard on one's body. Some people are not prepared and do more harm than good to them. People are not meant to put themselves through that much mechanical labor. Clearly this is accurate because people have died running during marathons or shortly after they have finished completing it. This race also causes emotional distress. Our bodies rely on energy to help us function in daily life and during this type of race; our body exerts more energy than it normally should. Everybody has limits and sometimes when one pushes their limits they do not know the outcome. I found it interesting that a woman has had enough endurance to run this marathon ten times. Not a whole lot of women would even think to do something that requires so much focus and practice. Winning the race does not matter because people accomplish their goal. There was a man who had many miles left to run the marathon but he had ingrown toenails. He had to stop the race and came to accept that his body but limits on himself despite his drive to finish the race. People pay to run in the race because they either love running, but more likely for the experience.

Class Today

Today in class, we went over "The Renegade". The author was born in Belgrade in 1938 and lived there for only fifteen years before moving to the United States permanently. The essay was overrall descriptive in every way. Although the essay was written in Europe, it was as though you got a perfect idea of the scenery. The author suggests that there is something wrong in all of the situations, which is why the title of the essay is "The Renegade". We split up into groups of three and picked out fifteen words or phrases that capture the language of what the author was trying to say. The dog represents Serbia and all of its faults. Their country tries to do whatever it takes to be the best. They want to have dominance which is positive and negative. The negativity is expressed thru violence. Nationalism and Patriotism are big concepts described in the essay. Patriotism has been shown in the United States burned down flags and people critiqued them when they were only trying to be patriotic. Nationalism has been shown not in the entire United States, but where people live such as the Confederates in the South and the Union in the North; this caused a lot of problems between the two parties. There is also innocence and mysteriousness. Hitler tried to conquer the world by raising up the Arian race. The idea of faults is very present in this essay. They are nothing but monsters because of what they have done even if they are a war hero because they still have to kill people. We covered context in words, and looked at main words and phrases that outline the essay and about the preview to the review paper that is due on November 2nd. I know that the topic of my review will cover the Greyhound Bus system.

RT's Restaurat

For my personal essay, I decided to write about something that means a lot to me. This object would definitely have to be "RT's" Restaurant. This place has marked miletstones in my life. I decided to take an excerpt from my essay to describe my passion for this place. Their unique menu features many Creole and Cajun specialties. This "Little Gem" has an extensive special list that changes on a weekly basis. Some of the mouth-watering dishes they offer are “Jack Daniel’s Shrimp”, “Spicy Pecan Crusted Haddock”, “Spicy Crawfish with Red Beans and Rice”, “Jambalaya Sautee”, and “Shrimp Diane”. I have only ordered one thing on the menu since the first time I have gone there, but I am sure anything one were to order would be exquisite. My meal of choice would definitely be a cup of sea crab soup for my appetizer. For my entrée, I would order a filet mignon topped with crab meat and béarnaise sauce (Oscar style) and a Shirley temple, which I’ve been ordering since I was five to drink. A Shirley temple is a Sprite or 7-up type of style soda mixed with a cherry sauce which is my favorite drink of all time. Then for desert, I would have chocolate mousse which has fine dark chocolate shreddings on top. This is the perfect meal for me. When I leave the restaurant, I am indulged in the best way possible. This restaurant is very different from any other dining environment I’ve ever been in. I often crave the food while here in Mississippi and cannot wait to go here with my family when I return for Thanksgiving break. This restaurant serves a purpose and that is to fulfill the desires of their community. I would say they do what they are paid to do but with a genuine smile on their faces. The majority of people who live in Virginia know “RT’s” and I can say 99% of those who have eaten there had nothing to complain about, except maybe the price they have to pay for a one-of-a-kind meal experience.

Response to "It's Always Sunny in Philly"

The actions that were taken by the owners of the bar were distasteful. There is always negativity in the media and it is understandable that they were angry with the review of the man but they did not have to take out their frustrations in such a way. They did not act maturely and made themselves appear foolish. The writer of the review was a bit biased because he seemed to be a snooty man who thought he was better than other people of a lower class. They got themselves into a mess because the lies they told got them into more lies. By kidnapping the man, they were in the wrong because the man did nothing to them personally. The owners still got plenty of business and a review doesn't mean everything to them because people have different ideas of what is "classy". The actual review itself did not exactly point out any positive points about the bar which was not what the criteria is for an actual review. The man should have printed a new review though so it would not present the bar to be as bad as he made it out to be. I saw the bar and thought things could have been a lot worse, maybe not the bathroom though. If they fixed things up a little then maybe the review would have been more positive. Though, I think the man would have made a review like that for any place that doesn't look like the "Hilton". Maybe if the bathroom was a bit cleaner, the review would have been better. The barowners should not have stooped down to the writer's level because he truly was a snooty man. This episode was a humorous way to display what a review was and made the class interested in what a a review was all about.

Response to Everybody's Nickname

This passage had little clarity. If there were more details, the work would have made more sense to me even though I am not a big sci-fi person. The essay was only directed at one specific audience. It is about the doubleness of man and one living a double life. People never live their lives as one. The essay did not get more interesting until the ending. The introduction was very clever, almost too much so. There was too much of his own personal excitement taking place and was not on the same page as the audience. If there was more clarity going on, the essay would have been more appealing and made more sense. There were some positive points made in the essay such as the doubleness of man, there was a clever title, and it was directed towards a specific audience, but not exactly towards college students. The freshness idea looks at two sides of a book. This essay shows a picture of the title of one of the books the author analyzes. This is important because it is used to depict the entire ideas of the essay. The picture itself makes it clear that no one would buy the book because it is obvious that this would not catch the attention of a typical college student. This essay "takes time to breathe" which makes the audience think he needs to relax because he wants to get his point across but he is very emotional when doing so. He is very frantic. This essay is one in which if I read it five times there would be at one interesting detail in it, but overall, it does not get my attention. He gets wrapped up in the words too much. This essay is like a review by the author analyzing doubleness, and realness. He also shows evidence by looking at two books in one.