SO I have a problem creating a thesis statement, because I usually just want to jump write into my ideas for a paper. I always get dinged for not have the proper thesis statement in the right place.
Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement
1.Determine what kind of paper you are writing:
An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.
An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.
An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.
If you are writing a text which does not fall under these three categories (ex. a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.
2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.
3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.
4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.
This information was found here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Idiot Nation
Wow, I didn't know Micheal Moore was such a good writer. I knew I liked him, but I didn't know he could present himself so well. He speaks of ideas that most won't find in the media or classroom, because they don't fit in the social norm. I enjoyed how he touched upon the idea of how we as a nation are becoming more illiterate and ultimately this will affect all of us. Moore used facts and statistics to show how teachers are paid a meager salary and are attacked by illiterate politicians and illiterate ''Fix'' news watchers. After reading this short story I am more reluctant to become a teacher.
The story really caught my attention when it came to the corporate sponsorship and mind control being forced to our children. I knew there was a reason I hated channel one growing up and I could never put my finger on it. I feel it is sad when a harful chemical such as aspartame cola is the only drink allowed in a classroom. Moore did a great job of explaining the statistics of how corporate America is in our childrens lives through creating the text books with slants and bias's they are forced to read.
Overall, I got a kick out of this story. Reading on Moore's life I found it interesting that he has always been a doer instead of a talker. I enjoyed how he wrapped his story up with tips on how to shake up the system and the fbi's risk factors for a school shooter I thought were hilarious.
The story really caught my attention when it came to the corporate sponsorship and mind control being forced to our children. I knew there was a reason I hated channel one growing up and I could never put my finger on it. I feel it is sad when a harful chemical such as aspartame cola is the only drink allowed in a classroom. Moore did a great job of explaining the statistics of how corporate America is in our childrens lives through creating the text books with slants and bias's they are forced to read.
Overall, I got a kick out of this story. Reading on Moore's life I found it interesting that he has always been a doer instead of a talker. I enjoyed how he wrapped his story up with tips on how to shake up the system and the fbi's risk factors for a school shooter I thought were hilarious.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
From Changing American Families
The Moynihan Report was significant because it came out at a time where people were still in the dark about racial inequality and a majority of people felt that black people were of an inferior nature. The report described that black, matriarchial families were to blame for higher levels of poverty and crimes, as oppossed to blaming the racism of society. The report was published during the period of the civil rights movement, which was a movement that stood for just the opposite of what the Moynihan report stated.
Aullette identifies the problems with the Moynihan report through the workings of Robert Staples and Carol Stack. Mr. Staples questioned the reports validity by asking, ''If black women are so dominant, and powerful, why do we not see great numbers of black woman in congress, and why do we continue to see black woman earning less than white men and woman, and black men?''(Aulette 71) Staples continued on by stating that black woman had to work to ensure the safety and well being of their children in an racist society. Furthermore, the work done by Carol Stack was of great importance to debunking the Moynihan Report's theory. She lived in a low income black neighborhood and found that the families were quite different than the typical nuclear family. She found the problems facing a poor black family were shared between friends of the community who helped one another which gave the appearance of being disfunctional. As for the idea of the home being dominated by the woman she found work a neccessity by a black mother to provide for her children.
Moynihans analysis of the problems in black lower class communities were influential because racism was still at the heart and soul of everyone in the country. People don't like to think of themselves as being part of any wrong doing and so for them the Moynihan Report was normal. People believed that if racial inequality had been accepted for thousands of years why would it be any different.
Aullette identifies the problems with the Moynihan report through the workings of Robert Staples and Carol Stack. Mr. Staples questioned the reports validity by asking, ''If black women are so dominant, and powerful, why do we not see great numbers of black woman in congress, and why do we continue to see black woman earning less than white men and woman, and black men?''(Aulette 71) Staples continued on by stating that black woman had to work to ensure the safety and well being of their children in an racist society. Furthermore, the work done by Carol Stack was of great importance to debunking the Moynihan Report's theory. She lived in a low income black neighborhood and found that the families were quite different than the typical nuclear family. She found the problems facing a poor black family were shared between friends of the community who helped one another which gave the appearance of being disfunctional. As for the idea of the home being dominated by the woman she found work a neccessity by a black mother to provide for her children.
Moynihans analysis of the problems in black lower class communities were influential because racism was still at the heart and soul of everyone in the country. People don't like to think of themselves as being part of any wrong doing and so for them the Moynihan Report was normal. People believed that if racial inequality had been accepted for thousands of years why would it be any different.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Apostrophes
I have a problem with apostrophes because I'm just not sure where they should go. I have always been marked wrong for some and I just have not been sure the reason. It seems like sometimes they should have one and sometimes they should not.
The rule is
1) to form possessives of nouns
2) to show the omission of letters
3) to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters.
The rule is
1) to form possessives of nouns
2) to show the omission of letters
3) to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters.
Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, including acronyms.
This information was found at the owl at Purdue. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_apost.html
water boarding
This political cartoon has to deal with the torture technique that is used by the CIA today in investigating terrorism. The man on the left has a stream of drool hanging from his mouth and his arms are tied behind his back. The author acknowledges that the person is being held against their will and is engaged in torture. The man who is torturing the other man is in the shadows so that his face cannot be seen. According to the Patriot Act a man can be held without being told what they are being held for, because they are alleged terrorists.
Water boarding is an insanely inhuman form of torture used against people to get them to admit to any crime. The process of water boarding is to shove a rag in a persons mouth and poor water down their throat causing them to believe they are drowning. The person under duress will admit to anything because they do not want to die. Some people have said that if a terrorist were going to blow up a city and someone were to only have a few minutes with the person this would justify the water boarding technique. Well I just want to add, that isn't going to happen!
warrantless wiretapping
This political cartoon is to show the comparisons between Hitlers idea of a pure race and how it relates to the war on terror. The government uses a drip drop effect to slowly get people used to the idea of having their basic freedoms taken away from them. The author does this by showing the two Jewish men stating, ''but if we haven't done anything wrong, why should we worry?'' After this the cartoon shows the Nazi flag. Millions of Jews were persecuted and killed for there beliefs and now the same thing is happening all over the world just under a different regime.
The author of this cartoon doesn't show the men are Jewish until the end of the cartoon. At first glance you would think the men are Americans in America because wiretapping didn't go on in the 1940's, but then the revelation is of Jewish men in Nazi Germany. Also with this cartoon the words wrong and worry are in bold to imply common rhetoric people use on one another to justify that everything is OK.
In the early stages of the Nazi government only the gypsies and mentally challenged were killed until there were no more of them to kill. The Nazi's went on to kill the Jews and attempt to take over the world and enslave mankind. America may only be attaking people in the middle east for now, but as history has shown there isn't an end to the fighting.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Comma Splice
So I have problems with comma splices. My main problem is remembering the fanboys and where to put my comma's and if they are appropriate.
According to The owl at purdue it states.
Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences
Run-ons, comma splices, and fused sentences are all names given to compound sentences that are not punctuated correctly. The best way to avoid such errors is to punctuate compound sentences correctly by using one or the other of these rules.
1. Join the two independent clauses with one of the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet), and use a comma before the connecting word.
_________________________, and _________________________.
He enjoys walking through the country, and he often goes backpacking on his vacations.
2. When you do not have a connecting word (or when you use a connecting word other than and, but, for, or nor, so, or yet between the two independent clauses) use a semicolon (;).
This information can be found at. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/
According to The owl at purdue it states.
Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences
Run-ons, comma splices, and fused sentences are all names given to compound sentences that are not punctuated correctly. The best way to avoid such errors is to punctuate compound sentences correctly by using one or the other of these rules.
1. Join the two independent clauses with one of the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet), and use a comma before the connecting word.
_________________________, and _________________________.
He enjoys walking through the country, and he often goes backpacking on his vacations.
2. When you do not have a connecting word (or when you use a connecting word other than and, but, for, or nor, so, or yet between the two independent clauses) use a semicolon (;).
This information can be found at. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/
Sunday, January 11, 2009
1950's Nostalgia
I really enjoyed reading both of the short stories of ''Looking for Work'' and ''What We Really Miss About the 1950's.''
The Use of T.V. as a guide to what a modern household should look like was very interesting in ''Looking for Work.'' The author mentioned the t. v. shows of ''Leave it to Beaver'' and a program of a Polynesian tribe eating turtle stew as a role model for what people believed at the time. Television was still new in the 1950's and the cultural norm was to be as what was seen on T.V. The Father was the bread winner and the Mother stayed at home with the children. The Author however has a subtle undertone of racism in his writing that was still obvious to him back in the 1950's. His entire idea of wanting to live the perfect T.V. life spawned from feelings of not being socially acceptable.
However, this story does not really address the social issues the author was facing at the time. He mentions feelings of not being accepted as the ideal family, but the author still paints a pretty portrait of his life working for money, going swimming, and eating peaches all the time. Furthermore white children today would love to sit at home with their brothers and sisters to a home cooked meal. The author did not really grab my attention as someone dealing with hard times in the 1950's
In the next book, ''What We Really Miss About the 1950's'' the author used research points to address peoples love for the 1950's as being the best decade of our century. She uses contrasting data that is for and against the idea that the 1950's were the decade to live in. On one hand she mentions the fact that the average middle class worker could buy a median size home with only 15-18 percent of their income while at the same time she mentions figures such as racial data showing the 1950's were not the most popular decade among blacks because of racial tensions. Continuing, the author also states that 3 out of 4 men coming home from ww2 did not enjoy having to shove their way back into a society where women had a greater role.
The use of data and the overall story in ''What We Really Miss About America'' does challenge cultural and social beliefs because it allows the reader to look at data and examine the ideas that even though life might have been portrayed as something to strive for, it was however difficult still for Women and Minorities.
In conclusion, both of these stories did give a pretty good idea of how life was is the 1950's and how we have only come so far since then. Both authors make a legitimate case for their findings and both used fascinating ways to express their ideas.
The Use of T.V. as a guide to what a modern household should look like was very interesting in ''Looking for Work.'' The author mentioned the t. v. shows of ''Leave it to Beaver'' and a program of a Polynesian tribe eating turtle stew as a role model for what people believed at the time. Television was still new in the 1950's and the cultural norm was to be as what was seen on T.V. The Father was the bread winner and the Mother stayed at home with the children. The Author however has a subtle undertone of racism in his writing that was still obvious to him back in the 1950's. His entire idea of wanting to live the perfect T.V. life spawned from feelings of not being socially acceptable.
However, this story does not really address the social issues the author was facing at the time. He mentions feelings of not being accepted as the ideal family, but the author still paints a pretty portrait of his life working for money, going swimming, and eating peaches all the time. Furthermore white children today would love to sit at home with their brothers and sisters to a home cooked meal. The author did not really grab my attention as someone dealing with hard times in the 1950's
In the next book, ''What We Really Miss About the 1950's'' the author used research points to address peoples love for the 1950's as being the best decade of our century. She uses contrasting data that is for and against the idea that the 1950's were the decade to live in. On one hand she mentions the fact that the average middle class worker could buy a median size home with only 15-18 percent of their income while at the same time she mentions figures such as racial data showing the 1950's were not the most popular decade among blacks because of racial tensions. Continuing, the author also states that 3 out of 4 men coming home from ww2 did not enjoy having to shove their way back into a society where women had a greater role.
The use of data and the overall story in ''What We Really Miss About America'' does challenge cultural and social beliefs because it allows the reader to look at data and examine the ideas that even though life might have been portrayed as something to strive for, it was however difficult still for Women and Minorities.
In conclusion, both of these stories did give a pretty good idea of how life was is the 1950's and how we have only come so far since then. Both authors make a legitimate case for their findings and both used fascinating ways to express their ideas.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Rereading America Intro
Well, I really enjoyed what the text had to say about critical thinking including the subjects of race and religion. People tend to live inside of a matrix that keeps there views stuck in a certain form all their lives. Being an American Citizen is nothing more than being a French citizen or African citizen, because we all have two legs, two arms, and brains that think on a higher capacity than most other animals. If people believe they are free, this includes a democracy, they will never escape their prison. Also, if people believe they are imprisoned, for example a monarchy, they will eventually over throw their ruler or be killed in the effort. To be an American is to think one is free.
This book I don't think will challenge my beliefs too much because unlike any other textbook I have read it seems to present an unbiased opinion on matters that affect our every day lives. People don't want to talk about the critical issues, or even worse, do anything about them. In the introduction of the book, ''Rereading America'' it talks of how we as a culture are ''numbed by a constant barrage of images on TV, in magazines and newspapers, in video games, and films.'' This is not to mention our churches, schools, or peers. The book really seems to have an edge on reading and visual images and how at these at the least are the beginnings of discussion.
In conclusion, Rereading America seems to tackle the real issues facing people across the world. The word America symbolizes more than just the United States. It is a description of the love people everywhere posses and the challenges that love is faced with.
This book I don't think will challenge my beliefs too much because unlike any other textbook I have read it seems to present an unbiased opinion on matters that affect our every day lives. People don't want to talk about the critical issues, or even worse, do anything about them. In the introduction of the book, ''Rereading America'' it talks of how we as a culture are ''numbed by a constant barrage of images on TV, in magazines and newspapers, in video games, and films.'' This is not to mention our churches, schools, or peers. The book really seems to have an edge on reading and visual images and how at these at the least are the beginnings of discussion.
In conclusion, Rereading America seems to tackle the real issues facing people across the world. The word America symbolizes more than just the United States. It is a description of the love people everywhere posses and the challenges that love is faced with.
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