Final Post, 10//04/09

Two common mistakes that I always find in my works are that I fail to proofread and I usually have a few run-on sentences. To tackle both of these problems is difficult because I must proofread first before I can find my run-on sentences.

A website that I found that doesn’t really give you any tricks or distinctions to proofreading, but kind of an informative instruction that explains why proofreading is effective and how to proofread effectively. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/proofread.html

The Next website that I found was the BEST because it had lots of examples about how to identify run-on sentences and then eliminate them. http://esl.fis.edu/learners/advice/syntax.htm. There were many other websites that I quickly glanced over, but none of them caught my eye to the point where I really wanted to read the article like this website did.

Interesting Cory

Post 8, 11/22/09

After watching http://www.lisnews.org/cory_doctorow_interview, an interview after one of Cory’s talks, I relished in his thoughts about copyright laws. At first I was baffled, but after a little piece placing and logical thought. I understood the ideas he was trying to convey and how influential and futuristic his reasoning was. I never really thought about libraries and digital files as complementary.

The idea that files shouldn’t be revoked after a subscription is broken with a company was brilliantly explained by comparing it to a journal subscription that’s cancelled and not taking back the previous journals. This hlepd me greatly in understanding what Doctorow was talking about.

I really do like him now, and am kind of upset that I missed his talks here on campus. His ideas are occasionally over my head, and his lingo is slightly confusing because some of the words and acronyms he uses in speech are not contextually easy to understand, but other than a bit of a language barrier. His ideas are brilliant for the most part; however, they are extremely socialistic which does not compliment the United States capitalistic society.

Quotes

Post #7 11/15/09

In Dan Vergano's article "Scientists Explain Why They Plagiarize," He states that " About 42% of the duplicates also contained botched data, calculations or images." This shocking statistic is something that I would never have even guessed that professionals in fields would just create data out of thin air. This is something that I would hope stops in the future. The supposed "reliable" data from "Professionals" needs to actually be reliable.

Another quote that I particularly liked was one of the first articles we read, "A Circuitous Path to Professional Dilettantism," by Emily Callaghan. She states " How do 18-year-olds know what they want to do with the rest of their lives? lives that will last far longer than ever? with retirements that will come way late in the game?" This quote is the opening sentence for Emily's article, and its a real attention grabber for a freshman in college. I really enjoyed her article, but her opening sentence was what really caught my eye and made me think about my own plans for the rest of my life.

Plagerism is evil

Post 5, 11/8/09

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt1jodvhy1s

This is a humorous video which briefly explains plagiarism, and how and when to correctly cite sources. The in-your-face filming really grabs your attention and entertainingly talks about plagiarism in a manner which anyone can understand. It is likely that this may have been done for a school assignment and is obviously not professionally done, but I liked and enjoyed it.

When the student begins to talk about reasons why people plagiarize, I thought back to the discussions when people were saying that they may have not understood the assignment, or that the deadline was too close and a lot of other work was do around the same time. These were similar thoughts that our class was expressing in the discussions.

Also, he gives “handy-hints” that can be used to overcome plagiarism. Such things as: researching and learning more about plagiarism, citing text when doing research, summarizing while doing research rather than writing verbatim. All of the tips are useful when working on an essay. In the “How Can We Help You” Thread, there were a lot of references suggesting to do the same thing while researching and taking notes.

Overall, I feel like this video was really similar to thoughts that our class was having as a whole. It isn’t a lengthy video, but it’s informative and funny.

Words in Text

1. Rhetoric- is the ability to use language effectively. This word has been mentioned in every class to describe how we are supposed to be writing and interpreting text. I haven’t really grasped this word completely until reading a dictionary definition to clarify its true meaning.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26284198-5013871,00.html

2. Freewriting- is a writing technique in which a person writes continuously for a set period of time without regard to spelling, grammar, or topic. It produces raw, often unusable material, but helps writers overcome blocks of apathy and self-criticism. I like this term because this is usually how I begin papers which I am having trouble starting. Writing down spastic thoughts of ideas I want to incorporate really helps me.

http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/writingexercises/ht/freewrite.htm

3. Scholarly- concerned with academic learning and research. This term struck me as interesting because it is all relative. There is no definitive way to determine if something is scholarly. I also chose this term because we, inexperienced writers/researchers, are to determine the scholarliness of an article.

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill20.html

4. Pathos- the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature. This is another word that I was having problems understanding, but after seeing this in a definition I understand this word so much more completely.

http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/webclass/web/project1/group4/

5. Summary- a comprehensive and usually brief abstract, recapitulation, or compendium of previously stated facts or statements. This is a term that is used many times throughout the Allyn and Bacon text. It is an interesting word because we summarize all of the time. Whether it be telling a friend what happened in a television episode, or what went on during your day.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E7D7143CF937A15756C0A96E9C8B63&scp=1&sq=summary&st=nyt

Cyber-school

Post 4, 10/25/09

Two articles that I found both agree that hybrid, and fully online courses are a new age way of learning. “High School Is Virtual, but the Caps and Gowns Are Real,” and “Today's Classrooms Are Going Hybrid: Six Ways You Can Benefit” are the two articles that I found. I think that they might help me develop the pro and con sides to my argument about whether or not cyber-school is more beneficial to students.

The first article, “High School is Virtual…” the argument is made from both sides saying that there are benefits such as success from students that don’t fit in as well as states that there isn’t any supervision to ensure that the work is getting done. Also, there are a lot of statistics of success rate and the growth of cyber schools over the years which would be good evidence to include in a factual argument.

The second article, “Today’s Classrooms…” It only talks about all of the benefits of the new online and hybrid classes. It lists six points from exposure to technology to flexibility.

These articles at some points agree entirely and at others couldn’t be more different. Exploiting these discrepancies will be key in writing a full exploratory research paper.

-http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/14/education/14GRAD.html?scp=6&sq=cyber%20school&st=cse

- http://www.distance-education.org/Articles/Today-s-Classrooms-Are-Going-Hybrid--Six-Ways-You-Can-Benefit-31.html

Favorite words

Post 3, 10/18/09

My top ten favorite words in no particular order

1. Hullabaloo-is a really fun word to say. I just rolls off the tongue when saying it.
2. Fabulist-This word makes me chuckle, not only for the fact that I rarely hear it, but also because it sounds so similar to fabulous, which fabulists most certainly are.
3. Pudding- it’s just a weird word. Pudding. It’s a word that sounds like it shouldn't relate to what it actually is. And everyone loves pudding.
4. Balderdash- This word is great to use in a conversation! This new novel is just balderdash.
5. Jejune-Well the word is an adjective meaning ‘lacking value or maturity’, but I think it really means “the m-month a-after m-May”.
6. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian-It’s not only a great word to describe a really big word but it’s also an auto logical word, a word that has the properties which it describes!
7. Fluffy- is one of those words that just makes you think of a big woolly sheep or a favorite stuffed animal
8. Waffle- I love plaid pancakes
9. Narcissist – is a word that a snake would say with the sssssss sound
10. Specificity- is a word that makes me feel like I am having a tongue twister.

Where to Begin?

Post 2, 10/10/09 9:00 PM

I have written multiple papers in my lifetime as a student, and there are a few reoccurring problems that I encounter when doing rough drafts. The one that I generally encounter first is starting my paper. I may have the time to start the paper, but I would rather procrastinate my paper until the last minute. Also, It is difficult for me to decide how I should open my paper. Ways that I overcome this is brainstorming. As soon as I come up with some ideas for what I want to say, I feel accomplished and want to keep working on my paper. Also if I brainstorm early enough, I’ll try to begin writing multiple drafts of my paper.

Another problem I commonly run into is not proofreading my drafts. I usually only read for content and my mind runs over the misspelled words and fills in the words that I thought that I typed there, but may not have included. The best way I have found to get around this is giving the paper to my friend and having him/her read through the paper for grammatical errors.

- John Luciani

Quotes That Catch Your Attention

Post 1, 10/3/09 5:30 PM

There were only a few quotes that really struck me. One that I found to be most astonishing was from “Masks” when the main character says “I, then, realized her cheerleader outfit, her golden locks, her smile were all a mask.” This quote in simplest terms basically says not everything is what it seems. The cheerleader was insecure on the inside, and didn’t really have the strength and confidence that the main character did. This quote could relate to my project because in communal living, you get to see people for who they really are. If someone appears to have a great life, the reality of the situation could be that they are really unstable and insecure.

Another quote I liked was from “A Circuitous Path to Professional Dilettantism” which stated “how do 18-year-olds know what they want to do with the rest of their lives? Lives that will last far longer than ever? With retirements that will come way late in the game.” This really caught my attention as I began to read the article. The powerful statement intrigued me to continue reading to find out why the author thinks that students aren’t definitive enough to pick out a career. This powerful, attention getting statement is something that I would like to use in my project to really play the reader into being excited about reading about my topic.

-John Luciani

Test post

This is just a test for starting my blog