Checklist for Essay 1 due your first class of March at the beginning of class (if you're late, it's late and you don't get a redo).
UNTIL THEN, print out bad essay + shoes (sample essays) and emotionally valuable (1st essay). We'll do them in class this week.
1. Dresser Drawer Method (10 points)
2. Extended Outline (10 points)
3. 2-3 typed pages of notes (3-4 handwritten - when in doubt, print out an extra draft) (15 points)
4. TYPED rough draft (15 points).
5. ALSO if you turned in any rough drafts to be corrected, turn those in as well. If I can't see a difference between notes, rough draft, and or final paper, you won't get full credit for pre-writing.
The paper is worth 200 points
20 for length
20 for format
20 for effort
60 for sentence sense
40 for grammar
40 for transition
Next
1. Underline your thesis
2. Label each paragraph as to what its main point is (write next to it)
Then look for the following errors:
1. Is your paper 12 point type
2. Is it written in Times New Roman
3. Is the whole paper double spaced
4. Did you make sure that there are no gulleys
5. Is the paper AT LEAST 2.5 pages long
6. Did you make sure that you didn’t change the margins
7. Is there any bold type
8. Is there any italic type
9. Is there use of the words YOU, WE, OUR, US, and anything else that implies you are talking conversationally to the reader (I is ok)
10. Is there any profanity, slang, or undefined abbreviations
By turning in this essay, you UNDERSTAND THAT THIS PAPER IS GOING TO COME BACK TO YOU FILLED WITH A MYRIAD OF SUGGESTIONS THAT YOU MUST CORRECT (up to 5 statements, 12 errors marked off). YOU REALIZE THAT YOU ARE IN THIS CLASS TO LEARN, AND THE ONLY WAY THAT YOU CAN LEARN IS TO HAVE YOUR MISTAKES POINTED OUT TO YOU. YOU ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT IF YOU DON’T REDO THIS PAPER, IT WILL GET THE ORIGINAL GRADE ON IT. PAPERS THAT ARE LATE OR ARE MARKED AS NOT USING SPELL AND GRAMMAR CHECK WILL NOT GET A REDO. MR. GLASS WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY EXCUSES FOR IT BEING LATE. IF YOU DO NOT TURN IT IN ON TIME, YOU HAVE 1 EXTRA WEEK TO TURN IT IN PROVIDED THAT YOU MEET WITH ME AND WRITE A JOURNAL FOR ME ON WHAT YOU DID WRONG AND WHAT YOU CAN DO BETTER. THIS JOURNAL IS ALL ABOUT YOU - NOT ME. ALL PAPERS THAT AREN'T TURNED IN BY THE BEGINNING OF CLASS THE FIRST DAY OF THE 2ND WEEK OF MARCH WILL RECEIVE A ZERO. THEY WILL NOT BE LOOKED AT. YOU WILL FAIL THE CLASS.
INTRO
FORECAST / REASON 1
FORECAST / REASON 2
FORECAST / REASON 3
FORECAST / REASON 4
FORECAST / REASON 5
FORECAST / REASON 6
FORECAST / REASON 7
FORECAST / REASON 8
CONCLUSION
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
FIRST PARAGRAPHS - not due yet - we just talked about them in class, so...
FOR THOSE THAT NEED TO KNOW HOW TO WRITE A FIRST PARAGRAPH FOR THIS CLASS, PLEASE SEE ALL OF THE EXAMPLES BELOW.
NOTE: 1) THERE ARE NO FACTS. 2) THERE IS NO USE OF WE, YOU OUR, US, AND I. 3) THESE FEATURE 2-3 VAGUE GENERALIZATIONS INTO A THESIS.
Over time, people have pondered as to what exactly is the meaning of life. What makes this question tougher is the contemplation of whether life has meaning after the person has become physically unable to "truly be alive." With that said, when a person contemplates being euthanized, there are a host of things to consider before acting on this extreme answer to a complex situation.
Over the years, time has changed the cost and performance of automobiles. Where once a person could buy and run a car affordably, things have changed, and now, a person can be bled dry with the cost of not only parts, but most pointedly, with fuel. Because of this, the automobile and technological industries have combined efforts to create alternative fuels for cars.
Throughout the past century and a half, people have been arguing about the concept of evolution vs. creationism. On one side, people believe in Creation’s beauty and purpose in life to provide beauty, functionality, and purpose. However, on the other side, mankind’s development has been argued to have happened after a long period of adaptation and discovery. With this, it is clear to see that there are 2 sides to the argument that must be understood before one formulates an opinion on the argument of evolution and creationism.
Since its creation in 1789, the Second Amendment has caused a great deal of controversy as to what it does and doesn’t say. This argument is especially true in a modern society where gun ownership is not thought of with the same regard as it was even 50 years ago. That being said, the NRA and other gun lobbyist groups have done a great deal to help protect and educate on gun rights in America.
Throughout the world, there are many different ways to show the news. As a result of this, people react in different ways to what they have viewed. Some of these ways that news is shown can manipulate people into being propagandized into believing different things. As a result of this, the news media can be very dangerous.
From their inception in 1947, cell phones have offered a new and useful form of communication. As a result, they have become very popular. While they are generally viewed as a good thing, some people tend to think that they can cause cancer. Other people tend to view this as untrue. Thus, a debate has cropped up with a variety of statistics that prove both sides of the debates.
Off shoring is a big issue in the United States today. As profits can escalate much higher due to cheap labor and decreased taxes, this will continue to happen. As a result, it becomes very important to understand this negative trend in society and what has caused it to flourish in the world economy.
Technology offers the best and worst of many aspects of future society. One place where this is clear is with the concept of stem cell research. On one hand, diseases might be cured due to these studies. On the other hand, one wonders if it is ethical or humane to harvest cells in this way. Because of this, stem cell research is an intense debate into the future of medicine.
Abraham Lincoln was an intelligent man who made important decisions during his presidency. While he made a lot of decisions, none were more important than his decisions regarding the Civil War. In this, Lincoln used his management skills to overcome the challenges associated with keeping the Union together.
While many people are willing to openly discuss sex or discuss that they don’t want to talk about sex with the youth of America, it is important to have a stance on this issue and to be vocal about it. Most people think that this is solely talking about the “birds and the bees,” but there is another option. That option is abstinence, and it represents an alternative in the complexity of the sexual situations with many of this country’s young people.
For over the past decade, society has been barraged with the concept of global warming. However, many people have been so confused by the technical and argumentative points of this concept that they aren’t sure of the dangers of it. Nevertheless, there are certain groups and individuals that are working hard to prevent what could be a very real nightmare from happening. With these ideas and concepts, they are eliminating many of the dangers of global warming from ever affecting the Earth.
In society, people are often faced with grave danger from potentially dangerous actions and actual criminal situations. As a result, police officers are called into the conflict to make a snap judgment on how they should neutralize the threats at hand. In some cases, this can be with talk or minimal aggression, but in other cases, deadly force needs to be used. While this decision happens in a moment’s time, the police officer is actually trained over his / her career to be ready to make the correct decision of what to do when these incidents arise.
Baseball has always been America’s national pastime, but for 60 years, African Americans were not allowed to play the game. Fortunately, this changed when one man stepped to the plate in 1947. That man, Jackie Robinson, not only revolutionized the sport of baseball, but he also changed the face of American sports.
Many artists in the recording industry today are influenced by one man, Michael Joseph Jackson. From the music that he made to the innovating dance moves and onto the charitable contributions that he gave, he was on top of the music game for 25 years. As a result, Michael Jackson’s career defines and creates the MTV generation of music.
Throughout much of society, there is an extreme emotional feeling that arises when people think about capital punishment. This seems to reflect the myriad of influences that people have. As a result, the death penalty is a complex issue that will continue to be debated for its legality and controversial aspects.
In society today, many children are adversely affected by their parents’ actions, and thus, they end up in foster care. However, while these children are there, they often are not able to receive the help that they need to truly thrive into adulthood. As a result, many social organizations and leaders are trying to improve the foster care situation.
Throughout the history of tennis, there have been many revolutionary accomplishments, but until the past decade, most of these changes kept tennis within the same stereotype that it has always existed: an affluent suburban game of privilege. Nevertheless, with the rise of 2 sisters from the inner city of Compton, California, this has changed. As a result, Venus and Serena Williams are the driving force behind making tennis a game for all players from all locations.
On an average day, people are barraged with a variety of ads featuring scantily clad models that are trying to sell them goods that have no relation to the products at hand. As a result, people form a belief that thin and beautiful is in. Nevertheless, for many young girls and women that cannot meet these standards, there is a downside to this media-induced belief. This downside, the onset of eating disorders, is a concept that threatens to destroy the mental health of many impressionable females.
Over the past several decades, people have contemplated whether the death penalty is just, and if it is acceptable, who it is just for. In that time, many people have sought for the execution of sexual offenders before they can reoffend and continue to prey on children. As a result, the case for the death penalty for sexual offenders is a complex and emotional issue that the states must weigh in on.
Throughout the history of its existence, Mercedes has represented the top of the line car. Each year, the company is constantly challenged to come up with something greater than it has previously achieved. As a result, this year, Mercedes seems to have outdone itself with the C63 AMG, which takes its company to a new level of success.
There are many sports stars that don’t see the light after their early crimes and mistakes. As a result, instead of serving as role models, they are actually offering a “how not to live one’s life” lesson. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the mix of sports and personal life issues that Adam “Pacman” Jones has exhibited in the past few years.
Over the years, the subject of homosexuality has gone from one of taboo to inclusion. This has happened because of homosexuality’s prominence within society as a whole. To this, these new found attitudes are a result of the media and the social sciences looking at complex issues in a specific way.
Over the past several decades, people have contemplated whether the death penalty is just, and if it is acceptable, who it is just for. However, while many people are arguing in favor of it as an extension of “an eye for an eye,” other people are seeing it as an unjust and evil menace that must be abolished. As a result, the case for the death penalty is a moral issue that the states must weigh in on.
Throughout history, there have been horrific examples of patient abuse in the medical system of the United States. As a result of these actual events, stories are passed on to new generations, and eventually, unexplained and paranormal situations arise. Nowhere is this more pronounced and exemplified than in the eerie effects that have transformed the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky into a real life haunted house.
Throughout society, art comes in many forms and different styles. Unfortunately, many people do not realize how simple and fun art can be since they seem to believe that art has to be professional or similar to the classical designs of “great” artists past. Nevertheless, the Do It Yourself Movement has sprung up to speak with its own voice.
In the lives of many people, comedy is an essential force that makes people feel better. However, for some comedians, they take this humor and apply it to social situations to better educate people on issues that are occurring in society today. Perhaps more so than any other comedian of his time, George Carlin represents the mixing of humor and politics in a way that many people can find equally vulgar and informative.
NOTE: 1) THERE ARE NO FACTS. 2) THERE IS NO USE OF WE, YOU OUR, US, AND I. 3) THESE FEATURE 2-3 VAGUE GENERALIZATIONS INTO A THESIS.
Over time, people have pondered as to what exactly is the meaning of life. What makes this question tougher is the contemplation of whether life has meaning after the person has become physically unable to "truly be alive." With that said, when a person contemplates being euthanized, there are a host of things to consider before acting on this extreme answer to a complex situation.
Over the years, time has changed the cost and performance of automobiles. Where once a person could buy and run a car affordably, things have changed, and now, a person can be bled dry with the cost of not only parts, but most pointedly, with fuel. Because of this, the automobile and technological industries have combined efforts to create alternative fuels for cars.
Throughout the past century and a half, people have been arguing about the concept of evolution vs. creationism. On one side, people believe in Creation’s beauty and purpose in life to provide beauty, functionality, and purpose. However, on the other side, mankind’s development has been argued to have happened after a long period of adaptation and discovery. With this, it is clear to see that there are 2 sides to the argument that must be understood before one formulates an opinion on the argument of evolution and creationism.
Since its creation in 1789, the Second Amendment has caused a great deal of controversy as to what it does and doesn’t say. This argument is especially true in a modern society where gun ownership is not thought of with the same regard as it was even 50 years ago. That being said, the NRA and other gun lobbyist groups have done a great deal to help protect and educate on gun rights in America.
Throughout the world, there are many different ways to show the news. As a result of this, people react in different ways to what they have viewed. Some of these ways that news is shown can manipulate people into being propagandized into believing different things. As a result of this, the news media can be very dangerous.
From their inception in 1947, cell phones have offered a new and useful form of communication. As a result, they have become very popular. While they are generally viewed as a good thing, some people tend to think that they can cause cancer. Other people tend to view this as untrue. Thus, a debate has cropped up with a variety of statistics that prove both sides of the debates.
Off shoring is a big issue in the United States today. As profits can escalate much higher due to cheap labor and decreased taxes, this will continue to happen. As a result, it becomes very important to understand this negative trend in society and what has caused it to flourish in the world economy.
Technology offers the best and worst of many aspects of future society. One place where this is clear is with the concept of stem cell research. On one hand, diseases might be cured due to these studies. On the other hand, one wonders if it is ethical or humane to harvest cells in this way. Because of this, stem cell research is an intense debate into the future of medicine.
Abraham Lincoln was an intelligent man who made important decisions during his presidency. While he made a lot of decisions, none were more important than his decisions regarding the Civil War. In this, Lincoln used his management skills to overcome the challenges associated with keeping the Union together.
While many people are willing to openly discuss sex or discuss that they don’t want to talk about sex with the youth of America, it is important to have a stance on this issue and to be vocal about it. Most people think that this is solely talking about the “birds and the bees,” but there is another option. That option is abstinence, and it represents an alternative in the complexity of the sexual situations with many of this country’s young people.
For over the past decade, society has been barraged with the concept of global warming. However, many people have been so confused by the technical and argumentative points of this concept that they aren’t sure of the dangers of it. Nevertheless, there are certain groups and individuals that are working hard to prevent what could be a very real nightmare from happening. With these ideas and concepts, they are eliminating many of the dangers of global warming from ever affecting the Earth.
In society, people are often faced with grave danger from potentially dangerous actions and actual criminal situations. As a result, police officers are called into the conflict to make a snap judgment on how they should neutralize the threats at hand. In some cases, this can be with talk or minimal aggression, but in other cases, deadly force needs to be used. While this decision happens in a moment’s time, the police officer is actually trained over his / her career to be ready to make the correct decision of what to do when these incidents arise.
Baseball has always been America’s national pastime, but for 60 years, African Americans were not allowed to play the game. Fortunately, this changed when one man stepped to the plate in 1947. That man, Jackie Robinson, not only revolutionized the sport of baseball, but he also changed the face of American sports.
Many artists in the recording industry today are influenced by one man, Michael Joseph Jackson. From the music that he made to the innovating dance moves and onto the charitable contributions that he gave, he was on top of the music game for 25 years. As a result, Michael Jackson’s career defines and creates the MTV generation of music.
Throughout much of society, there is an extreme emotional feeling that arises when people think about capital punishment. This seems to reflect the myriad of influences that people have. As a result, the death penalty is a complex issue that will continue to be debated for its legality and controversial aspects.
In society today, many children are adversely affected by their parents’ actions, and thus, they end up in foster care. However, while these children are there, they often are not able to receive the help that they need to truly thrive into adulthood. As a result, many social organizations and leaders are trying to improve the foster care situation.
Throughout the history of tennis, there have been many revolutionary accomplishments, but until the past decade, most of these changes kept tennis within the same stereotype that it has always existed: an affluent suburban game of privilege. Nevertheless, with the rise of 2 sisters from the inner city of Compton, California, this has changed. As a result, Venus and Serena Williams are the driving force behind making tennis a game for all players from all locations.
On an average day, people are barraged with a variety of ads featuring scantily clad models that are trying to sell them goods that have no relation to the products at hand. As a result, people form a belief that thin and beautiful is in. Nevertheless, for many young girls and women that cannot meet these standards, there is a downside to this media-induced belief. This downside, the onset of eating disorders, is a concept that threatens to destroy the mental health of many impressionable females.
Over the past several decades, people have contemplated whether the death penalty is just, and if it is acceptable, who it is just for. In that time, many people have sought for the execution of sexual offenders before they can reoffend and continue to prey on children. As a result, the case for the death penalty for sexual offenders is a complex and emotional issue that the states must weigh in on.
Throughout the history of its existence, Mercedes has represented the top of the line car. Each year, the company is constantly challenged to come up with something greater than it has previously achieved. As a result, this year, Mercedes seems to have outdone itself with the C63 AMG, which takes its company to a new level of success.
There are many sports stars that don’t see the light after their early crimes and mistakes. As a result, instead of serving as role models, they are actually offering a “how not to live one’s life” lesson. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the mix of sports and personal life issues that Adam “Pacman” Jones has exhibited in the past few years.
Over the years, the subject of homosexuality has gone from one of taboo to inclusion. This has happened because of homosexuality’s prominence within society as a whole. To this, these new found attitudes are a result of the media and the social sciences looking at complex issues in a specific way.
Over the past several decades, people have contemplated whether the death penalty is just, and if it is acceptable, who it is just for. However, while many people are arguing in favor of it as an extension of “an eye for an eye,” other people are seeing it as an unjust and evil menace that must be abolished. As a result, the case for the death penalty is a moral issue that the states must weigh in on.
Throughout history, there have been horrific examples of patient abuse in the medical system of the United States. As a result of these actual events, stories are passed on to new generations, and eventually, unexplained and paranormal situations arise. Nowhere is this more pronounced and exemplified than in the eerie effects that have transformed the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky into a real life haunted house.
Throughout society, art comes in many forms and different styles. Unfortunately, many people do not realize how simple and fun art can be since they seem to believe that art has to be professional or similar to the classical designs of “great” artists past. Nevertheless, the Do It Yourself Movement has sprung up to speak with its own voice.
In the lives of many people, comedy is an essential force that makes people feel better. However, for some comedians, they take this humor and apply it to social situations to better educate people on issues that are occurring in society today. Perhaps more so than any other comedian of his time, George Carlin represents the mixing of humor and politics in a way that many people can find equally vulgar and informative.
Monday, February 1, 2010
INTO THE WILD FURTHER QUESTIONS - optional - 1 page each if you do them!
For those contemplating Into the Wild, all of these are optional.
Everyone should think about this for Wednesday or Thursday:
“Men are not free when they are doing just what they like. The moment you can do just what you like, there is nothing you care about doing. Men are only free when they are doing what their deepest self likes.” Excerpted from STUDIES IN CLASSIC AMERICAN LITERATURE by D.H. LAWRENCE
Potential journals for writers (based on Into the Wild video from in class)
1. How do you get attached to your subject?
2. How do you get close to the character that you are playing?
3. How do you become dis-attached from the reality of the character that has now been turned to “art” by someone else and allow him / her to be portrayed in a movie?
4. How do you channel ideas into a powerful personal connection?
5. Can you write about something without experiencing that something?
6. Must a writer write the absolute truth of a real incident or can he / she take artistic liberty to create something slightly different?
7. What duty do real “characters” have to the creative process?
8. Where do we find inspiration and guidance to write?
9. How can an artist / musician feed off of an incident to create art?
10. Are personal connections important to writing about real “characters?”
11. When a book is turned into a movie, what is gained and what is lost?
12. What traits does one need to truly be able to research a topic fairly and objectively?
ALSO - Would you take a $200,000 a year job if it meant being on call 24/7 (to include vacation)? What's more important - family moments or financially supporting a family in unlimited comfort?
Everyone should think about this for Wednesday or Thursday:
“Men are not free when they are doing just what they like. The moment you can do just what you like, there is nothing you care about doing. Men are only free when they are doing what their deepest self likes.” Excerpted from STUDIES IN CLASSIC AMERICAN LITERATURE by D.H. LAWRENCE
Potential journals for writers (based on Into the Wild video from in class)
1. How do you get attached to your subject?
2. How do you get close to the character that you are playing?
3. How do you become dis-attached from the reality of the character that has now been turned to “art” by someone else and allow him / her to be portrayed in a movie?
4. How do you channel ideas into a powerful personal connection?
5. Can you write about something without experiencing that something?
6. Must a writer write the absolute truth of a real incident or can he / she take artistic liberty to create something slightly different?
7. What duty do real “characters” have to the creative process?
8. Where do we find inspiration and guidance to write?
9. How can an artist / musician feed off of an incident to create art?
10. Are personal connections important to writing about real “characters?”
11. When a book is turned into a movie, what is gained and what is lost?
12. What traits does one need to truly be able to research a topic fairly and objectively?
ALSO - Would you take a $200,000 a year job if it meant being on call 24/7 (to include vacation)? What's more important - family moments or financially supporting a family in unlimited comfort?
Friday, January 29, 2010
JD Salinger RIP
JD Salinger, the author of the Catcher in the Rye, has died in his early 90s.I came to the book late in life (30), and found it to be too teenage for my tastes, but those who loved him read his book religiously (I can remember a gal who had read it over 30 times).
No matter what you might have thought of the book, modern literature lost a giant yesterday.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
RIP Howard Zinn
Depending on your political take, Howard Zinn was either an excellent historian covering issues of how the people rose up to confront civil rights issues and other personal struggles in society or a controversial figure advocating radical change.Either way, the author of The People's History of the United States has died at 87.
As he wrote in his autobiography, “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train” (1994), “From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than ‘objectivity’; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble.”
Monday, January 25, 2010
You have to do 10 pages of journals - these are the 4 mandatory topics. The rest of the acceptable topics and rules are online.
The topics are here, but you can do others that are listed on Angel.
If you deviate from the rules, I will not accept the journal.
Be sure to read the rules.
JOURNAL 1: This is a journal that everyone must do. I want to know what your greatest positive accomplishments in life are and how these will help you to be the person who completes the college goals that you have outlined for yourself. I also want to know how this created / embodies the person that you are. I DO NOT WANT SORDID LIFE TALES IN THIS – EVEN IF YOU OVERCAME THEM. I AM A TEACHER, NOT A THERAPIST. IF YOU CAN’T THINK OF SOMETHING POSITIVE, YOU MUST WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN TO COMPLETE THIS JOURNAL. NO EXCEPTIONS. Besides, everyone has positive things that they do, think, or have come to value in life. You just need to think harder, and I’m sure you can find some. Really.
JOURNAL 2: This is a journal that everyone must do. If you want, you can read my philosophy of teaching and tell me how you are going to succeed at college by writing to me what your learning philosophy is. Be sure to include positive educational role models and their achievements in education and life learning. Be sure as well to tell me what you want to do with your life!
JOURNAL 3: You must do this journal, also. What have you learned about your ability to write well? What can you do to become a better writer? This journal should be done last since that’s when you’ve truly learned all you can from this class.
JOURNAL 4: This is a journal that everyone must do. Comment on what you must do in order to live up to Steven Covey’s words that are listed on the journal sheet online.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
It's here... It's here!!!
Final Exam for COM121
1. (for all but the students that passed the midterm) Read the David Sedaris article. Write a 5 paragraph essay about why he could never be a good teacher OR how he has to change to be a good teacher.
2. (for all students that didn't A OUT of class) Choose one of the following topics to write a 7-paragraph persuasive essay on.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/12/major-nidal-hassan-fort-hood-muslim-opinions-columnists-melik-kaylan.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903618.html?hpid=topnews
1. Should Nidal Hassan get the death penalty or life in prison for his murder spree at Fort Hood?
2. Should Nidal Hassan be charged with crimes of terrorism or extreme pre-meditated murder?
3. Should Nidal Hassan have had 13 or 14 charges of murder placed against him?
4. Should American intelligence agencies continue to follow Bush-era intelligence gathering procedures AND / OR profile against potential violent Islamic jihadists in an effort to keep terrorism from happening?
5. Support or attack the right to freedom of speech when it comes to stopping people from promoting dangerous / terroristic ideas.
6. One of the biggest issues concerning Hassan was his fear that Muslims would see the situations in Afghanistan and Iraq as a war on Muslims. Support or defend the idea that Americans (especially Americans in the military) should place the needs of their nation (in our case, America – despite wherever they may have been originally from) above those of anything else that they are or do.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579705,00.html?test=latestnews
7. Is H1N1 a serious pandemic or an overhyped media creation?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579747,00.html?test=latestnews
8. 4 Washington police officers were murdered in cold blood by a lifetime felon who had been on parole (Mike Huckabee made this happen) after multiple felonies (due to the felon’s youthful nature during his offenses). In light of this, should America toughen criminal laws against violent youth offenders who all too often go on to become career criminals?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8402138.stm
9. What should the U.S. do regarding the war situation in Afghanistan?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2454034/tiger_woods_scandal_grabs_more_attention.html
10. Is the situation involving Climate-gate a sign that the media and political minded scientists are willing to do anything to suppress the falseness of global warming, OR is it conservatives and businesses looking to do whatever they can to keep from getting blamed for the seriousness of global warming?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/tiger_barrack_and_the_law_of_t.html
11. Regarding Tiger Woods’ wife Elin, attack or defend the idea that she should stand by her man (for love and / or for money)?
12. Regarding Tiger Woods himself, he was a sports star that transcended athletics, humanity, and race. In the end, he keeps getting charged with more and more women who he slept with and paid off to keep quiet while all the while being marketed as a wholesome hero for all time. Persuade America on how they should see their entertainers. You can also do this with Michael Jackson or any other entertainer.
13. Regarding the above, persuade Tiger to be a better MAN than he is.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1259010974910&pagename=JPArticle/ShowFull
14. Many people have accused Obama of doing nothing since he has been in office. Persuade these people that he has succeeded in doing many things for America or that this opinion is partisan politics or agree with it.
http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianactivism/p/BarackObama.htm
15. Many people have accused Obama of being wishy washy regarding his beliefs on things (in this case, gay marriage). Persuade these people that he is consistent on these things or that this opinion is partisan politics or agree with it.
http://www.thebailoutgame.us/
16. Persuade the government not to give more bailouts, to redistribute the money that they do have better, or to give another bailout of any sector of the United States based on how well or poorly you can assume that they have already done.
http://www.darfurisdying.com/
17. Persuade the government to get involved in helping to end the genocide in Darfur.
http://newsone.com/nation/reid-compares-opposing-health-care-reform-to-opposing-emancipation-civil-rights/
18. Attack or defend Harry Reid for equating those who aren’t fighting for GOVERNMENT LED health care reform as being the equals of those who didn’t fight to end slavery fast enough.
19. Persuade the American public to accept GOVERNMENT LED health care reform or for the government to keep their hands off of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcE2ufqtzyk
20. Based on the Tom Friedman video we watched in class, persuade your fellow college students that by not taking their education seriously, they are condemning America to be a nation of mediocrity that will quickly be replaced by people from other countries who will do their jobs cheaper and better. This is the only way you may argue this position.
1. (for all but the students that passed the midterm) Read the David Sedaris article. Write a 5 paragraph essay about why he could never be a good teacher OR how he has to change to be a good teacher.
2. (for all students that didn't A OUT of class) Choose one of the following topics to write a 7-paragraph persuasive essay on.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/12/major-nidal-hassan-fort-hood-muslim-opinions-columnists-melik-kaylan.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110903618.html?hpid=topnews
1. Should Nidal Hassan get the death penalty or life in prison for his murder spree at Fort Hood?
2. Should Nidal Hassan be charged with crimes of terrorism or extreme pre-meditated murder?
3. Should Nidal Hassan have had 13 or 14 charges of murder placed against him?
4. Should American intelligence agencies continue to follow Bush-era intelligence gathering procedures AND / OR profile against potential violent Islamic jihadists in an effort to keep terrorism from happening?
5. Support or attack the right to freedom of speech when it comes to stopping people from promoting dangerous / terroristic ideas.
6. One of the biggest issues concerning Hassan was his fear that Muslims would see the situations in Afghanistan and Iraq as a war on Muslims. Support or defend the idea that Americans (especially Americans in the military) should place the needs of their nation (in our case, America – despite wherever they may have been originally from) above those of anything else that they are or do.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579705,00.html?test=latestnews
7. Is H1N1 a serious pandemic or an overhyped media creation?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579747,00.html?test=latestnews
8. 4 Washington police officers were murdered in cold blood by a lifetime felon who had been on parole (Mike Huckabee made this happen) after multiple felonies (due to the felon’s youthful nature during his offenses). In light of this, should America toughen criminal laws against violent youth offenders who all too often go on to become career criminals?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8402138.stm
9. What should the U.S. do regarding the war situation in Afghanistan?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2454034/tiger_woods_scandal_grabs_more_attention.html
10. Is the situation involving Climate-gate a sign that the media and political minded scientists are willing to do anything to suppress the falseness of global warming, OR is it conservatives and businesses looking to do whatever they can to keep from getting blamed for the seriousness of global warming?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/tiger_barrack_and_the_law_of_t.html
11. Regarding Tiger Woods’ wife Elin, attack or defend the idea that she should stand by her man (for love and / or for money)?
12. Regarding Tiger Woods himself, he was a sports star that transcended athletics, humanity, and race. In the end, he keeps getting charged with more and more women who he slept with and paid off to keep quiet while all the while being marketed as a wholesome hero for all time. Persuade America on how they should see their entertainers. You can also do this with Michael Jackson or any other entertainer.
13. Regarding the above, persuade Tiger to be a better MAN than he is.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1259010974910&pagename=JPArticle/ShowFull
14. Many people have accused Obama of doing nothing since he has been in office. Persuade these people that he has succeeded in doing many things for America or that this opinion is partisan politics or agree with it.
http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianactivism/p/BarackObama.htm
15. Many people have accused Obama of being wishy washy regarding his beliefs on things (in this case, gay marriage). Persuade these people that he is consistent on these things or that this opinion is partisan politics or agree with it.
http://www.thebailoutgame.us/
16. Persuade the government not to give more bailouts, to redistribute the money that they do have better, or to give another bailout of any sector of the United States based on how well or poorly you can assume that they have already done.
http://www.darfurisdying.com/
17. Persuade the government to get involved in helping to end the genocide in Darfur.
http://newsone.com/nation/reid-compares-opposing-health-care-reform-to-opposing-emancipation-civil-rights/
18. Attack or defend Harry Reid for equating those who aren’t fighting for GOVERNMENT LED health care reform as being the equals of those who didn’t fight to end slavery fast enough.
19. Persuade the American public to accept GOVERNMENT LED health care reform or for the government to keep their hands off of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcE2ufqtzyk
20. Based on the Tom Friedman video we watched in class, persuade your fellow college students that by not taking their education seriously, they are condemning America to be a nation of mediocrity that will quickly be replaced by people from other countries who will do their jobs cheaper and better. This is the only way you may argue this position.
Friday, November 20, 2009
LITTLE BIG WAR assignment
COM121 - we will read the following article for homework for Wednesday the 22nd.
Little Big War.
You can take 1 note card worth of notes.
Concentrate on the 4 sides of the argument (the Tokala, the Badlands National Park Superintendant, the other Native Americans, and the scientists that study the Badlands).
This is a true story. Currently, since whatever happened (I have no idea - can't get a response from the Badlands for info), this is the new management plan discussions for the park. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THIS - ONLY LITTLE BIG WAR.
This is another 40 point assignment that you will need to do.
You need to have this assignment with to get credit.
It can not be handed in late.
Little Big War.
You can take 1 note card worth of notes.
Concentrate on the 4 sides of the argument (the Tokala, the Badlands National Park Superintendant, the other Native Americans, and the scientists that study the Badlands).
This is a true story. Currently, since whatever happened (I have no idea - can't get a response from the Badlands for info), this is the new management plan discussions for the park. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THIS - ONLY LITTLE BIG WAR.
This is another 40 point assignment that you will need to do.
You need to have this assignment with to get credit.
It can not be handed in late.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
What a difference 14 years makes.
On November 17, 1995 (at 1040am), I was getting out of the Air Force. What were you doing with your life?The point is not to say that the Air Force was or is the answer (or isn't for that matter), but it's just interesting to think that the lives we are living become so rapidly different so quickly and all the things that we think are so important one day change.
For that matter, the things we work to become continue to define us in the now and one day we wake up and we're completely different people.
I'm just saying.
Monday, November 16, 2009
GRIZZLY BEAR assignment
For Monday the 20th, COM121 students will debate whether the grizzly bear should or should not be taken off of the endangered species list. While this is an older assignment than the decision, there are reasons that this should or should not have been done AND that the decision could be reversed.Bring your knowledge of wildlife to the class along with a notecard full of knowledge on the topic. We'll be doing a 40-point assignment in class!
You need to have this assignment with to get credit.
It can not be handed in late.
Friday, November 13, 2009
SAMPLE PERSUASIVE ESSAY for content as it does not include citations!!
THIS IS NOT ONLY A SAMPLE APA PERSUASIVE ESSAY, BUT YOU MAY ALSO USE IT FOR THE FINAL IF YOU CHOOSE TO ARGUE MY POINTS ON WHY SLASHER MOVIES SERVE NO PURPOSE AND SHOULD NOT BE MADE.
Visual entertainment has become the medium that it is today by its ability to express various ideas and images for the masses. However, in recent times, movies have pushed this art form in certain directions that have left behind the entertainment value while instead opting for shock value. Nowhere is this truer than in the genre of “slasher movies,” which have been pushed into a direction that serves to only foster an addiction to gore and an amoral expression of love for villains. Thus, it is clear that if the movie industry cannot police itself, then people need to stand up and give it a reason to stop making these unscrupulous movies.
A perfect example to explain the negativity of this phenomenon is Natural Born Killers, the Quentin Tarantino written film that he later disowned after Oliver Stone’s unauthorized changes. In this movie, a television crew follows Mickey and Mallory, a pair of serial killers, through their killings and into the world of just how much America loves the ultra-violent killers that fill its tabloids. Throughout the film, carnage ensues through the destruction of all that should be good and people even beg to be killed by their idol killers while the audience is inundated with a message of depravity packaged in a rock and roll soundtrack. At the end, the killers are still on the loose, justice hasn’t been served, and bodies are piled up with more deaths sure to follow since the “heroes” have escaped. Though this is not true slasher horror, it still allows the observer to look at the industry by using a film that offers offers a clear insight into how modern culture could embrace this love of violence in the way that it does.
While Natural Born Killers was finally released in 1994 after much negative press and discussion of whether it should be released at all, it acts as the end transition of 15 years of celluloid films that begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street. If the progression of 15 years takes popular culture there, then it is easy to extrapolate where the 15 year anniversary of that movie will take pop culture. However, while there is an ultra and excessive violence in them, the problem with these movies and those that follow them as a whole lie not in the violence, but rather in the walk-away message. To understand this, it needs to be said that violence is not something to be hidden, but it is a part of society that most rational people would seek to avoid. At the most extreme moments, a sane and well-adjusted person will grasp that violence is necessary. The extremely pious St. Augustine even wrote of a theory for just wars. However, in these times, people are not always so religious, but our culture can still be moral. For example, if a country has to go to war against an enemy that it can side against, then violence seems necessary. Thus, in the national psyche, it’s easier to go to war against a Hitler or a Bin Laden than a Saddam Hussein, which in and of itself leads to questions of the moral nature of war and violence. In addition and in clear showing of the gray areas of violence, how much force should be used against criminals by their potential victims is debated in the right to carry and utilize concealed weapons. Even after society catches and convicts felons, in some circles, it still debates the death penalty against them as some savage use of an “eye for an eye” as hypocrisy in that it’s legalizing a government killing someone as punishment for killing or excessively hurting someone else. All the while, this society takes the moral high ground in these issues while it revels like a pig in the celluloid murk as it delights in the brutality of Saw, Scream, and Hostel.
In this necessity for violence, society does need to evaluate and leave itself to think about what violence means. As previously stated, the actual image of violence itself is not the issue. The questions that movies such as A History of Violence presents do seek to express things with a deeper sociological purpose. Without the expressions of violence within, A History of Violence’s expression of violence as a human genetic trait is pointless. The same can be said for the deeper historical significance of Saving Private Ryan. If the reader isn’t emotionally crushed in the barrage of gunfire that bookends the movie in a blanket of grainy and drab colors that are viciously coated in smatterings of red, it is not the movie that it was set to be. The artistic image could not be complete as if done in the trademark way that cartoons such as GI Joe use to make sure that no missile, bullet, or bomb actually takes a human life. It would also not be the same if it followed the style that was used in the TV shows of the 50’s when fake gunfire went off and people fell or clutched themselves to show that they were injured. It is needed to express the grim finality of war’s actual nature. For this, there needs to be a showing that there are no magic words spoken before death. All that exists is the cold finality of the moment and the loss of a human life. There is no other way to show that war is hell. However, a viewer delighting in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, be it the original or the remake, gets no heroism, no characterization, and just an excessive dose of entrails and blood.
While literature has used the antihero in artistic and humorous ways to focus on people with traits that would be without heroism, movies have transformed the genre in a completely different way by giving the viewer the chance to root for the villain. There is no other purpose for watching Michael Meyers, Freddie Krueger, or Jason than to see them kill helpless teenagers and adults in more and more grotesque ways. As a result, a true bloodlust is created and the viewer is desensitized to this shock and awe. Constant studies into violence prove this. Thus, it is necessary to make sure that while a person knows that violence is real and has many facets, society needs to ensure that people see violence in the right capacities.
One way that society does this is labeling movies as art. A perfect example of this is the Oscar winning film Silence of the Lambs. There is a true mystery here, but somehow, it gets lost from its original intent when it presents evil in a way that romanticizes the villain. Following this, Thomas Harris, the author, wrote his next book Hannibal and got diverted completely into shock value, obviously intrigued by the book’s sale potential, by leaving Hannibal Lecter, his maniacally evil doctor gone to the darkside, to be joined romantically by the former stabilization force that was detective Clarice Starling. This repulsed Jodie Foster, the star of the original movie, so much that she balked on returning for the follow-up role. All the same, the movie commenced without her, and viewers were still allowed their chance to see a character that was once considered art to be twisted into a further metamorphosis of un-necessary gruesome scenes. Clearly, one person’s protest wasn’t enough since society still has a thirst for gore.
In that, society has become so enthralled by this quest for the next great butchering that stars such as Paris Hilton will sign up to be killed in House of Wax. When the filming is done, they even market the film with the tagline that the viewer can “see Paris die.” As more and more movies and movie spoofs come out, the genre is a great way for former child actresses such as Michelle Trachtenberg and Beverly Mitchell to completely reinvent themselves in “unwholesome” ways with such blood-drenched fare as Black Christmas and Saw 2. In this, a new trend of society seems to take place when viewers are further allowed to fulfill some twisted nature where they can see the stars of their childhood terrorized by products of the world’s nightmares.
For this, the concept of fear and a feeling of terror are also not what offend the thinking movie viewer. For this, Aristotle made provisions with his rules for tragedy when he stated, “'Those who employ spectacular means to create a sense not of the terrible, but only of the monstrous, are strangers to the purpose of Tragedy.” Directors who follow these words from Poetics can still envision scenes of shock and terror and do so without the excessive gore that characterizes these other objectionable movies. Nowhere is this done better than in The Sixth Sense when the young boy, Cole, is trapped in a closet with the ghosts that are coming to him in an effort to be relieved of the burdens of their death. Of course, the reader doesn’t know this at the time. Instead, he is fixated on the plight of Cole. While the viewer helplessly watches on as hammering sounds pulsate from beyond the walls. Cole’s mother eventually gets to the protagonist, but not quickly enough to save him from his fright, and for this, the viewer is equally shaken up. In this sense, M. Night Shyamalan perfects the art of what Aristotle and a true artistic director, as opposed to a shock and gore director, would want from his movies.
Nevertheless, the quest for the next big opening weekend money movie goes on and on, but one can’t help but wonder if it should. When the genre lampoons itself with Scream or the lyrics of Camper Van Beethoven’s “Axe Murderer Song” say it all with the lines “Why do axe murderers only attack when you're partially nude or you're taking a bath,” there is nothing left that needs to be said by a new movie with new younger stars to rush to the limelight.
In the face of a culture that is gasping its own last breath of originality, it would seem that there is no corner that hasn’t been covered. Even on some questionably artistic level, the concept of the indestructibility of evil has been done with No Country for Old Men. There is simply no stone left unturned other than to keep promoting shock value and the evisceration of naked co-eds to tantalize its depraved viewers.
As a result, there is no need for another senseless celluloid serial killer to come into existence. If modern society is surely as advanced and civilized as it claims to be with its campaigns for human rights for suspected terrorists, then it can honor itself by just saying no to these films. If this truly is a society that values life, then it will refuse to reward meaningless death with its cash.
Who knows; if society refuses this carnage at one level, then maybe it can just say no to additional senseless violence that is promoted by “gangsta” culture and video games like Grand Theft Auto and Bully. Maybe by just making this one change in popular culture, it will force people to focus on the being happy and attaining the good things in life instead of glorifying the ultimate villains that plague our world with their deviance and criminal nature.
Visual entertainment has become the medium that it is today by its ability to express various ideas and images for the masses. However, in recent times, movies have pushed this art form in certain directions that have left behind the entertainment value while instead opting for shock value. Nowhere is this truer than in the genre of “slasher movies,” which have been pushed into a direction that serves to only foster an addiction to gore and an amoral expression of love for villains. Thus, it is clear that if the movie industry cannot police itself, then people need to stand up and give it a reason to stop making these unscrupulous movies.
A perfect example to explain the negativity of this phenomenon is Natural Born Killers, the Quentin Tarantino written film that he later disowned after Oliver Stone’s unauthorized changes. In this movie, a television crew follows Mickey and Mallory, a pair of serial killers, through their killings and into the world of just how much America loves the ultra-violent killers that fill its tabloids. Throughout the film, carnage ensues through the destruction of all that should be good and people even beg to be killed by their idol killers while the audience is inundated with a message of depravity packaged in a rock and roll soundtrack. At the end, the killers are still on the loose, justice hasn’t been served, and bodies are piled up with more deaths sure to follow since the “heroes” have escaped. Though this is not true slasher horror, it still allows the observer to look at the industry by using a film that offers offers a clear insight into how modern culture could embrace this love of violence in the way that it does.
While Natural Born Killers was finally released in 1994 after much negative press and discussion of whether it should be released at all, it acts as the end transition of 15 years of celluloid films that begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street. If the progression of 15 years takes popular culture there, then it is easy to extrapolate where the 15 year anniversary of that movie will take pop culture. However, while there is an ultra and excessive violence in them, the problem with these movies and those that follow them as a whole lie not in the violence, but rather in the walk-away message. To understand this, it needs to be said that violence is not something to be hidden, but it is a part of society that most rational people would seek to avoid. At the most extreme moments, a sane and well-adjusted person will grasp that violence is necessary. The extremely pious St. Augustine even wrote of a theory for just wars. However, in these times, people are not always so religious, but our culture can still be moral. For example, if a country has to go to war against an enemy that it can side against, then violence seems necessary. Thus, in the national psyche, it’s easier to go to war against a Hitler or a Bin Laden than a Saddam Hussein, which in and of itself leads to questions of the moral nature of war and violence. In addition and in clear showing of the gray areas of violence, how much force should be used against criminals by their potential victims is debated in the right to carry and utilize concealed weapons. Even after society catches and convicts felons, in some circles, it still debates the death penalty against them as some savage use of an “eye for an eye” as hypocrisy in that it’s legalizing a government killing someone as punishment for killing or excessively hurting someone else. All the while, this society takes the moral high ground in these issues while it revels like a pig in the celluloid murk as it delights in the brutality of Saw, Scream, and Hostel.
In this necessity for violence, society does need to evaluate and leave itself to think about what violence means. As previously stated, the actual image of violence itself is not the issue. The questions that movies such as A History of Violence presents do seek to express things with a deeper sociological purpose. Without the expressions of violence within, A History of Violence’s expression of violence as a human genetic trait is pointless. The same can be said for the deeper historical significance of Saving Private Ryan. If the reader isn’t emotionally crushed in the barrage of gunfire that bookends the movie in a blanket of grainy and drab colors that are viciously coated in smatterings of red, it is not the movie that it was set to be. The artistic image could not be complete as if done in the trademark way that cartoons such as GI Joe use to make sure that no missile, bullet, or bomb actually takes a human life. It would also not be the same if it followed the style that was used in the TV shows of the 50’s when fake gunfire went off and people fell or clutched themselves to show that they were injured. It is needed to express the grim finality of war’s actual nature. For this, there needs to be a showing that there are no magic words spoken before death. All that exists is the cold finality of the moment and the loss of a human life. There is no other way to show that war is hell. However, a viewer delighting in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, be it the original or the remake, gets no heroism, no characterization, and just an excessive dose of entrails and blood.
While literature has used the antihero in artistic and humorous ways to focus on people with traits that would be without heroism, movies have transformed the genre in a completely different way by giving the viewer the chance to root for the villain. There is no other purpose for watching Michael Meyers, Freddie Krueger, or Jason than to see them kill helpless teenagers and adults in more and more grotesque ways. As a result, a true bloodlust is created and the viewer is desensitized to this shock and awe. Constant studies into violence prove this. Thus, it is necessary to make sure that while a person knows that violence is real and has many facets, society needs to ensure that people see violence in the right capacities.
One way that society does this is labeling movies as art. A perfect example of this is the Oscar winning film Silence of the Lambs. There is a true mystery here, but somehow, it gets lost from its original intent when it presents evil in a way that romanticizes the villain. Following this, Thomas Harris, the author, wrote his next book Hannibal and got diverted completely into shock value, obviously intrigued by the book’s sale potential, by leaving Hannibal Lecter, his maniacally evil doctor gone to the darkside, to be joined romantically by the former stabilization force that was detective Clarice Starling. This repulsed Jodie Foster, the star of the original movie, so much that she balked on returning for the follow-up role. All the same, the movie commenced without her, and viewers were still allowed their chance to see a character that was once considered art to be twisted into a further metamorphosis of un-necessary gruesome scenes. Clearly, one person’s protest wasn’t enough since society still has a thirst for gore.
In that, society has become so enthralled by this quest for the next great butchering that stars such as Paris Hilton will sign up to be killed in House of Wax. When the filming is done, they even market the film with the tagline that the viewer can “see Paris die.” As more and more movies and movie spoofs come out, the genre is a great way for former child actresses such as Michelle Trachtenberg and Beverly Mitchell to completely reinvent themselves in “unwholesome” ways with such blood-drenched fare as Black Christmas and Saw 2. In this, a new trend of society seems to take place when viewers are further allowed to fulfill some twisted nature where they can see the stars of their childhood terrorized by products of the world’s nightmares.
For this, the concept of fear and a feeling of terror are also not what offend the thinking movie viewer. For this, Aristotle made provisions with his rules for tragedy when he stated, “'Those who employ spectacular means to create a sense not of the terrible, but only of the monstrous, are strangers to the purpose of Tragedy.” Directors who follow these words from Poetics can still envision scenes of shock and terror and do so without the excessive gore that characterizes these other objectionable movies. Nowhere is this done better than in The Sixth Sense when the young boy, Cole, is trapped in a closet with the ghosts that are coming to him in an effort to be relieved of the burdens of their death. Of course, the reader doesn’t know this at the time. Instead, he is fixated on the plight of Cole. While the viewer helplessly watches on as hammering sounds pulsate from beyond the walls. Cole’s mother eventually gets to the protagonist, but not quickly enough to save him from his fright, and for this, the viewer is equally shaken up. In this sense, M. Night Shyamalan perfects the art of what Aristotle and a true artistic director, as opposed to a shock and gore director, would want from his movies.
Nevertheless, the quest for the next big opening weekend money movie goes on and on, but one can’t help but wonder if it should. When the genre lampoons itself with Scream or the lyrics of Camper Van Beethoven’s “Axe Murderer Song” say it all with the lines “Why do axe murderers only attack when you're partially nude or you're taking a bath,” there is nothing left that needs to be said by a new movie with new younger stars to rush to the limelight.
In the face of a culture that is gasping its own last breath of originality, it would seem that there is no corner that hasn’t been covered. Even on some questionably artistic level, the concept of the indestructibility of evil has been done with No Country for Old Men. There is simply no stone left unturned other than to keep promoting shock value and the evisceration of naked co-eds to tantalize its depraved viewers.
As a result, there is no need for another senseless celluloid serial killer to come into existence. If modern society is surely as advanced and civilized as it claims to be with its campaigns for human rights for suspected terrorists, then it can honor itself by just saying no to these films. If this truly is a society that values life, then it will refuse to reward meaningless death with its cash.
Who knows; if society refuses this carnage at one level, then maybe it can just say no to additional senseless violence that is promoted by “gangsta” culture and video games like Grand Theft Auto and Bully. Maybe by just making this one change in popular culture, it will force people to focus on the being happy and attaining the good things in life instead of glorifying the ultimate villains that plague our world with their deviance and criminal nature.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Stuff to turn in with your essay on Monday
which is due when we get INTO class.
If your essay won't print, send it as a .doc or .docx.
No excuses. No other formats.
What you know.
What you want to know.
Notes. (a sufficient amount BY MY STANDARDS)
PRINTED OUT URLS.
A rough draft that is typed and similar (though different) to the real essay.
The real essay.
An outline that works.
If you're missing stuff, you're giving up points.
Don't give up points.
Do what you have to do in order to pass this class.
You're brilliant (if you want to be).
I know you can be successful. Do you?
Under 75% gets a redo for 75% max.
Late gets no redo.
A B is a good grade on this paper.
Do what you have to do in order to kick butt.
If your essay won't print, send it as a .doc or .docx.
No excuses. No other formats.
What you know.
What you want to know.
Notes. (a sufficient amount BY MY STANDARDS)
PRINTED OUT URLS.
A rough draft that is typed and similar (though different) to the real essay.
The real essay.
An outline that works.
If you're missing stuff, you're giving up points.
Don't give up points.
Do what you have to do in order to pass this class.
You're brilliant (if you want to be).
I know you can be successful. Do you?
Under 75% gets a redo for 75% max.
Late gets no redo.
A B is a good grade on this paper.
Do what you have to do in order to kick butt.
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