We are approaching the middle of the semester, which is a great time to ask: what's it all about? For this blog, explain why you are writing your essay, and who you are writing to. Do not necessarily just write what you have on page one of phase two or phase one, but really think about why you are writing, beyond passing this class. What is your interest in this topic? Why did you choose it in the first place, yes, but what does the topic mean to you now that you have performed some research? Why is it important that your chosen audience receive this message? What do you want your audience to think and feel about the topic when you are finished? What do you want your audience to believe about you?
Initial post due before class on Wednesday, March 12th.
Reply to classmate: Find someone who does not yet have a reply, and ask him/her a clarifying question about his/her purpose. What is it that you would like to know about what can motivate someone else to write? If you feel that your classmate explained his/her purpose very well, then let him/her know this. Be detailed, clear and succinct in your reply.
Reply to classmate due before midnight on Friday, March 14th.
I am writing my essay because I had to choose a paper to write about. I chose this topic, the argument that Buddhism is a philosophy and not a religion, because I have to do the same paper for my philosophy class. Why not kill two birds with one stone? My interest in the topic is minimal in all honesty, but it's at least mildly entertaining I suppose. I enjoy writing, do not get me wrong, but more so on the historical side if anything. In the end for this paper though, all I want is to get a good grade. In fact I'll sell this paper to whoever wants it after the last project is handed in. Ha! I guess the most important thing someone could get out of the paper I have written is that they take it to heart and if they agree with me, which they should, great. If they choose not to, that is on them. As long as I get a good grade is all I can ask for. I just hope they learn something from my research, I did a lot, and hopefully remember it if they ever get into a "religious" argument about Buddhism. All I could ask for is that. Otherwise, it's been fun not writing an extra paper for philosophy. Lord knows I have already been benefited by this paper simply because of that.
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God Bless.
That's great that you want a good grade and that you can used this paper for another class, those two things are really good motivators to get the job done. Although I wish you were just a little bit more specific on your purpose for your argument in the paper, that being said wanting people to remember your work is good to. :-)
DeleteThis essay started out as a way for me just to learn a bit more information about extroverts and introverts. But as I continued writing and researching I realized a bit about my own self. Back in high school I was the “problem” case for my parents because of my lack of ability to express myself. This lead to my mother reaching out to sources to get me help. The thing her and my dad decided was that I was going to see a therapist which his name was Mr. Sanford. Which by the way Mr. Sanford is mentioned in the book that I have gotten information from for my paper. It was back then when I first got interested in the topic of introverts and extroverts. I went on and had did my time with Mr. Sanford for about half a year so, who basically told me the basics of what being an introvert was. So I choose this topic in the first place because I was introduced to those concepts before but never knew much details. But after actually doing some research I can honestly say that back then I was forcing myself to be extremely introverted person when in actuality I wasn’t. My research of now knowing about introverts and extroverts finally allowed me to realize that I am not the isolated introvert I thought I was or who other people had thought I was. I mean I do like my alone time but I am more the person who is extremely shy and nervous than really gaining energy from inward stimulation and alone time. Now as I am still working on this paper I have the ability to appreciate who other people’s personalities might be and understand a little bit more about my own self. I guess this message is important to my audience because I want to come from a balanced and unbiased position on my paper. I also wanted to introduce into my paper the problem being that introverts are being the shadows to an extroverted world. I want to make my audience who may or may not be an introvert feel or accept who they are and the strengths that they may have and not realize.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is great that your topic ties into your life and you find in interest in the topic. You explained very clearly why you are interested and what you would like your audience to take away from your paper. Great job, I am interested to know what exactly I may be as well, I think i might look it up.
DeleteMichaela Pakenham
ReplyDeleteI am writing this paper for my english 122 class. My audience is my professor and anyone else that may be interested in social media and learning more about narcissism. I chose to write about the correlation between the use of social media and the increase of narcissistic personality in our culture.The topic has always interested me. I had a facebook for about two years and it just never caught on for me. It didnt take long before i chose to deactivate it. I noticed it was full of opinions and feelings of many people i had become acquainted with but did not consider friends outside of the internet. I would recieve friend requests from people i had no connection to, and quickly realized social media had nothing to do with connecting with others but more about a competion to be noticed and the best. It was all about selfies, followers/friends, opinions and posts about how great their life was. It had nothing to do with anyone other than themselves. I always had a feeling that narcissists were the main people that thrived on social media. I would hope that my audience would have a better understanding about the increase in narcissisam through the use of social media and how its affecting our society.
This seems to be a topic that is pretty relevant to everyone but few people really think about it. It's reassuring that people like yourself have noticed this, and are taking time to invest and have a voice for it. Mark Zuckerberg is Fidel Castro in flip flops, and it's about time someone spent the time to call out his creation for what it is. Good work.
DeleteI decided to do a paper on juvenile boot camps mainly because of my plans to go into some kind of criminal justice career. I am focusing my research for this project, but I am hoping it more later in my education, specifically if I decide to follow a career in corrections. I think it's important for the justice system to take a look at alternative solutions for the overcrowding in prisons, as well as the high number of re-offenders. That's the main reason that I chose this topic.
ReplyDeleteI'm a firm believer in boot camps for juvenile delinquents. I know a few people who were little dirtbags and wound up being sent to a boot camp-like facility and came back somebody decent. I don't know how the actual rate turns out decent citizens, but from what I experienced from people it worked for them and turned their lives around.
DeleteI am writing an essay on the psychology of conspiracy theories. My audience would be my instructor and those interested in the psychology of conspiracy theories. I originally started this topic because I was interested in the many conspiracy theories in society. Now that I have researched more about the psychology behind believers, my curiosity has increased. I believe that many do not understand fully the psychology behind believers. I have learned so much just researching for my essay, I was unaware that there was a part of the brain called the "amygdala". The Amygdala jump-starts the rest of the brain into analytical overdrive-prompting repeated reassessments of information in an attempt to create a coherent and understandable narrative, to understand what happens when one feels a moment of powerlessness and uncertainty. I would like my audience to gain a better understanding of the psychology behind conspiracy theories and be made aware that mental illness is not the main cause. I believe that it is important for my audience to receive the message and process the information because there would be less ignorance about the subject and knowledge is power. There are so many narrow-minded individuals that could benefit from opening up and gaining a better understanding of things out of the norm. If my audience chooses to not believe that is fine, but somewhere in the back of their head when the subject comes up again they should look back on my essay and smile.
ReplyDeleteIve always been into conspiracy theories. Ive never heard about the Amygdala, but it sounds interesting and something Im looking forward to learning about. I think you did an awesome job explaining it.
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ReplyDeleteI started doing my topic on the culture of Hip-Hop because I've been involved in it for over 13 years as a break dancer, DJ, filmer, emcee (beatboxing mainly, but I have rapped, and rhymed slam poetry), listener of the music produced, and a lover of its knowledge (aka the definition of "philosopher").
ReplyDeleteSince I am all of what I've done and continue to do, I've decided to learn even more history and perspectives than I knew before about this culture. My thesis in particular is proving that the culture's true essence exists and has never died out despite with it's commodity and mainstream side of it. I decided on this because I've observed that not only the media, but the people and a number emcees themselves as well have not seen it's cultural, universal existence and message be present in recent years, and therefore, through the people and lyrics of many emcees, Hip-Hop has been considered "dead".
However, many sources of evidence prove that Hip-Hop is alive, through my own observations and reflection over the years, through its elements (break dancing, emceeing, deejaying, graffiti, and knowledge), as well as the emcees that said it was dead and those who feel it's alive and it's always has been; it's just dependant on how one perceives it and what that one person pays attention to, inside and outside of the mainstream side of Hip-Hop. There's even legitimate claim that a document called the "Hip-Hop Declaration of Peace" that was presented to UNESCO at the UN in New York City on May 16th, 2001. I am currently awaiting information/documents/records from the UNESCO library/archives to back this claim up. On a similar note, I also think that my thesis may be bigger than what it is currently, but till I can clearly describe that, I'm keeping it the way it is.
I'm also in process of backing up a lot of info that KRS-One has presented in his lyrics, and mainly the videos I've watched of him. Chuck D is another source I'm trying to back up as well. The tough part is actually finding back up to what they are saying, because they seem to be their own back up, as they are very foundational people of Hip-Hop culture and knowledge. The only person I could see backing them up is Afrika Bambattaa, and sources that are scholarly, like on EBSCO.
Who is my audience? Those who are skeptic about the music industry, Hip-Hop enthusiasts and believers of my current argument, and most importantly, those who've known about Hip-Hop, but have lost faith in it an/or just don't recognize how relevant its true essence has been, even today. I feel that this paper could even be a legitimate document for future researchers, if done right and published. I really see this paper as an opportunity to make a contribution to Hip-Hop culture and the world with proper, unbiased research and a new perspective from someone who really has lived in it all these years, but sees it many other perspectives. In fact, we've possibly all lived in it without realizing it.
I like what you have writen. I usually don't care about music that much except the fact that it's fun to liten to, but after reading what you wrote I'm a bit more curiouse about the subject. Could Hip-Hop posibly have been influenced by past music styles and does Hip-Hop contribute to newer styles of music?
DeleteThe topic I am writing about has mostly to do with mental illness. I have for a big part of my life been interested in the life styles of the mentally ill. My mother is actually a schizophrenic and bipolar person. However, I was raised by my grandmother so I don’t really know my mom that well, but the fact that she is a mentally ill person always interested me. So, I think it is fun to look at the different kinds of mental illnesses. My favorite is to look at the old days and how people thought that the mentally ill were possessed by demons and what not. Then when people began to understand the illness that actually was mental illness it fascinating to read what doctors did to their mental patients. Like electrocution, drilling hole into their skulls, as so on. Fun stuff!
ReplyDeleteI like what you are writing about as well. You seem to have that fascinating approach to a subject commonly looked at as a disturbing subject. I'm curious to know what more you can find, like any more interesting/odd/morbid techniques that doctors used to treat/cure mental illness. I'm also curious to know more detail on your perception of growing up with this fascination about your mother and her illness, but not all at once and not too revealing (that is if you don't want to be too revealing). Rather throughout your paper, as a theme maybe? Anyway, I'd love to read this when it's done.
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ReplyDeleteI'm gonna be honest. I'm writing because I'm told to. However, I chose child pageantry because I've always been curious about it. The psychological aspect of it all. Whether it's hurting the child more so than doing good. And though I still find it interesting, I hate writing on it. I'd rather just be able to vocally say this is what I believe and this is the reason why I believe this– and then say what I found out. Personally I'm not trying to change anyone's views, but it's always nice to know the potential dangers of child pageantry. I only want my audience to be educated on the matter. And as for them believing me, maybe seeing that I have fact based evidence to back me up should be sufficient.
ReplyDeleteI am writing this essay to bring awareness about the gender pay gap and pay discrimination. I began by looking at the various topic ideas that were handed out to me. I scanned through the different topics and nothing really caught my eye until I looked at the pay discrimination topic. This sparked my interest. I had never thought about discrimination in the past, so I decided to do some research on it. I found a great deal of information regarding the concern for unequal pay among women. Once learning more about this topic, I wanted to learn as much as possible. My audience is anyone interested in discrimination. I want to show my audience that gender pay discrimination is still occurring in the United States. I want to have enough evidence backing up my thesis since some people may believe this is just another feminist theory to cause controversy. It is important for people to know that there is valid evidence backing up this argument. I would like my audience to take away at least more information than they had previously known. I want my audience to believe I gathered accurate that supports my claims about pay gaps among women.
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad when we live in such an advanced society but there are archaic views still floating out there. I don't know if you plan to research anything about the women's movement or equal rights movement but it may help with your topic. I am very interested in seeing where you go with your paper. Kudos for taking this topic on !
DeleteI am writing this paper to gain a better understanding of learner-centered, alternative education environments. I plan to homeschool my son, and the research that I have completed has broadened not only my knowledge base, but my overall view of alternative education as a whole. My main audience is decidedly myself, and other parents who are contemplating homeschooling their child, but are apprehensive for fear of upsetting their child’s well-being. My hope is that this essay can help assuage any doubts that these parents may be having, and to feel comfortable that their decision to homeschool their child is the right one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on wanting to know more about this topic. I too am feeling a need to place my son into home schooling and it would be a more definitive choice being well informed. So I am eager to learn more about this topic as well
DeleteThe reason i am writing my essay is because it is something I have kind of always been interested in. I also would like to get into a field where I can help people that know nothing about being healthy or nutritional foods. People that are over weight or have nutritional issues do it to themselves more times then not. I understand there are genetic mishaps that come into play but not every overweight person can claim thyroid problems. I am want to to spread knowledge about how to get your weight under control and to also become healthier in the process. My audience is a variate of individuals. They range from obese people to someone who is mildly overweight. or anyone in general who wants to eat better and become over all more healthy. As I have uncovered information about this topic I have come to the conclusion that everyone is unhealthy to some extent, yet society says it's all good for you, just take this pill and it will all go away but it will cause more issues than you are initially taking it for. Overall I am here to share some of the knowledge in which I have uncovered to who ever wants to try and be more healthy then they already are.
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