Last Day of Classes-Last Blog

The final day of classes for my freshmen year of college is coming to a close.  Tomorrow is dead day but I still have a lot of studying to do for my exams.  Luckily I only have two in Calculus and Physics but still those classes are challenging, especially Physics.  I took physics in high school but it was not nearly as challenging as it is here.  The hardest thing about the class is the homework.  We are expected to turn in homework every Monday morning at 9:30 over material we have not even covered yet.  Honestly, it makes no sense and I am not exaggerating at all.  We literally don't go over the material until that week in class.  Then when we go over questions that will be on the test it doesn't help at all because what does he decide to do?  Put questions we haven't covered before on it.  Oh well..  As for today, I only have one class left and go figure that it would be my Physics lab.  Overall this has been an enjoyable but challenging freshmen year.  I joined a fraternity, met plenty of friends, enjoyed plenty of parties, and experienced many new things.  I really think I am going to be born once I go back home but I know a summer job will keep me busy.  Well this will will be my final blog and I hope to whomever may read this will have learned something...maybe..and enjoyed reading it.. Peace out!

Creative Writing

Before finishing the novel Dracula, we stopped right before the ending when all of the humans were racing toward Count's castle trying to kill him.  We were then asked come up with our own ending the story.  The way my partner and I concluded the story was to have everybody attack Dracula but with his vampire powers he defeats them all except for Mina and Van Helsing but Van Helsing is on the verge of death and can barely serve as any help for Mina.  At this point  Mina turns into a full vampire but still has the same feelings and emotions that she had prior.  She attacks Dracula with her new powers but they are still not enough to stop him.  As Dracula begins to make his final blow and bite into Mina's neck, Van Helsing using his remaining strength to lift his gun and shoot Dracula through his heart.  None survived and our ending was complete.

Social Media Exercise

In class we discussed how many employers will looks at a job candidate's social media sites.  Next we talked about whether or not we felt that our social media site such as Facebook reflects our personality and what our audience would think of it.  I said that I do feel like it shows some parts of me but to really get to know somebody you need to meet them and person.  Also I feel that my audience would not find anything wrong with my Facebook.  Then we were asked if we have ever written something on the site that we later regretted.  Honestly, I do not regret anything I have written because I always think about what I am typing and then go back and reread it.  Next, we were asked if any conversations mentioning Twilight have been seen and if we contributed to them.  I, personally, have seen plenty of conversations about Twilight but haven't partaken in them.  Finally, we were asked since we know have a broader knowledge of vampires, could we contribute even more to those conversations.  My answer is yes, I now know much more about vampire history so it may be fun for me to chat it up!

Carmilla

Another novel that was required to read in this class what Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.  This story is told from the perspective of Laura who had her first strange experience when she was only six when a beautiful woman appeared before her and caused her to feel pain.  When the story begins to pick up a woman by the name of Carmilla stays at Laura's house by the request of her father.  Both Carmilla and Laura realize who each other are (Carmilla is the woman who appeared in front of Laura at age six).  Laura is scared but oddly attracted to Carmilla and this confuses her.  Carmilla refuses to give any information about herself but strangely enough many boor girls around begin to die, also, Laura feels very weak each morning.  In one of Laura's dreams she sees Carmilla covered in blood so she wakes and runs to Carmilla's room but she is gone.  As time passed  Laura's skin began to fade.  Laura and her father meet with one of her father's friends, a general, and he tells a story of how they took in a woman named Mircalla (Carmilla's named rearranged) and now his niece's skin was beginning to fade.  Later the group meets a woodcutter who explains how vampires use to roam the village.  Eventually the general niece dies and he sees Mircalla sucking the last of her life away.  Now he swears to find her grave and kill her.  While at the graveyard, Carmilla appears and the general tries to kill her but she kills him and vanishes.  Sometime later Carmilla is found in her coffin and they stab in the heart, cut off her head, burn her, and toss her ashes.

Project 4

Our finally project for our Twilight Composition II class is a five to seven page paper explaining what we have learned not only during this class but also last semester in our Composition I class and what we plan to do with what we have learned in the future.  It is suppose to be divided into three different part which consist of everyday writing, academic writing, and a new type of writing.  This is suppose to be a reflective essay and is due May 11, 2012.  I have not started writing this paper yet but I am actually kind of excited for this project because I enjoy discussing what I have learned throughout my freshmen year of college and how I plan to use this knowledge for my future.  One of the biggest things that I have taken away from composition classes is how to break down difficult to read literature, or even easy literature, and understand the purpose that the author is trying to make.  That will probably be the main topic of this paper but who really knows the direction this paper will take.  That is one of the most exciting this about writing; once you begin writing it can go in any direction you want it to, even in blogs.

1 Corinthians 13:12

The verse 1 Corinthians 13:12, which states, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" was brought up for discussion in class.  The first time I read this I was a bit confused on what was being said but when we broke it down into pieces and it made much more sense and actually made me feel good.  The first part, "For now we see through a glass, darkly;" is similar to looking through a tinted window; you may be able to vaguely make out something on the other side but it is not very clear.  This is relating to God and how we see him; even though we can't see him clearly we know he is there and even though we can't determine all the answers to life we know he has them.  Next, "but then face to face: now I know in part" means that once we die and meet God face to face.  Followed by, ""but then shall I know even as also I am known" which is roughly saying that God will reveal all of his secrets to us and we will know them as well as we know ourselves.  So as a whole it is saying that even though somethings may not be clear to us now, everything has a purpose and God will reveal them to us when we meet with him. The reason that this makes me feel good is that it reassures me God has a purpose for everything and eventually  I will be able to know them.

Dracula

One of the novels that we read in this class was Dracula by Bram Stoker.  The novel begins with a man named Jonathan Harker traveling to Count Dracula's castle to help Count purchase land in England.  Soon Jonathan realizes that he is imprisoned in Dracula's castle.  Harker tries to escape but is seduced by three female vampires. Eventually he escapes only to fall ill and  is forced to recover in Hungary.  Mina, Harker's fiance, begins to worry about Harker but her friend Lucy is only only concerned about herself and the man that she just accepted to marry, Arthur Holmwood.  Count Dracula then moves to England and coincidentally Lucy begins to start losing blood.  Arthur is worried so he sends for Van Helsing to investigate.  Van Helsing realizes that a vampire has something to do this odd situation but eventually Lucy dies.  Van knows that she is not really dead but has become a vampire.  He seeks her out, stabs her in the heart, and cuts off her head which actually kills her.  Meanwhile, Mina goes to pick up Jonathan and they get married.  To make the story short, Dracula begins drinking Mina's blood and forces her to drink his.  The only way for Mina to not become a vampire is to kill Dracula which is exactly what Van Helsing and his team does and all is well in the end.

Internet vs. Vampirism

One of our daily free writes asked us if we feel that the internet is a kind of vampire that sucks all our time out of us or if we know any others that feel this way.  My personal opinion is that it definitely takes away a lot of my time.  Whether I am on the internet for entertainment, research, or homework it always seems that I am using the internet for some purpose.  Honestly, and I hate to say this, but I feel that life would be very difficult without computers and the internet; not so much for entertainment purposes because you can find entertainment in many different ways but more for research and school work.  The internet provides so much information with easy access that it is hard imagining only being able to rely on books for knowledge.  I know many people who also feel the same way and it is not only young people.  Older aged people feel the same way and even more so than I do.  It is almost scary to imagine what the future internet will provide us.

The Giaour

The Giaour is a poem written by Lord Byron in 1813 and it tells the story of a white man getting revenge on his lovers' murderer.  It begins by talking about how there are no more heroes any more like there were during the early Greek civilization.  Next is a scene with a fisherman eyeing a white man (the giaour) on a black steed racing along the shore.  Next it tells how the giaour finds Hassan, his lover's murderer and kills him.  By the end of the poem the giaour says he doesn't regret what he does and will only forgive Hassan if his love wakes back up from the dead.  In class we discussed whether or not we thought the giaour was actually a hero.  Many said he wasn't but a few said that he had similar characteristics of a hero such as courage.

Arguments

We have discussed different types of arguments in class and they include stasis theory, argument of fact, argument of definition, proposal argument, and arguments of evaluation and causality.  Stasis theory is where you come up with certain questions to come to a point where you can argue a certain issue.  Arguments of fact are factual arguments meant to debate whether something exists or if claims made are true.  Arguments of definition main purpose is to argue the main claim of a definition or specific supporting details.  Arguments of evaluation and causality is meant to ask whether a series of events has plausible similarities or differences; basically evaluating the arguement.

Attributing Sources

In class we talked about the correct way of citing sources, paraphrasing, and using quotes.  We talked about of couple of examples of people who got in serious trouble for using other people's work and claiming it as their own.  One of them was Jason Blair who was a journalist for the New York Times and in 2003 he was found with plagiarism and fabrication in his writings.  The other one was Dr. Hwang Woo Suk, a South Korean who was found for fabrication in his stem cell research.  Another thing we discussed is how we could see why they would do these thing but it doesn't justify their actions.

A previous free write

Another free write that we discussed was whether or not we like having a teacher choose a topic for us to write  about or if we prefer choosing our own topic.  There are definitely pros and cons for each of these situations.  When a teacher chooses a topic for you, it is sometimes easier to know exactly what you need to write about but then again if you choose your own topic then you may know more about that topic which would make it easier to write.  Also if a teacher tells you the topic then you get to increase your knowledge about subjects that you may have never even considered researching.  To me, it is always interesting to learn new things.  So really either way is fine with me.

Free Write

In class we were asked if there was a particular place or time that we enjoy writing most.  For me personally, I can really write anywhere at anytime.  I enjoy listening to music while I write because I feel that whatever kind of music I am listening to sets me in a certain and effects my writing.  So whatever the topic of the paper I am writing I will choose a type of music that I feel will help me write it.  Also many people complained that they may have a hard time starting a paper and they feel that they just sit in front of their computer not knowing where to start but I really never have had that problem.  It just kind of flows out of me.

Required English Classe

In class we discussed why we thought the University requires to comp classes and I figured that because English is used every single day of our lives it is very important to learn it the best that we can.  Also for writing papers, it helps us by getting different points of views.  It teaches us how to write for more than just one audience.  It is never a bad idea to get different feedback about how you write so really, the more teachers you have the better.

Audience

In class, we talked about different kinds of audiences that authors address with their writings.  These included projected, previous, immediate, textual, public, and evaluative audiences.  Projected is the audience that the author imagines for his piece.  Previous are the authors that have already written about the topic.  Immediate audiences are the people who read the piece before it is submitted.  Textual is when the author is directly talking to the audience.  Public are the people you are sending it to and evaluative are the ones who evaluate the paper.