An Overview of English 101- Writing Rhetorically
By: Cam Hall
The Writing Rhetorically class for the Fall 2012 Semester at Bridgewater State University was not too diffrent from other English classes that I had been through during high school. This class mainly consisted of doing group work, which revolved around doing exercises from a textbook, and typing up weekly blogs that were required of everybody in the class. The blogs that were assigned to the students in the class consisted of typing up many different kinds of writings, including a literacy narrative and a rhetorical analysis. The general review of the various writing projects assigned during the fall semester that I have is mixed. This is true, based on the fact that there were certain blog posts assigned over the course of the semester that were more fun to do than others.
There were a couple of writng projects given during the semester that I had fun doing. One such blog post was the film review blog post. The assignment prompt required the write to create a film review on a movie that was old or new and to include reviews from other people about the movie of your choice. I chose the 1986 film Labyrinth, which starred David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. The film review that I created for this film consisted of a brief summary of the film in the first paragraph. The opening paragraph was followed by three supporting paragraphs explaining how certain elements of the film contributed to making it a great one overall, in my opinion. The concluding paragraph included quotes from specific people, from the Rotten Tomatoes website, who gave negative remarks toward the film. This last paragraph also included my last remarks about the film, which were mainly positive ones. This blog post was fun, because it allowed me to give my opinions on a film that I grew up watching a lot of the time in my life. Another such blog post was the argument blog post. The assignment prompt asked the writer to chose an issue in society that was current and dabatable and to define your position on the issue. The issue that I chose was downloading music from the Internet. I took the position saying that this should be allowed. I supported my opinion with facts stating that this could benefit the music makers and their record companies, as well as the music buyers, in certain ways. This blog post was fun, because it allowed me to think about the possiblities of changing how many people view downloading music from the Internet in today's society. These two blog posts definatley were enjoyable to do during this semester.
There were a couple of writing projects given during the semester that I felt were boring to do. One such blog post was the rhetorical analysis blog post. The assignment required the writer to choose a text and write his or her own rhetorical analysis on it, while including an analytical thesis. The assignment prompt also required the wrtier to use a list of questions shown in a chapter in the textbook to guide him or her through the assignment. In doing this assignment, I chose a text that was reprinted in the textbook called Let it Snow, which was a short story by David Sedaris. I made up my rhetorical analysis of this piece of literature by following closely to an example of a rhetorical analysis of another story, which was shown in the textbook. This blog post was boring to me, because I felt that the whole concept of it had no appeal to me and was asking me to write something that had no fun factor to it, at all. Another such blog post was the memoir blog post. The assignment prompt required the writer to tell a true story about a part of his or her life and to include specific narrative elements in this story, including conflict, theme, and characters with motivation and depth. I decided to focus my memoir on my transition from small room special needs classes to normal level classes for students back when I was in middle school and how I carried on from there, etc. Despite knowing what information to include in this blog post, I still found it boring. Even though I do find it interesting to talk about this part of my life, the whole process of typing up the final draft for this assingment was a bit of a drag for me. These two blog posts definately were not as enjoyable to me as others were.
Overall, I would give my Writing Rhetorically class for the 2012 Fall Semester at Bridgewater State Univeristy a mixed review. This is how I truly feel, based on certain things that I liked and disliked about the class. One of the main things that I liked about the class was working with a decent group of fellow college students, who were all nice in their own ways, for doing exercises and other related class work with the textbook. In addition, one of the main things that I disliked about the class was doing certain blog posts that I came across as boring and mundane to me. This class was also decent in the fact that my professor was fun to talk to and had a good personality to him. In conclusion, this class definately became better for me as the semester neared towards its end.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Writing an Argument
ASSIGNMENT: Choose an issue that is current and debatable, one that could be argued from different perspectives. The topic could be relevant at your school, in your town, or even globally. Define your position on the issue, and then find a good opportunity to add to the debate. You can consider writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper, writing a column for a magazine, or a blog for a Web site. -WITW, p. 365
Legalizing Downloading Music from the Internet
By: Cam Hall
Many people in America download music from the Internet daily as a big part of their lives. Most, if not all, of the music that these people download are transferred onto their iPods and other electronic devices by illegal processes. This happens usually by people transferring songs that are listed on certain web sites that hold bootlegged copies/versions of songs in various formats, from orignal album versions of songs (both released and non-released) and single versions of popular songs ( as well as remixes), all by a wide array of contemporary artists. A certain number of people in America feel as though this is a very serious crime and that it should not be made legal at all. In addition, there is another group of people who feel as though downloading music from the Internet should no longer be considered illegal, since it would save them the trouble of trying so hard to get their hands on specific songs that they want to transfer onto their electronic devices to listen to and not have to purchase them in stores, etc. Considering this debate, it seems better for the United States to legalize downloading music from the Internet, based on the facts that it could easily benefit the music seekers and benefit the music makers and record companies themselves that originally hold the rights to the songs.
Legalizing downloading music from the internet in the U.S. would be able to benefit the music buyers in the nation in certain ways. One way would be that it would save the music buyers the trouble of having to spend lots of money to purchase music artists' albums that hold songs on them that the buyers would not care for as much as others. By downloading music from the Internet, the music buyers would be able to obtain only the specific songs that they like by their favorite music artists and enjoy them, without having to have lost money on songs that they didn't care about by purchasing an artist's entire album. Another way is that downloading music from the Internet would allow music buyers to not have to search high and low for certain songs that they want by music artists that they like to listen to on a regular basis, since the Internet has a great big selection of songs to choose from. Many stores that sell artists' music most of the time only have a small selection of specific singles to pick from by various artists. This would lead the music buyers to end up purchasing an entire album, on which they would most likely find the single that they were looking for (this ties in with the first reason mentioned in the paragraph). So, by enabling downloading music from the Internet, people would be able to quickly locate songs that want to hold onto for a long time (all found in a matter of seconds, therefore not being time consuming) and not have to literally (sarcastically speaking) sacrifice their arms and legs to find them. Legalizing downloading music from the Internet would be able to not just benefit music buyers.
Legalizing downloading music from the Internet would be able to benefit music makers and record companies (as long as certain negotiations would be made to ensure their benefit this case). (A main negotiation to allow the following reasons/ways would be if they made a bunch of specfic music web sites that would allow the buyers to purchase albums/singles that they like, and at the same time have the Internet purchase transfer the money spent to the record companies'/music artists' accounts, and other such things, as well. This would allow the buyers to put songs on their iPods, etc., without any problems,etc.) One way would be that the music artists and their corresponding record companies would not miss out on making money that could be lost to them by music artists purchasing their music from random sites on the Web. The music buyers would be able to rely on this kind of legal Internet music purchasing site and random, unreliable ones to get their music from, therefore making the record companies' and music makers' lives a lot better. Another way would be that that music makers and record companies would be able to collect money from more than one area of purchasing music, if this was so. The record companies and their associated artists would be able to make money from internet purchases, while other people who would prefer to purchase the music by hand would buy the music at regular stores in malls, etc., that sell the music as well. Legalizing downloading music from the Internet would definately help out a certain number of people, in general.
It is really unecessary for people in today's society (in the United States) to make a fuss over people purchasing music from various sites on the Internet. All that this purchasing music on the Internet does is save people the trouble of having to go extremely out of their ways to get their hands on the music that really want to listen to, in their daily lives. In addition, it is important to think that since downloading music from the Internet is considered illegal and can be met with criminal consequences, then this law leaves iPods and other such related devices without a certain purpose that they are made to fulfill (to hold/store music for users to listen to when they want to) and they are considered legal to have while this law exists, which is definately unbelievable. Hopefully, in the future, downlading music from the Internet will be legalized so it make a certain number of peoples' lives easier and more enjoyable. The passing of a law that would legalize downloading music from the Internet (in the United States, and more so, in the entire world) would definately be a significant change for all the citizens on the Earth, in the present time.
Legalizing Downloading Music from the Internet
By: Cam Hall
Many people in America download music from the Internet daily as a big part of their lives. Most, if not all, of the music that these people download are transferred onto their iPods and other electronic devices by illegal processes. This happens usually by people transferring songs that are listed on certain web sites that hold bootlegged copies/versions of songs in various formats, from orignal album versions of songs (both released and non-released) and single versions of popular songs ( as well as remixes), all by a wide array of contemporary artists. A certain number of people in America feel as though this is a very serious crime and that it should not be made legal at all. In addition, there is another group of people who feel as though downloading music from the Internet should no longer be considered illegal, since it would save them the trouble of trying so hard to get their hands on specific songs that they want to transfer onto their electronic devices to listen to and not have to purchase them in stores, etc. Considering this debate, it seems better for the United States to legalize downloading music from the Internet, based on the facts that it could easily benefit the music seekers and benefit the music makers and record companies themselves that originally hold the rights to the songs.
Legalizing downloading music from the internet in the U.S. would be able to benefit the music buyers in the nation in certain ways. One way would be that it would save the music buyers the trouble of having to spend lots of money to purchase music artists' albums that hold songs on them that the buyers would not care for as much as others. By downloading music from the Internet, the music buyers would be able to obtain only the specific songs that they like by their favorite music artists and enjoy them, without having to have lost money on songs that they didn't care about by purchasing an artist's entire album. Another way is that downloading music from the Internet would allow music buyers to not have to search high and low for certain songs that they want by music artists that they like to listen to on a regular basis, since the Internet has a great big selection of songs to choose from. Many stores that sell artists' music most of the time only have a small selection of specific singles to pick from by various artists. This would lead the music buyers to end up purchasing an entire album, on which they would most likely find the single that they were looking for (this ties in with the first reason mentioned in the paragraph). So, by enabling downloading music from the Internet, people would be able to quickly locate songs that want to hold onto for a long time (all found in a matter of seconds, therefore not being time consuming) and not have to literally (sarcastically speaking) sacrifice their arms and legs to find them. Legalizing downloading music from the Internet would be able to not just benefit music buyers.
Legalizing downloading music from the Internet would be able to benefit music makers and record companies (as long as certain negotiations would be made to ensure their benefit this case). (A main negotiation to allow the following reasons/ways would be if they made a bunch of specfic music web sites that would allow the buyers to purchase albums/singles that they like, and at the same time have the Internet purchase transfer the money spent to the record companies'/music artists' accounts, and other such things, as well. This would allow the buyers to put songs on their iPods, etc., without any problems,etc.) One way would be that the music artists and their corresponding record companies would not miss out on making money that could be lost to them by music artists purchasing their music from random sites on the Web. The music buyers would be able to rely on this kind of legal Internet music purchasing site and random, unreliable ones to get their music from, therefore making the record companies' and music makers' lives a lot better. Another way would be that that music makers and record companies would be able to collect money from more than one area of purchasing music, if this was so. The record companies and their associated artists would be able to make money from internet purchases, while other people who would prefer to purchase the music by hand would buy the music at regular stores in malls, etc., that sell the music as well. Legalizing downloading music from the Internet would definately help out a certain number of people, in general.
It is really unecessary for people in today's society (in the United States) to make a fuss over people purchasing music from various sites on the Internet. All that this purchasing music on the Internet does is save people the trouble of having to go extremely out of their ways to get their hands on the music that really want to listen to, in their daily lives. In addition, it is important to think that since downloading music from the Internet is considered illegal and can be met with criminal consequences, then this law leaves iPods and other such related devices without a certain purpose that they are made to fulfill (to hold/store music for users to listen to when they want to) and they are considered legal to have while this law exists, which is definately unbelievable. Hopefully, in the future, downlading music from the Internet will be legalized so it make a certain number of peoples' lives easier and more enjoyable. The passing of a law that would legalize downloading music from the Internet (in the United States, and more so, in the entire world) would definately be a significant change for all the citizens on the Earth, in the present time.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Writing a Causal Analysis
iPhones: Making peoples' lives easier
By: Cam Hall
Many recent developments in the field of technology have enabled U.S. citizens to keep themselves occupied and entertained in their daily lives, but none quite so much as the iPhone. The iPhone came into existance back in 2007 and can be considered a mix of a cellular phone and an iPod with lots of gadgets/apps that are programmed into its system. Before the emergence of the iPhone, people could not have had any other technological device that could perform as many functions as this creation could. The iPhone became an instant hit with the majority of the people in the United States, thanks in no small part to what it had to offer to all of us. Over the last few years, the makers of the Apple iPhones have been able to improve their technilogical wonder by adding more to it from one model to the next, which has caused a great deal of the people in America to rely more on the iPhones. The people in America have come to rely on the iPhones to perform certain tasks (involving things that may have not been able to have been accomplished as efficiently without their use) and to enchant themselves on a regular day to day basis, which has become a common and repetitive habit among the people in America today. The iPhone is used frequently in today's society due to its ability to use time efficiently, and have many amusing and interactive gadgets/apps for users to play around with.
The iPhone is able to allow people to consume very little amounts of time when they are trying to do important things. The Apple iPhone is able to do this by including a device that allows you to say a message into a recorder on the iPhone that will analyze what the person has said and respond to it by searching for the best result(s) that match with what the person said and finding them all in a matter of seconds. This would easily save people the trouble of having to type in by hand onto their iPhones what they were looking for One example of a situation where this device would come in handy would be when people are trying to search on the internet for important information that they may need for a paper that they are writng for a report, etc. Another example of a situation would be when people are trying to send messages to others while they are doing other important things so that way not as much time is wasted trying to create the message needed to be sent to its recipient(s). One other example of a situation would be when random questions pop in peoples' minds and they are curious to know what the answer are to them. These people can quickly and efficiently find out the answers by asking the iPhone these questions and it will locate and pull up the answers in very short periods of time. The iPhone saves time in another way by having touch screens that respond to a person's fingers when he or she taps a certain icon on the screen and then it opens up the contents of what information that is stored in that icon. This allows fast access to certain sites and information, especially when these sites are represented by icons that are right on the home menu of a perosn's iPhone. The efficient use of time has definately contributed to the iPhone's great success over the last few years, in America.
The iPhone is able to allow people to explore many different sites and do many different kinds of activities on it through its many different apps/gadgets that it comes installed with. This recent development in technology had the ability to visit a wide range of websites in certain ways unlike any other ways that have been performed in the past. The Apple iPhone allows users to check their statuses on Facebook and to reply to any messages they have received from other people that they know. In addition, the iPhone allows people to watch videos online via a icon on its home menu that links people to the popular website called YouTube. On the plus side, the iPhone allows users to do all sorts of fun things like listening to music by any artist that a perosn desires, whether it be James Brown or Ke$ha. In addition, the iPhone allows people to play all sorts of games, such as Angry Birds, that are available for people to have a good time with. Other things that the iPhone allows people to do (with reference to the new iPhone 5) is to read books, whether they are recent or old-time bestsellers, and to wathc movies, both old and new. The inclusion of many interactive and fun gadgets/apps on the iPhone itself has definately contributed to its great success over the last few years, in America.
In today's society, the iPhone has changed the way people view technology by allowing them to become intrigued by what it has to offer them on a day to day basis. The iPhone has been able to progress into a more offering piece of technology over the years that it has been in existance. Another note to make is that certain things about the iPhone have changed since the very first model to the new iPhone 5 released in September of 2012. These new changes include the facts that the new iPhone 5 is "18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than the previous version." In addition, "the company got rid of the traditional 30-pin dock connector for connecting the iPhone to power cables, stereo docking stations and other peripherals, replacing it with a smaller connector it calls Lightning." This change implys "that owners of existing iPhone accessories will have to purchase and adapter from Apple so they can plug the new phone into those devices." Other things that make the new iPhone 5 stand out from the previous models are its "larger screen, faster wireless Internet speeds and a more powerful chip." Based on these pieces of information, it is a wonder as to what will expected in future years for iPhones and what they have to offer us. The iPhone definately seems likely, based on this information, to become even better in the future.
Works Cited
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/iphone/index.html
By: Cam Hall
Many recent developments in the field of technology have enabled U.S. citizens to keep themselves occupied and entertained in their daily lives, but none quite so much as the iPhone. The iPhone came into existance back in 2007 and can be considered a mix of a cellular phone and an iPod with lots of gadgets/apps that are programmed into its system. Before the emergence of the iPhone, people could not have had any other technological device that could perform as many functions as this creation could. The iPhone became an instant hit with the majority of the people in the United States, thanks in no small part to what it had to offer to all of us. Over the last few years, the makers of the Apple iPhones have been able to improve their technilogical wonder by adding more to it from one model to the next, which has caused a great deal of the people in America to rely more on the iPhones. The people in America have come to rely on the iPhones to perform certain tasks (involving things that may have not been able to have been accomplished as efficiently without their use) and to enchant themselves on a regular day to day basis, which has become a common and repetitive habit among the people in America today. The iPhone is used frequently in today's society due to its ability to use time efficiently, and have many amusing and interactive gadgets/apps for users to play around with.
The iPhone is able to allow people to consume very little amounts of time when they are trying to do important things. The Apple iPhone is able to do this by including a device that allows you to say a message into a recorder on the iPhone that will analyze what the person has said and respond to it by searching for the best result(s) that match with what the person said and finding them all in a matter of seconds. This would easily save people the trouble of having to type in by hand onto their iPhones what they were looking for One example of a situation where this device would come in handy would be when people are trying to search on the internet for important information that they may need for a paper that they are writng for a report, etc. Another example of a situation would be when people are trying to send messages to others while they are doing other important things so that way not as much time is wasted trying to create the message needed to be sent to its recipient(s). One other example of a situation would be when random questions pop in peoples' minds and they are curious to know what the answer are to them. These people can quickly and efficiently find out the answers by asking the iPhone these questions and it will locate and pull up the answers in very short periods of time. The iPhone saves time in another way by having touch screens that respond to a person's fingers when he or she taps a certain icon on the screen and then it opens up the contents of what information that is stored in that icon. This allows fast access to certain sites and information, especially when these sites are represented by icons that are right on the home menu of a perosn's iPhone. The efficient use of time has definately contributed to the iPhone's great success over the last few years, in America.
The iPhone is able to allow people to explore many different sites and do many different kinds of activities on it through its many different apps/gadgets that it comes installed with. This recent development in technology had the ability to visit a wide range of websites in certain ways unlike any other ways that have been performed in the past. The Apple iPhone allows users to check their statuses on Facebook and to reply to any messages they have received from other people that they know. In addition, the iPhone allows people to watch videos online via a icon on its home menu that links people to the popular website called YouTube. On the plus side, the iPhone allows users to do all sorts of fun things like listening to music by any artist that a perosn desires, whether it be James Brown or Ke$ha. In addition, the iPhone allows people to play all sorts of games, such as Angry Birds, that are available for people to have a good time with. Other things that the iPhone allows people to do (with reference to the new iPhone 5) is to read books, whether they are recent or old-time bestsellers, and to wathc movies, both old and new. The inclusion of many interactive and fun gadgets/apps on the iPhone itself has definately contributed to its great success over the last few years, in America.
In today's society, the iPhone has changed the way people view technology by allowing them to become intrigued by what it has to offer them on a day to day basis. The iPhone has been able to progress into a more offering piece of technology over the years that it has been in existance. Another note to make is that certain things about the iPhone have changed since the very first model to the new iPhone 5 released in September of 2012. These new changes include the facts that the new iPhone 5 is "18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than the previous version." In addition, "the company got rid of the traditional 30-pin dock connector for connecting the iPhone to power cables, stereo docking stations and other peripherals, replacing it with a smaller connector it calls Lightning." This change implys "that owners of existing iPhone accessories will have to purchase and adapter from Apple so they can plug the new phone into those devices." Other things that make the new iPhone 5 stand out from the previous models are its "larger screen, faster wireless Internet speeds and a more powerful chip." Based on these pieces of information, it is a wonder as to what will expected in future years for iPhones and what they have to offer us. The iPhone definately seems likely, based on this information, to become even better in the future.
Works Cited
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/iphone/index.html
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