Post 26

Mr. Brinkley, like myself sees the difference in women in the workplace between now and 100 years ago. ", I think the women in today's society are more capable of bringing home the bacon now than they were over a century ago when A Doll's House was written. Around that time, the husband always brings home the bacon and supports the wife by giving them money"

Mrs. Nesbit thinks that despite women's new role as workers, they are just ADDED too the same roles that were expected back in the day. "the expected role of women today are not much different from that of the nineteenth century. We are still expected to designate our main roles to that of wife and mother."

Post 25

The roles of women have changed a lot since the late 1800s. Women have gone from being basically being property (couldn't own property, couldn't inherit, couldn't have jobs mostly) of their husbands to now owning businesses.

In the setting of A Doll House, Nora's expect role is to be a mother and a wife, even if she doesn't want to be. Society will frown upon her if she does anything else. 

Currently, there is still some expectation for women to get married and have kids, but it isn't the kind of thing that makes people show up at your house calling you immoral. 

One of my cousins recently got married and has spent the last 3 years constantly telling people she doesn't want kids. So, there's still some leftovers of this belief that women should stay home and care for children, it just isn't as mandatory as it was 100 years ago.

Post 24

I've seen a lot of movies. I used to work at a movie theater, so I got tickets for free. In fact, I've probably seen every major movie released between 2011-2015.

The problem with movies as opposed to other mediums of storytelling is that there are so MANY people trying to tell various versions of the same story.

In the simplest form, you have the scriptwriter, who for all intents created the story. You have the director, who usually will veto parts of the script he or she doesn't like (and will ultimately get all the credit for the film). You have a team of editors, who take EVERY scene and cut it down to be an appropriate length and style.

Generally, this means that the end product only appears to be a single cohesive story if you don't examine the story closely. For example, Iron Man 3 (while it does a great job depicting Tony Stark suffering some severe PTSD) doesn't make a whole lot of sense, plotwise.

So I think I have to award the best movie plot to the 1977 Star Wars movie. The fact that it makes any sense at all is a remarkable feat, because George Lucas wrote and filmed a whole lot of nonsense that didn't make any sense, and it's only because of his wife, who was the head editor that it was salvaged, and the plot holds up extremely well (even if the graphics don't)

Post 23

I think my favorite show at the moment is Stranger Things (though my favorite show changes probably every week)

Stranger Things is set in a rural-ish suburb in the 1980s.

What this means is that communication is harder (no cell phones) fear is heightened (Cold War Era).

This makes the perfect backdrop for Project MKultra style government conspiracy stuff, as well as creating a heightened sense of drama, as no one can communicate newly discovered info easily.

Post 22

E.E Cumming's poem "next to of course god america i" is an indictment of the American political system, where politicians claim to love america (almost as much as god) and then send  Americans to their deaths in battle like "lions to the roaring slaughter". It mocks the idea that being a martyr is noble or worthy of pursuing.

Similarly, Green Day, in thier song "Holiday" points out this same farce of honesty and hypocrisy. "Can I get another Amen?
There's a flag wrapped around a score of menA gag, a plastic bag on a monument" 

To Cummings and Green Day, the idea that American politicans give slightest iota of a damn about the common citizen is laughable. The fact that they all CONSTANTLY say religious-patriotic jargon. Things haven't changed much since the 20's clearly.  

post 21

In Robert Frost's poem "Acquainted with the Night", night symbolizes a few things. Loneliness, sadness, depression, lack of connection. The speaker in the poem walks past people and doesn't feel connected with them. "I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. "

Will Varley's song "Seize the Night" walks in a similar street. He depicts a morose mood, "you tried to catch Sleep but she's run off to torment your mind
and you lie there awake and unnerved" Similarly, Varley's lyrics depict feeling disconnected from others "Well we got off the bus, a kiss on the cheek said maybe i'd give you a call next week but we both know those calls will never come"

Post 19

My life is like the left hand part of a piano performance. It doesn't call attention, doesn't take the center stage, but still, it exists, and still it gives context and backing to the higher moments.

The notes sound, of aging wood and hammered string
Low and sonorous, giving depth and giving breath
Background is no empty thing

Post 18

Images can mean different things to different people, because different people experience even similar things in different ways.

For example, in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" John Keats seems to envy the people in the depictions on the Urn, "When old age shall this generation waste, thou shalt remain".

Meanwhile, nearly 2000 years later, Punk band The Menzingers sings "Last friday night I wasn't me, I was a still life trapped in eternity, I was the focal point of a focus, out of ink"

The speaker seems to LAMENT that he was previously so resistant to change, instead of desirous of it.

Post 17

I have trouble with making choices. I think I can solidly show a personal life struggle with thisw image. Once you commit to a path, you are sort of stuck on it forever. You can go and pick other ones, but you have to start at square one and I hate square one. The Paradox of Choice plays a big role. There are SO MANY options in life, how can i Pick just a few?

Post 16

in "Hazel Tells Laverne" by Katharyn Howd Machan uses the myth of "kissing a frog to turn it into a prince." In the poem, Hazel rejects this myth, choosing to hit the frog with a mop and flush it down the drain. The more figurative myth it represents, that you can get something "me, a princess" for nothing "just kiss me" is not even given consideration, but discarded.

Post 15

There is a myth my life that has shaped the course of my life. That myth is "If you don't do well in school you'll end up in the millitary". My parents both felt that the military was an option for people who weren't smart enough to pursue a higher education. This is a pretty poisonous belief, and for a very long time the fact that I struggled in school made me sure I was going to end up holding a rifle. It scared me. It felt like a punishment for not being good at life. So when I dropped out of college my first time around, and someone suggested I join the millitary, I actively picked to work low paying jobs instead.

In hindsight, if I had joined the military at 19 I would already be done with my service, and I wouldn't have to be overly worried about paying for school.

This myth is common among the educated elites from the north and I only managed to shake it recently, when a friend of mine joined the Army and very quickly was put on a path to become a doctor. He's the smartest person I have ever known.

Post 14

What will my verse be? Robin William's character in Dead Poet's society asks his class what their contribution to the "powerful play" will be. What will their life amount too?

I hope that my verse is one of quiet kindness. Of healing. Of helping.

Post 13

I think one of my favorite song lyrics comes from a song by Against Me called "Because of the Shame" The song details being at a funeral for an old romantic partner. "With your casket open in front of me, your eyes closed and your lips silent"

The speaker also feels a sense of guilt over the death as well as a confusion about if he meant anything to them. "I'm not sure what i meant to you then, so I'm not sure what I owe you now. But if something I said hurt you, I swear it was not my intention"

He also mentions being afraid of being open and hurt, "Because of the shame, that I associate with Vulnerability, I am numbing myself completely"

post 12

I could put different parts of my life under some thematic context or another, but I think there might be one best to the total sum of my experience, and in the interest of normalizing these things I'm going to be super blunt about it.

I've struggled with mental illness since I was about 6 years old. I've been on countless anti-depressants, several attention span corrective health plans, therapy. I spent the second half of my sophomore year of high-school in a mental facility.

I've spent my whole life fighting my own mind. Even medicated properly (which I am currently, thankfully), with a good diet and exercise regimen, I sometimes cannot muster the power to get out of bed, or cook, or go outside, or anything at all.

I think the theme of my life is almost unquestionably "Learning to be content even when you are miserable"

Post 11

I think the theme of the Story of the United States is the theme of progression.

It started as a group of wealthy white men who didn't want to pay taxes, and gradually became a nation where all were allowed to participate in the governmental process.

Post 10

Zack posted about his wallet, but he went into some detail about how the Pittsburg Steeler's logo that is on his wallet came to be. "It was originally the logo used by the company U.S. Steel, but looked a tad different. In 1962, the Steelers adopted the logo as their team logo"

Alex talked about the Seed of Life Pendant he wears, and how it can "form any equilateral geometrical shape in existence when repeated enough times." I looked it up and it's pretty cool. It goes back as far as ancient Egypt! 

Post 9

I don't really wear or carry anything symbolic. I have a couple pendants that hand from my rearview mirror that is somewhat symbolic but only to me. Each pendant is a symbolic representation of a Dungeons and Dragons adventure I've either run or played. I have one with a spider on it, a pig, and ankh, so we're going to talk about the last one.

Historically, an ankh is an ancient Egyptian symbol representing life and eternity. It's commonly depicted in the hands of the Egyptian Gods in tombs, symbolically giving eternal afterlife to the buried person.

It became a popular symbol in the 1960's for New Age religions like Wicca, generally with the same meaning of Life as in ancient Egypt.

Post 8

My colleagues had many thoughts on ZZ. Packer's "Geese", some of which were even valid.

Dainty's observation that Dina was motivated to flee a poorer neighborhood to a more wealthy culture was something I hadn't noticed. "To Dina, this was quite the opposite of her world as she knew it."

Imani had mostly the same understanding as me, that the setting was meant to convey a difference in American Culture and Japanese Culture. "One of the major differences was that the language is different, which made this story more interesting to us all. I could only imagine how she felt, knowing that the decision  wasn't considered so much of  a smart decision"

Post 7

ZZ Packer's story "Geese" takes place mostly in Toyko. This is important because Dina is not from Toyko, and generally neither is the audience. This means we are just as culturally confused as Dina through the course of the story.

The thing that is important about seeing Dina as the outsider, is that back in her home, the locals considered all Orientals to be the same. "Chong's is Chinese, Miss Gloria" "Same difference."

Arriving in Japan, Dina is now the outsider. "Everyone was looking at them, and she'd never felt more foreign, more gaijin"

Post 6

Gail Godwin is the author of "A Sorrowful Woman". The protagonist of the story is a woman who cannot bear to be around her child, and gradually distances herself from her responsibilities as a caregiver and a member of the family.

Godwin was raised by a single mother, "a college teacher who was the model for some of Godwin's strong female characters." Being raised by a single mother showed Godwin a version of adult life where being married as a woman (which certainly in the 40s and 50s was much more a subservient role than perhaps it is now) was not only unnecessary but harmful as well. Consider young Godwin, with her strong mother working a career and being her own person, surrounded by a society where wives are forced to stay home and raise children and wash dishes. I think the role of wife to Godwin seemed much more like "Brood-sow and maid" than "equal partner in a relationship"

Which is possibly where we get the protagonist for "A Sorrowful Woman". The role of wife and mother is literally so unfulfilling and so smothering that The Woman perishes.

Post 4

I'm not entirely sure I would consider any event in my life to be story or poetry worthy. The lack of dragons and explosions and punching is probably why. 

I suppose if I was forced to pick a single event to write a story about it would be...no I seriously can't think of anything. I guess I could write about going to Texas and how it was terrible, but it's a pretty boring story. Or I could write about how Florida is cursed and every time I go there some thing obnoxious happens. 

Poetry is easier, there's less need to tell an original story. One of my friends who writes lyrics for a living said that writing poetry is often about "bridging the gap between what is personal oand what is universal". This is why so many love songs and break up songs appeal to us. They contain details that give us a vivid depiction of a specific relationship but are also vague enough that we can consider them to apply to us. So for poetry,  I could write about previous relationships, or friends who have moved away, or being sick with the flu. 

Post 3: Life vs Story

My real life, like most people's lives, does not have a great deal in common with the plot progression of a typical story. It has a beginning, a middle, and (eventually will have) an end, but that is just about where the similarities stop.

I can't reorganize the order my life goes, the way a writer would, to make certain things emphasized.

Stories are usually driven by casual events, one thing leading to another, like in Tarzan, when Tarzan pursues an ape who has kidnapped Jane, a series of described events has lead to that moment. In real life, things happen that are often beyond the scope of our control or even knowledge to explain the plot of.

Post 2: Movie Meanings

It's REALLY difficult for me to pick a favorite movie. I like so many, and putting them on a scale of "Most Liked" to "Liked but not as much as others" seems fairly arbitrary. Plus, it probably depends on my mood. So lets pick TWO of my favorite movies (of wildly different genres) and talk about what they mean. We're gonna go with Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) (please refrain from mentioning the Ewok problem, I am already aware.) and The Nice Guys (2016). Wildy different movies. Epic Space Fantasy and Tongue-In-Cheek Buddy Cop films.

Return of the Jedi is superficially about Luke Skywalker and Co. finally defeating an oppressive militaristic Dictatorship. Magic powers and the laser swords and the Harrision Ford quips aside, it's stopping a dictator.

However, the method which this is accomplished says a lot more than what is accomplished here. Luke is told repeatedly by his mentors that he will have to murder his father to become a real Hero and to have any hope of defeating the Emperor himself. However, we see him beat Darth Vader in a duel, only to have the Emperor begin killing him with ease. It's clear that defeating Vader was not a solution. However, Luke didn't kill his father, and in fact, we see him deliberately cast aside his weapon and refuse to do so, not only defying the Emperor, but also his only two mentor figures. It is EXCLUSIVELY this decision that wins the day, because his act of compassion and mercy (and subsequent torture) is what shows Vader the straighter path. Luke's demonstrative willingness to do what is right leads Vader to do the same, and Vader himself defeats the Emperor. Luke becomes a Jedi through choosing compassion and rejecting violence and hatred, not through being the best warrior. It's a very different message than we are usually left with. Choosing Good is more important than Choosing to Win.

The Nice Guys is directed by Shane Black, who is a fantastic director. On the surface, it's about figuring out who murdered a porn star with Ryan Gostlin and Russel Crowe. It's funny, it's got gun shots, and it's a pretty solid detective movie.

Below the surface, we have a couple different meanings. Spoilers ahead.

First of all, the bad guy is the Car Industry, who kill a LOT of people to keep the fact that an aspect of their new cars is destroying the environment. That's pretty pro-environmentalism.

But more meaningfully, we first see Holland March (Ryan Gosling) sitting up in a bathtub, still clothed with the words "You will never be happy" written on his hand. We see his daily life as a private investigator who has recently lost his wife. He lacks some common sense (he winds up in the hospital after punching through a window, what did he think was gonna happen?) and he's a little morally grey (he takes money from an old woman who's gone senile) but he loves his daughter a great deal.  It isn't until half way through that we find out what he's really so down in the dumps. His wife died in a fire, and he blames himself because the fire was his fault. However, over the course of the movie, as he becomes friends with Jackson Healy (Russel Crowe) and his daughter becomes entangled in the investigation, he begins to seem less bitter, less closed off. At the climax, in a "blink and you'll miss it" moment, we see what the movie is really about, as March looks at his hand after they stop the bad guys, the writing on his hand is smudged. Now it says "You will be happy".

English 1102 Post 1: Introduction

Hi, my name is Ben Schurmann.

I play several instruments and sing (I'm looking for open mike nights and maybe a performance club)

I like fantasy novels, most movies, and punk rock.

This is not my first attempt at college, I made an attempt right after high school and it didn't go well.

I'm a fairly good reader and writer, so I'm hoping do well in English.

Post 14

It looks like there are a couple things we all learned from this course.
Kayleigh says "I've learned how to use MLA properly and there is an actual format for it, because I was never taught that" and Adam says "In particular the MLA style.  Before this class I had heard of these styles but didn't know anything about them.  The formatting, citations etc... are all new to me."

So we all learned MLA and it stuck, which is good. 

Kelli noted something I missed, "how to address the reader and the importance of addressing the reader early on" which I dind't realize was important until this class. (A+ good catch Kelli)

Kayleigh also pointed out something I didn't, the importance of a good peer review. 

We all learned some small variations but the basics we all seemed to get pretty thoroughly. 


http://kayengl1101.blogspot.com/

http://krolandengl1101.blogspot.com/

http://engl1101koerner.blogspot.com/2017/07/post-13-lessons-on-learning-in-todays.html

Post 13

This term I have learned:

-I use commas far too often. I didn't realize this until this course but it turns out that I put a comma where I would pause when speaking. This is grammatically incorrect.

-MLA format changes! WHO KNEW??

-My proof-reading needs work. I need to pay more attention.

-Essay writing is a pretty good method of internalizing knowledge. I'm now pretty well versed on why Nursing is a good opportunity,  what I should aim to take away from a college composition course, and how to study-even though none of these was the focus of the class

-How to write citations. From Scratch.

Post 12

I am not a superstitious person. In fact, I might even go so far as to say I am anti-superstitious (regular stitious?)

For example, there was an old Irish superstition that milk would go sour in the presence of a witch. This was before people knew about microbes that feed on the lactose in milk. Totally logical basis for a belief that is just udderly preposterous (pun intended).

My friend Rachel loves the idea of ghosts. Everytime we go on a vacation she wants to stop at every supposedly haunted locale and go "Ghost Hunting". I always reject this idea. I think she'd have a lot less fun at a ghost house if I was there saying things like "the way that the windows and doors are positioned in this room makes a wind tunnel, which is why the corner seems so much warmer."

I'm a fun killer.

Post 11

Sometimes you say something to a friend, like "there's no medical basis for the claim you have to drink 8 cups of water a day" and then they get mad at you, as though correcting their lack of information is somehow a personal affront on the level of kicking their dog. Then you send them a web article that elaborates on the fact you just said. This is casual documentation of fact. This is the most basic form of a Works Cited page. The only real difference between this and academic citation is that academic citation requires you to list the source in a specific format.

Really, it's identical, aside from the double spacing and the order of information.

Post 10

Wonder Woman was a phenomenal movie. 

First of all, the camera work was basically perfect, as was the lighting (I am required to mention the lighting, as my close friend Jordan is a lighting specialist for movies). 

Even more importantly was the choices that were made in the presentation of Diana's character. There has been a disturbing trend in superhero movies for the last half decade: They are more concerned about being Super than being Heros. Tony Stark causes 90% of the problems in the Marvel universe, and all of his battles are with demons of his own creation (Ultron, Obadiah, Guy Pearce Breathing Fire.) Superman is about throwing people through buildings and punching aliens really hard. 

Good Storytelling isn't about who has the coolest powers or who can do what. It's about who WILL do what, what are they willing to sacrifice? 

Wonder Woman overcomes this shortcoming. She refuses to accept limitations, refuses to accept that people would willingly sacrifice the lives of innocents. She sees people in distress and instead of punching everything in sight, she goes to them, immediately, and tries to heal them. She gently wakes a disturbed soldier from a nightmare, she embraces a woman who has lost her home, and she shows mercy to the other side.

In the end, the "Wonder" part is well done, but its the "Woman" that is really Super.

Post 9

The organization of a piece of writing is of paramount importance.

Usually in academia, I follow a few simple rules.

If I am writing for history, or writing a lab report, I go in chronological order. What happened first, and what did he/she/they/I do next? What Happened because of X event and so on

In persuasive writing, I usually organize by strength of argument. I put my weakest points first, so that my reader is left with my most authoritative examples and tone at the end.

In personal work, I usually just go with what FEELS right. Sometimes a verse works better switched around, or perhaps a flashback belongs at the end of a chapter instead of in the middle or as a preface.

Post 8

The main problem for me with academic writing, as opposed to texting is it's inherent formal nature. My normal speech (and therefore, my normal writing voice) is peppered with slang phrases, uncouth words, and improper grammar that make swapping to the world of academia a challenge.

I can't say "LOL" or use emoticons in a paper. I can't swear, or use the habitual be. "Cookie monster be eating cookies" would earn me a subpar grade in a classroom setting, even though linguistic scholars point out that it isn't a misuse of the word.

A professor or teacher is looking to see that my ability to communicate formally is coherent in academic writing. I am being judged on not just what I say, but how I say it.

Informal writing is about communication, not judgment.

Post 7

• 
  

Texting different people is a difference in linguistics. With my parents, I use formal grammar, capital letters, clear punctuation. This is because the method of reading that they grew up with is letter writing and emails, which are both formal.

With my peers, however, linguistics change, because we grew up on the internet, where speed of communication and emotional clarity took precidence over intellectual clarity, and as such, abbreviations, smiley faces, and almost dadaist quips are the normal modality. If I were to send the message "I aM so MaD?" to my mother, she'd probably be confused. Why am I asking a question about my own emotional state? Why are my letters capitalized so randomly? Most people my age, however, recognize that I am not asking a question, i am expressing surprise, and incredulity. The subtext is "I can't BELIEVE this".

 This is somewhat distinct from academic writing, where, regardless of whether my audience is my instructor or a group of my peers, my main goal is clarity of thought. Therefore, I must use fully formed sentences, clearly demarkated by paragraphs when I finish a specific point. I must summon the full might of my SAT vocabulary so that I sound academic and don't inadvertently add "Lol" to my paper. 

Post 6:

"They say that music with guitars is going out of style" sings British Singer-songwriter-punk Frank Turner in his song "Four Simple Word"

This may not be entirely accurate, rock stations still play new songs by rising bands, and many feature guitars. The point of the phrase, and one that comes up often in his songs, is that music as a craft, as a way of connecting listeners to the music emotionally, and creating a sense of shared experience, is on its way out. Frank Turner calls his brand of music "campfire punk rock" because, in his view, the music scene has become about profiting off art and putting artists on pedestals. He wants to change that, to hold on to the concept of music performance as being about creating a community.

His shows capture this, he talks to the audience the way a person might around a fire, or around a coffee table in someone's living room. It's a hard thing to describe, but for around 4 hours, once a year or so when he makes his way to the Atlanta area, I have 300 friends I've never met before. We line up for hours before his shows waiting for the doors to open, we trade jokes and take pictures and when Frank steps onto the stage, there's something almost spiritual about the sensation.

There are songs about love, of course, but there are more about other things. About the feeling of nostalgia when you're in your hometown, or losing an old friend to sickness, or of being angry with politics, or even just the feeling of listening to a Bruce Springsteen song.

His latest record, "Positive Songs for Negative People" could be his job description.

I don't know when his next show is, but I know one thing for sure,

I'm buying a ticket.

Post 5

A public issue that concerns me? Just one? I have a veritable LAUNDRY LIST of public issues that concern me. Racism in policing, politicians who vote against the needs of their constituents, explosions in London, poisoned water in Michigan. But let's talk about one that's maybe overlooked in the wider context of our culture: Voter Disenfranchising.

It's been "technically" illegal to discriminate voters based on race or nationality since 1870. EIGHTEEN SEVENTY. It's been ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN YEARS since the United States made illegal to discriminate at the voting booth. I say "Technically" because at almost no time since then has it been enforced in the spirit of the law.

Immediately after it passed, ESPECIALLY in southern states literacy tests were required for non-whites, which was intentionally done to keep former slaves and their children from voting, because slaves RARELY knew how to read or write. Poll taxes were also often enforced which kept these same groups away from the polls because they were often intentionally made to be beyond their expenses. This continued until 1953 with the Supreme Court case Terry v. Adams, which was the 7th case brought to the Supreme Court about this practice. The 7th case where the practices were struck DOWN, that is. These cases spanned nearly four decades, from 1915 (Guinn v. United States) until Terry v. Adams.

We're never really explained what the term "Civil Rights Movement" means. Sure we know what it is, but during the countless years of state schooling, I've had not once has a teacher explained what Civil Rights are. Civil Rights are what protect the freedom of individuals from being diminished by governments, organizations and private citizens.

Voting was possibly THE most important issue of the civil rights movement because, in the South, minorities were kept from registering to vote in the first place. This kept African Americans from voting in elections, but even more insidiously, it kept them from serving on juries. This meant that when an African American citizen brought a criminal charge against someone, none of the jury meant to uphold justice was truly a member of their community. This simple act of disenfranchisement kept hundreds of cases from being served with any true substance of justice or integrity.

But lets skip ahead to right now. Present day. That's all over right? Wrong. Take for instance the case of Dorothy Cooper, who had been voting for nearly 60 years when her home state of Tenneese passed legislation requiring voters to have a state-issued ID card to vote in 2012. Dorothy Cooper didn't own a car. Or have a passport. Those are things people who drive or who can afford international travel have. She'd been voting for 60 years, so what was the sudden problem?

For more recent examples you can go here.
Voter Fraud. Under the claim of stopping voter fraud, nearly 31 states have passed laws requiring IDs to vote. Even though there were only FOUR cases of fraud in November's presidential election. not Four percent, four CASES. Total.

"A FRONTLINE analysis of voting laws nationwide found that only six of the 31 states that require ID at the polls apply those standards to absentee voters, who are generally whiter and older than in-person voters. And two states with strict photo ID policies for in-person voters — Rhode Island and Georgia — have recently passed bills that allow anyone to mail in a ballot." (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/why-voter-id-laws-arent-really-about-fraud/)

So, Why are we letting people mail in ballots if they need to show proof of ID? 

Because it's about keeping the 11% of minorities, or the impoverished from voting against the people in power. Certain groups do better in elections if certain groups don't vote, so it's more convenient to just prevent them from voting at all.

It's still happening in 2017, folks, make no mistake. It's just wrapped up in a lot of red-tape and blatant falsehoods to make it seem like its above-board and fair. It's not. It's a load of horse feces. 

Post 4

Online Writing has altered our ability to write. Twenty years ago, to communicate with a friend who you didn't see often, you had to write them a letter (or call them, but we're discussing writing) mail it, wait for them to read it, and then wait for them to write back. When we look at letters from the past, they're often long, and touch on multiple topics before ending. We can see the remnants of this in email communication.  With the introduction of instant messaging services and texting, we see that people can communicate back and forth rapidly, and move from topic to topic more easily.

Similarly, the online paradigm allows people to write as a unit more coherently. Joint publications prior to the internet required people to verbally communicate what they wanted to write and decide before putting the idea to paper, but online media has allowed collaboration to take place in real time, and co-authors can see what an idea looks like on the page and decide to keep it or not.

Post 3

I constantly need clarification. At work, instructions are sometimes vague or non-specific, and I have to send an email that describes what I am going to do in great detail, to make sure I have understood my task properly. 

My friend Jay is currently working on a fictional setting he plans to write novels in, and I'm the wall he bounces ideas off of. Sometimes, he words these ideas in a way that is not at all conducive to my understanding. And I have to rephrase them, and inquire "Do I have that understood correctly?" 

I think possibly one of the most important ways I write to learn is just that; rephrasing or further specifying a concept of instruction to make sure I have learned the information I need from it. 

This is likely the basis for educational papers, now that I consider it. Explaining something to someone else requires us to have understood it. 

Post 2: The Most Important Lesson of Composition I

Possibly the most important aspect of writing in any of its many forms is the ability to express clarity of concept.  To obtain clarity in a written work, writers must strive to REVISE the work into something, well, clear. Revision allows us to take information and organize it so that it flows easily into the mind of the reader. Revision allows us to note where we have failed to inform our readers of crucial aspects that would display the full scope of our points.
"Don’t worry too much about spelling, punctuation, and similar errors right now. There’s no sense in spending a lot of time fixing capitalization and grammar, for example, if you’re going to end up deleting the whole paragraph or section anyway because you decide it’s unnecessary or it doesn’t really fit. Instead, think about the overall content of your paper. Determine whether or not the information really suits the scope and purpose of your document, and if so, where it belongs" Says Stacie Heaps, in her article "How to Revise Your Writing". This is her first step, and so too must understanding revision be our first step into the world of writing




Source
http://www.writeexpress.com/revise-writing.html

Post 1: My Not-So-Nifty Introduction

Hello, my name is Benjamin Schurmann. I'm twenty-four years old and I'm coming back to school after a long absence. I've been working as a dialysis technician for about two years, and I've decided to pursue a Nursing degree because healthcare really appeals to me and I'm pretty darn good at it!

I'm currently living in Atlanta, but I'm probably moving to Macon in a few months. My sister Meg is at Georgia State persuing pre-law and my other sister Bailey is a Middle School English teacher.