Reflections on a Powerful Semester

Wow! I cannot believe the semester is nearly over. I am just happy to have survived. I was so nervous when I walked into your class on the first day. I soon learned, however, that you were very concerned and compassionate about your teaching and your students. I anticipated having to spend a lot of time on your assignments and I was right. I do feel that you did a great job of laying the groundwork for each assignment, and I really liked the way each task built up to the next. This really helped me to prepare for the next project you assigned. At the beginning of the semester, you mentioned that grammar was not part of the curriculum for this particular class, but I am sure glad you did include it in the course. The effort you made to help us with our grammar increased my confidence with my writing skills tremendously. As the semester progressed, I looked forward to each grammar mini-lesson you provided at the beginning of each class. They were very helpful and gave me the opportunity to catch up on some much needed skills that I had lost through the years. When it came time to do the research paper, my anxiety and stress level exploded. I knew it was going to be a very demanding task and hard work, which I am not afraid of doing. Again, you made it a step-by-step process, which really helped me to get started. Even though it consumed a lot of time, this was probably my favorite project. I really enjoyed the research and learning more in depth about my argument. Building this project from the ground up was very satisfying for me when it was finally complete. I can only hope that all my future instructors will be as engaging and helpful as you are. I really can't think of anything you could change. Thanks for a great semester!

Recognizing Plagiarism

Exercise 64.6-Summarize and Paraphrase

Summary: Paragraph 1

The Gemological Institute, determined by testing and grading, gems created in a laboratory by man was just as real as natural ones (Davis 40).

Summary: Paragraph 2

Customer demand for ecological friendly gem production has increased significantly since 2003. As a result, Genesis, a leader in diamond production, has extended their gem production radically to meet the demand for green stones (Davis 40).

Paraphrase: Paragraph 1

An employee of the Gemological Institute was extremely excited when he realized after comparing a laboratory gem with a natural one that they were of equal quality. It was his opinion that the artificial diamond industry was just as significant as natural stones(Davis40).

Paraphrase: Paragraph 2

The man made diamond industry, after an uphill battle to compete against natural gems, was finally accepted as authentic when the demand for green diamonds escalated. This was due in part because of the desire of customers to purchase “environmental friendly (no open-pit mines), socio-politically neutral (no blood diamonds), and monopoly free (not controlled by De Beers)”(Davis 40). Genesis, a leader in diamond production, added a significant number of diamond producing machines that generated as much money as the productivity of a small mine(Davis 40).

Exercise 64.7-Pattern Practice

Over the past five years, there has been a 30% decline in CD sales; confirming the analysis of a leading researcher of the market.Based on a recording company’s analysis of the most frequently visited web sites offering downloads, the most popular were all single songs, confirming the trend of single music downloading.LP albums permitted artists to record more than one song on an album, and created an opportunity to produce longer songs. It gave entertainers a new lack of restrictions when they produced recordings.


Exercise 64.8 – Writing Practice

Topic: School violence and the effects of school violence seriously affect the safety of our students in schools.

Although violence in schools has been a major concern for parents, students, and educators, it continues to be a pressing problem in the United States. There is no one specific reason for this violence but is actually perpetuated by a number of issues. There continues to huge problems with gangs in our schools, and although we have made efforts to curb the rash of gang violence, it has been difficult. Many children bring weapons to school because they are afraid of being beat up, bullied, or intimated. Drugs also add to the effect of school violence and can be a deadly combination when mixed with gangs. School crime disrupts the daily routine of teaching and learning in schools and may have a lasting effect on children. According to Nancy Day, “They may feel guilty that they were not able to prevent the incident, and they may even suffer long term psychological problems”(12). Students need to feel safe and protected in our schools and we need to do everything possible to make this a reality(Day 12).

Yes, Don't Impede Medical Progress

I found this essay to be very interesting and intellectually challenging. This assignment will help me with writing my own research paper by using similar strategies to present my argument. Below, you will find the answers to the discussion questions.

1. The thesis statement that the author is trying to support is the fact that: “Scientists hope to coax embryonic stem cells into becoming specialized tissue such as nerve, muscle, or pancreatic islet cells. Therapeutic cloning, or nucleus transplantation, could make such treatment more effective”. The author placed the thesis statement in paragraph two in order to have a strong introduction of her argument in the first paragraph.

2. The author connects her agreement to the broader issues in paragraph 17 where she states that biomedicine has already “altered the human experience”. For instance, she states that our life expectancy has doubled worldwide, childbirth is no longer a danger to mother and infant, and childhood is no longer a time for early death. Her argument is that biomedicine has already affected human lives in a positive way. She leads you with the feeling of, “Why stop now”? The author’s use of the progress of biomedicine is a very effective argument.

3. The strategy of answering the objections to an argument is important because it negates the critics of the author’s argument. The main arguments are, a fertilized egg is a person, unscrupulous people will take advantage of cloning, and we should not be involved in human genetic engineering. The main strategies that she used to answer her critics are centered on common sense dialog that addressed the potential of biomedicine.

4. The word “fear” was used several times in the essay in order to play on the emotions of her audience. The author realizes that cloning, advanced cell technology of a human egg, and stem cell research conjures up fear and doubt in the minds of certain populations in America, such as, the anti abortion movement.

5. In a very subtle way, the author explains how our culture has evolved very slowly to progress to our current stag. She explains that our lives our very different from our ancestors because of the advancement of science. She ends her argument by stating that we should let the “process continue”. The effect on the reader is that we should not stop the progress of science research. The fact that she did not mention cloning in her closing argument, was a very strong and legitimate tactic because it left the reader feeling as if it would foolish to stop the natural progression of science research and technology.

Analyzing an Argumentative Essay

Alejandra Galindo’s argumentative essay titled "The Use of Landmines"made a very strong argument against the use of this tactic in warfare, and urged the United States to sign the Mine Ban Treaty immediately. She also suggested for the United States to “put pressure on other countries” to do the same. In this compelling and passionate essay, the writer artfully used pathos as she gave many facts and data about the number of casualties and loss of limbs not only in soldiers, but also in civilians, children, and animals. She also included another great example of the use of pathos when she gave a detailed description of how lethal and maiming mines can be, not only in the present but also far into the future. Once these land mines have been set, normal everyday life turns into “fear that a family member may be killed or injured”. The writer creates in the reader such a feeling of sorrow and sadness for the people who have to live in fear and danger every day. Her use of ethos gave her paper a very credible argument as she quoted many authorities on the subject of land mines, such as, Mary Wareham, a senior advocate for human rights and Jody Williams, who won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for making the Mine Ban Treaty a reality. She also quoted James P. Grant, Executive Director of UNICEF, where he explains in his book how detrimental to society these land mines can be. The accomplishments and positions of the above individuals create a strong sense of ethos as the reader becomes deeply involved in the argument. In order to strengthen her case, she used logos throughout her paper as she quoted multiple facts and statistics to drive her point home to her audience. A strong example of this includes the following statistic used by Galindo, “33% of US casualties during the Vietnam War, and 34% during the Gulf War were caused by land mines”. The outside sources used in the essay were extremely credible because they were experts who were very knowledgeable in their field. I feel this essay was well written and strongly supported the argument.

Creating a Less Wordy Paragraph

Original Paragraph (106 words)

In comparing the settings of the two photographs, there is a huge disparity in the messages conveyed to the reader. The location of Obama’s public world is in a room surrounded by many different people who appear to be loyal, supportive, and enjoying his presence. He is sitting beside an elderly woman with his arm around her shoulder. Both are smiling and the setting is one of happiness, joy, and celebration. The closed surrounding of his private world is one of solitude and seclusion. The president is alone and appears to be working late into the night as he reflects on the many problems he encounters.

Revised Paragraph (75 words)

Comparing the settings of the photographs, there is disparity in the messages conveyed to the reader. Obama’s public world is a room surrounded by many people appearing loyal and supportive. Seated beside an elderly woman, both are smiling and the setting is one of happiness and joy. Obama’s private world is one of solitude and seclusion. The president is alone and working late into the night as he reflects on the many problems he encounters.

I really enjoyed this activity. It was like taking out pieces of a puzzle and still being able to capture the scene. I do have a tendacy to be wordy with my writing and this will be a great activity for me to use in the future.

Mid-Term Celebration!

Getting through the first half of the semester is definitely a celebration for me! Going back to school after 30 years was a big decision. However, I have truly enjoyed every minute of this adventure. I really did not know what to expect from myself as far as my writing skills go, but I was pleasantly surprised on how well I did on my first few essays. It did not come easy for me; I found myself sitting at my kitchen table for many hours struggling on how to get started. Although the class lectures have been very informative, I have had to do some of my own research in order to have a better understanding of what it takes to be a good writer. Since the first day of the semester until now, I have found that the writing is becoming somewhat easier for me. Even though I speak proper English, one of my biggest obstacles continues to be the use of correct grammar when I write. Speaking proper English is one of my pet peeves, and that’s why I can’t understand why it’s so difficult for me to write using correct grammar. I know with practice it will eventually become more natural for me and I will be able to spend more time researching on the topic of my essays. I have always been a firm believer in setting goals, but being out of school for so many years I really was not sure what a realistic one might be for this class. The goals that I set this semester was to be fully engaged during class, work hard, and put my whole heart into every assignment. I am thankful that my hard work and tenacity is paying off. My goal for the remainder of the semester is to continue to work diligently to improve my weaknesses in my writing skills. I look forward to the second half of this course.

Wordle Design

I've never heard of "Wordle" until now. I really enjoyed looking at the other designs. It's amazing with the words scrambled you can still capture the meaning of the story or the feeling of the creator.

© 2009 Jonathan Feinberg Terms of Use subscribe