Evidence

Without evidence, no one can make his or her argument effectively. It would be on weak grounds. There are different types of evidence. What counts as evidence?

            There are two types of evidence, firsthand evidence and secondhand evidence. In firsthand, to get evidence people uses observations, interviews, surveys, experiments and most importantly, personal experience. Most people when they write an argument they use personal experience because they know it will hit the readers on a personal level. In Lunsford page 478, Winn Schwartau reports on an experiment performed by a former hacker. The hacker took his audience to a trash bin behind Pacific Bell. He went dumpster diving and found all kinds of information useful for a hacker. He made a few calls and easily got $100,000 to his bank account with just that information he found in the dumpster. It is scary to know people can easily steal information and your identity! For secondhand evidence, people use library sources, and online sources to get evidence.

Writers must consider their audience and how evidence relates to them. The main thesis or point of the chapter is evidence and what kinds there are. I consider the most important for my academic writing is using different kind of evidence and how to use them effectively. 

http://news-libraries.mit.edu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/money.jpg

Pan's Labyrinth evaluation

The movie Pan’s Labyrinth is one of the movies of the year. Pan’s Labyrinth received 3 Oscars, 68 wins and 58 nominations. Pan’s Labyrinth got $37,384,484 in box office. It is like fairytale but for adults considering it is gruesome and visually imaginative movie. del Toro is a divided soul, a realist attuned to the strange vibrations of the supernatural, a lapsed Catholic ('not quite the same thing as an atheist') with an interest in sacrifice and redemption. When he made the movie, he confessed he lost a lot of weight and was disturbed by the movie in which he said almost destroyed him. del Toro often uses insects or insect imagery in his movies. He also uses religious relics and artifacts. He used fairytales and religion to make this movie phenomenal and illusionary. He mixed fantasy and reality into one and created this masterpiece.  In the movie, there were links of some scenes to other fairytale stories like Hans Christian. Del Toro referenced Alice in wonderland as an influence to his film. Pan’s Labyrinth is certainly not a children’s movie because of the grotesque scenes. The captain killed Ofelia because of his pride and because Ofelia took her brother. Guerrillas in the end kill the captain. Ofelia reunited with her long lost family.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/nov/05/features.review1

Purdue OWL

After I looked around on the OWL website, I found some interesting things that can help me in writing my paper. The website has APA format, which is good in case I forget the format I can look on the website. There are many different things on the OWL website such as on how to write research papers, literary analysis and criticism, logic in argumentative writing and citations. Most of the stuff we use is on the website. What we been learning so far is on making argumentative discussion. We would benefit from learning on the OWL website on different things. I would recommend using it to write a paper. I think you will develop your writing skills more if you refer to the website. If you need to cite something but don’t know how to cite it correctly you can look on the OWL for information. It has almost everything you can think of, English-related. It wont guide you wrong.

Pan's Labyrinth

In the movie Pan’s Labyrinth, a girl named Ofelia is approached by the faun and tells her she was a princess in past life. The faun told her she could become a princess again if she does the 3 things he asks her to do. She does it but she faces challenges such as temptations.

When I watched the movie for the first time last Wednesday, I was fascinated since the beginning of the movie. I heard that it was very good and it made me curious as to what people were talking about. I felt the element in the movie was dark and gloomy which is good because it made the movie the way it should be. The characters were wonderful and engrossing, especially Ofelia. She was very disobedient. I admire her because she goes with her guts and thinks what’s right. I was sad but at the same time mad that the captain killed her at the end. She didn’t deserve to die. I mean, she’s just a girl that disobeys. I am sure a lot of kids disobey. She was stubborn in the scene where she had to retrieve a knife from some place. She let temptations get the best of her when she passed a table full of food. The faun and the fairies warned her not to eat anything or the pale man would eat her. She managed to escape. There were a few scenes that made my jaw drop, especially when the captain does those ruthless things to innocent people. The captain was very heartless and didn’t care about people’s feelings. When he smashes the peasant’s face in with a bottle I was shocked because I didn’t think anyone could do that. I cringed when I saw the hand of the captured rebel. It was torn in half. I couldn’t believe it. I was hoping he was not going to hurt Mercedes but luckily she escaped. He is a sadistic person because he was trying to live up to his father’s image. I guess his father didn’t accept him so the captain was trying to be powerful and did all those cruel things.

   In the end, I was enthralled in that movie. I loved it. I want to watch it again sometime. I felt like this was the best movie made the year it came out. It was a world filled with imaginary and reality. I would recommend people to watch Pan’s Labyrinth because they too will become enthralled in the movie. They will love the movie just like I love the movie

Lunsford pg. 135 # 2 question

In Lunsford page 854, I was reading a piece on safe sex. It was called “Selling Safe Sex in Public Schools” and it was an interesting and good piece. The purpose of this piece was to promote safe sex by having sex education in public schools. Many teenagers are viewing sexual explicit content in music videos, magazines, movies, and commercials. The debate on whether or not having sex education would benefit has increased in recent years because of substantial increases in federal funding for abstinence-only programs.

            A young woman named Shelby Knox stands a devout Christian who has pledged abstinence until marriage since she was 15. She became an advocate for comprehensive sex education. She attracted the attention of documentary filmmakers, thus documenting her efforts in the film “The Education of Shelby Knox” which has been broadcasted nationally and won an award. She fought to get sex education in classes. She is currently a government major at The University of Texas. She is a member of the Student Senate, University Democrats and Madrigal Choir. Shelby continues to be an advocate for comprehensive sex education.

            I have been researching different articles about how old the kids get exposed to sex education and most says as young as 5. I was a little surprised but I guess they’re trying to reduce the number of pregnancies and diseases by exposing the kids at a younger age. There should be more people that would fight to get sex education in schools. We all need that because nowadays I am noticing more and more girls are getting pregnant my age. At my old public school in VA I remember all these girls always with guys. When I left to go to WVSD and graduated there and came back to VA to my hometown I felt a little change. I saw some of the girls pushing a stroller and I was thinking to myself, “ What happened to _____? (My hometown.) One girl at my old job was pregnant and recently had a child and I didn’t know until just recently last week. She was 17 or 18 and graduated this year. She was a cheerleader. I just wish she used protection because she had a good head on her shoulders and has almost all her life to have child.

            I think if others read this piece by Michelle Bryant on Selling Safe in Public Schools they would be fascinated in that piece because it is about a young woman fighting for what is right by getting sex education in schools. She struggled with the Education Board to support gay teens that wanted to form gay-straight alliance in the school but was denied by School Board. We teens need to bring down the pregnancy numbers because one day there will not be enough room on earth or economy will be so bad we cannot afford to feed the small mouths.

Picture credentials: Sex Education: floyd87.files.wordpress.com/.../ sexedu_1_1.jpg

Sex Education is Birth Control:  4.bp.blogspot.com/.../ bzgtJX3qJXo/s400/0237.jpg

List of this I believe

• I believe all should be equal, no matter gender, skin, age, or culture
• I believe you shouldn't judge people on how they look, "Never judge a book by its cover."
  
• I believe you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar
  
• I believe life is what you make it
  
• I believe in the quote. "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."
  
• I believe family comes first then best friends that had your back
  
• I believe in karma
  
• I believe in breaking the rules sometimes to have a little fun
  
• I believe it is better not to waste your time on someone that doesn't give you time of day
  
• Most of all, I believe in being yourself and not letting anyone corrupt you.
  

Nafisi in Lunsford

After I read the story about Azar’s experiences, it had drawn me to it. I read it a few more times to make sure I understood it. The arguments that Azar is making are based on emotion- empathy and values.

Empathy:

When Azar thinks of the word empathy he thinks about Huckleberry Finn. Huck gives up his life to have a friendship with a runaway slave, Jim. He imagines Jim not as a slave but as a human being. When I think of the word empathy I think about the soldiers in Iraq fighting for our country. They put their lives on the line to protect our freedom and rights. Sometimes I think they are over there fighting for no reason.

When Azar says a particular scene out of Huck Finn is associated with a difficult time in his life, I started thinking about a time when my school went on a strike because they were unhappy with our school. It is not really connected to Azar’s difficult time but I supported my friends who were on strike. I had their back because I was unhappy too. We were on strike for almost three days but on the third day most of us got suspended. Many parents were infuriated at the principal and supertindent. A lot of the students were happy because it meant a little vacation for them. The following Monday, we were planning on going on a strike again until we got what we wanted. Monday rolls around and the supertindent and some of the staff and us all went into out Multipurpose Room (MPR) and had a meeting.  They say they will meet some of our goals and work on the rest too. We were happy.

Values:

            Everyone’s values are different. For Azar, he believes the experience in his life reinforces his belief in the mysterious connection that links individuals to each other despite their vast differences. I think the freedom to express his opinions is one of his values. He learns his values through experience and associating others by learning from their experiences too. Azar stands up for what he believes in and I applaud him for that. We should all fight for what we believe in. As Azar says, “And it is at times like this when I ask myself, am I prepared--- like Huck Finn—to give up Sunday school heaven for the kind of hell that Huck chose?” I believe when you fight for what you believe in is worth it.

Response to Lunsford pg. 42 GSR 102

During my senior year, my brother convinced me to come to Florida for the summer. I was excited to go, but with one hitch: I had to ask my grandparents for permission to ride with them after I graduate. It was getting closer and closer to graduation and my grandparents and father did not think it was a good idea to go because they wanted me to get a summer job up where I live, but they also wanted to make sure I had everything set to go for Gallaudet University. I told them that I would get everything done before I graduate. I finally convinced my grandparents to let me go. June 12 came around and it was time for me to graduate. We were all happy. I spent all day repacking my clothes for Florida. The next day, we left for Florida. It was a 11 hour drive. We finally arrived at the place me and my brother were staying. I was happy that I went to Florida for the summer. I had a good experience and I met new friends down there and I loved the deaf volleyball on Fridays.

            Since I came here to Gally, I always have to inform my grandparents how I am doing in classes. I always inform her through texting, which is good because I hate talking on the phone. She texts me almost everyday to make sure I am going in the right track. I always tell her I am fine, I do my homework everyday.

            I used language to explore my new life at gally. I made new friends and chatted with them a lot. We all have to sign here at gally so obviously we used language. Someday I want to explore Washington D.C. and see everything the city has to offer. I have already seen some places when I came to visit gally.

            I had made a lot of decisions in my life such as not getting pressured by peers to do some things when I was in public schools. I skipped a lot of classes because I didn’t care about school. I never paid attention in classes. My public school was not a good place for me to be so my father made a decision to put me in the deaf school. I liked it there because I interacted with other deaf and hard of hearing students. I stayed another year there. But after a year there I started hating it. The students there were drama, drama, drama. I decided to quit after my Christmas break. All my family was shocked and a little mad. The staff at my school kept trying to make me come back. They convinced me to come back but I didn’t want to. I was happy to graduate because it meant that I was getting away from that school.

 I think the first paragraph describes an act of argument and persuasion. I argued with my family to let me go to Florida when they didn’t think it was a good idea. I keep telling them that I will get everything done before I graduate but they did not believe me. I always tell them to be patient because I will get things done in time. I always talked to gally about any questions I had and always made sure they get all the important documents or information. I worked hard to get where I am at now. I took the ACT twice to get the Leadership Scholarship. I did not have a way to pay for college. I had to get loans to pay for college.  I still have to work hard to keep the scholarship. 

introduction in GSR 102

Hello there!! 

How you guys doing? My name is gallystudent90. I was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and lived there for a year or so then i moved to Florida to live there until 1998. I moved to Virginia. I lived there ever since. I had been in public schools all my life. I don’t really like my public schools. In 2007, I went to West Virginia School for the Deaf. I was a senior. I moved back a grade and became a junior because I was not ready to graduate. I played volleyball and basketball at WVSD for two years. Volleyball is my favorite sport. I am interested in playing softball.

Really, I have 2 mothers and 2 fathers. My mom and dad divorced like a year or two after I was born. My brother and I lived with my dad while my sister lived with my mom. My mother is half Japanese and Irish. My dad has Irish and Scottish and some German in him. My dad remarried and my mom remarried too. My step-mother is Spanish. So I am mostly one-fourth Japanese and Irish. My brother is deaf. He has been in deaf schools all his life. He is a junior here at Gally. It is just us two that are deaf in our family. I also have an older stepsister, older sister, and a baby sister.

I came here to Gallaudet because I wanted to be involved in the deaf community so I can learn more ASL and make a lot of friends but I also came for education too. I have not decided what my major will be but I am thinking business or education. I want to be a teacher in public or deaf school. I love English because I love reading and learning in classes. I hope my blog interests you!!