Article Response #3

I think these articles were fairly helpful. There were a few rules I can never wrap my head around. For example, the verb ones always trip me up. "I'm tired, so I need to go lay lie down." In my head, I need to go lay down sounds more accurate. The difference between lay and lie is so confusing to me and I will sadly probably never understand it. The advice on the subjunctive was a new one for me. I've never even heard the word before let alone know it was an issue in writing. "I wish I was were an Oscar Mayer wiener."  I say phrases like this all the time. Not that I want to be an Oscar Mayer wiener, but you know what I mean. I never knew you had to use were instead of was! The second article was eyeopening in a sense. Half those rules I had been told to follow since grade school. And all this time, it was for nothing. The one I was most angry about was number four. "4. Don't start a sentence with a conjunction." I have been deathly afraid to use but or and as a sentence started. When according to this guy, "there is absolutely nothing wrong with starting a sentence with And or But." This would had been much helpful to know years ago. Also the last thing he said struck me. He stated that it is okay to use "I could care less to mean "I couldn't care less"". Since when is this allowed? I always thought if you said I could care less, it wasn't as powerful as the alternative. Thank goodness I read this article. It taught me a bunch of new things for my writing. 

Resesrch Topic

I plan to write about how media can negatively represent our society. Particularly, I am focusing on the MTV's Jersey Shore. I believed this shined light on a part of our society that nobody wanted to see, and it frankly made us look pretty bad. It made us seem that we condone crazy partying and nonstop drinking along with promiscuous sex. This caused a huge uproar and I understand why. Some people might agree with this side of the story, but others may think that they should be able to be whoever they want. Why try to hide any part of our society? I think some of our television shows really show the true side of America and that's how we are coming off to the rest of the world. It also is a major part of where the younger generation gets their influence from.

Article 2

I really like the fact that they have all public schools. There's no private schools and universities are free as well. I wish we had that. I think it's ridiculous that we have to pay to have a higher level education. We want to learn more and become well rounded pepople and we are punished for that? It's unfair that some people go to a place like OTC instead of a state college because they can't afford it. Or when they don't go at all because of the cost. Who really wants to be thousands in debt by the age of 23? No one. If we had a public university system, it would make things so much easier on the college bound students. I also think their decision to not use standardized testing is better too. Standardized tests are unfair to some students. Some aren't quick test takers. Those tests are all timed, and I know for myself the clock makes me panic and unable to concentrate. With things like the ACT, you're supposed to take it the end of sophomore year and beginning of junior year. Some juniors and sophomores haven't even seen some of the stuff that's on the ACT. How this makes sense, I will never know. I thought this quote was really interesting. "In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance." And after that it goes on to talk about how Finland was suprised on how highly they scored on the PISA survey. I think it had a lot to do with how Sahlberg tries to make the best environment for the schools. I think if we followed along with some of the things he does for their schools, we would be in just as good shape. Obviously something isn't working over here. It's definitely time for a change. They were in need of a new reform and they did it. Look where they are now.

Article 1 Response

I found this reading overall fairly interesting. There were some parts in the middle when he would give examples from the 1800's that I found myself trailing off. Towards the end though I noticed I wasn't thinking of anything else but the reading. I normally do that when the reading is completely boring to me. This article talked about computers and computer science which are two things I’m very interested in. I think that contributed to the attention I gave it, because this article was way too long. The main point is that he believes the only reason the people of Google made it the way it is was to promote advertising. He says “The faster we surf across the Web—the more links we click and pages we view—the more opportunities Google and other companies gain to collect information about us and to feed us advertisements. Most of the proprietors of the commercial Internet have a financial stake in collecting the crumbs of data we leave behind as we flit from link to link—the more crumbs, the better. The last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.” They want us to become “skimmers” and jump from page to page. They have no intention for us to linger on long articles and get deep in our thoughts. They are purposely making us distracted and trying to get us to lose our ability to read long passages. He talks about how many people believe that Google is the reason not many people can concentrate on writings anymore. We are easily distracted because it is what we are used to now. I think this is true. Google is always colored with pretty advertisements or better articles on the next link. We are so accustomed to these fast paced, quick readings that when we come across something with length, we don’t know how to stay on track. They have almost rewired our brains to think completely different. We no longer have the ability to think like we used to. Our brains are programmed Google now. Clever move, guys.

Inspiration for Writing

My inspiration for writing is always my experiences. Every time I write a story, I am always relating it to something that has happened in the past in some way. My experiences and past is the base of my story lines. They inspire me because they give me a foundation and an idea for what to write. They are what is most important in my life and what bring out the most emotions. When I write a story with a base of something that happened to me, it is more real. It makes it more passionate and I really get into it. If I were to write about something without that foundation, I don't think it would be as good. My experiences make it easier to relate and I can pour my heart into it.
This photo of Clearwater is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Reading Response

Before I Fall

                Samantha is a senior in high school who is friends with all the right people. She’s in with the “it” crowd, is dating the most popular boy in school, and gets to park in the senior section. Her three best friends are Lindsay, Ally, and Elody and they’ve all have been giving her a hard time about her still being a virgin. Her and her boyfriend, Rob Cokran, have finally decided to seal the deal. It’s the topic of discussion between her and the girls. She feels extremely nervous about it, but tries to pretend that she’s ready for the sake of her friends. ““Don’t forget. It’s all about you and me tonight.” “I haven’t forgotten,” I say, hoping my voice sounds sexy and not scared. My palms are sweating and I pray he doesn’t try to take my hand.” She’s trying to push through her nerves to not get ridiculed by her friends and peers. Will she go through it?

I am poem



During my childhood years, I never felt a drop of fresh air.

Huddled inside, nose in the latest and greatest of gadgets.

Artificial friends, ones I’ll never see face to face.

I guess that’s what I get for growing up in the 21^st century.

From tetherball to the monkey bars,

I was the champion of the playground.

Recruited by the “popular” girls, eyes glaring.

Biggest lesson learned, never eat all the cheezits –

You’ll lose your so-called friends.

Striving to wear the latest Limited Too,

Even elementary was a fashion show.

Learning what bras were and how to shave my legs,

I thought I was so grown up.

Hello Middle school, hello bullies.

Name calling, laughter, the worst kind.

Bouncing from town to town, when will I find my place?

They thought they were cool, laughing at my expense.

When in reality, they were the joke.

Here I am high school, not knowing what to expect.

Will it be just like before?

Friendships and connections, I didn’t see them coming.

Finding myself, setting high goals, ready to move on.

I’ve been here for 4 years now, is it over yet?

College, you’re within my reach.

Just a few more months til we finally meet.

I know it’ll be the best time of my life.

From my new found sorority sisters and brand new experiences,

I’m ready to be where I belong.