Assignment #11- Errors

1. Comma Splices

• I tend to struggle most with comma splices. Sometimes I get confused whether or not to use a comma or semi colon.  This effects my writing because it is grammatically wrong if I chose the wrong one. To prevent this from happening in the future, I will try to go back to the worksheet on comma splices and run-ons to refresh my memory. 
• Another problem I struggle with is expanding on my thoughts. I have noticed on my last two essay's your comments were about expanding more on my ideas. This effects my writing because even though I may have written good main points, I need to expand more to back it up and make it credible. Without expanding on my thoughts, my main points just gets brushed to the side and forgotten. I will pay more attention to this in my next essay. When I say an idea I will make sure to fully explain my thoughts. 
• Lastly, and error is being to wordy. Sometimes when I feel I have written as much as I can and my paper does not meet the length requirement, I start adding unnecessary words and phrases. This effects my writing because being excessively wordy strays the reader away from my main points and gets distracting. I can prevent this by gathering more information so that I am able to meet the length requirement without being wordy. 

Extra Credit

            For our next paper, we are asked to write an argumentative paper about one of the three articles given to us. I decided to write about the article discussing free speech. Personally, I am looking forward to writing this paper because facebook is something that I have been using for four years. I also have a blog account, twitter, and tumblr. All of these social media networks are ways of being able to express myself and connecting with friends. When I first read the article about Amanda Tatro, I was confused about why it was such a controversial statement. After discussing it in class, I was able to better understand why it was taken to court, but my opinion still stands that she should not be punished.             I will argue that while Tatro made poor choices on what to post on her Facebook, the context of her post should have been investigated. If it was a meaningless joke, then she should not be punished.

            People make jokes and say things all the time that they do not mean literally, that is what I think Amanda Tatro did. Teenagers and young adults tend to over exaggerate and be dramatic. Just because we post something on Facebook does not mean we are going to go out and do it. While I do not condone what Amanda Tatro decided to post on her Facebook, I also do not think legal action should have taken place without first finding out if she wanted to cause physical harm to a human being or cadaver. The author of the article makes a good point, if courts are not careful of their decisions they make it can greatly affect our future. Universities can have the power to control what we can and cannot say over the Internet and take legal action if they think it is necessary. 

Assignment 10

Peer review is a helpful tool in our English class. I find it effective because classmates might be able to pick up on something in our paper that the write cannot or missed while reading it themselves. For instance, while we think we are correcting our grammar in our paper by using spell check, spell check can not always be trusted because it could confuse words such as "than" or "then", which have different uses in sentences. Also, peer review is effective because while we read other classmates papers, it gives us ideas and points we did not think about using that can be helpful in our own paper as well. A way peer review could be improved is by letting the students chose their own group. I know as being a more shy student, I feel more comfortable in a group I have previously worked in before where we have already gotten to know each other.

I think my strength as a peer reviewer is the feedback and marks I make on the other persons essay. I am honest and if I see something that is wrong or confusing I will circle it and give suggestions to my classmate. A weakness that I have as a peer reviewer is that I am horrible at comma splices so I am not a hundred percent sure if my classmates sentence is correct when they use or do not use commas.

I think that peer review is most effective at the beginning of the writing process. I find that the sooner others read my paper, the longer I have to fix my paper and make corrections on it. The smaller the group the more helpful it is for me. Big groups get too distracting and people are more likely to feel comfortable in a smaller group. Lastly, I think two class periods is enough time for the peer review process to take place. It also gives students time to take the peer review sheet home, and fully fill it out.

Assignment #9

As spring break quickly approaches, I cannot help but be shocked at how fast the year has gone by. It seems like only yesterday I was starting my freshman year. My college experience has been a difficult yet rewarding one. For my freshman year, I attended UIC but decided to transfer because it did not feel like a good match for my major, which is elementary education. I thought I would not like Northeastern because of how small and close it is to my house, but it is known as a great school for education.

            I was worried I would be making a huge mistake by transferring, but I was wrong. The smaller class sizes are a lot better than huge lecture rooms, where the teacher never knows your name. I am on the right track to being in the college of education and I cannot wait. I am excited to get into all education classes and be finished with my general education classes. Before I thought that gen eds were a waste of time, but now I have come to realize differently. All of my gen eds will help to better prepare me for my future classes in my field of studies. Even though I do not want to be and English teacher or a Science teacher, I will come across those subjects in every day life. Also, teachers do not always necessarily get to pick which grade they want to teach, so I need to be prepared when that day comes. Two more years down, two more to go and I cannot wait!! 

Argument Analysis Essay

After reading the three possible topics for our argument analysis essay, I have decided on writing about the "Free Speech Off Campus Must Be Protected" by Frank D. LoMonte. In this article, LoMonte talks about a student at the University of Minnesota, Amanda Tatro, who was taken to court over something she posted on her Facebook page. Tatro posted on her Facebook wall about how her and her friends gave their cadaver a nickname, and about stabbing someone with a dissecting knife. Although people are free to say whatever they want on the Internet, the university argues that that Amanda Tatro's speech was unprotected in the first amendment. Also, the university received several complaints from supporters of the mortuary-sciences program who had donated their family’s bodies for use of dissection and were offended by what Tatro had said.

            I chose this topic because I come from the generation of multimedia craze. As soon as all ages were open to create a Facebook account, I did so. In my paper, I am going to argue that Amanda Tatro should not be punished for something one posts on Facebook because of the right to free speech. The court has no proof that she intended to harm anyone by her comment; she just made a poor decision to display it on her Facebook page. As I grow older, I have bittersweet feelings about the decisions individuals make to post on their Facebook’s. People should watch what they post online, but unless they are intentionally harming another individual or cyber bullying another individual, no legal action should take place.