Final Blog

Well, this is my last blog for College Writing 101. I would have thought I would be Happy but in a way I feel relieved and yet I think I am going to miss this class. I know it sounds corny, but I feel like I have developed some form of connection to my peers. I looked forward to their feedback.

I have learned a lot in this class and that people who view and read the same material have very different opinions. I believe I have improved my writing skills, but I still have more work to do. It was easier for me to blog and write more as a conversation than it was to do essay writing.  I am proud of myself, I was very nervous taking this class and had the feeling I would not measure up. I appreciate all the feedback I received from my professor,  peers, and Smart thinking tutoring website. Without them, I may have been lost.  I have learned to start to enjoy reading again; I just need to sit and relax more and take the time to read. My daughter especially appreciates the fact that I am taking the time to read again since she is a book worm. My daughter said if you want to become better at writing you should read more books. I believe her.

I was very surprised at viewing and researching the house I live In. I have always thought if you do the crime you do the time and never thought about Maximum Minimum sentencing. Once I did the research, which, to be honest, I didn't enjoy at all but I was shocked at the Racial profiling and how unfair the sentencing is for non-violent drug users. I found myself sympathizing with the families like Nannie Jeter because our family has been through it as well. I honestly believe our country needs to focus more on programs to help these people instead of incarcerating them. I particularly thought this was a very good subject to study, especially what is going on now with the violence with African Americans and Law enforcements.

I enjoyed reading the glass castle, and from reading my peers discussions I looked at the book The Glass Castle differently and seen more love and forgiveness in the book.I am more of an empathic type personality, and I think that is why I enjoyed reading this. I know Jeanette’s parents had issues but doesn’t every family? That’s how I looked at it, they loved their children and kept them together as much as possible. Yes, they were selfish but aren’t we all to some degree? I volunteer a lot for Girl Scouts and my community, for young girls on helping them improve themselves and teaching life skills. I shake my head sometimes on how children are ignored. I have always felt that if you are key in your child's life then that child has a better chance at life. It doesn’t matter what you make you have to be present. I guess I could relate to Jeanette’s father somewhat in this book. The Love the Wells children had for each other and how they had each other’s back made me think of my family. We never had it all but together we had everything.

I will continue to read and write but want to continue to learn more and may take another class in writing. I wonder how many people have taken this course over? I loved doing this on-line at my pace, and I would suggest as a future topic a recent documentary I just saw on Netflix, "A Place at the Table.”  This documentary discusses hunger in America, 50 million Americans, including 1 in 4 children, don't know where their next meal is coming from.  A very powerful yet sad documentary. 

I would also suggest the Supreme Court Ruling Making Same-Sex Marriage a Right Nationwide – Thoughts on both sides of the fence.

 

A Huge Thank you, to my professor for your pushing all of us and striving to do better.

                                                

Blog 5: The House I Live In

The House I live in

I am not sure I could direct and produce a film as well as Eugene Jarecki. I did not grow up in the same circumstances as the director. My family did not have the luxury of having a Nanny, but  we  did have some similarities as we were also affected by drugs.

 I understand the pain Nannie Jeter has went through. If I did direct a film such as The House I live In I do think I would bring into the people in my family who have been affected. I feel this humanizes the drug war and people do get to see the other side of the effects of drugs other than  users and drug enforcement officers.  I would want  people to see the hurt the families go through. Not everyone who does drugs has a poor upbringing, some come from very tight knit loving families.

I would bring my family in the movie and describe what we went through, drugs tore some of us apart. I would also show more of the rehab process and what rehab does for the family, not just the individual.  When you have a family member going through rehab, that family member needs their whole family to participate in the rehab process. It is not just their journey.  Our family was blessed and our family member made it through clean and sober now for 25 plus years. I believe with the support of all of us they were able to stay healthy.

Everybody seems to have their own perception of the war on drugs. I think because it personally touched my family, I see it differently. I don’t always see someone who uses drugs as a thug, sometimes it is a good person making poor decisions.  That is why when someone has a second offences I think we should focus more on mandatory rehab for them.   It makes sense than to throw a user in prison where they are getting no help.

In order to get to all sides of the drug war you need to speak with Judges, Police officers, hospitals, users and drug dealers. I think you also need to speak with people who have followed the drug war for years. Research and ask questions. 

Paper Two reflection

Paper two reflection

I started out feeling a bit more comfortable doing my second essay. I believe because I read the Glass Castle and was very interested in it. I thought I knew more of what I needed to write a decent essay,

I still believe it is very hard for me to get my thesis down and to organize my paragraphs, I need to work on that as well.

 

I changed my theme three times because after reading so many quotes it was clear to me that forgiveness and unconditional love was a theme throughout the book.

Once I submitted my first rough draft through smart thinking the overwhelming feeling started, I realized I need to do a lot of work.

I sent my rough draft to Alyssa my peer in class and I can’t tell you how much she has helped me. Alyssa took the time to go over my entire rough draft. She is good at what she does, and she gave excellent feedback and suggestions, and I have used most of them Alyssa is a good writer, and I respect her opinion and writing. I enjoyed getting Alyssa’s feedback, but I do not think I am very good at giving feedback on reviews which is odd since I am a manager and give yearly reviews to my employees all the time. 

I second guess my opinion on writing and giving feedback to others. Maybe because this is my first writing class or because I have not been in college since the “80’s” not sure why. I think I am more of a blogger more of a conversation writer than an academic writer.

I did not like doing the peer reviews and felt overwhelmed.  I had issues getting online for two days but honestly to sit and go over two of my peers you need to sit and have time. Time is what I do not have a lot of.

I do a lot of my class work during work in my office during lunch and have noticed not just in class but in my work everything is rushed. I need to take more time and set aside time for me. I am not going to worry about work because it will always be there, and as far as housework I have children for that.

My professor gave clear examples of how to come up with your thesis.

Prompt:

First, choose a theme to explore in the text. Then, come up with a question about that theme. The answer to your question will be your thesis. 

Example: Theme: Parenting 

Question:

What can we learn about the relationship between parenting and a child’s success in The Glass Castle? Think about the narrator herself, what she would say and what you observe. 

Answer: Thesis

This example is simple and helped me out starting with my paper. I am also going over my professor’s feedback on my first paper along with my smart thinking tutor and changing my second paper up a bit.

By the end of the week, I am completely overwhelmed and glad it’s the end of the week but also looking forward to week five.