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NikoVelazquez (27)
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Susan Bayaa (21)
Are each papers supposed to be individually stapled and or one staple through it all? Also what about the bibliography cause i recall him saying he wants that in the back after the “end” piece.
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Thomas Vasquez
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Thomas Vasquez
This week journal entry we were given the option of writing it on the fair we participated in on Tuesday “Act Out”. I really enjoyed this fair and participating in the service learning opportunity. I was really relieved to have finally completed and finish my poster board in time for the fair. I was shocked when I saw all of the people that actually attended the fair I only expected a small amount of people to show and we were just going to sit there and do nothing except talk about our poster boards. The video we watched and the guest speaker really made me realize some of the people we worked for really love what they are doing and cherish the relationships they make with the people they are helping and volunteers. Walking around and looking at all of the boards I realized that we all took different routes in who to help and where to help. It also made me realize that even though we completely doubted this project and didn’t want to do it at all we all truly reflected on this project in our own way. In the pictures people put on their boards they all looked happy I mean sure you can fake a smile but you could somehow tell that everyone really loved what they are doing. I am truly glad for having to do this project because I met some great people along the way and learned some new things that made me want to go around and help more.
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Thomas Vasquez
This journal entry I decided to do it on the Taylor Mali Poem “Totally Like Whatever, You Know?” .When we watched the video of Taylor reciting his poem I didn’t know what to really expect because the title was strange and just seemed off to me. What I got from the poem is that the way someone talks can make the person if they put emphasis on a word it could turn the whole sentence around. Also if the person try’s to sound intellectual with more intelligent words it can make them seem like a totally new person. I think that everyone has met someone in their life that the way they talk made them think the person was smart or dumb. But really I personally believe that words do tell how a person is if they try and act smart and use big words but you know they are not it can make them look insecure about themselves or like they have to impress someone. The video really didn’t do it for me because it seemed to me like it was some kind of stand up and that he was trying to be funny but then I remembered professor McGuire said that the poem was in the book so I went back and read it. It truly was inspiring and taught me things I never thought about even for such a short poem it still can really make any person reading it think. The poem can make anyone rethink themselves when they are talking and can change a person’s opinion on the person they are talking to and really make you realize words are a powerful thing and the way you say something can really change your perspective on the subject at hand.
Mali, Taylor. “Totally Like Whatever, You Know? | Michael Hyatt.” Michael Hyatt’s Blog. Michael Hyatt, 14 Sept. 2011. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. . -
Thomas Vasquez
Different Struggle Each Day
When I first found out at the beginning of the semester we were going to have to do to sets of volunteer work I was kind of mad because I didn’t want to but I said o well and put both of them off till last minute. The first day of the second project we had to do a speed dating thing to try and find groups got our groups and all was good. My group was already going to be my friend Ashlie and I but we needed two others and we chose the people that sit next to us. Ashlie was our group’s idea person and had mostly everything planned out in her head but then we find out that she dropped the class well that’s what we assume. The three of us then chose to do something with starvation and food pantries because we thought that there is a lot around and it would be easy to get in and help. We also had to set up dates to meet as a group and talk about progress and we picked Thursday’s and those meetings went fine.
That whole first week in class we kept trying to find a place to work for and thought that any place would accept us. The first meeting came and we talked about how organizations and good times for all of us to go which went well because we thought we picked a broad enough topic. Then the Professor asked everyone how their progress was going and we realized we were not the only group that was in a bind and couldn’t find a place as easily as we wanted. One of my group members has been calling and trying to find us a place because the first place said she would call him back in a couple days than a week went by and we still didn’t have a place. When the prof. asked this time about progress and who doesn’t have a place our group was one of the only ones to raise their hand. I know others just didn’t want to admit it at the time but other groups hadn’t made contact yet either. He called me out and we gave our reasoning and at this point my group member had already made contact with a new place and all looked well.Our second meeting came and we mostly just talked about the new place and if we can go when will we and what we plan on putting together for the fair. Then my group mate told me that the organization doesn’t have any openings till late May and I was upset because it was just a giant step backwards when it seemed like we were making such great progress and moving forward. (More to come as we do the service find a place and finish the whole project.)
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Grace Cosentino
I liked that in your first sentence and the way you opened up you expressed the way you really felt. You said you didn’t really want to do this volunteer work and yes it may not be what everyone wants to hear but at least you expressed the way you really felt. I’ve read a lot of peoples papers throughout the semester and they say like oh “I love volunteering its awesome” and things like that. For me it is hard to believe that everyone in the whole course feels this way so for you to give such a bold statement and the way you really feel was a nice change as a reader, and at least I know you being honest. As a reader it made me want to keep reading your paper because I knew that throughout the whole thing you would be giving your honest answers. When you are talking about how you picked your groups and you said that you picked your friend Ashlie you should go back and re read that sentence because it didn’t make sense it lost me because of the grammar issues with the first sentence. I know that this is just a first draft but I wanted you to be aware of that so that you can go back and fix that when revising your work! The sentence after also has some major grammatical errors when you talked about your friend dropping the class you should check that one too because I had to re read it a couple of times to understand what you were trying to say. I liked that you talked about how you picked your service and then talked about your meeting and what day your group met because it gives the reader and over view of the whole project. I liked the fact that you started from the beginning and took your time with the paper you didn’t just say you picked food pantries and then jump right to doing the service. You explained the process up to then and that is a good quality for a writer. I could also relate to when you were talking about not being able to find a place because it took our group forever to get into the Orland Food pantry and we thought it was going to be like a snap of our fingers and wed be there helping but that wasn’t the case for us either. This also shows the reader that time and dedication goes into volunteer work which is a good point to make in my opinion because you have to really want to help and be willing to dedicate a lot of your time to helping out. So far I think your paper is going really well and I think that if you stay on this track to finish it you are headed towards a great grade. I am looking forward to reading the rest of your essay when its complete after your group gets the service done.
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Gregory Laurenzana
Have you found a place to do your service yet? I really think that this could be an excellent paper once you have all of your stuff in place. I really appreciated your honesty about volunteer work in the beginning of your paper. I know that volunteer work is not every ones cup of tea, but it really does make us treasure what we have that much more. I also really liked that the face that you are very “go with the flow” and that it seems that you will do whatever it takes to get a good great, even doing something you don’t particularly care for. I can’t wait to read about the rest of your experience and read about where you and your group went for your volunteer service.
I know that it can be heard getting these things off the ground, but with a little faith and perseverance, everything will work out in the end. You just have to stick with it and not give up. Good luck with your service site and the rest of your paper, it’s going to be great
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Thomas Vasquez
For this week’s journal entry I decided to do it on the article in Why White Rice titled “Be Confident, Not a Know-It-All’. This article was very interesting because I know exactly what it means to be called a Know-it-all because I acted like one and know some people that still act like they know everything. But if they truly knew everything then they wouldn’t need school and get straight A’s but they do not. This article also talked about how people need to be confident in there writing and not be afraid to say or write something. That is one of my biggest flaws when It comes to writing because I couldn’t say how many times this has happened to me in the past. Whenever I am writing a paper I always second guess my writing and think should I say this or not will it be taken the wrong way and it then distracts me from finishing my work on time. I come off as a very confident person and in my head I think of things that I would do in situations but then realize if those situations where ever to actually happen than the outcome or thing I do will never actually happen. I believe that confidence is key to success in anyone’s life because if one person is not confident in themselves then there is no way they will be able to go through life try new things a really ever be able to fully succeed.
DeVillez, Eric., Michael McGuire, Thomas Dow, and Troy Swanson. “Why White Rice?”. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2000.Print -
Thomas Vasquez
For this week’s journal entry I decided to do it on the article in Why White Rice entitled “To All the Good Ones along the Way, We Salute You”. This article really made me think back to all of my teachers and which ones in my life well that I can remember anyway really impacted me in the way I am today. I can honestly say no teacher has impacted my life like the person who wrote this article. My life has mostly been impacted by friends and family. I have had teachers that I have liked more than others and will remember till the day I die but nothing like the guy in this story. None of my teachers ever made me read or challenged me to read something I like which is why to this day I never have really enjoyed a good book. Sometimes I wish that a teacher impacted me like this man and encouraged me to read more because I would like to have read some books that I passed up the chance to read when I was younger. Even in high school I only recall thoroughly reading one book and it was actually decent but there was more to the series and I never even thought to look at them. Nowadays with the internet and things like spark notes I really don’t think future generations are going to want to read like some people in this and past generations and will either just wait for the movie or pass up the opportunity of reading.
DeVillez, Eric., Michael McGuire, Thomas Dow, and Troy Swanson. “Why White Rice?”. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2000.Print -
Thomas Vasquez
For my journal entry I decided to do it on an article in chapter 4 of Why White Rice titled “Write That Down!”. I didn’t think this article was going to be what it turned out to be because we read the chapter so long ago. I expected that it was going to talk about your ideas and that you should right any ones you have down because u never know when they will come in handy. But this article was about thesis’s. Until I read this I never really put much thought into my thesis I just write them which I was never good at but would put so much thought into them and make them like ten times longer than they needed to be. I would always make them real long and not think about changing them then reread my paper and be like crap I could have made this so simple but I went into too much depth. Thesis’s have always been the weakest part of my writing. I probably could not count on one hand the number of times a teacher wrote down on my paper what is the thesis or thesis needs work. This article really made me realize the way I should write my thesis that I just need to be simple as long as it gets my point across then nothing will go wrong. The problem I have always had with thesis’s is that they can be to long and can be to short so I just never know the right length but as long as it is clear and understandable I now realize it will be a good one.
DeVillez, Eric., Michael McGuire, Thomas Dow, and Troy Swanson. “Why White Rice?”. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2000.Print -
Thomas Vasquez
In the article “Cycle of Socialization” it really opened my eyes to a couple of things. No person can really be their own when we grow up we are thrown into a social class be it upper class or lower there is no way to change it because when you are a kid you are kind of stuck to what your parents ask of you and tell you to do. The way and area you grow up really defines how you will become socially I mean yes a person raised in a poor community can achieve high status but it is a lot tougher than a person who is born and raised at the top to go completely in a downhill spiral and destroy his status. We really have no say in what we are going to be like socially until we are old enough to think for ourselves but even then are we really our own person I mean we are all in a way just a recreation of our parents we are raised by family to recreate a family all in one big circle. People will disagree with me and say I’m my own person my parents have no say in what I do but is that really true if it wasn’t for the things they taught you then you would not be able to act this way and rebel against them. This article really made me believe socialization is really a big cycle our parents were taught by there’s to teach us there ways and then we teach it to our kids sure you may do it a little different but in reality isn’t it really all the same.
Harro, Bobby. “The Cycle Of Socialization” p. 15-21. 2012. splatter.writting101.net -
Thomas Vasquez
Making a Better Future
I had to do service learning in order to graduate high school because it was a requirement. I never really thought of what I was doing just that I had to do it our teachers didn’t make us right about it or anything so I just went there got what I needed to do done and then left because in reality I could of cared less back then. Once I finished all of those my freshman year I thought wow already done now I don’t ever have to do it again which was selfish of me to think. I really can’t believe that back in the day I was so selfish and didn’t care about helping my community or others really. Throughout my high school career I learned that I really do like helping others and there is just this feeling you get once the job is done that you can only get from doing service learning. When I found out we were going to have to do some for this class I was a little upset because yes I like helping people but I like to choose what I do and don’t do to help. Then one day a sheet came around and I just put my name on the first sheet and didn’t really look at the rest.
When I first signed up to go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository I didn’t have any idea what I was getting myself into. I just thought O great just going to go and stand around for a couple hours can’t wait. Upon arrival the neighborhood was not what I am used to seeing and was weird but I knew that it wasn’t the worse neighborhood I have ever been in so I pressed on and went inside. From the outside of the building I was one hundred percent in no way sure what I had gotten myself into and once I got inside the building was even bigger. Then we went into a room and sat there for a while talked with other people who were doing this and were asked who is new here and then the instructor guy split us off into groups which at first I was scared because I’m not a great people person but then realized we were already in groups. Then we went into a more warehouse looking area where we had to wear hairnets gloves and aprons and our new instructor put us into sub groups. My friend and I met some new people in the station we were in and had a system going. At first I thought ok we are scooping pasta can’t be too hard. Then I accidently missed the bag one time and spilled pasta all over and thought to myself this is going to be tougher than I thought. Then after four hours or so we finished and the instructor told us all the boxes we packed and people we had fed and it was over and I realized I really enjoyed this and time went by fast.
In my perspective of a person who had never been there before and had no idea what he had gotten himself into it was a very fun thing to do and a very warm atmosphere of people. You had first time people doing this and you had people who had been doing this for years it just really made me stop and think if these people are coming here all the time trying to make a difference y can’t I? The only thing I didn’t like is when he asked who wanted to do what for subgroups he gave a brief description of what each group was and before I could even think if I wanted to do that I also was wondering what the other groups were and then all of a sudden I’m left with the last thing left which is putting the noodles into bags which I didn’t mind too much. Everyone there is really friendly and I think you need to be when going to a service learning opportunity. I met some new friends who I may never see again but still for that one day it was really nice talking and getting to know them.
I spent the rest of my day after this event thinking about what I just did and if I really did make a difference. I came to the conclusion that I really didn’t because there are so many people starving that need help that me going to this thing for four hours on one day did not really make that big of a difference. That made me in my mind think well if I want to make a difference then I need to go back and who knows maybe one day become a regular than I will be able to say ya I did make a difference and helped a ton of people in the process.
Observing the Greater Chicago Food Depository first hand was a fun and exhilarating experience. I’m glad that I chose this service learning opportunity. I think that if I was just stopped to watch the people there work for a while I would really see that wow random people who don’t even know each other can come together to get this all done. I mean we were kind of like a train that really didn’t stop from the people scooping the pasta into buckets then there was us scooping the pasta into bags then there were people weighing the bags and tying them and then people putting all of this into boxes that were previously constructed by other workers. It just goes to show you that anyone really can make a difference if your old or young, tall or short, skinny or fat it really doesn’t matter as long as you all want to do something that will make a difference for you and your community. All you have to do is just grab a friend or make a giant group you can even go alone and then you sign up go and help the community and then you feel so much better about yourself and you can realize that you made a difference even if it is a small one.
Service learning is something that anyone can do and I know that people even being forced to go will still feel great about what they did when they are done. From this experience I learned new things about myself and other people I knew. It really made me stop and think of all the other things I could do to make an impact on society and to change the future not only for myself but for my kids and their kids. I’m not one to brag but it is also something that you can talk about and anyone will be interested in what you did even if it was just scooping pasta into bags someone has to do it otherwise the whole system doesn’t work and there is nothing for the next people to put in boxes. You don’t even have to do something like this there are hundreds actually thousands of different service learning opportunities out there and that means that one of them would have to peak your interest no matter what type of person you are. There are so many different problems around today that people don’t even notice that they can try and help with. They don’t even have to join an organization they maybe can start their own if they really want to deal with a problem. Most of these organizations you hear about today didn’t just appear overnight if you want to get something done you have to start small and then move on up and up until you actually make a giant impact on society.
Anyone can do whatever they want for better or for worse it is just that extra mile that makes them realize hey maybe I won’t stop doing this and make an organization out of this. Sure service learning isn’t for everybody but you just have to gain the courage to do it. Some people think that opportunities are the same and you will always be doing the same thing but that is most likely never the case and if that does happen then you can go find another organization. Any organization will be happy to have you but they are not going to call you out or force you to go that is your job and I think everyone should at least at one point in their life do one of these service learning opportunities.
Writing this paper made me realize I’m glad it was mandatory for me to complete a required amount of hours for high school. It really taught me a lot about what I can do to help and made me a better person. All of these opportunities have changed me and made me the better person that I am today and I wouldn’t take them back for anything.-
Grace Cosentino
Your first paragraph contradicts itself I noticed right away as I was reading you said that you had to do a service project to complete graduating high school then you changed it to you finished it senior year. You also said that you could careless back then you just needed it to graduate but then you said throughout your high school career you learned that you liked to help more. I think you should go back to that very first paragraph and re word some stuff to make more sense because it’s kind of all over the place and me as a reader I was really confused as I was reading it because it was almost like you kept changing you mind as you were writing, which is okay just as long as it makes sense and doesn’t contradict what you said before! Since you have time to revise I just wanted to point that out to you so that you caught it before the paper is actually due. You explained the neighborhood as “weird” and not the greatest neighborhood you’ve ever been to maybe you could be a little more specific and explain why it was weird. You could give your reader a more detailed explanation since they may have never been and don’t really know what you mean by “weird”. I also think you should maybe reword that sentence and use a different word then weird because you don’t know if your readers have family or friends that live there and you don’t want to offend anyone. I liked when you were talking about the pasta and you explained it as hard and you gave a personal little story of why and it kind of gives you reader a sense that volunteer work is not easy and the people that help on a daily basis really care and deserve respect for what they do because it’s not just a walk in the park. I liked that you questioned yourself why you cannot help more because I felt the same way when I did my service project and it Is a very good question you should be asking yourself after doing this. I think that by putting this is your paper it may make readers of your age think to themselves wow I really need to be getting out there and helping more in my community which to me was the main point of this assignment to really get people to want to help so good job on that you hit that point right on in my opinion. I do not agree with your paragraph that you did not make a difference because you did I know that there is millions of starving people out in the world but you cannot save everyone it is not practical. But you did save someone’s life that day which at least reduces the number by one so YES YOU DID MAKE A DIFFERENCE. You shouldn’t cut yourself short of what you did just an opinion you should rethink about that paragraph because you encouraged other people to help then discouraged a couple sentences later by saying u didn’t really think you made a difference. Your paper was good overall I just think you should go through it again and revise some things.
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Gregory Laurenzana
I really liked how you went into graphic detail about your feelings and about the time you spent at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. I was also at the GCFD and I also found it a very rewarding experience. I really like how you were able to recognize how selfish you were when you were younger and that you really didn’t want to do any service learning, but I am also glad that you came around and really enjoyed your time at GCFD. I know I really enjoyed my time there as well, it made me realize so much. I realize that some of us are more privileged then others, and that it only takes a few people working together for the greater good to make a difference.
I know that it can be quite difficult to get out of the whole texting mode when typing, but I did see one thing in your paper where you put “y” instead of “why”, and I have to tell you I catch myself doing shorthand stuff like that all the time. But really, other then that I found your paper very easy to read and well thought out with clear and heartfelt emotion.
I know that in this crazy world that a lot of us don’t have the time, or at least we think we don’t have the time to lend a helping hand, but we know that deep down in our heart of hearts that it is gratifying to us as well as to the folks that we are helping. That is the ultimate reward!
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Thomas Vasquez
For this journal I decided to do the article in Why White Rice titled “The Machine That is Replacing Me is Getting Cheaper Every Day”. By reading the title I really had no idea what the article was going to be about I thought it was going to be a giant article about how technology is destroying us but it ended up being an article that really opened my mind to how limited our creativity In today’s society is completely limited. Sure we need speed limits for safety but speed limits and tickets are really just telling us where we can and can’t be creative. Even around the house or at school were we are supposed to be our most creative we have tons of rules in to what we can and can’t do. Art class which I always enjoyed in Jr high where you can be as creative as you want they even limited us there. Telling the students what we are drawing this week and then the next this is supposed to be art we should be able to do whatever we want and be as creative as we want like a recess type class you shouldn’t be giving grades to how well or bad someone paints a picture. Pretty soon in grade schools they are going to be limiting and putting grades on recess and how well the students play. When I have kids and if I ever see this happening I would march to the school and ask where is the creativity?
DeVillez, Eric., Michael McGuire, Thomas Dow, and Troy Swanson. “Why White Rice?”. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2000.Print -
Thomas Vasquez
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
Homelessness in the world let alone a big city like Chicago is a growing issues that people don’t realize that they don’t need to do anything big to make that big of a difference. With the economy crashing there have been more and more foreclosures especially in a big city where taxes were already high enough.
Awareness needs to be increased to show people that they can just do simple things like donate money or volunteer at a soup kitchen or food pantry and it would mean a lot to these people. People need to realize all homeless people are not phonies or are not going to spend there money on drugs and booze. Sure statistics show that most homeless people have a drug addiction problem but they do not show that they might have been seeking help but the hospital helping them might have been shut down releasing them onto the streets or they might think they are healthy enough to release them when they are really not.
Homelessness is not something you can fix overnight but if society as a whole tries to help then eventually we can fix it or at least shrink the number of homeless in our city.
Sincerely,
Thomas Vasquez-
Grace Cosentino
Your first sentence was off a little by grammatical errors and it lost me right away because the sentence was confusing just make sure when you re read your paper you fix that. I think in a paper you always want to start out strong and you don’t want to lose the reader especially right from the beginning. Your first sentence you did start out strong I feel that you showed this is what you care about and the statement “you don’t have to do anything that big to make that big of a difference” was a bold way to start out because I completely agree that you don’t have to conduct some huge movement or do some huge crazy thing to really make some kind of difference. The organization I went to last week this lady Mona was a hairstylist and started out getting shoes together to bring to other countries where children don’t have any shoes and it jumped off so your definitely right about your statement you don’t have to do something that big in my opinion you just have to care and have passion to stand up for what you believe in and that will make a huge change. The economy is bad I know it’s a short little essay but you should maybe include a number of how much tax has went up or something on that order to draw their attention to the fact that this is a huge problem that we as a country need to fix. Since you also talk about taxes in your paper you should just include the tax amount and maybe something on the order of how much people need to spend on food and shelter per month, there pay, and then the tax prices. Just an opinion but I definitely think you need to throw some facts of number in there or it just looks as if you ranting about this cause instead of stating actual facts, and this is a huge problem so I’m sure you could find many topics on this if you researched it! A major problem with people not wanting to help homeless people is because they think they are not really in trouble or just want drugs and alcohol with it I’ve been in Chicago so many times when I looked at someone and said how sad it was that they are just on the streets with nowhere to go and I always get the same response, “oh there just drug addicts”. I liked that in your paper you stated the obvious remark for these people and pointed out that this is not always the case. Again with this part though I think you should maybe put some researched numbers down about what percent of people are put out on the streets and for what reason. I liked the ending of your paper because you said that it’s not something we can fix overnight which is true and people need to understand that because just because they may not see a change instantly doesn’t mean that eventually all their hard work of helping won’t pay off.
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Thomas Vasquez
I decided to do this journal on the Will-I-Am video we watched titled “Yes We Can”. I’ve never really been a huge fan of politics so the speech and the video in general was a completely new experience to me. I always heard about videos where they get famous people to take part in it so that they will get more viewers. I think this technique is kind of dumb but still a powerful technique because I know tons of people out there who would watch a video because someone they like is in there. The video was pretty powerful and the parts in the speech that they showed really spoke to me. “Yes We Can” Is a very powerful term first off it brought all those people together and secondly it can mean something completely different to anyone. To me it means that there is nothing that a group of people can’t overcome if they put their minds to it and work at it. I have always believed this and just seeing this video made me believe it more and more. You have people that dislike Obama and talk trash about him but I think that anyone realizes that he is a very persuasive speaker and can turn any situation into a great one. For all of these people to come together and sing this song is just a great thing to hear and watch it shows that the “We” in “Yes We Can” can pretty much be anything or anyone even people you thing are to cool for society and only think for themselves.
Will-I-Am. “Yes We Can.” YouTube. YouTube, June 3, 2008. Web. Mar. 23, 2012. -
Thomas Vasquez
While reading chapter five of Why White Rice I noticed and article by Professor McGuire that was called “Googling is not the same as thinking”. The reason this article caught my attention is that whenever I have a problem I can’t figure out my first thought Is always just Google it but I never really put much thought into that answer until I read this article. Reading this article really made me think of how much I depend on technology in my daily life. Just today I was doing a homework assignment and did not want to reread something to find the answer so what is the first thing I did I pulled out my phone and I googled it. I didn’t even think twice about this action it was kind of just like a second nature like my go to solution if I don’t know something. Today’s society really is technology dependent and I really don’t think there is anything one person can do just because every day our technology is advancing. I have one friend who is so technology dependent and think he needs to have the latest version of a device to make it. Every time they make a new iPod he goes on eBay sells his old one for less than he paid and then pays more for the new one he thinks he’s cool and smart and saving money but he never really impresses anyone just thinks he needs that device to survive. In today’s society I myself feel lost if I go a day without my phone. I feel that my phone can do anything I can talk to people surf the web and type stuff if I need to which is great but nothing like the old days because today I believe our society can’t survive without technology.
DeVillez, Eric., Michael McGuire, Thomas Dow, and Troy Swanson. “Why White Rice?”. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2000.Print -
Thomas Vasquez
Topic Homelessness Introduction In today’s society people do…
Topic: Homelessness
Introduction: In today’s society people do not realize the growing rate of homeless around. With so many factors that can make an individual homeless people should realize unless we try and stop it as a whole society the homeless population will keep growing. There are also many simple ways that one individual can help the homeless.
1. Talk about the different ways that people can become homeless
• Foreclosure: Talk about how foreclosing on houses is making people homeless.
• Lack of affordable health care: with no affordable health care people will have to pay outrageous amounts for their health which could cause them to use all their money and make them homeless.
• Mental illness: people with mental illnesses may not be able to take care of themselves causing them to become homeless
• Addiction Disorders: If a person is addicted to any drug that can make them become homeless because of all the money they spend on drugs causing the persons house to be foreclosed on causing them to become homeless.
2. Talk about the different ways that someone can help homeless people
• Soup kitchens: Talk about what they are.
• Donating money: Talk about how they don’t have to give it straight to the homeless and can donate it to organizations
• Building houses: They can help build houses to put the homeless back on there feet.
Conclusion: As you can see there are many ways people can become homeless and many ways you can help the homeless and if you can find it in your heart to maybe just do one or take some spare change to give a homeless man or woman it would be very beneficial to them. -
Thomas Vasquez
Overview
In today’s society there is a growing amount of people who are homeless or living on the street. You can never be too sure if you are giving your money to a fake or what this homeless person is going to spend it on but u can know that when u give it to someone who needs it they will be very thankful for it even if it’s something as small as a dollar. With more and more jobs being cut people are losing all hope and resorting to being a homeless person because they believe it is the only thing they can do. If we can get homeless people off the streets and into a decent home or shelter and get them some way of earning money than they can start there life back up and the nation will benefit as a whole because the streets would not be filled with people looking for money. Some people believe why should I give my money to that homeless person when I worked hard to earn it or If I give it to them they are just going to buy drugs which in most cases u can’t control what they spend it on but at least if they use it on something good you did a good thing. https://www.justgive.org/ways/50wayshomeless.jsp lists 50 ways to help homeless people in your community if you can find it in your heart to even do just one of these the community will benefit from it and you will benefit yourself.
Background
According to http://www.nationalhomeless.org each year 3.5 million people experience homelessness and that number is increasing. There are nine different things that factor into people becoming homeless: Foreclosure, Poverty, Eroding Work Opportunities, Decline in public assistance, Housing, Lack of affordable health care, Domestic violence, Mental illness, and Addiction Disorders. When a family’s house gets foreclosed on and they can’t afford anything else they might have to go live on the streets till they get back on their feet which is something not all people notice. Poverty and being homeless go hand and hand homeless people might have been too poor to afford anything like health care, food, or housing so they have no option but to beg and plead for money. If a person loses a job or has a job with little benefits and have to undergo surgery with no health care this could end up making them lose all their money because they have to pay for things they need which would cause them to become homeless. When a family or person is struggling to put food on the table or maybe pay rent then they come down with a serious illness then what else can they do besides live on the streets because they had to or couldn’t pay for this illness. A person that was beaten and runs away from the abusive spouse or person they are living with might have nowhere to go but become homeless or maybe that person was born with a mental illness gets kicked out of the house at 18 or they can’t afford to keep paying for him or her to live there they will have nowhere else to turn but the streets. A lot of people believe that a majority of homeless people are addicted to drugs or alcohol but that is not always the case and isn’t always an easy fix if it is the case. People involved or affected with the issue are anywhere to small children to the elderly. People don’t realize that most people out there don’t choose to be homeless and maybe are just raised on the street and don’t know anything else.The history behind homelessness can go way back in the day to when there were slaves sure they had homes but weren’t they really homeless. A member of dceh said that “Frequently references are made that homelessness as we know it today is rooted in severe HUD cuts in the early 1980s. While policy changes did have a large impact exacerbating the problem, homelessness has been documented in America since 1640.” This means that for 372 years homelessness has been going on and increasing more and more each year. Homelessness was decreasing more and more with people creating shelters building new homes for people to live in or even giving food to a food pantry so that some people who can’t afford it can eat the food they don’t need. These small things help and have helped the homeless population shrink more and more each day But then about three years ago are economy crashed and the people helping may have become homeless themselves or maybe can’t afford to help the homeless anymore because of their own needs. With the economy taking a spiral down the homeless population took an increase and more and more people were out of jobs getting there house foreclosed on and had nowhere to turn to.
Current Situation
Currently homelessness is on a constant rise and there are more and more people becoming homeless. There are things like soup kitchens groups making houses for homeless but still much more can be done. I went and helped at a food pantry and it was a new and cheerful experience. It made me realize how some of these people are so grateful just to get some food when there are people around who eat whatever they want and don’t even know the meaning of a dollar. There are also numerous organizations that are doing everything in their power to decrease the number of homeless people. The website (http://www.nhc2009.ca/en/homelessness.html ) “In response to the steady increase in persons without adequate housing, a growing number of organizations and educational institutions at both the local and national levels are undertaking initiatives, practices and research to address homelessness.” This is showing that other people are not just sitting around and letting homelessness happen and are trying to stop it.
What’s being done?
“The biggest recent assistance for the homeless came in President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus package. The measure provided $1.5 billion to the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, temporarily aiding homeless and near-homeless households. According to a report issued in January by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the program has helped more than one million impoverished people find housing, but it is set to end this fall.” Says Michelle Hirsch and Alix Pianin writers for The Fiscal Times. Barak Obama took this issue and tried to help it once the economy crashed. With this passed you have to do even less to help the homeless but people are still doing nothing and just looking at their own future and not caring for others. “Housing Solutions USA Takes Multi-Pronged, Client-Centered Approach to Address Homelessness and its Root Causes.” Says an article by prweb. If you look at housing solutions USA’s website (http://housingsolutionsusa.org/home) they flat out say there goal is to “end homelessness by providing quality housing and innovative supportive services to men, women and children in need, allowing them to regain their dignity and transition to self-sufficiency and independent living.” This is showing that there are people around today that live to try and get people off the streets and provide them a better life and keep them from making the wrong choices.An organization called don’t almost give (http://www.dontalmostgive.org/ ) does just about anything from trying to build better houses or new houses for people that are homeless or people that are just trying to better themselves but cannot afford it. They also do things like give food to the homeless and pretty much just do everything they can to put these homeless people back on their feet. The help the homeless program (http://www.helpthehomelessdc.org/site/PageNavigator/2011_walkathon_homepage ) does something as simple as gathering money from the community and doing a walkathon which is nothing hard to do all you do is walk a certain number of miles and make money to donate to the help the homeless program and they will put it to good use. A good thing about this program is that they allow anyone to join and will take any donations even over the internet.
Ways to get involved
There are many different things a person can do to get involved with helping the homeless with anything from giving a homeless man or woman some change to building them a new house there are so many small things they need and so little u will have to do. Other ways u can be involved is by making donations which is probably the safest route to go. Say you are not sure u want to give a homeless person five dollars because u think he will go and spend it on booze or drugs well if you donate to an organization they make sure your money is being put to good use and can probably do a lot more with the money you donate then the homeless person might. Another common thing people do is volunteering at a soup kitchen. It is not a hard task to do all you have to do is go and serve soup to these people that all they want to do is have a meal for the first time in who knows how long. Soup kitchens and food pantries are some of the best things for the homeless along with were they can get warm clothes and shelter. You can also donate any old jackets pants shirts etc. to shelters and they will distribute them to the needy. This is a good thing to do because everyone has old clothes laying around that they know they are not going to wear again so what harm is there in donating them to someone who will be thankful and happy to receive these clothes. All of the links provided have contact us information if you are interested in helping.
Learn Morehttp://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/homeless
This website is very good if you are trying to learn about the homeless situation and maybe start with something to get involve and if u need to contact anyone. This website also kind of defines what homelessness really is and how it is treated in today’s society and how organizations and the government are trying to help the growing issue and lessen the amount of homeless. This website is also good if you are homeless or maybe you know someone that is homeless and you need to get back up on your feet it will give you or them numerous different ways of turning your life around along with people who you can contact to help u succeed in turning your life around.
http://www.solutionsforamerica.org/thrivingneigh/homelessness.html
This website is a good source if you’re looking for statistics of homelessness and how people are stopping it. The good thing about this website is that it splits things into sections and gives a good amount of information for each section instead of just leaving it vague and confusing. It is a very easy website to follow and can provide useful ways of decreasing the homeless population by simple things like permanent housing and other things. This website also provides links to various different journal articles and to numerous other sites that can help someone learn more about how much the homeless population is growing and has grown since back in the day.
https://www.justgive.org/ways/50wayshomeless.jsp
This website is very useful for anyone trying to do anything from understand who the homeless are how they might of got stuck in the position they are in or how they can help get a specific person or some random out of that position. The great thing about this website is that it doesn’t just list one or two things it lists 50 different ways a person can help. It’s so helpful that they list so many because someone can relate and be able to do one maybe to or maybe someone will be willing to do all 50. This list is very simple to understand to and lists simple tasks like giving away old pairs of pants to something as difficult but not really that difficult as recruiting a local business. This website doesn’t just tell you things to do it also inform you of all the different things that could have been or can be happen to the homeless people like getting beaten by drunks or they might have a mental disability you really could never know with some.
http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/
This website is more for anyone who is looking to help the homeless in their community. This website is very simple to you and lists so many different homeless shelters that there are in the United States and it even says at the top that currently there are 3283 shelters in the United States as of today. This website also gives the reader information on ways they can help at the shelters get people to the shelters and also just informs people about the growing number of homeless in the United States today. It is very easy to use also all u need to do is enter in some information like your state and zip code and it will give you a list of shelters that you or anyone can go to and help out or if you know someone that is on their own right now and needs help you can take them there.
http://dhs.dc.gov/dhs/cwp/view,a,3,q,492663.asp
This website is not very good at telling you anything particular about the homeless issue currently around today but it does give you five or ten different links to what you are looking for exactly is a place to help out at or just some information that you weren’t sure about. I looked up a couple different things and all of the links they gave me were really informative and helped me understand the rise of homelessness in the world today and also the many different things that I or anyone can do to help. It also has some information about the website and how it came to exist which I also found very interesting.
Closing comments
In today’s society there are over three million people homeless in the world and they range anywhere from small children to old adults. It really doesn’t take too much to help out the homeless and you never know how it may benefit your life. There is no feeling in the world like when you do something really nice and good for a homeless person and how grateful they are because it is something they really need. Some people just don’t understand no one originally chooses to be homeless it just happens and sometimes there is nothing the homeless person can do to change it they may have drug problems but you shouldn’t think every homeless person does. There are also many different ways you can help them in your location all you have to do is get up and do something about it instead of just saying I’ll do it another time or ill let someone else deal with it.
Work Cited
“Fannie Mae’s Help the Homeless Program: Home.” Fannie Mae’s Help the Homeless Program: Home. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
Heidi. “The History of Homelessness in America 1640s to Present.” Downtown Congregations to End Homelessness. 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
Hirsch, Michelle, and Alix Pianin. “America’s Coming Homeless Surge.” MSNMoney. 20 Feb. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
“Homelessness: What’s Being Done?” Growing Home. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
Kroloff, Charles A. “JustGive Guide – Ways to Help.” JustGive.org. 1993. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
PRweb. “Bold Initiative Launched to End Homelessness in America.” Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 26 Jan. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
“Ready to Give?” Charitable Organizations Offer Volunteer Opportunities through Dont Almost Give.org. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .
“Why Are People Homeless?” National Coalition for the Homeless. National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .-
Grace Cosentino
Your paper makes a very good point when you say that you really truly do not know what these homeless people are going to spend your money on. I feel that like you said a lot of people are very scared to give homeless people their money because it is their hard earned buck that they work for so why should they give it to some drug addict bum but you never know they could really be a person in need with a family so by giving that dollar your taking the chance to really be helping someone in need. Your second paragraph where you listed out the different ways that people can become homeless I really liked that paragraph because I don’t think a lot of people think about things like a person with an illness, abusive spouse, or foreclosure. Some people feel that there is always a way for people to get back on their feet and the sad part is that there isn’t just any easy way out. Some people have no family or no one to help them and just have to be put on the street if you have no money and just lost your job you have no choice. I do not think that America opens up their eyes to situations like these and it saddens me because these people truly do need help and it can happen to anyone especially in today’s society. I agree with your paper that it would benefit our country and government to get these homeless people off the streets and into shelters or help them with homes it would really clean the streets up and make the world just better to live in. It was sad to hear that homeless numbers just keep increasing and it’s hard for even the people that used to help, help these people anymore because even these people are in need. I thought it was good that you gave and explained organizations in your paper so that people just didn’t get done reading it and not really know what they could do to help. You explained in your paper how they could help and even gave direct links that helped especially me as a reader get a better idea about the topic and as I was reading it helped me get involved because I was connecting to the links as I reading and took a look at them to get a better understanding. I thought your paper was very informational and I knew about homeless people before reading this paper but I found your paper helpful to how I could help and get involved. It also gave me a better insight on how the world is taking this issue and trying to turn it around. As I was reading your paper I could tell that you were actually interested in this issue you weren’t just writing it because it was an assignment it’s something you actually care about and I could see that through your writing.
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Gregory Laurenzana
WOW Thomas! I really enjoyed reading this paper, it was full of interesting facts and helpful hints about how to get involved with helping the homeless. I especially liked the part were you addressed all of the different reasons people become homeless. Weather its mental illness, the economy or s choice, homelessness is a growing problem in this country. Thank you for writing such an insightful paper, it was very easy to read and straight to the point with lots if facts and resources. I think you nailed the assignment, part of the assignment was to write an informative and persuasive paper and u did just that. Your paper has got me rethinking about how I view the homeless, I have always been very reluctant in giving any homeless person cash because there are people who are not homeless, but only acting like it! one thing I have done is buy a homeless person a meal at like McDonald’s or something like that. For me that was always met with gratitude. I know of one person that did this and he was met with rage and anger. Its defiantly a catch 22, so to speak. Some people are very grateful for assistance and maybe a free hot meal given to them by a complete stranger, while others are, what would seem very ungrateful and just plain angry. Now, who knows maybe those people that lash out at the folks trying to help them are mad for a completely different reason and this is the only way they know how to channel that anger.
The holidays are a big time for year for people to “give back” but you have proved in your paper that this is not a seasonal issue, but a year round one. I know that deep down we all know that, but most of us like to pretend that this is not the case. We should all be giving back (if we can) all the time, not just around the holidays or as part of a school project or class assignment. There are people out there that really and truly need help and you have made me realize that even though i don’t have money to give I can still go to McDonald’s or Wendy’s and order a few things off the dollar menu and give them to the homeless person sitting on the street corner. Better yet, I could donate my time, we all can’t donate money, mostly because most people don’t have it to give, but we all have time. Even though, time can be valuable it is also free and precious.
Thank you for opening my eyes to this growing problem! I am glad I read this, it is very motivating and well written.
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Thomas Vasquez
I decided to do my journal entry on the readings in Why White Rice that we have had to do this far. The readings at first I thought they were going to just be very boring and not help me at all but by reading these chapters I realized the many different ways there are to write and all the ways that I can improve my writing. Also one of the sections talked about thesis’s and I personally was never really sure how to write a thesis and whenever I did major papers I would always get points off because of a bad thesis or no thesis at all. Other things I have learned are about how I will ramble on or have run-on sentences how to control it to a lesser extent and other techniques to use when I have nothing else to say on a subject. I also have a hard time starting my papers and have no idea what my first sentence should be about or if I should use a random attention getter or a quote and some of the chapters helped me with this and also with when I am stumped in one of my papers and am not sure what else to write it gave me ideas of what else I can add in there to make it better and keep it from being to short or to lengthy. I have really enjoyed reading Why White Rice this far and can’t wait to see what else I learn from reading it.
DeVillez, Eric., Michael McGuire, Thomas Dow, and Troy Swanson. “Why White Rice?”. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2000.Print -
Thomas Vasquez
When I looked at the title “Your Mother and I” I really did not know what to expect with the story whether it is just going to be a story of a man rambling or someone talking about his deceased wife. I somewhat knew what to expect when I started reading this story because we talked about it in the previous class and I didn’t really fully read the article until today. From the story I got the feeling that this man really cared for his wife and believed he and his wife can and did do anything they wanted. At one point he starts talking about how they just walked into a quarantine city and just cure the whole city. Now this really isn’t a bad thing but it is not a likely case to happen. There are also tons of random things in the story that don’t really make sense but I guess add on to the reading to make it more interesting. For example the most ridiculous thing I noticed in the story was at one point he randomly says “its jalapeño time” this made no sense to me but I guess it did to the man telling the story. One of the things I did notice from reading this is that you can really tell that he cared for his wife a lot and in a way I thing that is why he puts them above expectations and sees the things they do as these crazy outrageous adventures.
Eggers, Dave. “Your Mother and I” pgs 115-123. Splatter.writing101.net 2012 -
Thomas Vasquez
does anyone have less than three peer reviews because two people in my group didn’t do the paper so i would rather do someone who doesn’t have three reviews then give someone 4 or 5
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Kyle Barczak
I don’t have a single one. If you’d like to do mine, I’d appreciate it.
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Melissa Castillo
I only have one review also.
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Thomas Vasquez
While reading “What it means when a crowd in a faraway nation takes a soldier representing your own nation, shoots him, drags him from his vehicle, and then mutilates him in the dust” I couldn’t help but to think of all the things that have happened since I was a kid. The bombing on 9/11 and just the whole war in Iraq and how innocent people are dying and sure you might not know who they are but there is someone who’s family he or she is a part of and would like to go home to. When they talk about how the man realized the picture was taken somewhere in the united states it made me think some people don’t respect soldiers like they should. Soldiers are fighting for us so that random civilians and their families can go on living there lives without worry. For people to disrespect soldiers it just makes me think of how cruel some people really are. These people probably just do not realize that its because of them that you can go home to your house and sleep at night without worry of an attack on your house. Another thing I learned from this article is that some people like this man think that soldiers are different than normal people that they cannot die and seeing them dead makes people think am I next what is going to happen to me. This article really just got me to think about what have I been doing to help the soldiers and what else can I do.
Eggers, Dave. “How We Are Hungry”, What It Means When A Crowd In A Faraway Nation Takes A Soldier Representing Your Own Nation, Shoots Him, Drags Him From His Vehicle And Then Mutilates Him In The Dust. McSweeney’s, 2004. pgs 17-18. Splatter.writing101.net 2012 -
Thomas Vasquez
Live Die And Kill When I was first…
Live. Die. And Kill. When I was first asked these questions I didn’t put much thought into it and just assumed that these questions had simple answers. I spent a long time thinking about these and still am not completely sure if I would ever really kill for something because in my eyes death is something that should come naturally and no one should really depict whether someone should live or die. Life is a funny thing and no one really knows what is in store for them the next day, some people are too cautious and never leave their house and some people are not cautious at all. There are people who believe in karma don’t like doing anything hurtful because they believe it will come back to get them and there are also people who don’t believe in anything. I don’t necessarily believe in karma but still live my life with the intentions of helping. I try to live my life to the fullest and try to do good even in the smallest ways.
I would say that I live for quite a few things. I live because I have things I cherish like my family and friends. Also I live so that I can one day have a family of my own and make my parents proud. My family is without a doubt the most important thing I live for. They are always there for me even if I don’t want them to be they will do everything in their power to help me. From my parents to my cousins I know they will always be there for me and I will do the same to them. My mom has always been one of my biggest influences because she has been their the most for me of anyone. My mom knows what’s best for me and if I don’t know what to do I know her answers will be with intentions of helping me to have a brighter future. Friendship is something that I think everyone should have. I always believe in giving people chances and never stay away from someone because someone tells me to. This has also hurt me in the past but also made me into the person I am today. I believe that everyone will gain and lose friends in the course of their life because everyone has to move on and eventually becomes distant. I also know that people will find friends that they will want to keep until they are gone, mostly because everyone needs someone who they can consider there best friend and it sometimes may even be more than one. Some people don’t want to get married and start families because they might have had bad experiences growing up. Growing up for me was a great experience with its highs and its lows and I still would not change it for the world. Seeing how happy my parents were raising me and my siblings and the expression on their faces when they heard my sister was pregnant made me sure that one day I want to have a family of my own and teach them good morals and maybe one day my kids will have to decide what they would live for.
Before this class I never really thought of what I would die or even kill for but while laying down the other night a couple of things came across my mind. Dying isn’t something anyone wants to happen to them or any of their loved ones and sometimes it can’t be helped but eventually everyone’s time comes. I would die for some things big and small, I know that I would diffidently without a doubt die for my family but I would also die for a stranger if it would help society or anyone in a big way. If I needed to die in order to save my family I would do it in a heartbeat because I know that if it was a big enough deal they would do the same for me. I have also thought about things like if I saw someone almost getting hit by a car I would proudly risk my life so that they can keep there’s. Maybe at that moment it may impact my family and friends more than the person I saved but eventually I know that the person would have their world changed by some random person’s act of kindness. Also I know if I had some rare blood type that could cure cancer or a zombie virus actually did happen and I was one of the few people born immune to it then I would have to give all my blood to save society I would do it just because it would be beneficial to the world as a whole and could shape the future into a better place. I think that giving your life for someone would just make that person realize the value of their life more than they did before they met you.
I don’t think that anyone should every really think of what they would kill for but if I really think about it I guess there are a couple things I would kill for. I would kill for survival, once again my friends or family, or even to save other lives. Killing for survival might sound dumb but there are some weird people out there and maybe they will trap you somewhere and the last one living goes free, or maybe you got lost in a forest and you have to kill animals for survival to eat and for warmth. My family and friends if I would die for them of course I would kill for them if they were being held hostage and I somehow got lose I would kill that person or at least knock them unconscious or close to death. Also if I had to kill one family member to save another I really have no idea what I would do in that circumstance because I don’t think that one person’s life is more important than anyone else’s. Say I was a cop or even just a guy with a gun and a burglar was holding a place hostage and threatened to kill someone for every hour he is trapped I would kill him the instant I had the chance I believe that there is good in everyone but if you are willing to take a life and be a criminal then your life needs to be taken as well and that even goes the same for me I believe if I had to kill someone it would have to be for a very good reason.
Before this paper I never really put much thought into these questions but writing this made me realize even more now how much I cherish my family and friends, also how I would just about do anything for them and I know my family and most of my friends will do the same for me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but from doing this paper I think at least once in your life you should think about these three questions. No one is perfect and completely selfish to where they cannot put any thought into these questions and I also believe that no to answers to these questions will be exactly alike just like there are no two people exactly the same. Everyone has their own backgrounds and their own choice of what they would live, die, and kill, for.
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Gregory Laurenzana
I know that these are some tough questions to answer, but I think u answered them completely and with complete honesty. I also like the fact that you gave us a list of a couple of things u would live die and kill for, and not just your family. This is a well thought out and planned paper, easy to read and understand and it all flows together very well. I do however, think that your paper needs to be a little bit longer. Maybe talk some more about killing for survival or killing for another human being maybe give us another example of what your talking about. I do think that you had some really good examples in your paper but, I do think that part about finding a cure for a “zombie virus” is a bit unrealistic. I understood the point you were trying to get across, but maybe your example should be things that are more relate-able to to your general audience. I mean, if the majority of your readers know about the zombie virus and all that kind of stuff, like me; I know about that kind of stuff and I can appreciate what u said about that. However, someone who has no idea about zombie anything might find that part pointless.
Other then all of that I thought that this piece was very well organized and thought out, very easy to read and filled with some good examples. I particularly liked the part when you talked about killing a bank robber who is threatening the lives of his captors. And how you would be happy to kill if it meant saving another life.
There should also be more to your closing paragraph, I kinda felt like it ended abruptly and with no real concrete summery of what your paper was about. As your reader I liked this topic and the fact that you would live die and kill for more then just your friends and family. This has shown me what you are sweet guy with a sensitive side, but can also kick some serious ass if you had to. I know that i was quite critical of this piece of writing, and I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be to harsh, I did really like it but I just felt that I had to point out the stuff about the zombie virus and the closing paragraph. But all in all it was a good paper and nice to read.
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Kyle Barczak
Thomas, while reading your paper, I really enjoyed that you provided examples with just about everything you had to say. You covered anything from giving someone in your life another chance to possibly curing cancer and even to the multiple ways or reasons you would kill someone. I find this to be very helpful in being able to relate to your paper. Your paper also tells me a lot about who you are as a person and what kind of morals you may have. You seem to be a very family oriented person, which is a very good trait to have. Your family means everything and more to you and you would do just about anything for them, as they would do for you. Many people would find this to be very admirable.
While killing for survival almost seems like an obvious choice, I really loved how you extended it to the point of allowing others survive, even if it was stranger. Quite obviously, you really cherish the fact of being a human being.
Now, your introduction, I think something a little more attention grabbing could be used. Whether it’s in your title or your opening sentence, I didn’t feel all that compelled to continue reading until you stated that you still weren’t entirely sure of your own answers. That made me really want to continue reading to just learn more about you. Providing examples of what people believe in was a great idea though. It gave readers, like me, a chance to relate with what they believe in or think about. For myself, I strongly believe in karma. Simply, what goes around comes around. There’s nothing too hidden in that simple statement, but it’s a very hard belief to live by because of the common everyday choices we have can be taken in many different attitudes.
Another thing I noticed about a couple of your sentences is that you have a few run-ons in your paper. The best advice I can give to you about finding these run-ons is to read your paper out loud. You’ll find out which sentences can be shortened, have a comma added, or even a semi-colon added quiet easily. You’ll also find out if you have any comma splices within your paper.
Your statement about killing a family member to save another family member also got my mind running. That would be a very hard and probably impossible task for anyone who cherishes their family. I’d love to say it’d be hard for everyone but sadly, not all families are close. After thinking about it a while longer, I’ve come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t make the choice. I’d do anything in my power to try and save whichever family member is about to die or sacrifice myself for both of them to live if that was an option.
But as I said, overall I really enjoyed your paper. There are a few minor things I would adjust, which I stated, but other than that, I think you did great. -
Grace Cosentino
Your overall writing was a good piece of writing in my opinion. I like that you are family oriented and I think that is something that everyone can almost relate to. Almost everyone has family and knows what it feels like to lose someone or knows what it feels like to even think about losing someone that close to them. I feel that by writing about something that close to not only your heart but others too will have a reader hooked from the beginning. I wrote a lot about my family in my paper also so it was easy for me to connect to your writing. I also liked the fact that you wouldn’t just die for your loved ones you would also put your life in jeopardy for someone else just because it was the right thing to do. In your writing you said that you would jump in front of someone that was about to be hit by a car and die yourself if it meant saving them and letting them live. That is a very noble thing to say because I feel like a lot of people cannot say that about themselves that they would die for someone they barely know, and in all honesty that really shows what kind of person you are. That helps the readers connect to you because as a reader going into reading a strangers writings you want to almost feel like you know the person just by reading their work and I feel like by the statements you made in your paper that made it possible to do so. I liked it when you said that you live for being able to have a family one day because that is an important part of life and a good thing to live for. Also I agree with you that life will always have its ups and downs but that is a part of growing up and you have to cherish those things and just keep moving on and friendships and relationships being made and broken will hurt you but will also build you into like you said the person you are today I definitely liked that statement and consider it to be very true. The only thing I would say that I feel would make your paper a little bit better is if you stopped almost questioning yourself so much especially in your intro. For example you put things like “I’m not exactly sure”, if you are doubtful then your reader will be too because they will feel like if you are not confident in what you are saying then why would they read it, and your paper was a really good piece of writing so you shouldn’t sound doubtful you should just boldly say how you feel. Other than that I really can’t say anything bad about your writing i think you did a really good job at it and it also shows that you put a lot of thought and work into it that you didn’t just throw something together.
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Thomas Vasquez
I think that ecological literacy is something that can only slightly be taught but it is mostly picked up from what you see and how you are raised. To me it is simply knowing how to survive in the world today. It can be anything for knowing how to save money for when a rainy day comes or being able to succeed at a low income job because you spend your money right. To become ecologically literate it depends on the person and if they are willing to give it a try. You can teach it to a certain extent but it is also picked up from real world experiences. A kid who is raised my millionaires may be a lot less ecologically literate because he has been given everything since he was a child but a child who is poor and works to make the slightest bit of money could be a lot more ecological literate because he knows the true meaning of a dollar as some people would say. I think in many ways I am ecologically literate because I try different routes to places I will be going more than once and see which one will be the fastest and save the most gas instead of paying $4 to the gallon every week to fill up. Also I will carpool with people to my job instead of all of us wasting gas or paying for our parking. One other way is that if I am to buy something online I search around for a while for the cheapest price instead of seeing a so called deal and buying it right there and then.
Capra, Fritjof. “Thinking Ecologically.” The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. New York: Anchor, 1996. 81-86. Print
Tom Rybovic, 
Jami Busse, and 
Thomas Vasquez are discussing. 
Gregory Laurenzana, and 
Grace Cosentino are discussing. 
Melissa Castillo, and 
Kyle Barczak are discussing. 
Jami Busse 10:54 pm on May 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
papers stapled individually, binder clipped together. bibliography after end piece
Thomas Vasquez 11:07 pm on May 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks so much he also wants a title page right?
Jami Busse 11:48 pm on May 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Your Welcome! and yes on the front of the folder
Tom Rybovic 7:15 am on May 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
bibliography on what at the end?!?!