Lee McKinnis (57)
Kristina Marynczak (37)
Killian Noonan (36)
Melissa Castillo (33)
NikoVelazquez (27)
Shannon Ratzel (23)
Michelle Reyes (22)
Kyle Barczak (21)
Maura Bilek (21)
Susan Bayaa (21)
Journal Post #14: I tried to find something to post the journal on since that I read the last chapter already. I figured why not write something from the previous chapters. I picked this really short article, “WRITE THAT DOWN!” by Tom Dow. I figured that even though it is short, the idea or the lesson has a bigger idea from it. Tom mentions the boxer, Mike Tyson and referred to his colleague Eric’s comment about Mike Tyson. Basically Eric called him stupid and Tom said “Mr. Tyson, the guy who called you stupid is Troy, not me.” I thought it was funny that he said that but at the same time he turned it around into why Eric commented like that. Tom was saying he agrees with Eric’s lessons about keeping your language simple. This was applied to writing, as in when the students wrote their thesis statements; the statement was very long and complex. When asked what they were trying to say there, their responses were much simpler than the statements. Tom said in the article that we should try different ideas with language more than we normally do. He basically was telling the reader to keep the language simple even though your ideas or thesis statements are complex. It is important to do that he mentioned. I could relate to this because I have written very complex thesis statements before. When my teachers in high school would read it, they would ask what I was trying to say in the statement. I would tell them and it would sound so simple and understandable. The lesson is to make the language in the essays much simpler than being complex.
Dow, Tom. “WRITE THAT DOWN!” Why White Rice? Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Print. splatter.writing101.net 2012
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Mark Reppen
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Mark Reppen
Journal Post # 13: I read the article in Chapter 8, called “THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY,” by Tom Dow. I liked how Tom talked about his family heritage and how he searched for the answers to the questions he had about them. It was interesting reading about how he began searching for the answers when he found his old college paper. His paper was on the history of his family’s culture and heritages. He researched into his family so he could be able to write something about his family. He knew that there was a lot of history into it. He explains how all the information on the history was sent to him by all the women in the family. He chose not to research his culture heritage from his perspective so that got away from him. It was interesting how he was listening to his mother and grandparents about their family history and applied it to the paper. Another thing that got away from him was that he mentioned that he could have written about his family’s connection to American expansion and the blending of cultures along the frontier. He was just finding out all these facts and how it was interesting to him. I agree with him that it was interesting that he was related to these different people. He found out that he was related to people that were on the Mayflower and also a Native American tribe. He ended the article saying that if people asked about his cultural background, he would proudly say I’m American. His family has been here for 400 years which I thought was a cool combination of culture heritages. Dow, Tom. THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY. Why White Rice? Thinking Through Writing. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Print. splatter.writing101.net 2012
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Mark Reppen
Journal Post #12: I read an article in Why White Rice; it was titled Why Dracula Sucks by Troy Swanson. The title caught my attention and I was curious how he came up with the title. As I read on, I saw that he was talking about making your paper or presentations an interesting piece when the topic is boring. Basically Troy was saying that to make a boring topic interesting, you have to do the unexpected with it. For example: Troy gave a presentation in his graduate class and it was called “Why Dracula Sucks,” and he had to basically review a book and he chose Dracula and presented it on how it sucked. I thought that would have been an unusual presentation to give or to listen to. He gave turned the topic around to why it sucked just so he could make the class wake up and pay attention. He just gave out points to why it sucked to support his review on it. I thought to myself that anyone could do that if they had the right points and creativity to make it an interesting topic. Thinking that, I figured that the next time I write or present about something that I consider boring, I’ll try to spice it up to make it pop out and grab attention. What surprised me was that Troy said in the end that he failed at giving the presentation just as how the book Dracula failed miserably but yet he received an A for the class. This gave me the idea of spicing up boring topics the next time I come across one.
Swanson, Troy. “Why Dracula Sucks” Why White Rice? Thinking Thorough Writing. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2010. Print. splatter.writing101.net -
Mark Reppen
Habitat for Humanity: A Story of Service
Habitat for Humanity and its History:
I volunteered to work at a house for Habitat for Humanity: Chicago South Suburbs. The service was from 9 am-3 pm. The location of the house was in Park Forest, Illinois. I did research on the organization before going that day for the service project. I found the Habitat’s history and learned what it was all about.
Habitat for Humanity was established in 1965 by a millionaire, Millard Fuller. He and his family moved to an mixed race Christian farming community in Southwest Georgia called Koinonia. The community was run by Clarence Jordan. Clarence inspired Millard through her take on Christianity. In 1969, a programed launched by Millard went into effect. It was a program of “partnership housing” which built homes in partnership with rural neighbors who were too poor to qualify for conventional home loans. Millard believed that the poor did not need charity, they need capital. He raised funds and brought construction materials, the community volunteered to build the homes to keep the costs down. New owners paid back the costs into a revolving fund which was used to build the next section of houses. In 1973, Millard took the idea to Zaire, which is in Africa. It worked so well there that more than 100 homes were built in the first project. The program expanded and now more than 3000 communities in over 90 countries have managed to solve their own housing issues through Habitat for Humanity model of self-help.
Habitat for Humanity has an organization located in Chicago Heights, IL. It is the Habitat for Humanity Chicago South Suburbs. They have over 75,000 households in the southern suburbs. The houses built by them are sold to those in need at no profit and with an interest free loan maintained by the affiliate. They work to create and build decent homes for those in need of one.
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Mark Reppen
Journal Post #11: I read the link that Mike McGuire put up for the class. Basically it talked about writing course and community service. It talked about how the teachers used community service to associate with writing. They had their students go and volunteer and work the different services and write about what they did and how it affected them. I did the same thing with the Greater Chicago Food Depository this semester. After I volunteered there, I wrote a paper on it just like the students did in this reading. There were some excerpts from a couple of books that related to this subject. When I read them, I saw how in depth the quotes and such were about this community service thorough writing. I was curious about what they thought about this after they did the services and wrote the papers on it. The reason I was curious was because I did learn a few things about the service and how it impacted the community and me. I wondered if the same happened with the students and teachers in this reading. I also thought that some of things they did sounded like it was extra. I mean I thought, was it necessary to do all the work and extra in order to be able to write these paper the students needed to write about? Some of the excerpt actually talked about assigning the services in a way to make it interesting to the students and it helps them learn from the experience. Overall, I was able to understand the reading and why I am doing the community service for this course.
Carrick, Tracy Hamler. Himley, Margaret. Jacobi, Tobi. Ruptura: Acknowledging the Lost Subjects of the Service Learning Story. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Writing Program, 1999. Print. splatter.writing101.net 2012 -
Mark Reppen
Journal #10: For this journal post, I want to talk about Why White Rice, Chapter 6. On page 157, section 6.7 talks about making choices through writing. It compared the writing process to playing jazz. I actually understood what the author was saying because I have played jazz before in high school. Basically what it says that writing is like playing jazz. When playing jazz, jazz musician often times include improvisation. Improvisation is creating or making up different notes in the music to make it more interesting and fun. Writing is similar as in the more you write, the more you develop different ideas to write about or how to write. Also each time you do that, you look back at it to examine what you wrote to help you improve your writing. It is all creative writing with creative ideas. The author was saying that when do this “creativity,” there are numerous of choices for the writer to make. Also he said that the writer has to understand his/her creative choices. Overall I understood what the author was saying about creative ideas and writing compared with jazz and improvisation. That section actually helped me understand more about creative writing and how to make it more elaborate or mix together to make it more interesting. Once again, jazz is similar to this and that was useful in a way for creative writing. Basically you don’t just write something plain and just put one piece upon another and leave as that. It has to have more put into it to make it sound interesting, have good structure, and different styles or tone.
McGuire, Mike. “Why White Rice,” Chapter 6. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. Pg 157. splatter.writing101.net 2012 -
Mark Reppen
Journal Post #9: I started reading Chapter 6 of Why White Rice? I came across an article called “Writing Is Limitless.” I read it through and I liked what the author, Basima Ismail wrote in it. The article talked about writing and how it is the same thing as creative writing. I liked how the author was saying that people think differently from one another. It was mentioned in the article about how when we were all a young age, we are taught to write five paragraphs. That was all we did when it came down to writing. The five paragraphs consisted of an intro, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. I was able to successfully write five paragraphs but just like the author said, I could not add more to it. When I got to Moraine, everything changed. I had to just simply write, and add more details into the papers, etc. I did have some difficult time adjusting to it but I overcame it eventually. I agree with the author that when it comes down to writing, we all should think about creative writing and just write. It all has to do with the way we think, feel, and just simply put down on paper. It is usually when we have to write for an assignment, but when you think about it; most of the time when we write the papers, we put our thoughts, opinions, emotions, arguments, and logic appeals into it. It is all about the creativity of our writing. The author was trying to reach out and say that there are multiple possibilities that the mind can do with writings.
Ismail, Basima. “Writing Is Limitless.” Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. WWR? Chapter 6. pgs 138-139. splatter.writing101.net 2012 -
Mark Reppen
Journal Post #8: I read the article “The Cycle of Socialization,” by Bobbie Harro. I found it interesting how the author wrote about how everyone is raised. Everything that everyone or most people are taught about when they grew up is on this article. I found myself thinking “Wow! I was raised by my parents, family, and friends through the socialization cycle. I agree strongly with the author on from the moment we’re born, we’re taught, molded, shaped into whatever person we were raised to be by our families, friends, etc. When I saw there was a figure of the cycle of socialization and read it; I was surprised to see that most of everything on it applies to me. I noticed though that there was a circle in the middle that says fear and I thought about how it was in the center pointing to all the other circles around it. I came to realize that in many ways, when I was kid I was taught to fear some things, or learned life lessons that my parents spoke of. For example, most parents tell their kids what to do, what not to do and when a kid does something that they are not supposed to do, they realize how scary it was and received punishment for their consequences. I kept reading on and I could see how my life so far is applied by this article. Another thing that I agree with the author on is how when we grow up, everyone learns about who they are as in what kind of person they are. This is the toughest part of growing up, especially when we are teenagers. We go through life and learn a lot of lessons from it and eventually most people become independent and set forth in the world and life on their own. I found that we all have our own insecurities and fear of things and it is up to us to face them and make a difference in life and the world. If we just simply do nothing then, we are just repeating the cycle.
Harro, Bobbie. “The Cycle of Socialization.” pgs. 15-21 2012. splatter.writing101.net -
Mark Reppen
Community Service: A Critical Reflection of Service
Greater Chicago Food Depository, I did not know that this place existed until I heard about it through this class. I signed up for it, not only because it is part of the syllabus but also to see how they operate there. I was curious to know how they operate in the community, as in how did they work to give back to the community. When I arrived, it did not take long to find out the answer, not long at all. They have a mission that they try to carry out in order to be successful in their work.
When I arrived, I figured it was one those factories that packages foods and other things for the hungry people in our community. What I did not realize though, was that how big and how organized the factory was. I was surprised by the amount of volunteers that were there other than those from Moraine Valley Community College. Scott Houghton, whom was the guy who direct our volunteer work, talked to us about how GCFD worked and what their goals are. It was interesting to hear about how they distribute the food to many different soup kitchens and food drives around Chicago and Cook County. They had a map of where the soup kitchens and food drives and grocery stores located in Cook County and Chicago areas. After hearing about that, all the volunteers were split up in two groups. One group went to a different part of the factory to distribute the food, while the other group went into a room to package the food. I was in the group that had to package the food.
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Michelle Reyes
I honestly never knew that they had this organization for people to go and help out around there community. That’s good how you say they have a mission to be successful in there work because that tells me right away that they are determined to do whatever then can to help. In your second paragraph you can add how the factory looked so the reader can get a picture in there head. I’m also please to hear that there were a lot of moraine valley students that actually signed up and went to help out. I like how you went into detail on how the job was done. I like how you named the steps that everyone was doing in there group. It’s helped me a lot to understand what everyone was doing to help. You said that everyone did that task for about for hours. Did time go by fast or slow? I’m glad to hear that this was a good experience for you. I’m glad that you learn more about the GCFD. I think that a lot of people learned a little more and hopefully willing to go back and help around there community. I like how you said you identified a problem in the GCFD because you think that they should be more people that they should be helping out. I agree with you when you said that there’s going to be a lot more people that are going to be hungry, which mean that they need to be a lot more people willing to take time to help. With this economy today I feel that there is going to be a lot of people that are going to go hungry. I think that maybe they should get the word out by telling everyone about it. Hopefully the people that went can spend the word to everyone and hopefully be willing to go and help them as well. I think that I’m going to try and look into the GCFD to see what people can do to spend the word. I like how in the 5th paragraph you where talking about the economy being bad and not having a lot of people to help out and finished it by turning something negative to positive. I like how you said perhaps the economy gets better because it shows that you are thinking positive and hopefully a lot of other people can start thinking that way. I love how you told the reader that you recommend them to go out and do some community service and help make a difference in the world. I think everyone should try and help make a difference in there community. Overall I like reading your paper. It gave me a better understanding in what this service was about and how much it can change the way a person thinks. Especially at the end it made me want to go and figure out what I can do to better my community and what I can do to help. ! Nice work!
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Zahra Ratli
volunteering and making change is really a beautiful experience that most of us had in this semester. this class introduced me to a nice thing which is helping others. I have never joined any organization before , but my experience in share your soles was unforgettable . while reading your essay ,I felt how this experience was for you and how things went while you were spending your 4 hour there. it is not hard to feed somebody else and make him or her happy when we all believe in cooperation. one can not make a change , but a group of people can do it . More people they dedicate their time a, energy , and money , more happy faces we will see in the world. People are suffering , starving to death , that is why we all have to help those people survive. I am glad that you learned more about GGFD , and of course all of us learned new things in these opportunities. As I said share your soles was my first experience and I am willing to join others organizations in the future because I believe different places will teach me several new things and each one has its unique experience. What you mentioned about the economy was a good point since what happened in this decade made people incapable to help others . I like your paper and how you discussed your experience and believes . you depicted exactly what you did while there in the organization.Now , I know more about it and ready to go there and help people who are in need . people who really are starving . I may waste four hours just surfing in the internet , in Facebook or other social network.But , If i go there and give them 4 hours of my time then, I will be happy to do it and proud of my self because what it does not seem for us a lot , It may make a huge change in others life. Well , as i read you were clear on how was your service and being optimist about the economy to go back was a good point. being positive is what we want to reach our goals no matter hard they are.GCFD became my next plan after reading your paper and i am really willing to go there as soon as possible. I hope you can join other organizations and then we will all be an active person that can make changes in others life.
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Reynaldo Tamayo
I too did not know that the Greater Chicago Food Depository existed. From the very first paragraph of your essay I can already tell that the Greater Chicago Food Depository is a committed and organized community. I really liked how I was able to tell that from your first paragraph. I find it interesting that both the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the Share your soles organization has something similar when it comes to introductions and what their purpose was. I feel that every organization that depends on volunteers is always short. Not only does Greater Chicago food Depository need volunteers but the organization I volunteered for, Share your soles, do too. Maybe a little bit more exposure for the organizations would get them more volunteers to help make their quotas. As both you and i said about Greater Chicago Food Depository is that we never heard of them before. If people never heard of them, how can someone volunteer for that organization? Also, how about the financial status of GCFD? Are they sitting pretty on cash or are they in a similar position as Share your soles? I like the step by step description you had on the process of packaging food. I would however like to know what your thought on community service was and what it meant to you. It would give me and maybe others a better understanding of what you felt before this event at GCFD. Overall I liked the paper. It was very descriptive and made me want to know more about the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
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Mark Reppen
Journal post #7: I came across a news article talking about a mother who lost both of her legs while saving her two kids from a tornado. I got hooked into the topic when I first started reading it and I thought that this woman did the right thing at the last minute. This storm with the tornado took place in Indiana and she was in the house with two of her kids. Her husband was at the local high school teaching when they issued a lockdown because of the storm. The husband and wife texted each other to make sure everything was alright. She suddenly saw the tornado coming towards their house and she grabbed a blanket and covered her kids with her body and the blanket. The tornado ripped the house off the ground and there were debris everywhere and some of it fell on her legs causing severe damage to the legs. Her kids were fine; they came out of the demolished house without any serious injuries. I thought to myself that if it weren’t for that woman, her kids and she would’ve been possibly been killed. I thought about what I read and how she went to the hospital and is in care right now. I came up with this idea that most mothers would do that for their children. I may be wrong, but I really believe that not all people would do that for their loved ones. Since that may be the case, I honestly believe that more people do that in certain situations to protect their loved ones.
Callahan, Rick. “Indiana woman loses legs saving kids from tornado.” The Associated Press 2012 pg. 1. splatter.writing101.net -
Mark Reppen
Dear Editor, War in Afghanistan…What can we do about it?
Dear Editor, I would to address an issue that we, as in the nation, are currently experiencing right now. What I am talking about is the war in Afghanistan or the “Middle East.” I believe that America has been at war overseas for far too long. It has been 11 years since 9/11, the day that will live in infamy. The reason that I say we’ve been at war for far too long is that the billions of money is being wasted over there, when in reality it should be used here in America to support our economy.
Our economy is in a very bad shape right now. Gas prices are constantly rising and the rate of people being out of a job is also increasing. If our government would to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, all the money could be pull from there and used here to help support the economy. It could be used to rebuild some of the things in country that needs to be fixed badly. It could also help create jobs for those who need it. Last thing is that there are many families, loved ones, and friends who really want their loved one serving overseas to come home now.
Right now, all I could find for people that are interested to help out in withdrawing our troops is that we could vote for the politicians that support that; or we could all write letters to the Senate or the House of Representatives about the issue and ask if they could stop the war and bring our troops home. That is all I could find for those that would like to help out. I am sure there is more out there that could be helpful but I have no idea what they are and where they are. Perhaps, you could offer advice as to where to look for to help out with this issue. I really believe that this is an issue that all Americans should address today.
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Michelle Reyes
After reading your letter I agree with you when you said in the first paragraph how you said the war has been going on for to long. Still today I remember where I was at and doing on 9/11. I remember when they said they where sending out the troops to fight this war that’s been going on for so long. I believe that its time to bring them back and stop wasting money over there as well. They have spent so much money that could be used to help the economy today. I remember seeing a video at school showing you how much we are in dept. I can’t even remember how much the video said we where because it was so much money. The economy is in really bad shape and so hard for people to find jobs. I know a lot of people who are job less and still looking to see if they can get hired anywhere. I myself am really thankful right now for the job I have today. It’s not the job that I love all the time but I so glad that I at least have a way of making money. I know that there’s even people with children who don’t have a job and its sad to see that a lot of people are being laid off. In your second paragraph I like how you said that there is families that have family members and friends that they want to see them and really want them to come home already. Also I agree that there is a lot of places that need to be rebuild and need fixing. I think the economy should really think about creating jobs for the people who really need them because now a days people are out trying to find a way to make money everyday. I like how in your third paragraph you stated a way for people to get involved and what they can do to help. I think if a lot of people would write letters to the senate or House of Representatives I believe they will see how people care a lot about this issue. I like how at the end you said that perhaps you could offer advice, after reading this letter it got me thinking about what I can do to help the troops and what can possible be done. This letter was really clear and I think that is issue should be taking care of as soon as possible. Overall good job on the letter to the editor. I think it well writing and easy to understand what you’re saying. Your point in straight forward and hopefully people will be want to take a stand and try to do something about it.
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Zahra Ratli
after reading your letter , I do agree with you , war has been going for two long . It is time to focus on our country and forget about other places . Our troops are fighting there for many years now . our country is in dept because of those huge numbers of money that was spent on wars. our country is in a situation where we have to stop these nightmare and focus on the economy that needs to be fixed. Money that we spend for wars can be used for so many things that america is in need of. life expenses are becoming higher and expensive and even the gas prices are almost reaching five dollars for one gallon. things are becoming expensive rapidly and people are losing their jobs constantly. it is very sad when we see our country falling down . we deserve that money rather than any body else . o really liked your topic because it really needs to be discussed and known by so many people . also those soldiers who are fighting there have to go back to their country where they can enjoy every moment and celebrate holidays with their beloved . it is not easy to live in fear for a long period of time. i think that all Americans should address this issue in order to find a solution for it. Our country is our priority and our aim is help our country be on the top as always it was. people should stand and talk about stopping wars and take actions in order to bring our troops back .
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Reynaldo Tamayo
I liked how you started the letter to the editor out in the beginning and I also liked the organization of the letter. The War in Afghanistan is something that is put out more into the media nowadays. With the incidents of Marines giving dead Taliban the “Golden Shower” or the 16 innocent Afghans murdered, National and Global views of the American military are at an all-time low. I feel though that there is no better time to pull out, than now. I have a feeling that if we stay longer, more and more events of war will become public causing more outrage toward the American military than there is already. I feel that by adding that brief reference of 9/11, you caught the attention and feelings of the editor, me, and other readers. I remember where I was and what I was doing when that tragedy happened and it allowed me to see the distortion and difference of the reason we went to war in the first place to our reason now. When you mention in your letter on how the money from the war in Afghanistan can create jobs and fix some of the badly broken things in this country, I would have liked to have at least one example of those. To me, that one example can add to your letter without making it too long to be a letter to the editor. I love the fact that you gave the editor and me some examples of how we can do something about this War. It also asks the editor to do some research about the war and maybe offer advice to his or her readers. All in all I liked the letter. Its delivery and organization is great and also your straightforwardness and a clear picture of where you stand on your topic.
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Mark Reppen
Journal post #6: I read the WWR, Chapter 2 “QUIT COMPLAINING-GO BACK AND READ THE DAMN POEM” by Eric DeVillez. I instantly got “hooked” into the article in this book, mostly because of the title. Once I started reading more into it, even though it was a short article, it addressed the issue of Music and Art being cut from schools and not being supported enough. I really liked how the author expressed his feelings on that we shouldn’t cut these Art and Music programs from school. According to Eric, “…it tremendously frightens me that we seldom listen to what our artists have to say about living life.” I can understand what he meant by saying that. I have been involved in music and I really believe that music is an important and vital part of our lives. It is like a universal language that everyone should be able to enjoy and understand. The author even posted a poem by William Carlos Williams. In the poem it talked about the actually real deal about our world and that men live and die in a really, really sad way every day. The reason that they die is because of they did not know anything about what was written about life while they were looking for it somewhere else in the wrong place. Basically, it means these men go looking for the meaning of life and it was written down already but they spend their entire time looking in the wrong place and they die without finding it.
DeVillez, Eric. “QUIT COMPLAING-GO BACK AND READ THE DAMN POEM.” WWR Chapter 2 pg. 56. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company 2010. splatter.writing101.net 2012. -
Mark Reppen
Journal Post #5: I came across a news article online before checking out my email. It was about a shooting in a school in Chardon, Ohio. It occurred this past Monday; the gunman, named T. J. Lane shot and killed three students and wounded several others at Chardon High School. I go through every day, living life and I never really had to witness a lot of bad things that occurs in this country. I’m grateful that I don’t have to but I do feel bad that others do. I was reminded by this article that anyone could simply walk into a school or anyplace and shoot people. Yes, it would mean that person is crazy or not sane. Although the police would not mention the motive of the suspect. So basically all the people that suffered the tragedy are only wondering why he did it. The high school is currently offering grief counseling to anyone who needs it. I believe that is a really good part on their behalf. The suspect did not even go to that high school but instead a school for behavioral or academic problems. This was nearby the high school so the suspect had easy access to walk into the high school cafeteria and shoot the students. The thing that I was surprised with is that people said that he had friends and weren’t bullied, but yet others say that he was bullied. It is all either rumors or non-evidence proofs about T. J. Lane’s life story. The only one motive that made sense to me is that one of the deceased students recently started dating Lane’s ex-girlfriend. Perhaps it was out of anger at the student for dating his ex and shoots whoever were that student’s friends. So far no one will know, it is a sad story and I can’t really say anything bad to the high school because obviously I don’t go there, but it seems to me that not only there but everywhere in the U.S. it can happen and I really believe that there must be a better way to prevent it.
SHEERAN, THOMAS J. and BEGOS, KEVIN. “Death toll rises to 3 in Ohio school shooting.” The Associated Press 2012. splatter.writing101.net/ -
Mark Reppen
For this journal entry #4, I want to talk about WWR, chapter 4 “You Can’t Dodge All the Bullets.” I liked how the author talked about using big words when she was little and she eventually learned how to write a proper paper without mistakes in it. She talked about how writing is very important in life; by that I mean, as she mentioned in her piece, “in EVERY profession.” She really expressed her emotions and critical thinking on this piece. She explains that critical thinking is more than just thinking. She is also telling the readers basically, in order to become successful, you must be good at problem solving and “be resilient to the potholes that will inevitably find you as much as you swerve to avoid them.” So, basically she is saying that people need to learn how to get through “potholes” in life or figure it out. She gives an advice that the secret to success is to start your own inquisition. I honestly did not understand what she meant by that at first but with a little research…I did understand then. I liked how she explained that using inquisition that the readers should, “ask your superiors questions, exhaust your resources,” and you will achieve your goal. Although as she said in her short essay, that you can’t always avoid the troubles. According to the author, “you can’t dodge all the bullets. Every once in a while, ya get shot. So find a medic, patch that wound up, walk it off, rub some dirt in it. You’ll be good as new.” It was a very interesting short essay and I learned more about the critical thinking concept and inquisition.
Kinsella, Kate. “You Can’t Dodge All the Bullets.” WWR Chapter 4. Kendall Hunt Publishing Hall. splatter.writing101.net 2012 -
Mark Reppen
Soap-box Speech Outline
Topic:
War in Afghanistan
- 11 years we have been at war in Afghanistan and Iraq
- We pulled most of our forces from Iraq but most still remain in Afghanistan
- U.S. and allied forces kick out the Taliban insurgents from Afghanistan in 2001
- Huge setbacks that threaten to split the country in two
- U.S. gets involved with the war in Afghanistan after 9/11/2001
- U.S. and allied forces kicked the Taliban out of country and put a government in place
- Afghanistan had a civil war prior to 9/11
- One of the many setbacks of rebuilding the country is that the Afghan doesn’t really care if their country splits up.
- It was total anarchy in Afghanistan prior to the invasion of U.S. force in Afghanistan
- Afghans were the 7th poorest people in 2001
- U.S. are spending billions of money overseas. The citizens of U.S.A complained that these billions should be used here to help our economy.
- U.S. and UN have formed groups that provides aid to the Afghan people like the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, (UNAMA).
Conclusion:
- Our soldiers are being killed by Taliban insurgents who are determined to take back the country after we pull our troops out of Afghanistan. This is another huge setback that the U.S. and UN forces are experiencing.
- Our government is planning on pulling our troops out soon but they fear that Afghanistan will fall if they do. It is a huge debate on what to do with the withdrawal of our troops.
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Mark Reppen
War, U.S. Soldiers, and Afghan People in Afghanistan
“WAR, HUH, YEA! WHAT IS THE GOOD FOR? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!” I’m pretty sure that most people know this song, sung by Edwin Starr. He was sending out a message to anyone who listened to it that obviously, war is good for nothing at all. The reason I used that verse is because I believe that the war in Afghanistan has gone on for too long. The U.S. soldiers have been fighting in that country for almost eleven years. We pulled most of our forces from Iraq but we still have many left in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is an issue because politicians worry about the government that has been established after the U.S. forces kicked out the Taliban insurgents. The reason is because if we pull our forces out of Afghanistan completely then the insurgents would come back topple the government that was placed in to help Afghanistan become a better state/country. At first this war was in a way to get back at the terrorists for what they have done, but now it is also to prevent Afghanistan from being destroyed by anarchy that it was experiencing before the U.S. and their allied forces stepped in. It’s basically a political conquest to establish a strong, central government for the Afghan people and to create a better country for them. Therefore, if our troops and our allied forces leave the country, the Afghan people may be in huge trouble. The debate is to whether or not to leave the country. I believe that we are spending too much money overseas and not enough to fix the economy here at the home front. We have formed many political groups in order to fix the country, but there are huge setbacks and an overload of bloody, violent battles that threaten to split the country into two.
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Michelle Reyes
I like how in the beginning you started of by the quote by a song written by Edwin Starr. I honestly don’t think I heard that song before. What’s the name of it? I strongly agree with you that war in Afghanistan has gone for to long. I also believe that they are wasting too much money over seas than trying to fix are economy. I understand why they would keep some soldiers in Afghanistan because they might be in huge trouble but sometimes enough is enough. I honestly don’t know a lot about what’s going now in Afghanistan and I feel that maybe I should actually take time to learn about this big issue that is currently going on today. I like how you said that 9/11 will always live down in infamy because a lot of people are never going to forget that day. Right now I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when 9/11 happen. It’s still one topic that a lot of people are talking about and the reason why the United States went into this long lasting war. I like how you stated that The U.S and UN have worked to keep Afghanistan a peace centralized government and were leave to the Afghanistan people to lead it. I did not know that Washington had spent $4.4 billion on security assistance and had trained 36,000 soldiers and a comparable number of police officers in the first five years. I like how you organized your information and easy to understand. I’m glad that they know what they should bring are troops home and hopefully it will be soon. I agree that a lot of soldiers have died defending or freedom and rights.
One thing I found interesting was that 71 percent of the people believe that Obama can turn around the cratering economy, only 48 percent think he can make progress in Afghanistan. Deploying a U.S. force of 60,000 will cost about $70 billion a year. I think that it’s crazy that 71 percent believe that Obama can turn around cratering economy. I honestly hope that maybe Obama can actually turn things around. We need a president that can make that happen and hopefully he can. From reading I feel that you did a good job finding good information and have kept me interested on this issue. I like how you explained a lot about the government and what’s going on today about the War. I like how you explained about yje resources you found about the subject. You gave background information about the sites and were well written and understandable. I feel that you have a lot of good information about the issue. It was well written and organized. From reading your paper I leaned a lot of new things about this issue. I like how you first started how it all started and gave a little background information about what happen that day. Overall I think you had a really good start. Good job. -
Zahra Ratli
war in Afranistan is a very interesting topic that i really liked it while reading it. your essay has a lot of information and details about this issue. First , i liked how youu started your essay , your introduction that includes that quote was poiting to the subject in a clear way. well , while diving between the lines of your piece of witing , i had to discover many things that i had no idea about it before. it was very intereting to me especially because you were very organized in putting your ideas. the war that you talked about either in iraq or afhanistan where our troups has stayed for long period of time fighting and protecting our nation , and while doing so ,government has spent alot of money overseas which really impacted our economy because of that huge numbers of money that was wasted there.billions are not a small amount, but this latter will feed the whole Africa for years and years . our economy was just as perfect before our money was thrown there for wars. now all the people in this country are suffering because the economy are down and a lot of them has lost their jobs especially in the last decade where United State was thinking that it is securing the country. it did, but was too much . 9/11 is a very remarkable event that it will never be forgotten . it is the day when a lot of our people lost their beloved ones and was a sad memory that we all carry in our heart. none of us can forget that painful image that we saw where our nation had to deal with the fear and insecurity . every body was scared about what happened in that day . it was a shocking events that you see innocents passing away and that huge buildings in our most known city are falling down apart . it really felt like the end of the world. very painful when we remember this unforgettable day , so how can be those who really lost their lovely one in it . i agree that they all had to hate this date 9/11 whenever it is coming again and again . well , your discussion about our soldiers are killed by Taliban insurgents who are determined to take back the country after we pull our troops out there. I was happy at the end when you stated that our government is planning to pull our troops out soon because really those people need to be back .in general , your topic is good and the way how you explained it was very smooth and rich in information that really gave a lot of important details that i didn t know before. after reading your essay i feel like i want to learn more about this issue, for that i am going to use your citing that for sure will lead me to more important things that i don t know yet . i think i have no comments or any thing to say about your topic , i feel it is clear and organized as i said at the begining .
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Mark Reppen
Thank you for the reviews. Michelle, the name of the song is War by Edwin Starr. I’m sure that you’ve heard of it before. It is a famous Motown song that has been sung in movies like the Rush Hour Movies for example. Once again thank you for the reviews and I am planning on making the essay break up in separate paragraphs so it doesn’t look so long.
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Reynaldo Tamayo
I love the quote you started out with in your essay. It brings back memories of watching rush hour as a kid. But not only does it bring memories for me, it also grabbed my attention, which is good. “WAR, HUH, YEA! WHAT IS THE GOOD FOR? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!”. This, in my opinion, is true. War is good for nothing when there are no justifiable means of waging war. I believe we should not have even had boots on the ground in Iraq. Invading Iraq was a big waste of time, plus all the work we put in Iraq was wasted. Iraq currently is starting to revert back to its state before we were there. As for Afghanistan, I feel we accomplished what we set out to do in that country already, but the problem is I feel is that since we have put so much money and lives into Afghanistan that we should not be so headstrong on leaving the country and having all those resources and lives wasted when Afghanistan returns to what it was before we invaded. However, I feel that the Afghan Army has a chance in actually keeping their country stable. I feel that we should have some forces conduct training missions with the AA for another year at most, after a mass pullout of troops so that the AA can gradually rid their dependence on us. Of course, I do not have experience with this topic. Those were just my two-cents. With that said, your essay is very detailed. A small thing that I would have liked is that if you had split the paragraphs. I know it’s been already addressed but while I was reading the essay I lost my place sometimes and had to retrace my reading. I like how you used your resources to give me and other readers a better understanding on your topic. There were quite a lot of sources used, which is definitely a good thing. It certainly tells me and other readers that the statistics are factual and that they are indeed related to your topic. And you went into further detail on your sources which you should continue to do. I also would have liked some links to the three extra sources you presented towards the end of the essay. Other than the long paragraphs and links, I really cannot think of anything else to suggest on this essay. All in all I feel that the essay was very detailed and that you are really into the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan.
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Mark Reppen
After learning about service and activism, I understood the difference between the two. Service, as I see it, is doing something like as in an action that serves a purpose. As in you do service for a cause or something and you can volunteer for it or get paid for it. To me its more like its a requirement thing. It requires the people to do the service for the cause or event. Activism is different from that by that its something that a person can take do it on their own terms and not a requirement. Someone can take pride in both service and activism, but activism is brings out that belief in that pride. Service, to me is mostly that people are forced to do it for the cause and activism is someone willing to do it for the cause.
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Mark Reppen
When I read the article on the man named Rajeev, who was in the Peace Corps, I was surprised by how much work he did in the countries that he was sent too. He became very successful in helping the villages strive better in the country. It was interesting that when he was in the U.S. he would what the article referred to “birddog” the politicians and ask them to give more money into the Peace Corps program so he could help out the countries better. He was able to raise a lot of money just to build a pump system so that the village could get water easier instead of making two to three trips in one day to get water. He also built schools and hospitals for the villages too. I liked how he was very dedicated in giving to the community. His technique in raising the money was very effective and it had a huge impact on both the countries and the Peace Corps. Rajeev ended up leaving the Peace Corps and do independent work in the countries that he helped out in. He really turned things around in his field of expertise. Rajeev said in the article, “You can be the lowest villager and still be involved.” H said that to express that in American society, you can be the lowest, poorest person in America but still can be involved in politics. He influenced politics a lot and used some of it in the countries that he was sent to. Overall it was an interesting article and a lot of meaning and dedication in it.
Hessler, Peter. “A Reporter at Large, Village Voice, The Peace Corps’s Brightest Hope.” The New Yorker. 2010. pgs 101-109. splatter.writing101.net -
Mark Reppen
Who should survive activity was at first simple, as in simple with deciding who dies and who survives. After thinking it through, I did have second thoughts on my choices. The group I was in really got depth into who should die and who should live. Roberto had this story in his head about the whole situation and it really made sense of the whole thing after listening to his speech. Along everyone in my group, I agree with Roberto’s plan on who will have to die. We picked the Lang family and Dr. Garcia to die because it explained how the rest of the people will survive better than the four we picked to die.
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Mark Reppen
The Dave Eggers story, “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,” was simply telling you what this man felt about the dead soldier in another country. The author was definitely trying to send a message to the reader about what it would feel like if this ever happened. The author expressed the character’s feelings about looking at the picture of the soldier. He was alarmed about the fact that situation happened. He was feeling dissatisfactions all year round, as if he felt that something bad was going to happen. He felt weird about and that brought out that expressed feelings from in him about the soldier. The other story Dave Eggers wrote was an interesting story. The father in the story was telling his daughter about how her mom and he changed America. I wasn’t sure how it related to anything. The father was bonding with his daughter, telling her stories about changing America while they both were making dinner. It did seem though that the father was talking about the mother as in how he was amazed by her determination to change things. Basically it talked about the mother, changing America, and how that made the world a better place. Both stories mostly expressed feelings for or to another character. It also reflected on them too, going along with the emotions portrayed. Both stories were both interesting in a way and different than what I have read before.
Eggers, Dave. “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,” pgs 17-18. “Your Mother and I.” pgs 115-123. Splatter.writing101.net 2012 -
Mark Reppen
What to live for? die for? and kill for? A Meaningful Life
When I read the questions that were asked, I realized that the radio producer, Karen Michel, was curious about if anyone would get “in depth” into their lives. What I mean is that she was curious to find if anyone has thought about their life and if it means anything to themselves or to others. The questions: What do you live for? What would you die for? And what would you kill for? Starting with the first question, what do you live for? After carefully thinking it through, I would have to say that I live for many things in life. I am going to have to say I would live for my family, friends, my future, myself, and life itself. The reason I say all that is because if I didn’t have any of these, then there would be no purpose to life. Everyone always has a thought on life and always questions its meaning or purpose. I have always thought that everyone truly does have a purpose in life and that some just get lost or stray from that “path.” My purpose is to live life the best I can and to accomplish my future goals in life. I care about my life and what it means to me and to others. I have made differences in people lives many times for as long as I can remember. The one thing that I would like to change about life is that I would like more people to know their purpose in life. Of course I am talking about good purposes but if everyone did that, there wouldn’t be a balance in life. Basically, I am saying that without evil we wouldn’t fully understand the difference between good and evil. For most people, what I said about good and evil would sound cheesy but it is true. People should realize that they should live up to something good in their life.
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Zahra Ratli
After reading the essay, I saw that you wrote a very nice essay responding t the questions asked for the project: what do you live for? What would you kill for? And what would you die for ? Your essay gave me a clear picture of how you believe especially with those examples that you mentioned I liked so many things you discussed in your essay .I believe that any sane person will act as you . most of us believe that family and friends are the most thing to live die and kill for . the expression , ”I love my family and friends that I would live or die for them .To kill for them , it may be out of the question. .The reason I ‘d kill would be defending my family or friends from a criminal. “, emphasized that most of us would kill for those people that we love .It could be a friend or a member of the family. family is a valuable thing that we may sacrifice for . But when you stated the the term criminal that means that you will kill only if there is a real danger facing them. I congratulate you for this level of thinking because there are so many people who would kill for their family but for any reason. As you said that you are acting and thinking as a sane person and not the opposite .The patriotism is really important for most the human being s , I did mention it in my essay also, I believe that we all should have some kind of love to this country where we and our ancestor were raised because it is our identity . I agree that no body has the right to invade our country and none of us will allow this and fight for it until the last beat of our heart.I really loved what you said in here “Anyone who, hypothetically, invades our country. Those are the only reason I’d kill, within reason. Other than that I would not like to kill anyone at all. It does make me angry that there are people that would kill others for several reasons. Some reasons are obtuse for killing people and some; it is just simply just insane. For example, gangs killing each other because one was on the other’s territory, people killing each other because of their skin color or nationalities, and of course the mass murderers who kill their own people in their countries. I stand against that, because it is wrong to do so. Its basic”. Your essay was very interesting to me, the way how you presented your opinions and beliefs and how you used several details to make the reader capable to understand and imagine your point. While reading your writing , i did not feel that it is abstract but it some many things that made it perfect and riich with a lot of the information . I really liked the idea of Utupia , I read about it and i know that is impossible to live in that and as you mentioned that the evil is here and that why life is balance.
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Michelle Reyes
Your intro gave me a clear picture of what your essay was going to be about. You stated clearly what the purpose of this paper is, which I liked. The first paragraph spoke about what you would live for. Like many people that have answered this question you mentioned the people or things that most people would say. You mentioned family, friends, your future, yourself and life itself. I know you stated that you mentioned those five things because without them there would be no purpose for life. I understand that and can relate to that statement but I became a little confused with your explanation after listing the five things you would live for. I wish you could have explained why exactly your family and friends are so important to you. What makes them worth living for? I also wished you could have written about what exactly you see your future as, what goals do you have? What drives you to get there? Why is it so important to you? Towards the end of your first paragraph I feel as though you strayed away from the purpose of the question. You talk about the one thing you would change which is for people to know their purpose in life. Is this also what you are living for? After that you wrote about the balance of life and good and evil and I just didn’t see how that relates to your five reasons. I was just kind of confused by then.
In your second and third paragraphs you wrote about what you would die for and kill for, I really liked the fact that you related what you would live for, die for and kill for. I feel the same. I think that what you would live for, die for and kill for consists of the same people or things. You would live for your family, friends, future, etc and you would die or kill for them as well because for one it would mean being active in their lives, helping them, appreciating them and making them proud which is what you would live for. The others are sacrifices which means you would give up your own life for the people who mean the world to you. I related to this part of your essay very well but some parts of it were a bit confusing once again. I understand that you were trying to connect protecting your country to dying for your loved ones but I wish you could have listed that reason with the others at the beginning of your paragraph. It would have made it easier to follow along. In your third paragraph, I liked the honesty of you never wanting to kill anyone but that you would for your family and friends. Ultimately, your reasons were good valid reasons to these questions and you seemed to have put a lot of thought and depth into these questions. -
Mark Reppen
Thank you for those who commented on my paper. After reading the comments, I looked at my paper and understand what was missing in the some of the sections of the essay. I am planning on revising it soon and adding to the parts that need more explanations.
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Mark Reppen
I think being ecologically literate means to understand the ecology part of the world. By that I mean to know what our ecosystem is like and how it affects us, also how we affect it in return. I believe I am ecologically literate. Only in some way because there is many things about our ecosystem that I do not know and understand. I do understand the concept of being ecologically literate. After reading the article “Web of Life,” I found it to be very informative on the way ecology works. At first I didn’t understand what the author was saying about being ecological literate. As I read on, I began to understand the meaning and also the concept of it. “Being ecologically literate, or ecoliterate, means understanding the principles of organization of ecological communities (ecosystems) and using those principles for sustainable human communities.” Basically, what the author is saying is to understand ecology, you have to understand the principles of its ecosystems in order to apply it to human communities to sustain it. The author was also saying that we should do that so we can improve our business, politics, and education. He explains that the human communities and ecological communities should be a part of one another in order to create a successful “Web of Life.” “Of course, there are many differences between ecosystems and human communities.” There may be many differences but humans can learn the difference and learn how to use that to sustain life. Also I do believe that we humans do have the ability to learn this. If we don’t, we will end up destroying what is an important part of our lives.
Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. (1997) pgs. 81-86-
Prof McGuire
The citation is incomplete. Feel free to correct it.
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Mark Reppen
I added to the citation, is it what you mean by complete?
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Reynaldo Tamayo, 
Zahra Ratli, 
Meghan Johnson and one other person are discussing. 
Michelle Reyes are discussing. 
Mark Reppen, 
Michelle Reyes 2:52 pm on April 22, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I like how your paper is well organized. That is the first thing I noticed even before reading your paper. I don’t know why put when I see papers that are organized it doesn’t seem too bad to read. I honestly don’t like to read but by the way your paper was organized I didn’t even hesitate on reading. I like how you gave a good explanation on the first section about the background history on this organization. I like how well writing this paper is. I really like how it’s so easy to read and understand every little section on this paper. Maybe you could add a little more about the morning of the service. It’s funny because while I was driving to meet my group I was asking myself the same exact questions you were thinking. I was just so curious to see the people and what we were going to do. When you explained the way the house looked I pictured everything in my head. I picture the colors on the walls, where the rooms and bathrooms where at. You did a good job on explaining and giving details about the house. I think that if I had to pick what I wanted to do would be defiantly painting also. Maybe you can add how did everyone come across to the organization? I think one thing that originations lack on are volunteers and I think if anyone that read this paper would want to go and help out this organization. After reading I think this would be a fun and interesting to go and learn a little more about how people can get involved. From what you were talking about what needs to be done in the house it seems that it might take up a lot of time and also a lot of help from people. I think he should find a way to get the word out so he can work to get more help in these houses. Overall I think your paper is organized. It had headings and has a title which makes the paper easy to read. I think you did a good job and looks like you learned a lot about this organization and was glad to help. I hope you were able to take pictures on the house because I’m kind of curious to see if the picture I painted on my head while reading this paper is the exact way the house looked. !
Meghan Johnson 5:37 am on April 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I want to start out by saying that your piece of writing is very, very well written. I think the title of your piece could have been a little bit more creative just so you could grab more readers attentions. In a way I like how you split up your sections to your paper to show that you were very organized with your thoughts and information but also I think you should maybe just let it flow into more of a paper and not so much of a question and answer type of thing. I know that it is not a question and answer thing but they you split it up seems to make it look that way. Maybe it could of been your trouble with finding a way to use transition sentences for you paragraphs? I don’t know but that would just be my opinion on fixing it so it looks more of a flowing writing piece.
The information you had about Habit for Humanity was very impressive. I was first impressed with the background information you had about it; who established it, who founded it, when and where they began the organization, and also how many families are given these houses built. I think it is very important to know the background of an organization you are getting involved in because it will help you understand the atmosphere of the place you will be at. I think the interview information you had with Doug was also very informative about him himself and what he does to help make the organization run smoothly. I think their six “Mission Principles” were absolutely right on point of how it should be or why these house are actually getting built. Somethings that I wish you could of interviewed Doug a little more on was what kind of families are able to be moved into one of these homes? We know that they are families that are not able to get homes because the profit and interest are to high but maybe ask what different kinds of families there are that receives them. Are they from around the area? What is the ethnic background? Or how does the organization decided they are worthy of the house they have received? Also besides asking about the families that are given these homes, you can ask about what kind of volunteers they get from time-to-time? Why are they there to work? Are they regulars?, Because these volunteers could also be good to interview.
You did a good job of describing your atmosphere but also the kind of work you did on site of the service. I think this is an awesome organization to work with because it truly is for a good cause. Everyone deserves a place to live, especially with roof above it. The volunteer work seems that at times it could be a lot harder than more of our typical volunteer work so you working with this organization, I think you should be extremely proud of yourself.
As I stated before I think overall your work was very well written. I my opinion there would be a couple things I would change but in the end it’s up to you for how you will revise it. I’m sure theres a little more you could reflect on since it is such a world wide organization so maybe keep that in mind also.
Zahra Ratli 8:15 am on April 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Your piece of writing is very well organized . I enjoyed reading your experience that you had with the a house for Habitat for Humanity. it was the first time for me to hear about this organization that help build houses for people in need. I was first impressed with the background information you had about it; who established it, who founded it, when and where they began the organization.Millard Fuller was a smart man when he thought about giving capital instead of charity . he did a great job while he settled this organization. it really has helped so many people to achieve their dreams to have a place where to live with their beloved ones. What a Millard did was a proud thing that he and his family will be proud of the whole of their lives. I loved how you talked about your experience . how you gave us a big picture on how was your days working with these people. you were so detailed on how you did from the beginning of your day. the time you woke up, what did you get for your breakfast , and even what you were thinking about while on your way to your destination. The way your piece was written gave me more curiosity to read the whose thing because of the way the content was introduced and also of this new information about this organization that i have never knew about it.. i do not feel that there is anything missing in this paper because you were successful in describing the atmosphere and the job that you have been doing during your volunteering day. i liked that you had asked a lot of question to people working there to know more of things and get a wide idea on things run there. I believe as a reader that you did an awesome when writing this piece of writing . you did deliver your ideas in a clear well understood language and easy to be received and depicted in people’s mind.
Reynaldo Tamayo 10:56 am on April 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
The first thing I noticed about your paper was how organized it was. It has bold, clear sections and it makes it easier to view. I was able to tell what each section was going to be about before even reading that section. And the paper is very well written. I liked how you gave a history of habitat and humanity. This is definitely my first time hearing about them and the history helped me understand their mission a little better. Millard Fuller sounds like a very smart man to have started something like this. I liked how you described your morning and what you were thinking before going to help out. I really like the section, the house and its artifacts. Mostly because it describes your workplace and gave me an image of the place you worked in. And they way you described it was pretty good. You gave the reader color, how many rooms and their locations in the house, and also what was lying around on the floor. That kind of imagery gave me a nice idea of how the house looked like. This volunteer opportunity did not seem like the past events we did like share your soles. It seemed like they really had you guys working, which is a good thing. Also, you mentioned that there were only four of you guys working on the day of the opportunity. It seems like they need more people to work for them or more people need to be aware of this organization. I read the “Mission Principles” that you listed in Interviewing Informants/ Research Notes. Their mission really seems great and seeing an organization like this become something bigger would be even better. The fact that they even have these “mission principles” listed on the back of a business card means something. Also, it can give someone who is interested in volunteering a general overview of what the organization is all about. I would not mind working for this organization. It seems like that by working with this organization I would get a lot of value from my experience. Overall your paper was well written and very organized. It seems like you had fun at the event and that you learned something from this experience. You definitely got me interested in this organization and I also think it’s nice that you kept a nail as a reminder of you experience. Good Work!