Final Course Reflection

This course has helped me develop my writing greatly. Through many of the essays, I have learned how to use rhetorical skills in my writing successfully. The favorite writing for me was the comparison/contrast essay. I liked analyzing the two pictures for similarities and differences. My least favorite was the cause/effect essay because many of the ideas weren't my own. I liked the topic of the essay, but not the way we went about doing it. It was definitely the easiest essay, but just because it's easy doesn't mean it's the best essay. The blog was one of the things that I did enjoy about this class. It kept us involved and it let us type our thoughts out regularly. Though it may have been easily forgettable, I thought it was definitely worth the few minutes it takes to do it. I believe that I've done pretty well throughout this course. This class has prepared me for the college english classes that I will have to take in the future. I have no regrets about this class, so I would change nothing about it.

Crossing the Lines Response

Intrinsic Worth Opinion

Krauthammer states his opinion on intrinsic worth by saying, "I do not believe a single cell has the moral or legal standing of a child." I disagree with this view. The instant that you are conceived, you should have the full rights of a human. People should not be created knowing you must destroy it. For all we know, we could have destroyed another Albert Einstein when he was only a single cell. You never know what the consequences of your actions might be, so you must consider everything you do carefully. Krauthammer asks, "Is [the embryo] entitled to nothing?" The embryo should be given everything. The obvious intention of the cells eventually being destroyed is heartless. Destroying those cells is destroying a future human being. It is worth everything, and cells should not ever be destroyed for scientific purposes.

Yes, Don't Impede Medical Progress

1. What is the thesis statement that the author is trying to support? Why does she place it where she does?
- The thesis statement in this paper is not very clear to me. But I believe it is in paragraph 2 where she states, "Scientists....effective." It is in the 2nd introduction paragraph so you know which side she supports immediately.


2. How does the author connect her argument to the broader issues of scientific progress? What is her implicit argument? How effective is this argument?
- She connects it by implementing genetic engineering and gene selection into her essay. Her argument is that everyone needs to just let scientists do their jobs and don't interfere. It is a very strong argument because she supports it by refuting the opposing argument.


3. The author dedicates a significant amount of the article to answering the objections of critics. Why is is this strategy important? What are the main arguments she answers? What argumentative strategies does she employ to answer those critics?
- It is important because it explains not only why your opinion is right, but also why the opposing argument is wrong. She answers arguments for human rights, improper usage, and gene selection. She argues by using good reasoning.


4. The author uses the word fear though out the essay. How does she use this word and what place does it have in her overall argument?
- She uses it first by saying that politics feeds on it. They make laws so people will fear to do whatever they want. She also says the legislation fears cloning because of "embryo farming." It shows how strongly both sides of the argument feel about the other.


5. In her conclusion, Postrel does not address her main topic of cloning at all. What might be the reason for this strategy? What effect does this have? Is this argument tactic legitimate?
- I don't like this strategy. At the end of the paper, the reader is left not thinking about the main topic, but about other topics. She might have tried to use this strategy get the reader thinking about how far science has come.

Reflection on Researching

As a whole, the researching process is always very helpful to me when I'm writing a paper. The library workshop was a great way to introduce us to the Tri-County Library system. It helped me understand how to research and how many different types of sources there are. I've been able to find plenty of sources in all kinds of the areas. Whether its the Academic Onefile, Opposing Viewpoints, print books, or E-books, all of them have come up with good sources for me to use. So far, I'm not having any problems at all in the process. I'm successful in finding everything. Though it will be a pain when I have to read through every source. As of right now, I don't have any questions to be asked about the process. I have a terrific topic with plenty of reliable resources at my disposal. I think this paper could be a major success for me.

Cause Effect Paper Reflection

The cause effect paper may have been one of the easiest papers I have ever written. Pretty much everything except for one paragraph you had to write was automatically done for you. The introduction, conclusion, and three other body paragraphs were done. In addition to that, revision on the rough draft was done, so corrections were very easy to make. Unless you were like me and wanted to change lots of things in the other peer's paragraphs. I definitely like the format of how we were to write the papers. It was simple, easy, but still quite effective. It's good to only use it on one paper per semester though, otherwise we would not get the full writing experience. I'm looking forward to the research paper for a refresher on MLA citations and researching techniques. I can't wait to see what else you have in store for the rest of the semester.

First Half Reflection

During the first half of this semester, I have not only improved in my writing skills, but also in my grammar skills. At the beginning of this course, my writing was boring and repetitive. It still might be some, but I think I have improved greatly in creating a hook to pull the reader in and in decreasing the repetitiveness of words throughout my papers. I feel that I still repeat words too often, and my papers lack something that attracts interest in the middle of my papers. The grammar sentences at the beginning of class have helped improve my sentence structure so there aren't nearly as many mistakes in my papers. I still have to improve with my misuse of commas though. I have half-way met all of the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the semester, but I haven't fully completed them. For the rest of the semester, I hope to continue my improvement in all of these areas. I also hope to relearn how to use MLA format correctly. That mainly includes the citation and bibliography part of the format. By the end of this class, I want my writing voice to be loud and heard.

Arguement Freewrite

I've narrowed down my topics to two choices. Either an argument against online classes, or an argument against the current Bowl Championship Series system, and for a playoff system instead. My reasons for the argument against online classes would be the impersonal relationship between the teacher and student, how easy it is to cheat on assignments, resulting in the student not learning anything, and the distractions that can influence the student's participation. These can all give an unfair advantage or disadvantage to the student, and it shouldn't be allowed because of it. For my other argument, the current BCS system gives an unfair advantage to the larger conferences. A playoff system would also bring in a lot more money to the NCAA, which is what its really all about. But I've had trouble finding many other reasons against it, and I also don't think I could find many credible websites on this topic. This freewrite has helped me figure out my topic. It will be an argument against the online classes.