What Is A Blog?

Since I have developed more of an understanding from using a blog for this whole semester, I now have a general idea of the functions of a blog. A blog is like a journal where you can pretty much write whatever you want and display whatever you want. You can choose to make it public or private. Blogs have been used for different purposes, from business, to school, or just for people to write whatever is on their mind. I have seen a lot of blogs where the person posts an issue or just a general problem and many people have responded with their opinions, giving possible solutions. From using a blog this semester, I thought the positive thing about it was that more people in the class participated. Whenever the class was assigned a reading and was to post a reflection on their understanding of what was read, you would be able to look at other peoples' blogs and read their interpretation of the reading. It relates to a discussion, and makes the discussion better when more people put their ideas out there. I've noticed that in class, whenever we have a discussion about what we've read, not a lot of people give feedback. Another good thing about blogging is that you also get quick feedback from your teacher and your classmates. It is also another way to comment to your classmates about their ideas and for them to comment on your ideas. It also lets your classmates and your teachers get to know you better and how you think. When Nick introduced us to blogging, I thought it was a different way of interacting in the classroom and doing our assignments. What I didn't like about blogging was that sometimes it would get a bit time consuming for some of the blog assignments because I have a hard time getting my thoughts down in writing, having to find the right words to say to make sense, to get my idea out to where when other people are reading my post, they can understand what I'm trying to say. Whereas in the class, I can break down certain elements from the idea that I'm trying to get across and other people can jump in, kind of helping to get out what I'm trying to say. I also think that sometimes with blog discussions, the person doesn't really get a full understanding of what they've read, whereas having a live discussion in class, people put their ideas out and the teacher kind of guides the students to think further outside the box. Besides using blogs in a school setting, I don't really use blogs outside of school for my own personal use. From using a blog for the first time in this class, I felt that it was a good experience, sharing ideas and being able to think critically to find a deeper meaning in the readings, but in the future, I will probably not continue to use blogs unless another class that I am taking is using blogs.

An Imperial Message

In Kafka's text "An Imperial Message", Kafka introduces the text talking about how an emperor is on his death bed and he wants a messenger to spread his message throughout the entire Empire. After the messenger has confirmed that he has understood the message, he begans on his venture to spread the message throughout the entire land. While on his venture, he has to step through obstacles that hold him back from spreading the message. While reading the preface, it makes it better to understand the text. The preface tells us through Kafka's text, the Emperor stands for God, and because God is dying, or becoming nonexistent, God wants to spread his message throughout the village but "the villagers are not close to god." Therefore, the messenger pushes and pushes through obstacles, though never arriving at the destination. The pretext also tells us that the people don't understand the situation and that couriers are shouting messages that are meaningless. I think this relates to the ways of how we come across signs in our life. When Kafka states that God, as an emperor, is trying to deliver to the people his message and that people come to misunderstand it, I think it relates to how God sends us signs in our life, whether it is good or bad. We have to look at each sign that God gives us and put the pieces together in order to better interpret the message that God is trying to tell us.

Discrimination is a Virtue

In "Discrimination is a Virtue", author Robert Keith Miller talks about how society has misused the word "discriminate" and how as time goes by that society has related the word with racism. Miller provides us with the dictionary definition of "discrimination" meaning "the ability to tell differences". He also provides many examples of how we discriminate such as the ways we choose which kind of foods to eat, and that discrimination doesn't always have to do with racism and prejudice. Another very effective example that relates to the presidential election is the example that Miller provides about King Lear and his daughters. King Lear tests each daughters' love for him, asking them "How much do you love me?" and listening to each of their responses. Because King Lear did not diffrentiate what was true love and what was false from his daughters' responses, he had "lost his kingdom and eventually his life". Therefore, when we listen to each presidential candidate and the issues they are presenting on their platforms, we need to diffrentiate between what each candidate is saying, not to just vote for a candidate because they are saying something that we want to hear. In today's society, many feel there is discrimination towards the two Democratic candidates, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, because one is female and the other is an African American. Many people are associating discrimination with gender and race. Although those candidates posses those traits, we can't go pretending "that there are no distinctions to be made". But if people can look past the biases and listen to these candidates' words, it will be to the benefit of society, voting for who they think is the best qualified. As Miller states at the end of his essay: "The ability to make intelligent judgements is essential both for the success of one's personal life and for the functioning of society as a whole."

Visual for argument

The image shows an example of someone who has been stripped away of their medals because they have used performance-enhancing drugs to improve their performance in the professional sport. This image of Kelli White, an American sprinter, was stripped away of her medals and had lost her chance of competing at the Athens Olympics in 2004. This image will be useful for my paper because it shows someone who was successful in her professional career, and by her decision to use performance-enhancing drugs, that has lead to a downfall in her career. It supports my argument, showing that there are consequences to using performance-enhancing drugs, whether it be the effects it has on a person's body, or the effects it has on a professional athlete in their career. It also lets teenagers who look up to these athletes see that if they too want to have a career as a professional athlete, that they should steer away from using performance-enhancing drugs because, like the example of Kelli White, they could lose it all. Not only is it cheating the sport, but the person is also cheating themselves by using performance-enhancing drugs.

"If Black Isn't A Language, then Tell Me, What Is?"

In this essay, author James Baldwin addresses the topic of language. He states that the language a person speaks reveals who he or she is. He states that language "is the most vivid and crucial key to identity. To open your mouth you have confessed your parents, your youth, your school, your self-esteem, and your future." Although there are common languages among certain locations, a person may be speaking a "subtly and different language" than one that is from another location. Baldwin provides an example of this through his observations of those who speak the French language; "A Frenchman living in Paris speaks a subtly and crucially different language from that of a man living in Marseilles; neither sounds very much a like from a man living in Quebec although the 'common' language in all these areas is French." Because each man is from a different area of the world, their way of speaking French is unique to them and their identity.

Baldwin also addresses the evolvement of the African American language and how it has influenced the language of the White Americans. He provides evidence of this with his example of how the White Americans have adopted the Jazz Age. Throughout history, African Americans have only been viewed as slaves to their masters; they are servants with nothing to contribute. Therefore, Baldwin addresses his argument: "If this absolutely unprecedented journey does not indicate that black English is a language, then I am curious to know what the definition of language is to be trusted." At the end of his essay, Balwin provides us with information that White Americans were not interested in educating African Americans; if a child was to be educated that he could no longer be black and that he knows he could never be White. But if the White American language is influenced by the African American language, why would an African American child need to be educated by a White American? The purpose of Baldwin's argument is to inform his audience about this issue and for the black English language to receive recognition.

Annotated Bibliography

Hanson, Mary E. Go! Fight! Win! Cheerleading in American Culture. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1995.

This book addresses many aspects of cheerleading. It informs us with the history of cheerleading, how it began and how it has evolved. This book also provides its audience with information on how cheerleading is linked with the media and advertising and also the symbols, meanings, and how people have come to interpret "the cheerleader".
Mary Ellen Hanson is the author of this book. She has been a cheerleader herself in the past and is now employed at the University of New Mexico. Through her experiences in cheerleading and the history of its past, she has conducted research in this area.
The purpose for publishing her book was for her audience to be informed of what cheerleading really is. She provides information covering history to its symbolism and meaning, and to its purpose in advertising. In addition, she has shown evidence from its evolvement how it can be associated as a sport.
This book was a very useful source to me. It provided lots of information that I could use to support my argument. This book covered lots of materials that went further into my topic.

CRAAP Test

In "Dihydrogen Monoxide in the Dairy Industry", Tom Way discusses the issue about dihydrogen monoxide in milk. The purpose for the website is to inform readers about the risks of dihydrogen monoxide(DHMO), but according to the CRAAP test, this website does not pass the test and is unreliable. On the homepage of this website, the date of when it was last updated is displayed at the bottom of the page, showing that it was last updated on March 11, 2008. This shows that this website is still current. The ideas present on the page are not consistent, therefore showing no relevance to the issue at hand. The first five paragraphs go into the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide, that it is a contaminant in milk. Then the next paragraphs go into the use of a photograph of a cow taken from another corporation. The author of the website is Tom Way. According to the website www.cvc.villanova.edu, it states that Tom Way specializes in the field of computer science. To make sure that it was the Tom Way I was looking for, I went through the website and sure enough, the website provided a link to the dhmo.org website. Because Tom Way specializes in the field of computer science, he does not have the qualifications to talk about health. Therefore, Tom Way quotes Dr. Donna Maria Waltz, who specializes in the field of dairy nutrition. In the article, there is a link under Dr. Waltz's name to her webpage. On her webpage, she claims that she has a bachelors, masters, and a Ph.D degree under the title of her name. She gives us a link to the company where she had worked before, but the link is not functional. She also gives us two links to the schools from where she got her degrees, but only one is functional. Dr. Waltz does not provide a lot of information about her and at the end of what she has posted, she states "That's all I'm going to say about myself and my vocation. :-)" which doesn't show seriousness about her profession. Most of the links to the special reports on the homepage do not make much sense (for example DHMO plays a role in the formation of cancer), considering that dihydrogen monoxide(DHMO) is just another name for water. According to the American Chemistry Council, dihydrogen means two hydrogen atoms and monoxide means one oxygen atom and therefore comprises H2O. Although the information provided sounds intellectual and is supported by one source, that one source is unreliable and there are no other sources to back up the claim. As a result, because the contents of this webpage does not pass the criteria of a reliable source, this website is a bunch of crap!