A crazy story

One of the craziest stores Ive seen was on a movie called The Basketball Diary. It was about 3 friends that were All Star players on their high school basketball team. But then they got involved with cocaine, and started to use it all the time. They stop focusing on basketball and lose alot of games.Their hoop dreams when down the drain, and this story showed me how drugs and change your life around for the bad.

Jason & Kyra

I think it was my mom that had told me about this book called Jason & Kyra. I feel in love with that book because it was really well written. You were instantly intrigued with it once you started reading. The book was written by a former teacher from Cass Tech High School, and as you read the story you realize that the story was about some teenagers in Detroit, just under another name. It was about a boy named Jason and a girl named Kyra, who belong to two different types of people or groups. He belong to the popular group, and she belong to the less popular group. It's basicly a love story about how they get together and stay together no matter what is going on in their personal or nonperonal lives.

Guessing Game

There are different ways to communicate with out using words. I never played Pyramid or Catchphrase, so I don't know how u play those games, but games like Pictionary are kind of popular because they are thinking games that will get anyone who is playing the game really involved in it. I like the game because it's fun to try to guess what the other person is trying to describe. I also like Scramble, even though I'm not that good at it, because it encourages you to learn more words.

Words

The work sheet that was passed out in class, really showed how one word can lead up to anothger that may have another meaning from the original word. To me some words make me think about my life and how I would really like to increase the meaning of the words in my life. Words like love, peace, God, & happyness.

Favorite Story

The best story for me has got to be the story lines on the show "Law and Order." The best plots, however, are the ones when that are "ripped from the headline." That's when they take a big story in the news, and turn it into a story that is made for a TV drama. For example, after the Michael Jackson Holding the baby over the balcony incident, "Law and Order" turned it into, what if a celebraty holding their baby over a balcony accedently dropped their baby? It clicks with me because I like real-life kind of stories, and "Law and Order" does that.

A Different Way To Communicate

There are many ways to commuicate a word without actually saying it. One major way is sign language, I personally only know the alphabet so i can't really use this one. Another way is acting the word or phrase out. Plus you could draw what you want to commuicate. I think games like catchprase and such are really fun. They make you really think about how people think about many words. You can use things or situations that people are familiar with to make them guess a word to win the point for your team. One of my favorite games like this is Taboo. Its a team game. You have a card that has a major word( the word you have to get your team to guess) and a list of five words that you cant say while trying to get them to guess. An example might be, the major words are: Bill Clinton, and the five words are: president, white house, hillary, saxaphone, William, and Chief of state. You as the player could say that he was the leader of the country who cheated on his wife. Since everyone knows about this they would automatically be able to answer and you score a point. Its such a fun game and it helps you make connections between words and convey them to other people.

Design Plans

Design plans can help me a lot when I'm writing a paper. It helps keep me focused when I would like to go off topic and probably confuse the reader. It tells me what I am aiming for when I write, which keeps my paper clear and not muddled. It can also help me set a schedule for myself while writing an assignment or something else. Design plans don't have to be just for school papers. It can be used fr whatever you want to use it for, such as a web pages or blogs. I can see myself using design plans much later in life, they are a very helpful and easy way to structure many things.

My Favorite Movie

This movie isn't really my favorite, but it kind of "got" to me. The name of it is the Devil Wears Prada. It got to me because in the movie, this girl gets a job at a fashion magazine office and completely changes everything about herself. All of her friends and her boyfriend, of course, have a problem with it, but it takes her seeing her boss mess over one of her friends to see that this isn't the life style she wants. In my opinion, she should have been able to tell that this job wasn't right when her boyfriend decided to break up with her over this job and they had been together for a long time.

That 70's Show

That 70's show is one of those shows that is so stupid its funny. This sitcom follows a group of teenagers into their adult lives showing the different obstacles that they had to overcome. Although very funny this sitcom has its serious moments. This sitcoms tackles subjects like drugs, teenage parenting, dead beat parents, and true friendships. This show keeps me interested because I like stories that has hidden meanings. It makes the viewer think and develop an opinion about the issues in each episode.

Free Association

Words are very powerful. You can mention one word and it can trigger several different reactions from people. IT can trigger a memory of their lives, pictures, or several other things. While doing the meaning through free association assignment A lot of my words were all connected by school in some way. A big part of my life was spent in school, so it only makes since that most memories come from there. It is cool how people connect words. One word could somewhere down the line connect to something most people at first wouldn't think of. This in the future will make me think about what I'm writing and what other meanings the words I use could have.

My First Book

The first book I read on my own for pleasure was called The Coldest Winter Ever. A friend and I were on the train to Toronto, Canada. She was so wrapped up in the book, she finished it in on our short train ride there. She never told me what it was about, but I could tell it was a great read. Sista Soldier, the author, wrote the book about events that actually happened in her life. After writing two books, Sista Soldier speaks at many conferences as a motivational speaker to young in the inner cities. The book was about a young girl who survived in the inner city projects to making something out of herself.

Favorite Story

One of my favorite movies is Double Take. It has Orlando Jones who gets framed of a murder by federal agents and they are trying to get him to go to Mexico so they can clear it up. Along the way a FBI agent tries to tell him that it is a set up and they just want him dead. The FBI agent is Freddy Tiffany who is accused of murdering the governor when he was last in Mexico, keeps getting blown off because Orlando doesn't believe that he is an agent. Towards the end they get in to Mexico and Orlando finally puts the pieces of the puzzle together and sees that what Freddy was saying was true. The movie applied to me because it is very funny and has Eddie Griffin in it.

TCA

1. would you say that most people today have access to technology?
i personally believe that nowadays everyone should know how to operate a computer and get on the internet becuase it is all around you so u might as well join the new trend,,,

2.what do you think keeps some people from learning computer?
to me i truly believe because people are afraid of them, now my parents r not that high tech so they dont believe it when i tell them they can talk and see there family memebers from back home...

3.what do you think a good writer is?
i think that a good writer is someone who can write a paper clearly and doesnt have to stop and think about what his writing about. so basically everything im not,

4. if anyone in yout family considers themselves to be a bad writer, why do you think that is?
well lets just go to the last question, but i think that im the bad writer because i honestly im not in to it, my favorite subject is math and i guess everyone has there thing.

5.who has been the main source of tech in your life?
well he was my high school teacher and he was the one that tought me everything i know now about computers and how to fix them, the only thing is that im not going to pursue my dream of be a computer engineer... changed to pre-pharm

Dodge the Lodge

The closure of the Lodge is approaching to fast. I usually take the Lodge to get home on the weekend, but now I will have to take Woodward to 6 mile. The Lodge is supposed to close on February 2. I was on my way to my grandmothers house today and to my surprise, I saw that the Wyoming bridge was already closed. I am very mad because I have to take a detour to get some MacDonald's which is on the other side of the bridge. It is great that they are finally working on the bridges along the Lodge, but it is a huge inconvenience for the people who live right in the construction areas.

Advertising!!

Theft commercial
After watching this commercial and in fact most of the commercials that are played today you can tell there are mainly pathos driven. They are effective because they latch on to your emotions, in this case laughter. Even though identity theft is not a funny thing at all this commercial is telling you the fact that identity theft does indeed occur but though citi bank you can lessen the likelihood. I also believe this commercial is demonstrating the ethos part of rhetoric since the speaker has a different identity than expected, the speaker also appears to be an honest man that has had his money stolen.

Advertisement: Rhetorical Analysis and Audience Analysis

Looking at this advertisement found on YouTube.com, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF3RuVy_qlw), many of the forms of rhetoric discussed in class can be found. In it, the young lady is attempting to get ready for a date by slipping out of different skins, if you will. The woman doesn’t speak, in fact, there is no speaking in the video, aside from the catchy techno music playing in the background. However, there is no need for the woman to speak, because her metamorphosis into “new” people do all the talking for her. But what is really good about this video is the very end, where we see that not only has she been “changing suits” but her date has as well. All of these crazy graphics and effects must be selling something important. Well actually, it’s just a Japanese commercial selling some sort of cookie. This makes it a great appeal to the audiences’ pathos, because it invokes the emotion of sex, because of what the woman is wearing, to sell a seemingly harmless treat for people to enjoy.

Looking at this same advertisement, we can make general ideas as to whom the audience is intended to be. Because it appeals greatly on the idea of a good looking young lady, and an attractive young guy, it can be assumed that the target audience for this particular cookie is young people under the age of 25. This communicates very well to this audience because it appeals to their emotions (pathos) to sell the product.

An advertisement

Click here for the advertisement.

Downloadable high quality version available: here (please do not spread this link around)

This advertisement if obviously for the male populace. Most video game players are male. Also, as you can tell the character in the advertisement is an incredibly..."built" individual with a gritty look, and tough bulky armor and a huge gun. It appears to be aimed primarily at owners or prospective owners of xbox 360s. Also, in a rather dramatic way, the normal sound and ambiance has been cut out, and replaced by the song "mad world" played by Gary Jules, originally by the band Tears for Fears. Also, there seems to be a secondary audience of people that heard the song and liked it. If one of your favorite song was used to promote a piece of media, you would be more likely to pick up said piece of media.

T.C.A Entry

1.When you were young, did any one encourage you to read?
Yes my loving grandma, and mother encouraged me to read when I was younger.

2.How do you use technology to communicate today? I use cell phones to communicate in today's life.

3. Do you use the internet? What do you use the internet for? Yes I do use the internet. I use the internet for shopping and information.

4.Do you plan on letting your children use computers? Why or why not? What will you let them do, If you do? I plan on letting my children use computers, because it's important to learn how to use a computer. I will let them type and play games.

5. Do you think that computers ultimately benefit or hurt society? In my opinion computers ultimately benefits the society.

TCA!

What do you think keeps some people from learning computers?

Themselves. Thanks to Hollywood, alot of people are stuck in the paradigm that computers are these magical complex objects that are out to get them. If people actually went at them with an open mind, they'd find out they are much simpler then they had ever imagined.

Do you think that computers ultimately benefit or hurt society?

Neither. The people who would use computers to do bad things to others would just find another way to do bad things to those people. People who commit identity theft online would probably just break into peoples houses instead if computers were not around. I have the same opinion on gun control. It wouldn't reduce violence at all, people would just use other weapons such as knives, or blunt objects. People these days are too keen to cure the symptoms, but not the root of the problem.

Do you play games on computers or video game systems? Which? Why do you like/not like them?

I play both computer games and 360 games. I like computer games more because they usually offer more depth. However, my 360 sees more time with friends because it is much easier to set up a multiplayer game in the living room with four people and four controllers than it is to set up a LAN party. I like video games because it gives me an opportunity to do things that are not possible for me in real life.

Why do you think some people believe the internet is going to destroy today’s “youth”?

Because it is. Never before have people been able to gain access to pornography, drug paraphanelia, stolen goods, commit identity theft, mail fraud, or other such things, all within five minutes of each other, and without leaving their bedroom to boot. Myself, I am not proud of this, but I no longer have any concept of value for music or movies. This is all thanks to the internet.

That sort of technology have the various schools you attended have?

Isbester had some sort of old apple iis, I think. I cant really remember that far back. My middle school had some random crappy network of emacs off a shared 64k ISDN line. You can imagine 32 people in “computer class” (or atleast they called it that. I learned nothing from those classes.) trying to surf the web off a shared connection barely faster then 56k. My highschool had deepfreeze’d workstations connected to a windows 2k3 based network. Im not really sure what kind of internet they had, but it topped out at around 50mbits. They also had poor security. The domain controller’s password was only 4 characters long and only numbers.

Autobioigraphy

1) When asked is there a such thing what is a good writer I say don't know. A good writer will always have some kind of back round in writing. The better writers use no effort in thinking about structure and grammar. I was once to I could be a great writer from one of my old elementary teachers, because of my imagination. I told her I dint thinks so because I have a average boring life and know one would want to here that. She then told me good writer never has to have experience they just have to fail and fail till there is no other way but perfection.

2) In any ones view there are people categorized as good and bad writers. Bad writers doesn't exactly mean that they cannot write good it just means that sometimes they put more emotions and there own feelings into their work then what people exactly want to hear. Sometimes that can be a good thing and sometimes it can be a bad thing depending on what the topic is. For example romance is a very touchy subject, not everybodys opinion is the same. For instance some people are more into showing there emotions and others might not be. So there for i don't think there is a such a thing as a bad writer only miss understood writers.

3)My favorit book is Sidartha. Its about a buddist that leaves his family insearch for enlightment and throught experience finds its at the end. This book teaches many lessons and has hidden mesages throughout the book. This book took me to a different level of Self control. When I was younger I had a teperment issue. After I read this book made me think in differint ways. I now have no temper and people now tell me that I have a dont care look following me around.

4) I have herd ever since i was a little kid that the computers could be a bad thing for all people of all ages. For instance, for younger children innaproite imanges may appear on the screens and there time on the computer and the internet may cut into there studty time. For some adults this may include online gambling and unneeded shopping sprees which may cause them to go into debt at some point. For the elderly people this may cause fustration in more thatn one way, it can cause their eyes to hurt and if they aren't exactly fimaliar with the software.

5) I do play games on playstation, but I don't really enjoy them. I use video games for a filler when there is excess time. i would rather be outside doing something active than just sitting around the tv all day. One main reason that I do not like them is because it is a way for parents to keep their children quiet. I think one day vidoe games will be seen as more important than education, and this will destroy our ecomony.

The Audience

The audience that may be attreacted to the movie cover Gone in 60 Seconds is a male base. I think that it is male based is because it has mainly to do with cars and action. More men watch movies for action and fast cars. This movie may fail because the cover to the movie may not appeal to all men and few women. I believe that thw movie cover shows this well because of the Gt 1967 Mustang and the streeks that flow behind it.http://www.gonein60seconds.com/

Technology and Communication

My parents had all of the educational oppertunities that an average person would have. They attended gradeschool, highschool and post secondary education. I think that this is one of the reasons that I am able to attend university and expand my own personal knowledge. Studies have shown that people who's parents attended university have a much greater chance of attending themselves. This is one if those facts that I have learned after years of research on the internet. When I was young, I was introduced to computers in school, and in my peer groups. This contributed to the fact that me, along with the rest of my age group is largely computer literate. Although I was introduced to the computer, no one ever physically taught me how to use all of the features of a computer, such as spreadsheets, word processing, and other things, which all came with experience. Being able to write and communicate your ideas well all comes with being familiar with reading materials, many of which can be found on the World Wide Web. In my oppinion, people become bad speakers because they do not read a lot of scholarly materials, and other things. When poeple use slang words in every day speech, they begins to write in slang terms, and this makes for bad writing skills. This is one of the reasons why being able to have access to a computer is so impoartant. Computers expand knowledge. They are extremely beneficial to the larger society when it comes to learning new things and expressing creative ideas. I definetely am planning on allowing my children access to computers in the future, I think that this is a crucial skill to have in a society that is becoming technologically advanced.

movie rhetoric

The cover this football add shows rhetoric in one major way. http://www.fanhut.com/nfl_barstools.html They use pro sports teams to sell their products. This to me is a good way to sell any kind of item to a male based group. They persuasion come with seeing the logo and having a favorite player on a sports team. You are more likely to support one player and buy the items than the teams logo.

Autobiography!!

~ When I was little I always loved reading the Little Critter books. I had every book in the series and would read them over and over. The Little Critter books taught you anything from learning to get along with others and sharing to eating healthy and taking care of yourself. Now a days I still enjoy reading but for the most part only read when I have too. I will admit that I absolutely love the Harry Potter books!!
~At the top of my favorites (other than Harry Potter) the Iliad by Homer is my favorite book. I could not stop reading this book. The Iliad is a story of the Trojan War, mainly Achilles epic story, his pain, his strength, and his close relationship to the gods. Besides the one chapter about the 500 ships and the names of all the people aboard those ships, this book is made for lovers of war stories and mythology.
~I’ll admit I have indeed fallen victim to some of the most addicting video and computer games in the past. For some time I was on a Grand Theft Auto game-a-thon and literally could not leave the room until I beat the next level. Word games on the computer also catch my attention particular catch my attention when I’m extremely bored. Like an 80 year old woman I also thoroughly enjoy playing solitaire on the computer.
~Unlike in my past, now all the news that I obtain comes only from the radio. As I was growing up I could not stand just listening to them talk on the radio. I am not sure if it is due to the fact that in the morning while I drive to class the only thing played is the news or that it just doesn’t bother me anymore. It may just be that I am so tired that I don’t even know what I am listen to, it is like 7 in the morning!
~I think a good writer has a unique sense of describing events and expressing themselves. Their writing is interesting and holds elements other than just being grammatically correct. To me the best writing is never cliché and the story cannot seem like you have heard it before. I prefer a more humorous writing style with an abundance of sarcasm. Descriptive writing is one of my favorite types of writing not only to read but to also write.

My Technology

1. When you were younger, did anyone encourage you to read? Yes, my mother encouraged me to read all the time. She bought me books, and would read them to me often. After reading the books so much I begin reading them on my own and she would help me.

2. Who has been the main source of " technology" or learning about technology in your life? To me my main source of technology learning is my bestfriend, she is the one that keeps me up to speed on the latest technology.

3.What do you think, other than school, turns people into " bad writers?" Do you think bad writers even exist? The reason bad writers exist is because of their confidence people tend to lower their own self- esteem. To me their is no such thing as a bad writer, because it's simply expressing your feelings in your own words. There may be people who disagree with your opinon, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.

4. What are your favorite websites? My favorite websites are: Myspace and Facebook. These two websites allows me to stay connect with friends and relatives, because there may not always be a time where I can call them. So with that being said I always have a reason to go on the computer whether it's homework, checking my e-mail, or whatever the case maybe I talk to them then.

5. What operating systems ( example: Windows XP) do you know how to use? The operating systems that I know how to use is: Windows XP, Powerpoint, Microsoft Excel, Word dProcessor, etc....

Horny Manatee

I recently visited a website name http://www.hornymanatee.com/ and this site is really crazy. The site originated from a late night television named, Conan O'Brien. He came up with this website because he was talking about some marine life stuff. Conan accidentally made up a website name, which was not real, and his bosses at NBC said he had to actually create a website because you can not say the name of a non existing page on TV. The website is actually aimed towards fans of the show, who add more to the website everyday with funny picture of manatees and sometimes even Conan pictures. Anyone can visit this website and everyone can contribute something having to do with manatees. It a very funny site and if you are a really silly person, you may even enjoy this. I think it is a very good way for Conan to stay in touch with his fans and it is a fun way for fans to interact with eachother.

Mom Released me to Technology

Technology is a very important part of everyone’s life. We use technology to shape and mold our minds, but what about how we learned when we were younger. While growing up, my mother played a major role in my life because she didn’t only love, shelter, cloth, and feed me, she also taught me most of what I know now. My mother was the major source of information to me when I was younger. She taught me how to read, write, tell time and add before I went to school. She also always told me to do the best I could and if I had a problem with something, try to work it out myself and if I still couldn’t figure it out, get help from someone. When I went to school, I always kept her wisdom with me. Listening t my mother helped me learn about technology because it is so prevalent in our society. I have grown to know more about technology and I now find myself teaching my mother something because she can’t keep up with the latest technology. Technology is great because if you find yourself stuck with a problem, technology can always point you to the correct answer, just like a mother.

My favorite book is G-Spot by Noire. I like to read erotic books when I am sad or bored. Although G-Spot is not all that erotic, I like to read it because it is funny, and I love to see how the story is going to end.

When I am on the computer, I like to play card games such as, Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, Free Cell, and Poker. I also like to play Pinball.

I consider myself an okay writer. I have problems arranging my thoughts into a coherent paper.

Although I think the internet is an excellent source for news, I usually watch news shows for to receive my daily dose of sad events.

Autobiography

• Writing is a form of expression. It is a way that allows individuals to give an audience a glimpse of what their views is on whatever topic. A good writer knows how to grab the target audiences attention with the first sentence and can also keep them interested. A good writer allows the reader to feel the same emotions that they feel through what they write. In high school I had a Literature teacher that would play word games in the beginning of class to "get our juices flowing". She used to say the better your vocabulary, the better your writing would be. I realize now how true this statement is and also how important it is to me now.
  


• When it came to writing essays I usually put them off to the last minute. I did this because I discouraged myself from writing. I felt like my skills were not where they needed to be so I did not work to the best of my ability. As I got older I realized that the only person that I was hurting was myself. So I had to learn how to use writing to my advantage, to make the best of my hidden talent.
  


• Writing became a hobby for me. On an average day I write at least one poem about whatever I choose. In a way poetry has become somewhat of a stress reliever. The question of whether or not my poetry is good does not matter because it is what I was feeling at that point. Which ultimately means that I was being true to myself.
  


• While developing my writing skills I found myself drawn to reading books of all genres. Amongst my favorite books "I know Why The Caged Bird Sings",by Maya Angelou, helped me to realize that everything has its season. That with determination and hope anything is possible. I have other favorite books but there are so many to name it would take forever. What I can say about them is that every author was a good writer.
  


• I would consider myself to be a good writer in training. I think that I have grasp the basic concept like sentence development. You know like making sure that the noun and verb agree (LOL). But I think I will allow you the reader to decide whether or not I should drop the training based on what you consider a good writer is.

MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY!!!

• I’ve been introduced to numerous school systems in three different states. At first, I started off in the Brooklyn Public Schools in New York City. I attended their schools until I was in the fifth grade in elementary. I, then, got transferred to a private school in Sunset Boulevard in Brooklyn. I stayed there until the 7th grade. After the private school, we moved to Broadview Heights in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. I attended the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Public School system for the 8th grade. We, then, moved again from Ohio to Michigan, where I attended the Dearborn Public Schools from the 9th grade until my high school graduation. And now, well, I’m attending Wayne State University for my third year.

• My parents are educated. My dad actually has a Masters Degree in Mathematics and Nuclear Physics. As for my mother, she finished off with a Bachelor of Science Degree. Both my younger sister and younger brother are currently students at the University of Detroit Mercy in the Pre-Dental program.

• In my opinion, I do think that most people in the world these days have access to technology. I mean, I went to Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Greece the last two summers and they have Internet cafes on every other block. Everyone, even the poorest people you could imagine, had access to these computers because they charged a very small fee per hour. Another thing that astonished me was that most of these people overseas have much better technology then we do; not to mention better cell phone coverage too.

• People are afraid of change. I remember having some old folks coming into this cell phone store I used to work at in Twelve Oaks Mall. They were just mall walkers. They'd usually walk in for about a minute to look at phones and then walk out. I'd ask them why wouldn't they get a cell phone for themselves and they'd tell me stories about how they’ve gone through life without all this technology so why would they need it now and so on. I personally think the fear of change keeps a person from learning technology.

If you think the fear of technology doesnt exist, check this link out. Youll get a kick out of this!

THE FEAR OF TECHNOLOGY!!!!

• I loved reading R L Stine books. I, especially, loved his Goosebumps series of books when I was a child. Right now, I basically like to read anything that’s interesting. It could be a scientific article or even just the sports section of the Detroit Free Press. It doesn’t matter to me.

• I personally think anything society has can either benefit or hurt it. Its how we actually use it that makes a difference. You can use your computer to watch porn or use it to research topics online. You can watch TV to view XXX or unrated movies or you could watch TV to watch your favorite show or the news. You can eat with moderation or you can go all out and die sooner than you thought. Again, we can’t all be negative about everything. We hurt ourselves. Technology doesn’t hurt us, it’s our choices that do.

Bits Of My Tech Bio

Kindergarten through first grade, I attended Ella Fitzgerald Elementary school . Second through fourth grade I attended Brady Elementary. For fifth grade I went to Burt Elementary. For sixth grade I only attended Frank Murphy middle school. Once my mom and I moved to Redford Twp, I attended Pierce middle school for seventh and eighth grade. When middle school was over, I attended the neighboring high school Lee M Thurston from which I graduated from. Now I’m here at WSU.




I am an only child and I craved a lot of attention. My mom would read one book in particular to me every night before we went to bed called, "The Small Pig". I’d eventually memorized the book. One night while my mom was having a party, I sat at the edge of the steps and starting what they thought was reading. I read the memorized words as loud as I could. I also knew exactly when the pages needed to be turned. Her company was in awe of how smart I was. I had a previous history of knowing all of my colors and writing my name at a very young age, so this would fit into my plan of making people believe I could really read a whole book at four. My mom and dad encouraged me to read



I don’t have a favorite book. I have a favorite publishing company called Triple Crown Publications. The company was started by a woman named Vickie Stringer for Chicago, Illinois. She has actually wrote two books that were published through her own company called "Dirty Red" and "Imagine This". My favorite out of the two is "Dirty Red". She was a single parent with a dream that came true. For that she inspires me to write my own books. Some people call the genre of the books through her publication, "hood books" but I just simply call them African American Fiction. I have read all of the books from her publication.



On an average day, I read a few chapters from the most current book I’ve purchased. I can read a thirty-five chapter book in two days. If the book is interesting, I can not stop turning the pages. I’ve read over one hundred books in the past three years. By reading so many books, I’ve been inspired to write my own. I actually personally know Micheal Moore, an author that is on the "Essence Best Sellers List". She right here from the Metro Detroit area. She has agreed to help me with my book once I get it fully prepared.


I don’t belong to any online social networking sites because they are not important to me. In middle school, I belonged to Blackplant.com. So when I think of sites like Facebook, MySpace and Crushspot, it takes me back to middle school. I’ve been out of the loop for so long, I don’t know if I would fit back into it.

Jill's Tech/Comm Biography Example

I grew up in a house to rival any movie that features a crazy scientist or professor. In my case, the crazy guy installing lots of weird techno-gadgets was my dad--not a scientist, not a professor, in fact he didn't even have a full high school education. I suppose there might have been reasons for that, as his parents saw fit to send him to a Polish K-12 institution instead of to a local school where people actually spoke English, but it really didn't seem to matter in the long run. He owned his own business, taught himself to build televisions and other things using Heathkits, and was absolutely addicted to odd technology designed to make our lives easier.

Both our doorbell and our telephone were programmable. Our TV was homemade. We had a Hero JR Robot that was supposed to be able to play games but really just liked to try and kill itself by heading for the stairs and speeding up faster than my mom could catch it (it also sang this really creepy Daisy song). My parents held Atari 2600 contests on the weekends. My dad hooked up my mom's camcorder to his Amiga computer to use it like a scanner in order to show customers what their homes would look like with new windows in about 1985 or 6 or so.

We were spoiled in terms of 80s gadgets, I suppose, although many of these appliances were home made and therefore significantly cheaper than their counterparts in stores. I still build my own computers because I can generally do so at a discount over store prices--but I did buy my mac and my laptop at student discount price from a store, can't rebuild a good system for the same price, sadly enough.

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In high school I pretty much hated English class. It feels good to write that, I don't think a lot of my fellow grad students would understand. Writing in high school was all about writing five paragraph essays, or five sentence paragraphs, and anything extra added in meant losing points. One of my teachers even gave us negative points should we have too many mistakes in our essays, and since many were assigned in class that was ME more than once.

I was told I was a "math person." There were math and computer people (and needless to say I was a computer person, see story above) and English people and you just couldn't be both dammit. I'm not sure why any school would believe that, there's even an entire conference called "Computers and Writing" specifically for people who are interested in integrating both.... but no matter.

I suppose it might have been because we were a literature based school. You read books, you wrote about books, you memorized random stuff about books that would score you big points in college at some point (supposedly) for knowing that Percy Bysshe Shelley died during a storm, on his boat, with his "special friend." Actually, I did impress somebody once with that one, but most of what I learned was the sort of random knowledge that I can mostly live without.

However, when I went to Michigan Tech I found out that their English classes really weren't based on literature at all. Instead, they were based on rhetoric. Instead of memorizing facts about books and writing about those, we were learning how to persuade people in general. Better yet, the teachers didn't like 5 paragraph essays and encouraged us to write about personal experiences, things that mattered to us, and to research stuff on the web.

I eventually became an English major (which is far far longer a story than I'm willing to tell here) and studied Technical Writing. Because it was a technical writing program, we got to learn graphic design, web design, and page layout skills as well. This English major has never had to flip burgers post degree, thanks, and it's mainly because this sort of degree (and the stuff I'm consequently teaching in class) gives you skills that are useful outside of school essays.

In any case, because of the technology I learned in my home, and the technology I've learned at school, I've supplemented my degree and turned it into something useful for me even if I wasn't teaching (fortunately I really like teaching, and even more fortunately I can teach computer science AND english courses thanks to my training).

I think it's surprising what high school instructors don't know, or what they don't know is possible. Nobody ever told me I could do THIS and still feed myself, you know? Maybe they didn't know these degrees existed. Maybe they just thought everybody should do what they did and study literature or NOTHING. Maybe they were just teaching the curriculum handed down to them from above.... hrm. I do that sometimes.... maybe I'm evil too. ;)

Technology and Communication Autobiography

I spent the first 13 years of my public school learning in Roseville Community Schools. (Incase you are unfamiliar, Roseville is a small city just two miles north of good old Detroit). I was always told by teachers and school staff that I had serious potential to do something with my life. It wasn’t until college that I realized everybody else did to. But, in any event, while in high school, I managed to pull off taking 15 credits worth of college courses and AP classes, only 12 of which counted. I took the college courses at Macomb Community College, also referred to as 12 Mile High, given its location on 12 Mile Road.
While being educated growing up, it has come to my unprofessional conclusion that good writers are the ones that people willingly read. In school, we were forced to read “The Scarlet Letter,” a boring novel about God knows what. This isn’t to say that Nathanial Hawthorn isn’t a good writer, but that this particular writing, for a lack of better words, sucked. On the other hand, during that same school year, I willingly picked up “The DaVinci Code.” To me, that is the work of a good writer, because it was something I read on my time without being told or asked to do so.
When it comes to foreign languages, my skills are limited. I took four years of high school Spanish, and as good as you think I should be, I’m not. Four years of high school Spanish is roughly one and a half semesters at a university. I do also know some German. My grandmother immigrated to this country from Germany during the late 1950’s. So, naturally, I picked up a few phrases over the years listening to her and my mother talk.
As for networking sites, you can find me on Myspace.com, Facebook.com, or Livejournal.com. I mostly use Myspace though, and if interested, my link is www.myspace.com/rock_charles_world. This being said, it is a fair statement for me to make when I say that most of the writing activities, reading activities, and computer activities that I do on an average day, are all Internet posts… this one included.

pictionary

I know drawing and using body language is not the same, but when I was younger pictionary was the game me and my sisters played all the time. You can’t use verbal speech so you basically have to draw all your thought and try to link them to the word.

free association

This honestly is the first time I do a free association, so be kind on me I don’t understand it very well. The main thing that I learned was how two things with nothing in common can be linked together. One was, I began with safe and ending up to guns. I know it kind of contradicts itself, but it lead to security, doors, and police. I don’t know how I got to that it just came to my mind.

Truth Audience

Briana and I chose the Truth commercial with the guy who was singing the country western song through his voice box. We decided that the targeted audience was smokers and teenagers. The form of rhetoric that is used in this commercial is pathos and logos. We chose both forms of rhetoric because of the emotions that the commercial brings out of the viewer and the facts that are portrayed throughout the commercial. To check out this commercial go to http://www.youtube.com/youdontalwaysdiefromtobacco.

sign language

If you believe it or not it is not that hard to communicate without words, in fact we do it everyday with out knowing it, from raise your hand in class to asking for the check in a restaurant. It seems that use body movement is a more easier and more understandable way of communicating with others. This is true because there are thousands of different languages, but we all use the same “sign language” as everyone uses.

Cedar Point uses Rhetoric

I love Cedar Point, so occasionally I will visit their website to see what's new. I noticed for the first time tat in their brochures, the park will try to appeal to everyone by stating facts about the rides, hotel reservations, light shows, daycare for kids and seniors, beach services, and the information about 3 of their other resorts. I know in order to make money you would have to appeal to all potential customers, but Cedar Point tried hard to appeal to customers subliminal ads. Cedar Point is a fun place to visit and the amusement park could probably promote itself. The reason I implied that Cedar Point could promote itself is because all of the rides they come out with every year. If you want to see some examples of rhetric, visit their website at www.cedarpoin.com or just google Cedar Point.

Shhh!!!

A large aspect in how we communicate comes from the ability to interpret all forms of non-verbal communication. This is communication using body movements/gestures to accompany verbal, and or other forms of communication. Things such as presentation, posture, eyebrow movement, and hand gestures are all everyday tools we use at our disposal to aid in the expression of our accompanied emotions. Most communication is determined through feeling, which is heavily expressed throughout the non-verbal forms. Games such as Catchphrase integrate easy everyday communication with a greater emphasis on the use of the more challenging non-verbal forms. This pushes the individual to try to express a word or feeling, using body language, descriptive words, or even words or gestures with multiple or similar meanings. These games push a person to use critical thinking and acts as a test on one's personal accomplishment. Games such as these stress the importance of reading all forms of communication and allows for many possibilities to keep things fresh and exciting. This is a reason people, such as myself, enjoy games like this. When gathered with friends, family, or peers it will apparent that even though there may be similarities between some people, there isn't one person who thinks exactly like another. The different interpretations allow excitement and originality to run wild and keep the excitement and fun factor sky high!!

Wordless Communication

We communicate with everyone around us everyday. It may not be a "Hi, hello" kind of conversation, but the way we present ourselves says alot to the people around us. Body language says a lot when simply looking at someone. You don't need words to know someone is nervous when you see them shaking and fidgetting on stage. Just like you don't need words to know that a crying toddler is upset about something. We use body language and facial language all the time. It doesn't require the use of words or sounds, simply looking at someone can tell you a great deal about what is on their mind.

Planning A Design

A plan of action is a key component in all aspects of life. This design plan is prevalent when one looks at things such as any type of construction, public speaking, education, theatrics, and even professional sports. Even though there are no real similarities between the things listed above, one can see that it requires a strict and well thought out design plan in order to achieve success. Using a design plan offers much organization, producing a guideline or schedule to be followed. This ensures that the finished product will be produced through a specific time line. The layout of ideas leaves a source of reference and opens up the ability for revission. This fact can be very useful when it comes to working on a project for one's major because a single draft is never submitted. As we roughly sketch out what the project is about, we learn more as we go along through research and increased familiarity with the topic. Among many other things a guideline is a great source to opening the door to new possibilities. Once the ideas have been mapped out, the design plan offers the ability to go back and offshoot into new ideas or new topics one might have looked over. A well thought out and strictly enforced design plan, or guideline, is the key to success in all aspects of life. It allows people to use critical thinking and analysis, rather than working simply on impulse. The human mind is a wonderful thing and should be used to its full potential at all times, and through using a design plan one allows the brain to think on a deeper level to create the best product to our ability.

Words...

Communication is, in my opinion, man's greatest attribute. Communication is what makes us who we are. Without communication, live would indeed be dull. But how do we communicate? It's known that 90% of what we derive when we communicate is derived from non-verbal cues the other person sends. Games, such as, Catchphrase and Pyramid enhance our communication and verbal skills. Catchphrase is a game where one has to try to get his team-members to guess a word by using any verbal clue or using any physical gesture. Pyramid is a game where you have to try to fill in words on a pyramid shaped grid beginning with two letters, and then on each word you have to add another letter and rearrange it to make actual words. I actually tried playing pyramid online and I seriously enjoyed it (even though at first I thought it was pointless).

To play pyramid online, click on PYRAMID WORD GAME.

Blog Entry

I communicate a word without saying it by describing what it is. And how the word relates to my audience.basically I give good clues to what the word means. People like Catchphrase games, because it's fun to give clues, and try to finger out what words people are describing. I think those kind of games can be fun sometimes.

To speak or not to speak

I use nonverbal communication a lot more than actually speaking in my opinion. My body language usually tells on me (lol), I mean my mouth says one thing and everything else say the complete opposite. I think that games like Catchphrase is popular because it shows you how to read body language and its fun. I like these types of games because they allow me and my friends to look and act silly. Taboo is amongst my favorite nonverbal games.

Designing With A plan

Using a design plan would help me out a lot because I am very unorangized sometimes. Having an exact layout of what i want to do and how I am going to do it makes things a lot easier. I don't know about anyone else but I know that life is a lot easier when the small things are taken care of. As far using this technique in my career life it would be very useful because in the field that I am going into being organized is a most.

The Wonders of Words!

Word games (like Catch Phase) force you to think outside of the “box”. Clues are given to you and as a player you are expected to guess the word they are describing. Not everyone thinks alike and there interpretation of the word may be very different from yours, everyone will take a different approach to a word making it difficult to guess the word correctly. I personally love word games but there are a few exceptions. A few of my favorite word games are Taboo, chain reaction, and wheel of Fortune. Word games are always a challenge and each time you play it is never the same.

My Own Kind of Design Plan!!

When doing a design plan for myself, I tend to sit down in gather a lot of information that I would like to include. After doing this I arrange it in a order that I feel is correct. When saying order I mean: what fits right in each section. While doing all of this I think of a topic that fully describes all the information that I have gather. Also after correcting the order I add facts to different areas just to give out a little more general information. After doing all of that I write everything just as I arranged it.

Silent Words

A person can communicate a word without saying the word through body language and by saying the words meaning. They can also say a group of words associated with the word they are trying to communicate like they do on certain game shows such as Lingo and Pyramid.
I think these games shows are so popular because many people like to play along at home by guessing the words themselves. I like shows like Lingo because these shows don’t reveal the answers to the viewers at home.

Plans!

A design plan will help you in general because it is a guideline or schedule to help you map out what you are planning on doing. The plan will keep you organized and up to date with everything. The plan will make it possible to look back at what you have done and make more educated and effective decisions. These decisions which can include your major or overall goals.

Design Plan

A design plan can help a person in many ways. A plan gives you a direction to go in so you don't wing it and have a bad project or decision down the road. A plan will set you on the right track for years to come. I know this because my father has been on a plan that he created earlier in his life, which has been successful for him thus far. I know I will have a plan once school gets closer to the end for me.

Communication

To communicate without the word you use synonyms or catch phrases related to the word. Games related to guessing a word are popular because of the challange that any word may post. I do not enjoy these game because it is not a way to learn new words, it just makes me mad and frusterates me.

Design plan

A design plan for a project now can be used as a metaphor for a long term plan. When starting a plan, the first thing you do is come up with some kind of out line to follow, which is the actual plan. From there, you go at it, little by little, until the project is completed. Looking at a long term plan, the same can be applied. For example, someone majoring in medicine might want to take as many science and math classes as they can early. As simple as this sounds, it is a plan. Even further down the road, someone may shoot to graduate college after four years, and begin looking for a long term job that will be able to provide for a potential family only a few more years ahead. All of these examples can be used to describe how design plans now can be applied to long term design plans in our lives.

Without Actually Saying It

There are a few ways to communicate a word without actually saying it such as, drawing a picture or using side jokes from one person to the next to get the word or phrase across. Games like Catchphrase are so popular because besides it being a game you play with a fun group of people, it allows you to be able to use the skills of not actually saying the word you are trying to get across. Catchphrase is my favorite game and it never gets old to me. Right now I am still stuck on Catchphrase, and I can't think of any other word games.

For Meme:

When I make a design plan the first thing that comes to mind is keeping everything in order. i start out with a web to help me get started, starting from the most important, my opinions and the facts. My introductio tells my readers what this particular project will be about. A lot of people stray away from using the middle school web design but it seems to work for me. Having a design plan keeps me between the lines.

I learned that connections between words can vary quite alot from person to person. What you would never think of comes easily to someone else. Words may connect to things they did not expect. I believe a good portion of this is based on your surroundings. For example, people could have an inside joke with "watermelons" and "dishwashers". So, when someone would say one word, they would immediately begin to think about the second one. So, if you plan to use these words in a similar context in your writing, be sure that you explain what the relationship is.

Blog Entry

A design plan would be very helpful when doing a project, because the plan would be sorted out which can make your project easier.

My Plan

A design plan can help me find a deeper purpose for my project. With this plan, I can also organize all of my thoughts and arrange them into something that others could actually comprehend. Since my major is accounting, I know I will have to do projects relating to business, so learning how to make a design plan will help out a lot.

In Order to Make It!!!

The reason I decided to call mine In Order to Make It! was, because my web was based on the spec ific situations in oder to become someone in life. It talks about school, and how school conects to teachers, and teachers connects to classes. From there you get grades, ad accomplish many successful situatutions. You graduate over the years, and go to college in develop a degree from there. This assignment has taught me that words can connect in many different situations. You never really pay atttention to it until you do it. You have words such as School, class , teachers, grades, science,writing, book, succeed, accomplish, life, graduate, and degree. Whether you believe it or not all these words connect in some kind of way. For example: When you go to school you go in class, and when you get in class you meet the teacher that will help you gain knowlegde. After, gaining knowledge from whatever class your in whether it's writing or science. If you earned it you recieve a passing grade and continue to succeed in life. When doing this successfully you go on to graduation, and after graduation you go to college and work towards getting your degree.

meaning through free association

1. This assignment showed me that even small words have power. Also, I used some of the same words but they had diffrent meanings. i realized that I didn't have to use hugh words. I would rather be understood with small words verses huge words and no one would know what I was talking about.
2. Some of the words suprised me because I didn't know that some of the same words meant different things.
3. My surroundings affected my answers beause while I was in class, I chose to write and expand about school and books.

I'm Scared

• Hell

To me hell is a very scary thought. I feel that at the end of the world, there will be hell on earth. It's even more scary because it's the unknown to me.

• Movies

I can't deal with horror movies. They make me uncomfortable and I can't enjoy the movie.

• Death

Death will always be scary to me because you never exactly know whether you are going to stay on earth in hell or go up to heaven. You just have to try to live right while you are on earth.

• STD's

Point blank: some STD's you can't cure and you could die. Scary enough

Free Association

Based on my connections I believe that you should live life to the maxium. That your true friends should be as close to you as your family. My connections also say that with friends and family by your side the key to happiness is self reliance. And that even a strawberry can be evil (lol), based on my connections.

Sample Entry from Class

So say this text had something to do with a picture, or it was just something I wanted to link to a picture, then I could add a picture.

So if we wanted to add a link to the course webpage
, then we use the link button.

Let's pretend this is a quote.

School

• Commute'

Everyday i make my super early morning commute to WSU. Hints i don't live on campus

• Grades

My grades are very important to my success

• Due dates

And also keeping up with important due dates is also key to my success

• Graduation

I'm expected to graduate in four years.

Getting Inked

Ive Been Getting Inked For Years

• I love tattoos
• I have four in total
• I have two blue shooting stars on my back which i got the day after my high school graduation. This wasn't intentional.
• My first tattoo was a mickey mouse. I was about 16 years old without a parents consent
• My newest piece of art that i have added to my canvas was a red tribal rose with the word Beauty inked into the green vine. i chose the word Beauty because my name means beautiful in the Arabic language.

Meanings Through Free Association

At first, this assignment did not mean very much to me. I have never given very much thought to how important certain words are in every day life. To be honest, I thought that this assignment was pointless, until I began to complete my assignment. Words have a way of connecting your mind to certain images, experiences and memories. Words, especially those of the English language, have very unique and specialized meanings. These different words can mean very different things, and can make the difference between what you mean and what you say. For example, if someone were to say, "the girl is pretty", in relation to, "the woman is beautiful", this makes an extremely big difference in the way the sentence is communicated. In certain societies throughout the world, much simpler languages exist. These languages have much fewer words to describe the same situations. I am now very aware of this importance. This is especially interesting to me because of the fact that I enrolled in the pre-medical sciences. The way the mind works using different chemicals is very interesting to me, especially since I never thought of science to explain the way the brain associates words, in relation to English and literature.

Meaning through free Association

1. I learned that my connections were all related to weather.
2. This project showed me that words can be very related an important.
3. No my sorrounding didn't effect my answers.
4. The order of my connections changed the meaning of my words because of them being related.
5. Their were meanings created that surprised me.

1. I learned that my connections were all related to weather.
2. This project showed me that words can be very related an important.
3. No my sorrounding didn't effect my answers.
4. The order of my connections changed the meaning of my words because of them being related.
5. Their were meanings created that surprised me.

Meaning through free association

I learned that through many different word you can come up with a connection. This project expresses how big words can be. Words are use to express and create lives. People connect words in all different ways. The ways they interpret them I believe is due to their back rounds. I think that words certain word can create a clear visual if used in the right text. The word that meant the most to me is student, school, friends, and food. These mean the most to me because without friends and school you won't go far as a person. You need to surround yourself with as much brains and talent as possible. One theory that I live by is what surrounds you is who you are. Some of my words did come up twice and were all meant in the same way. None of the surroundings affected any of the answers given.

The Importance of Words...

Many people don’t know how important words are. I never actually figured out how words can impact a person so much until completing this assignment. A simple word such as "graph" can just bring back so many memories for me. It brought back elementary and middle school memories I thought I totally forgot about. I can only imagine how that simple word can affect other people. This assignment just proved that one can look at a word and actually tell a story or recall an actual event that happened during his or her life. That’s just incredible how one word can actually make a person smile or even upset at times. It just proves that a simple word to me can be such an astonishing word to someone else. It tells me that words can only go as far as ones imagination can go. This assignment just tells me how powerful my writing can be. I can actually make people recall memories. I can bring in fear and courage, sadness and happiness, with just the power of something so simple but yet so incredible. My source of power would be my choice of words.

Connections!!

When we did the meaning through association exercise in class it made it very apparent that meanings of words and the thoughts that follow, are highly impacted by my past. Any inside jokes or funny events that took place in my life relating to that word popped up. This accounts for most of the shall we say out of the ordinary associations I had. Words are very powerful especially if these words have to do with something in your life, past or present. My connections were also influenced by the room, many of my associations ended up pertaining to school and or the school setting. When finding connections for school and friends it was quite difficult to write down the first word that came to mind because my brain was flooded with words, images, and sounds. Many of which made me giggle to myself. After I began writing down my connections I realized that the words themselves began to connect and they were often used twice. Sometimes there was no explanation for the connections. In this case I believe a seemingly unimportant object or feeling my have revealed itself.

The way I think

Although I know little about the subject we are blogging about, I will try to answer this week’s question. I will begin to say that my mind works in odd cycles. I know you may be thinking I am crazy, but you are not alone. When I say I think in cycles this means I think of the end, then I ponder about the beginning, and last and seemingly least, I find a way to start the middle. Take the word sweetie for example. My grandmother always used to call me sweetie before she got Alzheimer’s. Now every time I think of this word, I began to think about her suffering first, then I associate the word with her love for me, and then I start to wonder how she got ill in the first place. If I heard someone I did not like use this special word, I would get mad because in some strange way, I feel that person does not deserve to say that word. This word would not affect my writing because I seldom use it.

Be Carefull How You Write Of

We use two and three letter words all the time in our writing. What may seem like completely insignificant in every day usage, they can actually make or break a writer or a speaker if the wrong two letter word is used. Consider this sentence: "Alicia wanted to go with him after the show." Sounds to me like this Alicia girl friendly with him, whoever he is. But what if I told you that I used the wrong word in that sentence and meant to say "Alicia wanted to go at him after the show." Two completely different meanings of a sentence that only shares one difference; a two letter word.
Consider also a real life example. A few months back, Senator Kerry went under fire for what appeared to be a slam against U.S. troops when he said "... (be sure to get an education) or you'll get stuck in Iraq." Now clearly the senator didn't mean to insult any U.S. Service men or women, but in fact, meant to insult the president. How? Mr. Kerry forgot a simple two letter world, "us." ..."or you'll get us stuck in Iraq." a completely different meaning.
So, in order to write and speak effectively, a writer, or speaker, has to be sure they use the propper words in the proper order. As trivial as that seems, it is very important to remember. Otherwise, you'll be stuck trying to explain yourself over something that generally wouldn't need explaining.

Books

• In my leisure time I read. People look at me weird because I actually read when i am not required to.
• My favorite genre of books are African American fiction books. I'm kinda like stuck in that section in the book store.
• Reading African. Am. fiction has inspired me to write my own book.

hey there

Welcome to class!
Here's the deal: You write here, you respond to other students here, and I'll do the same. I'll do my best to respond to everybody sometimes, but nobody all the time. I'll also answer blog prompts after others have done so (so I don't kill discussion) and so nobody feels like they have to compete with me, and I'll try to only do so when I have something somewhat interesting to share since I'm more interested in hearing what you have to say than listening to myself more--I do that enough in class already.

If you need help with blogger please ask, don't get behind (although it's completely possible to catch up) just because you don't understand the interface. They've recently upgraded around here, so some things just might not work right for you and that's okay, we'll figure it out--promise.