Blogs for GSW 1110-1096

Academic Honesty

 Academic Honesty basically means that you are being honest about your work and you don’t copy any one else’s work unless you cite it. This includes but not limited to cheating off of some one else’s paper or any other type of source, using a paper you already wrote for another class and/or another school year, and also having someone else do your work for you. Other things you must not do that may be considered Academic Dishonesty is bribing a teacher and changing a bad grade and also forgery. If you are found guilty of anything Academically Dishonest you will have to suffer the consequences.

The prompt that I chose was the third one. This prompt is about the content that is displayed on the internet and whether it should be filtered or not. The reason I chose this prompt is because after watching the Growing-Up Online documentary I did not agree with the fact that there were websites praising anorexia or teaching people how to kill themselves. There was also one about the best way to commit suicide. I thought that was just ridiculous and things like that should not be allowed to even be on the internet. I understand that the internet provides information for everyone and everything but some information is just unnecessary and dangerous. The position I am taking is that I believe some information should be filtered. The way I plan to get my opinion on this issue across is to make sure that I include enough information to back my opinion. I also plan to make sure I have at least one counterargument. I also want to try and make people think more about this issue. That does not mean I am trying to persuade them to agree with me but to at least make them think more about the content that is accessible to anyone including children. Some may argue that some websites have age limits but I think that I am prepared to refute this particular opposition. The audience that I think my essay would make the most impact on or affect the most would be an older one; especially people who have young children.

My plan for my second essay is outlined in the following steps:

1. Pick a prompt that I feel I will write the best paper on.
2. Pick what my position of the issue is meaning whether I agree or disagree with the issue.
3. Write my intro and develope my thesis.
4. Write my body paragraphs and continue to make sure it makes sense.
5. Write my conclusion.
6. Turn in my first draft by the due date (9/23/09)
7. Make the necessary revisions.
8. Have final draft done by due date (9/30/09)   

While writing my essay I plan to make sure that it is organized correctly and understandable. I will also make sure that my argument is clearly stated and it has the necessary information to back it up. When writing essays about arguing a position I tend to just write about the issue it self and not about how I actually feel about it, so with this essay I plan to make sure that I write about my actual feelings on it and not just the issue at hand.

Part 1:

After watching the video clips I learned that there is a difference between arguing and contradicting and I also learned the different reactions when listening to someone who is stating their point of view of an argument. I never really thought about the difference between contradiction and arguing until I watched one of the clips so I now realize that you have to be careful not to contradict yourself when trying to get your point of view across. It’s also important to let the opposing side get there opinions across in order to have a good argument because if you don’t let them then it is not really an argument its just one side stating there opinion. When arguing it is not acceptable to dismiss what the opposing side is saying. It is better to take what they are saying in consideration rather than ignore their opinion. When watching the clips I noticed how there are different reactions to people who are stating their opinions. There are right ways and wrong ways to reacting to an opinion.  I think the right way is to just kindly agree with them depending on the place and the wrong way is to disrespectfully disagree and interrupt them when they are still speaking.   

Part 2:

Types of supports used:

• Opinions clearly stated.
• Examples
• Counter-Arguments
• Opposing Sides
• Supporting sources/ Evidence

It is good to use different types of supports to help get your opinion or argument across. Using different kinds of support will help your audience understand what you are saying or how you feel on a particular issue. Having examples from different sources will also help to prove your creditability of what your argument is which in turn can help in your attempt to persuade the other person of what you are saying. The different types of support are effective because it helps to bring different points of view to an issue together in a non controversial way. It also helps people to express there opinions without any judging involved from the opposing sides. I think supporting evidence is needed mostly when arguments are about controversial issues such as politics or something of that nature that require people to have strong feelings about them. I also think that we need different types of support for arguments to help distinguish the right and wrong way of arguing.  Having support will help both sides of an argument be said instead of having people yelling over each other and neither sides get out their opinions.

The guideline that I am going to focus on is the one about whether or not my paper includes enough information so the topic is clear to the reader. I’m focusing on that one because I want to make sure that the reader understands my topic.

Something that I noticed in the This I Believe essays are that:

• In most of the essay the writers seem to be reminiscing about something that has happened to them rather it be positive or negative.  People like Isabel Allende reminisced about the time her daughter died while people such as Jackie Robinson reminisced about his first World Series. They share these stories about their past as a way to let us know how they got to their beliefs.
• Each person had an experience to tell about. they weren’t just writing about what they believed in. Instead they were writing about experiences that they had made it through which in a way is giving inspiration to the audience to make it through what ever obstacle they may have. For example Helen Keller wrote about how faith got her through her many obstacles that she had facing her.
• A couple of the writers included in their essay about how the experience they went through is still affecting them today. For example Eve Birch ended her essay by talking about the outcome of her belief; how she helped many people reach her idea of the American Dream.  In the 1950’s series Stanley Allyn included in his essay how now he can appreciate the experience that he went through and how he understands it now.

The way that I would explain to someone who is unfamiliar with the This I Believe concept is to outline what they have to do in a series of goals to help make it easier to understand. First I would tell them that they are writing about something personal. So the goals they would have to make are that they have to make sure that it is something personal and something that means a lot to them. Another goal would be to make sure they understand that they do not necessarily have to write about an experience that they may have went through but to instead write about how they got to their belief or why they value what it is they value. The last goal I would give them is to make sure that they remember that they are not writing about their life story so it doesn’t have to be super long but instead they are writing about what they value most and why.

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To me writing is important because it is another way to express yourself. It is also a good way to vent if you are angry. For example if you are mad at someone then you can write your feelings out instead of keeping them bottled up inside of you.

Writing is important because it very useful needed. Being a good writer could be what makes or breaks you when looking for a job. It could also become a lucrative skill.

I would convince my child how important writing is by telling him/her that it is needed in their future and that without it they might not be able to get a good job when they get older.