Rebuttal Papers

In the Wikipedia Article a few things stood out to make it an A paper.
- The comparisons of Wikipedia to credible sources such as Encyclopedia Britannica and IBM stregthened the argument.
-The evidence of Siegenthaler not being completlly truthful in his article by missinterperting Wikipedia's founders comments.

In the Marijuna essay
- The argument of it not being sold to minors makes a good point on why it should be  sold.
- The adiciveness of marijuna compared to that of alchol and nicotene is a very crucial argument to this peice and heavily supports the writers purpose
- The health benefits of marijuna seems to outweigh the negatives as the writer conveys.

In Copperstown and the roids
-The begiining example is excellent in showing an example that many would be famillar to in order to relate it to baseball and steroids
- The refutation of the claim James makes that everyone will use steroids in the future is perfeect. Saying that that is not the current problem because not everyone does it now is a great argument for the steroid era players to not be able to get into the hall of fame.

Jersey Shore

The Jersey Shore is a disgrace to Italian-Americans.
1) Some of the cast are not even Italian.
2)They misrepresent Italian values.
3)Use Guido and Guidette to define themselves, but then back away from being Italian.

Iallonardo, Marisa . "Jersey Shore The Split on Sterotyping." i-TALY. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2011. http://www.i-italy.org/12278/jersey-shore-split-stereotyping.

This source tells how they aree offending Italian American groups, and are then insisiting that Guido is not just being Italian. Guido is an Italian name.

"Italian-American Groups Ask MTV to Cancel 'Jersey Shore' - FoxNews.com ." FoxNews.com - Breaking News | Latest News | Current News. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2011. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/11/25/italian-american-group-asks-mtv-cancel-jersey-shore/.

This source tells how the show depicts Italians in a negative sterotypical view. It makes them look like aggressive "bufoons" which in turn is a misrepresentation of the true values of Italians.

"SHOCKER: Jersey Shore's JWoww and Snooki Are Not Italian - UsMagazine.com." Celebrity News,  Celebrity Gossip and Pictures from Us Weekly - UsMagazine.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2011. http://www.usmagazine.com/moviestvmusic/news/shocker-jwoww-snooki-are-not-italian-2010162.

This source tells that two of the cast members are not even Italian.

Lady Gaga

Both arguments about Lady Gaga are convincing. The "What's Sex Got to Do With It?" argument is very convincing in pointing out that Lady Gaga has had no reason to be considered an outsider. She grew up to a wealthy family, went to go schools, and has very supportive parents. The Gaga stigmata argument points out a mythological creature to show Gaga's influence on gay rights' activists. Both tactics provide the arguments intriguing. Bringing up her past to show that she has had a good upbringing and does not naturally relate to her "little monsters." The trickster story adds some logos and pathos to the situation. The logos is added by telling the general story of trickster and relating it to Gaga's video. The pathos is added by what her cause is for, it is very emotional to many of her gay followers.

Cultural Evaluations

Facebook
Everybody knows what Facebook is. Many people are signed into it for 24 hours everyday. Facebook is the end of the world as we know it. Facebook has put an end to the process of forming a relationship with someone. Romance has turned into a winky face emoticon. You know longer get to know people better by merely spending time with them you can just look up their page and just like that you know all their interests and friends. Facebook is the end of relationships as we know it.

Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore has proven to be a huge hit for the MTV network. Since the first episode it has been an instant success. Although, this hit show may disgrace a few Italians. My mother's side of the family is Italian, and the lives of the characters from Jersey Shore are far from Italian values. These people call themselves Guidos and Guidettes after an Italian mobster, but in reality many of them are not even Italian. They act as though they represent the Italian-American population but only half of them are actually partly Italian. Plus, their presentation would be a disgrace to many people of Italian heritage. My great-grandmother came from Italy,and if she saw the way these people represented Italy she would probably start crying. Being Italian is not about getting drunk or having sex with a different person every night. Being Italian is all about respect for one another and for family.

Smart Phones
In the palm of your hand you can have almost anything you desire. That  is essentially what the smart phones of today entail. You need to find your way somewhere you can simply use the GPS on your phone. You need to look up restaurants in the area, guess what? There is an app for that. Smart Phones have improved the quality  of life for many people all over the world. I can play a game or check my email, and I don't even have to move. My iPhone is practically attached to my hip and it allows me to do practically anything I want.

Reflection on Peer Review

I found this peer review to be the most helpful. The comments made on my paper helped me immensely in creating more of a flow to the piece. It let me see where I could add in more description and helped me improve on showing the story rather than just telling it. It also showed me points where I contradicted myself and that may have been unclear to the reader and helped me fix those parts. I actually did not have any problems or issues with this peer review, all the advice I got was positive and really helped. My paper has overall been improved drastically. I feel that I cover most parts of the narrative fairly well. The reflection was the best I have had yet. I believe I have improved upon my paper to the best of my abilities, and that the peer review was a good processes this time.

Dinner

I had dinner tonight in my dorm room while studying for my math midterm. I had tortilla chips with salsa con queso( really nutritious). It wasn't really a good time because I was more focused on getting work done than enjoying my meal.The chips were tostitos restaurant style and had the perfect amount of salty flavor to go with the spicy cheesy goodness of some salsa con queso( for the non-Spanish speaking that would be salsa with cheese, and it's amazing). Normally my meals are slightly more interesting, but I just didn't really have time to  eat tonight. I was so preoccupied with my studying that I got some cheese on my bed which will probably leave a nice little stain. To tell the truth, my dinner pretty much sucked compared to the normal meal I have at the commons.

Freewrite 3

I remember Christmas when I was Six years old. I got a My Little Pony horse stuffed animal, and I thought it was the absolute best gift I could ever get. I took the stuffed animal everywhere with me. It is the one thing that had always been there through the good times and the bad. The pony gave me comfort on my first day in a new school, nobody saw it because I kept it in my back pack all day. I had it when I had to get my first cavity filled, and I was absolutely horrified I grasped on to it for life on my way to the dentist office. After that it was with me for every doctor appointment. I believe the pony grew up with me. With every year it became slightly tattered and beat up. Every birthday, every first day of school, every time I ever needed it. My little Pony has been there. Admittedly that same very stuffed animal is still sitting on my bed at home for whenever I need it for any sad of stressful moment I encounter.

Narratives

1) These writings differ from many I have read and wrote by being more informal than them. They are more relateable and you get more of a feeling that they wrote it for you to read and to teach you the purpose. It gives more of a personal connection to the reader. The Dialogue really helps the audience understand the perspectives of not only the writer, but also gives the perspectives of the others in the dialogue.

2) The purpose of the video game narrative was to inform the audience what a video game can do to someones life if the person lets it do it. He admits to it being his fault that the game over took his life and not the fault of Sony. The audience would be fellow gamers and possible addiction specialists. The way the writer addresses them is like they would find the material relateable to them and the source of the writing is a gamer site.

Freewrite 2

I can't remeber the last time I was truly sad or happy. I'm not really all that emotional. I can remember a few times during childgood where I was happy. The time I learned to ride a bike, which I didn't learn until I was nine. My parents have always been really protective of me. My dad didn't want me to learn to ride a bike for forever even with all my pleading and begging for him to teach me. I finally decided I would teach myself, and I did just that. Most of my parents protection has worked out differently than they had planned. Instead of me being always guarded and made me more independent. My parents taught me to grow and be my own person from a very young age. They never pushed anything on me, but in a way I wish they had. My parents always seemed like they didn't care what I would do.My friends thought I was lucky because I could pretty much do whatever I wante when I wanted to do it. Though maybe it's a good thing that my parents never gave me limits. They never pushed me with school work of anything like that. Which taught me to find the drive within myself. My parents never told me I could only go so far there was no limit whatsoever. So in the end it taught me to be whoever and do whatever I wanted to do. They gave me no expectations from them, but maybe thats so I would give the expectation in myself. They taught me to rely on myself, which might be the greatest lesson I have learned. They never told me I couldn't do anything, which I used to think was because they didn't care, but maybe it was because they wanted me to have no limits and to never doubt what I could do.

Freewrite 1

I've never been able to make up my mind ever since I was little.I used to change what I wanted to be when I grew up every other day, and I still do. I remember when I was five years old that I wanted to be a cop. My mom had an absolute heart-attack. Then there was my doctor phase that lasted until I took physics and chemistry and realized I absolutely hated it. I guess all I ever really wanted to do was help people anyway that I could. I never thought of myself as some sort of hero, I just wanted to make a difference. I still do want to make a difference, but maybe the only thing you can do is put one foot in front of the other and hope for the best. Life is just not what anyone expects. My mom would always tell me my dreams were bigger than my head, I'm not quite sure what that meant, but it always sounded negative. Why shouldn't people dream big? Is that really a problem? Maybe having big dreams doesn't get you anywhere in life, I never really thought it would hurt. Maybe being insignificant is the best option for many, but it doesn't seem like a good one for me.

Peer Review of Definitions

I found the peer review to be less helpfull this time. The only thing it really did was confuse me about my paper. I liked it better when Josh went through my paper because I felt like he knew more about the subject matter and could tell where I was coming from. I felt today's peer review didn't really help me it just made me feel like my paper did not convey quite the meaning I had intended. Some of the comments left me confused such as representing the other side of the argument, but I do not see how that  would help the effectiveness of my paper. If anything I feel like that  would make me sound as though I am confused about what side I really believe in when I firmly believe in my side of the argument. I do understand that sometimes my concepts are not put as simply as they could be, but I still feel that the meaning of the scentences shine through. I don't really want to sound like I am writing to a group of third graders. According to the comments, the meaning of my paper did not come through, and I am curious to how I could fix that problem. Also, I used my definition to start of the second paragraph because I didn't really think it would suit well in the thesis, and I was told that it had to be in the thesis, and I did not really get the point of that. Overall, the peer review completely confused me about my paper altogether ,and it made me feel as though my paper was stupid rather than a good argument like I believe it deserved.

Vanity, Thy Name is Metrosexual

1) A metrosexual is defined as a man who uses hair products, loves clothes and shopping for them, and is sensitive and romantic. Another way is saying, a man who seems to be gay except he likes women.
The author relates it to a larger argument that men are acting this way to fulfill a need that is displaced when they have money for other people to do their hard work. They think that they should act this way to fall in love which would bring about a  similar satisfaction of what hard work and accomplishment used to bring them.

2)The stake in the definition of the term is the stereotypical manly man. Women are having a hard time finding them. They are becoming a dying breed.

3) The persuasion that I found effective would be her relating the metrosexual trend to consumerism. That men are now more involved in fashion and soap operas was a good point to bring up how different men are becoming from the sterotypical man. Also, the note of propaganda that influences a nation is like consumerism influincing the men of today.

Definition Assignment

Animal testing is animal abuse.
Abuse
1) Causes physical harm
2) is against the will of the victim
3)Can cause irreversible and lasting damage to the recipient.

Peer Reviews

 After peer reviews, I realized there were a lot of things I need to work on in my paper. Many points in my paper had to be eliminated because lack of evidence in my sources. I found that many of my points were almost assumptions, so the peer edits made my work seem  more  reliable afterwards. I feel like after I edited my paper that I took too much out of it, but I just could not find any other way to make the information work in the piece. It helped me out in a lot of ways to figure out what is seen as more of an assumption and what is actually a viable reasoning. Many of my sentences seemed somewhat awkward, so it gave me a chance to figure out ways to reword them. Josh pointed out a few areas out that made me rethink my word positioning and whether I should eliminate the statement altogether. The good reviews helped me out a lot also because it showed me what places to keep me points. All the reviews that I had gotten proved to be very helpful to me. When Josh pointed out a part about ca usable action to make an assumption that I had made, it made me rethink some parts of my paper and edit a lot of things out of it.Overall, I found the peer edits kind of mixed. In some cases I though I over edited to the point where it was barely my own paper anymore, and in others I believed that it really did help me out.

Rebuttal Topic

The article that I will be writing my rebuttal argument on is  The 21-Year-Old Drinking Age: I Voted  for it; It Doesn't Work by Morris E. Chafetz.

Drexler-Smalley Debate

1 The main contention of Drexler and Smalley's arguments is that Smalley believes highly in the concept of molecular assemblers and that they are the potential risk of nanotechnology whereas Drexler believes that there is no such problem and that Smalley is making the public conscious of a problem that does not even exist.

2 The stake in the argument is the public opinion of nanotechnology. In order for it to be accepted people must be sure that there is no risk involved in it.

3 Smalley uses numerical data to support is claim. They both use many statistical facts and studies. They also both list the criteria that they both believe in instead of completely disagreeing with each other.

4 Drexler shows his credibility in saying that he has a twenty year history of technical publications in the area of nanotechnology and that  he coined the term "nanotechnology". Drexler provides his ethos in using more statistical facts. It also says in Smalley's article that he won the 1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry which shows he should know what he is talking about.

5 Drexler uses fallacies in almost attacking Smalley's claims he calls his arguments discredited and speaks of endorsing a scientific review where he does not back up this statement to say exactly what view would need to be reviewed and why. Smalley, on the other hand, uses fallacies when he puts words into Drexler's mouth by saying that he imagines he can make a selective chemical-constructor without necessity of water, but does not describe what facts made him come to this exact claim.

6 Smalley's argument seemed more convincing because he had more statistical facts and questioning that made  it seem like he had more knowledge on the subject at hand. He also argued without discrediting Drexler or attacking him in any way. Drexler seemed more spiteful of Smalley, and therefore it made it more of a personal vendetta rather than if he was indeed correct.

Topic

Part 1
My paper topic will be on The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage by Theodore Olson.

Part 2
Jackson's contextual points are for example when Jackson said how Jordan was being humble in not stating her opinion outrught, that the repetitions of her quotes make the case stronger, and her presentation of being fair, knowledgeable, and intellectual.

Jackson's textual points are her description of how Nixon violated the Constitution, he says she also uses quotes from the Connventions to show only great misdemeanors validate the need for impeachment, and her statement for questioning if the president has comitted the offenses rather than just telling the audience.

A contextual arguement Jackson left out is the Jordan believes it is the comitee's responsibility to do the right thing by means of the Constitution. The textual arguement Jackson left out was her point on if the accusations were petty, but in the midst of the problems of the world for the comitee to take then this seriously they must not be in themselves petty.

Hello English 15

In the past writing has never really been a friend of mine. I always did well in my English classes, but dreaded ever having to write a paper. I am not particularly bad at writing, but I am not really amazing either. I find my writing quite boring compared to many others I have read. Writing papers is sort of like being nagged by my family members about something. Needless to say, it is just not a good time. I guess that is because I have never really been inspired to write something amazing that interested me. If I cannot even want to think about it how can I really be effective at writing about it? I feel as if I wrote about something that really inspired me I could turn my usual drab writing into something exhilarating for the reader and myself. Instead of the usual droning essays in my AP classes, I would rather write about something that interests me. A boring topic is extremely hard to write about and make it entice readers. This year I hope to find more interesting topics than analyzing the psyche of Lady Macbeth.