“Sports Popularity Trends” Joped: The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.Nov/Dec 2003 http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=17&sid=071d1ba4-7e38-4f49-afb5-8d8c81c229ad%40sessionmgr3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=12230142?>. This magazine claims that fitness of recreational activity has gone down in America. The author claims this by giving detailed statistical evidence gathered up determining the patterns and trends of American fitness. The author wrote this in order to inform the reader on American’s physical activity patterns. The intended audience is people into fitness. The writer’s purpose is to inform the reader on America’s fitness activity. I am going to use this source in my paper because it explains to me how some stats and figures on how America works out.
“All-time Olympic Games Medal Table.” Wikipedia. 27 Sept. 2008. http://eniwikipedia.org/wiki/olympics_games. This source informs the reader on the medal standings of the summer Olympics. The source gives out statistical evidence on how America ranks against all the other countries in medals earned. The intended audience is anyone who wants to be informed on a worldwide athletic event. The author’s purpose is to give each countries medal count all-time in Olympic competition. This source is a huge help to me in discovering if America is the most dominant sports country. The Olympics is a global stage where all qualifying countries compete on. Therefore, comparing how America competes with the other’s is a telling statistic.
“Most Popular Sport. “Wiki Answer. 11 March 2007. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_most_popular_sport_in_the_world>. This article informs the reader on the most popular sports worldwide. The author supports the claim of the rankings of the popularity of each sport by giving an approximate number of people that like that sport. This can be achieved because each country has a different culture therefore each sport will have a different popularity. The intended audience is anyone that wants to educate themselves on the popularity of a sport on a global scale. The purpose of this article is to inform the reader on the popularity of each sport. Like my previous two sources, this too gave me a lot of good information. By knowing where each sport ranks, I will then be able to determine if America really is the sports capital of the world.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Personal Essay 2
Garret-Brown’s essay is a discovery essay because she wants to know why people go to tanning beds feeling it is “completely asinine on the surface to waste money and time on a prepaid tan.” Holmquist’s essay is also a discovery essay because he wants to discover why people take drugs even if “they will kill you.” Traditional research papers just present the facts and I never feel the reader’s voice in the paper. The reader’s voice was clearly evident in both pieces of writing. In my essay, I want to mirror both pieces in my discovery essay by having my voice present in it. I can do that by sharing my thoughts and feelings and personal experiences with the reader.
Holmquist’s controlling idea is he does not want to “end up as another statistic or have one of” his friends write a paper like the one he wrote because of him. The reader can tell that he takes this subject to heart attributed to the fact that he almost lost one of his friends due to an overdose of drugs. “I was pretty much scared into (giving up drugs) after I had to call an ambulance for Eric.” That one instance was a life changing moment for him. He would go onto write because of that instance he has not taken drugs in “a year and a half.” In his extensive research about the drugs MDMA, LSD and GHB he was able to voice why he has stopped taking drugs along with giving clear factual information such as stating that LSD is a “hallucinogen by nature” or that MDMA could leave you with an “ecstasy hangover.”. Personally I have not tried any of these drugs and I will continue to stand by my belief against these drugs. This academic research was driven by the question he had of why people do these drugs and then he was able to analyses each of these three drugs. It has also been said by people that drugs are bad. Holmquist on the other hand looked deeper into what has already been said and researched that question giving evidence of the harmful dangers in doing drugs. As a result of his extensive research I was able to see the effects and disadvantages as well as what could be advantages to some people of taking these three drugs. Feeling “completely at ease with your surroundings” when taking MDMA to some people could be seen as an advantage to taking drugs but it could lead to death. The author was a onetime user of these drugs and he was able to add insight and he would admittingly “like my drugs.” The power of scientific research and one life changing event did however change his stance on drugs.
It was clear to me what Holmquist was trying to discover. What Garrett-Brown was discovering on the other hand was not clear. Through her voice it was clear that she was not in favor of tanning beds. At the beginning of her essay she stated “who made it cool for white people to be tan?” Then later she expresses the fact that she got tan over the summer but it was “the old fashioned way” by just playing in the sun and not artificially baking. What she might be discovering is not about the affects of tanning whether there is a right or a wrong way to do it, but she is trying to discover herself. She is not sure whether she likes a tan or not. She feels self cautious about herself and feels more comfortable when she is “putting on a bathing suit if I’m not so starkly white.” She does not mind being tan and is in favor of the tan but not the craze and obsession people have in being tan. The great lengths and money people spend on tanning beds is not what she likes when the end result is “a battle with cancer at worst and saggy skin at best.” A traditional research paper would not have her voice present along with her unfavorable opinion. Therefore the essay is a discovery essay. Along with adding voice, she was still able to incorporate research by using quotes from Seventeen Magazine like “2/3 of teens say they look better with a tan” and quotes from E.B. White to lead her to her discovery.
Through reading both of these discovery essays, I now have an idea on how a discovery essay should be. I am going to use a topic that has affected me just like Holmquist did in his essay. The dialogue and the real life anecdote and firsthand knowledge of the topic drew me in. As a result, it will be more interesting to me and I will get more out of it. The more interested someone is on the topic the deeper the writer goes. Ballenger’s suggestions helped me with the statement that “academic research is driven by questions” meaning that I will come up with a topic of interest that I wonder about and I will explore it deeper. In the end I will discover something about myself. I will for sure use the steps laid out in “The Curious Writer” as a blue print on how to write my discovery research paper.
1. Why does our culture brace athletic achievement more than other cultures? Do we brace it more than others?
2. Does the name of the college that someone graduates from matter? Example: Will someone that graduates with an electrical engineering degree from a small school like Lyndon State in Vermont get the same opportunity as someone that graduated from the University of Texas.
3. Out of Gatorade, PowerAde, Vitamin Water or Propel which is better for you?
Holmquist’s controlling idea is he does not want to “end up as another statistic or have one of” his friends write a paper like the one he wrote because of him. The reader can tell that he takes this subject to heart attributed to the fact that he almost lost one of his friends due to an overdose of drugs. “I was pretty much scared into (giving up drugs) after I had to call an ambulance for Eric.” That one instance was a life changing moment for him. He would go onto write because of that instance he has not taken drugs in “a year and a half.” In his extensive research about the drugs MDMA, LSD and GHB he was able to voice why he has stopped taking drugs along with giving clear factual information such as stating that LSD is a “hallucinogen by nature” or that MDMA could leave you with an “ecstasy hangover.”. Personally I have not tried any of these drugs and I will continue to stand by my belief against these drugs. This academic research was driven by the question he had of why people do these drugs and then he was able to analyses each of these three drugs. It has also been said by people that drugs are bad. Holmquist on the other hand looked deeper into what has already been said and researched that question giving evidence of the harmful dangers in doing drugs. As a result of his extensive research I was able to see the effects and disadvantages as well as what could be advantages to some people of taking these three drugs. Feeling “completely at ease with your surroundings” when taking MDMA to some people could be seen as an advantage to taking drugs but it could lead to death. The author was a onetime user of these drugs and he was able to add insight and he would admittingly “like my drugs.” The power of scientific research and one life changing event did however change his stance on drugs.
It was clear to me what Holmquist was trying to discover. What Garrett-Brown was discovering on the other hand was not clear. Through her voice it was clear that she was not in favor of tanning beds. At the beginning of her essay she stated “who made it cool for white people to be tan?” Then later she expresses the fact that she got tan over the summer but it was “the old fashioned way” by just playing in the sun and not artificially baking. What she might be discovering is not about the affects of tanning whether there is a right or a wrong way to do it, but she is trying to discover herself. She is not sure whether she likes a tan or not. She feels self cautious about herself and feels more comfortable when she is “putting on a bathing suit if I’m not so starkly white.” She does not mind being tan and is in favor of the tan but not the craze and obsession people have in being tan. The great lengths and money people spend on tanning beds is not what she likes when the end result is “a battle with cancer at worst and saggy skin at best.” A traditional research paper would not have her voice present along with her unfavorable opinion. Therefore the essay is a discovery essay. Along with adding voice, she was still able to incorporate research by using quotes from Seventeen Magazine like “2/3 of teens say they look better with a tan” and quotes from E.B. White to lead her to her discovery.
Through reading both of these discovery essays, I now have an idea on how a discovery essay should be. I am going to use a topic that has affected me just like Holmquist did in his essay. The dialogue and the real life anecdote and firsthand knowledge of the topic drew me in. As a result, it will be more interesting to me and I will get more out of it. The more interested someone is on the topic the deeper the writer goes. Ballenger’s suggestions helped me with the statement that “academic research is driven by questions” meaning that I will come up with a topic of interest that I wonder about and I will explore it deeper. In the end I will discover something about myself. I will for sure use the steps laid out in “The Curious Writer” as a blue print on how to write my discovery research paper.
1. Why does our culture brace athletic achievement more than other cultures? Do we brace it more than others?
2. Does the name of the college that someone graduates from matter? Example: Will someone that graduates with an electrical engineering degree from a small school like Lyndon State in Vermont get the same opportunity as someone that graduated from the University of Texas.
3. Out of Gatorade, PowerAde, Vitamin Water or Propel which is better for you?
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Reading Response 1
Both the personal essays of Catherine Black’s “The Joy of Mud” and Charlotte Hogg’s “I’m a Believer” accurately depict the structure set forth by Bruce Ballenger on page 94. Black and Hogg wrote their essays in first person. Writing in first person allows the writer to reach for a deeper understanding in a personal anecdote of a situation. As a result, the reader can virtually put themselves in the shoes of the narrator.
Hogg did a very good job in digging for that extra understanding. “Maybe it’s the one that will eventually lead me home” gives me the feeling pulling the weeds will allow Black to discover himself. I think that the narrator is uncertain why he is on the island. This insecure sense of belonging is embedded in all of us. Everyone wants to belong in a group and be liked by their peers. Some people try harder than others to be accepted. Black currently calls Argentina home but from getting embraced by the Hawaiian culture she now feels that is where she belongs. She states that “my identity was formed in that space between fixed points” demonstrates that even with her love for Hawaii, she still feels a little connected to her current home. While reading this essay, I was able to connect with Black. Even though TCU is my new home and I have embraced the culture shock that goes with moving to a new place, I still feel that a part of me is back home at my old house. It is believed that although Black may think she found her new home, she will still yearn and be embraced by her Argentinean roots. Ballenger states that the dialect process embedded in a personal essay may shift from then and now. Black’s dialect did bounce from one time period to the next. I one instance she was talking about how she was currently pulling the weeds in Hawaii and the next she was talking about her time in Argentina. This shift does help the reader understand that she is torn between which place is her home. This makes me wonder is Hawaii really is the place she calls home.
Unlike the finding oneself and belonging meaning that I drew from Black’s essay, Hogg’s essay gave me the impression that true happiness and personal satisfaction is worth finding. Through first person, it is vividly known to that Hogg has a love for Davy Jones. Her obsession for him was over a decade long as it spilled even to her late twenties. Everyone knows the feeling that Hogg felt when she finally got to meet Davy. There is always a shrill impact of exuberance lifted out of someone when that day of anticipation finally comes. Or when you finally get to meet that superstar figure like Hogg got to do with Davy. As a result of this, I was easily able to put myself in Hogg’s shoes. I was able to relieve that utter excitement when I came in contact with that highly anticipated day. Even touching Davy is a fond and lasting memory that will stick in Hogg’s mind forever. True happiness for Hogg is meeting Davey. If she never got to meet him then she would have never been able to feel that personal satisfaction. The dialect and choice of words she uses to describe her love for Davey connects the reader to the fact that she loves him. Hogg wanted to be a journalist and fly to England and “there he would fall in love with me and ask me to Mary him.”
Both these essays followed Ballenger’s aspect of form by the thesis emerging later on in the story. The thesis for “I’m a Believer” also might not be as it seems. On the surface it may seem like Davey Jones is living the high life. But with a further examination, Hogg’s makes it seem as everything is not all that good. This is true with people in today’s world. On the surface, someone might always seem happy and excited for life, but behind the scenes it could be a whole new world. This conclusion for the thesis could not have been drawn out at the beginning or even the middle of the story. The thesis for “The Joy of Mud” also cannot be found in the beginning of the story. The very last sentence gave me the meaning of the story. What I can take from this is when I analyze a passage or a story; the meaning might not be set in stone. You have to dig deeper and read beyond the text to see what the narrator was trying to get across.
Hogg did a very good job in digging for that extra understanding. “Maybe it’s the one that will eventually lead me home” gives me the feeling pulling the weeds will allow Black to discover himself. I think that the narrator is uncertain why he is on the island. This insecure sense of belonging is embedded in all of us. Everyone wants to belong in a group and be liked by their peers. Some people try harder than others to be accepted. Black currently calls Argentina home but from getting embraced by the Hawaiian culture she now feels that is where she belongs. She states that “my identity was formed in that space between fixed points” demonstrates that even with her love for Hawaii, she still feels a little connected to her current home. While reading this essay, I was able to connect with Black. Even though TCU is my new home and I have embraced the culture shock that goes with moving to a new place, I still feel that a part of me is back home at my old house. It is believed that although Black may think she found her new home, she will still yearn and be embraced by her Argentinean roots. Ballenger states that the dialect process embedded in a personal essay may shift from then and now. Black’s dialect did bounce from one time period to the next. I one instance she was talking about how she was currently pulling the weeds in Hawaii and the next she was talking about her time in Argentina. This shift does help the reader understand that she is torn between which place is her home. This makes me wonder is Hawaii really is the place she calls home.
Unlike the finding oneself and belonging meaning that I drew from Black’s essay, Hogg’s essay gave me the impression that true happiness and personal satisfaction is worth finding. Through first person, it is vividly known to that Hogg has a love for Davy Jones. Her obsession for him was over a decade long as it spilled even to her late twenties. Everyone knows the feeling that Hogg felt when she finally got to meet Davy. There is always a shrill impact of exuberance lifted out of someone when that day of anticipation finally comes. Or when you finally get to meet that superstar figure like Hogg got to do with Davy. As a result of this, I was easily able to put myself in Hogg’s shoes. I was able to relieve that utter excitement when I came in contact with that highly anticipated day. Even touching Davy is a fond and lasting memory that will stick in Hogg’s mind forever. True happiness for Hogg is meeting Davey. If she never got to meet him then she would have never been able to feel that personal satisfaction. The dialect and choice of words she uses to describe her love for Davey connects the reader to the fact that she loves him. Hogg wanted to be a journalist and fly to England and “there he would fall in love with me and ask me to Mary him.”
Both these essays followed Ballenger’s aspect of form by the thesis emerging later on in the story. The thesis for “I’m a Believer” also might not be as it seems. On the surface it may seem like Davey Jones is living the high life. But with a further examination, Hogg’s makes it seem as everything is not all that good. This is true with people in today’s world. On the surface, someone might always seem happy and excited for life, but behind the scenes it could be a whole new world. This conclusion for the thesis could not have been drawn out at the beginning or even the middle of the story. The thesis for “The Joy of Mud” also cannot be found in the beginning of the story. The very last sentence gave me the meaning of the story. What I can take from this is when I analyze a passage or a story; the meaning might not be set in stone. You have to dig deeper and read beyond the text to see what the narrator was trying to get across.
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