Blog #6: Persuasive Essay Topics

As I was thinking about what I should write for a persuasive essay, I realized that all of my high school persuasive topics were about children. I decided I wanted to stick to my reputation, so all of my possible topics will be about children.

For my first idea, I thought about writing about placenta tests to see if there are any medical problems for the baby before he/she is born. I think that this is an absurd idea. I feel like this will lead heavily into higher abortion rates and negative thoughts about having a family. A reason why I am not extremely sold on this debate is because it was not on any of the Blackhawk websites that we were to look through. However, I would be willing to do more research about this topic because I have a strong opinion about it. I think that some things are to be left unknown and will be found out when it is need to be.

Another idea I had was an idea I pondered last year but chose against. I thought about writing about parents smoking in cars with children. I am strongly against this. I feel like the parent is putting the baby in danger and the child cannot tell the parent not to smoke. Children's immune systems are not as strong as an adult's immune system and if they get sick, they will become very sick very fast. One bad thing about writing about this topic is that it isn't on any of the Blackhawk websites, either. I do think that this would be very easy to find articles about since I started researching about it last year before I switched topics. I am uneasy about this because it is a hard topic to debate about. I think it would be hard because I would be trying to speak from the children's point of view (meaning that parents shouldn't smoke in a car), and there isn't a child that could speak for themselves.

Blog #5: Brainstorming Informative Essay Topic

For this informative essay, I think I want to write about diabetes. I think it would be easy to write about this topic because I have had the darn thing for so long. This is still a broad topic to write about, so I would have to narrow it down even more. I think I want to write about the research they have done for it and how close they are to finding a cure. I have talked to my Endocrinologist about some places to start my research, and she gave me a lot of good websites to look into. I know I will enjoy writing about this because it's is something I am also interested in. I am surprisingly excited to do my research for this topic because it is something that really involves me.

I'm not really sure what else to write about. I don't have a great knowledge about anything else, or interested in doing research about anything else. I know that's not something I should be saying to a teacher, but at least I'm being honest. I also have no idea what to write about.

Blog #4: Practice Informative Writing

In order to make pasta, you first have to boil some water. It would be appropriate to have about 6 cups of water in your pot. As soon as your pot of water is boiling, add a few cups of whole wheat Rotini pasta and a few cups of white Rotini pasta. The pasta needs to cook about 13 minutes, or until it becomes tender. After the pasta is tender, you need to drain the water out of the pot. It is easiest to do this with a strainer. After the pasta and water are separated, leave the pasta in the strainer for a while. Make sure the stove is on low to medium heat. Add about 4 tablespoons of butter to the pot. Add a little bit of garlic, and let the garlic and butter sizzle for a little bit. Before the butter burns, add the pasta to the pot. Add a few pinches of parmesean cheese, stir all of it up a little bit, serve, and enjoy. This dish is best served with garlic bread.

Blog #3: Pre-Writing for Personal Essay

As soon as we started taking notes about the personal essay, I started thinking about what I should write about. I honestly don't think anything exciting has happened in my life that will pass the "So What" test. I have a few ideas, but I'm not sure how they will turn out.

My first idea is to write about my Granny. My Granny was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in November of 2012. She didn't decide to tell anyone until about the following April. She moved in with us a few months before she was diagnosed, so we lived together all throughout her suffer. I believe that this changed me because I learned how to set my emotions aside and take care of my Granny first and foremost. I most definitely think that this made me mature a lot over the year. I don't know, however, how to connect this to other readers. I don't know if I can make it pass the "So What" test.

My second idea is to write about how I was diagnosed with diabetes. I don't really like this idea because I was only four years old when I was diagnosed, so it's hard for me to remember what all happened. I know this is a big thing that happened in my life, but I don't know how to make it invoking to other readers.

I want to write about my Granny, because I know I can add a lot of detail about her and how I took care of her. I can even start writing the essay in my head. I just don't know how to make it important to other readers so they will want to keep reading.

Blog #2: Personal Writing-Summer Experience

I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was June 23rd, and I was ready to go home. This place has been my home for about twelve years. I only spend a week out of the year at my home, but it is the closest place to Heaven on Earth. My home is not in the Quad Cities, nor anywhere in Illinois. Home to me is in Boone, Iowa. There really isn't much in the tiny town of Boone besides a Walmart and a Post Office, but out in the outskirts of the town, there's a place called Y Camp. The week that I went, Y Camp held a special camp for teenagers with Diabetes. This camp was called Camp Hertko Hollow. Camp Hertko Hollow is my home.

A lot of people don't understand how much it means to someone when they say that they spent a week in the dead of summer with barely any air, only one shower to share between 15 young adults, and walking a half of a mile to eat your meals, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I fall in love with the outdoors every time I drive down the gravel driveway. Y Camp in Boone, Iowa is very serene. There is a river that flows by the cabins and a firepit. It is crazy to think that the flowing of this river can mean so much more than a quiet noise. Hearing the sounds of the river makes me feel connected to something; I know that is where I belong. There is also a set of railroad tracks. This is where a touristy train from Ames, Iowa travels to and from. I loved it when my parents would ride that train and catch a glimpse of Heaven on Earth.

There are a lot of things you can do during this week at Y Camp. This year, I learned some French, tried to make myself crafty by tie-dying and making bracelets, rock climbing, horseback riding, and of course swimming Camp Hertko Hollow was its own little society for a week. A lot of times we just sat by the pool or the trading post (a place where you can buy souveniers) and talk about our day and what we want to do. One day, my cabin and I went canoeing for two full hours! It was quite possibly the smallest lake in the world that you could canoe in, but for me, it was perfect.

With all of the time that you spend with your cabin, you grow close with a lot of your cabin mates. Since this was my 12th year at Y Camp, I had a group of friends that I call my sisters. I met all of them when I was four years old. It was all of our first year at camp, and we were all nervous. We ended up becoming the four best friends that Y Camp had. We would only see each other while we were at camp, but luckily with technology, we were able to contact each other through Facebook or our cell phones. We are still best friends, and I plan on keeping this friendship for my whole life.

On the very last day, the whole camp, which is about 350 kids, goes to an area we call Honor Point. In order to get to Honor Point, you have to weave in and out of a creek several times. It was in the dark, and we were all sad that it was our last night together. We all were crying as we sit down around the fire and hold hands. It is insane to think that just 5 days ago, we were all complete strangers. Now, we are wishing this week would never end because we have fallen in love with our new family. The fire was warm and bright, and the stars were bright and beautiful. It was a perfect summer night for Camp Hertko Hollow to say one final goodbye. During Honor Point, our camp director tells a story. This story is about a mentally disabled boy who went to camp as long as he could. He was not able to get out of bed, and his mom was cleaning his room. She went to throw away a souvenier of camp when he sat straight up in bed and yelled at her not to throw that away. His parents ended up going to the camp to try to understand how much camp meant to their son after he passed away.

The souvenier that the camper had was a half-burned candle. All of the students in the camp get a candle,and we all light them together. We stand in a circle for one final time and sing camp songs before we leave Heaven on Earth. After we leave, we keep our candles lit until we completely leave the path that leads to Honor Point. I am proud to say that I have all 12 candles from camp. They all hold a special meaning in my heart.

I am sad to say that this previous year was my last year. I have grown too old for Y Camp, which is very upsetting. I am happy for all of the memories that I have made, but upset that I will miss out on all of the memories to come.

Blog #1: Your Abilities as a Writer

When it comes to writing, one word to describe me would be procrastination. I have a problem with putting off writing to the very last miute. I usually make it work, but of course, it could be better. I like to believe that I am a talented writer, but I know I could do a lot better. In Honors last year, I learned a lot more about how to become a better writer. I listened to all of it, but I didn't use all of the examples like I should have. When I sit down to write, it doesn't take me long to get in the "flow" of writing. I usually do a little bit of pre writing, such as research or journals. I like to make a web of what I am going to write. I feel like that is the most useful way to organize my thoughts and make sure that my topics aren't too similar. It usually doesn't take me long to write my paper, even though I will have a lot of revisions to be made. I find it easy to add fluf to my paper to make it seem longer. I am hoping to learn how to stop doing that this year.

I have a lot of hope for this English class. I am hoping to get a lot out of this class and use it throughout the rest of my college career. I am excited to learn about the different styles of essays and give them a try. I hope that I will expand my knowledge about the types of writing and how to become a better writer. I am coming into this class with a P.M.A (positive mental attitude), and I hope that it will stay that way throughout the semester. I am looking forward to this class and really hope to benefit from all of the opportunities this class has to offer.

GATSBY

When it comes to making movies based off of books, producers have a hard time following the book directly. They like to add their own little things to the movie that don’t pertain to the novel. That was not the case with The Great Gatsby. In the newest movie, I think the producer followed the novel quite well to follow the novel.

All of the characters were the same. Both the movie and the novel both come from Nick’s point of view. In the movie, however, Nick was in an asylum. I’m not sure why he was, because it didn’t really have anything to do with the main plot. The fact that he was in an asylum did help him narrate the story, though. We heard a lot of direct quotes, which I thought was a good idea. Gatsby was also very similar. He was a man that we didn’t know anything about until almost the end of the novel. He kept to himself and rarely lost his temper. Tom and Daisy’s relationship was just like the novel. They pretended to love each other on the outside, but on the inside, they both loved other people. Something I didn’t like about the movie is that they didn’t really show Nick and Jordan’s relationship. They only showed the scene where Nick told her he didn’t want to go inside the Buchanan’s house after the car accident. They failed to show that Nick told Jordan he didn’t want to be with her.

 Besides that, most of the characters followed the novel quite well. Myrtle and Wilson were almost the same. I don’t, however, remember the scene where Wilson was yelling at Myrtle, demanding to tell him where she got her pearls. This was right before Myrtle ran out in front of the road. They also left out the scene where Wilson talked to a detective about who could possibly be the murderer. In the movie, Tom told Wilson right away that it was Gatsby that murdered his wife. I don’t think that followed the novel.

The plot was the same, too. This novel is a love story between Gatsby and Daisy. It is all about affairs, bootlegged alcohol, and living life in the ‘20s. In a lot of the specific scenes with Daisy and Gatsby, they used direct quotes from the novel. I liked this, because by doing that they couldn’t add anything that Fitzgerald didn’t want between them. They couldn’t modernize their love and I thought that was very important. 

Overall, I really liked the movie. I thought it followed the story quite well, just left out a few scenes. I definitely think the entire cast took a lot of time in order to show the life of the '20s and be connected to the novel. 

Save the Children!

With the weather (hopefully) getting warmer and people getting busier, a very alarming topic comes up. Should it be legal that parents are allowed to leave their children in the car? Most people know that it is a pain to haul children in and out of stores for a small amount of time, especially if it is a newborn that we're talking about. Does that mean that it should be okay for a parent to leave their child in the car alone for that "short" time that they need to run the errand? I do not think so. Since 1990, there have been more than six hundred child deaths because of hypothermia. This should be alarming to people! Those are 600 deaths that could have very easily been prevented if only the child would have cooled down. Some people don't think about how a child's body reacts differently to heat rather than an adult's. A child's body is more sensitive to heat. A child can die from heat stroke on a 72 degree day. A 72 degree day would seem cool for an adult, but dangerous for your little ones. One reason why it could be dangerous is because a child's body can heat up five times faster than your average adult's. If you leave a child in a hot car for just a small amount of time, it is quite likely for hyperthermia to set in. There are several stories about deaths of children from hyperthermia. In one care, a 4 month old passed away because it was 113 degrees outside and the car did not have air conditioning. In another, a 3 year old died of hyperthermia because the family was returning home from church and forgot the child in the van.

On the other hand, I can understand why some parents decide to leave their children in the car for a short amount of time. If a parent is at the gas station and needs to run inside to get a gallon of milk, they aren't going to want to haul in their child and have to deal with their whining, crying, and maybe just carrying the car seat in and out. I think, however, that this is one of the responsibilities that you receive once you have a child. The parents are responsible for that baby's life, no matter what. I think they should want to make sure the baby is safe and secure at all times and not even think about whether or not they should leave the baby in the car.

If the child we are talking about is a little bit older, it becomes more understandable. If a ten year old is left in the car at the gas station while you grab a gallon of milk, most parents will think that is okay. A lot of kids by that age know that they should lock the car once the parent leaves so they will stay safe. I am pretty sure most parents have done this...I know mine have. The age of the child is very dependent on the time they are left alone in the car. I find it unacceptable for an infant to be left in the car alone at any time. We are talking about a baby that is less than a year old. In this society, no one should be trusted. Everyone should be seen as someone that will harm your baby, so you should want to keep that baby hooked to your side.

All in all, I don't think it should be legal for a child to be left in the car alone. I think that it is severely dangerous and shouldn't even be a debatable topic.




Works Cited:
www.safekids.org/safety-basics/safety-guide/kids-in-and-around-cars/29-deaths-so-far-in-2012.html
www.webmd.com/parenting/features/hot-cars-and-child-death-prevention
www.community.nsw.gov.au
www.safekids.org/safety-basics/safety-guide/kids-in-and-around-cars/never-leave-your-child-alone.html
stmichael.patch.com/articles/parent-talk-is-it-ever-ok-to-leave-your-kids-in-the-car

Oh, Edna...

Edna Pontellier was a fascinating woman. After all of her struggles to become independent, she never stopped trying to be her own person. She knew that she didn't fit into the Creole society, and I don't think she ever considered herself to be one.

 If anyone were to ask me whether or not I agreed with Edna's choices, I think she did the right thing. It may not have been accepted way back then, but I think it was a good idea that she at least made an attempt to become her own person. One of Edna's first attempts to her "awakening" is in chapter 10, page 28. It states, "But to her unaccustomed vision the stretch of water behind her assumed the aspect of a barrier which her unaided strength would never be able to overcome". This scene is where Edna swims out into the sea. She thinks she swam quite a distance, when in actuality she didn't swim very far. She thought that she had gone a lot farther than she really had, but I don't think that bothered her very much. I think this proved to herself and other people that she wasn't afraid to go out of her comfort zone.

Edna did not make a lot of good decisions if you were to ask another woman of that society. She did not pay enough attention to her children, and she did everything she could to break away. Even though she didn't make the best choices, I believe the choices she made were quite necessary. From the moment she was introduced in the novel, you could tell that she did not belong in the Creole society that she married in to. Edna did everything she could to break away and become independent, and I think she made the right decision.

Longfellow vs. Whitman

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27^th, 1807 in Portland, Maine. He was the second oldest out of eight. Ever since he was a kid, Henry loves to learning. He knew the alphabet by the age of three and went to a private academy with his older brother. Henry decided to start writing with his friend, William Browne at childhood. At the age of thirteen, Longfellow published his first poem. He titled it “The Battle of Lovell’s Pond,” and no one knew that Henry was the one that wrote it. One night, while at a friend’s house, he overheard some adults talking about how bad the poem was. This obviously made Henry quite upset with himself. Despite the let down, he didn’t let this stop him and his literature inspirations. Henry went to college in Maine the same year as his brother Stephen, even though he was a few years younger. He studied abroad and graduated in 1825.

In 1831, Henry married Mary Storer Potter. Unfortunately, Mary died while he was in Harvard University teaching. Soon after Mary’s death, Henry meets another woman. Her name was Frances Appleton, and they were married in 1843.Frances set their house on fire in 1861 and died the next day. Longfellow passed away March 24^th, 1882 due to peritonitis. Peritonitis is an inflammation of the tissue in the inner walls of the abdomen and covers the abdominal organs.

During Henry’s life, he wrote plenty of poems. He never stopped writing until he passed away in 1882. He also wrote plenty epic poems. Epic poems tell a story that focuses on uncommon things that would happen in live. One of these poems is Kavanagh, which had a popular nationalistic poem, “The Building of the Ship” contained in it. One of Longfellow’s major projects was The Christus: A Mystery. This piece was finished in 1872 and came in three parts. The parts dealt with Puritan themes and the life of Jesus Christ. He wrote poems on various topics, like slavery, Hiawatha, and more. After the death of his second wife, he put most of his focus into translating Dante’s Divine Comedy, which was published in 1867.

Walt Whitman was born on May 31^st, 1819 In Long Island. He was the second oldest of nine children. He had a formal education until 1830, and immediately loved to read. In 1836, he started teaching in Long Island and was the founder of the Long-Islander. Soon after he started teaching, Whitman decided that he was interested in journalism. Whitman dedicated all his time to journalism. He was never married, and did nothing but write poetry. He wanted to make sure that nothing was in the way of his writing.

Whitman wrote a lot of poetry in his weekly newspaper, but one of his biggest works was the Leaves of Grass. This was a three edition piece that he spent a lot of time on. The first edition of this piece did not go as well as Whitman expected. Although not a lot of people liked it, Ralph Waldo Emerson, a very famous Romantic poet, thought of it like this: "I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed.… I greet you at the beginning of a great career." The second edition of this piece had twenty more poems than the first edition. Unfortunately, the second edition sold over just as well as the first. Whitman did not let this bring him down. The third edition added another one hundred forty-six new poems.

Longfellow and Whitman have a lot in common. Both were the second oldest in their family and had a lot of siblings. They both also discovered their love for reading and writing at a young age. One weird similarity is that their first published poetry was in the newspaper. This must have been popular in that time period. When it comes to their life, the major difference between the two men is their marital status. Longfellow had two wives, who both died. Whitman, however, did not have any spouses and focused entirely on his writing. Both men are writers in the Romantic time period and have a few major pieces to their writing.