Survey assignment

My survey was conducted based on peoples' knowledge on the U.S. Patriot Act. Mainly, I was dissappointed with my results because many people didn't even know what the Patriot Act was. I feel strongly that everyone should be educated on this matter, and the majority of the people who took it weren't. Also, a large amount of the people who completed the survey were in my age group (18-20). This supports my idea that young people have no interest in politics and low involvement in governmental affairs. People often left the open ended questions blank, or gave very short, vague answers. If I were to change some questions, I would probably try to include some information about the Patriot Act to help people answer them to the fullest extent. This survey helped to show me that little information has been provided to students about the Patriot Act and how it impacts the way we live.

Below is one of the questions from my survey. I asked if people felt that they were adequately educated on the subject. Unsurprisingly, 60% answered no.

Reading Response #2

Excersize #1:

In Jean Anyon's "Yes/No/Okay, But" article, she both agrees and disagrees with the articles that she read and summarized. Below are examples of each.

- "...there has been little or no attempt to investigate these ideas empirically in elementary and secondary schools and classrooms in this country."

- "While there has been considerable argumentation..."

- "...by providing illustrative examples of differences in student work in classrooms in contrasting social-class communities..."

- "...have argued that knowledge and skills leading to social power and regard are made available to the advantaged social groups but are withheld from the working classes, to whom a more 'practical' curriculum is offered."

Through reading Jean Anyon's summaries and opinions on each of the articles she summarized, both agreement and disagreement is detected. It isn't easy to tell if there is more of either one, because she doesn't give a large amount of information when dealing with each article. She states the pros and cons of each article, which presents a complex opinion of all of her thoughts. All in all, it is very hard to tell whether she agrees or disagrees moreso with each.

Exersize #2:

In David Zinczenko's article titled "Don't Blame the Eater", he expresses his strong opinion on childhood obesity, dealing with his own experiences and explanations of the topic. I agree with his ideas that you should not blame only the child for their obesity problem. Zinczenko states that this issue is noone's problem, and that this issue will remain a big one until people realize this. "Advertisements don't carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do." I strongly agree with this statement. Advertisements for food are made to look appetizing and do not make you aware of the negative effects large amounts of fast food will have on your body. The consumers are not given enough information on what they're buying. It is, however, their own decision to buy these items. I also agree with Zinczenko's prediction for our future generations. I feel that childhood obesity will continue to be a problem, if not a bigger one, as time goes on. All in all, I agree with many of Zinczenko's points and feel that he successfully got his point across.

Reading Response #1

Excersize 1:

A. After experimenting, scientists have suggested that there are dangerous levels of chemical X in the Ohio groundwater.

B. Some critics say that this novel has certain flaws.

C. While men find football to be interesting, many women find it boring.

D. Often teachers believe that men dominate class discussions over women.

E. Many people agree that this movie portrays the problems in romantic relationships.

F. Some people fear that templates like this will stifle their creativity.

JVanMaele Screen shot - Comp 106-019 Blog

The screen shot attached is a paper I am currently working on for another English class I am taking this winter 2010 semester. It is a summary on an article I read for the class, explaining and pointing out the major arguments made by the author. Behind the Word document you will see the CTools website opened and the guidelines for the assignment I am currently working on. I use the “print screen” tool occasionally, so this was not my first experience with screen shots. I was not surprised at the appearance, however, I do find it interesting how one could share with others everything that they’re working on or looking at simply by pressing a button. I feel as if digital composing is a much more up to date way of communicating and sharing ideas with others. Blogs, for example, can (sometimes) be read by anyone with access to the internet. If everyone were to blog, I believe that many would come to fully understand digital composing as to using other forms. Those who use the internet or other forms of digital composition to communicate may find it to be more convenient and also may feel as though it is a more efficient way to convey their messages. Digitally composing is more commonly used now than ever, and in some ways could also be considered to be a more formal way of communicating. Technology is constantly evolving, and with the usage of blogs and other digital composition devices, we are able to keep up with our ever changing methods of communication.

-Jennifer VanMaele COMP 106-019