Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Who's Reading?

One thing that English 111 has taught me a lot about is audience awareness. I've learned that a paper can be written using excellent grammar, perfect punctuation, and great organization but still miss the mark. An author that can target their audience and stay focused throughout the writing is able to better convey the point of their writing. An author that knows their audience is much better able to adjust their writing style and language usage to identify with that audience. Since we will be writing argumentative papers, it is of utmost importance to identify with the audience in order to make an effective argument.
For example, I could write a paper arguing for the legalization of marijuana. If this paper was targeted at marijuana users, I would use very different language and style than if I was writing it to a legislator. It isn't very likely to make an impact with a legislator if I use terms like grass, weed, etc., although these terms may appear in a version written for the marijuana user.
I'd like to say thanks to Stephanie for teaching me about audience awareness. This is one part of my writing that was really lacking. In previous classes, I hadn't even considered the audience, other than the instructor. I believe that with this knowledge I will definitely become a better writer. Hopefully, I will also become a more effective writer when it comes to argumentative writing. I know that I will be considering the audience from the first steps of writing a paper from now on.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

your mother likes whats in my blogs

I don't like to blog. I think that blogging is a waste of time. I don't think that this blog has anything to do with English 111. I understand the reasoning behind doing blogs as part of the English class, but I still think that it is pointless. When blogging, grammar and spelling mistakes are acceptable. I don't understand why mistakes would be acceptable in any English class. Blogging, in my opinion, is just another way for people to bitch about things. When I look at some of the blog replies, I see more bitching. I thought that I signed up for English 111, instead it is turning out to be Whining 111. I'm sick of blogging. I'm sick of reading other people's blogs and replies.
I think that blogs would be better if we were given specific assignments for them. For instance, blogs could be about current events, school issues, or politics. If we wrote assigned blogs it would be easier to compare them to one another. This way the blog spotlight would have a better defined set of criteria.
Another option would be to blog about assigned issues, but from the opposite point of view. I think that if this was done, blogs could be utilized as a learning tool. Just throwing a few ideas around.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Give me my Parking Spot

Ok. Maybe this is just bitching, but why do so many people enroll at ICC and then drop within the first few weeks. All this does is crowd the halls and take up parking places that students who are trying could take. Why should those of us who are serious about college have to walk a mile or wait for a bus because so many others decide that they can go to classes for a week or two.
Now I've heard people say, "just leave earlier." I don't agree. I've tried coming to class early and there is still no place to park that doesn't involve a long hike to get to the main building. I'm pretty sure that I could get here the night before and still not find a good parking spot.
Why doesn't ICC have parking stickers or passes like so many other colleges do? If they would start requiring stickers and giving preference to those who have been there more than one semester this would solve the problem.
I don't think that I personally deserve a great parking space that is really close, but maybe I deserve a spot that isn't at the east campus parking lot or next to the gym. Those spots should be given to those who are yet to prove that they are going to stick with their classes.