Thesis: College and high school, despite being only twelve months apart from each other and simply the next step in the schooling process, are very different from one another.
I. College is more independent study, whereas high school is much stricter. Teachers tell you what to do and when to do it in high school.
II. College professors oftentimes do not know their students names. High school teachers make a connection with their students like most other college professors wouldn’t.
III. College is the first time a student needs to worry about expenses, unless they previously went to a private school.
Conclusion: College and high school, despite being only twelve months apart from each other and simple the next step in the schooling process, are very different from one another.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Deadline #8, Com / Con
• Compare and contrast essays explain either similarities or differences between two people, places, objects, or ideas in order to explain or clarify one or the other. One way to organize a comparison and/or a contrast essay is the block or thought-grouped method. Another method of organizing a comparison and/or a contrast essay is the point-by-point or alternating method.
•
1. The thesis of this essay is the last sentence in the opening paragraph, which states, “There are two main types of men in the world: the committer and the non-committer.”
2. This essay is organized in a block pattern.
3. I think the author uses excellent examples to point out the differences between the two types of men. The examples the author uses are funny and seem to be pretty relatively accurate.
4. The author only uses a couple transitions (unlike and however) to help the reader move back and forth between the discussions of the two types of men. Other than that, the author simply jumps from the one type of man to the other.
5. The tone of the author in this essay was playful. The author pointed out the stereotypical features of two types of men in a sort of silly way.
•
1. The thesis of this essay is the last sentence in the opening paragraph, which states, “There are two main types of men in the world: the committer and the non-committer.”
2. This essay is organized in a block pattern.
3. I think the author uses excellent examples to point out the differences between the two types of men. The examples the author uses are funny and seem to be pretty relatively accurate.
4. The author only uses a couple transitions (unlike and however) to help the reader move back and forth between the discussions of the two types of men. Other than that, the author simply jumps from the one type of man to the other.
5. The tone of the author in this essay was playful. The author pointed out the stereotypical features of two types of men in a sort of silly way.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Deadline #7, Point of View
Public schools ought to require their students to wear uniforms. Being subjected to many prejudices already, students shouldn’t have to deal with the prejudice of what kinds of clothes to wear… or not wear. If all students wore uniforms, they wouldn’t be faced with the prejudice that goes along with wearing expensive designer clothes, or wearing second hand clothes that went out of style when Mr. Adams was a student in school. Another benefit of mandatory school uniforms is the anonymity of economic status. Safety is another big reason uniforms should be required at school. Today, it can be dangerous to wear the wrong colors or accessories such as bandannas. Gang members have taken such offense at an innocent student’s clothing as to injure or even kill the unsuspecting student because of their choice of attire. If school uniforms were instituted, students wouldn’t have to make that frantic last minute dash to find something “cool” to wear for school. There also wouldn’t be such a pressure to “fit in” as far as clothing was concerned because students would know exactly what they would wear on any given day, enabling them to know without a doubt that they would look like they “belonged.” Logically, making school uniforms mandatory would solve many problems facing students concerning what to wear to school.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Deadline 6, Narrative Draft
The Foolishness of Feigning a Felony
My record was as clean as clean could be. It looked like that was all going to change that chilly December night, however. It all started out with me and six of my friends stuffing our bored selves with Taco Bell and talking about our favorite show on MTV, “Jackass.” It was at this point that one of us got the bright idea to reenact one of our favorite pranks from the show. We would tie up one of our friends, throw him in the trunk of one our cars, and let him pop out at a major intersection, making it look like he had been kidnapped. Well, it sounded funny to a bunch of seventeen year old kids, looking for a little excitement and a good laugh. Little did we know we would get a lot more than that little bit of excitement we were hoping for. We would soon realize that faking a kidnapping is a true act of idiocy.
Within five minutes of the idea being presented at Taco Bell, we had Brad stripped down to his boxers, tied up and gagged. This was going to be hilarious. When we pulled up to the light at McKellips and Gilbert there had to have been at least a million people in attendance for our little hoax. There were bleachers, if I remember correctly, that were just built on the sides of the road that were filled to capacity. Children were on the edge of their seats. There were even popcorn and cotton candy vendors selling what they could before the practical joke went down.
When it seemed like the intersection couldn’t contain any more cars or people, the trunk was popped. Brad came bursting out of the trunk, struggling against the ropes and mustering up a pretty good “help,” despite the duct tape on his mouth. He went running across the intersection in nothing but some dirty boxers that looked like he had been wearing for more than a week, a strip of duct tape, and some rope. It was a pretty convincing show he put on, but not convincing enough. So. Tim and I jumped out of the car, screaming at Brad to get back in the trunk, “Or else!” If our audience didn’t believe Brad’s performance alone, the show Tim and I put on was Broadway-worthy. All traffic stopped. The only noises that could be heard were the screams of me and Tim chasing Brad into a nearby neighborhood. And the sirens.
This was about the time that we realized our little prank might not have been very smart. We turned to see the police officer pull over the car we had just emerged from and we nearly got run over by our getaway car, driven by another friend. Almost immediately after hopping in our getaway car, a police helicopter was hovering above us with its spotlight on us. At this point we knew we were idiots. Within another two minutes there was another police helicopter hanging over us with its spotlight right on us. The light from those two spotlights was enough to make me think the sun had decided to come up a little earlier than usual. If having two police helicopters balancing above us wasn’t gut-wrenching enough, we turned around in our seats to see that we had a train of eight police cars closely following us. At the exact same time, all eight cars flipped on their lights and sirens, informing us of our need to pull over immediately. The people in this neighborhood must have either thought that this was their moment to make a cameo appearance on COPS, or that the circus was rolling through town, because all that noise and all those lights attracted every living soul within a five mile radius.
My already small bladder got even smaller when four of the police officers approached our car with their guns drawn, screaming at us to get out of the car with our hands in the air. We all got out and proceeded to get yelled at more by all sixteen of the police officers when we recounted our version of the “kidnapping.” After the police officers had called off the news helicopters, we had to sit out on the cold curb for an hour while the police officers lectured us one by one, until all those that needed to vent their anger had vented. Despite our stupidity, the police surprisingly found a little humor in our little stunt, after they had cooled down a bit, of course. My record remained as clean as clean could be, however, we definitely learned an important lesson that night: faking a felony is not something to joke around about.
My record was as clean as clean could be. It looked like that was all going to change that chilly December night, however. It all started out with me and six of my friends stuffing our bored selves with Taco Bell and talking about our favorite show on MTV, “Jackass.” It was at this point that one of us got the bright idea to reenact one of our favorite pranks from the show. We would tie up one of our friends, throw him in the trunk of one our cars, and let him pop out at a major intersection, making it look like he had been kidnapped. Well, it sounded funny to a bunch of seventeen year old kids, looking for a little excitement and a good laugh. Little did we know we would get a lot more than that little bit of excitement we were hoping for. We would soon realize that faking a kidnapping is a true act of idiocy.
Within five minutes of the idea being presented at Taco Bell, we had Brad stripped down to his boxers, tied up and gagged. This was going to be hilarious. When we pulled up to the light at McKellips and Gilbert there had to have been at least a million people in attendance for our little hoax. There were bleachers, if I remember correctly, that were just built on the sides of the road that were filled to capacity. Children were on the edge of their seats. There were even popcorn and cotton candy vendors selling what they could before the practical joke went down.
When it seemed like the intersection couldn’t contain any more cars or people, the trunk was popped. Brad came bursting out of the trunk, struggling against the ropes and mustering up a pretty good “help,” despite the duct tape on his mouth. He went running across the intersection in nothing but some dirty boxers that looked like he had been wearing for more than a week, a strip of duct tape, and some rope. It was a pretty convincing show he put on, but not convincing enough. So. Tim and I jumped out of the car, screaming at Brad to get back in the trunk, “Or else!” If our audience didn’t believe Brad’s performance alone, the show Tim and I put on was Broadway-worthy. All traffic stopped. The only noises that could be heard were the screams of me and Tim chasing Brad into a nearby neighborhood. And the sirens.
This was about the time that we realized our little prank might not have been very smart. We turned to see the police officer pull over the car we had just emerged from and we nearly got run over by our getaway car, driven by another friend. Almost immediately after hopping in our getaway car, a police helicopter was hovering above us with its spotlight on us. At this point we knew we were idiots. Within another two minutes there was another police helicopter hanging over us with its spotlight right on us. The light from those two spotlights was enough to make me think the sun had decided to come up a little earlier than usual. If having two police helicopters balancing above us wasn’t gut-wrenching enough, we turned around in our seats to see that we had a train of eight police cars closely following us. At the exact same time, all eight cars flipped on their lights and sirens, informing us of our need to pull over immediately. The people in this neighborhood must have either thought that this was their moment to make a cameo appearance on COPS, or that the circus was rolling through town, because all that noise and all those lights attracted every living soul within a five mile radius.
My already small bladder got even smaller when four of the police officers approached our car with their guns drawn, screaming at us to get out of the car with our hands in the air. We all got out and proceeded to get yelled at more by all sixteen of the police officers when we recounted our version of the “kidnapping.” After the police officers had called off the news helicopters, we had to sit out on the cold curb for an hour while the police officers lectured us one by one, until all those that needed to vent their anger had vented. Despite our stupidity, the police surprisingly found a little humor in our little stunt, after they had cooled down a bit, of course. My record remained as clean as clean could be, however, we definitely learned an important lesson that night: faking a felony is not something to joke around about.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Deadline #4
1.
• A narrative essay tells a story in chronological order.
• Narrative essays are organized in chronological order.
• Transitional words and phrases display the chronological order of the narrative essay.
• Some common transitional words and phrases used in narrative essays are: next, then, later, after that, and finally.
2.
• The opening paragraph creates an interest that makes me want to keep reading because the figurative language she uses describing her as a baby is entertaining and amusing.
• The thesis of the essay is that everyone has beauty that is waiting to be shown to the world, and the girl in this essay was helped by her father to realize the beauty she possessed.
• The narration in this essay begins at the very beginning, starting with the very first sentence.
• The author describes herself as a baby using phrases like, “Michelin tire legs” and “two chins,” and describes her legs as a young woman in the awkward stages of puberty as “colonial columns.”
• These descriptions contribute a lot to the essay. It was the comical phrases used to describe herself as a baby that kept me interested in the essay, and the description of her legs helps to portray the awkwardness and ugly duckling-like features of a young woman going through puberty.
• A narrative essay tells a story in chronological order.
• Narrative essays are organized in chronological order.
• Transitional words and phrases display the chronological order of the narrative essay.
• Some common transitional words and phrases used in narrative essays are: next, then, later, after that, and finally.
2.
• The opening paragraph creates an interest that makes me want to keep reading because the figurative language she uses describing her as a baby is entertaining and amusing.
• The thesis of the essay is that everyone has beauty that is waiting to be shown to the world, and the girl in this essay was helped by her father to realize the beauty she possessed.
• The narration in this essay begins at the very beginning, starting with the very first sentence.
• The author describes herself as a baby using phrases like, “Michelin tire legs” and “two chins,” and describes her legs as a young woman in the awkward stages of puberty as “colonial columns.”
• These descriptions contribute a lot to the essay. It was the comical phrases used to describe herself as a baby that kept me interested in the essay, and the description of her legs helps to portray the awkwardness and ugly duckling-like features of a young woman going through puberty.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Deadline #3, Hunt
1.
• devoncadams@gmail.com
• IMPORTANT NOTE: Students are responsible for all information in the syllabus and for the college policies included in the college catalogue and the student handbook.
• The first page notes that, since this is a distance course and we aren’t in a traditional classroom setting, we need to display self-motivation in getting our assignments completed and on time.
• The highest grade you can receive on a paper with sentence structure errors is a C.
• The serious sentence structure errors named in the criteria for an A paper are fragments, sentence splices, etc.
• The withdrawal policy is as follows: If you do not submit any work for over a two deadline period (generally two weeks), the instructor reserves the right to withdraw the student from the course.
• The penalty for a late paper is no credit, unless the teacher is notified of the late completion of the paper ahead of time.
• The maximum number of essays that can be submitted in any given week is 3?
• The phone number to call to get technical help is the MCC Help Desk, at (480) 461-7217.
• The last date that assignments will be accepted at the end of the semester is December 5.
• devoncadams@gmail.com
• IMPORTANT NOTE: Students are responsible for all information in the syllabus and for the college policies included in the college catalogue and the student handbook.
• The first page notes that, since this is a distance course and we aren’t in a traditional classroom setting, we need to display self-motivation in getting our assignments completed and on time.
• The highest grade you can receive on a paper with sentence structure errors is a C.
• The serious sentence structure errors named in the criteria for an A paper are fragments, sentence splices, etc.
• The withdrawal policy is as follows: If you do not submit any work for over a two deadline period (generally two weeks), the instructor reserves the right to withdraw the student from the course.
• The penalty for a late paper is no credit, unless the teacher is notified of the late completion of the paper ahead of time.
• The maximum number of essays that can be submitted in any given week is 3?
• The phone number to call to get technical help is the MCC Help Desk, at (480) 461-7217.
• The last date that assignments will be accepted at the end of the semester is December 5.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Deadline #2: Paragraphs
Questions:
1. I think that sentence one is the topic sentence of this paragraph.
2. The subject expressed in the topic sentence is that Arizona is not the desert wasteland that most people think of when they think of this hot but diversely environmental state. It is, in fact, a state full of different environments attractive to different people with different activities in mind or lifestyles.
3. The attitude expressed in the topic sentence is one of defense or even pride for the state of Arizona.
4. There are three subtopic sentences in the paragraph.
5. Sentences two, seven and twelve are the subtopic sentences in the paragraph.
6. Sentence seventeen, which reads, “Contrary to what some people believe, Arizona is not one vast and dry wasteland; it has climates and elevations that would suit almost anyone’s preferences, unless one desires a day at the seashore,” is the concluding sentence of the paragraph.
7. The concluding sentence serves to give the paragraph a sense of finality by restating the topic sentence and tying all that was said within the three other subtopics together into one final sentence.
8. There are transition words and phrases in sentences seven, eleven, twelve, sixteen and seventeen.
9. In addition, used in sentence sixteen, is a group of words used as a transition in this paragraph.
10. The first sentence of a paragraph should be indented because the beginning of a new paragraph represents the beginning of a new idea. If you’re moving on to a new idea, the way to clarify that is by beginning a new paragraph and indenting that first sentence.
Paragraph
Christmas is, without a doubt, the best holiday amongst the vast selection of holidays out there. Sure there’s Valentine’s Day to eat chocolate and receive roses from that special someone, Easter to hunt for eggs enclosing miniature goodies, Father’s Day to go golfing, Mother’s Day to spend time with that perfect soul that brought you into this great world, and Halloween to dress up like a complete idiot and collect candy from complete strangers. Then there are also those holidays that are just nonsense. Pointless to even have them listed on the calendar. Among these holidays, if they can even be called holidays, are St. Patrick’s Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, and Groundhog Day. Work generally isn’t taken off these “holidays” and no gifts are given on these days (unless you consider a pinch a gift for not wearing green, or unless your name is Lincoln). Christmas, however, is the day of celebration. Christmas is the time to give. Christmas is the time to celebrate the life of perhaps the most unique individual to ever walk the face of the earth. Christmas is the time for families to get together to provide donations to charities, give gifts to the less fortunate, and help shelter the homeless. Christmas is the time to make snow angels. Christmas is, without a doubt, the best holiday of the year.
1. I think that sentence one is the topic sentence of this paragraph.
2. The subject expressed in the topic sentence is that Arizona is not the desert wasteland that most people think of when they think of this hot but diversely environmental state. It is, in fact, a state full of different environments attractive to different people with different activities in mind or lifestyles.
3. The attitude expressed in the topic sentence is one of defense or even pride for the state of Arizona.
4. There are three subtopic sentences in the paragraph.
5. Sentences two, seven and twelve are the subtopic sentences in the paragraph.
6. Sentence seventeen, which reads, “Contrary to what some people believe, Arizona is not one vast and dry wasteland; it has climates and elevations that would suit almost anyone’s preferences, unless one desires a day at the seashore,” is the concluding sentence of the paragraph.
7. The concluding sentence serves to give the paragraph a sense of finality by restating the topic sentence and tying all that was said within the three other subtopics together into one final sentence.
8. There are transition words and phrases in sentences seven, eleven, twelve, sixteen and seventeen.
9. In addition, used in sentence sixteen, is a group of words used as a transition in this paragraph.
10. The first sentence of a paragraph should be indented because the beginning of a new paragraph represents the beginning of a new idea. If you’re moving on to a new idea, the way to clarify that is by beginning a new paragraph and indenting that first sentence.
Paragraph
Christmas is, without a doubt, the best holiday amongst the vast selection of holidays out there. Sure there’s Valentine’s Day to eat chocolate and receive roses from that special someone, Easter to hunt for eggs enclosing miniature goodies, Father’s Day to go golfing, Mother’s Day to spend time with that perfect soul that brought you into this great world, and Halloween to dress up like a complete idiot and collect candy from complete strangers. Then there are also those holidays that are just nonsense. Pointless to even have them listed on the calendar. Among these holidays, if they can even be called holidays, are St. Patrick’s Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, and Groundhog Day. Work generally isn’t taken off these “holidays” and no gifts are given on these days (unless you consider a pinch a gift for not wearing green, or unless your name is Lincoln). Christmas, however, is the day of celebration. Christmas is the time to give. Christmas is the time to celebrate the life of perhaps the most unique individual to ever walk the face of the earth. Christmas is the time for families to get together to provide donations to charities, give gifts to the less fortunate, and help shelter the homeless. Christmas is the time to make snow angels. Christmas is, without a doubt, the best holiday of the year.
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