Reflection

Semester Reflection

Over the years in school I always had a hard time in English. I enjoy reading and writing, but always had a hard time with writing essays and comprehending on what I was reading. When I first entered the class I thought that I was going to be relearning the writing and reading techniques that I already learned in the previous years, but to my surprise I learned new helpful ways to write a great paper. The new ideas, tools, and lessons really changed how I thought about reading and writing.

One of the examples on the helpful lessons that I learned in this course was when we was taught about Memoirs and how to write a descriptive paper. Not only did we get to choice our own personal experience to write about, we also got to put together our own personal digital story that went along with it. We also had many student samples that gave us tips and ideas that really helped out on writing our papers. Learning about this improve my writing because it in- lighted my knowledge on writing stories. The digital story helped me in using descriptive words which helped me in transferring those words in my papers.

We learned about many useful tools that can help us with reading and writing. The most helpful tool that was introduced to me was Diigo.com. I never heard of this tool before so I was excited about it, a couple of days on playing around and using Diigo.com it immediately became an everyday use. The tools on Diigo.com help me in reading and taking notes on articles on line. Also with the bookmark tool it helped me to go back to that page and kept my highlighted notes on that page. This tool made it much easier for me to read articles or any other information online.

The area that I still feel like I’m weak in is writing a good introduction paragraph. I still feel like this is a huge challenge for me in writing essays. Even though I did learn a lot about using different techniques on writing an introduction, I still had a hard time applying my knowledge into my essays. The use of technology really impacted my knowledge in learning because I could work on my papers inside class and have my professor’s help. With the use of the computers I was able to look up research in class that helped me with most of my papers. An example of how technology impacted my knowledge in this course is the use of Blogging. Blogging was a great idea for me because it allowed me to upload my draft to my blog and let my peers comment and give me great ideas on how I can improve my paper. Overall I enjoyed learning about the new techniques that helped me with my reading and writing abilities.

 

 

 

Peer Response : Briana Lakish

Thesis: Some may argue against abortion , but due to health reasons such as fetal or maternal health risks, an abortion may be neccessary. Those opposing may point out that it is not safe for a women to get an abortion because they could die or become really sick. There are many women who get abortions in the United States, but it should be their reasoning that decides whether it is right for them to get one or not.

          Questions: What heath reasons would women decided to get an abortion?
                             What heath risk is the women put in when going thru with abortion?

• I love the topic, I would enjoy to learn more about it.

                             

Interracial issues

Brittney Miller

Professor Thomas

Composition 101

29 November 2012

Color Blind

Studies show that 8.4 percent of U.S marriages are all interracial. Even though it is a common matter, many people do not know the issues that these couples face. The most uprising issues that were brought up is if interracial marriage should be illegal, Does biracial children have a hard time being accepted into society, and does the cultural difference affect couples everyday lives. The children, interracial couples, and the “mainstream” society all have different view points on these issues. Most of biracial children have little knowledge of the struggle of the interracial couple. They do however; know that fitting in society is a hard one. The interracial couples on the other hand, know of these issues and believe that they are the ones to blame for their children’s struggles. The mainstream society also has little knowledge of these issues; psychologist and family therapist believes that the culture differences of the couples are the main reason for the issues that interracial couples face. They also believe that biracial children suffer from identify lost because they don’t know how to fit into society.  But with the right help and family support these issues can be resolved.

            Interracial marriages are growing throughout the world. It was just last generation that people of different race could legally get married in all 50 states. Nowadays society doesn’t think twice about interracial marriages. “Most Americans say they approve of interracial marriage, with more than 6 in 10 saying they're ok if a family member marries outside his or her group.” (Haq) Even though it is a common thing, some people still have issues about interracial marriages. Just last year the government did a Public Policy Polling that showed that “29 percent of likely GOP voters surveyed in Mississippi believe that interracial marriage should be illegal.” Also they surveyed Alabama and it showed that “21 percent of likely GOP voters polled in Alabama believe that interracial marriage should be illegal.”(The Huffington Post) Why do those percentages of voters want to ban interracial marriages? I believe that they simply don’t like change and growth in our society.

 Even though some interracial couples believe that marrying someone outside their race is more stressful than marrying someone of the same race, they still believe that they should be able to marry anyone that they please. “Interracial couples report varying degrees of tolerance or hostility from their communities and from within their own families.” (Interracial Marriage) Some interracial couples parents disapprove of their children marrying outside their race because some parents are sensitive about the past prejudice and discrimination. Also some African American women doesn’t like interracial marriages because they believe that marriageable black men is already so small and they believe that their losing them to white women.

I believe that interracial marriages shouldn’t even be thought of being illegal. I believe that everyone has a choice on who they want to marry and should be able to marry that person in any state that they choose. The parents of interracial couples should be supportive in their choices, and shouldn’t put any pressures on the couples.

            Another issue that was brought up is if biracial children have a hard time fitting into society. Believe it or not but in school kids tend to sit and associate with people of their same race. But where would the biracial children sit? With the black kids or with the white kids? In the article by “Many parents of interracial children understand the pressure placed on their children by society, other children, and some professionals, they are often more committed than the average parent” (Haq). Some interracial parents feel like it’s their fault that their child is having a hard time fitting in. They feel like if they didn’t marry outside their race then their child would be accepted more easily.

 Society has a hard time accepting biracial children because they don’t know how to treat them. Society thinks that “they have to place the child in one race or the other no matter how the children see themselves.” (HubbyNet) I don’t agree with this, I believe that the child should be able to decide where and who they want to associate with. It is important for the child to know both sides of their culture so they can feel comfortable with their environment. Traci P. Baxley an author of Childhood Education wrote that “Earlier studies concluded that biracial children were confused about their identity due to their lack of ability to connect completely to either of their heritages.” Some research say that if the interracial family lives somewhere where interracial couples are common then the child would have an easier time fitting in.

            Another big issue that interracial couples face is if culture differences affect their everyday lives. I believe that they do, when you have two people of different races you have many differences in beliefs. This is because each race is brought up differently and learns in his/her way. “If for instance the woman is from a country where women were traditionally housewives, with no aspirations of a career of their own, when they marry a man from the west they may immediately run into a problem.” (HubbyNet) The difference in culture also leads to prejudice remarks towards interracial marriages. Interracial couples say that they main people who say these rude remarks are from their own families. In my own personal experience with my interracial relationship, it is hard for us to agree on things because of our different views of life because of our race. We always end up saying we don’t do a certain thing this way or that way because we learned how to do these things differently growing up. Also differences in the way interracial couples prepare food and foods that they eat can sometimes become an issue. Interracial couples have to learn how to understand one another and be open to different experiences to make the relationship work.

            Even though these issues are still around today, interracial couples have to keep their heads up and understand that they may face difficult times. With the right help from psychologist and family biracial children can learn who they are and know both sides of their cultural. Interracial couples also should look past the people who don’t believe in interracial marriages and go on with their lives’. There are many cultural differences in interracial relationships but with proper understandings and help from counselors interracial couples can have a happy relationship. I believe that interracial relationships are a beautiful thing and that anyone who is in love should be able to marry anyone that they please. I also believe that some interracial couples are in the relationship for all the wrong reasons and that biracial child does have a hard time fitting in society.

Infographic

http://prezi.com/bmbqkco3mmph/untitled-prezi/?kw=view-bmbqkco3mmph&rc=ref-25209039

Topic Proposal

The topic that I am going to be studying is, Interracial Couples issues. Some of the things that I already know about the topic is that interracial couples tend to have a lot of problems with racism. They also have a hard time getting use to their partner culture and how they tend to do certain things.  Three different point of views on interracial couples would be from, the interracial couple, the non-believers, and supporters.

Some of the research questions that I would use are:

1.       What does society think about interracial couples?

2.       How do interracial couples deal with racism?

3.       How do interracial couples deal with different culture beliefs?

4.       Does a mix child get treated differently in society?

Some of the sources that I might use are:

Perry, Samuel L. "Contact, Congregations, and children of Color: The Effects of Interracial Contact in Religious Settings on whites' Attitudes towards Transracial Adoption." Journal of Comparative Family Studies 42.6 (2011): 851+. Academic OneFile. Web. 18 Nov. 2012.

 

Perry, Samuel L. "The effects of race, religion, and religiosity on attitudes towards transracial adoption." Journal of Comparative Family Studies 41.5 (2010): 837+. Academic OneFile. Web. 18 Nov. 2012.

"Outside looking in" Jordan Pruitt

You don't know my name
You don't know anything about me
I tried to play nice
I wanna be in your game

The things that you say
Now you may think
I never hear about them

But word travels fast
I'm telling you to your face
I'm standing here behind your back

You don't know how it feels
To be outside the crowd
You don't know what it's like
To be left out

And you don't know how it feels
To be your own best friend
On the outside looking in

If you could read my mind
You might see more of me
Than meets the eye

And you've been all wrong
Not who you think I am
You've never given me a chance

You don't know how it feels
To be outside the crowd
You don't know what it's like
To be left out

And you don't know how it feels
To be your own best friend
On the outside looking in

I'm tired of staying at home
I'm bored and all alone
I'm sick of wasting all my time

You don't know how it feels
To be outside the crowd
You don't know what it's like
To be left out

And you don't know how it feels
To be your own best friend
On the outside looking in

You don't know how it feels
To be outside the crowd
You don't know what it's like
To be left out

And you don't know how it feels
To be your own best friend
On the outside looking in

This is a great song to use because it tells a story of someone who is having trouble fitting in at school and how they get talked about but no one knows who they are and doesnt take the time to give them a chance.

My digital story:The Wreck

Self-Reflection

My Paper at first did not follow the MLA format until I went back to the Bridging the difference book and refreshed my memory on the steps for the header. I believe my title does grab the readers attention when someone reads my title the first thought should be "What wreck?" or "What happened to her?". When I first did my introduction to me it didn't seem like it would grab anyone's attention or make the reader keep reading; So I put a short clip of the climax in the beginning then rewind back to that morning. I think this way was better because the climax was exciting and it makes the reader wanting to read more. I learned many things from writing this paper. One of those things is using imagery.I believe using imagery can make the reader see what you saw and make them seem like they was right there  beside you.

The Wreck (final rough draft)

The Wreck

I remember letting go of the wheel and turning my body so I wouldn’t get hurt. The sound of the cars hitting together was the scariest thing I ever heard. “Please don’t let me die, please don’t let me die” I prayed.

Rewinding back to the beginning of that morning, I woke up for school not feeling too well. It was raining and cold outside. I usually dreaded to miss school because I hated to be behind and having to make-up work .But I just couldn't push myself to get up out of bed. When I finally had the strength to get up I walked down the hallway to tell my Ma that I didn't feel well. She told me to lie back down and just take the day off; so I did. An hour into my sleep my phone rung and woke me up; it was a text message from my friend in class. "Brittney where are you! We need you to anchor today remember!" I had totally forgotten that I signed up for anchoring for my schools TV show that week. I texted her back and said don’t worry and that I would be there. I knew that I should have just told her that I wasn’t feeling too well but I didn’t want to let my classmates down. I hurried up and got ready and told my Ma that I was going to school. She didn’t want me to, but she understood that I had to anchor for the show. I grabbed my umbrella and walked to my car.

 It was still pretty bad outside and very cold. I started my car and started to drive to school. I decided to call my boyfriend to tell him what was going on with me. I felt a little better talking to him because he always knew what to say to put a smile on my face. I was at the red light about to turn left to the road to my school. “I still can’t believe I’m going to this school just to anchor.” I vented to him.  The light turned green and I pushed on the gas. The dangerous thing about the road to my school was how it was constructed. You have to slow down to turn the roundabout because cars are coming from the opposite direction.  I had been taking this road all my years of high school and now that I was a senior I was use to what I had to do. “I still look really cute today, even though I have a cold.” I remember saying. When I came up to the turn everything seemed like it went to slow motion, “What do you have on?” My boyfriend asked. And right when my boyfriend asked this the scariest thing happened. When I turned the corner my car ended up in the other lane. I didn’t panic because the car in the other lane was farther back. “It’s okay Brittney, just pull your car back to your lane” I thought to myself. I can see the car getting closer and closer, I tried to swerve my car back to its lane but it wouldn’t go.

 “Babe did you hear my question?”  And in that moment I knew that I was going to hit this car head on, I let go of the wheel and turned my body. The sound of the cars hitting together was the scariest thing I ever heard. “Please don’t let me die, please don’t let me die” I prayed. I was too scared to open my eyes because I didn’t know what to expect. This was the first car accident I ever been in and I was all alone. “Brittney! Brittney! What happened?” I opened my eyes hearing my boyfriend still on the phone. But the phone wasn’t in my hands any more I couldn’t find where it went. The inside of my car was smoky and all I can see was my broken windshield. I panicked thinking that the car was going to exploded with me sitting there in the car. So I got out the car and that’s when I started to ball into tears.

There was a police officer already on seen and he ran up to me asking if I was okay. I couldn’t stop crying, it was still raining and he took me to his car and sat me down. He went to go check on the other car and called the paramedics. After a couple of minutes he came back and asked me for my name and my I.D. I told him it was in the car and my phone was in there too. He went to go look but all he could find was my school I.D and my phone. “I must have picked up the wrong I.D!” I cried. Oh no, I thought. I’m going to jail. I was the cause of the car accident and I didn’t have my driver’s license on me. I called my Ma and told her what happened. My Ma just had surgery that week and she couldn’t really walk because of it. But within 10 minutes she was there in her p.j’s, holding me saying everything was going to be alright.

I still didn’t know if the other people in the car were okay. I didn’t want to get up and see my car mangled.  “Everything is my fault! My car wouldn’t get back in the other lane.” I cried to my Ma. “It’s okay Brittney, just calm down.” I can tell that I was scaring my Ma even more with my loud cries so I tried to calm down for her. The paramedics came and checked to see if everything was okay with me. I told them that I was fine. After I had the guts to stand up and see the accident most of everything was cleaned up. The traffic on both sides was still bad but everything else was picked up. The other people in the car turned out to be okay. It was two men in the car; they stood on the side of the road talking to the cops. The other police officer came up to me. Alright this is it. I’m going to jail I thought to myself.

 “Alright Brittney, I’m glad that you and everybody else was okay. This could have been a lot worse.” He wrote me a ticket and told me that I was free to go. Thank God I thought to myself. I got in my Ma’s car and sat down, and then she started to drive off. “I can’t believe I lost my car.” I said sadly. I had just got my car three months ago from my Ma and my dad. It was a two door silver Hyundai Accent and I decorated the inside of the car with Ed Hardy everything. It was the perfect first car for me and it was gone. “I’ll rather have you than the car Brittney” my mother told me. She was right. I was so thankful to be okay.

 When I think back on my car accident now I always regret being on my cell phone. Many people today die because of phone use while driving. If I never was on the phone that day then I would have been more focus on the road and never would have got in the car accident. This event impacted my life in so many different ways.  I am now a cautious driver. Every time I’m with my friends I always tell them to wear their seatbelts because they never know what can happen to them while driving. I also tell all my friends the importance of not being on the phone while driving. I now keep my phone in my purse on the back seat so I would not be tempted to look at my phone.

 

One Rainy Day... (Draft)

I remember waking up one morning for school not feeling too well. It was raining and cold outside. I usually dreaded to miss school because I hated to be behind and having to make-up work .But I just couldn't push myself to get up, when I finally had the strength to get out of bed I walked down the hallway to tell my ma that I didn't feel well . She told me to lie back down and just take the day off; so I did. An hour into my sleep my phone rung and woke me up, it was a text message from my friend in class. "Brittney where are you! We need you to anchor today remember!" I had totally forgotten that I signed up for anchoring that week. I texted her back and said don’t worry and that I would be there. I knew that I should have just told her that I wasn’t feeling too well but I didn’t want to let my classmates down. I hurried up and got ready and told my ma that I was going to school. She didn’t want me to, but she understood that I had to anchor for the show. I grabbed my umbrella and walked to my car. It was still pretty bad outside and very cold. I started my car and started to drive to school. I decided to call my boyfriend to tell him what was going on with me. I felt a little better talking to him because he always knew what to say to put a smile on my face. I was at the red light about to turn left to the road to my school. “I still can’t believe I’m going to this school just to anchor.” I vented to him.  The light turned green and I pushed on the gas, the dangerous thing about my road to my school was how it was made. You have to slow down to turn the roundabout because cars are coming from the opposite direction.  I had been taking this road all of my years in high school so I was use to what I had to do. “I still look really cute today, even though I have a cold.” I remember saying. When I came up to the turn everything seemed like it went to slow motion, “What do you have on?” My boyfriend asked. And right when my boyfriend asked this the scariest thing happened. When I turned the corner my car ended up in the other lane. I didn’t panic because the car in the other lane was farther back. “It’s okay Brittney, just pull your car back to your lane” I thought to myself. I can see the car getting closer and closer, I tried to swerve my car back to its lane but it wouldn’t go. “Babe did you hear my question?”  And in that moment I knew that I was going to hit this car head on, I remember letting go of the wheel and turning my body so I wouldn’t get hurt. The sound of the cars hitting together was the scariest thing I ever heard. “Please don’t let me die, please don’t let me die” I prayed. I was too scared to open my eyes because I didn’t know what to expect. This was the first car accident I ever been in and I was all alone. “Brittney! Brittney! What happened?” I opened my eyes hearing my boyfriend still on the phone. But the phone wasn’t in my hands any more I couldn’t find where it went. The inside of my car was smoky and all I can see was my broken windshield. I panicked thinking that the car was going to exploded with me sitting there in the car. So I got out the car and that’s when I started to ball into tears. There was a police officer already on seen and he ran up to me asking if I was okay. I couldn’t stop crying, it was still raining and he took me to his car and sat me down. He went to go check on the other car and called the paramedics. After a couple of minutes he came back and asked me for my name and my I.D. I told him it was in the car and my phone was in there too. He went to go look but all he could find was my school I.D and my phone. “I must have picked up the wrong I.D!” I cried. Oh no, I thought. I’m going to jail. I was the cause of the car accident and I didn’t have my driver’s license on me. I called my ma and told her what happened. My ma just had surgery that week and she couldn’t really walk because of it. But within 10 minutes she was there in her p.j’s, holding me saying everything was going to be alright. I still didn’t know if the other people in the car were ok because I didn’t want to see something that I didn’t want to see. “Everything is my fault! My car wouldn’t get back in the other lane, I tried and tried but it wouldn’t go back to its lane!” I cried to my ma. “It’s okay Brittney, just calm down.” I can tell that I was scaring my ma even more with my loud cries so I tried to calm down for her. The paramedics came and checked to see if everything was okay with me. I told them that I was fine. After I had the guts to stand up and see the accident most of everything was cleaned up. The traffic on both sides was still bad but everything else was picked up. The other people in the car turned out to be okay. It was two men in the car; they stood on the side of the road talking to the cops. The other police officer came up to me. Alright this is it. I’m going to jail I thought to myself. “Alright Brittney, I’m glad that you and everybody else was okay. This could have been a lot worse.” He wrote me a ticket and told me that I was free to go. Thank God I thought to myself. I got in my ma’s car and sat down, and then she started to drive off. “I can’t believe I lost my car.” I said sadly. I had just got my car three months ago from my ma and my dad. It was the perfect first car for me and it was gone. “I’ll rather have you than the car Brittney” my mother told me. She was right. I was so thankful to be okay. When I think back on my car accident now I always regret being on my cell phone. Many people today die because of phone use while driving. If I never was on the phone that day then I would have been more focus on the road and never would have got in the car accident. I now keep my phone in my purse on the back seat so I would not be tempted to look at my phone.

Some of my ideas...

Some of my ideas that I had in mind for my memoir is to have lots of dialogue throughout my paper. I believe that this is really important to have so that the reader can feel like there exactly there with me. I also wanted to have lots of imagery in my paper, I want the reader to see what I am saying in my writing. I want to start off my paper from the beginning of my story and explain moment by moment what happened. Here is a little piece on what I have so far...

I remember waking up one morning for school not feeling to well. It was raining and cold outside. I usually dreaded to miss school because I hated to be behind and having to make-up work .But I just couldn't push myself to get up, when I finally had the strength to get out of bed I walked down the hallway to tell my ma that I didn't feel well . She told me to lay back down and just take the day off; So I did. An hour into my sleep my phone rung and woke me up, it was an text message from my friend in class. "Brittney where are you! we need you to anchor today remember!" I had total forgot that I signed up for anchoring that week.....

What I thought...

The mentor reading "Blue Oblivion" by Jill Adams , really stood out to me and gave me great ideas on what I should do for my paper. Overall I loved the memoir, I loved how she told her memory with great descriptions.I really felt like I was there and was experience everything that she had. I also liked how she first told her story in the past and explained why she was afraid of the water. Then she came back to reality and started telling her story of  her trying to over come her fear.

Introduction..

 The reasons that I am in college is because I want to better myself and be able to get a great job after I finish my four years here. My parents really motivated me to get good grades in High school so that I can be able to go to college. Without the help of my parents I probably wouldn’t be where I am now. Some of my passions in life is acting and to be in front of the camera. My passions relate to my communication major because with my major I can become a talk show host, work in the broadcasting field and many other jobs. The outcome that I desire is for me to graduate on time; and find a great career that I can enjoy doing.