Blog Nov. 27--Weight Debate

Discussion and Reading Question 6

America is one of the most--if not the most-- obese country in the world. Studies show that thirty percent of Americans are obese, and, including them, over sixty percent of all Americans are overweight. In America, people eat, and eat and gain, and gain. They are driven by their bodies to eat more and more until they become obese. Their diet is bad; it contains high-calorie and low-nutrient foods. Because of people’s obesity and overweight-ness, there comes low self-esteem, self hatred, guilt and depression. This occurs among men and women alike.

One common thing that is noticed among overweight and obese people is that they don’t want to be that way. They have a desire to change, but don’t do anything about it, or they try to do something about it and fail time and time again. They lack the power to change it. Diets, medications, and sometimes even short-term exercise are employed, but to no avail. They sink back into their previous states. There have been cases though of people who actually do come out and lose weight, but few.

There is an alternate way, however. A type of reconstructive surgery called “gastric-bypass surgery”– a surgery in which the stomach is cut smaller and connected directly to the middle of the small intestines– is often a chosen option. Used for extremely obese people, with a Body Fat Percentage of 40 or more, gastric-bypass surgery is used to curb eating. Because the stomach is smaller, less food is consumed, you get full faster, and you lower your calorie intake; as well as the fat that the food now bypasses a large portion of the small intestine, a lot of calories are not being absorbed. This is used mainly for emergencies in which the obese person’s condition is life-threatening; although sometimes people get it to take an easy way out.

Oh but how much better is it to lose weight the natural way! A person who loses 50 lbs has so much more mental strength and power than a person who gets the surgery; not to mention the side effects (which are irretractable). Our society should focus on the root of problems rather than the effects of the problems. If our society took a stand against unhealthiness and obesity, would it not save us all much trouble? Doctors and businesses are enjoying their fruits of money because we are not focusing on treating obesity. Obesity should be wiped out slowly but surely. Kids will be happier growing up without being teased or looked down upon for being overweight. A person would be able to get on an airplane in peace without having to worry about his or her belly and backside being so big that they can’t fit in the seat, thus having to buy two airplane tickets for two seats. People would have more energy and live longer and happier. It will save us all a lot of time and energy, as well as money; we can save it for our children’s education instead of spending it on gastric-bypass surgery.

Analyzing

Analyzing a paper is a very important thing to do. It requires a reader to do more than just read. It makes you think. It makes you question what you just read and get something from it. If you read a paper just to read it, you get nothing. I hold it similar to interpreting, but its a bit deeper than that.

If I read a story, such as Lord of the Rings, there would be plenty of opportunities to question it. I would ask things like what is this story about? Who are the characters? Is it a true story? Why did this character do this? Why did he do that? These are analytical questions.

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong one of the most vivid and descriptive writers I've ever known.

In his book, Its not about the bike, he describes clearly his battles with cancer. Before this, though, he gives us a picture of his life. He was a young man who had no good father figure. He had a stepfather (from whom he got his last name Armstrong) who was very strict and used to beat him. He lived in Texas and had no coordination at all as far as sports are concerned. He couldn’t play any ball sports because of his coordination. He found one thing, though, that he shined in the day his mother bought him his first bike.

This was the beginning. Lance begins to describe how he loved his bike, and how he had been through many trials with it, in accidents (like getting hit by a truck in which he describes the heat and black exhaust you experience), in triumphs, and in competitions and triathalons. He talks about his feelings of victory and defeat, and his special victory pose–raising his hands in the air and swinging his fists. He began to win competition after competition and learned more and more as a biker as he started to join national and world cycling teams.

When Lance first discovered his cancer, it was during a conversation with a friend of his on the phone, when he began to stutter and cough, tasting a thick metallic substance in the back of his throat. He ran into the bathroom and coughed up a large wad of blood, and fear siezed him as he stared at the blood splattered in the sink. He went to the doctors and got X-Rays and chemotherapy; thankfully he lived through this.

His mother is one of the most wonderful women in the world. She loves Lance with all her heart, and supports him in everything she does. She stands by his side, through thick and through thin. She bought him his first bike, and traveled with him when he traveled all over the world–to France, Italy, and other European countries as well as middle eastern countries– for his cycling competitions. She was a strong woman; noone could get over on her. When Lance had cancer, she was with him the whole time, comforting him and loving him. She was a bit taken at first, but was willing to battle it out with him, for she said to him, “Son, you never give up.”

I admire Lance Armstrong. He is a perfect example of a person who perseveres. Not just perseveres, but perseveres beyond human capabilities (what do you expect from someone who was born with a body more powerful than the average human?). He never gives up. It is almost as if he cannot be destroyed. It is amazing how much will power he has. He beat cancer, and won Tour de France 5 times in a row afterwards. For anyone who needs encouragement to persevere, look at someone who has been to Hell and back, like Lance Armstrong.

Blog for Oct. 3

Quoting and paraphrasing.

Locating and citing sources is very important in writing. It is a way to support your case with proof, quotes, and other backgrounds to back it up. In all papers, especially, persuasive papers, it is important to do this.

When I write, I first state my argument. I write a thesis and go from there. Then I add my sources to my argument by paraphrasing them within the paragraph. By doing this, it allows a user to go and find my source to check me for credibility. If I provide a lot of sources it will increase my credibility because the author can find others who agree with what I say. If I don’t provide enough sources, like only one source, people will doubt me, because I don’t have enough proof to back it up. Thus it is important that I cite my sources and find plenty of them.

The process of finding sources, which is research, is equally, if not more, important than the sources you cite. Although you mst cite many sources, you must make sure that you find a cite the right sources. If you support your argument with bland sources that don’t directly support your topic and have multiple meanings, it could cause a reader to think or rationalize that your argument isn’t really plausible. But if you search for ans support your writing with sharp, clear, powerful, and on-point sources, you will sort of “trap” the reader making it unavoidable for them to believe any other argument because you provided such persuading proof.

This research can come in many ways. Although you can have oral proof through spoken testimony, it is better to have tangible evidence. A reader who knows that your evidence was oral may question if it could have been changed or altered to fit your writing. A tangible piece of evidence allows a reader to go and check it out for himself to make sure that it is what you say it is. A reader who reads a quote in a piece of writing can go and check the source himself experience first hand the quote. This is why tangible evidence is better than oral evidence in writing.

When you research, it is important to also to know which kind of things to take from each source. The things you take should support your writing, of course. Even if it means leaving some things out. If you have a quote that is really long, and only two parts of it is what you need for your piece, it is ok to omit parts of the source (which is when you use ellipses). For example, if you are writing about the temperaments of beagles, and you find a quote from a woman in a magazine that has a point you need, omit the other parts. Let’s say the quote says, “ The temperaments of beagles is very curious. They love to search and sniff, being followed by their noses. The beagle is also a medium- sized dog that likes to eat.” You can omit the last sentence as it is irrelevant to the topic, which deals temperaments of beagles. I do not like having this extra garbage in my writing because it distracts the reader from my topic. The first two sentences are good enough.

I use these techniques in my writing. They are very useful and help me keep myself on track. Sometimes unneeded information gets into my writing. That can make or break a piece if you distract the reader with unnecessary nonsense, and if you do not have enough/believable sources in your writing. So it is important to make sure your writing is both on-point and plausible.

Cyberlife--WRAC 237-43& 256-61

In response to the Discussion and Writing question 2 on pg. 258.

I strongly agree that blogs will not go away any time soon. Blogs are like online diaries to many people. A lot of people love to write what is within them. Expressing feelings is a main reason why people write in blogs. People like to show other people their feelings; to put a piece of themselves on the internet. If blogs are to last (which I believe will stay around for a while as I stated earlier), then people will be the ones to keep it going. As long as people keep posting and reading blogs, then they will stay alive.

Prior to reading this article, I read maybe only one blog, which was done by one of my friends. That was when I first heard about blogs and what they were. It was interesting; my friend had pretty much all of her life posted in her blog. I personally still didn’t keep a blog because I preferred to write in a journal.

The reason why I believe that blogs will stick around for a while is because of some of the reasons for creating blogs that Dvorak makes at the end of his article. Although Dvorak gives five reasons that people create blogs, I believe that two of the reasons, Elimination of Frustration and Societal need to share, are the most likely reasons that people create blogs.

As I stated earlier, blogs are places where people can show others their feelings. Elimination of frustration is a big reason why people create blogs, in my opinion. In my experience, people who are angry like to pour out their anger on paper. Especially if they have no one to vent to. Why not vent to the paper? Why not vent to all the other people in the world through the net? They have no choice but to listen if they read your blog. What will the blog do? Complain in the blog, yell, scream, curse, act out your anger in it. It can be very stress-relieving after a difficult day.

I also believe that people start blogs so that they can just put themselves out there. It’s as if they want everyone to see them, which Dvorak describes as “a societal need to share.” They create a blog, and expose themselves by sharing personal things whether they be life crises, good things that happened to them, people they are attracted to, or even small things such as the sore they got on their leg a week ago. They show the world who they are for different reasons, maybe wanting a small amount of recognition or for whatever reason.

These are the reasons for blogging that I find most persuasive by Dvorak. They seem to deal more so with people expressing themselves than with anything else, and expression, I believe, is the reason why most people write blogs in the first place. It is their diary. These are the most important reasons that I think Dvorak gave for blogging.

Ch. 2 Pg. 45-65: Thoughts

In the critical reading chapter, I found and learned many useful tips that I did not know, which will help me in the future. Although I knew already what writing to inform, to persuade, and to entertain dealt with, I did not know the depth to which each of these topics influenced my papers and other written works. In this chapter, I learned better ways in which I can inform readers of the subjects of my works, as well as the different ways in which you can write to entertain; not every entertaining piece has to make you laugh. I also learned how to evaluate informative writing which, I feel, will help me in self-evaluation. This will help me to be a better writer in the future regardless of where I write or what I write about.

One thing in this chapter that particularly caught my interest was the writing to persuade portion. I love trying to persuade people to change their viewpoints on debatable issues, especially if they deal with topics such as religion and politics. I even love listening to debates on these issues on the news, radio or wherever else they may be. I enjoyed learning new strategies to effectively deliver my arguments in writing when I need to write to persuade.

One argument, the Ad Hominem argument, was an argument that I have not heard of. I do believe that it is a good strategy for persuading people through your writing to be on your side vs. another person's. This one is especially good in politics. What better way to turn a person's beliefs against an opponent than to make your opponent out to be a liar or hypocrite (sort of like in many presidential elections)?

I also learned that in critiques, you have much opportunity to criticize others work, as well as learn for yourself. If I read an article, I could critique that article to determine its accuracy, importance, and how well the argument was presented. If I find many mistakes in an author's work, such as spelling errors, unimportant information, rambling off topic, difficult-to-understand argument deliverance, or lack of evidence and foundation in his argument, I can use that when I write so that I won't make the same mistakes that he did. Even more so, If I happened to be debating with this author, I could use his mistakes to my advantage by writing in clarity and sharpness, which could sway an audience to my point of view. These things could possibly even determine a winner or loser of an argument.

One final thing that I thought of while reading this chapter was: "What if I could combine writing motives? Perhaps I could mix two together and write to persuade, but in an entertaining way? That would be sort of like advertisement. Just like how on TV they will, for example, show a commercial that would make you laugh (such as a Geico commercial) to persuade you to buy their product, but while entertaining you the whole time. In writing, I could do the same things. I could write on a thing or idea I am trying to offer to the reader, but be possibly comical or use some other entertaining strategies to persuade them to see things my way.

These are my thoughts on this chapter.

Check 1, 2

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