Robo Domination

The potential of technology is constantly growing with time, and the robo-readers are just advancement, but a controversial one at that. Based on the numerous passages that I have read, the programs seem to do a great job on the basis of syntax, grammar, and structure. But, this is only a small part of what writing is about. I agree with source E that if all of teachers would adapt to this new way of grading, much of the essence of the English language would be lost, and writers would reform the way it is written. I obviously agree that there are problems with the writing of the youth on the basis of syntax, grammar, and structure, and this program may help to revise that, but there is so much more to be assessed. Once these skills are mastered by students, the robo-readers become useless.

 As stated in source b, the robos have many flaws in what they believe is a good paper. More words and sophisticated language are important, but the fact that the machines do not recognize the error in content and ideas because a problem when correcting more sophisticated works, especially when leaning more to the creative side of the writing spectrum.

Being a student writer myself, I would agree with the article source F in that students will spend less time crafting beautiful work if they know that only a machine will read it. Plus will all of the ways to fool the reader, as mentioned in sources B, E, and F, there are so many ways to fool the systems, that students will soon take these shortcuts and end of worse writers than they were before. The quality of writing will plummet. As if students weren’t already unmotivated to do their homework.

Plus, the robos lack an essential part of the editing process: the ability to assess the ideas and give feedback on them. That is what is most helpful to me is the corrections of my ideas and content of the essay. I can grammar check it for myself, but I can’t inquire the thoughts of the teachers who have been disciplined to be experts on the matter. So ultimately, contradicting source d, we will not end up better writers, but even worse than before. We do not improve so much as writer more, but thinking about what to write.

These programs seem to be a good idea to be possibly leased to the students to edit their own papers beforehand, but not as the final assessment of their work. It could become a very advanced version of spell check, which may make us better writings, but not to only rely on them. Plus, how many responsibilities can we take from humans and give to computers?

Maps

http://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/1633m4.jpg

This map is a depiction of early America Virginia in 1633. The first thing that I notice when I look at this map is how the title is adorned with illustrations of an American colony. Whether it is Jamestown or a different settlement, I do not know, but it shows me that when they drew up this map that their main idea of Virginia at the time, and their main focus, was the settlements made there and the power of the whites on the New World. What also illustrates this point for me is the dominance of European things, like boats, and the settlements, and the lack of Native American things, with only a small depiction of two Native Americans trading on the side. This just proves to me that the settlers saw the land as their own, with little to no obstruction from the Native Americans. A line from Crafting Whiteness in Early America that also illustrates this point is from page 56, “…America suggested a certain inevitability to English control of the North American continent.” Another aspect of the map that comes to mind is the number of sea monsters depicted in the oceans. This to me showed that though the English are clearly in control of the land, there is still much yet to be discovered from the New World and dangers to be hold. The portrayals of other animals in the land, like turkeys and deer, show the prosperity of the land and usefulness to the English.

Op-ed on Education

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/opinion/occupy-the-classroom.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

This was a persuasive article about a different way to approach the poverty in America. He porposed that instead of trying to fix the gaps that already exist between the lower and upper classes, more money should be spent on preventing such a gap. He believed thst America should porvide more money to early education programs for the less advantaged children of lower classes. He believed that this money should be put into educational programs such as Head Start to stop economic gaps before they happen.

I found the article very pursuasive mainly because of the logic that it propossed. If every child is given an equal opportunity to succeed, then logically there would be less of a divide between the country. Start young so that everyone is given the skills to be able to survive above the poverty line. He presented facts as well of how educational programs, such as Head Start, are already making a difference in lower classes. I hope that such programs are implicated soon in America to hopefully save our future generations.

Film Directions

I thought that the film director did a great job of presenting the story. He included  many little aspects of the story that one usually wouldn't think to add. Some of these things were the little childish ways that Heather portrayed. He documented little conversations of hers and her childish thoughts. It really made the story much more believable and enjoyable, and set up the scene for the one of the main purposes of the story: Heather. He often added many scenes of her playing with the children, and really interacting with them. It made the viewers more emotional about the story and more passionate about their stance on the topic.

He also did not hesitate to record the many arguments of the family and their view on the Cochlear implant. Showing how emotionally involved the whole family was in each family's decision made the story much more realistic and gave a greater depth to the issue of deafness. I personally did not know about how avid deaf people were about their culture before watching this film; I thought they would all want to get the implant. It showed how passionate they were about preserving their identity, and this would not have been possible if such arguments were not inlcuded.

The documentary was very ineteresting and well made, and I hope it all worked out well for the families.

Fear of Being Stabbed

I think it is a pretty legit fear, no one wants to be stabbed. I have no story or anything to relate to my seemingly normal fear. It may have sprouted from my viewing of multiple horror movies and crime television shows. The thing is, this would be the worst way to die. If I am going to die, I would rather hands down be shot, drown, sufficated, anything but stabbed. It would cause so much suffering on my part, that I would never want to face. The long agony of laying there, blood gushes from my fresh wounds, just makes me squirm. I want to die quickly and as painlessly as possible, and being stabbed is not the way. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.

The Way I Are

I think the song that most describes America right now is The Way I Are by Timberland. This song is about a couple in which the guy who "ain't got no money" and can't afford to buy expensive things for his girlfriend. The girl accepts the boy any way because "it don't matter 'cause I'm the one that loves you best".

Americans today are too obsessed with money. A lot of  Americans are tetering on the edge of financial crisis because of this and have to find a way to live through it. People have to learn to live and "work without the perks, just you and me" in order to save themselves from financial debt. It also applies to the USA as a whole because of the economic crisis that it is in now. The only way to get out of it is to work on it together and give up some of the perks that America has now.

Americans as well are too focused on earning money in their lives to satisfy all of their wants. Americans are always after imediate gratification and material objects while they lose sight of what really matters. The love of money is the root of all evil, and Americans need to realize that there are more important things in life than  money. I think this song greatly outlines this because it shows how love dominates money. The girl gets over the money obsession because "together we can be the perfect soul mates". She gives up what she thinks is important for what really matters : love.

My Philosophy of Writing

I am a ranter. I have all these thoughts in my head, and when I try to write them down, out comes about five pages for a one page paper. Most of my editing consists of cutting things down to the  most important ideas. I never have a problem with page minimum, it is the maximum limit that is the problem for me. But this is all usually done on written paper.

Once I get to typing the "rough draft", my paper is pretty much finished. Once I get to the point of typing, it feels to serious for me I guess, that I don't want to make any mistakes. I rarely change things after they are typed. I used to have my parents then edit my paper for me, but this proved unhelpful as my writing got more sophisticated. Now, I am usually the only one that edits my papers. This usually leads to stupid errors, but overall, my writing is the same as before. Then I usually read it over one last time and make sure it follows all of the requirements. Then, I am done.