Outline.

Intro: I'm walking down an aisle to get to a stage, and as I do

I get "flashbacks" which illustrate my feelings toward writing, 

reading and medicine.

Standing Up: Internal monologue focusing on how at the end of 

a major part of your life you reflect on the things you've gained

and the things you've lost.

 -Transition to: Seventh Grade: my teacher gives me detention for

not paying attention in class. During the detention she gives me

the first book I actually had to read about adventure and taking

those first few steps to greatness

 

- I'm walking down the aisle thinking about words I might need

to say and how I should phrase them...with the realization of what

I need to say when I get up there

 

 - Flash to 9th grade writing for the school newspaper. Highlighting

myself enjoying writing will illustrate my interest in writing.

 - Flash to 11th grade when my girlfriend is in the hospital where

I volunteer. I 

write her a small song and go to visit her. As I'm waiting a doctor

runs by with people surrounding a stab wound victim. As I watch, 

I walk toward the scene, a pair of hands grab my shouilder.

- I'm being patted on the back as I reach the stage and walk up to the podium

and I have my final Flashback

- I'm lying in a hospital bed afraid that I'm going to die, with my stomach in 

pain. The doctors wheel me in for surgery as my appendix has burst and I'm slowly

dying. I want to take the knife and do it myself and make the pain go away, but I'm

too weak. As I fade out to unconciousness...

- I open my eyes. I tell the audience in front of me my name and the college I attend.

I share my career goals and cite my inspirations, my hopes and also my fears. I 

encourage them to do what they need to do to have a happy life and remember that its the 

small things in life that matter. The End of the Speech will be the end of the paper.

top ten criteria for a persuasive essay

1- A logically progressive argument.

2- Citation of statistics relevant to the argument.

3- Effective use of quotations.

4- Inclusion of author's own personal ideas.

5- Examples which further illustrate the argument.

6- A contradiction free argument.

7- Strategic distmantling of the opposition's argument.

8- Use of proper terminology related to the topic.

9- Avoiding restating the same reasons/ideas over and over.

10- A powerful conclusion

Change the BC Food Service

One of my biggest complaints about Boston College is the Food Service. There are numerous changes which could be made to make the Food Service better which would result in a popular motion of support from the student body. The main issues are the cost of the food, the quality of the food and the hours of operation.

We pay 54K a year to come to school here, a good portion of which is dedicated to room and board (and a meal plan). We are alotted roughly 20 dollars a day for the entire semester based on the "average" college student. Three meals a date but only totaling 20 at the end of the day? Wow, I was unaware that the average college student is an anorexic wreck of a human being (funny for a sports school). Must be really cheap food then! Wrong. The food prices here are worse than an upscale restraunt. A poptart which costs a dollar in a normal vending machine is 1.50 here. Cookies? 6.50. A Sub with a bag of chips? 13.99 to a normal $5. These jacked up prices make it harder for students to stay within their meal plan forcing them to add more money to their account while giving BC a hefty profit. And does the cost match the quality?

As a Newtonite, I have the "honor" of eating at Stuart Dining hall, which is supposedly the best dining hall in BC (I honestly prefer Lower's Corcoran Commons). The quality of the food is subpar for an institution which claims to offer only the best. Their baked goods are stale and flaky. What cookies aren't sold are ground up and used as toppings for Fro-yo in the dining halls. The "Quality" dinners are priced at 15 dollars and they are dry or undercooked. As a result I go to eat at the far less nutrituous late night, so that I can have some grilled food that isn't health but is definately cheaper. Occationally, the food itself is off and hasn't been changed in time to save the poor soul who tries to eat it. Adding this to the fact that Newton's dining hall is only open until 12 (as opposed to Main Campus dining Halls open until 2), leads to a very dissatisfying experience.

Several changes need to be made in order to solve this problem. The first is for BC to either lower prices or increase the amount of money allotted for meals without increasing tuition costs. Especially given the fact that the school is being run like a business, there needs to be an effort to make it more affordable for the students. By lowering the prices, students will have an easier time budgeting their money without worrying about starving. Lowering the prices of the healthy dinners and keeping the price of late night reasonable would result in less freshmen students suffering from the freshman 15 (30 in some cases...). Extending the operating hours of all dining halls would also help students with their late night cravings and reduce any losses the university would experience for reducing their outrageous prices. While these are just suggestions, the student body would applaud these measures because they are practical, rational suggestions with the express purpose of helping out the students (which is what a university should do.)

Pro Life Information

When accidental pregnancies occur, there are many options available. However, the only one which should not be considered is abortion. Abortion is the murder of an unborn fetus which prevents the irresponsible parent from having to live up to their responsiblities. Legalized under Roe v. Wade, it granted women their right to privacy but served to legalize a procedure which was based on underdeveloped scientific techniques. As members of a Catholic community, we should all support the idea that a life begins at conception (intentional or otherwise), an idea which has recently been bolstered by scientific developments. In 8 weeks a fetus's brain and nerve system is full operational. To have an abortion is to dismember the fetus's head and suck out the body, an act which the fetus feels due to the presence of nerves.  Not only is abortion morally wrong, but it is a risk to the mother who undergoes the operation. In today's society there are numerous ways to deal with unwanted pregnancies which do not involve killing the baby. Instead of killing the child, the mother could carry the child to term and put the child up for adoption. Also, carrying the child to term could result in the mother changing her mind about the baby and end up raising the baby. While perfectly legal, that doesn't mean that it is right for people to get abortions to solve their problems. People argue that abortions are necassary in cases of rape or incest, but statistics have proven that these reasons account for only 5% of recorded abortions. The overwhelming opinion is that an abortion is had because it isn't convenient for the mother. We don't allow murder in general so why should we allow abortions just because its not convenient? If a person went up and killed someone because they were an" inconvinience" we would arrest that person and send him to jail. The same should apply with abortion. 

In Defense of Wikipedia

The persuasive essay on Wikipedia found in Fresh Ink is meant address the debate that has been raging over whether or not Wikipedia is a credible source due to its open edit nature. The author starts by introducing the topic and then diving into the main criticism. While many people believe that since Wikipedia can be editted by anyone, the author argues that the arguement is not as strong as most teachers and professors would have us believe. The author refers to the reason that wikipedia is an open edit encyclopedia and then addresses the main complaints against it. He highlights a severe instance of fictional information on Wikipedia in one paragraph in order to illustrate the arguement of one side, but then switches and presents the counter arguement by the end of the paragraph.

This essay had me from the word go. Wikipedia is a site I go on once a day, if not more. Whenever I have to do preliminary research for a paper, that is where I go first. However, I could not clearly determine the side the author favored. While he focused on the flaws of the website, he also gave evidence throughout the essay which undermined the flaws. By the end of the essay it became clear that the student was pro-wikipedia, but that initial confusion lingered throughout much of the essay. It could have benefited from a stronger introductory paragraph and changing of sentence structure in several parts. However, the jumbling all came together at the conclusion which satisfied me as the reader and was very clear cut.

Top Ten Blog Posts

1.) Rose: Eavsdroppings

2.) Lucy: Rave Subculture

3.) Ruben: Letter From Birmingham Jail 

4.) Liana: Facbook Community Paper

5.) Dario: The Slopes

6.) Dave K: Shared Spaces

7.) Parker: Hemmingway Symbolism

8.) Sven: What

9.) Matt: The USS Intrepid

10.) Patty: Success!

The Decline of Language...

According to George Orwell the English language is on the decline. Orwell claims that our "foolish" thoughts are making the English language "sloven and innaccurate". However, Orwell also points out in his intro that the process is reversible if steps are taken to prevent the spreading of damage. He presents 5 examples of poor English and then points out what is wrong with them in the rest of his essay. He focuses on the their flaws. He points out that by using pointless words we construct meaningless statements which have no clear objective and which only serve to confuse the hell out of everyone. He targets metaphors, cliches and ambiguity in writing and decimates them as rubbish which tarnishes English language for future generations. Connotation and Denotation are heavily referenced in regards to political works. Orwell makes it clear that mainly the delivery of catchphrases to snare the public's attention in order to further the cause. Without using originality we become weaker and so we need to find new, proper methods to bring this to the forefront of English writing. Slowly but surely attention to the work we produce will lead to wide spread changes to the English language and writing. Simply creating a message and putting it out helps make things simple for everyone. Overall I agreed with Orwell message bout found that his guidelines were rather restricting for a writer such as myself . When I write I try to use cliches to an extent in order to give off the sense of being witty but never to further my arguements. However, as a reader I feel that his words could not be truer since convoluted writing is a hassle to try and disect. 

Letter from Birmingham Jail: Persuasive Analysis

Dr. King's essay "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is a direct response to criticism he recieved for leading a civil rights protest against segregation. The letter addresses the criticism directly and in a careful manner. He does not disregard the criticism - he uses it to his advantage. King boldly points out that the criticism he was recieving was for leading a protest, not for protesting injustice. He declares that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" so as to justify the protest. He criticizes that his fellow clergymen believe that his protest is both "unwise and untimely." He notes that his people have taken the back of the hand in their struggle for equality for years and that they have always been told to wait to no avail. He notes that "privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily." He then goes on to address the key points in the criticisms directly. He then launches into his counter arguements so as to dismantle any arguement that might be used against him. The best example is when he asks the rhetorical question "How can you advocating breaking some laws and obeying others?" Once he presents this question he systematically answers it by pointing out that there are two types of laws: just and unjust laws. He points out that just laws should be observed and cites St. Augustine by declaring that "an unjust law is no law at all." He does not seek to use ad hominem attacks to further his own arguement and instead uses historical examples and logic to reason with his readers. His most compelling part of the argument is his earnestness however. At the end of the "letter" he states that he hopes to meet with each of the clergymen who critized him, as a "fellow Christian" and not a civil rights leader. It serves to show that his only motivation is equality. The right to stand next to others and be acknowledged as an equal. He uses emotion and reason effectively in an arguement in order to convince others that his cause is just and that his imprisonment is not. He asserted that nonviolent civil disobedience was the only way to achieve true civil rights and that the fight for equality could not remain solely in the hands of the courts but also needed to be taken to the streets in a peaceful and respectful manner.

Place Based.

This research paper is the first time I've had to think about placed based research. Most of my past high school research papers were focused on events or people from history or literary themes in novels. This is the first time I've had to research a place. Choosing an online community has been kind of rough since its not a physical place and is more intangible than an actual location. However, I believe that gives me more control over the topic since I can bend the information in a manner that can work out well for me. Facebook has served as a way to represent the new generation of people all around the world. It has allowed my topic to be more than a town and at the same time still be limited in certain respects. To make a successful essay which deals with place based writing, the author needs to find a way to seemlessly integrate research and quotes into the essay without taking away from the flow and making it unnatural. The paper should focus on the intricate aspects of the place while showing how to relates to the entire place as a whole, focusing on how each piece works in harmony to create the atmosphere. In this way you emphasize the importance of every aspect that makes the community special. The problem is, when dealing with an idea like social networking, there is so much information available on the topic it is hard to remain on just the community aspect of a site like Facebook. One of my concerns is that the paper will not focus enough on the community aspect and will focus more on the profiles. Another concern is that my personal biases in my opinion will be too strong. As long as the essay is on topic, structured so as to flow, and focused, it can produce a good place based essay. By emphasizing the place's importance and why its important, the essay will leave a powerful impression on the reader.

Facebook

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites on the planet, having successfully upsurped myspace as the lead networking site on the net. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, the site took off and became emensely popular with teenagers across the country. Initial open to students with school email addresses, it is now open for everyone. Almost everyone has a facebook where they can post pictures of themselves, share stories and let everyone know what they are doing with their "status updates." As a networking tool, it allows people to connect with one another even after one meeting, while allowing users to limit just how much others can see. With the inclusion of photos, applications, and instant messaging, the site has become an addiction for many people, since they spend more time on the site than they do at their jobs. Users post all their information online in order to show people their interests and small tidbits of information such as age, hometown, birthday, occupation and school info. While not entirely intentional, this information is then used to potentially outreach to people with similar interests in your area. Facebook is one of the key reasons the internet has made the world smaller. While people are constantly meeting and parting, facebook allows us to stay in contact and get a better sense about who people are. That doesn't mean that facebook is the perfect tool. It has recieved its fair share of criticism over policies and controversies over its founding. Despite the intentions of the founder, facebook can be used as a stalking method, since it amasses the interests of many people in a dossier. This can then be used by a company or a person in order to learn more about others, whether the user likes that or not. Unfortunately, the addictive nature of the site has made it harder for people to focus and get their work done. As a result, many companies have banned its use on company time. Since so many people use it, and it is such an integral part of the new method of socializing, it is seen as blasphemous that people do not not have a profile. So in that respect Facebook is one of the most interesting "places" in our contemporary lives, and I look forward to doing more research on it for my paper.

Place Based Topics and Sources.

For my paper I considered two different topics for my paper. My first topic was inspired by the article we read in class about the music scene in Boston. I decided that it would be a very cool experience to focus on the music scene around London, England. Specifically Liverpool, birthplace of the Beatles. Since I'm originally from England it would give me a good chance to learn more about my origins and the area that I come from. Also there is alot of information available about the London Music scene on websites like Questia.com and Wikipedia (just for overview not as a legitimate source).
My second potential topic was facebook.com. Facebook has revolutionized the way we communicate with our friends. Instead of calling to check up on them, all we need to do is check facebook to see what's new in their lives via Status Updates (whether we want to or not.) Even as a social networking site, Facebook is unique in several aspects and yet also very confirmatory to the standards of the most basic social network sites. Because of the numerous uses and how integral it has become to our society. In such a respect it is a virtual community which has become more of a place than any place that is physically available. Since I spend alot of time on facebook, this is a very appealing topic for me to research in depth for the paper. Using Questia and the databases available at BC I will be able to construct a very interesting paper about places for Freshman Writing Seminar and I can't wait to start.

There's No Place Like Home...Kinda

Being in college is a new experience, since we all have to leave home and thrust ourselves into an entirely new environment with people we don't know. However, as time passes, we establish ourselves and tend to find places where we are most comfortable. For me, this is the common room on the third floor of the Keyes building. Normally, one would expect me to be a visitor of the first floor common room, but their are vending machines there which is a key feature that the third floor common room lacks. The room is shaped like a trapezoid. Two doors at each end, a large set of glass windows serving as a wall on East side of the building. Near the windows are two tables which each have 4 chairs. On the opposite end of the room are two big chairs. In between these chairs and the tables are two sofas and another pair of chairs. Each are symmetrically aranged so that the are facing each other. While the walls were initial bare, our resident artist, Lindsay, drew a bunch posters for us which are really awesome (including a poster of Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride. Looks Like Sirius Black though.)
The people who are always in the room are members of all floors and not just the 3rd floor. We have at least one or two students from the 1st, 2nd, and 4th floors. While it is understood that we are all doing work (for the most part), the common room serves as the central hub of residency life in some respect. Whenever anyone wants some company for food, they just come to the common room and ask around the common room. Since it is between both the stairwells, we have numerous visitors. As a result the conversations can vary severely, but we get a better feel for one another the more we interact. In that sense, we've developed into a community with a shared place to talk and share our days. It's nice knowing that there's somewhere to go when you're done with your work and can have an enjoyable time. On weedays, the room offers solace when work has to be done and you just don't want to do it. But you'll get it done. On the weekends, its the place to be, with some party or scandal errupting that can be just as entertaining, if not more so, than reality television. In this way, the common room is more than just a place to go. It's the place to be.

Strawberry Fields Forever (The Strawberry Milk Story)

After an experiment in isolation for Freshman Writing Seminar, I went out with three kids from the third floor of my dorm to get some Late Night Food (It's the devil's food. So addicting and bad for your body. Don't do it.). Since I was really hungry I got popcorn chicken, sour cream and onion lays, potato chips and Strawberry Milk. Now, I love strawberry milk. I don't know why. It's not the taste, its not that its good for me, it's just something I love. After I finished my late night meal, I decided that I wanted to drink my milk. I opened the pink cover...and saw what appeared to be normal white milk. I turned to Marc (one of the kids), and showed him the contents and he told me that it probably just wasn't shaken up enough. So I closed the bottle and shook it a bit. I then opened it and saw it was still white. After telling me that I should man up and drink the damn milk, I took a sip. My mouth went numb. The milk had somehow turned into Novocaine and numbed my lips. It was ridiculous. I looked at the date written on the bottle. It had expired two days previously. I was outraged. However, that didn't stop Marc from taking a sip. He then exclaimed that he wanted to vomit. After a bit of prodding, I went up to exchange the milk. The man behind the counter just told me to get another one. So I got another one. And I opened it to find that it was in the same condition. This was egregious. I then asked if I could just take an orange juice instead (gambling that it wouldn't kill me). As Marc and I walked back to our dorm with our two companions, I decided that I wouldn't stand for this. We pay 51K a year to come to BC with 5K going toward meal plans. When I got back to the common room, I turned on my computer and fired off an angry email to BC Dining Service recounting the story in a manner which was not as eloquent as the version you've just read. But what follows is the legitimate ending of my email to the BC dining Service:

" We pay 2,500 in meals for overpriced food. Could you please do us the courtesy of [at least] keeping the food fresh?"

I have yet to hear back.

Feeling Out of Place?

For Freshman Writing Seminar, I decided that I would do something that would take me out of my element. Something which was both new and a bit of a culture shock. I decided that for lunch, I would sit alone. Normally, I would have lunch with a couple of my friends if they were free and talk about the usual topics (politics, philosophy, religion...yea. right.) or strike up a conversation with a stranger in the lunch line and see where it would go from there. However, I'm completely comfortable eating with strangers or with friends because I'm a naturally social person. I like being able to interact with others so in order to feel out of place, I purposely separated myself from everyone and sat alone. It was one of the tensest 20 minutes of my life. I would have done the full 40 if I hadn't been so rattled. Sitting alone at a table was a very unusual experience. I didn't have anyone to talk to and it felt isolating. I was sitting there eating alone as everyone around me enjoyed the company of others. I wouldn't be surprised if someone pointed me out sitting there, alone, eating two slices of the worst pizza Upper has to offer (wheat crust, are you kidding me?). So as I sat there I felt extremely uncomfortable and paranoid and each move I made was scrutinized by imaginary eyes which only my mind could focus on. It was ridiculous. After 20 minutes I called a quits. Paranoia was the last thing I needed at that point. That night I appreciated the company of my friends at late night. It felt so much better because I could talk, crack jokes and shamelessly flirt with people as opposed to sit alone and feel somewhat sorry for the position I had put myself in. However, the Universe was not through with me yet... (To Be Continued: Strawberry Milk Story)

Literary Analysis

Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Mountains" is a story which is open to interpretation. From the reader's standpoint, Hemingway uses simple diction and structure to create an elegant short story. While many people have tried to offer and interpretation, each person has their own idea of what is happening and what the couple are talking about in their conversation. The plot of the short story itself is simple: a man and a woman have a conversation in a Spanish bar as they wait for the train. Neither character is named or described, which allows to reader to imagine anyone they want in the scene, which allows the reader enough room for personalization and to become more invested in the actual story. Although never explicitly indicated in the story by Hemingway or the characters, the couple seem to be discussing the abortion of a pregnancy (supported by the fact that he says its a common procedure which is safe and alot of people do. Times haven't changed much have they?). From the conversation we can determine that the couple are traveling together constantly, while exploring their bodily desires in a casual fashion. When the woman becomes pregnant, however, the man tries to pressure her into getting an abortion. While she is at first reluctant, his nagging mixed with the drinks she takes in cause her to agree to the procedure in the end. The relationship between the man and the woman and their views on life appear to be the main themes of the story. While the man insists that he is not trying to force the woman into making a decision he pushes hard to get his way. At the end, he crosses the tracks with the baggage and orders a drink alone while pretending that he is the voice of reason. Throughout the conversation, the woman expresses her disappointment with the life they live and possibly their relationship. While they drink the "Anis del Toro", she complains that it tastes like liquorice and that all the drinks they try to enjoy taste the same. This can be seen as a metaphor as the drinks represent the experiences of the couple. Despite their varied desires everything always ends the same. While the woman thinks a baby can change things, the man still imposes his will upon her. Their relationship is clearly dominated by the man and as a result neither are incredibly happy.

The Democratic Party In Action

Looking at the Democratic Party's website before an election is like walking into a dirty alley. The walls are covered with dirt and obscene statements. With the election only months away, the Democratic Party's website is devoted to the destruction of John McCain and the establishment of Barrack Obama. Now, normally, I'm not political in the slightest, but this election year I don't support any of the major candidates. In fact I fully intend to vote for Mickey Mouse. That's how much faith in politics right now: I feel that a corporate slogan/cartoon character could run the country better than either of these two men. They both try to establish themselves as the saviors of this country but in truth, they are just politicians. No matter what, we can't please everyone. But that hasn't stopped the Democrats from trying.
By simply logging on to the homepage the first thing that caught my eye was a Ad of George Bush getting a hug from John McCain. Ok. I don't know where to begin with this. The slogan of the photo says "John McCain: More of the Same" and goes on to list all the times McCain has agreed with Bush. Ok, I'm surprised. Wasn't McCain a Republican to begin with? And a patriot? Of course he was going to support Bush. Back when Bush became president, he had the Dixie Chicks publicly scorned when they voiced their disapproval with the nation's choice. Sometimes you just have to agree. Especially when you're a member of the party. But I digress. The Democratic Website offers many ads which hope to convince potential voters like myself that Obama is the candidate for me. He wants to do so much to help me, as an individual, that I have to read about all the ways he's going to, if elected. The left side of the website lists a few articles about Obama, while the right side has all these links to information about John McCain
. It seems that the Democrat's website talks more about McCain than Obama. Among all the articles present the most common accusation is that McCain is just more of the same. Bush's third term. By appealing to the nation's dissatisfaction with the Bush Administration and associating it with McCain, the Democrats think they can win. It's their ballgame to lose. Even I'm getting tired of reading Bushisms. There are only two links to information on Obama. The rest are about the problems America caused under Bush and how McCain will continue to spread these problems. The intended audience is clear. Middle class and lower class Americans are all meant to see this website and vote Obama in November. I just don't believe that it was done in the most effective way. Instead of presenting their candidate in a dignified manner, they have instead devoted themselves to the destruction through smear tactics. However, the Republican Website resorts to the same sort of tactics in order to try and convince undecided voters that their candidate is the right one.
By simply listing what is wrong with the other candidate, both parties avoid presenting their candidate properly. Instead of making their pages glorified Facebook profiles listing all of the candidate's political ambitions and what they hope to accomplish as president, the sites are just bulletin boards about what's wrong with the other candidate. Instead of being honest, the two parties are just dancing around the issues and making it seem like the only thing wrong is with the other candidates. Realistically all their doing is playing of the tensions between each other to act like spiders and snatch people up. Obama will win. But will we be happy with that out come? Only time will tell.

Tentative Concert Plans (Not An FWS post)

At the moment I have two concerts on my "MUST see" list. Coldplay and Jack's Mannequin. I have tickets for one, but the other might be harder to get. The Jack's Mannequin tickets go on sale Saturday at noon and I'm determined to beat the rush to get them. However, That would mean waking up at 9, getting to the Pleasant Street Train Stop by 10 and getting a good spot outside of the Paradise Rock Club so that I can get some decent tickets. Last time I attempted something like this, my friend and almost got kidnapped by a creepy old taxi driver (but that's a story for another time). To complicate matters, I had to go out and buy a new textbook for my Calc Class and lost the 88 bucks I had set aside for the concert. So that means I have to run home on Friday, use my debit card to get the money I need, stay the night, drive back to campus early in the morning, and then race to the trains on Upper. It's going to be a long day. But I still have Coldplay tickets. So no matter what I'm gonna be seeing a concert this year. But Jack's Mannequin only plays Boston once every two years, so to quote superbad "I would do unforgivable things" to see them perform live. Yea, no witty comment in this one...just felt like killing time

Reading Images

Banksy's selected graffiti include some very interesting pieces which have clear traces of social commentary involved. The two pieces I chose to analyze are "Swept Under" and "Sale On Christ" which clearly have a satirical value to them.

"Swept Under" shows a maid lifting up a curtain to deposit and hide the dirt she cleaned up only to see a brick wall instead of space. While Banksy could have easily colored the brick to make it look like the scene is from the inside of a wealthy family's house, he left the brick in for the purpose of a social commentary. The graffiti was left on a brick wall to highlight a social commentary on the situation on the streets. While the maid is supposed to keep things clean, she merely deposits the trash under a curtain, removing it from view but not removing the actual problem. This is often a criticism of society itself in that while we imprison criminals we do nothing for their rehabilitation or simply try to hide the wrong doing that occurs in society by "sweeping it under the rug" in order to keep up the appearance of wholesome conditions. Such striking social commentary is aimed at the politicians who do nothing to try and legitimately help the society in which they live, but rather do what they can to keep up appearance until the next election.

"Sale on Christ" is a piece of art that seems to be a commentary on the secularization of society by having turned our backs on religion for consumer goods. In the painting the women who pray and worship Christ when he is on the cross are surrounding a large red sign (a contrast to their gray bodies) which says "Sale Ends Today." This can be interpreted as the women praying for the extension of the sale so that they might get an extension or that sales on Sunday may have replaced the desire to worship Jesus. Nevertheless, most people who see graffiti such as this cannot help but think of the fact that there is a clear relation to religion becoming less of a domineering force in our lives as commercialism takes a more important role in our lives.

Textual Analysis

In high school, my English class placed a heavy emphasis on literary analysis. Having read works by Camus, Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Keats in that class, I have had to analyze prose, plays and poetry. To me, analysis is looking for hidden motivations and symbols in texts and drawing conclusions about their possible meanings with supporting evidence, and then relating what I find back to the overall mood and tone of the text. For prose writing, I had always been more inclined to search for symbolism related to life and death in the context of the character and the story so that I could start with the smaller picture and see how it relates to the big picture overall. Anything that would advance the plot or alter the mood would be a starting point. For poetry, I would take a different approach by focusing on the rhyme schemes and the symbolism in the structure in relation to the content. But in both cases I would always be looking for a hidden meaning instilled into the work by the author.


Ben Killips' essay "Hopper's Nighthawks: Comfort in Despair" serves as an analysis of Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks but for the most part I felt that it fell short of its potential since much of it seemed like complete speculation to me. Since art is such a tricky subject to analyze and draw conclusions from, speculation is a key, so my disagreement with Killips may simply stem from the differences in our interpretation of the painting. While Killips sees this as a reflection of desperation and loneliness in the world and the emotional turmoil of the times, I see it as a rather hope inspiring painting. Since it is painted from the point of view of someone walking on the streets of a city, the night seems to be brisk and dark. However, then you notice the bright diner, which shows people sitting at a table in conversation enjoying their drinks with the light from the diner piercing the dark night outside and casting a warm inviting glow towards others. In my own interpretation, I don't see suffering on the expressions of the people in the diner but instead see a passive expression as they place their orders. To argue that Hopper's painting is a mere reflection of the times would be an insult because art is meant to transcend time and be accessible to all by empathetically appealing to the viewers emotions. For that reason, I cannot see the connection between Nighthawks and Pearl Harbor or the overall bleak undertones. Optimism seems to be the only thing expressed through the contrast of colors because of the appealing nature of the diner in comparison to the darkness of the night. To argue that there is an internal struggle within the people in the painting would be stretching the argument. Killips' analysis is a product of his own interpretation of the painting and is fairly well done since he focuses heavily on the contrast of colors, the artist's period and background while providing his own interpretation. While I agree with some of the points presented in Killips' paper, because of my own interpretation I couldn't agree with everything he wrote. In relation to Hacker's criteria, Killips' essay is very well done since it starts with a summary of the visual text and then analyzes the piece while backing up his arguments with the design elements he felt were key to the work. However, I felt that he present too much of his own ideas as fact rather than interpretation. Killips lacked confusion and was too sure of his argument for me to be completely convinced.

The Explination For "A World Without Rules" Title

Anarchy. Simply put. The reason I chose that for the title of my blog was meant to be an ironic statement since writing is all about literary rules. The line is borrowed from the Dark Knight posters that were on the internet in the weeks before the movie was released. Since the Dark Knight is the best movie ever made (Just my opinion. But It's true.), I felt it would be only fitting to at least highlight that aspect in my blog (since I can do an insanely creepy imitation of the Joker). But this doesn't mean that I will be keeping the Dark Knight theme indefinitely, it just means that, for now, you need to look at a really scarred dude whenever you go on my page... Now that I think about it he never really does tell us how he gets his scars. Oh well, guess that'll be explained in the sequel.

Banichek Predicts Death?

So yea...there was a mind reader in Devlin Hall on Saturday. After a night out with some friends for dinner we decided to go to the mind reader. When we first arrived he looked like one of my old history teachers...I should email him in prison....anyway, we sat down in the middle and observed how he acted. He talked on the phone for a little then he just acted like a creeper. The room filled up slowly. It was a rainy night so understandably the turn out was not big. At one point some girl walked in with a wet coat and yelled "I CAME ALL THE WAY IN THE RAIN SO THIS BETTER BE GOOD". She looked kinda familiar but then again I'm terrible with names. Besides it was only then that I'd noticed the 3 knives in the Banichek Death Trick Box. Anyhow, Banichek started his show and mindf*cked everyone. After making a friend of mine destroy a fork with her mind, I started talking about how weird it was that he was able to manipulate the entire show. Then he called on me. The whole backdrop of his technique was that he had a dream about a card that some girl in the audience had years before and that he had written it down on a piece of paper and wrote his location and date of the dream on the paper and sealed it in an envelope. Said envelope was sealed in a yellow envelope with a "?" drawn on it.

"(thinking) Oh crap. You've got to be kidding. You're making my friends break forks. The least you can do is let me talk in shock and awe."
B: "ok, you're going to help me. I need you to give me a date. Name a Month"
Me: "(thinking) ok, so this guy knows nothing about me. There's just no way. So to prevent him from manipulating me, I'll use my birthday...but not my real birthday. The birthdate I use when I fake online survey forms."
Me: June
B: "Name a Day?"
Me: 11
B: "Year?"
Me: 1989 (one year before my birthday)
B: Does this day have any significance for you?
Me: Yes
B: Birthday?
Me: Yep
B: ...ok. Well did you think of another date prior to this?
Me: (lying) Yes
B: Oh? What was it?
Me: March 10, 1990 (ex girlfriend's birthday)
B: ANy significance?
Me: uh yea.
B: what?
Me: My...friend's birthday.
B: ok, you can sit down

So he does his trick. Magically it was the girl's card. He also manipulated some other kid into saying New York (the location). Then came the surprise. The Date written on piece of paper...

...was 6/11/89. Needless to say it was a shocking experience. I'm sure that if I asked he'd give me my date of death. Then I'd be screwed. If I knew when I was going to die, then I'd be pretty freaking pissed. Because it would make every second that much tenser knowing EXACTLY that my heart can only last so much longer. Weird feeling and it got me thinking. So I refrained from asking Banichek any questions and left with my friends. This has absolutely nothing to do with FWS but I thought it would save me from having to retell it.

Why I Write (or Myself as a Writer)

When I think about myself as a writer, I'd like to think that I'm fairly good. Because who wants to start off by saying that they suck at writing? Anyway, my writing abilities have been fairly well developed thanks to my high school English Classes. I was on the school newspaper and wrote for their entertainment section by doing movie reviews. I also wrote an article about my high school's science fair which was published in 10 of the 13 newspapers it was submitted to. So yea, I'm kinda good. But all bragging and ego inflating aside, as a writer I tend to try and have a sarcastic and faux witty style so that I can make people laugh a bit. I like to keep my sentences short and sweet but admittedly I do write some pretty long sentences. My writing style has been influenced by several prominent authors which include Dennis Lehane, Earnest Hemingway, Tucker Max, Dave Barry and Matt Taibbi . Thus the sarcastic side of most of my writing. I tend to write out of a necessity to empty out my mind. I'm always thinking about things so it can get a little cluttered so writing serves as a filing system for me. As a creative outlet, writing helps me get rid of the excess internal energy by making me think a bit more. That said, I don't just sit around and write prose. I also dabble in song writing and poetry (apparently there's a difference but I honestly can't draw the line. Oh well, shades of gray.) As a writer, I also tend to over analyze things from a literary perspective and lead my readers in a certain directions so that they can see things the way I see them.

George Orwell's "Why I Write" is an essay which documents his beliefs about his writings and his inspiration. He starts by saying that his writing was a haven for loneliness and that it would help him create his own world as a way to compensate for his failure in the real one. He then lists his early successes and failures in order to highlight the fact that while writing is in his nature, he is by no means perfect. He notes that he knew how to be descriptive and that early development was the drive of his writing . He seems to suggest that writing is about being able to control your emotions such as anger and aggression in a mature way so as to avoid writing trash or immature works of literature. He claims that the 4 great reasons to right prose are: egoism (I totally agree with this point), aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse and political purpose. While he was clearly a political writer (see 1984 and Animal Farm), I don't believe that one author needs to only gravitate to one. I believe that to be a good writer you need to have a balance of the 4 motivations. However, Orwell makes a point to say that he wanted to make political statements in an artistic manner since it would be heavily influenced by injustice and would champion justice in a manner that people would be attracted and enthralled and be able to see as Orwell sees. In the end however, he captures the idea of a writer perfectly when he says that writing is a struggle with the instincts of the writer and the personal demons which serve as motivation and yet still contains the author's personality.