ePortfolio/Reflection of College Writing 2

Now that week 15 is drawing to a close, I feel like I can conclude that the best paper I've written this semester is the documentary project. I enjoyed this class because it allowed much more freedom to write about a variety of topics, rather than being handed a rubric and being told what to say. For this project we had over a dozen options to choose from and I chose the documentary, Dinosaur 13.  I chose this documentary because to me, it sounded the most interesting and I was obsessed with dinosaurs when I was a child. I found it to be the most interesting because of my personal tie to the movie. My grandfather used to live in Montana during the span of time this documentary takes place and is actually a part owner of "Sue's"(the T. rex) jawbone. I have to admit the documentary was very long and often skipped between sit-down interviews and video reenactments so I watched the movie twice, in order for me to write down all the notes necessary to complete this project. Once I had all my notes written out, it was a arduous battle to turn my notes into proper sentences, and those sentences into paragraphs. The biggest struggle I had to overcome in this project was figuring out how to appropriately transition and start off new paragraphs in my documentary summary. (Summary)

In my style of writing, while I won't necessarily use pronouns, I feel like I write in a more personal/informal fashion, where for this type of paper, was a complete no-go. This project of creating a documentary summary had to be void of any personal opinion; the summary required a much more formal style, of which I was unused to writing. Even with a style of writing I was unused to I still feel as though it is my best piece of writing this semester. Now that the class is coming to a close, I am grateful for two things. For this class for opening me up to new styles of writing and also for the opportunity to learn under Dr. Kyburz, who I believe has made me a much better writer.   

        

Islamic Terror on American Soil

A much more aggressive tone is taken by the staff writers of “Islamic Terror on American Soil”, which appears on www.thereligionofpeace.com and contains the staff writers more so negative views and opinions on domestic radical Islamic terrorism. The views and opinions brought up by the staff writers are backed up by examples, facts, and numbers in their literary work on this touchy topic. The staff writers at, The Religion of Peace, note that after the fall of the twin towers, the revenge killing of Waqar Hasan, a Muslim convenience store owner who was shot dead by Mark Anthony Stroman. Stroman, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, claimed to be motivated by anger after watching the twin towers fall. Staff writers continue on this case and tell that an American jury sentenced Stromen to death for his crimes. The staff writers go on to describe that the same cannot be said of many Muslim terrorists, who are heroes in some circles, and are even invited to perform the Haj at Mecca, without protest from Muslim groups or individuals. Staff writers go on to bash the American obsession of “Islamophobia” by bringing up the numbers of how many Americans have been killed as a result of radical Islamic terrorism and the amount of acts of terror that have been both successful and botched for the jihadist. Staff writers claim that the root of the issue is America refuses to punish the individual based on group identity. More statistics and numbers are brought up by the staff writers in which show increases in Muslim populations correlating with increases in the number of radical Islamic terror attacks. The staff writers at, The Religion of Peace, end by stating that the real threat comes from the future generations of Muslims living in Western society, who have proven to be more radical than their parents. To the staff writers at,The Religion of Peace, they hold a more negative view on immigration and believe that an increase in Muslim immigration means an increase in American fatalities as a result of radical terrorism.

American Jihadists: The home-grown threat

Just about a year ago, “American jihadists: The home-grown threat,” first appeared in the December 12, 2015 print edition of, The Economist. The staff writer's attitude toward American Muslims is they are not a threat to society but instead provide valuable protection. The staff writers at, The Economist, discuss Donald Trump and his radical plan to ban Muslims from entering the country. Trump’s opinion on Muslims and his plan to defend America works against him with the hard facts that his ideas would severely weaken the country's defenses. The staff writers bring up the San Bernardino terrorist attack, of which the anniversary of the attack has just passed. It is touched upon on how these well-educated affluent jihadists, Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani wife, Tashfeen Malik, seemed like everyday average, middle-class Muslim Americans that nobody would have suspected of having a sinister agenda. There are two opposing viewpoints in understanding and resolving this madness in the wake of San Bernardino. The first viewpoint, which is at least a little reassuring comes from President Barack Obama, in a speech made December 6th, 2015, in which he talks of how efficient the USA has become in stopping complex attacks on Americans such as what occurred on 9/11. The president speaks of how terrorists are relying on less complicated acts of terror such as mass shootings and the best way to foil the terrorist agenda is “to keep calm and carry on” (Obama). The second viewpoint is Trump’s rebuke to Obama that since radicalized Muslims are so difficult to detect, all Muslims should be considered suspect and should not be allowed to enter America. The staff writers give many facts in support of Obama's claim of the effectiveness of increased security measures. The staff writers go on to explain how American Muslims are not interested in becoming radicalized because of how much better off they are living in the U. S. of A. By living in a country at relative peace and enjoying privileges that may not be possible elsewhere in the world, American Muslims are richer (both morally and financially), better educated, and are much more in tune to the free American way of life than the war loving jihadi fundamentalist overseas. American Muslims are valuable to the protection of the U. S. because they are a part of the American society. They have the American pride and will to defend their country against all threats, both foreign and domestic. Citizens of the U.S. nationwide love America, it does not matter if they are white, black, Middle-Eastern, Christian, Buddhist or Muslim, Americans care for the safety of themselves and their neighbors.

Selfie Museum Summary

Summary of “An Art Museum Designed for Taking Selfies”

An “Art Museum Designed for taking Selfies”, by Laura C. Mallonee, is a piece that appears on the arts-devoted website, hyperallergic.com. Museums all around North America and Europe have had many difficulties in battling the “onslaught” (Mallonee) of photography loving museum goers, specifically banning selfie sticks while still allowing selfies in general. Mallonee explains that Manila, the capital city of the Philippines has opened the first interactive art museum which allows visitors to touch and take selfies with the artwork. With the intention of being more open-minded in the artistic world, the museum is made for selfies. The world's first selfie museum is called, “Art in Island”, and as Mallonee states, “Their interactive venue helps jaded museum-goers regain a healthy perspective on art”. The artwork in, “Art in Island”, allows for museum goers “to touch, sit on, and climb” (Mallonee) 3D structures of world most famous art pieces. Mallonee’s statement is strong in the sense that she is calling museum-goers “jaded”, because of her choice of words, the reader will self-reflect on themselves. Thus causing them to want to improve their creativity with a more open mindset with new interactive art appreciation practices. The artwork is not complete until the museum goer completes it, so selfies are encouraged. The best part of this museum according to Mallonee is that it won’t take days to traverse the building, it will only take around 2 hours!

Colin Kaepernick's National Anthem Protest and Frederick Douglass's Article Reflections.

The article by Harris and Barrett does a great job outlining the stances and viewpoints taken by Fredrick Douglass and Colin Kaepernick.  Before and after reading this article, my opinion of Kaepernick is still that he is not some great American patriot. While it is his 1st Amendment right not to stand during the National Anthem of the greatest country to ever exist, it is a matter of respect. And that is what I find he lacks. The American Flag and the National Anthem are not a symbol of whites vs. blacks. They are a symbol of all the patriots who have died serving this country both domestically and overseas. Our troops have been to Hell and back to fight the War on Terror and here Kaepernick is adding fuel to the fire that BLM has made in their "War on Race" within our own country. Are there still social injustices and racism against blacks and other minorities in this country? Obviously, I'm not saying that there isn't. It all started with slavery and slavery was around for thousands of years and all peoples have been enslaved by another at one point or any other. Let's not forget about the 500,000 Irish that were killed by the English and the 300,000 Irish that were sold as slaves to the West Indies, and the colonies.  http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-irish-slave-trade-the-forgotten-white-slaves/31076 Kaepernick speaks out on the widely reported police violence on blacks when he states, "There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." The police violence on blacks which the media has been blowing up has been made an excuse for hundreds of professional rioters to come out and burn businesses, cars, savagely assault and mutilate whites and call for the assassination of police in their infamous Ra-Ra of "Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon". It does not matter who you are, what race you are or whether you are actually dangerous or not(they usually are), if you pull something that resembles a gun at a officer of the law than they are allowed and told to shoot you. The police are people just like you the reader and me the writer, if they have to shoot someone, that is going to stain their consciousness the rest of their lives. I am a first-responder. I'm currently in between contracts but I do NOT get a bullet proof vest or a gun, yet I am expected to walk into a drug den with a bunch of wired addicts and schizophrenics if need be to do my job and all the police hate that is floating around in the country rubs off on us too, because we operate along side the police.  I come from a long line of Chicago and Cook County police officers and they all say the same thing. Nobody wants to do their job because they are afraid of media backlash if something were to go down. And if something were to go down, than the circus would come to town and we'd have the same anarchy as was seen in Ferguson, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Milwaukee and Charlotte. Kaepernick is not some great American patriot. He insults the people who protect him and his 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech and only fuels the fire that is currently dividing in our great country.

The Necessary Evil That Is Running

I am not a fan of cardio. While I am not a fan of running, I realize that it is a necessary evil in
order to stay fit and healthy so I do it anyway. I have deep love for hitting the gym, lifting iron and not being able to move my arms afterwards. I love the feeling of satisfaction you get rewarded with when you're trying to drive home from the gym and can barely hold your arms up to the steering wheel. With that being said I need to tell you all about my girlfriend... She's crazy! She is one of those people that are addicted to running! She usually averages at least 8 miles a day and doesn't get tired from it! I am writing this at 9 o'clock in the morning, so I can just about guarantee that if I was to text her right now she'd probably say that she has already done 5 miles this morning and is planning on running more later on. Craziness I know right? Whereas, I've just rolled out of bed and still got my sweatpants and moccasins on. Although I do need to say that running does make you feel really good afterwards. granted when you're actually in the act of running you may feel like you're going to die. Anyway, I believe balance is key when you're trying to lead a healthy life, so every time I go to the gym I try to do at least 30 minutes of cardio related activities. Running boosts the immune system, and melts away the stresses that are college. I believe that everyone should do both weightlifting and cardio in order to live a healthy active life.

List Of Things I Need To Do To Improve My Summary

Improvements To Be Made

The documentary I have chosen to summarize is the 2014 film, directed and produced by Todd Douglas, Dinosaur 13. While my paper is nearing the end of it's due date I feel very confident I will be able to score high, however there are still a couple more tweaks I feel I can do that will improve my summary even more. I feel like the majority of my grammar and punctuation in the paper is correct, I still need to get a few more peoples outside opinions so that I may receive adequate feedback. A example of where I would need some feedback on punctuation is in my opening paragraph when I write, "At first glance the film looks as though it would be about the fossil discovery of one of the world's largest known land carnivores..." In this sentence, the feedback I would need is whether or not, "At first glance the film looks as though..." would need a comma after "glance". The next thing I really need to look over is making sure that my paper and all direct quotes from the documentary are in their proper MLA format. That being said, even though I trust easybib.com, I also need to go back through my Works Cited page and confirm that has been completed correctly. After doing these minor adjustments, I feel as though my paper will be in its finalized state and will be ready to be handed in.