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.