I honestly can’t remember when I have done so much work in a class before, blogs discussion questions, group assignments, essay’s, (PDR’s), reading assignments and whatever else I missed. This class has been hectic to say the least. Every week I open the “so here what to do” folder in hopes that there will little or nothing there, which is never the case. It is always this, that and the other, I probably would not be overwhelmed by this much work, if I did not have to split my free time up with multiple classes converting those free hours into study time. I have to admit it has been some nights when I questioned I motives for taking such a class (online). I would ask myself this question and the answer would always be the same. This type class is needed; it provides me with necessary skills to be a successful at the university level.
English 103 class has been great for me. I have gained more knowledge from this one English class in the eleven weeks, than all the other compositions classes I have ever registered for. The blogs are great; I believe they are a great way to express myself openly on even within the structured prompts. They also offer some freedom in a class that demands a lot from a student. This part of the writing assignment has become my favorite and one of the biggest reasons I am starting to enjoy writing again. I especially enjoy the whole “respond to your classmate” thing, this gives me the opportunity to review my classmates views on topics and also allows me to voice my opinion on the same topic and agree or disagree with the blogger in a respectful manner.
Peer draft reviews were very helpful, the (PDR’s) are new so at first, I did not really know what to do when I opened it up on turunitin.com, but I quickly caught on and realized that the (PDR’s) had the potential to a be a key tool in writing composition and help students develop papers in more effective ways. I was glad to see that turnitin.com could actually be student friendly. I also enjoy the discussion boards along with the group activities those were fun and were helpful when it came to getting the work done along with helping to build class cohesion. All the assignments were very helpful for me, even though my penmanship is falling behind because of all the typing, which leads me to this question, do you believe that the use of keyboard technology is affecting your penmanship in any way Good or bad?. Now back to the blog. The assignments helped me to face my fears about writing and English classes. I no longer have a negative outlook on my own literary pieces I might want to compose.
When I enrolled, I did not know what to expect. I was not very fond reading and or writing. Therefore, I figured this class would be boring and useless. It has been everything but boring or useless. I found myself at a play for the first time because of this class. That experience alone was so pleasant that it made me want to do the best I could in this class because I knew from that point on that I was going to be taught things that were otherwise not paid attention to in my world. I feel as if I’m a better writer just because of this class the every week workload has grown on me given me the appreciation I once had for writing back.

"Love is..."

Making a connection is the sole purpose of all editors of cartoons. The pictures and drawing they portray are supposed to directly depict topics that, us as Americans can relate to. I only have a few editorials that I have read or gazed at, The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder which, ran from 1996 to 2006 and gained praise and criticism for its unique and sometimes unflattering views of a ten year old African American boy. The other is American classic, Peanuts, written in its entirety by Charles M. Schulz (November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000), I briefly glanced at peanuts from time just to see what the hype was. The one editorial cartoonist that has been the most successful in making the most connection with me is New Zealand Sketch artist Kim Grove. Her “Love Is…”
Cartoon is my favorite. In my younger years, I use to get the Los Angeles Times every day in order to see the days Love is…. At the time I was going through many problems and I wrote lot of letters to my loved ones in order to satisfy emotional needs as well as build healthy communication links that were relatively inexpensive. I was isolated from them and I was constantly in search of things or items that I could send to them to let them know how much I loved them. I found that the Love is… cartoon was perfect item for this because it gave me different ideas as to what love is and could not be. No matter what word, phrase or sentence was put behind love was directly related to how I was could should feel about the people I love. These cartoons were a significant part of my personal relationships. I would open the paper and see A Love is… like the one below
Cut it out and send it as it was no lettering a signature anything. My hope was that when this reached the person they would forget about how much money they were spending on phone calls and think about the love they have for me why they answer those phones calls for me. Now this cartoon was only a tool I used and do not know if it had any true impact on the love they for me or amount of phones got they answered, but I can say that those who received Love is... often spoke to me.
Even though I do not view the work of Kim Grove as much as I use to, I often go online to remind myself of what love is…. I enjoy the work of Mrs. Because it offers logically possibilities of love is and feeds into the hopeless romantic in all of us. All of us have a different view and definition of what love is on any given day, but what make Love is…, so special is that day on any giving day her views on what Love is…, might be the same as those who read her strip.

“Signing over my Freedoms”
If the school I attended required me to sign an agreement that stated that I as a attendee had to refrain from racist, sexist or otherwise abusive language I would sign it without second thought, as long as it was understood that this use of language is only prohibited on school grounds and or at school events. I would sign this agreement not only because I would want to go school, but also because it is the right thing to do. I would sign it just on its merit alone. I strongly believe these types of offensive languages have no place in Institutions of higher education, except for educational purposes. I also know that this type of agreement will lead to a better learning environment thus creating positive attitudes. It also encourages positive thinking along with setting the guideline for personal conduct. With this agreement in place, the student body will be more socially interactive because they will not have to worry about being embarrassed because they look act, sound, or think differently. The respect level amongst students will be higher because as a student’s they would know along with other students that their personal conduct towards others might lead to get in trouble and or hinder their ability to learn and participate in school activities. For me school is a place where I can go to open my mind and express positive and constructive thoughts that have foundation and real meaning. No one should have to be subject to negative expressions that do not allow him or her to express thoughts and ideas positively.
I would also sign this agreement because I believe that overall I would be safer than if I had went a school without the same guideline. I say this because those who are in no way ready to accept such a guideline would not sign the agreement therefore they would not be attending school with me. This would only signal to me that those folks have bad intentions and were not ready to accept responsibility for their actions or had bad intentions. With the school, restricting certain freedoms of expressions that people are a custom pertaining to racial , sexist and other abusive languages the school is trying to combat everyday problems dealing with sexual harassment and other form of offense’s that might lead jail time for offenders and lawsuit being filed by those who been offended there school grounds. Now I am true to myself and I do know and have seen the harsh realities that this world has to offer, and know that this agreement will not keep people from harming others in no way, shape, or form if they decide to do so. What I am saying is an agreement to personal conduct, is a positive step towards accountability and schools sometimes have to take certain actions to insure everyone is represented the right way, as well as those who are applying to their school. The agreement is beneficial to students and faculty alike because it set parameters for what is and is not acceptable conduct while on school grounds.

"Self Respect"

My teacher presented the question “what was more important, self-respect or happiness”. The question was a intriguing question because I have never been asked to compare my self respect to my happiness. I always went through life as if they were hand and hand. I needed a better understanding so I grab my Oxford Dictionary/Thesaurus and looked up the terms. Oxford defined the self-respect as pride and self-confidence, happy as pleased or contented. Now I know many people will probably say that there happiness is more important than their pride and I have no problems with those who do so. However, I believe that you have to think about the self-confident part of the definition. I sat back and thought about putting my happiness in front of my belief in myself. I just could not imagine myself doing so. The confidence I have in myself is what leads to my happiness. My confidence or pride is what I stand on when it is time to perform task or when I am difficult situations that put me under pressure. From inner confidence I project and demand respect. This is also how I gain the respect and trust of others, which allows me to have a healthy social life. I also believe the respect I have for myself can be seen in the everyday me and has helped me tremendously with all the hiring process’s I have been through. Having self-respect is the same as having morale to me. My happiness is important and I want to have happiness in my life but I know that this cannot be achieved without having self-respect for myself. Another thing I know is that without respect others will take advantage of me. Men should have confidence at all time in their life.
Self-respect or self-confidence can also take a person down a narrow road where their vision is blurred and they depend too much on their opinions and findings to guide their lives. This would be a case of over confidence, and pride becomes the term commonly used when people mention you.
I have a very open mind so I do not let my pride get the best of me, often. I pride myself on being open to all things I believe I will stay that way. I am happy with myself today and hope I continue to prosper. Happiness I figure will come as long as I stay true to myself and remain confident in my actions, opinion, and ideas. The question caused me to put something’s into perspective and think about the things that are important to me but seldom pay attention to. It Important to me to have my children look up to me and respect me. I do not know if love is strong enough to keep my child from developing negative thought me and doing something wrong prematurely. This is why I hold self-respect so high, I have respect for myself there for I want to see myself succeed so my children will do better and know more than I ever imagined knowing.