Lesson 15.2: Cover Letter

Dec 7th, 2010

Chris Young
College Student
University of Alaska Fairbanks
P.O. Box 752407
Fairbanks, Alaska, 99775

Dear friend,

Thank you for taking the time to review my research paper the other day. This has really helped get through lesson 13, which required someone to look at my paper, and also allowed me to get through lesson 14, which required me to revise my paper.

As per your requests, I have changed a lot of the wording and made the grammar a lot better. My purpose is to pass this class with at least a B, and that is something I think will happen. You have been a good friend in this endeavor by giving me advice on other topics for English, and for helping correct my spelling. I hope that one day I may be able to return the favor in some other way.

Sincerely,
Chris Young
College Student

Lesson 15.1: Resume

Chris Young
Bartlett Hall, rm 503
11/22/1987

Objective:
To replace my English 111 grade from 2008 with at least a B, if not an A.

Academic Writing Experience
* Introduction to Academic Writing -- English 111 (Fall 2010)
* Wrote a research paper about the need to conserve rainforests.
* Academic Writing about the Social and Natural Sciences (Spring 2009)
* Wrote a research paper on the environmental impacts of oil

Other Writing Experience
* Free-form roleplaying (1997-2002)
* Ran a nation in Madagascar that was trying to take over Africa after a nuclear holocaust that devaststaed the world
* Ran an empire set in space, called the "Planetary Freedom Fighters", that was founded by a group of rebels and terrorists that had overthrown an oppressive dictatorship
* Dungeons and Dragons (2010)
* Wrote two backgrounds for characters for Dungeons and Dragons. One, a wizard, the other, a rogue.
* Short stories
* The Mercenary (2006)
* Terrorists in Alaska steal 30 APCs for the Russians, and the U.S. military hires an elite force of commandoes based out of Indonesia to find and recover the stolen materiel.
* The Pirate Hunter (2007)
* Freetrader Rashani Vance is attacked by a vessel. He mounts a successful defense before launching an attack of his own, capturing both the vessel, and the captain, who is wanted by the Torelli family for crimes against traders under their protection

Lesson 14.1: Doing things differently

What I wish I did differently was start this paper earlier and have a better idea of where I wanted to take it. I did a lot of research, but probably could have used more sources. Other than that I'm not really sure what I would do differently because I think it actually turned out ok.

Lesson 13.1: Consulting Others

Consulting another person on my work has always been a hard task for me. While I have been a writer for quite awhile, I am still very shy about my writing, because I think a lot of it is subpar. Although I have been told that I am a good writer, I still feel like i have a lot of work ahead of me. So I was understandably nervous when I consulted my friend, who has a bachelor's degree in creative writing, to look at my work. There are a lot of similarities betweenc reative writing and academic writing, because grammar, syntax, spelling, it's all the same thing from the same language.

My friend is a good, kind person, however. And he gave me a lot of feedback very quick, which allowed me to revise my essay and complete lesson 13. Although he was critical about my work, he was also constructive about it too. he is also a guy who has a lot of experience writing outside of academics, because he maintains a blog that he makes an entry to every day, so he is definitely a person who can be trusted and could be considered an authority on English, so going to him for advice was definitely be a good choice.

Lesson 11.1: Summarizing entries

Summarizing articles requires reading them, and figuring out what the article is all about. If the article is short, summarizing won't take very long. If the article is long, however, making a summary can be a time consuming task. Longer articles tend to be more in depth, so to create a summary will take more time and effort.

My experience with making summaries for the entries I chose was pretty much uneventful. All I did was read the article and write about what the article was about, basically get the general idea down.

Lesson 10.1: My choice

This is my second year in college, and as I go through the Computer Science program, I am overwhelmed with joy at the opportunity to learn, and yet i am horrified at the path that lies before me. Sometimes these emotions intermix, as I try to put together exactly what it is I am up against.

I am a first generation college student learning a field that some have claimed to be the hardest science out there. I'm not so sure if that's true, because so far I have a solid grasp on the Computer Science classes that I have taken. After my first semester in Computer Science, concepts clicked, and I started to pour all of my resources into the field.

Mathematics has always been an issue for me. It took me five years for Algebra to make sense, and in order for me to get a bachelor's degree, I will need to take a lot of higher math.

I am overjoyed at the opportunity that I have to learn more about how computers operate, and how they can be manipulated. In the old world, shamans and wizards wielded magic. In the new world, it is the computer programmers who bend the very fabrics of space and time to their will.

The math that I will have to learn, combined with being a first-generation college student, and that failure is absolutely not an option, are the aspects that overwhelm me. Perhaps this will go away as I learn to just apply myself better.

But as long as I'm here, I figure I might as well enjoy the ride. College, at the end of everything, is incredibly fun.

Lesson 9.3: Research Paper

I actually have mixed feelings about the research paper. On one hand, I'm intimidated becuase it's a lot of work. On the other, I'm not feeling too bad about it because I think the subject I have offers a lot of things to write about. There are a lot of uses for wood, and a lot of reasons why logging takes place. There are conservation measures in place and there is new growth that is being experienced (Actually quite a bit).

Lesson 9.2: What do I need outside help with?

I'm not sure what I need outside help with. I've always been a lone wolf most of my life, and actually do have plenty of writing experience, from free-form roleplaying as a kid to, when I was older, taking actual classes in High School. I've been through English classes a few times. This is actually my second time taking it, and I'd argue that my grade wasn't too bad.

If there was anything I needed help with, I'd say it was as simple as a change in attitude when it comes to school. I'm not saying I'm the best student, but I'm taking courses a lot more seriously now than I was last time.

Lesson 9.1: What do I still need to do?

There's a lot I still need to do. I need to conduct more research, and I have another essay to write for lesson ten, and then the research paper can begin, finally.

I still need to find opposing viewpoints. I have a good idea of where I want to take the research topic. I just need to form it into something coherent.

Lesson 8.1: Annotated image

The image I selected for this exercise is the one on page 425 of "Rereeading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing". This is a Czech ad for jeans, of all things, and it's a bizarre one.

As an advertisement for blue jeans, it does make sense. The image shows three men, one of which is holding a woman up by the seat of her pants; literally. Another guy is feeling her pant leg while a third guy is grasping her by the arm.

The strongest argument is that assault of women is okay. Another way this could be interpreted is that stealing jeans off of women is okay, if they are good jeans (no one would market bad jeans)

This image also shows that sex in advertising is not limited to American culture. It is an international problem.

Lesson 8.2: Research Paper Graphic

I chose an article titled "A Clearcut Case of Variable Retention" by Benny Wijdeven. Although it is not the first article I read (actually it's the third), I thought that the image was rather interesting.

Variable retention is about leaving some trees in place to increase the forest's edge, as it is argued that a forest influences more than the area it covers. It also influences the area immediately beyond it, too.

I think the image is ineffective in swaying my matter on the subject because I'm not sure what my opinion is, just yet. My thesis right now is "Is variable retention effective enough to prevent the destruction of forests?".

The article can be found here

http://www.spruceroots.org/Dec04/Tree.html

Lesson 8.3: Research topic thesis

My thesis is "Is variable retention effective enough to prevent the destruction of forests?". I think this is a weak thesis that may be too narrow in its focus. I do think however that it is one that can be researched. Deforestation is a controversial topic, and mankind has been using wood ever since they've been around.

I did score an 8/10 on the exercises on the Hacker website for thesis exercises, and I do see some areas where I might be able to improve this thesis.

lesson 7.4 : Read another student's blog

The blog I read was Sara Butler's, at http://englf111xsarabutler.blogspot.com/ .

I didn't make any comments to her blog. I don't think I'd really have all that much to offer.

Lesson 7.3: Sources

All of my sources are news articles, from different places. Only one of which, I believe, is local. This shows that the problem is a bit bigger in scope than UAF, although Fairbanks is the university I focused on.

Being that they are newspapers also means that they are reputable, or should be. Journalists usually do their research. One source is supporting the opposition and the other two are supporting my thesis.

Lesson 7.2: Swaying the audience

I doubt my audience would be swayed by my reasoning. Universities are a business, and they need to make money. It would be hard to stay in business, and deliver a quality product, and not raise tuition at least a little bit, because inflation does happen.

I actually don't mind tuition hikes, to an extent. They can seem excessive however, because college is a situation where, if you aren't connected, you end up having to incur a lot of debt while not making any money to be able to pay it off, and having been in a position where I was broke for quite awhile, I can definitely understand the stress.

I think the inevitability of tuition hikes means that we, as students, should do our best to get out in time.

lesson 7.1: Audience and Thesis

My audience would be both students and the people who run colleges, as what I am addressing is student tuition hikes, and while I am taking a con stance in this case, I am showing the opposing arguments, as well.

My thesis is "Raising tuition for students will lessen the supply of skilled laborers for the workforce, which will have a negatively affect the economy because it will make it harder for students to pay for college, complete their degrees, and become contributing members to the workforce."

The three supporting clauses I went with were

1) Making college harder to pay for students will require them to go into deeper levels of debt.
2) Higher Education is a priceless opportunity that should be open for all.
3) Keeping tuition costs low will allow for more enrollment, which will allow colleges to have more prestige.

I am really only addressing one with the thesis.

Lesson 6.2: John Stossel video

The video I watched for this assignment was a dialogue between John Stossel and some members of Fox News over the legalization of marijuana and all drugs because the current drug laws are not preventing access to them. Stossel believes that all drugs should be legalized because keeping them illegal isn't working to keep them out of people's hands. Stossel calls it "modern day prohibition", which makes sense on some levels.

The opposition believes that keeping drugs illegal will make it harder for people to gain access to drugs, and that making access to drugs hard for people will save lives. A guy in the video comments that if crack were legal when he was a kid, he wouldn't be where he is right now.

Both sides definitely have valid points. I believe drugs should be legalized, because the economic benefits far outweigh the concerns to health and safety. Honestly, making drugs illegal hasn't made it any harder to acquire them. Walk around Anchorage for any length of time and you will find someone who will offer you a hit of coke, marijuana, or whatever. Talk about drugs to people long enough, and someone will offer you some. Drugs are everywhere, and they aren't going away.

Prohibition for alcohol didn't work, either. All it did was give rise to powerful gangsters like Al Capone, and this is what making other drugs illegal is doing today.

The video can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teLEp7KCcTE

Lesson 6.1: Internet Chat Rooms

Internet chat rooms are a dangerous place for little kids to go to because of the anonymity of the internet and the predators that are present everywhere. I figured this was the argument partly because of the letter to the editor I read about whales needing silence to not become beached, and because chatrooms can be very dangerous for the naive.

I am of the generation that grew up with the internet (Not to be confused with the generation that was born with the internet). I've been on a computer since the age of 3, and I have been to chatrooms as a kid. The exchange of personal information is common there. Most of it is harmless, but there are predators out there who take advantage of the nonchalant manner in which we share personal information with strangers online.

One need to look no further than Dateline NBC's "To Catch A Predator" to understand that this is really the case. Kids are naive, and their need for an authority figure early in life can lead them to take commands from people that they really shouldn't take commands from.

Another thing about chatrooms is that a lot of them are unmoderated. They can also be very busy. When you have lots of people talking at once, it can become overwhelming, and a kid who is exploring the internat and all it has to offer may be tempted to cross boundaries he or she is not supposed to cross, and the results can be disasterous.

Lesson 5.5: Writing Techniques

I would say that the most useful technique I have found is the use of pro-con clauses. With pro-con clauses, you can brainstorm different ideas for supporting or disagreeing with an argument. These pro-con clauses can be (at least, I believe they can be) combined into a thesis statement. They can also be used seperately, to give supporting data to a thesis.

An early example of this, is in the first lesson, when I was trying to figure out ideas for why joining a fire department was a good thing, I'm pretty sure (it's been awhile) that I did a pro-con clause, selected about three reasons why, and combined them into one thesis statement, and provided my own supporting details there.

I have been tending to take the pro-clause in an argument, because I like to think positively rather than negatively.

Lesson 5.4: What I've learned about myself

I have learned that I am capable of being a good writer and getting back up even in the face of adversity. My thumbdrive crashed recently and I lost about two lessons of Anthropology and half of lesson 5 from English, all of which I had to redo, and all of which I honestly didn't feel like redoing. Dropping out of English was an idea at this point, but I presevered, got the lessond done, and moved on to do the journal entries, which I am doing now.

I've learned about myself that I am much stronger than I think.