Exercise 2

-"I watch this flight and return again and again, and along with it I notice the pigeons, who participate in a similar performance of their own in these same squares."

-"Pigeons seem to inspire such paradoxical feelings. Pigeon racer in the Bronx tenderly kiss the beaks of their birds, finally home after flying 500 miles to their lofts after a remarkable feat of solar navigation"(Blechman).

I feel that the way he incorporated his sources into his paper was very technical. Usually when I site a source in the middle of my paper I struggle to have the information flow into the rest of the paper like Ballenger did. I think the main idea of this paper is to convey how was is beauty to one person can seem wrong and ugly to another person. It helps with anxiety of writing papers when you are trying to make sure you please 100% of your audience. Some of the most famous painters in history were mocked for their radical art styles and now they are praised as geniuses.

When writing a fact based paper I try to pick out information and facts that grab me as interesting, or ones that are not commonly known/ perceived as myths. I try to make sure that my reader learns a new fact that will shock or intrigue them into enjoying my paper. I really like the message I got from this short essay because of how it puts perspective on writing that people usually do not get to see.

Narrative on Social Diversity and Multiculturalism

The way I define social diversity is by how many different social structures and societies there are and how much they differ. The social units like race, gender, sexual preference are things that are ways people can be categorized in society. I define multiculturalism as the combination or tolerance for more than one type of culture within a society. Social diversity is important to all societies, especially the United States because we are sometimes called 'The Melting Pot' of societies and cultures. Social diversity is something that should not be suppressed in societies, it should be encouraged. I like learning about new cultures and different ways people from around the world do things. To me, culture is a live representation of a people's history and if a people's culture is suppressed it will eliminate that people's history forever. One main issue of diversity that is difficult for me is my past and experiences. I believe someone's past is just as troubling and someone who faces most other types of diversity issues.

Someone that has been really influential to me by shaping my ideas about these issues is my friend and neighbor Neal. He is my age and is African American. He has a great sense of humor and is not offended easily about his race. I have always heard excuses from my black friends that they get targeted by police because of their race. Being ignorant and not wanting to believe them I always thought of that as a poor excuse and just playing on stereotypes. To keep a long story short, one time Neal and I were at the mall in a pretty pricey clothing store. After spending a good amount of time in the store, we head out. But at the main door is two police officers claiming they got a call from the store we were in that there was a suspicious person that they believed was shoplifting. It was outrageous to see this first hand. He gave no reason that he was going to steal and was in a store that carried clothes he wouldn't be caught dead in. Seeing that the clerks got nervous based on his looks was a big eye-opener for me.

On of my favorite subjects in social justice is racism. It is so important to me because we as Americans still have preconceived notions and prejudices against certain people. Americans take a certain persons culture and makes stereotypes against them. I'm not arrogant enough to not believe that all stereotypes come from some sort of 'fact'. But I still see a big problem with racism today that needs to be addressed. Being a criminal justice major I think race is a pretty important matter. Cops NEED to use stereotypes and 'expected behavior' of certain people so they and the suspects can be safe.

Exercise 1

The top 5 statements I chose were:
-It's okay to say things the instructuor might disagree with
-You have to know your thesis before you start
-You can use your experiences and observations as evidence
-You can't use the pronoun I
- Form matters than content

 Some of these I agree with and some that I do not agree with. I believe that is it okay to say things that your instructor might disagree with as long as its done in a respectful and intelligent manner. You are writing to have your reader GAIN knowledge so even if its not what your teacher agrees with, as long as its factual it should be acceptable. I also do not think you have to know your thesis before you start. It might be good to have a slight idea, but you should be able to have the freedom to write first and form your thesis from that. I do not think that using your own experiences as evidence is acceptable. Furthermore, I think it is okay to use 'I' by a paper by paper basis. Meaning some papers you get might give you the freedom to use 'I' and some may not. I think it all depend on the format that the paper requires. I think content is more important than form. The content if your paper is what your reader is going to notice most. Form may be taken into account as well, but not as much as the quality of your words.

Part 2

I chose the statement "There is a big difference between facts and opinions". I agree with this in the sense that facts have proof that backs them up while opinions are just based on the thoughts of person. You can not present your opinion and try to pass it as fact. That happens a lot in common arguments and debates. I believe that everyone's opinion should matter, but opinions cannot trump cold hard facts.

In-Class Blog 8/26

1. Reading and writing is a vital factor to my academic and professional life. It has helped me learn new things on subjects I would otherwise be ignorant about. It has also helped a lot with my grammar. I have become a much better speller and proofreader as a result of reading. I do use facebook occasionally but I try not to use 'u' for you, or 'r' for are. Whenever I email I try my hardest to keep it formal and professional.

2. The most difficult part of academic writing for me is when I have to start the paper. I am terrible at figuring out how to start my paper in the introductory, that is one area I want to improve in.

3. I usually read a lot of crime and science-fiction novels. A lot of those challenge my vocabulary and after I figure out the meaning of some terms that I have not heard of before, I am able to put more sophisticated vocabulary into my writing.

4. In the past I have not enjoyed research papers that much. I am not a fan of Works Cited pages. I am entering this class with an open mind and I have hopes that I will be able to work on that weakness.

5. Off the top of my head I am not 100% sure of one particular topic I would prefer to research. But crime and corruption (Blagojevich) would be areas that would interest me.

6. My main method of reseaching would be online and book from the library.

Introduction Post

My name is Mike Anthony and I go to Illinois State University. I am going to be a Criminal Justice Major in the Spring. As a Jr. I am taking the rest of my Gen. Eds. and taking classes that are required to apply to the major for the spring. I am excited about this upcoming semester and I hope to do well in all my classes. I am a very open-minded person and love meeting new people.