Welcome to Mahoney's College Composition Blog!

Hello all!

Welcome to the blog for our College Composition course. As you will notice, this blog is not empty. The conversation you will be entering has been going on for two semesters. I encourage you to check out how students have used this blog in the past and some of the ideas and projects they have made public for all the world to see.

The concept of "a conversation" will help frame how we investigate writing, language, and audience over the course of the semester. In particular, we will often return to a quote from the literary and rhetorical scholar, Kenneth Burke, who highlights the conversational nature of knowledge making through his metaphor of the "parlor":

Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument, then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him [or her]; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself [or herself] against you, to either the embarrassment of gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your ally’s assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress (110-111, brackets mine).

Before next class, spend some time getting used to posting to the blog. Introduce yourself. Tell us what you think!

Abstract

“Pennies an Hour and no Way Up” Tom Hayden and Charles Kernighan

Each day Two billion people are working for less then 2 U.S dollars. Not to mention the conditions in which they are. The problem is that owners of the sweatshops make the men, woman, and even children work so hard that sometimes they are working for 20 hours at a time. Some workers are forced to work overtime and in some cases the woman are made to take birth control because the owner’s don’t want to lose work. Most people would think that this only happens in other countries but the truth be told there are thousands of sweatshops all over the U.S. The large courtiers need to collaborate together and reach an agreement on how to fix this issue. Before I was able to read some websites I was blind to the fact that sweatshops actually hurt the country rather then help. In my paper I will mention the different ways that we as the people are able to make a difference.

P.S sorry my post is up late, I went away with my family for the weekend and was unable to get to my post until now.

Abstract

I'm sorry this is in after 12 I had a busy day and just got home recently. I also had some problems with my computer.

Each year there are more teens that plan to go away to college and get a good job. The problem is that many kids don't know what to expect once they get to college. Kids are constantly told by their high schools that they need college and that they can make it in college. What high schools fail to do is give students the to tools and guidance to make it in college. While still in high school a lot of students don't know what courses to take to better prepare them in college. Being unprepared for college is not the only issue here. They also may believe that there is no need to worry and set themselves up with an easy senior year. Paying for college is also becoming a very big issue. Anything from competitions between colleges to federal and state funding cuts cause prices to be driven up. The upper half of society are the only ones that don't seem to be concerned. Their have been many studies done by many well respected individuals. All these individuals want something to be done. Changes need to be made if America wants to remain a super power. Our society simply can't run with only the upper 20% of Americans getting a good education.

Abstract

The title of my paper is going to be “What an immigrant has to go trough” As you could tell by the title of my paper my paper is going to be talking about immigrants. In my paper I want to give new information to the class. I want to inform them about the struggles of an immigrant, also on the laws that the United States has for the illegal immigrants. I would like to also mention on how amnesty is important for the immigrants, and how in a way it is also important to this country. I think that probably I am going to give some examples of families, and probably I am also going to mention a little bit of my family struggle. I whant to give my opinion, and I also whant to give some opinion of the taughts of some of the authors of the immigration stories of the book.

Abstract

A NEW EPIDEMIC

Just recently there has been an epidemic sweeping the nation. This epidemic has been affecting millions of people everyday and costing the government millions of dollars in the process. This epidemic, depression. Depression has taken a sudden increase in the amount of people suffering from this disease. Could the non compassionate, lazy doctors who would rather prescribe drugs rather than trying alternate treatments before medication be the ones to blame? Or has America's image of happiness change over the turn of the century leaving us with a new sense of what happiness and sadness is? Despite all the explanations of why there has been an increase, more importantly this epidemic is not only affecting the children whose parents suffer from the disease, but also this disease is affecting everyone in society. With the increase of depression comes a new reason to miss work, weakening productivity, and leaving employers with the medical and pharmaceutical costs. Also parent's suffering with this, are more likely to neglect and eventually pass on depression to their children creating a vicious depressive cycle. Never the less depression has dramatically increased over the past decade and its affects on society should be noticed.

Abstract

Who's To Blame?

Approximately 36 million Americans suffer from poverty on a daily basis. The number of people who experience poverty in the United States is rapidly growing. This paper will explore some of the possibilities for this dramatic increase in poverty. Many people have opposing viewpoints for who is to blame for this social problem. The different perspectives is to either blame the victim or blame society. Oscar Lewis is an advocate of the blame the victim approach in which he focuses more on the culture of poverty and how they are responsible for their own shortcomings. On the opposing side, William Julius Wilson supports the notion of blaming society for poverty for which he coined the term structure of poverty meaning there is little opportunity present for the poor to better themselves. Included in this paper will be statistics on poverty in America, the differences between the two types of poverty, characteristics of the people most at risk, and some possible solutions to resolving poverty in America. With the facts presented one can form an opinion of who is primarily responsible for the escalating poverty. And to see potential actions that can be taken to help with this major social issue that faces the United States.

Tcartsba...

Indigo Children: A Change in Learning


We are reaching a point in life where our generation has the potential to save our society with a strong self-belief, mental strength, and a desire to grasp knowledge for beneficial use. This “new breed” of children are referred to as the Indigo Children because of their aura, or life color, they put off. If these children do not get the proper guidance in education, how can they help this world as they are supposed to? Alternative schooling that embraces progressive and holistic teaching methods can be quite appropriate to children that may appear “different” or “special” than most. I took a look into the background of Indigo Children in terms of personality and spirituality and discussed alternative school’s missions and visions.

Abstract

Abstract
"Interpreting Aspects of Advertisement through Culture"
-Chris Holland

Advertisement exists everywhere in today's society and has influence on every individual in some way. As geographic regions change and you move through different cultures, advertisements are different and are ones that are more suitable or lets say more familiar to the people that live there. A person who sees these for the first time may become intrigued and apply that to their lives if they desire. This is briefly how advertisements affect culture. But not all advertisements have to portray products for people to cosume. Some exist to provide people with insight and intellect. All these advertisements are mostly beneficial to people and help them when choosing what they think is best for them. It differs as you migrate as well as lifestyles the people live.

Abstract

Abstract
Slow On The Uptake
(Mental Disorder Discrimination in the Workplace)
Jaimie Zellers

In this paper I hope to show you how discrimination is still a problem for those with mental disabilities. I hope to share with you some startling statistics that will make you wonder and feel sympathetic. The workplace is not always fair in a “normal” person’s life, but for someone with a disability it’s even worse. I am going to argue that companies should not discriminate against those with disabilities, not only because it’s unfair, but because there is a law that is supposed to be preventing it. I believe that they should be given a chance to prove themselves worthy of a higher status/paying job. Not all of the mentally disabled have someone helping them along the way. Many are homeless or are trying to live on their own, but how can they do this if they are only hired in jobs like cleaning services and bagger positions at their local grocery store. They aren't exactly high paying jobs. What if they have to pay rent or buy groceries and clothing and support themselves? Without being given the chance how can anyone know what they are clearly capable of doing. True, some are limited by their intelligence, but how would you know if they don’t get to try first? I will also be sharing with you some personal stories of my own and stories of others that I have learned about. My topic not only defends for those who have a mental retardation but also those with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Abstract

Abstract
College, In Your Dreams!
-Making College Financially Attainable-
Krista Capra

Argument: Middle-Low Income families CAN afford a college education if preparation steps are taken promptly and correctly.

Preview: The excitement of going to college and getting a higher education, having independence, and making new friends can be quickly shattered by the thought of how it’s going to be paid for. A good percent of the U.S. population are middle to low income families. Most middle to low income families will argue that college is unaffordable. In today’s economy, college is absolutely necessary and almost the only way to live struggle free financially. What some prospective students and their parents forget to do is apply for the many types of financial aid; this can be done by just doing a little research. If the desire is there, then the will to work towards actually getting into and affording college should be involuntary.

Relevance: Relates to discussions and readings about low-wage working and how it’s more than just a struggle, and almost impractical. College is a way out of low-wage working, but may conflict with financial attainability. College is also a “view of America,” from a societal view of what the norm is, and what the typical jobs of America are. Also, due to progressive change in the economy, it is financially required to graduate from college in order to have a stable middle-class life.

Abstract for my final paper

The title of my final paper is going to be called Migrant Workers: Who knew? In my paper I’m going to argue that our government and society are very much uninformed when it comes to low-wage immigrant working world. I show how many of Americans make a stand on a particular issue, before knowing all the facts. This then leads to a popular consensus reached on a topic that is more often than not wrong. My paper focuses mainly on the issues of migrant workers that have been laboring here in the United States for decades. I review the many problems involved with this flawed system such as working conditions, wages, education, and a brief history of migrant workers. My findings lead me to see that rounding up these illegal migrant workers, and forcing them out of our country is going to be no easy task. Also, I found that without these low-wage immigrant workers laboring in our country, our economy could come to it’s downfall.

final research paper

I am going to write my final paper on sweatshops. The piece we read in class about sweatshops in other countries really made me interested. I never realized that about half of the clothes I own could have been made in another country by someone getting paid tremendously lower than minimum wage. I think that sweatshops should be shut down. This could also help increase poverty in the US because these jobs are being done in other countries. People should not be slaving for 16 hours or more and not even get enough money to live in a place with a roof over thier head.
In my paper I will discuss the pros and cons of sweatshops and why I truly feel that they should be no longer. I will relate information to the artile we read by Tom Hayden and Charles Kernaghan. I will also use two other sources that I found most helpful.


http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org/
http://www.nmass.org/nmass/index.html

Picture Essay.

This picture is of Lance Armstrong carrying the American flag after winning the dour de France. He proudly displays his countries flag as he is riding over the streets to celebrate his victory. Lance bike riding career looked as if it might end early when he was diagnosed with a very dangerous cancer that spread throughout his entire body. After some long hard years he made it past the though times. He got back onto his bike and started to ride again. He became the best through hard work, dedication, and determination. He proved to the world that he was the best not just once, but seven times. He wasn’t afraid of the competition or the pressure his country placed on him to be number one. America is Lance Armstrong. With each war we have had to slowly build ourselves back up again, and in a sense we are the best. We are always competing against other countries and there is so much pressure for use to come out on top and be number one.

Annotated Bibliography

Well I know its supposed to go Last name, First name "Title of Article." City: Publisher, Date. I wasn't able to locate all that information right now. I just switched my topic and got all my sources, plus its late. So I hope this will do.

http://www.azcentral.com/families/education/articles/0201collegeskills-ON.html
This is basically about how for all kids college is talked about and they all know that you want to go there to be successful. Kids also know that college means more school. Its kind of like they think they are moving on to the next grade. What they aren't ready for is all the work and deadlines and time management. It also says that wealthier kids that went to private schools tend to do better then kids from poorer families that went to public schools. Its also about how kids are told that they can make it in college but not given what they need to do it.

http://dadtalk.typepad.com/dadtalk/2004/10/high_schools_ma.html
This is a blog based on what researches from ACT researchers that offer college entrance exams. They basically say that kids aren't doing good and what classes they should be required to take. They recommend kids being introduced to college entrance exams to get a better feel for what college is about. Dads post to the blog and gave their feedback and things that they tried.

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/august24/colleges-082405/html
This is how the US used to be first in people graduating with BA in college. Now we are falling behind. The weird thing is that we have more college bound students then ever. The majority of them go to community colleges. It talks about how a lot of students will get upset because they don't know what they are getting into so they end up getting overwhelmed and drop out. High schools and colleges need to work together so that high schools can better prepare their students for college.

Final research paper

For my reasearch paper I'm asking the question, does high school properly prepare kids for college. This relates to what we discussed in class because we talked a lot about poverty. If high schools arent properly preparing kids then all they are doing is setting them up for poverty. I decided to use this as my topic because I remember one of my friends who graduated with 13 credits. I remember when I found this out I couldn't possibly understand how he could of passed because our high school required 28 credits. It turned out my friend was one of the special needs students. Some how this made it ok for him to graduate with only 13 credits. Another this was when I first got to college it took me a while to adjust. I had a hard first semester and I even took advanced classes senior year. I felt that my high school didn't really prepare me at all.

http://www.azcentral.com/failies/education/articles/0201collegeskills-html
http://dadtalk.typepad.com/dadtalk/2004/10/high_schools_ma.html

These two sites both talk about how high schools need to step it up. They both talk about how there are more college bound students then ever but also more drop outs then ever. This is a problem that needs to be fixed. I'm intrested to see what else I can find on this topic

2 resources and topic

I'm planning on doing my final research paper on Mental disorders and job offers and education. It relates to many things that we've talked about in class including jobs, money, homelessness and others. I'm hoping to find out through research on the internet and through personal interviews with psychiatrists and employers about what they recommend and who they hire and where they can get hired. Also, i hope to find out what kind of education they are allowed to recieve and if college is available for some. Hopefully more idea's for information will crop up while i do my research.
so far i've found a few sites that might be able to help me with information.

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/reg3a.html#Anchor-Appendix-52467

http://www.jan.wvu.edu/links/ADAq&a.html

http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=19646441&site=ehost&scope=site

each of these links either says something about ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) or some government jobs that are available and other stuff. Hopefully these will help me.
If you have any advice, PLEASE, tell me.. lol

Picture essay

I chose the picture of the Hollywood sign because I think for many people in the world who have never been to America, Hollywood is one of the main sources of information about US. Movies create many different images about the States, many of them are true and many of them are not. I watch American movies my whole life even before I moved here. I would watch action movies, comedies, horror movies, dramas and all kind of other different movies. I thought that whatever I saw in the movie, that's how it is in reality(to the certain extend of course). Then when I came to States I realized that many things are different from what they were shown in movies. I think that on international level of representation of America Hollywood is number one. It creates images that many people see and for them its the only source of information about America.

2 research sites

Like I had mentioned before in classy I am interested in researching how the advertisement world is obsessed with skinny models and the idea of being thin. I was looking up the big named magazines such as vogue and I came across the web site style.com. On this site I found and article on mythic proportions, basically it was saying how there is no perfect body type but then you flip to the next page and what do you see a picture of a gorgeous model with the title "thin" above her. So how can they say the there is no 1 body type that is perfect but then you turn the page and you see an anorxic chic wearing a high named fashion brand?

as i have been researching i have found that more and more people are trying to fight back all of the medias advertisments with their own visual statement towards this idea of what a perfect body is. One of the major contributers to this wave of fighting the media is Jean Kilbourne. She has many articles, books, and even videos on this subject. I have also found that artist are another major contributer as well. Larry kirkwood has created the Body Image Project and this has to deal with casting female bodies to show the viewer that it is alright to look the way that they do, natural. Cheryl-Ann Webster also has a show that is similar to larry's but it is called the Beautiful Women Project. Her project came about when her 13 year old daughter told her that her friend was saving up for breast augmintation. this disterbed her to the core when she found out that the main reason for this was to get a better boyfriend as her daughter put it. Cheryl-Ann Webster has come up with the idea to cast females from ages 19 to 91 to show young girls that they are beautiful no matter what size or shape but that natural beauty is what they all have. for the media to make young girls feel that they need to be someting that they are not is what i am trying to make this essay about, to show thtas the models that they see in magazines are only a small percentage of what "real" women look like.

2 sources for Research Topic

I finally decided on a topic that I was going to do for my research paper. Although I am not too sure how its exactly relating to the readings but I just got done reading two very interesting articles. The first article I read was in a magazine called Adbusters. Inside, was a magazine investigating the use of torture upon Detainees while in American Custody in Guanama Bay during 2002. I then read a paper on U.S. Reservations , declarations, and other understandings, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment , Cong Rec. S174860, and it was very interesting seeing what the our Senate advised and consented to within International laws. I think the topic of "what is torture" is a topic that one does not ask themselves very often, but where do you draw the line in torture? Could that possibly be something every our Japanese internment Camps did? I definitely want to read up more on these 2 sources and maybe find a way to relate it more to our class discussions. Any ideas?

Topic and Two Sources

For my paper, I'm interested in going in depth on why the price of a college education is too high. I believe it's a very important issue because we discussed how low wage working makes it hard to get by in America, and if society is going to enforce a college education in order to get a good job, it needs to be more affordable. I believe many people out there really want an education which can lead to being well off, however many reasons including those that are inevitable makes it hard to afford it. As a result a good amount of our population are left with the jobs that they don't want or like, regardless if they're smart or overqualified.

I found both of my sources on CQ researcher. This is actually a very good, and reliable search engine that most of you might be familiar with. You can find it right in the Library section of Kutztown's website. It has a lot of topics, ideas, and current events that can help with putting your paper together properly, with reliable information.

1. Cooper, M. H. (1992, November 19). Paying for college. The CQ researcher, 2. Retrieved
April 20, 2006, from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1992112000.
Document ID: cqresrre1992112000.

2. Price, T. (2003, December 4). Rising college costs. The CQ researcher, 13, 1013-1044.
Retrieved April 20, 2006, from
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2003120500.
Document ID: cqresrre2003120500.