The reason I was interested in the topic I chose, The Media, Family, & The Rise in Teenge Pregnancy, is because it is an issue that I deal with a lot at home. In my hometown, many girls my age have children. I can count 13 girls off hand that were/ should have been in my graduating class, that are now pregnant or teenage mothers.
Just 4 short months after I graduated highschool, my very best friend told me that she was pregnant. I now, am a godmother to a beautiful baby boy because of my best friend. I have never looked down on her because of her choices, but it is so much easier to look down on others around me, that I may not know on a personal level when they become pregnant.o
This passed summer, I found out yet again, I would be losing one of my friends to the rise in teenage pregnancy. Both girls that I know came from decently well off families, with guidance and structure to their years of growing up.
I chose this topic because I would like to know, or at least have an idea of the possible "root" of this "problem". I believe that many older people look down on my generation because of our "lack of morals" and they believe that we are setting ourselves up for a major fall. I would like to know how much the media may have an effect on a young girls' thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and overall standards. I would also like to look at the family as an institution. Is it the families' fault that these girls are becoming pregnant? No, they are not physically putting these girls in these situations, but perhaps because of the lack of communication and guidance, our older generations are to blame. Maybe the ignorance that is being passed on is setting us up for the fall.
I will be interviewing now pregnant teens, and teenage mothers to see their opinions on the matter and if perhaps their fate would have been changed if the media would have been less present and family support had been more present.
Monday, March 29, 2010
In Class Paraphrasing
One mistake that many students make in writing academic papers is the overuse of direct quotations in both notes and then their final paper. Although quotations may be important components to a paper, a students final paper should only have around 10% of direct quotations. Excessive use of direct quotations in note taking will lead to an overall paper having more quotations than necessary.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
English Conference
Session # 1 - Early Cases of Media Negatively Influencing Behavior
In this session, there were 3 different speakers that each gave a separate presentation.
The first presentation was about a British Literature poem, " The Goblin Market." Before this presentation , I had never heard of this poem. I learned that it was written in the Victorian era. The poem tells of two sisters, Laura and Lizzie , that hear the goblins crying to them to come buy their fruit. Lizzie does not give in to the goblins' requests but her sister Laura is quite interested. Laura has no money, and in exchange for the goblins' fruit she gives a lock of her long blond hair. After this, Laura becomes infatuated with the fruit and longs for more. Laura looks for the goblins but can not seem to find them to buy more of their fruit, while Lizzie still sees the goblins trying to convince her to take some of the fruit they have to offer. Religious symbolism is used in this poem, by the use of "forbidden fruit" tempting the young maidens.
The second presentation was about Sherlock Holmes' " The Man with the Twisted Lip" and it's connections to "Opium Eater." This presentation covered the mental and physical addictions that a man has to the drug, opium. The story is split into two sections , phase 1 and phase 2. In phase 1 , the character speaks of all the wonderful results he has due to his consumption of opium. In phase 2, the character speaks of the horrible things his addiction has brought him and the remorse he feels due to his use and addiction.
The third presentation was about the portrayal of women in horror films. The speaker covered films such as Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Misery, Silence of the Lambs, and films produced by Hitchcock himself. Although some roles played by women throughout history are those of power, many are focused on the sexual being that the woman represents. In earlier films, the woman always seems to be the damsel in distress, the weaker of the two sexes, and the dependent that "needs" a man to make her life enjoyable. In films such as Misery and Silence of the Lambs, the woman roles covered are that of power. If a woman is in power according to the speaker, she is often considered to be psychotic or obsessive of the men in the movies. If a woman is present usually plays the victim and if she is actually part of the plot , in a progressive way, she may be hyper-sexualized to still bring attraction to her feminine side.
Session # 2 The Writing Center
This session was held as a panel discussion by 5 employees of our campus Writing Center. As part of the Writing Center's services to students , they offer tutoring sessions where a student may bring in a paper and receive help in writing it , making their thoughts more clear, etc. The Writing Center employs 11 tutors and also has 2 volunteer workers. For a successful tutoring session both the tutor and the student must be active listeners, a set amount of working time often helps in decreasing the chance of either the student or tutor burning themselves out on work, and of course participation from both. Some signs of an unsuccessful tutoring session may be that the student is in the Writing Center just because their professor offers extra credit for a tutoring session or refers them to the Writing Center. You can't possibly bring your paper to the Writing Center without any specific troubles in mind.
One "service" that the Writing Center is used for by students seems to be copy editing. This is not an actual service that the Writing Center offers, but students expect this because punctuation/ grammar seem to be a major concerns when writing papers. Instead of offering this as a service, the Writing Center provides workshops for professors to bring their classes to, and the Writing Center is now offering workshops that students may individually sign up for. The Writing Center tutors are willing to help with thesis statements, brainstorming/expansion of ideas, and minimal grammar/ punctuation errors.
For an overall fulfilling trip to the Writing Center, a student may want to proofread their papers thoroughly for punctuation and grammatical errors, prepare specific questions for the tutors to help with, and bring text resources that may be helpful in preparing the polished piece of work.
In this session, there were 3 different speakers that each gave a separate presentation.
The first presentation was about a British Literature poem, " The Goblin Market." Before this presentation , I had never heard of this poem. I learned that it was written in the Victorian era. The poem tells of two sisters, Laura and Lizzie , that hear the goblins crying to them to come buy their fruit. Lizzie does not give in to the goblins' requests but her sister Laura is quite interested. Laura has no money, and in exchange for the goblins' fruit she gives a lock of her long blond hair. After this, Laura becomes infatuated with the fruit and longs for more. Laura looks for the goblins but can not seem to find them to buy more of their fruit, while Lizzie still sees the goblins trying to convince her to take some of the fruit they have to offer. Religious symbolism is used in this poem, by the use of "forbidden fruit" tempting the young maidens.
The second presentation was about Sherlock Holmes' " The Man with the Twisted Lip" and it's connections to "Opium Eater." This presentation covered the mental and physical addictions that a man has to the drug, opium. The story is split into two sections , phase 1 and phase 2. In phase 1 , the character speaks of all the wonderful results he has due to his consumption of opium. In phase 2, the character speaks of the horrible things his addiction has brought him and the remorse he feels due to his use and addiction.
The third presentation was about the portrayal of women in horror films. The speaker covered films such as Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Misery, Silence of the Lambs, and films produced by Hitchcock himself. Although some roles played by women throughout history are those of power, many are focused on the sexual being that the woman represents. In earlier films, the woman always seems to be the damsel in distress, the weaker of the two sexes, and the dependent that "needs" a man to make her life enjoyable. In films such as Misery and Silence of the Lambs, the woman roles covered are that of power. If a woman is in power according to the speaker, she is often considered to be psychotic or obsessive of the men in the movies. If a woman is present usually plays the victim and if she is actually part of the plot , in a progressive way, she may be hyper-sexualized to still bring attraction to her feminine side.
Session # 2 The Writing Center
This session was held as a panel discussion by 5 employees of our campus Writing Center. As part of the Writing Center's services to students , they offer tutoring sessions where a student may bring in a paper and receive help in writing it , making their thoughts more clear, etc. The Writing Center employs 11 tutors and also has 2 volunteer workers. For a successful tutoring session both the tutor and the student must be active listeners, a set amount of working time often helps in decreasing the chance of either the student or tutor burning themselves out on work, and of course participation from both. Some signs of an unsuccessful tutoring session may be that the student is in the Writing Center just because their professor offers extra credit for a tutoring session or refers them to the Writing Center. You can't possibly bring your paper to the Writing Center without any specific troubles in mind.
One "service" that the Writing Center is used for by students seems to be copy editing. This is not an actual service that the Writing Center offers, but students expect this because punctuation/ grammar seem to be a major concerns when writing papers. Instead of offering this as a service, the Writing Center provides workshops for professors to bring their classes to, and the Writing Center is now offering workshops that students may individually sign up for. The Writing Center tutors are willing to help with thesis statements, brainstorming/expansion of ideas, and minimal grammar/ punctuation errors.
For an overall fulfilling trip to the Writing Center, a student may want to proofread their papers thoroughly for punctuation and grammatical errors, prepare specific questions for the tutors to help with, and bring text resources that may be helpful in preparing the polished piece of work.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Chapter 2 In Class Activity
Chapter 2 of " The Tipping Point " brought to my mind , a few people in my life. In coming to IUP, I am about an hour and a half away from my hometown. I was nervous about meeting people, and right off of the bat at the beginning I met a connector. Someone who I see on an almost daily basis, that always says hello to me, and seems to know more people on campus than I could ever imagine knowing.
I can't really pick out a Maven in my life, although one friend comes close to it. If a problem arises, this person knows exactly who to go to when trying to solve it. He is always the first person to give his advice and tell you what he thinks that you should do in a certain situation.
As part of my job, I have to sometimes act like an item on our menu is truly enjoyable ( even if in my own opinion it is horrible). I believe that I live the life of a salesmen in some aspects, although I have been told that my true opinion shows by my facial expressions and gestures.
I can't really pick out a Maven in my life, although one friend comes close to it. If a problem arises, this person knows exactly who to go to when trying to solve it. He is always the first person to give his advice and tell you what he thinks that you should do in a certain situation.
As part of my job, I have to sometimes act like an item on our menu is truly enjoyable ( even if in my own opinion it is horrible). I believe that I live the life of a salesmen in some aspects, although I have been told that my true opinion shows by my facial expressions and gestures.
Compare/ Contrast Reading In Class Activity
Compared to " The Tipping Point " by Gladwell, I normally read more upbeat books. While reading to enjoy my time , I tend to stick to teenage novels. One of my favorite books is " The Lovely Bones" , which was recently made into a movie. The difference between these two books is that " The Lovely Bones " is a beginning to end story, while " The Tipping Point " is broken up into chapters that differ in subject. When done with " The Lovely Bones " I felt that I was walking away knowing one detailed story that I could tell others about. After reading " The Tipping Point " , I believe that I will be able to tell many smaller stories and be able to back them up with examples from the book. Because trends seem to come and go so quickly, you never stop to think about where they began and where they will end. While " The Tipping Point " is not a book that I would normally read , I would hope that after reading it I will be able to understand these small life processes that may normally go un-noticed.
The Family in the U.S.A
The Family in the U.S.A
1.Nuclear Family - mother, father, children in one household
2.Extended Family - grandparents, older generation aunts & uncles, perhaps cousins living within an originally nuclear family household
4.Dual Family Income - both parents work to bring in a reliable income, making sure children are taken care of while they are at work
5. Dual Parent, Single Income - a fast fading way of life, one parent working ( usually the male ) and another staying at home being the main provider of childcare
6.Life Basics- daily routines, manners, unwritten rules that parents are in a way, obligated to teach their children about
7.Education - speaking, writing, reading that may be left up to the school system to teach their children, or may take it upon themselves to begin at an early age
8.Culture/Rituals - Annual events that may take place in the family, due to their culture/religion/ethnicity , these should be taught by parents
9."Different" Ways of Life- homosexual living & adoption, one parent deceased families, parents not having to work due to stable financial situations (ex. inheritance)
1.Nuclear Family - mother, father, children in one household
2.Extended Family - grandparents, older generation aunts & uncles, perhaps cousins living within an originally nuclear family household
3.Single Parent Income - a single parent working, keeping up the household, & making sure children have adequate care while they are away at work
4.Dual Family Income - both parents work to bring in a reliable income, making sure children are taken care of while they are at work
5. Dual Parent, Single Income - a fast fading way of life, one parent working ( usually the male ) and another staying at home being the main provider of childcare
6.Life Basics- daily routines, manners, unwritten rules that parents are in a way, obligated to teach their children about
7.Education - speaking, writing, reading that may be left up to the school system to teach their children, or may take it upon themselves to begin at an early age
8.Culture/Rituals - Annual events that may take place in the family, due to their culture/religion/ethnicity , these should be taught by parents
9."Different" Ways of Life- homosexual living & adoption, one parent deceased families, parents not having to work due to stable financial situations (ex. inheritance)
Extra Credit Movie Review "Precious"
I wasn't sure what to expect from the movie Precious. After seeing the previews on television, I wasn interested in seeing it but never got the time. I appreciated the African American Cultural Center for showing it, and even more that it was an extra credit oppurtunity for English 202.
In my opinion, the genre that the movie fits into is drama. I'm not too sure what the critics would say, but this movie was very emotional. It was about an African American teenager that was a victim of sexual abuse ( committed by her mother's boyfriend and her biological father). As a result of the ongoing sexual abuse, that began as she was an infant, Precious became pregnant with not only one child, but two. She lived in an abusive home, with her mother and her daughter. Her mother lived in envy of her daugter, because her boyfriend had given her daughter two children, one more than he had given her. She was also jealous because her daughter had chosen to go to an alternative school for troubled teens, and was mad that she was trying to better herself (something that her mother had never really tried to do.)
Precious ends up leaving her house with the help of many people in her life (friends, a teacher, and a social worker.) Overall Precious was a very good movie that I would consider watching again.
In my opinion, the genre that the movie fits into is drama. I'm not too sure what the critics would say, but this movie was very emotional. It was about an African American teenager that was a victim of sexual abuse ( committed by her mother's boyfriend and her biological father). As a result of the ongoing sexual abuse, that began as she was an infant, Precious became pregnant with not only one child, but two. She lived in an abusive home, with her mother and her daughter. Her mother lived in envy of her daugter, because her boyfriend had given her daughter two children, one more than he had given her. She was also jealous because her daughter had chosen to go to an alternative school for troubled teens, and was mad that she was trying to better herself (something that her mother had never really tried to do.)
Precious ends up leaving her house with the help of many people in her life (friends, a teacher, and a social worker.) Overall Precious was a very good movie that I would consider watching again.
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