20 Things

-SOPA/PIPA

-Republican GOP elections

-Greatest tennis player ever

-Movie Rating System over time

-Progression of Music

-legality of downloading music

-Which internet program is best (chrome, IE, firefox, etc.)

-cell phone usage

-Golf without Tiger Woods

-Apple's undying product pushing

-Chips Ahoy cookies: Chewy or Original?

-Black History Month

-Sleep habits

-Illegal recruiting for college athletics

-Cancellation of NASA

-BCS or playoff system?

-Dating of the 21st century

-The emergence of dubstep

-Corruption of U.S. Congress/government

-Voter Fraud

The three things I took away from peer reviews were:

1. Expand my analysis. I need to go further into analysis and less summary.

2. Focus my analysis on specific audience. I talk about the purpose of the author often, but not the audience.

3. Clarify which rhetorical tool I'm speaking of. I often have two tools within one paragraph.

Aaaaand, movies?

Don't laugh.

1. Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

2. Happy Feet

3. Meet the Robinsons

"Luuuuuuuucille! I have arrived at our place of dwelling!" shouted Ricardo.

(I decided to take an actual clip of I Love Lucy and interpret it.)

"Come, come!" Ricardo rather impatiently repeated.

Lucille reluctantly walked forward, leaving Ricardo in suspicion.

"What could possibly be such the matter?" he so lovingly muttered.

"My love, if we're going to attend such a cordial ball, there must be such a dignified presence about us. We must stand at least an armslength apart." Lucille sheepishly stated.

"To Tango? Lucille, if we're ever going to perform such a dance, it is in the style of such a dance."

With a power and force akin to a boarish mule, Ricardo took hold of her hand.

With the grace of a boar however, Lucille returned the favor.

"Come! Let us finish!" said the impatient Ricardo.

And with one final twirl and tug, Lucille's fate was sealed. Not only sealed, but soaked. The horror in Ricardo's eyes was palpable. The eggs had hatched.

Here's the youtube clip where I took it from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr7jcdqIi08&feature=related

Can't say I've read much Jane Austen, but I did my best!

Similes

This was way more difficult than I thought it would be.

1. The thought of you makes my face twitch like a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

2. He kissed her lips like they were the last envelope to lick in a stack of 100 thank you cards.

3. Her promise to her missionary was like the kiddie end of a pool, shallow and full of urine.

4.The line for the DMV was out the door, like Walmart at 4:00 on Valentine's Day.

5. Love is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it but only you can feel the warmth. (I know everyone has heard this, but I love it so much. :D)

I'm sure you guys have much funnier ones!

3 Letters

Dear Judge,
As I was driving yesterday, I happened to make the mistake of going over the speed limit. I wanted to apologize for my actions. As it is my fourth ticket of the month, I will likely have my license revoked. As I was headed to my weekly visit to read to underprivileged children, I mistook the speed limit of the road by 5 MPH. I truly apologize. My actions were not out of blatant spite, but out of pure and honest mistake. I understand I am not above the law and my actions deserve punishment, but please show some mercy. If my license is revoked, I will not be able to make my weekly shift at the soup kitchen, recatalog the library shelves, and bring joy to the elderly. I respect you and your decision, however. Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider what I have said.
Sincerely and apologetically,

Jeff Wray

Dear Mommy,

The underprivileged kids love the books you sent! I've read them Clifford hundreds of times. Not much else is new here. School is just more easy A's. I'm dating a girl and you should have grandchildren by the end of the year! Oh, something did happen though. I got a minor speeding ticket on my way to read, but it seems like nothing. The judge might even let me off. No need to worry, your son is safe and it'll all work out. Let me know how the scrapbook turned out!
With so much love,

Jeff

Homies!

We've got a problem. I got ANOTHER ticket, and this one could mean the end of my license. I know you all love our weekly In-n-Out runs, so I'd love it if you guys could help me out. I'd forever be grateful. I was just a bit over the limit on my way to the library, the policeman seemed biased and unfair. We all know how power-hungry policeman can get. Please help me out, guys. If we all band together, I think we can take down the man and his system. We can fight!

Thanks so much,

Jeff

I loved Natalie's use of a facebook status as a found poem, so I was determined to find a facebook status of my own to make a found poem. I think I finally found one.

That moment

(when you're indexing some names from WWI)

and

you come across the name

Oscar Meyer

but

then you go to Wikipedia

and

realize

this name couldn't

possibly be

the famous

Oscar Meyer

Dang.

Hahaha I realize it's not the most poetic topic, but I had fun doing it.

The Perils of Google

The article I chose to reread was "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by David Carr. I actually really enjoyed it and felt somewhat similar to the author.

Questions:

1. I think the author's intent with this one was to raise a question in our heads. His writing provokes us to think and analyze our own lives to see if the internet has "rewired our brains." I think his writing does a great job of raising the reader's curiosity levels.

2. I loved the author's use of framing by starting and ending with the example from Space Odyssey. I think it really tied together the piece and made you reflect on what you had read. I even turned back to the first page to find the similarities between the two. Very effective. I also loved his analogy and simile on the second page: "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski." Not only does it illustrate his point, but it provides amazing imagery. He also does quite a bit of counterarguing, which really raises his credibility.

3. I think the audience's reaction to this article is exactly what the author intended it to be: to raise our curiosity. I don't think a reader could walk away from this paper without first reflecting on whether or not their reading habits had changed and whether it was due to the internet or not. I thought the article was extremely effective, as it made me skeptical of the internet molding my brain.