...Jolina Munsayac English 99 Murphree 09 September 2014 How I Got Smart Reading Response This article’s title says it all. It is a story about how a guy got smart. In the first few paragraphs, the author talks about how students view teachers as bookworms who would study a lot rather than playing and end up to be a teacher anyway. He mentions that he tried to explain that the image that they are picturing during his adolescence is wrong. He hated compulsory education with a passion. I believe that the author’s argument is that everyone is smart in their own way. He argues that he did not get smart by the way most of the students would assume right away that just because ones a teacher, then they have been a book worm and just studied a lot during their adolescence. This is why the author told a story about an experience that changed his life. An experience on how he got smart and this is because of a girl named Debbie. Just like a typical high school student, he fell in love with Debbie at first sight and since she was an intelligent lady, the author felt obliged to be intelligent as well to impress her. Though the storyline ended as the incentive being gone because the author just got led on by Debbie, he says that “Having savored the heady wine of knowledge, I could not now alter my course”. Reading this article made me think how we all have different backgrounds on why who we are now and how we all have our own ways on how we become who we are and what we are. I believe...
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...Reading Response Essay At the beginning of the semester when the reading responses were assigned, I really did not know what to expect or how to do any of them. As the semester went on, I slowly figured out how to improve my work on these reading responses. Some of the responses were pointless I thought but others were helpful. No matter how many reading response assignments we had on quotes and citations, I never one hundred percent understood how to do them until I kept on putting them into my work as the semester went on. Those assignments helped me gain a better understanding on how to use quotes and when to use them. This will come handy in classes in the future. The reading responses that aimed towards bibliographies helped tremendously. It allowed me to practice my work so that I knew how to do it correctly when writing papers and not have to look it up or use a special website to help me every time. I never did quite understand why we had to do annotated bibliographies though because personally I don’t know what the purpose of the annotated part is. When the rest of the reading responses were cancelled for the semester, I was very happy. After doing a few of these responses, I just thought to myself that they were just for some extra grades or ‘busy work’. Trying to complete reading responses and a writing project was sometimes difficult but also possible. I would suggest not doing reading responses unless you do them at the beginning of the semester...
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...Reading Response #1 1) Discuss any two of the animal communication systems mentioned in the Kemp & Smith chapter. For each, provide examples of two design features, discussed and described in the Ohio State chapter that the systems either do or do not exhibit. Be explicit about how these systems illustrate these features. In 1944, von Frisch began exploring an insect communication system called, “the dance of the honeybee”. Bees does the “waggle dance” to communicate the source of food to rest of the hive and to convey how far the food source is from the hive. This insect communication system definitely exhibits interchangeability and discreteness. The honeybees exhibit the feature of interchangeability because each bee can both send messages and comprehend the messages of the other bees. The bees send messages of where the food source is by dancing and the other comprehend the messages of the dancing bees to understand the location of a rich food source. Obviously, they have the ability to both send and receive messages. The honeybees also exhibit the feature of discreteness. The waggle dance of the honeybees itself is a large, complex message and it can be broken down into smaller, discrete components. For example, this dance not only conveys where the food source is, it can be broken down into different dances to convey different messages (its richness and type of food available) to the rest of the hive. Not all honeybees use the exact same set of dance to communicate; different...
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...Reading Response: O’Brien pgs. 173 – 198 Prompt: Make a list of 5 of your most important beliefs and values, and 5 expectations or goals you have for yourself. Identify the groups reflected in this list of ideals. Write a paragraph that traces the origins of your identification with these groups. Response: I have many beliefs and values beginning with everyone should be treated equally, regardless of race or beliefs. I believe that people should have the right to believe what they choose to believe, and I also believe that people should respect the differences in others’ beliefs. I value individuality, conformity is boring. I also value creativity, I feel like it allows one to free you from the world. I have a hefty amount of goals and expectations beginning with graduating college of course. I expect myself to be very successful and will work hard until I am that. I expect myself to graduate in the next two years. I expect myself to have a family after I graduate and marry my boyfriend. I expect to teach my children proper goals they should set for themselves. I have the goal of becoming a successful news editor or news anchor. All of these beliefs, values and expectations are traced back to my mother. She is the strongest woman I know, and has taught me the same. I have been disciplined and brought up in all of the right ways because of her and would not be who I am or where I am today without that wonderful woman I call my mother. I am forever grateful and hopefully can...
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...In the essay, "What's Natural about Our Natural Products by Sarah Federman", Sarah describes how the word "natural" is being overused by food companies to lure people into buying their goods and the true meaning that lies behind the word. She defines the "natural" product as: determined by nature, sort of have a connection with nature, having normal character, grown without the care of human, non-artificial, and lastly produced by nature. This is to show that people should be more alert when purchasing food products. For example, the case of Lays. Sarah mentioned how potato chips company precisely uses the words "naturally baked" to trick consumers for company to sell it in a higher price. Same thing goes to Snapple drinks. Every Snapple drink promised "enriched vitamins", but it's just ordinary brewed tea with ice and a couple of sweeten artificial ingredients. Thus, consumers ended up paying extra for more sugary water and does not realize it. Also, in Hansen's "Natural" Soda case, he uses the same exact and amount of ingredients as Sprite and 7-Up except the sodium citrate. The word "natural" is pretty much meaningless in beverages. Sarah uses personal experiences in her writing to convince the readers and all consumers to aware how food company abuses the word "natural", "naturally", or "pure". I absolutely agree with what Sarah is saying in her essay, "What's Natural about Our Natural Products". The word "natural" means something that is not made by the hand of human...
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...In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” I felt bad for the elephant. Because Orwell shot and killed the elephant only to not avoid looking like a fool in front of the Burmese people. But, at the same time I felt for him and the pressure he was under being a police officer at the time. It was expected there was a wild elephant on the loose and it needed to be done. When reading this essay, I felt Orwell did a wonderful job making us feel what he was thinking and the setting he portrayed he also did really well. His struggle he was internally facing between the government and the Burmese people was really interesting to me. Because I’m sure many other soldiers at the time felt that way. Including my own grandfather. He was born and raised in Burma and served in the military and when reading this I was thinking of many similarities he’s told me about. He also wanted to be freed from British rule and when Orwell talks about a rampant elephant theres also similar stories. What struck me most was all of his feelings came out just because of an elephant. And made me wonder why was he scared of looking like a fool if he didn’t shoot the elephant? Why was it such a big deal if he didn’t shoot the elephant, it was his choice he was the authority in the situation. But, overall I really enjoyed this essay. In Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “Silent Dancing,” she talks about how immigrating from Puerto Rico to New York her life was in shades of gray and she only remembers one time when it was in...
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...When I read chapter six, the part which I found that I could relate to the most were the pages on presentation aids. Where I work at, I often have to prepare multiple tables and charts to represent any requested data in a fashion that viewers can quickly obtain high level summary details. I find myself creating multiple pie charts and bar graphs which are then incorporated into PowerPoint slide shows. This allows me to present various aspects – this is helpful as many of the viewers are only interested in a portion of what I am presenting while only a few want the full spectrum of data. The viewers can take the individual slides that pertain to them and discard the rest. I usually also provide a handout version of my presentations that show the slide and provide an area to the right that allows for the viewer to take notes or post comments. There were some examples expressed that I have never used, such as chartboards, flip charts and transparencies. There were times where I could really have used either a flip chart or a chartboard, instead I often ended up using a projector to display the images on a wall or using handouts that were printed out and distributed to everyone attending. The issue I find with the projector is I often have to dim the lights and that is not always advantageous. And in meetings with many attendees, there is a cost associated with printing considerable amounts of handouts. I have also never used any transparencies, though I do remember seeing them...
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...Main ideas in the reading • Jesus washed the feet of the disciples to show love , brother hood and above all to explain to the disciples the fact that there is no one greater and likewise no one is inferior In the kingdom of God. • The “pecking order”: it is a scientific order which chickens follow when they eat food, the lowest chicken has to give priority to the highest status among the chicken and so on, and after everyone has eaten there meal then only it’s the time for the lowest status of the chicken to eat. Similarly Jesus wanted to abolish this pecking order system; he wanted an authority of function and not an authority of status. • Characteristics of self righteous service : 1. comes through human efforts 2. it enjoys serving 3. seeks external rewards 4. ambitious about results 5. picks and chooses whom to serve 6. affected by mood swings 7. temporary in nature 8. insensitive to feelings 9. hurts the community at large • Mike Law suggests us that we should take each day as an opportunity to show people humility and learning to serve our neighbors. Mike Law tells us that if we want to show humility, we need to remove any feelings of superiority, cover our friends weaknesses, celebrate in their victories, accept their friendship and forgive them for the harm they caused us. • We come across the two words – choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant .when we choose to serve we can follow our own rules and...
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...Krystal Powell Ms. Cauley ENGL 1102 24 February 2014 Reading Response: Internet Tom Standage's main point was to prove how the telegraph completely changed communication. For the opening of the essay the author decided to go with the giving background information approach and to end it the author closes with his final thoughts about the telegraph and how its had an impact on life today. Evidence used to support the thesis including things like telling how the telegraphy paved the way to creating things like the telephone, stock ticker, and teletype machines. Also, the author mentions how there was so much hype around the invention of the telegraph and talks about the numerous events that took place to celebrate it. I believe this evidence was incorporated very effectively because the many examples help make his point more believable. The author is known as credible for this topic when you read the intro that gives us information on what colleges he went to and what he learned there. Furthermore the first paragraph informs us about his current job and a few books he has written. I think some motivation for this writing may have been the fact that the author took engineering himself making this an interesting topic for him and a topic like the internet is an easy one for readers to relate to being that its something most of us use on a daily basis. The passage that caught my attention was when the writer stated that someone sending a dispatch to India from London had to...
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...Mr Deeprose October 10th, 2012 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Reading Response The novel The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald is a book that deals with the American Dream: an ideal presented in American literature where the dreamer rises to wealth, very present in the twenties. In this bestseller, Gatsby – the protagonist – embodies the evolution of one to greatness. Beginning his life as a simple, poor farmer’s boy. James Gatz, upon meeting the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan who is wealthy, decides to rise to success and fortune – and carries the name of Jay Gatsby, who “sprang from his Platonic conception of himself”(95). Through this process really achieves the American dream. In addition, Gatsby becomes great to the narrator and his close friend, Nick Carraway – however, the novel ends as a tragedy, and by having the great Gatsby shot dead. Through the use of the symbol of Daisy Buchanan as well as the significance of the title, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the idea of the American Dream and that it rarely equaled to absolute happiness. Daisy Buchanan symbolizes the failed attempt at finding ultimate happiness through money: ”For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes” (143). Daisy is the cousin of Nick Carraway, but most importantly Gatsby’s love. Daisy and Gatsby had been romantically...
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...Phong Nguyen 1/8/15 Salvation Reading Response The story, “Salvation” by Langston Hughes reminds me of a past personal experience of when I was a kid growing up in a religious environment. Growing up, I was often brought along with my family to temples to pray. I was raised to believe in buddhism. Without any knowledge of buddhism, all I knew was that there was once a man named Buddha, and that we must pray to him for good fortune. That was the basis of my knowledge of that religion. Like most kids I believed in what my elders told me and so therefor, I believed in Buddha. Similarly, Langston Hughes states, “I had heard many old people say the same thing and it seemed to me they ought to know.” This story reminds me of this old past experience because Langston Hughes implies how he blindly followed religion, without any knowledge of it, similar to what I thought of as a kid. Unlike the story, I had never had to prove my devotion to my belief. Langston Hughes explains how he had sat down waiting to see Jesus appear before his eyes, and walk towards the bench to be saved by god, “I sat there calmly in the hot, crowded church, waiting for Jesus to come to me.” This story had also got me thinking of how we as a society often value and require a single to religion to keep us going. With a single religion, whether it be through knowledge or blind belief, it gives us hope that the things we do in life have an impact in our after lives, and someday we will benefit from it. After all...
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...The argument from design is also referred to as the teleological argument, which comes from the word telos, meaning purpose in the Greek language, in other words teleology is the study of purpose. The argument from design is Thomas Aquinas’s final way of proving the existence of God. Aquinas is an Italian philosopher who was ranked as the most powerful thinker; he was highly influenced by Aristotle. According to Aquinas’s argument, all things have a disposition or an order, in a way that when you look at the world, every object, every human and basically everything that exists had to be designed by someone, and that someone is God. Aquinas also believes that everything in this world has an aim, even the unintelligent beings, such as trees. For example, apple trees have a purpose of producing apples not bananas. There must be some intelligent being controlling and directing all the unintelligent to their end, and that being is in the name of God. William Paley, an English philosopher who was the first to analyze the argument from design. He published a book called natural theology, where he demonstrated that by studying nature, we can show the existence of God. Paley uses the analogy of the watch to prove the existence of God. He concluded that the watch didn’t just appear out of nowhere, but was designed by an intelligent being. A watch implies a watchmaker, yet everything that exists in this world implies an even greater designer, which we believe is God. The argument from...
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...The article is about the declining market of Coffee Beans. The article, written by Oxfam International, describes the different problems that coffee bean producers and countries now face as the price of coffee beans is declining drastically. The general consensus shows that besides large coffee companies, private growers and farmers of coffee beans, due to lack of technology, power and information, have sold their beans for such low prices, that even sometimes they sell their beans for less than the cost needed to produce them. This destroys the livelihood of many farmers. The study also shows that currently, there is a far greater amount of beans produced than consumed, and in the end, the coffee market will collapse altogether. I personally feel that the current market status and stability of coffee is legitimate and correct. According to the study, prices have begun to fall because there is no longer any government regulation and that it is a free market. The authors feel that should be governmental regulation and control to improve the quality of coffee and limit the amount that suppliers and produce. I feel that this is completely incorrect. The world economy prides itself on free markets. It is only when the markets are completely free and unregulated can innovation and buyer choice take precedence over supplier power; and, in the end, there are definitely more buyers than producers. Thus, buyer’s priority should take president over the supplier’s problems...
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...Taylor Luongo Matthews English 101 A85 10/2/2012 My reading response is on David Foster’s speech “This is Water”. Fosters point is, not insulting, but explaining how to “think”. He gives example on how people think in different ways. “Blind Certainty” is another point he runs down stating how people see one way and one way only. He uses the phase “lens of self” as a way of how people receive the world. To alter this he brings up “Learning how to think” meaning “exercising some control over how and what you think”. I’m in college now so I presume that I already know how to think. Maybe my way of thinking is or could be the hardest or easiest way of thinking. In his speech he doesn’t want people to be insulted about what he is talking about. Just to look or “think” about it through a different prospective. I know the way I study and learn. I know the way I study and learn materials may be different for a different person. My friend finds the easiest ways to get his work done while still getting good grades. I on the other hand I need to have a hard copy of the material and look over it many times just to thouroughly know the material. David Foster also talks about “Blind Certainty” as I mentioned before. The so call “self centeredness” is how the world may seem like it revolves around you because you’re looking at it out of your own perspective. I know I feel like that sometimes. It’s not that I think about myself all the time or anything but I just feel like things get...
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...Reading Response 1- Incentives I do not believe that children should be given incentives just to do better at something. If you are going to give your child money, make them work for it. Show them the value of a dollar and not the value of a letter grade. Children are required to go to school in order to learn and become educated. If your children want to do something or go out with friends and they need money have them work for it. There are chores they can do around the house like mowing the yard or taking out the trash and for every task done allot each one with a certain dollar amount. Show your child the value of a dollar and what it means to work for it. When I was in school, my father tried to bribe me with money for good grades. For every A I earned I got $20; if I got straight A’s I received $100. I believe the only reason he started this was for my younger sister who was having a hard time in school and he wanted her to focus more on her learning. In the end it did not really work and I ended up having to tutor her through most of her classes as we got older. Even though I was given the money, I would always share it with my sister and we would go to the movies or the arcade and just have fun. My children are now at the age where I can start giving them chores to do to help me out around the house. I have started them off with small things to do, like cleaning their room, taking out the bathroom trash, and helping me load the dishwasher. For each...
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