In Class: Freewrite

This weekend I went home for homecoming. I was really involved with my high school and loved every bit of it, so going home was exciting for me. It was weird going home and relizing how different it is here from my normal lifestyle that I had at home. It was hard for me to come back to college because I was comfortable back in McKinney and knew of the challenges I would have to face back here at college.

At home, I caught up on some much needed sleep. Sunday night, I went to bed rather early, and woke up before my alarm which is a good sign. Last night, I tried to go to bed early, and sort of suceeded. While dead asleep in mmy bed, at three in the morning and abrupt noise occured. The noise was the FIRE ALARM. Someone pulled the fire alarm at three in the morning, and I had this class at eight. I am not the persont that can sleep two hours a day and be fine, I need my complete eight hours, if not more, of sleep. I was furious. Not only did the alarm go off, but I had to climb out of the second story window fire escape. I am sure this will be a funny memory to me in the future, but as of right now it is just an annoying prank that should be controlled.

This morning I woke up and was not as tired as i thought I would be having woken up like five hours ago, and I stumbled to class.

In Class: Freewrite-Essay #2

For my topic I am thinking about writing about 'midnight' snacks and/or maybe weight gain in college. One of the main questions I want to focus my paper on is "Is the midnight trip to 1873 really worth it?" I am not sure if this topic is too broad, or if it is too narrow, because college weight gain might be a hard topic to find in magazine and periodicals. I thought of this one night when I was hungry and I wanted a snack, but the fear of gaining weight in college crossed my mind. This made me think about how bad it REALLY is to go and get the discount $.99 chicken at 1873. Do you think I can find a sufficient amount of information over this topic? I think my peers will be interested, because the lines in 1873 at night are crazy long, and I am sure that some kids sitting among this classroom today have been a part of that line. Is there any ideas you can help me think of to make my paper narrow/broad enough? I might also suggest to the reader alternative foods that they can snack on during late hours of the night. I am no health freak, but it just makes me wonder what really goes into those fried popcorn chicken and curly fries.

Research Question: Is the midnight trip to 1873 really worth it?
-I am not really sure the answer to this question, the obvious answer is...It depends on your daily activities and what you eat, but I am curious to find out more and see how much it will cost someone in the gym the next day.

This question will be helpful to me or anybody, because people eat. Some people simply get hungry and casually walk over to 1873 or drive through a fast food restaurant without thinking about the fat and calories that they are putting in their body, that they are not working off,because they go back to their dorms and sit on facebook or sleep. This topic can apply to anyone. People that are not college students get hungry at late hours of the night and do the same thing. After football games in high school we would all pile in people's car and go to sonic at 10 or 11, which I thought was somewhat bad then...now I see people walking through the doors of 1873 at like 1:00am. I think that my research will just inform people of where the food really goes that you consume late at night, and I might be able to give some tips as to alternative 'snacks' that they can have instead of stuffing their face with fried food or a chocolate cake with mounds of ice cream.

Blogging Rhetorically #2

Both "Tattoo Crazy" and "We Proudly Brew Starbucks Coffee" were very informative and entertaining stories. As I started reading, I did not think much about the topic of essay number two, therefore I did not think about what these stories would be about. I read "Tattoo Crazy" first and as I started reading I realized that it was a research paper. The way the story started made me think that it was just a normal narrative, with some facts, but overall it was nothing like any other research paper that I have ever written or read. I thought there was just enough facts in both papers to make it not just fact after fact. The facts never made me bored while reading the papers, even though I think most research papers are extremely boring. There was interesting details about the writer that kept the research more personal, so it was not just boring research.

In "Tattoo Crazy" I liked how the writer develops her story by starting with facts from the research she found, to her analysis/opinion of the facts, to show the research has influenced her decision of getting a tattoo. The author does not just state facts, she states her personal opinion as to what she thinks of the facts. This kept me entertained, because I could develop my own opinion and relate to the author. Also, tattoos are popular in my generation, so the research was an interesting topic that I could apply to my life.

In "We Proudly Brew Starbucks Coffee" I loved how the beginning of the story just seemend like a narrative, then in the second paragraph, the author gives facts about how the 'phenomenon of Starbucks began' to how it has thrived among consumers today. Starbucks was a good topic to research, because a lot of people can relate to loving starbucks as much as the reader does. With my personal interest in Starbucks, it was interesting for me to read about the facts behind what really goes into each one of my drinks. It was interesting comparing my thoughts after reading this paper to the authors. In the conclusion of the paper when the author says, "I believe that the cup represents more to me now. I will still see me and my dad at the table, but the corporation of stuffy businessmen will always be in the cup I hold." This ending sentence was a great way for the author to end. She recreates the image of her and her dad, but also shows how her research about the 'behind the scenes' facts of Starbucks that consumers don't know has impacted her. The author does not try to persuade anyone, she simply says how she has the researcher has been effected by the facts she has found.

Both readers show their progress of how the research has changed their view on both tattoos and Starbucks. There were enough facts in both papers to make them a research paper, but there weren't too many facts that made the papers boring. I liked how "We Proudly Brew Starbucks Coffee" started out more as a narrative and faded into a research paper as the author started stating facts. The beginning made me interested to keep reading the paper, and the facts made me think, and the paper had inquiry. These papers helped me understand how to write a research paper, without it being the usual boring fact after fact paper that I am used to writing.

In Class: Free Write

This morning I woke up and almost did not come to class because I didnt/dont feel good. I am not the person to miss class though and I have two tests after this class, so coming to this class at 8 am will help me wake up a little. I am without a doubt happy that I didnt skip because you are letting us out early!

Last night I went to the library to study for "Rock to Bach" my music class and for my math test that I have today. I am a little worried about my math test because I dont want to sit down and start taking the test and forget all the formulas. I practiced a lot of problems which will hopefully help me do better on the test. Rock To Bach is a lot of memorization. We have to listen to a song and be able to tell the genre of the song and we also have to know the form of the song based on the verses and the backbeat. Think this is confusing? Yeah it is. Hopefully the songs will be the same songs that my professor showed us in class, so it would be as hard to identify.

Tonight I have connections at 5, but if I dont feel better I might not go. I am supposed to go eat lunch with my youth pastor from home (He is a religion major here at TCU) at Dutch's, but I dont think I will be able to make it. I feel bad because I dont want to ditch him at the last minute, but I think it will be a better choice if I go to the health clinic and get some meds before I get really sick.

This weekend is out first home game and it is also my birthday! I am so excited. My family is coming because they have season tickets and we are going to tailgate with some family friends before the game. After the game One Republic is going to be here performng a concert and I think it will be so much fun, even though I only know like two of their songs.

In Class: Faulting Questions About Essay #1

I have written quite a few personal essays in elementary-high school. I always write about the same topic over and over again, but this time I chose to write about something i've never even considered to be a big deal in my life, yeah it was embarassing, but I have never thought about the reults its had on me today. I am worried that I wont be able to deveolp my story to make it long enough, but I dont want to drag it on too long and lose my reader's intrest.

How will this writing workshop help me? Everytime I do writing workshops it seems like everyone just sits there and stares at each other akwardly and nothing gets accomplished.

Is my first paragraph entertaining enough that someone would want to read this?

I am exctied to see how this essay will turn out since it isnt like anything I have ever written about before.

In Class: Freewrite

Today I am super tired. I am a morning person, but this morning I did not want to wake up. My roomate turned on our light when I was still in bed, so it helped me get out of bed. I started walking around the room trying to get ready and she rushed me out of the room to go gt breakfasat. I ate some honey nut cheerios and left the BLUU around 7:45 to get to class on time. I really wanted a bagel but the slicer thing was messing up all the bagles and wasn't cutting them so I didnt have time to waste.

This class is so cool to me. When I told my parents about it, I couldnt get over the fact that I had a writing class in a computer lab, and that all of my assignments were on the computer. Some of my friends think it is funny that I have to blog writing assignments, but I like it and think its fun. Writing/reading has never been my favorite subject, but this class has already made me like it a little more.

I am going home this weekend for labor day, and then I am going to Grand Lake in Oklahoma to see my family. I am so excited because I havent seen my family since my graduation. We normally go up there a whole lot in the summer, but I was out of town both times my family went up to the lake. Im hoping to get to go out on the boat and just chill by the pool. Hopefully the hurricane wont affect the weather and prevent this from happening. If it does ill still be excited to see my family because my aunt just had a new baby!