I have really learned to analyze in my sociology class. We just had our first exam in Dr. Jeff Jackson’s class, and the whole test was basically analyzing. Sometimes analyzing can be difficult, but as long as you know the definition and some examples, it should be fine. College has really taught me how to analyze more.
I am on the fence when it comes to working with other people. I like it, because it gives people a chance to bounce ideas off of each other. It also may clarify something that someone might be struggling with. I do not like it, because sometimes people do not like to give their all in a group effort. They try to pick the smartest one out of the group and make them do all the work. Collaborative thinking and writing can be a good when everyone does what they are suppose to do.
The five words that I would use to describe my literacy guide are interesting, insightful, easy, difficult, and frightening. It is interesting, because it shows a variety of topics and shows how others think about things that they might be interested in. The writing style and pictures the authors used were sometimes funny and sarcastic. The comments range from positive to negative and are at times funny, sarcastic, hurtful, and truthful. I would say that my guide is insightful, because it gives people who might be struggling with finding stories on the New York Times help. I was having trouble finding stories that interested me until I looked at the “most popular” section. I chose the word “easy,” because I believe that my guide will be easy to follow. I don’t use elevated vocabulary except for when quoting what someone else said. I divided the sections up nicely, tried to make each flow smoothly, and tried to follow the same technique throughout the entire paper. The literacy guide was difficult. I started with this one topic, and it wasn’t working out too well. Therefore, I had to start over which put me a day behind and was extremely stressful. Lastly, I would use the word “frightening” to describe my guide, because I am afraid at how I did on the guide. I know I tried my best, but I still want to make an excellent grade on the paper. I was so afraid at how I had done on the guide, that I was afraid to submit it. My mom had to calm me down before I could submit the paper. Even though I had mixed emotions on this guide, I really believe that I did well, because I gave it my all.
The article that I enjoyed working the most with was Steve Rannazzisi, Comedian Who Told of 9/11 Escape, Admits He Lied. September 11, 2001 is a very sensitive subject for some people, and Rannazzisi’s lying made the day worse. At the time of the attack, he was a new comedian who wanted some attention. He received the attention but in the wrong way. His lie cost him his contract with Buffalo Wild Wings and fans. Some fans were on his side and others were not. Some thought he should have been pulled off of the air on the network Comedy Central, while others thought he should be forgiven. His co-star said that he was a good guy but just did a dumb thing. I don’t think he should have lied, but I do give him points for manning up and apologizing.
The advice that I would give myself for the next writing situation that I am in is to go with my first choice. Not going with my first choice on the guide put me really behind. It was also very difficult to do the assignment with the choice I thought I was going to do. When I finally decided to go with my first choice, I was at peace. The first choice was easier and not as stressful. Next time I will know to not second guess myself, hopefully.
My biggest fear in writing this paper is not being able to organize the paper. I am afraid that I will accidentally leave out one of the things I must have. I feel like I have all this information in my brain, but it is not coming out right. I really want to do well on this paper, and not knowing exactly where I want to go is frightening.
The one thing I’ve learned from my sociology class is the sociological imagination. The sociological imagination is the ability to see our personal lives as they relate to public issues. I had no idea how much society shaped us, and it’s really interesting to see just how much it does.
I learned what other people found interesting to write about. Another thing I learned was that the New York Times has links in it that can link you to a different form of the same story or to a completely different story that may be related in some way. I also learned that the New York Times is very easy to navigate, but the access code is not.
Before this class, I was not very familiar with the New York Times. I had heard about the famous newspaper/website but was never really interested in reading it. Now that I am in this class, it has peaked my interest. It is nice to see what is going on in the world.
My first in-class essay taught me a lot about time management and how not successful I had been with it in the past. While in high school, I had a little experience with timed writing and answering essay questions, but some of the teachers would be a little lenient and still give extra time. Now, with me being in college, I see how serious it is to finish in a timely manner. What I took from this unit is to pay more attention to my time but not too much that I get distracted from the assignment. I also learned that I should try to answer all of the questions quickly, but not so fast that I forget where I am or what I am answering. My best strategy for timed writing would have to be to not stress out about being timed. My problem was that I always use to stress out when I was being timed. This hurt me because that was all I could think about. I would be so focused on completing the assignment in time that I would actually not finish in time. I applied this time management strategy by only looking at the time three times. I looked when I first started, the halfway mark, and when there was five minutes left in class. This strategy was very successful for me. I was able to do everything that was required of me and feel confident in what I wrote. The strategies I used to understand the questions were going back and looking at the questions that my teacher had given me. I also looked over my notes. I tried to make sense of what the question was asking and went from there. Once I understood, I was able to see where I wanted to go. These strategies proved very successful, and I will continue to use these strategies as long as I have in-class essays.
The reason why I chose the question that I wrote about was because that part of the book spoke to me the most. I am very confident in my decision of that question, because Robert Khayat’s persistence reminded me of my persistence. I am most confident in my in-class essay, because I feel like I knew the point I touched on. I am least confident about if I answered the question too thoroughly, because I have been told that I can be very wordy. My strategies for reading Education of a Lifetime were getting done in time and making sure that I understood what was going on. I believe that I was very successful in doing so because like I said before, I actually understood what was going on. I was thoroughly surprised at how well I enjoyed the book. It was an easy read and very informative. This book also taught me a lot. I learned a lot about the history of the University of Mississippi and how much has changed for the better. I also learned from Khayat to stand up for what you believe in no matter who stands against you. The advice that I would give my future self is to read the question thoroughly, know what is going on, relax, and try to answer the questions to the best of my ability.
I read an article that was under the health section of the New York Times, and it read Louisiana Lays Bare Difficulty in Push to Cut Planned Parenthood by Jackie Calmes on September 1, 2015. This story peaked my interest, because I was very surprised at how many people could not afford to go to the doctor. The statistics for the number of people who had diseases and knew nothing about it was astonishing. Planned Parenthood is normally used to fund abortions, which they hardly ever do. However, last year they tested for sexually transmitted diseases for nearly 10,000 low-income patients. What drew me to this article was that I had no idea that so many people could not afford healthcare. It really hurt my heart to see all those statistics for the people in Louisiana. Congress cutting the funding for the Planned Parenthood would hurt so many people, because they would not be able to afford to see what is going on in their bodies. Even though cutting funds for low-income people would hurt, it would put a halt on the abortions which I think is a good thing. I am totally against people getting abortions. Rather than seeing the baby as a mistake or a reminder of something awful that happened, see it as a blessing. Therefore, I think Congress should let Planned Parenthood keep the funding for people of low-income, but I do not think Planned Parenthood should fund abortions.
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