THE LAST BLOG... Formally known as "Course Reflection"

It is that time of the year. If you do not know what I am referencing, then I got 4 words for you: LAST DAY OF CLASS!

Overall, I really enjoyed ENGL101s. From learning different forms of rhetoric to mastering the stases, I genuinely believe that I have become a better writer. I thought that the class was successful because:

1. Friendly environment
2. Different peer edit workshops
3. Interesting lectures; never bland
4. Awesome teacher (that means you, Carolyn!)

There were two flaws with the course that I wanted to point out also. For one, I thought that "Considering Another Side" should have been done earlier in the semester. Thus, students would have been required to choose final paper topics earlier in order to write a paper that counters their beliefs.  The biggest problem, though, was that we did not have enough class time to work on our final papers. Honestly, we should have had at least two weeks to work on the paper. In those two + weeks, we could have had 3 full draft workshops, and we could have devoted 2 classes towards personal conferences with Carolyn to make sure that our final paper was following the guidelines.

Overall, I was happy with my experience in ENGL101s.

Thanks for taking the time to read my final blog!

-Mark B.

p.s. I only had wonderful things to say about you in the course eval Carolyn. Thank you for being a great mentor and person. You made the experience!

"The Pura Principle" Thoughts

I thought that "The Pura Principle" views illness in a very interesting way. A short story, "The Pura Principle" documents the life of Rafa, who is the the main character's brother. Rafa, a Hispanic man in his early twenties, suffers from cancer. Instead of letting this illness get in his way, Rafa tries to persevere through it because in simple words, he does not want to look like a bitch.  Consequently, Rafa gets a part time job but loses it due to his illness, marries a girl named Pura who steals from him and Rafa's mom, and leaves multiple days at a time with no warning. Yunior, the main character, also mentions that though he is much stronger than the now weak Rafa, he stills fears Rafa because Rafa keeps the attitude that he is going to live forever and retain his strength.

In my opinion, the main message of the story is that illness cannot keep some people down.  I think that this message is actually buttressed by the genre of this article: a short story. All of the anecdotes that Yunior reminisces about his brother shows that Rafa did not let cancer get in his way.  Rafa did whatever he wanted (i.e. get a job though he couldn't leave the couch half the time), and did not really care about the consequences. Thus, he proved that illness did not control or really influence his life.  In my opinion, only a short story could portray this message. Due to the fact that the short story actually gave real scenarios about how Rafa's illness through debilitating did not get in his way, I think that the short story genre was the best way to express the message. I do not think that fiction would be able to express this message as well because though it may have examples, they may not necessarily be true or realistic. Thus, the fiction article would detract from the main message of persevering through illness.

Waltz With Bashir Prompt

In my opinion, one of the most memorable scenes of the movie is when the main character, Ari, talks to the female psychologist.  During their conversation, the psychiatrist mentions a patient that she had years back who also participated in the 1982 Lebanon war.  She describes this man as having said that he was able to fight during the war because he imagined that he viewed all of the carnage through a video camera.  Thus, he tried to convince himself that everything he experienced was made up.  One day, though, this man experienced horses dying. The man realizes that though he was immune to the image of people dying, he could not tolerate watching the defenseless horses die for no apparent reason.  At this point, this man's video camera stopped, and he became cognizant of the terror of war all around him.

This part of the movie stood out to me because it shows how soldiers are adversely affected by war. Though they try to pretend that everything around them is pretend at times, a traumatic event usually occurs which makes the soldiers comprehend the terrors of war.  I like this scene because it also reminds me of the book All Quiet on the Western Front, where the main character also describes that he could not stand the horses made when they died although he was immune to the sounds that humans made when they were killed.

The main goal of this movie was to illustrate the horrors of the 1982 Lebanon war.  Through the various soldier's stories, the audience could deduce how awful the war really was, and how it was very traumatic for some of the combatants. Though this film was animated, I still think it got the main message out.  The whole point was to listen to the soldiers stories and see a pictorial representation to understand what the war was like. Also, the real images of the dead bodies in the end was effective in portraying the main message of how bad the war really was.

Research Log for Evidence Paper #2

1. "Heart Disease Facts." Cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 Jan. 2011. Web. 3   Apr. 2011. 1-2. <http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm>.
I choose this article because it gives statistics about the amount of Americans who have heart disease and the amount of Americans who die from heart attacks annually.

2. Asgary, Sedigheh. "Effect of Immunization against Ox-LDL with Two Different Antigens on Formation and Development of Atherosclerosis." Lipidworld.com. 24 Nov. 2007. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. <http://www.lipidworld.com/content/6/1/32>.

I choose this article because it describes how LDL becomes plague, which forms atherosclerosis.

3. Gostin, Lawrence. "Law as a Tool to Facilitate Healthier Lifestyles and Prevent Obesity." Journal of the American Medical Association. PubMed.gov, 3 Jan. 2007. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.                    <http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/297/1/87.short>.

I choose this article because it relates to the action stases; the disclosure section lists problems and article later discusses solutions.

4. Crawford, David. "Population Strategies to Prevent Obesity." BMJ. PubMed.gov, 5 Oct. 2002. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. <http://www.bmj.com/content/325/7367/728.full>.

I choose this article because it proposes environmental factors on how to prevent obesity and cites some studies.

5. Thomas, Helen. "Obesity Prevention Programs for Children and Youth: Why Are Their Results so Modest?" Oxford Journals. PubMed.gov, 27 Sept. 2006. Web. 3 Apr. 2011. <http://her.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/6/783.short>.

I choose this article because outlines failed programs to prevent obesity in kids.

John Q Scene

In my opinion, the most important scene -- or at least the one that stood out the most to me -- occurred at the end of the film. During this pivotal scene, John's son says goodbye to his father because John was sentenced to serve jail time. Without pausing, John corrects his son's malapropism and says "See you later" to indicate that he will see his son in due time.

This scene was embellished with pathos and logos. The fact that a son has to say goodbye to his father because his father broke the law in order to save his son's life is very emotional. This scene makes the audience regret the fact that John had to break the law because now he has to be separated from his son; at the same time, the audience is also thankful that John broke the law in order to save his son from dying. This scene also evokes some ethos because though John is paying the consequences for committing a crime, he proved that he loved his son and that he was a devoted father by doing whatever it took to make sure that his son survived. This alone proves that John is a great father with a lot of character, and it exemplifies that John is the protagonist of the story.

This scene was also important because it works off a previous scene. In the beginning when John's son told John to say "see you later" instead of goodbye (good bye means possibly wont see again), John chuckled because he knew he was going to see his son after school. After the whole hospital incident though (most of the movie), John's attitude about being and seeing his son changed. Due to the sentence John has to face, his son is unsure if or when he will see his dad again. By reversing the roles this time, John is letting his son know that he will get out of jail as soon as possible, and that he longs for the day that they will be reunited again.

Research Log for Evidence Paper

1. Abel Romero-Corral, et al. "Body Composition and Heart Failure Prevalence and Prognosis: Getting  to the Fat of the Matter in the "Obesity Paradox." Mayo Clinic Proceedings 85.7 (2010): 605-608. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 Mar. 2011.

-This article explains some complications of heart failure related with obesity. It also gives an aspect of how a larger BMI can be sometimes healthier (a point I will most likely refute).

2. Srivastava, Tarak. "Nondiabetic Consequences of Obesity on Kidney". Pediatric Nephrology 21.4 (2006): 463-470. Springerlink.com. Web. 6. Mar. 2011.

-This article looks at the adverse side effects that obesity has on kidneys.  Though written about children, I think that it is applicable to adults also.

Blogging Extra Credit 1

Hey everyone,

I thoroughly enjoyed our English classes this week!

In particular, I thought that the class discussions that we had on Philadelphia were really engaging. By examining the different appeals of the film (logos, pathos, and ethos), I thought that are class uncovered the hidden messages enveloped in the film.  I also thought that most students were engaged in the conversations.  Instead of reading monotonous passages from different novels (sorry, Carolyn!), everyone got to watch a very interesting movie.  Thus, they actually wanted to comment and contribute to the class discussion.

Overall, I really enjoyed our classes this week, and I hope to have great English classes in the future!

-Mark

"Philadelphia" Scene

After watching the movie Philadelphia for my second time, I realized that one moment really sticks out to me. In particular, it is the scene where Denzel Washington (black lawyer) places the face mask upon Tom Hank's (protagonist with AIDS) face. This scene really sticks out to me because it exemplifies Washington's character's maturation at the end of the movie.

In the beginning of the movie, Washington is afraid to be near let alone touch Tom Hank's due to the stigma of AIDS during the 1980s. Throughout the course of the movie though, Washington's character realizes that as long as he does not have "intimate" contact with Hanks, he cannot possibly contract the vile disease. This realization prompts Washington to become closer to Hanks, and lets him see past the medical and social stigma of AIDS. During the face mask scene, Washington shows that he completely dropped his bias against gays and his fear of AIDS by coming into contact with Hanks. Washington is no longer afraid of touching Hanks due to his understanding that Hanks is a person and that he cannot contract AIDS through touch, and that Hanks needed a relaible friend at the end of his life.

This scene is filled with pathos. It is suppose to evoke sorrow in the audience. It is also suppose to relieve the audience of their fear against contracting AIDS though touch, and the bias that homosexaual deserve to die of AIDS (plays into the whole movie). I, for one, found it a very touching scene, and that is why it stuck out to me so much.

Blogging Prompt 4: Experience and Other Evidence Final Topic Choices

After much thought, I have officially decided to base my research for the “Experience and Other Evidence” paper on the topic of overweight/obesity.  I ultimately chose this topic because I have been exposed to overweight people my entire life. 

Besides the millions of Americans who suffer from being overweight, my family also shares this disease.  Most of my relatives on my father’s side can easily be considered overweight if not some obese.  One of my uncles on my father’s side, who shall be nameless for now, is extremely overweight.  As a consequence, he has been admitted to the hospital at least a dozen times over the past five years due to back problems, heart problems, and the like.  Specifically, when I was a junior in high school (I would like to say March or May of 2009), my uncle was admitted to the hospital for heart surgery.  The procedure entailed the use of stents in his coronary arteries to provide a larger amount of blood supply to flow to the heart.  Due to the anesthesia and severity of the operation, my uncle lied in the hospital bed looking very ill and in massive amounts of pain for days.  I remember thinking that I would possibly lose my uncle to obesity; however, he healed from the operation and is still around today. 

The possible stasis questions that I wish to analyze originate from the Definition and Cause/Effect sections.  From the Definition section, I wish to possibly answer “What the definition of obesity is?”.  From the Cause/Effect section, I wish to analyze “What causes obesity to occur in most Americans?”, and “What are the effects of obesity?”. 

My uncle’s close call to death due to his weight made me realize how dangerous obesity can be, and I want dedicate my paper to answering the stasis questions based on the above experience. 

The Experience and Other Evidence Memo

1.       Asthma

The first topic that I want to address is asthma.  Ever since I started engaging in physical activities such as sports (around 6 or 7 years old), I have always felt a tightening in my chest.  After the initial tightening in my chest, I experience another phenomenon; shortness of breath.  As the physicians later told my parents, these symptoms that I chronically experience have been linked to asthma. 

A question related to asthma is “why does asthma occur in some individuals and not others?” or maybe “Should athletes feel shame if they suffer from symptoms of asthma?”

My intended audience for this specific subject would be members of the asthma community, active and non-active, and doctors who wish to eradicate asthma indefinitely.

2.       Overweight/Obesity

The second topic that I wish to direct my research on pertains to overweight/obesity.  On my father’s side of the family, many of my relatives (uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents) suffer from being overweight.  Though they are not rotund enough to be considered obese, they have suffered many health related problems that are linked to obesity such as heat problems, kidney problems, and other ailments.  To further expand my claim, I think there are statistics stating that at least half of the American population is overweight, and maybe a quarter of the population can be considered obese. 

A question that I would like to pose is “How can we prevent US citizens from becoming overweight/obese?” or “How to handle the US citizens who are already overweight/obese?”

My intended audience should be every US citizen overweight or obese, a person who has an overweight/obese relative and the doctors who wish for their bigger patients to become healthier.

3.       Cancer

The last topic that I wish to mention is cancer.  Though this may sound like a cliché, I am willing to generalize that everyone knows somebody that has been diagnosed with some form of cancer.  For example, the other day my grandmother had surgery to remove a tumor that appeared in her breast.  Though she will recover well from her cancer due to early detection and surgery, not everyone is always as lucky. 

A question that I wish to pose for cancer is “Why has cancer become more prevalent over the past couple of decades?” or “Is there any other preventative measures to stop cancer from forming other than screenings (i.e. foods that one can eat to prevent cancer from forming)?”

My intended audience should be patients whom have been diagnosed with cancer, people who had cancer and won their battle, the family members of patients who had cancer, and the doctors who devote their lives to eradicating the awful disease. 

Thoughts on Sontag's "Illness/AIDS as a Metaphor"

Susan Sontag’s novels Illness as a Metaphor (IAAM) and AIDS as a Metaphor (AAAM) illustrated her disposition towards certain lethal diseases.  In Sontag’s piece Illness as a Metaphor, she represented her view towards cancer.  Comparing it to tuberculosis, a lethal disease more common in the early 1900s, Sontag pointed out that having cancer alienated patients from everyone else.  The common view of people with cancer during the 1970s was that they were contagious, and that these people were sure to die.  Even doctors stigmatized these unfortunate patients by refusing to tell them that they were inflicted with cancer.  Basically, it was seen as the patient’s fault if they had cancer due to an ill-omen or unhealthy habits (again, this is during the 1970s). 

                In Sontag’s piece Aids as a Metaphor, written ten years after her first piece, she first analyzed IAAM by outlining the history of metaphors and the origins of science and disease, and then finally mentions AIDS.  She introduced AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) by describing how the disease affects the body.  Later, she compared AIDS to cancer; while cancer is a proliferation of mutated cells that adversely affect the body, AIDS breaks down the immune system, consequently destroying cells.  Though the two diseases are comparably different, Sontag noted that the response to the two diseases were very similar.  In both cases, people believed that the diseases were linked to certain groups of people (AIDS for homosexual men; Cancer for unhealthy people). Thus, she concludes that AIDS in the 1980s attracted the same malevolent attention as cancer did in the 1970s. 

                For the most part, I understood what Sontag wished to portray in her two pieces.  In her first piece IAAM, Sontag related that cancer patients in the 1970s were treated poorly by doctors and other members of society.  In AAAM, Sontag studied AIDS in the 1980s, and related its bad publicity to that of cancer in the 1970s.  The only thing that I did not understand was why Sontag found it beneficial to analyze IAAM in the first chapter of AAAM, written ten years later.  Personally, I think she should have written a follow up to her first piece instead of trying to incorporate it into her second.

                On the other hand, I liked how Sontag orchestrated her novels.  I found it very clever of Sonntag to relate a plethora of metaphors to illness in the beginning of AAAM.  For example, her allusions to the arts and the military were brilliant, and really added to her argument later on about the stigmatization of people with diseases such as AIDS or cancer.  I agreed with just about every metaphor she chose to use. Though I enjoyed her use of metaphors, I think that she could have curtailed this section, or at least made it a bit more interesting to read (most kids would find this section extremely boring) through simpler language or other forms of rhetoric. 

On Confessions-Blog 2

Confession, by definition, is “a formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime” (Oxford Dictionaries 1).  Thus, confession requires a person to spill out their darkest secrets and confide these thoughts into another individual.  As seen in medical pieces such as “Bless Me Reader For I have Sinned” and “The Final Cut”, the authors, Wear & Jones and Gawande, divulged to their audience the dark side of the medical profession.  By doing so, these authors engaged the reader’s attention and also expressed forms of confessional literature.

                An important distinction to create is the difference between confession and apology.  As defined by Jones, “an apology is an expression of regret – “I am sorry” - but a confession is an admission of fault – “I am sorry because I did something wrong. I sinned” (224).  Based off of this definition, confession is a stronger form of an apology because in confessing, one admits that they did something wrong and is truly remorseful about the sin they committed.

                Confession can be very useful in writing, assuming that an author knows when to appropriately use it.  An appropriate time to use confession in writing is when one is trying to spread a point across (i.e. call attention to certain problems) to their audience.  For example, Gawande confesses in his piece that doctors do not perform enough autopsies and that only autopsies can uncover what actually killed a patient in certain situations.  By doing so, he stresses the point that doctors are becoming lazy and ignorant of many types of unknown diseases.  Another critical time for confession in literature is when an author accounts for a sin so others do not make the same mistake.  In many pieces written by doctors, the doctors admit that they may have not read a test result correctly or downplayed the severity of a patient’s disease.  After the patient suffers a debilitating injury or dies due to the physician’s carelessness, the doctors experience a period of self-reflection, where they acknowledge their fault and tell others about it so the same mistake is not made again.  These two examples are the most appropriate forms in confession in medical literature.

                Confession is not always appropriate in writing though.  It is not really acceptable for an author to confess a mistake that he or she made just so they can feel better about an incident that happened.  For example, it is pointless for a writer to reminisce back to their childhood and describe a time when they might have ate a cookie when their parents told them not to.  In this case, the author is not trying to teach an audience a lesson, or call attention to a problem.  The author is just simply imploring the readers for forgiveness for a trivial incident.  Thus, authors should only use confessional literature for matters that might benefit others and prevent similar mistakes from being repeated or made. 

Works Cited

“Confession." Def. 1. Oxforddictoinaries.com. Web. 5 Feb. 2011. <http://oxforddictionaries.com/search?searchType=dictionary&isWritersAndEditors=true&searchUri=All&q=confession&contentVersion=US>.

Wear, Delese, and Therese Jones. "Bless Me Reader for I HAve Sinned." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 53.2 (2010): 215-30. Print.

Blogging Prompt 1: Autobiography

Hello everyone!  My name is Mark, and I am originally from Cherry Hill, NJ.  I am currently enrolled in the A. James Clark engineering school at UMD as a bioengineer - - a profession that combines both the qualities of an engineer and a biologist.

Due to my affinity for math and the sciences, I am not particularly fond of writing and grammar.  I do not mind writing papers that are relevant to biology, but I despise composing essays graded by an English professor (no offense to Ms. Carolyn Ureña of course).  For the most part, I am usually confident in my writing skills, and always submit my best work.  That does not go to say, though, that I do not like others to proof read my essays; on the contrary, I welcome criticism and second opinions.  By the end of the semester, I hope to be able to enrich my writing through the use of figures of speech, as well as a diverse and complex array of vocabulary.  I also wish to be able to portray a view and reinforce it with data and facts - - a necessary skill for when I start publishing research papers for my future profession as an engineer.