Presentation Blog

This was a topic i was very interested in. I want to show in the best way possible. My essay was about the impacts of expansions of Higway US 290 in Houston. With the traffic already as bad as it is, I evaluated the Short Run/Long Run effects of the construction and what it will do for the city. I am thinking about doing a few things. One idea is that I can make a bilboard that would be loacated off the highway to wear people driving could see. I would make a bold statment with it to get people thinkign about the topic. "Goodbye 290. Starting in 2011
" or somthing to this effect. Second Idea is to make an animated version powerpoint of what they plan to do. Starting from a before picture and using some graphics on there and turning it into an after picture. Im not sure which one of these would be more effective but i feel it will be the billboard. The main audience this is focused at is houstonians and mianly those starting at age 16. Im not sure which approach i am going to take, but whatever way i do i will be sure to make it very effective.

Argument Essay

I am very interested in the topic that i am writting about and it also involves me as well. I am going to write about the construction of highway 290 in Houston, Tx which is one of the major highways in the city. They want to expand the 3 lane highway ( on each side) to a 5 lane highway ( on each side). Though this may seem not significant the impact it will have on the city will be. I think that the this highways benifits outways the cost and negatives. Some say that all i will do is cause problems and frustration in the city, along with worse traffic. I believe that once construction is complete that it will help the flow of traffic and take some of the traffic off other major highways as now there will be more options and room for cars to ride. The question i am going to present is " Will the expansion of highway 290 in Houston benefit the city or hurt it?

Topic for Essay 3

After the freewriting activities in class, i am really at a loss of what my topic can be. This is the first time i have had trouble coming up with a topic. Iv run some ideas through my head but dont know how to go about picking a topic. I want to do somthign that interest me, i was thinking along the lines of sports. Even though i play sports i was thinkin i could maybe do it over fans? but that is a little similar to someones topic from last year. I definently want somthing interesting, and about sports but for right now im not 100% sure what my topic is going to be so hopefully i figure it out before class tomorrow or friday.

Glossing

I think my main issue right now is that I'm taking to much of a stance right off to one side. I think i should provide the reader with more facts and pros and cons from both sides, and also give the reader statistical information that my personal stance. Also there is alot of repetition that i use throughout my essay by using words or sentences that say " humanoid" robots in it. I think i can find another term for these robots maybe droids? I also feel that i can incorporate more personal experiences or examples in my paragraphs to provide structure and stability. The essay flows together well, but some sentence or paragraph arrangements can be done. The themes in my essay are pretty consistent, and the essay ultimately revolves around my topic, i think also i could include some more quotes or paraphrasing. Overall the essay is stable with consistent themes, but could also use some work and revision to make it a better overall research essay.

essay topic 2

For my second essay topic over technlolgy, i have picked the humanoid robot, and its technologically. I think this subject is narrowed down from my original of robitic people from china. There are many topics and debates about thsi subject. One of the most debated topics is what they will do for the economy and community. My question is: Are these humanoid robots or " droids" good for the economy and community? Will they destroy jobs or help production? I think this topic is important because this is were the future lies. Eventually technonolgy will grow so much, that everything will be relied on by computers, maybe even this humanoids. I think this is a solid topic to write about, and most of all it intrest me which makes it easier to research and write about.

essay topic

For my topic i picked something that i am familiar with but still have many questions about, athletics.I want to  explore athletics and show that they can take many places in the world, and even lead you to learn many valuable lessons. I used the techniques that Balangeer suggest in order to come up with my topic, I wrote different ideas out, different memories and then narrowed them down. I still want to find out  the different places athletics can take you and how they can teach us valuable lessons. Overall i feel that this topic should be good, because athletics are a big part in many peoples lives. Personally, things such as rugby and football have taken me places, and taught me things in a different perspective. 

Writers Role

After look over all my collections on writings from the previous week, I have figured out that a play many different roles when it comes to writing. My first role I came across was the role of an organized person to myself. I had many paper in the stack with check lists, and due dates for certain homework’s and projects. I made sure I knew when are where I had to turn in all my assignments, or where I needed to be that day. Next, my role as an athlete. I write down my schedules for practice and workout, and make sure that everything is neat, and is in order so I don’t get my dates, times, and numbers jumbled up. My role when I talk to friends is a bit different than my previous two. Usually this over text message or facebook and I tend to use a lot more slang things like "I dunno" or "thats frat", and very casual language that doesn’t make any sense at all, and usually is about stuff we have done, or when we are going to hang out again, nothing too serious. My role as a son is not proper at all, we are an italian family and I’m sure everyone has seen the sopranos. We use a lot of slang, but it tends to be more casual and we talk about a lot of different things, no particular order and it is usually over the phone or in emails, occasionally over instant messenger. My role as a friend to girls is different than it would be to my friends. I talk a little bit different maybe, maybe a little less slang and joking around that I would use with my other friends. My role as a student varies from class to class. If it’s a math class, I tend to write very few notes and mostly its just scribble with numbers all over the page. However if it is a pre 1877 history class in which that teacher gives 5 pages of notes a day, I usually write every word that comes out of their mouth, and make sure that it is neat on my page so I can understand when I go back and attempt to study later. My roles vary greatly throughout the day, and I can easily switch from a student that pays a lot of attention and takes down every note, to a friend that be very casual and use a lot of slang. I think it is important to have different roles in your life, because you sometimes have to act different around different people. I know for a fact if I came up to friends and started to act punctual and proper they would probably look at me as if I was crazy. I think it makes a better writer if you are able to switch from one role, to another in order to grab the reader’s attention, and I also think it allows you to approach different audiences as well, which is one of those most important things to being a good writer.

Second Entry

I believe that I can learn to write well because I have confidence I'm my writing ability, and know that I can correct my mistakes. My writing tends to be good but I usually have minor errors, such as making sentences flow together, and grammar. All of these problems are very correctable and I can change my bad habits, and begin to learn new, better habits. Also, I think that I need to do what Ballenger says in chapter one and that is to forget all previous learning or nit picky rules and to throw them out the window. I think I should be more open to new techniques even if I am not familiar with them, and hopefully that will have a positive impact on my writing skills. Also I believe through all our small class writing exercises, and discussions I can become more comfortable with my writing style. This will help me to write better, and a think be a little bit more relaxed when I am writing, rather than being a little apprehensive and hesitant on what I say and if it sounds good or not. However, I think that I should look at my papers more tentatively before I turn them in, because I tend to read them and they usually sounds alright to me, and I think I need to reread them multiple times, and get other to read over them as well. Overall I think that if I am open to changing, my writing will improve a great deal.

First Entry Letter

My name is Chris Ferrante and I am a freshman at Texas Christian University this year. I am from Houston, Texas and I am majoring in Business (not sure what type), and hopefully I can find the time to Minor in Psychology. I am into all sports, especially rugby and I play for number of teams including the TCU Rugby Team, and also the the USA U19 National Team. I have had the privilege to play overseas in England representing the US, and also outside the country in Canada.
I am interested in taking this course because I do enjoy to write, and I also like to see what other people thing of my writing. The majority of the writing I do now is probably things such as emails, text messages and conversations of instant messenger. I have always liked writing made up stories or something that takes a little bit of creativity to write. I'm usually not of fan of writing about something that has a ton of facts to it, and that you feel like you absolutely need to cover everything. Another thing I highly dislike is trying to interpret poems, or novels because sometimes it is very difficult to see eye to eye with authors or poets. Early in high school I had an awesome English teacher for two years and she helped me a ton with my writing skills. When I first start to develop ideas on major essays, I tend to make a list or an outline over things such as a thesis statement, main points, and closing paragraphs and then gradually put them into paragraphs and attempt to make them flow. When I writing things like facebook messages, emails, or text messages I usually just write what i think in no particular order. I think writing is important in our lives because it allows us to express what we feel, and to learn what other people think and feel.
Overall I think my writing is pretty good, but could definitely use some major improvements. Along with creative writing, I like to write about sports, or anything else that I am pretty knowledgeable about. I usually have difficulty developing and essay and making it flow with the rest of the essay. I can get my ideas down and plan it out, but usually have trouble with writing them out into paragraph form. I would like to improve on closing out my essays strong, and making them all flow , so that all the thoughts and ideas fall together in the end. I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, which I see as a contract for our course.