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Blogger’s Challenge

Blogging for school has been quite different for me. To be completely honest, I’m pretty engaged on social media sites, but using them in class was far beyond me. Being able to use a different method than hand writing is rather interesting. I think it is more enjoyable to be able to do homework on a social site than to do it on paper. Also, it gives you a wider play field. It’s much easier to grasp ideas or understand the assignment further when you can view your class mates work. You might even get an inspiration from someone else. My blog post have been highly scholarly; in other words, an outsider might be able to tell it is for class. But although all my blogs have been for class, they are still interesting and not boring because out the layout and atmosphere that is created by tumblr.  

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Civic Literacy: Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I A Woman?” 

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The paragraph labeled number four is the next point that I want to focus on. It’s interesting how the standards have drastically changed over time and it leads me to wonder how did we actually get in this position as a society? Today, you have the right to chose whether you want to or do not want to participate in civic literacy duties. Our society is more focused on other things, materialistic things, than the things that really matter. I feel as though civic literacy is a major part of building up a society. If we can not be civically literate, how will we be able to communicate to the public what is right or wrong? How will we be able to express our opinion properly? Not only express it, but how will we be able to PROVE our point in order to make a change? These are the things that we need to focus on in order to further improve our society.

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This article was extremely informing and it had multiple broad topics that could be chosen to be the focus. The first point that I want to focus on is the paragraph that is labeled number two. I feel as though some people do not identify writing as powerful. We overlook the actual purpose of writing, and some people go as far as undermining the purpose of writing. When you use writing or literature in civics, it is extremely resourceful. We use words in order to get our point across and explain how we see things. When we make a point or we choose to prove something true or false, we actually have to construct our argument and bring outside sources in. We complete all these steps subconsciously, but it would benefit us if we actually acknowledge all the ways writing is used as a booster.

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The World as a Unified Discourse Community

After reading this section of Swales article, I began to question a lot about the organization of the world. This blog really isn’t aimed to be a summary, but more so a visual map of my thoughts regarding this topic. Swales mentioned 6 characteristics that a Discourse Community is composed of, but I honestly don’t think I can fully agree with this title. The first point that Swales mentioned was a common goal. In this world we have many different people with many different goals. Religion is one of the main things that separates us, but culture plays a major part in this also. There are some religions that are more focused on doing good deeds. They go through their everyday life trying to bring goodness because that’s simply what matters the most to them. Their common goal is to make themselves a better person by doing good to others. Culture wise, I can say America is a lot more money orientated. Although we may not admit it, the common goal is to live the “american dream”. We strive for money, we find ways to increase our wealth. Our common goal is to support, provide, and thrive. All in all, I agree with Swales entire article, but I do not think the world is a UNIFIED Discourse Community. 

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The way that you explained the meaning of Swales words was wonderful! I truly believe that he put this one first because it is one of the major aspects of a discourse community. Having a common set of goals, or a ultimate goal is extremely important when trying to produce a discourse community. Without a set of goals, what would be the purpose?

Before this class I had never heard of the term discourse community. It was also something I never really thought about. Swales sums up what defines a discourse community is six characteristics. I will just mention the first one, that is, a discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common...

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Writing Across The University

I love the points that are brought up throughout this article. In my opinion, it is important to know how to write about what you want and how to write on prompts that are given to you. I can now understand how certain rules and guidelines put us in a box as a writer. When I look back on the writing assignments I received in high school, I can honestly say that when guidelines are applied then the writing stuyle is forced to be similar also. When I say forced, I don't mean this literally. When guidelines aren't applied, it seems like everyone is a lot more creative and expressive because they have more freedom. Now that I'm in college, I actually enjoy writing. I thought it was going to be harder, but it strangely seems easier only because I feel more comfortable. Although I've rambled about the negatives of guidelines, they're also very important. Depending on what your major is, you will have to follow the writing guidelines for your profession. Vocabulary may be different, even the format of how you write may change. So even though it's easier to write without guidelines, they will still be applied throughout our lives.

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Reading this made me realize a few things that I hadn’t really thought about before. The obvious one is that the rules around writing in college so far have seemed to be a little more relaxed than they were in high school. Of course spelling and grammar are still important, but the ideas and the...

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BB's portfolio

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Radical Revision

Monologue: "What I Needed To Hear" 

Listen Breondra, I don't think you're crazy for what you're doing. I understand you're only in the 11th grade, therefore you're simply blind to the world and it's weapons. You're at a place in your life where you still have a lot of growing to do and you still have the rest of your life ahead of you. It seems as though you would rather stay in a bad situation just because it is familiar to you than to travel to the unknown alone in search for better. Baby girl, baby girl, Daddy raised you to be strong and always stand on your own two feet. You don't need anybody to do anything for you, so why keep someone around who is only destroying you? When you love yourself enough, you can cut off the dead limbs that are holding you back. I can tell that you're reaching your breaking point. You feel like you're getting weaker every day, your self-esteem is diminishing, your sense of happiness is no longer present, you don't even see the same person when you look in the mirror. Is this what you're satisfied with? Or are you worth more? If you don't know your worth, I'll tell you that you're damn sure worth the things that you give. So why sit at a table with someone who can't even match your offer? It's definitely not worth it then. Never sell yourself for less because there's so much of the world to see that you're blind to in this stage of your life. You're going to be faced with choices, and sometimes you will make the wrong decision, but be mindful that your situation is never permanent. It all starts with a change. You probably can't even fathom the thought of making that change yet, but trust me, I know it's the best for you. With the help of time you'll be enlightened to the way I see it, but I'll leave that up to God. I accept that this isn't something anyone can force on you, but as you carry on remember to love yourself first, forever, always, and unconditionally. Never forget it... 

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Shitty First Draft

Normally, I am the student that never actually creates a first draft simply because I don't see the need for one. Reading this article gave me a different outlook on this perspective. Rough drafts are supposed to be our layout or preview for what we want our final piece to resemble. I think if I can create a rough draft from now on, i'll be able to further increase my writing skills. I will be able to go through and see certain mistakes that I made and actually learn from them because I'm correcting them myself. Also creating a rough draft I think could be useful because you can be able to help support your plot more. For example, if I went through my piece, I possibly could find somewhere to add something in order to make it better. 

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Sponsors of Literacy

This article proposed a really good scenario that tends to cause a lot of controversy. The main issue that it draws attention to is how people use their resources to get places in life. The way it is depicted by the story, it seems as though we can't help where we end up at. Raymond was the son of a teacher which automatically gave him the upper hand. He was able to use his dad's benefits to help him, such as having special access to things normal students would not be able to get. His dad had personal connections with people that he used to also help him reach his goal. On the other hand, Dora taught herself how to become fluent in Spanish. Being fluent in Spanish was extremely rare in her community therefore, she was extremely valuable since she could do this skill. From this article I grabbed that it isn't about what is being presented to you, it's about what you do with what you're presented with. In other words, we have to learn how to adapt to our surroundings and be able to use our tools wisely. Although Raymond's computer skills were valuable, the fact that people who are fluent in Spanish was rare in the city, she was seen to be just as important, if not more important than Raymond.

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Every so often a book comes along that changes the world in some way. Maybe it heralds the start of a social movement, or enlightens the world about events long hidden. Only in hindsight can we see...

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Learning to Read

This article really has spoke to me only because I did not fully understand my mother's tactics until just now. When I was younger, my mother used to require me to read and copy definitions out of the dictionary also. I remember being out of school for the summer time and still being forced to stay inside and read boring, never ending dictionaries. I hated this activity so much that I actually attempted to hide dictionaries so I wouldn't be able to complete my task. Now that I have rad this piece, I understand that knowledge is the key to many aspects of life. hen one expands their intellect, more things can be accomplished more efficiently. Malcolm X wasn't a positive figure in the society until he educated himself. He felt as though he couldn't even express himself correctly until he elongated his vocabulary which helped to enrich his communication skills. The fact that Malcolm X turned into a totally different person with the help of education is amazing because it demonstrates the benefits that we do not acknowledge but can receive with a little focus. "Learning to Read" is an excerpt from the autobiography of Malcolm X. The autobiography itself is a very intricate novel that has a strong effect on the people who read it. It is based on the story of how he changed himself from a "street hustler to one of the most respected men in the black community", which is how Chicago Tribune described it. A link will be posted to the Chicago Tribune in case you would like to read an extended article of the benefits of his autobiography. All in all, this piece and this autobiography is extremely motivating because it demonstrates how you can totally reinvent yourself, so to speak. 

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We Are All Writers feedback

I love this article simply because it has a positive aspect to it unlike many other articles on this topic. It's good to know that someone still has hope in our society and is able to view it in a positive light. Due to newly renovated social sites, there has been a decline in personal interaction but this has also lead to an increase in how much we write and read. With every downfall, there is a positive side also that should be given just as much attention, if not more, than the downfall of the situation.