You Have Scarred Me For Life

     Thank you, Ms. Mosh, for I have truly learned a lot in your class. I have to admit, though, that I was beginning to think I was in a nutrition class rather than an English class. But, I did learn quite a bit in both areas.
     Let's start with the presentations. Those were really informing, and I thought it was really interesting to learn about to learn about the different countries, how they ate, when they ate, etc. You might think, "Okay, we all pretty much eat the same way, right?" No, that is not right! For examples, some countries don't really snack they way that we do. France is one of those countries. And thats probably why they are so much skinnier than we are. (Hmmm, just saying.) Also, the presentations exhibited the countries' different food-related holidays that they celebrated. An example of this would be that France has one day of the year that they eat crepes all night. They believe that the crepes will allow for their wishes for the year to come true. Really interesting. "Clarence, why are you only talking about France?" Well, my presentation was on France, and I feel like I should talk more about it. It is definitely not because I don't remember the other presentations.
      Our paper topics for this semester was about food. And the assignments were all about food. So naturally, if you were in the class, you had to learn something about food. The students in our class had different food topics. Some were about obesity, others on dietary supplements, and even one on hospital food. Now, I guess my teacher wants to know if I'm going to be more conscious of what eat. Yes, definitely. I already am. Will I eat better? Absolutely not.
     Most memorable food related moment in class... Hmmm. I guess it would have to be when LD was telling Ms. Mosh that he is struggling with his topic. The reason it was so memorable was because he was so funny when he was talking about it. I don't know. He's a funny guy. And his topic had to do with dietary supplements so it counts.
     I'm going to end by saying this. This class did not ruin eating for me whatsoever. I eat what I eat how I eat. C'est la vie!

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The Final Draft

     The final draft. This is the paper where it all counts. How do you get to the final draft? Well, first you do the research, of course. You type out your first draft, and then you make corrections. Boom! There's your final draft! But wait. It's not always that easy, is it? There are obstacles that could make the process more difficult, especially to those who halfway know what they're doing (i.e. me). I guess I could give a few examples of what I'm worried might impede me from writing a great final draft. For starters, one word: sources. The internet is so great, and I am glad it was invented. There is some great, reliable stuff on there. But along with the great, reliable stuff come bullshit. And we all know about bullshit; it's like half of the papers we turn in. But more seriously, sometimes it's hard to find credible sources on your topic. You find a lot of articles and blogs, you won't have ANY problem finding those, but how many of those are actually saying something... what's the word... true? Another thing I am concened about it reaching the final paper page requirements. However, I am doing great so far. Don't know how, but I am. I think a lot of students' worries when they write a paper is having enough information to fill up the page. At least that's one of my biggest worries.
     Now, not all of it is hard. If it was, I may have had to drop the class. The easiest thing about writing my final paper is the actual argument part. I use a lot of my words and thoughts and ideas. Along with some research, of course. Also, now that I have properly learned how to do it, citing sources in the text is not bad either. I actually have never done it until I got to college. I know... it's hard to believe. But I went to Cordova, so it's kinda not.
     I think I still have quite a bit of research to do in order to finish the paper. I mean, there are two more parts so... yeah.

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Persuasive Letter

Dear Barack Obama (yes, I'm going to write to the president),

Hey, man, how's it going? It's been a while since we've hung out. Ever since you won that second term, it seems like, I don't know, maybe you're avoiding me. But that's okay, it looks like you're kind of a busy man. So let me get to the point. I wanted to talk to you about America’s eating habits. Now I know there is only so much you can do, and so much you want to do, but I think I can convince to take a serious look at this issue.

Everyone knows America for being the land of the free and the land of the fat. We just have so many options available and people do not have self-control. Of course, there are the exceptions, but they are few and far between. Now look at Canada. Yes, Canada. We can’t have worse eating habits than Canada! They are right there above us, so people are going to be comparing the two countries. (Logos) We have step it up a little bit! Now, I know you, Barack, we cool. I know you are not a health expert. That’s why I called somebody who is. I’m not sure if you know him, but he goes by Dr. Oz. Now this guy is great. Just a little bit about him, he is a Turkish-American cardiothoracic surgeon. He has master’s degrees from both Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. (Ethos) And I watch his show, and let me tell you, it’s amazing! I believe that Dr. Oz can be the one to lead this country in a new, healthier direction. And here’s the thing; why wouldn’t you do this for your country? You are the ruler of the free world with responsibilities. Do you know what I see when I walk out into the world every day? I see people in need of help. They are unhealthy, in all their ways. Do you not see this? People are dying because of their eating habits. (Pathos) This can be changed. Will it be tough? Yes. Can we do it? YES WE CAN!   

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Review of Rhetorical Appeals

     Rhetorical appeals... do you know them? Let's review them: logos, ethos, and pathos, but not exactly in that order. There's really no order at all, actually. Let's start with logos. Logos is the rhetoric appeal that deals with our sense of logical reasoning. I'll try to put it in basic terms. Think about when you read something and say, "Oh, that makes sense." What you read was logical, and therefore, an example of logos. Ethos is a little different. This rhetoric appeal has to do with someone's character or merits. Here's an example. Bob has his doctorate degree in ice cream serving and currently works at YoLo's. Since we are talking about his assets and skills, this would be ethos. The last of these, but certainly not least, is pathos. Pathos deals with our emotions. It's that thing that- ... Guys, I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore. I've been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and I only have three months to live, and I feel like my life hasn't been fulfilling, like I've wasted my days here on earth... Did you feel sympathy for me? Did you actually believe me?! You probably didn't, but anyway, that was an example of pathos. So let's put this into practice. Here's a commercial using all three of these appeals.
     Do you want/need a VHS player? If you answered no to this question, clearly you don't fully understand the full capabilities of the VHS player. Do you have video tapes lying around that you would just love to watch again? If you buy this device, you don't have to go through the hassle of looking for the old movies on Netflix, Amazon, etc. (Logos) You think you would be the only one to use it? Dr. Phil uses it, too! He loves it and says it's amazing, and you should believe him because he has a Ph.D. in psychology. (Ethos) Now, I'm one of the last that is actually selling this product and I think- [*off air ("What? Really? Wow, okay..")] Folks, I am actually the only person still selling VHS players. I hate to say this on tv, but I really need you guys to buy these from me. This is all I have, and I have a family to support. A wife and three kids. And two dogs. And a gold fish. Rent was due last month, so hurry up and buy... please! (Pathos)

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Annotated Bibliography: Useful?

     Hello, fellow readers- or reader! Today's topic is annotated bibliography! (I don't know how to make that sound more interesting than it actually is, so yeah...)
     So what is annotated bibliography? It's pretty simple really. Basically, it is a regular bibliography, except it has a summary after each cited source. What do these summaries include? When you write summaries for an annotated bibliography, you should make sure they include the source's main idea and also a good idea of what content is in the source.
     So now that you are an expert at annotated bibliographies, let's go a little deeper, shall we? Let's talk about the purpose of an annotated bibliography!! (There really is no way to make this sound more interesting.) One of the obvious purposes of annotating a bibliography would be to describe and evaluate each source. This is great because it provides the reader with some context on the sources you used. Another reason would be to show your audience the quality of research that you have done. When you write that summary of one of the sources you used, we can pretty much tell if it's legit, or crap. Additionally, you might be able to include information in your summary that may not have been necessary or relevant to your paper.
     Who uses annotated bibliographies? I would actually like to know the answer to this question myself. But if I had to guess, I would say readers. It really depends on your purpose of writing. Let's say you are a writer, and you are writing for the general public to inform them on a specific topic. You might include an annotated bibliography for the readers if you want them to know additional information that can supplement your paper. However, if you are writing a paper for English class and doing an annotated bibliography because your teacher wants you to learn about them, most likely your teacher will be the only one to benefit from your annotated bibliography.
     Speaking of benefits, there are quite a few! If you have a good annotated bibliography, then, as I mentioned before, it can enlighten others of additional information on your sources. Also, it establishes your work as a good source, and it can even reflect you as a great researcher. So yeah... I guess it's useful.

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Review of Sources

     Hello, my fellow readers! So, I recently picked my sources for my topic. I picked some pretty good ones! So just to recap, my topic is about Canada and the U.S. and I am comparing their eating habits. If I had to pick a side to this potential argument, I would say that the U.S. would have worse eating habits than Canada. As a matter of fact, 13 Interesting Facts about America's Eating Habits pretty much agrees with me. Or just says we are terrible in general. But it's nothing we didn't already know, right? Here's something interesting! One source actually says that we are changing our eating habits... for the better! Yes, on the Wall Street Journal, a study says that "Americans' eating habits are taking a healthier turn. So, it is possible that, if we are not already, that America can catch up with Canada on healthiness or even surpass them! Although I say it is possible, I believe that this is highly improbable. Well, we talked about America; what about Canada. One of the sources I have talks about the eating patterns of Canadians. It basically states that a lot of them, especially the younger generation, like to skip breakfast, the "most important meal of the day"! How does this affect the health of the population as a whole? I'm not entirely sure, but I will definitely find out! The source I got this from is a website (don't worry, it's legit) and the title of the webpage is Consumer Corner. I think that this is my favorite so far, because of all the statistics it has. Any site can tell you crap, but do they have the facts to back it up?
     I think that I will have to keep looking for sources that will work for my paper. Really, none of the sources I have actually has an argument of the U.S. versus Canada. If I don't find one, I will probably have to just compare the facts. I think I will also look for more sources that are clearer about the eating habits of each country. I'm getting really interested about who will win this outcome. We may already have a clear winner, but I don't know for sure!

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Will Canada Win? (Paper Topic)

     So one day, I'm sitting in class and my teacher says, "You have to write a twelve-page paper! Oh yeah, and it has to be about food!" It's fine, no big deal. I just have to pick a topic that is interesting enough so that I actually do it. I've always been mildly curious about the Canadians and their culture. Mostly because they speak French over there and I love the language. Although that has nothing to do with food, I decided to go through with it, anyway. So here it is: "Eating Habits: The U.S. vs. Canada". I think it has a nice ring to it. I am really curious, though, about how we eat and how it compares to another country, such as Canada. Does its proximity to us affects its eating habits? I don't know, that's why I'm doing the paper.
     So basically with this theme, I plan to uncover the truth about the eating habits of the U.S. and Canada. Of course, we pretty much know about the U.S.... so just Canada, then. And it will most likely be a two-sided argument. Which country has the worse eating habits? I would like to research which types of food is popular in each country, as well, and find out which is "healthier". Of course, if we use our standards to define healthiness, will this account be accurate? But I digress, as usual.
     What if Canada is worse? What if we (meaning the class, because I'm sure other, less ignorant people know about this) find out that Canada has worse eating habits? That would be an ego booster, huh? Although I believe the exact opposite, it would be a nice surprise. I don't know, when I think of Canada, I think of people eating like fresh fruits and vegetables all the time. I actually know some people from Canada and they eat healthy almost all the time. Of course, I know this doesn't exactly mean anything, but it's something. It's all prior knowledge I have.
     I don't want to reveal everything about my paper. If I do, my 12-page paper will seem less interesting. Speaking of that, I should probably get started... 

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