The Final Paper and it's Process

For the final assignment in English we were asked to write a mediation paper and to be honest I didn’t think it was going to be all that hard. I was mistaken because it took me forever to find a topic that I wanted to write about. I eventually decided that I was going to do “Pros and Cons of Greek Life.”

I am in a fraternity and a lot of my friends are in fraternities and sororities as well so I figured that this paper would be a breeze. I was mistaken again because I had trouble coming up with cons because I didn’t want to say bad things about something that I am associated with. Also, it was very difficult to find sources to back most of the points I was trying to make.

For my rough draft, I ended up only having a little over three pages when the final paper had to be minimum six. I knew after that that I needed to get to work and find some legitimate sources to help back both sides of my argument. The problem with finding sources online and in surveys was that almost all of them just said bad things about Greek life. Before I started writing this paper I told myself that I was going to try and do it without any interviews because obviously people in Greek organizations are going to say the complete opposite of people not involved in them.

I had to interview people because I wasn’t getting very far any other way. So I decided to interview to presidents of Greek life and two complete strangers that I would assume were not involved in an organization. The interviews with the presidents went well and gave me some valuable information but the people not in Greek life weren’t much of a help because they just bashed Greek life and that was about it.

Luckily I finally came across a website that gave lots and lots of statistics and it helped me to easily write another 3 pages. Most of the information was alcohol related but there were other statistics too that I used.

When I went back for the final round of editing the only major problems that I continuously came across were constant spelling errors so it took me a while to fix all of those. Also, I would leave out words and the sentence would make no sense.

Eventually the paper came out to be pretty good and do consider it the best thing that I have written or done in English 103 this semester. This was also the most difficult thing, I think, that we have done all semester because it is hard not to pick one side of an argument.

Soundtrack Of My Life

The first song on my soundtrack is “Blackbird” by The Beatles and I used it because it reminds me of my childhood because my mother is a big fan of The Beatles and it was the first song I learned to play on the guitar.

The next song is “Taught to be Proud” by Tea Leaf Green and I used it because I think it goes by what I was raised to believe.

I used “Anyone For Tennis” by Cream because I spent about eight years traveling the United States playing tennis.

My best friend that I met through tennis died when I was in middle school and that is why I chose “Grace is Gone” by Dave Matthews Band.

“Betterthan “ by John Butler Trio was used next because when I was in my prime years of tennis I got injured and this song reminds me of how I had a hard time excepting it.

Thought On Obama Speech

Obama starts out with a very powerful opening remark/ quote. This statement lets the audience and viewers know that he extremely serious about bringing this nation closer together. He also mentions that although the documents that made this nation what it is today, they are going to and need to keep getting perfected over and over as time goes on.

"unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories,
but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not
have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same
direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren."

I feel that this something is not only expressed by presidential candidates but is the just of what is brought up in all kinds of daily conversation. This gains my respect for Obama because it in a way shows that he really is speaking for the people. I also honor the fact that when speaking of his former paster, which was and is a highly debated topic, he didn't defend his pastor but more defended himself.

Throughout his speech, Obama reminds one that the problems that America faces are not African American or White American problems but just American problems that need to be fixed by the entire population and not just one race. While pointing this out I also realized how well educated he is by his vocabulary and references to famous literature such as William Faulkner.

"And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in
the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised
to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds
us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life
occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed,
all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it
keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and
prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it
needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is
powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without
understanding its roots, only serves to widen the hasm of
misunderstanding that exists between the races."

This is probably the most moving quote of the entire speech, I think. I feel that he just put everything into perspective in terms of race relations.

After watching this speech I do believe, that Obama will get my vote although I am usually a pretty conservative individual.

Old Music Photo Essay

Music Photo Essay

This is a photo essay about many musical artist that I enjoy listening too. Many of the pictures show hardships of the musical industry while others show how much they truly enjoyed music itself. Although, the essay itself didn't show up on the blog, I think that people take the time to follow the link then they too will truly enjoy as much as I did. Music is something that does some many wonderful things to the world today and always has. It brings people of the same interest together, helps the talented musicians to express their inner self, and helps to ease or accomidate a certain mood a person may be in. These artist featured in the photo essay were truly some of the masters of music.

Political Cartoon

Depending on how people view the war in Iraq, I feel that this can summarize a lot of peoples feelings towards George W. Bush and his view points on the war. I personally believe that the war has been going on for far too long. People call this a religious or holy war yet the things being fought over have nothing to do with religion. I just posted this political cartoon because it best summarizes and describes my feelings of Bush's talk about the war.

Photo Essay

Grammar Question

One thing that has always confused me while writing a paper is when to use a semi colon.


This is a website that helped me

An example of how to use a semi colon is: Twelve workers started the project; only five remain.

Another website that helped me