Motivating your Research.

1. I am studying/trying to learn about the legal penalty for criminals proven "not guilty by reason of insanity" in murder trials.

2. I am studying/trying to learn about the legal penalty of criminals proven "not guilty by reason of insanity," because I want to find out whether or not the penalty is appropriate for the level of the crime, which is murder.

3. I am doing this in order to prove to my readers that the legal penalty or judgement for a criminal proven "not guilty by reason of insanity" should be increased when the crime is as serious as murder.

Revision.

Original
Despite lawyers’ abuse of the insanity defense, many still argue that the insanity defense is justified. Critics like Howard Zonana, Yale University psychiatry professor and the academy's medical director, argue that "the ‘overwhelming majority’ of defendants acquitted by reason of insanity suffer from schizophrenia or some other mental illness” (Martin 1). Although this may be true, the possibility that lawyers misuse the insanity defense must be taken into consideration, especially when the numbers of these cases are increasing. Let’s consider the Jack Ruby case, in which he murdered Lee Harvey Oswald. “In Ruby’s first statement to the police, he said that he killed Oswald because he ‘couldn’t stand the thought of Jackie [Mrs. Kennedy] undergoing the torment of attending Oswald’s trial. Nor could he forget ‘how Jackie had suffered and that Caroline and John wouldn’t have a daddy anymore” (Shaffer 2). These statements, along with the fact that Ruby suffered organic brain damage and epilepsy, conclude that Ruby was actually mentally unstable, and imprisonment would only worsen his condition (2). However, if we consider a murder trial such as the “Twinkie Defense,” the lawyer of the defendant struggled to prove Dan White had any history of mental instability, using his sugary diet as an excuse to justify his horrifying actions. The proposal that Dan White lacked criminal intent and was “insane” at the time of his murders seems ridiculous. This is an example of how the insanity defense is abused in murder trials. I am by no means proposing that the insanity defense be abolished; however, I am only pointing out that it is simply abused by lawyers in U.S murder trials.

Revised
Despite the abuse of the insanity defense, many still argue that the insanity defense is justified. Critics like Howard Zonana, Yale University psychiatry professor and the academy's medical director, argue that "the ‘overwhelming majority’ of defendants acquitted by reason of insanity suffer from schizophrenia or some other mental illness” (Martin 1). Although this may be true, the possibility that lawyers misuse the insanity defense must be taken into consideration, especially when the numbers of these cases are increasing. Let’s consider the Jack Ruby case, in which he murdered Lee Harvey Oswald. “In Ruby’s first statement to the police, he said that he killed Oswald because he ‘couldn’t stand the thought of Jackie [Mrs. Kennedy] undergoing the torment of attending Oswald’s trial. Nor could he forget ‘how Jackie had suffered and that Caroline and John wouldn’t have a daddy anymore” (Shaffer 2). These statements, along with the fact that Ruby suffered organic brain damage and epilepsy, conclude that Ruby was actually mentally unstable, and imprisonment would only worsen his condition (2). However, if we consider a murder trial such as the “Twinkie Defense,” defendants lawyer struggled to prove Dan White had any history of mental instability, using his sugary diet as an excuse to justify his horrifying actions. The proposal that Dan White lacked criminal intent and was “insane” at the time of his murders seems ridiculous. This is an example of how the insanity defense is abused in murder trials. I am by no means proposing that the insanity defense be abolished; however, I am only pointing out that it is simply abused by lawyers in U.S murder trials.

[There weren't many errors in many of the paragraphs because most of it included facts and statistics. So, when I revised the rebuttal paragraph (seen above), I only fixed a couple gramatical errors and sentence structure errors that I caught.]

Argument Venue.

A publication that my essay would most likely appear would be on Speakout.com, which is an online non-profit, member supported website with student written posts, generally associated with politics, government, and business. The article that I found on the website called, “Is the Insanity Plea Allowing Criminals to Avoid Justice?” which is very similar to the topic of my essay. The title of the article is pretty self-explanatory—the article was framed around two central events, the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr., and the trial of Jeffrey Dahmer, a Milwaukee man who killed, mutilated, and consumed his victims. The article explains briefly the facts of each of the unfortunate events where both criminals plead insanity.
The writer’s stance on the issue of pleading insanity in murder trials was somewhat unclear. The author states very bluntly that “an insanity plea is a poor excuse for serious law breaking, and should have no bearing on punishment.” However, in the following paragraph titled, “On the Other Hand…” she goes on to state that “the insanity plea is a valid legal defense.” Her voice is very strong in her piece, but these statements are very contradicting so it confused me during the reading.
As for the organization of her argument, I think it was organized well. She had boldfaced titles as well as bullets and underlined subtitles within her article. I thought this was really neat because it made the article easy to follow from one point to the next, letting the reader know what to expect in the paragraph in her subtitles.
After reading her article, I am not too sure if I agree with her or not—she makes valid points when she says “Defendants feign mental illness, and their attorneys use this loophole as a way to confuse jurors with complicated and questionable psychiatric evaluations.” However, I disagree when she says in the following paragraph that insanity cases are rare cases in the U.S.—this could be due to the fact that the article was written in 2000.
One thing the writer did that I liked was the organization throughout the article. She uses titles to guide the reader, as well as transition words after each point. Also, I do like the fact that she included a rebuttal paragraph; however, I thought it wasn’t very effective because she says that she overall agreed that pleading insanity was justified so it confused me.
In the article, the writer gives the right amount of background information so the reader wouldn’t be confused while reading it. I plan on doing this in my paper as well—I liked the fact that the writer doesn’t overwhelm the reader with too much background information, so in my own, I will only put in relevant information about the court system and how it works in an insanity case. In addition, the writer gives a sufficient amount of statistical data that, again, I thought wasn’t an unbearable amount. It was just the right amount of stats to keep the reader engaged in the paper, so I plan on doing this as well.

The article can be found here --> http://speakout.com/activism/issue_briefs/1229b-1.html

Controversy...

Works Cited

Shaffer, Helen B. "Insanity as a Defense." Editorial Research Reports 1964. Vol. I.
Washington: CQ Press, 1964. 41-60. CQ Researcher. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.

This article focuses on the issue of whether or not pleading insanity in a criminal trial is justified in the U.S. court system. The majority of the article focuses on past murder trials, particularly ones involving the assination of U.S. presidents. The article sheds light on the mental character of these assasins, for example Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. There is a huge contraversy involved in the case of these murderers because they both pleaded insanity in their murder cases, so the question of what constitutes insanity and the means in which it can be determined were major factors. Personally, I believe that pleading insanity has definately changed throughout the years moreso for the worst because since insanity defense has become more frequent in modern day murder trials, it is less likely that the defendant was actually mentally impaired at the time of the crime.

Thompson, Roger."Sexual Revolution Reconsidered." Editorial Research Reports 1984. Vol.
II. Washington: CQ Press, 1984. 509-28. CQ Researcher. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.

This article was generally about the sexual revolution, specifically between 1950-1970, and the similarities and differences in sexual behavior amongst women from then and now. One of the main points made throughout the article was how some of the trends of the sexual revolution have drastically changed. For example, in the 1950's, women who had sex before marriage were frowned upon and greatly criticized; however, now 58% of Americans say sex, with love, before marriage is acceptable. The issue in this article is whether or not these changes in sexual behavior have beneficial or counterproductive effects. My stance on the issue is that the sexual revolution has actually benefitted women overtime due to the fact that the freedom associated with premarital sex opened the flood gates for mass opportunities, like, for example the introduction of female writers and females actually playing some role in society and suddenly becoming significant.

Worsnop, Richard L. "Fashion World." Editorial Research Reports 1971. Vol. I.
Washington: CQ Press, 1971. 267-86. CQ Researcher. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.

Finally, this last article is about how fashion has changed along the years. It makes special notation specifically on how in the past, clothing defined who you were and what role you played in society if any at all. For example, the classification system during the middleages segregated the surfs from the rich and in turn their clothing would be a defining characteristic. The rich wore intricately designed clothing while the slaves or poor people wore practically rags. Some of these trends in fashion have stuck in society today in the sense that the wealthy can afford the Marc Jacobs and the poor may settle for "less quality" clothing such as the Gap, or Old Navy thus, the differences in social class can be represented by fashion and is obviously a problem we face today.

Smart Water vs. Deer Park

Smart Water
The design of Smart Water bottles comes off as sleek and sophisticated. The narrow shape of the bottle accomplishes the goal of standing out amongst other water bottles. The tall size of the bottle accomplishes this as well, allowing for a more modern look. The unique tallness of the bottle may take away from functionality, however, because it can be a pain to hold for extended periods of time, and is more easily to fall over when it is sat down on a flat surface. Nevertheless, the small diameter and elongated structure makes for a sophisticated and modern looking water bottle that you would love to be seen drinking. In addition, the bottle material is made of a hard plastic that isn’t malleable, so the shape of the bottle remains constant despite any pressure. The Smart Water logo accommodates the sleekness of the bottle shape as well. The picture of the blue water drop and the white and blue lettering comes off as extremely simple, but the lack of extravagant design gives the bottle a clean and neat look. Overall, the design of Smart Water stands out in a way that is revolutionary, and gives off a “high-tech”, cool impression that we all crave.

Deer Park
The design of Deer Park water bottles can be considered rather traditional, in a sense that it is shaped like most other water bottles. The shape of the bottle is short and relatively wider than that of Smart Water. The larger diameter allows for a more traditional look, and great functionality. The wider shape lets the bottle remain upright when resting on a flat surface and the shortness of the bottle allows for easier storage and holding, easily fitting into backpacks and significantly easy to hold. The bottle contains a steep indentation near the center of the bottle, for easier accessibility and drinking so the indentation feels rather comfortable for the drinker. The material of the plastic is very thin, however, so the bottle bends out of shape rather easily compared to Smart Water bottles. As for the logo of Deer Park water bottles, it is quite elaborate, with a mural of a sunset against the green forest. This picture gives the water bottle a “traditional-looking” appearance that people can feel comfortable with. Overall, Deer Park water bottles are one-of-a-kind in the fact that it gives off a “homey” vibe with its traditional design and intricate logo.

The Female's Bible: Cosmo Mag

Evaluation:
My evaluation will be on Cosmopolitan Magazine, which is a magazine typically known for its raunchy articles. I read almost every Cosmopolitan magazine that comes out, and I know that plenty of my friends do as well. This is why I feel as though upon evaluating Cosmo, there would be merit because almost every teenage girl, especially in college, reads it. Also, it’s very popular on a greater spectrum because I know that my mother and all her friends read it as well. The content in the magazine is very controversial in most issues, so I think that would also establish merit.
I would say that Cosmopolitan Magazine is in the category of an international women’s magazine. Cosmo includes colorful pages of topics covering women’s beauty and fashion, health and careers, interviews and most exclusively, sex! These are appealing topics that women all over the world love to discuss and learn more about. For each issue of Cosmo magazine, you can usually find a sexy, half-naked, sometimes voluptuous celebrity posing on the front cover, almost begging you to buy it. I think this is a huge way that Cosmopolitan magazine draws in most of their female buyers, because in reality, most women want to look as well as live the lives of these hot young celebs we idolize.
One piece of the criteria I would use to compare with Cosmo magazine would definitely be the number of sales it makes per year. I think this would be a great component because looking at the sales gives you an idea of how successful the magazine is. Another piece of the criteria would be the credibility of the writers and editors who are also known as the magazine contributors. This would show how much readers should trust the content of what they are reading. Cosmo magazine is filled with statistics and interesting articles, so the credibility of the contributors is important. A third piece of the criteria used to evaluate Cosmo magazine would be the type of language that is used. For example, the level of “consumer-friendly” language would be important when it comes to the audience the magazine is written for because the audience should be able to understand easily what they are reading. A fourth piece of the criteria would be the layout of the cover. I think a good cover layout can make or break the sale, as well as the overall feel of a magazine. In most cases, the cover of anything—whether it is a magazine or book or even a brochure, determines whether or not someone will spend their money on it, which makes perfect sense. Therefore, a bright, eye catching cover is vital in accomplishing this. Last but not least, a unique element would be a piece of the criteria for evaluating Cosmo magazine. I say this because every magazine needs to have that special ZING to it, because if otherwise, the mag would blend right in with all the other magazines. For example, Cosmo magazines unique characteristic (amongst other women’s magazines) would be the explicit, sometimes taboo, subject matter that it addresses, which in turn, peaks the interest of potential buyers.

Now introducing: 2.0!

I think the design of my blog is pretty neat. I actually put some thought into the aesthetic the first time I created it. I went through several rounds of editing, switching back and forth through different layouts and font and so forth. Initially I had several pictures along the sides of the layout. However, I realized that some of the pictures weren’t relevant to the material that would be on the blog so I decided to pick one picture that satisfied this. I chose a picture of the book in the forest (the picture right next to the blog entries) for a couple reasons:
1. It was pretty :)
2. It was relevant to the blog itself, since it was a book.
3. And most importantly, because I thought the book (as well as the Vogue magazine background) would help me convey the overall theme of the blog which was that “Fashion: In & Out”— represented my passion for clothing and the fashion, or style, in which we (as writers) portray in our literary work such as novels, memoirs, etc…
I think my blog is pretty easy to read in terms of clarity. I made sure I had a dark background against the pink font so readers can understand the content easily. I used a less “business” style font so that my readers wouldn’t be intimidated. As explained in the NFG, typefaces affect how text is perceived, and I didn’t want readers having a wrong perception of the blog.
I think my design is also appropriate for a college classroom about rhetoric and writing, mostly for the same reasons I mentioned earlier. Overall, I think my blog accomplishes it purpose when it comes to the design.

REDESIGN
There are several things I decided to change on my blog. One of the changes was the color of the font which is now black (previously light pink). I, personally, thought it was pretty easy to read; however, after my roommate told me it in fact, was NOT easy to read, I figured a simple black font would be best. In addition, I changed the style of the fonts on the headers and titles to something more refined, more edgy. Before, the fonts were all one simple color but I played with different color schemes and came up with one that suit the color of the background picture. I decided to keep the picture of the book in the forest simply because I love it. In the end, the little changes that I made, I think, had a big effect on the “flow” of the blog. It looks more sophisticated because I actually matched up the fonts and colors on the headers and titles so they were the same. As explained in the NFG, a consistent design is key in creating a good visual tone.

I came across two websites that helped inspire “Fashion: In & Out” 2.0:
1. http://thesuperficial.com(this is actually a site I go on every day)
And…
2. http://amygrindhouse.com

In the end, I believe that all my editing and refining satisfies the English 15 blog more appropriately because it contributed to the larger rhetorical situation a little better than it did before.

Investigation

Scene:
You’re sweating profusely as you make your way back to your residence hall after a long, exhausting yet rewarding jog to the Nittany lion at Old Main. A feeling of proudness takes over you, as you feel the beads of sweat permeate your back, face, and hands. All you are looking forward to is taking that refreshing hot shower. As you gather your toiletries and enter your compact dorm shower, you immediately notice you’ve forgotten your flip flops. Since your feet have already hit the grainy concrete shower floor, you simply figure it’s no big deal, right? Wrong. Sometimes it can be easy to forget how many other students are sharing that very shower stall. According to Penn State’s Residence Life Website, approximately 5 showers and toilet stalls are shared with 40-44 students per floor. These numbers should paint a picture of how it easy it is for harmful bacteria to spread from the shower floor to your feet, the moment you decided to continue your shower without flip flops. Even the beads of sweat that touched the railings of the staircase as you hiked up the stairs to get to your room, contain various bacteria and germs from your skin.
Interview/Quotes:
Name: Brooke Durham
Age: 18
Year: Freshman
Major: International Studies/History
Q: How often do you come across or notice staff cleaning the bathroom on your floor?
A: “Usually once a day I see a woman cleaning the bathrooms, except on weekends.”
Q: Have you ever seen unusual things or items in the bathrooms or shower stalls? If so, what are some of these things?
A: “I come across underwear, Band-Aids…and a lot of hair on the shower floor. It’s hard because people try to ‘personalize’ their shower experience forgetting about the other dozens of kids.”
Q: What types of things, such as fungus, infections, or substances, do you think linger in dorm bathrooms?
A: “I’ve heard of Athletes Foot fungus being pretty common in the showers, and Ive also heard a story about the ‘Gorilla Man’ who travels to girls’ bathroom showers and masturbates in them. It’s really gross.”
Facts:
1. According to CBS News, cited by Bridget Widdowson of the The Penn an online magazine, “Foot infections like athlete's foot and toenail fungus spread from person to person when people are sharing close living quarters.”

2. According to an article on helium.com submitted by Elle P. C. Smith, “Throughout the nation this year, especially in the Northeast, college campuses has seen a rise in staph infections. Staph infections are caused by bacteria that can be spread through skin contact. A good way to spread this infection is using public showers without foot protection for your sores or infected skin.”
3. The same source stated, “Another great way to prevent infections is by investing in shower shoes. A simple $1 pair of flip flops can save you a trip to the doctor's office.”
4. “If you have a floor shower versus in room bathrooms, the trip down the hall with your shampoo, conditioner, soap, wash cloth and towel can be an annoyance.”
Further Research:
I would like to get further research on how sanitary the bathrooms are by interviewing the housing staff and getting their take on it. I would like to know their procedures as well as find out more about the unfortunate cleaning situations they have come across during their time here at Penn State. Also, I would like to interview a student at another large university, and ask the same questions I asked my first interviewer to see if the answers are similar or different. This will help me better form my solution at the end of my investigation.

#1 Party School

The issue of the piece on “#1 Party School” by journalists from This American Life was the amount of partying and drinking done by Penn State students here in State College, PA. The journalists speak to students as well as various other people about this issue and their take on it. Some interviewee’s were actually briefly interviewed while in the act partying and drinking. There are several obvious reasons as to why this particular issue needed to be investigated; however, the reporters mentioned how one student at Penn State a couple years ago actually died from drinking “too much” at a frat party. The reporters stated how his body was found after leaving a frat party highly intoxicated after the 18 year old boy attempted to jump off the roof of one building and onto another. This shows just how dangerous getting drunk and partying can be, especially when you are alone.
The intended audience for this investigation would be Penn State students living on campus, as well as any other college student. I also think parents would be an ideal audience because it could be very informative to parents who have children attending Penn State University. The report sheds a direct light on the abundance of partying and drinking, as well as how often it occurs and I would think parents and students would benefit from knowing these findings. In the report, the journalists identified two different kinds of drinkers: the hard drinkers, and the casual drinkers. They found that the hard or heavy drinkers could be hazardous to themselves as well as others, but another interesting point they mentioned was the fact that casual, or light, drinkers are the ones to be most cautious of. According the report, light drinkers often have a night or two where they “let loose” or in other words, drink a lot more than they usually do. This causes a scare because some cases end up being fatal, such as the case mentioned before with the over-intoxicated 18 year old freshman. I thought their findings were pretty neat because most students at Penn State fall into one of those two categories, and upon listening to the report, the information presented would be an eye-opener.
At the end of the report, the overall conclusion drawn was that Penn State was in fact, the number one party school in the nation, and in being so, there were both negative and positive outcomes. The positive outcome was that the nearby beer and liquor businesses flourished, and the negative outcome was the outrageous behavior by some students, was caused by drinking too much alcohol. Both local business owners and party-goers were interviewed in the investigation, which ultimately helped the journalists come to their conclusion. One of the narrative techniques that I noticed the reports use was their organization, more specifically the “Arc” that we spoke about in class. There were scenes included in the investigation such as the bar scene, which had smooth transitions. Also, the reporters had background information and small anecdotes ever so often, so I was never lost at any point in the report.
Overall, I think these journalists did a pretty good job at putting everything together. I definitely learned a lot from listening to it; therefore I would say the report was very effective in captivating the audience and keeping their attention.

Bird by Bird

After completely finishing Bird by Bird, I came to really enjoy it. One aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was the fact that in the midst of all her advice and examples, there was always a life lesson that could be applied. However, when it comes to my writing I think the most useful advice that I gathered from the entire book was to listen to the characters in my head whenever I am writing a short story. I’ve always had difficulty developing characters in my head because I had a different mindset: I believed that I should create characters from scratch and they should act and do and say things a certain way. Anne Lamont disproved this idea in a great way for me. In her book, she explains that characters in your story are most often based off of people that you have met before, or noticed. She also explains that you should “squint” at your characters in your mind and try to listen to what their saying, how they are saying it, and jot it all down. I really liked the idea she posed about how “you are going to love some of your characters, because they are you or some facet of you.” Prior to reading this book, I never understood how phenomenal writers created these characters, but now I can say I understand.
Another part of Anne Lamont’s book that really stuck out to me was actually within the same chapter “Character” that I mentioned before. She explains that the characters that you grow to love in your story, wont have much of a story if you don’t let bad stuff happen to them. I think the reason why I agree with this idea so much is because it is completely true and relevant. In the real world, bad things do actually happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Therefore, without all this, our lives would all be boring and so will your story. In addition to Anne’s ideas and advice, the way she expresses it in the book makes it even easier to understand and relate to. She uses personal examples after every point she makes so the reader is more captivated and excited to read and learn more. For example, uses quotes that she has read or heard before and incorporates it into her book to make her own points more clear to the reader. In her book, she says “A man I know once said to me, ‘The evidence is in, and you are the verdict.’” She says this after saying how you have to “get to know your characters the best you can, let there be something at stake, and then let the chips fall where they may.” Anne continues to use this technique thorough the book and in my opinion makes the whole book flow together quite smoothly that it’s easy to understand.
Overall, I’m glad that I had the opportunity to read Bird by Bird. It was more helpful than I originally thought and know for a fact that I will actually use some of the advice she gives whenever I write.

Shirt-Worthy: David Giffels

When I read this memoir, it was really easy to summarize what the story was about. “Shirt-Worthy” from my understanding is a personal essay that shows how the author went from once having a great passion for owning a particular t-shirt (a Ramones band tee-shirt), to not having that desire for it as he got older and wiser. I feel like the author sort of takes his reader on a journey of how this particular t-shirt, or the idea of having the t-shirt, has reappeared in his life on more than one instance.
In my opinion, it wasn’t particularly clear what the main tension or conflict of the story was until I read it over a second time. In his story, the author explains how important it was to “earn” the right to buy the Ramones t-shirt, which essentially meant going to one of the band’s concerts and then buying one… and although he attended a couple shows, he still never felt he earned the right to wear one. This leads me to believe that the main conflict of the story was whether or not he should’ve bought a Ramones t-shirt.
After a while, the author says he simply began to accept the fact that he didn’t own a Ramones tee. He was actually comfortable with it, and he figured no one would even notice he didn’t have one since…he didn’t have one. Eventually, he explains how his son wanted one for his tenth birthday. Although it seems he was momentarily skeptical about it, he bought one anyway. His son ends up ripping it playing near the fence and he was really sad about that. He bought him a new Ramones tee, and at the very last sentence of the story the author says how he never threw the old tee away but instead wore it himself (it being an Adult Small and all). To me, this moment seems like the resolution of the story because in the end he actually ends up owning a Ramones t-shirt by a means he didn’t expect.
I think the author’s audience would generally be adults, ages 18 and up. I say this because most teenagers could relate to the Great significance of owning a rock band t-shirt. Also, parents could probably relate to this story because he makes a couple references to his children…and baby vomit. Switching gears, I really loved how the author jumped from one moment in time to another, and yet it all being so smooth. I thought that was a strong narrative technique he used. In addition to great transition and movement, I thought the author did a good job at “showing not telling”. The fact that he didn’t come right out and say the point/ purpose of the story, and I could still fully understand what it was, is pretty impressive. One aspect of the authors writing that I plan to use in my own memoir would be the almost comical undertone he has in “Shirt-Worthy”; having this made reading his work a lot easier and more enjoyable.

School Lunches

"Ringgggggggggggg" goes the bell followed immediately by hordes of students rushing out of their classrooms like tiny ants scattered across the school. Just like the daily routine, nothing ever changes. In this moment, we all have one goal and one goal only. Get to the Lunchroom. I imagine the newbies, aka the transfer students who aren’t yet familiar with the lunch room etiquette, would be sweating bullets at this point taking the longest possible route there...big mistake. Lines at the cafe are usually extremely long, so being prompt is imperative. But getting in the line was only the first battle. After you receive your tray of gray clumpy looking food, the next fight ahead is finding a seat. You’re holding your tray, head up, looking out into the sea of colored, sectioned off guppies, and your heart starts thumping --you need a place to eat. At this point, it seems the only option is to slowly and awkwardly make your way over to that seat all the way in the rear of the cafeteria where the sunlight just happened to be nonexistent, right? The cafe is split up table by table according to your clique. That was probably an understatement; let’s just say the cafeteria is split up by your entire physical appearance. This aspect of the lunchroom was extremely vital. You had better belong to a social class or you'd most likely end up eating your 5 day old stale pizza in the girls bathroom stall. Okay, so let’s rewind....you’re back at the line, and you just received your food with tray in hand. Again, you’re staring out into the crowd trying your best to look at least a little bit confident. Your eyes scroll across the tables... one... by... one... by… one. All the way to the left you find The Prima Donnas, with their pink notebooks, pink book bags, and glittery everything. Moving right along, you soon find the Anime Freaks, the Chess Geeks, and of course, the Neuroscience Nerds. Now, we’re at the center of the world. Appropriately enough, you find the Jocks. Almost naturally, you think to yourself that eating lunch there is not even close to an option. The next table over are the cheerleaders and well….yeah. All the way on the right you find the Goths, dressed in all black with black eyeliner and lipstick smeared across their faces. After this thorough assessment is complete, you probably just noticed you’re the only one still standing with tray in hand and that the lunch lines are closed. “Excuse me kid, I need to close the stand and you’re standing in the way”, says the typically overweight, curly haired, bearded lunch lady. Time to make a decision. If you were lucky, you’d find a decent looking girl or boy sitting alone somewhere in the crevices and you can eat your lunch with them. Although there’s no guarantee they’d be their tomorrow, a feeling of relief and triumph overwhelm you because you’ve made it through another day in the Lunchroom.

As I sit and reflect on my past written material and experiences I can definitely say that I have some strengths as well as some weaknesses. Over the years my writing style and capabilities have gone through many changes and progression. One of my strengths when it comes to my writing would be organization. When I begin the writing process I usually have several rough drafts, but in addition I always begin with a solid outline. I would say that in my opinion, forming an outline can drastically improve the effectiveness of an essay or any type of composition. Over the years my organization skills have improved, thus producing a better quality paper. Another strength that I have as a writer would be the use of personal examples in my work as well as using them appropriately. I find that adding personal references and anecdotes into any piece of work results in the reader having more emotion towards the work, as you can find in most literature. In addition to my strengths I have weaknesses as well. I would say that one of my weaknesses as a writer would be the lack of enticing and exciting vocabulary in my work. Most people would agree that the words you choose to use can add to the creativity and development of your writing style. Another weakness in my writing would be the occasional grammatical errors.
There are a couple ways that I would like to improve as a writer; however, the most desired of them all would be further developing my own way or style of writing. Over the summer I read a book called “The Woman’s House” by Naomi A. Hintze and upon completion of the book I was really inspired by the way she wrote; literally. (You can find more info on it here http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2834713-you-ll-like-my-mother ) I loved the way I could get a hint of her personality just by her writing style. Similarly, I would love to develop that skill of Naoimi’s so that my readers can actually have the same experience with any piece of literary work I create. I think the only way to acquire such skill would be to continue writing and eventually that style will come naturally. At that point I can tweak some things and mold my own writing “personality”. Another way I would like to improve my writing would be the choice of words that I use, which I previously mentioned as one of my weaknesses. When I think of the use of spectacular vocabulary one person in particular comes to mind; William Shakespeare. (http://classiclit.about.com/od/romeoandjuliet/a/aa_romeojulietq.htm) I predict that this course, English 15, will for sure help me achieve my goal. I think that the goal of the course and my desired improvements in my writing correlate quite closely. Also, I believe the practice of rhetoric which the course entails will be a great way for me to improve my creative writing skills. I am confident that with my instructor’s assistance as well as the great effort I will put into the assignments, my writing and rhetoric skills will only progress.