Comments on my Committee's Midterm Assessments

Dear Pennsylvania Committee,

I have decided to write to you in paragraph form for the same reasons that Alex did.  All of you seem like you have learned a lot by taking this course.  For those of you who have completed all of the assignments, you really gave them a lot of thought and it is nice to have a different perspective on things.  I personally have learned a lot by participating in the discussions and I see that all of you have as well.  We all write in different ways and I noticed that I have overlooked the meaning of some of the writings that we have read in this class.  It seems like each of you have a favorite assignment and by reading your reflective essays I have been able to understand a little more about what each assignment wanted us to do and what all of us got out of it.  I hope that you all continue with this course because I enjoy reading your blogs and they really help me understand the concepts of the reading as well!

Additions to my Reflective Essay

The places where I had to make some adjustments are in bold.  I did not have to make many changes because I had already listed examples of assignments and elaborated on them the first time around.  As the rest of this course progresses, I will be able to make more changes and revisions.

                This English class has taught me a lot about myself.  I have had to really think about what I want out of my life when I was writing these essays and I think that I do some of my best writing when I have assignments that force me to do that.  The discussions are helpful because the other students in the class really help me understand the reading a little more and it is neat to see the other opinions that everyone has.  I have taken online classes before, but none of them have had this much participation between the students.  I think that I get more interaction with the other students in this class than I do in the classes that I go to school for.  I think it is great that we can all help each other out without even meeting one another. 

The first assignment that we completed in this course was the letter that we wrote to a future American citizen.  I have never actually thought about what being an American meant to me, so this assignment really opened my eyes to all of the freedoms that we have in America.  St. John de Crevecoeur's  Letters from an American Farmer, "What is an American?," helped me have a better understanding of what to write in my letter and it gave me a sense of how someone else views this topic.  You never realize just how good you have it until you hear about someone who wants to become a U.S. citizen and about the process that they have to go through.  You never think about how easy it is to have the freedoms that we have just because we were born here.  This assignment really made me appreciate my life and it allowed me to see the other views of my peers.

The next three assignments that we did were really about connecting with ourselves.  That is really what the Romanticism writing was all about.  Romantic artists are all about remembering good times and feeling happy and overjoyed, I think this is why I enjoyed writing these assignments so much.  Poe, Emerson, and Thoreau’s writing helped me relate to situations in my life.  Even though it was hard for me to understand everything that they wrote about, the passages that I included in my writing were ones that really stuck out to me.  Poe wanted his readers to use their imagination and confront all of the emotions that you have about a particular memory.  Thoreau and Emerson were more focused on the development of the individual self and connecting their emotions through nature. 

I think that the two assignments about social issues have really challenged my writing.  I am not very good at writing about facts or issues; I am more of a free writer where I like to write about life issues or beliefs.  When I had to think of a social problem that is affecting our nation, I had a hard time thinking of one.  To help me out with this problem, I actually typed it into Google and I got the idea to write about the death penalty.  Once I found my topic, the writing became a little easier.  The readings that we had to do for this assignment did not really help me with my topic because it was mostly about slavery and I just could not get it to relate to my topic.  I do think it is good that this assignment challenged me because it made me think about what I was writing and it challenged my thinking on the death penalty.

When we were asked to write a list of virtues that we thought were important, I thought that it would be a fairly easy thing to do.  When I saw the long list of virtues on Wikipedia, I realized that it was going to be hard to pick which ones were truly the most important to me.  After I chose the ten that I felt were most important, I then had to decide which one was the hardest for me to work on which was patience.  This assignment really made me think about how patience is important and that by being thankful for what you have, that can give you more patience.  I like how assignments like this one can challenge what is important to me in my life and it makes me appreciate what I have a lot more by forcing me to write about it.

Overall, I am really glad that I took this English class.  I am glad that the assignments are challenging me because I have not really had a difficult class at J. Sargeant Reynolds until I began doing the assignments for this course.  I am not saying that the assignments are difficult, I am just saying that there are a lot of things to complete and they are more involved than anything I have done since I began going to college.  I feel like I am actually working hard for my grade instead of just completing a few assignments and tests and walking away with an “A”.  When this course is over, I think I will have learned a lot and I hope to take what I have learned and apply it to my everyday life.  The next time that I read literature, I will have a better appreciation for what the writer is saying and I think I will understand it more than I did when I began this class. 

My Short List of the Virtues Necessary for Well-Being and Living the Good Life

In no particular order:

1.       Charity – Being charitable to others is very important because it shows that you care about others and you are not being selfish.  Charity can be shown by giving someone money, or by offering to do something nice for another person.  Giving back to other people makes you feel good and it shows others that you like to help.

2.       Patience – Patience is a very hard virtue to have.  I know that I struggle with this a lot, but over the years I have gotten better.  People like other people who know how to be patient under difficult circumstances whether they are exciting or not.  By having patience, that shows that you are a very mature person.

3.       Respectfulness – We all know the meaning of respect, but some people do not act on it.  If you care about a person, then you should care enough to not talk when they are talking or be appropriate around them.  These are only a few examples of being respectful, but you also need to be respectful to other people’s religions or career choices.  Respect does not just involve people that you know, but also people that you do not know.

4.       Honesty – Honesty is a very important virtue.  By being honest, you will live a happier life because you know that you are doing the right thing by not lying about something.  People admire honesty because in some circumstances it is difficult to tell the truth if you know it could get you in trouble.

5.       Humor – I think that humor is important because everyone likes to laugh.  I can usually make a lot of my friends laugh and I think that is why they like being around me.  I like for people to make me laugh when I am having a bad day, so that is why I try to be humorous with other people.

6.       Thankfulness – As Americans, we need to be thankful for everything that we have.  I know that a lot of people have it much worse than I do, so I need to think about that anytime that I begin to feel selfish.  This is a very important virtue to live by because it makes you look at your life in a better way and appreciate everything that you have.

7.       Forgiveness – This is something that I think a lot of people struggle with.  I know that I have struggled with forgiving people who have hurt me, but I know that eventually I need to because if I do not it will just eat me up inside.  It is not good to hold grudges, so I think that everyone could work on being more forgiving.

8.       Acceptance – This virtue means that we should not judge other people.  We need to accept everyone just the way that they are.  I will admit that this is something that I need to work on as well, but I think everyone had trouble accepting someone at some point in their lives.  You cannot change the person, so what is the point in judging them when you could be getting to know them.

9.       Unselfishness – This virtue also applies to charity, which I mentioned above.  Being unselfish means that you put others before yourself.  Someone who is unselfish gets enjoyment out of helping others because they want to, not because they know it is the right thing to do.

10.   Consideration – In my opinion, consideration refers to other people and their feelings.  A person is considerate when they think about other people’s feelings before they do something. 

I think that the virtue that I struggle with the most is patience.  My mom always tells me that I need to be more patient.  She does not have to tell me this quite as often as she used to, but I do find that I get impatient under certain circumstances.

In order to cultivate this virtue, the next time I feel myself becoming impatient, I am going to think about one of the other virtues that I listed which was thankfulness.  For example, my car has been in the shop for two weeks now getting a list of repairs done.  While they have been working on it, I have been driving my mom’s car while she drives our truck that we usually only use for the dump or for moving things.  I noticed that the longer I had to wait to get my car back, the more impatient I became.  Now that I have finally gotten it back I started to think, why was I getting so impatient over not getting my car back when I should have been thankful that we even had the money to get it repaired?  I also thought; why am I getting impatient when my mom was nice enough to let me drive her car when she could have made me drive the “not so cool” truck?  These are things that I need to think about when I begin to get impatient.  I guess in a way my need to be more patient lead me to thankfulness as well.  I am thankful for all the things that I have, but I need to apply this thankfulness to situations that make me impatient.

Reflection for Week Nine

                Even though this course has challenged me at times, I have never thought about withdrawing from this class.  I like the readings and writing that we have for the week.  This class is unlike any other English class that I have taken and I like the challenges that it brings.  Even though I got a little frustrated with the last assignment and some of the readings, with a little help from my peers and myself, I was able to figure it out and complete the assignment to the best of my ability.  I like the idea of having a blog where I can express my feelings and get to know the other people in my class.  Overall, I think this course was good for me and I hope that my grade at the end of the semester will reflect on how hard I worked.

Reflection Essay On This Course

                This English class has taught me a lot about myself.  I have had to really think about what I want out of my life when I was writing these essays and I think that I do some of my best writing when I have assignments that force me to do that.  The discussions are helpful because the other students in the class really help me understand the reading a little more and it is neat to see the other opinions that everyone has.  I have taken online classes before, but none of them have had this much participation between the students.  I think that I get more interaction with the other students in this class than I do in the classes that I go to school for.  I think it is great that we can all help each other out without even meeting one another. 

The first assignment that we completed in this course was the letter that we wrote to a future American citizen.  I have never actually thought about what being an American meant to me, so this assignment really opened my eyes to all of the freedoms that we have in America.  St. John de Crevecoeur's  Letters from an American Farmer, "What is an American?," helped me have a better understanding of what to write in my letter and it gave me a sense of how someone else views this topic.  You never realize just how good you have it until you hear about someone who wants to become a U.S. citizen and about the process that they have to go through.  You never think about how easy it is to have the freedoms that we have just because we were born here.  This assignment really made me appreciate my life and it allowed me to see the other views of my peers.

The next three assignments that we did were really about connecting with ourselves.  That is really what the Romanticism writing was all about.  Romantic artists are all about remembering good times and feeling happy and overjoyed, I think this is why I enjoyed writing these assignments so much.  Poe, Emerson, and Thoreau’s writing helped me relate to situations in my life.  Even though it was hard for me to understand everything that they wrote about, the passages that I included in my writing were ones that really stuck out to me.  Poe wanted his readers to use their imagination and confront all of the emotions that you have about a particular memory.  Thoreau and Emerson were more focused on the development of the individual self and connecting their emotions through nature. 

I think that the last two assignments have really challenged my writing.  I am not very good at writing about facts or issues; I am more of a free writer where I like to write about life issues or beliefs.  When I had to think of a social problem that is affecting our nation, I had a hard time thinking of one.  To help me out with this problem, I actually typed it into Google and I got the idea to write about the death penalty.  Once I found my topic, the writing became a little easier.  The readings that we had to do for this assignment did not really help me with my topic because it was mostly about slavery and I just could not get it to relate to my topic.  I do think it is good that this assignment challenged me because it made me think about what I was writing and it challenged my thinking on the death penalty.

Overall, I am really glad that I took this English class.  I am glad that the assignments are challenging me because I have not really had a difficult class at J. Sargeant Reynolds until I began doing the assignments for this course.  I am not saying that the assignments are difficult, I am just saying that there are a lot of things to complete and they are more involved than anything I have done since I began going to college.  I feel like I am actually working hard for my grade instead of just completing a few assignments and tests and walking away with an “A”.  When this course is over, I think I will have learned a lot and I hope to take what I have learned and apply it to my everyday life.  The next time that I read literature, I will have a better appreciation for what the writer is saying and I think I will understand it more than I did when I began this class. 

Learning Reflection for Week Eight

A.      Even though I do enjoy reading Emerson that much, I think that I got the most out of the ideal self assignment.  I think that this assignment helped me understand Emerson more and what he believed.  It also helped me figure out what I think makes me my ideal self, which I have never had to think about before.

B.      I think I felt the most distant with the last assignment when we had to think of a social problem in our nation.  This assignment was difficult for me because I do not really keep up with the news and it is hard for me to write a lot of information about a particular topic that I have to research. 

C.      I like how the professor makes the assignments easy to understand.  I have never been confused about what I am supposed to be writing because all of the assignments have been written out clearly.

D.      I have yet to be confused or puzzled by anyone’s writing.

E.       I think I was most surprised about all of the ghost stories that everyone had.  I have never personally experienced any ghost encounters, so I thought it was neat to see my classmate’s stories.

Solutions to My Social Problem

                As you read last week, I chose to do capital punishment, or the death penalty, for my social problem.  A lot of people agree that the death penalty needs to be stopped.  Other people believe that it is a good thing and that the person deserves to be punished in this way.  I have really never had an opinion about the death penalty before because I did not care either way if the person had to live in prison for life or if they had to die because of what they did.  Either way I see both of those options as justice and I think that they should get what they deserve.  Since this assignment is about trying to find ways to fix this problem, I will write it from the point of view that is against the death penalty.

                A very common option in this society is to protest anything that we do not like.  However, something as big as the death penalty needs more than just a few protesters standing up for what they believe in.  If I was the leader of a group who wanted to stop the death penalty, I would suggest that we have a meeting with the Supreme Court.  This is only a baby step that we could take in order to keep the death penalty from happening, but if we got enough people, they could listen.  I would first propose the idea that if we stopped the death penalty, it would be a lot cheaper.  It costs more to set up the court dates and determine what the proper action is for the death penalty, than it is to put someone in prison for life.  Even though there is limited space, there are places all over the world that we could send these inmates to do their time.

                I really cannot see people getting too crazy about trying to stop the death penalty.  I know that there are strong believers out there who think it is wrong, but I think that the majority of the people in this world like having justice and they could care less either way.  I could be totally wrong about this, but in my opinion this is based on what I have heard and seen.  Not too many times have a heard of a lot of controversy over the death penalty.  Like I said before, I do not enjoy watching the news, but my dad tells me a lot of what is going on and I rarely hear anything about the death penalty.  This is why it is hard for me to think of ways to stop this problem because I do not think the issue is big enough to cause a war.  I will say that if people protest about this issue, they could get thrown in jail, get fined, or even have someone inflict violence on them because they disagree with their beliefs.  Those are probably the worst things that could happen.

                As far as I know, there has never been a Civil War over little issues such as the death penalty.  I do know that the people who are going to be executed at the Greensville Correctional Center, there will be protesters who stand outside of the building.  This protesting has never kept anyone from being executed.  The reason why some states do not have the death penalty is because the majority of the society thinks that it is considered cruel and unusual punishment.  These states had to get rid of the death penalty for this reason because the Constitution says that anything considered being cruel and unusual punishment must be banned. 

                If we want to get rid of the death penalty in the entire nation, our best bet is to take a poll or vote on how many people think that the death penalty is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment.  Until the majority agrees that the death penalty is wrong, I do not think that there is anything that can be done about it.  I fully support the people who want to protest this issue because I think it is great that they have the guts to go out there and show what they think is right and wrong.  I don’t see anything wrong with putting your life on the line for something you feel strongly about because I know that I would never have enough guts to actually do anything like that myself.  Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough people/reasons to get rid of it in all of the states. 

Comments on Social Practice/Problem

Nicki: I did not see a blog.

Kim: I did not see a blog.

Alex: Your topic explained how big businesses are being unfair and that because of them we are in a recession.  You proved that all people are not created equal when you said that people in foreign countries are working for less money than Americans.  Even though they are willing to because they do not have a federal minimum wage, I see this as being unfair to both them and us.  I agree with you when you say that “bringing these jobs back would give our economy a major boost” because it is unfair that so many jobs have been taken away from so many Americans.  I do think that it would take a lot of work to keep big businesses from taking these jobs away.

Rachel: I think that your topic really shows how much you are against outsourcing as well the other American’s who are against it.  I learned a lot more about this social problem by reading your blog and I am interested to see what solutions you have come up with to possibly resolve this problem.

Almira: I really enjoyed reading your social problem, credit cards.  I unfortunately am a huge shopaholic and I have 2 store credit cards that I use.  I have seen that even though I pay my bills, credit cards can be more of a hassle than a benefit.  I always want to spend more than I can pay off right away and that is a temptation that I do not need.  It is definitely true when you say that these advertisements are everywhere.  I cannot wait to see what solutions you come up with!

Erin:  I think that it is unfair how immigrants in Arizona have to carry their papers around with them.  This just goes to show how immigrants are being treated unfairly.  I understand that it is a way for them to be identified as legal or illegal, but I still don’t think it is right.  I agree with you, the other options that you stated are much better than what Arizona has been doing.  I am not sure that there is really a way to resolve this issue, but I am sure there have been plenty of thoughts about how this can be fixed. 

Reflection for Weeks 6 and 7

I do not think that the literature that we are reading in this class is too difficult to understand.  I will admit that in some of the writings, I have to go back and read the sentence over again because it is written in a way that I am not familiar with.  I always read in a quiet place so that there are no distractions around me.  Even though it seems like there is a lot to read, it is more so little things than one big thing that we are reading.  I like that much better because it is easy to break everything down and understand it better.  It helps that our assignments are connected to what we are reading.  If I want to take a quote and put it into my blog, I can because they both relate to one another.  It is better to read a little every day than to try to read everything at the last minute because you do not retain the information as well. 

Ideal Self Comments

Alex: I definitely agree with you when you say that people are reliant on others.  I mentioned that in my essay as well and I think that everyone has that same problem.  We cannot do everything on our own, so there has to be some dependency on others sometimes.  I like the way that you included Emerson’s ideas in your writing instead of just posting a quote from the text.  Great job!

Rachel: I think it’s great that your family and your job are a part of your ideal self.  Those two things are very important in life and I am glad that you were able to reflect on those things.  I did see where you mentioned Emerson and you had some good examples, but I maybe would have liked to see a little bit more about how your life compares to his writing.  Overall, I really enjoyed reading your blog and learning more about you!

Almira: I think you did an awesome job at explaining what it means to live your ideal life.  I think it is great how you believed in yourself when you didn't speak any English and you were determined to complete that goal and you did it!  I truly admire what you have been through and it's great to see how well you have done!

Erin: I like how you described what you think makes an ideal life for someone.  You didn't just write it about yourself but you wrote it about how you think people in general should live their lives to have the life that they will love.  I think the only thing that you could have added to make your essay even more elaborate would be some personal examples of how you live your life as your ideal self.  I also like the quotes that you added in your text to show that you understood what Emerson was writing about.  Great job, very creative!

Social Controversy

The death penalty or capital punishment is an issue that has sparked controversy and anxiety in today’s society. Capital punishment refers to “a sentence of death by execution”, for the crimes committed. In order to receive the death penalty an individual needs to commit certain types of crimes known as “capital crimes” or “capital offences”.  Today, executions are carried out by either a lethal injection or electrocution. Countries like the United States can allow the convict to have a degree of “amnesty” by letting the convict choose other methods such as a gas chamber, hanging or even a firing squad.

This social practice goes against the ideals of what our nation believes because a lot of people do not think that someone should be killed because of a crime that they have committed.  Others, however, do believe that the person who does the crime deserves to be put to death.  The death penalty has not always been practiced in the U.S.  In fact, no executions occurred in the U.S between the late 1960’s and 1970’s.  The Supreme Court voided the death penalty in 1972 and instead of giving hundreds of death row inmates the death sentence; they were sentenced to life in prison. 

The Supreme Court has questioned whether the death penalty is considered cruel and unusual punishment several times.  The Court has never ruled that the 8th Amendment completely rules out the use of the death penalty. That is not to say, however, that the Court might never rule in such a manner.  This means that if a society rules that the death penalty should be considered cruel and unusual punishment, then it may become illegal.  The Court has noted that there is still a broad amount of public support for the death penalty, so therefore it is still legal in 38 states.  

The American Civil Liberties Union believes that capital punishment denies us of our civil liberties.  They feel that the death penalty violates what the Constitution considers cruel and unusual punishment to be.  The guarantee of due process of law and the equal protection of the laws have also been affected by the death penalty.  The state should not take unto itself the right to kill human beings.  The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights according to Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign.  They are looking to end the cycle of violence that they think is created by a system with economic and racial bias and human error.

The death penalty most certainly goes against what our nation believes because not everyone is supportive of capital punishment.  Almost any social practice that we have in the U.S goes against what our nation believes because not everyone is going to agree with everything.  Some people believe that the death penalty is based on race, sex, or religion.  I do not agree with this statement because every person who has been sentenced to death has done a horrible crime.  Even if they all have race, sex, and religion in common, that does not mean that they were sentenced to the death penalty because of those things.

                In my opinion, I am neither for nor against the death penalty.  I think that I am somewhere in the middle.  If I hear that a person is getting the death penalty for murdering a family, then I do not see anything wrong with that because I think that he/she should get the same punishment that the family got when he/she killed them.  I usually do not pay attention to the news because it does not interest me.  However, I think that I should pay more attention because when I have to write assignments like this one, it is nice to know what is going on in the world.