JWagner- jww4k8

 1. Stars were added frequently while new states joined the Union in the United States.

The Whipple Flag
By Blaine Whipple, © 1999

(http://www.whipple.org/blaine/whippleflag.html)

The author write this article in a choppy predictable way. What I mean is that all the sentence are short, direct, and to the point. Yes this is good in telling facts but not in actual memorization. More of the story needs to be told for the facts to really sink in and in turn makes the reader feel like they are getting more out of reading it then just the information. People remember stories and can correlate them back to facts and what they remember. The author is predictable in the fact that he starts off with Betsy Ross and just works his way down. It is almost as if he is just doing a homework assignment and is giving us a timeline for the flag industry.

2. The overabundance of American flags decreases their credibility.

The Bridal Ballad by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe writes in such a unique way. He has a way of writing poetry in which he can talk about the past, present, and future all at one time. In most cases switching tenses would be confusing but Poe finds a non confusing way of doing it. These poems are so interesting to read, at least to me, because he can talk about multiple things at once and they make sense. I am not really sure how he accomplishes it but I do know that I am envious of it. It might be that he finds writing this way so easy because he relates each tense with each other by switching back and forth frequently. However he does it, I am impressed.

Stencil Graffiti by Tristan Manco

Short bipgraphies interest me. They are easy to understand then reading a whole novel about them. However, they aren’t always the best of information because they usually don’t ever tell the ending of their life or what happened after a major event in their life. All of these open-ended stories can be frustrating to the reader. I don’t want to have to make up my own ending. If CSI crimes weren’t solved by the end of the show, no one would watch as religiously as they do now. In this book about graffiti (obviously hence the title), different artist tell a little bit about what they do or what they did but they don’t paint a big enough picture to fill in the blanks. Using open-endedness is okay when it is used it fiction but not in real life. I suppose what I am getting at is that if you are going to tell the beginning of a story, you should feel obligated to tell the end.

Excerpt from the animal science lab book-

Beef by Dr. Williams

I wanted to write about this reading because of how confusing it is to read. There is absolutely no logical order to his organizational process. For example he tells us how to vaccinate before telling us why we should vaccinate. These things, in any reading, should be in chronological order. It is almost like telling someone to bake the cookies at 400 degrees for 11 mins before telling them how to make the dough. Pointless. Although some might understand the importance of the vaccination already, he can’t assume that everyone does. If everyone did then he wouldn’t have a class to teach. In teaching a class such as this one, where most kids haven’t even been near a cow, doesn’t make understanding new concepts or ideas any easier. All I am trying to say is that chronological order is a good thing. to write

Essential Foundations of Economics

by Robin Bade

While reading this text, I can’t help but to feel as if the author had nothing better to do with his time. He over exaggerates points that don’t seem quite as important to the rest of the world and portrays them as if they are a life or death situation. Through the authors writing, I can’t help but feel that he is a die- hard economist that believes the world might come crashing down if everyone reading the book doesn’t learn every single aspect of economics including ludicrous examples that are obsolete for our time period. I am not trying to convey that economics are not important; I just believe that in reality they don’t have to be so dry. I hope Bade doesn’t attempt to write novels…ever.

Animal Sciences by Campbell

This week I have decided to write about my assigned reading out of my animal science text book. During the reading, the author jumps around from idea to idea without completely explaining the point he is trying to portray. I was thoroughly confused and now I almost wish I would have read it. He compares animals on how they are the same and how they are different but doesn’t explain why or if it even matters that they aren’t the same. This angers me because now I have more questions about the reading than I thought I ever would. Another thing that Campbell doesn’t use effectively is the use of diagrams. He puts just enough information that you mentally have to search for the rest to fill in the blanks for yourself. I am not sure if this is a way to try to make us infer things on our own or just to confuse us. Textbooks should be to the point when it comes to facts and figures where there is a definite answer to the question.  

A Defense of Abortion

By Judith Thomson

Thomson takes an interesting approach to writing this essay. First she states her opinion to pro-life which might not be the smartest idea if you want those who believe differently to be more open minded. I’m not saying she doesn’t have the right to her own opinion I just think she should have waited more towards the end of the essay to say it. Thomson builds up the opposite side of the argument on why abortion should be illegal for which she is against. She then one by one picks it apart. Through reading this I feel as though I learned something really important about essays. I learned that to make your case more convincing, you must know everything about both sides. You can’t just rely on knowing enough about your own side.  Thomson uses a lot of analogies in this writing. However she uses abstract examples that would never come true so it becomes hard to follow at times. A couple of the examples just seemed to be in the completely wrong essay. The last thing I want to touch on is how repetitive she was. It was annoying and I felt like I kept reading the same thing. I mean I read it the first time and I remember what the writer told me. I don’t need to be retold.

The Elements of Moral Philosophy

by James Rachels 

At the beginning of chapter one, he explains three different stories in which there are different moral dilemmas. Rachels engrosses the audience by choosing examples that really make you think what you would actually choose to do in such a crisis situation. Usually when reading out of an assigned book, the information is dry and boring. While reading this however, I couldn’t put the book down. It really made me think that a lot of readings would be more beneficial if they set you up with more than one side. Then you used your own opinions and rendered your own views on the situation. I really like how Rachels expects you to be able to conclude your own conclusion and doesn’t necessarily point you in any certain direction.

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