Even though I won’t change my writing style, my revision process, or my feelings about writing, I will have to say that this class makes me at least consider being a better writing. While it also provide me multiple ways to become a better writer. Making me even think about wanting to become a better is a huge deal (so bravo to the class). I really did enjoy this class and if ever have the opportunity to take one of professor Harness’s class again, i will definitely do that.

My paper is on teaching foreign language in elementary school and the benefits that come with it and that there every elementary school should begin teaching some sort of foreign language. In my solution section I spent a lot of time going over the different systems that a school could use and the different factors that would influence a school’s decision on what path they would chose. But, the funding of said programs and how to enforce them were barely mentioned. So in my revision paper I plan to focus more on those areas instead of just saying, oh we’ll increase taxes. For example one way that we could enforce this plan is to write a bill stating that a child most pass so many foreign language classes before they can graduate, or by creating standardized test that focus on foreign languages such as adding them to the SATs or adding them to state standardized test such as the SOLs (that’s the test that we had to take in VA.) As far as cost goes a tax increase is the only thing so far that I can come up with, so I can still mention them I should just go more in-depth about how much, and what to do about the areas that can afford these increases. Should there be government funding and questions like that? These are the two main areas that I plan to focus on in my revision paper, and hopefully by doing that the quality of my paper will greatly increase.

The entire time he is clearly mocking those that are reading the essay, and those that haven’t thought of better ideas rather than eating babies. He is trying to bring about a sort of social revolution. Telling the shopkeepers and landlords that they’re corrupt and that they’re part of the reason why Ireland has so many problems, and telling the people, that Ireland needs to have more pride and that they need to help themselves instead of relying on other countries to make/do things for them. But, if he is truly writing the paper to bring about this change I don’t think a satire was the way to go. Even though it grabs our attention because his ideas are so far out there, i think that same thing hurts his credibility and the seriousness that someone takes from this paper after reading it. I don’t think that the rich people who read this would care about the poor people, and the fact that there is a joke tied to a severe problem, makes the problem seem less severe and more of a joke. (But that’s just my opinion)

As to the topic of the article, i understand where she is coming from and what she is saying even though i did not have that same experience when i was little. I was the opposite, so i was more like the author to which she was responding too, i was flat chested until late middle school, and into early highschool. I can’t imagine being a C cup in elementary school, your just so small. But i wonder how tall she was, cause i can imagine that leading to serious back issues if your really small. Having that body at such a small age can damage a little kid’s (cause thats what she was just a little kid with a developed body) psyche if you let it affect you. But i truly believe that it’s only a big deal if you make it a big deal. If you don’t worry about how your body looks than most people won’t either. If your constantly worrying about it, than your drawing attention to it, and other people will really notice the differences. But again i didn’t go through this experience so i really don’t know how easy that would be but i do think that it can be done. Just be confident in yourself and others will be too.

First off, I have never been through an eating disorder so I don’t know what their mindset is and I will never truly know. So I feel wierd commenting on something that I will never truly understand or go through. Saying that though, these stories disturbed me. Obviously I knew that anorexia and bulimia occurred, but thinking that there are websites promoting the disorder and that these people truly believe that promoting it is a good thing creeps me out. Some of the quotes in the book made me twinge when I read them. Like the “thin commandments” or “ I believe in control, the only force mighty enough to bring order into the chaos that is my world. I believe that I am the most vile, worthless and useless person ever to have existed on this planet. Knowing that people believe that about themselves, that even though I know it’s their choice (all be it a stupid one in my opinion) I still feel sorry for them. When the story mentioned that some of them started becoming anorexic, or bulimic when they were 10, or in middle school just saddens me. Thinking that when your that young, innocent, when your still supposed to be living in a sheltered bubble, that you’re thinking of your body image in such a way, even thinking about it at all makes me worry about this country. That we put so much emphasis on a person’s appearence, it makes a ten year old become anorexic, honestly scares me. My personal believe is that it is sick and unnatural. If you want to lose some weight, by all means go for it. But do it in a healthy way. Eat healthier, work out more, get more sleep, something that does not harm your body in such a way.

My opinion paper was called VERBAL VIOLENCE TO VIOLATE JMU and it was about how Three Six Mafia was going to preform here at JMU. The article was describing how the violence portrayed by their song lyrics was a direct contradiction to JMU’s own mission statement. How less than a week earlier, the theatre premiered “columbinus”, a play describing the horrors of violence going on in schools today and in the past, yet they were still going to allow a musical performer with such graphic lyrics to play (I found this kinda ironic and when this article was written the 2 year anniversary of the VaTech was about a week away, even more irony). But then the article made a statement that truly made me think. “From the news feed of Columbine and Tech, to Three Six Mafia, we find violence entertaining,” and it’s true, our culture typically loves violence (me included). From our video games to our movies to the news, from tv, to music, violence is all around us. I am the first to say that I do enjoy a good violent, blood dripping, gory movie. But why? I have know idea, it just appeals to me and apparently to a lot of other people as well. It’s not just a generational thing either (at least in my opinion) violence has always been a apart of human culture. Look at all of the wars that have been  fought, the genocide committed, the killing of innocent people for really no valid reason, the serial rapist, murders, and tourtures of the past and present. Even Television shows have usually been violent; Tom and Jerry is pretty violent if you watch it. But no one seems to know why we find violence entertaining. This is  question that i would like answered, and a problem that we need to fix (or at least maintain more control over), if we ever want a better world. No i don’t think world peace will ever happen but i would like to live in a world where violence isn’t on the front page of every newspaper,