VOCABULARY WORDS 21-25

21. ecru - pale yellowish brown or beige in color.
Sally's dog is ercu.

22. elegy - a mournful or plaintive poem, or a funeral song.
Jack played the elegy on his piano.

23. entreat - to ask earnestly; to beseech; to plead for.
On Friday, the attorney's will let him entreat his brother.

24. evince - to show; to prove; evident.
Julie tried to evince the court, but the judge threw it out.

25. expound - to explain; to argue the defense of; to clear of obscurity; to interpret.
Betty and Joan tried to expound to the store manager, but she said no anyway.

VOLCABULARY WORDS 16-20

16. desist - to cease; discontinue.
Please desist with that loud music.

17. disaffected - alienated; estranged; unfriendly.
The crowd was disaffected to the police officers.

18. dotard - one whose intellect is impaired by age; senile.
They say that Mr. Smith is dotard.

19. dub - to strike lightly with a sword in the ceremony of conferring knighthood; to invest with
any dignity or title; to style, name, or call by a descriptive nickname.
On television he was dubbed Sir Christian of Wayne.

20. duly - in a due manner; properly or fittingly; punctually.
That will be duly noted.

Fame Warm Up - page 303

Becoming famous is not something that I really want to be. I think it takes a very special person to be famous and be able to maintain the status that is required. Some of the problems that come with being famous are not being able to go places and enjoying yourself completely with family or friends. Being watched and questioned about everything you do is not my idea of having fun or having my personal privacy. Also, being followed everywhere you go because there maybe someone that wants to bring you bodily harm is not my idea of having fun. Unfortunately, there are people in the world who are very jealous of famous people and just want to bring undo harm to them or their families. I could not handle the emotional feelings that would come if someone harmed anyone in my family. I am afraid that I would want to do harm to them and that would not solve anything. So I am happy just being plain old me, not famous.

Activities Warm Up - page 291

The activity I like the best is Nascar Racing. I grew up only 11/2 hours away from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. My father and both of my brothers are/were auto body men and auto mechanics. They all had cars that were antiques and were their side projects away from it all. When the season for racing opens it always seems to send a bite to all the people in my family. That includes myself and my sister. My mother is not really into auto racing. The thrill of having the fastest car, how fast the driver dares to go, and the excitement of winning are all so breathtaking, how can you not get caught up in all the excitement. Watching the cars go around and around sometimes can get boring, but even the drivers get tired too. Wrecks and crashes are sometimes exciting and frustrating because the driver you are rooting for can be taken out of the race because of someone elses error. All in all the excitement of it all is just that, EXCITING!

Body Art Warm Up - page 278

Body art can be a beautiful expression of a persons state of mind. I personally do not have any tattoos or body piercings, except for ear piercings, but I would like to get a tattoo of a dragon on my shoulder. I have not found the dragon I want yet so I keep looking. As far as body piercing is concerned, I don't really understand why put more holes in your body than you really need. Besides, I am a baby when it comes to pain.

Culture Warm Up - page 266

My cultural background is full German. My mother's side and father's side are all German. When talking with other people I always represent myself as full German. I am told that when I get mad I am very quiet, and who or whomever I am mad at should watch out. I find this to be very true. My friends tell me that all the people they know that are German have bad tempers. I believe that some German people may have bad tempers, but not all German people. This type of stereotyping can effect a persons outlook of others. I think that people should be looked at for who they are, not what cultural background they come from.

MID-TERM ASSIGNMENT

The first essay I chose is called The Tyranny of Things by Edward Sandford Martin. I believe the approach the writer was trying to convey is the provocative approach. In his essay he gave examples like they wore no clothes at all; as Thetis took Achilles; oppression of modern con-
viences and has him hopelessly bound. The thesis statement is the opening sentence. A traveler newly returned from the Pacific Ocean tells pleasant stories of the Patagonians. The introduc-
tion paragraph was very efffective. It kept the interest of the reader to continue on with the essay. The technique the author used in his concluding paragraph is quotation. Solomon was the one he quoted and used to compare everyday situations of analysis. Some of the examples of this were when you play together it is at a sacrifice; you cannot even be rich yourself without expense and you may just as well give over trying.

VOCABULARY WORDS 11-15

11. capon - a male chicken or rooster with its reproductive organs removed for the purpose of
improving the flesh for eating.
Most people love capon.

12. card - a wire-toothed brush or some similar implement.
Please clean the battery cable with a card.

13. caul - a membrane sometimes surrounding the head of a child when born.
When Joey was born he had quite a bit of caul.

14. chignon - a large roll of hair worn at the back of the head.
The new junior high school look for all is a chignon.

15. curt - short or shortened.
That paragraph was very curt.

VOCABULARY WORDS 6-10

6. backwardness - slow retardation.
Joey shows some backwardness.

7. betwixt - between.
Jack is betwixt jobs.

8. buff - a fan.
Sam is a football buff.

9. bustard - any of various Old World birds related to both the cranes and the plovers.
That is a big bustard.

10. bypass - a detour.
Brentwood Boulvard is a bypass to Highway 4.

SLO EXAM

My essay for the SLO exam is going to be on the topic, 'Why the world can not sustain any more people.' This topic was chosen for me by my good friend Kathy! I have a few personal reasons for my essay, but for the major body of my paper I must turn to the knowledge of the internet. My essay starts with an introduction to my thesis statement, followed by my outline points of overpopulation, global warming, pollution, industrial disasters, loss of vegetation and wildlife, then followed by my conclusion. I hoping to learn quite abit on this subject.


Blog #7

10 annoying phrases

The reason that some of the annoying phrases may be annoying are because when we are talking with others we have a certain style. As people, the friends we associate ourselves with are as different we are. What is annoying to us may not be annoying to someone else. The phrases themselves are only words, its how they are executed with sound. People should remember its not what you say its how you say it. If the same thing is said over and over again that would be most annoying. Also saying the same thing in too many words is annoying.



Blog #6

Incomplete sentences quiz

Today I took the incomplete sentence quiz and scored 100%. It gave you examples of each infraction, then you had to choose which one it referenced. It was a good way to see if you could pick them out.


Blog #5

Obama's Speech

I think that Obama's speech was just his way of reassurring people of the things he had addressed throughout his campaign. His actions on what he has promised will be the real proof of all he has promised to change or make better. Granted, his plans will not take effect right away, but some things he should be able to start. He insists that he if for the people, working people, so we shall see. He was very gracious and very thankful for his appointed job. He also knows he will be under a microscope in his duties for quite awhile.




Blog #4

Vocabulary words 1-5

1. abscess-a collection of pus in the tissue of a body organ or part.
The patient had a large abscess on his leg.

2. abstain-to keep from doing something.
They will abstain from the holiday festivities.

3. afield-to the field; in the field; away from home; astray; outside of one's experience or
knowledge.
She was led afield by an elder.

4. affray-a public fight; brawl.
He was taken to jail for his part of the affray.

5. ambiguous-doubtful or uncertain; likely to be interpreted two ways; equivocal; indefinite.
She felt ambiguous about the book she was to read.

Journal Entry #1

Today is a very exciting day. Not only is it November 4, 2008, its election day and my first time voting ever! I was a little nervous about the different propositions, and I kept reading them over and over to make sure I understood what they were. I recorded my answers on my sample ballot and took it with me to make sure I marked the right answer. The whole process only took me about 20 minutes. The voting place for my area was held in the clubhouse at my apartment complex. The people there were nice and very helpful. All in all, I'd say it went rather well. This election is history in the making. It has a number of first time events involved. For the first time in U.S. history, an African American man has been nominated to run for the presidency, and has an overwhelming chance to win the election for the President of the United States. There is also a woman running for the Vice-President's seat.


Blog #3

SLO Exam topics

We were given five topics to choose from to write an essay on for the SLO exam. I have not decided which one I want to do. This will take more thought than just a few minutes. The arguments on the pros or cons will have to be very convincing.


Blog #2

Topics for the SLO

Goals for English Composition and Writing

Today is the first day of our new class. For our first blog, we are to post three goals for this class and how we expect to achieve them. My goals for this class are as follows:
1. To learn to expand my writing skills.
2. To increase my word vocabulary.
3. To understand the use of the English language better.
To achieve these goals will probably take alot of trial and error in practice writing. Attending class everyday, along with class participation will help to answer any questions that may come up.

Blog #1

Sharing Emotions

Today we took a test on emotion sharing. I don't seem to have a problem sharing any emotion with a third party, however, sharing emotion with an acquaintance for the other person seemed
least comfortable. Emotions for myself seemed to be in the middle. I don't seem to have a problem with emotions for other people, but emotions for myself as always been a problem.

Conflict Styles

On Tuesday, 10/14/08, we learned about the five different conflict stlyes which are:
1. Avoidance=A lose-lose aproach to conflict.
2. Accommodation=A lose-win approach to conflict.
3. Competition=A win-lose approach to conflict.
4. Compromise=A lose/win-lose/win approach to conflict.
5. Collaboration=A win-win aproach to conflict.
After taking a survey test on this subject, it was not surprising to find that I am a compromising style individual. There are always different ways to handle conflict and I believe depending on your upbringing and the person who are will depend on how you handle these situations. How you handle yourself in different situations does reflect on who you are as a person.

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!

Today we learned of some quite disturbing news about our Ethics teacher, Jason Albertson. He was arrested on Sept. 30, 2008, at Wal-Mart on Lone Tree Way in Antioch. He was taking pictures of young girls bending over, sitting in shopping carts and over 300 pictures of young females in his possession. What ethics theory does this fall under? I feel sorry for his wife and children. What a disgrace to have to be associated with that type of individual. If by chance this is a mistake, whatever was misunderstood had better change and not even come close to being misunderstood again.

Listening test

On Tuesday we took a listening test and my score came out 76. My mental attentiveness is said to be rather good, but may need to be improved a little. Soooooo, I guess I will try and pay more attention and listen more to the people who are requesting my attention.

Human Differences

Today in class we learned about the five human differences that influence communications.
1. Gender
2. Sex Orientation
3. Race and Ethnicity
4. Age
5. Social Class
All are pretty self explanitory. Gender however I think is the most well known. Especially in most relationships. Age would be the second one in line I believe. Each age group has their own way of communicating with each other. This is expressed in the way parents try to talk with their kids. All in all, the ways of communication do not really change as does time.

Anxiety test

The results for my anxiety test were as I expected. I really do not have a fear of public speaking or socializing with people whom I have just met or are going to meet. When at a public event you should remember that you are voicing your opinion and that everyone else also has one. Each opinion may vary according to the individual and the topic of conversation. Anyway, my total score was 35.

Communications test

We took a test on communication and my results showed I was a supporter/relater. I can agree with the relater part because I seem to explain things, (sometimes in too much detail), to everything. Supporter I'm not to sure about. If supporter means to help in any way that I can then this would be me. I think I need to work on my relater skills.

Self-Esteem Test

Monday, 9/29, we took a self-esteem test on which I scored 90. According to this test, I have a very high self-esteem. I don't consider being happy with myself, being social and not letting what people think of me as an esteem trait. Personality traits, attitudes or views and habits are what make an individual their own person. I occasionally believe I have quite a large ego, but considering all I have handled in my life and how well things have turned out, I am entitled! In relationships it is important to be your own person, not the person they want you to be. Compromise is good, however paternizing is not. If they can't execpt you for who you are then you are not the person for them, and they for you!

Speech Day

Today we did our speeches and skits. Considering that everyone was unsure of how it was going to go, overall everyone did quite well. TO ALL--A JOB WELL DONE!!!

Class goals

We were asked to think of three goals we wanted to accomplish by the end of this class. After evaluating the situation, I decided that my goals would be:
1. Trying to find a better way to communicate with my kids. (which range from 26-15, two boys
and two girls).
2. Try to enlarge my vocabulary.
3. Try to find a better way to communicate my feelings in a less that needed way. (make it
short).
If anyone has any ideas or suggestings, please let me know. Thank you in advance.

Learning Styles

On Monday we took a learning styles test in which my scores area as follows:
VISUAL 13
SOCIAL 16
PHYSICAL 13
AURAL 15
VERBAL 11
SOLITARY 8
LOGICAL 14
According to the results I learn equally well in groups as well as hearing the information. Personally I feel that I learn better in groups. Hearing and reading information I feel is a harder way sometimes for me to learn. I get confused in the explanations. However I try to figure it out the best I can and hope it's the right perspective.