Working Knowledge

Over population has been an interest of mine as well as a pet-pev. It bothers me to see so many people that are unappreciative of their planet and the stress it's under--especially when there are millions of children that need homes via adoption. I've always thought there could be a resolution to this--a way to fix what is clearly a problem. I don't know if government is the way to go or if that society can change for itself. With that said, for a long while I've wanted the chance to explore and/or write about this topic. I don't know much about the particulars, but I do know that this fascinates me and it is a problem. The worlds resources are being used up at a much faster rate than the Earth can produce them. And as more and more people are produced, our freedom as Americans and the limited freedom of others around the world is at risk because many believe that something serious will have to be done to reduce the risk of ruining the world. I think that people are uncomfortable and even offended when this subject is brought up. That's the kind of thing I enjoy writing about because it gives me the freedom to write about something controversial and pretty much say anything within context.

CR-Ex: 1.1 Steps 2 & 3

I'm going to change the assignment slighty because I'm between two topics and I'd like to explore them both. I highlighted some in yellow and some in red. The yellow were things I could write a paper on, only because I know a little about them. Unfortunately, I don't have the desire to write about them, and that's were red comes in. I may not know everything about these topics but they are subjects I wouldn't mind writing about. I've already stated that I'm not that into this semesters English course, so I really need something that I WANT to write about.

The two I'm stuck between are Controversy's Over Population and History's Murderers. Both of them fascinate me, although I know more about the murderers than over population. But, I'm more interested in over population. I'm afriad a murderer paper may be too generic, but then an over pop. would be too sensitive for people to enjoy. I have to think of my audience too... I think murderers are interesting to ppl and I'm not sure ppl are ready or want to hear about over population. This is very tough.........

Over population:

Who is concerned about over pop?
Who should be concerned?
How many resources does it take to care for one child for 18 years?
What is average child/household ratio?
What kinds of population control methods are out there/being used elsewhere?
What will the world look like in 50 years w/o pop. control--with it?
Are there any organizations for or against it?
Should the government be able to do something about it?
Is there really any concern?
Will mother nature/Earth deal with it if need be? !!!Kind of goes in a diiferent direction, which is possible...

Murderers:

One, single person, doubles, mass, murder/suicide, spree, serial, man, woman, organizations???

Nevermind...I'm going to stick with Over Population. Too many avenues otherwise. And, really I have to write for myself first of all, and then think of others... definately need a concrete audience though. Either the scientific world or all the ignorants. Opposite sides of the spectrum, so that's interesting... I think I'll go ignorants--they're the ones that need to know.

CR-Ex:1.1 Step 1

Places

Grand Canyon
BlackSpots on Maps
Area 51
African Rivers
Colosseum of Halicarnasis
Greece
Madrid

Trends

Fad Diets*vs*Healthy Eating
Automotive
Pills
Sex and Alcohol
Stupidity
Cell Phone/Internet Addiction

Technologies

Cell Phones
Cloning
Automotive
Exercise
Hox Genes
Stem cell

People

Charles Darwin
Vets
Pat Batemen
David Montgomery
O'Bama
Lincoln

Controversies

Hypnosis/Regression
Parallel Universes
BlackSpots on Maps
Pageants
Animal Rights
Over Population
WW1, 2 or Nam
Evolution*vs*Creationism
God
Idenity Theft

History

Population Control
Murderers (serial, mass, spree, m/s)
Technological Advancement
Medical Practices
WW1, 2 or Nam
Darwin and Genomics

Jobs

Bankers

Ski rescue

Military

Prison Workers

Habits

Alcoholism
Malnutrition (over or under)
Veterans
Mid-Life Crisis
Buisness ppl

Hobbies

Music
Trout fishing
Mountain Climbing
Rafting/Canoeing
Ship Buliding

SMH-Ex. 2.1

To prepare for a writing assignment usually by finding a good, interesting topics and research a few. I think about myself definatly when choosing a topic, but also about the teacher and the audience it's intended for. That certainly changes the paper a bit. Once I find a topic I like, I'll brainstorm it (to me, that's not a fast-write) then orgaize it so it makes some sense, then I begin to write (hopefully).

My best ideas normally come to me at annoying times. In the shower, right before sleeping, in dreams, while on the phone or talking about something else. I do normally remember the ideas though, so it's all good.

I usually write anywhere I have time to. I have a laptop, so I carry it around when I have a paper due. Or at least I take a pen and paper along for any randon ideas. I like to have some background noise, but it can't be music or TV. If I'm around someone cooking dinner, at a restuarant* or around other people conversing it's all right--that doesn't bother me. I tend to believe that some noise makes a person concenrate on the task at hand rather than sitting in quiet solitude where your thoughts can overpower your concentration.

At first I was like "What's a material?", but I think I get it now... First and foremost would be pen, paper and the ability to write. But for college writing I guess a laptop, a thumb drive, Word, internet access*, library access, and a critic outside of class. Laptops are super helpful because you can take them everywhere you go, so if you have THE perfect 5th paragraph in your mind you can ype it into the computer right there. Thumb drives are cool because it's like a back up system, as we all know. Also if you work on another computer you can just plug the drive in and be able to save it and go back to your computer. Word's cool--who cares? Internet and library access are key in writing college papers. Major parts of the paper's info comes from these sources in almost all student's papers, I believe. I enjoy having an outside critic like my family and friends, the success center peeps, or someone totally random. For me, I have to have it.

Audience is tricky for me. I write for myself first of all--if I'm not happy with it, no one else should be. From there, I think about a general audience--who does this topic appeal to, what interests do they have in this topic, why do they care? That's what I think about and try to answer ina paper. Then, lastly, I think about my fellow classmates and teacher. To be honest the classmates may not give a crap about your topic, so why write solely for them unless that's the assignment? But I do think one has to take them into consideration... because they are the actual one's reading the work. So like I said it's tricky for me.

Once again, I don't know what the hell "strategies" means! Whatever...
I explore topics by using the internet, bookstores, magazines, personal experiences, and specialists on the topic.

First drafts, by me, are brainstormed, organized, then written. I write each paragraph seperately, not being concerned with tie-ins. I like to write it all in one sitting, then come back in a few hours and work on the spelling errors, grammical* errors, and tie-ins.

Revising a paper to me means adding more info, putting sentences where they really belong, selecting different words in the place of the "placeholder words" and I usually like to try and perfect the intro and start a conclusion.

If I develop writer's block for some reason I usually talk to someone about it. It's amazing what some people think of without really knowing the subject at all. I've gotten a lot of ideas that way. Also I will exersice.

I thiknk what is most effective about my writing is my brainstorming and organizing before the paper is written. I know some people just like to start writing then when they get stuck, start brainstorming. I think that's stupid when you could just take some time out in the begining and get it over with and have all the ideas out there.

It seems this semester I not really into English. It's more of a chore than Eng 101. That worries me. So I guess the lack of interest and motivation is worrysome to me. Other than that, when I'm motivated I love to write and I think my writing process is effective overall. Not really sure what I can do to get motivated about this English class--I'm still getting used to having to write paper's during the semester. I haven't for a year, so I guess I just need to get into it, or drop this one and do it next semester... IDK.

My favorite part of the writing process would be the either revising or the final product. Revising is fu because it's like a puzzle and sometimes it works out and other times it doesn't. So it's kind of a rollercoaster. Having the final product inn front of you may seem kind of dumb as the fav part, but I usually think of all the work that went into each paragraph and I think reading your own paper is different from reading just any paper. It's a feeling of accomplishment--something you wrote that no one else will write exactly, word for word again.