Last English Class

Today is the last day of English class for me. I feel like I have progressed some in my writing. While there is still room for improvement, my writing has definitely gotten better. Although writing is not one of my favorite classes, there are some other classes out there that are worse. Honestly I am happy that this class is over because that means I only have to take one more English to graduate. It also means I am one class closer to graduating and starting my life as an adult. This semester in English has taught me a lot about random environmental issues that I would have never even have thought about. It has also taught me how to write longer papers than I am used to having to write. Overall this class was a vital stepping stone in me becoming a better writer and more informed college student.

Mapping Everyday: Gender, Blackness, and Discourse in Urban Contexts

Ok, I have to be completely honest about this piece. From the beginning to the very end of it, I could not follow what it was trying to get across. I don't know if it was because I was reading it with the TV on or because it talks about something that doesn't really interest me. However, I'm sure it is a good piece of literature if it got published in a reputable journal. I really wish I could understand this piece because the title grabs my attention, but the content of the paper doesn't do a whole lot for me. While reading it, I found myself zoning out thinking about other classes and what I had to for them. What I did get from this piece, is that inner city kids deal with education in a whole different way than white kids do anywhere. This I think is wrong on so many levels. Something should be done so that every kid receives the same education regardless of race, religion, or where they live.

180 South

I found this documentary very inspiring. Everyone is always so caught up in their jobs and the everyday hustle and bustle, that they forget to live their lives. This documentary showed a group of people that aren't afraid to drop everything and just leave. I hope that one day I can do something like this. It has always been my dream to go to Africa on a hunt. I can't imagine going to a place as wild as Patagonia, it must have been pretty impressive. What isn't impressive is the fact that companies are trying to spoil this untouched nature in order to gain a little bit of a profit. What the gauchos are doing in order to try and stop this development is important, but I don't think its enough to stop the government from approving these various projects. This documentary has really made me realize that I need to live my life to the fullest because after all, you only get one shot at life.

Coast Salish

It is a shame that the schools are trying to take away the Coast Salish's cultural identity. There should be some way of finding a happy medium, so that the people can get an education and still remain unique. These people have done nothing to harm anybody yet the school systems want to take away something very near and dear to them. This is just cruel and unusual. More needs to be done to make sure these docile people don't get taken advantage of now and in the future. I think it would be pretty easy to find a method of schooling that would allow these people to remain the way they have been since the beginning of their existence. I find it pretty unique that the Coast Salish people travel back and forth between Canada and the United States to attend various ceremonies. Both of these countries need to stop trying to make these people assimilate into their standards and just let them live their lives. Diversity is important and essential for societies to flourish and survive.

10 minute writing on Butterfly Lessons

1. Kolber believes that the Earth is entering into a grim future because of the temperature change. She believes that the increasing CO2 levels are playing a major role in this increasing of global mean temperatures. Two sentence that displays this are as follows; "The equilibrium warming associated with doubled CO2 is estimated to be between three and a half and seven degrees, and with tripled CO2 between six and eleven degrees. A global temperature rise of just three degrees would render the earth hotter than it has been at any point in the past two million years." This increase in temperature could have a devastating effect on the Earth and all of its inhabitants.

Butterfly Lessons

I didn't know what to expect from this article before I started reading it.  After the first couple paragraphs, I was starting to think this paper was going to be a hard read. Then it got interesting. With all the discussions going on about global warming and climate change, this paper is relevant to today's talks. Personally I believe in the fact the Earth is getting warmer each year because of different reasons with the biggest reason being the increase in CO2 concentration. This paper talks about how this change in climate can be observed by studying various organisms. The major factor that is studied is the change in the range of their habitat. Plants and animals that couldn't survive cold and harsh winters can now live further north than they could have in previous years. This is all because of the warming of our planet due to our civilization becoming more and more dependent on fossil fuels. There are some arguments saying that this is just part of a natural cycle but its hard to argue against the point that humans have definitely sped that process up. This paper opened my eyes to the fact that there are gauges out there that can measure climate change in the form of various organisms. If nothing is done to slow this climate change we are speeding up, some of these organisms might run out of area that they can call home.

A tree's perspective on deforestation

The issue of deforestation needs to be looked at under a more serious light than it has been previously. I have lost a good deal of relatives to the cruel hand of deforestation. Up to this point, I have just turned my trunk to it, hoping that it would just stop. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case. Just recently I lost my twin brother to deforestation. This event along with the other family members I have lost have pushed me to start a movement to advocate the stopping of deforestation. Not only is deforestation killing my family and other innocent families, it rapes the soil of all its nutrients and takes away an important carbon sink, us, the trees. If deforestation continues, our whole species could be driven to extinction, and then where would you humans get your oxygen from? All the trees have come together and want to ask you humans to please help us, help you!