Lois Lane and Clark Kent: Jane Austen Style

My Dearest Clark Kent,
How do you feel this splendid afternoon? I am pleased to inform you that my days have been golden. Forsake this day, for I do miss your presence more than my heart can bear.  As I sat and pondered on our wonder days, I ached for the adventures we once took part in together. There was but a glimpse of hope when the red blanket flowing on the line caught my attention. My mind tricked me for but a moment and I thought it was the cape of my love. The disappointment that followed was quite overwhelming. I do remember our last Valentine's Day was quite agreeable. We were out to capture and take down Bizarro, the villain, and after this successful endeavor we ate our supper at a quaint, elegant restaurant. I remember the feeling about the room was one illuminated with romance and excitement. O how I wish to be reliving this once again but I know that the present situation has called for your assistance with business matters. I dare say it is quite a loss to not have you by my side but just knowing you are safe is very satisfying compared to the former. I do wish you a Happy Valentine's Day in your far off land. I pray for an honorable return from your journey and do expect to see you at the ball next month. Until then, I bid you a farewell and send my love through this letter.
Your Lady,
Lois Lane

My Movie Mistake Madness

Mistakes:
1. Some of my sentences needed to be more concise and clear and so I will change that.
2. "...connecting us to a network that may soon determine one's job..." Us and One's  (Need to make them agree)
3. Accidentally said reader instead of author; simple change but very prominent mistake.

Movies
I also believe that asking for your favorite movie is a mean question well when it is directed toward people who have a hard time making decisions. There are just so many good ones! But here are some of my favorites:
1. Notebook
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. She's the Man
4. Tangled
I know they are really girly and lovey but I like them :) I also appreciate action movies but I don't like scary movies. This is tough :/

The Ultimate Cheese

-Decorating with hearts for Valentine's Day is like decorating with bones for Halloween; we like our bodies.
-Roses are red, violets are blue and these kinds of poems are like something you should never do.
-Eating cake by yourself on Valentines is like two people eating cake but take away one person.
-It took her thirty minutes to write this beautiful letter to her boyfriend. She then sprayed it with perfume like her dad does when he is trying to make the bathroom smell good after he spends thirty minutes in it.
-She played hard to get as a baby would play peek-a-boo.

I am Innocent! (Three letters of proof)

Dear  Judge ____, 

   Thank you for your efforts to keep our world fair and just. I know that you do all you can to fulfill your duties; that is why you made the judgment call you did in my case. I would appreciate it though, if you would listen to a few reasons why I believe that the punishment affixed may be more severe than what was deserved. I feel as if the whole story wasn't fully explained. I was not deliberately trying to break the law. In fact, I had no idea that I was over the speed limit. I also have been doing so well ever since my first incident to stay even a little below the speed limit. That is why I was going forty-five and not fifty. You see, I am not familiar with this area that I was driving in. I had been asked to help a friend move in a neighboring city which I had never been to before. The speed limit was fifty (that's why I was going forty-five) and then the speed limit changed to thirty with little warning. It was one sign (I went back to check with my mom) and I just mist have missed it. Since it was late at night, there were no cars on the road, therefore I had nothing to compare my speed limit to. I respect your decision, but I hope you take into consideration the details listed above. I am willing to pay the ticket price but I feel that taking away my license isn't a good representation of the actions that took place.

Thank you for your consideration,

Kennedy

Dearest Mother,

   So guess what? This isn't a very good thing, but I received a ticket today for speeding AND they are saying that they are going to revoke my license. I know, it's way bad but I don't want you to worry about it too much. The measures they are taking are pretty extreme but they don't understand the full story. I have already written a letter to the judge asking for a reconsideration on the outcome. It is actually quite ridiculous! I was not intentionally speeding at all. The speed limit was fifty and within one sign it was thirty! I accidentally missed the sign, not only because it was dark but because it wasn't in my line of vision. I hadn't been to this place before so I was concentrating on the signs so I could make the right turn.  I actually was going five under and not fifteen over, in my book anyway. Maybe you could even write a letter to the judge telling him that I am a good kid ha, but for real. They probably won't take away the ticket but I NEED to drive, like how am I supposed to get to school? The money is going to be a bummer but next to taking away my license, it's not a big deal. I can cover it too. I have money in my budget for a trip so I just won't go on that and I'll cut down on food. Sorry for the inconvience. But I am not too worried, hopefully the judge will side with me and cut me a little slack. Thanks for your help mom, this is such a bummer. :/ 

Love and miss you,

Kennedy

Hey Classmates,

   I am so sorry about not being able to take you guys home the other night. I had an intense experience so hopefully you will understand. I was driving home from a neighboring city and I got a ticket but! I wasn't intentionally breaking the law at all. The speed limit was fifty and within one sign it was thirty! I accidentally missed the sign, not only because it was dark but because it wasn't in my line of vision. I hadn't been to this place before, so I was concentrating on the signs in order to make the correct turn.  I actually was going five under and not fifteen over, in my book anyway. The officer was extremely rude too. All this being said, then the officer decided my license is going to be revoked. He wasn't even willing to listen to my side of the story. I am really hoping for a reconsideration by the judge. It was all just a horrible misunderstanding, but now I don't have a license at all so I won't be able to take y'all home anymore. If you guys could support me, I would greatly appreciate it. I have already written a letter to the judge so hopefully I will actually be justly dealt with this time! 

Sorry again but thanks for understanding,

Kennedy

Found Poem

Found Poem: Writers

WRITERS
       may seek advice and
WRITERS
       may give advice but
WRITERS
       rarely take advice.
WHY?
       because
WRITERS
      are stubbornly independent.
WRITERS
      are self-reliant,
           knowing that there is no one to really help them
      but themselves;
WRITERS
      hope to be "original"
WHICH
      means not following in the path of others.

From the book The Best Advice I Ever Got by Katie Couric.
Sub passage from "Here is life..." by Joyce Carl Oates.

Rhetorical Analysis of New Media (With a Spiritual Twist)

As I read all the articles, each brought forth a different emotion. The last one I read, "Can You Hear Me Now?", left me pretty frustrated with how disconnected we are with the human beings right around us. But on the other hand the article, "Dear Students: Don't Let College Unplug Your Future", left me so pumped about being a part of this intangible world. I hate to think that I liked this piece by Gideon Burton because it fed my sub-conscious cravings for the virtual world. It made being on the internet and utilizing social media not only "not bad" but actually something positive and good.
This leads me into my first question: What is the author's intent and what are they trying to persuade the audience? I believe he wants us to view social media as a good thing and use it to benefit our education. His goal was to persuade us that a college education from a University is likely to be behind the times and the most current way to receive an education or be a part of the "real world" is to embrace the social media.
Sometimes during his argument, I felt as if he were mocking the idea of social media. He said things like:
"You don't evin haf to spel rite, though that doesn't hurt."
"Find those crazed teachers who have not been lobotomized by the moribund methodology of conventional learning and teaching."
-I think his blunt disapproval or maybe even attack on conventional learning makes him seem a little careless and almost enough to not know whether to take him seriously or not. Therefore his delivery was rather weak in this aspect but despite those moments, I would give him an A+ in delivery. He really appeals to his audience and gives interesting examples.

One last thing that may have weakened his argument or made him lose ethos was when he said:
"Trust the ones who give you their cell phone numbers..." He gives his students his cell phone number as he said previously in the passage, therefore he is essentially saying, "Trust me, and people like me."

He uses a lot of imagery, for example: (also an analogy)
"Treat your classes like you do your CDs- rip, trade, and burn the best tracks, deleting what doesn't fit in your playlist."

Gideon uses epicrisis when he recounts the story of trying to get social media into college curriculum and then just ends with, "So very chilling, but that is academia for you." The story pretty much spoke for itself. This is also evidence to his argument.

He also uses many hyperboles which solidify his stance:
"They can't help but kill the things that would bring your education to life. Oh, the humanities!"

He definitely used some pathos for me because I just got a blog so I could really relate to his story of picking an intern based on the contents of her blog. He emphasized the fact that there may no longer be resume but just your record of social media.

He made a good counter argument that I considered as well: the internet can be scary. Somehow, although there are unfortunate instances, he seemed to convince me that it is more important to have one then not to.

I also liked how he used interjections to give voice and make it entertaining which made the paper more appealing.

So is this article effective? I believe it was. It made me realize how important social media can be and it is something we should embrace. I feel like it adequately did that for me but I still have my own qualms, especially after reading the other articles.

This has become my stance:
I think we should embrace social media and use it for good in the world. We must be careful not to be consumed by it. Ultimately, the one thing I am worried about it our connection with other people. In my Sunday School lesson, I became enlightened with this idea when teaching about revelation. When we want to receive revelation sometimes we need to take a step back and become disconnected with all media so we can focus on what the Spirit is trying to communicate. So why would it be bad though if we communicated just through technology? Why does that feel wrong? How our Heavenly Father communicates is not through technology but rather through our hearts and we want to become like Him. So personal interaction is very important and I would agree that sometimes you can touch others hearts through the media but when we are there and personal, is when we can make a real impact so we can't forget this. Also the media can give us alternate identities in a way. In Pres. Monson's devotional to the BYU students he counseled us to "Remember who you are". The prophets are divinely inspired and usually see things coming before we know they will happen. This may be good advice for right now but I think it may be even more valuable in the future. We are Children of God and we mustn't forget.

Peer Review and Corrections

Five Corrections:
(Just as a side note...it may be a sweeping generalization to assume we even made five mistakes on our paper to start with but unfortunately, I am one of those who made five mistakes. ha)
1.
Wrong: Depending on the book’s price, it has a high potential to pay itself off in the self same year it is purchased.
-I reread this and though "self same" may have a hyphen between the words but selfsame is actually one word. 
Correct: Depending on the book’s price, it has a high potential to pay itself off in the selfsame year it is purchased.
2.
Wrong: I contemplated these high costs and other factors as well; such as many textbooks are thrown away when declined the opportunity to be sold back.
-The semicolon is improperly placed in the sentence.
Correct: I contemplated these high costs and other factors such as many textbooks are thrown away when declined the opportunity to be sold back.
3.
Wrong: It may be a slow to start process because of the money invested but soon it will actually be creating more profit than previously.
-There is no comma before the conjunction "but".
Correct: It may be a slow to start process because of the money invested, but soon it will actually be creating more profit than previously.
4.
Wrong: This is not something that we want to force on the students of BYU but rather it is an option.
 -Once again there is no comma before the conjunction "but".

Correct: This is not something that we want to force on the students of BYU, but rather it is an option.
 5.

Wrong: Also if we recycle, it almost makes it okay to keep buying the books, when it reality those resources are still being consumed at a high rate.

-I made a spelling error, I wrote "it reality" instead of "in reality" 

Correct: Also if we recycle, it almost makes it okay to keep buying the books, when in reality those resources are still being consumed at a high rate.

Opinion of Peer Review:

I actually really enjoyed the peer review. I think it is fun to tell people what you really think of their work with little consequences and a bit of tact of course. I was a little blunt on some but I felt like the comments were intended to improve their writing skills so ultimately it was beneficial. I have to say five comments may have been a bit excessive for each page. With that being said, it was helpful for those papers that may have needed five comments per page so it wasn't too marked up in comparison to others. I think if instead of doing 5 per page, maybe doing 12-18 total. It was a little frustrating that we couldn't correct some of the grammar just to help because I feel that is important in improving a paper. I have yet to write a half page comment per paper but I feel that too could be summed up in the 5 comments per page. I am grateful to hear what others have to say about my paper though so although time consuming, I feel that it is probably quite helpful. I have to be honest, I felt kind of like a teacher grading papers and I liked it haha. But I imagine it is much less enjoyable when there are like 200 papers to grade. Overall, I enjoyed the peer review and I hope the ideas I suggested are taken into consideration.