Cover Letter

Vurne Bobbs

Cover Letter

English 1100-068

11 December 2010

In English 1100, I have learned many techniques to improve the way that I write. I have learned to use to support of Pathos, Ethos, and Logos in order to present better support, examples, and evidence in my papers. Writing research papers use to be something that I use to struggle with in English. I feel that I write very well when I am writing about something that I have experienced or either making up a fictional story because the information can be anything that my brain can think of. In this class, the main focus was making sure that in a paper, the Ethos is credible, the logos is logical, and the pathos is objective so that we can point out both sides of the issue. I did not realize how important it is to have sources in any paper that you write. If you choose the right sources and support, then you can make your paper sound more believable and much more credible because anyone could easily research the same information you did and compare it to the support that you have written down. I knew that I was going to learn something new when I first entered this class but I was not sure how much of the information was going to be important or just repetitive nonsense that I always use to hear in my English classes in high school. I remember the professor telling us to drop the five paragraph essay method and the five sentences per paragraph method. It was something that was placed in front of us in order to guide us through our essays. We were told that a paragraph does not just contain five well put together sentences. A paragraph contains every piece of material that you can think of until it feels complete. The professor told us to squeeze the juice of that paragraph until there is nothing left which means that you can put as many details or examples until you run out of material. Then toward the end, you must allow the last few sentences flow into the next paragraph as well. The entire must feel as though it is part of one big whole. This class has showed me a lot about writing and has made me aware of what the reader thinks when I write. I must remember that every sentence that I write down must contribute to the overall purpose of the paper in the first place.

Project One Revision

Vurne Bobbs

Project One

English 1100-068

13 September 2010

There is a narrative by Taneisha Grant called “To Speak Patois.” It talks about the way that she felt when she had to move from a place that she has been raised to a new place she knows nothing about. Her main focus is about change and how it affects everyone. She states in her narrative that change can be a scary condition but it can also be helpful if the person learns to fully release what they had in the past. I chose this narrative because I was faced with the same challenges that she had when I first moved from California to North Carolina two years ago. I immediately noticed the difference between states because I realized how much slower the pace of life is here. When I lived in California, I was always out exploring life every chance that I got. My parents always used to tell me that I am trying to explore life too early for my young age. I was sixteen but I felt as though I was on my own because I was in such a rush to be an adult. I believe that it was all the high expectations and the glamour of Hollywood that forced all the kids to want to try to become successful quickly. Although California has some parts of it that are more agricultural based, the majority of the people live a fast paced city lifestyle.

When I first came to North Carolina, I realized that my life was going to slow down tremendously because of the older atmosphere. In California, I lived next to other people and my backyard had a built in pool. The house that I moved into was surrounded by trees and wildlife and the backyard was nothing but dirt and grass. My neighbors were not even within walking distance anymore and the only pool I could jump in was the public pool but everyone knows the problem with public pools. They get dirty quick because young kids tend to relieve themselves in them.

I did not know anything about the state of North Carolina besides the fact that it is covered with trees and crop fields. I started attending Northeast Guilford High School did not know anyone. I stuck out like a sore thumb as a city boy. People tried talking to me and introducing the school to me but I did not want to get to close to them because I felt as though I would betray my old friends if I had left and made brand new ones. I did not realize I was doing this until my dad has pointed this out to me. He told me that I was subconsciously punishing myself for leaving my friends behind by not allowing myself to enjoy the new life I had.

I remember hearing that change is good from an old but very popular Disney movie called “The Lion King.” It was the scene when Simba (the lion) tells Rafiki (the baboon) that he has completely changed from the little lion cub that he used to be when he first left the Pride Lands. Rafiki replies to him saying, “Change is good.” The accent that the baboon has adds a little humor to the statement but in itself it is a lesson for people to learn from. Change can be a good thing in life. Change brings out new thoughts and ideas and allows them to participate in experiences that they would never have thought about. What type of change is good? Do you mean something easy, like changing your clothes or do you mean something more personal like changing your likes, dislikes, and habits to keep someone you love happy? Then you have is ask if all change is good. Some might say that changing the way you are to make someone happy is wrong because you are making yourself miserable in the process by not being yourself. Some might also say that changing the way you are to make someone is important for a relationship because it keeps the peace.

“Do you even know what they were talking about when they called us down here?” my sister asked seeming impatient. “How would I know that?” I snapped back. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked. “They always call me down here when I’m busy doing something,” I said shaking my head. “You were playing videogames.” She said while laughing. I tried not to crack a smile but I also found that pretty funny. My parents walked in and stood in front of us as though they were going to give a famous speech. “We’re moving.” My mom said without wasting anytime at all. I could tell that she could not hold back her excitement as nearly as good as my dad could. My dad threw up his hands waving them back in forth as though he was trying to erase that statement. My mouth dropped down to the floor and then rolled a couple of feet until it reached the kitchen table. My brain fell through my skull until it landed in my stomach acid. I could not believe in those words. My first thought was to laugh extremely loudly like I did when watching the last part of “Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark.” “Are you serious?” I asked looking for the right answer. “Yes.” My parents both said simultaneously. That was not the right answer that I was looking for.

A few years have passed since that day but I can still recall moving into the new house and officially starting a new life. I remember thinking that all my friends were going to hate me for leaving them behind. I was scared of making new friends because I did not want to replace that ones that I already had. I did not even want to look at other girls because I still liked a girl that I had to leave back home. I felt as though my life was ruined because I thought of all the negative things that could come out of the situation.

I soon started getting familiar to certain things around the new house and the new school after a few months. At my old school, my grades were very low because I seemed to talk more than doing my work. My parents told me that moving would be a good experience and a much better opportunity for better education. I didn’t want to believe them at first, but they were absolutely right. They always seem to be right. My grades started to change from C’s and D’s into A’s and B’s. I started to become more thoughtful of different cultures and families. I kept in touch with my old friends while making new ones as well. I learned a lot about getting used to change when moving to North Carolina. Everyone is different and special in their own way. I learned that from a girl named Brittany that I met while I was in Drivers Ed. Class out here. We began talking and became a couple. I had never met a girl as interesting as her and I never would have if I didn’t move in the first place and even became best friends with the girl that I used to like before moving here. That is a change that I am very thankful for.

“So what are your plans for today?” I asked. Brittany looked at me and smiled. “I think I have to go get my classes changed today.” She said. “Change is good.” I said trying to hold back laughter. “Where did you get that from? Is that from a movie?” She asked also trying to hold back her laughter. “It’s from The Lion King.” I said.

Project Three Revision

Vurne Bobbs

Project Three

English 1100-068

1 December 2010

Some of the first home computers were released around the late 1970's and throughout the 1980's. Computers were made sometime around the late 1940's but were always used by someone that was in an office environment. When these "personal computers" were released to the public, they were known to work better than those that were used on the job but were not nearly as capable as the type of computers that are being made in this generation today. There are many different types of computers being produced such as desktops, laptops, and even cell phones have become our personal, small computers. With the growth of technology, computers have become a natural part of our society. Lots of people own computers. Different members of the same family may all have different laptops with their own personal information on them. We have become dependent on them to save important or even useless information; communicate with others, or even using it as a tool for the gaming industry. How much faith have we put into our computers? Have we become too dependent on them? Parents no longer monitor what their child is doing because they have their own computers in separate rooms. The meaning of face-to-face communication is not as important as it used to be because people can communicate through email or chat rooms. Computers allow people to do many things that they wouldn't want to do in person, such as: go to class because now college students can take courses online, even work because now people can set up their job online without even leaving their house.

Technology has been growing rapidly and has greatly changed the way that we used to live, but we have to question if it is improving our way of living or slowly ruining our traditions that we have always had before computers began to be produced. In order to communicate through this generation, you have to be behind a computer screen because it is the best possible way to say the things that wouldn't normally come into conversation when near that other person. These types of situations have gotten people into trouble with other groups of people in the past. A broadcast on Fox News a few years ago talked about a brutal beating between several girls. A 16 year old girl was lured into the home of several girls and was brutally hit until her face was disfigured. These young girls, followed by an adult male who was recording the fight, received charger for battery, false imprisonment, and kidnapping. This incident would not have been such a strong case if it were not for the video that was posted on YouTube which is a website where users can upload videos online for free. They wanted to teach the 16 year old girl a lesson, and embarrass her by posting the video for everyone at school to see, but it only lead to them getting into deeper trouble. The parents blamed the social media personally by saying that this would not have happened if it were not for the Internet. They claimed that the uses of social networks such as MySpace were desensitizing children. The situation most likely escalated to even higher state of hatred because inappropriate words and slurs were thrown at each other through either the messages or comments on MySpace. Could this situation have been solved much easier if they all chose to settle the issue while talking face-to face instead of through a message? Could this entire situation been avoided completely if they never took the time to even speak on what happened? The outcome would have changed if the girls fought at the school instead because the fight would not have gotten as violent as it did and the punishment would have not been so severe. The principal would have given them either a suspension or some form of detention and they could have ended it right there. The situation would never have gotten as far as it did if they did not have a computer to begin with. This is the type of circumstance in which you either put the blame on the teenagers or on the social network that they were using. Some go as far as to blame technology and the media itself for such behavior. Truly, the motives of the person are what determine the outcome.

Motives have a big impact on the actions of many adults and children. The media has a greater affect on younger children because they are much easier influenced by what they see more than older kids and adults. In this generation, media is not as censored as it used to be and young kids are exposed to it every single day by television, radio, and the internet. The worst type of media exposure is the internet because it is not nearly as censored as much as radio and television. Children could find themselves surfing the web and stopping onto a website that is inappropriate for their age group. They did not have the motive to find an adult website but now they have been exposed to it in the worst way. What age should a child have to be in order to carry the responsibility of having their own computer? What age group of children should be able to have unrestricted internet? Even if they were adults, what would stop them from being abusing their internet? There are other ways of exposure that happen through social networks online such as MySpace, FaceBook, Stickam, Twitter, Skype, etc. People are prompted to post pictures of themselves on their profile pages for these social network sites so their friends are able to recognize them when they stumble upon their profile. It is a clever idea when it is not abused. Companies and schools have been known to look at a person's profile on these sites to find out about them outside of the work environment. A person could be turned down from a college or a job offer if they find something on their profile that they feel would not be beneficial to them. There was an incident that happened on Stickam which is a website that allows people to communicate through a webcam on their computer, of an 11 year old girl by the screen name of Jessica Slaughter posted very provocative pictures of her on her profile page and posted a hateful video on YouTube discussing her feelings about certain people. Many YouTube viewers started to talk about the video and say unsuitable things toward her. Soon after, she posted another video of her talking into the camera in tears. She brought her parents into the conflict and the situation got out of hand until it resulted in the deletion of both her YouTube and Stickam accounts. There are always going to be people that get online do things that they should not do. These are the types of problems that happen on the internet every day and it is shocking that no one has questioned the use of computers in the first place if all people are going to do is waste the time of their day doing things that are not productive.

The words motive, personality, and purpose can also be applied to the work environment that the general public has made. Computer can not only be used as a method of communication but it can also be used as a foundation to begin a new career or even begin a new class course. College students can now take their classes online without having to get out of bed. They can simply sign into their accounts and finish their assignments from home and continue their normal lives without having to step foot on college campus. This is a very smart and convenient idea for most students that may want to continue staying home in order to keep plans in place. A teenage mother that just graduated from high school may take online courses in order to take care of her child. Some forgiving parents would take care of the baby for the first few years of college in order for their child to experience life on campus and succeed in the areas that they chose. Other less forgiving parents would tell the student to keep the baby as another lesson to learn in life about responsibility. This would lead the student toward the direction of registering for online courses. Online courses are more difficult because it forces the student to think on their own without the help of peers or a physical professor. They never get to experience how it feels to live in a dorm room and living with another roommate. In the case of the pregnant senior, she is depending on her computer to get her through college because she can't afford to live on campus and take care of her child. In other cases, some may choose to take online courses just because they are too lazy to get up and get ready for classes because they can finish their assignments whenever they choose. This is where this question comes in again: Are we too dependent on computers?

The production of personal computers began in the late 1970's and since then children and adults have taken advantage of their unique qualities in order to achieve what they wanted. Computers have affected the lives of students and workers by making it more convenient to save information they believe is important to them. Microsoft Office Documents can be saved in an orderly fashion so that they are able to find the documents they need at a later time. Music is easier to because people no longer have to flip through radio stations in order to hear what the songs that they want. They could just type in the name of the song or the genre of music that they like and continue to choose from there. That process can also be taken advantage of when people, especially teenagers, illegally download songs or videos onto their computer. This act is very common but there is not much that is being done about it. Some colleges know about students downloading music illegally and have set warnings against it as a way to lessen the percentage of students doing it. Downloading music through a computer is not only illegal but its stealing money away from the artist that spent their well earned money making the CD. An artist's music can be spread through a social network online for a cheaper price such as MySpace and YouTube. Members can communicate with each other about their opinions on the artist’s album or on other matters. Pictures and videos can be shared throughout the website for others to see but the owners of the websites always tell you to not post anything that is personal to that user. They tell the users to keep personal information to themselves because they that information can be seen by many other people they don't even know. This is a problem that relates around younger kids who release personal information about themselves online without thinking of who could be out there watching. They could come across someone that they meet online and begin talking with them and sharing their information. There are times when computers go from being a useful tool into a toy that is unsafe. Have computers been something that society as a whole become dependent on or just selected groups such as students or people either looking for jobs or currently employed? When does their come a time when there is too much computer usage by an individual? Some may say that the meaning of face-to-face communication is very low right now because there is no need to even see the person when you can easily find out all the information you could ever want to know about that person through a website on your computer screen.

WORK CITED

Squiddo, LLC and respective copyright owners, 2010. Web. November 30, 2010. http://www.squidoo.com/influence-of-media-on-children.

Legit Online Jobs, 2010. Web. November 30, 2010. Http://www.legitonlinejobs.com/

YouTube, LLC, 2010. Web. November 30, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDc05MpfpQ4

YouTube, LLC, 2010. Web. November 30, 2010. http://youtube.com/watch?v=B6y7d5Es-tQ

YouTube, LLC, 2010. Web. November 30, 2010. http://youtube.com/watch?v=vN-cAsvzsh0

Microsoft, 2010. Web. December 1, 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/protect/parents/social/predators.aspx.

Conde’ Nast digital, 2010. Web. December 1, 2010. http://arstechnia.com/media/news/2010/obvious-report-on-increased-media-use-among-kids-is-obvious.ars