Note to Professor Drew:

I was assigned the Sommers & Rutz reading, but when I went to check it out, they told me they did not have it. So, I summarized a chapter from Koll's Rhetorical Grammar instead; I hope that's ok. I worked hard on my assignment, lol.

Community Contribution Reading Assignment

Rhetorical Grammar, Ch. 2: The Basic Sentence Patterns in Prose

In this chapter, they start off by explaining to us that it is not unusual for professional writers to introduce a paragraph topic with a short sentence such as:

• He had been a big success as a soldier.

It tells us that inexperienced writers believer that writing calls for long sentences rather than short ones, and also fancy words rather than plain ones. Both notions are incorrect.

We also learn in this chapter that a topic sentence can also be placed throughout the paragraph, not just at the very beginning; these are called internal topic sentences, which can also be placed in the middle or at the end of a paragraph. These internal topic sentences can also be extremely short, they are reffered to as focused sentences which are bound to draw attention from readers.

Chapter 2 also talks about special effects. Special effects are short sentences which fiction writers often use to evoke thoughts and/or feelings, or details. And even though these sentences are short and concise, I personally think that if repeated continuously; the story becomes dull. I prefer varying the lengths of my sentences when writing.

There is also another type of sentence pattern cleverly named the "something is something" pattern; also referred as linking-be sentences and/or categorical propositions (CP's). The term CP is mostly used by logicians and rhetoricians. The chapter shows us three different kinds of CP's (shown below).

1. Chunky Monkey is Ben & Jerry's most delicious flavor.
2. New York City is the largest city in the US.
3. Television is the cause of a great many social problems.

The sentences above all conform to the "something is something" pattern, but only one can be an effective topic sentence. CP's that make the best topic sentences are arguable propositions, meaning it tells the reader to argue or prove the CP's righteousness. Sentence 1 is simply an opinion; a matter of personal taste. Sentence 2 is a fact; facts tend to be weak paragraph openers, they give no clue as to their purpose. Sentence 3 is also an opinion, but one that is open to debate, meaning it is an arguable proposition.

The chapter also talks about short paragraphs opposed to long ones. Short paragraphs would automatically grab the reader's attention. Just like short sentences grabs a reader's attention in a paragraph of long sentences, a short paragraph is bound to do the same. Here's an example of a short paragraph:

• The woods were restless as birds.

I know, I can't believe it's a paragraph either, but it is. They are usually meant for the reader to pay attention.

This is my concluding paragraph for this chapter summary:

The end.

Slideshow of Historical Figure in Media.
Theme: Britney Spears

This is a collection of images that tells a story based on a historical figure in the media. I decided to choose Britney Spears, because she has been showing up a lot lately, and she has been causing quite a buzz. Britney Spears is known for generating a ton of controversy, from her start as a young and innocent teen pop tart to her transition as a powerful sex symbol.

The idea that I would like to propose is for us to write a song. The song can be talking about whatever the writer decides it should be, or it can also tell a story.
This idea will require our knowledge of proper english grammar, and it also requires creativity. This project will further enhance our way of writing, providing we use a poetic style of writing. The way we will go on about writing the songs depends entirely on the class; we can write the songs independently or we can form groups, and write them in that manner. This project will be executed by each student presenting their song to the class, that can be done with a verbal presentation; telling the class about the song, what was their inspiration etc. To be generous, I think extra points should be awarded to those students brave enough to sing their song for the class.

I think I should update my blog with posts that... well, aren't assigned, lol!

Lately I've been watching this show called "The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll," something like that. The show's about these girls competing to join this band called the Pussycat Dolls; I'm pretty sure everyone out there has heard of them. Well, the girls on the show are freaking hot as hell; ya'll should tune in. Just thought I'd share.

I remember telling Professor Drew that the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" talks a lot about what we have been covering; with the unit on global warming that is. I was very surprised when he said he has never heard of the movie, or that he has never seen it. "The Day After Tomorrow" was a pretty big movie; I assumed that he had at the least heard about it. So I have decided to post a couple trailers of the movie on my blog and another video that I also found on YouTube showing the effects of global warming in the movie.


1. Effects of Global Warming; clips from "The Day After Tomorrow."



2. "The Day After Tomorrow" Trailers.

Ok, now this article deals with the ways that we can help and prevent global warming.
The article goes on to talk about what is causing the effects of global warming, including what we can do to stop it.

Some examples the article gives are:
1. Reducing electricity usage around the house.
2. Improving vehicle fuel-efficiency.
3. Conserving energy in the home and yard.

The article goes more into detail on these examples.

You can have a look at the article and the ways we can help global warming here.

For this post I thought I'd do something different. I found this video on YouTube talking about global warming, so I thought I'd post it on my blog. The video is a bit long, but it discusses many of the issues that we've talked about. It also uses Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" various times as a major reference.

One thing about the global warming issue that really touches me, and that was also mentioned in Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," is the stranding of polar bears.

I was reading an article on the topic, and the atricle explained to me that polar bears have been dying and it is a possibility that they could become extinct. In previous years polar bears have been known to be quite big and heavy, but the article suggests otherwise; that now polar bears appear to be skinnier. The reason that this is a problem is because polar bears need their body fat to keep them alive; especially when the temperatures drop to below freezing levels.

Because of global warming, glaciers and ice caps have been melting drastically leaving the bears nowhere to go. With just water ahead of them, the bears grow tired, weary, and vulnerable. Having nowhere to rest, the bears eventually drown.

Article Link.

It has definitely been a while since I last posted anything, so I'll go ahead and do what I have to.

I read this article on how global warming is altering the genetic make-up of animals. Basically the article states that animals right now are trying to fight the warming weather conditions that are taking over. The article gives examples of how birds lay their eggs earlier than their supposed to, it also says that frogs are spawning earlier also. The article gives another example of how the life cycle of a tiny species of mosquitos has been affected due to the shift in seasons and the increasing global temperatures.

In my opinion, my definition of stock phrases are not much different from the assigned readings. Stock phrases are common sayings that have little meaning if any; their meaning are not often questioned

This is an example of what I believe to be a commonplace; it's from The Simpsons:

"Don't have a cow!"

Basically, everyone knows it means not to get yourself stressed or worked up.

There's a new movement going on in the world right now, a movement aimed at reversing the effects of global warming throughout the next ten years; this movement is called Global Cool.
Global Cool unlike any other global warming organizations out there is being backed and
supported by celebrities, politicians, musicians, and business leaders across the world.

"Big names including Leonardo Di Caprio, Orlando Bloom, KT Tunstall, Pink, The Killers, Razorlight and Josh Hartnett have thrown their weight behind the worldwide effort to beat climate change."



Global Cool was launched in London and L.A., their goal is to get 1 billion of the population to decrease their carbon emissions by one metric ton for the next decade; this will help to achieve clean and renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, water and hydrogen

Global Cool has launched a gigantic promotion campaign that also includes its own website www.global-cool.com with advice on how to better the global warming issue. The very popular www.MySpace.com has also climbed aboard the Global Cool bandwagon to send the message out to millions of its subscribers.

You can have a look at the complete article that talks more about how to reduce you CO2 emissions to better the planet of global warming by clicking on this hyperlink.

Good & Bad Rhetors

A Good Rhetor:

• Persuades and convinces an audience to believe and comprehend any matter that he deems right, even if it's not ethical.

A Bad Rhetor:

• One who cannot persuade or convince an audience and who cannot express himself properly.