Out of all three of the papers that I am including in my portfolio the one I believe needs the most editing is my research essay. I am doing my research paper on The Cosby Show, and I was definite I wanted to base it on family, but now I am having second thoughts on it. I believe The Cosby Show is still a good show to base my essay on, but I'm not exactly sure on what my main point is anymore. After talking to Rachel for conference I figured out that social class was also related to this show, but what specifically social class has to do with it, I have to figured that out. I believe that after a lot of more research dealing with this new aspect I will be able to make a clearer thesis, and make my point. The other two need work as well, but the feedback I've been getting back is really helpful. Thank you team for correcting my essays, I really appreciate it. The other essay that also needs more work is the McCandless one because research is needed. The essay on the epigraphs is my strongest essay so far, yet it still needs to be edited. Overall, I know these three essays can be very clear, and strong in content.

Why is it that I seem to be forgetting to post blogs up lately? Is it cause of stress, or problems that I'm having right now? Well I don't like it! It stresses me more that I keep on forgetting only 3 weeks left in school. It's not worth slacking off now. Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. Back to Into The Wild.
I have to say this is one of the most recent books I have read fully in a long while. I found this book very interesting, and actually wanted to read it for the most part. It's really hard to try to guess what McCandless would've done if he had survived because he didn't do what was expected of him, he kind of just went and did whatever he felt like doing at that moment.
I believe he would have enjoyed his adventure and then have gone back to the city and get his own place to live. After that we would have gotten a job, and have called his parents. According to Krakauer's evidence McCandless was going to leave Alaska and go back to the city. I think he had enough time to reflect on his actions and figured out he needed to forgive his dad, and continue life. It's hard to tell that's what he was going to do for sure, but according to the evidence that's what seems more likely of him to do.

Since I'm writing my research paper on The Cosby Show, my primary source is going to be a The Cosby Show episode. The episode I am going to use as my primary source come from the first season, it's called "Goodbye Mr. Fish". This episode has to deal with an average American's lifestyle. It shows how an everyday Father deals with work, and his family on an everyday basis. Although Cosby comes home really tired, he still has time for his kids and wife. With this episode I am demonstrating that African American families are just like any regular (White) American family and how there are some misconceptions on African American families. A family always has time for their children and cares about the little things, for example the death of a pet fish. It wasn't always easy for the success of a colored person to be acceptable, yet The Cosby Show is a show of two successful well educated individuals raising a family where they deal with just about any problem any family deals with, and raising their family as best they can. As students in the 21st century we need to be able to identify a family not by color of skin, but on what a family consists of. This show was the first of its kind to be on the air around this time period. No other African American had his own show that dealt with family, nor was it popular. The Cosby Show even know still runs its episodes on Nick at Nite, and it allowed other colored people to be successful on television, acting, and much more.

"What is your topic for the research paper? How does this topic currently impact American culture (or another country, if that's where you're going with this)? How is your book/show/movie different from all of the other books/shows/movies out there like it? How is it unique? What specific cultural issue will you be addressing in your research essay and why is it relevant TODAY?"

At first I wasn't sure what to write about but after a lot of thinking I finally came up with a good one. I wanted to write my research paper on the George Lopez Show, but since that's too recent I decided to step it down a notch and do The Cosby Show. I decided to write it on The Cosby Show because it really impacted the view of colored people and American family in the American society. The view of an American family would be based on color, and since the Cosby Show they have allowed colored people to also be included in that term. The Cosby Show was the first of its kind. It aspired other shows to take place such as Family Matters and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Also later opened family shows for other ethnicities such as Mexican- Americans, like the George Lopez Show. It's uniqueness is that it was the first African American show that was an eponymous, meaning the name of the person is used for the name of the show. I will be addressing the fact that this show allowed for the success of African Americans in Television shows and have allowed singers and actors to succeed in today's world.

Essay Rating

I was surprised as to how some essays seem deceiving. We always seem to want to give more credit for the effort of the author rather than for the work itself. It's difficult to tell someone their essay sucks, and therefore we pin point the good things about their essay first.
I want to rate my most recentest essay, which essay number four, the personal analysis essay. Probably the most difficult part of this essay was choosing a person you could relate to and figuring out the argument of this essay. I finally decided to write a paper on Michael Jackson. Researching him was actually pretty interesting, there wasn't one point where I felt bored writing about him. My purpose for this essay was to tell people that the songs Michael Jackson writes and his personal life are two different things. You have to admit most of his songs are awesome, no matter what.
I felt pretty strong about this essay, but after reading it and re-reading it I came to the conclusion that it is more than likely rated a medium-medium. In between a medium-low and a medium-high. According to the rubric Rachel gave us, I feel like I have a strong argument, and thesis statement. For some reason though, halfway through my essay or near the end I feel like my argument isn't as strong anymore. I also need to cite more, and find more sources as examples.
By the time my portfolio is due I plan to have more credible sources included in my essays and having a clear idea. I am going to re-arrange some paragraphs and add more to the essay itself that way it's more flows more.

"In light of Krakauer's self-expression, do you find his recount of Chris' story more or less credible? Explain your answer."

"In light of Krakauer's sel-expression, do you find his recount of Chris' story more or less credible? Explain your answer?



I don't really understand what the question is asking, but I do believe Krakauer made Chris' story more credible because we understand that he knows what he's talking about. Also we know that their adventures are similar therefor we know that when he assures us that Chris didn't go into the wild wanting to die we believe him. He says he was in a very similar situation, not because he wanted to die, but because he's plans didn't come out as he wanted them to.

Comparison

I think that the comparisons Krakauer makes to other young adventurers helped him in this story. Some people might still not agree with Chris's decisions and I believe this helped readers understand that Chris wasn't crazy. An example of this would be a statement written about Ruess,"Ruess would spend the remainder of his meteoric life on the move, living out of a backpack on very little money, sleeping in the dirt, cheerfully going hungry for days at a time. " This quote helps us understand that even though people believe they're crazy they love/enjoy what they're doing. "Cheerfully going hungry" most people would be frustrated and irritated by the fact that they're starving, but these fellows enjoyed every aspect of their adventure. Therefor these comparisons helped Krakauer in the development of Chris. All of these men followed their heart. They didn't just stay home and conform to society.