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samscomposition-blog · 6 years

Text

Final Porfolio

Jack Sams

Professor Jones

Composition 1

April 30, 2018

Final Portfolio

Reflection

When I signed up for composition 1 I knew it was going to be difficult, but I needed it to graduate. At the start of the semester I felt that the class was going well, once we started to get into the semester a little bit it got harder and harder for me because of the essays. Essays have always been a struggle for me but after the first paper I got a hang of the class rubric and essays got easier. I exceeded my expectations for this class, I wanted to get better at essays, grammar, and punctuation because I felt those were my biggest weaknesses. Now that the semester is nearly over I think I got better at essays especially because I got a lot of practice this year writing essays and practice I thought was the best way to get better. I also learned a lot from the “Brief but Spectacular Take” assignment because I didn't know how to make a movie, and it was a struggle, but I pushed through it and learned how to create a good video on my topic. Overall, I feel that I learned a lot this semester from essays and grammar to videos and communication skills.

I struggled with the rhetorical knowledge category because before this class I wouldn't think about the audience, I would just think about myself. After taking Composition, I learned about rhetorical knowledge and what it takes to get a good grade in this category. My essays towards the end of the year got better because I thought of the audience and how my topic relates to them. This helped the audience stay alert about my topic because it related to their lives. In my position paper I decided to do the legalization of marijuana because I feel that everyone in the class have encountered or seen marijuana. This helped me a lot because knowing that the audience knows a little bit of the background of this drug is good, so I could get right to the facts and statistics that support the legalization of marijuana. So, at the end of the semester I thought that I grew a lot and met the rhetorical knowledge category because I learned to get my audience involved to keep them engaged. I did this by telling the audience how marijuana affects their lives and why it is present in America today. In my position paper I had one stance on the legalization of marijuana and wanted to persuade the audience to join my side. I used facts, statistics, and knowledge to help persuade the audience. The purpose of my position paper was to persuade, and I used good rhetorical choices to support my side of the debate and to help persuade. When I started the class, I struggled with how to persuade and inform the audience because I didn't use good supporting material or rhetorical devices to help persuade or inform. Once I learned about rhetorical devices and how they help support your topic, I found that thinking of the audience was the best way to decide how to appeal to the audience. I used different appeals to signify the material in my essay.

Reading to this day is my worst subject, I haven't been good at reading ever since I started. I didn't read a lot when I was young, so I didn't get much practice with reading and I have been behind my whole life. Even after this class I feel that I didn't gain much knowledge in reading because we didn't have to read to many books or articles, which I was very happy about because it's not my strongest point. I don't struggle trying to find the purpose of an article or essay because I can analyze the text and decide what the purpose of the paper is. I do this by looking at the language they use and how they present it. If there is a lot of opinions and a lot of evidence for one side of a topic then I know its persuasive. If both sides are presented equally I know that it is informative because their informing the audience on both sides and letting them decide their side based on the facts and information given to them. When I did my position paper I knew that the audience would have different sides on the topic, so I tried to inform them on both sides while still trying to persuade the audience to join my side. I connected other people's ideas and beliefs and added them to my paper to get a variety of sides on the position. I then related my own ideas to others to connect and decide the good effects of marijuana and the bad, even though that is not my side. Overall, I think I struggled with the critical thinking/reading category because that was not my strong suit. After a couple weeks I got the hand of the rubric and tried reading more during downtimes, which I believe helped immensely.

Back in high school I didn't do rough drafts or use the writing process. I think that is one of the reasons I was not very good at writing essays because I didn't write multiple drafts to get feedback from classmates and teachers. After I learned that we had to do drafts and revisions for classmates I was nervous and mad because I didn't think that doing this would help, but little do I know, it did. I figured out that drafts helped me in writing an essay because I caught a lot more of grammar and punctuation errors, which overall boosted up my grades. Doing revisions, I thought was a great thing to do, I don't mind revising other papers because I know how much they will benefit from my revisions. For my position paper me and a classmate switched papers and we revised them, this helped a lot because I had a lot of easy errors that were easy to fix but also had some formation and grammar errors that took a little longer but overall this really helped my essay get a better grade. When I critique others papers I read it backwards first to try and get all grammar errors out of the paper. Next, I read it forward and look for punctuation and sentence structure and change them if needed. This process is time consuming, but this is the process I use on my own papers to try and make as least amounts of errors as possible. Researching for my position paper on marijuana was simple because there were so many articles on this topic. I looked through websites to try and find other people’s opinion on marijuana and connected them to my paper and related the information to my side.

I struggled with the academic writing conventions category because I’m still struggling with punctuation and when or when to not use commas. Joining the academic conversation on my position paper helped me get out the information I wanted to display to the audience. Joining the academic conversation is when you add your opinion to the debatable topic and connect it with other opinions to strengthen your side of the topic. To me, structure, style, grammar, mechanics, and format are very important to an essay because it shows the audience that you know what you’re talking about and reviewed it to present or turn in. I think I did well on these because I’ve always said that grammar, punctuation, and format are the most important part to an essay. I took the most time doing drafts and revisions to make sure I made as least errors as possible. Primary and secondary sources are also very important to the process of writing an essay because you can use sources to get professional facts on a topic. Primary sources provide direct and firsthand evidence about a topic. Secondary sources are any account of something that is not a primary source. Using primary sources is the most effective way because you can research professional opinions on your topic and the information might mean more to the audience if you get a professional. Using secondary sources are also very effective because newspapers, articles, and published research have a lot of good facts and statistics to help support your topic.

Throughout the whole semester I learned a lot about writing, reading, and research because of how much practice we got in and out of class. I knew I would struggle with this class at the start of the semester because reading/writing is my worst subject in school. I knew I would have to study and work nearly every day for this class, but I challenged myself and took the class. At the end of the semester I’m very glad I took this class, even though it was a lot of work and time, I believe I got a lot of good information on how to use the rhetorical knowledge category, critical thinking/reading category, the writing/research category, and the academic writing category. Overall, I believe I grew a lot during this semester and I also learned a lot. Knowing how much this class helped me with overall reading and writing really gives me confidence to go on to Composition 2 next year.

Red= Revisions

Position Paper

Marijuana Legalization

The debate of recreational marijuana has been going on for decades with multiple different views towards the use of the drug. The United States has been debating the legalization of marijuana, but states have taken their own position on marijuana use and have legalized it. Marijuana is a drug that has not had any fatalities from its effects. With more than the majority of citizens in the United States agreeing that Marijuana should be legalized, I'll take their side and say that marijuana should be legalized. There are many reasons I believe that cannabis should be legalized, but the effects of marijuana, health benefits, how it's a safer alternative, and how low risk cannabis users are filling our prisons are the main reasons I believe it should be legalized.

The first reason marijuana should be legalized is that there are many effects to smoking marijuana, most of them are harmless and enjoyable. Obviously, putting smoke into your lungs is not very good for a human but marijuana is the most harmless smoke that you can put into your lungs. According to Renee Jacques, “Around 40% of Americans have agreed that they have tried marijuana once in their life”. This is evidence that Americans are more in favor of legalizing marijuana, rather than keeping it illegal. Most drugs are very addictive, but marijuana is less addictive than coffee which is a plus to the drug because addictive drugs can control your life and that is not what you want.

Another reason is marijuana is a much safer alternative than other legalized drugs. Other drugs like tobacco, cocaine, and alcohol are harmful to your body and other people around you. There have been more deaths from these drugs than marijuana, yet some of these harmful drugs are still legalized. Marijuana legalization would help people with addiction to other drugs because this can be a safer alternative to the other deadly drugs. An avid marijuana user is in less harm than a user of alcohol or tobacco. There are still many people that smoke cigarettes but now with the data gathered we can conclude that marijuana is better for you than cigarettes. There are around 480,000 deaths a year from tobacco and 0 deaths from marijuana, but which one is legal? The more harmful one which is baffling and needs to be changed. Marijuana should be legalized, and cigarettes should be diminished. People smoke cigarettes instead of cannabis because they believe that cannabis is a gateway drug, but it’s not! Studies show that cannabis does not lead you to do other drugs, but people who drink and smoke tobacco tend to go onto harder drugs, because they aren't getting the powerful effects they want.

People smoke marijuana for pain relief, stress relief, or just for getting a high. One of the biggest reasons that I believe marijuana should be legal is because it helps and cures people that need it for medicinal reasons. Marijuana is a known cure for epilepsy, according to Kyle Muckian “Several lines of evidence now suggest that cannabinoid compounds are anticonvulsant and empirical evidence in many children is establishing conclusive evidence that cannabinoid therapy may be the most effective treatment available for epileptics”. People with epilepsy should not be suffering and should be given cannabinoid therapy to help their problems. If it's not legalized, then these people will not get the treatment needed for their condition. This is just one example of a condition that marijuana can cure, others like cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and attention deficit also can be cured with cannabinoid therapy. People always wonder how cannabis helps cure cancer, well the answer is that is kills cancer cells, and inhibit tumor growth. This could be a huge discovery because we are still unable to find a full cure for cancer but cannabis can help the side effects of cancer and make the person feel more comfortable.

The final reason is criminals that got caught with marijuana are filling our jails with low risk criminals. According to Christopher Ingraham “There were 2.3 million prisoners in the U.S as of the 2010 census”. Most of the criminals in jail are cannabis users and dealers but if marijuana was legalized then it would make room for the deadlier criminals convicted of murder, rape, and other nasty crimes. Cannabis users are harmless and shouldn't be in jail with all those other deadly criminals. Christopher Ingraham also stated that “we have slightly more jails and prisons in the U.S. -- 5,000 plus -- than we do degree-granting colleges and universities”. This is shocking to me because our jails and prisons are filled with some of the wrong people and we must pay taxes for all of the prisons that have to be built for cannabis users who are not harming anyone. We should make more room for the deadly criminals, so we don't have to get taxed on building prisons when we should be building schools and other significant buildings.

In conclusion, marijuana is not as harmful as some may think because of the negative stereotype towards cannabis. Marijuana is getting legalized in some states, they know enough about this plant that they learned it’s not as bad as people say it is. The United States is still debating on whether to legalize it fully in our country but because of the health benefits, the effects of marijuana, how it's a safer alternative, and how cannabis users are filling up our jails I hope they finally put the puzzle together and legalize marijuana.

Works Cited

“This is why Marijuana should be Legal”, The Huffington Post, December 07, 2017, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/marijuana-legalization_n_4151423.html

“5 Common Illnesses You Didn't Know Marijuana Cured”, HERB, March 22, 2018, https://herb.co/marijuana/news/5-common-illnesses-didnt-know-marijuana-can-cure

“Doctors for Cannabis Regulation”, DOCTORS FOR CANNABIS REGULATION, May 1, 2018, https://dfcr.org/?gclid=Cjw

“Marijuana Legalization and Regulation”, Drug Policy Alliance, http://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/marijuana-legalization-and-regulation

“The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research”, National Academies Press, https://www.nap.edu/read/24625/chapter/1

Narrative Essay

The Life of a Snowboarder

When I was sixteen years old I went to Vail Colorado with my friend Austin and his family. I have been on many trips with them to many different snowboard areas around the US. We have taken snowboard trips to Northstar, California, Keystone, Colorado, Breckenridge, Colorado and Bear Mountain. My trip to Vail was a very exciting trip and was a blast until my friend Austin did something that he never should of.

Twas the night before our plane leaves to the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains and I couldn't sleep from the excitement. Our plane was set to leave at 6 am in the morning, so we had to get up around 3:30 to make sure we make the plane on time. I slept at Austin's house because my parents didn't want to have to wake up and give me a ride to his house that early in the morning. I woke up a little late but all I had to do was shower so we got out of the house on time. The security line at the airport was a little long due to the fact that it was spring break, but everything went pretty smoothly, and we got on our way to Colorado on time! Once we landed at the airport in Reno, Colorado we had a three-hour drive through the mountains to get to Vail. Usually I don't like long drives, but this ride was very scenic and enjoyable to look out the window. We got there around 5 o'clock that night and decided to sit in the hot tub and cook some chicken wings in the hotel to prepare ourselves for the long day of snowboarding we had ahead of us.

The next day was our first day of snowboarding and I couldn't have been more excited, I have heard so many good things about Vail and their runs. We started off by going to the terrain park which is what Austin and I like to do most. Terrain parks consist of jumps, rails, and boxes and is said to be the most dangerous way to snowboard because of the features involved. We had a blast the first day but spent twenty dollars on chicken strips and fries at the chalet which I remember vividly because of how mad my mom got at me for spending that much on food. Overall, I would say the first day of snowboarding was a success. Once we left the mountain to go back to our hotel I remember looking at my phone for the weather and it said that Vail was supposed to get nearly a foot of snow the next day. This was great news for Austin and I because that meant fresh powder when we go the following morning.

The first night in the hotel was good but I couldn't sleep again because I was almost just as excited for all the snow to come then I was to come to the resort. The next morning, I woke up to a winter wonderland and this was so exciting because we had a day of powdery tree runs ahead of us. Austin and I decided to bring out our go pros, which are light waterproof portable cameras, for the day to record each other on the terrain parks. I also used my go pro in the tree runs when I attached the camera to my helmet. Austin and I love recording each other because when we get back to the hotel we can watch them on the tv. The first couple hours of snowboarding were one of the best times of my life, but once we were done in the tree runs we went to the terrain park and that's where the day turned bad.

Austin and I were having a blast and the conditions were above prime with a thick layer of fresh snow covering the base. We were trying new tricks back and forth because we were thinking that we wouldn't get this chance again. After recording each other for a couple hours, Austin decided that he would try a double cork, which is two back flips and a 720-spin combined. I was on the lip of the jump recording and remember thinking in my head when he was approaching the jump that this was not a good idea, this trick is too hard for his skills. As he approached the jump you could see that he didn't look to have enough speed to clear the landing. When he went of the jump he lost all his speed from carving to hard into the snow and he got the first flip around nicely but then he started to open up and his rotation was slowing down. He didn't get enough spin and landed right on his back on the lip of the landing. I shut off the camera quickly and went down to him to make sure he's fine. He was laying on the ground in pain when I first got to him and asked if I should go get ski patrol, he responded with a confident no, but I knew Austin very well and knew something was wrong and I went to tell the ski patrol. I remember feeling very nervous for my friend because I saw him hit his head pretty good and I knew that he had other previous head injuries.

The ski patrol arrived on the hill and put Austin in the ski patrol sled, I grabbed his snowboard and slowly rode down with Austin and the ski patrol. Once we got to the bottom of the hill I called his dad Jeff to inform him about what happened, and he was not very happy at Austin because they told him not to try anything stupid because of his head. His parents met us at the ski patrol building and we got the news that Austin got a major concussion and he would not be able to snowboard for the rest of the week. This news was sad because I couldn't snowboard with him for the rest of the week, but I was also very happy that he would be okay.

The rest of the week was more boring than the first two days, I went out snowboarding for two more days by myself and just listened to music. I usually don't mind this at my home mountain in Minnesota, but when you’re in Colorado it’s more fun to snowboard with people, so you have someone to talk to. Austin was unable to stay in light rooms because it would irritate him and make him feel nauseous, he just stayed in the hotel in his room, doing nothing but laying there. At the end of the week, Austin's parents called a doctor to come and make sure Austin would be okay to fly home the next day. The doctor came that night and did tests on Austin to see his progress, he said that he can fly home but try to keep resting. That night we packed everything up and me and Jeff went down to the hot tub before dinner later that night. We had very good crepes and I remember it being the best dinner from that whole trip. The next morning at around 8 o'clock in the morning we got in our rental car and made our way back to the Reno airport. Once we got to the airport we had to go through the security again, but it went good and we got on the plane quickly with no terrible side effects with Austin’s injury. The plane ride went pretty quick because I was so tired and pretty much slept the whole way. Once we got back in Minnesota, it felt good to be back and I was glad to be back home. Jeff dropped off Austin and his mom at their house, then he drove me back to my house. On the ride to my house I remember Jeff going off on Austin on how he shouldn't have done that and I was just laughing because he has hurt himself before and made the trip end early before. I got back to my house and unpacked all my clothes and fell asleep very early because I had school the next day. Overall this trip was a great time because of the prime conditions and mountain, even though it ended early for Austin I think we both had a great time and I can't wait to go back again soon.

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