Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Dear all,

Due to some technical problems, Blog activity #2 this week will be canceled. Don't worry about Blog activity #2, but don't forget to work on Blog activity #1.

Miranda

Monday, December 7, 2009

blog activity 2

Dear classmates:
There must be some sentences that you favoured. please make a completely citation about it. Make the reference clear. Just like we used to do on the work cited page..
hope u enjoy it..

Angelina, Evan, Jeff

Activity 1

Blog Activity #1
This goes with what kinds of essays we have been working on. You need to chose one and cannot use the same one TWICE!!! You need to tell us what kind of paragraph these are such as argumentative, compare and contrast, informative, problem-solution, cause-and-effective, or a persuasive paragraph. Also explain in one or sentences why

1.)"Whose life is it, anyway" (Euthania quotation 2004)? Euthanasia is the taking of a person's life and that is wrong even if the person desires to die. Voluntary euthanasia can be defined as the person asking someone to take his/her life. It is a crime to take someone's life. Who has the right to take another person's life? Who should be allowed to state whether a person should die? Who can determine whether taking a person's life is for the benefit of the person who dies? These are questions that should be addressed by both sides of the debate. Many people state they want to die because their pain is so severe or they feel so depressed. However, as long as a person lives the hope of a better tomorrow is always there. Euthanasia is wrong according to the law and even the natural law of the creator.
2.) My hometown and my college town are similar in several ways. First, my hometown, Gridlock, is a small town. It has a population of only about 10,000 people. Located in a rural area, Gridlock is surrounded by many acres of farmland which are devoted mainly to growing corn and soybeans. Gridlock also contains a college campus, Neutron College, which is famous for its Agricultural Economics program as well as for its annual Corn-Watching Festival. As for my college town, Subnormal, it too is small, having a population of about 11,000 local residents, which swells to 15,000 people when students from the nearby college are attending classes. Like Gridlock, Subnormal lies in the center of farmland which is used to raise hogs and cattle. Finally, Subnormal is similar to Gridlock in that it also boasts a beautiful college campus, called Quark College. This college is well known for its Agricultural Engineering department and also for its yearly Hog-Calling Contest.
Even though Arizona and Rhode Island are both states of the U.S., they are strikingly different in many ways. For example, the physical size of each state is different. Arizona is large, having an area of 114,000 square miles, whereas Rhode Island is only about a tenth the size, having an area of only 1,214 square miles. Another difference is in the size of the population of each state. Arizona has about four million people living in it, but Rhode Island has less than one million. The two states also differ in the kinds of natural environments that each has. For example, Arizona is a very dry state, consisting of large desert areas that do not receive much rainfall every year. However, Rhode Island is located in a temperate zone and receives an average of 44 inches of rain per year. In addition, while Arizona is a landlocked state and thus has no seashore, Rhode Island lies on the Atlantic Ocean and does have a significant coastline.

3.) Volcanoes figure prominently in the mythology of many peoples who have learned to live with eruptions, but science was late in recognizing the important roleof volcanism in the evolution of the Earth.One major 18th-century school of thoughtheld that molten rock and volcanoes were simply accidents caused by burning coal seams. Geologists today agree that volcanism is a profound process resultingfrom the thermal evolution of planetary bodies. Heat does not easily escape from large bodies by conduction or radiation. Instead, partial melting and buoyant rise of magma are major contributors to the process of heat flux from the Earth's interior. Volcanoes are the surface manifestation of this thermal process, which has its roots deep inside the Earth and which hurls its ashes high into the atmosphere.
4.) Forests, which are main habitats of terrestrial animals, are being damaged more and more rapidly and execrably to meet the requests of logging, so that a number of animals are facing extinction due to losing habitats. Northeast tiger, living in the northeast part of China and being famous for their fur with extraordinary high commercial value, is one of those unfortunate species, remaining only 360 to 406 wild ones. To solve the problem, I think, the two measures following may work.
First, government can control the amount of logging with policies. Limiting lignum trade by raising tax, demarcating certain areas of logging, and encourage people to plant trees may all be feasible ways. With the guarantee of habitats, the situation of northeast tiger's survival may be ameliorated efficiently.In addition, protecting the other animals in the forests is also an important step. As the balance of the whole ecosystem is related to each element in it, every part cannot be ignored. All the creatures in a certain area build a close circle, food chain, where if one tach breaks, the whole cycle breaks down. Northeast tiger of course is within the food chain and needs the other animals’ support to live. Thus, protecting the other animals is though indirect but essential step that should be taken considering in the long term.
5.) In recent decades, cities have grown so large that now about 50% of the Earth's population lives in urban areas. There are several reasons for this occurrence. First, the increasing industrialization of the nineteenth century resulted in the creation of many factory jobs, which tended to be located in cities. These jobs, with their promise of a better material life, attracted many people from rural areas. Second, there were many schools established to educate the children of the new factory laborers. The promise of a better education persuaded many families to leave farming communities and move to the cities. Finally, as the cities grew, people established places of leisure, entertainment, and culture, such as sports stadiums, theaters, and museums. For many people, these facilities made city life appear more interesting than life on the farm, and therefore drew them away from rural communities.
6.) Fast food gets bad press these days, especially since it often contains too much fat, sodium and calories, but it brings much needed convenience to our stressful busy world. Fast food is easily found and varied. At any mall, for example, customers have many choices at the food court. To avoid too much fat or salt, they can choose healthier options: salads, turkey sandwiches and so on. On a busy Saturday, with two hungry kids, a mother out shopping is happy to find exactly the right food to eat. Not only that, but the food will be ready quickly, thus reducing the stress on her from demanding children. Fast food is also inexpensive; most menu items offer a full meal for under ten dollars. It is easy to see why fast food is so popular these days—it is convenient and reduces our stress.
7.) Today many people are convinced that the elimination of the gray wolf was not only an error, but also a detriment to the quality of life in this country. There has been a public outcry to rectify the situation created by the ignorance of our ancestors. However, in seeking to address a situation created by the human compulsion to control nature, it is crucial to discern how much human interference is necessary. Human control must be tempered by respect and restraint. Programs designed for the protection and restoration of wildlife must reflect deference for the natural order rather than dominance over it.
8.) It seems like every little girl dreams of becoming a model. They want to be thin and pretty like the models they see on television and in magazines. Often the desire becomes an obsession and young girls see “thinness” as being a needed characteristic. For most girls, the teenage years are spent trying to acquire this look. Females are trying diets and are exercising like it is a competition to see who can lose the most weight the quickest. The obsession of many young girls over their appearance or weight has led to a growing number of people who have developed an eating disorder to try to deal with their lack of self-esteem or other related problems.
9.) Alice Walker and Maya Angelou are two contemporary African-American writers.  Although almost a generation apart in age, both women display a remarkable similarity in their lives.  Each has written about her experiences growing up in the rural South, Ms. Walker through her essays and Ms. Angelou in her autobiographies.  Though they share similar backgrounds, each has a unique style which gives to us, the readers, the gift of their exquisite humanity, with all of its frailties and strengths, joys and sorrows.


Sources:
http://www.thepaperexperts.com/argumentativeessays.shtml
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/compcont.html
http://www.xomba.com/volcanoes_an_informative_essay
http://xuejierabbit.blogspot.com/2008/02/problem-solution.html
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/cause.html
http://palc.sd40.bc.ca/palc/teachwrite/2005/fastfood.htm
http://www.rscc.cc.tn.us/owl&writingcenter/cyberspace/CryWolf.html
http://www.rscc.cc.tn.us/owl&writingcenter/OWL/NothingButBones.html
http://www.rscc.cc.tn.us/owl&writingcenter/OWL/Shades.html