Essay topics
The topic I have chosen for my first major essay is why we should have more public transportation in the city of Houston, as well as what would happen if we did.
My research question is one of two questions. One, “Why isn’t there already more public transportation options in the city of Houston?” and two, “What public transportation does the city of Houston already have in place that either not many people know about or that most don’t take advantage of?”. The reason I picked possibly both of these is that there could be public transportation out there already and a sufficient amount however nobody knows about it, if that were the case then my argument would change to why doesn’t everyone know about the options of public transportation and carpooling.
This topic of public transportation hits a home with me. This is because last semester I actually was sharing a car with my brother and so I would carpool with my dad and whoever out of the two of us had to go home first would take the bus home. Not only was this a hassle because sometimes you would be waiting for up to 30 min at the bus station for a bus to come by but then when it did then it would be at least a 45 min bus ride, not to mention that sometimes there weren’t enough seats on the bus. Now I understand that me saying that there weren’t enough seats on the bus means that people ride the bus but I think that its quite the opposite, it means that there aren’t enough busses mostly because there is still traffic.
Some of my ideas consist of educating the reader on why this is a problem to begin with, what are some options that we could follow to sometime in the future have a better public transportation system, and relate some of the points of my argument to some personal anecdotes to try and relate the reader to my side of the argument.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Glee
First hearing about Glee it reminded me about the movie trilogy High School Musical, with it being part musical and all. This was a movie that I didn’t necessarily like I was a bit pessimistic about having to watch this in the first place. Throughout the episode it kind of drifted in and out between all the other normal ‘reality’ Disney high school based shows and something completely new. On one hand there were the typical types of people you would see in one of the other shows such as Degrassi or even Saved by the Bell. And then there were parts that persuaded me the other way like whenever they started to go into musical mode, it didn’t remind me at all of anything I had seen on a television show.
So during this episode I was wrestling with myself on whether or not Glee was doing something brand new with the whole musical thing or if they were just doing the same old thing just in a different way. While Glee did take a new approach to the old story of high school drama and making it funny there just wasn’t enough differentiation between this ‘new’ type of high school drama story and the older type. This show is paving the way for some different ideas though. It might not be the first television show to break that new ground on a different type of show but it has definitely shown us that there are other options rather than just the normal drama-comedy show.
I think that Glee is an interesting show but in the end it is just bringing back the same old character stereotypes as in the other high school drama-comedy shows, just with a new way to present it. You still have the same old type of characters such as the jocks, the popular crowd, the mean teachers etc. which was just too much of a shared characteristic with all the other types of shows to not pay attention to.
First hearing about Glee it reminded me about the movie trilogy High School Musical, with it being part musical and all. This was a movie that I didn’t necessarily like I was a bit pessimistic about having to watch this in the first place. Throughout the episode it kind of drifted in and out between all the other normal ‘reality’ Disney high school based shows and something completely new. On one hand there were the typical types of people you would see in one of the other shows such as Degrassi or even Saved by the Bell. And then there were parts that persuaded me the other way like whenever they started to go into musical mode, it didn’t remind me at all of anything I had seen on a television show.
So during this episode I was wrestling with myself on whether or not Glee was doing something brand new with the whole musical thing or if they were just doing the same old thing just in a different way. While Glee did take a new approach to the old story of high school drama and making it funny there just wasn’t enough differentiation between this ‘new’ type of high school drama story and the older type. This show is paving the way for some different ideas though. It might not be the first television show to break that new ground on a different type of show but it has definitely shown us that there are other options rather than just the normal drama-comedy show.
I think that Glee is an interesting show but in the end it is just bringing back the same old character stereotypes as in the other high school drama-comedy shows, just with a new way to present it. You still have the same old type of characters such as the jocks, the popular crowd, the mean teachers etc. which was just too much of a shared characteristic with all the other types of shows to not pay attention to.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Believer, doubter job response
Believer
Whenever Mr. Rowe says that , “Not all knowledge comes from college. Skill is back in demand”, he is right. There are many opportunities for someone who didn’t get a college education. Examples are given such as a physical therapist and power plant operators, jobs not listed such as a real estate agent are other options that don’t require a college degree. As well as both of the mentioned jobs earning over the average American income of $42,000 a year with physical therapists at $74k and plant operators at $58k. Even though these jobs aren’t without some kind of training, that training comes at a much easier price than college. Not only are there other opportunities for non college educated people such as specialty skills but there is also the option of entrepreneurship, where you start your own business. The story of Keegan Abendschoen is a perfect example of starting your own business without having a college education, and not only starting your own business but maintaining it and making it grow. In the end a specialty skill or your own business in the world today is something that can compete with a college education and are respected options as well.
Doubter
Throughout this while story there is only one thing that keeps crossing my mind, if you had a college education you would far surpass the income of someone who doesn’t. This point has been proven in many studies that a person with a college degree makes significantly more than someone who only has a high school education under their belt. Also, with the way you are able to get money for college these days there are many options for someone to choose from who can’t afford college. So there isn’t an excuse for someone who says that they can’t go to college, there are only the people who don’t think that they can go. Not only does having a college education get you a job that pays more money but there is also the security of you knowing that you will have a job and that you will be picked over the other person who doesn’t have a college education whenever it comes down to it. Another subject, the point of entrepreneurship, there are so many small starting business’s that fail each year. Small restaurants, real estate agencies, and landscaping companies are just a few from the many types of small businesses started by entrepreneurs who don’t have a college education and failed. So that option is definitely not open to everyone. Overall, there is no way that a special skill trained job can compare to that of someone who has a college education.
Whenever Mr. Rowe says that , “Not all knowledge comes from college. Skill is back in demand”, he is right. There are many opportunities for someone who didn’t get a college education. Examples are given such as a physical therapist and power plant operators, jobs not listed such as a real estate agent are other options that don’t require a college degree. As well as both of the mentioned jobs earning over the average American income of $42,000 a year with physical therapists at $74k and plant operators at $58k. Even though these jobs aren’t without some kind of training, that training comes at a much easier price than college. Not only are there other opportunities for non college educated people such as specialty skills but there is also the option of entrepreneurship, where you start your own business. The story of Keegan Abendschoen is a perfect example of starting your own business without having a college education, and not only starting your own business but maintaining it and making it grow. In the end a specialty skill or your own business in the world today is something that can compete with a college education and are respected options as well.
Doubter
Throughout this while story there is only one thing that keeps crossing my mind, if you had a college education you would far surpass the income of someone who doesn’t. This point has been proven in many studies that a person with a college degree makes significantly more than someone who only has a high school education under their belt. Also, with the way you are able to get money for college these days there are many options for someone to choose from who can’t afford college. So there isn’t an excuse for someone who says that they can’t go to college, there are only the people who don’t think that they can go. Not only does having a college education get you a job that pays more money but there is also the security of you knowing that you will have a job and that you will be picked over the other person who doesn’t have a college education whenever it comes down to it. Another subject, the point of entrepreneurship, there are so many small starting business’s that fail each year. Small restaurants, real estate agencies, and landscaping companies are just a few from the many types of small businesses started by entrepreneurs who don’t have a college education and failed. So that option is definitely not open to everyone. Overall, there is no way that a special skill trained job can compare to that of someone who has a college education.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Orientation short essay response
Orientation Short Essay Response
The short story, the Orientation, makes many arguments. All of them are implicit none of them just come out and tell you what the author is trying to argue. It seems as if Daniel Orozco sums up every type of person in America in this office building. You have everyone from the serial killer to the overly nice person to the possessed person. After reading the story it makes it hard to believe that he is just talking about and office building and its employees. I don’t think that a company would hire a serial killer or a possessed person. It makes you think that he is trying to relate this office building to something else, say the United States of America.
He makes it seem that everyone has a dark side to them or something that you don’t know about like a hidden secret. For example, “Kevin Howard…He is a serial killer, the one they call the carpet cutter, responsible for the mutilations across town”. Not only is that a big secret that he is a serial killer, but if he had been a serial killer he wouldn’t be in an office working. He would be in jail. This implies that Kevin doesn’t really work there and that he is a metaphor for other people in the world. As well as Gwendolyn Stich, how on the outside it is said, “…she will always give you a hand, or the shirt off her back, or a shoulder to cry on.” But then telling about how she has been found crying in the stairway or vomiting in the bathrooms. This is saying that nobody is that perfect and that everyone must have some kind of flaw.
As I was reading this I was at first confused about what was going on in the story. Things started to catch my attention such as why a serial killer was working in an office building and why they would hire a possessed woman. Things like how there are so many “love triangles” in this office building. Then I realized that everything meant something else. Whenever I realized that everything started to make sense. I didn’t think of it as there were love affairs going on in the office building but rather that there were love affairs happening all over America. So instead of trying to make sense of everything in its given setting I tried to thing about how it affected everyone.
The short story, the Orientation, makes many arguments. All of them are implicit none of them just come out and tell you what the author is trying to argue. It seems as if Daniel Orozco sums up every type of person in America in this office building. You have everyone from the serial killer to the overly nice person to the possessed person. After reading the story it makes it hard to believe that he is just talking about and office building and its employees. I don’t think that a company would hire a serial killer or a possessed person. It makes you think that he is trying to relate this office building to something else, say the United States of America.
He makes it seem that everyone has a dark side to them or something that you don’t know about like a hidden secret. For example, “Kevin Howard…He is a serial killer, the one they call the carpet cutter, responsible for the mutilations across town”. Not only is that a big secret that he is a serial killer, but if he had been a serial killer he wouldn’t be in an office working. He would be in jail. This implies that Kevin doesn’t really work there and that he is a metaphor for other people in the world. As well as Gwendolyn Stich, how on the outside it is said, “…she will always give you a hand, or the shirt off her back, or a shoulder to cry on.” But then telling about how she has been found crying in the stairway or vomiting in the bathrooms. This is saying that nobody is that perfect and that everyone must have some kind of flaw.
As I was reading this I was at first confused about what was going on in the story. Things started to catch my attention such as why a serial killer was working in an office building and why they would hire a possessed woman. Things like how there are so many “love triangles” in this office building. Then I realized that everything meant something else. Whenever I realized that everything started to make sense. I didn’t think of it as there were love affairs going on in the office building but rather that there were love affairs happening all over America. So instead of trying to make sense of everything in its given setting I tried to thing about how it affected everyone.
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