EXTRA CREDIT WEEKS 1-11

To keep track of your extra credit, please post on your blog the following: What you did? What you learned? Why others should do the activity?

Week 1: Free Rice

By going to www.freerice.com, it was extremely easy to donate way more than 1000 grains of rice. It's as simple as pie. All you do is read the word and click on its closest synonym, and if you get it right, rice gets donated! After I got 1000 grains of rice by flipping through English words, I went on to do simple math problems and Spanish words. I learned several meanings of words that I didn't know the definition of before. Others need to do this activity because it takes so little effort and it has such a great benefit. It helps hungry people get rice, and it also helps our vocabulary and math skills!

Week 2: Six-word Memoir

My six word memoir was "Relax, take it easy, don't fret". I only wish I could take my own advise. All too often I find my self stressing out for no reason. I think others should do this activity to better understand themselves. In my case this helped show me what I wish I could do, areas I need improvement on. However, for other people I think it may show them how they picture themselves or what they like to do most in their lives.
"Always the last in from recess" That is a six-work memoir someone else published, I think it is awesome

Week 3: StoryCorps

A Summer Job, A Lifelong Romance

This was really easy, I went to npr.com and searched StoryCorps. Walter and Babette met in 1940. Her family owned a summer resort in NY and Walter worked there, that is how they met. They watched the sunset everyday, and walked to the village and had an ice cream sundae. One night he decided to propose to her. She is now 88 and he is 96. They have been married for 67 years. This is amazing to me because they were really young when they met and got engaged, and they are still in love over 67 years later. Others should do this because it is interesting to learn about other's life stories and experiences.

Week 4: The Web of Language

What to name the baby? Forget grandma, hire a consultant

“Nameologists”. Corporations use them, why shouldn't parents? These “nameologists” help parents think of a name to "capture the essence of their latest product" AKA name their baby. I think this is a load of crap. If two people can't even think of a name for a child there is no way they are ready to have one. Coming up with a name can some times be a long grueling process, that I believe takes a high level of maturity. If you aren't mature enough to name your own child no way are you ready to have one. It is amazing to me what people now a days will waste their money on. Buy "the big book of babies names". Others should go to this web site because there are many other interesting articles on it that they can explore.

Week 5: You Tube
Rhetoric For Kids

The purpose of this YouTube video is to alert children of the rhetoric that they already use, as well as to teach them new tactics. I think Greg is really creepy (I think he's on drugs..not good) if I was a kid he would scare me. Quackers and Panda are also pretty creepy, if my puppets talked like that when I was a kid I would cry. Rhetoric is something that makes you want to do something else- AKA change your mind. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are the different ways we can change peoples minds. This is a funny video that I would tell other people to watch because it does teach us something.. in a really dumb-downed sort of way.

Ethos, Pathos, & Logos in Film

What kind of persuasion is used in these film examples?

MIB: Logos- Will Smith uses logic to say why the little girl is dangerous
The Breakfast Club: Pathos- The teacher makes us feel bad for the student
Monty Python: Logos- They attempt to used logic to determine if she is a witch or not
Monsters Inc: Pathos- The scene of the cute little girl makes us well up inside because we know she isn't dangerous
I liked this video much better than the little kids one. I would recommend people to watch this because it is humorous and makes you think at the same time.

Week 6: Do a Good Deed

I volunteer every Monday at the St. Petersburg free clinic. Local grocery stores (Publix for example) donate all of their fresh meat and produce that is about to expire, because the free clinic also has a food bank type thing. On Monday, one of the grocery stores donated a ton of flowers so we could hand them out to the free clinic go-ers in order to brighten their day. As I was leaving, my boss said I could take some of the flowers with me. They were roses which are one of my favorite types of flowers, and I was very excited to have them to brighten up my dorm room! As I was leaving the clinic walking to my car, an elderly woman inside the clinic commented on how beautiful my roses were. I knew that her problems were most likely much worse then mine and she would probably appreciate and enjoy them much more than I would so I said she could have my flowers. At first she seemed confused, and asked if she really could have them. I felt bad because it seemed like she was not nice to someone doing something nice for her. I said of coarse she could have them and left after receiving many thanks from her.

Week 7: Locate three youtube links that deal with your project two area for inquiry. Post these links on your blog.

This activity helped me better understand different topics with in my issue. I was happy to learn several other countries have banned tobacco use in public places. I was sad to learn they are having trouble enforcing the new policies. I am also very glad that many people in the country feel like a smoking ban is a good idea!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl81Pq4aOOo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYo5SgrzKuo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzGU4hpONJw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNMBSwoIGw

Week 8: Contact the Author of the Book You Used for Research for Your Paper

The Book I used was Cigarettes, Nicotine, and Health. The book was written by Lynn T. Kozlowski, Jack E. Henningfield, and Janet Brigham. I emailed Jack E. Henningfield at "innovatorsawards@jhmi.edu ". I was able to find this email address online by discovering he is the director of the National Program of the Office of Innovators Combating Substance Abuse Awards Program. In the email I told him how much I enjoyed reading the book and that it helped me greatly with the research for my paper.

Week 9: Halloween

I dressed up as a cow girl for Halloween. This represents the Misfit in the fiction reading we did earlier in the semester. In my mind the misfit was a cowboy.

Week 10: Vote!!

I am from Michigan and I was originally going to get an absentee ballot but I registered in Pinellas County and tomorrow I will be taking the Eckerd bus to the polls!

Week 11: Submit a piece of your writing to the Eckerd Review. www.eckerd.edu/ecreview.

I submitted my nonfiction, college entry essay, titled "The Struggle". This essay tells a shortened version of my life, dealing especially with the hardships i faced in high school.

Project Three Volunteer Log

Project Three Volunteer Log

Name of Organization:

St. Petersburg Free Clinic

Location of Organization:

863 3^rd Avenue N. St. Petersburg Florida 33701

Volunteer Opportunity:

I was given the opportunity to work with different types of people and feel good about helping people who need it.

Review of Volunteering:

I have volunteered over 30 hours during the duration of the semester. I was given many different opportunities and I learned a lot of myself, and that I should be very thankful for what I have.

What did you do?

I packed orders, interviewed people for Thanksgiving baskets, entered information into the computer, and directed questions at the front desk.

When did you do it?

I have been volunteering at the free clinic all semester for a service learning project for my management and leadership class.

What did you learn?

I learned how to deal with different types of people. I also learned a lot about organization skills.

What are your future plans?

I plan on continuing to help out at the clinic until I move home next semester.

Annotative Bibliography #11

Vogler, Christopher. “The Writer’s Journey and Stories are Alive.” The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.

Now that all twelve stages of the hero’s journey are complete, and Vogler has “looked back” on the story, he has a short three page section explaining different ways to apply the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey and the writer’s journey are in many ways, the same thing. The same steps a hero takes through his journey are the same a writer takes while writing a story. All writers encounter several archetypes. To take it a step further, the heroes journey are the same steps any one takes to become a human being. Vogler also introduces a new type of person, called a “shaman”. This is someone, who sometime during their life, has gone through some life threatening experience, survives this experience, and continues on to write about their experience. The next section of the book is called Stories Are Alive. In this section he is trying to prove that “Stories are alive and conscious and respond to human emotion”. He starts by saying that stories have healing power. He believes this because what a story does is give us an example of human behavior, so we can relate it to our own problems and our own situations. In a sense, it helps us cope with our problems. He also believes that “stories have survival value” for humans. I interpret this as meaning, stories passed down from generation to generation have passed down survival knowledge through the generations. He uses the story of Rumpelstiltskin as an example the power a person wishing has.

While writing many college essays I often feel that I come into contact with many shape shifters. The “mentor” figure is usually the teacher who assigns the essay. The teacher is someone I feel helps you along the way, and guides you when you need it. A librarian or a tutor at the writing center can also be a mentor to me, because they will also give me guidance and assistance when I need it. I believe my roommate, or people my roommate has over in our dorm, are often times threshold guardians. My roommate will watch TV, talk on the phone, or play her music loud which makes it very hard for me to focus. When she has friends over I find my self getting caught up in their conversations and hanging out with them, rather than working. This is when I hopefully gain the courage to cross the first threshold, which is leaving my dorm, and heading to the library. When Vogler says stories have healing power, I believe this is very true. If I am having a relationship problem, I will often watch a romance movie, like the notebook, and it reminds me how lucky I am to have someone that loves and cares about me. When I get into an argument with my mom, I like to watch the movie Step Mom, or Practical Magic, because this reminds me of how lucky I am to have a mom who is alive and well and who cares about me as much as my mom does. Even a story as simple as Cinderella makes me feel grateful to have such a happy life.

1. Can you think of an example, besides Rumpelstiltskin, where the power of wishing is proven?
2. Give an example of a time when you have used a story to heal yourself.
3. Do you see the heroes journey play out in your everyday life?

Reflection of Project 3 (to this point)

Rhetorical Analysis

The 4 modes were very helpful to further my understanding and development of my thoughts for project three. I especially enjoyed the "song" mode, which was a song from thetruth.com. It directly related to my topic and I will enjoy presenting about it, and the other modes, on December 5th.

Interview

I thought of two different people I would want to interview and have them tell me their story. The person I first thought of, lives in my dorm and has had a very traumatic experience relating to cigarettes. Her father died of smoking related disease and she herself smokes. I approached her and asked if she would be comfortable talking about her experience and being recorded, and she said she is really not comfortable with that. It is very understandable because as I can imagine, it is a very sensitive topic for her. The other person I thought of interviewing is my friend Steph. Her grandmother died of lung cancer and her sister and mother smoke. I asked her if she would be comfortable with the interview and she said that she would. Now I just have to think of what questions to ask her to get her to talk about her story.

Volunteer

Since I have been at Eckerd College I have been volunteering at the St. Petersburg Free Clinic. I know this doesn't have a direct connection with cigarette smoke, but in a way I make people healthy and my topic of not smoking has a lot to do with health.

Reflect on What You Have Done

I feel very ready for my presentation on project 3. I spent a lot of time working on my 4 modes, many hours volunteering in the free clinic, and thinking of the person I will be interviewing. This is a topic that is very close to me and has always been. I am, in a way, excited to present and share my knowledge on a topic that I feel so passionate about. The only thing that is left for me to prepare is the questions I will ask during my interview.

Annotative Bibliography #10

Vogler, Christopher. “Epilogue: Looking Back on the Journey” The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.

The next section of the writer’s journey is “Epilogue: Looking Back on the Journey”. In this section, or chapter of the book, Vogler pretty much reviews everything we were taught in the book. He uses five movies to help further explain the hero’s stages. He uses The Titanic, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, The Full Monty, and Star Wars. He first stresses that his book is NOT to be used as an outline for someone who is writing a story. Rather, it is supposed to be used as a guideline, to help a writer with their creative process. On the first page of this book, he challenges us to analyze a book or movie using the writer’s journey. I am going to do a short analysis on the movie Man on Fire, starring Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning. This is an excellent example of a story line that doesn’t follow the hero’s journey perfectly. There are several ordinary worlds and conflicts in the story. We are introduced to Creasy’s ordinary world, of an ex-assassin, drunk, who is looking for work. Then we are introduced to Pita’s ordinary world, a very intelligent child who was born into what we presume is a wealthy family. Both characters gain rewards and face their demos in this story. I find it very interesting because I think both of the main characters, who at first have different goals to accomplish. When Pita gets kidnapped, the true hero is show as Creasy and he won’t stop until he revenges Pita. The Titanic is another example of a story that doesn’t follow the Hero’s stages perfectly.

This book has really helped me understand story writing at a whole new level. Before I read this book, I really did not understand that stories, plays, movies, etc. are all mostly written the same way. They all have the same basic type of plot lines, with the same archetypes, and the same stages to the story. The hero always must face some basic type of fear before leave on the journey. Every hero also must have some sort of “villain”. I think it is interesting that people from all around the world, who have a totally different type of culture, all enjoy the same basic type of story structure. In this last section we read, I enjoyed how Vogler touched upon five different movies: The Titanic, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, The Full Monty, and Star Wars. The only two movies out of those five I have seen are Titanic and The Lion King.

1. Name the 12 stages in the hero’s journey (page 8).

2. Give an example of each of the 8 most common archetypes (page 26).

3. Pick a story or a movie yourself and analyze it using Vogler’s stages of the hero’s journey.

Four Fictional Elements "Four Modes"

Four Fictional Elements

Frey, James. A Million Little Pieces. New York: Anchor, 2005.


By using the book A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, and comparing it to issues concerning second hand smoke, I am making somewhat of a stretch. In A Million Little Pieces the main character is addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, crack, as well as other illicit drugs. Throughout the story we see him recover and become a better person along the way.

James has a way of making his audience feel his pain and suffering. He is very graphic and descriptive of his recovery process, one that always involves smoking cigarettes. In my mind smoking a cigarette while trying to recover from drug addiction does not make sense. A cigarette itself is a drug that must be overcome.

Thank You For Smoking. James Reitman. Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright. Fox Searchlight. 2005.


The movie Thank You For Smoking is a satirical comedy basically about the dangers of cigarettes. Nick, the main character in the movie, is a lobbyist for a big tobacco company. Nick himself smokes, and yet tells his son never to smoke. This is proving that he believes what he does is wrong and that his profession is wrong. There are several moving scenes in this movie. We are shown the Marlboro man, several years down the road, who is now struck with lung cancer. We are shown Nick being attacked by anit-smokers with nicotine patches so harmfully that he almost died.

The thing that struck me the most in this movie is that Nick would smoke around his son. This was obviously dangerous to his son's health, but he chose to do it anyways. Even after telling his son never to smoke, and seeing first hand all the dangers of tobacco and nicotine, he chose to smoke around his son anyways.


"Stork". thetruth.com. 2008. Retrieved thetruth.com 11/5/08.

http://www.thetruth.com/videos/

The "stork" song/video, which was once a commercial on TV, has very strong emotional appeal. It shows many cartoon, underweight babies jumping out of incubators. The babies are underweight due to the mom being exposed to second hand smoke, or the mom herself smoking. The tobacco industry claimed that it is a good thing the babies are underweight because some mothers would actually prefer lighter babies. I think this would make any one who smokes around a child or a pregnant woman feel very bad and hopefully stop.

I believe this applies directly to the topic of my paper: that second hand smoke, and cigarettes in general, are harmful. By showing the babies that are sick and in incubators, this shows cigarettes are detrimental to the health of babies. I hope people take this a step further and realize that it is not just new born children that are affected by cigarettes, it is children of all ages who are around second hand smoke.

Anonymous. "Licensed to Kill". Virginia. April 23 & 24 2003. Licensed to Kill Inc. Retrieved www.takingontobacco.org on November 1st 2008.


This piece of "art" pretty much speaks for itself. It clearly states that tobacco companies, by becoming licensed, are killing people. There product has been proven time and time again to till smokers and non-smokers alike. I think this is a very blunt message. It is easy to understand and needs to be remembered.

I think the deaths of millions should be on the hands of the tobacco companies. They are fully aware of what their product does to their customers. If I was them, I would not be able to sleep at night.

Annotative Bibliography #9

Vogler, Christopher. “The Resurrection and Return with the Elixir” The Writer's
Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.

The next two stages of Vogler’s hero’s journey are the Resurrection and the Return with the Elixir. The eleventh stage of the hero’s journey, the resurrection, is where the climax frequently occurs. The climax, different from the crisis that occurred earlier, is when the hero is faced with the last and the most dangerous meeting with death. This is when the author will show how the hero has changed throughout the story. This is the stage when the hero “sheds the personality of the journey” and develops a new personality that will be suitable for their return to the old world. This stage helps enforce the lesson of the ordeal, as well as to cleanse the hero of death. This is often the scene in a western where a showdown takes place. The resurrection could also be a choice or a romantic choice. If the story consists of a rolling climax, the resurrection will be included in this. The word catharsis has come to mean an emotional breakthrough; this often happens in the resurrection. The last chance for the hero to make a major change, or the hero having to surrender something, is also things that may occur during the resurrection. The twelfth stage is the return with the elixir. This is when the hero returns to the ordinary world with something to share with others. This can be a lesson, an object, or something to “heal a wounded land”. There are two ways a story can be concluded, they are circular or open ended. The circular, or closed form, of ending a story is the most popular way of ending a story because it gives the audience closure and more of a “so what” to the story. On the other hand, the open-ended story form is one that doesn’t have a set conclusion and in a way can be continued in the minds of the audience.

The stage of resurrection is not a stage that I always like. For a brief moment in the story you think the hero has found peace and that the hero is safe. Then just a moment later the author throws another near death experience in the face of the audience and disturbs the peace they have found. I also do not like open-ended story forms. I am a typical westerner and prefer closure at the end of a story. I hate when the author leaves me with a sense of wondering or worrying. The only time I like to be left not knowing is when the author plans on coming out with a sequel to the story.

1. Which do you prefer, a circular story form or a open-ended story form?

2. In your memoir what was your resurrection?

3. In your memoir what was the elixir that you returned with?