Reflection of English 101

                Writing can be really easy at times, and really hard at others, what makes the difference is what I am writing about.  I would like to think of myself as a more creative writer, when I am on to something it flows on to the paper in no time.  However, this semester has had a lot of rhetorical analysis and research writing which has been a huge struggle.  My writing over this past semester has grown an immense amount, even when the grades have not been the best I still have learned how to be a better writer and why it can benefit me in any job field I choose.

            The very first rhetorical analysis I wrote on my own was on an article written about poverty in the United States and whether it was making people literally sick.  The rhetorical analysis is supposed to be on one specific thing the author or writer did well, such as egos, logos, pathos, their tone, diction, or voice.  Instead of one I wrote it on three, and because the writing could not be that long it was too spread out and too short of an explanation, making the analysis too hard to understand.

            From that point on I spent each rhetorical analysis, whether it be in class or on my own, determining one specific thing about the writing and spending about a half an hour on the thesis and quotes from the article.  Each one got better in my eyes however I was still getting a C+ here and a B- there.  I didn’t know what exactly I was doing wrong, even in some of the other writings that involved research and a strong thesis. 

            My professor then said that each thesis my class was writing was a “parallel thesis”, which is a thesis all students were taught in elementary school, to give your opinion and three reasons why.  Those three reasons would then turn into each body paragraph.  He said that a parallel thesis was to broad and a real college thesis was one that focused on one thing, and the many parts that made that one thing something to talk about.

            This “college thesis” would be the one thing in this class that made my writing that much better.   It forces the writer to think more in depth about the topic and really focus specifically on each little piece involved.  Overall as each assignment came and went in this class, my writing got better and with each little blog assignment it showed how writing will be a part of my job for the rest of my career.  

Bring in a new Wrestling Room

To whom it may concern,

My name is Devin Winn, I am a freshman here at Bridgewater State and am also a starter on the varsity wrestling team.  During the first week of practice I noticed that as a team we have to roll out the mats we practice on every day before and roll them back up every day after practice.  This takes time away from our practice and there has been an occasion where practice had to end early because there was a class being taught in the Kelly small gym.  Now this is not that big of a deal, however, it would be easier on a lot of faculty and students if the wrestlers had our own room dedicated to us where the mats could stay rolled out and we were able to show up, mop, then practice. 

Along with having to roll the mats out in the Kelly gym, each year around January for a certain number of weeks the team has to rent a truck, load up the mats, and move them across campus to Tinsley Training Center where practice is held.  I don’t know if you’ve ever had to move mats before, but it is a huge pain to deal with and it takes away from some teams who also have to train in Tinsley.  Having a separate place specified for the wrestling team would take away that hassle and keep each practice for all teams running smoothly.

Not only would this benefit the wrestling team in a tremendous way, it would benefit some of the staff in Kelly gym as well.  For example, the custodian who cleans the gym at the start and end of every day can not clean the floor completely with our mats rolled up in the way, this also causes the dust and dirt that he can not sweep up to get caught on our mats in the creases and could bring the spread of skin infection and/or sickness. 

Also, if there was a separate room dedicated to wrestling, any yoga or similar classes could use that space to run the class.  Instead of rolling their yoga mats out on the hardwood floor, where if someone loses balance and falls over they could hurt themselves, they could roll the yoga mats out over our wrestling mat and have a safer more comfortable yoga experience.

CPDC runs every Saturday in Kelly, sometimes they swim, other times they play basketball, and other times they use our mats when the smaller kids are running around or climbing on things to build motor skills and again, if they fall on the hardwood floor they could get seriously injured.  Having this padded room could prevent and injury happening to a younger kid as well as any kid who is messing around.

Overall having this room would greatly impact many of the faculty, staff, student, and anyone else who choses to take advantage of it.  The wrestling team has had its downfalls, however with 11 new freshmen joined this year, the program is on the spiral up with many more students and much more success to come.  I would hope that you please consider this option as it could have a very positive impact on the University’s campus as well as the lives of everyday students like my team and me.

Thank you for your time,

Devin Winn

Class of ‘21

Voice Technology on the Rise?

           When going to any party, music is the one thing almost always playing. A playlist is necessary to “liven” the party. Every time I go to a party at my aunt’s house, music is always blasting. Except it didn’t always stay the same the station would change in the midst of people talking without anyone taking out their phone or walking over to the speaker.  The way she was able to change the music by speaking was really cool.

            “Hey Alexa, play Pink radio” and right away, the Pink Pandora station would start playing. Seeing the confusion, she explained that it was a voice recognition speaker and just by saying an artist name or station, Alexa would automatically start playing it. After that, commercials for these speakers started to pop up all over television and it seemed as if almost everybody had one.

            Voice enabled technology is becoming a large part of society. Everyone is starting to use Echo and Google speakers mainly for the convenience of it and now almost every phone has voice enabled tech in it. “hey Siri, how is the weather” and your iPhone will instantly pull up the weather for the next 7 days for you.

            This new technology changed the way we are able to listen to music.  Speakers have been changing forever, they have gone from stationary large plug in stereo systems to now small wireless speakers. Amazon began to come out with different types of these Echo speakers and not too long after, Google came out with one of their own versions.

            According to an article on USA Today, Alexa, what's the most popular voice-enabled speaker?, the number of Americans who use the tech, like echo, at least once a month has doubled since last year.  One of their sources, eMarketer, has said that millennials are the ones driving this surge with more than one-third of them using them this year. 

            The amazon Echo speaker holds a 70% share of the speaker market, and the Google assistant holds 24%.  Combine these voice enabled speakers hold 94% of the speaker market.  The need for this tech comes from the need for a more personalized experience, not only are these convenient speakers to use at a party or when you’re too lazy to change the station remotely, they revolutionized the consumer market.

            Businesses needed better ways to connect with consumers and almost everyone wants to have an easier way to do everyday activities, ordering food for delivery instead of cooking yourself, buying things online instead of going to the store.  With Echo people can now order one click items online just by saying it, or place their dominos easy order without even moving.  Having these abilities caused the surge of consumers for these kinds of tech.

            According to Consumer AI — Voice Enabled Technology, an article posted by chatbotslife.com, people look for new ways to save time and money.  Once Siri came out consumers started looking for the next big thing to help them save more time.  Amazon responded with Alexa the Echo speaker, and now there are “No more customer care issues, lack of sales, inefficient inventory management, Time consuming Supply Chain, lack of Omnichannel and data analysis. Businesses have data, consumers have data all they need is Voice Technology to map the two together.”

            The advancement in speaker system has recently made major changes in how we are able to listen to music. Technology like Siri and the Echo speaker was created to make life simpler. Having a resource to help us out allows us to save money and time. Voice technology for speakers has impacted so many aspects of the consumer industry that the large need for these products was bound to happen.

Film Review

The Last Time, a short film directed by Christine Hooper, is about the struggles of quitting smoking.  A woman whose name was not portrayed in the film narrates her battle with smoking cigarettes. 

            The film opens with a scene between the main character and a random man standing at a bus stop.  The man is smoking a cigarette and when she sees that he is, she flips quickly into her sudoku booklet to try and distract her from the cigarette.  The narrator, who is also the main character begins to reminisce about her beginning interaction with a cigarette that started her on the path of addiction.

            She believed it made her look cool and gave her a new set of friends, yet it also gave her a way to escape from an awkward situation.  From there this escape plan turned into an addiction.  An addiction that she couldn’t get away from where cigarettes were the only thing she could think about and it began getting in the way of her social life.

            The narrator talks about how she began to quit, and the short film ends with her back at the bus stop with the man.  The bus drives by and pics up the man and when it leaves his half-finished cigarette is on the ground. The woman walks over picks it up and takes a draw from it saying, “one last time” before she runs away, and the screen goes black.

            The film was a great way to show how many people battle this addiction with cigarettes, with a fun twist to it.  The director turned it into this sort of love story between the main character and the cigarette and the way it was shot helped keep audience interested to some extent.

             There were some week points in the film however.  The way it was shot made it seem like a long commercial instead of an actual film, and with there being no name to the character it didn’t allow this sort of connection that some people would like.  The plot line of the “love story” seemed to be the only thing really going for this film.

            Adding a sort of comedic element to a not so comedic problem makes it something that people would want to see, especially people battling the same addiction.  Many people who smoke do not like watching commercials or videos on quitting because they would say “oh well it’s not that easy”.  However, this film showed that yes, it is not that easy, but it is a struggle that one can overcome.

Why Does Ice Float?

Why Does Ice Float?

            A lot of substances in the world can be formed into three different states, solid, liquid, and gas.  Normally each state the substance is in changes its density with solid being the most dense, then liquid, then gas.  Density is the degree of compactness in a substance, water for example has a density of about 1g/cm³, anything with a larger density will sink, and anything with a smaller density will float.

            Ice is the solid form of water, so why does it float?

            Theoretically ice should sink, it is the solid form for water, and it technically should have a larger density.  When tossing rocks into water they sink, the rocks are able to displace the water around it and sink to the bottom. According to Anne Marie Helmenstine, who has her doctorate in philosophy in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a bachelor of arts degrees in physics and mathematics with a minor in chemistry from Hastings College in Nebraska, in her article “Why Does Ice Float? Ice and the Density of Water”.

            Dr. Helmenstine explains that water becomes the most dense at about 40^o Fahrenheit and as it gets colder and starts to become frozen, it actually loses its density.

            Wouldn’t it make sense that when water is frozen its particles would stop moving and stack closer together? That doesn’t happen because of Hydrogen Bonding.  Dr. Helmenstine explained that hydrogen bonding is when a positively charged hydrogen atom from a water molecule meets a negatively charged oxygen atom from a neighboring water molecule and they form a bond.

            According to George Zaidan, a science communicator who created, wrote, and hosted National Geographic’s webseries Ingredients; and co-wrote and directed MIT’s webseries Science Out Loud, also, he has several viral TED-Ed videos, in one of his TED-Ed videos he says that Hydrogen bonds form all the time even in waters liquid states.

            Zaiden says that in liquid form however the hydrogen bonds form and break every second with the water molecules moving around forming a new bond each time.  This causes the molecules to seem more compact because they are always moving and connecting with each other.

            Zaiden continues by showing a diagram in the TED video that shows the difference between the liquid molecules and solid ones.  The liquid molecules move around, attach and detach in a more compact way, while when ice is formed the molecules attach forming a hexagonal spacious look, causing there to be more molecules per cm³ in the liquid form than the solid form.

            Dr. Helmenstine explains that in conclusion Ice floats because it is about 9% less dense than water, or ice takes up 9% more space than water.  The heavier water displaces the lighter ice causing it to float to the top.

What Family Means To Me

           Family has always been known as the group of people with whom you are related to, “a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children… whether dwelling together or not” (dictionary.com), but family does not have to be restricted to that.  Family can be people who you feel closest to, the people who you can rely on when times get tough, the people you put the most trust in.

            In a New York Times article called “The Changing American Family” written by Natalie Angier, the author focuses on family as in the exact definition. She explains that people are starting to marry those whom they would’ve never married if born in an earlier time.  However, marriage plays a role in how I interpret family, it is an amazing thing.  You find someone whom you connect with on a special level and then invite them to merge their family with yours and begin to create your own family.

            Angier proves that as a family comes together they don’t pay attention to any differences no matter how big or small.  “In increasing numbers, blacks marry whites, atheists marry Baptists, men marry men and women [marry] women, Democrats marry Republicans and start talk shows.” A member of one’s family can come from anywhere so long as the trust is there in the relationship a bond is created that almost cannot be broken.

            My father has been best friends with someone since senior year of high school, they went into the marine core together and haven’t separated since.  From the time I was born I have always known him as my uncle, I never even questioned whether he was my dad’s brother, or if we related at all.  All I knew was that he was family and him and his family would be there for me and my family, he was at our family reunion, and even was at the funeral services when my grandfather past away.

            That was a long time in the making, he has been a part of our lives for almost 25 years, for me becoming family does not have to take that long.  Freshman year of high school I met a friend who within a couple months became a brother to me.  I recruited him to join the wrestling team, only because he could fit in the weight class we were missing.  Over the few months we became friends through wrestling and we found out that we lived near each other.  Ever since our families have become close and they were a second family to me.

            Both my uncle and friend are not blood related to me yet they still are family, there is this sort of mental bond that forms throughout a time of knowing someone.  In a lot of cases blood relation doesn’t mean anything, my mother’s entire family lives in Washington state, she was born and raised there.  Her parents had a bad divorce when she was at an early age and my Papa Tony stepped in to help raise and support my mother’s family.  Ever since “Pa”, as we call him, has been a huge part of my family’s life.  My mother battles with conflicting emotions being all the way on the other side of the country having to hear about all the stuff that is happening.

            All three different scenarios have completely different backgrounds and topics about them, however, in each case I explain another part of my family.  Family as in the people I can count on when times get tough.

Dictionary.com
"The Changing American Family" (Angier, 2003) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/health/families.html?pagewanted=all

Portrait

            Almost a hundred fireworks lay by the side of the house.  I sat swinging by the lake on the 3^rd of July watching my father pace back and forth with anxiousness and excitement.

            The fourth of July was always my father’s favorite holiday, not because it was the day America gained independence from Britain, but because he gets to “blow up the sky” with the insane number of fireworks him and his buddies buy.

            Brandon Winn is a firefighter from Brockton MA, he was always the outgoing type which helped him in many aspects of life however firefighting turned him into a bit of a pyromaniac.  In Massachusetts fireworks are illegal however on the fourth of July the police give some leeway. Allowing the little things like firecrackers and the cool little race cars,

            In Maine however fireworks are completely legal, including the big stuff like roman candles, and mortars, with this type of freedom Brandon was able to go crazy.  The number of fireworks got bigger each year each friend that came around to watch would put in money for more and more pyrotechnics.

            This year was exceptionally exciting for Brandon, one of his friends tagged him in a video on Facebook of a man with two roman candle “hand cannons”.  Brandon being Brandon replied “I can do that shit way better, that all fell apart, we are breaking out the big guns for this one”.  And so, they did, buying almost 50 roman candles to set it all up.

         
            Brandon was never the smartest kid, he fooled around too much in high school and did not go to college he chose the military life joining the marines.   Yet he still is very smart when applying himself, although this may not be one of the smartest decisions he has made it showed how when he applies himself he can make a hand cannon out PVC piping, roman candles, and duct tape.

            As the day went on Brandon was getting more and more anxious by the second, the closer it got to dusk the more he was pacing.  Showing off his creation to everyone that was around.  He never put the thing down, everyone was getting in position for the test of if this thing will actually work.  With a tall can labeled “America” in one hand and the hand cannon in the other he waded into the water with two lighters by his side to help set this thing off.

            There were no injuries and everyone thought it was absolutely awesome, Brandon never fails to give a show and even though the idea wasn’t the smartest it went off without a hitch.  He always knows how to be just crazy enough where people say “wow ok” but don’t get pushed away.

Memoir

           

 The clock struck three o’clock in the afternoon in early February of 2017, the air was cold but not completely freezing. The type of cold that pants and a long sleeve shirt could keep you warm in.  However, I wore shorts that day, my pants could not fit around the large mechanical brace that was stabilizing my knee.  At about this time I was laying down on a hospital bed in the surgical unit of the orthopedic care center in Easton MA, my mind is running faster than a cheetah with nervous thoughts about what was about to happen. With my mother sitting in the chair next to me, we waited in an uncomfortable silence for the nurse to walk in.  

            The curtain pulls back, “how are you feeling today?” asks the nurse.  “Hungry, very hungry” I reply, “good I take it you followed orders and haven’t eaten since 10 last night?” the nurse asks again.  “yeah it was very hard to do I hope you know” I reply again with a nervous tone.  But it wasn’t the fact that I didn’t eat that made me nervous.  I was about to go through my first surgery ever in my life on what my orthopedic surgeon told me was one of the largest bucket handle tears he has seen.

            My right medial meniscus was torn almost halfway across and most likely couldn’t be repaired.  So, I had a right to be a little nervous.  I remove the large brace from my leg with help from the nurse, my knee was stuck in a slightly bent position, the torn piece was lodged in between my femur and knee cap, making laying down in that bed even more uncomfortable.  The pain I was in was almost unbearable, and I have spiral fractured my fibula, and hairline fractured the same one right after I recovered.  I have felt pain before, but none like this.

            The nurse had my mother fill out questionnaire and sign off on the surgery, meanwhile three more nurses entered the room.  The original nurse stood on the left side of the bed while the other three stood on my right.  They tried to distract me by talking about football and I was slightly thrown off guard when out of the corner of my eye I saw the other nurse preparing something.  I looked sharply to the left and saw a bright blue plastic package with a small needle in it. Immediately I knew what was happening, “my mom told you I didn’t like needles, didn’t she?” I asked.  Everyone laughed.  “Yes” the nurse said, “don’t worry it won’t be that bad”.

             I was not worried about getting the IV, the problem was that in my mind the needle would stay in my body and I would move my arm and cut the vein on the inside.  When I expressed my concerns about the needle she gave a demonstration.  The needle was practically a vessel used to insert a flexible plastic tube that stayed in place no matter where I moved my arm.  Feeling more comfortable I decided to take up the conversation about football while I was administered the IV, I felt a slight pinch but it was nothing worse than a normal flu shot I would get during my physical each year. 

             The IV was in and I was feeling good, the worst part was done all that was left was the surgery. Then a male nurse came in, he had a shaven head with a scruffy beard and carried a red bag.  “He is the one who is going to put you to sleep” said the nurse.  “With what? One of the tools he’s got in that bag?” I joked. “Actually, yes.” said the male nurse.  At that point he pulled out a needle that had to be 2 inches long and a half inch thick.  My eyes got wide with fear, everything about needles that I was scared about came back to me.  I started to move like I was going to get up off the bed, then I remembered that I couldn’t walk so it turned out to be a nervous shift.

            The nurse laughed “don’t worry” she said, “that is not going anywhere near you, that’s how he puts the anesthesia into the IV”.  The sweat that had been running down my face quickly dissipated an I felt better once again.  The anesthesia felt cold when it got to my veins, it was almost soothing like taking a cold shower after a long workout on a muggy day.  I said, “see you in a bit” to my mom and then the bed was moving.

            The sleep drug had already hit my system and I started to feel tired, “where are we going” I asked.  “To Disney World buddy, to Disney World” said the nurse.  I laughed and kind of shook it off, but part of me also believed him.  It had to be the drugs in my system, I was already feeling loopy.  The doors opened and for some reason I exclaimed “YOOOO WHAT IS UP GUYS!” to the doctors.  They all laughed and asked how I was feeling, “tired” I replied. “good you’ll be going to sleep soon just close your eyes and the surgery will fly by” said Dr. Palvovich, my surgeon.  As soon as I was in place for the surgery to begin I was asleep and on my own way to Disney World.

Rhetorical Analysis Pt. 2

           

             Kyle Koster author of Is Cam Newton Just Not Going to Apologize, an article written after Cam Newton gave a sexist comment in a press conference after the game this past Sunday.  One of the main reporters for the Carolina Panthers, Jourdan Rodrigue, asked Cam a question about the routes during the football game.  Newton responded with, “I think it’s funny when girls talk about routes like… it’s just funny” causing huge backlash nationwide.  Koster was very opinionated on the situation and expressed it greatly throughout the article, he used his opinion in the perfect way to persuade the audience.

            In the first parts of the article the author already began to express his opinion on how he believes Newtons remark was extremely sexists and was angry with the fact that he did not apologize.  It was as if newton made the comment to Koster himself instead of the actual reporter.  He states “Let's look at this situation through the eyes of a bottom-line obsessed cynic. Through that lens, it's even more astounding that Newton hasn't yet apologized.”  He uses the phrase “bottom-line obsessed cynic” not everyone knows what that means, however it sounds like he wants people to look at it through the eyes of even the lowest of people and assess the situation from there.

            The affect that line had on the audience had to be huge, by saying that even a person whom has the lowest standards would still believe that it is absurd that Newton hasn’t apologized.  With this beginning to the article his stance is already made clear, he believes that it is crazy how someone in that position could state something that far out and still think he could avoid apologizing.  Especially to a woman whom has worked for the Panthers for a year and a half. 

            “Given the opportunity to clear the air with [Jourdan Rodrigue] … Newton repeatedly declined to apologize or successfully de-escalate the tension.”  Koster then goes on to ask several open-ended questions regarding the Panthers and Cam Newton himself.  Using open-ended questions in the article cause readers to think and it can be a very effective persuasion method to get readers to agree with him.  For example, Koster asks “What is the end game? How can Newton and the Panthers be so oblivious to the fact that there's a cleanup here?” these questions get the mind going and asking oneself “wow he is right how can Cam come back from this?” 

            The audience at this point has to be at least somewhat persuaded into the direction the author wants, he sounds so attached to the subject that his opinions are starting to seem like facts thrown at you during a heated professional debate.  Koster doesn’t stop his opinions there, in the end he goes into how someone of that stature could attempt to fix what has happened. Yet, he states it is too late, he started to give some sympathy and it seemed as if he would help Cam in a way. Instead he says, “it's tough to fathom how Newton believes he can outrun this or wait it out … Don't hold your breath waiting for him to apologize”.

            Koster throughout the entire article continued to express his strong opinion towards Newton. It is very clear how he felt towards the situation, and he had a very good style of writing to express it, that got the audience on his side.

Link to article:

https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAsWTAn?m=en-u

Professional Biography

                     Devin J Winn, born in Fallbrook, California, lived many years of his life wanting to help those that suffer sports related injuries.  Throughout his high school life and undergraduate experience, he was a top wrestler at both schools, however he suffered a whirlwind of injuries. In high school, he broke his ankle twice and tore his right medial meniscus, and has suffered through knee pain and five bulging discs all through college. To this day he still struggles with the pain.

            Having gone through so many injuries, Devin has been to physical therapy plenty of times and pretty much already had the job experience needed before he even started working on a degree for it.  The one thing that really drew him to the field is how his physical therapist made him feel. Devin wanted to come back each day and get better. The therapist was able to connect with Devin by understanding his sport and not making the whole experience about the injury and instead talking about life in general.

            Devin didn’t get to wrestle the whole season through for three out of the four years in high school, the injuries either delayed his season or ended it.  This took a toll mentally. He almost didn’t want to wrestle in college, however going through physical therapy helped strengthen his back and neck and give him a better chance to not get hurt again.  Devin then wrestled through college and was successful, and got his doctorate degree from the Massachusetts College for Pharmaceutical and Health Services (MCPHS) for physical therapy.

            Having a sports related injury is not fun. Sometimes it causes the athlete to not want to continue the sport.  Going to physical therapy with someone like Devin will help you get better both physically and mentally. It’ll help you want to get back on the mat, field, or court with no fear.  Finding the right person to nurse you back to health makes all the difference and Devin can be that person.  No matter the injury he can find a way to relate to his patients and make going to physical therapy fun. You know what they say, “time flies when you’re having fun.”

            Getting injured doesn’t have to mean you’re athletic life as you know it is over. The world doesn’t have to end.  You can almost always recover from a broken bone or torn ligament. The process isn’t fun, but physical therapy with Devin will make the time easier.  

A Writers Beginning

When I was in the third grade we had to write creative stories for class.  My imagination is what got me through that assignment because I could always think of the most bizarre scenarios and stories.  The story I wrote was about a group of campers who encountered a werewolf. It was about a page and a half long with barely any details just the outline of what happened.  From then on, I wanted to create fictional stories that appeal to all ages, for the rest of my life.

“Devin, you could be a real author someday if you can keep creating stories like this.” Mr. Santos (my third grade teacher) told me, after that I thought of other ideas. I thought of a ghost story that involved two brothers who were the only people in the house that could see and understand what was going on. The parents were too old to see what was happening around them, the kids had to figure out how to get rid of the ghost on their own. The idea was great; however, it was being able to write it in a form that could be expressed as a novel that screwed me up.

I began reading books like Goosebumps, or Dragons Don’t Throw Snowballs, trying to open my imagination even more and take it to a whole different level.  I only read the books that involved the mythical creatures that I loved such as dragons, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, etc. A lot of the stories I thought of however, were just my own adaptations of the stories that were told about each of these creatures.  I had the imagination to create my own it was just that the stories I was reading were so much better and I couldn’t finish one.

                The problem I had was keeping my thoughts straight in my head. I never just wrote down my ideas because there was so much going on in my head that I didn’t have a single outline. I just wrote down what I thought of in story form.  I never could finish a story because one thought would lead to another. In many instances, I would start a story and in the middle of writing it start thinking about a whole new topic. As I grew up, my imagination stayed the same, however my drive to write stories failed.  I could think about it all the time, but getting my thoughts on paper would never work like I wanted it to. Frequently I would get side tracked, not being able to finish what I started.

            Once high school came around I had to write papers for my classes whether it be a book review, a research paper, or even my college essay. I ran through the same troubles I went through when trying to write creatively.  I had so many ideas but couldn’t get them on paper fast enough. It took me days to finish normal five paragraph essays because I would always get writers block and not be able to continue writing that day.  Throughout high school, however, I grew as a writer and learn how to focus on a topic and jot down ideas as they come to me and from there build upon my actual essay.  Hopefully, as time goes on I can get my creative writing skills back and be able to write any stories that come to my mind in an organized manner. 

Rhetorical analysis

Poverty has been an issue that has affected the nation for many years. Matthew O’Brien writes an article about poverty making people genuinely sick that appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos.  O’Brian brings many statistics and examples from studies to articles, adding quotes throughout.  He is very logical as well, explaining how he would fix the problem and explaining how human death appeals to pathos. 

            The authors used studies from how many people entered the hospital at the end of the month after their checks or welfare had been used up they no longer can afford food.  People living in poverty are, “27 percent more likely to be hospitalized for hypoglycemia at the end of the month.”  By citing sources like this, O’Brien brings gets the attention of professionals like doctors, nurses, etc.  Instead of trying to sway readers with a sob story about poverty, O’Brian shoots hard facts and proves his thesis that economic inequality is a serious issue negatively impacting society.

            As well as using quotes and results from studies, O’Brien brings his political background into the article.  He uses reasoning based on the political climate between democrats and republicans. Democrats are in favor of raising the minimum wage despite opposing arguments from republicans.  Stating facts from the political standpoints on the issue, the author adds logical reasoning to his argument, showing that strong political figures feel the same towards the subject as he does causes a reader to increasingly believe in what he believes. 

            The statistics about how many people are admitted to the hospital at the end of each month are heartbreaking for readers to see.  It makes the public realize that the government does not do enough for citizens who are struggling financially.  People from the public who read this article will fair more towards how O’Brien plays on the pathos aspect.  The public will understand the general topics from the statistics. Numbers, cold hard facts, are easy to understand. However, explaining that people who cannot afford the right food, or any food for that matter, at the end of the month end up in the hospital for low blood sugar is just as powerful.  Citizens who read this could have family in the same position and understand what the author is trying to say. 

            Regardless of who ever reads the article, Matthew O’Brien appealed to every person

whether they respond better to logical explanations, statistics, or personal stories.

Personal Mission Statement

              As I begin the most important part of my life, my dreams become my goals and will eventually become a reality. In high school, I participated as a varsity wrestler and captain of the team for two years, however it was a very rocky experience.  The only season I wrestled the whole way through was my freshman year, every year after I was riddled with injuries.  I have five bulging discs in my neck, I fractured my fibula twice, and tore my right medial meniscus.  Having gone through this makes me want to help anyone going through what I did.

            I was also a peer mediator in high school, I helped many students get through problems they had without causing a fight.  By senior year I was speaking to freshman classes who were said to be the troubled kids, I spoke to make an impact on them and to try and help them want to graduate in four years.  Many students came to me with problems of their own and I continued to try and help each and every one of them, I plan to continue helping anyone who needs it. I may not have gone through everything but I know people who have, and I would be able to provide some advice.  I plan to use this skill in my career as well to help anyone cope with what they are going through and hopefully allow them to continue participating in whatever they love.

            My career choice is physical therapy mainly for sports related injuries. Bridgewater State University has granted me with opportunity to continue wrestling and follow the career path that I chose.  Along with helping athletes with their injuries I plan to help my family financially and hope to support them with whatever they need.  MCPHS is the best option for graduate school in my field, I will graduate from BSU with a 4.0 GPA allowing me to get accepted into graduate school for the physical therapy program.  Wrestling in High School took up most of my life, I was in school from 7 A.M. to 2 P.M. and right after would go to practice until 7 P.M. sometimes later.  I had no time for school work, however I managed to still graduate with a 3.6 GPA. In college, I have more time in between practice and it only lasts for 2 hours, I will balance both perfectly so I can accomplish goals in wrestling and school combine.  I will become one of the best physical therapists in my field and help all who go through what I went through or worse