Friday, April 30, 2010
Class Reflection
When I entered this class earlier this semester I had a love for writing. Now its the end of the semester and I can truly say that I have a passion for writing. In this class I was given the chance to learn and eaxperiment with all the different elements of creative writing. I liked all of the arguments that we had to write, they were so much fun to write. During the course of the semester i developed a new process of writing. First, I make sure that I am going to write about a creative topic that I can relate to and make sure that whatever I am writing about can be backed by research. Now I plot out my main points that I want to address. Before this class I would start off writing without brainstorming, and more than likely in the end I would have to cut out so much uneeded information. I found that having a process is so much easier beacuse I get to address all of my main points easier and at a faster rate since I have it all planned out in the beginning. I also learned how to accept harsh comments from my peers, I also was wanting them to always tell me what they thought was not good. The workshops and conferences that we had in this class were very helpful and a good way for the class to reflect on each others papers. I really enjoyed the idea of keeping a blog as well, it was a really cool way to turn in papers and to save trees. : )
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Comment for Breeze Article
I am a JMU student that will more than likely never be caught at a party or consuming alcohol.I was very aware of the "partying" that went on at JMU when I applyed to come here, I just didn't think it would affect me in any way that was serious. I agree that maybe it would be a good idea to have better control of the alcohol consumption here at JMU. We all remember having to take part in and pass Alcohol Edu before we got here, so everyone has the knowledge and capability to be safer drinkers.Lets make better decisions from now on so this won't happen again.
Reflection 3.2
I made a alot of changes in my second draft this time. I switched the order of some of my paragraphs to make it flow a lot better. A better conclusion was added to wrap up my paper, I brought it back around to show the modern teachings of fire safety. I'm not sure if people will think that my conclusion is okay or if it will start another story to them. I do feel that my story is taking up to much space in my paper though and that my argument is still unclear. My goal for my next draft is to add more research and make my argument stronger.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Essay 3.2:Baby Steps to Fire Safety: Teach the Children
I remember learning about fire safety in Mrs. Pratt’s third grade class. My class was taught not to play with fire, the importance of a smoke detector, how to come up with an evacuation plan in case of a home fire and we also practiced how to stop drop and roll. Do you remember when you first learned about fire safety? Emergencies and dangerous situations can occur at any given time. In an article from the Journal of Community Psychology, William O. Dwyer says that “Children under the age of 5 are 2.5 times more likely to die from fire than any other childhood age group.” (McConnell 213). I think that teaching fire safety at a young age is very important. If kids are taught how to avoid fires and the process of escape a dangerous fire, then more young lives can be saved. I’m glad that I learned about fire safety at an early age, because it became an important piece of my childhood.
I was an eight year old third grader; of course I would be terrified when danger was around me. On the afternoon of June 23, 2000, If I didn’t understand how dangerous fire was before that day then I clearly understood its dangers soon after. That afternoon, my little sister and I decided to take a nap together in my older sister’s queen sized bed, while my grandmother remained upstairs in the kitchen to fix dinner. To us, my older sister’s downstairs bedroom seemed like the safest place to snuggle up during a huge summer thunderstorm. About a good twenty minutes into our naps we were awaken by what we thought was the noise of the loudest crack in the sky known to man. With a sniff of the smoky air, I realized something was wrong. Then I noticed that before I went to sleep the house was slightly dark and gloomy since all the lights were out and the clouds heavily covered the sunlight, but now there was a sudden brightness to the house. The bottom of my house was hit by a powerful rod of lightning and caught on fire; my six year old sister, my grandmother and I needed to leave our home as soon as possible.
The first thing that I could think to do was get up off of the bed. Quickly I got my sister to follow me out of the room. When I held her quivering hand I could tell that my sister also knew that something was wrong and she was frightened as well. When we reached the door way I could see the bright huge flames flashing in my family den, and burning away many of my family’s possessions. Luckily the fire had not spread past the family den so there was a chance that we were able to go up the stairs to the front door. I could feel the heat of the blaze hit my side as I approached the steps, and I knew that if my clothes caught on fire that we needed to stop drop and roll. I jolted up the steps and pulled my sister along, when we got up the stairs I glanced in the kitchen I saw that my grandmother was still in the kitchen. “Granny quick get out the house, it’s on fire, it’s on fire” I yelled up to her direction. “Oh Lord”, she yelled and quickly got up out of the wooden kitchen chair she was sitting in, she headed toward the front door where my sister and I stood. I remembered learning to check doorknobs making sure there not too hot to handle. When I touched the doorknob, it was slightly warm but not too hot to grip on to. I opened the front door so we could all get out of the house, I looked back to see the progress that the fire might have made and saw that it had already started coming up the stairs. Once we were all safely out of the house we were spotted by our neighbors who had seen the fire coming from our house, they happened to be running to the house to help us out. Thankfully our neighbors already called 911 and the firefighters and ambulance arrived about two minutes after my family and I evacuated. During all the action that was taking place outside, I was taken into my neighbors’ home to call my mother who was at work the whole time.
Before this incident, my family never sat down at the table and discussed a proper fire escape plan for us to follow if a fire was to happen. In most cases coming together as a family and making these plans can be absolutely beneficial. In the New York Times article, Arson Suspected as Girl Dies in Brooklyn Fire, details are given about the death of a 17-year old girl that was unable to escape a fire in her home (Schmidt). A parent really does not want to receive the news that their child is no longer alive, parents do not want to outlive their children.
Not only did the firefighters and ambulance come to put out the fire and help anyone that was hurt, but CBS 6 News was also on the scene. The day turned into my first news appearance, I thought this was the coolest thing ever at that moment. I got to be on TV, the mic was turned on I was able to tell Richmond, Virginia my story about how me and my family were able to survive my first dangerous encounter with fire. I feel like I made a lot of viewers that tuned into the 6 o’clock news that day proud, I was a young hero, and my family was safe and secured.
My niece who just turned seven actually had the same Mrs. Pratt as her first grade teacher at the same elementary school that I attended. The day that she learned about fire safety she came home very excited. She had received a coloring book with a cute Dalmatian dog in a huge red fire truck on the cover. “Hey look what I can do Auntie Key”, she yelled and then she started the motion of stopping, dropping, and rolling. I was grateful that that had received that knowledge at her age. “Yeah that’s how you do it” I said, and then we were rolling across the floor together until we got hot.
Works Cited
McConnell, Charles F., Leeming, Frank C., Dwyer, William O. “Evaluation of a Fire-Safety Training Program for Preschool Children.” Journal of Community Psychology. Vol. 24 Issue 3 (1996): 213-217. Web
Schmidt, Michael S., Zraick, Karen, Lyles, Toby. “Arson Suspected as Girl Dies in a Brooklyn Fire.” New York Times. 29 Dec. 2009: Web
I was an eight year old third grader; of course I would be terrified when danger was around me. On the afternoon of June 23, 2000, If I didn’t understand how dangerous fire was before that day then I clearly understood its dangers soon after. That afternoon, my little sister and I decided to take a nap together in my older sister’s queen sized bed, while my grandmother remained upstairs in the kitchen to fix dinner. To us, my older sister’s downstairs bedroom seemed like the safest place to snuggle up during a huge summer thunderstorm. About a good twenty minutes into our naps we were awaken by what we thought was the noise of the loudest crack in the sky known to man. With a sniff of the smoky air, I realized something was wrong. Then I noticed that before I went to sleep the house was slightly dark and gloomy since all the lights were out and the clouds heavily covered the sunlight, but now there was a sudden brightness to the house. The bottom of my house was hit by a powerful rod of lightning and caught on fire; my six year old sister, my grandmother and I needed to leave our home as soon as possible.
The first thing that I could think to do was get up off of the bed. Quickly I got my sister to follow me out of the room. When I held her quivering hand I could tell that my sister also knew that something was wrong and she was frightened as well. When we reached the door way I could see the bright huge flames flashing in my family den, and burning away many of my family’s possessions. Luckily the fire had not spread past the family den so there was a chance that we were able to go up the stairs to the front door. I could feel the heat of the blaze hit my side as I approached the steps, and I knew that if my clothes caught on fire that we needed to stop drop and roll. I jolted up the steps and pulled my sister along, when we got up the stairs I glanced in the kitchen I saw that my grandmother was still in the kitchen. “Granny quick get out the house, it’s on fire, it’s on fire” I yelled up to her direction. “Oh Lord”, she yelled and quickly got up out of the wooden kitchen chair she was sitting in, she headed toward the front door where my sister and I stood. I remembered learning to check doorknobs making sure there not too hot to handle. When I touched the doorknob, it was slightly warm but not too hot to grip on to. I opened the front door so we could all get out of the house, I looked back to see the progress that the fire might have made and saw that it had already started coming up the stairs. Once we were all safely out of the house we were spotted by our neighbors who had seen the fire coming from our house, they happened to be running to the house to help us out. Thankfully our neighbors already called 911 and the firefighters and ambulance arrived about two minutes after my family and I evacuated. During all the action that was taking place outside, I was taken into my neighbors’ home to call my mother who was at work the whole time.
Before this incident, my family never sat down at the table and discussed a proper fire escape plan for us to follow if a fire was to happen. In most cases coming together as a family and making these plans can be absolutely beneficial. In the New York Times article, Arson Suspected as Girl Dies in Brooklyn Fire, details are given about the death of a 17-year old girl that was unable to escape a fire in her home (Schmidt). A parent really does not want to receive the news that their child is no longer alive, parents do not want to outlive their children.
Not only did the firefighters and ambulance come to put out the fire and help anyone that was hurt, but CBS 6 News was also on the scene. The day turned into my first news appearance, I thought this was the coolest thing ever at that moment. I got to be on TV, the mic was turned on I was able to tell Richmond, Virginia my story about how me and my family were able to survive my first dangerous encounter with fire. I feel like I made a lot of viewers that tuned into the 6 o’clock news that day proud, I was a young hero, and my family was safe and secured.
My niece who just turned seven actually had the same Mrs. Pratt as her first grade teacher at the same elementary school that I attended. The day that she learned about fire safety she came home very excited. She had received a coloring book with a cute Dalmatian dog in a huge red fire truck on the cover. “Hey look what I can do Auntie Key”, she yelled and then she started the motion of stopping, dropping, and rolling. I was grateful that that had received that knowledge at her age. “Yeah that’s how you do it” I said, and then we were rolling across the floor together until we got hot.
Works Cited
McConnell, Charles F., Leeming, Frank C., Dwyer, William O. “Evaluation of a Fire-Safety Training Program for Preschool Children.” Journal of Community Psychology. Vol. 24 Issue 3 (1996): 213-217. Web
Schmidt, Michael S., Zraick, Karen, Lyles, Toby. “Arson Suspected as Girl Dies in a Brooklyn Fire.” New York Times. 29 Dec. 2009: Web
Reflection 3.1
My goal for my first draft was to make sure that I got my whole story down on the paper. I used details in my story to keep my audience's attention and to help them better understand what I went through. I also included a good amount of research in my first draft. The comments from my peers were very helpful to me and I will take everything they said into consideration for my next draft. I was given advice to better organized my essay and to make my agrument clearer. I like the idea that Lauren gave me about rearranging my paragraphs so I can keep my story together. I also plan on going into more detail about my research instead of just simply pluggng it in.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Essay 3.1 Baby Steps to Fire Safety: Teach the Children
I was an eight year old third grader; of course I would be terrified when danger was around me. On the afternoon of June 23, 2000, If I didn’t understand how dangerous fire was before that day then I clearly understood its dangers soon after. That afternoon, my little sister and I decided to take a nap together in my older sister’s queen sized bed, while my grandmother remained upstairs in the kitchen to fix dinner. To us, my older sister’s downstairs bedroom seemed like the safest place to snuggle up during a huge summer thunderstorm. About a good twenty minutes into our naps we were awaken by what we thought was the noise of the loudest crack in the sky known to man. With a sniff of the smoky air, I realized something was wrong. Then I noticed that before I went to sleep the house was slightly dark and gloomy since all the lights were out and the clouds heavily covered the sunlight, but now there was a sudden brightness to the house. The bottom of my house was hit by a powerful rod of lightning and caught on fire; my six year old sister, my grandmother and I needed to leave our home as soon as possible.
I learned about fire safety in Mrs. Pratt’s third grade class earlier that year. My class was taught not to play with fire, the importance of a smoke detector, how to come up with an evacuation plan in case of a home fire and we also practiced how to stop drop and roll. I’m glad that I learned about fire safety at an early age, and I think that teaching these things at a young age is very important. In an article from the Journal of Community Psychology, William O. Dwyer says that “Children under the age of 5 are 2.5 times more likely to die from fire than any other childhood age group.” (McConnell 213). If kids are taught how to avoid fires and the process of escape a dangerous fire, then more young lives can be saved.
The first thing that I could think to do was get up off of the bed. Quickly I got my sister to follow me out of the room. Luckily the fire had not spread past the family den so we were able to go up the stairs to the front door. When I got up the stairs and glanced in the kitchen I saw that my grandmother was still in the kitchen. “Granny quick get out the house, it’s on fire, it’s on fire” I yelled up to her direction. “Oh Lord”, she yelled and quickly got up out of the wooden kitchen chair she was sitting in, she headed toward the front door where my sister and I stood. I remembered learning to check doorknobs making sure there not too hot to handle. When I touched the doorknob, it was slightly warm but not too hot to grip on to. I opened the front door so we could all get out of the house, I looked back to see the progress that the fire might have made and saw that it had already started coming up the stairs. Once we were all safely out of the house we were spotted by our neighbors who had seen the fire coming from our house, they happened to be running to the house to help us out. Thankfully our neighbors already called 911 and the firefighters and ambulances arrived about two minutes after my family and I evacuated. During all the action that was taking place outside, I was taken into my neighbors’ home to call my mother who was at work the whole time.
Before this incident, my family never sat down at the table and discussed a proper fire escape plan for us to follow if a fire was to happen. In most cases coming together as a family and making these plans can be absolutely beneficial. In the New York Times article, Arson Suspected as Girl Dies in Brooklyn Fire, details are given about the death of a 17-year old girl that was unable to escape a fire in her home (Schmidt). A parent really does not want to receive the news that their child is no longer alive, parents do not want to outlive their children.
Not only did the firefighters and ambulance come to put out the fire and help anyone that was hurt, but CBS 6 News was also on the scene. The day turned into my first news appearance, I thought this was the coolest thing ever at that moment. I got to be on TV, the mic was turned on I was able to tell Richmond, Virginia my story about how me and my family were able to survive my first dangerous encounter with fire. I feel like I made a lot of viewers that tuned into the 6 o’clock news that day proud, I was a young hero, and my family was safe and secured.
Works Cited
McConnell, Charles F., Leeming, Frank C., Dwyer, William O. “Evaluation of a Fire-Safety Training Program for Preschool Children.” Journal of Community Psychology. Vol. 24 Issue 3 (1996): 213-217. Web
Schmidt, Michael S., Zraick, Karen, Lyles, Toby. “Arson Suspected as Girl Dies in a Brooklyn Fire.” New York Times. 29 Dec. 2009: Web
I learned about fire safety in Mrs. Pratt’s third grade class earlier that year. My class was taught not to play with fire, the importance of a smoke detector, how to come up with an evacuation plan in case of a home fire and we also practiced how to stop drop and roll. I’m glad that I learned about fire safety at an early age, and I think that teaching these things at a young age is very important. In an article from the Journal of Community Psychology, William O. Dwyer says that “Children under the age of 5 are 2.5 times more likely to die from fire than any other childhood age group.” (McConnell 213). If kids are taught how to avoid fires and the process of escape a dangerous fire, then more young lives can be saved.
The first thing that I could think to do was get up off of the bed. Quickly I got my sister to follow me out of the room. Luckily the fire had not spread past the family den so we were able to go up the stairs to the front door. When I got up the stairs and glanced in the kitchen I saw that my grandmother was still in the kitchen. “Granny quick get out the house, it’s on fire, it’s on fire” I yelled up to her direction. “Oh Lord”, she yelled and quickly got up out of the wooden kitchen chair she was sitting in, she headed toward the front door where my sister and I stood. I remembered learning to check doorknobs making sure there not too hot to handle. When I touched the doorknob, it was slightly warm but not too hot to grip on to. I opened the front door so we could all get out of the house, I looked back to see the progress that the fire might have made and saw that it had already started coming up the stairs. Once we were all safely out of the house we were spotted by our neighbors who had seen the fire coming from our house, they happened to be running to the house to help us out. Thankfully our neighbors already called 911 and the firefighters and ambulances arrived about two minutes after my family and I evacuated. During all the action that was taking place outside, I was taken into my neighbors’ home to call my mother who was at work the whole time.
Before this incident, my family never sat down at the table and discussed a proper fire escape plan for us to follow if a fire was to happen. In most cases coming together as a family and making these plans can be absolutely beneficial. In the New York Times article, Arson Suspected as Girl Dies in Brooklyn Fire, details are given about the death of a 17-year old girl that was unable to escape a fire in her home (Schmidt). A parent really does not want to receive the news that their child is no longer alive, parents do not want to outlive their children.
Not only did the firefighters and ambulance come to put out the fire and help anyone that was hurt, but CBS 6 News was also on the scene. The day turned into my first news appearance, I thought this was the coolest thing ever at that moment. I got to be on TV, the mic was turned on I was able to tell Richmond, Virginia my story about how me and my family were able to survive my first dangerous encounter with fire. I feel like I made a lot of viewers that tuned into the 6 o’clock news that day proud, I was a young hero, and my family was safe and secured.
Works Cited
McConnell, Charles F., Leeming, Frank C., Dwyer, William O. “Evaluation of a Fire-Safety Training Program for Preschool Children.” Journal of Community Psychology. Vol. 24 Issue 3 (1996): 213-217. Web
Schmidt, Michael S., Zraick, Karen, Lyles, Toby. “Arson Suspected as Girl Dies in a Brooklyn Fire.” New York Times. 29 Dec. 2009: Web
Monday, April 12, 2010
Reflection 2.3
Writing an argument that adresses both sides in a caring and understanding tone can be a little difficult. I now know that its so much easier to pick a side of an argument and state the facts of your side and trash the other side, but its not always about just making yourself look better than the other side. In writing my final draft of my rogerian argument, I added a lot of background information to give my audience an actual sense of why I actually chose to write this essay. I was able to find good relevant information from scholarly article to include in my argument as well.
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