FINAL comment

A FINAL COMMENT

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FOCUS

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                          FOCUS a Tool for Life

I have learned to narrow my focus tremendously through the assignments in English 102.  I tend to see the big picture and get very overwhelmed by the details.  With the application of close reading, I found that I was becoming even more overwhelmed because I was thinking so deeply about every single thing I was reading.  Though this helped me to understand the reading better and allowed me to be critical of the material it became very hard for me to select a single important theme or topic within the material to write about.  I couldn’t seem to get the bigger picture in all its glory out of the way.  It was like trying to find a formation while standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon looking in.  

With the assignment of the third essay using the book “WhiteNoise” by DeLillo I had great difficulty finding a single focus within the reading.  My notes were voluminous; I was forced to use a strategy of selecting just one key word and phrasing.  By pulling those notes out of my initial set of notes I was able to narrow my focus.  This strategy helped me focus in on what I wanted to say about the work and then pick out very specific topics and passages in the book that spoke to the point of my focus.

In life as well as in work and school I can see this struggle with focus as being the biggest bonus I have gotten from English 102.  I have struggled with some personal issues during this semester that have cause me to become very scattered and it was really due to this assignment that I started to put everything back in its place.  I applied the same focus strategy I was using with the assignment to my journaling; Make my notes, select the key word or phrase, and pull out what is relevant.  Then focus on that single issue.  In this way I have been able to stay out of a state of being overwhelmed.  I have also applied this to where I envision my career going and have been able to make some good solid decisions about my future.

There have been many technical lessons presented in this class which have all been valuable but for me the most valuable lesson has been the unique experience I have had while taking this class.

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How is online learning different than in person learning? 

And 

What are the particular challenges or benefits to taking and English class (in particular) in an online environment?

For every good point there is a drawback…

I can be as messy as I want to be and I can be as messy as I want to be.

The first thing I notice is I read everything much more closely and critically.  This is a good thing.  But I have also found that I think about things too much also and that is a hindrance. 

I do miss hearing what others have to share and getting their points of view so that is a negative but I also find that I don’t get distracted from where I am headed with a concept or process and that is good.

Though the flexibility of the online class has been very helpful for me this semester I have definitely felt that this type of class would have been better in person.

…I think online learning can offer great advantages and everyone should try it at some point in their college career.

Here is a good online learning website  http://onlinelearningtips.com/

It has great tips and resources for the online student 

Tentative Thesis Statement & Introductory Paragraph

                                                                                                              

     

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Tentative Thesis Statement

“A Modest Proposal” by author Jonathan  Swift is a satirical comment on the current state of economic, social and ethical morays held by the genteel and landholding classes of the early 1700s which demonstrates an extreme level of shear frustration through the use of obvious extremes of Juvenalian and Horacian satire to both build up and shame those Swift feels are able to rectify the situation yet are doing nothing.



Introductory Paragraph

By using the grotesque imagery of cannibalistic social policy as a way to deal with overpopulation and poverty in Ireland in the early 1700s and then justifying such a policy with almost eloquent reasoning through the use of  irony Swift allows his audience to make light of the situation in public yet feel truly disturbed in private.  Through his combined Juvenalian and Horacian style approach Swift is allowing the genteel and landholding classes that he feels are responsible for causing and providing the solution of the circumstances at hand to wrestle with themselves.  This, in turn, will allow his audience to come to a self-determined decision as to how they can affect the circumstances presented as opposed to his audience feeling attacked and defensive.

In “A Modest Proposal” author Jonathan  Swift, using both Horace and Juvenal methods, is  attempting to draw attention to the ridiculous and ineffectual approach  of dealing with poverty, famine and overpopulation by proposing that most all of society’s ills can be addressed and negated by selling off the numerous infants of the poor to provide economic relief, a nutritive source of sustenance for the affluent and reduced stain on the economy by turning the liability of so many unproductive infants, toddlers and children into a resource for consumption locally and abroad.

By proposing even more ridiculous and grotesque solutions to the challenge and arguing their merit using a logical appeal, Swift is speaking to the affluent of the day and bringing them into the solution by arguing that they can be the benevolent and wise deliverers of the many ills Irish society is facing in early 1700’s. 

Though swift does make his point he undermines his potential effectiveness by reintegrating his solution and its benefits to extreme length.  The extremity of his proposal gives the impression that he is presenting it out of the shear frustration over the immensity of the situation; almost to the effect of seeming to whine about the circumstances as opposed to making efforts to effect change.