An Engineer's Best Friend

   So, we had an assignment called Style Academy. Jokingly, I assumed it'd be about how to dress and what not, especially since engineers' apparently don't know how to dress. (I don't know who assumed that.)  Anyways, here's basically what I liked and didn't like.

    I worked mainly on the sentence imitation assignment, which was nice, especially since as a writer, I'm always trying to expand my style. I liked that there were examples of sentences and then how it challenged us to do the same. However, the video was tedious and the gall gnats were kind of strange. I think style academy would be more effiecent if done in a more exciting way and also provided a transcript for students who like to read and analyze rather than just watch videos. Here are some of my examples! The numbered ones are the sentence by varying authors and a. is my imitiation.

1)      One times, as a child, in a power failure, his mother found and lit a last candle and there had been a brief hour of rediscovery, of such illumination that space lost its vast dimensions and drew comfortably around them, and they, mother and son, alone, transformed, hoping that the power might not come on again too soon.

a.       Marian thought back to the simpler times, where electricity wasn’t as prevalent, where her and her father could get lost for hours in the aviary, wandering around the choirs of birds, listening to the intimate conversations, and she desperately wished that those were the birds that surrounded her now.

2)      I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I droped my seater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

a.       The sky was pitch black and the stars could hardly be seen with the canopy of trees and even the most bright fire could hardly been seen within ten paces and the guards didn’t know whether or not they should light more for easier sight and the enemy could be around them at any time.

3)      Everything could so easily lapse into nothingness, yet each year after the death of winter, trees sprout new leaves, the moon wanes but always waxes brilliantly once more, and the serpent, a universal symbol of initiation, sloughs off its old withered skin and comes forth gleaming and fresh.

a.       Marian should have slumped into the bed, yet days still came, duties still had to be performed, depression would set in but the maids always cheered her up, and the life of Mone-ma would still press on as if nothing had happened to change life as the Icari knew it.

4)      You hit the crash cymbal at the end of a fill, as a flourish, but also as a kind of announcement that time-out has, boringly enough, ended, and that the beat must go back to work.

a.       “You say you detest the way we have treated you, as a captive, but you have had our trust, deceptively, misused it, and for that you must be punished and treated like the traitor you are.”

GASCAP Assignment

Nope, no funny titles today. It's been a long day and the like.

Generalization: "How Religious Fundamentalism Enables Sadists Like Elizabeth Smart's Kidnapper" Sarah Seltzer

Sarah Seltzer argues that because several Mormon Fundamentalists have kidnapped and murdered due to "revelations given only to men," patriarchy is oppressing all women in the LDS church.


Analogy: "Passing the People's Religious Test: Mitt Romney's Mormonism is Nothing to Fear."
John B. Judis does a great job here of likening Mormonism and other prominent religions, claiming that since we give other religions the freedom to freely in government elections without criticizing their faith, then we should do the same. He also argues that Mormon beliefs, in his opinion, may be "absurd and irrational. But no more so than the beliefs of many Protestants, Catholics, and Jews."

Sign: "Why I can't Stop Reading Mormon Housewife Blogs." Emily Matchar
This was a cute article to read and was well written. There were several sign arguments and all were well thought out. My favorite was: ""I'm jealous, I want to arrange flowers all day!" She doesn't, really. She's just tired from long days. . . ."

Cause: Abortion's Impact on Society.
Jeff Jacob argues that because abortion has been decriminalized, romance and sexuality has been corrupted, that sex outside of marriage has been increased and  that worthiness has been pushed off onto the back burner.

Authority: "A Government in Thrall to Religion" Frank R. Zindler
While I agree with the general concept of separation of church and state, this is a really bad example of authority. The author abuses his authority and it ends up being a rant.

Principle: "Abortion's Impact on Society"

Jeff again uses the morality of the sanctity of life in order to persuade readers that abortion is inherently wrong.

Introduction: Feminism, Redefined

Intro: Three months, maybe more. That’s how long I had to endure the almost daily harassment from the lunch table across from me. Most days, I wore jeans and a tee shirt, but still, the crass catcalls and comments still poured in from the myriad of boys. No one blinked an eye or even stood up for me, until I stood up for myself. And yet, I’m still asked why I need feminism.

I get asked why a self respecting LDS woman would want to associate herself with a ideology intent on destroying the family, the Priesthood, and the world as we know it. Even when I convince one individual that “not all feminists are like that,” another three or four anti-feminists rear their angry heads. I feel like Hercules, fighting a never ending hydra of misogyny and hatred. What these women, and men, don’t understand is that feminism is crucial to survival in the socio-political sphere. It’s crucial to true equality. If someone were to ask my why equality hasn’t occurred yet, I would respond, stating that true feminism hasn’t been fully accepted. It’s my belief that in order for true equality to succeed and thrive, that the general public’s perception of feminism must undergo a drastic change.

Thesis Proposal: Feminism, Redefined

Here is my current thesis proposal, enjoy!

Thesis Proposal: In order for true equality to succeed, the general public’s perception of Feminism requires a drastic change.

1)      Currently, feminism is associated with images of burning bras, man hating, and turning the world into an intense matriarchy. True feminism desires the equality of sexes in a patriartical society. However, this side is never discussed or reported, because extremism is more desirable in the media, in print, and in every day conversation. Because radical feminism is the most widely accepted version of this ideology, conservative men and women alike both impede the progress of true feminism.

2)      It’s time for change. Because feminism has such a negative connotation, important women’s—and men’s—rights are being denied, either by politics or by society. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, not only do all humans have the right to security of person, but also the right to be free from degrading treatment. In our society, patriarchy and misogyny hurt both men and women. How? Because, take for example, the case of a man who experienced statutory rape as a youth. He couldn’t admit that he was assaulted for a long time, because his peers pressured him into thinking he liked and wanted to have intimate relations with a teacher – or else, he was a queer.

3)      Feminsim is essential to women’s socio-political life. It’s because of feminism that we women have the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to go to college and to choose our own destinies. However, because of the public’s negative mindset, feminism has been denied making these leaps and bounds in the socio-political realm.

                                                                                    

Skirts, PDA, and Wrestling

Skirts, PDA, and Wrestling? Why would someone in their right mind even write about these? They don't have anything in common!

 



 

These are all the topics of opinion editorials that we had to read for Writing 150. All were pretty interesting and here are some thoughts!

First, the articles about skirts and PDA were petty on the surface. However, considering the audience, the writers' opinions were timely, even though they were written five to seven years ago. My main question in regards to "A Mini-Skirt," is why the author preferred to focus on the women's side of the Honor Code, when men's dress code is violated just as often, if not more. Sure, skirt/pant length is easy to judge and justify - aka, men get "bad thoughts"- but scruff on a man is still against the Honor Code. The author failed to focus on both genders when arguing that the Honor Code should be followed, which makes her argument somewhat lacking in ethos.  Then, the PDA argument.

While skimming through it, I enjoyed seeing a fresh look on the PDA problem on campus. However, while looking for actual arguments, the author seemed to argue in a bit of a fallacious way. In my opinion, good opinion editorials (see what I did there?) often look at both sides of an issue. That was a major strength of "A Mini Skirt.." However, "A Kiss-less Campus" failed to recognize that certain 'restrictions' on BYU grounds make it impossible for PDA to never occur. While I'm not saying overt PDA is a good thing, grouping "prolonged kissing, making out, cuddling, [and] fondling. . ." in the same category seems like a bit of cherry picking, in which she picks the most obnoxious forms of PDA, mixes it with an innocent one, and calls all tasteless.  Several other fallacies include: appeal to probability (it's happened to her occasionally, Helamen Halls ex., so it must happen everywhere to everyone, ) and the moralistic fallacy (a couple was making out on the couch AND I felt like I had to apologize to them, when they were doing the wrong act.) But enough of my ranting.

The final opinion editorial, "Wrestling's Dirty Secret," exposed a nasty and less reported side of a classic sport. This article did a wonderful job of exposing the secrets behind weight loss, the abuse of coach power, and proposed several solutions to what seems to be a vexing problem. This article held all the qualities of a good opinion editorial and is one worth reading again.

So, that's it, thoughts and questions on several opinion editorials. Enjoy!

 



Why I Need Feminism

(note: this is just a free write for my 150 class. It's not all thought out and probably won't be structured like this at all. Just so you know!)

Feminism. Eight letters that have morphed into being associated with bra burning, man hating, and converting the world to a matriarchy. Like every ideology in our world, it seems like the radical sides are the only ones expressed. Take for example, this situation.

                One of the people I used to follow posted a link to a blog about why women don’t need feminism on Facebook. Upset and distraught that someone would think such a thing, I responded, explaining that I needed and loved having feminism. Some disgruntled women replied, chastising me for my lack of care for men and rules and the LDS view on marriage, stating that what I needed was a man to keep me in line.

You can imagine how much that hurt and infuriated me. This isn’t a singular case though. Throughout BYU and extending to most of Mormon culture, the word “feminism” is now being associated with the breakup of the traditional family and the group Ordain Women, when in reality, those are only the extremes. The typical view of feminism isn’t about matriarchies and turning the world into one of Amazons. The mainstream view is a simply one, which can be summed up in two words: Equal rights.

Equal rights? Then shouldn’t we call it equality or egalitarianism, rather than feminism? One of my good friends, Meghan, argues that if we focus on calling equal rights egalitarianism, the oppression that women faced for decades would be simply swept under the rug. But, alas, I digress.

Back to the original question: Why do I, as a woman, need feminism? I need feminism because I want to vote, because I want to get paid for my skills, not my chromosomes. Because I have to carry pepper spray with me, just in case. Because being modest makes me a “prude” and is only useful to keep men from having bad thoughts and showing too much skin makes it okay for catcalls and harassment. Because if I didn’t want to be treated like a piece of meat, I shouldn’t have dressed like one. Because even though I wore jeans and a tee-shirt, I was still harassed every day for the last few months of high school. And because I wasn’t as well-endowed as other girls, because I wasn’t dating or having intimate relations with anyone, it was funny and not one friend thought anything of it. I need feminism like I need the air or food to sustain me. It is the life blood of my socio-political needs.

Why does anyone need feminism? Because girls are being kidnapped in Middle Eastern countries for going to school. Because women are still treated as property and in Yemen, it’s still okay for a ten year old to marry a man three times her age. Because getting paid less is “okay” since women are more likely to take off six to ten weeks or quit their job for children. Because men who get raped-yes, by a woman occasionally-are afraid to report it, because men will think they’re “queer” and “didn’t want it.” And finally, because women and men were created equal and we deserve to be treated as such.

Feminism isn’t only about bra-burning and man hating. It’s not trying to make women superior to men, but equal, in all aspects. Not just in voting, not just in pay or employment, not just in how women are treated.

 

 

 

Because Who Doesn't Love Introductions?

To all who are reading this lovely blog of mine, welcome. I hope to entertain you all with my thoughts and other little snippets of my writing during my enrollement in Writing 150. I'm really hoping to become a more persuasive writer, not only for essays, but also for better fiction writing. Plus, INow, on to the good stuff!

Until about four days ago, I was not planning on taking freshman writing AT ALL! I had assumed that my college credits would be excepted, alas, they were not. Because I am a sophomore, I had a hold placed on my account. That's right. A hold. I couldn't register for any classes until I had taken Writing 150, but that also meant I couldn't take this class. Bit of a catch 22, don't you think? Well, after much panic, here I am, in a freshman writing class as a sophomore. Funny, I know.

So, a little about me, because I know that's the only reason you'd be reading this. As I said previously, I am a sophomore and turned 19 a few months ago.

 

Me and my bud, Judd at graduation

 

I'm majoring in Civil Engineering and I love it so much! Really, it's the best major for me, because it combines math and science, two of my favorite subjects. I hope to one day design structures and other household items for individuals in developing countries. I can't wait to get started with that dream!

 

 

I'm from a little town in Texas called Muleshoe, twenty miles from both Earth, TX and Sudan, TX. Don't worry about the strange town names; they're pretty common place in small town Texas. Some interesting ones include, but are not limited to:

• Progress
• Half-way
• Circle Back
• Sunshine
• Paris
• Guy
• And a never ending variety of towns ending with -field or -view

Muleshoe is famous for, you guessed it, Muleshoes! We even have the largest muleshoe in the world, as well as a mule statue that has visited the president. 

 

 



 

 

 

 

More about me: I love reading any kind of book, except romance (they are stereotypically pretty raunchy.) My favorite genre is Young Adult and I am currently extremely ecstatic about Blood Of Olympus coming out! Speaking of novels, I am in the progress of writing one, based on a pinterest post I once saw. If you want to know more, just ask!

 

 

Writing, reading, listening to music and having random dance parties are some of my favorite hobbies. I also enjoy Sherlock, Star Trek (Jean Luc Picard is my homeboy!), Once Upon a Time, and documentaries, especially ones dealing with women's issues. That's all I can really think about in ways of introductions at the moment.