Find an article that relates in some way to the things we have been talking about in class.
- First, summarize the text, explaining how you are understanding what they are saying.
- Second, connect it to our class. Why did you pick it? How does it connect to our class?
Include a link to the text. Should be about 250 words in length.
Some things we have talked about:
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Genres
- Music and Movies
Professor Ramos' Blog 
The article I have chosen for my first journal response it titled “The Importance of Critical Thinking” by Lane Wallace for The Atlantic. Wallace literally starts off by referencing another article written by Nicholas Kristof for The New York Times about the vast emotional comparisons between liberals and conservatives on “hot button issues”. Wallace then claims that the whole reason why there is a political divide between the two factions is because, to quote Wallace, “the two camps don’t just think differently. They feel differently” (Wallace). The article goes on to talk about how, according to Wallace, there are two types of people – those who view the world in black and white or different shades of grey and those who have the ability to think critically. From that point forward, Wallace subtly makes the case that if more people were taught how to think critically, then, to speak frankly, there would be less people with narrow viewpoints on social topics. The reason why I chose this specific article is because it heavily talks about, per the title, the importance of critical thinking – one of the main objectives of English 102. An excerpt even mentions a point discussed during yesterday’s lecture: “”they realize that no matter how skilled they are as thinkers … they will at times fall prey to mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, prejudices, biases” (Wallace). This sentence itself talks about critical thinkers, claiming that even they are susceptible to their own biases and prejudices which falls in line with Professor Ramos’ statement that everyone has their own biases.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2009/05/the-importance-of-critical-thinking/18469/
LikeLike
Phillip Perez
9/6/2019
Mr. Ramos
English 102
My Response to chronicle’s article are college students learning anything?
Are students really learning in United States Colleges. Does the information they listen to a lecture get retained? In class on my first day in Mr. Ramos, English 102 class. I learned about passing the class just to get by and getting good grades. However, in this chronicle article they talk about the same subject we were talking about in class knowing the value of critical thinking and complex reasoning. Taking the time out to actual think about all aspects of the subject we trying to agree or disagree with. It may be a choice we have to make, Understanding the four rules of the game. Here are the four rules of the game Example one is the goal which is to work towards the goal. Example two is guidelines you need to follow to stay focused. Example three is keeping track of your progress and how close you are to surpassing your goal. Example four is doing it at your own will and receiving information back. To have a choice to complete goal or leave. Most of all, we must modify are prospective on learning abilities and reevaluate the subject. It didn’t become a necessity until the 1990s families started to see high education was an advantage in the global economy. So are we learning or wasting our time? So now that we see students are not learning. we must reevaluate the things we are learning in class. Taking the steps of the game and applying it will help you understand and pass college.
LikeLike
The article I have chosen to write about is one that deals with an event that is a big issue at current times, and that is the fire that is raging through the Amazon rainforest. This is one of the largest ecosystems that we have and it is currently being burned at such a rapid speed with the threat of causing many animals to become extinct. The article writes of how vast the ecosystem is with the dangers of animals going extinct along with the efforts that are being put to reforest the Amazon rainforest with seeds that will germinate well. Even though the efforts are being put, the forest will still burn with it being compared in the article to the Library of Alexandria, with the effort being done is for a hopeful future that may allow the forest to being as great as it once was. This article dealt with the topic of critical thinking that was discussed in class in part because it forces you to think of the consequences this event will have for years to come, with the every worsening of climate and the increase of pollution, this fire has caused whatever events to become more rapid now that this ecosystem has taken a hit. Beyond all the damage that is being done to the rainforest what causes me great amount of frustration is that it was being burned down for days without any news on the subject. The forest are often referred to by some as the “lungs” of the world, if so why wasn’t it on the news by the second day at least of it continuing to burn.
LikeLike
article: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-brazil-fires-and-deforestation-threaten-amazon-species-survival
LikeLike
The article that I chose to read is an article by Kim Kautzer and it is called “Students are unprepared for college level writing” It was originally posted in 2010 but was updated in May of 2018 they decided to update this article since some of the ideas they discuss are still a problem to this day, which is mostly the problem with writing and social media. This article is targeted towards parents whose children are getting ready to attend college and who wish to help their child have the best chance when it comes to any type of writing in class. I found it interesting because they are giving the parents tips and tricks of how to help their child in becoming a better writer in high school and pretty soon college. I chose to read about writing since in class we are going to be writing a few essays in this class, I found it interesting how they were blaming the use of social media on how us as students write not up to the level they expect. Which I’m talking on my own behalf here, could be correct because since I do not write other students essays I do not know how they personally write, since I have had some sort of social media account since I was thirteen it has never burden myself as a writer. Since I knew the difference of how I write on social media to how I write an essay is vastly different, but yet again everyone is different.
LikeLike
Kaitlynn Sims
Professor Ramos
English 102
8 September 2019
It took a while and some family outsourcing to find a topic that held interest for me as well as one that connected to the topics we discussed in class. After some scouring, I settled on an article by Maria Cohut, published on April 30th, 2018 on the Medical News Today website. It discussed the findings of a small study conducted the year prior that name music as a possible ally against the cognitive decline of those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. The article starts off by explaining that those with Alzheimers experience severe memory recall issues due to progressive damage caused to the brain by the disease process. The damage impairs their cognitive function, their ability to provide self-care, their use of language, and their day-to-day decision making. These impairments cause the sufferer to experience disorientation, confusion, and extreme anxiety. The article indicates that nearly 5.7 million individuals in the United States alone suffer from Alzheimers and that by 2050 that number is expected to increase to 14 million. The influx of affected calls for a better understanding of the disease as well as the development of better symptom management and reduction of the anxiety they experience. One strategy for anxiety alleviation that scientists have taken a particular interest in, as it may even be a means of staving off some of the cognitive decline is listening to music.
The study referenced in the article names music as an anchor of sorts; activating the salience network in the brain that remains relatively functioning in those affected by Alzheimers. The salience network in the brain distinguishes which stimuli is important enough to warrant the body to react. Jace King, one of the study authors, is quoted in the article states that when patients were made to listen to familiar music they came alive; music acted as an anchor grounding them back in reality. This notion was further shown through MRIs done while the patients listened to selected clips of music meaningful to them. The article ends with the authors of the study warning against taking the results of the study as a cure, as the test group was small and there are many factors still to be analyzed. However, it does offer that listening to music may make the symptoms more manageable and improve the patient’s quality of life. Music plays a big part in much of our lives. When asked, most can offer up a favorite band and song within a few moments. We attach deep meaning to particular songs, and recall the feelings and memories associated with the music. We have couple songs, break up songs, the songs they played at our graduations.
Alzheimers has touched my life in both personal and professional ways. I have worked in healthcare for nearly four years now and have attended to many patients with the disease. I have experience with those ranging from the newly diagnosed, to those in the advanced stages. My great grandmother was also diagnosed and I was one of her caregivers from a very early age. In later stages, those affected become so debilitatingly impaired that they can no longer recall how to eat. It’s devastating to watch someone who was once so full of life be reduced to the level of inability that later stages of Alzheimers brings. One thing I do recall fondly though, was when we would play music for my grandmother. When you put on her favorite music she would in essence wake up, if only just a little, and often after not speaking at all the for the day, she would speak and form simple sentences. In my experience, these changes were not isolated to just my grandmother, as I have seen similar responses in patients I have had in the past. This is why I chose this article to write about. There is a colloquial saying amongst those who work in end of life care, that hearing is the last thing to go. That is why we are always instructed to address those who are in active death directly as if they can still hear and respond to you. I believe this may have been one of the jump-off points for this avenue of study presented in the article, and it shows the researchers’ aptitude for critical thinking. It also shows that there are still people out there fighting for the betterment of life for a sect of society commonly viewed by our culture as no longer necessary.
Here’s the article:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321677.php
LikeLike
For my article I chose One called “7 ways to improve your critical thinking skills”.
Author Ransom Patterson noticed, that when he was in seventh grade, his history teacher explained the need for critical thinking in high school. By saying the students would need to be able to think; to know how to make connections between ideas and evaluate information critically. This was introduced to him back then and since by high school teachers and college alike. While the definition was often given to him, he found that he still couldn’t give the definition or even explain how to do it. Therefore, he decided to investigate. What is critical thinking, how do we do it, why is it important, and how can we get better at it?
Critically thinking is just deliberately and systematically processing information in order to make better decisions and generally understand things better. Ways to critically think about information include, conceptualizing, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating. This information can come from sources such as observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication and all this is meant to guide beliefs and action.
This type of thinking is the opposite of regular, everyday thinking. Why does critical thinking matter though? If you think about it, this makes sense. If we had to think about every action, such as breathing we wouldn’t have any cognitive energy left over for important stuff like D and D.
The value of critical thinking matters not only in college but more so in the real world by allowing you to continue to develop intellectually after you graduate and by helping you make hard decisions.
Here are some ways to think more critically. Ask basic questions, question basic assumptions, be aware of your mental process, Evaluate the existing evidence, remember to think for yourself, understand that no one thinks critically one hundred percent of the time.
Learning to think critically will assist you in both the classroom and beyond.
II chose this article because it explains critical thinking. I like how it breaks it down into steps.
https://collegeinfogeek.com/improve-critical-thinking-skills/
LikeLike
David Lam
Professor Ramos
English 102-46
8 September 2019
It’s a Go-to Hustle that is Honest
The article, “It’s a Go-to Hustle that is Honest,” by Nicole Hayden, starts with a story of a woman named, Starr Thornton, who spends much of her day looking for recyclables. She is on disability and need the extra income to survive every month. Everyday she rides her bike for miles to locate recyclables and make stops to several different recycling centers to lighten her load during her routine. The articles mentions different stories about homeless’ who make the same journey in order to survive.
As the article continues, it goes into the difficulties recyclers are having due to the closure of the largest recycling center, RePlanet. Now these individuals must travel farther in order to recycle. Many of them cannot due to limited mobility and lack of transportation. This closure was blamed on “a reduction of state fees, the falling price of recyclables, and the rise in operating costs” (Hayden).
I chose this article to think about possible subjects for the future essays in this class. If you were to think about the subject in further depth, it has limitless possibilities for a strong paper. One being, is disability providing enough for our citizens? Will less people recycle due to lack of convenience? What will happen to our landfills if there are no recycle centers. Will homeless resort to violent crimes and breaking into homes due to lack of income. Is our current trade war causing this, since China, the biggest buyer of recyclables, is putting restrictions on what they purchase? What will retailers of can and bottle goods do about state law that requires them to accept empties if they are not within a half mile radius of a recycling center. Clearly, this subject requires critical thinking and covers many genre of writing that were mention in class.
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2019/08/15/closure-recycling-centers-palm-springs-area-impacts-homeless-community/1991639001/
LikeLike
The article I decided to pick is “Our Concept and Definition of Critical Thinking.” The goal of it is to show us where we go wrong in our daily thinking and how to correct it to become critical thinkers. It also explains the etymology of those words and that being “discerning judgment based on standards.” In life everyone has their own biased and uninformed opinion on most subjects. Yet our quality of life depends on the quality of thought and shoddy thinking can be costly. To improve on it we must learn how to critically think. Critically thinking is the ability to analyze and assess and reconstruct thoughts on subjects, problems, and content without bias. Someone who is a good critical thinker must be able to raise vital questions to problems, reaching a well-reasoned conclusion, thinks with an open mind, communicates effectively.
I chose this article because it explained everything I was confused about effectively and helped me understand how to critical think. I also felt that the other topics were too broad and this was the one I wanted to read up on. This relates to our class because half of the semester is devoted to critically thinking. I am excited to learn how to open my mind and connect it through writing and everyday life. This class will allow me to become a critical thinker and this article was just the start of it.
Article:
https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/our-conception-of-critical-thinking/411
LikeLike
I came across the article, “Lana Del Rey hated NPR’s album review. But critic Ann Powers stands her ground,” from the LA Times on Twitter, and on the surface it is simply a recap of a twitter spat between singer-songwriter, Lana Del Rey, and music critic, Ann Powers, after Powers wrote a critical review of Del Rey’s otherwise widely praised newest album, “Norman F***ing Rockwell.” Powers described the music and lyrics as “disempowered”, “uncooked”, and “self-sabotaging” but Lana Del Rey directly responded via Twitter in defense saying, “I don’t even relate to one observation you made about the music. There’s nothing uncooked about me. To write about me is nothing like it is to be with me…” However, this article did remind me of what we talked about in class about critical thinking. Ann Powers took the time to listen to the material, analyze what she heard, and formulate her own opinions on the album. The review offers praise in addition to criticism, but even after Del Rey fired back at her, Powers was able to back up her analysis and her right to write said piece in the first place. Powers also offered Del Rey many well-wishes and respect to her, her career, and her fans. I find Ann Powers to be an excellent example of someone who is able to critically think because she didn’t just repeat the same praise everyone else was giving the album and she was able to support her analysis and original review of “NFR” even after being put on the hot seat by Lana Del Rey.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-09-05/lana-del-rey-norman-rockwell-npr
LikeLike
In this article on a young quarter back in the national football league shins light on how when you mix traditional gendered or types you can end up with something magical or something horrendous. Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens is not the typical “traditional” quarter back that the league is used to seeing. He is a slight build standing at 6’2 and weighing 210 which most typical quarter backs are 6’3 and at minimum 225 but the characteristic that actually stands out would be his speed. He’s faster than most wide receivers in the league and runs the ball better than most running backs so when the NFL aficionados started saying they aren’t sure if he can throw the ball his quarterback talents were in question. Lamar won the Hiesman Trophy his junior year by being the most versatile quarterback but even than because he was good on his feet people wanted him to change positions once he got to the league. Today started his sophomore season at QB for the Baltimore Ravens, he is the leader of a very young offense yet he led his team to a 59 paint victory. The most in franchise history as well as throwing 5 touchdowns, the most since Payton Manning in 2011. He threw for 324 yards on a 17/20 game. An 85% completion rate with a perfect passer rating. So who’s to say because he is a great athlete on his feet that he can’t throw the ball too. The mix of a fast agile player with a cannon for an arm can and will be something special.
LikeLike
The article I am writing about is the “Secrets to the Most Successful College Students”. I chose this because i would for myself and my peers to succeed in whatever they are trying to achieve. It basically talks about setting goals, “pursuing passion, not A’s”, getting “comfortable with failure”, and allowing yourself to “read and thinking actively”. All of which, applies to game and this class. Setting goals for yourself is important because it motivates you to complete the obstacle which, is this class. This whole class is dependent on allowing yourself to think actively through reading, studying and asking questions. Some rules would be to play fair, do your best, “cheat codes do not apply” and to understand that failure is okay. Reminding yourself of your initial goal and what you are coming to class for is important. But, to ask for peer or teacher feedback is essential to our academic growth. In a game, as well as this class, participation is voluntary. We don’t have to be here but, we choose to be here or our parents made us, regardless of all of that we came for one thing, to succeed even if that means failing a little or even a lot
http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/13/secrets-of-the-most-successful-college-students/
LikeLike