Paintball: Promoter of Violence or Healthy Fun

Taylor’s promotion of how playing paintball is a healthy, competitive, teambuilding sport made a lot of sense to me.  It is not necessarily the violent, brutal sport that most who have not played it, envision it to be.  This sport seems to have many benefits that Taylor pointed out.  It reminded me of a time that my work colleagues and I participated in a teambuilding workshop.

We all gathered at a location away from our jobsite.  There was an ultimate common goal that we were to achieve; to develop a mission statement for the Charlotte Campus Student Services.  We divided in to several teams and competed in multiple competitions, occasionally changing and combining teammates.  Through a voting process, the results of our winnings helped to build different parts of the mission statement.  When we were finished we had come up with what was the birth of this new statement.  Everybody contributed in some way, and we all understood that it was a work in progress, something that could be reexamined and changed as often as necessary.

What I liked most about Taylor’s writing about paintball playing was the teambuilding aspect and how good things can be accomplished when working together.  I think that is something that most would not consider on this topic and is probably something that most proponents of this sport enjoy the most.

Online Social Networks

Reading the exploratory essay by a student named James Gardiner was somewhat enlightening.  In this essay, he highlighted some research that he had begun to do regarding Online Social Networks for a major paper that he was working on.

His research included several independent studies and surveys that were conducted, mostly with teenagers and young adults.  These studies touched on topics from personal information provided online in the social network atmosphere, to how this arena of socializing might affect communication skills, and plenty of other pro and con aspects in between.

My favorite part of Gardiner’s essay was the statement from Graham Bowley, an author from the Financial Times international business newspaper.  According to Bowley, young people were using online social networks “to reinforce existing relations with the group of friends they already had from their offline lives.  For them, MySpace had become and electronic version of the local mall or park, the place they went to with their friends when they just wanted to hang out”.  Bringing back my youthful mall memories, this instantly helped me equate how and why the newer generation utilizes online social networks.

Still unsure of his thesis for his final project, Gardiner intended on continuing his research on OSNs.  He felt he needed to investigate more on the negative aspects of OSNs and then wrote an argument on this topic.

Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream

The report titled “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream” was very informative.  I was taken aback with the results that “The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press” obtained from the random survey that they conducted with Muslim Americans regarding their outlooks, values and attitudes.

Our text book states that “Typically, informative writing is valuable to the extent that it brings something needed, new, or surprising to the audience and therefore enlarges their view of the topic.”  Prior to reading this report, I think that I probably would have expected a much different outcome from the survey. To learn that most Muslim Americans feel the same as “traditional Americans” about living life in America, opportunities available to them and that most reject Islamic extremists, gave me a new view on this subject.  It also made the information interesting, since it was not what I anticipated.

The report thoroughly explained how the data for the survey was gathered.  The key findings were easy to understand, as they were well written and clearly laid out in a bulleted format.  The charts that were included in the essay did a very good job of backing up the data that was presented in the text.

Living Like Weasels

Reading Dillard’s story about her encounter with a weasel was difficult for me to enjoy.  The skill of strong open form style of writing is something I could never envision myself comfortable in obtaining.  The underlying meaning of her story seemed deep and as if it could be interpreted to each their own way.

I believe the point that Dillard was trying to convey was how she admired the weasel’s simplicity.  Near her closing she states, “a weasel lives as he’s meant to, yielding at every moment to the perfect freedom of single necessity”.  This implies to me that respect was held for one who is able to live their life successfully accomplishing necessities.  Most of us attempt to perform many things at a time, and usually can do this adequately.  The weasel on the other hand, focuses on one necessity at a time and will perform to perfection, even with death.

The depth of this writing was quite intent.  The amount of meaning and description that was taken from a brief encounter with a weasel was enormous.  While trying to interpret the gist of this story was uncomfortable for me, I did try to appreciate a different style of writing than I am familiar with.

Phantom Limb Pain

In Saknussemm’s writing “Phantom Limb Pain” he tells of a childhood memory that probably helped shape a large part of his character.  Without giving a great amount of detail, he safely holds the reader responsible for developing the clear meaning of his memory.

Saknussemm indicated that he had never been in Miller King’s house before he went there to visit him after King’s motorcycle accident in which he lost his arm.  Without directly stating the reason why, one can easily envision that the long term envious relationship the two neighbor boys have had, played a large part in the reason why he had never been there before.  Saknussemm says that he was also having “crazy dreams” that left him feeling “responsible for the accident”, but didn’t give detail as to why.  Once again, the guilt of performing a harmful ceremony, just two days before King’s accident, in a place where the two boys had negatively crossed paths in the past, left one safe to assume this was the reason for Saknussemm’s dreams.

A pivotal point in the story is when Saknussemm finds King stuck on a fence and helps him down.  When King eloquently accepted the help, a lifelong lesson was realized by Saknussemm.  King really was a hero.  He was not afraid to accept any challenge dealt to him.  He was a true leader.

I enjoyed how Saknussemm closed his piece by tying the last sentence into the theme of his story.  Using words like “grew bigger” and “a little more real” makes one closely relate to the title “Phantom Limb Pain”.

No Cats In America!

Patrick José’s recollection of a his transition from his home county of the Philippines to the United States described how as a child he bought into the American dream based on the movie “An American Tale”. He moved to California with great expectations of a new and easy life. Like the movie he had watched so many times as a child, he developed a false impression of how he would be received in his new country.


Throughout life we frequently anticipate that a major event in our life is going to be wonderful and great, but it can fall short of our expectations. Reality set in quickly for Jose during his first day in his new school. Although he had a good English vocabulary, his accent became the object of ridicule by his classmates. His customary lunch of rice and tilapia brought additional laughter from his fellow students. His dreams of what life would be like in America were shattered during that first day of school. The days that followed brought further humiliation to the point where he resented his own culture and withdrew from his own family.

Most of us can relate to an anticipated event turning sour, but when your entire identity is threatened one cannot help but empathize with Jose's plight. He effectively guides the reader through a multitude of emotions. We felt his anticipation, hesitations, humiliation and ultimate despair progress throughout the story.

Masks

I enjoyed this piece written by an anonymous first-year composition student. She delivered an excellent performance by describing the settings and feelings that were involved in her story, and yet didn’t overcomplicate the writing. I surprisingly found that through her skillful writing technique, she stylishly made her reader connect to a familiar inadequate feeling they surely have experienced in their own life at some time, if only to a certain degree.


Describing in thorough detail successfully gave one a clear sense of the emotions involved, the setting in which they took place and which chapter was occurring in the writers’ life. By use of comparisons, she describes one character as “like a beautiful perfume you smell but can’t name” and “like a whisper that wakes you from a dream and turn out to belong to the dream”. In doing this, she feeds a clue of the title choice “Masks” for this writing to the reader. The brief last paragraph fruitfully unfolded the entire value of the story. In such few words the writer was able express a powerful awakening.


I wish to achieve paralleling some of this first-year composition students’ talent and abilities in the writing process. To be able to captivate an audience, with proper use of detail, connection and interest is a skill I find intriguing and hope to someday realize.

30 Little Turtles

30 Little Turtles by Friedman clearly pointed out how sometimes outsourcing can be a prosperous social endeavor. It can be kept within the same culture, but in recent global markets, is more often seen with a variety of different cultures. Some people and businesses view certain tasks as not worthy of completing for many reasons.



Sometimes it is that one feels that they are above performing the task. Other times one may be unskilled to complete the task. Another reason might be that one believes their time would be better used doing something else; that they could earn more money, more status or possibly just more personal satisfaction. Outsourcing can be an option in many cases to achieve a task being completed with benefits to all that are involved.


From the average homeowner hiring a landscaper to huge businesses using outsiders to perform jobs and supply materials, outsourcing is here to stay. The theory of individuals or businesses zeroing in on a specific specialty proves that expertise can be more easily achieved through a narrower arena in which to perform. Costs can be kept lower due to concentration in one area as well.


Friedman’s writing also makes one stop and realize how many things are viewed differently depending on who is viewing, how two views of the exact task can vary. One may see the task as not worth competing or below them, while anther may view completing the task as an accomplishment and feel successful. For social reasons, outsourcing seems like a win, win situation.

Clash on the Congo

This writing clearly points out how one event can be viewed in two totally different aspects. It also shows how different cultures can react in other ways to the same given scenario due their customs and traditions. So much interpretation depends on whose eyes are viewing.



It can be easily shown that this perspective is still carried out through modern times. Having never been a minority, in a recent visit to Puerto Rico, I had the opportunity to view things from a different vantage point than I have become accustomed. Being in a place where people mainly speak a language that is foreign to me; eat food that I am unfamiliar with and live a totally different lifestyle at first was intimidating to me. After a night of celebration with the locals I felt right at home. Pig roasting, Puerto Rican moonshine and learning some new Latin dances proved just how eager and proud some people are share their culture and how much fun it can be to step outside your everyday life and experience something new.


Looking back this visit made me realize how people fear other cultures due to unfamiliar circumstances and their upbringing. Being more open minded can certainly provide a more desirable outcome.

Tinker

Tinker’s writing was interesting in that it made you stop and realize that sometimes complicated issues seem that they should have simple solutions and be easy to accomplish, yet we always have to factor in all the possible repercussions. I liked how the writing began by explaining a dilemma and indicated the problems that could arise with possible solutions. Then as the writing went on, it made the reader realize that there may be other, not so obvious solutions to the dilemma that might provide a more prosperous outcome.


Many times in our lives we are presented with issues or problems and tend to see the solutions in black and white. Sometimes it is difficult to view things in any other way, but what we know and are comfortable with. This is so limiting on what we can possibly accomplish.

I am petrified to take this writing class, because I know of my inability to be flexible and free with my thoughts, ideas and writing. Part of what I hope to accomplish is to learn to think outside the box. Not to be so narrow minded; to learn to think and explore outside of my comfort zone and to learn to view things from different angles. I believe this will help me accomplish many things in life that otherwise would not be obtainable.