gangam style

 hes the man

Post Secret

My audience is anyone who is looking for a good laugh.I cut out a picture from a magazine to show my secret. It made my secret seem more violent and evil than if my secret wasn't posted.

Peer Review Paper 3

I think the ad pitch peer review was the most beneficial review to helping write my essay. By pitching to the entire class I was able to get advice from everyone in the class rather than one person. It gave me creative ideas and more information to provide in my essay.

Spoof Ad

This image symbolizes the effects of eating Mcdonald's. Mcdonald's advertises its customers using their famous logo of the golden arches. In this spoof ad, the golden arches of Mcdonalds are seen on a heart monitor, displaying the heart beat of a patient during what seems to be open heart surgery. This image shows how the consumption of Mcdonalds fast food, leads to unhealthy outcomes. The image has a blue color fixture, giving off a type of dark and gloomy feeling. The golden arches stand out in the picture, that give an intense image arguing that Mcdonalds is to blame for the patient's dangerous surgery. This ad gets its point across in a strong manner, and can open the eyes to many customers who go to Mcdonalds on a regular basis.  

Advertisement response

The advertisement on the first page of my Sports Illustrated magazine is trying to influence the audience to buy the new Nissan Pathfinder. They pursuade the audience to believe that with 5,000 lbs of towing the Pathfinder provides, the SUV can tow a heavy load. In the advertisement, the Pathfinder towed a portable tailgating grill, to provide the perfect set up for fans before the University of Michigan football game. It is trying to show football fans that the car is essential for any tailgating experience.

Short Story

Mike Henning was a normal kid growing up in a middle class family, in New York City. He was raised by two uptight parents, who were constantly on top of everything that Mike did. Since he was a kid, his parents hovered over him watching his every move, guiding him in the predetermined path that they chose for him. From a young age they stressed that Mike play an instrument  and they told him to play the violin. To Mike's luck, he was born with talent, that surpassed anyone else his age. Mike had no choice or say in if he even wanted to play the instrument, but since he was brought up with playing the violin, forced by his parents, he did not know better that he has free will. As he grew into his collegiate years, his musical talent landed him in the state of the art music school in time square New York City. There he was with other students who had the same talent he did, playing different instruments. Mike realized as a kid he had no choice but to be on this path of music, and  started to question whether he really belonged in this school. Sure he loved music, and was grateful that he had such a talent, but he always felt like he could use these talents in a different way. Being brought up on listening to classical music, consisting of orchestras, jazz bands, you name it, he never was shown alternative types of music like hip hop, rap, and electronic. Now on his own in the streets of New York, he had an opportunity to explore other types of music. During nights, he visited the the clubs, where crowds of people dressed in a ll sorts of neon colors, jumped around going crazy to the music being played in the background.  It rang loud noises, with different beats playing at the same time, simultaneously bringing a rhythmic harmony together as a whole. It was catchy to Mike, as he started dancing silly with everyone else in the club. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins,  as the crowd jumped up and down enjoying this music to the fullest.  It was the first time he had ever heard this kind of music and  he thought it was awesome.  This music was so foreign to Mike, however, he was able to decipher the electronic notes coming from the speakers, understanding how the music producer added all the different sounds in the music to make a single track to play. After enjoying the night at the club, Mike had a discovered a new found love for music. Instead of playing the violin, Mike wanted to turn his talents into making the music he had found to be his calling. The next day, he called his parents telling them about this new found passion of music he has fallen for. He thought they would be ecstatic to hear such exciting news. Contrary to his perspective, his parents were outraged. They told him they did not send him to school to learn some garbage music, instead to be educated in the beautiful, normal music of the violin. Mike was so upset. He could not believe  his parents were ashamed of him for loving this type of music.

Mike Henning was a normal kid growing up in a middle class family, in  the suburbs of New York . He was raised by two uptight parents, who were constantly on top of everything that Mike did. Since he was a kid, his parents hovered over him watching his every move, guiding him in the predetermined path that they chose for him. From a young age they stressed that Mike play an instrument,  as he was  forced to play the violin. To Mike's luck, he was born with musical talent that surpassed anyone else his age. Mike had no choice or say as to  if he even wanted to play the instrument, but since he was brought up with playing the violin, forced by his parents, he thought that every kids' parent forced them to do certain things. He did not know better.  As he grew into his collegiate years, after doing tons of recitals, shows, and concerts, his musical talent landed him in the state of the art music school, Juliard, in New York City.  There, he was surround by other students who had the same musical talent he did, each playing different instruments. Looking around this school, he saw many kids holding different types of instruments that he had never seen before. He saw how there are so many instruments that a musician can learn to play.  Mike realized as a kid he had no choice but to be on this path of music, and  started to question whether he really belonged in this school for being a violinist. Sure he loved music, and was grateful that he had such a talent, but he always felt like he could use these talents in a different way. Being brought up on listening to classical music, consisting of orchestras, jazz bands, you name it, he never was shown alternative types of music like hip hop, rap, and electronic. Now on his own in the streets of New York, he had an opportunity to explore other cultures and different types of music. He was always attached to classical music, so in his free time he visited jazz clubs, and orchestra recitals. After a few weeks of visiting the same clubs, he started to get bored with listening to the same music over and over! He wanted to finally explore the diverse city of New York.  One night, he visited the the clubs, where crowds of people dressed in a ll sorts of neon colors, jumped around going crazy to the music being played in the background.  It rang loud noises, with different beats playing at the same time, simultaneously bringing a rhythmic harmony together as a whole. It was catchy to Mike, as he started dancing silly with everyone else in the club. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins,  as the crowd jumped up and down enjoying this music to the fullest.  It was the first time he had ever heard this kind of music and  he thought it was awesome.  This music was so foreign to Mike, however, he was able to decipher the electronic notes coming from the speakers, understanding how the music producer added all the different sounds in the music to make a single track to play. After enjoying the night at the club, Mike had a discovered a new found love for music. Instead of playing the violin, Mike wanted to turn his talents into making the music he had found to be his calling. The next day, he called his parents telling them about this new found passion of music he has fallen for. He thought they would be ecstatic to hear such exciting news. Contrary to his perspective, his parents were outraged. They told him they did not send him to school to learn some garbage music, instead to be educated in the beautiful, normal music of the violin. Mike was so upset. He could not believe  his parents were ashamed of him for loving this type of music.

Peer Review

My peer review went very well on friday. I got the information I needed to help better my essay. I was unsure as to how I could beef up my essay to meet the requirements for it being 7 pages, and got the constructive criticism to get to the main idea of the essay. I was confident in my sentence structure, but I needed to change the main concept of the essay. Overall the peer review was a great success.

The Ugly Sorority Sister, Cinderella Story

There once was an ugly college girl named Brittany Ambers who joined the only sorority that would actually let her in. She is so ugly that when the Sority had a date function with a fraternity she had to be locked up in the basement, so she could not go. As she criedin the basement, so upset about not being able to go to the date function, her Magic fairy Suga Moma from Fresh Foods gives her a magical flask, that gives Brittany the confidence she needs to make her feel beautiful. Suga Moma then breaks open the basement door, letting Brittany go to the Pike date function!. At the party, Brittany meets the President of Pike-Powerhouse Mike. At the end of the night she, lost her dignity at the party. The president of the frat announces to all of the sisters in her sorority that one sister left her dignity behind last night, but he can't seem to remember who it was, since it was a rough night. So he goes to the sorority house to see who has the most writing on their bodies, from being too passed out from the night before. As the tale goes, Brittany Ambers had the most rocket ships on her the next morning, proving to the President of Pike that it was in fact her who lost her dignity. He takes Brittany by the hand, as he knew she was the one for him.

Response to Feedback paper 2

I agree that in the first two pages I have to switch up some of my sentence structure, to make the essay flow, and come out clearer. I assume I could also add more details on the picture to give more reasons to believe the final assumptions that I made in the  conclusion. I also should add a paragraph that describes the picture without the headline involved. With all these things added I think I could beef up my essay as a whole, making it much more full and interesting to read.

Peer Review Paper 2

I will analyze a picture of Ray Lewis, the greatest linebacker in NFL history, giving a pre-game speach to his team before one of the biggest playoff games of his career. I will approach it by first giving a short synopsis on his life, then talk about the qualities that come from Ray Lewis in the picture. The picture shows many attributes that come from the passion that Ray Lewis bring in the picture. I chose it because I love the game of football, and Ray Lewis is an inspiration to me. My peer asked me how I approached Ray Lewis as my inspiration. While I asked him if he was interested in Rosie the Riveter, the iconic picture in World War II.

This is a photo of a father and his two sons, sitting on the couch. Let me rephrase that, two of them are sitting on the couch, while the other proudly stands on the platform of his fathers face. The son that is standing on his father's face draws my attention to the picture making me laugh and feel as if the child the goofy one in the family. The story that comes out of the picture, is a small memory of some sort, that describes the time when his dad was sleeping, and he stood on his face. As a kid growing up, I always looked up to my dad as a person to be playful with, so when I see a picture like this, I put myself in the position of the kid who also likes to have fun with his dad. It brings back memories of happiness, and joy that I used to have with my parents when I was a young child.

9/24/12 reflection blog

While blogging during class, I paid close attention to the material that was being covered in class, while simultaneously listening to my classmates opinions on what makes a good introduction and conclusion paragraph. I thought Ms. Lang explained the concept of how to write a good intros and conclusions in a clear manner that helped everyone in the class benefit in writing their own essays. I chose to add a few links that would give other classmates a chance to study the concepts we already discussed in class, and give them a head start on starting to form their own introduction and conclusions. After being the class blogger for today, I realized that we cover a vast amount of information in the mere 50 minutes we have each day. It is amazing even with so much information that we cover each day in class, the concepts that we learn are taught clearly enough for me to grasp them as I leave the classroom each day.

Class Blog 9/24/12 Jake Najjar

Ms. Lang, introducing the concept of how
to write a good introduction

September 24, 2012 

Our class started off with Ms. Lang making sure all the students were fully prepared to turn in their final draft due on Friday. After this announcement, the class  changed the focus from talking about final drafts, to a class discussion on how to make a good introduction and conclusion paragraph.

Sam Lemelman, a hardworking student,
is trying to understand how to write
the perfect conclusion paragraph.

Ms. Lang talked about the main purpose of introduction paragraphs, and what to avoid when writing them.  She gave the students different strategies to write the perfect introduction: She told us to tell a story, give a quote, state a hypothesis, and many other creative ways of starting an essay.  Ms. Lang referred to the essay "Music Television Mike". The class described the essay's qualities that bring the reader's interest into the story,by using a distinct voice, humor, certain quotes, storytelling, while also posing a question to start the intro. However, there were also parts of the introduction that were offensive, and somewhat of a turn off to some readers. Along with introductions, we also talked about conclusions.

The traits for making a great intro/conclusion

The conclusion topic stressed that the concluding paragraph needs to make a final impression on the reader, and motivate the reader to think further. Conclusions should avoid restating the introduction, and repeating main ideas. Ms. Lang also added a few tips to refer to while writing a conclusion like: answering a question posed, summarizing the main point, and putting in a call to action. After looking at some pointers to write the perfect conclusion, we looked back at "Music Television Mike"'s concluding paragraph. This paragraph had a recap of its main points, the author's position shifted, and a powerful concluding sentence that ties the entire essay together.

For more tips on how to write good introductions and conclusions look at the following websites:

• http://homeworktips.about.com/od/paperassignments/a/introsentence.htm
• http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/conclude.html

Introductions and Conclusions

 I proposed a question to myself and to the readers in my introduction on why we are so glued to the internet, and the use of cell phones. I proposed the non-conforming idea that people should stay away from the internet rather than use it like everyone else in society.  In my conclusion I call for an action to the readers. I told them to stay away from using too much online social media, or else people will lose touch to what it is to have a true relationship. This will excite many of my readers to understand my point, and hopefully influence this idea upon their lifestyle's. This idea alone answers the question "so what". It is an abstract idea that most people would not buy into, and by me stating reasons for my conclusion, it will hopefully influence the readers to follow my theory to stay away from the internet.

peer review

I thought my peer review was very helpful in making my essay clear and fluent. I definitely needed an outside perspective on my essay to see certain flaws in my writing that I wouldn't have seen before. With the help of my peer editor I got constructive criticism that hopefully helped my essay prosper and become a successful piece of writing. The only aspect I did not like about the process, was the lack of time to talk about each other's essays. Overall, it was a successful process that I recommend to do each time I write an essay.  

Essay Changes

The main concept I have to change about my essay, is relating some parts of the draft to myself rather than the world around me. I use many of my observations to describe  how social media websites affect others socially, instead of using my personal situations where it has affected me. I also have do go into more detail on specific topics I include in my essay, with  more personalized detail.

My workshop was a definite help in revising my essay, and making sure I stayed on point with the message I was trying to get across. In my shitty draft, I provided allot about the different time periods social interactions and how it has changed through social media, but I forgot to mention my own perception of how I interacted.  Through the workshop, my two peers helped me add in my own input on my essay, giving it a clear main idea. After going to through the workshop, my essay is definitely enhanced and ready to start being written.

John Wayne

To Didion, John Wayne was the perfect example of the iconic man in american history. She described him like there was no other, explaining how he was a man that went by his own rules and did whatever he wanted to do. Whether it be vigilante work, or telling a woman to come along with him on adventure deep into the unconquered west, John Wayne was a man of adventure and excitement that Didion loved.

Yesterday, I watched a documentary on Kyle Clash, the puppetteer for Elmo on the Sesame Street. Kyle Clash grew up in a lower class neighborhood where the town circulated on high school football games, and late night outdoor movies. Mr. Clash was different, ever since he was a kid he had always had a passion and love for puppeteers and the shows that they put on. This love inspired him to become one as well, even though everyone else in his life had always followed the crowd around them instead of following their own dreams and aspirations. By the age of 17, Kyle found himself working for Jim Henson the creator of Seasame street, adn his career sky rocketed form there. The rest is history. He inspires me to follow my dreams for whatever I find to love, even if it is not the regular path that everyone may seem to be the right one. I am not sure what I want to be but after watching Kyle's documentary I know that once I find my passion I will pursue it, and become as successful as I can be in my specific talent.

Shitty First Drafts

After reading Anne Lamott's "Shitty First Drafts" I have a new outlook on the process of writing an essay. Ms. Lamott advises that when first writing an essay, the first draft should be written with a care-free and no rules type of writing style. Even if the first draft's writing is poorly written, and in some cases not understandable, Ms. Lamott believes that as long as something is written down it is acceptable.During the four years og high school I would be assigned various amounts of essays that would have to be written in class, and graded on the same day. With Ms. Lamotts viewpoint that it is almost impossible to write a perfect essay on the first draft, I strongly disagree with the writing methods that were taught to me in high school.

When writing an essay, I usually start by brainstorming ideas,themes, and the main ideas of what I am writing about. In a way, I follow Ms. Lamott's strategy by writing down whatever comes to mind on my brainstorm page. From there, I go through my list of ideas and pick and choose what ideas come together and make sense to form an essay. Once I have the essential topics that I will involve in my essay, I organize them in a sequential order in the form of which I will write. After I have all of these planning techniques set in stone, I begin to write my essay following the guidelines of the outline that I wrote. Once I am done with the essay, I read through it, check for grammatical and structural mistakes in my essay and rewrite it so that it flows, and makes logical sense. From, here I make sure to get a few peer editors to look over my essay, to see if they have any input to better my essay. Once this process is finished my paper is ready to be handed in. 

My writing is a flock of birds who start scattered on a big oak tree, but then fly up and  try to maintain a perfect v shape formation for their entire flying period. It starts out with ideas and thoughts all over the place in no particular order, but then as the steps of my writing follow, the essay becomes more organized and well thought out.