Dr. Graves

English Comp. 1

May 5, 2010

                                                            What Is A Hate Crime?

                What is a hate crime? For many years this country has been trying to define the difference between hate crimes and just heinous crimes.  The majority define it as committing an act of violence against someone because of their color, creed, or race. In this essay I will help define the difference between them.

                George Curry writes about lynching and nooses and defines them as “the practice of punishing men for crimes by private unauthorized persons, without a legal trial… to inflict punishment without forms of law, as by a mob.”  Hate crimes have been around since as early as 1845, but have just been recognized as a serious crime in the late 1900s. In the late 1800s and early 1900s the majority of hate crimes was committed against black men. Philip Dray notes in his book, At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America, lynching became “a systematized reign of terror that was used to maintain the power whites had over blacks, a way to keep blacks fearful and to forestall black progress and miscegenation.”

                Ellis Cose writes in an age when lynching is no longer accepted, what is the meaning of a noose? When a twisted rope, evocative of such a hideous history, hangs so far away from the horrors that defined it, is it still worth getting worked up about? In late August of 2006, on the campus of Jena High School in the small town of Jena, Louisiana, nooses appeared hanging from a tree a day after a group of black students chose to sit under the tree, a spot generally claimed by white students. Between 1882 and 1951, more than 5,000 people were lynched in the United States, according to statistics kept by the Tuskegee Institute.

                In conclusion Hate crimes are heinous crimes and should not be tolerated. To Cause harm to someone because of origin or race is unacceptable. To lynch someone unjustly is very immoral and should not be tolerated either.

  The presentation of the movie is really great, the characters are all dressed in proper attire for the time the movie is depicting and the low budget really gives the film a sense that it was made during that time period. The way it goes back and forth from character to character and inter mingles them is really great and keeps you interested. It is also interesting as far as how much racism was alive during that time period.

  The main thesis of this movie is chronicalling the story of the blues music and where it came from. It starts back in the 1940s and shows the life and times of some of the blues greats and how they conspired in the origination and popularization of the blues.

  There is no leading actors in this movie it seems very low budget, but on the bright side it is a very educational movie. It covers a wide area of time and does a very good job of portraying the characters. The music they play really makes you feel like you are a part of that time period.

  Although there are no big stars in the film, the actors had done a very good job of acting and portraying the characters they was playing. They had produced the film in such a way that it also looked like it had been made in the 1940s.

  The background music does a really good job for creating feeling of the characters and the time period.

“Merry Christmas” may not be the most original greeting in the world, Neil Papworth admits

today, but as he was about to send the world’s first text message to a cell phone, it struck him as

fittingly festive, certainly more so than “Mr. Watson, come here,” the first words spoken over the

telephone. (15 years of text messages, Victoria Shannon. Wednesday, Dec. 5^th, 2007. New York Times).

Text messaging has become a national phenomena in recent years. With a lot of focus being on text

messaging taking over and people texting and driving, and the ill affects of texting and driving. This

essay will discuss the affects text messaging has had on everyday americas life!!

“It is a cultural phenomenon,” said Mike Short, chairman of the Mobile Data Association in

England, where the number of text messages sent each week just passed one billion, about 25 percent

higher than a year earlier. The cell phone phenomenon seems to be the most popular among young

adults and teenagers. Every where you look there is always people driving along talking or texting on

their cell phones. The amount of traffic accidents caused by people using their phones is outrageous

and many states have put laws into place prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving.

A press release announced the results of a poll today conducted by Harris Interactive and Pinger

mobile messaging service. The poll revealsthat 9 out of 10 Americans believe that 91% of American

adults believe thatthose who text message while driving are as dangerous as those who have had a

couple alcoholic drinks. Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of people believe text messaging to

be dangerous from behind the wheel. Even so, 66% of adults surveyed who use text messaging and

who use text messaging and who drive a car stated that they read text messages or e-mails from a

mobile device while driving. Men and women sent text messages while driving in equal rates.

However, 64% of those who said they send text messages while driving were between the ages of 18

and 34. Only 6% of driving texters were 55 or older. (Should Text Messaging While Driving Be

Illegal? August 7, 2007, Jason Webb)

A press release announced the results of a poll today conducted by Harris Interactive and Pinger mobile messaging service. The poll reveals that 9 out of 10 Americans believe that text messaging while driving is dangerous and distracting. This has really been a craze throughout the younger generation. Other results from the survey stated that 91% of American adults believe that those who text message while driving are as dangerous as those who have had a couple alcoholic drinks.

“Merry Christmas” was the first words ever text messaged to a cell phone 15 years ago. Was a big difference from the first words ever spoken on the telephone. The first words being “Mr. Watson, come here.” Neil Papworth was then a 22 year-old engineer sent his historic greeting to Richard Jarvis’s

phone from a computer keyboard, since cellphones were not yet invented to type out and send individual letters of the alphabet.
]]> http://royce103gb.wordpress.com/2010/03/27/text-messaging-and-america/feed/ 0 royce103gb http://royce103gb.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/bibliography/ http://royce103gb.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/bibliography/#comments Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:27:23 +0000 royce103gb http://royce103gb.wordpress.com/?p=57 ]]> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/technology/05iht-sms.4.8603150.html

http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/12469.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/339735/should_text_messaging_while_driving.html?cat=15

http://www.newsweek.com/id/150449

The Gibson Les Paul is one of the most used and praised guitars ever created. It has been played by many great players. With carved AA maple top, trapezoid inlays, and coming in many colors, the most common being a sunburst. The Fender American Stratocaster has been called, “The American Guitar” for decades. It has been made popular by many of the great guitar players. For example, Jimi Hendrix completely changed the way the guitar was played, and he did just that with the Fender Strat. Along with the beauty of the Gibson Les Paul comes powerful tones, with the thick mahogany body, this thing can scream with ease. It has amazing sustain, along with one of the most playable necks ever. The Gibson Les Paul Standard starts at $2299.99, which could be a little pricey for a young someone that has to support a family. The Fender American Stratocaster starts at $949.99.

The Fender Stratocaster comes in several different colors most commonly as a solid color, where as the Gibson Les Paul is most commonly known for its starburst colors. The Fender is also most commonly known for its country twangy sound and the Les Paul is known for its screaming rock and roll sound. The Fender guitar comes with a 5-way toggle switch to switch the pick-up combination and has 2 tone knobs and 1 volume knob. However the Gibson comes with a 3-way toggle switch and has 2 tone knobs and 2 volume knobs.

The tone of the Fender Stratocaster is very clean and with a little reverberation (“reverb,” which is the echoey sound you hear, the Stat will get the most out of a country twang sound. With the five-way toggle switch, you can switch the pick up configuration to get warmer or cleaner sounds depending on what you want. Where as the Gibson Les Paul has a dirty sound and is more popular for playing rock and roll. It only has two pickups, so it doesn’t have as many tonal choices. You can switch it on to the bridge pickup and get a brighter sound or on the neck position and get a thicker sound. A clean sound would be like the sound of George Jones or even Dwight Yoakem where as a dirty sound would be like Metallica or even Judas Priest.

The Fender guitar also gives you a choice of picking between a Rosewood and Maple neck. Rosewood has been said to have a tad more sustain, while Maple is said to be brighter. The Gibson only comes with a Rosewood fingerboard, some other models do have the maple now. Sustain is what makes a note sound longer like on a piano it has a sustain pedal which when pressed will hole whatever note you are playing longer.

The Gibson Les Paul comes with a mahogany body, thus making it a much heavier guitar than the Fender Stratocaster. With the heavier body it also helps to give the extra sustain. The Fender Guitar is made out of Alder therefore giving it a much lighter weight. The lighter body also helps to give it a brighter tone or what some may call the happy sound.

Although there is many different brands and styles of guitar, these two may not be suited for everyone. It really depends on your style of playing and how the guitar fits into your hands, no two guitars play the same regardless if they are the same brand or not. A person must also consider the differences in price.

Works Cited

“Gibson Les Paul.” Wikipedia.  Wikimedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Les_Paul.  22

February 2010.

Monkeyman. “Gibson Les Paul Standard VS Fender American Stratocaster Guitar.” Associated

Content. May11, 2007.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/239519/gibson_les_paul_standard_vs_fender.html?cat=19 . February 22, 2010.

Dr. Robert Graves

EG 103

Feb. 24, 2010                  

                                      Living in the Shadows

As Johnny Sat there staring at the emptiness on his computer screen trying to think of what to write next. He was an older man his age showing on his face as the light captured his silhouette. Johnny lived on the less than favorable side of town, in a trailer house that was as old as he was. The cold and snow left a picturesque image as he looked out the window bringing back memories of his youth. He had always dreamed of being a writer as long as he could remember. He spent many nights alone in his room, as a kid, reading novels and true life stories. He loved the imagery of the true stories and the way the narration could make you a part of the story, and the people’s life as if you were there first hand.

            As a young kid, going to a small elementary school on the east side of town, Johnny would sit and daydream out the windows most of the day. His teachers often commented on the time he spent staring out the window, oblivious to the lessons the teacher was trying to give. On the really sunshiny days, Johnny would stare out almost the entire day. He would watch as the cars drove by on the busy street outside the window, with all the people just carrying on about their normal everyday lives. He would see the different drivers and the kinds of cars they had, and make up stories in his head about where they were heading and what kind of life they lived.

            Coming from a dysfunctional family himself, Johnny could only imagine the lives these people had as they drove by. Johnny was the youngest of three children, a boy and girl 5 and 6 years older than him, while being raised by a single working mother. His mom, working the nightshift, often didn’t get to spend much time with him. Mostly being raised by babysitters, Johnny never had many adult role models. His mother, being an alcoholic, liked to spend her weekends off at the bar hanging out with her friends. Often times, she took Johnny with her since she could not afford a babysitter on the weekends. Growing up in the bar scene, he began to notice many different types of personalities: The old and miserable that sit at the bar waiting for their life to end, talking about how great they were in their youth, and the younger crowd playing pool, and teasing each other, believing the world was theirs for the taking.

            Along with alcoholism, violence and abuse tend to follow. Many times when people drink, they let out emotions that are not normal feelings, rather it gives them confidence to be someone they’re not, or just makes them carefree and allows them to cut loose. Many people that have anger issues tend to be more violent when they intoxicated. Growing up around this kind of lifestyle, Johnny often looked for avenues of escape, knowing that this just wasn’t the way life was supposed to be. Early into his adolescence, as early as the grade school years, he began experimenting with drugs. Johnny often escaped this world, trapped in his room writing about the life he dreamed he should have. He would write short stories and little poems trying to emulate his idols and dreaming of the day he could physically escape this world of misery, suffering, and pain.

            Johnny’s brother and sister, in their teens by this time and having their own issues, helped him to escape from reality. Often times with the age difference, Johnny was just a tag a long, never quite fitting in with their friends. Many times for entertainment and laughs, they would feed him alcohol and drugs. So many times when there was trouble at home he would run away. With

nowhere to go, he would walk the streets with no destination in mind, other than to escape the world in which he was thrown. Johnny remembers back to these times, remembering the weather often being cold as he ran from his reality. Walking along these streets feeling ominous to his surroundings, feeling as though no one ever knew he existed. Johnny would walk along just looking at the houses looking at the houses, shivering from the cold and imagining what it would be like in the houses he walked by, always looking so warm and comforting. Johnny would imagine the father and mother inside with their children, maybe cooking dinner and talking about their day, or sitting in front of their warm fireplaces playing games and laughing and sharing their unconditional love for one and another.

            By the time Johnny had reached his teens, his addictions were at an all time high, having experimented with almost every drug. His life was spiraling out of control, unbeknownst to him. He no longer wrote the short stories and poems, for now he was living one and not knowing it. With his emotions completely numb by this time, Johnny was living a life with no foundation and nothing to call his own. Being drug induced, he always wore a painted smile and a false sense of happiness, hiding the emptiness he felt inside.  Just like the blank computer screen in front of him. With several run-ins with the law, starting from adolescence, still no one seemed to care enough to see what the underlying problem was. Counselors only seemed to point out the faults instead of telling how to correct them, and the judicial system only wanted to lock him away.

            As Johnny became an adult and realized this lifestyle was a dead end road, he began to try to better himself. Not ever knowing what a healthy relationship was, he had failed many times. Trying to accomplish this dream of a normal one, or what he thought to be normal, he went thru several failed relationships. Often times someone that has lived a dysfunctional life tends to end up with someone just as dysfunctional, therefore creating problems, with neither knowing what a healthy relationship can or would be. As Johnny reached early adulthood, he knew he had to make some changes. Though as early adults, we only know how to live the life we have learned and deemed acceptable. As the years would prove very challenging, he still tried, meanwhile keeping a positive attitude and thinking someday his dreams would come true.

            Johnny lived many of his adult years still being emotionally numb to the world that surrounded him. Many times waking up from this haze wondering why he felt so bad for acting in a way that he was taught to be acceptable behavior. As an adult confused as to why he should feel guilty for acting in such a way that he had seen many adults act as he was growing up. As he was not a stupid man and started venturing out into a world that wasn’t so consumed with drugs and alcohol, Johnny watched and observed how people of the real world acted and reacted to everyday situations.  He began to think and realize that maybe his way of thinking was not the right way. People can live happy and productive lives without being drug or alcohol induced.

            As time went on and Johnny had sobered up and witnessed how many people had went about their days as happy and productive people of today’s world, his thinking had began to change. Knowing there was a whole other way of living, he became more confused about how people would accept him. Trying to fit in with people with a different upbringing can be a lot more difficult than one might think. People who were raised with more blessings than they can count have a complete different way of thinking than those who were less fortunate. Johnny tried to fit in with these people, but as it became more and more difficult he began to withdraw from everyday life. Finally he had become totally isolated from the world in which he lived and created his own reality. Life had passed him by while he was emotionally numb to his surroundings and confused about what was right and wrong. Eventually as he woke up one day and realized his age, and the difference between functional and dysfunctional, and where his life was heading, he began to question the true meaning of life.

            As Johnny sits in front of his computer and thinking about his life as a whole, he still could not find the words to write. He thinks about everything and wonders if this was all real, or just a figment of his imagination. The world that surrounds him, seeming so cold and isolated, he wonders…. is this of his own doing?

Web page 2. This is an organizational site and based mostly on opinions.

Web page 3. Youtube is mostly for people that just want to post their opinions or funny stories or music videos.

Web page 4. Not very believable, sounded kind of like i was going to a fortune teller.

b. comparing online teaching to classroom teaching

c. both

d. i think she is just trying to get people to understand the differences and yes i think she was successful

e. when pressed to demonstrate that my online composition class is the equivalent of my classroom-based composition sections, i can do so professionally and persuasively. On the surface, course goals, objectives, standards, outlines, texts, Web materials, and so forth, are identical. But my fingers are crossed.

f. she says they are different cause  people have different expectations and in the classroom you don’t have to divulge as much when something happens because people can see your face where as in an online you have to expalin a bit more.