English 101 J - Written Rhetoric http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs?/engl101 en hme2@calvin.edu Copyright 2005 2005-12-13T20:04:40+00:00 English 101 rocks my world…really! http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/english_101_rocks_my_worldreally/ Journals Over the course of this semester, I have appreciated learning the characteristics of the different forms of writing.  My favourite though is still the personal essay. At the time, we had read the works of Jonathan Franzen and Caitlin Flanagan, both of whose writing was intensely evocative. Franzen describes his father’s slow decline into Alzheimer’s and its effects on his parent’s relationship while Flanagan recalls her mother’s decision to stop being a stay-at-home mother and begin a career as a nurse. These incidents were significant in the lives of these authors and the care with which they retell their stories is a testament to this.

]]> 2005-12-13T20:04:40+00:00 “LOST” http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/lost/ Journals Jordan Weaver
Journal # 29
In the Hit TV show “Lost” they are stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, and are struggling to make it through each day.  They are running short on, food, medical supplies, and the biggest one, patience with each other. To answer Romanowski’s question of “ what are the keys to success and happiness”, I would have to say health, safety, and the ability to get along with each other.  They are stuck on the island, and nobody knows what is really going on.  They think they are alone, and then they find others, they think that Locke is trying to find food for them, and then they find out he has a secret project going on.  They all want to know what each other are doing, and they don’t want to be let out on what is going on.  The suffer with health, having scarcity of food, fearing of predators attacking during the night, and not knowing when the other people from the plane are going to turn their back on them.
When anybody from their group does some thing stupid, or does something a way that other people don’t like it, they definitely know it.  People on the island are not afraid to show their feeling of hatred towards each other, but would never think of saying something good to someone else.  When someone does something wrong, they are harassed and tormented by the other, which ever side has the biggest group will always win the argument, no matter who is actually right.  Though out the whole season, everybody takes a fall for doing at least one thing wrong.  They take their turns, and everybody gets blamed.  I is almost like they are excommunicated from the group when they are the one that did something bad.

]]> 2005-12-12T19:29:52+00:00 My thanksgiving http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/my_thanksgiving/ Journals During this past weekend (thanksgiving break) I went to a show at a place called Skelletones downtown.  I listen to music and had good tie with my friends.  I got to hang out with them a lot over the weekend, and I realized how much I missed them, and how much friends are actually worth.  I have hung out with this group of guys since JR. year, and we probably saw more of each other then we did of our families, not that our families were bad, because they weren’t, but because we always had such a good time, and we never fought, we could always get along.  We always did the dumbest stuff that nobody else would think was fun, but we could never stop laughing.  After the summer was done, our foreign exchange student friends had to go back, and everybody had to go to college, they all went to grand valley and I had to go to Calvin because it was the only place I got accepted, and It was a really good time this weekend to be able to hang out with them again and just sit in the barn like we always used to do, and reminisce about all the good times we had back in high school.  It reminded me of what a good life I have, and what awesome people God has put in my life.  It reminded me that I should be thankful for everything God has given to me and I should cherish it because I never know when it could be gone.  I need to live my life pleasing God’s will, and having a good time.  You never know, something that you have loved your whole life could be gone in a flash, and wouldn’t even be able to see it coming. I guess it was a true thanksgiving After all.

]]> 2005-12-12T19:28:59+00:00 Healing Love http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/healing_love/ Journals This week I came across a quote in the book, Illuminated Heart by Frederica Mathews Green which said that “God’s love is a healing love. A healing love is not always comfortable. It is like a scalpel and can sometimes hurt. It is far easier to avoid an authentic confrontation with God then to undergo his healing touch because of the depths of our soul that it reaches.” This quote has been on my mind all week. What a powerful way to express the difficulty that we often have in confronting God. In prayer God opens up our closets, our secrets, and asks us to deal with our problems. It is difficult to open that part of our heart and become so vulnerable. Often when something is truly bothering me, I find that is when I neglect prayer the most. This has never made sense to me and it is something I am constantly struggling with. Green’s quote offers some answer into why, but that does not make it right for me to do so. Although it is hard to face my demons allow God to truly touch and heal me, it is crucial in my spiritual survival. The operation will not be so hard, however, if I am constantly going under the knife. God’s healing love with just fix me a little bit at a time, rather then going in for a major operation because I neglected to deal with issues that He asked me time and time again to deal with. If I do not bring these things before God, I also will miss what He is calling me to do and I will miss to recognize the blessings that He is pouring into my life. I can’t keep waiting until tomorrow to get things right with God, I need to start right now. We should do nothing until we are right with the Lord. This quote will always hold a place in my heart and although this is something all of us will constantly struggle with, it is something that I will acknowledge and make my first steps to working towards peace with.

]]> 2005-12-11T21:28:50+00:00 The almost, kind of creation of a black hole http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/the_almost_kind_of_creation_of_a_black_hole/ Journals       They’ve done it again.  They kind of made a fake replica of almost an amazing invention.  But they didn’t, and they are not sure why.  In fact these scientists are dumbfounded(F) at what it is that they did do.  One theoretical physicist claims that their intentional collisions of gold nuclei have even been creating a minuscule black hole that lasts less than 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000th of a second.  Pretty amazing right?  A black hole, that is not really a black hole, but that seems somewhat similar to what we think is a black hole.  Hmm…Why is it that these physicists are making the big bucks?

]]> 2005-12-08T21:50:46+00:00 Prayer of Strength http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/prayer_of_strength/ Journals Rock of my Salvation, stand firm beneath us in our times of tribulation
Let us stand on your unsteadying grace and unending love.
You are the shield with which we withstand the enemy’s blows.
You are the sword that strikes us with ceaseless mercy.
Be with the Congregation that is built around you.
Touch us all as we need your infinite wisdom and perfect guidance.
Lead those who lead us.
Teach those who teach us.
And love those that love us.
To the sick, the sorrowful, the poor, the despaired,
Give them healing, hope, comfort, and joy!
Reach those we have yet to reach,
Grasp the world, the way you have grasped our hearts.
We give you all our worship
We give you our possessions.
We give you our love.
God of our Hearts,
God of all Creation,
Bringer of Salvation.

Amen

]]> 2005-12-05T05:26:30+00:00 Romanowksi related to the Simpsons http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/romanowksi_related_to_the_simpsons/ Journals I have chosen to connect the Simpson’s with a few questions from Romanowski.  The first question to answer is the role of God.  God is evident throughout the show and comes up in almost every episode. 

]]> 2005-12-05T03:07:44+00:00 Journal #30 http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/journal_30/ Journals The article that I read of Nancy Franklin’s was on “The Colbert Report.”  This show is aired on comedy central right after “The Daily Show with John Stewart.”  The show is structured very similarly to the Daily Show, and has Stephen Colbert at the helm, who actually worked for the Daily Show prior to landing his own.  This show looks at politicians just as the Daily Show, but is done with more of a sophisticated method.  This show has a very wide selection of people that they will target to ridicule as opposed to the more focused group in Stewart’s.  Stephen Colbert is a character who appears well dressed, and is in character in the shows entirety.  He takes current news stories, twists them, and offers a new humorous perspective that is usually given in a very unhappy dry tone.  Colbert enjoys being the center of attention on the show, even when he has a guest on.  He emerges from the dark and jogs up to where they are sitting while pumping is arms in the air.

]]> 2005-12-05T01:47:24+00:00 Honeybees are smrt http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/honeybees_are_smrt/ Journals Australians believe bees are so important that they built the bees their very own flight facility, curiously named the All-Weather Bee Flight Facility. The cows in India don’t even have their own flight facility. At that flight facility is where scientists from the Australian National University and Würzburg University in Germany have recently discovered something that surely has the potential to net them a Nobel prize; Honeybees have an amazing short term memory. They don’t seem to be smart enough though to realize that their so-called flight facility is merely a large climate-controlled greenhouse where scientists just use them to do research. In this case they had the bees flying through patterned tunnels after which they gave them a chance to pick a matching chamber. Their paycheck? Nothing if they didn’t pick the right chamber, but when they did–even Bill gates’ daughters would be envious–they got to taste some sugar water. If humans got sent spelunking through patterned tunnels for research, they could pick the wrong tunnel all they want, but they would still get payed a rhinoceros’ weight in gold. With such extraordinary wages I wonder if any of those scientists ever fear that the bees might revolt, kill them, and perform their own tests on wild marsupials. Or worse; they could pick the wrong chambers on purpose rendering the scientists’ valuable research results completely useless. I’m not saying the research was very useful to begin with, but someone obviously thought it was. Someone felt it more important to support the abuse of these bees–I’m surprised Greenpeace hasn’t organized a big campaign to stop this madness yet–, rather than to spend it on charity, research on Aids, or even better, a make over for Martha Stewart. What is it about this discovery that makes it so important?

]]> 2005-12-03T00:06:53+00:00 Closing Prayer http://www.calvin.edu/weblogs/engl101/closing_prayer/ Journals Loving God,
we lay these prayers in at your feet,
combining our songs with those
who worship you and rely alone on you.
We anticipate the coming day when we will all
be present in heaven: worshiping and praising the name of Christ.
As we await that day, grant us an enduring spirit and expectation of your coming
built on Christ alone, our Lord and Savior.
Amen.


#27 on p.24 of the Worship Sourcebook

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