Monday, February 24, 2014

3 ways to see Genetic Engineering


http://www.peh-med.com/content/1/1/9 (hyperlink to journal; genetic modification and genitic determinism)




Response Paper #1

The most recent thing I have wathched is this TED talks video that features Michel Stevens from Vsauce. I follow a lot of this educational videos and youtube such Veretasium and videos by C.P.G Grey becasue they open my mind to new ideas and allow me to raise some new questions, I try and go out of my way an watch these type of videos on the everyday basis. In this speciefic video is Michel focuses this video on "why do we ask questions." Michael explains that he enjoys seeing peoples ways of expressing learinging new eye opining facts and that why he likes to propose these type of questions to his audience (in a manner that a teacher should enagage theirt students.) The counter argument was introdced by reacalling  a girl he oneced talked to behind stage, he asked if she knew why the sky blue and she replied " I think I once knew but I doesn't really matter."Michael presents this as one of his main concerns and address it by brining "Raellies Scattering"(the explanation of why the skey is blue) and brining in other topics that can possibly relate. So, why are your eyes blue? becasue of Raellies Scattering, and that is how Michael gets a bigger audience to pay attenition in his videos. I can persoanlly relate to these type of videos becasue most of the people that I know come to me for many sorts of explanation, specially my youger siblings. And it feels kinda awesome to know the explanation that people throw at you. Since I am going to be an electrical engineer, it would be an essaintail skill to know how to get  complicated subjects and turn it into somethings a 2nd grader would understand. Hence the power of communication. For the most part, I likesomething I watched when I learn things that can help me explain the world a little bit more, that or something that just made me laugh. It just depends in what context I am watching the video for; for example, If I am watching a video that is suppose to make laugh and it succeds then I will like the video, even if it has nothing on it but other people lauging. 

Thursday, February 20, 2014

1/29
"How to tame a wild tounge" and "Mother Tounge" annototaions
           
              The reading Tan “Mother Tongue”, is about a Chinese author and her mother. It opens by saying that there are many variations of the English language and that even her self a fluent English speaker speaks at least two variations of it. The professional variation where she would use phrases such as “the intersection of memory upon imagination.” It then continues by adding that her mother’s English would be classified under a learner category of English and that most people would probably wouldn’t understand her, but because she is the author’s mother she can understand. I can defiantly relate to this reading, my Dad began to learn the English language due to the fact that it was required for his new job after working as a field laborer for a number of years. His English is not perfect, (as in you would probably understand him about 65% of the time) but I can always understand what he is saying.


            “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” is a story from a Hispanic point of view of the how many different variations of language a Chicano speaks. Which made me laugh because I wasn’t self-aware of how many there actually were, the different types of English and Spanish are imbedded in my brain and have become mostly sub-conscious. But when I need them they automatically switch gears from one to anther. I can relate to the readers experience in work, school, and well practically life such as when his teacher would punish him for speaking Spanish in recess. Its all kind of sad but I think it's a necessary evil, and because of the strict use of English in elementary I became fluent in the language at grade 3. The reading also ads how other Chicanos would “terrorize” you for not speaking Chicano Spanish, I didn’t really see much of this growing up, mainly because at the schools I attended there were few of us. But when I went to work in the fields as a field laborer is where I was exposed of much my Chicano culture that I had been much deprived of. The reading pretty much depicts how Chicanos communicate in different situations, which is very much real.
Personal Goals
1.     Like most people that are undergrads, my way of writing can improve. Being more specific I would like to have flowing essays and ways of writing and have better strategies to hook readers, in other words, to have interesting writing.
2.     My other goal is to have longer responses to whatever I need to write. I don’t mean that when I get a text and replying a chapter worth of writing. I mean to learn the appropriate way to fill an essay.

3.     My 3rd goal is to attain “fancier” way to write. To make my writing sound eloquent.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Saul Huerta JR
English 1A
Personal Literacy Blog
Prof. Jen

            I grew up in Salinas California, or other wise known as the Salad Bowl, USA. It's a city where is surrounded by fields that grow pretty much anything and everything that a vegetarian eats. Consequently many people emigrate from Latin America to come and labor the land for a wage that is just enough to live off and send money to people they left behind. There is mainly, Latinos working out there and not other type of race working those fields and has led to every Latino from Salinas being classified as poor and living with 5 other families in house made for one. Furthermore, if you have the brown skin that defines a Latino, you are also immediately classified as non-speaker of the English language and are treated like an “alien” leading to unfair placement of classes, and therefore leading to all sorts of problems that will have a greater consequence as the years go by.
            I learned English when I was 3 years old, the reason for this is because I was put in a nursery where there were a lot of kids that spoke the language and picked up on it. It wasn’t perfect, but could clearly communicate it. When it was time to begin school, I was placed in a class that is for kids that just emigrated from Mexico and had the title as “ELS,” even though I had proven my linguistic skills, they kept me there and lacked a reason to contain in a class where I didn’t belong. In ELS, the curriculum was generally about 2 years behind in the English departments to ensure that the students that just arrived from Mexico learned the language properly, it didn’t help nor a couple of other students that also spoke English already, and the program ended up putting us behind in our language skills. I was kept in ELS till I got to 4th grade because that's the grade where they integrate most ELS students with the regular students. I could have had a developed a higher level of English if I was placed with the other kids, and struggled to read and write because of the bad placement. While all my friends and peers were able to read and write without a major struggle, I had to put 3x more effort to catch up to there level of the language. After about 3 years of putting the extra work, I finally had English above my classmate’s level of English. Even thought this experience taught me at a young age that life will be hard and that, I learned to be hard worker and became an okay writer.
           
Being able to read and write well doesn’t mean you have to like it. The point when I got to high school I had despised reading and writing. It was freshmen year and they had placed me in a GATE English class, which I switched out of as soon as I could because my cousins told me that it would a tedious course to take, and that the teachers were not fair towards Latinos. I took regular English for the rest of High School till I got till my Senior Year. Even though I was supposed to take regular English Composition, and instead I was placed in AP English. That class was probably the hardest class I had ever taken; I even thought calculus was easier than AP English. But I do not regret one bit not having switching out of it. AP English with Mr. Hedgepeth, taught me how to appreciate literature way more than I did at the time and severely improved on my writing style. Before that class I would follow a robot set of “rules” to write an essay, which got completely got destroyed because Mr. Hedgepeth taught me that those rules are only for beginner and enhanced my writing by showing the usage of different techniques of the art of writing while doing it fast, enough to complete 3 essays in 2 hours. Like the use of tone, sound, syntax, everything and anything that came with writing. Additionally, he took the initiative to show us the best reading of each era in literature and opened my eyes to a hidden treasure I had neglected my entire life. Conclusively, my AP English class made the greatest impact in who I am as a writer and a reader.   

            Even though I didn’t have many events that changed my writing voice, the events that happened completely defined who I am as an English scholar. While I am in school , knowing how to write and cite proper papers will be a crucial part of getting my degree. The use would probably be for writing lab reports, responses for my professor on how a specific system work and even the explanation of how a set system works. The applications of what I have and will continue to learn are limitless, but I will most likely put to practice it when I am in need of formally writing and speaking. Furthermore, since we are constantly communicating in one way or another, these practices are more likely going to be used when I am replying to conversation through text message, (to make my self sound more eloquent to the suitable people, and regular) and of course through social media. Furthermore, what I have learned I will use in my future job probably when I am sending instructions on what specific job the people need to do. Since I am going to become an Electrical Engineer, I will need to be able to communicate professionally and efficiently to everyone in project.