My Thought on Comments

Below you will see four thread posts regarding the general topic to my "My Controversy"  post as it entails the most recent incident of animal poaching within a Zimbabwean Animal Sanctuary. All four originate from the commentary section of the USA Today.com article  regarding the death of the famed Cecil the Lion and the outcry against the hunter, American dentist, Dr. Walter Palmer.

  Screenshot: 8/29/15 Jim Antista. Comment Public Domain

This is one of the less reliable, reasonable, or credible comments regarding the actual topic. The individual obviously has strong emotions towards Cecil's death; but, parallels the issue with Planned Parenthood and abortions. Plus the graphic metaphor of cutting up Cecil's cubs raises alarms in reason. Furthermore, there exists a general distaste for those who find Cecil's death unacceptable; yet, support abortion- which he finds equal to the skinning of a lion. How this argument came up is rather unclear, as the posts above deal with financial repercussions against Dr. Palmer. The writer has far right views politically and believes that both animals and humans in any stage of live are sacred. But the parallelism made here deters the impact of his argument from pro-life to a graphic killing life because humanity can form of argument. He obviously has a desire to use this death to combat the abortion issue proven by his metaphor and conclusion.

Screenshot: 8/29/15 Donny Johnson. Comment Public Domain

This is one of the more reliable, reasonable, or credible posts as it presents facts regarding the issue, and brings the on going argument away from derogatory statements and back to fact. Although he does make some form of questionable opinion regarding how wealth weakens one's "moral compass" and creates an entitlement factor, the commentator swings back from hearsay to tangible evidence regarding Dr. Palmer's shady hunting background. The commentator has some fears as to how wealthy individuals seem to ignore a moral code- evident to his entitlement comment. But, I believe he redeems himself by presenting the fact towards the end of the post. This adds a form of argument against the 'regret' made by Palmer after the outcry; based on his prior convictions. While he does have his faults, the post seems reasonable to me because of the philosophic attitude towards entitlement and his reinforcement through fact.

Screenshot: 8/29/15 Ravan Damien Comment Public Domain

This is one of the more reliable, reasonable, or credible posts as it presents facts regarding the issue, and focuses less on the already exhausted attacks towards Dr. Palmer but towards the park's possible corruption. The commentator began by presenting facts: the hunting licence given by the government and the known corruption in Zimbabwe. The writer obviously desires for the country in question to focus less of instant revenue and more on conservation. As he states that more money could have been made through tourism towards Cecil. He most likely wants more transparency in the gov. conservation  groups as he accuses them for ignoring their duties, providing licences to known poachers, and then reacting to their own folly. This is one of the more reasonable posts due to its consistency for fact and preventing his opinion from deterring his main argument for transparency and placing more blame on a corrupt government.

Screenshot: 8/29/15 Donny Johnson. Comment Public Domain

This is one of the less This is one of the less reliable, reasonable, or credible comments regarding the actual topic. The commentator begins completely off topic, addressing abortion, and never mentioning Cecil the Lion's death or the controversy surrounding Dr. Palmer's actions. To make matters worse, the commentator begins accusing the previous writer Ryan Liota of being a Communist supporter and advocate for forced abortions. There is no fact behind any of his statements; and obviously hopes to berate this opponent through name calling and fallacies. He is clearly an opponent to forced abortions and government involvement in abortions, based on his disdain towards Communist Romania's abortion policies. Otherwise, this post his the most unreasonable post because it has nothing to do with the article's topic. All of it is hearsay opinion and fallacious attacks. 

Reflection:
After reading the posts made by Kelly and Dominique  I have come to the conclusion that most educated and informed individuals can tell the difference between more credible/ reasonable posts and the less credible/ more opinionated posts. After comparing their thread posts to those of my our blog, I generally concluded that the less credible sources either use foul language to express their opinion, attack the previous commentator rather than the position, or randomly assume the fall out of the human race. Both of the blogs I visited recognized that blind fear and unsupported assumptions cost a thread its credibility. Those that are more credible, in their opinion, try to bring up instances in the past that support their claim. I too support that opinion. If a thread merely uses fallacious argumentation to back a usually broad claim, it will lose its credibility in my book. 

My Controversy

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150728-cecil-lion-killing-trophy-hunting-conservation-animals/

The death of Cecil the Lion strikes a nerve in me that ignites fury and disgust towards the individual who ended this last example of wild life in its purity. The article itself describes how an American dentist, Walter James Palmer, stalked the 13-year-old lion for forty hours, incapacitated it with a bow, and ended the animal's life by gunning it down while wounded.

To make matters even more appalling, Cecil was skinned and beheaded shortly after falling to the dentist's bullet. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF) has stated that hunt was illegal and Mr. Palmer was aided by known poachers. 

The aftermath of this blatant poaching of a well studied lion has sparked outcry from many pro-environment media groups- such as National Geographic.com which created this article- as well as dozens of wildlife social media centers; all calling for an international effort to end to the growing Big Game hunting phenomena among Western countries.

This controversy was especially unnerving for me because of my support for environmental conservation in these major wildlife areas; as well as, my disgust towards poaching "big game" animals for trophy purposes. What really makes me rather aggravated is the lack of international outcry, as many governments manifest this debate on the 'fine line' between poaching and killing for sport. The fact is that there should be no debate. Killing an endangered species should be illegal regardless of motive. 

Calendar Reflection

Kassalias, Mufidah. " Living In Your Calendar" January 21, 2014
Public Domain Dedication  Licence

The following blog outlines my reaction to the English 109H Weekly Calendar assignment, and my plan to take this information in order to fulfill my recommended six hours of homework dedication to this class.

Firstly, I have come to realize I dedicate too much time to sleeping and other personal activities. These activities range from going to the gym- which I have unintentionally made a routine- to dedicating most of my attention and time to classwork that really could be finished early on in the week.

With that in mind, I plan to finish all of my early in the week classwork before I attend English 109H on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That, in theory, would clear up at least three hours on Mondays and Fridays-  for a total of six hours. But I need to go further into my schedule in order to create a consistency in my focus.

I also hope to multitask and use most of my lunch and leisure periods in order to brainstorm and organize my work; so that, when I dive into the six hour homework period I can hit the ground running. This may include drafts for future blogs to familiarizing myself with the current textbook chapter.

If I dedicate enough time to my English schedule and familiarize myself with the content- with the aid of consistent in class note taking- I believe I will be able to succeed this Semester and ascertain my desired grade.

Reflection:

After visiting the blogs made by Jayni and Emma, I saw two writers focusing on one concept: Finding time to finish six hours of homework; yet still having an active social life. In my earlier post, I analyzed my Calendar Worksheet only to respond to my lack of assignment time by cutting out most of my private life.
What I now realize; especially after reading these posts, is that all I really need to monitor or cut out is the incidental leisure aspects. Based on Jayni's response, I need to stay on task and avoid those long break moments. And based on Emma's response, I can fit in most of my extra curricular if I take advantage of those long inter periods between most classes. Both blogs gave me a glimpse of hope that I can fulfill my English 109H requirement while still enjoy a social life.  

My Writing Process

Pasternak, Leonid. "The Passion of Creation"  Late 19th Century/ Russian Empire.
Public Domain Dedication Licence

There is nothing worse in writing, than an author who doesn't know what he or she is doing. They blindly rush into a essay hoping to make a solid point, and then throw facts to prop up the already shaky claim.  In the following blog I outline how I first recognize my initial opinion towards a prompt, process out the unsubstantiated rhetoric, and establish a unique essay theme in which I can back up with sources and logic. Therefore, creating a solid essay.

  
Every writer has a Unique style and system of planning when approaching an essay.

I consider myself the extensive or heavy planner. The individual who sets aside time- wasted or otherwise- to brainstorm. Now by brainstorm, I mean create a list of points I want to bring up in my work. These points are usually initial opinions. 

Once I have taken my reaction, and made it more tangible on paper, I begin cutting loose ends. These ends could be anything from A). Repetitive Ideas, B). Weak or Vague Concepts, or C). Points that are Impossible to prove without extensive data. 

This process is practically identical to the 'Heavy Planners' characteristics. Which by definition consists of listing my ideas so extensively that I am at the "second or third revision" area of writing. For me that phase does not necessarily apply to me.

I always revise my work regardless of how good I think the piece is. Ego has no room in quality writing.

My work does have heavy planning, or have sequential composition to it, but I always try to make every piece standard in one category: Revision. I recognize that I do make mistakes, and go into my work to find the bits and pieces that are either A). Fallacious or  B). Poorly Supported. 

And so far, this writing style has worked for me. I have always created an essay that in my opinion is consistent, factual, and well thought out. Sure I might need to improve on vocabulary usage or maybe punctuation, but I think in terms of writing I am well off. If any weaknesses are apparent to me, it would be how I procrastinate. 

I may plan heavily, but I still plan and revise at the last possible minute. I seem to have this idea that I work best under pressure.

In retrospect, I do think it would be beneficial to try a new approach to writing; but only in my timing. I think if I set aside for time to do my heavy planning, revising, and finalizing I would most likely create a better essay. 

Reflection:

After visiting and reading the well written blogs of Isabel and Jessica, I found that I can relate to many people who have similar styles or attitudes towards writing and its processes. Both gave a more positive outlook towards reforming their style; especially, in the revision department of writing. This was more or less a reality check for myself, as I was convinced that heavy planning and organization in one's work would make revision trivial.

But, like all things, I am not perfect and will eventually make a sizable mistake that could dampen the effect or quality of my work. These blogs allowed me to see how others- though Heavy Planners like myself- still go wanting in the quality of writing or feel more revision is necessary in order to make their point more straight forward. They felt that while they avoided procrastination, they fell victim to writing for writing's sake. 
In other words, overburdening the piece with repetition or overthinking. This I can relate to, as I too astray from my original template, add words or ideas contrary to my essay's point, or go off on tangents. Therefore, these blogs reminded me that writing is a continuous process, with continuous revision, and continuous planning.