Reflection on past writings

                During this semester, we had many writing assignments. All of them were different in what type of writing we needed to do for them. Learning all these different types of ways to write will be very helpful to me during the rest of my college years and my eventual career.

            One of the most helpful ways of writing we learned was writing an application essay. This assignment helped teach us what we needed to include and how to write it. The biggest lesson we learned for this was to “show, not tell.” To do this, you need to show your qualifications instead of just saying what they are. An example of this is instead of saying you get good grades; you say your grade point average or say the grades you get. This assignment was one of the easier ones we had to do. “Show, not tell” was not very hard to learn and was easy to incorporate into my writing.

            Another assignment that will be helpful in the future is the one on how to write an argument. The section taught us that in order to be affective in an argument we need to be able to see both sides. By being able to see both sides you can pick out the other sides points and disprove them. This makes your argument more believable because it shows that you know what you are talking about. Knowing how to properly write an argument will be very helpful for college because there are many assignments where you have to make an argument. Picking an argument to write about for my blog was difficult knowing I’d have to acknowledge the other side and not be biased about my point of view on the subject. Once I found a good topic, writing about it was easier than I thought it would be.

            Looking back at all my writing assignments, I can see how my writing has improved. Knowing all these different writing styles will surely help me in the future. Being able to write in different ways for different situations will help in whatever job I get in the future because I will be a versatile writer.

Should the driving age be raised to 18

            The question of raising the driving age has been around for a few years now. Some people think the age of sixteen is not the best age for teenagers to start learning to drive simply because they are not mature enough for the responsibility. They think the age of eighteen, when people are considered to be an adult, is a better age. At eighteen people are more mature and are more capable of making better decisions, whereas sixteen year olds are not.

            Raising the driving age needs to be done so that the roads will be safe and filled with responsible drivers. Sixteen is not a good age to have teenagers learn to drive. People argue that all ages have car accidents but “16-year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age” ("RMIIA"). This shows that they are not ready to be driving yet. A sixteen year-olds brain is not mature enough and “a crucial part of the teen's brain — the area that peers ahead and considers consequences — remains undeveloped” (DeBarros, Hansen, and O’Donnell). Teenager’s brains are just not developed enough for them to understand the consequences on their actions. When they drive recklessly they don’t realize and are incapable of thinking enough ahead to see that what they are doing will have dire consequences on themselves and the others in the car or on the road.

            Other arguments against raising the age are that teens have jobs and need to get to work. There are plenty of other ways they can get to their jobs that doesn’t involve them driving themselves. They can get rides from their parents, take a bus or train, and they could walk if the job is no too far. This argument also goes toward teen driving themselves to school.

            Raising the driving age will make the roads safer. Getting rid of the younger, immature sixteen year-old drivers will only help save the lives of those teenagers and the others on the road. If the states agree to raise the age, they will be lowering the amount of deaths and car accidents that are caused young drivers.

 

. "Teen Driving Statistics." RMIIA. Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, n.d. Web. 9 Dec 2012. <http://www.rmiia.org/auto/teens/Teen_Driving_Statistics.asp>.

DeBarros, Anthony, Barbara Hansen, and Jayne O'Donnell . "Is 16 too young to drive a car?." usatoday. USA TODAY, 02 2005. Web. 9 Dec 2012. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-02-teens-cars-main-usat_x.htm>.

Trends

                Online shopping is more popular now than it has ever been. People love being able to just go online, click and buy. It just makes shopping so much easier. This trend has been rising since its beginning in the 1990’s. Every day, more and more people are choosing to do their shopping over the internet instead of actually going to a store.

            Almost every store nowadays has a website online from which you can shop. Even grocery stores have this option. Statistics show that online sales have grown "from 72 billion U.S. dollars in 2002 to 256 billion U.S. dollars in 2011" ("statista").

This shows that in the United States, Americans spent 184 billion more dollars in the course of 9 years and these numbers are only going to rise in the future. It is “predicted that online retail revenues alone would reach 269 billion U.S. dollars by 2015” ("statista").

            During the holidays is when online shopping is at its best. A lot of people like to avoid the large crowds of gift buyers. Online shopping is a simple way to get your Christmas shopping, or birthday shopping, done and over with without having to go out. Stores also encourage this by having many online deals that makes online shopping even better.

            There are both good and bad parts about the rise of the online shopping trend.

The good being that it is more convenient for shoppers. It is much more convenient for a shopper to just log on to his or her computer and shop that way. Also, it is very easy to compare prices from different stores online to get a better deal. A bad side to this is the shipping costs you have to pay for the items to be taken to your house. Depending on what website you are shopping from, the shipping can be very expensive and sometimes make what you are purchasing not worth it. Another thing to be wary about with online shopping is the item you ordering being broken or not exactly what you thought it would be. People also leave their houses less often due to their being online shopping. Since they can just get whatever they want delivered to their house, there isn't as many reasons to leave. As this trend rises, the more these pros and cons will be looked at and noticed by those participating in it.

            The trend online shopping is a big one. One which many people do every day. It is a trend that will be around for a long time and will just keep getting more popular.

While there are some negatives in this trend, most people will just focus on the postitives.

Movie Review: Hercules

                Disney is known for making fantastical children’s movies that are beloved by all. It continues this trend with its movie “Hercules”. Based on Greek mythology, “Hercules” is about the son of the God Zeus and his wife the Goddess Hera. Along with the appearance of other Greek gods, this movie is great for both children and any fan of Greek mythology. Hades, the Lord of the underworld, is planning to take over Olympus but needs to get rid of Hercules in order to do it. After turning him mortal, he sends him to Earth where he grows up and wants to become a hero. By teaming up with a satyr named Phil he begins his hero training and launches into an adventure to become a God and rejoin his family.

            The animation for this movie looks much different than the previous Disney films that have been released. With the film having Greek origins, the animators studied Grecian art to help inspire their characters designs and the design of the world it takes place in. It is very easy to see where this story takes place just through the designs.

            As with most Disney movies, “Hercules” has many musical numbers. The music, for the most part, is very upbeat and you’ll find it hard to resist the urge to sing along. Background music is very effective in the film and really helps give this movie that extra something. The music really helps to set the tone of certain scenes and is never distracting. Character’s singing voices match very well to their just spoken voices. Tate Donovan, voice of Hercules, does a marvelous job at his first time working as a voice over. His naivety and nervousness helped bring the character of Hercules, who is also quite naïve himself, to life. Hades, the villain, was played by James Wood who literally made the character his. He frequently adlibbed lines and made Hades a villain whom you hate but can’t help but love as well.  

            “Hercules” is one of Disney’s best films to date. It has beautiful animation, great voice acting and a wonderful story filled with adventure. This movie can be enjoyed by anyone of any age. While it’s aimed at children, there are plenty of jokes thrown in it that the adults will understand and surely chuckle at. This film is definitely worth seeing.

News Article

 On Thursday, a mother, her daughter and their four dogs had to escape from their beloved home when it caught fire that afternoon. Leaving behind their five cats, they got out safely, but they have been left homeless due to all the damage that the fire has caused their home.

            The fire started in the basement and quickly spread throughout the rest of the house. After the woman got everyone she could out of the house, she locked the dogs in her car and immediately called 911. Eight fire trucks, two ambulances and one police cars showed up in response.  A large crowd of people and neighbors soon came to see the fire and watch it from afar and offer the family comfort. Everyone was completely silent as they watched the firefighters do everything they could to put out the bright flames.

            “It was horrifying to see”, said Mike Thomas. “Me and my wife were just driving by and all of sudden we came upon a crowd of people watching this house being engulfed by flames. We couldn’t help but stop and just watch. We felt terrible for the family.”

            Firefighters showed up and went fast to work to put out the fire. It took them all of twenty minutes to rescue the remaining pets inside and extinguish the fire. The basement suffered from massive damage from both the fire and the water from the hoses. The rest of the house however had heavy damage from all the smoke.

            “I’m just so glad no one got hurt. Despite all the damage, that’s at least something to be thankful for. They are all so lucky to have gotten out in time.” said Denise Thomas. Both her and her husband have offered any help that they can give to the family.

            Animal control was called to take care of the nine pets and make sure they were all ok. The mother and daughter were devastated to see their home destroyed. It is unknown where they will be staying for the time being. Family, friends and neighbors are offering their support to the poor family.

Short Article

                When you go to Disney World, have you ever wondered how Mickey Mouse or any of the other characters would just pop up out of nowhere and seem to magically appear in their meeting spot? Well, that’s definitely how Walt Disney himself wanted it to seem to his guests. Walt wanted it to seem like when you entered Disney World that you really entered a new world. Before it was even built, Walt was walking in his first park Disneyland, and one day saw a “Frontierland cowboy walking through Tomorrowland” (Shaw). It was then that he decided that could never happen again. He then went on to design Disney World so that it would never happen.

           Everything about Disney world is designed so that you won’t notice all the things they don’t want you to. There are underground tunnels beneath the parks where all the workers can get to where they need to be and not be seen by the guests. This way, you will never see a worker in the wrong park. Even though the tunnels are beneath Disney World, they aren’t actually underground. The tunnels were actually built on ground level and the park was built over them, making Disney World itself being the second floor of the park ("themouseconnection.net"). There are many entrances to the tunnels but “the main tunnel entrance is behind Fantasyland, specifically under Pinnochio’s Village Haus” ("themouseconnection.net"). Many other entrances are spread across the parks and are used by all the employees. Mostly, they are used by the characters and their attendants. They use the tunnels so they can get to their meeting spots without being seen. Also, so the characters can switch for their breaks and no one would notice that a new Mickey or Minnie had come.

            It’s possible to have a special tour of these tunnels. The tour is called “Keys to the Kingdom” and can only be done by people sixteen or older ("themouseconnection.net"). The reason for this is because the magic of Disney World would be ruined for children if they were to see that there was more than one Mickey.

            Walt Disney worked very hard on his design of Disney World so it would seem like a place of magic. He made sure that no one would see a worker not in their designated area and that what is supposed to be in its place is. Every specific park is its own park and you won’t see anything out of place. Walt truly made a place where it seems like everything works like magic.

Shaw, T.R.. "Under the Magic Kingdom." hiddenmickeys.org. USA and Worldwide. Web. 4 Nov 2012. <http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/WDW/MagicKingdom/Secrets/General/Underground.html>.

. "Fun Facts: Magic Kingdom's Tunnel System ." themouseconnection.net. N.p.. Web. 4 Nov 2012. <http://www.themouseconnection.net/2010/07/fun-facts-magic-kingdoms-tunnel-system.html>.

Profile

    Born in Taunton, MA, Jessica Gove was always determined to adventure out and live in a better place. A happier place. Eventually this happened and now she lives in the happiest place on Earth, Disney World. Her determination and drive are the best things about her.
    After her four years at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth she heard about the Disney College Program and quickly looked up as much information on it as possible. The Disney College Program is for students to have an internship at Disney for six months. “As soon as I had heard about it I knew it was something I needed to do. It would be a dream come true to work there.” Jessica told me. She immediately went to their website to fill out her application and to do the web based interview.
    Jessica aced the interview and was given a phone number to call for an over the phone interview. Anxiously she waited for the interview, practicing possible answers for any possible question she could be asked. When the day came she was shaking like a leaf, barely able to sit still. Her blonde hair was thrown in a messy bun and she wore her comfiest clothes. She didn’t want anything to be a distraction to her. Tapping her feet and twirling her hair as she stared at the phone, she had never been so nervous. The phone rings and she jumps up to answer it, suddenly the nervousness is gone and replaced with complete confidence. “That’s what’s so amazing about her” says her mother. “She doesn’t let her nerves get in her way. Jess is a very determined girl. She doesn’t stop till she gets what she wants.”
    No one was surprised when she passed the interview and was called a few days later and told she got in. “Of course she got it. She’s very intelligent, articulate and creative, which is exactly what Disney would be looking for” said her father. Jessica quickly began to pack her things and plan her trip. She was completely ready to start her life in Disney. Getting there was easy enough, but staying there was more of challenge. Her internship was only going to be six 
short months and when they were over she immediately made plans to get a permanent job. It took her a few years but eventually Jessica got a permanent job and was able to move out to Florida and get out of Massachusetts like she always wanted.