Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Plagerism - A Book Response #5


            I didn’t enjoy reading this article, mainly because how the author talked about the subject matter. The subject matter, plagiarism, isn’t all that bad. The subject could even be interesting, if the author(s) aren’t librarians that are tired of students copying and pasting their way through school. With the author having a negative outtake on what they're writing about, the article quickly becomes a slew of negativeness and is too repetitive to actually care about. They have taken the view of other biased people about plagiarism and they also have the same view, mainly because the interviewees consist of other librarians and English teachers that are also tired of plagiarism in their classroom. This wouldn't be bothersome to me if the article talked about students that don't plagiarize their papers and that do their work, but instead it's all about students that make the wrong decision otherwise known as the easy way out.

There are some interesting and intelligent parts in this article. The sections when the authors talk about how society has changed with the influx of new technology. It goes over how before students used computers to type papers and they would always cite their sources that they used. According to the article, many students don’t see a problem with copying a pasting things off the internet due to the fact that anyone can find it and to them, it’s considered common knowledge.


“This generation has always existed in a world where media and intellectual property don’t have the same gravity,”


                Overall, I managed to get through this article but that was about it. I honestly didn’t gain much from reading it, perhaps it’s because I don’t plagiarize. I don’t see plagiarism as a way to pass a class, especially in high school because most of the promps are very detailed and specific and trying to find a paper that matches the criteria would take longer than typing up the paper myself.

Some women that were involved in this article that complain
 about plagiarism in a learning environment

Dave Berry Article - A Book Response #4

This is how I picture Dave Barry in College
            Dave Barry’s article (?) basically talks about how pointless college is and that you really don’t use much of what you learn while you’re there. It’s also about what you should and shouldn’t study while in college. If you want to pass and get a degree, you should probably major in something that doesn’t have any actual facts involved with it instead of math and chemistry which are based entirely on factual information. Making up random garbage is usually the best way to pass these non-factual classes because if you turn in something that would be considered normal, you will most likely fail the class where on the other hand if you turn in something extremely off-the-wall, you’re teacher will think that you’re the smartest one in the class and pass you with flying colors.


"Here is a very important piece of advice: be sure to choose a major that does not involve Known 

Facts and Right Answers"



            Overall, I enjoyed reading this short-story-esk writing and found it to be humorous, especially because I’m currently applying to colleges and I want to major in one of the four subjects that actually involves factual information: chemistry. I hope to read more from Dave Barry where he writes like he did in this passage.

                                                           


Friday, October 10, 2014

Revive - A Book Response #3 (Pages 89 - 103)

   

        When the family arrives in Kansas City, Daisy reiterates how much she despises Wade. Mason insists that even though she doesn't like being in his company, she still needs to be considerate to the rest of the Zimmerman family. Wades mom makes him invite Daisy to hang out with his girlfriend and a few other friends. They start out driving to the local soccer field and they hang out there while taking turns filling up their cups with alcohol from a thermos that Wades girlfriend brought. His girlfriend then decides that they should go to a party.
A keg from the party
        Daisy doesn't remember the trip to the party nor what has taken place for the past couple of hours. She wakes up in a room that is lit with a red tint with a sharp pain in her stomach and a headache. She is simultaneously freezing and sweating. After a while, her memory starts to come back to her. She remembers running around the soccer field with Brittany and doing a keg stand because one of Wades friends dared her to. She remembers singing karaoke with another friend and cornering Wade about the Revive program, slurring her way through each sentence.
        A guy walks into the room that Daisy is laying in and barely notices her before escorting his newly found keg back to the party. He asks is she's okay and she blurts out that she already called Audrey, except she doesn't remember doing so. She lays down and quickly passes out again. She is woken up by someone carrying her outside and into a car, however she can't fight back because her limbs have fallen numb. She has no choice but to face her fate when she can finally move again.
         Daisy wakes up to a comforting site the next morning, Matt. She hears Mason through the door and Matt tells her to answer his call. After Mason asks if she wants to go to the Zimmerman's today, Matt quickly insists that Daisy should ask if she can stay her today. After Mason leaves in aggreance

A non-diet soda
with Daisy's request, she asks Matt how he had known to come help her.He explains that she had drunk texted him and that he had called her and she wanted him to save her from a gay guy named Wade. Matt had had trouble translating Daisy's location because she said that she was at "Freckler with the moose" in stead of Specter Hall where she had seen ornamental reindeer and mistook one of them for a moose.
         After their conversation, Matt order them food and remembering that Daisy didn't order a diet soda at the movie, he orders her a regular. Daisy decides that she doesn't want to hide her feelings for Matt anymore and decides that saving her from a drunken mistake and ordering food from memory means that he has feelings for her as well.

Universal cancer symbol
         While they are watching a movie and chowing down on lunch, Daisy asks Matt if he things that Audrey could be mad at her, seeing as she hasn't replied to any e-mails or texts for almost three days. Matt brushes her off with a simple "I don't think so.." but Daisy can tell that he knows something. She presses on 15 minutes later and continues to ask what's wrong after she sees the sad look on Matts face. She explains that he can tell her anything and to trust her and her tells her that her new best friend has cancer and has been in the hospital since she left.

    


                    Deciphered quote from the text to be added later

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Revive - A Book Response (Pages 0-49)

              Revive is a book that many people, varying in age, can connect too even though it involves an extreme case of sci-fi. The book starts off with the protagonist, who was previously deceased, being brought back to life the night after she passed away. The couple who bring her back to life, one large physically fit man and the other a slim attractive woman, seem to be the main caretakers of the young girl. Both are apart of a secret agency that has created the drug and the protagonist is the main test subject.
              Throughout the first 20 or so pages, the book leads you to believe that the main character is the only one of her kind and that her position is very unique in that way, however, after the very beginning of the book you realize she is apart of a group called the Buses. Each of the 14 or so children were involved in an horrific crash and the 14 that are apart of the revive program were the people that were selected to be brought back to life at the crash. This leads you to assume that the incident was a bus crash during a school event but you don't know why the bus crashed or how it did so.
                The only friend the young girl has ever had is a girl by the name of Megan, whom was also involved in the original accident and they still keep in contact with each other. This is due to the fact that because Daisy is relocated many times every time she dies, using the time and effort to make friends isn't really worth it.
                When she moves into the town of Omaha, remembering a past encounter of missing out on a possible friend, Daisy accepts a lunch invitation from a girl that she believes to be one of the most popular girls in her school. This is quite unusual for her and when she tells Megan about the newly acquired friend, she is exceptionally skeptical , for good reason.


Cover of the book

Revive - A Book Response #2 (Pages 49-86)

Reading Response #2 (Pages 49-86)

            After a week or so, Audrey invites Daisy to come over to her house and hang out. Although Mason is hesitant for her to do go, he allows it to happen.  Daisy and Audrey start talking about her past but Daisy unintentionally tells the truth when she is asked about when he parents adopted her. She blurts out the answer 4 instead of the answer she’s supposed to say, which is that she was adopted at birth. She ignores the follow up question about where she lived beforehand by changing the subject and Audrey takes this as a sign that Daisy might not feel comfortable about the subject. Audrey then asks is Daisy would like a drink and excuses herself in order to get them. While she is gone, Matt, Daisy’s secret crush, walks in a starts up a conversation. She quickly realizes that Matt must be Audrey's brother and starts to feel almost uncomfortable with her friendship with Audrey.
            Later in the reading, Audrey invites Daisy to go see a movie with her and afterwards go to the mall. This time, Mason is having uneasy feeling about the Revive Program’s secrecy being in jeopardy, but he still allows her to go. As Mason is driving Daisy to Audrey’s house, he’s constantly looking in the mirrors to make sure that they aren’t being followed and when he drops her off, he doesn’t leave the drive way until Daisy is inside the house. Audrey informs Daisy that Matt will be coming with them and that she knows that Daisy has feelings for her brother. They get into the car a little before Matt does and Daisy tried to dispute her feelings but before she can say much, Matt comes into the car.
            The three of the watch the movie and head to the Mall. After they shop around, they grab something to eat in the food court. Audrey leaves Daisy and Matt at the table in order to get pretzel bites, however, this takes her quite a long time and one gets the sense that she is trying to spectate on her new friend and brother. The two have a short and awkward conversation and Audrey comes back to save the day, then she exclaims that she forgot to fill her drink. Realizing what she had just been a victim of, Daisy quickly offers to fill the drink for her in order not to be spied on again. When she comes back, she teases Audrey about being her waiter and how if she isn’t tipped, she will have to take the drink back. This causes a commotion in the food court and many people start staring at the two girls.
The girls face when she
sees Daisy is back from the dead
            Out of the crowd, a girl that had known Daisy in her past life makes eye contact and Daisy quickly evacuates the scene, with the drink in hand. She texts Audrey and tells her to meet around the corner and explains that she saw a girl that she hated from her last school and didn’t want to have to talk with her. Later that night, Daisy explains the mall situation with Mason and Cassie and they decide that instead of leaving the next morning to go to Kansas City in order to test another bus kid, they’re going to leave that night. After hacking into the E-mail of the girl from the mall, Cassie discovers that she is in town for the weekend for a family reunion. Her and Mason decide that it is best if they stay in Kansas City until Monday to avoid the girl.
           The family discusses what the possibilities are of them having to move because of the incident. Daisy privately tells Mason that she is becoming attached to Omaha and that she doesn’t want to move anymore. Mason assures her that he will do everything he can to prevent another move but reminds Daisy that although he may be one of Gods favorite disciples, if he says that they have to move, they have to move nonetheless.