It is the end of the semester and I am so happy to be finished! And glad that my group turned in their culture project early!

First off, the semester didn’t start off very well because I have been at CCCCD for a couple of years to catch up. So with that said the first 2 weeks of school were just a shambles.  I didn’t get into this class until the third week due to my transcripts and such so I basically had to do all of this myself.  With the help of a friendly meeting with Ms. Blackwell of course I was lead into the right direction. 

Once I knew what was required of me, I set out to set up my blogging account.  After several password emails, emails to the teacher, and resetting passwords I was finally able to access my blog. It was very exciting!

I love the blogging!  I must say that I had used a blog before in my macroeconomics class, we used the blog to turn in assignments, talk to each other live, and help each other out with our homework.  I wish that all of my teachers were required to have class blogs to make information and what is expected of you more convienent.  Everything about this blog was wonderful, especially when you have kidney stones and a kidney infection all at the same time and are going to miss a week and a half of class.  I was able to catch up with the class and turn in blogs on time with no headache at all, of course I had to do all the work on my own and find the information for myself, but, having the blog lead me in the right direction.  Another thing that I love is that you don’t have to take an over abundance of notes, anything that we did in class was done on the blog and posted later that day so that you had something to refer back to in case you got stuck. 

I also found the comments useful. It gives you a look at what your classmates think of your blogs and any extra help that they can offer you to further your studies.  At times we even had the comments of the bloggers we blogged on comment on what we had to say.  I must say that’s pretty cool!

The only thing that I found concerning was my ability to write.  Since high school I have not had one good English teacher until this semester. Seriously, that is not a line:).  The last time that I had a good English teacher was my junior year in high school.  Since then all my classes have consisted of is “write this paper on this topic and turn it in on this date.”  There was no structure, no discussion, no expanding on MLA format.  Through the blogging and in class blogs that we have discussed has opened my eyes better my writing and express my views for everyone to see.

I already have a myspace blog and a facebook blog to keep up with my friends, but I will definately be on the lookout for a blog that would suit my type of personality.  I will continue to blog to better my writing, express my opinions, and meet other people.  I will acually keep this blog as well so that I have a constant source for English resources and an instant link to the Ashley X blog.  After reading her families story I am interested to see what will happen with her in the future.

I have enjoyed this class and this blog…. and now I must say goodbye and return to the never ending Guitar HeroII concert in my living room. 

Good Night and Good Luck!

1. How do you want the information presented?

2. What is the format of the exam?

3.  What direction do you want us to take on our essay?

4.  Is this an opinion based essay or direct answer?

5. Is this essay in first person? Can we use I or me?

6. Can we have a sense of humor with this essay or is it serious?

The most important thing that you have to take into consideration when writing an essay exam is on page 714 “your audience for an essay exam is your instructor, so you need to ask yourself what your intructor values and wants.” That is the # 1 most important thing that you can do for an essay exam. 

Another thing you need to do is hit the high points of the semester that you find in your notes.   The last thing that a teacher wants to know is that you learned nothing throughout the semester and all she did was stand up there and listen to herself talk. 

Pg 715 Question  “How do you determine the main ideas and the key concepts?”

The answer is simple, most of the professors that I have always have the key concepts and important information bulleted in the notes.  Along with that they will always let you know if any of the bullets with that topic are important and should star them.  The same alson goes with information in the book, bold faced words and bullets at the bottom are always key in what you should know. 

Page 715 “Master more than the information covered in class”

I love classes like these.  In any type of social science class you will have to interpret more of the imformation in your own words than that of the teachers.  It is your own personal understanding that scores you the points with a teacher.  Showing that you understand and apply the concepts that your teacher gave you and applying them to your own personal thoughts on paper.

I love essay exams because you go with what you want to do in the way that you know the teacher wants it presented.

I love essay exams because you have one topic, you do a bit of preparation ahead of time so that you know what you are going to write about and then you write it.  It also challenges you to think outside the box, not just what your teacher wants to hear. 

Another determining factor that I like is the point system.  Looking as as the number of points each question is worth helps you determine how long your answer should be.  If there is a 20 pt. question than about a page long, if it’s a 50 pt. question a page and a half to 2 pages.  These point values help tremendously with dertermining the quality and quantity of work. 

The last thing that I like is how open you can be with essay exam.  You can argue, counter argue. 

1.  My audience is focused to the 18-35 females.  Though I have read many articles talking about 12-17 year old females that are pregnant or their parents are consenting to abortions.  My paper is soley based to the female 18-35 year olds that wait until the last minute to have an abortion.  Or the audience that have used abortion 3 or more times within a year.

2.  I chose this audience because I have found way to many stories about women that abuse the privelage of abortion.  Don’t get me wrong, some people will read that and think why did she just say that abortion is a privelage?  Well, it’s not illegal and for some raped women it is the option.  So don’t bombard my blog with comments about that comment. 

3.  My topic might just bring to light that abortion is not just something that you can go to Planned Parenthood and have done.  I read an article stating that a women had 6 abortions performed in an 18 month period.  That’s murder!  But when you have a rape victim that is pregnant and doesn’t want the child to be a constant reminder of a tragedy in your life… that NOT murder. 

Annotated Bibliography

Kangas, Steve. “Abortion is Murder.” The Long FAQ on Liberalism. 23^rd March 2007.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-abortion.htm

Steve Kangas of The Long FAQ on Liberalism in “Abortion is Murder” asserts that by definition of murder abortion does not qualify.  He discusses the different view points that abortion is seen in and counter argues with the legalities of murder.  Steve Kangas persuades the general public to look at his facts and find the ethics.  His purpose is to educate other’s to take a different perspective in abortion and not murder.

Steve Kangas is a non gambling, chess playing, Liberal who father’s an award winning political site.  His online website is scholarly; it can be used as a credible and very liberal source.

Kreeft, Peter. “Is Abortion Murder.” 1997.Catholic
Education
Resource
Center. 25^th March, 2007. http://catholiceducation.org/articles/abortion/ab0004.html

Peter Kreeft ofCatholic
Education
Resource
Center in “Is Abortion Murder” asserts that a fetus is not a person at conception; therefore, abortion at an early state is not murder. He discusses the line between a person and a “non person”.  Peter Kreeft demonstrates his findings to the general public in order to give his own scientific explanation of abortion. 

Peter Kreeft who teaches at
Boston
College is on the advisory board of theCatholic
Education
Resource
Center.  His article is scholarly and used as a credible source.

McKinley, Brian Elroy. ‘Why Abortion is Biblical.” November 2006. World Population Awareness.23^rd March 2007. http://www.elroy.net/ehr/abortion.html

Brian Elroy McKinley of World Population Awareness in “Why Abortion is Biblical” asserts that there are not only scripture for damning the performance of abortion but in support of it.  He discusses many verses from the Bible that counter argue pro life scripture.  Brian Elroy McKinley shows the general public that the Bible has no problem with pro choice.  His purpose is to educate the religious support groups.

Brian Elroy McKinley is a general writer by trade.  Although this source seems scholarly it is used as an informative source.

National Right to Life

http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ASMF/asmf3.html

?? How do I site this if there is no author, it is just a general informative site??

Research Prospectus

Overview of the argument

• At what point of a pregnancy determines if abortion is murder?  The age from conception, to generic genetic matter, to becoming a fetus is a crucial issue in determining if you are in fact killing a human being.   This issue raises a lot of questions when you look at the growing rate of aborted pregnancies being performed in the
  United States. 
• This argument is a giant part of many political debates and whether or not it is constitutionally sound; so this topic is quite recent.  The materials needed to find research for my argument are very generous, are readily available, and very recent with new findings coming to light all the time.

Pro Side

• The pro side of this argument use the definitions of the key words used. Abortion, murder, conception, fetus, these are all key definitions that make up the arguments for demonstrating that if a fetus is not a person by definition that in no way is abortion murder. 
• According to the definition of murder abortion is not illegal nor does the mother of the child want to invoke malice on their unborn child. 
• The definition of abortion is very vague, when looked at even a miscarriage could be determined as an abortion. 
• What makes this issue so controversial is the right to life, if the zygote inside of you at early gestation is not yet a living, breathing, and human being than abortion is not by any definition murder. 

Con Side

• The con side to this argument is brought on by mostly Christian based groups with scripture.  Using the argument that God says in his Holy Bible that abortion is wrong and not accepted in his eyes. 
• Other reason that people consider abortion murder is for their reasoning behind it.  In their eyes the person getting the abortion is wrong and done for social reasons because they are not ready for a baby.  At the time that a woman realizes that they are or might be pregnant the heart has already begun to develop and beat and as weeks pass more things start to develop. 
• While the research on any pro life website seems to provide the same information what’s interesting is that also included is a link to Planned Parenthood or some type of similar link.

Are you pro or con?

• I am defiantly pro with this topic.  There are a lot of reasons why someone could terminate a pregnancy.  I don’t think that a person should be labeled a murderer just because of a choice that you make.  My overall opinion is that in this life, in this world there are many choices, abortion just happens to be one.

What have you learned in your research so far?

• I’ve actually learned that there are more people that are for abortion than not.  Most of the websites that I have found demonstrating pro life is very Christian based and are riddled with scripture.  What’s interesting is that they do have a link some type of Planned Parenthood website so that expectant mother’s can get help. 
• The articles that I have found supporting pro choice are very interesting the way that they justify abortion not being murder.  I happen to agree with their justification and bring a very good argument to the table.

Have I found statistics?

• No

Have I found support for my side of the argument?

• Yes, there are many scholarly articles written in support of abortion of a fetus not considered murder.

Have I found support for the counterarguments?

• Yes, several pro life websites

What do you still need to find in your research?

• Statistics of abortions performed in the
  United States
• The actual week to week development from conception to fetus
• Statistics of people who are for and against abortion

What is your timeline?

• March 27^th- Turn in Prospectus and Annotated Bibliography
• March 29^th- Work on Rough Draft
• March 31^st- Complete Rough Draft
• April 2^nd- Give my rough copy to my English Major friend to proofread
• April 5^th- TX. Govt, Test
• April 12^th- Critical Analysis Due
• April 17^th – Essay Due
• Weekends- work on paper and study

Paragraph 1:  Introduces the reader into what bioethicists are called upon to do and how they bring to the table new technologies to make people aware of advances.

Paragraph 2:  Informing the reader about the 6 year old girl, her families decisions in her health care, and their reasoning for it.

Paragraph 3:  Dvorsky gives the reader his views on the story and why he came to the conclusion to agree with the parents.

Paragraph 4:  Describe’s the girls condition and her mental capacity.

Paragrpah 5:  Informing the reader of how she is dependent on her caregiver’s and how they are making it easy on themselves to inject her with estrogen instead of adapting.

Paragrpah 6:  Shows that even though people may object to the treatments that they do have a reason behind them.

Paragraph 7:  Dvorsky is bringing to light that since the child is in an infant state of mind that the estrogen is not to benefit her but to benefit the parents.

Paragraph 8,9, &10:  All clarifying that the estrogen is all to the parents benefit and that an overdose of this drug is a valid concern

Paragraph 11:  Again, I think that Dvorsky points out that the parents are not helping their daughter grow by any means like they think that they are, they are just keeping her in her infancy.

Paragraph 12 & 13:  These paragraphs pretty much sum up that this situation as a whole is not desirable for any family but I think really brings to light that the parents are just being lazy and catering to themselves and not thir daughter. 

I think that I could narrow the topic of abortion down to the time line of procedures for abortion and at what stage the fetus is at. Arguing the point that at what stage of abortion is o.k. to continue with and when is it just murder. 

For Example:

**Fetal Facts**

*At 18-25 days a baby’s heart begins to beat and their brain starts to function

*At 11 weeks a baby can squint their eyes, make fists, and swallow

**Abortion Procedures at 18-25 days**

*You can have an early medical abortion(go into detail about the procedure)

** Abortion Procedure at 11 weeks**

*Suction Procedure( details about the procedure)

**Abortion Procedures during the 3rd trimester**

*Induction Abortion(details)

*Dialation and Extraction Procedure(details)

Has anyone noticed that when you post a blog it is the way wrong time that you posted it??? I just posted my topic blog and it says that posted at 5:16 am on Tuesday???  Does anyone else have this problem or am I the only one???