Has becoming a writer messed with my mind?

Obviously. I would say that my new found writing skills have changed the way I read. I still like reading Harry Potter more than anything else in the world and science-ficition bores me so much that I'd rather clip my ear lobes off with trimming shears. Now, I do realize how the author switched up the sentence structure to make the reader feel really frantic. Or that the author used a verb that fit PERFECTLY with the situation. Or that the use of paragraph organization was as (or more) impactful than any other rhetorical device. Did becoming a writer change my view of the world? Ehh.. I mean, yeah I notice when billboards are grammatically incorrect and when a story in the newspaper is well written, but I don't go out and look at the trees differently because I can write. And I don't love my family more since I learned how to write. I think becoming a writer has given me a more advanced view of the simple things in life. I choose to talk with bigger adjectives because I sound smarter and I like when people don't fully understnad what I'm saying.

about the nom noms of life

  My theory is that you can't say you don't like a food unless you've tried it. Recently. When I say I had asparagus for dinner and people turn up their noses, it's ususally because they hated asparagus as a kid and they haven't even  tried it lately.
  But, I know there are foods that I haven't liked yet in my life and foods I know I will never like.

• tomatoes: when you eat one you literally get guts in your mouth. noooo thank youu
• squash: no one likes squash
• licorice: it tastes like I'm eating the smell of windex
• oranges/orange juice: I don't want that nasty pulp in my stomach... It tastes like I'm swallowing seaweed.
• pie: unless it's chocolate pie, don't bring it near me

I also know that there are going to be things that I used to hate and now LOVE.

• beets: they look gross, smell gross, but taste like heaven
• cottage cheese: I used to think you made cottage cheese by drinking a lot of milk and then running. And I thought cottage cheese was what the actors used back in the day as fake vomit.
• SUSHI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOM NOM NOM NOM

What I believe is that everyone's preferences change, picky eaters are missing out on a huge part of life, and being a cook would be the best job in the world. My problem is that I just burnt my Pizza Rolls and my Ramen boiled over and I don't have a single cooking gene in my entire body.

Why should we remove "literally" from the English language?

According to dictionary.com, the definition of literally is "actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy." Literally, literally is an over used word that the majority of society uses in the wrong context. Literally's antonymn is figuratively, but literally no one says figuratively. Your pencil can't literally fly across the room. Your mom doesn't literally hate you. Taylor Lautner isn't literally a god (even though he could pass for one). Used in the correct time and place, I have nothing against the use of literally. Even in satirical essays when literally is used in the wrong place at the right time intentionally, I'm ok with it. What irks me is when people are telling stories about their car accident and their lives literally flashed in front of their eyes. Well hate to break it to ya chump, but I'm pretty sure it's been scientifically proven that that doesn't happen. My argument against the incorrect use of literally isn't backed by my impeccable use of the word, in fact I miss use it as much as the next, over-exaggerating teenager. It is just so annoying to listen to! I'm going to start saying "I figuratively am in love with him" or "I figuratively just failed that AP Comp quiz."

answers to my rhetorical modes

#1: definition
#2: argument/persausion
#3: example
#4: narration
#5: cause and effect
#6: description

rhetorical modes

#1: Jealous- feeling resentment against someone because of that person's rivalry, success, or advantages
#2: Personally, I think jealousy is pointless. I get jealous too, but I still think it is unreasonable. When I see someone with better clothes or better legs or nice hair, I feel a twinge of dislike towards him or her. My proposal isn't to forget about jealousy because I think that is impossible, but I propose that, when one feels jealous, he or she stops and thinks about everything in his/her life that is good. In doing so, I hope people will begin to be thankful for what they have rather than be jealous of others.


#3: Shakespeare's Othello is focused around jealousy. The jealousy of the characters is fueled by the actions of other characters. (In Othello, the hero succumbs to jealousy when Iago convinces him that Desdemona has been an unfaithful wife – in the end, Othello murders his wife and then kills himself.)There is jealousy used in many other plays, movies, books, and television shows because it grabs the viewers attention. Jealousy makes people do unreasonable things, such as kill their wives or steal.


#4: The first time I remember getting jealous is in preschool. My crush, Adam, was a hunk. Even in preschool everyone wanted to date him. He was the teacher's favorite, the smartest in the class, and the best at making letters out of playdough. My best friend, Jessa, was also in our class. She was the greatest. And she had a pool so that made us even closer because I LOVE SWIMMING. Anyway, Jessa was playing in the cardboard kitchen that we had in the class room and I was coloring on the table. All was going well until Adam stood up, walked that cute butt over to the cardboard kitchen, and crouched behind it with Jessa. He had just chosen Jessa over me. I was furious. I started throwing crayon after crayon after crayon at them, but they were too infatuated with each other to notice. No more talking to Jessa, no more flirting with Adam... Does anyone want to be my new best friend??


#5: Being jealous would occur because of multiple reasons. Maybe you just saw your boyfriend getting snuggly with your best friend. Maybe your sister got the boots you wanted for Christmas. Maybe your next door neighbor can go through money like water and you can't... All of these are possible causes for jealousy.


#6: How to tell if someone is jealous.
    - He/she breathes VERY deeply through his/her nose whenever you walk past
    - He/she begins to dress like you and talk like you and smell like your perfume because he/she would kill to be you.
    - He/she would bad mouth you to anyone who would listen because she/he wants to boost his/her confidence by puting you down.
    - He/she might, just might, "accidentally" trip you on the stairs to make you embarrassed. No one is jealous of someone who falls on the stairs.

'Tis the Season

    My mom is a blabber. She tells us all of these stories about herself as a child that can range from being about her getting barbed wire up her butt or an April fools joke gone terribly wrong. There is one single story that I hear year after year. It's about St. Nick.
    She was raised Catholic and on the night of St. Nick, December 5th, it was rumored that St. Nick would come around to all houses and peak in the windows. My mom tells us that she and her 6 siblings wouldn't sleep that night for the entirety of their childhoods. She remembers the "rap rap rap" on her window and being too scared to see who was doing it. Her dad always happened to be out that night and her mom always played along. It wasn't until her late teens when her dad spilled the beans. She still had two younger siblings who believed that it was St. Nick tapping on their windows instead of their dad. Whenever Mom asked her dad about that night, he was secretive. Grandpa finally told Mom about his adventures as St. Nick. He said he would be running around tapping on all of the windows, slipping in the mud, running through branches, and giving those old cancer filled lungs a run for their money.
    Since my family is Christian, we don't celebrate that night, but I would love to experience that. The adrenaline rushing through my body as I creep up to the window would be amazing. I want to start a tradition like that in my family. Or maybe I'll go to the neighbors on December 5th, tap on every window, and then run back inside.

Visual Argument

Analysis using Burke's 5 components:
Agent: I searched and searched and searched for the artist of this piece, but I was unsuccessful. Whoever the artist is, he or she is the agent.
Act: This political cartoon's message is that there arent enough resources in the world to keep up with the ever increasing population.
Purpose: It is trying to bring to light the problematic ratio between resources and the population. I don't think the artist is fighting against birth, I think he is trying to create awareness of the problem in our current society.
Scene: Without being positive, I believe this cartoon was purely for Internet use. It was probably drawn because the artist realizes that the resources cannot provide for the entire population and he/she want's to make it universally known. The picture makes the viewers feel empathy because, even though the stork is carrying babies (which are cute and cuddley), the stork looks like he is in so much pain. Also, it makes the viewer feel guilty that we as the population haven't stopped to consider our impact on the resources of the world.
Agency: This is a solely visual piece and the fact that there is no audio nor graphics is an argument in itself. It allows a much more free interpretation of the piece becacuse there is no one telling the viewer what to think. The lables on the stork and on the the babies pin point the argument of the cartoon because, without them, the argument could be a vast number of things. The first thing to catch my eye was the expression on the stork's face. He looks as if he is struggling so bad and I feel sympathetic for him. Next was the little heads of the babies poking out of the "population" blankets. Using babies makes the viewer somewhat confused. He or she wants what is best for the babies and yet, bringing so many into the world just causes more problems. This was ingenious of the artist because the babies really reflect the growing population since they are the newest generation.
     My main question when looking at this picture is what does the artist want us to do about the growing population. We, as the human race, can't stop reproducing because that would lead to the extinction of our race. Neither can we create more resources because many of them are natural and at the Earth's expense. I feel that the message is that the resources won't be able to support the increasing population much longer, but I think it lacks a legitimate solution.
     Also, "population" is written in red. It looks like a warning. If it is, the message of the piece doesn't change drastically it just become more urgent. As if it is saying "Find a solution quickly otherwise we are going to run out of resources and that will be the end of humanity." Because if the stork cannot uphold any longer, it will fall and the "population" will fall as well.