Mrs. Halls English class

I have enjoyed this class very much. I think if there is one thing that needs to be changed about the class, it should be more clarity into writing papers and citing sources. That just might be my opinion because it was hard for me to look at the book and answer some of those questions in the quizzes. I seemed to have a hard time with the citing of sources. The most enjoyable part of this class was the blogging. At first I was thinking this was crazy, but once I started doing it and got into it I really looked forward to seeing the new topic and creating my blog. I never thought I would be a blog person, but now I am. I would definitely recommend this class to other people because it was fun and not too stressful.

Free write

Today I want to write about the tragedy's that keep happening in our country. It deeply saddens me to see all the death and destruction that is going on in our country today. It is a sad thing when people can not even congregate together with out the worry of a terrorist bombing or some person out for revenge shooting every one on site. My 7 year old is scared to go to school because they keep having "shooter drills" to prepare them just in case some one enters the school and starts shooting it up. While I applaud the school system for the preparation and caring about the safety of my child, it is scaring the crap out of her! Why must our children today have to worry about these things? How did our society get so out of control that we have to watch our backs every time we walk out the door? I think the bigger question is what can we do to change our country and take back our right to feel safe? I can't even let my child play outside with out us because in the blink of an eye she could be gone. I know that this will never be the country that I grew up in, one in which you did not have to lock your doors when you left your house or watch your kids like a hawk, I just wish my children had the freedom to go play with their friends down the road like I did. Is that too much to ask?

Annotated Bibliography

After researching a few topics for my annotated bibliography, I think I have settled on a subject that will be a bit controversial but is a good argument. I chose to make the production and distribution of cigarettes illegal. I think this is very important because of the obvious health issues to not only those who smoke, but anyone that is around the cigarette smoke. Some of the issues I would argue is the health issues, second hand smoke and how dangerous it is, the diseases it can cause, how much money a person could save by not purchasing cigarettes, and cost of health care. The only positive thing that I can think of about the sale of cigarettes is the money generated by taxes and what they could put that money to use. A lot of people think it should be their right to smoke but it is worse for a person to smoke cigarettes than it is to smoke marijuana, yet marijuana is illegal and cigarettes should be too. I know marijuana is a banned topic but was just using it as a comparison that cigarettes are loaded with chemicals and God knows what, where as marijuana is smoked in its natural state with no added chemicals but yet still illegal. I used to smoke cigarettes and it was the best decision of my life to quit, not only for me but for my wife and kids. I quit because my 7 year old has asthma and all kinds of respiratory problems and I loved her enough to quit. My mother smoked 3 packs a day for as long as I can remember and she had asthma, COPD, and emphysema and eventually died of respiratory failure. I suppose because of this I feel very passionate about this subject because it is just a horrible way to go and could save so many lives.