TV Time

So, here is my potential screenplay for a 1 minute commercial for the 4-H. I plan on making a storyboard as well, but you'll just have to pretend for the moment. I do not have the time to actually make this commerical, but I would like to. Who knows, maybe over thanksgiving, if my older, much more high-tech brother brings a camera home, I might just be able to. I'll keep that in mind, anyway.

Which remindes me that Thanksgiving break is only 3 days away (Because I am in the Band, and we have to stay for the football game on Saturday). So that certainly is exciting.

Drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave,

C/ STANTON

She had a burger, initiate some fries...

So, I thought about my Initiating Action project, and immediately I realized that I wanted to do something. I just didn't know what that something was. Fortunately, class on Wednesday helped tremendously with that. I realized that one of the major problems facing the 4-H club is that they are not extremely well known, and even when people have heard of them, they only think of it as agricultural. I propose that I m going to write screenplay for a commercial that would be on National Television to advertise the 4-H club as "Not just Cows and Corn any more."

People need to know that the 4-H has branched out, applying learning by doing to more than just agricultural activities. For instance, many local 4-H clubs now have after school and in school mentoring programs, which help teach kids how to approach academic problems and succeed in school. There are many branches of the 4-H in extremely Urban areas, such as Los Angeles, where they provide a safe environment for kids to study and even get meals. If the 4-H advertised itself across the nation, and portrayed themselves as having advanced with the times, then parents who would not have known or considered sending their child to the 4-H would realize that there are benefits. Any way, that's what I think. A commercial. That's it for now.

Drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave,

C/ STANTON

Response on the Essay Feedback - part 2

So I got back my draft from the teacher today, and was glad to see that I managed to identify the problems with my essay well; I lack concrete examples and do not make a logical argument very often, which makes it hard to convince others that my point is valid. I decided that my audience for my paper was parents of children, but, as Ms. Scott pointed out in her comments, sometimes my tone seems too condescending. Also, I use too many semicolons; they make my sentences abrupt. Yes, I realize that I used a semicolon in my last sentence about using too many semicolons.

Anyways, I think that I received some good feedback on my essay, and at least know that I know the right direction to turn it in, and know how to improve it. This way I can have an essay that brings out my argument and my ideas in the best way possible to people who are not necessarily knowledgeable on the subject.

That's all I have for tonight, my brain unfortunately is still kind of out of whack from the engineering test, so I am ready to hit the rak and then sleep in till 0500 tomorrow.

Drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave,

C/ STANTON

Response to the Essay Response

After reading my peer feedback on my essay, I have to say he made some very good points; I already knew that I needed to provide more concrete examples, specifically relating to the 4-H club, but did not realize until he pointed it out that i went a little crazy on the prepositions in my paper, and could definitely tone them down a lot. He also correctly pointed out that my paper lacked an ending, which, since I am writing an argumentative paper, is necessary to wrap up my argument. Overall, I felt like the feedback I received contained good advice, and I will use it to improve my paper and my argument, in order to target my specific audience, the youth of America.

Drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave,

C/ STANTON

Essays and Other such Nonsense

So, I have finally looked over my draft essay, and think that it isn't bad. I did not really get into many details, but I think that that is alright. I do talk a lot about ideals and ideas, not facts, which is something new to me. However, the ideals I discussed in my essay are things I believe very strongly in, such as leadership and service. I feel that they are the corner stones to any great society, ours included. I know that I rambled a lot throughout my essay, and did not present many concrete ideas that are easy to wrap my head around; it took quite a bit of work to make my essay, but I enjoyed writing it and hope that it isn't to bad.

Anyway, in other news, I have determined that mixing an argumentative essay, one that tries to convince you of something with a winding, personal essay is very effective for me. Difficult to write, as mentioned above, but it makes me feel like I accomplished something in my writing rather than just mumbling on and on like I am doing now. However, I am in my last 4 minutes of my 12-hour Naval Study Tours for this week, and would like to celebrate. Prepare to cheer, cheer (yay) LOCK IT UP! Enjoy your weekend, everyone, and remember that the following is a message from the Surgeon General:
Drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave. (May cause cancer)

NC/ STANTON

Inside the crazed mind of writers

So, I was thinking a little in class this week about how writers actually think; I mean, you here famous authors quoted all of the time, how did they know that what they wrote or said was famous? I think that the way writers think is by not thinking. If they really are interested in something, then they should have no problems rambling on about it for hours. After rambling, they revise by looking at it through your average Joe's, or their audience's, eyes. They keep what is insightful and get rid of anything that doesn't make sense or puts their audience to sleep.

Even though I am sort of a writer, I will admit that I find it hard to approach writing in such a disorganized manner as this, and I think my writing suffers. I know that, at least for this course, one of my biggest problems is sitting down (Or standing up, sometimes) and start the writing process. Once I start, it is just a matter of time before I manage to write something, even though it often is very good.

Well, that's my thoughts for the evening, it's about time to shut down the noggin and get ready for PT tomorrow.


Drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave,

NC/ STANTON

So, I finally found my third three week outline, and decided that doing the assignment do today tonight is better than not doing it.

I really thought that the two essays we read, "Ali in Havana", which is about Muhammad Ali's humanitarian trip to Cuba, and "The Stunt Pilot", about a geologist/stunt pilot, were extremely interesting and well written. I think both can be qualified as essays because of their great use of vivid descriptions; they are almost story-like in the sense that they make you visualize what is happening, whether it be flying extremely close to a mountain in a single-engine Cessna or jabbing at the leader of Cuba. They do not, however, just entertain. They also have some kind of point or central topic of discussion. For "The Stunt Pilot," it is a discussion on true art and our value of beauty. For "Ali in Havana", it is a discussion about our stereotypes of others.

I am looking forward to the essay part of the semester, as I enjoy writing essays and find that they offer a little more structure while also offering more freedom on what to write. Anyway, that's all I got for tonight.

Drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave,

NC/ STANTON

Research on the 4-H

So, after reading quite a few journals about the 4-H, and even one on how it is connected with Boy Scouts of America, I learned a few things. Just a few, mind you; not a lot, not a little, but a few. For instance, the 4-H club is apparently very popular with immigrants in dense urban settings, because they do not associate it as an agricultural club. Apparently, both 4-H and BSA have been pushing into neighboorhoods full of crime and poverty to help provide an alternative to gangs for youth, and this progam seems to be working well.

I read somethinge elsewhere about how the BSA, 4-H club, Girl Scouts and a few other youth orginization had a big meeting where they decided together what core values American Youth should learn. I will try to find that article again, but I do not even know where it was.

I have finally gotten in contact with the University 4-H group, and will hopefully meet with one of them this Sunday. So far, from what I have read, it seems like both the 4-H and Boy Scouts apply pretty much the same principles of learn by doing and teaching values to youth, and both have a positive image of the other. The only real difference seems to be that Boy Scouts is more outdoor adventure oriented while 4-H has more to do with job skills and school. More research, and a site visit, will be forth coming soon (I hope).

Drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave,

NC/ STANTON

Interview/Site Visit, or lack thereof

Well, the phone number I called to reach the Virginia Cooperative Extension, which is sort of in charge of the 4-H club of Montgomery County, led to an answering machine, which, despite my repeated attempts, did not answer any of my questions about 4-h. I did manage to leave a message, but no one has called me back yet. Still, I decided that there are other things about which I can post.

From all of my searching of the news, the only news that gets reported about groups like the Boy Scouts or 4-H club, at least nationally anyways, is negative; I have yet to see a national news story on how Scouting or 4-h improves the communities they are in. I did find out some back round information on the 4-h club, so I might as well share that.

The 4-h club started out as a small corn growing club for youth, about 100 years ago, to help encourage them to stay involved with agriculture; it was spread out among different rural counties and had no actual organization. Later on, the USDA figured out that youth are more willing to try new techniques and technology, especially in farming, than adults, and, by teaching the youth, they could encourage their families and communities and improve farming in the U.S. This allowed for organization of the different types of clubs to spread across the country. Gradually, the focus shifted away from farming and agriculture to the goals of service to others, a sense of belonging to a group, and the development of youth, physically and mentally.

Well, that is just a very loose, and I mean loose, history of the club. There is a lot more to them, but my post is too long anyway, so I should wrap it up.

Remember, drag like White Lightning and keep your covers out of the microwave.

The Decision! and The Essay!

So, I have decided to do my research on the 4-H club and compare them to the youth organization which I directly experienced, the Boy Scouts. A future project which has potential is to suggest changes which the 4-H club can make to improve their program, if necessary.

Currently, I know nothing about my community, the 4-H club, other than it is supposed to be some kind of youth service group. I plan on finding out as much as I can about this group, and comparing them to the youth service organization I have experienced, the Boy Scouts of America. I do wonder how I will compare the two, since I do lean towards Scouting, having been in it myself. However, I will attempt to keep an open mind towards something I do not fully understand, but it will be hard to convince me that there is another group out there that is as service oriented as Scouting, and that provides as much benefit towards the youth involved. I guess the only way to find out is to do a little research and a lot of detailed observation to present my revised – or not revised- assessment of the 4-H club.

Community Interest List

So I managed to come up with a broad, general list of communities I might want to go see (I just hope I can find enough time on the weekends, when the Cadre do not own us - as much). I thought that I would like to visit the 4-h club, since I know nothing about it and, being in Boy Scouts, would like to see how it compares to a youth orginization that I know well. I also thought about going to visit with the Blacksburg Host Lions Club, since I also don't know anything about them, and heard that they are a very interesting service group. Finallthey, I might visit the local youth theater, since I have always enjoyed doing technical theater work, especially construction and sound.

That's it for now, I know that my blog will have alot of posts on it from me, as soon as I can finish shining my brass and shoes, as well as cleaning my room, making my rack, cleaning my clothes, ironing my dress shirts, getting rid of lose threads,....

Welcome!

Welcome to Hard Corps English: Exploring our Communities.