Literacy Blog #9

Never have I really considered my dog as being mentally similar to me and all other humans. The topics of canine emotion have been previously looked over because it's easy to put aside a question claimed "unanswerable".  The scientists overlooked it assuming that it wasn't a necessary, worthy of research question. Just because our emotion of anticipation was similar to the dogs still " it is not usually possible to pin a single cognitive function or emotion to a single brain region".  I wouldn't necessarily say that Berns is right or wrong when regarding the way law addresses the canine because everyone feels differently about it.  For example, I may believe that dog deserve rights while another individual thinks they should be recognized as dog and nothing more or less.  It would be wrong to treat humans as animals because although they may be more fragile we are the dominant species.  My opinion on canine rights is that you treat your dog the way you'd treat a young child.  Never would I abuse or intentionally harm a dog because mine are like smaller, furrier, family members that I am emotionally and physically attached to. The rights aren't necessary if the owners would address them as something other than just plain old dogs.  Although this may be in the distant future I see the rights of dogs having a impact on humans interaction towards all animals, not just canines.

Literacy Blog #8

I believe that if I was in the same situation as Erin I would have done the same thing. True friends are their for the other regardless of the situation, and that was the role Erin was playing, a true friend. She didn't take part in anything illegal, just trying to ensure her friend made it home safely . The families attorney shared " North Andover School District sends a contrary and very dangerous message -- that young people are better off letting their friends drive drunk,". They are giving the wrong message and punishing Erin for no reason, hence saying it's okay to let a friend drive drunk, risking their life. Schools should be in efforts to prevent teens from drinking rather than punishing the innocent.  If the schools were more involved they could keep less wrecks caused by drunk drivers. I couldn't come up with a legitimate enough reason of why Erin was suspended. It could possibly be because she may have appeared to be under the influence when she in fact wasn't. I'm positive our school would not do this because if a situation like this occurred it would be thoroughly and properly analyzed before any punishment went into effect.  

Literacy Blog #7

1. Evaluate the current SAT process based on evidence from this article.

The quote from the article that really caught my attention was “It doesn't matter if [what you write] is true or not,” . This is a shock because you'd think that the SAT being such a big test that you'd want to have accurate information in the writing portion.  I do believe this is a good technique to an extent that stretching the truth too much can get you confused.

                                             

2. Propose a way in which the SAT’s evaluation of writing accurately judges an applicant’s writing ability.

I do not agree with the process of just skimming and essay for common errors, I believe they should further examine it to assure the grade given is the one deserved.  Also, I recognized after reading the second paragraph on the second page that when writing these essays vocabulary is crucial considering they only overlook the entire essay for a short moment.. Students who are taking the SAT need to base what they are writing and how they are writing it on on the common grading process to better the overall grade.

3. Based on this article, how prepared do you feel you are to take (or retake) the SAT’s writing portion? What

practice or instruction might you still need?

Just being a sophomore I don't feel to confident in myself if I were to take the test anytime soon. I still have trouble managing my time during section time limited tests. Our instructors could prepare us more by putting pressure on us while taking mock SATs so we could have an experience of what it's actually like.

1st image: Link, 9/24/12, answer sheet