Last Extra Credit

Once the home of a delicious meal, a lonely pizza box lies deserted on the bottom of my trashcan. After serving its sole purpose here, in this life, its final destination was reached when its contents were devoured.  The life of this box started long before as a juvenile sapling; its young roots exploring the nutritious soil beneath its early existence.  This very sapling expanded and grew into a mature tree, satisfying its role in the lush forest canopy. Years passed and its participation in the environment ended. The tree was harvested and sent to a nearby paper factory where a complex metamorphosis was initiated. The transformation from forest to cardboard ended this life, for the convenience of man.

Once it made its journey to the paper factory, it was cut, shaved, pounded into a rough cardboard.  Just when it thought the metamorphosis was complete, it once again entered the factory line and was hacked and stamped with red and black markings.  The creases were deep and easy to see so a human could easily fold and maneuver it into a desired shape.  As the freshly created box made its way to the loading dock and was packed into a cramped, dark truck, it made its way to the Domino’s located on Atherton Street in State College, PA. 

            All of a sudden the box was quickly grabbed and an oven hot slab was dropped harshly plopped down into it.  The toasty brown crust with red pepper flakes and other spices rubbed against the inside edges.  The grease slowly seeped out of the golden cheese and dripped slowly onto the box.  As the box turned a deep grey from the mix of liquids, it was packaged into a warmer and brought to a delivery car where it made its way down the winding streets of Penn State.  Up Atherton, Right on Curtin, past the Lion Shrine, there goes the Library, Forum zips by on the left, next up is the Berkey Creamery, and finally it turns left into Pennypacker Hall’s parking lot. 

            As I picked up my vibrating shiny royal blue cell phone, I jumped up from my bed in happiness as my dinner had finally arrived.  I ran to the elevator and after paying the correct amount of money, I devoured my pizza in my room.  The box was the least of my concern as I couldn’t eat the box and once all of the edible deliciousness had entered my stomach, I carelessly tossed the box to the wayside in the garbage can where it now laid all by its lonesome.  

Journal 13

Bad Paragraph:
The Villa Rotonda and many other works of Andrea Palladio had a look that was copied by architects after his time. Palladio was known as one of the originals of architecture. The Renaissance style of Villa Rotunda will be critiqued by another great architect: Francesco Borromini. Borromini was an innovatory of his time and brought new looks to the world of architecture. Will Borromini approve of the design of the Villa Rotonda?


Good Paragraph:
The Villa Rotunda and many other works of Andrea Palladio were some the most influential structures in the history of architecture. Palladio was known as one of the originals of architecture. Palladio published a book titled Quattro Libri Dell’ Architettura in 1570. Palladio shaped the architecture in the Renaissance with this book and his building designs. Less then a century later Francesco Borromini made a historical movement in architecture. Borromini created a new style of architect called baroque.  Baroque was an innovative new look at architecture. Borromini’s baroque broken and bent some of the traditional rules of architecture and took a more outgoing style. Will Borromini approve of the design of the Villa Rotonda?


Old thesis statement: 
on last post
New thesis statement:
The Villa Rotunda was one of the most copied buildings in history, but Borromini would have not approve of the design overall. Borromini probably took ideas from Palladio’s design, but Francesco was all about using classical design and improving it with new creative style.

Journal 12

Thesis Statement:
Borromini approves of how strong the structure looks, but would be bored with the Early Renaissance style.

Journal 11

Bad version  

The budget cuts will lead to a increase in tuition price. This raise will decrease the number of students going to Pennsylvania intuitions. Many families and students will need to rethink how they are going to pay for the new and higher tuition. Another problem is that Penn State will have to cut some programs, which will affect the Penn State community as a whole. Budget cuts will also lead to a possible closer of branch campuses. This will put Penn State in number of problems. Penn State will have to move students other campuses and this will make a housing problem. Also, the number of students that Penn State can accept will decrease. Loss of branches and cut of employees in every campus will make many people loose there jobs.

Good version

These budget cuts would lead to an increase in tuition price, which would decrease the number of students going to Pennsylvania state intuitions. This would leave many families and students reconsidering how they are going to pay for the new, higher tuition. Another problem is that Penn State would have to cut some programs, which would affect the Penn State community as a whole. Some of the many Penn State branch campuses could possibly close due to the cuts. This deficit alone would pose several problems for Penn State. The university would have to move students to other campuses, causing major housing problems. Naturally, this would decrease the number of new students that Penn State could accept. The loss of branch campuses would also cause many dedicated Penn State employees to lose their jobs. 

Journal 10

Jonathon Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”, a satirical proposal written in 1729, was aimed to poke fun at the British’s Rule in Ireland.  The whole basis of the proposal was to tell Irish parents that if they were able to fatten up their children, there could be a great economic and/or personal gain from selling and eating them.  Swift proposes that eating the children would allow the people of Ireland to have a good meal while they were experiencing the troubles of the Potato Famine.  If they didn’t need the babies for meals, they would be able to sell their children to less fortunate families so they could have some food.  Swift makes the proposal very realistic by going through mathematical calculations based on how much babies weight and how many women live in Ireland.  He goes into detail about how many babies could be eaten to keep the people happy while still keeping the population size stable.

The other aspect of this proposal is that the Irish were under intense British rule and subjected to horrible rules and regulations.  Ireland was experiencing many problems with crime and everyone was blaming the poor.  As the British imposed rules and Ireland struggled to stay alive, Swift was able to add a touch of humor to the common person’s life.  He provided an escape for the people when they couldn’t handle the pain of famine, crime, and unfair rule.    Satire was printed for the people to read and laugh about their misfortunes.  They were able to bond together and share in their pain together, knowing they weren’t alone.  Although a lot of people enjoyed the satire, it did turn others away.  The idea of eating babies as a means of staying alive can be disturbing to many people.  In times of desperation, babies and youth can be a symbol of hope for a new generation and finding solutions to national problems.  By writing that eating/selling your children to survive made some people turn away from Swift’s style while others embraced the humor and enjoyed reading his pieces as they came out.

State Patty's Day

This year was my first State Patty’s Day and I got really excited when I hear other students stories from the past years. Reading all newspaper about more cops from other towns are coming and that they are going to crack down harder made me feel worried. I felt worried because I did not want this great holiday to be destroyed and I was worried about getting caught. The Friday night before or State Patty’s Eve I saw so many kids coming from other schools to state college for this event that was created by students. Many of my friends asked to if they could stay in my dorm room for the weekend. I had two friends actually staying in my room for the event and I told them we are getting up at 7:30 to start getting ready to do down town. They said it would be no problem doing that. They did not think that after going out and staying up late on Friday night. In morning as I walk to get breakfast at the East Hall’s commons I see that there is no one outside or inside the commons. I get in line for a bagel with only three kids ahead of me. I turn around three minutes later and there is a mob of 50 kids wearing green behind me. I was amazed at how many people up as early as me. As I get closer and closer to downtown area there is more and more green. I walk in to my first party and I see a guy dressed as a leprechaun doing a keg stand. I go into the kitchen and I see five people having eggs and beer for breakfast and they called it kegs and eggs. As I am walking to Beaver Ave, I see a guy that is already wasted and two of his friends are holding him up and it is only 11 am at this point. I walked down Beaver Ave I saw all the apartments with balconies and everyone is yelling playfully at ocean of green of people on the sidewalks. I turn and see people yelling so I jog over a little to see what is going on. When I turn the corner a guy from a balcony is asking people if they want a beer. A person on the ground got selected to get a beer from the guy on the balcony, but they gave it to him by pouring it in to his mouth from the third story. Most of the beer was just poured on him, but it was a funny experience. I went to another party at night around 8 pm. When I got there they were all out of beer. They went through 9 kegs that day. Going home on the white loop bus there was a couple having sex in the back of the bus.  That was the craziest thing I saw all day besides when I got back to my friends dorm a kid was pass out naked in the shower so we woke him up. He turned out to be fine. I just think its cool that kids created a holiday and he spread so much in just a couple years.

Journal 8: Compare and Contrast

Soda Can- The size of a soda can makes it portable and easy to hold. The thin aluminum shell is prone to damage such as dens and cracks. Once one opens a soda can, it needs to be drank because a soda can can not be resealed and the soda will go flat. The taste from the aluminum can is not as refreshing as drinking out of glass. When disposing of the soda can in the trash or recycle is easy for a soda can because a soda can can be crush to a small size and take up less room in the trash.

Soda Bottle- The soda bottle looks more fancy and expensive so if someone is trying to impress another they should go with the bottle. The size of the bottle makes it a little less portable than the can. The soda bottle is made out of glass, which gives in a hard rigid shell to protect the soda. The problem of the bottle being glass is that glass can break with enough force and broken glass can be dangerous. If a weapon is needed, the soda bottle is a good choice. Most drinks taste better when they come out of a glass because glass doesn't add to the taste, it makes the soda taste like it is originally intended to.