Jessica Williams-Diederich
Professor Rodrigo
ENG 102 sm2
August 2, 2007
To Professor Rodrigo and My fellow classmates:
If I am correct I believe this course is designed for college freshmen; so a lot of the information we were being taught was review for me (now a college junior). However, it was not the type of review that was boring and unnecessary. It was well needed review that ended up being very helpful and will be very beneficial for future writing projects. All of the assignments and writing projects for this course helped to accomplish certain course outcomes. The course was designed so that we would achieve the course outcomes almost without knowing we were accomplishing them.
The first course outcome is to “write for specific rhetorical contexts, including circumstance, purpose, topic, audience and writer, as well as the writing’s ethical, political, and cultural implications”. After doing several exercises in this course and completing WP#1 I feel like I have a stronger grasp on Outcome #1. Being able to define what our purpose is, who our audience is, and what our topic is etc. is extremely beneficial for writing any kind of paper. This class made me focus on exactly what topic I wanted to address in my research paper and specifically who I wanted to direct my paper too. Taking the separate steps to think about and label these different things ultimately lead to a better paper. It also made the entire writing process a lot easier.
The second outcome is to “organize writing to support a central idea through unity, coherence and logical development appropriate to a specific writing context”. I think that WP#1 was the most helpful in accomplishing this outcome. Writing a research proposal and labeling all the features of our research papers helped greatly in organizing our papers to support our thesis. Also during the course we had to make outlines and cluster diagrams for our research paper. These exercises helped me even more to organize my paper and get my ideas out in an easy to read format. Although the Toulmin Model was very confusing for me, after I spent a decent amount of time on it I began to understand it and it ended up helping me greatly. The Toulmin outline helped me to determine what the main points of my argument were and what pieces of evidence I had to support them. I also learned to incorporate objections and rebuttals in my paper. I never really thought about them before. I feel that that whole assignment helped make my final paper stronger.
The third outcome is to “use appropriate conventions in writing, including consistent voice, tone, diction, grammar, and mechanics”. I believe that the various grammar assignments assisted a lot in achieving this outcome. A lot of the grammar assignments were review of things that we all should have learned prior to this class, but I found that a lot of the things we were reading about were things that I personally had forgotten. I think that after completing these assignments I can now properly use semicolons, various transitions, use various forms of sentence structure, among other things. The following paragraph is a paragraph I revised based on what I learned about compound sentences, “The issue I am researching for this project is abstinence-only sex education in the United States. This is such an important issue because in the U.S. the teenage pregnancy rate is rising and there is a rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases sweeping the youth. The health and safety of the nation’s teens are at risk. This subject is surrounded by controversy because sex is risqué, sex is forbidden, sex is uncomfortable to talk about. Most Americans may not want to discuss the issue of sex, but they for certain have an opinion about it. These opinions differ greatly from person to person. Sex is a very individual thing and when people try to influence others’ choices controversy arises. Some people do not think anyone should have sex until marriage and that is why they believe teaching abstinence-only education is the only way. Others believe people should not have sex until marriage, but should still be given information about contraceptives and safe-sex in case they do decide to engage in sexual activities. The spectrum of opinion on this matter is wide”.
The fourth outcome is to “find, evaluate, select, and synthesize both online and print sources that examine a topic from multiple perspectives”. This outcome was achieved all throughout the course by the completion of annotated bibliographies. I searched for and found several cites that covered all different perspectives of my topic. When looking at these sources I had to determine which of them were useful and reliable and which ones were not. Deadline #4 contained assignments that helped me look into the credibility of my sources. There were several exercises and checklists that I found very useful. I will definitely re-use these checklists to examine further sources. WP#2 was also a tool to help achieve this outcome because I had to justify and explain why each source would be good for my paper.
The fifth outcome is to “integrate sources through summarizing, paraphrasing, and quotation from sources to develop and support one's own ideas”. I think in some part the annotations that I had to complete throughout the course helped with achieving this outcome. I was supposed to write notes about why the source would be good for my paper. Chapter 5: Rhetorically Reading Sources also helped me achieve this goal. There were several exercises that taught me how to summarize and paraphrase sources in order to incorporate them into my paper. The first paragraph is a summary of an article I found and the second paragraph is a paraphrase of that same article:
“In this article Heather Boonstra emphasizes the need for change in sex education programs in America. Statistics show that the teen pregnancy rates and STD spread rates are increasing. Because of this action needs to be taken to educate teenagers not only about abstinence, but also about "safe-sex" as well.”
“Research has illustrated that programs that promote abstinence, but also include information about contraceptives can be very effective in preventing teen pregnancies. Abstinence-only sex education programs have not shown results of preventing teen pregnancy; on the contrary they may actually be increasing the likelihood of teen pregnancy and STD spread because of the lack of information given about having sex and using contraceptives.”
Working on the rough draft and final draft for my research paper also made me learn how to integrate the information I got from my sources properly. I knew I could not just type word for word what I found in my sources and this is where I learned to incorporate the information differently.
The sixth outcome is to “identify, select, and use an appropriate documentation style to maintain academic integrity”. This course outcome I think is by far one of the most important and vital to a research paper. Without the proper citation and documentation of sources my paper would have been garbage. It would have been non-reliable and not credible. Properly citing the sources I used made my paper strong. Constantly doing annotated bibliographies in the homework helped me learn how to cite sources. I also looked on the Owl Purdue website for reference on how to do citations properly. WP#2 and WP#3 both demonstrate how I have learned to do APA style citations properly.
The seventh outcome is to “use feedback obtained through peer review, instructor comments, and/or other sources to revise writing”. I’m not sure how to explain how I mastered this outcome, but I definitely appreciated the peer reviews and comments I got on all of my writing projects. The reviews helped me to catch flaws that I did not see before, and they also gave me new ideas to branch off in. For WP#3 I completely forgot to mention that some people believe that sex should not be taught at all in school and in a peer review Kelesia mentioned it and I added it to my paper. I was greatly appreciative for that insight because it is something I completely over looked.
The eighth outcome is to “assess one's own writing strengths and identify strategies for improvement through instructor conference, portfolio review, written evaluation, and/or other methods”. I believe this outcome is being accomplished by this cover letter and by all of the reflective assignments completed throughout this course.
The final outcome is to “generate, format, and edit writing using appropriate technologies”. I know that throughout this course I have definitely not mastered these new technologies, but I have learned to use them. I have demonstrated this by turning all my papers in to turnitin.com and also keeping my blog updated on blogger.com
The outcomes that I feel I have a good handle on are 1, 2, and 3. After all of the exercises I feel I can efficiently determine what I want my topic to be, what audience I intend my paper for, what the purpose is etc. I think that I demonstrated that upon completion of WP#1. Because I feel I am able to do that well I feel like I can also compose a paper to support a central idea.
I still think I need to work on outcomes 4, 5, & 6. These outcomes all deal with using proper sources and citing them properly. I feel like I need more work on these areas because they are so crucial to writing a good paper. It seems that as much as I looked up proper APA citations I found different answers for each different place I looked. I also think it will be beneficial to keep working on how to evaluate a source to see how credible it is. This will help me in the future to use good sources and not fall into the trap of using weak/non-reliable sources.
Jason was the only one that peer edited my paper and he pointed out a few minor things I could change to make my paper stronger. I greatly appreciated it and I think his suggestions helped a lot. This assignment showed me just how much I learned in this course. I feel I learned a great deal about writing a strong paper and how to make the writing process smoother and easier.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
D#15, HW#3, WP#3 Final Draft w/ Revisions
“One million American teenagers become pregnant each year,” says Weiss (2006, p.1). One million! This is one of the highest rates in all of the developed countries of the world. The United States, which is the leading country in most everything, is also unfortunately the leading country of unexpected teenage pregnancy rates (Weiss, 2006). Why? What factors could lead to this? One main factor is undoubtedly what the United States has chosen to teach young teenagers…abstinence-only. In theory, abstinence-only sex education programs would be a good idea. Promoting abstinence for teenagers is generally seen as a good thing. However, the abstinence-only programs in the United States are defined by Wikipedia as, “a form of sex education that emphasizes abstinence from sex to the exclusion of all other types of sexual and reproductive health education, particularly regarding birth control and safe sex,” (2007). Seeing as one million American teenage girls are getting pregnant every year, abstinence is clearly not happening. So why not teach teenagers how to have “safe sex”, how to lower the risk of getting pregnant, or how to lower the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)? Abstinence-only sex education programs are a failure and need to be changed. They do not delay sexual activity of teenagers, they do not lower the risk of STD spread (in fact in some cases they increase the risk), they do not lower the teen pregnancy rate, and they use false information and scare tactics to teach about sex (National Politics, 2005; Weiss, 2006; Willenz, 2005). In actuality, abstinence-only sex education programs are ultimately hurting the U.S.’s teens.
60.9% of teenagers have reported having sex by grade 12; more than half of the United States’ teenagers are NOT practicing abstinence. This illustrates how abstinence-only programs which preach waiting to have sex until marriage are not effective at all in postponing teens from having sex (Weiss, 2006). The fact of the matter is that teenagers are having sex, but do not know some of the risks associated with the act. This is a major reason why there are one million teens getting pregnant every year. With abstinence-only programs teenage students are not taught about using condoms or other contraceptives that would significantly decrease chances of pregnancy. According to Caplan, teenagers who have taken pledges of virginity are more likely than others to not use any contraception when they do start having sex (2005). The reason for this is because most of the teenagers that take these pledges of abstinence are not doing it because it is something they want. Most of them take these pledges because it’s a common routine at the end of the program to ask the teens to take these pledges and the students that don’t take them feel ashamed or embarrassed, so they take them anyway actually not meaning them. And when they do decide to have sex most of them do not use contraceptives; mainly because they’ve never been taught about them. One good thing about teenage pregnancy rate is that research has shown that the teenage pregnancy has gone down in the United States in recent years. Contrary to what some people may want to believe it has nothing to do with abstinence-only education programs. According to Weiss and the research he found by the Alan Guttmacher Institute (which is an institute that has been actively involved in the movement for sexual and reproductive rights), the decline in teen pregnancy is due to the fact that sexually experienced teenagers have begun to use contraception regularly and more efficiently, not because teens are being taught to practice abstinence (2006).
Abstinence-only sex education programs do not delay teen sexual intercourse and do not lower teen pregnancy rates (which happens to be two main goals of teaching abstinence-only). As if that isn’t bad enough they also do not produce any lower rates of sexually transmitted disease spread. In fact in some cases risks are increased (Willenz, 2005). Research has shown that teenagers who have had abstinence-only sex education programs and taken pledges of abstinence are less likely to use condoms or other forms of contraception, which increases the likelihood of contracting and STD (Silverberg, 2007). It seems only logical to conclude that one main reason teenagers do not use contraceptives is because they are not being taught how to. They are not being taught what options are out there for them or how to use them properly. This is incredibly risky because in this case knowledge is not only power, but safety. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) spread is extremely high because some abstinence-only sex education programs preach how ineffective condom use is in preventing HIV spread, or they don’t preach about condoms at all. When in actuality, “the male latex condom is the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections,” (UNAIDS, UNFPA, &WHO, 2004, p.1). As opposed to abstinence-only programs comprehensive sex education programs can lower STD spread rate among teenagers, specifically HIV transmission. According to Willenz, over 15 years of research has proven that, “comprehensive sexuality education programs for youth that encourage abstinence, promote appropriate condom use, and teach sexual communication skills reduce HIV-risk behavior and also delay the onset of sexual intercourse,” (2005).
Another negative aspect of abstinence-only sex education programs is the fact that they more often than not deliberately teach false information and factual errors. In 2004 California Representative Henry Waxman released a report which revealed that 11 of the 13 most commonly used abstinence-only programs taught factual errors (Silverberg, 2007). Some errors that U.S. teens are being taught are; misrepresented failure rates of contraceptives, altered information about the effectiveness of condoms in reducing HIV transmission, false claims that abortion increases the risk of infertility, premature birth for subsequent pregnancies, and ectopic pregnancy (Wikipedia, 2007). They also teach that people can get pregnant by simply touching the genitalia of a member of the opposite sex (Public Health, 2004). These are only a few of the lies the teenagers are being taught. The abstinence-only sex education programs in the study also taught unproved claims and outright fabrications about gender traits, stereotypes, when life actually begins, and general reproductive health (Public Health, 2004). How are teenagers supposed to learn anything of value if their teachers are teaching them lies? Teenagers should be able to go to class and trust their teachers and be able to believe they are being told the truth. Would we accept it if teachers were teaching children that two plus two was five? I don’t think that would settle well; and abstinence-only should not either.
One strategy for teaching this false information is to scare teenagers into being abstinent. If they believe they will get pregnant by touching another persons genitals then they are more than likely not going to touch another person in that manner; well that’s what abstinence-only supporters would like to believe anyway. Most abstinence-only programs are designed to instill fear in teenagers. The class I took in high school, four years ago, taught that if you have sex before marriage you WILL get a sexually transmitted disease. No ands, ifs, or buts about it. Then they showed us pictures of STDs. Although the pictures could have been used to educate us about different types of STDs and the different ways you can contract them they were not shown to educate us in anyway, they were shown to scare us out of having premarital sex. Period.
The class I was in also used shame to persuade us from having sex. The instructor pushed abstinence on us and only said negative things about teenagers who did engage in sexual activity. At the end of the course we were all told that we could come up and pick up an abstinence pledge card… if we wanted to. Although they gave us the choice and it was not forced on us to take the card nobody stayed in their seat, even if they were sexually active. It would have been embarrassing and shameful not to take a card like everybody else was. The sexually active students (or potentially sexually active students) did not take a card because they believed what they were doing was shameful but the way the class taught sex… it was supposed to be shameful. I am not the only one that has experienced an abstinence-only class that used shame and fear to teach about sex. A report conducted by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SEICUS) concluded that three federally funded abstinence-only programs spread “fear and shame” among teenagers, as well as teach misinformation (National Politics, 2005).
With all of the serious issues regarding abstinence-only sex education programs, they can be classified as a problem in the United States. If abstinence-only sex education programs are the problem, what is the solution? There are many alternatives and they vary greatly. Some people believe that abstinence-only is working fine the way it is, some people think sex education should not even be taught in schools at all, and a growing group of others believe that comprehensive sex education is the way to go. A good comprehensive sex education program is a program that provides accurate information, encourages and supports abstinence, endorses condom use for sexually active teens, promotes fewer sexual partners, teaches about the early identification and treatment of STDs, and educates about the importance of sexual communication. Research done by the American Psychological Association (APA) shows that these types of programs are most effective in keeping sexually active teenagers free of disease (Willenz, 2005). Most people that oppose comprehensive sex education fear that because teenagers will be taught about safe sex the number of sexually active teenagers will sky rocket. The APA research also states that comprehensive sex education programs which teach about condom use and safe sex do not accelerate sexual behavior of teenagers (Willenz, 2005). This information makes that argument unsound. Since abstinence-only sex education programs are not working and are putting teens at risk there needs to be a change. Comprehensive sex education is worth a try.
References
Caplan, A. (2005). Abstinence-only sex education defies common sense. MSNBC. Retrieved on July 7, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9504871/.
National politics & policy: Three federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs instill 'fear' in students, teach false information, SEICUS report says. (2005). The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from http://www.kaisernetwork.org/Daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR ID=32771.
Public health & education federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs present 'false, misleading' information, report says. (2004). The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved July 21, 2007, from http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=27015.
Silverberg, C. (2007). Abstinence-only sex education: Defining and assessing abstinence- only sexual health education. Retrieved July 11, 2007, from http://sexuality.about.com/od/saferse1/a/abstinenceonly.htm.
UNAIDS, UNFPA, &WHO. (2004). Position statement on condoms and HIV prevention. Retrieved July 28, 2007, from http://www.unfpa.org/publications/detail.cfm?ID= 206&filterListType=1.
Weiss, D. (2006). Reducing teen pregnancy. Planned Parenthood. Retrieved July 21, 2007, fromhttp://www.plannedparenthood.org/news-articles-press/politics-policy- issues/teen-pregnancy-sex-education/teenage-pregnancy-6240.htm.
Wikipedia. (2007). Abstinence-only sex education. Wikipedia. Retrieved July 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstinence_only_sex_education
Willenz, P. (2005). Based on the research, comprehensive sex education is more effective at stopping the spread of HIV infection, says APA committee: Research shows that abstinence-only programs have limited effectiveness and unintended consequences. The American Psychological Association. Retrieved July 21, 2007, from http://www.apa.org/releases/sexeducation.html.
There were not many comments left on this project. The people that peer reviewed it thought that I did a good job and included all the necessary information. I worked toward this paper basically the entire course and I think it turned out very well. I learned a lot throughout the course and I think it shows through in this assignment.
60.9% of teenagers have reported having sex by grade 12; more than half of the United States’ teenagers are NOT practicing abstinence. This illustrates how abstinence-only programs which preach waiting to have sex until marriage are not effective at all in postponing teens from having sex (Weiss, 2006). The fact of the matter is that teenagers are having sex, but do not know some of the risks associated with the act. This is a major reason why there are one million teens getting pregnant every year. With abstinence-only programs teenage students are not taught about using condoms or other contraceptives that would significantly decrease chances of pregnancy. According to Caplan, teenagers who have taken pledges of virginity are more likely than others to not use any contraception when they do start having sex (2005). The reason for this is because most of the teenagers that take these pledges of abstinence are not doing it because it is something they want. Most of them take these pledges because it’s a common routine at the end of the program to ask the teens to take these pledges and the students that don’t take them feel ashamed or embarrassed, so they take them anyway actually not meaning them. And when they do decide to have sex most of them do not use contraceptives; mainly because they’ve never been taught about them. One good thing about teenage pregnancy rate is that research has shown that the teenage pregnancy has gone down in the United States in recent years. Contrary to what some people may want to believe it has nothing to do with abstinence-only education programs. According to Weiss and the research he found by the Alan Guttmacher Institute (which is an institute that has been actively involved in the movement for sexual and reproductive rights), the decline in teen pregnancy is due to the fact that sexually experienced teenagers have begun to use contraception regularly and more efficiently, not because teens are being taught to practice abstinence (2006).
Abstinence-only sex education programs do not delay teen sexual intercourse and do not lower teen pregnancy rates (which happens to be two main goals of teaching abstinence-only). As if that isn’t bad enough they also do not produce any lower rates of sexually transmitted disease spread. In fact in some cases risks are increased (Willenz, 2005). Research has shown that teenagers who have had abstinence-only sex education programs and taken pledges of abstinence are less likely to use condoms or other forms of contraception, which increases the likelihood of contracting and STD (Silverberg, 2007). It seems only logical to conclude that one main reason teenagers do not use contraceptives is because they are not being taught how to. They are not being taught what options are out there for them or how to use them properly. This is incredibly risky because in this case knowledge is not only power, but safety. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) spread is extremely high because some abstinence-only sex education programs preach how ineffective condom use is in preventing HIV spread, or they don’t preach about condoms at all. When in actuality, “the male latex condom is the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections,” (UNAIDS, UNFPA, &WHO, 2004, p.1). As opposed to abstinence-only programs comprehensive sex education programs can lower STD spread rate among teenagers, specifically HIV transmission. According to Willenz, over 15 years of research has proven that, “comprehensive sexuality education programs for youth that encourage abstinence, promote appropriate condom use, and teach sexual communication skills reduce HIV-risk behavior and also delay the onset of sexual intercourse,” (2005).
Another negative aspect of abstinence-only sex education programs is the fact that they more often than not deliberately teach false information and factual errors. In 2004 California Representative Henry Waxman released a report which revealed that 11 of the 13 most commonly used abstinence-only programs taught factual errors (Silverberg, 2007). Some errors that U.S. teens are being taught are; misrepresented failure rates of contraceptives, altered information about the effectiveness of condoms in reducing HIV transmission, false claims that abortion increases the risk of infertility, premature birth for subsequent pregnancies, and ectopic pregnancy (Wikipedia, 2007). They also teach that people can get pregnant by simply touching the genitalia of a member of the opposite sex (Public Health, 2004). These are only a few of the lies the teenagers are being taught. The abstinence-only sex education programs in the study also taught unproved claims and outright fabrications about gender traits, stereotypes, when life actually begins, and general reproductive health (Public Health, 2004). How are teenagers supposed to learn anything of value if their teachers are teaching them lies? Teenagers should be able to go to class and trust their teachers and be able to believe they are being told the truth. Would we accept it if teachers were teaching children that two plus two was five? I don’t think that would settle well; and abstinence-only should not either.
One strategy for teaching this false information is to scare teenagers into being abstinent. If they believe they will get pregnant by touching another persons genitals then they are more than likely not going to touch another person in that manner; well that’s what abstinence-only supporters would like to believe anyway. Most abstinence-only programs are designed to instill fear in teenagers. The class I took in high school, four years ago, taught that if you have sex before marriage you WILL get a sexually transmitted disease. No ands, ifs, or buts about it. Then they showed us pictures of STDs. Although the pictures could have been used to educate us about different types of STDs and the different ways you can contract them they were not shown to educate us in anyway, they were shown to scare us out of having premarital sex. Period.
The class I was in also used shame to persuade us from having sex. The instructor pushed abstinence on us and only said negative things about teenagers who did engage in sexual activity. At the end of the course we were all told that we could come up and pick up an abstinence pledge card… if we wanted to. Although they gave us the choice and it was not forced on us to take the card nobody stayed in their seat, even if they were sexually active. It would have been embarrassing and shameful not to take a card like everybody else was. The sexually active students (or potentially sexually active students) did not take a card because they believed what they were doing was shameful but the way the class taught sex… it was supposed to be shameful. I am not the only one that has experienced an abstinence-only class that used shame and fear to teach about sex. A report conducted by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SEICUS) concluded that three federally funded abstinence-only programs spread “fear and shame” among teenagers, as well as teach misinformation (National Politics, 2005).
With all of the serious issues regarding abstinence-only sex education programs, they can be classified as a problem in the United States. If abstinence-only sex education programs are the problem, what is the solution? There are many alternatives and they vary greatly. Some people believe that abstinence-only is working fine the way it is, some people think sex education should not even be taught in schools at all, and a growing group of others believe that comprehensive sex education is the way to go. A good comprehensive sex education program is a program that provides accurate information, encourages and supports abstinence, endorses condom use for sexually active teens, promotes fewer sexual partners, teaches about the early identification and treatment of STDs, and educates about the importance of sexual communication. Research done by the American Psychological Association (APA) shows that these types of programs are most effective in keeping sexually active teenagers free of disease (Willenz, 2005). Most people that oppose comprehensive sex education fear that because teenagers will be taught about safe sex the number of sexually active teenagers will sky rocket. The APA research also states that comprehensive sex education programs which teach about condom use and safe sex do not accelerate sexual behavior of teenagers (Willenz, 2005). This information makes that argument unsound. Since abstinence-only sex education programs are not working and are putting teens at risk there needs to be a change. Comprehensive sex education is worth a try.
References
Caplan, A. (2005). Abstinence-only sex education defies common sense. MSNBC. Retrieved on July 7, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9504871/.
National politics & policy: Three federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs instill 'fear' in students, teach false information, SEICUS report says. (2005). The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from http://www.kaisernetwork.org/Daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR ID=32771.
Public health & education federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs present 'false, misleading' information, report says. (2004). The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved July 21, 2007, from http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=27015.
Silverberg, C. (2007). Abstinence-only sex education: Defining and assessing abstinence- only sexual health education. Retrieved July 11, 2007, from http://sexuality.about.com/od/saferse1/a/abstinenceonly.htm.
UNAIDS, UNFPA, &WHO. (2004). Position statement on condoms and HIV prevention. Retrieved July 28, 2007, from http://www.unfpa.org/publications/detail.cfm?ID= 206&filterListType=1.
Weiss, D. (2006). Reducing teen pregnancy. Planned Parenthood. Retrieved July 21, 2007, fromhttp://www.plannedparenthood.org/news-articles-press/politics-policy- issues/teen-pregnancy-sex-education/teenage-pregnancy-6240.htm.
Wikipedia. (2007). Abstinence-only sex education. Wikipedia. Retrieved July 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstinence_only_sex_education
Willenz, P. (2005). Based on the research, comprehensive sex education is more effective at stopping the spread of HIV infection, says APA committee: Research shows that abstinence-only programs have limited effectiveness and unintended consequences. The American Psychological Association. Retrieved July 21, 2007, from http://www.apa.org/releases/sexeducation.html.
There were not many comments left on this project. The people that peer reviewed it thought that I did a good job and included all the necessary information. I worked toward this paper basically the entire course and I think it turned out very well. I learned a lot throughout the course and I think it shows through in this assignment.
D#15, HW#2, WP#2 Final Draft w/ revisions
Jessica Williams-DiederichENG 102 sm2Shelly RodrigoJuly 16, 2007WP# 2 DraftAnnotated Bibliography The issue I am researching for this project is abstinence-only sex education in the United States. This is such an important issue because in the U.S. the teenage pregnancy rate is rising and there is a rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases sweeping the youth. The health and safety of the nation’s teens are at risk. This subject is surrounded by controversy because sex is risqué, sex is forbidden, sex is uncomfortable to talk about. Most Americans may not want to discuss the issue of sex, but they for certain have an opinion about it. These opinions differ greatly from person to person. Sex is a very individual thing and when people try to influence others’ choices controversy arises. Some people do not think anyone should have sex until marriage and that is why they believe teaching abstinence-only education is the only way. They believe if comprehensive sex education is taught students will be encouraged to have sex. Other people believe that people should not have sex until marriage, but should still be given information about contraceptives and safe-sex in case they do decide to engage in sexual activities. There are also those individuals who think that sex education should be kept out of schools completely. The spectrum of opinion on this matter is wide.Boonstra, H. (April 2002).Legislators craft alternative vision of sex education to counter abstinence-only drive. (Issues & Implications). The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 5, p1(3). Retrieved July 14, 2007, from Health Reference Center Academic via Thomson Gale, http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC- Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId =HRCA&docId=A86042335&source=gale&userGroupName=mcc_mesa&a mp;version=1.0.This source expresses the need to make a change to abstinence-only sex education in the United States. It gives statistics which show that teen pregnancy rates and STD spread rates are increasing. The source also discusses attempts that are being made to reform sex education and broaden it. In this source Boonstra is conveying that she believes abstinence-only sex education has been failing and needs to be changed. I believe that Boonstra is a strong advocate for changing abstinence-only sex education. Because of this her goals are definitely to promote a change; not so much inform about what good abstinence-only sex education has done. This source will be helpful in my research paper because it has good statistics regarding the rise in teen pregnancy rate and STD spread.Caplan, A. (2005). Abstinence-only sex education defies common sense. MSNBC. Retrieved on July 7, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9504871/.This site discusses how illogical it is to have abstinence only sex education. It discusses how tax dollars are being wasted supporting such programs. It also gives statistics for why the programs are a waste or money and why they are not working. The author definitely holds his opinion against abstinence-only education programs which makes me hesitant to use this source. I believe he feels so strongly against it because the results that he has found prove that abstinence-only programs are essentially a waste of money. Because the research and statistics support the author’s beliefs I think it will be okay to use in my paper to support my cause.Clark, M., Devaney, B., Fortson, K., Trenholm, C., Quay, K., & Wheeler, J.(2007). Impacts of four title v, section 510 abstinence education programs. Final report. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from ERIC database, http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&ERICExtSearch_Sear chValue_0=teen+sex&searchtype=keyword&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=kw&_page Label=RecordDetails&objectId=0900019b8015dfd0&accno=ED496286&_nfls=false.This source is a case study of four different abstinence-only sex education programs. The findings basically conclude that abstinence-only sex education has no effect on the abstinence of America’s youth. This source also concludes that the unprotected sex rate of teenagers is not increased from abstinence-only programs. There are several graphs and charts to depict the results. I feel that this source is unbiased because the research is done by a “third party” figure that is strictly doing research. It seems very legitimate. I can use their findings to strengthen my argument against abstinence-only programs.Howell, M. (2007). Advocates for youth and SIECUS applaud the introduction of the responsible education about life (REAL) act. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/news/press/032207.htm.This source is a webpage developed by Advocates for Youth and the page in general leads to several different topics about comprehensive-sex education programs. This specific link discuses the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act; a new act presented to Congress about comprehensive sex education. This source is biased in the fact that it is solely for the promotion of safe-sex education and the abolition of abstinence-only programs. I feel like this will be a good resource for my paper because it will help me provide other suggestions to abstinence- only education.National politics & policy Three federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs instill 'fear' in students, teach false information, SEICUS report says. (2005). The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from http://www.kaisernetwork.org/Daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=32771.This source discusses how some abstinence-only sex education programs use fear and scare-tactics to teach sex education. This form of teaching belittles teenagers and could potentially make them feel bad or uncomfortable because they choose to be sexually active. This source is pretty much one sided. It does however focus on three different programs giving it more credibility than just attacking abstinence-only sex education in general; it gives specific examples with research.Q: Should Congress be giving more financial support to abstinence-only sex education? YES: Abstinence is working to decrease teen pregnancy and is building character among our nation's youth.(SYMPOSIUM). (Nov 10, 2003). Insight on the News, p46. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale, http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC- Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=ITOF&docId=A109871 310&source=gale&userGroupName=mcc_mesa&version=1.0.This source describes how abstinence-only sex education is beneficial to the youth of the United States. Kathleen Tsubata, who wrote the byline for this source, is an AIDS prevention activist and goes around to churches, high schools, etc. to teach about AIDS and HIV. She believes that abstinence-only sex education is the best path to follow and is a lot better than educating teenagers about condoms etc. because teenagers do not have fully developed brains and process information differently than adults. Her argument seems extremely opinionated and “one-sided”. I could use this source to illustrate some points about why abstinence-only sex education is good; but I don’t see myself using a lot of the information presented because I feel it is extremely biased.Report shows abstinence-only education program not more effective. (Jan 29, 2004). Women's Health Weekly, p14. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from Health Reference Center Academic via Thomson Gale, http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC- Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=HRCA&docI d=A112558864&source=gale&userGroupName=mcc_mesa&version=1.0.This source is a magazine article that I found online. It discusses how abstinence- only sex education is not working. It talks about how those types of programs should be broadened to include more information about contraception. This article also talks about the increase in sexual activity of teenagers. I feel that this source is definitely supporting a change in abstinence-only programs, but does so in an unbiased way by presenting information about the good of abstinence-only sex education programs as well. However, this article specifically refers to abstinence-only sex education programs and information related to the topic only for the state of Minnesota. I still feel like there is some good information that will support my argument in my research paper.Rose, S. (2005). Going too far? Sex, sin and social policy. Social Forces, 84 (2). Retrieved July 16, 2007, from Cline Library Research Resources, http://libproxy.nau.edu:4436/cid=clineli&wfn=wf_muse&sess=session%3D216.147.209. 75.108051184636938317%3B%20PIA_history%3D221480700%3B%20PIA_user%3D2 14900252%3B%20PIA_last%3Dpia.cgi%253Faction%253Dnavigate%2526search_id%2 53D221480700%2526min%253D1%2526show%253D10&addr=10.10.22.81&url=http:// muse.j.This source mainly focuses on the Religious Right of America social policy and their involvement in the sex education of America (for the better and the worse). It also discusses the ongoing debate between abstinence-only sex education programs and comprehensive sex education programs. The main perspective portrayed is that there should be more abstinence-only PLUS or comprehensive sex education programs taught in the United States because abstinence-only is not working (she is leaning more towards the middle ground). Rose conducted a personal field study to find the results and I believe them to be fair and unbiased. She is in the middle on the issue, which is a new angle I could use for my research paper.After looking avidly for the many different perspectives on abstinence-only sex education programs I have come to realize that there is almost no middle ground. There are two extremes to this argument... 1) that abstinence-only sex education is the only method of preventing teens from having sex and getting pregnant or contracting diseases or 2) that comprehensive sex education is the only way that sex should be taught to teenagers because it promotes abstinence, but educates teens about how to be safe and protect themselves. The latter could be considered a middle ground because it is not in complete opposition to abstinence-only sex education and is not promoting that teenagers be taught sexual positions and encouraged to go out and have as much sex as possible. It is however a very radical change to abstinence-only sex education and that is why it is the other radical end of this spectrum. There are also people that believe that sex education should not be taught at all in schools, but the majority of the argument lies in abstinence-only or comprehensive sex education programs. That is why I don’t feel it is an extreme of this argument. I will definitely make sure to mention it in my paper, but it is not a main focus because the majority of people are fighting for abstinence or comprehensive. I think it will be tricky, because this topic is so personal and so controversial, to find sources that are not completely biased. Terribly biased sources will not go to support my cause or my credibility.
There were a few revisions that helped me a lot this this assignment. There were certain spots that I was a little confused on and the peer reviews helped me out greatly in figuring out how to solve my problems. This bibliography was a lot of hard work, but it was well worth it. I learned a lot about how to do APA style citations etc. It will be very very helpful in future papers.
There were a few revisions that helped me a lot this this assignment. There were certain spots that I was a little confused on and the peer reviews helped me out greatly in figuring out how to solve my problems. This bibliography was a lot of hard work, but it was well worth it. I learned a lot about how to do APA style citations etc. It will be very very helpful in future papers.
D#15, HW#1, WP#1 w/ revisions
Jessica Williams-DiederichEng 102 sm2Professor RodrigoJuly 9, 2007WP #1 DraftAbstinence-only Sex Education Research ProposalThe topic that I have selected for my research proposal is abstinence-only sex education in high schools across the United States. I am interested in looking at the outcome and results of these type of programs. Such as the rate of increase or decrease for teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease spread amongst teenagers, as well as the rates of increase or decrease for teenage participation in oral sex. My focused research question is; how effective is abstinence-only sex education in preventing teen pregnancy, STD spread, and oral sex participation? This topic is so controversial because the issue of sex and sexuality has always been an uncomfortable issue for Americans. Also, dealing with what is considered right and wrong varies greatly from person to person. Sex is a very individual thing and very personal. Although the decision to have sex or not have sex is an individual one many people are concerned in influencing other people’s decisions (like their children etc). This is where the controversy arises. So many different groups of people such as parents and religious communities want to have their say in the matter and tell people what is right and wrong. Also, politicians are influenced to pass laws regarding the teaching of sex in the classroom by these same groups; basically putting up another barrier for sex education. Personally I went to a high school that was greatly influenced by the predominant religion of the area. This particular religion is extremely conservative to say the least. Therefore, sex education was not encouraged. I had one week of abstinence-only education that came at the end of my driver’s ed course; a course that was not even a requirement for all students to take. This week long lesson focused chiefly on abstinence and saving yourself until marriage. The instructor also informed us about sexually transmitted diseases, but not how to prevent yourself from contracting one. The lesson was… if you have sex before marriage you will get an STD and live with it forever if not die. It was as if they were using scare tactics to teach us not to have sex. It was completely un-educational. It also was designed to make teenagers that were sexually active feel bad. Not only did we never hear about contraceptives, but if we asked any question the answer always came back to abstinence. An example would be if someone asked what could they do to decrease the chance of getting pregnant the only answer given was abstinence. This just forced kids to have sexual intercourse without any real knowledge of what they were getting themselves into. I personally had to research any questions I had on my own, but most teenagers are not that driven.My purpose in writing this research paper is to open peoples’ eyes (specifically parents). I think people assume because teenagers are being taught about abstinence that they are practicing it. However, that is not the case. It is almost the complete opposite. Teenagers are having sex and are doing it without any education on the matter; putting them at greater risk. I will hopefully find reliable information in my research that will shock the readers and make them stop and say, “Wow! This abstinence-only education is not working. We need to find another alternative. There needs to be a change.” My perspective is that abstinence-only sex education does not work. It is in no way beneficial; in fact I believe it is very harmful for today’s youth. The method of teaching abstinence-only sex education does not educate. It forces teenagers to look elsewhere for information and they either are not taking the time to look for it or are going to the wrong places. I do not that that teenagers should be encouraged to go out and have random sex (safe or not), but I do believe they should be given the proper resources to protect themselves and keep themselves safe if they do chose to be sexually active. The main audience I will be focusing my research paper towards parents, specifically parents of teenagers. It seems to me that they are the ones that have the most reason to read (and learn) from my paper. If they read and discover that abstinence-only sex education is not working maybe they will fight for a change, and not look down upon safe-sex education. I think that the audience would want to know what is generally taught in abstinence-only education classes and the results of it (i.e. teen pregnancy rates, STD spread, and teen oral sex participation). I think they need to know the things listed above as well as possibly why abstinence-only sex education is so predominant. I think if they see politicians are passing these laws for financial support etc. from religious groups and such they might see how irrational the program actually is. There are several limitations and challenges with any research project. With my topic specifically I am worried about finding strong, factual, reliable information. I know it is out there, but I feel like I will have to dig for it; which is fine because that’s what research is all about. However, I have to be aware that I may not find all the information on each sub-topic that I am looking at. I fear that it might be difficult to find research on why abstinence-only sex education is so predominant in the United States as a whole, but I won’t find out until I start researching. Honestly I have no set timeline for conducting research, and even if I did I know I would not stick to it. So I plan to research in separate topic areas. Those areas being; why is abstinence-only sex education so predominant in the U.S., the rate of increase or decrease for teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease spread amongst teenagers, and rates of increase or decrease for teenage participation in oral sex.
There were not that many suggestions when I turned this paper in. There were minor spelling and grammar errors that I corrected. I appreciated the feed back I got from everyone. This writing project helped a lot with labeling and determining very important apsects of a research paper. It made the final paper a lot easier to write.
There were not that many suggestions when I turned this paper in. There were minor spelling and grammar errors that I corrected. I appreciated the feed back I got from everyone. This writing project helped a lot with labeling and determining very important apsects of a research paper. It made the final paper a lot easier to write.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
D#14, HW#1, Peer Review Reflection
I peer reviewed Noe's and Jason's reflective cover letters. They were both very well put together. There were only minor spelling or grammar errors. Everyone's letter is obviously going to be different, but each person set up the letter differently so it was hard to comment on the format etc. of the letters. Overall I think they both discussed what was needed for this writing project. Jason peer edited my paper and he pointed out a few things that I messed up on. I appreciate the comments. Overall I think I did well on the writing project.
Monday, July 30, 2007
D#13, HW#1, Reflective Cover Letter
To Professor Roddrigo and My fellow classmates:
If I am correct I believe this course is designed for college freshmen; so a lot of the information we were being taught was review for me (now a college junior). However, it was not the type of review that was boring and unnecessary. It was well needed review that ended up being very helpful and will be very beneficial for future writing projects. All of the assignments and writing projects for this course helped to accomplish certain course outcomes. The course was designed so that we would achieve the course outcomes almost without knowing we were accomplishing them.
The first course outcome is to “write for specific rhetorical contexts, including circumstance, purpose, topic, audience and writer, as well as the writing’s ethical, political, and cultural implications”. After doing several exercises in this course and completing WP#1 I feel like I have a stronger grasp on Outcome #1. Being able to define what our purpose is, who our audience is, and what our topic is etc. is extremely beneficial for writing any kind of paper. This class made me focus on exactly what topic I wanted to address in my research paper and specifically who I wanted to direct my paper too. Taking the separate steps to think about and label these different things ultimately lead to a better paper. It also made the entire writing process a lot easier.
The second outcome is to “organize writing to support a central idea through unity, coherence and logical development appropriate to a specific writing context”. I think that WP#1 was the most helpful in accomplishing this outcome. Writing a research proposal and labeling all the features of our research papers helped greatly in organizing our papers to support our thesis. Also during the course we had to make outlines and cluster diagrams for our research paper. These exercises helped me even more to organize my paper and get my ideas out in an easy to read format. Although the Toulmin Model was very confusing for me, after I spent a decent amount of time on it I began to understand it and it ended up helping me greatly. The Toulmin outline helped me to determine what the main points of my argument were and what pieces of evidence I had to support them. I also learned to incorporate objections and rebuttals in my paper. I never really thought about them before. I feel that that whole assignment helped make my final paper stronger.
The third outcome is to “use appropriate conventions in writing, including consistent voice, tone, diction, grammar, and mechanics”. I believe that the various grammar assignments assisted a lot in achieving this outcome. A lot of the grammar assignments were review of things that we all should have learned prior to this class, but I found that a lot of the things we were reading about were things that I personally had forgotten. I think that after completing these assignments I can now properly use semicolons, various transitions, use various forms of sentence structure, among other things. The following paragraph is a paragraph I revised based on what I learned about compound sentences, “The issue I am researching for this project is abstinence-only sex education in the United States. This is such an important issue because in the U.S. the teenage pregnancy rate is rising and there is a rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases sweeping the youth. The health and safety of the nation’s teens are at risk. This subject is surrounded by controversy because sex is risqué, sex is forbidden, sex is uncomfortable to talk about. Most Americans may not want to discuss the issue of sex, but they for certain have an opinion about it. These opinions differ greatly from person to person. Sex is a very individual thing and when people try to influence others’ choices controversy arises. Some people do not think anyone should have sex until marriage and that is why they believe teaching abstinence-only education is the only way. Others believe people should not have sex until marriage, but should still be given information about contraceptives and safe-sex in case they do decide to engage in sexual activities. The spectrum of opinion on this matter is wide”.
The fourth outcome is to “find, evaluate, select, and synthesize both online and print sources that examine a topic from multiple perspectives”. This outcome was achieved all throughout the course by the completion of annotated bibliographies. I searched for and found several cites that covered all different perspectives of my topic. When looking at these sources I had to determine which of them were useful and reliable and which ones were not. Deadline #4 contained assignments that helped me look into the credibility of my sources. There were several exercises and checklists that I found very useful. I will definitely re-use these checklists to examine further sources. WP#2 was also a tool to help achieve this outcome because I had to justify and explain why each source would be good for my paper.
The fifth outcome is to “integrate sources through summarizing, paraphrasing, and quotation from sources to develop and support one's own ideas”. I think in some part the annotations that I had to complete throughout the course helped with achieving this outcome. I was supposed to write notes about why the source would be good for my paper. Chapter 5: Rhetorically Reading Sources also helped me achieve this goal. There were several exercises that taught me how to summarize and paraphrase sources in order to incorporate them into my paper. The first paragraph is a summary of an article I found and the second paragraph is a paraphrase of that same article:
“In this article Heather Boonstra emphasizes the need for change in sex education programs in America. Statistics show that the teen pregnancy rates and STD spread rates are increasing. Becuase of this action needs to be taken to educate teenagers not only about abstinence, but also about "safe-sex" as well.”
“Research has illustrated that programs that promote abstinence, but also include information about contraceptives can be very effective in preventing teen pregnancies. Abstinence-only sex education programs have not shown results of preventing teen pregnancy; on the contrary they may actually be increasing the likelihood of teen pregnancy and STD spread because of the lack of information given about having sex and using contraceptives.”
Working on the rough draft and final draft for my research paper also made me learn how to integrate the information I got from my sources properly. I knew I could not just type word for word what I found in my sources and this is where I learned to incorporate the information differently.
The sixth outcome is to “identify, select, and use an appropriate documentation style to maintain academic integrity”. This course outcome I think is by far one of the most important and vital to a research paper. Without the proper citation and documentation of sources my paper would have been garbage. It would have been non-reliable and not credible. Properly citing the sources I used made my paper strong. Constantly doing annotated bibliographies in the homework helped me learn how to cite sources. I also looked on the Owl Purdue website for reference on how to do citations properly. WP#2 and WP#3 both demonstrate how I have learned to do APA style citations properly.
The seventh outcome is to “use feedback obtained through peer review, instructor comments, and/or other sources to revise writing”. I’m not sure how to explain how I mastered this outcome, but I definitely appreciated the peer reviews and comments I got on all of my writing projects. The reviews helped me to catch flaws that I did not see before, and they also gave me new ideas to branch off in. For WP#3 I completely forgot to mention that some people believe that sex should not be taught at all in school and in a peer review Kelesia mentioned it and I added it to my paper. I was greatly appreciative for that insight because it is something I completely over looked.
The eighth outcome is to “assess one's own writing strengths and identify strategies for improvement through instructor conference, portfolio review, written evaluation, and/or other methods”. I believe this outcome is being accomplished by this cover letter and by all of the reflective assignments completed throughout this course.
The final outcome is to “generate, format, and edit writing using appropriate technologies”. I know that throughout this course I have definitely not mastered these new technologies, but I have learned to use them. I have demonstrated this by turning all my papers in to turnitin.com and also keeping my blog updated on blogger.com
The outcomes that I feel I have a good handle on are 1, 2, and 3. After all of the exercises I feel I can efficiently determine what I want my topic to be, what audience I intend my paper for, what the purpose is etc. I think that I demonstrated that upon completion of WP#1. Because I feel I am able to do that well I feel like I can also compose a paper to support a central idea.
I still think I need to work on outcomes 4, 5, & 6. These outcomes all deal with using proper sources and citing them properly. I feel like I need more work on these areas because they are so crucial to writing a good paper. It seems that as much as I looked up proper APA citations I found different answers for each different place I looked. I also think it will be beneficial to keep working on how to evaluate a source to see how credible it is. This will help me in the future to use good sources and not fall into the trap of using weak/non-reliable sources.
If I am correct I believe this course is designed for college freshmen; so a lot of the information we were being taught was review for me (now a college junior). However, it was not the type of review that was boring and unnecessary. It was well needed review that ended up being very helpful and will be very beneficial for future writing projects. All of the assignments and writing projects for this course helped to accomplish certain course outcomes. The course was designed so that we would achieve the course outcomes almost without knowing we were accomplishing them.
The first course outcome is to “write for specific rhetorical contexts, including circumstance, purpose, topic, audience and writer, as well as the writing’s ethical, political, and cultural implications”. After doing several exercises in this course and completing WP#1 I feel like I have a stronger grasp on Outcome #1. Being able to define what our purpose is, who our audience is, and what our topic is etc. is extremely beneficial for writing any kind of paper. This class made me focus on exactly what topic I wanted to address in my research paper and specifically who I wanted to direct my paper too. Taking the separate steps to think about and label these different things ultimately lead to a better paper. It also made the entire writing process a lot easier.
The second outcome is to “organize writing to support a central idea through unity, coherence and logical development appropriate to a specific writing context”. I think that WP#1 was the most helpful in accomplishing this outcome. Writing a research proposal and labeling all the features of our research papers helped greatly in organizing our papers to support our thesis. Also during the course we had to make outlines and cluster diagrams for our research paper. These exercises helped me even more to organize my paper and get my ideas out in an easy to read format. Although the Toulmin Model was very confusing for me, after I spent a decent amount of time on it I began to understand it and it ended up helping me greatly. The Toulmin outline helped me to determine what the main points of my argument were and what pieces of evidence I had to support them. I also learned to incorporate objections and rebuttals in my paper. I never really thought about them before. I feel that that whole assignment helped make my final paper stronger.
The third outcome is to “use appropriate conventions in writing, including consistent voice, tone, diction, grammar, and mechanics”. I believe that the various grammar assignments assisted a lot in achieving this outcome. A lot of the grammar assignments were review of things that we all should have learned prior to this class, but I found that a lot of the things we were reading about were things that I personally had forgotten. I think that after completing these assignments I can now properly use semicolons, various transitions, use various forms of sentence structure, among other things. The following paragraph is a paragraph I revised based on what I learned about compound sentences, “The issue I am researching for this project is abstinence-only sex education in the United States. This is such an important issue because in the U.S. the teenage pregnancy rate is rising and there is a rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases sweeping the youth. The health and safety of the nation’s teens are at risk. This subject is surrounded by controversy because sex is risqué, sex is forbidden, sex is uncomfortable to talk about. Most Americans may not want to discuss the issue of sex, but they for certain have an opinion about it. These opinions differ greatly from person to person. Sex is a very individual thing and when people try to influence others’ choices controversy arises. Some people do not think anyone should have sex until marriage and that is why they believe teaching abstinence-only education is the only way. Others believe people should not have sex until marriage, but should still be given information about contraceptives and safe-sex in case they do decide to engage in sexual activities. The spectrum of opinion on this matter is wide”.
The fourth outcome is to “find, evaluate, select, and synthesize both online and print sources that examine a topic from multiple perspectives”. This outcome was achieved all throughout the course by the completion of annotated bibliographies. I searched for and found several cites that covered all different perspectives of my topic. When looking at these sources I had to determine which of them were useful and reliable and which ones were not. Deadline #4 contained assignments that helped me look into the credibility of my sources. There were several exercises and checklists that I found very useful. I will definitely re-use these checklists to examine further sources. WP#2 was also a tool to help achieve this outcome because I had to justify and explain why each source would be good for my paper.
The fifth outcome is to “integrate sources through summarizing, paraphrasing, and quotation from sources to develop and support one's own ideas”. I think in some part the annotations that I had to complete throughout the course helped with achieving this outcome. I was supposed to write notes about why the source would be good for my paper. Chapter 5: Rhetorically Reading Sources also helped me achieve this goal. There were several exercises that taught me how to summarize and paraphrase sources in order to incorporate them into my paper. The first paragraph is a summary of an article I found and the second paragraph is a paraphrase of that same article:
“In this article Heather Boonstra emphasizes the need for change in sex education programs in America. Statistics show that the teen pregnancy rates and STD spread rates are increasing. Becuase of this action needs to be taken to educate teenagers not only about abstinence, but also about "safe-sex" as well.”
“Research has illustrated that programs that promote abstinence, but also include information about contraceptives can be very effective in preventing teen pregnancies. Abstinence-only sex education programs have not shown results of preventing teen pregnancy; on the contrary they may actually be increasing the likelihood of teen pregnancy and STD spread because of the lack of information given about having sex and using contraceptives.”
Working on the rough draft and final draft for my research paper also made me learn how to integrate the information I got from my sources properly. I knew I could not just type word for word what I found in my sources and this is where I learned to incorporate the information differently.
The sixth outcome is to “identify, select, and use an appropriate documentation style to maintain academic integrity”. This course outcome I think is by far one of the most important and vital to a research paper. Without the proper citation and documentation of sources my paper would have been garbage. It would have been non-reliable and not credible. Properly citing the sources I used made my paper strong. Constantly doing annotated bibliographies in the homework helped me learn how to cite sources. I also looked on the Owl Purdue website for reference on how to do citations properly. WP#2 and WP#3 both demonstrate how I have learned to do APA style citations properly.
The seventh outcome is to “use feedback obtained through peer review, instructor comments, and/or other sources to revise writing”. I’m not sure how to explain how I mastered this outcome, but I definitely appreciated the peer reviews and comments I got on all of my writing projects. The reviews helped me to catch flaws that I did not see before, and they also gave me new ideas to branch off in. For WP#3 I completely forgot to mention that some people believe that sex should not be taught at all in school and in a peer review Kelesia mentioned it and I added it to my paper. I was greatly appreciative for that insight because it is something I completely over looked.
The eighth outcome is to “assess one's own writing strengths and identify strategies for improvement through instructor conference, portfolio review, written evaluation, and/or other methods”. I believe this outcome is being accomplished by this cover letter and by all of the reflective assignments completed throughout this course.
The final outcome is to “generate, format, and edit writing using appropriate technologies”. I know that throughout this course I have definitely not mastered these new technologies, but I have learned to use them. I have demonstrated this by turning all my papers in to turnitin.com and also keeping my blog updated on blogger.com
The outcomes that I feel I have a good handle on are 1, 2, and 3. After all of the exercises I feel I can efficiently determine what I want my topic to be, what audience I intend my paper for, what the purpose is etc. I think that I demonstrated that upon completion of WP#1. Because I feel I am able to do that well I feel like I can also compose a paper to support a central idea.
I still think I need to work on outcomes 4, 5, & 6. These outcomes all deal with using proper sources and citing them properly. I feel like I need more work on these areas because they are so crucial to writing a good paper. It seems that as much as I looked up proper APA citations I found different answers for each different place I looked. I also think it will be beneficial to keep working on how to evaluate a source to see how credible it is. This will help me in the future to use good sources and not fall into the trap of using weak/non-reliable sources.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
D#12, HW#7, Deadline Reflection & Question
Well I spent a lot of time on this deadline because I really wanted to make sure that my WP#3 was the best that it could possibly be. I think I wrote a very good paper and am very happy with the way it turned out. After reading WP#4 I think it will take a lot of time to put together. I kinda thought we'd be relatively done after completing WP#3 but it will definatley take time and effort to complete WP#4 properly. I'm confused about the sections regarding Working major writing projects into the portfolio and working reflective assignments into the portfolio. I can't tell if they are just exercises to get us to relate how each assignment helped us achieve different source outcomes or if they are assignments that we actually need to type up and turn in. The syllabus says that "Your portfolio is made up of four major components: the reflective cover letter, final submissions of WP#1-#3 with suggestions for revision, all of the work in the class compiled in your Blog/discussion board forum" so that only looks like 3 things to me. If anyone has some clearification that would help me out greatly. I always over analyize things and confuse myself =P I commented on the following blogs....
Shawn
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2848283987846070990&postID=1379822835676431433
Alexis
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6493157121155563592&postID=4653165293258729702
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6493157121155563592&postID=3715403440293886063
Tedibaer
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=7352297696685222042
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=2745652700481702473
Shawn
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2848283987846070990&postID=1379822835676431433
Alexis
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6493157121155563592&postID=4653165293258729702
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6493157121155563592&postID=3715403440293886063
Tedibaer
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=7352297696685222042
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=2745652700481702473
D#12, HW# 4, 5, & 6
Course Outcomes:
- Write for specific rhetorical contexts, including circumstance, purpose, topic, audience, and writer as well as the writing's ethical, political, and cultural implications.
- Organize writing to support a central idea through unity, coherence and logical development appropriate to a specific writing context.
- Use appropriate conventions in writing,including consistent voice, tone, diction, grammar, and mechanics.
- Find, evaluate, select, and synthesize both online and print sources that examine a topic from multiple perspectives.
- Integrate sources through summarizing, paraphrasing, and quotation from sources to develop and support one's own ideas.
- Identify, select, and use an appropriate documentation style to maintain academic integrity.
- Use feedback obtained through peer review, instructor comments, and/or other sources to revise writing.
- Assess one's own writing strengths and identify strategies for improvement through instructor conference, portfolio review, written evaluation, and/or other methods.
- Generate, format, and edit writing using appropriate technologies.
- I think that after looking at my writing project reflections each project helped me accomplish the course outlines. After completing all of them I believe all of the outlines were accomplished. With writing project #1 the specific outcomes that were accomplished were 1 & 2. With writing project #2 they were 2, 4, &5. For WP#3 they were 1, 2, 3, 5, &6.
- Throughout this course there were a lot of readings. Most of the readings were review and some were completely new ideas. I really appreciated the review and the helpful tips because I feel they greatly helped my writing. They made my papers stronger because my papers were more accurate. In my final reflection letter I will discuss how the readings straightened me as a writer and made my papers a whole lot better than they would have been.
- After looking at all my deadline reflections and the homework assignments associated with them it became very clear that different assignments were directly aimed for accomplishing specific course outlines. Early on during homework we accomplished the first few outcomes and as the time went on we worked our way down the outcomes list. After completing all of the homework assignments and writing projects we accomplished all of the course outcomes. It's almost as if we did it without even knowing it.
D#4, HW# 7, Cheacklists
I used the checklists on pages 117-118 to evaluate another source that I looksd at this week.
Clark, M., Devaney, B., Fortson, K., Trenholm, C., Quay, K., & Wheeler, J.(2007). Impacts of four title v, section 510 abstinence education programs. Final report. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from ERIC database, http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=teen+sex&searchtype=keyword&ERICExtSearch
_SearchType_0=kw&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&objectId=0900019b8015dfd0&accno=ED4962
86&_nfls=false.
Honestly I read through the checklist and after I read the article and answered the questions as I went along. I didn't take the time to write them out and type them up. The source I found from the ERIC database turned out to be a good/reliable source. I think that this checklist is even easier than the previous exercise and will come in handy when evaluating future sources.
Clark, M., Devaney, B., Fortson, K., Trenholm, C., Quay, K., & Wheeler, J.(2007). Impacts of four title v, section 510 abstinence education programs. Final report. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from ERIC database, http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=teen+sex&searchtype=keyword&ERICExtSearch
_SearchType_0=kw&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&objectId=0900019b8015dfd0&accno=ED4962
86&_nfls=false.
Honestly I read through the checklist and after I read the article and answered the questions as I went along. I didn't take the time to write them out and type them up. The source I found from the ERIC database turned out to be a good/reliable source. I think that this checklist is even easier than the previous exercise and will come in handy when evaluating future sources.
D#4, HW#6, Evaluating Web Sites
I picked one source from a library database and and one website that I used in my annotative bibliography. I asked the following questions when I was reading my sources...
- What is the accuracy of the source?
- Does the source have credibility?
- Objectivity by asking, does the site express a particular viewpoint? Does the source provide links to sites with a political purpose?
- How up to date is the site?
These different questions helped greatly in evaluating my two sources. After answering them I've concluded that these two sources were in fac solid/sound sources I will most certainly use these questions to make sure my future sources are good and reliable.
D#4, HW#2, Grammar Assignment
For this grammar assignment I focused on using commas properly, setting off items in a series, setting off introductory elements, and proper semicolon use. I focused on these specific topic areas becuase they are things that I use frequently in my writing and I always get mixed up on how to use them properly. I completed exercises 30.3, 30.2, and 31.1. They helped me re-learn how to properly use commas etc. in my writing. The paragraphs that I revised are....
- The topic that I have selected for my research proposal is abstinence-only sex education in high schools across the United States. I am interested in looking at the outcome and results of these type of programs. Such as the rate of increase or decrease for teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease spread amongst teenagers, as well as the rates of increase or decrease for teenage participation in oral sex. My focused research question is; how effective is abstinence-only sex education in preventing teen pregnancy, STD spread, and oral sex participation?
- This topic is so controversial because the issue of sex and sexuality has always been an uncomfortable issue for Americans. Also, dealing with what is considered right and wrong varies greatly from person to person. Sex is a very individual thing and very personal. Although the decision to have sex or not have sex is an individual one many people are concerned in influencing other people’s decisions (like their children etc). This is where the controversy arises. So many different groups of people such as parents and religious communities want to have their say in the matter and tell people what is right and wrong. Also, politicians are influenced to pass laws regarding the teaching of sex in the classroom by these same groups; basically putting up another barrier for sex education.
D#12, HW#3, Writing Project Reflection
- There were many different steps that I took to complete this writing assignment. A lot of the steps were laid out for me in the course syllabus. Some of those steps include making an outline, a rough draft, and many steps of revision. All of the steps helped greatly in forming a solid research paper. I also looked at a lot of sources in order to do research and find reliable sources that would make for a good research paper. I think I did well with the writing process (mostly due to the due dates in the syllabus). I think that this writing project helped me re-learn how to write a solid research paper. I don’t think you can do that without taking the time to due the research, taking time to make an outline, or taking time to get peer revisions and make revisions of your own. I will try and remember these steps for future writing projects I have.
- For this writing project I am most proud of my attention to detail. It may not be the best research project, but I spent a lot of time looking up how to do APA in text citations and how to label the page numbers. I also took a lot of time to make sure I was grammatically correct when using numbers and symbols. I must have re-read over my paper 100 times and I think my attention to little details, that may not seem important to some, will make my paper that much better. With this writing project I am most concerned about if I supported my argument enough. I guess I’m worried if I gave enough information to persuade people. I addressed this concern beforehand by making sure to do a lot of research and find sound reliable sources. If I had more time for this writing project I would add even more sources into my paper.
- In turnitin.com there was a 10% match rate. When I clicked on it I did not see any highlight in my paper so I am unsure of exactly what the matches were. I re-read my paper and re worded some things just in case those were matches. I think I have tinkered with it enough to where it is good.
- During this writing project I focused on a lot of writing elements. I wanted to make sure I did the best I could for this research paper so I spent a lot of time looking up things that I did now know or was unsure about. I looked up APA style writing at least 100 times to make sure I was doing it properly. I also paid close attention to the grammar assignments we had and corrected my paper accordingly. Another thing I focused on was the process as a whole ( research, outlines, revisions etc.) I definitely feel like I succeeded in improving my writing skills during this writing project.
I think that this writing project has helped me achieve all of the course outcomes. =) I feel like each outcome was a way of building up to this final research paper. In order to have a good research paper we had to have mastered all of the outcomes.
D#12, HW#1, Grammar Assignment
Most of this grammar assignment reading was review. And the rest of it was things that are easy to fix when typing a research paper because the computer fixes spelling errors and capitalization errors for you. It was good to read over though because when we write in class essays and do not have a computer it will come in handy. I found the section about setting off words very interesting. I never really knew there were certain guidelines for when you use italics to highlight certain words. I still don’t know how appropriate they are to use in research papers (like italicizing numbers or words you later define), but I think it is good information that I did not know before. I completed exercise 37.1 to make sure I had a grasp on when italics were appropriate. I also learned new information when I was reading about hyphens. I did not know about suspended hyphens. I’m still a little confused on when you should add hyphens, but the book says to look in a dictionary so I will do that in the future. I completed exercise # 38.1 to practice placing hyphens in sentences. I used the information about symbols and numbers to edit my paper because I had actually used 2 + 2 in my paper to make a point and I changed it to two plus two to make it more accurate because my paper is not a technical or scientific writing. It helped a lot that the book explained when numbers are appropriate in APA style writing.
The abstinence-only sex education programs in the study also taught unproved claims and outright fabrications about gender traits, stereotypes, when life actually begins, and general reproductive health (Public Health, 2004). How are teenagers supposed to learn anything of value if their teachers are teaching them lies? Teenagers should be able to go to class and trust their teachers and be able to believe they are being told the truth. Would we accept it if teachers were teaching children that two plus two was five? I don’t think that would settle well; and abstinence-only should not either.
60.9% of teenagers have reported having sex by grade 12; more than half of the United States’ teenagers are NOT practicing abstinence. This illustrates how abstinence-only programs which preach waiting to have sex until marriage are not effective at all in postponing teens from having sex (Weiss, 2006). The fact of the matter is that teenagers are having sex, but do not know some of the risks associated with the act. This is a major reason why there are one million teens getting pregnant every year. With abstinence-only programs teenage students are not taught about using condoms or other contraceptives that would significantly decrease chances of pregnancy. According to Caplan, teenagers who have taken pledges of virginity are more likely than others to not use any contraception when they do start having sex (2005).
The abstinence-only sex education programs in the study also taught unproved claims and outright fabrications about gender traits, stereotypes, when life actually begins, and general reproductive health (Public Health, 2004). How are teenagers supposed to learn anything of value if their teachers are teaching them lies? Teenagers should be able to go to class and trust their teachers and be able to believe they are being told the truth. Would we accept it if teachers were teaching children that two plus two was five? I don’t think that would settle well; and abstinence-only should not either.
60.9% of teenagers have reported having sex by grade 12; more than half of the United States’ teenagers are NOT practicing abstinence. This illustrates how abstinence-only programs which preach waiting to have sex until marriage are not effective at all in postponing teens from having sex (Weiss, 2006). The fact of the matter is that teenagers are having sex, but do not know some of the risks associated with the act. This is a major reason why there are one million teens getting pregnant every year. With abstinence-only programs teenage students are not taught about using condoms or other contraceptives that would significantly decrease chances of pregnancy. According to Caplan, teenagers who have taken pledges of virginity are more likely than others to not use any contraception when they do start having sex (2005).
D#4, HW#1. Reading Reflection
All of the chapters in Wadsworth basically described and gave tips on how to conduct proper research. They also discussed how to do affective research that will be most beneficial and the most easy to use in writing a paper. This was discussed in Ch.8 Reading to Write. The chapters also talked about how to tell whether an internet source is reliable or not. I think this will come in handy a lot because most of the sources we will find will come off of the internet and we do not want to use non-credible sources to write a research paper. It will not look very good on us. The course outcomes that I think this weeks readings will help me acquire are…
- Find, evaluate, select, and synthesize both online and print sources that examine a topic from multiple perspectives.
D#3, HW#1, Reading Reflection
I found Wadsworth Ch.4 to be very useful. It was definitely all review of things that I have been taught in previous classes, but it was well needed review. I think it was beneficial because it gave us useful tips about how to start a rough draft. Such as, preparing our work area and fighting writer’s block. I found that these tips will be very helpful when writing rough drafts. I also found that some of the revision strategies discussed in the chapter will be very useful when revising our papers before we turn them in. I found The Rhetoric Situation to be very interesting and useful. It helped to define what the purpose and audience etc. should be. It helped me answer questions for my own research topic. I think that the readings for this assignment will help me to achieve the following course outcomes…
- Writing for specific rhetorical contexts
- Organizing writing to support a central idea
- Find, evaluate, select, and synthesize both online and print sources that examine a topic from multiple perspectives.
D#2, HW#7, “Finding Something To Say”
The tactics that I used to identify a research topic were…
- Reading and observing: This helped me find certain topics that seemed interesting to me.
- Brainstorming & Clustering: This exercise helped me think of all the information I knew about different topics that peeked my interest.
- Asking Journalistic Questions: Asking these type of questions like Who? What? Why? When? How? Helped me to see which topic I could answer all these questions for. Asking these questions helped me look at different angles of each topic.
After completely these exercises I decided I would like my research topic to be about abstinence-only sex education programs.
D#2, HW#1, Reading Reflection
After reading WP#1 assignment prompt I’m a little scared. It looks like a lot of work. I like how the prompt tells us exactly what we need to include though. I think that will make the assignment easier. After reading chapters 1, 2, 41, and 47, I feel that WP#1 will not be as hard as I thought it would. The chapters explained exactly what would be included in the proposal such as identifying the audience and purpose. The reading also refreshed me about how to write a good research paper and how to do APA writing style. I just finished a psychology course that required APA style papers, but chapter 47 was great review. I’m sure I will be referring back to it constantly throughout the course. The online readings were interesting because they described why people write research papers and how to decide on a research topic. These reading will help me achieve the following course outcome…
- Write for specific rhetoric contexts
D#1, HW#1, Reading Reflection
After completing all of the readings I found that the syllabus (as long as it was) was extremely easy to read and helpful. It was laid out in a manner that made it easy to read and it was very organized. This organization made it very easy for me to be organized and write dates on my calendar of when things were due. After reading Wadsworth and flipping through the pages I feel like Wadsworth will be very easy to read. It looks to me like a lot of review, but review that is desperately needed because I have not had an English course in two years. I think this book will help with my writing a lot and I am glad it is an easy read and not a terribly huge confusing textbook.
Friday, July 27, 2007
D#11, HW#5, Deadline Reflection
This assignment was helpful because the revision exercises were very beneficial to improoving WP#3. I also enjoyed reading my other classmates' papers. They were very good. I really like all of the different topic choices. I think I need to investigate further into how to do APA style in text citations because almost everyone has something differet. I commented on the following blogs....
Alexis
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6493157121155563592&postID=8507650512763383076
Tedibaer
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=7139610095460352462
Shawn
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2848283987846070990&postID=5329004621985012343
Latron
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2573539106864770999&postID=7296051099115392382
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2573539106864770999&postID=6925665581302818312
Alexis
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6493157121155563592&postID=8507650512763383076
Tedibaer
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=7139610095460352462
Shawn
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2848283987846070990&postID=5329004621985012343
Latron
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2573539106864770999&postID=7296051099115392382
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2573539106864770999&postID=6925665581302818312
D#11, HW#4, Peer Review Reflection
I reviewed Kelisia and Shawns research papers. They both had very good drafts. There were minor problems that I commented on, but they looked good for the most part. I hope my comments helped them out. A common error that I saw was with the in text citations. I think we all should look it up online to make sure we are doing it correctly for the final draft. Jason peer reviewed my paper and there were just a few things that he commented on that will definately make my paper stronger. So thanks. Most of them were minor errors that just slipped me when I was writing it, so i'm glad he peer edited it! I got a 10 % match rate in turnitin.com which i think is relatively low. I tried to click on it to see what was a match, but it didn't show me what. So i think I will check it again tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
D#10, HW#8, Deadline Assignment
This assignment was beneficial because actually having a draft of WP#3 is what we have been working towards almost the whole course. Actually having a draft to tinker with and perfect will make a strong research paper. It was a lot of work, but I think a good paper will result from it. I look forward to having a little more time to make it just right. The reading in Wadsworth was good review for writing an argumenative paper and made it easier to write a draft for WP#3. I commented on the following blogs...
Amanda
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5963863000427860073&postID=8152340537456289693
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5963863000427860073&postID=7327862799556313215
Tedibaer
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=4393611390204279344
Amanda
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5963863000427860073&postID=8152340537456289693
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5963863000427860073&postID=7327862799556313215
Tedibaer
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=4393611390204279344
D#10, HW#7, Grammar Assignment
Okay so I am apparently not smart enough to read and do the correct grammar assingment. I thought it said Part 7. So the following is grammar assignment 7 not 5. I will do 5 and turn it in soon. (I know I know I have special needs)
For this grammar assignment I focused on working (yet again) on a functional bibliography. Making sure I cited my sources properly and making sure I know what sources I actually plan on using in my research paper. I also had to look elsewhere other than Wadsworth to learn how to properly cite authors in the research paper so I could reference them correctly. I also focused on working on a tentative thesis. I feel it is very important to a good research paper to have a strong clear thesis. Along with the tentative thesis I did the fine tuning exercises for refining and editing your thesis. I also made sure to take lots of notes when I was re-reading over my sources. I completed the Taking Notes Checklist on pg.344 of Wadsworth and exercise 41.4. I found the Formal (Topic) Outline very useful. It was a lot less confusing than the Toulmin Method. I found having both outlines to be very helpful. The section on writing a rough draft was all review, but good to look over right before completing my rough draft.
For this grammar assignment I focused on working (yet again) on a functional bibliography. Making sure I cited my sources properly and making sure I know what sources I actually plan on using in my research paper. I also had to look elsewhere other than Wadsworth to learn how to properly cite authors in the research paper so I could reference them correctly. I also focused on working on a tentative thesis. I feel it is very important to a good research paper to have a strong clear thesis. Along with the tentative thesis I did the fine tuning exercises for refining and editing your thesis. I also made sure to take lots of notes when I was re-reading over my sources. I completed the Taking Notes Checklist on pg.344 of Wadsworth and exercise 41.4. I found the Formal (Topic) Outline very useful. It was a lot less confusing than the Toulmin Method. I found having both outlines to be very helpful. The section on writing a rough draft was all review, but good to look over right before completing my rough draft.
- My revised thesis that I worked on with this assingment is... Abstinence-only sex education programs are a failure and need to be changed. They do not delay sexual activity of teenagers, they do not lower the risk of STD spread (in fact in some cases they increase the risk), they do not lower the teen pregnancy rate, and they use scare tactics and false information to teach about sex
D#10, HW#6, Transitions
I think the three transition words that would be most beneficial in my research paper would be In general, Although, and For example. I think "in gerneral" will come in handy because saying ALL abstinence-only education programs would be a generalization and "in general" eliminates that problem. "Although" will be good to use because I have a few sentences about how teen pregnancy rate has in fact gone down in the United State, it is not due to abstinince-0nly education programs. I think I can fit "although" into the sentences discussing this topic and it will make the paragraph flow accordingly. And with all of the statistics and research that I have "for example" will work very well with my paper.
D#10, HW#5, Paragraph Revisions with Transitions
“One million American teenagers become pregnant each year,” says Weiss (2006, p.1). One million! This is one of the highest rates in all of the developed countries of the world. The United States, which is the leading country in most everything, is also unfortunately the leading country of unexpected teenage pregnancy rates (Weiss, 2006). Why? What factors could lead to this? One main factor is undoubtedly what the United States has chosen to teach young teenagers…abstinence-only. In theory, abstinence-only sex education programs would be a good idea. Promoting abstinence for teenagers is generally seen as a good thing. However, the abstinence-only programs in the United States are defined by Wikipedia as, “a form of sex education that emphasizes abstinence from sex to the exclusion of all other types of sexual and reproductive health education, particularly regarding birth control and safe sex,” (2007). Seeing as one million American teenage girls are getting pregnant every year, abstinence is clearly not happening. So why not teach teenagers how to have “safe sex”, how to lower the risk of getting pregnant, or how to lower the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)? Abstinence-only sex education programs do not delay sexual activity of teenagers, they do not lower the risk of STD spread (in fact in some cases they increase the risk), they do not lower the teen pregnancy rate, and they use scare tactic and false information to teach about sex (National Politics, 2005; Weiss, 2006; Willenz, 2005). In actuality, abstinence-only sex education programs are ultimately hurting the U.S.’s teens.
Another negative feature of abstinence-only sex education programs is the fact that they more often than not deliberately teach false information and factual errors. In 2004 California Representative Henry Waxman released a report that revealed the 11 of the 13 most commonly used abstinence-only programs taught factual errors (Silverberg, 2007). Some errors that U.S. teens are being taught are; misrepresented failure rates of contraceptives, misrepresented information about the effectiveness of condoms in reducing HIV transmission, false claims that abortion increases the risk of infertility, premature birth for subsequent pregnancies, and ectopic pregnancy (Wikipedia, 2007). They also teach that people can get pregnant by simply touching the genitalia of a member of the opposite sex (Public Health, 2004). And these are only a few lies the teenagers are being taught. These abstinence-only sex education programs also taught unproved claims and outright fabrications about gender traits and stereotypes, when life actually begins, and general reproductive health (Public Health, 2004). How are teenagers supposed to learn anything of value if their teachers are teaching them lies? Teenagers should be able to go to class and trust their teachers and be able to believe they are being told the truth.
Another negative feature of abstinence-only sex education programs is the fact that they more often than not deliberately teach false information and factual errors. In 2004 California Representative Henry Waxman released a report that revealed the 11 of the 13 most commonly used abstinence-only programs taught factual errors (Silverberg, 2007). Some errors that U.S. teens are being taught are; misrepresented failure rates of contraceptives, misrepresented information about the effectiveness of condoms in reducing HIV transmission, false claims that abortion increases the risk of infertility, premature birth for subsequent pregnancies, and ectopic pregnancy (Wikipedia, 2007). They also teach that people can get pregnant by simply touching the genitalia of a member of the opposite sex (Public Health, 2004). And these are only a few lies the teenagers are being taught. These abstinence-only sex education programs also taught unproved claims and outright fabrications about gender traits and stereotypes, when life actually begins, and general reproductive health (Public Health, 2004). How are teenagers supposed to learn anything of value if their teachers are teaching them lies? Teenagers should be able to go to class and trust their teachers and be able to believe they are being told the truth.
- These two new versions are better paragraphs because they flow better and the transitions match their intended meaning (such as to signal sequence or addition, to signal coparison and contratst). I think that making sure the tansitions match the intended meaning makes the paragraph much stronger and clearer.
D#10, HW#4, Revised Paragraphs
According to Weiss 60.9 percent of teenagers have reported having sex by grade 12; more than half of the United States’ teenagers are NOT practicing abstinence. This illustrates how abstinence-only programs which preach waiting to have sex until marriage are not effective at all in delaying teens from having sex (Weiss, 2006). [ This factual information will help my reasearch paper because it illustrates that abstinence-only programs are not stopping teens from going out and haivng sex.] The fact of the matter is that teenagers are having sex, but do not know some of the risks associated with the act. This is a major reason why there are one million teens getting pregnant every year. With abstinence-only programs teenage students are not taught about using condoms or other contraceptives that would significantly decrease chances of pregnancy. According to Caplan, teenagers who have taken pledges of virginity are more likely than others to not use any contraception when they do start having sex (2005).
- Weiss, D. (2006). Reducing teen pregnancy. Planned Parenthood. Retrieved July 21, 2007, fromhttp://www.plannedparenthood.org/news-articles-press/politics-policy-issues/teen-pregnancy-sex-education/teenage-pregnancy-6240.htm.
- I only modified a couple of things in this paragraph becuase I had already done the sentence revisements that were listed for the assignment. The introduction with the author or the source makes the paragraph stronger.
Silverberg discuesses research that has shown that teenagers who have had abstinence-only sex education programs and taken pledges of abstinence are less likely to use condoms or other forms of contraception, which increases the likelihood of contracting and STD (Silverberg, 2007). It’s only logical to conclude that one reason teens do not use contraceptives is because teens are not being taught how to. They are not being taught what options are out there for them or how to use them properly. This is incredibly risky because in this case knowledge is not only power, but safety. HIV spread is extremely high because some abstinence-only sex education programs preach how ineffective condom use is, or don’t preach about condoms at all.
- Silverberg, C. (2007). Abstinence-only sex education: Defining and assessing abstinence-only sexual health education. Retrieved July 11, 2007, from http://sexuality.about.com/od/saferse1/a/abstinenceonly.htm.
- Once again I had already had introducations and citations in my paragraph.
Monday, July 23, 2007
SORRY GUYS
I tried to share my WP#3 draft in a google doc but I keep hitting create new document and nothing happens. I don't know if it's down right now or if I am just having a really bad night. I posted my draft in a blog so if you could please make comments that would be awesome! Thanks so much. And hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get it to work and share it with you. Sorry I can't get the stupid thing to work tonight.
D#10, HW#2, WP#3 Rough Draft
So it's 11:00pm where I am right now and I am going to go to sleep. I have to wake up at 6am to begin a 500 mile drive. I have gotten the majority of my rough draft done, but it is not complete. I will finish it asap tomorrow when my grandma is driving and not me. I'm sorry for the delay but I will try and get it done in the morning once i'm awake. Here's what I have so far...
Abstinence-Only Is Not Working!
“One million American teenagers become pregnant each year,” says Weiss (2006, p.1). One million! This is one of the highest rates in all of the developed countries of the world. The United States, which is the leading country in most everything, is also unfortunately the leading country of unexpected teenage pregnancy rates (Weiss, 2006). Why? What factors could lead to this? One main factor is undoubtedly what the United States has chosen to teach young teenagers…abstinence-only. In theory, abstinence-only sex education programs would be a good idea. Promoting abstinence for teenagers is generally seen as a good thing. However, the abstinence-only programs in the United States are defined by Wikipedia as, “a form of sex education that emphasizes abstinence from sex to the exclusion of all other types of sexual and reproductive health education, particularly regarding birth control and safe sex,” (2007). Seeing as one million American teenage girls are getting pregnant every year, abstinence is clearly not happening. So why not teach teenagers how to have “safe sex”, how to lower the risk of getting pregnant, or how to lower the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)? Abstinence-only sex education programs do not delay sexual activity of teenagers, they do not lower the risk of STD spread (in fact in some cases they increase the risk), they do not lower the teen pregnancy rate, and they use scare tactic and false information to teach about sex (National Politics, 2005; Wiess, 2006; Willenz, 2005). In actuality, abstinence-only sex education programs are ultimately hurting the U.S.’s teens.
60.9 percent of teenagers have reported having sex by grade 12. More than half of the United States’ teenagers are NOT practicing abstinence. Abstinence-only programs which preach waiting to have sex until marriage are not effective at all in delaying teens from having sex (Wiess, 2006). Teenagers are having sex, but do not know some of the risks associated with the act, this is a major reason why there are one million teens getting pregnant every year. With abstinence-only programs teenage students are not taught about using condoms or other contraceptives that would significantly decrease chances of pregnancy. The bright side about teenage pregnancy rate is that research has proven that the teenage pregnancy has gone down in the United States in recent years, but contrary to what some people may want to believe it has nothing to do with abstinence only education programs. According to Weiss and the research he found by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the decline in teen pregnancy is due to the fact that sexually experienced teenagers have begun to use contraception regularly and more efficiently, not because teens are being taught about abstinence (2006).
Two aspects of teen sexuality that abstinence-only programs try to prevent have been proven to not be effective; those aspects being the delay of teen sexual intercourse and teen pregnancy. Abstinence-only programs also do not produce any lower rates of sexually transmitted disease spread. In fact in some cases risks are increased (Willenz, 2005). Research has shown that teenagers who have had abstinence-only sex education programs and taken pledges of abstinence are less likely to use condoms or other forms of contraception, which increases the likelihood of contracting and STD (Silverberg, 2007). It’s only logical to conclude that one reason teens do not use contraceptives is because teens are not being taught how to. They are not being taught what options are out there for them or how to use them properly. This is incredibly risky because in this case knowledge is not only power, but safety. HIV spread is extremely high because some abstinence-only sex education programs preach how ineffective condom use is, or don’t preach about condoms at all. As opposed to abstinence-only programs comprehensive sex education programs can lower STD spread rate among teenagers, specifically HIV transmission. According to Willenz over 15 years of research has proven that, “comprehensive sexuality education programs for youth that encourage abstinence, promote appropriate condom use, and teach sexual communication skills reduce HIV-risk behavior and also delay the onset of sexual intercourse,” (2005).
Abstinence-Only Is Not Working!
“One million American teenagers become pregnant each year,” says Weiss (2006, p.1). One million! This is one of the highest rates in all of the developed countries of the world. The United States, which is the leading country in most everything, is also unfortunately the leading country of unexpected teenage pregnancy rates (Weiss, 2006). Why? What factors could lead to this? One main factor is undoubtedly what the United States has chosen to teach young teenagers…abstinence-only. In theory, abstinence-only sex education programs would be a good idea. Promoting abstinence for teenagers is generally seen as a good thing. However, the abstinence-only programs in the United States are defined by Wikipedia as, “a form of sex education that emphasizes abstinence from sex to the exclusion of all other types of sexual and reproductive health education, particularly regarding birth control and safe sex,” (2007). Seeing as one million American teenage girls are getting pregnant every year, abstinence is clearly not happening. So why not teach teenagers how to have “safe sex”, how to lower the risk of getting pregnant, or how to lower the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)? Abstinence-only sex education programs do not delay sexual activity of teenagers, they do not lower the risk of STD spread (in fact in some cases they increase the risk), they do not lower the teen pregnancy rate, and they use scare tactic and false information to teach about sex (National Politics, 2005; Wiess, 2006; Willenz, 2005). In actuality, abstinence-only sex education programs are ultimately hurting the U.S.’s teens.
60.9 percent of teenagers have reported having sex by grade 12. More than half of the United States’ teenagers are NOT practicing abstinence. Abstinence-only programs which preach waiting to have sex until marriage are not effective at all in delaying teens from having sex (Wiess, 2006). Teenagers are having sex, but do not know some of the risks associated with the act, this is a major reason why there are one million teens getting pregnant every year. With abstinence-only programs teenage students are not taught about using condoms or other contraceptives that would significantly decrease chances of pregnancy. The bright side about teenage pregnancy rate is that research has proven that the teenage pregnancy has gone down in the United States in recent years, but contrary to what some people may want to believe it has nothing to do with abstinence only education programs. According to Weiss and the research he found by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the decline in teen pregnancy is due to the fact that sexually experienced teenagers have begun to use contraception regularly and more efficiently, not because teens are being taught about abstinence (2006).
Two aspects of teen sexuality that abstinence-only programs try to prevent have been proven to not be effective; those aspects being the delay of teen sexual intercourse and teen pregnancy. Abstinence-only programs also do not produce any lower rates of sexually transmitted disease spread. In fact in some cases risks are increased (Willenz, 2005). Research has shown that teenagers who have had abstinence-only sex education programs and taken pledges of abstinence are less likely to use condoms or other forms of contraception, which increases the likelihood of contracting and STD (Silverberg, 2007). It’s only logical to conclude that one reason teens do not use contraceptives is because teens are not being taught how to. They are not being taught what options are out there for them or how to use them properly. This is incredibly risky because in this case knowledge is not only power, but safety. HIV spread is extremely high because some abstinence-only sex education programs preach how ineffective condom use is, or don’t preach about condoms at all. As opposed to abstinence-only programs comprehensive sex education programs can lower STD spread rate among teenagers, specifically HIV transmission. According to Willenz over 15 years of research has proven that, “comprehensive sexuality education programs for youth that encourage abstinence, promote appropriate condom use, and teach sexual communication skills reduce HIV-risk behavior and also delay the onset of sexual intercourse,” (2005).
D#10, HW#1, Reading Reflection
Honeslty I focused on actually writing my paper and not so much thouroughly reading the chapters. I skimmed over the reading, but they were mainly review so I didn't spend a ton of time on them. Like usual Wadsworth gives helpful reminders and tips that we all have most likely been taught, but definately need some refreshing on. The grammar assignment was useful becuase it was different steps to writing a research paper which is exactly what we are doing.
D#9, HW#7, Deadline Reflection
This week I learned a lot about outlining. It was very tough trying to understand exactly what was expected of me, but I think I got a good handle on it. Whether it is the correct format or not, it will definitely be very helpful in writing my final draft. It gave me some organization for my paper and it also forced me to read and re-read and highlight and take notes all over my main sources. I commented on the following blogs...
Tedibaer
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=1306223631472395055
Swivan78
http://www.blogger.com/delete-comment.g?blogID=2848283987846070990&postID=6845793078354516394
Latron
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2573539106864770999&postID=4430766131908454038
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2573539106864770999&postID=5782349241370372974
Amanda
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5963863000427860073&postID=4041380236462943632
Tedibaer
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7065969429572983940&postID=1306223631472395055
Swivan78
http://www.blogger.com/delete-comment.g?blogID=2848283987846070990&postID=6845793078354516394
Latron
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2573539106864770999&postID=4430766131908454038
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2573539106864770999&postID=5782349241370372974
Amanda
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5963863000427860073&postID=4041380236462943632
D#9, HW#6, Toulmin Outline
Claim: Abstinence-only sex education programs in the United States are a failure. They ultimately do more harm than good.
Reason #1: Sexually transmitted disease (STD) spread among teenagers who have participated in abstinence-only sex education programs is no lower than other teens; in fact it is often times higher.
- Warrant: Lack of knowledge on how to protect themselves while having sex and being sexually active has led to the increase in STD spread; specifically the spread of HIV.
Backing: Teenagers (people in general) need to be educated and taught how to protect themselves. - Evidence #1: Over 15 years of research show that comprehensive sex education programs significantly reduce HIV-risk behavior, as opposed to abstinence-only sex education programs.
- Warrant: If teenagers are taught how to use condoms appropriately and taught proper sexual communication skills, while still being encouraged to practice abstinence there will be less spread of HIV.
- Objection: If teenagers are taught abstinence-only sex education they will not be having sex and therefore will not be passing and contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
- Rebuttal: Although teenagers may be taught abstinence, it does not mean that they all practice it. With abstinence-only sex education programs the teenagers that do decide to be sexually active have no knowledge of how to protect themselves.
- Evidence #2: Teenagers that have taken a pledge of virginity or pledge of abstinence are less likely to use condoms or other forms of contraception.
- Warrant: STD spread is more likely if teenagers do not use contraceptives.
Reason #2: Abstinence-only sex education programs teach false information/ factual errors and use fear tactics to scare teenagers out of having sex.
- Warrant: Teenagers are not learning anything if they are being intimidated or made to feel bad for being or wanting to be sexually active. They are also learning false information that may be harmful to them; ultimately learning nothing of merit.
- Evidence #1: In 2004 California representative Henry Waxman released a report that found 11 out of the13 most commonly used abstinence-only sex education programs contain “significant factual errors”. (In the paper I will go into detail about some specific factual errors)
- Warrant: Teenagers are supposed to be able to trust their teachers and believe what they are being taught.
- Evidence #2: Abstinence-only sex education programs instill fear and shame in teenagers. There is a case study of three different programs that have been proven to use fear tactics and I also have personally experienced an abstinence-only class that made students feel shame and fear.
- Warrant: Not only is it something I personally experienced, but at least three other abstinence-only programs are like that as well.
- Objection: My opinion about the class may be biased because I am the author.
- Rebuttal: I have another source that supports my claim. Therefore it is not just me stating that fear tactics are used in classes.
Reason #3: Abstinence-only sex education programs do not delay sexual activity or lower teenage pregnancy rates significantly (if at all).
- Warrant: Why only teach abstinence if there are no results. Why not teach more ways for teenagers to be safe.
- Evidence #1: The percentage of teenagers having sex is extremely high according to Planned Parenthood research.
- Warrant: Teenagers are having sex whether they are taught about abstinence or not. Numerous researches have proven this.
- Evidence #2: Teen pregnancy rates have slowly been declining, but the rate is still the highest out of most developed countries in the world. However, according to research done by Planned Parenthood, the pregnancy decline is because teenagers that are sexually experienced are using more contraceptives; it is not due to abstinence-only programs.
- Warrant: Research by the Alan Guttmacher Institute shows decline in sexually experienced teens. This has nothing to do with abstinence-only programs.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
D#9, HW#5, Ch.8
1. Addressing your audience's wants and needs:
- For my research paper my audience is parents. Specifically parents with teenagers; but parents in general. I will also be writing for the teacher and my fellow classmates.
- My main audience (the parents) values the health and safety of their children. They also value the education that their children are receiving. Also it is good to keep in mind that parents think abstinence for their children is important. Not many parents are thrilled about their teenagers having sex.
- In terms of evidence my audience will be expecting statistics that prove abstinence-only education programs are not doing what they should be. Also information that proves these types of programs are causing more harm than good. I think the only evidence I am required to provide is reliable evidence. It does no good to make up statistics etc. I have found very good evidence that will (or should) convince my audience.
- There are various opinions that my audience has on the issue. I believe a common belief to be that they do not want their children having sex, but at the same time most people want their children to be educated and taught how to protect themselves and be safe. I so have well formed opinions on my topic. I believe that the majority of my audience do agree with me, and there are some I'm sure adamantly disagree.
2. Developing Evaluation Criteria:
- My target audience is parents. Specifically parents of teenagers, but parents in general would benefit from my research paper. My audience is also the professor and my classmates seeing as they will be reading my paper for evaluations etc. They want to and need to know how effective abstinence-only sex education programs are and how they cause harm to teens.
- The purpose of this research paper is to encourage parents to start fighting for more comprehensive sex education programs. The purpose is to open peoples' eyes so they see that abstinence-only programs are not working; they are in fact causing more harm than good. I must convey why abstinence-only programs are bad in an unbiased educated way with reliable statistics and research.
- This research project is do-able in the amount of time allotted. It could be a lot more thorough and lengthy if I had more time. Most of the information I will be using is contemporary because my issue is very contemporary and effecting people today.
- By reading about my general topic it helped me narrow and refine my research question. Information about how abstinence-only programs teach false information, do not lower pregnancy rates, and increase STD spread among teenagers is the kind of information I will need to deliver.
- The main issues listed above are what need to be covered. How much money is being wasted on abstinence-only sex education programs (that do not work) may be another issue I can put into my paper. I can also include how comprehensive-sex education programs that are being used in other countries are lowering their pregnancy rates etc.
- There are a lot of interesting aspects of this topic that I can not put into the paper because it does not fit the scope. Many include religious efforts to push abstinence.
3. Clustering
- I hand drew a cluster for my topic. It was easier for me than attempting to try and learn how to use another new technology at this point. It was very useful in identifying my main arguments and the evidence I have to support them. I may try and put my hand-written cluster on the computer later this week when I have more free time to tinker and play around with it.
4. Finding Additional Resources:
- Well the two areas that my audience may disagree with are...
1. The fact that the teenage pregnancy rate has gone down over the years. but not because of abstinence-only education programs. They may have a hard time disagreeing with abstinence-only education if they see that pregnancy rates have gone down. However I found research done to say that pregnancy rates have NOT gone down due to abstinence-only programs.
2. My personal account of an abstinence-only sex education class. They may believed I am being biased because I am against them. But in actuality I will give a very unbiased account. I also found research that was conducted that supports my claims I will make when I describe what the class was like.
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