The Writing Process paragraph

       
          It is very important to follow the writing process to write a good, well organized essay.  This will ensure that your essay is as good as it can possibly be. So what is the writing process? The first step of the process is to choose a topic to write about. Next, think about that topic and "brainstorm," writing down all your thoughts about your topic. Then, develop an outline based on your brainstorming that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion. After that, follow your outline and write the first draft of your essay. The next step is to give your first draft to someone to read and give you feedback about how to improve your essay. This is called the Peer Review step. Then use the comments from your Peer Review to improve your essay and write a second draft. Then give the second draft of your essay to your instructor for his or her comments and ideas to polish your essay even more.  Finally, write a final draft of your essay, making the changes indicated by your instructor. If you follow the steps of this process, you will write an excellent essay!

1, 2, 3

           Three is a powerful---and you might even say--magical number. Three is considered to have special properties in different cultures around the world. In China, three is considered to be a lucky number. Fairy tales from around the world are often based on the number three, such as "The Three Little Pigs" and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." The Three Kings traveled thousands of miles to visit baby Jesus. These are only three of many examples of  the number three. We don't really know why three is such a pervasive number. I'll talk about three areas of our lives that are tripartite in nature: the natural world,  culture, and the make-up of our bodies.  And I'll give three examples of each area.

          First of all, the natural world is full of threes. Atoms, the basic building blocks of life, consist of protons, neutrons and electrons. Now they've discovers Quarks in atoms. I don't know how many Quarks there are, what they do, or where they are in the atom, but it is a cool word--Quark!   Einstein's theory of relativity has three parts:  E=mc2, Energy equals Mass times the Speed of Light squared. Don't ask me to explain what this means because I have no idea. I didn't understand it in high school Physics class, and I still don't have a clue. We live in a three dimensional world.  This I can understand.  I can understand why we would not want to live in one dimension or two, but why three, and not four, five or six. All living things have three stages: birth, life and death.  Birth is preceded by three trimesters of pregnancy.

          Second, let's take a look at culture.  Cultures around the world often use the number three. Triangles have three sides. Geometry in high school was one of my favorite classes, partly because of triangles, which have angles that can be calculated with theorums. Pyramids are made up of triangles and are strong constructions that can withstand more force than square or rectangular structures. The ancient Egyptians believed that their pyramids had mystical powers. That's probably why they buried their dead inside pyramids.  Some people today believe in Pyramidology: the special powers of pyramids, as a way to preserve food, sharpen razor blades, improve health, and many other things. Christians believe in the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A lot of pop culture is divided into threes. Remember that Jackson Brother's song, "Easy as 1-2-3, as simple as ABC, ABC, 123, baby you and me..."  How about all the TV programs and bands we have watched and listened to over the years? The Three Stooges, Three's Company, My Three Sons, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Three Dog Night. Remember them?  We have many words in English that divide things into three parts: trio, triad, triplet, tripartite, triathlon, trifecta, trilogy, triumvirate, the trinity are examples.

          Third, and finally, our bodies are made up of three major parts: head, torso, and limbs. The torso has a chest, abdomen and back. Each of our limbs can be divided into three parts and three joints. Our arms have an upper arm, forearm and hand, with shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. Our legs can be broken up into thigh, tibia, and foot, each with three joints, a hip, knee and ankle. Now, I can't explain why we don't have three toes and three eyes, but I guess you can't have everything. To end on a personal note, I have been married for 33 years, have three daughters, and three grandchildren. Isn't that interesting?

          In conclusion, the number three really does appear to be an important number in our world. We just don't know why.  Is this just a coincidence, or is it God's sense of humor?

The Gift of Time

           Someone once said, "The past is history, the future is a mystery, and the present is a gift."  The only time that we can chose what we do is the present--we can't change what happened yesterday, or be certain what will happen tomorrow. So how do we spend our time; living in the moment, or thinking about the past or the future? We can chose to spend our time in an opportunistic way or a pessimistic way.

          The present moment is the only time that we are really in control of. We can chose to be pessimists and use our time negatively. We can hate our job, but not look for a new job. Most of us have a daily routine and do pretty much the same thing every day in our comfort zone. Habit drives most of what we do. Is spending several hours every day surfing the Net, texting, and checking FaceBook a good use of our time? How about watching 4-6 hours of TV every day?  Or we can be positive, live in the moment, talk to people, change our routine, try new things, go to new places, make new friends, stop doing things that waste our time, and just enjoy each moment as much as possible. 

          We all spend some time in the present thinking about the past. Many people do this, especially older people, regretting things that they did or didn't do in their lives, or remembering happy times and memories. Sometimes, we miss out on the present by always reminiscing about the "good old days." Or we can be positive and focus on the good things about the past, happy memories, the good things that we have done and enjoyed, and the accomplishments and successes that we have had. 

          What about the future? The future is mostly unpredictable, but is at least partly under our control. We often chose to think about the future in a negative way. We spend a lot of time worrying about the future. Most of what we worry about never even happens. As Winston Churchill said, "When I look back on all of my worries, I remember the story of an old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened." Or we can be optimists and look forward to the future in a positive way, focusing on our plans, goals, hopes and dreams, always expecting the best. We can make specific plans for the future and then do everything possible in the present to make those plans a reality.

          In conclusion, how we think about time is important. We can be optimists and spend our time living in the moment, thinking about the past and future in a positive way, focusing on happy memories of the past and positive hopes, plans and goals for the future. Or we can be pessimists, not taking advantage of the fleeting moments of our lives, but instead wasting time and dwelling on bad memories and regrets about the past, while worrying about the future. How do you use your time?



         

      

     

Fall: My favorite season of the year

     Most people like Fall more than the other three seasons.  I love the Fall because it comes after the heat and humidity of the Summer.  By August, I am tired of the hot Summer, and looking forward to the cooler days of the Fall. I like Fall for three main reasons: football, the festivities and holidays, and special Fall food.

     First, I love to watch football in the Fall, which starts in September. I like to watch my town's high school football games. I like to watch college games on the television. I watch NFL games on the television on Sundays.  My favorite NFL teams are the Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Chargers, who used to be the San Diego Chargers. I just love the football in the Fall.

     Second, I love all the special festivities and holidays in the Fall, like Halloween at the end of October, Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas in December. December is really the end of the Fall and the beginning of the cold and snowy Winter, which I don't like too much. I love the cool weather of Fall. So I like the Fall because of the festivities and the change of the weather.

     Finally, I like all all of the special food that we have in the Fall. We eat a lot of delicious food in the Fall, different kinds of candy for Halloween, hot dogs and beer at the football games, turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, and a lot of special pies and other delicious desserts for Christmas.

     In summary, Fall is my favorite season of the year for many reasons, but mainly because of football, special festivities and Fall food. What is your favorite season of the year, and why?

Showing Up

          There is an old saying, "Half of the battle is showing up!". This means that you can't "fight the battle" if you are not there, with your gun and ready to fight. What would happen in a war if only half of the Army showed up, and most of them didn't bring their rifles?  They would probably lose the battle, and maybe the war. The application of this saying in the workforce is that you can't work if you are not at your worksite. If you are getting married, it is very important for you to be there...:) In an educational context, it means that it is really important to attend classes. You miss a lot if you don't attend classes; you miss what is covered in class and you will fall behind.  So be sure to come to class every Friday, and if you can't for some reason, please let your instructor know. The students who show up are not always the "best" students, but they show up and do the work and get the best grades. . In conclusion, be sure to show up for class, work, doctor's appointments and other important things.

The Writing Process and Number 7

       Did you know that the number seven is considered a lucky number in American culture?  Four leaf clovers and horse shoes are also lucky. The number seven is important in betting, for example, in Las Vegas. If you get three 7's on a slot machine you might win a lot of money. Rainbows are lucky; they have seven colors. You get the idea. On the other hand, the number 13 is considered an unlucky number in the US.  Many hotels do not have a 13th floor! You follow seven steps to write a good essay: 1. Pick a topic, 2. Think about your topic and Brainstorm, 3. Create an outline, 4. Write the first draft using your outline, 5. Peer review, 6. Revise the first draft based on the peer review, 7. Write and proofread the final draft.  Follow these steps and you will write a good essay every time. Seven  is a lucky number. What is a lucky number in your country?  Are there any unlucky numbers? Are there lucky objects? 

Plagiarism is a No-No

          Don't commit plagiarism. Don't plagiarize.   What?  Many people don't even know what the word plagiarism means. If you go to a college or university, you need to know what the word means.  Plagiarism is a fancy word that means cheating when you write. Plagiarism means when you take someone else's writing and submit it as your own. Or cutting and pasting something from the internet. Or having a friend who is a good writer write an essay for you, and then give it to your instructor as "your" writing. There are three good reasons not to commit plagiarism when you write. First of all, it is dishonest, and it's nice to be dishonest.  Second, it only hurts you when you plagiarize, because when you use someone else's writing, it doesn't help you to improve your own writing skills.  Finally, when you plagiarize, it could have serious consequences. If an instructor finds out that you have plagiarized, you probably will receive a zero on the assignment. In many colleges and universities, you can be dismissed from the school if you are caught plagiarizing in a class. So that's a pretty serious consequence of plagiarism.  So be careful and don't plagiarize when you write, and if you do use another person's writing or ideas, give them credit by referencing/citing  their work in your writing.