1/13/06

 

Well hello everybody.

My name is Blake Synnestvedt and I am a freshman. I was born and raised in a very small community outside of Philadelphia. My high school graduating class was probably smaller than yours. In fact, I'd be willing to bet on it. If anyone can beat a graduating class of 65, please let me know, because I haven't found anyone yet. I'm usually a fairly shy person until I get to know you. My writing skills have never been anything to brag about, so hopefully this mandatory class will help me out in that department. I'll see all of you three times a week.

 

 

 

1/16/06

 

In response to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail", I would like to say that I thought it was very well written, and very long. Dr. King used an amazing amount of specific examples to back up his points, and used simple enough language that most people would be able to understand him. While he was very direct in what he said, he did a great job of not being ostensibly offensive. As well written as it was, I feel it could have been shortened a little bit, but then again, who am I to judge the writing ability of Dr. King. I'm sure he thought it would be the most affective written as it was, and took length into consideration.

 

1/18/06

 

I'm rewriting Frank Nedwidek's introduction.

My name is Blake Synnestvedt and I'm an economics major here at Penn State. I'm from Huntingdon Valley which is right outside Philadelphia, PA. I attended the Academy of the New Church, a small school with graduating classes rarely larger than 70 students. I live in 221 Stuart Hall, a supplemental room that I share with two other roommates. I've never been much of a compositional writer, but hopefully this class will help me.

 

1/20/06

 

USA Today Snapshots

Claim #1: The average sports fan can not afford to go to sporting events.

Claim #2: Less than %5 of sports fans have season ticket plans.

Claim #3: Sports franchises could be making a considerable amount more money from game attendance.

 

 

1/23/06

 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech, "the four freedoms", does a great job using arguments based on character. He pleads with the American people to look at themselves and their own way of life to see what is worth fighting for. FDR states that there are four essential freedoms given to us. Those freedoms being freedom of speech, religion, want, and fear. Hearing that these freedoms are being endangered by tyranny, makes the American public look within themselves at their own character. He does a great job of using this technique to convince the people that what he is saying is the right thing to do. I enjoyed how well he handled the issue of raising taxes. This can be a very sensitive and touchy subject, but he made you feel it was completely necessary, and by doing so, you were contributing immensely to this righteous cause. Roosevelt also does a wonderful job in setting up his speech by introducing a small amount of fear into the hearts of Americans. He does this by discussing previous wars, and determining that this war is "unprecedented". The fear here lies in the idea that we don't have any idea of what is to come. It is a fear of the unknown. But FDR knows how to deal with the situation and procedes to tell the people what needs to be done and what they can do to help.

 

1/25/06 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 

This declaration, adopted by the general assembly of the United Nations in 1948, states 30 articles of human rights. These rights are a person's, any person's, God given freedoms that shall not be challenged in any way. They are human rights, so as to take even the smallest of these away from any given person, is to take away that person's humanity. That is, to dehumanize a person. Article 30, the final article, states that, "Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein." This is the most important of the articles for it claims that any state, group or person has no right to violate any of the freedoms in the previous 29 articles. These human rights are deserved by every single person alive today, and to take even one of these way from somebody is to do one of the cruelest things imaginable.

 

1/27/06 George W. Bush's Address to a Joint Session of Congress

 

George Bush's address, given 9 days after the attacks of September 11th, was a very moving and powerful speech. It was exactly what the country needed to hear after this unprecedented event took place. Nothing at all like this had happened before, save Pearl Harbor, but even that was in Hawaii, and not in the continental US. The idea that this act of terrible was possible, and could happen again, invoked a lot of fear within people. This speech addressed those fears very well and gave ways to be rid of the terror that had struck. Not only was it a well written speech, it was well given too. Bush did a nice job of delivering the speech and the ideas that were in it. He promised to bring down the terrorists and to fight to the bitter end. He also stated that this would not be a quick strike, but a long, drawn out battle against terrorism. I did not hear this speech when it was originally given, and I regret that now.

 

1/30/06 Defining Terrorism

 

Terrorism may be the hardest word to define in our language. Its many varied definitions come from many varied sources, which makes it very difficult to come to a concise decision that everyone agrees on. Many of the definitions had things in common, including the idea that these acts are done to intimidate and cause fear in people. Another reason widely accepted is that it is a means to coerce a government into change. The best definition in my mind was "calculated use of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies in pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological." This comes from the United States Department of Defense. This uses the two main points that seem to be consistent in the definitions given.

 

2/06/06 Paper Proposal

 

Success is a term used today all to often to mean having a lot of wealth and power. But couldn’t success be more than just material possessions? What is it to be a successful person? Is it to amass as much power and money as you can, or is it to be happy, or does money equal happiness? The American Heritage Dictionary states that success is “the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.” But what exactly do we desire? Is not the desire of life to be happy? And if so, why do we accredit power and wealth to happiness? Can’t it be that one could be happier in a simpler life surrounded by the things that really matter to them? Success is reaching our goals, but every person has a different set of goals in mind. But something that every person desires is happiness. How is happiness achieved? This question isn’t a new thing. Aristotle wrote in the Nicomachean Ethics, “There is very general agreement; for both the common person and people of superior refinement say that it is happiness, and identify living well and doing well with being happy; but with regard to what happiness is they differ, and the many do not give the same account as the wise. For the former think it is some plain and obvious thing, like pleasure, wealth or honor.” He says that happiness is something we all strive for but each person has a different idea of what it is to be happy.

 

WorksConsultedDefinition

 

 

February 7 by Donovan Chung

 

I think your proposal is very good but I think you should limit the amount of rhetorical questions. I also think that it may very hard to write a paper on something that can be so versatile like the definition of sucess because like you said, everyone has a different opinion on it. I also don't clearly see what direction you're going with it. I don't know if you're trying to argue that sucess can be formaly defined or it cannot be. I think that Aristotle has the best definition on success but that's just my opinion too. Are you talking about true happiness or success? Other than that I think your paper is alright.

 

02/07/06

I responded to RosengardBlog

 

 

MyLastNameIsLongDefinition

 

 

02/15/06 In response to the Declaration of Independence

 

While having heard of, and even using, the Declaration of Independence, I had never read it. It was nice to get a chance to do so, to familiarize my self with one of the most important documents in American history. The main purpose of this document is to state that the United States is becoming a free nation, independent from Great Britain. It does this by first establishing why such an act needs to happen and why it should be tolerated by all, including Britain and their king, George III. It then lists many a reason as to why King George and Great Britain have caused this necessary secession. Not to mention, that is a fine list of names that signed it, from very reputable men.

 

2/16/06 Evaluation Proposal

 

The climax of the college basketball season is the most exciting time in sports. In contrast, most fans find the NBA Finals to be boring compared to other championships. While the game is the same, barring some minor rule changes, college basketball has a much higher appeal than that of the National Basketball Association. This is because college level basketball, while the same game, is played very differently. The players tend to play harder on every play and hustle more. This could be because they aren’t playing to make a living, but because they love to play. And they know that for the majority of them, this is the last level of competitive basketball they will get to play. The subtle rule differences between pro basketball and college also play a factor in why college is better. Having the three-point line closer allows for a slightly different type of game play that is more exciting to play and watch.

 

While the NBA has all the best from the college athletes and around the world, the game isn’t nearly as exciting to watch. The strong team element incorporated at the college level makes for a more fluid game, and not so much isolation. This is how the game was meant to be played, and is in other parts of the world, as seen by the Olympics, and World Championships.

 

 

 

WorksConsultedEvaluation

 

 

2/22/06 Response to "My America" by Andrew Sullivan

 

I very much enjoyed reading this article. Sullivan says so much about American culture and style in such a short post. A big reason I thought this was so effective, was that he is not an American from birth, but from one of the countries that is seen to despise our way of life more than others. This isn't just an American ranting about how great America is, this is an Englishman who has experienced more than one way of life, and is not biased to the first culture he was exposed to like so many of us are. I found this to be very well written and very engaging, because, honestly, who doesn't like to read about how amazing their country is from someone who is not from there.

 

2/27/06 Response to "Rwanda: How the Genocide Happened" and "Q&A: Sudan's Darfur Conflict"

 

To be perfectly honest, while having heard of the Rwanda genocide, I really had no idea what had happened. And I had never even heard of the darfur conflict. What happened in Rwanda was a terrible act of hatred that saddens the heart to read about. There was a lot of history that led up to this terrible disaster, but did it need to end the way it did? And according to this BBC article, Sudan's problem seems to have just begun, with no end in sight. It's amazing that this has been going on for two years and I've never heard of it before this.

 

2/27/06 MyLastNameIsLongEvaluation

 

3/3/06 CausalPaperProposal

 

CausalWorksConsulted:

 

3/20/06 MyLastNameIsLongCausal

 

CausalWorksCited:

 

3/22/06 ProposalPaperProposal

 

ProposalWorksConsulted:

 

4/3/06 Response to "A Modest Proposal"

 

This may be the only funny thing to ever exist before 1975. I wasn't sure they had humor back then until I read this. The proposal states that the people of this era, living in Ireland, should eat a certain percentage of the children born, due to the lack of food in the area. The argument is well thought out and delivered in a serious tone, which just makes it all the funnier. The idea of eating little plump one year old babies is so ridiculous. And then to hear it presented in such a fashion is incredibly discerting. I can honestly say I laughed out loud multiple times while reading this.

 

4/3/06 MyLastNameIsLongProposal

 

4/7/06 MyLastNameFinalPaperProposal

 

4/7/06 Random Post

 

So I've kind of been behind on my "blogging", so I'm gonna start doing this every day. Well, that's the plan at least. So anyway, there's a Ben Folds concert tonight at Bucknell, which isn't very far from here I found out, so some of us are going to try and go and scalp some tickets. Just kidding, scalping is illegal, but we'll get tickets somehow. Ben Folds is a pretty sweet musician if you're unfamiliar. His music uses a lot of piano, with nice melodies and some kickin' harmonies. You probably know at least one song of his, back when he was with Ben Folds Five, "Brick". Yeah, great song, but not nearly his best. Check him out, he's pretty good, especially his newest CD, "Songs For Silverman". PEACE.

 

4/10/06

 

I made it to the Ben Folds concert if you were wondering, and it was everything I could have hoped it to be. That guy is one of my heroes, right up there with Joe Rogan. OH, and since I had a car this weekend, I went grocery shopping. Things are so much cheaper at a real grocery store. Absolutely stunning. Especially if you have one of those little bonus cards or whatever. Hopefully it'll last me a little while and can keep on with what little money I have left on my meal plan.

 

5/1/06

 

MyLastNameFinalPaper