Comm 200 Blog

Reading through my blog posts I have noticed that I have improved in my writing by being more creative and original with my posts. I really made an effort this year to have more personality in my writing, and to let go and enjoy the process more. I thought I made some progress, and learned some very valuable skills for the future.  Looking back on my first few blog posts, I noticed my sentences were choppier and not very assertive. My work was very boring to read, and I feel that was due to the fact that I don’t like making my writing very personal because it is less scary to have someone grade it. For example, my week 3 newswriting assignment was supposed to be about why legalizing marijuana goes against my morals, and instead of stating my own opinions and explanations, I relied on other’s opinions and facts I agreed with. I also get in my own head about having to be very formal in order to meet all the guidelines of the assignment which makes my writing very unoriginal. Tow...

The novel Two by Two written by Nicholas Sparks is a heart wrenching story of a dad who goes through a painful divorce as a single dad. This novel not only tugs at your heart strings, but it also creates a deep level of connectivity and relatability for others going through the same life event. It also challenges social norms on multiple levels.              This novel begins with what seems to be the perfect family. Russell Green is a successful advertising executive, husband, and father to six-year-old daughter London. Russell’s wife, Vivian, is a stay at home mom. Russell is a hard-working man who is dedicated to his job and his family, however, that does not seem to be enough for Vivian. Slowly but surely there begins to be small signs of trouble ahead regarding Russell and Vivian’s marriage. When Russell decides to quit his job, and begin his own marketing company, Vivian becomes enraged and acts out by going on sh...

A Summary of R. Kelly’s Involvement in the News R. Kelly has been a popular topic recently which some say was sparked by the release of “Surviving R. Kelly”, a documentary series based on the allegations against Kelly. To further understand this story, some background information on this topic is necessary.  The first controversial allegation against Kelly goes back to 1994 when news broke out that Kelly had married fellow musician Aliyah who at the time was 15. Allegations also state that the certificate falsely listed her age as 18. The marriage was quickly annulled. Two years later in 1996 Tiffany Hawkins filed a suit against Kelly for personal injuries as well as emotional damage resulted from her claimed relationship with Kelly which began when she was 15 and he was 24. This was later settled outside of court.  In 2000 Chicago Sun-Times publishes this story as well as the marriage between Kelly and Aliyah. Kelly declined to comment on this story. Following this sto...

Morals Don’t be deceitful:             I believe it is important to be transparent. It is difficult to say you don’t believe in lying as it has often been argued that every single person lies. This is different than lying. This is about not being misleading or insincere. I find this moral to be most useful when involving work. For example, if I were to be a writer, due to my morals I would not give a great review to a product, restaurant, etc. that I actually dislike or have not even tried. I think it is really hard to find genuine opinions these days for underlying reasons, and I think it is wrong to deceit people.              Be kind, especially to strangers:             Being kind is a simple yet important code in my morals. It sounds very simple, but it can be difficult once you’ve been ha...

Hotel Rwanda: A True Story That Needs To Be Heard  The movie Hotel Rwanda is not only an extremely powerful film, it is also educational and based on true events. This movie follows the real-life experience of Paul Rusesabagina, hotel manager of Hôtel des Mille Collines, and his family as they live through the civil war between the Hutu and Tutsis.  The movie starts out as a day in the life of Paul who is running the very successful Hôtel des Mille Collines. Paul lives a simple and comfortable life with his wife and children, and his skill of leadership stands out from the beginning. As the movie progresses, you notice abnormal behavior from the community outside of the hotel such as protests. It is soon learned that tension is rising between the Hutus and Tutsis, and war is on the horizon.  Violence breaks out and soon the history making genocide of the Tutsis has begun. Paul finds himself hiding Tutsi refugees in his hotel, and all protection is gone as the U.N. ...