My Thoughts on Comments

The following comments are from the ThinkProgress article on the Margaret Sanger controversy. ThinkProgress is a American political blog, run by lawyer Judd Legum, so it is a very reputable blog. The comments range from really well written to confusion and overall incorrectness. This controversy stems from the recent Planned Parenthood arguments, as well as highly-edited videos, that conservatives don't want to support, so some of the light shining in this "scandal" is also purposefully intended to be negative.

This comment I found to be credible. Victoria seems to keep a level head and just point out the conflicting views of the conservative critics. They want the bust taken down, yet still continue to support other racist "idols", like Civil War heroes. She demonstrates that Margaret Sanger shouldn't be protested against for one part of her life when she has achieved much for birth control. By comparing her to past "heroes" of the United States, she uses logic to denounce the protest. This commenter wants the bust to stay put.

This comment I found to be non-credible. Bob Boag complains and is very sarcastic during the 3-sentence rant. He doesn't seem to separate Margaret Sanger's era from today, and thinks by supporting her, that people wish to eradicate blacks. He links the racism directly to birth control, which is his opinion, but it is also a separate thing for women in general. The tone of the comment is off-putting, and there is definitely a better way to go about explaining his view point. This commenter wants to have the bust taken down. 

This comment I found to be credible. Kristie uses reason to compare Margaret Sanger to other leaders in American history, just as Victoria did in the first comment. Not everyone in American history has been perfect, especially as times and view points change and develop in societies. She calls out the critics and connects the dots for them by using the same common sense that Victoria did in comment 1. She uses logic to express that the bust should stay up. 

This comment I found to be non-credible. Not only is it too short to give a complete opinion, but what is there does not relate to the article's main issue. It is not about what exhibit the bust is in, although fighting for women's rights would fit in the Struggle for Justice exhibit, it is about the bust being shown at all. Critics don't want it up because it sends the wrong message about racism, yet those same people also honor Civil War heroes despite their racist views. This user is actually replying to comment 1, and the user seems to want the exhibit taken down. 

Reflection

After reading Casey and Isaak's blog posts about their thoughts on comments, I feel better about I had analyzed mine. Casey analyzed her chosen comments in kind of the same way I did, but I liked her layout a lot better. Mine tended to be short paragraphs, but hers were nice little split up sentences. Isaak also had an awesome analysis of "Deflategate" comments, and I liked the fact that the screenshots also included the comments around the ones that were analyzed, as it gave a bit of context. 

My Controversy

Time Magazine. "Conservatives Want...Removed From NPG" via Time.
August 21, 2015.

The controversy I chose to focus on and speak about is the controversy surrounding the Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood's founder, bust in the National Portrait Gallery. Many are protesting the representation of her in the gallery due to a combination of her racist views and her beliefs about eugenics, the controlled breeding of the human race to increase favorable characteristics.

 Planned Parenthood defends Margaret Sanger by saying that she may have flaws, but her work to give all women access to birth control outshines it. The National Portrait Gallery also said this is not the first time they have had to come to the defense of their exhibits, explaining that they once had to defend the Declaration of Independence because its author, Thomas Jefferson, bought and sold slaves.

This is a good issue to discuss because both sides of the argument can be defended. On one hand, her racist views could be combined to her belief in eugenics to say that she wanted to get rid of blacks, and many critics are insinuating that. Yet, on the other hand, Planned Parenthood is shielding themselves from critics with her achievements in terms of birth control access.

This article fascinates me because I am a firm believer of birth control and pro-choice, yet racism is something that should not be tolerated under any circumstances. There is a war within me, the woman who supports freedom of choice and the minority who has experienced hatred from others. I like the fact that I cannot make up my mind on the issue. The article is from TIME.

What are your thoughts?

Calendar Reflection

Grabowska, Karolina. "Calendar Organizer Woman Female Lipstick" via Pixabay. June 2015.
Public Domain License. 

To stay on track to graduate, I will need to follow through on homework promises to myself, and not spend hours on end accomplishing nothing by searching the web for new episodes of my favorite show. When I completed my calendar review assignment, I found that I have so much free time, so below I've posted some examples of when I can do homework.

To kickstart my (hopefully) successful English class career, I shall:

• Do homework in between classes when I have a two hour break or longer
• Include English homework in my usual 1 a.m. homework dash
• Try to do homework on the weekends in between wasting my time scrolling Tumblr and watching Netflix
• Schedule some blog thinking time while waiting in food lines

So, in theory, I will have a copious amount of hours ( 8+) to accomplish my English homework. Now, I just have to stick to it.

Reflection

After reading my other classmates, Swati and Chelsea, blogs, I feel a lot better in realizing that we all have hectic and busy schedules. College is an adjustment and we are all pretty much at different levels of making changes and having to deal with all the freedom that comes with being a college student.

When I see that others aim to be two weeks ahead in their schoolwork, I get a little frightened because I am more of an almost last minute type of person, and I love spontaneity, yet I am looking to change that to deal more efficiently with my homework.

My Writing Process

Take a look at what I did to (barely) pass my high school English classes! I guarantee that you did the exact same thing I did, because who actually does things ahead of time? I'm all about waiting to the last minute because I "do well under pressure", but I am really looking to change that.

What type of writer do you consider yourself to be?

• I definitely consider myself to be a procrastinator. I distinctly remember writing an essay the morning it was due, typing it to a pulled together "perfection" on my laptop in 38 minutes. Although I told myself this was due to a hectic and crammed schedule, I definitely could have taken the time to begin earlier instead of scrolling through Tumblr for hours before beginning my daily homework. I did once write an essay two days before it was due, and it was honestly the most sophisticated piece of writing I had ever thrown together.

Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?

• My writing process definitely has some downsides, such as the obvious rush for time, and the lack of opportunity to build on drafts. However, I tend to enjoy my approach as I can use the time I could spend revising, on something else, like doing other more time-consuming homework. I ended falling asleep most of the time doing the late-night writings, and waking up frantic in the morning, typing my essay on my laptop at home or on my phone between classes.

Natividad, Nino. "Stressed From Piles of Paper." June 17, 2010 via Flickr.
Attribution Non-commercial ShareAlike 2.0 License. 

Does your writing process include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?

• I sometimes weave a few of the Sequestial Composer characteristics into my writing process, however, it is usually the night before as I am foremost a procrastinator. If I happen to include some of these other traits in my writing, it is a second thought going on in the background of my thoughts.

Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a different approach? Why or why not?

• It would be amazingly beneficial for me to try a different approach, especially ones that include starting way before the daunting deadline. Being a Heavy Reviser would improve my writing drastically, and I think as I enter college, and get a feel for the type of work I need to accomplish, I will begin to see some changes in my writing process.

Reflection

Upon inspection of my fellow classmates (Laurence and Victoria) blogs, I found that many people are in the same boat as I am. Many people tend to procrastinate just as I do, and many are trying to change their style of writing.

I can definitely relate to that because change is always hard, and changing a characteristic about yourself that has remained in tact for many years is even more difficult. Reading about other peoples similar journeys is a relief, because then I can struggle with them. It informed me that we all have certain situations to overcome and that we can help each other to do so by forming study groups, reminding each other of homework, etc.