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I feel like I have changed drastically as a writer for this class has pushed my writing abilities to the fullest extent I've experienced yet. I've learned how to create and format a paper up to eight pages long and address the topic of the paper in an interesting way. I learned how to grab the readers attention and back up all of my information with sources and facts. English 151 taught me how to form an argument and represent both sides using evidence to support each position. This class also helped me reinforce my knowledge of in-text citations, header, margins, spacing, font and well constructed, organized paragraphs. I feel like the work and papers I have done in this class will definitely help me in the future. The class theme apocalypse was very interesting to me for it was something that I did not have much prior knowledge to. I've developed a knowledge on futuristic ideas that I never knew could be possible and I've expanded my imagination on apocalyptic ones. The apocalyptic books and movies were confusing at first but once I became more familiar with them I began to understand and develop a like for them more. My favorite paper so far would have to be the Argument Essay because I enjoy voicing my opinion and backing it up with facts and evidence.

tattoos of the future.

I am doing my paper on tattoos in the future. I've found some interesting information on ultra violet tattoos, 3D tattoos and electronic tattoos. All of it sounds pretty weird but in the future anything could happen. I ask myself what are the possibilities of these futuristic tattoos? Are they safe? Are they safer than normal tattoos? What are the risks? I have no answers to any of these questions but my paper will address all of them.

Thirteen Ghosts, Apocalypse, Comparison with Ridley Scott

Over the weekend I watched one of my favorite Halloween movies, Thirteen Ghosts. This movie is about a family who lost their mother in a fire and are struggling to pay the bills. Life is hectic for them as they live their life paycheck to paycheck. One morning a business man shows up at their apartment with news that one of their great uncles has passed and he has left a mansion in their name. All bills and expenses are paid and life begins to look great for this family. They drive hours to the mansion in the middle of no where and when they arrive they realize that this house is made of nothing but glass. Arriving at the same time is a man dressed up as an electrician. When they get into the house the man dressed up as an electrician explains that this house is haunted and filled with ghosts and this family cannot move in here. He tells the family that him and the previous owner of this house used to capture spirits and they are hidden in glass cells in the basement.



I feel that if an apocalypse would occur it would be in a form of a natural disaster. Back millions of  years ago Earth went through some major climate changes ranging from absolutely freezing to boiling hot. Scientist seem to think that global warming is a form of this climate change that happened an extremely long time ago. My prediction would be that the earth would become so warm melting all the glaciers and snow that the water would begin flooding the world. People would be hanging on for their lives as the waves crashed into towns and cities demolishing buildings and any structures in its sight.



My prediction of apocalyptic future is completely different than Ridley Scotts. I do not think our country would allow replication of a human in any form just because it is so unethical and wrong. I feel a natural disaster of any sort would fit the situation better because no one is really responsible for this. If people were to replicate humans or do something of that nature they would brainstorm possible negative outcomes for this and see that there are too many negatives compared to positives.



 In the short clip we viewed of Blade Runner, the scene is dark with only a setting sun in view. You cant really see anyone's bodies, just faces. Rachel asks Deckard if hes ever retired a human by accident in a soft tone. Dialogue between Tyrell, Deckard, & Rachel is casual and relaxed. They talk about serious matters but keep themselves composed. Tyrell and Deckard had emotion in their voices but Rachel's seemed pretty monotone.


In the last scene of Blade Runner the mood is deep and sad. After a long chase and fight between Roy and Deckard Roy has Deckard in his hands and has the chance to end his life. He saves him and begins to explain his feelings. The rain is pouring hard and dripping down his face and gives the audience a sense of how Roy is feeling. You can tell Deckard begins to feel for Roy and his short lived life. Deckard feels empathy for Roy and his thoughts of androids begin to change.


The future for Deckard is a life and family with Rachel. He finds a way to lengthen her life and they move away and live happily.

Image Analysis

I thought that the paper we turned in comparing Blade Runner to Do Androids Dream? was a fairly difficult task. I have trouble organizing my ideas so when I write a paper it kind of jumps all over the place. Blogging the movie and book did help because it helped me locate some information and gave me topics to expand on. When comparing the first and second paper I'd say that this paper was more difficult because the length requirement was longer. Weaknesses I've noticed in my writing is organization. Strengths I've noticed in my writing is backing up my statements. I feel I give a good amount of background information, examples, and quotes to back up anything I've stated. My writing improves every time I compose a paper. The more you do something the better you get at it. I'll improve the next paper by making it flow better and having it more organized.

Fahrenheit 451

On Tuesday, October 19th I attended a free showing of the futuristic movie Fahrenheit 451.  The movie was about a society where everything is controlled by the government. They provide you with pills certain pills to make you feel certain ways, they monitor everything that is on the television, and they burn all books. The "book burners" are known as firefighters and if they suspect any type of book in your possession they have every right to search you or your house and burn it. The reason they titled the movie Fahrenheit 451 is because 451 is the degree that the books have to be to burn. 

The main character of the story, Montag, is a firefighter. When he meets his new and free spirited neighbor, Clarise, she asks him his profession and he responds. She then proceeds to ask him, "Do you ever read the books you burn?". Montag then begins to think about this and one day picks up a book and begins to read.  After reading this book he begins to realize that how they are living is not okay. At the end of the book Montag ends up running away from the craziness of his town and begins to trek on. He finds himself meeting up with a group of people who have done the same and have whole books memorized. I thought this movie was very intriguing but I did not understand what it had to do with the apocalyptic theme. 

Designing the future

I thought the video was really interesting and opened my eyes to things I've never really thought about. When creating a product people have to think about a number of things. The product needs to be eye catching and different. It needs to be common enough for people to buy it but individualistic enough that someone hasn't created something extremely similar. It has to be durable, simple, and a new characteristic these days, sustainable. Creating something that shares all of these traits takes much time, creativity, and thought. Doing this alone could take years but by putting many brains together it could be done at a faster rate.
I thought it was interesting about what they said about Macs because I agree completely with them. I just recently purchased a Mac and switching from a Dell I thought it was difficult to get used to. After a few months of using a Mac I feel it is the most logical and simple computer to use. Things are where they should be and it is hard to get lost when trying to navigate around. Mac makes computers the way they should be made.

Scene from Blade Runner

A scene that confused me was when Roy saved Deckard. They fight for twenty minutes and then Deckard is so close to dying and Roy pulls him up by the arm after breaking his fingers five minutes prior. Then Roy pulls the dove out of no where and it flies off into the blue sky. Its real nice of Roy to save Deckard I just thought it was weird. The ending of this movie is not what I expected at all. I need to watch it again so I can pay more attention to detail and notice things that I did not notice before.

Climaxxxxx

The climax of Do Androids Dream really took me by surprise. Isidore realizes that everything begins to die and decay. "He walked unsteadily into the living room to be by himself; he stood by the tattered couch and gazed at the yellow, stained wall with all the spots which dead bugs, that had once crawled, had left, and again he though of the corpse of the spider with its four remaining legs. It long ago began to decay and it won't stop. (211)" Isidore sees this vision of everything dieing and getting worse and it sets up the ending of this book. I thought the humans would be able to put the world back together but my thoughts were obviously wrong.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

A specific scene that I found most interesting was in chapter fifteen when Rick brings home the goat to Iran. She is excited and not depressed anymore because now they have a real animal and not an electric sheep. Rick's neighbor compliments them and spirits are high. A part that confused me though was when Iran says she got hit by a rock. I wasn't sure what exactly happened there. But, overall I thought chapter fifteen was really amusing because its full of events. They get a real animal, Rick tells Iran he empathizes for androids, and he doesn't want to be a bounty hunter anymore.

Chapter 11 A&B

The most interesting and beneficial part of chapter eleven was understanding why expert writers use multiple drafts. When you write a paper you need to get all of your ideas out before you submit your final copy. Writing a paper multiple times or rewriting a paragraph helps your brain think of new ways and methods to approach the topic. The more you think about it the better understanding you have of it. In the beginning of a paper you think of ideas and instantly jot them down or type them out. When you look at the same ideas later you can revise them and make them clearer for you and your audience. Now that we are writing our cloning summaries this concept has helped me greatly and increased the quality of my paper.

Blade Runner in general is a weird book and many things were interesting and new to me. Something that stuck out to me a lot was that Rick and Iran had an electric sheep and everyone else had real, live animals. Rick used to have a real sheep but one day it died. I find it interesting that the cool thing is to have animals. Its like a weird fad.

a&b

The most interesting aspects of chapters one in Allyn & Bacon were when to use open and closed forms of writing and when writing in those forms what your paper should entail. Sometimes its confusing to write a paper in a form you are not used to but this chapter really does a good job of explaining it. Allyn & Bacon informs you of good strategies and qualities in coming up with a subject matter question. It explains that the three most important qualities the question should entail are being problematic for the audience, significant, and interesting for the writer. I also learned plenty about rhetorical aim and the focus of writing. No one wants to read a boring paper with no purpose and this section can really help make your paper jump out at the reader. Something else that really caught my attention was the skills for "wallowing in complexity". I had never learned or heard of that term before so I figured these skills would be a great help to me.  They are six short skills to help you think rhetorically about your subject matter. The last and most interesting section I read was thinking rhetorically about how messages persuade and the angle of vision. Analyzing the angle of vision and reading the strategies for constructing and angle of vision really intrigued me and I'm interested to learn more.

First Post

 I'm Lizz Selvaggio. I'm writing this blog for English 151 which is a class with a theme of apocalypse. If your not too sure what that is, its about different ways the world could end. I enjoy writing I just need a topic first. Reading is tight also but I need a book that keeps my interest right from the beginning or I won't keep reading. I'm exposed to all technology, I'm no computer nerd but I know  a thing or two.