Argumentatvie Paper

For my argumentative paper, i am doing it on the topic of graffiti. As in my photo essay, i am stating my point that graffiti is not a bad thing that it is always thought to be. First it is a very unique art form and this article talk abouts a young graffiti artist who wants to legalize graffiti because it is art to him. Graffiti is an art form for those in rough times also. In the bad parts of the neighborhoods is where graffiti usually shows up. It is because graffiti provides an outlet for feelings that cant normally be expressed. All in all my paper will discuss that graffiti is not bad.

Living Is Just Enough

Graffiti has always been known as a bad thing to society. People say that graffiti defaces property and that it is a horrible thing to do all together. Around every corner in Detroit, there is a new image scrawled on the wall. These images represent people though. Their feelings of hate or joy are expressed through this form of art. To some, this is the only way to express their feelings. While walking through abandoned buildings, there were many different styles and writings of graffiti. Some contained vulgar words or hate, whereas others contained words or images of hope. Although many people believe that graffiti is a bad thing, it is a blessing in disguise. Many images and writings were of hate and anger towards something. Graffiti is a way to vent these feelings. If graffiti was not an option, what would happen?; riots, crime, chaos? Graffiti is a way for people to express their feelings without any harm or distress to anyone. It is an outlet for people where this is the only way.














"Living is just enough"















While walking through an abandoned building,
there were condemned water bills scattered
about the floor. This is the drive behind my
essay. It shows that graffiti is an outlet for
people who are struggling.















This picture seemed very unique to me because
the bomb looks like it blew a hole into the wall.



































































































This picture was taken underneath an overpass.
the entire wall was covered in this brightly colored
graffiti. It made the entire area look bright and
colorful.















"It came to me in a dream...it was there that i found
salvation"















This was an old fire truck in an abandoned building
that I was in.















This was located in under the overpass where
the above image was located.


































This is a picture of some object which appeared
around every corner. This image popped up
on numerous occasions.

graffiti cont.

these are just a couple more images that show all graffiti is not garbage. these bright colorful images uplift the are around it and does not have anything bad t influence kids. these images express peopels imagintion and feelings. to some people, this is the only way to express their feelings.

photo essay

for my photo esaay, i have two ideas that i want to do it on. First off, i want to take picturtes of buildings in the detroit area and see how the architecture influences the surrounding areas and too see how it helps develop the detroit area. the second one is graffiti. i believe that graffiti is a good thing since it is a form of expression for people who do not have the chance to speak out.i will go around detroit and capture the graffiti to show the expression that people are providing.

graffiti

These are some graffiti images i found on the flickr website. I found that while looking at all of the graffiti images, it shows a distinct form of art. the bright colors and the collaboration of images expresses how people really feel. It colors the dark corners of our town and uplifts the dark areas. People feel that it degrades and demotes our cities and town, yet if you take a hard look at it, you can see the true expression in it.

Comerica topic

Since i am interested in this topic for my future papers, i was lookin online for more sources and articles. I ended up coming upon a story that said that the move Comerica is about to make is a good thing. The article said that we should be happy that they moved just the HQ, not all the brnaches in our state. It surprised me thought that someone would think that a direct decline to our society in our state would be a god thing. I agree with many other articles that I read saying that this is going to be a symptom with big buisnesses in Detoirt. THey see a booming market across the nation and there is no reason why they wouldn't leave. We need direct action now to help get a plan to save and to start building the economy if we want to have a stable economy.

What I MIght Want To Research

Recently, i have taken an interest in the comerica story on the news. I find this interesting since it affects our community so much. I take frequent trips down to Downtown Detroit and i see that it is slowly turning around. I am curious as to what is going to happen to that prgress once comerica leaves the city for good. Also, the story interests me because I am interested as why they are leaving and how they came to the conclusion of going to Dallas. I want to research the story more which will be the drive behind writing my last two papers.

My Own Backyard News

While looking at the news in my area, Livonia, i found that there is nothing interesting going on. Livonia had to have Redford news on the page just to have some stories. The top story was about an orchestra group celebrating their 51st anniversary. Other storys like a cat being rescued and what is happening this week at the local ice rink were on the list. Overall, i believe that Livonia is a boring place int erms of news and pretty much everything else.

Freep Cont.

They dont seem to cloud the facts with drama or anything of the sort. When i read the stories, it was just straight facts about the atory that they were writing about. This surprised me because i thought for sure that they would alter the story to make it sound so dramatic when it really isnt. I may be overlooking and maybe they are dramatizing the stories. But if they are, they are doing a good job at making it discreet.

Freep Class Work

While looking on the local news page of freep.com, i saw that besides the "big two" stories that are being covered all over the news, there is nothing really else that stands close to that in importance. An article on a group thinking that people should agree to become organ donors when they are in need was the next big story. After that, i became disinterested in the stories because they were all very small print and lined on the side of the page. The stories that the free press wants to show, Irealized, they will put up pictures and make the bold really big to grab your attention. then every other story compared to that seems uninteresting and petty.

Urban Decline Reading

I read the reading that we had to read for class about urban decline and i did not enjoy the essay at all. To me, the article was very hard to read. He used very big words in almost every sentence. Also, he had so many ideas compunded into each sentence that it was hard to follow what point he was really trying to make. Overall i thought that the writing was not meant for normal citizens, only ones who were educated as an urban commentator.

Spring Break

For spring break, i went down to Gatlinburg Tennessee. I went there primarily because i could golf there, since i am a big golfer. Also while i was there, i climbed some of the mountain which was a sight to see. The weather was nice and warm so i could wear shorts and enjoy the weather. Although i did run into some rain on thursday which stopped me from golfing for a day.Overall i had a good time on spring break.

News

I get my news primarily from the television. Channel 4 and Channel 7 are the main tv news shows that i watch. I also get mt news though from other sources too. The internet, when i have time, provides good stories and up to date on the news. Also, i like to look at the newspaper when i get a chance for my local news around my neighborhood. My parents also keep me updated on the news when i dont get a chance to watch a few minutes on the tv or dont get a chance to jump on the internet and check the news.

News Observations

i was looking aroud the site, especially at the top stories for the site and i found that there are alot of the same stories, just titled differently. Especially for the Tara Grant story, there were three stories about her in the top stories section. I did realize one thing though, that she was not the top story on the website. The comerica HQ moving to Dalls was a bigger story. On the top stories section, Tara Grant was the top story, yet on the front page of the website, the comerica news was the top story. this i just found interesting becuase it shows that the Tara Grant story is winding down and now bigger things are taking precedent.

Restaurant Review

While reading over the restaurant review, i found many interesting things. First off, he started off the article with a very vivd image, somehwat seeting the image in your head of what he was talking about. The next interesting thing was he asked a question about how good Argentenian food was, which i found peculiar in itself. Then he goes into telling how the beef is made and the proper titles for that dish. Throughout this whole article, he puts in sentences of history and his own experiences. I also found this article to be very informal yet at the same time it was proper. His descriptive detail of every dish helped you visualiaze what was offered at the restaurant, with his occasional insight every now and then. I alss thought that the first weeks reviews was very original to the article. Overall, the article was very easy and interesting to read due to its informal yet attractive style.

Paper Agenda

I have a huge problem writing papers. My ideas are very choppy and do not flow well together. So for this paper, i will be working on m action verbs and getting my ideas to flow. also i will be trying to get very strong transition sentences and i have to strengthen my thesis statement. Also with papers, i have a problem writing a thesis so i will be working hard on that to try and get a very well put together thesis.

Mix Tape

These are the songs that i picked for my mix tape:

1. Gangsta's Paradise - because it is the total opposite of what my neighborhood is
2. Thugz Mansion - there is a mansion in my neighborhood that a person who won the lotto bought
3. Welcome to the Jungle - i have alot of trees in my neighborhood
4. Changes - alot of people move in and out of my neighborhood
5. Why Can't We Be Friends - because everyone moves in and out, we don't know alot of people
6. That's Life - everyone in my neighborhood is very relaxed and chill

Profile

I was looking on the comp 106 blog and i found the story of Bill Goodman very interesting. I am also trying to become a lawyer and his story i could relate to and found very interesting. The story provided good details of what he has done and is currently doing.

Class Discussion

The one line from my own writing that "sang" out to me was, "why do we stall." I was questioning the quote that i had written down. I liked the free writing session that we had that day because it just got me to think about certain things and made me forget all the things that i had going on that day. Also, the subject we were writing about really made you slow down and think about it and see how it related to you. It was also appropriate for the time being winter and all which also influenced how good the session was.

Paper

For my paper, i will be interviewing one of my old high school teachers who is the student activities director at Churchill High School. While at school, i saw that he knew everyone and had connections to many different things. I have not yet conducted the interview yet because i went away on a work trip this weekend. I was valeting at a pro tennis tournament up in Midland, Michigan.

Interviews

I got some very good interviews for my paper the other day. I talked to the owner of Oasis Golf Center, the driving range dome that i am writing about and he told me all about how the structure of the dome it setup. Also, he told me how the dome stays inflated and not floats away. I learned how the mechanics of the entire dome work and how ingenious of a system it is. He also told about some times when the dome almost exploded or colapsed which was really interesting.

Neighborhood

I was driving in my neighborhood the other day and i started to look around and see different things about my neighborhood. I realized that my neighborhood is very unique. Even though the houses are older, every house is unique and they are all not made in the same style. Also, i realized that we have no street lights and an unusual great amount of trees in our neighborhood which makes it look very nice with all the snow and ice on the trees. Also, i do not see alot of wildlife though in our neighborhood expect for the occasional deer that travel through.

New Detroit Campaign

I think that this is a good campaign but it has some downfalls. The old english D seems very "cool" to alot of young people and i do not know that this D will attract the young crowd. this campaign i think will influence alot of people to come down, but i feel that some of the younger people will get turned away because it almost seems like they are changing the D. the old english D is a mark of our history and i do not think we should forget that. Full story here.

Paper

I was researching for my paper and found out some good information. I found out that the driving range dome that i am writing about is in the top ten in the nation for golf domes. Also, the driving raange is in the top 100.

Detroit 2

I was thinking about my last post on the renovation of Detroit and decided to do some research on the renovation of Detroit. I found a site that explained the renovation of the Book-Cadiallac Hotel.
I think that if we keep doing projects like these, we will be able to get Detroit back to what it was. Even though it will take time, i think Detroit will be able to get back to where it was back in the day.

Detroit

I was down in Detroit the other day for the auto show and i decided to look around and see how things were progressing since the super bowl. I came to the conclusion that things are surprisingly staying better than i thought. it was enjoyable to go down and visit Detroit. It was degrading a little bit since the super bowl but not to the extent that i thought. It was still clean and presentable and there are some areas being renovated and really starting to turn Detroit around.

Coffee Houses

I read marriots article on the coffee houses and i fully agree with him. Most people do not go to the coffee house just to have coffee, they go for the social aura of the place. Many people go to people watch or to seem social although they sit by themselves. It is a place where you can be alone but still fit into the social scene. This appeals to many which makes them so prosperous.

Link

I liked the Continental Motors post on Faded Detroit. It shows that it once was something big and popular but now it has died. I think he was trying to use that picture about Detroit saying that it once was great but it has now diminished.

Homeplace

I think that Hooks essay was very well written. She had alot of intensity in her writing and it made for a good article. She used her own life experiences and the current situation at that time which made it interesting for the reader. She made very good points about how the home was the safe place for slaves and i believe that is how it is today for everyone, not just blacks. Overall it was a good essay that grabbed my attention and kept me interested.

Artifacts/Objects

The object i am going to write about in my paper is about the palce i work at. I work in Plymouth at Oasis Golf Center where during the winter seasons we have a dome up. This I think is a good starting place to start writing my paper. It was declared on of the topp 100 golf ranges in the nation 3 years in a row so there will definately be alot of information on its significance and importance.

Detroit

I was thinking about our discussion earlier about the city of detroit and cleaning it up. I thought about it and i came up with this point. Even though people were impressed on how detroit looked and how clean it was, i think people would be more impressed if they see us fixing those problems reahter than hiding them to be revealed later. By not wasting the money on shipping homeless people out or making fake buildings, we could correctly start to fix the problem and impress everyone by showing that we realize we have a problem and we are on our way to fixing it. This i believe would want peoiple to come back and see how our progress of the city is going and by fixing the problem rather than hiding it, it will bring more attractons for people to see . By even attempting to fix the problem, i think it would bring more people in and improve the reputation of the city.

Niki's Window

I think that there are two things that Herron is arguing in Niki's Window. First off, he argues that Detroit was not the city that it used to be. The second point being that Detroit is this way due to lack of interest. Many people have lost interest in trying to improve or make Detroit a better place. Herron explains how Greektown is a main attraction in downtown Detroit. This attracts the white people from the surrounding suburbs, but does not spur any interest in improving the city. Pastness, one of the words that Herron used in his essay, explains that Detroit was unique in its beginnings, not very corporate or democratic. Nostalgia is used in this essay means that people want the old Detroit to come back. They want to have Detroit the way they remembered it back then. Humiliation means that Detroit is making a fool of themselves in front of the whole entire nation. Detroit is one of the biggest representative cities in America and we have nothing to show for it.