ARGUMENT

Danielle Dubois

Holly Pappas

English 101

April 27, 2012

Argument

Pro-Ana

                In society today being thin has consumed young girls to the point where they are encouraging each other through social networking sites to drop the pounds. Not only are they being pressured by the television and magazines but now online media sources are a huge problem.  Pro-Ana sites at a glance seem to be supportive and positive, but in reality the information is often negative and life threatening.  Pro-Ana is a term that means Pro-Anorexia. These sites even warn the readers and bloggers that “You don't have to agree, but you should respect the words and opinions of others, and find a positive way to communicate even when you disagree. Be constructive and positive, not destructive and negative” (PrettyThin).

                Anorexia is a disorder that takes over your entire way of thinking about your body.  Not only does it affect your mind but the person with the disease goes to extreme lengths to make themselves “perfect”. Perfect to them is striving to keep losing weight no matter how thin or sick they make themselves.  “Some will diet to dangerous levels or exercise excessively” (Pearson).  They will not stop until they achieve their weight goal, but once they reach their goal they continue to harm themselves because their goal isn’t good enough. “The disorder involves extreme weight loss—at least 15% below the individual's "ideal" weight--and a refusal to maintain body weight that is even minimally normal for their age and height and body frame” (The Eating Disorder Foundation).  Anorexia changes the way their minds see their self-images. What they see as beautiful, to others looks sickly, so they struggle to keep their disorder a secret.  Deep down they know what they are doing is harmful to their health, but their number one priority is to lose weight.  Hiding their disorders becomes a key element so that others do not try to get them help.  

                Society is so focused on being thin and young girls can’t help but to strive for the same image.  “The Pro-Ana Thinspiration movement is a disturbing merging of social media and eating disorders” (Boyer).  The Pro-Ana sites are meant to be a positive support group for girls and woman who are struggling with their anorexia.  “Thinspiration, or "thinspo," are a collection of images, words, mantra's, and associations intended to "inspire" or otherwise motivate an individual to be thin” (PrettyThin). These sites are often used in a negative way by putting Pro-Ana quotes like “nothing tastes as good as thin feels” (Boyer), these quotes encourage starvation.  This is why the sites are encouraging girls in an unhealthy way.  It is teaching them a deadly lifestyle that can cause permanent damage and even have a fatal outcome. “Despite acknowledging that their disordered eating had likely caused the physical ailment, they were usually unwilling to change their eating behavior, and thus welcomed opinions from others who could relate to these challenges” (Juarascio).

                People who use these sites feel a sense of comfort because they know they aren’t the only one who is struggling with an eating disorder. The girls on the sites mainly use it as a place to make relationships with others that feel the same way as they do.  They feel like it is a safe spot to share stories and pictures of their daily progress. “Sites and communities like this not only are great supplements to other support systems, they sometimes are the only support system a person has” (PrettyThin). If they were encouraging each other to be healthier then it would be a positive and encouraging website but because they are using them with tips and tricks of how to starve and purge they are harming themselves and others who are reading these sites.

                These sites will never be able to be completely positive, but hopefully the stresses of being thin will not provoke young girls to look them up. Hopefully the sites will be used as a positive way to interact and help each other overcome their eating disorders. “Recovery is a long road. It is a journey that is best traveled with others” (ANAD). I believe that if these sites were monitored somehow then they would be a positive and informational site that would benefit people who have struggled with eating disorders.  Until they find a way to sort out the problems with these Pro-Ana sites they still cause harm and promote negative information to women all over the world.

Works Cited

"ANAD." National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.

Boyer, Timothy. "Pro-Ana Thinspiration: Signs, Symptoms and One Test of Women Dying to Be Thin. Emaxhealth: Daily Health News. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.

Juarascio Adrienne S., Amber Shoaib & C. Alix Timko. Pro-Eating Disorder Communities on Social Networking Sites: A Content Analysis, Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention. 23 Sep. 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2012

Pearson, Linda C. "How the Social Pressure to Be Thin Affects Young Girls." Helium. 07 Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2012. 

"PrettyThin." The World’s Largest Eating Disorder Community and Forum. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.

"The Eating Disorder Foundation." About Eating Disorders. The Eating Disorder Foundation. 2005. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.

Proposal for Arguments

Why is anorexia/bulimia a problem, when we know it's life threatening?

Why is obesity a problem in the United States? What can we do to prevent it? Why do we insist on putting on the weight?

Are we taking advantage of fast food chains? Do we consume to much of it? Why do we continue to if we know of the dangers and health effects?

Is there a problem with artificial dyes in food?

Sugars and sweeteners that we add to our food, are they causing a bigger problem than we think?

World hunger and what we are doing to help it, how we can fix it, and the causes as to why so many people are going hungry.

Reading Journal 7

A Thin Line Between Mother and Daughter This article was really interesting because anorexia isn't just about food, it's about many things, it's self image and is even known as a disease of consciousness. Young girls are learning about 'Good' food and 'Bad' food, and this author has learned it from her mother. I absolutely can relate to this article. Girls learn that thin is 'good', just open a magazine or turn on your television. Not being thin is known as 'bad', when you relate your weight like that you transfer those thoughts to what is making you heavier which is food, labeling them as bad or good. I've never been a tiny girl compared to my friends and the pressure has always been there, but I haven't ever been anorexic. If anything I was an over eater, who use to eat junk food in a very out of control way. I labeled the food I was eating as 'bad' but that didn't stop me from eating it. This author labeled food as bad but she stopped eating it, this caused her to eventually be anorexic, which can be very dangerous and lead to death. At the end of this article she commits to a promise that if she has a daughter she will not let her daughter know about diets, good and bad foods, and I think this is a good thing. Everyone has so much pressure from outside sources you don't need it from your own mother, or anyone close to you, in that case.

Reading Journal 6

The Trouble with Fries The introduction explains how Ray Kroc loves making shakes, and finds out there are people who have a hamburger stand and it is basically the first 'fast food' type of thing. He loves it so much, especially the fries, he buys it from the two men, who just happen to be the McDonald brothers. Ray Kroc bought it from the brothers and that is how McDonald's came about. He was obsessed with fries. He said it was an art that he mastered into a science, but the fact is, fast food is killing us. The article moves on saying to make it better for us they should cook the french fries in a less dangerous oil, they even give an example of one, but do you really think these fast food chains are going to change the way their fries are cooked. Almost everyone enjoys them, whether from McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, etc! Too many people like them for them to change the way they make them. They said the only solution is to get another Ray Kroc who would try to make a health conscience fast food chain, which could happen, but I think most people would still go to the more popular fast food places, even though they aren't healthy, but I would love to try a healthy fast food burger and fries, but it probably won't even be created!

Ethnography Rough Draft

Hair tied back tightly into pony tails, all wearing black shoes, dress pants, and vests. White dress shirts must be tucked in, maroon ties and name tags on, at all times. This is what all the dinning staff does at Blenheim Newport in Middletown. Blenheim is an assissted living home where I work, and every night when it hits 4 o'clock me and the other workers set out to feed the residents, and doing this we all dress exactly alike. Not only do we dress alike we work alike. I must say the night staff is really good at what they do.

When you step out of the kitchen doors and into the dinning room you are flooded with so many things. The maroon, tan, and every other color possible carpet that lines the floor, you will notice that there is some crumbs left from lunch so later tonight whoever vacuums will have to do it even better. The vacuum is in the closet in one of the corners. It only holds tray stands, the vacuum, extra linen, and the bin of napkins. The ten tables in the middle of the room that hold four people each, and the other five tables against the yellow and white walls that only hold two people. You might notice a napkin missing or a fork missing, that couldn't have been put out after lunch because the silverware hadn't been finished when they had to leave their shift. Before even setting up for dinner, you must fix it. You see a giant column in the middle of two tables, and it is actually very pretty, but if you are waitstaff, you will realize that this is completely in the way, and if it wasn't needed to hold up the ceiling you would gladly take it out yourself! On the ceiling itself is two large, gold chandeliers. They are very beautiful and match the gold sconces on the walls. Also on the walls are pictures of boats and the beach, and in the one of the corners in the dining room there is a large window. The window is wide and big and lets the sun shine in. You can see trees, bushes, birds, and bunnies outside and if you look far enough away you can see a giant hill and on top of it is a beautiful house, and if you are looking outside at just the right time you can see the sun setting behind the hill that lights the house up. There is a table directly in front of this one window in the dinning room, and if you have that section, you know many people will want to sit there. Next to the window and that table is the soup station. It is made of dark wood and some sort of heavy granite top. The soup, saucers, and cups sit there, all very hot because of the warmers. My favorite soup is turkey barley and the worse, maybe more so for the smell, is split pea, in my opinion. I open the top of the soup to put a ladle in and notice it is neither, it is the residents favorite, clam chowder.

The waitstaff works well together. We all do things, like they were assigned to us, even though they aren't. You must fix the dining room if needed, put out the menus, make coffee, set up bread baskets and put them on each table, along with the creamers, butters, and waters. One of us will put more saucers and cups out on the soup station and bring a ladle out also. There must be crackers in the drawer at all times. The salad station in the kitchen must be restocked with dressings, Italian, ranch, Russian, and the most popular, blue cheese. There is also oil and vinegar available. You must make sure there is plenty of salad, both romaine and iceberg. The vegetables must also be filled and if there isn't any tomatoes in it, you better find some! The fruit goes fast, so make an extra box of it and put it underneath, were we hold the whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and the extra bins of dressings. The fruit is delicious, filled with watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, and honeydew. The cook of the night will bring the waitstaff together and we will do a pre-meal of all the things that is on the dinner menu tonight. If you have any questions ask now, because later it will be very busy. After that setting up is still not done, but some of the residents like to come a little early to get their favorite seats, since it is first come first, and there is no saving seats. We quickly write down the desserts in the fridge, always having tapioca, chocolate, vanilla pudding, and sugar free jello. The other desserts in there vary because it depends on what they had the night before for dessert. We finish setting up the kitchen, bringing tea kettles into the front of the kitchen so that it will be faster if we need to make tea. The night staff always begins on napkins. We fold and fold and fold until the bin that holds them is completely full, so that later in the night we will not have to waste time folding them.

We do this so quickly now, there is only five residents, at most in the dining room. One of the waitstaff will go out and get them soup, salad, or fruit, while the others still fold. After we are done, that is when more people start showing up, our timing is great. We split up into our own sections and take orders. We bring extra things, like sauce, straws, paper napkins, and once I even brought a band-aid, one of the residents had cut her finger, there wasn't any blood, since you would have had to call an RN immediately, but she just wanted one just to cover the small, paper-cut like wound. You are constantly being attacked by the red, blue, and silver walkers that line the once empty walkways. You must stop what you are doing and put them in the hallway out of the dining room, out of the way. If a person with a wheelchair comes, you must move the chair also into the same hallway. You can not help anyone up, if they ask tell them if they need help to press their buttons, that will call for an aid. If someone falls because of you, you will get in trouble. You serve them food, talk, and even joke with them, but you never help them up. You also have to make sure you know who is diabetic, their allergies, and who is on a special diet, you do not want to give them something that could hurt them. Many of them tell us stories. Many of the residents ask questions and just like to talk to you. That is my favorite part of my job. There is nothing like hearing a story of the 'olden days', about their husbands you've never met, or their kids you've never seen, even about their parents. You learn of all the places they have been and all the oceans they have sailed. The conversation isn't one sided either. They ask about your family, if you have a boyfriend, how school is going, and even compliment you on your earrings. Some even say that they love my company, and I say it back, and I really do mean it. We all laugh together. This is the best part of being the waitstaff at Blenheim. You learn so many things, and if you don't learn anything you just have a nice conversation or two.

After the residents leave for the night, usually around seven or so, you have until eight to clean up the entire kitchen, your section, and set up the dining room so it is ready for breakfast. Again we all break into our own little sections like they were assigned, when they aren't. We get everything done, and we sign it on a list. We turn the lights off and the last one out shuts the main doors to the dining room. Another night done, and tomorrow will almost be identical to the last, except for the exceptional stories. The waitstaff change out of their clothes, put our hair down, and we punch out, tired. We say goodnight and talk until we reach our cars. We are the night staff of Blenheim, we get along, we share all our stories, and we laugh, but we also work extremely hard, to make sure we give the residents our very best service.

The American Male at Age Ten

In the first paragraph she explains what he likes, dreams, and wants in life. The second paragraph gives a very detailed description of Colin, you can basically see him in your mind with the way she detailed him to life on the page. The third paragraph gives a background on Colin's family and were he is from.

After that it goes into more detail. The fourth paragraph tells about Colin's school, future, friends, popularity, sports, about how his life is now and were it might possibly go. The fifth paragraph gets deeper and tells us that he is in between having a child's mind and growing more mature. After it gives examples on how he is maturing the essay goes in a different direction.

It starts to show Colin's every day life. How he goes to Danny's Pizzeria and the older teenagers push him and his friend around. How girls are still in the "they have cooties phase", but yet there is one girl that isn't as "gross" as the others. Colin and his friend ignore the younger kids than them, just like the older teenagers did to them.

Then the writer takes a spin and puts more informational substance in the essay. How being a ten year old boy is a very important age, and how it is very necessary to be sex educated, then it goes to when the boys were in the locker rooms being "silly about their pants".

Then it goes back to Colin's everyday life and starts off in his bedroom, and tells you what it looks like. Then it turns into a question and answer kinda deal. Then it mentions money and how he likes it and knows it is an important part of life.

Then it again changes back into what Colin does in his backyard, how he makes spider webs. He started making a web when he was mad at a kid from school. I think this was a way to let Colin deal with his anger and stress and helps his ten year old mind escape in a way.

Even though Susan Orlean jumps around A LOT in the essay it makes sense and flows very nicely. This essay was very interesting and very easy to just pick up and read.

Reading Journal 5

Test-Tube Burgers

Just reading the title alone, made my stomach turn! EW! I'm sure it would be a great scientific achievement, like they state in the article, but I really do not want to eat meat that was made from a lab. It said in the article that people laugh at the idea, but to me that just sounds disgusting. I understand that the way we get meat now, is very bad for the earth and for the people on it, but it just doesn't sound right to have our meat test-tube made. If this ends up being the way meat will be made for us to consume, I really do not think I will eat it, and there is nothing better to me than a giant cheese burger!

Ethnography Ideas

For my ethnography I really want to set it up at my work. I work at an assisted living, in Middletown, and I work in the kitchen and dining room as waitstaff. It wouldn't be a problem going there, since I work there four nights out of the week. I can talk about not only the kitchen, but about the dining room. I can mention how the waitstaff works with not only each other, but with the chef and the dishwasher, and the residents. How we set up every night, about pre-meals with the chef, how service goes, and how we clean up at night. There really is so much to write about, the hardest part would be editing it so that it all flows and isn't too much in the essay.

Reading Journal 4

Strange Fruit: The Rise and Fall of Açaí

Ryan and Jeremy Black, two brothers from California, made açaí the new "superfruit", considering 10 years ago it was almost unknown to everyone outside of Brazil.  Açaí is suppose to have amazing health claims, but is that all a fraud? Oprah and Dr. Oz have taken their names off of the fruits marketing and you can no longer buy it online because of scams.
I don't think that this article gives enough details as to why it is falling. It tells you all about how it came to America and how Americans have embraced it, etc., but it says is falling and is a fraud, but gives very little details backing that theory up. I wish this writer had added greater details and information.

Reading Journal 3

Burgers à la Thomas Jefferson
This article is about Tod Murphy. He lives in Vermont and owns Farmers Diner. This diner is all local food, with reasonable prices for this economy. He loves how he has made a community and that they care for each other. He would like to set up multiple diners around the United States, but he doesn't want it to be like a chair restaurant, he wants it to be how his diner is now, just more of them.
I didn't really like how the article was written, with the whole question and answer style. It wasn't my favorite style of reading that I have read, and I think next time I come across it I will probably skip that article. I feel like  I wasn't reading an article it felt very boring and bland and the only information I got was from what people exactly said and that was it, which is fine, but I felt like the writer could have added additional information into the article if they hadn't written it so Q&A.

Reading Journal 2

Ordering the vegetarian meal? There's more animal blood on your hands

This article really caught my eye. I always thought being a vegetarian was a good thing. I am not one myself, but I do know many people that are.
This article said that being a vegetarian means that you would be killing more animals because you are taking environment and their food, etc. It also says that you would be killing your environment to make vegetarian meals.
Ploughing kills the snakes, lizards, and mice. Did you know that mice "sing" to eat other! Cute, right? but mice are being poisoned too, and dying a slow and painful death.
This article is set in Australia, and it advises us to eat Kangaroo. I think this is just a lose-lose situation. We're doing damage if were eating meat, and doing damage if we aren't. You will never see me, ever, eating a Kangaroo either!
This article was interesting but didn't really convince me that being a vegetarian is bad, and I think that was its main point to do so.

Memoir Rough Draft

Fried chicken, with its golden brown batter, I can see myself biting into it and the hot juices flowing and the powerful flavor on my tongue. The undeniable feeling of comfort food, the food I could eat every day of my life, made by my mother, and still never get sick of, but as I stared at the green plate, with the steaming food on it, I felt nothing but the hot, black tears, stained from mascara, on my cold, stunned face. The fried chicken and the most amazing mashed potatoes you could eat, steaming with butter. The broccoli, my absolute favorite, piled high on the plate, like a mountain I would usually conquer, with my outrageous ability to out-eat any grown man, even my father.

It’s funny how death affects people. A nineteen year old girl, with the appetite of a tiger, usually eats and enjoys her food, but tonight, even the greatest comfort food could not have made me feel any better.

The phone call came at night, around eight thirty. I can still feel my cold hands on my car keys and me about to jump out of my car and into my warm house, until realizing, while driving home from work I missed a call from a friend. Thinking nothing of it, I press 1 to hear the voice mail, “Danielle, call me back, it’s… it’s an emergency.” A million things pop into my head: one, normal teenage problems, a fight with a friend, a breakup with a boyfriend; two, a joke or a prank, but her voice sounded shaky, and scared, not like the usually bubbly, happy personality that I usually received from her. I immediately call her back, not knowing what to expect, not knowing what is wrong, and not knowing if she’ll answer. “Danielle, there was an accident…” her voice trails off, another friend, a beautiful, and funny, friend is in the hospital, with major head trauma.

If you knew Cayla, you would have first thought, wow, this girl is beautiful. Your second thought, if you sat down to talk would be, wow, not only is she beautiful, she is funny, and is a very caring person. She constantly had a smile on her face. She had a wonderful taste in fashion, and always had fun. She loved horses, and Juicy, and life. She would make me sing to her all the time, usually Adele or Taylor Swift.

Things weren’t making sense. I hang up the phone, letting my friend know to keep me updated. I get out of the car, not realizing how the cold stings my wet cheeks. I run up the stairs into the house, sobbing so loud, I scare my parents. My parents jump up to see what is wrong, I run into my mother’s arms and cry, loud, body-moving sobs come out. I explain. They don’t know what to say, and even if they said anything, nothing would fix how I was feeling.

I sit with that comfort food in front of my face. It looks disgusting, it smells disgusting, and I take a bite and it taste disgusting. I am so sick my stomach turns. My face falls into a crumpled frown, my eyes burn. More tears follow, angry tears, not only for what has happened, but I cannot eat. It sounds stupid, you are going through something tragic and it’s ok not to eat, but if you knew me, you know that is the last thing I would ever do, is to stop eating. I’ve always have had a pretty big appetite, and I am not too big of a picky eater either, especially when it comes to my mother’s home made dinners, every night, except for Fridays. She always expects me to eat and enjoy and that night, I just couldn’t do it. I cry and tell her that I am not hungry. Usually if I do this, I’m usually under the weather and she scolds and tells me to eat it, no matter how sick I feel, but tonight she sits there, and says,
“It’s OK”. This upsets me more, she isn’t one to do this, and she puts a lot into her meals and expects me and my father to eat them. If you can’t eat all on the plate, she insists that you ate too much for lunch or too big of a snack. Comfort food, isn’t it supposed to make you feel better? At a time as bad as this, you would think I’d be able to eat several helpings of it! I throw out the food that I attacked with my fork and knife, poor chicken, such a waste. Its fried batter was all over the plate, and chicken was pulled from the bones, nothing eaten, just picked and pushed around. I cannot eat; I think I am having a panic attack. I don’t sleep that night, because later, I find out that Cayla did not make it. She is gone and I feel just as bad as that chicken I demolished at dinner time.

                Days go by, if I eat, it isn’t much of anything, half a protein bar, half an apple, even my favorite chocolate ice cream cannot save me this time. I always have three main meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and for days; I am eating hardly anything, if anything. I cannot sleep, and this behavior is so unlike me. My eyes are puffy and red, my usual put together look is now sweatpants and a messy bun, my usual bed time is changed to two in the morning, and I am not eating. I am not ok.

                My friend Alyssa, who was best friends with Cayla sits with me at my kitchen table. With a bag of chocolate donuts and frozen dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, we eat. We are ravenous. First we eat the donuts, wait for the chicken to be cooked, and then eat the chicken with yummy fire red ketchup. After all this time, with so many of my mother’s comfort foods set in front of me, you wouldn’t think that donuts and tiny chicken t-rexes would be the fix. Empty white paper plates and messy napkins full of crumbs are all that’s left. After days of not eating we finally feel a sense of maybe things aren’t ok right now, but they are getting better. We are not only eating but we are living, and life isn’t stopping, even though it feels that way.

                The candle light vigil has passed, the wake has passed, and still I cry, not only for what has happened with Cayla, but for all of the people that have loved her so much, including me, but at the end of the day I sit back and look at my bare dinner plate that I just emptied and realize that life is so full of bigger and better things, we just have to live life to the fullest like Cayla did, and maybe make our stomachs just as full and happy as our lives.

Reading Journal 1

The Pleasures of Food and Drink

This article is peoples opinions about food and drinks. This is why I really liked reading it. Different people commented on what makes both food and drinks so great. Alan Richman points out that there is no food, like his mother's home made meals, and I completely agree with him. There is nothing better than some home made comfort food. Rick Bragg also mentioned his mother's mashed potatoes and I can agree 100%! This article was a quick read and short and transitioned with paragraphs. If you like anything that they mentioned you could  click on the links that they give you, or scroll to the bottom and read them there. This article led me to The Guiltless Pleasure, because I really liked the short summary about his mother's mashed potatoes, I figured I might as well read the entire thing! I thought it was very funny and I liked it a lot. If there is more by Rick Bragg, I would love to read more of his things. The article was easy to read and very enjoyable. :)

Rhetorical Analysis

This advertisement is for DiGiorno Pizza, and this ad wants to show you that it isn’t worth it to get pizza delivered because of the high prices of delivery pizza and the very low prices of the DiGiorno pizza. This ad is also trying to make the DiGiorno Pizza look more appetizing and more appealing than the delivery pizza. The colors of the toppings are brighter, the toppings also look bigger, and the crust isn’t as burnt looking, this pizza just pops at you and it makes it look like the one you would rather want. On the other hand, the delivery one looks burnt, the toppings look shriveled and not as fresh looking, and the colors are much darker, this pizza looks very dull. This ad is very plain, and really wants you to focus on the pizzas and the prices, that is probably why the background is just white, with a gray/black fade, and even the information is in a smaller print, I think the people who made it wanted to get their points across about the pizzas. They didn’t want to fancy the ad up. This ad is probably meant for families or young adults, so that they know which one they can save on. I think this ad was a screen shot from a commercial, but it could be in a magazine, like a Woman’s World magazine, because I think it’s trying to target families so that instead of getting their pizza delivered, they can just buy one and make it, when convenient, in their own homes. I like this ad because it is like those car insurance commercials that show you how much you save, but in this case it is not only showing you the difference in price, but also what each pizza looks like. I think this ad is taking the car insurance commercials idea, but putting a fun and interesting twist on it. It’s semi creative, and shows you that these pizzas are obvious competitors. This ad also tells you that this is the price that the three leading national delivery pizzas charge in the ten leading markets. This is in a smaller print, because it is just a supporting fact, but they wanted to just get the message across. The pizza’s toppings are identical, but in my opinion I think they are trying to make DiGiorno look more appetizing. The problem with DiGiorno, is that no matter how appetizing it looks, or how much the price is cut, if you don’t want to make your dinner or lunch, you are not going to buy it and will most likely get your pizza delivered. If you think about it, you also are most likely not going to make DiGiorno pizzas for a birthday party or if you are having a lot of people over, you are probably going to order the pizza and get it delivered because it is more convenient. I also think that pizza made in a pizza place taste better, but that is my opinion, maybe I am just not buying the right frozen pizzas! If you want to save on money though, and still want to eat a pizza, it is a good alternative from delivery pizza, and this advertisement really does make you want to buy the Digiorno pizza.

Themes

I think the theme I would like to do the most would be food. I mean it’s around you every day and everyone needs it to survive. I’m a terrible cook, but in my last year of high school I took culinary class. I even won an award for that class, but I must say I am no chef. My mother, on the other hand, is the best at making everything and anything, from dinners, to chocolate birthday cakes. She has so many recipe boxes and books with all my favorite foods in them. The doctors told me to be aware of what I’m eating though; I am pre-diabetic and must be careful what I eat. I still love to eat and enjoy food! Right now I am a waitress at an assisted living home. Either in the dining room or in the kitchen, there is food there the entire time. I am around food all the time there, the only thing I hate is when they have split pea soup, since it smells terrible, even after I get out of work and into my car! I’m really interested in eating disorders, not only under eating but over eating, since I think at one time I had an over eating problem. Every time you turn the television on you always see food ads, and they wonder why obesity is such a big deal in America. I know people don’t have to eat the food, or eat as much, but it’s hard when they flash it around so much, it becomes such a temptation. I would like to read and write about this topic because it is such a big deal in everyone lives.

I think another theme I would like to do is education. When I was 4 years old I didn’t speak correctly, I had to have teachers come to my house and try to help me speak. I even went to preschool with the prices cut to help me. It’s funny now, because not only do I speak, I love to talk, read, and write. I can’t imagine struggling my whole life with my speech. After learning how to speak I immediately loved my reading and writing classes. I use to practice my letters for hours. Math though, has never been my favorite. I’m terrible at it! My sister is actually a middle school math and science teacher. She loves math and loves her students. She is such a good teacher. It makes me realize how different she and I really are! High school was the best time in my life, so far I think. I wouldn’t want to go back there, but it was a place that held so many good memories. I ended up at BCC because it’s close to home and I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to be. Right now I’m in Office Administration, but I want to become a paralegal and eventually a lawyer. In high school my class’s own dropout rate was really high. If you look at my middle school yearbook and then at the high school one, it’s a wonder where all those kids are these days. I also was in chorus class and they were never funded very well. The risers were falling apart, and you had to be careful where you stand because you could easily loose you balance because they were no longer level. It’s crazy how the school couldn’t seem to fund something that could have hurt students. Education is a great thing, and because I plan on being a lawyer I have lots of school years to look forward too!

The last theme I am interested in is crime and justice. This ties into the fact that I want to eventually be a lawyer. I have never been in trouble with the law, but I do know people who have. I know many people, who have been in jail, but some of them are out now, and some of them are still there. I’ve always been interested in crime and justice and watch many programs about them. I’ve been following the West Memphis Three. I really believe that they are all innocent and should have not been in jail for so long, one of them was on death row for awhile too! It’s crazy how the justice system can mess up so badly. Death row to me is a touchy subject. I don’t think anyone deserves to die, but the people that are put on it are usually monsters, but they have loved ones too. Some of them are innocent also and still lose their lives. I think the insanity plea is used too much, so that people don’t take responsibility for what they have done. Crime and justice is a very, very interesting topic, and many people have very different opinions and ideas on how it is run and how it all pans out.

How I See Myself as a Writer/Reader

There is one fact that I absolutely know for certain, I love to read. I always have, for as long as I can remember. Give me a interesting book and I’ll read it all in that same day. There is nothing better to me than finding a truly good book. Reading helps me get away from the real world. It pulls me to another place where I can be happy or sad, and I know I’ll be ok after, because it’s just a book. It’s a real comfort to read.

Now, in writing, I have to say, I don’t like it as much. My handwriting is all over the place, no matter how hard I try to write nicely. I often don’t know what to write next, like right now, and I struggle to move forward. Somehow though, I always get to an ending. I feel typing on my laptop is better than using a pen or pencil on paper. I’m a fast typist. Writing does make me feel better though. It’s always good to get your ideas and thoughts on paper, but sometimes that can be hard to do, maybe that’s why I find myself with nothing to write. My thoughts seem to get in the way. I tried to keep numerous diaries or journals but they always fail and stay more than half way empty.

Writing and reading are so amazing because they help you put your mind at ease and collect your thoughts. I love everything about reading, and writing is such a stress reliever.