Journal Entries
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
4 February 2022
My experience with reading and writing so far has honestly been average. In high school, English was never my favorite subject or a class that I looked forward to I just knew that it was a class that I had to take for 4 years in order to graduate. I always did well in the class even though I never took an interest in it and that was because I thought the material was pretty straightforward. Last semester being my first I did take more of a liking to English in Composition I. I learned some valuable skills like using databases to find sources and I also learned how to write drafts for papers. I think that it is an important skill to learn because it’s something that I probably need to use for any career that I pursue. Although I say this about English I don’t feel the same about other general education classes. I feel like there are some general education classes that are useless and a waste of money. Personally, I am taking 2 histories of music classes to cover 2 general education requirements that I need and I honestly don’t know what I’ll ever do with that information. If I could design my own writing/composition program for first-year students I will definitely make sure to allow students to express their thoughts and feelings freely through their writing by assigning journal entries. Students will also learn how to write a variety of different papers like argumentative essays and research papers. It’s important for students to know how to write these kinds of papers because they will most likely run into an assignment where that kind of writing is required later on in their academic careers. I want to make sure that my students are prepared for whatever comes their way.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
11 February 2022
I think that a world with less technology would be more preferable especially in the situation that we are in today. I think that technology is very important and we should be grateful to be in the position that we are in but I believe that some of us have addictions and this is especially true when it comes to social media. Social Media can cause people to feel insecure by comparing themselves to others and it can also cause anxiety and depression. Trying to reduce the presence of technology is a task that is almost impossible in my opinion. We’ve gotten to the point where technology is needed for everyday use. I do think that we could achieve existence with less social media presence though. The fact of the matter is social media is here to stay whether it’s instagram, snapchat, or whatever new platform that gets launched and popularized in the future. In order to achieve existence with less social media presence it has to be voluntary. Each and every one of us have to take steps in order to detach ourselves from all the platforms that we use. What worked for me was taking breaks or intervals where I would not use social media at all. I would delete the apps entirely from my phone to make sure I can’t get into them. I would go a week without any access to the apps and when I would re-download them I noticed that I wasn’t compelled to check them as often as i would. My screen time for those apps would go down and the trend would continue for a while. Once I noticed my screen time on social media apps was becoming much I would start over and delete the apps.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
18 February 2022
In a perfect world I think that a mental health support system that can be accessible 24/7 to college students on college campuses would be “utopian”. I feel like college students deal with way too much stress and most of us are able to handle it now because we are or are approaching strongest points in our lives. We need a support system that can cater to that stress and I don’t know if it’s just me but a lot of the time it hits me the hardest at night. I think that having access to mental health resources 24/7 would be very beneficial to the mental health of many students. Being able to talk to someone or knowing that someone is there for you at any given hour would also give students a sense of reassurance. If I were able to advocate for this kind of system to be implemented on my own college campus I would focus in on the mental health crisis that we are seeing today. Having this kind of system available to college students at my own school could help flatten the curve. Another point I could focus on would be how having 24/7 access to a resource like this could help a lot more people than say the system that is already in place. More hours of operation will guarantee more to come in. Although unrealistic I do believe that having a system like that would be considered “utopian” in my eyes. This topic is very important because it is a very real issue in the world and a lot of us do have mental health struggles. Being able to contribute and help towards solving the mental health crisis should be a top priority to college campuses In my opinion.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
25 February 2022
I think that a society in crisis uses art in order to escape the troubles that they are dealing with in that moment. Personally I use music to better myself and make the world around me better. I listen to music almost all the time and it helps my mood as well as give me a sense of privacy in a public setting. This is especially true in college when i am constantly surrounded by people. I would love to make my own music some day just as a hobby. I feel like if I am able to express my own thoughts and maybe even talk about some of my struggles through music. If I am able to do that and my art reaches the right audience and maybe even helps one person through their own struggles would be amazing. I feel like a lot of the art out there today serves the purpose of helping people. Art could also be utilized for negative purposes. The first thing that comes to mind is propaganda. People in power may use art to influence the general public to submit to their beliefs. this kind of art is very bias and is strictly used politically. It can get so bad to the point that it can be considered brainwashing.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
4 March 2022
I feel like religion isn’t as prominent as it was back in the day. it doesn’t have a lot of presence or impact on our live as it once did. Growing up it was a big part of my life but as I grew up and was able to make decisions for myself I decided to not identify with any religion. It is a very sensitive subject to talk about today. For example I feel like back then it was acceptable to talk about religion in schools and now that is very frowned upon. With social media and technology a lot of information floats around involving religion and it gets a bad rap. Religion was definitely something that I could’ve personally turned to especially during the pandemic but Instead I decided to lose all hope and my faith has been gone since. I feel that during times of turmoil it can both ways. People either turn to religion and faith and submerge themselves completely or lose hope entirely. Something that I did rely on during the pandemic was technology. With technology it was reliable and it got me by. Whether it was social media or video games It was simply an escape from everything that was going on in the real world. Social media was very toxic during the pandemic. Religion today is something that many people my age don’t really turn to. People who don’t affiliate themselves with religion are called “nones” and the majority of my generation are just that. Religion is also something that can be sketchy and corrupt. That also contributes to why our generation isn’t so attracted to religion. It can get you to do things through subliminal propaganda and fear mongering. This is the main reason on why I personally do not affiliate with any religion.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
11 March 2022
I think that having a positive outlook on the climate change crisis that we are dealing with today is not a good thing. The fact of the matter is that our planet is dying and not enough is happening to help the situation.I feel like encouraging calm and positive thinking around something that is urgent and not calm gives off the wrong idea to any target audience about our climate situation. “Climate Optimism” is not a productive mindset to have in my opinion. it’s one thing to think and feel towards an issue that you care about but taking action and doing something about it is a lot more productive. Having a sense of urgency about this should be the mindset being promoted. Personally I never really noticed how and when climate change affected me growing up. I felt like I had a lot more to worry about than what the weather was going to be like. This is the mindset that most of our generation has adopted. I think that being born around 9/11 and growing up during the financial crisis of 2008 seeing our parents lose their jobs was a lot more for us to worry about than climate change. People today feel like they themselves can’t make a huge impact to fix climate change so they don’t bother at all. Corporations and companies themselves could make a big impact seeing as they are the ones causing the most damage to our environment. If I could say anything to those corporations and companies is to try and reduce their pollution. I understand that they don’t pollute and destroy our climate no reason. They do it for economic gain which I can respect. But it wouldn’t hurt to try and find alternatives in order to reduce the damage they are causing.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
25 March 2022
In the reading written by Symon Hill he hypothesizes about abolishing armed forces and moving those people into disaster relief. I think the argument he makes is valid and it sounds great. He makes a great point when mentioning that armed forces are trained to fight abroad not at home. In the event that a county we’re to invade a country, Hill makes the claim that the non-co-operation from civilians is a more than effective method of resistance (Hill). I believe this is true and you can see it happening right now with Russia and Ukraine. Russian civilians are protesting the war. The points made are very strong but I do think that the idea of abolishing armed forces is something that will never happen. The act of a country getting rid of their army would require a lot of trust and I don’t think countries like Russia, China, and The U.S will ever be willing to give that kind of trust to on another. With the amount of money that the United State government put into the military and its advancements is insane. I think that the money could be put towards other things that are more important such as health care and student debt but I understand why the U.S puts so much into the military. We are a global superpower and in order to ensure that it stays that way we need to have the strongest military. Even if all countries around the world decide to abolish their military forces what are the chances of some of those countries doing undercover operations or keeping their military hidden? I also think that more radical countries would try to take advantage of the situation. I just don’t see this ever happening but it is an interesting thought that could benefit everyone.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
1 April 2022
As a college student I think the spaces that I use are very important. I want to work in an environment that is safe, clean, and quiet. I feel like that makes me the most productive and I get the most done. A space that I use a lot are the group study rooms in the Sojourner Truth Library. I love sitting in those rooms and getting work done with my friends. The rooms are very spacious with 6 chairs that are comfortable for the most part. Each room comes with a giant screen and a white board. Although sometimes I do get distracted after a while I do lock in and get stuff done. I think that these spaces are very accessible for people who do use mobility aids as the rooms are on the first floor of the library. For other spaces in the library on other floors there is an elevator as well to get people where they need to go. I think that someone with a sensory processing issues would not have a tough time here at all since the library is very quiet, clean, and easy to navigate. It consists of 3 floors the basement floor being the quietest one. Someone with a chronic pain disorder might have some difficulty depending on what area they are feeling pain in seeing as there are only really places to sit up straight in the library and that could make someone feel painfully uncomfortable. Architecture can be a negative force in a social experience because It might not meet everyones needs. Everyone is very different and some times places might not cater to those needs. It depends on the place to be honest to decide if whether or not the architecture contributes as a negative force.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
8 April 2022
The line between human and technology is becoming more blurred each and everyday due to advancements that continue to be made. People who live with technology implanted into their bodies are considered cyborgs but the argument can be made that people who carry around their own personal technologies everywhere they go can also be considered cyborgs. Nowadays it feels like everyone carries around a smartphone which serves a ton of purposes rather than just making calls and sending texts. People depend on their phones for multiple reasons. The main reason I see people being dependent on their phones for is social media. Some people use social media to check up on others and see how they are doing. but sometimes it gets addicting and people depend on it as a form to pass time. Personally it is something that I have struggled with but I now know how to take care of it. People can depend on their smartphone for other things as well such as maps. Almost all smartphones come with a GPS installed that can be used for directions on the road. Drivers for a taxi service, Uber, Lyft, etc. are dependent on their smartphones for work and directions. Even teachers and professors had to be dependent and still are dependent on technology today. During the peak of the covid pandemic all schools had to move to online instruction for the time being in hopes of flattening the curve. Both teachers/professors and students had to get use to this unusual method of learning and teaching. Even today most communication between students and professors is done through emails and zoom meetings. There are many different people who depend on technology everyday for different reasons and that arguably makes us cyborgs as well.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
15 April 2022
I don’t really know much about class stratification/relations in the U.S. I grew up in Port Chester New York where our neighboring towns consist of Rye and Greenwich some of the wealthiest towns in the country.. I was a kid that never had to worry about eating at the end of the day yet bills were always a struggle to pay especially during the economic crash of 08″. With this in mind I was still friends with many kids in the towns around me. We grew up on the idea that if one of us ate, we all ate. “Class” never came in the way of that and that remains true to this day. The definition of poverty has changed over time due to the poverty line being increased to a bit over $12,000 a year. In todays day and age minimum wage workers are coming together and demanding high wages and better working conditions. A good point these workers make is that the companies they are working for have been growing at a very high rate so there should be no reason why workers wouldn’t receive a high wage if these companies are more than capable of dishing that money out. As far as workers pushing for better working conditions it comes down to companies not giving workers basic human rights. The best example of this is Amazon and i’m sure we have all heard some of the horror stories employees have to go through. I feel like their main audience are other workers like themselves as well as the general public because they raise awareness on the struggles and unfairness they go through. They do this through a variety of mediums but main ones being social media and strikes.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
22 April 2022
As soon as I clicked the link to access Dr. Joesph Mercola’s website I was met w an ad. The ad was trying to sell me a subscription to access some of the doctors articles and of course access is only granted through a paywall. In my opinion this is not a good look because I now feel like he is only trying to sell me something rather than inform me on the topic at hand. The layout or format of the website looks organized. The headings and subheadings on the websites sound a bit excessive and bizarre. I clicked on the “Breaking news” tab at the top of the page and was met with a video on a 13 year old kid supposedly dying after receiving the Pfizer shot. I can tell that this is fake news by simply looking at the comments. Both the usernames and the comments themselves sound fake. The comments in particular use exaggerated language and slander towards the Pfizer vaccine. it seems that this doctor is trying to spread the message that the vaccines don’t work and that other alternatives are available. Another thing I would like to note is that no matter where I go on his website a picture of his face will be visual. I truthfully feel that this doctor is only trying to make money and is spreading false information to do so. I think that too much misinformation is being spread around when it comes to science which can be dangerous to the health and well being of the audience. Regardless of the statistics and numbers there will always be people who oppose the facts and try to spread their own opinions and beliefs deeming it correct.
Cristofer Martinez
Boyle
ENG 170
29 April 2022
Im not someone who is into politics whatsoever. I try to stay away because nowadays I can’t tell what information is authentic and what information is fake. I feel like fallacies are definitely used in the political sphere to gain support from people. the slippery slope fallacy is one that I could see a lot of politicians using. I feel like they would go against a claim or topic and follow up with an outrageous impossible outcome as a result of that claim. I slightly remember the slippery slope argument former president Donald Trump made about confederate statues being taken down specifically ones of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. He claimed that if those statues were taken down then other historical figures like George Washington will be taken down next and that there will be no end to it. Many elements of our writing and rhetoric course can be applied to the world of politics. Elements such as audience and purpose are things that politicians need to keep in mind when giving speeches or statements to their supporters. I feel like politicians can be better public servants if they kept the true interests of their supporters in mind rather than their own most of the time. Politicians lie and tell people what they want to hear in order to gain even more support. If politicians were truthful to their audience it will result in them being better public servants. But usually the audience will believe and support whatever the politician is saying because it is what they want to hear. Going back to the example of Donald trump using the slippery slope fallacy that was an example of something that his supporters would like to hear even though it is not true at all.