Philadelphia

The scene in Philadelphia that stands out for me is in the library when Miller first accepts Bekket's case. Bekket is sitting at a table minding his own business when the librarian offers him a private room. Bekket declines but the librarian insists. The librarian was not trying to make Bekket more comfortable by offering him a private room; he was trying to comfort himself by getting Bekket away from everyone else. Miller witnesses this moment and comes over to defend Bekket. This is the moment where Miller accepts Bekket's case. He sees the social stigma  Bekket faces associated with his disease. I think this scene plays on the rhetorical analysis, pathos. Pathos is used to help Miller and the audience connect to Bekket. This scene demonstrates the problems someone with AIDS has to face. This shows that Bekket's claim is plausible.

Blog #4 Experience and Other Evidence Final Topic Choices

The grassy field at the park near my house was the scene of my first experience with organized sports. I had anxiously awaited my first game after spending years watching my older sister from the sidelines. Since that day when 4 year-old Kelly stepped off the field sports have been a huge part of my life. I played soccer, lacrosse and basketball in elementary and middle school. Then specialized in basketball during my high school days. All of my four sisters and I were active athletes. Every weekend we hopped from basketball gym to soccer field. If we were not playing sports, we were passionately watching our favorite teams play.

Sports and I always had a great relationship until I was introduced to an aspect of sports I was unfamiliar with, injuries. I had seen football players get carted of the field after a crunching hit or witnessed my favorite athlete sitting out with a sling on his arm; however, I never knew how painful sports injuries could really be. The wrong turn in a seventh grade lacrosse game meant lots of ice packs and Advil until I was taken to the doctor. Then came a quick surgery, a week spent on crutches, and a month with no sports.  A few years later my shoulder a practice collision during basketball practice left my left arm hanging out of its socket. This injury brought another surgery, a month in a sling, and a year without sports. MRIs, arthroscopic surgeries, slings, and crutches introduced me to the field of sports medicine.

• How are sports and injuries connected?
• What is sports medicine and how has it evolved?
• What effect can injury have on an athlete?

Blog #3: The Experience and Other Evidence Memo

1. When I was in first grade I hopped on my older sister's bike that was just a little too big. While rounding the corner on my street the bike and my left leg became completely intertwined. The bike ended up with a few scratches of the paint; my leg on the other hand was completely broken. I broke two bones in my leg and was in a wheelchair for months. A few years later after receiving my first digital camera for Christmas as I ran to show my mom my new gift I fell again. This time I ended up with a tie-dye cast encasing my fractured left wrist. Also, my basketball career brought on several broken fingers. People would always tell me to drink more milk and perhaps my bones wouldn't break so easily. My parents bought me calcium supplements to try and make up for the lack of calcium in my diet.
• Why was I always injured? Was lack of calcium the real reason for my injuries? Was taking supplements the best way to try and improve my calcium level?
2. I have always played sports growing up. The older I got the more intense the competition became. In seventh grade on a competitive lacrosse team I tour my knee ligament, an injury that later required surgery. As I have detailed I seem to be an injury-prone person and there was none more painful than my last. As a 16 year old on my high school basketball team a practice collision left my left arm hanging out of its socket. I was in pain for weeks. When I finally had surgery the doctors discovered I had a torn rotator cuff and a shredded tendon.
• What is the relationship between injury and sports? What is the history of sports medicine?
3. As I young child I ate very poorly. I loved fast food and soda more than any other food. Anything green or leafy could not make its way into my diet. I always was never an obese child but I was not skinny either. My middle school growth spurt helped me change not only my body but my diet. Suddenly I did not want as much soda or fattening food. Now I never drink soda and am always conscious of what I eat. I am not a perfect eater by any means but better than I was. In fact my love of nutrition and exercise has shaped into what I want my career to be.
• What makes a person’s taste change? How does your diet shape who you are?

Susan Sontag's Illnes as Metaphor/AIDS and its Metaphors Reflection

While reading Susan Sontag's writings I really liked how she wrote about a cancer, a topic she had a strong emotional connection with, from an objective view. Only in her later writing did she introduce the fact that she did have cancer. I originally connected with her objective viewpoint and then really connected with her writing after she had opened up about her struggle. I, also, liked the way she used many other writers inside of her own writing. I feel this really strengthened her writing by proving support and evidence for her viewpoints. Where I faced confusion is the comparison between cancer and tuberculosis. I understand that both are feared and often avoided in conversations. The diseases are scary and most people do not open up to many people when facing such a situation. I think everyone has a different feeling about their comfortableness with these illnesses depending on their experience or connection to that particular illness. For example, in my family 4 people have suffered from cancer in the past few years. I may be more comfortable talking about cancer because people close to me have experienced the disease than someone who has never been exposed to the disease.

Blog #2: On Confessions

Confessions and apologies, while often used together as one idea, actually have two distinct meanings. An apology can accompany a confession but does not always. A confession simply means telling someone else a previous action. There does not need to be any emotion behind the words. A confession is a fact. It does not have to be a negative action, just a past action that had not been previously revealed. On the other hand, an apology comes when a person regrets a past action and tells whoever was hurt by that action they are sorry. An apology has a strong emotional connection. When apologizing a person feels remorse for having harmed someone in someway and they are trying to make up for that wrong. The distinction is important because a person needs to be able to clarify between the two actions. A confession should not be taken as an apology because the person may not be sorry for their actions.

Confessions can be appropriate in writing when the writer wants other to know of their past. A writer may confess for many reasons, including giving insight into their personal life or to prevent others from acting the same way. A confession can help a reader to relate to the writing or be drawn to the writer's honesty. A confession makes the writing very personal. I think writing about your own experiences can both hurt or help your writing based on the situation. Sharing a personal story can bring either support or criticism and the author needs to be prepared for either. I think when used in the right situation a confession or apology within writing can greatly improve a paper. However, if one is used in the wrong place it can be harmful to the writing. It is up to the author to correctly judge each situation.

Blog #1: The Writing Autobiography

Hello fellow Terps! I'm Kelly, a freshman here at the University of Maryland. I have spent my whole life within the Washington D.C. metropolitan area in the suburbs Northern Virginia. I graduated from Paul VI Catholic High School last May, after a full life of private school education I was excited to step into the big, new college world. In my college hunt I was searching for a school with the Dietetics major, close to home, and a fantastic sports program. With my older sister a University of Maryland senior and a fierce love of Maryland basketball I found College Park to be the perfect home for me over the next four years. I am working towards a Dietetics and Family Science double major. I hope to balance my social life and studies to succeed in school but have a good time while I‘m here. My goal is to have a career in sports nutrition.

As for my writing background, the majority of  my writing experience is a result of high school English classes. This heavily critiqued, literature-based writing is not what I enjoy. I do not have an issue with writing, I actually enjoy it, when I am writing about subjects I am passionate about. However, if I am writing about a “boring” subject I have trouble finding the words and think my writing sounds forced. I do not think it is fair to classify anyone as a good or bad writer because everyone’s writing styles and tastes are different. My writing style is to let the words flow freely, reread, and edit until my writing is perfect. I am a perfectionist so this process has to be repeated several times until I am happy.  I hope to gain experience with many different types of writing and creative criticism to grow as a writer.