Tentative Topic: Anorexia affecting teenagers.

Tentative Research: Find sources of what causes this disease and how it takes over their lives as well as the effects.

Rationale-: I wanted to explore this topic because I have witnessed a few close friends who have suffered from this disease. I want to know how anorexics think while they starve themselves, and how they learn to cover it up. I think that my essay will stop people, especially teenage girls, from skipping meals. The discovery in my essay could really help someone before they develop this life threatening disease.

Reading Response 2

Brown and Holmquist both chose a personal topic to research that they were curious about. Brown wondered why people tan and realized that everyone feels healthier with a golden tint. She explored the idea of tanning beds and voiced her opinion about how beds cheat you from the natural way of tanning. Holmquist explored the topic of drugs and was once a drug user. He already understood why people take these dangerous drugs, but soon discovered that these drugs are deadly. He states that "I have my whole life ahead of me still and I don't want to end up as another statistic or have one of my friends write a paper like this because of me." (Holmquist B29) Both essays gave facts while showing personal thought at the same time.
At the beginning of Brown's essay, she wonders why anyone would tan and have results of wrinkles or even skin cancer. Then she realized that she had a tan from the summer and not from a tanning bed. She was satisfied with feeling tan and knowing that it was from "the old fashioned way, playing in the sun." (Brown 458) Whatever happened to enjoying the outdoors? Who would want to pay for a tan when they could just go outside? "2/3 of the teens say they look better with a tan and feel better with a tan and feel healthier, more sophisticated and 50% said they look more athletic." (Brown 460) Teens feel the need to be tan, and as a result, tanning beds are making money and giving people cancer. I have a friend who recently had skin cancer removed from her leg as a result of fake tanning, so I take this topic very seriously. I think that Brown does a good job of saying that tanning may not be the greatest thing for the body, but at least enjoy the outdoors while doing so. Her four sources give facts about tanning and really helps her show her thoughts on the sun, tanning salons, and whether or not the sun is really a bad thing. She showed me how a research paper can be used to explore a topic that is interesting to the writer. In my essay I want to choose my topic on something that I am really curious about like Brown.
Holmquist had a very interesting topic and one that was obviously very important to him. Being a drug user and exploring the danger of drugs must have brought back some memories for him, but he was able to focus on how the three party drugs affect the mind and the body. "Most users view party drugs as being safe." (Holmquist B26) He discovered how he was putting himself in danger and was able to tie personal experience in with his research. His sources help him show how these drugs make you feel and how they have bad affects. For instance, ecstasy also known as MDMA " has become popular because of its ability to create companionship and attachment for young people who are seeking, but feel weak to ties to society." (Holmquist B26; Pederson 1704) Who wouldn't want to love and be more open to people? Maybe if people knew that it is possible to "get overheated and if not treated immediately death is possible," (Holmquist B28; Boot 2000) they would think twice before using it. He also explores the use of LSD and GHB and their affects. A lot of personal experience led to the topic of this essay. "What would make these people feel so passionately about their pro- or anti-drug views? Is something that the government finds harmful, yet so many people say is harmless, really that bad for you?" (Holmquist B24) I think that these questions sparked Holmquist's discovery essay. In my essay I hope that I can relate personal experience to my sources as well as Holmquist and I think his writing style will influence how I write my paper. I like how he starts with a personal experience of using drugs and then dove into the topic of why people use these drugs and how they are bad for you. He used many sources, more than the usual four.
Both essays use many of Ballenger's suggestions and have shown me how a research paper can be used to explain personal curiosity.

Reading Response 1

Hogg and Black both wrote personal essays in first person. In my opinion Black's essay was more personal than Hogg's. Black wrote about her experiences in Hawaii and Hogg wrote about her obsession with the Monkees. I did think that Hogg's essay was more interesting because I can relate to being obsessed with bands. Black's essay was more detail oriented and wasn't very interesting to me.
" I taped the episodes with story lines geared towards Davy, which, of course, were many,"(pg. B3) demonstrates Hogg's infatuation with a member of the Monkees. Being a girl, I can relate really well to this obsession with a music icon. "I stop for a moment, stunned by realization that this place has always existed only twenty minutes from where I grew up,"(pg. B12) demonstrates how Black is having a more personal experience in her essay.
The thesis in Hogg's essay was portrayed at the very end of her writing. She finally met the oh so fabulous Davy Jones and finally excepts "that this person I know oh so well I don't really know at all."(Pg. B10) The thesis of Black's essay was portrayed towards the end of the essay. "I finally love this place,"(pg. B13) shows that she had an epiphany of her emotions. Hogg's experience is merely realizing that she will never really know who Davy Jones is and Black's experience is that she sees that she can finally appreciate where she is in Hawaii. There is more depth in Black's writing.
Hogg thinks back to when she was 15 and "living in western Nebraska, feeling both exposed by the open landscape and obscured by the remoteness of it."(Pg. B2) After this she become thoroughly obsessed with MTV and from there sparked news of Monkees concert. She makes a lot of references back to her teens and mixes up her story. Black writes about the present and focuses on what is happening now. *At some point I forget about staying clean and grow increasingly absorbed in this wet world,"(Pg. B12) shows her ability to live in the moment, which I really like.
Hogg does a good job shifting from time periods. "He was very tan and had lost his baby face, since he was older."(Pg. B3) to "he is 53 now, still tan, full lips finally thinning, losing their roundness as the rest of his face has. "(Pg. B8) She really gave me a feel of how Davy aged over the years. Black makes a reference to where she was born" In Kenya to a Japanese mother and an American father, and spent most of her adolescence in Hawaii waiting impatiently to escape,"(Pg. B12) after she realizes that she finally grew to love it. Although Hogg is describing Davy Jones looks, she is still making a shift from her teens to her present time. Black sees herself and knows that she loves Hawaii and thinks back to when she hated it as a kid. They both reflect on their pasts at some point, but Hogg told her story as it happened and Black told her story from her present experiences. Both of these authors have unique writing styles and do a great job of showing it through their short essays.
They both have completely different ideas behind them. Hogg has grown up her entire life as a Monkees fan. Seeing their concert as a teenager was the high light of her life. When she heard that Davy Jones was playing again, she wanted to relive her adolescence. She thought that by going to the concert, she could feel what she had felt the first time she saw him perform. When she finally came face to face with Davy, she realized he was just a stranger. I had a similar experience in high school. I danced on stage at the Flaming Lips concert and met the lead singer. So I really enjoyed reading Hogg's essay. Black on the other hand wrote about Hawaii and how she never really appreciated it until she had an experience. After she started working, she realized how much Hawaii meant to her. She got to see her hard work benefit a little girl as she ate her food that Black had picked. Both authors entertained me, but I could relate to Hogg more than Black. Their essays were completely different so it is hard to compare the two, but I loved how unique they both were.