Andrew's English 101 Blog

As summer rapidly came to an end and my first day of college inched closer and closer, I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I didn't really know what to expect other than it was going to be a whole new world. Now, as the end of my first semester of college is approaching, I still do not know everything I need to know in order to be successful, but I have noticed a couple of major differences as I am sure everyone else in my position has. I wish I would have known these differences before coming to college! The first major difference was homework, homework and more homework. In high school, I had a lot of homework (at least I thought I did) but it would never take me that long to do so I had the rest of my day to hang out with my friends or do whatever I wanted. Even on the days when I didn't feel like doing or simply forgot about it I never stressed because I was able to turn it in late and still get full credit. However, in college, I have had some type of ...

Do you ever get nervous when you sit down at your desk and your teacher hands you your test for the unit? Do you feel stressed? Or do you feel confident going in but then all of a sudden you blank out and just forget everything? I can't tell you enough how many times this has happened to me and sometimes still does. I am going to provide with information on ways to improve your overall outcome when taking a test. You should always approach a test with 3 R's (Read, Review, Recite). Read - Always read the instructor and by this I mean listen to what they repeat or say really loud because most of the time it is going to be on the test! Once you get your test read all instructions. When it comes to multiple choice questions you should always predict the answer before reading your options. Eliminate where possible! When you get an essay type problem you should underline keywords such as 'explain' or 'compare'. Be strategic! write something and don't ever ...

The following comic strip hints at the idea connected to our eating habits and the current American medical system. Nowadays, many people prefer and some don't really have a choice to eat fast food such as hamburgers, fried chicken, or pizza. It's convenient and cheap. It's for everyone. However, the greatest disadvantage of fast food is the adverse effect it has on our health. It contains higher amounts of unwanted nutrients like salt, fat and various types of additives (artificial chemicals). Very small amounts of fruits and vegetables are present in fast food. Moreover, serving 'larger portions' when most people don't need it has led to several health problems. We only require a small amount of salt to maintain the health of cells. Obviously, fast food is rich in salt which adversely affects the heart health and overall health of an individual. Customers can become obese and develop diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure if they consume too m...

What do you know about the "food" you are consuming? In his documentary, Food, Inc., Robert Kenner forces his audience to ask themselves to ask this question. Most of our food comes from industrial/factory farming. Today, the top four beef packers control 80% of our entire food system. These industrial and factory type farms produce a lot of food, on a small amount of land, for a very affordable price. Here animals are being abused. Chickens are being raised in half the time they were in the 1950's (49 days vs. 3 months), but even in half the time, they are ending up twice as big ( thanks to antibiotics, among other things).  Scientists have managed to redesign the chicken to have bigger breasts because people like white meat. These chickens never see sunlight. Since chickens are growing in half the time, some can't handle the weight that they are carrying so they fall down after only taking a few steps. They also feed them corn which helps make the chickens fat ...