D#14, HW#1, Peer Review

So far I have only completed one peer review as there is only one other besides mine. I thought Alexis had a very good draft with only a few minor problems that I have stated in Google docs. I will do another review as soon as more papers come in.

The other review I did was on Jason's paper it was also very well written and I only had a few suggestions for him. I have enjoyed reading all the papers that were submitted everyone looks to be doing well and best of all class is almost over cannot wait to get the final grade, good luck everyone!

D#13, HW#1, WP#4 Cover Letter Draft

Shawn Ivanovitch

English 102/3952

Professor Rodrigo

July 29, 2007

The Learning Experience

In this class I learned a lot of new aspects of writing. Some of them were refreshers of what I learned in past classes. On the other hand some things were entirely new concepts to me. While in the past I have had to do research for various classes, this is the first time that I have written a research paper of this type. I also think that I have accomplished my goal, and those goals outlined in the course outcomes and will now show where I accomplished each of those.

Write for specific rhetorical contexts, including circumstance, purpose, topic, audience and writer, as well as the writing's ethical, political, and cultural implications. In my blog I feel I best show that I have learned this in my deadline nine, homework assignment number six. Where I did an outline of what information will be shown in my writing project number three. I also think that I best demonstrated that I learned this in my writing project number three when I discus suicide. I found good information on both sides of the topic, which was also from reliable sources.

Organize writing to support a central idea through unity, coherence and logical development appropriate to a specific writing context. On this course outcome I believe I demonstrated it best in my deadline number six, homework assignment number four. All the articles I found for this annotated bibliography were on the topic of suicide that is caused by stress. In my writing project number one I also demonstrate organization when I relayed my research question that I wanted to do my project on. While there was many branches to the one topic they did revolve the around a central idea.

Use appropriate conventions in writing, including consistent voice, tone, diction, grammar, and mechanics. The best example that I can give of this outcome from my blog is in deadline ten, homework number seven that was a grammar assignment. In this assignment I corrected a paragraph that I had misused some punctuation. In my writing project number two I had to carefully arrange my bibliographies into correct APA format making sure they were grammatically correct.

Find, evaluate, select, and synthesize both online and print sources that examine a topic from multiple perspectives. In my various posts that I put in my blog I think the best example of this is deadline number five, homework assignment four. This was particularly hard to do as it was evaluating books that I only had a limited amount of access to, so evaluating them for their usefulness was even more difficult. Even with the limited information that I was able to finish the evaluation and write a good summary of how the source could be helpful. In my writing I again look at my writing project number two as this entire project was an annotated bibliography that demonstrated I was able to find sources and evaluate them, and shows how I could use them in a writing project.

Integrate sources through summarizing, paraphrasing, and quotation from sources to develop and support one's own ideas. In deadline six the class had to work on summarizing and paraphrasing for homework assignments six and seven. I think that I demonstrated well with both assignments that I learned how to appropriately rephrase or summarize the source to use in my paper. Also in writing project three I used direct quotes with the appropriate APA style citations, as well as paraphrasing sources to work in my project.

Identify, select and use an appropriate documentation style to maintain academic integrity. I had a few problems with my bibliographies in the beginning, as almost every guide you look at has different information on exactly how they should look but in my deadline nine homework number four I think I finally got it correct, or at least the best example that I can think of. In my writing project number three I had multiple occasions where I had to cite one source or another, at first I had problems with this but with the help of my peer reviews I think I got them correct in the end.

Use feedback obtained through peer review, instructor comments, and/or other sources to revise writing. This is the part of the class that I thought I would have the most problems with. I know my writing skills are not the greatest, nor are my skills at evaluating others writing. I do on the other hand think I used the information obtained from others as demonstrated in my deadline eleven homework one. I used not only the guidelines set by the assignment but the suggestions of my peers and professor to revise my paper and was much happier with the results. The first peer review was the most helpful for me though in my writing project number one. The suggestions by others helped round out my topic and form it into a more manageable subject.

Assess one's own writing strengths and identify strategies for improvement through instructor conference, portfolio review, written evaluation, and/or other methods. This is another area I have problems with, assessing myself, not only in writing but in all aspects. I think with this class that has improved, and with the multiple rewrites on papers it became easier to evaluate myself with each. This shows best in my blog in deadline number ten, homework number four and five where I had to evaluate and correct my own paragraphs. Also in my writing project one I had to assess and review my topic many times before refining it to a narrow enough scope to write on.

Generate, format, and edit writing using appropriate technologies. As I said in the beginning of class I am not the biggest fan of these types of things (blogs) but as class went on and I got more used to the writing I did find it got easier to use. I also liked the use of Google documents for a way others can evaluate work, as it was a convenient way to do it so everyone could see what others were doing. Turnitin was also a very helpful site as it let us know if we maintained the integrity of our writing, as not to be plagiarizing anyone else’s work.

In conclusion I think I met all the course outcomes and learned something new with every assignment. While it was a little difficult to make some of the deadlines as life got in the way, I always managed to catch up in the end. The writing assignments I submitted through this class show more than anything how much I have learned as I have incorporated almost every lesson into at least one of each of the assignments. Lastly the blog I have created in the progression of the class is what I am most proud of as I put a lot of effort into it and many hours were spent on that site reading others blogs learning from and commenting with my peers.

I have also shared this on Google Documents.

D#12, HW#7, Deadline

This is my last deadline review, just another sign things are drawing to an end. Looking back over my various writing projects and the blog I have created has shown me that I have grown as a writer. Where I will use this in the future is anyones guess, but if I ever need to I will keep my notes to look back on it all. It is a little odd to know that this is drawing to a close on another level also, as I was playing catchup through most of the class and now I am finally ahead it is ending. I have read through most peoples blogs at least the ones that are kept updated and commented to Jessica about a question she had on my blog and also to Jessica's blog.

D#12, HW#6, Deadline Reflection Reviews

The deadlines in this class always seemed to sneak up on me, most likely since I was playing catchup through most of the class. But for the most part I always managed to finish on time and for that I was proud of myself (I did get a little behind when I had to take finals in another class) Through them though I learned the importance of the peer review as we had to make comments on each others blogs about various topics and that was good because you could see where others were, and would give an idea, at least for me, if I was doing things correct or at least moving in the correct direction.

D#12, HW#5, Reading Reflection Reviews

The reading assignments really helped a lot in this class. While I did not put all I read about into practice in my papers it was all helpful information to have for future use and still a good lesson to learn. I like the parts about adding a little flair to your paper whether it is color, a picture, graph or a list it is good to know we had those options open to us in this writing. I learned the proper use of sentence structure when it comes to coma splicing and fragmented sentences, something I have had many problems with in the past, and still have the occasional problem with. I also thing the reading helped me grow as a writer by improving my research skills and giving great advice on narrowing a topic.

D#12, HW#4, Writing Reflection Reviews

After looking back on my writing projects I noticed first how I have changed as a writer. The things I learned as the class progressed and helped refine my skills. From my WP#1 I learned how to flesh out my ideas a little and to narrow my topic to a more managable one, than the broad topic I started with. From my WP#2 I know how to better research topics and how to create a better summary of them. And from my wp#3 I learned how to better articulate what I want to say about my topic and how to organize my thoughts to include what I found in my research.

D#12, HW#2, HW#3, Final WP#3

After I finished with my revisions I was very happy with the end results. Turn it in gave my paper a 16% but after excluding quotes and bibliographies it was only 1% so no editing should need to be done. I feel a little relief knowing this part is over after WP#1,2 lead up to this one but at least now I know I can do the research and turn out a paper I can be happy with. My next writing project will be a little different as I have to evaluate myself and my own writing where I had to grow during this class and I have never been good at that kind of thing. even though I will not use it for the next assignment I am glad I learned to do apa citations in my writing.

D#12, HW#1, Grammar

Spelling has never been my strong point even after the reading assignment and my miserable attempt at the prude owl tutorials I am still not that confident in it. Thankfully with the internet and word processor programs I do not have to worry about it as much as most of my spelling errors are fixed for me. Now biggest worry is when I spell something wrong, like in my paper, that is the correct spelling of another word, weather vs whether, sigh vs sight or principal vs principle. These types of errors I never catch myself and since they are correct spellings word seems to miss them to. since I have given examples from my papers I will not clutter my blog more by putting the entire paragraph in just to correct one word.

D#11, HW#5, Deadline

A lot of work in this deadline but I got through it all in the end and just one day late. I feel I am back on track though and look forward to the end that is in sight with only a few assignments left to go. I replied to Jay and Latron's blogs.

D#11, HW#4, Review Reflection

I would like to thank Jessica and Alexis for reviewing my paper, I did not even realize I forgot to put the publication year in my citations and their suggestions will help my paper flow better. It was also pointed out that I was letting my topic get a little on the overinflated side so I was able to go and fix that. Turn it in gave me an 11% but after removing direct quotes and citations it was only 1% and the text will not need to be revised as it was removed from the paper already with my updates in HW#1 of this deadline.

D#11, HW#3, Peer review

For this peer review I looked at all of the papers and noticed some things I did wrong and some things I did correct. I offered some advice on Oscar's paper, and also on Tegan's paper, they are all posted as notes in google docs. I hope my suggestions were helpful and improve their papers.

D#11, HW#2, Revision 2 WP#3

coming soon.. I seem to have accidentally saved my first revision over it so I need to redo this.

D#11, HW#1, Revision 1 WP#3

Shawn Ivanovitch

Eng 102/3952

Professor Rodrigo

July 23, 2007

School-time Stress

Stress is something that most people have to cope with on a daily basis, but school seems to add another level of stress that most college students, especially freshmen, have to handle. There are many types of stress that are unique to school, such as bullies and homework. While having to cope with these daily causes of stress some younger college students have to be able to also learn to handle many outside sources, such as work, that many people already out of school have also. Positive ways to manage stress can range from easy techniques, for example breathing exercises, which require minimal effort to extreme techniques, such as moving to a new school, which may be needed to relieve severe stress. Unfortunately, students have dealt with stress in the past with negative to tragic results, like the Virginia Tech or Columbine massacres, that not only hurt the student under stress but others around them. College students and professors alike should learn to recognize the signs of their classmates and colleagues being overstressed because there are many different ways to cope with stress.

According to the American College Health Association they state “stress as the number-one impediment to academic performance” (Abrams, 2007), in their national college health assessment. The main academic cause of stress to college students is the feeling of being overwhelmed due to increased class work (Ross, 1999 p2), this is due to daunting deadlines and more homework than the student thinks they can handle. There is also a helpless feeling associated with the workload the student is under like no matter how hard he or she tries there is no end to the homework. Another cause of stress, partly associated with homework, is sometimes plans have to be changed due to the student may need to meet deadlines leading to a feeling of being alone (University, 2005). Students can also be pressured by a high academic demand; either by themselves or their parents, leading to stress due to getting grades on their work that is below standard. As the school year moves on it can at times seem like there is no end in sighs causing more anxiety as it seems the winter or summer break will never arrive (Abrams, 2007). With this though another deadline presents in the form of final exams, with some of these exams being a large part of the final grade a student can achieve in the given class. All of these sources of stress seem to build up and cause increasing frustration, but there are some positive ways to handle this stress.

Being educated in some easy and positive ways to relieve stress should be the goal of most college students. According to Elizabeth Scott M.S., a therapist and life coach who runs stress management workshops, some of them are as simple as taking a power nap, this is also useful because it also improves productivity especially if the student is sleep deprived due to stress. Another method of stress reduction is exercise, as it is a healthy way to calm most people, and easy to work into a busy schedule since riding a stationary bike while studying or something similar is possible. Listening to a music, watching a television program, or reading a book (for enjoyment not school work) are also good ways to cope with the stress and take to help students break tasks into more manageable time frames (Scott, 2007). Another good way to handle the stress of school life is set some priorities and work at a set pace to accomplish tasks in the order of importance. It may sound silly but a good diet also helps manage stress “Pack a nutritious lunch -- don't make breakfast three cups of coffee and two chocolate doo-wahs out of the vending machines -- eat your veggies” (Glesner Fines, 1999), this also improves your over all health. In some more extreme cases of stress when it comes down to a person or place causing the problems it may call for some more drastic solutions, according to Kevin Caruso. Some of these are changing the students schedule as to avoid the cause of stress altogether. Other even more extreme may require the student to change their living arrangement by moving. Finding someone to talk to, such as a friend, family member, or a therapist about what is causing stress is also helpful in some cases (Caruso, 2007). Unfortunately there are also some negative ways students have discovered to handle the stress they are under.

Kevin Caruso also states “Stress isn't inherently bad. It causes you to respond to events, to rise to the challenge, and to better yourself. But too much stress can be catastrophic” (Caruso, 2007). By catastrophic the author is referring to stress leading to suicide. According to Ashley Engar “The second-leading cause of death in college students is suicide (Engar, 2004), this leads many people to believe that the high stress and anxiety causes many college students to attempt suicide. Some people do contest this as directly being related to stress caused by school especially since more college-aged young adults who are not in school commit suicide than those who are in school according to Brown University Psychological Services (Brown, N/A). The reason the number is lower is that school offers a support system for students who are in trouble and they can go to seek help as stated by Stayner Landward (Engar, 2004).

Another negative way to handle stress in recent years has been school violence. These tragic massacres most are prone to point out were just evil acts by evil people and had nothing to do with the stress they were under (Shapiro, 2007). While others point out that if someone would have just taken the time to see the stress these students were under something more could have been done to avoid them (Yang 2007). On the other hand people, such as me, believe it is something more in the middle that causes this, while yes these students were under great stress, is it really enough to cause such a tragic event.

Since no student is effect by stress the same way another student may be it is hard to tell what each person may do under the pressures of school. If college students and their teachers learn to recognize the signs of someone under stress these tragedies could be avoided in the future. Things students should look for in their own live are headaches, feeling over anxious or having problems sleeping. Also things you can look for in others are they being bullied at school and look like they are taking it personally. Do they appear to be alone a lot or looking like they may be lonely (Yang, 2007)? In conclusion if students and teachers alike learn to look for these warning signs or others tragedies like this can be avoided in the future.

Works Cited:

Abrams, M. (2007) Managing stress in school. The Princeton Review. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from <http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/research/articles/life/stress>.

Brown University. (No date given). College suicide: Myths and facts. Brown University Psychological Services. Retrieved July, 20 2007, From <http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Psychological_Services/selfhelp/suicide.html>

Caruso, K. (2007). Suicide and stress. Suicide.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://www.suicide.org/suicide-and-stress.html>.

Engar, A. (March 26, 2004). Non-Student suicide rates higher than those in college. The Daily Utah Cronicle. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2004/03/26/News/NonStudent.Suicide.Rates.Higher.Than.Those.In.College-642737.shtml>.

Glasner Fines, B. (1999). Law school and stress. University of Missouri. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from <http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/profiles/glesnerfines/bgf-strs.htm>.

Ross, S. (June 1999). Sources of stress among college students. College Student Journal. Retrieved July 20, 2007, from <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_2_33/ai_62839434/pg_1>

Scott, E. (June 21, 2007). Top 10 School Stress Relievers for Students. About.com. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from <http://stress.about.com/od/studentstress/tp/school_stress.htm.>

Shapiro, B. (April 25, 2007). Virginia Tech was an act of evil not a “tragedy”. Townhall.com. Retrieved July 23, 2007, from <http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2007/04/25/virginia_tech_was_an_act_of_evil,_not_a_tragedy>.

University of Cambridge Counciling Services. (Sept. 12, 2005). Reducing the risk of Suicide. University of Cambridge. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://www.counselling.cam.ac.uk/suiciderisk.html>

Yang, B. (2007). A solution for someone like Cho Seung-Hui at Virginia Tech massacre. Health Articles Directory. Retrieved July 15, 2007, from <http://www.know-your-health.com/general-health/a-solution-for-someone-like-cho-seung-hui-at-virginia-tech-massacre.html>.

• I think the changes I made make my paper flow better and it more targets my audience, I also focused the target a lot more and took out some of the information that seemed not to lead anywhere or have any supporting evidence. Over all I am happy with the changes I made.
  

D#10, HW#8, Deadline

This deadline was a good one I feel I got a lot done I just wish I would have got it done in time I really don't like playing catch up but I did get my paper in on time at least. I replied to 2 people today they are on Jay's and Keleisa's blogs.

D#10, HW#7, Grammar

For this grammar assignment I read up on punctuation in the handbook. Then I went to the prude owl and did some of the tutorials on punctuation, I found I am not really good at it,a as I did poorly on it. This is the area I still need a lot of work on especially on the proper placement of commas and semicolons and when it is the correct place to use them. it was suggested that this paragraph needed some work with punctuation so I revised it:

• “The American College Health Association cites stress as the number-one impediment to academic performance in its national college health assessment” (Abrams). The main cause of stress to students is the feeling of being overwhelmed. This is mainly due to daunting deadlines and more homework than the student thinks they can handle. There is also a helpless feeling associated with the workload the student is under like no matter how hard he or she tries there is no end to the homework. Another cause of stress, partly associated with homework, is sometimes plans have to be changed due to the student may need to meet deadlines leading to a feeling of being alone. Students can also be pressured by a high academic demand; either by themselves or their parents, leading to stress due to getting grades on their work that are below standard. As the school year moves on it can at times seem like there is no end in sight causing more anxiety as it seems the winter or summer break will never arrive. With this though another deadline presents in the form of final exams, with some of these exams being a large part of the final grade a student can achieve in the given class. All of these sources of stress seem to build up and cause increasing frustration, but there are some positive ways to handle this stress.

• “The American College Health Association cites stress as the number-one impediment to academic performance in its national college health assessment” (Abrams). The main cause of stress to students is the feeling of being overwhelmed this is mainly due to daunting deadlines and more homework than the student thinks they can handle. There is also a helpless feeling associated with the workload the student is under like no matter how hard he or she tries there is no end to the homework. Another cause of stress, partly associated with homework, is sometimes plans have to be changed due to the student may need to meet deadlines leading to a feeling of being alone. Students can also be pressured by a high academic demand; either by themselves or their parents, leading to stress due to getting grades on their work that are below standard. As the school year moves on it can ,at times, seem like there is no end in sight causing more anxiety as it seems the winter or summer break will never arrive. With this though another deadline presents in the form of final exams, with some of these exams being a large part of the final grade a student can achieve in the given class. All of these sources of stress seem to build up and cause increasing frustration, but there are some positive ways to handle this stress.

D#10, HW#6, Discussion

The transitional words I think would help my paper the most are:

1. for instance
• I think this would be used to add additional examples in my writing as to make my papers layout flow a little easier from paragraph to paragraph.
2. in all fairness
• I think I should use this one to better indicate when I am transitioning from the view I support to the opposing view as it's wording is easier than just stating the other view in my paper.
3. as a result
• I just think this sounds better than in conclusion.

D#10, HW#5, Transitions

The first paragraph I chose to revise was my first one.

• Stress is something that most people have to cope with on a daily basis, but school seems to add another level of stress that most students have to handle. There are many types of stress that are unique to school, while at the same time some older students have to be able to deal with outside sources that many people already out of school have to cope with also. There are a lot of positive ways to manage stress, from easy to do techniques to some extreme techniques that may have to be taken to relieve stress. There are also some negative to tragic ways students have dealt with stress in the past. The results of these tragic events also causes more stress on students, but while not unique to students this post traumatic stress is just something else in their daily lives. Most students have had to deal with stress while they attended school, everyone should learn to recognize the signs of someone being overstressed because there are positive and negative ways to cope with stress and if they chose a negative path the results can be devastating.

• Stress is something that most people have to cope with on a daily basis, but school seems to add another level of stress that most students have to handle. There are many types of stress that are unique to school, while at the same time some older students have to be able to deal with outside sources that many people already out of school have to cope with also. Positive ways to manage stress can range from easy techniques that require minimal effort to extreme techniques that may be needed to relieve severe stress. Unfortunately, students have dealt with stress in the past with negative to tragic ways. The results of these tragic events also cause even more stress on students. However, while not unique to students, this post traumatic stress adds an additional burden to their daily lives. Most students have had to deal with stress while they attended school. Students and teachers should learn to recognize the signs of their classmates and colleagues being overstressed because there are many different ways to cope with stress, if a negative path is chosen the results can be devastating.

I think the changes target my audience better and helps the flow of the paragraph.

The next paragraph I chose to revise is my second one:

• “The American College Health Association cites stress as the number-one impediment to academic performance in its national college health assessment” (Abrams). The main cause of stress to students is the feeling of being overwhelmed. This is mainly due to daunting deadlines and more homework than the student thinks they can handle. There is also a helpless feeling associated with the workload the student is under like no matter how hard he or she tries there is no end to the homework. Another cause of stress, partly associated with homework, is sometimes plans have to be changed due to the student may need to meet deadlines leading to a feeling of being alone. Students can also be pressured by a high academic demand; either by themselves or their parents, leading to stress due to getting grades on their work that is below standard. As the school year moves on it can at times seem like there is no end in sighs causing more anxiety as it seems the winter or summer break will never arrive. With this though another deadline presents in the form of final exams, with some of these exams being a large part of the final grade a student can achieve in the given class. All of these sources of stress seem to build up and cause increasing frustration, but there are some positive ways to handle this stress.

• “The American College Health Association cites stress as the number-one impediment to academic performance in its national college health assessment” (Abrams). The main cause of stress to students is the feeling of being overwhelmed. This is mainly due to daunting deadlines and more homework than the student thinks they can handle. There is also a helpless feeling associated with the workload the student is under, for instance the feeling that no matter how hard he or she tries there is no end to the homework. Another cause of stress, partly associated with homework, is sometimes plans have to be changed due to the student may need to meet deadlines, in general this leads to a feeling of being alone. Students can also be pressured by a high academic demand; either by themselves or their parents, leading to stress due to getting grades on their work that is below standard. As the school year moves on it can at times seem like there is no end in sighs causing more anxiety as it seems the winter or summer break will never arrive. With this though another deadline presents in the form of final exams, with some of these exams being a large part of the final grade a student can achieve in the given class. All of these sources of stress seem to build up and cause increasing frustration, but there are some positive ways to handle this stress.

I also feel that these changes improve the flow of the paragraph and I will most likely keep them in my final draft.

D#10, HW#4, 2 paragraphs

“Stress isn't inherently bad. It causes you to respond to events, to rise to the challenge, and to better yourself. But too much stress can be catastrophic” (Caruso 2007). By catastrophic the author is referring to stress leading to suicide. “The second-leading cause of death in college students is suicide, leading many to believe that high stress levels and anxiety cause students to attempt suicide” (Engar 2004). Some people do contest this as directly being related to stress caused by school especially since more school-aged young adults who are not in school commit suicide than those who are in school, but the reason the number is lower is that school offers a support system for students who are in trouble and can go to seek help. Another negative way to handle stress in recent years has been school violence. These tragic massacres most are prone to point out were just evil acts by evil people and had nothing to do with the stress they were under (Shapiro 2007). While others point out that if someone would have just taken the time to see the stress these students were under something more could have been done to avoid them (Yang 2007). On the other hand people, such as me, believe it is something more in the middle that causes this, while yes these students were under great stress, is it really enough to cause such a tragic event. After such a tragedy as suicide or violence at a school, the post traumatic stress it causes is just more a student as to worry about.

Since no student is effect by stress the same way another student may be it is hard to tell what each person may do under the pressures of school. If students and their teachers learn to recognize the signs of someone under stress these tragedies could be avoided in the future. Things students should look for in their own live are headaches, feeling over anxious or having problems sleeping. Also things you can look for in others are they being bullied at school and look like they are taking it personally. Do they appear to be alone a lot or looking like they may be lonely (Yang 2007)? In conclusion if students and teachers alike learn to look for these warning signs or others tragedies like this can be avoided in the future.

Caruso, K. (2007). Suicide and stress. Suicide.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://www.suicide.org/suicide-and-stress.html>.

Engar, A. (March 26, 2004). Non-Student suicide rates higher than those in college. The Daily Utah Cronicle. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2004/03/26/News/NonStudent.Suicide.Rates.Higher.Than.Those.In.College-642737.shtml>.

Shapiro, B. (April 25, 2007). Virginia Tech was an act of evil not a “tragedy”. Townhall.com. Retrieved July 23, 2007, from <http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2007/04/25/virginia_tech_was_an_act_of_evil,_not_a_tragedy>.

Yang, B. (2007). A solution for someone like Cho Seung-Hui at Virginia Tech massacre. Health Articles Directory. Retrieved July 15, 2007, from <http://www.know-your-health.com/general-health/a-solution-for-someone-like-cho-seung-hui-at-virginia-tech-massacre.html>.

I had already included in text citations so I went back and corrected them to apa style.

D#10, HW#2, HW#3, WP#3 Draft

Shawn Ivanovitch

Eng 102/3952

Professor Rodrigo

July 23, 2007

School-time Stress

Stress is something that most people have to cope with on a daily basis, but school seems to add another level of stress that most students have to handle. There are many types of stress that are unique to school, while at the same time some older students have to be able to deal with outside sources that many people already out of school have to cope with also. Positive ways to manage stress can range from easy techniques that require minimal effort to extreme techniques that may be needed to relieve severe stress. Unfortunately, students have dealt with stress in the past with negative to tragic ways. The results of these tragic events also cause even more stress on students. However, while not unique to students, this post traumatic stress adds an additional burden to their daily lives. Most students have had to deal with stress while they attended school. Students and teachers should learn to recognize the signs of their classmates and colleagues being overstressed because there are many different ways to cope with stress, if a negative path is chosen the results can be devastating.

“The American College Health Association cites stress as the number-one impediment to academic performance in its national college health assessment” (Abrams). The main cause of stress to students is the feeling of being overwhelmed. This is mainly due to daunting deadlines and more homework than the student thinks they can handle. There is also a helpless feeling associated with the workload the student is under like no matter how hard he or she tries there is no end to the homework. Another cause of stress, partly associated with homework, is sometimes plans have to be changed due to the student may need to meet deadlines leading to a feeling of being alone. Students can also be pressured by a high academic demand; either by themselves or their parents, leading to stress due to getting grades on their work that is below standard. As the school year moves on it can at times seem like there is no end in sighs causing more anxiety as it seems the winter or summer break will never arrive. With this though another deadline presents in the form of final exams, with some of these exams being a large part of the final grade a student can achieve in the given class. All of these sources of stress seem to build up and cause increasing frustration, but there are some positive ways to handle this stress.

Being educated in some easy and positive ways to relieve stress should be the goal of most students and teachers. Some of them are as simple as taking a power nap, this is also useful because it also improves productivity especially if the student is sleep deprived due to stress. Another method of stress reduction is exercise, as it is a healthy way to calm most people, and easy to work into a busy schedule since riding a stationary bike while studying or something similar is possible. Listening to a music, watching a television program, or reading a book (for enjoyment not school work) are also good ways to cope with the stress and take to help students break tasks into more manageable time frames. Another good way to handle the stress of school life is set some priorities and work at a set pace to accomplish tasks in the order of importance. “Pack a nutritious lunch -- don't make breakfast three cups of coffee and two chocolate doo-wahs out of the vending machines -- eat your veggies” (Glesner Fines). It may sound silly but eating properly is also another good way for students to improve health and to manage stress. In some more extreme cases of stress when it comes down to a person or place causing the problems it may call for some more drastic solutions. Some of these are changing the students schedule as to avoid the cause of stress altogether. Other even more extreme may require the student to change their living arrangement by moving. Finding someone to talk to, such as a friend, family member, or a therapist about what is causing stress is also helpful in some cases. Unfortunately there are also some negative ways students have discovered to handle the stress they are under.

“Stress isn't inherently bad. It causes you to respond to events, to rise to the challenge, and to better yourself. But too much stress can be catastrophic” (Caruso). By catastrophic the author is referring to stress leading to suicide. “The second-leading cause of death in college students is suicide, leading many to believe that high stress levels and anxiety cause students to attempt suicide” (Engar). Some people do contest this as directly being related to stress caused by school especially since more school-aged young adults who are not in school commit suicide than those who are in school, but the reason the number is lower is that school offers a support system for students who are in trouble and can go to seek help. Another negative way to handle stress in recent years has been school violence. These tragic massacres most are prone to point out were just evil acts by evil people and had nothing to do with the stress they were under (Shapiro). While others point out that if someone would have just taken the time to see the stress these students were under something more could have been done to avoid them (Yang). On the other hand people, such as me, believe it is something more in the middle that causes this, while yes these students were under great stress, is it really enough to cause such a tragic event. After such a tragedy as suicide or violence at a school, the post traumatic stress it causes is just more a student as to worry about.

Since no student is effect by stress the same way another student may be it is hard to tell what each person may do under the pressures of school. If students and their teachers learn to recognize the signs of someone under stress these tragedies could be avoided in the future. Things students should look for in their own live are headaches, feeling over anxious or having problems sleeping. Also things you can look for in others are they being bullied at school and look like they are taking it personally. Do they appear to be alone a lot or looking like they may be lonely (Yang)? In conclusion if students and teachers alike learn to look for these warning signs or others tragedies like this can be avoided in the future.

Works Cited:

Abrams, M. (2007) Managing stress in school. The Princeton Review. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from <http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/research/articles/life/stress>.

Caruso, K. (2007). Suicide and stress. Suicide.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://www.suicide.org/suicide-and-stress.html>.

Engar, A. (March 26, 2004). Non-Student suicide rates higher than those in college. The Daily Utah Cronicle. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from <http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2004/03/26/News/NonStudent.Suicide.Rates.Higher.Than.Those.In.College-642737.shtml>.

Glasner Fines, B. (1999). Law school and stress. University of Missouri. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from <http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/profiles/glesnerfines/bgf-strs.htm>.

Shapiro, B. (April 25, 2007). Virginia Tech was an act of evil not a “tragedy”. Townhall.com. Retrieved July 23, 2007, from <http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2007/04/25/virginia_tech_was_an_act_of_evil,_not_a_tragedy>.

Yang, B. (2007). A solution for someone like Cho Seung-Hui at Virginia Tech massacre. Health Articles Directory. Retrieved July 15, 2007, from <http://www.know-your-health.com/general-health/a-solution-for-someone-like-cho-seung-hui-at-virginia-tech-massacre.html>.

I also posted this to turnitin.com, it came back with 11% match, 10% was all in quotes while the 1% was in my citations

D#10, HW#1, Reading

This reading mainly helped with my paragraph structure and should help with my draft of WP#3. I did go through after I had finished and I do think I did get them right but I guess only time will tell.

D#9, HW#7, Deadline

I was again late with this deadline due to the finals I had in other classes but I should be back on track now (I hope) but I found the work this deadline to be a little more difficult especially the outline as I have never done one of that style before. I replied to Alexis's blog this deadline.

D#9, HW#6, Outline

Project Claim: Stress can lead to tragedy at schools if left unchecked.

Reason 1: Stress can lead to suicide

• Warrant/Principle: People under stress sometimes get depressed.
• Backing: feelings like you can never get cough up with your school work can be depressing
• Evidence#1: Therapists have correlated stress with depression and suicide.
  
• Warrant/Principle: People usually trust what therapists say.
• Backing: Therapists have an interest in their patience and their research.
• Backing: Therapists have gone to school to become an authority on mental disorders.
• Backing: Therapists usually see a lot of people not just base what they report on one or 2.
• Evidence#2: School officials have dealt with suicide at their schools.
• Warrant/Principle: School officials have hands on experience with school suicides.
• Objection: School officials are not trained in mental disorders.
• Rebuttal: School officials have hands on experience with stress and students.

Reason#2: Stress can lead to violence at schools.

• Warrant/Principle: School massacres in the past have been stress related.
• Backing: There are many causes of stress such as being teased or bullied.
• Evidence#1: The Columbine Massacre.
• Warrant/Principle: The kids involved were tired of being bullied or teased for being different.
• Backing: They targeted people who bullied them.
• Backing They targeted people who ignored them.
• Evidence#2: The Virginia Tech Massacre.
• Warrant/Principle: The student involved killed people he did not like.
• His statements after the shooting made on television stated he did not like rich people because they thought they were better than him

D#9, HW#5, Chapter 8

1. Finding additional resources:

1. I would still like to find more information opposing the view that school massacres can be caused by stress. I was advised to try to do more refined searches and came up with a couple good articles.
2. I was told that my weakest point was the opposing argument I had found and my other weak point was I needed to come up with more information on post traumatic stress.
3. After showing another friend my draft of wp#3 they also agreed I need to find better support for both the above topics.

2. Evaluating your resources:
I chose an article on how the Virginia Tech shooting was not tragic but an act of pure evil as the source to evaluate.

• I think my audience may be offended by the source mainly just by the title, because while the shooting may have been pure evil it in no way should be look on as any less tragic.
• I think my audience would need to know that this is an argument opposing my view and all they would need to locate this is the web address to this article that is in my works cited at the end of my wp#3.
• This source is very critical to my work as it is one of the few I have found wil an opossing view to my research topic,

3. Developing Evaluation Criteria:

1. The audience for this project is mainly college students and teachers, they should want to know the seriousness of how stress can effect them, they need to know signs of being overstressed.
2. The purpose is to show the tragic results of to much stress without a healthy outlet.
3. This research project is timely due to the recent and past school shootings. There is the recent shooting at Virginia Tech and the past shooting at a Columbine high school.
4. I needed to find information about stress specifically the stress directly related to school.
5. Other issues that should be covered is post traumatic stress.
6. Stress factors not relate to school or school factors should be avoided.

4. Addressing your audiences wants and needs.

1. Students and Teachers are my audience.
2. For both groups I think they value being able to goto school and know they are safe.
3. For both groups I think they need evidence that there are ways to prevent these tragedies.
   
4. I think my audience has thought about this issue and from my feedback on my blog I think they find it interesting while some agree others do not.

D#9, HW#4, Bibliographies

Marshall, P. (2002, December 6). Homework debate. CQ Researcher, 12, 993-1012. Retrieved July 22, 2007, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2002120600.

This article is about the workload of students and how it has increased in recent years. It also talks about how this is causing students more stress than ever before. While this article is aimed at younger students I think the same applies to students who push themselves or are pushed to had by their parents because taking to many classes in a semester in college can also give you an overwhelming work load.

Clemmitt, M. (2007, July 13). Students under stress. CQ Researcher, 17, 577-600. Retrieved July 22, 2007, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2007071300.

This article talks about some of the effects of stress. It describes how students with to much of a work load can be sleep deprived over stress and some of the more common ailments stress can cause. It is also aimed at younger kids but I think it still applies to college students.

Hosansky, D. (2004, February 13). Youth suicide. CQ Researcher, 14, 125-148. Retrieved July 22, 2007, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2004021300.

This is a good article it talks about youth suicide. It also give some good statistics on how many youths do try to kill themselves each year going back a number of years

D#9, HW#2, HW#3, WP#2 Review

First I would like to say y wp#2 was a little late to be turned in due to turnitin.com was down when I tried it last night but I did get it turned in as soon as I had access again to my computer.

Second I think this writing project really helped me to get my articles more organized and in a manner I can more easily write my WP#3 while I did have to change things around a lot from the way I had them organized to the proper alphabetical order that I needed for the assignment I still have my draft with them in the order I need them. I am sorry if that cuased a little confusion with some of my bibliographies.

D#9, HW#1, Reading Reflection

Todays reading was mainly on how to do the outlines we need to do in this assignment I think I got a lot of good tips so my outline will look cleaner and much more organized.

D#8, HW#5, Deadline

I was a little late with this deadline as I had a math final to study for and go take but I should be back on track again. I did learn a lot this deadline and it will help me with my WP#2 refining the bibliographies so I look forward to using what I learned. I also replied to Kelesia's blog.

D#8, HW#4, Grammar

For this Grammar assignment I noticed I needed to do a lot of work on my citations so I went to the prude owl and looked at the APA reference section and followed some of the tutorials then I revised some of my own citations from my WP#2

Before:

Abrams, M. (2007) Managing Stress in School. The Princeton Review. July 9, 2007, from princetonreview.com http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/research/articles/life/stress.asp.

Carter, M. (April 20, 2007). Columbine Survivor: Expect an Emotional Roller Coaster. CNN. July 15, 2007, from CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/04/19/shooting.columbine.survivor/index.html.

Caruso, K. (2007). Suicide and Stress. Suicide.org July 14, 2007, from suicide.org http://www.suicide.org/suicide-and-stress.html

After:

Abrams, M. (2007) Managing stress in school. The Princeton Review. Retrieved July 9, 2007, from http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/research/articles/life/stress.asp.

Carter, M. (April 20, 2007). Columbine survivor: Expect an emotional roller coaster. CNN.com. Retrieved July 15, 2007, from http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/04/19/shooting.columbine.survivor/index.html.

Caruso, K. (2007). Suicide and stress. Suicide.org. Retrieved July 14, 2007, from http://www.suicide.org/suicide-and-stress.html

D#8, HW#3, Chapter 7

1. What is my rhetorical situation:

• What are the effects of stress on students and what are some positive and negative ways students can cope with stress?
• I want to know if students under a lot of stress can lead to violence, such as the Virginia Tech massacre, or suicide. I also want to know if these things can be avoided by finding or helping people find positive ways to handle stress.
• The audience I am addressing in this paper is my professor and also my classmates.
• I chose this topic for a couple of different reasons. I am a student and I am experiencing the stress from classwork first hand. Also I am a parent and have seen the effects of school stress on my own children.

2. Responding to my research question:

1. Due to stress students can commit acts of violence towards themselves or others.
2. Stress alone cannot be the cause of violent acts.
3. Even if someone, such as the students parents, would have seen the stress their child was under these situations could not have been avoided.
4. If a parent, teacher, or councilor would have been aware of the stress these students were under these massacres could have been avoided.

Answer 3 would seem the most unlikely from the research I have conducted, while it may not be stress alone that causes the school massacres if someone would have noticed how these students were feeling I think school massacres could have been avoided.

Answer 4 seems the most likely answer from the research I have found. There are always positive ways of coping with stress and these students just went unnoticed for to long and could not deal with their situations any longer. I also think given my audience is also students this answer would be the most likely one as most students have had to deal with stress sometime in their lives.

3. Developing a thesis:

• What are the effects of stress on students and what are some positive and negative ways students can cope with stress?
• While stress may not be the only factor it was a major factor in recent and past school massacres.
• People need to recognize the signs of stress to be able to avoid future massacres.
• Learning these signs can help not only yourself but others get the help they may need.
• Learning positive ways of coping with stress can also help people handle their situation.
  

• Most students have had to deal with stress while they attended school, everyone should learn to recognize the signs of someone being overstressed because there are positive and negative ways to cope with stress and if someone choses a negative path the results can be devastating.

4. Understanding my warrants:

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes. I think so because we are mostly all students and have felt the stress of deadlines and such due to school.

5. Developing Rebuttals

The main rebuttal I can think of on this paper is, and this has been asked by some of my classmates, can stress really be a main cause of these school massacres? Like I said I do not believe it to be the only cause I do think it ranks high on the list.

D#8, HW#2, Peer Reflection

As I stated in HW#1 I reviewed Tomoko and Jay and judging by their papers I really need to work on my bibliographies. I found theirs to be a lot more complete than mine and giving much more information on why the article was useful. The comments on my paper are helpful, and I may refine my question a little more because of them I am just not sure if I like the wording yet or not. I also need to work more on my citations. Turnitin.com gave my paper 13% but it was all in the citations so I do not think I need to change anything.

D#8, HW#1, Peer Reviews

I read all the current drafts of WP#2 and think they are all very good. I offered what little advice I could on Tomoko's paper and also on Jay's paper. With everyone getting better at writing it is getting harder and harder to offer reviews on these papers.

D#7, HW#6, Deadline

This deadline did not seem to sneak up on me as the last couple did I even seemed to be ahead a little bit. As I get more used to the type of work we are doing it seems to be coming easier to me and that is a good thing. Today I took the time to reply to only a couple of blogs.

I replied to Jay.
I also replied to Amanda.
Finally replied to Ryan.

D#7, HW#4, HW#5, Draft of WP#2

Thia has also been submitted to turnitin.com and googledocs

My Annotated Bibliographies

For my research project I chose to examine the effects of stress on students, and weather the stress leads to suicide or violence. I will also look into causes of stress both specifically related to students and some outside causes of stress that students may be under. Then I will discus positive ways that students may deal with stress, and also some of the more extreme ways they have dealt with stress. Finally I will look at stress caused by students committing suicide or violent acts at school such as school bullies or the more gruesome acts such as the recent shootings at schools.

Abrams, M. (2007) Managing Stress in School. The Princeton Review. July 9, 2007, from the princetonreview.com.

http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/research/articles/life/stress.asp.

This article I found was from the Princeton Review and was also about managing stress in schools, while some of the tips were the same it also had a lot of other good information on more positive ways to deal with stress in every day life.

Carter, M. (April 20, 2007). Columbine Survivor: Expect an Emotional Roller Coaster. CNN. July 15, 2007, from CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/04/19/shooting.columbine.survivor/index.html.

This is another article on post traumatic stress, this time after the Columbine massacre and it takes a look back 8 years and how the survivors are dealing with it even today. It is also a good look at the long term effects of stress on people. The article focuses on one woman who now herself has a family.

Caruso, K. (2007). Suicide and Stress. Suicide.org July 14, 2007, from suicide.org

http://www.suicide.org/suicide-and-stress.html

This article talks about some positive if not drastic ways of dealing with stress and how you control your life not others. While I do not think the way the author suggests dealing with stress are positive in some extreme cases maybe it is what some people need to do to avoid something like another Virginia tech massacre.

Engar, A. (March 26, 2004). Non-Student Suicide Rates Higher than those in College. The Daily Utah Cronicle. July 14, 2007, from University of Utah.

http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2004/03/26/News/NonStudent.Suicide.Rates.Higher.Than.Those.In.College-642737.shtml

This article talks about how school does have more stress for young adults but the suicide rate is lower due to it also offers a support system for those students. It also points out that after accidents suicide is the number two killer of college age young adults. Even though it shows more non-students are more likely to fall to the pressures of life.

Glasner Fines, B. (1999). Law School and Stress. University of Missouri. July 9, 2007, from law.umkc.edu.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/profiles/glesnerfines/bgf-strs.htm.

The next reference I found was a little different it is a speech given by a college professor about stress in law school. While I am not looking specifically at law school in my paper I think some of the key points still apply.

Scott, E. (June 21, 2007). Top 10 School Stress Relievers for Students. About.com. July 9, 2007, from about .com.

http://stress.about.com/od/studentstress/tp/school_stress.htm.

This article from a free newsletter from about.com about 10 ways students can reduce or relieve stress I think these tips are very handy and something every student should know. Some of the ways to reduce stress are also easy to do and do not take to much time out of every day life making it easy to schedule in to even the busiest persons life.

University of Cambridge Counciling Services. (Sept. 12, 2005). Reducing the risk of Suicide. University of Cambridge. July 14, 2007, from counseling.cam.ac.uk

http://www.counselling.cam.ac.uk/suiciderisk.html

This article is more about the signs of students as they may be thinking of suicide and how stress is a factor at times. It is a very good article on how to spot the warning signs of stress not only in yourself but in the people around you. I think the author wants to show that some of these signs can be very public in the way they present themselves.

Waldman, H. (July 2004) What to do if you don't like School. Kids Health. July 9, 2007, from kidshealth.org.

http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/grow/school_stuff/hate_school.html.

This article I will note is for younger kids but I think the lesson learned is universal. It discuses what to do if you don't like school and gives even more signs that a student may be under stress.

Wojtalewicz, A. (April 26, 2007). CSUF Remembers Victims of Virginia Tech. Daily Titan. July 15, 2007, from dailytitan.com. http://media.www.dailytitan.com/media/storage/paper861/news/2007/04/26/News/Csuf-Remembers.Victims.Of.Virginia.Tech-2882252.shtml.

This Article is also something I want to focus on while the shooter at Virginia Tech may have been under stress what about the stress he has caused. This is an article was wrote just one week after the shooting and gives good insight on how things are going for the survivors. The perspective is that of mourning over the loss of fellow students.

Yang, B. (2007). A Solution for Someone Like Cho Seung-Hui At Virginia Tech Massacre. Health Articles Directory. July 15, 2007, from know-your-health.com

http://www.know-your-health.com/general-health/a-solution-for-someone-like-cho-seung-hui-at-virginia-tech-massacre.html.

This article directly discuses some of the reasons the massacre happened may have been the stress that Cho was under. It is also the first article I found giving a direct link between the stress as the cause of violence. The author of this article is an MD who specializing in mind and body so I feel has some authority on the subject matter.

These articles all share a similar topic but all take a very unique view on it. I think after finding the diverse views of these authors it will serve to make my paper more complete in showing all views of the effects of stress.

D#7, HW#3, Chapter 11

I was not planning to use any visuals for my WP#2 project so that part of chapter 11 did not change anything but I do think the lists and use of bullet point will give me a cleaner look and a more organized paper I will have to try it with and without and see witch I like better before submitting.

D#7, HW#2, Bibliographies

Wojtalewicz, A. (April 26, 2007). CSUF Remembers Victims of Virginia Tech. Daily Titan. July 15, 2007, from dailytitan.com.
http://media.www.dailytitan.com/media/storage/paper861/news/2007/04/26/News/Csuf-Remembers.Victims.Of.Virginia.Tech-2882252.shtml.

This Article is also something I want to focus on while the shooter at Virginia Tech may have been under stress what about the stress he has caused. This is an article wrote just one week after the shooting and give good insight on how things are going now.

Yang, B. (2007). A Solution for Someone Like Cho Seung-Hui At Virginia Tech Massacre. Health Articles Directory. July 15, 2007, from know-your-health.com
http://www.know-your-health.com/general-health/a-solution-for-someone-like-cho-seung-hui-at-virginia-tech-massacre.html.

This article directly links some of the reasons the massacre happened was the stress that Cho was under it is also the first I found giving a direct link. The author of this article is an MD who specializing in mind and body so I feel has some authority on the subject matter.

Carter, M. (April 20, 2007). Columbine Survivor: Expect an Emotional Roller Coaster. CNN. July 15, 2007, from CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/04/19/shooting.columbine.survivor/index.html.

This is another article on post traumatic stress, this time after the Columbine massacre and it takes a look back 8 years and how the survivors are dealing with it even today.

D#7, HW#1, Reading

This reading assignment was about the use of visuals:

1. Lists such as this one.
   
2. Graphs for important statistics.
   
3. Charts to show how things are related.
   
4. Pictures that capture the feel of your paper.

I also learned that they should be used sparingly as most of the time they act as a distraction to the reader and do not often add much content. I am not sure if I will use any in my writing yet but if I do I will keep these important lessons in mind.

D#6, HW#11, Deadline

This deadline seemed to get a little easier finally as I get more and more used to the tech. I am hoping I am doing everything correctly as I start my WP#2.

I responded to Latron's blog.
I also responded to Perez.

D#6, HW#10, Grammar

For todays assignment I looked at comma splicing and sentence fragments. I did the tutorials at the prude owl and went to the grammar girls topic on the serial comma. I did find I am a frequent user of both and on my wp#1 I even had a comma spiced sentence that I have corrected. I hope this helps me for future writing.

D#6, HW#9, Check List

I chose to criticly evaluate the article by Kevin Caruso on suicide and stress.

• The author mainly supports his paper with opinion based on his point of view.
• The author offers very little supporting evidence for his claims and more personal opinion.
• The author provides personal opinion, while it is convincing I am not sure how many people can just up and move when things get stressful.
• While the evidence is accurate I am not sure how helpful it would be to some people.
  
• The author does display bias when he states everyone should get a therapist.
• The author does a good job of giving examples with his statements.
• While a little on the bias side the author does give a good balance that not everyone stresses for the same reason.
• The author does not offer any viewpoint but his own.
• The author did not include any pictures or charts.
• While the authors reasons are valid his solutions may not be.
• The writer does over simplify with his solutions as not everyone can just pick up and move on a moments notice.

D#6, HW#8, Taking Notes

Thanks to this chapter my notes have a lot more detail and are more organized this should making my final writing of my research project easier. I have demonstrated the ways of doing that with HW#5-7.

D#6, HW#7, Paraphrasing

The article I will be paraphrasing is from the Univ of Cambridge about the reasons a student would want to kill themselves

1. Feelings they are isolated and no one would notice them missing.
2. Feeling what they do does not matter and no one can help.
3. Feeling they are worthless, and have a low self-esteem.
4. Feeling negatively about themselves or their actions and are depressed.
5. Feeling inadequate due to plans or relationships going poorly.
6. Feeling overly stressed by the pressures of school.
7. Feeling angry of vengeful such as after a relationship ends.
8. Acting under the influence causing the above feelings.
9. Mental or Physical illness.
10. Feeling overwhelmed.

D#6, HW#6, Summarizing

Kevin Caruso's article on suicide and stress is about how everyone is under stress. While we are not all under the same kind of stress we all need to find ways of dealing with our stress in a positive and effective manner. The article also states that everyone, at least at a college level is in charge of their own lives and if needed to reduce stress, if it is caused by another person or place, may need to make drastic changes in their lives to reduce stress.

D#6, HW#5, Situation

• The author of this source is Ashley Engar, and she is a reporter.
• The author is affiliated with The Daily Utah Chronicle.
• The author is trying to provide information. She provides information without injection to much opinion.
  
• The authors audience is non student young adults because she is pointing out they are at more risk for suicide than students.

I think this paper was well write but I do not think the answers to the questions would have changed the article much, I think she meets her objectives with the article.

D#6, HW#4, Bibliographies

Engar, A. (March 26, 2004). Non-Student Suicide Rates Higher than those in College. The Daily Utah Cronicle. July 14, 2007, from University of Utah.
http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2004/03/26/News/NonStudent.Suicide.Rates.Higher.Than.Those.In.College-642737.shtml

This article talks about how school does have more stress for young adults but the suicide rate is lower due to it also offers a supprt system for those students.

Caruso, K. (2007). Suicide and Stress. Suicide.org July 14, 2007, from suicide.org
http://www.suicide.org/suicide-and-stress.html

This article talks about some positive if not drastic ways of dealing with stress and how you control your life not others.

University of Cambridge Counciling Services. (Sept. 12, 2005). Reducing the risk of Suicide. University of Cambridge. July 14, 2007, from counseling.cam.ac.uk
http://www.counselling.cam.ac.uk/suiciderisk.html

This article is more about the signs of students as they may be thinking of suicide and how stress is a factor at times.

D#6, HW#2, HW#3, WP#1final

I submitted my final draft of WP#1 to Turnitin.com

On this writing project I took the following steps:

1. Organized my workspace.
2. Used CQ Research to find an interesting topic.
3. Used the internet to find info on my topic.
4. Wrote a draft of my paper.
5. Wrote another more refined draft of my paper for peer review.
6. Wrote a final draft of my paper incorporating my peers advice.
7. Submitted my paper to Turnitin.com

While this project was just a proposal I am still proud of the work I put into it and that I finished on time.
Turnitin Only found a 2 percent match with my paper and any other and it was on minor text so I did not make any changes due to it.
In terms of writing I worked on Free writing, to come up with a topic. I also worked a little on outlining to get my draft to look more organized for the final paper.
The Course outcomes I worked on were improving my writing skills and I feel comfortable in saying I did achieve that.

D#6, HW#1, Reading

In todays reading I learned more about rhetorically reading and how I don't usually do that it is a skill I need to work on. In fact I do not usually do much purposeful reading I am more of a passive reader. The check list on determining if it was purposeful or rhetorical reading were also helpful I had to go back and reexamine some of my bibliographies of the past and read through them again this time more carefully.

D#5, HW#10, Deadline

In this deadline I did a few peer reviews, I also went back and fixed my D#2, HW#11 Deadline, and added the comments I made. I also took another look at the grammar assignment in deadline 4 I hope I have it correct now. I posted new comments to a few different people.

The first was to Jessica's blog.
The next was to Tomoko's blog.
Then to Tegan's blog.
The last was to Amanda's blog.

D#5, HW#9, Research Plan

I think for this research project I will need to get information from a few different sources.

• First from doctors who study the affects of stress on student.
• Second from teachers/school staffers, who witness stress first hand.
• Third from parents/guardians who see what stress does to their children.
• Fourth from students who experience the stress first hand.

D#5, HW#8, Evaluating

I have chosen these words and phrases carefully because they help to target my searches from thousands of topics down to just a few, and the definitions fit with the paper I am writing more closely than the thesaurus entries I looked at.

D#5, HW#7, Search Terms

Key words

• Stress
• Signs of, or ways to cope with.
• My family also though I should add causes of.
• Defined as Distress, pressure or strain.
• Students
• High School, or college level
• My daughter thinks I should include elementary students.
• Defined as a person engaged in study.
• Violence
• Caused by stress, or trauma after violence.
• My daughter thinks I should include stress due to bullies.
• Defined as causing others harm.
  

D#5, HW#6, Research

Given all the factors I think I will mainly use secondary research. Given time restraints and only having access to the internet. While I will rely mainly on that though I will also try to do some primary research for this project.

D#5, HW#5, Inventory

I think the information on taking a personal inventory will help with this writing assignment by allowing each of us to flesh out our assignments more. By exploring what we already believe vs the reality that our research reflects and allowing us to compare those ideas.

D#5, HW#4, Bibliographies

Elkin, A (Sept. 29, 1999). Stress Management for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide.

I am not sure if any of you have ever used a for dummies book, but they are more help than than sound like they would be. While I do not have this book after reading reviews and a few sample pages at amazon.com I think it does give some very easy to do and useful ways of managing stress.

Whitman, N. A., Spendlove, D. C., Clark, C. H. (1984) Student Stress: Effects and Solutions. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Research Report No. 2. Washington, DC. John Wiley & Sons.

Even though this book is older, it shows that people have recognized that students are under a unique type of stress for a long time, it makes me wonder why or if it has evolved to violence.

Wheeler, C. (2007). 10 Simple Solutions to Stress: How to Tame Tension and Start Controlling your Life. Oakland, CA. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

This las book looks interesting because again easy solutions are what everyone needs in a fast paced life.

D#5, HW#3, Review Reflection

As I read through the WP#1 drafts I noticed I still have a lot of work to do on my own. There are a lot of topics out there that interest me and I look forward to reading all the papers when they are finished. I commented on 2 I just hope my comments help, and if not feel free to disregard them.

D#5, HW#2, Review WP#1

I just completed my first peer review I am hoping I did it right I included comments with google docs on Amanda's paper on alcoholism, it should be a very interesting paper and I look forward to reading the finished assignment.

The second peer review I did was on Daniel's WP#1 draft I included all my comments in the text. I hope my comments are found to be helpful and constructive.

D#5, HW#1, Reading

Todays reading was mostly on peer review and gave some very useful tips, not only for peer review but for self review, I especially liked the checklists for paragraphs in section 4c of the handbook it should come in very handy as I try to review some of your wp#1 drafts, though I am not sure how much help I will be as these kinds of things have never been my strong point. I will do my best but if it looks like I am just messing up your paper feel free to disregard anything I have to say. I am not sure if it was just me but for some reason some of the links on the mcc site did not work but there was also a lot of interesting topics in the workshop I will put some of the editing skills to use today.

D#4, HW#8, Deadline

Once again I am pushing the deadline hopefully I will get ahead of class soon instead of turning things in right on time. I did not have much time to post to people's blogs but I did do a few.

I responded to Kelesia's blog.

I also responded to Alexis.

And finally Jason's blog.

D#4, HW#7, Sources

While reviewing the article I found on the top 10 school stress relievers I found the writer did not speak much about her background at all. The writer also did not share any personal experiences, but I could compare myself to some of the examples given, especially the lack of sleep over stress from school. I think the writers purpose is to educate students on healthier living even with all the stress of school. The target audience would be students. I believe the most important message the writer is trying to convey is even with all the stress students are under they need to find ways to deal with it in a positive manner. The writer gives 10 examples of way to deal with the stress. I would say the writers tone is very serious about the mental health of students.

D#4, HW#6, Q&A

While I think all of my information is accurate I would have to say the least accurate of the group was the speech by the Law professor as she may not have any formal training in medicine. I would say the while on the other hand the source on what to do if you don't like school was reviewed by a medical staff and I would think that would make the information more accurate.

D#4, HW#5, Bibliographies

The first article I found searching on refdesk.com was a free newsletter article from about.com about 10 ways students can reduce or relieve stress I think these tips are very handy and something every student should know.

Scott, E. (June 21, 2007). Top 10 School Stress Relievers for Students. About.com. July 9, 2007, from about .com.
http://stress.about.com/od/studentstress/tp/school_stress.htm.

The next article I found was from the Princeton Review and was also about managing stress in schools, while some of the tips were the same it also had a lot of other good information.

Abrams, M. (2007) Managing Stress in School. The Princeton Review. July 9, 2007, from the princetonreview.com.
http://www.princetonreview.com/grad/research/articles/life/stress.asp.

The next reference I found was a little different it is a speach given by a college professor about stress in law school. While I am not looking spacifcly at law school in my paper I think some of the key points still apply.

Glasner Fines, B. (1999). Law School and Stress. University of Missouri. July 9, 2007, from law.umkc.edu.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/profiles/glesnerfines/bgf-strs.htm.

The final article I will note tonight is for younger kids but I think the lesson learned is universal. It discuses what to do if you don't like school and gives even more signs that a student may be under stress.

Waldman, H. (July 2004) What to do if you don't like School. Kids Health. July 9, 2007, from kidshealth.org.
http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/grow/school_stuff/hate_school.html.

D#4, HW#3, HW#4 WP#1 Draft

Shawn Ivanovitch

English 102/3952

Professor Rodrigo

July 9, 2007

My Research Proposal

Overview:

For my research project I chose to look at how stress is affecting students. I will look at causes of stress, and the effects of that stress. I will also look at why some students are affected more than others, and some factors of the stress. Also I want to examine if stress leads to violence, or if violence in schools is a cause of stress. I will also look into the after affect of students who experienced trauma in school, such as after the school shooting at Columbine or Virginia Tech. I am interested in this topic as I am now a student going back to school, and I also have children in school.

Focused Research Question:

What is the result of stress on students and does it lead to violence? I will look at the recent and past shootings at school to see if stress was a factor.

Why is this Topic Controversial?

I think this topic is controversial because there are people, my research has shown, who think stress is a big factor, and others who think that violence such as shooting were just evil acts by evil people. There are two sides to almost every issue, in this case there are also the people in-between, like myself, who think stress may be a factor, but to snap and kill people that is a little over the top. Another controversy in this issue is how some schools are now trying to combat this problem by cutting homework, or adding yoga or massage during school.

My Experience:

As a parent I do have experience with this, while not directly related, having to explain situations like this to my children when they happen. I also have experience with the stresses of homework and assignment deadlines on my children. If that was no enough already I have had to deal with my children being bullied at school, and know first hand the stress that brings them in their every day lives. I have also picked my children up from school after lockdowns, situations at school that required them to be locked inside a classroom due to someone or thing outside being a direct danger to them. In one case with my eldest child it was due to the police chased a man on campus with a gun, all of these cases have stressed them greatly. I am also a student myself, as I have gone back to school, and I also have deadlines to meet, and on top of that my normal day to day work it all adds up.

My Purpose:

My purpose or choosing this topic is it interests me to examine this situation. Being a parent and a student I am in the position of being on more than one side of this topic. With the recent and past school shootings it also should prove to be an interesting topic with a lot of information to be found.

My Opinion:

My current opinion of this topic is stress can cause a lot of problems and if people are not properly educated on dealing with it the results can be sad. While I think stress can cause problems on the other hand I do not think it is the only factor leading to these tragedies.

My Audience:

The people who will read this paper are my teacher and fellow students. This works out well as this is also my target audience because everyone, and especially students, should know the warning signs of stress and positive ways to deal with it.

What my Audience Needs.

I think my audience needs is to be informed about stress and positive ways to deal with it. I also hope they take from this paper ways to notice these warning signs.

Limitations:

As I am discovering there is not all that much research on the correlation of stress to violence in schools. There is a lot of information about one or the other on the other hand it will just be a lot of work to link the topics.

Plan and Timeline:

The timeline for this project is five weeks even though one of those weeks is already gone. My plan for finishing on time is to devote at least 5 hours a day on this research project and keep plugging away to hopefully finish on time.

This has also been submitted to Turnitin.com