The Process of Revision

My experiences with the process of revision has greatly impacted the way I view my own writing and style. I have always viewed revision as a way of changing or adding something to what I had originally written. The difference between editing and revising, to me, was that editing was fixing grammar mistakes and revising was actually adding new words or sentences or even paragraphs and restructuring the paragraphs, if needed. Since taking English 101, I have developed and enhanced my revising skills and techniques. I now revise my essays thoroughly and I understand the importance of revision in developing a concise and coherent paper. I now revise a paper many times and send it to many different people who I trust in which I can get reasonable and useful feedback from to further enhance the quality of my paper. I used to think my writing was the best it could possibly be after revising my paper by just myself and not having it peer reviewed. However, I now view my writing as constantly up for improvement and I recognize the important peer reviewing has in developing a solid paper. I also view my style differently after it has been peer reviewed because I have more opinions on the way I write instead of my own opinion which, of course, rarely sees faults in a particular style of writing in which I wrote myself.

April 13th Blog

The first source I chose was an online dissertation titled, ‘Are perceptions of media bias an effective shortcut?”, and was written by Glen Smith for the Washington State University Department of Political Science. The dissertation describes how the media uses its own bias’ to persuade the viewers, which in this case are Americans, to one particular viewpoint or another. He found that people perceive bias based on a particular slant in the news. For example, people might view Fox news as bias for Republicans, since they have a majority of conservative opinions on their primetime news shows (Smith 34). Glen states that people’s perceptions on particular subjects are not very easily persuaded with bias if they already have a strong perception on a subject. Once people have been exposed to one form of bias for a very long time, it can be very difficult for other forms of media to persuade that individual to change his or her perception to another. This shows how bias’ in the media can strongly affect a person’s ideology for a very long period of time.

The second source I chose was a book titled, ‘Where do you draw the line?’, by Victor Cline. The book delves into the topic of pornography and violence in the media and the media censorship of the two topics. The book states that, “censorship limits the student’s education. It leaves him with a distorted and jaundiced view of society. It suggests that we do not trust his judgment.” (Cline 6) But where do you draw the line with censorship versus freedom of speech, taking into effect the various laws concerning pornography and violence in the media? Cline suggests that we development “an independent monitoring agency to provide regular reports on the level of violence in television entertainment” (Cline 289). While this would likely serve as a decent tool for parents to scope out the television programs which have the most violence and thereby block their children from watching the high level of inappropriate content, it would not totally solve the problem depending on how well the government agency could detect and notify people of potential violent programs. I think the current television rating system and television rating blockers are good enough tools for parents to monitor the content their children can view on the television.

Works Cited:

Cline, Victor. Where do you draw the line?. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1974. 358. Print.

Smith, Glen. "Are perceptions of media bias an effective shortcut?." (2009): 144. Web. 12 Apr 2010.

Time Wise Group Essay

The topic of racism is a delicate one in American society. America’s history of slavery and race related conflicts has desensitized us from seeing the subtle effects of racism that have big impacts on people of color. Racism in America is the same as white privilege which is usually defined by skin color (TIME WISE). Racism is the discrimination of others because of the color of their skin, this act is often an unconscious intolerance that has become standard due to a country based on racial separation. The inequality between white people and people of color has become prominent enough to effect the housing market, the job industry and the daily lives of individuals living in America.

Tim Wise, an antiracism activist from the South, explains the motivation behind whites discrimination against others to create a better opportunity for themselves “If people of color are discriminated against in employment, then that’s more employment opportunities for whites” (TIME WISE). This idea fuels the inequality between whites and those of color in the job industry and creates the want for whites to put others down. Tim Wise relates this idea to ‘pressure to perform’ that is placed on both whites and blacks, though intelligence is most often ascribed to race, besides in the case of whites. “We whites are able to be as incompetent or mediocre as we want and never have our mediocrity ascribed to our race” (TIM WISE).

This article helps me realize that there is not only privilege as a white compared to people of color but also as an American compared to the rest of the world. The similarities that whites and Americans have compared to blacks and the rest of the world are very intriguing. Just as whites have privilege to many jobs, Americans have privilege to a lot of food. Furthermore, that Americans might be hesitant to give up their advantage of easy access to food so that the rest of the world can eat. Also since whites have more opportunities for jobs and housing it leads to higher rates of poverty in people of color and this can affect their choices for foods. Being a white middle class student myself, it is hard for me to understand what it means to have to only eat fast food since that only what they can afford. I have always had the privilege of being able to go to a grocery store and get vegetables and fruits without much regard to price.

Overall Tim Wise’s interview was very beneficial to me. Not only did it help me understand the truth behind racisms but the privileges that go along with it. That a job not allowed to a person of color is another available for a white. Also that I need to be aware of my surrounding and constantly watching out for racism and privilege so that I can help society change. As well as the fact that there will always be people who don’t want to give up their advantage and just want to keep things as they are. Also this will greatly help me improve my paper 3, since it has helped me realize that we as Americans have a privilege over the rest of the world. This article has opened my eyes to the impact of racism and has helped me see that silence is not the answer but to spread the word of equality to help society change

Works Cited
Cook, David. "By The Color Of Their Skin." The Sun (2009): 4-12. Print.