Wise Village Mama

Author: Kacie Harlan

  • A7: Headlines in Time for the Deadline

    1. The Child Abuse Prevention Center in Baltimore reported yesterday that child abuse neglect cases rose from 2.5 million to 2.7 million last year, mostly involving children under 5-years-old.
    2. Yesterday in Milwaukee, 150 anti-abortion protesters were arrested on disorderly conduct charges after nearly 2,500 anti-abortion protestors spent three days protesting outside an abortion clinic.
    3. A Chinese food delivery driver was robbed of his food at gunpoint yesterday at 718 S.W. Western Ave.

  • A6: The Common and not so Common Sense of Writing

    2×2 for Chapter 5
    2 Connections:
    1) I remember this chapter to be extremely stressful in my last class and I had a hard time coming up with good headlines and leading paragraphs so I am looking forward to doing it over again and hopefully having a better grasp of it at the end of the semester.
    2) I LOVE the inverted pyramid. It makes sense to me and I think it is a very effective way to write that will entice your reader and leave them on the edge of their seat for the entire story.
    2 Questions:
    1) I don’t know where to find the answer to this, whether it may be in our AP style book or in the text book, but I have always been under the impression that there should be two spaces after a list is introduced by a colon. I know this is something minute and tiny but it has always bothered me so I am curious to know if you have a specific method to this madness.
    2) Because news happens so fast nowadays and is typically all online, would it ever be a good idea to write a news story in an outline form, or in bullet points where you just lay out the most important facts and let your reader scan over those and move on to the next story during their 10 minute lunch break instead of playing a game because they don’t have time to read?

  • A5: Jeff Dunham’s Many Voices

    Jeff Dunham graduated from Baylor University in 1986 and has become one of America’s top comedians.

    He is important because he has a telecommunications degree from Baylor and has actually taken some of the same classes, from some of the same professors that I have today. He has the No. 1, 2 and 3 best selling standup comedy DVDs on Amazon.com. Next on the list is the Bill Cosby show if that tells you anything. He would be interesting to interview because it would give me a chance to see how and where Baylor has changed in the last 20 years.
    1) What made you decide to go to Baylor?
    2) How did Dr. Korpi influence your life at Baylor?
    3) What were your favorite traditions here at Baylor?
    4) Did you know that you wanted to be a ventriloquist when you began your freshman year of college?
    5) What would you change if you could go back in time and do your college career all over again?
    6) In what ways did making your own shows and producing your own DVDs set you apart from the rest of the comedians?
    7) How do you think that your life would be different if you had gone to A&M instead?
    8) How did you feel getting to walk across the stage to get your degree?
    9) At what point did you start to feel all of your hard work at baylor pay off?
    10) Where do you see yourself and your career in the next 10 years?

  • A4: Don’t Write What you Don’t Know

    2 Connections

    1) In my last writing class, we talked about the things in this chapter a lot, so they are burned into my memory and they have always seemed like common sense. If you are going to write something, make sure you know what you’re talking about. Readers can be critical, and they will check you.

    2) Deadlines are discussed in this chapter, and they are those dreaded things that every college student has to face. I have always been the person that tries to get started on something very early so that I am not up until 2 in the morning trying to meet an 8 o’ clock deadline.

    2 Questions

    1) When the book refers to reporting, is it referring to presenting the gatherings done by the journalist? I am confused on the difference/relation in journalism and reporting.

    2) When you are interviewing someone, are you required to use closed-ended questions, open-ended questions and/or hypothetical questions in order to be a successful interviewer?

  • WS1: A Night in the Presence of Heroes

    A Night in the Presence of Heroes

    It was a Saturday night, in Waco. The ballroom was huge, and decorated with so many pretty trinkets. Everywhere I looked, there was a man in uniform.

    It was a long day spent in the car driving to my hometown to pick up the Sergeant’s jacket that my mom had spent 18 hours sewing combat and rank patches on. In a rush to get back to Waco, I finally had my dress on, my hair and makeup finished. I was nervous to show myself to the Sergeant, but I was so excited to see him in his uniform for the first time.

    Once I saw him, it was all I could do to keep from crying. He looked so handsome, and my mom had done such a good job of sewing his patches. It was completely different after I saw the jacket with all of the ribbons and decorations on it that he had earned from three deployments.

    As we walked into the ballroom, we paused to say hello to the many soldiers that looked to him for guidance and protection for years. I was still nervous, but felt so honored to be at an event with the men who were partly responsible for the freedom of our country. As we finally found our table, I sat down with a friend as the Sergeant was whisked away to go take care of the less-responsible soldiers that always seem to need him for something.

    After what seemed like infinity, I saw that black Stetson that I recognize so well trotting back to our table, and I could hardly contain the butterflies that fluttered through my stomach like elephants. The Sergeant came back and sat down with my friend and me just before the festivities began. I could see the pride nearly bursting out of his chest, knowing the he had been such an accomplished soldier, and that he was at the ball with the girl of his dreams.

    There were several toasts and speeches made by many Captains, but the best part was the making of the Grog, a “beverage” consisting of multiple liquors, sand, hay and a pair of women’s underwear. A different person brought each ingredient through the ballroom to the center, where there was just a big pot. The story of each ingredient was told as it was added.

    Because my group was all going to have some, I decided to be brave and try it too. It was great to start with, but then it hit afterward and was so strong that it burned my throat all the way down to my stomach. I also had grits of sand in my teeth, and of course my friend and I were told the next day, that a shot of the Grog is supposed to be taken with your teeth closed. Great.

    After we had dinner, which was very tasty, we rounded our group up and got ready to go down the street to the club to go dancing. I completed the task of changing dresses in the car, and was ready to hit the dance floor with the Sergeant. We danced nearly every song, and as I wore his uniform jacket to the car, our feet were very unhappy.

    That was the most majestic night of my life, and what I have not mentioned, is the fact that the Sergeant is my boyfriend. Seeing the man that I love more than anything in this world, wearing the jacket that has become so sentimental to us, made me realize that all I want to do every day from here on out, is make him happy. Loving an American hero was put into perspective on that Saturday night, and I wish I could adopt all the hurt and suffering that my Sergeant has ever endured and take it all myself.

    The 2013 Cavalry Ball changed my life forever, and it made me appreciate our troops even more than I did before, and I will never forget the feelings I felt that night, the looks of pride coming from the men in their uniforms and the happiness of the women who were celebrating the service of their men. This was truly the most unforgettable event in my life to date.

  • A3: The style with too much fashion

    2 Connections

    1) After taking that first journalism class, I became obsessed with the AP style because we looked at and used it so much that it became stuck in my head. So now, I am a super grammar Nazi on everyone, and when I make my own mistakes, I am so hard on myself. So reading this chapter was an awesome reminder of how crazy I’m going to get all over again this semester.

    2) All of the things mentioned in this chapter are the things that make your writing look professional. You can sit and write all day long, but if you are not following AP style, you cannot actually call yourself a journalist. Part of being a good writer, to me, is being able to write within the limitations of the AP stylebook.

    2 Questions:

    1) Does the average person memorize all of the AP rules? Or do most people memorize the rules that they use often and have to look up the others?

    2) Must you always write following AP style? Or is this just for journalism/newspaper purposes? I know for our memoir, we do not have to use AP style, but I am just curious to know if it is up to the writer to know when AP style is appropriate.

  • A2: Words Continue Forever

    2×2 for Chapter 2:

    Connections:
    1) I connected this chapter to anything and everything else that I have ever read for any English/writing class that I have ever taken. I think that’s a good thing because it means that I at least have a grasp on the material. I have also already taken a writing class here at Baylor so a lot of this is just a more detailed review for me.
    2) I understand the parts of speech better when I think about them in Spanish. I either had better Spanish than English teachers, or maybe it’s just the fact that Spanish is a more simple language but I can break it down better in my brain. I have always had a challenge when it comes to the parts of speech so I am looking forward to having a better understanding of the parts of speech by the end of the semester, considering that this will probably be the last class for me to take of these sorts.
    Questions:
    1) The book talks a lot about spelling rules and the old days, but why doesn’t it have examples of words from the old days that can and have been spelled multiple ways, such as theater and theatre?
    2) Are grammar, spelling and usage the only thins that can be used to determine whether writing is clear or not?
     
    My Opinion on the Memoir:
    I LOVED the writing style of the author of the Memoir of a Baylor Student. I liked the short, choppy sentences. Normally I would think this isn’t a good thing, but with a personal writing like this, I like how the short sentences make it a quick read, and they also leave you wanting to read more. 

     

  • A1: Shakespeare’s Infinite Sentences With Small Words!!!

    1) So who said that great ideas are not important until they are written down? I think they are more important when they are in action than just words on a paper.
    2) What is the difference between writing in general and writing for mass media except for the fact that the audience is much larger?
    3) Aren’t the four basic writing steps kind of obvious? Know the subject? Write it down? Duh!
    4) So we are writing simply. But we are in college. I guess I don’t understand why we are taking steps backward because if you use the correct words, you can still be clear but complex as well.
    5) I love Mark Twain’s cartoon phrase. Why do more when you can reap the same benefits doing less?