Wrapping It All Up

Is it here already? The end of the semester? Wow. It really does not seem that long ago when I first sat down in Daniel 211 on a sunny Wednesday morning near the end of August. What a young teacher, I thought to myself. This will be interesting. It sure would be. Three projects, 14 blog posts and 15 weeks later, I can say I have successfully made it through English 103. Miss Charlsie is still young and I'm still a naive freshman here at Clemson. But she's not as young, and I'm not as naive. A lot has changed since that morning in August. I can now successfully navigate my way all around our beautiful campus, and I've adjusted significantly to life out from under my parent's roof. The workload? Overall, I'd say I've adapted pretty well, but I've still got a lot to learn. Seven semesters, if all goes as planned.

So let's get the meat of this post. "400-500 words of your reflection of the course as a whole, a personal note to say what worked best for you and what failed..." Where do I start? It looks like this post could easily degrade into another one of those where I talk about my emotions. Still don't quite have that whole idea down quite yet...let's see where we end up.
Since this course really isn't too involved, it is appropriate for graduate students to teach and, of course, this was the case in my class. I really like the idea of graduate students teaching the course as it sort of allows students to interact with one of their teachers on more of a peer-to-peer basis than a high-and-lofty-professor-to-student basis. I mean, what conventional professor would Skype their student through Facebook to talk about a rough draft? That was pretty cool. I think the interactive student-teacher experience was the most valuable facet of the course.
Overall I enjoyed the class. I would cut the readings and would have had Charlsie make breakfast more, but other than that I can't complain. (Don't pay attention to the breakfast reference. I really enjoyed those muffins on the three occasions we were lucky enough to get them.)
So I guess that's that. Maybe in closing it would be best to draw in a quote from my very first post, composed on August 26: "Hopefully by this time in four months I will be able to distinguish more clearly between good and bad reasoning as well as sharpen my own skills of persuasion." Fortunately for me, I would say the class has caused me to accomplish just that.

Project Update

It's so close. The end of my first semester in college. One-eigth of the way through my undergraduate career. Everyone says it goes by fast, but you really have to experience it for yourself. They're right. Fast. But before I start packing my bags, there are quite a few items left to accomplish to wrap up this semester. One of these is the English Multimedia Project. Since our team of four lives in four different states, we accomplished nothing over Thanksgiving. I don't regret that. We all needed the break. But this past week has been...eventful.
To record a proper description of all we've done this week, I will break up the narrative according to days of the week. Read on.
Monday: At around 9:15, the four of us met in the dining hall to discuss our plans and to assign jobs to each team member. Alex wrote up five questions for students and five questions for faculty, to be asked in video interviews. I rented a Bloggie videocamera from the library.
Tuesday: I interviewed four freshmen students in General Engineering. Since I live in the RISE (Resident in Science and Engineering) program, finding fellow engineering students was easy.
Wednesday: Our team met with Charlsie at 9:30 to update her on the progress of the project and to iron out any misunderstandings and confusions.
Thursday: Originally, we had planned to have Alex and Andy interview the General Engineering faculty Wednesday afternoon, but since Alex had a math exam to take Wednesday evening the interviews were postponed to Thursday. Alex brought up the point that we need two or three students to rebut the faculty's responses, and Andy said that we will also require input from upperclassmen engineering students who have taken CES. What did they think of the course? Looking back, was it beneficial? Why or why not? Was CES helpful in choosing an engineering specialty? If they could do it over again would they take CES? Why or why not? Alex conducted the rebuttal interviews Thursday night.
Friday: In class, Alex passed off the camera to Adrain to conduct the upperclassmen interviews.

As of now, this is as far as we've gotten. Alex has started work on the response essay, with plans for Adrian, Andy and I to contribute our portions over the weekend. As soon as Adrian finishes up the upperclassmen interviews (this afternoon), we will polish the video footage on Alex's computer and get it ready for presentation Wednesday, December 7. Let's hope all goes as planned.

Team TRS

Joshua Baghdady. Adrian Epps. Andrew Runnion. Alex Wall. United at Clemson from across the southeast, these four students hope to achieve greatness in their final, magnum opus of English 103: the Multimedia Argument Project.
Dramatic enough? I hope so. You need to have something to spice up these otherwise-mundane blog assignments. Oh well. The end of the semester is approaching, and I can already almost smell that turkey. And cranberry sauce. And stuffing. And sweet potato casserole. And pumpkin pie. With whipped cream.
No! Stop! Focus, Baghdady, focus. Let's do this.
The assignment: 400-500 words discussing the group project so far and each member's participation. All right. I'll start with Adrian.
Adrian has been vital so far in creating the storyboard on our Google Doc. Today in class as we started putting together the things we've been brainstorming this past week, he helped to organize our topics in the Doc and integrated images from the internet that fit our ideas.
Andrew has been...Andrew. Infamous for sitting in class and giving everyone an apathetic stare, he has helped in the formulation of the ideas and flow of our topic and has been valuable in pointing out any needed changes.
Alex has worked alongside both Adrian and me in both creating and editing our storyboard. Her ideas and proposals have helped our entire group get on the right page with this project and have helped to give us needed direction and inspiration. (When I say "needed," I mean "absolutely necessary." Don't forget that this class is at nine in the morning. Without Alex, Andy and I would probably just sit sprawled over the chairs half asleep, while I practiced imitating Andy's famous apathetic stare. I'm pretty sure it's a skill I can attain. Anyway. Back to the project. What would this blog post be without me talking about me? Actually, don't answer that. It would be a normal blog post. But ignore that point for the moment and view the preceding question as purely rhetorical. Read on.)
As for myself, I concocted the topic (questioning the necessity and purpose of general engineering education courses) with Alex's help and gave it the title "Weed Out: It's Not What You Think." When we started storyboarding, I helped in formulating our major points and their arrangement in our planned video, while looking over and tweaking Alex's and Adrian's work on the Doc itself.
That's really it so far. We've only worked on this since Monday, so there's not much to go off of at this point. Have I reached 400 words yet? I hope so. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Clemson Writing Center (or, English Grad Students with Facial Hair)

Well that's a good sign. I'm actually able to open blogger and type into the "New Post" box. Let's hope this uploads when I'm done, or random passerby may soon see a MacBook Pro being thrown out of the third floor window of Sanders Hall.

You see, Google recently updated its entire system, meaning that we, the poor oafs of this reigning internet monarch, have been forced to adapt. The consequences of non-compliance? Separation from the modern world. Oh well. It's not the first time, and it definitely will not be the last. 

Anyway. As I typed the above paragraphs the blog title "English 103" stared out at me unblinkingly, as if knowing that so far this post has had absolutely nothing to do with Charlsie's class. But that, dear reader, is about to change. 

You see, this week was the due date of the rough drafts for our research assignment. But wait! There's more! (This is college you know.) Miss Charlsie, the benevolent, caring, watchful teacher that she is, assigned to us a project: Go to the Clemson Writing Center, take whatever you have so far of your draft, and proceed to review it with one of the graduate students there. Sounds good. I accordingly scheduled an appointment for Tuesday November 1 at 3 pm. In Daniel 305. With some guy named Samuel Fuller.
Samuel Fuller himself is a rather strange individual. He has this huge beard that he's always plucking on. Always. With really long hair. Glasses. Marginally socially awkward. I mean, who else would want to sit in a tiny cubicle and go over undergraduate papers all day when you could be out having a life, right? Hopefully he's getting some extra credit. He sure seems to know his stuff.
We went over my outline and the small amount of actual drafting I had accomplished. He was quite helpful. The biggest message I took away was to streamline my introduction, combine and erase unnecessary sentences and get to the thesis as quickly as possible. Don't confuse people with random facts and wordy sentences in the introduction that will take away from your thesis. Keep things short, sweet and to the point.
Another thing we discussed was the sheer size my paper could potentially reach given the massive amount of information I planned to cover. 2500 words really aren't that much when you're writing a dissertation. He suggested shortening and clipping some of the topics I had planned to cover in my outline and get to the meat of the paper as concisely as possible. That's what the reader is looking for anyway, right?

Research Paper Outline

Joshua Baghdady

English 103-005

Mrs. Charlsie Lamos

October 21, 2011

Research Paper – Outline

I. Introduction

1. Hook: A brief description of the differing practices and beliefs adhered to in Christianity and Judaism. This is to show how very different the two religions are in an attempt to draw the reader in. The questions are then presented: Why are they so different? Why are followers of these two belief systems adversaries of each other? How can they claim to base their knowledge off of many of the same Scriptures yet have such differing views on how to be right with God? Where does Jesus Christ fit in?

2. Thesis: In the years following the life of Jesus Christ, the vast majority of adherents to Jesus’ teachings were Jewish people well-versed in and followers of the Tanakh (the Old Testament), especially the first five books, called the Torah. The answer to what happened and how the followers of Jesus became estranged from the Torah lies in the uncovering of some of the church history of the first few centuries AD. The impact of the various councils held by the church fathers, one of the most influential of which was the Roman emperor Flavius Constantinus (better known as Constantine the Great), was pivotal in determining the estrangement of the two belief systems.

3. Implications: What has this meant for adherents to both faiths? What impact did this have on Jewish believers in Jesus as the Messiah? Why is this important today?

II. The Setting

1.     A look into Jewish beliefs at the time of Jesus Christ’s birth.

2.     Jesus’ impact on the rabbinicalism of the day.

3.     The response of this impact by both the religious authorities and lay people.

III. The Early Years

1.     The promulgation of Jesus’ teachings in the first years following His transfiguration.

2.     The response of the Roman government.

IV. Christianity is born

1.     The separation of the rabbinical authorities from the Jesus-followers.

2.     The birth of the early church councils.

3.     A brief biography of Flavius Constantinus.

4.     The impact of Constantinus on the early church and the practices adopted as a result.

5.     The response of the Jewish authorities.

V. The Big Picture – Conclusion

            1. The effect of these early decisions made by both sides on adherents to both
            faiths.

            2. The modern impact of these age-old decisions.

3. The importance of uncovering the history of their faith for followers of both Judaism and Christianity and to understand why they believe what they believe about the other side.

Friday Flyers

Wow. I'm not sure if what I was doing here was an exercise in locating and photographing some metal structures or an exercise in trying to see how far my un-exercised tendons will go. 17,000 acres means nothing until you actually try to traverse it, especially if you're not really sure what you're looking for. Allow me to elaborate.
So Miss Charlsie had us do these "Fun Friday" activities two weeks ago about some of the Clemson traditions here on campus. One of these was the "Friday Flyers," a project proposed by John Acorn, former chair of the arts department. What are they? They are six eight-foot-long aluminum paper airplanes scattered across campus as if thrown from the Hendrix Student Center. The idea? According to Acorn, "the random placement of these six forms symbolizes the importance of diversity and chance, innovation and human perseverance. The release of a paper airplane and its subsequent course parallels academia and the function of sending out the seeds of an idea for others to discover and explore."
So my job was to find them. Well. Easier said than done.
The first was easy. It hangs from the ceiling of Hendrix quite conspicuously:

Since I really didn't know where to go from there, I headed upstairs in Hendrix to the computers available on the second floor. I located a map of the Friday Flyers and went from there. As promised by the map, the second flyer is located diagonally across Perimeter Road from Hendrix on the hill:

So. Two down. Four to go. The next flyer was rather difficult, as it wasn't located where the map had promised. Instead of being on the Newman Hall side of the Poole and Agriculture Building, it is located on the Lehotsky Hall side, among thick monkey grass underneath a willow tree. Of the six, this one is in the most aesthetically-pleasing spot:

Halfway! On to the library. This one is interestingly positioned: apparently it was front-heavy when it left Hendrix:

Not too bad. Four down with relative ease. And I even knew exactly where the next one was! The first few Saturdays after arriving here at Clemson almost eight weeks ago, I would walk around campus and try to get familiar with the layout. I noticed a strange structure on the North Green by the Brooks Center on one of these journeys, but paid it no attention. It wasn't until we talked about the flyers on "Fun Friday" two weeks ago that it occurred to me that that is indeed what this thing is:

Well. Now this is where it gets fun. I had seen on the map back on the computer in Hendrix that the final flyer was located far out on the outskirts of campus near Perimeter Road and the commuter parking lots. What I did not know was how many commuter parking lots there are, or how many hills among them. Or trees. Trees that could potentially hide a flyer. Or anything else, for that matter. And the day was growing warm. And my legs are not used to this hill country. After walking around and around, going first too far and ending up by the stadium, then coming back and re-tracing my steps, all the while looking among the shrubbery and bushes, I was getting pretty frustrated. This blasted piece of junk was nowhere to be found. Only parking lots and a ton of cars. Finally I came back and crossed Williamson Road and was heading back up the hill when I saw it. Quite a welcome sight, if an elusive one. In case some poor Clemson student has to do what I did today and while searching the internet for help comes across this blog, hopefully I can make it a little easier for him: from the intersection of Perimeter Road and Williamson Road, walk up the sidewalk to the east. After a minute or so you will see the flyer on the hill to the north (your left). So here it is:

Well that was fun. As in, tiring and exhausting. Frustrating and irritating. But hey! Fall break is right around the corner. And the Tigers are 6-0. And the weather is beautiful. And I'm hungry. Shalom.

A Guy Talking about His Emotions?

Second blog post this week. Maybe Miss Charlsie's idea behind having us compose all these posts is so that our writing will actually improve (fancy that...).
Anyway. As much as I would like to ramble on talking about nothing in particular in no real order or format without meaning or reason behind the words I type or any rather significant explanation as to why I'm wasting my readers' times doing it sort of like right now, I actually do have something (relatively) worthwhile to talk about. *Insert drum roll*: me!
That's right people. I have received permission from the high command that I can write about how I feel. Specifically about this research paper, but also about the class, the weather, my likes, dislikes, passions, idiosyncrasies, etc. (How many words is this thing supposed to be again? Looks like I'm going to need more space.)
Actually, I'm kidding. (Lucky you.) But not completely. I do get to talk about my feelings about this research paper, or, more specifically, any "anxieties, frustrations, excitements" I may have.
Cool. So now that I've successfully used up significantly more than half of all the words necessary for this blog beating around the bush, let's get started.
So how do I feel?
Honestly, I feel slightly stressed. Not very stressed, but slightly. I don't think that's a peculiarity. Like I said in the last post, research papers can be imposing.
On the other hand, I feel slightly excited. Well, modestly excited. Moderately, modestly excited. Whatever. Joking aside, I am actually quite interested in the topic at hand (see last post) and am looking forward to researching it.
I enjoy discussions of church history and why things in the church are the way they are. I will say I have pretty strong opinions on some topics, but I will attempt (as any good writer should) to look at my research from a viewpoint that is as unbiased as possible. In case you haven't read my last post, my topic is on the polarization of Christianity from what is called Judaism in the first centuries following the life of Jesus Christ. The precedents set in those turbulent days in history have affected (and continue to affect) countless thousands of people worldwide. It at least deserves some amount of attention.