4. Rhetorical Analysis Reflection

     Today, I turned in my Rhetorical Analysis for Writing 150.  I began the writing process by carefully picking a speech worth analyzing.  I felt I should choose a paper that I was not only interested in, but also one with a lot of figurative language and strong words.  I thought about using a Ronald Reagan Speech or Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death."  Instead, I chose "The American Crisis," by Thomas Paine.  I appreciated the commentary's creative word choice, length, and context.
     I went through my paper with several different-colored high lighters.  First, I read through the first sentence and last sentence of each paragraph to try to identify the main points of the commentary.  Next, I identified the commentary's thesis.  Finally, I went through picking out figurative language and very strong passages within Paine's commentary.  I decided that he used a lot of metaphor, diction, and exaggeration. I was able to come up with two strong examples for each.  I outlined my paper, coming up with the thesis and each piece of evidence.
     The next day, I wrote a rough draft for my paper.  I thought of other examples of strong commentaries for my hook and led into my thesis.  I wrote each body paragraph, making sure to include strong analysis.  I have always been taught that my analysis needs to be more abundant the evidence from the work I am reading.  As I reached my conclusion, I restated my thesis, and went from narrow to broad, ending with a quote to summarize the importance of rhetorical analysis.
     I came to class early on the day of my appointment with Mrs. Steadman.  Since I was early, I went to the writing center, where I got some advice about my diction paragraph.  Next, I met with Mrs. Steadman, where I received a lot of good feedback about paragraphing and a few aspects of word choice. 
     Next, I implemented those changes.  I emailed my paper to my mom, who was an English major at BYU for a few years before changing majors.  She also found a few words to change in my paper.  This extra editing session made my paper more clear.  With all of these changes from the writing center, Mrs. Steadman, and my mom implemented, I read my paper out loud to my roommates.  Once I felt confident, I checked my margins and citations and printed it.
     In the future, with the Research Paper, I want to become more familiar with citations.  I have used citations many times before but still do not feel completely confident.  With my future papers, I definitely want to have my rough draft completed early on like I did for my rhetorical analysis and have several editors, as different people have good advice for improvement, just as I did this time. 

3. Blessings Despite Homesickness

Yesterday marks the one month mark of when I left home.  I had been excited to attend BYU for as long as I can remember; it had been my ultimate goal since middle school and had become an obsession as I entered high school.  However, the leading weeks to my departure were difficult for me.  I imagined parting with my immediate family and felt very frightened.  Although I obviously miss my family, I have come to love my new home in Utah.  I knew I would like BYU, but I feared I would miss my family too much to truly enjoy it.  I have found that I have experienced many new and exciting opportunities that come with attending a university that values both secular and spiritual learning.  Throughout the past month, I have had more unique experiences pertaining to the gospel than ever before in my life.
The week before the semester started, I felt like I should go to the temple, as I had not had the opportunity in over a year, due to the 3.5 hour drive to the temple from my house in Indiana.  I made a goal to attend the temple at least once a week for my entire freshman year, and so far, I have stuck to my goal.  My roommate, Katie, has joined me in this goal.  Even on busy weekends, we always manage to find time, even if our main Friday night activity becomes going to the temple.
I have also had the great opportunity of hearing several apostles speak in person.  Before I came to Utah, I had only heard one apostle speak in person, M. Russell Ballard in March of 2013.  Since attending BYU, I have had the opportunity to hear from Henry B. Eyring, Richard G. Scott, and Russell M. Nelson.  In addition to hearing from these brethren at the inauguration of President Worthen and Regional Conference, we were able to feel of the spirit as President Thomas S. Monson entered the Marriott Center.  As we had seats far up in the center, I was surprised that I could feel the spirit before I even knew he entered the room.  I look forward to General Conference where I will have these opportunities again, as I have Saturday morning session tickets.
The last very unique experience I had was getting to participate in the Ogden, Utah temple dedication.  Before the semester started, I went through the open house with my dad and cousins.  Even though the dedication was in the Marriott Center, I felt blessed to be able to hear the messages given at the dedication and be in what was considered an extension of the temple that day.  I look forward to next fall when the Indianapolis, IN temple will be dedicated a mile from my dad's office.

2. No Empty Seats

        I have always believed that a strong family ties leads to well-adapted, more successful children.  The research found on lds.org and in the New York Times article, "The Stories That Bind Us," confirmed the importance of building family ties based on the lives of ancestors and having a family motto.
        In my family, my parents have strived to mold children who know and value where they came from.  Both of my parents come from pioneer heritage.  Since we have lived in Indiana for many years, we have had opportunities to visit church historical sights and learn how our ancestors sacrificed for the gospel we are blessed with today.  I treasure the memory of stopping at Winter Quarters on the drive back to Utah to visit family.  After going through the visitors center, we walked across the street to locate some of our ancestors' names on the headstones.  My dad found several; even in my ten-year-old mind, I recognized that if my ancestors could sacrifice everything for the gospel, then I needed to stay strong in the faith to ensure that my posterity could enjoy the knowledge of the scriptures and blessings of the temple.  Learning of my mom's pioneer heritage occurred several years later.  My mom had no idea that some of her ancestors had walked across the plains until I was twelve or thirteen.  One day, she received a package in the mail from an aunt she had not spoken to in ten years.  In the box was a beautiful quilt, hand-stitched with an elaborate pattern of yellow, orange, and red fabric.  After reading the message from my great-aunt, my mom was in shock.  The quilt had been sewn by my great-great-great-great grandmother who walked across the plains from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley with some of the earliest pioneers.  It had been passed down from eldest daughter to eldest daughter.  Since my great-aunt had no daughters of her own, she gave it to my mother, her oldest niece.  Over the next few weeks, my mom was inspired to research more of her family history. She studied the histories recorded by her grandparents about her ancestors who had given so much for the gospel.  When we went to Nauvoo a year later as a family, instead of only admiring the pioneers collectively, we were able to find the lot where one of our ancestors had lived.  I was fascinated to learn that one of my ancestors had lived across the street from Heber C. Kimball.
        The research in "The Stories That Bind Us" also pointed to the importance of having a family motto.  In my family, we have many goofy family mottos, like "Eat lightning" before we played sports, or "We are better than they are" referring to the fact that we always keep the commandments, no matter who choses not to.  However, the true "theme" of my family during my childhood has been "No empty seats."  While these three words seem insignificant, to us, the phrase means that no matter what, after this life, we all want to return to Heavenly Father together.  If any of my siblings pick on each other, all my dad says is, "No empty seats."  If anyone in our family seems to be struggling, my dad reminds us, "No empty seats."  To us, no experience in this life could be worth missing even one of our family members in the next life.  The morning I left for college, after family prayer, we all felt very sad that I was leaving.  My dad said, "No empty seats."  As I hugged my mom, dad, and each of my siblings over and over again, I could not imagine how the next life would be without each and every one of my family members.  I vowed to not only to make sure that I was not the empty seat, but also, I promised myself that I would be a good example to my siblings so that none of them would not be an empty seat either.
        Knowing family stories and creating unity within families allows individuals to create happier lives.  Just from "The Stories That Bind Us" we learn that children with these experiences are better-fitted to deal with challenges and have higher self-esteem.  When children build everlasting bonds with their families and ancestors, they understand that their support system is larger than just their friends or immediate family, but those who proceeded them.
     

1. "Things as They Really Are" How to Use Technology Righteously

         In today's world, some do not realize the importance of living real lives, instead focusing on social media and video games.   Many lead fake lives through online gaming.  In one particular game, The Sims, the gamer can control the lives of people in a town.  One can create fake marriages, fictional characters, and experience aspects of daily life, such as travel, work, friendships, and play.  My personal question has always been, why spend so much time to create an ideal life online when time could be spent developing REAL talents and relationships.  Some of the most dangerous weapons to an eternal marriage is too much time spent on social media, the use of pornography, and obsession with video games.  In David A. Bednar's "Things As They Really Are," he focuses on the importance of reality, saying, "Our physical bodies make possible a breadth, a depth, and an intensity of experience that simply could not be obtained in our pre-mortal estate."  By skipping over our bodies, which we use to feel and understand situations more deeply, we are undermining the gift our Heavenly Father has given us.  By cultivating our talents and relationships with REAL people, we become the people Heavenly Father wants us to be.  We have been commanded to use our bodies for good, and if we become too obsessed with technology, we cannot live up to our full potential.