Lesson 15 Journal

I think I am supposed to post my writing resume and the letter, so that is what I am going to do...

Bryan Gundersen

Romina Kline

Engl. 111

15 Dec. 2009

Academic Writing Resume

Fall 2009 English 111x

· “Learning is a Privalage”: Wrote a 3 page comparative essay on “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose and "From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Gene Anyon.

· “Union’s Across America”: Wrote a 3 page argumentative essay dealing with workers unions in America and how they are still beneficial.

· “Economic Class in America: The Truth”: Wrote a 3 ½ page essay discussing whether Greg Mantsios’ essay “Class in America-2003”, and “Studs Terkel,” by Stephen Cruz, were persuasive, accurate, and well-written.

· “Overpaid Athletes: The Truth”: Wrote 7 page research paper discussing how professional athletes are overpaid.

Spring 2009 Advanced Placement American Government

· “Lobbyism”: Wrote a 2 page essay on the pro’s and con’s of lobbyism in the American Government

Fall 2008 Early British Literature

· “Beowulf: An Interpretation”: Wrote a 3 page essay on the underlying messages in the story

Spring 2008 English 11

· “The Life of Ray Bourque”: Wrote a 3 page research paper on the life of the Professional Hockey Player Ray Bourque

Spring 2008 English 11

· “Grandma: How She Changed my Life for the Better”: wrote a 5 paragraph essay on 3 ways my grandma changed my life for the better while she was still alive

Additional Writing Experience

May 2009-

August 2009 Gundersen Painting, Secretary/Shop Foreman

· Wrote and edited e-mails for my boss

April 2009 Lathrop High School Hockey Banquet

· Prepared and presented a 10 minute speech

Outside of school I have had almost zero writing experience. Over the next few years I will gain more experience outside of school due to the fact that I will have a more in depth role in my parents company.

Lesson 15 Journal

I think I am supposed to post my writing resume and the letter, so that is what I am going to do...

December 15, 2009

Bryan Gundersen

Student

University of Alaska Fairbanks

758 Old Richardson Highway

Fairbanks, AK 99701

Dear Dad,

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read this letter. Throughout the letter I will be introducing myself to you not as your son, but as a writer. I will be mentioning some of my writing accomplishments, as well as how far I have come as a writer since I first enrolled in my freshman level English class.

Before this class, my writing accomplishments were slim to none. I had written very few essays in high school due to the fact that I did not take challenging English classes. Since enrolling in College I have become a much more complete and accomplished writer. I have now written my first essay that is over five pages (a seven page research paper), multiple three to five page essays, and an assortment of essays for other classes. For my business class I had to write ten 150 to 300-word essays, and I also had to write two essays for my political economy class.

This class has made me a much more complete writer. Before entering in the class, I could barely write a three-page essay. Now it is within my grasp to write a ten-page essay. Not only can I write longer essays, but I now have the ability to thoroughly analyze essays written by other people. I also am more careful in my word choice and sentence structure. This class has allowed me to expand my vocabulary. Lastly, this class has showed me how to specifically write for academics.

Once again, thank you Dad for allowing me to share my writing experiences with you. Without you, I would not have been able to get as far as I have. I thank you for that.

Sincerely,

Bryan Gundersen

Bryan Gundersen

University of Alaska Fairbanks Student

Lesson 14 Journal

There is one thing and one thing only that I wish I had done differently with this essay: not put it off until the last minute. It was extremely foolish of me to do this, and I most likely sacrificed some quality of work by putting it off for so long. It is one mistake that I will be sure to not make again.

Lesson 13 Journal

The person I choose to consult with to edit my paper was a MBA student at UAF. His name is Bobby Weaver. The reason I choose to consult with is first off, he is my cousin, and secondly, I have read his writings before and I know he is a good writer and can offer constructive criticism on my writing.

He offered me some good advice. First off, he told me that I need to watch my comma usage. He said that on occasion, I use them too often and it makes it seem as if I am writing run-on sentences. I then re-read my paper and realized that he was right on point with his observation.

The next piece of advice he offered me was that I needed to re write my conclusion paragraph. Right now, it basically just re-states my introductory paragraph, when it should do that, but also show the main points of my essay. Conclusion paragraphs have always been the hardest part of writing for me. I have never really been taught how to write one, so in my next english classes that is one element of my writing that I would really like to work on.

After he told me these suggestions, I then went and re-read many of my essays which I have written for this class, and found a common theme between most of them: they all possesed many of the errors that he pointed out on. In the future, I will surely not make these same mistakes.

He also corrected some gramatical mistakes that I made, and I was very thankful for that.

Lesson 11 Blog

My experience summarizing my readings was sub-par. While working on annotating articles, I apparently found almost all of the articles pertaining to my topic. I had to search for an unprecedented amount of time looking for three new articles for this lesson. Fortunately, I found three good articles, one of which showed me a completelly new perspective that I had previously not realized existed. It provided me with a large amount of new possible material that I could use for my research paper.
Other than having a very hard time finding new articles to read, my experience researching these articles was good. The subject matter in most of the articles is very intrigueing to me. It has really shown me how much athletes are overpaid.
I attepmpted to search in the library for books on my subject, but I was unable to find any specifiacally relating to my topic.
In one of the articles I read it showed the top 50 earning athletes from 2007. Some of the amounts of money they made were completely astounding to me. The way their income was calculated was money from their contract plus money from endorsements. I am okay with the money they make from endorsements, but some of their contracts were absolutely ridiculous. From the four major pro sports, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez from the New York Yankees were to of the highest paid athletes just form their salaries. They each earned 22 millions dollars a year. I know that becoming a professional athlete is incredibly difficult, and being a top athlete is even harder, but is good athlete really worth 22 million like A-rod and Derek Jeter?
Researching this subject really opened my eyes to how corrupt some professional athletes really are. They are supposed to play for "the love of the game," but some of them strictly play for money. Ty law, formerly of the New England Patriots, is a good example of this. His contract guarenteed him 7 million dollars in this year, and he demanded that his contract was bigger because he needed to "feed his family." Not all, in fact most athletes are not corrupt like this, but because of the way pro sports are set up today it has made people like Ty Law think they are deserving of a higher amount of money, when they are really not. I think he will be able to feed his family just fine with his guarenteed 7 million dollars.
Lastly, I just wanted to reiterate the point that the research I have conducted has shown me that top end pro athletes are not deserving of the contracts that they recieve. Most of the minimum salaries in the top four pro sports are around $600,000, and I think that these athletes would be able to live a perfectly happy life making this money.

Lesson 10 Journal

Well, since I was given permission to write about WHATEVER I wanted, I will write about the one thing that I am closest to: music.

Music has a way of affecting me that nothing else in this world does. Through my 18 years of life, I have experienced a great deal of things that bring me enjoyment, but nothing compares to music. It has a way of bringing you out of a bad mood like nothing else. It also has a way of healing. It is the only thing in life that I can say I am truly passionate about.

I am a guitar player and I write my own songs. Im not going to sit here and say i'm the best guitar player or songwriter in the world, but I think my songs are pretty decent. But that is besides the fact. Because they are MINE, I love them. It is an extremely hard concept for me to put into words, but writing a song is the most amazing feeling in the world.

I also love sports. I played hockey for 13 years and it was a huge part of my life. But a song can do something that watching a game cannot. Music can literally change peoples lives, and a song can directly impact that person. Yet again, my inability to be articulate doesn't let me show exactly what I am trying to say. But I believe music is the single most powerful tool on this planet, and in the right hands, it can change lives for the better like it has changed mine :)

Lesson 9 Journal

First off I need to start writing the paper. Once I get started writing the paper, my words will flow out like they always do. Also, I need to start conducting more research. I am writing this journal entry before I do lesson 9, so that is why I have not conducted much research yet.

I will need outside help with editing my paper. Normally, I am not very good at evaluating and editing my own work, so this is why I will need outside help. Also, I may need outside help on finding credible sources for my research. An outside opinion never hurts.

The reason I am scared of this research paper is because I put it off until the last minute. This is the first online class I have ever taken, and I have procrastinated a great deal, which was a very bad idea. I am also scared of this paper because it will be the biggest research paper that I have ever written.