Locomotive 5288 located at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Discography
The five songs listed above are my go to songs that I listen to all the time. It was not easy picking my top 5 favorite songs considering the plethora of music that I enjoy listening to. I have always preferred older music like this, partially because this is what I have grown up listening to. The songs are appealing to me because I enjoy the instrumentation that is in each song. The instrumentation is perfectly thought out and comes together nicely for each song, additionally each song tells a story in a way. In the first and third song they each describe a different train that used to run in the US before the 50s. Listening to the songs makes me picture the train and the whole ride. The second and fifth songs are just good songs to relax to or jam out to. The fourth is a perfect mix of opera and rock and roll, that blend together perfectly.
Whenever you hear the word Scrabble, what is brought to your mind? For most, it brings the board game to mind. Everybody has played this game at some point or another in their life or at least heard of it and is familiar with it. Recently Scrabble has been popping up in classrooms in numerous different ways. From middle school classrooms to college classes Scrabble has been used as a way of getting people thinking and/or a break from technology.
Some people may see Scrabble as a boring game and of no use. While others enjoy the game and see it as a learning tool. On one hand yes, Scrabble can be boring. But at the same time Scrabble is a good brain stimulator. But whenever Scrabble is used in a classroom setting, not all teachers use Scrabble for the same reason. This leads us to our main question or inquire we have.
How is Scrabble used from classroom to classroom? More specifically what are they trying to achieve and how effective is Scrabble at achieving what they want to achieve. This will aid us in seeing how effective Scrabble is in a classroom environment. And if Scrabble is an effective tool in the classroom, are there much greater uses or other applications the game can have?
Obvs, it’s OK to Rack Up a Triple Word Score with LOLZ: As Scrabble Board Game Bids to Attract Younger Players describes the introduction and evolution of scrabble. Scrabble was made by a man from New York named Alfred Mosher Butts. He gave the letters there point values by how often they showed up the front page of The New York Times. Scrabble can be played in 50 different languages with some languages have more or less tiles then the 100 English Scrabble has.
The importance of this article is to share some facts about scrabble and its history. Scrabble is a worldwide phenomenon being played all around the world in many different languages. Enough Scrabble letters have been made to stretch around the world 8 times. Any word that is in the Scrabble dictionary can be played, even if it is inappropriate or a swear.
Kay, Jonathan. Review. “Scrabble is a Lousy Game.” The Wall Street Journal, 6-7 Oct. 2018, p. C. 5.
In Scrabble is a Lousy Game, the writer, Jonathan Kay, express’s his opinion and/or view
of Scrabble. He says, “Scrabble, to put it bluntly, is a lousy game.” He goes on to say that Scrabble requires no skill and is all luck. Additionally, he says that Scrabble teaches nothing and has no educational value. All Scrabble requires is memorization and nothing is learned from just memorization and luck.
The importance of this article is it gives us something to compare to when it comes to explaining the usefulness of Scrabble. This article helps to give us a starting point when proving how Scrabble is an educational resource. This also helps us to figure out the flaws of Scrabble. As well as giving ways that the game could be improved. But this article does not provide any other information than that.
In Reinventing Scrabble with Middle School Students, Robert J. Quinn and Lynda R. Wiest write about the use of scrabble in a classroom setting. It is used as a game to math to middle schoolers. The game still follows the same rules as normal scrabble but without word score bonuses and blank tiles. At the end of the game, the students turn all the letters used into percent’s and discusses how they could make the percent’s equal.
The importance of this article is to show how scrabble can be used in a way besides the typical way of just playing the game. The article also shows how scrabble can be used as an educational resource. The educational use of scrabble is something that relates to our current class. This could be helpful in relating to my current class experience with scrabble.
In Scrabble: Classic Board Game Enjoys Resurgence in Interest through Local Tourney: Final Edition], Philip Wolf Writes about resurgence of interest in scrabble through tournaments. The article mainly talks about the Literacy Nanaimo tournament. The article also shares the history of scrabble. There are tips shared at the end of the article that can help you improve at scrabble like knowing all the 2-letter words.
This article is important because it share a little about the competitive side of scrabble. None of the other articles shares this point of view. It is also nice to have more information on the history of scrabble. The information about the history is much more specific in this article.
In Tara Westover’s
memoir, Educated, her father suffers from bipolar disorder or some form
of dementia. This causes him to become paranoid, distrust the government,
withdraw his kids from school, and never take his kids to the doctor. This is
also a factor in his putting safety second. This information is a bit of
background for the pages that have been chosen for this analysis. The pages are
138, and 139 in the chapter, No More a Child. On page 138 Tara introduces
the reader to a new piece of machinery. The piece of machinery is a giant belt
driven shear used to cut angle iron.
Her father, Gene,
calls the machine, the Shear. Her brother, Shawn, immediately hates the shear and,
“called it a death machine” (138). On page 139 Tara’s other brother, Luke, is
running the shear until it gashes his arm and he is unable to run it anymore.
Gene then forces Tara to run the shear until Shawn finds her running it and
makes her stop. Gene is furious and him and Shawn immediately started arguing.
Shawn loses the argument and him and Tara run it together.
The most dangerous
and illegal practice that jumps out at the reader is that Gene has his children
working for him in his scrapyard and his construction business. Most of his
children are underage, nobody is wearing proper safety equipment, and nobody is
certified on the machinery. The reason for this working environment is because
Gene does not care, and his distrust the government, so he is not going to
abide by the rules for safety. Since Gene is against doctors, and modern
medicine he never takes any of his family to the doctors. When Luke’s arm gets
gashed, Luke just goes to their mother, Faye, and she heals it and lets nature
take its course. To anyone reading this they know that that is a bad practice
and that is an easy cause of death or amputation.
Now that the
background information has been provided, we will focus on the Shear itself and
the location it is at, Gene’s scrapyard. When Tara is describing her father’s
scrapyard and the surrounding area, she paints a vivid picture in the readers
mind. The setting is in Idaho at a place called Buck’s Peak. This is a hill
outside of town with a mountain right next to the hill. Her house is on top of
the hill and to the left is the scrapyard at the bottom of the hill. Tara’s
family has a barn behind the house, and a railcar next to the barn.
Her grandparents’
house is at the bottom of the hill on the right side of the house. The scrapyard
is encircled with a big corrugated steel fence. Inside farthest from the house
is the scrapyard office, next to the gate and their truck and dump trailer. Next
to the office is the car crusher that flattens the cars so they can be sold.
Scattered throughout are piles of different size scrap. Close to the office is
the Shear sitting next to a pile of scrap angle iron.
When Tara is
describing the shear, her father brought home she describes it as if it is a living
breathing thing, capitalizing the s in shear as if it is a name. The way she
sets up and presents the scene paints a clear vivid picture in the audiences’ mind.
When the shear is first introduced it is described as frightening, “[a] few
days later dad came home with the most frightening machine I’ve ever seen”
(138). Using the word, frightening immediately forces the readers mind to
wonder. You start asking, what is it, or is it deadly? She then uses vivid
imagery to describe the Shear. She says, “[u]p and down they roared, louder
than a passing train as they chewed through iron as think as a man’s arm” (138),
sending a slight sense of fear ad worry through the reader.
After Luke is
injured, Gene makes Tara run the Shear. At first Tara does not obey, but
eventually listens. As her father is showing her how to run it, she describes
the Shear and how she sees it. She says “[t]he blades chomped, growling as they
snapped up and down- a warning, I thought, like a dog’s snarl, to get the hell
away” (139). For a minute this line paints an image as if Tara is forced to
feed a hungry, angry, vicious dog. One wrong move either you lose a limb or
your life.
One of the biggest
dangers while running the Shear is bucking. Bucking is what happens whenever
the iron gets caught and does not get cut. It instead jerks itself and the
operator towards the Shear. This is a very dangerous situation that can happen for
almost any piece of equipment. Not to mention the defining sounds, “[t]he sound
of solid iron fracturing was thunderous” (139). Tara is instructed to let go of
the iron if it bucks.
Tara hopes it
never bucks, but it does. “The iron bucked, tossing me forward so both my feet
left the ground. [i] let go and collapsed in the dirt, and the iron, now free,
and being chewed violently by the blades, launched into the air then crashed
down next to me” (139). As this takes place the reader has that quick jolt of
adrenaline and reads faster to find out what happens. Since the iron bucked, Tara
was instructed to let go of the iron if it bucks and she does. Tara falls but
the Shear sends the iron flying and smashing to the ground. Gene never says or
does anything about her safety, her own father.
The only person
who does say anything is Shawn. He comes out of the office yelling, “WHAT THE
HELL IS GOING ON?” (139). Shawn and Gene immediately get into an argument. He
tries convincing Gene that the Shear is too dangerous and unsafe. Gene doesn’t
give in and Shawn gives up. Shawn and Tara run the Shear together, but Gene
doesn’t want Shawn to run it. Gene needs Shawn on the construction jobs, he is
Gene’s foreman on the construction jobs.
These two pages
are just a slice of the insane nature and temper that Gene has. This shows a
lack of care for safety, organization, and pure and utter ignorance. This is
not totally Gene’s fault, since he suffers from some form of dementia. His wife
Faye has become so blind to the obvious problems and convinced in Gene’s ways
she never interferes. This has also negatively affected his kids and their future.
This is my first draft of my Research Reflection Essay
This picture represents a research paper on dieselization I did. Dieselization has a major role in the railroads, and railroads are what I am passionate about.
Up until this point, I have never
given the research I have conducted much thought. I usually just do the
research, complete the assignment and be done. But now as I sit back and think
back to the research I have conducted; I realize how all the research has
something in common. Every assignment along with the research has been
preparing, “you for the demands of living in a complex and changing world”
(Bullock et al. 291).
Whether the assignment involved researching something in the past or a present event, it helped to form me into a better, functioning member of society. Even though not all the research was fun and interesting, it still contributed in one way or another. The research that I did not like was the topics the teacher picked and assigned that did not allow any leeway or freedom. Some examples of this would be the assignments I was given in my elementary and middle school English classes. The teachers were so specific and picky with what they wanted, there was no way to try and enjoy the assignment. All I cared about was getting the assignment done, and get a good grade.
On the other hand, whenever I did enjoy the research, it made the assignment easier and invigorating. This aided in my decision for my career choices and interests in life. Those assignments are the assignments I remember the most and I want to remember. Some examples of those assignments would be the recent assignments I have been assigned for my English and history classes here at CVCC and Challenger. The assignments consisted of writing about a recent event, an historical event, or a religion that was covered in class. These assignments allowed me to learn something new about something I chose, and I am interested in/enjoy.
Before this assignment I was
assigned to write an introductory blog post. I chose to do my post on my
Top-Five favorite songs. When given this freedom it allows me to put care into
the assignment and enjoy it. I love assignments that allow me to have freedom
when picking the topic. When picking a topic, I will go with something I am
familiar with and would like to know more about. This way I am completing the
assignment and learning something new.
While writing this essay I used a
book titled; The Norton Field Guide to
Writing with Readings and Handbook. I used chapters twenty-four through
twenty-six, which consisted of writing in the different career fields. After
reading those chapters I realized that the research and writing I would need to
conduct is like that of science. To be able to repair something and make sure
that the problem does not occur again, I need to form a hypothesis. After I
form the hypothesis, I need to test my hypothesis. I continue to form new
hypothesis’ and testing them until I find a solution. I then write it down so
anyone else who is having the same problem, can repeat what I did and fix the
problem.
At first, I did not want to write
this essay, but afterwards I really enjoyed it. Writing this essay gave me the
chance to look back at the good times I had doing research for an assignment.
If that sounds weird to anyone, I enjoy learning especially if it’s something I
want to learn. Therefore, I enjoyed those assignments. It is also fun to just
learn something new that might come in handy one day.
Work Cited
Bullock Richard, et al. Chapter 24: “Fields of Study.” The Norton Field Guide to Writing with
Nevin's Blog 