Friday before class: April 15

I haven't written much at all lately.  My plan was to get a first draft together before Saturday so I could work on a second draft over the weekend.  But that ain't gonna happen!

I spent a long time researching yesterday but didn't find enough to do anything.  I'm going to have to take my paper in a different direction.  Hope this works....

Why my topic?

It's been pretty difficult lately to write anything.  (I wonder if it's writer's block.)  I've been trying to build on my thesis statement, but it's changing so much and sources just aren't helping me build a good argument.  All day I've been trying to find something other than that article on Richard Branson.  All I can find is his website.  He has an autobiography I was hoping to borrow, but none of the libraries I tried have them.  All I can figure is his site, but that doesn't give me much detail.

If you're wondering, I'm hoping to begin my paper with a profile.  I know I was thinking a scene or anecdote, but the idea of using Branson as my model explorer just made sense to me.  He's the type of man who balances profit with knowledge, the whole premise of my paper.  Sure, he's a multi-billionaire, but he's still concerned with conserving and protecting the environment: exploring it with as little impact and helping others explore it.

I just can't find enough about him to profile him!

My Sources for Now.......

Researches in Technology (article):

     This is probably one of the better sources I have.  It gives a good history of deep ocean exploration, which I will use to show how technology has helped us explore the unknown.  In my paper, I will most likely weave an argument that has spanned the history of oceanography.

Poseidon Undersea Resort (website):

     The official website for Poseidon Resorts is a great source that I can’t ignore.  It gives much of the information I need from the opposing side (the commercial side).  I agree with much of what Poseidon is doing, but most of it is just too invasive on the fragile environment.  In my paper, I hope to present what I agree and what I don’t agree with about this resort (as written in “They Say, I Say”).

Aquarius (website):

     Unlike the Poseidon Undersea Resort, this underwater structure (one of only 3 anchored to the ocean floor) is an observatory.  The official site for aquarius talks about the who, what, where, and why involved in the observatory.  I think this will be a great source to show what a good method of invading the fragile ocean should look like.  I can use it to combat Poseidon Resort.

Back to the Bottom (article):

     In this article, we read about new technology being developed at Woods Hole’s deep submergence laboratory in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  This article, along with the following, I can use to give two modern examples of technology development.  This is a University project, so students are involved in this.

Richard Branson (article):

     Richard Branson is a modern billionaire explorer who has all the gadgets (like Batman).  He has revealed his latest creation, a deep-sea submersible.  This article is great for other sources as well, since it mentions interviews I can look up.  I will use this one, in comparison to the last one, to show both private industry’s and public industry’s drive to invent and explore the ocean.

I'll put the actual links and names of the sources later.  I'm too hungry right now.... must eat!

Friday Morning: April 8

My Thesis is printed and I'm ready to hand it in.  It took me a little longer than I expected to come up with a good thesis, since my topic seems a lot broader than I expected.

I'll rewrite my thesis just for record.

"Advances in ocean exploration, whether it be deep-sea or not, has brought about developments in underwater technology.  Despite explorers best efforts, there are those who abuse this technology for commercial reasons, leading to the destruction of some of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet.  Are the discoveries being made and underwater research facilities worth the inevitable damage done in one way or another to the pristine places in the ocean?"

Hopefully it makes sense.  It took me a while to come up with that, since my thesis can be so deep, I had to think a lot before I could take a stance.

My stance is this:

Since we cannot prevent explorers going into unknown land (or water), and since much of our technology used commercially comes from our past explorers, we are obligated to try to protect our world as best we can.  Educating people about the ocean, fighting to protect things like coral reefs and endangered species, and keeping contact with fragile life are some suggestions that I have.

I hope there will be enough convicting evidence than the opposing side will be crushed under the weight of my argument.

School's Out

This essay had a lot of things to say about home-schoolers (like me).

I thought the author organized his work well, but I was a little unsure of the argument he was presenting.  It almost sounded like he was trying to show that public school is growing obsolete as alternate methods of learning are becoming more popular.

I agree with the author that home schooling is the best method for education.  From personal experience, home schooling allows enough freedom to pursue the dreams and interests of the student while still teaching an intense and in depth curriculum.

This author wrote very informatively with some interesting examples to keep a reader from getting too bored.  I think by giving comparisons between the work system and school system, we get a very clear picture how stagnant school has remained since its beginning.

Hopefully, I can keep my essay a little shorter.

Unit 3 starts

In unit 2, I enjoyed building my first website. I spent much of my time making my animation giving a brief history of ocean exploration. It turned out much better than I could have ever expected, since I only had two weeks to work on it.

Now that unit 3 has begun, I'm beginning to put together my different options for an argumentative essay. On my website, I presented many sides of ocean exploration and commercialism. How people not only explore, but how they make a profit.

I was just given an article about billionaire Richard Branson's newest plan for exploration.  He's unveiled a single-person deep-sea submersible that he'll use to explore the bottom of some of the deepest ocean trenches.  This would be a great addition to my sources, since it's a perfect modern-day example of someone's personal drive to explore the unknown for the sake of knowledge.

My Website

I'm almost done my site! Yay!

I've gotten the Primary Research video all edited and put together, and I've analyzed it.  Now all that's left is the intro video.  Who knows, maybe I'll have it done by Monday.

Listening and watching some of the other presentations, I've gotten some great ideas on how to present my website better.  I like how one of the presenters wrote some notecards to help her.  What I didn't really like was the seemingly lackadaisical attitude some of them had, especially when talking about some emotional topics.  I'll be sure to present my site like a tour guide and write notecards to help me remember what to say.

I'll have to keep the presentation brief, since the interview video is almost 5 minutes long, and I don't know how long the intro video will be, probably rather short.

Other than that, I think I'm pretty pleased with my site, especially since I've never done one before.