Before I get to the main point of this post, I just want to say that I can't believe this is my last TOW. It has been a long year of TOW writing, but it went so fast. Is this really TOW #30 already?
Dear New APELC Student,
So you have decided to take AP English Language and Composition this year. Good for you! This is a valuable and interesting class that will greatly help you improve your understanding of written English and your skills as a writer. It may be challenging at times but it will also be very rewarding.
AP courses are unique in that they have two goals: preparing you for the AP exam in May and educating you to have a lasting mastery of the subject matter. This means that while you will be discussing and learning about aspects of writing, you will also be practicing to be able to apply those to the essays on the exam. Prepare yourself to write a lot. There will be a handful of longer-term, take home essay assignments throughout the year, but there will be a lot of practice timed-essays in the style of the AP exam. You will have these several times a month, even multiple days a week at some points in the year. And then there are the Text of the Week assignments, which, as the name reveals, are due every week. (This right now sounds like an overwhelming amount of writing and work, but trust me, it is completely manageable.) This constant writing gives you so much opportunity to practice and improve your skills, to apply the concepts discussed in class. If, at the beginning of the class you find yourself struggling and not receiving the results you want on graded assignments, keep pushing forward. This class is designed to foster growth over the course of the year. Your writing will improve through practice and being in class.
I honestly think that if you put in the work and focus on learning, the grades will take care of themselves. And you will learn a lot this year. If you do the readings for homework, put effort into your practice essays, and pay attention and participate in class, you will be rewarded with deeper understandings, different perspectives, and new skills. My experience with all my AP classes has been that you get out of the course what you put into it. All the effort and handwork you put into your homework and projects and writing during the year will pay off not just on exam day but in all the growth you will notice in your writing and your understanding. Try not to stress yourself out, and in those moments when you do feel stressed, think of how rewarding it will be the day you walk out of that exam room feeling confident about how you did. (Being done with the AP exam is one of the best feelings in the world.)
You can do this! Don't forget to have fun with this class. Yes, it can be fun! For every boring essay prompt there is something interesting to discuss. And just wait until Toga Day.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Former APELC Student
Monday, June 9, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
TOW #29 Food Inc. Documentary Argument
The documentary Food Inc. reveals what the public doesn't see about the food production industry. Many of the practices used by corporations are hidden from the public because they have negative effects. Though the development of new food production practices over the past 50 years has increased efficiency and production, the implementation of these practices by current corporations are undeniably harmful to society.
Industrial production of food can have wide health risks. As shown in the documentary, food poisoning is a serious possibility. Feeding cows the cheaper option of corn rather than grass has increased the development of E.coli in cows, and when those animals are taken to slaughterhouses to be killed and their meat processed, this bacteria can spread to meat that will be shipped all over the country, and it can effect other foods to. Companies have had to recall products from ground beef to peanut butter: in the early 2000's, a batch of Peter Pan Peanut Butter was recalled because of the presence of salmonella. This potentiality of food poisoning is dangerous for all members of the population, and often tragically reaches young children.
Furthermore, the rise of industrial food production has changed the culture surrounding American food for the worse. Companies producing food used in fast food restaurants are often subsidized, making it easier for chains such as McDonald's and Burger King to buy cheap chicken and ground beef and sell it at incomparably low prices. This has been happening since the rise of fast food in the 1950's and has driven much of the United States away from the home grown healthy foods and to the drive-thrus. Because unhealthy food is cheaper than unhealthy food, many people, especially those low on the socioeconomic ladder, opt for the former. This increases health risks and perpetuates the unhealthy American attitude towards fast food.
It is true that new industrial practices have made food production more efficient. Mechanical processes and genetic engineering have allowed the US to produce more food than ever before, enough to feed the whole world. However, this has not been beneficial because of the dangers these processes can pose to workers, and the lack of responsibility with which this power is handled. Industrial food processors have some of the long, hard, and most dangerous jobs in the world, and the food corporations do not improve these conditions because they are focused solely on profits. When the meat-packing industry was gaining power in the early 20th century, it had enormous influence, and was focused on making profits, making their workers work in horrible conditions as revealed in Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle. Food corporations, like the oil, steel, and railroad corporations of the Robber Baron days, create monopolies and use government influence to maintain their freedom from regulation and increase their profits. The few people in power control a majority of the resources and how they are produced, and motivated by the desire for money, little care is given to the quality and benefit of current industrial food practices.
Industrial production of food can have wide health risks. As shown in the documentary, food poisoning is a serious possibility. Feeding cows the cheaper option of corn rather than grass has increased the development of E.coli in cows, and when those animals are taken to slaughterhouses to be killed and their meat processed, this bacteria can spread to meat that will be shipped all over the country, and it can effect other foods to. Companies have had to recall products from ground beef to peanut butter: in the early 2000's, a batch of Peter Pan Peanut Butter was recalled because of the presence of salmonella. This potentiality of food poisoning is dangerous for all members of the population, and often tragically reaches young children.
Furthermore, the rise of industrial food production has changed the culture surrounding American food for the worse. Companies producing food used in fast food restaurants are often subsidized, making it easier for chains such as McDonald's and Burger King to buy cheap chicken and ground beef and sell it at incomparably low prices. This has been happening since the rise of fast food in the 1950's and has driven much of the United States away from the home grown healthy foods and to the drive-thrus. Because unhealthy food is cheaper than unhealthy food, many people, especially those low on the socioeconomic ladder, opt for the former. This increases health risks and perpetuates the unhealthy American attitude towards fast food.
It is true that new industrial practices have made food production more efficient. Mechanical processes and genetic engineering have allowed the US to produce more food than ever before, enough to feed the whole world. However, this has not been beneficial because of the dangers these processes can pose to workers, and the lack of responsibility with which this power is handled. Industrial food processors have some of the long, hard, and most dangerous jobs in the world, and the food corporations do not improve these conditions because they are focused solely on profits. When the meat-packing industry was gaining power in the early 20th century, it had enormous influence, and was focused on making profits, making their workers work in horrible conditions as revealed in Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle. Food corporations, like the oil, steel, and railroad corporations of the Robber Baron days, create monopolies and use government influence to maintain their freedom from regulation and increase their profits. The few people in power control a majority of the resources and how they are produced, and motivated by the desire for money, little care is given to the quality and benefit of current industrial food practices.
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