Cover Letter

Jessica Klase

Professor Rowley

English 115

28, November 2012

Dear Reader,

            In the beginning I couldn’t believe it, I had gotten a two. When I received the letter from the A.P. exam board I was so confused, I didn’t even know where to start. I had worked harder in my A.P. English class than any other class, ever. In fact I had one of the top grades, my teacher really didn’t worry about my grade and unlike other student’s, our one on one meetings were very short, there wasn’t really much to talk about. One thing that did make me a little suspicious was that I had never gotten above a 5 in our class essays, but for the exam if I wrote a couple of 5 essays I would pass without much trouble. When I got the letter from the exam board I was extremely disappointed in myself. I wished that I could have seen the broken down scores so that I would’ve know where I went wrong, it drove me crazy. I also wanted to explain about why I had messed up so much on such an important test but there was no one to explain to. I was stuck, all alone, with a two mocking me as it stared back.

            I told my parents, and really they didn’t care as much as I did. I knew I had to enroll in an English class, and I was at least glad that I had tested out of remedial English classes. I had always know that my essays were a weak point, as I had never gotten anything but what fulfilled the requirements to get an “A”, which had been only a five in my class, on a scale that I knew went up to 9. I was resentful that I had to register for English, another class where, again, I had to scrape through each and every essay painfully just to get through, and of course I would have liked not having to spend money on another English course. English had always been my hope to save money in college, I knew that I would never test out of math were I was certainly nothing above average no matter what I did, so English had been the only hope I had. As I registered for the class I realized that it wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be, although deep inside I still knew I was disappointed in myself. As I registered for the class I realized that it wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be, although deep inside I still knew I was disappointed in myself. There really had been no one else that had promoted me to excellence other than myself. I never cried but my estimation of myself went down greatly.

            I arrived at Cal State Northridge about a week early, as part of an orientation week in my dorms. I was extremely excited to get to my first choice college and I met as many of the other freshman as I possibly could. One of these freshmen, another girl named Marissa, asked me about my schedule. When I told Marissa I had English 115 she surprised me by telling me that I had to be amazing at writing essays, and after that I never felt inadequate about my class again, in fact I was a little proud, knowing that I didn’t have to waste time in a class that didn’t count toward my general education requirements. I was astonished to learn that I wasn’t the only one that had just barely missed the mark on their exam.

            English 115 was the first true college class that I ever experienced, it was first on my schedule and I was so nervous while walking all the way from the dorms through a campus that seemed so huge that I felt like an ant farm would have been plenty of space for me to live in, let alone an apartment-style dorm. To make matters worse the building that I was looking for was actually three buildings that were all connected together into one giant mass. I walked around for about thirty minutes, finally found my class, and walked in. The class was not what expected at all, I had heard that nearly all general education classes were in huge lecture halls with stadium seating and around three hundred students inside. I was relieved to walk inside and find a classroom about the same size that I had seen in high school. My professor walked us through everything, let us go, and I couldn’t believe that I was actually that scared of the class.

            The first essay I assigned challenged me but I soon saw that the techniques in class I felt that it was possible. I got through my first draft and from that assignment on I knew I needed the class, and that it was exactly the right level for me. I had never written a personal narrative before, it seemed really strange to me to be able to use the word “I” so many times in an essay, if I had ever done that before in an essay I would have gotten an “F”. My teachers in high school had seemed to be focused only persuasive essays, and maybe the occasional expository piece. The narrative essay challenged me to put myself into the piece completely, not just sit back and let my research or my facts do all of my talking for me. This piece especially showed me that my pervious essays had been nothing more than me taking what I knew and copying it down in my own words.

            The second large essay we did was on a movie, and I must admit I had the most fun doing this essay and I believe that it showed. I loved being able to tell my friends and roommates that I was doing my homework, and then I got to just plop down on the couch and watch a movie. Other than showing me that essays don’t always have to be painful, this essay showed me that there really are no random choices when it comes to everything the media shows us, a poster isn’t red because it is a nice color, it’s red because the creator wants us to see and feel the anger and the passion.

            The third essay showed me the other side of the lesson the first taught me; I can’t completely ignore the research I have done. Not only is this a waste of time, it also gives my argument no foundation and makes it easy to tear apart. In all honesty I wasn’t excited to write a research paper or even research for it, but like eating broccoli it was good for me. Through an assignment that lead up to this paper I also found out that most people see me as an internet addict, however in reality I’m fine without it. This paper, although the hardest for me to write, taught me the most on the subject and about myself.

            Overall this course as a whole has shown me, through writing that to be as fully engaged human being we need to look around us and not only absorb what we see, but we also need to think about why something is there, we need to question what is around us and every choice that happened behind it to give us the final result. English 115 has given me not only better and more varied writing skills, but also deeper thinking skill. In a way you could say that now, I am really and truly thankful for that two with no explanation, and no argument, just a gentle push in the right direction.

Sincerely,

Jessica Klase

3rd Essay

Jessica Klase

Professor Rowley

English 115

November 25, 2012

Your Boss, You, and Facebook: The Office in a Technological World

            Seeing your boss outside of work is awkward enough, but imagine being friends with them on Facebook. This scenario is happening a lot more frequently now because of the new trend in employers monitoring and being active with their employees’ Facebook accounts. “Active monitoring of employees has risen sharply in the past 4 years, from 35 % to 80 %” (Reh). Employers have been looking at the social media cites that their employees use for many reasons, but it isn’t right. Although monitoring employees through social media could have serious benefits, like cutting office expenses due to theft and ensuring the adherence to corporate policy, the negatives outweigh the positives. Without outside monitoring, this ability could be severely abused and lead to harassment. While technology does give opportunities to connect with people in positive ways, the privilege will be abused without monitoring, and this could damage professional relationships.

            One important right to people is their privacy; people go to great lengths to protect it. For the same reason, people expect their privacy to be respected and left alone; however this privacy is infringed upon when one is monitored through the internet. Bosses are not allowed to request a read-through of an employee’s physical journal if they have one, or ask them their religion, yet social media could give them that information. Even if that information is given willingly, it is an invasion of privacy. Employees want to retain privacy in the work place, but is this their right? F. John Reh, in his article “Your Boss is Watching You”, argues that “As an employee, [your rights are] very few.” Although employees believe this is their right, the right to privacy is largely unexplored; however, employees are protected from inappropriate infringements on privacy by many companies. Employees do have the right to look at company policy to see if their employer is breaking it. In many cases, companies are not allowed to monitor an employee’s social media and it therefore is compromising their rights.

            Although this is true, many would say looking at social media sites allows employers to view the wider aspects of a person, such as their interests and views on religion and politics. Social media allows employers to see who the employees they’re behavior is unrestricted, as everyone does in a professional environment. This is legal as long as company policy does not protect against it. Social media gives the public an avenue to express their opinions and ideas through the internet; access to this could enrich the employer-employee relationship and in turn enrich the overall work environment. This is to some extent already seen in the everyday work environment. “As a supervisor allows for some jovial interaction while managing her staff, she can also allow for such interchange online using social networking” (Lindsey). In addition, allowing employers access to social media could potentially show them which employees are more dedicated to the job and therefore deserve rewards such as promotions and bonuses. Online it is easier to see how employees truly act because people tend to be more transparent on their social media sites than they would be to an employer. These claims are wrong because transparency would irreparably damage the professional relationships needed in a work environment.

            In an opposing view, when employers see employees Facebook accounts there are many different legal aspects to consider. Company policy is not the only thing to think about when privacy is invaded; state law should be thought about as well. The particular state an employee works in could have a law which may affect any legal proceedings that take place because of invasion of privacy. Although these laws may exist, privacy is not always considered a right, so in some instances social media monitoring may be legal and effective. Employers already use a wide range of technologies to monitor their employees, so social media is more like a new camera than anything else. Social media is effective and should be used to ensure the safety of the company and can also ensure that a company is not liable for any actions of another employer. Although social media could, in fact, be a positive way to solidify the company’s safety, it would come at too great a risk to the employee.  

            Protecting the company is one thing, but who makes sure that the employee is safe? Camera systems have laws that keep the cameras from being abused. “[Monitoring the use of] computer terminals, through electronic and voice mail, and when employees are using the Internet. Such monitoring is virtually unregulated” (Reh). In reality, the abuse of social media by employers could go unnoticed by the general public because there is no regulation. Without any monitoring, the execution of which would be complicated and costly if not impossible, employers could harass, threaten, and even scare their employees. Blackmail could become ever more possible and easier to execute through social media. Then there is the problem of putting a monitoring system into place, which would cost millions. How could you put a monitoring system on the internet? Currently there is no way to delete anything from the internet, or to even to control it; how could you monitor social media sites? Setting up a monitoring system for the internet would be impossible, and even if there could be a system it would be quite easy to get around.  Small social media sites are not hard to set up; an employer could potentially make joining and updating a social media site of their own design a requirement for a job. These sites can be made for free and would be almost impossible to prevent.

            Another problem with employers being on social media sites is that it could damage the professional relationships that need to exist between and employee and an employer. In an office we restrict our behavior for a reason, because we know what is appropriate there. On social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter we do not restrict our behavior because it is a space for friends and possibly family. Professional relationships rely on how we act around others, which cannot be continued if your boss can pop into your social media at any time of the day. There are many problems that can arise because of friendships on Facebook and other sites, such as the ones presented in “Social Networking, The Boss, and Employees”. This article shows the social media can have a large impact on the work environment: “Favoritism, perhaps one of the most deadly impressions that can occur among subordinates, is one. There is no room for favoritism at work, and the same is true online” (Lindsey). Social media use for the office can cause great tensions at work.

                        Other scholars may say that there are many positive benefits that outweigh the negative. “Managers have an obligation to their company to monitor the activities of their employees to ensure compliance with applicable laws and policies” (Reh). If you monitor employees at work then there are certain things that may need to be monitored while they are away. Legal compliance can be quickly and effectively monitored through social media and other devices. It is easy to catch someone stealing office supplies if you have video cameras everywhere. Also at-work monitoring helps productivity and saves much money. In addition, looking at social media sites can alert an employer to an employee who is committing crimes at the workplace. Employers can also assess the character of an employee from social media. “In general, employers have the right to fire workers for off-color or unsavory things they say when blogging (or Facebooking or Tweeting or Google-plussing) on the job or about their job” (McCullagh). This utility of social media can prevent unsavory behavior at the office by keeping unwanted characters out of the office. 

            These claims are true, but it does not make it ok to monitor employees through social media. Although crimes such as theft, it also enables other crimes like black mail. Personal lives and the office do not belong together, which is why “office etiquette” has evolved. The use of social media in the office forces employees’ personal lives and the office to converge. Social media also can further discrimination, it would be much easier to determine an applicants’ race, religion, or political affiliation if you could simply look them up on Facebook before the interview ever happened. Social media has no place in the office; it would only serve to destroy professional relationships to circumvent our rights.

            Although there are positives to using social media, the negatives far outweigh the benefits. The work environment can become overwhelmed with tension because of off-hand comments made on the internet, which happens all the time in personal life. Without a monitoring system there is no way to know if the sites are being abused, such as providing an avenue for blackmail, and monitoring would be impossible to implement. Also with social media there is a new danger of the employees seeing favoritism in the Facebook posts an employer uses. Professional relationships would suffer greatly if social media becomes widely used in an office environment. Overall if employers use social media it will deteriorate the office environment as well as the business and the employees professional relationship.

Works Cited

LindseyJD. "Social Networking, The Boss, and Employees." Www.techcrates.com. Techcrates, 6 Sept. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.

McCullagh, Declan. "Does Your Future Boss Have a Right to See Your Facebook Page?" News.cnet.com. Cnet, 6 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.

Reh, F. John. "Your Boss Is Watching You." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.

2nd Essay

Jessica Klase

English 115

Professor Rowley

22 October 2012

Wall-e: Creating a new age for our children

The many scenes of ecological devastation in Wall-e that were created by human’s wastefulness have sparked many a discussion in the families who have seen the movie about if they should expose their children to these ideas or not. In the movie there are giant towers of trash that humans left behind for their robots to clean up. The robots (collectively called Wall-e) have stopped functioning, but one is still operating, although the rest have shut down. Seeing the brown skies and landscape in the movie has even shocked some people into inventing new systems to lessen their impact on the environment by inventing the systems you see advertised like solar water heating systems or bringing bags to the grocery store for their groceries. Seeing the direction we are going is hard which is why some adults simply ignore what is happening. We have seen movies with this environmental moral before, but this time it is directed towards our children. The filmmakers seem to be targeting our children as our “last hope”, this begs the question, how does seeing movies with a “green” message affect our children? Our children now grow up seeing this message everywhere, and will take their chance to stop our path when they get older.

This generation will be the first to grow up with this message in the popular media. There have been documentaries about this issue before, but they are often from fringe groups. For example, there are documentaries about people who have lived for weeks in trees, such as Julia Butterfly Hill, but most people have never heard of them. For the first time even children are being focused on as a way to change. Many people may not agree with doing this because they want their children to have their childhood, not be scared that what they do every day, such as drive to school, could eventually kill their planet. This is a valid point, but childhood is not what it used to be. As said by Vivian C. Sobchack, “This new interest in violence and its new formal treatment… satisfied an intensified cultural desire for “close-up” knowledge about the material fragility of bodies…” (431). This is an example of how childhood is changing, violence is in many more movies, and our children do see it. Childhood is less sheltered than it used to be. This isn’t always a bad thing, sometimes it opens up opportunities to teach our children. Wall-e takes advantage of the same effect, but uses it to teaching our children about how we effect our environment.

Wall-e aims their message at children because, eventually, they will inherit the earth. As their parents grow old and leave this life they will still be here, living their daily lives. Wall-e teaches children now because if they grow up with this message they will not forget it. The movie delivers its message in a new way, as A. O. Scott admits in his article “In a World Left Silent, One heart Beeps”, “Not that Wall-E is all gloom and doom. It is, undoubtedly, an earnest (though far from simplistic) ecological parable”. This message will stick with them, and for some it will inspire them. The goal is to change their behavior so that they can make a difference. This concept is much like what Christian families do to try and encourage their children to become Christian themselves. Many church-going families have their children go to “Sunday school” to learn about the bible and to have them grow up with the Christian message. Wall-e uses the same technique to try and save our planet.

            Some companies may oppose this because those companies benefit from harming our planet. Big oil companies certainly have a hand in the buildup of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, and also have a reputation for using their major influences in politics to their own ends. Many big oil companies have extreme influences on our government by funding the campaigns of politicians they want to win. This is common practice now, but our children could change that. Changing the way our children think with mainstream media that has messages like Wall-e could damage their profits. By extension, Wall-e could play a role in taking down big oil companies and other companies such as logging companies. For the current American this might be unthinkable, most of the population in America has a car. By changing childhood, Wall-e could even change the roll of some of the largest companies in America.

            Wall-e is a highly successful film, and other films like it are sure to follow. The Lorax (2012), which is about pollution and cutting down trees, shows that this trend in film is likely to continue, it made $70,217,070 on its opening weekend and was ranked first out of the films that came out on in the same weekend. As a Disney/Pixar classic Wall-e alone could affect the mindset of multiple generations of children. Many different films with the same message could make this a common theme in childhood. During childhood there normally aren’t many worries aside from the occasional missed teddy-bear. Movies could change the generally accepted purpose of childhood. Childhood could stop being a time where you develop in a nurturing environment to when you are taught about the world in a hope to change it, in this case learning to take care of the planet. This may not be an obvious change, just as Wall-e is an entertaining way to teach about how we effect our environment, but it could be a big one. Most children’s films don’t have a message that will change how you live, but a new trend could be arising, films for children with a higher purpose. Movies are a wonderful way to teach children because they enjoy watching, but what will we teach them next?

            Over the years there have been film genres that have affected the way we think before. David Denby says in the “Postmorbid Condition” says, “They [the films] wouldn’t survive if they didn’t provide emotional satisfaction to the people who make them and to the audiences who watch them.” (425). This suggests that movies with a “green” message satisfy a need to find a solution to the problem of our harsh impact on the world. In Wall-e the humans correct their mistake by coming back from space to clean up the planet and to create a new lifestyle, one that helps the planet rather than destroys it. This might be what we want for our children, a way for them to live without the fear that one day their actions will destroy the only known place that they can live. As adults the general population is already making steps to make our day-to-day activities safer for the world around us. We use hybrid cars, solar heating systems, and green buildings to help is toward our goal, but we still aren’t there. The popularity of this movie shows that on some level, we feel guilty because of what we are doing to our planet.

            One way this movie could help resolve our guilt is by showing a solution. This will make the movie live on in our memories. In the movie the children who come back to live on Earth are taught how to care for it. As the end credits role there are scenes of children playing outside, fishing, and planting. These scenes affect our children by giving them an unwritten expectation that they should be doing this. Saving the planet is a heavy weight to put on a child’s shoulders, but passing the solution to someone else feels good to us. Children now grow up being taught that we are hurting the planet, but may be confused because we are not stopping what we are doing. To children we look like hypocrites because we show them a movie where trash has overrun our planet, but we still make use of all of the resources that we have and fill up our trash bags. Childhood is becoming much more complicated, and will continue to be because of the popularity of these movies, but will also put new responsibilities on our children.

            Children are our future, our pride and our hope. What we show them now will affect their whole lives. Environmental films make them into our solution. Now they will grow up knowing that the path humanity is on could destroy our whole planet. This makes life confusing because we aren’t doing all we can to save it, in fact we aren’t doing a lot to save it. Wall-e could make childhood into a time to learn about the problems Earth has and give them time to find answers to fix them. The generation that is seeing these films now could grow up to change how we live in order to better preserve the planet, and topple huge corporations who benefit from the destruction of the planet, companies that happen to be some of the most influential of our time. Wall-e changes the mindset that because you are a child, you can’t change anything. Wall-e changes childhood into a force to stop evils in the world, to enhance our world. The childhood of future generations will change into a period to mold them into solutions that our planet needs.

Works cited

Maasik, Sonia, Solomon, Jack. Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for

Writers. Bedford/St. Martin's 2012, seventh edition. The Postmorbid Condition

David Denby

Maasik, Sonia, Solomon, Jack. Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for

Writers. Bedford/St. Martin's 2012, seventh edition. High School Confidential: Notes

Teen Movies. Vivian C. Sobchack

Scott, A. O. "In a World Left Silent, One Heart Beeps." The New York Times 27 June 2008, Movie Review sec.: E1. Nytimes.com. 27 June 2008. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.

"Box Office Mojo." Box Office Mojo. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. <http://boxofficemojo.com/>.

1st essay

Jessica Klase                                                        

Prof. Kelly Rowley

English 115

Sept. 23, 2012

The Deaf World Through Hearing Eyes

            I walked into the silent room, at Balboa Park in San Diego, where so many conversations were going on that the visual din was almost unbearable. I felt like I was in way over my head; I had only started learning American Sign Language a year before, and I was nowhere close to fluent. The little confidence I had was given to me by my friend who was at about the same level in the language as I was; we were going to tackle deaf awareness day together. The layout of the room was nice and open, so that you could see another person signing from across the room and not interrupt the presentation on the main stage. Walking through conversations was unavoidable, so I saw the sign for “excuse me” signed more times than I could count. The animated expressiveness of everyone's face was a huge contrast to what I normally saw in hearing culture, because these expressions in sign language help the other person understand what you were saying. American Sign Language had influenced almost everything in this room, everything in the room was geared toward the eyes, not the ears, and the culture felt like a hidden gem, an unusual treasure that could only be reached through ASL, by talking to its members. Tapping a stranger’s shoulder to help another person get their attention is commonplace. The visual nature of the language had changed the culture of the room dramatically. Culture and language are twisted and knotted into an almost inseparable mass; without American Sign Language I wouldn’t even know that the culture existed. 

            I learned how to adjust to Deaf culture extremely quickly, like what questions were ok to ask and what others would start a fight. One subject that is highly controversial in Deaf culture is cochlear implants. They are controversial in the Deaf community because many Deaf people don’t see deafness as a handicap. They are proud of being deaf and they like the community they’re in because of this. When cochlear implants were created the hearing parents, of deaf children felt they could “fix” their children, which isn’t true. This is a large issue because 90% of Deaf children are born to hearing parents, and there is often a language barrier. Before I started to learn the language and met Deaf people this confused me because I couldn’t imagine not wanting to hear and the different path my life would have taken if I hadn’t been born with the ability to hear. It was especially hard for me as a musician to imagine not being able to hear, let alone how different life would have been for me because sound is so important. For Deaf people this makes them unique and they even set themselves apart in the English language, using a capital “D”  to indicate a person who is culturally Deaf and a lower case “d” for the medical point of view of being deaf, or unable to hear. Eventually I learned the differences, although it was hard to grasp at first; after meeting Deaf people everything seemed to finally come into focus.

 The Deaf community was extremely different from anything I had ever seen. After coming into the community, I became acutely aware of the struggles many deaf people. Before, when I was in the “hearing” world and I met a deaf person I changed. I was the typical hearing person that would have said “Poor person, I wish I could fix them.” Learning ASL and meeting different deaf people showed me that it isn’t crucial to fix them, and sometimes there is nothing to fix. Changing my view showed me how the general population saw deaf people and how I had been one of them. The people who surprised me the most were the hearing people who would get frustrated and just give up. Now, after I meet a Deaf person they are relieved that I can sign and we always get along wonderfully.

In the Deaf community I was more outgoing because of how friendly everyone was. I made friends faster and I was accepted more often. Not only did my personality change in the Deaf community, but it did in the outside world as well. I even changed the career I wanted to go into, majoring in Deaf Studies instead of music. I became a sort of unofficial teacher to those around me about the Deaf community and what it was like. My “Deaf-World” personality would always be more outgoing, yet intimidated at the same time because I was always afraid to make mistakes in front of people who knew the language better than me. This “new me” was completely different than anything I had ever been before, and often times it confused me because it was almost a paradox of the “me” in the hearing world. This paradox was largely created by the fact that everyone I met was extremely nice, yet I was nervous to meet new people and use ASL because I was still learning it. Eventually I got more comfortable in my own skin, but the nervousness because I was learning about the culture still remained.

 My introduction to the community through the language changed my view on all foreign languages and communication in general. Before I learned ASL I didn’t have an opinion on access to information but after experiencing firsthand what that can do to a community and to people when they have no access I quickly saw it was wrong. I was shown this through the Deaf community and my eyes opened to how our country doesn’t provide for people who don’t speak the same language. Although the Deaf community exists in America not many people are exposed to it particularly because it is a small group of people, and you need to learn ASL to be a part of it. This makes is hard to get services for the deaf in ASL in some areas. In America, because there are so many languages and cultures most people would think that it would be easy to get services in those languages, but this is not always the case. Many places in America are hard to access for those who speak different languages or use American Sign Language to communicate. When I realized how hard it could be for deaf people I became determined to learn ASL.

American Sign Language makes Deaf culture tight-knit because there is no true “Deaf country” in the world where everyone uses ASL, so the language is always a minority language. Learning this language has made me a more culturally sensitive person and has given me a culture that I can rely on. The culture is normally very accepting of people who know ASL and are supportive, because not everyone knows the language, so when you find someone who does know it you want to get to know them. ASL has created customs in Deaf culture because of its visual nature, like tapping a stranger on the shoulder to help someone trying to get their attention. When two people who sign meet each other outside of the Deaf community most of the time they will have many shared experiences, especially if they are Deaf. Signers and Deaf people will typically get along well because they have that language in common and share many experiences with each other. Deaf culture exists because there is a group of people that use and depend on ASL every day, and if I had never started to learn the language I would have never become a part of it or found my major.