2. This website talks about how it has become much harder to pay for being pregnant and having a newborn child lately because of all the fees. You have to pay for doctors and bills and of course things to help raise your child and take care of it. A few of the programs listed that can help women who can not afford all of these expenses would include WIC which helps women out with food and HUD Rental assistance which can help them find a place to live.
3. This author is simply stating what sorts of programs would be best to look into if you were a woman who is pregnant and struggling financially. They put pictures of babies and a woman who was pregnant who looked stressed about what she was going to do. This shows us that this would be a potentially helpful website if you continue to read on and follow the instructions. This is definitely aimed at women because of the title, and other topics that are listed throughout the website. This is the perfect website for our group because Baby Steps is a program that helps out women that are in need of money or assistance.
4. I do not believe that this source was bias, because they only had one advertisement on their page and it had to deal with helping the mom out with cordblood. At first I looked for other advertisements to see if it would be a credible source and that was the only one that I saw so I thought that seemed pretty credible.
5. A few questions that I have is why they have a list of websites toward the top of the page that deal with medicaid for the disabled. I didn't really see how that applied to the main topic of the website. I also want to know why they had links that asked about getting on maternity leave early because I do not think that really applies.
"Financial Assistance for Single Parent/Low Income Families." http://www.elearners.com/projectworkingmom/resources/pay-for-college/financial-assistance-for-single-parent-low-income-families/. Terri Hare, 1999-2011. Mon, Feb 2011.
In this article, Terri talks about how it is not really a surprise that over the last ten years or so there seems to be more and more single parents. " It's also no secret that higher education costs have raised dramatically as well." (Terri Hare) She talks about how it is pretty much required to go to college now a day to see an improvement in how much you will earn in your career. Basically it is no longer something we CAN do it is more of something we NEED to do. In a survey she found that more than 12 million children live in a household with an income level below the poverty line. She then lists off a bunch of tips that can help these families make it through hard times such as finding aid for education and writing down your spending habits.
I thought that this article was definitely aimed more towards single-mothers because it didn't really seem to focus much on the family life. It talked a lot about what mothers should do and where a mother should go to look for aid rather than where the mother and father should go. Terri lists off a bunch of organizations that some women may not know of or consider when they are having trouble. Food banks, which help them with food obviously, and then the HUD program which helps them find housing. I think that there is a little bias in this article just because it seems to focus more on single mothers rather than family. As for credibility I was a little skeptical at first because it seemed like there were a bunch of comments at the bottome so I wasn't sure if people would just add in stuff whenever they wanted, but it turns out they are just comments about the site.
I believe that this website and it's articles apply to Baby Steps because we are basically doing the same thing she is. Instead of making a website however we are in person telling these women/families where they need to go to seek help. Low income mothers and families seems to be increasing throughout the nation, and it is people like Terri who are trying to make a difference and I have a great deal of respect for that. I definitely agree with her that college is something that people need to go through if they are hoping to make more money, and stay above the poverty line.
"Help for Low Income Single Moms." http://divorcesupport.about.com/b/2009/09/07/help-for-low-income-single-moms.htm. Cathy Meyer, September 7, 2009. Mon. Feb. 2011
In this article it talks about how women should not have troubles with their children just because their spouse left them. There are many programs who can continue to help them even if their husband or boyfriend will not help them out after divorce. Some of the programs I have never heard of such as Aid to Family's with Dependent Children. This is a program that helps family's out with children under the age of 18. WIC and food stamps were a couple other programs that she exxplained.
This study was more towards families that were divorced and the mother was not recieving much payment from the father. "Single moms have many challenges. In todays economic climate it isn’t unusual for a single mom to be faced with financial difficulties." I think that this is very true because it seems like in the world of today you hear women complaining all the time about how the father is not paying enough for child support or that they are late and the mother has problems paying things on time. I have had personal experience with this because my mom used to complain about it quite often.
I think that this could potentially play a huge role in my service learning project because the women that are in the program Baby Steps may be facing the same problem that these women are. If some of these women do not know what to do because their spouse has left them my group members and I can help them out by telling them about these programs and educating them.
Unit 1 Project
Dustin Murphy
Richard Samuelson
When I first walked into this class there were quite a few things going through my mind. One of those things was “I wonder how hard this class will be compared to English 101 and I wonder what this whole digital rhetoric thing is.” Well so far throughout the semester it seems that I have picked up on quite a few things that I did not know before. One example of something that I have learned is how to use a blog. A second thing that I have learned about while participating in this class is how to do research at a good pace and knowing whether the site I am using is credible or not. Another thing that I have learned is about our annotated bibliographies, not only how to write them and cite them, but also how to accept the feedback I have received and put that to use in my papers or other documents.
One of the most useful things that I have learned so far in this English 102 class is the use of blogging. When I first walked in I had no idea what a blog even was or how anyone was supposed to create and use one. Richard Samuelson helped us all so that we could create our blog for our specific service learning groups and then we posted a bunch of our work onto the blog for everyone to see. At first we had some minor difficulties with tabs and such, seemed like it was just some technological difficulties. After getting our blogs all figured out we started writing our annotated bibliographies, which is another thing that I had never heard of or done. It seemed like many people in the class were familiar with annotated bibliographies so I was a little unsure of what to think since I had never had to do one before. While writing these bibliographies we had to do some research for our project groups and cite the source. I never really paid attention to all the small details of a website before this class because I figured that most sites would be credible, but it turns out that there are quite a few things that can make a website bias or not credible. One of these things would be ads, if there is an ad that deals with something completely different than the content of the original website then there is a red flag that goes off in my mind. Also if the context is headed in one direction then it may not be credible because it seems more opinion based than actual facts.
On my first annotated bibliography entry I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but Richard’s guidelines helped out quite a bit. I went on to a website that had to deal with the same sorts of things as my service learning project Baby Steps, which helps low income families pay for specific things and educate them on what they can do. I found a pretty legit website that seemed to have a lot of information that could help someone that was in dire need of financial aid or possibly even housing. After I made my annotated bibliography on the blog, we were supposed to comment back on other group members bibliographies and tell some things that were good and also things that were bad. On my first bibliography I must have done the MLA format incorrectly because my group member Alex said “Your MLA format seems fine I think your missing the contributors name though.” From there on out I made sure to look for the correct citations and all the contributors names. I had a few troubles finding the correct citation on OWL Purdue so that was one reason why I did not include the contributors name in it. After our first bibliography we were required to do two more about the same topic, and this time around it was quite a bit easier. It was easier because I had a better understanding of how to tell if a website was legit or not and if it was bias. I had also ended up finding the proper citation for the websites that I had used so my citation was finally correct. Throughout my bibliographies I still had some trouble with the assess part of the paper.
I thought that the assess part of our bibliographies was where you just basically explained and analyzed the site, which I thought that I had done but I ran my summary a little too far into it. Richard Samuelson said “ Your summary is solid, although it bleeds into your section 3 a little(and the reflection was coming into the bottom of 3).” So from now on I need to make sure that my summaries and my reflections and such are all different parts of the bibliography instead of them bleeding into each other. I thought that the blog was a very good idea for these annotated bibliographies because they allow everyone to see what kinds of these the teacher has commented as well as the other students. I think that this altogether helps because it gives students the chance to see what other people put in their writing and what sorts of mistakes the other students made that way they don’t make the same mistakes.
Throughout this semester we have done quite a few readings that have helped a little with my academic reading and writing. One of the readings called Writing Analytically talked about “reading against the grain.” At first I didn’t really understand this concept because this was a very big and confusing reading. But after a while of thinking about it and discussing it in class I came to the conclusion that this meant to not just read for the main purpose of papers or entries but to rather think more depth about it. Make sure that you are asking yourself questions when you are reading and try your best to answer those questions. This helps to make sure that you understand the reading better and will definitely help you out in the long run. Although a lot of the readings that we have done thus far in this class are pretty lengthy and can be quite confusing at times, I would say that they have helped me read and write in a way that I could not have imagined. There are still some parts of readings that I struggle with, such as the “lens” that is described in Writing Analytically, but after thinking about them for a while and discussing them with peers they seem to make sense and I can therefore apply the concepts to my future reading and writing.
I would say that this English 102 course has and will continue helping me a lot throughout the future. We have used digital rhetoric such as blogs which can be potentially helpful since it may be something that is used quite often in the future. Learning how to properly research will definitely be something that helps, I know now what things to look for to make sure that the website or anything else is a credible source and to make sure that they aren’t extremely opinionated. The bibliographies were a great learning experience because I had never done them before so I now know how to do them and then the comments received from both the teacher and the students helps with certain things that I have done right and wrong. All in all I would say that I am glad that I took this class because it will help me out a great deal down the road of college and life.
Research Question Draft
The question that I had for my research question is "Why would a family that does not have or make very much money spend the money they have on drugs?" I am quite passionate about this because I do not see why somebody that barely makes enough money to feed themselves would waste their money on something stupid like drugs. I understand that not making very much money can put quite a bit of stress on someone, but doing drugs temporarily relieves the stress just to come back twice as bad. It comes back twice as bad in the fact that you are wasting money on it, and if you get addicted to it then you feel the need to keep buying it. I haven't had any experience at the service learning project quite yet, but i know from talking to some of my group members that it seems like some of the women there have been or are currently using some type of drug. One member said that they give "points" to the store that the mothers go to if they do not use drugs. I can see how this can help promote not using drugs, but isn't that sort of common sense? If you don't have enough money to spend on food, then you definitely don't have enough to spend on expensive drugs. To refine my question throughout the semester i am going to study the patients at Baby Steps and see if any have or are using them and what their reason behind it is.
Discourse Analysis
Maring, E. F., & Braun, B. (September, 2005).
alcohol, and tobacco use in rural, low-income
families: An ecological risk and resilience perspective
Drug, Research brief. University of Maryland. I had a little bit of trouble finding out what was bias about this article but after a while I think that I found out what it was. I think that this article is bias in the fact that they only talk about rural families that do not make very much money. They did not say anything about families that lived in the city. Another thing that they did not specify is ways that these people could be helped. They did say that some of the problems that these families face is a lack of proffessionals to educate the students about drugs and its effects. I think that if they did bring in more professionals that they would have a better chance of not using them. All in all I believe that the bias in this article is that they don't offer any help for these families and they stick to one particular culture.
Discourse Analysis #2
Rebecca Brown. "Helping Low-Income Mothers with Criminal Records Achieve Self-Sufficiency." Welfare Information Network. Volume 4, No. 13. December 2000. February 22, 2010
In this article it talks about women that are facing different challenges and the reasons why they have these troubles. One reason that they end up staying below the poverty line is the lack of education. In todays society if you do not pursue more than a high school education then you will have a tough time making a lot of money. Another problem that these women face is if they have a criminal record it is nearly impossible for someone to find a job. Employers believe that if they have a criminal record they have a higher probability of using drugs and/or stealing or doing more criminal activities. According to Rebecca, women that have been faced with criminal charges may not be able to use certain helping programs such as WIC. They are not allowed to use these problems for help on food and housing and that puts a lot of stress built upon the stress they already have so they turn to self medicating. If a woman is accused of using drugs then there is a high chance that she will get her children taken away from her or she will be forced to put them into foster care until they are either done with substance abuse or they may not be able to get them back at all.
I have often wondered if this was the case with Baby Steps. I wonder how many of the women that attend our service learning project have these problems and have tried drugs. These women obviously are not denied public benefits because they are seeking help through this program, but I wonder how many of them have criminal records and/or have done drugs. A group member of mine was describing how the women recieve "points" if they do not use any drugs while doing the Baby Steps program, and the points are therefore used to buy things at the store that is provided through the program. I often wonder why they need motivation to not use drugs, I mean isn't not having very much money and having trouble with your kids enough? I find it rather stupid but then again I guess that if a woman is addicted to drugs that she may need help and that can be something that light a fire to get them to quit.
Group Response 1
ReplyDeleteYour MLA format seems fine I think your missing the contributors name though. I like how you list the facts given on the site it makes it easy to follow. Maybe go into a little more depth and specifics on what else they mention. I really enjoyed the detail you put into your analysis it gave me a clear picture of what the website looked like without having to pull it up, and don't believe there is any improvement needed in this section. In your reflection it would have been nice for you to mention parts that the website that made you think it was credible and non bias rather than only the things that made it not, other than that though I liked how you mentioned the adds as being part of it too. Your questions are very legitimate it would be nice to know how they relate as well, maybe they don't have to just as long as the word is getting out.
A point that seemed applicable for your entry from Chapter 14's Writing Analytically was Strategy 4; Use Your Sources to Ask Questions, Not Iust to Provide Answers. I felt this one could be used in that you asked a lot of questions on how the page was set up and laid out rather than questions on the information and issues of the site. The strategy talks a lot about pulling commentary and elaboration from the information giving going deeper in depth. Strategy 6: Find Your Own Role in the Conversation, could also help with this. Both talk about digging deeper into the source and I believe this would help with your questions and summary sections where you mention "list" and the pages' display.
-Alex
READING RESPONSE #2
ReplyDeleteYour citation for the first bibliography looks good except I think you don’t have to add the website for MLS anymore.
Your summary got the basic idea of the article but I feel like it could go into a little more detail. It might be helpful to mention why it is, according to the author, that recently there seems to be more and more single moms. Another detail you could add in is why a college education is necessary not only for single moms but people in general.
It’s good how you caught on to the bias this article might have toward single-mothers rather than low income families in general. It might also be a good idea to look into the credibility of the author.
I really like how you relate this article to Baby Steps. It puts the program into a different perspective. I agreed with you when you said that these are just two different channels through which to communicate with families in need.
You did a good job at using the article as a lens because you were able to use the information in a more general sense. In “Reading Analytically”, Rossenwasser also says that a good reader needs to read for the pitch, the complaint, and the moment. It was clear you understood what the author wanted her audience to believe (the pitch) and you also noticed the bias the author might have. The author’s purpose was also understood because you mentioned the things she wanted to change (the complaint), and you were able to put it into perspective when it came to relating the information to service-learning (the moment).
It think it might have been good to look more closely at why the author believes a college education would be so beneficial. Looking deeper into the author’s purpose would help you develop some more of your own ideas. Being more conversant with the text by adding in some quotes would also help. It would be easier to see how your ideas and the others are the same and different.
Some of your in-text citation is off but here’s a link to help you out
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/
I liked your bibliography especially how you relate the information to Baby Steps and how you want to help.
This response is for your second bibliography.
ReplyDeleteYour summary is a little vague. It would be good to include the author’s name before writing “she explained”. Including the author’s name would also make it clear which are your ideas and which you are picking up from the reading. I think it’s a good observation that the problems mentioned in this article are ones that mothers participating in Baby Steps are probably facing also. Any connections to the research you are doing will help with the final product.
It would be really helpful for you to add some paraphrasing and quotation in your reflection to back up your claims. It goes along with conversing with the text and making your own ideas based off of what the author said. Another part of conversing with the text, and it might also make it easier, would be to read with and against the grain. Mention what the author said that you agreed with and something you didn’t agree with. I think it would help you to read for more than just the gist of the article.
You were touching base on the author’s perspective pretty good. It just needed some details. Overall, I like how you incorporate service-learning into your research but some examples and details would help a lot.
In your in text citations your missing the authors name and page number and the quotation kind of stands on its own. The link is in the first response I sent you.
I think you have a good question. I would want to know why these women put money into something thats useless when they can use that money to buy their baby diapers. They do get points for not using drugs which I find that weird. You should interview the lady who in charge of Baby Steps and ask her why do these women get points for not using drugs if it's common sense. They can use that money for a good cause. You should also ask these women if they have no money how do they even get money to buy drugs since they are at an agency where it's for low-income pregnancy families.
ReplyDelete