Research Paper Reflection

I thought my paper went pretty well overall. I was struggling to hit the word minimum (I was six words over, heck yeah), so some areas where I went back in and "added" some information might seem fluffy, random, or pointless. I'll have to revisit those areas before I turn in the final copy.

From the advice you gave me on my thesis/intro I think I covered just about everything you suggested. I definitely addressed in great detail the irreversible damage to the environment that is occurring due to the use of nonrenewable resources such as coal. I also talked about what should be implemented in place of coal (solar energy) and why it currently is not. It seems as though my paper covers just about every major basis on the sustainable process (what is bad, why, and how to change it) in great detail.

After I turned in my outline and annotated bib and actually got to writing, I noticed I would need a few more credible sources to help write my paper. I found two additional credible websites from which I referenced information regarding the depletion rates of nonrenewable resources, and a quote from the National Energy Program Director of the Environmental Defense Fund.

Overall, I would give my paper a letter grade of B/B-. I think I have a good starting point but definitely still need to do some work to make my sentences flow better. One thing I was unsure of is how or where I was supposed to incorporate the photo in my paper. I just stuck it at the end and labeled it as "Figure 1".  Also, I'm not quite sure if I have enough warrant to go with my claims and evidence. This is basically the most important part of the paper, and is what brings out my voice in the argument, so I definitely need to check and make sure I have enough of it.

Paper Reflection

For this week's blog post, in 300-400 words, reflect on your research argument paper. Explain what your strong points were and what you could have done better or where your argument was lacking. Were you confident in your analysis or did you rely heavily on other sources to make the argument for you?

Natural Darkness

Plenty of us have heard scary stories revolving around the supernatural, and the imaginary, but have you experienced an actual adrenaline rush from realities worst horrors? Back in my hometown where nature was part of society, and walking to destinations wasn’t odd, there was a section which my family owns a ranch you could call it. Nature at its finest, it almost resembled a rain forest with its humid atmosphere, constant fogginess, smell of different fruits and crops. Needless to say this place didn’t have all the protection and security that it should have, anyone could come in if no one was there to look over it. Night time was beautiful in town, although I couldn’t say the same for our ranch, there was no electricity and the nearest source of light was too far to be seen. Once it was late, and there was no light, the chances of even us within our large area of land wouldn’t be able to get out. Deep forest vines and trees leading to more confusing land would emerge, even through regular pasture this was a confusing adventure. Now this one time I was riding a horse, happy as can be, since horses usually were tame and wouldn’t wonder off into distances of no return. But not this time, I struggle and fail to get where I want and end up in part of the ranch I had never been to, I end up in a forest where it seems wildlife was uncontrollable. Night was already here, and nothing could be seen. Foolish me decided to get off the horse, which then ended up leaving me. Now I was lost in some spot which I didn’t have a clue about. All through the night I heard several different birds, weird gurgling sounds which I couldn’t identify. Night itself was my enemy. I decided to move around and try to find a way out. Then I hear movement, it looks like a human shape, but not entirely. I start speaking, when suddenly it shuffles and starts running towards me screaming. Turns out it was my brother looking for me. Good enough to be found, but never will I remember being lost in a forest of infinite darkness.

Ducks?...more like dicks...

Fear is the emotion, which signals danger and helps a person to prepare for and cope with it. Many common fears are that of creatures such as snakes, spiders, or bats. A not so common fear I have come to accept is the fear of none other than the feathery, billed terror of ducks.

            Way back when I was in diapers my parents took me and my sister to an amusement park. It wasn't very amusing to me and my sister because we were both too short for almost every ride. So instead of the rides my father took me and my sister to the petting zoo attraction. I had never been to one of these and so I was curious what would happen in this magically enclosed kingdom of small animals.

            Me being the petting zoo virgin I watched my sister, Julie, frolic with the assortment of small animals. Goats, sheep, and rabbits all came up to her once the teenage hillbilly carny handed her some animal food. My sister was seeming to have the time of her life so I asked my father for some animal food so that I could experience this wonder. Now once I was handed the food I was expecting furry and gentle goats or rabbits to approach me; however, evil was lurking in the shadows.

            While waiting for some gentle animals , I heard the strangest sound coming from the dark. I thought to myself “Quack? What kind of animal makes that sound” and just as I finished that thought about a dozen feathered animals that im sure spawned from Satan, rushed me attacking my denim overalls and Thomas the tank engine shirt. I was pinned on the ground with these winged gremlins nipping all over my body with bills that seemed as sharp as knives. After almost a minute of pain, my father noticed me shrieking in fear and went to grab me.

            Once I was finally out of that hell-hole I told my dad (in toddler talk) all about the horror of these flapping beasts while he tried to console me with some cotton candy and a pretzel. After my sister gracefully got herself out of this “zoo of the Devil” I looked back as we walked away and I swear one of these ducks taunted me with one last “QUACK YOU”.

            

Stolen

As I was nearing the end of the art gallery, I noticed a hall I had not been done yet.  I decided to follow the hall because this was an exhibit from artists all around the world and I was fascinated by all the different styles and techniques.  I began down the hall, but it was different.  The walls were all white and bare; there was only one piece of artwork at the very end of the hall.  My curiosity got the better of me as I continued down the hall even though I felt as if I almost should not be there.  When I get there, the painting is of a girl who looks rather distressed.  It was done in very depressing neural colors, except for the eye-catching red ribbon in the girl’s hair.  As I look at the piece longer and longer, I begin to seem to not be able to remove my focus from it.  The girl even begins to appear as if she is moving.  I then start to realize that she actually is moving and she begins to stick her arm through the painting as she grasps my arm.  I tired my hardest to get away, but her grip was too tremendous and she began to pull me into her frame.  There we were, in what seemed to be her playroom together.  She ordered me to play with her, so I complied since I was scared out of my mind.  Everything started to seem normal until she started yelling at me for something.  Apparently I had stolen something of hers, and I tried my hardest to reassure her that I took nothing of hers and I did not even know what she was talking about.  She would not listen to me, and she proceeded to come towards me.  I, in fear, start to get up and run from the room.  I looked behind me and she was right on my tail, coming after me.  I just keep running down a winding hallway that seems to not have any rooms on in but her own, since I have yet to pass another door to hide in since I left her room.  Then I start to see a light at the end of the hall, and I can almost make out that it is a window.  I keep running and the closer I get to it, the more I am confident it is a window, and I think to myself, an escape!  But, to my demise, as I start to come up to the window, it seems as if there was a hundred feet to the ground or more.  Now I am out of options, the angry girl corners me up against the window.  She keeps getting closer and closer to me and I have nowhere to run, and then all of a sudden the girl pushes me out of the window.  I try to stay in the building as I grab onto the girl to save myself, but the only thing that I could grasp was the red ribbon from her hair, so I fell to my death.  As I fall, what seems to be a never-ending fall into nothingness, I scream at the top of my lungs.  My screams echo all around me and then the sound starts to sounds almost rhythmic.  The sound of my scream slowly changes into a familiar sound.  My alarm clock, I wake up lying there in bed to the sound of my alarm clock.  I sigh a breath of relief as I can relax because it was all just a bad dream.  Then, on the ground next to my room, I notice something that wasn’t there before.  But, that doesn’t make sense, what I see on the ground is the red ribbon from the girl’s hair from my dream...

Yippe Kai Yay

                It is 2150. A deadly gas attack by foreign invaders has turned everyone into nocturnally violent zombies. My dog and I are the lone survivors of the attack. The setting is the abandoned New York City.

Every fiber of my existence was focused on the buck through my rifle scope. I could feel my faithful companion, Murphy, at my side, alert and ready to finish the kill if my shot failed to do so. The tip of my rifle moved with the breeze, constantly trained on the target weaving through abandoned cars and wreckage. I tightened my finger around the trigger as the head of the buck rose from over a rusted Mercedes. Murphy, prematurely sensing the kill, gave an excited yelp and took off in full pursuit of the deer. “MURPHY NO”, I screamed. A chase driven by adrenaline and the will for fresh meat might lead her to one of the houses. I watched her leap over the wreckage which used to be NYC in pursuit of fresh meat. I could see her spine stretch and then collapse with each massive bound. Nature’s own accordion. The speed of my heartbeat soon matched the speed of her footfalls. Her agility and strength, however, was no match for the buck and his adaptation to the old city.

In his attempt at escape he darted into an old warehouse, Murphy not far behind, nipping at his heels. I tried yelling again, but to no avail. My heart led me like a magnet towards where Murphy had disappeared. My worst fears were confirmed upon reaching the warehouse. From outside I could hear the faint sounds of panting and moaning and the smell of rotting flesh filled my nostrils. The sweat dripped off the back of my neck as I ran to the entrance. The thought of what was inside didn’t even cause me to break stride as I rushed into the deathly fray.

“murphy…. Murphy”. My voice, rough and gravely with fear, rang out like a bell through the quarters. My boots squished through layers of what I thought to be blood, flesh, and rotting animals. Moving cautiously now, holding my breath so as to allow my ears to pick up even the slightest sounds of danger, I slowly walked through the entrance of the warehouse. The glow from my rifle light reflected the mold, blood and roaches on the wall. On the opposite side of the room there was a door, half off its hinges. The sounds of panting were growing louder. My footpace quickened. I had to call out again. I had to. “murphy”, I whispered, “here girl”.

The light on my rifle led me like a tunnel to where I knew I had to go. The door was nearing now. 15ft. The noise was louder now. 10ft. The smell of rotting flesh stronger now. 5 ft. The desire to get my dog back, strongest now.

As I crept around the corner, barring the light from the rifle with my hand I knew I had reached their labyrinth. Their presence could be felt all around me. Still hoping for the best I slowly released the rifle light. At first, the image was dim. Just blank huddled outlines of figures. In a sudden burst of light I saw everything. The zombies, crouched in a circle over my animal like savages. Their sickly grey-black skin stretched taught over their bodies, their hands covered in the blood and gore of the only sanity left in my world. Like a slow motion film, I saw their heads turn and lift from their savagery gorge to stare at me greedily with their sunken cheekbones, bald heads and red, golf ball sized eyes.

I closed my eyes, heard the rambunctious scuffle towards me, whispered “I love you Murphy…yippe kai yay mother F&%$ers”, and sprayed the room with bullets.

Scared of the Dark

It’s 2:40 in the morning. The best time to write about my fears. And of course, my fear is heightened by the silence of the entire building and how the lights periodically go off. Stupid motion sensors. I flail my arms in hysteria after being engulfed by the dark. The lounge itself is bright but the window shades are drawn up, revealing a silhouette of the large tree outside brushing against the window as if it were striving for the light.

I keep spacing out. Maybe because I’m tired. But my eyes continually glance over the dull concrete walls and find themselves looking through the window. My focus has alternated between seeing the tree and then seeing the reflection of the room in the glass, eventually merging both as if the whole room were transposed onto the dark canvas outside. And there I am in the windowpane, staring at myself stare at myself. I’m getting paranoid of moving with the thought of my reflection deviating from my own gestures. The lights go out and I move just enough for them to come back on again.

There’s something strange about the dark. But that’s because you can’t see anything more than six inches away from you. Lights go on and everything’s clear. It’s just the space behind you that goes perpetually unseen. Ask me to name one of my fears and there it is. Being by myself and imagining what all could be going on with my back turned. I lean onto the back of my chair, reassuring myself there isn’t anything or anyone behind me. As a cold chill suddenly causes me to shudder, I wonder if maybe someone else is in the room. Dismissing the thought, I throw on a sweatshirt to go to sleep. Till the sunlight comes out to illuminate the day, I’ll shield my blind eyes with my eyelids.

suspense, intrigue, horror and words. mainly words. really just words.

letter from the author.
at around maybe 10 when I was watching the game with some friends I somewhat decided to not write this blogpost. my reasoning was pretty sound. It was 2-fold; 1. it was already 10 pm. and 2. I hate scary things, I dont watch scary movies, I dont go to scary places, I avoid scary topics of discussion, and I dont have friends who try to scare me cause the ones who have are either no longer my friends or dead (both of those reasons are a result of my actions though as those things occurred before i was 18 the particulars have been expunged.)  a few minutes ago I checked my email and noticed Ms. B had graciously cancelled class (regardless of reasoning it is a gift and I shall consider it as such) so I think it fair that I give her and you my classmates 300 words no matter how unscary(not a real word I know). and trust me they will be because I am too much of a sissy to even look up scary things online for inspiration so I will exaggerate something remotely frightening that happened to someone I know and lie for a majority of it, as is the way most great stories are born.

Its 1 A.M at Clemson University. "Goodnight Chris" Katherine says to her friend as the door of Manning makes that familiar locking noise as chris sets off on his short journey back to Johnstone. his boat shoes clop as he walks down the slopped entrance of manning, marveling at the crowd that is always infront of Wendy's. the sounds are familiar the occasion neglected child roaring for attention from the scantily clad slender women around him and his bros. doors to trucks are opened as clown car amounts of people pour out and stomp towards the glow that promises chicken nuggets. normally chris might sit down and just watch the tom foolery that goes on but hes tired tonight so he chooses to just walk back. as he passes Wendy's he comes to a fork and normally he chooses to walk through the parking lot to Johnstone but he always goes that way. he goes straight on the way to the library. as he just leaves the view of Wendy's he hears a shriek. he panics for a second and runs back and he sees a girl flailing in the air as  she's playfully lifted off the ground by her boyfriend. He scowls and turns back around. as he goes down the stairs the metal grips click when his feet hit them. he watches the grips make the sound and stops after that last one. He turns around to see who is behind him because he certainly heard a metallic click but he hadn't stepped. he stops for a bit just to listen but hears nothing and carries on. as he passes strode tower the lights buzz and go out leaving him in darkness. he looks up at the light "fricking public schools" he says dismissing it as coincidence. he slows down when he makes it to the bridge and he looks out over the pond. he stops and leans on the railing to look out at the amphitheater. he hears a clopping somewhere behind him. He turns around to look. Nothing. He looks down and sees nothing. he looks back to the pond and hears the clopping only lounder and faster. he feels a jolt and turns around and sees a familiar face with a smile but hes confused as to why the library is sinking into the ground. then he sees the sky and realizing hes falling. crunch.

The Ghosts Among Us

      When asked to write a scary tale of my previous years, one very distinct terrifying story comes to mind. My great aunt mickey had been in town visiting from out of state. She was a very lovely lady that was stricken with a learning disability, never allowing her to have a job. Her husband and all of her children had died over the years, but she still remained enthusiastic and kind. We were sitting at dinner one night after she has been staying at our house for a number of days, as she began to tell us some truly disturbing stories. She told us that ever since she has come to our house, she has been seeing ghosts. Startled, my mother asked whom, wondering what would cause my aunt to say such a thing. My aunt replied by telling us that a man has been visiting her in our home. She said that he would watch her sleep over the bed, and follow her around the house. Alarmed, I asked if she knew this man, and wondered how someone could have sneaked into our home with the alarm activated. My aunt replied saying that he was one of the nicer people that visited us here, and that others would taunt her and get into her face. She specifically brought up a man that she claimed had no face and that would walk around the house and come and get right into her face at night. At this point, we thought that she had been joking and laughed until we saw her look up behind my seat at the table. We asked what she was looking at and she said "Him" and that he was right behind me. Chills ran down my spine as I slowly turned to see this man. No one was there. We eventually changed the dinner conversation and I forgot about her story until that night. My aunt would always come to my room to tell me goodnight, and this night was no different. The only difference is what she said. She cracked my door and said "Goodnight Brian, We love you". I sat frozen in fear as she closed the door, unsure of what creature or ghost was in my presence. Now she always says, "We love you", and I can always feel an uneasy presence in the air. 

Do you want to play a game?

After a rough Saturday night, four roommates, Tim, Kyle, Ian, and Kevin, wake up in an abandoned warehouse on Sunday morning.  Unsure of where they are, the roommate decide to look for a way out. To no avail, they soon found out they were locked inside the warehouse.  Very quickly the boys lost their calm and started to panic, when all of a sudden, a tv in the corner of the room turns on and starts playing a tape.  It was none other than the infamous serial killer, Jigsaw.  Like in all of his tapes, he gives the four roommates a task, in order to leave the warehouse alive.  The clue was that the key to unlock the door to escape was behind one of the four roommates eyes.  It was at that moment when everyone realized that something looked odd about Ian's right eye.  What made it even worse was that the doors were going to be sealed shut permanently from the outside in a little less than sixty minutes.

Thirty minutes have gone by and no progress has been made, when the group starts to feel incredibly hungry.  Knowing they could very easily die in the warehouse if they didn't act soon, they started making slow attempts at removing Ian's right eye.  The pure inhumanity of the situation had them all seriously disturbed which acted as a barrier to completing this gruesome task.  Ian's screams echoed throughout the warehouse, causing increasing levels of discomfort among the others.  Kyle tried to extract the eye but he was too slow about it which caused Ian to punch him out of discontent.  The clock was down to 5 minutes left, with a strong sense of urgency, Kyle closed his eyes and quickly grabbed ahold of Ian's eye and ripped it out as Ian nearly passes out from pain.  The key falls out as Ian falls towards the ground, and onto the dirty floor.  With less than a minute left the four unlock the door and rush out of the warehouse as fast as possible.

Desert "Gin"

It was one early morning on one of my many desert adventures in my Jeep with another one of my friends that we go on every weekend with him driving his Jeep as well. That day we decided on a place called Ghost Town known for being a full furnished abandoned village miles away from any civilization smack in the middle of the towering sands. With the destination chosen we put the coordinates into our GPS and snaked our way through the dunes and after about 45 minutes of driving a pillar seemed to appear out of no where as if it was a mirage glimmering in the mid day sun. We were the only ones out there.

                  This town was known for producing spirits called Gin, in Arabic meaning evil ghosts. It is believed in the Islamic religion that these spirits torture those that come near an area inhabited by them. As soon as we stepped out of the car, there was a dead silence. There was a strong breeze blowing but either the sand or trees around us were moving. We slowly walked toward the mosque on the outskirts of the town walking over dunes that have completely engulfed the houses and walls. Upon stepping inside the mosque, glass shattered beneath our feet and the windows started to crack around us and the breeze began to blow through the door. The feeling that was present was as if people were crowded around you with no space to move. As we started to feel even more claustrophobic we rushed out the door back to the cars, neither one of us saying a word. When both of us got back in the cars, we tried to start the cars, but they would not turn over and acted as if they were out of gas. Eventually they started up and as we rapidly drove out of the area the village vanished in the rear view mirror, but not before a mirage that seemed to be a line of people running away from the town. 

                Was it the unknown that was scaring us, or was it real? To this day I have never gone back to that place.

spooky hallow trail

One day on a quiet evening around 7 o clock, my roommates, Michael and Kevin and me decided it would be a good idea to go fishing. Of course, we had all the right supplies: including three fishing poles, bait, and most importantly, flashlights. We started our journey after eating dinner at McDonald’s. We get to our fishing spot, located in spooky hallow trail, South Carolina.

To get down towards the water we had to take Michael’s truck down the steep rocks of the spooky hallow path. Meanwhile, Michael’s radio turns off, and his headlights slowly start to fade away. At that very exact moment when the lights were completely gone, Michael was gone from the driver seat. The car had mysteriously turned off, and stopped completely. I was sitting right next to him in the passenger seat, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. With one blink, Kevin and Michael switched places with each other in the car, the car turns on, and we slowly make it down towards the water. With Kevin still confused as of why he got switched into the drivers seat, he still must maintain enough focus to park the car safely. Michael screaming in the backseat opens the door to the truck right before we got to the stop and starts to vomit. 

While still in absolute shock of what had happened in the last 5 minutes, we all began to wonder what the date of the day was. It was October 31^st. the Day of the dead.  Suddenly, a very saddened voice whispers to us in the name of death: 10 years ago, a group of three boys went fishing on spooky hallow path on the day of the dead, but never returned.  Kevin, Michael and me sprint back to Michael’s truck and barely make it back up the hill. The lights and radio ever came back on. The night spooks us every day, and it something that we will always remember.