Thursday, December 3, 2009

Reflection Essay

My experiences in English 111 have been very interesting. I have learned a lot about Bruce Springsteen and rhetorical analysis. In Mr. Gasparo’s class I learned a lot about YouTube and how informational it can be instead of stupid videos. Also the rhetorical analysis topic has taught me how to write better papers. However, the assignment that I did not like was critiquing past student’s works cited pages.
To future students who will take Mr. Gasparo’s class it will be a great learning experience. I am glad Mr. Gasparo is not like ordinary professors who stand up in front of the class and just talk. The class is very interactive, so people who just want a boring lecture this is not the right class for you. However, if you love Bruce Springsteen this is the perfect class for you. Another great part about the class is the Springsteen movie because it takes up almost three class periods. Mr. Gasparo has a very different teaching style than all of the other professors I have had. He likes to teach his students through different things such as movies, songs, and YouTube. The homework in the class is not too much; it is mainly just watching YouTube and reading papers. Basically, if the type of student who would love this class would be the student who has an open mind to different styles of teaching and wants something different than an ordinary English class.
The assignment that helped me out the most was the Rhetorical appeals triangle. This triangle showed me exactly what should be in a paper when needing to convince the audience. I had no clue what this triangle was but through the different assignments we did in class the triangle was very easy to learn. By learning this triangle and what the different terms mean I am now able to pick his information out of papers and see how an author tries to connect with his audience. Also, I feel that I have learned how to connect with the people who will read my papers in the future. The reason being is I never really thought about logos, pathos, and ethos when I wrote a paper, but since that lesson and seeing how important they really are to a paper will help me improve in writing by thinking about the analysis before I write a paper.
The assignment that I did not like nor enjoy doing was critiquing past students work. To me I did not get too much out of critiquing. Also, some of the works we had to correct were extremely messed to the point to where we could not critique the work because too many vital pieces were missing. On the other hand, by critiquing the papers it gave me an example of what the papers should resemble and what the papers should not resemble.
Another assignment that was very useful was the résumé and cover letter. Before this class I had a vague idea about how my résumé should look and what type of information should be in one. Mr. Gasparo did an excellent job teaching the class how to make a résumé, and because of that assignment I now have a professional looking résumé.
In collusion this was a very interesting and useful course. I would suggest this class to anyone who is looking for a non-traditional more modernized teaching experience. With that said if you are thinking about taking this class but do not know how to use a computer you might want to find another class. Thank you Mr. Gasparo your class was very helpful.

Final Diagnostic Essay Draft: Being a Loss Prevention Associate


What is better than an adrenaline filled day? My job being asset protection is my current, as well as, the best job I have had because I do not know what is going happen when I clock-in for work. Sometimes, the day is very exciting dealing with shoplifters and on-going investigations. On the other hand, there are days where I find myself twiddling my thumbs. This is my everyday life as a loss prevention associate.

This job is the best job so far because it is in the direction of my career path which is law enforcement. One reason I love this job so much is because loss prevention is preparing me for the police department. Almost every day I learn and experience things that will help me when I become a police officer. For instance, shoplifters and report taking are what I deal with on regular bases. Also, there are less frequent situations that I have dealt with and they are: quick change artists, identity theft, counter fit money, embezzlement, and organized crime rings. Another reason why this job is the best so far is because there is nothing better than a nice adrenaline rush. When I see a shoplifter conceal merchandise, my adrenaline starts flowing instantly because I now have to maintain my surveillance and blow my cover to the subject. After the shoplifter is done and begins to leave, another wave adrenaline pumps in when I have to confront the individual and when confronting an anything is possible. Some of the shoplifters try running and fight while others are very cooperative. If the person tries to run, I then attempt to get him or her in to the office with minimal force necessary. However, that’s not always the case. Paying attention to the situation is very important; it is way too easy for a situation to become out of control. The reason why I love being loss prevention is this job requires me to be ready for anything and everything.

Ultimately, loss prevention allows me to start my career in with law enforcement, and that is just one of the reasons why this job is the best job I have ever had. This can be a dangerous job, but it is a rewarding job. I would recommend loss prevention for anyone interested in law enforcement.


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Diagnostic Essay-Asset Protection


What is better than an adrenaline filled day? My job being asset protection is my current, as well as, the best job I have had because I will never know what is going happen when I clock-in for work. Sometimes, the day is very exciting dealing with shoplifters and on-going investigations; on the other hand, there are days where nothing happens in the store. This is my everyday life as loss prevention.

This job is the best job so far because it is in the direction of my career path. Unfortunately, my other jobs did not have anything to do with what I have a passion for which is law enforcement. One reason I love this job so much is because it is preparing me for the police department. Almost every day I learn and experience things that will help me as a police officer. For instance, shoplifters and report taking are what I deal with on a daily bases. Also, there are less frequent situations that I have dealt with and they are: quick change artists, identity theft, counter fit money, embezzlement, and organized crime rings. Another reason why this job is the best so far is because there is nothing better than a nice adrenaline rush. When I see a shoplifter conceal merchandise, my adrenaline starts flowing because I now have to maintain my surveillance and try not to be seen by the subject. After the shoplifter is done and begins to leave, another wave adrenaline pumps in because now I have to confront the individual and when confronting a subject I will never know what will happen. Some of them try to run and fight while others cooperate. If the person tries to run I then attempt to get him or her in to the office with minimal force necessary. However, that’s not always the case and if I am not paying attention the situation can become out of control very quickly. This job requires me to be ready for anything and that why this job is the best.

Ultimately, loss prevention allows me to start my career in with law enforcement, and that is just one of the reasons why this job is the best job I have ever had. This can be a dangerous job, but it is a rewarding job. I would recommend loss prevention for anyone interested in law enforcement.