You could continue to use your weblog for personal reasons. Such as if you enjoyed it. You could do it to try and better you academic work by listening to other people opinions about it. You could use it as a way to tell other people facts and academic information. You could try to write for professional adiences or maybe just to fellow peers. You could even try to work aspects of all of these into your weblog. Maybe you could even use it for another class. If I ever do a survey about peoples opinions regarding prisons it would go well on here.

Over the quarter in English 101 my writing attitudes and opinions have changed as we moved from one project to another. My attitude changed as the point of each writing assignment changed. First, we had to do an analytical research project. When writing this I had write very professionally. I had to be very careful not to be offensive. Whatever I said had to be backed up with facts from a legitimate source. Then, as we moved on to do our Digital composition project, I was able to state my opinions and didn’t really need a lot facts. I was also able to speak in a less professional manner. Finally, as we began writing our opinion editorial, which was our final project, my writing became even less professional. I used tactics in my writing that could be offensive to some people. When writing the op-ed I was practically trying to force my opinions upon the reader.

Prisons: American Justice or Joke

            Life, what a gift, what a blessing. The ability to wake up each morning with family or friends to begin the new day. Being able to see the amazing beauty of nature such as the colors of a sunset, or the loveliness of a flower. Hearing the gentle chirp of a bird, or the sound of an angelic singer. Smelling the scent of a rose, or a hot meal fresh from the oven. Experiencing the feelings of love, safety, joy, and excitement. One should take time to be thankful for the opportunity to experience these things, because everyday over 30,826 people fall victim to crimes committed in the United States, resulting in many peoples lives being ended or permanently scarred. Over 3,800 of these are victims of violent crimes, including over 45 murder victims, and almost 250 rape victims per day. (The Disaster Center).

            It is a shameful truth that this goes on in our nation. We are lucky prisons were created to help bring an end to it, or at least to make us feel that way. Every year thousands of our tax dollars are going into prisons, which are doing a great job punishing the  muderers, rapists, and other convicted criminals of our time. Prisons that are required to be more and more lenient towards prisoners and their rights. Prisons that are no longer allowed to physically hurt their prisoners. Prisons that allow their prisoners free room and board, unemployment pay, price-reduced education, free medical and dental care, almost constant access to satellite television and telephone usage, access to personal computers and stereos, video games, a variety of recreational facilities, weight rooms, three hot meals a day, and a nice “cottage” for sex privileges and unsupervised family visits, and prisons that make it very easy for criminals to sue. Prisons that release criminals and have approximately 2/3 of them re-arrested for another serious crime within 3 years after their release (The US Department of Justice). Yes indeed, our prisons are doing a GREAT job “punishing” our criminals.

            There are people who argue that making prisons tougher is pointless; however, if you stick a prisoner in a cell giving them just the basic needs for survival and nothing more, there is a good chance that the prisoner is going to think twice before committing another crime. The prisoner does not need to be mistreated, but neither should he be receiving so many privileges, luxuries, and benefits. Many convicts are living better in prison than some good, hardworking, law abiding citizens, which is shameful. As prisoner life continues to improve and societal conditions continue to deteriorate, some criminals actually see their standard of life improve when they go to prison. It is like we are rewarding them for their crimes rather than punishing them. Prisons today are a joke.

            Is this what punishment and justice mean in our great nation?! Is this really what we consider adequate punishment for monstrous, self centered, convicts who have committed crimes such as murder and rape?! Is this fulfilling justice for the families who have had a loved one ripped from their life by murder?! Is this our way to make a young lady feel safe who has been traumatized for life as the result of rape?! Is this the kind of justice and punishment you would want if it was your wife, child, parent, or other loved one who was victimized?!

            Don’t waste your time. Go on and live your life. Let the government take care of it. It is not your concern. Rest assured that prisoners are being well taken care of because literally they are. Just take time to enjoy it because who knows; you could be the next victim…

When writing an op-ed, there a few thing which I consider the unmarked rules that are needed for the writing to be considered an op-ed. First, it needs to be timely and relevant. This is important, because if it didn’t have to do with a present problem, issue, or concern there would be no point in reading it. Another factor would be that is needs to be compelling, and persuasive. The point for writing an op-ed is to persuade people, and if it doesn’t accomplish that then there was no point in writing it in the first place. I think that those are the most important “so called requirements” needed when writing an op-ed. I don’t feel that they other aspects are set in black and white, but arerather very flexable. For example, there is not really a set length that it needs to be; however, the writer needs to use common sense because you don’t want to make it too short because you’ll not be able to say what you need to say, and you don’t want it to be too long because you will loose the readers interest. Most op-eds are are around600-750 words, but others vary in size. A recently read a current op-ed called Obama: “Now That I’ve Been Elected, One’s Associations Really ARE Important”. This op-ed relevant because Obama was recently elected as the new president and people minds are still in that area and will probably linger there for a while. This article is also persuasive because it is making you feel upset at Obama because she is making him look like a hypocrite by telling about something he said and then contradicting it with something he did.

Today I found a op-ed (editorial), called “The War Against Abortion Protesters,” that I felt had a very important message to be heard. I like the way the author works to persuade you by making the reader think about the importance of people uniting for a cause they believe in, regardless of the opposition they are receiving from those “higher up.” I felt really compelled by the dedication and emotion she showed with her words. It truly reminded me of how we can change the world by the little things we do. It even brought me sense for the significance of democracy and free speech as I read, which was a great tactic on her part because they are such valuable things that all Americans’ hold dear.

For my Analytical Research Project I chose the topic of prisons. Throughout my paper I explored the reasons for the creation of prisons, and questioned whether or not they are doing an adequate job in helping to bring success in the criminal Justice system. At the start of my paper, I felt as though prisons have become way to easy on the convicted murders, rapists, and other convicted criminals with all the privileges they are receiving. However, as I continued to research, and my thesis continued to develop, I began to see that there were reasons for allowing the criminals to have these privileges that never crossed my mind before.

I recently created a link called “Letter from Prison.” This link is a letter written by a man named J. Incandeneza who has spent many years in prison. He presents an interesting and different perspective towards people concepts of prisons that you might find very interesting.