This poem was probably one of Langston Hughes’ best poems because it is about such a touchy subject and he wrote it so well, that it is hard for anyone not to like it.

College. I never thought college would be this amazing.  From all the parties to the clubs, there’s never a dull MOMENT…when you actually experience that.  All of my friends have been going to crazy clubs and college parties and have had several alcoholic drinks since junior year of high school.  My friends have been trying to get me to go every since then but I never budge.  I haven’t been to a single one.  “Come on! Go with me to this frat party.” says one friend.  “Go to a club for once in your life,” says another.  I thought college would be a time to experience that, but it’s not.  I’m too busy studying for my only two academics classes and practicing for my music classes.  Now I’m not saying that college isn’t fun; I have fun with my roommates and the friends I have made.  I love that I have the freedom to go to the mall in the middle of the week or stay up until the wee hours of the morning.  But managing my time is a different story.  College is not at all what I expected; it’s a lot BETTER.

On ‘The Onion,’ I found this new anti-smoking ad that warns teens that smoking is gay.  I thought this was interesting and funny because teenagers nowadays think that saying to people “you’re gay” or “that’s gay,” is a diss, like it’s going to hurt their feelings to call them gay whether they are gay or not, not realizing the effect that it has on people who really are gay.  I think this commercial is targeting most of the teenage population because they are saying that smoking is gay and most of them don’t want to be gay, so they probably won’t smoke.

“Processed Foods Couldn’t Be More Proud Of Child They Raised,” was an article that I found funny and interesting as well because of the fact that it is very sarcastic.  Sentences like “‘We’re just so proud of Brian and everything he’s failed to accomplish in his largely sedentary and insipid life,’ said ABC president Stephen McPherson, whose network was there to receive the Chicago-area infant the day he came home from the hospital,” really make you think twice as your reading.  The entire article is about how people are “equally delighted with the dangerously obese young man,” which is really sarcastic at the fact that this boy hasn’t been able to accomplish anything in his life because of the amount of fast foods that he eats.  The article states that the cause of him getting so overweight is the constant publicity and marketing of those fast food restraunts that he can’t get enough of.  Basically, the article is spoofing how much people eat fast food and how obese it has made this country.

The first time I saw this ad, my eye immediately went to the number that’s the biggest text in the ad.  It got me wondering why that number was there, until I realized that it was the average number of seconds that the average person lives.  After that I was hooked on this ad because I was wondering why a car ad would advertise the amount of seconds a person has to live.  This advertisement also caught my attention because I love Lexus’ and it’s the car that I would like to get.

I think that this advertisement is meant for rich people because Lexus is not a cheap car and the way they have it set up is that the car is a shiny, red, convertible on a road with a city skyline in the background, and only rich people can afford to live in the city.  The  car shown in the ad has rims on it, that probably don’t come with it, meaning that according to this advertisement, they are either selling a false product, or saying that the car would only look good with the rims.

Racism- It is unbelievable how bad racism was back when it was the biggest issue around.  Why is racism still an issue today even when we have law that forbid it?  Why was it necessary to segregate in the first place?

Sexism- I’ve always known that men treat women as if they are below them, especially if the women are in a male dominated profession, even though they are “created equal.”  Why does that still happen today?  Why did it happen in the first place?

Gay marriage- It is only allowed in some states. Why? All men are created equal, except gays?

Education- There is so much money going to war but not enough for education.  Don’t people want children to grow up to be successful? At this rate of the budget cuts how will children be able to continue going to school and who will be smart enough to run the country in the future?

nuclear weapons

Immigration

Taxes

National Security

Health care

The comments that will help my final draft better are the ones that address tone, style, etc., as well as peoples opinions on my introduction and conclusion.  I think in my final draft, I will probably provide more examples to get my point across to the reader.

The thing I like most about my drafts is that I chose music as a topic, which is my life, and since I love music, I also love writing about it.  As the paper went on, I realized that it wasn’t so hard to write about it.  I think that conferences help; one on one with the teacher helps me to see what’s good or bad about my paper and what she likes or doesn’t like so that I could revise it enough to the point that she likes it.  I think it’s harder to write under the pressure of having to write such a long paper, which has made me grow as a writer, I think.