My Thoughts on Comments

Hello Reader!

Because Planned Parenthood is always a touchy subject for people on the internet, I found it hard to find credible comments from Buzzfeed's article about the defunding of Planned Parenthood due to the unproven controversy that Planned Parenthood has been illegally selling post-abortion fetal tissue. 

Many of the comments were just angry rants over how abortion is morally wrong and how everyone who supports abortions will burn in hell. Most of the other comments were angry rants about how the people who want to defund Planned Parenthood and all it's services are just stupid conservatives who can't differentiate between factual science and personal, unproven belief. However, some were relatively credible and I will explain why below! Let's take a look, shall we?

I will be answering the following questions about these commenters below...

1. Does this commenter seem to be expressing fear/anxiety about something or does s/he seem to be expressing a fantasy/wish about something? How can you tell?

2. What kinds beliefs and values do you think this commenter holds? What are you basing this on?

3a. For the 2 credible comments only: Why does this commenter come across as reasonable to you? Try and be specific and detailed here.

3b. For the 2 comments that lack credibility only: Why does this commenter come across as lacking credibility or trustworthiness for you?

Credible Comments:

1. Although this commenter may first come off as angry, she closes her comment by making a compelling point that actually relates to the main focus of the article. To me, she seems to express anxiety about how states are able to defund an organization because of an accusation rather than a fact. Like she said, "there's been no investigation," so she feels as though states are abusing the controversy to quit funding a program that they just don't support for other reasons.

2. Due to her strong support for the Planned Parenthood organization and her harsh use of the word "patriots," which is often used to describe or take a shot at the conservative party, I think it is safe to assume that she is a supporter of the left wing.

3a. This comment seemed reasonable to me because she actually expressed a fear or anxiety that was relevant to the article. Additionally, she did so without expressing her opinion in radical form. Majority of the comments on this article were very, very heated.

1. This commenter seems to be expressing a more neutral stand point; he does not seem to express a real concern. While his comment is on a broader scale in relation to the article, it is still relevant.

2. Judging by his point about "redirecting to centers that don't provide abortions," I think that this commenter is not supportive of abortions or of Planned Parenthood. I think that this commenter holds more conservative values, however, his argument was relatively neutral from start to finish and he could just be independent.

3a. His comment seemed reasonable to me because he did not lash out aggressively towards any specific party or belief. He maintained a neutral stand point throughout his entire comment, even though it was short. Additionally, although he made a slight generalization about how "half the country is vehemently against" Planned Parenthood, I think that this is true enough for it to be considered a credible argument.


Non-Credible Comments:

1. This commenter, Bethany, expresses her anger and anxiety over the defunding of Planned Parenthood because of who she believes to be "a sea of clueless faces; middle-to-upper class faces who haven't a clue as to what they're shouting about." She is very passionate about her argument, however, her anger in her writing takes away the credibility of her argument.

2. I believe that this commenter is a supporter of the left wing because she seems very concerned about the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Additionally, she calls the non-supporters of Planned Parenthood, which is proven to be mostly members of the conservative party, "a sea of clueless faces; middle-to-upper class faces."

3b. Although this commenter is passionate about what she is supporting, she loses credibility in the first sentence when she makes a huge generalization that "middle-to-upper class" citizens" don't have a clue as to what they're shouting about." This insult she makes does not even have to be directed to one specific party, but rather, anyone who is not a lower-class citizen... which is just not true.

1. This commenter, Steven, poorly expresses his anger and concern that the government still allows Planned Parenthood to be funded when it provides abortions to American citizens. Although he is concerned, his comment is hard to understand and doesn't state a clear argument.

2. Judging from his comment I think it is safe to say he does not support abortions or Planned Parenthood. He seems to lean more to the right wing, however, his comment is so poorly structured its hard to tell, honestly.

3b. In his comment, Steven asks, "why are people so idiotic they cannot look at the facts?" However, in his comment, he doesn't state any facts. He also has several typos which would cause any reader to question the credibility of the comment. Overall, his comment is poorly written, and doesn't relate to the article at all.


If you would like to look at more of these comments, or view the responses to some of these comments, go to the bottom of Buzzfeed's article!


Reflection:
After reading Jenny's post on comments, I noticed that we both struggled to find credible comments in a public commenting section. This is generally because the comments are unrelated to the article, or because the comments are actually just angry rants. Similarly, in Jessi's blog, the comment section was completely open to the public so you had to dig to find credible comments. However, Jessi and Jenny were both able to find two credible comments within the not-so-credible ones. Although I did too, I was definitely surprised at the lack of credible comments on a article who's topic is so controversial.

My Controversy

http://www.buzzfeed.com/emaoconnor/more-states-defund-planned-parenthood-amid-fetal-tissue-cont#.bn29aMBmR

Recently, there has been much controversy over whether or not Planned Parenthood has been illegally selling post-abortion fetal tissue. Although the issue has not yet been proven to be true or not, states have been defunding Planned Parenthood because of this controversy. 

In the article on Buzzfeed News, it states that Arkansas and Utah have recently cut all funding towards Planned Parenthood. These states do not believe that the organization should receive any funding if they are breaking laws, however, the controversy has not yet been proven. This begs the question, are these states actually concerned with this unproven controversy, or do they just not support the organization of Planned Parenthood in general?

To me, the controversy does not seem to be the unproven accusation of receiving profit for fetal tissue, but rather, the innumerable amount of accusations made against Planned Parenthood everyday. 

This topic is interesting to me because I have followed Planned Parenthood for years and have written about the defunding of the organization before. In high school, I wrote about the negative effects of defunding Planned Parenthood for my school's online news hub, The Potomac Pulse. Check it out! 

Calendar Reflection

Hello there!

According to the online schedule, to succeed in this class I will need to complete 6 hours of homework per week. However, considering it took me about 4 hours to set up this account, I will probably need about 9 hours per week. So, I have attempted to organize my own schedule which will help me balance the amount of work I complete each day. 

Because I have a pretty heavy class schedule this semester, I have been trying to space my work out evenly by completing a blog post a day. I will have to keep on schedule to keep up with my posts. Additionally, I want to keep on my schedule so that I am writing everyday rather than all in one day. 

Actually, this blog might be more fun than I anticipated. I might end up writing more than I am supposed to! That is, if my schedule allows it! 



Reflection:

After reading Clayton's calendar reflection, I realized that my plan to "keep on schedule" is not realistic. Obviously I will try my best to keep a steady plan, however, there will be days where this is simply impossible. When necessary, I will need to form a back-up plan for the days where I get off schedule. 

Additionally, after reading Breanna's calendar reflection, I will follow her plan, in that I will try to complete as much work as possible during the gaps in my schedule (before, between, or after class) as often as possible. Using this so-called plan, I will be able to complete more work without feeling overwhelmed at the end of the day. However, to keep on top of this plan too, I will not be able to procrastinate or abuse what little time I have during the school week. 

Hopefully by following this more flexible and revised schedule I will have a more relaxed weekend! 

My Writing Process

Dearest Reader!

My writing process can be considered unconventional, as you may be able to notice as you read on (bear with me!). Below I have answered a few questions concerning the type of writer I consider myself to be. Enjoy!

1.) What type of writer do you consider yourself to be?
I consider myself to be a heavy reviser. I usually edit my work more than 5 times before I consider it complete. I often scrap parts of my work and re-write it as many times as I believe to be necessary.

2.) Does your writing process include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?
Unfortunately, I can also be a procrastinator. Even though I get excited about my work, and edit it heavily once it is complete, sometimes I put it off... for awhile. It's not because I don't want to do it, its more that I keep changing my mind about what I want to write about! The second I begin writing, I'll think of a "better" idea and forget about the one I started off with.

3.) Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?
My writing process suits me, however, everyone is different. My strengths are that I am very creative and enjoy writing so I am often stoked about coming up with a topic. However, because I change my mind so often, it makes it more difficult for me to stay on schedule.

4.) Do you think it would be beneficial for you to try a different approach? Why or why not?
It may be beneficial for me to try to stick to one idea... but then, there is always gonna be that worry in the back of my head that there is a better idea. If I were to be more of a heavy planner maybe my ideas would be more concise.

Al Shaikhi, Sharifa "Nemo and Dory"  5/22/2014 via deviantart
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

Reflection:After reading Katherine and Rachel's comments, I realized that I need to prior plan my writing more while actually putting my ideas on paper (or screen). A lot of my problems with writing stem from the fact that I am not as organized as I should be, which reflects in my work. Rachel and I seem to both struggle with jumping into writing with 1 million ideas! Katherine and I are similar writers because we both are light planners and heavy revisers. After reading their posts, and re-reading my own, I have come to understand that I am my own worst enemy when writing; I am a lazy planner which hurts me in the long-run. I need to plan more of my writing which will lighten the load of revising and re-organizing and will also help me create a more clean and concise work.