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I was really scared about the work load after the first day in my English 2 class. I had no idea how to write an essay in hypertext form online, and it seemed like it would be double the work because we would have to write a hypertext and a printable version of our essay. What I actually found, was that writing a hypertext essay is much more engaging and interesing for the writer and the reader.

My first website was really fun to make because I had no idea what I was doing. I put colors everywhere and about every ten seconds I would bring my web page up and look at it because I was so excited that my links worked and my pictures changed when you rolled your mouse over them. I struggled with making the links evenly spaced and figuring out how to make my website pleasing to the eye. I think my second website was much more professional, and I feel like it was a better website over all. I learned a lot from seeing other people's work and from other websites. I learned that it is sometimes a good thing to leave white spaces on your webpage because they can contrast with the color of the other parts of the website, and keep the reader moving through the page. Too much color can be overwhelming. I found that writing the printable version for my final essay was much more simple than I thought. I felt like I had done most of the work already, especially for my final hypertext. I have never written a 10 page paper with such ease, and I really felt like I wrote a strong essay with interesting perspectives. I also found that I had discovered more creative ways to integrate pictures throughout my text, and to add colors so they caught the reader's attention but did not overwhelm them. I really loved writing my final hypertext because I learned so much about how web pages can be utilized to illustrate a point.

The best part about writing the final hypertext was that my review of literature was almost like an outline for my webpage and my essay. I feel like because I did so much research it was easier to write about my topic. I felt a connection to it and had formed my own opinion from the knowledge I had gained. I really agree with Prof. Bousquet's statement that, "This will be the easiest research paper you will ever write," because although I worked hard on it, it was fun and interesting work, and once I got to the printable version it went by quickly so I did not get bored or overwhelmed with so much writing.

I also learned that using media other than writing can be a very effective way of illustrating a point, and I think in some ways it can be more effective than just writing a paper. In our day and age people are constantly bombarded with ads and pictures and videos. I don't think an eight page paper would engage people for more than about ten minutes in todays world. That's why I think making a website is a very useful tool that will help me in the future. It is a great way to get information to people, and I can see myself using this skill in future careers.

For example, I think my website about strippers is a great way to get information about them out to society. I believe that strippers would agree and relate to a lot of the statements I made about them on my web page. I tried to focus on them as low wage workers and there position in society. I think that strippers might feel that I am advocating more equal pay and rights for them in the workplace, and I think many strippers feel deprived and abused in their jobs. That's why I think strippers might appreciate my website and advocate it because it educates people about strippers in society as a low wage worker.

I think that the best statement that applies to the critical thinking for my websites is, "The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems" (Maiorana, Victor P). I felt like I made a prejudgment a while ago about strippers, the topic of my final hypertext essay, and that with research I started to understand the strippers viewpoints more, and with that understanding I formed ideas about how to help these low wage workers in society. I feel like I made my prejudgment too quickly, and I think understanding multiple viewpoints helped me to expand my own.

The reading in the class also helped to open my eyes to many low wage workers situations, and my own future position when I first graduate from college. After reading Draut's book I am especially nervous about what the first ten years of my life after college might hold. I could not believe his statement that, "men aged 25 to 34 with bachelor's degrees are making just $6,000 more than those with high school diplomas did in 1972" (Draut). This seems totally ludicrous considering that the cost of living has increased substantially since 1972.

His idea of "paycheck paralysis" is also extremely nerve racking. Theoretically paychecks should be increasing, because as Draut points out, the number of college students that graduate, is still quite selective. There does not seem to be a lack of jobs, especially in Silicon Valley, and yet in the examples that Draut gives, like the girl with the bacholer's degree in hotel management, seems as if it is difficult to hold jobs, or to find a good job. I really liked Draut's definitions of the bouncers, the jugglers, and the tempsters. It seems like most of the people I know around my age are in one of these three categories. One of my girlfriends works 30 hours a week in a pharmacy, and is a biology major with two labs of three hours a week. She also has to drive to and from school, work, and home because she commutes. I have no idea how she holds everything together.

I have definitely noticed that some of my friends who have already graduated from college are finding it very difficult to find a job. One of my girlfriends graduated with Cum Laude, and yet she hates her job, she is paid very little, and she is working with people who have not even gone to college. It almost seems like college is this big con, that is set up to make lots of money and pretend that with a diploma you will have more of a chance of being successful financially. Why would society want to weaken its youth with debt as soon as they enter the world independently?

I think that learning about low wage workers has opened my eyes to the fact that I do belong to and will belong to that category of workers for a long time. I think it is important that I learned about these workers rights because they are my rights too. Low wage workers are ignored and abused, and I think that if these workers were given more justice in society, the US might be a more prosperous place over all.

I definitely reached my goals in the class. I am really proud of my work, and I think that in the future when I am researching something the best way to write my essay might be in a hypertext because it conveys information in a way that matches the fast pace of technology today. In additition, I think that other classmates input was a huge factor in my critical thinking and learning in the class. When I saw others work I thought more about how I could improve mine, and I made design decisions based on what other people were doing. I also learned about new perspectives from the class blogs and got a lot more input than I would have from the reading.

My final essay includes twelve pages, with about two links per page. The annotated bibliography contains nine sources two of which are linked to external websites, and the rest are books. There are also many cited pictures throughout the website. The website includes 3000 words, and the printable version contains 2600 words.

Learning Essay
I was really scared about the work load after the first day in my English 2 class. I had no idea how to write an essay in hypertext form online, and it seemed like it would be double the work because we would have to write a hypertext and a printable version of our essay. What I actually found, was that writing a hypertext essay is much more engaging and interesing for the writer and the reader. My first website was really fun to make because I had no idea what I was doing. I put colors everywhere and about every ten seconds I would bring my web page up and look at it because I was so excited that my links worked and my pictures changed when you rolled your mouse over them. I struggled with making the links evenly spaced and figuring out how to make my website pleasing to the eye. I think my second website was much more professional, and I feel like it was a better website over all. I learned a lot from seeing other people's work and from other websites. I learned that it is sometimes a good thing to leave white spaces on your webpage because they can contrast with the color of the other parts of the website, and keep the reader moving through the page. Too much color can be overwhelming. I found that writing the printable version for my final essay was much more simple than I thought. I felt like I had done most of the work already, especially for my final hypertext. I have never written a 10 page paper with such ease, and I really felt like I wrote a strong essay with interesting perspectives. I also found that I had discovered more creative ways to integrate pictures throughout my text, and to add colors so they caught the reader's attention but did not overwhelm them. I really loved writing my final hypertext because I learned so much about how web pages can be utilized to illustrate a point. The best part about writing the final hypertext was that my review of literature was almost like an outline for my webpage and my essay. I feel like because I did so much research it was easier to write about my topic. I felt a connection to it and had formed my own opinion from the knowledge I had gained. I really agree with Prof. Bousquet's statement that, "This will be the easiest research paper you will ever write," because although I worked hard on it, it was fun and interesting work, and once I got to the printable version it went by quickly so I did not get bored or overwhelmed with so much writing. I also learned that using media other than writing can be a very effective way of illustrating a point, and I think in some ways it can be more effective than just writing a paper. In our day and age people are constantly bombarded with ads and pictures and videos. I don't think an eight page paper would engage people for more than about ten minutes in todays world. That's why I think making a website is a very useful tool that will help me in the future. It is a great way to get information to people, and I can see myself using this skill in future careers. For example, I think my website about strippers is a great way to get information about them out to society. I believe that strippers would agree and relate to a lot of the statements I made about them on my web page. I tried to focus on them as low wage workers and there position in society. I think that strippers might feel that I am advocating more equal pay and rights for them in the workplace, and I think many strippers feel deprived and abused in their jobs. That's why I think strippers might appreciate my website and advocate it because it educates people about strippers in society as a low wage worker. I think that the best statement that applies to the critical thinking for my websites is, "The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems" (Maiorana, Victor P). I felt like I made a prejudgment a while ago about strippers, the topic of my final hypertext essay, and that with research I started to understand the strippers viewpoints more, and with that understanding I formed ideas about how to help these low wage workers in society. I feel like I made my prejudgment too quickly, and I think understanding multiple viewpoints helped me to expand my own. The reading in the class also helped to open my eyes to many low wage workers situations, and my own future position when I first graduate from college. After reading Draut's book I am especially nervous about what the first ten years of my life after college might hold. I could not believe his statement that, "men aged 25 to 34 with bachelor's degrees are making just $6,000 more than those with high school diplomas did in 1972" (Draut). This seems totally ludicrous considering that the cost of living has increased substantially since 1972. His idea of "paycheck paralysis" is also extremely nerve racking. Theoretically paychecks should be increasing, because as Draut points out, the number of college students that graduate, is still quite selective. There does not seem to be a lack of jobs, especially in Silicon Valley, and yet in the examples that Draut gives, like the girl with the bacholer's degree in hotel management, seems as if it is difficult to hold jobs, or to find a good job. I really liked Draut's definitions of the bouncers, the jugglers, and the tempsters. It seems like most of the people I know around my age are in one of these three categories. One of my girlfriends works 30 hours a week in a pharmacy, and is a biology major with two labs of three hours a week. She also has to drive to and from school, work, and home because she commutes. I have no idea how she holds everything together. I have definitely noticed that some of my friends who have already graduated from college are finding it very difficult to find a job. One of my girlfriends graduated with Cum Laude, and yet she hates her job, she is paid very little, and she is working with people who have not even gone to college. It almost seems like college is this big con, that is set up to make lots of money and pretend that with a diploma you will have more of a chance of being successful financially. Why would society want to weaken its youth with debt as soon as they enter the world independently? I think that learning about low wage workers has opened my eyes to the fact that I do belong to and will belong to that category of workers for a long time. I think it is important that I learned about these workers rights because they are my rights too. Low wage workers are ignored and abused, and I think that if these workers were given more justice in society, the US might be a more prosperous place over all. I definitely reached my goals in the class. I am really proud of my work, and I think that in the future when I am researching something the best way to write my essay might be in a hypertext because it conveys information in a way that matches the fast pace of technology today. In additition, I think that other classmates input was a huge factor in my critical thinking and learning in the class. When I saw others work I thought more about how I could improve mine, and I made design decisions based on what other people were doing. I also learned about new perspectives from the class blogs and got a lot more input than I would have from the reading. My final essay includes twelve pages, with about two links per page. The annotated bibliography contains nine sources two of which are linked to external websites, and the rest are books. There are also many cited pictures throughout the website. The website includes 3000 words, and the printable version contains 2600 words.
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