I am extremely impressed with how my writing has improved. Just in the course of a semester I have improved my writing tremendously. A big reason for this is all the research papers. It was a lot of work over a semester but it was very beneficial. I could feel that i was getting better with every paper. Thank you for all the feedback you gave me on my papers. This was awesome because you clearly pointed out what I was doing wrong and what needed to be fixed. I still have a problem with procrastination as I am turning this in last minute. But, nonetheless my writing and overall attitude towards English has improved a lot. I used to have a problem with personal pronouns and I am almost completely free from them. There has been two big improvements in my writing. The first is my thesis. I learned the TOE method which helped out a lot in getting more specific thesis. It is important to have a good thesis so you can set a good tone for the paper. Another big improvement was my transitions. I used to just jump from paragraph to paragraph but I learned how to smoothly transition from one to the next. A thing that is still difficult for me is APA style overall. I have gotten a lot better with it but there are a few things that I struggle with. Specifically, I have trouble with in text paraphrasing. Overall, I enjoyed this class and I am glad I picked you to be my professor for another semester. I learned a lot from you which has improved my college writing. I now actually semi enjoy writing papers. This class also will help with future classes down the road because i learned how to find good research and scholarly articles.
Persuasive Analysis
Concessions
My argument is that there are not enough thorough regulations for drugs such as PEDs in the NFL. Someone might argue against this by saying that the NFL is constantly looking at their policies and updating them. They might also show all the examples of players getting caught and being punished for it. The punishments are just for the actions. Someone might also argue that these players NEED these painkillers in order to keep doing their job. They may not be able to function because of all the pain if they don’t take the drugs. they may break down physically and mentally from all the constant physical labor as well as the hours of studying film a day. It is a pretty demanding job which is why players need something to help them through it. A source from nfl.com agreed and wrote how these players need help when it comes to all the intense work they do. They need something to still give them that edge (Gbajabiamila, 2012).
Gbajabiamila, A. (2012, November 30). Football Players turn to PEDs to get physical, mental edge. Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000103175/article/football-players-turn-to-peds-to-get-physical-mental-edge
Library Sources for Persuasive Section
I found an article on NFL.com that explains exactly why players feel the need to use PED’s. I could use this in my persuasive section because it would show that these players essentially get addicted to these performance enhancers. The author was a former NFL player that used PED’s and writes about how he felt that he played better and it gave him that edge. He goes on to write about how every team was doing them every game. He concludes the article by noting that even if the NFL keeps banning substance, teams will figure out ways to get their hands on new drugs.
I also found a periodical using EKU’s database. This one is about how the DEA, drug enforcement administration, investigated the NFL for handing out painkillers. The article talks about how NFL team doctors distribute drugs to their players. It also goes on to write that players would receive these pain relievers on they way home after games and how players get addicted to them after they retire. In my essay I could write how people don’t look at the big picture when it comes to drug use in the NFL. These players stay addicted to these drugs and misuse them long after they retire. Obviously this is a problem with just passing out pain relievers.
Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly. (2014, November 24). DEA investigates NFL teams for painkiller abuse. Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.eku.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7486f859-4c7d-4ce7-a6be-5b98057d54c8%40sessionmgr198&vid=4&hid=108
Gbajabiamila, A. (2012, November 30). Football Players turn to PEDs to get physical, mental edge. Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000103175/article/football-players-turn-to-peds-to-get-physical-mental-edge
Abstract/outline
Abstract: There is a problem with the substance abuse and PED’s in the NFL. The NFL is supposed to be a fun, clean game. It is a professional sport so playing football is a job for the players. There should be no cheating in a job. way too many players are getting into trouble for PED’s and the league needs to do a better job at regulating performance enhancers. Everyone should get the same opportunity. The substance abuse problem in general is too high.
The NFL has a lot of stuff on their plate but one they have to take a close look at is the substance abuse problem. Way too many players in the NFL are getting in trouble for substance abuse including PED’s. Fans of the NFL should be able to watch the game they love played fairly. It is not fair to the league, the fans, and the players themselves, when performance enhancing drugs are used. The NFL needs to take action and eliminate PED’s by stepping up their tests and regulations on players. Whether it be marijuana or steroids, no player in the league should be taking drugs during their job and the NFL needs to act on this problem.
Headings:
Background/definitions
History of drugs in the league
Image of the league
Most common drugs
Penalties for substance abuse
Reflecting on your interests
Physical therapy is important because injuries happen all the time. They happen to most everyone unfortunately. This is why PT can apply to everybody. Physical therapy is to help rehabilitate the injured back to full strength. My partner asked me how PT works and I had to think about it for a second. I said because it shows the right way to strengthen your body back to health. It takes time and it can be a lot of tedious exercises but it is how the body recovers. People wouldn’t be able to heal correctly if they didn’t go through physical therapy. It would also be a lot harder and take longer.
My partner asked me why PT is important to me and I said it is because I hate injuries. They suck because they prevent someone doing something they love and I have gone through this personally. That is why I want to be a physical therapist. I have gone through physical therapy twice. I has helped me get back to full strength and I could get back to playing baseball. Without PT I wouldn’t have been able to come back nearly as quick or as strong.
Rhetorical Analysis- Prezi
Library assignment for argumentative essay
In class on Tuesday I was brainstorming ideas for my argumentative essay. I was trying to think of ideas that correlate with my overall theme of problems in the NFL. I thought of three new topics that I could use for my essay. The first one is the NFL’s rule book. Their rule book is too broad, more specifically, it does not clearly define what a catch is. I decided not to go this route because this particular problem is not as serious as some others. Another problem is the overpaying of players. I argued that NFL players are not overpaid, rather they are paid justly because of the amount of work and intensity they do it at. The last idea I came up with, is the substance abuse problem in the NFL. There are way too many players getting into trouble for substance abuse. The NFL needs to cut this problem down by increasing the penalty and enforcing rehab programs for players. Along with this, I could write about the overall crime problem that maybe comes from the substance abuse. The NFL has had a crime problem for a while. I found a book in the library that is from 1998. The authors in this book found that in the 509 players whose criminal records could be checked in multiple states, 109 of them had been charged with a serious crime (Benedict and Yaeger, 1998, p. 5).
Benedict, J., Yaeger, D. (1998). Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL. New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc.
Library Recap
I thought the library session we had this past Tuesday was very helpful. Our library instructor, Clay Howard, was very useful and knowledgeable about the library databases. Prior to the session, I did not know much on how to find quality research through databases. But, Mr. Howard gave an excellent, step by step instruction on how to do just that. This will be very beneficial to me going forward because I will need to find scholarly articles to use for sources throughout my college career. The EKU library’s main database is called EBSCO. There are a lot of different tools and options in EBSCO. The best way to find good sources relevant to your topic is to use keywords. Connecting keywords through the word “AND” helps to narrow down your search results and get more relevant articles. I also found the filter key very useful because you can filter through sources by just looking for scholarly or peer reviewed articles. Once you find a a good article, you can read through the abstract to make sure it suits your topic. There are also some very helpful tools for keeping track of your source. Either you can email the source directly to yourself or you can create a permalink to keep a hold of the it. The citation feature is also helpful but you have to double check it to make sure it is correct.
elliottbrazell 
