Article Discussion

The first part of the article had me thinking "well DUH"... The basics of psychology tell us that we are shaped by our surroundings; what we do, who we do it with etc. So, when this author brought up the idea of extracurricular performances and writing influence each other (academic and non-academic) I completely agreed, but I was also waiting for something a little deeper and more promising.  

I suppose this article expanded more on the view of non-academic writing by adding in more verbal areas of communication such as a play that could be considered a type of writing. But the idea of role-playing in writing classrooms which seemed to me like classes already available: speech, debate, small group communications, drama, and acting classes ring a bell?

So, as I read on I began to understand the foothold performance has on youth.  Students seem to want to express themselves without being constricted by specific topics or strict guidelines. This leads me to believe performance is an inevitable part of the academic future. I am not sure at this moment if it will create a positive outcome for writing, but I do know it will change writing drastically. My only wish is that these performance centered writing classes be offered to higher level students due to the importance of academic writing in your beginning level courses.

ALLERGIES

After hours of research, I finally chose a specific avenue regarding sunflowers. Initially I was leaning toward an edible twist for sunflowers, but nearly all the research I found was vague and uninteresting. I felt no spark or intrigue when searching for nearly three hours. Finally on a whim I searched allergic reactions and hit the mother-load! 

Throughout my research travels, many allergy journals were complied which contained specific case studies with references to sunflower seeds, pollen and dust. The research was fascinating and ranged from dermal to lung allergic reactions. The most promising article referenced a specific protein that caused the allergic reaction, this could prove important for potential vaccines. 

Now I am faced with a narrative project that is quite promising. I will be discussing allergies in the manor of an allergy journal review. The entertaining part will be my unique twist on it all. I am undecided when it comes to my contribution, but I have though of some possibilities. 

1) Use this research to propose a medication (topical or oral) instead of a vaccine. 

2) Propose sunflower petals as a potential allergen. 

3) Compare to peanuts and discuss the unimportance/ insignificance of sunflower allergies.

Any thoughts?

Sunflower Petals

Alright, I may be thinking too hard. I need to come up with some sort of new twist on sunflowers. This is a daunting task... These plants have been around ofr hundreds of thousands of years and I just dont know what to do. I have thought and thought about it, but I just cant find something new to contribute to sunflowers. 
Lets face it, they are used in bread, tea, nut-butters, biodiesel, salads... and thats just to name a few. Should I come up with an idea about sunflower petals? That topic seems the least over-done, I am just not sure that I can think of something original. So, as for sunflower petals.. all I know right now is that they are edible, bitter and peppery, but edible! They are used in teas, you can sugar coat them and add them to ice cubes. 

Sunflower Petals

Sunflower petals...
Brainstorm:
- Possible use in prenatal tablets (What could it promote? Could it help the development of a fetus?)
- What properties does a sunflower petal have? How could this be used medicinally? (Anti-inflammatory, coagulant, pain reliever?) "Sunflower-aid"
- Use the petals as a sort of wrap or tortilla? (Do they hold-up when cooked, or do they fall apart?)
- Benefit of using sunflower petals in shakes? (Protein shakes.. nutritional value?)

Here comes the hard part. It is time to look up each of these ideas and run with the idea that leads to the most amount of research and literature to back up a entire paper. I still believe the hardest part in all of this will be finding something that has not been said before. I am sure these are "odd ball" ideas for flower petals, but sunflowers have been grown for many years and thus my challenge begins. 
Let me know what you think about my brainstorming. 

                                                                 

Rise of THE Sunflowers!

I suppose it is that time of the week, time to pick an article.

So, I have been thinking... and thinking... and thinking!

I have analyzed a few articles throughout my college career but they were all articles I liked and agreed with. I have decided to take a road less traveled and analyze an article I am not fond of. I found an article titled The Rise of Sunflowers in a botany journal that is ridiculously vague and all over the place. I am hoping that the flaws in the authors writing will help me create great talking points in my paper.

Wish me luck!

Biting the Bullet

Sunflowers are an overwhelming topic to say the least. There so many avenues I could take, but I ultimately have to slim it down to one. So I will share some specific ideas with you and see where it takes me.

Possibilities for analysis:

1) A poem

Four poems about sunflowers caught my eye... they are amazing! I am not sure if I am allowed to analyze a poem. If I am, I think it would be the most fun route for this up and coming paper.

2) The lineage of Sunflowers

I found a great article on the lineage of flowers in a botany journal. 

3) Sunflower oil as biodiesel

I found two articles on this where they analyzed the combustion rates to make sure the sunflower oil could preform well as a biodiesel. Both of the experiments I looked at agreed that sunflower oil can be used as biodiesel.

4) Sunflower use in teaching

A kindergarten teacher used Van Gogh's Sunflowers as a teaching platform for art. It had a bunch of pictures that the kids drew of Sunflowers replicating Van Gogh.  

Topic Trouble

Sunflower Seed Spread
 (Aka: Sunbutter)

Sunflower Oil





 

Alight I am going to be honest, yesterdays class scared me a bit. I am supposed to come up with a new twist on sunflowers... something that has not been thought of before. Goodness, this feels like a daunting task and I am completely dreading it. I suppose I have only been putting it off for two days. I need help getting over this fear. Any advice?

Sunflower Seeds

Final Decision

Do I pick an easy topic or do I pick a topic I am passionate about?... that is the question.

I think it is time in my college career to pick a topic I am actually passionate about. I should not pick one that is simple or one that could be somewhat interesting when I have the perfect topic at my fingertips. It is time I move from my boring little box and live a little. I have thought long and hard over the past couple weeks and talked myself into SUNFLOWERS!


I would like to thank all of you for your amazing input. It is so helpful when picking a topic to receive feedback from an outside observer.