Missing Assignments

I'm sorry for missing the assignments, I ignorantly thought we would have no assignments until after the Unit 2 Essay was due. All I could say is FML. No peer review is necessary if I have been placed in a group yet.

Week 8 Blog Reviews

Amber:

Directed Freewrite- Natural Behavior in Animals

You have a great use of quotes and explanation. This post was very well done and I really cannot think of any way to improve it. I would suggest giving more reasons for being able to compare humans and animals.

After All, Maybe It’s Biology (Pg. 310 #1)

I enjoyed how the two main paragraphs started with as question that you answered using quotes and explanations of those quotes. In your last paragraph, the quotes you used were seamless but I would have liked if you pressed your reasoning farther. Maybe use some opinions or examples from your life. This was very well done and cannot think of any way to better develop it anymore.

Katie:

What is Natural?

I absolutely love your idea of “natural” because it is very subjective. Your reasons what they call are natural are clear, but it is almost just saying the same thing on both sides. I would have liked if you took it farther and maybe used some quotes from the book that could help explain what some people think are natural and unnatural. Otherwise, this was short and sweet.

All You Need Is Biology?

I like how you start out with what side you are on. Your explanation in the second paragraph was well-written and agreeable. You pose a great question about marriage, which contradicts biology. You explained how chemistry and biology would affect various parts of relationships and love.  Your conclusion is short and to the point and makes it sound like a horrible thing. The only think that may help are using some quotes from the book, otherwise, this is a flawless post.

What's Chemistry Got To Do With It? #1

Biology is the study of life while chemistry is the science of matter. These two broad sciences explain a high percentage of life as we know it. "When females of most mammalian species give birth, their bodies are flooded with oxytocin..." (Brownlee 295). This chemical that is produced in female mothers shows that their is chemistry involved with reproduction. Chemistry and biology cannot explain everything about love, life, and reproduction.

Love cannot be described through any scientifc way. It is something we cannot describe because it is so genuine to us. It is so rare, that most people who profess it, they are actually just in lust. If we believed that love was something scientific, it would change how we look and find love. We would expect our mate to just be destined to be with us. We would stop being competitive and our society would decline because of it. We would be more apathetic about seeing the opposite sex and may lose our attraction to the opposite sex.

Reproduction is obviously scientific. It is a natural process but can be described through science, with all the chemical reactions necessary for reproduction. As I stated earlier, oxytocin is one of the chemical reactions that happens. Oxytocin affects a woman's emotion and causing her to be more loving and caring. "...oxytocin acts as a natural tranquilizer, lowering a new mother's blood pressure, blunting her sensitivity to pain and stress, and perhaps helping her view her child more as a bundle of joy than as a burden" (Brownlee 296).

I believe it is a bad idea to think of everything as scientific. It could hamper the process of reproduction and hurt the future of our species. There may be chemicals that make us aroused, but they are all naturally developed in the body.  Serotonin is a chemical that directly leads to happiness and is one of the chemicals that make us aroused. Arousal is the start to something bigger and more real. This can lead to love and there are no scientific methods to calcualte how someone falls in love.

Week 7 Blog Reviews

Amber:

Marrying To Get Divorced

You made some great points. I agree with all of them that marriage is just a title. Your quote was flawlessly used, being the basis of your whole post. This post was very well done. The only part that bothers me is the last sentence: “Two people can share a relationship without having to get married to then get divorced.” It is unclear and took me a few reads to understand it. I would suggest adding the word “just” right after married. I think that will clear it up well. Great job overall with this post.

Sex, Lies and Conversation Directed Freewrite

Your background story was perfect. It was well summarized to understand the exact situation. This assignment was not simple and I struggled to find out a situation, but had no luck. The book really only talked about how each gender acts and didn’t help me at all. I remember reading in the book about the boyfriend who would lie down and cover his eyes. I believe using the actual quotes may have been more useful than just a summary. Your quote was seamless in showing how the situation could have changed by one simple thing. I really disliked the assignment and after reading yours, I believe you did well.

Katie:

Evolutionary Psychology

The first thing I noticed is that there are no quotation marks in the first sentence, but a citation. Is this a quote or a mishap with the citation? Your introduction consists of three paragraphs that explain the different theories quite well. Because of this, I didn’t know what the principle for your blog was until the last paragraph. You wrote your opinion but didn’t elaborate on it. You changed the subject into saying that marriage isn’t necessary for reproduction and this hurt your opinion overall. I believe you did a great job on this one and it was very informative.

Rules of Conversation

I really enjoyed your first paragraph. Your situation was quite humorous and I find it hard to keep eye contact with other people. It makes me feel like I am intruding their personal space. Your quote seamlessly resembles the situation provided. The conclusion paragraphs was a great way to end the post, but when describing Tannen’s reasoning, I believe using a quote would have been more informative (if there was one that summed it up such as you have). Great job with this one.