Blog 9

I learned a lot about MLA formatting. And I learned a lot about the paranormal world. Before this class I never new what some the areas were and what they meant. I struggled a little bit with the creativity part of writing but I managed. English has never been an easy subject for me but the easiest part was probably the a la carte project. I don't think I would do anything differently that what I did. I liked that subject of the class, paranormal, it made it interesting and broke up the monotonous. I dislike the subject of writing altogether so that sums that up. The webpage and project were kind of fun to get involved in. Overall it was a good class and I did learn something.

Good luck to everyone and have a Merry Christmas.

Blog 8

The reviews were helpful to making corrections to the essay. Now, about the double spaced throughout, the essay was double spaced, however when I pasted it to the discussion board some of the format was changed. I don't know why but it did. The font type is Courier New, the information provided said that Times New Roman or Courier would work for a proper font use in the essay. I did not see where there were any limitations, in the course information, that only Times New Roman could be used. I have already fixed most of the problems with my paper. I thank everyone for the reviews. Good luck everyone on you essay.

Blog 7

Sources of Essay 2
Talking to Heaven by James Van Praagh
PSI by Louisa E.Rhine
"A Haunting" (Television series on Discovery Channel)

The above three sources are going to be the sources of which I will use. These are all good, informative sources. Talking to Heaven by James Van Praagh reveals the authors life experiences as a medium. He tells about his childhood experiences of having medium-like abilities. The he goes on to tell how he improved them. That is far enough into that book, or there wouldn't be any sense in writing a paper about it.

PSI by Louisa E.Rhine basically covers all elements of psychic abilities. The book is divided into different sections that explain the different areas of PSI. Each section, especially my section of use (section 5) has multiple real-life examples and explanations. Very detailed and descriptive, it also makes, simply, a good and intriguing book. Actually, I would suggest to anyone that both of the above books are very interesting to read.

"A Haunting" (Television series on Discovery Channel) is, supposedly, based on eye witness accounts. If this is true then the series will make a good addition to information in my paper. Many of the shows apply pretty well to my choice of the essay options.


I did discover a book entitled Mysterious Kentucky by B.M. Nunnelly. It is a very intriguing book to read on free time. The book tells of some of the most exotic and unheard of sightings and encounters. It doesn't help me with this essay but it might you. Good luck everyone.

Blog 6

The topic that I choose was, "Can one communicate with the dead?" I am going to start of getting a little of background information off of the Internet. I am going to try and use so books, documentaries, and possibly others. The public library or a bookstore would be good places to start looking for some of these various sources on communicating with the dead. I do understand how to use a library. Most libraries offer multiple sources of information other than books, such as documentaries, the web, historical documents, etc. I also know at least one person that has been witness to this particular area. He has held a short conversation with what he found to be a deceased elderly woman, a mother of one of his former coworker, who he never met before. I might try to incorporate this into my paper. There has also been multiple movies produced based on this subject. So it should make for an interesting paper.

Good luck everyone on your research.

Blog 5

I have learned most of the available information on persuasive writing from my entire school career. I did notice that the information provided on Blackboard was a lot easier to follow than the information that I was taught with in high school. I have understood a persuasive paper but now I better understand the purpose and how to create a good thesis. The type of paper don't bother me as much as much as the length required of Essay 2. So if I don't stress-out, I should be able to turn in a proficient document.

Blog 4

I created a better introduction that provided a hooking effect on the reader and adjusted the conclusion slightly. Then a catchy title was needed. I created the best one that I could think of. I added corresponding reference numbers to cite my sources within my paper. After that, page numbers and some basic formatting critiques were the issue. I triple checked my spelling and grammar, so there should be no mistakes in that area. This all would greatly help my grade of the paper.
I have learned that revision is not a quick process, it takes time to thoroughly read the paper for errors. Some areas are not as easy to fix as just changing a few words. Sometimes you have to add completely new paragraphs. For someone who is not a very good writer, I think that I fared pretty well this round. It is quite a task to come up with a perfect paper, it might even be impossible...

Blog 3

The comments were very helpful. Since no one has the same opinions I will use a combination of all of the comments. Besides the format, which I know I lacked a little on, I am going to "beef up" my introduction a little. Then coming up with a good, catchy title. Add some page numbers. Then add corresponding reference numbers to my cited sources. I'm pretty sure that I have no spelling errors, but that's an easy fix. The most important improvements are my introduction and cited sources.

I really appreciate the reviews of my paper and wish everyone luck on their revisions.

Blog 2

• The first website I viewed was "Psychokinesis from Wikipedia"-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychokinesis

This site is creditable under: Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity. The page was last modified on 28 August 2008, at 17:04. All information is based on 68 references.


This Site was very informative on the subject of Psychokinesis (PK). The term and its meaning was well explained with examples, along with different types of Psychokinesis. A brief "Early History" was given along with the "Modern Usage" of PK. The page went into some detail on how researchers are able to measure and observe PK. And they went on to explain that PK is an "Umbrella term" and that many paranormal activities fall under this category. Information was given on claimants and witnesses of these events along with skepticism and controversy. All this information was useful in writing my essay.

• The second website was "The Mystica - Psychokinesis (PK)"-http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/p/psychokinesis_pk.html

Sources: more sources, Gertrude Schmeidler, The City College, New York. Has an Author, A.G.H., and is another Creditable website.

Basically the same information as Wikipedia, but with a more in depth look on the history and modern usage of the term Psychokinesis.

• The third website was simply "Telekinesis"-http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/Wingmakers/Telekinesis.html

Telekinetic Energy is Natural was published by Darryn John Murphy. It is creditable.

This site was not as helpful with the essay as was "Wikipedia" and "The Mystica". It did not provide much information as the others either. It did give some good practice ideas of preforming psychokinetic activities. But there was not quite enough information.

• The fourth website was "The Sceptics Dictionary - psychokinesis (PK)"-http://www.skepdic.com/kinesis.html

Robert Todd Carroll is the author of the Sceptics Dictionary, and it is a creditable site.

This site mainly based the given information on the people preforming these amazing paranormal activities. There is information given from books on paranormal activities. It was not useful to me in writing my paper. They had a good definition of psychokinesis. This was a more difficult site to stay on topic with.

• The last website that I viewed was "About.com: Paranormal Phenomena"-http://paranormal.about.com/od/telekinesispsychokinesis/a/aa031703.htm

Author is Stephen Wagner. A very creditable site.

Excellent explanation of what psychokinesis is and how it works. Talks about case studies of Stanislawa Tomczyk, Nina Kulagina, and Uri Geller. They go on to say that some researchers believe that the most common type is the kind that is not consciously intended. There is more information on how it works and the history of psychokinesis. They also have how you can develop and test your psychokinetic powers. This site was informative and somewhat useful in my paper.

Blog Entry 1

The paranormal is a very interesting subject. It encompasses such a large area with the strange and unbelievable, but some so frighteningly true. This class sure is going to be different. Over all I would say that I Slightly agree that the paranormal does exist. But with the paranormal broken down into separate areas this is how I would relate to each of them: Traditional Religious Belief - moderately agree, Psi - uncertain, Witchcraft - slightly agree, Superstition - slightly disagree, Spiritualism - slightly agree, Extraordinary Life Forms - slightly agree, Precognition - slightly agree. I have always enjoyed talking and telling story's about the paranormal, and watching Television shows about such events. I assume that I will like writing about the paranormal okay. I suspect to learn of new and exciting beliefs as well as the different variations of those beliefs. It is hard to say what is to learned from an area such as this. I can at least say it probably won't be boring.