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Hybrid Essay

Lesly Alas
Sean Pessin
English 114 B
April 24, 2013
panda waving photo: panda waving l_88fefad783adee6755da941c62b6cb26.gif



HyBrid Essay



   The moment a student walks into a classroom they expect the teacher to assign homework but you never really know what exactly it is going to be. As it turns out for a classroom in CSUN they were assigned to work on a blog. This blog could be about anything that the student wished, but let’s not forget that there were also boundaries and that meant the topic chosen by the student had to be approved. For any of those who are wondering what blog is it is a web page that has information about a certain topic. The topics could be any range of things and they could be informative or just fun. The story I am about to tell is the one of a student who decided to make her blog about an animal that she has been obsessed with ever since she was in the third grade. This animal is known as the Giant Panda and in her blog she wrote about the endangerment of the Panda, its habitat, its main staple food, and occasionally a random picture or video that she had found on the Internet.
            Her blog begins by talking about how she decided to start her research for her it was very easy to know that Pandas would be her main topic. Although at some point she did feel that maybe she should talk about an issue that surrounded her on a daily basis and this was finding a good restaurant. She was divided at this moment not knowing what to choose but after careful consideration she made the decision that it would be very much worth her time to write about the endangerment of the Giant Panda. For her this was all an amazing learning experience that she didn’t think that she would enjoy after all it was a homework assignment. She had never done a blog before so she was not sure what to expect at first she wasn’t even sure what exactly she would write about. There was a variety of things that she explored the most important to her was letting people know that Pandas are cute and that they are endangered and that they need help so that they won’t go extinct. She tried to spend a lot of time emphasizing to her readers that they had to do something to be heroes to the entire panda population.  
            The student had known for a long time that her Pandas were endangered but she did not know why they were in danger. The research helped her understand that the dying Pandas were due to a lack of a healthy habitat. As it turns out this was how she had to begin reading about bamboo. She learned many surprising things about bamboo that she would of never thought to look into on her own time. Some of her friends had even began to complain to her that she was learning to much about bamboo and that she should stop blurting out random facts about Pandas and bamboo. This project was beginning to interfere with her daily life and even the patience of her friends. But it was not all bad because she also used this knowledge to make friends. In one situation that she found her-self she used a random fact as an ice-breaker and just told the girl next to her “Did you know that the Giant Panda is the only bear that doesn’t hibernate?” She did get a weird look from this girl but soon after they began to talk.
 As the project was coming to end she realized that there was a giant thing that she missed. She should have talked about the WWF. This organization even has the Panda as its logo. She doesn’t understand how she missed out on talking about them when she read about them and she even said to herself that she would talk about them on her blog. All of this time she had thought that the Panda was the permanent logo of the WWF but as it turns out the logo wasn’t always the Panda. The fact that she failed to mention a crucial supporter of the Pandas bothered her but now there was nothing that she could do. Now all that was left was to reflect and think about why she had not done a post on them.
            All of her post she tried to make them tie back to the well-being of the Panda. For this student that was her absolute and most significant thing that she could mention. There are no words to describe how much she wishes that everyone would understand the hardships that Pandas have to endure. The pictures and videos that she posted she tried to appeal to the emotional side of her reader so that the adorableness of the Pandas would make them feel the need to want to help them. She wanted her readers to have the urge to go up to a Panda and just give it a giant hug.

 One of the post that was on her blog was a poll that asked if Pandas were dangerous and although they did not get many answers people did not really think Pandas were dangerous. The student was expecting to get more negative answers because even though Pandas are adorable they are still wild animals that may react in an unexpected way if presented with danger.
            To this particular student the issue of Pandas going extinct was of great importance. Ever since she received that giant stuffed Panda Bear from her father she had a connection with this beautiful creature. To her the uniqueness of this bear has to be saved.  At the end of all of this she has realized that homework can be fun even if it involves some work. This blog taught her that it is not that difficult to start a blog and talk about something they like. To her what made the project easy to enjoy was that she was able to write about anything that she wanted about the Pandas. Every time as she sat down to write her next post she tried to add some of her personality to it. She wanted the reader to have fun while they read, but she also wanted them to understand what they were reading.
          The student responsible for this blog felt accomplished after all of her hard work. She is happy that the teacher decided to give them such an assignment because this was a great learning opportunity for her not only computer wise but also a Panda learning opportunity. She doesn't like to admit it but she is not very good with computers.
 And so it ended. She was finally done with the assignment. So she and her thought of the Pandas lived Happily Ever After.
           


Works Cited
Alas, Lesly "Giant Pandas" chloeytotherescue.blogspot.com. web. April. 2013



            

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