Often in my city, especially around my old house in North Philly, all I see is ugly. Trash is thrown everywhere, creeping weeds gnarled and thrusting themselves out of the concrete, and there is no sign of life. It made me sad to see only grey colors and brown colors and sometimes weird bright colors if the houses were painted differently. But lots of times I would see a sea of sadness and a lot of bored people with lost hope and nothing to do. People in urban areas do not get as much opportunities (and lots of them don’t have the means) to access land to help them self sustain themselves when it comes to produce and lots of times people don’t even know where to start. That is why I made my website. For all beginners who would like to bring a little more life and growth into their lives. A little more green and a little less grey. I feel like there could be so many benefits to growing plants, to start off, my website is featuring growing herbs and vegetables. Growing things like that ,especially if they’re perennials (plants that produce things every year) can benefit in so many ways. It’s not expensive, people can learn to be self reliant, and the education they will receive by growing their own plants is a reward all on its own. I even asked Dunda to use it as a source for her class. I’m very proud of my benchmark and the work I put in to it and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

My Project: www.landinacup.weebly.com

Bib:

1. Katie. "10 Great Uses for Basil Leaf Herb." Wellness Mama. Katie-Wellness Mama, 14 July 2012. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

http://wellnessmama.com/5505/uses-for-basil-leaf/

I chose this website as one of my sources because of it’s information not only on the usual uses for basil but the medicinal uses as well. Basil was the first herb on my list. Wellness Mama is also a normal mother with kids, this is a blog. And she helps relate to the common people which is what I am trying to do with my site as well. I found a couple of ways basil can be helpful which some even surprised me as well. This is important because I want people to see all the uses for basil. I’m not a doctor but I do believe that plants do help with aiding wounds or sicknesses.

2) "A-Z Herb List." A-Z Herb List. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

http://www.herbwisdom.com/herblist.html

I chose this website to help me make the layout of my herbs from A to Z. I needed to format my herbs in order so that it would look better and that I can sort and organize my directions and recipes accordingly. A lot of my herbs will probably be organized according to this website and how I manage it will probably be according to this website. I just want as many names in alphabetical order as I can possibly get. I’m hoping to get other information out of this as well as a list of produce that people can grow at home.

3) "How to Grow Basil." WikiHow. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Basil

Even though I do like plants, I won’t say I know everything about them. I know how to grow Basil but I’m not entirely sure on how to go about picking the leaves or harvesting them and this website helps a lot. Wiki how is a website where people post tutorials about how to do different things. Ranging from nails to how to commit suicide which is not okay but I guess it helps anyone who needs it. Wiki how has actually helps me through a lot of situations in my life and I felt like this tutorial was easy and simplified to the fullest and that’s why I used this source.

4) "Basil." Gourmet Garden. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

http://www.gourmetgarden.com/en/herb/188/basil

I got this for the image. Gourmet Garden is a website that focuses on show casing their herbs a lot. They also have different recipes for their different herbs and they also have a store to showcase their products. They are famous for having their ready to use herbs which is herbs that you want ground up in a tube with some liquid to keep it fresh I supposed. They have ranges of herbs like chives, cilantro, basil, and more and can be found in stores like Wal-Mart, they also have a portfolio for different herbs which is pretty cool.

5) "Basil Pesto Recipe : Food Network Kitchen : Food Network." Basil Pesto Recipe : Food Network Kitchen : Food Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/basil-pesto-recipe2.html

I used this website to extract this recipe. Pesto is delicious and is one of the typical dishes that someone would use when it comes to basil. The FoodNetwork Channel is a channel that has transformed from helping people to cook, to a lot of competitions. There is nothing wrong with this but it does take the quality out of the channel. Thank God for the website. They also have magazines and different books published from them. They also have a range of chefs with different t.v shows, one of the famous t.v shows is called diners, drive-ins, and dives where Guy Fieri goes around and finds the best restaurants state to state.

6) Schrock, Denny. "Easy-to-Grow Herbs." Better Homes & Gardens. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/herbs/easy-to-grow-herbs/

I used this link to help me find herbs that are easy to grow. The reason why I need herbs that are easy to grow is because the people that I am basing my audience on, even though I’m broadcasting it to everyone, I want to make sure that people who are just beginning have an easier time and a positive experience. It’s good to have easier subjects for people who want to start out. And in my opinion, herbs are the easiest thing to grow. You prune them to prolong “seeding” and then you keep pruning them as you need them and they grow fast. Good for anyone who wants a cute garden, or fresh herbs to cook with.

7) Rhoades, Heather. "How To Plant Chives – Growing Chives In Your Garden."Gardening Know How. N.p., 20 Aug. 2008. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/chives/growing-chives.htm

I chose this site for directions and for the picture. I grow chives myself and I can personally say that it was an easy and positive experience. I chose to include chives because they are easy to grow, sprouting in a week and not only are they easy, you can cut them as they grow. They replenish fast so it can save the grower money and a little seed produces a lot of plant. I also chose to include them in my project because they are flavorful and there are a lot of home-cooks who are interested in keeping a garden.

8) "Smoky Salmon Chive Spread Recipe | MyRecipes.com." MyRecipes.com. N.p., Nov. 2009. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/smoky-salmon-chive-spread

I chose this site because for every type of herb, vegetable, fruit, or even flower, I need a recipe for it. And I found this chive salmon dip and thought that it would be appropriate and cheap for the home cook/home grower to make. The herb would cost nothing if you grow it yourself, and the salmon is canned as well. Not only does it not cost a lot to make, the recipe actually gives you more servings than indicated so you actually get more for your buck than you think. This is why I chose this source, it was delicious and helpful.

9) "Dill Seeds Zesty Seasoning." Dill Seeds For Sale. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

http://www.edenbrothers.com/store/dill_seeds.html

I chose this website for the picture alone, not only foes it give me a picture for the seeds but it gives me some information as well. The edonbrothers sell seeds and plants in bulk and is good for anyone who wants to buy things in bulk. I will be mentioning this in interesting finds on my website. They sell flower seeds, wild flower seed mixes, vegetable seeds, herb seeds, heirloom seeds, organic seeds, and flower bulbs.I want to include this in my interesting finds for people who do not want to necessarily start everything form pure seed themselves.

10) "Diapers Help Your Plants Grow!" YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXb8rJ8Rm3I

This is probably my favorite source out of them all. This is called “Diapers Help Your Plants Grow” and it was uploaded by a youtuber who finds random projects to work on. In this certain situation, he uses a (new) diaper to help plants grow. He fills it up with water and then the takes out the stuffing and mixes it with the dirt. It makes potting soil light and fluffy and the reason for that is the cotton wadding gets wet and mixes up with crystals that can hold 500 times their weight in water. The reason why I decided to include this in interesting fines is because it’s environmentally friendly and produces good results in a weird way.

11) "How To Use Fresh Herbs." Www.cookinglight.com. N.p., n.d. Web.

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/all-about-herbs-slideshow

I wanted to use this source because I know that a lot of people want to grow herbs so that they have fresh herbs available in the kitchen. And they are great in containers as well! I know that herbs are the easiest to grow and a lot of people can have them ready and available, and they’re good for beginners!

12) "A Sampler of 12 Common Garden Herbs." Sunset. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2015.

http://www.sunset.com/garden/flowers-plants/sampler-12-common-garden-herbs

I chose this site because it had a simple list of herbs that I can follow. Before I put any serious information in I really need to organize my website. I’m gathering about 10 parts for each categories in my website so I need about 10 herbs to start out with.

The first 12 sources were my initial sources to begin the website. The following sources are going to be for my herbs:

13) "Bonnie Plants - Garden Plants for Your Vegetable Garden or Herb Garden." Bonnie Plants. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://bonnieplants.com

I chose Bonnie Plants for a source because this website actually had a lot on the information for all the herbs I was going to feature on my website. Bonnie Plants is a national plant wholesaler. They sell plants and they also sell biodegradable pots. They have 70 green house locations around the country. They are dedicated to green gardening and sell products that are safe for the environment.

14) "Gardening Know How - Happy Gardening! Ask a Gardening Question, Get a Gardening Answer." Gardening Know How - Happy Gardening! Ask a Gardening Question, Get a Gardening Answer. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com

I chose gardening know how because I needed certain information on how to grow a couple of herbs and this is actually a very good source. This site is a great site for someone who is looking for straight to the point answers. It’s creator, Heather Rhoades noticed that there were not many friendly and easy to understand sites about gardening and at first there was not much activity but soon people came flocking with questions and many more articles were made.

15) "A Round Rock Garden." A Round Rock Garden. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

https://roundrockgarden.wordpress.com

I used this site for the purposes of learning how to harvest, in this case it was sage. This is a blog. The owner of this blog has a garden out in Austin, Texas and this was their first attempt at documenting organic gardening in an urban setting. They made their website to show self-reliance because now and days people tend to rely on the technology of modern agriculture. They are going back to the olden times of self reliance but are putting new twists on them. Check out their “About us” it’s pretty cool.

16) "Our Herb Garden." Our Herb Garden. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://www.ourherbgarden.com

I specifically used this website to learn how to grow and harvest thyme along with other herbs. This site got started initially with a culinary journey while the owners were also trying to grow an herb garden. Basically their about is how they chose to grow their garden to correlate with their culinary adventures.

17)"Learn How To Grow Your Own Herb Garden Indoors or Out!" Herb Gardens. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://herbgardening.com

I used this site to help me learn how to grow mint. This is a credible source because it has three sections whic are growing herbs in containers, growing herbs indoors, and growing herbs with hydroponics.

The next five sources are for my vegetables:

18)"Home - Harvest to Table." Harvest to Table RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://www.harvesttotable.com

Harvest to table is a website created for both the beginner and the veteran gardener. It was made to find easy solutions for a bunch of gardening problems and the site is very pretty. And clean cut so learning how to grow snow peas wasn’t that hard. The owner of this site is a man named Steve Albert. He’s very good to his crops and his goal is to make them better and better each year and tries not to use a lot of fossil based fertilizers.

19)"Off The Grid News Better Ideas For Off The Grid Living." Off The Grid News. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://www.offthegridnews.com

I chose offthegridnews as a source because they had an article teaching me about perennial onions which I didn’t even know existed. I thought they were all annuals. There isn’t too much in their about but I know living off the grid is like going completely natural and is actually a life style that I am willing to integrate part of it into my life. They have news, tips, tricks, and tutorials about living onthe land and living off the grid. I think perennials are good for living off the grid because they make new produce every year.

20)"WHFoods Site Search." WHFoods Site Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://www.whfoods.com/sitesearch.php

Okay so I used this site for all my veggies. This site is fantastic for finding nutritional value, uses for the vegetable, and it even gives a bunch of history for each vegetable that I chose to include in my website. WHF stands for the “World’s Healthiest Foods” and they even have their own book. It is one of the most visited websites for health information so it’s a great source to use. It is non-profit and owned by the George Mateljan foundation.

21)"Vegetable Garden - Plan Grow Harvest." Vegetable Garden - Plan Grow Harvest. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://www.vegetable-garden-guide.com

I used this website to help me learn how to grow carrots. There is no about page but basically it is this elderly man who grows everything and makes his own compost as well. He has kids, well, his own children that help him work on his garden. This is a credible source because I can see his results and I can see what he is working in. I can see everything he is doing so I can trust it.

22) "Menu." The SelfSufficient Living. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.

http://theselfsufficientliving.com

I chose this site just for some references. This site is about living simple and relying on your own home grown produce to get you through life. It’s about growing your own food, raising your own livestock, and avoiding “professional help” as much as possible. It’s about taking the natural things in life and appreciating it.

This is my bibliography with all my sources, it's not annotated (I annotated the most important ones): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kjrtS4sgFnEhwAZo9XN91wJ2e_G7D9--8VxIoVsucwQ/edit

Bell, James Scott. Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest, 2004. Print.

This source provides information about the plot and structure of a novel. The book first introduces the LOCK system which stands for Lead, Objective, Confrontation and Knockout. The author states that every story and novel will need these components. The authors says that the function of the plot is to connect to the readers and I found this interesting because I have never thought of it like that. I selected this book because there are explanations/tips and excercises that will help me shape the outline of my novella. This source will be extremely useful because I can follow the diagrams and outlines used in the book.

Donovan, Melissa. "12 Character Writing Tips for Fiction Writers."Writingforward.com. Melissa Donovan, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <http://www.writingforward.com/writing-tips/12-character-writing-tips-for-fiction-writers>.

This source provides great information on how to get readers interested in the characters of your stories. It states that people like characters that are realistic because they will feel more of a connection. The characters in a story should not be completely perfect; they should have flaws and baggage. I know that the characters is one of the most important aspects of a story and the tips in here will help guide me into create realistic characters. Depending on the length of a story, there is a certain amount of character development that needs to happen and although this source does not tell me how to incorporate that into a story, it does provide me with a general idea of what I should add in.

Ingermanson, Randy. "The Snowflake Method For Designing A Novel. "Advancedfictionwriting.com. Advanced Fiction Writing, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/>.

This source provides information of how to design your whole story before actually writing it. The author has written many novels and shares the method that he uses called the Snowflake method. This method is to have writers start off with a small idea and then expand on that. The idea is to continue expanding until you have a complete overview on the plot and characters in a story so that when you actually start writing, it will be easier and quicker. I think that the general ideas in this source will be helpful when I am outlining my story. There were parts of the method that I did not like but there were parts that I will definitely use. It was helpful to see how someone else approaches their story writing.

Kempton, Gloria. Write Great Fiction: Dialogue. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest, 2004. Print.

This book provides information on how to incorporate dialogue into a story. The author points out common mistakes writers make when they try to write fiction. The most important thing to avoid is to think too much about how to write dialogue because dialogue should be natural. People do not always speak properly or correctly and so if writers put themselves into their characters shoes then the dialogue would appeal to people more. There are not a lot of limitations in the book because there are a lot of details throughout. There are examples, tips and excercises that I can reference and use. The book will help me write natural sounding dialogues because I plan on having lot of them in my novella.

Rozelle, Ron. Write Great Fiction: Description & Setting. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest, 2005. Print.

This book provides very detailed and important information on how to write well and also how to establish a setting. Just like with characters, conflicts and dialogues, the setting is something that should be realistic. The author goes into details on how to use the setting to add depth to a story. I selected this book because there are things in there that I personally have problems with and so I can use this to guide me. I tend to have simple sentences and this book helps explain sentence structures and uses of punctuations. I think that the book will become really handle in improving my sentences.

Scheller, Rachel. "Write Fiction That Grabs Readers from Page One."Writersdigest.com. F+W, 2 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/write-fiction-that-grabs-readers-from-page-one>.

This source provides information from a book that teaches writers how to grab readers’ attention from the very beginning of your story. This particular source focusses on how to add conflict and problems into the story. There is a particular structure that the author talks about that he thinks is the most effective way to add conflicts. I selected this source because aside from characters, the conflict is another huge aspect of a great story. I learned that in order to incorporate conflicts well, you can not just have one major conflict but there must be little ones in there as well. This source will be useful in my story outline.

Springer, Mike. "Seven Tips from Earnest Hemingway on How to Write Fiction." Openculture.com. Open Culture, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <http://www.openculture.com/2013/02/seven_tips_from_ernest_hemingway_on_how_to_write_fiction.html>.

This source provides tips from Earnest Hemingway on how to write fiction. These are the techniques that he finds useful when he is writing his own books. The tips are not directed towards the actually writing, but the mindset that a writer should have. I selected this source because I know that Earnest Hemingway is a great author and so I feel like his tips would be reliable. There was one tip that I found the most interesting and that I want to try. This tip is for writers to stop writing for the day while they still know what will happen next in the story. This is something that I would never think about but it makes a lot of sense because when the next day comes, you will not be stuck trying to come up with the next part. This source will be very helpful throughout the whole writing process.

Stewart, Jennifer. "Tips For Writing A Short Story." Write101.com. Write101, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <http://www.write101.com/shortstory.htm>.

This source provides the basic elements that make up a short story or novel. It includes tips for the structure, theme, setting, characters, dialogue and plot. Most of the tips imply that writers should make every aspect realistic and simple. I selected this source because I thought that it would be nice to have one source that has everything that I need to know in order to write an effective story. One limitation of the source is that the tips are not really detailed and there is not a lot of justification for why writers should do the things she mentioned. I did learn a little from the source but it is not as helpful as the other ones.

"Usage- Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement." Towson.edu. Towson University, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <http://www.towson.edu/ows/pro_antagree.htm>.

This source provides information on one of the grammar rules that people forget often. The rule is the pronoun antecedent rule that states that a pronoun has an antecedent to go with it. Sometimes people will have one pronoun but they will have no clear distinction between which antecedent it belongs with. The source provides examples of how this rule is used in different scenarios, such as singular form, plural form, and indefinite form. I selected this source because I noticed that this is a grammatical rule that I forget and have trouble with in my writing. I think that this source will be helpful in making sure that my sentences make sense.

Weiner, Jennifer. "I Like Likable Characters." Slate.com. The Slate Group, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2013/05/likable_and_unlikable_characters_in_fiction_claire_messud_and_meg_wolitzer.html>.

This source provides two different opinions on likable characters in a novel. There is one author who believes that if a writer creates a protagonist that is likeable and is like a friend to the readers then that writer is doing something wrong. The author of the article completely disagrees with the previous one because she likes likable characters. I selected this source because I wanted to know what kind of characters people like to read about. This source was helpful because I got two different perspectives on it and I will ultimately decide which argument I agree with more.

My capstone was done in collaboration with RubyJane Anderson. We wrote, directed, edited, and starred in two short films about SLA. Before production began, we did lots of research. We researched different types of comedy, journalism, and media production. We wanted our show to be both informative and entertaining so we took inspiration from comedic news programs such as The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Our research included lots of time spent watching programs like these, to observe what made them such effective platforms for conveying information. After that, we started to think about what issues we wanted to tackle.

In our first episode, we really dug deep into the issue around students cutting the lunch line. We set up a hidden camera to record people cutting the line then identified them and interviewed them. We interviewed some staff members about their thoughts on the line cutting and their ideas for potential change. We filmed all of the interviews then recorded narration, then edited it all together into one cohesive piece. After that, we uploaded it to Youtube.

After finishing the first episode, we moved on to our next idea; the school building. We focused mainly on the holes in the walls and the oversized toilet paper rolls. We researched the owner of the building and tried to contact them for an interview but they chose not to comment. We filmed interviews with students and staff members alike, again, then edited and published it on Youtube.

For this project, Max Amar-Olkus and I wrote, starred in, edited, and directed two short documentaries about SLA. Before we started producing the videos, we did a lot of research. We researched topics relating to comedy, journalism, and comedic journalism. We watched a lot of our favorite news programs like Vice, John Oliver, and Jon Stewart. We then brainstormed some topics for episodes.

Our first story was about cutting in the school lunch line. We set up a hidden camera to document the cutting and to see who was cutting in line. We then identified those people and interviewed them. We also interviewed school staff to see what they thought about cutting in line. After we got all of our footage, we built the story around that and wrote narration for the episode. We recorded the narration, edited the video, then published in on youtube.

After “The Lunch Line”, we decided to do a story about the state of the school building. This episode mostly focused on holes in the wall and the toilet paper problem. Again, we interviewed staff and students, built the story around that, recorded narration, edited, and published.