Definitions Paragraph

Type 1 Diabetes is most commonly found in children and is a lifelong disease in which the body does not produce insulin.  Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that is needed in everyday life in order to turn convert sugar, starches and other foods into energy.  Those living with Type 1 Diabetes can easily manage it and continue to have a healthy life.  They must take proper care of themselves in order to do this.  Blood sugars must constantly be regulated.  In order to do this, one must have insulin in their body from an outside source.  Some people are on an insulin pump, which constantly feeds insulin into your body to keep your blood sugars regulated.  Others do insulin injections at every meal.  When HbA1c levels are mentioned, this is just another way of saying blood sugar levels.  Biochemical hypoglycemia means low blood glucose level.  This occurs when the glucose levels are not being monitored and taken care of continuously.

Scholarly Article Precis

In the scholarly article “Satisfaction with continuous glucose monitoring in adults and youths with Type 1 diabetes” (2011) the authors elaborate on the close attention paid to glucose levels in people with Type 1 Diabetes and how it directly benefits the patients.  The authors support this claim by telling readers that although it is extremely difficult to constantly monitor glucose levels, it is proven that frequent monitoring results in lower levels of biochemical hypoglycemia.  The article is aimed to provide readers with more knowledge and facts about continuous glucose monitoring in order to make them more aware of the ways to prevent further complications.  This article is intended for other scholars, or adults interested in learning more about the subject matter. 

Ted Video Response

Brian Stevenson starts off the video by explaining identity.  Identity has meaning and power depending on how you use it.  You could be a teacher and make an impact on students, or be a caring teacher and make an even bigger impact.  It's all about your identity and how you choose to use it.  He then gave us insight to his life as a child.  He talks about how his grandma would give him the biggest hugs just to make sure that he would still feel them later on.  When he was 8 or 9 years old he promised his grandma three things: to always love his mother, always do the right thing, and never drink alcohol.  To this day, he has kept those three promises.  This shows the power in identity and how much you can affect a single person's life.  He then starts talking about our country's system of justice and how most of the time wealth shapes outcomes.  The death penalty is a huge issue and the question that is always brought up with it is "Do people deserve to die for the crime they committed?"  Brian brings up a new question that reverses the roles.  "Do we deserve to kill?"  He believes that we need to stop trying so hard to give people the worst punishment imaginable and rather bring justice to the victims of the crime.  At one point he states that "Every person is better than the worst thing they've done."  He also points out that in a lot of cases, the judge has "magical powers" and can turn you into something you're not.  He believes that everyone should be given equal rights, even when on trial.  Every person should be treated the same and should face the same penalties no matter your race, class, gender, etc.  The speech is ended by Brian stating "Keep your eyes on the prize and hold on."  He says this in order to give hope for our country as a whole and hope for individuals that believe the justice system needs to be changed. 

The Daily Show Free Write

This clip from The Daily Show made a few valid points as to why the N word could be replaced with the word slave.  I personally believe that the book should be left the way it is.  Mark Twain wrote the book in order to educate readers on slavery at the time.  History shouldn't be changed just because today's society finds it offensive.  People are already aware of the word so deleting it from popular texts isn't going to change the way people view it.  Most people already know why it is considered offensive and have made decisions in their own lives to either use the word or take it out of their vocabulary.  History can't be changed, and neither should a popular book that many people have read in their lifetime.

New York Times column summary

This article was about the spending habits of candidates running for President each year and how the amounts spent on campaigning affect the opinions of voters.  The amounts spent on campaigning have increased tremendously over the years.  In 1976, candidates each spent about $35 million on their campaigns.  This year, President Obama raised $181 million in just the month of September.  Many people believe that if more money was spent on campaigns, voters would be more educated on their candidates.  The majority of the Supreme Court believe that spending restrictions are a violation of the First Amendment and the amount candidates are allowed to spend should be limitless.  Super PACs are a form of campaigning allowing wealthy people to contribute amounts of more than $1000 toward campaign advertising.  Individual contributions to a particular candidate cannot exceed $5000.  The amount someone can donate to a super PAC is limitless, which is usually directed toward a particular political party.  

Ethos, Pathos, & Logos for NY Times Article

Ethos:

• Austin Powers movie – “If you want it back, you will have to pay me one million dollars!”
• Brendan Doherty, political science professor at the United States Naval Academy
• Sheldon Adelson’s main political interest is Israel. He has pumped $10 million into Restore Our Future, the biggest Republican super PAC.
• Karl Rove knows what the Romney campaign needs at any given moment is in charge of and running the most important of the Republican super PACs.
• Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago and Obama’s first chief of staff is helping to raise money for a Democratic super PAC.

Pathos:

• Mitt Romney and Barack Obama could possibly spend more than $1 billion each in this year’s election.
• Candidates spend more time fundraising than actually trying to get voters.
• President Obama has held six fundraisers in a single day, twice.
• Jim Bopp Jr., a lawyer from Terre Haute, has devoted his life to freeing the country of campaign spending limits. To him, and the majority of the Supreme Court, spending restrictions are a violation of the First Amendment.
• “Most people don’t even know who their congressman is.” –Jim Bopp Jr.
• Makes unlimited spending seem democratic.
• The Supreme Court majority has said that campaign spending that is independent of the candidate cannot be corrupting.
• Ads are running with such frequency that people are tuning them out.
• Money that comes into politics has the potential to corrupt.
• We see it every day in Congress. A congressman gets on an important committee, begins to raise money from the companies that care about the committee’s issues — and, suddenly, the congressman is writing legislation the company wants.

Logos:

• 1976 election: Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were allowed to spend $35 million each on campaigning.
• Obama campaign raised $181 million in just the month of September.
• “Super PACs” (a form of campaigning allowing wealthy people to contribute amounts of more than $1000 toward campaign advertising)
• Individual contributions to a particular candidate can not exceed $5000; the amount someone can donate to a super PAC is limitless.
• More spending on campaigns, voters would be more educated on their candidates.

Buying the Election?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/opinion/nocera-buying-the-election.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Why Men Fail

In the New York Times article titled "Why Men Fail" David Brooks points out many reasons as to why women are advancing in the world at a rapid pace, while men are kind of falling behind.  The world as a whole is constantly changing and making improvements.  Brooks makes the comparison to immigrants who have physically moved to a new country but are keeping their minds in the old one.  It is stated that twelve out of the fifteen fastest growing professions are dominated by women, and that is primarily because they require skills that women are more likely to possess for neurological and cultural reasons.  Being able to sit still and focus at an early age, being emotionally sensitive, and being able to communicate well are a few of the traits listed that are believed to be possessed by more women than men.  It was a bit of a surprise that women are just as interested as men in campus hookup cultures in order to get sex without having to deal with any sort of commitments.  Women are interested in this so that they can have fun but not get distracted from their school or careers.  Brooks makes a good point by saying men still follow the rules of masculinity, while women have abandoned feminist conceptions and started a clean slate.  Women are adapting a lot easier than men in a world that is changing so incredibly fast, and men need to step it if they want to continue to hold any positions of authority over women in the world.

"New Rules" by Thomas Friedman

In the article “New Rules” that was published in the New York Times, author Thomas Friedman explains that children ages seven to sixteen are being given the opportunity to learn computer programming in schools in Estonia.  This curriculum was created because of how difficult it has become for companies to hire decent employees.  It is stated that unemployment rates are highest for high school dropouts and lowest for people with four years of college.  He refers to the phrase “work hard and play by the rules” that was coined by Bill Clinton in 1992.  Friedman talks about how President Obama has been using this phrase and he believes that if you live by it you can expect that the American system will deliver you a decent life and a chance for your children to have a better one.  It is said that in the future “illiteracy will not be defined by those who cannot read and write, but by those who cannot learn and relearn.”  This statement is very true if you compare it to the way society has been growing.  A lot of the jobs that you wouldn’t need a degree for are slowly diminishing, and a lot more are becoming available for college graduates.  These newer jobs are all because of technology advancement in the world.  The huge amounts of technology are raising the skill levels required for many of the jobs being offered, making them harder to get if you don’t have a degree.  At a democratic convention, Bill Clinton talks about how we need to invest more into our people through community colleges, Pell grants, and vocational-training classes.  By doing this, it is hoped to increase the amount of people graduating from college with degrees.  

Essay Questions

1) Are we allowed to use other sources as well as the video to provide facts and credibility to our candidate?
2) What is the best way to write my paper without inserting my own opinion about the topics?
3) Is there a certain outline for the number of paragraphs we should use?

Muslim Rage

The Newsweek cover photo definitely shows the outraged and furious emotions of the Muslims in the photo.  It’s very clear that the two men in the photo reflect the emotions of many Muslims in response to the YouTube video posted that was making fun of Muhammad.  The title “Muslim Rage” in huge font on the cover draws a lot of attention to the article.  Depending on the viewpoint, some people were mad and irate just like the men in the photo.  Others took things from a humorous perspective and started a trending topic on twitter called “#MuslimRage.”  This just shows the affect that media and social networking sites can have on the issues in society.  Whether or not the topic affects you determines how you will react.  The men in the photo are wearing Muslim headdresses, which is quite often pointed out and ridiculed by Americans.  This is such a huge part of the photo on the cover of Newsweek, and most definitely gives the public what they want.  The people in the photo are obviously starting a riot of some sort due to their anger about the video.  There is also a caption along the bottom of the photo that says “How I Survived It; How We Can End It.”  This caption gives out the idea that this could be ongoing for quite some time.  The trending topic on twitter has also brought up a lot of controversy.  While many people find it humorous and continue to participate in the trending topic, others find it highly offensive.  Again, this just depends on how much the situation relates to you and how you choose to react to it.  The whole riot began in the first place to gain publicity and awareness towards the outrage of the Muslims.  By making the front page of Newsweek, I’d say that was accomplished in a way.  More people are aware of the situation, even if it brought on the ridicule on twitter.  

Visual Rhetoric Paragraph

The visual element that grabs my attention first is President Obama sitting in a chair with the camera focused completely on him.  Everything in the background is blurred out, which makes you concentrate on Obama even more.  The background music also captures your attention and makes everything seem a little bit more serious.  The most important point of the video is the choice Americans have to make in the next four months.  He talks about Romney’s plans and how they have already been attempted in the United States.  He then proceeds to tell viewers how he will improve the economy by strengthening the middle class.  The video is mainly focused on Obama himself, so color and style don’t make much of a difference.  The only text included in the video is “The President’s Plan: Strengthen the Middle Class” which he reinforces by explaining how he plans on doing that.  The argument being made is simply that Obama thinks he will do a better job at strengthening the economy than Romney will.  This was made during the presidential campaign and intended for all Americans in order to gain popularity and votes.  The video provides lots of ethos towards President Obama.

Visual Analysis of Video

 What visual elements grab your attention first?

President Obama is sitting in a chair, the camera focused completely on him.

 What other details reinforce that impression? How?

Everything in the background is blurred out, which makes you concentrate on Obama even more.  The background music also captures your attention and makes everything seem a little bit more serious.

 What is more important? Less important?

The most important point of the video is the choice Americans have to make in the next four months.  He talks about Romney’s plans and how they have already been attempted.  He then proceeds to tell viewers how he will improve the economy by strengthening the middle class.

 What about color and style? What impact do they have on your impressions?

The video is mainly focused on Obama himself, so color and style don’t make much of a difference.

 How does the image direct the viewer’s eyes and reinforce what is important?

Like I stated earlier, everything in the background is blurred out, making you focus on the main person in the video.

 What text is included? How does the text relate to the image? 

The only text included in the video is “The President’s Plan: Strengthen the Middle Class” which he reinforces by explaining how he plans on doing that.

 What argument is being made? Consider: when this was made (kairos), who is the

audience, what is the purpose (exigency). 

The argument being made is simply that Obama thinks he will do a better job at strengthening the economy than Romney will.  This was made during the presidential campaign.  The audience is all Americans.

 List details that provide ethos, pathos, logos.

The video provides lots of ethos towards President Obama.

Chapter 6 Precis

In chapter 6 of “Choices 2.0” (2010), author Joe Marshall Hardin emphasizes the affect media has on the daily lives of people, and how it easily captures the attention of most viewers.  He believes that the media is influencing people in the ways that they advertise such as radio, internet, television, billboards, or magazines.  The author analyzes the ways of media in order to educate the reader on how to evaluate the media from a writer’s point of view and use it in their own writing to catch the reader’s attention.  This chapter was intended for college students, but anyone can benefit from it.

Plagiarism Precis

In the article “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age”, Trip Gabriel explores the world of plagiarism and how it has affected society over time.  He explains how plagiarism is becoming easier due to the fact that the internet has expanded so much in the past decades.  People don’t necessarily believe they are plagiarizing if there isn’t any author information to cite the source.  Gabriel believes that in order to minimize the amounts of plagiarism going on in the world, we need to make people more aware of how serious it is.  This article is intended for all age groups in order to raise awareness.

Visual Rhetoric

There are a couple things that caught my attention when I first saw this photo.  First, the seven different animals lined up next to eachother.  The different animals don't necessarily have any importance.  The important factor is that they are all different species and therefore some are able to climb a tree while others can't.  Another thing that captured my attention is the quote bubble.  This is the main part of the photo, and the overall image wouldn't be getting its point across without it.  The photo is black and white which makes you concentrate on the main idea.  If there were bright colors and patterns, they would distract from the overall focus of the photo.  The main point of this photo is that modern day education systems treat all students the same.  The picture is making a point that if you give everyone the same test, some would fail simply because they don't know how to complete it and they were never taught.  The photo isn't directed to a certain group of people, but just making everyone more aware of the way our education systems work. 

Visual Rhetoric

The two videos we watched from the recent political convention both showed huge amounts of support and love for the United States.  Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney talked about past events that tug at the heart strings of almost every American.  Romney’s video makes a reference to the 9/11 accident and how people were afraid something even more terrible could happen.  People questioned whether or not the
United States would be able to put on the Olympic Games.  It was not only a public relations turn around, but a governmental turn around.  In Barack Obama’s video, he referenced the death of Osama Bin Laden.  His death made a huge impact on the United States and because it was during his presidency he got lots of credit for it.  By making references to past events, both videos made a point to show how the country has changed and what we can do to change it even more.  Both Obama and Romney include personal stories that also make a huge impact.  Romney talks about his wife, Ann, being diagnosed with MS and how much it changed his life.  He makes it a point to explain how much love he has for his wife, and knows they can get through anything together.  Obama mentions how his mother had cancer, and he saw first hand what it was like to have no money to support your family.  Both of the personal stories included in this video have nothing to do with what the president will do for our country, but it’s all a part of the campaign.  Stories that hit close to home with the majority of Americans will just bring in more support for both candidates.  Each video has a fairly even amount of ethos, pathos, and logos.  The videos were very well made and definitely show how much goes into the political campaign for each man. 

Response to Political Speeches

The speeches made by Michelle Obama and Ann Romney were very much alike, but they had a few differences.  In the end, both of these women have the same goal in mind and that is to get their husbands as much support as possible.  Both ladies did a wonderful job of bringing emotional appeal to their speeches and including numerous examples of pathos.  The speeches were very similar in the ways that both ladies talked about the importance of family.  Ann Romney focused more on the effect women have on society and how important it is to be a good mother.  At one point she said that women hold the country together.  Michelle Obama on the other hand focused more on family as a whole.  She spoke about how your past can influence your future, but only you determine whether it’s a good or bad outcome.  She states that even if you don’t start out with much, you can work hard and build a decent life for yourself, and an even better life for your kids.  Both ladies included a few examples of logos relating to their own lives, and only a couple examples of ethos.  Considering the speech they were giving and who they were addressing, more emotional appeal is necessary in order to capture the attention of your audience.  Watching the two of these videos makes it very hard to critique them without putting your own political opinion into it.  I tried watching the two speeches with an open mind, but it still makes it difficult to compare the two videos without choosing one that you prefer more.  The audience reactions actually make a huge impact on how I viewed the two speeches.  It was very interesting to see which speech got more credibility from the audience, and which parts of the speeches were appealing to them.  Emotional appeal is probably the most important thing in speeches like the two of these, and both women definitely did a good job in grabbing the attention of the audience.  They both made very good speeches, and it ends up coming down to personal opinions as to which one you preferred.  

Chapter 3 Precis

In Chapter three of Choices 2.0 (2010), Joe Marshall Hardin claims that structured writing is a key component in a good paper.  A well organized paper revolves around the thesis and has facts to back it up.  In order to convince your reader about your thesis, it is necessary to include illustrations of ethos, pathos, and logos, as well as more support such as personal stories, facts and statistics, or good arguments.  His professional way of writing helps anyone, specifically college students, to better their thesis and overall structure of writing is this chapter.

"The Web Means the End of Forgetting"

In the web article, “The Web Means the End of Forgetting” Jeffrey Rosen explains how the internet has many social networking sites that have the potential to make you lose your job or even ban you from entering the country, all depending on what you post.  He gives an example of a 25 year old teacher from Conestoga Valley High School, Stacey Snyder.  She posted a photo of herself at a party on her MySpace page, with the caption “Drunken Pirate.”  The photo was viewed as unprofessional and a way of promoting under age drinking to her students.  Snyder was denied a teaching degree all because of one photo on a social networking site that is thought to not influence your professional life.  Everyone seems to think that if a photo or video is posted on a site such as Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter, no one will see it other than their friends or followers.  In today’s society, employers want people working for them that not only work hard at their job, but leave a good impression of the company outside of work.  It was said in the article that “The worst thing you’ve done is most often the first thing everyone know about you.” The majority of the population pays more attention the bad people do, instead of focusing on the good.  Society has come to terms with the fact that humans evolve over time and can learn from past experiences, but that doesn’t always mean you get a second chance.  Jeffrey Rosen talks about how we can’t control what other people think about us or how they view us.  What we can do is control what they are basing their judgment off of.  The point of this article isn’t to stop people from partying and having a good time.  It’s just to make people aware of how much your life can be affected from what you post on a social networking site.  People in today’s society just need to learn how to keep their personal lives private, and not let it interfere with their professional lives. 

Jane McGonigal: Did she make a good argument?

Dr. Jane McGonigal has devoted her work to try and solve real world problems through virtual gaming.  She finished her PhD and has created games with real life situations in order to build a main goal for everyone to work together to achieve.  She made a convincing argument as to how gaming can help escape real world problems like hunger, obesity, poverty, climate change, and global conflict.  Dr. McGonigal states that 3 billion hours a week are spent playing games, and that number needs to increase to 21 billion hours.  Gamers put trust into people they have never met in order to work together to achieve a main goal. People that play games are motivated to do something that matters.  They have intense concentration and deep focus which results in motivation to tackle their problems.  Gamers experience what is called an “epic win” which is an outcome in which they had no idea it was possible until they achieve it.  Dr. McGonigal goes off of the idea of an epic win, and believes that we can experience this in real life to solve actual problems.  Game makers never give you a challenge that is impossible to achieve, which is why the population of gamers spends so much time gaming. There is no “unemployment” phase in gaming, and she thinks that this helps people set their goals high and not be shut down by society.  I believe that Dr. McGonigal has made a very convincing argument about how gaming can help to solve real world problems.  She backed up her arguments with facts, and made very valid points.  Although she made a persuasive argument, I don’t necessarily agree with it.  I like her idea of trying to change the world through gaming, but I think it’s far-fetched.  When an oil shortage actually occurs in the world, the population won’t be prepared for it just by playing a game that is along the same lines.  The world will have to face it’s problems as they come, and not try so hard to prepare for them when they don’t know exactly what is coming.

Writers On Writing Precis

In Writers on Writing (2000), Kent Haruf explains that all writers have their own customs, rituals, and surroundings when they begin their writing. He gives examples of different authors and the atmosphere they surround themselves with when they begin their writing process.  In order to make a personal connection with his audience, he gives insight to his own writing environment.  Haruf describes the room in which he does all of his writings and how it inspires him.  He provides a wide variety of examples in order to motivate young writers to develop a personal atmosphere in which to do their best writing.

Chapter 1 Precis

In Chapter 1 of Choices 2.0 (2010), Joe Marshall Hardin claims that the “writing process” is the best way to arrange your writing in order for your final product to be clear and concise.  He introduces the idea of the rhetorical triangle, which has three points – the writer, the reader, and the text.  He makes it clear that in order to provide an effective argument you must see things from each point of the triangle. In order to do this, you make choices on how to relate to their audience better and how to write about the subject to engage the reader. By giving a sample argument, Hardin provides an example to educate college students on how to improve their writing.

Introduction Precis

In the introduction to Choices 2.0 (2010), Joe Marshall Hardin claims that some individuals are gifted writers, but everyone has the ability to creatively express themselves if they learn to understand the ways of a writer and work hard to be a successful writer.  The author believes that whether or not someone is destined to be a writer, everyone has the capability to produce an exceptional piece of writing.  He states that in order to become a successful writer you have to look at your writing from multiple perspectives, be able to focus on your writings, and stay interested in your topic.  Joe Marshall Hardin is focusing on teaching not only college students, but anyone who wants to improve their writing skills.  He includes many tips that are easy to interpret and help advance your writing.