In my last essay of this semester, I argued that steps need to be taken to improve voter turnout for elections in the United States. I provided a lot of statistical evidence comparing our low voter turnout to the other nations of the world, most of whom have much higher voter turnout than us. After showing the reader the problem, I began laying down the steps that we can take to insure that voter turnout increases. I picked solutions that are popular and widely talked about, although still argued, so that I could lay down the “they say, I say” in my essay. The purpose of my argument was to first show the reader the magnitude of this problem and then show ways that we can solve it.
After brainstorming for a little while, I realized that the key to my rhetorical revision was going to simplicity. I knew that with my limited artistic ability and the magnitude of my subject, I would need to keep my ad simple to get my point across. I didn’t want to overwhelm the audience with a bunch of words and statistics that would turn them off and make them completely ignore my rhetorical revision. I decided that a simple picture with very few words attached would be the most effective way to get my point across.
With the magnitude of my issue, my audience was rather large: the American people. I wanted to reach as many people as possible with this advertisement so I felt that using a billboard would be the most effective way. The use of a billboard goes along with the simplicity of it. People don’t have time to ready a paragraph as they zoom past at 75 miles per hour. The ad would have to be quick to the point and still powerful and effective. Another audience I wanted to pursue was people who are interested in politics, people who are much more likely to get involved in a topic like this. To reach this audience, I wanted to put this as an advertisement in Newsweek or another politically charged magazine. Although the way it was being advertised would change, I didn’t want to change my rhetorical revision. People don’t read magazines for the advertisements so I knew that my ad would have to still be simple.
For the background of my advertisement, I chose to use an American flag flying in a beautiful sunny sky with a few scattered clouds. The reason I chose the flag is how it immediately catches people’s attention. Everyone knows the American flag. It’s a powerful image, but so simple at the same time. Since this is a huge topic for the entire United States, I wanted to pull on people’s patriotism. However, I wanted to keep with my theme of simplicity and not overwhelm the audience with a collage of patriotic pictures. I knew that if I had pictures of the White House, the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Washington Monument, the American flag, and Uncle Sam, that it would turn many people off and they wouldn’t even look at the ad.
At the top of the ad it reads, “Did you know that Malaysia has higher voter turnout than the United States?” Once again, I wanted to call on people’s patriotism. I looked through the same research that I used to write my essay and found this interesting fact. By showing that Malaysia, a country considered by many Americans to be a third-world country, has higher voter turnout that the United States, I showed them how big of a problem this is. I wanted people to feel a sense of surprise, anger, astonishment, and wanting to fix that. I chose to use that simple sentence instead of overwhelming the audience with a list of facts and statistics.
At the bottom of the ad, it says, “We need change NOW.” This is a simple, yet powerful statement. The “NOW” is capitalized to bring attention to it and to drive the point home even more. After the first fact makes the audience surprised and angry, I wanted this phrase motivate them to act on those feelings. Also, the word “change” has been a pretty popular word over the last few months, used in the Presidential election by both parties. I wanted to jump on the “change” bandwagon for my specific argument.
At the bottom of the page, in smaller, but still plainly visible font, are the words, “Get involved today at www.fixthevote.org.” I want people to see the alarming fact, get motivated by the call to action at the bottom, then go straight to www.fixthevote.org. I don’t want this to be an ad where people read it and then forget about it right after they turn the page. I want it to stick out in their mind. Last, having the contact information adds to the ethos of the rhetorical revision by making it appear more credible.
When people view my ad, whether on a billboard or in a copy of Newsweek, I want them see it in a specific order. I want them to first see the American flag waving on a sunny day. This conjures up positive thoughts for most people and is a simple and immediate call on their patriotism. Next, they will read the fact at the top of the page. With their patriotism already called on, they will see that a nation considered “third-world” by most is outpacing their beloved United States in voter turnout. Now that they are appalled, they will see the call to action and the contact information at the bottom of the page. Simple, but effective.
I think that my rhetorical revision primarily appeals to the emotional, or pathos. I think that there is logos and ethos in the ad, but pathos is the strongest of the three. When people see the billboard or the ad in Newsweek, they will feel anger, embarrassment, and a strong desire to fix the problem. In simpler terms, the ad is saying “Did you know that they are beating us?” and I think that will motivate most people to get involved in solving this problem.
In conclusion, I wanted to create a billboard or Newsweek ad that would help solve one of the largest problems facing our nation, in my opinion. Although I had many solutions to this problem in my essay, I didn’t want to turn off my audience by overwhelming them with facts and statistics. Instead, I chose to simply call on their patriotism and motivate them to get involved, at which point they can learn about all the solutions I offered in my essay.
Image citation:
Davidson, Ashley. "American flag waving in the sky." 14 June 2006.
Online image. Google Image Search. 7 December 2008.
http://ccn1.net/POTD8/American-flag-attack-position.jpg
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Blog Assignment
The Apple Company, who created this print ad for their iPhone, is widely known for doing an excellent job of marketing their products and always comes up with ingenious and innovative ad campaigns. This ad has one purpose: to make people want to buy the iPhone. The ad uses different elements to put you in the position of the person touching the iPhone.
Usually, technology ads are targeting the male demographic, but the iPhone is for everyone. The ad doesn’t make any distinction between male or female. With the importance of cell phones in our society today, the ad is targeting anyone who uses or will use a cell phone. The ad itself implies that the iPhone is the only thing you will ever need by showing it alone with just the hand. To me, the openness of the picture around the iPhone and the hand is meant to show that all you will need is the iPhone. Like Apple is saying, “This will do everything you will ever need to do.”
It is a fairly simple ad, the hand and the iPhone put against a black background to draw attention to themselves, a very good use of accenting. The hand is added into the picture to add to the add to the thinking that people will do when they see it. Only the hand is shown, not the rest of the arm or the person doing the touching, allowing the viewer to imagine that it is their hand touching the iPhone. That was the first thing I thought about when I saw the ad, I pictured myself playing with an iPhone.
With the black background, the brightness coming off the screen of the iPhone draws even more attention. It illuminates the rest of the picture, including the hand, and made me think of a light shining through the darkness, pretty powerful symbolism that the iPhone is so great that it shines light into the darkness that is your world. The whole idea is to make the iPhone look visually stunning, and they accomplished this task.
Down at the bottom of the ad underneath the iPhone and the hand are the words “Touching Is Everything.” This is a short, but powerful phrase. In just three words Apple gets their point across. They might as well have said, “You have to have one of these.” In a way, that’s exactly what they said, just in a nicer sounding way. You have to touch the iPhone and use it before you’ll truly understand it. Once you touch it, you’ll never try anything else. It’s EVERYTHING.
Underneath that phrase, there a short sentence saying, “The revolutionary new iPhone is now available at Apple and AT&T retail stores.” The word “revolutionary” in my mind conjures up images of the American War for Independence, the missions to the moon, and other world changing events and technological developments throughout history. That’s a very powerful word to describe a new cell phone. It lets people know that your product will change the world and how we live our lives.
In my opinion, this ad is very effective. It’s very simple, but does everything that it needs to do in a successful ad campaign. There isn’t a bunch of clutter surrounding the iPhone that could distract you, it’s placed right in the center of the frame, and its set against a black background. You have no choice but to look at the iPhone and imagine yourself with one.
Usually, technology ads are targeting the male demographic, but the iPhone is for everyone. The ad doesn’t make any distinction between male or female. With the importance of cell phones in our society today, the ad is targeting anyone who uses or will use a cell phone. The ad itself implies that the iPhone is the only thing you will ever need by showing it alone with just the hand. To me, the openness of the picture around the iPhone and the hand is meant to show that all you will need is the iPhone. Like Apple is saying, “This will do everything you will ever need to do.”
It is a fairly simple ad, the hand and the iPhone put against a black background to draw attention to themselves, a very good use of accenting. The hand is added into the picture to add to the add to the thinking that people will do when they see it. Only the hand is shown, not the rest of the arm or the person doing the touching, allowing the viewer to imagine that it is their hand touching the iPhone. That was the first thing I thought about when I saw the ad, I pictured myself playing with an iPhone.
With the black background, the brightness coming off the screen of the iPhone draws even more attention. It illuminates the rest of the picture, including the hand, and made me think of a light shining through the darkness, pretty powerful symbolism that the iPhone is so great that it shines light into the darkness that is your world. The whole idea is to make the iPhone look visually stunning, and they accomplished this task.
Down at the bottom of the ad underneath the iPhone and the hand are the words “Touching Is Everything.” This is a short, but powerful phrase. In just three words Apple gets their point across. They might as well have said, “You have to have one of these.” In a way, that’s exactly what they said, just in a nicer sounding way. You have to touch the iPhone and use it before you’ll truly understand it. Once you touch it, you’ll never try anything else. It’s EVERYTHING.
Underneath that phrase, there a short sentence saying, “The revolutionary new iPhone is now available at Apple and AT&T retail stores.” The word “revolutionary” in my mind conjures up images of the American War for Independence, the missions to the moon, and other world changing events and technological developments throughout history. That’s a very powerful word to describe a new cell phone. It lets people know that your product will change the world and how we live our lives.
In my opinion, this ad is very effective. It’s very simple, but does everything that it needs to do in a successful ad campaign. There isn’t a bunch of clutter surrounding the iPhone that could distract you, it’s placed right in the center of the frame, and its set against a black background. You have no choice but to look at the iPhone and imagine yourself with one.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Revision Memo 2
For essay 2, I used exploratory essay format to talk about the controversy that is the current BCS bowl game format in college football. I described the BCS system to the reader, showing its strengths and weaknesses, then began to describe the controversy that has risen from it. I listed ways it could be changed and who has proposed them. Lastly, I added in personal voice and why it is important to me.
The biggest thing I heard from Ms. Sowa and my peers is that I delayed inserting my question until too late in the paper. I don’t really get to my question until page 5. I also spend too much time writing an argument essay instead of an exploratory one. Looking back over my essay, I agree with this. I wasn’t completely sure what an exploratory essay style meant at the time, but now it is clearer to me. Another problem that I had was that I focused on my viewpoints too much, and not the opposing viewpoints. There wasn’t enough “they say, I say” in the paper. I need to ask more questions about the situation and add in how the research and evidence I found made me question my own personal beliefs on the subject.
For my revision, I will be making all the changes that were suggested to me. I am going to bring my question up closer to the beginning of the story so it is in the reader’s mind sooner, as they begin reading my evidence instead of after they have read all of it. I’m also going to add more exploratory into the essay, using more questions and personal voice to accomplish this. Next, I am going to add more counter-arguments and talk about how they complicated my own thoughts on the topic. I think making these changes will substantially improve me essay and make it much easier for the reader to follow.
As far as stylistic and proof-reading changes, I like my sentence structure and organization a lot. I just need to make it more exploratory as a far as style is concerned, as well as adding more of my personal voice. Since I do play college football, I could really play that up in the essay to show why this topic is so important to me.
The biggest thing I heard from Ms. Sowa and my peers is that I delayed inserting my question until too late in the paper. I don’t really get to my question until page 5. I also spend too much time writing an argument essay instead of an exploratory one. Looking back over my essay, I agree with this. I wasn’t completely sure what an exploratory essay style meant at the time, but now it is clearer to me. Another problem that I had was that I focused on my viewpoints too much, and not the opposing viewpoints. There wasn’t enough “they say, I say” in the paper. I need to ask more questions about the situation and add in how the research and evidence I found made me question my own personal beliefs on the subject.
For my revision, I will be making all the changes that were suggested to me. I am going to bring my question up closer to the beginning of the story so it is in the reader’s mind sooner, as they begin reading my evidence instead of after they have read all of it. I’m also going to add more exploratory into the essay, using more questions and personal voice to accomplish this. Next, I am going to add more counter-arguments and talk about how they complicated my own thoughts on the topic. I think making these changes will substantially improve me essay and make it much easier for the reader to follow.
As far as stylistic and proof-reading changes, I like my sentence structure and organization a lot. I just need to make it more exploratory as a far as style is concerned, as well as adding more of my personal voice. Since I do play college football, I could really play that up in the essay to show why this topic is so important to me.
Revision Memo 1
In Essay 1, I went into great detail describing the last time my friends and I spent time together before we all went off to college. It was our tradition for the last few years to gather in my basement, order pizza, and watch the UFC fights together. The paper covers from the beginning of the night all the way up to the end, highlighting the significance of the event and our friendship. I spent a lot of time focusing on the significance of how this was the last time we were going to be hanging out for a long time and how that moment was almost a setting off point into the rest of our lives.
Overall, the comments I got from Ms. Sowa and my peers were that I spent too much time focusing on “we” instead of “I.” The assignment calls for a personal narrative, but I was looking at it too much through the “we.” I didn’t add in enough of my personal experience such as my personal feelings or memories. People suggested that I add in my feelings and my anxieties and worries about heading off to college. Looking back over my paper, I agree with what people suggested to me. I feel like I did focus on the “we” too much since it was supposed to be a personal narrative.
For my revision, I will rework my essay to make my focus more personal. I will change some of the parts of the story where I focus on “we” and add in more “I.” I vividly remember how I was feeling that night and what worries I had leaving my friends and I will add those in during my revision. These changes will bring the “so what” more clearly to the reader and also make the story more universal. Everyone remembers hanging out with their friends for the last time and how they felt before they headed off to college and by me adding more of my personal thoughts and feelings into the story, I help the reader connect better with my essay.
For the sentence-level and proofreading, I just need to make sure that throughout the paper I am using “I” and not “we.” I also need to make sure that I don’t go from past tense to present tense, a mistake I made before. Other than that, I like my current sentence structure and how it works with my paper.
Overall, the comments I got from Ms. Sowa and my peers were that I spent too much time focusing on “we” instead of “I.” The assignment calls for a personal narrative, but I was looking at it too much through the “we.” I didn’t add in enough of my personal experience such as my personal feelings or memories. People suggested that I add in my feelings and my anxieties and worries about heading off to college. Looking back over my paper, I agree with what people suggested to me. I feel like I did focus on the “we” too much since it was supposed to be a personal narrative.
For my revision, I will rework my essay to make my focus more personal. I will change some of the parts of the story where I focus on “we” and add in more “I.” I vividly remember how I was feeling that night and what worries I had leaving my friends and I will add those in during my revision. These changes will bring the “so what” more clearly to the reader and also make the story more universal. Everyone remembers hanging out with their friends for the last time and how they felt before they headed off to college and by me adding more of my personal thoughts and feelings into the story, I help the reader connect better with my essay.
For the sentence-level and proofreading, I just need to make sure that throughout the paper I am using “I” and not “we.” I also need to make sure that I don’t go from past tense to present tense, a mistake I made before. Other than that, I like my current sentence structure and how it works with my paper.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Argument Essay First Draft
INSERT VOTING QUOTE Every four years in the United States of America, we have a Presidential Election. And every four years, barely 50% of the register votes turn out to vote. That percentage is even lower, around 30-40% for off year elections. On a list of voter turnout by country compiled by International IDEA, the United States ranks 139th out of 172 countries, sandwiched between Armenia, Uganda, Nigeria, and Thailand. Why is voter turnout in the United States so low? How could the percentage of Americans who vote be improved?
Looking at the voter turnout from other nations, we see that they must have the answer. For example, in France’s 2007 Presidential election, they had 84% turnout. Italy has a national average of 92.5%, Australia has an average of 95%, Germany an average of 80%, and England and Korea with 75%. Do these nations have different voting laws or techniques? Or are their citizens just more passionate about their nations’ government?
First, let’s look at Australia with its 95% voter turnout. Unlike our country, Australia has compulsory voting, meaning that it is punishable by law if you do not vote. There are nearly 30 nations in the world with these laws in place, including Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, and Argentina, but Australia and Boliva are the strictest at enforcing these laws. For example, if a Bolivian citizen doesn’t vote, the government denies that citizens ability to withdraw their paycheck from the bank for up to 3 months.
Although compulsory voting would does have a positive effect on voter turnout, some people question whether it’s the right approach. Opponents claim that forcing people to vote in a democracy isn’t true freedom. They argue that true freedom would include the right to choose not to vote. Opponents also argue that there would be a large number of random votes cast by people who don’t have any interest in who wins the election and wouldn’t have voted if it wasn’t required.
However, the benefits of compulsory voting outweigh the negatives. First, elected governments are considered more legitimate when higher proportions of the population vote. With 50% voter turnout, how legitimate is the victory of an elected official? What would’ve happened if the other 50% percent would’ve voted? Second, political parties wouldn’t need to spend valuable resources trying to convince possible voters to actually vote, leaving more resources available to talk about the issues. In an op-ed piece by the New York Times a few weeks ago, they point out that over $5 billion had been spent on this year’s Presidential and Congressional elections simply trying to convince people to cast a ballot. With our current economic state and national debt, couldn’t that $5 billion be spent somewhere else? Lastly, a true democracy is a government by the people, not half of the people.
Another solution to the problem is making Election Day a national holiday or putting it on the weekend. President elect Obama brought this up towards the end of his campaign. Many people have too many things going on or just can’t get out of work to go vote on a Tuesday. Nearly 30 states have laws in place that allow people time off from work to go vote, but these laws are vastly unknown to employees and bosses. Recently, nine states made Election Day a national holiday. INSERT STATE VOTER TURNOUT Puerto Rico is an excellent. Election Day in Puerto Rico is a national holiday, and voter turnout is 82.6%.
As early as last summer, the English Parliament was debating whether or not to move their elections from Thursday to the weekend. Whichever of those two options we choose, there are no negatives. It would cost very little money and the increase in voter turnout would be worth the money.
Another technique used by other countries is automatic voter registration. Unlike the United States where the responsibility is on the individual to register to vote, other nations’ put that responsibility on the government, who automatically register their citizens to vote. Many Americans don’t vote because it’s too much of a hassle to go register. Automatic registration would eliminate this excuse. One idea that is being proposed here in the United States is making voter registration a requirement to graduate. Due to all the information that school districts already have on their students, such as their home address, social security number, etc., it would be very easy to implement a system like this.
If people oppose this system, we need look no further than our neighbors to the North. Canada has a very successful automatic voter registration system in place which places the entire responsibility of voter registration on the government. Through interaction with various government agencies, Election Canada, a non-partisan government entity which is in charge of overseeing and regulating all government elections, compiles a list of all citizens who are old enough to vote and registers them. Information can be easily gathered on a person for registration through cooperation with the different Canadian government agencies. However, like all government systems, there are occasional flaws. Sometimes a person will slip through the cracks and go unregistered. In this scenario, the government is already prepared with voter registration available on the day of elections. Finland and Denmark also have automatic government registration, with Denmark having 84% compared to Finland’s 79%. However, Canada’s voter turnout is around 68%, showing that automatic voter registration isn’t the perfect answer.
One method that is already being put in place, but could be expanded further, is early voting. 34 states in the US now allow early voting, 31 of them require no-excuse with 3 requiring an excuse. Depending on the state, early voting allows people to vote in a certain time-frame before the election either in person or via absentee ballot. The idea behind it is that it makes voting more convenient for a lot of people who wouldn’t be able to go vote on the Tuesday Election Day. In the 2004 election, nearly 30% of registered voters in Texas, or 2.4 million, participated in the state’s early voting and that number is projected to be much higher for this election. Despite the increased convenience and other advantages of early voting, it has not increased voter turnout. According to Science Daily, “a new empirical study by political scientists concludes that most early voting options have a negligible or even negative impact on turnout.”
Lastly, we must find ways to make politics important to the average American. Most Americans are too self-interested to get involved in politics. We choose to live out our lives and only care about things that effect us, and then we complain about what the government is doing. CNN Writer John Dean brings up an excellent quote from Alexis de Tocqueville’s book “Democracy in America” when he says,
“it is difficult to force a man out of himself and get him to take an interest in the affairs of the whole state, for he has little understanding of the way in which the fate of the state can influence his own lot. But if it is a question of taking a road past his property, he sees at once that this small public matter has a bearing on his greatest private interests, and there is no need to point out to him the close connection between his private profit and the general interest."
There are many reasons that people don’t vote besides disinterest, including distrust of politicians and overall dislike for our current political system. Usually all these reasons are compounded, but there are ways to fix it. Parents and schools can begin educating children at an early ago on the importance of the political system and how we have a civic obligation to vote. People need to understand that when they don’t vote, they lose their political voice. This country was built on the fundamentals that voting and participation in government is important and necessary to the success of our nation. I agree that our government and both political parties are not perfect. But we can fix all of it if everyone gets involved.
There are many different thoughts and ideas on how to improve voter turnout, from compulsory voting to universal voter registration. Whether you agree or disagree with these ideas, the fact remains that something must be done. America, as the world power, cannot keep that status with half our population uninterested and uninvolved in our government. That exact formula has led to the collapse of powerful nations in history, such as Greece and Rome. Let’s learn from history. Not repeat it.
Looking at the voter turnout from other nations, we see that they must have the answer. For example, in France’s 2007 Presidential election, they had 84% turnout. Italy has a national average of 92.5%, Australia has an average of 95%, Germany an average of 80%, and England and Korea with 75%. Do these nations have different voting laws or techniques? Or are their citizens just more passionate about their nations’ government?
First, let’s look at Australia with its 95% voter turnout. Unlike our country, Australia has compulsory voting, meaning that it is punishable by law if you do not vote. There are nearly 30 nations in the world with these laws in place, including Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, and Argentina, but Australia and Boliva are the strictest at enforcing these laws. For example, if a Bolivian citizen doesn’t vote, the government denies that citizens ability to withdraw their paycheck from the bank for up to 3 months.
Although compulsory voting would does have a positive effect on voter turnout, some people question whether it’s the right approach. Opponents claim that forcing people to vote in a democracy isn’t true freedom. They argue that true freedom would include the right to choose not to vote. Opponents also argue that there would be a large number of random votes cast by people who don’t have any interest in who wins the election and wouldn’t have voted if it wasn’t required.
However, the benefits of compulsory voting outweigh the negatives. First, elected governments are considered more legitimate when higher proportions of the population vote. With 50% voter turnout, how legitimate is the victory of an elected official? What would’ve happened if the other 50% percent would’ve voted? Second, political parties wouldn’t need to spend valuable resources trying to convince possible voters to actually vote, leaving more resources available to talk about the issues. In an op-ed piece by the New York Times a few weeks ago, they point out that over $5 billion had been spent on this year’s Presidential and Congressional elections simply trying to convince people to cast a ballot. With our current economic state and national debt, couldn’t that $5 billion be spent somewhere else? Lastly, a true democracy is a government by the people, not half of the people.
Another solution to the problem is making Election Day a national holiday or putting it on the weekend. President elect Obama brought this up towards the end of his campaign. Many people have too many things going on or just can’t get out of work to go vote on a Tuesday. Nearly 30 states have laws in place that allow people time off from work to go vote, but these laws are vastly unknown to employees and bosses. Recently, nine states made Election Day a national holiday. INSERT STATE VOTER TURNOUT Puerto Rico is an excellent. Election Day in Puerto Rico is a national holiday, and voter turnout is 82.6%.
As early as last summer, the English Parliament was debating whether or not to move their elections from Thursday to the weekend. Whichever of those two options we choose, there are no negatives. It would cost very little money and the increase in voter turnout would be worth the money.
Another technique used by other countries is automatic voter registration. Unlike the United States where the responsibility is on the individual to register to vote, other nations’ put that responsibility on the government, who automatically register their citizens to vote. Many Americans don’t vote because it’s too much of a hassle to go register. Automatic registration would eliminate this excuse. One idea that is being proposed here in the United States is making voter registration a requirement to graduate. Due to all the information that school districts already have on their students, such as their home address, social security number, etc., it would be very easy to implement a system like this.
If people oppose this system, we need look no further than our neighbors to the North. Canada has a very successful automatic voter registration system in place which places the entire responsibility of voter registration on the government. Through interaction with various government agencies, Election Canada, a non-partisan government entity which is in charge of overseeing and regulating all government elections, compiles a list of all citizens who are old enough to vote and registers them. Information can be easily gathered on a person for registration through cooperation with the different Canadian government agencies. However, like all government systems, there are occasional flaws. Sometimes a person will slip through the cracks and go unregistered. In this scenario, the government is already prepared with voter registration available on the day of elections. Finland and Denmark also have automatic government registration, with Denmark having 84% compared to Finland’s 79%. However, Canada’s voter turnout is around 68%, showing that automatic voter registration isn’t the perfect answer.
One method that is already being put in place, but could be expanded further, is early voting. 34 states in the US now allow early voting, 31 of them require no-excuse with 3 requiring an excuse. Depending on the state, early voting allows people to vote in a certain time-frame before the election either in person or via absentee ballot. The idea behind it is that it makes voting more convenient for a lot of people who wouldn’t be able to go vote on the Tuesday Election Day. In the 2004 election, nearly 30% of registered voters in Texas, or 2.4 million, participated in the state’s early voting and that number is projected to be much higher for this election. Despite the increased convenience and other advantages of early voting, it has not increased voter turnout. According to Science Daily, “a new empirical study by political scientists concludes that most early voting options have a negligible or even negative impact on turnout.”
Lastly, we must find ways to make politics important to the average American. Most Americans are too self-interested to get involved in politics. We choose to live out our lives and only care about things that effect us, and then we complain about what the government is doing. CNN Writer John Dean brings up an excellent quote from Alexis de Tocqueville’s book “Democracy in America” when he says,
“it is difficult to force a man out of himself and get him to take an interest in the affairs of the whole state, for he has little understanding of the way in which the fate of the state can influence his own lot. But if it is a question of taking a road past his property, he sees at once that this small public matter has a bearing on his greatest private interests, and there is no need to point out to him the close connection between his private profit and the general interest."
There are many reasons that people don’t vote besides disinterest, including distrust of politicians and overall dislike for our current political system. Usually all these reasons are compounded, but there are ways to fix it. Parents and schools can begin educating children at an early ago on the importance of the political system and how we have a civic obligation to vote. People need to understand that when they don’t vote, they lose their political voice. This country was built on the fundamentals that voting and participation in government is important and necessary to the success of our nation. I agree that our government and both political parties are not perfect. But we can fix all of it if everyone gets involved.
There are many different thoughts and ideas on how to improve voter turnout, from compulsory voting to universal voter registration. Whether you agree or disagree with these ideas, the fact remains that something must be done. America, as the world power, cannot keep that status with half our population uninterested and uninvolved in our government. That exact formula has led to the collapse of powerful nations in history, such as Greece and Rome. Let’s learn from history. Not repeat it.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Reading Response 4
In Is Privacy Overrated, by Katherine Mangu-Ward, the author is talking about the levels of privacy that we currently have in our daily lives. The central claim is that we already live lives of very little privacy and that we are comfortable with that. Mangu-Ward points out many different things that we do everyday that allow us to be tracked or videotaped, yet we still do them.
The research that Mangu-Ward provided in her essay was all very beneficial to her argument. Her first example of primary research comes in the first paragraph of her essay. She refers to a New York Civil Liberties Union report when she states that there are more than 4,200 security cameras below 14th Street. This is setting up some of the other points that she’s going to make. She is using this piece of research to prove her point that we already live out our lives in front of cameras.
From the research that she used, she brings out excellent evidence to support her argument. The example from the first paragraph is an excellent example, but there are others. In the top paragraph on page 12, she shows how easy it to track us during the day using common electronic devices such as our metro pass, credit card, EZ Pass lane, or the GPS on our cell phones. Another example of evidence she uses is the interview with an NYPD policeman, “A special NYPD unit was assigned to film the police officers as they demonstrated. ‘That’s Big Brother watching you’” (Mangu-Ward 13). This adds to her argument by tying in an interview with someone who has personal experience in her topic.
This article did not really influence me because I already agreed with what it was saying. I agree that our privacy is overrated and people can follow us around all day if they so choose, but I’m not worried about that because I’m not doing anything wrong. With increased surveillance on us comes increased surveillance on those who are watching us to make sure they don’t take advantage of their power. My values played a strong role in how I read this. Since I agreed with what the author was saying, I was more open and took in what they were saying more easily.
In Reclaiming “Abandoned” DNA: The Fourth Amendment and Genetic Privacy, Elizabeth E. Joh discusses how the law has not caught up with technology in the field of DNA collection. The central claim in this essay is that the police and the government now have the technology to collect anyone’s DNA without them knowing about it and the law currently doesn’t stop them. Joh is pointing out all the dangers of this to the readers.
Similar to the Mangu-Ward essay, Joh focuses primarily on using primary research, citing a lot of research studies, scientific analysis, and examples from the real world that help her case, such as the case of Adolph Laudenburg (Joh 31) where Los Angeles police took his DNA from a cup. The research that she provided was excellent in helping her essay and showed that she knew that she was talking about. The evidence that she tied in was very helpful as well. The examples of criminal cases solved by abandoned DNA were great evidence.
There were some aspects of this paper that influenced me, but the message of the essay as a whole didn’t influence me. I believe that the police should use whatever techniques necessary to catch criminals. I don’t care if they have my DNA because I’m not going to be perpetrating any crimes. The only way I was influenced was that now I agree that there should be at least some regulation on this practice. My values and beliefs disagree with a lot of what Joh was saying, so I found myself constantly picking apart what she was saying and disagreeing with it.
In The Cast for National DNA Identification Cards, Ben Quarmby is pointing out the reasons that a national identification card is needed now more than ever with the threat of terrorism looming over our nation. He talks about how we need to regulate who is our country and that a DNA ID card would make it much easier to do that. It would also be much easier to figure out who committed crimes.
Like the first two essays, Quarmby focuses on primary research in his essay. The research and evidence he provides are all very helpful to his argument. The only real research or evidence that he provides is the quote from Alan Dershowitz, “near foolproof system of identification using fingerprints, or for even greater accuracy, DNA information” (Quarmby 38). Quarmby does a good job pointing out that Dershowitz is known for his liberal stance, which makes it more surprising that he supports a national DNA card system.
I wasn’t influenced by this essay very much because I already agreed with what the author was saying. Some of the points he made gave me more reasons to agree with him. I’d say that my prior beliefs really effected how I read this essay because I was more open to accepting what the author was saying.
In Putting a Price on Nature, Drenner is discussing the dangers of drilling in the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Refuge. He takes a very liberal stance on all the issues, primarily focusing on saving the wildlife and making it sound like drilling for oil will be the end of the world. He does use good points to back up this argument though.
Similar to the other essays, Drenner uses primary research in his essay. He does a great job of incorporating his research and evidence to support his essay. He even includes some of the points that his opposition makes, but is quick to shoot those down with his own counterpoints. That is the best part of this essay. He includes the opposition arguments, so his paper isn’t completely bias, and then brings out his counterargument. In the end, he’s leaving a lot of the decision up to the reader by presenting both sides.
I was influenced a little by this essay because I do care about the earth, but I also care about our economy and oil. I agree that wildlife should be preserved as best as possible, but there are methods that we could use to get that oil that would effect a very small portion of the wildlife. My values, once again, greatly effected how I read this. As soon as I saw that he was against drilling in ANWR, my brain turned off and I stopped listening to what he was saying. I had to make myself keep reading and stay as open as possible so I could get what he was saying.
The research that Mangu-Ward provided in her essay was all very beneficial to her argument. Her first example of primary research comes in the first paragraph of her essay. She refers to a New York Civil Liberties Union report when she states that there are more than 4,200 security cameras below 14th Street. This is setting up some of the other points that she’s going to make. She is using this piece of research to prove her point that we already live out our lives in front of cameras.
From the research that she used, she brings out excellent evidence to support her argument. The example from the first paragraph is an excellent example, but there are others. In the top paragraph on page 12, she shows how easy it to track us during the day using common electronic devices such as our metro pass, credit card, EZ Pass lane, or the GPS on our cell phones. Another example of evidence she uses is the interview with an NYPD policeman, “A special NYPD unit was assigned to film the police officers as they demonstrated. ‘That’s Big Brother watching you’” (Mangu-Ward 13). This adds to her argument by tying in an interview with someone who has personal experience in her topic.
This article did not really influence me because I already agreed with what it was saying. I agree that our privacy is overrated and people can follow us around all day if they so choose, but I’m not worried about that because I’m not doing anything wrong. With increased surveillance on us comes increased surveillance on those who are watching us to make sure they don’t take advantage of their power. My values played a strong role in how I read this. Since I agreed with what the author was saying, I was more open and took in what they were saying more easily.
In Reclaiming “Abandoned” DNA: The Fourth Amendment and Genetic Privacy, Elizabeth E. Joh discusses how the law has not caught up with technology in the field of DNA collection. The central claim in this essay is that the police and the government now have the technology to collect anyone’s DNA without them knowing about it and the law currently doesn’t stop them. Joh is pointing out all the dangers of this to the readers.
Similar to the Mangu-Ward essay, Joh focuses primarily on using primary research, citing a lot of research studies, scientific analysis, and examples from the real world that help her case, such as the case of Adolph Laudenburg (Joh 31) where Los Angeles police took his DNA from a cup. The research that she provided was excellent in helping her essay and showed that she knew that she was talking about. The evidence that she tied in was very helpful as well. The examples of criminal cases solved by abandoned DNA were great evidence.
There were some aspects of this paper that influenced me, but the message of the essay as a whole didn’t influence me. I believe that the police should use whatever techniques necessary to catch criminals. I don’t care if they have my DNA because I’m not going to be perpetrating any crimes. The only way I was influenced was that now I agree that there should be at least some regulation on this practice. My values and beliefs disagree with a lot of what Joh was saying, so I found myself constantly picking apart what she was saying and disagreeing with it.
In The Cast for National DNA Identification Cards, Ben Quarmby is pointing out the reasons that a national identification card is needed now more than ever with the threat of terrorism looming over our nation. He talks about how we need to regulate who is our country and that a DNA ID card would make it much easier to do that. It would also be much easier to figure out who committed crimes.
Like the first two essays, Quarmby focuses on primary research in his essay. The research and evidence he provides are all very helpful to his argument. The only real research or evidence that he provides is the quote from Alan Dershowitz, “near foolproof system of identification using fingerprints, or for even greater accuracy, DNA information” (Quarmby 38). Quarmby does a good job pointing out that Dershowitz is known for his liberal stance, which makes it more surprising that he supports a national DNA card system.
I wasn’t influenced by this essay very much because I already agreed with what the author was saying. Some of the points he made gave me more reasons to agree with him. I’d say that my prior beliefs really effected how I read this essay because I was more open to accepting what the author was saying.
In Putting a Price on Nature, Drenner is discussing the dangers of drilling in the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Refuge. He takes a very liberal stance on all the issues, primarily focusing on saving the wildlife and making it sound like drilling for oil will be the end of the world. He does use good points to back up this argument though.
Similar to the other essays, Drenner uses primary research in his essay. He does a great job of incorporating his research and evidence to support his essay. He even includes some of the points that his opposition makes, but is quick to shoot those down with his own counterpoints. That is the best part of this essay. He includes the opposition arguments, so his paper isn’t completely bias, and then brings out his counterargument. In the end, he’s leaving a lot of the decision up to the reader by presenting both sides.
I was influenced a little by this essay because I do care about the earth, but I also care about our economy and oil. I agree that wildlife should be preserved as best as possible, but there are methods that we could use to get that oil that would effect a very small portion of the wildlife. My values, once again, greatly effected how I read this. As soon as I saw that he was against drilling in ANWR, my brain turned off and I stopped listening to what he was saying. I had to make myself keep reading and stay as open as possible so I could get what he was saying.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Reading Response 3
Both authors, Katz and Anderson, do a really good job showing the examples from Chapter Ten. The authors do an excellent job of showing us how ethnography works and how to employ the tips shown to us in Chapter Ten. First, both authors focus on groups of people who identify themselves as group members. In “The Cave,” Katz focuses on two men, Jesse and Eric, who are members of the Geek Club. Katz wrote his essay after closely observing the two men for a period of time and spending time with them in their “natural habitat,” following the features “Ethnography depends on close observation over time” and “The bulk of research takes place in the natural settings where group members gather.” You can’t write a true ethnography essay without spending time with the subculture you are writing about and going to the places they go. Also, Katz doesn’t write about the entire subculture of geeks, he chooses to focus on two geeks, Jesse and Eric. As we learned in Chapter Ten, ethnography looks closely at the few to get hints of the big picture. By focusing on Jesse and Eric, Katz brought the essay to a much more personal level, as we feel like we are getting to know these people personally.
In “Mary Kay: American Dream in a Bottle,” Anderson also does an excellent job of employing the features of ethnography and other tips we learned about the subject in Chapter Ten. First, she focuses on members of a group, Mary Kay consultants. Second, her research was conducted over a period of time. She had many different experiences with Mary Kay members over time, including her own sister. The fact that she had attended many Mary Kay meetings meets the third feature. She did her research by attending the meetings, not reading about them on the internet. She went and saw for herself. Fourth, she focuses most of her research on the meeting that Sue, a friend from church, had invited her too. She uses the experience of going to this meeting to go in depth in describing the world of Mary Kay to the reader. Lastly, she was openly subjective. Her voice and opinion was heard throughout the essay, as well as her attempt to overcome her preconceived notions.
Katz does an excellent job of describing the culture he researched. The thing I like most about his writing style is that he puts us right in the room with Jesse and Eric. He wrote the essay in a manner that really connects us with these two men and makes us feel like we are personally getting to know them. “‘Too dark,’ was Jesse’s assessment, without seeming to look away from the screen. So Eric went back to his computer and called up a graphic program. Jesse took another phone call, still playing Quake, as Joni Mitchell gave way to Jane’s Addiction, then the Red Hot Chili Peppers” (B47). I also like how he started out describing their living conditions and how they interacted, then switched over to how they were raised and why they were the way they were.
Anderson also does a good job of description in her essay. She helps us see the feelings that she goes through when she’s pressured by Mary Kay consultants from time to time. She really shows us how awkward she feels around them. “Their enthusiasm was painfully embarrassing and, I felt, unwarranted” (B61). She also does a great job of putting us right in the middle of the Mary Kay meeting and describing how the women interact with each other.
Katz evidence given for this interpretation was the tough upbringing that both Jesse and Eric had and how the internet was the only escape they had to get out of Idaho. They didn’t want to end up like everyone else, working at grocery stores for the rest of their life, with no hope of escaping that life. They didn’t have any other choice, the internet was their only option.
Anderson’s evidence for this interpretation is the “fronts” put up by the Mary Kay consultants. It was clear that Anderson thought that the Mary Kay consultants weren’t being themselves. That they were just in it for the money and their showing of fake enthusiasm and friendliness led to false relationships that were completely dependent on business. She also talks about the Mary Kay business and how it go started. She goes into detail about Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay, and describes different business practices of the company.
For my essay, I could do research on how Fellowship of Christian Athletes got started and how it’s been run throughout the years. I could see if its only in the United States and where their headquarters are. I could research people’s views of FCA, both positive and negative.
In “Mary Kay: American Dream in a Bottle,” Anderson also does an excellent job of employing the features of ethnography and other tips we learned about the subject in Chapter Ten. First, she focuses on members of a group, Mary Kay consultants. Second, her research was conducted over a period of time. She had many different experiences with Mary Kay members over time, including her own sister. The fact that she had attended many Mary Kay meetings meets the third feature. She did her research by attending the meetings, not reading about them on the internet. She went and saw for herself. Fourth, she focuses most of her research on the meeting that Sue, a friend from church, had invited her too. She uses the experience of going to this meeting to go in depth in describing the world of Mary Kay to the reader. Lastly, she was openly subjective. Her voice and opinion was heard throughout the essay, as well as her attempt to overcome her preconceived notions.
Katz does an excellent job of describing the culture he researched. The thing I like most about his writing style is that he puts us right in the room with Jesse and Eric. He wrote the essay in a manner that really connects us with these two men and makes us feel like we are personally getting to know them. “‘Too dark,’ was Jesse’s assessment, without seeming to look away from the screen. So Eric went back to his computer and called up a graphic program. Jesse took another phone call, still playing Quake, as Joni Mitchell gave way to Jane’s Addiction, then the Red Hot Chili Peppers” (B47). I also like how he started out describing their living conditions and how they interacted, then switched over to how they were raised and why they were the way they were.
Anderson also does a good job of description in her essay. She helps us see the feelings that she goes through when she’s pressured by Mary Kay consultants from time to time. She really shows us how awkward she feels around them. “Their enthusiasm was painfully embarrassing and, I felt, unwarranted” (B61). She also does a great job of putting us right in the middle of the Mary Kay meeting and describing how the women interact with each other.
Katz evidence given for this interpretation was the tough upbringing that both Jesse and Eric had and how the internet was the only escape they had to get out of Idaho. They didn’t want to end up like everyone else, working at grocery stores for the rest of their life, with no hope of escaping that life. They didn’t have any other choice, the internet was their only option.
Anderson’s evidence for this interpretation is the “fronts” put up by the Mary Kay consultants. It was clear that Anderson thought that the Mary Kay consultants weren’t being themselves. That they were just in it for the money and their showing of fake enthusiasm and friendliness led to false relationships that were completely dependent on business. She also talks about the Mary Kay business and how it go started. She goes into detail about Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay, and describes different business practices of the company.
For my essay, I could do research on how Fellowship of Christian Athletes got started and how it’s been run throughout the years. I could see if its only in the United States and where their headquarters are. I could research people’s views of FCA, both positive and negative.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Rhetorical Precis
Source #1
“Bowl Games Can Prove Costly.”
Wieberg, Steve. 26 Dec. 2000.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/sfcfs69.htm
In “Bowl Games Can Prove Costly,” Steve Wieberg discusses both the financial costs and benefits of the college football bowl game format. Wieberg discusses how despite the perception that bowl games produce large amounts of revenue for college football teams, some teams are worse off financially after going to the bowl game. He points out how people who use the argument that college football needs the bowl game for revenue are incorrect in most cases (para. 1). Wieberg wrote this article for the average college football fan, many of whom are opposed to the current bowl game format in college football. Wieberg wrote this article in order to inform college football fans that the argument for necessary revenue produced from bowl games is a lie. This article is very helpful to my paper because the revenue production from bowl games is one of the strongest arguments that the bowl committees have for not going to a playoff format.
Source #2
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. BCS or Bust: Competitive and Economic Effects of the Bowl Championship Series On and Off The Field. Washington: GPO, 2004
In “BCS or Bust,” the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary explores the positive and negative effects, on and off the field, of the Bowl Championship Series on college football. The Senate explores all the positive and negative consequences produced by the BCS system in college football. Congress wrote this article for the American people, including the college football programs, to show them the effects of the BCS system and to get a gauge on its success to that point. Congress’ purpose in writing this was to discover all the possible ramifications involved in using the BCS system. This will help me write my paper because it will be very thorough and factual and show many different viewpoints.
Source #3
Lemke, Tim. “Bracket Buster.” The Washington Times
13 Dec. 2006
In “Bracket Buster,” Tim Lemke discusses all the reasons that college football should go to a playoff system, but why it isn’t ready to do so yet. Lemke discusses how the fans are clamoring for a playoff system and the television networks would pay millions to broadcast it, but the bowl committees aren’t ready to change. Lemke wrote this to frustrated college football fans everywhere. Lemke purpose in writing this was to tell everyone to be patient, that playoffs will come soon. This article will help me a lot because it shows why people want the playoffs and why it won’t happen.
“Bowl Games Can Prove Costly.”
Wieberg, Steve. 26 Dec. 2000.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/sfcfs69.htm
In “Bowl Games Can Prove Costly,” Steve Wieberg discusses both the financial costs and benefits of the college football bowl game format. Wieberg discusses how despite the perception that bowl games produce large amounts of revenue for college football teams, some teams are worse off financially after going to the bowl game. He points out how people who use the argument that college football needs the bowl game for revenue are incorrect in most cases (para. 1). Wieberg wrote this article for the average college football fan, many of whom are opposed to the current bowl game format in college football. Wieberg wrote this article in order to inform college football fans that the argument for necessary revenue produced from bowl games is a lie. This article is very helpful to my paper because the revenue production from bowl games is one of the strongest arguments that the bowl committees have for not going to a playoff format.
Source #2
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. BCS or Bust: Competitive and Economic Effects of the Bowl Championship Series On and Off The Field. Washington: GPO, 2004
In “BCS or Bust,” the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary explores the positive and negative effects, on and off the field, of the Bowl Championship Series on college football. The Senate explores all the positive and negative consequences produced by the BCS system in college football. Congress wrote this article for the American people, including the college football programs, to show them the effects of the BCS system and to get a gauge on its success to that point. Congress’ purpose in writing this was to discover all the possible ramifications involved in using the BCS system. This will help me write my paper because it will be very thorough and factual and show many different viewpoints.
Source #3
Lemke, Tim. “Bracket Buster.” The Washington Times
13 Dec. 2006
In “Bracket Buster,” Tim Lemke discusses all the reasons that college football should go to a playoff system, but why it isn’t ready to do so yet. Lemke discusses how the fans are clamoring for a playoff system and the television networks would pay millions to broadcast it, but the bowl committees aren’t ready to change. Lemke wrote this to frustrated college football fans everywhere. Lemke purpose in writing this was to tell everyone to be patient, that playoffs will come soon. This article will help me a lot because it shows why people want the playoffs and why it won’t happen.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Reading Response 2
An Experience in Acronyms and Why Do People Tan? were both great examples of discovery essays as opposed to research papers. They provided us as the readers with great information and factual evidence for all the varying viewpoints of their topic while not trying to convert us to their opinion. Both authors did an excellent job of providing evidence and opinions from the different arguments, leaving the reader to make their own decision.
In Why Do People Tan? the controlling idea is the issue of tanning and at how society still wants the same look, but doesn’t want to work to earn it. Amy Garrett-Brown is discovering why it is more attractive for people to be tan than just pasty white and why people would rather lie in a cancer bed then go play outside in the sun. Brown does a great job of going through the topic and exploring all the different angles. She provides excellent factual evidence from sources varying teenage magazines to scientific articles. She provides statistics from surveys as well as opinion statements from well-respected journalists.
Brown also does a great job of employing her own voice, while still employing research. For example, she writes about her reactions to some of the research she had found, “It struck me as I read the last lines of this sardonic critique of society that I don’t necessarily wonder why people tan….” She also adds her personal thoughts throughout the paper, not to influence the reader, but to show how her own opinion swayed as she researched the topic.
In Experiences in Acronyms, the controlling idea was whether or not recreational or “party” drugs were wrong. He focused his discovery paper on the three most popular party drugs, LSD, MDMA, and GHB. The author, Jay Holmquist, does a very good job of showing and supporting his controlling idea by recounting personal experiences, both positive and negative, and including research from scientific journals and studies, both for and against recreational drug use.
Holmquist did a really good job of including his own voice by telling personal stories from when he was involved in the rave scene. His stories put you in his shoes and he did an excellent job of making you feel what he felt. His paper wasn’t just a list of facts for and against recreational drug use, he added faces, names, and very descriptive imagery to it. It was easy for me to see that he had an emotional connection to this topic and it wasn’t just a bland, boring assignment that he to do for a class.
These essays helped me a lot in my approach to my research essay. They were both great examples of how to weave your personal opinion and voice into the paper, but at the same time leave the overall voice of the paper unbiased to either side. I could see how these essays were about discovery and furthering the knowledge of both the author and the reader, instead of the author preaching the same viewpoint at the reader over and over. The essays also incorporated Ballenger’s “Features of the Form” really well and provided excellent examples of how to employ them in my own essay.
In the past, I have always written papers that were to prove a specific point on a topic. We would do research for our particular viewpoint, not the different viewpoints for the topic as a whole. These essays, and Ballenger’s suggestions, have really helped me understand better how to write a discovery paper. It’s not about converting our reader. It’s about providing the most appropriate facts from the different viewpoints and letting the reader decide for themselves.
Possible questions for my essay:
Should college football use a playoff system instead of the bowl game format?
Should the United States adopt a 2 year mandatory military service?
Why is climate change so controversial?
In Why Do People Tan? the controlling idea is the issue of tanning and at how society still wants the same look, but doesn’t want to work to earn it. Amy Garrett-Brown is discovering why it is more attractive for people to be tan than just pasty white and why people would rather lie in a cancer bed then go play outside in the sun. Brown does a great job of going through the topic and exploring all the different angles. She provides excellent factual evidence from sources varying teenage magazines to scientific articles. She provides statistics from surveys as well as opinion statements from well-respected journalists.
Brown also does a great job of employing her own voice, while still employing research. For example, she writes about her reactions to some of the research she had found, “It struck me as I read the last lines of this sardonic critique of society that I don’t necessarily wonder why people tan….” She also adds her personal thoughts throughout the paper, not to influence the reader, but to show how her own opinion swayed as she researched the topic.
In Experiences in Acronyms, the controlling idea was whether or not recreational or “party” drugs were wrong. He focused his discovery paper on the three most popular party drugs, LSD, MDMA, and GHB. The author, Jay Holmquist, does a very good job of showing and supporting his controlling idea by recounting personal experiences, both positive and negative, and including research from scientific journals and studies, both for and against recreational drug use.
Holmquist did a really good job of including his own voice by telling personal stories from when he was involved in the rave scene. His stories put you in his shoes and he did an excellent job of making you feel what he felt. His paper wasn’t just a list of facts for and against recreational drug use, he added faces, names, and very descriptive imagery to it. It was easy for me to see that he had an emotional connection to this topic and it wasn’t just a bland, boring assignment that he to do for a class.
These essays helped me a lot in my approach to my research essay. They were both great examples of how to weave your personal opinion and voice into the paper, but at the same time leave the overall voice of the paper unbiased to either side. I could see how these essays were about discovery and furthering the knowledge of both the author and the reader, instead of the author preaching the same viewpoint at the reader over and over. The essays also incorporated Ballenger’s “Features of the Form” really well and provided excellent examples of how to employ them in my own essay.
In the past, I have always written papers that were to prove a specific point on a topic. We would do research for our particular viewpoint, not the different viewpoints for the topic as a whole. These essays, and Ballenger’s suggestions, have really helped me understand better how to write a discovery paper. It’s not about converting our reader. It’s about providing the most appropriate facts from the different viewpoints and letting the reader decide for themselves.
Possible questions for my essay:
Should college football use a playoff system instead of the bowl game format?
Should the United States adopt a 2 year mandatory military service?
Why is climate change so controversial?
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Reading Response 1
The two essays, “I’m a Believer” and “The Joy of Mud” are similar and different. They have similar themes, but much different endings and resolutions to the story. I enjoyed reading both of these essays to see how different people, in different walks of life, search for and long for something in their life. In “I’m a Believer,” the main character was completely obsessed with the band, the Monkeys, and in particular, the lead singer Davy Jones. I’ve never been this obsessed or wrapped around a certain person or topic, so it surprised me to look into the life of someone who is. To get that glimpse into her life and see how driven she was to pursue any information about Davy Jones or any opportunity to see him in concert was enlightening for me. It surprised me because I’ve never really taken the time to get into the mind of some of these people that are completely wrapped around a famous person or band. They always, and still do, strike me as crazy. In my mind, it’s just a band and it’s just music.
I was also surprised by how let down she was when she finally met him. She’d wanted to meet him for so long. She could’ve eaten dinner with him at the buffet or gambled with him late into the night and gotten to know the person she’d been obsessed with for so long. But instead, she was so let down that the person who she thought he ways, the person who the media created a false image of, that she was too shocked to even take advantage of the opportunity that she had right in front of her. “I accept, finally, that this person I know so well I don’t really know at all…. I stand next to him, this man so familiar and foreign.” (B10)
That point brings up an important issue, the misrepresentation of famous people in the media and pop culture. We place these people up on pedestals and think about them like they are so far above us. They are still human beings. They need air to breathe, food to eat, and water to drink. Most of these people that we admire and look up to are not individuals that we should aspire to be like. They have very poor character and are often involved in a lot of illegal activity, which is often caught on camera. Then, because they are famous, the get a slap on the wrist for the same crime that would send a regular citizen to jail. The media puts an image around these people and steals their humanity away from them. The people that they play in movies, television shows, or in concerts are not the same people that they are in real life. They are entertainers, and they are good at their job, telling us what we want to hear and acting how they think will make them the most popular.
The second essay, “The Joy of Mud,” also involved someone searching for something, only this time, a place that they can truly belong and call home. The main character, Catherine, had been struggling all her life wanting to be other places. She had never really gotten into the Hawaiian culture, always setting her focus on living somewhere else. She has moved around to different places seeking that feeling of belonging and now she has returned to Hawaii, atleast for a while. “Maybe it’s the one that will eventually lead me home.” (B15)
The thing that surprised me most about this essay was how uncomfortable she was, even with people who she called friend. I’ve been to Hawaii a few times and the people there are some of the most inviting, caring people I’ve ever been around. But even back home in Washington or here in Texas, I feel that I belong and can call these places home. I’ve never lived in a place that I felt so uncomfortable in that my entire focus was spent on waiting to leave.
The main issue that arises in this story, in my opinion, is how our high-speed culture of today is causing us to miss out on the simple things in life. We are so busy, working all day long, trying to attain a definition of success that other people define to us, that we miss out on some of the best things in life. Take for example, this story. She had a great, fulfilling time being up to her waist in mud and pulling up roots for lunch. I’m not saying that we all quit going to school and everyone quits there job to go play in the mud, but I am saying that there has to be a happy medium between being a workaholic and being a failure.
I was also surprised by how let down she was when she finally met him. She’d wanted to meet him for so long. She could’ve eaten dinner with him at the buffet or gambled with him late into the night and gotten to know the person she’d been obsessed with for so long. But instead, she was so let down that the person who she thought he ways, the person who the media created a false image of, that she was too shocked to even take advantage of the opportunity that she had right in front of her. “I accept, finally, that this person I know so well I don’t really know at all…. I stand next to him, this man so familiar and foreign.” (B10)
That point brings up an important issue, the misrepresentation of famous people in the media and pop culture. We place these people up on pedestals and think about them like they are so far above us. They are still human beings. They need air to breathe, food to eat, and water to drink. Most of these people that we admire and look up to are not individuals that we should aspire to be like. They have very poor character and are often involved in a lot of illegal activity, which is often caught on camera. Then, because they are famous, the get a slap on the wrist for the same crime that would send a regular citizen to jail. The media puts an image around these people and steals their humanity away from them. The people that they play in movies, television shows, or in concerts are not the same people that they are in real life. They are entertainers, and they are good at their job, telling us what we want to hear and acting how they think will make them the most popular.
The second essay, “The Joy of Mud,” also involved someone searching for something, only this time, a place that they can truly belong and call home. The main character, Catherine, had been struggling all her life wanting to be other places. She had never really gotten into the Hawaiian culture, always setting her focus on living somewhere else. She has moved around to different places seeking that feeling of belonging and now she has returned to Hawaii, atleast for a while. “Maybe it’s the one that will eventually lead me home.” (B15)
The thing that surprised me most about this essay was how uncomfortable she was, even with people who she called friend. I’ve been to Hawaii a few times and the people there are some of the most inviting, caring people I’ve ever been around. But even back home in Washington or here in Texas, I feel that I belong and can call these places home. I’ve never lived in a place that I felt so uncomfortable in that my entire focus was spent on waiting to leave.
The main issue that arises in this story, in my opinion, is how our high-speed culture of today is causing us to miss out on the simple things in life. We are so busy, working all day long, trying to attain a definition of success that other people define to us, that we miss out on some of the best things in life. Take for example, this story. She had a great, fulfilling time being up to her waist in mud and pulling up roots for lunch. I’m not saying that we all quit going to school and everyone quits there job to go play in the mud, but I am saying that there has to be a happy medium between being a workaholic and being a failure.
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