scholarly precis

In their article, "New perspectives in stem cell research: beyond embryonic stem cells", C, Leeb (along with many others) explains the various types of stem cells and their clinical application. The author describes the different applications of stem cells and why it has received public hype, problems encountered when going from animal studies to clinical practice, as well as describing the induced pluripotent stem cell technology and applications for disease modelling and cell replacement therapy. The author explains stem cells in order to emphasize the importance of stem cell research and the possible applications and benefits of using stem cell replacement therapy in degenerative diseases. The intended audience is other biologists or scientists first, but with an overall educational purpose for the general public.

The Daily Show

I loved this video and everything the "black correspondent" had to say. In my personal experience, I work with and play with a football team that is mainly composed of black kids. Throughout a single practice or meeting I probably hear "nigga" at least once every 5-10 minutes, if not more in conversation. For schools to moderate what books are taught in schools (especially magnificent pieces of literature) based on one word that is commonly used throughout today's society is ridiculous. Political correctness is on a completely different level than censorship. You can only protect children for so long. In my opinion, exposing children to adult material (not only "the n word") in an appropriate manner can be beneficial or help them mature faster. Coddling children and keeping them "safe" will only hurt them more later on down the road. Of course there is always a happy medium with this and I think that will always be debated. Many conservatives will advocate letting children see the real world we live in while progressives mainly care about protecting them and keeping them from the hard, brutal truths of this world. I think finding that happy medium with children (letting them grow and experience the world with moderation) proves beneficial with their maturation as adults who need to function in society. If more parents were to learn this, we would have a lot less screw-ups in our generation.

Introduction

Presidential elections in the United States are among the most important decisions in the world. The leader of this country is one of the most influential people in the world. The incredible thing is that the people of this country have the ultimate decision on who wins the election. Whether the nominees hold conservative or progressive ideals, represent conservative or progressive ideals, the citizens have the ultimate choice of whether or not to elect a candidate. How do we decide? Typically that’s based on how well we know our candidates. That depends on how well they publicize themselves, which also depends on how well funded they are. That means that it is almost impossible for a modest, blue-collar worker to earn a fair shot at getting elected president. Seeing as how the majority of America is blue-collar, 90 million strong, these are the people who should be running for our election. Nicholas Carnes does a fantastic job of describing this discrepancy in our political system in his article, “Which Millionaire are You Voting For?” His use of rhetoric is convincing and emotionally moving to much of the American population.

Definitions paragraph

Throughout this paper, when “blue-collar” worker is referenced, it pertains to manual industrial work or workers. When “white-collar” worker is referenced, it pertains to salaried professional or clerical work or workers. Our presidential office is and has been occupied by high-end, white-collar individuals who have come from wealth. There hasn’t been a blue-collar presidential candidate in the past couple of decades. 

Analysis

Carnes does a fantastic job in this article portraying the economic imbalance within the representative portion of our government. He uses ethos, logos and pathos to incite the audience and enlighten them to a potentially threatening issue. Throughout his article, he uses many phrases that make it seem as though the citizens have lost power. Phrases such as, “By Election Day, that choice has usually been made for us” and “Even in our great democracy, we rarely have the option to put someone if office who isn’t part of the elite.” These selective phrases give the impression that the imbalance of money in society has created an imbalance of power in governing the nation. This imbalance shifts away from blue-collar, hard-working individuals who comprise the majority of the American work force. He follows this by empowering blue-collar individuals by referencing his research. When he says that there are so many “more blue-collar Americans with the qualities we might want in our candidates”, he tries to give these people, who have a minority in power, a feeling of empowerment, possibly to invoke them to become more involved in the political system. By constantly stating facts on how many more working-class Americans there are than millionaires, not only does he provoke his ethos appeal but he also tries to make working-class Americans that they have a civil duty to the country to become more involved in politics. The sheer numbers of working-class Americans is overwhelming compared to that of millionaire businessmen or lawyers, which is why this population should be the ones in power and making the decisions. He continues on this idea by stating that while millionaires are in power, they bring different biased views and perspectives to the political office. On the other hand, blue-collar workers such as Edward Beard (as previously quotes) carry with them values that were instilled through their experiences in the working-class. He again states the problems with having white-collar individuals in political office or positions of leadership and how it affects economic policy, “favoring the white-collar professionals at the expense of the working class.” In his next point, he highlights Mr. Beard, a hard-working ironworker for 20 years who eventually went to law school, to show hard-working citizens that it is possible to create change and voice opinions for others in their same situation. By also adding the point of “the matter with Kansas” (previously mentioned), he again tries to incite these workers to stand up for themselves and prove them wrong. In yet another emotional inciting appeal, he states “If we want government for the people, we’ve got to start working toward government by the people.” Referencing the values the constitution was built on gives the ultimate emotional appeal. These core values are the key to the success of America. The minute society begins to stray from these values is when we begin to crumble. Everyone knows this, and Carnes knows that everyone knows this. He uses this line to motivate this hard-working, blue-collar class of citizens. And to motivate this group even further, he finishes his article with the line “If the boys’ club isn’t invincible, the Millionaire Party probably isn’t, either. They just take a little hard work.”

Outline

Presidential elections in the United States are among the most important decisions in the world. The leader of this country is one of the most influential people in the world. The incredible thing is that the people of this country have the ultimate decision on who wins the election. Whether the nominees hold conservative or progressive ideals, represent conservative or progressive ideals, the citizens have the ultimate choice of whether or not to appoint someone president or not. How do we decide? Typically that’s based on how well we know our candidates. That depends on how well they publicize themselves, which also depends on how well funded they are. That means that it is almost impossible for a modest, blue-collar worker to earn a fair shot at getting elected president. Seeing as how the majority of America is blue-collar, 98% citizens, these are the people who should be running for our election. Nicholas Carnes does a fantastic job of describing this discrepancy in our political system in his article, “Which Millionaire are You Voting For?” His use of rhetoric is convincing and emotionally moving to much of the American population.

Writing Project #2

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/opinion/sunday/which-millionaire-are-you-voting-for.html?pagewanted=1&ref=opinion

This article embodied much of what I have been thinking about the election for the past couple of months. The money candidates spend on political campaigning is excessively ridiculous. Not only the expenses, but the amount of people who are in office around the country and are white-collar workers is astounding. With the majority of the nation's workers coming from blue-collar families raised on humble upbringings, the leaders of this country should not be the richer, white-collar workers. Our goal as a country should be to try to change this pattern and fix this dilemma. (even though this sounds like opinion, it's more of a summary. I just happen to agree with the author.)

Who won the first debate?

In my opinion, Mitt Romney won the first presidential debate. From the beginning of the debate Romney was focused and seemed to be determined to prove to the public his legitimacy. Throughout the debate, Romney seemed cool and collective while also being capable and prepared to argue or rebuttal any topic thrown at him. To me, Obama seemed defensive, especially when he continuously argued the 5 trillion dollar tax increase even though Romney refuted it every time Obama mentioned it. That also gave the impression of immaturity; instead of moving on and debating something else, he hounded that topic, as if holding on to one of the advantages he had over Romney (true or not). I also felt like Romney handled most of the topics that the curater presented much better than Obama did, both with answering and debating with his opponent. I also felt like Obama calling Romney "Governor" also showed signs of immaturity. Debate etiquette suggests that opponents call each other "he" or "my opponent", so when Obama reffered to him as "Governor" I believe it was a sign of disrespect and immaturity.

New Rules

Thomas Friedman recently posted an article regarding increasing educating standards and the difficulty in finding a steady, well paying job. He references Estonia's education system who is teaching first graders computer programming, followed by a poll in the U.K. asking if they should teach their children as well. Building off of this he states that in this world's ever changing technology industry, "working hard and playing by the rules" isn't enough to be successful or even to get by. In order to succeed and prosper in this world, we need to regularly reinvent ourselves and obtain at least post-secondary education while also continuing to learn with the changing times. To further prove his point, he quotes futurist Alvin Toffler in saying "illiteracy will not be defined by those who cannot read and write, but by those who cannot learn and relearn." He shows his amazement with the changing world when he depicts an average reporters daily routine, constantly working harder and smarter and developing new skills faster. He hits home for most Americans when he states unemployment facts associated with years of education.

Essay Questions

1.  What are ways to open an introduction with a hook while also maintaining credibility?
2.  Can we use sources other than our video?
3.  How many times will we edit our papers?

Draft

The United States of America is the most powerful and influential countries in the world. The next president will affect the next upcoming generation: regarding jobs, social and economic lives, and with relationships around the world. Visual rhetoric is a persuasive technique that is used to emotionally move even the most hard-hearted of people. Many politicians know the power of visual rhetoric and utilize the technique throughout their campaign. In Mitt Romney's advertisement campaign, "We Need Mitt Romney", he uses a variety of ways to incite the audience. The different uses of African-American presence in his video is a prime example of visual rhetoric.


The visual elements that grab your attention in the beginning of the video is the picture of Mitt Romney showing an audience a piece of paper and explaining it. In the picture, he looks confident and knowledgeable. While he is shown, the text "The Romney Plan for a Stronger Middle Class" is also shown, appealing to the majority of Americans. He also shows him working with what looks like a trader company while the video talks about trade, which is something that America has put emphasis on improving. The video also shows pictures of money and small business owners as it shows text such as "cut the deficit", "reduce spending", "champion small business", all issues that hit home for most American people. The lighting, music and people in the video give us a positive, uplifting and hopeful feel.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyDsZ-OtaOI

http://guides.library.colostate-pueblo.edu/content.php?pid=88620&sid=659087http://guides.library.colostate-pueblo.edu/content.php?pid=88620&sid=659087

"Muslim Rage"

The "Muslim Rage" cover can interpreted in a variety of ways. Like I said in class, most of the political/religious/ethnic feuds are fought between a few radical group leaders that use visual rhetoric (as well as other emotion provoking methods) to incite their respective "side". The red and white background of the image also creates a angrier tone. As well as color, the people in the picture have a painful look of anguish on their face, grasping each other and seemingly "yelling to Allah", so to speak. I believe this image is creating a thought that all Muslims are angry with all Westerners, and that we need to be apologetic and be more accepting of everyone. However not everyone feels this way, on both sides. The twitter reaction is a perfect example. People of both sides are using the hash-tag "#muslimrage" with a irrelevant statement, demeaning the anger that is being portrayed on the news. I find it hilarious how most people react to something with this magnitude. Most people find it ridiculous that people are getting upset over something somebody said. With the world becoming more socially involved via the internet, people are becoming more and more sensitive to the littlest of things. Especially with the rising and continuous tension between the Middle East and the West, now is a time to be accepting and take things that happen with a grain of salt. People will act in a certain way, however how we react to it determines the outcome. I constantly think of a quote by Charles Swindoll, "Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it. So it is with you, we are in charge of our attitudes."

"The Romney Plan"

The visual elements that grab your attention in the beginning of the video is the picture of Mitt Romney showing an audience a piece of paper and explaining it. In the picture, he looks confident and knowledgeable. While he is shown, the text "The Romney Plan for a Stronger Middle Class" is also shown, appealing to the majority of Americans. He also shows him working with what looks like a trader company while the video talks about trade, which is something that America has put emphasis on improving. The video also shows pictures of money and small business owners as it shows text such as "cut the deficit", "reduce spending", "champion small business", all issues that hit home for most American people. The lighting, music and people in the video give us a positive, uplifting and hopeful feel.

"We Need Mitt Romney"

In chapter six of "Choices 2.0"  (2010), Joe Hardin argues that the media uses a strong dose of rhetoric to influence our lives. He gives plenty of examples and shows that media not only uses the most common methods (tv, radio, music, internet), but also uses methods such as billboards or books or magazines. His purpose in writing this chapter is to demonstrate how to write a correct media critique. His target audience is again young college students, which this whole book is intended for.

Plagiarism Precis

In his article "Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in the Digital Age" (2010), Trip Gabriel argues that plagiarism is becoming more commonplace with the continual expansion of the internet. He uses many studies and known professors' opinions to support his statement, while also giving different views about the subject. He argues this point in order to bring awareness to the subject of plagiarism and hopefully help people realize the situation. His intended audience is anyone who is writing and has grown up in the virtual age.

The first impression I get from looking at this picture is the world and it's future being passes from a pair of older, more experienced hands to younger, naive hands. I think the fact that the older hands are also black reinforces the experienced and accomplished feeling. Despite discrimination and struggle, African-Americans have fought and won battles of freedom and justice. This picture is insinuating the older generation is trusting the younger generation to uphold freedom and justice as they carry forth the future of the world. The colorful objects on top of a black background illuminate the hands and the earth. The lack of text also leaves the meaning of the image up to interpretation.

Visual Rhetoric

The campaign videos broadcast by Mitt Romney and Barack Obama gave great examples of persuasive visual rhetoric. In Obama's video, it opened with videos panning across homes and communities, thriving businesses, people going to work, all symbolic representations of America and its citizens. By beginning with this, they give the audience a way to relate and engages them from the very beginning. It next switches to pictures of the depression, a Vietnam memorial, 9/11 footage and Katrina damage as the narrator says we've been through tough times together. Following the tough times, it shows us examples of us rebuilding and enduring. This is important for Obama's campaign especially because we have been through an economic crisis with him; he emphasizes perseverance and trust that we will come out of this, just like we always have. Throughout the video, Obama shows he is a caring, devoted and determined leader. From shaking veterans hands to holding infants to remembering those we lost at ground zero to reading personal letters from the American people, he constantly emphasizes his caring devotion to America's success. Romney had many of the same examples throughout his video emphasizing the same points, however his opening was a bit different. The very first picture was him speaking to the camera with his wife beside him looking at him, showing the support she gives him and immediately opening with strong family values. The video then goes to show pictures of Olympic athletes and the Olympic games in Salt Lake in 2002. This is important because those Olympic games came after the 9/11 tragedy and was an extremely important test of America's resiliency, which he successfully coordinated. One other major difference between his and Obama's was the importance of family that Romney continually stressed. I think this is an important example of visual rhetoric because it relates the American people in the sense that Romney will care for us and our country in the same aspect.

Obama, Romney Speeches

The speeches we watched in class were quite interesting. Both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney appealed greatly to the audience's pathos. They constantly referenced topics which related to most Americans: single mothers trying to feed their children, hard working middle class parents trying to send their kids to school, single dad working extra hours so his kids can feel like other kids, or a couple who wants to have a child but don't know if they can afford it. Ann Romney used the line "Tonight, I want to talk to you from my heart" to captivate the audience. Michelle Obama used her personal experience to essentially put herself on the same level as most Americans. Neither speaker used much logos though, besides the personal experience of seeing people and their struggles throughout America. I think both women have credibility just because they are the wives to presidential candidates, however Michelle has a bit more because her husband is our current president and she has already been down this path. Although both speeches were captivating and well written, I don't really believe that this came from their "heart". Most political parties and their candidates have speech writers for their campaign. Both women probably had some input, however I felt a fake tone throughout both speeches that left me unable to really engage in the speeches, just like most campaign speeches.

Ch 3

In this chapter of "Choices 2.0" (2010), Joe Hardin explains the different methods of skilled writing in order to further solidify our knowledge of how to write well. He explains to us the three types of structures that will give our writing more pathos, logos and ethos appeal: narrative, analytical and argumentative structures. He also gives plenty examples of how to use different representations to support our writing. His general audience is most likely college students or beginning writers.

The End of Forgetting

In his article, "The End of Forgetting", Jeffrey Rosen brings up many solid points about how the internet has destroyed personal privacy. However I can't help but wonder who is really at fault here. The majority of people blindly post drunk pictures to facebook or ridicule teachers or friends with blatant disrespect or post their entire personal lives on facebook (we all have some of those friends... "Holy s@#$ I've got the munchies bad!!" or "Ommmggg gettin shhhwasstyy tonite with da BFFFSSSSSS!! <3" or even better "I hate that wh@#$ how is she gonna make me work on my birthday!!") and then complain and find it unjust when an employer sees these things and decides to fire them or not hire them. My parents raised me differently though, I believe in the right way. Our personal business is just that, personal business. If we are not mature enough to handle the responsibility of maintaining our own personal image and reputation, I believe we don't have the right to complain if someone discriminates because of stupidity. Now the arguement arises: well we all make mistakes, and should be able to take things off the internet (like the software Vanish). In my personal opinion, using the internet requires common sense, just as much as talking to people in person. Say you attend a family reunion. Would you be embarrassed if you showed up drunk wearing a pirate costume? I would be too, therefore that's not something to post to facebook. I'm not saying that isn't something we should do ever, but we just need to be smarter about who we share it with. I guess my whole point is the internet isn't the one who is to blame in these situations. If we were responsible with using the internet and realize the consequences that come with it, we would have a lot less problems with personal and business lives crossing. Social networking sites should be used as a way to communicate with friends or colleagues, not to tell ones personal secrets. If you do want to share your life story, say through a blog, then I think that is our responsibility to determine whether or not the risk is worth it and deal with the consequences accordingly.

Dr. McGonical's Speech

Video games are becoming an integral aspect of our society today. Dr. McGonical made that evident when said that on average, we are spending 3 billion hours online a week. Her argument that gaming has the potential to change and sculpt the human species' future becomes even more solidified when she informs us of her PhD she earned at the University of California at Berkley, her 10+ years of gaming experience and her research at the Institute of the Future. Throughout her speech, she appeals many times to the wants of the audience through pathos, constantly reference the characteristic traits that gaming teaches young gamers: communication, teamwork, determination, perseverance and courage in the face of evil. She strengthens her argument further when she relates gaming to schooling, and that if we can focus on positive, meaningful gaming the way we do on school, we could see drastic improvements in our society. She states that the average person will have spent 10000 hours on gaming by the time they are 21, while they will also have gone to school for 10080 hours, if their attendance is perfect. Throughout her speech, she also includes a variety of references to other professional research and studies. Although credibility immensely impacts one's speech, her ability to include humor engages the audience on a different level. Not only did she include humor but she also related many of the topics to an average persons everyday life, with gaming references to desired characteristics. Personally, from watching her speech, I was motivated and I came to the realization just how important the virtual world has and is continuing to become important to our society. And I believe the closing statement was one of the best signatures to close a speech like this, "Let the world changing games begin...".

Writers on Writing

In his article, "Writers on Writing" (2000), Kent Haruf explains the nature of writing, saying it is a spontaneous, strange act that must be approached in the same way. He gives many examples of how different authors use strange techniques to influence their writing, from writing in your underwear to on top of refrigerators to in your coal room in the basement of your house with no windows. He gives us these strange examples and tells us of his methods of writing in order to insinuate that writing is an imaginative, spontaneous and bizarre and must be treated as such when writing anything. Based on his content of the article and the teaching tone, his target audience is most likely new or inexperienced writers.

CH 1 Precis

In the beginning chapter of his book, "Making Choices About Process and Rhetoric" (2010), Joe Hardin explains that there is a writing process that writers use in order to create a writing project, as well as explains the definition of rhetoric and the three appeals used in writing. Hardin depicts the writing process as a series of steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and proofing and editing. As well as the writing process, he explains rhetoric as the strategic use of language, and the three appeals as pathos, ethos, and logos. He does this in order to give examples of writing techniques to improve overall writing skill. His target audience is again young/new college students.

Introduction Precis

In the introduction chapter, "Talent, Hard Work, and Correctness" (2010), Joe Hardin argues that becoming a successful writer requires hard work and making choices on how to best convey your ideas to the reader. Hardin argues that today's young writers are lacking confidence, not only in their writing ability but also in their use of grammar. Modern technology (texting, facebook, myspace, etc.) has given way to this lack of confidence because it allows for an "entire system of alternate spelling", which deteriorates their fundamental writing skills. His purpose in writing this article is to persuade young writers to not give up on writing and approach it as any normal job: have a plan, practice, revise, and perfect. The target audience is most likely new/young college students, seeing as how it is a book for English 101 at CSU-Pueblo.