WW #6: Composition and Multimedia

Different Forms of Composition

For most of my academic life I have focused on writing as my primary from of composition.  Different types of writing of course, including research papers, poems, stories, laboratory reports, speeches, and probably a dozen more I can think of.  Composition through other forms I don’t think I have had much experience with.  I’m not very big into graphic design or multimedia projects.  However I have had some experience with musical composition, as I was once a piano student.  Creating a musical composition is difficult because notes are not our language, words are.  Trying to translate a feeling, emotion, or thought into notes of music takes time and an extreme amount of effort.  Not to mention the notes have to translate into keys on the piano and it has to sound like music. Another form of multimedia I have had more experience with is video.  I have recorded myself for Spanish projects and English projects on literature and created videos using iMovie on my Mac.  I did minimal editing on these videos because I do not have much knowledge on video editing and it doesn’t really spark my interest.  I really rather write than record and edit or play notes on a piano when it comes to school assignments.  Most of these compositions were done purely for academic purposes and not personal.  Before this assignment I had never created a written blog or a video one.  I am excited to work on this multimedia project because we will be able to work in groups, which is something different in an English class, which usually consists of individual assignments.  I am also excited to create different multimedia compositions like a webpage, which I have never done before and which might give me experience to use in the future.  I look forward to incorporating technology into this English class besides just using a laptop for writing an essay or researching a topic. 

WW #5

Weekly Writing Prompt-

The most prominent topic I've learned so far in is class is analyzing both visual and written works.  Before this class I had a general idea of ethos, logos, and pathos, but now I can successfully apply it to both analyzing visuals and articles as well as using it in my own work to make it stronger. This class also helped reinforce the ideas behind research such as popular vs. scholarly sources.  One of the most helpful things I've learned regarding research was the time we spent learning about the library research page online.  This has not only helped me narrow down the number of results when I use databases such as EBSCOhost or PubMed, but also helped me make sure I cite my sources correctly.  Now, because of the visual rhetoric assignment I know how to properly label a visual in a paper.  Also, because of the increasing number of types of media I've used in this research paper so far, I can successfully cite a number of different types of sources.  Regarding the assignment of the research paper, I now a better idea of how to create an argument and what I need to do make not just a research topic, but a research question and how I can make it relevant to today's society.  All of this will no doubt be helpful in the future when I have to write papers on a number of different topics.  Everything that I have learned so far in this class such as analyzing visuals, constructing a research topic, and even creating an outline will be beneficial to me in the future with future assignments in a variety of different classes.  I also think the book we used in the class, Envision, helped out a lot because it provided a lot of examples of outlines, papers, and articles on a broad range of interesting topics.  I also liked writing the blog, especially the research log part, because it helped me organize my thoughts and apply what we learned in class to a short assignment outside of class. 

Research Log #3

Social Lives and Social Media

The ever increasing role of technology in our lives is portrayed in a humorous but predictive manner in a cartoon by Mick Stevens. In the visual a just born baby clutches a tablet device and exclaims something it has read off of it, presumably a Facebook status.  This visual attempts to show that technology is affecting children at younger and younger ages as time goes on.  The current and future generation will grow up with technology and its social media and will presumably heavily rely on it more than people in today's society.  Since we manage our lives through the technology we use games and social media have a better chance of accessing us through this technology.  The example of blogging in "Social Media and Young Adults" is an example of how our society is pushed to be more streamline and communication is expected to be fast.  Long, detailed blogs and dwindle to simple one sentences on Facebook or under 140 characters on Twitter.  This can also be seen in the decline of reading for pleasure in our generation, instead of reading lengthly blogs, people are skimming through short statuses about breakfast eating habits and the status of relationships.  Entertainment through this social media is now not meant to be time consuming but used whenever the person is bored for short durations.  Interactions between people and friends have evolved as more and more people create a Facebook or twitter account.  Through games such as "Farmville" or "Words with Friends" people interact solely through a screen and keypad instead of face to face.   Social media is not necessarily used for entreatment, but for monitoring a person's online status.  In Clive Thompson's article "I'm so Totally, Digitally Close to You" a women with a Facebook profile is mentioned as saying she has to monitor her profile to delete unflattering or unwanted pictures or see if people are talking about her.  This issue portrays the negative aspect of being so connected to everyone; everyone knows everyone's "life" with one click of a mouse.  A questions arises, how well does our online selves portray our real life selves?  This is a second issue of social media, it can be unreliable and false.  Through this growing use of technology for future generations, caution is advised.

Research Log #2

Mickey-Ds

Once of the first apparent voices regarding "McDonaldization" in chapter 15 is a picture (Fig. 15.2).  This figure is an example of visual rhetoric in which the artist is attempting to convey a message of Western society spanning the globe.  This simple picture lays out the basis of the argument of the issue of "McDonaldization" in today's world.  The image uses only American companies and icons to portray Western society as they link together with each logo to cross seas on the globe and surround the world with their products.  This picture has a very literal sense to it in that America's companies are literally covering the globe and impacting the world's different cultures.  In another article "A Brief History Of McDonald's Abroad" Randy James speaks of the rise and possible fall of the McDonald's empire.  Since 1948 the company has been on the up and up but because of weak economies and new negative feelings towards the fast-food chain McDonald's influence could loosing its grip on people's appetite.  This article points out that McDonald's future was once bright but is now receiving criticism for its "bad food" and how it is part of America's globalization.  In "McBastards: McDonald's and Globalization" by Paul Feine the issue of "McDonaldization" takes on a new perspective of that of a customer.  Feine's article takes on a first hand account of a part of culture condemning McDonald's or its expansion, even invasion, into other cultures. Feine's word choice in his article is a perfect example of how McDonald's has influence our society and even made a culture of its own.  Every thing from "McSpotlight" to "McBastards" is associated with the fast-food chain simply because of the "Mc-" prefix.  I think this would be a strong point Dexian Cai could add to his research assignment because explains and exemplifies how McDonalds have taken over and how it influences our speech.  I noticed a lot of the articles were talking about "McDonalization" from the view of an American or a person of Western society.  I think if Dexian Cai wanted to add a different perspective or view point for his assignment he should look into finding a source from Asian culture to see their take on this globalization.

Research Log #1

12/28/2012

I've started my research by first learning about what I'm researching about.  I'm writing on dangers to the Great Barrier Reef, but first I need to learn more about the Great Barrier Reef.  These are the sources I've found so far.

"Oceans: Great Barrier Reef." National Geographic. Web. Feb. 2013

This is a great source because it is from National Geographic an extremely reliable source when it come to wildlife, animals, and everything nature or history.  The video provides images of the coral reefs and fishes and a narration describing different species.  The video also mentions dangers to the reef which is a great starting point for my research.  Although the video provides information about the reef it does not go into depth on specific species of fish, sponges, or mollusks, only a general overview.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. About the Reef.  Australian Government. Web. 16 Feb. 2013

This source is one of the best I've found so far.  It comes from a reliable source, the Australian Government and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.  This website provides pages and pages on the Great Barrier Reef.  How its managed, the biodiversity, facts, and the outlook for the reef which will be great information as I go deeper into my research.  This source also includes pictures and contact information.

A third source I've found relates to climate change and is one of the first sources I found that actually talks about dangers to the reef as it's main topic.

"Climate Change May Kill Great Barrier Reef by 2050 -- International Herald Tribute." News.  The New York Times., 2 Feb. 2007. Web. 16 Feb. 2013

I like this article because it is more of popular source as compared to a scholarly one.  This source would be a nice addition to my research because it gives information that the average reader without any background on the Great Barrier Reef could find interesting.  The article provides basic facts and quotes many scientists.

Another article I've found is opposite of the one above and is a scholarly article.  I have yet to read the whole thing and highlight important information that would be useful to my paper.

Hoegh-Guldberg, O. "Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification." Science. 318.5857: 1737-1742.  PubMed. Web. 16 Feb. 2013.

A fifth source I've found come form BBC which I think is a great perspective from a non-American source.  It portrays how the Great Barrier Reef affects everyone globally.  This is also a video.

"Climate Change Threatens Great Barrier Reef." BBC. fast:track. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2013.

So far I only have online sources for my research and my next step will be to go to the library to find books or scholarly magazine or articles in print to use as my research to make sure I have a wide range of mediums for my sources.
I really need to find more scholarly articles and really dive into the dangers that the Great Barrier Reef faces and possibly narrow the dangers down to just climate change or how humans affect it.

Academic Integrity

To me academic integrity is an essential part of being a student at Clemson.  Without it our degrees wouldn’t hold the same value and we as a community would lose not only our reputations as honorable students but also our trust in one another.  To have integrity means you hold yourself to a higher standard and act accordingly everyday.  Integrity is important both in and out of the classroom, both in our living communities and social events.  We need to abide by a set of moral rules to not only build a strong community but also encourage others to do the same.  While at Clemson academics come first and foremost to me and to make sure I get the most out of my education I need to know it has extreme value.  

The role of academic integrity throughout Clemson’s classrooms and courses provides me with the comfort of knowing I am getting a quality education and the degree I am constantly working for will hold much value when I finally attain it.  To me one of the most important aspects of academic integrity is fairness among all students in their own individual work.  I believe that if I have to spend my own time and put my own effort into working on my academics other students should abide by the same idea.  I like to know that I did the best I could possibly do on my own without potentially negative assistance and that others followed this ideal too.  I believe that instructors, teachers, and professors list these rules and policies to help their students and to make sure that what they teach reaches every student in an accessible manner.  When a student disregards these rules they are hurting themselves, their instructors, their fellow students and Clemson because they are lowering themselves to a dishonorable level. 

I pledge to do my own work when directed, never cheat on a test, never steal someone else’s work, and to make sure that I not only put forth my best effort and work but also make sure that others’ best efforts and work stay their own.  I want to be proud of the work I accomplish here during my four years here.  Having academic integrity will not only guide me to accomplish individual assignments but lead me to earn a valued degree and hold myself to a higher standard.

WW #3 Procrastination Problems

Starting my Visual Rhetoric paper was never a problem, but finishing it was.  The assigned readings in the DK handbook and Envision really helped when it came to finding and choosing a picture.  The example papers and step-by-step processes in the books made it fairly to easy to choose a picture because it gave you the knowledge of what to look for when picking a visual.  The reason I choose my photograph was because I knew I would be able to write about: write about the author's argument and how it relates to today's current culture.  My first draft was also fairly easy to accomplish because I was laying out my ideas on paper for the first time and continued to elaborate on them to a certain depth without any research.  However, finalizing my paper has so far proved to be somewhat difficult.  I have my ideas typed out but it’s the further elaboration of my thoughts that’s putting my progress to an almost complete stop.  

So far I’ve learned I really need to take the time to brainstorm more instead of diving right into the writing process.  I need to create a structured outline and research more before I really begin any draft.  Otherwise I will get stuck at the point I am now: searching for more detail. This paper has actually really helped me get back into a writing process this semester; it’s the first paper of my spring semester and I know many more are to come.  Being the first paper of the semester, I have had a hard time just sitting down and focusing on my writing.  I feel that analyzing and writing will help me get back into the swing of things for the rest of the year. Now, because of this paper, I know I should put more time into my paper on a daily basis as opposed to working numerous hours on it during the weekends.  

From now on my goal, when writing any kind of paper, will be to try to write or add at least a paragraph of thoughts and ideas each day in the rough draft process.  Hopefully, this will help with my procrastination problem as well as brainstorming and putting my ideas into words.