For the remix I would like to do a video either on iMovie or another software that makes animated videos. I plan on using pictures and bits of videos from youtube that show the importance of having a balanced education. I would show how formal and informal education are different and how they work well together.
I would like to write my paper on how learning isn’t confined to just a classroom setting and how informal learning plays a significant role in our daily lives. My audience would be our class as well as the general public and anyone who has access to this piece. The purpose of my project is to show that there are various ways to learn besides for the traditional classroom setting and that one of those is informal learning. The argument I could make based on experience would be how I have learned a great amount from outside of school and how my parents have both ingrained in me that learning doesn’t start or end in a classroom and that learning can happen anywhere at anytime. The argument I could make is how informal education should be valued more in the U.S rather than looking down upon it and only valuing a formal education. There are many skills and certain jobs that don’t require a formal education but are important to society and should be valued more. I want to research how important formal and informal educations are. I’d also like to research how common core affects the way students learn and process information and how it competes against countries that value multi-modal learning methods.
Growing up my parents had always put a large emphasis on education. For them though education wasn’t just defined by what I learned during my time in school, it included what I learned from my surrounding environment, the advice that people would give me, and also what I learned from traveling and speaking different languages. Ever since kindergarten I had gone to a Jewish day school, so my school days were longer than most and a few of my classes were taught in hebrew while the rest were taught in English. For my parents a well rounded education is what they perceived as the key to success in the future.
Having gone to school with many students who came from backgrounds similar to mine, with either parents or grandparents that were immigrants who had left their respective countries because of religious reasons rather than reasons of wealth and prosperity, many of us had parents who put a great emphasis on education. As a child I remember being told that there isn’t just one kind of way to learn and that learning can happen everywhere and it isn’t exclusive to a classroom setting. I think hearing that repeatedly as a child and being given the many opportunities that I was given has really fostered my love for learning.
Both of my parents immigrated to the U.S as teenagers, my mother from Russia and my father from Israel and even though both of them had moved here speaking barely any English they managed to go to school and learn English and both become very successful in their respective fields of work. I think the process of immigration for both of my parents taught them many things including various languages and skills that they wouldn’t have learned had they otherwise not moved. I think that their experiences have pushed them to put such an emphasis on education for me and my siblings and that is probably why they believe learning can happen everywhere and believe it to be the key for me to succeed in whatever I plan on doing in the future.
Amy Tan’s argument in this piece seems to be that there is no superior version of English and that language is more about the message that one is trying to convey and less about speaking grammatically correct. She makes her argument by giving examples from her childhood and personal experiences of growing up in a bilingual home where she was the one who seemed to speak the clearest version of English. It was obvious from the accounts she was giving that English was not the first language spoken in her home. Tan is explaining how there are different ways to do things and say certain things and that there isn’t only one correct way.
The title Mother Tongue can relate to her piece because it might be referring to the simplicity of the piece and the ease with which her mother can read it. The title relates to her argument and the reason she wrote this is because even though English might come naturally to her, she still speaks the way that her mother does occasionally, in a way its her ‘mother tongue.’ The target audience of this piece seems to be her mother in particular and also as a more general message to others who are dealing with similar types of different Englishes in their lives. You can tell that her mother is her audience because at the end of the piece she feels a sort of satisfaction when her mother says “so easy to read.” Tan divides the Englishes she speaks into various categories which are the English she spoke to her mother in, the broken English her mother spoke to her in, the watered down version of Chinese into English, and the English she spoke around colleagues and friends.
English has always been my first language but with both of my parents speaking different languages, Russian and Hebrew, the English that I speak at home is a little different from the English I speak with friends or teachers. Growing up my parents spoke mainly English to me because that was the way that they communicated with each other since they didn’t really speak each others languages. But sometimes I’ll add in words that are in either Russian or Hebrew when speaking to my parents in English without even realizing it. I think when speaking to friends and teachers I might subconsciously be a little more thoughtful of what I’m saying or how I’m saying it. With close friends who speak either Russian or Hebrew I might speak to them in that language but I find myself mainly speaking English whether it be the mix of English and other languages I speak at home or what others might consider to be ‘proper’ English.
Since we’re starting our rhetorical analysis project I think that this article is very helpful and useful for this project as well as for other future projects. This piece by Richard Straub is very simple and easy to follow along with because of the format that it’s written in and it also sticks to very straightforward points and things to pay attention to. As someone who reviews the work of others and has their own work reviewed I found this piece to be very useful because it explains how vague, general and useless comments sometimes are. Its hard to know what to fix when the comments aren’t specific enough to understand what exactly the issue the reader is having with the writing is.
While reading the parts about how to properly respond to someone else’s writing I found myself agreeing with what he had to say. It isn’t my place or any other readers place to edit and change up the writing of someone else. I always found it weird and awkward when a person would have to read my writing in class and instead of making suggestions would write down all different types of edits and fixes. Even when I was told to edit someone’s work in class by teacher’s I always found it dreadful and didn’t want to be the one changing up the words and thoughts of someone else. I Like to receive feedback on my work, but I think it’s better not to receive any comments at all than to receive vague comments that are not going to help improve your writing at all.
After reading this I feel like I can be more helpful to a writer when reading their work over and having to comment on it. Instead of giving them vague feedback that won’t really help them improve at all I can now give them more feedback on specific topics within their writing. I found myself enjoying this article and agreeing with what Straub had to say about writing good comments that are helpful for the reader and I’ll also be using his advice when I have to write comments in the future.
As I read “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, I felt at ease finding out that first drafts aren’t supposed to be perfect and ready for publishing right away. Lamott makes some good points and helps explain how the first draft isn’t the best in most cases and that writing all your thoughts down at first can really help the writing process. She makes the process of writing a first draft seem less daunting and much simpler. It makes me feel like a better writer and gives off the idea that anyone can be a writer. The way she wrote this piece makes it relatable to both those who are writers and those who aren’t.
Whenever I would write drafts for my English 2100 class I was always worried about them not being perfect or good enough. After a while, I realized as the semester went on that the first draft is called the first draft for a reason. It’s the first time you write down your thoughts and ideas onto paper, it isn’t meant to be perfect. Writing is something that has to be worked on and writing multiple drafts is just part of the process. While reading this piece I found myself agreeing with it and realizing once again that a first draft is just the first step in the process, its the beginning not the end. It reminded me that at the beginning theres a lot of work to put into writing to have a good final piece, but that doesn’t mean you should be stressed out and scared of the writing process in general. Just write down what you can and figure the rest out later.
I was reassured after reading this piece that I’m not the only one who writes a crappy first draft and that its not expected to be a work of art. Even while writing this, I initially just wrote everything and anything that came to mind instead of sitting around and waiting to get hit with some sort of brilliant and deep insight that would never come. After reading this piece I learned that you just have to start writing and let the words come out regardless of if they make the most sense at the time. It’s a work in progress not a final paper.
Possible Topic #1- Analyze a popular ASPCA commercial with Sarah Mclachlan. ASPCA is the American Society for Animals Against Cruelty and their commercials in particular this one is one that I find to be very moving.
Possible Topic #2- Analyze Beyonce’s new music video Formation, because there has been a lot of controversy surrounding it and it’s said to have a deeper meaning behind it.
The time when James Baldwin wrote The Fire Next Time was when the Civil Rights movement was happening when African Americans were hoping to obtain racial equality. Baldwin’s letter to his nephew is heart wrenching, one full of emotion as well as nostalgia. He remembers what it was like to be thought of as inferior to whites, he remembers all that his family has been through and everything that they have struggled to get through. Even through all of that his message to his nephew is for him to keep his head up and keep going, to reach for his dreams and try as hard as he can to be the best that he can be. He tells him not to be held back because of what others say and explains all of the hardships his family had to go through because of the limits that were put on their growth by others. The exigence in this letter seems to be the continued racism, internalized as well as industrialized, that had been plaguing the African American community for 100 years and still, unfortunately, continues to plague them as well as others. The constraints in this piece as well as in general at the time were a prejudiced society which influenced Baldwin’s writing and this piece in particular.
The title of the letter is ironic, My Dungeon Shook-Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation, it’s been one hundred years since the emancipation and still blacks did not have basic rights that should be available to everyone, these are human rights. Baldwin has a sort of optimistic outlook but also a bleak one at the same time. He tells his nephew to not let others dictate what he does in life but then believes that blacks will never hold the same positions as white people do. Baldwin argues in his piece that people of color should stand up for themselves and speak up. When he wrote this piece, his audience was mainly African-Americans, at a time when they were fighting for their rights and making themselves heard rather than following along with what they were led for so long to believe was the way things were meant to be.
He delivers this all in an emotional letter written to his nephew meant to teach him of where he came from and what he will most likely go through because of his skin color. Even though the letter is written to his nephew its not meant to be just for him, it’s for everyone else that will be going through similar struggles in their life. Throughout the letter when he speaks of others he does not use any harsh words or sound angry, he seems to use logic and reasoning and wants people to rise up and not turn to violence or anything of that sort. The letter is meant to use his past as well as his family’s past as a way to guide his nephew and others in the future to do the best that they can and be the best in a society full of prejudice and racism.
In James Baldwin’s Letter To My Nephew, from the beginning it’s full of emotion and hope for his nephew as well as a sense of desperation that had been faced by past generations of African Americans. The letter to his nephew is one that speaks of the types of racism that he will unfortunately have to face in his life as an African American man in the United States. Both institutionalized and internalized racism are depicted in a highly personal way which is evident when Baldwin says “They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men.” Even though this piece was written many years ago it seems like it’s still relevant now with what is currently happening in the U.S.. In some situations it’s as though people still believe that others are inferior or not good enough because of their color or their background. In this piece he is essentially telling his nephew that racism is alive and well and that others don’t want to see him prosper but he should ignore what is being said about him and do what will be best for him. He tells him not to conform to what white people and others want and expect from African Americans and explains to him all that his family and others have gone through to get to the position that he is in today.
While reading this I was surprised by how such an emotional and powerful message from an uncle to a nephew could encompass so much of what people of color, in particular African Americans face because of their skin color and origin. The piece perfectly captures the desolate outlook older generations of African Americans faced and all of the struggles that they had gone through to give their children and future generations a better life than they have had. The letter gives advice to the nephew while also dispensing bits of family background as well as words of encouragement and strength to help him get through whatever he may face in the future. This piece was truly one that made me think about all of the racism and struggles that people face and how the perception of color and social constructs have caused this to become a constant struggle that people still deal with now.
With heavy allusions to George Orwell’s 1984, Apple sets the tone for its Superbowl commercial for the newest Macintosh computer. For the most part of the advertisement the only words spoken are those coming from the tyrant giving a speech on the screen. The images of the tyrant on-screen, the girl with the sledgehammer along with the drones marching are powerful, and the coloring of them is what makes them so powerful. These were all constraints that helped to modify the exigence and affect how the rhetoric is presented and how the viewer views and understands the advertisement. The commercial has a pathos appeal to it, it appeals to emotion, which is allowed by the powerful images and message that Apple is trying to get across through the ad. The exigence in this ad seems to be the idea of blindly following in the footsteps of others which includes both large government forces and corporations. In response to such circumstances, Apple presents their product as something new and shows the girl shattering the screen with the tyrant still speaking on it as a way to show the end of blindly following someone. Logos is represented in this commercial through the connection this ad makes to 1984, since logos is the reasoning and logic behind the ad. The logic behind this is that in Orwell’s 1984, he predicted that one day the population would blindly follow everything that they would be told to do. Apple was trying to compare their product as something new and to have people stop blindly following the general public and buying IBM computers and to instead buy their computers.
The point of this ad was to show that there is no problem with straying from the norm and the ad was meant to appeal to adolescents and adults, especially those that wanted to be different. Kairos which refers to timing can be analyzed in a few different ways concerning this advertisement and one of those is what was happening in the United States at that time. The advertisement was first aired during the Superbowl, which is a largely watched sporting event within America, therefore allowing us to assume that a majority of Americans were tuned into their televisions as the commercial aired. In the few short seconds of the commercial Apple was able to supply a purpose and reasoning on why one should be investing in their Macintosh. The purpose of the advertisement was to get as many people as they possibly could interested in the product and wanting to buy it. The reasoning behind why one should invest in a Mac over another laptop was that everyone should be unique like a Macintosh and not a follower who bought what everyone else had, which connects the commercial to Orwell’s 1984.
As I read this piece on rhetoric, I was surprised and intrigued to read about the background of rhetoric and how it traces its roots back to Aristotle. I had always been taught about rhetoric and told to use it in writing but not once had a teacher delved into the background and explained where it came from and the importance of including it when writing. I found the beginning of the piece where it speaks about this both interesting and captivating.
I also found the rhetorical triangle to be quite interesting, the piece explains how a combination of the three together- ethos, pathos, and logos- will improve the writing and I find that to be true. At first thought when I saw the triangle I was unsure why they were paired off like that but then after reading through the rest I understood why they were paired off like that and have a better understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos now. I’ve come to the realization that rhetoric is useful and important in writing and can change the way a piece sounds depending on if its included or not, and many times the inclusion of rhetoric improves the piece and makes it more interesting to read.
Laura Bolin Carroll writes that “media is one of the most important places where this kind of analysis needs to happen” and I believe that this is true. Such analysis needs to happen because of the growing presence of media in our everyday lives and to assist in making us informed consumers. Bolin Carroll explains why she believes its important to analyze media and I found myself agreeing with each point she made and understanding why such analysis is important. This is part of the reason why I believe that this sentence is very important. Its critical because it speaks of rhetorical analysis that is currently happening in media and that will be continue for quite some time in the near future. Because of this I find it to be a necessary topic that needs to be further explored and better understood. To analyze why the media advertises things a certain way, how they came to realize who their target audience is and targeted them through some type or combination of rhetorical analysis seems fascinating and interesting. This includes understanding why certain items or activities are tailored towards certain age groups and what persuades people and captures their attention so much that they feel the urge to buy a product or engage in certain activities. I feel that it is important to understand media rhetoric and not become a mindless consumer who just buys items without having any limits or follows trends because of the persuasiveness and rhetoric of certain advertisements. To me it seems as though the sentence “media is one of the most important places where this kind of analysis needs to happen” allows for the onset of an important question to be answered and an analyzation of why its so pertinent in our current society to focus and understand this.
“Everybody’s a Critic. And That’s How It Should Be.” by A.O Scott mentions right in the title what exactly his primary argument is about. While reading through the article it becomes clear what exactly his views are on criticism and why he believes that everyone is a critic. Scott begins his article by mentioning the Oscars and his own background as a critic to give himself credibility to speak on the topic. Scott begins his article by mentioning the Oscars and wonders how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science have such authority to choose the winners. He questions why people trust their judgement to pick what they believe to be the best films of the past year. In his article he joins the legions of people and critics who are denouncing the Oscars as being white. Scott is also disappointed that critics aren’t held in such high regard anymore and compares critics to high priests in the past who aren’t held in such high regards anymore.
I believe what Scott was trying to get across in his article is that criticism and critique are natural. It seems as though Scott was trying to defend both his position as a critic and also encouraging people to not be afraid of critiquing others and being critiqued themselves. I agree with Scott that people should be more aware of what they like and not just following the masses as was the case with the Oscars. It looks as though people this year have realized that the Oscars are unfair and biased. Just because a film wins film of the year at the Oscars doesn’t mean that it will be your favorite film or one that you even like at all. I think it’s important to be able to express yourself and your opinion and that includes criticizing films and watching what you like to watch regardless of if it’s an award winner or not. I do agree with Scott that social media has a large impact on society and what people are likely to emulate and crave in their own life. I think it is good to be open to ideas as well as criticism, but I also think it is just as important to never lose sight of what you believe to be important and not conform to societal ideals.
As many Americans got ready to watch the Superbowl with friends and family, the Broncos and the Panthers were getting ready to play the football game of the year. Who would be the star quarterback in the game, Newton or Manning? Will Manning retire after this? Both questions circulated as the game was set to play, as well as while it was happening. Some felt as though Newton was unstoppable after the season he has had and others thought that the Broncos would be the one to win with their strong defense.
The title of the article “A Storybook Finish Falls Into Peyton Manning’s Lap” has a fitting metaphor in it. The metaphor says that the finish fell into his lap, allowing readers to get a sense of what the article is about and allows speculation into Manning’s future. The way the title starts off by saying “A Storybook Finish” is most likely alluding to the end of Manning’s career in football. I think the metaphor plays a significant role in this article because of its location, the title, it may interest others to read it and also allows viewers to get a feel for what the article will be centered on. In this case the article was centered on Peyton Manning and the Broncos Superbowl win, as well as what was supposedly to come next for Manning. Is it a storybook finish that fell into his lap or is his story not finished yet?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/peyton-manning-gets-perfect-finish-but-defense-is-star-1454907455?cb=logged0.5024105159100145
According to “The Egg and the Sperm” by Emily Martin, the female reproductive system is not spoken of in the same way as the male reproductive system. The egg is not regarded in the same way that the sperm is, many of the instances and cases mentioned by Martin point towards the significance and importance of the sperm and the fascination with the male reproductive system.
The female reproductive system on the other hand, mainly the egg is viewed in certain instances as a failure and a rapidly deteriorating system that does not have the same longevity and production abilities as that of the sperm. With men producing millions of sperm on a daily basis and women already being born with a certain amount of eggs and have no way of increasing the amount of eggs that they already have.
Rather women lose eggs as they begin to menstruate and ovulate which has a large effect on women’s ovaries which are mentioned as looking like a “scarred and battered organ”(487). Even young and healthy women have this so called scarred and battered organ. While men are glorified for their reproductive parts, women’s parts are still judged on their appearance and not their ability to perform necessary bodily functions. “The stereotypes imply not only that female biological processes are less worthy than their male counterparts but also that women are less worthy than men”(486).
Martin’s primary argument is how in many different pieces on the reproductive system, the female system is seen as a failure and the male system is glorified for doing what it was naturally meant to do just as the female system is doing. Martin continues to explain how women receive no appreciation for the female process.
Martin believes that the inclusion of such widely known gender stereotypes when included in the explanation of the reproductive systems of both genders can cause the belief of gender roles to be seen as natural occurrences. Such writing in science can lead the reader to assume and subconsciously believe that gender roles have been put into place since before birth, since the fertilization of an egg happens.
While reading through the introductory paragraphs of the first chapter I had a sense of what Lakoff and Johnson were trying to convey in Metaphors We Live By regarding metaphors and how writers use them to portray certain points to their readers. It wasn’t until l had read what Lakoff and Johnson said about argumentative speech using metaphorical phrases that I realized I use metaphors on a day to day basis.
As I got more into it I had a better understanding of what the authors were saying about metaphors and how the words we use shape the manner in which we speak. In chapter three the authors mention time and list an example of many different metaphors in regards to time. Reading through the list of metaphors I realized that I use quite a few of those sayings on a daily basis and didn’t even know how true it was. Time is always thought of in relation to money because it is considered to be so valuable. Even though I say “time is money” so often I never realized just how true it is in the U.S. until after reading about it.
Reading these chapters of the book gave me more insight and a better understanding of how metaphors are very much a part of our day to day lives. They also managed to relate it all to relevant metaphorical concepts that are interesting to read about and made me think about how much of an impact such concepts actually have on us. For example conceptualizing arguments in terms of war impacts the way an argument happens, the person you are arguing against is seen as an opponent and there is always a winner and a loser just like in war. The metaphors not only have an effect on us language wise but also on the way we think about certain topics, like arguments and how valuable time really is.
I’m currently an undergraduate at Baruch in my second semester. My intended major is finance, not really surprising considering Baruch is known for its business school, but I am also on the pre-med track. One of my favorite things to do is to travel and I plan on studying abroad sometime during the next few years. I love traveling and having the opportunity to visit new places and experience new cultures. Being on an airplane on my way towards a new place or even somewhere I’ve already been always makes me happy.
