MiguelBL

What is your research question/rhetorical situation?

How does Health consciousness affect the well being of individuals worldwide 

What is your connection to rhetorical situation and why are you uniquely placed to write about it?

Surgery in January in a hospital in the US, curious how the situation would differ in other regions of the world, other economic classes 

Where do you imagine your writing “existing”? (newspaper, magazine, youtube, personal blog)

Personal blog 

Who is your target audience?

High School/College Students/Adults in the workforce In the US

What form will your writing take? (Research paper, narrative, letter, script.)

Narrative

Why is this form the most effective way to communicate to your target audience?

The writing will be a bit anecdotal coming on my end so it may be a bit informal and free flowing but the message behind the socio-economic standpoint will be coupled alongside my personal narrative 

What is the value you’re trying to impart on your audience?

The value of health consciousness given the living in the US with healthcare not being free, the stress of balancing work with health and the benefit of health consciousness in the lorg term.  

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (Mies) was a German-American architect who had gained notoriety as being one of the most prominent figures in the rise of modern Architecture in the West and who had been one of the trailblazers for minimalist design in regards to large scale building models. One of Mies drawings which had no name or print within the drawing had been a sketch of a rather large building which had scaled what looked to be a 7 story estate in a rather urbanized and city-like town area. Mie’s work dates back to 1921, a shift in cultural norms in Germany and in America alike with the newly found creation of the Nazi party in Germany and the rise of Adolf Hitlers regime and the Progressive Era for Americans, a juxtaposition beyond the artworks purpose. The artwork’s audience given the time and the place must have been Germans involved in the works hence the publication of the piece in German magazine, DAZ. The piece had been drawn on paper with charcoal and crayon which gives the piece a faded and smudged look. The yellowed paper hints to us the older type of paper used to draw on as well as the charcoal and the dark and simple elements which evokes some pathos through its mundane and eerie setting. The rather simple design even functions as to foreshadow future development of architecture of American skyscrapers and the abnormally tall designs with floors that are all of the same size that hold thousands of occupants. The building resembles features of a hospital, office or a parking garage which had been ahead of German architecture yet right in time for the Progressive time that America had been getting into in the Roaring 20’s. The building also symbolizes the simplicity of the life of the working class of the world who day in and day out keep themselves cooped in these buildings developing stress and overworking themselves. Mike’s work speaks to the new generation of the working class which is slowly developing to fit more subgroups of people with women gaining a bigger role in the working class as well as African Americans getting labor jobs. Mike’s work comes with the intent to remove the approach of the new age of unnecessary and overwhelming designs that we constantly use in American culture which come with a higher cost and more labor inducing while the simple design strays away from these ideals and functions to serve its purpose of being easy to comprehend and comforting. Mies work also uses several instances of logos with the historical timeline of architectural development and the rise of technology to compensate and fulfill these new developments. Overall Mies piece contains a complex message within the simplicity of the piece and the artistic craftsmanship within the charcoal strokes on the paper which breeds a new form of modern works coupled with new societal roles of the people that come with it. As we continue to look at artwork in the 90’s and in the 2000’s we see a flood of artwork that involves skyscrapers and other high scaling infrastructure that speaks on modern socio-economic issues that nations across the world face. 

As humans we tend to overshadow our physical/mental health with the endeavors in which we place ourselves in our everyday lives. When we are met with unwarranted situations regarding our health we undergo a feeling of “why me” or a strong aggrievement which may leave us unmotivated when recovering from the trauma of these health concerns. Looking into the phenological systems in which us humans innately react to these situations at hand to how we combat these initial feelings we may be able to find more effective treatment to ensure that our ability to adapt back into the world after such procedures go smoothly. Oksana Kamenskaya and Craig Talmage are two of the many drivers who facilitated research on the ability to overcome health consciousness through statistical and cultural data in Russia and in ethnic communities in the United States. Talmage and Kamenskaya utilize logos, ethos and conversion as operators to demonstrate that health in the sense of attaining consciousness is pivotal to enhance the possibility of a favorable quality of life. 

When discussing health consciousness Talmage provides us with the necessary factors that contribute to the ability to prevent a warped mental health when coming off a life-changing health detriment which is phrased by Talmage saying  “Health disparities are differences that are experienced by individuals that face economic, environmental, or social disadvantages or injustices” (399). Access to healthcare is something easier said than done. When the lack of health-related resources is coupled with the inability to sustain a structured life after being put into the hospital new issues begin to sprout ahead of our knowledge. With thorough experimentation Talmage had with individuals of diverse backgrounds such as those of Latino descent, Asian descent and overall non-english speaking participants had shared that the key to sustaining a higher quality of life was general access to health care systems which ultimately is the key driver in being able to carry on about our everyday responsibilities with these participants coming to a consensus where “Mental health was also viewed as important to quality of life but was seen by many, especially non-English speakers and those of Asian descent, as hindered by the over- prioritization of productivity in American culture, which breeds too much stress.” (405). Viewing the converging viewpoints of our non-english speaking participants of Talmages experiment we get an understanding that even the disadvantaged in the modern world in the United States can agree that “high quality of life meant having the health, ability (functioning), and freedom, as well as extra time and money, to enjoy life, pursue one’s goals, make healthy choices, develop and nurture relationships” (405). Talmage’s accounts of these participants require use of logos in which we acknowledge the minorities of the United States perspectives on how health care and health consciousness is something that we must collectively turn our attention to for it is the main motor to commence proper living. 

Further demonstrating a discovery in the field of health consciousness is Kamenskaya who introduces us to the way in which Russian patients suffer from chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, a lung condition which ultimately leaves patients post-surgery with a life expectancy of only a handful of years. Similar to Talmage, Kamensky uses survey based research using individuals who suffer from the lung condition (CTEPH) and monitors their overall physical/mental health through a long term follow-up (PTE) in order to measure the overall quality of life (HRQoL). Early on it was figured out that “The leading factor adversely affecting the physical and emotional components of health in the long-term period after PTE was residual pulmonary hypertension recorded in the early postoperative period” (2116). Given that CTEPH is the leading cause of the skyrocketing physical distress of our experimentees, a solution needed to be figured out to denature this poor HRQol it was leaving. Patients had undergone PTE and had undergone “a significant improvement in the level of HRQoL in long-term follow-up was in connection with the gradual improvement of the structural and functional parameters of the heart, in particular the right ventricle.” (2116). In order for our patients to limit and eliminate this lung condition that had been killing them at a faster rate than they initially thought they had to participate and consciously agree to the medical procedure which ultimately they could only rely on the judgment of medical professionals (PTE). The binding agreement of our patients was the simple human regard to the health in which they continuously make effort to preserve. Both Talmage and Kamensky utilize these logos in their research based discovery experiment as well as ethos in their ability to organize and successfully produce work that includes first hand accounts of communities and individuals in the health world. 

1. Give a brief outline of the plot (action) of the film. (<50 words)

3 men in the midst of a storm tell the tale of Tajomaru, a bandit who encounters a wealthy journeyman and his wife and whose main motive is to get the wife to stop loving her husband and to begin loving him. The men tell the story in storylines that contradict each other yet ultimately lead to the same outcome. 

2. What are the main symbols in the film, what do they represent? (<50 words)

One of the main symbols was the rain in which the 3 men has sat in and the ruined structure in which they took place in where wood was being broken off the building in order to make fire and simply survive. The storytelling that takes place and the lies within the story display a theme that mankinds lies and false interpretations lead to the downfall of societies. 

3. How is the structure of the film important to the telling of this story? (<50 words)

The structure is in a court-like scenario in which the bandit is caught in custody and is explaining the truth of the events that occurred compared to the tales in which the 3 men in the storm were explaining. 

4. What are the main philosophical idea raised by this film is called ‘The Rashomon effect’, which refers to the phenomenon where different individuals provide contradictory interpretations of the same event or phenomenon. The phrase has since been widely used in various fields, including psychology, sociology, journalism, and philosophy, to describe situations where subjective perceptions and biases lead to divergent accounts of the same event. This effect highlights the complex nature of truth and the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. In 250 – 300 words, please answer one of the following prompts: 

• In what ways does social media exacerbate the Rashomon effect by allowing for the rapid spread of conflicting narratives and perspectives on current events? Give examples.
• How does the Rashomon effect manifest in politics, especially regarding the interpretation of political speeches, actions, and policies by different factions and media outlets? Give examples. 
• Consider where you have seen examples of the Rashomon effect in journalism. Do you think that the Rashomon effect can be mitigated in your news event, and if so, what strategies can journalists employ to present more objective and accurate portrayals of the event in the face of conflicting accounts?

Social media is able to amplify the presence of the Rashoman effect most commonly in politics. Whenever the election comes around or even the primaries news about we see new information about the policy-making of both candidates of even the candidates past mistakes or entanglements we tend to see this information true or false used against the candidates in order to get the public against them to the get more people in favor of the other candidate. To the supporters of a certain candidate social media is able to perpetuate such irrational claims against this person to get the public convinced that this person should not be running in office for this lack of judgement of a persons character can lead to a unfavorable outcome. The rate in which social media has been taking over politics leads to the growth the political polarization our already flawed and disintegrating democracy in America. This Rashoman effect is one of the main reasons that certain political candidates have conspiracy theories surrounding them which again flaw their character and are always used against them. Just like in the film, when men lie society crumbles and likewise to such as a subgroup like politics when our nations leaders cannot be trusted and have certain sources telling us their actions as political leaders this break of trust takes us by surprise and weakens our want to support either group. The Rashoman effect leave sus straying away from the more important purpose of election and of democracy. To the younger generation who may be introduced to voting and politics in general, false narratives could be detrimental to understanding a solid foundation for what it means to have a voice in America. 

The most enjoyable part of the play was the way that the cast had these dual characters that they were able to switch on and off in between scenes. The way that Ferdinand and Miranda had been able to play the two drunks of the play (Stepheno and Trinculo) made the roles of the actors a bit more entertaining and in hindsight more impressive. I had no real “un-enjoyable” part of the play but only that Shakespeare can always be a bit perplexing and you can lose track of the names of characters as well as the plot in itself but i maintained a surface level understanding of what the plot was unfolding to be. The characters on stage had brought the characters to life with Shakespare being very old timey English as well as the use of props since the play was a sort of a balance of entertainment to the already sometimes mundane shakeparian english. The show also had the actor who played Ariel to be a narrator alongside the role that they were assigned in order to make things a bit more easier for the average viewer of the play. In doing this act of pathos us the viewers had less time struggling with the plot line that had been a bit manipulated to fit the hour time frame of the play. The shift in the accents of the characters also may attract the attention of us the audience by evoking a bit more humor in using the Mario and Luigi hats with the french accents to play the drunks of the play which was seamlessly able to make it easier for the actors themselves to switch out the the dual characters that they were playing. Ultimatley the small tweaks of the characters to meet a more modern audience allowed for a more comprehensible and engaging experience. 

1. In what ways do life-threatening situations shift our views of the world we live in and how we deal with it?
2. How do revelations impact the productivity in ones life?
3. How does health consciousness impact the way we approach our life tasks/goals?

#1) 7: I’d say that my phone has distracted me from completing work and has prolonged the time it could’ve gotten done. I would say however that it doesn’t completely control my everyday life. I truly know that something needs to get done and I am approaching the deadline I know not to use my phone.  

#2) It took about 40 minutes for me to complete the reading and I had gotten distracted twice.

#3) Compared to the 2nd and 3rd the 1st article seems less scholarly and more of a free write where the author gives us their first-hand experience with becoming distracted in the modern world. The 1st two use humor throughout the article while the last completely is informative and strictly stays on the scientific behind focus and distraction

#4) Sam argues that we simply cannot approach the situation as trying to reduce being distracted since the frequency with which we are being distracted is at an all-time high and is only going to go up, To solve this we need to focus our attention on boosting our focus and strengthening it do that we no longer get distracted. In training our focus we will be able to turn our attention more to meaningful things

#5) I believe that the epidemic of distraction is certainly a concerning one but one one that should be jeopardizing the well-being of our lives. We need to be able to control ourselves and be able to have a desire to put our focus on meaningful things that progress us forward in life. 

1. Pathos: Sullivan uses humor alongside his take on being sick because of social media in his anecdote of the Doctor jokingly stating that he truly could’ve died because of social media. Sullivan lures us the readers that he is someone we can trust on the topic and also calls t attention to the issue as it is. 
2. Ethos: Sullivan has firsthand been one of the people of social media and has told us through the exposition of the text that he had become sick due to it. Sullivan has the credibility to tell us the readers that this has been an ongoing issue in the modern world 
3. Style: Sullivan uses rhetorical questions before making critical points as a way to introduce readers to statistics which be shocking to them and that these stats are not exaggerations. Sullivan’s style allows us the readers to further be reeled into the severity of this issue. 

Baldwin structures his speech with a call to attention to how the debate at hand is loaded and one that branches out and may be confusing to the average person to begin unraveling. It comes as a great shock as a Negro individual in the United States that you are not accepted in society as the white man. It’s a tragedy how long it takes you (An African American) to figure out that you aren’t accepted as much as your racial counterpart in society that your efforts to maintain and ultimately build society up are not acknowledged and that often you are neglected. On the other hand, Buckley points out how the Negro fails to acknowledge that they have just the same opportunity to succeed as the white man does and that his arguments are not feasible for these reasons. Buckley proceeds to counter that Baldwin’s use of slavery as a device for context is not given that these events had already taken place and did not have any effect on the opportunity that lies in America.  

Baldwin uses a second-person point of view to evoke pathos from beyond his white audience but to Americans all over the world. The use of a dialogue that explains the life of a Negro in America indicates the moment that we realize that we are not accepted as African Americans in this nation that we contribute to at the age of 5,6,7 to age 30 where we finally realize how miserable reality is and that we must continue to live below the white man. Baldwin can put his white audience in the shoes of the Negro as well as lay down to his African American audience beyond the Univerity students and explain to them that they are not alone in this feeling of neglect in which they may be feeling. Buckley turns to the use of logos n which he contextualizes and goes on to acknowledge that yes the Negro man makes 7/10th of what the average White man in America makes yet he and those before him had worked hard to reach that point and that there is no justification of African Americans being the cost of the American dream since the white man worked just as hard to attain his wealth. Buckley makes use of his primarily white audience in adding humor into his speech as well as to counter-act Baldwin’s points made previously allowing him to control the audience and lore them in more when he brings up more factual pieces into his speech. 

As a child, I had undergone some serious medical problems which have stuck with me and taught me individual lessons each time. Although I was taught these lessons to a surface level extent, i  never grasped truly how vulnerable we humans really are and that these lessons should expand our vitality in the modern world. Seeing my siblings live their healthy lives without experiencing serious medical treatments and procedures by no means made me jealous yet I didn’t fear asking why me? Surely going into my second surgery in my lifetime made me feel that saying such a statement should be feasible to the average person. This surgery would be the barrier between me and a smooth transition into my 2nd semester of college. Why would this feeling not be justified? Undergoing surgery and after the surgery it began to hit me that all of the support and visits from family and friends brought me to a revelation that I wish I was able to come to earlier. Why it meant nothing since none of these people would want to be in this situation. It sounds very artificial of a reaction but I realized that humans have a hard time accepting that fate is something that should not be blamed on a game of probability but rather we must see this as a journey back to prosperity. Not only can this be applied to recovering from scary medical procedures but we must have this viewpoint with areas in our life which could include examples such as loss in competition, failure to follow a recipe correctly or accidentally stubbing your toe. In overcoming unprecedented challenges we strengthen our mindset walking into probable failure, underwhelming performance and even minor inconveniences.  

The scolding hot summer was my last bit of relief before an unwarranted sickness came about me this January. My definition of being healthy left me weary, lethargic and dull coming into my first semester of college. That summer I was thriving. Going to the gym 6 times a week, maintaining a strict diet and getting my 8 hours of sleep each night. I put on 10 pounds of lean muscle that summer! This past January I was struck with an enigma that still to this day I can’t explain. 

At a young age I was told that I had a small miniscule hole in my heart which I would recently be told was called congenital heart disease. My doctor and even a cardiologist I attended told me that this hole was nothing jeopardizing and that I can carry on with any physical activity without any sort of restriction. A few years after that I had another heath scare, but this time it was a serious operation where I needed to have my appendix removed. The appendix is one of those intestines in your body that nobody really cares about but if the operation goes bad or if the appendix is inflamed enough without notice it will KILL you. With the appendix removed I lost an essential part of my already faulty body of mine, one that kept healthy gut bacteria in check. This was 2014. The years ongoing would be a relief with my middle school and high school years being a breeze for me health-wise. My health slowly became background noise that should not interfere with my everyday life. My ignorance to how sensitive the human body really is once again came to bite me in the ass. 

I brought up how much I was thriving this summer in order to make a juxtaposition to how I am doing at this moment of time because after this summer things would change. One of those things to change was the weather. My body normally reacts terribly to the change of weather from the end of summer to the fall/winter and once again one of those expected bursts of sickness had hit me. A cold that kept me at home for 2-3 days that would go away and would leave me to commence my days of school/work. Walking into November I once again began to feel sick but this time in the form of fevers, chills and headaches. This new wave of sickness would fluctuate where one day I was sweating in bed in the morning and shivering at night to another day feeling perfectly fine. This sickness would span until the beginning of January where I had finally decided to go to a doctor to explain what was going on. After a few blood tests I was told my defenses were low and that my white blood cell count was high and my red blood cells low leaving the doctors no other choice but to prescribe me daily antibiotic pills. Things would get worse as my lungs and rib area began to feel inflamed making it hard to breathe. This was the breaking point of this sickness. I went to the ER. I was told that I had developed Pneumonia, an infection in the lungs which I didn’t know was rapidly moving closer to my heart. Remember that hole in my heart which I brought up earlier…well, it landed there. The odds of this happening was unexplainable and the reasoning in which my heart had become compromised by this infection was a mystery. This infection reached that opening and needed to be removed as soon as possible with open heart surgery.

Coming home was a big moment of reflection for me because I was stuck with an IV on my arm with a line attached to a 5 pound device of antibiotics pumping for 24 hours. I lost 30 pounds from summer and had 4 weeks ahead of me isolated from the outside world. It was January 20th 2024 when I was able to come home from the hospital and I felt defeated and ultimately humbled. It’s easy for us humans to ignore our health and the scars we are left with from this infinite stack of cards which we can be dealt. Within this dreadful couple of weeks I made the realization that us humans are genuinely nothing without stable health. We would not be stressing about school or work or expectations we place on ourselves if we did not have the functionality to carry out these kinds of things. That thriving summer I had no thought to the millions of people in the hospital for health issues who needed to be working, who needed to be in school for reasons of their own need. I would now be able to utilize such a philosophy in order to act more cautious throughout my daily life and to even sympathize with a larger crowd of people with even greater sicknesses in their daily life, physical or mental.