Tuesday, April 21, 2009
In class freewrite
I'm burnt out and a little upset with technology. It feels like I am coming to the end of a marathon. 3 weeks left of 18 hours of school, 20 hours a week at my job, and 15 hours a week at my internship. After applying to graduate 2 weeks ago I am feeling more and more like I need to hurry up and get to my break before the final push. Exhaustion, frustration and stress have characterized this semester for me, and even though it isn't quite over yet, I am already feeling a little relieved. I have a countdown I update everyday. Right now it says 17 days, 3 papers, 2 presentations and 5 exams til summer freedom. Unfortunately the last 20 days have some how slowed to a hault, maybe because I am so focused and excited to be DONE! And this is my last gen ed class so YAY!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Prompt
As a group, The Over Achievers have decided that our topic would be over “Little Miss Perfect.” This not only pertains to the television show with the same namesake but all pageants in general that are targeted towards little girls – ages ranging from toddler to pre-teen.
The group as a whole would like to comment how wrong we believe this event is. Pageants aimed towards little girls who have not fully developed mentally, emotionally, and physically could be extremely detrimental. These girls are not entered into the pageants on their own but are coerced by their overbearing mothers who micromanage every moment of their life, if not by themselves then coupled with their spouse or a coach. We’ll be discussing the effects of the pageantry not only on the girls when their young but also when they are older.
There are many mediums we could use to convey our argument. The first that came to mind was a commercial that could either be shot with a serious or a witty tone – to be decided on later. Also, a newspaper article either covering the actual event (in a negative light) or a case study of someone who was once a “Little Miss Perfect” contestant and how their life was negatively affected by the pageant. Creating a program proposal geared towards junior highs and elementary schools that would promote a healthy body image for young girls – “you’re perfect the way you are.”
We look forward to making these arguments and getting to know more about our topic.
The group as a whole would like to comment how wrong we believe this event is. Pageants aimed towards little girls who have not fully developed mentally, emotionally, and physically could be extremely detrimental. These girls are not entered into the pageants on their own but are coerced by their overbearing mothers who micromanage every moment of their life, if not by themselves then coupled with their spouse or a coach. We’ll be discussing the effects of the pageantry not only on the girls when their young but also when they are older.
There are many mediums we could use to convey our argument. The first that came to mind was a commercial that could either be shot with a serious or a witty tone – to be decided on later. Also, a newspaper article either covering the actual event (in a negative light) or a case study of someone who was once a “Little Miss Perfect” contestant and how their life was negatively affected by the pageant. Creating a program proposal geared towards junior highs and elementary schools that would promote a healthy body image for young girls – “you’re perfect the way you are.”
We look forward to making these arguments and getting to know more about our topic.
In Class: reading
I like the question asking what is your eye drawn to first? This would be extremely helpful when making a visual argument. The thing that your eye is first drawn to is the most prominent thing in the picture. If this thing is not the immediate argument and reaction you are trying to achieve, then a bit of the effectiveness is lost right from the start. When making these argument, it may be helpful to have each member view the visual argument and say exactly where their eyes go first to identify if the argument needs editing to achieve its original purpose.
The overall impression question is very helpful too. In addition to the first thing that you are drawn to, whether or not the rest of the text supports or contradicts the original argument is something that the audience will quickly pick up on. By having a contradictory surrounding the original argument may seem comical, dark or even ineffective, and taking all of these ideas into consideration will definitely make for a more effective reaction. However if everything overwhelmingly supports the original statement it may be hard to keep the audience captivated for long, loosing them by overdoing the point.
The overall impression question is very helpful too. In addition to the first thing that you are drawn to, whether or not the rest of the text supports or contradicts the original argument is something that the audience will quickly pick up on. By having a contradictory surrounding the original argument may seem comical, dark or even ineffective, and taking all of these ideas into consideration will definitely make for a more effective reaction. However if everything overwhelmingly supports the original statement it may be hard to keep the audience captivated for long, loosing them by overdoing the point.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
In Class: 3 Part/Unit 3
I HATE group work... I am the one that is trying to get into grad school and so I need a's and b's in my classes for that to be a possibility. I have a full belief that everyone has around the same competency level as I do, but I feel like I am the only one with work ethic at times. The worst experience with this was definitely when I was at a junior college. I got stuck writing a 25 minute presentation and 10 page essay with about a page of notes from my 2 other group members as input. Also in this class I have been grouped with 3 different people who did not complete their work and them refused to give input on mine. Group work, when not allowed to choose your own groups, can be VERY frustrating. If you were allowed to choose your own however, I believe that the responsibility for making bad decisions falls a little bit on the chooser's shoulders as well. Fortunately I have not been grouped with any of the people in this class that I have had a bad experience with so hopefully they will be much better at work ethic than the people I have worked with in the past from this class.
Everyone in the group, for things to go smoothly, needs to contribute, volunteer work hours and make themselves available IN SOME FORM. outside of class. I realize that not everyone has a flexible schedule but a quick answer to emails within about 12 hours from the sent time really isn't too much to ask. I think as long as everyone is attempting to be creative and contributing in some form or fashion that things should go just fine.
Different roles for the group:
This one is kind of tough for me since I feel like everyone should probably contribute to every piece. I feel like that should still remain in effect, but that people should be in charge of making sure (not necessarily doing it themselves) that things get done. For example since we have 4 girls I would say that 1 person should be in charge or the cover memo and then have one person in charge of each argument. Again this would mean it gets done AS A GROUP but that one person is in charge of making sure each is polished after its initial completion and ready to go for submission and presentation.
Everyone in the group, for things to go smoothly, needs to contribute, volunteer work hours and make themselves available IN SOME FORM. outside of class. I realize that not everyone has a flexible schedule but a quick answer to emails within about 12 hours from the sent time really isn't too much to ask. I think as long as everyone is attempting to be creative and contributing in some form or fashion that things should go just fine.
Different roles for the group:
This one is kind of tough for me since I feel like everyone should probably contribute to every piece. I feel like that should still remain in effect, but that people should be in charge of making sure (not necessarily doing it themselves) that things get done. For example since we have 4 girls I would say that 1 person should be in charge or the cover memo and then have one person in charge of each argument. Again this would mean it gets done AS A GROUP but that one person is in charge of making sure each is polished after its initial completion and ready to go for submission and presentation.
In Class: Semester Sum Up
This class has forced me to write about things I never really thought about before. It was interesting to look back on all my work from the semester and think that there is only 4 weeks left and less than 10 class periods to go. At the start of this semester I was a little freaked out, not because of the work but because of how the professor presented it. This wasn't that hard of a class to get through but the first day presentation of "I don't say there is no such thing as an A, but it says that you have done EXEMPLARY work" was a little intimidating. Also the 25-30 pages of writing for each unit kinda scared the crap out of me. Getting to the end of it though it is much more simple than I expected it to be. After all is said and done it was about as much work as I expected a writing class to be. Unfortunately, after applying to graduate yesterday, I am showing a few signs of senioritis, so hopefully I can continue the level of work that I have done thus far through to the end. It is comforting to know that I have come this far though and done so much with an extraordinary amount of effort and am nearing the end.
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