1:30 Blogging to Discover and Share: November 2014

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Comments for Occupy Wall Street- by Choe and Kyle

For your comments on Presentations:

Write about something well done. What did you learn from this group? What part of the Presentation seemed the best?

Is there constructive criticism that would help this group? What might have been more clear? What part of the Presentation seemed the least polished?

Post comments for this group below this post, please, as we all need feedback, and it's valuable.

Comments for Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery- by Lindsey and Kristen

Comments for Times Square- by Elianna and Shannon

Comments for John Browning- by Preston and Mason

Monday, November 17, 2014

Comments for John D. Rockefeller- by Chris and Jared

Comments for Johnny Cash- by Hunter and Brent

Comments for The Miracle On Ice- by Skyler and Xavier

Comments for Citizen Kane- by Lauren and Michael

Comments for Salvador Dali- by Austin and Zach

Comments about Audrey Hepburn- by LaCrista, Matt and Lydia

Comments for Nikola Tesla- Jacob and Evan

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Groups and order for Presentation Projects

uMonday, Nov. 17 (7 groups)

1.Nikola Tesla- Jacob and Evan

2.Audrey Hepburn-LaCrista, Matt and Lydia

3.Salvador Dali- Austin and Zach

4.Citizen Kane-Lauren and Michael

5.The Miracle On Ice-Skyler and Xavier

6.Johnny Cash- Hunter and Brent

7.John D. Rockefeller- Chris and Jared

uWednesday, Nov. 19 (4 groups)

1.John Browning- Preston and Mason

2.Times Square- Elianna and Shannon

3.Changing of the Guard at Arlington National Cemetery- Lindsey and Kristen

4.Occupy Wall Street- Choe and Kyle

TED Talks Reading and Response homework for Monday, Nov. 17

Here is a link to the TED presentation we watched in class:

http://www.ted.com/talks/myriam_sidibe_the_simple_power_of_hand_washing

Here is a link to the list of TED talks so you can find one that you are interested in to watch/read this weekend.

http://www.ted.com/talks

Here's the prompt from your assignmetns for Monday:

•Watch and actively listen to a Ted Talk presentation of your choice. See links above. In the Comments section, write a response:

•First, summarize the main ideas and purpose in this talk so we know what it was about.

•Then analyze: how does the speaker use PowerPoint or other media? What does this speaker do well to convince you? What might have been better?

Exploration 7: Lauren Richards

1). Something that I marked in this chapter is on page 173 when it talks about public documents. It said that "Public documents can tell us a lot about the culture we're living in. The encounters people have with public documents reveal how writing links social institution." (173) Public documents help us understand the issues that people were facing and the actions that they were taking to change something, an example is The Declaration of Independence.

2). The purpose of this story, From My Own Country by Abraham Verghese, is showing that the two official documents that are needed to help Ed are non-existent. There is no will that Ed has set for when he dies or is injured, this would have helped firmly establish whether or not he wishes to be put on a respirator or not. They can only base it off of the fact that Ed's boyfriend Bobby told them that his wish was to not be put on the respirator. Also there is no marriage license between the couple so Bobby does not have any right to make decisions upon Ed's behalf so the decision is placed with the family because of public record that they are related. I don't think Bobby's word is as effective as a legal document. Although he is in a relationship with Ed he has no proof whether or not Ed actually said that he wouldn't want to be put on a respirator. One part in the writing that stuck out to me was when it said "We are his family. I watched Bobby's face crumble as he suddenly became a mere observer with no legal right to determine the fate of the man he had loved since he was seven years old. He was finally, despite the years that had passed and whatever acceptance he and Ed found together, an outsider." (184). This part was emotional for me because you could really see that Bobby cared about Ed and wanted what was best for him but now he could not grant him his wish to die peacefully as opposed to struggling on the respirator.

Exploration 7 Jacob Keller

1. What I had noticed while reading this section was That with the manifestos and petitions I pointed out how these pieces did excellent jobs expressing and giving insight into what people thought and felt in these situations. It had also showed the type of relationships that people had with each other and the people the manifesto or petition was intended for.

2. The piece that I chose to write about was the Tiger Woods piece. Purpose of the Tiger woods piece was to help recognize that women should have the same opportunities that male golfers have to play in the sport. I think it was effective since the owners of the country club recognized that Tiger has great influence in the field of golfing. What was used as evidence in the piece was citing other famous golfers who had played there and talking about Tigers great influence to young golfers. I believe that that strongest writing was at the part where they say " As the worlds most famous golfer, like it or not, you have unique power" because they understand and recognize that Tiger does in fact wield a lot of influence.

Exploration 7 Evan Dias

1)One thing that i annotated and marked as important in this section was petitions. Petitions are a big part of democracy. If we take away petitions it is almost like we are taking away our government. It is very crucial to have this because it gives the people of America the chance to get something changed that they do not like. It is a call for people to support what they are doing and help them to get something changed.

2)I chose to respond to the Tiger Woods-Stand up for equality-Augusta National Golf Club. This is a big article because it explains how people with a lot of fame and fortune can change something big in the world by doing something very simple. The purpose of this is to get female golfers to be allowed to join the Augusta National Golf Club. It is currently all male which is discriminating against females which is one thing that should not be okay in today's time period. This was effective because it really slams the hammer down on the club and on Tiger Woods. They ask him why he would want to support something that awful which nobody would want to so it puts him in a position where he would feel like he has to. one part that shows evidence is when it is brought up that the first black member joined in 1990. This is an effective line because Tiger Woods is also black and would hate to be discriminated against. The writing is at its best when the writer says "Your decision to play or not to play at Augusta will be a strong statement. This is a given, and it is one of the prices of fame". This is powerful because it shows how much influence famous people have on this world.

Exploration 7: Xavier Gregory

1) In the book one thing that i marked as important was petitions. Petitions are a way for individuals who are apart of a democratic society to express themselves. With petitions citizens are able to express their views and they can request public polices to be changed. I think this important because this offers a way to communicate with others who share the same views as the person writing the petition.

2) I chose to respond to the petition: "Stimulate the economy - forgive student loans." The purpose of this petition is to lower the amount of student debt for the graduates and the families of the graduates. It goes on to say that the amount of debt is overwhelming for the families to pay, the families are paying upwards of a third of their monthly incomes to try to handle the debt. It makes the case that we as a country educate our students with some of the worlds best colleges and university but leave them with the debt of their education and a degree. This leaves the students unable to fulfill their dreams and making contributions to the world. I think the writing is at its best about the third paragraph explaining the issues with the debt of education.

Exploration 7 Skyler Siles

1) One thing that I marked and found interesting was how it said public documents can tell the reader a lot about the culture that the writer was living and participating in, and how peoples encounters with public documents shows the link of writing contributes to the relationship that individuals have to social institutions. I marked this because I liked how it shows how an individual and a larger social aspect influence each other and why the documents where created in the first place.

2) I chose to respond to the "Tiger Woods-Stand up for equality" piece. The purpose of this petition is to persuade Tiger to boycott the Masters golf tournament unless the Augusta national golf club admits/allows women to join the all-male golf club. I think that the piece was effective of getting its point across and why tiger should boycott and how he has a huge stage that many young golfers look up to and how he can show how equality should be demanded and it should not be tolerated. The petition uses the evidence of how the golf club is very discriminatory and how they did even let in their first African american member until 1990. then after the articles says that it ask the question of "why would you want to support that?" I think the writing is at its best here because it gives clear evidence of how the club is bad, and then with the question to tiger and how he would be directly supporting that discrimination by participating in the tournament.

Exploration 7: LaCrista Keller

1) What I found to be very curtail in this chapter would be that public documents get their authority not from people who wrote them but from collective sources. Also I found it interesting that some public documents have become very important in our everyday lives such as; The Ten Commandments and The Declaration of Independence. Public documents are very curtail in out everyday lives, like if you want to get married or have a will set in place these are all public documents.

2)The piece that I chose to talk about is "First Things First 2000 Manifesto". When reading this I feel like the people who wrote this weren't trying very hard to get the people reading this to fully understand what they want. The provided no evidence what so ever about their cause on how graphic designers can be used on better thing. What better things can they be used on? I would love to know this because maybe if I did, I would support them and help them achieve their goal. They used a lot of personal experience because they didn't use any actual fact, they just talked about how they feel they should be doing better things with graphic design. "Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact" I really think this quote was the best writing in this piece. It explains what they want and how graphic design is being corrupted but they still never truly helped us understand what exactly they can use their powers for.

Exploration 7 Mason Metcalf

1. In chapter 6 of our book I found a few things that were crucial to the chapter. The thing that stood out to me the most was the first paragraph on page 173. It states that "Public Documents can tell us a lot about the culture we're living in." It also talks about how this "writing links individuals to a social institution."

2. The document that I am responding to is Stimulate The Economy-Forgive Student Loans. This is sponsored by Kevin M. Bartoy and its target is President Obama. The purpose of the writing is to persuade Obama and the government to "forgive" the debts of college students so that they can invest in the future by creating new business and new jobs. I think this was a somewhat effective piece. Its purpose seems to be reasonable but I think they need to add more examples and also need to have more then a Facebook page as its only real communication. Some of the evidence used was how families pay upwards of a third to hold of their monthly incomes trying to pay off student debt. I think there writing is the best in the third paragraph. This paragraph is very powerful. they are confident but also back themselves up. "We provide the the best education in the world in our colleges and universities, but we leave our graduates at a severe disadvantage as they leave our institutions with a degree and a mountain of debt."

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Exploration 7: Austin Nininger

1. I marked down the purpose of public documents. "Not only does this establish an identity for members of the group, but it also enables them to be heard on the public record and to shape public opinion." I marked this because it summed up the inspiration behind the documents, that followed. In the case of the Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers were trying to establish the colony as its own separate entity. These documents are extremely important in establishing a group. Without documents like the Declaration of Independence many groups including the United States would not exist.

2. The story "From My Own Country" tells the story of a doctor who is treating a patient, who is dying from an infection caused by AIDS. The purpose of the story was to stress the importance of legal documents because he can not follow the desires of the patient because he did not have it in writing. He also could not allow the patient's partner to make the decision because the law states, that the patient's family were the only ones able to make a decision. The story did a good job at expressing the importance of legal documents. It shows the drama and emotion caused by the lack of documentation. His partner couldn't tell the doctor how to respond because he lacked the documentation needed to prove the patient's desires. The troubles caused by the lack of documents can be observed by his partner's reactions. His partner was extremely distraught because of his inability to fulfill the patient's desires. Towards the end of the story the drama is extremely apparent. The doctor was regretful because if he had not mentioned the respirator at all, then he would not have the dilemma he was facing. "All I had to do was to come out and say that the pneumonia did not look good, that it looked like the end. I mentioned the respirator, I offered it as an option. I could have just kept quiet." The doctor was under immense pressure, but he had to follow what the law said and eventually had to do what the family wanted not what the patient's lover wanted.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Exploration 7- Chris Ward

1). Something that struck me the most was the ablility of a public document representing a whole people to change the world. Thomas Jefferson shifted his appeal for independent governing from the resposibility of the king to the responsibilty of the people. He ends his document with a call to freedom from the colonies and a course of action to make it happen. Through his persuasive writting, he empowers the new government to break free from the king. This is probably the best example of the power of writing because it helped unite a people under one document and lead them to be the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world.

2. In the Declaration of Independence, I liked how Thomas Jefferson provided evidence for the separation from England and then concludes with a logical conclusion of independence from the kingdom. It calls for action from the people to create a new union that aligns with the Godly principals of equalty, freedom, and prosperity among its citizens. This provides validity to the actions that the colonies take because of failed attempts at negation between the colonies and the King. It is effective because it, in many ways, mobilized a nation to stand up for what they believed. It also provides a blueprint on how to run the nation even today. He uses evidence from the tyrannys that have been enacted against the colonies and citizens that violates human rights. He provides examples, "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.... He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us...He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People". I think the best writing is when he establishes the rights that the United States of America stands for. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness". This embodies what our country stands for and gives us a blue print to live by. When we compare our modern day society to this, are we still living as our founders and God intended us?

Exploration 7: Jared Mills

1.) Something that I found crucial in the reading was the fact that manifestos are used to declare a new idenetity. From the exerpt from the Declaration of Independence; Thomas Jefferson wrote about trying to cut ties with England, trying to make a new identity. The same goes for the manifesto about the graphic designers, they want to find different ways to use their skills, instead of using them for commercial and marketing; "There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills."

2.) Responding to the petition about the 2 million slum dwellers of Nairobi
The purpose of the petition is to try to convince the President of Kenya; Mwai Kibaki, to make the lives of the people in Nairobi a little better, and to stop the forces evictions and horrendous living conditions. I do not believe that the petition is effective, mostly because it was just a list. The author didnt put any emotion into it, it was mostly dry. What the author used as evidence was facts about the living conditions and how terrible they were. They describe the conditions and the effects of them and the evictions. I feel that the writing was at its best in the first paragraph because it painted an image of how awful it is to live in Nariobi. "Crammed into makeshift shacks on just one percent of the city's usable land, people live without adequate access to water, hospitals, schools, and other essential public services." This paints a picture of the people crowded into small, dirty 'houses', with no access to water.

Exploration 7

What I annotated as crucial in this chapter was the honesty depicted in the manifestos. For example in “From The Struggle And The Tools” Lucy quickly identifies the mistrust that the social workers have for the people they serve is pretty degrading and is wrong. In this manifesto it was also pointed out that just the length of the application threw people off the track of trying to be helped. As the manifesto comes to a close we see a bitter sweet ending as Lucy does the application and applies and gets the help she asks for, but four months later.

The purpose of the manifesto “From The Struggle And The Tools” was to simply shed new light on our public assistance policies and bit of corruption held behind them. This manifesto was extremely effective in my opinion because it hid no bit of truth and identified the assistance through a woman by the name of Lucy Caden’s eyes and the writer Ellen Cushman’s eyes as well. Evidence given in this manifesto is the pictures of the application and the identification of the same questions being asked over and over as said by the writer and Lucy. This writing is at its best when the writer is almost telling story through quotes by Lucy and her family. When these quotes are given the manifesto flows extremely well and kind of sets the reader in Lucy’s shoes for a feel of what it’s like. “Look at the hoops they make us jump through. Like we got nothing better to do than give them ‘One or more of the following.”

Exploration 7- Zach Powell

1) Something I found important while reading is that for example in Stimulate the Economy-Forgive Student Loans, the writer says his opinion on how tax payer money should be used. He gives then gives facts about how removing college debt would actually help stimulate the economy more, than throwing money into Wall Street. At the end he adds a web site that the reader can go to if they support his idea. I telling the reader facts and explaining how it would benefit the economy.

2) I chose Tiger Woods-Stand up for Equality. The purpose was persuading Tiger Woods to stand up for Equal rights by boycotting the Masters tournament in 2003, unless the all-male Augusta National Club admits women members. I feel it was effective because the writer talks about how Tiger would be a good role model for younger golfers. The writer talks about Tiger being a world famous golfer and being very influential in golf and wants him to use his power for good. When the writer brings up the first black was only admitted into the private club in 1990 and that the club has legal right to discriminate and asks tiger if he supports that. The writing is at its best when he says "You are well aware, particularly given the tremendous public outcry against the all-male club, that your decision to participate in the Augusta tournament will effectively be an endorsement of that club's policies". I think its best here because the writer is laying down that whatever Tiger decides to do will make a big difference in the game of golf.

Exploration 7

1. What I thought was very important in this chapter was how a lot of these writings were trying to persuade someone. Most of the writings in the chapter had an objective of some sort and they were trying to accomplish some sort of goal.
2. The purpose of the First Things 2000 Manifesto piece of writing was to try to change the way people viewed graphic designers. I don't think it is very effective because it doesn't have any solid evidence on how graphic designers could be used for others things other than marketing. They claim that their problem solving skills could be put to better use, but they don't explain how. The main piece of evidence the piece of writing seems to use is personal experience. It doesn't have any facts or any piece of research they refer from. I think where the writing is at it's best is when the writer says, "Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact". I think this quote explains exactly what the writer wants to change. It is to the point and easy to understand. The word choice used also makes it sound like it's a bad thing to influence people this way and it should be changed.

Exploration Seven: Lydia Freudenberg

1. While reading through part of Charter 6 in A Call to Write and making my way through the section, Encounter with Public Documents, I found it amazing how public document truly rule our life. They allow us to make choices; wills, marriage certificates, contracts. They state facts; applications, government documentation. They allow our world to go round because nothing is really true unless it's documented, and to a point, that is almost frightening.

2. Because I found the section, Encounter with Public Documents most interesting, I believe it is only appropriate to write about a story from that section. I have always been a one hundred percent believer in gay marriage, so I found the story, From My Own Country very interesting. The purpose of this story was for Doctor Abraham Verghese, who is operating on Ed Maupin, (a very sick man suffering from AIDS) to show how if there is no legal or written documentation involved, your voice becomes silent. I believed the story was effective, specifically when Verghese announced how Ed's partner, Bobby, who has been in love with Ed since he was seven years of age and knows all of Ed's wishes, has no say in the decision of Ed's outcome. They are not legally married and so Ed's siblings take the matter into their own hands stating how, "We are his family. We are legally responsible for him." But Bobby is his family too, just not on paper, what a shame. Towards the end of the story, I really found it touchingly sad how Verghese writes, "Bobby kept sobbing, shaking his head as I talked, fat tears rolling off his eyes onto the ground, onto his chest. He felt he has betraying Ed. He could not deliver on his promise." I know Verghese feels guilty he made the situation political and how even though Bobby is so in love with Ed and knows Ed will die if he is not operated on, he loves Ed's wishes even more, and all he wants to do is make Ed happy. Bobby feels as though the siblings are saving Ed for their own happiness and Verghese feels like he is supporting Ed's siblings feelings. Bobby was ready to let go, his siblings were not.

Exploration 7 Preston Wilkin

1. The things that found that where the most impotent in this chapter was how they noted what a public document is. With all of the other types of writing was have looked at, letters argument, reviews to name a few, take the position of one person or author. public documents on the other hand represent a group of people, not just one person. This is impotent because it now addresses a much wider audience and not an individual so it is a different perspective now.

2. The writing that I choose to respond to is the declaration of independence. The purpose of this writing was to declare that we are a separate independent nation from England. This writing was both effective and ineffective at the same time. The writing was effective in the way that we are now a separate country from England and it did have the effect of bringing the country together to fight the English. however it was in effective in the fact that the declaration was signed in 1776 and the treaty of Paris, AKA the treaty that officially ended the war, was signed in 1783, 7 years later. so the declaration didn't official sever there connection like it was intended to do. the evidence in the declaration is pretty evident. basically the entire middle section is a list of complaints problems and reasons that England and the colonies should separate.the writing in the declaration is the best in the second paragraph when it says "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This is probably the most iconic writing in all of American writing. it is impotent because it sets up the basic values our society goes by. it also does it in a very clear and eloquent way.

Exploration 7: Elianna Ponte

1. Something I wanted to share from my active reading that I found interesting was on page 180, the section titled "Encounters with Public Documents." I thought it was interesting how it says that the two reading selections we read showed how ordinary people encountered public documents. I thought this was crucial because a lot of times I tend to think that public documents are only things that exclusive groups of people can access and write, so it was interesting to learn the different sides of public documents and how they can affect pretty much anyone.

2. The petition I'm choosing to respond to is Tiger Woods- Stand Up for Equality- Augusta National Golf Club on page 192.
The purpose: to get Tiger Woods to boycott the Masters Golf Tournament unless the Augusta National Club admits female members into the club in order to stand up for equal rights for all.
Effective?: I honestly don't think that this petition was effective because Tiger Woods is one of the world's most famous golfers, and a Master's tournament is a huge place for him to get media attention. While I do think that maybe he would support the cause, I think that asking him to boycott a tournament is a little much.
Evidence: The evidence used in this petition is second to last paragraph, where the writer talks about William Johnson and the Augusta National Golf Club, in which he includes the evidence that the first black member to join this club wasn't admitted until 1990.
Writing: I think the writing was at its best in the second paragraph, where the writer includes known facts about Tiger Woods, and says that "As the world's most famous golfer, like it or not, you have unique power and the responsibility that goes with it." I think that statement was pretty powerful because he is a public figure that's extremely well-known, and with being so famous, he has a responsibility to be a role-model to the people that follow him.

Exploration 7: Lindsey Bridges

One part I thought was important in the chapter was the section that dealt with interpreting public documents. The fact that people are intimidated by public documents like Medicaid or HUD applications is something that should be taken into account when writing up these documents. I never thought that an official document would scare someone out of applying for something, but it does. I think this could be looked into as a reason some people don't attend college, because of the long forms and official documents they are required to fill out.
I chose to respond to the petition "Stimulate the Economy-Forgive Student Loans." The purpose of the article is asking people to support the idea that students should be excused from paying back their student loans in order to stimulate the economy. I feel that the petition was not very effective. I do the think the author provided enough reasoning to convince people that getting rid of student loan debt is a good thing. The author's evidence is very vague in my opinion. He said that if students were freed of their debt, they then could spend money by creating new businesses and then creating new jobs. What kind of businesses are they expected to create? The author said that students are restrained from giving back to the economy because of student loan debt. This is a very biased opinion. I think the best point of the article was when the author said "We provide the best education in the world in our colleges and universities, but we leave our graduates at a severe disadvantage as they leave our institutions with a degree and a mountain of debt." I think this shows the problem the author wants to be fixed. It gives a clear statement of how he feels about student loans. The article just does not create an effective way to fix the problem.

Exploration 7 :Kyle Doubikin

1. Manifestos and petitions are written for a reason and serve to demonstrate the peoples voice in the government. The writing gets straight to the point and people rely on these kinds of work to organize and carry out a wide range of social activities.

2. I chose the petition over forgiving student loans. The main purpose of this piece was to hopefully convince the president to consider a relief package for all students or alumni with student debt in order to stimulate the economy. This piece could have been effective but there is no way that any package like this would even be considered. The decision is way more complicated then just signing a law into place and the decision would most likely come down to politics and what is best for the wealthy government official. Although the author did hit some good points and gave his audience some food for thought. "We ask you to make a real investment in America. We ask you to truly stimulate this economy. We ask you to use our tax dollars to relieve the burden of student debt and allow our graduates to truly use their education to give back to this great country."

Exploration Seven

1. What I noticed was very important in this chapter was that public documents can be important in society. People can use public documents to petition for something they want done, fill out forms such as marriage forms, a will, and a contract. Government documents such as tax forms, driver's licenses, and passports also are important public documents. All of these documents are important in life because they can identify who we are and speak on behalf of the people who wrote them in order to express their feelings about a specific thing going on in their society, such as debt, and petition to make a high ranking official do something about all of what is wrong.

2. The purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to express the fact that the colonists wanted to become independent states and guide their own country instead of being under rule from the British empire. It was effective because when the Americans won the war they won their independence. If they lost the war then the men who signed the Declaration would have been hanged for treason. One piece of evidence used to describe why the colonists decided to declare their independence was the long section listing the oppressive actions by the king of Britain at the time. The writing is at its best in the very first sentence, "When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another." This sentence explains exactly what the colonists were after. They wanted to sever all ties to the British empire and become their own country with their own government and not be ruled by a different country.

Exploration 7, Kristen Orewiler

1.) One thing I noticed while reading chapter 6, was how powerful words can truly be. Whether you're writing a public document, a petition, or even a mission statement you have the power to persuade another person with your words. I loved when I was reading through this chapter and I heard so many different types of tones throughout the whole entire chapter. You can really be creative when writing anything and that's what I felt was most important in this chapter.

2.) I chose to respond to the petition about Tiger Woods and Standing up for equality. The purpose of this petition is to persuade Tiger Woods into boycotting the Masters golf tournament in order to stand up for equal rights. I believe this petition was very effective based on how it was written. The writer made very clever points throughout the petition for example, "As the world's most famous golfer, like it or not, you have the unique power and the responsibility that goes with it." The evidence that this petition has is the facts in the articles. "While the club does have a legal "right" to discriminate (its first black member was only admitted in 1990, and the 300 CEOs and other wealthy men who belong are invited to join by invitation only). The writer makes sure his points are hit close to home for Tiger. I already mentioned this earlier in my writing, but I believed the writing was best when the author said "As the world's most famous golfer, like it or not, you have the unique power and the responsibility that goes with it." I believe this to be the best writing because the writer makes an excellent point. Since Tiger Woods is a famous golfer, he does have many responsibilities that come along with the fame. This petition in my opinion, was very well written.

Exploration 7 - Hunter Burnett

Exploration 7- Hunter Burnett

1) One thing that I annotated as being crucial and very important information was in the opening paragraphs where it talked about how public documents can tell us a lot about a certain culture and they can also organize and carry out a lot of social activities.

2) The piece of writing I am responding to is the Tiger Woods- Stand Up For Equality- Augusta National Golf Club. The purpose of this writing is to persuade Tiger Woods to boycott the Masters until they let women golf in the Augusta National Golf Tournament. I do not believe that the writing would prove successful because it is way too demanding and the rules clearly state that only males are permitted to play in that specific tournament. I do not believe that it is discrimination or sexist. They use the fact that the club was discriminatory because they admitted their first black member in 1990 as evidence. The writing is at its best in the second paragraph. It is very complimentary to Tiger while trying to persuade him at the same time. "As the world's most famous golfer, like it or not, you have unique power and the responsibility that goes with it" is the quote that stands out to me. This quote stands out to me because it is a very bold statement and really is convincing toward their case with Tiger Woods.

Exploration 7 - Shannon Applin

1. One piece of information from this chapter that I considered to be very important and worth sharing is in the section about public documents as literacy events on page 188. This section explains how public documents are important in how people interact with each other and make sense of things according to the presence or the absence of a public document. This is very important because outcome of an event can be completely altered by a public document.

2. I chose to respond to the petition "Tiger Woods-Stand Up For Equality-Augusta National Golf Club" The purpose of this petition is to convince Tiger Woods to boycott the Masters golf tournament for equal rights. Personally, I don't think this petition was successful because since Tiger Woods is such a famous golfer in the industry it is asking a lot of him to step down from a possibly career changing game for a movement that he may or may or not believe in. The only evidence that I found in this petition was where they explained the rights of the private club, saying that it's wrong to discriminate and how the first black member wasn't admitted until 1990. The writing was at it's best in my opinion where they describe Tiger Woods as "a wonderful inspiration for young golfers." and that he shouldn't "send the message that he supports sexism." This puts a lot of pressure on him providing that he has such a young audience that looks up to him as an idol. The petition uses this to try to persuade him with pathos.

Exploration 7: Brent Nicol

1) A part of the reading I would like to share is how some public documents have taken a sacred form in peoples lives. Public documents have a way of drastically changing the future and the lives of people such as the Declaration of Independence. I believe that public documents such as these are very crucial in the future of the world and generations to come.

2) A petition that I thought was very interesting was the piece of writing to Tiger Woods.The purpose of this writing was to try to get Tiger Woods to boycott the Master's Golf Tournament until the Augusta National Club admits women members. I do not believe that this was effective because it was asking to much of only one person. Even if Tiger Woods would have boycotted the Masters, chances are the Augusta National Club members would not change tradition and their way of thinking. There would have to be a much bigger scale of boycotting between the professional golfers to have this idea work.The evidence used in this piece of writing was how the club has a legal right to discriminate. "its first black member was only admitted in 1990, only" is used as evidence because it is a fact that cannot be disputed. Also this sentence is where the writing is at its best because it shows how discriminate the club is towards people who want to be members. The writing is also very good when they ask "why would you want to support that?" because it puts Tiger Woods on the spot and it makes him think about what he is going to do to try to change the club.

Brainstorm Topics, Essay 3, From Mike Lohre

Please post your 3 good topic ideas for Essay 3 here in the Comments section, and tell us which of the three you are leaning toward doing or most excited about right now.

Mike

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Brainstorming Homework, Presentations. From Mike Lohre

Homework: Brainstorm three good topics for the Presentation Projects. Create topics for at least two of the three categories (people, objects, events).

Make one of your three subjects an alternative or lesser known icon, possibely in a area of interest that you really love.

Post your three subjects in the Comments section here, and then explain which one you are most interested in doing for a Presentation, and why.

Really think about different areas or skill, interest, or study here, and then research to find out the iconic subjects in that topic area.

PHOTOGRAPHY
FILM DIRECTION
DANCE
ARCHITECTURE
BIOLOGY
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
COOKING
FASHION DESIGN
JOURNALISM
CIVIL RIGHTS
PROTEST MOVEMENTS
SCULPTURE
PHYSICS
POETRY
JAZZ
MEMORIALS
PHILANTROPY
PUBLIC SERVICE OR CHARITY

ETC. . . THE POSSIBILITIES FOR SUBJECTS AND CATEGORIES OF INTEREST ARE MYRIAD.

WHAT ARE YOU INTERESTED IN?

HINT: When researching, use search terms like iconic, legendary, leading thinker, leader, pioneer, activist, impact or influence, groundbreaking, seminal, revered, admired, visionary, most respected, etc.

Why is an object like the Statue of Liberty so iconic? For many reasons, of course, but it would take study to truly understand.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Analyzing A Review Exercise. From Mike Lohre

Students,

Please read the following links to reviews to get an idea of how different writers approach the genre.

As you read, think about why we use reviews and the different purposes these reviews take on.

Analyze, and write a response to one of the four reviews in the Comments section of this post.

Consider:

What is the conclusion of the review? Do you agree or disagree?
Is this review fair or biased? How can you tell?
What counts as evidence here? Research? Comparison/Contrast? Personal experience and taste? Storytelling? Historical testing?
What values are implied or stated in this review?

LINKS

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/taylor-swift-1989/

or any of these. . . http://www.collapseboard.com/music-blogs-3/no-one-sent-us-the-new-taylor-swift-album-to-review/

ALBUM

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/books/gone-girl-by-gillian-flynn.html?_r=0

BOOK

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/23/fury-review-brad-pitt-second-world-war-drama

MOVIE

http://www.cnet.com/products/apple-iphone-6/

PRODUCT