Multimodal Component of Rational Argument Essay

https://vimeo.com/148642519 

^video link 

I chose to make my multimodal component of a remix of the songs "Try" by Colbie Caillat as the audio, and the music video of the song "Selfie" by the Chainsmokers. These both exemplify irony as the lyrics state how much time, effort, and money can go into appearance, to be liked, accepted, and fit in. The music video for "Selfie" shows how important popularity, likes, followers, and comments are on Instagram. In my opinion, it is pathetic that people are so self-consumed in appearance, having to use fake eyelashes, buy expensive clothes, wear tons of makeup, use apps to airbrush their face, and spend hours to put together their individual self. The music video portrays how once an individual is done getting ready, when they are out with friends, coworkers, family, etc, they still are worried how they look, hence the girls in the bathroom fixing their hair and makeup. Then they need to take multiple pictures to capture the night, probably not enjoying the social aspect of it. Many times people are too busy of who will like their picture, or if they don't have enough likes, they may delete it. I think this leads to a self-esteem problem many face in our society because many feel the need for constant attention and approval. Colbie Caillat's lyrics to the song "Try" are posted below:

Put your make-up on

Get your nails done

Curl your hair

Run the extra mile

Keep it slim so they like you, do they like you?

Get your sexy on

Don't be shy, girl

Take it off

This is what you want, to belong, so they like you

Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard

You don't have to, give it all away

You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up

You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try

You don't have to try, try, try, try

You don't have to try, try, try, try

You don't have to try

You don't have to try

Mm, mm

Get your shopping on, at the mall, max your credit cards

You don't have to choose, buy it all, so they like you

Do they like you?

Wait a second,

Why, should you care, what they think of you

When you're all alone, by yourself, do you like you?

Do you like you?

In my opinion, these lyrics are very meaningful and touching to women especially because for most of us, our appearance and our look is part of our daily routines. I think everyone wants to look and feel their best, and sometimes that has no boundaries. I think the most important thing to take away from these lyrics is that as long as you like who you are, as an individual, without needing gratification from others, then you don't need to try for anything except happiness from within. 

A Look Into Slacktivism...

What is slacktivism? During the first day of class was the first time I had heard the word slacktivism. Before searching the internet for a definition, I assumed the word related to a type of laziness hence the word 'slack'. When combining the words 'slacker' and 'activism', slacktivism is the act of sharing, communicating, and promoting an image or information. Slacktivism is trying to advocate and give awareness to something that reflects a person's beliefs, values, goals, or personality. An online website I used while researching this topic was Techopedia, which stated, "slacktivism is most commonly associated with actions like signing online petitions, copying social network statuses or joining cause-related social networking groups." With social media at our fingertips, I believe many of us are slacktivists and not activists, as it is easier to support something through cell phones, laptops, and tablets instead of participating and showing effort elsewhere. I am interested to explore this topic in my College Writing 2 class!

Reflection from class 9/9/15

I thought class Friday was very interesting as I heard from multiple classmates their opinions and views on Slacktivism. Most of my groups definitions and findings on various websites were similar to mine. As a group we came to a conclusion that Slacktivism is showing awareness or support for a certain cause or belief through different types of social media. I believe Slacktivism today is more effective then protesting because more people use social media on a regular basis. You can use social media almost anywhere at anytime, and it is instantaneous which allows for news and events to give details immediately and spread like wildfire.

Documentary Questions

I have watched numerous documentary films in my life that have been very eye-opening, informative, and historical. My sophomore year of high school I took a Social Justice class that challenged many of my views on things such as abortion, death penalty, and gay marriage. My teacher was great at leading open class discussions on ethics and morality, and showing us educational and relatable documentaries about a specific topic. I have seen bits and pieces of others while searching the web, but don't have a specific favorite. 

I chose the documentary "After Innocence" by director Jessica Sanders for many reasons. First, after browsing the choices, this one caught my attention immediately. I have always been interested in the criminal justice system, what prison is like, life after a sentence is served, prison related series or television shows, and the death penalty. I find our system flawed in ways as this documentary was all about men and women being exonerated after serving decades in prison. I think using documentary films will help me as a writer because most are educational which broadens my knowledge on topics I didn't know before watching. It is a form of learning that didn't exist many years ago because most of my reading is done through the internet now. 

I think the documentary "After Innocence" was very well put together, explained, and captured the real-life explanation of life after prison. Even after these men were freed, proven not guilty through DNA testing, they still would have a difficult, far from normal life. From psychological, emotional, physical, and financial problems they were experiencing, it was hard for most of them to even find a job, a place to live, or adapt to their new life. It was amazing to know that there is a foundation out there called "Project Innocence" that helps exonerate and free men and women convicted of a crime they did not commit. It was shocking that it took so many years for these men to prove their innocence, and still remained positive after all that happened to them. As a writer, you have to write how you really feel and stand up for what you believe in. For communicating, it is important I believe to stand up for yourself, listen to others, and trust your gut feeling like the exonerees and their families did. One exoneree said during this documentary, "It breaks your soul, takes your manhood, takes your pride, takes your decency, your respect, because you're actually nothing. All you are is something just locked in a cage everyday."

Heres the link to the documentary "After Innocence"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWyaolBlXVc

Draft Summary for "After Innocence"

After Innocence is a real-life documentary released in 2005 that was directed by Jessica Sanders and written by Jessica Sanders and Marc Simon in association with The American Film Foundation. Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, founders of the Innocent Project, are featured in the documentary, and have helped free over 150 people through DNA testing. The documentary focuses on seven men, convicted of various crimes they did not commit, sentenced to decades in prison, before being exonerated after the release of DNA evidence that proved their innocence. The documentary tells how each men was convicted, their trial process, and life after being released. After Innocence is a dramatic, emotionally devastating, but inspiring documentary that shows the struggles of these seven men attempting to adjust back into society after they lost so many years of their lives.

The general purpose of this documentary was to broadcast the flaws in the criminal justice system and show the real-life hardships that these seven men face after being freed. These men felt frustrated, hopeless, and angry with the criminal justice system as they lost some of the best years of their life that changed their lives forever. After Innocence portrays the real life situations presented in the criminal justice system with things such as police misconduct, mistaken identity, and weak legal representation.  The Innocence Project works to prevent wrongful convictions such as the ones shown on After Innocence, especially those placed on Death Row.

Although the criminal justice system will never be perfect, working towards a more reformed system will reduce the amount of people that are serving while innocent. The documentary raises questions on human rights, freedom in America, and how difficult a prisoners life is after being freed and exonerated.

Most of the men were accused of rape, murder, or burglary in After Innocence. Although all seven of these men were proven innocent through DNA testing, that didn’t help when trying to find jobs, buy a home, or see their children. The government didn’t help get these men back on their feet, offering one man only $5.34. When applying for jobs or school, these men couldn’t have their record cleared, which affected these men on a personal, physical, and emotional level knowing they would always their past almost haunting them. After all these men have been through, everything that could help them move forward was actually holding them even farther back.

After Innocence also focused on the victim’s family and how the criminal justice system affected their families. Through the support, perseverance, and financial help, many of the men were able to rely on their families after being exonerated. As this was an upsetting and unfortunate documentary, it showed how the faith, family, and hope were the most important things to these men. This documentary is inspiring to the audience as it shows the audience to never give up and always stay positive like the men in the film did. 

            One of the exonerees, Wilton Dedge, served 22 years in prison of his life sentence.  Even after his DNA evidence proved his innocence, he had to serve two additional years because the prosecution tried to hide it in court. Eventually, Wilton was freed, but this specific case really opened my eyes to the judicial system we follow. How could one prove his innocence and somebody try to prevent his evidence from being seen in court? The documentary was real, powerful, and motivating to stop what is being done to people like Wilton (After Innocence).  

What I Have Learned From Summaries

This past week in class we have focused on our documentaries that we individually chose to watch. I have written many summaries before, but I did learn a couple new things in class while revising my own.

I think majority of what we read today in magazines, online articles, and newspapers are summaries. I think this is because most people would rather read a 3 page paper, then a 10 page paper with every possible detail. If the specific summary is well-written, the summary suffices because it portrays the story or tells the story to the reader. It is essential to be able to compose a summary on various things because almost everyone will one day need to write one.

I think a summary assignment as our first assignment was a good idea, as it ties into our class idea of "Slacktivism". After writing my first draft of my summary, I knew it wasn't to the best of my ability and needed some revision. Class on Wednesday was helpful because I had the chance to see my own flaws in my summary, and know what I needed to fix. I knew the summary was not my opinion on the documentary, but instead telling the reader what the summary was about. I am struggling a little bit on my own summary even with the corrections made from my first draft since my documentary, After Innocence, portrayed the lives of seven men exonerated for crimes they did not commit. I don't want to discuss each and every man because that is not a summary of the documentary, but I feel my summary is too short and vague. My goal this week is too add more detail in to make my summary stronger, without adding unnecessary events in the story.

For the changes I have made already are mostly grammar and punctation, I did leave out a couple things mentioned in class. For example, the year the documentary was released, the use of past/present tense verbs, and using the word "viewers" or "readers".

#sweetbeginnings

The post about Sweet Beginnings was conflicting in my opinion. I watched a documentary in the beginning of the semester that dealt with 12 men being convicted of crimes they did not commit. Even after being proven innocent, they were given a ride back with only a couple dollars and no job. This would still be on their record, which would make finding a job extremely difficult. I think this company, Sweet Beginnings, is awesome to give ex-cons an opportunity to gain some work experience in the real world and have a chance to "start over". Author Casey Tolan, stated that this also gives ex-cons the opportunity at a future job interview something else to talk about except their criminal history. Most of the employees were convicted for drugs, all around North Lawndale. This also gives the ex-cons something else to focus on besides getting back behind bars. It is a weird job, dealing with bees in my opinion, but at least it is someway somehow bettering the community which is something I believe in!

Rough Draft Microtheme #1

Turcich 1 

Lindsey Turcich

Dr. Kyburz

CW2

September 23, 2015 

True Life: I’m Addicted to Social Media

            Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are just a few apps to name a few, that capture the attention, time, and involvement of millions of people everyday, including myself. Whether you have social media accounts or not, you definitely know of them, and are surrounded by them daily. In our society, you can not walk down a street, eat at a restaurant, go to a public event, shop, be in class, or drive a car without someone using a cell phone, tablet, or laptop connecting with the world around them. Why are people so addicted to a screen? 

            First, social media allows many people to communicate, interact, and share information, photos, opinions, and live moments with one another, which many people enjoy and consider a major “positive” of this addiction. It is an easy way to pass time, sometimes too much time, when scrolling endlessly through the newsfeeds we have. You can find out so much information through the use of our fingers, instantly, which makes us feel in control and powerful.  

            Another reason social media is addicting because it gives the user a self-esteem boost, perhaps even a broadening of their ego. Likes, favorites, retweets, a share, a comment, can mean more to the individual than what they realistically are meant to be. As humans, we crave attention, and that is exactly what social media gives users, exposure.           

Turcich 2 

            For me, I believe I am addicted to social media to stay updated with my friends, family, and favorite celebs across the country. I have FOMO, or fear of missing out, and by having social media I feel connected to those I care about. I like to express myself through my pictures, tweets, and shares in Facebook if I believe or agree with something I want others to see. This addiction can sometimes be time consuming, like when one should be studying for a test or interacting with friends while out, and are on their phones instead. I think with good social media usage though, it can be effective, positive, and a fun way of expressing my followers and myself. 

"The Science Behind Your Social Media Addiction." Shape Magazine. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.

Micro theme Draft Copy #3

Turcich 1 

Lindsey Turcich

Dr. Kyburz

CW2

September 23, 2015 

True Life: I’m Addicted to Social Media

            Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are just a few apps to name a few, that capture the attention and involvement of millions of people everyday, including myself. Whether you have social media accounts or not, you definitely know of them, and are surrounded by them daily. In our society, you can not walk down a street, eat at a restaurant, be at a public event, shop, be in class, or drive a car without someone using a cell phone, tablet, or laptop connecting with the world around them. Why are people so addicted to a screen? 

            First, social media allows many people to communicate, interact, and share information, photos, opinions, and live moments with one another, which many people enjoy and consider a major “positive” of this addiction. It is an easy way to pass time, sometimes too much time, when scrolling endlessly through the newsfeeds we have. You can find out so much information through the use of our fingers, instantly, which makes us feel in control.  

            Another reason social media is addicting because it gives the user a self-esteem boost, perhaps even a broadening of their ego. Likes, favorites, retweets, a share, a comment, can mean more to an individual than what they realistically are meant to be. As humans, we crave attention, and that is exactly what social media gives users, exposure. 

            For me, I am addicted to stay connected with my friends, family, and favorite celebs across the country. You could say I have FOMO, or fear of missing out, and social media allows

Turcich 2 

me to stay connected to those I care about. I like to express myself through pictures, tweets, and shares in Facebook that I want others to see. This addiction can sometimes be time consuming, but I think with good social media usage though, it can be effective, positive, and a fun way of expressing oneself.

Micro theme (before final revision)

Final Rough Draft of Microtheme 10/12/15 

Turcich 1 

Lindsey Turcich

Dr. Kyburz

CW2

September 23, 2015 

True Life: I’m Addicted to Social Media

            I use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat apps which all capture the attention and involvement of millions of people everyday, including myself. Whether you have social media accounts or not, you definitely know of them, and are surrounded by them daily. Everywhere you look, someone is using a cell phone, tablet, or laptop connecting with the outside world. Why are people so addicted to a screen? 

            First, social media allows many people to communicate, interact, and share information, photos, opinions, and live moments with one another, which many people enjoy and consider a major “positive” of this addiction. It is an easy way to pass time, sometimes too much time, when scrolling endlessly through the newsfeeds we have. You can find out so much information through the use of our fingers, instantly, which makes us feel in control. Also, social media is addicting because it gives the user a self-esteem boost, perhaps even a broadening of their ego when they receive likes, favorites, retweets, a share, or a comment. This can mean more to an individual since as humans, we crave attention, and that is exactly what social media gives users, exposure. 

            Another reason screens are so addictive is because it allows people to stay connected with friends, family, and favorite celebs across the country. This addiction can sometimes be time consuming, but if we could control social media usage though, it can be an effective, positive, and a fun way of expressing oneself.

Final Microtheme

Final Draft of Microtheme 

Lindsey Turcich

Dr. Kyburz

College Writing 2 

October 14, 2015 

True Life: I’m Attached to Social Media

            I use various types of social media a lot. I feel as though I can’t live without them. I know many of my friends feel the same way. Why do we feel so attached to social media? 

            One possible reason people are so attached to social media is the ability to communicate, interact, share photos, opinions, and live moments with one another which makes it an easy way to pass time when scrolling endlessly through numerous newsfeeds. Social media allows us to stay connected with friends, family, celebs, and political leaders across the world. Another possible reason many people are so attached to social media is the instant, accessible ways of information at our fingertips without having to do much work to find articles, news, and updates, which make the user feel in control. Another potential cause many people are so attached to social media is the ability to “check out” in a social setting by avoiding conversation and eye contact. By using social media on your device, you are able to distant yourself from the world around you, sending a silent message of not wanting to be disturbed. 

            If we could increase our awareness towards the usage of social media, many people would realize that social media is often helpful in relying news and communicating with people. By understanding the effectiveness of social media, maybe being so attached isn’t so bad.

Rational Argument Assignment

I have decided to focus my next paper on the use of technology in public settings and how communication is affecting our social interactions, our everyday productivity, and our lack of an attention span without a device in hand. This topic seems to fit our class theme "Slacktivism" very well, as most of us participate in this daily, almost hourly. According to writer Adele Peters from Co.exist, the average American spends about 11 hours everyday on a device. This is almost half of our day, which astonishes me. I don't know how fixable this problem is, or is it even seen as a problem? Many would argue that they are on their devices for school, work, or information related reasons, which may be true. But, many of us can also say social media plays a huge role in those hours. I plan on discussing both the positive and negatives of this topic, and how some steps could be made to reduce the constant need of our devices on our hand. Many can't eat a meal with family or friends, without answering a text or checking the newest Tweets. The saddest and most frustrating thing about this topic to me is texting/being on your phone while driving. This is dangerous, distracting, and can definitely wait until a stop light, or you've reached your destination. Technology without a doubt has many positive effects, but also can cause many issues socially and personally when screens "takeover".

What I want to focus also on my paper is the use of all the apps we use and how this effects our opinions of certain things, but also can educate and inspire us in others. The internet is an easy and fast way to get creative ideas or find out new things. This is probably because an apps main goal is to maximize our time on our devices. Many times when scrolling through a newsfeed, I see an advertisement or another article, that makes me want to spend more time, checking the next thing that pops up. I am looking forward to this paper and to see where I can take it.

RAD Reflection

Well, I am struggling on the concept of my topic, not finding information so far. I decided last class to switch my topic, when an idea sparked in my head while scrolling through Instagram, an app I was using 5 minutes before class started. I realized how I lost 3 followers, not knowing why and it made me think of many negative reasons. Do you they not like a picture I posted? Since we haven't talked in a while do they not care to see what I am up to? Since I don't follow you back, you unfollow me? These questions made me think of the possibilities why this happened, but also of this topic for my rational argument assignment. Why does Instagram have a meaningful effect on our self esteem and self worth? That is my question I decided to google. I was amazed at how many blogs, magazine websites, newspaper articles, and scholarly articles came up in seconds that immediately was exactly what I was looking for. So I just finished two RAD templates, but I feel I have so many things I would like to discuss, explain, argue, contrast, and compare in my paper that the only right and next step to do is draft! That way I can straighten out and explore my topic in fuller depth.

-Lindsey

Feelings on the Rational Argument Essay

12.1.15 

Wow! I can't believe there is less than two weeks left in the semester. To be honest, it feels like every semester goes by faster than the previous. I am excited for this semester to be over, especially because Christmas is right around the season.

As for College Writing 2, I have done my best throughout the semester to keep up with my work as much as possible. Today, meeting with Dr. Kyburz helped me tremendously point out my many flaws in the paper, and some positives of it. I am working on revising my paper now, trying to go back to my sources and integrate my voice better throughout the paper. I have lots to do, but feel more confident after my meeting with her today because I have that feeling now I am on the right track.

I also have many ideas for my multimodal, so am excited to start creating that!

Blog Entry 12/5/15

I believe I have been doing my very best work in this assignment. I feel I have put the time into my summary of my sources, spending time with each one individually and creating a RAD, which helped me depict the articles to use the most valuable information. I believe it took a lot of revision, time, and effort to get my paper to where it is now. It was stressful because half the time I didn't know if I was doing anything right or was on the right track. I believe going for help with Dr. Kyburz really boosted my confidence, aside from all changes that had to be made after.

I doubt my paper will get a bad grade from the feedback I have been given. At times, I doubted myself because this paper was out of my comfort zone, and I didn't even know if I had correct formatting. I think many of my classmates think the same since with sickness and Thanksgiving break it was hard to meet as much because many of us felt lost. I doubted my paper would be where it is right now because when I handed in my first copy, I didn't even know what my argument was! Also, until that copy, I doubted the point of the summaries and rads, which ended up helping a lot!!

Feeling overall: It has been a great semester for me, and I feel like I have done all my work to the best of my ability. I have attended class, posted blogs as much as possible, learned from my feedback, explored new writing themes (Microtheme and rational argument), and feel I am a better writer. I also feel more connected through the use of #slacktivism, by using the positive sides of social media to express my opinion. It is such a power tool, and if used correctly, my voice can have such an impact to my followers and even strangers. As of the rest of my paper, I have to just make a couple more corrections regarding grammar, and make sure my conclusion is strong, which I hope to do when I meet with Dr. Kyburz Monday for our last conference. I also need to finish my multimodal component, all hoping to be done by Wednesday!

-Lindsey Turcich