Sometimes you experience things so shocking that upon their happening, you are left in a mental state of shock. You are unable to reshift your focus to those assignments due on Tuesday and too shaken to call your girlfriend at the time she told you to call her. You get caught in resounding cycle of replaying that experience second by second, dissecting and then analyzing each detail in order to obtain clarification, hoping for relief that what you just witnessed wasn't it; that it was something else thats not so bad as what you had initially percieved. However, this festering never leads to those results. In fact it does just the opposite, it festers in your brain until that mystery, that experience is a big gapping hole, a blemish that can’t be covered up with a layer of encyclopedic information, or mindless TV shows
Of course you are probably wondering what I am talking about.
Tonight, I was taking a break from doing my homework, and went to go hang out with some friends who live by the U. Once I got there, we didn’t have much to do, so we went on a bike ride. As we were going up fourth I decided to stop at brooklyn’s pizza and get some free water. They didn’t want any, so they sat on those flimsy metal chairs just outside the store and I went in and stood in line.
Well once I got in line I saw one of my friends sitting at a table (which was right by the end of the line) so conviently, I got in line and started to have a small conversation with him. As we were talking, the line started to move forward and I was kicked out of line and instantly cut by some guy with a walker, some lady, and a little girl in maybe kindergarden. Well when these people went in front of me, the guy with the walker looked at me; since I was engaged in a conversation, I interpretted the glance as a way of asking without interupting my conversation, if I was in line or not. I was still talking to my friend, so I motioned them to go in front of me. Then when the guy was moving forward, I noticed he was still discreetly looking at me.
As always, the line was moving slowly and I was beginning to zone out. I had told the friend that I was talking to that my other two friends were outside, so he went out there to talk to them. My eyes were wondering around the room for a while when my focus landed on the TV mounted on the wall that has a slide show playing about how ecologically effiencent solar power is. Out of my periferalls, I could see the guy with the walker lean over, and when he leaned back up, he quickly glanced backwards at me, then stood up again.
He wasn’t an old guy, probably from what I saw, mid to late forties. His body was frail, and through his baggy clothes you could tell that he was incredibly skinny. And every now and again he would take his hands off the walker, as though the walker was nuscience, but everytime, after about ten to fifteen seconds, his wobbly, crooked stance couldn’t support him, so he had to quickly grasp the walker again.
I then noticed that my attention was fully diverted on to him. When I saw him glance at me with my peripherals, I caught a good glipse at his face.
…to be continued tomorrow. The ending is good, kind of heart breaking.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
intervention from project (for saturday)
This portion deals with giving my audience suggestions for anonymous interventions. since my audience is very socially orientated, i felt that in order persuade them to do something that defies their social solidarities (such as narcing on their friend, they need to be offered a method that won't comprimise these solidarities and social ties, and i feel anonymity is that best method
Problems with Direct Intervention:
Confrontation is a very intimidating and unattractive method of seeking help or rehabilitation for your friend/loved one, and rightly so. The consequences of direct confrontation can be extremely damaging to a teenagers reputation among his/her peers and usually yields repercussions such as ostracization, tormenting, and/or physical fights. These threats, along with their desensitization to drug use, in effect, have incited apathy and have averted teenagers away from confrontation which would be beneficial, or possibly even save their friend/loved one's life.
Indirect/Anonymous Intervention:
However, there are other methods of intervention other than doing it directly, those being indirect/anonymous intervention. This form of intervention is dramatically more effective that directness in that it enables you to get help for your friend/loved one without having to compromise your the social ties you have built with that person or friend group.
Methods:
Anonymous letter to your friend/loved one's parents/guardians. Here, you can explain the severity of your friend/loved one's addiction and strongly recommend that the parent/guardian considers getting help for their kid. The best way to approach this method is to be as empathetic as possible. Since the parents/guardians are most likely not aware of their kid's addiction, this letter will be very devastating, and will incite a vast array of emotions. To compensate for this, as I said above, empathy is the best approach, not only to somewhat provide comfort for the parents/guardian, but also to legitimatize your letter. If your voice is too bold or forthright, the parents may think it was a joke, throw the letter in the trash, and your efforts to help your friend/loved one will go unheeded.
To ensure anonymity, you must take a couple precautions.:
When you are sending a letter be sure to leave out a return address. If you are worried that UPS or the Postal Service will lose your letter, you can always put it in their mailbox, if they have one that is accessible from the front yard or if not, slip it under their front door.
Make sure not to sign you name at the end. Instead you could always write something like "Sincerely, A concerned friend"
If you have distinct handwriting, or you think your friend/loved one will recognize your handwriting, you can always type it.
Anonymous email to your friend/loved one's parents/guardians. If you are uncomfortable, or unable to write a letter, the next best from of anonymous intervention would be email. Treat this method similarly as you would with the letter. However, the benefit of using email is that if the parents/guardian disregard your recommendation for help, you can keep sending the email, creating new accounts if you have to. The relentlessness alone (if first email is not accepted), would demonstrate your legitimate concern for their child, hopefully instilling suspicion in them, and causing them to be more attentive around their kid. This in effect, would hopefully lead to the proper help and rehabilitative care your friend/loved one needs to get off drugs and progress in life.
To ensure anonymity, again, you must take a few things into consideration
If you have an easily recognizable email address , make sure you create a new one, possibly with a name that is suggestive to your cause.
Again, be sure to omit your name. Probably the most classy and empathetic way to sign this email would be "Sincerely a concerned friend."
Problems with Direct Intervention:
Confrontation is a very intimidating and unattractive method of seeking help or rehabilitation for your friend/loved one, and rightly so. The consequences of direct confrontation can be extremely damaging to a teenagers reputation among his/her peers and usually yields repercussions such as ostracization, tormenting, and/or physical fights. These threats, along with their desensitization to drug use, in effect, have incited apathy and have averted teenagers away from confrontation which would be beneficial, or possibly even save their friend/loved one's life.
Indirect/Anonymous Intervention:
However, there are other methods of intervention other than doing it directly, those being indirect/anonymous intervention. This form of intervention is dramatically more effective that directness in that it enables you to get help for your friend/loved one without having to compromise your the social ties you have built with that person or friend group.
Methods:
Anonymous letter to your friend/loved one's parents/guardians. Here, you can explain the severity of your friend/loved one's addiction and strongly recommend that the parent/guardian considers getting help for their kid. The best way to approach this method is to be as empathetic as possible. Since the parents/guardians are most likely not aware of their kid's addiction, this letter will be very devastating, and will incite a vast array of emotions. To compensate for this, as I said above, empathy is the best approach, not only to somewhat provide comfort for the parents/guardian, but also to legitimatize your letter. If your voice is too bold or forthright, the parents may think it was a joke, throw the letter in the trash, and your efforts to help your friend/loved one will go unheeded.
To ensure anonymity, you must take a couple precautions.:
When you are sending a letter be sure to leave out a return address. If you are worried that UPS or the Postal Service will lose your letter, you can always put it in their mailbox, if they have one that is accessible from the front yard or if not, slip it under their front door.
Make sure not to sign you name at the end. Instead you could always write something like "Sincerely, A concerned friend"
If you have distinct handwriting, or you think your friend/loved one will recognize your handwriting, you can always type it.
Anonymous email to your friend/loved one's parents/guardians. If you are uncomfortable, or unable to write a letter, the next best from of anonymous intervention would be email. Treat this method similarly as you would with the letter. However, the benefit of using email is that if the parents/guardian disregard your recommendation for help, you can keep sending the email, creating new accounts if you have to. The relentlessness alone (if first email is not accepted), would demonstrate your legitimate concern for their child, hopefully instilling suspicion in them, and causing them to be more attentive around their kid. This in effect, would hopefully lead to the proper help and rehabilitative care your friend/loved one needs to get off drugs and progress in life.
To ensure anonymity, again, you must take a few things into consideration
If you have an easily recognizable email address , make sure you create a new one, possibly with a name that is suggestive to your cause.
Again, be sure to omit your name. Probably the most classy and empathetic way to sign this email would be "Sincerely a concerned friend."
effects from project (for friday)
What are the short-term effects?
After alcohol consumption, the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach, and distributed throughout the bloodstreams where it is then carried to and absorbed by all the bodily tissues. Once a person drinks alcohol, they are highly susceptible to experiencing a number of effects such as, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, dizziness, and impaired judgement and coordination. Also, since alcohol chemically alters the brain by means of tissue absorption, some people may experience temporary psychological transformations such as aggressiveness, which often leads to domestic abuse or child abuse.
What are the long-term effects?
After extensive exposure to heavy binge drinking, a person is highly susceptible to damaging organs such as the brain and liver. Furthermore, a sudden stop in using alcohol (once addicted) is likely yield excruciatingly painful withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, convulsions, hallucinations, migraines, and in some severe cases, even death. It is these restraining threats which are the main cause that deters people who are seeking to quit their addiction from doing so.
What are the short-term effects?
Upon snorting or smoking cocaine, a person will experience increased heart rate, blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability, and anxiety. Once the short-lived euphoric effects begin to fade away, the user will then experience what is known as a "coke crash" which includes fatigue and depression. Often times, in order to avoid this "coke crash" new users will begin to ingest more cocaine just before euphoria subsides. This in effect develops a physical dependence among these users, and many times results in addiction.
What are the long-term effects?
Prolonged usage of cocaine often results in aggressiveness and paranoia, often causing unprovoked fits of rage among users and constant jitteriness. Excessive snorting of cocaine can also cause ulcerations of the mucous membranes in the nose. This damage, being permanent, results in hyper delicacy of the nose where bleeding occurs frequently, and in some severe cases even causes the nose to collapse
What are the short-term effects?
Upon using ecstasy, users can show signs of teeth clenching, blurred vision, and nausea. Ecstasy has also been proven to increase heart/blood pressure, which then raises the chances of a seizure, which do occasionally occur. Ecstasy also enables people to engage in prolonged activity such as dancing, which is commonly done at "raves" and concerts where ecstasy is primarily used. This relentless activity coupled with the body heat of the crowd can lead to severe dehydration and high increases in body temperature which can then lead to kidney, liver, and cardiovascular failure.
What are the long-term effects?
Long-term exposure of ecstasy usage has been observed to damage the cells that produce serotonin. This chemical is vital in the regulation of mood, appetite, pain and memory. Considering that ecstasy is a relatively recently introduced drug, the amount of data collected on long-term effects are scarce. However, of the developing research out there, it has been reported that ecstasy dramatically damages memory cells in the brain.
What are the short-term effects?
Once the initial euphoric surge begins to subside, users experience many languid after-effects. This "nod", as it is commonly referred to is attributed to the depression of the central nervous system caused by the flux of heroin absorbed by brain tissue. These effects include alternating states of extreme drowsiness and awakeness, vomiting, constipation, slurred speech, and slow, uncoordinated motor skills.
What are the long-term effects?
Like people effected by alcoholism, many long-term heroin users are often apprehensive about quitting their addiction due the painful withdrawal symptoms produced by sudden cessation of use. These symptoms typically include, intense pain to muscles and bone, restlessness, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes, and kicking movements. Depending on the severity of the physical dependence, these symptoms can last anywhere from two to seven days.
Furthermore, long-term heroin users are also at a risk of collapsing veins, destroying protective lining on the heart and lungs, liver disease, cellulites, and abscesses (a swollen or inflamed area on the skin caused by high concentrations of puss).
What are the Short-Term effects?
After the euphoric effects of meth subside, users will experience feeling numerous side effects which include, insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability, convulsions, and possibly a heart attack.
What are the Long-Term Effects?
Chronic usage of meth often leads to what is commonly known as "bingeing". Here users will involuntarily deprive themselves of sleep and food to satisfy their body's dependence of the drug. Bingeing can last for as long as three to four days and typically ends when the user is either too malnourished or fatigued to continue.
Prolonged exposure to meth is also psychologically and physically damaging, such as hallucinations, strokes, paranoia, toxic psychosis (which leads to aggressive behavior), and death. Some heavy users, as a result of acquired, semi-permanent hallucinations have been observed preforming repetitive behaviors similar to that of OCD such as constant cleaning, and constantly disassembling and reassembling objects. Another common occurrence observed in chronic users is a delusion of insects or parasites living inside of their skin. As a result of this hallucination, users will incessantly scratch at their skin, which eventually leaves the body scarred with scabs and open wounds.
What are the effects?
Prolonged use of central nervous system depressants commonly leads to physical dependence. When used excessively, they will slow down brain function (damage brain cells) produce an irregular heart beat, and depending on severity of dependence could cause seizures. Furthermore, these medications are especially dangerous when combined with other medications or alcohol. Here, this combination often leads to extremely low heart rates and respiratory levels.
After alcohol consumption, the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach, and distributed throughout the bloodstreams where it is then carried to and absorbed by all the bodily tissues. Once a person drinks alcohol, they are highly susceptible to experiencing a number of effects such as, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech, dizziness, and impaired judgement and coordination. Also, since alcohol chemically alters the brain by means of tissue absorption, some people may experience temporary psychological transformations such as aggressiveness, which often leads to domestic abuse or child abuse.
What are the long-term effects?
After extensive exposure to heavy binge drinking, a person is highly susceptible to damaging organs such as the brain and liver. Furthermore, a sudden stop in using alcohol (once addicted) is likely yield excruciatingly painful withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, convulsions, hallucinations, migraines, and in some severe cases, even death. It is these restraining threats which are the main cause that deters people who are seeking to quit their addiction from doing so.
What are the short-term effects?
Upon snorting or smoking cocaine, a person will experience increased heart rate, blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability, and anxiety. Once the short-lived euphoric effects begin to fade away, the user will then experience what is known as a "coke crash" which includes fatigue and depression. Often times, in order to avoid this "coke crash" new users will begin to ingest more cocaine just before euphoria subsides. This in effect develops a physical dependence among these users, and many times results in addiction.
What are the long-term effects?
Prolonged usage of cocaine often results in aggressiveness and paranoia, often causing unprovoked fits of rage among users and constant jitteriness. Excessive snorting of cocaine can also cause ulcerations of the mucous membranes in the nose. This damage, being permanent, results in hyper delicacy of the nose where bleeding occurs frequently, and in some severe cases even causes the nose to collapse
What are the short-term effects?
Upon using ecstasy, users can show signs of teeth clenching, blurred vision, and nausea. Ecstasy has also been proven to increase heart/blood pressure, which then raises the chances of a seizure, which do occasionally occur. Ecstasy also enables people to engage in prolonged activity such as dancing, which is commonly done at "raves" and concerts where ecstasy is primarily used. This relentless activity coupled with the body heat of the crowd can lead to severe dehydration and high increases in body temperature which can then lead to kidney, liver, and cardiovascular failure.
What are the long-term effects?
Long-term exposure of ecstasy usage has been observed to damage the cells that produce serotonin. This chemical is vital in the regulation of mood, appetite, pain and memory. Considering that ecstasy is a relatively recently introduced drug, the amount of data collected on long-term effects are scarce. However, of the developing research out there, it has been reported that ecstasy dramatically damages memory cells in the brain.
What are the short-term effects?
Once the initial euphoric surge begins to subside, users experience many languid after-effects. This "nod", as it is commonly referred to is attributed to the depression of the central nervous system caused by the flux of heroin absorbed by brain tissue. These effects include alternating states of extreme drowsiness and awakeness, vomiting, constipation, slurred speech, and slow, uncoordinated motor skills.
What are the long-term effects?
Like people effected by alcoholism, many long-term heroin users are often apprehensive about quitting their addiction due the painful withdrawal symptoms produced by sudden cessation of use. These symptoms typically include, intense pain to muscles and bone, restlessness, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes, and kicking movements. Depending on the severity of the physical dependence, these symptoms can last anywhere from two to seven days.
Furthermore, long-term heroin users are also at a risk of collapsing veins, destroying protective lining on the heart and lungs, liver disease, cellulites, and abscesses (a swollen or inflamed area on the skin caused by high concentrations of puss).
What are the Short-Term effects?
After the euphoric effects of meth subside, users will experience feeling numerous side effects which include, insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability, convulsions, and possibly a heart attack.
What are the Long-Term Effects?
Chronic usage of meth often leads to what is commonly known as "bingeing". Here users will involuntarily deprive themselves of sleep and food to satisfy their body's dependence of the drug. Bingeing can last for as long as three to four days and typically ends when the user is either too malnourished or fatigued to continue.
Prolonged exposure to meth is also psychologically and physically damaging, such as hallucinations, strokes, paranoia, toxic psychosis (which leads to aggressive behavior), and death. Some heavy users, as a result of acquired, semi-permanent hallucinations have been observed preforming repetitive behaviors similar to that of OCD such as constant cleaning, and constantly disassembling and reassembling objects. Another common occurrence observed in chronic users is a delusion of insects or parasites living inside of their skin. As a result of this hallucination, users will incessantly scratch at their skin, which eventually leaves the body scarred with scabs and open wounds.
What are the effects?
Prolonged use of central nervous system depressants commonly leads to physical dependence. When used excessively, they will slow down brain function (damage brain cells) produce an irregular heart beat, and depending on severity of dependence could cause seizures. Furthermore, these medications are especially dangerous when combined with other medications or alcohol. Here, this combination often leads to extremely low heart rates and respiratory levels.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
prolouge to narrative
The development of a group identity is determined largely in part by the individual identities that comprise that group and through the experiences shared amongst those individuals. The group I hung with back in high school was initially drawn together through the similar personalities and interests we each had our solidarity was further bounded largely by the experiences we went through in eighth and ninth grade. During this time, these experiences were built upon the classical angst and curiosity inherent in most teenagers, in which drugs (amongst other things) were one of our outlets.
I had known who Dylan was back in middle school, but in ninth grade our mutual friends had lead us, almost inevitably to form a strong friendship with each other. In present memory I can recall Dylan and myself hoping the back wall of his parents house where we would meander through the desert towards some hidden spot behind the shelter of a sprawling mesquite tree or creosote bush. Crouching, I can watch him pull out some beat up, crusty looking tobacco pipe out of his sweatshirt pocket and gingerly load it up with a clumped nugget of weed. I remember the eye drops, and the spray cans of axe or old spice, and the paranoia I felt walking back into his house, hoping to God that his mom doesn’t get a whiff of any lingering potency.
However, this ephemeral period was not to last forever. By senior year our interests had gone eschew and drugs, which had ironically been one of the affinities that brought our group together, had divided us into two different groups. There was no bitterness between us, and there wasn’t a dramatic fight; in fact we occasionally still hung out with each other. But as I mentioned before, our interests had gone eschew and that had prevented us from regaining that strong bond we all once shared.
Dylan’s path was drugs, but it didn’t happen over night. It was in perennial with the sketchy "smoke sessions" behind his house, which then evolved to coke he bought from some dude named "G", sizzurp, meth, and finally heroin. And although our friendship was not as strong as it had been the four years prior, I can say that until the morning Dylan was found lying dead on his bedroom floor, myself as well as the rest of my friends knew about everything that he was doing. This is the story of our silence and inaction.
I had known who Dylan was back in middle school, but in ninth grade our mutual friends had lead us, almost inevitably to form a strong friendship with each other. In present memory I can recall Dylan and myself hoping the back wall of his parents house where we would meander through the desert towards some hidden spot behind the shelter of a sprawling mesquite tree or creosote bush. Crouching, I can watch him pull out some beat up, crusty looking tobacco pipe out of his sweatshirt pocket and gingerly load it up with a clumped nugget of weed. I remember the eye drops, and the spray cans of axe or old spice, and the paranoia I felt walking back into his house, hoping to God that his mom doesn’t get a whiff of any lingering potency.
However, this ephemeral period was not to last forever. By senior year our interests had gone eschew and drugs, which had ironically been one of the affinities that brought our group together, had divided us into two different groups. There was no bitterness between us, and there wasn’t a dramatic fight; in fact we occasionally still hung out with each other. But as I mentioned before, our interests had gone eschew and that had prevented us from regaining that strong bond we all once shared.
Dylan’s path was drugs, but it didn’t happen over night. It was in perennial with the sketchy "smoke sessions" behind his house, which then evolved to coke he bought from some dude named "G", sizzurp, meth, and finally heroin. And although our friendship was not as strong as it had been the four years prior, I can say that until the morning Dylan was found lying dead on his bedroom floor, myself as well as the rest of my friends knew about everything that he was doing. This is the story of our silence and inaction.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
audience description
Audience Description
My target audience is adolescents or young adults who have friends/loved ones who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. My audience is not limited to race, gender, or socioeconomic class, because I believe drug use and addiction is not determinative by these factors. In other words, I am targeting any young adult or adolescent, from any race/ ethnic background, boy or girl, rich or poor. The educational background of my audience is a current student, who is in high school, college, or even recently graduated young adults. I am assuming my audience is literate and retains a basic level of education. Since drug use has become embedded in contemporary American culture, and in some cases, is commonplace within high schools and colleges, much of my audience is desensitized to drug use and addiction. This desensitization, in effect, not only has caused my audience to develop a lack of concern towards chronic drug use, but has also caused my audience overall to become more indifferent.
Our culture, which highly values social identity and social belonging, has instilled in my audience a strong sense to retain the social identity and ties they have established. In order to do this, my audience often conforms to American social interactional values which include informality, respect, and building solidarity. Here, in order to build solidarity or maintain solidarity amongst friends or a certain group, teenagers and young adults will tend to cater to the groups expectations and values. In many cases, direct intervention or confrontation conflict these expectations or values, so teenagers and young adults often become timid. Considering this, I will promote anonymous intervention, which I believe would be more appealing to my audience in that they can maintain the social ties and solidarity they have established amongst their friends or social group
My target audience is adolescents or young adults who have friends/loved ones who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. My audience is not limited to race, gender, or socioeconomic class, because I believe drug use and addiction is not determinative by these factors. In other words, I am targeting any young adult or adolescent, from any race/ ethnic background, boy or girl, rich or poor. The educational background of my audience is a current student, who is in high school, college, or even recently graduated young adults. I am assuming my audience is literate and retains a basic level of education. Since drug use has become embedded in contemporary American culture, and in some cases, is commonplace within high schools and colleges, much of my audience is desensitized to drug use and addiction. This desensitization, in effect, not only has caused my audience to develop a lack of concern towards chronic drug use, but has also caused my audience overall to become more indifferent.
Our culture, which highly values social identity and social belonging, has instilled in my audience a strong sense to retain the social identity and ties they have established. In order to do this, my audience often conforms to American social interactional values which include informality, respect, and building solidarity. Here, in order to build solidarity or maintain solidarity amongst friends or a certain group, teenagers and young adults will tend to cater to the groups expectations and values. In many cases, direct intervention or confrontation conflict these expectations or values, so teenagers and young adults often become timid. Considering this, I will promote anonymous intervention, which I believe would be more appealing to my audience in that they can maintain the social ties and solidarity they have established amongst their friends or social group
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Research proposal. I thought i posted this thursday, guess not
Purpose:
The purpose of my rhetorical project is to motivate and encourage people to come forward if their friends or someone close to them is engaging in a self-destructive act or habit such as drug use. With my project I intend that my audience voice their concern somehow, whether it be directly to their friend/close one, anonymously to that persons parent/guardian, or anonymously to that person. An anonymous confrontation or recommendation for help can be done by means of a letter, email, or through someone else.
Audience:
My primary audience is adolescents or young adults who have friends/close ones that are engaging in self-destructive acts. Although there are middle-aged people who are associated with drug addicts, typically, it is younger people who are naïve to the substantive consequences of drug-use and thus remain silent and inactive when a friend/close one is engaged in addiction. Because of this naïveté and denial of consequences, I feel that adolescents and young adults need to be exposed to the actual effects of drug use and encouraged to come forward against it.
Context:
Typically, adults, school administrators, or teachers have initiated arguments directed towards adolescents and young adults against drug use. Students usually do not identify with these people so their arguments are often unheeded or regarded as lame or stupid, and vise versa; since these educators do not identify with students, their arguments do tend to be ineffective. Being a young adult I can identify with this crowd more effectively than educators have in the past.
Considering the lethal consequences and long-term effects of drug use, the urgency to motivate kids/young adults to help their friends get off drugs is extremely important. In my rhetorical project I can further stress the relevance of this argument by putting into perspective the long-term consequences of drug use, and by providing real-world stories of kids who have died as a result of it. This in effect will (hopefully) instill a sense of urgency and relevancy in my audience and motivate them to take action.
Rhetorical Strategies:
As I mentioned above, I am going to provide real-world stories about kids who have died not only as a result of drug-use, but also as a result of having friends who were silent about their addiction and self-destruction. These stories, being real, will contribute to the pathos of my argument and will instill a realization in the audience that they are not invincible, and that there are real-world consequences to drug-use. Hopefully this would confirm or draw out any concerns that they have for their friend’s/close one’s addiction and cause them to start thinking about how they should come forward about it.
I will also provide empirical data about long-term and short-term effects of drug use. However, this portion is not going to be over-powering in my project, because I believe that most people are aware of the dangers of drug-use. I also anticipate the audience will get the impression that I am just trying to preach information that is mundane and commonplace, and will reject the argument overall for doing so.
Furthermore since I am trying to persuade people to come forward about their friends/close ones drug addiction, I am going to suggest how they should approach confrontation or recommendation for help. Since most people value privacy and anonymity, and probably would prefer confronting their friends indirectly to avoid fights, drama, or being ostracized, I am going to sympathize with that approach and really elaborate on methods of indirect confrontation. This, I feel, would be a very effective method to motivate coming forward in that I am identifying with the audiences values, and presenting actual, feasible strategies that would allow for anonymity and would also help out their friends/close ones.
Sources:
http://www.focusas.com/
http://www.usnodrugs.com/
http://www.nida.nih.gov/
http://teens.drugabuse.gov/
Medium:
I believe a website is the best medium for my argument. My audience, for the most part, is very technologically orientated and spend a lot of their time on the computer and browsing the Internet, so, I believe a website would be of easy-access to my audience. Another reason a website would be effective is that I can add visually attractive graphics and format it in such a way that would prevent my site from looking bland, and thus indulge the audience to explore the site more and hopefully cause them to absorb some of the information. A website wold also be beneficial to my argument in that it will allow me to include a bulk of information and graphics that I otherwise would be lacking or unable to present in another medium.
Arrangement:
I am going to format the website and present the information in such a way that won’t seem daunting to the audience, in other words, I am going to keep it brief and avoid large bulks of writing. I will include pictures, possibly shocking or graphic ones, which will capture the audience’s attention. I will also avoid using bland fonts or even cheesy fonts to prevent my website from being just that, bland or cheesy.
I can also include links to other sites and resources that would not only legitimatize my cause, but would also start leading them in the right direction to get help for their friends/close ones.
The purpose of my rhetorical project is to motivate and encourage people to come forward if their friends or someone close to them is engaging in a self-destructive act or habit such as drug use. With my project I intend that my audience voice their concern somehow, whether it be directly to their friend/close one, anonymously to that persons parent/guardian, or anonymously to that person. An anonymous confrontation or recommendation for help can be done by means of a letter, email, or through someone else.
Audience:
My primary audience is adolescents or young adults who have friends/close ones that are engaging in self-destructive acts. Although there are middle-aged people who are associated with drug addicts, typically, it is younger people who are naïve to the substantive consequences of drug-use and thus remain silent and inactive when a friend/close one is engaged in addiction. Because of this naïveté and denial of consequences, I feel that adolescents and young adults need to be exposed to the actual effects of drug use and encouraged to come forward against it.
Context:
Typically, adults, school administrators, or teachers have initiated arguments directed towards adolescents and young adults against drug use. Students usually do not identify with these people so their arguments are often unheeded or regarded as lame or stupid, and vise versa; since these educators do not identify with students, their arguments do tend to be ineffective. Being a young adult I can identify with this crowd more effectively than educators have in the past.
Considering the lethal consequences and long-term effects of drug use, the urgency to motivate kids/young adults to help their friends get off drugs is extremely important. In my rhetorical project I can further stress the relevance of this argument by putting into perspective the long-term consequences of drug use, and by providing real-world stories of kids who have died as a result of it. This in effect will (hopefully) instill a sense of urgency and relevancy in my audience and motivate them to take action.
Rhetorical Strategies:
As I mentioned above, I am going to provide real-world stories about kids who have died not only as a result of drug-use, but also as a result of having friends who were silent about their addiction and self-destruction. These stories, being real, will contribute to the pathos of my argument and will instill a realization in the audience that they are not invincible, and that there are real-world consequences to drug-use. Hopefully this would confirm or draw out any concerns that they have for their friend’s/close one’s addiction and cause them to start thinking about how they should come forward about it.
I will also provide empirical data about long-term and short-term effects of drug use. However, this portion is not going to be over-powering in my project, because I believe that most people are aware of the dangers of drug-use. I also anticipate the audience will get the impression that I am just trying to preach information that is mundane and commonplace, and will reject the argument overall for doing so.
Furthermore since I am trying to persuade people to come forward about their friends/close ones drug addiction, I am going to suggest how they should approach confrontation or recommendation for help. Since most people value privacy and anonymity, and probably would prefer confronting their friends indirectly to avoid fights, drama, or being ostracized, I am going to sympathize with that approach and really elaborate on methods of indirect confrontation. This, I feel, would be a very effective method to motivate coming forward in that I am identifying with the audiences values, and presenting actual, feasible strategies that would allow for anonymity and would also help out their friends/close ones.
Sources:
http://www.focusas.com/
http://www.usnodrugs.com/
http://www.nida.nih.gov/
http://teens.drugabuse.gov/
Medium:
I believe a website is the best medium for my argument. My audience, for the most part, is very technologically orientated and spend a lot of their time on the computer and browsing the Internet, so, I believe a website would be of easy-access to my audience. Another reason a website would be effective is that I can add visually attractive graphics and format it in such a way that would prevent my site from looking bland, and thus indulge the audience to explore the site more and hopefully cause them to absorb some of the information. A website wold also be beneficial to my argument in that it will allow me to include a bulk of information and graphics that I otherwise would be lacking or unable to present in another medium.
Arrangement:
I am going to format the website and present the information in such a way that won’t seem daunting to the audience, in other words, I am going to keep it brief and avoid large bulks of writing. I will include pictures, possibly shocking or graphic ones, which will capture the audience’s attention. I will also avoid using bland fonts or even cheesy fonts to prevent my website from being just that, bland or cheesy.
I can also include links to other sites and resources that would not only legitimatize my cause, but would also start leading them in the right direction to get help for their friends/close ones.
stagnant
Every once and a while my boss asks me to come in at five in the morning for what ever reason. Tomorrow is one of those days, and I must say I am not looking forward to it. The twenty seven hours I've already put in this weekend has left me burnt out and exhausted and waking up at 4:30 in the morning to perform the same repetitive, and laborious tasks is not how I want to start off my week. But I got to do it.
I’m a produce clerk at a grocery store. Overall I enjoy my job, I like the guys I work with, the managers tend to leave us alone, and customers rarely bother me. However, the job itself can at times be hard work. The tasks include downstacking pallets, organizing the freezer, lifting up to eighty-pound crates/sacks, placing food on the floor, pricing, cleaning and a myriad of other miscellaneous responsibilities. From reading that your probably thinking “what’s the big deal” or “that sounds pretty easy” and you’re right it is simple. But after a year and a half of an unchangeable routine, my job has gotten to be excruciatingly repetitive and boring to the point where my motivation and effort have become stagnant. So that’s where I am right now; dreading to go to a job where forcing myself into a half-conscious auto pilot like state is the only option I have to prevent myself from snapping and doing something irrational. Coping through means of a self-induced dumbing. Its mind numbing.
But enough rants. “At least I have a job”. At least I can drag myself into bed every night knowing that I earned that $8.25 and hour. “But I’m just glad I have something. $800 bucks a month is better than nothing”, says them. The gullible co-workers I work with (not the produce guys, they all have other jobs or are going to school.) The hourly workers who will work harder and faster just because their manager told them they could go home an hour early when they finish. The same guys who slug across the parking lot to their bond-o Buick or sun-faded green Pontiacs to putt home and turn on the TV. But at least they have a job. At least they have a ticker that’s still ticking and lungs that can still bellow sighs. And like me, they have accepted stagnancy and have accepted to desperately count down from thirteen to that golden Thursday that happens twice a month.
Tomorrow I will go into work at five in the morning to make produce look “flawless.” “We need it looking awesome for Antwone. He’s coming in tomorrow.” So I will work harder to impress some fat guy who doesn’t care to learn my name or shake my hand and look me in the eyes and say “good job”. He will just walk by, piously, and being trailed by a flock of sycophant managers, anxiously scribbling on their clipboards what he says sucks.
I’m a produce clerk at a grocery store. Overall I enjoy my job, I like the guys I work with, the managers tend to leave us alone, and customers rarely bother me. However, the job itself can at times be hard work. The tasks include downstacking pallets, organizing the freezer, lifting up to eighty-pound crates/sacks, placing food on the floor, pricing, cleaning and a myriad of other miscellaneous responsibilities. From reading that your probably thinking “what’s the big deal” or “that sounds pretty easy” and you’re right it is simple. But after a year and a half of an unchangeable routine, my job has gotten to be excruciatingly repetitive and boring to the point where my motivation and effort have become stagnant. So that’s where I am right now; dreading to go to a job where forcing myself into a half-conscious auto pilot like state is the only option I have to prevent myself from snapping and doing something irrational. Coping through means of a self-induced dumbing. Its mind numbing.
But enough rants. “At least I have a job”. At least I can drag myself into bed every night knowing that I earned that $8.25 and hour. “But I’m just glad I have something. $800 bucks a month is better than nothing”, says them. The gullible co-workers I work with (not the produce guys, they all have other jobs or are going to school.) The hourly workers who will work harder and faster just because their manager told them they could go home an hour early when they finish. The same guys who slug across the parking lot to their bond-o Buick or sun-faded green Pontiacs to putt home and turn on the TV. But at least they have a job. At least they have a ticker that’s still ticking and lungs that can still bellow sighs. And like me, they have accepted stagnancy and have accepted to desperately count down from thirteen to that golden Thursday that happens twice a month.
Tomorrow I will go into work at five in the morning to make produce look “flawless.” “We need it looking awesome for Antwone. He’s coming in tomorrow.” So I will work harder to impress some fat guy who doesn’t care to learn my name or shake my hand and look me in the eyes and say “good job”. He will just walk by, piously, and being trailed by a flock of sycophant managers, anxiously scribbling on their clipboards what he says sucks.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Final Draft Regional Variation
Multidialectualism: Regional Variances
The question we posted deals with how regional dialect determines friendship or informal communication and then examines how that communication changes when we shift to conversing with other groups such as employers, and professors. Typically, the latter form of communication closely resembles Standard American English, or the dialect of English typically used in broadcasting or in an academic environment (Edwards 369). This shift from friendship communication to Standard American English indicates the presence of multidialectualism, which is common amongst most languages of the world. Throughout this paper I will discuss multidialectualism, and how regional location helps determine both informal communication (friendship communication) and formal communication (Standard American English).
Throughout the discussion it was often noted that friendship, or informal communication was “the most effortless and comfortable dialect to use.” These dextral and familiar qualities are indicative that informal communication is the style of speech we grow most accustomed to using while we were growing up and acquiring our social interaction skills. Considering the natural means and early period of acquisition, it can then be deduced that the dialect used in friendship or informal communication is most people’s native, or “first language.”
Usually when we communicate with our friends, as was mentioned in the discussion, our style of speech is colloquial and incorporates more slang terminology when compared to the Standardized American form of English. Also, when speaking informally, some people tend to alter words phonetically by omitting certain phonemes off words such as, /g/ in many present participle verbs. Another linguistic feature characteristic to informal communication is the addition of certain words or phrases such as many cuss words, and the phrases “you know”, “I don’t know”, and “like”. These are traits are general and seem to be part of a ubiquitous dialect in use amongst the younger generations of American English. However, there are traits that are more distinguishing between the different regional dialects and accents, such as phonetic pronunciation and word preference.
The major regional speech varieties are typically categorized into geographic setting, certain ethnic concentrations, social class, age, length of residency, and education (Johnstone 221). Many of the most distinct accents and dialects in English exist in cities/regions that are older, and have a high concentration of a certain ethnic groups such as German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Irish, English, etc. For all speakers of English, or any language for that matter, these aspects help influence the way in which our dialects and accents are developed. However, some current research on regional dialectology suggests that there are additional, more influential reasons for variation (Johnstone 222). These reasons include, strength of a person’s social ties in a community, the value a person holds for their community audience, and also the value that person holds for the community itself (Johnstone 222). Here, this demonstrates the strength of community influence, rather than just an absolute regional influence on dialectology. Since different communities can exist within a region, this explains the phenomena of multidialectualbility that many speakers possess.
As many people noted in the discussion, most speakers of a language are mutually intelligible with some of the other dialects of that language and do shift their speech styles when they are interacting with speakers of a different community, or group. . Typically, people alternate between various dialects by means of formal and informal communication, usually using the standardized version of a language for formal communication, and their “first language” for informal communication. The reason for the utilization of the Standard version of a language when communicating with a professional community can be explained by the power and dominance that certain dialect holds in a society (Edwards 369). When a certain region or community contains the most people of power, that region’s dialect becomes the standardized version of that language. Since education is highly valued within our society, the people who are educated, professors, and employers are typically the people in power. This dominance in turn usually causes people to abandon their regional or generational dialect and conform to the formal or standard dialect when they are communicating with professors or employers, as a sign of respect, or to receive proper acknowledgement.
In conclusion, regional location and the various communities within a society are highly influential in the development of a person’s speech style and accent. The interaction with these various communities in turn prompts multidialectualism and incites a person to utilize various dialects in different situations of communication. In the Western Region of the United States, speakers are often faced with two main situations of communication: friendship or peer communication and formal communication where a close version of Standard American English is spoken. Since we live in a Western society that highly values education and enables it to be a determinant of dominance and power, it would be interesting to see what the standard dialect would be in a society whose power determinant is religion, or physical strength. What other types of dialect would there be? What would be some situations where multidialectualism is necessary and to what extent would it be necessary?
The question we posted deals with how regional dialect determines friendship or informal communication and then examines how that communication changes when we shift to conversing with other groups such as employers, and professors. Typically, the latter form of communication closely resembles Standard American English, or the dialect of English typically used in broadcasting or in an academic environment (Edwards 369). This shift from friendship communication to Standard American English indicates the presence of multidialectualism, which is common amongst most languages of the world. Throughout this paper I will discuss multidialectualism, and how regional location helps determine both informal communication (friendship communication) and formal communication (Standard American English).
Throughout the discussion it was often noted that friendship, or informal communication was “the most effortless and comfortable dialect to use.” These dextral and familiar qualities are indicative that informal communication is the style of speech we grow most accustomed to using while we were growing up and acquiring our social interaction skills. Considering the natural means and early period of acquisition, it can then be deduced that the dialect used in friendship or informal communication is most people’s native, or “first language.”
Usually when we communicate with our friends, as was mentioned in the discussion, our style of speech is colloquial and incorporates more slang terminology when compared to the Standardized American form of English. Also, when speaking informally, some people tend to alter words phonetically by omitting certain phonemes off words such as, /g/ in many present participle verbs. Another linguistic feature characteristic to informal communication is the addition of certain words or phrases such as many cuss words, and the phrases “you know”, “I don’t know”, and “like”. These are traits are general and seem to be part of a ubiquitous dialect in use amongst the younger generations of American English. However, there are traits that are more distinguishing between the different regional dialects and accents, such as phonetic pronunciation and word preference.
The major regional speech varieties are typically categorized into geographic setting, certain ethnic concentrations, social class, age, length of residency, and education (Johnstone 221). Many of the most distinct accents and dialects in English exist in cities/regions that are older, and have a high concentration of a certain ethnic groups such as German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Irish, English, etc. For all speakers of English, or any language for that matter, these aspects help influence the way in which our dialects and accents are developed. However, some current research on regional dialectology suggests that there are additional, more influential reasons for variation (Johnstone 222). These reasons include, strength of a person’s social ties in a community, the value a person holds for their community audience, and also the value that person holds for the community itself (Johnstone 222). Here, this demonstrates the strength of community influence, rather than just an absolute regional influence on dialectology. Since different communities can exist within a region, this explains the phenomena of multidialectualbility that many speakers possess.
As many people noted in the discussion, most speakers of a language are mutually intelligible with some of the other dialects of that language and do shift their speech styles when they are interacting with speakers of a different community, or group. . Typically, people alternate between various dialects by means of formal and informal communication, usually using the standardized version of a language for formal communication, and their “first language” for informal communication. The reason for the utilization of the Standard version of a language when communicating with a professional community can be explained by the power and dominance that certain dialect holds in a society (Edwards 369). When a certain region or community contains the most people of power, that region’s dialect becomes the standardized version of that language. Since education is highly valued within our society, the people who are educated, professors, and employers are typically the people in power. This dominance in turn usually causes people to abandon their regional or generational dialect and conform to the formal or standard dialect when they are communicating with professors or employers, as a sign of respect, or to receive proper acknowledgement.
In conclusion, regional location and the various communities within a society are highly influential in the development of a person’s speech style and accent. The interaction with these various communities in turn prompts multidialectualism and incites a person to utilize various dialects in different situations of communication. In the Western Region of the United States, speakers are often faced with two main situations of communication: friendship or peer communication and formal communication where a close version of Standard American English is spoken. Since we live in a Western society that highly values education and enables it to be a determinant of dominance and power, it would be interesting to see what the standard dialect would be in a society whose power determinant is religion, or physical strength. What other types of dialect would there be? What would be some situations where multidialectualism is necessary and to what extent would it be necessary?
Monday, November 9, 2009
rough draft regional variances
Multidialectualism: Regional Variances
The question we posted deals with how regional dialect determines friendship or informal communication and then examines how that communication changes when we shift to conversing with other groups such as parents, employers, and professors. Typically, the latter form of communication closely resembles Standard American English, or the dialect of English commonly used in broadcasting or in an academic environment. This shift from friendship communication to Standard American English indicates the presence of multidialectualism, which is common amongst most languages of the world. Throughout this paper I will discuss multidialectualism, and how regional location helps determine both informal communication (friendship communication) and formal communication (Standard American English).
Throughout the discussion it was often noted that friendship, or informal communication was “the most effortless and comfortable dialect to use.” These dextral and familiar qualities are indicative that informal communication is the style of speech we grow most accustomed to using while we were growing up and acquiring our social interaction skills. Considering the natural means and early period of acquisition, it can then be deduced that friendship or informal communication is most people’s “first language.”
Usually when we communicate with our friends, our style of speech is colloquial and incorporates more slang terminology when compared to the Standardized American form of English. Also, when speaking informally, some people tend to alter words phonetically by omitting certain phonemes off words such as,/g/ in many present participle verbs. Another linguistic feature characteristic to informal communication is the addition of certain words or phrases such as many cuss words, and the phrases “you know”, “I don’t know”, and “like”. These are traits are general and seem to be part of a ubiquitous dialect in use amongst most speakers of American English. However, there are traits that are more distinguishing between the different regional dialects and accents such as phonetic pronunciation and word preference.
The major regional speech varieties are typically categorized into the geographic setting, certain ethnic concentrations, and the history of the city/ region. Many of the most distinct accents and dialects in English exist in cities/regions that are older, and have a high concentration of a certain ethnic group such as German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Irish, English, etc. For all speakers of English, or any language for that matter, these aspects determine the way in which our dialects and accents are established.
However, as many people noted in the discussion, most speakers of a language are mutually intelligible with some of the other dialects of a language and as well as with its standardized version. Typically people utilize their multidialectualbility by means of formal and informal communication, using the standardized version of a language for formal communication.
The question we posted deals with how regional dialect determines friendship or informal communication and then examines how that communication changes when we shift to conversing with other groups such as parents, employers, and professors. Typically, the latter form of communication closely resembles Standard American English, or the dialect of English commonly used in broadcasting or in an academic environment. This shift from friendship communication to Standard American English indicates the presence of multidialectualism, which is common amongst most languages of the world. Throughout this paper I will discuss multidialectualism, and how regional location helps determine both informal communication (friendship communication) and formal communication (Standard American English).
Throughout the discussion it was often noted that friendship, or informal communication was “the most effortless and comfortable dialect to use.” These dextral and familiar qualities are indicative that informal communication is the style of speech we grow most accustomed to using while we were growing up and acquiring our social interaction skills. Considering the natural means and early period of acquisition, it can then be deduced that friendship or informal communication is most people’s “first language.”
Usually when we communicate with our friends, our style of speech is colloquial and incorporates more slang terminology when compared to the Standardized American form of English. Also, when speaking informally, some people tend to alter words phonetically by omitting certain phonemes off words such as,/g/ in many present participle verbs. Another linguistic feature characteristic to informal communication is the addition of certain words or phrases such as many cuss words, and the phrases “you know”, “I don’t know”, and “like”. These are traits are general and seem to be part of a ubiquitous dialect in use amongst most speakers of American English. However, there are traits that are more distinguishing between the different regional dialects and accents such as phonetic pronunciation and word preference.
The major regional speech varieties are typically categorized into the geographic setting, certain ethnic concentrations, and the history of the city/ region. Many of the most distinct accents and dialects in English exist in cities/regions that are older, and have a high concentration of a certain ethnic group such as German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Irish, English, etc. For all speakers of English, or any language for that matter, these aspects determine the way in which our dialects and accents are established.
However, as many people noted in the discussion, most speakers of a language are mutually intelligible with some of the other dialects of a language and as well as with its standardized version. Typically people utilize their multidialectualbility by means of formal and informal communication, using the standardized version of a language for formal communication.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
decisions ( for yesterday)
Being nineteen, I am at a pivotal time in my life. It is an ephermal period where I must keep my options open and be careful not to limit myself from anything that I may even remotely aspire to try. There are many things that I have lately been interested in, such as joining the National Guard and my career once I graduate from college. However, of the two (the two main ones) The Guard I feel is the interest that has the most urgency to it.
Since I was a kid, I have always respected men/women in the military, and have regarded it as one of the most noble, courageous things a person can do with their life. Since that time, I have also had an urge to be apart of that nobility and valor. However, in high school I began questioning my patriotism, which in effect lowered, or destroyed any interest I had of joining a branch of the military for a career. But it wasn’t until recently, when certain events caused my patriotism to come back, and I began to regret not choosing to enter a field of the military after highschool. Considering that I am still young enough to join, I feel right now is the time, or perfect kairos (to relate to ancient rhetoric ) to make that decision. However, there are a few things that I need weigh in making it.
Con number one: obviously the threat of being shipped over seas. I’m not sure if I would enjoy being away from home for a year. It would mean sacrificing a year of school, spending time with my family, friends, girlfriends, and music.
Pro number one: it would round me out as a man. The guard would teach me invaluable life lessons about responsibility, discipline, and respect, that right now I feel I am falling short in.
Con number two: lack of flexibility. I’m not sure how flexible the guard is with school, and other family matters, and if something came up, I do not want to have to experience a lot of grief to coordinate things in my favor.
Pro number two: the benefits of being in the military. I would receive payment for my schooling, and would receive other types of benefits too. The military could also be a nice way to get my retirement started
Con number three: I would have to commit a minimum of eight years of my life the military. If I do not life the military, or if a major war breaks out, there is a good possibility that I could be working at a miserable, dangerous career.
There is obviously a lot to take into account when making this decision, and lately I have been thinking about it almost every day. Let’s just hope I make the right one!
Since I was a kid, I have always respected men/women in the military, and have regarded it as one of the most noble, courageous things a person can do with their life. Since that time, I have also had an urge to be apart of that nobility and valor. However, in high school I began questioning my patriotism, which in effect lowered, or destroyed any interest I had of joining a branch of the military for a career. But it wasn’t until recently, when certain events caused my patriotism to come back, and I began to regret not choosing to enter a field of the military after highschool. Considering that I am still young enough to join, I feel right now is the time, or perfect kairos (to relate to ancient rhetoric ) to make that decision. However, there are a few things that I need weigh in making it.
Con number one: obviously the threat of being shipped over seas. I’m not sure if I would enjoy being away from home for a year. It would mean sacrificing a year of school, spending time with my family, friends, girlfriends, and music.
Pro number one: it would round me out as a man. The guard would teach me invaluable life lessons about responsibility, discipline, and respect, that right now I feel I am falling short in.
Con number two: lack of flexibility. I’m not sure how flexible the guard is with school, and other family matters, and if something came up, I do not want to have to experience a lot of grief to coordinate things in my favor.
Pro number two: the benefits of being in the military. I would receive payment for my schooling, and would receive other types of benefits too. The military could also be a nice way to get my retirement started
Con number three: I would have to commit a minimum of eight years of my life the military. If I do not life the military, or if a major war breaks out, there is a good possibility that I could be working at a miserable, dangerous career.
There is obviously a lot to take into account when making this decision, and lately I have been thinking about it almost every day. Let’s just hope I make the right one!
staying focused, positive attitude
The last month of a semester is always the most difficult. It is the time of the most concentrated amount of work, where you apply all the skills you have been learning into a few, large assignments. We are now approaching that last month time period that is “crunch time”, and I am starting to feel the “crunch”. In order to get past this stressful period, I need to stay on top of everything. No procrastination, no excuses, no distractions. I just need to bear down and get the work done.
Probably the biggest obstacle in my way, or that could contribute to slipping grades would be the distractions that I have at my house. When I am sitting down and trying to finish, or get started on an assignment, I find myself putting it off by turning on the TV, or going into my room and listening to records, or playing my bass, or going to hang out with my friends. If I want to succeed this semester, I have to overcome this lack of focus, and I need to start ASAP.
Another thing that I can do to prevent my grades from slipping during this last month of school is to avoid procrastinating. At times, especially when I need to start a boring or diffiuclt assignment, I find myself putting it off “until tomorrow” or “in a couple of hours”. This constant moving of the deadline could possibly be detrimental to my grades, and could add stress onto an already stressful time of semester.
The last thing I can do to prevent from bad grades is to stop giving myself excuses. Sometimes when an assignment is more difficult, or requires more effort than usual, sometimes I tend to get a bad attitude and tell myself that the assignment is “stupid” and that it “doesn’t matter”. This type of attitude is very damaging not only to my grades, but also to my attitude of other assignments and school in general. In order to prevent from obtaining a stagnant, negative attitude, I just need to stay positive whenever possible and maintain a strong, positive outlook on school and life in general.
If I can do these three main things, I feel like I can have another successful semester. I just need to stay focused and have a positive outlook on life in general.
Probably the biggest obstacle in my way, or that could contribute to slipping grades would be the distractions that I have at my house. When I am sitting down and trying to finish, or get started on an assignment, I find myself putting it off by turning on the TV, or going into my room and listening to records, or playing my bass, or going to hang out with my friends. If I want to succeed this semester, I have to overcome this lack of focus, and I need to start ASAP.
Another thing that I can do to prevent my grades from slipping during this last month of school is to avoid procrastinating. At times, especially when I need to start a boring or diffiuclt assignment, I find myself putting it off “until tomorrow” or “in a couple of hours”. This constant moving of the deadline could possibly be detrimental to my grades, and could add stress onto an already stressful time of semester.
The last thing I can do to prevent from bad grades is to stop giving myself excuses. Sometimes when an assignment is more difficult, or requires more effort than usual, sometimes I tend to get a bad attitude and tell myself that the assignment is “stupid” and that it “doesn’t matter”. This type of attitude is very damaging not only to my grades, but also to my attitude of other assignments and school in general. In order to prevent from obtaining a stagnant, negative attitude, I just need to stay positive whenever possible and maintain a strong, positive outlook on school and life in general.
If I can do these three main things, I feel like I can have another successful semester. I just need to stay focused and have a positive outlook on life in general.
Friday, November 6, 2009
kairos questions
Kairos Issue: Group Silence
1. I think I will need to something to show my issues urgency and somehow make it relevant. I believe I can do thing by providing statistics about the rising use of heroin amongst high schoolers, or anyone for that matter. Furthermore I can add to its urgency by giving facts about the high risk of using heroin. This is will (hopefully) instill in the audience the extreme health risks involved with heroin and will motivate them to act.
2. This issue seems to be divided by age. Adults such as parents, teachers, coaches tend to favor speaking up about drug use. While the younger generation isn’t necessarily against speaking up, but is indifferent about it. Since the kids, who are the target audience tend to be in different, the adults efforts to get them to speak up often go unheard or unheeded,
3. I don’t believe that power is really concentrated with this issue. Although adults put the most effort into getting their arguments heard, indifference often prevents them from being taken seriously. So in a sense, the power lies within the audience with whether they want to hear the arguments or not.
4. Since kids nowadays are very technologically orientated I think a good venue would be a website or a blog. This would give the audience easy access, and could include videos and interactional activities. Also websites tend to be less formal, and thus less boring.
5. Right now there are a lot of anti-drug commercials and commercials aimed towards at parents encouraging them to talk to their kids about drugs. This type of media I believe is an appropriate approach at persuasion for the younger generation, however these commercials are often made fun of by many people. T avoid this type of criticism with my own media, I will try not to make my argument come off so strong, and try to put the kids in a position of power. Also I feel that anti-drug commercials can be condescending and even subtly make fun of drug-users. In my rhetorical piece, I will stray away from being condescending and will be as down to earth as possible.
1. I think I will need to something to show my issues urgency and somehow make it relevant. I believe I can do thing by providing statistics about the rising use of heroin amongst high schoolers, or anyone for that matter. Furthermore I can add to its urgency by giving facts about the high risk of using heroin. This is will (hopefully) instill in the audience the extreme health risks involved with heroin and will motivate them to act.
2. This issue seems to be divided by age. Adults such as parents, teachers, coaches tend to favor speaking up about drug use. While the younger generation isn’t necessarily against speaking up, but is indifferent about it. Since the kids, who are the target audience tend to be in different, the adults efforts to get them to speak up often go unheard or unheeded,
3. I don’t believe that power is really concentrated with this issue. Although adults put the most effort into getting their arguments heard, indifference often prevents them from being taken seriously. So in a sense, the power lies within the audience with whether they want to hear the arguments or not.
4. Since kids nowadays are very technologically orientated I think a good venue would be a website or a blog. This would give the audience easy access, and could include videos and interactional activities. Also websites tend to be less formal, and thus less boring.
5. Right now there are a lot of anti-drug commercials and commercials aimed towards at parents encouraging them to talk to their kids about drugs. This type of media I believe is an appropriate approach at persuasion for the younger generation, however these commercials are often made fun of by many people. T avoid this type of criticism with my own media, I will try not to make my argument come off so strong, and try to put the kids in a position of power. Also I feel that anti-drug commercials can be condescending and even subtly make fun of drug-users. In my rhetorical piece, I will stray away from being condescending and will be as down to earth as possible.
reflection (this is for yesterday I couldn't get to it yesterday)
Reflection on my essay 2
I doubt this paper is any good at all because of its lack of focus. In the essay, I tried to capture the issue: “The lethality of group silence” by describing the funeral of a friend who died of heroin. And during that funeral, I recollected on an event that happened prior to it where a kid got jumped in the middele of school, and no one did anything to help him. Although I feel these are two good events to write about, including both of them into one paper probably distracted my paper’s clarity and possibly could have confused the reader as to what the purpose of the essay is. Another thing wrong with my paper is how I chose to introduce my friends addiction so late in the paper (thrid page). It should have been the very first thing I introduced because since it came in so late, it could give the reader the impression that its not that important of an issue, or topic. Also I may have had some long, awkward sentences that I could have fixed.
I bleive this is the best paper I’ve ever written because of how I heavily employed the aspect of “show versus tell” throughout the paper. I did a great job at recreating key scenes with sensory details and dialouge, and feel it gave my paper a good vibe. Another thing I like is my use of metaphors, such as the thunder, and even how I used the fight as a metaphor too. I also think my voice is very strong with how I used repetion, started off sentences with conjunctions, and internal dialouge.
I think Jenna will appriciate how I tried to use “show versus tell” a lot throughout my paper, but think she believes I could have done it better in some spots. I also think I could have better connected the crowd during the fight and the crowd at the funeral home better to show their similiarites (beucae they were essentailly the same crowd) I also think Jenna will think some of my sentences tend to run on, and are sometimes awkward. However, I think she will appriciate my attempt at establishing a new or stronger voice, with how I used repetiion for cadence, started sentences of with conjunctions for a sense of urgency, and used internal dialouge to lower distance between me and my audience.
I agree with Jenna’s take on my paper
Throughout my essay I tried to stay away from unnessecary verbose words that can be jarring and out of place at times. I feel in my last essay I had too many of them, and they did nothing but disrupt my voice and the flow of my paper. I also tried to improve my voice as I above mentioned.
I doubt this paper is any good at all because of its lack of focus. In the essay, I tried to capture the issue: “The lethality of group silence” by describing the funeral of a friend who died of heroin. And during that funeral, I recollected on an event that happened prior to it where a kid got jumped in the middele of school, and no one did anything to help him. Although I feel these are two good events to write about, including both of them into one paper probably distracted my paper’s clarity and possibly could have confused the reader as to what the purpose of the essay is. Another thing wrong with my paper is how I chose to introduce my friends addiction so late in the paper (thrid page). It should have been the very first thing I introduced because since it came in so late, it could give the reader the impression that its not that important of an issue, or topic. Also I may have had some long, awkward sentences that I could have fixed.
I bleive this is the best paper I’ve ever written because of how I heavily employed the aspect of “show versus tell” throughout the paper. I did a great job at recreating key scenes with sensory details and dialouge, and feel it gave my paper a good vibe. Another thing I like is my use of metaphors, such as the thunder, and even how I used the fight as a metaphor too. I also think my voice is very strong with how I used repetion, started off sentences with conjunctions, and internal dialouge.
I think Jenna will appriciate how I tried to use “show versus tell” a lot throughout my paper, but think she believes I could have done it better in some spots. I also think I could have better connected the crowd during the fight and the crowd at the funeral home better to show their similiarites (beucae they were essentailly the same crowd) I also think Jenna will think some of my sentences tend to run on, and are sometimes awkward. However, I think she will appriciate my attempt at establishing a new or stronger voice, with how I used repetiion for cadence, started sentences of with conjunctions for a sense of urgency, and used internal dialouge to lower distance between me and my audience.
I agree with Jenna’s take on my paper
Throughout my essay I tried to stay away from unnessecary verbose words that can be jarring and out of place at times. I feel in my last essay I had too many of them, and they did nothing but disrupt my voice and the flow of my paper. I also tried to improve my voice as I above mentioned.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
rough story
I want to write a story where context dictates rather than verbose words. This is about a woman whose struggling with divorce and being a single parent of a difficult child.
Shandra’s hair used to be beautiful before she put those dyes into it. It used to be black with cute little curls that would bounce up and down when she ran. But she straightens it now and she just dyed it blue but that could change tomorrow for all I know. We’re eating dinner, just the two of us. Its been like that for about five years now, ever since her dad up and left us for that slut Cheryl. I knew something was up between those two, years ago. He was always evasive about her whenever I used to bring her up. She was the receptionist at his firm. I heard from different gals at his office that those two were always going to lunch together, that they got pretty close over the years. That tight-assed bimbo gets me steamin’ every time I think about her. Well see who hot she still is in the next couple years. But He sends money every month, so I can’t complain.
Its quiet at the table. I’m chewing with my mouth closed, trying to be a good example for Shandra, but shes looking down, avoiding eyecontact eith me, presumably trying to make the diner as painless for herself as she can. But tonight she’s not right, there’s this uneasiness to her, she’s edgy.
“What’s wrong honey?” she looks up from her plate and scowls at me.
“Nothing.” She says then goes back to eating.
“There’s nothing you want to tell me?”
“What? No….”
“Its just that you seem on edge tonight.” I say.
“Look mom, the only reason I’m eating with you is because you asked me too so you wouldn’t be lonely at the dinner table. If you keep pestering me with mindless interrogations I’m gunna stop.”
I stop chewing and look down. I try to hold back the tears, but can feel the lump in my throat rising, and I know the tears are inevitable.
“Oh God Damnit mom.”
“You’re excused Shandra. I don’t want you to eat with me if you don’t want to.”
Then she scoots her chair away from the table abruptly and throws her napkin on the table.
“Thank God.” She says and then she storms off to her room and I hear the door slam.
Then I let it out. I can help it. I don’t care if that bitch hears me. After I finsih I look at the picture that I kepp on the hearth above the fireplace. Its of all of us before Jerrry left and when Shandra still had her hair. Were all on our old boat in roosevelt lake………………
Shandra’s hair used to be beautiful before she put those dyes into it. It used to be black with cute little curls that would bounce up and down when she ran. But she straightens it now and she just dyed it blue but that could change tomorrow for all I know. We’re eating dinner, just the two of us. Its been like that for about five years now, ever since her dad up and left us for that slut Cheryl. I knew something was up between those two, years ago. He was always evasive about her whenever I used to bring her up. She was the receptionist at his firm. I heard from different gals at his office that those two were always going to lunch together, that they got pretty close over the years. That tight-assed bimbo gets me steamin’ every time I think about her. Well see who hot she still is in the next couple years. But He sends money every month, so I can’t complain.
Its quiet at the table. I’m chewing with my mouth closed, trying to be a good example for Shandra, but shes looking down, avoiding eyecontact eith me, presumably trying to make the diner as painless for herself as she can. But tonight she’s not right, there’s this uneasiness to her, she’s edgy.
“What’s wrong honey?” she looks up from her plate and scowls at me.
“Nothing.” She says then goes back to eating.
“There’s nothing you want to tell me?”
“What? No….”
“Its just that you seem on edge tonight.” I say.
“Look mom, the only reason I’m eating with you is because you asked me too so you wouldn’t be lonely at the dinner table. If you keep pestering me with mindless interrogations I’m gunna stop.”
I stop chewing and look down. I try to hold back the tears, but can feel the lump in my throat rising, and I know the tears are inevitable.
“Oh God Damnit mom.”
“You’re excused Shandra. I don’t want you to eat with me if you don’t want to.”
Then she scoots her chair away from the table abruptly and throws her napkin on the table.
“Thank God.” She says and then she storms off to her room and I hear the door slam.
Then I let it out. I can help it. I don’t care if that bitch hears me. After I finsih I look at the picture that I kepp on the hearth above the fireplace. Its of all of us before Jerrry left and when Shandra still had her hair. Were all on our old boat in roosevelt lake………………
Sunday, November 1, 2009
possesive personalities
too sick to sleep, so i wrote this. its is about a ghost who becomes obsessed with a girl who’s living in his old room.
I keep myself hidden, tucked away in a black box. The first night she slept in that room, she became mine. I watch her from the closet, or through the window, or three inches away from her face. I’ll belch cold drafts on her face so she’ll wake up in the middle of the night shivering, and she’ll find that the covers that were once keeping her warm are now hanging up in the closet, where I am, so she’ll have to come closer to me. Maybe when she gets the blankets I’ll grab her. Just keep her up against the closet wall so I can touch her and look at her whenever I want. The room is mine. She became mine. She can leave the room though. I see her do it everyday and wait in front of the door until she comes back at night. I don’t know if she can leave the closet. I’m going to try it tonight. I can’t wait though. Watching her sleep does something to me; it makes me hate her for leaving every morning. I never used to be hateful before this. Before Tom held my head under water until I stopped fighting. He had to though, because my wife Darlene slept in his bed. And the first night she slept in his bed, she became his, and no man can share a woman with another man. So he killed me to get Darlene and the insurance I bought for myself. God that girl looks like Darlene. I can see her form the closet. But my hate is draining me. I need to go back to the black box across the street that’s attached to a powerline so I can charge up. Ill get her later tonight.
I keep myself hidden, tucked away in a black box. The first night she slept in that room, she became mine. I watch her from the closet, or through the window, or three inches away from her face. I’ll belch cold drafts on her face so she’ll wake up in the middle of the night shivering, and she’ll find that the covers that were once keeping her warm are now hanging up in the closet, where I am, so she’ll have to come closer to me. Maybe when she gets the blankets I’ll grab her. Just keep her up against the closet wall so I can touch her and look at her whenever I want. The room is mine. She became mine. She can leave the room though. I see her do it everyday and wait in front of the door until she comes back at night. I don’t know if she can leave the closet. I’m going to try it tonight. I can’t wait though. Watching her sleep does something to me; it makes me hate her for leaving every morning. I never used to be hateful before this. Before Tom held my head under water until I stopped fighting. He had to though, because my wife Darlene slept in his bed. And the first night she slept in his bed, she became his, and no man can share a woman with another man. So he killed me to get Darlene and the insurance I bought for myself. God that girl looks like Darlene. I can see her form the closet. But my hate is draining me. I need to go back to the black box across the street that’s attached to a powerline so I can charge up. Ill get her later tonight.
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