Assigned Entry #6. My Blogging Experience.

    I found the experience of blogging very interesting and fun. This was my first time having a blog and blogging. I see it as very useful for different opinions on ideas and topics, as well as easy to do. I took the blogging experience seriously and I really did enjoy the experience. I took it seriously because I wanted to get as much as I could out of it and to complete all of my blogging assignments.
    I learned a few things while doing the assignments for this class. I learned how to create a blog, make posts, and design a blog. As well as the set-up, such as, a common rhythm throughout like voice.
      I think that blogging for class was very useful and beneficial because we ( the class) were able to discover how blogs work, especially since they are so big in society, and it was a little more engaging than a paper,  as an example, for the comments we had to leave for other people and how we had the opportunity to blog about something else, besides the assigned entries, our free entries.
I do not really have any advice for Mr. Nielson regarding the blog assignment because I thought that it is running smoothly.

The Boston Bombing

The media always presents the most impacting events to their audiences. Recently the Boston bombing took place and that is the main event on all news channels. Every broadcast has it included and throughout all show times.
Aside from repetition in new events, most of the events broadcasted about are all negative situations. There is never a positive point or situation talked about on the news. All of the situations discussed are depressing and shocking events. The public is always only being informed of the negative events that happen in the community.

Entry #5. Media.

My view on media has changed a little because I started to analyze the views and points tried to be made. I also analyze the way the media tries to become credible or get people to follow them: they accomplish this with repetition and using things that are popular at the moment to get peoples attention and then throw in their view so others will see it as true. Especially what is broadcasting through t.v. and the internet, since they are the main media outlets used today.

I believe in behavior being linked to media outlets and what they present as good and even cool. I have seen peoples' behaviors changing because of media and for the views they see and might or actually do start to believe. I have seen someone who started to watch a t.v. show and started to imitate who/what was pretty and popular. 

It could just be linked to products too. When a product is widely marketed and seen as something that HAS to be bought. That is an influence being made, which works. People don't usually say, "Oh, wow another phone. Well the phone I have now still works, so I don't really care about this." No, everyone usually runs to the store to buy it and to have the new and impressive.

For me it just depends on what it is, but mainly all that has resulted is excitement. I believe certain things, but not all.

Twelve Angry Men

Two weeks ago I also watched the movie "Twelve Angry Men" in my comm class. When we were first told that we were going to watch this movie, I was not very sure of what I would think of it. Now that I have finished watching it I think that it was a really good movie. It was very interesting and basically it has to do with a jury of  a court are debating whether or not an 18 year-old is guilty of murdering his father. At first eleven out of twelve said he was guilty. There was one man who voted not guilty because he had a doubt. The eleven men who had voted guilty try to convince him the whole time that he was wrong and the 18 year-old was guilty. In the end the doubts spread and the 18 year-old ends up being declared not guilty. The movie ended there though, we were not able to see what had happened with the 18 year-old after he was released an why the witnesses had declared the way they had (thinking they had seen the 18 year-old without a doubt). 

The whole process that the jury goes through and how they end up at the decision of not guilty is very interesting to watch. This is because their methods in which they use to decide guilty or not guilty changes throughout the movie. The reactions of the different members of the jury are very interesting and really shows how nonverbal communication works and sometimes is more clear than words.

Entry #4. Capitalism by Moore.

In the film Capitalism: A love Story by Michael Moore there were several recognizable rhetorical elements. The audience for this film were all  people who live in the U.S. and are interested in the big events that had occurred and were occurring, for all of the situations discussed all took place in the U.S. The purpose of the film was to inform and alert that capitalism could seem good at first, but it leads to disaster not too much farther down the path. The tone and voice varied throughout the film; the tone at times was serious and informative, when the facts and testimonies were being given and others a little more jokingly, while staying to the point. For example, when he went to the banks to make a "citizens arrest" of all of the directors, etc. of the banks and surrounding the banks with "crime scene" tape, Moore was still portraying the negativity that had happened and with his actions showing that they were serious matters. As well as the audience seeing the actions of those who were in the banks and their reactions, which were to get Moore to leave as quickly as possible.

 Expanding on the rhetoric Moore used throughout his film was negativity towards capitalism. Capitalism left people homeless, unemployed, robbed, and endlessly upset by certain people or companies who were a higher authority. Pathos was mostly and very strongly used in the film. Every instance used had emotional appeal, including the specific words portraying the negativity. Logos was also included with the information given through the interviews showed, which strengthened ethos.

The Grand Canyon

While reading the article at http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/20110222arizona-state-university-shorter-classes.html, I went to the front page of the Arizona Republic to see what other interesting stories had been reported about. I found another article which looked pretty interesting, "National Park Service attempts to undo trout damage at Grand Canyon". I was completely unaware of this problem that was occurring and has been occurring up to the point to where now they are considered endangered. The Grand Canyon is always an admired place and a spot where many tourists visit. This article interested me though because it does not talk about pleasurable facts, but about a problem and people looking for a solution at the Grand Canyon.

The problem being reported is that there were trout brought to the Grand Canyon, which are now huge predators for the native species there. The National Park Service along with volunteers, are dedicating their time to remove all of the trout from those waters, therefore letting humpback chubs, while bringing some more to the Grand Canyon, seize to be considered endangered.

Entry # 3. Shorter Classes.

My response to the article "Arizona State University to offer more short classes" in the Arizona Republic is not very concrete due to me seeing and agreeing with the two sides of the argument. I think that the university implementing the option for shorter classes is something very good and that it should stay. It is something that is optional, so it is not mandatory, but accessible for those who are interested in taking 7.5 week classes. As stated in the article, " By squeezing just as many class hours into a 7 1/2-week course, students could finish a course faster, graduate faster and pay less in tuition", those who decide to use this opportunity can benefit from it in several ways.

There is one main factor that is the main determinant in taking those types of classes: the type of person and the learning habits of each person. I personally might not want to take all of my classes in that style, but it would depend on the type of course that it is. Some I could see easier to take than others and others that I would not take in that manner. A course with several projects or in something that I would think of being classified as a more challenging class, I would take in a face-to-face classroom setting, also because I feel like I get more out of classes like that and it would be easier for me to fully understand everything for that course. The fast pace being needed for those type of course could become difficult as well.

In the article comments I saw a few off topic comments, but those specifically about the topic seemed very interesting. When something new is being implemented, there are always concerns, especially when it has to do with something as important as people's education. There was a specific person who was sharing his/her concerns with the new classes being offered, along with their analyzing of their ability and opinion on taking the shorter classes. I agree with what that person was saying as I see myself being more of  a face-to-face learner and hands-on type person.