Month: April 2016

Composing through images can be a bit more difficult than words simply because it is easier to type a word then find a picture that says exactly what you want it to. Although, when you do find a picture that depicts exactly what you are trying to say I think that pictures can speak louder than words. For myself, using images wasn’t hard to portray my argument because I enjoy design and layouts and figuring out what works best to show the audience what you want to illustrate to them. Personally, I think writing the paper with words was more difficult than with pictures. A weakness I have is organizing my thoughts with words in a way that it makes sense. However, with the images organization and the design, I would say were my stronger points. My favorite image would be the illustration of a child with A.D.H.D stamped on his head. This image physically shows children being labeled ADHD which depicts my whole paper topic. In contrast, my least favorite picture would be the children at the computers with headphones on. The reason for this is because I had trouble depicting what the diagnosis looking like without getting the audience confused by it looking like an adult is helping the child.

When it comes to designing visuals I have had a good bit of practice because I was the design editor of my high school yearbook for two years. For me, all parts of the design work were enjoyable for me since it let me think creatively and show a paper without having to type out the actual words.  For this project, I just about knew exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted to portray my essay with images. Although, One thing I did not anticipate was not continuing the design of the black dotted line through the whole powerpoint but eventually I didn’t need to use it for the message to the audience. The black line also was my favorite design choice because it subtly gave a message to the audience as well as the pictures. On the other hand, the least favorite design element I used would be the background color. I feel like I could have changed the color some more to set the tone of the slides but I wasn’t sure what colors to do and how to do them.

The advantage of already having the written paper was that I already had the arguments, the layout, and organization from the paragraphs to where I just had to find pictures that matched each one. I prefer the Image essay over the written one. This is because I found it easier to say my opinions through the depiction of pictures and the layout of pictures came easier to me than the layout of the words. I think both print and images are important to this argument ,however, Images I believe tell a better and more powerful story. When a viewer is looking at pictures they can be connected at a higher level than with words. Sometimes words can be misread or misunderstood to where the intended message can be lost.

This week I read an article in the Daily Mississippian about the alleged complaints made towards the Sigma Chi fraternity here at Ole Miss. The article was about Derby Days which is a philanthropy event the fraternity hosts to raise money. One of the events is a dance competition that each sorority competes in. This year during the question and answer was going on the sigma chi hosts were publicly asking inappropriate questions and are now being investigated for title 9 of the University and sexual harassment. Personally, I do not agree that the chapter should be potentially kicked off campus but more that there be better precautions for next year and the members that were asking the questions be punished.

I also read an article in The New York Times called “Loneliness May Be Bad for Your Heart” it tells the statistical data of coronary heart disease, stroke, and other heart problems that occurred in people based on the study of isolation. The study shows the being alone can actually break your heart. Many people have an increased risk and development of heart problems when they are isolated or have a strong feeling of loneliness. I have always known that human nature calls for us to have the need to be surrounded by others and love. Although, I never quite realized how important it truly is to have people that love and care about you around in your life.

I really like the pictures I have found so far. The pictures that I have included in my project portray exactly what I want to say. I have yet to have a  hard time getting my message across with just images and not being able to use words in this project. Another thing I like is what I am doing with the slide transition. I have the layout pictured fully in my head and I just have to take the time to add the effects with the powerpoint. Although, one of the struggles that I am coming across is a design element that I have decided to include. I am not sure whether or not the audience will notice and understand what message I am trying to send with the design on the page. I wanted it subtle but effective and I am trying to find a way to make that evident in my project.

One thing I realized during this project is that in every forum there was a writer that discussed the topic in a racial view. Another interesting thing that stood out to me was how high the statistical numbers actually are for children being diagnosed with A.D.H.D. Also, the writing strategies we went over in class gave me a new way of how to approach an argumentative paper.

After completing this writing assignment I still have two questions . One was why does the writer that takes a racial discrimination stance on the topic think that teachers would purposely turn their back on a child solely because they are not white. In addition, another question that I had was whether or not I should have used one of the writers that shared an a like view with myself to support my paper even further.

I stand by my opinion that people in today’s society have creative a reliance on A.D.H.D medication to almost put a band aid on the problem of this disorder rather than working with the children who truly suffer.

Before our timed writing assignment, I was all over the place and didn’t quite know where to start my writing. However, once under the pressure of time, I felt that I was able to focus in and give a clearer outlook of my thought within my writing. Something that I need to spend more time on with the writing process is the draft. I typically write my draft the night before it is due which I’ve realized isn’t the best way to go about it. This is because the draft is you basis and structure for your whole writing and without having a solid draft to work with. However, the part of the writing process that works best for me is my outlines. When I have created a well drawn out the outline I am able to organize my thoughts, arguments, and topics that I want to include in my writing. One thing I want to improve would be the amount of time I take to edit papers for the final draft. Sometimes I get in the habit of not wanting to read over my writing because I am the one who wrote it and I already know what it says. never the less, rereading your paper is crucial to having a good paper without missing words or too many words.

My biggest struggle within this paper will be structuring and finding reliable sources that back up my thesis. I have ideas of how to approach the argument but I will need to find sources that will specifically back what I am trying to say. So far I have been able to look into the advanced search in the library sources. I have found a copious amount of articles that discuss my specific argument points, however not all of them are reliable and I am going to have to really pay attention to what is and isn’t a good source. Sometimes it is really easy to just google the topic of choice but I am going to try to stay within the library search engine, that way I know that it will be a good source and I will meet the requirements of using, at least, three sources from the library search engines.