In my philosophy class, we were talking about robots and if they would be more human if we were to give them human brains and emotions. This caused me to think about Taylor and his topic in writing class. What if robots were to replace us? Even if scientists could give robots our brain capacity, the robots would still lack human emotions. Robots will never be able to replace humans, because they don’t have some of the qualities humans have.
The audience for the multimodal project and the formal paper are very different. For the formal paper, I had to sound scholarly, I had to make sure that I used big words, and I could not use any type of contractions. It is also more stressful, because I wanted to make sure I had everything right. I had to be more precise. Also, when writing a formal paper, I had to make sure I was writing it to the right age demographic. For the formal paper, I needed to be serious and make sure I covered the depth of the topic. I did not want to make it boring, but I also could not really make it fun, because my topic was such a serious and heavy topic. I could not take away from the seriousness of it. Also, with the formal paper, I knew my audience would be a little bit more familiar with the topic. Most of the time, older audiences pay attention to the news or read newspapers so they know what is going on. I did not want to insult them in my paper by reiterating stuff they already knew. I had to make sure that I gave them new information and did not insult their intelligence. Writing to this audience can be very challenging and stressful, but once I became organized, it got better.
With the multimodal project, I can be a little bit more relaxed and flexible. By that time, I had plenty of time to really understand my topic, so I knew how to translate all the information better. Also, when doing the multimodal project, it does not have to be so stuffy. I wanted to make it appealing to 18 year olds who lose interest very soon. I made it colorful and added a lot of pictures. I also broke up the text into small sections that way they would not get overwhelmed with information. I still sectioned each topic off, but I shortened the paragraphs a lot. My paragraphs went from being about twenty sentences to about seven. When the audience for the multimodal project was done looking at my website, I wanted them to have an understanding of my topic but not feel so bored and depressed by it. I wanted it to grab their attention. With me being an 18 year old, I know what bores teenagers, and I know what grabs our attention. When it came to the text of the multimodal, I struggled a bit. I wanted to make sure that my sentences were still scholarly, but I did not want to sound like I was preaching. I also did not want to insult their intelligence by trying to dumb down the sentences. I finally came to the decision of using some of the same words from my paper, but to also use words that I know most teenagers use. When it came to the knowledge of my subject, most 18 year olds know about racial profiling but only through social media. They do not really watch the news or read newspaper. Most of the time, we are only getting the opinion of uneducated people. In this multimodal, I wanted to make sure they got a good understanding of what causes racial profiling. I wanted them to actually learn and still have fun reading the website. The younger audience was probably the most fun to do and the least stressful, but at times it was still pretty hair-pulling.
The one website I have used the most this semester would have to be Mastering Chemistry. I have used this website to do my chemistry and calculus homework. The program was kind of tricky at first, and you have to be very specific in what you type in, or it will mark the answer wrong. The way that I can use it for this class is by not making the website so difficult to understand. Also, Mastering Chemistry is very colorful when you open it, but after that it is really bland. It is just click on which course you are enrolled in and that is it. For my website, I want to add more color. I do not want my viewer to be bored with my subject, I want them to be intrigued.
Go to your favorite website (what you surf when you should be listening to your writing teacher). Study it in terms of design. Then, write a post of 250-300 words about the way that site operates. Think through the design of the site. What holds your interest? How do you interact with it? What colors, images, font choices, modes, etc. keep you coming back? What makes it effective?
The website that I love the most is Netflix. Even though there are not a lot of words there, the shows are what makes it interesting. You get to watch all your favorite shows and movies that you have not seen in a while which is amazing. I literally feel like a kid again when I am able to watch H2O: Just Add Water which is about mermaids. I feel like there is not a care in the world, and I also feel at peace because I am not worrying about homework.
I interact with this website by constantly clicking through each section and seeing what has been released. Not only do I check for new releases, but also check to see if new episodes of my favorite shows have been released. That is the beauty of Netflix, you are constantly interacting with it, because you are constantly strolling through the website to see what new things have been added.
As I was studying for my anthropology test, I realized that we were studying some of the topics in my research paper. One of the things we are talking about is racism and the different forms of racism which caused me to think about my paper. My paper does not really talk about the different kinds of racism, but it does try to establish were it came from. Another thing that we are studying in my anthropology class is stereotypes. We are talking about how stereotypes relate to individual racism. One of the major topics in my paper is how stereotypes influence racism. Even though these are two completely different classes, the links between them bring them together.
To first understand why cops racially profile, you must first understand the causes of racism and prejudice. Vincent Parrillo, author of “Causes of Prejudice,” published in 2013 says that the causes of prejudice should be looked at through psychology and sociology. Through the psychological eye, the focal point on is the individual. Through psychology, a person can develop prejudice from imitation or condition, similarity – dissimilarity of beliefs, or personality characteristics (Parrillo p. 504). More can be understood about the psychological causes of prejudice through four areas: levels of prejudice, self-justification, personality, and frustration. I did not really use a strategy except for trying to put more of my voice in this paragraph. However, I am still struggling with putting my words in the paragraph and still making it sound intelligent. My plan is to keep working on it and hope and pray to God that it will sound good by the time I do my peer review.
As I was working on my research paper, I came across an article about a young man who had been racially profiled. After being racially profiled at two different schools, his mother moved him to a historically black college. In class, we were shown an sample paper on students who go to a historically black college. Did going to a historically black college actually help him? Even though he is doing better, going to a historically black college is not always better. I know a young lady who is about to go to a historically black college, and when she went to preview it, she said that the girl treated her bad. She said the girls who were suppose to be her roommates turned on her and no longer wanted to be her roommates. Going to an all black college is not always the answer.
In my philosophy class, we are talking about if a person is still the same person if they have a brain transplant. I have an uncle who just had a stroke, and his brain is damaged, but his body is still functioning pretty well. I started to think about what would happen if he were to have a brain transplant. At first, I was all for it. I was like he’ll get to live! Then, I started to wonder would it still be him since he would have a different brain. I personally do not know whether he would be the same person. I know it would be him physically, but I’m not sure about mentally. This discussion in our philosophy class really got me to think about who my uncle would be if he received a brain transplant.