Category Archives: Unit Reflection

Multimodal Reflection

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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.

Unit Reflection

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The research I have done on prejudice and racism has changed me in a way that I now see different ways on why people can be prejudiced or racist. I had always thought that maybe they had something to do with parental influence or stereotypes. However, I never thought of seeing them through psychology or sociology. I now see that there are many factors which can cause racism and prejudice. Racism and prejudice will always be defined by something that is already known; however, there will always be a new way of finding out why people are prejudiced and racists.

The things that surprised me the most were how the articles never seemed to be biased. I know there are a lot prejudiced writers and researchers out there who could have been biased when it came to racism and prejudice. However, I never actually saw any. I also was not looking for articles which could have been biased, so there could have been some, but I never saw them. Another thing that kind of surprised me was an article on how people of today are still prejudiced. I know there will always be prejudice in this world, but our generation is supposed to be the generation that does not see color. So, when I saw that article, it really piqued my interest. It made me look at the world and see that we still have an issue with race. In my annotated bibliography, I used the example of the President, Barack Obama. When he was elected, I thought our world had finally shifted from the idea that only a “white male” could be president. Boy was I wrong!! All it did was uncover the prejudice we as a nation still have. Prejudice is still very prevalent in the United States, and probably will be until we all die. The other thing that surprised me was the amount of articles on racial profiling. Racial profiling is a big thing going on in the United States currently, and most of the articles focused on why racial profiling happens. None of the articles I read focused on the effects, because we can obviously see outcomes. The article on racial profiling interested me the most which is why it will be the focal point of my research paper.

From all the research I have done, I have learned to not only look at things one way. I have learned that there are different reasons as to why things happen. I also learned to look at the United States a different way. I use to look at us as moving forward, and we still are to an extent. But, we are taking the tiniest baby steps when it comes to prejudice and racism. We need to look past color and start to see just people, not the color of their skin. I also learned that parental influence may not be a reason for prejudice and racism, but I am still researching that cause. This research has taught me a lot not only on racism and prejudice, but on how to look at things.

PowToon

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Composing through sound and image versus composing the argument on paper was terrifying. I thought it would be really fun at first, but then started to work on it and was completely lost. I did not know how to work PowToon, and I had a heavy subject. I did not know how to make my topic, physician-assisted suicide, fun without taking away from the seriousness of the subject. I was very uncomfortable composing the sound track. I felt like I sounded like a man, and it was too choppy. It also sounded like I was talking too fast, but then at times was talking too slow. I was more comfortable when it came to composing the images, because I knew what I was trying to convey. At times, I would get frustrated, because it looked like my images were too childish. However, this project revealed my creative side. I tried to do images that would appeal to an easily bored audience. My favorite part from the soundtrack is in my closing paragraph, “Physician-assisted suicide is a killer (pun intended).” My favorite part of the visual track is the cat saying hallelujah and the picture asking if you are drunk. I love these because they bring joy. They also fit very well with my soundtrack. My least favorite image is probably the check mark agreeing with Byock on the cures. It goes with the point being made, but I wish I could have found a better picture.

I had no experience when is came to designing a visual presentation. The most enjoyable part was interpreting which pictures went best with what was being said. I loved finding the fun pictures. The hard part was making sure that each picture was timed with what was being said. One decision that I did not anticipate when doing this project was the use of emoji faces. I love emoji faces and feel like they make people happy. I did not think I would use them, because, again, I did not want my video to seem childish. After using them, I am really happy with my decision. It makes my video lively. My favorite design choice in the essay is the color scheme for the background. I knew I wanted it to be colorful in order to grasp the attention of my viewers, but did not want the video to be bombarded with too many colors. If the background would have been bombarded with colors, the viewer would not pay attention to the topic. I chose red, green, blue, and purple, and am very happy with that design style. My least favorite design choice would be the pictures. At the start of this project, the use of animated characters appealed to me. After playing around with the characters, I did not really like it. The video would have been more of a lecture which would not have made it fun. After deciding to use pictures, I was on the right track. I believe that they represent my subject best. I like the pictures, I just hope I did not use too many of them.

The advantages of already having a written version for this project were that I did not have to come up with another topic to discuss, and I understood the topic a whole lot more. When I did the written version, I knew what physician-assisted suicide was, but did not believe that I could have a discussion about it. After doing this project, I have a better understanding of physician-assisted suicide. The disadvantage was making a six-page paper into less than half a page. I had so much information in the formal paper, and it was a struggle condensing it. In which video website was best for me, I chose PowToon, because I never went to the website Alphabetic Essay. I am pretty sure Powtoon still would have been my favorite, because alphabetic essay sounds harder. Once I learned how to work PowToon, it was really fun. I prefer to use animated visual presentation, because it was a whole lot more fun than writing a paper. It gave me a new way to present a topic. It even made the subject more enjoyable. The advantage of composing for a different audience was not having to be so formal. When doing a project for a younger audience, you do not have to use words that are hard to understand. I used words that everybody should understand. The disadvantage was not knowing what was too childish for a younger audience. Even though most 18-24 year olds are immature, I still did not want to take away from their intelligence. The video needed to be entertaining but also serious. Even though working for a younger audience is easier, I actually prefer an older audience. An older audience will be truthful no matter what. Sometimes, younger people try to be too gentle. With an older audience, I try harder, because I know they will critique it more. An older audiences will honestly tell me how good or bad my project was.

Reflection on Arguing

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One thing that I learned while researching physician-assisted suicide is that a lot of people have different opinions. Some see it as an act of compassion or as a way to end a difficult situation due to disease while others see it as devaluing and selfish. I have always seen physician-assisted suicide as selfish and devaluing, and it really surprised me to see that other people saw it that way too. I expected more people to view physician-assisted suicide as a means of ending the suffering of the ones with the disease. I also learned new ways to look at physician-assisted suicide from the other forum writers. For example, Ira Byock said that society should discourage physician-assisted suicide not encourage it, and that there are cures being discovered everyday so that it is not needed. I had always seen the cures perspective, but I had never thought about society encouraging it. I do not really feel like society encourages physician-assisted suicide, but I do believe that society urges people to give up when things become rough which is what I believe physician-assisted suicide does. I also learned that I have a decent writing strategy. I love to organize my thoughts first before jumping into the paper. When I just jump in, it is a mess. I like to write down all of my information first to make sure that I have enough, and then I try to go back and use what is necessary.

One of the two questions that I have after composing this project is how do you know if you refuted something or someone correctly. I was struggling with that in the paper. I was not sure if I refuted the topic or the two debaters of the forum correctly. I feel like I did by using facts to prove why physician-assisted suicide should not be legal, but I am very skeptical. The other question I have is how do you know if your writing strategies are working and also which ones are best for what paper. I feel like mine work most of the time, but I really struggled with using my writing strategies for this paper. At first, I felt like my paper was a complete mess. Everything that I normally do for a paper seemed to not work at all. I tried to organize my thoughts correctly and then start, but that did not seem to work. The only writing strategy I used was getting all the information and writing it down. The reason why this paper was such a struggle for me was, because at the start of the paper, I had a lot going on. I was sick with an upper respiratory infection, and I had a sociology exam to study for. Being sick, trying to study for an exam, and starting a paper were not a good mix.

One opinion that I have after completing this project is that I stress out having to write papers when I am sick or studying for another class. This was the most difficult paper that I have had to do in college, because of all the things that I was going through that week. However, I was able to complete every assignment and felt good about my accomplishments.

Racism: Should it be discussed?

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Screen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.18.08 AM  In this scene, this lady is saying that she may be racist, but hopes she is not. This scene influenced my paper; because my paper was about if white people should be able to talk about race. She made it very clear that she did not like to talk about race. Even though she veered off of the subject of if white people should be able to talk about race, the point she made about being a racist really stood out in the video. I made a point to put her statement in my paper, because her statement was very honest. Nobody in the video was as honest as her. Her stating that maybe she is a racist resonated with me, because I wonder how many people would actually say that? Many people claim to not be racist and are truly racist at heart, which makes them a hypocrite. Some are racist and boast about it. There are also many people who truly are not racist and have never considered the possibility of being racist. Being racist is never ok, and no one should ever be or want to be racist, but until this world is gone, there will always be racist people. I really hope more people watch this video, especially her part, and do some soul searching about any racism they may be holding on to.

Screen Shot 2015-10-09 at 11.38.31 AMMy conferences with my teacher always help me. I figure out if I am doing it right, if it is completely messed up, or if I just need to completely start over. I went to meet my teacher about my paper before the day of the conference and the day of the conference. The day before was probably the most helpful, because that day really helped me reorganize my paper. I had all the content, but it was all over the place. She told me that I needed to abandon the thesis I was going with at first, because I was not really talking about that thesis in my paper. When we finally realized what I was trying to convey in my paper, the paper was able to flow a whole lot better. We reorganized my paper to fit the new thesis, and it sounded like what I was trying to convey in the paper. After we finished the thesis, we decided that I needed to break my paper down a little bit more. We added another paragraph, and again, my paper flowed. When we met the second time, my paper flowed well, I had incorporated all of her suggestions in my paper, and I felt very confident when I submitted my final copy.

Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 8.21.21 PMThis image represents my thesis, because my whole paper is about white and black people. In my thesis, I talk about how white people do not like to discuss race, because they do not want to labeled as racist. They also do not want to offend anybody. This picture shows how there will always be a difference between the color of our skin. When I first started to do my thesis, I was trying to go with pathos, ethos, and logos, but that was not really working well. I made it more simple by writing about how the authors used visual style and editing to get their point across. Writing my thesis in this way helped me get my point across in an efficient way.

 

Literacy Guide Reflection

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The five words that I would use to describe my literacy guide are interesting, insightful, easy, difficult, and frightening. It is interesting, because it shows a variety of topics and shows how others think about things that they might be interested in. The writing style and pictures the authors used were sometimes funny and sarcastic. The comments range from positive to negative and are at times funny, sarcastic, hurtful, and truthful. I would say that my guide is insightful, because it gives people who might be struggling with finding stories on the New York Times help. I was having trouble finding stories that interested me until I looked at the “most popular” section. I chose the word “easy,” because I believe that my guide will be easy to follow. I don’t use elevated vocabulary except for when quoting what someone else said. I divided the sections up nicely, tried to make each flow smoothly, and tried to follow the same technique throughout the entire paper. The literacy guide was difficult. I started with this one topic, and it wasn’t working out too well. Therefore, I had to start over which put me a day behind and was extremely stressful.  Lastly, I would use the word “frightening” to describe my guide, because I am afraid at how I did on the guide. I know I tried my best, but I still want to make an excellent grade on the paper.  I was so afraid at how I had done on the guide, that I was afraid to submit it. My mom had to calm me down before I could submit the paper. Even though I had mixed emotions on this guide, I really believe that I did well, because I gave it my all.

The article that I enjoyed working the most with was Steve Rannazzisi, Comedian Who Told of 9/11 Escape, Admits He Lied. September 11, 2001 is a very sensitive subject for some people, and Rannazzisi’s lying made the day worse. At the time of the attack, he was a new comedian who wanted some attention. He received the attention but in the wrong way. His lie cost him his contract with Buffalo Wild Wings and fans. Some fans were on his side and others were not. Some thought he should have been pulled off of the air on the network Comedy Central, while others thought he should be forgiven. His co-star said that he was a good guy but just did a dumb thing. I don’t think he should have lied, but I do give him points for manning up and apologizing.

The advice that I would give myself for the next writing situation that I am in is to go with my first choice. Not going with my first choice on the guide put me really behind. It was also very difficult to do the assignment with the choice I thought I was going to do. When I finally decided to go with my first choice, I was at peace. The first choice was easier and not as stressful. Next time I will know to not second guess myself, hopefully.

Unit Reflection

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My first in-class essay taught me a lot about time management and how not successful I had been with it in the past. While in high school, I had a little experience with timed writing and answering essay questions, but some of the teachers would be a little lenient and still give extra time. Now, with me being in college, I see how serious it is to finish in a timely manner. What I took from this unit is to pay more attention to my time but not too much that I get distracted from the assignment. I also learned that I should try to answer all of the questions quickly, but not so fast that I forget where I am or what I am answering. My best strategy for timed writing would have to be to not stress out about being timed. My problem was that I always use to stress out when I was being timed. This hurt me because that was all I could think about. I would be so focused on completing the assignment in time that I would actually not finish in time. I applied this time management strategy by only looking at the time three times. I looked when I first started, the halfway mark, and when there was five minutes left in class. This strategy was very successful for me. I was able to do everything that was required of me and feel confident in what I wrote. The strategies I used to understand the questions were going back and looking at the questions that my teacher had given me. I also looked over my notes. I tried to make sense of what the question was asking and went from there. Once I understood, I was able to see where I wanted to go. These strategies proved very successful, and I will continue to use these strategies as long as I have in-class essays.

The reason why I chose the question that I wrote about was because that part of the book spoke to me the most. I am very confident in my decision of that question, because Robert Khayat’s persistence reminded me of my persistence. I am most confident in my in-class essay, because I feel like I knew the point I touched on. I am least confident about if I answered the question too thoroughly, because I have been told that I can be very wordy. My strategies for reading Education of a Lifetime were getting done in time and making sure that I understood what was going on. I believe that I was very successful in doing so because like I said before, I actually understood what was going on. I was thoroughly surprised at how well I enjoyed the book. It was an easy read and very informative. This book also taught me a lot. I learned a lot about the history of the University of Mississippi and how much has changed for the better. I also learned from Khayat to stand up for what you believe in no matter who stands against you. The advice that I would give my future self is to read the question thoroughly, know what is going on, relax, and try to answer the questions to the best of my ability.