Reflection

Recently I have been working a lot on making my persuasive paper come together. I have developed my solution of in dealing with child abuse, the best answer is if possible for a child to be with their family. After lots of researching I found a case of how child abuse became a nationally known issue, statistics of child abuse in the past and today, and from a psychological perspective of the causes of this kind of abuse. My main struggle with this paper is connecting each section of my paper together and organizing it in a way it is all going to make sense. I have written papers on this topic before but this time I am looking at it from a different angle; the solution. I have most of my research done just need everything to come together. I love this topic and have enjoyed to further explore information that I did not know before.

Reflection of the Week

This week we have finished our two pieces of rhetoric and have also been working on our persuasive papers. The two pieces of rhetoric I created were for the organization called Pat's Place. One is a poster for a Snack and Juice drive which uses Pat's Place colors, pictures of children from Pat's place and other pictures symbolizing people together helping others in need such as a big hand holding a little hand. This poster's goal is to get parents and other individuals to donate to Pat's Place. I also created a wordle using words describing Pat's Place and child abuse. This wordle will be put on stickers and water bottles. This is something every individual can take home but also be informed of the issue and how Pat's Place has made a dramatic difference. As we have been focusing more on our persuasive papers I have developed my solution. I believe that there should be more organizations like Pat's Place that work with individual children that have been abused and their families with the goal that the child will be able to eventually live with their families again in a safe and healthy environment. In many child abuse cases, the child becomes a part of the state and is put into foster care. I believe this solution to be the easy way out. I am so passionate about this issue because every child deserves to have a chance at life and to feel loved. Foster care does not give them that nurturing they need.

Overview

This week we have been focusing on our two pieces of rhetoric we are going to create for the NPO of our choice. I chose the non profit organization called Pat's place. This organization focuses on sexually abused children giving them a safe place to be and works with their families to eventually be able to be back with their families in a healthy environment. After researching them I decided I want to focus on a snack and juice drive for Pat's Place. On their website they are looking for juice and snack donations for the children. I am planning on creating a poster using the pathos appeal. Also I want to take what is on the poster and be able to put it on t shirts wrist bands and possibly even water bottles. I am hoping to raise money and snack and juice donations for Pat's Place. I still am working on the idea and slogan I will use. I chose to do this because this organization is exactly what I want to do when I graduate. I am a social work major and am hoping to be able to work with kids. I am hoping I will be able to work with Pat's Place in the future as a way to start my experience in this field. I have always had a strong passion for helping children that really need it and am looking forward to be able to give back to an organization that has taken care of and saved the lives of so many children.

Collage

How does this collage represent my identity?
     Everyone has their own unique identity which is made up of who they are and what represents them as an individual. My friends and family are a major part of my life and help to make up who I am. They are the people that have always been there for me and will be no matter what. I have learned from them and been through a lot as well. Every family is different, however, it shapes who you are and who you become. I also have many pictures from when I was younger and growing up with friends. I believe friends are a major part of who you are as well. My friends in these pictures I have basically grown up with most of my life. We have played together, gotten in trouble together, and have basically grown as individuals. The people you grow up with know you better than most because they were there experiencing your growth with you. I also put a picture of Boston and the Patriots because that is where I grew up. Boston is where I am from and shaped who I am. Everyone grows up different depending on where you are from. Living in a small town in the north gave me a different perspective than say someone from Charlotte North Carolina. However, I put the Charlotte 49ers because Charlotte is now a part of me as well. Every experience you have and the  choices you make shapes who you are.
What are the links between images and identity and our society? What types of images do you identify with?     Images are just visuals of who you are and what you are made up of. Your identity is so unique to anyone else because it describes exactly who you are. Everyone comes from different backgrounds, has different experiences, and makes different choices. Our society today, allows you to be a unique individual and whoever you want to be. Images are a way to express what something or someone is. Also, with images you choose what you want to show and what you do not. Every image holds a memory. Personally, I identify with Boston, because it is my home town but  Charlotte as well because I decided to move here. Every individual is different and holds an identity which is unique to everyone else.

24/7 America

Our assignment was to read Patrick Cox's article, 24/7 America: A Family Photograph Album. Cox explains how Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen have taken multiple digital images of the average lives of Americans. For example, they captured images of rural landscapes to celebrations. Cox continues to talk about how photos play such a significant role in every Americans lives. Photos are how we recapture and remember a certain event or special time in an individuals life. The images as the author describes, are not glamorous but representing the true America. The photos are what really happens in individual's everyday lives and not what is seen on television. I enjoyed this article and looking at these pictures because even though the pictures might just be ordinary they are capturing a different memory in every single photo.

Something Ordinary

      This is a picture of my childhood best friend and I listening to music. This is something I love to do to relax with someone who has always been very close to me.

Overview

      This week in class we analyzed the movie Capitalism, A Love Story. It gave everyone the chance to work together and really think about the message Michael Moore was portraying. This activity allowed us to think in depth about more than what we saw in the film.
      Also, we learned how to analyze photos rhetorically. We talked about how due to how advanced technology is today, you are able to enhance or distort photos to make them a whole new creation of reality. We looked at a particular picture taken in Haiti. There were multiple different perspectives in this photo. It was interesting to see how many different outlooks there were in just one picture.

overview; reflection of capitalism film

     The movie we watched in class this week was about capitalism and how it is destroying our country. They used multiple examples of personal stories of how capitalism how made a major impact on their lives negatively. For example, in many cases families have had their homes taken away by the government and sold to someone else without them knowing because they could not pay their bills.
       There have been several families that have had their lives effected dramatically due to the economy. Personally, I have seen my cousins and uncle go through such a difficult situation due to the economy. They lost their mother about five years ago who was their main income. Their father had gotten laid off and had no way of paying their bills. They were one of the many that lost their house and have been struggling to be able to pay expenses everyday. This was not something they put on themselves, however, they were forced to be in such an awful situation due to the economy and their circumstance. Even though I was not going through this myself, it was hard to see my family struggling so dramatically. Every individual can relate to this movie because it is something that has effected our country over the years.

overview of this week

This week we have learned different methods of research and the steps needs to create a well done research paper. I have done several research papers in the past and have used most of the methods we have gone over. I am still in the process of creating my proposal, however, I have my main idea. My topic as mentioned before is child abuse which there is many different ways to go about it. Basically, I am trying to find a way to reduce child abuse in families in charlotte and an argument that will persuade that children need more help than they are receiving now. This is a major passion of minebut still need to figure out exactly what to focus on.

This week's overview

This week we have started talking about and working on our major inquiry assignment. Always a major interest of mine is children and child abuse. I chose the non profit organization called pats place child advocacy center which provides a healthy environment for children that have been traumatized by abuse in their past. I really like this organization because I am a social work major and would love to be apart of an organization like this. I have written papers in the past on child abuse but more just statistic based. I am excited to be able to explore this organization and learn more about it. Pats place works with families to ensure the child's needs are being fulfilled. I have always wanted to get involved in my major and what I want to make for my future. This is exactly what I have been wanting to do. I love kids and think they are so many children that do need help. I can not wait to get in contact with this organization and learn more about it

rhetorical situation/ thesis statements

This week we have learned about rhetorical analysis which is using persuasion when analyzing an image or a political comic. We went over how to analyze an image that portrays a message with words and visual images. We also went over had to create a strong thesis statement. A thesis statement must be arguable, show your point of view, and be very specific. I have gone over thesis statements multiple times in previous classes, however, there is always room for improvement.

About me:

     Writing to me, is the best way to express myself because I can make my writing exactly as creative and imaginative as I want. I like to write about personal experiences or what am passionate about. Everyone has their own story of who they are and what they have done. I enjoy writing about my own journey and being able to express it. 
     Reading is a way to escape from reality and to explore a totally new and exciting world in a novel. I like to read stories about individual's journey's fictional or non fictional. One of my favorites is Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. This story explains a young teenager's, Matilda, journey starting out on a tropical island which was shattered by war. The story goes through her experience and how she relies on the characters in a book for her escape from reality of being in the middle of a war. I love this book because it described an individuals unique journey through life. Everyone has their own story and I love to read about different experiences.

Skeleton in the Closet; by Bill Mitchell

      

http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/analysis/toons/2009/03/09/mitchell/index.html (click to see cartoon)


          This cartoon by Bill Mitchell shows former president George Bush holding back and trying to close his closet of skeletons. Mitchell has done a lot of political cartoons for many years and is always very creative in displaying a significant message in his illustrations. The author uses distinctive visuals as well as phrases to illustrate his point. These skeletons consist of “hidden emails, torture, illegal wiretaps, obstruction of justice, ect”.  Bush illegally wiretapped through individual’s phones who he thought were terrorists. This was extremely illegally and found to be unconstitutional. The cartoon is an example of how people will judge you for the mistakes you’ve made in the past and it can also effect your future. Your mistakes are your skeletons. His skeletons follow his still today. The author uses a serious illustration in the comic which is very appropriate for this issue. As the phrase used “I’m looking forward not back” is a reference to the upcoming election. Republicans are running against Obama for the first time since Bush was president. He is hoping that his mistakes in the past do not effect the republicans chances for the future. The artist illustration are  not exactly coming from one’s opinion or point of view. He is simply showing the fact of Bush’s mistakes which are commonly known and how he feels about what he did. Mostly everyone in the United States can relate to this issue because it was the leader of our Country committing a serious crime that will always be well known in history.