Presentation Reflection #2

Emma Cheesman's Presentation on A Bible Verse A Day

I believe Emma was extremely passionate about her topic. However, being an agnostic theist, I couldn’t really relate to her topic. I mean I have went to church before, when I was forced as a youngster with my Grandma or agreed to go with my family at certain holidays, but my beliefs do not agree with the Christian views. Her presentation was really good though and she made some great points, but I believe her thesis could have been more profound. Emma’s Thesis was this: “These verses became motivation for me to become a better person. I know more of what god wants, so it is my responsibility to act on it”. I believe that she believes that the project worked for her, but if I had done something similar the results wouldn’t be anywhere close to hers. I could kind of relate to what she was saying about how she perceived others and how she would judge people. My boyfriend sometimes tells me that I judge too quickly! However, I know that I need to work on this, just as Emma said she needed to as well! Overall, Emma’s presentation was good. She didn’t really use many outside sources or research, but she stuck with her rules pretty well.  

Presentation Reflection One

Elyse Brenner’s Presentation on The Finance Immersion Project.

I feel like Elyse’s presentation was effective, but it could have been more so. I believe that her thesis was spot on, and it is something that I can relate to because I am in a similar situation (college) like she speaks of. Her thesis was, “buying nearly everything using only coupons and/or discounts could benefit me in the long run, but for my situation it was inconvenient, time consuming, and hard to see positive outcomes.” I can agree with Elyse’s outcome on her project because finding great deals and cutting coupons can be a great deal of work! I really liked how she went back and took a look at the history of coupons to begin with. This gave the audience some great background information to base the rest of her project on. I was persuaded that coupons and discounts can be helpful at times, but you just have to search for the right ones. As Elyse mentioned, there are some good deals, but there are some tricky deals (like the buy one get one she talked about) that make you actually spend more than you usually would just to get a second item. I guess you just need to look at each individual deal and decide if it’s really a bargain or not. But overall, Elyse did a good job sharing her project and informing the class of what she learned on her journey, and supplying research that went with and supported her thesis.  

Response to Hunter-Gatherer

Reading Pollan's Modern Day Hunter-Gatherer was an interesting experience. It follows the story of a man going hunting for the first time, and the emotions he expereinces and how they are related to his actions. He learns a lot of unspoken expectations behind hunting and his thesis in the end concludes that he was in the experience for a bigger meaning. I love the vivid details that he put into the narrative and I was shocked at how well the story drew me in. I had went hunting with my dad when I was really little so I knew a little bit of what he was talking about, but I had kind of lost interest in the subject and stopped wearing camouflage around the age of twelve. I love the way he uses his words to make the most grotesque looking images sound beautiful with just a few words. I believe his thought complex is really extensive throughout and his use of pathos is incredible. Playing on the readers emotions with the scene's he describes and how he feels about what he done keeps the story propelling forward even though it was quite lengthy. I really enjoy reading the fifth segment. It was really gruesome, but I believe this was one of the most  insightful sections and most artfully written. "And one of the main thoughts about it we think is, will my own death be like this animal's or not? The belief, or hope that human death is somehow different from animal death is precious to us - but unprovable." This is about the time he realized that there is a whole different side of hunting. His preconceived notions of hunting are still intact, but for the first time he also sees the wrongness and moral shame in what he is doing! When he kills the animal he is proud that he has finally succeeded, and the climax of the hunt is over, But when he is faced with slaughtering the animal his actions do not seem justified to him. This is when he begins to look at hunting differently and become disgusted by his actions. He thinks about cannibalism and talks about death and the difference in what it means for animals, concluding that animals die often but they don't know of their fate, whereas humans know that death is coming for them. His thoughts on hunting are now jumbled because of these two experiences with the pig but in the end he comes to the realization that hunting is a multi-faceted event. “So which view of me-the-hunter is the right one, the shame of the photograph or the joy of the man in it, the outside gaze or the inside one? The moralist is eager to decide this question once and for all, to join Cotton Mather in his noble quest for transcendence. The hunter — or at least the grown-up hunter, the uneasy hunter — recognizes the truth disclosed in both views, which is why his joy is tempered by shame, his appetite shadowed by disgust.” Overall I would rcommend this essay for everyone to read. It broadens one perspective of hunting, but also makes us think about where our food comes from and the prices that one has to pay in order for a em

Mr. Wheelchair of America!

I walked into Pruis Hall on Wednesday evening, not knowing what to expect about the documentary called Defining Beauty that I was about to watch as a part of women's week. What I did not know is that the film was also in honor of the end of Disability month. As I walked through the doors to find a seat, my eyes landed on a woman sitting in the front row of the hall. She was about 30 years old, but still looked very young and beautiful with long blonde hair. But that's not what I noticed about her at first. The thing that caught my eye was that she was in a wheelchair. I continued on past her up the stairs about eight rows to take my seat where she, confined in her wheelchair, was not permitted to go. I took my seat, readied my notes, and waited for the film to begin. 

The movie started with a girl jumping out of a plane skydiving. The girl looked familiar, and I suddenly realized it was the girl sitting in the front row! Now all these questions flooded my head. Who is this person? Why is she in a wheelchair? What happened to her and why is she here? I knew that the documentary would answer my questions, so I kept watching intensely. The beginning credits began to roll, and I was informed that Defining Beauty was a film about disabled people living an everyday life. Through the hour and a half film, the camera follows 27 young women (and their families), between the ages of 21 and 60 all relying 100% of their daily mobility through a wheelchair in a beauty pageant called Ms. Wheelchair of America. After winning the Ms. Wheelchair title in the participant's home state, the women advance onto the National level of competition where they reside in South Dakota for a week until Ms. Wheelchair of America is crowned. 

The director of the film, who was also present that evening, decided to focus on 5 different woman in the competition who were open about sharing their stories. However, all 27 woman who were in the pageant were interviewed and displayed in the film. I'm really glad that I went to this movie because it was extremely inspiring, motivational, and opened up my eyes to new perspectives. There were some really shocking things in the film. One example is a woman who was born with no arms or legs. They interviewed her family and told her story, and even showed her texting someone with her tongue! Another kind of comical discussion the girls were interview on was using the bathroom. I have never realized that most people in wheelchairs do not have any control over their bladder. That they use a catheter to relieve themselves, of which they actually showed the woman, who I learned was named Amber, that sat in the front row doing this in the bathroom. Since Amber was present that evening, I learned a lot about her. When she was 15, she was in a terrible car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. For 16 years she has lived and dealt with this, and she was extremely open about her experiences and the questions the audience asked her at the end of the movie. 

The director made sure to cover the different aspects of the actual pageant, the interviews with the judges, the surfing day at the beach, the speeches given, and even the friendships and relationships they formed with one another throughout the competition. The woman that won the crown of Ms. Wheelchair of America was named Erica Bogan. She got in a car accident when an abusive male crashed and she was thrown from the vehicle where she was wrapped around a tree. What was shocking about her, was that even with her disability, she was a single mom who raised three kids! All of these woman are very strong and inspiring throughout the movie. 

I have known a little bit of what they have experienced because I have been temporarily disabled when I tore my ACL's. My life had changed drastically from what I was used to, and with another surgery coming up, it can still be hard to deal with at times. But after seeing this film, I realize I could be much worse off. It's amazing how these woman are still so positive and full of life. It kind of made me even feel guilty for how I felt about my knees and really put things into perspective for me. I recommend others to see this movie because it is life changing and quite inspiring. They announced at the end that a copy of the film will be avaialble in the library for others to see. So I beg you, please take a look at this movie! It taught me so much, but the most important thing that I learned is to always look past their chair to the person that they really are.

Miss Representation Film

On Tuesday, March 27, I went to a very enlightening film put on by women's week. This film, Miss Representation which began at 6p.m. and lasted roughly a half hour was extremely captivating. I had no clue what to expect going to the movie, but was completely shocked by what I learned by watching it. I took two pages of notes on the movie and the discussion of this controversy. The movie begins with a woman finding out that she is pregnant. The woman is still very excited when she finds out she is having a girl, but she takes a look at the world around her and the damage that today's culture does to girls. Here begins her drive, her motivation to show the world how woman are still treated lesser than men in society and how that needs to change.

The film goes through many interviews with successful woman and their thoughts on this issue, as well as their advice in the matter. Some of the people interviewed were Katie Couric, Condelleza Rice, Margaret Cho, Rachel Maddow, Nancy Pelosi, and numerous others. There were also interviews focused on high school boy and girls and what they thought about women in leadership roles or how the media is dominated by men and portrays women as objects.

Throughout the film, there were inspiring quotes that would appear on a white backdrop between footage. One said, "You can't be what you can't see" meaning that girls growing up don't ever believe they can be in strong leadership roles like men are because they are not show female role models in that position. It talked a lot about how we need to have more women in politics because when making decisions in an all male environment, they are lacking the insight and experiences of a woman which could mean a lot in certain situations.

This whole film, especially that idea, reminded me greatly of Self- Made Man  by Norah Vincent. I believe that the film showed both sides of gender and how they are misunderstood, not just the male side like in the book, but both made a lot of the same points. For example, in the book when Vincent visited the strip club she focused on how woman are objectified by men. In the film, it talks about media an how the media is in the hands of men, and that because of that so many female journalists are objectified. You see local news casters wearing low cut shirts and showing a lot of leg. This part of the film began to make me angry because they showed news clips and footage of men saying sexist quotes about women. For example, when one of the women interviewed was running in a political campaign, she would get asked "who will babysit your kids?". The media would never ask a male that. As a journalist major, it made me sick! But I'm glad there are still great role models out there ahead of me like Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, etc.

The higher up in a career or political office, the less woman and people of color exist. One of the reasons society has become okay with this and that nothing has been done is because Hollywood makes it seem like those are the roles that are suppose to get played. Only 16% of protagonists in films are females. Also, only 10% of writers, producers, etc. are woman.

Therefore, woman aren't being allowed to tell their own story. The number of news stories about women or girls is less than 20%!! This is rediculious! Another point the movie made that was shocking, but true was that "women will watch stories (movies) about men, but men will not watch stories about women", meaning women will watch actions and dramas where the leads are men, but men will not go to movies called "chick flicks"where a woman is the lead character. However, on the flip side, the movies that have strong female leaders and are action films (like salt, electra, cat woman) only appeal to men because the women in them are objectified women and use their body to sell the film.

This film made me really take a step back and see how few opportunities we give women! I was really glad that I witnessed this film, and I now know more than ever it is important to be a good role model to younger girls, and that I should mentor whenever I get the chance. I also need to believe in myself and look up to those successful, strong, powerful woman that were portrayed in this film.

#7 - Chapters 9 and 10

Chapter 9 gives details and support on how to construct an argument for a paper. It begin by giving a reminder of the rhetorical situation and helps one fine-tune their focus for their paper by answering different questions. These questions can be broken down into four different categories; Purpose, audience, topic, and author. By answering these questions, the chapter tells you will help generate a list of possible responses to the research question. Another helpful idea that this chapter covers is that of a cluster map. A cluster map puts your general question in the middle and lets you draw out lines that connect and possibly answer the question. It even shows you how to go through and narrow down the possibilities of the answer to your question. One of the main points the chapter made was on developing a thesis. It explains the difference between an explicit thesis statement and a regular thesis and gives you good point on how to define and clarify the thesis statement for your argument. The chapter talks about using qualifies, which is a word or phrase that "hedges" or limits the claim in your argument. This chapter also makes sure one is able to support their argument by involving certain methods that with provide reasoning and evidence to what your argument is suporting. The text breaks it down into three possible ways this can by done; by using ethos, pathos, and/or logos. Other types of evidence the chapter discusses are statistical data, experimental results, expert opinions, personal experience and/or testimony, and observations. These are all really good types of evidence that is essential to developing ones supporting argument. Sometime providing evidence and support for your argument isn't enough. When this is the case, it's also a great idea to use a counterargument. This helps people see possible solutions to a problem when it comes up, such as including rebuttals in your paper.

Overall, I believe chapter 9 will be very helpful to me as I write my persuasive paper and develop my thesis. It gives a lot of great advice and it's great that the ext lays it out in a simple easy way. One of the aspects of Wadsworth, especially in this chapter that I really like is that it gives example to make their points and help the readers understand. I love that it gives me a reminder of the different focuses one needs to be thinking about while writing the paper. It lists questions you should be answering before you begin writing so that your writing with the best intentions and have a clear focus. I have never really been much for prewriting in english class, but outside of school I love to make lists. The cluster idea was something that I am familiar with, but after reading how effective it can be in helping you with your papers, I plan to use those more often. It gives great advice on how to use them and acts as a jumpstart for your writing. I enjoyed reading about the thesis statement because writing them can be difficult at times. However, with the tips they give, I will be sure to use them in the future so that conducting my thesis will be a smoother process. Reading about qualifiers is really informative for me because I had never really learned about them before. However, I do know a lot about the supporting arguments, offering evidence, and providing counterarguments because I have had to do that in previous english classes extensively!

Chapter 10 talks about selecting and integrating evidence. I think that this is also a important chapter because it explores evaluating your resources as possible evidence and integrating resources into your argument. First the chapter discusses developing prokect-specfic evaluation criteria. I though this was interesting to read because it makes you taylor these same ideas for your own specific use. It discusses the importance of timeliness, relevance, and other criteria for your sources. I have known a lot about this for past papers when looking up good sources. I have been told many times that I should use up to date material and things that are credible. This means being especially careful when looking up things online. Anyone can make a web page and post anything they'd like on it and it may not be true or real. I remember a time in 5th grade we had a computer class and the teacher had a website pulled up of some kind of animal. The website looked legit and had everything there is to know about it, but come to find out the animal wasn't even real! This is why you need to be careful when finding evidence and support online. You need to have different sources and check the accuracy of the ones that you have supporting your information.

second half of book evaluation

I continued my reading of Self –Made Man by Norah Vincent on to the fifth chapter titled “Life”. In this chapter, Ned decides to take himself far away into a Catholic monastery with a bunch of male monks. She decided to go here as a kind of foil to her time at the strip clubs. The strip clubs enhanced and empowered a mans sexuality, but she wanted to see the other extreme of it, and witness what happens when that is taken away by chastity. Overall, the audience was able to see how male emotions and physical contact had to be forced among one another. Also, Ned’s femininity started to show through even more in this all male environment, which completely shocked her. She developed relationships with some of the members of different degrees and in the end, made a confession to a few of them about her true identity. Chapter six was labeled “Work” and as the name implies she applied for jobs at different male centered type of workplaces. The work she was doing was not glamorous, as it basically consisted of selling items door to door, and the competiveness and roughness of the male attitude in the workplace. Chapter seven, “Self”, took a deeper look at herself as she began attending meetings for a type of all male support group, as in a men’s movement or secret male society. There the men were able to let out their feelings and discuss them, as well as the stereotypes society has placed on them and the feelings of disappointment in the eyes of their fathers. She ended up going on a retreat with the guys into the forest as part of a catharsis, but it ultimately pushed her over the edge and she needed help in the form of going to the hospital as her project ended in her last chapter. Most of the last chapter was a reflection on the whole journey overall and what she learned from it.

My own thoughts on the fifth chapter was that it was very interesting, the whole idea of a monastery to me because I am not really affiliated with a religion, so their views and some of the things expressed in this chapter, I couldn’t really relate to. I also found it extremely hard to differentiate between all the different guys and there names because there were a lot of them, and oddly enough, a lot of them seemed gay. The sixth chapter I found interesting, but I didn’t really like the side of male stereotypes it represented. The “nine-inch dick” concept that Vincent mentions really showed through in this chapter, as well as the competitiveness. Ivan was not my favorite character, and I think it was completely wrong of them to try to use the pregnant girl the way they did. The seventh chapter overall was probably my favorite, because of how in depth it went to uncover the real emotional challenge of being a man and carrying the world on their shoulders. I thought some bits of it were really comically, like when she was contemplating all these dangerous weapons, and they just turned out to be plastic. I also thought the whole retreat was very interesting, and definitely a look at something no other female would probably ever get a chance to witness. In the last chapter, I think she did a great job concluding her project although it didn’t end in the way she quite anticipated. Overall I think this is an outstanding journey Vincent has portrayed in an interesting light, and it offers great perspectives on the world around us and the challenges as well as the stigma with gender roles and the stereotypes that accompany them. Glad I got to experience this book for this project and I’m excited to present it and share what we’ve witnessed with the class.