Quote, Paraphrase, & Summary

Direct Quote: Heifer International is an organization "which provides livestock to needy families worldwide"(NY Times, 2006).

Paraphrase: The article NY Times explained that there has been an increase in the amount of people that have been making donations to charity.

Summary: Many people around Christmas time are making more donations to charity. Heifer International is a company who gives people in need during the holiday with livestock. Last year they brought in $1.25 million in donations. They are expecting a higher donation this year due to the season.

Thesis

Although rap music can have negative lyrics in it, it is not the downfall of society and can have a positive influence or message on some people.

Napoleon Dynamite

Self vs. Role

Napoleon plays the geek at school that is trying to fit in. He says really stupid things, and he thinks what he says will make others think he is cool. He talks about his girlfriend back in Oklahoma and he also makes a comment about numb chucks in his locker. He is buying into cultural expectations because in Napoleon's mind all the things he lies about is what he thinks is cool. He thinks it is cool because other people do them.(but other people do not do as weird things as Napoleon says) He resist this role because he is trying to overcome being a nerd.
Pedro is the most self-actualized because he never says anything that makes you think he is unhappy with himself. I never felt that Pedro wanted to be or like someone else.

Social Artifact

Rap music can be considered a social artifact. Many people believe rap music influences young kids in a negative way. They believe rap music promotes drugs, drinking, and sex. Although, some songs may encouraged it more than another song I truly believe rap music is not to blame. I think it is how a kid is raised, and what they are taught is right and wrong is what is to blame. I am sure rap music can have an influence on young kids, but I do not believe that if rap music did not exist the world would be a better a place. Some positive ideas can be expressed through the music, and can inspire some young kids. I listen to all different kinds of music including some rap music, and I think I turned out okay. I think there might be a certain age a young kid should be able to listen to some songs, but they can not be sheltered their whole life. One day they will have to grow up, and be exposed to the real world. If rap music did not exist a culture would not be able to share some of their views with the entire world.

Thesis

CLAIM
Cultural blindness is always going to be a struggle for society because even though we do not want to believe it everyone judges and has stereo-types.

REASON
People in society learn from their own culture and parents. How they grew up in learning about certain issues is how they will judge different beliefs and people.

QUALIFYING STATEMENT
No matter what people have believed in the past they can always change their future. They can learn to grow, and except new experiences and different people. As long as they have the will to change.

Cultural Blindness

I have been a lifeguard for four years, and have worked at the pool in my town's rec center. Usually it is a fairly easy job until you have to deal with people complaining, or if people do not get what they want. I was working one night with four other guards. There was a birthday party there with about ten girls, and they were probably ten to twelve years old. One of the lifeguards told one of the girls she could not get in the water unless she had a swimsuit on because she only had on a shirt and shorts which is one of our policy. A patron has to have on a swimsuit, and if they want to wear a shirt or shorts they have to have a swimsuit on underneath. Later the girls mother, who was also in charge of all the girls came up to me and complained. I told her those were the rules, and we had to be fair to everyone and I could not make an exception. The lady was pretty upset, but finally we found an extra swimsuit for the girl and she was able to swim. Later, while I was on break one of the girls in the birthday party was not following the rules, and another lifeguard blew her whistle and told the girl to come towards her. The lifeguard told the girl she had repeatedly not listened to the lifeguard about breaking the rules, so she told her she had to sit out for five minutes. The girl started crying, and then all of the other girls starting crying too. They were being extremely rude, and then the mother came running over. She started screaming at the lifeguard saying they were just little kids, and accused all of the guards of being racists against Brazilians. Her claim was just ridiculous because that was clearly not the problem.
The kids were not following the rules, so they were getting punished just like anyone else would. They lady felt we were picking on the kids since they were Brazilian, but that was not true because no matter anyones race we would have had the same policy with anyone. They lady assumed that just because we were an all white staff we must be racists. That was clearly not the case.

Pathos

This video appeals to emotion. It appeals to emotion because it is a food commercial Subway. Subway is trying to advertise how their food is healthy, and other fast foods are bad for you. The commercial expresses that if you it fast food you will get thunder thighs, or you will be fat. Subways is trying to tell its audience that anyone get eat at subway even if their on a diet because it can be good for you. This commercial does and does not appeal to me. I could go both ways with it. I like the fact that Subway has "healthy food", but I am sure there is better food to eat than Subway.

Logos

This videos appeals to logic or reason. The commercial is stating that one out of every five kids smoke a cigarette before they are thirteen. They are having the kids count off every five kids out of a line, and when one of the kids says five that means they have smoked. The commercial is getting its point across by using the young kids because it makes the situation more real. It is a statistic that those kids will smoke, and it should be stopped. This commercial is not effective for me because I don't smoke, but I think it is effective for other people. It is a good way to get the point across that kids will smoke, and parents need to talk to their kids about it. It gives a reason for why parents need to talk to their kids.

Ethos

This video appeals to the authors credibility. In the video all of the girls are saying they could be one less, and so could any other girl. They are saying by using gardasil they can be one less that could get cervical cancer. They provide the audience with a lot of the facts about gardasil and why it could work, which is proving their credibility. This commercial does appeal to me because I have already had the shot, but if I had not had the shot and saw the commercial it still would have appealed to me. I think it would appeal to most girls because what girl wants cervical cancer.

Ethos, Logos, & Pathos Definitions

Ethos is the author's creditability.
Logos is the author's logic.
Pathos is the author's appeal to the audience through their interests.

Influences

The people that have influenced me the most is my family. They have made me the person I am today. Without them I would never have accomplished all the things I have done in life. My mom and dad both have supported me in everything I have done or wanted to do. Whether it was in sports, or in making some big life decision like where I wanted to go to college they have always been there for me. My mom is always the parent I can come to if I have a problem even though I can go to my dad, but it is easier to talk to my mom about something. If I ever get into trouble I always tell my mom first because she does not get as mad at me as my dad does. Now, if I want to talk about sports I always talk to my dad. We get along really well, and I can always joke around with my dad. My brother is a senior in college so we are about four years apart. We get along really well. I can talk to my brother pretty much about anything. If I ever have a problem I know I can ask him for help. My family has made me a good person, and I appreciate everything they have done for me.
Places that have influenced me have probably been all of the places I have traveled to. Ever since I was little my parents took our family snow and water skiing. So I love going to the lake and skiing and being around the water. I love going out west too. The mountains are amazing, and it definitely beats skiing around Ohio. I went to Europe two summer ago with kids from my school. We went to Paris, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece. Going to all of these places have shaped my life in different ways. I have had new and fun experiences, and I got the chance to see a different kind of culture.
All the experiences I have had in my life has made me who I am. Whether they were bad or good ones they taught me to just enjoy life and have fun. I think even though having a bad experience is not fun while it is happening, it actually ends up teaching you more. I know I have grown from some of those experiences, and it taught me a lot about myself. My family, everywhere I traveled, and the experiences I have had have been a part of my life that I would not have any other way.

Writing Process

One of the first things I do for my writing process is organize all of my information that I have. Then I brainstorm for a good thesis to setup my paper. After that I pick what information I want to talk about, and what paragraphs it should be in. Then I start to organize how I am going to setup my paragraphs. Once I have a general idea of how I'm going to write my paper I sit down at the computer and just start typing. I start with my intro first and then body paragraphs right after that and the conclusion. I usually like to give myself plenty of time to write the paper and revise it.