Semester 2, Blog 3, Learning Outcome 1

     Social networking is by far the biggest trend of this era, what’s better then being able to connect with people from all over the world, friends new and old, at any time, no restrictions or rules?  Social networking is a game changer, and up close, one can see no faults, but with great power comes great responsibility.  With a new site or app launching daily, it’s hard to keep up, there’s Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, and who could forget Instagram?  These new forms of communication are swell and all, but they’re affecting us in ways that no one could have predicted, changing our society into something we certainly wouldn’t be proud of.

     Thanks to social networking, we have become fairly fake, saying things online we would never say in person, hiding behind phones and computer screens, spreading rumors and gossiping, just because we can.  Social media also causes us to lose real life connections, instead, building relationships via websites, never getting to experience actual emotions and feelings.  Social networking changes the way we speak, encouraging us to shorten words and use slang rather then proper English.  In moderation, social networking is awesome, truly groundbreaking, but we must make sure we limit ourselves when using it, never taking advantage of us.

    The fact that social networking has truly changed us can be related to learning outcome one, we have started using these new forms of communication to frequently, abusing their powers.  Up close, social networking is phenomenal, one of the greatest inventions of modern day society, but we can’t lose ourselves in all of its shine.

Semester 2, Blog 2, Machine Stops Claim

     We live in a society where everything is becoming modernized; it’s all about being new and better, being fresh and far superior then anything else that’s ever been seen.  It certainly isn’t a bad thing; change, but it’s affecting us in a way that we didn’t foresee, causing humanity to abandon what makes them human.  We are losing qualities we’ve long had, becoming far more virtual in what we do, and starting to forfeit features that distinguish us from one and another.

     It is Bob Mondello who writes in his piece, Our Media, Ourselves: Are We Headed For a Matrix?, “Nothing physical to establish that one person is different from another.  It is a horror story in which humanity has abandoned all of what makes us human.”  It is true, as we become more advanced; we’re losing characteristics that distinguished us from each other.  In a virtual world, everyone is the same, how can you tell the difference between to people when all you have are their words on a screen?  Computers and phones and the like don’t emit feelings, they don’t show compassion or understanding, anger or grief, just the cold hard words, no emotion.  We are losing our human traits; take for example this passage from the short story, The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, “She could not be sure, for the Machine did not transmit nuances of expression.  It only gave a general idea of people-.”  Face to face communication is the world’s oldest form, and will soon die out thanks to technology, but this certainly isn’t the best decision for our society.  Real life interaction is what gives us all of our great and not so great qualities, what teaches us how to display emotions and build relationships, without it, we wouldn’t be human. 

     A bit drastic maybe, we’d certainly still be humans when it comes to appearance and genetics and all that jazz, but we wouldn’t have the same characteristics, wouldn’t have the same ability to really feel.  Humanity relies on interaction with others to continue its progress.  One could say that through advancements in technology, we’re still allowed quite a great deal of communication, thanks to video chatting and instant messaging, texting and calling, but it’s not enough.  To look at someone through a computer screen, you see them, but you don’t feel them, and not just physically, you don’t feel their emotions, their expressions.  E.M. Forster also writes, “I see something like you in this plate, but I do not see you.  I hear something like you through this telephone, but I do not hear you.”

     We cannot jeopardize humanity by losing our human characteristics.  As technology advances, we can surely advance with it, but we mustn’t forget the things that make us, us.  Face to face interaction and individuality can outlast anything if we let it; we have the power to choose.

Semester 2, Blog 1, PSA on conflict diamonds

     On first glance, one can see that this image is a public service announcement for the effects that conflict diamonds have on the people who work so diligently to find them.  The image features a severed hand, wearing a large, diamond ring, one can infer that it is a wedding ring because it is styled as so and has been placed on the ring finger of the left hand.  The hand lies in the center of the image, only surrounded by a sea of white and a few small words written in black ink.  Because of the white background, the hand and text are able to stand out, and all of your attention is drawn to them. The hand is African and clearly has not been made this race on accident, conflict diamonds are more of a problem in Africa then in anywhere else in the world.  The hand has been severed and certainly not with a clean cut, indicating that it was a brutal incident, the positioning of the hand is also significant, the fingers are reaching out, almost like a cry for help or like they were trying to hold someone's hand, possibly their loved one.
     The text in this image is small, and placed strategically on the top and bottom of the page, making sure that it will not be missed.  On the top, the words "For every hand taken in marriage, another hand is taken away." are written in a fancy, cursive font, indicative of a wedding or regal occasion.  The use of the word "taken" is extremely significant, in the beginning of the sentence; it relates to being united with someone you care dearly about, and in the end of the sentence, it relates to losing something you care about dearly.  The bottom of the page features more text, this time in a more serious font.  The text informs the viewer about the problems associated with conflict diamonds and uses the catch phrase, "Beauty isn't worth death."  This small, but significant grouping of words is one of the most important parts of the whole image, it relates the picture to the text showing how no matter how gorgeous this diamond appears, it isn’t worth all the suffering this person will have to endure.  The text at the bottom of the page is also followed by a small logo, the one used for the organization that works to prevent the horrors that come with being forced to find and work with conflict diamonds.
     The image is meant to reach an audience of high class, wealthy, men and women.  Diamonds are a symbol of status, the more you own and wear, the richer you are, it's no secret.  This PSA aims to reach this audience, using the image to show the buyers and wearers of these diamonds that they have a terrible past, hoping that instead of throwing their money on new bling, they'll use it to support an organization such as this one.  They use the tactic of marriage and its relation to diamonds to reach the audience, showing how the diamond wedding ring you want to buy your loved one caused somebody else's loved one, a million miles away, to lose their hand, or worse, suffer death.  The purpose of this PSA is to bring awareness to the problems associated with conflict diamonds, to show how they have seeped into our lives and we must work together to stop it.  The image emotes a feeling of disgust and helplessness, showing how this person is suffering and it is up to us to help, it's persuasive in how it pairs something so gruesome with something so beautiful, relating a problem we mostly overlook with an item we have the pleasure of seeing everyday.

Jaci Illuminati Owen-Bigler

Blog 1, Learning Outcome 2

     The gap between 1964 and 2011 doesn’t seem like a big one, what’s 47 years?  In his moving and inspiring book, Why We Can’t Wait, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. bridges the void between past and present with his impeccable diction and ability to demonstrate human traits that we still exhibit today.  One of the biggest changes we’ve experienced since the turbulent 60’s is the use and connotation of the word, “nigger.”  Dr. King writes, “The Negro in Birmingham, like the Negro elsewhere in the nation, had been skillfully brainwashed to the point where he had accepted the white man’s theory that he, as a Negro, was inferior.”  Dr. King also writes, "Negroes are human, not superhuman."  This sentence goes to show that blacks were no different then any other race, except for the fact that they were fighting for their freedom and winning it, but it was never just handed to them.  The word “Negro,” the root of “nigger” was a word of such negative feelings, used to make African-Americans feel secondary compared to whites at the time.  The word dates so far back, to the days of slavery, when blacks working in cotton fields were called, “niggers” and nothing else.  It’s easy to see how such language was used to condemn people and make them feel inferior to others, but the part that’s a little more complicated, is how the word and world has evolved.  Nowadays, the word “nigger,” and its spinoff, “nigga,” are used as endearing terms, something to describe a brother or close friend.  Its crazy how a word, one that in Dr. King’s book and one that used to be so degrading is now used as a term of friendship.  Language changes so massively from one generation to the next.

Blog 2, Learning Outcome 3

     In Miguel de Cervantes’ timeless piece, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, we learn of an elder who has lost his wits due to Schizophrenia, and now, after reading countless tales of knights and the like, also believes he is caballero.  Here, you can find the link to this piece which was originally written in Spanish and has been translated for all to enjoy, http://mgarci.aas.duke.edu/celestina/EDICIONES-BILINGUES/INGLES/DQ-1-01.HTM. The story’s first volume was written in 1605, with the second following in 1615, both were written with an extreme awareness of language, which was greatly shaped by the culture of that era.  At the time, knighthood was something very trendy, everyone wanted to be a knight, write about being a night, or marry a knight, which is why Cervantes made it his mission to include other author’s works in his own.  Cervantes writes, “He approved highly of the giant Morgante, because, although of the giant breed which is always arrogant and ill-conditioned, he alone was affable and well-bred. But above all he admired Reinaldos of Montalban, especially when he saw him sallying forth from his castle and robbing everyone he met, and when beyond the seas he stole that image of Mahomet which, as his history says, was entirely of gold.” Cervantes’ story is not the only thing shaped by the caballero culture of that time, but the title character, don Quijote, also tries to compare himself to other knights from that era and previous ones.  Cervantes also follows the caballero code of the time, equipping don Quijote with all the traits any knight would have, including courtesy towards all women, having a damsel who he constantly dedicates his battles to, having a sidekick, fighting wrongdoers, and being honorable.  In the story, as don Quijote is deciding who shall be his damsel, Cervantes writes the following, “So then, his armour being furbished, his morion turned into a helmet, his hack christened, and he himself confirmed, he came to the conclusion that nothing more was needed now but to look out for a lady to be in love with; for a knight-errant without love was like a tree without leaves or fruit, or a body without a soul.”  Readers of this piece always enjoy the fact that it is greatly shaped by the culture of that time and that the language is directly affected by the costumes of that era.

Blog 3

          Jimi Hendrix once said, “I’m the one that’s got to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Who are you to tell me what to do?  Who are you to hold me back?  I understand that there are limits, sure, we can’t all go out and trip on acid for days at a time, but what’s a little experimenting?  Not that I’m into that.  Me?  I want to zip line through the Costa Rican rain forest and ride the Eurail as far as it will take me, it’s my life.  Make a bucket list, then do everything on it, who are they to stop you?  They tell you to obey the Man, so you think you need to stick up to the Man, forget that, you need to be the Man; the leader of your own life.

     In my paragraph, I used the technique of rhetorical questions.  By using this technique, I make the audience really think about the topic at hand; think about all the possibilities of their lives if they lived without boundaries and without fear.  The rhetorical questions not only prompt the reader to think about my life, but also their own.  By saying, “Who are you to tell me what to do?” the audience is able to ask themselves who is stopping and limiting them.  Rhetorical questions really draw the reader in to the specific piece, giving them something to think about as it applies to their own lives and situations.