Diversity on Campus

In response to "Making a Visual Argument"

The most appealing visual argument featured in the collection is probably the creation by Melanie Frost. It was a poster depicting several hands of different colors all coming together to form a tree. Clearly the image is protraying a message of unity amongst students on campus. It speaks the loudest in comparison to the other poster designs because it's extremely creative and represents a message of strength in diversity. It looks as if it took a great deal of time and effort to create and it gets its message across very clearly. When most people think of trees they think of sturdiness and power. With the hands grasping one another to create such a model, Frost is clearly emphasizing how important strength in diversity really is. The picture also speaks that diversity is natural, and should be natural on a college campus, with the illustration of leaves and trees.

The least appealing visual argumment is the creation by Hannah Leimback called "Identities Are Infinite." This design is less appealing than all the others because it strikes me as something that has been done before. I feel like the aim is appropriate being that Leimback is clearly trying to get across that a college campus is full of different types of people, however, the design looks much like something that would be found in a teen magazine. Something more creative could have been done with the idea.

In response to "Cartoonists Take On Affirmation Action"

In the "It's GOT to Be the Shoes" cartoon, the central message is that some people are admitted into college on the basis of the institution's racial preferences. If certain applicants meet the particular preferences they can easily enroll, to the disgust of other applicants, unfortunately.

In the "Supreme Irony" cartoon, it is illustrated that even the Supreme Court is not even racially diverse and yet they are speaking and discussing the issue of racial diversity in schools. It seems a little ironic that such a predominantly white group of officials, with only one person that is not white, would even take into their hands the issue of diversity.

In the "Daniel Lives on Detroit's Eastside..." cartoon, the main character is depicted as a young man from the slums of a dangerous city, yet he still manages to overcome the odds and get into college. This young man is a person of color and with the decision by the Supreme Court on increase diversity in schools, he is able to rise above his circumstances and achieve higher education.

In the "Admissions" cartoon, it is illustrated that those who are admitted into school are admitted because of some circumstance or status that would make the intitution look good. From being the child of an alum to being an athlete to being a minority all are let in except one young man with no such status. He blames the Supreme Court ruling for increasing diversity for his rejection because if the school were not trying to reach a certain standard by admitting certain students he would have gotten in.

In the "Pricey" cartoon, it's a clear illustration that college is expensive. If one does not have the means to pay for all of this education, it is likely that he/she will be left behind.

The most effective cartoon is definitely the "Daniel Lives on Detroits Eastside..." because it shows that students from different backgrounds, with possibly not the most affording means, have the opportunity to get into college and make something more of themselves.

The least effective cartoon is the "Pricey" cartoon because it can be somewhat vague in answering to the Sumpreme Court Affirmative Action decision. The cartoon focuses largely on how expensive college is, but does not zero in much on the actual issue of diversity on campus. The other cartoons make a little more sense with regards to responding to the issue.

RAV4 Commercial

The RAV4 commercial, endorsed by Toyota, is a humorous ad to emphasize how important having the newest model is. In the commercial, a man and a woman who each want to own the car for his/herself fight and put one another in danger in order to better their own chances of attaining the vehicle. Being that the commercial takes place within an upper class suburban neighborhood and two middle aged adults play the main characters, Toyota is clearly targeting a particular audience: somewhat young, but established, middle to upper class adults. The commercial uses a pathos appeal by making the ad funny, but the goal of the advertisement is clearly to convince viewers that the car is worth having and they should consider buying. Aside from convincing an audience, Toyota is also trying to inform viewers that the model is available. The advertisement is credible being that Toyota, a well known and trusted company, endorsed the ad and has made several others.

Questions:

Who created this visual text? Who distributed it?

Toyota created and distributed the commercial.

What role is played by the words that accompany the visual text? How do they clarify, reinforce, blur, or contradict the image’s message?

The words “RAV4. A car to make your own.” are displayed across the screen at the commercial’s end. The role of the words is to convey a message of owning the vehicle. They clarify the actual commercial by indicating that the characters are going above and beyond to make the car their own. Ultimately, the message of the words is to illustrate how important actually owning the car is. They help the commercial to convince the audience.

What does the visual text assume about its viewers and about what they know and agree with?

Toyota clearly assumes that viewers are more attracted to a powerful, affordable, shiny, decent sized vehicle. Based off of previous sales of older models of the RAV4, they most likely used buyer reports and feedback to create a commercial that emphasized the clean and new look of the model, the size and power that could be exerted from such a car, and the affordability.

What argumentative purpose does the visual text convey? What is it designed to convey?

The commercial conveys informative and convincing arguments. The whole point of the ad is to inform the audience that the new RAV4 is available for purchase and it is worth having.

Is any information (such as a name, face, or scene) highlighted or stressed to attract your attention?

Yes, the very first glimpse of the commercial focuses on a beautiful RAV4 sitting on the drive way outside of a large house. It’s shining and is clearly brand new. Throughout the minute long commercial the camera focuses back in on the model periodically, clearly indicating a positive image of the car and showing how Toyota is trying to encourage drill the image into viewers’ minds.

UNCW Drainage Outline

Thesis: The drainage system here at UNCW continues to be a problem when it rains for students, faculty members, and vehicle operators. Alternatives to rectify this issue are available and should be implemented on this campus to make rainy days more convenient and manageable.

Introduction: Introduce issue of drainage problems here at UNCW and explain that there are alternatives to the current issue of flooding on campus.

I.                    The problem of drainage at UNCW in detail

A.      www.uncwil.edu/ba/safety/documents/hazard_assessment.pdf : use source as support for UNCW problem of flooding and drainage

B.      Discuss problems students face on campus with ineffective drainage system

1.       Deep flooding

2.       Water damage

3.       Inconvenience to cars

C.      Why issue should be rectified

II.                  Alternatives at other schools

A.      ehs.unc.edu/environmental/stormwater/water.shtml: discuss drainage system at UNC Chapel Hill

B.      onnidan1.com/forum/index.php?topic=34207.30: discuss drainage system at UNC Charlotte

C.      Why UNCW is less effective compared to other schools

1.       How other schools’ systems could be implemented in Wilmington

2.       Problems other schools face with their systems?

III.                Improvements for UNCW

A.      Higher elevation buildings

1.       New buildings to be built should be considered at higher elevations: www.wwaytv3.com/uncw_breaks...new_psych_building/04/2010

2.       Install more drainage systems around campus

3.       Focus largely on drainage around academic buildings

a.       Use examples of other schools and effective drainage systems

IV.                How to Implement Drainage Systems

A.      Cost and process to install drainage systems on campus

B.      Process of building more elevated buildings

C.      Difficulty to implement such projects?

V.                  Conclusion: Restate thesis of UNCW drainage problem and include that there are alternatives. Shed light on the fact that these alternatives are not extremely difficult to implement and give examples of how UNCW campus would be improved

Next Step in Human Space Exploration

Taking consideration of all the time, effort, and immense amounts of money that has been poured into creating the International Space Station (ISS) discussed in Michael Benson’s Take it Somewhere Special, it is likely that the United States will take a bold step and collaborate with neighboring nations to formulate plans for more in depth space exploration. Although Benson states in his article that the ISS is currently going nowhere fast, new political administration may be the push that the nation needs in order to attempt more space discovery within the space station. One of the less discussed, but more important problems presented with the ISS’s lack of exploration is the problem that NASA, especially under the administration of George Bush, is not welcoming to new ideas and input from other countries. But with so many billions already having been poured into this project and a more welcoming political administration in charge, NASA may be more likely to collaborate with other nations and begin a “truly international endeavor, with expenses shared among all participating nations”, as the text states. The next direct step, however, will more than likely be working on formulating plans to explore. What Benson discusses throughout his entire article is how the ISS has been built and created for all of this discovery, but nothing has actually been done yet. Over the years, nations all over have tested space crafts and found that they have been successful. The ISS has the equipment to send space crafts into space and back safely, the only delay right now seems to be a lack of planning for ideas to actually explore.

Credibility of Sources

For my third essay I plan on using a multitude of sources to work from. One of my largest sources is Google Scholar, which I plan on taking submitted articles from and incorporating into my essay by using examples of definitions for torture. I plan on using the information that the site gives me to formulate a strong argumentative paper and thus create my own solid definition by the examples I am given. Some examples on the site that I have found thus far are that torture is defined as “intentional affliction of severe physical suffering” pulled from a book titled Terrorism and Counter Terrorism by Seumas Miller or that torture is “a violation of human rights in general” pulled from an article called The Definition of Torture in International Law by Barry Klayman. These sources are both very credible being that they are both from reliable websites and each author has citations of where he gathered his information. Another big source I intend to use is the class textbook. In the book is a valuable section of chapter 9 dedicated to helping people better formulate definitional arguments and examples from various texts that one can use. The book is credited and all the texts are cited and written by published authors. I also plan on heading to the library and finding some online reserves and books focused on torture. Being that our university library has these sources I know that they are credible and they all have references that can be looked into to find out where information originally came from.

Torture

For my third paper, I am considering writing about the definition of torture. In several sources the term is defined in different ways. Ranging from some sources claiming it to be “immense feelings of pain or acute mental or physical pain” to a medical definition that states that it is “severe pain that is intentionally inflicted on a person to obtain information for any reason based on discrimination of any kind (WordNetWeb, MedicineNet). Because the definitions are different in every source, I know that there would be some debate on what exactly is considered torture. For my paper I want to explore what exactly could be considered torture and what may not be considered based on different definitions provided. I feel like torture is a clear issue of definition because there have been several cases that have come up with the treatment of humans and animals where some claim that certain behaviors are torturous, where as others deem it simply as deserved punishment. I plan to research different documents that will support my claim about certain behaviors being torturous. By using the various definitions I have found I will formulate my own definition and use it throughout my paper to help my reader to grasp the point I am trying to make. Based off of the issues that come up relating to my topic, I will use all the definitions that I find to make truthful statements about whether certain behaviors should be considered torturous or not. I will use evidence throughout to effectively support my claim with each definition.

"Saving Private Ryan" vs Army National Guard

The two topics I’ve chosen to use for my second analysis paper come from two separate forms of media. One is the popular Spielberg movie “Saving Private Ryan” and the other is an advertisement for the Army National Guard. In the advertisement, there are two halves represented: one half depicts five people as citizens and the other half depicts those same five people dressed in army attire and addresses them as soldiers.  I have chosen to write an analysis for these pieces because they both have a common theme: the army. They’re similar in that they encourage the general public to learn something about the army, whether it be from visual depictions or by actively becoming a part of it. Both medias illustrate bravery and courage that is required to be a part of such a field and both possess pathos appeals to draw in the audience. While one is more subtle (the advertisement) and the other has a great deal more active depictions of what it is like to serve on the front lines (the movie), they both are clearly using informative arguments to reveal to the audience something about the army. The two differ, however, in the sense that “Saving Private Ryan” is for entertainment and was created simply to reveal to the audience Hollywood’s rendition of a great war fought in history. The National Guard advertisement is using a persuasive argument to encourage regular citizens to consider somehow being a part of the army by representing the pride and satisfaction that comes from serving the country. It uses less of a pathos appeal than the movie by emphasizing the idea that the audience should act on the idea to be a part of the army.