Implications, Inflictions, and Issues with the Issues.

I enjoyed the issues paper...i think.

My favorite subject is history, so democracy was a fun topic for me, however, i think i just hit those near-end semester blues and procrastinated, well, anything and everything. This kind of put a damper on peer review, and consequently i don't think i got a lot out of it this time around. Conferences and the writing center were very effective and helpful. I finished writing my paper around, 4 in the morning? so i'm not sure how coherent i was for the last...half....of my paper. Guess we'll see how that turned out.

Analyzing an Act with the Audacity to Absorb Amusingly

I was watching an episode of Community last night when i should have been writing the blog post. Fittingly, I decided I should write this blog WHILE I watched, but soon forgot about that thought entirely and watched my show and went to bed. Anyways, Here it is:

Intro: This episode, as is common with many TV episodes, has a sort of two storylines going on at the same time. The episode opens with Jeff entering a Humanities class because he heard it was an easy A. The teacher believes that he is in the Dead Poet Society, and gives no tests or exams, just asks that they carpe diem ("Sieze the day") to get an A. Meanwhile, the study group discovers that Abed loves film. However, his father will not pay for him to take film classes, so Britta decides to help him with his passions and pay for his film class.

Middle: Jeff's Humanities instructor notices that Jeff is taking the class for an easy A, and says that if he does not "sieze the day" by the end of the week, Jeff will receive an F for the semester. Try as he might, Jeff cannot impress his teacher and "sieze the day." Meanwhile, Abed's father finds out about the film class and confronts him and britta about it, saying that he must carry on the food business of his family.

End: Abed finishes a film and invites Jeff, Britta, and his father to see it. Through it, Abed's father is able to see that film is a way for Abed to express himself and be understood, and is now willing to pay for his film classes. Britta is relieved and can't thank Jeff enough, until she repays him by kissing him right in front of his humanities teacher. The teacher sees that Jeff has "siezed the day," and gives him an A for the class.

Two much late posts combined into one

I missed two posts, and probably won't even get credit for them, but here it goes anyways:

I'm writing my paper on the effect the spread of democracy by the United States has had and is having on foreign nations. I was going to point out key eras where this was a prominent issue, including the Cold War era and the issues of today.

I'm a little stuck on my tentative thesis because I'm having a hard time picking a side on this one. My thesis would either be that we're having a positive effect with this democratization and should seek to continue these efforts of conversion globally or that we're negatively impacting the nations we attempt to democratize and should step away from changing the ways that they run their countries.

I'm looking for ideas, thoughts and suggestions (PRIME TIME FOR COMMENTS), and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Background Sources

Source #1: "Exporting Democracy" by Peter Katel

Source #2: America can export democracy

Source #3: "EFFECTS OF U.S. FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ON DEMOCRACY BUILDING" by      Finkel, Perez-Linan, and Seligson

Source #4: Foreign Policy of the United States by Wikipedia

Source #5: "Democracy Promotion:" by Epstein, Serafino, and Miko

Reflections on Readily Reviewing the Rhetorical Reading

I enjoyed the RA. I think I liked the OpEd a little better, just because it was more my style of writing and it was a little more personal.

It was a little harder than the OpEd, because it took a lot more thought and analysis than just saying personal arguments in a persuasive manner.

I like the peer review process a lot more this time around. Having the articles to review before gave us more time to give them better feedback, and more time to explain that feedback in class.

Overall, i really liked the RA.

Will wroth Wally-World be woefully brought down with well-written writing?

In the very first paragraph of "Wal-Martian Invasion," there is imagery of cities across the United States being destroyed and engulfed, and presidential campaigning. Imagery is also used to create the image of a 1950s sci-fi flick to compare the company to martians. Another example is used when it is compared to a "creature afflicted with the appetite of a starved hyena." This imagery is to portray an image of the company that is carnal, beast-like, and "doesn't have time for niceties."

The entire title is a metaphor and (while not very effective), it lets him have an image or thought to compare Wal-Mart to, martians, in this case. This metaphor also acts as personification, as it is giving a company life-like (even extra-terrestrial) attributes and qualities.

Attempt at an Analytical Thesis

"Wal-Martian Invasion"is effective in persuading American mass consumers of Wal-Mart's unethical practices and it's gloomy future because it uses relatable comparisons, ethical arguments, and issues that many of the working class are stricken with every day to create questioning in the minds of consumers as to the ethics and practices of the company.

Who they be sprech-ing to?

I chose a writing in the "Business and Economy" (Specifically, chapter 7-d) titled "Wal-Martian Invasion." I wouldn't say this is a topic i'm necessarily passionate about, more of something i've been interested in looking into, with interest in things like their business practices.

Audience(s):
Mass consumers, subtle audience of Wal-Mart itself

Current and/or contemporary events of importance:
By 2000, Wal-Mart begins to grow exponentially
A series of lawsuits that Wal-Mart faces

Profession/race/age/socioeconomic status:
Middle-class Middle-aged retail-shoppers

Ideologies:
Not a proponent of "Big Business"
Doesn't like the way Wal-Mart carries its business or its employees

Issues of importance:
Sexual discrimination, unethical business practices, low-wages of employees

Opponents (real or perceived):
Wal-Mart, or "likers" of Wal-Mart-esque businesses

Major fears/worries:
No major fears.
Minor fears may include other superstores coming to the aid of Wal-Mart, or tolerance of there practices by consumers.

Late Opinion on the Opinion Editorial

I enjoyed the process of the opinion editorial. Normally, i only write a single draft or two. While this improves the quality of my first drafts, it's not particularly an effective style of writing. I liked that there were multiple drafts due on different days, which forced me to be constantly reviewing and revising my work.

I found all three types of reviewing offered by the class to be very beneficial. The first, with Chris, helped point out the strong points of my paper, and gave some suggestions that could help strengthen my arguments. The peer review was great because I was able to get some advise from someone who was working on the same project, gaining insight into some practices that helped make their papers stronger. The Writing Center was a tremendous amount of help in finding ways to implement the suggestions more efficiently that i had received through previous reviews.

Overall, i enjoyed the process of writing this paper. It was a topic in which i enjoyed writing about, felt strongly about, and was able to bring up strong points and arguments.

A late reflection on the peer review

I found the peer review to be extremely helpful. It was very nice and effective to get advise from another person who is currently working on the same paper as I am, to see what's working and not for both of our papers, and better processes and practices overall. Having my paper read out-loud helped me get a feel for how the flow of my paper was, and I was also able to catch many mistakes i might not have if just reading it over quickly.

Overall, i found it a very effective and enjoyable experience.

Show me the money

Have had some random thoughts recently, and with an additional withdrawal from video games, just got me thinking. Why can't all commercials be this awesome?

Firstly, is Kevin Butler, imaginary VP of everything awesome dealing with the Playstation. All I have to say is it is the best campaigning for anything ever. The rest will speak for itself.

Part 2

And for reasons with no connections at all (except for being a hilarious commercial), Dead Space has been dubbed the scariest game of all time, and, as shown, your mom would hate it.

Guess my only point is, why can't all commercials be this awesome?

Thanks for indulging me.

Three Little Birds

So....I'm going to be honest, here. I'm going with the only idea i've had thus far in the past week for this paper half-heartedly, knowing it may fail completely. But, it's what i have, so here it goes.

The idea that I've stuck with is essentially optimism, or more of the lack of it in the world around us today. People today are, simply put, generally unhappy. My argument is essentially that yes, many people have many reasons to be unhappy, i believe that every person can find even more reasons to be happy that to be down with the doom and gloom.

Some potential view points are: that people often compare themselves to those better off than them, causing pessimism, while simply being content with that which you do have can bring even more happiness than those who do have more. Another viewpoint is that the media often says to us what we need or need to do in order to be truly happy. Although following can be quite appealing and enticing, often times you'll find yourself even further from "true happiness", where you were originally aspiring to be.  viewpoint may be  sound pretty broad, but just looking at the extremes in all areas, to gain a better appreciation, for all that they do have, especially in looking in what they actually made it out of.

Brain Stew

As many people already know from class, i find it very difficult to write without a topic, hence brainstorming isn't particularly of my liking, since it involves the perilous journey to Mount Doom, the black hole of no topic. So I'm just going to stir this stew a little.

I suppose many of my topics could stem from my work experience. I've worked retail for over two years, first at Gamestop in my hometown, and now at the Museum of Art here on campus. I've noticed many things, mostly dealing with people and their attitudes. Most of the time i think what comes to mind for me is just people's refusal to be happy. I mean, i know people are let going out of their way to spend money, but like, isn't it something you sort of want? Also, people's impatience with technology is something that's somewhat irritated me i suppose.

Like i said, this is the thought part of writing for me, so if anyone has any suggestions, please throw them down.

My Nucleus.

As you probably already know I'm Taylor Jackson. But there are some things you may not know. I'm from Taylorsville, Utah, there are five people in my family, and I am the oldest of two other siblings. I graduated with the class of 2010 at Cottonwood High School, in Murray, Utah.

As far as my scholarly aspirations go, I am currently in the pre-major for Animation, and will apply to the major after returning from my mission, leaving in August. With Animation, I hope to either work for a movie company such as Pixar, or a video game development company, such as Disney Interactive or Electronic Arts (EA). Beyond my academic pursuits, I plan to soon, as I said, leave for my mission in August, and upon return become a Resident Assistant in Helaman Halls. I currently work at the Museum of Art, and hope to remain employed there through the semester. Most Important of my aspirations are to continue living the gospel and a Christ-centered life, to remain worthy of the blessings of a mission, the temple and an eternal familiy.