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Where good ideas come from:

Collaboration 

Talking to others

Different moments, like a eureka moment 

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Argument Visual

This is a visual representation of a slippery slope argument.

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Argument Analysis

The article I found was written by a high school student who attends a school who requires uniforms. Her argument is about how classmates of hers was sent home for having uniform infringements. Her claim is that wearing school uniforms don't help them learn. I believe that her argument structure is the classical approach, appealing to ethical, emotional, and logical appeals. Emma Jacobs, the writer of this article, argues how uniforms are even more distracting than normal, causal, everyday wear. She states in her article "schools also say that uniforms help to set high academic standards. But some of the highest-achieving countries have no uniform". She explains how her uniforms are uncomfortable and more distracting, and that when she takes three hour exams, she'd rather be in a onesie, than being in a a tight, top button shirt. Her argument explains how uniforms shouldn't have to do with academics, and that it is not helping the student's education any more than schools without uniforms.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/07/wearing-school-uniform-doesnt-help-us-learn

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Reflection

Assignment: Personal Narrative

1. What did you learn by completing that assignment?

I learned how to show raw emotion through my writing, it is easier to show emotion through a topic like a personal narrative since it is a story about something that happened to you.

2. Are you a more confident writer?

I feel like a more confident writer because this story meant a lot to me, and i have never been super confident in writing, but I felt like this was one of my better pieces.

3. Can you identify the rhetorical purpose of the assignment and the audience it is meant for?

The rhetorical purpose of this assignment was to have the audience learn something more about you, and deliver a story that has a special meaning, or event that has happened to you, and deliver it in an organized, structured way.

The audience was the class, and have them see another part of you that they usually don’t see, or learn something new about the writer.

4. What genre is the assignment? What are the constraints? What is the formula for the genre? Structure?

The genre was a narrative. Some constraints were it had to be a minimum of five paragraphs and include a piece of media. The formula of the genre was it had to describe an incident or event in your life. Structure was five paragraphs.

5. Can you work/collaborate with other people? Did you discuss and share you work in class? Did you read your work in class? Did you participate on the discussion board?

I am able to collaborate with other people, we discussed our ideas and work in class to the people sitting near us. We also read our narrative aloud to the class to get feedback. We also posted it on the discussion board and tumblr page.

6. How will these skills transfer to your future writing?

These skills will transfer to future writing by being more confident in writing, as well as being able to collaborate with people. Being able to collaborate with people is important.

7. When you get writing assignments in the future, what are the first things you will do?

Read the instructions of the assignment first, then start to write a rough draft, and have someone else look over it, and make any adjustments to make the writing better.

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Brief But Spectacular Take Steps and Video

1.       Clap

2.       Video of crew

3.       Subtle background music

4.       Easy to understand

5.       Include personal emotions

6.       Subtitles

7.       Interesting topic title

8.       Around 2 minutes and 30 seconds

9.       Short sweet introduction

10.   Background information

11.   Ends with topic

12.   Crew to help film

13.   Share unique experiences

14.   Different clips/cuts

15.   Humor, raw emotion, vulnerability

16.   Overcoming an obstacle, mentioning the good and bad

17.   Facial expressions

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Personal Narrative

Lakeville Strong

           On December 4th, 2015, our community had to face a scary reality that was all too real. It was a typical December day, students from the Lakeville community had already faced a death exactly a year ago, involving a student from Lakeville North. So, this day was already a day of mourning, and then some unfortunate event had to take place later during day. I remember Friday, December 4th like it was yesterday. A day where all the student’s lives would change forever.

           Lakeville South, the high school I attended, was holding a nerf war. If you do not know what this is, it is where you get into teams of five or six, and pay to play, you can play anywhere, at any time, and when you are shot, you are out. Whoever is the last one standing, wins the game, and they split the jackpot money between their team. Sounds fun, right? Well, it is until something goes wrong. The game had certain rules, and regulations, and you could drive and kidnap people, and this is where the game starts to become more dangerous than it should be. With driving involved, accidents can happen, and that’s exactly the case in this story.

           Johnny Price, Mason Kohlbeck, and Alex Hughes, all seniors, decided to “kidnap” a junior in my grade, Jake Flynn. They took him after school was over and Alex, was driving, Mason was in the passenger seat, and then the other three in the back of the truck. They were driving on back roads in a neighboring county, and they were driving too fast. Alex was driving 90 in a 55, and only Mason had a seat belt on. The wheel got pulled the wrong direction and the truck started rolling. Alex, and Mason were just injured, but Jake and Johnny were thrown out of the vehicle and lost their lives.

           Like I said before, I remember this day all too well. After school ended, I had dance team practice from 3-6, and we were competing that next day. We had a water break and my friends had gone on their phones, to see that Johnny, Alex, and Mason were admitted into the hospital, and Jake declared dead on the scene. We were all a mess. We had grown up with these kids. Me, personally, I had grown up with Jake, and lived in the same neighborhood, and went to school together from elementary to high school together. Later, Johnny was announced dead as well, and practice was cut short, and we were pulled from the competition because we were not emotionally ready or stable. Later that evening, we went back to Lakeville South, and had our principle officially announce what had happened. It was weird, because I had talked to Johnny that day because we were in a group project together, and I had also talked to Jake in history that day too.

           Jake and Johnny’s lives ended too soon for them, Johnny was supposed to graduate this year, and play baseball in college, while Jake was going to be captain of our football team the next year, and go through senior year with us. With this tragedy that took place, our community became so much closer, our two high schools are huge rivals with everything, considering its Lakeville South versus Lakeville North. However, a bond was created between these two schools, because Jake and Johnny had ties to both schools, and knew students from North as well. This bond will be everlasting, and Jake and Johnny had changed lives in our community, and they will never be forgotten.

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Buying Local

When buying groceries, have you ever thought or asked yourself, “where is this food coming from”? Most people do not think about where this food is coming from or how long it took to get to this store. By buying local, this helps the environment as well as the economy.

Buying local is starting to become a topic of discussion, because people believe that it helps the environment and economy, while others say that it has more negative effects, and hurts the environment. Buying local has more advantages than negatives, and it can make the food we consume better, and help our environment.

If consumers start to buy local, we can reduce the costs of shipping, and it will reduce pollution since it will cut down on transportation. Buying local can save the environment more ways than one, and if we can do something about pollution, we should act on it.

Lastly, another advantage of buying local, would be making jobs for local farmers more stable. By buying within your area, this will keep jobs going for small town farmers, and keep the economy stable.

By buying local, we can keep the environment clean, and the economy stable. Even though there can be negative setbacks, we can try to buy local, and keep the environment in the best shape possible.

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Position Paper

Technology has made a huge impact in this generation, as well as in the world. It is constantly changing, whether it is a new phone that has been released, software, computers, TV’s, or even car media systems. With the advancement in technology, cars are adapting to the new technology and placing it in their own vehicles. However, distracted driving is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. A study found that drivers making a call on the phone are four times as likely to cause a collision on the road, as other drivers. Should cell phones, and other technology distractions be banned completely, and have stricter laws, allowing the use of technology in the car, and what laws should be in place?

             Today, hands free technology has been introduced to driver’s, and it doesn’t make it less dangerous than using a phone. AAA did a study and found that 167 people using the hands-free technology had a slower reaction time, and increased distraction levels. Voice automated car technology can be just as distracting. When trying to make a phone call to the car media system, telling the technology to play a different song, is still a distraction that can cause car collisions. With newer technology coming into place, as well as new cars being made, “86 percent of all new vehicles in the U.S. offer Bluetooth as a standard feature” (LeBeau), people believe that hands free makes driving safer, but the systems don’t quite understand what is being asked. With, trying to tell the device is just as dangerous as texting and handling the actual phone itself.

           A report showed that “up to fifty percent of teens report that they message while driving” (Associates). Even just looking at a text on your phone is illegal. With this generation, being on your phone, or having your phone is important to teens around the world. People tend to switch music on their phone while driving, reading a text, and simply to look at the time. I believe that using your phone while driving is so dangerous, and laws need to be stricter and enforced more heavily. Coming from first-hand experience, I am guilty of looking at my phone while driving. I usually change music on phone, but I sometimes text. However, this is something that is horrible and dangerous, and I try not to be on my phone, but there is something that makes me feel the need to change the music. Even though looking at your phone can be brief, accidents can happen so fast. One too many times, I look at my screen for the time, and I look up and slam on my brakes because the cars have slowed down, or stopped completely. Recently, Apple put out their iOS 11, with a new feature of the “Do Not Disturb” while driving. The phone senses when the driver is driving, and will not show the notifications until you stop driving, or when you select the option of “I’m not driving”. Is there a way we can fix this? Will putting a law in place, that bans cell phone usage help lessen distractions and accidents?

In Minnesota, drivers are banned from texting and driving, but talking on the phone is allowed. Even just looking at a text on your phone is illegal. If a law was put into place that phones will be banned completely, how would this law be enforced? It would be difficult to enforce this law, because the officer would have to prove that the driver was on their phone. A friend was pulled over for being on their phone, and when the officer asked if she was texting, she said she was just trying to call her mom. However, she was actual trying to change the music. With, it is hard to prove that the driver was or was not texting or being on their phone, so people would just have to be truthful, but, who will admit that they were on their phone and receive a ticket for $225? Trying to ban phones completely would be difficult, and would not be that affective, since proving that the driver of the vehicle was on their phone would be hard. The officer would almost have to go through call history to prove that they were calling someone, rather than texting or changing the music. A fatal accident that took place in 2015, involved a teenager, father, and a 10-year-old girl. The teen was on her phone, and ran a red light, crashing into the father and daughter, and ending their lives that day. The passengers of the teen claim that they “told the defendant to stop using her phone, but she refused” (CBS News). Accidents like this, that can be prevented, should not be happening because of a phone. Lives are being taken to quickly due to distracted driving. If laws were more heavily enforced, accidents like these can be prevented.

Texting and distracted driving is still an issue that should be solved since a lot of car accidents are caused from technology. No matter if the car has hands free technology installed, or if the phone is not showing notifications, distracted driving is difficult to get rid of. If a law was in put in place, it would be difficult to enforce, and hard to prove the driver guilty. Should the fine be more expensive, or should there be a bigger consequence if caught while being on the phone?

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In The Minimum Wage Debate, Both Sides Make Valid Points

5. Rex Huppke’s essay takes positions on both sides, talking about minimum wage. This position paper differs from other papers because, he goes back and forth from position to position and doesn’t give a clear side right away. At the end of the paper, in the conclusion, Huppke thinks that minimum wage should be raised, but it should follow inflation.

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Don’t judge a building by its walls: Architecture is about space, and how it feels

https://www.salon.com/2017/10/22/dont-judge-a-building-by-its-walls-architecture-is-about-space-and-how-it-feels/

In this text, the author, Noah Charney, argues that a building is about space, and how it feels, rather than the looks on the outside. Architecture is not about the walls, or facades, but more so the space that is created by the walls. This argument includes, a lot of background information to back up his position, taking information from a professor he had from college.

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Maybe College

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/education/edlife/voices-from-rural-america-on-why-or-why-not-go-to-college.html

1. Pappano’s profile piece accompanies a report on the situation of higher education prospects for rural youth. The students she profiles are from Minnesota, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, and it’s very likely that she interviewed more than just the six students showcased here. How well do the students and their comments complement the report article? Are there points mentioned in the article that aren’t touched on in the profiles? Are there comments in the profiles that aren’t discussed in the article? Give specific examples of whatever you find. 

Some of the students are in the same boat with not wanting to be judged and being the first in their family to head off the college. The students interviewed reflected Pappano's article well, because they are excited and nervous to go to college.

2. Pappano points out that students from rural communities face challenges that others do not; among these is a student’s relationship to their home town or community. As one of Pappano’s sources points out in the report article, deciding to pursue a college degree means facing that “you will probably not be able to come back.” In your opinion, which of the young people profiled are likely to return to or remain in their home communities? Which ones are likely to leave and not come back? Why do you think so? Point to specific passages from the profile to support your conclusions. 

I believe that the guys will return back to their hometown to help with their families work, especially John Dunn, he is currently studying agriculture and can go back to his farm and help out. I believe that the girls will have a higher chance of not going back because they are excited for this new adventure, and worked hard to get themselves to this point in their life.

3. You may or may not have personal experience growing up in a small town or rural area, but you do have some experience in being a college student (even if it’s still only a few weeks’ worth). Imagine yourself in the role of a more experienced student mentor. What help would you give to a new student from a rural background who is just starting out at your school? What do you think is important to know in order to succeed? Choose one of the profiled students or imagine someone that you might meet, and write a letter of advice and suggestions. (If your addressee is not one of the profiled students, be sure to give some information about your subject in your paper.)

If a new student came to UW- Stout campus, I would be as welcoming as possible, to make them more comfortable in their new environment.

Dear Emily,

Welcome to UW- Stout! I bet you will have a great time here at Stout. Some advice I will give you is to just be yourself, you will find your true friends that way, so don't be nervous to be yourself, and put yourself out there. There's so many people who are here willing to help you too! I hope you have a great year!

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Mutt Love Rescue

http://muttloverescue.org/index.html

Muttloverescue.org appeals to pathos, which appeals to emotion, and this website includes their testimonials, and pictures to get the viewer to want to donate to their website and possibly considering adopting, and going through their application. Under the “Saving A Life” tab, they include the question “How would you feel if YOU could save an innocent life?”, to make you consider donating to their cause. This website is persuasive because they include pictures of all the dogs who need homes, and their testimonials are persuasive and appeal to your emotion. They could include more information about why people should donate or try to adopt under the “Saving A Life” tab, more information on their home page, or include a video of the dogs and the volunteers taking care of the dogs. 

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Film Review Draft

The Day After Tomorrow Review

Can a movie be too negative for the viewers? Or does it have enough positivity to balance out the negative elements a viewer sees. The movie, The Day After Tomorrow, produced in 2004, has a plot that can be argued to be negative, due to the plot of the movie overall. However, the movie has more positives, that can outweigh the negatives. This film as many different elements that can be analyzed and picked out, but for this review, I will just be stating a brief summary over the movie as a whole, as well as picking out opinions of the positive elements that are shown throughout this movie.

The movie was created by the directors of Independence Day, and The Day After Tomorrow, is about global warming coming true and practically ends the world and the people in it. The actors and actresses in this film are, Denis Quade, also Jack Hall, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sam Hall, and Emmy Rossum, as Laura. Sam, Laura, and their classmates head to New York for an academic competition, but that is when the world’s climate starts to take a drastic turn. Tornadoes, hail, and huge tidal waves are just the beginning for the teens. While in New York, Manhattan gets hit by huge tidal waves that flood the entire city, making the teens take shelter in the library with other New York residents. Jack Hall is also a paleoclimatologist, and cannot seem to put a finger on what is happening, but his prediction of global warming came true, sooner than expected. A massive snow storms hits New York, and temperatures drop to a deadly number, meanwhile Sam’s father is trying to get to his son to save his life, but will his father make it through the snow storm, and other obstacles and survive?

Now by understanding the brief overview of the plot, viewers will have certain opinions of the positive elements of this film. Even though this film seems to have an almost negative plot, there are so many more positive elements then there appears to be. A few examples would be when Laura refuses to leave a French mother and daughter behind, when a huge tidal wave is approaching them. This shows braveness as well as selflessness, Laura puts the two before her own safety so they can get out and be safe. Another positive element of this movie would be when Jack and his colleagues are on their trek to find Sam in New York, and while walking through the huge snow storm, they do not realize they are walking on a glass roof of a mall, and it starts to crack and Jack’s two colleagues, Jason and Frank, fall through the glass. Frank is at the end of the rope, since they are all tied together, (spoiler alert), so Frank makes a courageous move, and cuts himself free from the other two, to get rid of extra weight so they don’t all fall through the glass. This can be seen as a negative, since there is a death, but it is also a positive because the courage Frank showed, adds to the movies suspense and drama. This particular scene however, catches the viewer’s attention, and gets them thinking about if this is really a positive or a negative in the film. It can be positive in the way that I had described it above, selfless, and brave, or seen as negative due to the death of an actor in the film. One last positive element in the film, would be the overall ending to this film, there has to be a happy ending, right? Well of course, not all films end in a happy manner, but this did. Jack does reunite with his son in the New York library, along with the other people Sam has been with for this whole adventure. It does conclude with showing the world from an outer space perspective, and the storms are leveling out, but everything is covered in ice. There are many positive elements in this movie, but it depends on your own opinions, and how the audience interprets the film.

The Day After Tomorrow, is seen to be very unrealistic, due-to-the fact that the world is practically coming to a new ice age, and people trek across states to get to their loved ones. However, this film can be said to be important to our times now, because people do believe in global warming will eventually hurt us, and start to make our world different. This movie is unrealistic from the exaggerated natural disasters that occur, but this movie can be an eye opener to really think about the environment and our actions.

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Film Review

http://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/dayaftertomorrow/

This movie review page gives a brief overview of the plot of the movie, as well as explaining the content that is present in the movie. It also provides opinions of the movie from the review pages point of view.

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Reflection - Collaborative Writing/Flash Mob

When flash mobs started becoming more popular, I started to gain a better understanding of what they were. I had friends who were a part of them at different events, like at church services on Wednesdays. Features of flash mobs are the element of entertainment and surprise. It wouldn’t be a surprise performance if the public knew about it beforehand. Only the people participating get to know about the performance beforehand. This form of entertainment can also be choreographed dance routines, freeze mobs, or even musical flash mobs. All three of these have the entertainment element, and the surprise part in all of them. The bystanders would not be expecting to see a flash mob break out in the middle of the mall, on a typical weekday or weekend.

We created our mob by starting out with a main focus. The theme can be the main focal point of the flash mob, or some don’t even have a theme. Ours however had a theme, and it was a proposal. We then decided on the location and the music, to fit the theme of the flash mob. Our song was “Love Story” by Taylor Swift, and our location was at Mall of America. When we made the final draft to present to the class, we explained step by step the process of how the flash mob was going to happen. I personally don’t think I would change anything because the flash mob was set up and planned out in a certain way, with steps and details, explaining to the class how it was going to take place.

Our group did a good job on communicating by talking about what theme we wanted and the other details of the flash mob, but we also did our parts in writing independently and then we just read over them to make sure everything flowed and worked out together, to make a cohesive plan.

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Collaborative Writing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waoya5wFDXs

In this video, Shant, proposes to Lina, and a high school dance team performs at halftime at a basketball game to the song "Marry You" by Bruno Mars. Planning that went into this flash mob would be that the dance team either had to learn or choreograph the dance, and teach Shant so he could join into the flash mob to surprise Lina. Knowing the choreography was crucial as well as the song choice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_-7co3341w

The bridesmaids and groomsmen surprised the bride and the groom with a flash mob at the wedding. This took a lot of planning, with the choreography, and song choices. The song choices related to love between the newly married couple. The video that was taken of the flash mob was good quality so everyone can look back on that day to remember.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzJZpOcMAIk

The highly known dance crew, The Jabbawockeez, did a flash mob at the MGM Grand Hotel. The prep had to include choreography with the other dancers, as well with the dance crew themselves. The song choice was "Uptown Funk" and had no evident theme, but just to have fun, and give the hotel guests a good time as well.

Understand the purpose of a flash mob

A flash mob is a large public event where people usually gather to perform a random act of entertainment that usually has a theme

It takes a lot of planning and effort to execute the perfect flash mob

Decide what you’re going to do for your flash mob occasion

A wedding proposal for a friend

He asked us to come up with a special flash mob for his proposal and to participate in the flash mob when it's ready to be performed.  

Watch previous flash mobs on Youtube

We first gathered up a few friends of the bride and groom to start making a game plan on how the flash mob will be performed.

We looked up wedding proposal videos online to catch a glimpse of what other couples have done in the past.

Watching other marriage proposal videos definitely gave us a few ideas on what we could do for our skit

Organize the flash mob

Contact the friend’s of the bride and groom to help participate in the flash mob

Figure out the music choice

Figure out choreography for the flash mob and who will be choreographing  

Provide clear instructions to the group

Once everyone gets the invite for being in a flash mob the next step is to provide clear instructions on what everyone's job will be,what day it will be,the time and place,and more

We will all arrive at the mall by 11 A.M. in different vehicles. We will walk around the mob area until the fiance and his bride arrive. Once the fiance walks our way he will give us a signal to start the mob. Once the music starts we will have 6 people start dancing to the selected music and as time goes on more and more of our group will join. The fiance will come in towards the end. As soon as the song is over he will pull out the ring and ask the question.  

Arrange any props or costumes needed

We must make sure that the fiance has the ring ready.

Besides the ring, everyone participating will be wearing a light baby blue shirt. We will mass order a bunch of these shirts and hand them out to the group so everyone has one.

Know the limitation of the location selected

We will perform the flash mob at the Mall of America.

We found a spot in the mall that is a perfect middle area and will not block any entrances to stores or any exit doors. People will be able to walk right on by if they have no interest in the performance.

Organize quality videography for the event

We contacted a friend who went to school for film. We have seen his work and do not have to charge him much since he is a friend. He already has all the gear and he will be sure to capture all the moments from multiple angles.

Let go

Have trust in the group of people performing

Trusting that the group knows the choreography and knows the plan to be able to pull off the flash mob

Have fun, flash mobs are made to get together with people you love and care about and loosen up for a special occasion

Finish as if nothing ever happened

Something that makes a flash mob unique, is the aftermath of the entire performance and  acting as if nothing ever happened. Finishing as if nothing happened really gets your audience guessing and wanting to know more about what just happened.

https://liveuwstout-my.sharepoint.com/personal/oneili1639_my_uwstout_edu/_layouts/15/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc={a357b3f9-6799-4f1d-a396-01a9c24365b9}&action=edit&wdPreviousSession=fbef9ae8-fcd8-4ad3-8690-5f3fa068050c