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Zoe,

I too had no prior knowledge of seed patenting before this class. Given I am sure I am not as knowledgeable as you, I have enjoyed learning about it in class. While your first point may seem obvious, I did not know anything about seed patenting either and was also surprised to hear it was not associated with GMO’s as well. As your your second point, I had not heard of Monsanto either and am surprised that I was so unaware given its control of a huge industry like agriculture. Lastly, I too thought this information would not relate to me but it totally does just like almost everyone in society.

What I’ve Learned About Seed Patenting…..

When I was assigned the topic of Seed Patenting at the beginning of the year, I was initially very discouraged because this was a topic that I had never heard of or knew information about.  With that being said, I have actually enjoyed researching and learning about a topic that is so prevalent within our nation that I originally was so unaware of.  Because I was so unaware of what seed patenting was in the beginning, I have been very surprised by what I have learned. Three of those things that I did not originally know was what seed patenting was, the negative effects of the industry of seed patenting reaches not only farmers, but also consumers, and the industry of seed patenting was primarily controlled by Monsanto.

1.     Through my research throughout the semester, I have learned what seed patenting actually is. I have learned that this is a widespread industry that is the literal patenting of seeds within the agricultural industry.  The patenting of seeds is not associated with GMO’s, which is what I originally thought.

2.     Before this semester, I had never heard of the company, Monsanto.  Now I know that this company is a widely hated company within the agricultural industry.  I did not realize that this company was controlled the agricultural industry, refraining from competition to be able to occur among independent farmers.  

3.     I have also learned that this industry is directly affecting me because I am a consumer. The industry of seed is patenting is so large that a widespread amount of products within our grocery stores have been affected by seed patenting or by the large monopolistic companies within the industry, like Monsanto.  I was also surprised by the fact that in many ways seed patenting has caused prices of products to rise.  This made the topic more personal to myself. Originally, I had no idea that this was something that was directly affecting myself.

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Madison, Wow! I totally learned so much from this! Thanks for sharing this information. As a citizen in this country, I have always understood the importance of prisons and their role in society. However, given that I have never really had a problem with the law, this issue is so displaced from my daily life. The facts you listed have actually made me concerned. Even though these people are criminals, they are people first. I think people honestly just don’t know the reality of prison’s and thats why they have so many internal issues. Lastly, I hope people like you and me can eventually appeal to a higher authority to get proper treatment of everyone, even prisoners.

Three Things About My Topic

Not knowing much about the prison system through my group topic I have gained important knowledge about the system and the many issues within the jail system. One major issue that I have learned about is the problem of overcrowding. I have always known our prisons to be full, but I did not realize how big this issue was. From doing my research on prison overcrowding, I have come across images of the living situations inmates have to live in. Although they should not be living in luxury, they do deserve to live in fair conditions of life and not in a two-person cell with four or more people also living in there with them. Another issue that surprised me was the treatment of the mentally ill inmates. Did you know that most of the time mentally ill inmates do not even receive their medication for their illness? How does the court system expect to help these mentally ill inmates to reduce the recidivism rate with their medication? Lastly, I have learned about California’s innovate treatment for the mentally ill inmates. California has a three step system that seems to work in their prison system. First California reforms the way they sentence the mentally ill. Second, they provide meaningful treatment for the mentally ill inmates while they are serving their time for whatever crime they may have committed. Third, they continue the meaningful treatment for the mentally ill by court ordering the inmate to therapy sessions before they are released back into the public.

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3 Things about Infant Immunization

I can’t say that there is a whole lot of information regarding the topic of infant immunization that I did not already know. Given that I am a pre- nursing major, have worked in an urgent care, and I have spent a multitude of time in medical electives in high school, I have a solid background on this topic. This is why I chose the topic of infant immunization. My background gives me more insight on the topic and how I can shape my opinion with facts and knowledge. But, I did learn somethings about the structure of our argument and how we will appeal to our audience. Given that infant immunization is a topic of concern far in the future for most student in our class, my group had the challenge of relating infant immunization to college students. I learned how much this issue actually effects even college students. Without vaccinating the public, an epidemic will occur which effects every individual, no matter their age. I also learned how to properly plan out a speech so that it flows. In a paper, it is easy to map out your argument as well as transition. However, a challenge arises in speeches because you have to be very clear without being annoyingly obvious. Lastly, I learned how to think creatively in making a video within our speech. My group has decided to think outside the box and create an advertisement. We feel this video will properly cushion our argument by demonstrating how the media should portray immunization.

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NCAA athletes,

I really like your argument and the plans you have laid out. I totally agree with your main points and I do think it will be intriguing to our class. No one in our class is a student athlete so make sure you explain to our class why they should care. Be careful when you say they receive gifts because that can be interpreted as an NCAA violation. A few of your points about exercise equipment and trainers seem irrelevant. Of course they get nicer workout equipment because they’re at the university to become a better athlete and increase their performance. I think you should make your main point that student athletes get paid but in other ways so paying them is not necessary.

NCAA Athletes

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Taylor,

I really liked the image you chose because animals in the shelter often get pushed aside. When you are at the stage in your life when you begin to want a pet, the first thought is a breeder. However, there are animals out there who need a home just as bad if not worse at local shelters. This image speaks volumes as the cat appears perfectly healthy not neglected, frail, and old as the perception would say. The handprint and paw print in the right corner also spoke to me because these pets become family and a big part of their owner’s life.

This image is put forth by TheShelterPetProject. It features a small, orange cat, with words that read, “A shelter pet wants to meet you.” This is an add that promotes the adoption of an animal from a shelter instead of buying one from a pet store or the like. The cat is adorable, and it reminds me of how I adopted my own two kittens from a local shelter. While the images is adorable, it doesn’t really do such a great job of persuading the adoption of a cat. It tells you that you should, but it doesn’t tell you why. As an animal lover, I knew that I wanted to adopt my cats instead of purchasing them from a pet store. I wanted to save a creature from a life in a room filled with other creatures. I already wanted to adopt. But if I didn’t, if there was a particular breed or age of kitten that I wanted, this image would do very little, if anything, to persuade me otherwise. If they had shown say, the over done before adoption and after adoption image that everyone does. I guess its overdone for a reason. It works.

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Kara,

Off the bat, this image struck me. The black background and skull next to the child is a powerful image that you can’t forget. I for one am glad this image is so abrupt. The importance of this message is something that everyone should remember. When driving, I think it is easy to get caught up in I, me, my but as a driver, you share the road. It is irresponsible to forget that the car next to you has a family and people who love them. As a licensed driver, I understand that the speed limit can sometimes get in the way but it is that way for a reason as the advertisement states.

This is an add or more so a public service announcement discussing the difference of fatality when hitting a person at certain speeds. It is covering the difference of going 30 and 40 miles per hour. This is why it is important that those two numbers are in bold and on the sides of the skull and the face. This ad strikes the pathos appeal showing the face of a child. This makes the ad hit harder and seem far more personal. Another thing the ad does very well is giving exact data underneath the bold this touches on the logos appeal and gives the viewers a logical reason as to why they shouldn’t speed and how they could lower the fatality rate. Another personal touch the PSA adds is saying “I’ll die” at the end of the statement underneath the bold. This hits on the pathos hard and makes it seem like you would be the reason the little girl picture would die. This hits the pathos appeal once again but this time instead of hitting it with nostalgia or connection it hits the viewers with guilt. No one would want to be the reason behind this little girls death, this makes them think of the child’s face every time they see their speedometer hit 40 in a neighborhood rather than 30 when the child would survive. This also makes the ad very memorable to viewers. In this way the ad would be very successful. The ad could be used in magazines and billboards. The smaller print would be noticeable in magazines but seeing the skull next to the child’s face and the bold about speeding would be noticeable on a billboard making the ad very diverse on where it would be seen.

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Advertisement

The advertisement that I chose pictures a set of car keys that are organized to look like a gun. This image is sponsored by The Frontier Post as noted in the bottom right corner. This image has so many meanings hidden within its simple set of car keys. The words at the bottom of the page read, “Takes one life every 25 seconds” and “Drive Safe”. These words have power and allude to the intended meaning by the author. I think the people behind this advertisement wanted the viewer to think about how cars, like guns, can be weapons. People tend to take the element of fear out of cars because they are such common everyday parts of life. However, since cars do not scare people, they tend to drive distracted, however that may be. Whether its intoxication, texting, eating, phone calls, or even children in the back seat, cars are a danger to people. Car accidents happen so senseless and take innocent lives daily. The Frontier Post wants to make this point to its viewers and stress to them to remember the other people on the road when traveling by car. Driving under the influence is specifically a topic of concern in today’s society. Many campaigns have taken off to spread awareness for intoxicated driving and this advertisement can be interpreted as one of them. The grey background and dark keys set a very serious tone and leave no room for any other interpretation. The simplicity of the keys and lack of brand name tells the reader that this image applies to everyone whether you drive a BMW or an old hand- me- down vehicle. In conclusion, The Frontier Post uses this advertisement to send a message not sell a product.

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Speech Reflection

The issue I was assigned for the editorial speech was infant immunization. The article summary assignment and rhetorical analysis paper have allowed me to develop a strong opinion about the issue. Once my opinions became clear through classwork, my speech was rather effortless. I knew that I strongly believed in vaccinating children and in order to convince others, I needed to keep them interested. This told me that I needed to include not only statistics but also a story. The anecdote I chose pulled together my argument and reinforced to my audience that my issue of infant immunization is a humane crisis. I wanted people to feel empathy towards the characters in my story and evoke emotion that would push them to agree with my stance.

I really enjoyed this assignment. Many people in our class emphasized the stress and anxiety that they were feeling towards the speech, however, I was excited. Despite getting sick, I was prepared and ready to give my speech and I am passionate about my topic. I have a greater knowledge on my topic because I am a pre- nursing major and I have a deeper background in science. Since this topic was in my comfort zone, I had no problems speaking on the topic. My only issue with this assignment is that I would’ve liked to include more quotes. Unfortunately, I was not able to include multiple quotes because I did not want to misquote and the notecard was too small for all of my quotes. I think one full note card should be allowed in the future.

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Kara, 

I feel the same way. In high school, I did a lot of public speaking but I was comfortable with my audience. I too worry about the new people I will have to speak in front of in our class. Something that makes me feel better is just knowing that everyone has this fear and everyone in our class knows how nerve- wracking it is to stand in front of the room and sound like you know what you’re talking about. Before I gave my speeches in high school, I always just reminded myself to make everything sound natural. No matter how prepared I felt, nothing sounded clear if I used language I wouldn’t normally use. Of course, don’t use slang or informal language but maybe refrain from using the big words in order to make sure your audience understands all of your points.

Speech

Giving speeches is definitely not my strongest quality and I’m sure that is pretty common. For me, it is nerve-wracking, especially when there is potential that I could forget vital information. I took a speech class in high school and we focused a lot of preparation and delivery, but no matter how many times I practiced or how neat I wrote my outline, I never felt fully prepared. In that class, I was able to overcome the fear of public speaking, but also I became very comfortable with the class. In a new class with people that I don’t know all too well, there is more pressure to do well. As this speech approaches, I anticipate becoming fully prepared and hopefully I will be capable of going on if there is a slight mess up. As I have learned in the past, writing an outline beforehand has helped me immensely, and a lot of practice. I believe that I can do well if I do those things. 

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Speech Preparation

For my upcoming speech, I am mainly concerned with fulfilling the time limit. I do not get nervous easily and I can speak in front of an audience fairly well. Despite practice, I find that I still speak fast during my actual speech. In order to compensate for my fast pace, I will likely include extra facts, anecdotes, or words. The problem with this is redundancy. Sometimes I think time limits weaken my argument. My thoughts on this are that if I can get my point across in 2-3 minutes, why do I need to drone on for another minute or 2? While I understand the importance of being able to follow a time constraint, I just wish teachers wouldn’t put such an emphasis on time limits or word counts.

I have had a decent amount of experience public speaking but I always get slightly nervous. As the speech goes on I will get more comfortable and hopefully that is evident to my audience. I do expect some nerves prior to my speech but I can control it and normally channel it to my benefit.

My personal goal for my upcoming speech is to control how fast I speak. I want to be able to meet the time limit without being redundant or including irrelevant information. I want my speech to keep my audience focused and interested and hopefully be informative. I am passionate about the topic of infant immunization and I hope to influence the opinion of my peers.

[emilyswrd042-blog]

Kaylee,

When I first started doing public speaking, I would get nervous really fast as well. Somewhere along the way, a teacher told me that if you just look at one person and give your speech to them, it is easier to control your nerves. Personally, my fears come from thinking about all the people listening to me and looking at me. So, looking at one person but occasionally changing people really helps me! I hope that tip helps you as well. Another tip is just to make everything sound natural. When you’re planning your essay, think about the language you use in everyday life and that should help make your speech sound effortless to the audience. Lastly, remind yourself that you know the information and don’t rely on your note card. 

Speech

When it comes to speeches I tend to get extremely nervous, and my anxiety skyrockets because I am a shy person and standing in front of people is uncomfortable for me. I haven’t really had to do many speeches throughout school which is what a lot of students have said on their blog posts. My fears are that I haven’t had enough time to prepare myself and work on the speech and I will forget some on the information (which I have done in the past) then just stand there awkwardly, then say something random that doesn’t really tie to my topic. I fear that no matter how much I practice I will still stutter over my words, and my voice will get shaky while presenting. I also fear that I will not reach the time limit because when I am nervous I usually talk fast, and I am afraid I won’t present the information as clear as I intended to.  My goals for presenting this speech is to make sure my thesis is clearly stated, and my evidence is tied back to my main points and for me to stay calm while talking. Another goal is to make sure that my body language and gestures are natural and not distracting to the class, and I am projecting my voice clearly. I know that the other students in class are having trouble with the same type of thing, which kind of makes me feel better know I am not alone.  

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Sam, I enjoyed reading your thoughts because what I took away from the article was very different from your take away. While all of these things were mentioned in the article, I thought that Motyl was using the torture debate as an example of his main argument. His main argument was that the facts that people believe and accept are based on their own moral code. I think if you spoke more about the idea behind the examples, you may have gotten more of an understanding. I really liked the thought you had about how some issues will never be resolved. I know morality is a tricky subject and I never thought of it this way.

Response to: Why the Torture Report Won’t Actually Change Anyone’s Views on Torture

This article really focused on the biases we have when it comes to facts. I did not know about these reports about torture coming out and this article gives a brief summary of what they were. One thing I liked about this article was that it did not focus too much on the reports, but the science behind why these reports won’t change anyone’s views. Many scientists conducted studies to show that if facts support our opinions on a subject then we will see the facts as true and if the facts do not support our opinions then the facts are not true. The scientists also show that not just a certain type of person does this but everyone does it. So, we will always have a cognitive bias because of our opinions. All of these studies conducted made me realize that many situations may never be solved because of how we analyze facts. It did mention that in some situations torture did not help out the US. Beliefs and opinions play a big part of whether or not we see facts as true/useful. People with the view of torture is immoral of course will see torture as an unwanted thing and then people seeing torture as not so immoral will want torture. This article also proves a point of that we may never come to an agreement about torture being right or wrong. It also proves that our beliefs may not be based on facts, but based on our beliefs.

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Hanna, I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this article but there are some things I would like to address. In the first sentence, make sure you put quotation marks around the title. This is a good habit to get into as it is proper MLA format and it allows your reader to understand that it is a title. I found the first sentence tough to read and it might have made more sense if you cut back on the unnecessary words. As for your first argument, I don’t think generalizing people’s views is the main argument he wants to make. The entire article goes in a different direction with thought and ideas and I think this is a very small phrase to focus on. As for the second issue, I think Motyl is making an assumption about a large group of people. There will always be outliers in a situation but all Motyl is saying is that you are more likely to confirm facts that align with your beliefs and discount facts that contradict your views. I think by focusing on small phrases, you might have missed the overall idea. The information is based on a majority of people and there will certainly be people who don’t conform to this theory.

Critical Response Blog

While reading Why the Torture Report Won’t Actually Change Anyone’s Views on Torture, I found myself thinking that while Motyl made many good points about peoples view and opinion being tough to change, I still did not agree with him on some of these points. In the beginning of the article he states that if you know a person’s personal politics, you can make a guess about what their views are when it comes to certain events and topics. I would have to disagree with this. Knowing someone’s personal politics and then comparing that to what you think their view is, is in a sense, making a generalization. Someone may belong to a certain political party, and may feel the total opposite of the way the majority of that party feels about a topic. It is important not to make assumptions about opinions, even if we know about a consistent pattern in someone’s past opinions, because people can change their mind at any time, over anything. Another point I found that I disagreed with is at the end the paper and it says, “If the information contradicts our moral values, we are quick to discount that evidence as flawed or biased by the nefarious ideological motives of others. This tendency is especially true when the evidence is complex and ambiguous…” (Motyl). While this statement may be true to most people, I would like to argue that not everyone would think this. There are people in every profession that have their own strong opinions, and don’t go writing off others opinions just due to facts thrown at them being complicated and against their own beliefs. A reasonable person would look at evidence, facts, others opinions and values, and try to be unbiased, and work to understand all of the different points of view. Working to overcome bias and learning to be analyze facts correctly is something that we should all strive to accomplish.  

Motyl, Matt. “Why the Torture Report Won’t Actually Change Anyone’s Views On Torture.” Time, Time, 16 Dec. 2014, time.com/3635977/torture-report-morals-beliefs/. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017.

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Why the Torture Report Won’t Actually Change Anyone’s Views On Torture- Critical Response

Matt Motyl’s article entitled, “Why the Torture Report Won’t Actually Change Anyone’s Views On Torture” discusses the inevitable bias of humans to believe in facts that conform to their personal moral code. Motyl states that no matter what you believe in, you are less likely to authenticate facts that do not align with your own belief system. For example, Motyl describes a situation in which participants only verified that scientists were experts in a field when the scientist’s opinions and evidence coordinated to the participant’s pre- existing views. I believe this concept already existed before Motyl identified what was happening but, it is very fascinating that Motyl and other experts on the topic were able to recognize this pattern and further study its implications on politics and debates.

I really enjoyed reading this article because I found it very applicable to my own life. It can sometimes be a challenge to argue or defend your views to someone but understanding that opinions on major topics are shaped by morals, makes understanding the opposing view easier. 

This article proposed an interesting concept that can be applied in modern day politics. I think this theory on morality could make political debates more respectful and could allow politicians to approach debates in a different way. Understanding that believed facts and morality are strongly linked allows an individual to see the person and ethical code behind an opinion. Knowing how people think allows others to argue more effectively and strategically rather than resulting to logical fallacies.

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Sam,

I really enjoyed reading your introduction. However, in the first sentence, I would take out the A and just say “140 characters”. The A was confusing and it took me to the second sentence to understand. I would altogether delete the first sentence as it is not formal format but, it is your personal style and if you like it, I say keep it! I think since this essay is a rhetorical appeal essay that you should try to include more of each appeal (without directly saying them) in your intro. In your thesis, I think you should refrain from directly saying “rhetorical tools” and just explain those “tools” in your body paragraphs.

Rhetorical Analysis Intro

A 140 characters. 140 characters does not seem like it can have a big impact on people but it does. Many people are now using Twitter as a platform to get out their arguments and points about vaccinations. That is exactly what the organization Nurses Who Vaccinate do daily. They tweet pictures, stories, videos, and articles about immunizations. These nurses do not always tweet the positives. They tweet many negative stories or pictures to show the bad effects of not vaccinating children. This organization of nurses also provide informational tweets for all Twitter users to see. They also represent nurses everywhere and go to Congressmen to ask about vaccination funding. Out of all of the pictures one picture stood out from all of the others. It is a picture of baby boy who died because of not being able to get the Meningitis B vaccine. There is many reasons why the nurses who run the twitter account chose to tweet this picture.  The nurses even go as far as tweeting the article that the picture is from to show the whole reason and story behind such a devastating picture. It is all part of their campaign about pro-vaccinations. Everything the nurses tweet relate to their viewpoint on vaccinations and are not random statements or pictures. The nurses use this picture and many rhetorical tools to evoke that immunizations are very important to the world.

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Jenna, 

I learned a lot from your introductory paragraph. However, you should save your important information and statistics for your body paragraphs. You might try spending your introductory paragraph providing any possible context to the topic your reader might not be aware of (ex. what is vaccination, etc). It might also help to make your introduction light and easy to read as the bulk of your information will likely be serious and very statistical. I noticed that your topic focuses on Gardasil which as you mentioned, is a shot given during adolescence not infancy. The topic at hand should be infant immunization.

Rhetorical Intro

In the past 6 years a new vaccine has hit doctor’s office’s across the country. If you have been a parent or adolescent teenager in these past 6 years then you’ve probably heard of it’s popular brand name Gardasil. Gardasil and its many different counterparts are an immunization that helps prevent against human papillomavirus, such as cervical cancer or genital warts in both girls and boys. The  CDC recommended age for this vaccine to be administered is around 11 or 12 because this is the age in which girls and boys hit puberty and sex organs are developing. Due to the fact that this vaccine is so new on the market, the advertisement for it has been heavy in order for these pharmaceutical companies to start making profits. One company in particular, Merck, released a commercial urging parents to get their children vaccinated for HPV by using several rhetorical appeals. The commercial shows a woman and a man affected by human papillomavirus in their adult lives and how they reflect back to their childhood by showing flashbacks of themselves of age when the vaccination is most effective wondering why their parents did not get them vaccinated. This employs the pathos appeal directed towards the parents emotions by using a series of rhetorical and hypothetical questions throughout the commercial.

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Rhetorical Analysis Introduction

The measles outbreak among children in the United States has unlikely voices speaking out against this growing issue. Jimmy Kimmel, a television talk show host, has taken an interest in the vaccination of children and the impact that is has on society. In a video entitled, “A Message for the Anti-Vaccine Movement,” Kimmel invited medical doctors to express their opinion on anti- vaccination supporters and the importance of infant immunization. Kimmel and the doctors portray their opinions in a comedic tone but with serious intent. The doctors emphasize the merits they have earned and the credibility in their education. As a result of ongoing research and prescribing successful vaccinations, doctors have come to the consensus that immunization for infants is undoubtedly necessary.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgpfNScEd3M