Final Blog

I really enjoyed taking this class! It was one of my only classes that I did not mind going to.  I liked how our grades came from the major papers and assignments and did not include tests.  It made me want to try harder on the papers and was also a relief from having to study. 

            My least favorite assignment was the research paper.  This is probably because it took the most time to write and also included looking up a lot of outside information.  Also, I had to go to the library for this paper.  Our library is quite large and I never go there, which made it a scary and traumatic experience.  The first rhetorical paper was not necessarily my favorite, but I was very interested in my picture, which made it easier. 

            My favorite assignment was the multi-media project.  I thought it was such a fun assignment and I loved that we got to pick our groups and topics.  This kept us all interested and we made it easier to work together outside the classroom.  The filming part of this project was also interesting and enjoyable. 

            Overall I thought that this was a great class.  If Mrs. Lamos taught another English class that I had to take I would definitely sign up!

Weekly Update

            Our filming process is now completely finished.  We went to Harcombe on Sunday and filmed people, foods, and the dining hall in general.  On Monday we went to Schlitter and got the rest of our filming finished.  We also interviewed Sammy Watkins on Monday.  It was so lucky that we randomly saw him in Vickery.  He was literally the only person in the hallway and no other students were around.  I think this is just fate telling us that he wanted to be in our video.  Now that we have our videos, we have to edit and put them into one film.  I am going to find statistics about eating habits or obesity rates for college students.  I might also search for more Clemson related statistics, if they have any.  I think these would help further our point in our video.  The only major part of the project that we have left is the paper.  I am going to do the rational.  I think this will be easy for me because I think that eating healthy is very important to college students.  However, if we are not given healthy options then how are we supposed to eat healthy?  This will be one point that I will make in my section of the paper.  After we compile all of the parts to our paper we will be pretty much finished.  I am going to try and help with the video making, but I do not know how to do too much.  I am not very gifted when it comes to technology.  I think overall we have all done an equal amount in the brainstorming and gathering information process.  I am excited to see our final video!

More Brainstorming

Right now we are in the brainstorming process for our media project.  I think that all of us have contributed a fair amount so far.  I brought a poster and construction paper so that we can create our storyboard.  So far we have all pitched great ideas for our project and video.  I might bring my camera on Friday so we can start filming around campus and the dining halls.  I want to film people that would make an impact for out video’s viewers.  This is why I suggested filming Sammy Watkins.  Everybody at Clemson knows who Sammy is and he could grab people’s attention while they watch our video.  I think it would be good to get his suggestion on the dining halls at Clemson because many people might be interested in what he thinks.  I think it is also important to film other people about their opinions on the dining halls. One of our group members is going to film a girl who got E. coli from a hamburger from Harcombe.  I think this will add a lot of pathos on our viewers.  I want to film all of the bad foods in the dining halls and talk about how they are unhealthy for people’s bodies.  After this section I want to give some nutrition facts.  I think it would be interesting to film people walking around the dining halls and watch them pick what foods to eat.  We can see what the majority of Clemson students choose at the dining halls.  I want to include a small portion on how the dining halls clean their dishes.  They always look dirty and I hope that we can get behind the scenes footage on how they actually clean their dishes.  At the end I want to include a section on the healthy options that the dining halls do have to offer.  I think this is a good start for our brainstorming process.  

Brainstorming Process for the Multimedia Project

      Today we brainstormed ideas for our multimedia project.  The first portion of the project was determining our team name.  This is a very important and extensive decision.  We thought of a couple of phenomenal names, but we are still not sure if we have picked a winner.  Some members wanted our team name to be something simple, but we decided it needed to be bold and easily remembered.  We will decide on a final team name sometime in the near future.  The other brainstorming we did was trying to decide what our topic was going to be about.  We wanted to do something that had to do with Clemson University because it could potentially make a greater impact on the students who eventually watch our video.  We thought about doing something that would interest most students on a regular basis.  Then we decided the perfect topic would be sanitation.  This was still a broad topic, so we decided to narrow our research down and focus on one deadly topic, dining halls.  We thought this would be perfect because thousands of students use the dining halls more than once a day.  One of our group members also knows a girl who is hospitalized from eating a meal at one of our dining halls.  We decided that we are going to interview the victim and ask her what she thinks about Clemson’s dining halls.  We will also interview other students, dining hall cooks, and possibly dining hall dish-cleaners.  We are going to videotape action going on in the dining halls, and if possible get behind-the-scenes footage from their kitchens.  We are going to make a video and incorporate interviews into our video.  We also might add images and music into our video so viewers will stay interested.  Our group wants to display Clemson’s dining halls true colors and see what the student body has to say about their meal options. 

Outline

Brianna Blanton

English 103

Mrs. Lamos

Research Paper—Outline

I. Introduction

            1.  Hook: Include a statistic on the number of athletes that have admitted to trying steroids, or have been charged with steroid offenses.  Also, might include a well-known athlete and a quote about his/her reflection on his/her own steroid scandal.

            2. Thesis: The use of steroids in sports is not only illegal and unfair, but also detrimental to the health of a training athlete.  This paper will discuss how steroids are not beneficial to an athlete and how steroids can damage their career, and ultimately their own body. 

            3.  Implications: What are the life-long effects of steroids? Is there more harm in taking the steroids than actual benefits?  What legality issues do athletes potentially face when they tamper with steroids?

-Source:  Marion Jones article

II. Background information on the science of steroids

-Discuss the different types of steroids that athletes can take and how they may take them.

-Include information on the positive effects and why many athletes feel the need to partake in using steroids.

-Introduce the harmful, lasting effects that steroids can have on an athlete. 

-Source: Anabolic Steroids and “Are Steroids Worth the Risk?”

III. Legality Issues facing Abusers

-Introduce the topic by facts and articles about well-known athletes that were busted for taking steroids.

-Talk about the legal issues athletes can face if they are charged with steroid abuse, and what is taken away from them if this happens.

-Source: ESPN article

IV. Steroid in Sport and the Unfairness it Bulks up

-Include how steroids are incorporated into the Olympics and other sports that are known for steroid use.  The reasons why many athletes take steroids could be a good data point to include for these statistics.

-Talk about how it is unfair for some athletes to be taking steroids and face competition that is only using natural talent and hard work.

-Include information on the number of drug tests done on collegiate and professional athletes.

-Source: Rob Beamish’s book includes reasons why an athlete might feel obligated to take steroids and also includes information on steroids in the Olympics. 

V. Stopping the Scandal of Steroids

-Summarize the major points in the paper.

-Talk about how the media addresses the issue and how people can become more aware of the issue.  

-Address how the negative effects steroids have outweigh the temporary, if any, benefits steroids produce. 

Extra Credit Walk to the Silo

On Tuesday afternoon I decided to go to the silo and take my pictures.  I went and took the picture with the Silo after I ate diner in the dining hall.  I brought a peanut butter cookie with me, which made the walk more pleasant. Once I had that cookie, I knew it was going to be a good start to my picture-taking extravaganza.  The only downside to the walk was that it started to rain a little and I did not have my rain jacket.  I went with my boyfriend Cole after he got out of football practice because I needed someone to take the picture.  I did not want to be a loner and use self-timer.  He took the picture of me in the silo and then I made him take one too because I did not want him to feel left out.  Then we walked to the library and started the search for the P211.T45 book.  We walked around the reference area searching for this book, but could not find it anywhere.  Then I had the brilliant idea to ask the librarian if she knew where the book was.  Thankfully librarians know everything when it comes to libraries, and said the book was at her desk.  Unfortunately, the book was checked out.  This was very upsetting news.  I went back a couple more times that day, and it was checked out every single time.  I was quite devastated.     The next morning after practice then breakfast, I went with my friend James to see if the book was back.  Thankfully, the librarian said she had it and I got to take my picture with the book.  It was a pretty cool book and had so many signatures inside of it.  Overall I would say that this was a pretty neat extra credit assignment. 

Trip to the Library

I went to the library on Tuesday afternoon for about an hour and searched the library for information and books on steroids.  In complete honesty, that was my first time in the library this entire school year.  I was not exactly sure how, or even where, to begin my research.  I talked to the librarian for a couple minutes and she explained how to find books in the library and how to figure out where I was in the first place.   She also reminded me about the online catalog that the Clemson website offers for the library.  This was extremely helpful for finding the sources I needed to get. 

            The first thing I did in the library was go to the fifth floor and get on my laptop.  I opened up the Clemson website and got onto the library catalog portion of the site.  I went to the search bar and typed in steroids in sports.  Several results came popping up, showing me that there were available books on steroids in the library.  Several of the books that were visible were electronic resources.  I opened up a few of these sources and read about them to see if I could use any of the information for my paper.  Many of the electronic books that I opened were very essential to my topic and I was able to use this information for brainstorming body paragraph topics.  After getting information from a couple of these electronic resources, I made a list of the topics I want to discuss in my research paper.  I used this list to narrow down my sources that I continued to look for.

            I found a hard copy of a book that I think will be useful when writing my research paper.  I had to go to the federal documents section of the library and search for a document that was a hearing before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House of Representatives.  I skimmed through the book and saw some good information that would help me when trying to validate a point I make in my paper.  I decided that the smartest decision would be for me to check the book out, so I brought it the front desk and did so.  After I checked the book out I looked around some more for other books on steroids, but most of the other books were not as beneficial to my paper as the ones that I already saw.  My trip to the library was quite successful and I am glad that I finally know how to maneuver around and find books on my own.

Freewrite for the Research Paper

            My research topic is going to be the use of steroids in sports.  This can range from high school athletes using steroids, to collegiate athletes, and even professional athletes and players.    I will include specific examples of different sports to show that the topic is relevant in sporting events.  Marion Jones is a track athlete that used a certain type of steroid and got her Olympic medals taken away from her and her team.  She acclaimed that she did not know she was given steroids, so I can include the different forms of steroids in this portion of the paper.  Steroids can be in the form of a pill, oil, and several others.  Another specific example to use can be Barry Bonds.  Steroids are popular in baseball and in this portion of the paper I can include the relevance of steroids in baseball and how Barry Bonds used them.  I can include statistics about the prevalence of steroids in different sports.  I can say which sports are more prone to use steroids and which sports have the most steroid abusers.  After using examples I can talk about the reasons to why people use steroids in the first place.  I will talk about how they enhance performance and can increase a person’s performance.  After I say the positive effects they can produce, I will talk about all of the negative effects that come with steroids.  I can talk about how they can hurt a person’s health lifelong and people may also have the chance to become addicted to them.  Other information that I can include in the paper can be the legality of steroids and how people can be hurt badly from the law and sporting officials by using steroids.  Athletes can be kicked off their sports team if they take steroids in college and professional athletes can get their accomplishments and medals stripped from them if they test positive for steroids.  There are other topics to include for steroids, like the cost of them and where people can purchase them.  Steroids are harmful to the human body and have high prevalence in different sports.

            I will find sources from several different resources.   One source I could use will be books describing the definition of what steroids are. I will find books that describe the positive and negative effects that steroids can bring.  I can also use articles that say specific examples of steroid use.   Online resources could be more helpful for finding more recent statistics and other information that books or articles may not have.  I could also interview athletes and coaches and ask them about their take on steroids and if they have ever used them. 

            Problems that I may run into when doing this research paper could be finding enough information for each topic I want to talk about.  Also, for the interview part that I may want to include, people may lie about their take or if they have used them because they know that most steroids are illegal.  This could be true for all statistics I want to look up, including online resources.

Timeline

2-15-12 Have four sources found and cited

2-17-12 Freewrite due

2-20-12 Have ten sources found, no more than 1-2 popular sources

2-29-12 Annotated Bibliography due

3-7-12 Outlines for pier review due

3-16-12 First draft due

3-26-12 Research log due

3-30-12 Final draft due

Thesis Statement, Maintaining Motivation

By looking at the intensity and success of one individual and image, it is easier to achieve a more motivated mindset in life.

I chose this picture for several reasons. This ad has been hanging in my room for years since I first saw it in one of my running magazines.  The picture originally caught my eye when I saw Allyson Felix in the background.  She runs the 800-meter run, and that is the same event that I do.  Allyson Felix has been a phenomenal runner for years, and is most widely known for her Olympic performances.   She is my role model when it comes to running and makes the picture even more powerful to me.  Another reason why this picture immediately struck me was because of the Nike symbols everywhere on the ad.  She is wearing a Nike sports bra and also Nike gloves.  Nike has always been my favorite sponsor for running and it gives the picture more importance for me. 

            The words on the picture “Make Yourself Strong,” really speaks to me because I think self-motivation is one of the best assets a person can have.  If people have the ability to motivate themselves, I think that they are able to conquer nearly any task. Allyson’s face on the photo capture her desire to be the best no matter what the conditions are.  Her body language shows that she is confident in what she does.  I think the words displayed over her signifies the importance and dominance in hard work and self-perseverance. 

            I think people should always be motivated in everything they do.  I hate when people rely on other people to do work for them, or have to follow someone to get a task done.  I like people who are leaders and can make themselves better.  The more determined people are to improve themselves, the stronger they will be as a person.  This subject lies heavily with me because this is what I have always been taught growing up.  My parents always told me that the harder I work and the more I push myself, the better off I will be in my future.  This holds true because I know that if I did not work hard every single day during high school track practice, I would not have made it to the college level.  Now that I have achieved my goal, I only want to improve and be able to compete well at the college level.  The picture symbolizes my hopes and aspirations and also captivates an intense image portraying self-motivation. 

Analyzing a Picture for Rhetoric Devices

 

 

            In this picture it is easy to depict the different rhetoric devices.   From looking at the picture, it is clearly seen that it was taken at a track meet.  The podium, sign on the podium, stands in the background, flags, and uniforms are all indicators that the picture was at a track meet.  It also known that the picture was probably taken during the spring because outdoor track seasons are in the spring, and our uniforms are made for warmer weather.  There are also tents in the background covering other teams, which could mean they were trying to block the sun.  Looking at the visual clues in the picture, visual rhetoric signs can easily be found.

            In this picture my team just won the 2011 class 4-A track and field state championship.  This picture has a high amount of sentimental value to me and it makes me feel happy every time I look at it.  I can relive the memories and experiences made in the picture every time I see it.  I remember the hard work we put into the entire season, the nervous feeling we got at every meet, especially the state meet, and I remember the smiles we made after winning the title for our teammates and especially for our retiring coach.  I remember standing together as a team, clutching the green baton, and knowing that we had to win our final event to win the meet.  I see my coach in the background and it makes me happy knowing that we won the meet for him, because it was his final year coaching track and field.  When I see this picture I feel the joy of shed tears, the satisfaction of pouring sweat, and the happiness of winning and working together as a team.

            From another viewpoint, the average onlooker would see us as a group of smiling girls, standing on the podium, for a state track meet.  They should probably realize that our team won because our whole team was standing on the first place podium and we all had medals around our necks.  Another indicator could be that our whole team was holding up one finger to signify a first place finish.  People viewing the picture that were not a part of the team, coaching staff, or family members, would not feel the same emotions.  An onlooker may sense the pictures power and happiness, but it would not mean anything to them personally.  The picture shown displays many rhetoric devices, yet different people will get different ideas and feelings when looking at the photo. 

Visual Rhetoric on a Regular Basis

            Throughout my day I am constantly reminded of visual rhetoric.  In my room I have several posters and pictures for all different corporations and cities.  My Charleston posters display beautiful sunrises and bright green palm trees.  It visually displays the historic beauty located in Charleston.  My Gatorade posters display catchy phrases and sweaty athletes that motivate me to try hard in every thing I put my mind to.  My Family Guy calendar has different pictures and quotes from each of the characters for each individual day.  The pictures and funny quotations are clearly written to make me laugh.  Some of the hats that are hanging on my door show off Browning and Ducks Unlimited logos.  There are several items in my room that constantly remind me of the visual rhetoric seen throughout everyday life. 

            When I open up the Internet on my laptop I am instantly reminded of visual rhetoric.  The Clemson University website pops up and displays images of students rigorously, and happily working in the classroom, or athletes persevering to reach a goal.  The words written on the website give high praise to the college to show that it is a defined university.  Other websites show off their logos and catch phrases that have made them widely popular.  Twitter shows off their blue “tweet” bird and other websites do the same sort of deal.  The Internet shows a wide variety of visual rhetoric.

            Visual rhetoric can also be seen heavily on the streets and billboards around cities and even Clemson’s campus.  Whenever I drive on the interstate I see several billboards for all different campaigns and businesses.  Restaurants, fast food establishments, medicines, and people running for some sort of political position are only some of the items posted on billboards.  When driving around streets I see posters and signs persuading people to come eat or to come visit their business.  I see visual rhetoric wherever I go now that I realize how easily it is portrayed.  Many items, posters, ads, and commercials are displayed persuasively as a visual rhetoric device.   

First Week of Classes

The first week of second semester has already been quite an adventure.  I have had mixed emotions from stress, to being excited, then to becoming nervous.  Leaving home after being there for almost a month was very sad and stressful. However, I had to get back a little earlier to meet at the track. I started the week off with track practice and am now ending it on the way to a track meet at Virginia Tech.  I get a little stressed about missing Friday classes, but I know I will be able to handle it.  My team should compete well so I am excited and nervous for the outcome. We left on Thursday and we are going to return on Saturday night.  I really hope to return with a happy coach, which would mean we all performed to the best of our abilities. 

I can already tell it will be a busy, tough semester.  I think I would rather stay busy though, because I know this means that I will need to study harder and focus better in my classes.  Last semester I had trouble at first getting used to the differences between high school and college, but I think I am more adjusted now.  My class schedule will also be a little heavier than last semester.  One thing I thought was strange was that last semester I had only men professors.  This semester I have more women professors than I do men, so I think it will be interesting.

            Overall my week has been a good one.  I was really happy to see all of my teammates that I did not get to see over break and all of my other friends around campus.  I love going to class the first couple of weeks because it is fun to see who will be in my classes.  Meeting new professors and classmates is always an exciting time.  After this first week, I think this semester is going to be fairly challenging, but also enjoyable.  I am ready to see what this semester has in store for me.