Lesson #9

Journal

On your blog, respond to and elaborate on the following prompts:

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What else do I still need to do? (50 words)
*
What do I need outside help with? (50-100 words)
*
Why am I feeling threatened by this research paper? (50-200 words)


1) I still have a ways to go before I'm finished with this course. The next several lessons will be aimed at writing an effective research and argument paper. I've filled out a calendar that shows me what I need to do and when. I'm still creating effective visual arguments and need to write a rough draft, second draft, and final draft of the research paper. I also need to write a summary of Class in America - 2003. So much work to be done...but I like being challenged, this class has been really good for me.
2) I need outside help with this research paper because it needs to be pretty in depth and Assignment #13 requires me to get outside help on it. Where I live, the local library is half class room and half library. The room is about 300 feet squared and contains mostly books from the 70's and 80's, my village doesn't have a large, up to date library. So I will definitely need outside help tracking down applicable books and magazines for my research topic.
3) I feel threatened by this research paper because it needs to be substantially larger than papers written in the previous lessons, it needs a variety of sources, visual elements are being introduced, and I'm still struggling with MLA format and Works Citing. So, I need to make sure I'm going about this process with tedious care and paying very careful attention.What's scaring me the most is the lack of sources available to me because of where I live.

WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bella. "Beauty Bye: 25 Percent of Beauty Ads Fake!" Fab Sugar UK. 29 Mar. 2010. 7 Apr. 2010. http://www.fabsugar.co.uk/25-Percent-Beauty-Ads-Fake-7930023 >

Coontz, Stephanie. “What We Really Miss About the 1950s.” Rereading America. 7th ed. Ed. Colombo, Cullen, Lisle. Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2007. 31-47.

Fox, Kate. "Mirror, mirror." SIRC. 1996. 12 Apr. 2010.http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html >

Gibbons, Sheila. “Teen Magazines Send Girls All The Wrong Messages.” We.News. 29 Oct. 2003. 25 Mar. 2010. http://www.womensenews.org/story/uncovering-gender/031029/teen-magazines-send-girls-all-the-wrong-messages >

Goodchild, Sophie. “Dying To Be Thin.” AlterNet. 22 Nov. 2006. 25 Mar. 2010. http://www.alternet.org/story/44526/ >

Hellmich, Nanci. “Do Thin Models Warp Girls’ Body Image?” USA Today. 26 Sept. 2006. 25 Mar. 2010. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-25-thin-models_x.htm >

Hutton, Deborah. Vogue: Complete Beauty. New York: Harmony Books, 1985 >

Jennifer L. Derenne, M.D. and Eugene V. Beresin, M.D. "Body Image, Media, and Eating Disorders." June. 2006. May 10. 2010.
< http://ap.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/30/3/257 >

Kilbourne, Jean. “Beauty…and the Beast of Advertising.” Center for Media Literacy. 2007. 25 Mar. 2010. http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article40.html >

Lowen, Linda. "Women as Sex Objects - Influenced By Sexy Images, Men See Women as Objects." Ask.com. Feb. 23. 2009. 8 Apr. 2010. http://womensissues.about.com/od/intheworkplace/a/MenObjects.htm >

Nauert, Rick. “Media Can Damage Self-Image.” Psych Central. 27 Oct. 2006. 25 Mar. 2010. http://psychcentral.com/news/2006/10/27/media-can-damage-self-image/362.html >

Stasi, Linda. Simply Beautiful. New York: St. Martin’s/Marek, 1983

Webster, Irina. “Media and Influence on Body Image.” Ezine Articles. 6 Sept. 2006. 25 Mar. 2010 http://ezinearticles.com/?Media-And-Influence-On-Women-Body-Image&id=720646 >

Witmen, Denise. "How does the media effect body image in teens?" About.com. 7 Apr. 2010. http://parentingteens.about.com/od/bodyimage/f/media_bodyimage.htm >

"Influence of Media Images Upon Body Esteem." Missouri Western. May 19. 2003. Apr. 12. 2010. http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/413.php >

"Advertising: It's Everywhere." Media Awareness Network. May 10. 2010.
< http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/marketing/advertising_everywhere.cfm >

"Media is feulling eating disorders, say psychiatrists." BBC. 22 Feb. 2010. 11 May 2010.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8528443.stm >

"Will Kate Moss Eat Her Words?" CBSNews. 11 May. 2010.
< http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/19/entertainment/main5712294.shtml >

"Eating Disorder Statistics." Marisol. 11 May. 2010.
< http://www.mirasol.net/eating-disorders/information/eating-disorder-statistics.php >

Lesson #8

Journal

Respond to each of the prompts below.

1. Preview, read, and annotate a package of food. What is its strongest argument? Why? Would its packaging prompt you to buy it again? Why?

2. Read any article pertaining to your research topic that contains a visual element (a graphic). Explain why the visual is effective or ineffective in swaying your view on the topic. Make it interesting for the reader who does not already know your thesis.

3. Is your thesis weak? Hacker can help you figure out what is wrong with your thesis. Is it too broad or too narrow in focus? is it grounded or too speculative to be researched? For practice recognizing good thesis statements, go to http://www.dianahacker.com. Choose student sites, click on the icon representing our textbook, click on Writing Exercises. You can click Cancel when the login prompt appears. Complete the 10 Thesis Exercises, click Score, save the page, and attach it to lesson for 10 extra lesson points. BE SURE to mention the extra credit points in the message box on the transmittal page when you attach the Thesis Exercise. [According to my calculation there should be 24 separate entries in your blog by now.

1) I am currently looking at a container of shake mix. The label goes like this:

Nature's Plus. The Energy Supplements
Vegetarian
FRUITEIN
High Protein Energy Shake
BANANA ORANGE CREME
Incredibly Delicious

The can is an attractive orange, yellow, and white one with pictures of oranges and bananas decorating it. When I first opened it there was a little certificate inside saying:

Your Guarantee of Quality
~
From an Independent FDA Approved Testing Laboratory

It's supposed to be a healthy energy shake full of protein to sustain you and help you lose weight along the way. On the side is a logo saying Healthy Heart and above that is another logo saying Non-GMO (Natural Soy). There are only 99 calories per serving, and it only takes one or two servings to feel full.
I think that it's strongest argument is that it is a healthy shake, healthy for your digestive system, heart, metabolism, and mind.

2) My thesis is that the media has a negative effect on the body image of its viewers. Every time a "regular sized person" looks at a fashion magazine, watches a TV add or movie, they feel dissatisfied with themselves. On the link below there are plenty of visual images backing up the statistics that are listed. I think the images are effective because they show what the media shows, but the pictures are shown in a different light so to speak, they're pretty "weighty" once they're taken into perspective.

http://momgrind.com/2009/01/28/women-body-image/


3) I do believe I have a strong thesis that I will be able to do research on and back up with what I find.

Lesson #7

On your blog, respond to all of the prompts below:

• Who is the audience for your essay? What is the thesis of essay?
• Can the audience be swayed by your claim and reasons? Why or why not?
• What value do your sources have to your audience?

Read another student's blog. Indicate whose you read. Did you make any comments on that blog?

1) My audience (other than my professor) is an undecided one. I presented more facts supporting my thesis rather than listing and refuting the opposition's position on my topic.

2) I think that the audience could be swayed by my claim and reasons, assuming that they have the same underlying values as I do. If we have no common values than the argument is worthless.

3) I think my audience would value my sources because some of the appear on the news (such as CBS).

I read Katie Baldwin's blog and have been following it for a few weeks. I left a comment saying I enjoyed her writings and thought they were well done. She seems like a nice person.

Lesson 5

Respond to either photo of President Bush on p. 145 of Writing Arguments by telling what the argument is. Write a thesis statement for the photograph's argument. How did you figure out the claim being made?





On page 145 of Writing Arguments there are two pictures of President Bush. One is a picture of him clearing brush from a Texas ranch, and the other is one of him greeting a crowd. I will respond to the one of him in Figure 9.2.


The argument being made is that President Bush isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. In the picture he's wearing a dirty and stained t-shirt and jeans, and he's wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses to protect him from the sun. His hands are gloved because what he's carrying has the potential to hurt him. The set of his mouth gives the impression that the physical labor is difficult. The thesis of this picture is that President Bush is human and is a hard worker.


It seems that we forget that famous people are still human. They brush their teeth, they need at least 8 hours of sleep, they have "blonde moments" (and I'm allowed to say that because I am a blonde, so don't take offense if you're blonde), and like the picture states, they can perform difficult tasks.





Find another graphic, commercial, or video to analyze. Report on the argument being made. Attach a copy of the graphic element or explain how to find or view the graphic. Write a strong thesis statement for this argument.



In this photo, an anorexic is looking at her reflection in the mirror. The girl is quite thin, in fact she's malnourished and her bones are protruding, and yet she still sees herself as overweight. The picture may seem silly, but unfortunately it's not an uncommon conception.
Recent statistics show that

• Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents.
  
• 40 – 60% of high school girls diet.
  
• 50% of girls between the ages of 13 and 15 believe they are overweight.
  
• 80% of 13 year old girls have dieted.
  
• 40% of 9 year old girls dieted.
  

The thesis for this photo is that anorexics have a skewed image of themselves. Instead of seeing themselves as unique and beautiful, when they look in the mirror they see something they hate. People should focus more on being healthy than being thin. That's not to say that trying to lose weight is always a bad thing, being too heavy puts a lot of stress on the heart and joints. But people who are trying to lose weight should look at a reasonable, healthy weight level, and should develop a health plan including proper nutrition and excercise.

Lesson 5

1) Which of the techniques for generating ideas for essays has been most valuable to you? Why? Give an example.

Of the techniques I used, I preferred the Pro and Con "because" clauses because it made me think about the negative and positive of a stated thesis. It was fast, it put a lot of facts down in an organized fashion, and looked nice.

2) Which technique would you choose not to use again? Why?

I didn't like the idea mapping because it's not something that's easy to put on paper and I like writing in full and explaining sentences, not short, choppy ideas.

3) What have you learned about the writing process and/or about yourself during this lesson?

I have learned an awful lot from the writing process. In the past I wasn't much into writing rough drafts or sifting through things and thinking them out, I would just bolt head first into a project and usually become pretty frustrated. Now I know how useful pre-writing is.

4) What questions do you have about anything that other students might respond to?

Hmmmm.... Is there any way to make idea clustering simpler, or less confusing? That's pretty redundant isn't it?

5) What have you learned about the textbooks we are using for this course?

The textbooks. There are three of them: A Writer's Reference (Hacker), Rereading America, and Writing Arguments.
A Writer's Reference is basically a book stuffed full of information about proper writing, listing, formatting, and basically anything you would ever need to look up about proper writing. Great book!
Rereading America looks to be a book full of essays and stories to challenge thinking, it's a melding pot of different ideas, theories, and view points. Certain essays are selected for assignments and some of them are pretty interesting. I don't always agree with what some of the authors are saying, but I don't have to agree with something to learn from it.
Writing Arguments is very detailed about how to write out a proper and effective argument. Sometimes it's pretty heavy reading and I have to go back over passages, but once I see how it applies it's much easier to understand.