We are approaching the middle of the semester, which is a great time to ask: what's it all about? For this blog, explain why you are writing your essay, and who you are writing to. Do not necessarily just write what you have on page one of phase two or phase one, but really think about why you are writing, beyond passing this class. What is your interest in this topic? Why did you choose it in the first place, yes, but what does the topic mean to you now that you have performed some research? Why is it important that your chosen audience receive this message? What do you want your audience to think and feel about the topic when you are finished? What do you want your audience to believe about you?
Initial post due before class on Wednesday, March 12th.
I am writing this essay because, originally, I just thought of it as a topic that is becoming popular but not touched on enough. The topic became more real to me and I really have started believing in what I’m writing. My audience is not just my professor or my peers; it is anyone willing to listen and has an interest in becoming educated in the most beneficial way. My goal is to have anyone who reads my paper want to know more. By knowing more, I mean, I want people to read and think, “This is a really good point. What else is there?” I want my audience to use my writing as a source of good, credible information that will fuel their desire to learn more just as it has for me.
ReplyDeleteWhile my daughter was growing up, I had very strong opinions about what clothing was age appropriate for her and what the clothing she wore would represent to other people. She physically developed early and was very mature for her age but I still wanted her to have a childhood and not to be in a hurry to grow up. This past summer, my Goddaughter came to stay with us for two months and I was appalled by the clothing that her Mom sent with her. She is 8 years old but had clothing that represented a MUCH older girl (if not a woman) and I thought it was ridiculous. No child should be trying to look sexy, especially when they have little to no idea of what they are trying to achieve with that look. After shopping at several stores and vetoing many clothing choices, I realized that there were very few clothing options that I found acceptable. After researching this issue, I find that the problem is so much worse than I originally thought and many other people feel the same way about the issue. Sexualizing our children is damaging to them and that is becoming more and more evident as more research is done. But, the bottom line is that parents should take control of how their children dress and what items are brought into the home. If everyone took a stand against the marketing and stopped buying these items, they would stop making them. My goal for this paper is to stress the damage that sexualization has on our children - both the girls and the boys. I am an advocate for boosting self-esteem for youth (especially girls) and I also volunteer at an LGBT youth center so I see the damage that sexualization has on the youth that I work with. My audience is parents of young girls but also people who work with youth and I want them to see that sexualization is damaging and has long-term effects on our society.
ReplyDeleteI am writing my research paper on how game design can improve education because quite simply the current education system failed me. I spent my days in public education being told to attend remedial classes because I was behind, that I had a “learning disability.” I watched as teachers turned a blind eye to me in favor of students that excelled in their institutionalized memorization system. It was video games that turned things around for me. I learned complex math ideas by allocating skill points in Diablo, how to read at a grade far higher than my peers thanks to Final Fantasy VII, and studied the history of warfare because I thought it would give me an edge in StarCraft. I was lucky that my family saw how these games were teaching me and allowed me near unrestricted access to them. In time I went from failing most of my classes to succeeding in them. Yes, I learn differently from everyone else, but so do most people. I should not have been punished by the school system for tackling things a from a different direction. The last thing I want is to see the next generation's greatest mind be beaten down like I was. I do not think that game design is 100% the answer to our problems but I do think that it is a start on giving everyone a better education.
ReplyDeleteAs for where my research has taken me, I can see now I am not alone in my way of thinking. Game design provides the a great toolset to empower students. I hope that my audience will see and understand that. Its time to stop holding onto the past and embrace the modern age. Make school as enthralling an experience as the best games around. I want to see learning be more than one size fits all and in time maybe even fun for all.
I am wrtiting these essay to learn more about my topic of minority representation in the media. After taking a Communucation and Popular culture class last fal it really struck me about how, I, a minority have been represented and how I am looked at from the popular culture world. I wanted to especially focus on this topic so that I could learn more about it and maybe come across some information that I never knew before. I feel that my audiecen is not only my professor but individuals like me such as women and african american. I feel that by writing this essay I am giving a voice to those who are similar to me, even though I am mostly writing to the majority, I am still representing myself and others through this argument. After doing the research it makes me want to take action in the way that minorities are represented. It motivates me to be proactive in the topic and to start supporting this ongoing movement. When I evaluate my purpose in this I would like my audience to take a step back and try to see this issue from the victims perspective. If there was more understanding in this world maybe we wouldnt have as many issues in our society as we do.
ReplyDeleteI write for me. I chose to write this essay for my knowledge. Whether I was in this class or not, I would have eventually done the research for myself. I chose my topic because I was an inner city kid. My mother supported a family of seven, plus stragglers, on about $9000 a year. I went to inner city schools and too many of my peers dropped out, got into drugs, pregnant, etc. All the things expected from poor kids, in poor families, in shitty neighborhoods. This topic is home for me, and if I ever decide to do anything for others, it will be for disadvantaged kids.
ReplyDeleteAfter researching my topic I realized that the problem is much bigger than I thought. I knew about the abuse and the neglect and the side effects it has on children. What I didn’t know was the effects under educated parents have on their children. I realized that the problem is so much bigger than just helping the child. I thought that helping the child would eventually help the community, but it is the other way around. In order to help the child we have to help the community and the families living in impoverishment.
This is what I want anyone who reads this to know. I want people to know that we have to step up and stop thinking about why society is on a downward spiral and take action to rectify the problem. After reading my paper I want people to believe that there is a solution to poverty in America. What anyone thinks about me is irrelevant. A child not having a fighting chance at success is what’s relevant.