Project Three Reflection: Laborious

For me project three was definitely the most difficult to complete out of all of the projects we were assigned this semester. I had a lot of trouble finding people who were willing to be interviewed because some were intimidated by the fact that their voice would be recorded and heard by others. Additionally, I had a hard time figuring which interview quotes would go where. Every time I would ask a person a question regarding the topic, they would either give really unintelligent answers or would not have enough to say.

            However even though there were a few speed bumps along the way, I am pretty sure that I did a few things right. Overall writing the essay was by far the easiest part. I found it east writing about ASU’s Circle K International community service club because I am part of the club and I already knew what the club was about and what they actually did. Additionally, I have done a lot of community service with the club so I had firsthand experience coming into writing this project.

            Through this project I learned that time management is crucial when completing an assignment like this. I will admit that all my interviews took place on a single day and that I did editing on the audio clips on one day as well and I feel as if it would have been a lot easier if I did the recording and editing in increments. In the future I will make sure to spread out the work over several days so that it doesn’t seem too overwhelming. I will take the time to make sure the interview also seems a lot more cohesive and for future audio essays, I will make sure I practice putting together and editing the audio clips.

            As far as the argument goes, I think that I did craft a convincing argument. Personally, I think it was very easy to create the argument for this community service club because it is a no brainer that community service is a crucial part in every setting. I also think that every interview I got gave each of my explanation paragraphs validity. I also think that I gave enough background information about the club and what the members do for people to understand why this club is important to the ASU community. However, I do know there is room for improvement and for my next project I will make an argument and try to rebut and shoot that rebuttal down to strengthen my paper.

            I plan to implement what I have learned in this project in the future by practicing my editing skills. I know in the future I will have to work with audio files again for other projects in various classes. I also plan to find a way to get better at interviewing people because this is also a very important skill I will need to know for future classes and jobs. Even though this project was very difficult for me, I think that I will do better on my next audio essay thanks to this essay.

Script Draft: Circle K International Community Service Club

                In today’s world people cannot help but get wrapped up in their own problems and it is understandable because it is easy to get overwhelmed. However, while it is okay to be a tad bit self-centered sometimes it is also important to remember that there are so many people that have it worse. In Phoenix alone the poverty level hovers around 20 percent (it fluctuates every year) and the national poverty line is at about 14.3 percent. These statistics prove that there are so many people in need right now and that there is so much left to be done.

                Arizona State University prides itself on graduating not only successful students ready to take on the business world, but also people who are globally aware of what is going in our society. People who represent Arizona State always talk about getting students ready to make an impact on the community at large. As freshman we are told that not only are we here to obtain a degree, but that we are here to learn how to make a difference.

                Fortunately there are many clubs and organizations all over the world dedicated to helping those in need and ASU has its very own club dedicated to this purpose. This club is called Circle K International or CKI for short. Circle K international is similar to Key Club which is the high school version of the organization. Both clubs strive to serve the less fortunate by interacting with local communities and organizations. For example, members of Circle K International here at ASU can sign up for specific events that are going on during the week. People can sign up for various community service events with organizations such as Feed My Starving Children, St. Mary’s Food Bank, Andre House, and other organizations.

Circle K International’s mission statement (which is recited at weekly meetings) is as follows: I pledge to uphold the objects of Circle K International, to foster compassion and goodwill towards others through service and leadership to develop my abilities and the abilities of all people, and to dedicate myself to the realization of mankind’s potential. This statement basically encompasses everything this organization is about and it shows that the students involved with this club are truly dedicated to serving those who need the most help.

Personally, I think that Circle K International is a great organization and is very important to ASU because it gives people the opportunity to connect with organizations that serve the community as a whole. Students not only get to help people who are in less than comfortable living situations, but they also get to interact with fellow ASU students. The club not only teaches people how to serve, but it also creates an environment where people can get to know one another and create friendships that would not have come about if it were not for the community service club.

Some organizations that CKI works with include: Feed My Starving Children, Andre House, and Saint Mary’s Food Bank. Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit organization that recruits children and adults from the community to hand pack meals that the organization later sends off to malnourished children in countries all over the world.  Andre House is a soup kitchen in the Phoenix area that is open to everyone. CKI members usually go here on Saturdays and from what I have heard it is a great experience. Lastly, CKI also signs up to work with the Saint Mary’s Food Bank. Saint Mary’s is the first food bank in the world and it also serves the 15 counties of Arizona. CKI members also frequent this place because it really impacts the community and you can see just how generous people are when you collect the cans of food.

I joined Circle K International because I did a lot of community service in high school and whenever I would finish a service project I would feel extremely fulfilled. CKI has given me the opportunity to continue my service and has also given me the opportunity to meet some great people here at ASU.

I spoke with some Circle K International club members and this is what they had to say:

Anni Poetzl: “Community service is important because it gives us a chance to help someone’s day be better, from cleaning the environment to working with people less fortunate than us. We, as ASU students, should be aware of the problems around us so we can use our talents to alleviate the effects, or altogether get rid of them. Not only do we need to help those in need when volunteering, but they help us realize that we should be thankful for what we have and not take those things for granted. Through community service, we see our hard work come into fruition. The organization I helped most consistently is Saint Vincent De Paul Dining Hall. Saint Vincent De Paul is a nonprofit organization based in St. Louis, Missouri and it has branches all over the world. While volunteering there, I was in charge of serving food, preparing food, assembling Christmas boxes, and playing with the children. I wish all ASU students could take part in some type of community service to see that one person can truly make a difference. If helping people alone does not seem appealing, they could invite friends and be more productive by enjoying the work being done together. I recommend volunteering at organizations like St. Vincent De Paul because it can be a very enriching experience.”

                Doing community service really can open your eyes to what the world is like and it also helps you mature as a person to realize that it is not good to always be self-centered. 

ASU Reacts: Mitt Romney Needed More Conservative Issues

The NPR story that I analyzed last week was entitled “Romney Needed More Conservative Issues” and the audio essay was basically two people going back and forth about why Mitt Romney’s campaign ultimately led to his failure. The man, who is a prominent figure in the Republican Party, was named Robert Vigueri and he said that Romney did not fully connect with the Republican voters because he did not explicitly talk about the issues that were important to them; he claimed that Romney did not talk about issues such as abortion, immigration, and healthcare. Vigueri also argued that one of the reasons why President Obama won against his opponent was because the Democratic Party decided to run a more ideological campaign which is why more voters came out in support of him; people felt more of a personal connection to the issues that were being presented by the Democrats and this helped President Obama on election day.

I spoke to one ASU student named Roxanna Easley about the article and this is what she had to say.

 “I do agree with what Vigueri said about that Mitt Romney and how he did not really develop arguments on certain issues that could have helped his campaign. During the election people were saying that the reason Florida took so long was possibly because there is a large Latino community there that is a main deciding factor. Since he did not really come up with a stance on immigration, it could have possibly led to a Democratic swing”.

“I also agree with what Vigueri was saying about how the Republican Party has to make itself more relatable to minorities and that the reason why minorities usually vote Democrat is because they have more of a connection towards the Democratic party and their ideals”.

Genre Analysis: Romney Needed More Conservative Issues

For this assignment I decided to listen to an audio interview on NPR and the interview was titled: “Romney Needed More Conservative Issues”. This audio interview was basically an interview about a theory one man had about why Mitt Romney was defeated by President Obama in the election. The man who was being interviewed was Richard Vigueri, who is a prominent figure in the Republican party. He argued that Mitt Romney did not campaign on the Republican platform; he said that Romney did not speak and argue about issues such as abortion, immigration, and healthcare. Vigueri spoke about how the Democrats had a strict ideological campaign strategy and how this allowed them to connect with minority voters on a more personal level.  Vigueri said this about Romney’s strategy, “He told everyone that Obama’s policies were failing and that it was time to try his plan. Failure is not scary, people fail everyday and what Romney should have done was campaign about how radical and dangerous Obama’s policies were”.

Compared to an academic essay or an annotated map, this audio script was created very differently. In an academic essay the information is structured an organized so that the reader can easily follow the path of evidence put in front of them. In an annotated map, the synopsis provides a brief summary and the main points which are elaborated upon in each individual annotation. In contrast to these two structured genres of writing, audio essays are more informal and the information is less structured. Yes, the information is still separated into sections, but the information is more free-flowing and it feels more like an actual conversation.  

In recognizing the genre of a piece, one must also consider how the evidence is used and in this audio essay, the person being interviewed compared Mitt Romney’s campaign to that of someone who campaigned in the 1980’s. He has also written books and articles about politics which gives credibility to his opinion on the topic. In addition to looking at the evidence, one must also look at the organization of a piece. The audio essay’s organization is very choppy. Instead of the information being structured the interviewer and the person being interviewed just go back and forth discussing the main points of the argument.

So while the person who is being interviewed does give concrete insight, I do feel as though this audio essay was more informal. Additionally, a lot of the information put on the table relied and came from personal observation. The essay was informal because it felt more like a casual conversation between two people who are knowledgeable when it comes to politics. I also feel like it was laid out very differently from an academic essay or any sort of formal piece.

Story link: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=164767099&m=164767224

Or

http://www.npr.org/templates/archives/archive.php?thingId=3

Here are the options I have been thinking about doing Project Three on:

-CKI club (Circle K International Community Service club)

-Mathematics majors

-Film majors

-business majors

Project Two Reflection: Complicated

 When we were first assigned this project I was somewhat excited but also scared. I was excited because I have never utilized Google Maps this way before, but I was also nervous about the fact that I did not know how to create and insert all of the hyperlinks. However, I quickly addressed those problems and went to some of my classmates asking for help with the technological aspect of this project.

The writing portion came pretty easily which made the overall project less overwhelming. I first thought about focusing on birds on campus but I ended switching my topic to the dorms on the Arizona State campus. Even before I started writing my project I was already familiar with all of the freshman dorms on campus and I have already gotten to visit them all. I knew of each complex’s amenities and what people like and dislike about each building. I am confident in my evaluation because I went to review each dorm once again just to make sure my evaluation was thorough. I went around my dorm first (San Pablo) just to check out the rooms and lounges and I even interviewed a few people and asked them about what they think about their living experience in the dorms so far. I then traveled over to Hassayampa, Center Complex, and McClintock to check out the rooms, lounges, and courtyards just to see what unique characteristics each dorm had. So, while the writing portion was fairly easy, the map aspect was a different story.

I consider myself to be fairly tech savvy and I can find my way around a computer most of the time. However even though I paid attention to the class lecture, I still had trouble creating a map online and embedding the blog post annotations within the place markers. So to solve this problem, I met with one of my classmates, Rebecca, and she helped me understand the whole process. I learned how to create a map, add place markers, and even embed the blog annotations in the actual map. I also had trouble with making the actual in-text citations into links that directed the viewer to the works cited page.

Fortunately, this project did teach me how to write an effective evaluation and now I know how to observe and research something and spin that into an evaluation. I learned that you need specific evidence to establish authority in your evaluation by using credible sources. In the future I will make sure to back up my claims with credible sources of information. Additionally, I learned that I need to organize my thoughts more effectively so that the person reading my posts will not get confused or lost.

Lastly, I plan to apply what I have learned during this project in the outside world by evaluating whether or not I am making smart choices in life. For example, I will try to keep track of the amount of recycling I do and evaluate whether or not I am doing enough for the environment. Additionally, I could evaluate the other choices I make in the future and decide whether or not they are beneficial to me and those around me. 

Research Sources: Birds on campus

At first I was very indecisive about what I wanted to do for this project, but after much deliberation, I have decided to follow the various kinds birds on campus. I want to explore this topic for the duration of this project because I feel that following birds on campus is much more interesting and less embarrassing than stalking an actual person. At first I thought that I wanted to follow sorority girls around campus to see what exactly they do, but I also thought about how hard it would be to convince someone to let follow them for an extended period of time. I also wanted to follow birds around campus so that I could observe what places they are attracted to and also what characteristics about those certain places that the birds like. I will try to evaluate my topic by visiting various places on campus and seeing where birds like to flock. I will attempt to evaluate the birds and see if certain types of birds like to travel together to certain areas of campus.

 I am planning to go to ‘A’ Mountain to see if there are birds there and also if other critters go there. I also want to visit other campus areas like the Memorial Union patio, the Life Sciences building, the new North Campus grass area, and the Student Recreation Center field. I usually see birds at these places so hopefully I can evaluate these areas without much trouble. I also wanted to observe the birds and whether or not they react with any people and evaluate the behavior of both parties and what their interaction is like.

The scholarly journal article that I am considering to help aid my research in this project is entitled: “Energetics, lifestyle, and Reproduction in birds” by Richard Sibly. The source was obtained on EBSCO Host and is approximately one page in length. This scholarly article basically documents the behavior of birds in general with no specific focus on a type of bird. It discusses what food they like, their reproductive habits, and how they have adapted to urban areas.

Secondly, the book source I am using for project two is entitled: The National Geographic Complete Birds of North America by Johnathan Alderfer. This book is 640 pages in length. This book is a guide to various types of birds and it teaches you how to identify birds and also offers an explanation of why they behave the way they do.

Lastly, I chose a website dedicated to birds called Arizonesis.org. This website offers a description of the various birds that live in Arizona and I thought that this would be very helpful when identifying the birds and determining the behavioral patterns of certain birds. I learned that there are 24 common types of birds in desert-like environments like Arizona.

Overall, I am happy about the topic I chose and I have confidence that these sources will be very beneficial in the rest of my research for this project.  

Evaluation: Modern Family

As the years have gone by, social norms have changed. The weird thing about our society is that it is constantly evolving and transforming and this is evident in the ABC comedy show Modern Family. People seem to gravitate towards this show because not only does it show how different each family is, but also because it does a good job of making people laugh. Modern family made its debut on the ABC network in September of 2009 and since then it has proven to be a hit amongst viewers. Its last season was the most successful season so far with an average viewership of approximately 12.93 million viewers. I have never really followed the show up until my parents started watching last year and I admit that the show got me hooked. What I found interesting about the show is that it aims to destroy social stereotypes while also satirizing the relationships established within the show.

Like I said, the show's main goal is to destroy expected stereotypes and it shows the audience that not all families are the same and that every relationship has its problems. In the past, the media has force fed us this perfect image of what a family is and what they think it should be. They told us that families are supposed to never fight or get into disagreements, that children are supposed to act a certain way, and that a family must consist of a couple of the opposite sex and their children, and that it is inappropriate for a man to marry a woman half his age. This is the mold that society has created for us and this show’s main objective is to shatter that expectation.

In one episode entitled That Time of the Month, Phil Dunphy, the patriarch of the Dunphy household, tries to convince his son to pull a prank on his mother and his two sisters so that the two of them could go to a trapeze class alone. Phil wants to leave the three females at home because they are all coincidentally on their period. In attempt to get out of the house, Phil tells his son Luke to rub fake blood on his hands so that the two could escape and pretend to go to the hospital. When Luke tries to pull the prank, he accidentally slips and he appears to be drenched in blood and there is blood all over the wall. Claire, Phil’s wife, figures out what is going on and eventually the three ladies start yelling at the two males telling them that they are inconsiderate jerks.

That is just one example of the crazy stuff that goes in this show, there are many other instances where a different topic or issue is tackled. The show tackles issues in relation to same sex couples, one’s role in a marriage, and even problems that teenagers go through. Personally, I think that the message this show is trying to convey is one worth sharing. This show not only does a great job showing viewers that families are complicated and that you cannot truly define them, but it also does a stellar job of providing its audience with some laughter.