Category Archives: RCl

This I Believe Final Draft

Below, is the link to my This I Believe, along with a script to go along with it. Feel free to leave some comments or feedback!

When I was just one year old, my family relocated to the United States with nothing but two suitcases full of clothes. We arrived in America with no friends, no relatives, and no knowledge of the English language. In fact, I didn’t even learn to speak English until I went to preschool at the age of four. I was often mocked by other children for my poor English and my abnormal background; all I wanted was to fit in.

Just a few years later, by the age of eight, I had entirely stopped speaking Russian with my parents. They would talk to me in Russian, and I would respond in English. I gained a passion for American foods, I picked up soccer just because all of the kids at school played, and I started dressing more like my American friends. At one point, I even wanted to change my name to Adam or Ryan.

This desire and strive to conform with the other children continued until my high school years when I finally began to realize just how valuable it is to belong to different cultures. People started coming up to me exclaiming, “Wow, your name is Egor, that’s awesome!” or “Oh my gosh, I wish I could speak another language!” It was at this point in time that I finally began to regret trying to stray away from my Russian heritage as a child. Now, as I travel to Russia or Ukraine to visit my family, I’m almost embarrassed to speak to people due to my strong American accent and lack of knowledge about Russian history and culture. I now constantly try to make up for my cultural ignorance by immersing myself in as many various cultures as possible.

Just this past year, I met a boy from Sweden who had come to stay with a host family in my town through a foreign exchange program. When I first introduced myself to him, I knew nothing at all about Sweden. All I knew was that they have beautiful women and they all love to party. So, I expected him to simply disregard me as some ignorant American, but it turned out quite the opposite. Fredrick and I ended up talking for hours, sharing stories of our different upbringings, cultures, and lives. As we grew closer and spent more time together, he introduced me to his music, food, and lifestyle. And although everything was so significantly different from what I know, I fell in love with it all. To this day, I still listen to the Swedish beats of Alesso and Avicii over any 50 Cent or Lady Gaga. I still crave those Swedish candies and pastries that Fredrick used to bring to lunch every day. And I still want to party in the nightclubs of Stockholm. One day, I hope that I have the chance to visit Fredrick and experience all that he shared with me first hand, but either way, I am more than pleased that he has introduced me to an entirely different culture and provided me with a great friend halfway across the world.

I believe that everyone should take such an opportunity to learn about and engage in other cultures. Whether through traveling to a different area of the world, or simply through living with people of different backgrounds, engaging in various cultures is truly an extraordinary experience that enhances peoples’ understanding of both themselves and the world around them. I believe in the power of cultural immersion.

This I believe

When I was just one year old, my family relocated to the United States with nothing but two suitcases full of clothes. We arrived in America with no friends, no relatives, and no knowledge of the English language. In fact, I didn’t even learn to speak English until I went to preschool at the age of four. I was often mocked by other children for my poor English and my abnormal background. All I wanted was to fit in.

Just a few years later, by the age of eight, I had entirely stopped speaking Russian with my parents. They would talk to me in Russian, and I would respond in English. I gained a passion for American foods, I picked up soccer just because all of the kids at school played, and I started dressing more like my American friends. At one point, I even wanted to change my name to Adam or Ryan.

This desire and strive to conform with the other children continued until my high school years when I finally began to realize just how valuable it is to belong to different cultures. People started coming up to me exclaiming, “Wow, your name is Egor, that’s awesome!” or “Oh my gosh, I wish I could speak another language!” It was at this point in time that I finally began to regret trying to stray away from my Russian heritage as a child. Now, as I travel to Russia or Ukraine to visit my family, I’m almost embarrassed to speak to people due to my strong American accent and lack of knowledge about Russian history and culture.

I now try to make up for my cultural ignorance by immersing myself in as many various cultures as possible. The summer after eighth grade, I spent my entire summer living with my grandparents in Ukraine, eating authentic Ukrainian food, engaging in everyday activities, and meeting dozens of unique individuals that were willing to share their culture with me. Due to my experience, I realized how amazing it is to have the ability to communicate and live with people who have entirely different backgrounds and perspectives.

So, from this point on, I dedicated myself to learning about as many cultures as possible. I have now traveled to over eight different countries, I have visited nearly thirty U.S. states, and I have learned yet another language. This summer, I actually plan on spending my summer with a host family in Madrid in order to improve my Spanish language and to experience the Spanish culture firsthand.

I believe that everyone should take the opportunity to engage in such an experience. There are countless people throughout the world, especially here in America, that are just ignorant of other countries and cultures. They refuse to learn new languages, to learn about what is going on in other countries and states, and to connect with people of different backgrounds. Meanwhile in countries throughout Europe, children are forced to start learning English before they even reach grade school. By first grade, they are already learning about world history and current events.

However, even if they are not being exposed to different cultures through schooling, I believe that everyone should take the time to discover and experience a different culture. Engaging in various cultures is truly an extraordinary experience that enhances one’s understanding of the world around them.

Blog and Project Ideas

New Passion Blog Ideas:

Last semester, I wrote my passion blog about tennis, as this has always been my greatest hobby. Now I would like to write my passion blog about another significant hobby of mine, traveling. Specifically, I plan to make my very own travel guide by discussing my personal experiences in various countries and U.S. cities that I have visited throughout my life.

Another idea I have for my passion blog is to discuss new innovations and technologies that are being introduced in our world today. As an engineering major, I have always been interested in learning about technological advancements and their effects on the future.

Civic Issue Blog Ideas:

I have several topic ideas in mind for my civic issue blog. My first idea is to write my blog on the energy crisis, which serves a major concern to me and the rest of the world in general. I would discuss the depletion of oil and natural gas, as well as the various forms of alternative energy for the future.

I am also considering writing my civic issues blog about gun control as this has become an extremely controversial and highly debated topic in today’s society. However, it may be difficult to write five blogs about gun control alone, so I may extend my blog to other controversial rights as well.

ThisIBelieve Ideas: 

  1. I believe in the power of cats. While most people like to say that dogs are a man’s best friend (especially men), I like to think that cat’s are a man’s best friend. I feel that cat’s are able to alleviate your pain and help you whenever you are feeling down.
  2. I believe in cultural awareness. Having grown up in a Russian family and visited several different countries throughout my lifetime, I have developed an understanding and appreciation for people who come from other backgrounds. However, I feel that many people lack this cultural awareness due to their inadequate traveling experiences or negligence to learn and understand other cultures.

History of a Public Controversy Ideas

For our public controversy project, my group decided to research the controversy behind the removal of the Joe Paterno statue. This statue once stood outside of the football stadium in recognition of all of Paterno’s contributions to the university. However, after the Penn State child sex abuse scandal there was a widespread debate regarding the removal of this statue. Although many Joe Pa supporters, as well as Penn State fanatics, believed that Joe Pa did not have enough involvement in the scandal for the statue to be removed, many called for the removal of the statue as it was disrespectful to the victims of child abuse and to their families. The statue was eventually removed six months after the death of Joe Paterno.

250px-Paterno_memorial

In order to discuss the controversy in addition to our views on the controversy, we plan to include many supporting visuals, with voiceovers on top of them. Also, we will include the views of various individuals that have strong feelings about the controversy. We plan to interview students to see how they feel about the removal of the statue and find opinions from various Penn State faculty and leaders.

Are TED Talks an Important New Rhetorical Development?

TED talks are a wonderful way for individuals to spread their ideas and projects to millions of people. With the significant technological developments that continue to take place, TED talks serve as a great way to simplify the ideas behind certain developments and to present them to society. Since most TED talks are typically no longer than twenty minutes, they are able to better maintain the focus and interest of the audience in comparison to long lectures, articles, and even videos and documentaries.

However, in order for TED talks to be effective, they must be rhetorically appealing. The speaker must possess the ability to keep the crowd interested through the use of rhetoric and visual aids. If the presenter is successful, a TED talk can potentially reach millions of viewers. Even though TED talks are initially presented among crowds of like-minded peers, they are easily accessible to anyone with internet access. After all, early every TED talk is now hosted on the TED talk website as well as on YouTube. Since TED talks are short and concise, people are willing to take the time to watch TED talks that appeal to them.

TED Talk

My paradigm shift paper discusses the shift from the teaching of creationism by some supernatural being to the teaching of evolution in American schools. In my TED talk, I plan to talk less about the research and facts behind the shift, and instead discuss how this harsh shift from religion belief to scientific belief affects all of us. I can start off my TED talk by asking the audience how many of them have experienced the ideas of creationism throughout their primary schooling. As long as students did not attend a private, religious based school as a child, I would expect that no one has been taught the ideas of creationism. However, if I were to ask who was taught about evolution and Darwin’s theories of natural selection, everyone should raise their hand. Have any of you actually been introduced to theories of human creation other than the theories of evolution and Darwinism throughout your schooling? I know that I haven’t!

Then, I plan to discuss how drastically different the instruction in schools was just a few decades ago. Our grandparents, and even many of our parents were taught about the creationist theories behind the origins of the Earth, life, and humankind.  During the early and mid 1900s, the ideas of evolution were actually banned from public schools in America. I will note a few major events that caused that caused evolution to again be introduced in schools and what caused the ideas of creationism to be eliminated entirely. However, ideas of creation and evolution were consistently removed and reintroduced in schools up until the late 20th century. Should I simply discuss the few major turning points, such as Darwinism and the Scopes trial which brought about a debate on whether modern science regarding the theory of evolution should be taught in schools? Or, should I chronologically go through a timeline of various important events, but provide less detail about each?

Finally, I plan to conclude my speech by citing the effects that can be seen in our world today from the shift in education. For example, religion and belief in God is becoming much less prominent as scientific progress continues to occur. Would it be too controversial to suggest that I believe that the theories of evolution, rather than the ideas of the Bible should continue to be taught in schools? After all, early creationist theories are merely based off of fabricated stories, whereas the theory of evolution is supported by strong scientific evidence.

I am slightly concerned that I will have difficulty relating a majority of the speech to myself and to the audience as this paradigm shift primarily took place in the past. I also hope to improve upon my body language and speaking abilities throughout this talk.

Paradigm Shift Paper Ideas

  • My primary idea for the paradigm shift paper is to discuss the shift from creation to evolution which took place throughout the 1800s. The main topic of this paper would be how the discoveries of Charles Darwin and other famous scientists of the time led people all over the world to believe less strongly in religion, and instead to shift their beliefs to technology and science. I feel that my love for science and interest in evolution would allow me to write  and speak passionately about this paradigm shift. However, one concern that I have is that this topic is very general, so it may be difficult to limit my paper to 10 pages and my TED talk to under 5 minutes while still remaining descriptive.
  • Another idea is to discuss the paradigm shift taking place within drugs and democracy in Latin and South America. After watching a documentary about drug use and the war on drugs taking place in these areas, I became very interested in this topic. Throughout this paradigm shift paper, I would discuss ways in which the governments approach the drug situation and the effects that the war on drugs is having on countries.

Reflections on Rhetorical Analysis Unit

Overall, I have found the rhetorical analysis unit extremely interesting. I enjoyed exploring various types of works in order to find the rhetorical aspects that they contain. This really allowed us to expand on what we learned about rhetoric throughout high school and put our knowledge of rhetoric to use. However, I feel that in addition to rhetorical appeals, it would have been useful to discuss in more detail rhetorical devices such as anaphora, antithesis, hyperbole, and other devices that are commonly used in rhetorical speeches and writing. Since I am analyzing a speech, I have found the use of these rhetorical strategies very common throughout the piece. However, I understand that these strategies can primarily only be used in writing, rather in artifacts and artwork which many students are analyzing for their rhetorical analyses.

Also, I believe that presenting our civic engagement speeches was very helpful. This helped me to gain vital practice in public speaking and get an understanding of what I need to improve upon for future speeches or talks. Listening to the speeches of others was interesting and insightful as well.

Rhetorical Analysis Ideas

  • For my rhetorical analysis paper, I am considering using this image which inspires individuals to quit smoking. It is an extremely meaningful and stimulating campaign that has many rhetorical qualities.

how-long-can-you-live-cigarette-inspirational-quote

 

  • I also may use the famous Gettysburg Address which was written by Abraham Lincoln in the year 1863. Lincoln makes use of various forms of rhetoric throughout the speech, including ethos, pathos, and logos.
  • This Northern propaganda from the American Civil War portrays a former slave showing his scars after being whipped. The rhetorical aspects of the photograph help establish the abolitionists’ ideas and motives.

WAR & CONFLICT BOOK ERA:  CIVIL WAR/BACKGROUND:  SLAVERY & ABOLITIONISM