Blog Assessments
Here are my strongest Passion posts:
Love is Louder than the Pressure to be Perfect
And my strongest RCL posts:
For the Passion posts that I chose I believe that these are the most important for a very specific reason. This reason has to do with the overlying themes brought up in the posts. One post deals with the idolization of celebrities and the other is the issue of body image in not only celebrities but normal people as well. In both posts I tried to go deeper than just summarizing the big story in celebrity news for that week. The Bald for Bieber post not only placed the blame of extreme idolization of celebrities on parents but our society as a whole. My Lady Gaga post took the issue of body image and focued it on someone who you may not have thought struggled with issues such as Bulimia and Anorexia. I wanted to provide a forum for discussion on serious topics that re not always at the forefronts of our minds. From the content of the posts and also the comments left by others I think that I can safely say that the posts did what they were supposed to do.
For my RCL posts I think I took public events (Do the Right Thing event, Gangnam style phenomenon) and posed the necessary questions needed to analyze these things in order to provide relevant and stimulating discussion. For the Do the Right Thing post I expressed my views on the movie and subsequent Q&A session and I raised topics that may have been sensitive in nature but necessary. I did the same thing for my Gangnam Style post. What I talked about was met with dissention from a few people and provided an opportunity for people not only in our class but ariund the country to look at their actions concerning the video and maybe come to a realization that it was not all innocent.
Read MoreCopyright Questions
Here are my questions about copyright law…
1) Is there really a legitimate way to regulate fair use? No one can accurately pinpoint when and where an idea was conceived
2) Can copyright laws ever be alleviated?
Read MoreThe Makings of a Public Controversy
An issue becomes a “public controversy” depending on how much people react to it. Nothing becomes controversial without people and their differing opinions and an issue doesn’t become public without a multitude of people with opinions pertaining to the topic. Determining if an issue is public has a lot to do with the media. Media plays an integral part in the lives of everyday people. Just watching the morning news, one can find out all of the hot topics currently circulating in the world. For this reason, the media is probably the biggest way an issue becomes a “public controversy”. Another way of determining what makes an issue “public” is how people react to them. Public controversy usually merit a certain level of outrage among people. The last component of a public controversy is its staying power. Most of these issues are things that someone remembers over a long period power of time. For instance, when I grow older I will still remember the issues of gay marriage, healthcare and so on.
Read MoreMy Very First Voting Experience
Like all of the other freshman at this school, this election was my first experience with voting. The excitement on campus about the election culminated in the most anxious day of this month so far: election day. Unfortunately, I decided to vote through absentee ballot so I missed the experience of actually using a voting machine. I woke up on Tuesday anxious about the election and it only got worse as I watched the coverage in my room with a group of friends. Someone should have filmed me as I screamed at the TV, ranted to my mother, and almost had a conniption when I thought that Romney had won New Jersey.
This is the first time that I have been actively involved in the process of the election and politics as a whole. I have had many intelligent conversations with a host of people concerning the debates, the candidates, and the issues of this election. I think that this election has provided a great opportunity to exercise one’s civic duty and continue to do so in later years. Through this election I have seen rhetoric working in good and bad ways. The slander I have seen among some politicians is such an abuse of rhetoric and only hinders the opportunity for a fair rhetoric platform.
Read MoreWhat Makes a Good TED Talk?
Watching all of the TED Talks this week, I think that I have a pretty good idea of what constitutes a good talk. Due to the talk of Amy Cuddy I have learned the importance of body language in relation to not only public speaking but also everyday life. Melissa Marshall’s TED Talk was funny as well as informative; I will be sure to infuse some comedy into my presentation. The most important aspect of a good TED Talk is the fact that your topic must in some way be relatable to your general audience. The Melissa Marshall talk used images such as Alice in Wonderland as a metaphor in order to draw the audience in. I think that if I can infuse all three of these aspects into my own TED Talk then I will be on the right track. I also think that being direct with the audience from the beginning of your presentation is also essential. In class we talked about saying what your topic is about from the minute you start talking. This way, you avoid beating around the bush and confusing your audience.
Read MorePSU Votes
For my RCL blog this week; I chose to provide an example of Kairos working successfully My example of this is the PSU Votes events. These events provide a forum for young people on campus to get educated not only about the upcoming presidential election but also about the political world in general. These events include debate watch parties, information sessions, and guest speakers. PSU Votes is a great example of Kairos because the presidential election provides the perfect time for a “teachable moment”. With so many people voting for the first time, an open forum is needed to get the message of voting and laws across to people who otherwise wouldn’t have the information.
Without the upcoming election, these open forums wouldn’t have as much of an impact or as big of a turnout. The campus is buzzing with people talking about the debates, candidates, and voter id laws. The Kairos of PSU Votes serves to take the most advantage of a moment in history as we choose our next president. Hopefully this example of Kairos successfully encourages people to get involved in their community and perform their civic duties.
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