Kevin Schuyler, Thomas Foltz, Charley Greenberg

ENGL 137H

November 19, 2020

Activity Log

11/13: We began by brainstorming topics, such as abortion, gun control, and privacy rights amidst the growth of technology. We ended up deciding the public controversy of the electoral college. We then reviewed some online sources to learn more about the topic and get a background about the electoral college. Next, we decided which topics each of us is going to research. Thomas is reviewing the historical background of the electoral college, Kevin will discuss the benefits of the Electoral College system, and Charley will focus on the issues with the Electoral College. Our framing questions will be “Why and when was the Electoral College established?”, “What does the Electoral College protect us against?”, and lastly “What can be improved?” (additional framing questions can be found below).

11/19: Working on RCL Blog 9 assignment, as well as creating our storyboard/outline. Thomas will be looking into the video-editing software programs, so that we can use it to publish our video. We all began contributing our research findings to a group document, as well as media to support our ideas. Over break and before our next meeting, we plan to finalize our research so that we have all of the information necessary to address each of our framing questions and assemble our presentation.

Framing the Controversy

Our multi-media project is focusing on the growing controversy over the effectiveness of the electoral college in present-day America. We plan to examine its historical background and origins and whether its initial purpose still applies today. Our topic is relevant and worthy of our research because of the growing political polarization in America and the encroachment of political opinion into all aspects of society. Some framing questions to guide our research include: 

• Who created the electoral college? 
• When and why was the electoral college created? 
• How does the electoral college work? 
• What are some benefits to the electoral college? 
• What are some issues with the electoral college? 

• • • • Mention how it isn’t a strictly partisan issue (Republicans and Democrats vary their feelings on it) 

• How can the electoral college be improved? 
• Concluding question: Is the electoral college still effective in modern day American society? 

• • • • We will merely ask the question and summarize the two main stances so that the audience can form their own opinions

Some of our media selections include:

• Pictures, interpretations, maps, and videos from different eras showcasing the electoral college, including: 

• Paintings of the Founding Fathers when creating the Constitution to depict its origins 

• • • • Article 2, Section 1  

• Videos or diagrams to explain how the electoral college works 
• Maps, statistics, and graphs from election years with significant outcomes (ex. Trump winning in 2016 despite losing the popular vote) 
• Pictures and signs of people protesting the electoral college 
• Possibly surveys of how many people approve of the electoral college 
• Videos from recent elections from debates
• Focus on questions asked about the electoral college 

• Other clips of government officials speaking on the electoral college