One idea for the History of a Public Controversy Project is vaccine mandates and their resurgence in recent times. With the Covid-19 pandemic just three-years-old, the rush for a vaccine was almost crucial for things to go back to normal and for society to function properly. As a vaccine was developed, the need for people to get vaccinated was pushed into the public’s mindset. Soon, vaccine mandates would be promoted across the United States, making the Covid-19 vaccine politically controversial and charged debate on both sides of the aisle. For the project, we could develop an understanding for vaccine mandates in history and how there are parallels between modern day and the past. Looking at whether it is someone’s civic duty to get vaccinated for a collective goal or if a mandate is an infringement on people’s freedom of speech is also another avenue. The vaccine mandate would be fruitful for making a documentary-like analysis of this public controversy and how it infiltrates American life.

Another idea for the project is similar to the vaccine mandate, but offers a broader scope to go in multiple directions. Public health mandates and how new technologies have developed over the past century are important events in American history. Understanding the importance for public health interventions is essential to how our health has developed. Focusing on public health mandates would allow the group to broaden the conversation and generalize the implication to more than just one specific area of health.Workplaces and schools are perfect examples for public health interventions when it comes to smoking, food safety, and alcohol and how the people would be affected without these regulations. This topic also relates the rights as Americans and what is permissible by our standards for our safety and what we consider to be an infringement on us as citizens.

This is a very rough draft of my TED Talk slides, but it shows what I hope to draw from when presenting. I want to use mainly photos and graphs to help explain and prime my memory when presenting. For my topic, I want to explore fertility rates from the late 19th century to present day and how components have affected the decline in fertility rates. I think the introduction of the morning after pill served as a important landmark in women autonomy that helped shaped the fertility trends. I am looking for feedback on formatting and what else could be added to my slideshow. I know it’s hard to give feedback without a script of what I am going to say, but I hope any opinions on how it looks and how it could be more engaging.

Samuel Martin RCL TEDTalk Slides (1)

VoiceThread Link: https://psu.voicethread.com/share/25176445/

My pitch is a different topic than I originally thought as I think this new topic will be more fruitful!

Script:

How many siblings do you have? 1, 2, 3… more than 3? Regardless of the number of siblings you have or don’t have, we can all agree family size has stayed moderate throughout history, right? Well… not exactly. The average number of children produced has decreased dramatically over time, yet population numbers still seem to rise. For my Evolving Idea, I intend to understand the fertility transition from the mid-late 19th century to the early-mid 20th century and how these effects still linger in the 21st century. Fertility refers to the amount of children one has over their lifetime, and sociology-driven demographics provide many ways to measure and compare this concept.  Social, political, religious, and scientific approaches influence this defining transition in human history from having a family by fate to having a family by design. I intend to look at the replacement level decline from 7 children to around 2.1 children per woman as well as the influence of the morning after pill introduced in the early 20th century. Through the “Giving You a Million Reasons, about a Million Reasons” pattern, the fertility transition is an accumulation of factors that indicate the reasons for its impact. For many in wealthy regions like the United States and Europe, fertility has dealt with issues like women’s autonomy to economic reasons for having a certain number of children as a benefit. Fertility is an ongoing discussion that draws on its own history to understand the need for a certain number of children and the inevitable effects it has on modern society. Whether you notice fertility changes affecting you directly or not, do you think it, nonetheless, should be brought to our attention? Thank you. 

My favorite Ted Talk is from comedian Melissa Villaseñor, which happened just a few months ago. Her Ted Talk is entitled “How I found myself — by impersonating other people,” and she embarks on her journey as an impressionist and how it shaped her career in comedy. Villaseñor showcases her celebrity impressions in her speech to show her passion for her career and how she reached her life goal of starring in Saturday Night Live. At only the age of 36, the comedienne has surpassed her life goal and wonders what is next for her career. Villaseñor finds that through her career impersonating other people, she lost touch of the person inside herself. She admits herself that the impersonations were an escape for her to focus on other people and not herself. Drawing on her childhood, she admits she never fully connected with her native Mexican culture and wishes she could be fluent in Spanish. I like this Ted Talk because she uses a successful delivery style that is similar to stand-up comedy, but it keeps the conversation potent. The SNL alum successfully connects her early life with her career to accept it is okay to put the masks down and be vulnerable and one’s true self, as she is discovering.

For my Evolving Ideas Research Paper, I would want to explore the stereotypes of Italian Americans in American films from the end of the mid-20th century to present day. I am Italian American myself and have always thought the representation on the screen was not the complete picture of Italian American culture. I would incorporate historical trends that correlate with the themes in these films and how these stereotypes have perpetuated an inaccurate representation. This would translate well to my Ted Talk as I could focus on a specific theme or stereotype that has been shown in films and how this has shaped the public’s perceptions of Italian Americans.

When preparing to record my speech, I wanted to make sure I had a general idea of what I had written. It was important to me to feel secure in what I was about to present and understand all of my points in their totality. I initially had trouble with setting up VoiceThread and transferring my slides to the program, But, I eventually figured I could take a screenshot of my slides and upload those with no problem. As I went to actually record, I kept messing up on my intro and realized that what I had originally written down was too wordy and didn’t flow. I had to rework what I had to make it seem more relaxed, allowing for my points to fall into one another. However, I had to do multiple takes regardless because I started to get picky with how I was speaking and trying to be engaging. I became more comfortable with my material and used hand movement to emphasize certain points in my speech. Overall, I think my performance was the best I could do, but may have benefitted from more review on what I had outlined.

I chose to watch Avery’s speech, and I thought she did very well with introducing her civic artifact. I appreciated her gestures as I believe they were very effective in emphasizing her points. I also thought it was good of her to note that Life360 isn’t the artifact she will be examining, but uses it to emphasize the important of the fingerprint in the advertisement. Avery’s slides were also very effective and related to each of her points well, between the GreenThink ads to the commonplaces she reinforces. Connecting her conclusion to her introduction made her presentation full circle and allowed me to understand how important it is to relate back to the line of reasoning established earlier.

With the remnants of the Cold War lingering, the United States of America defined itself as a superpower in a politically polarized climate, both domestically and internationally. The AIDS epidemic swept the nation completely, dividing people and stigmatizing groups to the point of exclusion in American life. At the Democratic National Convention in July 1992, Elizabeth Glaser pleads to the American public and its leaders of the need for forward progress in the fight against AIDS in the United States. She destigmatizes the disease as a plague only affecting certain minority groups, presenting her personal account living with the disease through her ingrained American values and repetition of faith in her country. Two months later, at the Republican National Convention, Mary Fisher articulates her AIDS experience, connecting with her audience of the epidemic’s transformation into a tragedy and its sudden reality affecting ordinary aspects of American life. These two women present to the United States a call to action, utilizing their narrative paradigm and stressing the framework of the strong institution the American government claims itself to be. Both speeches work within the rhetorical situation and their kairotic moment to spotlight the health of the American people and the ignorance of American values, requesting citizen partnership towards a more promising future for the next generations. 

With the stigma of AIDS surrounding sexual and ethnic minorities, Elizabeth Glaser begins her speech with an establishment of trust with her audience to warrant her representation of the disease and the need for destigmatization. Their narrative creates a platform for the two representatives to draw on a commonplace of being a good Samaritan, providing support to their fellow Americans in a time of poor health outcomes. Immediately, Glaser presents to her audience how she contracted AIDS through “birth to my [Glaser’s] first child” and a hemorrhage resulting in a blood transfusion. By explaining her infection with the virus through this blood transfusion, she breaks down the barrier of stereotypes that an individual can only get AIDS through unprotected sex or the sharing of needles. Glaser explains that her becoming a mother resulted in her becoming one with others affected with AIDS and the frustration of fighting for the right to live. Her experience with the illness, as a “well-to-do white woman” is a firsthand account that allows her audience to understand AIDS as a susceptible disease that may affect every American, not just the social groups that have become associated with it. At the Republican National Convention, Mary Fisher offers the same approach with her audience, presenting a common denominator with the stereotypical groups afflicted. Fisher’s credibility expands upon her own experience and compares it to the “black infant” in the hospital or the “lonely gay man” who have been offered little help from society and ostracized. Fisher, like Glaser, establishes trust with her audience by explaining her advocacy for the disease affecting millions across the nation. These establishments of trust are successfully done through the two women’s narrative accounts, allowing for truthful storytelling, and understanding of the rhetorical situation.  

Glaser’s emphasis on the faith in her American government alludes to her kairotic moment to mobilize American citizens to take advantage of civic engagement for the nation’s well-being. Through repetition, Glaser professes “I believe in America, but not with a leadership…” utilizing kairos and taking the opportunity to assess the rhetorical situation. Being at the Democratic National Convention, Glaser’s invitation came with the purpose of persuading the American people because a change in leadership from the Bush administration would be beneficial to not only AIDS, but America as a whole. Her repetition of faith in America, but not the current political administration, leads to her assessment of the American value depletion that has swept the nation through the AIDS epidemic. Glaser’s belief in her country came from the “dreams of freedom, justice, and equality,” but she doubts the United States as a strong political institution. The state of her address has witnessed 12 years of Republican-dominated leadership with little progress in terms of the fight against AIDS, leaving fuel for the Glaser’s impassioned fire. As the queer community and racial ethnic groups faced discrimination from the more conservative wing, Glaser understands their fight and looks to her party for progressivism, accentuating the significance of the rhetorical situation being an election year. She successfully displays a commonplace of achieving the dreams citizens set forth in the land of the free, encouraging her audience to vote for the leader they think will not only help AIDS patients, but every American. From her perspective, Glaser believes the Democratic Party possesses the right individuals looking for partnership amongst the American citizens towards a more promising future in the fight against AIDS. Glaser addresses her country with concern not just as a patient of a deadly disease, but as a citizen who is looking to her leaders to make effective change, seeking a “president and Congress that can work together.” Glaser enables a kairotic opportunity for her audience, the American people, to make use of their Constitutional right of voting for an American leadership representative of the nation’s welfare moving forward. 

Fisher petitions to her audience to lift the “Whisper of AIDS” that has fallen upon the nation, imploring an introspective view of how the disease has affected her once ordinary life and how it will affect others’. Like Glaser’s address, Fisher’s purpose at the Republican National Convention is to mobilize American voters to choose the political party they think supports the American values best. Fisher understands that her party has been neglectful but pleads to her fellow members and Americans watching to start a conversation about AIDS, regardless of the stigma that follows it. She creates a commonplace with pathos for the protection of the American family that is dependent on the integrity individuals have regarding the rhetorical situation. Drawing on the structure of family, Fisher urges her audience to understand how disregard for the disease not having a direct effect on the individual can contribute to a complete destruction of American family values. Her analysis and proposition serve as a juxtaposition to the stereotypes instilled into her audience regarding AIDS, offering her personal account of the effects on her family. While supporting the current administration, unlike Glaser, Fisher warns her audience the “lessons of history” and encourages her fellow Americans to begin their conversation of AIDS and consider it a pressing issue to the United States. Fisher assesses her rhetorical situation by thanking the current administration for their personal support, but emphasizes the need Bush says himself, “Much remains to be done.” She recognizes that AIDS has been swept under the rug regarding the Republican Party and not enough initiative was taken for the well-being of less-fortunate individuals living with the condition. With this recognition, Fisher repeats “We” to stress it is a collective effort to mobilize American leaders to fight for the American values as expressed by Glaser. By reducing her affliction as a danger to any human, Fisher highlights her humane approach through her personal account with her family and what must be done through civic engagement to withstand American values.  

With their different approaches in addressing their audiences, Glaser and Fisher look to the future of the nation, which is dependent on the American children, examining what can be done for their future country. Glaser’s introduction presents her as the co-founder of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, as her AIDS infection was passed on to her children after her hemorrhage. Her daughter died from the infection, and Glaser utilizes this account to portray strength and further establish trust with her audience. Glaser uses repetition again with “She taught me…” to demonstrate how the death of her daughter has pushed her to fight for the well-being of every American child. In comparison, Fisher speaks to her children directly and pledges to them the courage to advocate for not only the life of their mother, but their own lives in the future. The two advocates bring pathos to undermine how the future is like a light on the horizon, just out of reach and slowly dimming. As parents, Glaser and Fisher are begging for a brighter future that will not have their children “suffer shame” for the contraction of AIDS and knowing someone with the disease. Both these women’s testaments to their children exhibit their desire for a better America that will not only help the people in privileged positions, like themselves, but all people in their children’s future. Glaser and Fisher understand that the course of the nation relies on new generations taking the seat of the old, and for a hopeful future, a solid foundation must be laid within their national leadership. 

Ultimately, both artifacts place emphasis on a strong institutional government needed in the United States of America for forward progress regarding crises, like AIDS, that affect the well-being of American citizens. Elizabeth Glaser and Mary Fisher both appeal to their audience through establishing trust by expressing their experiences through their exigence to speak at major political platforms. These two women, though different on the political spectrum, find a commonality to enable American citizens to adjure leaders to focus on their current and future constituents’ well-being. The two civic artifacts successfully assess the rhetorical situation and utilize their narratives to further educate the American people on their civic engagement and the need for change. 

Speech Outline:

• Introduce Elizabeth Glaser’s speech briefly and setting
  • Expand upon America’s reputation as a strong nation
  • Outline how Glaser, the representative for AIDS, works within the rhetorical situation through her narrative, beliefs in her country, and role as mother
  • Show 30 second clip of her address
• Move on to rhetorical situation surrounding her speech
  • Cold War has just ended and Republican administration persists
  • AIDS cases have risen leading to discrimination and exclusion
  • Kairotic opportunity to destigmatize AIDS
• Discuss her her narrative with contracting AIDS and its effects
  • Present her ethos in getting AIDS through hemorrhaging
  • She breaks down stereotypes by explaining its susceptibility
  • Aims to establish trust with her audience how her experience is as relevant as ever
• Point to her plead for change in American leadership
  • Highlight how she uses repetition for emphasis
  • The America she grew up with is different than the America she is experiencing
  • President Bush’s lack of help to the epidemic and uses critiques as a commonplace
  • Glaser feels more must be done in a country promoting freedom, justice, and equality
• The future of America depends on the work currently being done
  • Explain the death of her daughter teaching her strength
  • Draws on pathos as a mother with the American people in the form of a commonplace
  • Emphasizes that the children are America’s future
• Conclude with reminder of American civic engagement and values
  • People’s well-being should be the utmost significance in the nation
  • A healthier future for is dependent upon trust between government and people

With the remnants of the Cold War lingering, the United States of America defined itself as a superpower in a politically polarized climate, both domestically and internationally. The AIDS epidemic swept the nation completely, dividing people and stigmatizing groups to the point of exclusion in American life. At the Democratic National Convention in July 1992, Elizabeth Glaser pleads to the American public and its leaders of the need for forward progress in the fight against AIDS in the United States. She destigmatizes the disease as a plague only affecting certain minority groups, presenting her personal account living with the disease through her ingrained American values and repetition of faith in her country. Two months later, at the Republican National Convention, Mary Fisher articulates her AIDS experience, connecting with her audience of the epidemic’s transformation into a tragedy and its sudden reality affecting ordinary aspects of American life. These two women present to the United States a call to action, utilizing their kairotic moment, and stressing the framework of the strong institution the American government claims itself to be. Glaser’s and Fisher’s speeches work within a narrative paradigm foundation to stress the health and well-being of the American people and the ignorance of the American value depletion, calling for citizen partnership towards a progressive future. 

Speech Outline: 

• Introduce Elizabeth Glaser’s speech briefly and its setting 
  • Show a 30 second to 1 minute clip of the speech 
• Move on the rhetorical situation surrounding her speech 

• • Political climate, including both domestic and foreign 
  • Audience, the demographics and populations targeted 
  • Her own role as a representative of the AIDS epidemic (establishment of trust) 
• Discuss the narrative framework Glaser builds upon  

• • Living with the condition and its affects in her life 
  • Acknowledgement of the ignorance stigmatizing AIDS 

• Point to Glaser’s call to action for the United States 
  • Repetition of beliefs in the America she once knew 
  • Need for politicians to take charge and listen to their constituents 
  • What the future of the nation should look like 
  • How the American dream and its value have depleted 

• Conclude with her reminder of American values 

• • Government’s purpose in the health and well-being of its citizens 

During class, Avery’s speech got my attention because of the comparison she used between her ad of a garbage fingerprint to the app Life360. I found her understanding of the artifact and the intent of the advertisement itself to be full and comprehensive. Connecting the fingerprint of garbage to the negligent human behavior often exhibited showed her understanding in her speech and its impact. Using Life360 as a commonplace among many college students was also strategical as Avery recognized it is our duty to be like “parents” to the Earth and care for it in its entirety. As she develops her analysis of the artifact, I think it would be useful to broaden the scope of the artifact and its relevance to the general population. While Life360 may be applicable to some, not everyone may use the app and understand its relevancy to the artifact’s message. While she used a lens of commonplaces in the elevator pitch, analyzing through a lens of the rhetorical situation could be more fruitful. I would also explicitly state the artifact’s connection to one of the SDG’s, such as Climate Action. The usage of the Life360 metaphor only goes so far, and as the artifact is of a fingerprint, mentioning our carbon footprints as human beings will help with analysis and our role on Earth. Sometimes, I forget my impact on the environment, but Avery’s pitch made me rethink my role and how I can contribute to the Earth’s survival.  

Has anyone ever heard of Elizabeth Glaser? Whether you have heard of her not, on the surface, Elizabeth Glaser represented to many the epitome of a privileged woman: white, well-to-do, wife of famous actor Paul Michael Glaser, and the mother of two children. However, this evaluation is nothing but far from the truth as her speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention portrays. Living with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, Elizabeth Glaser’s advocacy for the awareness of the disease that affected many stands the test of time. 

Glaser’s purpose in her speech at the Democratic National Convention on July 14, 1992 was to inform the American public and leading politicians of the AIDS epidemic hurting hundreds of thousands across the country. The delivery of her address at a major party convention conveys the political climate of the late twentieth century and the polarizing topic of the disease affecting American citizens. I plan to develop an analysis around Glaser’s speech through the lens of her establishment of trust amidst the rhetorical situation and her own narrative paradigm. Elizabeth Glaser speaks to the American people with urgency and firsthand experience of the struggles of the health emergency deemed as taboo.  

The time of Elizabeth Glaser’s address saw a nation divided with a more conservative framework established within the past decade. Glaser emphasizes Americans’ health and well-being as a crucial point the United States government must make a priority for a strong institution. This one woman’s address builds upon the American values ingrained into the psyche of every citizen and the need for our leaders to act when necessary. I anticipate decoding this speech and understanding the partnerships needed amongst individuals to make progress. 

Thank you. 

Across the United States, consumerism and quick access have dominated our way of living in most of recent history. Fast food has become an industry that changed the United States economy as the number of restaurants and chain brands began to spread throughout the country. McDonald’s is none other than the poster child for the compulsion that is fast food and has become a symbol of attainability. 

Launched in 2018, McDonald’s “Follow the Arches” campaign is a commonplace in the eyes of many Americans, and, one may consider, even on a global level. Choosing to use the Golden Arches against a red backdrop with simple road directions offers simplicity to the advertisement’s overall persuasive nature. McDonald’s has become ingrained into the American identity, implementing itself into our culture. The brand doesn’t need further explanation of who they are or what their mission is throughout this particular advertising campaign. Instead, McDonald’s urges the hungry commuters to either take the next left or right off the highway and come fulfill their physiological need. Seeing the billboard, people understand that the Golden Arches are synonymous with food and the opportunity to take advantage of its accessibility. 

“Follow the Arches” speaks to the economic growth and decent work McDonald’s provides throughout its nationwide restaurants. While McDonald’s has a denotation of unhealthy food, this campaign emphasizes the economic opportunities consumers offer to buy products from these restaurants and support those working there. Whether notifying if you missed a McDonald’s or if it’s coming up, the billboards promote economic growth at the countless McDonald’s restaurants opened domestically and internationally. McDonald’s use of a commonplace through their signature arches invites the viewer to visit the iconic entity that has established itself in modern society. By taking the opportunity to promote business, McDonald’s does so without feeling the need to explain itself for its reputation precedes it.