gustavorodriguez89blog-blog

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About Me

My name is Gustavo Rodriguez and I am currently a sophomore at UTEP majoring in History with a minor in Education. My purpose for this class was to improve my writing and data analysis that would help me in the future as a historian. Writing to me means conveying your message in a proper manner in which your audience can either learn or accept what you are trying to say. As a historian this is extremely important as you are trying to gain credibility in yourself and in your findings with those in your field and those reading your work. In the future I see myself  writing books and scholar journals as I plan on investigating and decoding history that has yet to be discovered. As a future professor I also see myself correcting many written papers from my college students. The most important thing I learned about writing was to let the audience come up with their own conclusion when writing to persuade, as long as I can give the information needed and in a manner in which everyone will understand; they themselves can come up with the right analysis. I was so focused in the beginning to show my way that my data analysis was deemed weak. Moving forward I would like to improve on my vocabulary, furthering my vocabulary will earn me more credibility and will make me look like someone that knows what they are saying. During this semester I read many papers from my classmates and it was hard for me to take them seriously as I felt their vocabulary wasn't as high as it should be. This made me question them as authors and I don't want that happening to me. The thing I have learned the most this semester is to seek help when needed. Thanks to the writing center I was able to achieve high grades on my writing  assignments, this showed me that there is nothing wrong by admitting you need help. This way I not only received higher grades but I also learned more about writing. 

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Course Reading Reflection

For this course I expected the readings to be pretty much what they were, a helpful guide towards helping our writing. RWS 1301 was the same way, each week we read a chapter covering what we would be needing to succeed in the following assignment. Although I expected this I did expect it to be more challenging and require me to work harder than last semester. The readings definitely met my expectations as they helped me a lot the entire semester, it was the readings that I based most of my assignments on and I can honestly say they helped me achieve the grade I have now. Th email ideas and themes for this semester were how to communicate with your audience effectively, this included how to format your questions, how to be unbiased, how to analyze data and more. Moving forward as a writer I will take the notion that arguments are not about winning, this is something I had not heard of before until I took this class, I feel like this advice will help me give out my information to my audience without worrying about debating my reasoning, after all its up to the audience to make their own conclusions. The readings related to the assignments as they covered parts of writing we would bee using for that specific assignments, for example we were given resources from the UTEP library when working on our literature review. My approach to the readings did in fact change over the semester as each week I realized how important they were for the upcoming assignment. Taking them seriously allowed me to write a better paper and achieve the grades I wanted all semester long. My favorite reading was framing arguments as I found it to be the most helpful, this allowed me to write an effective literature review, something I struggled with at the beginning of the assignment. The least effective reading for me was presenting the visual argument as I felt this was something we have all done in previous classes so we should all already have an understanding on how to do it. For example I used what I had learned in my communications class for the presentation and achieved full credit. For future students I recommend readings on data analysis, this was an area that the entire class struggled with the most and is one that can be easily overlooked. I personally overlooked it until I started my literature review and saw firsthand how hard it was actually going to be. 

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Genre Analysis Reflection

My genre analysis touched up on my topic of low income students and how they are falling behind academically compared to students of better economic standings. My knowledge prior to this assignment was already pretty high as I had written about this topic before and I myself came from a low income household. I feel like I accomplished the purpose for this assignment as I received full credit for it and I feel this was my strongest work of the semester. When looking back at all my assignments from all my classes, this is one that stands out over most. Some skills that I used that I would like to continue in the future is analyzing data. This is something extremely important as it shows my audience I know what I am talking about. This will help me establish my credibility and keep my audience engaged in my work. My writing process facilitated me finishing this assignment as I completed two rough drafts and had them revised by the writing center before turning in my final product. I feel my writing process for this assignment was better than in any other assignment in this class this semester. The reading telling us the resources we have available here at Utep was the most helpful for me, this allowed me research my topic on campus with the different resources we have available. 

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Literature Review

For my literature review gathering information was key as much of the information i had prior to this assignment was very biased. I was also forced to look into more sources and information than ever before as this assignment was a lot longer than anything I had previously done. While I do feel I accomplished the purpose of this assignment I was left a bit disappointed in my final product, I believe I could have done a better job of explaining many of my sources and in the ned I feel like I rushed my end result. One thing I definitely learned from this lit review was to start it far in advance as it took me a lot longer than I expected. Honestly I can say that I underestimated this project and my grade reflected that. While I met the criteria necessary for this assignment there is no doubt that if i had shown it the respect it deserved I would have accomplished a much better paper that my audience could gravitate to. My revision process was very good as I had it reviewed by the  writing center 3 times before finally submitting my end product, this allowed others with far better writing skills than me to look over my work and tell me what needed to be fixed. The most helpful topic from the readings that helped me out was the chapter on debating and letting me know how an argument or debate is not necessarily about wining but more about getting your information across. This allowed me to ease up on my ideas and let the audience decide for themselves.

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Visual Argument Reflection

For my visual argument I decided to stick to the topic of low income students that I had been using all semester long with a poster. This allowed me to use the information I had already gathered from my genre analysis and my literature review earlier in the semester. I feel like I accomplished the purpose for this assignment as I was able to present it to my classmates in person with a good understanding of the material and with ways they could personally help the cause. I feel my topic was one that many can help out with and I personally feel like I allowed my audience to know just that. Moving forward I think I will use something like a website or video just to allow my audience to get that emotional feel that I feel my poster lacked. Putting faces to the problem will allow me to give a pathos effect to my audience. I feel I met the criteria for this assignment very well as I covered everything that was required and I presented it in a very informative way, if need be I feel very confident in my ability to present this poster to a larger audience. The writing process was very little for me as I had already had gathered the information needed and simply twisted it in a way that would favor my point of view, having a poster allowed me to be bias, something I was unable to do in my previous assignments. 

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Fair Use Statement

The content created and/or utilized in this website by Gustavo Rodriguez is for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any opinions expressed therein are those of Gustavo Rodriguez alone. All text, data, art, graphics, code or hyperlinks in this website are either original, directly linked to original sources, used in good faith under academic “fair use,” or, to the best of my knowledge, are non-copyright. In case of questions about copyright or intellectual property rights, please contact Gustavo Rodriguez, and if need be, they will be removed.

Any commercial or advertising graphics and text reproduced or displayed in any way are for educational purposes only and do not imply endorsement by the University of Texas at El Paso, the UTEP English Department, the UTEP RWS-UP Program, or the website’s creator. No payment or compensation of any kind has been received or solicited for the display of any link, graphic, text, or other specific content in this website.

All original content is the intellectual property of Gustavo Rodriguez and permission and acknowledgment are required for any reproduction or modification.

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Advice For Future Students

My biggest advice for this class is simply having the right attitude. Coming into this class my attitude towards this class was very poor as I didn't want to take another RWS class and I didn't want to use Tumblr. Having to use another social media outlet for school was something I was not looking forward to and hated it before I even had to do a single response. I quickly realized how beneficial Tumblr could be as soon as I started using it, reading the responses from my classmates gave me insight on that weeks reading that I may have missed. I also learned to enjoy using Tumblr as it gave me an informal way of doing homework as opposed to the traditional boring responses from every other class. Learn to enjoy Tumblr as its something you're going to be using every week anyways so might as well make it enjoyable.

My next advice would be to read the weekly sections on blackboard, I found that after reading the weekly sections on BB I didn't really need to attend class. Although I still attended every single day of class, I found the material that the professor gave us was already available to us on BB. The weekly modules are also a great tool when doing assignments, I found myself going back to them as references every time I did an assignment. They are also helpful when turning in homework as some weeks we have several things to turn it, looking back on BB to see what is due is key as not all assignments are available on the syllabus or class schedule.

Lastly I would recommend selecting a topic you find interesting and important for yourself as you will be writing about it all semester long. Personally I chose a topic that i was familiar in as I had already written write a bit about it in RWS 1301 last  semester. Choosing a topic that you will lose interest in will make this class drag the entire semester. Have fun in this class as it can be very enjoyable with the right attitude. 

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Week 15 Reading Response

This week’s reading response was on Gloria Jacobs paper titled Developing Multimodal Literacies Among College Freshmen. In this study college freshmen are asked to use multimodal texts along with traditional text as well to see if their academic writing skills were deemed better. This author argues that both the new multimodal and traditional text should be taught in college as they are now both equally as important. The findings were deemed a success as students were not only implementing traditional skills but also applying them to new multimodal available to them. This gave the students the creativity they needed and they felt they were more free to do what they wanted while still sticking to the guidelines given to them. The author concludes that emphasizing how this new era is moving towards a media rich society and therefore students have to change to adapt to it. I personally like this idea as every day social media and blogs become a bigger part of our news, this is how people communicate now, rarely do you see a young person reading the newspaper anymore. As society changes we must change with it, this has always been the case with anything and academic writing shouldn't be any different. Earlier this semester we read about how people write more often than they realize through the use of social media and this is why its important to adapt to this new age technology. To be successful writers we have to attract readers and win order to do that we have to conform to the technology that they are using. Refusing to do so will result in much of your work going unnoticed or forgotten. This connects with my major of History as I will be required to present my findings in the future, in order to do this I have to do it in a manner that is deemed appropriate at the time. I have to conform to new technologies to make myself look like I'm moving with the times and to be taken seriously as I move forward in my career as a historian. To attract readers and audiences to my findings I must also show my findings in a manner in which people will actually see them. This is why this multimodal age relates to my given major. As a future educator I must also learn to use what the current students use as well, I'm sure professors in the 1980s or before weren't to happy about using blackboard at first but like everyone else they too had to conform. This multimodal age will help me understand how newer generations are learning and will force me to implement them in my teaching ways. This paper did make me ask myself, is there other media that I am not aware of? How will I implement this new technology once I'm a teacher? How much will I have to implement and how do I find the right mix between traditional text and new age technology? The bottom GIF shows how I feel when thinking of how I will be teaching my class in the future with this new multimodal age.

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Rebecca I completely understand your frustration at the beginning of the semester regarding Tumblr. I too was new to Tumblr and it took me a little while to get comfortable using it. Once I got the hang of it, it quickly became my favorite homework assignment each week. I too wrote about how Tumblr allows us to explain ourselves in a way that reflects our personality and not the usual boring and serious paper. I feel this is important as semesters can become long and dull if not given a fun task with it. Every student I know gets tired of always writing a serious paper on blackboard and doing it for every class, Tumblr gives us a break from that and allows us to show our personality and humor. Tumblr also allows us to communicate with classmates like you said, this was beneficial to me as I feel I got to know more classmates this way and I was more social in class because of it. Im glad you found the lit review or like you called it, “the biggest assignment of the class” easy. Personally although I received a good grade on it, found it to be very challenging and probably the hardest homework assignment I've had all semester long in all my classes. Im glad you didn't drop the class and stuck with it to the end, I'm sure you're glad of that as well as I'm sure your grades got better each week. I too feel like my writing is better now thanks to this class, this class allowed me to challenge myself and expanded on what I had learned last semester in RWS 1301. Great job this semester with this class and good luck moving forward in your academic career. 

TUMBLR REFLECTION

Going back memory lane, my post for week one shared my opinion on rhetoric as “the ability to be able to communicate with audience such that, the audience would be convinced without further research”. The reading for that week made me see rhetoric as a skill that could be developed and since then I was determined to maximize the opportunity in this class to better develop my communication skill, even if am not rhetorically gifted. As the class goes on, my thoughts about rhetoric did not change in anyway but rather, it expanded because various reading and assignments exposed me to the appropriate ways to convey information. I remember my first post on Tumblr which was done in class. At that time, I knew nothing about Tumblr plus I am not a social media person. I was nervous and I could barely understand what the whole thing was all about. For the first two to three posts I did, I did not get full credits because I was always not doing it to perfection. but as time goes by, I became familiar with all the rules and my post improved as well as my grades. After summarizing readings on Tumblr, one thing that removes the stress of reading too many pages is the gif I use. I do my best to look for gif or pictures that best describe how I feel at that moment and it feels like I just poured out my emotions on the internet, and I immediately feel relieved. The use of multimodal on my posts all through the semester made writing a bit fun for me and in most cases I always want to look for something funny to make my post as fun as chatting with my friends on snap chat. Even though the reading for week one made me realize how multimodal are part of writing, I never view it in the way we present it on Tumblr. Using text and images/gif on Tumblr to represent our understanding of materials has definitely expanded my understanding of rhetorical.  Having said all that, my best top three post on Tumblr would be week one, week three, and week six. I choose week one because it reminds me of the way I started in this class. Anyone would have thought I would probably drop the class because I literarily could not figure things out and it reflected on my post going by my grade and my professor’s comment. Week three is a symbol of perfection because I read, I understood, summarized, expressed all instructions, attracted more response from classmate than any other post and even the best comment from my professor. This was the post that brought me confidence on Tumblr. Week six is on my list because it made me scale through the biggest assignment in the class. By completing the reading response for week six, formulating my research question was pretty easy and as soon as I was able to get the approval of professor Jasmin, the so called “biggest assignment” became the easiest for me. Using Tumblr to complete classroom assignment feels like the easiest way to learn because, it took away all the usual seriousness attached to writing. At a point, I began to see these assignments as nothing because once am done reading the assigned pages, I could just complete the post even in the school shuttle, get notifications and respond immediately to classmate posts. Compared to using blackboard where u cannot immediately get notifications when classmates post something and you need to respond. Overall, I had a wonderful experience using Tumblr as it helps me simplify my assignment by appearing in form of social medial and also allows me to keep a better relationship with my classmates. And if there is anything I would want to change about my Tumblr experience, then it will be my first post because I did not do it myself. It was difficult for me to figure things out then.

Top 3 posts http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/149455113372/introduction

http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/149934904902/week-3-reading-responds

http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/150922753032/week-6-reading-response

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Ill be honest I had the exact same reaction upon hearing we would be using Tumblr. After all I didn't understand how having a social media outlet would be beneficial in a college class but just like you my reaction towards Tumblr was quickly changed. As weeks passed by I actually found myself enjoying it more and more and I loved being able to express myself in an informal manner. Reading others responses was also always entertaining as I feel I got to know more people personally and at least get to know some of their likes and personalities. I personally never downloaded the app but upon reading what you ha to say about it, it makes me think I should have done the same, blackboard can be a hassle at times and I find it unreliable when using my phone. Tumblr is easy to use and its quick, I don't think theres ever been a homework assignment that has been this enjoyable and like you said, minimal at that! Your GIF usage of blackboard on mobile internet is right on, I too have this problem when trying to access it with my phone during school hours. I liked how you explained the importance of using different multimodal effects, I too pointed this out in my response as we are moving in an age of technology and we must be able to not only do the regular writing but also use the technological advances we are provided now a days. Great job with Tumblr this semester, your Tumblr posts were always one of my favorites each week and I always read yours to make sure I understood the context of that week. 

AK Tumblr Reflection

I’ll admit that when I first learned that we would be using Tumblr as part of the class, I rolled my eyes, and sighed in disappointment and frustration. I have always been a minimal online footprint kind of person, and having to sign up for yet another social media platform was not something I looked forward too. However, upon using Tumblr, I found that I enjoyed it quite a bit (and most important, it was a minimalist design!!).

(OMG! Tumblr is AWESOME!!!)

I feel that Tumblr is a great tool, easy to use, with near instant feedback. Being able to see everyone else’s work helps to expand the thought process. Being a regular platform, it comes with its own app that allows notifications, which is also great. I hate the idea of going through the tedious process of logging into Blackboard, navigating to the appropriate section just to check either for messages, or instructor feedback. It takes too long, and is especially trying when you have no regular internet access. On the other hand, having a dedicated app works great with mobile internet.

(Me trying to upload to Blackboard…with mobile internet)

One thing I would change about the experience is perhaps more guidance on how the writings should be. I think there should be more emphasis on personal expression/interpretation of the readings. It just seemed like everyone was writing the same thing for every assignment, with some exceptions of course. More like Cliff notes than an individual response to the reading.

With regards to my thoughts on writing and rhetoric since the beginning of the semester, I don’t think much has changed. My understanding has grown of course. However, I still believe that rhetoric is in some ways a responsibility. I’ve observed many people, both in the military and civilian context, trying to convey important concepts, but failing because they did not tailor their presentation to the audience or the situation. In the military side, most of this type of training involved life or death circumstances, and so the importance of properly conveying information, whether verbally, or visually, was ingrained in me. It is the difference between making someone a bullet sponge, or a combat effective asset.

The term “multimodality” is a new term I learned for this semester. I never put too much thought on the idea before, of EFFECTIVELY using visuals (gifs, pics, vids) to reinforce the writing. To me, it was more a byproduct of the writing, like a chart to match the statistics you are citing. A picture…for the sake of putting a picture there. But now I understand more how to integrate the two, making the overall message more effective. Of course, this goes back to my comments on being better at teaching people stuff.

The following are my favorite posts:

Intro Post: Who Am I?

https://tonykwan-rws1302.tumblr.com/post/149443392032/who-am-i

This was the first post where I openly expressed myself. I wrote several previous drafts, but decided to break from the traditional template that everyone else seemed to be following and talked about things I felt made me who I was. It also made me realize that sometimes people need more background to understand, and perhaps I should have stuck with the standard template after all. This was a pivotal learning experience.

Reading Response Week 3:

https://tonykwan-rws1302.tumblr.com/post/149962087572/ak-w3-reading-response

I like this post because it’s when I first start to relate my life to the readings, making it more personal. I think if you cannot connect things to your life, then you are either very young, or do not truly understand what you are learning. So this represents another turning point to my writing style.

Reading Response Week 7:

https://tonykwan-rws1302.tumblr.com/post/151255813552/ak-w7-read-response

This chapter was about summary. This one resonated with me because having spent over a decade in the military, the concept of brevity, and being able to convey a lot of information effectively in the shortest time possible, was very important. A flashbulb memory for me was during my first security drill during the 2nd month I was stationed on my ship. My team leader (who would become my best friend) took me under his wing, and showed me how to use an unfamiliar weapon system in less than 10 seconds, while a simulated attack was happening. I didn’t know any of the technical specifications of that particular weapon, but I was combat effective! I realize this means nothing to most of you, but for me, it drastically changed my perspective about how to train and teach others. Also, I know summary in this case was meant to be for a different context, but to me it’s the same.

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Tumblr Reflection

At the start of the semester I was told that this class would practically be the same as RWS 1301 but with the use of Tumblr by classmates and I immediately hated it. I couldn't believe that i would waste an entire semester on pretty much the same class and therefore I huffed and buffed to class each week for the first month. My thinking of this class began to change when I saw that although much of RWS 1301 was implemented, this class went farther into what it takes to be an effective written. The Genre analysis and Literature Review really tested me in a way I felt no other assignments had before. My writing therefore improved and my skills regarding effective analysis skyrocketed. Now that this class is coming to an end I am left wondering, how much more is there for me to learn? I was so naive in thinking I knew it all at the start of the semester that I know feel like I am still a novice. Implementing data is an area that improved the most for myself, I never really took into account how much work effective data analysis took and I now have a deeper resect for journalist and writers. My GIF below shows a pretty good image of myself trying to write a Literature review and genre analysis, to say it kicked my butt would be an understatement as it did a lot more than just that.

The use of Tumblr allowed me to get comfortable with the use of multimodality and mixed media. At the start of the semester I had no idea what Tumblr even was or why people use it. Th use of videos, GIFS, pictures, and more really allowed me to express myself in a way that words couldn't. I feel like the use of multi media allows me to really grasp that emotional feel that words sometimes cant. This became very useful when explaining certain things week in and week out. During the semester I learned that that an effective student is not only required to master the traditional writing but also the technological advances this new age has, I believe this to be true now more than ever. With so much technological media and advances its important to be fluent in all these areas as more and more people now a days get their news and entertainment online rather than a traditional print. With the use of multi media I am also able to attract more audiences, especially the younger generation that rely on new advances and online communication. I couldn't be more satisfied with the use of Tumblr this semester, it allowed me to grasp an understanding of another social media tool as well as communication between my classmates this semester. The bottom GIF shows my reaction to Tumblr from the start of the semester to the end and how my emotions towards it changed. 

The following posts are my personal favorites from the semester:

Week 12 Framing Arguments

http://gustavorodriguez89blog.tumblr.com/post/152839399329/week-12-reading-response

Week 12 centered on framing arguments and this caught my attention more than any other chapter in the book. This chapter allowed me to understand the importance of arguments which included that its not always about wining the argument, something that I didn't know.This chapter helped me understand the literature review and helped me write my paper. I can honestly say this chapter was the most influential for me this entire semester. At the time of this post the presidential debates were also going on and I loved having the opportunity to call out Donald Trump on his hypocrisy. Being able to use SNL skits regarding the presidential debates was an added bonus. Sadly after the election I felt stuck in depression for the next week but thats a story for some other time. 

Week 7 Summaries and Research

http://gustavorodriguez89blog.tumblr.com/post/151272538889/week-7-reading-response

Week 7 reading response was one that I felt I did an exceptionally good job as it  incorporated 3 different readings. That week was one leading up to the Lit review and the chapter going over effective summaries really helped me out a ton. With so many sources to use on the Lit review it was important to implement them effectively and this became a lot harder than I expected. Thankfully this week 7 gave me a good understanding of how to properly do it and it also gave me the resources I needed that were available to me here at UTEP. This post also had plenty of classmates responding to it so it made me feel they really gravitated to what I was saying and made me really proud of my work that week.

Lit Review Topic Proposal

http://gustavorodriguez89blog.tumblr.com/post/150619397289/lr-topic-proposal

The post regarding the lit review proposal is now one of my favorites because it makes me realize how naive I was going into this project. I was told this was the biggest assignment of the semester and I brushed it off feeling pretty confident in my abilities as a writer, I quickly realized how hard it would be. Not only did I change my 3 questions over and over and over again but analysis data and putting it all together became a task that not only took a lot of time but also a lot of hard work. Looking back at this post makes me chuckle now as I cant believe how I viewed it before even starting it. Regardless of this fact I loved my proposal, its one I've been talking about since last semester in RWS 1301 and its one that is very personal to me. Being able to speak about this to my peers and other outside of class is something I have enjoyed doing and I hope to continue this in order to raise awareness.

Using Tumblr was a unique experience and I learned over the semester to really enjoy it.While I do believe that it is added work instead of just simply submitting it on blackboard, Tumblr allowed me to express myself in ways that texts wouldn't, it also allowed me to use my personality and humor instead of making it dull and boring. This is probably my favorite thing about tumblr, college can be tedious and boring at times and having something like tumblr allows us students to enjoy what we are doing. Lets face it, who really enjoys writing about writing? not many of us. I believe tumblr allowed us to communicate with our classmates and in a way forced us to get to know one another. This was something really unique as I have classes where I only the names of the few students sitting next to me. Tumblr was a great way of deriving what we had read that week and read others responses to see their perspective on it as well, personally I loved the Tumblr experience and would not change anything about it.

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Your topic really caught my eye as its something that has been dominating recent news lately. This is an alarming problem nationwide and one that deserves to be addressed. Your choice in creating a website is a perfect outlet to bring your message to your audience, this allows you the media of texts, graphs, visuals, videos, and more. If constructed properly you can really have something that can really enhance your stance and get a message across. Your outline is a great start, I love how you broke everything down and explain everything in precise detail, the videos are also a great source and one that cant be refuted by anyone else. Your sources are also very credible as you use the new your times and black lives matter movement. Your specific examples are perfectly used and gives us as the audience the information and evidence we will seek when looking at your website. Great outline, you are off to a great start! 

AVA Outline

Homepage:

A.    What is the issue?

The issue for my advocacy website is discrimination against African American males within U.S. police departments.

B.     Why is advocacy needed?

1.      Studies have shown that police officers often do not represent then community that they serve.

2.       Discrimination within the police force may carry over into discrimination within the community against African American citizens.

3.      Lately, the media has been full of cases of white police officers reacting with deadly and unnecessary force against African American citizens.

a.       I plan to include a couple videos of police shootings that had been made famous by the media, such as the Philando Castro shooting and the Tamir Rice shooting.

C.     Purpose of Website

1.      Advocate for hiring processes that reach out to African Americans and encourage more African Americans to join the police force.

2.      The purpose of this website is to shed light on the disparity between police demographics and community demographics.

D.    History

1.      When Africans were brought over to America and forced to be slaves, they rebelled, so as a result, slave patrols were set up to search for, whip, or even kill slaves that either ran away or engaged in illegal activities.

2.      African Americans have been heavily policed throughout the history of police systems.

3.      This has been carried over into modern police systems; African Americans are largely underrepresented in criminal justice careers.

E.     Specific Example of Issue

1.      In Ferguson, MO, Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, was shot and killed by a white officer: later on, the police officer was found not guilty.

2.      In effect of the event, the U.S. Justice Department ordered Ferguson to overhaul its criminal justice system and also evaluate its hiring practices.

3.      Citizens in Ferguson are demanding more proportional representation within their police departments.

About Me Page:

A.    As a Criminal Justice major, I have been interested in this topic and believe that the issue of police reform will come up in my upper division courses.

B.     As an African American, male this topic related to me because of the discrimination within police departments and against African Americans by police.

Resources Page:

A.    Link to the Black Live Matter homepage

http://blacklivesmatter.com/

B.     Link to a New York Times article titled “The Raw Videos That Have Sparked

Outrage Over Police Treatment of Blacks”

           http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/us/police-videos-race.html?_r=0

C.     Link to research report titled “Diversity On The Force: Where Police Don’t Mirror Communities”

           http://media.navigatored.com/documents/policediversityreport.pdf

[gustavorodriguez89blog-blog]

I found your topic to be very catchy and I'm looking forward to watching the video in a few weeks. Personally I didn't even realize this was a problem going on but now that you brought it up it makes me wonder what the impact is. I liked how you cited some of your references and how you will be using them, I feel like this gives you that credibility you need to establish with your audience. Your idea to interview farmers market and lowes is a great idea, both these stores should have interesting insight on this specific topic. It sounds like you have a sound plan for your video, I don't think I would change anything about it. Your GIF usage was perfect, very clear and to the point. It also shows us the importance of bees which I'm sure you will highlight on your video. Good luck on the AVA! 

AVA Outline

The AVA outline will be done by Edgar Aldama, Paulina Sosa, Juan Cedillo. 

Our group will be making a video presentation about the decline of the bee population and how it is affecting humans and what we can do to fix it. 

The beginning of the video for about 7-10 seconds we will record a flower that is surrounded by a bee/bee’s. After that part of the video the three of us will come out and start talking on how the bees are being affected. 

After talking hon how the bees are being affected by pesticides, we will show facts that are found in the web such as http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2016/01/epa-finds-major-pesticide-toxic-bees. In this website neonicotinoids is introduced which talks about it being one of the most commonly used pesticides that harms bees. There will also be other links that will be included such as http://sos-bees.org that informs the people on how the bees are being affected as well as this website http://m.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2016/01/epa-finds-major-pesticide-toxic-bees. 

After mentioning how pesticides harm bees, we will come be recording in a farmers market where we will likely interview farmers. We will also try and interview Lowe’s gardeners to see their opinion on bee population and the use of pesticides. 

Once that is done we will start talking on alternatives that can be used such as bee friendly pesticides like the ones that are mentioned in this website http://northcoastgardening.com/2010/05/honeybee-safe-pesticides/. There will be another website, https://www.pesticideresearch.com/site/?page_id=9990, that will mention how to create a bee friendly garden that will help the bee population grow 

On top of all the information that is given, there will be a song that is going to be played at the beginning of the video and at the end of the video. 

(We used this gif to show what it would be like if we didn’t have bees)

At the end of the video we will stand in the botanical gardens and talk directly at the camera saying to make the right choice and think about how not having bees will affect us. 

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AVA Outline

The AVA Project will be a visual poster constructed by myself, this visual will explain the problems students from low economic backgrounds face in school. This presentation will target parents and teachers from low income communities but will also be open broaldy to everyone in the community as everyone can add to the solution of this problem.The main goal of the presentation will be to encourage local government in investing more funding on school programs that benefit the low income areas. Some of these programs will help educate parents and keep students busy in extra curriculum activities. The poster will explain what hinders students academic progress and what the results are due to this. The poster will include 5 sections which include the problem, the factors, the outcomes, possible solutions, and the works cited or references. Along with theses I will include at least 2 visuals, graphs being the most likely choices as they will add information to my presentation that I may not have had room for in the typed portions. For my sources I will revert back to my last assignment and use most of my same references to include my interview with my primary source (teacher from a low income community school). I believe a poster is the best way to effectively communicate my message as I feel like if i personally present it I can establish my ethos and get that pathos effect that I am looking for. I feel like a video or a web site don't really connect emotionally with the audience and I want my audience to feel how strongly I feel about my topic. Being able to present it in person also gives me the freedom to control my presentation, answer questions on the spot and get the audience involved in a way a video or website cant. I will also be looking at previous posters by past students for guidance or a possible template ideas if I find an idea that I can incorporate into my own poster. 

This chart is an example of something I will be using to enhance my argument that low income students tend to struggle academically. Charts like this make it easier for me to get my point across in a fast and effective manner. 

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Week 12 Reading Response

This weeks reading on chapter 8 focuses on framing arguments, what an argument is and how to argue effectively. The first thing the chapter highlights is a few common myths about arguments, these include that arguments are about wining, involve only highly debated issues, have only pro/con positions, are based on opinion, and lastly that they are about proving points. We learn through the reading that an argument is a writer who takes up a specific position and uses evidence to back up that claim. The bottom GIF depicts the 2 presidential nominees of the republican and democratic party at the final presidential debate where they argued on many political ideologies for two hours. 

Chapter 8 also gives us an understanding on the purpose of arguments, some key ones that I felt were the most important were to persuade, to communicate research and conclusions, and to propose a solution to a problem. I found these to be the most important because I feel like my understanding about arguments before reading this chapter was that an argument was about wining and outsmarting your opponent. Lastly the chapter gives us a criteria for effective arguments, these include the arguments being complex, contestable, evidence based, and context specific. Personally I feel like this chapter relates to my major of history because most of history is up to debate. The conclusions of history are based on evidence and research but many historians don't always come up with the same conclusion. In the future if i was put in that position where I would have to argue my stance it would be significant for me to present my argument effectively. Having watched the presidential debates earlier last month; this chapter made me wonder if I had read this chapter before the presidential debates, would I have had a different approach to the debates? The bottom GIF shows the SNL skit of the presidential debate with the actor portraying Donald Trump using improper argument etiquette. 

After leaning what an argument is and the purpose of them, chapter 9 explains to us how to construct our arguments. Chapter 9 starts this process by giving us a chart on the questions that shape arguments, some of these include purpose, evidence, assumptions, audience, and qualifications just to name a few. After this we learn the difference between inductive reasoning (moving from examples to general assertions that are likely to be true) and deductive reasoning (moving from the general to the particular). From there on out the chapter focuses on argument structure, this includes the stasis theory that breaks down questions into facts, definitions, quality, and policy. This is important for my major in History as in the future I will have to construct my arguments based on my findings and its vital that I present them eloquently and effectively. After reading this chapter it made me wonder, how effective have my past arguments been? both in RWS classes and others. I really enjoyed these two chapters as I feel they were necessary for the upcoming AVA project and for my future academic writing. The bottom GIF once again shows a clip form the SNL skit, here Donald Trump makes an argumentative allegation that is not constructed very well and Hillary Clinton is seen shocked at the comment. 

Now that I have read both chapters I feel ready and comfortable in the upcoming AVA project. I will definitely be going back to these chapters for guidance when working on my display poster. 

[gustavorodriguez89blog-blog]

Great job analyzing the differences between the 19th and 21st century, the differences are alarming. Its crazy to think how far we as a society have grown when it comes to communication and the different ways we deliver our messages. Social media is a big thing to keep in mind, social media is relatively new yet it has drawn in a discourse community that is worldwide, even now its hard to find someone that does not currently use a social media platform. I know I personally use Facebook, Instagram, and snapchat on a daily basis. Im glad you still see the significance of reading actual books as you note you should read more books on your free time, just like the article states, its important to keep a balance between all medias. I like how you acknowledge how this affects your criminal justice major as I'm sure new forms of media are used by the criminal justice department as well. Personally I know they use a lot of web and stay on top of peoples social media in order to possibly collect any the of intel, therefor its important for you to stay on top on current forms of communication. Its great that we have these resources as I feel they make us available to others in a way we never thought possible before, a text message or e mail are instant and the waiting time for a response is usually not very long. Great usage on your GIF, I feel many people have had that same reaction when picking up a book. 

Reading Response WK11

The main ideas of Yancey’s article, Made Not Only In Words, is the comparison and contrast of the reading and writing in the 19th and 21st centuries and also its importance in society. It also discusses how education is much more accessible to people in today’s world. I liked how Yancey made the contrast between the 19th and 21st century because its true how in the 19th century the printing press had come out and people became more knowledgeable because of how much they read like newspapers and books. Today in the 21st century less and less people read while more and more people write. Examples of writing today include all social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. This article connects to my criminal justice major well because of what is going on with the criminal justice system today. People across the country talk about its issues on nearly a daily basis through social media and writing about these issues have brought people together. I have gained more knowledge on the importance of reading and writing and I may have to buy a few books to read on my own instead of going on Twitter.

This gif is to show how “great” reading really is.

[gustavorodriguez89blog-blog]

I found your question in the end very interesting, I don't think we realize how much we actually write when taking text messages and social media into account. Since we are not being graded on that I feel like we take it a lot more lightheartedly. Personally I know I don't really take my grammar all that serious when using social media, its not like I purposely try to misspell words but if it happens its not the end of the world. This is not the case for work done for school where I feel like every sentence has to be perfect. This paper really opened my eyes to the fact that technology is moving forward so fast. Its crazy to think that going back to even the early 1990s, students didn't have the asset of the internet, I feel like we rely on it a bit too much. Despite this I know its important for us to learn different types of media in order to keep up with the times, even in this class were on a social media and blackboard online in order to submit assignments. I loved your GIF usage as I don't think most of us do realize how much writing we actually do, great job on your Tumblr post!

YANCEY

The article “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a New Key” by Kathleen Blake Yancey is about the progression in writing over the years. The article talked about how technology have moved writing from just print to images, audio files on web blogs, in word processor, with video editors, in emails, presentation software and in instant messaging. The article also gave analysis of how writing has moved from inside school classrooms to the general public as in the case of “a reading public”. The most interest part of the article is on page 319 where the author gave an example of graduate students in architecture on how they use PowerPoint slides. It is interesting to because, it shows how instructors learn from their students. It also shows how technology has improved writing. In connection to my major, the article talked about industrial age. The ways in which technology had facilitated economic growth through travel, adventure, colonialism and massive demographic shift from farm to city that had changed the material conditions of work and life. This article has enhanced my understanding about writing by emphasize that, writing is far more than just printing words on paper. Through this article, I have learned that though students feel lazy with school works but we actually write more than we think we do with different technologies and genres.  While reading this article, the question that keeps coming to my mind is: why do I write about three pages on social media just chatting and posting every day and I find it had to write two pages of RWS assignment in two days?

This Gif is my reaction when I realize how much I actually write in a day.

This Gif is to emphasize how much technology have improved the world