Reflection Blog for Web Argument

This particular assignment taught me a lot about both computers and using technology as a medium for education. By providing the necessary components to create an argument online, I have learned some valuable aspects of appealing to an audience who uses the web. Requirements for a successful reference including credibility, reliability, accuracy and currency have to remain in the back of your mind as you complete an assignment such as this one. In addition to the requirements to successfully complete a source of web information, appealing to the audience you intend to target is a crucial aspect of completing this particular assignment correctly.
One of the biggest things I learned from this assignment is how to organize your thoughts before putting the argument. With an assignment that includes so many different aspects of a particular topic, it is vital that it is organized in a way that is appealing to the audience. For example, by writing headings in my rough drafts before completing my final draft, I was able to make my project more focused and easier to read. In the long run, that contributed to helping me revise. I had to think ahead and chose sources that provided ample support for the particular side of the topic I was trying to promote.
The hardest part of this project in my eyes is trying to remain unbiased and fair in both aspects of the topic whether you agree with it or not. Along with that, finding sources that remained unbiased proved to be difficult. I feel as though I have walked away from this project with a much better understanding of how to appeal to an audience and remain credible. Furthermore, I learned how to organize my thoughts before creating a final product. The value of this project will be reflected in my future projects.

Week 12, Day 1

1. My claim consists of exploring whether or not lethal injection is a more "humane" as an execution method in comparison to hanging, gas chambers, firing squad or electrocution.

a. Lethal injection is considered a less painful and quicker form of execution therefore classifying it as more humane.

b. I would look for statistics proving the success of lethal injection in recent years, the facts regarding why lethal injection is considered less painful and a general description of the process, I could also include interviews from individuals that witnessed several forms of execution which would serve as both examples and expert opinions.

c. Some of my information would come from library databases and other s from websites.

More Argument Stuff

1. My claim was that living in a dorm setting provides people skills for individuals that cannot be found elsewhere.
2. My evidence included the aspect of diversity of people in a dorm, there are a large amount of individuals, and it is easier to interact when you live close to someone.
3. My sister's counter argument stated that you could come into contact with just as many people by working in a business setting, there is a lot of diversity in business in regards to people and you have the chance to work with anyone you wish to in a business.
4. We agreed to disagree.

My Most Recent Argument

I recently had an argument with my sister about whether or not living with a large amount of people helps an individual with their social skills. The argument came about when I was trying to convince my sister to live in a dorm-like setting while she attended college. My reasons for trying to support such an action were you learn vital people skills, living with other people teaches you a lot about yourself, and the experience would provide her with many new friends and great networking opportunities. My sister argued that working in an area where there are a lot of individuals coming in and out of a business is just as beneficial as living in an area with a large amount of people. Her reasons were: there is just as much interaction when people ask questions, she has the ability to confront anyone in that area at any point in time she wishes, there may be even more people coming in and out that she would benefit from creating a relationship with. My response was there are aspects to living with people that are more beneficial then simply coming into contact with them for a short amount of time and there is great diversity in a dorm setting. Our outcome was we agreed that there are benefits in both situations and we agreed to disagree.

Multi-Modal Project

The first thing I would like to reflect upon is how I chose the subject matter for this particular presentation. Technology has always been a topic of great controversy in my life. People that are very close to me purposely limited my experiences with technology as a child in order to promote other opportunities that they perceived as more beneficial to my life. Consequentially, I have very little experience with how technology came into existence and why. Due to the fact that I had little experience, I chose to explore one of the most extreme and controversial influences that technology has had on our society today. The subject that caught my attention was execution methods and how they have changed throughout history.

My goals by exploring this particular subject was to show the differences in severe punishment throughout history and what influenced such a change. Revolutions for freedom and equality are highly celebrated in this day and age, therefore making my particular topic a relevant to everyone that calls themselves American. I feel as though by creating this report that I have helped to show how we, as a society, have worked to fix the topics at hand today. Severe punishment has been explored for hundreds of years but never has it been altered so much in order to create a more humane form of punishment. If I were to have more time on this report, I would work to present the many different forms of execution in the past as compared to modern day tactics. Furthermore I would work to show the differences in the general populous in regards to how people should be treated when they commit crimes and why. Throughout this report, I have found that there have been many changes both in mindset and in action, regarding the death sentence all throughout the ages.

I designed my project to be read by people interested in the influences of technology. My purpose was to show the great impact technology can have on us as a culture. I worked to organize my project into a interactive presentation that brings you from one point in history to where we are today. I believe my report is highly appealing to web readers due to the fact that it is not an overload of information and it contains both sides of the argument. In addition, I provide alternate articles full of addition information. If I had more technological knowledge, I would create a report involving highly interactive information that varies from era to era regarding the death sentence. The majority of my time creating this project involved a lot of research and image searching. I have learned a great deal about researching and finding credible information by creating this presentation.

Multi-modal Presentation Interview Questions

In order to create a more organized and informative podcast, my partner and I have devised a list of interview questions. The topic in question is technology and it's contribution to execution methods. Some of the questions that became a part of my topic are:
1. What is your topic?
2. How do we execute criminals?
3. What influenced you to pick this particular topic?
4. What executions have influenced you or your paper?
5. Why should people be concerned with your topic?
6. What would you change about the way executions are handled today?
7. What are the more distinct subtopics in your paper?

Proposal for Multi-modal Project

The topic I chose for the multi-modal presentation is technology and its contribution to execution. My presentation will compare the methods of execution used before lethal injection was imposed and how the changes in methods occurred. I find this topic particularly interesting because with the acceptance of technological forms of execution comes many other questions of humanity. I will research why the change of execution methods became a priority, who worked to change this issue at hand, and what further innovations are suspected to occur in the near future. I believe this issue is very prevalent when exploring topics such as: abortion, execution when fatal disease is a factor, the power of technology, the impact technology potentially has on the living, and humanitarian movements. Initially, I am hoping to find the main reason for execution involving technology and how much it really affects people of today. Furthermore, I plan to explore the cost ration of executions depending on the evolution of technology through time and the issues and concerns associated with this evolution. Finally, I hope to come to a conclusion on whether or not these innovations are helping our society as a whole to progress.

Reflection Blog Assignment- Hypertext Essay

When composing this particular assignment, I had to take many aspects of writing into consideration such as my audience, purpose, design, organization, presentation and personal gain. The audience I was working to appeal to was a group of college level English students. My purpose in targeting this particular group was to provide a better understanding about technological communication and its effects on the people around them. Furthermore, by using a hypertext essay format, besides it being assigned, I hoped to capture my audience’s attention with interactive information and professional presentation. Hypertext essays are very common modes of information in modern day society and help students to access a lot of information in a manner that is less intimidating than a large word document would be. The organizational process I targeted was a summary of the original article, the article itself, three responses containing my personal view on the article in question, and a conclusion involving a personally developed challenge relevant to the topic at hand. I am very proud of the fact that I was able to create this presentation with as little computer knowledge as I currently possess. I am particularly proud of my responses and conclusion due to the fact that I worked very hard to explore as many aspects of communication over technological media as possible. I feel by completing this assignment, I have significantly advanced my knowledge concerning computers and the functions available today. Additionally, I have learned how to create very relevant responses to the subject matter as to not confuse the reader when they are clicking links. Finally, my selection of the specific resources and research I used was based on the popular sites of today and how they contribute to our personal interactions with others. This assignment helped me to see the benefit technology can provide for students and members of society today.

Hypertext Essay Sources

Throughout the hypertext essay assignment, I have had to use the elements of validating a reliable website before creating my essay. When assessing the article, "What 'Never-ending Friending' Means", I checked the source for authority, accuracy, relevancy and currency. All of the required elements were met by a creation date, a date of updating the site, the author's name and information and the organization sponsoring the site. In addition to the assigned reading, sites I used to develop my own opinion came from relevant news sites and articles from websites such as CNN.com. By using these reliable sources of information, my essay was easy to cross reference and use to gain additional information. Furthermore, I included a source that involved direct interaction with this social revelation. Facebook and Myspace served as prime examples of the newly incorporated forms of technological communication. Through the research I have completed and the articles posted by other authors, I was able to provide an essay that explored the subject of technological communication and the controversies associated with this particular subject.

Assignment Involving Hypertext Essays:

Due to the many different backgrounds and forums of the assigned readings, we as a group, have encountered different reactions to the readings. For example, in the assigned website “Speak”, the background imagery used takes away from the books contains. The moving image displayed is also very distracting from the contained subject matter. Our assessment of this website leads us to believe that it would be much more informative if the imagery was less distracting. Furthermore, our concluded evidence of the way we read “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is most interesting. We find ourselves drifting off due to the overwhelming amount of text and the need to focus very intensely to read such article. While reading this particular literary piece, we find ourselves bent close to the computer in attempt to focus more exclusively on the text written. The most interesting article out of all of the options above is “Lies”. The interactive qualities of this particular essay keep the mind active in assessing its subject matter. In theory, the tangible aspect of this specific text keeps one’s attention longer than the other three pieces in question.

How Technology has Impacted My Life

I have experienced the transition from a very rural to modern existence perhaps much more rapidly than many people. I realized this transition when I started using the computer for research in comparison to using a dictionary and encyclopedia. I used to look up words I could not spell in a Webster's Dictionary and information about a topic in an Encyclopedia or Farmer's Almanac. Now I use an online dictionary and search engine to find these things. In addition to my research transition from the tangible to the technological, I have noticed a dramatic change in my form of communication. Before becoming the owner of a computer and cell phone, I would write letters and travel to communicate with others. If I were to compare how I communicate with others now I would have to say the majority of socialization occurs on the internet. The convenience of online communication saves time and money but I find I lose the intimate relationship I once had with these individuals. Many things I used to do using pen and paper have been replaced by typing on Microsoft Word. My assignments, personal documents, and portfolios are typed. While technology has helped me to become a more professional individual, I have a lost a bit of an age old tradition.

Technology List

Technology and it’s affects on our lives:

· Automobiles- one of the best inventions but cause hundreds of thousands of deaths yearly

· Computers- have advanced our society greatly but cause unnecessary expense and complicate normal tasks

· Cell phones and I pods- helps us to stay in contact with people that we normally would not and entertain ourselves but promote alienation from our generation

· MRI Machines- help to diagnose individuals but are expensive and radiation could pose a serious threat

· Oil Drilling- makes it possible to run machinery but destroys the environment

· Fire arms and ammunition- security is at one of it’s highest in history but when we do fight we kill more people due to our advanced weaponry

· Factory machinery- speeds up all production but replaces a lot of human jobs and are merciless if you get caught in one as a worker

· Artificial intelligence- performs menial tasks that are very tedious for humans but may become too advanced for human control and also replaces many jobs

· Satellite dishes- makes technology possible but will crash into random planets

· Space travel-able to know our earth and it’s surrounding planets better but the discoveries may become more harmful than useful, hard to complete successful missions and expensive

· GPS devices and chips- easier to find locations and people, there is a threat of abusing powers and tracking anyone you please

· Animated films- provides better entertainment but directs people away from communicating with one another and demotes realism

· Lasik Eye Surgery- helps people to see, can permanently maim and injury people and their retinas

· Air travel- faster and more convenient, those screaming babies aren’t fun and accidents are part of these advancements and limited due to weather conditions.

· Computer Courses- ability to finish your education sooner, you loose the tangible aspect of writing and learning, less human interaction

· Mass distribution of popular commodities- more people have the ability to possess objects however, things lose their value

· Utilizing Earth’s natural resources- we are able to use more of our natural resources but deplete the earth’s supply

· Video Games- They are good entertainment, but they can distract you from what is really important in life.

Cyber culture

Cyber culture has all but consumed other forms of culture that were once prominent in modern day society. Our communication style and even the form in which we communicate have changed drastically. We define ourselves as a society online through applications and websites. If I were to apply these changes specifically to my life I would have to say that it has changed my way of communicating and interacting with others drastically. In addition to changing my way of staying in contact with others, cyber culture has changed my writing methods and knowledge channels. My first true experience with culture came with email. I began to stay in contact with my friends and family by email and instant messaging. These forms of internet connection led me to join popular social connection applications such as Facebook and Myspace. The positive effects I can see by modern day cyber culture is my ability to stay in contact with my friends and family. The negative effects I see that is associated with cyber culture is the rapid diminishing of my ability to spell and the possibility of identity theft during my internet use. Cyber culture brings its negative and positive effects and overall has led me to support it.

Popular Culture Assignment

The second assignment calls for a blog of 200 words about popular culture and how it has affected my generation. When I stop to think about how popular culture and how it shapes me I first think of how many decisions that I make are affected by what is "in". Perhaps even subconsciously, I will make a decision based on what is the "norm" instead of doing what is best for me at that particular point in time. For example, if I am particularly hungry and do not have very much time to eat on that day, I might go to McDonald's because it is well advertised and convenient. This specific example shows the unfortunate effects of popular culture on my life. While I am no longer hungry, I filled my body with a very unhealthy food choice because it is popular in the society I grew up in. If I were to say that popular culture has not shaped every aspect of my life at least in a very minute way, I would not be telling the truth. It has shaped the way I dress, the car I drive (or at least the way I talk about the car I drive), the activities I participate in with my friends, the particular songs I listen to in my favorite genre of music and the people of my generation. The friends that I choose to spend time with are, to a certain extent, affected by popular culture but not as drastically as when I was in high school. Peer pressure does not affect me nearly as much now that I am in college. My choice of music is greatly affected by popular culture due to the fact that I listen to the radio quite often. My clothing and transportation are no the most fashionable items of my generation but are not frowned upon either. My generation is almost driven by popular culture. Ipods, computer technology, steroids, rap music, expensive cars, and new fashions can be seen on every street in every city. Many advancements have been made in my generation but we have lost the interconnection with other people we live with. So much time is spent on technology that we forget to advance ourselves as people. I believe what we should fear is becoming victims of our own popular culture.

Biography

Assignment number one calls for a biography of our personal lives. I would have to start out by saying that my personal life is a very interesting one. I was born in California, in the High Mojave Desert to be more exact, and lived there for the majority of my life. My siblings and I were raised in a farm environment with many forms of livestock and a Pistachio orchard. We worked on our ranch everyday. I did not grow up knowing computers or video games or even television, but rather the way of the land. Horses are, was, and always be my favorite past time. I moved to Indiana three years ago due to a career opportunity for my mother. Upon moving here I finished high school and started attending Purdue Calumet. I am an English/Philosophy degree and hope to eventually get my PH.D in a subject I have yet to define. I have worked many jobs here and am currently a Resident Assistant at the Purdue University Calumet Village. I love my job and am always looking forward to meeting new people. I am very people orientated. My favorite things to do when I am not working or going to school is reading, writing, and exercising.

A new semester has begun...

By golly it has begun again. New overdrafts fees due to purchasing the revolutionary text books of today. Welcome to classes, and to a new year full of opportunity. Every new face holds something great for future America. Fear not the potential assignments, and remember that sleep can come later. Much later. I hope that your break was refreshing because you are going to have to get back into the groove. Grab something, it has only just begun!

Charlotte Allen
Future Something of America