Cloud Work

February 28th

Today in class, students were able to collaboratively create notes on a Google document while the professor used a white discussion board for lecture.  As the professor was lecturing, students were adding text, gifs, images, and memes to the "notes."  Sometimes, a student would delete an image one student pasted onto the document and then insert a new image.  Sometimes, text would be deleted and then reinserted.  While the students had the power to contribute content freely onto this document, the professor was the only one at the front of the classroom, taking notes on the white board.  As students, we were given access to this online document and had the ability/privilege to edit it as a whole. 

Cloud work enables us as a group to contribute our ideas visually to an audience.  Meanwhile, having a professor write on a white board is much more limiting.  The professor is the only one who is given the right to use this resource, unless students are told otherwise.  As a result, we tend to get one primary ideology of a particular topic whereas cloud work shows multiple perspectives. 

Although many students participated in editing the document, I decided not to.  My decision to not participate was for mainly two reasons: 1) I felt more pressure to listen to the professor's lecture and therefore, tried to direct my attention to the whiteboard and 2) any content I added could be easily deleted by another student.  Due to usual social structure of classroom behavior, I was persuaded to attempt to concentrate on the lecture given by the professor. 

Meme Responses to Althusser's Essay

February 26th

What confused Russ:

“It is necessary to add that this determination of the double “functioning” (pre-dominantly, secondarily) by repression and by ideology, according to whether it is a matter of the (repressive) State Apparatus and the ideological state apparatuses? Every life provides us with innumerable examples of this, but they must be studied in detail if we are to go further than this mere observation" (Althusser 81).

His response: "This passage just… confounds me. It’s taxonomy makes no sense to me, using terms like “pre-dominantly, secondarily” in the same line and context without differentiating the two. Did I miss a line earlier? And why does the next line end as a question? Just the phrasing throws me off and makes this hard to read. The next line intonates that this passage is a throwaway discourse for the audience, relating that this argument is fallible? I DON’T GET IT. THIS WHOLE THING MAKES ME FEEL LIKE A RUBE WHO NEEDS TO CATCH UP ON MY FRENCH PHILOSOPHY."

My meme in response to Russ' confusion:



I have no answer for Russ' confusion b/c I am confused as well.  I honestly feel that by juxtaposing the oxymoronic words "pre-dominantly" and "secondarily," the writer is trolling with us.  It's as if he is trying to make us question our intellect by talking in this vague, riddle-like language.  Or maybe the writer is confused himself.  Maybe he does understand the definitions of those two words and that something cannot be dominant and secondary at the same time.  Or it could've been a simple typo that was overlooked.  However, I agree that the juxtaposition of these two words offsets the argument that the writer is trying to make.

What confused Marc: Beneath Ruling Ideology

His response: '"Beneath Ruling Ideology' is something I am unfamiliar about.
I am aware that it involves different classes, but to what extent and what is their ideology on the whole matter of Repressive State Apparatus vs. Ideological State Apparatuses."

My meme in response to Marc's confusion:



The author is trying to say that an ideology usually belongs to a ruling class.  Because of the class' power, those within the ruling class have some control in the Ideological and Repressive State Apparatuses.  To a certain degree, the ruling class has dominance over those who does not have as much power.  Their ideologies tend to be heard more and can overpower the ideologies of the lower classes. 

Althusser's Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses

February 24th 

For today's class, we read an essay by Louis Althusser titled "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes Toward an Investigation)."  Although the paper was supposed to be about how subjects are affected by an ideology, I did not initially know that the essay would be discussing a topic of rhetoric.  At the start of the essay, Althusser introduces the concept of ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) and provides some examples of ISAs like the government, prisons, courts, and so on.  Because of this introduction, I honestly thought that the writer would be discussing his views on politics to which I responded by rolling my eyes.  However, as I continued reading, I learned that Althusser merely utilized this type of introduction in order to exemplify his main point: we are all subjects. 
  

"In this preliminary remark and these concrete illustrations, I only wish to point out that you and I are always already subjects, and as such constantly practice the rituals of ideological recognition, which guarantee for us that we are indeed concrete, individual, distinguishable, and (naturally) irreplaceable subjects" (Althusser 85).

The passage above indicates the inevitability of our exposure to various ideologies.  We are constantly exposed to different messages in the form of different mediums without even realizing it.  For instance, ads we hear on the radio or see on television, the content material we learn in our classes, the social networking sites that we visit -- these are all examples of ideologies.  In regards to my website, I am both the subject of ideologies on obesity and the lecturer of an ideology.  I create an ideology on obesity by taking from other ideologies that I have read and researched.  Because I am aware that my subjects may not always be in agreement with me, I refer to specific assets and other argumentative examples to support my ideology.  I also have applied this technique to my other class assignments, specifically my rhetoric 301 class that I took last semester.   

Although I clearly understood the passage on page 85, I did not completely comprehend the statement below and how it tied back to the topic of rhetoric: 

"To my knowledge, no class can hold State power over a long period without at the same time exercising its hegemony over and in the State Ideological Apparatuses" (Althusser 81).

I initially believed that Althusser was using this essay as a way to push his belief of social status onto his subjects and did not understand how it related to rhetoric.  However, when I was listening to the lecture in class today, the professor talked about control of the web and other media sources.  He pointed out how everybody can have access to internet and anybody can post their ideas to this open web.  This point can be directly associated with Althusser's claim above.  By taking advantage of social media and posting our two cents online where it is accessible to any reader, we are trying to assert our power by attempting to persuade a particular audience to believe our ideology.      

Visual Analysis Valentine

February 14th 

     The expectations of Valentine's Day in the western society are shaped by our culture.  For instance, we were raised to believe that on Valentine's Day men are supposed to buy women flowers and chocolates and treat them to a nice dinner.  When a boyfriend or a fiancé or a husband deviates from these expectations, many people would believe that the boyfriend is not doing Valentine's Day "right."  However, who decided that Valentine's Day must be spent in a particular manner?  Somebody had to create a rhetorical situation for the holiday in order to make the claim that Valentine's Day should be a day dedicated to treating our significant others.

     There are three arguments about the rhetorical situation: 1) Bitzer's theory that the rhetorical situation controls the rhetorical act 2) Vatz's idea that the rhetor controls the rhetorical situation and 3) Consigny's perspective that rhetoric is an art of topics that encourages rhetors to explore various contexts.  While both Bitzer's and Vatz's hypotheses are black-and-white, Consigny's perspective falls under a gray area.  I agree with Consigny that rhetoric is a subjective matter that is both controlled by the situation and by the rhetor to a certain degree.  For instance, the website 1800flowers.com and cracked.com demonstrate the rhetorical situation of Valentine's day conventions such as cards, flowers, etc.  Both, however, send different messages.  The 1800flowers is trying to convince the viewers to send flowers to a loved one.  While the other site cracked.com provides examples of what not to do on Valentine's Day.  Although both rhetors of the website control what they say about Valentine's Day, social standards about the holiday have affected their arguments.  For instance, the 1800flowers.com is telling you to fulfill a social expectation by purchasing and sending flowers.  The cracked.com website is telling you what not to do because the examples given contradict social norms. 

     In order for these websites to be convincing, a rhetor needs to meet certain requirements.  They need to demonstrate integrity and be receptive to their audience's needs.  They need a comprehension of what the rhetorical situation is and how to align with the features of the situation.  Then the rhetors must manipulate these features in order to make a persuasive argument. 

My Website Topic: Obesity

February 10th

     My website for this class will be focusing on the social illness of obesity.  I decided to discuss the prevalence of obesity worldwide and its negative effects on society.  In addition, I intend to provide the website readers with information about the health risks and causes of obesity. 

 

     I chose this topic for my website because obesity is a problem that is present everywhere now, not just the United States.  Other social problems such as hunger and contaminated water are not issues that every country faces.  However, obesity has been a growing problem that affects children and adults.  Why is it growing?  Maybe it's because of the rapid spread of fast food chain restaurants.  Maybe it's because of our sedentary lifestyles.  Maybe it's because we do not understand the concept of moderation.  The bigger the better, right?  The movie "Supersize Me" begs to disagree. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Lkyb6SU5U

 

     Obesity is a problem that cannot be ignored.  We see it everyday, every passing hour.  Sometimes on the news, I hear about a young child who is severely obese and is taken from his or her parents by child protective services.  And I think to myself "How could've the parents let this happen?  At the age of five, the child is over 140 pounds."  That's so unhealthy.  Below is a link to an article about the heaviest five year old girl.  

 

http://www.medicaldaily.com/143-pound-5-year-old-girl-taken-away-parents-heaviest-child-ever-recorded-three-times-normal-weight 

 

     If this is where society is heading, we will be the instigators of our own destruction.  That's why we need to take preventive measures to slow obesity.  It's not possible to completely stop it, especially at this stage.  Yet, by taking individual actions - - by teaching healthy eating to the young generation, by consuming in moderation, by being more active -- we can make a difference.

Obesity Website Ethos

February 8th 

     For today's blog post, I will compare the following websites listed below. 

1. http://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en
2. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity
3. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/07/how-junk-food-can-end-obesity/309396
4. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/health/childhood-obesity-drops-in-new-york-and-philadelphia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=
5. http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03/living/overweight-pets/  

     All of the listed websites above focus on a common topic: obesity.  All of the websites agree that obesity has a negative effect on health and most of the websites agree that obesity is spreading (except the New York Times).  I noticed that the government sponsored websites such as WHO and CDC offer various facts about obesity and how the readers can get involved to slow the endemic.  On the other hand, the news websites tend to focus on a particular topic related to obesity rather than providing the readers with more general information about the social illness.  For instance, the Atlantic website discusses how junk food can end obesity and the CNN website emphasizes how the obesity endemic has affected domestic pets in the Unites States.  On the news websites, the articles about obesity are categorized under a "Health" or "Living" tab.  This implies that these websites are not solely focused on this particular social illness, but offer other news that may catch the readers' attention.    

     The five websites all employ a similar color scheme.  They use white backgrounds, dark print, and solid colored headings.  The sites also utilize tabs with different labels for organizational purposes.  Four of the five websites display images that are related to obesity; for instance, images of food, overweight animals, and weight scales are present.  Often times, the images are inserted under the title of the website with the text following afterwards.  In addition, the news websites tend to have many advertisements while the government websites do not.  As a result, the layout of the news websites sometimes shifts the attention of the readers away from the main topic.   

     After examining the five websites, I believe that my website will end up looking similar to the CDC website.  The website contains links to obesity related topics such as statistics, prevention programs, and resolutions and includes images that complement the topics.  I also want to include much of the information that is available on the CDC website about obesity.     

Website Logo

February 5th 

Website Logo

     For my website, I intend to focus on the social illness of obesity.  I want to emphasize how obesity is becoming a global endemic; it is not just prevalent in the United States nowadays.  The logo below is to send the message that obesity is a growing problem (that phrase acts as a pun).  In order to send that message I decided to place the text on a globe to show its prevalence around the world.  I also chose a wide text for the word "Obesity" to correspond to the definition of the word.  So, those who suffer from obesity have a BMI that is too large; therefore, I purposely chose a large text.   The placement of the text is placed in the middle of the cartoon globe to show that obesity is not specified to one particular region of the globe, but to most regions.  What I would like to do with this logo in the future is to curve the word "Obesity" and place the word around the globe multiple times.  However, I am still experimenting with Photoshop and was unable to curve my text. 

Website Traits

Necessary Traits for a Public Service Announcement:
1.) A message against or for something
2.) An argument as to why the viewer should support the message
3.) Text
4.) Physical layout
5.) Color contrast
6.) Pathos element

Optional traits:
1.) Rhetorically convincing visual image
2.) Sound
3.) Other sources of media like videos, music, etc.

For my site on obesity:
1.) Home page introducing the topic and why it is becoming a social illness
2.) Fact page that lists the causes of obesity
3.) Fact page that discusses the health effects of obesity
4.) Get involved page that suggests what steps people can take to prevent obesity