FINAL BLOG.

The photo adventure was pretty interesting. I got there late but luckily, I ran into some classmates and tagged along with them! It was pretty hard trying to find some things to take pictures of that induce pathos, ethos or logos.

This picture is most definitely pathos. These people are on a strike for a certain cause. It makes you wonder what you can do to help and how it effects them. It could also be ethos because they are on strike because of some unfair treatment. They are credible to this cause.

This picture is using pathos. It gives a little story about how a mother saved her son from drowning after he got off a water slide. She used CPR precautions to save him. The poster is bringing up the awareness of pool safety with an emotional story behind it.

I have no idea what I was thinking about when I took this.

Doing the Social Issue paper was fun and interesting. I liked researching my topic of video game violence and how it affects children and people. The articles I read were very informative and interesting. The most interesting article I read had to be the one about the journals of the Columbine shooters. It basically showed you what they were thinking about and their plans leading up to the Columbine Massacre. Very heavy stuff. It was very useful in familiarizing me with the social issue because  had to dig deep for some information. I think the Columbine information is the best part of my paper. I feel like that was a main point that I was trying to get across.

Roger & Me.

I found Roger & Me almost too difficult to watch.  It was very eye opening.  Seeing people live in those conditions was sad.  The parts that struck emotion within me were when people were getting thrown out of their homes.  The person that came to evict them showed no remorse.  He didn’t care what day of the week it as long as he’s getting paid for doing his job.  He previously worked for GM and he had no choice.  Another part that was hard for me to watch was when the woman killed her rabbits for food.  It just goes to show how rough living in Flint, MI was at the time.

It’s hard to tell whether GM was directly responsible for the economic downfall of Flint, MI.  However, I feel like they are one of the main reasons for it.  GM laid PLENTY of people off who depended on their job.  I think one of the faults of Michael Moore’s documentary was the fact that he didn’t clarify whether the people he was showing getting evicted worked for GM.  I’m not sure if he did or not but if he would have clarified that, I feel like that would have had a huge impact to what the purpose of the documentary was about.  

Michael Moore most definitely uses pathos and ethos in Roger & Me.  He is a native of Flint, MI so he is credible for knowing how the closing of GM has affected his city.  His parents and grandparents were also former workers of GM.  The closing probably affected his parents as well.  He uses pathos by showing multiple people getting evicted from their homes.  That has to be a hard time for them and seeing their reactions to getting kicked out of their homes is heart-wrenching.  It definitely struck emotion within me because I felt really bad for them.  I almost cried!

Ehrenreich’s excerpt, Mantsios’ article, and Moore’s documentary all share common themes.  They all show the struggles of being in the lower class of American society.  Michael Moore uses a third person perspective to document the struggles of the lower class.  Barbara Ehrenreich actually indulges herself in the lower class to understand what they go through on a day to day basis.  Gregory Mantsios basically gives us some amazing statistics and contrasts them.  He contrasts the incomes of the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class.

Modern Family.

I knew of Modern Family but I had no idea of how hilarious was! The show uses believable situations that families go through almost everyday. I've been in the situation of having my parents not wanting me to hang out with our old next door neighbor. It was cool because I've been in that situation, plus, it reminded me of my childhood.

If this show was released 10 years ago, I think it would have been as accepted as it is now. Back then, Will & Grace was on television and that tackled the subject homosexuality. Modern Family shows that subject as well but not to the extent that Will & Grace did. So, I feel like if it were released 10 years ago, there would be no problems because of the acceptance of other shows on TV at the time.

I feel like the show does portray family life in America. They aren't your typical families. It doesn't have just that ONE family, this show has three; the "Interracial Family", the "Ideal Family", and the "Gay Family". Although some situations are used for comedy, they are totally believable situations. I've never met a familiy like the families portrayed in Modern Family, but I feel like there culd be some families out there like them.

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Memoir

The feeling of warm anger and steaming frustration was unbearable. Holding these feelings inside was sure to be ticking time bomb, waiting for its time to run out so that it could explode. I love my mom, but this dictatorship from more than 500 miles away wasn't healthy for me. I felt as helpless as a 5-year-old child being told what to do. With frustration in my veins as a familiar feeling, I walked around Morehouse College with a permanent frown on my face. My eyebrows were raised as high as the moon, my nostrils were flared, and my eyes collected tears of anger almost every second of the day. I was alone, no matter how many people I was around. Imagine being alone in a dark corridor and at the end of the corridor was the place you felt was the key to your happiness but it was always out of your reach. That place at the end of the corridor for me was Columbia College Chicago. I dreamed of being there everyday and it helped me to stay sane. The only friends I had at the time were my thoughts and my iPod. They were the only things that made me feel like I was being listened to.

My friends were also my worst enemies. During my classes, my ears were as closed as a safe at a bank and no one could crack the code but me. I paid no attention in any of my classes. My earbud headphones were attached to my ears at all hours of the day. Listening to music made me feel like I was floating on a cloud, away from society, away from pain, away from reality. I envied this feeling of being free and it angered me every time I thought about it. After being done with classes, I always went straight to my dorm. That place always smelled like urine. I really hated living there with all guys. The bathrooms stayed filthy and disgusting and I had a roommate from hell. My room reeked of marijuana at all times. My roommate sold marijuana and from time to time, he would bring girls into our room to have sex with them. Keep in mind that this was while I was still in the room.

My mom didn't understand what I was going through. What I was going through was equivalent to torture. Morehouse College was a jail, my dorm room was my cell, and as the days passed, I was serving my time. There had been weeks where I didn't talk to my mom. I missed her dearly and I hated that it had to be this way. I really didn't feel like getting into an argument with her because if we did, I would shut down as abruptly as a power outage. I wanted us to come to some sort of agreement so this could be a thing of the past. I knew that wasn't an option, at least for now. So for the time being, I'll stay to myself. Alone in this dark corridor continually reaching for that distance place of happiness.

William Zinsser's Memoir Thoughts

Listening to William Zinsser's thoughts regarding memoirs was very interesting. I feel that his thoughts were spot on. The example characteristics of "bad memoirs" was very eye opening for me. He said that bad memoirs whine and bash people who did them wrong in their lives while a good memoir is about forgiveness and compassion. One saying that stood out for me the most was when he said writing a memoir is supposed to heal. I absolutely love that because a memoir is supposed to be a journey of self-reflection and being in touch with your emotions. I agree with him about excluding self-indulgent thought and experiences from memoir because that would leave room for more fabrication and exaggeration.

In my memoir, I think I will write to discuss the inner struggle I had to go through to stand up to my mom for what I believed in. It was a frustrating point in my life where I felt stuck and felt alone in the world with my thoughts and ambitions. I intend to understand where my inner strength came from to finally emerge victorious and help my mother understand that I have to start making my own choices from now on. 

My First Beautiful Device.

As I enter the store full of potential takers, my stomach flutters with excitement. This would be my first time owning one of these onyx coated devices! The way that the sunlight glistened off of it was astonishing. I knew that this device was mine. Once I made up my mind, I called the tall, fair skinned employee to come to my assistance. He almost looked like everyone in the store. They all had on blue shirts with a yellow name tag. For some reason, the employee that was helping me had the biggest smile on his face. I found that to be a little weird. Anyway, he asked how I would like to be helped and I told him that I would like this little guy, pointing to the onyx device. He said no problem and proceeded to get the box with the product in it. As he was walking towards me, it seemed as if the box had some sort of white and blinding aura around it! Maybe that was just my excitement personifed. I swear, I think I reached towards my box with my short, stubby arms as he walked past me! I didnt know what was going on. He led me towards the checkout counter and that's where he sat the box down. The box was as long as my right arm with the colors black and gold dominating it. There were words on it from about 6 different countries but I was most fixated on the picture of my new and beautiful device that was sure to be in my hand in the matter of moments. As soon as I handed him my plastic card and got the receipt from him, the transaction would be complete. When he wished me to have a good day, I literally snatched my new Nikon D3000 and ran out the door to snap some pictures!

VR PROJECT

Here's the link to my Visual Rhetoric Project.  Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingcarter/sets/72157625953267747/show/