In Class: free write

My Thanksgiving break was lovely! I ate way too much considering the fact that we had three Thanksgiving parties to attend.Even though I did enjoy my thanksgiving break it was way too short and now we are all back to business again. Before going on break my advisor decided to tell me that I had to take 20HRS next semester if I planned on graduating in May. The semester before is just not exactly the right time to tell a student that. So now I am just stressing over about this because 20hrs my last semester is a lot on one plate. So now I may have to take a class in the winter semester at UTA (because I simply cannot afford to here). That alone has been stressful because although I am applying as a transient student, UTA still requires you to do all of the junk and submit all of the junk that a regular say transfer student would have to submit.

Unit 3 Proposal

1) Our Topic: Era of "the domestic housewife" is ending

2) What we want to say in this ongoing argument: We agree that this “era” is ending. We're trying to argue that It’s not a bad thing, it's become more of the norm especially during the recession. More men are staying at home because more women were able to keep their jobs. Ultimately, we are supporting this change in attitude.

3) Target audiences:
-Young men of marrying age (all races , middle/high class)
-Women of marrying age of (all races, middle/high class)
-Young/middle-aged married couples (all races, middle/high class)

4) Genres/mediums we plan on using for this argument:

- Facebook group- Targeting all three audiences

- Apron- Targeting men. We want to make it appealing to them so that they don’t feel emasculated by staying at home.

- Article- Targeting married couples in a men’s magazine…saying that it's okay to stay home and be, "Mr. Mom".

In Class: What did you learn from the reading

From the reading last night I learned a very important factor that can be used when builing an argument: humor. Humor can state a very good argument and it is very effective if used properly. Humor can be an exaggeration or understatement. It can be displayed as satire. Although humor is very effective I also learned that it can exclude certain audiences as well so you must be careful on how to use it.
In my unit 3 we have already discussed some ideas that involve a lot of humor. We feel that humor can definetly relate to certain audiences that we are trying to target. Although we also find that humor isnt appropriate for all our audiences .

In Class: Reading assignment (Chapter 12)

I really enjoyed the reading that we had because it made me look at forming arguments in a different way. I learned that such things as sentence structure, choice of words, punctuation ,and what they referred to as special effects, make a huge difference in the type of argument you are trying to form. The most interesting thing I recieved from this chapter though is that arguments are characterized into high, middle, and low arguments. The book described them as the following: the high arguments are those arguments dressed in tuxedos that are more serious and use more formal writting (big words). The mid arguments are those dressed in work clothes but not soo serious. My favorite is the low argument. This is argument was descibed as the one sitting at the desk with its legs on the desk and most likely to use humor.

Unit 3: Job titles and descriptions.

My group members include Rachel Boom, Holly Rust, and I! Within our group we decided that we would put in lots of teamwork and never leave just one person doing anything by themselves. Although, we did assign certain tasks we also came into agreement that one person wouldn't find themselves writting the entire draft alone or designing the entire visual alone. I really believe my team is going to do great because it seemed like we were all very passionate about helping out and throwing in ideas and that is always good when it comes to group work.
My title is The Queen of Your Vision. I picked this title because it's as creative as I could get and becasue I volunteered to be in charge of the visual and presentation of our visual. Therefore, I will be coming up with interesting and creative visual(s) for our project and bringing forth intresting ideas for them. I really wanted to do this because I love doing artsy stuff like painting crafts and designing things for decoration. So I definetly believe that this will come in handy here.

In class: Group work

My perfect group work situation would definetly include food and listening peers. Nothing bothers me more than having a group who is not willing to hear you out or ask for you consideration. It is just rude and inconsiderate. My ideal group would be one that gives input and freely gives ideas or opinions and also one who is willing to listen to those ideas. An ideal group is also one who is willing to do certain tasks and doesn't hesitate to volunteer. I would also hope for food because food is alwasy awesome.

In Class:reflection on analysis process

I found the analysis process to be a lot more difficult than I had planned on it being. The first obstacle I came across was defining and really knowing what a primary source was. I found this to be even more difficult when I began looking into different sources and reading them. That was a process within itself. It was pretty tricky to try to differentiate between which sources would be correct for this unit and which sources would maybe not be beneficial. One thing that really helped though is when Professor Irvin gave us that handout on how to better understand and be able to tell if my source was primary or not.
Once I found and validated that my sources were indeed primary I found it very difficult to read the articles and write about them "appropriately." It was very hard to try to analyze the argument that each article was making rather than making my own argument and in putting my own opinions. The first thing I realized was that I wasn't completely clear on what making a rhetorical claim about my argument meant. Honestly til this day I am still not completely sure but one thing that did really help me was when Proffesor mentioned that it was better sometimes to "just go." Keep writting.

Unit 2 Proposal

For Unit 2 my topic will based on the national issue of the DREAM Act. Most importantly my topic will revolve around the event that happened on September 21, 2010 when the Senate failed to pass the DREAM Act. To get a better understanding of this issues I will discuss what the DREAM Act is and who it affects.
The DREAM Act states the right for thousands of undocumented (illegal immigrant) students to gain a 6-yr long path to citizenship. These students would be able to gain there citizenship under certain requirements only. These requirements are as follow:

• Must have entered the U.S. before the age of 16
• Must have been present in the U.S. for at least 5 consecutive years prior to the enactment of the bill
• Must have graduated from a U.S. high school or have obtained a GED, or have been accepted into an institution of higher education
• Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of application
• Must have good moral conduct

The DREAM Act currently affects thousands of illegal students in a college institution and graduates from high school. Varios groups in the U.S. are either for or against this Act. That is why the fact that the Senate did not pass the bill for the second time in history this past September brought about a lot of speculation and arguments. My topic would be based on the arguments that these speculations made regarding this incident.
For my topic I have already found many related sources like articles, blog posting and news interviews (CNN and Fox 4) that responded to the failure to pass the Act. The DREAM Act has it's own website and their are also facebook and myspace pages on the DREAM Act that brought about a lot of responses to this incident.
I chose this topic for two main reasons. It is a very interesting topic and yet a not very known topic to many Americans. Many American still remain oblivious to this topic. Another reason is that I know of close friends here on campus and off that were affected by this topic. Therefore through this paper I myself would like to gain more knowledge of the arguments made about this topic.

In Class: First drafting paragraph

I thought a lot about what to pick for this paper because I wanted it to be different yet interesting. I wanted to go beyond TCU and beyond your regular everyday abouts that people could think about. That is precisely why I chose Central Market. The thought of organic food stores is quite fascinating to me. Why did they come to existance and what makes them unique from any old grocery store. Why is America so worried about their food being organic now and what does this say about our culture. Central Market was quite an incredible thing. It was pretty facsinating and made me look at food in a different perspective. It made me value food a lot more than I thought I would. See, I love food and I use to always say I would eat just about anything. After experiencing Central Market thought I don't want to just eat anything but I want to eat the real stuff. I want to eat the good stuff. I value my food a lot more and in relationship to that I value my health a lot more too. After it's not just necesarily the taste of food that matters right. It is also about what is this food going to do for my body. Organic food and organic industries seem to advertise both good taste and health.

In Class: Peer workshops

I completely dreaded having to do in class peer workshops. Although, the last one I can remember was probably in high school I still remember them very clearly. One of the main reasons I hated it is because I hate revising papers period. The fact that I had to read other people's paper was worst. I can barely set myself up to revise my own paper so revising someone else's paper was very hard and just a long process. I also do not like the idea so much of sharing what I write with others. I am a very conservative person and sharing my writting with others is usually hard for me. I also found that I quickly get bored or annoyed at trying to read other people's ideas or point of views. As selfish as that might be it is just very hard for me to try to concentrate on other people's point of view. One thing I completely disliked about it is that sometimes if not most the peers trying to revise this paper were completely clueless about what they were saying.

In class: Observation notes

In this observation activity I noticed that and my peers pointed out to me that I need a lot more visual observations than I thought I already had. I need to dig deeper into the display of this grocery store in order to create a clear argument about my space. I also realized that I need to go to Central Market and a more variety of time spans. I aslo realized that I came in with the idea that this store just targets healthy eaters and didn't look at Central Market as maybe just targeting food lovers in general. My peers also made a very good point, that Central Market has a subconscious comfort feeling to it. Once peer stated how they had been in Central Market many times and never once noticed the colonial or Texan style to it. It had become almost a relatively usual part of Fort Worth to relay this texan style feeling. I also need to look deeper into the costumer service of Central Market. Although, it appealed to be clean, tidy, nice, and organized, how nice is Central Market as a business really? Maybe next time I should try talking to an employee and how they treat me. How one is treated by costumer service usually says a lot about the business.

In Class: Observation process

My observation process was pretty weird. It's just weird walking in a grocery store and observing very carefully everything possible. Most people in a grocery store just go in, get what they want and leave. So I did get some pretty unusual stares here and there.Central Market was not a lot like what I expected. It actually blew my mind.I mean literally try walking in here after being used to the regular old grocery stores and it will blow your mind away too! The most shocking of all was just the cleanliness and organization of the store. When you walk in all the produce is just so colorful and organic looking. Not one apple was dull and not none lime was starting to turn brown. Besides it being so dim and the walls in the inside and outside of the building in neutral colors, the produce filled the place with life. I found a very interesting thing as well. More young adults came and shopped at Central Market then I thought would.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos of Public Space

I had gone to observe Central Market many times and when I heard we had to relate our observations to ethos, pathos, and logos, I was pretty terrified. Though interesting enough the activity in class really helped me get brainstorming on this one. I began to see my observations in a different way. Suddenly, I could see very clearly the relationship with my observations the following.

Pathos
Who would have thought that Central Market could relate emotionally to an individual? Funny enough the outlay and the view of this grocery store from the outside shouts a lot of emotional appeals. Central Market or at least the Central Market here in Ft. Worth, looks well......very "texan." Not only does it have that old texan colonial look to it but let's not overlook the huge Texas longhorn (often a symbol of Fort Worth) right below the Central Market sign. Right below that sign is the main entrance that is made obvious by two opened wooden doors making it have a ranch style entrance. If I wouldn't have known better I would think that I was walking into a ranch and ride a horse. Immediately looking at Central Market one can get a sense of pride...that Texas pride. It can take anyone back to that good old Texas before all the idustrialization and all the pollution.

Ethos
An observation that made a huge ethos appeal once I walked in and started making my way around was the information provided for the produce. The produce, especially, had information about where it came from next to the price. Being that Central Market is an organic food store this totally made me think this was the real deal! Huge kuddo points! I am about to purchase this item and not only is it organic but for once in a lifetime I know where it comes from.
The inside also had that organic and natural look to it. Everywhere I looked I saw wood. Wood screams nature to someone and too see fresh food next to this natural scene just adds that feeling of "Oh, this must be the real stuff."

Logos
The fact that Central Market can and does provide information on where most if not all their produce came from tells and individual that it matters to them that we know we are getting natural or organic food. Logically one can assume that I can trust Central Market with the produce they provide. The way the store inside is soo organized, clean, and neutral also infers that this space is intended for older people and not children. A child doesn't care if his/her apple came from a farm in California or from your neighbor's backyard.

In Class: Logos artifact

My logos artifact that I brought in are in fact my ballet shoes. They aren't just any ballet shoes though but they are my old worn out ballet shoes. It it is not the ballet shoes themselves that represent logic but more so the fact that they are worn out and look very old. The fact that they no longer hold that pink fresh leather look when I first got them is the key point here. The fact that they are now more rough on the edges and that the color is hard to distinguish is the logic appeal. By the look of theses shoes one can conclude that they have been used a lot and that since they belong to me then they have probably been used by a lot by me. Logically speaking if I showed you these shoes you would probably think that I have used them a lot or that they are very old.Logically speaking you would be able to tell that these shoes are not new and that since I have kept despite the fact that they are old and worned out must mean that they are still valuable to me.

Space Proposal

For my space analysis paper I chose Central Market as my public space. Central Market is an Organic Food store and it is appealing to me because it wasn't just any grocery store but it is an organic food store. I always wondered what made these organic food stores so appealing. Why would someone prefer to purchase organic food opposed to non-organic food?
Upon observation I hope to find a specific audience that this space targets. As a matter of fact I'm not even sure this space targets myself. I am glad that going into this assignment I do not know the targeted audience from the top of my head because it makes this space just that much interesting. As an economics student I also hope to pay close attention to difference in prices and the goods frequently bought. Also, how are these goods advertised? How is this space set up to advertise these goods or is it set up to target a certain audience.
I love the idea of not knowing much about this space because then I can go in with an open mind and with a mind ready to observe not judge. Their is a huge difference between the two and I do not want my judging to become an obstacle. One perceived idea that I have about the place is that prices are high and that therefore a certain audience or class in society might be targeted. This is something I have only heard from a friend so as far as it being an idea I don't think so. It is simply something I heard and I've always thought not to believe it until I see it. Point blank, I have never been into a Central Market before so I can not let this be an obstacle going in. This place is new to me and I'm coming in to observe it with a clean slate.

In Class: Ethos Artifact

Today as a representation of Ethos I brought in my TCU acceptance letter. My TCU acceptance letter states a lot about my character. First and foremost it states that I applied to college and therefore my mindset was that I wanted to go to college. The fact that I got accepted into this college in particular says a lot about my character as well. It states that I am determined and that my mind was set on not just going to any college but to to go to TCU. This letter means a lot to me and there is a reason why I have saved it for this long. Back from where I am from and the background that I come from people look up to those who go to college because not many make it. My TCU acceptance letter not only says I made it to college though it says I made it into TCU. TCU is one of the most prestigious colleges in Texas. It's name usually causes many to think that I am probably very intelligent and extremely smart but I disagree with that. I don't believe some people are just more stupid than others but that some people  work harder than others. It is all about hard work and I believe this acceptance letter represents that.

In Class:Understanding of Pathos

An understanding of pathos would be very helpful when writting about my space. If you don't understand pathos it is like saying you do not understand emotion. It's like saying you can not read or distinguish between a frown or a smile. So you can see why the understanding of pathos is very important. In order to make an argument about any space you have to be able to read people's emotion or any emotion being put out by the space itself. Based off of emotions one can make a billion of arguments because emotion usually tells what the person or space is trying to communicate. For example, if my space were to be the library a lot of emotion goes on in there and a lot of time not verbally but it is still being shown . You have to be able to understand also how this emotion is being communicated whether that be verbally or physically.

In Class: Pathos artifact

My artifact relating to pathos is my Bible that I brought in class today. I had no thought or no second thought about any other artifact when it came to pathos. I knew that my Bible would represent this very well. It is who I am and who I try to be everyday. It is my handbook for life and my therapy for life. It is my nourishment spiritually. I am a Christian and no that does not mean I am perfect or that I pretend to be but it actually means to me is acknowledging my flaws and recogninzing not being able to live and rely on myself but instead relying on God. My Bible is the most important handbook existing in my life. A textbook for class is the handbook for that class. A manual for my new camera is a handbook for that camera. My or should I say the Bible (because the Bible is not mine but for any man created) is my handbook for life. It holds me and my life togethere. It is the only text worth saving and holding dear to me for my entire life. It is my everything and it holds a strong hold onto me emotionally, psyhically and spirtually.

BP Commercial Argues

The first and most obvious argument that this video shouted out to me was an argument to convince. The underlined statement I got from this commerical is simply this, "There is a problem and we will continue to fix it until it is completely solved. The whole commercial focused on making sure that the audience understood that the problem was being fixed and that BP wasn't just sitting around waiting for this problem to be fixed on its own. It was very convincing because this commercial used stats and information regarding how much money was being put into this project and how much money has been input into this. Using stats when it comes to money is very convincing and outstanding to any audience. This commercial was very convincing as well because of the images and the order of these images.The commercial began with a fisherman on his boat looking over the ocean contemplating and it constructed an image that connected to the audience with a sense of pathos.
Another argument this commercial made is an argument to invite the audience for this argument. This argument invited the audience by stating a lot of facts instead of just simply saying "this is true so believe it" it gave the audience facts to back this up. It invited the audience into BP's goal and to see what this company does for the community.The argument was inviting in the sense of being able to see what was happening now and what was being done now. It was arguing for what was being done in the present rather than what was going to be done in the future.
The commercial also brought up a sense of argument to explore about BP. Someone who had never heard of BP before or knew what BP was about would be able to explore what BP was about and what BP's purpose was. In that sense this commercial also helped the audience explore about BP. Although through exploring one can also be convince from exploring so therefore an argument of exploring leads to an argument of convincing.
The commercial gave a lot of detail and information about what BP does and what it is all about. This commercial was very informative and the information given was crucial to BP's reputation and standards.Therefore, the BP commercial also gave an argument to inform. Although this commercial was packed with a lot of information and stats about the company and what it was doing it presented a very crafty way of demonstrating this information. If not all then most of the information given in this commercial relates to what BP is doing for the community and those affected by the oil spill in the gulf. BP was very crafty in how they would present themselves and that is why all of this information makes BP look good.
The last argument that this commercial presented was an argument about the future. Whether this argument won or lost in the commercial it was presented and we can therefore observe how this argument was effective. The argument was that BP in the future would solve this problem completely. The speaker for BP, Iris Cross, made many statemetns that made this argument clear. Like for example, "BP is taking full responsibility of this and we will work until there is no more oil." We will work on this until we get it right." Such statements makes the argument clear but not necesarily meaning that the argument has won.
 By potraying a company of understanding and show Iris working with the community gives off a strong sense of pathos. Meaning that Iris gave the audience believe that she was emotionally attatched to this situatioin of problem.She stated something that had no meaning to or referance to BP but it was important to audience to know that she connected with them emotionally. She said,'My family lives in louisiana and they still live here."

In Class: Possible Space

The first space that came to mind was the Library here at TCU because it is probably the most public space besides the BLUU. I really like the idea of the BLUU but since it was already listed by the professor on the sheet of examples for spaces I feel really lame if I choose that now. Another Space that came to mind is the Rec because I feel based on the space and the people who go there at different times  a very interesting argument can be said or stated. Yet another space I am very ackwardly interested in is the Freshman parking lot. Why? Because of the name itself and because visually this space can say a lot to any audience. Til this day I am very intrigued by the types of cars found there and how students rush and roam about the parking space. I feel like visually a lot can be said. Another area I would like to visit is a church because the most interesting to me about any church is it's somewhat on the borderline of a public or private space. The reasons why are very interesting topic.

In Class: First Week of School

My first week of school has gone pretty well thus far. Once your a senior it really isn't as exciting as your first two years anymore. You pretty much see the same old people you have been seeing for 3 years now and the new faces are all too young to even relate too. Although, I have enjoyed helping out the new freshmens and memorizing on my freshmen days. It makes you realize how old and what a long way you have come. It also brings about a sad feeling to realize, "WOW! I'm graduating?!" You get that sappy feeling of how you use to feel when you were a freshmen and your parents came with you to help you move in and arrange your dorm room. Just that feeling of man I'm kind of old now is kind of overwhelming sometimes.
The other day this freshman girl was trying to swipe herself into my apartment building where I live thinking it was her religion class. It quite funny and I kind of giggled a little but not in a "Oh, I think you're stupid" but more so in a "Oh, how cute I remember those days. So I generously showed here the way to the hall she was looking for. Then this experience made me realize a lot more than I would of thought so.

Introduction

Hi! My name is Karen Morales and I am from Arlington, Tx but I was actually born in Mexico. I am a Senior this year graduating this May! Yay! My major is Economics and my minor is in Spanish. I absolutely love Economics and I understand that it is a very scary topic for many. It really is not as bad as everyone thinks so.
I can honestly say that I am more scared of writting and composition than Economics itself. That maybe why I have been trying to avoid this class and I am now probably the only Senior in it. I am honestly terrified of writting papers because I'm lazy and writting does not come easy for me. I hope that this class makes writting papers more exciting and easy for me. I also hope that it can help me touch up on my grammar because sadly I have to think hard in order to remember some rules now days.
I tipically do research papers within my field at school and those are honestly the most terrifying ones. Outside of TCU I do e-mailing, texting, and facebooking. Who doesn't right? Those have to be the most exciting types of writting because I feel less pressure or tension.
In this blog thus far I think I am making an argument that more structured and intense writing is much harder and less fun than "social" writting. I made and argument also that many more people prefer or like to facebook, e-mail, text, or free write rather than have to write a paper for class. I think I have also made it clear that I like pink!

I have read, understood, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, which I see as a contract for this course.