Wednesday, November 19, 2008
This year's speeches
I would have to say that this year is the first year that I really understood what these speeches meant and their magnitude. I felt that this was the first time I was knowledgeable about the election and had some feelings toward it that were not just my parents. But anyway, these speeches really showed a lot of the candidates character and their attitudes. I think McCain's speech really showed his gracious attitude and his will to help out the country at all costs and I think that will help him the long run as he continues to serve his country. I feel that Obama's speech really showed his charisma and his excitement. He showed his plans a little for his presidency and he really got everyone excited. I fell they both did excellent jobs and I know both speeches would be difficult to execute in the perfect way they both managed to.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Past Election speeches
I am excited about this unit for many reasons, one is that we are covering victory and concession speeches and these are some of the most important and famous speeches a president or candidate can make. I remember watching the speeches in 2004 and in 200o. These speeches were very interesting to me at the time because I really did not understand what was going on but saw the magnitude of people there and of people watching and knew it was important. I also hear a lot about these speeches in my history classes and it is very interesting to see what they had to say at the start of their term in office and to see what really happened and their final speeches as president.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
My Sources
For my topic I am doing teacher reform and how each candidate feels on the topic. So I chose some articles that help show the need for reform and a need for a new system.
My first topic is a video about how the U.S. school systems are failing to do their job and we are falling behind other countries in our public education. This gives a lot of numbers and is an ad just to get people thinking about the issues.
Next, this is an article that gives a detailed account of each candidate's views on a wide variety of topics retaining to education. this gives good insight to what each one wants to do and people can start thinking whether their ideas will work or not.
Lastly, this article/video is about Dallas I.S.D. had to layoff a large portion of its staff very recently do to lack of money. This is a very real and local example. this shows how it happens and just our need for something new. So this last one really leaves us knowing we need to make sure we fix the problems we have made about education.
My first topic is a video about how the U.S. school systems are failing to do their job and we are falling behind other countries in our public education. This gives a lot of numbers and is an ad just to get people thinking about the issues.
Next, this is an article that gives a detailed account of each candidate's views on a wide variety of topics retaining to education. this gives good insight to what each one wants to do and people can start thinking whether their ideas will work or not.
Lastly, this article/video is about Dallas I.S.D. had to layoff a large portion of its staff very recently do to lack of money. This is a very real and local example. this shows how it happens and just our need for something new. So this last one really leaves us knowing we need to make sure we fix the problems we have made about education.
Monday, October 20, 2008
My Research
As i went looking on the different databases I was pretty surprised. It was amazing how there was so much information in these specific areas and that it was so easy to sift through it all. It makes me glad I live in the computer age, just thinking what people did in college before computers scares me.
I was able to find an article and got a link of a youtube video about education and its state in America and what each candidate thought about the issue. I know there is even more out there for me to use, but this is certainly a good starting point.
I was able to find an article and got a link of a youtube video about education and its state in America and what each candidate thought about the issue. I know there is even more out there for me to use, but this is certainly a good starting point.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Unit 2 Topic
My topic for unit 2 will deal with education. I am thinking about focusing on teachers and what each candidate will be for teachers and what they are most concerned about. I am not totally sure but we will see how it goes.
The people who will be interested in this will be teachers, parents, students, and anyone involved in teaching.
Many people are talking about this issue and it deals with every family since every child must go to school.
Primary sources for this topic will be articles in newspapers, interviews with the candidates, interviews with teachers, also with people analysing the topic.
The people who will be interested in this will be teachers, parents, students, and anyone involved in teaching.
Many people are talking about this issue and it deals with every family since every child must go to school.
Primary sources for this topic will be articles in newspapers, interviews with the candidates, interviews with teachers, also with people analysing the topic.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Humor Piece
For my humor section of the project I decided to make a political cartoon. I choose a cartoon because I felt I could express my views in a simple and effective way. My cartoon will have Obama and McCain both looking at the sky and they are debating over what color it is, but they are other way off. Then a person will be standing there commenting on how stupid this is while another person will be very interested and wanting to hear more of the debate. I will use some exaggeration to get my point across, but the fact that the politicians are lying will still be evident.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Humor argument
My article for the humor argument come from the Houston Chronicle. The story is from Oregon. It is about how a 71 year old man went to the hospital due stomach pains and he was told he was pregnant. This is an unbelievably bad mistake by the hospital. And I think the argument here is that doctors can not make mistakes like this. Although this one did not hurt anyone it could be very easy for it to happen to another patient that would be life threatening. This is like the hospital in Corpus Christi that gave the wrong medication to a baby, and the baby died. This is a funny situation with the old man, but it is a serious topic and should not be over looked.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
op-ed
The Liars That Run Our Country
By Will Hopkins
Guest Writer for the Chronicle
There is a pandemic running ramped in our wonderful country right under our noses. I think we all can see it, but no one knows how to stop it or even if they can. What is this horrific travesty? It is the fact that our government officials not only flash things up but the lie straight to the citizens. They are so interested in getting votes and so disinterested in how they get them. This is a vicious cycle that both parties are playing, one goes just a step further and pushes the other to do the same and it only gets worse.
Now I realize that these men (and women) are under a lot of pressure and a lot of microscopes from everywhere, but still. It should not ever occur to them that during a speech they can spout whatever they like to get people on their side. It almost seems silly to think that this would be a problem, but the issue is we all have become so accustomed to it we do not see it as such a large problem. We have become desensitized to lying politicians. Not only has that become their stereotype, but it is widely accepted and even joked about. How can the people that run our country and make these decisions with global implications be seen as nothing more than liars with good people skills?
All lying aside, there are still more topics that can be seen as suspect up a politicians sleeve. These people are smart, don’t get me wrong, they know how to connect and please people. That is why they have such flashy spectacles to take our minds of what they are saying. They have many ways to do this. They build huge sets to give a speech or have balloons and confetti. They have unnecessary light shows and fireworks, you name it and they are using it to entertain the public enough to earn a vote.
That is another question, is that even considered earning a vote? I would say no, I would say they are buying votes or doing cheap tricks for votes. Do we want a president who was voted in by amused people or by people who actually know the topics and heard what the candidates have to say on these topics?
Now, it seems that if you take away all of this entertainment we are left with boring and candidates that are not interesting. This is not the case. Some of the most interesting people in our history did not need all these spectacles; they relied on their own stances on topics and charisma. These people are remembered for doing what was right and not giving in to anything. I feel some of the politicians today have fallen into the trap of trying to please everyone when they are actually there to run the government and protect ourselves and or rights. We do not need anymore stand up comedians or magicians, we need some men and women who will stand up on solid group and not be afraid to say the truth and be real with America.
I am not going to pick a side in this article because for this area or politics, both parties are guilty and both need to be fixed. It is not a mater of one running a cleaner campaign than the other. If your campaign is based on something that is just a small fraction false it is a dirty campaign. It is sad to see that both parties have come to this state but this should just further the realization that something must be done to fix both parties and all of our highly prized free government.
Yet, we as Americans do almost nothing to stop this. We abstain from voting like that will show our discontent, but does that really make the politicians see our views? No. We have to take a stand. I realize most Americans do not want to make a scene or be looked as like a crazy person, so all I ask is that we all take a deeper look at not only what the candidates are saying, but look at the facts and do some research. Focus on what is import to you as a person, citizen, and voter and do not be distracted by all the bells and whistles they might be using to cloud the real topics.
.
By Will Hopkins
Guest Writer for the Chronicle
There is a pandemic running ramped in our wonderful country right under our noses. I think we all can see it, but no one knows how to stop it or even if they can. What is this horrific travesty? It is the fact that our government officials not only flash things up but the lie straight to the citizens. They are so interested in getting votes and so disinterested in how they get them. This is a vicious cycle that both parties are playing, one goes just a step further and pushes the other to do the same and it only gets worse.
Now I realize that these men (and women) are under a lot of pressure and a lot of microscopes from everywhere, but still. It should not ever occur to them that during a speech they can spout whatever they like to get people on their side. It almost seems silly to think that this would be a problem, but the issue is we all have become so accustomed to it we do not see it as such a large problem. We have become desensitized to lying politicians. Not only has that become their stereotype, but it is widely accepted and even joked about. How can the people that run our country and make these decisions with global implications be seen as nothing more than liars with good people skills?
All lying aside, there are still more topics that can be seen as suspect up a politicians sleeve. These people are smart, don’t get me wrong, they know how to connect and please people. That is why they have such flashy spectacles to take our minds of what they are saying. They have many ways to do this. They build huge sets to give a speech or have balloons and confetti. They have unnecessary light shows and fireworks, you name it and they are using it to entertain the public enough to earn a vote.
That is another question, is that even considered earning a vote? I would say no, I would say they are buying votes or doing cheap tricks for votes. Do we want a president who was voted in by amused people or by people who actually know the topics and heard what the candidates have to say on these topics?
Now, it seems that if you take away all of this entertainment we are left with boring and candidates that are not interesting. This is not the case. Some of the most interesting people in our history did not need all these spectacles; they relied on their own stances on topics and charisma. These people are remembered for doing what was right and not giving in to anything. I feel some of the politicians today have fallen into the trap of trying to please everyone when they are actually there to run the government and protect ourselves and or rights. We do not need anymore stand up comedians or magicians, we need some men and women who will stand up on solid group and not be afraid to say the truth and be real with America.
I am not going to pick a side in this article because for this area or politics, both parties are guilty and both need to be fixed. It is not a mater of one running a cleaner campaign than the other. If your campaign is based on something that is just a small fraction false it is a dirty campaign. It is sad to see that both parties have come to this state but this should just further the realization that something must be done to fix both parties and all of our highly prized free government.
Yet, we as Americans do almost nothing to stop this. We abstain from voting like that will show our discontent, but does that really make the politicians see our views? No. We have to take a stand. I realize most Americans do not want to make a scene or be looked as like a crazy person, so all I ask is that we all take a deeper look at not only what the candidates are saying, but look at the facts and do some research. Focus on what is import to you as a person, citizen, and voter and do not be distracted by all the bells and whistles they might be using to cloud the real topics.
.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Argument of Definion
I guess my argument of definition would be more related to the conditions. The definition being argued here is that some people believe that age is just a number. In the Houston Chronicle there was a story of a woman who stole her daughter's ID so she could go to the local high school and be on the cheer leading team.
The mother was doing this because she said she had not had these experiences growing up so she wanted to have them now in her life. The daughter lives in another state with her father, so they were unaware of this action. But, I guess the argument is that some people get upset when they are considered too old or too young. This can be seen and somewhat a legitimate excuse for feeling left out, but this example here does not help this at all. It is kind of scary to think someone can pull this of and go to a few classes. Oh and by the way the mom was 35 years old.
The mother was doing this because she said she had not had these experiences growing up so she wanted to have them now in her life. The daughter lives in another state with her father, so they were unaware of this action. But, I guess the argument is that some people get upset when they are considered too old or too young. This can be seen and somewhat a legitimate excuse for feeling left out, but this example here does not help this at all. It is kind of scary to think someone can pull this of and go to a few classes. Oh and by the way the mom was 35 years old.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Argument of Fact
My argument of fact once again comes form the wonderful newspaper from Houston. It is about how Hurricane Ike might alter the political scene in Texas. It makes the statement that Ike could have not only altered people's living arrangements, and families but it could also have a direct impact on the number of Democrats or Republicans in the senate and house from Texas.
The reason it could change this is because with the election coming up there is question whether the residents will be back in time or if the will have enough time to do the mail in ballots. This is a very interesting scenario, one not seen very often. There will be accommodations for the evacuated people, they are talking about satellite polling, but regardless, time has been lost to campaign and that will have some impact in the election. To what extent, we can only wait and see.
The reason it could change this is because with the election coming up there is question whether the residents will be back in time or if the will have enough time to do the mail in ballots. This is a very interesting scenario, one not seen very often. There will be accommodations for the evacuated people, they are talking about satellite polling, but regardless, time has been lost to campaign and that will have some impact in the election. To what extent, we can only wait and see.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Letter to the Editor
The thought of a person lying to you makes you mad, does it not? This would make any normal person at least upset. And that is totally understandable, so why can some people get away with it?
Mr. Dobbs makes a very good point here in how he shows the candidates in numerous lies. Each presidential candidate and vice president are all guilty of this “un punishable” crime. They are allowed to say almost what ever they like in order to sway the public to vote for them. The worst part is that we, the people, just stand there blindly clapping and nodding our heads. We should have enough common sense or enough aptitude to go out and look up the real details for ourselves.
It would seem like making a researched decision would be a very ideal and normal thing to do, when in fact it is almost the opposite. The titles on CNN and other national and local news stations read “Your Decision 2008” when in fact it is mostly the media’s decision in how they read the news. This could be remedied if people looked for unbiased news and made an effort to know the facts.
The bias in most news stories can be very annoying, but Mr. Dobbs really did well in his article to not just focus on one side but to critique both sides’ arguments. If there were more writers and articles like this it would help the normal citizen sift through the completely slanted pieces. Especially for writing for the Washington Post I can imagine it being very hard to write an article that does not learn any particular way. Also it was good of the Houston Chronicle to use this article because it gives a good view of fairness to what could be a more conservative paper.
This also goes both ways though. The reader can not go into an article already hating it because then it just gets nothing solved. There has to be some sort of neutral ground where the writer and reader are both open and willing to listen and be fair. This perfect world situation seems very good in theory but in the real world conditions this could not happen very often. It seems something like this could maybe happen in a world where the politicians do not have to lie and make false promises to get votes.
That is another great issue brought up: these politicians are lying to our faces. They say things that hold no weight and they stand upon these statements. How is it that the leaders of our country can lie their way into office? It seems that the whole institution has become a huge debacle. And, that is a very sad thing to watch because it is held in very high regard not only in our country but by other people in other countries.
On the whole it was refreshing to read this article for quite a few reasons and the timing of it was perfect in how it was available when many questions were being asked of the validity of the candidates’ arguments and even their characters.
Author’s Note:
1: This is the first draft
2: I feel the paper is okay, I really did not know how to start the paper off, or how to close it.
3: Not really sure if I made too many arguments or how it flowed, also did I relate the article enough? Do I need to?
Mr. Dobbs makes a very good point here in how he shows the candidates in numerous lies. Each presidential candidate and vice president are all guilty of this “un punishable” crime. They are allowed to say almost what ever they like in order to sway the public to vote for them. The worst part is that we, the people, just stand there blindly clapping and nodding our heads. We should have enough common sense or enough aptitude to go out and look up the real details for ourselves.
It would seem like making a researched decision would be a very ideal and normal thing to do, when in fact it is almost the opposite. The titles on CNN and other national and local news stations read “Your Decision 2008” when in fact it is mostly the media’s decision in how they read the news. This could be remedied if people looked for unbiased news and made an effort to know the facts.
The bias in most news stories can be very annoying, but Mr. Dobbs really did well in his article to not just focus on one side but to critique both sides’ arguments. If there were more writers and articles like this it would help the normal citizen sift through the completely slanted pieces. Especially for writing for the Washington Post I can imagine it being very hard to write an article that does not learn any particular way. Also it was good of the Houston Chronicle to use this article because it gives a good view of fairness to what could be a more conservative paper.
This also goes both ways though. The reader can not go into an article already hating it because then it just gets nothing solved. There has to be some sort of neutral ground where the writer and reader are both open and willing to listen and be fair. This perfect world situation seems very good in theory but in the real world conditions this could not happen very often. It seems something like this could maybe happen in a world where the politicians do not have to lie and make false promises to get votes.
That is another great issue brought up: these politicians are lying to our faces. They say things that hold no weight and they stand upon these statements. How is it that the leaders of our country can lie their way into office? It seems that the whole institution has become a huge debacle. And, that is a very sad thing to watch because it is held in very high regard not only in our country but by other people in other countries.
On the whole it was refreshing to read this article for quite a few reasons and the timing of it was perfect in how it was available when many questions were being asked of the validity of the candidates’ arguments and even their characters.
Author’s Note:
1: This is the first draft
2: I feel the paper is okay, I really did not know how to start the paper off, or how to close it.
3: Not really sure if I made too many arguments or how it flowed, also did I relate the article enough? Do I need to?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
My topic
For this blog I looked on the Houston Chronicle's web site and found an article about how the presidential candidates and their vice precedents have made some shaky claims and the author shows how the comments could be misleading and nonfactual.
This is a very interesting article because it shows how the candidates can say tiny little things that the public takes as truth and that if we knew more we would be able to see through the arguments. This also somewhat shows the bad part of politics, saying what ever you have to say to get elected. That can be a pretty disheartening fact, yet we can not expect these men (and woman) to be completely perfect no matter how hard we want them to be.
The author gives some logos to back his statements to show the falsehood of the comments. It is good that there are people out there who find the facts about these things because the normal citizen needs to be informed but often does not have the resources and time to find the complete truth.
here is the story if you are interested in reading it
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5989032.html
This is a very interesting article because it shows how the candidates can say tiny little things that the public takes as truth and that if we knew more we would be able to see through the arguments. This also somewhat shows the bad part of politics, saying what ever you have to say to get elected. That can be a pretty disheartening fact, yet we can not expect these men (and woman) to be completely perfect no matter how hard we want them to be.
The author gives some logos to back his statements to show the falsehood of the comments. It is good that there are people out there who find the facts about these things because the normal citizen needs to be informed but often does not have the resources and time to find the complete truth.
here is the story if you are interested in reading it
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5989032.html
Monday, September 8, 2008
08 Election
Well, I kind of feel bad because as I looked at some of the other blogs on this topic I really felt uninformed but I did learn a lot just from reading everyone else's entry on the topic. I found some issues I feel are important to me in the future.
Some of these issues are about energy. I do think we need to start using all our natural resources, that would keep us from being dependent on other countries. Also, making clean energy is making a big push now and I think it is a big problem we have really overlooked. I am glad now we are trying to fix it though.
Honestly I do not know enough about taxes and that part of the election to have an input, but I would like to see stem cell research used. Again, on this issue I do not know what it all means I just know it could help a lot of people.
This blog is really making me want to be informed and make my own decisions not just the opinions I get off of T.V. or my friends and family. So, we will see how my views and interests change over the semester.
Some of these issues are about energy. I do think we need to start using all our natural resources, that would keep us from being dependent on other countries. Also, making clean energy is making a big push now and I think it is a big problem we have really overlooked. I am glad now we are trying to fix it though.
Honestly I do not know enough about taxes and that part of the election to have an input, but I would like to see stem cell research used. Again, on this issue I do not know what it all means I just know it could help a lot of people.
This blog is really making me want to be informed and make my own decisions not just the opinions I get off of T.V. or my friends and family. So, we will see how my views and interests change over the semester.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Logos Argument
For this blog I chose a picture of a billboard in Iowa. The billboard shows an electrical cord plugged into a piece of coal. The words on the ad say "You're looking at 50%( the 50 is crossed out) 78% of our electricity." They are talking about how they are using clean coal to power most of the power needs Iowa has.
I think this an example of logos in how it has a statistic in the ad. Also the lower percent is crossed out leaving the greater one. It is only logical that a person would appreciate the higher number being used for clean electricity. As we had talked about on Tuesday I feel this overlaps with pathos in how it is using clean energy and that is a big emotional push right now to help our environment. It is just interesting that such a simple sign can have so much depth.
I think this an example of logos in how it has a statistic in the ad. Also the lower percent is crossed out leaving the greater one. It is only logical that a person would appreciate the higher number being used for clean electricity. As we had talked about on Tuesday I feel this overlaps with pathos in how it is using clean energy and that is a big emotional push right now to help our environment. It is just interesting that such a simple sign can have so much depth.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Pathos Blog
This blog is about my example of a pathos image I found. The one I chose is a picture of a homeless man looking very defeated into the camera. His eyes look very sad and in need of help. In the corner there some words which read, "Help. So that no one have to come here for food" It is from a foreign organization that helps homeless people. I feel like the ad is trying to use people emotions to make them feel bad and that they should help the homeless people.
I am not sure if the words are just translated poorly or they tried to use bad grammar to help prove their point. Either way it makes you think about how hard these people have it and how lucky we are. That is what I think these people are trying to play on, our comfort compared to the homeless people's discomfort.
I am not sure if the words are just translated poorly or they tried to use bad grammar to help prove their point. Either way it makes you think about how hard these people have it and how lucky we are. That is what I think these people are trying to play on, our comfort compared to the homeless people's discomfort.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Blog 1
My name is Will Hopkins, I am a sophomore at Texas Christian University. I play ultimate Frisbee and am also involved in Young Life. I coach at a local high school in Fort Worth. I coach tennis and men's volleyball. I am from Houston, Texas and I am majoring in religion. I really enjoy watching baseball, my favorite team is the Houston Astros.
I am taking this class mostly because it is required, but I also hope to improve my writing level as that will be very important to me in my life. I have always taken English classes in school so have written a lot, but only one year in high school did I actually think I improved. I have been pretty static in my writing. Now the only writing I really do outside of school is on facebook, on text messages, or this new blog I just made.
I have never been that interested in politics, I know it is very important and shapes my country and my life but all the politicians never really excite me. I have never been involved in student council, but I have some friends who are and I like them, so that is pretty cool. My least favorite part of politics is this part, the election part. My favorite part is after November. I think the argument I was making earlier was one that involves meditation in how I am trying to improve my writing. Also I am showing who I am, thus and informative argument.
I read the syllabus and it looks good, I am excited to explore my writing, and to make decisions on my political stance.
I am taking this class mostly because it is required, but I also hope to improve my writing level as that will be very important to me in my life. I have always taken English classes in school so have written a lot, but only one year in high school did I actually think I improved. I have been pretty static in my writing. Now the only writing I really do outside of school is on facebook, on text messages, or this new blog I just made.
I have never been that interested in politics, I know it is very important and shapes my country and my life but all the politicians never really excite me. I have never been involved in student council, but I have some friends who are and I like them, so that is pretty cool. My least favorite part of politics is this part, the election part. My favorite part is after November. I think the argument I was making earlier was one that involves meditation in how I am trying to improve my writing. Also I am showing who I am, thus and informative argument.
I read the syllabus and it looks good, I am excited to explore my writing, and to make decisions on my political stance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)