Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Reflecting More on My Writing Experiences

This is the blog post where I will just be further reflecting on how I've grown as a writer or maybe how I haven't over the course of the semester.


1. What were the biggest challenges you faced this semester, overall?
          My biggest challenge I think was time management.  I know that we (as a class) constantly complained about the immense amount of time that we each spent on the blogging and on the projects and the editing.  It was really hard to adjust to and I realized that the hardest part of all of this work was trying to find the best way to approach doing all of this including the other work that our other classes required. It was really hard to figure out a good schedule, however by the second month I think I finally figured out that the best way to get all of this work done while having time to breathe and to also get the loads and loads of homework and studying done for my other classes.  It was really hard to get used to the workload of this class, but once I figured that out, it really wasn't as much of a problem.
      The only other challenge that I faced this semester was finding the motivation to actually do these projects.  I knew that I was motivated to do well on these for the good grade, but I wanted to be able to get something out of the project since it had to do with my majors.  So the first project was a bit tricky and by the third project I had finally found things that I knew I would enjoy writing about.  And I definitely think that it showed in my work and the amount of work that I put into each of the projects as my motivation increased as the semester progressed.

2. What did you learn this semester about your own time management, writing and editorial skills?
        As I said in the question above, I really learned about the amount of work that I have isn't going to change much over the years, and that is how real life is, so learning how to manage my time was really helpful in this class.  I think that learning the right amount of time that I needed to save for each class took a lot of time to figure out but once I sort of perfected it, I think that I became much more successful.  My writing skills I think have improved a little bit.  I definitely don't feel 100% confident with my writing now, however, I definitely think that I have found what I can and cannot do well.  So, I know that when I find a topic that really interests me, I am able to write much more clear and better on that specific topic.  However, in the first project, I was not entirely confident in my writing or what I was writing on.  My editorial skills have improved though.  Now I know what is and is not appropriate in certain genres and what does and does not sound good in certain types of writing.

3. What do you know about the concept of 'genre'? Explain how understanding this concept is central to being a more effective writer.
       I now much better understand the concept of "genre". When I first started this class, I really didn't know that genre could come in all different forms of writing.  I really just thought that there were genres as in types of books like horror genre or the nonfiction genre but I didn't know that an essay or a podcast counted as different types of genres as well.  It really opened my eyes to the importance of understanding the ins and outs of each genre so that I can most effectively write for this specific genre and get the information needed out to the audience in a clear and effective way.

4. What skills from this course might you use and/or develop further in the next few years of college coursework?
      As I said earlier, I definitely think that this course work will help me understand the importance of time management as my college years go by as well as in my life after college.  Everything will always be busy and I am just going to have to really get used to organizing time for everything that needs to have time spent on it.  I also think that it proved that I have the dedication and the motivation to get projects done in all different kinds of genres.  Since we live in a technology generation, I know that I am going to need to spend time working on different genres in the technological genres.  Like I am going to need to probably make a lot of informative videos and learn to communicate really well in all different kinds of ways and I think that this course work has really helped prepare me for that.

5. What was your most effective moment from this semester in 109H?
       I think my most effective moment from this semester was the moment that I finished my third project.  I had put so much effort and time into that project, so finishing it really made me feel so good and accomplished.  I think that that was the most definitive moment of how much work I had put into this semester and all of the work and time that I spent on these projects and blogs.

6. What was your least effective moment from this semester in 109H?
        I think that my least effective moment from this semester was when I was trying to figure out what to talk about in my interviews for the second project.  I really didn't understand the project well enough to know what to ask so I struggled a lot with my first interview since I had scheduled it so early on and we hadn't really discussed much at that time.  It was kind of a mess, but I got over it...eventually.





Revisiting My Writing Process

Oh man this brought back soooo many memories.  Even though this was only a few months ago, it is crazy to think how much I have done since January not only in this class but throughout this whole school year.  In this blog post, I am reflecting on some of the first blog posts that I created.  They were on my writing process (being a heavy reviser) and my Calendar Reflection.

    Not too much has changed in how I start my writing process since when I first started analyzing how I approached the whole writing process.  I think that my approach is still just do a whole really really rough version of the essay or whatever it is that I am making and then find the time to really crack down on the whole editing thing.  I have found that that is where I am most successful.  When I am able to just get all of my ideas out on the first draft and then be able to just edit and cut things or add things from there.  As long as I am able to actually get all of my original ideas out (no matter how rough they really are) it is really helpful for me to get all of that out somewhere so that I don't have to worry about losing those ideas later on when I am trying to cram everything into one night.

     However, the way that I manage my time and the amount of time that I spend on each of these projects.  I have learned that I do not work well under a time constraint.  I really learned a lot about myself this semester with all of these projects.  I realized that I need to start working on projects way earlier and get the blog posts done earlier in the week so that on the weekends I can spend more time focusing on the actual projects.  I also realized that I needed to spend a lot of quality time learning how to use the different applications on my laptop to make some of the projects.  I had to remember how to work GarageBand and iMovie again.  Other than that, I still think that I work real hard on everything.  I definitely think that all of this will help me in the future with my job working with people and learning how to properly and professionally communicate with all different kinds of audiences.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Peer Review for Michaela Harrington

This is where I will locally edit Michaela Harrington's podcast on Fracking.  I made a re-design recommendation for her project.

On her post I made sure to discuss her use of genre conventions for a podcast.  Since it had a good amount of opening music and sound effects, it really made a good impression and made me want to keep listening to her podcast and what she had to say about these earthquakes.  I thought that it would help to keep those sound effects as solid throughout the rest of the podcast however.  I think that without these sound effects and the music, the podcast might be a bit dull and not keep the audience entertained for that long since there are no visuals in a podcast.  The audio and the background noises are vital for good podcasts to be effective.

I made sure to mention that the sources are a good part to the podcast.  On page 72 of the Student Guide she follows really well the bullet points that explain how to properly use the sources in her podcast so that her claims are supported well and the audience has a sense of credibility towards her and her knowledge on this specific topic of "fracking".  I really admire how she speaks with an ease to her and it flowed very nicely and was very easy to understand which is a really important aspect of a podcast since the audio is the only way that the audience can interpret the information.

Peer Review for Bianca Aguilar

This is where I will edit (locally) Bianca's Video Essay on "Voluntourism".  This is the revised section of the meaning behind the word voluntourism for her project.

What I told her was that she had a lot of good content and a lot of evidence that provides a good amount of support for her claims that social media can be both good and bad for volunteer trips.  However I made sure to let her know that it might be helpful to include more about the "bad" uses of social media because it was mainly focused on the beneficial parts.  I just thought that it would be an important part to include because in class we talked about the importance of providing a counterargument.  I made a recommendation about re-design because I thought that it would be important to include some sort of background music to fill in the silent spaces during the pauses/breaks she takes in between topics.  I think that it is a vital part of the video essay genre and it would help her video essay tremendously.
     I also mentioned that in the Student's Guide on page 72, the sources bullet point, was used in her video very nicely.  I said that she made her sources reliable (since they were her own experiences being on a volunteer trip that was NOT considered voluntourism).  I think that the credibility of her sources really helped her out a lot with this video.
     I really liked that aspect of her video.  The fact that she could very easily explain what it was like to be on a volunteer trip without the negative effects of social media was inspiring and it made the video super cool to watch and learn about.


Reflection on the Post-Production Week (MAKING THE FINAL CUT)

Here is where I am going to rant about how much time and effort I put into this project and where I am going to most definitely toot my own horn because I am damn proud of this video essay.   So TOOT TOOT TOOOT TOOT TOOOOOT.


1. What were some of the successes (or, things that went right) during this week’s process work? Explain, with evidence.
Let me just say that having so little success with the rough cut allowed me to make this week full of successes. Not only did I finish this video essay, but I perfected it and made sure that everything was as great as possible. I re-wrote the script multiple times until I thought that I really had a good organization of the information that could be presented to the audience that I made it for. Once I got into the groove, everything seemed to go right. I found all the right pictures (which by the way was hard hard HARD work). I made sure that each picture matched up with what I was saying. I made sure that my voice was clear and that I spoke slowly enough. It was kinda fun to make all this once I started getting my mojo. It's amazing how much more efficient I am with my work when I actually enjoy what I am doing. 
2. What were some of the challenges (or, things that went wrong) during this week’s process work? Explain, with evidence.
Starting to deal with all of the things that just went to crap during last week and the week before, I found it very difficult to even know where to begin. However, I know that I got through it with grace and a sense of maturity. Yes, I ate a pint of ice cream while doing it, but I enjoyed every second (of both the ice cream and the making of the video). Other than just some small computer glitches and the actual starting of the real project, I found that this was a pretty successful project.  

3. How do you think next week will go, based on your experiences this week?
Next week will be a breeze since I have finished the project that I am so so proud of. However I will be starting the next project in this class, as well as taking two very important Physiology tests. I think that if I put as much effort and dedication into this following week as I did for this week with this project, I will be extremely successful (Toot toot).

4. How are you feeling about the project overall at this point?
I LOVE THIS PROJECT SO MUCH. I went home this weekend and showed my neighbors and my family because I was so proud of it and I wanted them to learn about the topic that I chose. Watching them all watch it and then having a nice discussion about it afterwards really made me feel good about myself. I never thought that I could enjoy a writing project, but the time has come finally, and I think that this is the project that made me a decent writer. I have finally followed through with the title of my blog.

Editorial Report 13b

Here is the blog post that will be one of the final edits (locally) of the video essay.  I will be comparing it from how it was in the rough cut to the final cut.

1. How did the content change (even slightly - details matter!) when you re-edited it? Why do you think the content is being communicated more effectively in the re-edited version?
The content changed a lot since I re-edited it. This is because I really worked out all of the kinks that were present in the rough cut. I made sure the things that I was saying the background made enough sense and was clear enough to be understood by an audience who didn't know much about this subject. I also think that this final cut is much more smooth than the other rough cuts. I worked on my word choice and the organization of how I told the information to the audience. I wanted the information to flow in a nice way that would all make sense so that it wasn't a complete mess of ideas going back and forth leaving the audience quite confused. It is because of these changes that I think that I was able to more effectively communicate with the audience about this specific topic. Since this involves a little bit of science to understand the negative effects of the immense amounts of screen times, I thought that it would only be more beneficial to break the info down in a way that would more easily be understood for those who aren't aware of what some might say is "easy" science.

2. How did the form change (even slightly - details matter!) when you re-edited it? Why do you think the form is presenting the content more effectively in the re-edited version?
As I said above, the form changed when I re-edited it because I made the transitions much more smooth. I made sure that the pictures weren't being switched too quickly and that the music wasn't overpowering my voice. I also made sure to lower the volume of the background music so that it wasn't taking away the importance of what it was saying. I wanted the music to just be there so that it wasn't complete silence and then just my voice the whole time. I picked a simple little guitar medley that stayed constant throughout the whole podcast. I also made sure to include sources at the end of the video, as well as little texts throughout the video on the important details to make sure that the audience REALLY could understand through my voice AND through visuals. I highlighted the even more important parts of those pieces to further point out its importance.

Selection from Rough Cut: here

Re-Edited Version: here (0:53-1:30)

Editorial Report 13a

Here is the blog post that will be one of the final edits (locally) of the video essay.  I will be comparing it from how it was in the rough cut to the final cut.

1. How did the content change (even slightly - details matter!) when you re-edited it? Why do you think the content is being communicated more effectively in the re-edited version?
The content changed a lot since I re-edited it. This is because I really worked out all of the kinks that were present in the rough cut. I made sure the things that I was saying the background made enough sense and was clear enough to be understood by an audience who didn't know much about this subject. I also think that this final cut is much more smooth than the other rough cuts. I worked on my word choice and the organization of how I told the information to the audience. I wanted the information to flow in a nice way that would all make sense so that it wasn't a complete mess of ideas going back and forth leaving the audience quite confused. It is because of these changes that I think that I was able to more effectively communicate with the audience about this specific topic. Since this involves a little bit of science to understand the negative effects of the immense amounts of screen times, I thought that it would only be more beneficial to break the info down in a way that would more easily be understood for those who aren't aware of what some might say is "easy" science.

2. How did the form change (even slightly - details matter!) when you re-edited it? Why do you think the form is presenting the content more effectively in the re-edited version?
As I said above, the form changed when I re-edited it because I made the transitions much more smooth. I made sure that the pictures weren't being switched too quickly and that the music wasn't overpowering my voice. I also made sure to lower the volume of the background music so that it wasn't taking away the importance of what it was saying. I wanted the music to just be there so that it wasn't complete silence and then just my voice the whole time. I picked a simple little guitar medley that stayed constant throughout the whole podcast. I also made sure to include sources at the end of the video, as well as little texts throughout the video on the important details to make sure that the audience REALLY could understand through my voice AND through visuals. I highlighted the even more important parts of those pieces to further point out its importance.


Selection from Rough Cut: here

Re-edited Selection: here (0- 0:53)


Revised Post to Peer Reviewers

Here is where my final edition of my video essay will be posted.

FINAL CUT: Here

Audience Question: What are you anticipating the post-production process to be like, based on what you accomplished during the production phase?
I thought that this week went rather nicely compared to the actual production phase when I was not very successful with the amount of work that I was able to get done. That being said, I thought that it was really good to be able to see the suggestions that I was given through my peers. I thought that seeing what other people thought about my project was extremely helpful considering that I had been staring at the project for hours sand hours on end. I thought that I was going to go crazy but to have more feedback was extremely helpful.

For anyone that is editing or peer reviewing my video, just know that I put in a lot of time and a lot of effort into this project and I made a lot of different edits and drafts so that the script would sound nice and organized. However if there is something that you think would make or break the whole video essay that is vital to the purpose or any of the rhetorical strategies, please let me know. Otherwise, I don't think that there is much that could be wrong with this. I have had a lot of people who were not knowledgable on the subject of screen time but it was very easy for them to understand and they thought that it was really well done (NOT TO TOOT MY OWN HORN AGAIN)... I am just really proud of the work that I have put into this video essay.
The only weakness that I can think of is that some of the pictures that I used may be too repetitive in a way even though they are not the same pictures used more than once.





Friday, April 15, 2016

Peer Review for James Fusaro

In this blog post, I will be peer editing James' standard college essay on the First Amendment. I am going to make a re-design recommendation for his essay.

     Here is where I commented on his essay. I made sure to include the reasons why I chose to do the re-design recommendation for his standard college essay.  I found that his big chunk of words was a bit overwhelming when I first looked at it, so I suggested that he double space his paragraph and maybe separate it into two different paragraphs since there were some topic changes throughout.  The only other thing that I thought he should add was a better topic sentence that would more clearly state his main idea for this body paragraph.  Instead, he seems to just go straight into the details of his argument which left me a bit confused and I had to reread the paragraph a few times.
     I think that besides those things, his essay was very well written and had a lot of good credible points (pg 72 from the Student's Guide).  I really admired the way that he presented the information in such a nice and organized way.  It made the information much easier to understand, which also shows that he understands the topic very well.

Peer Review for David's Podcast on Comedy

In this blog entry, I will be editing (globally) the podcast that David made on the subject of Satire disappearing in comedy.   It is called "Satire is Making Way for Absurdism".

     Here are the comments that I left on his blog post.  For this peer review, I chose to use the copy- editing recommendation for David because his design seemed to be just fine.  In this edit, I made sure to compliment his use of examples as well as his laid back voice that would relate well to the type of audience that would listen to his podcast.  I did also mention that maybe his laid backness might seem to ruin his credibility a little bit with the small mistakes he makes when speaking, but at the same time, he included a lot of information that was legit and supported his claims very nicely. On page 72 of the Student's Guide, it brings up sources, and I complimented his use of good sources because they are well known sources, like Saturday Night Live.
    I think that if anything, I just helped David understand that there should be a good balance between the laid backness of his tone and his credibility and sincerity as well.  I really admired his use of comedy in the opening of the podcast though because it got me intrigued immediately.  So good job David!



Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Reflection on Post-Production Week

This is how this week went and how I'm feeling about the coming weeks with the closing of this project.


1. What were some of the successes (or, things that went right) during this week’s process work? Explain, with evidence. 
I really liked this week because I realized how well this project was going to go now that I know how I wanted things to go. I finally understood how to use iMovie and I learned how to better make the visual and audio relationship flow. This week was hard and it took a lot of time to get all of this done, however I am very pleased with how far this project has come since last week with the rough cut.

2. What were some of the challenges (or, things that went wrong) during this week’s process work? Explain, with evidence.
Some of the challenges, however, were that it took a lot of time to get all of the work done in the week that we were given. Since my rough cut really was so bad and very very rough, I pretty much had to start from scratch because I got so many helpful criticisms on my rough cut. I realized that it was way easier to just start over and re-write the script. Re-writing the script was really hard but I think that it was best for the betterment of the project.

3. How do you think next week will go, based on your experiences this week?
I think that next week will go very nicely because I got all of the hard stuff out of the way this week. I realize that next week I am still going to be editing my video, but the editing will not be as significant as this week's editing was. Hopefully, next week will be a breeze because I also have a lot of tests next week that I need to focus on.

4. How are you feeling about the project overall at this point?
I think that this project is going much much better now that I have finished this first part of the editing process. The hardest part is now over and I can focus on fixing the little things. I think that this project was a lot harder than the other 2 that we have done, but I also found that his project was the most enjoyable. This was a fun project because it involved a topic that I actually really enjoyed talking about.

Open Post to Peer Reviewers

Here ya go peers... my rough cut that I submitted last week.  Just remember that it is VERY rough.  I am currently working out all the kinks and adding a LOT more to the video... so keep that in mind :)

Rough Cut


Audience Question: What are you anticipating the post-production process to be like, based on what you accomplished during the production phase?
I expect the post-production phase to be a lot of work, since I did not really have the time to get much done in the actual production phase. I know what I need to do and I know how I plan on doing it, it is just the actually doing it part that will be the most time consuming. So, I understand if there are a lot of comments about fixing a lot of different things.

Things I'd Like Y'all to know/watch out for:
- this is a very rough cut
-I plan on fixing the pictures and re-doing the voiceover
-let me know if the statistics make sense
-If you know how to put a segment of a youtube video in iMovie that'd be great
- If something is confusing in the beginning, or I didn't explain something right, please let me know
- I have a lot more info and stats and studies to back up my claims for a good solution to this problem, so keep that in mind
- If you can think of other visuals that would make this more appealing to you as a viewer, that'd be great as well

Editorial Report 12b

In this section, I will be editing with global revisions, taking into account the peer reviews from production week.  There will be a link where you can compare the rough cut to the recently edited draft of this video essay.


1. How did the content change (even slightly - details matter!) when you re-edited it? Why do you think the content is being communicated more effectively in the re-edited version?
  I think the content changed a lot with my new edits. I made sure to make the main paragraphs ( the main section) flow much better and make sure that the audience was able to interact more and feel connected to the video. I changed the opening section to relate more to the actual public argument. I got some comments on my opening not relating well to the rest of my video, so I took those into account and completely re-did the beginning because I realized that if the beginning is not good, then the audience won't want to spend their time watching the rest of the video. I also changed the pictures of the video so that they weren't so repetitive and matched better with what I was saying in the audio section.

2. How did the form change (even slightly - details matter!) when you re-edited it? Why do you think the form is presenting the content more effectively in the re-edited version?
The only thing that I didn't change was the fact that my face is not showing in this video. I did not feel comfortable showing my face in this video and I didn't think that it was necessary in order to prove my point. I have pictures and statistics and my voiceover in the background which I fully believe will help to get my point across. I think that overall my form stayed the same, I just am really making sure that my voice is extra strong and that I do not sound monotone over the microphone. I also know that I am reading from a script, but I do not want the video to sound too scripted and memorized. I want it to flow and be enjoyable as well as interesting for the audience.


Rough Cut: here

Re-Edited Version: here (start at 0:52-1:48)

Editorial Post 12a

In this section, I will be editing with global revisions, taking into account the peer reviews from production week.  There will be a link where you can compare the rough cut to the recently edited draft of this video essay.


1. How did the content change (even slightly - details matter!) when you re-edited it? Why do you think the content is being communicated more effectively in the re-edited version?
  I think the content changed a lot with my new edits. I changed the opening section to relate more to the actual public argument. I got some comments on my opening not relating well to the rest of my video, so I took those into account and completely re-did the beginning because I realized that if the beginning is not good, then the audience won't want to spend their time watching the rest of the video. I also changed the pictures of the video so that they weren't so repetitive and matched better with what I was saying in the audio section.

2. How did the form change (even slightly - details matter!) when you re-edited it? Why do you think the form is presenting the content more effectively in the re-edited version?
The only thing that I didn't change was the fact that my face is not showing in this video. I did not feel comfortable showing my face in this video and I didn't think that it was necessary in order to prove my point. I have pictures and statistics and my voiceover in the background which I fully believe will help to get my point across. I think that overall my form stayed the same, I just am really making sure that my voice is extra strong and that I do not sound monotone over the microphone. I also know that I am reading from a script, but I do not want the video to sound too scripted and memorized. I want it to flow and be enjoyable as well as interesting for the audience.


Rough Cut: here

Re-Edited Version: here (end at 0:51)

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Peer Review 11b

This is a blog post for Mariana's podcast on the patient's charts and why they are important.

Here is where I wrote my comments on her blog post where she published her rough cut.
I chose to review her project using the "form" activity recommendations because I think that is where it needed the most work.  I think that I helped her understand that background music while she is talking is a good idea, but with the wrong type of background music, her voice (which is already very quiet) can be overpowering to her voice and the important things she is saying.   I made sure to note that a soft and calm background noise would not be a bad idea, but if it is too distracting, the audience may not want to listen to the podcast if too much is going on.  I also made sure to include a reference to page 72, #4 on the list, Use of Evidence, because I think it would be helpful for her audience to know that the information on the patients charts were coming from somewhere credible, and she was not just making up the information.

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to the rough cut of this podcast.  It made me really interested in this topic and I found myself wanting to know more about it.  I am really looking forward to hearing the final cut of this podcast!

Peer Review 11a

This is a blog post about the peer review that I did for Emily's QRG.

Here you can find the comments that I left on her post!

    For Emily's rough cut, I chose to implement the form activity.  I think that since she is using a QRG as her third genre for project 3, it was important to tell her all of the information that I learned from doing a QRG as my first project so that she can in turn, be more successful.  I helped her realize the importance of including a lot more sources and hyperlinks so that the audience knows that she is a credible resource of information. Without the necessary sources, the QRG would not be a QRG, it would be more of a regular essay with her opinion on a certain topic that she may or may not know a lot about.
    I made sure to include the #4 Use of Evidence section form page 72 of the Student's Guide.  As I said above, an important part of the QRG is to include the sources and hyperlinks to those sources so that the evidence is clearly credible.
     One thing that I really enjoyed about Emily's work though was that she really made her voice strong and clear so that the audience could easily tell what she was thinking and why she thought it.  I also think that her topic on Let's Move! is a very interesting topic.  I'm excited to see what the finished product looks like.

Reflection on Production

This is the reflection of my production week and how it all went down. It was such a rough week so here's all the reasons why.


1. What were some of the successes (or, things that went right) during this week’s process work? Explain, with evidence.

The amount of things that went right this week were very few. I think that the only thing that actually went right this week was that I completed the blog posts on Sunday. Everything else was a mess so that is why my rough cuts are very very rough. I had a hard week academically and didn't have time to work on this project until this weekend so that is why there were very few successes this week.

2. What were some of the challenges (or, things that went wrong) during this week’s process work? Explain, with evidence.
Since I had a chemistry test this week and a physiology test I was crammed with studying and finding time to even think. So I did not barely have any time to work on this project. I think that maybe if I had a different schedule for my classes and all of my tests were not in this week when I was supposed to do the production week for this project, this week would have gone much more smoothly. However, since my life is a mess 90% of the time, it is not surprising that this week was crazy filled with tests and projects that I needed to complete.  
     However, once I got started on my project, things started to go much better.  I learned that iMovie is very confusing but I figured it out fairly quickly.  I also realized that this topic is super interesting to me so I was actually motivated to get it done.  I have not felt this way about a project in a while. 

3. How do you think next week will go, based on your experiences this week?
Since I do not have any test this coming week, I feel very confident that this will be a much better and more successful week for me. I will be able to focus more on this project and less on chemistry. I think that I have set myself up to be successful at this point which is very important if I want the rest of this post-production week to go well.  

4. How are you feeling about the project overall at this point?
  Now, I am feeling much better about this project since the hardest part in my opinion is now over. I think that the rest of the project will be fun and I will actually be able to enjoy myself working on this video essay from this point on. Now that I have figured out how to work iMovie and get it figured out on Blogger, I think that I will be much more efficient with my time and be able to get a lot more done with this project in a relatively shorter amount of time.

Production Report B

This is the blog post that will analyze the rough cut of the "first body paragraph" if you will of the project.


OUTLINE ITEM 

Main Body Paragraph 1:
Main Idea:Explaining why the screen time is such a big issue and relate this to what the parents do to allow the kids to spend so much time on their devices.
Evidence: Bring up interviews of the parents that have experienced their kids spending too much time on their devices.  Also use interviews of the daycare/ babysitters who have experienced the kids depending so much on their screens.
Summary of Evidence: Explain the things that I had experienced the parents doing by putting the children in front of a screen when they want to keep them occupied.  The other summary of the interviews done by the babysitters, could be from the actual daycare watchers themselves.
Importance: It is important to explain the opinions of the people that actually watch the kids for a living because otherwise, it would just be based off of someone's random opinion who may not have any experience with children wanting to be around the screens.




1. How did you decide to use form to present your content in the raw material you’ve shared here? 
I think that the form that I used to present my content in the raw material was chosen well because it allowed me to present my argument in a way that was the most persuasive and kept the audience intrigued for the long amounts of time that was needed to get my point completely across to them.

2. How did the conventions of your chosen genre influence your choices?
I think that the conventions of my genre, the video essay influenced my choices because I wanted to be able to show videos and pictures of the effects of the screen time on children. Without the use of the videos and the pictures, and my voice, I think that the point would not have been proven as well that technology and screen use is bad for kids that are younger than 3 years old.

3. How did the production of this raw material go? What kinds of any hiccups, challenges, successes, creative epiphanies, etc. occurred during the process?
      I think that the production went really well of the raw material.  I think that it could have gone better if I wasn't so stressed out. But I think that had I not really known how to work iMovie, I would have struggled a lot more.  The most challenging part was deciding which points I wanted to discuss first.  I think that next week will definitely be much more efficient.  I did however have an epiphany because I remembered that videos could actually be uploaded straight onto the blogger website.

Production Report A

This is the blog post where I will be analyzing a very very rough cut of the opening section of my video essay.

OUTLINE ITEM 

Opening Section:
Main Idea: Describe the argument, the solutions, and the bad arguments (the one that says that screen time does not need to be limited). And then briefly describe the opposing side of the argument (the one that I am on) and why it is important that screen time should be limited for kids, especially those that are toddlers and younger or in preschool.
How to grab the reader's attention: Add large, colorful captions, and intriguing music, and bring up the irony of this project and my argument that I am opposing.  Add pictures, memes, something that the parents can relate to.






1. How did you decide to use form to present your content in the raw material you’ve shared here? How did the conventions of your chosen genre influence your choices?
I decided that the video essay was the best way to present this topic because in order to really relay the importance of not letting such young kids spend so much time in front of a screen was going to need not only audio, but visual effects as well. I think that without this help from both parts of the video essay, the point would not have been belabored as well. I think that the audio is important because you can here my voice and the amount of emotion that I had towards this subject. I think that this is a very important aspect of the project.
       
2. How did the conventions of your chosen genre influence your choices?
I think that the conventions of my genre, the video essay influenced my choices because I wanted to be able to show videos and pictures of the effects of the screen time on children. Without the use of the videos and the pictures, and my voice, I think that the point would not have been proven as well that technology and screen use is bad for kids that are younger than 3 years old.


3. How did the production of this raw material go? What kinds of any hiccups, challenges, successes, creative epiphanies, etc. occurred during the process?
      I think that the production went really well of the raw material.  I think that it could have gone better if I wasn't so stressed out. But I think that had I not really known how to work iMovie, I would have struggled a lot more.  The most challenging part was deciding which points I wanted to discuss first.  I think that next week will definitely be much more efficient.  I did however have an epiphany because I remembered that videos could actually be uploaded straight onto the blogger website.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Research Report

In this blog post I'm going to be analyzing 10 sources that I will be using for my project.  There will be a short rhetorical analysis of each source that I find.

1. Title, Author, Host of Source: "Revising Guidelines for Children and Screen Time" aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) in NJTV (New Jersey TV station).
The Source's Author: 1. NJTV News is a nightly news program that covers news across the state of New Jersey with a concentration on government and public policy.  It airs each weeknight at 6, 7:30, 11pm, and 6:30am.  It is a reliable source because it is powered/sponsored by PBS which is a highly regarded television programming system.  2. NJTV covers very important topics in the media like the government policies and the current presidential election.  It has videos from the Senate room in DC with Governor Christie speaking.  This is a reliable source because it has covered such important news.
Target Audience of Source: This video is aimed to attract parents that are scrolling through the PBS website or the ones who are watching the actual channel on an actual TV.  I can tell that the targeted audience is parents because the news that is covered on this channel/website is directed towards an older crowd (older meaning not teenagers so anywhere past 20ish when politics are actually somewhat important or interesting).  Another way that I know that this is directed at parents is because the short summary of what this video is about says that it is specifically talking to parents and how they can learn to limit the screen time of their children.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this video is to inform parents that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that more than 30% of children in the United States first play with a mobile device while in diapers.  So they are asking parents to start practicing their best judgements for time limits and to become more involved with the use of their kids' screen time usage. NJTV is trying to assist in helping parents learn the best way of limiting the screen times for their kids based off of the statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Important Contextual Details: NJTV includes the opinions of Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, Chairman of Department of Pediatrics at the UMC at Princeton.  He wants to help the parents understand WHY the screen time needs to be limited.  They want the parents to become more involved in their children's use of screens and devices.  Another important point that Dr. Mandelbaum makes is that the way that screens are used are not used in the correct way.  As a result, it will affect the focus of the kids, as well as the social and intellectual aspects as they grow older.

2. Title, Author, Host of Source: National Public Radio (NPR) aired "Even Techies Limit Their Children's Screen Time" on podcast segment All Things Considered. 
The Source's Author: 1. This is a reliable source because it is aired on NPR which a nationally recognized radio station. 2. They are an unbiased radio station that jest relays the facts back to the audience which allows the audience to just receive the information and then make their own opinions of it.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this podcast are the parents that are super techie and have technology devices all over and are super involved in all of the new devices that come out.  In the podcast it says that the parents, one of the techie parents, Melissa Block, even limits the amount of time that her children can spend on a device in front of a screen.  Even though it is a big part of her life, she knows the negative side effects of spending too much time in front of a screen. Another part of the podcast that shows that the target audience is the age of the people who are newer parents is when the author says "A generation ago, right, our parents told us...".
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this podcast is to inform and show the reader that even though technology is so prevalent in everyone's lives so frequently, even the people that are most involved in technology for their daily lives, they still find a way to limit the amount of time that they allow their kids to spend in front of the screens.  The people that didn't put limits on the amount of time that their kids could spend in front of the digital screens ended up binging on the amount of time so that the parents ended up having to set limits for them.
Important Contextual Details: Some of the coolest parts of the podcast included the parts that alluded to some of the most technologically advanced people, like Steve Jobs, and a Google Engineer even limited their children's screen time. The other important contextual detail of this podcast is that the journalist that created this podcast says that he would "rather have his kids watch a movie like Mary Poppins than be constantly swiping and swiping".  These contextual details are important because it shows that there is credibility in the author by having such good examples.

3Title, Author, Host of Source:"Kids and Screen Time: Cutting Through the Static" by Cory Turner on NPR's podcast segment All Things Considered.
The Source's Author: Turner is a reliable source of information because he is a senior editor at NPR for this podcast segment.  He is also a reliable source for this specific topic because he focuses on the Common Core and exploring how kids learn.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source are parents, just like all the rest of the podcasts and videos that I have found.  The audience is directed at the parents that are worried about the kinds of screen time there are and which ones are good.  This audience is for the parents that are curious about learning the differences in the types of things that their children are doing on those devices and what they can do to prevent the amount of time they spend on their devices.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of the podcast is to explain the differences between good and bad uses of screen time.  The author explains how the good sources of the screen times can be beneficial to the kids, but how the bad sources of the screen time are going to negatively affect the children in social areas as well as the intellectual areas of life.  As the author says, "It's a question that perplexes parents and educators alike".  This is a pretty biased podcast however, since the author is so passionate about the health of children.
Important Contextual Details: The author, Cory Turner, includes important examples of real life people that  have gone through both the good and the bad parts of screen times. For one, Turner brings up the Star Wars kid who fights alone with the light saber back in 2002.  Turner makes this out to be a bad form of screen time because it led to him dropping out of school and having real self-confidence issues after posting that video of himself 14 years ago.  The other important example that Turner included was the 6th grade classroom that uses a 3D printer and he points out that it is a good example of a good source of screen time for kids.  This is because they are using the technology for the use of intellectual advancement.


4Title, Author, Host of Source:"Parents Struggle to Limit Children's Screen Time: Digital Detox Experts Offer Advice" found on the Huffington Post, written by Ellen Wallwork.
The Source's Author: Ellen Wallwork, the journalist of the video for this, specializes in articles regarding children all over the US.  She has focused on autism in children and how parents learn to deal with things like that in their lives.  This is a reliable source of information because she is knowledgeable about the information that involves the relationship between parents and their children.  She is also a reliable source of information because the Huffington Post is a good news source.  It is a good reliable source in the UK too.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source is to parents that are having some sort of dilemma regarding raising their children.  Since this author seems to focus on how parents can cope with these, it is clear that his video is directed at the parents that are having a hard time understanding what they should do about the amount of time that their kids spend on their digital devices and in front of screens.  The title of this video also makes it clear that the parents that are struggling to figure out their kids, and are looking for help with coping with these issues.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this message is to help parents understand the different ways that they can help manage the amount of time that their kids spend in front of the screen.  There is a lot of pathos in this video, and the author seems to have a lot of good input for these parents that are struggling" with their children.  It is to make sure that the parents understand that limiting the amount of time that their kids spend in front of a screen, immersed in the screen, should be an important discussion that the parents should have with their kids.
Important Contextual Details: 23.1% of the mothers and fathers that took the survey by Action of Children struggle to limit their children's screen time. The statistics are all there and clearly cited which is an important part of the logos of the video.  The other important contextual detail that related to logos, is that more parents felt that it was more difficult to help their kids get off of the devices than to get them to eat healthy, do their chores, or do their homework.



5Title, Author, Host of Source: "How to limit your Child's TV Time" on YouTube under the Parenting account.
The Source's Author: The parenting account on YouTube is a reliable source because all of the videos (101 of them) are about parenting and the best ways to raise your children.  Another reason why this is a reliable source of information for parents wondering what the best way to raise their kids are, is that the people that are subscribed to this account are doctors and people that are clearly knowledgable in this subject of parenting.  They also quote the statistics of doctors and other well known websites known for their parenting.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of the this source is for parents that are interested in learning how to improve their parenting skills. I know this because the short summary of this video says exactly who this video was made for.  Additionally, this parenting account on YouTube is actually called "Parenting" which signifies that this is specified for parents, not kids or teachers.  The title of the video also makes it clear that this is for parents because the title says clearly "your child's" meaning that it is for parents with children that are having issues with limiting TV time.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of the video not only is to really highlight the pathos of this video by exploring the negative side effects of spending too much time in front of screens, but it also employs the use of logos by quoting statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics and how before the age of 2, TV/screen time should be very limited because of the bad health effects.
Important Contextual Details: One thing that I really liked about this video was that it also linked us, the audience, to other sites that has similar information.  For example, they linked us to their Facebook page so that we could explore even further about this topic.  This also allows the audience to make sure that their information is credible-which it is.  Additionally, the video was posted very recently, on March 25, 2015, which really verifies that this information is up to date and accurate since not much technology has changed since then.  It has only been about a year so it really is not a problem.  



6Title, Author, Host of Source: "Screen Free Week 2015 was a Success!" found off the CNN website as a hyperlink but written in the blog portion of the Screen Free website written by Sara Adelmann.
The Source's Author: This Screen Free Week was made official this year for the week of May 2-8th 2016 and it started last year during the first week of May as well. They are an official website and allow parents to find a place that can leave a space for someone to come up with activities for their kids during this time of no screen time.  This is also a reliable source because it has parents writing blogs that have actually experienced their children being dependent on screens and the amount of time they spend in front of their screens.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source are the parents that have a lot of technology surrounding them at almost all times so when they are around their kids, they want to learn how to prioritize their time with their kids and the screens that are so important in each others lives. Another reason that they are known to be the target audience is because they are made schedules for their children during this week.  It could also technically be for babysitters that are watching those kids during that week of screen free time.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The purpose of this website/ article is make it clear to parents that there are actually things and activities can do with no screen times so that they can actually realize that there are more important things in life than spending time in front of a screen hurting their brains. The ethos in this article, as well as pathos is extremely evident in these because of the amount of personal opinions that the parents have written about on this website. And the fact that this comes from CNN is very credible for this source of information.
Important Contextual Details: An important part of this article is that there are so many additional resources that the parents can look up to make sure that all of this information is reliable and that everything from this website is legitimate for the parents.  Because so many of the parents are not willing to trust random websites on the internet.  So it is good that there are so many additional resources that they can access.  The other important part of this is that there are essential handouts that the parents need to look at so that they know what things are most important to gather from this website. 



7Title, Author, Host of Source: "Is it Even Possible To Have No Screen Time for Kids Under 2?" by Rebekah Henderson from the Mom.me blogging website.
The Source's Author: Henderson is a mom and is a constant blogger for this website and has created a video for parents about what is so hard about about limiting screen time for their kids when they are constantly surrounded by their parents who have some sort of device always in front of them.  Henderson is a writer and has many science backgrounds which help her to understand the science of the side effects of screen time for little kids.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this video are parents that have really young kids that have technology based jobs so technology is very prevalent in their lives.  Therefore, it seems that it is almost inevitable for their kids, who are not self-sufficient, to be around these screens for so long. This video is for the parents that do not have much of a choice to but have screens constantly around their kids because they have to work but they also have to take care of their kids.  I think that the target audience is for the parents that are working while also trying to raise a young child.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this video is to show that there are many parents that would like to limit the amount of time that their kids spend in front of a screen, however, they don't always have a choice.  So, this video covers the ways that parents can cope with these problems and learn to overcome these issues that they have with their kids so that at such a young age, their kids won't be affected so early on in life.
Important Contextual Details: This video includes the author's opinions on the topic, saying things like, "Our children will need technological skills to navigate our world and are essentially born digital. However, they still need face-to-face interaction..." (Henderson). Without knowing that she needed to include her opinion, other parents wouldn't think that she had a good idea of what it was like to raise a kid and also have a job that is very technological based.  It is important that the date that this video was published was recent as well. If this was posted longer than about 3 years ago, I would not trust the information completely since the technology in this new "digital age" changes so frequently. So it was posted June 9, 2015 which is a relatively recent date.  


8Title, Author, Host of Source:"Kids and Screen Time: Cutting Through the Static" by Cory Turner on NPR's podcast segment All Things Considered.
The Source's Author: Turner is a reliable source of information because he is a senior editor at NPR for this podcast segment.  He is also a reliable source for this specific topic because he focuses on the Common Core and exploring how kids learn.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source are parents, just like all the rest of the podcasts and videos that I have found.  The audience is directed at the parents that are worried about the kinds of screen time there are and which ones are good.  This audience is for the parents that are curious about learning the differences in the types of things that their children are doing on those devices and what they can do to prevent the amount of time they spend on their devices.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of the podcast is to explain the differences between good and bad uses of screen time.  The author explains how the good sources of the screen times can be beneficial to the kids, but how the bad sources of the screen time are going to negatively affect the children in social areas as well as the intellectual areas of life.  As the author says, "It's a question that perplexes parents and educators alike".  This is a pretty biased podcast however, since the author is so passionate about the health of children.
Important Contextual Details: The author, Cory Turner, includes important examples of real life people that  have gone through both the good and the bad parts of screen times. For one, Turner brings up the Star Wars kid who fights alone with the light saber back in 2002.  Turner makes this out to be a bad form of screen time because it led to him dropping out of school and having real self-confidence issues after posting that video of himself 14 years ago.  The other important example that Turner included was the 6th grade classroom that uses a 3D printer and he points out that it is a good example of a good source of screen time for kids.  This is because they are using the technology for the use of intellectual advancement.  


9Title, Author, Host of Source: "Revising Guidelines for Children and Screen Time" aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) in NJTV (New Jersey TV station).
The Source's Author: 1. NJTV News is a nightly news program that covers news across the state of New Jersey with a concentration on government and public policy.  It airs each weeknight at 6, 7:30, 11pm, and 6:30am.  It is a reliable source because it is powered/sponsored by PBS which is a highly regarded television programming system.  2. NJTV covers very important topics in the media like the government policies and the current presidential election.  It has videos from the Senate room in DC with Governor Christie speaking.  This is a reliable source because it has covered such important news.
Target Audience of Source: This video is aimed to attract parents that are scrolling through the PBS website or the ones who are watching the actual channel on an actual TV.  I can tell that the targeted audience is parents because the news that is covered on this channel/website is directed towards an older crowd (older meaning not teenagers so anywhere past 20ish when politics are actually somewhat important or interesting).  Another way that I know that this is directed at parents is because the short summary of what this video is about says that it is specifically talking to parents and how they can learn to limit the screen time of their children.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this video is to inform parents that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that more than 30% of children in the United States first play with a mobile device while in diapers.  So they are asking parents to start practicing their best judgements for time limits and to become more involved with the use of their kids' screen time usage. NJTV is trying to assist in helping parents learn the best way of limiting the screen times for their kids based off of the statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics. 


10Title, Author, Host of Source:"Parents Struggle to Limit Children's Screen Time: Digital Detox Experts Offer Advice" found on the Huffington Post, written by Ellen Wallwork.
The Source's Author: Ellen Wallwork, the journalist of the video for this, specializes in articles regarding children all over the US.  She has focused on autism in children and how parents learn to deal with things like that in their lives.  This is a reliable source of information because she is knowledgeable about the information that involves the relationship between parents and their children.  She is also a reliable source of information because the Huffington Post is a good news source.  It is a good reliable source in the UK too.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source is to parents that are having some sort of dilemma regarding raising their children.  Since this author seems to focus on how parents can cope with these, it is clear that his video is directed at the parents that are having a hard time understanding what they should do about the amount of time that their kids spend on their digital devices and in front of screens.  The title of this video also makes it clear that the parents that are struggling to figure out their kids, and are looking for help with coping with these issues.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this message is to help parents understand the different ways that they can help manage the amount of time that their kids spend in front of the screen.  There is a lot of pathos in this video, and the author seems to have a lot of good input for these parents that are struggling" with their children.  It is to make sure that the parents understand that limiting the amount of time that their kids spend in front of a screen, immersed in the screen, should be an important discussion that the parents should have with their kids.
Important Contextual Details: 23.1% of the mothers and fathers that took the survey by Action of Children struggle to limit their children's screen time. The statistics are all there and clearly cited which is an important part of the logos of the video.  The other important contextual detail that related to logos, is that more parents felt that it was more difficult to help their kids get off of the devices than to get them to eat healthy, do their chores, or do their homework.