Reading Response #5

My essay argued that juvenile curfews should no longer exist. The main points that were used to argue this were that curfew is unconstitutional, inconsistent and even ineffective. I also argued that curfew is a familial issue that does not belong in the hands of city authorities.
When I thought about how I would argue my point in a new rhetoric I had two very distinct ideas. Primarily I pictured a pro-adolescent freedom advertisement and then later recognized that an advertisement against the injustice of curfew might also be effective. If I were to choose the first option then my audience would be adolescents who are currently the victims of juvenile curfew. My advertisement would seek to motivate them to gain the right to stay out late without being hassled by cops. For some reason Taco Bell’s “fourth meal” advertisements stuck out in my mind and I am still trying to think of a way to possibly mimic the late night appeal they suggest. I think that the colors involved in my own ad would be mostly bright and energetic. This approach seems a little dangerous however. If I did not create the advertisement correctly then it could possibly look like it would encourage wild behavior and unhealthy habits such as late night eating and a lack of sleep. I would try to advertise how staying out late could be a way for kids to feel more free without having to make bad decisions. It would rely somewhat on the argument that bowling might be fun, but glow bowling at two in the morning is so much more exciting. The benefits of this idea are that is seems very mainstream to me and that is why it was my initial gut to follow this sort of path. I would also be tempted to somehow utilize music and possibly the Bruce Springsteen song “Because the Night” in this mode. Maybe I would make it a PowerPoint and have that song playing in the background. The lyrics are powerful and they somewhat correspond to the idea of regaining an obstructed freedom. The chorus says “they can’t hurt you now; no they can’t hurt us now; because the night belongs to us.” “Here’s To the Night” by Eve 6 could be another possibly impactful audio for this PowerPoint. The chorus of which says, “Here’s to the nights we felt alive; here’s to the tears you knew you’d cry; here’s to goodbye, tomorrow’s gonna come too soon; all my time is froze in motion; can't I stay an hour or two or more; don't let me let you go.” Although the boys in our class would probably hate it, I would even consider including the song “This Is Your Night” by Amber simply because it is so upbeat.
On the other hand, I had an idea for a more serious advertisement that utilizes the appeal of ethos to point out the unjust flaws of juvenile curfew. I think that the colors would be mostly black and white or somewhat dull. I imagine there would be jail bars somewhere in the image and perhaps a kid wearing an orange jumpsuit turning in his keys and some object representing his freedom to the jail officer before entering his house.
Later, I thought about a specific advertisement idea that I thought would be most effective in a different format. I pictured a billboard done in colors and graphics that looked like they were from the 50’s. There would be a boy sitting at a dining room table giving a thumbs-up in the foreground. His family would be seated at the table with him but he would remain the focus of the graphic while they were partially just background. There would be text next to the boy that read, “I’m so glad I don’t have to rush out on dinner with my family to meet up with my friends! Now that there’s no curfew to cut my night short, I can spend time with my family when it is convenient for them and still have time for a game of monopoly with my friends.” I am not sure that this nearly sarcastic advertisement strategy will be effective, however I thought I should jot it down anyway. What I like about this idea is that it has a clear purpose of gratifying the benefits of demolishing adolescent curfews. The reason I think that this idea would be best represented as a billboard is that the audience is not clear cut. A billboard is visible to many people including police officers, city mayors, parents and children. I thought this ad idea was most appropriate for a varied audience.
From trying to think of ways to convey my argument in varied rhetoric forms, I have learned that everything about an advertisements layout is crucial to its effect. There is far too much to consider to successfully do so by simply thinking about an idea. I think that it is nearly impossible to make all the necessary format decisions without drawing out a few sketches. It seems that the layout of the advertisement might be just as important as the argument behind the image.

Reading Response #4

The central idea in Mangu-Ward is about people fighting the idea of adding more surveillance cameras in the streets of New York. The claim that is made is that the installment of the extra cameras would not force people to sacrifice any of rights that they have not already given up. The piece argues that the same privacy rights that are arguably threatened have previously been forfeited by ATM’s and local shops that have installed cameras on their premises’. The ability to scan where a credit card was used or a withdrawal was made also surrenders some of the individual’s privacy. One can trace the wave lengths of a GPS system if it was used to navigate to or from a certain place. There are a lot of technology based things implemented in society already that exceed or at least match the privacy losses that would be a product of higher surveillance via camera.

For the most part, it seems that the research done was mostly things that one could come up with by simply thinking of all the logical places where technology tracks people. “Perhaps you would have stopped to pick up some cash at an ATM before your outing. There, you would have created another digital record, stamped with the time and place of your withdrawal in the bank’s records,” is included in such a cavalier way that suggests that it was thought up by Mangu-Ward just seconds before it was written down and included in the arguments. No matter how insignificant the information it detects might seem. The world we live in and the technological advances that we utilize require for the most part that all information be backed up somewhere.

I actually found myself quite affected by the research. I observed all the points that were made and felt that they were not only legitimate but written in a way where the idea was made much simpler and therefore easier to follow. Instead of diving into explaining how one would go about intercepting the waves sent out by a GPS system, the idea is just mentioned, accepted by the reader as a possibility and then the writing continues onto the next point.

I think that I was very easy to convince about this particular topic. I think this because I have thought about how public surveillance is not a very menacing idea in my opinion. I came to this conclusion when I realized that if there was something I did not want people to see, I would not do it out in public, regardless of whether or not cameras were posted on the street corner.

Joh actually states the central claim that is being made quite clearly in the beginning of the text. It was written that “This essay discusses why the government’s collection of “abandoned DNA” is a problem worthy of serious attention.”

I believe that a majority of the research within this piece is secondary. For instance, the story about the police officers in Seattle is clearly not written from personal experience. I think that the research is effective, however, because the topic at hand deals with police officers utilizing such practices of collecting “abandoned DNA” and so it is important that evidence of actual use is shown at some point during the text.

My opinion on the matter is that if I am suspected of a crime, a warrant should be obtained so that the suspicion must be ratified by a judge before the DNA collection could begin. This would help to deter DNA collection based on discrimination. I recognized that this was my opinion while I was in the middle of reading the text; however, I feel that the writing only served to start me thinking about my opinion rather than to help guide it in one way or the other.

I truly feel that Quarmby cannot form an opinion about the idea of national security cards. He states that the point of his writing is to “show that such a card system could in fact be found to be constitutional under the law of privacy as it stands today,” but I do not think he is clear on if he thinks they are a good idea or not.

It is clear that a majority of the evidence throughout the work is from secondary sources. He discusses the Driver’s License Modernization act, quotes the opinion of a law expert and uses other sources to provide information for the reader to consider.

In this particular essay, I did not feel motivated to form an opinion one way or the other on the matter. I believe this is because to me I could not get a real sense of what the writer wanted me to feel about the issue.

I think that my prior beliefs played an enormous role in how I read the essays. Since privacy is such an intimate issue, my feelings remained the same regardless of the number of valid points that were brought up.

Reading Ethnography

In my own words, I would define a subculture as a group of people who all have one main thing in common, whether it is a hobby, an occupation or something else. From this one commonality it is believed that they will develop their own lingo, traditions and even a group perspective. Customers of the coffee shop clearly have their own lingo. Some high school students refer to the Hopkinton Gourmet as the “Gourm’ (Casassa B34).” Lingoes that are not specific to the Hopkinton coffee shop customers but rather are familiar to coffee drinkers in general are “Coffee, mostly black (Casassa B33)…” and “Small cup, one cream, one sugar (Casassa B33)….” This leads me to think that the Hopkinton Gourmet clients are particular subdivision of the large coffee-drinking American subculture. Apart from their obvious lingo—bong, pipe, glassware-- people who are affiliated with the head shop clearly share many group perspectives. “The Hempest seeks to appeal to this range of customers, from the legalization activist, to the vegetarian naturalist, to the counter-culturally fashionable teenager (Dudley B42).”

Dudley’s essay was looking at the subculture of head shops. Or at least this is what I hope, because if it was analyzing the people who shop at them then I do not feel like it dug deep enough. One feature of the form as Ballenger describes it requires that the author “focus[es] on groups of people who identify themselves as group members (373).” I don’t feel that Dudley’s paper was written about people, but rather head shops in general.

However, the head shop essay fits the motive for writing ethnography. “Essentially, the goal of such articles and programs is to show how things work in particular social context (Ballenger 372)…” Dudley’s essay works precisely to explain how head shops survive in conservative environments where marijuana laws are becoming increasingly concise and even somewhat stricter on hemp sales. This particular motive is not as readily applicable to Casassa’s writing. If you take a step back however, the final paragraph ties the continued existence of the small coffee shop to the fact that “There exists a certain ritualism here. Everyone has their own little niche (Casassa B36).” He attributes the stores success to its importance in her subjects’ daily routine.

I am actually jealous of Casassa’s ethnography topic. Ballenger advises not to choose a subculture you are a part of. She technically adheres to this advice since after all she is not a customer in the coffee shop. However, since she is a coffee shop employee, she has immediate access and can observe her subjects day in and day out. She has a topic that she is truly familiar with although she isn’t specifically a part of it.

I love “The Coffee Shop” essay. My dad always uses the term “creatures of habit,” and I definitely am one. This essay struck home for me in more ways than just that however, especially when I’m a little homesick for the things I used to do daily. It is strange how things don’t seem inconvenient once you’ve made them a habit. Originally, one might wish that someone would just have their coffee waiting on their desk for them at work or school; however, once the coffee shop stop is made routine, it becomes internalized and does not seem so difficult. In fact, it becomes the norm and almost comforting for that matter. After a long day of work Casassa says she feels “Hectic, exhausting, comfortable, familiar… just right (B35).” I think that it is implied that Casassa feels a bond with the subjects she is writing about. They all get a sense of comfort from the routine of being in the coffee shop each day. I don’t feel that Dudley expressed his opinion on head shops. I feel like he stays very mutual even though Ballenger says it is acceptable and even natural to be subjective when writing about a subculture (374).

Both authors use incredible detail when they are setting the scene for the reader. I feel like I could recreate the store layout of The Hempest solely based on the information he provided in the reading. “The first case, which is quickly seen as one enters the store, holds small jewelry, pins, rings and earrings—all of which are socially and legally accepted items. The more controversial merchandise, the glassware pipes and bongs, is somewhat hidden from plain view and can only be discovered by one who walks around the store (Dudley B42).” The environment of the subculture is very important since the “bulk of the research takes place in the natural settings where group members gather (Ballenger 373).” I enjoyed the way Casassa depicted the “intimate” coffee shop and its very crammed décor. “The coffee-grinding machine rests inches away from the sink and the shiny steel brewers crowd the neatly stacked supply of cups.” She shows that the store is cozily cramped without actually saying it. “Newly delivered newspapers slouch patiently against the wall waiting to reveal their stories, or to become drenched with spilled cappuccinos (Casassa B31).” I love the way she personifies the newspapers so that the reader can imagine the way they are sloping lethargically into the wall. I think that the way Casassa interwove her descriptions of the store into her story made for more enjoyable reading. In fact, I enjoyed Casassa’s piece more than Dudley’s overall because I felt like it was more of a story and less of a paper.

Possible Discovery Essay Topic

A possible topic for my discovery essay would ask the question “what is America’s fascination with football?” I think that this would be a good topic because I myself am a football fanatic. I think this topic has a lot of room to discover what components of activities lure the public to participate or even be a spectator. I also think this topic could open a door to some personal discovery; I think that I could find out why I struggle to do anything BUT watch football on Sundays. This topic has a lot of room for opinion but if I chose it, I might be a little nervous about what actual factual research I could do.

Reading Response #2

I believe that the fact that both authors have individual experiences to tie them to what they are writing about is what makes the papers discovery essays. Their own familiarity with their topic allows them to put a personal spin on the facts that they have just learned and are presenting to the reader. Everyone has had experience with sun exposure so there is no question that Garrett-Brown has some personal insight that she might add to her essay. A less common activity, which Holmquist has done and is so honest about in his research essay, discusses the use of party drugs. One particular part stood out to me when Holmquist was able to use his past to help elaborate on the research that he did. He was discussing the non-addictive qualities of the drugs, but was able to refute some of the evidence by saying that even as he was writing the essay “there were [have been] countless times that he [I’ve] wanted LSD or MDMA.” His yearning was not necessarily chemical, but was instead encouraged by his nostalgic reflection on previous accounts with the drugs.

Both essays got their controlling idea from an event that happened to the author. Garrett-Brown’s “people are so stupid rant” was a more trivial cause for research, whereas Holmquist’s friend’s near death made him feel like he needed to know more. The controlling idea of Garrett-Brown’s essay is that tanning in a tanning salon is a silly ritual and she would like to know how it got started. She determines that innate sun exposure is healthy because it is a sign of being active in the outdoors, but that tans “via lightbulb technology” are taking the place of natural tans as people yearn to look active even if they are not. There is research and personal insight included to support the idea that “people just like the way it looks to be tan” for various reasons. Tans are fashionable and also give off the impression of an outdoor lifestyle. The author even admits to wishing she was tan whenever she puts on a swimsuit. The controlling idea of Holmquist’s essay is to discuss the dangers of the so-called “safe party drugs.” He shows very well through research and his friend’s situation that although they are hard to overdose on, they have other side-effects that can lead to severe danger or death.

Garrett-Brown does not know the answer to the question she is researching. Her research started after she asked herself “who made it cool for people to tan?” She wanted to know how the current trend began which will cause our generation to look “leathered and wrinkled” in our later years. Holmquist had a hunches about the dangers of the drugs, but wanted to fill in the blanks and figure out why, chemically, the drugs were not as safe as some of his friends believed.

I think the feature of having one’s own voice while also utilizing research is less successful in Garrett-Brown’s essay than Holmquist’s. While reading Holmquist’s paper, one could assume that he didn’t know all of the information he was spewing off from off the top of his head and the citations may have been a hint that there was research going on. That being said, I think that Holmquist did an excellent job weaving his own opinions with the information he found. There was never a point where I felt like I was reading a succession of facts or supporting details. I feel like Holmquist would write solely from personal knowledge until he arrived at a small detail he wasn’t sure about so he would research just that small fact to include. The essay flowed very well because of the lack of huge “data dumps;” instead he only gave small tidbits at a time when they became relevant. I had a different feeling while I was reading Garrett-Brown’s essay. The essay as a whole seemed unorganized, or maybe even too short. Even though there were only 5 different research points in the paper, I still felt overwhelmed. It seemed as if she had moved on to the next argument before even making me feel anything strongly about the previous. It was also interesting how Garrett-Brown’s essay actually discussed her process of researching within the paper. On the second page of her writing she said “As I researched sunbathing and the like I came across an interesting article in the…” She goes on to list the source of her information. Personally, I did not enjoy this transition to introduce research. It seemed very elementary and careless to me.

After reading these works and also the information given about writing research essays, I think the most important thing is weaving research seamlessly into my writing. I will try to break up my research into small relevant parts and insert them only when they seem necessary instead of seeing my “essay as a hole that must be filled with information.”