Notebook Prompts:
Final Notebook:
For the last notebook activity, review all your previous notebook work. (This should be easy, since they’ll all be posted on the English 2010 page of your ePortfolio…right?)
For this activity, think about the following:
- What were the activities that made you think differently about a project, or about your writing (or research or revisions)?
- What activities were the most interesting or fun?
- Which ones do you like the best now?
- Which activities might you try again, in other writing circumstances?
Respond to these questions, and answer one more:
- Name three new tools or strategies you now have, ones that you can use with some confidence going forward.
Post your responses to these questions on the English 2010 page of your ePortfolio, and post the link here.
My first notebook prompt inspired a new type of research for me. This type of research was based around response from my peers. For this activity, I posted memes and “reposts” about the DAPL protests to see how my peers reacted to the articles/videos/memes/infographics. The responses helped me to learn how to tailor my rhetoric to reach the audience I was seeking. My target audience for all of my assignments so far has been men and women in my age group. I was hoping to spark an interest in my peers so that they would in turn support those standing against DAPL. This notebook prompt helped me gain a better understanding of the type of rhetoric that reached my target audience.
The most interesting and fun projects were all based around research. I really enjoyed learning about my topic: Water conservation in the western US. I wound up landing a specific interest in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and in Standing Rock. Through the research I conducted this semester, I have learned a significant amount about what is happening at Standing Rock and how to help AND WHY to help those protesting the pipeline. I owe this interest to the researched based notebooks throughout the semester.
The most fun projects were those using infographics. I had never attempted to make an infographic before this semester, and I really enjoy designing them. I also learned that this is the one of the best mediums to reach my target audience. I like and am most proud of the infographics, and I think I will continue to use this medium to reach my peers.
Going forward, I have a better understanding of what to look for and how to organize my research. I have also learned how effective the use of infographics can be. These three things will be something I definitely utilize in the future.
Notebook 11:
6c. Write or create a PSA on for your issue in which you explain the causes and effects of a problem associated with your issue. Explain what should be done to address the problem.
The mainstream media is becoming overwhelmingly biased with their coverage over the DAPL protest. ABC and MSNB refuse to cover the protests at all, while other news sources like NBC and CNN are reporting illegitimate or misconstrued facts.
Other independent media outlets, such as Unicorn Riot and Democracy Now! are being targeted by Morton County Police and The DAPL. There have been multiple arrests of journalists who were doing nothing but covering the events unfolding before their eyes.
These independent media sources have complied with every law, but are still being targeted for reporting the truth. Why is this happening? Oil Money.
Antimedia.org claims that corporate media is “deeply in bed” with oil companies. This means that anything negatively reported about the DAPL has a direct effect on their own personal pocket book.
Other claims suggest that divisiveness among the American people is another narrative for corporate media. A nation divided is a nation that is easily controlled by the biggest force.
Beware of what you read. Find multiple sources that support a claim, and most importantly, do your research. The American people are highly impressionable. We are often subject to propaganda without even batting an eye. I entreat you to read. I entreat you to look for the truth. It is out there.
Notebook 10:
6f. Return to an essay you have written. Revise the essay, making some kind of major adjustment—reworking your thesis, starting with the conclusion, changing the narration (in the memoir or profile), cutting it by a third, etc. Or translate it into a PSA, audio essay, video essay, graphic/hypertext.
Notebook 9:
2i. Visit a public space that is connected to your issue. Take your notebook with you. Meander through the space for at least an hour (or situate yourself somewhere you can watch from for the whole hour). Observe the people you see and in your notes, describe (using sensory details) what you’re seeing and what is going on. Make your description as creative (while maintaining accuracy) and as lively as possible, encompassing the entire essence of the space within one good, descriptive paragraph.
Perched upon the crest of a mountain, I overlook the remnants of what used to be a great, prehistoric lake. Lake Bonneville, covering the better parts of Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, now known as the Great Salt Lake, resembles more of a shallow puddle covering a vast area of land. The islands are now accessible by roads. I watch as cars drive up and down the causeway. How funny it is we still call the mountain peeking up from the land, partially surrounded by water, an island. I wince to myself as I think of the day when the state of Utah decides to rename the mass Antelope Mountain State Park. The water surrounding the mass is patchy and barely there. I can see where it used to be, only a few years ago, and I can see the shorelines where it used to be thousands of years ago. The water is drying up. You can see it. Still, no one wants to acknowledge it.
Notebook 8:
6g. Write a Letter to the Editor of your Online Magazine/Newspaper in which you use satire to propose a ridiculous solution to a problem explored in your Position or Proposal essay. Try to model your letter on Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.”
Dear Editor In Chief,
It has come to my attention that the media coverage, or lack there of, pertaining to the No DAPL protests have been limited and misconstrued.Their lack of attention and neglect of details does an absolute disservice to the citizens they proudly report to. I believe, in order to subject these news sources to the understanding of their faults, we present them with modest awards of their negligence.
The first award, would go to CNN: BEST BOGUS HEADLINE AWARD. CNN has had a few beautiful spins regarding the DAPL. The best one: Not all Standing Rock Sioux are Protesting the Pipeline. In this scoop, the reporter tells a harrowing tale of literally THE ONLY Standing Rock Sioux who did not attend the protest. The only one out of thousands. How, in God’s name, does one person’s complacency and laziness trump the ongoing political battle unfolding on sacred lands? And what’s this guy’s problem, anyway? Did he get bullied by everyone else? Who pissed off Robert, guys? Someone needs to apologize.
The next award would be for MSNBC and ABC: THE WE DON’T GIVE A SHIT AWARD. This award is given to the two new sources that literally give not a shit about the historical protest unfolding over standing rock. ABC had ZERO reports of the protest, and MSNBC only seemed to give little bit of a shit after the Obama Administration called for a halt of construction, and that was most to have something shitty to say about Obama and his obvious complete disdain for creating job growth in this country.
The last award is THE B-BOY AWARD, awarded to CNN for literally dancing around every important fact about what fuels the actual protest. I couldn’t find one thing on CNN’s website about the pipeline being moved from upstream Bismark because it was deemed unsafe for white folks to drink. Too unsafe for white folks, just safe enough for Native Americans. This is literally the most important issue these protesters are fighting against and CNN dances around the facts, making claims about Natives being “butthurt” about land that USED to be theirs. They also seem to dance around why that land no longer belongs to the Native American people, but that’s none of my business…
I think this would make a lovely ceremony. You think we could get them on board?
Sincerely,
Sarah Radcliff
Lead Writer
Notebook 7:
6k. Write a monologue about your social justice issue. The speaker can be you or someone associated with your issue. For an example of a social justice issue monologue, read an excerpt from the Vagina Monologues: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/ensler/vm/excerpt.html
“When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you can’t eat money.” This proverb, originating from Alanis Obomsawin, from “Conversations With North American Indians” speaks volumes. I fear for the day when the general population comes to realize that we, ourselves, have poisoned our drinking water. We have poisoned ourselves. By our very own hands, we will destroy our own original medicine: Water. Water. Seventy percent of our human body. We ARE water. It is within us, and it is key to our survival. We are water. So, then, why is it so difficult and so looked down upon to try to protect what is ourselves. We are water. When the water is gone, do our veins dry up? Do any of us really know what to expect when we die of thirst? Or do we just seek refuge in our very own ignorance? Does it comfort us to believe that there are no consequences if we poisonour streams? Millions of gallons of materials that are toxic to our bodies have been spilled in our nations rivers and streams. We do not bat an eye. Where is the outrage? Where is the outcry? The most precious natural element, the key to our survival on this planet is threatened on a daily basis, yet we still do nothing. We make excuses for constructing more pipelines and irresponsibly cultivating land and irresponsibly raising livestock. We need jobs. We need money. We need an economy. But, we ARE water. Without jobs, money, and an economy, we can still survive. Humans are adaptable. We can live in the hottest desert and in the coldest points on the earth. We can live in poverty. We can live without money. We can adapt to our surroundings, but without water, we have no life. Money, the economy, and jobs are not flowing through 70% of our bodies. I cannot quench my thirst with a nickel, or dime, or quarter. This is a country that is dehydrated. Our brains are dehydrated of the knowledge that water is life. We are out of touch with the fact that the water that flows freely through our homes, comes from rivers, lakes, and streams. We have lost touch with the nature of water, and therefor have become complacent. A stream means nothing to us. A glass of water at a restaurant is free. We do not value our water, therefor we cannot value the origins of the water we so desperately need to survive.
Notebook 6:
6d. Write a haiku that explains what your essay is about. Write another haiku that explains what your essay is really about.
Water is life for
you, me, them, us, we need it.
don’t let it dry up
Sunoco, they pay
to disgrace your names and race
keep fighting for life
Notebook 5:
6l. Translate your argument, or the key facts of your piece, into an infographic.
Notebook 4:
8c. Select a source you found while conducting research on your topic. What strategies does the writer use that you appreciate? What of those strategies can you model and incorporate in your own current project? Practice modeling one or more strategy.
When conducting research on my topic, one of my sources used repeated intext citations as hyperlinks, which I thought was brilliant. I had never noticed how helpful these hyperlinks were until watching the videos for week 5 about properly incorporating your sources for your audience. The sources being a click away helped me conduct even more research and gather more sources for my paper.
Another strategy the Smithsonian creates focal points throughout its articles to highlight important issues present in the piece. I liked that I was able to skim through their articles and by reading these focal points know whether or not I was going to be able to find relative information in the articles before spending time reading the entire piece
. It helped clue me on on the major highlights of the article and what information the article would be going into details on.
I will definitely be incorporating the hyperlink citations into my piece. I feel like, especially when researching a topic, using hyperlinks as citations can create a web of useful information.
Notebook 3: 3a.
Tell the story of your research. What turns did it take? What were your missed opportunities and what were your unexpected scores?
My research this week went pretty well. It was suggested for our assignment this week to utilize the SLCC library database to find research materials. I like that there were a lot of research materials present in the database, however, many of them we not accessible immediately to me. I found a few books that I want to check out from the library to gather information, but I think its more useful to use the scholarly search on Google to locate information from public journals.
I did find the direction I wanted to head with my profile project, which is the affect of factory farming on the environment, specifically water shortage. I found a few authors and advocates I’d like to research into a little more before I decide who I want to focus on. I know what information I want to include, and I think I will be able to find it in the books I found in the database, but I think its much more efficient to use the scholarly articles on Google, which I will probably still use and include in my project.
I did score one incredible article that I was actually able to download directly from the SLCC library database. The article focuses directly on the impact of agriculture to our nations water supply. I found plenty of information about how the factory farming industry affects the western US.
Stansfield, C. “Relative usage of water by agriculture.” Aspects of applied biology (1994): p. 1-6. 38. Document.
This is probably the best source I have found through the SLCC directory. I will be continuing my research on my profile person of choice throughout this evening.
Notebook 2: 3b
Tell someone about your writing project. Or: imagine telling someone about your writing project. What are the most important parts of it? What order would you tell it in? What parts of your writing project would you leave out in this telling? Why?
I decided to talk to my roommate about my writing project. My roommate, Jeanine, is nearly finished with her master’s degree in communication and is typically my conversation partner regarding anything academic.
Our conversation actually began casually. We were having our nightly porch beers (its a Friday night tradition) and Jeanine had asked me why I became a vegetarian.
“Is is ethical treatment of animals? Do you feel it isn’t humane? Is it a compassion thing?” she prodded.
Though all of those reasons play their own role, the main issue I have with consuming meat is the sustainability of industrialize agriculture. Meat, and the process of raising, slaughtering, processing, packing, and shipping meat has become factory work. The rate of consumption of meat is outrageous and the impact that the industry has on the environment is devastating.
One of the main contributors to greenhouse gases released into the air is methane gas from industrialized agriculture. Though,technically, less methane gas is released than carbon dioxide (from motor vehicles) each year, the effect of methane gas on climate is 23 times higher than CO2. Not only is the release of toxic green house gas a major concern of mine, the amount of water it takes to raise beef is insane! According to a UC Davis study, it takes 441 gallons of water to produce 1 lb of beef.
As we delved into our discussion, we consulted Google to find other water hogging industries. It takes a gallon of water to produce one almond. It takes 60 gallons of water to produce one avocado. It takes nearly 700 gallons of water to produce one quarter-pounder from MacDonald’s!
(And we wonder why there are people fighting over water rights….)
As our discussion fired up, we began talking about the Dakota pipeline, and other human-induced water waste, and what we could do to boycott or stop these industries. Fracking is a leading cause of fresh water contamination, as well as other mining industries. There are so many ways that humans are contributing to the contamination and waste of fresh water, which with the rise of global temperatures, will surely soon become a precious resource.
Notebook 1:
Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest as a way to explore how people communicate messages/information about your issue. Try posting some information about your issue and then pose some questions to your audience. What happened? Explain why you think you received the answers/feedback that you received. Create a Wordle word cloud with all of the responses OR create a collage of the photographs and other information that was offered.
I chose to share some information via social media in the form of “memes” and videos. I feel like my generation tends to share small amounts of information to each other in these forms in order to ignite curiosity in other people, in hopes that they will do deeper research about these issues themselves, and become politically charged to try to change what is happening. This is my generation’s rhetorical technique. Unfortunately, some media outlets, like U.S. Chamber (bottom right) chooses to misrepresent information, or not include all of the facts surrounding certain issues. I like to think that my friends, family, and followers are the type of people who will dig deeper into a headline, than just believe what is put before their eyes. Most of the information I shared was responded to in total shock. Many of my peers did not know that any of this was happening, as it is being “blacked out” by the media and not spoken about by most politicians, namely Hillary Clinton, who claims to have the rights of indigenous people in mind. This comes a shock that she has yet to speak out against the Dakota Access Pipeline to many of her supporters. Many of my friends and followers who support Jill Stein already knew about this issue and linked me to other groups on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook that are forming local protests against the pipeline in my community.